The Jerusalem Post - Israel News

Yitz Greenberg

Yitz Greenberg is an American scholar, author and Modern Orthodox rabbi. In 1953, he was ordained at Yeshiva Beis Yosef and earned a PhD. from Harvard University. He served as the Jewish chaplain of Brandeis University, the rabbi of the Riverdale Jewish Center, an associate professor of history at Yeshiva University, and as a founder, chairman, and professor in the department of Jewish studies of the City College of the City University of New York. He has also served as the President of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.
An IDF reservist holds the Four Species, symbols of the Sukkot festival, in a sukkah on the Golan Heights. Sukkot reminds us that we should see this moment through the lens of Jewish history and faith; we are on an unfinished journey to full freedom and security, says the writer.

Passover and Sukkot: lessons for Israel's unfinished journey to freedom post-October 7 – opinion

Israel's ongoing journey to freedom and security is an all-in collective effort, especially following October 7.

OCTOBER 22, 2024
SOLDIERS WALK near the border with the Gaza Strip, this past week. God did not send Hamas to punish us, any more than God sent angels to fight for us, the writer posits.

Where was God on October 7? - opinion

Amid the October 7 tragedy, a Rabbi reflects on God’s presence, faith, and the human role in shaping our destiny.

OCTOBER 13, 2024
A MAN blows the shofar to mark Independence Day at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.

The modern exodus and messianic fulfillment is today's Israel - opinion

We can project that since Israel is the Exodus of our millennium, it will be at the center of the developing Jewish culture going forward. The Jewish origin story is the origin of our modern nation.

MAY 22, 2024

The new heart of the Jewish calendar: Holocaust Remembrance Day and Independence Day - opinion

These two days symbolize the greatest assault of death and evil on life and the greatest outburst of life and renewal ever, both dueling and reinforcing each other with unparalleled force.

MAY 12, 2024
MOTORISTS STAND at attention, in Tel Aviv, as sirens sound across Israel to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, last Monday.

Israel alienating President Biden and Senator Schumer would be reckless - opinion

Schumer continues to be a major force bonding the US and the state of Israel and upholding the value of their strategic alliance.

APRIL 4, 2024
US PRESIDENT Joe Biden chats with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in the Oval Office. Alienating the Bidens and Schumers of this world will go down in Israel’s history as reckless folly, the writer argues.

Israel must not let Gaza's people starve - opinion

Even if this prediction of mass starvation turns out to be another UN-aided false defamation of Israel, the government of Israel must act decisively now to turn it into a false prophecy of doom.

MARCH 23, 2024
PALESTINIANS GATHER to receive food in the northern Gaza Strip this week, as residents are said to be facing crisis levels of hunger.

Only Palestinians can convince Israel to accept two states - opinion

Blinken, you should press the Palestinians to renounce violence and thus take their future into their own hands. Their actual behavior can convince the Israeli majority to trust them.

FEBRUARY 12, 2024
US SECRETARY of State Antony Blinken holds a news conference in Tel Aviv, last week.

Understanding the concept of ‘never again’ through war against Hamas - opinion

Out of shock and depression, some Israelis said that “never again” was an empty, meaningless slogan. Israel had been unable to prevent the October 7 massacre.

JANUARY 21, 2024
A PLACARD reads ‘Never Again,’ at a demonstration in Frankfurt, in November, supporting Israel and calling for the release of the hostages held by Hamas.

The Binding of Isaac and Israeli children - opinion

After the creation of the State of Israel, to be an Israeli parent, one must be more heroic and steadfast in their life work, more so than Abraham – or any previous generation in Jewish history.

NOVEMBER 30, 2023
A mother of Israeli soldier Yedidya Asher Lev, who was killed in the northern Gaza Strip amid the ongoing ground operation of the Israeli army against Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, reacts at his funeral, in the Israeli settlement Heinanit, in the West Bank, November 15, 2023.

Who is more valuable to Israel: Ben-Gvir/Smotrich or the United States? - opinion

Netanyahu must choose between the two alliances. Preferably, the prime minister should fire Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, the writer says.

NOVEMBER 19, 2023
Head of the National Union party MK Betzalel Smotrich and attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir attend Otzma Yehudit party's election campaign event in Bat Yam on April 06, 2019.

The struggle to live up to an ethic of Jewish power - opinion

The majority of Jews were mature enough to realize that we must give up the self-righteousness of being victims.

NOVEMBER 12, 2023
AN IDF SOLDIER is seen in an armored personnel carrier at a staging area near the border with Lebanon last week. According to accepted principles of international law, an army goes to war only if warfare is the only way to enable life to go on.

Hamas-Israel war: Palestinians, allies are to blame for the coming Nakba - opinion

The Palestinians and their allies have brought down on their own head the coming losses and suffering, this coming Nakba, in the Hamas-Israel war.

OCTOBER 22, 2023
PALESTINIANS CLASH with Israeli soldiers in Ramallah, during a protest to mark the 70th anniversary of the ‘Nakba,’ in May 2018.

Turn the Jewish religion into a positive force: treat haredim as equal, not dominant - opinion

Haredim thought that to remain faithful to Jewish tradition, they would have to fight modernity completely.

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023
JEWS PRAY at the Western Wall. The creation of the State of Israel is one of the great religious redemptive events of Jewish history, states the writer.