A ceasefire is an agreed-upon temporary cessation of hostilities, allowing for negotiation and the delivery of humanitarian aid. It has no legal definition under international law. As Israel and Hamas are now engaged in a ceasefire, a small glimmer of light appears. The last 20 living hostages have been returned to Israel. In exchange, Israel [...]
Years ago, a rabbi I greatly admire confided in me how he worried that an Israeli government with Benjamin Netanyahu at the helm might lead to the destruction of the Jewish people. His concern surprised me. As a young ordained cantor at the time, I was not nearly as well-versed in Middle Eastern geopolitics or [...]
“It’s hurting so bad,” Byron Black said five minutes after the State of Tennessee initiated his execution last month. The 69-year-old’s anguished words echoed through the death chamber as a device designed to save lives may have prolonged his dying, creating the very cruelty the Constitution forbids. Mr. Black had suffered from congestive heart failure, [...]
The US government should not kill Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin. State-sponsored murder won’t stem the rising tide of political violence looming over all of us. And Utah is one of only five states in the US that allows execution by firing squad. Though rare, the prospect of the state shooting Mr. Robinson to death for [...]
Vengeance. It undeniably infects human affairs. Parents observe it as their toddlers navigate playground dynamics: one child hits another; the other strikes back. Domestic feuds and old grudges can metastasize into jealousy, schadenfreude, and—if unchecked—retaliation. Belligerent drivers yield microaggressions that can morph into road rage. In the extreme, assault and murder seem to beg for [...]
In addition to its as-yet undetermined consequences for a potential US-Iran nuclear deal, “Operation Midnight Hammer”—the US military operation that involved aerial strikes on three key Iranian nuclear facilities in June—has brought a long-standing legal debate with considerable implications for US foreign policy to the fore: the scope of executive war powers under the US [...]
President Donald Trump’s July 24 executive order on reducing “vagrancy” is exactly the wrong approach to the pervasive problem of houselessness. It encourages, and funds, cities and states to treat people living in poverty and lacking housing like criminals and to confine them in involuntary, often inhumane, institutions. Trump takes this approach as his administration has [...]
I began publicly invoking the word “genocide” in July 2025 to describe the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza in response to the horrific Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023, and the incomprehensible ongoing hostage crisis. Since that time, despite increasing agreement among liberal Jewish organizations over the use of this term, I [...]
The world is failing women and girls. With just five years left to accomplish the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), not a single country is on track to meet SDG 5: achieving gender equality. Governments cite excuses such as budget constraints or political instability, but a leading cause is the injustice that remains embedded [...]
On the morning of June 13, 2025, the city of Tehran was rocked by deafening explosions. An unexpected Israeli military operation began, targeting nuclear and military facilities throughout Iran. Israel asserted that its actions were justified under the principle of ‘anticipatory self-defense,’ a concept that is narrowly defined in international law. However, the aftermath of [...]
