May 9, 2008 Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Reverence, Yes; Worship, No Mona Charen: Did Israel Drive Out the Arabs 60 Years Ago? JWisdom: Ultimate opportunities by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky May 8, 2008 Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Israel at 3,500+ Jonathan Tobin: Still Fighting the Same War Steven Plaut: How ‘nakba’ proves the fiction of a Palestinian Nation JWisdom: Taking Israel for Granted? by Rabbi Mordechai Becher May 7, 2008 Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Israel is irrelevant to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Dion Nissenbaum: Latest Olmert scandal could derail efforts to force Israel's compromises JWisdom: My Inner Ventriloquist by Sara Yoheved Rigler May 6, 2008 Caroline B. Glick: Anti-Zionism at 60 The Kosher Gourmet By Ethel G. Hofman: In honor of Israel's 60th anniversary, the former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with a smorgasbord featuring the taste and essence of the Jewish homeland JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Jewish Deer in Nazi Headlights May 5, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Busy work Jonathan Mark: Remarkable half-century old Mike Wallace interview with Abba Eban puts current anti-Israel sentiment into perspective May 2, 2008 Rabbi Berel Wein: Rote religiosity Caroline B. Glick: Whitewashing Hamas JWisdom: Parent trap? May 1, 2008 David Zwiebel: Faith communities can learn from Orthodox Jews in stimulating private philanthropy for religious education George Friedman and Peter Zeihan of Stratfor: The Shift Toward an Israeli-Syrian Agreement JWisdom: It's time to wake up by Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis April 30, 2008 Jonathan Tobin: Pennsylvania's Democratic slugfest may leave some Jewish votes up for grabs The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Fresh herbs, sauteed veal and tiny creamer potatoes makes a light spring dinner JWisdom: How to Build a Mentch by Rabbi Mordechai Becher April 29, 2008 Daniel Pipes: Barack Obama's Muslim Childhood Joel Brinkley: On human rights, the U.N. once again strikes out JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: When The Truth is Unbelievable April 28, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: I'm often stuck in the doctor's waiting room for hours! Doesn't he owe me something for my wasted time? Steven Emerson: New U.S. government policy advises agencies to avoid using some of the very same words that make up terror groups' names JWisdom: Why You & I Never Die: A Jewish View of Immortality, Part I by Rabbi David Aaron April 25, 2008 Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg: Schadenfreude isn't kosher for Passover --- or at any other time Rabbi Berel Wein: The secret of how the data bank of memory is transferred from one generation to the next JWisdom: Stepping Up to A Higher Spiritual Life by Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen, Part III April 24, 2008 Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: The successful failure Fred Burton and Scott Stewart of Stratfor: Placing the terrorist threat to the food supply in perspective JWisdom: Stepping Up to A Higher Spiritual Life by Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen, Part II April 23, 2008 Connie Ogle: An intricate game of a novel Jonathan Tobin: Making Sense of the 'J Street' Jive JWisdom: Stepping Up to A Higher Spiritual Life by Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen April 22, 2008 Jonathan Rosenblum: Why Israel's 'Leaven law' matters Caroline B. Glick: Obama the Savior April 18, 2008 Rabbi Harvey Belovski: Multimedia tool of antiquity Caroline B. Glick: Revealed Truths vs. revealed lies JWisdom: More than miracles by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky April 17, 2008 Rabbi Avi Shafran: Deconstructing Dayeinu Rabbi Elazar Meisels: Is innovation at the Seder a slap at tradition? JWisdom: Discovering Your Divine Mission, Part III by Rabbi David Aaron April 16, 2008 Jonathan Tobin: A Prayer for Sderot's Children Ethel G. Hofman: Sumptuous Seder JWisdom: The Divine is in the details by Rabbi Mordechai Becher April 15, 2008 Rabbi Dovid Zauderer: Let Charlton Heston Go! Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Jimma, tyranny's enabler JWisdom: Relationships: Beyond Mars & Venus, Part IV by Dr. Lisa Aiken April 14, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: The Snitching Supervisor Jonathan Tobin: Forget the Fun and Games! JWisdom: Sincerity is Valued Most by Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D. April 11, 2008 Rabbi David Gutterman: A Mystery in the Middle East Caroline B. Glick: Why Ahmadinejad smiles JWisdom: Elevated illness by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky April 10, 2008 Stratfor Intelligence Briefing by George Friedman: A Mystery in the Middle East The Kosher Gourmet By Steve Petusevsky: The spring elegance of asparagus JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: The Power of Rational Lies April 9, 2008 Michael Feldberg: An all but forgotten Colonial doctor who put his Jewish values before his life Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel's "Everything's Relative" gets philosophical JWisdom: Four Rabbis in Bnei Brak by Rabbi Mordechai Becher April 8, 2008 Caroline Glick: Covering for the enemy Elliot B. Gertel: 'House' goes Hasidic JWisdom: Relationships: Beyond Mars & Venus, Part III by Dr. Lisa Aiken April 7, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: I have a translating business. Recently someone asked me to translate some financial documents that are clearly forged. Should I agree? Jonathan Rosenblum : Israel is unwittingly helping to fuel the international campaign of delegitimization against it JWisdom: Matzah and leaven as a life philosophy by Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D. April 4, 2008 Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The Mystery of Suffering Caroline B. Glick: Fear of democracy JWisdom: Dirty Jews by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky April 3, 2008 Rabbi Y. Y. Rubinstein: Parents --- and the children who would be them The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Manweiler: Tempted by restaurant dressings? Don't be. Here are recipes that can be made at home, healthier! JWisdom: The importance of retaining a 'slave mentality' by Rabbi Mordechai Becher April 2, 2008 Mitch Albom: Child abuse, disguised as faith Jonathan Tobin: Unreasonable Accommodations JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith with Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Eliminating Jewish Influence over Germans March 22, 2007 J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !) Oct. 29, 2003 Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review June 13, 2007 / 27 Sivan, 5767 Anti-Zionists Left and Right By Jonathan Tobin A strange alliance of extremists links traditional anti-Semites with Israel's foes http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | What happens when the far right collides with the hard left? Will the universe explode? Will the laws of physics be distorted by some anti-Newtonian implosion of logic? No, they won't. Not as long as the two ends of the spectrum are uniting to slam the Jews, that is. Such a moment arrived when the pre-eminent journal of the far right, Pat Buchanan's American Conservative opened its pages to Phillip Weiss, a stalwart of the left. Why would paleo-conservative Pat lend his bully pulpit to Weiss? Simple, so he could promote him as yet another Jew who opposes Zionism. Weiss, a prominent liberal New York author and magazine writer who's been flailing against a variety of Jewish targets for years has lately found himself in the unlikely position of becoming an honorary member in good standing of the troglodyte right. 'DON'T BECOME A NUT' He is also the latest of a growing group of Israel-haters claiming to be the victims of the Zionist conspiracy. In Weiss' case, he ceased writing a blog on the Web site of the New York Observer because his editor and publishers were no longer willing to support his "right" to use their publication for attacking Israel and its supporters for being disloyal to America and for being, at least indirectly, to blame for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In his piece in the American Conservative, he related that his editor Peter Kaplan urged him to can the paranoia about the Zionists. "As your friend," he says that Kaplan advised him, "Don't become a nut." He thought that Weiss "shouldn't allow the political crank to crowd out the storyteller and humorist" in him because he had become "unhinged by politics." But being a "nut" on the issue of Jews backing Israel is too important to Weiss because as he wrote in the same piece, "The towers fell [on 9/11] in part because of our support for Israel's occupation of Arab lands. … Now Israel's policies toward the Arabs were ours. On my blog, I raised the issue of dual loyalty." So now, Weiss is finding a new literary home with, as he has put it, his "new friends" — the followers of the brazen anti-Semite Buchanan. Weiss' tale of woe is just one more example of an Israel-hater, even one with a Jewish background, who finds himself drawn to rhetorical violence against Israel and the Jews. Norman Finkelstein, who was recently denied tenure at DePaul University after his pseudo-scholarly smearing of Israel as a Nazi, apartheid state brought him some rather strange allies among the Holocaust-denying loony right, is another. Finkelstein's supporters have branded Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz a "bully" and a "McCarthyite" for pointing out Finkelstein's lies and his unsuitability for tenure. Why should anyone care about anything that Weiss or Finkelstein or their acolytes say? The problem is that for all of their wailing about the ruthlessness of the "Israel Lobby" in destroying them, they are far from alone in putting forward the notion that the vast majority of Americans who ardently support the State of Israel are somehow the victims of a nefarious campaign of manipulation by disloyal Zionists. This theme was championed by John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, two distinguished figures in American political science who co-authored a now famous essay "The Israel Lobby," which took the sort of conspiracy theory bigotry long put forward by former presidential candidate and pundit Buchanan, and brought it into the mainstream. The willingness of others on the left to denounce Zionism, including prominent Jewish "progressives" like playwright Tony Kushner and New York University professor Tony Judt, drew the attention of a pamphlet published by the American Jewish Committee last winter. In it, Indiana University Professor Alvin Rosenfeld wrote of the dangers of allowing such ideas to leach into the political mainstream at a time when such Israel-bashing was fueling a frightening revival of anti-Semitism in Europe, and throughout the Arab and Muslim world. But the response to Rosenfeld has not been encouraging. He was roundly denounced by many in the secular and Jewish press for unfairly tarring liberals with the brush of anti-Semitism, even though he did no such thing. Even worse is the notion held by many in positions of influence that somehow, the Jewish community's angry response to Walt, Mearsheimer and even Finkelstein has been over the top. At a panel sponsored last week by the Jewish Council on Public Affairs to discuss Rosenfeld's thesis, in which I participated, Leonard Fein, the venerable lion of American Jewish liberalism mooted the notion that what was at play here was the fact that Jews were very good at "playing the victim." Fein, whose long record of support for Israel is not in question, believes it is more important to focus on the admissibility of dissent from Israeli government policies than fighting the anti-Zionists. He worries that by seeking to hound these foes of Zion from the public stage, we are not only flailing at an insignificant target but also turning off young Jews who want no part of the knee-jerk, pro-Israel spin of the organized Jewish world. NOT MERE DISSENT Fein is right that the right of dissent against specific Israeli policies — or support for the Israeli left's stand on borders or settlements — ought not to be questioned. But it is support for Israel that's more likely to be unpopular in the secular media and on college campuses these days than opposition to it. What Weiss and Buchanan, not to mention Judt and Kushner, have put forward are not legitimate differences with Israeli government policies, but a dismissal of the state's right to exist and the legitimacy of its right of self-defense against bloodthirsty terrorists, whose aim is the mass murder of Jews. It is not "playing the victim" to point out that the treatment of Israel and its supporters in Europe is provoking haunting memories of the 1930s. How can we sit back and allow these ideas and their supporters to expand their beachheads on American soil? Failing to respond ultimately plays into the hands of marginal figures like Buchanan and others who hope to turn American foreign policy against Israel. Fein, who worries that Walt and Mearsheimer have been misinterpreted, warned that it was a mistake to say that the questions they raise about pro-Israel activism ought not to be dismissed. But when is it okay for any American to allow his patriotism to be unfairly besmirched? Or for any Jew to be made to feel as if there is something unwholesome about a love for Zion that is shared by so many of our non-Jewish fellow citizens? The Weiss-Buchanan alliance is an overt acknowledgement of what many on the Jewish left know is true, but won't face up to. The connection between this brand of Jewish anti-Zionism and traditional anti-Semitism is now in the open. Ignoring it is no longer an option. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. JWR contributor Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent. Let him know what you think by clicking here. Jonathan Tobin Archives © 2005, Jonathan Tobin