My Father’s Passover and Ours
An essay of mine about what the experiences of two Jews during the Holocaust on Pesach might have to teach us about the present appeared in the Wall Street Journal on erev Shabbos. It...
Author: Avi Shafran
The Karpas Conundrum
The essay below was originally published in The Jewish Observer in 1988. Questions, questions everywhere. At the Seder, that is. There are the proverbial Four, of course, but they lead to a torrent of...
Parshas Tzav – The Illness That Was Egypt
The korban todah, or “thanksgiving” offering described in the parsha (Vayikra 7:12), according to the Gemara (Brachos 54b), citing Tehillim 107, is the proper response to one of four categories of danger (though other...
A Most Meaningful Mineral
The word “sacrifices” used for korbanos, the mainstay topic of parshas Vayikra, is a misnomer. Korban doesn’t carry the meaning of “giving up something.” Its most accurate, if awkward, translation would be “bringer of...
“Bloc”-Headedness
An article I wrote for Forward about how chareidi Jews are vilified by some for simply exercising their democratic right to vote appears here.
Parshas Vayakhel – Not All Donations Welcome
Sometimes money amassed through questionable means is donated to good causes like charities or educational institutions. Perhaps the donors’ subconscious, or even conscious, intent is to somehow render their ill-gotten gains “kosher” in some...
NBC-Think about the Equality Act
A column I wrote for NBC-Think about the Equality Act, a piece of legislation that could have dire consequences for religious institutions, can be read here.
Of Idols and Ideals – parshas Ki Sisa
Describing our ancestors’ worshipping of the egel hazahav, the golden calf, the Torah relates that “Early next day, the people offered up olos [burnt offerings] and shelamim [peace sacrifices], they sat down to eat...
Parshas Tetzaveh – Redolence and Relationship
After the Torah prescribes the details of the various vessels attendant to the mishkan (tabernacle), of the construction of the mishkan itself, of the mizbeach (altar), of the daily lighting of the menorah, of the...
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...
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