And Then There Were 44

Posted on: November 10th, 2010

Last week's historic "shellacking" suffered by the Democrats was a stark and humbling reminder to all elected officials of whatever party that they serve at the will of their constituents.

Cantor’s Foreign-Aid Idea Would Hurt Israel

Posted on: November 3rd, 2010

This election season in the United States was not a great one for the U.S.-Israel relationship. Republicans and the tainted Emergency Committee for Israel launched mendacious ads and campaigns against pro-Israel Democrats across the country threatening the historic bipartisan support for Israel that has existed in Washington. The lies in these campaigns have been called out by an array of independent journalists from The New York Times to Salon, and politicizing support for Israel in this way has been condemned by key figures such as Israel's U.S. ambassador, Michael Oren.

Should Academic Free Speech Accommodate Holocaust Denial?

Posted on: November 3rd, 2010

If you scratch a Holocaust denier long enough, you may reveal an anti-Semite, but not always. You will, however, probably find someone like the morally repellant Kaukab Siddique, a Pakistani-born tenured associate professor of English and journalism at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, who seemingly puts great faith in conspiratorial dramas in which a crafty and all-powerful enemy (i.e., Jews) weaves oft-repeated claims about the Holocaust just to elicit the world's sympathy and promote Zionism and the creation of Israel.

It’s The Olive Trees, Stupid!

Posted on: November 3rd, 2010

In case you didn't notice, olive trees in Judea and Samaria are under attack. The alleged culprits are Jews living there. UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry called it "terrorism."

Harrisburg’s Annual Thanksgiving Kiddush Hashem

Posted on: November 3rd, 2010

Clearly, fall has come to Central Pennsylvania. The crisp air, the vibrant array of autumn colors, and, yes, a whole lot of leaves to rake. With the arrival of my favorite season, I know Thanksgiving is just around the corner.

What Would Meir Kahane Do?

Posted on: October 27th, 2010

Although Israel's economy stands strong amid a world recession, the political future of the Jewish state has perhaps never looked bleaker. Iran's nuclear threat looms large, Israel's West Bank settlements may soon become part of a Palestinian state, and Jerusalem stands threatened with division.

Failing To Recognize Jerusalem

Posted on: October 27th, 2010

In what country were you born? If you are a U.S. citizen born in Jerusalem, you'd better not look for the answer on your passport. That line is always left blank.

Taking Judaism Public

Posted on: October 27th, 2010

Every year at around this time, my husband and I have the same spirited debate: Public Displays of Judaism (PDJs) - good or bad?

It All Comes Down To How Liberal You Are

Posted on: October 20th, 2010

The common wisdom is that CNN's Rick Sanchez was fired because he made anti-Semitic remarks. That's an understandable assumption, but it's also untrue. Sanchez was fired because he attacked a celebrity more liberal and more popular than he is. That he did it with racial overtones made it easy for CNN to pull the plug on him. But his real crime was that he had become an embarrassment, from a liberal perspective, and that's the only perspective in the media that counts.

Intermarriage Circa 1918

Posted on: October 20th, 2010

Intermarriage is without doubt destroying the American Jewish community. There are approximately 5.6 million American Jews, some 2 million of whom live in households identified as non-Jewish. Better than half the Jewish children under the age of 18 are being raised as non-Jews or with no religion. Whereas before 1965 only 10 percent of American Jews who married did so outside the faith, that percentage has jumped over the past two-and-a-half decades to at least 52 percent.

The War Against The Jews

Posted on: October 20th, 2010

We live in a world where there is an ongoing war against the Jews. For the first decades after Israel's founding, this war was conventional in nature. The goal was straightforward: to use military force to overrun Israel. Well before the Berlin Wall came down, that approach had clearly failed.

Israeli Left Rallies To Defend Disloyalty

Posted on: October 20th, 2010

In recent weeks it has become abundantly clear that there is one pathological way in which Israel differs from all other countries. Israel is the only place on earth where large portions of the country's "intelligentsia" think it obscene and "fascist" to expect people seeking citizenship in their country to express loyalty to it.

2,000 Feet, 69 Days, 33 Miners, 1 Lesson

Posted on: October 20th, 2010

Everything we experience in life serves as a hands-on lesson concerning our purpose on earth. Consider this: Thirty-three miners plunge into two months of darkness 2,000 feet below the surface, disconnected from their source. After 69 days of eternity, the moment they were praying for arrived. Their dream became a reality. They would finally see the light of day, the joy of freedom, the hug of loved ones, and the tears of their children.

Tzipi Livni’s Irresponsible Opposition

Posted on: October 13th, 2010

Even a one- or two-month extension of Israel's ten-month settlement moratorium, senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has announced, won't suffice. Nothing less than a total freeze throughout the duration of Israeli-Palestinian talks would be acceptable.

For Every Jewish Mass Grave A Sign, A Name

Posted on: October 13th, 2010

If one makes his way beyond the outskirts of Kiev and continues deep into the forests of the neighboring village of Radomyshl, he soon enters an unmarked clearing.

What Bibi Can Learn From My Father

Posted on: October 13th, 2010

Anyone who thinks Prime Minister Netanyahu, in order to improve relations with the U.S., should succumb to American pressure in return for a U.S. incentives package and extend the freeze of Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria is either mistaken or misguided.

Carrying The Torch Of Torah

Posted on: October 13th, 2010

Even before his eyes open in the morning, the kollel student has in his head the rapid-fire flow of verses, laws and teachings from the prior day's learning. The words of Modeh Ani exit his lips while he reaches to shut the alarm before it wakes his family. Soon he will be on his way, confronted with many topics of halacha and hashkafa.

A Spiritual Night In Hebron

Posted on: October 6th, 2010

Israel is a magical country, but to experience one of its greatest wonders you have to travel out to what the world calls the West Bank and the Bible calls Judea and Samaria.

Protecting Jewish Students From Anti-Semitic Harassment

Posted on: October 6th, 2010

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires that colleges and universities redress racial and ethnic discrimination or risk losing their federal funding. Thus, if African American or Hispanic students are harassed on campus, they can complain to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which is mandated to enforce Title VI and ensure that their schools fix the problem.

Vacancy On First Avenue

Posted on: October 6th, 2010

Now that we've suffered, yet again, through the annual United Nations circus, has it occurred to anyone (other than New York City police officers) to question why we continue to tolerate the hypocrisy and waste of it all?