Opinion

• Opinion

  Britain’s Struggle To Engage Young Jews

  Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner / YouTube “I believe that we are now at one of those critical, pivotal moments in our history,” Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, Senior Rabbi to the Movement for Reform Judaism, recently informed the Board of Deputies of British Jews. “It’s sneaking up on us. What is happening is an upheaval that threatens our…

  By Liam Hoare

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  David Harris-Gershon Disinvited by Washington JCC

  David Harris-Gershon signs copies of his book / Austin Hill When it comes to the communal tent of dialogue around Israel, the last few years have seen a concerted attempt by Jewish leaders and institutions to delineate who should be considered “in” and who should be kept “out.” On the heels of the controversy surrounding…

  By Mira Sucharov Feb 6, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Hacking SodaStream Debate

  In addition to the Scarlett Johansson Super Bowl ad, part of the reason that SodaStream has gotten so much attention — as opposed to many other products on the boycott Israel list — is because it presents an ethical conundrum for its lefty customers. SodaStream has become a symbol for health and environmentalism, but also…

  By Naomi Zeveloff Feb 6, 2014 | 3 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

  Who Are America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis? Tell Us!

  “Adventure Rabbi” Jamie Korngold leads a Passover seminar in Moab, Utah. Photo by Jeff Finkelstein Last year, this project began with a hunch and a hope. The hunch was that amidst the depressing reports of the decline in organizational Judaism, synagogues struggling to stay afloat, rabbinical seminaries trying to stay relevant, and young Jews turning…

  By Jane Eisner Feb 6, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Protect the Children, Mayor de Blasio

  Regulating the ritual practice of a small number of New Yorkers is hardly the top priority of the city’s new mayor, nor should it be, not with the myriad of challenges facing Bill de Blasio, who is slowly remaking city government after 12 years of Michael Bloomberg’s highly successful, though occasionally problematic tenure. But neither…

  Feb 6, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  John Kerry, Modern-Day Haman?

  Secretary of State John Kerry and Haman / GettyImages/HipsterJew.com First he was described as “obsessive” and “messianic” by Israel’s defense minister Moshe Yaalon. Then he was accused by Israel’s intelligence minister Yuval Steinitz of “holding a gun to Israel’s head”. And now, Secretary of State John Kerry faces a new barrage of criticism coming from…

  By Nathan Guttman Feb 5, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Why All of France Should Shiver When Demonstrators Shout: ‘Jews Out’

  Eighty years ago, on February 6, 1934, the French Republic had a near-death experience. On that wintry evening, tens of thousands of protestors, mostly young and mostly male, massed along the boulevards of Paris. Their aim was to bring down the Republic—or, as they called it, “la gueuse” or whore. In the eyes of contemporaries,…

  By Robert Zaretsky Feb 5, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Jerusalem Protest Breeds Color War, Not Civil War

  Settler youth bear signs reading “Girls of Israel for the nation of Israel,” “A king’s daughter doesn’t date a non-Jew,” and “No more assimilation!” / Elisheva Goldberg Last night in Jerusalem, Arabs and Jews (well, mostly Jews) got together at an event called “Pashut Sharim” or “Just Singing,” a four-year-old initiative funded primarily by Hillel…

  By Elisheva Goldberg Feb 4, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  News Quiz: Natalie Portman, Jerry Seinfeld and Russell Crowe

  Jerry Seinfeld, Natalie Portman’s husband and a bevy of Swedish supermodels, to boot? What kind of Jewish News Quiz is this? The pandering kind! And why not? By the way, Russell Crowe is in here, too.

  By Lenore Skenazy Feb 4, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  AIPAC Lost Iran Sanctions Battle — Not War

  Sanctions bill sponsor Sen. Robert Menendez addresses AIPAC annual policy conference, Washington Convention Center, March 5, 2013 / Getty Images Efforts to pass a new Iran sanctions bill have not only stalled in the Senate, but appear to be slowing even in the House. Perhaps predictably, given the focus on AIPAC as the primary driver…

  By Brent E. Sasley Feb 4, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Forget Tefillin — Orthodox Women Need Empowerment in Daily Lives

  (Haaretz) — It never ceases to amaze us, the Orthodox plebeians, how quickly hordes of bloggers can skew matters out of proportion. Skim the blogs and you will discover the din of rumbling male voices expounding on Orthodox gender roles. Perhaps the voices are predominantly male because men are usually better versed than us women in…

  By Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt Feb 4, 2014 | 8 min read