Pain and Gain
Living lives of comfort and ease, it’s difficult for many of us to fulfill the direction of the first siman in the Shulchan Aruch to “be pained and distressed over the destruction of the...
A View From the Citizen Trenches
by Harvey Tannenbaum Shavua Tov to the world. I looked back at my clock which flashed back to 2002. We drove to Kiryat Arba for the PTA meeting at the Ulpana where our oldest...
Daven For the Asir Tziyon
Lt. Hadar Goldin’s chasuna is scheduled to take place before Rosh Hashanah. Daven for him. Hadar ben Chedva Leah. Daven for a quick end to the unimaginable pain of his parents and siblings. Daven...
Acts of Kindness, Great and Small
Over the past month and a half, the unity of the Jews of Israel has been overwhelming. No one would ever hope for the tragic events that have aroused feelings of closeness – the...
Who Believes in Mermaids?
According to the latest CNN poll, 57% of Americans think that Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip are fully justified, while 39% think that Israel’s actions are “too much.” One might interpret those...
Kerry Opens a Second Front
The two constants of the Obama administration’s foreign policy have both been on ample display in the efforts to force upon Israel a premature ceasefire to the fighting in Gaza. The first constant has...
A Different Minority Report on Israel
I get lots of correspondence, but a few paragraphs of something in my inbox today struck me as incisive and worthwhile sharing. It is doubly valuable in light of the opinion poll at the...
Worth a Read
Below are remarks by National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice to the National Jewish Leaders Assembly today (July 28) at the National Press Club in Washington. I thought they might be of interest to...
The Berditchiver in Gaza
I cannot reveal my source. All I can say is that it happened as he patrolled late at night in a Beit Hanoun street abandoned by its residents, walking a few paces ahead of...
Open Orthodoxy and the Rebirth of the Conservative Movement
by Avrohom Gordimer Cross-Currents readership is all too familiar with discussion about Open Orthodoxy; every nook and cranny of Open Orthodoxy could be explored with a critical eye through Cross-Currents’ numerous articles on the...