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american

Iran deal may transform American Jewry

One of the significant elements to this story involves American Jews opposing the president of the United States that they had helped to elect.

Food flight: Perusing American Jewry’s past and present

Two relatively new books tell the story of American Jewry, weaving together its past and present by examining tradition and making it relevant to today’s reader. Where Sue Fishkoff’s \”Kosher Nation: Why More and More of America’s Food Answers to a Higher Authority\” (Schocken, 2010) is robust and detailed, Leah Koenig’s \”The Hadassah Everyday Cookbook: Daily Meals for the Contemporary Jewish Kitchen\” (Universe, 2011) is spacious and adaptable.

Amid rancorous debate, a voice for American Jewry pushes civility

When disagreement among American Jews on Israel-related issues runs deep, how does an organization that bills itself as the representative voice of the organized American Jewish community formulate policies and priorities? By emphasizing civility in public discourse, for starters.

View on Eisen From L.A.: Thumbs Up

Local reaction was positive — with an element of wait and see — to the choice of Stanford professor Arnold Eisen as the new, de facto leader of the Conservative moment. Eisen, who isn\’t a rabbi, will take over this summer as chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.

Sharonism vs. Building a Wall

Any attempt to resolve the crisis in the Middle East forces us — the American people and American Jewry — to appraise the motives and the ultimate goals of the leaders involved. Endless disputes have raged over whether Yasser Arafat and the other Arab leaders merely seek a Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel or whether they continue to harbor the ultimate goal of exterminating what they once derided as the \”Zionist entity.\” But just as important, perhaps even more so, is reaching an understanding of the true goals of Israel\’s current Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his close associates. They — even more than their Arab opponents — hold the fate of the Israeli people in their hands.

Young Man on Campus

Last week I worried in this space that our college students were ill-equipped to defend American Jewry\’s pro-Israel position. I asked for a volunteer to explain what\’s going on. Luckily, Donald Cohen-Cutler, a UC Davis freshman and an international relations major, stepped up to the plate.

I say \”luckily\” because events on campus are even worse than I had suspected. Of course, I remember the beginnings of the Jewish-Muslim rift on campus during the first intifada. But I don\’t remember blatant insults to Jewish ritual and history. That\’s what\’s happening now (see story, page 10).

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More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.