Obama in Boston vows U.S. will find perpetrators of bombings

Published on April 18, 2013

President Barack Obama told a memorial service for the Boston bombing victims that "we will find" whoever carried out the attack that killed three people as investigators search for two men seen on a video of the scene shortly before the blasts.

Leader of the free word

By David Suissa
Published on March 22, 2013

Words matter, especially when spoken by people of power. I once read a book that dissected the 271 words of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Would that speech have become historic if, instead of phrases like “a new birth of freedom,” he had used phrases like “a reaffirmation of our values”?

Excitement, hope and the rhetorical art- experiences from Obama’s speech

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on March 21, 2013

President Obama: ‘People deserve to be free in a land of their own’ [FULL SPEECH]

Published on March 21, 2013

Shalom. It is an honor to be here with you in Jerusalem, and I am so grateful for the welcome that I have received from the people of Israel. I bring with me the support of the American people, and the friendship that binds us together.

Obama’s visit to Israel: a new kind of hope

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on March 20, 2013

Promises, promises

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on October 2, 2012

Netanyahu, the bomb and the Memes

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on September 28, 2012

Palestinians insulted by Mitt Romney’s comments

Published on September 19, 2012

Just eight weeks before the American presidential elections, Palestinians are furious over comments by Republican candidate Mitt Romney. The private remarks were made in May to wealthy donors but released only now.

Obama pledges commitment to Israel, unity against Iran

Published on September 7, 2012

President Obama said the U.S. commitment to Israel's security "must not waver" and that the world must unite against Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The speech President Obama must give on Syria

By Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
Published on July 11, 2012

I believe that the first African-American president has a special responsibility to promote human freedom and the infinite worth of the human person. I believe the same obligation will be incumbent upon the first Jewish President, whomever he or she will be. Two communities that have experienced the wholesale decimation of their people have a special responsibility to promote the infinite value of human life.

Words from the heart

Published on June 27, 2012

The nerve-wracking morning of a bar or bat mitzvah will eventually be all that's left standing between a student and his or her catered night of extravagant partying. The b'nai mitzvah coach already has helped detangle the Hebrew and trope, but the pressure of reading the Torah portion and haftarah, as well as delivering a speech in front of hundreds of family members, friends and congregants, might make even a usually unassuming bimah look terrifying.

Arab-Israeli lawmaker in Ottawa speech calls for West Bank boycott

Published on April 17, 2012

An Arab-Israeli member of Israel's Knesset appears to have contravened an Israeli law by calling on Canadians to boycott Israel.

Audiences should 'RSVP' to bullies

Published on March 26, 2012

Over the past 10 years, we have repeatedly witnessed efforts to shut down guest speakers who present an Israeli perspective on college campuses and in communities.

Israeli President Shimon Peres’ speech at Dreamworks

By JewishJournal
Published on March 9, 2012

The Israeli President Mr. Shimon Peres, met with Dreamworks' leaders and gave a speech in front of 8000 staff members of the company.

AIPAC 2012: Partisan fireworks, a hero’s welcome, Gingrich goes panel-less

Published on March 6, 2012

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee likes to promote an image of bipartisan bonhomie at its annual policy conference. But that’s not always easy, especially in a presidential election year and with partisan passions running high over Middle East policy.

Analysis of Obama’s rhetorical style

By Orit Arfa
Published on March 5, 2012

Obama: ‘All options’ - including diplomacy - still on with Iran

Published on January 25, 2012

All options are on the table for Iran, but a diplomatic solution to the impasse over its nuclear weapons program is still a possibility, President Obama said in his State of the Union speech.

Embattled Assad to make speech on ‘internal issue’

Published on January 9, 2012

Syria's President Bashar Assad, locked in a violent struggle against a wave of unrest, is to make a speech on Tuesday on "the internal issue and international and regional developments," state media said.

Obama to Reform Jews: Don’t let anyone challenge my Israel bona fides

Published on December 16, 2011

President Obama told a gathering of Reform Jewry not to let anyone challenge his record of support for Israel, which he said was "unprecedented."

Barney Frank leaves as he served: With a sharp wit

Published on November 29, 2011

Barney Frank’s talk of retirement was anything but retiring. The veteran Jewish congressman’s announcement on Monday that he would not seek re-election was replete with the same caliber of verbal bombs -- lobbed and received -- that characterized much of his career.

Obama’s U.N. speech

Published on September 21, 2011

Was it a speech to help launch his campaign for re-election, or an address to bury hopes for immediate Palestinian statehood recognition?

Obama’s speech at the UN [TRANSCRIPT, VIDEO]

Published on September 21, 2011

Read the full text of President Obama's speech Wednesday to the U.N. General Assembly.

Berman and Sherman react differently to Obama’s speech

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on September 8, 2011

Obama pushes $447 billion jobs plan

Published on September 8, 2011

U.S. President Barack Obama laid out a $447 billion jobs package of tax cuts and government spending on Thursday that will be critical to his re-election chances but he faces an uphill fight with Republicans.

Abbas: Speech left ‘nothing to build on’

Published on May 25, 2011

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said there was nothing for peace talks to build on in Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the U.S. Congress.

Hamas response to Obama speech: Still won’t recognize Israel

Published on May 23, 2011

Hamas condemned President Obama's AIPAC speech, saying it will not recognize Israel despite the United States president's demand.

ZOA to AIPAC: Withdraw Obama invite

By Ron Kampeas
Published on May 20, 2011

The Zionist Organization of America urged AIPAC to rescind its invitation to President Obama after he called for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on the basis of 1967 lines, saying Obama is the most hostile U.S. president ever to Israel.

Obama’s Middle East speech draws ire and support

Published on May 19, 2011

In his speech at the State Department on Thursday, President Barack Obama addressed the rapidly changing situation in the Middle East and put forward Israel’s pre-1967 borders as a starting point for negotiations that would yield a future Palestinian state.

FULL SPEECH: Obama on Israel, Middle East

Published on May 19, 2011

I want to thank Hillary Clinton, who has traveled so much these last six months that she is approaching a new landmark – one million frequent flyer miles. I count on Hillary every day, and I believe that she will go down as of the finest Secretaries of State in our nation’s history.

President Obama Speaks on the Middle East and North Africa, and U.S. Policy in the Region

Published on May 19, 2011

President Obama Speaks on the Middle East and North Africa, and U.S. Policy in the Region

Words from the heart… but not too many

Published on May 10, 2011

Jeremy would be standing in front of 220 people the next day, including colleagues, friends, family and his bride. As he walked the streets, the groom-to-be mentally composed his wedding speech. The following evening, without missing a single beat, Jeremy had the audience in fits of laughter and bouts of tears as he delivered a sincere, witty and memorable speech.

Israeli lawmaker Dichter heckled at Brandeis [VIDEO]

Published on April 5, 2011

Israeli lawmaker Avi Dichter was heckled by protesters during a speech at Brandeis University.

Netanyahu heckled at Carmel fire memorial

Published on January 5, 2011

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was heckled and an Israeli government minister was forced to leave a state memorial ceremony for the 44 people killed in the Carmel fire. The relatives and friends at Wednesday's memorial at Kibbutz Beit Oren, which sustained damage in the fire, allowed President Shimon Peres to speak but began heckling Netanyahu when he began his turn. Bodyguards had to protect Netanyahu as some of the hecklers advanced toward the stage. The hecklers blamed Netanyahu for the fire and their relatives' deaths.

German Publisher Gives Auschwitz Blueprints to Israel

By JewishJournal.com
Published on September 2, 2009

On Aug. 27, Kai Diekmann, the editor-in-chief of the mass circulation German newspaper BILD, presented the 29 original Nazi blueprints for the Auschwitz concentration camp to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a ceremony in Berlin. Axel Springer Verlag, the largest publishing empire in Europe, gifted the recently discovered documents to Israel, rather than to a German-based archive. Following is the text of a speech Diekmann delivered at the presentation.

Obama’s Cairo Speech: I Give It An “A”

By Rob Eshman
Published on June 4, 2009

Opening the Gates

Published on October 1, 2008

Next time you see someone like me at your synagogue or at your event, remember that they probably feel really lonely and you could be the person to make their day by smiling at them and letting them know that they exist.

McCain accepts nomination, offers little new on Israel, Iran

Published on September 5, 2008

John McCain closed out the Republican convention Thursday night with a speech in which he defended traditional GOP policy points, while criticizing his party's recent performance and pledging to work with lawmakers across the aisle.

VIDEO: In 2006, Lieberman calls Obama ‘Baruch’ and himself Obama’s mentor

Published on September 4, 2008

"As far as I'm concerned [Barack Obama] is a 'Baruch,' which means a blessing. He is a blessing to the United States Senate, to America, and to our shared hopes for better, safer tomorrows for all our families. The gifts that God has given to Barack Obama are as enormous as his future is unlimited. As his mentor, as his colleague, as his friend, I look forward to helping him reach to the stars and realize not just the dreams he has for himself, but the dreams we all have for him and our blessed country."

Before King, it was Prinz

By David Suissa
Published on September 3, 2008

Thus began the least-remembered great speech in American civil rights history, one that had the dubious fortune of being immediately followed by another speech: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, which America just celebrated on its 45th anniversary.

Obama says GOP ‘tough talk’ doesn’t help Israel; Transcript of speech

Published on August 29, 2008

"You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances ... "

Back to School

By Rabbi Dov Fischer
Published on August 7, 2008

Parshat Devarim (Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22) In Parshat Devarim we begin a new book, Deuteronomy, the fifth and final volume of the Five Books of Moses, or the Pentateuch. In Hebrew, we call it the Chumash, or the Torah. Christians call it the Old Testament. Each of these names implicitly perceives the Book of Devarim as part and parcel of an integrated package

The ‘speech’: Keep it short, sweet and colloquial

By Ted Roberts
Published on July 9, 2008

Remember, short and sweet, colloquial and informal. It works every time.

Sarkozy heralds new era in France-Israel ties

By Devorah Lauter
Published on February 21, 2008

In an unprecedented speech by a French president to the umbrella organization of French Jewry, Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to boost the France-Israel relationship and play a major role in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

Briefs: Rice says Abbas can do, Peres talks Turkey, Olmert suspected

Published on November 15, 2007

News briefs.

Briefs: DREAM Act passage pushed, City clears Holocaust Museum hurdle, but one more remains

Published on November 15, 2007

Community briefs.

Listen, kids, and you shall hear—it ain’t gonna be easy

By Ted Roberts
Published on September 27, 2007

The purpose of this speech is to prepare you for your bar mitzvah. And to let you know -- as Noah thought when he received the blueprints from the Master Shipbuilder -- this ain't gonna be easy.

Schwarzenegger at Shoah ceremony:  ‘Today we must speak out’

Published on April 19, 2007

Excerpts from a speech by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at Yom Hashoah Ve'Hagvurah Community Wide Holocaust Remembrance Day at Pan Pacific Park.

Bibi Netanyahu ranks high ...  as racist demagogue

By Larry Derfner
Published on January 18, 2007

Imagine if any non-Jewish government official in the world cited the lowering of the Jewish birthrate in his country as an accomplishment, then recommended that his country's founding institution raise money to help poor non-Jewish families but not poor Jewish families.

Martin Luther King’s Hollywood dream

By Keren Engelberg
Published on January 4, 2007

Temple Israel of Hollywood has had many milestones in its 80 years as a Jewish cultural landmark in our city. One that bears special significance this month, however, occurred on Friday, Feb. 26, 1965 , when the synagogue's Rabbi Max Nussbaum welcomed the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to share the bimah with him and to offer a sermon.

Israel will meet Iran threat, Olmert vows to General Assembly

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 16, 2006

The annual summit meeting of North American Jewish leaders climaxed Tuesday with an affirmation by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that "Israel will not shy away from challenging Iran's development of nuclear weapons."

Mel Gibson’s address to the General Assembly

By Jonathan Kesselman
Published on November 9, 2006

Ladies, Gentlemen, and Jews:

Welcome to beautiful Los Angeles! I write to you from the set of my new Ismar Schorsch biopic starring Danny Glover as Mordecai Kaplan and Jim Caviezel as Ismar Schorsch himself!

Beware the Finkelstein Syndrome

By Roz Rothstein
Published on June 8, 2006

It is well known that some children of Holocaust survivors carry severe scars and wounds that actually manifest in peculiar psychological behavior. For two decades, I worked as a licensed family therapist, and I believe that some day soon there will be a formal psychological syndrome that would account for self-hating Jews like Norman Finkelstein. Perhaps the syndrome will even be named after him: The Finkelstein Syndrome.

UCLA Jews, Muslims Alter Protest Tactics

By Tom Tugend
Published on June 1, 2006

The Bruin Walk display was one of the events organized by Muslim, Arab and supporting students as part of the weeklong "Israel and Palestine: Obstacles to Peace" program.

Nonverbal Baby Talk a Sign of the Times

By Sharon Schatz Rosenthal
Published on February 23, 2006

Rather than waiting for her son to express himself verbally, Rabbi Debra Orenstein, like many Southland parents, decided to enhance Emmet's language skills by taking baby sign-language classes. Teaching sign-language to preverbal hearing babies is one of the fastest-growing parenting trends in North America.

Moses and King

By Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater
Published on January 19, 2006

This week we meet Moses, our new leader and adviser. Moses is commanded to go to Egypt, gather the people and demand their freedom from Pharaoh.

Hearing Loss Helps Writer Find Voice

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on December 29, 2005

Michael Chorost climbs the flight of stairs to a room filled with metal file cabinets. He's never been to this place before, but he's greeted like a long lost relative. A smiling woman hands him what he has come to see: file No. 27392.
Hearing Loss Helps Writer Find Voice

Don’t Get Tongue Tied With Your Toast

By Suzi Brozman
Published on November 10, 2005

Chances are, someday you'll be called on to raise a glass and offer a toast, probably at a lifecycle event like a wedding or bar mitzvah. Will you be ready? Will you remember the main points you wanted to make? Or will you end up with glass in hand and foot in mouth?

Sen. Clinton Talks Forgiveness in L.A.

By David Finnigan
Published on October 20, 2005

U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke about forgiveness at Yom Kippur services in Beverly Hills, closing out what became a safe and reflective High Holidays for the Southern California Jewish community.

Community Briefs

Published on October 6, 2005

Community Briefs

We Are Grateful to the Jewish People

By President George W. Bush
Published on September 22, 2005

The following is an excerpt from the speech President Bush gave on Sept. 14 at the national dinner celebrating 350 years of Jewish life in America at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.