Columns

In many ways, Iran is now the Islamic terrorist writ large, the individual murderer in macrocosm. Although military analysts are certainly correct in pointing out that Iran is the major sponsor of Hamas and related Islamic terrorist groups (e.g., Hezbollah), it is as a direct threat to Israel that its terrors are most ominous.

More than 1,000 days have passed since the unprovoked abduction of a Gilad Shalit, a young Israeli soldier, by the Hamas terrorist government of Gaza. Unlike the Arab terrorists being held in a "country club" atmosphere of the Israeli jail system, with TV, library facilities, exercise rooms and other amenities, Gilad is being held in primitive conditions. He is not even allowed to meet with Red Cross representatives.

A few-hundred Kracovians and guests from abroad, including Israel, participated in the annual March of Remembrance. Ghetto survivors, representatives of local authorities, diplomats (including Ann Hall, U.S. Consul General in Krakow and David Peleg, Israeli Ambassador in Poland) and many "ordinary people" came to commemorate those who were killed in the ghetto during WW II. We walked from the former Umschlagplatz in Podgorze to the site of former KL Plaszow.

Iran may be a state like no other. Founded upon the particular Islamic promise of conquering death - a promise bestowing ultimate power upon those who "submit" - it may ultimately do whatever it must to divert death in other directions. As an object for this existentially critical diversion, Israel, the Jewish State, is assuredly the perfect doctrinal choice.

Purim, one of the most beloved Jewish holidays across the world, is also very popular in Poland. There were Purim celebrations in all the major cities including Warsaw, Krakow, Lodz, Wroclaw and many others. Wherever possible people read the Megillah, gave tzedakah and shared meals.

There is a continuing effort by educational organizations at every level in Poland to bring a better understanding of Jewish culture to the people and especially the youth of Poland. Through education we can bring understanding and through understanding, respect, if not friendship.

The great historical process of the Jewish people all started in Hebron, where Abraham made the first Jewish land purchase in Eretz Yisrael. In Hebron, he buried Sarah - establishing facts on the ground.

The great historical process of the Jewish people all started in Hebron, where Abraham made the first Jewish land purchase in Eretz Yisrael. In Hebron, he buried Sarah - establishing facts on the ground.

In Washington, there has been little learned from lessons of the past.

Israel has elected a new prime minister. From the start - and even before he begins to consider assorted specific issues for negotiation with other governments and organizations - he will have to determine whether any form of diplomacy is actually indicated. Although, on the surface, such advice may appear distinctly odd or foolish at best, there will be clear benefits to Israel of proceeding diplomatically only after first cultivating genuine understanding.

The mayor of Brzostek, a Galician shtetl to the east of Tarnow and not far from Pilzno, has recently agreed to restore the memory of the Jews to his town. The Jewish cemetery is to be fenced and a monument erected there, and an additional plaque in memory of the Jews who used to live there is to be unveiled in the town center. The plaque will be unveiled and the cemetery rededicated in a ceremony to take place on Sunday June 14, 2009.

Here is the simplest way to describe what happened in Israel's election: the Right won and the Likud lost.

The Israeli elections are over. New Knesset members have been sworn in. Ehud Olmert resigned several weeks ago, and his party will not form the new government. Despite all this, Ehud Olmert is still the Prime Minister of Israel!

President Barack Obama has already placed the Middle East at the very top of his foreign policy agenda. There is nothing inherently wrong with this ordering; quite the contrary.

Israel is now entering a complex twilight zone. On the one hand, it is quite clear to all that the war that Benjamin Netanyahu waged against me caused the Likud to lose mandates.

In recent years The Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland has been active in preservation work throughout Poland. They work with local and international groups, as well as individuals, in reclaiming and maintaining Jewish communal property in places where there is no Jewish community. Their website, http://fodz.pl/?d=1&l=en is full of useful information as well as links to other important sites.

The multiple ironies are staggering. On December 15, 2008, just before mounting his indispensable and purposeful Gaza operation against Palestinian terrorism, Prime Minister Olmert had released 230 Palestinian terrorists. To be sure, these freed terrorists were supposedly Fatah, not Hamas, but Mr. Olmert's underlying strategic calculation was still unreasonable and wholly self-destructive.

I am constantly asked if there are things to do in Poland other then those that are Holocaust related.

I am constantly asked if there are things to do in Poland other then those that are Holocaust related.

The George W. Bush years are now behind us. But Barack Obama, while still waging an American war on terror, will almost certainly remain committed to a so-called "Two-State Solution" in the Middle East.

In America elections usually involve two major parties and two or three minor parties.

To be sure, it is time to call all things by their correct names. Just as Israel seeks to bring great beauty into the world, its sanguinary Islamist enemies thrive reciprocally upon violence and horror.

On January 14 the North American Council for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews held an evening of theater in support of the Museum.

From the start, our "international community" has stood by disingenuously as Iran prepared its atomic engines.

Since the end of the Shoah there has been a debate of what to do with the various death camps in Poland. Today more then 60 years after the end of the Holocaust the debate continues.

In figuring out the core weaknesses of our troubled financial markets, there is far more than meets the eye. On the surface, Wall Street's seemingly interminable wild ride is the obvious outcome of purely economic factors. Yet, at a deeper level, the problem of market weakness and volatility is not really fiscal, but human.

Polish writer Henryk Halkowski, z"l, one of Poland's most notable contemporary Jewish personalities, died suddenly on January 1, just days after celebrating his 57th birthday.

Our new president seemingly understands something of very great importance: The state of our union is intimately intertwined with the state of our world. Our fate as Americans will ultimately depend upon our willingness to identify more broadly and openly as citizens of the entire planet. Reciprocally, the fate of all others on earth will be impacted more or less by what happens next in American politics. But the final outcome of all such interdependence will be determined by what is ordinarily called "human nature."

"We dreamed that the new state would be a place in which the next chapter of the Bible would be written as a prelude to world-wide redemption. After all, you are the Treasured Nation. We had great expectations. But now look at what you have done."

With all the missiles and rockets being fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip by Hamas and the retaliatory bombing of Hamas targets by Israel there has been a very large rise in anti-Israel demonstrations around the world.