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By Rabbi Mordechai Farkash, Congregation Beis Menachem – Lubavitch As any good homeowner knows, it’s not the little boxes with the flashing lights that protect your home. It’s the police station. You just need to make sure those little boxes are properly connected. A mezuzzah on your doorpost works muchContinue Reading

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By Rabbi David Fine, Union for Reform Judaism The Jewish traditions and rituals surrounding the greatest of our joys — birth, reaching adulthood, marriage — are in and of themselves transformative. They give us a structure around which we celebrate. While the parents of a newborn may be exhausted, extendedContinue Reading

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By Ami Eden , JTA News & Features NEW YORK (JTA) — Harvard University law professor Noah Feldman would have stood on much stronger intellectual ground had he simply sent the following notice to the Sunday Styles section of The New York Times, the usual address for high-powered wedding announcements:Continue Reading

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By Rabbi Anson Laytner, Executive Director, American Jewish Committee, Seattle A number of people have asked me why I was in China so early and it made me wonder if JTNews would want to clarify the following for your readers (“M.O.T.: A local rabbi’s ties to China,” July 20). AsContinue Reading

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By Susan Alhadeff, , Seattle Manny Frishberg’s reporting on the movie A Mighty Heart (“One of the unlucky ones,” July 6) leaves open a question as to whether Daniel Pearl’s last recorded words were “I am a Jewish-American” or not. Indeed, not only did he state that, but also, “MyContinue Reading

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By Josh Basson , , Seattle Strengthening weakly Dan Baron’s insightful front page column was quite informative (“Uncertainty hampers progress for Israel, Palestinians,” July 6). Baron highlights the redrawing of the Palestinian political map following the Hamas violent takeover of Gaza, thus complicating Israel’s plans to forge new ties toContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Eliakim Koenigsberg , Special to JTNews The customs we observe on the day of Tisha B’Av are strikingly similar to those of an avel, a mourner, one whose close relative has recently passed away. We abstain from washing ourselves, putting on perfume, and wearing leather shoes. Instead, weContinue Reading

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By Sharon Asia Finegold, , Seattle Now that the play about Rachel Corrie has come and gone, the various executive directors of the organizations who responded cooperatively and local volunteers are pleased that our various efforts were so helpful for many attendees of the play and the larger community. VitallyContinue Reading

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By Philip R. Scheier, , Seattle I was quite touched by the unhappy plight of so-called Progressive Jews here in the soul-searching news report by your correspondent Manny Frishberg, (“Progressive Jews confront how they are treated,” June 22). The lead paragraphs cite a litany of problems for Jews here withContinue Reading

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By Akiva Kenny Segan , , Seattle While it is excellent that Pastor John Hagee is seeking “redemption” from Jews in return for his Christian communities support of Israel (and many Jewish supporters of Israel hope Hagee and his Christian followers are supportive of Palestine as well, for there canContinue Reading

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By Randy Kessler, , Mercer Island Thanks to Janis Siegel and the JTNews for the excellent coverage of the recent Night to Honor Israel event put on by Christians United for Israel. I found out about the event in the spring, and like many Jews, initially had doubts about theContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Bernie Fox, Northwest Yeshiva High School Every year I have the honor and pleasure to deliver a charge to the Northwest Yeshiva High School graduating class. I appreciate the opportunity to share this year’s message with the JTNews readership. The message deals with both the challenges our youngContinue Reading

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By Gidi Grinstein , JTA News & Features TEL AVIV (JTA) — The Hamas coup in Gaza may seem like a victory for Iran and its followers, who now have a foothold on Israel’s doorstep. But if Israel plays its cards wisely, it may turn things around. Since the 1979Continue Reading

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By Daniel Pipes , Special to JTNews The Hamas victory over Fatah in Gaza on June 14 has great importance for Palestinians, for the Islamist movement, and for the United States. It has rather less significance for Israel. Tensions between Fatah and Hamas are likely to endure and with them,Continue Reading

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By Josh Basson, , Seattle Daniel Levisohn’s insightful column was quite informative (“Forty years later,” June 8). Levisohn points out that revisionist accounts of the war have come under heavy criticism from scholars. Not surprising, with the 40th anniversary of Israel’s astonishing victory in the Six Day War has comeContinue Reading

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By Murray Meld, , Seattle Thank you for the June 8th issue’s balanced account of the planned “Occupation Game” weekend sponsored, among others, by the Palestinian Solidarity Committee and the Jewish Voice for Peace. I assume the scheduled events took place but must have missed any media coverage. Be thatContinue Reading

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By Elad Moisseiev, M.D., Captain, “Egoz” unit, Israel My tour with the Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces and the ensemble is over, and I am back home, in Israel and to my unit. It has been a long tour, filled with many experiences, seeing new places and meeting veryContinue Reading

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By Dave Kaplan, , Seattle This new group that bring together people who were expelled from Middle Eastern countries (“Seeking redress,” May 25) is interesting, but for one thing. I like that people who lived in countries from across Africa and the Middle East can get together and swap storiesContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Cindy Enger, Congregation Beth Israel, Bellingham Regarding Torah, the Mishna reminds us, “Turn it and turn it again; everything is in it.” As Jews, we are invited into relationship with Torah — to receive it, engage with it, be impacted and opened by its richness and complexity. WeContinue Reading