Living Under the Reign of Antiochus: A Response to Dr. Aaron Koller
Dr. Koller asserts that the Biblical story of Purim was not a miracle and was instead the product of wise maneuvering through a lucky set of circumstances.
Category: Judaism
Fear, Loathing and Orthodox Opportunity
Question: What’s the difference between American Jewish leaders and Donald Trump? Answer: Trump will have Jewish grandchildren. Ouch. Pithily makes the point, doesn’t it? Reminds them who the real Jews are! Really draws the...
Ripe Citrons and Ruby Slippers
On the first day of Sukkos, after tens of thousands of Jews had paid princely sums for flawless specimens of a particular citrus fruit, payments were made by others, too, for a very different...
Ivanka Trump Got Me Thinking about Shabbat
Several statements by Ivanka Trump stimulated me to rethink my own Shabbat observance. The 35-year-old daughter of US president elect Donald Trump converted to Judaism seven years ago. She said that she and her...
The Western Wall Compromise, and Compromised Commitment to Torah
There are compromises that are made in order to securely retain that which is most essential. Such is a pragmatic compromise, and it is manifest by armistice agreements between nations, contract negotiations between employer...
Kotel Krusade
An op-ed of mine about the recent disruption at the Kotel engineered by non-Orthodox Jewish clergy and an Israeli feminist group appeared in Haaretz. It can be read at: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.750731?=&ts=_1478444374594
Election Frenzy
Whichever political candidate you support, you should be able to do so without ad hominem attacks and demonization of all who disagree. That kind of level judgment seems to be in short supply in this election.
Finally, a Real Election (Well, Sort Of)
This article first appeared in Times of Israel. As we know, voters are sick and tired of the “schmutz” (filth) of the present US election. Whereas most of the recent negative personal publicity had...
No, Rabbi Cardozo, the Torah is Not Flawed
This article first appeared in Times of Israel. Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo’s The deliberately flawed divine Torah is by far the most problematic article yet by this writer. Whereas Rabbi Cardozo has written that he...
How Others See Us: Certainty and Doubt
Perhaps because of the work I do with non-Jewish communities, I find myself constantly getting a boost from the observations of religious Gentiles about authentic Judaism. A recent exchange seemed too good not to...
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