Clueless at The New Republic
Marty Peretz’s diatribe against R Ovadia Yosef and fundamentalist Jewish oppression of women is not worth reading, save to remind us that even very bright people write very silly things when they comment about...
The California Governor’s Race, Rebbi and Antoninus, and Israeli Ingenuity
California voters face an unusual choice in the coming gubernatorial election. Interestingly, a recent Daf holds the key to the way frum voters are likely to go. Elections are often a choice between tweedle-dee...
Great Expectations
Thoughts of consequence can sometimes arise from the most mundane experiences, even a headache. Opening the medicine cabinet one day, I was struck by a sticker on a prescription container. “Not for use by...
The Burqa Quandary, Continued
Three weeks ago, I wrote about the quandary posed for Torah Jews by the bans on the wearing of the burqa being debated in Europe. Not surprisingly, the Orthodox world has spawned its own...
Kids of Courage, the Commonality of Disability, and Elul
The one hundred and thirty children and young adults with whom I spent a few days share two things. They are all Jewish, and they all contend daily with serious and debilitating illness. Many...
A View From Afar
To name the Muslim country where she lives would compromise her security; the authorities there do not look favorably on citizens who communicate with Jews. Her husband is a Hindu and she, although born...
Chelsea’s Wedding and the Third Mesorah
When the Clinton-Mezvinsky nuptials were announced, I played the role of Grinch, and opined that there was little cause for celebration. Nothing could change my mind. All of us certainly wish Chelsea Clinton all...
Divining Ms. Kagan
Imagining that one can divine how a new Supreme Court justice will rule on the sort of fundamental issues often brought before the High Court – particularly when the justice has never before served...
Smelly Justice
In this week’s Torah reading, Parshas Shoftim in Deuteronomy, Israel is commanded to have judges and officers, those who maintain both justice and order. A judge in particular is required to be entirely unbiased,...
Can’t Get No Traction
In my last post, I quoted the late director of the American Reform movement in Israel, David Forman, as stating that Reform’s “inroads into Israeli society have been marginal at best.” Back in 2005,...