From The Mouths of Secularists
“…To this very day, if you ask for my religion, I say ‘Orthodox Hebrew’ – in the sense that the church [sic] I’m not attending is that one. If I were to go to...
Category: Jewish World
Defining Deviancy Down
With Dad’s advice and encouragement, and young man introduced himself as a stand-up comic — and then proceeded to deliver a series of truly filthy jokes… while wearing a kipah. How should we respond to this?
How Prayer Can #BringBackOurBoys
Two recent articles have sought to demean the concept of tefilla at times of crisis like the present one. A response to the critics that I wrote for the Forward can be read here.
A Prediction Fulfilled — Sadly
Exactly one year ago, in a piece entitled “Yair Lapid Sets Back the Clock,” I predicted that Yair Lapid and his Yesh Atid party would reverse a decade-long trend toward greater chareidi integration in...
A (for now) Final Post About Jewish Authority
I received much feedback concerning a piece I posted here several weeks ago (here) and a follow-up on my personal website (here), about second-guessing or disparaging the decisions of Jewish religious leaders. A pertinent...
Guess Who Came to Dinner?
Did a Frothing Press Help Serve the Truth? According to those in the know, Mayor Bill de Blasio was to have delivered his greetings and departed with his press entourage before the Novominsker Rebbe,...
Of Peoples… and People
Commuting to and from Manhattan daily on the Staten Island Ferry brings me into the vicinity of many a tourist. The boat sometimes resembles a United Nations General Assembly debate, without the translators. When...
An Evil Report
My D’var Torah this week made a rare crossover into current events, in a way that I thought appropriate for Cross-Currents. In this week’s reading we learn about the spies sent to look at...
Dangerous and Defective Products
It isn’t every year that news reports about Agudath Israel of America’s annual dinner make the pages of media like the Forward or The New York Times. This, however, was one such year. The...
Letter in June 5 Wall St. Journal
Shmuly Yanklowitz (“Why This Rabbi Is Swearing Off Kosher Meat,” Houses of Worship, May 30) is entitled to swear off meat if he chooses, but not to pass off his reasons for doing so...
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