CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (JTA) — Recently, in an article for JTA, “The Missing Left: Where’s the support for liberal Zionists on campus?,” Andrew Silow-Carroll noted that “many American pro-Israel organizations and leaders ignore or ostracize liberal Zionists.” In the absence of progressive Zionist groups on campus, who should be… Read more »
Opinion
OP-ED Survivors’ welfare is a public, private and community responsibility
Auschwitz and Belsen concentration camp survivor Eva Behar showing her number tattoo in her London home, Dec. 1, 2014. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
(JTA) — They survived unimaginable horrors, yet went on to live productive lives, despite the haunting memories, the profound loss and physical scars from years of deprivation. Now many Holocaust survivors need our assistance so they may live their twilight years with dignity in their homes and communities. Most… Read more »
OP-ED The lessons of Nuremberg: Stand up to hate, and remember hate’s victims
Members of the tribunal preside over the Nuremberg war crimes trials in 1946. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
MONTREAL (JTA) — Yom Hashoah arrives this year on the eve of two historic anniversaries: the 80th anniversary of the coming into effect of the Nuremberg Race Laws, which served as prologue and precursor to the Holocaust, and the 70th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials, which served as… Read more »
How my grandmother’s chutzpah helped Sugihara rescue thousands of Jews
The endorsements of Chiune Sugihara and Jan Zwartendijk, the Japanese and Dutch consuls, respectively, in Kovno, Lithuania, appear on the Leidimas, or travel document, that allowed Isaac Lewin and his family to escape Lithuania in 1940. Nathan Lewin, now a prominent attorney, is the 4-year-old boy in the arms of his mother, Peppy Sternheim Lewin. (Photo courtesy Alyza D. Lewin)
Editor’s note: In honor of Yom HaShoah, which will be commemorated in Tucson on Sunday, May 1 at 2 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, the AJP offers this commentary. See also “In Remembrance.” In May 1998, the AJP published an interview with Jan Zwartendijk, the son of… Read more »
OP-ED ‘I’m for Israel. Period.’ That’s the John Kasich I know.
John Kasich at a campaign rally at the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio, March 6, 2016. (Ty Wright/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (JTA) — There are many opinions as to what criteria should be used in deciding who gets my fellow Republicans’ vote as their nominee for president of the United States. But I think the only valid question should be this one: Which candidate can actually beat Hillary… Read more »
OP-ED Not a day goes by that Ted Cruz doesn’t think about the Jews and Israel
Ted Cruz speaking to workers at a manufacturing plant in Dane, Wis.,March 24, 2016. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
SILVER SPRING, Md. (JTA) — King Solomon tells us in Proverbs: “The heavens are for the heights, and the earth is for the depths, and the hearts of kings no one can ponder.” It is impossible to know what kings and leaders of nations have in their hearts. With… Read more »
OP-ED Donald Trump is a visionary with talents our country needs
Donald Trump attending the New York State Republican Gala in New York City, April 14, 2016. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)
(JTA) — I am executive vice president and chief legal officer of The Trump Organization. I have been working with Donald Trump for over 19 years. I am an observant, committed Jew. What comes to my mind when I think of Donald Trump? Inspiration. He inspires people of… Read more »
OP-ED In a scary world, Hillary Clinton is the commander in chief we need
Hillary Clinton campaigning at a Bronx organizing event in New York City, April 13, 2016. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Today, Israel is surrounded by more turmoil than ever, and the world also presents great challenges to the United States. Iran is developing missile technology that can reach Israel, and providing ever-more-sophisticated rockets to Hezbollah and Hamas. Russia is making aggressive military movement from Ukraine… Read more »
OP-ED Bernie Sanders is simply better for America, for Israel and the world
Bernie Sanders at a campaign rally at Bronx Community College in New York City, April 9, 2016. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (JTA) — On Nov. 8, 2016, if Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee, I expect to be voting enthusiastically for Clinton for president. One reason is that she’s so competent. Another is that the Republicans are so awful. In fact, I can’t think of a modern-day… Read more »
Deluxe Jewish camps missing the point
Figure skating, private baths, passports, gold medal coaches? The new Jewish summer camp models (“Jewish camps invest in improvements for our gilded age,” AJP, 3/18/16) left me feeling dismayed. What do these activities have to do with helping our Jewish youth feel more connected to Judaism? The costs of… Read more »
Op-Ed: Can a united community still work miracles? Ask the Yemenite Jews.
A Jewish family from Yemen arriving in Israel at Ben Gurion International Airport, Aug. 14, 2013. (Moshik Brin/The Jewish Agency/Flash90)
(JTA) — Passover is a time for family, for tradition, and for festive celebration. It’s also a time to fix a paradox. As we read the Haggadah, we reflect on our past travails and miraculous redemption as a Jewish people. But if we look only at the past we… Read more »
Op-Ed: Landmark conversions ruling is a victory for religious freedom in Israel
(JTA) — The Israeli Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling on conversion is a truly historic decision – for Israeli and American Jewry. While the case only concerns a few individuals, the general rules and unequivocal language have wide significance for both Israeli and American Jewry. The ruling represents another… Read more »
ANALYSIS: AIPAC and the perils of bipartisanship
AIPAC's annual Policy Conference, held March 20-22, 2016, sprawled
across Washington's downtown convention center, above, and its nearby
basketball arena. (JTA)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — I am trying to imagine a conversation between Donald Trump’s people and a delegation of Reform rabbis and lay leaders. Rabbi Jonah Pesner, the Reform movement’s man in Washington, told me that Trump’s people have agreed to a “staff-to-staff” meeting to discuss Jewish concerns about Trump’s… Read more »
Op-Ed: Mob mentality at Vassar BDS vote typical of school’s Israel climate
Jason Storch POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (JTA) — At many colleges and universities today, Jewish students are often pitted against students of color when it comes to Israel. In my three years at Vassar College, I have been told – by a Jewish student leader, no less – that supporting Israel is tantamount… Read more »
The masks we wear on Purim — and on Facebook
A girl wears a Purim mask in Jerusalem, March 15, 2006.
CHICAGO (JUF News via JTA) — Like so many other Jewish little girls on Purim, both my big sister and I would dress up for our annual Purim carnival as Queen Esther. The morning of the carnival, my mom would array us in regal dresses, bright red lipstick and a… Read more »
Op-Ed: Pew findings not surprising, but also not irreversible
NEW YORK (JTA) — The Pew Research Center poll released last week surveying attitudes among Israeli citizens confirms what many of us who work on Israeli issues already knew: Israel is a deeply divided society, first and foremost between its Jewish and Arab citizens, but also among its Jewish sectors. Ethnicity,… Read more »
Op-Ed: Arab terrorism responsible for Pew finding on transfer
PHILADELPHIA (JTA) — The recent Pew Research Center study finding that about half of Israeli Jews favor transferring Arabs from Israel reveals the fear, frustration and misery that Israeli Jews feel after being subjected to decades of Arab terrorist attacks that have killed and maimed thousands of innocents.… Read more »
I’m a transgender Jewish man who had a baby — here’s why I went public with my story
A recent photo of Rafi Daugherty and his daughter, Ettie. (Courtesy of Rafi Daugherty)
PERSONAL ESSAY (JTA) — Two weeks ago, I heard a podcast in which two Jewish women named Ronna and Beverly misgendered me repeatedly and made fun of my story. This was not the first time I thought to myself, “Why did I choose this?” To be clear, I was… Read more »
Op-Ed: American leaders must be pushed harder on disability inclusion
(JTA) — In her victory speech after the Nevada primaries, Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton said it’s time to invest in marginalized communities by “ensuring that people with disabilities have the same opportunities to work and fully participate in our society.” That may seem like the standard campaign rhetoric of… Read more »
Op-Ed: Universities must act to protect free speech on campus
Emily Briskman (Jewish United Fund) CHICAGO (JTA) — The ideals of open dialogue, debate and civil discourse are pillars of university life. Today, these mainstays of higher education are beginning to crumble with fissures developing over issues of race, gender and, most recently, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which now threatens to topple the tower of… Read more »



