The J-Blogs Are Like Politifact and They Make a Difference
Fact checking leadership means asking tough questions.
Rabbi Kelemen on Kids Leaving Orthodoxy (I Think He’s Wrong)
Basically, the real problem is bad parenting. He calls it parental selfishness.
Can People Live Longer than 120 Years?
The Talmud is making a general statement for which there are more exceptions that situations where the rule applies.
Creative License When Interpreting the Bible
When we are dealing in non-legal matters, we are no longer concerned with precedent.
Was Assimilation the True Enemy of the Maccabees?
If the Syrian-Greeks were not pushed out of the land, Judaism would have been lost.
What Should We Say On Billboards for God and Judaism?
The Pope is saying that actions are far more important than faith. This is particularly ironic coming from Catholicism.
Why Do We Celebrate Chanukah?
Megilas Taanis simply proclaims the 25th of Kislev a holiday and it is forbidden to mourn for 8 days. The text does not give a reason for the celebration.
We Are Not Under Attack By the LGBT Community
Orthodox Jews are free to teach Leviticus and we are free to deny any religious rights and privileges to anyone we so choose.
Educating about Abuse without Stigmatizing Victims
Organic dating has its own set of problems that the shidduch system can help avoid.
Torah M’Sinai According to Professor Tamar Ross
The revelation continues as the world progressed and however the Torah was emended or edited after Sinai was part of revelation.
Why Do People Leave Orthodox Judaism? Why Do People Stay?
People act not because they think it’s right; they do what they do because it’s what they want to do
We Are Going in the Wrong Direction
For some, guilt by association is actual guilt. For these people, who you know and with whom you associate determine your credibility.
Can You Cry ‘Heresy’ in a Crowded Beit Midrash?
Why does a opinion in the Talmud say the last verses in Devarim were not written by Moses? Was it the easiest solution to a very obvious problem?
Meeting the Challenge of Tisha B’Av: a Proposal
Can we hear the agony in his words? Can we step into his shoes and experience his torment?
The Difference Between Superstition and Ritual
Much of what all religions teach is magical. If one does not believe in God, then we would rightly call it all superstition.
The False Flag of False Accusations in Sex Abuse Cases
The NY Times has a very (appropriately) one-sided article on the Baruch Lebovits and Sam Kellner situation.
The Challenge of Modesty
There is no real theological reason that tznius be heavily codified in Jewish law while other areas of our lives that require modesty are left to our whims and desires.
My Favorite Nelson Mandela Quote
The world lost a great man last week.
Mozilla: ‘Judge Not Your Fellow Until You Have Stood In His Place’
It is unfair to judge a 52 year old man with the glasses of a person who lives in a different world.
Haredi Censorship of Torah
Certain books are excised from the subscription, in order to reinforce an imaginary history where nothing was inconsistent with Haredi Judaism.
What Kind of Life Shall We Choose?
Dvar Torah for Nitzavim Vayelech.
Will the Real Haredi Feminists Please Stand Up?
Ruth Colian is running as a Haredi woman for political office.
A Song of Love, a Song of Life
There is no song that tells the story of freedom like Shir HaShirim.
Man-Made Meat? A fence for Wisdom is Silence
The proper response for almost the entire population of planet Earth to these eternal questions about man-made meat is “I am not qualified to render an opinion on this matter.”
The Insidiousness and Laziness of Guilt by Association
Adegbile was not making a moral statement by representing a man convicted of killing a cop.
Modern Racism
Categorizing all black people as one large group where the acts of one black person in Florida somehow tell us something about a different black person in Seattle is racist.
Abuse in New Square
This kid gets a medal for coming forward.
What Kind of Community Needs to Hear this?
Rabbis have to stop dismissing everything that comes from outside the Beis Medrash.
Why Do Rabbis Make Jokes at Serious Times?
It’s even more strange when the jokes come at our holiest times of the year.
Wisdom from a Venice Beach Vagabond
He told me that according to a Muslim poet, children do not truly belong to their parents. Instead, parents are the vessel through which children flow into the world.