No, Mr. Lauder, Israel is not Descending into Theocracy
A piece I wrote for Forward about Ronald Lauder’s recent op-ed in the New York Times can be read here.
Open Orthodoxy Update, Parshas Tzav
Another update on the journey of Open Orthodoxy, and its universal rejection by every reputable Orthodox body.
Tone-Deaf Jewish Marketing
I began haphazardly collecting the advertisements a number of years ago. The first, which appeared at the end of Tammuz in a Jewish periodical, touted an eatery. It was apparently aimed at carnivores troubled...
YU’s Policies About Women — A Reply to Deborah Klapper
(This article originally appeared in Times of Israel.) I was dismayed to read Deborah Klapper’s blog post, Yeshiva College’s policies about women matter to us all, in which the author reprimands Yeshiva University for not...
We The People, They The Elites
I’m not one to spy anti-Semites hiding under the bed. When I was a high school Rebbi, sometimes, when erasing the blackboard (remember blackboards?), I lost control of the wood-and-felt eraser and it landed...
Amusing, And, Then Again, Not So Much
You’d think it was a Purim joke. But, no, “Operation Schtickle Pioneer” is a thing. At least in one person’s mind. Did you know that a Jewish cabal is planning to make “large areas...
Queen Esther: How to be a Strong Jewish Woman in a Man’s World
by Dovid Kornreich Many years ago, after it finally dawned on me that there are some quite disturbing adult themes hidden between the lines of the first couple of chapters of the Scroll of...
Appreciating the “Simple” Jews: A Tale of Two Weddings
by Rabbi Asher Brander A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending two Yerushalayim weddings. I did not actually dance at both of them— the Yerushalayim traffic made sure that I uphold the...
Surveying Some Surveys
The imbalance itself didn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has been observing the political scene in recent years, but the degree to which Democrats’ support for Israel has dropped and Republicans’ has...
Liberal Rabbis: Don’t Blame the Chief Rabbinate – Blame Yourselves
(This article first appeared in Arutz Sheva.) Liberal Orthodox rabbis are shooting the new Haaretz article rapid-fire through the world of social media, assuming it will help their cause and will damage the image...