Running off the rails

By Stuart Schoffman
Published on February 29, 2012

On the 4th day of Adar, on the front page of Haaretz, there appeared a most curious story. Its headline read: “Israel Railways planning to build 475-kilometer rail network in West Bank.”

Fervid Moderation

By Stuart Schoffman
Published on October 9, 2003

The horrifying images on Israel's Channel 10 were probably the most graphic I had ever seen on television. A suicide bomber, a Muslim religious teacher from Hebron -- himself the father of young children, had blown up a Jerusalem bus filled with ultra-Orthodox men, women and children on their way home from worship at the Western Wall. Twenty-one innocent people were murdered, scores were wounded and maimed, many of them -- so many of them -- children. The following morning, the mass-circulation Yediot newspaper ran front-page photos of some of the victims, a heart-breaking picture of a 5-month-old baby girl in intensive care and the opening paragraphs of four Op-Ed pieces, including one by Israel's most famous author, Amos Oz.

Topsy-Turvy

By Stuart Schoffman
Published on March 8, 2001

How do you feel about what's going on here in Israel? How do you think you're supposed to feel?

A Tale of Two Liebermans.

By Stuart Schoffman
Published on August 24, 2000

"Is America a great country or what? (APPLAUSE)
Yes it is. God bless America, land that we love."

- Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, Los Angeles, Aug. 16, 2000

Like most American Jews, I'm a Democrat by tradition and temperament. Still, I understand why some Jews might not vote for Joe Lieberman. Nowhere is it written that you should vote for someone just because he's a Jew. For some American Jews, Lieberman is too liberal. For others, too conservative. Another reason why I like him: He doesn't quite fit in any box.

Selective Memory

By Stuart Schoffman
Published on June 29, 2000

It's not easy being 52, especially when you're a country. Israel and I are the same age, and I get the feeling it's harder on her than on me. The other night my high school classmates living in Israel got together for a 35th reunion. There were 116 graduates of our modern-Orthodox day school that June long ago, and today 12 of us live in Israel, four men and eight women. Half the women are grandmothers by now; one has a granddaughter the same age as my daughter. Jeepers, how time flies.

Picture Imperfect

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 19, 1998

"A Dream No More," an ambitious documentary on Israel's first 50 years, intended originally as a highlight of the nation's anniversary jubilee, is, indeed, a dream no more. Nearly completed, the film has been permanently shelved by the producing Simon Wiesenthal Center, to the considerable dismay of the documentary's chief creators.