Op-Eds

Animals are advancing in the Netherlands and Jews are regressing. There are many examples of this. A large building project was halted recently because it was the habitat of a protected owl. However, the habitat of the head of the Dutch Rabbinical Seminary, Rabbi Raf Evers - easily recognizable as a Jew by his clothing - is not protected. Due to aggressive behavior the rabbi has encountered - mainly from Muslims - he no longer uses public transportation and ventures out of his home as infrequently as possible.

When President Obama spoke last week of the opportunities presented by the Arab Spring, he got a lot right. His calling out of the Arab states was long overdue and dead on. But he got some big things wrong.

It is a compelling story: a thirteen-year-old boy, whose family was forced from home as wartime refugees, still yearning more than six decades later to return.

In reaction to the Palestinian Authority-Hamas unity deal signed in Cairo, Israel decided to turn off the spigot. It halted the transfer to the PA of over $100 million in customs and tax revenues.

I wish I could take you all on a visit to my country and show you what Europe has become. It has changed beyond recognition as a result of mass immigration. And not just any mass immigration, but mass immigration driven by Islam.

High praise and gratitude are due Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and the NYPD's intelligence Division for their extraordinary work in again uncovering and preventing a plot by Muslim fanatics to unleash terror against religious targets.

It often seems that it's always open season on teachers, that they are available for target practice in the form of harsh criticism or verbal and written abuse from current parents, former parents, current students, former students, administrators, lay leaders and, in the case of public education, public officials and the media.

The death of Osama bin Laden has some symbolic value, particularly for theUnited States. A great power exercises influence not just through its military and economic assets, but through its prestige. A power that can be relied on to punish its enemies, no matter how long it takes, and reward its friends will be respected, and that respect will figure into the calculations of other nations as they pursue their interests.

It's inevitable that the joy and national unity over the killing of that monster bin Laden would cool. Already we're debating the journalistic and political ramifications. President Obama told CBS he wouldn't "spike the football" by releasing photos proving Osama is dead.

Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority and Hamas, which controls Gaza, have formally signed a unity agreement.

An old Jew, stripped to his ill-fitting pajama bottoms, his ribs pronounced in his emaciated frame, is being mocked as he is kicked and prodded through a double line of soldiers.

It's a basic principle. When rejecting the proposed solution to a clear problem, give an alternative. On May 3, Agudath Israel of America issued a statement critical of the soon-to-debut Magen Tzedek certification under Conservative auspices. Magen Tzedek's seal certifies adherence to high standards regarding labor, treatment of animals, safety, environmental concerns and corporate integrity in the products that bear its seal. The statement's basic point is valid; its failure to concede the problem and to offer an alternative solution is not.

The day after last week's announcement of a Fatah-Hamas rapprochement in Cairo, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said he would keep pursuing peace talks with Israel. Almost concurrently, top Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar said Hamas would stick to its stance of neither recognizing nor negotiating with Israel, but "if Fatah wants to negotiate with Israel over trivialities, they can."

Sixty-five years ago at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, 22 defendants stood in the dock. They represented a cross-section of Nazi diplomatic, economic, political and military leadership, and became the first people in history to be indicted for crimes against humanity.

"In Bin Laden Announcement, Echoes of 2007 Obama Speech," declared the headline in The New York Times. It's difficult to find a newspaper that has demonstrated a worse pro-Obama and anti-Bush bias than The New York Times, especially when dealing with the War on Terror.

Israeli generals probably don't cry very often. These are men of steel nerves, professional soldiers toughened by the rigors of battle and a lifetime devoted to strict military discipline.

When fulfilling the commandments God has given us, I often think of dedicated high school athletes who, when their coaches say "Jump!" do not seek an excuse to do less but rather focus on doing what the coach said, and then some.

Do you ever get the feeling you're really living in a television program? For 2011 America, the rerun we are collectively forced to act in is "That '70s Show."

Winds of uncertainty are blowing across the globe. The future remains unsure. Will the sun shine again? Will stability reemerge after the storm dies down?

The prophet Micah said (7:15), "As in the days of your leaving Egypt, I shall show them marvelous things." His words imply that the Exodus is the precedent for the Final Redemption, as the Midrash expounds: "Just as in Egypt, I shall redeem you in the future from subjugation to Edom and shall perform miracles for you, as it says, "As in the days of your leaving Egypt, I shall display miracles'" (Tanchuma, Toldot 17).

The recent appalling murders in Itamar shocked everyone - not just settlers but every Jew without exception, because it wasn't the Fogel family alone whom the enemy wished to murder, but rather each and every one of us.

The day has come. The house is clean. The chametz has been sold. The matzah is ready. We are about to sit down at the magnificent table and begin the Seder. What does it all mean? This year, it should mean a lot.

The article last week in The New York Times concerning the explosion of anorexia and eating disorders in the Orthodox community highlights a tragedy that has long been buried.

"With the winds of change blowing through the Arab world, it's more urgent than ever that we try to seize the opportunity to create a peaceful solution between the Palestinians and the Israelis," President Obama saidlast week after meeting with Israeli president Shimon Peres.

At 5:30 in the morning on a recent Wednesday, my husband was awakened by a phone call from our son, Noam, in Beer Sheba. "Don't worry, dad, we're in our safe rooms at home and we're OK."

Marriage is under assault again in this country, as fewer adults choose to tie the matrimonial knot while the Left continues to lend civil and economic credence to unions of same-sex partners.

Many people who are informed about what's actually happening in the Middle East constantly wonder why Israel fares so badly in the information wars. The following example gives us a pretty good idea why.

President Obama and his supporters have defended U.S. military action in Libya by invoking America's failure to respond to mass murder in Rwanda, Bosnia and even the Holocaust. Do those experiences indeed offer useful lessons for the current crisis?

Jewish Funds for Justice (JFSJ), the George Soros-funded activist group that recently made headlines for its high-profile war against Fox News host Glenn Beck, has received over $1 million from the UJA-Federation of New York since 2008.

While in Israel week before last, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates spoke out of two sides of his mouth. (No real surprise there. The Obama administration has become famous for such indecisive doubletalk.)