ISRAEL
A PAINFUL ISRAELI U.N. VOTE
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…
Read MoreEGYPT’S PHARAOH AND AMERICA’S
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…
Read MoreHOSTAGES AND HOSTAGES
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…
Read MoreANOTHER MIDEAST MUDDLE
With Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and the 53-year-old Assad family rule overthrown, an old adage arises in the Middle East: Be careful what you wish for. But wish we must, then take care following up. The Middle East has been a highly unstable region not just in recent decades but throughout history. For centuries, competing caliphs…
Read MoreAFTER SINWAR, WHAT?
IDF troops killed Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ architect of October 7, prompting me to ask, where do we go from here? I wish the shop had repaired my crystal ball, but a text broke the bad news. No more peeks into the future for me. That’s typical for someone at age 80, who learns that the…
Read MoreTHE STEEL THREAD
An economist at Tel Aviv University and an ancient king reveal much about the outcome of the war Israel is waging against Iran’s proxies, and so Iran itself. On Monday, Tom Friedman in The New York Times (“What I’m Thinking About on the First Anniversary of the War”) cited the economist Dan Ben-David of Tel…
Read MoreFUNNY GIRL, UNFUNNY PROBLEM
A Broadway road show and a Jerusalem Post opinion piece shed light on why the left maintains its antagonism towards Israel and Diaspora Jews—and the hatred coming from the Israeli right. “Funny Girl” at San Francisco’s Orpheum Theater entails the rise of Jewish comedienne Fanny Brice (born Fania Borach) a century ago. Brice overcame the…
Read MoreGAZA AND MAGICAL THINKING
Perhaps quantum physics aside, two identical objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Witness Gaza. Hamas wants a Palestinian state from the river (Jordan) to the sea (Mediterranean). The Israeli far-right wants a Greater Israel in that same space. Both engage in magical thinking guaranteed to continue violence. College campuses also produce…
Read MoreISRAEL’S OTHER NEXT STEPS
Israel’s attack on an Iranian military base outside Shiraz necessitated a new approach to today’s post I completed yesterday. Then again, it didn’t. Regarding Israel’s response to Iran’s missile attack, I cited the 19th-century French novelist Eugène Sue writing in Memoirs of Matilda: “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” I also referred to New York Times columnist Tom…
Read MoreMILLIONS OF MOVING PARTS
I’ve written that the only logical conclusion to the Israel-Hamas war is moving towards a two-state solution. Now, let me clarify that. “Moving towards” does not mean Israel acknowledging Palestinian statehood now. Canada considered recognizing a Palestinian state but decided against. Reality intruded. The subject also has been broached by several European leaders. But Gaza is run…
Read MoreA WALK IN THE PARK
I never get writers’ block, but this week I came close. I start thinking about the next post six or seven days ahead of the Friday on which it appears. Sometimes, I develop more than one idea. Last Tuesday, I was still drawing a blank. One of the best techniques I know for freeing the…
Read MoreTHE BIG LIE REDUX
The internet brings to mind Pinocchio when it comes to online stories about Israel. A recent Washington Post article by Elizabeth Dwoskin reveals the viciousness of lies the internet often spreads. Its title summarizes the story: “How the Internet is erasing the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre.” However you feel about Israel’s response in Gaza, facts are facts. Until they’re…
Read MoreREFORM JEWS AT A CROSSROADS
Following October 7, the Israel-Hamas war kicked up a small storm in Reform Judaism. My synagogue, Congregation Sherith Israel, has not been immune. I begin with a January 1 column in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper by Daniel Weiner, senior rabbi of Seattle’s Temple De Hirsch Sinai: “What We Reform Jews Forgot to Teach Our Children.” (Daniel Weiner is…
Read MoreA TRULY PIVOTAL 2024
Every New Year brings hopes and fears but 2024 will play a particularly pivotal role in history. Take November’s election. Donald Trump likely will secure the Republican nomination unless his legal woes and outrageous statements bring some Republicans to their senses—or he’s banned from enough state ballots. The Atlantic’s January/February 2024 issue posits what might happen…
Read MoreCHANUKAH AND HAMAS
Sundown tonight marks the end of the eight-day Festival of Lights—Chanukah. However, the story we’ve again told usually remains incomplete because we ignore the related law of unintended consequences. Israel should take note. And Hamas. Around 164 BCE, traditional Jews defeated their Seleucid Greek overlords and also Jewish Hellenizers. The winners cleaned and rededicated (the…
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