Blog
Today’s first day of Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, arrives during a period of more than seasonal darkness. Israel continues to face the threat of Hamas (and Hezbollah) violence, a war rages in Gaza, and Jews across the globe, including the United States, contend with rising antisemitism. Of note, Jewish college students who support Israel…
The end of the Israel-Hamas war will come. The ending depends on Israel and the Palestinians looking forward, not backward. Given the October 7 slaughter, Israeli anger is understandable. Israel will destroy Hamas’s infrastructure and fighting capabilities, if not its hatred. Afterwards? Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu approached the slippery slope last Monday when he said…
Recently, I learned I’m cool. Wait. Let me walk that back. Time Out magazine rated my San Francisco neighborhood—the Richmond District—one of the 40 coolest in the world. #27 to boot! Carolyn and I have lived in the Richmond for 50 years. The neighborhood—homes and two-flats abutting each other, small apartment buildings, mostly on corners—wasn’t always considered…
Next year, 15 indicted individuals will stand trial in Fulton County, Georgia. They’ll confront racketeering charges regarding overturning the state’s 2020 presidential election results. But 19 were charged. What happened? Four defendants flipped. The prosecution gained four major weapons. Last month, Scott Hall, a bail bondsman, pled guilty. Relatively small potatoes, he received five years’…
In 1992, Rodney King, a Black man viciously beaten by Los Angeles police a year earlier, asked during violent riots, “Can’t we all get along?” Last week’s Torah portion, “Genesis,” and this week’s, “Noah,” address this sorry aspect of human nature. Gen. 1:26 states: “And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after…
I didn’t expect to write a post today, since I returned home from a trip two days ago. But I must say something after Hamas’ inhumane attack on Israel last Saturday. Carolyn’s and my trip began with a two-night stay in Niagara Falls on the Ontario (Canadian) side. Our hotel offered fabulous views of both…
Can a gentile cartoonist say something meaningful about Yom Kippur—the Day of Atonement? Indeed! In last Monday’s “Pearls Before Swine,” Stephen Pastis presented Pig confronting a problem. What has he learned from his mistakes? “That I’m stupid and make lots of them.” Will he learn not to repeat them? “Oh, that never happens.” It can, but…