What a relief that pro-gun advocates routinely offer prayers whenever innocent people are threatened with or harmed by firearms. Abbott maintained the pattern as we worried what would become of the four hostages at Congregation Beth Israel.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day this year will be commemorated just before the 75th anniversary of a remarkable but little-known campaign by American Zionists and African-Americans that helped defeat racial segregation in Baltimore.

“Are we going to be a nation that lives not by the light of the truth but in the shadow of lies?” The forceful, stammer-free President’s Speech launched the 10-month election cycle to remove the Republican “dagger held at the throat of America” – while enabling political allies who persist in vilifying American Jews.

As the celebration of Martin Luther King Day approaches, it is important to remember Dr. King's  strong support of Israel and Zionism. 

These things--the power that gives me water and warmth, the cup of tea, the big snowfall, the safety--may I never take for granted.

Across the pond, Jewish leaders are protesting the BBC’s news coverage of an incident in which pro-Palestinian advocates threatened Jewish bus passengers in London.

A few Hamas leaders fully expect Israel’s downfall, yet Israel may not want to dislodge Hamas from its perch in Gaza. That is due to the equally firm expectation Hamas will be replaced by something worse.

“Philanthropy should be taking much bigger risks than business,” said philanthropist Bill Gates. “If these are easy problems, business and government can come in and solve them.”

Instead of blaming Sen. Jon Manchin III for the uncertain status of the Build Back Better bill, perhaps we should direct our wrath at the ghost of William Paterson. New Jersey’s one-time governor might well be disgusted with himself if he was alive to witness the suspension of the $1.7 trillion social policy legislation.

Many films of magical realism appear this time of year, across many cultures. One perennial favorite is Frank Capra’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ which first appeared when I was only three years old. I was determined to figure out why it became so popular and what could be a Torah connection.

Eighty years ago this month, two tiny French islands near Nova Scotia and Maine briefly became the center of international controversy when De Gaulle’s Free French liberated them—and President Franklin D. Roosevelt demanded that they be given back to the pro-Nazi Vichy French.

It is alarming, if not surprising, that Israeli and American officials are clashing over whether to revive a nuclear-arms deal with Iran or initiate military action.

Bruce Ticker is correct to condemn Democratic Representative Ilan Omar's hypocrisy in which she cries "islamophobia" to obfuscate her foundational antisemitism. ("Omar's Words For Boebert...of Hypocrisy", BJN 12/9/21).

Says U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, “Words can cause violence.” The Minneapolis Democrat was referring to the words of Rep. Lauren Boebert, who represents much of western and southern Colorado. Omar could have been referring to her own words – words like “the evil doings of Israel,” “the apartheid Israeli regime” and “all about the Benjamins” in reference to pro-Israel lobbying.

The black community will protest police and vigilante-like killings of African-Americans; the ongoing violence within black neighborhoods; criminal trials that resemble kangaroo courts; and over such issues as voter suppression, schools and housing. Rioting over metal-detectors, though, has not emerged in the Black community’s struggle for social justice.

The winter holidays are right around the corner. Soon, many Americans will gather around the dinner table with family and friends to give thanks for abundant blessings and freedoms as they indulge in a cornucopia of delicious traditional foods. Leftovers will last for days.

We cannot argue with Nancy Pelosi: “When a member uses his or her national platform to encourage violence, tragically, people listen.”

New York state Jews who live in the Bronx’s Riverdale section or Scarsdale and New Rochelle in Westchester, not to mention their non-Jewish neighbors, almost lost their infrastructure funding thanks to their congressman, U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman.

Over a century ago, Mark Twain prophetically cautioned that “no church property is taxed and so the infidel and the atheist and the man without religion are taxed to make up the deficit in the public income.”

Those “authoritarian school board Nazis.” “Israel literally owned Congress.” Reckless words. Wacky parents raging at school officials? Pro-Arab students whipping a crowd into a frenzy? Comparable words were uttered by them, yet such words were echoed in the past week by the unfiltered voices of Republicans Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

Oh, c’mon, Doug and Eileen, quit messing with us. To block anti-Semitism in Virginia, vote for Democrats?

If you must criticize Israel, Mary, can you please get your facts straight?

Bruce Ticker rightly questions the meaning of "Palestine" as presented by three individuals whose backgrounds do not lend themselves to Middle East expertise.

Controversy has erupted over the admission by journalist Katie Couric that she doctored her 2016 interview with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in order to “protect” Ginsburg from criticism of her opposition to athletes kneeling during the national anthem. But Couric joins a growing list of authors who have altered the unflattering words of individuals whom they admire, in order to shield them from embarrassment.

nveloped in my tallit. Our next-door neighbors have two adorable kids, the oldest a loquacious blonde with a favorite game. I watch him try, often successfully, to run away from his house and down the street while his panicked nanny chases him and screams epithets in Spanish. Every day he gets a little farther and she screams a little louder.