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.
Read More »How Zionists Helped Defeat Segregation in Baltimore
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.
Read More »Column: The President’s Speech: Stammering on Israel-bashing Allies
“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.
Read More »Letter: Dr. King’s Pro-Israel & Pro-Zionist Legacy
As the celebration of Martin Luther King Day approaches, it is important to remember Dr. King's strong support of Israel and Zionism.
Read More »Prayers for a New Year
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.
Read More »Column: BBC Gets It Wrong – Again (and Again)
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.
Read More »Column: Hamas To Be, or Not To Be
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.
Read More »It’s Time for Some “Moonshot” Philanthropy
“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.”
Read More »Column: Blame Manchin? Our Political System Must Be Built Back Better
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.
Read More »What Makes “A Wonderful Life?”
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.
Read More »A Troubling 80th Anniversary: When FDR Appeased Vichy
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.
Read More »Column: Iran’s Bomb vs. Conventional War: Can We Avoid Both?
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.
Read More »Letter: “Islamophobia” Does Not Equal Antisemitism
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).
Read More »Column: Omar’s Words For Boebert…Of Hypocrisy
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.
Read More »Column: From Jerusalem to Harlem: What intersectionality?
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.
Read More »Hungry for Change – Simple Questions To Ask About The Ongoing Problem Of Food Insecurity In The U.S.
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.
Read More »Column: Gosar Censure: No Time To Confront House Anti-Semitism
We cannot argue with Nancy Pelosi: “When a member uses his or her national platform to encourage violence, tragically, people listen.”
Read More »Column: Democrat’s Vote Against Infra Bill Threatened Needs of Large Jewish Constituency
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.
Read More »Charity “Grand Bargain” Strained by Religious Nonprofit Tax Exemption
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.”
Read More »Column: The Reckless Words of Trump and Cruz
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.
Read More »Column: Democrats Claim They Will Curb Your Anti-Semitism. With Their Record?
Oh, c’mon, Doug and Eileen, quit messing with us. To block anti-Semitism in Virginia, vote for Democrats?
Read More »Column: Lies Our Anti-Israel Activists Are Telling Us
If you must criticize Israel, Mary, can you please get your facts straight?
Read More »Letter: The PLO on “Palestine”
Bruce Ticker rightly questions the meaning of "Palestine" as presented by three individuals whose backgrounds do not lend themselves to Middle East expertise.
Read More »Katie Couric Wasn’t The First: FDR, Truman And The Jews
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.
Read More »The Teenage Years: Better Run Away
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.
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