By Robert A. Cohn, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
• Published August 13, 2020
To paraphrase Thomas Paine’s immortal quote, these are indeed the times that try our souls. Loss, illness and death have become unwelcome constant visitors – not companions, because we are desperate for them to just go away and leave us alone. But...
By David Suissa
Jewish Journal via JNS
• Published August 13, 2020
A little more than a year ago, I wrote a column arguing that, in many ways, anti-Zionism is more dangerous than anti-Semitism. My point was that going after the Jewish State was a sneaky way of going after the Jews. By hiding behind anti-Zionism—which...
NEW YORK (JTA) — Three years ago today, the country watched in horror as neo-Nazis and white supremacists attacked Charlottesville, Virginia. Three years later, as far-right extremists continue to spread disinformation, hate and violence, it’s clear...
JERUSALEM (JTA) — For millennia, Jews longed for a return to their ancient homeland, Zion. But for much of modern history, a considerable number of Jews dreamed instead of a vibrant life as a minority in cosmopolitan nation-states. In 1770s Berlin,...
Funds urgently needed for electionsFor 125 years, National Council of Jewish Women-St. Louis has worked diligently to ensure nonpartisan voting rights for all, and the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted egregious deficiencies in Missouri’s voting system....
As a longtime teacher, I have been contacted by friends, family and acquaintances asking me to help them decide between choosing virtual learning or an in-person learning plan for their children. Like many parents, my head is spinning.
Do I...
By Cheryl Adelstein, Nancy Solomon Desloge & Rachel Thimangu
• Published July 30, 2020
So many of us feel powerless these days. Two inter-connected and seemingly intractable issues — the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the call for racial equity — challenge our Jewish values of preserving human life and protecting the vulnerable. It’s...
PALO ALTO, Calif. (JTA) — As a child, I always looked forward to Tisha B’Av, as weird as that may sound.It was the one night a year that we were allowed to put the sofa cushions on the floor, and after three weeks with no television, we were finally...
BOSTON (JTA) – More than 350 years ago, a plague took a deadly toll on Hamburg, Germany. As the High Holidays approached, fear and panic set in and many of the city’s Jewish families fled.
Among them were Glikl and Hayyim Hamel, successful...
Over the past 48 hours, my social media outlets have blown up over recent anti-Semitic comments made by an Eagles footballer, DeSean Jackson. I have seen many of my white Jewish colleagues, students, friends and public leaders come out publicly denouncing...
BERLIN (JTA) — Across the room sat a man, a murderer, who had tried to kill me and 51 others praying in the Halle Synagogue last Yom Kippur. Responding to question after question from the judge, he espoused the most hateful ideology, showing no shame...
BY ROBERT A. COHN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF EMERITUS
• Published July 22, 2020
The American Jewish community, like the rest of the nation, has lost a dear friend and an authentic hero in the recent passing of Rep. John Robert Lewis. The Georgia Democrat, who began life as the son of sharecroppers and became a towering figure in...
