Author: David Rutman

Where were you on this day? Today is the 4th of July, the 249th Independence Day of the United States. Here in Israel, July 4th has an additional meaning. On this same date celebrating America’s independence, Israeli commandos freed the hostages being held by terrorists in the Entebbe airport. On this day, our IDF heroes […]

Think back to the beginning of June, when we were mourning the deadly attack in Colorado, after an antisemitic terrorist had firebombed a Jewish rally there calling for release of the Israeli hostages. We were watching for signs of progress in negotiations between the United States and Iran over that country’s nuclear capability. Oh, and […]

Halakha and ethics: a case study. There was a custom in Damascus in the 17th century, that for the purposes of tax assessment, the properties of the wealthy were evaluated up to 3000 grushim (the currency at that time), thereby creating a situation that any properties or financial holdings above 3000 grushim were tax exempt. […]

Life is a labyrinth of challenges we have to learn to navigate. There are days when we get lost, and remembering that everything will be okay feels impossible. When every turn seems wrong and the walls feel so tall that we can’t see the silver lining behind the clouds; staying optimistic is hard. Through trials, […]

Israeli ambassador Abba Eban was greeted by an irritating sight when he rose to speak in Harvard University’s Sanders Hall on a chilly Tuesday evening in the autumn of 1970. A group of anti-­Israel extremists in the gallery had unfurled a banner denouncing “Zionist imperialists” and tried to shout Eban down when he began to […]

New York City is where the cultural coordinates for the phrase “New York Jew” originated and where the people fitting that description can still be found. Outside of Israel, it is the most Jewish city in the world. The five boroughs introduced seltzer, bagels, deli and Middle East cuisine—even the clandestinely Jewish sitcom “Seinfeld”—to the […]

Wow. That’s all I can say. Wow. First, I had no idea how I ended up getting an invitation to the wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, touted as the “wedding of the century.” Did they mistake me for another Jew—maybe Steven Spielberg? Anyhow, I figured I better not ask too many questions, so […]

When Ben and Max Berkowitz noticed a troubling trend in comic book movies, they decided they had to do something about it. “Characters who identified as Jewish on the page, as soon as they made the jump to TV or film, their Jewish identity was getting sidelined,” Ben told the Journal. “So we came up […]

The Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS) has named Adam Katz as its new president.  He joins the organization at a time when FCAS’ research indicates 45% of Americans are unaware of antisemitism, even as Jew-hatred continues to be on the rise. “Unfortunately, Jewish hate has become normalized for us,” Katz said in a recent phone […]

These past few weeks have been a surreal experience. Wednesday night, June 11, Peni and I boarded an El Al flight from Israel to Miami, followed by a flight to Panama. We travelled to celebrate the wedding of Isaac and Perla. I was at Isaac’s Brit Milah, I officiated his Bar Mitzvah, and he was […]