Purim in Contemporary Guise
“Since 1945, I was not as afraid as I am now. I am afraid because anti-Semitism, which I had thought belonged to the past, has somehow survived,” Eli Wiesel intones at the beginning of...
Trembling Before Rashi – Redux
By Shaul Gold [Editors’ note: We received a large volume of comments, which were held up in the queue until Rabbi Gold could pen a response to their general drift. We have still not...
Meat and Murder
I have an abiding appreciation of animals. My family has shared living space at one point or another over the years with: a small goat, a large iguana, a beautiful tarantula, an assortment of...
Purim and Polarization
Young Writers Submission by Daniel Weiss One of the claims that Haman leveled against the Jews was that they were “separate and scattered,” that they lacked togetherness. Of all the negative characteristics he could...
Rabbi Twerski’s Bombshell at AJOP
I’ve fallen terribly behind in offering our readership a report on the annual convention of the Association of Jewish Orthodox Programs (AJOP). I posted one piece on Rabbi Lowenbraun’s decision to test the feasibility...
Help an Agunah – Virtually
Tamar Epstein is an agunah with an impressive list of rabbinic supporters. Her ex, Aharon Friedman, has exhausted all his legal options, both in beis din and in secular court. The divorce has been...
Trembling Before Rashi
By Shaul Gold One of the defining moments in the development of my hashkafas hachaim (outlook on life) occurred during a Shiur Klali (weekly lecture) I attended as a talmid in Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim....
Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth, A Thankless Child Author
If The Atlantic’s Sandra Tsing Loh were to suddenly disappear, I would have less to rail against. Then again I would lose a favorite model of effective creative writing. I would also lose an...
The Frog and the Alter Rebbe
My first reaction was to enjoy the hilarity of it. After a few moments, I realized that it was an allegory about life – and perhaps even the existence of all things according to...
The Jewish Week and the Modern Orthodox
Those of us who read the Jewish Week of New York are certainly familiar with the controversy that has arisen over Gary Rosenblatt’s article three weeks ago strongly attacking Rabbi Aharon Bina, the Rosh...