You May Be a Frum Boomer…
If you remember Tisha B’Av afternoon as the time that the standard fare was a shiur in the gemara of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza. No more. Today, it is our national movie day. I’m...
An Open Letter
Sinai, Not Washington An Open Letter to the Torah Community The unhealthy confusion of Torah values with politics brings disrepute to Torah and harm to Torah Jews. No party platform can substitute for our...
A Personal Note
Dear Cross-Currents Readers, I have been posting weekly columns here for several years, recently, reprinted from Hamodia and, more recently still, self-published. My column is now appearing in Ami Magazine, and my agreement with...
COVID-19 Extremes – Too Much of a Good Thing?
Anyone who has observed me these past five months through the present knows that I adhere to COVID-19 precautions with utmost seriousness. I wear a mask everywhere, shun crowds, and have quite often walked...
My Apology to the Old ACLU
In 1977 an American neo-Nazi group sought to march through the predominantly-Jewish Chicago suburb of Skokie. They were denied a permit by the local officials, in part because many Skokie residents at the time were families of Holocaust survivors.
Rav Soloveitchik zt”l – The Appointment of Yehoshua
Please tune in to this terrific derasha from the Rav, released last week, in which the Rav vividly and animatedly explicates concepts of Mesorah that are at times largely absent from the discussion. (Please...
Polishing the Badge
Like most everything these polarized-perspectives days, talking about the police seems to demand the taking of sides — either with ‘em or agin ‘em. But, of course, that’s nonsense. One can, and should, fully...
An Upside to Israeli TV
A piece I wrote for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about how several example of recent Israeli television shows, including a new “reality series,” are serving to “normalize” charedim for non-observant Israelis can be read...
Speak Out Against Annexation!
Annexation is about to wreak havoc with the lives of millions of people. It will deprive them of personal liberties, and subject them to arbitrary prosecution at the whim of a powerful oppressor. It...
A Jewish Take on Toppling Statues
An article I wrote for Forward on the targeting of statues of Confederate leaders and slave owners can be read here.