Gary Rosenblatt

Ruth’s Conversion Would Be Rejected Today

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:47:00 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor And Publisher

At a time when we are keenly aware of the deep divisions within the Jewish community on issues from religious practice to the policies of the State of Israel, along comes the festival of Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, with the most unifying theme in Jewish life: the giving of the Torah, the central, foundational text of our history and people, at Mount Sinai.

Ruth Shavuot The Book of Ruth

Closer To Home: Of Baseball, Faith And Family

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:03:00 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor And Publisher

When I was growing up, baseball was all about fathers and sons.

I am grateful that my Dad transmitted his love of the game to my older brother and me, and am reminded of it each spring, when the promise of a new season still fills me with childlike excitement.

Baseball Brooklyn Dodgers Fathers and sons New York Yankees Orioles Sandy Koufax

On Mother’s Day, Our Women Of Valor

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:37:00 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor And Publisher

Rare is the Jewish woman who is not praised as an Ayshet Chayil, a woman of valor, though too often it comes at her funeral, when she is not around to hear the rabbi intone from the Book of Proverbs.

“A woman of valor, who can find? Her worth is far beyond rubies…”

Ayshet Chayil Mother's Day Women of Valor

Are We Overly Invested In Bricks And Mortar?

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 01 May 2012 23:49:33 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor And Publisher

Nasty battle in Chicago between federation and a campus Hillel underscores widening clash in ideology.

The ugly public battle between the University of Chicago Hillel and its parent organization, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, merits attention because it transcends the immediate issues of funding, independence, governance and power. (See Editorial, “Showdown At Chicago Hillel,” April 27.)

The conflict speaks to a wider struggle between younger and older approaches to sustaining meaningful Jewish organizations, and to the future of innovation in communal life.

The Ever-Dying Art Of Jewish Humor

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:33:00 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor And Publisher

OK, so there are these three guys in the hospital, and they’re very bad off, and the doctor is making the rounds. He goes over to the first patient, a Catholic, and explains that there’s nothing more he can do medically for him and asks him his last wish.

“I’d like to see a priest and make a confession,” the man says.

The doctor says fine, and moves on to the next patient, a Protestant. And when the doctor asks him his last wish, the poor guy says, “I’d like to see my family and say good-bye.”

bill novak Eric Spiegelman Humor Jewish humor Jewish Jokes Moshe Waldoks old jews telling jokes Sam Hoffman

Changing Up The Bar And Bat Mitzvah Experience

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:06:00 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor And Publisher

Did you chant a Haftorah at your bar or bat mitzvah?

Do you remember what it was about?

Have you chanted any others since then?

Rabbi Joy Levitt, executive director of the JCC in Manhattan, believes that the heavy emphasis on teaching youngsters to chant a Haftorah on their special days is a sign of “wasted training and the wrong message” for bar and bat mitzvah youngsters.

“We’re not preparing them for Jewish life” with such rituals, she says. “On the contrary, we’ve sabotaged their Jewish life.”

Bar Mitzvahs Bat Mitzvahs Jewish life

New Approaches To Strengthening Old Ties

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:27:00 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor And Publisher

Israelis who leave their native country to settle in the diaspora have long been known as yordim, those who go down. It is a disparaging term, and one in contrast to those diaspora Jews who make aliyah, or ascend, to live in Israel.

The two concepts – going up to or down from Israel -- are anchored in a moral equation that harks back to classical Zionism, which negated the diaspora and insisted that Jewish survival depends on the imperative of aliyah.

aliyah Diaspora Jewish People Policy Institute

Can Obama Be Trusted To Save Israel?

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 21:16:00 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor And Publisher

Let me make clear at the outset: I don’t know what Israel plans to do about the Iran nuclear threat, and I don’t have any new advice for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about what actions he should or should not take as he and his government face an impossible dilemma.

But I do know that the mainstream press (and especially The New York Times) has had a steady drumbeat of reports these last few weeks characterizing Israel unfairly in the delicate diplomatic dance of Jerusalem, Washington and Tehran.

Israel Obama

End Of An Era In Baltimore?

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 23:58:00 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor and Publisher

A proud Jewish newspaper’s hard times, and what it portends.

Starting in the mid-1970s and for the next three decades or so, the Baltimore Jewish Times, with its annual awards in journalism competitions, extensive local, national and international reporting, and hefty volume of advertising, was the leader in its field and the envy of communities around the country.

Baltimore Jewish Times Jewish Newspapers

Don't Call J Street `Anti-Israel'

Gary Rosenblatt — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:46:03 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

posted by:

Gary Rosenblatt

I was saddened to see that Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, has come out with a statement entitled “J Street is Anti-Israel, Not Simply Extremist Leftwing.”

J Street ZOA Israel

Pushing Morality, A Victim Of Myopia

Dani Shetrit — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 00:17:00 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor and Publisher

Peter Beinart’s new book, ‘The Crisis Of Zionism,’ is disappointingly one-sided.

When I asked a well-known journalist with expertise in the Mideast to review Peter Beinart’s new book, “The Crisis Of Zionism,” he first replied that he’d love to but was crushed with deadlines.

When I e-mailed back, asking for suggestions for a knowledgeable reviewer who was relatively objective on the subject — not so easy to find — the journalist replied: “Your alternative is to treat it as the utter piece of $%& it is.”

Mideast

The Delicate Landscape Of Israel Education

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:21:00 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor And Publisher

A decade ago, the field of Israel education didn’t really exist in the United States.

A 2003 study found that when it came to teaching about Modern Israel in schools, camps, synagogues and youth groups, there was no conceptual framework, no standards of practice, no professional development, and educators felt unequipped to handle the material.

Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation Israel education

What Would Mordechai Do?

Dani Shetrit — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 01:25:00 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor And Publisher

At AIPAC, assessing the Obama-Bibi standoff on the eve of Purim.

Washington — The timing this week was hard to ignore. A do-or-die confrontation over Iran between two influential leaders, with the fate of the Jewish people at stake.

I’m not just referring to the Obama-Netanyahu showdown at the White House on when and whether to strike at Tehran’s nuclear sites, but to an encounter centuries ago between Queen Esther and King Ahasveros in ancient Persia — today’s Iran — and her plea that he reverse the wicked Haman’s death sentence for the Jewish population.

Haman Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mordechai Purim

New Grandchild, Ancient Ritual

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 22:41:00 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor And Publisher

Last week our family participated in a ritual commanded in the Torah and associated with the birth of a baby boy, a mitzvah that has become increasingly rare in Jewish life: the Pidyon HaBen, or redemption of the firstborn son, which applies in only an estimated 5 to 10 percent of Jewish births.

What follows are a few thoughts about the little-explored custom and the little boy who has been the focus of my thoughts in recent days.

Pidyon HaBen

Fighting Fair: The Ethics Of Warfare

Dani Shetrit — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:31:00 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor And Publisher

What distinguishes a legitimate soldier from a war criminal is how he conducts himself on the battlefield. But what if there is no battlefield and the combatants don’t wear uniforms?

Over the last 25 years Israel has found itself engaged in non-conventional, asymmetrical battles as Palestinian militants deliberately have turned conventional warfare on its head.

Moshe Halbertal Soldiers The Ethics of Warfare war criminals