InDepth

Judah Leib Gordon’s 1887 poem “Kotzo Shel Yod” (“The Point on Top of the Yod”) includes a description of cruel harassment by rabbis of an unfortunate agunah (literally, a “chained woman” whose husband deserts her or disappears without divorcing her, thus preventing her from remarrying). The description is vitriolic, wicked, dishonest, and disgraceful, in the spirit of the poets of the Enlightenment period, among whom Gordon was a central figure.

If words are a window into the soul, then Barack Obama’s now famous comments to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) 2008 Policy Conference revealed much about his true attitude toward Israel and the not-so-secret agenda of his foreign policy advisers. Here was an opportunity for the great orator to set the record straight and disabuse his critics of the widely held notion that his sympathies are not with Israel’s enemies but with the safety of the besieged Jewish state.

The brouhaha over the July 21 New Yorker cover illustration of the Obamas as the epitome of terrorist chic extended well beyond the abbreviated news cycle to which we’ve become accustomed.

The Still Unrecognized And Enduring Power Of 'Weakness'

Our pressure on Shedma continues. Our goal is for Shedma not to be transferred to Arab control.

During the construction work carried out in the city of Radom workers found a number of richly polychromatic (multi-colored) matzevot (tombstones) beneath the ground.

The following is excerpted from the interview that appeared in the July 19th issue of Israel's Maariv newspaper:

The cult of the talking snake began in the town of Abonoteichus around the year 150 CE, shortly after the Bar Kochba revolt.

By now, Eliot Spitzer is no longer on the front pages, but America's recent fascination with the former New York governor and high-end prostitution did reveal a great deal.

Shedma, located next to the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Choma, is on the road linking the settlements of Eastern Gush Etzion with Jerusalem.

Two Israeli soldiers have been returned from captivity - dead!

On July 14, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak castigated UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which set the terms of the cease-fire that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Iran's Lebanese army Hizbullah, saying, "UN resolution 1701 didn't work, isn't working and won't work." He added, "UN resolution 1701 is a failure."

The Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow is one of the most important and largest events of its kind in the world.

The off-duty soldier who recently killed the terrorist on the bulldozer reminds me of the biblical David - and not only because he stormed the Goliath bulldozer with a pistol borrowed from a nearby policeman.

Words come and words go. Some disappear completely, while others vanish into the jargon of our vocabulary. Few succeed in capturing center stage in our consciousness. One that has succeeded is a four-letter word that embellishes countless monuments, organizations, billboards and publications. Its sound enlivens the soul, its melody softens the heart.

There is one question readers have asked the Monitor with far greater frequency than any other. It’s a simple one, and it goes basically like this: What is the most important thing you can say about the media after doing a column like this for ten years?

Ten years ago, Professor Beres - following publication of his memoir in The New York Times − was invited by Swiss Ambassador Thomas Borer to present personal testimony before the specially constituted Swiss Commission on World War II.

It looks like the Israeli government is preparing to release approximately 1,000 terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit.

There are two characteristics unique to humans in the universe, separating them from the animal kingdom and perhaps also differentiating them from anything in the higher or trans-natural world.

An Interview With Holocaust Chronicler Stuart Mirsky

If you’re Barack Obama, and you’re looking for a retired general to make the implausible case that you’re ready to handle America’s national security concerns, you can’t afford to be choosy.

The release of the new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight,” will inevitably be overshadowed by the untimely death of one of its stars, Health Ledger, who played the Joker. The talented young actor (who actually lived a few blocks from me) had devoted himself to creating an original, multifaceted portrayal of the iconic character, arguably the most compelling villain in the Batman canon.

During our recent trip to Orlando, which I wrote about at length in a front-page essay titled “What I Learned at Disney World” (Jewish Press, May 16), we visited Hollywood Studios. There we watched a series of stunt and adventure shows, including “Racing” and “Indiana Jones.”

By executing the so-called prisoner swap with Hizbullah on Wednesday this week, the Israeli government concluded its shameful role in shirking its responsibility for the two Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hizbullah almost two years ago.

The Monitor’s been in a nostalgic frame of mind lately, celebrating (some would say wallowing) in its 10th anniversary. Several readers, responding to last week’s front-page essay, “A Decade of Media Monitoring,” asked whether there was one particular column the Monitor counted as a personal favorite.

Ten years ago, Professor Beres - following publication of his memoir in The New York Times− was invited by Swiss Ambassador Thomas Borer to present personal testimony before the specially constituted Swiss Commission on World War II. Here, now, is that testimony - still a poignant reminder of yet other critical aspects of the Holocaust.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the ceremony in Poznan, rededicating the Jewish cemetery, in which the famous Rabbi Akiva Eiger is interred.

When Gilad Shalit was abducted two years ago, we were told that the kidnappers were part of a clandestine terror group, some sort of popular front over which Hamas had no control.

“George W. Bush is a [expletive] theocrat!” If I only had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that over the past eight years. Having written a book on the faith of George W. Bush, I was pummeled by liberals for not conceding that Torquemada had risen from the grave and was now running America from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

“Et achai anochi mevakeish” (“I seek my brethren”) was the theme of our whirlwind four-day visit to Buenos Aires in June. There are about 250,000 Jews in that country -- one of the largest Jewish communities after the United States and Israel -- almost all of them concentrated in Buenos Aires.