Dov Dalin in Gaza
Normally I don’t like to tread the dangerous waters of politics. That is why you find no commentary on the current skirmish in Gaza. However I feel it necessary to mention that our thoughts and prayers...
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Israel & The Jewish People | Connections 4/27/09
With the upcoming Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim holidays I felt it was a perfect time to discuss the role Israel plays within the Torah system. For many people Israel serves as a bastion of...
View ArticleWe're All Family
This morning I found this article in my inbox. From time to time, PJC board member, Judd Magilnick sends me (and everyone else he knows) interesting links from all around the web, stretching to the...
View ArticleMisleading Charity Campaign
A Religious charity in Israel has embarked on what I and many others feel to be a misleadeing charity campaign. Promises 0f safety from danger, special perks and privileges and out of context quotes...
View ArticleMourning The Living On The 9th of Av (2009)
A few years ago I was a campus Rabbi for the Jewish Awareness Movement at USC. One of my primary responsibilities was to lead large groups of Jewish college students on inspiring trips to Israel. Of...
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Essay: The Oral Law in Judaism
This essay was inspired by a recent post on DovBear. I have cross posted this post there as well. Head over there for more discussion. What follows is my understanding of The Oral Law and its...
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Repost: Truth or Consequences – Drasha Vayigash (Sermon 2008)
Last year I spoke from the pulpit about the Israeli Military operation in Gaza, and the issue of partial truth and whole truth. It was posted last year and you can read Truth or Consequences – Drasha...
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My One Sharp Criticism of the Museum of Tolerance
This post has been cross-posted to DovBear. Way more discussion here. I really like the Museum of Tolerance. The overall message of the museum is a message that I wholeheartedly agree with. Tolerance...
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Stop Complaining About the "Anti-Semitic" Time Magazine Article
Time Magazine’s September 13th cover article is called “Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace”. Unlike some other bloggers, I have actually read the article, not just the excerpt or the headline. It is...
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Maghen Abraham Synagogue in Beirut Lebanon: A Symbol of Tolerance
In 1925 the Maghen Abraham Synagogue was built in Beirut Lebanon. Jews prayed there for many years. Judaism was (and still is) recognized as an official religion in Lebanon. During the civil war in...
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Self Improvement | A Guest Post
A guest post by Rabbi Aaron Fink (my father), Dean of Ateres Bais Yaakov in Monsey NY. Part of a weekly Dvar Torah (Torah “Thought”) series. Parshas Lech Lecha Self Improvement Parshas Lech Lecha is...
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If You Criticize Israel You’re Not a Jew?
Roger Cohen has an Op-Ed in the New York Times that addresses an important issue. The issue is Jewish criticism of Israel. But the sub-issue is when Jews call others “not real Jews”. Of course knee...
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The Future is Now (or coming soon)
If you’ve known me for a little while you know I am an optimist. If we’ve talked about the conflict in the Middle East you know I am optimistic about that too. For a little while now (at least a couple...
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The Difference Between Murder and Terrorism
I was in Israel during the Itamar murders. I was in Israel when the Fogel family was slaughtered in their home. The Israelis I encountered over the days following the attack were split between those in...
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The Zilberman Home: A Thriving Jewish Family in the Arab Quarter of Jerusalem
Here’s another post about my recent trip to Israel: For many religious people, the most important city in the world is Jerusalem. In the early days of the city, after King David purchased the Temple...
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When Did the Western Wall Become a Place of Prayer?
Here’s another, and probably the last post about my recent trip to Israel: (Read the previous three posts in the series here: A Jerusalem Wedding, The Zilberman Home: A Thriving Jewish Family in the...
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Israeli and Palestinian Women Go to the Beach Together
In today’s NY Times there is an important article showing a more human side of the current conflict in Israel. According to the Times, it is illegal for a Palestinian from the West Bank to travel to...
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The Dead Sea Scrolls Are Alive Thanks to Google
Last week we learned of the digitized authorized copy of the Mishnah Torah. (Read Maimonides’ Personally Authorized Copy of His Mishnah Torah) This week the Google sponsored Dead Sea Scrolls project...
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On Invented People
GOP Candidate and Presidential hopeful, Newt Gingrich has made headlines with his recent claim that the Palestinians are an Invented People. The responses from across the idealogical and political...
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♫ The Driver on the Bus Says “Move on Back”♫
In the United States of America the Supreme Court has held that “separate but equal” is inherently discriminatory. Back in the dark ages, I mean 60 years ago, white and black people in many states and...
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How to Issue a Condemnation of Violence
Thugs and hoodlums from extremist religious groups in Israel have been terrorizing fellow Jews for some time now. They have done so without fear of condemnation or retribution from the religiously...
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Something About Those Weak Bladdered Marines
Clearly, there is no denying that urinating on dead bodies is a despicible act. Whether or not the Marines who performed the stunt intended for it to be a hateful act or were just horsing around is not...
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Forced Assimilation in Israel
Ethiopian Jews Arriving in Israel During Operation Solomon One of my favorite things about visiting Israel is the diversity of Jewish people, practices and customs. In particular, the Kotel is a...
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Frankfurt to Tel Aviv in 2012: A Pesach Message
I am blessed to be able to spend Pesach in Israel this year. En route, we made a stopover in Frankfurt, Germany. I know many people who are uncomfortable with anything remotely German. They do not buy...
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Does Israel Love Iran? Does Iran Love Israel?
Most of the news regarding the possibility of conflict between Israel and Iran is not good. The impression one gets from reading the news is that there is an impending Armageddon. The lines in the sand...
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There Will Not Be a Moment of Silence For the Victims of Terrorism at the...
The upcoming Olympic Games will mark 40 years since eleven Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian terrorists at the Olympic Games in Munich. The incident was significant for its symbolism as much...
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Differing Perspectives on the New York Celebrate Israel Parade
One blogger at the New York Celebrate Israel Parade was so overwhelmed by the orthodox community’s involvement at the parade that she declared the future of Judaism in America to be orthodoxy. To be...
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No Moment of Silence at the Opening Ceremony Doesn’t Mean No Moment of Silence
A while back I wrote about the IOC’s decision not to have a moment of silence for the Israeli terror victims in Munich at the ’72 games. (There Will Not Be a Moment of Silence For the Victims of...
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Time Magazine Reports on the Battle of Jerusalem Between the Secular and the...
This week’s Time Magazine features a cover story on Jerusalem. Although, it is not an article about the BBC pretending that Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel, nor is it an article about East...
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On Jewish Refugees From Arab Lands
I’ve been reading The Aleppo Codex: A True Story of Obsession, Faith, and the Pursuit of an Ancient Bible. It’s a really great book and a full review is forthcoming. Something struck me as I was...
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War Baffles Me
Inspired by this: I feel like Phineas in A Separate Peace. I can’t understand or fathom or believe in war. Just can’t. Maybe it’s a defect in my personality. — Eliyahu Fink (@efink) November 16, 2012...
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An Apology to My Brothers and Sisters in Israel
On Thursday and Friday I was dealing with my emotions regarding war. The reason these latent emotions surfaced is because of the very real war that is happening right now in Israel. I explained my...
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Israeli Flag NOT Doctored Out of Iconic Boston Marathon Photo
Yesterday, on Facebook, I posted the iconic photo of the 78 year old man in an orange shirt surrounded by police officers with smoke billowing in the background just after the explosion at the Boston...
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Not All Charedim Are The Same
MK Rabbi Dov Lipman is ruffling the feathers of many charedi Gedolim in Israel and America. It seems there are two levels to the rhetoric against MK Lipman. Primarily, I think many have a problem with...
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The New Republic Article on Feminism from Zion is All About the Stakes
The new issue of The New Republic cover story is about us. It is about Haredim, modern Orthodox, and women. These are things we discuss regularly online and at our Shabbos tables, and in our coffee...
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The Proper Response to the ASA Boycott of Israel
In the middle of December, an academic organization called the American Studies Association (ASA) issued a statement in which they endorsed a boycott of Israel. The boycott was their response to their...
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The Problem With Activists
The long awaited Sodastream advertisement featuring Scarlett Johansson made its broadcast television debut during the Super Bowl last night. The ad has become a touchstone of the various issues raised...
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A Lesson From Oxfam: Policies Are Efficient But Ineffective
BBC Newsnight facilitated a bit of a debate between a policy maker at Oxfam and Daniel Birnbaum, CEO of Sodastream. Kudos to the BBC for making it happen. It’s not easy to bring opposing perspectives...
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Ignorance is Death
Ramaz won’t invite a particular professor from Columbia University to speak on its grounds. Rashid Khalidi is a well known supporter of Palestinians and a former advisor to the PLO. His positions on...
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The Magic of Self Criticism
People asked me what some of the criteria were for the rabbis who were asked to join the Groundbreaking Meeting on Sunday. While many factors and relationships were factored, there was one overriding...
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What Rabbi Nissan Kaplan Really Believes
Last week, a hyperbolic statement made by a prominent Rosh Yeshiva in March was publicized in the media. The precise nature of the comments are unimportant. The statement seemed to authorize and...
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What Do I Tell My Children?
The devastating news reverberates throughout the Jewish world. Our worst fears have been confirmed. We won’t be able to #bringbackourboys. It’s over. And for now, we mourn. But many of us are...
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#bringbackourboys Video Tribute
Like many of you, I’ve had a difficult few weeks. Technology makes it too easy to be intimately aware of the myriad details and reactions and rumors and feelings across the world as we lived through...
View ArticleThank You President Obama
This article first appeared on my Haaretz blog. It appears here with permission. President Obama’s editorial in Haaretz elicited predictable partisan responses. Supporters of the president and Israel...
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You Can Help the IDF
Young men and women are fighting for their lives and the safety of their families and their nation at this very moment. The IDF is in Gaza and we all hope and pray for their swift and safe return. No...
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Was the War in Gaza Worthwhile?
Peace has descended upon southern Israel. The war is over. Finally. Hopefully. No more rockets flying overhead. No more air strikes on Hamas targets. No more artillery battles in urban Gaza...
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My Small Piece of Seeds of Peace
I heard about Seeds of Peace a few months ago. Dan Adler was at our home for Shabbat lunch and he asked me if I would be interested in going to visit the camp for a couple of days in the summer....
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Clearly, Hamas is Not ISIS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thinks that Hamas and ISIS are the same thing. After ISIS beheaded Jim Foley and Hamas beheaded some “collaborators,” Bibi tweeted a photo that showed both...
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A Remarkable Rainbow of Rabbis
A few weeks ago, the Israeli Rabbinate granted their coveted Rabbinic ordination to several dozen new rabbis. A cousin of mine was among the celebrants and I was very happy for him upon this great...
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The Manufactured Controversy Between the Chief Rabbinate and Rabbi Riskin
Another summer in Israel, another war. This war is playing out in the pages of the Jewish media, and this time we’re our own worst enemy. Intramural fighting between passionate commentators and rabbis...
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