These Are A Few of My Unfavorite Things
[with apologies to Julie Andrews] Reasonable people ought to be able to debate the central issues around the charedi draft. Agree with them or not, there are indeed arguments that can be made for...
Metzora – Miserly Mindset
We instinctively think of nega’im as born of lashon hora, “evil speech,” and we’re not wrong. But there is another birther of the condition, one that is evident in the very word metzora: tzarus...
Tazria – Speech Pathology
Tum’ah, or “ritual defilement,” is invisible but consequential in many contexts, especially, though not exclusively, with regard to kodoshim, material holding holy status. And, in most cases of tum’ah impartation, the defilement happens as...
Shemini – Beware Phony Frumkeit
When describing the camel and pig, animals that lack either of the two signs required for their species to be considered consumable by Jews, the Torah’s wording is odd. Kosher species require cud-chewing and...
The Charedi Draft Crisis: An Alternate History
The following is a document that slipped through a worm-hole from a parallel universe. Nothing in it occurred in the universe we know as our own. But it is something we can think about....
Tzav – The Constancy of His Kindnesses
Among the various karbanos called shelamim, two are very limited regarding when their meat and accompaniments must be consumed – the day they are offered. Regular shelamim are permitted double that window of time....
Masquerading As Feminism
On Purim, Jewish men, to varying degrees, imbibe strong drink, and Jewish women do their best to keep them safe and anchored in civilization. The holiday thus may not seem very female-centered. But it...
Vayikra – Prelude to Prayer
Inordinate stress is put by the Talmud on being somech geulah litfillah, placing a reference to redemption immediately before prayer, i.e. the amidah (Berachos 9b). It isn’t clear why that is so important, but...
Rav Yitzchak Sheilat’s Open Letter to Charedi Brothers
[Editor’s note: People are slowly becoming aware of the growth of harsh resentment of charedim in the Dat-Leumi community, which has sustained an outsize proportion of the war-related suffering. This is tragic, at a...
Pekudei – Panic Today, Joy Tomorrow
The parallel in wordings between the Torah’s account of the universe’s creation and of the building of the Mishkan has been noted by commentaries. I won’t cite examples here but they abound. The late...