Opinion

• Opinion

  Why Brussels Attack Looks Like ‘Toulouse’ Terror

  (Haaretz) — It is too early to jump to conclusions over the identity of the shooter in Satruday’s terror attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels. And still, it’s hard to avoid the initial impression that the pattern fits other anti-Jewish attacks, locally organized and without the backing of a terror group. Most likely carried…

  By Anshel Pfeffer

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  Should the Bible Have a Trigger Warning?

  You know what could use a trigger warning? The bible. If any book merits a note of caution it is the one that is colloquially referred to as good. In the recent debate over whether colleges should warn students of material that deals with potentially post-traumatic stress syndrome inducing topics like war, sexual violence, racism,…

  By Elissa Strauss May 25, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Wolves of the World Trade Center

  Planning a black tie event can be time consuming. I mean, what wine does one serve with pulverized human remains? I really feel for Mike Bloomberg and his staff. First off, it took 12 years to clean up the crime scene. And now that the space was somewhat presentable, a group of September 11 family…

  By Meg Bloom Glasser May 23, 2014 | 2 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz My summer plans prove it: The Jewish Catskills are alive and kicking

  

• Rob Eshman ‘Remember the Liberty’ has become code for ‘Israel Is Evil’ 

  

• Dan Perry The Iran war ended terribly for the US, and even worse for Israel

  

• Emily Tamkin Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point

  

• Jay Michaelson When it comes to Israel/Palestine, everyone is sure that everyone else is a bigot

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  On Bob Dylan’s Birthday, 4 Israeli Artists Reminisce

  In honor of Bob Dylan’s 73rd birthday on Saturday (May 24), Maariv asked four Israeli singer-songwriters — Eran Tzur, Sun Tailor, Dan Toren and Uzi Ramirez — to write about the “defining moment” in Dylan’s influence on them personally “as musicians, artists and listeners.” Each brief contribution is accompanied by a musical clip that the…

  By J.J. Goldberg May 23, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  What Nazi Shootings Tell Me About West Bank Killings

  Watching horrifying tapes of Nazi executions can tell us a lot about the authenticity of a video depicting the killings of two Palestinian teens in the West Bank While studying Yiddish in Lithuania during the summer of 2008 my fellow students and I visited Ponar, the site where 100,000 people, including nearly an entire branch…

  By Jordan Kutzik May 23, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Shelly Silver’s Evil ‘Twin’

  (JTA) — Evil twins make frequent appearances in the cheesier sorts of movies and television shows, yet tend to be less common in state politics. But not according New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Silver has never lacked for chutzpah, but he appears to have taken it to Olympian heights with his most recent…

  By Anthony Weiss May 23, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Pomp and Controversy on Campus

  I’ve given three commencement speeches in my life: at a state university so large there were two ceremonies on the same day to accommodate all the students; at a community college where the sense of triumph by first-generation graduates was inspiring and at one of the storied “Seven Sisters,” where I felt humbled to walk…

  By Jane Eisner May 23, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Diaspora Uneasy With Israeli ‘Jewish Democracy’

  The Jerusalem think tank set up by the Jewish Agency in 2002, the Jewish People Policy Institute, appears to have dropped a bombshell into the middle of Israel’s political hothouse with a new report (PDF) it released May 21 on Diaspora attitudes toward Israeli democracy. The report, titled “Jewish and Democratic: Perspectives from World Jewry,”…

  By J.J. Goldberg May 23, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  5 Dudes Who Claim To Be America’s Rabbi

  Judaism — it’s a big religion; America — it’s an even bigger place. But one man — one brave, self-sacrificing man — has taken upon himself the weight and burden of serving both constituencies, of being just the Jew that this country needs, of being: America’s Rabbi. I’m sorry, did I say “one man”? I…

  By Emily L. Hauser May 22, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Coma Case Could Mean Leap Forward for Agunot

  A woman gestures at a Jerusalem demonstration to help agunot / Haaretz We’re familiar with the stories of recalcitrant husbands who refuse to give their wives a get, a religious writ of divorce, effectively preventing them from remarrying. But less discussed is the heart-wrenching experience of women whose husbands are alive, but unable to interact…

  By Nathan Jeffay May 22, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Step Right Up to Sept. 11 Museum — and See My Husband’s Remains

  I spend a lot of time in my Subaru Outback. On a good day, the roof is not leaking but the radio is permanently broken. Not an easy fix, and the Great God of Radio has gone ahead and chosen a station and volume for me. I can’t turn the sound up, down or off,…

  By Meg Bloom Glasser May 22, 2014 | 3 min read