Pondering the state of American Jewry
Howard Stern recently interviewed Adam Sandler on his talk show, and incidentally, brought up the subject of the bar mitzvah ceremony, asking him if he wouldn’t describe it as “the single most weird situation in your whole performance life?” The two then broke into an impromptu performance of calling the bar mitzvah boy to the …
A new Pew Report has come out, and unfortunately, the largest number of Americans calling themselves “solidly secular” are Jews. But the real shocker is that Pew defined “solidly secular” for survey participants as not just having no religious affiliation or as nonparticipation in religious services and customs, but as not even believing in God. …
It seemed like Paraguay moving its embassy to Jerusalem was going to spark a movement in the wake of the U.S. embassy move. Like a whole bunch of other countries were going to end the charade and move their embassies, too, following the good example of the U.S. and Paraguay. But here it is, only …
It’s about time someone cut the pipeline to UNRWA. The organization is as dirty as can be, calling children, great grandchildren, and even great great grandchildren of those who left Israel in 1948, “refugees.” Even those who fled weren’t really refugees, as they left of their own volition. In all this time, moreover, none of …
Senator John McCain died of a glioblastoma on Saturday, one day after the senator from Arizona announced he would stop pursuing treatment for the aggressive brain tumor. McCain may not have become president, but he achieved a great deal in his lifetime, including respect even from those who opposed his political views. But according to …
John Bolton has long been a friend of Israel and traveled to the region this week to discuss Iran. In his press conference with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Bolton referred to the JCPOA as “wretched,” adding that President Trump has made stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons a priority. “It’s why President Trump withdrew from …
A fascinating JTA op-ed by Charles Dunst, Is Antisemitism a Form of Racism, explores how self-appointed experts in racism exclude antisemitism from its hallowed ranks. According to people such as NY Times technology writer Sarah Jeong, and feminist and identity politics personality Linda Sarsour, racism cannot apply to those who are white and powerful. Ergo …
![Gershom Gorenberg (Joe Mabel [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)](https://eliyahumintz.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Gershom_Gorenberg_01.jpg)
Gershom Gorenberg, writing in the Washington Post, claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weakens support for Israel within the United States. But the piece is so full of lies and distortions that one wonders that the Washington Post let it stand. Gorenberg’s main gripe is Israel’s new Nation-State law, but Israeli laws are not …
Israel finally did it: enshrined into law the basic premise that Israel is the Jewish State and its official language is. . . wait for it. . . Hebrew. Are you shocked? You shouldn’t be. Every country has a similar law. In France, for instance, French is the official language, even though a lot of …
A stone fell out of the Western Wall, early Monday morning, the day after we celebrated Tisha B’Av (albeit a day late because of Shabbat). The mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat and city engineer Shlomo Eshkol came to inspect the fallen stone and the decision was made to fence off the area until the Antiquities …