Crass Materialism And The Lack Of True Jewish Values

Posted on: August 25th, 2010

How embarrassing.Last Sunday the Los Angeles Times ran an article about extravagant Jewish Iranian weddings in California that portrayed our community as a bunch of shallow, boastful materialists who think the purpose of a marriage ceremony is to tell our friends how much money we have.

The Ongoing Denigration Of Singles

Posted on: August 18th, 2010

A great human tragedy is taking place before our eyes, yet few can see it. A singles event in Jerusalem, co-sponsored by no fewer than five groups or organizations, advertised the following: "Ask yourself this question: Do you really want to get married? If the answer is NO, then carry on having a good time going to all those parties, Shabbat meals, lectures, supermarket aisles . If the answer is YES, then we'll see you at the MEGA EVENT."

The Win-Lose Trap

Posted on: August 18th, 2010

Opponents of President Obama do not lack for reasons to criticize him or his administration. Not justifiably among them, however, would be the contention that Obama the candidate had misled the country regarding his intentions.

Celebrating Social Security’s 75th Anniversary

Posted on: August 18th, 2010

This month Social Security, the most successful domestic program in our nation's history, celebrates its 75th anniversary. On August 14, 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. With one pen stroke he laid the foundation of modern American social policy. Today, millions of retirees live in dignity thanks to their monthly Social Security benefit payment.

Our Daunting Task

Posted on: August 11th, 2010

Our beloved, miraculous Jewish state is under siege. It was assumed that the ceaseless persecution of the Jews in exile would cease once we again had our own sovereign homeland, our own army, navy, and air force.

Palestinians Refuse To Accept Israel Within Any Borders

Posted on: August 11th, 2010

A recent news item shed piercing light on the reason for the intractability of the Arab war on Israel. The well-known 1970s disco group Boney M, invited by the Palestine International Festival to give a concert in Palestinian Authority-controlled Ramallah, was pressured to drop performing one of its signature hit songs, "Rivers of Babylon."

Israeli Left’s Checklist For Academic Freedom

Posted on: August 11th, 2010

With so much recent debate in Israel about academic freedom, I thought it would be constructive to describe the current politically correct ideas about academic freedom held and proliferated by the academic left:

Rabbis, Time To Flash Your Badges

Posted on: August 4th, 2010

"Officer, what's your badge number?" I've been asked that question countless times over the last 26 years. Almost always, it followed an unpopular decision. Always, it was accompanied by an unspoken message: "I'm letting you know I will hold you accountable for this decision." And always, I answer that question in a direct, simple way: I give my badge number.

Enter, O Bride: Elul Is Here

Posted on: August 4th, 2010

"Ani l'dodi v'dodi li (I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine)" - Song of Songs 6:3). This is the acronym of Elul. Since Elul is the last month of the year and immediately precedes Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Judgment for all the world's inhabitants, it was established as a time for teshuvah/repentance. We therefore recite selichos and penitential prayers to [Hashem]. [Book of Our Heritage]

We Should Not Be Surprised

Posted on: August 4th, 2010

If I am granted the years and strength, in three years (and during my eightieth year) I will conduct another census of Jewish day schools in the United States, following up on my previous research conducted at five-year intervals.

Claims Conference Will Not Be Deterred

Posted on: August 4th, 2010

The Claims Conference (as reported in last week's Jewish Press) discovered a fraud perpetrated against the organization. In a sophisticated criminal scheme, falsified and phony documents were submitted to programs that make payments to Jewish victims of Nazism. These programs, funded by the German government, have been targeted by persons seeking to extract payments to which they were not entitled.

Innovation: Improving Medicine And The Economy

Posted on: August 4th, 2010

The federal government just announced that the nation's unemployment rate is still hovering around 10 percent. Voters have seized on this news by demanding that their leaders find a way to drive that number down.

Reflections On Savta’s Murder

Posted on: August 4th, 2010

A little more than seven years ago, on June 11, 2003, an 18-year-old Palestinian, Abdel Mahdi Shabneh, cradled a Kalashnikov and proclaimed violence to be the only means by which his people could combat Israeli occupation. Shabneh's target would be Jerusalem's busiest street, at the busiest time - Jaffa Road at 5 p.m.

The Transformative Effect Of A Deafblind Shabbaton

Posted on: July 28th, 2010

Since the 1960s, Our Way, a program of the Orthodox Union, has been establishing initiatives on behalf of Jewish deaf throughout North America. Participants have included thousands of deaf individuals – young and old, observant and nonobservant – communicating on different levels in 18 states and several Canadian provinces. As the director of Our Way, […]

J Street’s McCarthyism

Posted on: July 28th, 2010

J Street, the leftist lobbying organization that claims to be pro-Israel, is running a television ad that divides the world into two groups: the good guys who support the two-state solution, the end of the occupation and peace; and the bad guys who oppose these results and instead favor a continuation of violence.

‘Peace, Peace,’ But There Is No Peace

Posted on: July 28th, 2010

Islam, which has been described as an ideology wrapped in a religion, will never allow its adherents to accept a non-Muslim state in land previously conquered in the name of Allah.

All The Troubles Of The Middle East In One Little Country

Posted on: July 28th, 2010

There is a country in the Middle East accused of conducting a brutal decades-long occupation. A country where a blockade causes starvation among a civilian refugee population. A country that violently cracks down on all opposition and shoots into crowds of protestors but receives substantial financial aid from the United States as an ally in the War on Terror even as it undermines our war efforts by pursuing its own agenda.

Saying No To Newsweek

Posted on: July 21st, 2010

I've been reading Newsweek since 1975, when, as a yeshiva student in Israel, I subscribed in order to keep abreast of world events when otherwise not ensconced in the study of Torah. It's been three and a half decades, and my subscription, which lapses next month, will not be renewed. The reasons are reflective of the current state of American culture and mainstream journalism.

Milt And Wilt – Mitzvah Men

Posted on: July 21st, 2010

Up in the Catskills, a man named Yossi Zablocki is trying to save the last blintz palace of my generation's youth. The place is called Kutsher's Country Club. The man who made it all work was Milton Kutsher.

The Fight Against Israel’s Delegitimization Begins With Ourselves

Posted on: July 21st, 2010

If there is one thing the overwhelming majority of Jews agree on, it's that we are friends of Israel. We know Israel is in peril and we want to do something to help.