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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 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 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

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By Henry Friedman, Founder and President Emeritus, Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center, Seattle The article which appeared in the April 9 edition of JTNews (“Opting out”) was offensive to me as a Holocaust survivor. Other survivors who read this article shared some of the same feelings with me thatContinue Reading

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By Edna Oberman , , Seattle So the South African Zionist Federation has arranged to prevent Judge Richard Goldstone from attending his grandson’s Bar Mitzvah next month. Thus continues the vilification and rejection of Goldstone since the Goldstone Report on Israel’s 2008-9 campaign in Gaza. A blogger wants to “spitContinue Reading

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By Josh Basson, , Seattle Your front page article “Senate letter urging tensions tamp-down gets 76 signatures,” (April 16), was quite informative. I hope the Obama administration heeds the words of more than three quarters of U.S. Senators urging them not to allow tensions with Israel to harm Israeli-Palestinian talks.Continue Reading

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By Rabbi Rob Toren, Samis Foundation I received in my e-mail inbox a link to a fascinating YouTube video: A violinist playing at a subway station in a Washington, D.C. Metro stop. What was interesting was that this was somewhat of an experiment or, more accurately, a “gentleman’s wager” (anContinue Reading

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By Rainer Waldman Adkins and Teri Citterman , Special to JTNews I looked up, and I saw a man holding a measuring line. “Where are you going?” I asked. “To measure Jerusalem,” he replied, “to see how long and wide it is to be. — Zechariah 2:1-2 Let’s be clear:Continue Reading

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By Simcha Shtull, , Seattle As an American Jew and an Israeli who cares deeply for Israel’s well being, I support President Obama in formulating a bold new approach to guaranteeing a secure and democratic Israel. I reject Nevet Basker’s contention that Israeli construction in East Jerusalem represents no problemContinue Reading

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By Ron K. Feinberg, , Mercer Island I was dismayed by the lack of compassionate understanding for the Palestinian point of view regarding East Jerusalem in the JTNews article by Nevet Basker (“Myths and misperceptions,” April 9). Perhaps someday soon the pro-Israel viewpoint will also respect the validity of ourContinue Reading

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By Mordecai Goldstein, , Everett In response to the piece that challenged Obama’s commitment to Israel because of the settlement issue (“Myths and misperceptions,” April 9), I would say that we should cut the president some slack. And let’s not confuse tactics with strategy. I think Obama is a veryContinue Reading

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By Stephen Adler, , Seattle I was shocked to read Leyna Krow’s piece about the Holocaust (“Opting out,” April 9), although I am assured that her opinion represents those of many others in her generation. That shock stems from my own view of Holocaust education based on my being aContinue Reading

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By Philip R. Scheier, , Shoreline of JTNews seeks to explain why Holocaust Remembrance Day “doesn’t touch me.” Aside from this bizarre approach to the deaths of 6 million Jews, I flinched at the hurt it inflicts on the local vanishing survivors and their families. In this same issue isContinue Reading