Opinion

• Opinion

  This Transgender Veteran – And Ordained Rabbi – Fires Back At Trump

  WASHINGTON, D.C. (JTA) — On Wednesday, in our offices near this city’s Dupont Circle, the staff at Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. were opening the mail when a request came in from a veteran asking that we change her first name on our records from Jaron to Rona. “I just immediately did it without…

  By Anna Selman

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Seriously, Boycotters: If the Goal of Your Visit is to Harm Israel, Stay Home

  Ever since a group of right-wing and centrist lawmakers joined forces to ban foreigners boycotting Israel from entering its borders, Israel’s amendment to its 1952 Entry into Israel Law from anti-Israel activists, it also sparked the ire of many who whole-heartedly support the Jewish state and oppose the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. Most…

  By Miriam F. Elman Jul 28, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  We Stand With Amichai Lau-Lavie, Rabbi Who Resigned Over Intermarriage Stance

  Earlier this week, our colleague Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie resigned from the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly over his decision to perform intermarriages, as part of a larger initiative to embrace the non-Jews within his community. He is in good company. For years, many American rabbis – including some in our network – have been officiating interfaith…

  By Rabbis of the Jewish Emergent Network Jul 28, 2017 | 2 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Rob Eshman A gunman attacked a Michigan synagogue. Here’s what happens to the community next

  

• Dan Perry Trump’s Iran dithering puts Israel in an unprecedented position

  

• Emily Tamkin Gavin Newsom just confirmed the demise of the Democratic party’s support for Israel

  

• Jay Michaelson We are talking past one another on Zionism

  

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  Opinion

  When Watching ‘Dunkirk,’ Don’t Forget Evacuations Of Jews That U.K. Stopped

  The success of Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” in theaters this summer is a welcome sign, amidst the usual summer cinematic fare, that history still interests us. Britain’s mettle in evacuating some 340,000 British and allied troops from French shores amidst the German attempt to destroy them remains one of history’s great inspirations, particularly when one considers…

  By Norman J.W. Goda Jul 28, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Actually, Israel Is Right Not to Let In Supporters of BDS. Here’s Why

  Michael Savage – a far-right radio host, along with Erich Gleibe – of the ‘National Alliance’, and Mike Guzovsky – a follower of Meir Kahane — have all been banned from entering Great Britain, a paragon of democracy, on the grounds that they “[engage] in unacceptable behavior by justifying terrorist violence… and fostering racial hatred.”…

  By Dani Dayan Jul 27, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Jews Need To Fight Trump On Voting Rights — 53 Years After ‘Mississippi Burning’ Murders

  (JTA) Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner are about the closest American Jews have to secular saints. The two Jewish civil rights workers traveled south for the Freedom Summer campaign of 1964, joining the African-American activist James Chaney in canvassing black churches. All three were kidnapped and murdered by a lynch mob. Forty-three years ago next Friday, Aug. 4,…

  By Andrew Silow-Carroll Jul 27, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  On Intermarriage, The Conservative Movement Is At Odds With Its Members

  The current crisis in Conservative Judaism can be traced to a potentially fatal flaw that has been present in the movement since its inception: It has never been one movement. It is really two movements: The movement of its rabbis and philosophical leaders, and the movement of its constituents, the laity. For generations, this tension…

  By Seymour Rosenbloom Jul 27, 2017 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  When You Protest An Eruv, You Protest Women’s Rights

  For the young Orthodox woman living in a community without an eruv boundary, motherhood comes with a high cost. The moment that newborn arrives, it’s goodbye to Sabbath mornings in synagogue, goodbye to afternoon social outings, and goodbye to nice dresses. Instead, say hello to living in a robe in a claustrophobic apartment for a…

  By Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt Jul 27, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Chuck Schumer’s Better Deal Is Better For White Men – And No One Else

  Every pundit from Boston to Seattle will tell you the state of the Democratic Party these days: It’s bad. The party got its clock cleaned in the 2016 general election and, even in the full-blown midst of the “Resistance” movement against President Donald Trump, it’s now lost four straight special elections around the country. After…

  By Charlie Townsend Jul 27, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Al Aqsa Protests Prove That Palestinian Nonviolence Has Arrived

  My dream has always been to see my people in a mass movement of nonviolent resistance. I have spent most of my adult life making this appeal to my fellow Palestinians and building the relationships we need with the international bodies who can help us. And for one of the first times in my life,…

  By Issa Amro Jul 27, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Beware The Jewish Republicans Who Embrace Far-Right Bigotry

  If you want to understand American Jewish politics in the Donald Trump era, pay close attention to the skirmish last week between the Anti-Defamation League and Ohio Republican State Treasurer and U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel. It’s a foretaste of things to come. On July 18, the ADL issued a report titled “From Alt Right…

  By Peter Beinart Jul 27, 2017 | 5 min read