http://www.jewpi.com Jewish Press International Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:28:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.jewpi.com/come-let-us-outsmart-them-1328543889/ http://www.jewpi.com/come-let-us-outsmart-them-1328543889/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:58:09 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/come-let-us-outsmart-them-1328543889/ Had anyone other than a Jew penned what I am about to write he might be referred to as an anti-Semite. There may even be people out there, referring to this essay as anti-Semitic. For a long time, I have been living with fear that the day will come when Israel will cease to be [...]]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/get-it-right-1326418097/ http://www.jewpi.com/get-it-right-1326418097/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:28:17 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/get-it-right-1326418097/ Kana-us, the corrupted Hebrew word for kana-ut or zealotry has taken Israel and the Jewish community worldwide by a storm creating unprecedented blowback. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/zealots-gone-wild/ http://www.jewpi.com/zealots-gone-wild/#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:24:16 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/zealots-gone-wild/ Growing up as part of a minority has its advantages – sometimes. There is a certain convenience in being able to point the finger at “them;” blaming them for everything that’s wrong–after all they are the majority and majority rules. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/two-tough-questions/ http://www.jewpi.com/two-tough-questions/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:04:44 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/two-tough-questions/ Its been said that all an average student needs to become excellent is to be fortunate enough to experience one outstanding teacher. That relationship will provide the inspiration for a lifetime. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/perpetuating-the-myth-or-recasting-chanukah/ http://www.jewpi.com/perpetuating-the-myth-or-recasting-chanukah/#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:42:13 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/perpetuating-the-myth-or-recasting-chanukah/ Every year as Cheshvon slides into Kislev I begin again pondering the meaning of the Chanukah story, its legacy, what we should be taking away from the story and its celebration. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/mistress-of-the-tribe/ http://www.jewpi.com/mistress-of-the-tribe/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:36:19 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/mistress-of-the-tribe/ “As the book goes so goes the Jewish People” references our rich past and possibly illuminates what the future holds in store for us. For Judaism the term “People of the Book” (Am HaSefer) was used to refer to our commitment to the Biblical text and the wider canon of written Jewish law (including the [...]]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/of-rabbinic-hacks-and-clerics/ http://www.jewpi.com/of-rabbinic-hacks-and-clerics/#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:50:23 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/of-rabbinic-hacks-and-clerics/ The Ministry of Religious Affairs or more accurately the Chief Rabbinate is back in the cross hairs once again. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/hazon-ish-visionary-or-short-sighted/ http://www.jewpi.com/hazon-ish-visionary-or-short-sighted/#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 15:48:10 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/hazon-ish-visionary-or-short-sighted/ Being complex people living in extraordinarily complicated times I am flummoxed by the attempt at some scholars to offer simplistic answers to some very convoluted questions. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/chazeer-fissel-kosher/ http://www.jewpi.com/chazeer-fissel-kosher/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:22:19 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/chazeer-fissel-kosher/ On the day after the release of Gilad Shali, the New York Times ran an editorial (Gilad Shalit’s release, October 18, 2011) excoriating Bibi Netanyahu for being able to close a deal with Hamas, “which shoot rockets at Israel”, but unwilling to Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/ethics-of-the-jewish-left/ http://www.jewpi.com/ethics-of-the-jewish-left/#comments Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:06:31 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/ethics-of-the-jewish-left/ There are two guiding axioms regarding American Jews that can be said with relative certainty: Jews tend to list to the liberal left and have certainly been a force within the political left since the days of FDR and American Jews, regardless of Israel’s political proclivity to socialism have always been supportive. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/kaniuk%e2%80%99s-ongoing-conundrum/ http://www.jewpi.com/kaniuk%e2%80%99s-ongoing-conundrum/#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:46:06 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/kaniuk%e2%80%99s-ongoing-conundrum/ Yoram Kaniuk won this past month in the TA District Court when they recognized his right to be registered in the Misrad Hapenim (Ministry of Interior) “without religion”. For Yoram Kaniuk this was a pyrrhic victory since he wanted to exchange his religious identification to a new one “Israeli,” thus listing as “Israeli” his identity. [...]]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/days-of-awe-10/ http://www.jewpi.com/days-of-awe-10/#comments Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:58:06 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/days-of-awe-10/ Once again we are in the midst of the Days of Awe accompanied by my annual emotional turmoil. Even the name “Days of Awe,” a rough translation of “Yamim Noraim” puts me into a perplexed state, a condition of suspended spiritual animation where like a pendulum, I swing between the extreme of good and bad [...]]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/hillel-and-shammai-revisited/ http://www.jewpi.com/hillel-and-shammai-revisited/#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:46:11 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/hillel-and-shammai-revisited/ Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel were the two premier schools of thought in the century that encompassed the destruction of the second Temple. These schools stemmed from two great thinkers, one strident, the other more insightful, emerged out of the chaos created in the dissolution of the Sanhedrin by Herod. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/minoritarianism/ http://www.jewpi.com/minoritarianism/#comments Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:08:09 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/minoritarianism/ There is a rather interesting halacha on the books which refers to “tircha d’tzibur” (inconvenience caused to the general public). Its narrow application would refer to synagogue service where additional non-obligatory devotional prayers are eliminated in order to avoid undue hardship for the community. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/ghetto-in-a-ghetto/ http://www.jewpi.com/ghetto-in-a-ghetto/#comments Thu, 01 Sep 2011 16:12:15 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/ghetto-in-a-ghetto/ The security wall soon to be completed around Jerusalem conjures up Ghetto and having come back from Israel recently I have had this ghetto obsession. I realize, of course, that Israel isn’t a ghetto in the conventional sense of the European ghettos that our ancestors lived. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/mesirah-madness/ http://www.jewpi.com/mesirah-madness/#comments Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:44:07 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/mesirah-madness/ On the backdrop of the Levi Aron case (abducted and murdered Leiby Kletzky, July 12, 2011) the messy business of Mesirah has surfaced again, this time pointing to the sharp philosophical and principled differences between Agudas Israel and the Rabbinical Council of America. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/the-three-weeks-a-muse/ http://www.jewpi.com/the-three-weeks-a-muse/#comments Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:10:20 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/the-three-weeks-a-muse/ On July 19, 2011 I flew El Al to Israel. It was a remarkable flight not only because it was less than half full but also memorable because of the musings it generated during the flight. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/circumcision-circumscribed/ http://www.jewpi.com/circumcision-circumscribed/#comments Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:54:19 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/circumcision-circumscribed/ The San Francisco initiative to ban circumcision has been lauded by many within the liberal Jewish community as forward thinking and has gained enough legitimacy that it has been promoted in the Forward (July 10, 2011). Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/torah-or-technology/ http://www.jewpi.com/torah-or-technology/#comments Mon, 27 Jun 2011 21:44:11 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/torah-or-technology/ An obsessive preoccupation among many modern orthodox rabbis and educators is dealing with the slackening of Sabbath observance among many of its member’s progeny. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/flatlining-tikun-olam/ http://www.jewpi.com/flatlining-tikun-olam/#comments Wed, 22 Jun 2011 01:22:11 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/flatlining-tikun-olam/ Guilt seems to be a character trait embedded in the DNA of Ashkenazi Jews (whether or not this is the case in the Sephardic community is debatable). Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/desperately-in-need-of-tikun/ http://www.jewpi.com/desperately-in-need-of-tikun/#comments Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:07:25 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/desperately-in-need-of-tikun/ In reading JJ Goldberg article “As Bibi Slouches Toward September” this past week (Forward, June 3, 2011) I was struck at the visceral hate oozing out of his words; daggers aimed at the heart of Israel and its political establishment. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/looks-like-a-duck/ http://www.jewpi.com/looks-like-a-duck/#comments Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:56:13 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/looks-like-a-duck/ For those not satisfied with their lives, for those still feeling unfulfilled, and for those yet in search of happiness I am here to tell you that there is a second chance, an opportunity for redemption. You don’t have to repent, you don’t have to fast, meditate or self flagellate, and most of all you [...]]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/aipac-and-its-aftermath/ http://www.jewpi.com/aipac-and-its-aftermath/#comments Mon, 30 May 2011 16:38:09 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/aipac-and-its-aftermath/ It was the first AIPAC conference that I ever attended and it was probably one of the most talked about ones in the press, and in capitals around the world, leaving me speechless, not because I had nothing to say, I just didn’t know how to articulate the state of flux I was left in. [...]]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/kaniuk%e2%80%99s-conundrum/ http://www.jewpi.com/kaniuk%e2%80%99s-conundrum/#comments Sun, 22 May 2011 04:20:47 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/kaniuk%e2%80%99s-conundrum/ He doesn’t have the same name recognition to American Jews as Amos Oz, Etgar Keret, A.B. Yehoshua, David Grossman or Aharon Applebaum, but Yoram Kaniuk is considered one of the most gifted writers in Israel and recognized internationally. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/the-perfect-storm/ http://www.jewpi.com/the-perfect-storm/#comments Mon, 16 May 2011 15:24:26 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/the-perfect-storm/ Anyone reading my postings is aware of my qualified antipathy toward the liberal Jewish denominational movements. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/caught-in-the-headlights/ http://www.jewpi.com/caught-in-the-headlights/#comments Wed, 11 May 2011 16:20:32 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/caught-in-the-headlights/ I was appalled by the mad dash of rabbis to explain away the inexcusable behavior of the Yiddish newspaper Der Tzeitung when they altered the White House situation room (raid on Bin laden’s lair) photo removing Hillary Clinton from the picture. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/in-pursuit-of-happiness/ http://www.jewpi.com/in-pursuit-of-happiness/#comments Mon, 09 May 2011 14:56:39 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/in-pursuit-of-happiness/ Why is it that ultra orthodox Jews (vis a vis the rest of the human race) assume a sanctimonious posture, extolling the virtues of Orthodox Judaism as if they and their belief system are at the center of the universe? Other times I wonder if their obsession to promote their lifestyle is a response to [...]]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/professor-zev-naveh-z%e2%80%9dl/ http://www.jewpi.com/professor-zev-naveh-z%e2%80%9dl/#comments Sun, 01 May 2011 18:06:08 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/professor-zev-naveh-z%e2%80%9dl/ In marking my father in law’s shloshim (30 days since his burial) I would like to share the following remarks: Twenty-six years ago we came into each others life. We looked at each other at the fist introduction on erev Pesach – each assessing the other. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/two-people-%e2%80%93-not-one/ http://www.jewpi.com/two-people-%e2%80%93-not-one/#comments Tue, 12 Apr 2011 01:46:16 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/two-people-%e2%80%93-not-one/ I was amazed at the op-ed by Jonathan Sarna and Jay Ruderman entitled “Education is key in a changing US Jews –Israel relationship” (JTA April 4, 2011). Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/who-remembers-the-ford-pinto/ http://www.jewpi.com/who-remembers-the-ford-pinto/#comments Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:32:24 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/who-remembers-the-ford-pinto/ I never met Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto nor have I ever attended his shiurim. I am however aware of his reputation and depending on whom you ask will determine whether he is the incarnate of Rasputin or the Baal Shem Tov. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/tunnel-vision/ http://www.jewpi.com/tunnel-vision/#comments Mon, 14 Mar 2011 16:32:13 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/tunnel-vision/ In an atmosphere and time when there is little civility between competing ideas, and ideologies I attended a remarkable conference honoring Professor Eliezer Berkovits who committed his life to bridging the gaping abyss that divide Jews on a myriad of theological issues. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/shtiebel-yidden/ http://www.jewpi.com/shtiebel-yidden/#comments Mon, 28 Feb 2011 15:46:24 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/shtiebel-yidden/ Surfing the news during the past few weeks I kept on tripping over an unfamiliar term “Indie Minyans”. It seems as though these Indie Minyans have been popping up all over like mushrooms after a summer rain. I had no idea what an Indie Minyan was. True, I could have googled it sooner than later [...]]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/dying-a-postmortem/ http://www.jewpi.com/dying-a-postmortem/#comments Tue, 22 Feb 2011 18:02:08 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/dying-a-postmortem/ Rabbi Gil Student recently hosted a symposium on his blog Hirhurim on the “Ethics of Brain Death and Organ Donation”. I am grateful for his effort because it brought renewed focus on a very sensitive area that few of us are familiar with. Read More »]]> 0 http://www.jewpi.com/k%e2%80%99rov-yisrael-a-new-hybrid/ http://www.jewpi.com/k%e2%80%99rov-yisrael-a-new-hybrid/#comments Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:12:05 +0000 admin http://www.jewpi.com/k%e2%80%99rov-yisrael-a-new-hybrid/ In 1984 Rueven Bulka, a well respected orthodox rabbi wrote “The Coming Cataclysm” in response to the game changer of the Reform Movement recognizing as Jews those offspring from patrilineal descent. Bulka predicted a growing chasm between those who followed matrilineal descent (as halacha dictates) and those that accepted patrilineal descent. Read More »]]> 0