The Conversion Psak: Some Comments and One Observation
I am at a loss to explain how much of the much-touted recent psak was lost on so many who have taken vocal positions about it. Let no one construe this piece as taking...
The Egalitarianism Has Landed
My computer cautions me against fooling with certain manufacturer-determined system settings. Doing so, it warns, could create serious problems. Riskier still is messing around with Judaism’s system-settings, determined by the ultimate Manufacturer. That lesson...
This is War!!! (or at least a strenuous disagreement)
Below I share with you (with very minor changes) the e-mail letter I sent today to Dina Kraft, a JTA reporter, responding to her article on the JTA website regarding the controversy over the...
Jewish Wealths
Stephen Schwarzman is a very wealthy man. And a very generous one. The CEO and co-founder of The Blackstone Group, a New York investment bank, recently made the largest unrestricted gift to any New...
In praise of Normalcy
Just before Pesach, the front pages of all Israel’s major papers were filled for days with three cases of horrific child abuse. In two of the cases, some of the children involved will likely...
Not Everything is Bleak
In the space of a single hour this evening, I heard: The former President of the most populous Muslim country on the globe declare that he will not rest until his country recognizes Israel....
Better Than Revenge
Does the deeply-seated need for revenge mean that we are trapped between two approaches, each of which is unsatisfactory? On the one hand, acting upon our instinctive need plunges us into unending cycles of...
Terrified of Judicial Reform
Boxing may be dead but those who still savor the sight of heavyweights throwing roundhouse punches at a fast and furious pace could do worse than the current donnybroook between Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann...
Pesach Hotels: A Second Look
My pre-Pesach column “Five-Star Pesach” generated, as expected, a larger than usual number of responses. The issue is a hot-button one for many. One friend wrote that going away to a hotel allowed him...
The Wright Stuff
Even before Senator Barack Obama unequivocally denounced Reverend Jeremiah Wright as the loon he is, I was willing to take the senator’s word for the fact that his erstwhile pastor’s rantings about America, the...