Leaders of Jewish advocacy groups often say their tax status bars them from opining on political candidates, including appointees. When the issue is Israel’s views, as when President Obama nominated the supposedly hostile Chuck Hagel for defense secretary in 2011, those rules are out the window. The rule apparently holds, though, when the needs of American Jews are at stake.
Media controversy makes for big headlines. The follow-up — not so much.
The triumph of Brexit and Trump is the lazy eye of a perfect storm: Populist fears seep through the cracks in the social contract. 2016 marked the return of the tribe, 2017 will show the force of the tribe in action.
The coming Trump administration presents so many potential risks, it’s hard to know which to feel anxious about. When I feel overwhelmed, I find that it helps to make lists. Here, then, in a rough order of danger, but also grouped by category, are 50 things for American Jews to be worried about as the new administration takes shape.
There’s something appealingly quaint about parsing the subtle sexism in these remarks.
The overall American Jewish population size is stable and growing, but its character is shifting dramatically. The Orthodox population (Haredi, centrist, and modern) is exploding. The non-Orthodox are in sharp decline.
Liberal Jewish movements are in demographic free fall and the key to arresting that fall is deeper commitment to Torah and mitzvot.
Steven M. Cohen’s attempt to quantify the shifting nature of the Jewish community succeeds in its portrayal of a rapidly growing Orthodox community but signally fails to capture an equally seismic shift of paradigm in the progressive, non-Orthodox, younger millennial demographic.
Orthodox groups are growing quickly, but stopping at numbers misses an underlying, vital issue. Why is it that Orthodox couples have large families?
The differences between Orthodox Judaism and alternative streams are many, but, put simply, they revolve around a difference in expectations and the importance of feelings.
The Anti-Defamation League is supporting legislation that Rachel Roberts says erases the distinction between anti-Israel speech and anti-Semitism.
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