Category: Religious Politics

The current Chief Rabbi of the United Synagogue of Great Britain Jonathan Sacks is set to retire in 2013 and the hunt for a new one is heating up. I have alway agreed with the age of dictum that states, ‘a rabbi is not a job for a good Jewish…

It is often stated that it is not the job of a rabbi to comment on politics. Stick to religion, we are told: rabbis should keep out of politics. Clearly, many people think that religious leaders should be apolitical. To be sure, rabbis should not use their pulpit to further…

Writing in the UK’s Guardian Newspaper this week my friend Dan Rickman quotes a new book by Sol Schimmel that claims that Fundamentalism is characterized by “fear of truth.” He then goes on to say that ‘Orthodox Jews are fundamentalist in their belief in the divine revelation of the Torah…

Reading about Jewish communal politics is a favorite past time for British Jews and the UK’s Jewish Chronicle usually does a wonderful job of reporting the community’s foibles. But the most recent UK Synagogue fight beats all of the rest. Except this time the childishness is trounced by the heartless…

This week a horrific story of child abuse came to light in Jerusalem. Child abuse is always terrible and leaves psychological scars on its victims. Tragically in this case, one of the children involved has been severely and irreversibly physically injured as well. However, what makes this case even more…

Instead of competing against each other, Jewish outreach groups should join forces to battle assimilation There has been a real transformation of the Orthodox Jewish landscape recently, but until now I have been only vaguely aware of it. Of course I knew that there are many different outreach organizations, all…

According to a recent study by the Van Leer Institute a stunning 70% of Haredi men in Israel do not have regular employment. The question immediately arises: if they are unemployed what are they doing with their lives? The simple answer is that they are involved in advanced Jewish studies. …

The former Israeli national team soccer team coach, Avram Grant, has recently been appointed coach and manager of Chelsea Football Club, one of Europe’s most successful teams. It was inevitable that this move would bring intense media interest in both the UK and Israel. Not all positive. First is the…

Obligation to pay high synagogue dues in US contributing to decline of American Jewry Many Jews will make their yearly pilgrimage to the synagogue this weekend not to be seen there again until next Yom Kippur. From recent reports it seems, however, that even this yearly synagogue visit is doing…

A candidate’s religion or lack thereof is an important indicator of who the person is and what their real views are and honesty with the electorate in this respect is vital   The Republican Party in the United States has a very serious potential presidential candidate in former Massachusetts Governor…