American Historian, Zionist Thinker
American Historian, Zionist Thinker
On May 25, the first Taglit Birthright-Israel participants since the pandemic’s outbreak landed at Ben-Gurion airport. The Covid-19 crisis confirmed many of Birthright’s essential values. In our isolation, we all felt the anguish of the loneliness Birthright counters with group trips and community consciousness. Ideologically, …
What is it about Jews and race? In the 1930s, Hitler and others on the racist right demonized European Jews for being racially inferior. Today, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and others on the anti-racist left demonize Israeli Jews for acting racially superior. But injecting “race” into …
“I am a Zionist.” That phrase has inspired me my entire life. Yet, on Israel’s Independence Day in 2001, when I published those words in the Montreal Gazette, it changed my life. This was my Theodor Herzl Moment — the turning point when I came out …
Today’s thin-skinned culture demands that I be offended that Sherwin Pomerantz “disagreed” with my recent article, “The Non-Negotiable Judaism My Parents Gave Me.” But his response thrilled me, even if half his argument misfires. I hoped my article would trigger debate — rather than be squashed …
Within a week, two temples precious to me — and millions of others — were desecrated. As everyone knows, on Wednesday, January 6, “Fake-triots” (unpatriotic patriots) invaded America’s fabled Capitol building, spewing hatred while taking selfies in front of iconic statues and paintings. Less well …
In March 2008, Barack Obama’s presidential campaign nearly imploded when reporters revealed that his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., regularly blasted the United States as irredeemably racist. “[The United States] government lied about their belief that all men were created equal,” Wright preached. “The truth …
Taking a Jewish Approach to U.S. History By Natan Sharansky and Gil Troy As the United States endures this historic racial, health and economic mega-crisis, it’s also experiencing a crisis about its history. Americans often have viewed yesteryear far too uncritically; today, many view it far …
We all know that partisans place truisms ahead of the truth – although we only recognize such fanaticism in our rivals. Especially as anger mounts – and the stakes get higher – it becomes ever harder to see the convenient lies and half-truths we sell …
Recently, while jogging through Jerusalem’s clean, coronavirus-hushed Old City, I started dreading Yom Yerushalayim. Usually, I love Jerusalem Day. It’s as glorious as Yom Ha’Atzmaut and July Fourth; as stirring as Hanukkah and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday; as freedom-affirming as Passover and Presidents Day; …
Although I’m a traditional person, I have never been much for praying. I usually attend services armed with a nonfiction book. Books make sense to me: they inform, change, enlighten, surprise and inspire. Prayer books always struck me as the spiritual equivalent of laundry instructions: rinse, …