First, Let’s Calm Down
To judge from the media, both Israeli and international, the status of women in Israel is under an assault of crisis proportions. No less a figure than U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has...
Author: Jonathan Rosenblum
Who is Undermining Israeli Democracy?
In order to fully appreciate the absurdity of Court President Dorit Beinisch’s charge that even the most minimal proposed changes in Israel’s method of judicial selection represent an attempt to undermine “the democracy upon...
Does Anyone See a Pattern Here?
About the hostility of the Obama administration to Israel there is no longer room for honest doubt. A few weeks back, President Obama commiserated “privately” (albeit via an open mike) with French President Sarkozy...
Why We Weep for Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, zt”l
On Rachel Imeinu’s yahrtzeit, as I prepared to leave for the levaya (funeral) of Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, zt”l, I received a call from a reporter from Sydney. She wanted to discuss the antics...
The Legacy of Alter Chanoch Jeger, a”h
Two months ago, I spent Shabbos with my friend Rabbi Aryeh Zev Ginsburg and his family in Cedarhurst. We were joined by the Ginzburgs’ daughter Ilana and son-in-law Yudi Jeger, and their children Alter...
Responsibility not Chesed
Chesed is never quite disinterested. Even the tahara (purification) of a deceased person, chesed shel emes done without any expectation of reciprocity, provides the one performing the mitzvah with a feeling of satisfaction. Part...
The Bubbe of Klal Yisrael
There are certain events of such impact on Klal Yisrael, that it is impossible not to comment, even if the writer fears he has nothing to add. The passing of Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky, zt”l,...
Talmud Study and the Liberal Arts
The Jerusalem Post’s November 1 editorial “In Praise of Liberal Arts” lamented the ever dwindling percentage of Israeli students opting for first degrees in the humanities. In 1999, 18.5% of students were registered for...
The Ugly Side of Idealism
On the tenth anniversary of 9/11, P.J. O’Rourke described the mass murder as “an act of idealism.” Not idealism as we colloquially use the term to refer to the ability to place other values...
Rewriting the Past
Bar Ilan University Milton scholar William Kolbrener has a profound meditation on Yom Kippur and teshuva (repentance) in his new collection of essays, Open Minded Torah. He begins by noting a profound distinction between...
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