Sunday, February 28th 2021 |
By JOSHUA GOLDSTEIN
Purim is a holiday of Jewish unity. Purim should have been a day of eulogy, tragedy, and another sad story of betrayal and extermination of Jews. But, in truth, it could never have been made possible without the incredible display of both unity and organization.
The Purim story starts with King Ahasuerus’s feast. History verifies that when he displayed his riches and had...
By JONATHAN S. TOBIN
(JNS.org) – In this most partisan moment in living memory, everything—including and perhaps most especially—the deaths of famous people, are perceived through a political lens and provide fodder for abusive exchanges on Twitter. So it comes as little surprise that the passing of conservative talk-radio icon Rush Limbaugh, who spent his career engaging in no-holds-barred polemics, would trigger an overheated debate about his life and...
By RABBI YOSIE LEVINE
(JTA) — In hushed voices, rabbis and lay leaders have begun asking a question that scares them: When this pandemic is past, will people come back to shul?
It won’t be easy, they fear, to put the genie back in the bottle.
Of course there are those who can’t wait to get back to their synagogues. But many folks are also talking and writing about how...
By DORE GOLD
(JNS.org) – People forget that when the International Criminal Court (ICC) was created in 1998, through the Rome Statute, the Clinton administration ordered the U.S. delegation to vote against its formation. Later, after deciding to sign the statute, the administration still refused to submit it to the Senate for ratification. President Bush took Clinton’s advice in this regard and held back from seeking Senate support.
Washington had...
The January 6 insurrection was played over and over again and seen from a variety of multiple angles – some seen and heard and some previously unseen silent security footage – this week as the House Managers team from the Democratic Party presented their case for the second impeachment of President Donald Trump.
This historic second impeachment of a president presented the Legislative Branch with several quite challenging constitutional issues....
By RABBI YOSIE LEVINE
(JTA) — A poll released last week by Monmouth University showed that 24% of Americans likely will never get the COVID-19 vaccine if they can avoid it. One hopes that as people have more information and know others who have been vaccinated without ill effects, they will change their minds.
Education and encouragement are the most reliable tools we have in our increasingly libertarian democracy — our...
By MOSHE PHILLIPS
Why are some right-of-center Jewish groups finding it so difficult to publicly condemn anti-Semitic congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene?
A few, such as the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Coalition for Jewish Values, have spoken out. Herut too condemns Marjorie Taylor Greene’s extremism and her endorsements of anti-Semitic conspiracies. But too many others have remained silent.
The silence of other organizations...
By JONATHAN S. TOBIN
(JNS) – Two years ago, House Republican Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA.) had no trouble in doing the right thing when it came to policing extremism in his caucus. But as calls grow for him to do something about Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA.), McCarthy is failing to respond.
That the QAnon supporter with a history of backing a wide variety of lunatic conspiracy theories, including...
By GABRIEL GROISMAN
(JNS.org) – This week, leaders from around the world commemorated those who perished at the hands of the Nazis during International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This year, like most, there were statements recognizing and remembering those who were taken from us by people all over the globe. The recognition is critical and something appreciated by all from the Jewish community worldwide.
Much has been written about what needs...
By BENNY GANTZ
(JTA) — I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that 2020 was one of the toughest years that the world has endured in recent history. On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I reflect on the lessons I learned from my parents, both Holocaust survivors, who taught me the capacity for both evil and kindness that exists within the human spirit.
Even as a general who...
