Robert Pollack
By Robert Pollack
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Culture Being Jewish Is More Mind Than Matter
In the May 11 edition of the Forward, Jon Entine, founder and director of the Genetic Literacy Project at George Mason University, reviewed the book “Legacy: A Genetic History of the Jewish People,” by Harry Ostrer, a geneticist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In the review, Entine summarized Ostrer’s major finding: Most, but…
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Opinion The Nature of Being Ashkenazic
We Jews call ourselves a family, and in many ways — for better and for worse — we act as if we were. We continue to preserve common laws, habits, language, texts and historical memories, as well as the belief that all of these are the gifts of an unknowable Deity who began our place…
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Opinion The Fallacy of Biological Judaism
Observant Jews of centuries past understood that while being born a Jew was precious and important to one’s Jewishness, it was not necessary and certainly not sufficient for a full Jewish life. The central ideas and actions of a Jew have always had to be taught and learned, never inherited. Nevertheless, until recently many reasonable…
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Culture At Eurovision, Israel’s near triumph shows the limits of tolerance
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Opinion The profound internal contradiction that could spell doom for Hillel
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Sports An op-ed compared an NBA team to Israel as underdog success stories. Then the threats poured in.
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Fast Forward Talarico won’t campaign with Democratic House candidate who wants to open ‘a prison for American Zionists’
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