Editorial & Opinion | Opinion

Israel's Emergence Intersects With Global LGBT Struggle

04/16/2013 | Arthur Slepian | Special To The Jewish Week | Opinion

Today, Israel’s 65th Independence Day, it is appropriate that we stop and take pride in the many strengths of this young nation, and what its existence and growth has meant for Jewish people not only in Israel but around the world. 2013 offers much for LGBT people to take pride in compared with 1948.

Israel At 65: A Vibrant Diaspora Is A Zionist Imperative

04/16/2013 | Gidi Grinstein | Special To The Jewish Week | Opinion

Last week, during the Shoah (Holocaust) memorial service in Poland, Major General Benny Ganz, Chief of the General Staff of the IDF, proclaimed that “we have never been stronger”. The Jewish People is in a position of unprecedented prosperity and security. However, paradoxically, our vulnerability is also at a historic high.

Rabbis And Tough Love: Can A Bully Be Compassionate?

04/16/2013 | Yoel Moskowitz | Special To The Jewish Week | Opinion

Like many, I have been following the story coming out of Rutgers University about alleged abuse by its basketball coach, Mike Rice.

Quick Conversions Won’t Last

04/16/2013 | Harold Berman and Gayle Berman | Special To The Jewish Week | Opinion

Some years ago, a Jewish boy approached a rabbi to officiate at his upcoming wedding to a Christian girl. Before he got to the Christian girl part, the rabbi said, “Please don’t tell me you’re marrying someone who’s not Jewish.

Rabbi Yitz Greenberg: We Must Speak Out

04/15/2013 | Rabbi Yitz Greenberg | Opinion

Now that Natan Sharansky is going public with his proposal to resolve the Kotel conflict, it is time for the leadership of Modern Orthodoxy to speak out. The message should not be only support for Sharansky’s Solomonic proposal but to dissociate from the policies and tactics practiced by the haredi Western Wall Heritage Foundation.

Israel At 65: The Tale Of A Sleeping Beauty

04/12/2013 | Yedidia Z. Stern and Jay Ruderman | Special To The Jewish Week | Opinion

The State of Israel has made extraordinary progress toward achieving its goals in the 65 years since its founding. But, in one respect, for the last several decades, it has been in a deep, fairytale-like slumber.