Category
Commentary
Squirming
At least 487 American soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq since the war began, and at least 2,800 have been wounded. The situation is far from stabilized, and the threat looms that the country will fall prey to a radical Shiite hegemony, or civil war or become a base for Al Qaeda. Should any of that happen, it would be hard, if not impossible, to justify the death and destruction this war has wrought.\n\nThose of us who were basically supportive of the U.S. invasion need to look at our past arguments in light of the current reality and ask ourselves, were we right or wrong?
Showdown Nears in Settlements Battle
It would be hard to exaggerate how fateful, how historic is the drama about to begin at the settlement outposts. Here\’s where things stand:
Within a few months, we will pretty well know if Israel\’s 36-year occupation of the West Bank and Gaza will be on its way out or here to stay.
We Need Blacks’ Aid in Anti-Semitism Fight
The Jewish people are under attack. Horrific expressions of anti-Semitism are spreading across the United States and the world. These attacks, both verbal and physical, are occurring at all levels of society, from the highest ranks of government to individuals on the street.
This month, as we honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., we ask blacks to embrace his legacy and to join Jews in defeating the injustice of anti-Semitism. Even as King struggled to achieve equality for black Americans, he did not hesitate to express total disdain for anti-Semitism, especially when it reared its ugly face in his own community.
Who Causes Anti-Semitism?
There is a gathering hysteria in the American Jewish community that is dangerously self-destructive. Life as a Jew these days may not be — is not — a bed of roses, but neither is it a bed of thorns. Yet to hear some in our community tell it, thorns are all there are.
Consider: George Soros, the multibillionaire and philanthropist, spoke on Nov. 5 to a meeting of the Jewish Funders Network. In response to a question about the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe, he responded that \”the policies of the Bush administration and the Sharon administration contribute to that.\”
Can there be any doubt that he is right?
The Answer Is Love
Excerpt from \”More Money Than God: Living a Rich Life Without Losing Your Soul,\” by Steven Z. Leder
A few years ago, I was called to see an extremely famous and wealthy movie director. He was a friend of a friend, and he was in the hospital. We were strangers, this dying old man and I. Entering his room, I noticed amid the monitors, tubes, and fluorescent lights of the sterile ICU, there was only one solitary breath of humanity tacked up on the wall — one small black-and-white photograph, some sixty years old, of a young couple in their twenties holding hands on a park bench.
Rabbi Leder’s ten Money commandments
Rabbi Leder\’s ten Money commandments
Predictions
A decade before 2001, the increased availability of the personal computer and the Internet revolutionized our world, but it hardly whipsawed our sense of well-being. We expect leaps in technology. We predict the world of things, even nature itself, will fall more and more under our mastery. But 2001 was a leap in dread, fear and anxiety, all things we have managed to medicate but not master.\n\nWhat changed in 2001 was the comfort of predictability itself. Now we all walk around with a sense that the other shoe will not only drop at any time, but it might also drop on us.
The Doctor Is In
Listening to Howard Dean reminds me of going to a doctor who starts out the visit by saying, \”Bill, you really look sick.\”
Maybe I do, but I don\’t want to hear it expressed quite so bluntly. Just like I didn\’t want to hear Dr. Dean saying in Los Angeles Dec. 15, \”The capture of Saddam has not made America safer.\”
Dean\’s pessimism was hard to take, especially right after the bearded villain was hauled out of the ground by American troops.
The Headache of Resolutions
Blame it on the Mesopotamians. About 4,000 or 5,000 years ago, they came up with the meshuggeneh idea of New Year\’s resolutions.
And what was their most common pledge? To return borrowed farm equipment. \”That would be a pickax or a sickle,\” says Danny, 12, who studied the Mesopotamians last year in his ancient civilization class.
But today we can\’t simply return some borrowed tool, toy or casserole dish. No, we North Americans feel compelled to annually reinvent ourselves as perfect physical, intellectual and emotional beings. We feel compelled to promise to shape up, to learn Aramaic or read the 100 top English-language novels, to be more patient.
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