Middle East

Gratitude to the One Who makes it all possible

After eating a fine meal at a friend’s home, we go out of our way to thank the host, send a thank you note, sometimes even send a gift after the meal, if we haven’t brought one in advance. But how much time do we spend thanking the true Host? In Birkat HaMazon, we have an opportunity to bring this week’s teaching alive, “And you will eat and be sated, and you shall bless the Lord, your God, for the good land He has given you” (Deuteronomy 8:10). If you believe Hashem plays a personal role in your life and you genuinely recognize that whatever you have comes through His hand, you’re likely to be filled with Hakarat Hatov, recognizing the good, gratitude. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

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Michael Mantell, Middle East

Five challenges to participatory development

Today, the people-driven approach to development is widely considered a way to create sustainable projects to advance economic growth, education, and health. However, it is not without its challenges and limitations, and has therefore been met with several pervading criticisms. For those of us who support and encourage participatory development (PD), we must ask ourselves what we need to do in order to ensure maximally productive and life-enhancing experiences for the communities with which we work, in the time we are in. (Yossef Ben-Meir, Ph.D)

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International, Lifestyles, Middle East, Yossef Ben-Meir

Pandemic, opposition to Netanyahu mark August

Dog days of August? Or political morass, with no effective leadership? And wandering amidst a pandemic that can be ignored. By some. Israel has recently been mired in a quarrel as to whether to budget for one year or two. The major parties are divided. And if they do not solve the issue this month, they will come up against a deadline that will dissolve the Knesset and require an election. [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Wi-Charge may make charging truly wireless

Numerous attempts have been made to make wireless electricity a reality. Finally, I think the technology is not only becoming a reality but will be available to most consumers. Via Zoom, I chatted with Ori Mor, CEO of Wi-Charge, to discuss his company and the new technology that it has created. In essence, Wi-Charge has developed a wireless power source that can be put anywhere in a room and, via an infrared frequency, recharge any electric device that has been fitted with a tiny receiver that is within a direct line of sight. [Shor M. Masori]

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Business & Finance, International, Middle East, San Diego County, Shor M. Masori, USA

Pandemics through history and the religious response

In his newest book, God and the Pandemic, Rabbi Samuel starts with a historical look at plagues in antiquity, comparing and contrasting leadership skills combating them, praising Marcus Aurelius, a stoic, for guiding his nation through the Antonine Plague in the second century, and condemning Roman emperors in the following century for failing to protect the citizenry during the Plague of Cyprian. [Fred Reiss, Ed.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, International, Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, Middle East, USA

Coronavirus chaos infects Israeli politics

Coronavirus is a puzzle. Or several of them. Individuals in health differ on several issues: Who is most and least likely to become infected? Can a person who is cured become ill with it again? Is it possible to produce a vaccine? Or do repeated bouts by individuals indicate that there is no way to achieve immunity? How accurate are the tests for having the disease? What about programs to trace contacts, in order to decide how someone became infected? How long should someone be quarantined? (Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D)

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Is it opinion or is it the news?

The “news,” which reporters “report,” should be as objective as possible. This is often not the case today. I object to newspapers’ front pages which have been turned into op-ed pages. Because The New York Times is the American “newspaper of record” and is widely read by liberals, its front page bias needs to be considered because it’s often duplicated. [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA

Building a development definition in Morocco

The idea of development itself, its definition, and even the method we use for defining it, would be a good place to begin toward discovering its potential in our lives. We cannot rely on any single, or even ten, definitions. We need to look at the full range of literature that arose following the end of World War II, decolonization, and reconstruction from when international development spawned in our era. How has development been defined across the decades? (Yossef Ben-Meir)

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International, Middle East, Yossef Ben-Meir

Watching granddaughter’s IDF ceremony in Covid19 time

“You are invited to watch the ceremony to mark the graduation of the soldiers who have completed the Officers’ Training Course.” That was the text of the official invitation emailed to me and other family members by one of our granddaughters, whose sister was one of the soldiers concerned. We were informed that we would be able to watch the ceremony live, as filmed by the IDF’s official photographer, on the official IDF site on the internet. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Lack of Jewish unity spurs anti-Semitism

Just like the Jews in Germany before World War II tried to convince the Nazis that they were good Germans but to no avail, Jews today are trying to convince the world that we are good people. They say that Jews donate to charity more than any other nation or faith, that they contribute to high-tech innovations that advance the world far above their proportion in the world, that Jews have given the world many great physicians, thinkers, artists, and entrepreneurs, and that they are ardent human rights activists. But the world largely responds with contempt. It may be ironic, but it seems very natural for anti-racism protesters to yell “Dirty Jews” at counter-protesters, as The Jerusalem Post reported on June 15. In other words, many people don’t even relate to anti-Semitism as a type of racism. [Michael Laitman, Ph.D]

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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East

Museum of the Hebrew Language planned in Jerusalem

As the president of the Academy of the Hebrew Language since 1993, Prof. Moshe Bar-Asher has many friends and former students around the world.  For example, he recently recalled in his courtly English, he once had the pleasure of teaching Mira Balberg, who is now a professor in UC San Diego’s Jewish Studies Department. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA