Opinion

• Opinion

  What Donald Trump Can Learn from Canada

  The thing about bullies is that, in the best-case scenario, they force their victims to declare their own agency. That’s what happened this past week with Ghazala Khan, who penned an op-ed in The Washington Post after Donald Trump callously questioned why she did not speak as she stood alongside her husband at the Democratic…

  By Mira Sucharov

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Don’t Children’s Rights Count in Ultra-Orthodox Education Debates?

  As you read these words, a new law is being hustled through Israel’s Knesset that would abolish all requirements for the teaching of a “core curriculum” in ultra-Orthodox Israeli schools, even those that are partly funded by the government itself. If the bill becomes law, many young Israelis educated in right-wing Orthodox yeshivot will learn…

  By Michael Lesher Aug 1, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Soundtrack of Our Spirit: Enter to Win

  Apply To Win Below I am proud and excited to announce this year’s call for nominations for Soundtrack of Our Spirit. You may nominate yourself or someone else through the short form below. We are looking for cantors, song leaders and songwriters who work with Jewish music of any kind to submit their best work…

  By Jane Eisner Aug 1, 2016 | < 1 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 Israelis and Americans deserve to know why they are still at war

  

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

  

• Jay Michaelson Antisemitism is exploding on the right but the Jewish establishment is focused on the left

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Soundtrack of Our Spirit Volume 2

  Enter to win here. Last year, when we created Soundtrack of Our Spirit to discover and share the best in Jewish music, we had a hunch that readers would engage in this ambitious new project. We never imagined how successful it would be! Nominations poured in — more than 300 in total — of extraordinary…

  By Jane Eisner Aug 1, 2016 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Donald Trump’s Attack On This Muslim Family Puts Us All to Shame

  For a society to sustain itself as a moral entity, its inhabitants need, at the very least, three attributes: sacrifice, shame and empathy. Every major faith embodies these features, creating mechanisms to promote sacrifice, shame those who violate the society’s norms, and reward the empathetic impulses that encourage us to transcend our inherent selfishness. That…

  By Jane Eisner Jul 31, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Learning Torah From My Kidney — by Donating It to My Dad

  In the Hebrew Bible, the word “kidneys” is mentioned over a dozen times to metaphorically describe one’s emotional and moral choices. With a literal translation, Psalms 138:13 reads: “It was you who created my kidneys; You fashioned me in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am awesomely, wondrously made; your work is wonderful;…

  By Yael Krieger Jul 31, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  4 Things To Remember About Pope Francis’s Visit to Auschwitz

  Pope Francis made a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau Friday. The spiritual leader of the world’s Catholics silently reflected, met with Jewish and Christian survivors of the death camp, and left a note in the guestbook, which read: “Lord, have mercy on your people! Lord, forgiveness for so much cruelty!” There’s a lot to be said about…

  By Lana Adler Jul 29, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  After Orthodox-Only Mikveh Law, Time To Rein In the Israeli Rabbinate

  As a woman who underwent Orthodox conversion, I was livid when I read about the controversial Israeli bill that was formally passed into law July 25. The bill allows local Orthodox rabbinates to ban non-Orthodox conversions in publicly funded mikvehs. The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism Party may have introduced this piece of legislation, but in…

  By Bethany Mandel Jul 29, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  How Bernie Sanders Flipped the ‘Crotchety Jewish Socialist’ Script on Hillary Clinton

  After a chaotic, crisis-ridden day of jeering Bernie Sanders supporters, hacked emails (what is it about Hillary Clinton and emails, anyway?) and a party leader humiliatingly deposed, the Democratic Party formally opened its Philadelphia convention on July 25 and quickly melted into rapture. For most onlookers, first lady Michelle Obama opened the emotional floodgates late…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jul 29, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Hillary Clinton Answers This Jewish Mother’s Prayer

  I remember just where I was on July 12, 1984 — about to return to the newsroom from maternity leave, anxious about leaving my first born, my precious little daughter, unable to imagine what it would feel like to satisfy the demands of both a job and a very young child because the workplace was…

  By Jane Eisner Jul 29, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Tim Kaine Is the Least Jewish Democrat Ever. And That’s a Good Thing.

  In Lenny Bruce’s terms, Tim Kaine is the most goyish Democratic nominee in years. And I mean that in a good way. In fact, much of the third night of the Democratic National Convention felt more Republican than Democratic — and that is very good indeed. You remember (or I’ll remind you) how the comedian…

  By Jay Michaelson Jul 28, 2016 | 4 min read