Author: Yitzchok Adlerstein

Chances are that you don’t need me for this. You already understand that the ubiquitous smartphone, to the naked eye at least, has wreaked havoc with human communications, with attention spans, with happiness itself....

I asked Rabbi Yehoshua Wender, mara d’asra of Young Israel of Houston, for a status report for his community. He offered the remarks he sent out to his own shul; they capture what his...

Thanks to a prominent US rabbi who wishes to stay anonymous, Cross-Currents is pleased to offer a translation of the Shmuel Pliskin article on the Chofetz Chaim’s reaction to a solar eclipse that he...

A pre-Tisha B’Av message: there are signs of hope. At least in Israel. We’re especially sensitive to it approaching the national day of Jewish mourning. We’ve internalized all the exhortations about unity, and how...

If you have to spend time on one presentation about the topic, this one is my recommendation. If you want the juicy inside story about the Lakewood scandal, or a whitewash of it, or...

The announcement by Attorney General Jeff Sessions brought some comfort to people in our community embarrassed by the recent Lakewood arrests. Some 421 people in 20 states, including 50 physicians had been arrested for...

The tune that Nero fiddled while Rome burned was a sprightly, engaging one, I always imagined. Something upbeat and distracting, that took little effort to offer pleasure. Like many others, I have a harder...

The statement by the Lakewood Vaad came quickly, and expressed succinctly and effectively what had to be said. “We are saddened beyond words by the arrests of seven couples in our town. As firm...

Noting that we live in times of extremes has become a platitude. It seems that the middle has dropped out of so much of our conversation, and that the extremes dictate the discussion. Sadly,...

The latest installment of the Chumash with commentary by R. Yosef Dov Soloveitchik zt”l is now available for purchase. Like its three predecessors, the volume on Bamidbar gleans from the vast oeuvre of the...