My Dirshu Story
Now that it’s “merely” three weeks since their annual Siyum (celebration upon completing a unit of Torah study), I ought to contribute a few words about the Dirshu organization. Dirshu (which is created and...
When Tzedek Isn’t: The Conservative Movement Finds a Cause
This article appears in the current issue (Winter 5772) of Dialogue Magazine. When a Jewish religious initiative captures the imagination and garners the admiration of as broad a swath of general and Jewish media...
Unplug Yourself
Could it be that the venerable New York Times actually imitates Mishpacha magazine? Could they possibly be taking their ideas from the Orthodox and using them as their own? Highly unlikely, but the facts...
The Frog and the Alter Rebbe
My first reaction was to enjoy the hilarity of it. After a few moments, I realized that it was an allegory about life – and perhaps even the existence of all things according to...
The Jewish Week and the Modern Orthodox
Those of us who read the Jewish Week of New York are certainly familiar with the controversy that has arisen over Gary Rosenblatt’s article three weeks ago strongly attacking Rabbi Aharon Bina, the Rosh...
Charedi Like Me
Back in 1961, a man named John Howard Griffin, a white native of Mansfield, Texas, published a remarkable book. “Black Like Me” was his account of six weeks of travel by bus across the...
Return to Basics: A Call to Revitalize R’ Hirsch’s Torah im Derech Eretz
by Daniel Adler [A Young Writer Submission] How is it that over the past few decades, Yeshivos all over the United States have produced students that are “un-Jewish” (to use a Hirschian phrase)? By...
Rabbi Grylak’s Argument Doesn’t Do It For Me
Moshe Grylak, Mishpacha’s editor-in-chief, holds an honorable position on my A list. He wisely knows the limits of his readers, but often strains against them to challenge them with new ideas. His piece in...
Haredim Are Not The Big, Bad Volf
Sometimes, you have to step out of the ring to get the best view of the fight. An article in The New Republic http://www.tnr.com/article/world/100135/tk-haredim is probably the most level-headed and balanced piece you are...
Open Season on Charedim — and Torah
One hopes that readers here are not part of the population that peruses tabloids like the New York Post. If they were, though, they would have seen a recent opinion piece that called Jews...