Israel Is Walling Itself In, Literally
Israel announced this week that it plans to build a fence on its Syrian border for security purposes. That makes perfect sense, given that Syria is in the midst of a horrific civil war whose ripple...
View ArticleMorsi Code: The Language Of Hate
Now that The New York Times and the White House have acknowledged and rightfully condemned Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s hateful, racist descriptions of Jews and Israel, will they do the same...
View ArticleWrong Message On Weberman Sentencing
In sentencing Nechemya Weberman to 103 years in jail last week for sexually abusing a young woman from the Satmar chasidic community, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice John Ingram said he hoped to send a...
View ArticleLove Him Or Hate Him, Art Modell Will Be Remembered
Art Modell would be kvelling this week.read more
View ArticleWho Will Follow The Pope's Lead?
“Pope Gives God Two Weeks’ Notice.” Leave it to the New York tabloids, in this case the New York Post, to sum up the stunning news from the Vatican in a few words. While the Catholic Church scrambles...
View ArticleIt's Party Time After Shul. Mixed Drinks, Clear Message
Maybe Lucette Lagnado’s piece in The Wall Street Journal (Feb. 8) on how some high-profile Orthodox synagogues are drawing large crowds to their Shabbat morning services with expensive booze and...
View ArticleHoping Israel’s Oscar-Nominated Film Loses
I’m not rooting for “The Gatekeepers” to win the Academy Award Sunday night for Best Documentary.read more
View ArticleHey Oscar, Consider Tina Fey: Seth MacFarlane Offends
Most of the criticism leveled at Seth MacFarlane, the Oscars host from left field, was focused on his negative comments on women, and deservedly so.read more
View ArticleWhy Is Obama Going To Israel In March?
There has been a good deal of speculation about why President Obama, who did not visit Israel during his first term, is planning to go to Jerusalem in three weeks.read more
View ArticleL.A. Film Director Having A Jewish Impact
Jill Soloway, a hip Hollywood writer/director/producer (“Six Feet Under,” “The United States of Tara”), has become a Jewish activist in the last several years and is having quite an impact on the L.A....
View ArticleYehuda Avner's 10 Commandments
Ambassador Yehuda Avner is the 84-year-old rock star of Jewish media these days. His 2010 memoir, “The Prime Ministers,” based on the notes he took as a senior advisor to five Israeli prime ministers...
View ArticleSharansky, Understanding The Need, Presses On For Kotel Changes
Support faltered, then rebounded, this week for Natan Sharansky’s bold plan to transform the Western Wall into a site for both traditional and alternative prayer, as the Jewish Agency chair held...
View ArticleRon Dermer And Michael Oren Share Similar Backgrounds
With the choice of Ron Dermer as Israel’s next Ambassador to the U.S., Prime Minister Netanyahu finally will have his man in Washington, one he trusts completely and who shares his worldview. Dermer’s...
View ArticleElection Of Haredi Chief Rabbis Will Backfire On Hardliners In Long Run
Ironically, the victory by the haredi candidates in this week’s election of the two chief rabbis in Israel may, in the long run, lead to a more liberal and open approach to religious life in the...
View ArticleRemembering A Feisty Colleague
There was a time when Yehuda Lev, an outspoken Jewish journalist who died this past weekend at the age of 86, was the talk of the Los Angeles Jewish community. His weekly column, “A Majority Of One,”...
View ArticleAppreciating Elmore Leonard: More Than A Crime Writer
Several years ago, as I made my way over to the Barnes and Noble store on the upper West Side, I wondered if anyone else would show up to see the guest author, Elmore Leonard, appearing on such a...
View Article`Free Iran’ Rally At UN: Deja Jew
Walking through the crowd at the “Free Iran” rally outside the United Nations this afternoon, one would think the Jewish community had spent a good deal of time, effort and money to provide hundreds of...
View ArticleAJCongress Chair On The Hot Seat
Gary Rosenblatt Editor & Publisher Jack Rosen, the chairman of the American Jewish Congress, may well face the first serious challenge to his longtime, dominant leadership of the organization at...
View ArticleAJCongress Chair On The Hot Seat
Gary Rosenblatt Editor & Publisher Jack Rosen, the chairman of the American Jewish Congress, may well face the first serious challenge to his longtime, dominant leadership of the organization at...
View Article`Money For Mitzvahs’
The “Cash for Clunkers” experiment has come and gone, but what was intended for car owners to benefit from increasing their vehicles’ fuel efficiency could be applied to improve Jewish life as well.The...
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