The Sages on Winograd
During the long summer months, Jews traditionally learn Pirkei Avos (Ethics of the Fathers) on Shabbos afternoon. The ancient text can be read this year as a commentary on the Winograd Commission interim report....
Acharei Mos and Jon Corzine
The Torah portion of Acharei Mos [Leviticus 16:1-18:30] begins with an unusual description of the time chosen by G-d to give a particular Commandment: “And G-d spoke to Moses after the death of the...
Notes From the Evangelical Underground
Well, not exactly underground. More like street-level. To be exact, the first floor of the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where the Jerusalem Prayer Banquet took place, and where I got to listen to and interact...
Of Slopes and Hopes
“Oh, come on!” the e-mail read, “What’s a few dead children on the altar of my liberal slippery-slope paranoia?” Gruesome as the imagery was, I had to smile. The message was intended as a...
Media Bias Gone Mad
In case you haven’t noticed, I am not a journalist. This is a blog, and I write opinion columns (on a good day). I wear my biases on my sleeve. But I still think...
What Jerry Falwell said about Jerusalem
Jerry Falwell died yesterday, and today is Yom Yerushalayim — the day that Jerusalem was reunified in 1967. We Jews live in a dangerous world, beset by enemies, and it behooves us to be...
Yerushalayim and the Chasam Sofer
Words will always fail those who can remember June 1967. Who can express the pride, the joy, the longing we felt as we watched the newsreels of awestruck Israeli soldiers at the Kotel, returned...
What Is Wrong With This Picture?
Watch this video at your own peril. It will be painful. You will see young, happy Israelis. They are exuberant, articulate, and full of confidence. They seem pretty clean-cut. No tattoos or piercings or...
Who Is That Masked Fundamentalist?
Question for the reader: Which well-known Jewish figure is the author of the following recently-penned lines? [T]here is no reason for a famous person who just happens to be Jewish to command special respect,...
Reform and anorexia: two op-ed pieces
Below, two articles juxtaposed. The connection needs no comment. Jonathan Schorsch in the Jerusalem Post (the writer teaches Jewish studies at Columbia University): “Shafran may think that the Orthodox merely reject ‘a thing, a...