Opinion

• Opinion

  Repentance and Regret

  It is September, and it is time for regret. A chill has entered the air, with a suddenness that never fails to surprise. We want to think that the warmth and ease of summer will last at least a bit longer, but it never does. We’re out of time. As Frank Sinatra used to sing,…

  2 min read
• Opinion

  Outing the Jews

  In one sense, at least, Senator George Allen of Virginia reacted as any American Jew would do when he was confronted earlier this month, during a televised campaign debate, with questions about his reputed Jewish ancestry: He replied indignantly that it was nobody’s business. One could quibble (or, as it turned out, stir up a…

  Sep 29, 2006 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  GOP Slanders Dems With ‘Anti-Israel’ Ads

  Over the last month, the Republican Jewish Coalition has placed ads in Jewish newspapers across the country making the outrageous and ridiculous assertion that Democrats are “turning their backs on Israel.” At the same time, the accusation has been made by individuals who have sent out thousands of e-mails to all those in their inboxes….

  By Howard Berman Sep 29, 2006 | 2 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

  I Would Trade All the Fair Coffee Beans in the Universe

  I am a coffee addict. I love the taste, crave the spreading warmth and am intoxicated by the aroma. Sometimes I think it is the last thing on earth I would willingly surrender. But when I take the first few sips of my coffee in the early morning, I imbibe something more than the freshly…

  By Nina Kampler Sep 29, 2006 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  When a Society Fails Its Women

  Sexual harassment has been a favorite topic of late at dinner tables across Israel. How deep in a woman’s mouth and for how long should the tongue, in this case allegedly belonging to Justice Minister Haim Ramon, be in order to consider it a sexual offense? How many of the eight women making allegations against…

  By Yael Dayan Sep 29, 2006 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Turn to Sharia To Promote Human Rights in Muslim Countries

  In many Muslim countries, even those with ostensibly secular governments, some of the legal codes — especially family and personal status laws, laws regulating sex outside of marriage and laws of punishment — are enactments of Sharia, or Islamic law. Sharia-based laws are generally seen by the local population as not merely the law of…

  By Kathleen Peratis Sep 29, 2006 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Put the Camp Back in Campus

  Is that our daughter laughing and sparkling in the middle of a group of folk dancing tweens? Yes. We remember that girl. This is the child we brought into the world 11 years ago. One minute she is the picture of disaffected way-too-cool-ness, and the next, bam, she is back, a happy pre-adolescent. What was…

  By Wayne L. Firestone Sep 23, 2006 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Redeeming Ishmael

  With Rosh Hashanah upon us, inaugurating 10 days of repentance dedicated to freeing ourselves of negative personal habits, it seems an appropriate time to ask if fundamentalist Islam can be freed from its most bloody and aggressive tendencies. Is the enmity between many Muslims and the West destined to remain a feature of world history…

  By David Klinghoffer Sep 23, 2006 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  So My Son Can Choose for Himself

  The about-face was stunning for its suddenness. The same woman — let’s call her my wife — who had coolly arranged for my son’s ticket, icily orchestrated his passport, and calculatedly coordinated his luggage and international cell phone, this same woman, upon seeing him pass through the airport checkpoint that leads to the gate, opened…

  By Moshe Rosenberg Sep 23, 2006 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Diary of An Office Rabbi

  As Rosh Hashanah approaches, the number of questions regarding my religion intensify and increase. No, I’m not ordained, nor studying theology, but at work, I’m often consulted as the “Office Rabbi.” Since I’m “out” at work about my religion, I’m regularly queried by Jews and non-Jews alike. It’s part of the new diversity openness in…

  By Nancy Brenner Sep 23, 2006 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  10 Questions for George Allen

  Now that George Allen has ’fessed up to the truth of his origins, shedding the aspersion and joining the Dispersion, the voting public is entitled to a full accounting of the affair. Here are 10 questions that we believe the senator needs to answer: 1) Corned beef with Russian dressing: Kosher or kosher-style? 2) Christmas…

  By Sonny Goldreich Sep 23, 2006 | < 1 min read