The Miracle of Jewish History

by Rabbi Ken Spiro

In the final analysis, Jewish history makes no rational sense.

On January 16, 1996, then President of Israel, Ezer Weizmann, gave a speech to both Houses of Parliament of Germany. He gave this speech in Hebrew to the Germans, fifty years after the Holocaust, and in it he beautifully summed up what Jewish history is. He said:

"It was fate that delivered me and my contemporaries into this great era when the Jews returned to re-establish their homeland ...

"I am no longer a wandering Jew who migrates from country to country, from exile to exile. But all Jews in every generation must regard themselves as if they had been there in previous generations, places and events. Therefore, I am still a wandering Jew but not along the far flung paths of the world. Now I migrate through the expanses of time from generation to generation down the paths of memory ...

Superstitions Aren’t Silly; They’re Evolutionary.

Break a mirror and you’re stuck with bad luck. Walk under a ladder and you’re tempting fate. Sound ridiculous?Scientists believe such beliefs may be genetic, part of adaptive behaviors passed on to create an evolutionary advantage to surviving impeding danger.

Boiled down, a superstition is the belief that one event caused another event, without any evidence of the link. “All animals will display behaviors that imply a causal relationship that isn’t there,” says Kevin Foster, evolutionary biologist at Harvard University. Foster uses a pigeon as an example: The pigeon will take flight if it hears a hand clap, the same way it would react if it heard a gun shot.

95-Year-Old Bride and 98-Year-Old Groom Become the World's Oldest Newlyweds

By Bridal Guide | Love + Sex

When Lillian Hartley, 95, and Allan Marks, 98, tied the knot this week, they unknowingly became the world's oldest newlyweds. Their combined 193 years broke the previous record of 191 years.

"Honest to God? Oh, I can't believe it," Hartley told The Desert Sun about breaking the record. "Oh, I'm impressed with myself."

Lillian Hartley, 95, and Allan Marks, 98.

The happy couple met 18 years ago at temple on Yom Kippur in Palm Springs. He complimented her dress, and their relationship grew from there.

"I believe in fate and destiny a little bit and I think that was meant to be," Hartley told ABC News. "I had been a widow for six years and I really loved my freedom. …I said, 'Oh, I don't want a relationship,'…and then he came along, and somehow hooked me."

The couple moved in together soon after they began dating. Over the years, they had discussed marriage but, because of their busy lifestyle-they love to travel, go to temple, and watch the Los Angeles Lakers-they didn't find the time until Leap Day (guess that extra day really does come in handy!).

"We don't know for sure what's going to happen, so I'm not taking any chances. I want to be with Allan for the rest of my life," Hartley said.

Marks agrees: "I want to be with Lillian for the rest of my life."

Watch their sweet wedding ceremony!

As for their honeymoon, they're in no rush. "We celebrate every day," Hartley told The Desert Sun. After a pause, she added, "I might go to Swiss Donut and have one of the nice donuts."

-Kristen O'Gorman Klein