Shlomo Deutsch

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Feb 16, 2022, 7:49 PM

The Golden Calf and a Golden Rule of Leadership

A Firsthand Account from Har Sinai 16 Tammuz, Mount Sinai – Wow, it had been quite a journey from Egypt, I thought. The bitter multi-generational slavery that our nation endured until the Ten Plagues and epic splitting of the Yam...

Jan 31, 2021, 7:40 PM

10 Hours with a Vizhnitz Rosh Yeshiva

“Shachein Tov. Shachein Tov,” hummed the elderly Chassidic man dressed in a regal bekeshe and sporting a white beard that flowed like water gushing over the cliffs of Ein Gedi. He greeted me, smiling and shukeling, as I unloaded...

Mar 31, 2020, 1:51 AM

Purim in Palestine

The 14th and 15th of Adar were closely approaching and costume stores were bursting with all types of people looking to disguise themselves in the wardrobes of others. A chiloni soldier tried on a Nachman kippa with peyot and...

Feb 2, 2020, 6:36 PM

My Conversation with Yousef

Old City, Jerusalem – Yousef sat on a plastic chair inside his Christian quarter store; the Jerusalem winter weather was too unpredictable for him to remain outside and anticipate prospective customers. The Jerusalem native took another puff of his...

Jan 2, 2020, 8:06 PM

‘I am a Palestinian Jew’ (Pt. 2)

Last Friday night, Shabbos Chanukah, I found myself at a Tish with my Vizhnitz friend, Moishe. Hundreds of Chasidim lined the bleachers hopping like energizer bunnies in perfect synchronization – peyos swung wildly and only Yiddish could be heard...

Dec 31, 2019, 9:55 PM

‘I am a Palestinian Jew’ (Pt. 1)

“I am a Palestinian Jew.” It was 12:15 AM, Friday night. I sat with 20-year-old Moishe F. in a hole-in-the-wall shul in the heart of Mea Shearim, discussing our different upbringings and worldviews before he would return to Boro Park...

Aug 14, 2019, 1:59 AM

On the Wings of Eagles

I have this issue with talking to strangers on the phone. I’m not sure why – maybe it has to do with the anonymity of a phone call, that faceless voice murmuring in the static darkness of a phone...

Jun 16, 2019, 5:56 PM

How do we connect to Israel?

Haredi men and Israeli soldiers stood side by side silently in their picture frames. The New Jersey synagogue was lined with photographs of the Holy Land. It seems like every time I come here, either I step into a...

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About Me

Shlomo Deutsch is a Yeshiva student who often finds himself conversing with very different people. His typical morning could include: praying at the Kotel with a group of 'settlers', followed by listening to Mohammed, his former (long story) 17 year old Muslim friend, dream about his ‘right of return.’ He would then call the US to catch up with his Open Orthodox chavruta as he walks to Mea Shearim to learn with a friend from Lakewood. Shlomo listens to all these opinions and tries to make some sense of them here on his Times of Israel blog.

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