Gil Troy
In the Spirit of Debate: My Response to Pomerantz
Pomerantz and I part ways in two critical junctures.
The Non-Negotiable Judaism My Parents Gave Me
"The key question remains: what’s your Jewish motherboard, your non-negotiable, your red line, your identity anchor?"
“Fragilience”: When Temples are Desecrated — and Rededicated
Although these incidents highlight our emotional vulnerability, they also demonstrate our two democracies’ resilience.
Cambria Gordon’s Book Reminds Us of Our Destiny
While “The Poetry of Secrets” helps us understand oppression, it is never the downer it could be.
Beware the 1619-ing of American Jewry
While the pain of the testimonials about racial discrimination is searing and demanding our attention, and while some of the essays were more hopeful about healing, many of these materials were not invitations to thoughtful discussion, but to a reprogramming.
Isabel Wilkerson’s New Book ‘Caste’ Clings to the Past
Wilkerson sees her focus on caste as an X-ray, illuminating the invisible, unchanging dimensions of American life.
Let’s Protest Partisan Bullying, Too
We must avoid the partisan bully’s orthodoxies and oversimplifications.
Every Jew, Not Just Israelis, Should Celebrate Jerusalem Day
Recently, while jogging through Jerusalem’s clean, coronavirus-hushed Old City, I started dreading Yom Yerushalayim. Usually, I love Jerusalem Day. It’s as glorious as Yom...
Spiritual Engagement Dulls The Pain of Social Estrangement
Although I’m a traditional person, I have never been much for praying. I usually attend services armed with a nonfiction book. Books make sense to...
Has The New York Times Lost Faith in America?
Elie Wiesel always carried his U.S. passport. Justice Hugo Black kept a copy of the Constitution in his pocket. And at the 2016 Democratic...
How You Can Help Us Fight the Rockets
I’m tired of making the same arguments. I’m tired of asking what country would endure 160 rockets in one day, let alone hundreds in...
The Rise of Anti-Semitism, and What to Do About It
In 1986, Steven Spielberg and Don Bluth’s animated “An American Tail,” about Jewish immigrants (portrayed by mice), declared American anti-Semitism not just dead, but...
The Real Meaning of Yom Ha’atzmaut
Last year, I was in Atlanta on a book tour shortly before Yom Ha’atzmaut — Israel Independence Day. I challenged the audience’s hearts and...
Vote Is a Fresh Start
And the results are … confusing! Israel’s election day ended with no clear indication of who would be the country’s next prime minister and...
Setting the Record Straight on Rabbi Lau
You may recall that after the horrible synagogue shootings in Pittsburgh, a brouhaha erupted over an apparent insult to Conservative Jewry. People claimed that...
Embrace Ancient Wisdom, Not Modern Politics
Let’s escalate the “Tikkun Olam and American Judaism” debate by elbowing tikkun olam aside and targeting American Judaism directly. The issue isn’t really tikkun...
Having a December Dilemma Is Better Than December Delusions
Editor's note: This is an online exclusive piece.
Pop quiz: What do “White Christmas,” “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” “Let It Snow,” “Silver Bells,” and...
Jews and Intermarriage: A Love-Fate Relationship
It’s becoming the great unspoken yet perennial source of anguish haunting the Jewish world. It’s that nerve pressing on the blue-and-white or red-white-and-blue spine,...
The Trump Factor: Now What?
Usually, I love Election Day. Watching people vote gives me a kick in the patriotic adrenals. But in this year’s Scrooge election, too many...
Will a Leader Soon ‘Corbyn’ the Democrats?
Corbyn — verb: To turn a traditionally pro-Israel party into an anti-Semitic one while insisting you don’t hate Jews, you only hate Israel.
If years...
Reform Judaism Doubles Down on Zionism
In June, the Reform movement decided to resist the headlines announcing the growing, “unprecedented” rupture between American Jewry and Israel by doubling-down on “our...
Why Tikkun Olam Can’t Fix American Judaism
This past spring, Rabbi David Wolpe dared to banish politics from his pulpit. The denunciations in these pages of his principled stand again revealed...
The New Jewish Temper Tantrum
There’s a new specter haunting liberal rabbis, educators and parents. A decade ago it was J-Street — until Jewish Voices for Peace’s (JVP) anti-Israel...
Why Jews Love Presidents (Most of the Time)
Most American Jews today love hating President Donald Trump. The hostility is so pure, so intense, so obsessive, it brooks no opposition, correction or...