Rallies Demand Gilad Shalit\’s Return; Palestinians Support Attacks from Gaza Strip, Poll Finds; Women\’s Area at Jerusalem\’s Western Wall Will Be Expanded; Four Jewish Denominations Join to Combat Major Jews for Jesus Campaign in N.Y.; Israeli Hotels Charge Tourists More; Reconstructionists Dedicate Camp JRF; Roman Polanski Draws on Holocaust for \’Oliver Twist\’
When a person is slightly famous mostly for one thing, that thing becomes the one thing about him when he dies. So it was that Dave Blume, my father, over and over again in late March was noted as the composer of that likably odd 1966 hit, \”Turn Down Day,\” a pop turn on what began as one of his jazz compositions.
In the Passover haggadah, we read of the 10 Plagues that God sent to convince Pharoah to let the Hebrew slaves go free. The plagues — bloody, violent, magical — are a dramatic highpoint of the narrative. Mindful of the pain these plagues brought even to innocent Egyptians, Jews have traditionally spilled out a drop of their festive seder wine at the recitation of each plague.
Here are a handful of people to watch in the coming 12 months — some on the way up; some on the way down.
On Nov. 8, the voters of California will have the chance to vote in a special election most of them did not want. That\’s no reason to stay home. After all, whether we like it or not, the election will take place, and all of California residents will have to live with the consequences.
Proposition 77, the redistricting measure on next week\’s special elections ballot, is likely to shift considerably more Latino voters into Berman\’s district — and perhaps give rise to a viable Latino challenger.
Iran-Contra could make one believe that in Washington, D.C., it\’s not what you did, it\’s who you know. There was even an element of self-dealing on the part of the first President Bush, who set free insiders who would, as a result, never be tempted to disclose anything damaging about Bush\’s own record as vice president under Reagan.
Rosen recognized that he ruffled too many feathers to be out front. So he groomed protégés to assume that role. He mentored one so well that he became the head of AIPAC; another became the first Jew to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Israel.
Philip Roth was born to a generation that believed in America, and although some of them were like the undertaker in the first scene of \”The Godfather,\” who also believed in America, but went outside the courts for justice — Roth\’s parents love their country, or what they remember of it.
The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has given the Islamic republic of Iran a firm warning to cooperate on its nuclear issue or face trouble.
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