I have often expressed my frustration with politics – in particular, Israeli politics. I dislike dogma and extremes on both sides. This week, I am turning on the Right in Israel. They are a very broad camp. They include economic conservatives, laissez faire economists, secular idealists, religious fanatics and, yes, religious fascists. Specifically, I am focusing on someone I consider…
Yemen & the 9th of Av
Ever since I first visited a Yemenite community in Israel way back in 1958, I have had a soft spot for and a very strong affiliation to Yemeni Jews for their warmth and deep religious devotion. And, of course, their food and dress. I was impressed to see how Yemeni children could read the Torah from any angle. Back in…
The Whitney Again
A month ago, I wrote a blog about the Whitney Biennial 2019 Exhibition that included a piece which, among other things, contained a distorted smear job against Israel over its use of tear gas to break up the Gaza protests. The exhibit was called “The Triple Chaser”after tear gas cannisters of that name. The Triple Chaser is manufactured by a…
Rabbis who Ban
People have every right to decide what they will read and what not. What or to whom they will listen or not. They also have the right to try to dissuade people from what they consider to be undesirable events and occasions. But the one thing that annoys me intensely, and I think is absolutely futile, is to try to…
The Seventeenth of Tammuz
Five really bad things happened to the Jewish people on the Seventeenth of Tammuz. Which is why we fast then from dawn to dusk. This year the seventeenth is on Shabbat, but we fast on Sunday. Shabbat is reserved for happy days. What happened? According to the Mishnah, Moses broke the two tablets of stone on Mount Sinai after the…
Paper in the Wall
In 1974 when Henry Kissinger was pressurizing Golda Meir to make concessions in the interest of peace in the Middle East, Golda took him to the Western Wall. Kissinger stood there and was visibly moved. He started to pray. He said, “Dear God I want to thank you for enabling me, a penniless German Jewish refugee to succeed beyond expectations…