We humans love certainties. We think we know, but more often than not, we stumble on. Our history is replete with failed systems and misguided leaders. Look at the Bible. Even the best of them is fallible. And the Bible makes no attempt to cover up or excuse the mistakes of our religious and political leaders. Judges, kings, priests, rabbis,…
Dangerous Apostates
Jews hating Jews has a long history. Going as far back as the Bible. But medieval religions made a real art of it. The psychology of these apostates is fascinating but also so relevant today. Some felt rejected by their Jewish communities over theological issues which made them bitter and determined to take revenge. Others simply preferred to join the…
Douglas Murray
I do not think that Israel has a better more articulate or fearless non -Jewish supporter of Israel than the British journalist, author and commentator Douglas Murray. Someone who on a wider scale has articulated the belief that the Western world has lost its soul and is in danger of terminal decline. More than anyone else from outside of our…
Robert Wistrich and Jew Hatred
Many, many books have been written about the Holocaust and antisemitism. Amongst my favorites is Anthony Julius’s Trials of the Diaspora ( for an English slant) and David Nirenberg’s Anti-Judaism from an American perspective. But when it comes to a broad and detailed analysis of antisemitism, and a profound knowledge of history, the late Robert Wistrich (April 7, 1945 – May 19, 2015) who was taken…
Comfort Ye! Comfort Ye!
The Shabbat after the fast of the Ninth of Av, is called Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of Comfort. Its name comes from the 40th Chapter of the Biblical Prophet Isaiah and let us ignore the debate about how many Isaiahs there were. The first Chapter of the Book of Isaiah we read in the Haftarah last week foretold the awful catastrophe that would befall corrupt, hypocritical, immoral…
The Ninth of Av: Fasting and Self-flagellation.
Both Christianity and Islam have long and controversial traditions of penance that involve flogging oneself with whips or scourges that inflict pain. The doctrine of mortification till the blood flows was and, in some quarters, still is, seen as an important form of penance. The ritual goes back to Egyptian and Greco-Roman cults. In Christianity its origins lie in the teaching of the…