Synagogues in Northeastern Poland
I spent the past week in Sejny, a small town in the far northeast of Poland near the Lithuanian border—and coincidentally just ran across ” title=”Borderland Foundation” target=”_blank”>Borderland Foundation, an innovative organization devoted to cultural, social and artistic interchange. (I was in Sejny for celebrations marking Borderland’s 22nd anniversary.)
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May 6, 2012
Anti-Semitism: the Last Refuge of the Left
British leftists are kowtowing to an ever-growing Islamist movement, at the expense of Israel and the Jewish people, writes David Pryce-Jones in the National Review.
In order to focus their hostility, the enemies of Israel ascribe to it all the sins today associated with abstract nouns like imperialism, colonialism and the like. This defies rational explanation, Professor Curtis writes, but it is serviceable. People with nothing to say about North Korea or Zimbabwe willingly dream of reducing Tel Aviv to the ruined level of Homs. In the past Jews were singled out and condemned for reasons now obviously malicious fictions. Today’s liberals and leftists are making common cause with Islamists who share falsehoods and fantasies with them.
Early Israeli Elections Are All About Iran
Arik Elman of Algemeiner speculates as to the reason Netanyahu has called elections long before the Knesset’s natural term expires.
For the exceptionally shortsighted Israel-watchers, the news of the political crisis was welcome, because it meant reprieve from the threat of as Israeli strike against Iran this summer, giving the appeasers more time to “work with Iran” on a creative formula that will enable the likes of Catherine Ashton to declare victory. In reality, the coming elections will serve as the referendum on Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak’s intentions to pursue the course of unilateral prevention against Tehran.
French elections: Virtue, the Debt, and the Jewish Question
On the eve of the final round of the French presidential elections, Nidra Poller of the American Thinker takes a look at the racial politics at play.
The choice on Sunday May 6th is not between two men but between two mutually exclusive visions of the future or, more exactly, the survival of France as a nation. If ever the proverbial Jewish vote would make sense, this is the moment. French Jews would not be afraid to be recognized as Jews, wouldn’t fear for their lives, the safety of their children, their very future in France if “immigration” did not import Islamic Jew hatred.
Revolutionaries and reformists alike have been pushed aside in the aftermath of the uprisings in the Arab world in favor of more conservatives forces, writes Abdel-Moneim Said in Al-Ahram.
In all events, rebellion and revolution did happen in some countries, and stirred unrest of varying dimensions in others. Then the revolutions began to stare in disbelief at the consequences. In Egypt, today, one detects a sense of major remorse because the revolution let down the people, first by not being more connected with them and then by abandoning the field to reactionary forces that had never sought revolution but that once it happened swooped in to snatch the fruits just when they were ripe enough to pick.
David Samuels of Tablet Magazine pens a more memorable tribute to fellow Brooklyn boy Adam Yauch, who lost his battle with cancer on Friday at the age of 47.
What has been lost is a model of how to live as a humble yet active and entirely responsible citizen of the world and also, at the same time, as a rock star, which is something that few human beings have the emotional capacity—including the knowledge of their own uniqueness and also the tolerance for their own limitations, and the limitations of others—to manage.
Music and the Arts – A Spiritual Necessity
This address by Karl Paulnack, pianist and director of the music division at The Boston Conservatory, though already 8 years old, came to me from a friend this week. I was so moved by it that I wanted to share it with you.
Paulnack says:
“I have come to understand that music is not part of ‘arts and entertainment’ as the newspaper section would have us believe. It’s not a luxury, a lavish thing that we fund from leftovers of our budgets, not a plaything or an amusement or a pass time. Music is a basic need of human survival. Music is one of the ways we make sense of our lives, one of the ways in which we express feelings when we have no words, a way for us to understand things with our hearts when we can’t with our minds.”
Mr. Paulnack concludes his address with these words:
You’re not here to become an entertainer, and you don’t have to sell yourself. The truth is you don’t have anything to sell; being a musician isn’t about dispensing a product, like selling used cars. I’m not an entertainer; I’m a lot closer to a paramedic, a firefighter, a rescue worker. You’re here to become a sort of therapist for the human soul, a spiritual version of a chiropractor, physical therapist, someone who works with our insides to see if they get things to line up, to see if we can come into harmony with ourselves and be healthy and happy and well.
Paulnack’s is a powerful statement of what music is and does in particular, and what the arts as a whole bring to the human condition. Parents, schools, politicians and government officials, budgets, philanthropists, and people of faith – take note!
My only problem with his address is his broadsided critique of religion as a vehicle of human wrath. That characterization is not religion. Rather, his is really a critique of human avarice, greed and ego. It its pure form, religion and the arts have the same spiritual goal – to bring us close to Oneness, to God, to our highest selves and that is healing not only of one’s particular tribe or community, but of all the world.
His address is worth reading.
http://greenroom.fromthetop.org/2009/03/11/karl-paulnack-to-the-boston-conservatory-freshman-class/
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Biden: ‘Absolutely comfortable’ with gay marriage
On “Meet the Press” this morning, Vice President Joe Biden said that he is “absolutely comfortable” with gay marriage, via Biden: ‘Absolutely comfortable’ with gay marriage Read More »
Thank you!
My grandfather passed away surprisingly about two months ago. Recently, we received a letter from an elementary school in Florida, informing us that a donation of Chai has been made by our American family friends to this school, in commemoration of him. I remember seeing this type of donations before, when I was working at a summer camp in Georgia last summer: American Jews make donations in multiplies of 18, to all sorts of facilities and institutions, and get their loved ones’ names, or even their own names, engraved on the walls of place receiving the donation.
This type of donation is not common here in Israel, while in the U.S it appears to be a grand part of the Jewish culture. Reading this letter, knowing my grandfather has been commemorated in return of a modest yet very kind donation, put a smile on my face and filled my heart with completion. This is truly an admirable thing that should be adapted by Jewish communities all over the world. It is simply beautiful and beautifully simple, to make a donation according to your abilities, which is appreciated, no matter how high it is.
This shows pure kindness and acceptance of all, which are two of the qualities which describe the Jewish culture in general, and the American-Jewish culture specifically.
It is not difficult to show appreciation for all donations, but sometimes we tend to forget to do so. It is easy to get lost in pride, and sniff at modest donations, while respecting grand amounts of money. This is the reason letters like the one we received are so heartwarming.
I am very grateful for your never forgetting the true values of Judaism and of humanity. This everlasting commemoration of my grandfather in a school far away from here put true, genuine smiles on my family’s faces, for the first time in weeks. Thank you.
Netanyahu to seek early election in 4 months
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said he supported an early general election in four months’ time, a ballot polls say could strengthen his hand as Israel confronts Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“It is preferable to have a short election campaign of four months that will swiftly return stability to the political ranks,” Netanyahu said in a speech to a convention of his rightist Likud party.
The next national vote was not due until October 2013, but new legislation that might force ultra-Orthodox Jews to serve in the military and an upcoming budget debate have threatened to unravel a governing coalition of religious and nationalist parties once seen as one of the most stable in Israel’s history.
Netanyahu said he wanted to avoid pressure from coalition partners who were beginning to destabilize the government. He did not specify a date, but a party official earlier said September 4 was the probable date for the ballot.
“With the start of the government’s fourth year we have seen many signs that the stability has begun to waver and political instability always brings extortion (and) populism which harm security, the economy and society. I will not allow a campaign of a year and a half that will harm the country,” Netanyahu said.
A Netanyahu victory two months before the U.S. election would give him leverage over Barack Obama on the Iranian and Palestinian issues while the U.S. president is still engaged in his own campaign and wary of alienating pro-Israeli voters.
Netanyahu and Obama have had a thorny relationship and the right-wing Israeli leader has come under pressure from Washington not to take unilateral military action against Iranian nuclear facilities suspected of being part of a project to produce nuclear weapons.
Iran says its nuclear program is purely civilian. Israel is believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear-armed power.
Opinion polls show Likud will easily come out on top of the national ballot, giving Netanyahu a renewed mandate to tackle what he has described as the most important challenge facing his country – the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran.
Parliament was due to convene on Monday and vote on a coalition-backed resolution of dissolution. Netanyahu and his government would remain in office until a new administration is sworn in after the election in four months’ time.
Israeli leaders have insisted the election campaign would have no impact on their decision-making on Iran.
“Netanyahu does not hide his intention to strike Tehran’s nuclear sites before they become immune to attack,” commentator Ron Ben-Yishai, referring to Iranian efforts to put its atomic facilities deep underground, wrote in Israel’s popular Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
“Hence, his decision to call early elections when his position on this issue is so clear and consistent shows confidence that Israel’s public is behind him, thereby granting more credibility to the Israeli threat,” he wrote.
Netanyahu has been urged by Washington and other world powers to allow beefed-up international sanctions on Iran to bite. He has voiced pessimism about the outcome of international nuclear talks with Iran due to resume in Baghdad on May 23.
While opinion polls have shown strong support for Netanyahu’s leadership, they have also indicated a wide majority of Israelis either oppose an Israeli strike on Iran or would favor an attack only if it were carried out with U.S. agreement.
Some former Israeli security chiefs have criticized Netanyahu’s hawkish stance. His former internal security chief, Yuval Diskin, accused both him and Defence Minister Ehud Barak of having a “messianic” policy toward Iran.
On Friday, Barak said Iran’s nuclear strategy could eventually allow it to build an atomic bomb with just 60 days’ notice. The remarks elaborated on long-held Israeli concerns that Tehran is playing for time as it engages in negotiations aimed at curbing its uranium enrichment.
Writing by Jeffrey Heller and Ori Lewis; editing by Andrew Roche
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Hollande beats Sarkozy to win French presidency
Francois Hollande became the first Socialist president of France in nearly two decades, defeating incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.
With half the votes counted nationwide, Hollande was leading Sarkozy, 50.8 percent to 49.2 percent. Sarkozy, the center-left candidate, was considered the favored candidate among French Jews.
Sarkozy, of the Union for a Popular Movement party, conceded shortly after the polls closed. He wished his successor luck in handling difficult times in France and in Europe.
“Francois Hollande is the president of the republic; he must be respected,” Sarkozy said.
Polls had showed Hollande finishing with about 52 percent of the vote to 48 percent for Sarkozy, the first French president to lose re-election in 30 years.
Hollande is France’s first Socialist president since Francois Mitterrand, who served from 1981 to 1995.
Sarkozy is the ninth European leader to be ousted since the start of the continent’s debt crisis, Bloomberg reported.
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Art and Healing Go Hand in Hand
After I posted this morning my piece, “Music and the Arts – A Spiritual Necessity” my cousins, Susan and Leonard Nimoy, passed along to me the following video link from CBS News on the extraordinary modern art collection hanging on the walls of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
In explaining the significance of art and medicine, one physician said that “artwork and doctor’s work complement each other.” Leonard remarked that a “hospital should be sterile physically, but not emotionally or intellectually.” And the piece ended with the reporter saying, “Even the walls are therapeutic!”
A terrific story once more emphasizing the importance of art as a necessity in life – http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7407646n&tag=stack
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