Delivered at Kehillat Sha'arei Orah, Shabbat Parshat Ekev, 8/20/2022 At the end of this Dvar Torah, it’s entirely possible that an Ashkenazi will wish me a big “yasher koach.” This is, of course, a diminutive of “yishar kokhacha” (not yeyasher kokhacha, as is commonly thought,

Most chapters of Eikhah feature a woman, Chapter 3 a gever or quintessential male. Most chapters feature a woman’s suffering in agonizing detail, Chapter 3 a gever’s anguish in almost stylized terms. Most chapters feature a woman and narrator who speak at varying lengths, Chapter 3 a man

Originally published on The Lehrhaus [https://thelehrhaus.com/commentary/a-return-to-moderation-rabbi-lamms-passionate-plea-for-civility/] : R. Norman Lamm’s reputation rightly rides on his commitment to Torah u-Madda [https://amzn.to/3pbacaU]. Yet throughout his life, another motif rivaled, and perhaps even eclipsed, his embrace of Torah u-Madda: passionate moderation. Unlike Torah u-Madda, which became

(originally posted June 23, 2022) “Let us be strong and resolute for the sake of our people and the cities of our God; and God will do what He deems right.”חֲזַ֤ק וְנִתְחַזַּק֙ בְּעַד־עַמֵּ֔נוּ וּבְעַ֖ד

(originally posted June 26, 2022) For any men who are applauding the Supreme Court ruling, or even ambivalent: There is a time to promote your political position or debate the issues. But that time is decidedly not now. In case it isn’t blatantly obvious, now is an especially poor

What motivated Balak to seek to destroy the Jews? On its face, it was sheer terror. But a close reading suggests that something else was also at play. The Torah says not only ויגר מואב, that Moab trembled in fear, but also ויקץ מואב מפני בני ישראל. The root קוצ,

The Greek sophist Antiphon declared that “whenever one plants a good education in a young body, it lives and increases for the whole of life, and neither rain nor drought destroys it.” Thus Antiphon inaugurated the long tradition of thinkers who compare education to agriculture. In Plato’s dialogue The

Moshe Kurtz is a passionate scholar who deserves credit for being unafraid to publish an essay weighing in on a sensitive contemporary subject [https://thelehrhaus.com/scholarship/cross-dressing-and-cross-conduct-when-lo-yilbash-meets-contemporary-western-culture/] . Kurtz, however, fails to demonstrate that lo yilbash provides an adequate foundation upon which to construct Torah-based opposition to contemporary gender-neutral trends.

Throughout much of the pandemic, there was a strong consensus within the Modern Orthodox community as we parted ways from the lax attitudes pervasive among our brethren in other segments of Orthodoxy. Notwithstanding the dark Spring of 2020, our swift and dramatic response gave us a sense of pride that

On Remembering Sheldon Silver, z”lA recent feature in The Jewish Link recalls former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (“Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver Niftar at Age 77,” January 26, 2022). Silver certainly accomplished much good during his career. It is also true that the revelations of the

Over the last few months, Moriah and I have enjoyed many mature and thoughtful conversations about what it really means to be a Bat Mitzvah. But instead of rehashing another one of my shpielen, I thought I’d take a different tack and inquire as to the meaning of Bat

Originally published in Esther in America, pps. 105-115. Vashti, Ahasuerus’ first queen, is among the most enigmatic characters in the Book of Esther. While the king revels with his subjects for some six months, he commands Vashti to appear before him “to display her beauty to the peoples and the

Protesters, including numerous Native American groups, called today for the Chiefs to change their name due to insensitivity toward Native American groups. In fact, this past year the Chiefs banned headdresses and NA-themed face painting. The team says they'll continue to explore the issue with the goal being

Unfortunately I don’t have the time to write up a full discussion of the breezy new children’s book Queen Vashti’s Comfy Pants (see initial post and discussion here: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2700033273624706&id=100008541784092 [https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_