The Heavens Are the L-rd’s
Those of us old enough to remember July 20, 1969—when human beings first walked on the moon—recall, too, our sense of amazement over the “one small step for man” that came to mark the...
Agudath Israel statement on reporting suspicions of child abuse
Agudath Israel of America has received several inquiries in the wake of misleading claims that have recently been made about our stance on reporting suspected child abusers to law enforcement authorities. We take the...
No Winners in the Torat Hamelech Controversy
About twenty years ago, I publicly debated a rabbi associated with the circles around Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook at the Orthodox Union’s Israel Center, on the topic “Vengeance – Divine or Human?” As the...
“Some people think Army is Yeshiva”
The question of why the Haredi community tends to avoid or minimize IDF service is one with multiple facets, one of which is the ongoing hostility of the IDF towards Jewish religious practice. A...
The Face of Apartheid Israel
This picture says so much about those racist Israelis. It proves that Israel is an apartheid state. Immanuel had been entombed in a concrete coffin for nine days. A victim of the Haiti earthquake,...
Handwriting Analysis: Science or Snow Job?
As a boy growing up in the 1960s, I became intrigued with handwriting analysis. It’s an intriguing notion, an almost obvious one: our character traits are subtly expressed in our handwriting. Every person is...
Another Breach in the Wall
For a number of years, in my role as Agudath Israel of America’s media liaison, I attended an annual gathering, each year in a different city, of Jewish periodical editors and writers. Over time,...
Yadeinu Shafchu Es Hadam Hazeh
After the horror, the disbelief, the shock, the emptiness, I next thought what many others must have. He had to have been a pedophile. I messaged a colleague, a respected rov, and asked what...
On the Petira of Leiby Kletzky, z”l
My apologies for not posting this early yesterday, when it was issued. AS STATEMENT FROM AGUDATH ISRAEL OF AMERICA Along with all of Klal Yisroel, Agudath Israel of America joins in deeply mourning the...
Want to Be Ugly? Buy LUSH
By now, everyone has heard the one about the two guys sitting next to each other on a Tel Aviv bus. The guy looking at Haaretz can’t believe that the fellow sitting next to...