By Alex Gordon, Ph.D HAIFA, Israel — The Jews came out of Egypt long ago, they came out of the Soviet Union, but they did not go out of fashion at all: at every stage of history someone was bound to seek to throw them into the sea. The Jews, however, had already been to […]
Democracy from the Perspective of a Native of a Totalitarian State: From Kiev to Israel Read More »
Alex Gordon, International, Opinion
By Shira Klein ORANGE, California — “Come on, they’re just Arabs,” laughed my friend Yogev. We were 19 years old, both soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces, enjoying a weekend leave on the colorful streets of Tel Aviv. Yogev had been showing me a couple of IDs he had taken from Palestinians, “for fun,” he
This Yom Ha’Atzmaut, I’m Talking to My First-Grader About Palestinians Read More »
Middle East, Opinion, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
By Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D JERUSALEM — The big news of last week concerned the Strauss Chocolate Company, and the discovery of salmonella in some of its products. We’ve gone forward and backward on this for several days, with a giant company having to accept a major recall, and then the closing of its production
Lots Happening in Israel Before Independence Day Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, Opinion
By Ben Cohen (JNS) A recent letter delivered to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres by 200 former senior U.N. officials included a bleak warning regarding the consequences should diplomacy fail to end Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Such an outcome would mean that “the U.N. becoming increasingly irrelevant and, eventually, succumbing to the fate of its predecessor,
Can the United Nations Survive the War in Ukraine? Read More »
International, Opinion
By Hillel Newman (Jewish Journal via JNS) Last Thursday, April 21, 2022, the eve of the second festival of Passover, the eve of “Good Friday” for Christians and during the Ramadan period for Muslims, a few demonstrators gathered in front of the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles. Watching, I asked myself how ignorant, misled or
By Dan Elbaum (JNS) Mark Twain once wrote, “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.” For decades, many mainstream Jewish communal
Embracing a Data-Driven Approach to Engaging Jewish Young Adults Read More »
International, Middle East, Opinion, USA
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — We all make decisions in our lives. Someone like me (i.e., a very old person) has had to make decisions at many points in my life — what to study, whom to marry, where to work, where to live, whether to have another child, what to cook for
The Road Not Taken Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Holocaust, International, Middle East, Opinion
By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — Looks like I may soon have the same challenge as an antisemitic co-worker years ago at a medical publishing company in New Jersey, all thanks to U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). I was passing through a hallway when my uncollegial colleague blurted out to a small crowd that she
Muslim ‘Lioness’ Growls at the Christians Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Middle East, Opinion, USA
By Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — “They don’t allow it,” you’re told. “They wouldn’t like it….” “They have decided…” “It’s up to them.” We hear such common pronouncements often, but who are they? They are “the powers that be,” the nameless, faceless others who control our lives. They are the systems, institutions,
Roles, Tasks, Resources — Understanding the Controlling Forces Read More »
Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz, Opinion
By Steve Kramer KFAR SABA, Israel — There’s been a lot of mayhem lately at the Temple Mount (the summit of Mount Moriah) in Jerusalem, which is a magnet for religious Jews, especially during Passover. Because this year Passover, Easter, and the Muslim holiday of Ramadan coincided, more violence than usual has resulted. The current
Jerusalem’s Temple Mount: The Epicenter of Violence Read More »
Middle East, Opinion, Steve KramerBy Alex Gordon, Ph.D HAIFA, Israel — Many years ago, I was in the German city of Cologne and went to a station restaurant for lunch. I was surprised when I saw “Chicken Kiev-style” on the menu. I was surprised because I was born and raised in Kiev, and I knew nothing about Chicken Kiev-style.
Confessions of a Foreign Intelligence Agent’s Son Read More »
Alex Gordon, Holocaust, International, OpinionBy Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D JERUSALEM — Israel is currently in the midst of a mess. But, like others that Israelis have experienced, it is likely to be temporary. The context is made up of several major holidays, the month of Ramadan, plus Pesach, and several holidays around Easter. Those manage to heighten feelings that we
By Jonathan S. Tobin (JNS) When President Joe Biden used the word genocide to describe Russia’s actions in Ukraine, it raised some eyebrows. But it didn’t generate the same kind of pushback some of his other previous unscripted remarks about that conflict, such as his call for regime change in Moscow or his threats to
Calling Russia’s War in Ukraine ‘Genocide:’ Does it Matter? Read More »
Holocaust, International, OpinionBy Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — On the first day of Passover, I left a store and entered my car only to look up and spot two bizarre signs on the wall — one warning of death in “hell-fire” for anyone who kills a son of Islam and the second crediting Muslims for building the
Israeli Police Vs. Circular Logic Read More »
Bruce Ticker, Middle East, Opinion