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Middle Eastern Books

My summer reading included some fascinating contrasts. It started with Amos Oz. I have to confess I am so far removed from secular Jewish angst that I have tended to steer clear of secular Israeli literature. Besides, I get so many anti-Israel and anti-Jewish opinions, and articles, and programs bombarding me, particularly whilst I’m in Europe, that frankly I just…

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Hygiene

In my callow youth I used to think it absurd to have, as Jewish law requires, to wash and make a blessing every time I went to the toilet. It added another ritual ablution to a long list that started from the moment I woke up. My stern grandfather insisted that I make use of a bowl he placed under…

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Atonement

This has not been a good year for religion. In the West, scientists and rationalists of various hues and popularity have repeatedly assaulted it in bestselling books. Many of their arguments have appeared persuasive. Religion has a lot to answer for; or to be fairer, people who act in the name of religion have a lot to answer for. They…

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Sabbatical

As we begin 5768, we will enter another Sabbatical, the Seventh Year Release referred to in Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15, called Sheviit or Shmita. The concept of the Shmita concerns issues of nature, study, economics, and leisure. In an agrarian society this fantastic idea was not just a sort of crop rotation to help agriculture, it was also an…

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Song

Recently the major Charedi rabbis of Israel announced a ban on mixed concerts, even when the sexes are seating separately and the performers themselves are very, very kosher. Obviously, the power of song is highly seductive and dangerous. Having been to some of these “kosher” concerts, the truth is that sometimes the atmosphere does become very charged, almost reminiscent, if…

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Yeshivas and Money

When I went to yeshiva in Israel many years ago, the “Black Hat” yeshivas were all struggling without any government support. Funding was always politicized in Israel, whether it was the kibbutz movement on the left or the yeshivas on the right. At that time the right (both religiously and politically) had hardly any political clout so it got peanuts…

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