Letter to the Editor of the NY Jewish Week
Below is the text of a self-explanatory letter to the editor of the New York Jewish Week; it is published in this week’s issue of that paper. December 21, 2013 Editor: Rori Picker Neiss...
Category: Religion
The Fact of the Matter
Several weeks ago, my wife and I had the pleasure of visiting Detroit (well, Oak Park, a suburb, and a solvent one), where two of our daughters and their husbands and their children live....
Opening a Dialogue
When the Rosh Yeshiva of Ner Yisrael, Rav Aharon Feldman shlit”a, called to offer me a review copy of the journal Dialogue, there could only be one answer, of course. But having read it,...
Why the Radical Politics of WoW’s Leaders Matter
Is it merely a coincidence that so many of Women of the Wall’s leaders have numerous close associations with radical, anti-Israel groups? Or could it be that WoW is a useful vehicle for advancing...
So, You Thought It Would Never Happen?
A private business owner in Seattle has been told that he will face fines and penalties if he refuses to bake “wedding” cakes for deviant couples in violation of his religious faith. If it’s...
Seeing Privilege As A Pain
Sometimes a first-person account is just so sad you could cry. And when the writer seems oblivious to the sadness, well, then it’s sadder still. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency recently offered a piece written...
In Those Days, In This Time
The following essay was written for Haaretz and appeared on its website recently under a different title. I share it here with that paper’s permission. There’s a striking irony in the fact that Chanukah...
The Rabbi has no Robes
Earlier this year, I wrote about how easy it now is to become a Reform or Conservative Rabbi, with the advent of $8000 online ordination. An enterprising woman from Detroit has managed to take...
Seeding the Right Cloud
Following the time-honored if somewhat irritating tradition of speechmakers who begin by announcing that they are departing from the scheduled topic, I informed those present that instead of focusing on the media’s coverage of...
Federated Blindness
So the Jewish Federations of North America, the massive collected financial might of America’s leading Jewish donors, has left Jerusalem. Their General Assembly only meets in Jerusalem once every five years, so this was...
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