The Clarifying Truths Of Chanukah

Posted on: November 24th, 2010

Ever wonder why the Jewish New Year begins with three back-to-back-to back holidays and then no biblical holidays for another six months?

Stopping The Bin Laden Of The Internet

Posted on: November 24th, 2010

The time has come for us to take the new technology available to terrorists seriously. The United States recently crowned Anwar al-Awlaki the newest "most dangerous terrorist in the world." And yet an American company, YouTube, has been giving al-Awlaki open access to the world's largest bully pulpit.

Israel, Like Obama, Recognizes Value Of Strong India Ties

Posted on: November 17th, 2010

President Obama's trip to India last week highlighted India's growing importance to the United States. Similarly, cooperation between India and Israel is expanding, as the importance of each country to the other increases.

Obama: Blaming Israel First

Posted on: November 17th, 2010

"This kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations," President Obama saidlast week at a press conference in Indonesia. He was referring to the approval issued in Israel for building 1,300 homes in two East Jerusalem neighborhoods.

The Romanian Gaon

Posted on: November 17th, 2010

This article was written by Rabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, z"l, the Seridei Eish, about my grandfather, the Gaon Rabbi Bezalel Ze'ev Shafran, z"l, of Baku, Romania, author of She'elot U'tshuvot R'BAZ. He died on the 14th of Kislev 5690 (1930).

What Can You Do About Terrorist Plots?

Posted on: November 10th, 2010

Kudos to international law enforcement for thwarting last month's terror plot by alleged al Qaeda-linked factions in Yemen against the United States. The plot was foiled when good intelligence and coordination led authorities on three continents to seize two packages of explosives addressed to Chicago area synagogues.

What The Israeli Left Means By The Word ‘Fascist’

Posted on: November 10th, 2010

Israel's radical left is obsessed with the word "fascist." Israel is the only country in the Middle East where people vote and enjoy free speech, a free press, due process and habeas corpus, but none of that makes any impression on an increasing number of Israeli left-wingers whose definition of fascist seems to be any government that doesn't adopt left-wing policies.

The Aftermath Of Armistice

Posted on: November 10th, 2010

On November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m., an agreement signed between the Allies and Germany at Compiegne France, ended hostilities on the Western front and signaled the end of the First World War.

Obama’s Mideast Juggernaut Will Continue To Roll

Posted on: November 10th, 2010

Even as political commentators speculate that the power of the Obama presidency has been severely curtailed as a result of the Republican victories in the House along with increased GOP representation in the Senate, the Obama/State Department juggernaut continues to grind away at Israel's security and sovereignty.

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.