Barnard College and the Case on Racism

By Carly Silver February 2, 2012

Barnard College the subject of controversy after an alleged slight to a professor with negative views on Israel | photo by Flickr user walkinggeek (CC BY 2.0) Last fall, a Barnard College professor was accused of discrimination when she allegedly steered  an Orthodox Jewish student away from taking a class taught by controversial professor Joseph…

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On Voting for an American President

By pkessler February 2, 2012

That Israel is a hot-button issue for many American Jews goes without saying. However, to those casting their votes solely on this issue, I beg you to stop and think for a second. While American support of Israel is crucial to the maintenance of a Jewish state, I do not believe in letting it cloud…

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Reform Jews on Planned Parenthood, Vote America Not Israel, Newt Gingrich on the Jews, and More. [Reading List]

By pkessler February 2, 2012

Why Israel shouldn’t be the deciding factor in the American Jewish vote. [Huffington Post] As the traditional Jewish/Democratic alignment is being challenged by those who believe that President Obama has not done enough to reaffirm American support for Israel, Brent Sasley argues for why Jews should remain in the Democratic Camp. “It would be bad…

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Editorial: ‘Tough Love’ rabbi or Teflon?

By New Voices Editorial Board February 2, 2012

The stories have circulated for years. Stories of students being slapped and others called “Nazi” or “gay.” They are shared between alumni, passed on to prospective students and discussed between parents. They’re recounted in debates at high school and college lunch tables. They have inspired their own blog, the Rav Bina Abuse Blog.

They are stories about Rav Aharon Bina, rosh hayeshiva (head of the yeshiva) at Netiv Aryeh — an all-male yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem and a popular destination among American Orthodox high school graduates spending a gap year in Israel before returning to America for college.

And most recently, an article published last week by The Jewish Week has ignited a debate over Rav Bina’s questionable teaching methods, for which he has become infamous.

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