Jeffrey Salkin, Religion News Service Journalist Profile

Articles

If Dylan could sing about Israel and Iran

1 week ago | religionnews.com | Jeffrey Salkin

(RNS) — In Israel, ever since Oct. 7, 2023, when you meet someone on the street, you ask the casual question: “Ma shlomech?” or “How are you? What is the state of your peace, your wholeness?”The typical response is: “Shlomi k’shlom ami”: “I am only as good as my people; my peace is only as good as the peace, the wholeness, of my people.”We American Jews get it. We feel as if we are living in a state of siege.
Iranians and Jews can get along. Go back to the Bible.

1 week ago | religionnews.com | Jeffrey Salkin

(RNS) — You know that line about how even a broken clock can be right twice a day? That is how I feel about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. I will eagerly enter a contempt competition with anyone regarding Netanyahu. His corruption, cynicism and capitulation to the worst aspects of Israeli society enrage me and many others. But in the face of a crisis for the Jewish people — like on Oct. 7, 2023, and now with Israel’s conflict with Iran — I set that aside at least temporarily.
What can preachers say about the attack on Iran?

2 weeks ago | religionnews.com | Jeffrey Salkin

(RNS) — The news of Israel’s unprecedented attack on Iran’s nuclear and military sites that killed some of Iran’s most powerful men — military and nuclear leaders — arrived late Thursday (June 12) in the U.S. I realized, as I tried to get some sleep between watching CNN, that, as Jews prepared for Shabbat on Friday and wished each other “Shabbat shalom,” there will be no shalom this evening, nor in the days that lie ahead.
Antisemitism is from both sides, now

2 weeks ago | religionnews.com | Jeffrey Salkin

(RNS) — It never fails. Whenever I discuss antisemitism with someone who leans either to the left or to the right, they invariably retort: “Yes, but what about … ” At that point, they start telling stories about the antisemitism on the other side of the political divide. On the one hand, those responses deflect responsibility for hatred and kick that responsibility into the other camp, as if it were that side’s sole problem. But on the other hand, those responses happen to be accurate.
Liberal Jews are reclaiming their Zionism

2 weeks ago | religionnews.com | Jeffrey Salkin

(RNS) — What does a Jewish text message usually say? “Start worrying … details to follow.”That is the way it has been lately. So, Jews — and in this particular case, Reform Jews — are overdue for some good news, which recently came out of the World Zionist Congress. The WZC is the supreme legislative body of the World Zionist Organization, a nongovernmental group that promotes Zionism worldwide. The first congress was formed in 1897 and was convened by Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism.
A message to my gentile friends who want to be Jewish allies

3 weeks ago | religionnews.com | Jeffrey Salkin

(RNS) — American Jews are in deep pain. Consider what we have experienced over the last several weeks. On Passover evening, there was an arson attack on the home of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Weeks later, a gunman killed two Israeli Embassy staff members at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. And on Sunday (June 1), in Boulder, Colorado, an attacker hurled Molotov cocktails at people rallying for hostages taken from Israel, injuring 15 people.
Do we need a new Judaism?

3 weeks ago | religionnews.com | Jeffrey Salkin

(RNS) — I remember the first time I heard God speaking. It wasn’t specifically to me. It was to everyone — or, at the very least, anyone who was watching “The Ten Commandments,” the classic 1956 film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Charlton Heston as Moses. It was a remake of DeMille’s 1923 silent film, and the 1956 film was to have been his final cinematic effort.
Does Ye deserve redemption?

4 weeks ago | religionnews.com | Jeffrey Salkin

(RNS) — The cold-blooded killing of Israeli Embassy employees Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, as the couple left an event last week at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., still echoes within our hearts. It is time to talk about another apparent casualty of that shooting: the antisemitism of Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.
Why Southern Judaism Matters

1 month ago | religionnews.com | Jeffrey Salkin

(RNS) — When I look back on my career as a Reform rabbi, I come to the following observation: For almost half of those years, I was a Southern rabbi. I served congregations in Georgia and south Florida. Mind you: Some people think that south Florida is another county of New York City. Wrong. Florida is the South. If you don’t believe me, check out its politics. The South is the three Bs: Brooklyn, Buenos Aires, and yes, Biloxi. I started my career in Miami in 1981. Today, it is an international city.
The killings in DC had become inevitable

1 month ago | religionnews.com | Jeffrey Salkin

(RNS) — It was always going to come to this. Last evening, a gunman, Elias Rodriguez, opened fire outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., killing two Israeli Embassy staff members: Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim. The couple had just attended a “Young Diplomats Reception” hosted by the American Jewish Committee. Yaron had recently purchased a ring, intending to propose to Sarah during an upcoming trip to Jerusalem.