The Art of the Decertification
What does President Trump’s decertification of the Iran deal mean, and what does it mean? That wasn’t a mistake. There are two questions here. What exactly it is that the president did, and what...
Chassidim Who Opt Out: the Netflix Documentary
If you accept some of the reviews and the conversations with the filmmakers, “One of Us,” the Netflix documentary released late last week is an artistic failure. Watch the film for what it seems...
Rabbi Shafran Got it Right – a Response to Rabbi Geretz and Dr. Stadlan
(This article first appeared in Times of Israel.) In recent articles, Rabbi Daniel Geretz and Dr. Noam Stadlan take Rabbi Avi Shafran to task for his support of the Orthodox Union’s ruling that women cannot be ordained or serve as clergy....
Sullied Reputation
The rioting last month in St. Louis following the acquittal of a white former police officer who killed an African-American man, like all rioting in the wake of unpopular verdicts, was ugly and unjustifiable. ...
The Paris Statement and the Judeo-Christian Legacy
On October 7th, a group of European philosophers issued the Paris Statement, decrying the quasi-religious liberalism that they believe is destroying Europe and robbing hundreds of millions of people of their patrimony. While the...
Beyond Faded Eyeliner
By Alexandra Fleksher The latest flurry of articles and social media discussions about how women celebrate Simchas Torah made me think about my own relationship to the holiday. Simchas Torah was the most meaningful...
The OU’s “Woman Clergy” Challenge
An article of mine about the Orthodox Union’s quandary over how to deal with member-congregations with women clergy can be read here.
Poverty and Plenty in the Orthodox World
An article I wrote about poverty and plenty in the Orthodox Jewish world appears in the Forward, and can be read here.
Truth Gone Missing
It made many people very happy. Especially dentists. “It” being the report widely circulated over recent weeks that an ice cream breakfast will make you smarter. The claim first appeared on a Japanese news...
Religious Pluralism Would Spell Disaster for Israel
An article of mine in the Forward that takes issue with Reform Rabbi Rick Jacobs’ claim that the majority of American Jews support the import of “Jewish religious pluralism” to Israel, and which explains why Orthodox...