Michael Feldstein, at The Blogs

Oct 9, 2024, 9:47 PM

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...

Sep 23, 2024, 7:47 AM

How (and When) Should We Commemorate the October 7th Massacre?

In a couple of weeks, we will be marking the first anniversary of the October 7th massacre. No doubt it will be a day that Hamas and its evil supporters will be celebrating the death of 1,200 innocent people...

Sep 12, 2024, 11:03 PM

Board Game Memories

Board games have always been part of my life, ever since the time I was a youngster and all through my adult years. I am very fond of word games – Scrabble, along with its offshoots like Boggle and Bananagrams,...

Sep 6, 2024, 5:23 PM

My Favorite WhatsApp Group

I just counted the number of WhatsApp Groups to which I subscribe. 59. Much too many. And that doesn’t include the hundreds of individual WhatsApp accounts I use to communicate with various people. Here’s just a sampling of the groups I belong to:...

Aug 31, 2024, 2:47 AM

WCBS 880 (1967-2024)

You might not have realized it, since virtually no one these days listens to local radio stations anymore. But on August 25, 2024, WCBS Radio (880 on your dial) broadcast its final report, ending a continuous 57-year tradition of...

Aug 26, 2024, 6:55 AM

Notes on the DNC: Bring Them Home … Brisket … Biden

Were you as deeply moved as I was listening to Jon and Rachel Goldberg-Polin speak at the Democratic National Convention last Wednesday night? It was the most emotional moment of the convention, and arguably the most powerful speech delivered at...

Aug 19, 2024, 7:32 PM

Rabbi Moshe Kurtz: Torah, Tunes, and the Twilight Zone

Rabbi Moshe Kurtz (Credit: Yeshiva University)

Rabbi Moshe Kurtz, the Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Agudath Sholom in Stamford, CT, is not your ordinary Modern Orthodox rabbi. He grew up in a more yeshivish environment, and attended Yeshiva Darchei Torah, which is situated within on the right-wing...

Aug 12, 2024, 6:12 PM

The Rav’s famous letter to Rabbi Leonard Rosenfeld at HILI

Letter from Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik to Rabbi Leonard Rosenfeld (Credit: Joseph Kaplan)

In 2005, Rabbi Nati Helfgot edited a book called “Community, Covenant, and Commitment: Selected Letters and Communication,” which included many of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s correspondence. Most of the letters and halachic psak that were published in the book were...

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

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