Opinion

• Opinion

  Coronavirus lockdown meant a break from shidduch pressure — until it didn’t

  I’m expecting my cap and gown in the mail any day now, and that is not a sentence I ever thought I’d write. In fact, a lot of unexpected things have been happening lately. Unprecedented things. Which is why I was startled to receive an email from my university the other day regarding an upcoming…

  By Hadassah Penn

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  It’s the anniversary of Iran’s murder of a Jewish businessman. The Jewish community must break its silence.

  In 1967, when the Islamic clerics of Tehran were in the middle of constructing their new and grand Hossieneh Ershad mosque in the heart of the city, their funds for the project dried up. They turned to individual Muslim business leaders and observant Islamic individuals for financial help to complete the grand mosque after work…

  By Karmel Melamed May 8, 2020 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Bibi’s ‘emergency government’ is a land grab disguised as a health crisis

  When Donald Trump announced his “Deal of the Century” at the White House in late January with Netanyahu at his side, many in Israel and the US dismissed it as an PR stunt to boost his election campaign. With Palestinians outright rejecting the plan and the Israeli right up in arms over potential recognition of…

  By Etan Nechin May 7, 2020 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Rob Eshman Australia shooting terrifies Jews worldwide — and strengthens the case for Israel

  

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

  

• Dan Perry The 3 responses to the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack that could make Jews safer

  

• Emily Tamkin The fundamental miscalculation behind the GOP’s antisemitism crisis

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Trust camps when they say it’s not safe. And it’s not safe.

  I have a list of 20 names on my phone. It’s sacred to me, one of the most important artifacts of my life. I created it on June 29, 2013, the year I was Program Director at the Goldman Union Camp Institute. It was also the year three campers were sent to the ER after…

  By Chase Foster May 7, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why are liberal Jewish organizations undermining religious liberty?

  What sort of groups would you expect to file a Supreme Court brief arguing that laws providing exemptions for Sabbath observant workers are unconstitutional? Certainly not organizations that represent the interests of the American Jewish community. Unfortunately, the groups who recently filed a brief positively citing that argument included the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Council…

  By Howard Slugh and Mitchell Rocklin May 7, 2020 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Letter | America’s JCCs are neither failing nor irrelevant

  Dear Editor, The May 2 column by Joel Swanson, “America’s Jewish institutions were failing: Coronavirus hastened their demise,” offered some fascinating — but also highly inaccurate — views on how American Jewish communal life is changing. Swanson quoted me on the painful economic hit North America’s 164 JCCs have taken during the pandemic, but then…

  By Doron Krakow May 5, 2020 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel is ready to reopen. I’m not.

  Last night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an easing up of restrictions. No longer confined to 100 meters, we can go out for the first time in ages. National parks are reopening and even malls will open later in the week. Nearly one in four Israelis are unemployed, up from a record low of…

  By Shoshanna Keats-Jaskoll May 5, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  I’m a statistician. Closing camp because of corona is a huge mistake

  When the Reform movement announced that it would be shutting its camps for the summer, a rabbi friend broadcast on Facebook that he thought the decision, while regrettable, was nevertheless “prudent.” I disagree. A considered, well thought out decision has to think through both risks and rewards. It must grapple not just with possibilities but…

  By Abraham Wyner May 5, 2020 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  American Jews: You are desperately needed in the fight against annexation.

  The most serious setback to peace in the Middle East has taken place under the cloud of the coronavirus and the internal Israeli political scene. A chance, however, still exists for a unified Arab coalition with action by American Jews to create a firewall that will help preserve a chance for Israeli-Palestinian peace. As part…

  By Daoud Kuttab and Ori Nir May 4, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  COVID exposed America as a failed state. How can I honor the military oath I swore?

  “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same…_” I spoke these words for the first time in the summer of 1997 when I entered basic training at the United States…

  By Josh Knobel May 4, 2020 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Anne Frank is being called a ‘Becky’. But here’s what that tweet got right

  Last week, a tweet about Anne Frank — the beloved memoirist of “The Diary of Anne Frank” through which most American children learn about the Holocaust — went viral. The tweet referred to Anne Frank as a “Becky” and lamented the lack of education in America about genocides besides the Holocaust. A “Becky” is a…

  By Alex Zeldin May 4, 2020 | 4 min read