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Opinion We’re Staunch Zionists. And We Are Worried About Israel’s Democracy.
Both of us have spent decades in public service in several U.S. administrations working to enhance the ties between the United States and Israel. Separately, in our private careers we have sought to promote the well-being of the Jewish people. We believe a strong, democratic Israel in the troubled Middle East is in the national…
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Opinion Israel Has Chosen Ultra-Nationalism Over Diaspora Jews
Back in the late 1990s, it seemed appropriate to describe relations between Israel, the United States and the American Jewish community as a strategic triangle. Each of the three sides to the triangle interacted with and nourished the other two. This was not an equilateral triangle: Israel seemed to be replacing U.S. Jewry as the…
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Community Inflexibility Puts All Of Judaism In Jeopardy
Throughout the Tanach, God models extraordinary behavior and spotlights key virtues for the benefit of humankind, simultaneously sparing us pain and setting an example worth following. In fact, from the very first interaction with man, God establishes a precedent for acting and reacting with patience and compassion, and emphasizes the importance of living a life…
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Community America’s Legal System Is Rife With Injustice — And Jews Need To Help Fix It
Troubled greatly these days by the injustices all around us, I sat in synagogue some weeks back and came once again upon the ritual of the Sotah: the bizarre, seemingly barbaric procedure employed in Biblical times to placate a man consumed by suspicion over his wife’s unfaithfulness. Is it curious why he is so jealous?…
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Slideshows Slideshow: Jewish Students Built Solar Lamps And Donated Books For Sister School In South Africa
Just in time for Mandela Day, Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County spearheaded the ribbon cutting ceremony of a new school library in South Africa. The Langabuya School previously had a single bookcase that served as its library for its 1,000+ students, but SSDS students raised funds to purchase some 1,000 new books, which…
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Letters Jewish Continuity Isn’t Sexist — It’s Necessary
Is Jewish continuity inherently sexist? In some people’s minds, like the author of a recent op-ed in these pages, Jewish continuity is toxically identified with Jewish sociologist Steven M. Cohen. I’m neither judge nor jury, but if the #MeToo allegations against Cohen are true, and they may well be, the prominent sociologist should be held…
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Opinion How A #MeToo Scandal Proved What We Already Know: ‘Jewish Continuity’ Is Sexist.
Steven M. Cohen is perhaps the most important Jewish sociologist in America. A prolific writer and popular speaker on the Jewish circuit, Cohen is best known as the architect of the intermarriage “crisis” discourse; he has for decades used sociological surveys to insist that intermarriage is “the greatest single threat to Jewish continuity today.” But…
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Community How Art Can Bridge Divides Between Jewish And Black Communities
2018 has not been a good year for those of us who care about the relationship between the black and Jewish communities — or for those whose Jewish identities comprise a mix of both. At the heart of these rising tensions seems to be a debate over power: who has it, who doesn’t, who can…
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Fast Forward ‘Rabbi rebellion’: 33 Orthodox rabbis endorse Harris
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Opinion I was a Bernie supporter. This year, I’m voting Trump. Here’s why liberal Jews like me made the switch
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Opinion Here’s why Orthodox Jews are loyal to Trump — even if they don’t love him
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FIRST PERSON As a rabbi, he helped others mourn. So why wouldn’t his daughter say kaddish for him?
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward Many Israelis are celebrating Trump’s win, seeing him as more likely to back their country
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Fast Forward Eugene Vindman, whose Jewish immigrant story played a role in Trump’s impeachment, elected to Congress
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Fast Forward Anxiety, concern and hope: How swing-state rabbis, and their communities, are reacting to Trump’s win
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News For some Orthodox Jews, joy and a little schadenfreude as their candidate reclaims the White House
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