Ed Koch and the Unanswered Question
He was as direct, forceful and iconoclastic in death as he was in life. Not halachically committed during his lifetime, he ensured that an entire world would understand that the core of his self-definition...
Past AJOP Recording
A year ago, my topic at an AJOP session, “The Top Ten Reasons Frum People Are Unhappy With Their Yiddishkeit” was considered mildly controversial. We went back and forth about whether it should be...
Allowing Women to Choose
Well-informed, they say, is well-prepared; and knowledge is power. An exception, though – at least in the judgment of some – seems to be when Jewish women in Israel are contemplating ending their pregnancies....
Liberman on Torah
“It’s not as complicated as Torah.” That’s Liberman, not Lieberman. Aaron, the basketball player at Northwestern who plays for a Division I team with kippah and tzitzis, and is spending lots of time learning...
A Community of Kindness
Every once in a while, you need a reminder that what we consider normal neighborly relations — isn’t. Rabbi Adlerstein posted about Jewish Chesed after Hurricane Sandy, two months ago. But here is an...
Yair Lapid at Kiryat Ono – The Transcript
[Editor’s note: An earlier post provided the video link to Yair Lapid’s presentation to the haredi law track at Kiryat Ono College. Realizing that many readers were eager to evaluate the message without investing...
Prisoners of Preconceptions
Even with protective cover from Senator Charles E. Schumer – as determined a defender of Israel as there ever was – and even speaking only for myself, I hesitate to address the overwrought reaction...
Two On The Election
Here are two items to think about, without getting too political. The first depicts a one person’s experience of Israel’s first elections after statehood, in 1949. It is arguably true that things were different...
Rime of the Modern Kiruv Mariner
Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink. Ein mayim elah Torah. The water that slakes the ultimate inner thirst is Torah. The...
Nesivos Shalom in English
With gratitude to HKBH, I announce the publication of an English-language treatment of Nesivos Shalom by the Slonimer Rebbe. Like my sefer on Maharal, this is not a strict translation, but a distillation and...