Emor – Crime and Punishment
The first of the Torah’s two cases of imprisonment – that of the mekalel, the blasphemer, is in the parshah (Vayikra, 24:12). The second is in parshas Shelach (Bamidbar 15:34), regarding the mekoshesh eitzim,...
Category: News
If You Want to Help Ukrainian Jews
If you want to help Jews in Ukraine but are (rightfully) wary of some of the “opportunities” to do so, please know that a trustworthy campaign taking no administrative costs has been set up...
The Vehemence Virus
You never know what sets some people off. Back in 2015, when I dared to write that the U.S. remaining as a partner in the Iran Deal might be better than what might happen...
Blinded to One’s Own Bias
Talk about tone-deaf. A teaser for an “investigative” article by “The Journal News,” which serves several New York counties and whose online moniker is “Lohud,” consisted of the image of a clenched puppetmaster’s hand...
Help Preserve the Kotel’s Kedusha
The push to balkanize the Kotel Maaravi is, as its proponents readily admit, intended as a step toward legitimizing American-style “Jewish religious pluralism” in Israel. That would be a disaster, not only because of...
The Four Rungs of Anti-Semitism
The public tolerance or acceptance of open Jew-hatred does not develop in an instant. An analysis of the descent into the abyss of anti-Semitism shows four distinct stages, or rungs. After the fourth is...
Letter to the NYT About Abortion
To the Editor: Judaism permits, even requires, abortion in limited cases, and responsible Jews cannot endorse measures that give a fetus the same protections as a born child. But, with regard to Sarah Seltzer’s...
A “Certain Sect of People”
People sometimes ask me if writing a letter to the editor of a major newspaper is worth the trouble, considering that having one’s letter chosen for publication is a long shot. I reply that...
AOC’s Unconcern With Jewish Lives
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez offered an apology last Friday, but it was the wrong one. She had decided at the last minute to vote “present” instead of “no” on a resolution to provide $1 billion...
Two Articles
A piece I wrote for Religion News Service about Orthodox efforts to help beleaguered people around the world was picked up by the Washington Post, and can be read here or here. And my...
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