Category: Commentary
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Tuesday in Tel Aviv
This morning, Michael J. Totten, writing in Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish, mentions something I haven’t heard a whit about, which is exactly the point of the article. Meanwhile, the Opinion Editor in the Daily Aztec, Veronica Rollin, begs for an education by directly comparing the US campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan to the Israel-Hezbollah war,…
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Commentary on the Torah portion and current events
I delivered this drash this past Shabbat, Saturday, July 22, at Ohr Shalom. I’m proud to say that the Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, shares my sentiments, as evidenced by his speech to the Knesset [Hebrew, English] on July 17 (which I had not read until today [hat tip, AbeJ]). *** There are some…
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Synchronicity (not the Police song).
I delivered this D’var Torah this morning at Ohr Shalom: *** I really love it when circumstances come together to create a harmonious, pleasant situation. Some refer to this as synchronicity; in my worldview, this is evidence of the existence of God. I don’t see God as an old man with a flowing beard sitting…
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I know a few lawyers, and they’re not at all this ignorant.
This morning’s Answers.com Daily Highlights linked to an AP story about an ugly legal battle in Chicago involving the circumcision of a young boy. In the middle of the piece, I found this gem: David Llewellyn, an Atlanta attorney who specializes in circumcision cases, is helping the father’s attorneys without fee. He called the surgery…
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The Fire Inside
I am thrilled that, before I’ve really gotten a chance to publicize the site, it’s already become a collaborative effort. A few days ago, my mom sent me a piece written by the son of a friend of hers in Israel. Oded Mazor is getting an MA in Jewish philosophy at Hebrew U in Jerusalem…
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Good news, bad news… just news.
Life & death in Israel: U.S. teen hurt in Tel Aviv suicide bombing in April dies of wounds, while on the same day, The terrorist who planned the attack is killed by the IDF One of the things I want to encourage with this blog (and the discussion I hope will ensue shortly) is a…
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Our Difficult Texts
בראש השנה, בראש השנה… On Rosh Hashana (the Jewish new year) 5766/2005 I had the honor of delivering a d’var Torah at Ohr Shalom Synagogue here in San Diego. I first met Rabbi Scott Meltzer in 1998, and our relationship has evolved and progressed quite a bit in the near decade since. I am proud…
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Lech Walesa in San Diego
I wrote this following the Polish leader’s appearance on the SDSU campus last Friday. My thanks to Don Harrison for his kindly and helpful editing: When Lech Walesa, the upstart Polish labor union leader who became Poland’s first democratically elected president, spoke at San Diego State University recently, I welcomed the opportunity to see and…