Rabbi Steven Pruzansky

Don't go

It is a maelstrom in the United States. Mr. Prime Minister, don’t go to the US now. Nothing will be gained and much can be lost. Opinion.

War Objectives

What are Israel’s objectives in this war and how close are we to attaining them? And what are Hamas’ objectives in this war and how close are they to attaining them? Op-ed.

And who's in charge 'The Day After'

If parts or all of Gaza are not controlled by Israel, and the Gazans stay put, then we are spinning our wheels, kicking the can down the road (perhaps not even that far down the road), and simply accepting that we will forever live with terror. Opinion.

American Pressure

History teaches us that succumbing to American pressure is often unwise and occasionally fatal. Ask Chiang Kai-shek. Op-ed.

The New Trump Doctrine

Almost all Jews would prefer bipartisan support for Israel in the United States. And although many Jews maintain that support for Israel remains bipartisan, the current difference between the parties could not be more glaring. Opinion.

How to lose a war

A nation can lose when it halts the battle when it has momentum and then informs its enemy where it is next attacking, so the enemy can regroup, rebuild, replenish, and re-strategize. And red below to see what defeat looks like. Opinion.

Leadership woes

It seems that the people screaming for the PM's resignation now were screaming for his resignation on October 6. They assume that new elections will spell certain electoral defeat for Israel’s longest serving prime minister. They should learn a little history. Op-ed.

The missing piece

What are we missing? Why is Schumer, like a lapdog with a bone, suddenly obsessed with a Palestinian state? What do the Democrats – and the Israeli left – not understand? There is a missing piece to this puzzle. Op-ed.

Biden’s Zionism

Every present Republican member of the Senate (except maybe for Rand Paul) is far more supportive of Israel than Joe Biden ever was. Biden is a “lifelong supporter” of a certain type of Israel – docile, concessionary, secular, and deferential to American interests. Op-ed.

Haredim and the Living Torah

In a perfect world, in my view, every Jew would spend time as a soldier and every soldier would spend time learning in a yeshiva – the former to teach us how to fight, the latter to teach us what we are fighting for.

Op-ed:

The Ramadan Ruse

Perhaps good Muslims should use this Ramadan for soul searching on how best to uproot savage evil from their midst. And we should show as much concern for Ramadan as our enemies showed for our Simchat Torah. Opinion.

Evict UNRWA from Jerusalem

Israel should no longer indulge an organization that is pro-terror and anti-peace, not in Gaza and not in Jerusalem. Opinion.

The empty toolbox

America's policy: Heads, we lose; tails, they win. With those odds, further attacks are not only inevitable; they are logical.

At any price

The question is not one of sympathy with the families – but of effectiveness. If we stop the aid now, Gazans might storm Hamas strongholds and free the hostages. I will believe Gazan protests when they run en masse into the tunnels and bring out our hostages with them. Op-ed.

Innocents Abroad

That the civilians of Gaza are so docile means that they are either cowardly - or complicit. Innocent they certainly are not. Op-ed.

Where is the outrage?

We cannot expect the world’s outrage or even recognition of its own hypocrisy. We must muster our own. Opinion.

Politicians in Robes

The justices are essentially politicians in robes, unelected, claiming to be preserving democracy while evidently mocking it. Op-ed.

Of Rivers and Seas

“Free” has never been synonymous with “intelligent,” and this slogan is one of the dumbest imaginable. Opinion..

Can you paradigm?

No one should be allowed to live here who does not want to be here, in the Jewish state. Op-ed.

Lessons of Sodom

The absence of righteous people defines a city 's moral worth far more than disingenuous assertions about its “innocent civilians.”

Not so innocent civilians

Would Guterres ever assert that the death of Gaza civilians past and future also does not “happen in a vacuum”? Hardly. Opinion.

Looking back and ahead

We can put aside strife and fight a ruthless enemy, but we cannot put aside the Jewish history that finds us facing that enemy again. Op-ed.

The sickening hatred of Jews...by Jews

The Daf Yomi Siyum at MetLife stadium in New Jersey had over 90,000 people, with separate seating..America is a democracy. Is Israel? Op-ed.

Confrontation - is a judicial coup next?

A democracy that can only endure by relying on an undemocratic institution is not a true democracy. It is a farce. Op-ed.

The sun rose today

Life goes on as protesters continue to think they have to destroy democracy and become permanent rulers in order to save democracy. Op-ed.

Biden-vitation Blues

Israel's government is "extreme?" We should all merit being called extreme by Biden, a clear indication that we are on the right path.Op-ed.

A BIG mistake

As the BIG chain holds a gun to its own head, it would be wise to consider whether they want to be merchants or political activists.Op-ed

A simple protest - because, pride lobby, Torah is not changing

In the Orthodox coddling of LGBT in its ranks, the emperor has no clothes! He is not wearing alternative garb, he is distorting Torah! Op-ed

Six additional knocks

Rabbi Soloveitchik spoke of Israel's creation as a sign that G-d is knocking on our door. Six knocks then, six since..Op-ed.

The Halakhic State

The headline alone must send shivers down some people’s spines.

Op-ed:

Neither Jewish nor Democratic

The anarchist left does not want a Jewish state. It is patently clear that they also do not want a democracy. They are murdering it. Op-ed.

Democracy dies in demonstrations

Democracy is not just the right of civil disobedience, that is one right among many and protests should not be able to ride over them.Op-ed.

Op-ed:

Pounding the table - or Israel's January 6

These protests are the Israeli elite's attempt to supplant democracy with mobocracy. Spare us the crocodile tears. Op-ed.

I am concerned

I cannot assuage unfounded “concern over the Israeli government.” What I can do is express my concern about US Jewish leadership.Op-ed.

The Torah and Judicial Reform

One difference: The judges do not appoint their successors nor are they given veto power over new nominees as the current Court has. Op-ed.

Death of the Oligarchy

It is the death of the oligarchy, not the democracy, that has brought the likes of Aharon Barak to scream from the rooftops. Op-ed.

Banana Republic?

Israel is basically being told by the US that its new government may not implement the policies on which it was elected. Oh, really? Op-ed.

Op-ed:

Is there a place between Never Trumpers and Always Trumpers?

Is there a sane middle between those for whom he can do no wrong and those for whom he can do no right? Op-ed.

Diaspora Blues

They didn’t want Netanyahu. Now that they have him, they want him to govern in the opposite manner from which he pledged to govern. Op-ed.

The Fear-of-Ben-Gvir Phobia

CJV Israel rep. on the election results:The more alienated a person is from Torah, the more they fear the specter of a strong Jew. Op-ed..

For and against our own - the Religious Zionist 'elite'

It is undoubtedly true that one can have more confidence in Smotrich implementing his political vision than Shaked implementing hers. Op-ed.

Elections and the Jewish Character of the Jewish State

Those who feel Israel’s Jewish character would be better promoted by candidates that are neither religious or Zionist - think again! Op-ed.

Torahphobia

Torahphobes do not really take the Torah seriously, or better said, they only take seriously the parts of Torah that appeal to them.Op-ed.

Cult of Personality

Bennett ran through three or four party names. The point was to vote him, as it is for Lapid, Liberman, Gantz, or Aryeh Deri. Op-ed.

I Denounce

I perceive you as desecrating our Torah, our peoplehood, and now our holy places, but we denounce violence against you.

A dose of reality

The Torah is not changing. Homosexual conduct is forbidden, and no parades or bullying will change that. It is a personal issue. Op-ed.

David Friedman: A man of consequence

An ambassador can be a statesman, loyally representing the country that appointed him, benefitting the country in which he serves. Review.

A Society Adrift

Sixty years of values-free public education has produced sixty years of values-free citizens. Op-ed.

Op-ed:

Beyond the euphoria of Yom Ha’atzmaut is political chaos

We bask in its astonishing achievements but if a person wanted to destroy the Jewish state, there are several steps that he could take.Op-ed

Op-ed:

Amend the Law of Return

What interest of the Jewish people is advanced by pretending that Gentiles are quasi-Jews, “traditional” but not religious? Opinion.

"Never again" again?

After every atrocity, someone intones “never again,” and someone else will intone “never again” after the next. But what about now?Op-ed

Getting off the fence

Why is it important that Jews survive if we are not going to observe the Torah? What would the world be missing if there were no Jews?Op-ed.

On settler violence

The error lies in seeing the acts of the settlers as crimes to be prosecuted rather than defense of the homeland not done by gov't. Op-ed..

The conversion challenge

The consequences of the conversion reforms, if passed, will be dire and it is not just the split that will occur in the Jewish world. Op-ed.

The scourge of sexual abuse

Sadly, this evil will always exist, but the likelihood of false accusations dwindles when there are multiple, unrelated victims. Op-ed.

A stern rejoinder

MK Elazar Stern's remakrs on the Kotel partition are riddled with misstatements, platitudes, faulty reasoning and sophistries. Op-ed.

Combating assimilation

You can’t cure illness with what spurred the disease, but that's what the anti-assimilation caucus is planning. There is a better way.Op-ed.

Wayward journalists

Journalists want rabbis who are in the House of Study, away from the public, trotted out for ceremonies and with no say on religion..Op-ed.

Israel and the Democrats

Nothing has really changed for the better, despite what Lapid claims, and the real problem should be dawning on every sentient person.Op-ed.

Food fights: The proposed Kashrut reform

To destroy Israel's kashrut system and undermine consumer confidence, it is hard to imagine a better plan than the proposed reforms. Op-ed.