The Special Kind Of Hate That Drove Pittsburgh Shooter — And Trump

It happened on Parshat Vayera. The worst anti-Semitic attack in American history occurred while Jews around the world were reading the Torah portion that tells the story of Lot, an immigrant. Lot moves to Sodom, and prospers there. The Midrash says he becomes a judge. His daughters intermarry with the locals. Then one day, while sitting at the gates of the city, the assimilating immigrant ...

2018-11-01T09:21:24-04:00By |

How Jared Kushner Flubbed The ‘Ultimate Deal’ — And Hurt Israel

Donald Trump and Jared Kushner do not represent something entirely new in the American government’s approach to Israel and Palestine. Rather, they represent the grotesque exaggeration of features that have long been present. They are the Clinton, Bush and Obama Middle East teams as seen through a funhouse mirror. They constitute the reductio ad absurdum, the end of the line. …

2018-09-24T09:21:41-04:00By |

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Has Abdicated His Moral Responsibility

I’ve never met Jonathan Sacks. But his writing has had a deeper impact on my life than any other rabbi’s. I first came across it in a London synagogue in November 2010. Stapled together was Sacks’s commentary on the week’s Torah portion, Parshat Vayetzei, in which Jacob — after tricking his brother and father — flees to the house of his uncle. …

2018-07-27T10:51:51-04:00By |

Trump Is Turning America Into An Idol

There are many reasons for American Jews to reject Donald Trump’s inhuman treatment of the undocumented families who cross America’s borders. The Torah emphasizes the value of all people. (It doesn’t begin with Jews. It begins with Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel and Noah, who hail from no nation or tribe). The Torah repeatedly stresses our responsibility to the stranger. And, in modern times, Jews have often needed the very refuge ...

2018-06-29T19:04:35-04:00By |

Bernie Sanders’ Criticism Of Israel Is Radical. And He’s Taking It Mainstream

Not many in the media are noticing, which is understandable given the burden of keeping up with Donald Trump, but in the shadow of Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, Bernie Sanders is dramatically challenging Beltway discourse on Israel. In 2020, when Sanders likely runs for president, and journalists begin paying attention, they’re going to be shocked. The Israeli government and the American Jewish establishment will be ...

2018-06-12T12:36:06-04:00By |
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