It is the height of both arrogance and folly to believe that we, in the year 2012, have finally reached the pinnacle of human thought and are able to know with absolute certainty what is right and what is wrong, what is moral and what is not. The hubris that such an idea contains is [...]
ReadCynicism has gotten to be quite popular. I like to be cynical when I see people making strong statements without adequate backing for them. Everyone likes to be cynical about their least liked politician’s motives when he or she advances a policy. Certainly, the author of “Kony 2012: A Heartwarming Tale of Cynicism” likes to [...]
ReadThe reactions have poured in, fast and furious—emphasis on furious. Noted author and trailblazer Yitta Halberstam recently wrote what might be the most universally offensive article about shidduchim that the world has ever seen. Ms. Halberstam, best known for co-authoring the popular “Small Miracles” book series, was also featured in an article in the NY [...]
ReadLate last year, a good friend of mine and former co-worker wrote an article entitled, “An Open Challenge to the Seforim Sale.” Published first by The Beacon and picked up subsequently by the Commentator, the article, which contained multiple inaccuracies and deceptive implications, was initially brought to my attention by multiple students. While I was [...]
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The Beacon spent a bit of time under the scrutiny of people everywhere, from New York to New Zealand, from the United Arab Emirates to Taiwan. It’s now been two weeks since the “sex article” was posted, and, in line with our fortnightly schedule, it’s time for a new Beacon issue. While many of our [...]
ReadTo the Editors: The Beacon recently published an article (“How Do I Even Begin To Explain This,” Dec 5) that has generated a fair amount of attention and controversy. While I fully support the editors’ decision to publish the article despite it’s unorthodox content, the ways in which the editors handled the implications and consequences [...]
Read“A university should be a place of light, of liberty, and of learning.” Benjamin Disraeli said this. This statement sums up what a university is supposed to do, and it is slowly but surely being warped by Yeshiva University. In the past weeks a number of fascinating things happened at Yeshiva University. An article about [...]
ReadThousands of hits. Press coverage from Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and beyond. That’s quite impressive for one anonymously published, prosaically unimpressive, deeply ambivalent piece of work. The edition of The Beacon in which this forever-notorious article so innocently lounged hosted a dynamic array of other, thought-provoking, content-driven, well-researched and [...]
ReadThere is a famous story that was told by Rav Nachman of Breslov (retold by his student R’ Natan and collected in “Sippurei Ma’asiot”) that goes like this: A prince once became mad and thought that he was a turkey. He felt compelled to sit naked under the table, pecking at bones and pieces of [...]
ReadThe YU Beacon, a relatively obscure literary journal, earned itself some free publicity by publishing an article last week about a nocturnal tryst between a Stern College student and her boyfriend in a hotel room, after which she feels a deep sense of shame when she realizes that he doesn’t love her and just used [...]
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