I receive a lot of response to my blog. Some readers send ideas for future posts. Others send comments or related documents. Many send praise, sometimes on meeting me in person, other times via e-mail. And I also receive a lot of criticism. Of course, sometimes the criticism is totally incomprehensible. I’m used to that. I wrote a website against ...

Following up from this post, the following letter was published in the London Jewish Tribune, in response to this eulogy of R. Shlomo Wolbe by R. Jonathan Rosenblum: Dear Sir, While Jonathan Rosenblum (JT 5th May) has written a beautiful and masterly appreciation of the life, educational work and greatness of Rav Wolbe Zl, I think it is most important ...

Yes, the saga continues. First, R. Yitz Greenberg wrote an article in The Commentator attempting to clarify events that occurred almost 40 years ago. Then, R. Aharon Lichtenstein wrote a response to the article, ostensibly to set the record straight. Now, R. Hillel Goldberg, the author of the controversial 1966 interview with R. Greenberg and one of the two people ...

In exchange for honoring me by sitting through my long and late speech yesterday, let me return the favor by directing my readers to a hidden treasure trove — an online collection of some of R. Barry Freundel’s derashos (sermons).

The Three Oaths, Part I I. The Oaths The Gemara in Kesuvos (111a) quotes R. Yossi ben R. Hanina: “What are these three oaths? One, that Israel should not rise with (or like) a wall; another, that God had Israel swear not to rebel against the nations; another, that God had the nations swear not to subjugate Israel overmuch.” These ...

First Things has a review of R. Aharon Lichtenstein’s two volumes of Leaves of Faith. (thanks to Lamed)

Why I eat OU-D: (NOTE: Consult your rabbi on this matter, although you presumably already have.) The Orthodox Union certifies as kosher-dairy (OU-D) food that is dairy, even if not Halav Yisrael. The question that arises is how they can do so (their explanation is here) and, even if they choose to be lenient, perhaps to accomodate those who would ...

Tapes from the Mussar Kallah III are available here. It looks like these were professionally done, which I assume means excellent quality recordings.

Hirhurim made it into the Wikipedia definition of blog. Cool!

R. Avraham Sar Shalom: The last verses in the weekly Torah portion, Parshat Emor, deal with the punishment given to a person who physically harms another person (and his property). There is one verse in particular amongst all the verses in which our commentators have invested a greatdeal of effort. “… An eye for an eye …” (Vayikra [Leviticus] 24, ...