Zachary Truboff, at The Blogs

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Apr 27, 2022, 12:45 PM

Survivors, Memory, and Moral Responsibility

Alzheimers is a cruel disease and watching a loved one afflicted with the condition takes a terrible toll. As they slowly lose bits and pieces of their memory, they also lose a large part of what makes them who...

Feb 12, 2021, 9:58 AM

Remembering Joe Klein z”l

Those who feel they have been wronged in some deep fashion often believe they have earned the right to treat others as they see fit. The same morality that binds everyone else is simply not applicable to them. Too...

Feb 7, 2021, 12:17 PM

The Dark Demons of Religious Zionism

With the recent political union of Bezalel Smotrich of Bayit Yehuda and Itamar Ben Gvir of Otzma, the dark demons of Religious Zionism once again emerge from the shadows and into the light of day. Smotrich is known for...

Nov 13, 2020, 10:41 AM

Renewing America’s Covenant

Three hundred years ago, the Puritans departed from Europe on a journey to the promised land. They saw themselves as a new Israel, escaping an evil Pharaoh who had persecuted them mightily. Instead of crossing the Red Sea, they...

Oct 29, 2020, 8:59 PM

We All Have Idols to Smash

We like to think that idolatry is a thing of the past, that ancient pagans fell prey to the belief that the world was filled with powers beyond comprehension, powers that demanded adulation and sacrifice to ensure the smooth...

Sep 25, 2020, 1:30 PM

Can Countries Do Teshuvah?

In the Mishneh Torah (Laws of Repentance 3:1), the Rambam writes that we are judged by God not only as individuals but collectively as well. Countries are to be judged too, their collective sins weighed against their merits. At...

Sep 17, 2020, 8:21 AM

Questions Without Answers, Music Without Words

On Rosh Hashanah it will be written and on Yom Kippur it will be sealed how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who will live and who will die? For many, these words from...

Jul 29, 2020, 6:57 PM

A Kinah for a Lost World

The event I wish to tell you about today my friends took place in the city of Tetiev in the Ukraine. Once as I was returning home from school, I was thinking about an upcoming vacation. My heart was...

Jun 18, 2020, 11:08 PM

Understanding the Protests in America

It is a point of pride for me to read a broad array of writers and thinkers from across the political spectrum. I did this regularly while living in America and since moving to Israel, I try to do...

Apr 21, 2020, 11:20 AM

A Letter From Mauthausen

Nearly twenty years after my grandfather died, we discovered a collection of letters that he had written to his family during his time in United States Army during World War Two. Some of the letters are more mundane, complaints...

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About Me

Rabbi Zachary Truboff is the coordinator of the International Beit Din Institute, which seeks to educate rabbis about halakhic solutions to difficult cases of gett abuse. His writings on contemporary Jewish thought and Zionism have appeared in the Lehrhaus, Arutz Sheva, and Akdamot. His forthcoming book, Torah Goes Forth From Zion: Essays on the Thought of Rav Kook and Rav Shagar, will be published in the fall. Before making aliyah, he served as the rabbi of Cedar Sinai Synagogue in Cleveland, Ohio. He has taught in a variety of adult education settings such as the Wexner Heritage Program and the Hartman Institute. He received semikha from Rav Zalman Nechemia Goldberg and Yeshivat Chovevei Torah.