By Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative” August 14, 2020, https://bit.ly/3ame0hg Israel’s regional posture of deterrence and global high tech prominence have motivated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to conclude the August 13, 2020 peace accord with Israel. The same Israeli features have prompted the pro-US Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait, as well as Jordan and […]

Editor: In the age of social distancing, a trip to the local supermarket or park feels like a postcard worthy trip. Yet, despite the current limitations on movement, there will come a time when we will vacation beyond our shores once more. As we think about where we’ll get away, I call on our community to first come home and […]

By BEN HARRIS NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinzaltz, the acclaimed scholar whose landmark translation of the Talmud enabled a vast readership to access one of Judaism’s most canonical texts, has died. Steinsaltz died Friday, Aug. 7, at 83 in Jerusalem. Steinsaltz’s monumental translation of the Babylonian Talmud made the arcane rabbinic debates and folkloric tales easier […]

By Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative August 5, 2020, https://bit.ly/3i9VE5O Western misreading yields devastating consequences The Libyan turmoil is, mostly, the outcome of the 2011 reckless toppling of the Qaddafi regime by a US-led NATO offensive.  The offensive was launched despite the fact that the ruthless Qaddafi had become a fervent warrior against Islamic terrorism in […]

By Rabbi REBECCA BLADY BERLIN (JTA) – Across the room sat a man, a murderer, who had tried to kill me and 51 others  who were praying in the Halle Synagogue last Yom Kippur. Responding to question after question from the judge, he espoused the most hateful ideology, showing no shame at his open contempt and cruel rhetoric toward Muslims […]

By JONATHAN S. TOBIN (JNS) – Americans are experiencing a summer of discontent in a way that exceeds any in living memory. The nation is divided not just along political lines but seems increasingly immersed in something much dangerous—a culture war in which both sides truly believe that not only will a triumph by their opponents bring ruin, but that […]

Editor: The article in your newspaper this week by Ron Kampeas, “Jewish Republicans come to praise Trump, and to strategize about selling him to other Jews,” contains the claim that during an online townhall broadcast, “RJC’s [Republican Jewish Coalition] executive director, Matt Brooks, repeatedly pressed [Mark] Levin to refute claims by Democrats that Trump has enabled anti-Semites, particularly when Trump in […]

By Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative” July 23, 2020, https://bit.ly/39lOus0 The Ben Gurion legacy contradicts conventional wisdom. It rejects the assumption that a White House “green light” is a prerequisite for the application of Israeli law to the Jordan Valley and the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria (West Bank). Ben Gurion’s May 14, 1948 Declaration […]

By MARILYN SHAPIRO In 1994, I attended, along with a number of my colleagues from the Capital District Educational Opportunity Center, an Office of Special Programs (OSP) conference in downstate New York. After the opening night’s dinner, I wandered over to venders’ tables that had been set up in an adjoining room. The items included many that reflected the African-American […]

By DEBORAH FINEBLUM (JNS) – This year Jews the world over got into the Tisha B’Av mood several months earlier than usual. During a typical summer, Jewish families and individuals tear themselves away from family vacations, beach outings, amusement parks and other hot-weather entertainment to enter a period of mourning known as “the Three Weeks” (no weddings, haircuts or shaving, […]