Upon the Death of My Father

The feelings one has upon the death of a father is not something that can be encapsulated in a single blog post. My dad, Rabbi Benjamin Shandalov (A”h), passed away on early Shabbat morning, November 23, 2019 (25 MarCheshvan 5780) in a quiet hospice room in Chicago. The purpose of …

An Interview with Rav Zev Shandalov

Following is an interview I held yesterday with Rav Zev Shandalov of Maale Adumim. I decided to interview him due to the fact that he has some things he wished to share with his “audience” and asked me, Zev Shandalov, to interview him. (We have known each other all of …

Of Jew Hatred and Revisionist History

I have a lot of patience in life and am very tolerant of others, but not of hatred. While I may completely disagree with someone, he or she has the right, in my opinion, to say what they want. However, there are obvious exceptions to that idea, including hate speech …

Time to Speak Out

Indeed it is time to speak out. While I regularly post on Facebook, I have not written a blog post in (literally) months. It is not for lack of desire. The problem has been that with so much going on, there was too much (is too much) to write about, …

When a Community CELEBRATES a Pedophile / Rapist

Imagine being invited to a party thrown by a community to celebrate a pedophile and child rapist. No need to imagine that scenario. Thanks to the good people at Jewish Community Watch and, specifically, thanks to Shana Aaronson (from JCW), we have the pictures to prove it. Before going off …

Regarding the Airbnb Decree

The internet is ablaze with views, both pro and con, about the decision (decree) yesterday by Airbnb. According to various websites, Airbnb’s business is characterized as “… an online marketplace which lets people rent out their properties or spare rooms to guests. Airbnb takes 3% commission of every booking from hosts, …

The Sounds of Silence

Over the past few weeks, I have had numerous people ask me about my silence in the blogosphere. While I have posted much (too much?) via Facebook and Twitter (if you are not following me you can check out @ravzev1 on twitter), as far as writing a blog, well, it …

How Do You Get Past the Rage?

I have been asking some of my Facebook friends this questions today: How do you get past the rage? Rage…. Because today, four children from two families became orphans, when their mother/father were savagely murdered by yet another “freedom fighter.”  According to published reports, the murderer (I will not give …