Opinion

• Opinion

  Putting Aside That Old Jewish Pessimism

  It is still surprising — funny, even — that a people that has survived and thrived through millennia filled with cataclysms can still find itself debilitated by anxiety about its future, and especially by such concerns as banal as, say, the impending retirement of the generation of baby boomer CEOs running Jewish organizations. This past…

  By Yehuda Kurtzer

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  Menachem Stark Was Good Man Who Didn’t Deserve To Die — Or Be Smeared

  My brother in law, Menachem Stark was killed this weekend. A 39-year old father of seven, he will be missed by his wife, children, friends, and so many others. He had so much ahead of him and his loss is a tragedy for all of us. He left home Thursday, and simply never returned home….

  By Alexander Buxbaum Jan 6, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Brutal Modernity Turns 100 With Anniversary of First World War

  Counting pages on the calendar probably isn’t the most instructive way of organizing the past or understanding our progress. What did we learn the past year from the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, or the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, that we hadn’t known a year earlier? Every now and then, though,…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 6, 2014 | 4 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

  In Menachem Stark Slay, Where’s the Humanity?

  Menachem Stark, a Brooklyn Hasidic real estate developer, was abducted, murdered, and thrown into a dumpster. Stepping to a new low, the New York Post reports this story with inappropriate levity and derision toward the victim. Practically gloating over Stark’s death, the front cover of [Sunday’s New York Post rhetorically asks, “Who didn’t want him…

  By Eliyahu Federman Jan 5, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Why I Am Leaving San Francisco Jewish Federation

  In my nearly 10 years at the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund, and in my fifth year as the CEO, I have had the great fortune to be in the forefront of a community that is responding with creativity and wisdom to the changes in Jewish life in the 21st century. Having…

  By Jennifer Gorovitz Jan 4, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  For a Two-State Solution? Boycott Ariel

  A while back, I wrote a column in which I urged people to boycott Ariel. An explanation is in order here: Ariel is a town of some 18,000 people that juts 16 kilometers (10 miles) beyond the Green Line. It is, in other words, rather deep within the West Bank. It is 25 miles from…

  By Leonard Fein Jan 4, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Ani DiFranco’s Slave Plantation Gaffe

  At first glance, it seems that Ani DiFranco has become the latest example of how a mix of star-fueled insulation from the real world and white privilege can lead to bad public relations. After an Internet-inspired backlash, the feminist singer-songwriter has canceled a musical retreat at a former slave plantation in Louisiana, now a resort…

  By Ari Paul Jan 3, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Real Story of My Spiritual Journey to Reform Judaism

  (JTA) — Over the past two weeks I’ve been both heartened and horrified by the spectrum of response to what, I felt, was a spontaneous and sincere statement of unity and joy — my proclamation of “aliyah” to Reform Judaism, made at the biennial conference of the Union for Reform Judaism. I’m honored that the…

  By Neshama Carlebach Jan 3, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How ‘Quenelle’ Salute Creator Dieudonne Built Bridge to Anti-Semitic Far Fight

  The comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala, according to French authorities, is under investigation for inciting racial hatred. They have also urged city officials to consider barring Dieudonné from public performances during his upcoming tour. Prodding the government to act was the video clip of Dieudonné’s current show in Paris, when he mentions the name of Patrick…

  By Robert Zaretsky Jan 3, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel Is Running Out of Pre-Oslo Prisoners

  A nephew of a murdered Israeli soldier protests a Palestinian prisoner release. / Getty Images For 26 Palestinians, this weekend will be the first one in decades spent at home with their families. They were released on Monday as part of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The discourse over prisoner releases tends to be dominated by…

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

  Pew Poll Reveals How Americans View Israel

  Pro-Israel marchers walk along Fifth Avenue on May 5, 2002 in New York City. / Getty Images While Americans continue to hold long-time allies like Great Britain and Canada in high esteem, they are pretty divided as to how they feel about some of the government’s other key allies — like Israel. A recently published…

  By Michael Kaplan Jan 2, 2014 | 2 min read