Opinion

NEW YORK (JTA) — In July I traveled to Ghana with 17 American rabbis. We spent 12 days constructing the walls of a school compound in partnership with a local Ghanian community ravaged by hunger, poverty and labor exploitation. More important than our efforts to mix cement and schlep… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Philanthropist Charles Bronfman once told me, “Leaders lead. That’s what they do.” Years later I was sitting with his professional partner for philanthropic impact, Jeffrey Solomon. “Leaders lead,” Solomon said. “That’s what they do.” Like an old married couple who finish each other’s sentences, these two… Read more »

After the 1967 Six-Day War, much of the radical left in the West predicated its militant anti-Zionism on the illusory notion that the Palestinians represented a revolutionary and “progressive” vanguard that could one day mobilize the Arab masses in the cause of social revolution. But in 2011, when revolution… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The older generation always thinks of the younger generation as losing its traditional values, wondering “Why can’t they be just like us?” But in a time of expanding globalism, open social networking and greater geographical disbursement, a surprising finding of a recent poll we conducted shows that… Read more »

NEW YORK  (JTA) — Much has been written and said of late about the underground white supremacist subculture in which Wisconsin shooter Wade Page immersed himself, and his own involvement with white power music. But one aspect of that subculture has not been given the attention it deserves. In… Read more »

Pride and chagrin: It’s rare that the two emotions are experienced simultaneously. But that is how we are feeling at Hadassah. We feel pride because women now hold three of our top professional positions: Janice Weinman is our new executive director and CEO; Osnat Levtzion-Korach is the new director-general… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) – Jewish organizations have a lot of clout in this country, in no small part thanks to groups like the Anti-Defamation League. That’s partly why I found ADL National Director Abraham Foxman’s recent call in a JTA Op-Ed for a five-year, $2.5 billion campaign to support… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — As Jews, we don’t have many light-hearted holidays, but this week we’ll celebrate one of them, Tu b’Av. Casually known as the Jewish Valentine’s Day, Tu b’Av is the counterbalance to the most difficult of all our holidays, Tisha b’Av, which just passed. While we fast… Read more »

PHILADELPHIA (JTA) — “My son, the doctor.” Why does every Jewish mother have to have a doctor in the family? It might be because the immigrant mentality desperately desires a secure and well-paid profession, but in fact, there is a deeper reason why Jewish mothers want a doctor son.… Read more »

MINNEAPOLIS (JTA) — As July ends and we wind down the Three Weeks before Tisha b’Av, we mourn the destruction of both Holy Temples. Unfortunately, this is not the only destruction that bears remembrance. This August marks the 67th anniversary of the only time that nuclear weapons were ever… Read more »

Over the past few days, we find ourselves grappling with the concept of silence in two contrasting ways. First, a silence of indifference, acquiescence and complicity, and second, a silence of strength, principle and memory. In the case of the Penn State tragedy, Coach Joe Paterno and others committed… Read more »

Israelis understandably feel imperiled by the misnamed “Arab Spring.” Their country’s three-decade peace treaty with Egypt is under assault, its strategic alliance with Turkey has dissolved, and its closest regional ally, Jordan, is withering from domestic protests. The breakdown in political authority has flooded Israel’s borders with a slew… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Swedish rescuer Raoul Wallenberg was born 100 years ago this summer, and his centennial is being commemorated with events in many cities across Europe and North America. On July 26, a symposium in his memory will be held at Yad Vashem’s International Institute for Holocaust… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — There is a solution to get us beyond the seemingly endless stalemates and complications that continue to characterize the ongoing debate over Holocaust-era insurance claims. And I do not believe it can be found in the well-intentioned bill before the U.S. Congress. This different approach… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — My “Spidey Sense” is tingling! Almost half a century after the comic book superhero Spider-Man was conceived by Jewish writer Stan Lee, a Jewish actor named Andrew Garfield will don the red and blue Spandex for the forthcoming cinematic reboot of the Spider-Man franchise. As… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Several important Jewish organizations are standing behind a critical international treaty to support civil rights, dignity and hope for people with disabilities. However, grass-roots help is urgently needed to get it approved by the U.S. Senate before the political season overtakes the ability to get things… Read more »

Woody Allen quipped that when he was a kid, he used to get beaten up by Quakers. That happened to me (figuratively) just last week at the Churches for Middle East Peace Advocacy Conference in Washington. I was the only rabbi at the conference and with the exception of… Read more »

(JTA) — The 2011 Jewish Community Study of New York was released with some fanfare earlier this month. Some of the UJA-Federation of New York’s survey results came as somewhat of a surprise. After a decrease from about 2 million Jews in 1970 to 1.4 million in both 1991… Read more »

A recent article by Israeli journalist Yaron London headlined “We Need Fewer Haredim” and two major pieces in The New York Times about the haredi approach to sex abuse cases highlight the challenge and the need to address serious issues emanating from the haredi world without demonizing an entire… Read more »

It’s time for pro-Israel leaders, organizations and activists to ask themselves not only, “are we doing things right?” but also “are we doing the right things?” Sadly, many pro-Israel groups and leaders are focused on the wrong things. Thus, here are some ideas for what American leaders, non-profits and… Read more »