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Rosh Hashanah is the time of year when we as individuals find ourselves at the center of the universe in direct communication with God. For a brief moment the present stops, the past does not recede and the future refuses to beckon us. The High Holy Days are rest stops on our journey through life; a brief respite to catch our breaths, to check our baggage and to recharge our human energy. To understand where we have been, where we are, and where we are going requires us, (utilizing “contemporary lingo”) to call up our spiritual Waze to see if...
(JNS) — The diplomatic crisis unfolding between Jerusalem and Warsaw is unfortunate. Eastern European countries have been staunch supporters of the United States and Israel in a way that their counterparts in the Western continent have long ceased to be. As a result, conservative columnist Amnon Lord is among those stressing that Israel needs to be smart, not just right, when it comes to its relations with Poland. Despite its nationalism, he recently wrote, Poland “is a type of ally. … The cooperation with it in terms of military aviat...
(Jewish Journal via JNS) — If you’ve been following the ethnic studies controversy in California over the past few years and came away thinking the Jewish community had emerged relatively unscathed, think again. The Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum was unanimously adopted in March of this year by the California Board of Education. Some members of the Jewish community pushed for the inclusion of Jews in that curriculum, and once satisfied with various modifications, ultimately supported it. Others had grave concerns about the curriculum’s under...
Iran and Hamas on Monday effusively welcomed the final capitulation of the Afghan government to Taliban insurgents over the weekend, praising the hardline Islamist organization for its “brave leadership” in defeating the “American occupation.” As reports poured in from around the country of Taliban fighters seizing unmarried girls to serve as sex slaves and carrying out executions of members of the Afghan military, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi gushed over the “defeat” of the U.S., claiming that the Taliban’s violent seizure of power reflec...
(JNS) — Next month, Americans will mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The trauma lingers in the memory of everyone who was then alive. But while that day of terror will never be forgotten, as an event that informs foreign and defense policy, it is fast becoming as irrelevant as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The last American troops are withdrawing from Afghanistan as Washington is reacting with indifference to the evidence that the Taliban — the group that hosted and enabled the 9/11 attackers — will soon be back in charg...
(JNS) — In July, the United Church of Christ’s General Synod passed a “peacemaking” resolution that declared Israel guilty of sins against the Palestinian people. The resolution repeats the narrative broadcast by Palestinian Christians in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, who have been demonizing Israel for decades. Predictably enough, the resolution, which was passed with 462 yeas, 78 nays and 18 abstentions in an online vote, made no mention of any sins perpetrated by the Palestinians or their leaders in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank. Fo...
(JNS) — In the aftermath of the recent uproar over the Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream company announcing it would boycott the “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” it is worthwhile to take a closer look at that term. In 1964, Ahmad el-Shukairy convened a conference at which he created a terrorist movement called the Palestine Liberation Organization. The PLO undertook to perpetrate terrorist acts against Israeli civilians to “liberate Palestine.” At the time, Jordan occupied Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”) and Egypt-occupied Gaza. Yet, the PLO’s...
(JTA) — Jewish culture is deeply rooted in traditional core values, structures and norms often held by our American Jewish organizations. At the same time, today’s American Jewish community is more diverse and represents more backgrounds than ever. Yet this diversity is not equitably reflected in our communal spaces. Based on national and local population studies, my organization found in 2018 that one in seven Jews in the United States identifies as a person of color. Other recent estimates have varied, but one thing is clear: Jews of col...
(JTA) — Ten years ago, I sat shocked watching a new music video from one of my creative Jewish heroes, Matisyahu. Newly married and studying in yeshiva, my husband and I were trying to figure out how to uplift the art world in alignment with our Orthodox Torah ideals. Yet here was my icon, Matisyahu — who rose to fame singing about his faith and wearing the black hat and modest suit of a Hasidic Jew — dancing around in a Santa suit for his “Miracles” video with a shot of an immodestly dressed woman and a guy dressed up as Antiochus using the...
One of the great ironies revealed by the Covid-19 pandemic is the action of many Americans who profess to be lovers of freedom and of their fellow Americans, but who have ignored common sense and betrayed that love, in their irresponsible exercise of freedom during these trying days of pandemic. Not only have they endangered their own health, they have acted in a manner that expresses an abandonment of their concern for the health of their fellow citizens. Abraham Lincoln warned of the threat to the Nation of the irresponsible exercise of...
(JNS) — The United States transferred $135 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees on Saturday. This was in addition to the nearly $33 million that it gave to the organization in May to help the Gaza Strip, ravaged by Hamas rockets and Israel’s response to them during “Operation Guardian of the Walls.” The latest cash bonanza also came three months after Washington provided an initial gift of $150 million to “restore” the aid that was cut in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump. It’s not necessary to...
(Jewish Journal, JNS) — Five months ago, with his back to the wall and facing calls from his own allies to resign, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had a ready answer to the accusations of sexual misconduct that were engulfing him: Let’s wait for the investigation. “I ask the people of this state to wait for the facts from the attorney general’s report before forming an opinion,” he pleaded. It almost sounded reasonable. It bought him precious time. So, New York Attorney General Letitia James promptly called Cuomo’s bluff by initiating the investi...
(JNS) — The plot was audacious: Agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran would kidnap an American citizen on American soil. Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-born journalist and human rights activist, was to be grabbed, spirited out of Brooklyn to Venezuela, and then on to Tehran where she would have been imprisoned, tortured, and, almost certainly, executed. Earlier this month, the FBI, to its enormous credit, foiled the plot. “Not on our watch,” FBI assistant director William Sweeney told reporters. Spokesmen for the Islamic Republic dismissed the cha...
(JNS) — For many of us, the world’s hypocrisy when it comes to Israel is self-evident, and the double standards applied to the only Jewish state are clearly anti-Semitic. Typically, we think about these biases when issues arise directly related to Israel, but it may be even more obvious to others if we consider the likely response if Israel engaged in some of the policies and activities of other countries. Imagine the reaction if … Israel announced it was planning to ban halal slaughter. The European Union’s highest court ruled in 2020 that co...
In columns recently published by The Heritage, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream was excoriated for deciding not to sell ice cream in what the company calls “the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” Mel Pearlman equates the decision with antisemitism, stating “This action is part of the BDS effort to delegitimize the existence of the Jewish State, and to deny the indigenous right of the Jewish people to their homeland.” And Jim Shipley titles his column, “Anti-Israel equals antisemitism.” Whether you a...
Dear Editor: I was completely taken aback by your decision to publish Tamara Aronowsky’s article “Abortion’s Juneteenth” (July 9, 2021 issue). It was offensive on so many levels. At the very least, you should have included a counter article in support of this important and necessary law. That you chose to publish this despite the fact that 83 percent of Jews believe that abortion should be legal in all/most cases defies logic. Equally disturbing is that The Heritage believes it is an appropriate place for such a topic. Having a Jewish author...
(JNS) — If you thought that American Jews were going to unite against discrimination in ice-cream sales, you were wrong. The decision of the Ben & Jerry’s company to “end sales of our ice-cream in ‘occupied Palestinian territories’” was widely condemned across the political spectrum in Israel, by many mainstream Jewish groups and by American political leaders. But the notion that this is an issue around which Jews are going to rally is wrong. Even worse, it may be that, like so much else, it will become fodder for partisan squabbling...
(FLAME via JNS) — There’s no doubt that Arabs have lived in the Holy Land for many hundreds of years. You can’t blame them for making claims to some of the land. Arabs today control about 97 percent of the Middle East, and Palestinian Arabs represent about 70 percent of the population of Israel’s neighbor, Jordan. The problem is, Palestinian Arabs flatly deny that Jews have also lived in this land — especially that they have dwelled on their tiny sliver of territory continuously for over 3,000 years. This rejection of Jewish history leads Pal...
KIBBUTZ HANNATON, Israel (New York Jewish Week via JTA) — Like Tikvah, one of the two main characters in my debut novel, “Hope Valley,” I moved to Israel out of Zionist ideology. Growing up, I went to Zionist schools and summer camps, where I imbibed the narrative that after 2,000 years of exile and oppression, even genocide, we, the few, defeated the many evil nations who were out to destroy us, and created a third Jewish sovereignty here on this land promised to us by God. But once living on this land, I slowly began to open my eyes, ears...
(JNS) — Giant fissures are emerging from just beneath the earth’s surface throughout the Middle East and Israel is bracing for the inevitable eruption. The United States had better wake up, too, because the aftershocks will be felt here, and they will not be mild. In a briefing this week to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies’ Professor Manuel Tratjenberg stated that Tehran has accumulated immense knowledge of greater levels of highly enriched uranium and uranium metal production operating more...
Dear Editor: In major recent Jewish publications, much has been written on intermarriage. It is important to respect the love between two people and honor the choices couples make in their lives. With that said, I love Jewish weddings and soon I will be attending my nephew’s rescheduled Jewish celebration delayed by the pandemic. Jewish weddings are joyous, energetic and connect Jews across generations. There is traditional and soulful Jewish music. Many brides adopt the custom of circling the groom seven times. Marriage contracts or Ketubot a...
By I woke up to the echoes of the Islamic prayers through the Judean mountains that were both beautiful and haunting. Living here among Palestinian Arab Moslems I hear the call to prayer daily, five times a day, but today was different. Today the volume and length of the prayer was considerably louder and longer. The sustained repetition of “Allah Akbar” is audible, perhaps amplified by the mountains, and only competing with an occasional car, or bird. I have no problem with how one approaches God in their respective faith, as long as the...
Lately, the delicious flavors of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream have started to taste very bitter. Could it be the sudden introduction of antisemitic ingredients into the recipe have contaminated a great American product along with the story of a great American company? Prior to being acquired by Unilever, Ltd., a British based international conglomerate in the food industry, in 2001, the company was not only successful, but was socially conscience and active in civil rights and environmental concerns. It certainly was not at its inception destined...
There was a time that negative stereotypes flourished on major networks. “Amos and Andy” was a parody on Black Americans. Their parts were played on radio with white actors putting on exaggerated Black accents. A group of African Americans were portrayed as foolish, stereotypical black people who had trouble like many people but with a nasty racist twist. On radio, Jews were not portrayed with raw racist antisemitism. Maybe it was the preponderance of Jews in high positions in the radio and TV industry. “The Goldbergs,” a staple of daytime...
Unilever, Ltd., is a British multinational consumer goods company. They own over 400 brands. The conglomerate bought Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream in 2001. Owners Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield relinquished managerial control of the company, but maintained autonomy over social issues. When Ben & Jerry’s, the company, said that it is “inconsistent with our values” for their ice cream to be sold in Judea and Samaria, Unilever, the parent company was not — and is not — in agreement. In a press release from Arutz Sheva 7, Avi Zinger, CEO of Ben & Jerry...