Alec Goldstein

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Oct 9, 2023, 10:11 PM

Ten Things You Can Actually Do to Help (w/ Links)

The horrific attacks in Israel the past few days have been described as “Israel’s 9/11,” a modern book of Lamentations (Eichah), and a modern-day pogrom. We feel helpless. We ask, “What can we do?” not expecting a response but...

Mar 18, 2021, 9:59 AM

The ‘Structure’ of Jewish Life: Home, Temple, and Passover

There is a famous story about someone asking the Kotzker Rebbe, “Where can God be found?” to which he replied, “Wherever you let Him in.” While we should aspire to feel God's presence anywhere, it isn't a coincidence that nearly...

Jan 12, 2020, 5:42 PM

“Burning” Questions: Rambam and Rashi on the Sneh

This week’s reading contains one of the most cryptic phrases in the entire Torah. When Moses arrives at the burning bush, God gives him a mission to go to Pharaoh to free the Jews from Egyptian oppression. Initially, Moses...

Jan 31, 2019, 9:02 PM

RCA’s Quoting of Rabbi Lichtenstein, z”l

I was very pleased to see the RCA response to a new controversial law that is not in consonance with traditional Jewish values. There has been some tumult about the RCA's quoting Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, z"l, in this statement. I...

Jan 22, 2019, 3:56 PM

Please Stop Appropriating Dr. King

I did not grow up religious. As a result I knew who Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was long before I could read Hebrew, and long before I knew who Rashi, Maimonides, and Rabbi Soloveitchik were. In ninth...

Mar 25, 2018, 4:59 PM

The Jewish Idea of Freedom

"When the prisoner left his dungeon for freedom, You had given them a proud banner while in the muck — You strengthened them with the Sabbath, a degree of refreshment and rest, To observe even before receiving the Torah that restores the...

Jan 11, 2018, 8:27 PM

Proving the wire

A PVC pipe affixed to a telephone pole that helps form the eruv in the town of Upper Saddle River, NJ. (Ben Sales for JTA)

Those who observe the letter of Jewish law are not about to stop using an eruv that lets them carry on Shabbat

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About Me

Alec Goldstein received his rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and his B.A. in French Language and Literature from Yeshiva University. He is the founder of Kodesh Press (kodeshpress.com).