Gaza War
President-elect Donald Trump has reiterated his stern warning regarding American hostages held by Hamas, telling a podcaster that there will be “hell to pay” if they are not released by …
Ukranine War
As we begin the new year, it’s important to reflect on not just all we have to be thankful for, but on those who still need our support — including the people of Ukraine who are nearing …
gaza war
The last 15 months have been a tragedy for the individual and a triumph for the collective. History is rife with examples of this dichotomy. The tragedy of Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing …
Kosher Kitchen
Statistics show that between 66 percent and 75 percent of the new year resolutions we make have to do with food, diet and fitness. Sadly, by the end of January, 77 percent of people who made …
gaza war
For 15 months, Israelis and Jews around the world have watched in horror as much of the international media flipped the narrative of the terrorist invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. …
gaza war
Forgive me if I don’t join in the rush to canonize Jimmy Carter. He deserves respect for serving as president and for some meritorious accomplishments, but he was also one of, if not the most, …
Politics
When Donald Trump is inaugurated as our 47th president the week after next, he will (once again) be the only president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt who is a born-and-bred New Yorker. Despite his …
global focus
The other day, during a discussion with a colleague about the wave of pro-Hamas, antisemitic hysteria sweeping the Republic of Ireland, I unthinkingly quipped that the people of Eire should rename …
History
The German-Jewish writer Franz Kafka, who died 100 years ago at age 40, is on the short list of people whose name has become an eponymous adjective. The term “Kafkaesque” suggests …
Darkaynu
I remember the first time a student with special needs told me she wanted to study in Israel after high school. It was 24 years ago, and I was running a program for teens with special needs at Camp …
torah
As hopes rise and fall for the release of our hostages, it is easy to succumb to feelings of despair. Yet the lessons of last week’s, dramatic parsha, Vayigash, demonstrate how things can …
gaza war
Remembrances of former President Jimmy Carter, who passed away on Dec. 29 at the age of 100, should keep in mind how America’s 39th president profoundly damaged the Jewish state, especially …
gaza war
Liri Elbag, one of five female IDF soldiers still being held hostage in Gaza, was the subject of Hamas’s most recently released video. The video of Liri alive was filmed on Jan. 1. Available …
gaza war
What was this intifada that protesters on college campuses and in the streets of American cities keep screaming about? According to a recent article in the New York Times Sunday …
People of the Year
In the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, two local entrepreneurs turned personal pain into purposeful support, creating a lifeline for Israeli soldiers, displaced families and a …
antisemitism
A call for book-burning at this year’s National Council of Teachers of English annual convention — whose tagline is “Heart, Hope and Humanity” — has laid bare a growing …
Sports
Sam Salz, a Jewish wide receiver for the Texas A&M Aggies men’s football team, displays the Sabbath prohibitions on his jersey. Salz, 21, who wears a kippah and tzitzit , told JNS that …
This week in Torah
At almost every stage of the fraught encounter between Joseph and his family in Egypt, Joseph weeps. There are seven scenes of tears: 1. When the brothers came before him in Egypt for the first …
Jonathan Tobin
For 15 months, Israelis and Jews around the world have watched in horror as much of the international media flipped the narrative of the terrorist invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. …
Ben Cohen
The other day, during a discussion with a colleague about the wave of pro-Hamas, antisemitic hysteria sweeping the Republic of Ireland, I unthinkingly quipped that the people of Eire should rename …
Kosher Bookworm
A unique liturgical feature of this holiday is the recitation within the Amidah and Birkat Hamazon of Al Hanissim acknowledging the miracles of that long ago era, of history’s first open …
On Campus
“I never thought I would have to take off my Star of David necklace,” a student told Rabbi Levi Cunin a week after Oct. 7, 2023. Tears filled her eyes as …
More Opinion Columns
A call for book-burning at this year’s National Council of Teachers of English annual convention — whose tagline is “Heart, Hope and Humanity” — has laid bare a growing …
Food: Dining In
Statistics show that between 66 percent and 75 percent of the new year resolutions we make have to do with food, diet and fitness. Sadly, by the end of January, 77 percent of people who made …
Travel
I remember the first time a student with special needs told me she wanted to study in Israel after high school. It was 24 years ago, and I was running a program for teens with special needs at Camp …
Health
The dust has not settled because the pain still runs deep. The barbarism of that day, when infants, siblings and parents were brutally slaughtered, is a tragedy that many have …