Blog

LOVE LETTER FROM MOSCOW 

By David Perlstein | March 7, 2025 |

The internet revealed Vladimir Putin wrote Donald Trump after Trump’s address to the nation last Tuesday. I herein pass it on. Everyone knows, if it’s on the internet, it’s true. Tovarich Donald: I applaud 99-minute speech you gave Tuesday night America time. Comrade’s advice: Leader’s speech should be minimum three hours. Four, better. Five, you show…

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A PAINFUL ISRAELI U.N. VOTE 

By David Perlstein | February 28, 2025 |

Last Monday, the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a United Nations General Assembly resolution condemned Russia 93–18. Sixty-five nations abstained. Conscience forces me to protest Israel’s vote against. According to news.un.org, the resolution “called for a commitment to ‘the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders’ and the…

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BALANCE, COSMIC AND EARTHLY 

By David Perlstein | February 21, 2025 |

A good friend is disturbed by photos of the cosmos. What is a human being in the vast universe?  Rabbi Simcha Bunim (1765-1827) addressed this. He exclaimed that everyone should have two pockets. One should hold a note declaiming, The world was made for me. The other should hold a note stating, I am but dust and ashes. We’re motes…

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ANTI-CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION 

By David Perlstein | February 14, 2025 |

On February 6, Donald Trump signed a head-scratching executive order about religion. From section 1: “It is the policy of the United States, and the purpose of this order, to protect the religious freedoms of Americans and end the anti-Christian weaponization of government.” The executive order further states that, “the previous Administration engaged in an…

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EGYPT’S PHARAOH AND AMERICA’S 

By David Perlstein | February 7, 2025 |

The Torah and the Israel-Gaza war offer lessons about denying reality and risking terrible consequences. In Exodus, God strikes Egypt with ten plagues, concluding with the slaying of the firstborn. Pharaoh had continually refused to let Israel go. At first, he hardening his own heart. Then God hardened it. The biblical scholar Richard Elliot Friedman…

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LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE

By David Perlstein | January 31, 2025 |

Some people are quick about things and respond to life in the moment, but I live life in the slow lane. When you do that, you learn to laugh at yourself. After all, other people are laughing at you. So, how slow am I? I’m so slow, I get dizzy watching paint dry and grass…

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HOSTAGES AND HOSTAGES

By David Perlstein | January 24, 2025 |

This past week, approximately 1,500 hostages were released, yet only three were transferred from Hamas to Israel. Adds up? Depends on how you define “hostage.” Israelis welcomed home three young women dragged off on October 7, 2023: Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher. Where does the above number come from? Last Monday, Donald Trump…

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FIRE LESSONS 

By David Perlstein | January 17, 2025 |

I live in San Francisco, but the fires in Los Angeles County are personal.  My son Yosi lives in South Pasadena. To his north, the Eaton Fire destroyed much of Altadena. Thankfully, the threat to untouched South Pasadena has greatly diminished. The challenge now is recovery and lessons learned to guide it. Can Altadena, parts…

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THE GULF OF WHAT?

By David Perlstein | January 10, 2025 |

Donald Trump may keep Carolyn and me from going on the Panama Canal cruise we’ve occasionally talked about. Last Monday, Trump held court gave a press conference at Mar-a-Lago sure to fuel the MABA movement. Make America Bigger Again. The lust for empire, which marked much of this nation’s activities in the 19th century, has risen from the ashes. Enough, you…

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FIVE CRUCIAL NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS 

By David Perlstein | January 3, 2025 |

The New Year’s morning terrorist attack in New Orleans reminds us that the world seems to grow darker, but I have ways to brighten my soul.   I take tragedy in New Orleans somewhat personally. My son Yosi used to live there and played drums and fiddle with two bands. Carolyn and I visited a number…

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