Opinion

• Opinion

  Bush Brings Little More Than Gridlock to Jerusalem

  For a couple days this past week, I sat at home — was confined to it, actually — waiting for Friday to arrive. Why? Because President Bush was visiting Jerusalem. New Yorkers can surely understand what I’m talking about. When heads of state raid your city with their endless motorcades, appropriating the streets and tearing…

  By Uri Dromi

  4 min read
• Opinion

  I Danced at the Wedding of Sharansky’s Daughter

  It was a dream come true. There beneath the chupah stood Rachel Sharansky, daughter of Natan and Avital Sharansky, with her beloved, Micha Danziger. The hills of Jerusalem encircled us, like a wedding ring around the whole city. Jerusalem’s chilly winter days took a respite as the sun shone brightly; even the weather knew it…

  By Avi Weiss Jan 9, 2008 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  America Helps Best When It Helps Itself

  As presidential candidates are winnowed and left for chaff, we can confidently expect the return of the quadrennial Jewish question: “Who’s best on Israel?” I set aside here the issue of how central the answer to that question ought to be in determining how a person votes. That’s a debate and a half in itself….

  By Leonard Fein Jan 9, 2008 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Rob Eshman The case for Jewish optimism in 2026

  

• 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

  The Highest Bidder

  A flurry of protest is rippling through the Jewish community over last month’s decision by the Jewish Agency for Israel, the venerable, Diaspora-funded social-service agency, to appoint a spokesman for evangelical Christian donors to its executive committee. Some of the opposition arises from a bigoted, anti-gentile impulse that too often lurks somewhere inside even the…

  Jan 4, 2008 | 3 min read
• Letters

  January 4, 2007

  All Jews Have a Share in Jerusalem The Orthodox Union has not, as a December 28 editorial argues, said that the Israeli government “has no right” to negotiate the fate of Jerusalem, nor would we ever suggest that “Israelis must continue waiting — and continue dying — until Jews in Baltimore and Las Vegas approve…

  Jan 4, 2008 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Voting Our Hopes, Voting Our Fears

  Maybe it’s the weakness of the candidate field. Maybe it’s old habits dying hard, or unfamiliar threats flaring up. Whatever the cause, there seems to be a sharp increase in talk among Jews, some in the most unaccustomed circles, who plan to cast their votes this year on the basis of Israel’s security needs. The…

  Jan 4, 2008 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Some Sub-Prime Lenders Are Worth Investing In

  The ongoing sub-prime lending crisis has led to a massive number of foreclosures across the country and almost an equal amount of finger-pointing. While there is plenty of blame to go around, not enough people are applauding and learning from a group of sub-prime lenders whose responsible lending practices are helping millions of working families…

  By Simon Greer Jan 2, 2008 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  The Tribal Dynamics of Old Play Out Again in the Middle East

  The system of Middle East states as we know it today was largely imposed upon the wreckage of the Ottoman Empire by England and France, the victorious European powers of World War I. Judging by the current state of affairs, they did not do a very good job. Five out of the Arab League’s 22…

  By Yossi Alpher Jan 2, 2008 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  A Fanfare for the Little Man

  A dear friend of mine often describes us — himself, me, almost everyone we know — as “little people.” We are well-informed, politically engaged, civically virtuous — and utterly irrelevant. “Irrelevant,” that is, in the larger world. We matter to friends and family, sometimes neighbors, too; now and then we make ripples in small ponds….

  By Leonard Fein Jan 2, 2008 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  ‘If I Forget Thee…’

  It always happens when Israel approaches a peace agreement with the Palestinians: Noisy voices of protest arise within the American Jewish community, arguing that Israel misjudges the Palestinians, doesn’t understand the terrain, doesn’t understand the Middle East as well as rabbis in Brooklyn or lawyers and electronics salesmen in Philadelphia. So it is today. This…

  Dec 26, 2007 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Worth Fighting For

  Democratic leaders in Congress had their hands full in the past few weeks, trying to pass laws, keep the country running and show voters they could make a difference. It didn’t go well. Between the torture debate, President Bush’s war budget, the energy bill, free trade with Peru, the failed attempt to increase children’s health…

  Dec 26, 2007 | 3 min read