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 articles this issue deal with topics unrelated to sex, as they usually do, the editors at the Beacon have had a number of readers write in with their own responses to the sex article and the controversy surrounding it. We felt it was only fair to allow space for these responses, in addition to our usual range of articles.

A quick review of these responses:

Avi Bagley YU for overstepping its boundaries in shutting down a discussion of sex and for its filtering of porn.
Steven Levine to Beacon editors criticizing us for the decision to post the article and and the fallout that ensued.
Hannah Dreyfus that the article had no merit aside from sensationalism.
Akiva Weisinger that we must not silence opinions with which we disagree, and that sex is a topic which must be discussed.
Rabbi Pruzansky of Bnai Yeshurun the necessity of opening the conversation of sex in a formal, healthy way, and brings forward examples from the Torah.
A former Stern student the need to show compassion for those in the community who struggle with religion and its laws, and shares her personal story.
A Yeshiva College alumnus his dismay at YU’s handling of the article.
An anonymous “off-the-derech” woman her story and discusses the harm that can be caused by suppressing issues in the Orthodox community.

For those of you who have had your fill of this topic, feel free to read the rest of our issue, which talks about everything but sex.