Contemplating Israel’s Demise
I’ve been thinking a lot about my father, hareini kaparat mishkavo, lately. He used to say, “If the world is prepared to stand by and watch Jews be slaughtered again, then the world does...
The Monsey Poultry Scandal – A Non-Response
Rav Sheftel Neuberger shlit”a reminded me last week of a dramatic episode recounted by Rav Shalom Schwadron, zt”l, the famed Magid of Yerushalayim. Those of us who had the privilege of once listening to...
Kazakhstan 2, Baron Cohen 0
As if the Pope’s remarks were not enough, Sacha Baron Cohen’s new movie is poised to precipitate yet another international crisis. Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev plans to bring up Cohen’s Borat character, a bumbling...
Asking the Right Questions
The Shofar blasts, writes the Rambam, are meant to awaken us from our slumber. Teru’a reminds us of something being shattered. What is being shattered (or should be)? We are – – as we...
Oriana Fallaci and Teshuva
It is with sadness that we note the passing of Oriana Fallaci, one of the greatest journalists of our times. We will miss her steadfast defense of Israel and Jews, and her trenchant criticism...
The Chazon Ish’s Advice for Columnists
Rabbi Shlomo Lorincz relates in his fascinating memoirs a story involving the Chazon Ish that should be required reading for anyone involved in public speaking or writing. At the outset of his long career...
Unclaimed Baggage
In early August, the New York Sun published an editorial about the apparent anti-Israel bias of the group Human Rights Watch (HRW). Among other things, the group’s executive director, Kenneth Roth, accused the Jewish...
First Rabbis Ordained in Germany Since Holocaust
I saw this first the Washington Post, but it’s in the JPost as well: “The first rabbis since the Holocaust were ordained in Germany on Thursday, the latest marker in the gradual return of...
To Save a Life
Today’s Washington Post has the story of Waitstill and Martha Sharp, “only the second and third U.S. citizens named to a [U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum] honor roll of 21,000 ‘righteous’ gentiles, non-Jews who risked...
The Chofetz Chaim and the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem
No, they never met. But the Chofetz Chaim sure had him pegged right. He told a story about the limits of disrespect and disdain. An elderly Jew, well into his eighties, applied for a...