July 27, 2021
By JONATHAN S. TOBIN
(JNS.org) – If you thought that American Jews were going to unite against discrimination in ice-cream sales, you were wrong. The decision of the Ben & Jerry’s company to “end sales of our ice-cream in occupied Palestinian territories” was widely condemned across the political spectrum in Israel, by many mainstream Jewish groups and by American political leaders. But the notion that this is an issue around which Jews are...
July 23, 2021
By ALAN SMASON
It’s taken a year, but the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, officially the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, are now underway. In the interest of public safety amidst a worldwide pandemic (which has largely subsided, but is still a clear and present danger), crowds have been prevented from assembling to witness the feats of the Olympic heroes and athletes who hail from 206 countries and territories.
But, despite...
July 19, 2021
By ELISHA WEISEL
(JTA) — When Nazi tanks surrounded Warsaw, my father related in a rare moment of frustration, the Jews were in shul arguing over who should get “shishi” (the honor of being called up third to the Torah).
It was a story I thought about often on Sunday, on Tisha B’Av. The day marks the destruction of our Temple in Jerusalem and the beginning of exile, the day our...
July 15, 2021
By RAFAEL MEDOFF
(Jewish Journal) – A new poll claims that 22% of American Jews believe “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians.” That would be alarming—if they actually know what genocide is. But do they?
There is reason to suspect that as the word has become common place in public discourse, its meaning has been diluted and compromised. The unexpected ways in which the term “genocide”...
July 13, 2021
By BEN SALES
(JTA) — For years, my wife told me her outlook on fashion was inspired by Man Repeller, the edgy publication founded by Leandra Medine Cohen, a Jewish prep school graduate who encouraged her followers to dress for themselves, not for the men around them.
Last year, we both watched as Medine Cohen stepped down from Man Repeller, then closed it, after facing backlash for firing one of her few Black employees...
July 09, 2021
By JONATHAN S. TOBIN
(JNS.org) – There is no more obvious sign that American education is in trouble than the fact that most state legislatures have become battlegrounds over how to teach history. The subject can be fraught with controversy under any circumstances. But in the last year, as efforts to put critical race theory (CRT) into public-school curricula have increased, the entire question of how to think not...
July 05, 2021
By DAVID SUISSA
(Jewish Journal via JNS.org) – In the midst of an alarming rise in anti-Semitism, it’s easy to overlook that the Jewish brand in America has been an extraordinary success story. Jews are deeply engaged with American society, from politics to academia to media to science to spirituality to civic leadership. Jewish culture has greatly contributed to American culture in areas such as literature, movies, television, arts,...
July 01, 2021
By DANIEL MARIASCHIN
(JNS.org) – Last month, I participated in a conference for young adults on the current Jewish agenda, hosted by the Jewish community of Oporto, Portugal.
Three of the speakers were asked if they thought there could ever be another Holocaust.
The answers were uniformly “not likely,” the reasoning being that we are now living, after two millennia, in an era when there is not only a...
June 25, 2021
The Crescent City Jewish News received a Simon Rockower Award for Excellence in Jewish Journalism for the first time in its history, an acknowledgment that its writing is among the best in the nation.
CCJN editor Alan Smason received an honorable mention in the web-outlets, websites and news services division of the Louis Rapoport Award for Excellence in Commentary behind Ruth Blum, an opinion writer for the Jewish News Syndicate...
June 23, 2021
By JONATHAN S. TOBIN
(JNS.org) – As far as some of Israel’s most vicious critics were concerned, it was the sort of thing that gave their critiques of Zionism a bad name. It was difficult to pretend that the decision of organizers of a Philadelphia food festival to disinvite an Israeli-owned food truck from participating was rooted in anything other than prejudice against Israel and Jews.
Those who run the...
