http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php en mforr@alteryourview.com Copyright 2009 2009-11-21T05:00:19+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/call_of_an_immigrant_people/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/call_of_an_immigrant_people/#When:16:01:35Z Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free … Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” These words inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty were written by the Jewish poet Emma Lazarus. The United States is a country of immigrants. This provides… Opinion - Op/Ed 2009-11-19T16:01:35+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/legends_of_the_fall/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/legends_of_the_fall/#When:20:00:31Z Between Columbus Day and Thanksgiving, I feel especially American. The Jewish holidays, lovely and uplifting occasions that grind the country to a halt, are over at last. Projects blithely on hold for weeks thrust Israelis into an accelerated work ethic that feels very Protestant. We don’t do Columbus Day, Oct. 12, which marks when in 1492 a sailor… Opinion - Op/Ed 2009-11-12T20:00:31+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/turkish-israeli_woes/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/turkish-israeli_woes/#When:20:00:26Z Since the beginning of 2009, Turkish-Israeli relations have seriously deteriorated. • In January 2009, reacting to the Israeli invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas rocket and mortar fire, Turkish Prime Minister Recip Erdogan publicly stated, “The Jews know well how to kill.” • Then in mid-October, Turkey cancelled Israeli participation in a multinational military exercise; Erdogan claimed… Opinion - Op/Ed 2009-11-05T20:00:26+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/can_one_bad-mouth_israel0/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/can_one_bad-mouth_israel0/#When:20:00:39Z The term “pro-Israel” is used routinely to describe Americans who are sympathetic toward the State of Israel. Increasingly, however, one hears questions raised as to what this term really means. The “pro-Israel” community was never monolithic, but the number of critics of Israeli policy and the volume of their complaints have grown to the point where some people… Opinion - Op/Ed 2009-10-29T20:00:39+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/judicial_error/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/judicial_error/#When:19:30:20Z Bullying from the bench is a long tradition in some jurisdictions, but courts are afforded great latitude in deliberations and verdicts, many of which are overturned on appeal. But when a respected jurist pronounces an opinion from on high — even when he or she is dead wrong — people stand up and take notice. A few years… Opinion - Op/Ed 2009-10-22T19:30:20+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/tipping_scales_of_success/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/tipping_scales_of_success/#When:20:00:32Z Now that the High Holidays have passed we begin to evaluate our success during the rest of the year. How do we evaluate success? Sometimes I think we default to quantitative measurements. What is our GPA? How much money are we making? How many pounds did we gain? Lose? How much influence do we have? How many friends… Opinion - Op/Ed 2009-10-15T20:00:32+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/theme_park_israel/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/theme_park_israel/#When:20:00:46Z One of Jerusalem’s more interesting streets is the one named for Gershon Agron, founding editor of the Jerusalem Post and mayor in the late 1950s. At the top is a Conservative synagogue that was once a church. Next door is the Convent of the Sisters of the Rosary. Then comes the American Consulate, formerly the Arab-style home of… Opinion - Op/Ed 2009-10-08T20:00:46+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/goldstone_reports_ugly_politics/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/goldstone_reports_ugly_politics/#When:19:59:59Z The recently released report of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on last winter’s war between Israel and Hamas, which was chaired by the South African jurist Richard Goldstone, condemns both Israel and Hamas for “war crimes” and possibly “crimes against humanity.” However, the bulk of the blame in its 575 pages is on Israel. Why the… Opinion - Op/Ed 2009-10-01T19:59:59+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/jews_in_jail/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/jews_in_jail/#When:20:00:15Z As the Day of Atonement approaches, it is hard to say who among us will be charged, tried and convicted of criminal activity, and who won’t, in the year to come. Of the high-profile American Jews currently in jail, two deserve to be there and one doesn’t. In January 2006, Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to three federal felony… Opinion - Op/Ed 2009-09-24T20:00:15+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/do_other_rabbis_matter/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/do_other_rabbis_matter/#When:20:00:25Z
]]>Right before the High Holidays, as a rabbi there is a phrase I hear many times: “Rabbi, I know you’re busy, but …” The “but” means that even though you are drowning in sermon writing, making sure the synagogue is clean and sparkling, all the honors have been distributed, the shofar blower doesn’t have chapped lips, the kids’… Opinion - Op/Ed 2009-09-17T20:00:25+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/american_accents_hendrix_and_hasids/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/american_accents_hendrix_and_hasids/#When:20:00:49Z Late summer in the Holy City. Like shrinks and Parisians, I’m usually far away in August, but not this year. Windows wide open, dogs howling, mine included. (We have a new, large puppy.) I’m home alone with the dog. My son’s in the army. My wife and daughter with family in California, the goldeneh medineh. When you spend… Opinion - Op/Ed 2009-09-10T20:00:49+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/why_a_jewish_state/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/why_a_jewish_state/#When:20:00:05Z In his June 2009 Bar-Ilan University speech, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asserted that Palestinian recognition of Israel as a “Jewish state” was an Israeli requirement for agreeing to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Both Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat immediately rejected the call. However, this is necessary for a long-lasting peace… Opinion - Op/Ed 2009-09-03T20:00:05+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/body_parts_and_blood_libels/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/body_parts_and_blood_libels/#When:20:00:08Z hough journalists are generally guaranteed great latitude under the principles of freedom of speech and expression, the profession itself has long recognized the importance of abiding by certain primary ethical principles. Besides seeking and reporting truth, journalists in Western democracies are required by their own codes of professional ethics to minimize harm, act independently and be accountable. So… Opinion - Op/Ed 2009-08-27T20:00:08+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/NATOs_new_strategic_concept_a_strategic_opportunity_for_israel/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/NATOs_new_strategic_concept_a_strategic_opportunity_for_israel/#When:20:00:57Z
]]>Several years ago, we created AJCongress’ NATO-Israel Program based on the changing international security dynamic in the post 9/11 world, coupled with the fact that Israel as a Western democracy should be afforded the opportunity to become a NATO partner or member regardless of its geography. We forged a unique partnership with the Atlantic Forum of Israel, then-headed… Opinion - Op/Ed 2009-08-20T20:00:57+00:00 http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/when_things_fall_apart/ http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/opinion/jt/op_ed/when_things_fall_apart/#When:04:00:04Z “Pogrom!” roared the old man. “Do you know what a pogrom is?!” We were standing in front of a makolet — a neighborhood grocery — on Ben-Shushan Street in Akko (also known as Acre). This was in the eastern part of the city, not the scenic old town by the sea where tourists visit Crusader ruins. It’s a… Opinion - Op/Ed 2008-11-14T04:00:04+00:00