USC Professor Jonathan Cohen One of the things that upsets me the most about all of the anti Israel protests is when I see a Jew involved. Especially one who plays the Holocaust card. This was the case with Jonathan Cohen, a professor of of public health at the University of Southern California (USC). When someone like this criticizes Israel it lends their views an aura of credence they do not deserve. Cohen is yet another woke progressive that refuses to recognize context and sees only the here and now of a conflict. Which in my view is a very immoral way of looking at anything. To t ..read more

Pre October 7 Anti Israel student protest (TOI) I am watching with dismay the increasing number of anti war protests taking place on college campuses right now. Protests that are fueled with the righteous indignation of students over civilian casualties that seem to outnumber terrorist casualties by orders of magnitude. Indeed. Over 30,000 civilian casualties is a very disturbing number of innocent people dying in a war. Even if that war is just. It should therefore not be a surprise that students are expressing anger and outrage at those they see as responsible: Israel. But what if t ..read more

This has been a tough year. Israel is going through one of it's most challenging periods since its founding in 1948. They are fighting for their very lives. with an enemy determined to annihilate them. Even though Israel's military is clearly capable of defending itself, it has come - and will unfortunately continue come at great cost  in both blood and treasure. The Jewish people have not been under such  assault since the Holocaust. Although obviously not anywhere near the same level. And just as obviously not by - either our benevolent government or the vast majority of it people ..read more

Some of Mishpachca’s ‘man in the street’ interviewees There was an interesting ‘man in the street’ interview in Mishpacha Magazine last week. The idea was to randomly ask Jews who were not particularly religious how - or even if October 7th changed their lives Jewishly. While their goal was to interview only Jews, they ended up interviewing a few non Jews as well.   Although this was not a statistically significant study, it mimics what my own non scientific impression about the views of both Jewish and non Jewish Americans with respect to Israel since that day of ..read more

Dr. Nemat Shafik testifying at yesterday's congressional hearing (Forward) Emily Tamkim is a case study in ignorance about both academic freedom - and especially Judaism. She should be embarrassed by her comments on both issues In her opinion piece in the Forward, Tamkin first quoted Nara Milanich, a professor of history at Barnard College who said the following:  “I think President (Dr. Nemat) Shafik had an opportunity to stand up for the values of academic freedom, free speech and the value of the university to research, teach, and engage on difficult issues,” Milanich wrote ..read more

Columbia University President Nemat Shafik (JTA) This time the answer was the right one. It’s too bad the first three times (in a row) the answer was stupid, foolish, and outright wrong. The question asked this time at a congressional hearing about antisemitism on college campuses was the same as it was in the other three cases:  “Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate (Insert college here) code of conduct?” The first time (back n December of last year) 3 university presidents with diverse backgrounds were asked that question: Harvard (now former) President Claudine Gay wh ..read more

Pastor John Hagee speaking at the November March for Israel (Forward) Jay Michaelson is an open and proud gay man who is an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. He also is identified as a rabbi in his bio.  I have no idea where he was ordained. But if he engages in male to male sexual activity typical of most gay people, then his rabbinic ordination is worthless – even if it is Orthodox.  There is no way a man can call himself a ‘teacher of Torah’ which is what a rabbi is supposed to do and deliberately violate one of its cardinal principles. I can't say for sure that he do ..read more

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman (JTA) He is a clear thinker whose moral compass does not let politics get in his way . An iconoclast of sorts one might say. The mere sight of him would surely lead one to realize that that he doesn’t much care about what others think of him.  If you haven’t guessed who I’m talking about, it’s the US senator from Pennsylvania, John Fetterman. I don’t know if he even owns a suit. In fact I think he only has 2 pieces of outerwear, shorts and a hoodie. He also has a lot of tattoos plastered all over his rather sizable 6’ 8’’ frame. He does what he ..read more

Some Thoughts in Reply by Rabbi Michael J. Broyde Pro Palestinian demonstration (PBS) A few days ago, I posted my thoughts about Rabbi Michael Broyde’s op-ed on the subject of anitsemtsim versus anti-Zionism in America. His response to my thoughts follows in its entirety: I deeply appreciate the engagement Emes Ve-Emunah undertook with my op-ed in Haaretz and the thoughtful response Harry Maryles presents. I understand and respect the optimism that underscores his perspective, and I too cherish the resilience and moral fiber of our liberal democracy in the United States. However, my c ..read more

On my way to Baltimore for my grandson's wedding. Not sure about Thursday or Friday either. I will be involved with the wedding in various different ways. Stay tuned. New posts will God willing  resume on Sunday ..read more