Societal Values
I read about the current “Oprah controversy” with a mixture of concern and curiosity. For those who are not familiar with the story, the basic facts are as follows: Oprah Winfrey has spent the...
The Neturei Karta Cancer
This past week’s Baltimore Jewish Times sported the second editorial, just since December, on the Neturei Karta. Notably, the editors chose “Haredi Hang-Ups” as the title, although the article was not about charedim, but...
It’s not just demographics
We will all confront the shidduchim process at least once in life as participants, and hopefully again as parents of those “in shidduchim.” So it was no surprise that a recent column on the...
The Bais Yaakov Edicts – Are We Next?
Asked about just how stringent one should be in certain areas, Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky zt”l would often apply the same formula. “Men darf zein normahl (One has to be….normal!)” I imagine that his conception...
Degree Decree
20 bTevet R. Avraham Ibn Ezra complained in a poem (all translations below are mine, SLS): “If I were a candle maker, the sun would never leave the sky. If I were a shroud...
A time to hate
Saddam Hussein’s death by hanging came too late to provide much satisfaction – too late for the hundreds of thousands of human beings killed on his orders – hundreds at his own hands. The...
Yosef, Rothschild, and Dual Loyalty
With the resurfacing of public anti-Semitism in much of the world, how careful do we have to be in America to avoid the old charge of dual loyalty? A week ago, that question became...
Exotic Shofars
“No kudos for the kudu” is a title he wisely skipped over, but if you are learning Daf Yomi, (and even if you are not) you will not want to skip Rabbi Natan Slifkin’s...