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The Principles Behind the Controversy Over the Wall
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Kotel (Jerusalem Post)The debate has not gone away. From an editorial in the Jerusalem Post: After passing a resolution to establish a third prayer...
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Is The President Really a Racist?
Senator Dick Durbin and President Trump There appears to be some controversy about whether the President actually uttered the words attributed to him last week. Words the media were quick to jump on....
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Oness Rachmana Patrei?
Ponevezh RoshYeshiva, R' Gershon Edelstein in his Bnei Brak home (VIN)God absolves sin committed by force. (That is what the transliterated Hebrew title of this post means.) Is it true that when...
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Writing a Sefer Torah is Not Teshuva
Celebrating a Sefer Torah donated by a convicted sex offender (Forward)The current popularity of writing a Sefer Torah and donating it to a Shul is something that has been troubling me for some time...
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Improper Use of the Torah to Support an Agenda
Far-fetched as it might seem, I believe that Satmar Poskim and the leaders of the far left wing of modern Orthodoxy have a lot in common. At least as it pertains to how they use the Torah or Torah...
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Integration
Image from the Jerusalem PostIntegration is a good thing. But there are some on both sides of that issue that might oppose it - for fear of being contaminated by the other side. And there may even be a...
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Shutting Down the Government and the Women’s March
Image of last year's Women's March (NYT)I tend to identify with conservative ideas a lot more often than not. I am neither proud or ashamed of that. It is just a fact based on my sense of right and...
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Is Yeshiva University Still Modern Orthodox?
One of YU's Roshei Yeshiva, R' Mordechai Willig Yeshiva University (YU) has become Charedi! That is new description of YU that has been bandied about by some people in the Modern Orthodox world. Mostly...
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Never Been so Proud to be a Jew in America
Vice President Mike Pence praying at the Kotel yesterday (TOI)If you are a believing American Jew and were not inspired by what took place in Israel yesterday, I have to question if you actually have a...
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Principles - Not Accommodations
Orthodox turned Conservative Rabbi Harry EpsteinThere’s a fascinating article by Rabbi Gil Student in Torah Musings. (Sent to me by a friend, it was originally posted back in April of 2016.) It is...
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Liberal Versus Conservative on Mike Pence’s Israel
Forward columnist and author, Jay MichaelsonI can’t say I’m surprised. Jay Michelson has ripped Mike Pence a new one! He has torn apart the the Vice President’s historic visit to Israel - calling it a...
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Israel Must Remain Orthodox
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin (Jewish Press)Rabbi Shlomo Riskin has done it again. Well… actually he hasn’t - exactly. According to a headline in the Jewish Press, Rabbi Riskin has advocated public desecration...
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How the Tables Have Turned!
VP Pence asked an Orthodox Rabbi (Lord Sacks) to write his speech One of the things I found fascinating about former President Bill Clinton is his perception of an authentic Jew. The more ‘Jewish’...
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Orthodoxy - Right or Left?
A beautiful Esrog - one example of Hiddur MitzvahOne of the things that I have discovered in recent years is that there are some Jews that call themselves Orthodox that go out of their way to criticize...
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Polish Death Camps
Child survivors of AuschwitzMenachem Begin once famously said that antisemitism is in the mother’s milk of Europeans. I think that’s true – even today. I also believe that the country he had most in...
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When One Outrage Leads to Another
Small pixelated face in a Holocaust picture as it appeared in Mishpacha (The JC)An article dealing with the Holocaust in last week’s Mishpacha Magazine has generated quite a sense of outrage. Not about...
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The Orthodox Union Has Spoken
Logo of the Orthodox Union (OU)It was a wise and fair decision. The OU has decided to fully implement the recommendation of its Halachic advisory board to reject any synagogue that hires a woman to...
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Egalitarianism Taken to an Absurd Extreme
Is this the right direction for the IDF?Things are heating up. Religious Zionist rabbis are up in arms about Israel's decision to integrate women into the IDF (Israel Defense Force) combat units. What...
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The Other Side of the Sex Abuse Issue
Rabbi Shmuel Krawatsky (Jewish Week)There is no doubt about what to do when there are credible suspicions of sex abuse. The consensus on this is enormous: Victims, victim advocates, mental health...
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Time to End Carlebach Minyanim
Shlomo Carlebach and his daughter, NeshamaMy father hated Shlomo Carlebach’s music. He couldn’t stand it when Sheluchei Tzibur (Chazanim) used his tunes. As a lifelong Chazan, he believed that for the...
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