Why J Street Attacked Sarah Palin

Posted on: January 26th, 2011

Shortly after Sarah Palin provoked a barrage of criticism for her use of the term "blood libel," a Democratic congressman named Steve Cohen compared Republican statements about the Obama health care reform to "the big lie" told by Joseph Goebbels, saying it's "like [a] blood libel. The same kind of thing."

Civility: What The Sages Had To Say

Posted on: January 26th, 2011

In the aftermath of the tragic shooting in Tucson, "civility" is the word on everyone's lips. This is ironic when one considers that civility is nowhere to be found in anyone's actions. Each partisan faction is charging the other with hatred and violence.

Who Saved Soviet Jewry?

Posted on: January 26th, 2011

The recent release of additional Nixon White House presidential documents and tapes produced the usual response. As has become customary, brief excerpts of the tapes - excerpts that invariably show President Nixon and members of his administration in the most unflattering light possible - are pulled from the reams of material and hours of conversations and given broad coverage in the media.

Is ‘Jewish’ Parenting Lax?

Posted on: January 26th, 2011

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal by Yale Professor Amy Chua - "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior" - has inflamed passions across the country. The blogosphere is ablaze while The New York Times, Newsweek, Time and hundreds of other news outlets have run articles and often angry opinion pieces debating the wisdom of Chua's authoritarian - some argue abusive - parenting tactics.

Israeli Left Goes Bonkers Over Transparency

Posted on: January 26th, 2011

You will be excused if you have not been following the debate over proposals to demand that sources of funding for political parties and activist groups be revealed.

Palin Has Defeated Her Unfair Critics

Posted on: January 19th, 2011

As I see it, in the current battle for public opinion Sarah Palin has defeated her harsh and unfair critics. After the January 8 shooting of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the murder of six others in Tucson, Arizona, some television talking heads and members of the blogosphere denounced her and held her in part responsible for creating a climate of hatred that resulted in the mass attacks.

Israel’s Greatest Threat

Posted on: January 19th, 2011

The world likes to believe that threats to Israel's security by its neighbors are the country's greatest concern. The narrative of two ancient peoples in one Holy Land fighting for their place in the world is a great story and leads to an uncanny number of headlines, the expenditure of a relatively large percentage of the UN's energy and resources, and more divisive discussions and actions than are devoted to other - much bloodier - conflicts, such as those in the Congo and Sudan.

White House Was Foolish In Overestimating Barak’s Pull

Posted on: January 19th, 2011

The White House was misled by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. And that does not surprise me. Publicly, the White House is saying that nothing in the relationship between Barak, who just this week left the Labor Party to form a new political faction, and the administration has changed. Privately, the White House is expressing disappointment, frustration and even anger.

A Lesson From King Saul On Exposing Child Molesters

Posted on: January 19th, 2011

"Whoeverhas mercy on cruel people will in the end act cruelly to merciful people." So the Midrash deduces from the story of Shaul HaMelech - King Saul. When commanded to kill out the wicked nation of Amalek, the king had mercy on its monarch, Agag, sparing his life. As evidence that Saul eventually acted with cruelty to merciful people, the Gemara quotes the Navi that years later Saul showed no such compassion when he killed out an entire city of Kohanim because they had given shelter to his nemesis David.

Arizona Shootings Expose Liberal Hypocrisy

Posted on: January 19th, 2011

The shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat, along with federal judge John Roll (a Republican appointee) and numerous others, including a nine year-old constituent of the Congresswoman, resulting in the deaths of six (including the judge and the little girl) and brain injury to the congresswoman, prompted the usual ruminations.

The Sprouting Of Mashiach

Posted on: January 12th, 2011

What is it about Tu B'Shevat?There are four "Roshei Hashanah." The First of Tishrei we all know about. That is the day we blow the shofar.The First of Nissan and the First of Elul come and go in our times without much notice.

The Real Danger To Israel On Campus

Posted on: January 12th, 2011

There is a serious threat facing Israel's long-term standing in this country resulting from a prolonged campaign to delegitimize the Jewish state on campus. But it's probably not what you think.

Tu B’Shevat, Human Beings, And Trees

Posted on: January 12th, 2011

The source for Tu B'Shevat is the opening Mishnah of the Talmudic tractate Rosh Hashanah: "The Academy of Hillel taught that the 15th of Shevat is the New Year for the trees." What does that mean, "New Year for the trees"?

Tapping Into Your Spiritual DNA

Posted on: January 12th, 2011

In my Nov. 26 op-ed article, "The Clarifying Truths of Chanukah," I explored how clarity, purity and joy bring us close to God and to living a meaningful life. If they are so essential, their potential must exist within our spiritual DNA. I suggest it does; we inherited that potential from our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Fighting Amalek From Within

Posted on: January 12th, 2011

Hashem said to Moshe, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and recite it in the ears of Yehoshua; for I will completely erase the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven” (Shemos 17:14). For most of our history, the struggle between the Jewish people and Amalek was seen as an external one, pitting the [...]

You Just Might Be An Israeli Left-Wing Fascist…

Posted on: January 5th, 2011

Back in 2003 I wrote an op-ed for The Jewish Press titled "You Just Might Be an Assimilated Jewish Liberal," based standup comic Jeff Foxworthy's "You just might be a redneck" routine. It's time to revisit that theme, focusing on Israeli leftists rather than American liberals.

Celebrating The Death Of The Blue-Hat Jew

Posted on: January 5th, 2011

Mordecai Bienstock's Dec. 24 front-page essay - "Death of the Blue-Hat Jew?" - was an interesting, important, and for the most part accurate assessment of what is happening today in Jewish America.

After The Shloshim: Who Was Dr. Ivan Mauer?

Posted on: January 5th, 2011

I have always fashioned myself a wordsmith. No longer. Dr. Ivan Mauer was Naomi Mauer's husband and Mrs. Irene Klass's son-in-law, and both Irene and Dr. Ivan died virtually simultaneously. And I must confess: Ivan was not only my good friend and our family doctor, but also a congregant who respected me and loved me - and consistently squabbled with me. Yet I could not find a single word in the entire thesaurus that would suit him.

People’s Court-Ing Disaster

Posted on: December 30th, 2010

The recent episode of "The People's Court" featuring an Orthodox couple suing a laundry service for washing and ruining the woman's wig has once again put Torah Jews in a negative light. In addition to the show's regular viewers, countless others have seen a video of the trial and decision on the Internet.

Kissinger Apology Falls Short

Posted on: December 30th, 2010

'Twas the day before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except, of course, Henry Kissinger's publicists and strategists who decided that the slowest news day of the year was the perfect time for him to apologize, sort of, for telling Richard Nixon in 1973 that "if they put Jews into gas chambers in the Soviet Union, it is not an American concern. Maybe a humanitarian concern."