Taylor Swift, Too? Threatened by Same Extremists Targeting Jews. BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – STORIES Three Taylor Swift concerts in Austria were abruptly cancelled because of an imminent terrorist threat. The main suspect, 19, was radicalized by online terror propaganda, and “thinks it is right to kill infidels,” according to Austrian security services. […]
by Rabbi Alan Silverstein, PhD | President of Mercaz Olami (Representing the global Masorti/Conservative movement) From 1517 until 1917, the entire Middle East was governed by the Ottoman Empire as a “caliphate,” an Islamic sacred polity. Within the vast terrain of Arab lands and North Africa, religious governance and a measure of minority group autonomy […]
“How can I bear unaided the trouble of you, and the burden, and the bickering!” (Devarim 1:12) The Torah teaches us: if it was difficult for Moshe — “whom the Lord singled out, face to face” (34:10) — to lead the people, then all the more so, every leader must study the solution suggested by […]
Jewish Students Brace for Hostile Fall Semester BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – VOICES – STORIES Even with the imminent threat of a severe Iranian attack against Israel and possibly America looming on the near horizon, students and parents are preparing for the return to class at universities and K-12 schools. The spring semester […]
by Rabbi Alan Silverstein, PhD | President of Mercaz Olami (Representing the global Masorti/Conservative movement) “If the core of the Arab-Israeli dispute is the Palestinian refugee problem, once the Palestinian issue is solved, would not everything else fall into place?” The core of the Arab-Israeli dispute is neither the “Palestinian problem” nor the issue of […]
It is not in the heavens (Deteronomy 30:12) This biblical verse makes a radical claim: divine wisdom is available to all of us. We do not need heroic feats in order to make God’s word accessible. For the sages of the Talmud the verse came to mean that the authority of interpreting the Torah resides […]
July 30, 2024 | A Bloody Game: 12 Children Killed on Israeli Soccer Field by Hezbollah BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – DISPELLING MYTHS – ACTIONS – VOICES – STORIES While the Olympic Games captivate the attention of a worldwide audience, 12 innocent children were killed by Hezbollah missile fire while playing soccer in Israel. An […]
by Rabbi Alan Silverstein, PhD | President of Mercaz Olami (Representing the global Masorti/Conservative movement) As a child I remember bringing a UNICEF canister door-to-door to support the good work of the United Nations. Along with many other American Jews, my family believed in the value of international collaboration in furthering acts of hesed. Over the […]
The Torah portion, Balak, which we read this past Shabbat, is among the most amazing in the Torah: Bil’am emerges, a prophet not of the Israelite people, and pronounces deeply true things about us. He sees the people Israel in the desert, and ostensibly delivering a curse, he blesses: How good are your tents, Jacob, […]
Deadly Yemen Drone, Olympic Death Threats and UN World Court Target Jews BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – VOICES – STORIES | July 23, 2024 Israel’s prime minister landed in the American capital in the wake of President Biden withdrawing his bid for re-election. Just days before, an Iranian drone was launched by the […]