Shock Treatment
It’s a truth not universally acknowledged that good can come from bad. As Iyov said, “Who can bring purity from impurity, not the One?” (14:4; see Targum Yonasan). An untruth almost universally asserted is...
On the Tightrope
On the Tightrope By Alexandra Fleksher On the tightrope, I walk. Slowly, hesitantly, eyes flitting to the left – a distraction. Brief glances to the right – I lose focus. I could very well...
Criticizing Rabbi Levenstein
Rabbi Yigal Levenstein, who heads the Bnei David academy in the Israeli town of Eli, made waves several days ago with some public remarks: I said there are red lines and I am not...
Be Careful With Your Words
As the American Jewish news cycle turns toward the alleged bullying of Rabbi Haskel Lookstein out of delivering the invocation at the Republican National Convention, we should perhaps shift the focus of the news...
Postscript to the Conversion Controversy
Listening to the buzz about the conversion kerfuffle last week, one would think that breaking the back of the Israeli rabbinate will becalm the angst of past converts unsure of their status, ensure equitable...
News and Essays In and Out of Orthodoxy – Parshas Balak 5776
Take Rabbi Lichtenstein’s legacy at full depth When the Victims of Terror Are Not Jews Binyamina Rebbe laid to rest in Har Hamenuchot Western Wall Negotiating Team Tells PM Netanyahu: Legal Action Is At...
Subway Poles/Snakes on Poles
Subway riders in standing room-only cars try not to think too much about what organisms might be happily residing on the poles they grasp during the lurching trip. To obtain some hard data, Harvard...
Pursuing Peace and Straightening the Record
There is no “ultra-Orthodox offensive” — rather, the American liberal movements seek to change Israel to distract our attention from their collapse in America. The response is neither “ultra-” nor even Haredi; it merely seeks to preserve the unity of the Jewish People in the Jewish State.
Thoughts on the Conversion Mess
In the wake of public discussion regarding R. Haskel Lookstein’s conversions, Ivanka Trump’s halakhic status, demands by so-called “Open Orthodox” rabbis for Israel broadly to recognize their private decentralized conversions, wildcat and other outlier...