Opinion

• Opinion

  We Ought To Ask Why

  From a multitude of sources comes the disturbing news that far too many of our soldiers are committing suicide upon return to the United States from Iraq, or while still in country. We ought to ask why. Perhaps we may get a clue from a portion of the great novel “Brothers Karamazov,” in which the…

  By Gus Tyler

  1 min read
• Opinion

  We Live in a World of Judaisms

  At our Seder table, the Four Questions are introduced by a brief commentary noting that they are meant as illustrations of question-asking, be the questions trivial, picayune or cosmic. Anything goes. (Except, of course, “When do we eat?”) In that spirit, I’ve decided that it may be useful now and then to pose questions that…

  By Leonard Fein Jun 12, 2008 | 4 min read
• Letters

  June 20, 2008

  Chaplaincy Takes All A June 13 article accurately notes the growing need for Jewish chaplains in California and the fact that, as Rabbi Lon Moskowitz quite rightly states, there “simply aren’t enough chaplains to fill all the vacancies” (“Demand for Kosher Cuisine Swells Ranks of Jewish Prison Chaplains”). Indeed the need is even greater than…

  Jun 12, 2008 | 2 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 It’s a classic trick of liars and crooks — and it’s shaping Israel’s response to war and disaster

  

• Emily Tamkin The Holocaust survivor writer who can help us through this ominous era

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  Seeing the Obvious

  The United States Senate acted last week with rare irony, verging on self-parody, when it abandoned efforts to pass a long-awaited, urgently needed measure on global warming. The legislators’ inaction was timed exquisitely, if unintentionally, to coincide with the latest wave of record-setting storms descending on us these days. While the senators were dithering over…

  Jun 12, 2008 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Remember What Bobby Kennedy Died For

  Several years ago, I had the unique blessing of sitting on the pulpit of the Ebenezer Baptist Church on Martin Luther King Day. For some reason, I wound up sitting next to Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, the daughter of the late Senator Robert Kennedy, and had the opportunity to exchange a few pleasantries with her. As…

  By Jeffrey K. Salkin Jun 5, 2008 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Proudly Israeli, Even With a Second Passport

  One of the less talked-about aspects of Ehud Olmert’s envelopes-filled-with-dollars affair is the unsavory picture it presents of Israel-Diaspora relations. Here is the sycophantic Diaspora shnorer sucking up to his Israeli hero, buying a piece of Zionist glory by slipping him money. And here is the Israeli politician, turning with a mixture of disdain and…

  By Yossi Alpher Jun 5, 2008 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Beware the Ideological Guards of Academia

  Earlier this month, as I got ready to address the graduating class of Jewish studies majors at the University of Maryland, I found myself acutely conscious of how much had changed in the university world since I entered it 40 years ago. Many of the assumptions and basic values that I brought with me into…

  By Bernard Dov Cooperman Jun 5, 2008 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Unto the Seventh Generation

  In order to kick-start the sluggish economy, the federal government has decided to spend billions of dollars on tax rebates — that is, giving out cash to the public. The expectation was that with their newly found dollars, families would start buying things at the stores, putting money into circulation and stirring companies to hire…

  By Gus Tyler Jun 5, 2008 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  We Need Lots More Than the Holocaust

  Let’s talk about Jeremiah. Well, not exactly about Jeremiah, but about Jeremiah’s mindset — specifically, about the prophet’s punishing predictions regarding the future history of our people. What makes the matter pertinent just now is the controversy surrounding Pastor John Hagee. I wrote in this space recently, and quite critically, of Hagee’s “explanation” of the…

  By Leonard Fein Jun 5, 2008 | 4 min read
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  Letters

  June 13, 2008

  The Archdiocese Didn’t Take This Window I used to live at 3060 Hull Avenue in the Bronx, right next door to the Mosholu Jewish Center (“A Bronx Tale: What Did the Archdiocese Do With Those Stained-Glass Windows?” May 30). My family and I were members from the early 1940s up until it closed. Rabbi Hershel…

  Jun 5, 2008 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Delegates Behaving Badly

  John McCain’s pugnacious address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington this week may have given his presidential campaign a boost, but it ill served the pro-Israel lobbying organization that hosted him. As for the lobby, it didn’t do itself any favors with the hero’s reception it served up for the Arizona senator….

  Jun 5, 2008 | 3 min read