Is murder wrong?: Progressive dialogue

By Dennis Prager
Published on January 2, 2013

In my last column, I made the case that if there is no God who declares murder wrong, murder is not, in fact, wrong. While human beings can believe that murder is wrong, without God, right and wrong are our moral opinions, not moral facts.

Jewish Education - Teaching Emotional Intelligence

Published on March 6, 2012

Survey:  Fewer Americans think Jews control Hollywood

By Danielle Berrin
Published on November 20, 2008

The majority of Americans no longer believe that Jews control Hollywood. This is the news from a new poll released by the Anti-Defamation League that also suggests there remains a widespread conviction that there is an organized campaign by Hollywood and the national media to undermine religious values.

VIDEO: Israel tries to sex up its image

Published on September 18, 2007

Britains' Sky News reports from Tel Aviv on an Israeli advertising campaign to sex up its image.

Shoah lessons drive curriculum

By Julie G Fax
Published on October 5, 2006

Community Briefs.

‘Munich’ Portrays Real World Issues

By David A. Lehrer
Published on December 22, 2005

In recent days, several pundits have criticized "Munich," the new film by director Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner, for drawing a "moral equivalency between the Israeli assassins and their targets -- both explicitly ... and implicitly." Furthermore, they argue that it has inaccurately portrayed the Israeli avengers as morally conflicted about their mission to eliminate the perpetrators of the Munich massacre.

Dialogue of Truth

By Rabbi Mordecai Finley
Published on August 19, 2004

For many, perhaps most, American Jews today, the words that open this week's Torah portion stand at the center of the their understanding of Judaism.

Prisoners’ Release Faces Hurdle

By Leslie Susser
Published on November 13, 2003

Seldom can Israeli Cabinet ministers have faced a more acute moral and political dilemma than the current prisoner exchange deal with Hezbollah.

That proposal, which the 23-member Cabinet approved Sunday by a one-vote margin, forced ministers to weigh the conflicting interests of several Israeli families, put a price on the life of a kidnapped Israeli citizen and consider the long-term price that all Israelis may yet have to pay.

Now the government may have another decision to make: Hezbollah is demanding that those released include Samir Kuntar, the terrorist from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who murdered an Israeli family in a 1979 attack that shocked Israel.

The Pacifist Who Fought Hitler

By Tom Tugend
Published on October 9, 2003

Early in the Nazi regime, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a rising young Protestant minister and theologian, was asked by his twin sister to speak at the funeral of her Jewish husband.

Bonhoeffer consulted his church superiors and refused. Later, tormented by his decision, he asked himself, "How could I have been so afraid? I should have behaved differently."

It was perhaps the only time that Bonhoeffer's natural human fear trumped his moral courage in fighting the Nazi ideology, a stand for which he finally paid with his life.

The acts and religious beliefs of perhaps the most principled German Protestant voice during the Hitler era are woven together in the 90-minute documentary, "Bonhoeffer," opening Oct. 10 at two Laemmle theaters.

Who Are the Journalists?

By Yizchok Adlerstein
Published on October 3, 2002

We love to hate them, those journalists who wield so much power and never quite get the facts right.

AMBER: The U.S. Moral Alert

By Rabbi Eli Hecht
Published on September 19, 2002

At least once a week, we hear reports of missing children. Some are found alive and others, tragically, dead.

Burden of Leadership

By Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom
Published on August 8, 2002

After 22 years of separation, believing his beloved son dead, Jacob was startled to hear that Joseph was not only alive but that he ruled the land of Egypt.

The Ongoing Dream

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on May 23, 2002

Producers Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson are sitting behind twin prefab desks in their spare Los Angeles office, looking like the Odd Couple.

A Beautiful Mind

By Rob Eshman
Published on January 17, 2002

Acuity, passion, the ability to hold several conflicting ideas at the same time, a wide-ranging and detailed understanding of the world we live in, and an ability to articulate a broad intellectual and moral vision -- watching Bill Clinton last Monday night at the Universal Ampitheatre made me realize how much I miss these attributes in a president.

This is not a criticism of George W. Bush. I imagine he would be the first to acknowledge, with some pride, that he's no Bill Clinton. Among the crowd that pressed to touch flesh with Clinton in a post-speech reception, several people admitted that Clinton would probably have done no better, and maybe worse, than Bush in executing the war against Al Qaeda. Different men, different strengths and weaknesses.

But last Monday night, it was Clinton's gifts that were on display.

Cloning Controversy Multiplies

By Sharon Samber
Published on August 16, 2001

In the Brave New World of cloning, most Jewish ethicists and organizations are staking out the middle ground.

A Portion of Parshat Re’eh

By Abby Gilad
Published on August 16, 2001

In this portion, God tells us something so important that it is mentioned twice: Do not sacrifice anywhere but in the Temple.

Universal Truths

By Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben
Published on February 15, 2001

The words we find in this week's parasha have undoubtedly influenced more individuals in the Western world than any other in the entire Torah.

End Papers

Published on September 30, 1999

The family gathers at the bedside. Sons, daughters and grandchildren ask each other, "What should we do for zedeh?"

What I Have Learned From the Clinton Affair

By Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis
Published on February 18, 1999

have learned from the Clinton affair how unprepared our technologically sophisticated society is to deal with moral issues, and specifically how to transmit moral wisdom to our children.

A Stitch in Time May Save Jobs

By Joel Kotkin
Published on November 6, 1997

For generations of my own family, and many Jewish families, thegarment industry long has been a source of employment andentrepreneurial opportunity. Yet, in recent weeks, some local Jewishactivists, led by the American Jewish Congress, have been making theshmatte business and its workers once again the object oftheir heartfelt intentions.