The Orthodox Union (OU), which represents over 1,000 so-called Centrist or Modern Orthodox synagogues in North America, has decided to ban kiddush clubs! So what are kiddush clubs? Kiddush clubs are informal social gatherings in Orthodox synagogues on a Shabbat, that go on in rooms out of the main sanctuary during either the reading from the prophets, the rabbi’s sermon,…
Author: Jeremy Rosen
Follow-Up to “Doing It”
Regarding a previous post on the rabbinic response to premarital sex in the Orthodox community: Question:I’ve heard of a case in Baltimore where the rabbi of one shul gave a sermon that was directed (though I don’t believe he mentioned names) toward a couple who weren’t married. They, of course, were offended and left the shul; but the next shul…
The Zoo Rabbi
Daniel Pipes is known in America as an effective commentator who tries to counterbalance biased reporting on the Middle East. As a result, he is vilified by the alliance of Left Wingers, Islamic lecturers at Columbia University, Israeli Anti-Zionists and Palestinian polemicists alike. He is feted by pro-Israelis, Right Wingers and Jewish fundamentalists. He was actually on Bush’s advisory board…
Acts of Man
When I see the sort of natural tragedy we have witnessed in the Far East I am initially horrified at the scale of the tragedy and then at the terrible loss of life. And yet in some ways I am less horrified than I am by human disasters such as the massacres in Rwanda Burundi. This, like the Holocaust, like…
The Tsunami Tragedy
There is no doubt that we have witnessed this past week a massive natural disaster. We call this an “Act of God”. Was it? The world simply shifted a bit. That’s what the earth’s crust does. It has been doing it for eons. That was how it was designed, to expand and contract. Just as the universe has bits and…
Cutting through the Confusion about Shechita
Although it has been several weeks since the gruesome videos taken inside the AgriProcessors abattoir were released, the controversy continues. The videos were taken surreptitiously by a PETA volunteer employed at the plant, and can be viewed at PETA’s website. While PETA clearly has it’s own agenda, no one has denied that the scenes on the videos are real. They…