Columns

The President Has Done a Great Deal to Help Make Israel a Safer Place

By:

Edgar M. Bronfman

Throughout a half-century of diplomatic work, I have learned to tell the politicians from the friends and the charlatans from the statesmen. Charlatans scream. They tell you what you want to hear and call other people names. Friends and leaders need not rely on rhetoric or boisterous bravado. They produce results and act on principle. President Barack Obama is such...

Columns

Romney's Much More Than Just a Fair-Weather Friend of Jewish State

By:

Norm Coleman

It has become a ritual of American politics for presidential candidates to pay a visit to Israel during the campaign season, but Mitt Romney's trip to Jerusalem over the weekend is not his first mission to the Jewish state -- it's his fourth -- and it won't be his last. I've known Mitt Romney for a long time, and know...

Columns

Learning From Tisha B'Av on How to Mourn Today's Varied Tragedies

By:

Rabbi Yonah Gross

Tisha B'Av, the 9th day of the month of Av, will be observed beginning Saturday night, July 28. The day is synonymous with great disasters in Jewish history, especially when both the first and second Temples were destroyed. After the time of the Mishnah, many other calamities coincided with this day, including the Jewish expulsion from Spain in 1492, the...

Columns

Food Security in Israel: Government Has the Responsibility

By:

Sari Revkin

Starvation does not exist in Israel. Nevertheless, almost one-fifth of the population is hungry, and this statistic is even more disturbing in light of the fact that the Israeli government in recent years has done everything in its power to avoid taking responsibility for the food security of its citizens. A hopeful sign, though, is the recently announced plan by...

Columns

Could We All Be Penn State?

By:

Rabbi Michael Knopf

Last week, the Freeh Report revealed that Penn State's leaders covered up Jerry Sandusky's crimes to protect the university's image, its football program and Joe Paterno's reputation. This outrageous moral failure is inexcusable. But in addition to righteous indignation, we might also use the news as an opportunity for self-reflection. As my teacher, Rabbi Sharon Brous, taught in a recent...