Death of an Icon
I grew up watching Mork. I’ve seen Aladdin. I even, during college, watched him perform live. But I never knew Robin Williams. He was the consummate entertainer. He just knew how to make us...
Author: Yaakov Menken
When Waging War is Pursuing Peace
As Pinchas taught us, sometimes an act of violence promotes peace. At the end of last week’s Torah reading, we are told that one of the leaders of the Tribes of Israel engaged in...
Hamas Terrorism in 140 Chars
Aiming missiles at my daughter is a symptom of nothing but the desire to murder Jews. #Israel #Hamas #Gaza — Rabbi Yaakov Menken (@ymenken) July 8, 2014
“No Haredim Enlisting Anymore”
Yair Lapid can provide actions in support of unity, not just words, by working with the Haredi community instead of against it.
Eyal, Gilad, and Naftali in 140 Chars
Sometimes it really can be expressed in a single comment to Twitter — in this case, by Rabbi Steven Burg, Eastern Director of the Wiesenthal Center: The world does not understand that this is...
The PCUSA and the Banality of Evil
Most who voted for the PCUSA divestment are not anti-Semitic, but the action itself clearly was.
Andrew Dice Clay on Josh Orlian
If there’s ever someone you wouldn’t expect to be praised on Cross-Currents, it would have to be Andrew Dice Clay. He was banned for life by MTV and from many radio and television programs...
Defining Deviancy Down
With Dad’s advice and encouragement, and young man introduced himself as a stand-up comic — and then proceeded to deliver a series of truly filthy jokes… while wearing a kipah. How should we respond to this?
Guess Who Came to Dinner?
Did a Frothing Press Help Serve the Truth? According to those in the know, Mayor Bill de Blasio was to have delivered his greetings and departed with his press entourage before the Novominsker Rebbe,...
An Evil Report
My D’var Torah this week made a rare crossover into current events, in a way that I thought appropriate for Cross-Currents. In this week’s reading we learn about the spies sent to look at...
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