Category Archives: Uncategorized

I’d like to ask some of my colleagues a favor. I teach Torah for a living, often to people who don’t have a lot of background. Many of them are wary of Halacha in the first place and inexperienced in the … Continue reading →

One of the miracles of the Jewish People is that, at least as a core group, we’ve remained united as one. Taking into consideration our vast differences in thought and customs, the miracle is that much greater. Our contemporary State of … Continue reading →

Yes, you read the title correctly. We can employ antisemitism for our own benefit. Of course, we’d be better off with out it, but since it not only exists, but persists and flourishes over millennia, we need a better way … Continue reading →

I don’t know if it’s just me, but it’s all-too-often difficult to resist the temptation to do a cost-benefit analysis when asked to do something. I think we’re all tempted to ask whether the rewards of any action will be … Continue reading →

My living room features four guitars on various stands, along with a five-string banjo. When I’m listening to recorded music at a high-enough (not necessarily that loud) volume, I hear and can often see the open strings vibrating sympathetically with … Continue reading →

I teach Torah for a living, focusing on trying to empower (mostly) adult students to read and negotiate for themselves the world of seforim which make up a large part of our collective, kaleidoscopic view of the world. Most of my … Continue reading →

An enduring passion for Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel, has been taken for granted for two millennia as a universally-shared Jewish trait. Learned or not, Ashkenazi, Sephardi or Mizrachi, yeshivische or chassid, secular or devout, man or woman, those … Continue reading →

I went to a talk Rabbi Shlomo Riskin gave shortly after he made aliyah in 1983 or 84. He compared Shalom Achshav, Peace Now, with Moshiach Achshav, Moshiach Now, and said they were both equally unrealistic. The entire Jewish people, … Continue reading →

Rashi begins his monumental commentary on Tanach with the statement that according to Rabbi Yitzchak the Torah should actually begin 6/7th through Parshat Bo! Shemot, Chapter 12, verse 2 states, …הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים (HaChodesh Hazeh L’chem Rosh Chadashim….). … Continue reading →

Cultural triumphalism is one of the big taboos of modern liberal thought. The very idea of chosenness, as in our being “The Chosen People” has become anathema to many well-meaning but not so well-informed of our people. This is so … Continue reading →