By BEN COHEN, JNS.ORG
• Published November 2, 2017
For the Palestinians, the year zero is not 1948, when the state of Israel came into being, but 1917, when Great Britain issued, in the November of that year, the Balfour Declaration—expressing support for the establishment of a “Jewish national home”...
Yiddish phrase evokes fond memories Your Yiddish phrase in the Oct. 18 edition of the Jewish Light (Yiddish Word of the Week, Jewish Lite page), “Hak mir nisht keyn tshaynik” that was interpreted as “stop annoying me, don’t bother me,” does...
A few days from now, the members of the Kelly family will mark the seventh anniversary of the worst day of their collective lives, the day they became a Gold Star family.It was Nov. 9, 2010, when the Kellys — husband and father John F. Kelly, the current...
When I was preparing to retire, I asked former colleagues who had previously made the leap, “What has surprised you in retirement?”There were a number of common themes in their responses, and among these was a sentiment echoed by many. In one way...
Modern Orthodoxy isn’t one size fits allI’d like to thank the Jewish Light for printing the article entitled “Five Takeaways from new survey about Modern Orthodox Jews” (Oct. 4). The final takeaway on the educational level of those labeled as...
TEANECK, N.J. (JTA) — When Ilene Fogelman was first diagnosed with advanced stage breast cancer, it was hard for her to decide whether or not to look to the internet for support and information.On the one hand, she wanted reassurance from women who...
NEW YORK (JTA) — When I read the headline of Jenny Listman’s Medium piece — “When I was nineteen years old, Elie Wiesel grabbed my ass” — I decided not to click on it.It wasn’t because of any judgment I passed on her or the veracity of...
The business world is constantly changing and now it’s changing at an accelerated speed. American workers no longer have decades to adapt to new technologies or business advancements. People need to be able to adapt — and adapt quickly — if they...
(JTA) — Here we go again: The issue of how and why the United States should engage with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is back in the news.The announcement by the Trump administration that the U.S. will be pulling...
University of Missouri-St. Louis has been seeking to establish a new Hillel chapter, and I was asked by the organizers to write a commentary addressed to potential members. What follows are some themes I struck in making the pitch for young people to...
Look to Israel for sensible gun policiesI read with great interest the Op-Eds in the Oct. 11 issue of the Light regarding guns. As a former paratrooper in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Battalion 890, who served with honor in the first Lebanon War,...
By Ben Cohen, JNS.org
• Published October 19, 2017
Walking through central London last week, and with a spare half hour on my hands, I decided to pay a quick visit to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. Inside, I spent most of my time intently studying a painting that I could not recall having seen...
