For decades the IBM slogan seemed to be everywhere. THINK, it read, simply and starkly. It is apparently long phased out, but the advice remains as good as ever. I was reminded of that on a recent trip to another city, where I witnessed an interaction between two young men, one about four and a half...

On the first day of the Jewish month Adar, the Talmud enjoins us to “increase happiness.� It is, after all, the month that holds Purim, when we express our gratitude to G-d for delivering the Jews in ancient Persia from their enemies, and when we give alms to the poor and gifts of food to one an...

A bicentennial as jubilant as this year’s hasn’t been seen since the commemoration in 1976 of our nation’s birth. The current year-long birthday party being celebrated in essays, articles and symposia honors Charles Darwin. Abraham Lincoln was also born in 1809, but the lion’s share of lioni...

Anyone who raised an eyebrow at charges that the “Hekhsher Tzedek� kosher-certification initiative recasts the very concept of kashrut might want to aim an eye at the February 6 Wall Street Journal. At a column, that is, entitled “A Quarrel Over What Is Kosher,’ by the Forward’s Nathaniel ...

A winter flurry of “Dear President Obama� letters – in the forms of op-eds and paid advertisements – have swirled around the public square in the days since the 44th president of the United States was sworn into office. Some of the open letters have concerned Mr. Obama’s economic stimulus ...

I hope my wife and kids don’t find out that I consider it kosher to force 16-year-old girls to work 20 hours a day. In fact, I was shocked at myself for having said such a thing – or, at least, I would have been had I actually said it. The source of the disturbing disclosure is a rabbi of a Cons...

I’ll leave the abusive words to your imagination. They were delivered through clenched teeth, the anger seeming to drip from the telephone into a rancid puddle on my desk. The long, acrimonious voicemail message played on and on, laden with insults and threats. Even more striking than the nasty to...

How wonderful – well, how much better, anyway – wars would be if civilians were never casualties. Thus far, though, and lamentably, most wars have taken their toll of injuries and deaths on people who were not carrying arms, even those too young to carry them. In some cases – like the current ...

The President-elect once bought a home whose deed prohibited its resale or rental to Jews. He had associations with a number of dubious characters, some of whom did not much care for Hebrews. In fact, he himself seems to have harbored some pretty anti-Jewish sentiment. No, no, not Senator Obama. Tha...

A New York tabloid recently mocked the Bush White House. No news there; ‘tis the season, so to speak. The fodder for this ridicule, though, wasn’t political. It consisted, rather, of the artwork on the Bushes’ invitations to this year’s White House Chanukah party. A beautiful snowy White Hou...