From the Mouths of Mexicans
I’ll call him Pedro; maybe it’s even his name. He seems to be a custodian of some sort for a shul – though I have no idea where it might be. He wears a...
ISO – A Request From Jewish Action Magazine
Bayla Sheva Brenner, Senior Writer at the OU’s Jewish Action Magazine (full disclosure: I’m on the editorial board) asked us to publicize this request. Here is your chance to get carried around to supermarkets...
An Open Letter to my Chaveirim
I am dismayed by the actions of a few of our fellow RIETS musmachim. Our chaveirim founded Open Orthodoxy and are ordaining women, defending the questioning of Torah MiSinai and mocking rabbinic traditionalists. What in the world is going on?
Weekly Digest – News and Essays In and Out of Orthodoxy
The Other Wailing Wall, The Palestinian One – The perspective of this article does not sit well with me, and, I am sure, with most Orthodox Jews. But it is important to be aware of...
Howling Hounds and Golden Calves
Whether or not they happen to own dogs, some politicians have an affinity for dog whistles, at least the political type. That term plays on the fact that dogs can hear frequencies inaudible to...
Defending the Traditional Beis Medrash Curriculum – at YU and Everywhere Else
Why can’t a yeshiva education be more utilitarian? After years of learning, with intense focus on abstract conceptualization and only minor focus on practical Halacha, talmidim emerge with apparently quite little to show. They have...
Pharoah and the Jews: a Case Study in Anti-Semitism
It’s possible to read the story of the Exodus repeatedly, yet fail to notice that the same lies that Pharoah told about the Jews over 3300 years ago are the same ones circulated today. If you think BDS is something new, or that there is a problem of “occupation,” it’s time to acknowledge the reality of hatred.
Weekly Digest – News and Essays In and Out of Orthodoxy
Will Orthodox Israelis’ revolt against the chief rabbinate spur a domino effect? – Frightening efforts to “take down the Chief Rabbinate”, orchestrated by a familiar cast of characters, many of whom have close ties with...
Blame Terrorists, Not Songs
Some politicians and pundits – including several writers in Haaretz – seem misguidedly intent on extending blame for Jewish terrorism across Orthodoxy, even to the charedi community and its Torah educational system. And several...
Prominence ≠ Importance
When President Obama called the recent U.S. military announcement that all combat roles will now be open to women a “historic step forward,” the image that came to mind was of someone marching resolutely...