Signs of the Times
After Corporal Gilad Shalit was taken captive, a small notice appeared in our Jerusalem synagogue. Above Shalit’s Hebrew name, Gilad ben Aviva, was a hand –lettered request to recite Psalms and to pray for...
Category: Jewish World
Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Three Weeks
Sadness, anger, worry, frustration – which committed Jew did not feel these reactions surge within as we listened to today’s events? Their arrival on the doorstep of the Three Weeks added an unsettling dimension...
Feeling Pain
A persistent symbol of the Jewish people, according to Chazal, is the lamb. It is so delicate and sensitive, our Sages say, that if you inflict pain anywhere upon it, its entire body quivers....
Thanks, President Katzav
Kudos are due to President Moshe Katsav for refusing to address Eric Yoffie, head of the American Reform movement, by the title “Rav.” Katsav’s refusal can only be explained as an act of conscience....
Off the Derech: Are We Retaining Our Youth?
Yesterday, at the end of a post criticizing Yossi Beilin’s call for new methods to “enable non-religious non-Jews to become non-religious Jews,” I made the following closing remarks: Like many others, Beilin has forgotten...
The Media Gets it Right
The above cartoon makes me feel that Israel’s conduct against the terrorist government of the PA — and davka (specifically) Israel’s intransigence about negotiating for the release of Gilad Shalit, Gilad ben Aviva —...
Engaging the Orthodox
Rabbi David Eliezrie has an opinion piece in this week’s Forward — Bring Orthodox to Communal Table. As he points out, it’s a two-way street. The “mainstream” Jewish organizations are slow to reach out...
Yisrael Valis: The Police Lied — Anyone Surprised?
This comment, from my friend Moshe, is far too important to remain in the comment thread. Those fluent in Hebrew can follow the link and read the transcript excerpts for themselves… OK: I don’t...
Katzav and Yoffie… Just What We Didn’t Need
[CORRECTION: Please see the comment from Yisrael below. President Katzav only refuses to refer to non-Orthodox clergy as Rav in Hebrew. As per my statements below, calling them Rav would be entirely inappropriate. I...
Fair Treatment of the Lakewood Internet Ban
Saturday’s Washington Post has (via the Religion News Service) an article from the NJ Star-Ledger, Edict turns many Jews in Lakewood into library regulars. A possible subtitle of the article is “blogs don’t represent...
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