Since 1906, the Forward has been answering reader dilemmas about daily life in “A Bintel Brief,” Yiddish for a bundle of letters. Send your queries to [email protected], and listen to a podcast version of our signature advice column.
Bintel Brief
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Life Bintel Brief: Alan Dershowitz Says Being a Pro-Israel Liberal Doesn’t Mean Being Lonely
Dear Prof. Dershowitz, I am a very politically liberal Jew. However, I find great discomfort with liberal activist organizations when it comes to Israel. Their messages are frequently strident and are often indistinguishable between being anti-Israel and antisemitic. Equally problematic is finding myself in the camp of the neo-cons and other right-wing groups in their…
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Life Bintel Brief: Alan Dershowitz Examines Whether Hamas Opinion Articles Are Fit To Print
Professor Dershowitz, Do you think that the publishing of opinion articles by Hamas officials in The New York Times and The Washington Post constitutes material support to terrorists as defined in the Patriot Act? Thank you for all of your great and inspiring work on behalf of Israel. FIT TO PRINT? Alan Dershowitz replies: I…
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Life Bintel Brief: Alan Dershowitz Offers His Counsel
Alan Dershowitz is one of the most famous names in the American legal profession, his counsel highly sought after. Now he will be offering his counsel to our readers, as the guest Bintel Brief advice columnist for the month of July. In addition to his stellar legal career, the famed Harvard Law professor has distinguished…
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Life Bintel Brief: Rabbi Irwin Kula on Israel and the Dilemmas of Jewish Power
Hello Rabbi, I am a convert to Judaism, or Jew-by-choice. Many elements contributed to my decision to join a synagogue and go to the mikveh. Of course, my wife, her family, our children together and the rabbis I’ve learned from are significant drivers of my decision. Our commitment to family and community, our faith in…
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Life Bintel Brief: Rabbi Irwin Kula Helps a Poor Orphan Girl
Dear Rabbi Kula, I am 15 years old and in need of a consistent father figure in my life. It is not that I do not have a wonderful father — I do! It is just that he is rarely around. He is always working, traveling and at the office. It is quite upsetting. Please…
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Life Bintel Brief: Rabbi Irwin Kula Addresses a Reader’s Burial Bind
Dear Rabbi Kula, My grandfather, to whom I have always been very close, has put me in an impossible situation. He was born Jewish but was never at all religious. His wife, my grandmother, is a devout Catholic. They raised their children as Catholics. Now, totally out of the blue, he has confided in me…
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Life Bintel Brief: Rabbi Irwin Kula Answers Your Questions
Last month, we re-launched the Forward’s famed Bintel Brief advice column with the legendary Dr. Ruth Westheimer answering readers’ questions. Now, Rabbi Irwin Kula is taking the Bintel Brief reins as our next guest advice columnist. Kula, president of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, is the author, most recently, of “Yearnings: Embracing…
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Life Bintel Brief: Dr. Ruth Says ‘Staying Married While Having Extramarital Affairs Is Not a Viable Option’
Dear Dr. Ruth, What would you say to a married woman whose husband has not slept with her in over 15 years? The couple is relatively healthy and in their late 50s. The lack of sex began because of diabetes-related impotence on the part of the husband, but he has learned to overcome this handicap….
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