Envy Isn’t Jewish
The Western Wall in Jerusalem could (and should) be a place of Jewish unity; instead, it has become for some a target of envy. How much more good would these American leaders do, were they to not increase jealousy but reduce it?
Category: Judaism
Not Just Jerusalem: Why America’s Rabbis Voted Trump and Don’t Regret It
Western civilization depends upon choosing biblical values over those of Greeks, Romans, Huns, and Visigoths. This is not a political posture, but reference to our moral foundation.
Body and Soul
It sounds like a story about the fictional Chelm. The town philosopher sagely informs his fellow citizens that he has no face. He can’t perceive it directly, he points out, and besides, as anyone...
Reform’s Celebration of Lawlessness
No one was “roughed up” due to being a Reform Jew, much as saying so delighted anti-Semitic bigots around the globe. Whatever violence transpired was directly attributable to the behavior of Rabbi Davidson and his colleagues.
Truth Is Attractive
It wasn’t a phone call the head of the Union for Reform Judaism ever wanted to get. Taglit-Birthright was calling, with bad news. In the U.S., the “Taglit” (“discovery”) part of the name of...
Veiter Simchos
My brother, a rebbe in Yeshivas Ner Yisroel’s Mechina high school, and his wife, the daughter of the legendary Menahel Rav Yosef Tendler, z”l,were recently blessed with two new grandsons. Both were named Simcha...
Agudath Israel of America: “Jewish Pluralism” Undermines True Jewish Unity
In advance of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin’s address to the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly, that group passed a resolution on “Jewish pluralism” in Israel, opposing a bill to enshrine a single...
Controversies
Going once, going twice….On Nov.9 an unusual auction will be held in Manhattan, at the Kestenbaum auction house. Today, Wednesday Nov.8 (19bHeshvan) is the last chance to see the pre-auction exhibit of the most...
The Pitfall of “Orthopraxy”
Amid the abundance of good Jewish writing these days, it would be a challenge to declare any single article particularly outstanding. But a remarkable recently published essay merits such a distinction. And it was...
The OU’s “Woman Clergy” Challenge
An article of mine about the Orthodox Union’s quandary over how to deal with member-congregations with women clergy can be read here.
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