Mergers, consolidations and collaborations have taken center stage in the local Jewish community over the past several years (see related story on Page 1).At the merger level, we’ve seen two Conservative synagogues come together to form a new entity,...

When Internal Revenue Service officials researched applications for tax-exempt status to ensure they were not overtly political groups in disguise, they were right.When the same officials apparently focused their attention on right-wing groups, as opposed...

The horrific collapse in Bangladesh of a garment factory building, for which the confirmed death toll has now reached 705, is a painful reminder of an American horror a century earlier — the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York City, causing...

The choices for the United States regarding Syrian intervention are hardly enviable, but the political pressure cooker seems ready to explode.It has now been all but definitively confirmed that the lethal chemical weapon of sarin gas has been used on...

Had the stakes not been so high, it would have been amusing to read the perverse set of opinions offered up in the Room for Debate section of the New York Times website last week about gun control.The fully predictable voice from the National Rifle Association...

Despite Middle East news taking a backseat to the provocations of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, diplomacy has been roiled by the resignation of Salam Fayyad, prime minster of the Palestinian Authority. Fayyad’s timing could not have been worse...

The administration of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is really struggling to come up with new excuses for its utter inability to govern well either economically or democratically.Blame Israel and Jews. Blame the U.S. Blame Coptics. Blame comedians.Comedians?...

“I think it is attributable, very likely attributable, to a phenomenon that is called perpetuation of racial entitlement,” (United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin) Scalia said. “Whenever a society adopts racial entitlements, it is very difficult...

If presidential visits to the State of Israel were graded in similar fashion to those given for tests in college, President Barack Obama’s first visit to the Jewish State as president would receive straight A’s.  From every point of view, Obama handled...

The election of Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the new pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Francis I, has been warmly welcomed by Jewish community leaders around the world. All indications are that Pope Francis will advance the trend of...

The terrorist group Hamas is once again proving its hateful colors.Claiming Israel has an agenda to promote tourism by encouraging Muslims worldwide to visit Jerusalem, Hamas’ website stated that, “We warn against the danger of this Zionist plot,...

Secretary of State John Kerry, newly installed in his critically important office, deserves high marks for how he deftly handled the incredibly odious remark by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyik Erdogan describing Zionism as “a crime against humanity.”While...