Requiem for Willy Loman
“He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong.” That is how Bif Loman, son of the protagonist of Death of a Salesman, summed up his father�s life. Any attempt to measure the life of...
A one-woman truth squad
Two weeks ago, one of those periodic media items painting the Torah Jews in a faintly ridiculous light flashed across the Israeli media for 24-hours before flaming out. Most chareidi Jews never hear of...
Kiddush Clubs
The Orthodox Union dedicated last Shabbos to a national campaign to oust so-called Kiddush Clubs from shuls. In the past, Rabbi Heshy Billet, when he was president of the Rabbinical Council of America, also...
Do chareidim use their heads?
In my 300-page book about the Slifkin affair, of which only a few pages will ever be written, I said that I would try to answer a few questions. Two that I want to...
Righteous Gentiles
Righteous Gentiles The following is an except from a letter I received from a gentleman in Canada. �What is a Noachide allowed to study? I have heard about three answers to this question. I...
Non-Orthodox Dialogue
Ah, for when life was simpler! One of our readers, Shalom Simon, stuck it to me regarding my post on the grand debate at Harvard Law School. He asked whether the event (which had...
Wearing Red Herrings
There are some groups whose search engines are going 24/7 seeking out foibles among the Orthodox and seemingly absurd or inciting comments of Rabbis. I describe such a “red herring” case in the Jerusalem...
Postscript to Parshas Yisro
�Limdu hora techilah,� advises Rabbenu Bachya ibn Paquda in Chovos Halevavos. �Study evil first.� There is much to learn by first considering the alternatives to truth. Around tens of thousands of our Shabbos tables...
Wendy Shalit in the NYTimes Book Review
Here is the link to Wendy Shalit’s insightful essay in the New York Times Book Review about the depiction of charedim in contemporary fiction. I had posted it here, but concerns have been expressed...
Richuk Karovim II
My posting on the Slifkin matter has generated thoughtful comments that raise significant questions. I would like to elaborate on what I wrote previously and also indicate that a somewhat extended discussion of my...