Moving Commentary6
Leaving Israel was always difficult for me, but I figured that this time, embarking on my first major trip back to the West, would be different. I was wrong. It was always the uncertainty...
Remember the Pueblo
On your next vacation in Pyongyang, be sure to visit the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, formerly known as the USS Pueblo. The Pueblo is the only American vessel being held by a foreign...
The Battle for Orthodoxy Repeats Itself Half a Century Later
As was to be expected, the leadership and organs of Open Orthodoxy are not too happy (to put it mildly) with the OU’s decision to put a stop to female clergy in OU member...
The OU Decision on Women Clergy: Five Challenges That Remain
The OU handed down its long-awaited decision on the status of member shuls which employ female clergy. It was a significant victory for the Torah community, an accomplishment that the OU can be proud...
Moving Commentary 6
Yesterday, 14 Shevat was the yahrzeit of R Aryeh Kaplan z”l, one of the most important teachers of Torah in the 20th century, and a huge influence on my early life. I would not...
Two Columns About Yiddish Words
Tablet Magazine recently ran two pieces I wrote about Yiddish words/phrases. They can be read here and here.
The Rightward Modern Orthodox Trend Fiction
The assertion of Modern Orthodoxy’s rightward shift is often swallowed as fact. No one really knows too much about this shift, other than observing some young post-high school men and women who return from...
Moving Commentary 5: Berlin
From Israel, a different chunk of the globe falls within easy travel range to the former American. Should someone have a reason or predisposition to visit Europe, frequent and cheap flights make many cities...
Hazards, Hazards Everywhere
My first earthquake was, as you might imagine, unsettling. I was part of a yeshivah in Northern California in the 1970s, and my wife and I spent our first five years of marriage there,...
Teaching Children How To Think
Then there is the one about the Russian ticket collector who accosts a Jew in one of the train cars. “What makes Jews so smart?” “Herring,” responds the Jew. “How much do you want...