One of the biggest complaints I hear from people going through a crisis of faith is that the community leaders and rabbis are hypocrites. You can take a sampling online each day of the critical blogs and you can almost…
Tag: torah
Zera Livatala, Ever Min Hachai, Not Killing Amalek favorite aveiros of 2013
Views on sin are changing, we’ve known that all along, but the statistical report on what aveiros were the most loved during 2013 is fascinating. Zera Livatala has been on the list for the past 27 years, since porn was…
Is American society less moral nowadays?
I saw this comment in response to one of those “frummy society is in a downward spiral towards immorality posts.” Anyone who thinks America’s morals are getting worse is simply blind or a sheep being led blindly. Aside from the…
Homosexuality is an Abomination
Last week I received a message from Chabad.org’s Ask the Rabbi and apparently someone had used my email to ask some of the questions in the post below. I found it entertaining and I guess the Rabbi who got back…
I hate Artscroll gemaras
I like to think of myself as a self deprecating Am Haaretz, but amidst my amaratzus I’ve discovered that I can actually pick up a sefer and learn quite a bit. During my free time you can see me learning…
Why Yeshiva University is more dangerous than YCT and open orthodoxy
We can hem and haw all day about Open Orthodoxy and it’s threat to Judaism, but in reality, no truly frum person holds of YCT, Maharat, Avi Weiss, or any of the other shenanigans that cling to the open orthodoxy…
What is the halachic way to wipe your butt?
Hi Heshy, I was reading https://www.frumsatire.net/2011/03/16/strange-orthodox-jewish-beliefs-and-customs/ which is amazing, and was wondering if you had any idea what the sources were, or where I could find out more on: the halachic way to wipe your butt. I swear there’s a good reason…
Yosef: Metrosexual of the Torah
by Chaya Miriam Fried All the signs are there. The primping of the hair. The eyeliner. The channeling of Alice Cooper with a disco perm. The man chosen to represent klal Yisroel, ushering the Tribe from the days of our…
Simchas Torah 2012: You Don’t Have to be Einstein…
Depending on how many people regularly attend your synagogue, you may be called to the Torah once a month, once a year or somewhere in between. This is in addition to Simchas Torah, when an aliyah is given to all…
What are Jewish values?
If you hang around liberal and non-Orthodox Jews for a bit you start hearing some key phrases over and over again. Tikkun Olam and Jewish Values are two that come to mind and I’ve been wondering lately about Jewish Values.…
Is it ethical for Orthodox Jews to support companies which are anti-Torah?
It’s generally known that frum Jews are quite right wing politically, yet they rarely speak up with their wallets. Rare is it that we really get into the hearts of the matter by boycotting or speaking out against companies that…
The Catch 22 of Frum Jewish Gays
I have no idea how it happened, but it seems that the frum community is obsessed with frum gays or maybe the concept of frum gays because how can one really “act” on being gay and be frum right? Now…
Chinuch Roundtable: Is it worse to talk to girls online or in person?
Dear Chinuch Roundtable, I recently noticed that my teenage son was spending more time online than usual. The computer is in the living room, so I’m sure that he wasn’t chas v’sholom looking at anything that he shouldn’t. When I…
Dvar Torah Shmini: A Hair’s Breadth’s Perspective on Wrongdoing
Imagine the most awesome and splendid of occasions accompanied by the most fabulous and incredible fanfare and it would approximate the scene that was when Moses had nearly completed the week-long introductory period of the Mishkan (Tabernacle).
Dvar Torah Vayikra: The Fundamental Rift
There often lies within each parsha the potential for a disagreement between the Akivan and Ishmaelian perspectives, and although it may appear as a tangled mess of discrete points of dissension, in truth, there is a virtual fault line the…
Dvar Torah Ki Sisa: A Divine Peep Show
We could talk for months about this week’s parsha, and I might just have to write for FrumSatire for another 10 years to give myself enough Ki Sisa’s to cover each of these topics.
Dvar Torah Tetzave: Divine Dwelling
I was really excited by talk of a flat-tax because it would be so much easier to work with than what we have now. Who wants to figure out if it’s better to itemize one’s deductions or not by drawing…
Fighting to protect your country is against the Torah!
A guest post by Philo originally posted on Dov Bear Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach has come out strongly against the decision of Israel’s supreme court to strike down the Tal law (which allowed Yeshiva students to avoid army duty.) He declared that the decision was a “terrible gzeira that…
Dvar Torah Teruma: Location of Communication
The heavily debated “descent of God” during the revelation at Sinai between the Ishmaelian and Akivan schools is rehashed when it comes to God’s proposed presence in the Mishkan (Tabernacle), with each side taking a very anticipated approach as to…
Dvar Torah Va’era: Moses’ Contribution
Although the Five Books of Moses is only about three thousand words longer than Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, it enjoys relative immensity in its role as Judaism’s scripture because attempts are made to take note of nearly all…
Dvar Torah Vayechi: Jacob Immortal
The start of a new year is a time for resolutions not because there’s anything intrinsic about January 1st that begets rejuvenation, but because there’s an artificial freshness that accompanies the annual changing of the calendar year — as such,…
Chanukah 2011: The Revolt Against “Stop Sign Judaism”
The Jewish year contains a number of rabbinically mandated holidays and two of them, in particular, seem to emphasize two very different reflections on Jewish history: Chanukah focuses on the spiritual preservation of Jewish traditions, while Purim centers on the…
The YU Beacon sex scandal devar Torah
By Rabbi Joshua Strulowitz Most people had never heard of the YU Beacon until a week or two ago. I know I hadn’t. Now it seems that it has the Orthodox community abuzz and the YU community in a fierce…
Dvar Torah Vayeshev: Fourfathers?
From the standpoint of the reader, it’s often obvious who and what is important in a work of prose based on the amount of airtime an individual or episode is granted, and the biblical narrative proves no different. For example,…
Dvar Torah Vayishlach: 613
Man thirsts for the opportunity to rally under a banner, informing others of his intentions and habits in a public way — and so we have flags, banners, campaign buttons and bumper stickers. (No one cares if you have a…