Touching Hearts in Tel Aviv
In the summer of 2017 Eyal Datz, a media person from Bohemian, avant garde Tel Aviv precincts, proposed to do a film on the Sanz-Klausenberg Rebbe, ztz”l, for Israeli television to be broadcast on...
Chastened By a Midrash
I don’t find it terribly hard to be tolerant of others’ political points of view, even when they are far from my own. I try to be mindful of the fact that, as Chazal...
On the Hundredth Yahrtzeit of Reb Chaim Brisker- From Rebbe to Talmid: Intellect and Ayin Tova.
by Reuven Ungar The Torah is passed on from rebbe to talmid, from generation to generation. Chachmei HaMesorah, ma’atikei ha-shemua are charged with this task. This summer will mark the 100th yahrtzeit of Rav...
Not So Outdated Notions About Men, Women, and Intimacy
[for mature audiences only. Really] Decades ago, no kiruv weekend with teens would go by without the de rigueur sessions on negiah, sex, or whatever. Stock tools were rolled out to convince teens not...
Klein@9 and the Essence of Judaism
It was quite disheartening. Initially, in response to a woman giving a dvar Torah at the conclusion of a Shabbos morning minyan on the YU Wilf (men’s) Campus, RIETS administration stated that this practice...
No “Enough” Here
Have you ever noticed the FedEx arrow? The next time you see one of the company’s trucks, look closely at the “Ex” part of it. In particular, at the white space between the two...
Notes From Johannesburg
A visit to Johannesburg began with elation in the company of a thriving Torah community, and ended with a mussar shmuess from some refugees from Zimbabwe. I’m not sure that there is anything like...
Seeing Through the Eyes of the Other
Indiana Republican Congressman Todd Rokita is calling on the House of Representatives to condemn “Nation of Islam” leader Louis Farrakhan. Most of us are familiar with the racist demagogue Mr. Farrakhan’s more memorable rantings,...
Rolling Up Our Sleeves for Passover Preparation – A Response to Rabbi Haim Ovadia
(This article first appeared in the Forward. Readers can view Rabbi Menken’s bold and valiant comments in the Forward version of the article.) Passover preparation has always been a heavy-duty task. For thousands of...