Lucky Loser
Contests aren’t really my thing. I don’t buy lottery tickets or wager on sports (or, for that matter, even know much about them; until recently I thought Miami Heat was, well, a straightforward description,...
Category: Judaism
The Wisdom of a Classic Shul Rov
I couldn’t resist sharing this wonderful reminiscence of a father by his son. Rabbi Saul Berman penned this recently upon the occassion of his father’s,z”l,34th yahrzeit. It is published with permission of the author....
Something Fishy About Anisakis?
The current halachic rage – the status of fish known to host worms – presents two layers of fascination to me. From the very beginning, I recognized that how you generally understand the intersection...
Artscroll Shas at More Than Half Off
My son Peysi submitted this tidbit. It was a one day deal – but Borders has run it before, and may very well run it again. The entire Shas can be purchased for $1369....
Bias Has Consequences
According to a new book from a Professor at UCLA, the media’s left-wing bias is so overwhelming and pervasive that the few balanced news outlets appear to have a conservative slant. “It’s like concluding...
Has Anyone Found Bugs in Nori?
Zev is a friend of mine who works in Kashrus. We had the following IM exchange this morning: (11:01:26 AM) zev: have you ever found any bugs or crustaceans in the nori sheets you...
Finding a Mussar Mentor
Recently, I rejoined a morning shiur that I had attended for many years. The primary attraction was that the shiur had just started Mesillas Yesharim [Path of the Just] for the mussar [ethics] segment....
The Decline of Particularism: Fatal Flaw For Jewish Survival
We should not sound triumphal in pointing to the fatal flaw in Daniel Gordis’ important, powerful, and incisive article mourning the abandonment of Israel by young rabbinical students. His error is more excusable and...
Only in Israel
We have something in Israel that I think exists no where else in the world. It is Hebrew Book Week. Instituted in 1926 in Tel Aviv, today it has grown to dozens of open-air...
Why Bother Debating?
Two weeks ago, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion for a group of post-university students from the U.S. and Canada who are contemplating aliyah. The topic was “State and Religion in...
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