Mishenichnas Adar; The Mercaz HaRav Massacre
By Rivkah Moriah As my son’s third yartzeit approaches, I can hardly believe it has been three years already. It seems like just yesterday I would wait in anticipation for him to arrive home...
Yaakov Horowitz’s Campaign – And Why We Ought To Support It
Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz announced a new weapon in the struggle against abuse. For most people, the obvious reason to support him will be sufficient. It might be worthwhile to consider some of the other...
The Gallup Poll Profiles (and Finds) the Happiest Man in America
They found him, in Hawaii. For the last three years, Gallup has called 1,000 randomly selected American adults each day and asked them about their emotional status, work satisfaction, eating habits, illnesses, stress levels...
CENSUS AND NON-CENSUS
by Dov Fischer Jewish population statistics fascinate me. As with other kinds of surveys, they tell some truths, misrepresent others. As Mr. Merlis, my yeshiva high school social studies teacher, used to say: “Figures...
Who is a Charedi Rabbi
Elior Chen is off to jail, to serve a well deserved and long sentence for multiple counts of child abuse. For years, Chen operated his own cult, teaching his “disciples” that child abuse was...
Reading, Writing, and a New Periodical For the Jewish Home
The badchan at Rabbi Yitzchok Frankfurter’s wedding observed that the choson had learned in Satmar, Vien, Brisk and Lakewood, whose roshei teivos (sovel) indicated that he was a man of tolerance. Many people would...
What Is Going On at UCI?
By Dov Fischer I live in Irvine and have been a congregational rabbi and community activist here for more than five years. Because I grew up on the East Coast, have traveled all across...
The Cultural Jew Within
Are our observances truly religious, or do they sometimes devolve into rote?
Scandal Upon Scandal
invoking an “Agriprocessors scandal” to justify some need for an extra-governmental “ethical certification seal” is cynical opportunism, a scandal upon a scandal.
Pundits on Pluto
Mr. Kristof thinks that “the protesters have a point” about initial American “equivocation” over the rebellion in Egypt, though he allows that “maybe I’m too caught up in the giddiness of Tahrir Square.” Yes, maybe.