When Rabbi Daniel Cohen was writing his book about courage, he couldn’t think of a better subject for a chapter than his congregant, Sen. Joseph Lieberman. Lieberman, who died Wednesday at 82, eventually wrote the foreword for the book, “What Will They Say About You When You’re Gone?”
Read MoreThe Purim festivities in Israel this year were tinged with a schizophrenic twinning of glee and despair. Adding to the dismal mood was intermittent rain and a drizzle of rockets from Lebanon. Many celebrants experienced cognitive dissonance in marking the foiling of a genocidal plan in ancient Persia while a bloody war is raging today in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
Read More(OPINION) With the ever increasing warnings about the alleged danger of “Christian nationalism,” however ambiguous that term might be, it is only fair to ask: Is America a Christian nation? And, just as importantly: Has America ever been a Christian nation? And how does this relate to Christian nationalism?
Read More(EXPLAINER) Since 2000, the two holidays have overlapped every year but four — in 2005, 2008, 2016 and this spring. Easter is calculated based on the Christian liturgical calendar tied to the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Passover, on the other hand, is determined by the Jewish calendar, which is also lunar-based. That’s where the similarities end.
Read MoreAcutely aware of the painful history of Christian participation and complicity in antisemitism, and a sharp increase in antisemitic incidents nationally and globally, Christian scholars and clergy are calling for a new level of reflection and accountability for churches, starting from the pulpit.
Read MoreAIPAC lobbyists are headed to Capitol Hill this week to increase pressure on Congress to pass a bipartisan Israel aid bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson has so far resisted bringing a $95 billion foreign aid bill to a floor vote. That bill, approved by the Senate last month, would support Ukraine in its efforts to repel Russia’s invasion, and send $14.1 billion to Israel, which is fighting against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah on its northern border.
Read MoreUnlike at other rallies for a ceasefire in Gaza, you aren’t likely to hear calls for Palestine to extend “from the river to the sea” at the one in New York’s Union Square. And there will be few or no denunciations of Israel as a “settler-colonial” state. Rather, rallygoers call on both Israel and Hamas to agree to a “bilateral ceasefire,” humanitarian aid for Palestinians and the release of all hostages in Gaza.
Read More(OPINION) According to a quote widely attributed to Winston Churchill, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” This is absolutely true when it comes to reporting about Israel, except even more so. We could say that anti-Israel lies become canonized, even becoming part of sacred religious lore, before the truth even gets out of bed.
Read More(ANALYSIS) For Maimonides, a 12th century theologian, philosopher, rabbi and physician, there is no true faith without reason. His writings spurred centuries of conflict and were even banned in some Jewish communities. Yet he also penned one of the most famous guides to Jewish law and still stands as one of the most influential rabbis to have ever lived.
Read MoreAfter Benjamin Netanyahu pulled Israeli negotiators out of talks in Egypt, blaming Hamas for refusing to budge on what he called its “ludicrous” demands, Israel’s prime minister pledged to press ahead with the Rafah offensive. However, his war cabinet member Benny Gantz said a deal might still be possible.
Read MoreChristie’s New York auction house is hosting a weeklong exhibition of 70 works of art that trace Israeli culture over the past century. The paintings, sculpture, drawings and video have never been shown outside Israel before. The show takes place in the U.S. at a time of unprecedented anger toward the Jewish state over its military campaign in Gaza.
Read MoreFounded more than half a century ago as student-run dining cooperative, Oberlin College’s kosher co-op morphed into a kosher-halal co-op in 1995, a place where Jewish and Muslim students cooked and ate together. It shuttered in 2021 before coming back — and just when the situation in the Middle East was worsening.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Armenian quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City is facing its biggest crisis in a long time. A Jewish businessman with connections to the radical settler movement is poised to develop a quarter of the neighborhood’s territory, with plans to build a luxury hotel. If this goes ahead, it will significantly change part of the Old City.
Read MoreThe swelling number of Islamic clerics and Middle Eastern politicians condemning Hamas continues to grow since the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel. Canadian-based imam was the latest to do so. Tariq Abdulhaleem called for Hamas’ leadership to be prosecuted for facilitating what he called “genocide in Gaza.”
Read MoreThe most Jewish episode of “Curb” — and one of its most beloved — retold here by the people who made it. “Palestinian Chicken,” the third episode of the Larry David comedy’s eighth season, seemed anything but dated when it aired on July 24, 2011, and today, you can’t assemble a list of the show’s greatest episodes without it.
Read MoreA (mostly) orderly crowd of hundreds descended on the New York eatery to celebrate Shabbat, show Jewish support for the restaurant’s anti-occupation politics, and affirm that — at least in Brooklyn — coexistence between Jews and Muslims is a reality, not a pipe dream.
Read MorePalestinians celebrated the country’s national team after qualifying for the knockout stage at the AFC Asian Cup. The historic win, a 3-0 victory against Hong Kong to close out the group stage, allowed Palestine to reach the round of 16 for the first time in the tournament’s 68-year history. It also brought some comfort amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Read MoreIn the face of the vast human suffering, staggering damage to infrastructure and environmental catastrophe caused by the conflict — which marks its 100th day on Sunday — another controversial post-war scenario is for Israel to rebuild some of the post-1967 Gaza Strip settlements from which it unilaterally withdrew in 2005.
Read MoreA web search for “Hanukkah decorations” yields a trove of whimsical items like menorah-and-dreidel-adorned straws, pillows, mugs, candy and napkins. These widespread choices have one thing in common — they are blue and white.
Read MoreThe Holocaust may have long passed, but amid the Israeli-Hamas fighting in Gaza, there is a creeping anti-Semitic bias going on in countries where Jews and Jewish communities are situated. For Israeli Ambassador to to the Philippines Ilan Fluss, and others Jewish officials, this is very concerning.
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