Yosef Blau

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Aug 16, 2024, 3:21 PM

When rabbis say nothing in the face of abuse

Israeli soldiers and police clash with far-right protesters, after they broke into the Beit Lid army base over the detention for questioning of military reservists who are suspected of abuse of a Palestinian terror suspect detained there, on July 29, 2024. (Oren Ziv / AFP)

We rabbis must condemn all immoral behavior: Legitimate anger against Hamas does not justify attacking imprisoned alleged terrorists

May 27, 2024, 4:07 PM

The extremists in Israel’s government have to go

Likud leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu with Otzma Yehudit party head Itamar Ben Gvir at a vote in the assembly hall of the Knesset on December 28, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

When the Israeli mainstream is in thrall to the ultranationalist religious fringe, the religious world at large must take a stand to rebalance the country

Jul 28, 2023, 1:46 PM

American Jewry faces a quandary, but does it know it?

President Isaac Herzog addresses a Joint Session of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, July 19, 2023. (Saul Loeb/AFP)

Young US Jews don't prioritize Israel the way their parents did, nor do young Israelis like US democracy as a model. With the gap is growing, now what?

Apr 5, 2023, 5:43 PM

Religious Zionism and compromise on judicial reform

The hardline approach of many religious Zionists must be understood, for it reflects a real shift in the community’s sense of its role in Israeli society

Feb 23, 2023, 12:02 PM

The future of religious Zionism

The critical shift of voters in the last Israeli election was the growth of the “Religious Zionist party.” An amalgam of three parties, uniting after intervention by Benjamin Netanyahu, emerged as the third largest party in the Knesset. Polling...

Jan 2, 2023, 3:15 PM

The coalition is throwing mental health professionalism to the winds

UTJ chairman Rabbi Yitzchak Goldknopf arrives to the coalition talks at a hotel in Jerusalem on November 9, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

UTJ's agreement to eliminate the standard of qualifications for therapists puts the psychological health of the country at risk. It must be stopped

Oct 30, 2022, 3:02 PM

Govern the Jewish state with righteousness

The Western Wall, with the Dome of the Rock behind it. (iStock)

To live up to what it means to a religious Zionist state, Israel must protect the marginalized and vulnerable, and not only those in power

Jul 20, 2022, 3:03 PM

Religious Zionism was once all for minority rights in Israel. What changed?

Far-right MKs Itamar Ben Gvir (L) and Bezalel Smotrich at the Damascus Gate outside Jerusalem's Old City on October 20, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

From the beginning, Israel's important religious Zionist rabbis grounded equal rights for the Arab minority in Jewish law. They wouldn't know their own camp now

Jun 1, 2022, 8:14 AM

What happened to Yom Yerushalayim?

Jewish Israelis gather with Israeli flags at the Damascus Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, on May 29, 2022, during the 'Flag March' to mark Jerusalem Day. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

When Jerusalem Day is a success because no rockets were launched at Israel from Gaza, then the day has become little more than a display of political power

Apr 16, 2021, 12:20 PM

When loyalty to the group means bad behavior gets excused

Ben Gurion (left) signing Israel's Declaration of Independence, held by Moshe Sharet, with Eliezer Kaplan looking on.

The biblical forbears set a high bar for loyalty without losing clarity of right and wrong. Israel needs to balance that same sense of fairness

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About Me

Rabbi Yosef Blau is the Senior Mashgiach Ruchani (spiritual advisor) at Yeshiva University, and a partial resident in Jerusalem.