By Doron Krakow Over the past few days, a series of remarkable gatherings took place across the continent—gatherings of hundreds of Jewish Community Center professionals from dozens of JCCs, centers, and camps representing different regions of our movement. Programs and settings varied, but each one focused on skill-building while addressing emerging challenges around programs, operations, […]
Strength in Adversity Read More »
Doron Krakow, Lifestyles, Opinion, USA
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — The echoes of events that happened in Germany just a few decades ago are continuing to disturb my peace of mind and give me sleepless nights. We all know that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s position is precarious and that his main goal is to avoid having to stand
Worrying Echoes in Israel Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Opinion
By Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — In “Yesterday’s World,” Stephan Zweig wrote: “For the Jews, being attached to the spirit of the people or country in which they live has become not only a means of external protection, but also a deep inner need. Their desire for a homeland, for peace, for refuge, for security,
The ‘Torch,’ or Anti-Freud, of Karl Kraus Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Jewish History, Opinion
Published by The Philadelphia Inquirer The urgent threat to Israeli democracy that brought that entire country to a halt on Sunday is far from over. True, there is a lull. Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu was compelled to delay passage of legislation that would have dramatically weakened Israel’s Supreme Court because of opposition by hundreds
Israeli Democracy is Still Under Threat, Even if Netanyahu Has Hit the ‘Pause’ Button Read More »
Opinion
By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — It would take someone like Carolyn McCoy to explain the words of Kareem Tannous, a terminated college professor whom she defends in a letter published last Friday in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Tweets the biz prof on International Holocaust Remembrance Day: “#zionism is the disease #Free Palestine is the cure
Big-Mouth Profs ‘Dare to Dissent’ Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Israel, Opinion, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
By Sam Litvin SAN DIEGO — Two things happened Monday that stressed the importance of this moment in Jewish history. One is a lunch meeting with a fellow wrestling coach, who is not Jewish but asked me “What is happening in Israel?” The other is a fellow Kellogg-Recanati Alum who is running a startup from
The Importance of This Moment in Jewish History Read More »
Israel, Opinion, Sam Litvin, USA
By Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — In a speech on the evening of March 23, 2023, after mass disruptions (a “Day of Paralysis”) were held throughout Israel, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu stated that his government was, “determined to responsibly advance a reform that will bring back the correct balance between the branches [courts &
Should Israel’s Top Judges Be Ideologically Aligned? Read More »
Israel, Opinion, Steve Kramer, USA
*Editor’s note: This column is posted posthumously. By Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — I recently read about a Missouri Congressman who was among the majority that voted on a new rule forbidding women from entering the chamber with bare arms, requiring them to cover up. My initial reaction was: “Here we go
A Stream of Consciousness About the Ever-Changing Values of Our World Read More »
Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz, Opinion
By Jacob Kamaras LA JOLLA, California — San Diego was thrust into the foreign policy spotlight last week when President Joe Biden as well as the prime ministers of the U.K. and Australia convened here to announce a submarine security pact. But another, often-overlooked region of the world is also on the White House’s radar
On Armenia-Azerbaijan Tensions, Don’t Take the Headlines at Face Value Read More »
California, International, Jacob Kamaras, Opinion, USA
To the editor: Bruce Ticker asks: How can Israel retain the Judea-Samaria territories “without the loss of life,” since “the Palestinians compose the largest population grouping there?” And what about “the risks and benefits of building [Jewish] communities there?” he wonders. This is exactly the dilemma that faced Yitzhak Rabin when he became prime minister
Why Israel’s Status Quo Works Read More »
Israel, OpinionBy Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — The surest way to upset readers when writing about Israel is to trip over semantics. The surest way to upset me is to focus on semantics without addressing the larger issues facing Israel. I was zinged by no less an activist and writer than Stephen M. Flatow, whose daughter
What Price Annexation? Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Israel, OpinionTo the editor: Bruce Ticker (“Israel is Our Business,” March 1) claims that the current Israeli government “has proposed annexing the Palestinian territories.” In fact, the government has not made any such proposal, and the platform of the ruling Likud party says nothing about annexing territories. Two of the smaller parties within the governing coalition
Historically Jewish Territories Are Not ‘Palestinian Territories’ Read More »
Israel, Opinion*Editor’s note: This column is posted posthumously. By Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — There are definitely conspiracy theories against old people, and I can prove it. Whoever the conspirators are, they just want to make life harder for us seniors. Those of you who are young may not have noticed the terrible
‘They’re Out to Get Us!’ Conspiracy Theories Against the Elderly Read More »
Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz, Opinion
By Jerry Klinger In March 2022, Martin Sugarman, the Chairman of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation’s U.K. branch, shared with me a contact he had received. Susan Soyinka, from Penzance, Cornwall, had contacted him about possibly funding a Remembering Stone for Albert and Rosa Reuss. The Reusses were Austrian Jewish refugees who escaped
The Crocus Project and the Meaning of the Holocaust Read More »
Holocaust, International, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Opinion