Insight Into a Perfidious Mind
Richard Goldstone condemned 28 black people to death while serving as a judge in apartheid South Africa, according to Yediot Achronot (as cited by the Jerusalem Post). We could have expected a denial. He...
The Goals of Kiruv – a View From the Past
What are the goals of kiruv? What kind of change should offer the mekarev some sense of accomplishment? I remember debates about this years ago at AJOP conventions, where kiruv professionals gathered for chizuk...
UK street preacher jailed for saying homosexuality is a sin
From the Daily Telegraph: Dale McAlpine was charged with causing “harassment, alarm or distress” after a homosexual police community support officer (PCSO) overheard him reciting a number of “sins” referred to in the Bible,...
The Triumphalism Meme and Its Uses
Amidst all the controversy that Rabbi Landesman’s recent post sparked, one particular statement of his failed to receive the attention it deserves. He wrote that he is “deeply concerned by the chareidi triumphalism often...
Thinking Jewishly
A few years back, I spent two or three hours in the Boeing Museum of Flight in Seattle. It wasn’t enough. The story told there cannot help fill one with awe. The fantasy of...
Torah Always Matters
This was not an easy blogging week. The issue of women’s ordination brought some sharp divisions within the community into focus, including fundamentally different conceptions of halachic process and authority. Surprisingly, the most jarring...
The Day the RCA Became Agudah
Not in the way you think. This is written in praise of the RCA, not to score points for Agudah. (I wouldn’t take sides – I have a high regard for, and work with,...
The RCA Resolves Against Ordaining Women
From the press release: In light of the opportunity created by advanced women’s learning, the Rabbinical Council of America encourages a diversity of halakhically and communally appropriate professional opportunities for learned, committed women, in...
Let’s Not Institutionalize Mediocrity
[This post is a response to a comment by Dr Meir Shinnar to a previous post.] No, no, a thousand times no. We do not misunderstand. And we do not challenge the fact that...
How to Produce Quality Wine in Israel
When the first bottle of Rothschild’s Rishon Le-Tzion wine was brought to the Netziv by courier, he was more than happy to receive it – but he refused to taste of it. First, he...