• Is It Permitted To Wear Political Yarmulkas in Shul? Halachic Analysis – https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/general/1834568/is-it-permitted-to-political-yarmulkas-in-shul-halachic-analysis.html • City Flags Jewish Circumcision Ritual Following New Herpes Cases https://www.wsj.com/articles/city-flags-jewish-circumcision-ritual-following-new-herpes-cases-11582479087 • Chief Rabbi Lau: “Anyone In Quarantine Is Forbidden To Attend Shul Even If Risk Is Very Slight” https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/1834486/chief-rabbi-lau-anyone-in-quarantine-is-forbidden-to-attend-shul-even-if-risk-is-very-slight.html • Tech & Talmud: A winning combination for Haredi employment https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Tech-and-Talmud-A-winning-combination-for-Haredi-employment-618575

by R. Gil Student I. Holy Profits People are motivated to do good for many reasons, among them — but hopefully not primary — is the promise of divine reward. Can that reward be sold so that a poor, righteous person can support his family? In particular, there is a concept of a Yissachar/Zevulun partnership in which one party (Zevulun) ...

• Clergy Stress: How religious leaders avoid burnout https://www.wifr.com/content/news/Clergy-Stress–568060431.html • Applies to any religion – Want Your Kids to Stay Christian? Double Down on Home Discipleship https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/february-web-only/discipleship-parenting-kids-stay-christian-home-catechesis.html • My Road to the Path http://jewishlinknj.com/features/36424-my-road-to-the-path

by R. Gil Student Learning Torah is supposed to be enjoyable but it is more than that. We have the opportunity to rethink our attitudes to learning Torah as we celebrate the completion of the Daf Yomi cycle. Most recently, Dirshu hosted thousands of people at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, to celebrate the completion of its Kinyan Torah Daf ...

• A Gordimer – “Orthodox” Gay Marriage and the Path to Destruction https://cross-currents.com/2020/02/19/orthodox-gay-marriage-and-the-path-to-destruction/ • A very impressive talmid chacham on many levels – New OU Head: ‘We Must Strengthen the Language of Faith’ https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/new-ou-head-we-must-strengthen-the-language-of-faith/ • M Schiffman – How Does One Avoid Groupthink? https://www.jewishpress.com/judaism/torah/how-does-one-avoid-groupthink/2020/02/19/ • YCT grad – Nearly a year after endorsing same-sex marriages, an Orthodox rabbi performs his ...

Defenders of the Faith: Studies in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Orthodoxy and Reform by Dr. Judith Bleich (Touro University Press) Conflict & Resolution in the Early Prophets by R. Allen Schwartz (Kodesh)

• Fight this all the way to the Supreme Court. If your lawyers refuse, find new lawyers – LGBTQ Students File Complaint Against Yeshiva U. https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/battle-for-gay-recognition-intensifying-at-yeshiva-u/ • ‘We need help too’: Stresses take a toll on US clergy https://www.timesofisrael.com/we-need-help-too-stresses-take-a-toll-on-us-clergy/ • Australian court awards AUS $800,000 to victim of Orthodox pedophile https://www.timesofisrael.com/australian-court-awards-aus-800000-to-victim-of-orthodox-pedophile/

• J Silver – A Judaism Made Infinitely Malleable Can Provide Neither Community, Nor Comfort, Nor Transcendence https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/religion-holidays/2020/02/a-judaism-made-infinitely-malleable-can-provide-neither-community-nor-comfort-nor-transcendence/ • Hundreds pray at Western Wall for cure to coronavirus: ‘God has the power to send healing’ https://www.foxnews.com/world/coronavirus-china-israel-prayer-cure • Iceland welcomes its first permanent Torah scroll https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/iceland-welcomes-its-first-permanent-torah-scroll • R SZ Berger – New Notes Added in the Koren Talmud Bavli https://seforimblog.com/2020/02/new-notes-added-in-the-koren-talmud-bavli/ • ...

by R. Gil Student Every generation sees the Bible in general, and the weekly Torah reading in particular, as a reflection of their own circumstances. This attitude enables the sacred text to constitute a living Torah, a guide to our own circumstances, challenges and opportunities. Too often, people forget that these are real stories that happened to real people thousands ...

• Jewish organizations file with SCOTUS to protect rights to employment decisions http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/275987 • UK Charedi rabbis issue statement to make clear their schools cannot talk about same-sex relations in class https://www.thejc.com/education/education-news/british-charedi-rabbis-declaration-on-lgbt-teaching-1.496816 • When Egypt decided to restore a beautiful synagogue https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/when-egypt-decided-to-restore-a-beautiful-synagogue/ • Pope pushes back against ordination of women but doesn’t completely close the door – Pope avoids question ...