We Jews are a fractious lot. And the Hasidic world is the ultimate in bitter religious splits. Satmar, the largest dynasty today, has two rival rebbes. But the first rancorous division of a Hasidic court I encountered was amongst another Hungarian dynasty, the followers of Reb Arele. What is it about Hungary, or should I say the Carpathians, that breeds…
Pesach 2012 – Oil or Occupation
In an article in the New York Times, Thomas Friedman quotes an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study showing that there is a negative relationship between the money countries extract from natural resources and the knowledge and skills of their high school populations. In other words, the fewer natural resources, the harder you have to try. So when…
Racism vs. Anti-Semitism
There are critics of Israel and the Jews I respect and those I do not. Peter Beinart, who has just published The Crisis of Zionism, is an example of one I do not. He is jumping onto a band wagon that is careening down a dangerous slope. I doubt his motives. Not for his criticism of Israel, much of which I…
Conversion – Israel Style
Not all religious inhumanity is physical. Mental cruelty is regarded by the Talmud as just as heinous. The games being played in Israel by the State Rabbinate are an absolute scandal. If it were just a matter of religious standards I would only be saddened, frustrated and angry. But when it is simply a matter of power, turf wars and…
Circumcision Troubles
I have to my credit (or not) several blogs about circumcision in which I contrast my visceral antipathy towards harming a child with my loyalty to an ancient, resilient, and still relevant tradition. I also draw a distinction between a ritual that permanently removes an organ of pleasure and one which is simply superficial. And, at the risk of offending…
Mormons
Candidates for the Republican nomination for president have brought the Mormon Church right into the public eye. No doubt the successful, clean living, pious Mitt Romney is a welcome change from Broadway shows and television series about the Mormons and legal cases of patriarchs marrying multiple much-younger wives, not to mention stories about their special underwear. The Church of Jesus…