Spring 2003

Usually, a person dies, and then their soul shines down on us from heaven. It is rare that a spirit shines down on us from heaven, and then dies.

From the moment I met Ilan Ramon some 15 months ago, there was an instant feeling of warmth, love, and total informality between us-we were like brothers, laughing, joking, and hugging each other.

In the rest of the world, people pursue meaning; in you, Jerusalem, meaning pursues people.

The entire Jewish world is uneasy. Jewish hearts and souls are distraught that Israel’s efforts to protect her citizens have become controversial, misunderstood, and even condemned.

The restaurant was designed over the course of a few years, with each antique carefully collected in the spirit of King Ludwig of Bavaria, the mad king who dedicated much of his life to building castles filled with opulent treasures.

With the dust from the Six-Day War still settling, Ariel Sharon took his wife, Lily, and eleven-year-old son, Gur, to visit newly liberated Jerusalem.

The story behind the smile.

In May of 2002, an appeal was made for volunteers from the Diaspora to help out in Israel during ongoing terrorist attacks. Jill (Yocheved) Mannie, of Johannesburg, South Africa describes her response to this call.

Choosing the right hotel for your Passover getaway

I’m in a doctor’s waiting room in Huntsville, Alabama, the very buckle of the Bible Belt. I’m leafing through episodes in the life of Elisha, the Prophet, instead of reading about bodily improvements in Cosmopolitan. The Book of Books sits right there on the coffee table along with its trendy companions.

The atmosphere sparked with intensity. A Chassidic gathering was taking place in Czarist Russia, an inspired group session led by spiritual giants, where all participants bathed their souls in the warm glow of Jewish mysticism.

The saintly Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak of Pshischah once sent his disciple Rabbi Simcha Bunem on a journey without telling him the purpose for his travels.