The Age of the Universe

By Zalman Friedman How old is the world? It depends who you ask. By the Torah’s account, the world is no older than 6,000 years. Scientists, however, are certain that the world is billions of years old. Quite the discrepancy.

Time to Bring Back the “Respect”

By: Sholom Kesselman It is my contention that we, as a community, suffer from an inherent lack of respect for our Rabonim, Mashpiim and leaders and it may be time for a communal Cheshbon Hanefesh regarding where we stand on this important matter.

99 Ideas for Improving our Education System

By: Ya'akov Shallman Every so often a wonderful article is written lamenting the challenges in our educational system. I recently chatted with a friend of mine who confirmed that not much has changed since my time spent in yeshiva nearly 25 years ago. Many boys today like so many years ago feel they are just passing the time and serving there yeshiva “sentence”.

Response: The Modernization of Chabad

By: Sruli Schochet There was an article published recently on Chabad Currents by Sholom Kesselman called The Modernization of Chabad. In it he noted that in the last 15 - 20 years, we saw a significant segment of Chabad's younger generation take on a modern trend and outlook. He attributed this change to a few factors: (a) Gimmel Tamuz, (b) the yeshiva system and its outdated objectives, (c) the in-fighting at some of the highest echelons of our Rabbinate (d) our exposure to the ever expanding technological revolution; etc. etc.

The Modernization of Chabad

By: Sholom Kesselman It is a fact that Chabad is becoming increasingly modern. I’m not suggesting that the movement or the ideology is becoming modern; rather that vast numbers of our young are settling for a “lighter” version of what it means to be Lubavitch.

Chabad & Zionism – Complicated Relationship

By: Sholom Kesselman Chabad is in a very complicated relationship with the State of Israel. We are pro Israel but anti Zionism. We support the country and its military and work / pray for its success but don’t sing Hatikavah or hang any Israeli flags in our Shuls. We love Israel but we don’t mark or celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut.

Internet vs Yidishkeit – What will Prevail

By: Sholom Kesselman I must admit that there is great irony in using the internet as a platform to debate the “dangers” of the internet, nevertheless here I go. Four years ago, in 2012, there was the famous "internet Asifa" or “internet convention”, where esteemed Rabbis of ultra orthodox communities publicly raised the alarm on the dangers of the internet and fell just short of banning it outright. They strongly condemned it and characterized it as the biggest threat to Orthodox Judaism in our time. Some even went as far as classifying it as the biggest danger to ever face our religion in the entirety history.