Is Half a Loaf Really Better than No Loaf?

Posted on: October 17th, 2012

I do not question Rabbi Zev Farber’s sincerity. I even applaud his resolve to right what he sees to be wrong in the way we practice Judaism today. But I do not agree with him at all on the way to do it. In a recent article on Morethodoxy, Rabbi Farber suggests that we change the paradigm with respect to a woman’s role in Judaism. His contention is that women are (at best) inadvertently ignored and mistreated vis-à-vis their public religious personae. Their current place in the synagogue is where this is mostly felt.

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The Most Impressive First Name

Posted on: October 17th, 2012

Rabbi Meir Soloveichik opened his Shabbos Shuva drasha as follows: I flew to Tampa, Florida a few weeks ago for the Republican National Convention. When I arrived, I was escorted into a large room where all the Convention speakers of the day gathered along with Congressman, Senators, Governors and other politicians.

What’s Important to America?

Posted on: October 17th, 2012

Here on vacation I woke up in the middle of the night to watch the second debate. I had not seen either the first one or the VP debate, though I saw and read clips. I thought I would be bored; I wasn't. I hoped I would be impressed - I was...by Mitt Romney.

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Arab Teachers’ Rejection of Holocaust Education Highlights Arab Anti-Semitism

Posted on: October 17th, 2012

Rumors of a U.N. decision to introduce Holocaust studies in schools in Palestinian refugee camps run by UNRWA have outraged Jordanian teachers.

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Massacring the Truth

Posted on: October 17th, 2012

The so-called “Jenin Massacre” of 2002 — a massacre that never happened — is emblematic of the way the truth is violated, over and over in this conflict. The most shocking aspect of the affair, for me, was the cynical way in which many were comfortable with inverting reality for ideological reasons.

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Reflections on the Second Presidential Debate

Posted on: October 17th, 2012

Obama got away with saying that he had characterized the attack on the Benghazi consulate as a terrorist incident because the moderator confirmed his point; in fact he misrepresented the facts when he said "The day after the attack, governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people and the world that … this was an act of terror."

Rashi Was a Zionist Racist

Posted on: October 17th, 2012

Almost everyone is familiar with the famous first Rashi on the Torah. He asks why does the Torah begin with the account of Creation? After all, since the Torah contains the commandments which Hashem gave to Am Yisrael, it should have begun the precept concerning Rosh Chodesh - the first commandment given to the Israelite Nation.

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Israel and Eilat

Posted on: October 16th, 2012

Eilat is a different world from most of Israel - they like it that way; they want it that way. But more and more, security is coming down here. My overwhelming memory of Eilat remains that one visit, four years ago, on our 25th wedding anniversary, when Elie's unit came under terror attack in Jerusalem as they were walking to the Western Wall days before Rosh Hashana.

Did the Guardian Just Recognize “East” Jerusalem as Part of Israel?

Posted on: October 16th, 2012

It’s been a tough year for the Guardian’s “research” department. Earlier in Oct., the Press Complaints Commission concluded that the Guardian’s “unequivocal statement” in their “Style Guide” that “Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel” was incorrect and therefore breached “the Editors’ Code of Practice.

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And Over at the UN… Diplomats Try to Keep Israel Front and Center

Posted on: October 16th, 2012

Despite more obviously pressing problems in Syria and elsewhere, U.S. and U.N. diplomats keep focusing on Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Back to Dubai: Australian Travelers Should Read This

Posted on: October 16th, 2012

The United Arab Emirates huge airline, Emirates, has just done a deal with Qantas to essentially take over the Australian airline's steering wheel. With the Australian government blessing the deal a few days ago, it looks like full steam ahead. And according to a recent UAE business news website, the Flying Kangaroo is already thoroughly and irretrievably locked in. So it appears Australians headed for Europe on the nation's flag-carrier will be traveling through the Dubai airport henceforth, instead of via gorgeous Singapore and its magnificent Changi Airport. The reasons are all about business, money and saving Qantas.

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Rav Elyashiv, Torah and Science

Posted on: October 16th, 2012

One of the biggest issues that has arisen as a result of the Slifkin controversy is the question of whether Chazal, the sages of the Talmud knew the actuality of nature. There are those who say that they did. They say that every statement recorded in the Gemarah with respect to science is an accurate reflection of nature itself. The science redacted in the Talmud is as valid as the Halacha - both being Mesorah.

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The Snake Made Me Do It

Posted on: October 16th, 2012

If Eve had read www.jewishsexuality.com, she wouldn’t have followed after her eyes and got us all kicked out of the garden. If Adam had read jewishsexuality.com, he wouldn’t have eaten the “apple.” Today, we don’t have to make the same mistakes they did. We have the teachings of the Torah and the advice of the Sages to rely upon. While I won’t quote from the holy Zohar here, for people who enjoy the secrets of Torah, there’s a lot more to the snake than his pretty long tail.

I Want to have Your Baby, Sarah Silverman

Posted on: October 16th, 2012

Let's talk about motherhood and babies, and why some young girls start planning their weddings at age 7 and have the albums to show for it.

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Palestinians Caught in the Act (Video)

Posted on: October 15th, 2012

Every year Palestinians and foreign activists try to blame Settlers for cutting down olive trees. But once again Settlers have caught the Palestinians and the activists on film cutting down trees, presumably to then blame the Jews.

Is Netanyahu Again Offering the Golan Heights to Syria?

Posted on: October 15th, 2012

Shimon Shiffer reports in Yedioth Ahronoth that in secret talks in 2010 via U.S. government mediator Frederic C. Hof, Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu agreed in principle to a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights to the June 4, 1967, lines in return for the "expectation" of Bashar al-Assad cutting ties with Iran, and that the nearly-completed negotiations ended because of the anti-Assad uprising that began in January 2011.

Is it the Army Uniform or the Jews in them?

Posted on: October 15th, 2012

is the Waqf upset that IDF soldiers in uniform enter the Temple Mount or that they are Jewish or represent the army of the state of Israel?

Shimon HaTzadik…Simon the Just

Posted on: October 15th, 2012

What sets us apart from most people can be summed up so easily. Did you know that Sunday was the anniversary of the death of Shimon HaTzadik? He died about 2,300 years ago, give or take, and we know who he was, who his father was, what he did in his life, and where he is buried. And yesterday hundreds of Israelis likely visited his grave.

The Odd Couple of Barak and Joe

Posted on: October 15th, 2012

The presidential and vice-presidential debates provided us with two snapshots of two different and yet very similar men. The Obama who showed up to debate Mitt Romney and the Biden who showed up to debate Paul Ryan were outwardly different types. One white and one black, one elderly and one middle-aged, one a veteran of the Senate and the other a political tyro rushed through the ranks on the promise of his electability.

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If Israel’s Defensive Measures are Called ‘Disproportionate,’ What to Call Hezbollah’s Aggression?

Posted on: October 15th, 2012

There was not that much doubt, when reports of Israel bringing down an unidentified drone over the southern Hebron Hills first appeared a week ago, that the spy plane originated with Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah.