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Avraham Bronstein

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Jun 24, 2018, 10:29 AM

Staffs, Statutes, and the Cries of a Child

In the year 399 BCE, the great philosopher Socrates was arrested and tried on charges of heresy and corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens. He was convicted, and sentenced to death. His students begged him to run...

May 24, 2018, 12:25 AM

“Relatively Speaking”

Last week, the Wiesenthal Center’s Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper issued a statement thanking President Trump for withdrawing the US from the Iran nuclear agreement. In their statement, they asserted that “Lying is the National Anthem and Magna...

Mar 18, 2018, 8:57 AM

What’s Wrong with Accusing Stephen Hawking of BDS Hypocrisy

From their responses to his death, the defining moment of Stephen Hawking's life to many in the pro-Israel camp may well have been his 2013 withdrawal, at the request of Palestinian academics and in solidarity with the BDS movement,...

Nov 27, 2017, 6:57 PM

One Place With Two Names

As if the National Football League was not facing enough heat in the Trump-era culture wars, its Washington, D.C. team played a home game on Thanksgiving Day for the first time, prompting statements of disappointment from several Native American...

Sep 28, 2017, 11:37 PM

Teshuvah in the Age of Dataism

In the thought of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, teshuvah is inextricably connected to humanity’s overriding mandate to create. “God wills man to be a creator – his first job is to create himself as a complete being,” he wrote....

Aug 21, 2017, 8:02 PM

Solar Eclipse: Good For The Jews?

On April 17, 1912, a total Solar Eclipse took place in the sea between Spain and France. It was visible as a partial eclipse across much of the rest of Europe and Asia. Wikipedia preserves an editorial published in...

Jul 23, 2017, 10:10 AM

Each Stop Along the Way

In 2013, the New York Times Magazine ran a cover story on breast cancer, which included the incredible statistic that, since 1972, only a half percent of all grants awarded by the National Cancer Institute focused on metastatic cancer....

Jul 10, 2017, 12:11 AM

JAY-Z: A Balaam For Our Time

An anti-Semite walks into a bar and is about to order a drink when he sees a obviously Jewish fellow sitting quietly by himself in the corner. So he shouts over to the bartender so everyone can hear, "A...

Jun 12, 2017, 7:59 AM

The Self-Driving Ark

Nine months ago, the city of Pittsburgh rolled out the red carpet for the company Uber to deploy and road-test a fleet of self-driving taxis. Ford is looking to have a fleet of affordable self-driving cars at marker within...

Jun 2, 2017, 8:07 PM

Monuments & Memorials

Delivered June 1, 2017 Second Day Shavuot The Hampton Synagogue Five days ago, this congregation raised $200,000 and enabled the Temple Mount Sifting Project to continue the critical work of uncovering and documenting the archaeological evidence that connects the Jewish people -...

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About Me

Avraham Bronstein is rabbi of The Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach, NY.