Compromising on “Principle”
“Those are my principles!” famously declared Groucho Marx. “And if you don’t like them, well… I have others.” Principles are important, to be sure. But Groucho wasn’t entirely wrong. There are principles… and there...
Sign of the Times
The New York Times descent into pure advocacy journalism continues apace. Increasingly, the news stories in the once respected Grey Lady serve only to set up the talking points for the paper’s editorial page....
Who Hast Not Made Me a Liberal Rabbi . . .
by Rabbi Dov Fischer Recently, Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky, one of six national officers of the International Rabbinic Fellowship (IRF) and rabbi of a West Coast Orthodox Union congregation, published a deeply disturbing internet article...
Can We Talk Honestly?
A few months back, a group of national religious rebbetzins set off one of those two-day media storms for which Israel is famous when they issued a public call for Jewish girls not to...
Another Take on Baseless Hatred
As we contemplate our role in rebuilding the Beis HaMikdash, in this period of mourning for its loss, we each have to come to grips with sinas chinam (literally, free hatred), which Chazal identify...
A Burning Issue
Sybil Sage, a Jewish writer and artist living in New York, asked her son if he minded her plans to have her and his father cremated. “How about I make urns for Dad and...
Someone Else Who Gets It — Almost
While I don’t read the Baltimore Jewish Times often anymore, someone showed me this week’s issue and I came across an op-ed that I enjoyed reading. Given that the first half is filled with...
Dr. Middos is Not Just for Kids
Rabbi Chaim Vital asks a fascinating question: Why does the Torah not specifically command us to avoid negative middos like anger or to develop those associated with the talmidim of Avraham Avinu (Avos 5:19)...
The Jerusalem Passport Dispute
None of the news articles mention that Naomi (Siegman) Zivotofsky and Alyza Lewin were college friends and classmates, part of an overachieving cadre that also included the Shalem Center’s Yoram & Yael (Julie) Hazony,...
The Alcohol Libel: an Intercepted Letter to Kiddush Clubs
O would some Power the giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us. — Robert Burns, Scotland (1759-1796) News item: Certain Scotch distilleries have initiated divestment boycotts of Israel. In reaction to...