Is There a Way to Deal with Gay Rights?
The Times Book Review of this past Sunday has a terrific piece by Fareed Zakaria on George F. Kennan’s diaries. In 1994, when Kennan was ninety, he noted America’s “pathological preoccupation with sex and...
On the making of Constitutional Arrangements
by Raphael Davidovich In the latest attempt to quell the ongoing culture wars in Israel, Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni last year gave Law Professor Ruth Gavison a formidable task. Gavison was asked to...
The Anarchy Option
My interest in the recently concluded Winter Olympics in Sochi was roughly equivalent to my interest in the recently concluded International Kennel Club dog show in Chicago. Which is to say, nil. But a...
Minyanim and Meta-Halacha
The article below appeared in Haaretz earlier this week, under the title “Partnership minyan is an innovation too far.” It is reproduced here with Haaretz’s permission. What educators call a “teaching moment” is presented...
What the ASA’s Boycott Taught (Reminded) Me
by Rabbi Akiva Males In the closing months of 2013, the American Studies Association (ASA) voted to boycott Israeli universities. This move is part of a much larger effort in the ongoing Boycott, Divestment,...
Reb Meir Schuster zt”l
I have to add a few words of personal appreciation for Rabbi Schuster zt”l… just because I don’t know where I would be if not for his influence in my life. By the time...
Rav Meir Schuster: The Man at The Wall, zt”l
by Bracha Goetz It was almost time for Shabbos. There were a number of things I still needed to do, but it was hard for me to stop reading the stories that were just...
The Devil’s In The Daydreams
One would be forgiven, especially were one an optimist, for imagining that recent reports of the government of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s donation of $400,000 to a Teheran Jewish hospital might signal something positive...
Reb Meir Schuster zt”l – An Appreciation
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com It is a sad day for the Torah world because of the loss of this great, great man. Rav Meir Schuster zatzal passed away today after a debilitating...
On Cancer, Satmar, and Make Up
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tJt.com Recently, Yeshiva World News reported that one of the Rebbes of Satmar has been reporting an increase in cancer in his community rachmana litzlan. While no one can...