From the JTA. Sen. Barack Obama asked the debates commission to urge networks to rebroadcast the first presidential debate for Jewish viewers who observe Shabbat. Obama (D-Il.) is set to meet Republican rival Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for their first debate on Friday night, although McCain has called for a postponement of the debate because [...]
Many people are familiar with the book Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. While I admit that I haven’t read the book, I do find the blog Freakonomics very interesting. There was a recent post which was simply fascinating, and scary in a way. The question discussed was “What is the [...]
R. Josh Waxman has the latest in piety requirements for airplane travelers. This gemara which I learned this morning seems to be an appropriate comment. תלמוד בבלי מסכת סוטה דף כב עמוד ב ת”ר, שבעה פרושין הן: פרוש שיכמי, פרוש נקפי, פרוש קיזאי, פרוש מדוכיא, פרוש מה חובתי ואעשנה, פרוש מאהבה, פרוש מיראה. פרוש שיכמי [...]
A recent case whose legal justification sounds interesting. Judge Rules Church Can Fire Teacher For Out-of-Wedlock Pregnancy: “ A Brooklyn woman’s claim that she was unfairly fired from a Seventh-Day Adventist church’s school for being pregnant–and unmarried–was quashed by a federal judge yesterday. Back in 2001, Jewel Redhead was fired from the Linden Seventh Adventist [...]
Almost everyone who has taught a course on a university-level has experienced the complaints of students after they see the syllabus and what you expect of them. Read what this lecturer wrote in their syllabus. I recognize that I have assigned a lot of reading for a seminar. Before many of you go to the [...]
There has been much discussion about the recent prisoner exchange with Hezbollah, see a little from me here, this post for a summary of some halakhic opinions, and this one for a discussion from a security standpoint (hat tip). What has been pointed out by some, and all of these discussions are relatively easy for [...]
If only Israel’s disputes with her neighbors could be dealt with on such a level. From the BBC: Advertisements promoting Japanese condoms have been removed from Korean underground trains amid a rekindled territorial dispute. The action was taken following complaints from passengers, a Seoul Metro spokesman told AFP news agency. “If the territorial dispute with [...]
While many of you will think that the prohibition of men hearing women sing, Kol Isha, is out-dated and absurd to say the least, for those who are interested, Rabbi David Bigman of Yeshivat ha-Kibbutz ha-Dati has let his opinion be known, permitting it in almost all circumstances. Here is a post in Hebrew by [...]
From the JTA and more here. The Tikvah Fund has given Princeton University $4.5 million to strengthen undergraduate interest in Jewish thought. The funds are also earmarked to bring Jewish history and ideas into dialogue with other historical, philosophical and theological traditions, Princeton announced this week. The Tikvah Project on Jewish Thought will host visiting [...]
Seforim has a posted a review by Aryeh Frimer of Daniel Sperber’s book Darka shel Halakhah. The review is part of a longer article which will be published in the future, and has resulted in a lively series of comments, numbering over one hundred. From some of the comments, it is possible to see the [...]
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