Tag Archives: orthodox rabbi

Spiritual Highs Are Hard To Come By In Judaism

A lot of people want to know what I was feeling when I was converting to Judaism. On that last day as I stood naked in the mikveh and saying the blessings in Hebrew that would officially make me Jewish, … Continue reading

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Can You Compare Rav Elyashiv With Reb Moshe?

Historian Marc B. Shapiro replies to my question: “Because of his political importance, Rav Elyashiv had more influence that R. Moshe, but R. Moshe also spoke to the non-haredi world. R. Elyashiv had no influence outside that world.” “R. Elyashiv’s … Continue reading

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The Need For A Religious Jew To Talk To The World

An Orthodox rabbi writes an open letter to reggae singer Matisyahu: When your beard came off and your large black yarmulke remained I took pause, but your reassuring Tweets kept my hopes high. The pictures you recently Tweeted of you … Continue reading

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What’s The Difference Between A Torah Scholar And A Gadol?

In a lecture on rabbinic biographies for Torah in Motion, Orthodox rabbi and history professor Marc B. Shapiro says: “In the haredi world [ultra-Orthodoxy], [Rav J.B. Soloveitchik] is recognized as a Torah scholar but not as a gadol [great rabbi]. … Continue reading

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Rabbi Shmuley Boteach Does Not Back Down

Yesterday I blogged about the televised conflict about Hollywood Jews between the Orthodox rabbi and the Jewish convert to Catholicism. Now Rabbi Boteach blogs: Now Coren has shoved his foot far deeper into his mouth with a personal diatribe against … Continue reading

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