The winter of 2009 might appear to be an indelicate time to discuss the relationship between Jews and money. The world is in economic crisis, and Jews have figured in a number of discredited enterprises in the United States. Their alleged involvement in recent criminal financial activities (i.e., Bernie Madoff, Herbert and Marion Sandler) is particularly sensitive to the Jewish...
Once again, Israel's elections reflected the dominant role played by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in determining the direction of Israeli politics. Now, it appears likely that the conflict will also dictate the creation of a centrist coalition that may not resolve it, but at least will do it no harm. It was pessimism toward prospects for a viable Israeli-Palestinian peace process,...
The recent wave of anti-Semitic outbursts in various nations raises important questions about how to respond effectively to such assaults. A little-known episode that took place 65 years ago this month, involving a German-American high school principal, provides some guidance. The latest outrages have included the attempted bombing of a synagogue in Kiev; the mob attack on a synagogue in...
"We are coming," the chorus of a famous Civil War song declares, "coming our union to restore, we are coming, Father Abraham, with 300,000 more." Like hundreds of thousands of other American citizens, Jews in the north rallied around President Lincoln's call to preserve America as one nation during the Civil War. What compelled so many Jews to respond to...
I have long admired Turkey. Yet with the outburst of animosity for Israel displayed most prominently by its prime minister in Davos, Switzerland, over the weekend, coupled with the anxiety awakened in the Turkish Jewish community, I wonder what's going on and what the future holds. If this only emanated from the "street" or from an extremist fringe, it would...
Sivan 11, 5773
