The greatest success story in recent Jewish history has become one of the world's best-kept secrets in under a generation. On Dec. 6, 1987, when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrived in Washington, D.C., more than a quarter-million American Jews -- Democrats and Republicans, observant and secular, and individuals representing the entire spectrum of Israeli politics -- gathered on the National...
The last wail of the shofar has been sounded. Our prayers for a healthy and good year ahead have been delivered. And those leftover bagels and cream cheese from the break fast? They became your office lunch for the next three days. The High Holidays are over — back to work, back to school, back to business as usual. As...
“Do you want to start a Holy Jihad?” That blunt question, posed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to startled American Jewish leaders in 1944, never seems to go away, as the latest events in the Middle East suggest. Then, as now, the question of whether America’s behavior is what provokes jihadists was hotly debated. Rabbis Stephen S. Wise and Abba...
With world leaders converging on New York this month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will again be present for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly session. This time, though, he comes with enhanced credentials. He is no longer just head of Iran; he also chairs the 120-member-strong Non-Aligned Movement. Countries in the Non-Aligned Movement constitute nearly two-thirds of the...
Most people dislike politics. “Voter apathy” has become part of the vernacular, and too many fail to exercise the extraordinary privilege afforded to us by the Constitution. As Jews, we have an even greater obligation to ensure that we do not ignore this sacred constitutional freedom. We are in the midst of a heavily contested presidential election. Mitt Romney and...
Sivan 14, 5773
