Video Mocking Rabbinic Sermons Was in Bad Taste
Spontaneity and quirkiness have their place but a sermon is neither the time nor place for either of those.
What Should We Say On Billboards for God and Judaism?
The Pope is saying that actions are far more important than faith. This is particularly ironic coming from Catholicism.
Why Do People Leave Orthodox Judaism? Why Do People Stay?
People act not because they think it’s right; they do what they do because it’s what they want to do
New Republic Article on Feminism from Zion Is All About the Stakes
The article argues that while naturally aligned with their fellow orthodox Jews, women from the modern orthodox community in Israel are finding themselves aligned with secular feminists.
Will the Real Haredi Feminists Please Stand Up?
Ruth Colian is running as a Haredi woman for political office.
Let’s Call Them Modern Chasidim
The problem is that Tuna Beigel is a pejorative.
What Kind of Life Shall We Choose?
Dvar Torah for Nitzavim Vayelech.
The Insidiousness and Laziness of Guilt by Association
Adegbile was not making a moral statement by representing a man convicted of killing a cop.
R’ Eliezer Knew More Science than R’ Yehoshua
According to the Torah Temimah...
Life is in Its Struggles: Dealing with the Tough Questions
When the "offensive" statements in our Talmud were stated, no one thought they were offensive.
Wisdom from a Venice Beach Vagabond
He told me that according to a Muslim poet, children do not truly belong to their parents. Instead, parents are the vessel through which children flow into the world.
We Are Not Under Attack By the LGBT Community
Orthodox Jews are free to teach Leviticus and we are free to deny any religious rights and privileges to anyone we so choose.
Women Wearing Tefillin Is Really Not Such a Big Deal
Some people are assuming the intentions of these women are less than perfect, but that’s complete conjecture.
The False Flag of False Accusations in Sex Abuse Cases
The NY Times has a very (appropriately) one-sided article on the Baruch Lebovits and Sam Kellner situation.
What Do I Tell My Children (About the Boys)?
What do we do when we want to be mad at God but we also want God to make it all better? Indeed, what do we do?
The Proper Response to the ASA Boycott of Israel
What data was the ASA using to justify its boycott?
Monsey Kosher Market ‘Integration’ Great Idea, Terrible Execution (Video)
It’s really not that different than the situation in Israel with the charedim. Both situations need insiders to make the change happen.
Haredi Censorship of Torah
Certain books are excised from the subscription, in order to reinforce an imaginary history where nothing was inconsistent with Haredi Judaism.
How Far Will Gershonides Go to Avoid Mystical Interpretations?
In short, he says the whole thing was a prophetic vision, a dream. There was no physical battle.
Don’t Believe Everything They Say About Us
Human nature is such that hearing something over and over again for forty years will inevitably have an impact on the person.
What’s Wrong With the Star-K Kosher Phone?
A kashrus agency should be concerned with one thing and one thing only: the kosher status of our food.
Can You Cry ‘Heresy’ in a Crowded Beit Midrash?
Why does a opinion in the Talmud say the last verses in Devarim were not written by Moses? Was it the easiest solution to a very obvious problem?
Why Do We Celebrate Chanukah?
Megilas Taanis simply proclaims the 25th of Kislev a holiday and it is forbidden to mourn for 8 days. The text does not give a reason for the celebration.
Can One Be a Shomer Torah u’Mitzvos and Accept Bible Criticism?
Historians currently assume the Bible was written between 720 BCE and 587 BCE, between the destruction of the Northern Kingdom and the destruction of Jerusalem.
Creative License When Interpreting the Bible
When we are dealing in non-legal matters, we are no longer concerned with precedent.
Modern Racism
Categorizing all black people as one large group where the acts of one black person in Florida somehow tell us something about a different black person in Seattle is racist.
A Call to End Anti-Chasid Bigotry
People were literally saying that a chasid cannot write so well. It’s impossible they claimed.
The Morality of Accepting Charity from Immoral People
Rambam would also allow charity from a mumar as long as the person maintains basic belief in God and Judaism.
Man-Made Meat? A fence for Wisdom is Silence
The proper response for almost the entire population of planet Earth to these eternal questions about man-made meat is “I am not qualified to render an opinion on this matter.”
Was Assimilation the True Enemy of the Maccabees?
If the Syrian-Greeks were not pushed out of the land, Judaism would have been lost.