Despite the elections, the little turf wars of Israeli society continue to add to the tensions of daily life. Here’s a story about another political campaign over the right of some women to pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem in a manner of their choosing. Of course, this is not an issue over the right to pray. Jewish men…
General Topics
Brilliant Speech By Yair Lapid
This is the most impressive speech I have ever heard from a secular Israeli politician. It makes me feel more optimistic about Israel than I have for a very long time. Click here: Yair Lapid speaks to Haredi track of Kiryat Ono College
Yair Lapid and The Elections in Israel
I am pleasantly surprised by the results of the latest elections in Israel. Not because anything has significantly changed, but precisely because, other than superficially, it hasn’t. The Jewish vote in Israel is divided, roughly speaking, between three major groupings of opinion: secular liberal center to left, secular right-wing, and the religious vote which supports whichever government gives them more…
Names
I spend a fair amount of time with Persian Jews here in New York. I really enjoy their warmth and joie de vivre. But the quickest way to offend them is to suggest that they are Sephardi! Actually, you’d get a similar reaction if you suggested that a Muslim Iranian was an Arab! The Persian Jewish community existed long before…
Raymond Dwek
I am not a great fan of “awards”. Too many of them are given for the wrong reasons to the wrong people. But here is one I am delighted with. Here is the official citation: “Professor of Glycobiology at Oxford University Professor Raymond Dwek has been honored with the CBE for services to UK/Israel scientific collaboration. One of the most…
Margaret Netanyahu
Margaret Thatcher was an incredibly divisive British prime minister. Personally, I could never warm to her. She was, however, credited with standing up to the unions. Although she had the immense good fortune to come to power as North Sea Oil provided the UK with a financial bonanza, she certainly changed the mood of the country from depressed hopelessness to…