Author: David Rutman

“The consensus that held American Jewry together for generations is breaking down,” wrote Ezra Klein last Sunday in The New York Times, in a much-discussed essay titled, “Why American Jews No Longer Understand One Another.” The number one culprit in this breakdown? Israel, of course, and more specifically, Gaza, Gaza, Gaza. Klein touches on the […]

Happy days for Jew-haters came last week with a gargantuan op-ed in the New York Times—3,620 words in length—denouncing Israel’s war in Gaza with the damning title: “I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.” The essay appeared in the paper of record that has an abysmal record of objectivity when it […]

The final elected choice for mayor of New York is months away, but the reverberations of the recent Democratic primary victory of Zohran Mamdani for the position spread far and wide. As Mamdani is a pro-Islamist Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer, it is urgent to examine what the possibilities are not just for New York, but for […]

When you’re under attack, the very first thing on your mind is to defend yourself. What’s the second thing? There is no second thing. There is only the urgency of swinging your fists and fighting off your attackers. The Jewish community has every reason these days to swing its fists. The attacks just keep coming: […]

“Eilu v’Eilu Divrei Elokim Chayim” — “These and those are the words of the Living G-d.”—Talmud, Eruvin 13b As a clinician, licensed social worker, Orthodox Jewish woman, and disabled professional, I live in a world where two seemingly contradictory truths must often coexist—sometimes uneasily. I can be highly educated and permanently disabled.I can be a […]

Aaron Clayton is a performance chef: a chef who prepares nutritionally focused meals for athletes. “We’re there to make sure that they’re able to perform on the field, the court, wherever it may be,” Clayton told the Journal. As most of Clayton’s athletes are not Jewish – they come from different backgrounds and cultures – […]

Rome is burning. The Titanic is sinking. And Jews, once again, are fiddling beside Nero while an orchestra goes down with the ship. For a preternaturally nervous people, Jews sometimes have great difficulty in taking a hint. A certain amount of Jewish nonchalance is understandable, I guess. The Jewish state seems to be out of […]

It’s a big mistake to compare Donald Trump to other presidents. A more apt reference point is Trump as the longtime star of “The Apprentice,” a highly successful reality show where Trump “played” the role of a business tycoon and learned the fine art of grabbing and holding people’s attention. If Trump is about anything, […]

History has shown us that there can be deadly and destabilizing consequences when acts of antisemitism are ignored or left addressed inadequately. That’s why it was so disturbing when demonstrators in our communities fanned the flames of hate in the wake of the October 7th attacks on Israel – starting the very next day. What […]