Alfonso Hernandez is a farmer who grows infected cacti on the Canary Islands (Pop Quiz! Where in the world are the Canary Islands?) While cactus plants are generally considered a nuisance, and plant infections don’t rank high on Top 10…
Parshat Shemini תשפד I was once asked, “Rabbi, you say that Judaism is the only true religion; the Christians say that Christianity is, and the Moslems say that Islam is! How do you know you are right?” I would like…
What do you do when you’re a world-class airline without a world-class bank account? This was the question facing American Airlines in 1981. Just two years earlier, Congress passed the Airline Deregulation Act, bringing in massive new competition, lower ticket…
Shemini תשפב Despite its many “stories,” the Torah is not a story book; their inclusion comes to teach us many important lessons. Often, the lesson is obvious, while sometimes it is deep beneath the surface. One of the most difficult…
Owning an apartment building has its challenges. Tenants don’t pay their rent and local governments make it almost impossible to evict them. Plumbing starts getting old and leaks break out everywhere. People trash their apartments causing costly repairs, or leave…
A female chochineal on the left and the much rarer male on the right.... A cluster of female chocineals chilling on their cactus pad Alfonso Hernandez is a farmer who grows infected cacti on the…
Shemini תשע"ט Despite its many “stories,” the Torah is not a story book, their inclusion coming to teach us many important lessons. Often, the lesson is obvious, while sometimes it is deep beneath the surface. One of the most difficult…