Eric H. Yoffie

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Oct 11, 2023, 1:31 AM

Revulsion, anger, action: American Jews and Israel

I offer five observations on the response of American Jews to recent events in Israel. 1. When the Hamas attacks were initially reported, American Jews responded with horror, stunned silence, and incomprehension. Within hours, however, a shaken American Jewish community had initiated...

Sep 9, 2021, 8:26 AM

Jewish schools must obey the law

Illustrative: School children pray with a recently born child at Aishes Chayil, a postpartum recovery center, in Kiryas Joel. N.Y. Feb. 16, 2017 (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The demand in some NY Hasidic circles that boys engage in full-time Torah study to the exclusion of basic educational literacy is illegal, immoral and un-Jewish

May 24, 2021, 6:03 PM

Future Rabbis partly right, mostly wrong on Israel

With a cease-fire finally in place, it is time to look closely at what almost 100 future American rabbis and cantors have said about the hostilities that have been devastating Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank over the last...

Dec 23, 2020, 6:48 PM

Kissinger and the Jews

Is there a Jewish take on Henry Kissinger? There should be. There is no issue of American foreign policy, including the challenges faced by the state of Israel and the dangers posed by Iran, that is not influenced by...

Oct 11, 2019, 11:01 AM

American Jews: Unite against Iran

President Trump has betrayed the Kurds, a moral indecency of monumental proportions. In the process, he has bolstered Iran’s strategic position throughout the Middle East, advanced the interests of Turkey’s autocratic leader, strengthened Russia’s position in Syria, and dealt...

May 8, 2019, 5:08 PM

The Struggle for Israel’s Future

Israel is celebrating the 71st anniversary of her independence this week. I usually spend Yom Ha’atzma’ut in New York, but when the day comes, I am always sorry that I am not in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. I have been...

Feb 19, 2018, 10:45 PM

NRA on the Ropes: Winning the Battle for Gun Control

After the killing last week of 17 people by a disturbed student in Parkland, Fla., there are two things to be said about gun control in America. First, there is a glimmer of hope that things may be changing. It...

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About Me

Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, a writer and lecturer, served as President of the Union for Reform Judaism from 1996 to 2012.