Every once in a while if I like a Dvar Torah or some other thing that I’ve written in some context, I’m going to add it to the blog. Most things I write, I don’t like so much but I liked this one about Terach and Avram. This was for the YHS weekly parsha publication. I’ll annotate this Dvar Torah with some comments in red… Continue reading →

The symposium in First Things is worth reading. Once again I was taken by the comments of רבי מורי Rabbi Shalom Carmy which offer a different and more refreshing angle than anything else I’ve read on the topic. I’ll copy and paste his response below so that you don’t have to read through the article in First Things. My take- Continue reading →

I saw Inside Out the other day. I’m with all of the critics- it’s great. A.O Scott’s review is terrific as usual. Joe Morgenstern too. I only wish they would have had more scenes inside the heads of more characters. The movie made a case for sadness finding its place alongside joy. Pixar often has serious themes animating its films: elitism versus egalitarianism in the Incredibles, family versus individual and the purpose of art in Ratatouille, but Inside Out makes us think about the religious experience. Continue reading →

Graduation tonight was really terrific. I really love having different teachers speak about each graduate. It’s great for the individual students and it’s great for staff. Below is the speech I delivered. The text of my remarks is in black. My comments on on my remarks are in red. Thank you to my colleague Mrs. Amy Horowitz for helping me edit my remarks.

Preserving Revolution

Dear Graduates, Continue reading →

I came across this very sweet musing by Kazuo Ishiguro in the Wall Street Journal on shabbos. He reflects on the haunting chorus of Leonard Cohen’s 1988 song, I Can’t Forget: “I can’t forget but I don’t remember what.” Continue reading →

I’m going to try to get back to my original goal for this blog: citing and commenting on interesting articles that should have some resonance for Modern Orthodox education. You may have missed these two excellent Pesach themed Op-eds if you were busy burning your chametz this past Friday morning. Joshua Berman’s Search for the Historical Exodus was published in the Wall Street Journal. It’s a condensed version of the more detailed essay he published in Mosaic on March 2. David Brooks wrote a piece titled On Conquering Fear that was published in the New York Times.  Why did I find these important? Continue reading →

I must admit that the trailer was a lot better than the actual film. As the entire school is learning Sefer Shemot this year I was hoping that Ridley Scott’s film about Exodus could be used as an effective educational tool. I went to see the film the night it came out, and was disappointed in the film. I’d give it two stars. But I still thought that there would be serious educational merit in seeing the film. We took the whole school to the see the movie on Chanukah and the reviews of kids and staff were mixed. I’ll explain why I thought it was a good idea to bring the school to the movie and then I’ll address the issues raised by those who questioned the decision. Continue reading →

Leon Wieseltier has struck gold once again. In another great essay in the New Republic he body slams Alain de Botton for his self absorbed retreat from the world.  It is well worth reading. His language is exquisite as always, and the analysis is spot on. Alain de Botton argued for a twitter sabbath so that one can retreat into the stillness and appreciate the simpler and more beautiful things in life. Wieseltier’s sharp pen pokes fun at and holes in the argument. Wieseltier’s argument is similar to the argument that values religion over spirituality and responsibilities over rights. I once read an article a number of years ago by Rabbi Sacks published in some newspaper about the difference between religion and spirituality. I’ve spent some time googling for it but can’t find it. If you know where it is, feel free to comment. And once we’re talking about responsibilities over rights, let’s recall Robert Cover’s beautiful essay on Obligation.

I often hear that kids nowadays want to know what’s in it for them and they are too focused on finding their own personal meaning in mitzvot. There’s some truth to that. Everyone wants to find personal meaning. It seems to me though that it’s our job as educators to teach about the joy in serving others and living a life committed to something bigger than ourselves. This doesn’t seem to be a hard sell to me. Kids want to fight for something. They want to believe in a cause.  Believe in me . Help me believe in anything.  Cause I, I wanna be someone who believes

Rabbi Emanuel Feldman’s letter to the editor in the most recent Jewish Review of Books (which was published before the Social Orthodoxy brouhaha) is terrific. He responded to Daniel Gordis’ infamous Requiem for the Conservative Movement. The letter is what I consider the right approach toward dealing with those whose intellectual misgivings lead them to shy away from Orthodoxy. It’s a strong statement of valuing social orthodoxy as a way-station.

On the other hand, Continue reading →