Opinion

• Opinion

  The government is feeding a Hasidic persecution complex

  Imagine you are a Hasidic teenage boy, a yeshiva student. You usually have school all year round, six days a week; your purpose in life is to study Torah, especially before your arranged marriage at the age of 18 or 19 while you are not yet distracted by family and work. From the time you…

  By Frieda Vizel

  6 min read
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  Opinion

  To my fellow Orthodox Jews: Don’t open shuls until you can open them to women

  After two months of heavy restrictions on New Yorkers’ comings and goings, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that religious gatherings of up to ten people will now be permitted. My ears, like those of many religious Jews, perked up at the number ten. In Judaism, ten is the minimum number of people required to…

  By Dov Linzer May 26, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Netanyahu’s defense is a preview of Trump’s

  On Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu became the first sitting Israeli prime minister to stand trial for alleged crimes committed in office. The charges read to him at the Jerusalem District Courthouse were for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. The indictments originated in cases involving gifts from wealthy friends in exchange for favors and two harebrained…

  By Abe Silberstein May 26, 2020 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz What I learned at a Holocaust survivors’ Purim party

  

• Rob Eshman Gavin Newsom isn’t waffling on Israel — he’s voicing sensible ideas in an era of outrage

  

• Dan Perry An abominable new Israeli law is a death warrant for democracy

  

• Emily Tamkin We must rewrite the rulebook for fighting antisemitism — or conspiracists like Joe Kent will win the narrative wars

  

• Jay Michaelson Passover’s 4 cups of meaning

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Americans may be distancing, but research shows Jews are more connected than ever

  The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly and painfully transformed almost all facets of American life. The way we live, work, and connect with others have all been disrupted, in some cases by social distancing, and in others by loss. There is good news, though: New data shows that the coronavirus has not altered the resolve of…

  By Samuel J. Abrams May 26, 2020 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  COVID has exploded Jewish LGBTQ acceptance online. There’s no going back.

  Previous Article Next Article Last week, as part of a growing number of virtual speaking engagements, I had the privilege to give a talk to a few thousand Spanish speaking Jews from Latin America, through a program with Limud Buenos Aires. Among the texts and slides that I shared, I also showed a video of…

  By Abby Stein May 24, 2020 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Transforming the warmth of the Persian community into something new

  Previous Article Next Article As an Iranian Jew, I take pride in the warmth, hospitality, and intense affection and love that is displayed in my community. We greet each other with two kisses and warm hugs. Grandparents do not gently kiss their grandchildren but inhale them with affection, often whispering “gorboonet beram,” — I will…

  By Saba Soomekh May 24, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The (Jewish) world is flat(tening)

  Previous Article Next Article The first Saturday in quarantine, my family joined a Zoom havdalah led by our synagogue’s cantor. Faces of our friends and fellow congregants filled a couple dozen boxes on the then-novel screen, many holding flames aloft. I told the cantor we should keep doing it long after the pandemic passed: Havdalah…

  By Jodi Rudoren May 24, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  An opportunity to confront white supremacy and create a Jewish, intersectional future

  Previous Article Next Article As a diversity, equity, and inclusion leader within the Jewish world, I am rarely shocked by what I hear. But right before the lockdowns came into effect, I was. I spoke with a few colleagues, friends, and clients about their experiences being in a community facing a pandemic. One colleague said,…

  By Jared Jackson May 24, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  A wakeup call: You are your brother’s keeper

  Previous Article Next Article Kol yisrael aravim ze baze — all of Israel is responsible for one another. Of course, in the era of the current plague, we might better say kol anashim aravim ze baze — all people are responsible for one another. We are responsible for wearing a mask, for ensuring that those…

  By Sarah Wildman May 24, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How the pandemic will change Jewish philanthropy

  Previous Article Next Article New York, December 1st, 2021 My dear colleague, I understand you’ve been locked up in an Ashram for the last two years and you’ve missed the pandemic. No great loss, believe me. Lucky you to come down from the Himalayas and be vaccinated right away at the Gates Center in Katmandu!…

  By Andrés Spokoiny May 24, 2020 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Chabad emissaries are stepping into communal gaps – for good

  Previous Article Next Article The Brooklyn Botanical Garden is a stone’s throw from my house. I pass its gated entrance on my walks along Eastern Parkway several times a week and promise myself to visit soon. But the last time I strolled under its gorgeous cherry trees was two years ago. It’s a little like…

  By Baila Olidort May 24, 2020 | 2 min read