Conversion: A Look From the Inside
Comments to Rabbi Shafran’s recent piece were so wildly all over the place, that I thought a few thoughts from someone who sits on a regular beis din (one of the few entirely accepted...
Category: Judaism
The Most Annoying Phrases
A while ago, a feature article published on the website of the UK Telegraph newspaper asked, ‘what is the most annoying phrase in the English language?’ Suggestions included ‘chill out’ and the replacement of...
The law is an ass
The term “collective punishment” conjures up images of Nazis executing entire villages in retaliation for a partisan ambush. No wonder Jews are acutely sensitive to charges of imposing collective punishment or targeting civilians. And...
Nothing nice to say about charedim?
Any attempt at candor about problems within the charedi community seems to open a can of worms. Few indeed — even among Orthodox Jews — are the people who can see how overwhelmingly the...
Charedi hooligans
R’ Rosenblum made a passing reference in his post, “The Choice is Ours,” to the juvenile delinquents who plague some of our beautiful charedi communities. Although I admire his soul-searching candor, I take issue...
Odds and Ends
1) When Mishpacha published last week’s post “On Making Money” they wisely decided to edit out most of the lawyer jokes. I considered doing the same, and unwisely decided that given that I am...
The choice is ours
Shortly after Shavuos, the Jerusalem Post published an op-ed “Two windows on hareidim.” The piece began promisingly enough, as the author described walking with his 11-year-old daughter to the Kotel for the first time...
‘G.I. Jew’ mourned in South Florida
NORTH LAUDERDALE, Fla. (JTA) – The Army had big plans for Daniel Agami when he returned from Iraq. “They were going to use his talents and center an advertising campaign around him as an...
The Reincarnation of Father Coughlin
Father Charles Coughlin may have been the father of radio demagoguery in the US, cozying up to Hitler in the ‘30’s, and arguing along with Charles Lindbergh for American isolationism. Almost thirty years after...
People,Population,Policy,Planning,Palaver
25 bTammuz The future of the Jewish people is in copper mirrors! That is what I would tell several dozen world Jewish leaders who are convening right now in Jerusalem in order to figure...
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