I have always enjoyed looking through the “Forward 50” and finding many people who I respect and admire recognized for their good work. So I was surprised and disappointed to see David Yerushalmi and Jennifer Rubin included in this year’s list. Yerushalmi’s fear-mongering campaign against Islamic law — Shariah — should be an embarrassment to…
I was stunned to read in your November 11 article that Cardinal Kurt Koch, the Vatican’s emissary, said the cross should be viewed as the definitive Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is about reminding and insisting that individuals need to take responsibility for their behavior. The cross is about avoiding responsibility by having Jesus take responsibility…
Your September 23 article regarding Sheldon Adelson, Ronald Lauder, and Israel’s Channel 10, “American Billionaire Sparks Israeli Media Furor,” misses the main point. The article asserts only the media’s rights, and ignores the media’s responsibilities, in reporting news. You report that a number of editors at Channel 10 resigned when they were forced to issue…
In assessing the growing divide in American Jewish opinion regarding how to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jay Michaelson (“The Logical Realignment,” October 14) claims this “is simply an alignment of conservatives with conservative policies and of liberals with liberal ones.” Were it this simple, the great liberal majority of American Jews would unambiguously support President…
I am the mother of a young musician in his first year of service in the Israel Defense Forces. This is what I need to know: that if he were in Gilad Shalit’s position, my people would never, ever leave him behind in order to avoid the terrible calculus of securing his life in an…
Did Israel ask the relatives of those hundreds of Israelis who were murdered by terrorists about their feelings and opinions pertaining to the release of their relatives’ murderers (“Free at Last, Shalit Returns to Israel,” October 18)? Hypothetically, suppose there were secret recordings of some of those to be released declaring that as soon as…
Jay Michaelson writes in his September 16 column of his delight and empowerment in D.I.Y. — Do it Yourself — Judaism. While he acknowledges that Judaism has always been a tradition of direct access, where we are “each responsible for our own religious lives,” he writes, “only a small minority of non-Orthodox Jews live this…
The Forward’s September 16, 2011 news story and editorial questioning the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program because it purportedly disproportionately serves Jewish institutions (and Orthodox institutions, at that), betrays several profound misunderstandings about the program’s purpose, government’s role in supporting non-profits, and the Orthodox community’s leading role in the Jewish organizational world. The news story’s…
In response to your September 30 article, “Jewish and Muslim Leaders: Better Together,” we would like to voice our agreement that Jewish-Muslim cooperation and dialogue, especially since 9/11, is a hopeful phenomenon for both communities and for America. We believe that dialogue is a fundamental building block for mutual respect, inter-group harmony and peaceful co-existence….
Naomi Zeveloff’s September 9 article, “Conservative Synagogues Open Door to Intermarried Couples,” offers a thoughtful analysis of some of the issues facing such congregations. The language in the article, perhaps inadvertently, suggests a certain set of assumptions about the challenges of balancing inclusiveness and the integrity of Jewish religious tradition. Zeveloff writes: “However, non-Jews cannot…
Thank you for highlighting in a September 16 article the efforts of the Jewish Federations of North America and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to assist non-profits and Jewish institutions as they protect themselves in the post-9/11 reality, in which they have become targets of terrorists. It is worth noting that every grant decision…
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