Masquerading As Feminism
On Purim, Jewish men, to varying degrees, imbibe strong drink, and Jewish women do their best to keep them safe and anchored in civilization. The holiday thus may not seem very female-centered. But it...
The Modern Orthodox Straw Man
By Avrohom Gordimer There are times when one must take a firm stand and stake out a principled position, or deal with what may be the nightmarish consequences of not standing strong. And there...
The Official Unofficial Response to the Unofficial Official Video
Who’s on first? I would score this as a victory for the team that batted second. It is thoroughly in good taste. It also, ironically, leaves no room for the genuine anti-charedi haters. It...
A Follow-Up to My Post on Gay Rights
The comments on my previous post on this subject make a number of useful points. In the aggregate, however, they do not deal with what I am getting at, namely that the gay rights...
The Rally Clip
[The clip has been removed from YouTube. Kudos to all those responsible, which includes those who realized how toxic the message was, and how counterproductive it was to the stated objectives of the atzeret...
Ultra-Cation
It was gratifying to see that a recent essay of mine in the Forward stimulated thoughtful responses. I had made the case for jettisoning the time-honored (if, to me, less than honorable) term “ultra-Orthodox.”...
The “Building” of Children Destroys
Reading the news of the “Million Man Atzeres,” that was the statement of our Sages that came to mind. “The ‘destruction’ of elders builds, [while] the ‘building’ of children destroys” [Megillah 31b]. The Yesh...
“A Next Step” – Round Two
[YA – Dr. Finkelman submitted a long comment that can best be handled by turning it into a post, with my bracketed reactions to him embedded.] A handful of initial responses. As for social...
Response To “A Next Step”
Chevra – Let’s try to address your concerns serially. The phenomenal growth of the Orthodox community hardly touches the issue of the korbanos we lost to the heterodox movements. While Orthodoxy grew, that growth...
