Opinion

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  Opinion

  This hostage deal is months too late — because people like me believed Netanyahu’s lies

  As we celebrate this ceasefire, we must also own all the failures that preceded it

  By Sruli Fruchter Jan 15, 2025 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  ‘Just things’ — like what my LA neighbors have lost — are what makes houses into Jewish homes

  When the ashes are cool, it will be time to help fire victims replace irreplaceable Judaica, an Angeleno writes

  By Rachel Steinhardt Jan 12, 2025 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Celebrating Shabbat in Los Angeles: Amid the fires, a still, small voice

  The rabbi of a congregation displaced by fire describes carving out a holy day amid trauma and anxiety.

  By Rabbi Paul Kipnes Jan 12, 2025 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren How a new ketubah helped one couple restart after the LA fire

  

• Jay Michaelson Before I learned Kabbalah, I learned from David Lynch

  

• Rob Eshman Here’s why I’ll gladly give Trump all the credit for the hostage deal

  

• Nora Berman Since Oct. 7, my daughter has become anti-Israel, and I’m grieving

  

• Dan Perry Is peace really coming? What about the West Bank? 5 crucial questions for Israel post-ceasefire

  

• Emily Tamkin As a new Trump administration begins, I’m looking to this Soviet Jewish dissident for guidance

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  ‘Home is memory’: How Jews make sense of what they’ve lost in the LA fires and what remains

  Sharon Brous, founding rabbi of IKAR in Los Angeles, delivers a Shabbat sermon on this week's Torah portion, wisdom from the Warsaw Rabbi, and the meaning of home

  By Sharon Brous Jan 11, 2025 | 10 min read
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  Opinion

  What a remarkable Torah rescued from Iran — then LA’s fire — can teach about community amid devastation

  A scroll from Iran bears witness to enduring Jewish community

  By Rob Eshman Jan 10, 2025 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  After 15 months of war, Israelis are all scaffolding, helping hold each other up

  I went to comfort a slain soldier’s father and came away with a lesson in community

  By Jessica Steinberg Jan 9, 2025 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Jews excel at collective organizing. The LA fires are a call to rally resources to fight climate change

  Catastrophic weather events are coming to define our lives, but it's not too late for change

  By Rabbi Jennie Rosenn Jan 9, 2025 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How ‘the most hated man in France’ became Trump ahead of his time

  Jean-Marie Le Pen's racism and xenophobia changed the political reality in the land of liberty, equality and fraternity

  By Robert Zaretsky Jan 9, 2025 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  I was hosting a shiva in LA — then the fires started

  Countless friends have been forced to evacuate their homes — and leave too much of their history behind

  By Rob Eshman Jan 8, 2025 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  What critics miss when they accuse Israel of ‘scholasticide’ and ‘domicide’

  Scholasticide is one of several new terms that has been used to describe Israel's actions in Gaza

  By Aviya Kushner Jan 8, 2025 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  In interviews on Arab and Israeli TV, a tale of two completely different beliefs about the war

  A debate about starvation in Gaza exposes a gulf in perceptions

  By Dan Perry Jan 7, 2025 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  The Borscht Belt hotels were cornerstones of Jewish family life that have no real replacement

  A Jewish nonprofit executive argues for a contemporary successor to the Catskills, where families can be together in a low-key way

  By Sara Fredman Aeder Jan 7, 2025 | 3 min read