Mike Rothbaum
By Mike Rothbaum
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Opinion We don’t talk about ‘White anti-Semitism.’ Stop talking about Black anti-Semitism
It’s a difficult topic to bring up in mixed company, but it must be said: We need to have an honest conversation about White anti-Semitism. The anti-Semitism that exists throughout the White community is frightening. Many people know about White movie star Mel Gibson, who famously said that “the Jews are responsible for all the…
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Opinion Why Did Ilhan Omar’s Tweets Trigger More Outrage Than Synagogue Shootings?
This is not how I expected to be a rabbi. Yes, I expected that I would confront anti-Semitic graffiti — graffiti like the kind one of my students found spray-painted on a high school ball field, around the corner from our synagogue. But I didn’t expect to hold three healing services for synagogue murder victims…
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Opinion The Shameful Misuse Of Jewish Power
In 1908, New York police commissioner Theodore Bingham wrote an extended piece for The North American Review. It was entitled, “Foreign Criminals in New York.” In it, Bingham derided his own city’s immigrants, whom he labeled criminals “of exotic origin.” While Bingham clearly viewed all immigrants with suspicion and contempt, he reserved his most savage…
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Opinion We’re Now Locking Our Synagogue’s Doors. It’s Not Because of Linda Sarsour.
It’s a decision I prayed we would never make. We’ve talked about for months. But, at this point, even I won’t argue with it. From now on, our shul will keep its doors locked at all times. Even during davvening. A locked door is the last thing a person should find at a synagogue. A…
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Opinion After Protesting Trump at AIPAC, Will Rabbis Go Public With Their Politics?
When the American Israel Public Affairs Committee invited Republican front-runner Donald Trump to address its annual policy conference, it unintentionally achieved something remarkable: The lobby spurred rabbis from across the denominational spectrum to express their political views in public — even if it meant catching hell from their congregants. This is the first time I…
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Culture My father was my hero and, when he was dying, I wrote this song for him