On Sept. 10, the day Secretary of State Madeleine Albright arrived in Israel, the country became preoccupied with another event: the disappearance of Ya\’acov Schwartz.
For me, there are only two obstacles when pickingHigh Holy Day Ground Zero. Only Content. Only Context.
Madeleine Albright left behind a Middle East that\’s more fearful than when she arrived on Sept. 10 to salvage the peace process. In her first official visit, the secretary of state failed to restore even a modicum of trust between Israelis and Palestinians, or to coax the Syrians back to the negotiating table.
It\’s been 20 years since I last saw my cousin Mel. If weever had a personal conversation, I don\’t recall it. We keep in touchvia our parents, rumor substituting for facts in our extended familylife. Mel\’s father, Ben, died a few years ago; I never even sent himcondolences.
So, one has to ask, why did Rachel Wohlgelernter apply to Yale?
Liss, a veteranscreenwriter with a long list of credits, including theHolocaust-themed TV film \”Hidden in Silence,\” has been to hell andback on an odyssey filled with more risk and drama than a paperbackthriller.
Project 9865, named after the 18-year-old oil derrick\’s OlympicBoulevard address, has several interwoven artistic, social and evenpolitical components.
To many American Jews in their 20s, 30s and 40s, Zionism, the ancient dream of a Jewish homeland that spawned a political movement and the birth of Israel almost 50 years ago, is little more than a footnote in a Sunday-school textbook.
Three generations of Grahams. Is there such a thing as a \”typical\” Jewish grandparent in America? When I thought about this impossibly broad question, I turned to my own extended family for examples. Were they typical? Stereotypical?
Once, I was a revolutionary. I belonged to the generation of long hair and crazy ideas. We did more than invent rock music and protest an unjust war. We believed that we could create a new society, populated by new people — people freed of the prejudices and life-choking rigidities of the past. We believed that we could change the world, and bring greening to America.
America did change. But our dream went unfulfilled.
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