Roman Rite Leads to Jewish Thought
Roman Catholic rituals aren’t usually even a small part of my family’s Shabbat table discussions but a recent Sabbath meal was an exception, granted in the spirit of revisiting an ever-timely Jewish concept. The...
Category: Religion
A Well-Trained Seal
The article below, reprinted with permission from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, was distributed by that news service to its subscribers. There is something ironic, to put it politely, about an effort championing ethics that...
Who Are We Kidding?
Among my other subscriptions, I am on the e-mail list of the World Jewish Daily, which collects news from various sources — in format, it’s probably most similar to the Drudge Report. Each day,...
Jewish Students Under Assault — Part III
In recent weeks, we have been contemplating the pressure and intimidation experienced by Jewish students on university campuses in North America from anti-Israel propaganda. In Part I, we discussed the diverse nature of the...
This Cellphone speaks Yiddish
In a surprising testament to the power of the Chassidic market, Partner Communications (Orange) is now offering a Yiddish cell phone. This is newsworthy for a host of reasons, especially considering that the distributor,...
Why Are Torah Jews So Happy?
Over the last five years, Gallup has interviewed hundreds of thousands of Americans about their lives. On the basis of those interviews, Gallup constructed a “well-being index.” Religious people typically ranked higher than secular,...
Pesach: the Gift of the Future
At the beginning of Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert speculates on the essential difference between human beings and animals. He conclusion: Only humans plan for the future. No animal ever delayed gratification...
Bad Translations Make Good Ad Copy
Several months ago, Rav Matisyahu Solomon shlit”a, mashgiach of Lakewood’s famed Beis Medrash Gavoha, denounced the advertising of Kupat Ha’ir as theft — convincing those in desperate situations that all they need to do...
Black Like Us
The Chasam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Sofer, 1762–1839) probably never saw a black person. There weren’t likely very many in 19th century central Europe. But he certainly knew they existed. After all, they are mentioned...
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