Spaced Out
“Are we alone?” asked the oversized headline of a full page ad in the New York Times last Tuesday. “Now is the time to find out,” it answered itself. The open letter that followed...
Some Thoughts on the Post-Stabbings Ortho-Bashing
The Forward has published a column I wrote in response to two earlier ones in that periodical that blamed Orthodox Jews and teachings for the terrible crime in Yerushalayim last week. It can be...
J’Accuse. You Have Hurt Me, Lisa
Lisa, I am very disappointed and personally hurt by your words directed against me. You and I have communicated before. We are in agreement on many issues, and have always been amicable with regards...
Lion Hunting and Torah Teachings
Although we are now occupied with far weightier issues than a recent illegal lion hunt – issues such as the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, and acts of killing and assault by deranged/incredibly misguided zealots, along...
Bigotry Watch
First things first: I learned while preparing this that one of the victims of today’s stabbing in Jerusalem is unstable and in critical condition. Whoever he or she may be, and I hope we’ll...
What Azoulay Meant About Reform Jews
by Rabbi Pesach Lerner When Israel’s Minister of Religious Affairs, David Azoulay, recently appeared on Galei Zahal Radio to address Jewish conversion and religious standards in Israel, media and political figures picked up on...
Agudath Israel Statement on Jonathan Pollard Parole
With much joy and gratitude to Hashem, Agudath Israel of America warmly welcomes the announcement that Jonathan Pollard will be released on parole November 21, 2015. Agudath Israel has advocated over the course of...
An Open Letter To Rabbi Herzl Hefter
by Rabbi Nahum Spirn אֵיךְ נָפְלוּ גִבּוֹרִים – How the mighty have fallen. These words, spoken by King David in his eulogy for King Saul, seem to apply oh-all-too well to you, R’ Herzl....
Planned (Frum) Parenting
I do not think that I am a great parent; I do not know if I am even a good one. Nonetheless, even those of us whose accomplishments are mediocre or worse learn from...
Da’as Torah and the Holocaust
The idea that we have 20/20 hindsight is, in actuality, simply a myth. If hundreds of thousands had fled Europe, sacrificing their dedication to HaShem and His Torah, how do we know history would otherwise have stayed equal?