Defining Debauchery Down
One would have been forgiven for assuming it an elaborate Purim joke. In fact, assuming otherwise would have strained credulity. But credible, unfortunately, it is. “It” — a new glossy magazine I prefer not...
Parshas Terumah: Inside, Outside and In-Between
The aron habris, the holy ark described in the parshah, was essentially a wooden box set into a golden one, with another golden one set inside it (Yoma 72b). The Gemara (ibid) sees in...
Parshas Mishpatim: The Far-Reaching Import of a Vav
Your Uber driver might be pleasant to you because he values another human being, but his desire for a four-star rating likely plays a larger role in his affability. A sure way to anger...
Lazer in Space
It takes an impressive degree of repugnancy for a Republican lawmaker to evoke condemnation from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Enter newly elected Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. She earned that dishonor by...
Parshas Yisro – The Barrel’s Secret
Our ancestors’ acceptance of the Torah was imperfect: It included an element of coercion. The Gemara (Shabbos 88a) teaches that “Hashem held the mountain over the Jews’ heads like a gigis (a barrel).” The...
Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski, zt”l
It is with profound sadness that I announce the petirah of one of the gems of our generation, Rabbi Dr. Avraham Yehoshua Heschel Twerski, zt”l. The shock is too great and too sudden for...
Parshas Beshalach — Arms Race
The fundamental struggle of humanity, stripped of all of history’s dross, is between two views: The recognition of a Creator (and the resultant meaningfulness of human life) and the belief that life is the...
We Pray for the President, Whether We Like Him or Not
Four years ago, when Donald Trump took office, Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz (in)famously declared to the public his refusal to recite the Prayer for the Welfare of the Government (Tefillah Li’Shlom Ha-Medinah), which is read aloud on...
Defending Rep. Mary Miller Was A Moral Imperative
Once the full video of Miller’s remarks was released, it became apparent that those accusing her of “admiring Hitler” are guilty of nothing less than malicious slander.
Free Speech Isn’t Only A Legal Issue, It’s a Moral One
A thought about free speech, born of Twitter’s cancellation of President Trump’s account, can be read here. Should any Cross-Current readers wish to be on my weekly e-mail list providing links to recent Ami...