Opinion

• Opinion

  Ignoring My Kids — For Their Own Good

  ‘Mom! Hey, Mom! Look at me!” “Look at me!” has probably been a refrain of parenting small children since the days of “Mom! Look at the drawing of oxen I made on the wall of the cave!” It can seem constant: “Mom! Look how high I can go on the swing!”; “Dad! Come look at…

  By Jordana Horn

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  What Eric Goldstein’s Appointment Says About Changing Jewish Community

  The report that the UJA-Federation of New York will appoint Eric Goldstein as CEO has implications that go far beyond the appointment itself. Most important are those changes within the federation system, and in the New York Federation itself, which inform the Goldstein appointment. To understand the historical and sociological significance of the Goldstein appointment…

  By Jerome Chanes Jan 31, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel’s Finance Minister Worries About Boycotts

  As the Scarlett Johansson-stoked controversy rages over SodaStream’s West Bank operation, Israel’s centrist Minister of Finance has been considering what effect international opposition to settlement production will have if peace talks fail. And his verdict is pessimistic. In a speech at the Institute for National Security Studies, Minister Yair Lapid said that if Israeli or…

  By Nathan Jeffay Jan 31, 2014 | 2 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

  The ‘Portuguese Schindler’ and Me

  Aristides Sousa Mendes is a national hero today in Portugal for bravely saving Jews fleeing the Nazis. It wasn’t always that way. When Aristides Sousa Mendes was a child, his name forced his family to leave Portugal for Africa. Today, his name is famous, and his grandfather and namesake, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, is a…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Jan 31, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  My Search for the Perfect Biblical Blue

  A few of the author’s many blue inks on paper. / Jeffrey K. Salkin It’s time for me to confess my hobby. I collect and use fountain pens. I have no memory of how I first got into this particular way of writing. No, it has nothing to do with the fabled “Today I am…

  By Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin Jan 31, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Does Rick Jacobs Think Intermarriage Is Good?

  (JTA) — For an article I wrote on a recent flare-up in the intermarriage debate, I did two interviews with Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism. Twice I asked him whether there was any value in articulating a communal preference for in-marriage over intermarriage, and the second time I followed…

  By Julie Wiener Jan 31, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Bursting Bubbles of SodaStream’s Haters

  Is it wrong for Scarlett Johansson to perform as the celebrity global ambassador for the Israeli company SodaStream? Is it wrong for the rest of us to drink the fizzy, made-at-home water in the environmentally-friendly reusable bottles that are manufactured in Palestinian land occupied by Israel since the 1967 war? Thanks to the high-wattage Super…

  Jan 31, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  The Bibi-Bennett Feud Isn’t Over

  The Israeli government has just emerged from a three-day coalition crisis, after public displays of antagonism between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett reached new highs. A letter firing Bennett had reportedly already been prepared when he cleared the air last night. Netanyahu was furious that Bennett questioned his integrity because he…

  By Nathan Jeffay Jan 31, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Are Gas Chambers Making a Comeback in U.S.?

  The ruins of a gas chamber at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp / Getty Images Lying at the heart of every political position I hold is an undying faith in human fallibility. Not only might we get things wrong, we will get things wrong – just as we got things wrong last week and last…

  By Emily L. Hauser Jan 30, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Yair Netanyahu Girlfriend Drama Sparks Echoes of British Royal Romance Scandal

  (Haaretz) — “Israel is freaking out.” “Yair Netanyahu spits on his grandfather’s grave.” “Bibi’s son is dating a Gentile!” It’s been quite the week for the Netanyahu family, judging by the flurry of hysterical headlines reacting to reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyu’s son is dating – gasp! – a “shiksa.” The reported love affair…

  By Asher Schechter Jan 30, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Did Genesis Founder Carry Gun to Meetings?

  Mayor Bloomberg, the recipient of the first Genesis Prize / Getty Images You know that Jewish charity that gave a $1 million prize to Michael Bloomberg, who can hardly count his billions? A feature in last week’s New Yorker sheds some light on the Russian oligarchs behind the award. For instance: In the early 2000s,…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Jan 30, 2014 | 3 min read