World

“Your visit gives me proof that there are still good people out there”, says 82-year-old Katia, when she opens the door of her creaky house. This Jewish lady lives a lonely life in the vast countryside of the Ukraine.“I prayed for your coming. Thank you for looking after me. I …

I have a buddy from high school who was always a bit of an intellectual rebel.  He is of Irish descent and I am, of course, of Jewish descent.    We were not trying to burn anything down or bully other people.  We were not Antifa-like “fascist anti-fascists” beating the …

The question of Arab and Islamist anti-Jewish hatred goes to the heart of the conflict with Israel. So why have Jewish refugees been so neglected? Seventy years ago, the newly-established State of Israel opened the floodgates to hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees. Many were Holocaust survivors from the displaced …

On International Children’s Day Nov.20, the British-based group, Campaign4Truth   held an event at Golders Green,  commemorating the Israeli children murdered or maimed by Arab terror since 1920.  I was asked by the organizers to compose a short message for the event.  This is what I wrote: Terrorism is always heinous—but …

In the aftermath of the murder of eleven Jews at prayer on the Sabbath in their synagogue, there was much sturm and drang about the cause/causes. We are all aware of the well-known Jew hatred from the far right-the white supremacists, the KKK the Neo-Nazis. Bless them. They don’t hide …

Linda Sarsour, who refers to herself as a Palestinian refugee, has learned her lessons well from history. Divide and Conquer. She is taking advantage of the divide between Jews in the diaspora and Jews in Israel: “between their allegiance to universal concepts of social justice and Tikkun Olam versus the well-being of …

Yesterday I moved to get a posting out without delay, in order to begin to provide perspective on the election. But of course there is more. ~~~~~~~~~~ Before I proceed with that election perspective, and related issues, I want to simply express my horror at the Wednesday night killing of …

Journal of a special trip by Rabbi Benjamin Jacobs Chief Rabbi of Holland, to the Ukraine. After a night’s sleep in Chernigov, a lecture, morning service and breakfast with the rabbi, his wife and some members of the Jewish community, we visit the Jewish school and then get a tour …

I am, clearly, not happy about the Democratic win in the House. But I do not see this as indicative of a “blue wave” that signals a crisis for the Republicans now or for Trump in 2020. Traditionally, the party that does not control the White House gains seats in …

I was not going to post again before the midterm election tomorrow, but I must. For today I was directly exposed to some of the virulent, irrational fury sometimes directed at supporters of Trump by people on the left. It is very nasty. Not only have I been exposed to …

Journal of a special trip by Chief Rabbi Jacobs in Ukraine – Last night I tried to go to bed in time, to get rested for our journey today. But something troubled me; I could not break free of the extreme poverty I had seen that day. Very expensive medicines, …

In my recent piece, Democrats and Jews, I asked the following question at Israel Thrives: Why is it that of all the minority constituencies of the Democratic Party only the Jewish minority is thought to be morally obligated to sacrifice the well-being of their own children in deference to that …

Trump is the creation of Obama. The divisions in American society he is accused of exacerbating are ones largely precipitated by his predecessor’s policies and prejudices.  Why does it seem to a growing number of people that an [Obama] administration professing…to understand Jewish anxieties about the consequences of antisemitism in the Middle …

Journal of a special trip by Chief Rabbi Jacobs in Ukraine – Around midnight we arrive at our first destination in Ukraine, after a journey of more than five hours in a kind of driving washing machine, along roads full of deep potholes, in a van without normal suspension, but …

Yesterday, my heart broke over the senseless, antisemitic attack in Squirrel Hill that took the lives of 11 Jews, during Shabbat, while they were in synagogue. I had prayed for healing for the mourners and for the community, and I will continue to pray. But I have scant hope that …

Pittsburgh was my home for 2 years. Although, it was very different from anything I’ve ever experienced in Moscow − from architecture, food, weather, lifestyle to the stubborn foreign language − one thing that stood out was its people. See, people are nice in Pittsburgh. And by nice I mean …

On Shabbat, in the city of Pittsburgh, as surely all of my readers know, eleven Jews – eight men and three women, but, thank Heavens, no children – were killed in what is being described as the worst antisemitic attack to ever take place in the US. The identities of …

Some people are so proudly antisemitic you don’t need to guess. Neo-Nazis come to mind. Louis Farrakhan, Linda Sarsour, Britain’s one and only Jeremy Corbyn.  And far too many Imams to name. But there is another kind of antisemitism that is more covert and dangerous because it comes from main …

The Democratic Party is sabotaging its Jewish constituency and, thereby, in some measure, punching itself in the face. It has put American Jews — who are traditionally among the most loyal Democrats  — into the position of having to choose between a political party and our own families… our own …

When I was a tiny, little Zionist growing up in New York and Connecticut in the 1970s and 1980s, Jewish youngsters did not learn Krav Maga. I doubt any of my friends, Jewish or otherwise, ever even heard of this martial art. We punched a nose when we had to, …