A World of Wastage
The recent rioting in my home town Baltimore brought two memories to mind. One was the 1968 riots, after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. I was fourteen, and while we lived several...
Author: Avi Shafran
Inform or Incite
Many who recognize the evil that permeates radical Islam likely felt a reflexive satisfaction at the recent ruling of U.S. District Judge John Koeltl that New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority cannot reject an...
Shooting From The Heart
Although blacks constitute approximately 13% of the American population, the FBI reported in 2013 that 38.5% of people arrested for violent crimes were African-Americans. Statistics like that one, coupled with a largely unsavory urban...
Evtach Vilo Efchad
The “bedikas matzah” (the search for matzah crumbs in the couch and the carpet) is over. Post-Pesach, the vacuum cleaners have been recalled into service, and the boxes of Pesach dishes and utensils have...
Challenges to Tranquility
An article of mine about dealing with change appears in a new periodical, “InSight,” published by Rabbi Avraham Mifsud of Detroit. You can read the piece here.
1984?
My rumination for the Forward on the contemporary state of religious rights — like that of citizens to disapprove of relationships — can be read here.
Muddy Study
Have you heard the story of the scientist whose area of research was insects’ hearing? He trained a flea to jump on command. In the interest of his research, he pulled off one of...
The Seder Is A Mother
The Forward published an essay I wrote about the “maternal” essence of the Pesach Seder. You can read it here.
And In Third Place…
And so the horse trading begins. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has gotten down to the nitty-gritty business of cobbling together a government coalition. Particularly attractive stallions, thankfully, will be the religious parties, the Prime...
What We Mean When We Talk About Fire Safety And Jewish Observance
An article I wrote about the blaming of the recent horrific fire in Brooklyn on Sabbath-observance appears in Haaretz here. You may need to register (free of charge) on the site to access it....
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