Ammiel Hirsch, at The Blogs

Ammiel Hirsch

Jun 14, 2026, 2:58 PM

Campaigners for and against a BDS referendum at the Park Slope Food Coop in Brooklyn, New York City, May 26, 2026. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

The balance of universalism with the particularism of religious thought and Zionism is Judaism's distinctive genius. Stripping away those Jewish parts spells disaster

Oct 13, 2024, 5:31 PM

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To young American Jews who turned your backs on our people

If you do not feel a special bond with other Jews, you are, in Jewish terms, emotionally damaged. A rabbi’s Yom Kippur confession

Sep 26, 2023, 3:44 PM

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American Jews are partners in the destiny of our people

Fifty years after the Yom Kippur War, Israel faces a new existential threat and We must continue to make our voices heard

Oct 3, 2022, 3:45 PM

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The future of American Jews on campus

Graffiti targeting 'Zionist' student groups was spotted in multiple locations around the University of Wisconsin campus on the first day of the semester, September 2022. (Screenshot/WKOW, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Shall we ignore Jewish national aspirations because some students and professors tell us that Palestinian dignity categorically requires Israel’s elimination?

Nov 30, 2021, 2:27 PM

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For the love of Israel, we need to say: The Reform Movement is Zionist

Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem (PD-Wikimedia)

How could future Jewish leaders write an open, public letter in the middle of a war, missiles raining down on our people, without ever mentioning Hamas?

Dec 19, 2017, 3:58 AM

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My Reform colleagues were wrong on Jerusalem

The Israeli flag flutters in front of the Old City of Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock on December 1, 2017. (AFP Photo/Thomas)

The world’s superpower finally did the right thing -- and we opposed it?

Apr 6, 2017, 6:10 PM

This Passover, let us step into the shoes of the refugee

At Passover, Jews will gather to retell the story of the Jewish people’s struggle for liberation. For those of us who immigrated here or whose ancestors immigrated here, it is a story that resonates with our identity as Americans:...

Jan 26, 2017, 8:33 AM

Making America Great

With all this talk of making America great again, I have been reflecting on what constitutes national greatness. Is it in territory: The nation that has the most is the greatest? If that were so, Russia would be greater than...

About Me

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch is senior rabbi at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City and president of the New York Board of Rabbis. Named among New York's 'Most Influential Religious Leaders' by the New York Observer, City & State New York magazine named him 'the borough's most influential voice' for Manhattan's more than 300,000 Jews. He previously served as executive director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America.