Liberation Theology
In the summer of 1776, Benjamin Franklin proposed that the Great Seal of the United States should depict Moshe Rabbeinu at the Yam Suf, his staff lifted high and the Mitzriyim drowning in the...
Author: Avi Shafran
Routing Rote
“Please don’t bring your toys into my kitchen, young lady!” the busy mother warned her loaded-up little daughter. The child’s response: “Well, it’s MY kitchen too!” Her parents had a good laugh over that...
And the Winner Is…
“Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser,” the famous, and famously blunt, General George S. Patton declared in a 1944 speech. “When you were kids,” he explained, “you all admired the...
Hear Me Out
You probably know that when a person loses some hearing, it can never be recovered. But did you know that 10 million Americans suffer noise-induced hearing loss? Or that exposure to some common sounds,...
Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theorists Don’t Stop at Hate Speech
Modern times, intriguingly, provide examples of would-be destroyers of Jews who met their fates in serendipitous, Purim-like ways. An essay of mine about that fact is in Haaretz today, here. A freilechen Purim!
The Evidence in the Barrel
Back in a previous lifetime, when I was a mesivta rebbe, I once heard a menahel exhort our talmidim to not get carried away on Purim. As an illustration, he described how a certain...
Golden Silence
The mother was understandably concerned. Her first-grader was a sociable, talkative little girl, and so her teacher’s phone call was certainly disturbing. This is a true story and took place mere weeks ago in...
Handling Success With Care
Back in 1941 (no, I don’t remember it personally, but it’s documented), there was an American Jewish establishment group called the “Joint Boycott Council.” It objected vehemently to Agudath Israel of America’s policy of...
A Troubling America for Jews…
American Jews might be excused for finding the circus more formally known as the current presidential campaign unthreatening, even amusing. Unthreatening, because the leading Republican candidate has a Jewish daughter; the leading Democratic candidate,...
Voting Advice
Few things outrage people as greatly as the suggestion that their vote doesn’t really make a difference. “Your vote counts!” is, after all, the essence of Civics 101. And yet it is the most...
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