Is President Donald Trump a bigot, as many of his detractors claim? He surely has many flaws, some of which I often have written about — for example, his careless, even reckless, unpresidential tweets. But I doubt bigotry is one of them, at least based...
By Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose
• Published March 30, 2017
Even after 21 years in the rabbinate, I am still (pleasantly, of course) astonished by the number of phone calls and emails I receive in the weeks leading up to Passover. Many of these queries are from members of our shul and the extended Jewish community...
Opposing cuts to global aid programsThe White House is proposing drastic cuts to global development programs in our national budget. This would be disastrous for people struggling in poverty and for the U.S. standing as a world leader. Currently, millions...
Kyle Gersman, JTA via the Forward
• Published March 24, 2017
Last week, Ohio State University Hillel was accused of being anti-LGBT because it was forced to disassociate with a Jewish LGBT campus group, B’nai Keshet, after the group decided to co-sponsor a fundraiser for queer refugees with Jewish Voice for Peace....
By Rabbi James Stone Goodman
• Published March 22, 2017
I spent the year of 1976-77 as student in Jerusalem. There I was introduced to the oud, the double course, 10- or 11-string ancestor to the lute, the microtones that distinguish the music of the eastern Mediterranean articulate on the fretless neck of...
Response to editorialIn response to your editorial “A Bad, Divisive Strategy” (March 15), I will try to be brief and begin by giving a synopsis of how the Israeli media summarized the anti-BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) law targeted by your...
It's out there. Somewhere. We're absolutely sure. Somewhere is our dream job. We even know people who have them; we all know those people who enjoy their work. Their faces light up when they talk about what they do. They bring energy, creativity,...
Statement from cemetery directors We, the directors of the Jewish cemeteries of St. Louis, jointly condemn the recent acts of vandalism at cemeteries here in St. Louis and throughout the United States. We hope the perpetrators are found and brought to...
Daniel Elbaum and Marc D. Stern
• Published March 10, 2017
(JTA) — Almost daily accounts of vandalized cemeteries, spray-painted swastikas and bomb threats to JCCs and other Jewish agencies have naturally evoked considerable alarm.Clearly, we must never reconcile ourselves to an America where this is considered...
President Theodore Roosevelt, one of the most erratic, flamboyant and unpredictable presidents until this year, coined the term “bully pulpit” for his ability to use his office to shape public opinion and policy for what he saw as the greater good.Today,...
Takeaways from cemetery incicentThe Jewish Light’s coverage of the recent events at Chesed Shel Emeth and the Jewish Community Center has been excellent and measured. While I can understand how some may fear this is the work of people who don’t like...
(JTA) — Shots fired into a classroom window at an Indiana synagogue. Cemeteries desecrated in Pennsylvania, Missouri, and New York. Swastikas scrawled on Jewish buildings. More than 100 bomb threats called in to Jewish community centers.History doesn’t...
