The crisis in the liberal streams of Judaism is twofold (“Liberal Denominations Face Crisis as Rabbis Rebel, Numbers Shrink,” February 18). The decline of 14% of Conservative families in a decade is jaw-dropping. Yet demography is only one part of the crisis. There is also a crisis of meaning in the larger denominations of American…
Your February 4 editorial “Who Isn’t a Jew?” rightly identified the discrepancy between the Jewish community’s embrace of Gabrielle Giffords as a Jew and its ongoing discomfort welcoming intermarried and patrilineal Jews. But the editorial ends by suggesting that there is still a need to disprove the notion that “opening the tent too wide will…
Deborah Lipstadt is wrong to suggest any equivalence between the left and the right when it comes to using Nazi analogies to attack political opponents (“Glenn Beck Isn’t the Only Offender,” February 11). The leftists Lipstadt cites as using Nazi comparisons do not have a major media outlet at their every beck (pun intended) and…
Organ donation for the saving of a life or for the restoration of some major biological function seems to me to be quite a humanitarian and moral gesture (“Case for Organ Donation Remains Solid,” February 11). Halachists continue to consult learned scholars of ancient texts for answers. In keeping with the medical realities of 21st-century…
Your February 25 article, “Top Genocide Scholars Battle Over How To Characterize Israel’s Actions,” refers to the establishment of the International Network of Genocide Scholars as a “rival” organization to International Association of Genocide Scholars that in 2005 “broke away” from the latter. This is misleading. There was never a “split” from IAGS, as INoGS…
I was shocked by your January 28 news article “Labor Unrest in Israel’s Foreign Service Is Felt in Capitals Around the Globe.” Israel’s chronically under-funded foreign service effectively on strike? Heads of state forced to cancel visits to Israel? Diplomatic missions not doing their work? Isn’t it still too early for your Purim issue? What…
The February 18 article “Liberal Denominations Face Crisis as Rabbis Rebel, Numbers Shrink” consolidates a series of parallel changes happening in the institutions of the Reconstructionist, Reform and Conservative movements into a narrow reading that suggests a uniform dynamic of crisis, discontent and disarray. We cannot speak for our Reform and Conservative colleagues. We can…
Homebound while recovering from surgery, I was able to watch many hours of footage from the Egyptian uprising online. I have seen exactly one overtly anti-Jewish sign, poster or banner from the protests: the one you chose to put on the front page of your February 11 issue. Your editorial “Egyptian Choices” states: “this isn’t…
Six writers contributed to your forum on the legacy of Senator Joseph Lieberman, but not one of them referred to his role in securing passage of the bill that ended our armed forces’ “Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell” policy (“Exit Joe,” February 4). The fact that America has joined those nations — Israel among them — that allow open…
Your February 11 news article “Three Years Old, J Street Still Struggles For Acceptance” struck a personal chord with me, in particular its description of how Birthright Israel has refused to allow J Street U to sponsor a trip to Israel, while justifying its partnership with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee because the latter…
Regarding Benyamin Korn’s January 28 opinion article “Breaking Begin, but Not Palin,” I would hope that most of us judge the strengths of a particular leader or political figure, not on what journalists say about that person, but on what the leader actually achieves in office or what words he or she actually speaks. Just…
די ווילנער דאָקטוירים יעקבֿ וויגאָדסקי און צמח שאַבאַד זענען אויך געווען געזעלשאַפֿטלעכע טוער.
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