Checking Out… and Checking In
Dr. David Goodall is no longer with us. The 104-year-old scientist travelled to Switzerland from his home in Australia last week, weary of life and in a wheelchair, but not otherwise disabled or seriously...
Category: Judaism
Moving Commentary 7: Yom Haatzmaut
As Thursday evening gently prodded Yom Haatzmaut revelers to begin closing down, my day was just beginning. Radio stations in America were asking for local commentary, and in a few cases, I was elected....
Plane Talk
The Israel Airports Authority has rejected a billboard urging female airline passengers at Ben-Gurion Airport not to give up their seats to Orthodox men who don’t want to sit next to women. The billboard,...
Open Orthodoxy Update, Parshas Tazria-Metzora
If they did not mischaracterize themselves as Orthodox, none of this would be particularly newsworthy. We will be happy to stop publishing these updates, just as soon as they drop the word “Orthodox” from their name.
Chastened By a Midrash
I don’t find it terribly hard to be tolerant of others’ political points of view, even when they are far from my own. I try to be mindful of the fact that, as Chazal...
No “Enough” Here
Have you ever noticed the FedEx arrow? The next time you see one of the company’s trucks, look closely at the “Ex” part of it. In particular, at the white space between the two...
No, Mr. Lauder, Israel is not Descending into Theocracy
A piece I wrote for Forward about Ronald Lauder’s recent op-ed in the New York Times can be read here.
Open Orthodoxy Update, Parshas Tzav
Another update on the journey of Open Orthodoxy, and its universal rejection by every reputable Orthodox body.
Tone-Deaf Jewish Marketing
I began haphazardly collecting the advertisements a number of years ago. The first, which appeared at the end of Tammuz in a Jewish periodical, touted an eatery. It was apparently aimed at carnivores troubled...
Amusing, And, Then Again, Not So Much
You’d think it was a Purim joke. But, no, “Operation Schtickle Pioneer” is a thing. At least in one person’s mind. Did you know that a Jewish cabal is planning to make “large areas...
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