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Updated 11/06/09 @ 01:12PM EDT
- The Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution urging equal services for Israeli Arabs.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency has evidence that Iran may have tested an advanced nuclear warhead design, according to a British newspaper.
- The United States vetoed an Israeli plan to attack a ship bearing weapons allegedly from Iran to Hezbollah, according to a report in an Arabic-language newspaper.
- The Obama administration expects to keep working with Mahmoud Abbas despite his planned resignation as Palestinian Authority president.
- U.S. Jewish groups blasted the U.N. General Assembly for its endorsement of the Goldstone report into last winter's Gaza war.
- Reform endorse qual treatment for Israeli Arabs
- Iran may have tested secret nuclear warhead design
- Report: U.S. stopped Israeli attack on weapons ship
- U.S. sees Abbas in continuing role
- Groups blast UNGA Goldstone vote
- Israel delivers swine flu vaccines to Palestinian Authority
- Abbas announces he won’t run for re-election
- IAEA head: No worries about Iran nuclear site
- Mideast peace push cited in Obama Nobel
- Obama’s Nobel, Israel’s problem?
- Jews of color come together to explore identity
- FBI: Alleged spy wannabe asked for Israeli citizenship
- Family likely murdered by professional killer
- New signs that Ethiopian aliyah will resume
- U.S. appetite for Israeli food grows
- Female Orthodox scholars helping women talk about sex
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Posted in: Goldberg on Cohen
08/19/09 04:09 PM
M.O.T. Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh Lezeh (loosely translated: Jews are responsible for one another) are powerful words conveying an awesome ethic which has been part of our national psyche and vocabulary for a very long time. It has been the gold standard by which the members of the tribe comported ourselves. This rule has had a tribal like quality to it and unless you are a member of a tribe it is hard to grasp. Other ethnic groups who maintain a strong network and filial association can empathize with the sense of responsibility and belonging that we feel. The dictum kol yisrael areveim zeh lezeh defies the traditional definition of responsibility, because it also assumes belonging and group identification, transcending blood ties and demanding loyalty and fealty to the group. The idea of the “kehilla” is founded on this idea. In fact the underpinnings of the very idea of “Jewish community and infrastructure”, including the overpowering need to extend tzedakah wherever it is needed is built upon the simple yet complex idea that we are bound to each other. This paradigm that has helped define us as a global community for millennia undoubtedly (obviously) applies to Israel as well. Israel has enjoyed the financial, emotional and political support of the American Jewish community since the inception of modern Israel because of the abiding principal that kol yisrael arevim ze lezeh. Even though we were separated by geography, culture, language, law and citizenship there was always the bond of brothers, an unspoken pledge amongst us, which transcended space and defied logic. American Jews may have disagreed with some of Israel’s policies, and Israelis may have ridiculed their spoiled and naïve American brothers, but we settled our differences behind closed doors in a space reserved for members of the tribe. While there may have been dissension within our community we presented ourselves to the public as a unified front having settled any previous differences that threatened the harmony of the tribe. All of this has begun to erode and while it is difficult to pinpoint its genesis (I shall leave this to the sociologist) one can certainly point to a series of recent benchmarks that underscore this lamentable reality. J Street is one, but a more insidious manifestation was the support that Barak Obama garnered from some quarters of the Jewish community. There is nothing inherently wrong with voting liberal. There is nothing wrong with voting conservative. What is troublesome is voting for a candidate that has leanings not favorable to a significant segment of the corpus of the Jewish people. While this in itself may be disconcerting what is reprehensible is that individuals in leadership positions have chosen to join those that that have applied the infamous double standard to Israel’s conduct of war. The U.N. War Crimes Commission for Gaza is headed up by non other than Richard Goldstone, a Jew determined to nail Israel to the cross and is a persona non grata in Israel. Another maverick Jew is Ronnie Kasrils, a small time South African Jewish politician trying to make a name for himself by leading a campaign against Israeli soldiers carrying dual citizenship. He is trying to pressure his government into prosecuting those soldiers, members of the IDF holding South African citizenship, for war crimes. There was a time that members of the tribe all shared common goals and even if there were fundamental disagreement rarely was there an instant when we turned against our own. All that has changed in a very short time. People like Kasrils and Goldstone have joined the auspicious gang of sophisticated Spanish bounty hunters on the hunt for Israeli war criminals, not wanting to dull their skills honed during the Inquisition. Add to that the new breed of self hating Jews, Yehudonim, like Rahm Emanuel, and David Axelrod and we have a picture that doesn’t bode well for our future. A couple days ago Robert Novak died. I couldn’t help but wonder who was worse Kasrils or Novak?
Posted in: Unhip Commentary
07/02/09 02:42 PM
I too took exception with the Myers piece, but Ben Harris' rebuttal was pithy, to the point and very cool - almost hip!
Posted in: Four commentaries
06/11/09 02:33 PM
"we are at the dawn of a new day..." writes Rabbi Braus. What day is she referring to?
Posted in: Chabad rabbi aims to clarify remarks on killing civilians
06/04/09 05:21 PM
This past issue of Moment Magazine’s (May/June, 2009) column “Ask the Rabbi” considered the question “How Should Jews Treat Their Arab Neighbors”. Frankly, the question was as ridiculous as its responses were, (although the Chabad response was the most entertaining) and I felt vindicated for having let my subscription lapse years ago. Rabbi Winkler, the independent, must be watching too many Israeli films produced and directed by self hating Israeli’s (The Lemon Tree) and not investing enough time in understanding the texts which he quotes. It’s always convenient to pull out a quote from one of our prophets, because there has never been a time when one couldn’t reconcile a particular historical event with a quote confirming one position. Besides, it’s so rabbinic! Arguing that Israel falls short in treating it’s minorities in the spirit of the prophets is quite disingenuous. While I am not an apologist for those governmental ministries responsible for the minorities I would assume that our prophets would be extremely proud of our ethical standards and treatment of all our minorities. Had only we been treated as well at any time in our history (excluding our United States experience)! What galls me however is the sanctimonious and smug remark that we (Israel) “impose unjewish occidental models of government…” I wasn’t aware that Winkler had a monopoly on what constitutes a “Jewish” model, especially since he’s an “independent” (whatever that means). There are numerous models, many of them legitimate and which may not necessarily play into the Winkler design, but nevertheless legitimate. Quoting Ezekiel to suit his liberal leanings he conveniently avoids Pentateuchal intolerance as Rabbi Manis Friedman chooses to accept! Rabbi Manis Friedman’s answer was reprehensible, but what more can be expected from a fundamentalist approach to biblical text and religion. Reading those four short paragraphs of Rabbi Friedman I can understand those who have rejected religion as one of the greatest divisive forces known to civilized man. He manipulates biblical text to rationalize wholesale murder of man, woman and child (cattle too). With his approach there never will be an end to bloodshed. Manis Friedman has tried to wiggle out of what he said by doing a little backpedaling as was reported in the JTA after members of his own cult disavowed his comments. But I do believe that what he said initially was his intended remark. The Muslims in the Middle East well subscribe to his approach and have done exceedingly well in sustaining and cultivating intolerance murder and war. The fact of the matter is there are no simple answers and they won’t be found on the pages of Moment Magazine and unfortunately can’t be found in Biblical text. While biblical text may be a means by which one can find a moral compass it is still text and subject to interpretation. As evident here, anyone, regardless of training or persuasion can put their own political / social spin on the text interpreting the word of God to mean anything and everything and sometimes nothing. Asking a rabbi, regardless of persuasion a question as loaded and pregnant as the one asked in the current issue of Moment ought to be considered nothing more than a klutz kasha. Rabbi Shael Siegel
Posted in: Op-Ed: Bernie, Sully and me
04/04/09 08:34 PM
Rabbi Avi Shafran finally, finally has shown his true colors. In his article “Bernie, Sully and Me” carried in the JTA April 2, 2009 he revealed the corrupted understanding that he and obviously other hareidi Jews have for halacha. True to his twisted understanding of Jewish law he was able to reason that Bernie Madoff isn’t so terrible. After all there is no difference according to Shafran between stealing a dime or a billion dollars. And there is no distinction according to him with regard to scope and severity. Anyone, according to him who has a creative accountant is guilty of defrauding 300 million Americans. Using Shafran’s reasoning the murder of six million Jews in Europe would have been the same as murdering one Jew. And the murder of one Jew during the crusades would have been no different than the hundreds of thousands that were killed. And continuing his line of reason it matters not if one chayal is killed or many during a campaign. Scope and severity do not play a role in the world of Rabbi Avi Shafran. Interestingly though it does play a significant role in halachic Judaism if one is vaguely familiar with Talmud. Tell me Rabbi Shafran do you really think that if someone steals a candy bar from a kiosk it’s the same in the eyes of halacha as someone who not only defrauds family and friends of billions but also bankrupts charities? Do you believe that the anti-Semitic backlash around the globe would have been as virulent had Bernie Madoff stole a carton of cigarettes off of a truck? Disturbing as all this is however, is his comparing Bernies’s misadventure to the successful adventure (thank god) of Captain Sullenberg. While Shafran considers Madoff’s decision to turn himself in as sublimity of spirit, Captain Sullenberg did what he was supposed to do and there is nothing sublime in what he did. I suppose that if ones’ logic is as faulty as Shafran’s that he believes stealing ten cents is no different than stealing a billion dollars than I really can’t expect him to understand that Captain Sullenberg’s skill and disregard for his own safety ought not to be referenced in the same essay as the likes of Madoff. And certainly no comparison should be made between the two. One is a crook; the other is a gifted pilot who placed the lives of others before his own. If ever there was sublimity of spirit it was that manifested by Sullenberg. As the aircraft was sinking he repeatedly walked through the aisle, checking every seat making certain that no one was left behind. Madoff on the other hand made sure that everyone and every charity was left behind.
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