Michael Feldstein, at The Blogs

Dec 10, 2024, 5:51 PM

Young and Jewish: A Thriving New Community

When we moved to Stamford in 1982, there really was a crime ridden, unsafe area literally “on the other side of the tracks” … south of the train station and I-95. Every few years, there was talk of an...

Dec 2, 2024, 10:48 AM

A Dollar a Day: The Genius of DailyGiving.org

During the last few months of the year, I get swamped with solicitations from non-profit organizations. Right before Rosh haShana I received at least two or three requests a day via postal or email from yeshivas, chessed organizations, and...

Nov 24, 2024, 9:39 PM

Airline Etiquette and Halachic Considerations

Every so often, a story appears in the press about an Orthodox man who refuses to sit next to a woman on an airplane, demanding that his seat be changed and that his religious requirements be met. I am certainly...

Nov 14, 2024, 9:06 PM

The Armon Hotel: Stamford’s Frum-Friendly Palace

Compared to Teaneck, West Hempstead, and the Five Towns, Stamford has a relatively small Orthodox population (although it is growing nicely). And when Stamford folks play Jewish geography with others, more often than not they strike out, unable to...

Nov 11, 2024, 6:18 AM

Post-Election Thoughts: What We Can Learn from Our Biblical Characters

The 2024 election is now history, and Donald Trump is our new President-elect, with an overwhelming majority of voters supporting the Republican Party this year. There are many Harris supporters who are very angry, depressed, and scared of what the...

Nov 5, 2024, 10:18 PM

There’s a Place for Each of Us: Allison Josephs and Makom

I first met Allison Josephs, founder of Jew in the City, in 2009, shortly after she started the organization that attempts to break down stereotypes about Orthodox Jews. Through clever videos and well-written content, Josephs was able to show...

Oct 28, 2024, 5:20 PM

Two Letters for Everyone to Read Before the Upcoming Election

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Joseph Kaplan of Teaneck, NJ, wrote a column about the upcoming election, in which he stated the following: "I can only express bewilderment that people who study in the same classes, attend...

Oct 9, 2024, 9:47 PM

Still Zooming

I still have two unopened boxes of disposable masks, a physical reminder of those scary COVID days. There are several COVID test packages sitting in my closet … along with a couple of boxes of Clorox wipes (remember when...

Oct 7, 2024, 9:04 PM

ChatGPT: Artificial…but amazingly accurate

Like many other people, I have been regularly using ChatGPT – the artificial intelligence program that can generate human-like text in response to user prompts – for business research, for preparing shiurim that I give, and for various online...

Sep 25, 2024, 10:05 PM

New Nishma Survey Focuses on Middot

One of the more enjoyable committees on which I serve is an advisory group for Nishma, which conducts research on the Orthodox Jewish community – both communal and organizational studies. As an advisor, I get to review the surveys...

About Me

Michael Feldstein, who lives in Stamford, CT, is the author of "Meet Me in the Middle," a collection of essays on contemporary Jewish life. His articles and letters have appeared in The Jewish Link, The Jewish Week, The Forward, and The Jewish Press. He can be reached at michaelgfeldstein@gmail.com

Contact Me