Gil Troy

Last week, a student warned in the Forward : “Israel will lose my entire generation if it goes ahead with annexation.” Normally, I’d scoff. I’m an optimist. I’ve seen the thrill in the most alienated of Jews’ eyes when they land at Ben-Gurion airport with their …

Good leadership is like oxygen – you just take it for granted; bad leadership is like pollution – you keep choking on it, as the poison accumulates. In Israel, the poisonous prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu flails about, bashing the courts, rousing thugs who threaten judges. …

Anguished articles about African-American antisemitism and Jewish oversensitivity keep detailing most Jews’ support for the Black Lives Matter moment despite the #BlackLivesMatter movement’s harsh anti-Zionism. This triggers other articles wondering why even this issue became a Jewish issue. Don’t blame us – entirely. Blame the …

The Israel-Diaspora conference circuit keeps booming – despite Corona. Especially since June 2017, when Benjamin Netanyahu sabotaged his own Kotel compromise, temper tantrums and doomsday scenarios keep generating more lovely gabfests and bridging initiatives. It often feels like an endless loop. Refreshingly, on Sunday, at …

Sending love from Jerusalem.  We Israelis are emerging from Corona-quarantine, step-by-step. Many older folks fear another breakout. Some of us are trying to save our businesses or our jobs, while a few others are recuperating from this disease or mourning 285 Israeli Corona-deaths. But most …

America’s Conservative and Reform denominations might merge. Beyond consolidating redundant, increasingly-under-utilized schools and shuls amid this Corona-contraction, Conservative rabbis crossed a Halachic redline by allowing Shabbat services to be streamed live. The Reformers won. Reasoning backward from results you want trumped Conservatism’s modernizing-from-within-the-tradition-forward approach. Once …