Thirteen Times Two Equals One
Oddly, a Hebrew phrase familiar to the Jewishly-educated is routinely used to refer to two entirely different and seemingly unrelated things. The phrase is “Yud Gimmel Middot” – literally, “13 Measures” – and one...
Category: General
Shortchanging Our Children
Elul is a month devoted to deepening our connection to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Ultimately, that process must take place on the individual level. But, as the Baal Shem Tov and Rabbi Yisrael Salanter each...
Selichos, 1939
The smell of smoke grew even stronger as did the cries of the hundreds of Jews packed in the synagogue awaiting a terrible death. And then, a miracle occurred.
“Do You Know Where Your Boychik Is?” — Revisited
My op-ed “Under the Guise of Learning in Eretz Yisrael ” in the July 23 Hamodia has occasioned more than the usual amount of comment, both in the form of an unusually large outpouring...
Justice Sotomayor and the Jews
Reports have it that a popular inscription of late on coffee mugs and t-shirts is “wise Latina woman.” The reference, of course, is to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s contention in a 2001...
Holocaust Denials
The “Endlösung” – the “Final Solution” – was for “der Judenfrage” – “the Jewish Question.” There was no “Romani Question” or “Homosexual Question.”
The Novardhok Paradox
Their lyrics are about things like readiness to be persecuted for one’s commitment to Torah, the brevity of human existence, the need to seize every day – every moment – we have; yet the melodies as a rule are spirited, lively, filled with trust and hope and joy.
The Essence of a Godol
In my youthful self-centeredness, I had imagined him as my rebbe alone. Who knew?
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