Opinion

• Opinion

  From Tel Aviv to Amman

  It took a mere 45 minutes to fly from Tel Aviv to Amman on a recent family vacation. For those of us old enough to remember when Israel and Jordan were mortal enemies, the sheer normalcy of boarding an airplane in one country and landing in another in the same amount of time that it…

  By Jane Eisner

  3 min read
• Opinion

  Blood and Blame

  As of this writing, it appears that the bloodbath in Tucson that killed six people and injured 14 others was ignited by a deranged man propelled by personal demons and not political fanaticism. The initial reaction of those who posited a strong and direct link between the accused gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, and the heated…

  Jan 12, 2011 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  A Song Stilled Too Soon

  The poet-laureate of the Jewish people, Chaim Nachman Bialik, once wrote a poem in which he extolled someone who died “before his time and before anyone’s time. He had one more song to sing, but now that song is stilled forever.” That’s how I feel, and the way that many of us feel, about the…

  By Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin Jan 10, 2011 | 3 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 A new proposal to radically destabilize 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

• Opinion

  Threats and Tools of Violence

  Even as the commiseration is expressed, the prayers for the dead and the wounded accomplished, the mind turns to the context. “I’m only surprised this doesn’t happen more often, with the crazy irrational political climate we have right now,” writes a commenter on The New York Times website. Others remind us that during the fall…

  By Leonard Fein Jan 9, 2011 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  A Moment in Bil’in

  In hindsight everyone will be able to point a certain moment or event and say: “There, then, that is when it went off the tracks.” The incident will not necessarily be a large event, the place not always monumental or even memorable. It is only in hindsight, when it comes time to mourn or to…

  By Aryeh Cohen Jan 7, 2011 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Making Reform Relevant

  The Reform movement has launched a series of public dialogues about its future, and the timing could not be more fitting. While Reform remains the largest of America’s four main streams of Judaism, overall membership in Reform synagogues has declined. The movement’s central institution, the Union for Reform Judaism, is still navigating the aftermath of…

  By Evan Moffic Jan 6, 2011 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Israel’s Top Military Brass Is Marching Away From the Prime Minister

  A year after Israel’s military brass was briefly jolted by scenes of banner-waving recruits protesting against settlement evacuation, there’s another round of political murmuring emerging from the ranks. This rebellion couldn’t be more different from the last one, though. These soldiers aren’t speaking out against compromise with Israel’s Arab neighbors — they’re endorsing it. And…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 5, 2011 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  The New Congress’s Task

  Republicans in Congress are entitled to a bit of gloating as they settle into their new positions of power and get down to work. They said the voters were unhappy with the way President Obama and his congressional allies were governing, and the voters backed them up. Perhaps it’s true, as Republicans say, that the…

  Jan 5, 2011 | 2 min read
• Letters

  What’s Your Beef With Avigdor Lieberman?

  Your January 7 editorial, “The Lieberman Question,” attacks Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for calling the Palestinian Authority illegitimate and for accusing Turkey’s prime minister of lying. Yet you haven’t told us why these were bad choices of words. The Palestinian president remains in office even though presidential elections were supposed to have been held…

  Jan 5, 2011 | < 1 min read
• Letters

  Goldstone Critics Have a Real Case

  Letty Cottin Pogrebin’s defense of Richard Goldstone is as factually inaccurate as the Goldstone Report itself (“The Un-Jewish Assault on Richard Goldstone,” January 7). Pogrebin’s thesis can be summarized in her own words: “Rather than discuss the contents of the report — which concluded that during the 2008-2009 Gaza war, Israel (as well as Hamas)…

  Jan 5, 2011 | 3 min read
• Letters

  CUFI’s Objection to U.S. Pressure Isn’t About Settlements

  I would like to thank you for your article recognizing a significant milestone: Christians United for Israel having crossed the half-million member mark (“The Biggest Pro-Israel Group in America? That’s Us, Says Christians United,” December 17). I would also like to elaborate on a few points. The article’s sub-headline asserts that “some” feel our “definition…

  Jan 5, 2011 | 2 min read