Opinion

• Opinion

  Torturous Silence

  There are times he speaks with genuine passion, this president of ours. That’s what he did on the video he sent to the meeting of anti-Castro protesters in Cuba the other day, as also when he pledged to veto any bill that Congress might send to him calling for fetal stem-cell research. But there was…

  By Leonard Fein

  4 min read
• Opinion

  Make-believe Ethics

  Here’s an ethical puzzle: Suppose you are the head of a major American institution that wields influence around the world. You come across what seems to be solid evidence of mischief-making in America’s relations with the Islamic world. The evidence isn’t airtight, but you go with it. The result, unanticipated, is mayhem: bloodshed beyond your…

  May 27, 2005 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Stem-cell Funds Key to Health of Scientific Progress

  On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted in favor of the most critical legislation to impact medical research in the 21st century. With more than 200 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle, the landmark Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act not only advances science but ushers in a new era of bipartisan collaboration in the…

  By June Walker May 27, 2005 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Rob Eshman American Jews can’t agree about anything — except Iran

  

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

  

• Dan Perry Trump’s new Gaza plan marks a radical break from Israeli policy — can it succeed?

  

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

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  The Israeli Foreign Disservice

  Before the current row between Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Daniel Ayalon, is dismissed as just another political sideshow, Jerusalem should understand that with the job of a successful ambassador in question, the continuity of Israeli-American relations is at stake. Having worked with Ayalon as his former speechwriter…

  By Jordan Nodel May 27, 2005 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  A Tradition of Questioning Tradition

  Despite the classic worries that American Jews are evaporating into America at a rapid pace, a study recently issued by the American Jewish Committee gives an indication of just how distinctive Jews have remained here in the great melting pot. The report, by Tom Smith of the National Opinion Research Center, reveals that Jews are…

  By Bethamie Horowitz May 27, 2005 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  A Smoking Gun

  Among the embarrassing documents that surfaced during the mud-bath that was Great Britain’s parliamentary election this month, one of the most disturbing was a memo indicating that President Bush had his mind firmly set on war with Iraq as early as July 2002, nearly a year before the shooting began, and that America’s “intelligence and…

  May 20, 2005 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Welcome, Sharon

  When Israel’s prime minister appears before Jewish audiences in New York and Washington next week, he may seem to be facing a Jewish community that’s deeply divided on his policies. That’s not the case. There undoubtedly will be noisy demonstrators in both cities attacking him and his policies. Some will claim he is betraying Jewish…

  May 20, 2005 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  Teach Children Nonprofit Literacy

  As a community and as parents, we’re passionate about teaching our children such values as charity and loving kindness. Today it’s practically de rigueur for Jewish 13-year-olds to take on a charity project as part of becoming a bar or bat mitzvah — and among American teenagers as a whole, volunteerism has gone way up….

  By Susan Grinel May 20, 2005 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  As Israel Turns 57, New Fights Displace Old War Mentality

  Let’s take a moment, as Israel marches into its 58th and perhaps most challenging year, to ponder the Jewish state’s evolving strategic interests. First and perhaps most significantly, the perception is gradually sinking in that, for the foreseeable future, conventional military attacks on Israel are a thing of the past. The last conventional war imposed…

  By Yossi Alpher May 20, 2005 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Sharon’s Disengagement From Democracy

  This summer, Israel will withdraw its troops from Gaza and the northern West Bank and remove the 9,000 Jewish civilians who call those places home. While much has been written about Prime Minister Sharon’s disengagement process already, it is worth revisiting how this ill-advised decision was taken, for it holds a very real and threatening…

  By Yisrael Medad May 20, 2005 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Monitoring The Monitor

  One of the more active sideshows of our time is the tangle of new organizations devoted to uncovering and broadcasting what they see as “the truth.” Now that the Internet has radically simplified the work and lowered the cost of getting such messages out, it seems a wonder that there’s room in cyberspace for all…

  By Leonard Fein May 20, 2005 | 4 min read