This week the Torah teaches us the story of the donkey who spoke. The Ribbono shel Olam had seen fit to grant Bilam, the son of Be’or, a lofty level…
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Op-Ed
A Tale of Two Donkeys
The Big Sky Gets Bigger
The United State Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in the case of Espinoza vs. Montana Department of Revenue. The names of legal cases are exceedingly numerous and, as in this case,…
Abolition of Boundaries
Human nature craves change. We abhor the constant and are eager for something new. The broadest and most extreme version for this is the phenomenon of “revolution.” While we still…
The Day of Reckoning Has Arrived
In last week’s Congressional primaries, the more progressive wing of the Democratic Party once again showed its effectiveness as a political force to be reckoned with. What are the implications…
Principles vs. Pragmatism
As a strong proponent of voting, I actively encourage my children to register to vote as soon as they turn 18, and even try to procure the requisite form for…
Putting Your Life Over My Comfort
Noam Chakim is only an 11th grader but last week he taught all of Israel, including the country’s political leaders, a moving lesson in responsibility and putting others first. Noam,…
Wake-Up Call
I just read the excellent roundtable in Hamodia with Menahalim in regards to reopening our yeshivos. There was a lot of wisdom there. I wanted to share my perspective as…
The Right Ruling On Shuls
Erev Shabbos saw a happy legal development for all religious communities, in the form of a federal judge’s granting of a preliminary injunction ordering New York State and New York…
OPINION: Banning Foreign Workers Won’t Bring America Back
President Donald Trump has announced that tens of thousands of foreign workers will be banned from entering the U.S. through the end of the year. It will take longer than…
Hot Days; Sticky Issues
Summer, along with intense heat, has arrived. And for many, it is a summer like no other in history. As explored in detail in these pages, the decision by New…
CHECK THE HEART
The last few months have been a world changer. Throughout the terrible ordeal, we saw tremendous greatness in Klal Yisrael. Resilience, chessed, Torah, avodah, bitachon. Yet, we are now staring…
When Silence Isn’t Golden
If you walk down a certain avenue in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, you pass a New York City District Middle School building decorated on one side with hand-made paintings…
Second Wave (of Confusion)
Confusion leads to mistakes. While erring is human, when misled by misinformation or perhaps even a deliberate attempt at covering up, the real story is much worse. In the beginning…
Deserving of Justice
In an interview with Hamodia many years ago, as part of its “Profiles of Courage” series, Arnold Roth shared a story that explained why Europe was so reluctant to take…
The Man Who Couldn’t Wait
Today, June 23, an event will occur which the Trump administration has tried hard to prevent: publication of the memoir of former national security adviser John Bolton. A federal court…
The Supreme Court Upholds DACA… For Now
Last week’s U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling concerning DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, did not conclusively establish the status of people who were brought to the country illegally…
A Daily Reminder of Who We Are
In Czarist Russia, it was unthinkable for a Jew to achieve any prestigious public position. When a Jew in Kiev managed to get himself appointed as the head of a…
The Worst Slogan Ever
Few things are more thankless than moderation in a time of extremism. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order setting a framework for curbing the excessive use of…
What About the Kids?
For years, government authorities, eager to avoid media scrutiny and deflect warranted criticism, have chosen to release bad news or controversial decisions late on a Friday afternoon. Known as the…
Coming Unglued
Prediction: This government isn’t going to make it. Not because Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu isn’t willing to hand over power to his “alternate prime minister” in 18 months, as called…