Forward.com

An American Yom Tov

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:19:00 EST

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite national holiday. In fact, although I am a religious Jew (or rather, because I am a religious Jew), it rivals my favorite Jewish holidays for my affection.

Trying Terrorists

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:18:00 EST

If Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his cronies wanted to undermine America’s democratic faith, they couldn’t have found a better plan than to get themselves arrested and force us to figure out what to do with them. Where to put these guys is one of those questions, like the ancient riddle of the Sphinx, that has no answer and exists only to drive us mad. And it will if we let it.

The Wages of Liberal Guilt

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:18:00 EST

‘Should” may be the most dangerous word in modern politics, because on its wings do some bad ideas fly.

A Time for Counting

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:17:00 EST

The end of a decade provides a good opportunity for taking stock. The American Jewish community has had a tradition of conducting a decennial population survey that looks at its aggregate numbers but also beyond to paint a detailed portrait of Jewish demography and identity. Unfortunately, with the first decade of the 21st century nearing its end, there are currently no plans for such a survey for 2010.

Freezing Progess, Not Settlements

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:03:00 EST

What are we to make of America’s insistence — now softened at the edges, if not the core — on an end to Israel’s building of settlements in the West Bank and Israel’s determined refusal to comply?

Missing the Abu Mazen Opportunity

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:07:00 EST

In June 2004 I visited Mahmoud Abbas in Amman. We met at the PLO’s official residence, where Abu Mazen (as Abbas is popularly known among both Palestinians and Israelis) likes to stay whenever he is in Jordan. We spent almost the entire day in conversation together.

British Jewry’s Self-Inflicted Wound

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:06:00 EST

The opening of Britain’s brand-new Supreme Court last month was an occasion for celebration. But for some sections of Britain’s Jewish community, it was accompanied by trepidation.

What Cool, Suave Barack Could Learn From ‘Give ’Em Hell’ Harry

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:05:00 EST

It has lately become fashionable to speak of Barack Obama with — well, with regret. Such great hopes and expectations; so little so far.

Who’s Afraid of Salam Fayyad?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:04:00 EST

Life, John Lennon wisely observed, is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. For the latest evidence of that truth, consider the current moment in Middle East diplomacy.

The Goldstone Standard

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:08:00 EST

Litmus tests are dangerous conveniences. We all have them, we all use them, perhaps thinking of them as our own personal “red lines”: Cross them, and you’re in the enemy camp. Be cruel to a child, oppose progressive taxation, make excuses for torture or for terrorism, deny the Holocaust or view Israel with contempt and you have crossed mine, you are on the other side. These single factors are for me decisive, and that’s the standard definition of a litmus test.

The World That Jewish Veterans Built

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:54:00 EST

Each year, as Veterans’ Day comes around, there are fewer and fewer Jewish veterans to observe it. Unfortunately, this does not reflect a peaceful age without wars. Rather, it stems from a dramatic decline in Jewish military service in the United States in the past half-century.

What a Dollar Gets You on Capitol Hill, and What It Doesn’t

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:53:00 EST

Jewish money. It’s the stuff of political myth, but it’s also the backbone of the pro-Israel lobby.

Is Birthright Israel an Intermarriage Panacea?

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:52:00 EST

Move over Jewish day schools. There’s a new intermarriage panacea in town, and its name is Birthright Israel.

Calming the Temple Mount

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:51:00 EST

On June 7, 1967, Moshe Dayan, Israel’s legendary defense minister, arrived at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which had been captured hours earlier by Israeli paratroopers. There he saw an Israeli flag unfurled over the Dome of the Rock. Dayan ordered the flag removed, establishing one of the most important principles of Israeli control over Islamic and Arab holy sites: Israel would display self-restraint, respecting the autonomy of Muslim authorities in this realm.

A Terrorist Who Was Not Alone

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:48:00 EST

Waves of shock and alarm have been rolling through Israel in the wake of the November 1 arraignment of a West Bank settler, Florida-born Yaacov “Jack” Teitel, on murder, assault and weapons charges stretching back over 12 years. Police and other officials call it the latest case of the elusive malady known as Jewish terrorism.

Is Ivanka Trump Good for the Jews?

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:41:00 EST

In 1926, when writer Ellin Mackay, heiress to the Comstock Lode mining fortune, fell in love with famed Jewish songwriter Irving Berlin, her Catholic father raged that they would marry “over my dead body.” When the couple eloped, he disinherited his daughter. After their civil ceremony, Ellin Berlin was dropped from the social registry — although her sister, who dated a Nazi and wore a diamond swastika, remained a member in good standing.

A Club That Won’t Have Israel as a Member

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:40:00 EST

Israelis no longer seem particularly excited by the prospect of normalization with their Arab neighbors. After all, relations with Egypt and Jordan remain cold after years of peace. Indeed, as we now mark the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Israel-Jordan peace agreement, relations between the two countries are probably at their coldest ever.

The Feel of Revolution, But the Hour Is Late

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:39:00 EST

Where exactly — or even approximately — is “the center”? Is the center necessarily “the mainstream?” What if, instead of the conventional normal distribution — two dwindling slopes trailing off from a large hump between them — the distribution looks more like a “U,” with most people at either end and the middle nearly empty? Or an “L,” with most people off to one side?

Rips in the Peace Camp’s Big Tent

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:37:00 EST

The first national conference of J Street, the self-described “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobby, convened October 25 in Washington, D.C., with all the understated reserve of a new iPhone launch or the christening of the Queen Mary. Gathered in a swank hotel a short walk from the White House, some 1,500 activists from across the country sat through hours of speeches by big-shot politicians and diplomats, earnestly debated tactics and philosophy, handed out awards over chicken dinners and jabbered excitedly in the corridors. Outwardly it looked like any other major Jewish organization rallying its troops and flexing its muscles.

Love Is Not Blindness

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:16:00 EST

Since the publication of “How I’m Losing My Love for Israel,” a personal essay describing my fatigue as a liberal Zionist, the most disturbing responses have not been the vitriolic e-mails or online comments, nor the thoughtful and well-reasoned replies from the likes of Daniel Gordis and Jonathan Sarna. Rather, I have been most troubled by the statements of many Jewish professionals — rabbis, federation leaders, nonprofit directors — who have told me, “Thank you for saying what I cannot.”