By Heidi Gantwerk JERUSALEM — Shabbat greetings from Jerusalem, where my team and I are working on the itinerary for Federation’s CommUNITY Trip in May. I am struggling to find words for all that we have already seen and experienced. Beyond the endless food, the beauty of winter light in Jerusalem, the (ahem) excitement of […]
The Impact You Have in Israel Read More »
Heidi Gantwerk, Israel, Opinion, San Diego County
By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — It was the devil…er, Itamar Ben-Gvir…who made me do it. This Ben-Gvir made me bomb buses, fire another few hundred rockets into Israel and toss rocks from the Temple Mount onto worshipers at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. If such acts of terrorism materialize in the ensuing weeks, blame
Ben-Gvir’s Presumed ‘Act of War’ Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Israel, Opinion, USA
By Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — In 1783, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s play “Nathan the Wise” premiered at the Berlin Theater. The play was a literary and theatrical sensation and a shock to Germany, and perhaps to the entire Christian world. Hitherto Jews had been considered and portrayed as immoral and despicable people. Lessing’s character Nathan,
Moses Mendelssohn: The Berlin Dreamer Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Jewish History, Opinion
(JNS) After two years of pointedly ignoring a problem largely of his own making, President Joe Biden finally made a brief visit to the U.S. southern border in El Paso, Texas. While there, however, he saw little of the human cost of the catastrophe, as he didn’t meet or see any of the illegal immigrants
Where’s the Outrage Over Biden Comparing Illegal Immigrants to Holocaust Victims? Read More »
Holocaust, Opinion, USA
By Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — On January 3, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir took a 13-minute walk in Jerusalem’s Old City on the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site. Much of the “world” set its hair on fire and got hysterical—a bit of an overreaction. An ancient spiritual vortex, the Temple Mount has always
Holier to Whom? The Temple Mount Read More »
Israel, Opinion, Steve Kramer, USABy Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — Heinrich Heine was loved and hated by the two nations to which he belonged. The Germans loved his lyrics and disliked his political poetry. The Jews liked to attribute his genius to themselves and disliked his conversion to Protestantism, which he often joked: “What do you want? I found
Meeting Heinrich Heine Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Jewish History, Opinion
By Bruce S. Ticker “Justice, justice thou shalt pursue…” – Exodus “The law is all we have…” – Newman, from “The Seven” segment in “Seinfeld” Team Bibi’s plans to transform Israel’s legal system boils down to a perversion of our most basic biblical teachings. They will forsake justice to feed their political appetites. Retired Rabbi
If Justice, Justice is Not Pursued in Israel Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Israel, Opinion, USABy Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — Now is not the beginning of the end of Israeli democracy, as many “pundits” say, but the end of the beginning of a more nationalistic Israel (a good thing). According to Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, the government’s four main priorities are: stymying Iran, personal and national security,
Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Israeli Government? Read More »
Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Steve Kramer, USA
By Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D JERUSALEM — Last Friday’s headline in Yedioth Ahronoth, by no means an extremist newspaper, indicated that there will be at least 30 ministries in Israel’s new government. Later news, on the internet, indicates that there’ll be a Ministry of Intelligence, a Ministry of Environmental Protection, a Ministry of the Diaspora, a
There is a Government in Israel. Or is There? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Israel, OpinionIf Republicans get their act together on Tuesday, when a new term for Congress begins, they will have the opportunity to make themselves useful. Republicans will take over the House then by a difference of four or five seats, giving them power to act against Omar, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit and other representatives who distort the Israeli situation and/or slander Jews. [Bruce S. Ticker]
GOP House Leadership May Rebuke Omar and Tlaib Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, USABy Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — As I scanned the menu at a Japanese restaurant on Sunday, I overheard the word “Palestinians.” I turned my head and spotted a few men at the end of a long table jabbering away, about 20 feet from my table. They were with a dozen others who appeared to
Palestinians Dread What They Have Wrought Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Israel, Opinion, USA
By Paul Miller (JNS) Policy towards Iran represents a particularly complex item on the Biden administration’s agenda. The administration has expressed solidarity with Iranian protesters as they face a harsh crackdown, but at the same time, President Joe Biden has long sought to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The debate surrounding Iran cannot be
Why the US and Israel Should Not Overlook the South Caucasus Read More »
International, Israel, Middle East, Opinion, USABy Alex Gordon HAIFA, Israel — Jews have been criticized many times – by the left for being capitalists, by the right for being socialists. Only once in history has a Jew been both a socialist and a capitalist. It was Alexander Parvus. In Latin, “parvus” is small, the pseudonym under which Israel Gelfand began
Revolution as Business Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Jewish History, Opinion
By Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — Why “defrocking,” a term usually used in the ecclesiastical sense? Well, The New York Times (NYT) has a quasi-religious following among American liberals, especially Jewish ones. It is “the” authority on most things, and one of those things is the paper’s peculiar relationship with the Jewish state of
Defrocking The New York Times Read More »
Israel, Opinion, Steve Kramer, USA