Gary Rosenblatt

Lessons From The Rav Bina Story
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 | Gary Rosenblatt | Editor and Publisher
In the wake of the article he and I co-authored (Jan. 27) on Rav Aharon Bina of Netiv Aryeh, a yeshiva for American students in the Old City of Jerusalem, Yedidya Gorsetman received a message on Facebook from Rabbi Ari Fuld. “I don’t know who you are and I am not trying to threaten you in any way,” the rabbi began. “I see that you are friends on FB [Facebook] with many Netiv guys and I hope they come to their senses and drop you like a dead fish.
A Russian Jewish Leader With Grand Plans
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 | Gary Rosenblatt | Editor And Publisher
Alexander Levin, a rags-to-riches Ukrainian businessman who announced a new international forum for Russian-speaking Jews this past week at the United Nations, says he knows how to deal with world leaders like Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
New Book Frames Debate On Conversion
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 | Gary Rosenblatt | Editor And Publisher
The issue of who can become a Jew through conversion is controversial and critical to determining the essence of the Jewish character, and as timely as the current headlines from Jerusalem.
From A Sephardic Scholar, An ‘Enlightened Torah’ Approach
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 | Gary Rosenblatt | Editor And Publisher
Growing up, I considered Sephardic rituals and customs to be exotic, maybe even odd, if I thought about them at all. I knew, for example, that eating rice on Passover was allowed in Sephardic homes, a strict prohibition in mine and everyone else’s I knew, as Ashkenazim. And I considered their prayerbook nusach, or style, annoying since it was different from what I knew, and therefore hard for me to follow.
Why Funders Need To Embrace Failure
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 | Gary Rosenblatt | Editor and Publisher
Before there was Birthright Israel, the most successful Jewish communal effort to increase Jewish identity among young people, there was The Israel Experience, a like-minded effort — and acknowledged failure. Jeffrey Solomon, president of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Family Philanthropies, recalls that Charles Bronfman announced the launch of The Israel Experience in 1992, amid great fanfare, at the major annual convention of North American Jewish federations.
Is The Jewish People Better Off Today Than It Was A Year Ago?
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 | Gary Rosenblatt | Editor And Publisher
If you’re an optimist and were asked to name three of the most significant Jewish events of the past 12 months, you might cite the release and emotional homecoming of Gilad Shalit after more than five years in captivity; the protest movement that spread across the Arab world, signaling an end or challenge to autocratic rule and a push for democracy; and a Jerusalem-Washington relationship bolstered by new military and strategic advances, and politically by America’s decisive efforts to thwart Palestinian efforts to achieve statehood through the United Nations and to prevent a nu
A Great Miracle Happened Where?
Tuesday, December 20, 2011 | Gary Rosenblatt | Editor And Publisher
Chanukah, among its many meanings, reminds us that assimilation is not a new problem. Throughout history small pockets of traditionalists have sought to maintain their faith while larger numbers have been lost to the dominant culture or, too often, to the forces of anti-Semitism, coercion and murder.
At Crossroads, Reform Jewry Focuses On Transformation
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 | Gary Rosenblatt | Editor and Publisher
This week’s biennial convention of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), marking the transition to new leadership at the helm, is being hailed as a celebration, and one can see why.
Israelis And Us: It’s Complicated
Tuesday, December 6, 2011 | Gary Rosenblatt | Editor And Publisher
The news reports about Israel’s latest, ill-fated public relations campaign have come and gone. But the impact lingers, and it’s worth exploring how Israeli and American Jews, despite all their professed connections, still misunderstand each other in troubling ways. The most recent example, in brief: A $300,000 ad campaign to encourage Israelis living in America to come home, sponsored by the government in Jerusalem, became known to and immediately was criticized by mainstream, fervently pro-Israel American Jewish groups, and others, as deeply offensive.
Mind The Gap Between Orthodox And Other Jews
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 | Gary Rosenblatt | Editor And Publisher
When journalist Peter Beinart talks about the growing alienation between young American Jews and Israel, and with their Jewish practice, he is quick to point out that he isn’t referring to the Orthodox. Indeed, young Orthodox Jews, reflecting their elders’ behavior, are the exception to his rule, deeply committed to their religion and the Jewish state.