The popular narrative of the moment is that Capitalism has failed. Capitalism, it is argued, is not providing for the needs of a fair and just society. Instead, it is allowing a small section of the population to amass vast sums at the expense of others. And this may be true. But the question is, what’s better? Originally, “capitalism” simply…
George Eliot & Judaism
George Eliot (whose real name was Mary Ann Evans) has always been one of my favorite English novelists. She combined command of the language with a gift for a great story and an acute observation of the inequalities, and social hypocrisies of her age. Last week was the 200th anniversary of George Eliot’s birth. To celebrate it there is a…
Pompeo’s gift
Good news. Bad news. The US has declared that settlements on the West Bank are not illegal according to international law, despite nearly everyone else claiming they are. “After carefully studying all sides of the legal debate,” Mr. Pompeo told reporters, “The United States has concluded that “the establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not, per…
Truth
“What is truth?” is the question Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, asked two thousand years ago. Possibly the most famous question of all time! Truth is what you think to be the truth. That is the best answer modern philosophy has to offer. What does the Torah say? The Biblical word for what we call truth is Emet. It is…
Maimonides
It is a well-known saying that “ From Moses to Moses, there was no one as great as Moses.” The second Moses the saying refers to is the Moses known as “Rambam”. Which is an acronym of Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon. Or, in secular usage, Maimonides. He was born around 1135 in Cordoba, Spain. At the time, Spain was a relatively moderate Muslim kingdom…
The Balfour Declaration
The Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917, was the first recognition for two thousand years that Jews had as much right to a homeland of their own as any other nation or people. It was a statement of British support (in principle) for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” It was made in a letter from Arthur James Balfour, the…