Author: Yaakov Menken

Two Sifrei Torah and a Paroches were stolen from a synagogue in Westwood, CA on Monday night: Two Sefardi Sefer Torah in wooden boxes with the Rimonim. The boxes are white background with pictures...

Arutz-7 reports that “As of today, food may not be sold in Israel without being marked as either meat, dairy or pareve (neither milk nor meat).” A new law to this effect passed its...

This Shabbos it was my pleasure to join a retreat at a conference center. Jewish learning in a relaxed atmosphere, a mixture of serious discussions and fun had by all — what could be...

For those still in doubt whether the Reform movement has become a wing of the Democratic Party, the results of last week’s Convention may resolve the question. According to the Washington Jewish Week, the...

Ori Pomerantz is one of our more frequent commenters. He asked the following question as a comment to a previous post, seeking “our” response. So I sent the question around, and determined that several...

When I lived in Israel, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav was often in the news — and never on the “right” side of the editorials. He was quoted as a spokesman for “ultra-Orthodox” demonstrators, protesting this or...

The Knesset has approved dissolution, and, one way or the other, it seems that Israel will be heading to the polls on March 28. According to yesterday’s Jerusalem Post (yes, I regret not posting...

UPDATED: A tallis and two pairs of tefillin were found in the Montreal airport… and contact has already been made between finder and owner. Thanks to at least one C-C reader who participated in...

For years, Jonathan Rosenblum has written about the antics of Israel’s Supreme Court and its Chief Justice Aharon Barak. For most of those years it seemed few outside the Orthodox world were listening, but...

Recently, I’ve been in an ongoing dialogue with a committed Jewish layman affiliated with the Conservative movement. He and I have argued on any number of occasions, and some might be very surprised to...