Division at the Kotel is no Path to Unity
There are multiple reasons why the demand from the American liberal movements for a place at the Western Wall “equal” to that provided to traditional Jews offends logic and reason.
Fiddling For Open Access Bathrooms?
The tune that Nero fiddled while Rome burned was a sprightly, engaging one, I always imagined. Something upbeat and distracting, that took little effort to offer pleasure. Like many others, I have a harder...
Demographics Denial
The italics in the following seven paragraphs’ phrases are mine. A Haaretz column headline, in the wake of the Israeli cabinet’s decision to not upend the status quo at the Kosel: “Netanyanu to American...
Not in Our Name
What are we, chopped liver? The question, from my Orthodox corner of the American Jewish world, is born of the recent onslaught of outrage aimed at the Israeli government by representatives of “American Jewry.”…...
The Other Orthodox Women in the Crowd
By Alexandra Fleksher In his latest Voice in the Crowd column entitled “In Her Place”, Sruli Besser does what no other chareidi columnist has done before: he recognizes how it must feel for Orthodox...
Agudath Israel Statement on Recent Jewish Federation Stances
Leaders of the Jewish Federations of North America and local federations have spoken out loudly about their disappointment in the Israeli government’s decision to suspend the Kotel resolution and about a contentious conversion bill...
The Terminology of Terrorism
The June 19 attack in London, in which a man plowed his van into a crowd of Muslim worshippers exiting a mosque, killing one and injuring 10, was no less heinous than attacks by...
A Quick Response To Chillul Hashem
The statement by the Lakewood Vaad came quickly, and expressed succinctly and effectively what had to be said. “We are saddened beyond words by the arrests of seven couples in our town. As firm...
The Kotel: A Public Space, Not a Public Square
The Israeli Cabinet’s recent decision to not upend the public prayer status quo at the Kotel Maaravi, or Western Wall, was met with howls of outrage from a broad cross-section of non-Orthodox leaders and...
The Kosel Compromise and the Conversion Bill – Some Final Thoughts
Although my thoughts on the apparent collapse of the Western Wall Compromise Plan are all pretty much contained here (along with a link to Rabbi Wein’s important article about the Conversion Bill – please read...