Category: Other

On September 18th, I was honored to be one of the speakers at the Second Forum for Young Religious Leaders, held in Astana, Kazakhstan, as part of the VIII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. The following is the full text…

In His Song, Moses Soars Between Heaven and Earth

Torah Portion- Ha’azinu (Deuteronomy 32:1 to 32:52)

In his song, Moses soars between heaven and earth,

A symphony in harmony with creation.

Yet, our acts so often bring cacophony

By…

Just over 100 years ago – 102 1/2 years ago, in time measured by the calendar – two great Jewish thinkers debated the question of how time can be measured. The topic of their debate goes to the essence of what the Ten Days of Penitence…

Beginning with this episode I break out of the standard chronological format that has shaped the trajectory of the previous 189 episodes, and introduce a montage format to the storyline. Now the organizing principle will be thematic. In the…

The Netivot Shalom describes two of the most severe sins, where repentance is needed very badly.

The first of these sins, is the speaking of Lashon Hara against another Jew. One who is guilty of this transgression shows that he probably hates…

In what seemed like an attempt to will a State of Palestine into existence last week, a host of Western countries led by France announced their recognition of a Palestinian state at a UN summit convened by France and Saudi Arabia. The…

In a time when too many elected officials remain silent in the face of rising antisemitism, Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas has once again proven that leadership is not about convenience, but about courage. With moral clarity, he has called…

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Does the Cohen Make the Cut?

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the requirement that a cohen stand when he performs the Avodah, and if not, the service is invalidated. Based on this, the Magen Avraham (beginning of Siman 48, OC) rules that…

Jew-Hatred as Global Currency Marks the West’s Intellectual Bankruptcy

Title deliberately adapted from George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945). In Orwell’s allegory, the pigs twisted the language of equality to mask tyranny.

I. The Pigs –…