Opinion

• Opinion

  On Obama and Israel, Rage Without Reason

  Alarm bells have been ringing around the neighborhood pretty much nonstop since July 13, when President Obama sat down to talk Middle East policy at the White House with a pack of leaders from a dozen American Jewish organizations. The meeting was supposed to help buff up Obama’s relationship with the Jewish community, which is…

  By J.J. Goldberg

  4 min read
• Opinion

  Norway and the Holocaust

  Norway is honoring the 150th anniversary of the birth of novelist and poet Knut Hamsun, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1920. So acclaimed was Hamsun’s work that Isaac Bashevis Singer declared that “the whole modern school of fiction in the 20th century stems from Hamsun.” But in his later years — he…

  Jul 29, 2009 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  ‘Continuity Crisis’ to Activist Opportunity

  When the results from the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey were released, one figure made headlines: 52%. That number purportedly represented the intermarriage rate among Jews who were married between 1985 and 1990. It was by no means the first indication that intermarriage was increasingly common, but it signaled the first time that a majority…

  By Simon Greer Jul 26, 2009 | 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 Holocaust survivor writer who can help us through this ominous era

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Why We Mourn on the Ninth of Av

  There are some good reasons why many religiously liberal, non-Orthodox Jews choose not to observe Tisha B’Av: We do not yearn for the restoration of animal sacrifice to our worship of God, so it seems strange to take part in that day’s mourning for the First and Second Temples, both of which are said to…

  By Mark Washofsky Jul 22, 2009 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  The Obama Lobby

  When the self-described “pro-Israel, pro-peace” group J Street was founded over a year ago, many in the Jewish community predicted that it would have little to no influence in the shaping of American foreign policy. While American Jews are indeed overwhelmingly left-of-center in their political orientation, they also happen to hold rather hawkish views on…

  By James Kirchick Jul 22, 2009 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Opposed Outlooks, Shared Fears

  In recent months I’ve heard more and more reports of rabbis who say they no longer know how to talk with their congregants about Israel. They feel — correctly, as far as I can tell — that our community is deeply divided, and that the divisions extend to the communities within the whole: to wit,…

  By Leonard Fein Jul 22, 2009 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Unholy Strife in the Holy City

  A reasonable person might suppose that a place revered worldwide as the Holy City would manage, if nothing else, to bring out some of the better angels from its denizens’ souls. One might even be forgiven for thinking that the people of the City of Peace could learn to get along. But, of course, we…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jul 22, 2009 | 4 min read
• Letters

  July 31, 2009

  This They Call Leadership? It was more than a little dismaying to read of the meeting between a delegation of representatives of Jewish organizations and President Obama (“Jewish Leaders Give Obama No Push-Back on Settlement Freeze,” July 24). Not one person there had the courage to point out that Israeli settlements have never been a…

  Jul 22, 2009 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Who Is a Convert?

  The biblical Ruth is lucky she isn’t converting to Judaism in 2009. If she ever wants to live in Israel, that is. Her moving, lyrical story of devotion to her mother-in-law and embrace of Jewish values has long stood as a potent symbol of the loving outsider who wishes to come in, and is lauded…

  Jul 22, 2009 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  No Excuses Left on EFCA

  Now that a new owner has been awarded the challenge of running Agriprocessors, once the nation’s largest kosher meat producer, there’s reason to hope that a new attitude toward workers will prevail. It cannot come a moment too soon in an industry that has become synonymous with exploitation and unethical behavior. The trouble at Agriprocessors…

  Jul 22, 2009 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Baby Steps in Nazareth

  It’s not that conversation here (I write from Jerusalem) is about existential questions. In fact, there is little such talk. But the existential question, like a miasma, is everywhere, inescapable. The response approaches the bi-polar, grand visions of Israel’s might and power one minute, dismal perceptions of Israel’s alone-ness, its vulnerability the next. Such understandings…

  By Leonard Fein Jul 15, 2009 | 4 min read