JUDAISM
GENOCIDE AND CONTEXT
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…
Read MoreVIOLENCE AND CHOICE
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…
Read MoreAFTER YOM KIPPUR, WHAT?
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…
Read MoreTHE RABBIS AND THE CONSTITUTION
Given the nation’s political turmoil, Rabbinic thinking can shed light on “loose construction” of the Constitution. A personal experience reinforced that concept. In 1998, I traveled to Israel with a group from New York. On the way to our hotel, we stopped at Mount Scopus for a sweeping view of Jerusalem. It struck me that…
Read MoreMORE MANDALORIAN–JEWISH PARALLELS
Months ago, Disney+ hyped season 3 of the Star Wars-related “The Mandalorian.” A thousand people from 20 countries read my 2021 post, “The Mandalorian and the Jews.” Season 3’s Jewish connections were even stronger. “The Way” of the Mandalorians suggests Jewish law, Halacha—the way of going. Maimonides writes about the “way of the Lord” in his Mishneh Torah. The…
Read MoreLOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR MEANS WHAT?
Jesus preached a version. Hillel said it before Jesus. But Hillel was picking up on the Torah. Still, after 2,000 years and more, many people don’t have a clue. Americans of all faiths are familiar with the injunction of Leviticus 19:18—”Love your neighbor [sometimes translated fellow] as yourself.” This seemingly simple verse poses complex challenges, starting…
Read MoreYOM HASHOAH—A WARNING
Last Monday night/Tuesday, Jews observed (not celebrated) Yom HaShoah—Holocaust Remembrance Day—on the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. After World War Two, Jews insisted, “Never again!” Israel built a military to defend the Jewish State. It’s what’s happening in America that disturbs me. Carolyn and I didn’t do anything formal for Yom HaShoah. We discuss…
Read MoreTHE PAST MATTERS
I’ve often cited George Santayana about people ignoring the past being condemned to repeat it. I’ll add William Faulkner: the past isn’t dead—it’s not even the past. Let me offer two examples—one current, one ancient. Writing fiction, I’m drawn to the past. It offers perspective on issues the whirring present sometimes confuses. So, I set Flight…
Read MoreCHANUKAH’S LESSON FOR AMERICA
The House of Representatives’ Select Committee on January 6 held its final hearing last Monday—the first day of Chanukah. This offers much to think about. Around 164 BCE, the Jews won a victory against their Seleucid Greek overlords. This forms the background of Chanukah, the Festival of Lights. Only recently have some Jews glimpsed the…
Read MoreIS THERE AN AUTHENTIC JUDAISM?
Israel’s Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef recently stated that Reform and Conservative Jews practice a different religion. I get his point—but think he’s wrong in two important ways. The Reform movement started in early-19th century Germany as a response to the Enlightenment. Traditional observance was seen as outdated and preventing Jews from engaging unhindered with the rest…
Read MorePOST-THANKSGIVING THANKS
Not everyone stuffed themselves with Thanksgiving turkey yesterday. I ate fish. I had my reasons. Getting older, Carolyn and I sometimes celebrate holidays differently. As to yesterday, our kids wouldn’t be coming over. Another couple, Joan and Joe, faced the same situation. Neither Carolyn nor Joan wanted to cook.* So we enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at…
Read MoreARE JEWS CLOSE TO BOILING? 
The plight of German Jews in the 1930s has been likened to a frog in a pot on a lit stove. The water warms slowly. The frog’s unperturbed—until the pot begins to boil. Are today’s American Jews undergoing the same experience? In 2017, white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanted, “Jews will not replace us.” President…
Read MoreLONG LIVE BOTH KINGS 
Queen Elizabeth II has gone to her ancestors. King Charles III reigns. Life in Britain and the Commonwealth goes on. Sounds like Rosh Hashanah. I monitored Elizabeth’s death and the rituals leading up to, and including, her funeral. Admittedly, I didn’t watch all that much; Carolyn followed the events far more extensively. As to the…
Read MoreFAITH GONE AWRY 
This week’s Torah portion, “Shelach-Lecha” (“Send” or “Send for Yourself”), shares something with Texas Republicans’ 2022 platform. It’s frightening. Numbers 13 tells of twelve Israelite chieftains sent by Moses to scout out Canaan, the land God promised to Israel. On returning, ten “spies” display a grievous lack of faith. They concede that the land “does…
Read MorePOTATO KUGEL AND SHARED HUMANITY 
Last weekend in Los Angeles, Carolyn and I helped our son with a project for his summer anthropology class at Pasadena Community College. It involved a beloved family recipe and offers a lesson that should be familiar to Americans but too often isn’t. Yosi had to make a short video and write up a report…
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