People are asking why now are we experiencing such a tsunami of hatred? A kind of MaNishtanahmoment. There are very different factors that have come together now to create a perfect storm of conflicting world and ethical values. Old certainties have died, and new ones are flourishing. Not always for the best. One can look at this from different perspectives, the…
General Topics
David Alroy
Alroy is the title of novel about a Jewish false messiah ( of which there have been many), written by a young Benjamin Disraeli who was Prime Minister of Britain during Queen Victoria’s reign. It illustrates that despite Disraeli’s having been forced by his father into Christianity in a fit of pique, he still had very powerful Jewish roots that only…
Trump
וללב מלכים אין חקר “There is no way to plumb the depths of the hearts of kings.” Proverbs 25:3 The Biblical books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes have plenty of negative statements about rulers. That they are fickle, cannot be trusted, misuse their power and can’t be relied on to be just or honest. Yet rulers of any kind have existed for…
Should God Atone too?
We are approaching a period of atonement. And sometimes I wonder who should be atoning. I hope you don’t mind my fanciful thinking; in the pain we have experienced this past year. It may sound blasphemous. But perhaps God should be atoning ( metaphorically of course) as much as we atone to God for our shortcomings. The rabbis envisage God suffering…
Daniel Deronda:George Eliot and the Jews.
In 1290 Jews were expelled from England. In 1656 Cromwell failed to persuade parliament to welcome Jews back officially. In 1753 the Jew Bill giving Jews citizenship was defeated by the antagonism of the Church and the merchant classes. And it would not be for a hundred years that all disadvantages were removed. So, it is surprising that in such an…
Certainties
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,…