I. Whose Oil? Around 150 years ago, a Warsaw rabbi attempted to introduce a new chumra, a stringency regarding Chanukah lights. The reason for rejecting

The recent Nishma survey confirmed that the high cost of Orthodox living, and particularly yeshiva tuition, ranks very high among people’s concerns. Recently, we looked

I think it was 1995 when Rav Feivel Cohen returned from an Agudah convention upset. He explained to his congregation, of which I was a

We all know that money can’t buy us love, that more money brings more worries, and that winning the lottery often ruins people’s lives. Yet

Recently, Orthodox Jews in Lakewood, New Jersey, were arrested for allegedly deceiving the government in order to obtain benefits illegally. While we assume that people

Why would a leading Modern Orthodox rabbi join the Conservative movement at what seemed to be the height of his career? R. Harry Epstein (1903-2003)

In 1857, a leading Reform-minded rabbi in America, Isaac Mayer Wise, published a prayer book he called Minhag America. With this publication, he attempted to

We celebrate Purim every year to commemorate the celebration in ancient times, when joy conquered fear and good vanquished evil. The story of Esther and

RCA and OU In October 2015, the Rabbinical Council of America issued a resolution (that I sponsored), setting that its members may not ordain women

The news reported that Jared and Ivanka Kushner received rabbinic permission to ride in a car back from the inaugural ball on Friday night. Many

With the emotional and political turmoil in the aftermath of the recent presidential election, there is talk of a national registry of Muslims. It is