Posted on: August 17th, 2011

On the surface it would appear the current major threat to Jewish survival comes from the Islamic nations surrounding Israel. That threat is small, however, compared to the threat of secularization. If one were to say that to be a good Jew we need to follow the Torah in its entirety, then many of us are not acting properly as Jews, even in the Orthodox world. Many of us have become lax, using excuses such as "this law is outdated" or "that law is just rabbinical." That leaves us with the question: What does it mean to be a Jew?

Posted on: August 10th, 2011

Editor's Note: On July 30, the firm of Lewin & Lewin, LLP, filed in the Supreme Court its brief in Zivotofsky v. Clinton, No. 10-699, on which the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in early November. The constitutional issue in the case is whether Congress had the authority to enact a law in 2002 that directs the Secretary of State to permit U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem to record their place of birth in their passports as "Israel." Because the State Department has consistently refused to recognize any part of Jerusalem as being in Israel, the government has refused to implement the 2002 law, claiming it violates the President's constitutional authority to "recognize foreign sovereigns." This is the Introduction to the Zivotofsky brief written by Nathan Lewin, followed by a Summary of Argument.

Posted on: August 10th, 2011

A number of years ago I attended a "Kiddush Club" gathering in the basement of a synagogue. Right when the haftarah reading began, several older men snuck out the back and in a small dark room in the basement opened multiple bottles of alcohol. They drank excessively until the sermon was over and then, not so inconspicuously, returned back for the final portion of the Shabbat morning service.

Posted on: August 3rd, 2011

The two despicable terror attacks in Oslo and on the island of Utoya carried out by Anders Breivik propelled Norway onto center stage. Norway is a country that normally draws little attention - even Swedes and Danes who can read Norwegian are generally uninterested in what happens there. The only annual event that regularly generates publicity for Norway is the awarding of the Noble Peace prize.

Posted on: August 3rd, 2011

There are so many events about which one ought to write. So much is happening on a daily and even an hourly basis. Slaughter in Norway, unrelenting turmoil in the Middle East, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, revolutions and the threat of a nuclear apocalypse emanating from the maniacal regime in Iran.

Posted on: August 3rd, 2011

The Gaza flotilla and the flytilla may have been failures, but they were also missed opportunities for Israel. It's no secret that a portion of Israel's tourist trade comes from "protest tourism" - philosophy students and poetry Ph.D.s who want a chance to visit the Holy Land, throw some rocks at a soldier and have their pictures taken with AK-47-wielding terrorists. And it's time the Israeli tourist industry took their business seriously.

Posted on: August 3rd, 2011

As reported last week in the Jerusalem Post, "Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel and the U.S. were working on a document saying the parameters for returning to negotiations with the Palestinians would be based on the speech U.S. President Barack Obama gave at AIPAC in May, and spelling out in greater detail what Obama meant by a return to the 1967 lines, with mutual agreed swaps."

Posted on: July 27th, 2011

Five thousand evangelical Christian supporters of Israel from throughout the U.S. and Canada filled the halls of the Washington, D.C. Convention Center July 18-20 for the sixth annual Washington Summit of Christians United for Israel.

Posted on: July 27th, 2011

The decision by the Israeli Supreme Court in the matter of Mustafa Dirani (sometimes spelled Durani) has once again shown the world that Israel's judicial system is a clear and present danger to the country.

3

Posted on: July 27th, 2011

A recent article in The Jewish Week brought to light something that has been afflicting the Orthodox community for some time now: teenage texting on Shabbos. The practice is becoming increasingly prevalent, especially but in no way exclusively, among Modern Orthodox teens.

Posted on: July 20th, 2011

A surefire way to gauge the generation in which a person was raised is to have him or her fill in the following sentence: Where were you when ?" Baby Boomers would ask, "When President Kennedy was shot?" Thirtysomethings would respond, "When the space shuttle exploded?" Today's teenagers would reply, "On 9/11?"

Posted on: July 20th, 2011

We are now in the Three Weeks, a time of national mourning for the Jewish people. Of the numerous tragedies that occurred throughout history during this period, the central one we grieve is the destruction of both Temples; they were destroyed on Tisha B'Av, the culmination of the Three Weeks.

Posted on: July 20th, 2011

It's been a bumpy road for the Palestinians lately. Recent staged spectacles that were supposed to whip up sympathy for them and put Israel in a bad light again - the Nakba Day (May 15) and Naksa Day (June 4) marches on Israel's borders, the flotilla, the flytilla - have been disappointments at best, if not outright flops. And the Palestinians' long-hyped independent-statehood bid at the UN in September is meeting growing opposition from the West.

Posted on: July 20th, 2011

In March 1941 - nine months before the attack on Pearl Harbor impelled America to enter the Second World War - one colorful American hero already had joined the battle: Captain America.

Posted on: July 13th, 2011

As Israel's leadership digs in its heels in the face of escalating Palestinian demands for statehood, the Jewish state faces a new, rapidly changing dynamic. The Palestinian Authority's intent to seek United Nations recognition of a new Arab state based on pre-1967 borders, coupled with reconciliation between the PA and Hamas, further complicates the issue.

Posted on: July 13th, 2011

There was a lot of attention given to a Gallup poll last week showing Jewish approval for President Obama has remained fairly steady at around 60 percent since the beginning of the year (though it has also dropped by 20 points since 2009).

Posted on: July 13th, 2011

The ongoing Turkish request for an Israeli apology over the killing last year of nine pro-Palestinian flotilla activists has been a major hindrance in efforts to improve Israeli-Turkish relations.

Posted on: July 7th, 2011

Many reviews already have appeared of "The Undefeated," the soon-to-be-released documentary about Sarah Palin's tenure in Alaska. Yet none of them - even in The Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post or Politico.com - mentions that nearly all of the film's many pro-Palin media talking heads are Jews.

Posted on: July 7th, 2011

It was the first of the intermediate days of Passover 2010, and my two older sons decided to wake up really early - around 5 a.m. - and head out with me by car in the expectation of getting in a full day seeing the country around Phoenix, Arizona, specifically the Sedona and Grand Canyon areas.

Posted on: July 7th, 2011

A recent piece posted on Matzav.com signed by "A Crying Bas Yisroel" chillingly lamented the plight of a young single woman, with fine personal qualities but without any family money or yichus, who sits forlornly waiting for her phone to ring with calls from shadchanim. Alas, the phone never rings, and for her, the shidduch system is an ongoing nightmare.