One of the direct outcomes of the intifada has been the dramatic decline in the numbers of Jewish visitors to Israel. The most striking of all was the collapse of the “Israel Experience,” as the youth trips to Israel were commonly called during the 1990s.From the summer of 2000, when a record 10,000 North AmericanRead More
On June 26, the Supreme Court overturned its infamous Bowers v. Hardwick decision of 1986, which ruled that gay people’s private sexual intimacy did not warrant constitutional protection in the bedroom because there is “no connection between family, marriage or procreation on the one hand,” and gay people on the other.Sixteen days earlier,Read More
The first generations of American Jews earned a reputation as progressive politically but morally disciplined. The current generation of young Jews, though, lacks those ethical foundations. We have raised a generation of super-consumers often contemptuous of Judaism — because it offers no alternative to suburban superficiality — and addicted…Read More
All the talk surrounding this week’s Supreme Court ruling upholding affirmative action at the University of Michigan’s law school has ignored one fact of higher education: White students with low grades also get in.The focus on racial preferences usually obscures the many elite preferences for upper class supporters of higherRead More
I was born in 1949 in the war-ravaged eastern German city of Dresden. My hometown, like relations among Europeans, had been reduced to rubble by the horror of World War II.Two generations later, the European Union is building on its past to develop an effective model of integration. The seeds of European partnership, planted to prevent aRead More
What exactly is the Bush administration trying to accomplish with its economic policy? The answer least likely to be correct is the one implied by the name of the recently passed tax-cutting bill, “Jobs and Growth Act.” The phrase suggests that the bill aims to stimulate economic demand, thereby boosting growth and, especially, employment fromRead More
To what question is “helicopter gunships” the answer?It is virtually impossible to disengage the emotions while the carnage continues. One need not join or even sympathize with last week’s Jerusalem crowd shouting “Death to the Arabs!” as they viewed the bombed-out bus to feel disgust toward the Palestinians and utter cynicism toward the…Read More
I’m standing with my son Sam outside of Bookends, our local bookstore, on Main St. in Warner, N.H. A man on a mission, my book “Tax Pollution, Not Income” under my arm. We’re waiting for former Vermont governor Howard Dean. The candidate is late. The rain’s just stopped, and it’s almost sunny.The place is packed, 200 people jammed intoRead More
For Britons who have been following the controversy surrounding the recent publication of a particularly nasty political cartoon in the Chicago Tribune, there has been a distinct sense of déjà vu.As press reports have it, the paper became — unwittingly, it claims — the vehicle for an antisemitic canard. That, at least, is how it appearedRead More
Judging from the explosion in popularity of “venture philanthropy” initiatives in local communities, one would be excused for thinking we are in the midst of a renaissance of sorts.In federation after federation, these new groups are beginning with great fanfare and proceeding, or ending, with decidedly mixed results. One thing is certain,Read More
When Hank Greenberg Met Jackie Robinson
Columbia Seeks To End 'Whites Only' Fellowship
Reform Rabbi Urges Hebrew Union College To Reconsider Decision on Intermarriage
Ultra-Orthodox Men Ditch All-Black Attire as Fashion Trumps Tradition
Israel's Shas, Right-Wing Kingmaker Party, Takes Sharp Turn to Left
Copyright © 2013, Forward Association, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
You've successfully signed up!