Open Orthodoxy’s Name Change: New Brand, Same Product
When public figures speak about issues “becoming a distraction”, it usually means that they are engaging in damage control. This is no exception.
“Blood of the Right Sort”
During Germany’s accursed Third Reich, the U.S. immigration system severely limited the number of German Jews admitted to the country to about 26,000 annually. But even that quota was less than a quarter filled...
Remembering Leonard Fein, a”h
A remembrance of Leonard Fein, who was a dear friend of mine over many years, appears on Tablet, and can be read here
Empowering Ehrlichkeit
If you live in New York City and order a sliced bagel (unlike if you ordered it uncut), you owe sales tax on the item. And if you bought gasoline in New Jersey, you...
Destroying Students’ Potential and Destroying Their Lives
We have all read about the incredible tragedy of Malky Klein. While there is always going to be unknown information about these and other similar cases, such that people will claim that we lack...
Time to Come Home
An article I wrote back in 2001 for Moment Magazine, a Jewish periodical, was not well-received at the time in some circles. Understandably. The article’s thesis was that the Conservative movement’s claim to halachic...
Unity Where You Are Not Looking For It
A pre-Tisha B’Av message: there are signs of hope. At least in Israel. We’re especially sensitive to it approaching the national day of Jewish mourning. We’ve internalized all the exhortations about unity, and how...
In a Sane World…
Have you heard about the white family in Chicago that routinely vilifies the members of the black one across the street, calling them vile names, demanding that they move and hurling rocks through their...
Orthodoxy Heads for the Hills
West Side Judaica, the venerable seforim store that has served as a landmark of Orthodox Judaism in Manhattan for well over half a century, just announced its upcoming closure. While the closure of any seforim store –...
Her Future on an Index Card
By Rifka Wein Harris I was annihilated by an index card. On it, it said: Mommy, what can a frum girl be? It was handed to me by my otherwise confident mini me. A...