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By Rabbi Olivier BenHaim , Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue A surprising turn of events happens in next week’s Torah portion, Chayei Sarah. We read: “Abraham breathed his last and died in good ripe age, old and satisfied, and was gathered to his people. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried himContinue Reading

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By Josh Basson, , Seattle Your front page article by Uriel Heilman (“Shalit deal was best Israel was going to get,” Oct. 14) was quite informative. The illegal kidnapping and hostage taking by Hamas terrorists of Shalit in a June 2006 raid along the Israel-Gaza border aroused enormous concern andContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Anson Laytner, , Seattle Does the Israeli government — or ours for that matter — see the sad irony in opposing votes at the UN regarding the recognition of a Palestinian state? Where would Israel be today were it not for the votes taken in 1947? Yet hereContinue Reading

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By Josh Basson, , Seattle I commend Mervyn Danker for his perceptive op-ed column (“A Palestinian state should be the result of negotiations,” Sept. 16) as right on the mark. Abbas needs to negotiate directly with Netanyahu without pre-conditions and accept Israel as a Jewish state. Also, the creation ofContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Simon Benzaquen , Sephardic Bikur Holim While shopping at the pharmacy last week, I couldn’t help notice they were selling home security cameras. These cameras are to be installed outside of one’s home to monitor any activity day and night for security purposes. Some cameras were expensive andContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Stuart Light , Special to JTNews As parents searching for the ideal school environment for our children, we envision our progeny thriving in a school that focuses energy and attention on avenues and initiatives that lead toward exhibitable success. But what about exhibitable failure? You’d be hard pressedContinue Reading

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By Cynthia Wroclawski, Manager, The Shoah Victims’ Names Recovery Project, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem In response to Eric Nusbaum’s article of Sept. 13, 2011 titled “The Family Reunion,” the article neglects to mention that the reunion was made possible thanks to a Page of Testimony submitted by Wolf Hall to YadContinue Reading

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By Mordecai Goldstein, , Everett I agree with the letter writer (“Taking up too much space,” Sept. 16) who said we must not permit agents of our enemies to use our limited resources (i.e., print space in JTNews). And we should not forget that we do have enemies, and notContinue Reading

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By Bob Kaufman, , Seattle In his stirring speech to the Sept. 18 StandWithUs gathering, Rabbi Daniel Gordis criticized American Jewish leaders for their silence on the coming UN vote on Palestinian statehood. The op-eds by Michael Weil and Mervyn Danker in the Sept. 16 JTNews provide ample evidence toContinue Reading

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By Akiva Kenny Segan, , Seattle If it weren’t an Orwell-worthy twist of language interpretation, re: letter writer N. Goldberg’s claim that I am “not about free speech” after I’ve written in defense of JTNews editors for publishing letters with diverse opinions regarding Israel and the Palestinians, it would beContinue Reading

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By N. Goldberg, , Bellevue Mr. Segan’s letter (“A free and open press,” Sept. 2) evades the issue, and begs for a reply. He is not about free speech. He wants the JTNews to be some sort of guardian of anti-Israel commentary and positions, even if those positions are identicalContinue Reading

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By Robert J. Marx , JTA World News Service CHICAGO (JTA) — Time affirms what heroism discerns. The dedication of a statue in memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is a belated yet significant tribute to a man who did so much to redefine the meaning of ourContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Harry Zeitlin , Congregation Beth Ha’Ari The Ramchal (Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzatto), the 18th-century Kabbalistic master, begins his classic, Derech HaShem, The Way of God, with this statement: “Kol ish m’Yisrael tzarich sh’ya’amin v’yeda.” “Every Jew needs to believe and to know….” He completes this with a strikinglyContinue Reading