Opinion

There have been many mischaracterizations of the position of the Anti-Defamation League with regard to the proposed Islamic center/mosque in the shadow of Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan. In fact, we believe that our position is completely consistent with ADL’s historic posture on a number of themes.

 There have been many mischaracterizations of the position of the Anti-Defamation League with regard to the proposed Islamic center/mosque in the shadow of Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan. In fact, we believe that our position is completely consistent with ADL’s historic posture on a number of themes.

With the renewed seasonal outbreak of the Reform-Orthodox wars, I cannot see myself as a mere bystander, inasmuch as the letter by Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar, is addressed to me, as an official town rabbi. (See).

My friend and colleague Rabbi Leon Morris has made a provocative call for a moratorium on weddings performed before the end of Shabbat on Saturday evening. He argues that such weddings undermine the sanctity of Shabbat and send the wrong message about the demands of Jewish commitment.

Having spent almost 13 years in Jewish education, and the last four as a head of school, I am intimately familiar with the question of day school viability. I am fortunate to have been involved, in an advisory capacity, with Yeshiva University and Avi Chai, and I have heard a number of important, thought-provoking, and creative ideas to improve the quality and affordability of our day schools.

A provocative question is circulating in the Jewish community: Can day schools survive, given the reality of reduced philanthropic support in this economic climate? While this is a vitally important question, it misses two salient points.

First, there is strong evidence that the day school field is not only surviving, but is a resilient, thriving enterprise. Enrollment decreases this past year were smaller than originally feared; we have seen significant enrollment growth at 50 non-Orthodox schools nationwide; and school closures, while painful, have been few.

The recent wedding of Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky has triggered a spate of articles about interfaith marriage, rabbinic officiation, co-officiation with Christian clergy and the like. Considerably less attention has been focused on the fact that the wedding took place on a Saturday before nightfall. Perhaps this was deemed less newsworthy because it has become so commonplace. I’m asking myself whether the most publicized Shabbat wedding in American Jewish history might have the unintended consequence of questioning anew the propriety of performing weddings on the Sabbath.

The disclosure by The Jewish Week of the $7 million fraud at the Claims Conference has revived former concerns and exposed new problems relating to the management of this important Jewish organization.

Two very different events marked the month of July for Jews in New York this summer. The first was the performance of “The Merchant of Venice” at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, and now headed for Broadway. The second was Chelsea Clinton’s wedding to Marc Mezvinsky in upstate Rhinebeck. I wasn’t at the second (alas!), but I did attend the first.

Some Arab members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, are stepping up their belligerent approach, openly siding with Israel’s enemies. While representing a small minority of Israel’s 1.3 million Arab citizens, their actions could endanger Jewish-Arab relations in Israel.

Knesset member Haneen Zoabi, of the Balad party, was on the Turkish vessel that tried to land in Hamas-ruled Gaza on May 31, seeking to break the Israeli blockade. Earlier that month, six Arab Knesset members traveled to Libya to meet with President Muammar Gaddafi.