One people, separate worlds
May 23, 2012
I gave a talk to a Jewish women’s group recently, on the subject of Jews and the presidential vote. In the question-and-answer period, one woman asked, “What am I supposed to say when my [presumably non-Jewish] neighbors ask me about the ultra-Orthodox on welfare in Lakewood?” A few days later, I spoke at a Reform synagogue on the same topic. Another q-and-a, similar questions: “Do you think we’re headed to a civil war with the ultra-Orthodox?” asked one man. “What do you think about the arrest of the rabbis in the New Jersey corruption scandal?” asked another. Probably at no other time in Jewish history have non-Orthodox Jews and the haredim — fervently Orthodox — had less to do with one another. Read More
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Cousin, Cousine, Cuisine
May 16, 2012
I just spent a week in Paris, where I pondered the election of Francois Hollande, probed France’s Iran policy, and delved into the decline of the Eurozone. Oh wait, I’m sorry — that was Thomas Friedman. I actually spent the week eating pain au chocolat, drinking espresso, and looking at pictures. Read More
Family values
May 9, 2012
A dumb mistake by the White House raises a question with as many answers as there are Jews: What makes a Jewish hero, anyway? Read More
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Talking to, not at, each other
May 2, 2012
A few months ago we created a weekly e-newsletter called “Responsive Reading,” which pairs pro and con essays on the big issues , from Iran and Hamas to Holocaust humor and intermarriage. I think it honors the great Jewish tradition of argumentation, especially what the rabbis called “arguments for the sake of heaven” — debates that seek to uncover the truth, not to belittle or undermine an opponent. Read More
Spoof and consequences
April 25, 2012
If you ever wonder why university presidents get paid the big bucks, consider the week Richard McCormick is having. On one side, the Rutgers University president is being pressed by state Jewish leaders to treat a satirical newspaper’s attack on a Jewish student as a bias incident. On the other side you have a First Amendment watchdog group warning the university to save itself from the “embarrassing prospect” of a free speech case it cannot win. Read More
One governor, two countries
April 18, 2012
Gov. Christie’s office invited me and a number of other Jewish journalists to Drumthwacket to discuss his recent trip to Israel. The lunch gave us glimpses of the various sides of a public figure enjoying the attention he is getting from the press, from his own party, and even heads of state. Read More
Medium, but not well done
April 11, 2012
There’s a great old Seinfeld featuring Bryan Cranston (lately of Breaking Bad) as a dentist and recent convert to Judaism who won’t stop telling Jewish jokes. This bugs Jerry to no end, so he decides to complain to a priest. “I wanted to talk to you about Dr. Whatley,” Jerry tells Father Curtis, while sitting in a confessional. “I have a suspicion that he’s converted to Judaism just for the jokes.” “And this offends you as a Jewish person,” says the priest. “No,” says Jerry, “it offends me as a comedian.” I felt a little like that after reading a particularly nasty item in The Medium, the satirical newspaper at Rutgers University. Read More
Mosaic
April 4, 2012
I am usually wary of art exhibitions described as “dialogues” among Israelis and Arabs. Often they are less dialogues than sustained arguments, pitched shouting matches, or one-sided monologues. But an inaugural exhibit by The Middle East Center for the Arts (MECA) at Mana Contemporary Art Center in Jersey City lived up to its billing — as a “meaningful dialogue about the Middle East through artist collaboration.” Read More
Signs and wonders
March 21, 2012
The challenge for anyone looking into the state of pluralism in Israel, even on a quick trip, is to balance the deeply troubling examples of haredi overreach with the progress being made by the more open-minded, writes Andrew Silow-Carroll. And there are definitely developments that belie the image of Israel as a Middle Eastern Williamsburg. Read More
Extremophiles
March 13, 2012
For seven years now, American Associates of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has run an annual media mission, showing off the university’s research projects and academic facilities to journalists from the United States. The week-long tour is named for Murray Fromson, a former CBS journalist; his daughter, Aliza Ben-Tal, told me her father had been frustrated that the only Israel stories his fellow journalists seemed to be interested in were those dealing with the conflict. Read More
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