Another pre-Yom Tov Response
A last minute contribution to the back & forth on both abortion and LGBTQ issues.
Category: Morality
Sorry, Liberal Jewish Leaders – Judaism Is Not Pro-Abortion
The new anti-abortion law in Texas has now become the target not only of the Justice Department, but of non-Orthodox and pseudo-Orthodox Jewish clergy and lay leadership as well. The executive director of JOFA...
Parshas Ki Seitzei – We’re All the “Beautiful Woman”
It’s edifying to compare the larger world’s celebrations of its various New Years and the Jewish celebration of Rosh Hashanah. The former is characterized by revelry, drunkenness and, hat tip to Auld Lang Syne,...
Parshas Balak – Invitation to Murder
Were a donkey to suddenly develop the power of speech and address me, I would, I’m quite sure, be flabbergasted. Faced with just such an asinine address, though, Bil’am isn’t struck silent and doesn’t...
Parshas Emor – Embracing Our Worlds
A strange and strangely familiar phrase is found in Rashi, commenting on the Torah’s introduction of the account of the mekalel, the blasphemer, with “And he went out” (Vayikra, 24:10) Rashi, quoting Rabi Levi...
Parshas Tazria – Pity the Habitual Accuser
It’s bad enough that the person whose divisive sins caused him to contract tzora’as (a physical condition conferring tum’ah and sometimes mistakenly identified with leprosy) has to sit apart from society, but he is...
Parshas Shemini – And That Could Make All the Difference
Even those of us with limited exposure to farm animals can easily differentiate between a cow and a donkey. Which leads Rashi to explain that when the Torah refers to our need to differentiate...
Parshas Vayakhel – Not All Donations Welcome
Sometimes money amassed through questionable means is donated to good causes like charities or educational institutions. Perhaps the donors’ subconscious, or even conscious, intent is to somehow render their ill-gotten gains “kosher” in some...
NBC-Think about the Equality Act
A column I wrote for NBC-Think about the Equality Act, a piece of legislation that could have dire consequences for religious institutions, can be read here.
Of Idols and Ideals – parshas Ki Sisa
Describing our ancestors’ worshipping of the egel hazahav, the golden calf, the Torah relates that “Early next day, the people offered up olos [burnt offerings] and shelamim [peace sacrifices], they sat down to eat...
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