Will Trump’s Presidency Help Israel?

By Jackson Richman November 10, 2016

In an election between two of the most unpopular candidates in U.S. electoral history, real estate and media mogul Donald Trump accomplished the unthinkable – winning the presidency. His transition from the Trump Organization to political business in the Oval Office will entail a lot of challenges domestically and abroad. His domestic challenges will include handling…

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Jewish pluralism — and its limits

By Amram Altzman March 15, 2016

The Jewish community has always been in the project of negotiating itself — what people are part of the Jewish community, what opinions are acceptable, and what are not. We also have a tradition of ideological pluralism which dates back centuries — indeed, to some of the earliest rabbinic literature. Throughout all that tradition, some…

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Trump, Sanders, and the rhetoric of Jewishness

By Amram Altzman December 8, 2015

There seems to be many ways for presidential candidates to pander to Jews. One might look to the 2012 election, during which Republican candidate Michele Bachmann said she loved Israel so much that she put aside her fiscally conservative values to join a utopian socialist kibbutz when she was eighteen. Donald Trump, however, seems to…

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Jill Stein: Jew for President

By Brian Lasman December 13, 2012

Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party’s 2012 presidential nominee, was the one of the few Jewish candidates to ever run for President. Stein, a former physician, has been involved in politics since 1998 and has consistently been a loud voice in favor of social reform. Her 2012 campaign focused on issues including environmental sustainability and the increasing cost…

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Running on Religion to the White House [Campaign 2012]

By Zach C. Cohen February 23, 2012

For a nation focused on separation of church and state, there’s an inordinate amount of church in this race to run the state. Over the past week, presidential candidates have made religion a forefront issue for the presidency. Democratic strategists suggest the Republican contenders are looking for another way to attack President Barack Obama since the economy…

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Hillel president on his salary and number of Facebook friends

By Zach C. Cohen January 1, 2012

While reporting on the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial near Washington, D.C. a while back, I had the opportunity to sit down with Wayne Firestone, the president of the Hillel Foundation. After giving a speech to a crowded ballroom filled with 5,000+ people (embedded above), Firestone and I chatted about the future of Hillel and…

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