INTOLERANCE
THE HOLER PERSPECTIVE
Soon after the president of the United States reminded us of his “stable genius” by asking why America wants immigrants from “shithole” countries (if he said “shithouse,” does that make a difference?), a friend asked if I was speechless. My answer, even recovering from a bad flu (haven’t kicked it yet): “Hell, no!” The latest…
Read MoreWHAT’S NEW?
Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), written according to tradition by Solomon, exclaims, “There is nothing new beneath the sun” (1:9). True that. Ultimately, what goes around comes around—as it did this past week. Yes, technology races forward. Solomon could not have dreamed of the printing press and steam engine let alone the high-energy particle telescope, smart phone, Internet…
Read MoreBACKWARD MARCH
They want to retreat centuries to a purer time when men were closer to God. No, not Islamists seeking to return to the time of Muhammad in the seventh century. I’m talking about the haredim, Israel’s ultra-orthodox Jews. First, a bit of Torah. People have long believed in an idyllic past. Witness the Garden of…
Read MoreLOWE’S AND CHANUKAH
Lowe’s, the home improvement chain, beckons shoppers with, “Let’s build something together.” Earlier this month, Loewe’s sought to help build walls around American Muslims. This gives a whole new meaning to the ancient meaning of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. So let me unravel the mystery. The Tampa-based Florida Family Association took umbrage at…
Read MoreTHE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY
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…
Read MoreFAGGOT!
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…
Read MoreTHE TRUE BLASPHEMERS
A friend disagreed with my post of 12-3-10, “Snow Globes and Islam’s Civil War.” I wrote that Islamists hate us not because of what we do—although American foreign policy has often been misguided and not infrequently brutal—but because of who we are. (I expressed extremely rare agreement with former President George W. Bush.) The January…
Read MoreWHITE DEERSKIN/RED HEIFER: WE CAN ALL RELATE
I spent last weekend in Trinidad on the Humboldt County coast near Oregon. And I found out something very interesting—and instructive—from Don Verwayen, my cousin Bev’s husband. Don is an archaeologist helping area Indian tribes to protect their land, particularly sacred sites. Here’s what I learned. The Karuk Indians maintain ancestral territory along the middle…
Read MoreBURNING BOOKS FOR FUN AND PROFIT
I’m going to burn a copy of God’s Others. During the run-up to this year’s anniversary of 9/11, I learned an important lesson in public relations. After 40 years in advertising, you’d think I’d have picked up this bit of business savvy. But I’m not embarrassed. I’m encouraged. Now I can launch a wildly successful…
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