Israel has changed dramatically from when I first went there in the 50’s. In those early days of healthy Israeli pioneers, when the kibbutz movement was the country’s pride and joy and the Mecca of all young European idealists, good manners was seen as the disease of the Old World Order. Every time I would automatically say “Please” or “Thank…
Why fast?
We have just ended a period in the Jewish tradition called “The Three Weeks” of mourning for our own disastrous ethical and political mistakes of the past. For thinking we can arrogantly control every aspect of our own destiny with no regard to external pressure or objective standards. At least we do not blame others for our misfortunes. There are…
Generalizations
Oh, how we love generalizations, such as blonds are dumb, men are chauvinist pigs, Poles are stupid, Romanians steal, and the Scots are mean. All non-Jews hate Jews. All Jews are money-obsessed. All Christians are missionaries. All Muslims are terrorists. All Israelis love humiliating Palestinians, and all Palestinians love killing Israelis. All blacks are rappers or welfare dependants. All Mexicans…
Jewish Women
There are of course Jewish women and Jewish women, and any generalization on either word is plain silly. But Jewish women who wish to remain loyal to the religious tradition in all its Divine magnificence and Human interference can, if they step out of line or try to deal with rabbinic authority, have a very tough time. In 1994 admirable…
The JFS
“The Law is an Ass,” said Mr. Bumble in Oliver Twist. And if that is so, then some rabbis are even bigger asses. The English courts have decided that the rabbis who determined the entrance policy of the JFS (the Jews Free School, a large state-supported Jewish day school in London) have contravened the Race Relations Act. It refuses to…
Sex Abuse
A recent book Tempest in the Temple: Jewish Communities and Child Sex Scandals (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture, & Life), contains essays from a wide range of professional and rabbinical contributors. They highlight the issues and the tendency of parts of the Jewish world, in common with so many other “enclavist” religious communities, to try to hide or…