This Shabbat is a unique time in the Jewish Calendar - it is the Shabbat between Yom HaShoah and Yom HaAtzmaut. It is the Shabbat between Holocaust Remembrance Day and the Israel's Independence Day.

I have said many times that singing is much more emotional than speaking - music can touch the heart much more deeply than the spoken word.

We Jews have a thing about counting. There are times when we need to count and there are times when we should not count. We need to count people to make sure we have ten for a minyan.