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Aug 12, 2026, 2:30 PM

Restore Britain is bad news for British Jews

Palace of Westminster, Big Ben, and Westminster Bridge as seen from the south bank of the River Thames.

There is no rule of common sense as such in politics: but when a movement devoted to restoring Britain cannot quite decide whether the King is British, it may be time to inspect the restoration plans. Restore Britain has lately...

Menachem Creditor

Aug 6, 2026, 7:47 PM

Kashrut: Vocabulary of the Soul

In memory of Helen Nash, z”l For six years, Helen Nash z”l and I learned the weekly Torah portion together. Every week, we opened the text, asked questions, laughed, and sometimes found ourselves puzzled. When Helen encountered a particularly mysterious...

Jul 25, 2026, 9:47 AM

Pigs are widely regarded as among the most intelligent domesticated animals. Photo © Mercy For Animals (MFA), Los Angeles, USA, 2011. Licensed under CC BY 2.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

How One Forbidden Animal Became the Symbol of Kashrut This article continues the series: Fins and Scales, Hooves and Cud Kashrut Through the Lens of Information Theory: The Hidden Logic of Redundancy If every fish with scales also has fins, why does the...

Jul 22, 2026, 10:57 AM

Fins and Scales, Hooves and Cud, Part II

Why split hooves and chewing the cud? Why these specific biological criteria? Photo: A male bighorn sheep (ram), a kosher land animal. © Jwanamaker, 2013. Licensed under CC BY 3.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

What We Still Don't Know About Kashrut In Part I of Fins and Scales, Hooves and Cud, I explored a question that is easy to overlook. If every fish with scales also has fins, why does the Torah mention fins at...

Jul 16, 2026, 10:26 AM

Fins and Scales, Hooves and Cud

If every fish with scales also has fins, why does the Torah mention fins at all? Image: Black sea bass (Centropristis striatus). A kosher fish. Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Kashrut Through the Lens of Information Theory: The Hidden Logic of Redundancy The Torah is often admired for its brevity. Yet in some places, it appears surprisingly redundant. Consider the two most familiar signs of kashrut. Regarding fish, the Torah states: These you may...

Richard Diamond

Jul 1, 2026, 8:14 PM

What the Torah’s Animal Laws Were Always Pointing Toward

image by Google Notebook

Here is a paradox that Jewish tradition has lived with for centuries without fully confronting it. The Torah mandated animal sacrifice as the center of Israelite religious life for a thousand years. An entire tribe — the Levites — existed...

Jun 26, 2026, 6:52 PM

Treasure Trove: Pin the Pickle on the Jewish People

From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, Toronto (www.herzlcollection.com). Photograph by David Matlow.

Over 100 million plastic pickle pins have been handed out by the H. J. Heinz company since they were first introduced as a marketing promotion at the World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893. This particular pin was...

Jun 17, 2026, 5:53 AM

The Yidkins Diet

Pesach may be long over, but that old adage, "Matzah, 18 minutes on the lips, a lifetime on the hips," is still just as true. With Summer almost upon us, it can only mean one thing: We all need...

Jun 3, 2026, 1:38 PM

Kosher-certified draft dodgers

Why do the draft-dodgers in this new Ayin Tova Cartoon proudly display kosher certifications? It is as if being an IDF draft evader has become a new type of identity, and wearing that is like a badge of honor! There...

Andy Blumenthal

May 31, 2026, 8:06 AM

Mamdani’s Enablers

We saw a disturbing display of political theater at Gracie Mansion recently. A crowd of progressive Jewish New Yorkers packed a Pre-Shavuot reception hosted by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. They smiled for photos and ate cheesecake, completely ignoring the mayor’s...

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