Identity deficit
In his new book Defending Identity, Natan Sharansky once again mines his nine years in Soviet prisons for crucial insights on the major issues of the day. Defending Identity complements and enriches Sharansky’s previous...
The Pope and Child Molesters
This is not what the title suggests. Different Pope. Different molesters. Different group of bad guys. Having come this far, you might as well read on. The prevailing orthodoxy in the Jewish community is...
No Laughing Matter
It’s never a good idea to analyze a joke. All the same, I recently found myself deconstructing a stand-up comedian’s one-liner quoted in a newspaper article. It may have been because Rosh Hashana was...
Coming to Judaism
Dear Cross-Currents Readers, I apologize for inflicting this essay (albeit in a different form) on you once again. But C-C has asked me to share this version of an article that, as originally written,...
Thoughts for Elul
In Elul, we each have to search for inspiration – an idea to focus on, a model to which we can aspire – wherever we can. Anything that wakes us up, scares us a...
No Hekhsher, Not Tzedek
(The Jewish Observer, September, 2008/Elul 5768) According to Chazal (Nedarim, 40a), ideas that on the surface seem entirely constructive can in truth be quite the opposite. A contemporary case in point is the effort...
Defining Pro-Israel
In an election season, every candidate needs to appear pro-Israel — especially the Democratic candidates most beholden to Jewish donors in order to get elected. Snide words from a politically conservative Jew? Not really....
Patriotism Still Matters
New York Times columnist David Brooks made a trenchant observation last week concerning John McCain’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate: McCain represents more an attitude than he does a...
How about a round of applause for us?
Many decades ago, when I was still young and cocksure, a professor asked me, “Don’t you ever agree with anything I say.” I replied that I almost always agreed, but didn’t see any point...
Getting to know you
The first shofar blasts of Elul have sounded. Those blasts are associated with fear: “Can the shofar sound in the city and the people not tremble?” (Amos 3:6). That fear, however, is not the...