I’m surprised that the Forward, a Jewish newspaper, could have devoted a whole page to Alaska in its August 10 edition without once mentioning the great Ernest Gruening, who turned the territory into a state as one of the last territorial governors (1939-1953) and its first United States senator (1959-1969). The Vietnam War has faded…
Contrary to Larry Lerner’s remarks, expressed in his June 29 op-ed, “Time for a New Jackson-Vanik,” the Magnitsky Act now under consideration is not the “modern-day version of Jackson-Vanik.” Organized American Jewry lobbied for Jackson-Vanik, and Congress adopted it in 1974 with full support and after consultation with Soviet Jews — the courageous refuseniks who…
In his June 15 op-ed, “The Problem With ‘Free,’” David Bryfman criticizes free Jewish programs, for “devaluing Jewish experiences.” “Why would people want to pay for a Jewish experience,” he asks, if they know “they can get Jewish products for free?” Although he doesn’t mention it by name, there’s no doubt he’s including PJ Library…
With regard to your June 22 editorial, “The Depths of Nixonland,” while it is undeniably true that Richard Nixon distrusted Jews in general, his personal views were more than counter-balanced by his actions. In 1973, when things looked very bad for Israel during the Yom Kippur War, Nixon provided an emergency supply of ammunition and…
As your June 15 editorial put it, “Why Stop at the Big Gulp?” Indeed. Mindful of the sad three ‘D’s of living in urban poverty, diabetes, drugs and depression, why can’t we see from our leafy suburban perches the obvious but unspoken reality that individuals and familes in our cities are living under siege, cooped…
I don’t live in New York (I live in the Boston area), but one thing that really struck me about the survey reported on in your June 22 article, “Changing Face of New York Jewry,” was its adherence to the categories of Reform-Conservative-Orthodox, and the lumping of all other Jews in a category of “unaffiliated”…
The Forward’s June 5 story, “Jews Face Special Risks, Napolitano Says,” is commendable for its clear assessment of the Department of Homeland Security’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program. The purpose of NSGP is to support nonprofit organizations that are at increased risk of terrorist threats and to integrate nonprofit preparedness activities with broader state and local…
Kudos to J.J. Goldberg for pointing out in his June 1 column, “Biggest Election Issue? Planet’s Survival,” how critical climate change is for the future of the world, and that this should be a major issue in the presidential campaign. The view that we are rapidly approaching a climate catastrophe is reinforced by a strong…
Michah Gottlieb’s equation of contemporary efforts to redefine marriage with the efforts to emancipate American slaves in the 19th Century (“When Orthodoxy Goes Too Far,” June 8) is, to be gentle, unimpressive. While the Torah, recognizing the reality of slavery throughout most of history (including in many lands to this day), provides rules governing that…
Rabbi Regina Sandler-Phillips was right to broach the taboo topic of cremation among Jews (“Confronting Cremation,” May 25). The horror of cremation is driven by the obsession of religious Jews. In Israel, nothing riles them up more than autopsies, archaeological diggings at doubtful Jewish graves and organ donations from the dead. They have held many…
At a time when many Jews (particularly younger ones) are rejecting blood-based definitions of nationality, I was disappointed with the Jon Entine’s favorable May 11 review of Harry Ostrer’s “Legacies: Genetic History of the Jewish People.” No doubt, ethnicity has played a large role in who we are as Jews, yet from the prophetic perspective,…
די פּרעפֿערענץ איז פֿאַר איניציאַטיוון וואָס מוטיקן קינדער און יוגנטלעכע צו רעדן ייִדיש
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