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Why Charedim Are Unfairly Vilified
Screenshot of the protest (VIN)If one wants to know why there are so many police who are biased against the Charedi community, one need not look any further than what happened yesterday in Jerusalem....
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Is there Such a Thing as an Irredeemable OTD ?
Julia Haart (Us Magazine)I have to admit that Beila Sebrow made sense to me. And yet I’m not sure that following her advice in all cases is the right approach. Let us examine the issues. In her 5...
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Judaism and the Liberal vs Conservative Value System
Which political philosophy is closest to Judaism, liberal or conservative? I have always maintained that Judaism is not an exact match with either. Although I do believe that since conservative values...
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Some of My Best Friends…
Founder of Chasidus, Israel Baal Shem Tov (Age of Ideas)By now it has become a cliché. Whenever someone exhibits a mild form of antisemitism and is accused of it, they might respond by saying, ‘That...
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The Big Bluff
Russian tanks on the move near the Ukraine (NYT)The media has been in a near state of panic over what’s happening on the Ukrainian border. For those that are living in a cave, Russian President...
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Full Time Torah Study is Not for Everyone
Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman (VIN)I just don’t get it. I understand that Charedi leaders in Israel don’t like it when the government tampers with their world. But their reaction to the latest...
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Is the First Amendment Absolute? It’s Complicated
The six conservative Supreme Court justices (CNN)Imagine the following scenario. A lovely young Christian couple wants to adopt a child that happens to be Jewish. Before the state allows them to adopt...
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Same Old - Same Old
The illegal drug khat - seized at Dublin airport in 2020 (The Journal)I wish I can say that things have improved. But they haven’t. It appears that smuggling dope is a worthy pastime among some Charedi...
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Chazal and Science
R'Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, ZTL (Wikipedia)It’s been a while. As Rabbi Natan Slifkin notes it’s been 17 years since his books were banned by R’Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, ZTL – whom many considered to be the...
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My Critique of Chasidism - Rebutting a Rebuttal
The late Lubavitcher Rebbe,, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, ZTL (JP)A week ago (last Monday) I expressed my views in a post about why I believe Chasidus is not the best way for God’s chosen people to...
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Charedim Don't Have to Be Poor
Shas Party leader, Aryeh Deri (TOI)Sometimes I feel like I’m beating a dead horse. I don’t know how many times I’ve discussed this subject – but every time it comes up. It strikes a nerve. So forgive...
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Halacha and Sexual Ethics
Image for illustration purposes onlySo… how many of us have teenage children that access porn? And by us, I mean all of us in the world of Orthodox Judaism. From the most right wing Charedi Yeshiva...
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Has World War III Begun?
Image for illustration purposes (NBC)UpdatUpdatedIt appears I was wrong. Putin is indeed insane. I thought he was bluffing. He wasn’t. He has ordered his military to attack a sovereign nation without...
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My Critique of Religious Jews
L-R: Rabbis Plotnik, Golderg, and Ginsberg (Mishpacha)UpdatedI am often accused of bashing Charedim. I can’t even begin to count how many times that has happened. Suffice it to say – a lot. At first I...
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Ad Mosei?
The letter and its signatories (COL)Prayer is certainly called for. We must pray for peace always. And certainly when our brethren in the Ukraine are in danger of being killed or mamned by Putin’s mad...
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The Jewish Ukrainian President
I admit to have been a bit conflicted about my support for the Ukrainian people. My father and father in law both lived in the Ukraine before the Holocaust. And they both hid out there during that...
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I Am Still Shocked
Protests like this one are happening are happening all over the world (Guardian)Every night since Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine, I remain incredulous that this is actually happening. I must have said...
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The Antisemitism of the Ukraine
Jewish victims of a Ukrainain pogrom in 1919 (TOI)The truth always comes out. Sometimes when you least expect it and it can hurt you the most. Is this the right time to be critical of a now democratic...
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The Dividing Line
Extremist Charedim protesting a cell phone store (VIN)There are a variety of Jews that identify as Charedi. From moderate to extreme. But I believe that there are basically two kinds of Charedim. One...
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WOW, Heterodoxy, and Mass Protests
Torah being raised by Reform leader, MK Gilad Kariv in support of WOW (JP) There has been yet another in what has become a series of monthly demonstrations at the Kotel this morning. As has been the...
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