Israel Election Results (Updated Periodically)
Jerusalem Post says turnout reached 63%, while Channel 2 says 62%. With 99.67% of the votes now counted, JPost and Israel National News report: 28 Kadima, 20 Labor, 13 Shas, 12 Israel Beiteinu, 11...
Israeli Elections: Low Turnout Strengthens Small Parties
Israel Channel Two now estimates final voter turnout will be 60%, which is the lowest in history for the Israeli Knesset. The previous low, according to Israel National News, was 69%. The only other...
Artscroll Is Not To Blame
The blame for any perceived shortcomings with Artscroll does not belong with Artscroll. The real culprit is far more sinister. My recent post on pictures of Gedolim of previous generations unpredictably invited a large...
Israeli Elections and Charedi blocks
The Jerusalem Post has an interesting article about Charedi voting in tomorrow’s elections. But as far as I can figure, it combines much ado about nothing with wrong information. Ya’acov Litzman, who is the...
In Defense of Sarcasm
On Friday, Shira Schmidt took Eytan Kobre to task for his earlier post “deriding the Conservative movement’s current quandry.” Her view is that help, understanding and a “life-preserver” are preferable to derision or a...
When is mockery legitimate?
24 bAdar What do you do when you enjoy a colleague’s witty, acerbic satire of other Jews, but you feel that perhaps one should not mock people, even if you believe their derekh is...
Gedolim Cards: The Uncensored Set
These photos of gedolim (world-class Torah luminaries) in their younger days should not be missed. They range from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th, and contain several dimensions of surprise....
Education for the Jewish Future
The NY Jewish Week covers the “largest PEJE conference ever.” PEJE is the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education, and the fact that this conference is large and growing can only mean good things....
The Power of Bias
Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta recently devised an interesting experiment to test the reasoning, or the lack thereof, of political partisans. Prior to the 2004 American presidential election, a group of Kerry supporters...
A Refreshing Level of Honesty
I am gratified that someone pointed out this column from the Jerusalem Post, called “What Conservative Judaism conserved.” It is relevant to other recent posts, of course, but also stands on its own. The...