A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:
Florida factors in
“How Florida Jews cast their ballots January 31 is actually serious business,” ” title=”http://www.jewishjournal.com/thewindreport/item/what_motivates_jewish_voters_20120119/” target=”_blank”>Steven Windmueller said in the Jewish Journal that while Jews are “primarily a moderate-liberal base of voters,” they “can be found in all sectors of the political spectrum.” But this focus and attention could all be misguided, ” title=”http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/national/florida_gop_jews_seen_up_air_gingrich_surges” target=”_blank”>recent polls, Newt Gingrich could be the candidate to walk away with the much-coveted Jewish vote in Florida. As he’s gained ” title=”http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/01/25/gingrich-anti-semitism-alinsky-israel/” target=”_blank”>said Jonathan S. Tobin at Commentary. “Though his faults are many, he is, if anything, a more ardent Zionist than many Jewish liberals and has never done anything that could possibly link him to hatred for Jews.”
Germany’s anti-Semitism endures
Many decades after WWII Germany is still grappling with hatred against Jews, ” title=”http://www.thejc.com/news/world-news/62469/report-finds-1-5-germans-antisemitic” target=”_blank”>said Elan Steinberg of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants. “The tragic legacy of the Nazi era places a special burden on Germany to confront anti-Jewish hate.”
An Obama hit?
After writing a piece speculating that Israel would think about killing President Obama, Atlanta Jewish Times owner and publisher ” title=”http://gawker.com/5877892/newspaper-editor-israel-should-consider-assassinating-obama” target=”_blank”>apology to appear in the next issue of the print publication. He said he wrote the article to see what kind of reaction it would provoke among readers. “Andrew Adler did not start a debate. He focused attention on some of the worst aspects of the right wing – the virulent, baseless hatred of Democrats, the blind support Israel and the arrogant hypocrisy of a nation born out of a holocaust and centuries of oppression demanding a right to do the same to others,” ” title=”http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-publisher-s-anti-obama-diatribe-has-defamed-israel-1.408527″ target=”_blank”>said Chemi Shalev at Haaretz. “Anyone who has spent any time talking to some of the more vociferous detractors of Obama, Jewish or otherwise, has inevitably encountered those nasty nutters.”
‘Kosher Jesus’ furor
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is back with a new book titled “Kosher Jesus” and it’s already caused a storm in recent weeks. “Jesus was a Torah-committed Jew whose mission was to restore Jewish observance fully among his Jewish brethren and fight Roman persecution,” ” title=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-fleet/jesus-is-taboo-for-jews_b_1219100.html” target=”_blank”>Josh Fleet at The Huffington Post said, “In 2012, the topic of Jesus should not be a Jewish taboo. If we believe so much that our relationship with Christianity is based on deceit, tragedy and senseless hatred—that it has broken us—then we are obligated to believe it can be based on trust, opportunity and boundless love—that it can be fixed.”
