Announcement
Response to my proposed weekly by-subscription PDF offering, “An Observant Eye,” was sufficiently strong to justify my undertaking the project, and I’m happy to announce that the first issue will be e-mailed to subscribers,...
Can We Do Anything to Lessen the Hatred?
Already five years ago, a prominent American rosh yeshiva told me that we might be approaching the end of a miraculous period in which the secular Israeli government became the prime supporter of Torah...
The Coalition Plan For Charedim
The coalition government government’s plan for drafting charedim should give rise to some sighs of relief, and some guarded optimism. That is not likely to happen, because it is just not the way charedim...
Deconstructing Dayeinu
Much of our Seder-night message to our children, mediated by the Haggadah, is forthright and clear. Some of it, though, is subtle and stealthy. Like Dayeinu. On the surface, it is a simple song...
The Presidential Visit
With President Obama set to touch down in a few hours, it is understandable that much of the attention here is focused on how his arrival and subsequent moving around the city will paralyze...
A Note of Clarification
I have been asked how my recent establishment of a personal website comports with my often-voiced disdain for blogs that exist only to derogate others, spread loshon horah and rechilus, attack the Jewish mesorah...
It’s Not About Triumphalism
Here’s a synopsis of a Jewish dialogue that’s been going on for the past several decades: Non-Orthodox: You guys are headed for the dustbin of history. Your ossified vision of religion is dying out,...
Depth Learning: Response To A Commenter
A commenter wrote the following: Dovid2 also wrote the following: “Don’t tell the others also learn the same gemarot, Rambams, and Kethos. They just couldn’t hold the candle to the b’nei yeshiva of any...
Marketing 101
The Baltimore Jewish Times, which previously earned a bad name in the Orthodox community, is trying to rebuild under a new (Orthodox) managing editor, Maayan Jaffe. They have sent free copies to the community...
A Good Eye
One thing I was not prepared to find when I scanned the op-ed page of The New York Times this past Friday was reference to the perennial dilemma of what bracha, or blessing, to...