PITTSBURGH (JTA) — Our sages teach us that “kol hatchalot kashot,” all beginnings are difficult.This phrase feels especially resonant this Rosh Hashanah.The man who blew the shofar last year at my Pittsburgh synagogue, New Light, is not here to...
NEW YORK (JTA) — Taglit-Birthright is one of the most successful philanthropic projects in modern Jewish history. The result of decades of collaboration between donors and Israel’s Department of Diaspora Affairs, the organization has spent hundreds...
By Cheryl Adelstein
• Published September 12, 2019
Last week’s Torah portion, Shoftim, teaches tzedek, tzedek, terdof — justice, justice, you shall pursue. But how can we pursue justice, when some systems are inherently unjust?In this case, I am referring to the criminal justice system in the United...
Psychiatric medications can save livesMoritz Farbstein’s Sept. 4 letter points out that the pharmaceutical industry has been funding the “stop the stigma of mental illness” campaign, and not for altruistic reasons. They want to sell more drugs,...
By Dennis Ross & David Makovsky
• Published September 12, 2019
With Israelis heading to the polls on Sept. 17, it is worth reflecting on the last Likud leader, Ariel Sharon, and the decisions he made on the Palestinian issue. Sharon, the 11th prime minister of Israel, was a large man who did not think small. As...
The walls, higher in memory than in reality, form the central path that leads to the gas chamber. Stacks of inorganic, valueless furnace slags raked from the top of molten steel are strewn about a vast acreage, lifeless. I stood at the entrance to the...
Action needed to end gun violenceWe’ve lost more than a dozen children in the St. Louis area this summer from violence. As a mother, I am so tired of seeing headlines with precious faces of children lost to gunfire yet I feel like our elected officials...
No partner for peaceNinety years ago this week there was no Israel, there was no Gaza, there was no “occupation.” There was no PLO, no Hamas.There was no border, no security checkpoints, and no red, yellow or green lines. There were, however, Jewish...
TEKO’A, WEST BANK — When Israel announced that it would be banning lawmakers Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from visiting Israel, it caused a huge debate to erupt in the Jewish community for all sorts of reasons. Supporters of the ban argue that if...
Unlike his predecessor, Barack Obama, President Donald Trump doesn’t think more “daylight” between the United States and Israel is needed, and he has had Israel’s back on all the major issues regarding the peace process and threats like Iran.But...
Cost may be difficult for some seniors to coverAs a resident of the greater Jewish community of Creve Coeur, my wife and I have been attending the classes at Covenant Place for the last three years with no out-of-pocket expense.We have been informed that...
It is a regrettable injustice that the major contribution of the resistance to the creation of the State of Israel is almost entirely absent from our collective memory.This July and August mark the 72nd anniversary of the journey of the Exodus 1947 (originally...
