Category
August 17, 2007
You have the right to feel offended
A conference organized by the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute in Jerusalem last month dealt with anti-Israel attacks in the United States that constitute, according to organizers, a \”long-term threat\” to Israel\’s standing.
Jewish Olympians must shine light on genocide
In the summer of 1936, a year after the enactment of the Nuremberg Laws, the world turned a blind eye to Nazi Germany\’s genocidal intentions as Hitler hosted the Olympics in Berlin. With next summer\’s games set to take place in Beijing, Jewish and Israeli athletes have a responsibility to help ensure that the world does not make the same mistake.
Are we prepping students for ongoing service?
Parents of Jewish high school students spend an enormous amount of their time and energy wondering whether their children are being properly \”prepared\” for the rigors of college. However, the discussion I rarely hear is whether these students will continue to be committed to ethical work as they become more independent.
Are day schools the ‘magic carpet?’
For years, I\’ve read predictions of doom about the future of American Jewish life, and I\’ve always guessed that the authors of those doomsday scenarios hadn\’t visited many Jewish day schools. Those of us who do on a daily basis are able to take a magic carpet into the future, where we can see the children of today becoming the Jewish leaders of tomorrow.
Dealing With Schmutz
This notion of blindness is a common theme in the life of Dennis Brown, a Chasidic Jew and professional counselor in his early 60s who runs the state-certified Ness Counseling Center in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood. Dennis deals with what he calls \”the schmutz of life\” on a daily basis — physical and sexual abuse, drugs, marital and family problems, wife beating, pleated pants.
The Rule of Three
The weird thing about mixed seating in synagogue is that sometimes couples are all over each other. Inappropriate during prayer time for sure, but somewhat more distracting when one half of that couple happens to be a guy you once dated.
ORT’s Israel schools meld technology and tikkun olam
With 167 high schools and colleges serving 100,000 students, the independent, apolitical ORT Israel system is taking over many Israeli schools, teaching a curriculum of both technology — from the cutting edge of satellites and nanobiotechnology to the basic nuts and bolts of mechanical engineering — and instilling Jewish values of giving back to society. With these two focal points, ORT Israel hopes to revolutionize the Israeli educational system — and Israeli society.
Matisyahu — reggae king without a crown?
Has Orthodox reggae star Matishayu severed his ties with Chabad-Lubavitch? Is he a bad influence on religious youth? And is he still frum? Blogs have been buzzing over these questions since Matisyahu appeared to distance himself from Chabad last month.\n
Israeli Arabs prove to be part of the problem, not part of the solution
The crux of the debate is what Israel\’s Arabs make of the very idea of a Jewish state in the ancestral land of the Jews. And our conclusion since the fall of 2000 has been — as the famously dovish TV journalist Amnon Abramowitz put it at the time — that while we pro-Oslo Israelis were devising two states for two peoples, our Arab counterparts, on both sides of the Green Line, were contemplating two states for one people: the Palestinians.
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