What Can be Done about these Canards?
I asked a group of American Yeshiva boys who were our Shabbat guests how they would respond to the accusation by Israel Prize laureate Professor Alice Shalvi that in Jewish marriage the woman is...
Proof: no tikkun olam without G-d
In his post, “The Hijacking of Tikkun Olam,” Yitzchok Adlerstein wrote, “Tradition always understood that any human attempt at effectively remedying the world is doomed to failure.” In response, reader Gershon Josephs asked, “I...
Here’s Our Chance
Note: Fellow C-C contributor Toby Katz e-mailed me to say she enjoyed my last post, but that some of its important points appear too far down for some Internet-age readers accustomed to skimming pieces...
Let My Scientists Go
Back on April 13, in the spirit, perhaps, of the Passover then just past, The New York Times editorialized about the need to “free” something from the “chains imposed” upon it. The sentence’s subject...
The Hijacking of Tikkun Olam
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg unwittingly committed felonious assault on proper usage when he explained his plan to reduce air pollution, including special fees for vehicles entering congested parts of Manhattan. “In my...
Stop the violence! Save the Reform rabbis!
In his post today, Rabbi Menken did not provide the definitive Orthodox statement that Rabbi Ellenson called for, but I will do so. First, here is part of the essay to which Rabbi Menken...
Thank You, Professor
Several weeks ago, a friend called with a request: would I respond in print to an essay appearing in that week’s Forward? I took a look at the piece in question and, sure enough,...
A woman’s choice — a chip on her shoulder or a baby snuggling in her arms?
In the current issue of TIME magazine (May 7) there’s a short piece with the headline, “For Women, Equal Pay? No Way.” The graphic shows a map of the US with each state labeled...
The Winograd Commission drops a bomb
The conduct of last summer’s war in Lebanon struck most observers as incoherent. Only after 32 days of fighting, and with the U.N. Security Council already scheduled to vote on a ceasefire resolution, did...
Winograd: Haaretz Supplies a Missing Piece
Submitted without comment. In today’s Haaretz. Avi Shavit is a well-respected Israeli commentator. A government without God By Ari Shavit On July 12, 2006, the Olmert government decided to go to war without understanding...