• Kiddush Hashem – Ben Shapiro This Year’s March For Life Keynote Speaker https://forward.com/fast-forward/417724/ben-shapiro-this-years-march-for-life-keynote-speaker/ • Rabbi Pesach Sommer Invites You to ‘Buy, Sell and Swap Seforim’ https://www.jewishlinknj.com/community-news/bergen/29123-rabbi-pesach-sommer-invites-you-to-buy-sell-and-swap-seforim • Excellent Christian article – You Are How Much You Work https://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2015/august/you-are-how-much-you-work.html • The challenges of leading the Jewish Agency – A looming ‘brexit’ for Jewish peoplehood https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-looming-brexit-for-jewish-peoplehood/ • Not impressed with the ...

by R. Gil Student In the summer of 1982, the Israeli army placed a siege on Beirut in a successful attempt to force the PLO out of Lebanon. On August 6th, then Chief Rabbi of Israel Rav Shlomo Goren published an article in the newspaper Hatzofeh in which he argued that, according to Jewish law, the siege must allow terrorists to escape the city. ...

• When faith goes out of fashion https://www.jns.org/opinion/when-faith-goes-out-of-fashion2/ • The Surprising Popularity of Kosher Food in Prison https://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/278716/the-surprising-popularity-of-kosher-food-in-prison • Interesting stats of different religion. Orthodox Jewish stats would be very different but how much? – The Top Reasons Young People Drop Out of Church https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/january/church-drop-out-college-young-adults-hiatus-lifeway-survey.html

by Joel Rich IThe S”A (O”C 2181) lists out a number of places requiring the bracha of sheasa nisim where miracles occurred for the Jewish people (e.g., sea spitting). Did they still have a tradition in his time as to the actual location? If not, why record these specific places. Listened to a Rav Kook lecturer last night positing that ...

• Tu Bi-Shvat Seder from Machon Ha-Torah Ve-Ha-Aretz https://www.toraland.org.il/en/beit-midrash/articles/around-the-jewish-year/digital-seder-tu-bishevat/ • The Nearly Forgotten: Children of Divorce https://www.ou.org/life/parenting/the-nearly-forgotten-children-of-divorce/ • Talmud-inspired learning craze sweeps South Korea https://www.timesofisrael.com/talmud-inspired-learning-craze-sweeps-south-korea/ • I reject identity politics https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/i-reject-identity-politics/

• Resolved to unplug? Films, challenges urge the religious to reflect on digital lives https://religionnews.com/2019/01/11/resolved-to-unplug-films-challenges-urge-the-religious-to-reflect-on-digital-lives/ • J Rosenblum – Life after Kollel http://www.jewishmediaresources.com/1977/life-after-kollel • When key donors flee Europe, will the Jewish community’s infrastructure collapse? – Fiddling while Golders Green burns https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/fiddling-while-golders-green-burns/ • He doesn’t seem to realize the problem, which is the many years he ignored the problem – ...

by R. Gil Student I. Hardened Hearts When God hardens a heart, shouldn’t that mean that the person whose heart is hardened cannot repent? While reading the beginning of the weekly Torah portion of Bo, I was struck that this does not seem true. God tells Moshe that He hardened the hearts of Pharaoh and his servants: ”And the LORD ...

• Why Andy Warhol’s Brillo pads — and a million other things — are kosher – Religion News Service https://religionnews.com/2019/01/07/why-andy-warhols-brillo-pads-and-a-million-other-things-are-kosher/ • Kosher high-tech office lures Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox https://www.timesofisrael.com/kosher-high-tech-office-lures-jerusalems-ultra-orthodox/ • Pop sensation won’t perform at Shabbat-desecrating Eurovision http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/257445 • J Abramowitz – In the News: The Doctor Who Threatened to Poison Jews https://www.ou.org/life/inspiration/in-the-news-the-doctor-who-threatened-to-poison-jews/ • The End of the Jewish Community of ...

• Read the last point – To Be a Jew in America http://www.jewishlinknj.com/features/29006-to-be-a-jew-in-america • After Pittsburgh, some synagogues are more comfortable with guns in the pews – Jewish Telegraphic Agency https://www.jta.org/2019/01/08/united-states/after-pittsburgh-some-synagogues-are-more-comfortable-with-guns-in-the-pews • Why is Egypt intent on restoring Jewish heritage sites in a country devoid of Jews? https://www.jns.org/why-is-egypt-intent-on-restoring-jewish-heritage-sites-in-a-country-devoid-of-jews/ • Italian Kabbalists and Anti-Kabbalists: Rabbi Da Modena and the Controversies Surrounding ...

by R. Gil Student Most Jews of all backgrounds recognize the custom to recite Kaddish for a parent and attempt to observe it, even if only partially. However, the recitation of Kaddish is sometimes appropriate for a relative other than a parent. In this brief essay, we will examine the background of this practice and its practical implications. I. Kaddish ...