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Chaim Steinmetz

Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz is the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in New York.

Medieval antisemites believed awful things about Jews and that gave them license to do awful things to Jews. The same is true today.
There is greatness even among those with little learning.
The founding charter of Yad Vashem tasked the new institution with commemorating those “high-minded Gentiles who risked their lives to save Jews” as one of nine founding principles.
Genesis makes it clear that Zionism is central to Abraham’s new religious mission.
There is a dark side to a culture that focuses on winners; it changes the way we see the losers in life, the weak and the powerless.
The ‘Eglah Arufah’ is a way of recognizing that guilt feelings have a profound meaning.
Adherence to the letter of the law makes it harder to hear the voice of God.
It is in situations of tragedy that gratitude moves from being an ordinary moral obligation to a heroic act of personal transformation.
Peace is not just another halachic obligation; it is a moral foundation of Judaism.