Posted on: April 18th, 2007

Imus’s Bosses Equally At Fault    What Don Imus said is well beyond the bounds of what is acceptable (“The Mindless Mr. Imus,” editorial, April 13). However, unless somebody has been in the shoes of a radio talk host, it is impossible to know the pressure that is placed on the host by management. There is […]

Posted on: April 18th, 2007

Don Imus should have been fired years ago. He was a radio host whose sheer inarticulateness may have been even more shocking than his purposeful crudity; an alleged humorist who had said nothing memorable or funny since the dawn of the Clinton era if not earlier.

Posted on: April 15th, 2007

For all of the difficulties Israelis encounter these days, the greatest sometimes appears to be the implacable nature of this conflict in which they find themselves still embroiled. Despite the best intentions of a generation of would-be peacemakers and a host of concessions on the part of Israel, Arab opinion seems even more set in its determination to depict Israel as an evil oppressor. Indeed, the long record of Israeli peace offers and concessions since the signing of the Oslo peace accords in 1993 has, if anything, seemed to encourage the demonization of both the Jews and their state.

Posted on: April 13th, 2007

Commentary on Israel never ceases, and yet most of it seems to miss the point entirely. To gain an accurate understanding of any culture, one must begin with a point of reference, a so-called cultural perch, enabling the spectator a broader picture.

Posted on: April 13th, 2007

Day 1 The New York Times reports that President Bush regularly holds clandestine gatherings among his hand-selected cronies, who devise federal policy in secret, as a sort of “shadow government.” The White House issues a press release explaining that those gatherings are merely cabinet meetings, that every administration has them, and that the cabinet secretaries have all had their nominations confirmed by the Senate.

Posted on: April 13th, 2007

One of the many crises facing the Jewish people today is the phenomenon of “at-risk” youth. A child who is “at-risk” is generally defined as one who rebels against authority figures, demonstrates antipathy toward Jewish rituals, performs poorly in yeshiva, and is experimenting with delinquent or self-destructive behavior.

Posted on: April 12th, 2007

Before the arrival of the masses, houses of study, synagogues, and ritual baths were constructed; kosher food was made available, as were other key components to Jewish life.

Posted on: April 12th, 2007

Whenever I meet people, and they find out I write about Jewish life in Poland, invariably they have questions.

Posted on: April 12th, 2007

'Faced with imminent and existential attacks, Israel − properly taking its cue from The National Security Strategy of the United States of America − could decide to preempt enemy aggression with conventional forces.

Posted on: April 12th, 2007

Don’t Give Up Golan   I hope Joseph Farah’s article on the Golan (“Whose Golan Heights?” op-ed, March 30) is widely read. The myth of Arab entitlement to the Golan is akin to the fables underlying Arab claims to the rest of biblical Israel. Farah should expand on what he wrote and The Jewish Press and […]

Posted on: April 12th, 2007

Mark Twain once said there are three sorts of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Posted on: April 6th, 2007

The ancient Prophets foresaw that as we approached the Messianic era mankind would begin to reject falsehood and turn to the Jewish people for leadership and teaching. Both Isaiah and Zechariah describe many peoples (amim rabbim) turning to the God of Israel in Jerusalem.

Posted on: April 5th, 2007

The Monitor’s rumination last week on unjustified criticism directed against The Jewish Press brought a note from a longtime reader who raised the now infamous “Israel Wins” headline that appeared on the front page of The Jewish Press during the first week of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Posted on: April 2nd, 2007

He turned to the rav to express sincere regret for his needless suffering and to request the honor of a private audience.

Posted on: April 2nd, 2007

The exhibit "And I Still See Their Faces," at the Yeshiva University Museum in the Jewish History Center in N.Y., was the site of a gala reception honoring two of Polish Jewry's greatest friends, Mr. Sigmund Rolat and Wayne Zuckerman.

Posted on: April 2nd, 2007

"The horror, the horror," mumbles the Marlon Brando character in the film, Apocalypse Now. How thin, he reflects, is the veneer of our planetary civilization. How entirely inadequate, he understands, are the unsteady fences that protect us from humankind's most ruinous inclinations.

Posted on: April 2nd, 2007

Hurray For Hagee (I)    I had tears in my eyes as I read Pastor John Hagee’s speech to AIPAC (front-page essay, March 30). Why is it that Bible-believing Christians seem to shine with such faith and certainty while even Orthodox rabbis (forget about Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist) tend to speak in muted tones, full of […]

Posted on: April 2nd, 2007

Pesach is here, and we Jews seem no further removed today from the slave mentality we suffered from thousands of years ago.

Posted on: April 2nd, 2007

When you’re the rabbi of Pratt Institute, America’s most prestigious art school, and you want to gain some street-credibility with your students (and faculty!) it helps to have a secret identity as a comic book aficionado.

Posted on: March 28th, 2007

Where is Israel? Where are those who are scattered throughout the Diaspora?