By Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz As you are aware, the situation in Springfield has been quite tenuous over the past several weeks. All of us should be deeply concerned by what is happening in our backyard. Springfield residents are facing bomb threats and gatherings of neo-Nazis and White supremacists. Jewish values

Opinion By Avi Gilbert This summer, I had a life-changing experience: the chance to travel to Israel for a month. Because of the ongoing war, none of my camp friends from Goldman Union Camp Institute traveled with me, so I didn’t know anyone else on the trip. However, that was

Opinion By Martin Gottlieb What the leading Jewish lobby in Washington is doing in congressional elections raises some troubling questions. At what point does standing up for a group’s beliefs become simple bullying? Just how big a role should money play in our elections? Isn’t something wrong when millions of

Opinion By Martin Gottlieb I wish I could believe that the huge, angry reaction against the congressional testimony by the presidents of three elite universities will do something about the rising tide of antisemitism, but I don’t. The reaction seems to me a pathetic search for easy scapegoats. We can’t

Opinion By Jim Nathanson I was standing in what looked to be a pleasant city park. Though it was August, a light breeze made for a comfortable day, but I felt anything but comfortable as I stood and just stared at the ground. It looked so very ordinary, but it

How A.D. and C.E. took over counting years. By Miriamne Ara Krummel This Dec. 31, people from cultures all around the world will be raising a toast to welcome in A.D. 2024. Few of them will think about the fact that A.D. signals “anno Domini,” Latin for “in the year

By Elliot Ratzman “In the scriptures, it says that children are a reward, they’re a heritage, they’re a blessing,” is how Ohio Rep. Melanie Miller explained her opposition to abortion. “They are not a burden, but they are a gift from God.” We have come to expect such anodyne sentiments

By Addison Caruso Ohio Senate Bill 83, which seeks to ban the discussion of “divisive concepts” in the classroom, has faced widespread opposition from students, professors, and citizens. The bill, introduced by State Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) in early 2023, follows a litany of legislation proposed and enacted in other

An interview with UC Judaic Studies Chair Jenny Caplan about her new book By Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA In the 2020 comedy “Shiva Baby,” a 20-something young woman shows up at a house of Jewish mourners and gently offers her condolences. When she finds her mother in the kitchen, they chat

Opinion By Martin Gottlieb This season feels like a turning point in Jewish American history. It feels like two turning points. They are related. One involves the connection between American Jews and Israel. The other involves the connection between American Jews and America. In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu tries desperately to