Apart from the giving of the Torah, Shavuot marks two other major events in Jewish history: the birth and the passing from this world of King David. King David is not just a king of Israel. He is the king. "David - Melech Yisrael - lives and endures." Throughout history, the line of David is the hidden line of kingship that survives to eventually emerge in Mashiach.

We are living in the middle of a revolution.

A few decades ago, the idea that you could link any computer in the world with any other computer was no more than the twinkle in the eye of a few gifted programmers. And today, that twinkle, with all its benefits and problems, is an everyday reality.

If we know anything -
it is to know
that we know
something.

"Hear, O Israel! Hashem our God, Hashem is One."

The Shema is the basic credo of the Jewish people. It is our twice-daily declaration of God's Unity and the last words to leave our lips when we pass from this world. But why is it that we say, "Hear, O Israel"? What are we supposed to hear?

High Noon. The Desert. Hot air rising on the horizon like a cobra under a snake charmer's spell.

In this heat, everything floats. Everything shimmers, melts, and re-forms in front of your eyes.

Last time I was in America I went for a walk around the Warner Brothers store. It was amazing. All of my childhood memories come to life. Original animation cells of Lady and the Tramp (a mere $500).

When you love someone very deeply, the thought of parting is very difficult; but if you have to part, how can you still be together though separated by time and space?

Some three and a half thousand years ago, a little-known Middle Eastern people gathered around a small mountain in a trackless wilderness and underwent an experience that changed the history of the world.