by Matthew Friedman | Aug 20, 2021 | Essays, News Analysis
The scenes from Kabul are uncanny; specters from the past which are simultaneously shocking and familiar. The enemy waiting just outside the city prepared to deliver the coup de grace, while what remains of the US mission packs up its barracks and offices, shreds...
by Matthew Friedman | Jul 25, 2021 | Essays
I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of elation on 24 September 1988 as I watched Ben Johnson cross the line at Seoul’s Olympic Stadium, pointing to the sky with his right hand. It was a moment of celebration across Canada. The CBC-TV announcers reminded us of the...
by Matthew Friedman | Jul 18, 2021 | Essays
The crowd demonstrating outside the Massachusetts Department of Education offices on Pleasant Street was energized. A speaker led the protesters in chants between squawks from his megaphone; they waved signs and placards denouncing tyrannical government overreach. One...
by Matthew Friedman | Jul 2, 2021 | Books, Jewish Life, Reviews
Lila Corwin Berman The American Jewish Philanthropic Complex: The History of a Multibillion-Dollar Institution Princeton University Press Tzedakah, the obligation to provide for the less-fortunate of the community, is one of the signal ethical values of Jewish life....
by Matthew Friedman | Jun 29, 2021 | Commentary
On Saturday, a 28-year-old man crashed a stolen truck into a house in Winthrop, MA, and shot and killed two people with legally-acquired handguns. The victims were David Green, a retired Massachusetts state trooper, and Ramona Cooper, an Air Force veteran. Both were...
