Those who have been reading this blog for a while know my very strong criticism of Lubavitch. Primarily it is about their belief in at least the potential – and in some cases actual – messiahship of their late Rebbe, R’ Menachem Mendel Schneersohn.Because of that very serious issue I have been urged to by people I respect to just write them off. Read More »

One of the major fallacies that many Charedim make about Modern Orthodoxy is that it is a watered down version of Torah observance. That is absolutely false.What is watered down is the “Lites”. That includes both Modern Orthodox Jews and Charedim. By Lite I mean those who tend to do be observant more for sociological reasons than ideological ones. Read More »

Haman. You know who that was. He was the ‘Hitler’ of ancient Persia having ordered the genocide of the Jewish people as the King’s second in command with the power to do such things. We are not far away from the holiday that celebrates his demise and when we read the Megilah that tells the story. Read More »

There is a website known as Frumteens that has set itself up to be the answer to all questions about Judaism. It is – as the name suggest – directed at teenagers.I consider it a dangerous website. Not because of the right wing Hashkafos that they promote, but by the way in which those Hashkafos are promoted. Read More »

Yet another sane Charedi voice is that of Rebbetzin FeigeTwerski . She is the wife of Rabbi Michel Twerski of Milwaukee who has built an incredible Orthodox community there.There seems to a consensus that a full time working mother is far more likely to have problems in raising children properly. Read More »

I could swear that Rabbi Berel Wein reads my blog. Except for the fact that he doesn ‘t. I had occasion to meet him not long ago and when I introduced myself to him – he never heard of me. Which makes his words all the more relevant . He is a thinker. Not influenced by a blogger with strong opinions . Like me. Read More »

What a courageous thing to do. My hat is off to him. I don’t say this often enough about Charedi rabbinic leaders. Especially in Israel. Read More »

This is the time of year where parents of graduating students consider where their children will go next. When it comes to high school, there is one school that all parents should look at no matter what their Hashkafa is. And that is the Fasman Yeshiva High School of the Hebrew Theological college. There are many great things going on there. Read More »

When I was in elementary school back in the late fifties. I had a Rebbe that used corporal punishment. He used to actually slap boys on the back of their hands. It stung. And it turned our hands red. But he was a beloved figure. Every slap on the hand was given with great love and care and we knew it. Read More »

The financial crisis facing Orthodoxy today is the greatest it’s ever been in my lifetime. Almost any parent who has children in a religious day school, high school, post high school Yeshiva or seminary can tell you just how difficult it is to pay their bills these days. Very few parents pay full tuition. Read More »

I don’t usually post this kind of video on my blog. But I am making an exception because I believe this is a must view for every Orthodox Jewish parent no matter what their Hashkafa. In fact I will broaden that to include all Jewish parents. Even non Jewish parents can benefit from the wisdom here. Read More »

I thought the NASI program was dead. Apparently not only isn’t it dead it has the support of many Charedi Rabbanim and Poskim as reported on Matzav.com .I have written about NASI before. Breifly, NASI is a project created to help find suitable mates for older young women. How old is ‘older’? About 22 years of age. I kid you not. Read More »

In this week’s edition of Ami Magazine – editor Rabbi Yitzchok Frankfurter takes the ADL’s Abraham Foxman to task for not tackling the issue of anti Charedism in the media. As the director of the premier organization that combats anti- Semitism he feels that this an outrageous omission on Foxman’s part. Rabbi Frankfurter had written Mr. Read More »

Suicide. That is what comes to mind when I read what the torment of being different does to some people. It is my understanding that the suicide rate among homosexuals is much higher than it is among the general population.That point, among others, is made in a Jewish Press article by an openly homosexual Jew by the name of Chaim Levin (pictured). Read More »

Last year immediately after the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, a photo was published of the President and other government including 2 women – one of whom was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – watching that event unfold on a closed circuit TV. One Charedi publication thought that picture was important enough to show their readership. Read More »

I wasn’t going to write about it. It is just more of the same. What more can I say then simply repeating myself? But after reading Rafi’s post , I have changed my mind. In fact reading this makes my blood boil. As it did his. Which is why he didn’t write about it at first. Read More »

One of the most insightful people of the 20th century was Sigmund Freud. One of his theories was that all human behavior was controlled by the libido – otherwise known as the sex drive. If not directly seeking sex the libidinal energy is redirected subliminally into other productive behavior. Read More »

One of the truly great Jewish lay leaders in America today is Professor Marvin Schick. Very few people can lay claim to the 60 year record he has being active in Jewish education. One of his most recent contributions is the 2008 – 2009 census of Jewish day schools he did for the Avi Chai foundation. Read More »

One of the most damaging figures of the 20th century happens to be a man who is considered the Gadol HaDor of the 20th century to great multitudes of observant Jewry. That man is the Satmar Rebbe , Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum .I was very happy to see Rabbi Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer saying that he cannot respect the Satmar Rebbe . I have to agree. Read More »

Guest Post by Bray of the Fundie The following essay was written by someone who studied in Charedi Yeshivos both in the US and Israel. He prefers to remain anonymous. I generally do not publish anonymous posts. But after apprising me of his background I have decided to allow him to use his pseudonym. This is his second contribution. Read More »