Author: Avi Shafran

A Personal Note

Dear Cross-Currents Readers, I have been posting weekly columns here for several years, recently, reprinted from Hamodia and, more recently still, self-published. My column is now appearing in Ami Magazine, and my agreement with...

Polishing the Badge

Like most everything these polarized-perspectives days, talking about the police seems to demand the taking of sides — either with ‘em or agin ‘em. But, of course, that’s nonsense. One can, and should, fully...

An Upside to Israeli TV

A piece I wrote for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about how several example of recent Israeli television shows, including a new “reality series,” are serving to “normalize” charedim for non-observant Israelis can be read...

Should “Black Lives Matter” Matter?

[photo credit: Rathkopf Photography]   If there were a contest for the most tasteless use of a slogan this summer, it would be hard to pick one out of several recent candidates reacting to...

You Can Never Escape

A piece I wrote about my father, a”h, and one of many life lessons he taught me was published by Fox News today.  It can be accessed here.

The Gray Lady Swoons

James Bennet, who served as the editorial page editor of the New York Times for the past five years, was recently walked to the journalistic guillotine by the powers-that-be at that once-venerable institution. His...

To Err is Vital

In a few days, astute students of Daf Yomi will encounter a hint to a hidden life lesson of indescribable worth. If, that is, they look closely at the mishna on 103a in massechta...

Understanding Sotah

An article I wrote about the oddity, indeed, uniqueness, of parshas sotah, for My Jewish Learning, a site intended to offer Jews seeking to learn more about their religious heritage, can be read here.

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