This week's Parsha begins with Hashem's command to Avraham: "Lech Lecha - go forth from your land, from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you" (Genesis 12:1).

But there is something unusual about the words "Lech Lecha."

Why doesn't the Torah simply say "Lech," meaning "go"? What does the additional word "Lecha" teach us?

Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, 1040-1105) explains that the words mean "for your benefit and for your good." Although Avraham was being asked to make an enormous sacrifice, Hashem was assuring him that the journey would ultimately be to his advantage.

Yet there is a difficulty with this explanation.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles from Michael Freund

Dear President Trump,

I'm writing about a title I think should be yours: Leader of the Free World.

The idea that there is such a thing as a Free World has become unfashionable, but I think it's worth restoring, and perhaps you do, too. Nations free of dictators' jackboots should be aligned and led by the American president.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first U.S. president to apply the phrase to the nations fighting the Axis.

During the Cold War, the term referred to those siding with America against the Soviet bloc. It meant allies followed Washington's lead and adversaries hesitated.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles from Clifford May

In the fall of 1920, Andrew Mellon was 65 years old and one of the richest men in the world. Instead of basking in the wealth he had amassed as a banker and financier, Mellon accepted a summons from President-elect Warren G. Harding and got on a train to Marion, Ohio. Unaccompanied by staff, Mellon trudged alone for a mile to Harding's house. A reporter saw him arrive. "Great Scott," he exclaimed. "Isn't that Andrew Mellon of Pittsburgh?"

Grab a Copy

The President and the Oligarch: Roosevelt, Mellon, and the Triumph of Big Government

Continue to the full review  |  More reviews and articles from Tevi Troy

Since early October, American and other Western health and biodefense officials have been concerned by reports on social media that a young Russian researcher at an anti-plague institute in Siberia had died of a highly contagious form of plague after accidentally breaking a vial of the deadly germs in her laboratory.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles from Judith Miller

Two massacres, two Islamic terror attacks, two world-historical events.

The anniversaries of Sept. 11, 2001 and Oct. 7, 2023 mark incidents that changed the course of history in both obvious and subtle ways. Among the results were the American war against Iraq and the Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza, respectively. Neither has been entirely successful, but both removed immediate threats while embedding other threats more deeply in Western society.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles from Asaf Romirowsky

The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, thrust Israel into wars on seven fronts. A new book by Yonah Jeremy Bob, of the Jerusalem Post, and Elliot Kaufman, of the Wall Street Journal, chronicles an eighth front: the battle inside Israel's war cabinet. In the War Room details the clashes between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister without Portfolio Benny Gantz, and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. We've heard about these conflicts in bits and pieces over the past three years, but until the release of this new book, they lacked a cohesive narrative.

Continue to the full review  |  More reviews and articles from Jonathan Schanzer

Pope Leo XIV began an official visit to Spain (June 6–12) by urging Spaniards to embrace multicultural coexistence with Islam and stop "fanning the flames of polarization" over mass migration from the Muslim world. He said that Christians and Muslims can live together as friends and proceeded to present medieval Spain—which was occupied by Islamic invaders for nearly 800 years—as an interfaith utopia that led to advancements in astronomy, medicine, and science.

The Pope declared:

"Your own history suggests that a culture of encounter, not confrontation, is what fosters stability and prosperity....

Continue to the full article  |  More articles from Soeren Kern

A century ago, the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard and one of the founders of the NAACP, W.E.B. DuBois published The Gift of Black Folk, a book that was commissioned by the Catholic organization the Knights of Columbus, as part of a series intended to help Americans appreciate the contributions of minority groups.

DuBois was highly educated and an avid reader of great texts from Plato to Frederick Douglass. The irony of the present moment is that if DuBois were currently a student in a core philosophy class at Texas A&M University, he would be assigned only a redacted version of Plato's great work, The Republic.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles from Thomas Hibbs

Imagine your physician walks into the exam room, recommends a prescription medication, and casually mentions she's being paid by the company that makes the drug to say so. You'd probably have questions.

You might even find a new doctor.

Now imagine that same scenario playing out on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube — except the advice is coming from a celebrity "influencer" who's very familiar to you, who has an emotional backstory, and a financial arrangement buried somewhere in a sea of hashtags. Millions of people encounter exactly this situation every day, and most of them have no idea it's happening.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles from Henry I. Miller M.D.

ANYONE WHO spends time with me knows me knows how much I despise litter. For as long as I can remember, I have fumed at the sight of trash on sidewalks, beer cans in the gutter, or garbage flung from passing cars. I often pick up litter when I'm walking, and when my kids were young I made them pick it up, too.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles from Jeff Jacoby