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Oh No... Not Again!
I can’t stand it anymore. I almost wish the target of this investigation was Modern Orthodox. Because I know I will be accused of bashing Charedim again and I’m tired of it. As well as being battered...
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The Charedi Draft – An Analysis by a Charedi Rav
Israeli Charedim in College - photo credit: David Bachar/Ha'aretzI always love it when prominent Charedi rabbis agree with me even if they don’t make any reference to me personally. (Not that he...
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A Quick Analysis of the Trip
President Obama being awarded Israel's highest civilian honorWhat a far cry he is from his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. I cannot think of two more opposite ends of the pole with respect to their...
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Welcome to the Club
HaGaon R' Moshe SternbuchThis morning on the Daas Torah blog, there was a document posted that was verified to have been written by R’ Moshe Sternbuch. In so many words he is clearly of the belief...
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A Short Vort (or Two… or Three…) for Pesach
The four cups of wine that we drink at the Seder are symbolic of the four expressions of freedom that God used in telling Moshe about our salvation: V’Hotzesi (I will take you out of Egypt): V’Hitzalti...
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Solving One Problem – Sort of...
New "Satmar" dwellings - photo source: New York ObserverMy issues with Satmar notwithstanding, I must give credit where credit is due. The Williamsburg area where Satmar Chasidim live has quietly...
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An Appalling Critique
Gilad Schalit - Photo credit: Jerusalem Post/REUTERS/Handout I don’t know who this character Ben Caspit is. But I have absolutely no respect for him. What he has done – no doubt in the safety of his...
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Yeshiva University Needs to Do the Right Thing
Yeshiva University Beis HaMedrashAfter thinking long and hard about the sex abuse scandal at Yeshiva University’s high school, I have come to the conclusion that more needs to be done.A lot of mistakes...
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A Mistaken Plea to Klal Yisrael
Ami Magazine One of the most pressing issues facing Israel right now (at least internally) is the issue of ‘What to do about the Charedim’. I do not say this in any pejorative sense at all. But the...
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Another Baby (Almost) Bites the Dust
There has been yet another case of neonatal herpes reported in the media. From the Forward:Another Jewish newborn — the second in three months — has contracted neonatal herpes due to a controversial...
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How to Lessen the Hatred
Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett - Photo credit: Times of IsraelJonathan Rosenblum asks a question in the title of Cross Currents republished from his most recent column in Mishpacha Magazine:...
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Dishonoring the Holocaust
Photo by United States Holocaust MuseumToday is Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel. My parents were both Holocaust survivors. If my father were alive today he would be 109 years old. My...
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The Making of Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel
Although I haven’t read any of the biographies that have been written about Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, I happened to pick up the ArtScroll bio this past Shabbos and skimmed through it. I noticed something...
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Making Lemonade Out of a Cardozo Lemon
Although I actually voted for him (...against Ford. I voted against him - for Reagan the second time) one of the worst Presidents of my lifetime has to be Jimmy Carter. Some of the damage he did to...
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The Outreach Revolution
Dr. Jack WerthheimerI think I’ve said this before – or something like it. Jack Wertheimer is one of my favorite Conservative Jews. A recent article in Commentary Magazine could not be more positive...
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Obligations, Rights, and Culture
The key to Jewish continuity is the subject of Gil’s posttoday. He excerpts British Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks’ book on the subject - who posits that the key is not culture but duty.I think that’s...
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The Sharansky Option
Women of the Wall - photo source: The ForwardNatan Sharansky has come up with a plan that he feels is a workable compromise between Charedim and heterodox movements. It will enable people to attend...
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Bringing Ridicule upon Us in the Name of God
Photo credit - RedditThere was an interesting blurb in last week’s Mishpacha about a Psak (Halachic decision) by Rav Elyashiv.When candidate Barack Obama visited Israel in 2008, he wanted to visit the...
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Would Anne Frank Have Objected?
Anne Frank - Source: The ForwardI hate to defend a pop icon whose music I can’t stand, but justice demands that I do so.Justin Bieber has apparently has done something that has drawn a lot of...
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The Winds of Change?
Everything stops as a siren sounds on Yom HaZikaronLast night I stumbled into a program on public television that documented a historical event I was not fully aware of - the founding of the Israeli...
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