I don’t know any of you very well, but I like what I do know of you all. Let me label you the ‘anti-establishment’ candidates even though some of you play nicely with your GOP peers. I mean this in the sense that Jeb Bush seems to be the establishment candidate and you are not...
Question: What do you say to a female rabbi and congregation in Huntsville, Alabama, allowing same sex marriage at the oldest synagogue in the State. I’m sure many Christians will no longer support that synagogue. ∼ Sharon B. Answer: Dear Sharon, We’re not quite sure why you are asking us this question, unless you are...
The first three planks of the Communist Manifesto written by Marx and Engels in 1848 are: (1) End private ownership of property; (2) Institute a heavy progressive income tax; and (3) End children inheriting their parents. How did those two saboteurs of civilization come up with those three first steps to a socialist paradise? Why...
When a ‘groundbreaking’ study comes out that contradicts my values and beliefs, I view it with a healthy dose of skepticism. When a study comes out that presents a new idea that neither contradicts nor supports my worldview, I consider it, though my approach tends to be one that recognizes that lying with statistics and...
Question: Dear Rabbi and Mrs. Lapin, The Ten Commandments teach us that everyone has a right to exist because they were created by God. But what about the people in ISIS? Do people have a right to exist when their only purpose is to make sure we cannot exist? ∼ Pamela Peltonen Answer:...
In case you are contemplating a career change, I want to suggest becoming a ‘futurist’ (i.e. a secular prophet). It is not as hard as it may seem. You boldly announce provocative predictions. If they subsequently come to pass, you triumphantly proclaim your prescience. If they don’t, you make new predictions. Consider one of the...
Internet giant, Amazon, is famous for its frugality. This means cheap desks cobbled together from wooden doors and scraps of lumber. It also means main cabin air travel, even for senior executives, on long flights. This corporate parsimony didn’t suddenly appear from nowhere. Although he was already a senior vice president at a successful hedge...
Did you read about the fraternity members who spent the day taking physically handicapped children to an amusement park? I didn’t either. But we both read about the fraternity members (subsequently expelled) who chanted racist comments at the University of Oklahoma. I don’t even know that the first event I mentioned happened, but I’m willing to bet...
Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress is being analyzed by friends and foes of his, by friends and foes of Israel, by Israelis who care both about the threat of Iran and their own upcoming elections and by Jews and non-Jews around the world. Did it help Israel/America/the world or did it hurt? I’ll leave political...
Question: Why did Esther ask the King to hang the ten sons of Haman who were already dead? Thanks, ∼ Subash Answer: Dear Subash, We’re going to answer your question with another question. Why are Jews obligated to hear the Book of Esther read from a handwritten scroll on Purim, the Feast of Esther? Meanwhile,...
