When Rabbi Harold Shulweis learned that the DVD of \”The Passion of the Christ,\” which debuted on Aug. 31, would be just a bare-bones, no-frills copy of Mel Gibson\’s controversial movie, the spiritual leader of Encino\’s Valley Beth Shalom said, \”That\’s very good. I don\’t think the Jewish community has to repeat, regurgitate, all the anguish, all the anger.\”
Israel advocacy on campus has become a front-burner enterprise for the American Jewish community. Attacks by anti-Israel campus activists, including a fair number of Jewish students and faculty, demoralize and often intimidate most Jewish students who are ill-equipped to counter these efforts to delegitimize Israel. It is a mark of the Jewish community\’s growing concern that more than 25 national organizations are now involved in training campus activists to defend and promote Israel and thereby inspire Jewish students to feel a sense of pride in themselves and the Jewish State.
The study that the European Union\’s Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia commissioned was prompted by a wave of anti-Semitic incidents in Europe that intensified in the spring of 2002. The report was suppressed, allegedly to avoid offending Europe\’s large Muslim communities. The European Jewish Congress obtained a copy of the report and released it Monday.
As the United States intensifies its war against terrorism at home and abroad, the Jewish community may be poised to serve as a bridge between the Bush administration and some of its critics in the civil liberties community.
Numerous spokespeople for the Orthodox Jewish community have passionately opposed any transportation solution that includes using the Chandler portion of the MTA right of way. I would like to express support of the MTA\’s proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route on the Burbank/Chandler corridor.
\nTwo of the keenest American academic minds on the politics of the Middle East — one Jewish, the other Arab — debated the present and future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Monday evening, and reached agreement on at least three points.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.