Demonizing IsraelA letter in the Nov 22 issue of the Light written by representatives from Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) claimed that JVP is not “demonizing” Israel. Rather, JVP is merely describing, detailing and chronicling actual practices in which...
In my last blog post, “Your Ideal Day,” I suggested that one good way to plan the non-financial aspects of retirement is to identify what your ideal day would look like and then continually strive toward living that day. I also mentioned that in...
(JTA) — The BDS debacle at the University of Michigan proved once again that Jews can be their own worst enemies.Since 2002, the University of Michigan’s Central Student Government (CSG) has, on 10 occasions, rejected resolutions to support the movement...
Moving event on Jewish refugeesNov. 30 is Memorial Day in Israel, marking the expulsion of 850,000 Jews from Arab lands in the 1940s and 1950s. Because Jews had resided in some of those lands, such as Persia (Iran) and Babylonia (Iraq) for thousands...
Last week, the student government at the University of Michigan voted to support divestment from companies that operate in Israel. The vote could be seen as a significant success of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel among...
As Ruth McCambridge points out in her Nov. 10 Nonprofit Quarterly article about the proposed Johnson Amendment rollback in the House tax bill, thousands of nonprofits have spoken up with firm opposition to inserting nonprofits into the partisan political...
From 9:30 to 11 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 3, the Jewish Federation of St. Louis will hold an open town hall meeting to discuss its proposed strategic plan at Congregation Shaare Emeth. I hope you will consider joining us to provide your input into our future...
The Anti-Defamation League’s report released last week of an increase in U.S. anti-Semitic incidents for the year, from 779 to 1,299, is truly disturbing. Unmentioned in the report is the fact that although some of these incidents derive from the “usual...
I have to admit I am a Luddite. I tend to be skeptical of all the hyping of emerging technology, whether it is the self-driving car or robots delivering your cocktail at a restaurant. Nowhere has there been more touting of technology than in the field...
In the wake of so much civic dysfunction, the work of Martin Luther Mathews and Hubert “Dickey” Ballentine shines a light on how to build comity and community.We are reminded repeatedly — especially in recent weeks — that we live in a polarized...
If you were to design your ideal retirement day, what would it be? There’s value in this exercise, whether you are already retired or still working but thinking about retirement. Try this. Create a table with two columns. In the first column,...
NEW YORK (JTA) — In a famous episode of “Seinfeld,” Jerry is upset that his dentist, a recent convert to Judaism, is already telling Jewish jokes. He complains to the dentist’s former priest.“I wanted to talk to you about Dr. Whatley,” Jerry...
