In honor of Lag Baomer, my short historical piece, On a Journey, is in this week’s Tachlis Magazine, page 58.

Also for Lag Baomer, an article about the upcoming parade here in LA in Jewish Home.

Have a wonderful Shabbos, and a great Lag Baomer!

Hi everyone!

Hope your Pesach preparations are going well. We’re, B”H, spending Pesach in Eretz Yisrael this year, and we’re very grateful to be here. If any of my readers are also in E”Y for Pesach and would like to meet up, please email me.

Meanwhile, my article about being Jewish in South Korea is in this week’s Tachlis Magazine, on page 66. Hope you enjoy it.

Have a wonderful Shabbos!

Hope everyone’s Pesach preparations are going well. I had two articles in Jewish Home last week — sorry, I didn’t get a chance to post before Shabbos. MENTAL HEALTH REFERRALS FOR THE JEWISH COMMUNITY: RELIEF RESOURCES COME TO LOS ANGELES and, sadly, a tribute to Adam Krief, a”h.

Heads up — look out for my story, Growing with Barley, in the Hamodia Pesach story supplement.

In honor of the month of Adar and upcoming Purim, my article, Persian Jews in Los Angeles: Carrying on the Tradition, is on page 48 of Tachlis Magazine, issue # 72. Enjoy!

I didn’t actually write all of them this week, but they got published this week. Here are the links:

THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE: A MISHMAR PROGRAM AT YPLA

Holistic Torah Study: Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum in Los Angeles

LEARNING LEAGUE: A PROGRAM FOR FATHERS AND SONS AT YAYOE

Spiritual Antidotes to Today’s Challenges: Mrs. Chani Juravel in Los Angeles

Uniting the World through Emunah: Junity’s Annual Unity Conference

and a short article about an upcoming event on page 9 of the paper.

Have a wonderful Shabbos!

Hi everyone,

Sorry I’ve fallen behind in updating my blog. Below are links to my latest Jewish Home articles:

WORKING FOR THE KLAL: A CONVERSATION WITH THE OUTGOING PRESIDENT OF THE OU MARTIN NACHIMSON

THE BAAL SHEM TOV ART NIGHT AT MAAYON YISROEL

Witness to History: A Judaica Exhibition Brings History Alive

Hope you enjoy them!

My story, Royal Reward, will be in Hamodia’s Inyan Magazine this week, IY”H. It’s historical fiction about the translation of the Torah into Greek, and is set in Alexandria, Egypt in the times of Ptolemy II. Hope you enjoy it!

Would you like to read an excerpt from my Chanuka novel, Swords and Scrolls? Tachlis Magazine published an excerpt and a Q&A with the author (that’s me :)) in this week’s issue.

Enjoy, and share with friends and family! Happy Chanuka!

The situation was impossible. The odds were next to none. The most powerful army in the world against a rag tag bunch of Jewish rebels who’d never held a weapon in their lives. And yet, they felt they had no other choice. They had to take a stand.

They won the war — because G-d was fighting their battles. In Haneiros Hallalu that we sing while lighting the Chanuka menorah, we thank G-d “for the miracles and wonders, for the salvations and the battles that You performed for our forefathers in those days at this time, through the hand of Your holy kohanim.” The kohanim were an instrument, a vessel through which the miracle took place. That was their greatness — that they were able to give up their own identities and become the agents of G-d’s will in this world. Kohanim, descendants of Aharon, who are lovers of peace. Kohanim, who strictly observe the laws of ritual purity and stay far away from death’s touch, not attending funerals except for close relatives, not visiting cemeteries. Those holy people overcame their natural inclinations and did what they felt was right. By giving up their own desires, they allowed G-d to take charge. And once G-d is fighting the battles nothing is impossible.

Sometimes, when the world seems enveloped in darkness, we feel powerless to make a difference. But we can remind ourselves that it is G-d Who is fighting our battles. We don’t need to worry about our odds. We just need to do what’s right, whether or not it comes naturally to us.

May the light of our Chanuka candles illuminate the world with Divine light! Happy Chanuka!

Three articles in Jewish Home this week: on a documentary about the Jewish community of Kastoria, Greece, on the OU West Coast Convention, and on the Junity marriage conference.

Jewish Home also printed the first review of my book, Swords and Scrolls: book review.

If you’ve read the book hope you enjoyed it. You can leave your review at the Goodreads Swords and Scrolls page

If you haven’t had a chance to buy it yet, here’s the link again: Swords and Scrolls.