Category: Israel

An Assault on Israel and Orthodox Jews

The following is a Hamodia editorial: World Jewish Congress president Ronald S. Lauder’s impressive philanthropy, including support for institutions that educate Jews overseas about their religious heritage, make his recent public pronouncements about Israel...

Letter in the New York Times

The letter below  was published in the New York Times on Shabbos: To the Editor: In his essay “Israel, This Is Not Who We Are” (Op-Ed, Aug. 14), Ronald S. Lauder sees the Israeli...

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The Nation-State Law is Not the Problem

To create Palestine, Arabs revived a word used by Roman barbarians, a flag from the Arab Revolt, and a map from Israel. The Palestinian Authority not only refuses to guarantee the safety of a Jew who enters its territory, whether Israeli or otherwise, but it also pays the families of terrorists.

Muslim-Jewish Alliances

An article of mine about alliances of Muslims and Orthodox Jews, both in Israel and in the U.S. appears at Forward, and can be read here.

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Open Orthodoxy Update, Parshas Devarim

Yeshivat Chovevei Torah’s enrollment continues to decline. There were 49 students during the 2014-15 academic year. This number has now dropped to 21. In addition, none of their most recent graduates (of which there...

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Racism or Halakha? An Analysis of the Barkan Controversy

The Eidah would have requested the same of any employee, regardless of skin color, whose Jewish status required further investigation in the view of its rabbis. Conversely, if an Ethiopian converted with the rabbinical court of the Eidah Ha-Hareidit, the Badatz would have absolutely no hesitation whatsoever about his or her handling wine.

Klal Yisrael Matters

A “scandalous letter” in the files of Israel’s official rabbinate “reflects ignorance,” delivers “a severe blow” to Israel’s relations with Diaspora Jewry and “abandons the religious system in Israel to haredi hands.” Thus spake...

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Not Your Bubbe’s HUC

The first ordination banquet of the Hebrew Union College of Reform Judaism did not go smoothly. A group of invited rabbis opened their menus, realized that the first course was to be little-neck clams, and immediately left. Fast forward 125 years, and once again the abandonment of Jewish values was too profound for some of those invited to bear.

The Israeli Rabbinate’s New Standards

An article I wrote for Haaretz about Israel’s official rabbinate “blacklisting”  some American rabbis, disallowing their vouching for people’s Jewish credentials can be read here.   Even if you’re not a Haaretz subscriber or registrant, if...

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