Roman Rite Leads to Jewish Thought
Roman Catholic rituals aren’t usually even a small part of my family’s Shabbat table discussions but a recent Sabbath meal was an exception, granted in the spirit of revisiting an ever-timely Jewish concept. The...
Author: Avi Shafran
A Well-Trained Seal
The article below, reprinted with permission from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, was distributed by that news service to its subscribers. There is something ironic, to put it politely, about an effort championing ethics that...
Agudath Israel statement on “Magen Tzedek”
May 3, 2011 Agudath Israel Statement Regarding “Magen Tzedek” Upon consultation with its rabbinic leaders and in accordance with their direction, Agudath Israel of America issued the following statement: A new seal for kosher...
Agudath Israel on successful military operation in Pakistan
May 2, 2011 Agudath Israel Statement on the successful military operation in Pakistan Today’s world harbors less evil than yesterday’s. While vengeance is not a responsibility of us mortals, the pursuit of justice is....
Recalling an Evil Idealist
Note to readers: I usually post my regular Ami column weekly; this past week, of course, Ami wasn’t published due to Pesach. Since I write several features for the magazine, I thought I’d take...
Black Like Us
The Chasam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Sofer, 1762–1839) probably never saw a black person. There weren’t likely very many in 19th century central Europe. But he certainly knew they existed. After all, they are mentioned...
Springtime for Hamas
It wasn’t reported as a stand-alone piece in The New York Times or Washington Post for some reason, but on March 19 Hamas security agents raided the Gaza offices of Reuters, seized reporters’ cameras,...
A Song From Beyond
My dear mother, of blessed memory, has been gone for 22 years. Her yahrtzeit, the Jewish anniversary of her passing, 22 Adar I, fell on a Shabbos this year, several weeks ago. All who...
Ice Storm Insight
Most of us have paused at the fact that, at least from our limited perspective, Hashem seems to present two very different “faces”: on the one hand, He is the Merciful Lifegiver, the Forgiver of sin and Bestower of blessings; on the other, the Lawgiver.
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