The Virtues of Ham-Handed Moderation
As you’ve probably noticed, Cross-Currents has been very active these days. More content from a wider variety of writers, touching on some of the most timely issues of today, means more traffic — and...
Purim: Respecting the Limits
Avrohom Gordimer The final hours of my Purim this year were utterly ruined by several incidents of irresponsible drinking. It is time that our communities aggressively tackle this most serious matter head-on. No, I...
An Atzeres Tefillah
It is with good reason that the huge gathering in response to the Shaked Committee Report was styled as an atzeres tefillah (a prayer gathering), and not as a protest. Even in moments of...
Our Soulless Society
Back in 2005, The New York Times asked a number of contemporary thinkers what idea that is taken for granted these days they think will disappear “in the next 35 years.” Professor Peter Singer,...
Pondering the Prayer Gathering
The article below appeared last week, on March 11, in Haaretz. It is republished here with that paper’s permission. The weather in Manhattan on Sunday – a few degrees above freezing – wasn’t as...
Best Purim Gragger Ever
Post by 0404. [Very unfortunate update and postscript. Hat tip to Chaim Saiman]
Purim Torah
If one were trying to prove to the Chareidi community that the new draft bill is not an attempt at coercive social engineering, that it is not motivated by a desire to change Chareidi...
The Beit Shemesh Elections – One Chareidi Perspective
by Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld It seemed to us, the residents of Beit Shemesh, as if the whole world stood still to follow the elections. Politicians from Netanyahu on down all made statements and took...
A Response to Rabbi Slifkin
Last week, I penned an article articulating why there was a gathering in Manhattan of 50,000 Torah observant Jews who do not wish to see Yeshiva students forcibly drafted into the army. The gathering...
Living in Chutz LaAretz and the IDF – A Halachic Overview and Proposal
by Doron Beckerman My analysis of this issue will be short and succinct, for a reason. If one considers Israel’s current situation to be active milchemes mitzvah, one who lives in chutz la’aretz and...