“Israel’s Olympic Shame.” So read the heading of an article by an Israeli columnist. My heart sank, fearful that some terrible scandal involving Israeli Olympic athletes had surfaced. What could it be? Attempted bribery...
A monastery in Israel is desecrated, almost certainly by nationalist extremists. The Catholic Church turns the heat on whom? Haredim! Sadly, however, I can’t be as critical of the finger-pointers as I would like...
The noise, news, deception and demagoguery that emanate from political conventions tend to intoxicate some Americans to break out their own flags and flyers and root loudly for their guy (and against the other...
It was a moment that was, shall we say, biblical. G-d had made it back into the Democratic platform, in a way that would have pleased the ancient prophets. The day before, the platform...
Three weeks ago, I wrote about the natural human tendency to avoid exposure to ideas or facts that will challenge one’s own world view. Not every refusal to expose oneself to threatening ideas signifies...
The post a week ago called “A Question of Aliya” evoked a substantial response, all of it to the point. If there is a need for further comment on my part, it is limited...
In his editorial last week, Ami’s editor Rabbi Yitzchok Frankfurter raised an important point about religious Jews’ presidential election priorities. An interview he conducted earlier this summer included assertions about President Obama that, were...
I am writing this from Israel near the end of perhaps my one-hundredth trip. The first was in 1959. As a rule, I am here three times a year. We have an apartment in...
Rabbi Meir Soloveichik’s invocation this evening at the Republican National Convention masterfully and elegantly highlighted themes and values that resonate with both Torah Jews and with a probable majority of Americans. In a brief...
Like pretty much all publicity, the heavy reportage of the Siyum HaShas at MetLife Stadium earlier this month was something of a two-edged sword. Over the weeks since the Siyum, awareness of the event...
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