Is Olmert out of his depth?
This morning in Israel, Hizbullah terrorists came across the border from Lebanon and kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. Israel PM Ehud Olmert’s immediate reaction was as dramatic as it was clear and unequivocal: this was,...
World Cup Retrospective
Somebody with Cross-Currents has to say something, I suppose. After a full twenty-four hours to mull over the Game of Games, I am still searching for some appropriate Torah thoughts. Mostly, I keep on...
Feeling Pain
A persistent symbol of the Jewish people, according to Chazal, is the lamb. It is so delicate and sensitive, our Sages say, that if you inflict pain anywhere upon it, its entire body quivers....
Gaza Follies
Even as the nation of Israel prays for the safe return of Gilad Shalit to his family, it becomes clearer with each passing day that the Israeli response to his kidnapping has only reinforced...
Thanks, President Katzav
Kudos are due to President Moshe Katsav for refusing to address Eric Yoffie, head of the American Reform movement, by the title “Rav.” Katsav’s refusal can only be explained as an act of conscience....
Off the Derech: Are We Retaining Our Youth?
Yesterday, at the end of a post criticizing Yossi Beilin’s call for new methods to “enable non-religious non-Jews to become non-religious Jews,” I made the following closing remarks: Like many others, Beilin has forgotten...
The Jewish Community isn’t Shrinking, and the Moon is Made of Cheese
Yossi Beilin is still glowing from his success as the Israeli architect of the Oslo and Geneva Accords, both of which, as we recall, assured us that the Palestinian Arabs would forever renounce violence...
Now in Style: Traditional Jewish Burial
Now that Jews across America have adopted non-Jewish burial customs — elaborate, indestructable caskets, embalming, above-ground burial (mausoleums), even cremation (a custom first practiced on Jewish dead in Central Europe, roughly 65 years ago)...
Luther Я (Not) Us!
A reader commented on my piece about waging war against an entire population because of the misdeeds of a few of them. His intention, it seems, was to support me. Look in last week’s...
The Media Gets it Right
The above cartoon makes me feel that Israel’s conduct against the terrorist government of the PA — and davka (specifically) Israel’s intransigence about negotiating for the release of Gilad Shalit, Gilad ben Aviva —...