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The View to My Left
Rabbi Chai Posner, Associate Rabbi of Cong. Beth Tfiloh in Baltimore One of the obvious defining characteristics of being a Centrist in Orthodox Judaism is that you have legitimate Hashkafos both to...
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What Should a Yeshiva Education Entail?
Is learning Gemarah all there is?A thought provoking post on Rabbi Yosef Bechhofer’s blog, YGB, asks the following question: What do we expect kids to walk out of Yeshiva to know? The question is...
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Israel’s Support for Eida Schools
Eida head, Rav Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss (YWN)People who know me, know of my antipathy for the views of the Satmar Rebbe with respect to his antipathy for the State of Israel – the embodiment of Zionism....
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Charedi-Lite and the Draft
Charedim protest the arrest of a Charedi draft dodger a while ago (Ynet)About ten or so years ago, a young Avreich (Kollel member) in a major Yeshiva in Israel told me that there are significant...
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Need Does Not Justify Questionable Tactics
Lakewood Mayor, Menashe Miller - We should follow his exampleThe truth is that I know very little about the village of Lakewood, New Jersey. Other than the fact that it is the home to Beth Medrash...
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Accept Truth - No Matter the Source
It truly disappoints me when I hear the kind of accusations made by some people that think I bash Charedim. I do not. I am a Truth teller. Not a basher. And the truth often contains both good and bad....
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Victims (Survivors) of Abuse Come First
Four of the defendants (Ynet)Everything I’ve ever heard about the Belzer Rebbe has been inspiring to me. I am not a Chasid, nor do I agree with the philosophy of Chasidus. But I still admire Chasdic...
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Excessive Modesty
Muslim women in traditional Muslim garbI do a 20 mile bike ride every day. I do it for 2 reasons. One is to maintain my good health (for which I am ever grateful to God) and the other is because I love...
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Another 'Home Run' for Jonathan Rosenblum
Jonathan Rosenblum (Honest Reporting)I believe that it’s safe to say that Charedi columnist, Jonathan Rosenbulm is one of the most articulate and well informed spokesman the Charedi world has. He is...
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The YCT-OO Conundrum
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah President, Rabbi Asher LopatinIt is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. These words spoken by Winston Churchill about Russia is how I feel about Yeshivat Chovevei...
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The Bridge Builder
I know Yechiel Eckstein. We are friends. Yechiel completed Shas together with me and about 20 others doing Daf Yomi in Rabbi Yosef Bechhofer's Shiur (10th cycle).He started doing Daf Yomi in the...
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The Tacit Approval of Yoatzot Halacha
2013 Yoatzot Halacha graduatesIt seems that my support for Yoatzot Halacha is becoming more mainstream. Which is a good thing. A Yoetzet (Yoatzot is plural of Yoetzet) Is a female Halachic adviser on...
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The Wrong Stuff
Picture from the Forward for illustrative purposes onlyOne of the most disturbing and divisive tactics in Israel used by the Charedi politicians and activists in Israel, is the way they express...
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In My Defense…
Rabbi Shaya Karlinksy - one of my many critics that I respectI’ve had a rough week. A lot of people I respect (and some that I don’t) have been bashing me all week – in private and in public. In...
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The Rest of the Story
My father (2nd from right) at a wedding in Toledo (Toledo Blade)I cannot imagine what my father went through during the Holocaust. Which always comes to mind on Tisha B’Av. A couple of years ago I...
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When Antisemitism Infects a Just Cause
This picture speaks for itself (Atlanta Black Star)Black lives do matter. I repeat that now despite what has happened to this movement. It now actually ‘boasts’ a manifesto. Nothing wrong with that....
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Who Should Get Custody?
Families stroll in Stamford Hill, North London (file photo) Getty (Independent)As an Orthodox Jew, it is my firm belief that to be Jewish is to serve God through His Torah. That means being observant...
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Science and Creation – Not a Contradiction
The Big Bang of CreationI am always reluctant to discuss these issues because it brings all the skeptics out of the woodwork to challenge what I wrote. And as I have said numerous times, I am not...
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Belittling Survivors of Sex Abuse
Rabbi ZechariaWallersteinIt takes a certain level of naiveté and hubris to think you are serving God by angrily belittling people. Especially if they are survivors of sexual abuse. It is well known...
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Extreme Orthodoxy
Street scene in New SquareNew Square. That is a city of extremes. Extremes that according to most religious authorities are not required to the life of an observant Jew in service to God. As Agudah...
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