Defining Pro-Israel
In an election season, every candidate needs to appear pro-Israel — especially the Democratic candidates most beholden to Jewish donors in order to get elected. Snide words from a politically conservative Jew? Not really....
Patriotism Still Matters
New York Times columnist David Brooks made a trenchant observation last week concerning John McCain’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate: McCain represents more an attitude than he does a...
Tragedy on the Lake
Boruch Hashem, they found the body a short while ago. Tranquil water, clear blue skies, and clean air, all but an hour’s drive from Los Angeles. The beauty of the place clashed so ironically...
Statues in Montreux
A few days ago, I visited Montreux, a small Swiss town by Lake Geneva. It is picturesque, temperate, and while there are plenty of tourist shops, parts of the town are pretty up-market. It...
A.B. Yehoshua’s Lamentable Lament
It was both ironic and appropriate that The Guardian chose Tisha B’av to publish Israeli literary icon A B Yehoshua’s examination of corruption in the Jewish State. Yehoshua’s lament underscores not only the problems...
Lessons from the grave
Never have the boundaries between the private and public been so blurred. Agonizing deaths from cancer used to occur off-stage. No longer. In some cases, at least, that blurring of lines has been salutary....
Making Room for Hashem
Writing columns must be one of the easiest jobs in the world (though like most easy jobs it is not terribly remunerative). All one has to do is keep one’s ears open and, in...
Handmaiden of Spirituality
Nothing puts some scientists in a good mood like finding evidence that, at least to their minds, diminishes man’s unique qualities or standing in the universe. Discovering human-like tendencies in the great apes or...
What’s that for? Musar from a three-year-old
I am enjoying the privilege of holidaying with my family in the French Alps, so I am far from a minyan. While my children rarely see me davening, especially wearing tefillin, this morning my...
Israel’s greatest untapped source of brainpower
Education Minister Yuli Tamir became an unlikely haredi hero recently when she defended the Knesset vote to anchor in law funding of yeshivot ketanot (for young men aged 14 to 16) at 60 percent...