Parshas Re’ei – Non-Prophet
“Can’t you jus’ see ‘im walkin’ on that water?” an elderly lady with a large hat, standing next to me on the foredeck of the Staten Island ferry and holding a bible, once asked...
Living Israel
So many choice tidbits from daily life here. Hard to resist sharing them from time to time. Here are two from the last few days. Hopefully, there will be more. My wife’s Pilates instructor...
Parshas Eikev – Mandate and Magnificence
Carl Sagan once observed that “If you wish to make apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” There was a long period of history when the idea that the universe had...
A Compelling Contrast
Since my Ami column this week, “A Compelling Contrast,” has a Tisha B’Av theme, I am offering a link to it today. It can be read here.
Devarim – Starry, Starry Night
It’s rare for city dwellers to truly see the night sky. Only once, many years ago, driving on a moonless night in West Virginia, did I fully perceive the vast number of stars –...
Parshas Mas’ei – A Historic Killing’s Echo
One of the most – if not the most – confounding laws in the Torah is that of the go’el hadam, the relative of someone who was accidentally killed, who is permitted (in some...
Pinchas – Self Changes Everything
The law of kana’im pog’im bo – “the zealous ones can attack him” – that Pinchas acted upon to dispatch Zimri and Kozbi is a highly unusual, if not singular, one: If one poses...
Cheerleading Rarely Helps
Rabbi Michael J. Broyde Dear Rabbi Adlerstein, There is so much truth in your open letter. Thank you for writing it. Like you, I am grateful for our friendship and the ability to be...
Google Sanitizing Anne Frank’s Diary
June 25, 1947 was a significant day for Jews. So significant that the 75th Anniversary of that day was highlighted by the Google search engine with Google Doodles “Honoring Anne Frank.” June 25 was...
The Demise of Roe v. Wade: A Letter to Rabbi Michael Broyde
Dear Reb Michael, Congratulations on the excellent piece in Lehrhaus. It’s perhaps the best piece that I have seen on the subject. Not that I agree with everything you wrote, but that is not...
