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Yesterday, a missile fired from Gaza struck southern Israel, wounding two—one critically. Israel retaliated, killing five Palestinians. Hours later, Hamas announced that militants had agreed to a cease-fire. Whether the cease-fire will hold remains to be seen. These unfortunate events come less than a week after Richard Goldstone wrote a revealing article in the Washington…
A heavy stream of traffic passed my house yesterday morning. It indicated a major accident on Park Presidio Boulevard, the north-south artery leading to the Golden Gate Bridge, a block and a half away. A Department of Parking & Traffic officer told me there had been an earlier accident, but that wasn’t the problem. It…
You learn a lot at the supermarket. Recently, I waited behind a family of five—the children elementary-school age—as they unloaded their cart. Like many Americans, they were generously proportioned. I shy from the term obese, which now represents not only a medical condition but also a pejorative. The products they chose gave a clear reason…
My oldest son, Seth, recently went on a business trip to Germany. As many travelers do, he suffered some culture shock on returning: the obesity of so many Americans, TVs blaring in airports, disorderly freeway traffic. Of course, Germany is part of the West, but the differences between Western societies are notable. How much greater…
Last Saturday while I walked to my synagogue, a car filled with several young men passed me. One called out, “Hey, faggot!” The car sped on. What prompted him to say such a thing? I’m straight. But more important, what concern is my sexual orientation to anyone else? Perhaps some young people were visiting from…
Recently, I brushed shoulders with a man while I was entering a sandwich shop. He was leaving. “Sorry,” I said. “Sorry,” he answered. No harm, no foul. “Sorry” covers a multitude of awkward but harmless situations. Yet for some people, “sorry” represents a Get Out of Jail card. They believe they can do anything, say…
While political unrest permeates the Middle East, fiscal unrest occupies Americans at home. Libertarians and Tea Partiers echo Ronald Reagan that government isn’t the solution, it’s the problem. Opponents contend that government plays an important role in maintaining the nation’s general wellbeing. How do we find some perspective? Torah provides guidance. Last week’s portion, Ki…
What goes around comes around. Recently, several European leaders declared multiculturalism a failure. Europeans, who once avidly condemned America’s racial and religious shortcomings, have encountered their own challenges involving large Muslim minorities from North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. French President Nikolas Sarkozy declared on February 10, “If you come to France, you…
The king is dead, long live… Who? Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, who held the presidency for thirty years, has stepped down. The army has taken command, at least temporarily. Egyptians find themselves free. Well, that’s the theory. The reality is anyone’s guess. Omar Suleiman, Mubarak’s former security chief and vice president, expressed doubt that the revolution…
Earlier this week, I did a ten-minute stand-up comedy set at San Francisco’s Purple Onion. It was open-mic night for the San Francisco Comedy College. I’d taken their five-week beginner class as part of the research for a novel I’ve just begun. My guests laughed. The rest of the crowd—a whole lot younger—did, too. Thank…