What Do Modern Orthodox Jews Stand For?
After parents spend hundreds of thousands of hard-earned dollars, a large number of our kids don’t really believe the Torah is the written word of G-d. Schools don’t teach it. They either assume that kids already believe it, or more than likely, it doesn’t fit into their curriculum.
A Private Shiva: Continuing the Conversation and Responding to Concerns
Halachic authorities caution against overburdening mourners, and many contemporary guides acknowledge the legitimacy of firm visiting hours or limited access based on the mourner’s needs. Yet even these measures do not always suffice.
The New Anti-Israel Libel that Must Be Rejected
Hungary is one of Israel’s closest allies in Europe. It consistently supports Israel’s right to use force in Gaza, regularly blocks or dilutes EU and UN statements critical of Israeli actions, and has initiated a withdrawal from the ICC after its obscene attempt to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu. When the pullout is completed, Hungary will be the first EU country to have left the Israel-bashing kangaroo court.
Parshat Vayeishev and Lessons in Sibling Rivalry
One of the overarching themes in Sefer Bereishis is sibling rivalry. The outcome of each successive conflict propels the narrative forward, shaping our destiny through events that are sometimes confusing and surprising – especially since the reason why the Torah doesn’t begin with mitzvos and laws is so that we can learn from the actions of our forefathers.
Playing The Islam Card: The Policy That Keeps Blowing Back
What was sold in the late 1970s and ‘80s as “playing the Islam card” – treating Islamist insurgents as potential partners and aligning with them to weaken the Soviet Union – produced a recurring cycle of blowback that neither the U.S. nor its allies have been able to escape.
Standing At the Crossroads: The Isaac-Covenant Jew in an Age of Rising Hatred
Yitzchak was not universally loved – but he was respected. He was not a trickster or fugitive; he was prosperous, assertive, blessed, and openly acknowledged as such by his neighbors.
History Education: A Jewish Issue
Our public square has shifted to social media platforms built to amplify outrage, not accuracy. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and X reward emotional impact over context, speed over verification, and frictionless sharing over reflection.
Thanksgiving, Hakarat HaTov, And the Responsibilities of an American Jew
For the Orthodox Jew, Thanksgiving presents a rare opportunity. It is not a religious holiday. It does not ask us to compromise halacha or identity. Instead, it calls us to practice something Jews know almost intuitively: gratitude (hakarat ha-tov).
The Global War On Israel
The central engine behind this effort is Iran, the only UN member whose leaders declare openly that another member state must be wiped out.
It’s Time to Embrace Our Solitude
Our isolation stems from the unique responsibility we have been given in this world.
From Prutah to Penny: The Enduring Story of Copper’s Smallest Coins
In your pocket or purse, you may be carrying the modern descendant of that ancient Jewish coin, still copper-colored, still the smallest denomination, still somehow essential despite all logic.
Fractal Halacha: Law, Time, & the Sanctity of the Unmapped
Every map needs margins. The halachic imagination admits this with elegant honesty. It names the unknown – safek, doubt – and gives it rules of its own.
I Can’t Eat That – But It’s Not My Fault: A Letter to My...
The idea that religion is a personal choice that can be separated from every other identity marker in your life is a fundamentally non-Jewish way of seeing the world.
Mamdani Won; Prepare for the Worst
He is an unabashed anti-capitalist who will be the chief executive of the city that is the center of the nation’s financial industry – and for generations has symbolized Jewish success and civic influence.
The Genocide Lie: What Is Really Happening in Gaza
Repeating a falsehood again and again doesn’t make it true.
Israel: Nation of Miracles
For a nation its size, Israel’s medical innovation is breathtaking – and deeply moral in its reach, extending humanitarian aid and expertise to developing countries, disaster zones, and conflict areas worldwide.
Why Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes Are a Match Made in Hell
People test the waters to see what they can get away with in the world of public opinion. Be sure there are bots praising both Carlson and Fuentes. But there are real people also, posting antisemitic things.
A Private Shiva? Comforting a Subject, Not Handling an Object
Nichum aveilim is indeed a mitzvah, but it is not like eating matzah or shaking a lulav, where the mitzvah is fulfilled through contact with an object.
Veto the Medical Aid in Dying Act
The National Council on Disability published a study that detailed the dangers of assisted suicide laws to people with disabilities. It found that safeguards in these laws are ineffective and often fail to protect patients.
Barring Jewish Gymnasts: Echoes of 1936
What stood out for my mother, as relayed to me, was how difficult it was for Gretel to heal from the assault on her integrity and character by a Nazi regime that discriminated against her because of their unbridled hatred for Jews.
How to Make Torah Learning Work for Professionals
Before you study, clarify your question. As you study, speak the words. After you study, note one connection to something you've learned before.
Remembering a Leader, Rabbi Moshe Hauer
Rabbi Hauer epitomized loving every Jew and making everyone feel like the most important person in the world when he spoke with you.
A Rabbi of the People and a Light of Compassion and Chesed
Before his national acclaim as a leader within the Orthodox Union, Rabbi Hauer built something enduring here in Baltimore – a model of what a synagogue rabbi could and should be.
My First Simchat Torah
We were all still in euphoria from Hoshana Rabbah, and the return of the hostages, so we went into the holiday in a very happy frame of mind.
What Kind of Socialist Is Zohran Mamdani?
An important figure on the postcolonial left for decades, Mahmood Mamdani has called Israel an apartheid state, championed the BDS movement, and portrayed America as the fountainhead of global evil.
The War, The Hostages and Sukkot
We coronate Hakadosh Baruch Hu and ask for His forgiveness together, not as individuals. Hashem is truly king only when we coronate Him together.
Gaza Under Hamas: Where the Money Went
The revenues that Hamas controlled were large enough to transform Gaza into a thriving Mediterranean enclave – a model for Palestinian society. But the Islamist group chose a different path. Prioritizing terrorism and military spending, it invested staggering sums in tunnels and weapons, including rockets and rocket factories.
Simchat Torah: Divine Fire and National Legacy
Throughout history, Torah has at times stood as a Divine, untouchable document, and at other times woven into the currents of Jewish experience, carried and shaped by the people of Israel. Its dual nature – both Divine and national – has been reflected in every generation’s approach to learning, observance, and communal life.
Fighting the Genocide Libel – Two Years After October 7
One would have to be a moral idiot to think the death of 60,000, many of them fighters, is worth comparing or mentioning in the same breath as the industrial murder of 6,000,000 based on ethnicity.
Reflections on a Blood-Stained Kittel
It was especially haunting to see this image: Rabbi Daniel Walker, who valiantly protected his synagogue and tended to his congregants amidst the horrific violence, wearing his traditional white kittel, stained by blood at the bottom. And yet, in the face of this terrible destruction, we see another model of holiness. Sometimes, when the evil cannot be banished, the High Priest must deal with it directly, even if he gets bloodied in the process.