Shai Franklin

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May 5, 2024, 7:36 PM

Don’t Compare Campus Situation to the Holocaust

American Jews do face a campus crisis, which we can help to either escalate or de-escalate, exacerbate or resolve. Whichever path we choose, applying a Holocaust lens won't help students or American Jews in general, and it will reduce...

Oct 15, 2023, 5:56 PM

If you aren’t confused, you’re doing it wrong

Not everything needs to be reconciled. Beyond the wonders and beauty, being Jewish means living with ambiguity, ambivalence, and often with regret. Many of us grapple with dilemmas and dichotomies which defy our efforts to resolve or reconcile them. This...

Oct 28, 2021, 11:47 AM

Are you racist, or just anti-anti-racist?

Dorothy Counts, 15, the first black student to attend Harding High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, is followed from school by shouting white students on Sept. 5, 1957. Dr. Edwin Tompkins, a family friend, escorted her. (AP Photo/Douglas Martin/Charlotte Observer)

Jews who have jumped on the anti-Critical-Race-Theory bandwagon are not only paving the way for racism – they are also opening the door to Holocaust denial

Sep 9, 2021, 8:28 PM

Reclaim Jewish-Polish Relations Before It’s Too Late

In Warsaw's Polin Museum, an exhibit dedicated to the author's late great-grandmother's uncle.

Last month, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called Poland “an anti-democratic, non-liberal country,” a view which many experts might endorse. But it wasn’t the Polish government’s infringements against judicial independence and freedom of the press, or its anti-gay policies,...

Mar 1, 2021, 6:58 PM

Are we willing for lessons of the Holocaust to be universal?

Running for President in 1976, Ronald Reagan famously asked Americans, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” That punctuated a sea change in the approach of many Americans, and not a few Jews, to American and...

Oct 15, 2020, 7:15 PM

After Electing Biden, Let’s Repair Our Community

And I said: Wisdom is better than might, yet a petty man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heeded. The gentle words of the wise are heard over the cries of the ruler of fools. Wisdom is...

Oct 6, 2020, 10:33 PM

Jews, Don’t Apologize When You Vote for Biden

No one should think themselves a bad Jew for supporting Biden or a good Jew for backing Trump. I don’t expect to change anyone’s vote with this post or with a Facebook comment. Still, it’s important to be clear...

Aug 18, 2020, 12:09 AM

Israel-UAE: The Devil in the Details

Israelis have every reason to welcome the new breakthrough in relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and to hope it gets finalized soon. Such a change of status within the Arab world, with a possible warm peace (as...

Jul 15, 2020, 8:18 PM

Who is Bari Weiss to complain about ‘cancel’?

Bari Weiss is articulate and passionate, and presumably good at her job, so there’s no reason the New York Times should have fired her — which they didn’t. She left on her own, the same day Andrew Sullivan left...

Mar 27, 2019, 11:05 PM

Trump Rewards Bibi, at Israel’s Expense

The most vocal advocates of President Trump’s recognizing Israeli control of the Golan Heights insist it bolsters regional stability and Israel’s security. In the same breath, they dismiss concerns about the disruption to the status quo by saying it...

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About Me

Shai Franklin, a consultant and lobbyist with U.S. and overseas clients, has served as an executive with American and international Jewish organizations.