The Difference Between Us and Them
The words are simple, but heartfelt. They speak only of the gifts that G-d gives us. The audience, completely secular Israeli, watches contestants on a kind of American Idol show for Israeli kids. Watch...
The Invention of Palestine
by Michael Freund What a remarkable breath of fresh air. For the first time in recent memory, a prominent American politician has had the courage to speak some unvarnished truths about the conflict between...
Naomi Ragen Plagiarism Verdict: Not About “Free Speech”
by William Kolbrener An alert reader, who goes by the moniker “S.” in the comments, pointed out this article, which appeared on the personal blog of Professor William Kolbrener, of the Department of English...
Does Anyone See a Pattern Here?
About the hostility of the Obama administration to Israel there is no longer room for honest doubt. A few weeks back, President Obama commiserated “privately” (albeit via an open mike) with French President Sarkozy...
A Brief Question for Naomi Ragen
In today’s Jerusalem Post, Naomi Ragen “accused the plaintiff, author Sarah Shapiro of ‘working out of a desire to silence my criticism of the Haredi community’s treatment of women, which I have done for...
The Sound of Silence
The latest hope for signs of possible life on other planets lies in the cargo bay of a spacecraft that blasted off from Cape Canaveral the morning of Shabbos parshas Toldos. The Mars Science...
The Beacon Shining Upon Us
Failure to comment on the YU Beacon story, I am urged by many readers, would be like living in Los Angeles without a car. It’s just not done. The media had their fun in...
Sarah Shapiro v. Naomi Ragen – From the Verdict
The judge determined that the plagiarism legally constitutes “a lingering offense” due to the novel Sotah‘s numerous editions since its initial publication in 1992, and due to its recent republication and ongoing sale in...
Why We Weep for Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, zt”l
On Rachel Imeinu’s yahrtzeit, as I prepared to leave for the levaya (funeral) of Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, zt”l, I received a call from a reporter from Sydney. She wanted to discuss the antics...
Naomi Ragen Guilty of Plagiarism
A Jerusalem Court has ruled in favor of Sarah Shapiro, who wrote four years ago about her plagiarism suit against Naomi Ragen. Ragen is the well-known author of Sotah, Jephte’s Daughter, and other works,...