Kibbutz Conversation
Tisha B’Av – which falls this year on July 24 – always brings back the personal memory of a conversation between two teen-aged cousins more than thirty years ago. It took place on the...
Category: Israel
Actions, Values, and Education
by Rabbi Doron Beckerman Much virtual ink has been spilled in recent months over the acts of vandalism, hooliganism, and general bad Middos of various sub-sectors of Charedi society. One of the themes which...
The law is an ass
The term “collective punishment” conjures up images of Nazis executing entire villages in retaliation for a partisan ambush. No wonder Jews are acutely sensitive to charges of imposing collective punishment or targeting civilians. And...
Conversion Confusion
Israel’s Orthodox Rabbinate has been under siege of late, over the issue – once again – of conversion. And once again as well, the media abound with misinformation. This time, though, some of it...
Democracy and media manipulation
Surprisingly, a recent panel on Israel Radio at Haifa University did not draw the media attention it deserved. At that panel, Hanan Naveh, the chief editor on the Israel Broadcasting Authority’s news desk at...
The Jews Killed Their Mouse
Perhaps Aksa-TV was getting too much flak for using a Mickey Mouse clone to teach children to “annihilate the Jews.” So they decided to take him off the air — but by having a...
Pride and Puissance
In the end, despite pleas to spare Judaism’s holiest city the shame of a spectacle celebrating the rejection of Judaism’s moral code, the “Gay Pride” parade took place as planned in Jerusalem. Had hundreds...
Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word
If a Jewish Rip Van Winkle (Rip van Finkle?) were to awaken today and read the papers, he would wonder if he had ever really been asleep. Names that were in the headlines when...
Habits Kill Hard
The savagery and brutality of the Hamas takeover of Gaza took some of us by surprise. We like to believe that even our bitter enemies are still human, and that in time, those benighted...
Bracing For the Battle
Let it be a matter of record. Responsible leadership took steps to prevent violence and chilul Hashem (desecration of G-d’s Name) associated with the protests of Thursday’s scheduled Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem. Degel...
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