A Clear and Present Danger
Myriad dangers confront us and our children in the wider world. There is no need to go into detail about the various threats to our health, safety and welfare “out there.” But then there...
The Writing on the Wall
So many walls these days. The Israeli security one. The one President Trump wants to build along the Mexican border. The “Wall of Steel” erected around London’s Winfield House, where the president spent a...
Muslim-Jewish Alliances
An article of mine about alliances of Muslims and Orthodox Jews, both in Israel and in the U.S. appears at Forward, and can be read here.
Open Orthodoxy Update, Parshas Devarim
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah’s enrollment continues to decline. There were 49 students during the 2014-15 academic year. This number has now dropped to 21. In addition, none of their most recent graduates (of which there...
Same Sex Marriage – A Debate For Our Times
One of the most impactful pieces I recall from the years of The Jewish Observer was a debate between two contributors. (One was Rabbi Bernard Weinberger, z”l, who was niftar just a short while...
Racism or Halakha? An Analysis of the Barkan Controversy
The Eidah would have requested the same of any employee, regardless of skin color, whose Jewish status required further investigation in the view of its rabbis. Conversely, if an Ethiopian converted with the rabbinical court of the Eidah Ha-Hareidit, the Badatz would have absolutely no hesitation whatsoever about his or her handling wine.
A Fish’s Smile
I was accosted recently on the Staten Island Ferry by a large fish. Well, not exactly. It was actually a large photograph of a fish, on a poster carrying the legend: “I’m ME, not...
Kavanaugh and Religious Freedom
When Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement from the Supreme Court, many immediately predicted the worst. NPR’s Nina Totenberg, channeling R.E.M., proclaimed it “the end of the world as we know it.” After President Trump nominated Judge Brett...
A Few New Articles
Here are a few new articles of mine that were were recently posted, respectively, on Times of Israel and Arutz Sheva: Ethiopians and Wine: Not so Fast, Rabbi Cardozo Rabbis Weiss’and Angel’s accusations against...
The Final Volume of the Rav Soloveitchik Chumash
What would Rav Soloveitchik zt”l say about the separation of children and parents by ICE agents? The question is inherently silly, like all questions of the form “What would X say,” where X is...