Cory Booker & Shmuley Boteach: The Rabbi and the Rhodes Scholar (Video)

Posted on: October 7th, 2012

Twenty years, countless conversations, and hundreds of Friday night Shabbat dinners later, Cory today is a much-loved honorary member of the American Jewish community, regularly lecturing at Synagogues and Jewish conferences across the country. More significant, Cory has challenged the Jewish community to live up to its Biblical calling to serve as ‘a light unto the nations.’ In many of the speeches we deliver together he asks the Jewish participants if they study the weekly Parsha, if they honor the commandments, and cherish the Sabbath. What allows an African-American Christian Mayor to challenge Jewish leaders to deepen their Jewish commitment? Because those same leaders are amazed at Cory’s knowledge of Judaism and appreciation of the Jewish contribution to civilization. (Watch video)

Canadians, UN, Judges: Palestinian Authority Is Rigging the Courts

Posted on: October 5th, 2012

In an unprecedented move, Palestinian judges this week went on strike in protest against the Palestinian Authority's repeated attempts to meddle in the internal affairs of the judiciary system. A judges' protest shows that the Palestinian Authority is making a mockery of the Palestinian court system. The judges' protest shows that the Palestinian Authority is making a mockery of the courts in the West Bank. Moreover, it shows that the Palestinian Authority leadership wants the judges to issue verdicts that do not embarrass or harm senior Palestinian officials.

Medicinal Cannabis and Dr. Johnny

Posted on: October 5th, 2012

“Your father is finished, we’ve done all that we can,” they would say, adding, “Johnny. Talk to Johnny.”

Therefore Give Honor To Your Nation

Posted on: October 4th, 2012

You know, it’s amazing. Here we stand before the Heavenly Judge, asking for a year of health for our families and for the nation plus everything else good. That’s what judgment day is for all of us. The unique text of the liturgy for the High Holy Days begins with the daily Ata Kadosh – You are holy…and “holy ones [that’s us] praise you daily.”

Israel, ‘Palestine,’ And The Law Of War (Second of Two Parts)

Posted on: October 4th, 2012

Historically, viewed against the background of extensive and unapologetic terrorist perfidy in both Gaza and Lebanon, Israel has been innocent of any alleged disproportionality. All combatants, including all insurgents in Gaza and Lebanon, are bound to comply with the law of war of international law.

Quick Takes: News You May Have Missed

Posted on: October 4th, 2012

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Ethnic Cleansing of Christians in the Sinai

Posted on: October 4th, 2012

In events being ignored not only by the Egyptian authorities, but also by the mainstream media and human rights organizations in the West, Muslim terrorists have in recent weeks attacked Christian families and forced them out of their homes and businesses in the Sinai town of Rafah. The terrorists have threatened to pursue their jihad against Christians until all of them leave the Sinai.

After Abbas: The End of the PLO’s Old-Guard Monopoly

Posted on: October 3rd, 2012

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas apparently believes that the Palestinians would not be able to survive for one day without him. This must be why whenever he faces criticism from Palestinians, Abbas resorts to his old-new threat to resign. Abbas is convinced that if he steps down -- as his critics and a growing number of Palestinians are demanding -- the Palestinian Authority will collapse and his people will face a new "nakba" [catastrophe]. But the truth is that the Palestinians would be better off in the post-Abbas era.

The Palestinian Authority’s Policy of Duplicity

Posted on: September 30th, 2012

The Palestinian Authority's duplicity -- which has become an integral part of the Palestinian Authority's strategy in dealing with both its people and Israel -- reached new heights last week when its leaders called for a "day of solidarity" with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Israel, ‘Palestine,’ and the Law Of War (First of two parts)

Posted on: September 25th, 2012

For the moment, at least, a state of Palestine does not exist. Historically, of course, such a country has never existed. Nonetheless, current supporters of Palestinian statehood (sometimes Jews as well as Arabs) have discovered substantial practical benefit in persistently referring to Israel and "Palestine" as if there were some existing legal equivalence between them. Indeed, repeated again and again, ritualistically, as if it were an incantation, such propagandistic usage is already transforming "Palestine" into a jurisprudential fait accompli.

The Pita That Revived Terror

Posted on: September 25th, 2012

During the First Lebanon War, the IDF forced the PLO terrorists all the way to the Beirut port and then to Tunisia. The PLO, which had lost its stronghold in Lebanon, was shattered. Salach Taamri, the most senior and admired terrorist captured by the IDF, was imprisoned in the Ansar detention camp. He was a broken man.

Quick Takes: News You May Have Missed

Posted on: September 25th, 2012

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A Hitler Wannabe Visits New York

Posted on: September 24th, 2012

Every September Ahmadinejad accomplishes the unique feat of calling for a new holocaust while simultaneously denying the original ever took place. And do you know what the Jews do about it? Nothing.

Rosh Hashanah: A National, Not Personal, Holiday

Posted on: September 21st, 2012

We are used to assuming that Rosh Hashanah is a holiday of repentance and atonement, a holiday of judgment, and the holiday when our fate for the coming year is determined. The Selichot prayers before and after Rosh Hashanah add to the sense of personal days of judgment, an obvious truth.

What If Israel’s ‘Peace Partners’ Actually Prefer War?

Posted on: September 21st, 2012

At this point in Israel’s problematic diplomatic agenda, there is really only one overriding policy question: Can any form of negotiation with the Palestinians, Fatah and/or Hamas, ever prove reasonable and productive? From the very beginning, even before formal statehood in 1948, Israel has sought courageously and reasonably to negotiate with its many unreasonable enemies. [...]

Five Reasons Jews Shouldn’t Vote For Obama

Posted on: September 20th, 2012

In six weeks, Americans will be going to the polls in what could prove to be one of the most fateful elections in decades.

Behind the Palestinian Protests: A Renewed Fatah Bid to Remove PM Fayyad

Posted on: September 20th, 2012

It is no secret that Fatah has long been trying to get rid of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad who, its representatives argue, had been imposed on the Palestinians by the Americans and Europeans.

What is More Virtuous: Paying Taxes or Giving Charity?

Posted on: September 19th, 2012

Being forced to pay taxes does not make us more virtuous people. If it did, our founding fathers would have thanked George III for his coercion.

Markets, Politics, And The True Legacy Of Adam Smith

Posted on: September 13th, 2012

We wonder about the endlessly volatile markets and also (not often enough) about plainly unequal distributions of national wealth, but are the nation’s official policy responses based on correct views of classical economic theory? In particular, what about Adam Smith and his oft-quoted arguments for “free market capitalism”? More than any other classical theorist, Smith has been embraced by conservatives.

Israel Won’t Attack

Posted on: September 13th, 2012

Somehow, the common question in Israel today is whether the prime minister has the right to decide to attack Iran. “He has the chutzpah to think that he can decide,” former Supreme Court justice Eliyahu Winograd more or less pontificated, capturing all of the major news outlets’ headlines.