Postcard from Israel: The Haifa Flea Market

Posted on: October 21st, 2012

Definitely not on the standard list of tourist destinations in Israel, and less well-known than its counterpart in Yaffo (Jaffa), the flea market in down-town Haifa is well worth a visit whether you’re buying or just browsing. The market is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and of course it is best to get there as early as possible – with well-honed haggling skills!

Of Apples and Trees and Rabbis

Posted on: October 21st, 2012

I never liked comedienne Sarah Silverman. I never thought she was all that funny. Her humor is mostly vulgar and designed to shock people into laughing. Most comedians will tell you that if the only way you can make people laugh is with vulgar jokes, then you’re not really much of a comedian. But I digress. What upsets me the most about her is her very open self-identification as a Jew. Normally when successful people tout their Judaism, it makes me proud. But when she does it – it is an embarrassment. In fact I wish she would just change her name… or go away altogether.

A Canyon So Deep: Israel’s Red Canyon

Posted on: October 21st, 2012

The entire walk through the canyon lasts about an hour - you walk through it, sliding down in some locations, squeezing between rocks in others. Then, you have a choice - this way back to the parking lot; that way to go deeper into the canyon. The sun was setting and the colors were amazing; as the sun touched the mountains, the red stone deepened and the golden sons glistened. We turned back to the parking lot because I didn't want to be out there in the dark.

Will Obama Soon Announce ‘Peace in Our Time’?

Posted on: October 21st, 2012

Can we expect an October Surprise this year? We may already have one brewing. A former CIA operative calling himself “Reza Khalili” and claiming to have been an agent inside the Iranian Revolutionary Guards organization, who has previously made skeptically-received claims that Iran had already produced 90% enriched uranium, is now saying that the Obama Administration has struck a deal with the Iranian regime that will shortly be announced:

Palestine Committe of Arab Lawyers Union Honors Attorney Who Murdered Children

Posted on: October 21st, 2012

One of the world's respected associations of lawyers has just made a special award in honor of one of its deceased members. Her career was not long. But it was not the quality of her legal work that earned her the award. She received it for killing 21 civilians and injuring 50 in a Haifa restaurant. The award about which we are writing was presented in the form of a plaque to the family of Hanadi Jaradat, formerly from Jenin in the Palestinian Authority territory, "on the sweet anniversary of her martyrdom."

The Limits of Government Power

Posted on: October 19th, 2012

Modern government is fixated on depth of control over people. It plots to control every aspect of their lives with the goal of creating a completely harmonious whole. Technology has fed the illusion that such control has become more feasible than ever allowing for the rise of truly scientific government. This illusion is destroying the nation-states of modern civilization by overburdening them with massive governments flailing for control and destroying their economies in order to achieve that control.

Romney Can’t and Obama Won’t Do What America Needs (Podcast Pt. I)

Posted on: October 19th, 2012

Douglas Goldstein interviews former Chief Economist for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Harvard professor Ken Rogoff on the American debt crisis.

Sarah Silverman is Not to Blame

Posted on: October 18th, 2012

To be perfectly honest, until yesterday, I had never heard of Sarah Silverman. I never saw a photo or a video of her; I never heard her jokes, nothing. While a great deal of junk American culture seeps into the Land of Israel, still we are sheltered from much of it, thank G-d, and I never heard her name mentioned in Israel at all. Until yesterday, when to my surprise and chagrin, I saw the immodest photo of her on the homepage of The Jewish Press, in her sleeveless top and her butt sticking into the air. Gevalt! Reading on about the silly fuss, I was further chagrined

Was ‘Internet Ban’ an Authoritative Decree of Torah Sages, or Just Baloney?

Posted on: October 18th, 2012

OK. The title is a bit extreme. But at least I have your attention. Last May - one will recall – there was a giant Asifa – a gathering of tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews dealing with the dangers of the internet. Although it was billed as a way to properly use the internet, it was ultimately about trashing it and forbidding its use altogether accept for livelihood purposes. And even then - only with filters and only outside the house.

The End of the American Presidency

Posted on: October 18th, 2012

The American presidency came to an end on October 15, 1992 during a Town Hall debate between Bush I, Ross Perot and Bill Clinton. The stage of the Town Hall seemed more like a place for Phil Donahue or Sally Jesse Raphael to strut around, biting their lips, and dragging out tawdry tales for audience applause, than for three presidential candidates to discuss the future of the country.

Yediot: ‘Dozens of Terrorists Released in Shalit Deal Arrested by Shin Bet During Past Year’

Posted on: October 18th, 2012

Tomorrow, Thursday, October 18, marks one year since the Shalit deal when Israel received back the kidnapped hostage soldier, Gilad Shalit, and freed more than a thousand convicted terrorists, many of them killers of Israeli civilians. Yediot Aharonot carried a report today that is translated to English and excerpted below. It reveals some aspects of the transaction that, as far as we can tell, have gotten little to no coverage in other parts of the Israeli media.

So What Did Obama Call the Benghazi Attack?

Posted on: October 18th, 2012

Since the debate there's been a lot of analysis as to whether the President designated the attack on the U.S. embassy in Bengahzi, Libya, an act of terrorism. The President indeed used the term "act of terror" the next day but it wasn't clear if he was talking about that attack or 9-11. For the next week administration officials described the attacks as part of a protest-riot against the the U.S. over the "Innocence of Muslims" video which got out of hand.

Begin Told Meet the Press: Partition was Illegal

Posted on: October 18th, 2012

In 1948, Menachem Begin visit the U.S. and appeared on Meet the Press, telling its host that not only was partition illegal but so was severing today's Jordan from the Jewish National Home.

Is Half a Loaf Really Better than No Loaf?

Posted on: October 17th, 2012

I do not question Rabbi Zev Farber’s sincerity. I even applaud his resolve to right what he sees to be wrong in the way we practice Judaism today. But I do not agree with him at all on the way to do it. In a recent article on Morethodoxy, Rabbi Farber suggests that we change the paradigm with respect to a woman’s role in Judaism. His contention is that women are (at best) inadvertently ignored and mistreated vis-à-vis their public religious personae. Their current place in the synagogue is where this is mostly felt.

The Most Impressive First Name

Posted on: October 17th, 2012

Rabbi Meir Soloveichik opened his Shabbos Shuva drasha as follows: I flew to Tampa, Florida a few weeks ago for the Republican National Convention. When I arrived, I was escorted into a large room where all the Convention speakers of the day gathered along with Congressman, Senators, Governors and other politicians.

What’s Important to America?

Posted on: October 17th, 2012

Here on vacation I woke up in the middle of the night to watch the second debate. I had not seen either the first one or the VP debate, though I saw and read clips. I thought I would be bored; I wasn't. I hoped I would be impressed - I was...by Mitt Romney.

Arab Teachers’ Rejection of Holocaust Education Highlights Arab Anti-Semitism

Posted on: October 17th, 2012

Rumors of a U.N. decision to introduce Holocaust studies in schools in Palestinian refugee camps run by UNRWA have outraged Jordanian teachers.

Massacring the Truth

Posted on: October 17th, 2012

The so-called “Jenin Massacre” of 2002 — a massacre that never happened — is emblematic of the way the truth is violated, over and over in this conflict. The most shocking aspect of the affair, for me, was the cynical way in which many were comfortable with inverting reality for ideological reasons.

Reflections on the Second Presidential Debate

Posted on: October 17th, 2012

Obama got away with saying that he had characterized the attack on the Benghazi consulate as a terrorist incident because the moderator confirmed his point; in fact he misrepresented the facts when he said "The day after the attack, governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people and the world that … this was an act of terror."

Rashi Was a Zionist Racist

Posted on: October 17th, 2012

Almost everyone is familiar with the famous first Rashi on the Torah. He asks why does the Torah begin with the account of Creation? After all, since the Torah contains the commandments which Hashem gave to Am Yisrael, it should have begun the precept concerning Rosh Chodesh - the first commandment given to the Israelite Nation.