Speculation on the Future of Orthodoxy
The Orthodox community of the last few decades has seen itself as a community on the rise. The growth in numbers of adherents, the large families, and the explosion in the numbers of synagogues and...
View ArticleAlternative Models for Jewish Education
I’ve been reading a lot of posts about Jewish education, often in the context of the economic difficulties we are currently in. I’d like to just sketch a few alternative models for Jewish education...
View ArticleChanges Coming in Orthodox Education Options?
An interesting article in the Jewish Standard suggests that parents are ready to explore new options for what a Modern Orthodox school could look like. As the tuition crisis overshadows the shidduch...
View ArticleFake Solutions to our Tuition Crisis (pt 1)
The OU has put out a self-serving bit of hogwash trumpeting its vaporous initiative to fix the tuition crisis plaguing the Orthodox community. In brief, th OU presents a two-prong approach. The first...
View ArticleLooking for the Middle
I recently saw a post from YD about the search for a middle path between Yeshivish Orthodoxy and Modern Orthodoxy. It was actually the second post in a series, and the first post goes into even...
View ArticleConversions in Controversy: The Orthodox Patrilineal Descent
By now you’ve all heard about Hareidi Rabbi Avraham Sherman, who heads Israel’s High Rabbinical court, and his ongoing retroactive nullifications of conversions to Judaism. This story has been building...
View ArticleThe Gap Between Hareidim and Modern Orthodox
In XGH’s most recent post, How to stop Chareidim breaking the law, the suggestion was to emphasize Kiddush Hashem/Chillul Hasehm (sanctification/desecration of God’s name, usually through public...
View ArticleDealing with Dweck
I’m not really a current events blogger, but the corruption scandal in NJ raises some interesting questions around a topic I am very interested in: the relationship between the US government and the...
View ArticleNetilat Yadayim Redux
A little while back, I was invited to guest post on DovBear. I wrote about how Orthodox Judaism has emphasized the ritual and symbolic value of its practices at the expense of the concrete and...
View ArticleBack to the Future with Jonathan Sarna
The more I read of Jonathan Sarna, the more impressed I am with him personally, but the more I fear for institutional Judaism. Sarna is intelligent, considered, insightful and articulate, but he’s also...
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