Anatomy of a Chumra Society
I owe a large debt of gratitude to Rabbi Karlinsky. The Karlinskys were my Shadchanim some twenty years ago, and it has worked out most satisfactorily. Consider that full disclosure preceding my unvarnished praise...
Category: Religion
Atticus and the Yomim Nora’im
The American 1960 classic “To Kill a Mockingbird” was in the news this summer, the result of the publication of an earlier version of it, a sequel in reality, that its author, Harper Lee,...
Ultra-Orthodox Ministers Are Some of Israel’s Best
That’s not my headline, it belongs to Ha’aretz. Yes, really! Ha’aretz columnist Gideon Levy is a member of the hard left — his most recent book is entitled The Punishment of Gaza. But in...
Different Problems Require Different Solutions
What more could we be doing to retain Orthodox youth, given common exposure to the Internet and other challenging environments?
Homosexuality and the Torah Community
It has been difficult for me to articulate a nuanced, “middle of the road” approach that does justice to the subject matter, proudly upholds Torah principles, and at the same time avoids writing that which will hurt the easily offended.
A Footnote on the Matisyahu Debacle
We all know what happened. Matisyahu was invited to the Rototom Sunsplash Reggae Festival. BDS Valencia pulled out the stops to ban the Jew. Rototom demanded that Matisyahu pass an ideological litmus test and...
The Non-Jewish AIPAC
My article on Christians United for Israel, CUFI, is the Ami Magazine cover story this week. We owe a tremendous amount of hakoras haTov to this community for their work supporting the Jewish community...
The Magical Disappearing Woman
It is always good when Cross-Currents reflects a diversity of opinions. I am, though, as troubled as Rabbi Gordimer by this discussion of, and condemnation of, a “trend” to “deny the existence” of women....
Double Take of a Photo Op – Pictures of Women in Orthodox Publications
If you are looking to avoid controversy, Cross-Currents is not the place for you. Continuing a recent trend of respectful internal dissent, I would like to comment ever so briefly on the issue of...
Be Alarmed
Back in 2007, at just about this exact time of year, a priest in the Netherlands city of Tilburg was fined the equivalent of several thousand dollars for ringing his church’s bells early each...
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