What happened The responses Rabbi Avi Weiss The political left The political right The Jewishly appropriate attitudinal response I. What Happened On December 11, 2009, a Jewish, presumably nationalist settler, desecrate a Mosque in a village called Yusuf, meaning “Joseph. The act of mosque desecration, like synagogue desecration, choreographs contempt, disgust, and revulsion. Regardless of [...]

In Parashat Miqqets, we find heroes who are unique in ancient writing. Ancient pagan heroes, both outside and inside the Bible, are mighty men with insatiable passions. They crave wealth, power, sex, glory, and immortality. Their lives are larger than others, but their goals are no less petty and their passions no less pedestrian than [...]

The fight between the Syrian Greeks and their Hellenistic Jewish clients and the historically faithful Jews the “Hassidim” not a fight between Orthodox religion, the good old ways of the old time religion that is not good enough for everyone, and the new high culture, the Hellenism which is the culture of conquest, the domain [...]

The short answer to the question everyone asks, why rabbis are not trusted, is expressed in an Aramaic aphorism, palginan dibbura, our words are bifurcated, we speak with the self-interestedness of the forked tongue. We by word mislead and do misdeed when we speak, we misrepresent when we explain, and we mystify in order to [...]

Rabbi Moses D. Tendler taught that when all else fails, one would be wise to just tell the truth. Exodus 23:7 and B. Shavuot 30b-31a take this ethical principle rather seriously. We may not lie and we may not even misrepresent Torah truth. 1. Sucking at circumcision There are those who claim that after the [...]

The Facts In order to protect and serve people wounded in war, it was decided to build a fortified emergency room adjacent to Barlizai hospital in Ashekelon, Recalling that Hamas rocked reached Ashkelon, it was decided to initiate a building program. Graves were found at the site, IBA news reported that Orthodox physicians were not [...]

the Arab Side the Arab narrative Israel usurped Arab/ Islamic land Jews have no right to sovereignty in Israel Neither Hamas nor Fatah are prepared to concede a Jewish state Arabs may live in Israel but no Jews in Palestine Because Jews have no legitimate claim Israel is oppressor and occupier Arabs are new Jews [...]

רבן גמליאל אומר עשה לך רב והסתלק מן הספק ואל תרבה לעשר אומדות : Avot 1:16 Rabban Gamaliel taught: Make for yourself a master remove yourself from doubt do not estimate the tithe tax overmuch Rabban Gamaliel was not just a rabbi; he was the nasi, the one who is lifted up. He is cited [...]

We raise the Torah in the air and proclaim, with the demonstrative pronoun, that this is the Torah that Moses placed before the Jewish people. Using computers, Biblical scholarship, and later, post-Biblical Halakhic opinion, modern Orthodox scholars armed with academic tools attempt to arrive at the Mosaic original or close facsimile thereof as a religious [...]

שמעון בנו אומר כל ימי גדלתי בין החכמים ולא מצאתי לגוף טוב אלא שתיקה ולא המדרש הוא העיקר אלא המעשה וכל המרבה דברים מביא חטא : Rabban Gamaliel’s son, saw that to survive and to impose order on chaos, one must be a good listener. He does not command; he observes: I [in my anecdotal [...]

God told Moses to write the Torah as a poem. [Deuteronomy 31:19, Haameq Davar ad. loc.] Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook wrote in a letter to Moses Zeidel that the Torah s not a literal history book. Those who demand such a reading are able to show that this view of Torah was at different times [...]

Vice President Joe Biden, a friend of Israel, was greeted with an announcement that 1,600 housing units will authorized in the Ramat Shelomo northern Jerusalem neighborhood that is within Jerusalem’s municipal borders but outside the very hotly contested so-called “Green Line” that demarcates the pre-1967 war boundaries. What actually happened? What is the meaning of [...]

On the season of the giving the Torah we celebrate what the Torah is. Torah is often invoked to justify this policy or that agenda. What Does the word mean? How has the word been understood The social Torah The political Torah The legal Torah The Jewish Torah Justice you shall pursue Be holy Do [...]

Vice President Joe Biden, a friend of Israel, was greeted with an announcement that 1,600 housing units will authorized in the Ramat Shelomo northern Jerusalem neighborhood that is within Jerusalem’s municipal borders but outside the very hotly contested so-called “Green Line” that demarcates the pre-1967 war boundaries. What actually happened? What is the meaning of [...]

BiPolars Beware! Studying Simchat Torah to Tisha b’Av back to back may be dangerous to your emotional well-being For others, it’s just the kind of balance recommended by Qoheleth ch. 3 ! Times to rejoice and times to weep. The Artscroll cycle of Shalosh Regallim Machazorim contains a wealth of liturgical text and commentary. This [...]

The Second Module Comprises the “High Holiday” Cycle 2A – Rosh Hashanah 2B – Yom Kippur 2C – S’lichot leemay Teshuvah ———————— 2A + 2B have some additional “dividends” 1 Brief Laws of the Customs of the Holidays 2 Mishnayot RH and Yoma 3 Commentaries on: A Teqi’at Shofar B Tashlich C The Avodah 4 [...]

“Lies my rabbi told”, Masorati Matters, Jerusalem Post, 12/15/2009 The Facts of the Case Gai ben David was converted to Judaism by a Conservative rabbi. The Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Solomon Amar, responded to the Chief Rabbi of Spain who ruled that the now deceased young man, should not be buried in a Jewish [...]

In Jewish Action 70:3 (Spring 2010), 70-75, Rabbis Yaakov Luban and Eli Gersten write a wonderful article called “Curious about Kitniyot?” These authors reveal what it means to be Orthodox and modern for the institutional Orthodox Judaism that speaks for “Tradition” in a modern idiom. The authors write both precisely and lucidly, their “scientific” approach [...]

Israel is being criticized for state terrorism, piracy, and murder by boarding Turkish boats and killing Palestinian “activists.”   The Insecurity Council meets and condemns Israel.  Israel is told that it has a right to defend itself. PM Benjamin Netanyahu notes that Israel is condemned for exercising that right. In an effort to cement relations with [...]

While Artscroll’s Shottenstein edition of Shas might be their most famous work, their siddurim and machazorim probably touch more people’s lives Formal study of Jewish liturgy is not common, but it is highly underrated. Our prayers are not only about communing with the Almighty; it is also a repository of normative beliefs and hashqafot . [...]