Archive
The stories have circulated for years. Stories of students being slapped and others called “Nazi” or “gay.” They are shared between alumni, passed on to prospective students and discussed between parents. They’re recounted in debates at high school and college lunch tables. They have inspired their own blog, the Rav Bina Abuse Blog.
They are stories about Rav Aharon Bina, rosh hayeshiva (head of the yeshiva) at Netiv Aryeh — an all-male yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem and a popular destination among American Orthodox high school graduates spending a gap year in Israel before returning to America for college.
And most recently, an article published last week by The Jewish Week has ignited a debate over Rav Bina’s questionable teaching methods, for which he has become infamous.
Big news, folks. Three American Jewish seminaries have been pronounced “sexually healthy:” Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Reform seminary with branches in Cincinnati, New York City and Los Angeles Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, the — you guessed it — Reconstructionist seminary in Philly Jewish Theological Seminary, the Conservative seminary in New York City The Religious […]
The Jewish state has spoken. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney should be president. Oh, sorry, I was talking about Florida. It may not be the most Jewish state in the Union, but it’s certainly the first in this presidential primary voice to have a sizable Chosen People population choosing. The GOP’s Favorite Lukewarm Son won Florida […]
Not so kosher after all? [Forward] Ever wondered if you were funding the violence of radical ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel? Shmarya Rosenberg is there! Rosenberg finds a link between the purchase of kosher food items in the United States and the militant, fundamentalist groups recently dominating Israel’s headlines. “Most of us do not want our […]
This past weekend I had one of those all-too-rare Shabbatot, where I spent the day with friends who I got to know better, and strangers who quickly became friends. Shabbat was a mixture of eating, sleeping, and long conversations where we all shared and learned from one another. It was the kind of weekend that […]
For years now the synagogue format, with all its membership dues, local events, potluck dinners, trips to Israel and the like, has attempted to attract the interests and imaginations of young Jews. The common phrase is “You are our future,” and we definitely are. Each successive generation replaces the generations that preceded it, in time. […]
VIDEO: Israelis think Birthright is funny [Eretz Nehederet] Israeli comedy show, “Eretz Nehederet” (“A Wonderful Country,” somewhere between “The Daily Show” and “Saturday Night Live”), took Birthright in their season premiere. The skit came complete with a perverted trip mate, an enthusiastic frat-boy a tour guide with a guilt complex… and this gem from their tour […]
When Occupy sentiment first emerged on my college campus last semester, I viewed the movement as a welcome re-invigoration of American political life. Finally, I thought, people were taking action and airing their grievances instead of simply griping. The movement may have been naive, it may have been misguided, and it may have encompassed such […]
While the Occupy Wall Street protests were generally directed at domestic reforms, the next generation has been repackaged and taken in an entirely new direction. Occupy AIPAC is one of a few anti-Israel movements that have stemmed from the original incarnation. However, whether or not this reflects a re-characterization of what the Occupy movement stood […]
When I think of summer, I think of home. Not in the spiritual sense of Israel, or even the flesh and blood sense of Toronto. The home I think of is a summer home, and no, that is not as spoiled as it sounds. The home in my head involves 18 cabins, 4 migrashim (fields), […]