Opinion

• Opinion

  After the Earth Moved

  For American Jews who give generously to charity, there is often an inner struggle: How much should they support other Jews, and how much should they give to causes in the wider world? The response to the tragedy befalling Haiti demonstrates the wisdom of turning that binary dilemma from an “either/or” question to a “both/and”…

  2 min read
• Opinion

  Dos Pintele Yid Dept.: Chomsky Attacked as a Closet Zionist

  The tenor of Middle East debate in this country is evolving faster than most of us realize, and in unpredictable directions. The latest is the attack on Noam Chomsky for being too sympathetic to Zionism. Chomsky was interviewed December 2 on Voices of the Middle East and North Africa, a weekly talk show on radio…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 17, 2010 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Meet Jewish Senators 14, 15 — and 16? Plus: the House GOP’s Jewish Mormon

  A few weeks ago I wrote a column about the 13 Jews in the Senate, specifically the 11 Democrats and the two Independents, Bernie Sanders and Joe Lieberman, who guard the left and right flanken of the Democratic caucus. I wrote that these two white-haired gents from New England not only define the boundaries of…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 15, 2010 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

• Jay Michaelson What can really be done to prevent antisemitic attacks like Bondi Beach?

  

• Rob Eshman Australia shooting terrifies Jews worldwide — and strengthens the case for Israel

  

• Nora Berman Did crypto-Jews invent the modern tarot deck?

  

• Dan Perry An Israeli media mainstay is crumbling. Will liberal democracy go with it?

  

• Emily Tamkin The fundamental miscalculation behind the GOP’s antisemitism crisis

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  Is Israel Athens or Sparta?

  Saul Bellow, in his “To Jerusalem and Back,” wrote approvingly of how Israel was so special a place because it sought simultaneously to be both Sparta and Athens — and largely succeeded at both. That was in 1976, 34 years ago. The other day, in Yediot Aharonot, Israel’s leading daily, Eitan Haber, who was Yitzhak…

  By Leonard Fein Jan 13, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  What the Women of the Wall Want

  One recent afternoon, while I was riding on a gender-segregated bus in Jerusalem, an Orthodox woman told me she didn’t mind sitting in back and out of sight, because it helped the men “keep cleanliness of the eyes.” Her reasoning was familiar to me; it followed a logic similar to the rationale behind a men-only…

  By Anat Hoffman Jan 13, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Egypt Ups the Ante in Gaza, But What Are the Stakes?

  The border separating the Gaza Strip from the Sinai Peninsula has in recent weeks become a Middle East hotspot as Egypt ratchets up its pressure on Hamas. Egypt is building an underground steel wall, reported to extend somewhere between 18 and 30 meters deep, to cut off the tunnels through which Gazans smuggle in everything…

  By Yossi Alpher Jan 13, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  The Lesson of Tu B’Shvat: A Judaism for Every Season

  Tu B’Shvat is once again on the horizon. The holiday marks the winding down of winter and the arrival of spring in the Land of Israel. The different seasons remind us that change is the way of the world. Change and adaptation also happen to be among the keys to the longevity and vitality of…

  By Michael M. Cohen Jan 13, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  What Harry Reid Said, and What He Meant

  If you’re like me, you probably just spent a weird stretch of January staring at your television, vainly trying to figure out what our national leaders could be talking about this time. Political gibberish is nothing new, but lately the nonsense has reached new heights. Here’s what I got: It had something to do with…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 13, 2010 | 4 min read
• Letters

  January 22, 2010

  Where Health Care Reform Went Wrong You should be ashamed to endorse the so-called “right to health care” that emerges from the Senate’s December 24 vote (“A Right to Health Care,” January 8). Beginning with the laudable aim to establish affordable universal health care for all citizens, the Democratic majority has instead settled for a…

  Jan 13, 2010 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Minority Rule

  In a nation that clings to the ideals of majority rule and fair play, the filibuster can seem like a poke in the political eye. Allowing a single lawmaker to talk on and on, bringing the nation’s business to a halt, may have seemed like a good idea when Mr. Smith went to Washington. But…

  Jan 13, 2010 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Stifling Our Artists

  The fourth annual Schmooze conference took place at the hip City Winery in Lower Manhattan on January 11 and 12, bringing together Jewish artists and presenters to debate, discuss and, well, schmooze. There was talk of a “sea change” this year, and not just because of the financial meltdown or the growing popularity of Fox…

  By Jane Eisner Jan 13, 2010 | 2 min read