Blogs

Personalities

Ari Teman - The Innovation Blog

Top Ten Jews Helping the Goyim (SPOOF)
August 19, 2012 3:45 am1 comment

My friend Dovid Efune, editor of The Algemeiner, has a yearly list, “Top 10 Non-Jews...

David Brog - For Zion's Sake

The Media’s True Failure in Gaza
March 19, 2013 1:31 am2 comments

Earlier this week, the United Nations confirmed that the tragic death of 11-month-old Omar...

William Rapfogel - Voice of the Needy

Ray Kelly is Beyond Reproach Over Training Video
February 12, 2012 1:52 pm0 comments

In July 1993, I joined a group of Jewish leaders on a visit to Israel with Mayor David N....

Oliver Benjamin Karp - The World According to Karp

Martin Luther King, the Mensch (VIDEO)
January 16, 2012 7:06 pm0 comments

Martin Luther King Jr. is correctly remembered as a great American who helped his country live...

Ron Agam -

Top Israeli Official Warns of Al-Qaeda in Syria
May 7, 2013 1:42 pm0 comments

Recently, I had a very interesting conversation with a high-ranking Israeli security official...

David Harris -

The Resurgence of European Antisemitism
May 27, 2013 8:49 am3 comments

Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe. A recent Tel Aviv University report found that the...

Kevin Bermeister -

With Their New Status, Palestinians Will Observe a Bursting Israeli Jerusalem
December 11, 2012 2:01 pm0 comments

Open your eyes and see the fires burning in Afghanistan, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, Libya and...

Yosef Abramowitz -

Solar Energy For All of Israel and Land for the Bedouins
January 24, 2012 4:01 pm5 comments

If solar energy is working for Haiti and its good enough for the kibbutzim, then certainly...

Yonah Bookstein -

MSU Student Viciously Assaulted, but Was It an Anti-Semitic Attack?
August 30, 2012 5:45 pm5 comments

The vicious assault on Michigan State University student Zachary Tennen has been plastered...

Israel

Lone Soldier - The Lone Soldier

Lone Soldier Week 18 – Raw and Rugged from Israel’s Front Lines.
July 25, 2011 9:57 am0 comments

‘Woke today at the crack of dawn for another day of drills.  My legs were already...

David Bratslavsky - Street Smart Politics

The Economist Should Get Real on Iran
February 29, 2012 11:46 am1 comment

The cover of the latest Economist reads “Iran” in ominous black letters peppered with...

Josh Hasten - Midwestern in the Middle East

Bat Hever is Israel’s Hurricane Sandy (PHOTOS)
January 21, 2013 3:45 am0 comments

For many Israelis, last week’s winter storm was a blessing. At least five straight days...

Arik Elman - Arik Elman Blog

Israel’s Bus Service and Liberal Rage
March 5, 2013 9:31 pm6 comments

Those of you who prefer to get your news about Israel from somewhat more reliable sources...

Asaf Romirowsky -

BDS vs. Palestinian Statehood
June 14, 2013 8:44 am3 comments

This year’s National Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) conference took place at Bethlehem...

Efraim Karsh -

The War Against the Jews
August 14, 2012 3:14 pm5 comments

The sustained anti-Israel de-legitimization campaign is a corollary of the millenarian obsession...

Judy Lash Balint -

Experiencing Jerusalem Through the Arts
January 4, 2013 4:13 am2 comments

Jerusalem–Jerusalem inspires creative energy—ever since David composed his Psalms here,...

Eli Beer -

From Davos: Creating a Network of Heroes
February 1, 2012 10:55 am0 comments

From a talk delivered by the author at the World Economic Forum in Davos. As I stand here...

Hadar Sela - Hadar Sela Blog

Letter to a New BBC Middle East Correspondent
June 11, 2013 6:39 am8 comments

Hello, We do not yet know your name or when you will be arriving in Jerusalem but that does...

Shoshanna Jaskoll -

‘Collaboration’ Is Not a Four-Letter Word
March 1, 2013 1:54 am2 comments

I was recently privy to a conversation between nonprofit executives. The two work for a small...

Shraga Simmons -

Resurrected: The Rachel Corrie Libel
September 2, 2012 5:23 pm4 comments

It was a horrible tragedy. In March 2003, Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American, was hanging...

Jewish International

Joshua Freedman -

Swedish Fears after Suicide Bomb Attack
December 27, 2010 4:13 am0 comments

A suicide bomb attack by an Islamic terrorist in Sweden has prompted the local Jewish community...

Gabriel Martindale - The perfidious Albion blog

Anatomy of a House Price Boom
April 26, 2013 2:22 pm1 comment

If I have managed to communicate anything at all worthwhile in previous blog posts, I would...

Adam Jacobs - Jacobs' Ladder

Making Friends With My Grey Hair
June 12, 2013 10:32 am1 comment

My big sister’s hair went grey in her 30s My little brother Eddie also went grey early I...

Ben Horne - The Sports Blog

Orthodox Response to an Un-Orthodox Sport
February 23, 2011 1:29 pm2 comments

Imagine the conversation between a Rabbi and his son. Says the Rabbi, “son, when you grow...

Elad Nehorai - Elad in Wonderland

Antisemitism Exists
March 7, 2013 1:38 am6 comments

We live in a world that is, thank G-d, very comfortable for Jews. Most of us are safe and...

Melvin Konner -

Israel, The Long View
November 21, 2011 7:12 pm0 comments

I’m sitting on the porch of the home of my friends the Selas, in Binyamina, south of Haifa,...

Laurent David Samama -

France’s Unity: A Country Comes Together in Response to Murders at Jewish School
March 19, 2012 11:42 am3 comments

Paris, early in the morning. Just after breakfast, the news of an attack against a Jewish...

Michael Weiss -

Raed Salah’s Apologists Wring Their Hands After the Vile Sheikh’s Arrest
July 4, 2011 7:02 am0 comments

Hats off to Theresa May for throwing the frothing hate-cleric Raed Salah into jail, where...

Sam Westrop -

Fascism With a Human Face
July 24, 2012 2:26 pm0 comments

Until now, every year, the Young Socialists have held a summer fair at Burbage Primary School...

Pinchas Allouche -

The Western Wall Clashes: Searching for a New Way Together
May 17, 2013 9:14 am0 comments

Concerning Developments “Clashes erupt at women-of-the-wall prayer service,”...

Jeremy Rosen - A Voice In the Camp

Pills and Religion
June 14, 2013 2:07 pm4 comments

As a child in the UK, we used to make fun of Americans with their bottles of vitamins and...

Irit Felsen -

How The Media Can Help Heal Gilad Shalit
November 6, 2011 10:09 am0 comments

For five long years, a media campaign swirled around the abduction and internment of Gilad...

Paul Leslie -

A New Low for the International Committee of the Red Cross?
June 18, 2013 8:18 am3 comments

A new low for the International Committee of the Red Cross? When it indirectly sponsors activities...

Shahrouz Khalifian -

The Spanish Inquisition and the Spread of Conversos in the Americas
April 27, 2012 11:47 am2 comments

A road trip down to the Mexican-American border would yield much of what you would expect...

Avishai Don -

The Forgotten Christians
February 10, 2012 10:18 am0 comments

This Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of Hosni Mubarak’s resignation, and the Harvard...

Susana Scheiner -

Blaming Israel for Summer, and Other Libels
August 16, 2012 12:05 am3 comments

You thought it couldn’t get more ridiculous than Egypt blaming Israel for shark attacks...

Arsen Ostrovsky -

Happy Europe Day
May 10, 2013 1:16 pm0 comments

As Europeans come together to celebrate the 63rd anniversary of Europe Day today, the...

Gidon Ben-zvi -

Should Israel’s Security be Sacrificed at the Altar of ‘Regional Stability’?
May 10, 2013 1:13 pm0 comments

Check out the front page of Monday’s (May 6th, 2013) edition of The Guardian and your hair...

Nicole Chayet -

Cheering for Aly Raisman: Another Jewish Girl’s Olympic Experience
August 2, 2012 7:58 pm7 comments

As I walked off the plane at London’s Heathrow Airport, the first image I saw was the Olympic...

Rebecca Hughes -

Modern Slavery in Israel: It’s All Politics
August 19, 2012 3:59 am1 comment

Several days ago, I awoke to the sound of my phone ringing off the hook.  A very annoyed...

Chas Newkey-Burden -

Hassan Rouhani and Nuclear Iran
June 16, 2013 3:41 pm0 comments

With the election of Hassan Rouhani in Iran, people want to know what this development means...

Tabitha Korol -

Levy Distorts, Haaretz Supports
November 9, 2012 2:14 pm8 comments

How absurd for Haaretz to be so named for the Land of Israel when it is quite unworthy of...

David Hersch -

Tutu Constantly Tooting His Tuneless Flute
June 2, 2013 7:55 pm26 comments

It occurs to me that Desmond Tutu’s obsession with and hate of Israel, always couched...

Ben Frank -

Venturing Outside the Big Apple? Visit West Point
June 4, 2013 1:55 pm0 comments

WEST POINT, NEW YORK – A number of years ago (when Richard M. Nixon was president) my wife...

Lifestyle

Mimi Hecht - Lady Mama

Mattel to Make Bald Barbie: Why I’m Not Applauding
April 2, 2012 4:58 pm0 comments

Over the decades since Barbie has made her debut, she has taken on many themes to reflect...

Menucha Levy - Freidafroo

Lady Gaga and the Counting of the Omer
May 23, 2011 2:36 pm0 comments

While half-heartedly screening the 53rd Annual GRAMMY awards this year, when Lady Gaga debuted...

Matthue Roth -

Writers Should Wake Up Early
December 7, 2011 6:27 pm0 comments

As a glutton for torture (and as a recent parent, which is kind of the same thing), I’ve...

Vanessa Van Petten - The Science of People

When Your Jewish Child is Dating a Non-Jew
April 28, 2011 1:55 pm7 comments

This is a tricky article for me to write, but if you will be patient with me, I’m going...

Uri Laio -

Finding Your Inner Matzah
March 31, 2011 3:09 pm1 comment

Pesach is the one holiday on which Jews are required to become obsessed with food. This is...

Vanessa Bressler -

‘Pinkwashing?’ – Forget About Israel
January 5, 2012 9:07 pm1 comment

How does one translate “pinkwashing?”  After I read a New York Times Op-Ed on November...

Lillian Gewirtzman -

Reflections of a Shoah Interviewer
December 28, 2011 12:01 am0 comments

In The summer of 1994 I accepted The Shoah Foundation’s invitation to join the crew of...

Tony Rebuck -

That Took a Lot of Courage, Mr. Collins
May 5, 2013 3:29 am6 comments

As they say in my tribe: Yasher Koach. It took great strength of character to come out as...

Tanya Helfand -

When the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Parents are Divorced
December 6, 2012 5:11 pm3 comments

Although festive and meaningful events, bar mitzvahs, like weddings, are always full of anxiety...

Arts And Culture

Yitzchok Moully - The Art of Jewish Art

Un-Orthodox Orthodox Art
July 31, 2012 3:02 pm0 comments

Jacqueline Nicholls is a fine artist in her words “…who...

Simcha Weinstein - Shtick Shift

Mensch of Steel
June 7, 2013 11:02 am2 comments

With the newest Superman film, “Man of Steel,” set for release, it seems only fitting...

Erez Safar - The Shemspeed Files

Sol Tevel Does Boee Kallah (INTERVIEW)
June 13, 2013 6:33 pm0 comments

If you aren’t yet familiar with Sol Tevél, imagine Euro-Latin star Manu Chao, reggae...

Daniel Vahab -

Are You Addicted to the Internet?
July 23, 2012 11:56 am0 comments

“Do you neglect household chores at home or school to spend more time online or video gaming?...

Evan Kleinman -

‘Punk Jews,’ Why we made it?
August 30, 2011 2:50 am9 comments

People often ask me about an issue that is both the easiest and hardest to explain. Jewish...

Todd Weinstein - I on Ruach

Pharaoh Waiting for the Last of the Ten Plagues of Passover (PHOTO BLOG)
March 31, 2013 6:59 pm3 comments

Text courtesy of chabad.org. 1. Aaron strikes the Nile, the waters turn to blood; 2....

Brandon Marlon -

Memo to Civilization
May 28, 2013 1:22 am1 comment

The doctrine of relativism is laudable for its egalitarian impetus, but falls short of the...

Kara Bieber -

British Girl in Tel Aviv Diary Part 7: A Peace of My Mind
December 3, 2012 12:47 am0 comments

As we continue to keep readers informed about what life in Israel under rocket fire is like,...

Abe Novick -

SuperJew
June 17, 2013 9:20 am3 comments

For my shekels, the question of whether the comic book character Superman, is Jewish or not...

More...

  • Personalities Sports NBA Finals a Time to Remember Legendary Jewish Coach Red Auerbach

    NBA Finals a Time to Remember Legendary Jewish Coach Red Auerbach

    JNS.org - At the start of each nationally televised game of the 2013 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat, ABChas aired a film-clip montage of basketball’s great players and coaches—a montage that includes Jewish coach Arnold “Red” Auerbach, the mastermind behind nine championship teams for the Boston Celtics. Red was one of four children of Marie and Hyman Auerbach. Hyman was a Russian-Jewish immigrant who left Belarus when he was 13. The couple owned a deli and [...]

    Read more →
  • Arts and Culture Jewish History The Marx Brothers and Jewish Identity

    The Marx Brothers and Jewish Identity

    JNS.org - The sons of Jewish immigrants from Germany and France, the Marx Brothers became zany masters of stage and screen who continue to captivate audiences. But in addition to providing comic relief, their films captured the drama of the entry of their marginalized religion into the U.S. Wayne Koestenbaum, author of the 2012 book The Anatomy of Harpo Marx, explains that the Marx Brothers’ Jewishness as a family “was evident, marked, thoroughly legible.” “Within a family already marked as Jewish within [...]

    Read more →
  • Arts and Culture Jewish Identity SuperJew

    SuperJew

    For my shekels, the question of whether the comic book character Superman, is Jewish or not shouldn’t even be questioned. Born and named Kal-El by his father Jor-El, “El” is one of the ancient names for God used throughout the bible and found in great prophets such as Samue-el, Dani-el and angels Micha-el and Gavri-el and of course, Isra-el. As Simcha Weinstein in his entertaining book, “Up, Up And Oy Vey” points out, “Kal” is the root of several Hebrew [...]

    Read more →
  • Israel Sports Formula 1 Road Show Thrills Jerusalem

    Formula 1 Road Show Thrills Jerusalem

    JNS.org – Some 100,000 people attended Israel’s first-ever Formula 1 Road Show in Jerusalem on Thursday and Friday. For several hours, the controversies that normally characterize Jerusalem were put aside, and a diverse mosaic of Israelis watched up close as the motor-sport stars temporarily conquered the city. “It was an amazing experience, the most fast and furious thing I have seen,” spectator Masada Porat told Israel Hayom. “It was a rare, extreme event that explodes in your face.” Spectator Irena [...]

    Read more →
  • Book Reviews Jewish Identity Klara’s Journey Casts Jews in Fast-Paced Adventure Through Russian History

    Klara’s Journey Casts Jews in Fast-Paced Adventure Through Russian History

    JNS.org – “If you’re sick, move away. Have some consideration for others,” a red army soldier scolds a slow-moving old man selling train tickets. “No, fires back the old man, proud, haughty, not realizing it’s a new country, a Bolshevik country where force heads the list instead of civility,” reads the following line in Ben G. Frank’s new novel, Klara’s Journey, released June 1. Reminiscent of Boris Pasternak’s Dr. Zhivago—whose backdrop is also a train ride across the Russian frontier during the [...]

    Read more →
  • Personalities Theater Nora Ephron, Famed Jewish Screenwriter, Remembered Through Tribeca Film Festival Prize

    Nora Ephron, Famed Jewish Screenwriter, Remembered Through Tribeca Film Festival Prize

    JNS.org – For filmmaker Meera Menon, no honor could have been more fitting than winning the inaugural award named after famed Jewish screenwriter and novelist Nora Ephron, the woman whose work inspired her. At the recent 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, Menon was named the first recipient of the $25,000 Nora Ephron Prize, given to a writer or director whose work embodies that of the late Ephron, who wrote the scripts for a number of hit films, including “When Harry Met [...]

    Read more →
  • Book Reviews Personalities Book Review: ‘Jewish Jordan’ Memoir an Important Guide for Players and Coaches

    Book Review: ‘Jewish Jordan’ Memoir an Important Guide for Players and Coaches

    JNS.org – Despite his friends’ and family’s doubts that a young Orthodox Jewish athlete could ever play college or professional basketball without compromising his religious values, between 1999 and 2009 the “Jewish Jordan” defied conventional wisdom and found his place on the court. In his new memoir, Jewish Jordan’s Triple Threat, Tamir Goodman describes his triumphs and disappointments in life, crediting his practice of Judaism for shaping his identity as an athlete and his understanding of basketball as a team sport. [...]

    Read more →
  • Blogs Sports Omri Casspi, ‘Jewish Jordan’ Partner on Basketball Camps to Inspire Youths On and Off the Court

    Omri Casspi, ‘Jewish Jordan’ Partner on Basketball Camps to Inspire Youths On and Off the Court

    Tamir Goodman (left) and NBA forward Omri Casspi—pictured on the court of the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls—together run basketball camps that seek to inspire youths on and off the court. Photo: Courtesy Tamir Goodman. JNS.org – Before last year, basketball camps for Jewish youths never had an instructor quite like Omri Casspi, a forward for the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Cleveland Cavaliers and the first Israeli-born player in NBA history. Casspi is a de facto ambassador for [...]

    Read more →
Sign up now to receive our regular news briefs.