Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel » Dov Lipman

A Call for Dialogue, Understanding, and Respect

Dov Lipman — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:04:38 +0000

“My sins I mention today.” (Genesis 41:9) This week, for the first time since I moved to Israel, I went to a bar right off Dizengoff Square to have a discussion with a group of young, secular college aged students. They had never met with anyone representing the yeshiva/ultra-Orthodox world before. In the discussion, I [...]

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Please don’t let Pollard die in jail

Dov Lipman — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 03:58:17 +0000

This week, MK Yoni Shetbon initiated a Knesset plenum discussion of the plight of Jonathan Pollard. Here is a translation of the speech (my first in the Knesset) that I delivered at the session: On November 21, 1985 I was a ninth grader in Silver Spring, Maryland. Just 30 minutes away, at the Israeli embassy, [...]

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Memorable Moments from a Memorable Campaign

Dov Lipman — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:43:20 +0000

The election campaign is coming to an end and it is time to reflect on what has been a remarkable two months. I have been traveling around Israel around the clock, meeting spectacular people, and speaking about my beliefs with passion and conviction. I have been walking into rooms filled with fellow citizens who are [...]

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Shas racism – a much needed wake-up call

Dov Lipman — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:17:29 +0000

I am embarrassed with my country. I am ashamed that a racist attack against our brothers and sisters from the former Soviet Union was even allowed to be aired last night on national television [see editor's note below] and the time has come for serious soul searching. The summer of 1992 may have been the most important [...]

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Resolve to make a change: say hello

Dov Lipman — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:19:45 +0000

The following is a true story. I wish it weren’t so. My wife and I moved into our newly purchased home in Cincinnati,Ohio and began to notice a man who would regularly walk up and down the sidewalk across the street from our home. He always wore a yellow polo shirt, blue pants, and a [...]

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Why I am running for Knesset with the Yesh Atid party

Dov Lipman — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 15:29:41 +0000

Eight years ago my wife and I took our four children, hugged and kissed our parents, said “goodbye” to all our friends and family, and boarded a Nefesh B’Nefesh flight bound for Israel filled with fellow North American new immigrants. We sat down in our seats and the captain went on the loudspeaker and explained [...]

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Why the Gaza Operation MUST Impact these Elections

Dov Lipman — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 10:35:30 +0000

The discussions at the Shabbat table this week will likely be about Hamas, cease fires, IDF reservists, Morsi, Obama, Netanyahu, etc. Did we do enough damage to Hamas? Should there have been a ground offensive? Will the cease fire hold? And with primaries and elections on the horizon – how does Operation Pillar of Defense [...]

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Any Given Sunday…..in Sderot, Israel

Dov Lipman — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 08:34:56 +0000

How did you spend your Sunday? Most parents in Israel dropped their children off at school and then went to work. Parents outside of Israel likely spent the day with their children doing recreational activities, shopping, and visiting family. I spent Sunday in Sderot, Israel and got a small taste of how the residents of [...]

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Yair Lapid and an anti-Zionist Hassid: The lesson I learned in 5772

Dov Lipman — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 20:14:43 +0000

As the holy day of Yom Kippur brings 5772 to its official close and truly begins 5773, I have been thinking about the greatest lesson I have learned during the past year. There is no question that the most significant message I take with me into 5773 is not to judge people by their externals. [...]

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Moderate/Non-Coercive Judaism = Stronger Judaism

Dov Lipman — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 09:34:28 +0000

The headline says it all. One of my good friends, Mickey Gitzin, wrote a column for one of Israel’s top news sources with a headline proclaiming that an ultra-Orthodox political party “is turning off the light.” On the most simple level, Mickey is referring to Shas’s insistence on making the country turn the clock back before [...]

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Bike rental controversy reawakens issues of religion and government in Israel

Dov Lipman — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 20:17:27 +0000

Residents of Tel Aviv have demanded the right to make use of the city’s bicycle rental service, Tel-O-Fun, on Yom Kippur. Last Friday the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality responded, saying the service would provide bikes for Yom Kippur. It specified that the bikes must be rented before sundown on Yom Kippur Eve and could only be [...]

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It begins with education: Facilitating full acceptance for all Israelis

Dov Lipman — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 07:44:00 +0000

The yearning in the eyes of Ethiopian Jews is something that I will never forget. I witnessed this twice. The first time was when I was privileged to welcome many of the Ethiopian immigrants who arrived in Israel through Operation Solomon in 1991. Their first Israeli home was the Diplomat Hotel, just a few blocks [...]

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Netanyahu plays ‘rabbi roulette’ with our security

Dov Lipman — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 03:34:20 +0000

I had initially made a deliberate decision not to offer an opinion about the Iran situation. After all, what do I know? I am not privy to the intelligence information on how close the Iranians are to creating a nuclear weapon. I have not met with the military leadership to understand what our attack will accomplish, what [...]

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An open letter to Noa Rothman, Yitzhak Rabin’s granddaughter

Dov Lipman — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:14:45 +0000

Dear Noa, I must begin by thanking you for something that you did for me 17 years ago without even realizing it or knowing me. I sat glued to the television on November 6, 1995, watching your grandfather’s funeral. While I, an American Jew living in America at the time, disagreed with many of your [...]

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A ray of hope on this darkest of days

Dov Lipman — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 20:12:38 +0000

I don’t know who she was or what she looked like. But I will always remember the sound of her cry. It was last year, on Tisha B’Av, the Hebrew date on which we commemorate the destruction of our two temples and many other tragedies throughout our history. I spent hours that morning sitting in [...]

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