My friend, Rabbi Avrohom Cohen, editor of the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society which I publish as president of the Rabbi Jacob Joseph School, has said to me often about our fellow Orthodox, "G-D gave us a beautiful religion and look what we are doing to it." His words have come back to me as I have received sharp responses to my current Jewish Week article criticizing Jewish Action, the Orthodox Union's magazine, for publishing a defense of Baruch Goldstein's murderous rampage a decade ago in Hebron. Have we sunk so low as to justify murder? Goldstein's defenders help drive Jews away from a religious life.
What saddens me most is that too few of those who speak or write on our behalf are prepared to challenge the mood of hatred and paranoia.
Cross-posted on Cross-Currents.