In 1992, when I was the first woman ordained in the State of Israel, I was an oddity at best. This year, we ordained our 100th Israeli Reform rabbi, and they are serving communities and institutions all over Israel. Over 25 years later, my daughter, a native born Israeli, great granddaughter of the founders of…
In their article from Aug 8, Einat Wilf and Ram Vromen write that the attempt to “import” liberal Judaism to Israel is a mistake on the part of American Jewry. It is important to note they write from the perspective of ones opposed to all religious efforts and as “believers” in a totally secular life….
A useful rule of thumb when reading op-ed articles suggests that if the title could also serve as the title of an op-ed piece presenting a diametrically opposite point of view, then the article is interesting and worth reading. Just as importantly, though, such titles should also make us approach the article with a healthy…
On July 9, Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg concluded in this magazine that progressives do not have to engage Trump supporters. In her article, she argues that Trump is so pervasively evil that talking will do no good — or take so long that engaging with Trump is a waste of time. Rabbi Ruttenberg here falsely compares…
Dear Editor, I must, with respect, differ from my friend Alan Dowty, who argued against defining Israel as a Jewish State. While I strongly disagree with much of the recently Knesset-passed Nation-State Bill, especially its denigration of the role of the Arabic language in Israel and its claim that a united Jerusalem is the capital…
Last April, passage of the New York State budget was delayed by a state senator’s contending there ought to be a separate, and weaker, standard for educating some children attending New York State’s non-public schools. For decades, New York State required all school age children to be provided with a comparable program of instruction whether…
Is Jewish continuity inherently sexist? In some people’s minds, like the author of a recent op-ed in these pages, Jewish continuity is toxically identified with Jewish sociologist Steven M. Cohen. I’m neither judge nor jury, but if the #MeToo allegations against Cohen are true, and they may well be, the prominent sociologist should be held…
As a young-ish British Jewish anti-occupation activist, I’m sadly all too familiar with straw-man attacks. I and others like me are so viciously attacked online following any meagre expression of opinion that if you were to believe even just half of the things written about us on the internet, you may be excused for thinking…
Last month on the pages of The Forward I claimed the right to be a liberal Zionist in America, one who feels a deep connection with Israel, one who continues to envision a democratic Jewish state that exists alongside a free and independent Palestine — but also one who recognizes that a half-century after the…
In a recent piece in these pages, Batya Ungar-Sargon argued that there’s a liberal case to be made for nationalism. At turns provocative and frustrating, the crux of her argument lies in this quote: “It’s the fundamental irony of the left today that in our rush to eschew the racism we find in so many…
Dear Editor: I am disappointed that David Myers has decided to leave the Center for Jewish History. We could not have had a more eminent and highly qualified Jewish historian at its helm. There is so much I’d like to say to his detractors. I know they will google my name and come after me…
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