Suspect or Respect ?
On May 18 (10 Iyyar) I wrote about Generalizations and Stereotypes of Muslims. The following comment arrived from my neighbor, the former British barrister who made the original comments that so upset me. It...
Did the Autopsy Find No Soul?
I wrote about Terri Schiavo while she was dying. Today the autopsy report came out. Todd Schnitt, a local radio talk show host here in Miami, was among many in the commentariat who crowed...
“Why Do the Goyim Have Such Open Hearts and Open Arms?”
The question that forms the title for this posting is from the concluding line of a communication sent to me by an Orthodox Jewish mother whose son cannot get into a Jewish school. He...
Jewish Gene-ius
Jews are smarter than everyone else. This is the opening premise of an explosive study released last week, and given extensive coverage in the New York Times and the Economist. There is no cause...
When Torah Fails, Will Tevye Do?
Subscribing to the daily e-mail bulletin of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (as I’ve recently done) has its pluses and minuses: decreased work productivity, increased fodder for blogging on Cross-Currents, increased heartburn with a concomitant...
Mind-reading in the blogosphere
This is a letter that was sent to me privately: I am not blaming you for what happened in Bet Shemesh. However, the antipathy that is displayed by many teachers cannot be helping the...
Incident in Ramat Beit Shemesh
I imagine that most of us know Americans who made aliyah and settled in Beit Shemesh. These are in the main people who can be characterized as Leumi Dati, with a bit of charedi...
A little match on Yom Yerushalayim
In honor of Yom Yerushalayim, which was celebrated yesterday, I lit a small match in a great darkness. Before I explain, some background: Every day I listen to a local Miami radio station, WIOD,...
The Jewish Position?
A note from a reader tells me that I may have been too nice to the Rabbi turned TV Consultant who wrote a letter saying that she, too, was upset with the portrayal of...