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By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, JTNews Columnist Dear Rivy, Is the world coming to an end? The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is the latest Pandora-like circumstance to plague mankind. Except Pandora opened her box out of curiosity while BP drilled the depths of the sea with greed andContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Jonathan Singer, Temple Beth Am When I was growing up, my sister loved to share with me the well-known Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times!” I understood right away why living in too interesting times is a curse — far better is it to live inContinue Reading

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By Jeffrey Weiser , , Redmond How is one to react to a headline like “Evergreen students urge divestment” (June 11)? Disgust? Anger? Worry? Disgust because the ignorance of modern Middle Eastern history and the anti-Israel bigotry of these kids is simply appalling. They should know better. They aren’t illiterates.Continue Reading

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By Josh Basson, , Seattle Your front-page column by Leslie Susser (“Israel facing tough choices on Gaza as criticism of blockade mounts,” June 11) was quite informative. Israel rightly insists its naval blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory will continue. It was imposed in June 2007 after Hamas violently expelled FatahContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Seth Goldstein, Temple Beth Hatfiloh Over the past month I have watched with horror as one of the largest environmental disasters unfolds before our eyes. Every day for the past few weeks the news of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues to get worse andContinue Reading

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By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist Local families whose kids attend Camp Ramah in Ojai, California may like to know that Portland native Rabbi Joseph M. Menashe will become the camp’s next executive director, succeeding Rabbi Daniel Greyber. Rabbi Joe has been associate rabbi at the Conservative Congregation Shearith Israel inContinue Reading

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By Yariv Oppenheimer , Special to JTNews Nearly two weeks ago, Israel marked a new low point in the way it chose to contend with its domestic and external policy dissidents. A state that will not let its citizens protest, demonstrate and demand justice, a state that is busy composingContinue Reading

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By Michael Oren , JTA World News Service WASHINGTON (Jewish Exponent) — Israel’s interception of the flotilla attempting to break the Gaza blockade has been the focus of massive international attention — and condemnation. In the melee of interviews, editorials and images, the basic facts of the incident have oftenContinue Reading

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By Robert Wilkes , Special to JTNews Let’s get it out and get it over with. I am a Jewish Republican. When my relatives found out, they sat shiva for me. As then-chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean, famously said on “Meet the Press:” “Our moral values, inContinue Reading

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By Robert Beiser , Special to JTNews Our event a few weeks back starts off sounding a bit like a joke: A sheikh, a rabbi, and a Christian professor walk into a Hillel…to discuss the nature of justice with a multi-faith audience. The punchline leaves a little to be desired,Continue Reading

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By Rabbi Moshe Kletenik, Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath Congregation That hundreds of rabbis came to the Rabbinical Council of America’s annual convention is not unusual. That they came knowing that the long-anticipated resolution on ordination of women as rabbis and on the role of women in Orthodox communal life was beingContinue Reading

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By Rivy Poupko Kletenik, JTNews Columnist Dear Rivy, My husband and I have just moved back to Seattle. I am a native Pacific Northwestener and as such get great joy from being outdoors. Not so for my New Yorker husband. It is only despite many an objection that I amContinue Reading

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By Steven A. Hemmat, , Seattle The editorial by Rainer Waldman Adkins and Teri Citterman (“Sharing Jerusalem: The key to peace?“ April 30) supportive of a “two-state solution” and Barack Obama’s public criticism of Jewish construction in Jerusalem reminds me of Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity: “Doing the same thingContinue Reading

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By Charlene Kahn, , Seattle Thank you for publishing Rabbi Anson Laytner’s essay on dialogue between and among Jews with differing viewpoints regarding Israel and Palestine (“We need to talk,” April 16). It amazes me, as a committed Jew, just how obvious our dislike of Arabs/Palestinians is when our ancientContinue Reading

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By Ed Epstein, , Mercer Island Referencing the article “Sharing Jerusalem: The Key to Peace?“ (April 30), it is plain to see that the authors have a very conspicuous left-wing agenda, or in the alternative they are naïve or myopic and don’t fully understand the Israel-Arab situation. For peace toContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Olivier BenHaim, Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue As my first name suggests, I was born in France. The France I grew up in offered only one Jewish denomination, one form of practicing Judaism: Orthodoxy. For French Jews like my parents, practicing Judaism was virtually an all-or-nothing endeavor. My parentsContinue Reading