Meet the New Chief Rabbi
by Steven Pruzansky [Editor’s note: I came across a short “insider” bio of Rabbi David Lau, who was elected earlier today as the next Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi. Rabbi Pruzansky wrote it two weeks ago,...
Is Heresy Horrible?
Heresy, to many Orthodox Jews, is what Trayvon Martin is to some black Americans: something that stirs up fears and concerns that they would rather not think about. The very mention of the word...
The Truth About Trayvon
Could there possibly be anything else to say about the George Zimmerman trial that hasn’t already been said? After all, the supporters of Mr. Zimmerman, who killed teenager Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida last...
Torah Min-Hashamayim: A Reply to Rabbi Nati Helfgot
Avrohom Gordimer Last week’s Cross-Currents article, From Openness to Heresy, which featured what were for many readers some quite alarming and startling statements by R. Zev Farber about the authorship of the Torah, has...
From Openness to Heresy
By Avrohom Gordimer Outright heresy is emanating from the heart of the YCT rabbinic world. No, this time we are not dealing with Open Orthodoxy (as YCT founder Rabbi Avi Weiss refers to his...
A Tisha B’Av Message, Penned in Pain and in Hope
We write in anguish and frustration, responding to the images that we have seen, and the words that we have heard in recent days. We have heard the Kol Yaakov (voice of Jacob) used...
Missing the Joke — and the Message
The lack of a sense of humor may not totally disqualify one from being a good teacher, but in, as they say, my humble opinion, it comes close. I had recent occasion to watch...
The Yeshivish Brand
by Yaakov Rosenblatt It was not my finest hour. Looking back, it was one of my worst. My wife and I moved from Lakewood, NJ to Dallas, TX to join a Kollel in February,...
Mood Poetry For the Three Weeks
by Yossi Huttler [Editor’s note: I am once again going to indulge my weakness for the poetry of Yossi Huttler. It is hard to get through Kinos without mourning for the lost art of...
A Modest Jewish Proposal
A reporter recently asked me whether I thought Jewish women could be experts in Jewish law. “Of course,” I responded without hesitation. The journalist was one of the horde of heralds who practically fell...