“Mr.” to Us
Something recently reminded me of one of the many lessons I was privileged to be taught by Rav Yaakov Weinberg, zt”l, who served as Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore. As an...
Author: Avi Shafran
Demographics Denial
The italics in the following seven paragraphs’ phrases are mine. A Haaretz column headline, in the wake of the Israeli cabinet’s decision to not upend the status quo at the Kosel: “Netanyanu to American...
Not in Our Name
What are we, chopped liver? The question, from my Orthodox corner of the American Jewish world, is born of the recent onslaught of outrage aimed at the Israeli government by representatives of “American Jewry.”…...
Agudath Israel Statement on Recent Jewish Federation Stances
Leaders of the Jewish Federations of North America and local federations have spoken out loudly about their disappointment in the Israeli government’s decision to suspend the Kotel resolution and about a contentious conversion bill...
The Terminology of Terrorism
The June 19 attack in London, in which a man plowed his van into a crowd of Muslim worshippers exiting a mosque, killing one and injuring 10, was no less heinous than attacks by...
The Kotel: A Public Space, Not a Public Square
The Israeli Cabinet’s recent decision to not upend the public prayer status quo at the Kotel Maaravi, or Western Wall, was met with howls of outrage from a broad cross-section of non-Orthodox leaders and...
Agudath Israel Reaction to Kotel Plan Freeze
Agudath Israel of America released the following statement today: The Israeli Cabinet’s decision to not upend the status quo of normative, traditional Jewish religious worship at the Kotel Maaravi, or Western Wall, is a...
Make Learning, Not War
I don’t know about you, but until President Trump’s trip to the Middle East last month, I had never heard of a “sword dance.” Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, you’ll recall, were...
A Tale of Two Testimonies
“Gentlemen! Start your engines!” Or, maybe better, “In this corner, heavyweight champion…!” Neither phrase was actually blasted from a loudspeaker on either June 8, when ex-FBI director James Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence...
Science and Scientism
A high school science teacher in Wellston, Ohio was the focus of a front page New York Times story last week. James Sutter was subtly lionized by the report’s writer, who sympathized with the...
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