Opinion

• Letters

  March 2, 2007

  Leaders Did Not Applaud ZOA’s Criticism of Abbas A February 16 article reports on a meeting between Richard Jones, America’s ambassador to Israel, and participants in a recent Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations mission to Israel (“As Capitals Cautiously Greet Palestinian Deal, Israel’s Allies in D.C. Push for Pressuring Hamas”). In the…

  3 min read
• Opinion

  Dreaming of Surge, Acting in Serge

  Good news from Iraq has been a rarity for so long that the very idea seems almost oxymoronic. This week, however, brought some of the best news in a very long time: The Bush administration has finally agreed to talk to the other players in the worsening conflict, including Iran and Syria. Over the next…

  Mar 2, 2007 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Salvation Is No Solution to America’s Social Problems

  The Supreme Court was set to hear opening arguments this past Wednesday in a case brought by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The suit charges that conferences held in the White House to promote President Bush’s faith-based initiative were, in fact, Christian revival meetings. I can attest to the fact. I have worked closely with…

  By Bob Wineburg Mar 2, 2007 | 5 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Rob Eshman A year after the LA fires, the lesson is clear: Our greatest disasters are often self-inflicted

  

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

  

• Dan Perry A quiet diplomatic shift in the Middle East, with monumental consequences for Israel

  

• Emily Tamkin Is Mamdani bad or good for Jews? Here’s how to tell

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  Speak Loudly and Carry a Relatively Small Stick

  To those still hoping for a peaceful way to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the current standoff gives reason to despair. Tehran continues to develop its uranium-enrichment program at full speed, a key step toward developing an atomic bomb. The president of the Islamic Republic, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, remains defiant as ever. And the United…

  By Eric Frey Mar 2, 2007 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Tales of Two Jewries Don’t Tell Much Anymore

  If you happen to have missed the latest round in the debate over interfaith marriage, outreach and in-reach, fret not. This dog has been chasing its tail for nearly two decades, and shows no sign of tiring or jumping out of the deep groove it has cut as it runs in circles. The latest go-around…

  By Shaul Kelner Mar 2, 2007 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Our Clever Foolishness Does Israel No Good

  This is not the first time that some Jews have shunned nationalism. In fervently Orthodox circles, Zionism was (and, to a lesser degree, remains) offensive because it is an effort “to force God’s hand.” Classical Reform Judaism opposed it because it violated their determined universalism. And around the turn of the past century, the Bund…

  By Leonard Fein Mar 2, 2007 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Is Community Open to Critics of Zionism?

  There are Jews who smell antisemitism whenever non-Jews criticize Israel, and blame Israel’s Jewish critics for abetting them. The interests aroused by Alvin Rosenfeld’s controversial recent essay, “Progressive Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism,” raises the specter that this mindset could become a leitmotif in the way the American Jewish right regards its counterpart on…

  By Ira Youdovin Feb 23, 2007 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Can Campus Coalition Unite for Israel?

  I just think, says the hawk to the dove, that there should be limits regarding what kind of programming your organization can sponsor on a college campus if it is going to remain part of the Israel on Campus Coalition. True, replies the dove, but the same limits could apply to programs that you’ve supported…

  By David Harris Feb 23, 2007 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Why Not Let Moderates Engage Far Left?

  The mainstream machers of American Jewry correctly assert that some of the rhetorical excesses of Israel’s critics, particularly on the far left, can foster outright antisemitism. But when these organizational leaders and academics recently claimed that provocative denunciations of Israel’s occupation or calls for a binational state were beyond the pale, all they succeeded in…

  By Dan Fleshler Feb 23, 2007 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  And the Award Goes to… Queer Yiddishkeit

  Last week’s Grammy Award to the Klezmatics for their first all-English album, “Wonder Wheel,” was joyously reported by many Jewish news outlets, including this newspaper. For all the media coverage, however, no mention was made of the Klezmatics’ iconic status in the Queer Yiddishkeit movement. Never heard of the Queer Yiddishkeit movement? Until last summer,…

  By Kathleen Peratis Feb 23, 2007 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  The Welfare State

  When The Great Depression hit the United States, there were those who said that America’s government had the duty to take steps to counter the disaster. They pointed to the preamble to the Constitution that empowered the government to “promote the general welfare.” On the other hand, there were those opposed to any governmental intervention….

  By Gus Tyler Feb 23, 2007 | 2 min read