“He didn’t get to say the Shma”
Saturday night 12 bMarHeshvan Two brief comments on the Rabin memorial (the Hebrew yahrzeit is tonight) which is taking place in Tel Aviv as I write these lines, in the square where the Prime...
Satmar v. Satmar
There is a potential for conflict in all social relations, and it exists not because people are selfish or foolish or have other shortcomings — although these are factors — but because it is...
A Blow to the Minimalists
Readers who did not follow the story to the end of the New York Times article may have missed the more interesting piece of evidence unearthed after two millennia of repose. The uncovering at...
Tortured Readings on the Tenure Track
Tortured women in the Bible, tortured readings of the Bible text, my my. I was asked a question about Hagar a few weeks ago, and since Hagar is first mentioned in this week’s parsha...
Day School Advocacy Campaign
(In line with the suggestion made by one of its readers, I am posting the following from the RJJ Newsletter just out. ) There is at long last heightened awareness of the tuition crises...
Some Thoughts on Visiting Yad Vashem
The first thing that struck me on my first visit to the new exhibition hall at Yad Vashem, Israel’s major Holocaust museum, was the group of older people in front of me entering the...
Helping After Hurricane Wilma
Rabbi Moshe Matz sent the following letter: Dear Friends, This year we saw powerful storms that wrought havoc across the country. Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast and then Hurricane Rita followed, once again...
Rabbi Naftoli Neuberger, zt”l, and Us
Rabbi Aharon Kotler once told his friend Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman, Rosh Yeshiva of Ner Israel Rabbinical College, “I only envy you one thing: Rabbi Neuberger.” Reb Aharon was referring to Rabbi Naftoli Neuberger,...
Harry Miers and the Israeli Reform Problem – Part I
Harry Miers?! Relax, I’ll explain myself in due course. But first, Yaakov Menken is right on the mark — David Forman isn’t just another garden-variety Reform clergyperson. He is a former director of the...
Preventing the Next Lulav Panic
The Great Lulav Scare of 5766 has passed. In the end, it appears that there were more or less lulavim for everyone. On Erev Succos, lulavim were in plentiful supply in Flatbush, and at...