Silly Season Is Here Again
It’s silly season again in the Jewish world. In other words, yet another fight has broken out over conversions in Israel, and ostensibly smart people have taken to saying some truly risible things. In...
Shimon Peres Looks Back
Benny Morris’ interview of Shimon Peres in Tablet has to be one of the most interesting and refreshing reflections upon history that I have read in quite a while, yielding much insight into the...
Menschic Warriors
This article, appearing in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, omits only one significant fact in this kiddush Hashem of a piece. There is something that Benish Kaplan is even more passionate about than basketball....
Conversion Bill Hysteria
The Rotem Conversion Bill in Israel has, as we know, generated a lot of press. I suppose it is unsurprising to many to find that the coverage has been so intellectually dishonest — claiming...
Matisyahu Made Him Cry
Matisyahu, for those who don’t know, is an American Jewish kid who grew up listening to reggae, became a BT, started singing Jewish-oriented reggae and became a (very) popular artist. His lyrics speak about...
“Their Souls Are Screaming Out For What You Have”
Unlike many New Yorkers I know, I do not have an easy time listening to Michael Savage. I squirm when caught in a car in NY when the driver tunes in to his show....
The New Israel Fund’s Israel Problem
Several weeks ago, an activist for disabled children, “Shlomit,” attended a seminar conducted by the New Israel Fund. She self-identifies as “left-wing, Zionist, and religious,” and she supports criticism of Israel. But she was...
The Price of Exclusion
“Whatever happened to ahavas Yisrael?” an acquaintance recently demanded to know. While I sometimes doff my defender-of-the-faithful hat at the gym, I assumed he was talking about Emmanuel and dutifully trotted out all my...
The Real Road to Jewish Unity
What most violates the ultimate oneness of the Jewish People are multiple definitions of the word “Jew” – what results from a smorgasbord of conversion standards.
Arafat’s Legacy Lives!
Bill Clinton has said that one of Yasser Arafat’s biggest mistakes in their conversations was trying to convince him that there never was a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem – that it had stood instead...