Reb Lazer Elya’s Eyes
Reb Lazer Elya Der Melamed (“the cheder teacher”) was born in the late 1850s, lived in Ostrolenka, Poland, and died shortly before the Germans invaded in 1939. I arrived in this world about a...
The Volume That Speaks Volumes
What could be the connection between intensified Israeli media incitement against haredim and the appearance of a new Yom-tov prayerbook designed exclusively for Israeli Jews? On the surface, none. But let’s glance beneath the...
Quiet Gadlus
When R Aaron Lopiansky shared a moving story with his fellow advisory board members at Klal Perspectives (unvarnished plug!), I asked him for permission to publish on Cross-Currents. I am happy that he granted...
Another Point of View
Call it nepotism, if you wish. I am partial to my very extended family, which includes the people who frequented our Shabbos table for years. Even though he takes issue with some of what...
Who’s afraid of Tim Tebow?
by Michael Freund This past Sunday I got a first-hand glimpse of one of the hottest phenomena in American pop culture and sports. The venue was Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, the occasion was...
My Brothers Do I Seek
I came to full Jewish observance relatively late in life. I was nearly thirty and married when I first walked through the doors of Ohr Somayach. I don’t fully remember the entire process of...
Blind Faith and Physics
A recent essay by an award-winning scientist presents a remarkable, and remarkably revealing, picture of current scientific thought about the nature of the universe. The delightfully named Alan P. Lightman, an MIT professor a...
Towards a Fuller Picture
This video, which is titled “How the Charedim Really Look” was sent to me by Rabbi Moshe Taragin, a Ra”m in Yeshivat Har Etzion in the Gush. It needs to be translated.
Two Ways To Help
Here are two ways in which people are addressing the horrible images of recent events that we are still haunted by. One is an opportunity to speak out; the other deals with one of...
A Multi-vocal Conversation
I’ve been trying to gather information, from 6,000 miles away, in order to form some opinions on what appears to be a complex situation in Beit Shemesh. I’m still in the midst of absorbing...