Rabbi Eric Yoffie accurately observes in a July 7 opinion article that many Israeli leaders do not fully understand Diaspora Jewry (“Confront Ignorance of Diaspora Movements”). However, he ignores the corresponding lack of appreciation for the nuances of Israeli society by an American Jewry that does not speak Hebrew and in the main has never…
Be Proud of Wise Men’s Modernizing Influences Opinion columnist David Klinghoffer argues that Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and Baruch Spinoza are “the individuals whose thoughts form the top three most lamentable cultural influences in modern times” (“Three Wise Men’s Unholy Influence,” June 30). We Jews, however, should be proud of Freud for his gift of…
WZO Is Reorganizing I recently returned from serving as a delegate to the World Zionist Congress, and wonder whether Hebrew University professor Gabriel Sheffer was actually at the event when he commented that “young people aren’t involved” in the World Zionist Organization (“Rabbi Boycotts President at Zionist Parley,” June 23). Their significant presence was felt…
Coalition With Latinos Is in Communal Interest Opinion writer Stephen Steinlight erroneously portrays the comprehensive immigration reform adopted by the Senate as a threat to Jews and contrary to Jewish values (“Open Borders Threaten Jewish Clout,” June 16). American Jews, despite being a small minority, have always exercised their democratic rights through the political process…
Investigate Abuses at Iowa Slaughterhouse A May 26 article on AgriProcessors and a subsequent rebuttal in the Jewish Press by lawyer Nathan Lewin make only one thing clear: A full, fair and unbiased investigation of the working conditions at the Postville, Iowa, plant is needed — and it is needed now (“In Iowa Meat Plant,…
The Pope Speaks, and The Critics Pounce Your June 2 article “At Auschwitz, Ire at What Pope Didn’t Say” reported on the criticisms leveled by some in the Jewish community at Pope Benedict XVI’s speech at Auschwitz. It is worth noting, however, that several days later, in his General Audience in Rome, Pope Benedict delivered…
Scottish Church Shows Commitment to Peace Religion, at its purest, is the search not only for peace but also for truth. In a May 19 opinion article, Peter Kearney, national spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, demonstrates a noble commitment to both (“British Academic Boycott Is Just Blinkered Bigotry”). By appreciating that defensive measures,…
Pluralism at Seminary A May 12 letter writer asks who will serve as the Jewish Theological Seminary’s halachic authority now that Arnold Eisen has been selected as chancellor (“Conservative Seminary Lacks Rabbinic Leader”). The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly is, in fact, the halachic authority for the Conservative movement. Eisen…
Survivors Will Fight On The Forward has sunk to new depths by attacking Holocaust survivors who have objected to being treated like third-class citizens (“At Long Last, Have You No Shame,” May 12). Perhaps out of the continued naiveté that our views mattered, several survivors met yet again with Judge Edward Korman and Special Master…
Conservative Seminary Lacks Rabbinic Leader Opinion writer Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove’s comparison of Arnold Eisen, the newly appointed chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, to Solomon Schechter begs the question (“When a Scholar Became Chancellor,” May 5). Schechter possessed a profound understanding of Judaism in its rabbinic, theological formulation, as shown by his classic work, “Some…
Hard Work Needed For A Good Job Anywhere I don’t know whether, as an April 28 article reports, more young Israelis have been leaving the country (“Israelis Park the Moving Truck and Head to the Mall”). All data are skewed, including the Israeli Democracy Institute’s finding that 7% of Israelis aged 15 to 18 do…
כאָטש זי האָט מער ווי 50 יאָר געשפּילט אויף דער העברעיִשער בינע זאָגט זי, אַז שלום־עליכם קען זי נאָר שפּילן אויף ייִדיש.
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