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We are all familiar with the oft-quoted Gemara (Yoma 9b) that the Second Beis HaMikdash was destroyed due to baseless hatred amongst the Jews. But it is well worth citing the Gemara’s full statement in that regard.

We are in the throes of the Nine Days, with the most solemn day of Tish’ah B’Av almost upon us. These were the most tragic of times when we lost both Holy Temples, and the destruction of Jerusalem with the expulsion of the Jewish People.

I’ll admit, I’m a big kvetch. I am too often bothered by things around me. When my kids and wife ask me why I’m so often annoyed, I cynically tell them that it’s because I set a high bar of standards for myself, which I expect of others. They go crazy when I say that.

If you bet that the Democrats are against judging people using race as a factor and the Republicans support using the color of a person’s skin to make such judgments…You lost!

Melanie Phillips is a highly respected, conservative-leaning journalist in the UK. She had a very Jewish background, though not Orthodox, to the best of my knowledge. She has written for The Guardian, the New Statesman, The Times of London, and is periodically featured in The Jerusalem Post.

This Monday morning from Chicago, where I am for a dedication to my parents a”h, I called my doctor’s office in Manhattan to fill a prescription. The message I received was that the doctor’s office is closed for a holiday. For a second, I had to think... What holiday is it? Oh, yes... it’s Juneteenth! It marks the day when the scourge of slavery was formally abolished.