Context I recently saw a one act play about Jan Karski, a recipient of Yad Vashem’s designation as “Righteous Among the Nations.” After World War II, Karski spoke about the moral responsibility and failure [...]
Introduction After reading The Washing War: FDR’s Inner Circle by James Lacey I feel there is sufficient explicit and implicit facts to charge key State Department and Army officials that they “acquiesced in the Murder [...]
By Elliott Abrams, Fellow Middle Eastern Studies at Council on Foreign Relations Summary In an essay written for the Wall Street Journal (Oct 24, 2024), Elliott Abrams highlighted that American Jews have focused less [...]
Today’s New York Times wrote an article describing the purpose of J Street. The article raised the question of whether a middle path on Gaza is possible. Please note… Large parts of this essay [...]
An August 13 New York Times article, “Growing Segregation by Sex in Israel,” highlighted the culture war that has sharply divided Israel’s secular majority and the politically powerful minority of ultra-Orthodox Jews, who frown on [...]
“When systems fail, whether it’s the government or the markets or anything else, leaders often look for someone to blame. Jews have historically played that role.” --Jonathan Greenblatt, Chief Executive of the Anti-Defamation League Today’s [...]
By William Shirer “History never repeats itself, but it does rhyme.” --Mark Twain Introduction Over the past 50 years I have read this wonderful chronicle of the rise and fall of Nazi Germany from [...]
I saw tonight a documentary, Into the Arms of Strangers. It focuses on the lives of 10,000 primarily Jewish children from Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and the Free City of Danzig who found refuge [...]
Hundreds (sadly not thousands) of French Jews and their supporters in Paris called for justice for murdered Jewish woman, Sarah Hallimi, a retired physician and schoolteacher. In an astonishing decision, the court of appeal [...]
Introduction For those of us who remain fascinated by World War II, an area of discussion is France. We ask ourselves how such a great nation could have accepted defeat only some 31 days after [...]
“To take a child from its mother seemed to be the lowest thing a human being could do,” one journal entry went, describing the moment when the Krauses met with parents in Austria. “Yet it [...]
By Jonathon Kaufman Introduction I have always wanted to know about the people who facilitated the immigration of 18,000 European Jews (many of them penniless) in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s to Shanghai, saving them [...]
“When they burn books, they will also ultimately burn people” Heinrich Heine, German Jewish Poet Prophetically, Heinrich Heine in 1821 predicted that those people who burn books ultimately burn people. Sadly, he anticipated both the [...]
Introduction Over the past forty years I have read several books about the Dreyfus Affair. Over time, my focus has shifted from the personal tragedy of Alfred Dreyfus, unjustly convicted and brutally treated, to the [...]
Introduction At some level I have been aware of the Protocols of Zion as early as my teenage years. That is, I knew that this fabricated text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for [...]
Introduction After reading The Washing War: FDR’s Inner Circle by James Lacey I feel there is sufficient explicit and implicit facts to charge key State Department and Army officials that they “acquiesced in the Murder [...]
Michael Korda’s book, With Wings Like Eagles, relives all the exhilaration, heroism, fear, and epochal significance of the Battle of Britain. 70 years later the battle retains its deserved luster. Winston Churchill, Britain’s Prime Minister, [...]
The economist has pointed out that pro-life groups have not only engaged in restricting abortion clinics, but also have prevented reasonable access to health clinics that provide a full range of birth- control methods. Some [...]
By Lynne Olson Personal Thoughts For me, the struggle against Fascism represented the clearest example of good versus evil. I would have loved to have actively participated on the side of those who favored [...]
The New York Times reported today that anti-Semitism and racial divide has split the women’s movement so badly that it undermines its effectiveness. Vanessa Wruble, a Jewish Brooklyn based activist, was pushed out of the [...]
Rambling Round with Rosella by Vickie Vogel Texas Jewish Historical Society - May 2015 Rosella in Galveston, c. 1928. Photo courtesy of Joella Werlin. Young Rosella Horowitz lacked confidence because she believed she [...]
I want to thank all of you for participating in this celebration of life. I have enjoyed a wonderful life. I am living in the promised land. To be surrounded by friends [...]
President Trump told Israeli and Arab leaders today that he plans to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. According to the New York Times this will upset efforts to broker peace between Israel and [...]
The Economist reported a positive development in Morocco. In the little seaside town of Essaouira, in Morocco. Rabbis and cantors wish Muslims “Shabbat Shalom.” The Kingdom has made extensive effort to reach out to Jews [...]
The October 14th edition of the Economist described the sorry state of Freedom of Speech on America’s campuses. We should recognize that unless this intolerance is not stopped, America facing a significant curbing not only [...]
Today’s New York Times the article highlighted the fate of books stolen by the Nazis. Tens of millions of books were taken from the Rothschilds, other prominent Jewish families, and Jewish Academic organizations Strangely [...]
I recently returned from Portugal where I met with two important people in the Portuguese Jewish Community. (Jose Carp who headed the Portuguese Jewish Community for 14 years and Hugo Vaz, a Portuguese Jewish historian. IntroductionAlthough [...]
By Simon Goodman The Orpheus Clock The title of Goodman’s book derives from one of his families prized heirlooms—The Orpheus Clock—that was not recovered by his family until some 70 years following World War [...]
For Jews, Israel is a Homeland Whether you travel East or West The Road to Home is Always Best Saying on a Plaque at my boyhood home Wailing Wall Temple Mount, Dome of the [...]
Eloise and I recently enjoyed the Chagall exhibit in San Francisco. He composed images based on emotional and poetic associations, rather than rules of pictorial logic. From the perspective of a critic, Chagall ranks [...]
The Opposite of Love, is not Hate, it is Indifference Although today’s world has not descended to the detestable conditions associated with the Holocaust, I certainly feel that today’s perpetuators of these innumerable terrorist acts [...]
Dennis Ross, a senior United States policy makers through four recent Well, yes, as a matter of fact; how about the diplomat who has devoted his professional life to trying to bring about that peace, [...]
In a single evening in November 2006, Christie's sold nearly half a billion dollars of art, almost double the previous world auction record. Driving this sale were four paintings by Gustav Klimt that together sold [...]
I want to thank Dr. Ken Stein for taking time out from his busy schedule to share with us his perspective on the historical ups and downs of the relationship between Israel and the United [...]
Introduction: In my judgment (1) the abhorrent treatment of Jews following the end of World War II both in displaced persons’ camps or in their native countries such as Poland, Rumania, and Germany, (2) the [...]
David Kertzer, a finalist for the National Book Award and professor of history at Brown University, provided a groundbreaking work on the relationship between Pope Pius XI and the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini. It gave [...]
