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Sam Lehman-Wilzig

May 9, 2025, 1:55 PM

The Politics of the (Un)Educated Voter

In politics, an issue can be so fraught with emotion that it sucks the air out of other related topics. Such is the case with the “Draft Exemption” law the government has been (so far unsuccessfully) attempting to pass...

May 8, 2025, 12:12 AM

The Torah was not meant to fund a welfare state

Worshippers from the Toldos Aharon Hasidic group carry Torah scrolls as they dance during Simhat Torah celebrations in Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighborhood, October 24, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)

There is something quietly astonishing about the way the Haredi community in Israel envisions the future. In a country founded by secular revolutionaries, defended by conscripted soldiers, and sustained by a tech-focused economy pushing it into the 21st century,...

May 1, 2025, 8:45 PM

Book review: Hakham Tsevi Ashkenazi

It says, "A thousand enter to study Torah, and one emerges to rule in halacha.” Over the past few hundred years, many thousands of great rabbis emerged to rule in halacha. But of those, it’s a small number whose...

Apr 29, 2025, 5:22 PM

‘Shidduch Crisis’ / Single Motherhood / Matrilineal Descent: Parshat Tazria

Jewish tradition stipulates that a child’s religious identity is determined by his mother. In 1983 American Reform Jewry chose, out of desperation or expedience, to run afoul of tradition and irreconcilably trash any vestigial connection to normative Judaism by declaring...

Menachem Bombach

Apr 28, 2025, 10:41 PM

Beyond Walls: The New Haredi Manifesto

I am Haredi and I am Israeli. These are not contradictory identities. Despite what they might try to tell you. Despite what the political operatives, politicians, Haredi media, and secular media might say. I reject the unfortunate narrative that...

Carol Green Ungar

Apr 27, 2025, 4:29 PM

Let’s End the Cold War

Here's something shocking that came through on a WhatsApp group this morning. " DIVORCE THE HAREDIM.... A new fault line has emerged in Israeli society. There are now two groups--the givers (meaning anyone who serves in the IDF) and the...

Apr 9, 2025, 8:50 PM

Book review – Derech Ha’Ir: The Halachos of Facing Yerushalayim

Rabbenu Chaim Cohen, a student of Rabbenu Tam, famously said in Ketubot 110b, "Now it is not a mitzvah to reside in Israel because there are several mitzvahs dependent on the land and several punishments that we cannot be...

Apr 4, 2025, 9:03 AM

Book Review: Shabbat Guidebook for Parents

Book Review: Shabbat Guidebook for Parents, Rabbanit Alissa Thomas-Newborn We are told (Yoma 83b) that the Tana R. Meir was דורש שמות: He would assign significance to people’s names, seeing them as more than mere monikers. Names, he believed, are like...

Mar 30, 2025, 4:31 PM

From Socialist Hegemony to Right-Wing Populism: Israel’s Political Metamorphosis

This article is intended for readers less familiar with Israel’s political history who seek to understand its transformation from socialist dominance to right-wing populism. Rather than providing a comprehensive historical review, it offers an overview of key political shifts...

Mar 27, 2025, 2:47 PM

Book review – A Mysterious Guest for Dinner: Exploring Talmudic Narratives

Four years ago, I reviewed The Snake at the Mouth of the Cave by Rabbi Dr. Moshe Sokol. Sokol is the dean of the Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Touro University. It is said that when giving public lectures...

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