Hashem Helps the Givers – Part II
How do some small-scale chesed organizations grow to become major organizations? The difference, after all, is not merely one of scale. Running a gemach with total assets of $500, for instance, has little to...
Losing old friends
Joseph Epstein’s ruminations on friendship, or more accurately the loss thereof, in the July-August Commentary (“Friendship among the Intellectuals”) touched a subject close to my heart. I am someone who feels a strong need...
Dawkins and Friends on Atheism
Scrawled on a wall: “G-d is Dead.” – Nietzsche. Underneath: “Nietzsche is Dead.” – G-d. Many years ago, I found it necessary (or so I thought) as a young kiruv (outreach)worker to learn what...
Not My Bar Mitzvah Speech
I have long had mixed feelings about parshas Bereishis. On the one hand, it’s my Bar Mitzvah parshah – and let’s just say that . . . there’s a reason I have lained only...
But They Can’t DO That — Can They?
The students at New Voices magazine were distressed to learn that their funding will be cut; they will receive only $10,000 from the UJA-Federation of New York this year. Last year they were given...
Where The Boys Aren’t
News Flash: Men are inherently less spiritual and religious than women, and require different and more structured programs to spark and maintain religious commitment. This difference, first recorded in Torah and Talmud and codified...
Undeserved Forgiveness
by Jeff Jacoby Ed. Note: This piece was originally published (in the Boston Globe) during Sukkos. The issues Mr. Jacoby raises, however, are similar to those discussed by Rabbi Dovid Gottlied in his contribution...
Reb Hershel Berger, z”l
The end of a generation. I can hardly recall how often I heard that claim made at the levayos (funerals) of various Torah personalities. No one in my generation saw the great yeshivos and...
Jiminy Cricket and the Jews
Anyone familiar with contemporary talk-radio knows that the word “liberal” has become for some a slur, implying that holders of ideals like tolerance for other cultures or concern for the poor and disadvantaged are...
Keeping out the Cold
Never underestimate the power of enthusiasm and positive thinking! This was the lesson driven home by our unexpected guests on the evening of Shemini Atzeres, the “gathering of the eighth day” at the end...