The Rabbinate in Stormy Days by Shaul Mayzlish; Gefen Publishing House By Steve Kramer ALFE MENASHE, Israel — As a Masorti (Conservative) Jew living in Israel, there’s a lot to be learned from this history of the modern State of Israel’s first chief rabbi, Yitzhak Isaac HaLevi Herzog, who of course was deeply religious. The Chief […]
SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — Beth Israel’s Men’s Club will host Mike Dolinka as a guest speaker at its March 21 Dinner Forum beginning at 6:30 p.m. Dolinka is the current Executive Director for the Friends of the Israel Defense Force (FIDF) in San Diego, Orange County and Arizona. This program is open to the entire San
FIDF’s Mike Dolinka to lecture March 21 Read More »
Middle East, San Diego CalendarBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — We had a right to cheer, or at least to be satisfied, by Donald Trump’s announcements that he recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and that Israel is not the heart of the Middle East’s problems. We also have a right to question the wisdom of the announcements, their
Weighing the impact of Trump’s Jerusalem declaration Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Steve Kramer ALFE MENASHE, Israel — Evidently, money means little when it comes to projecting military power. How else to explain the fact that the US is in a tizzy because of threats and actions by Russia, by Iran, and even by dirt-poor North Korea – all of which have economies that are minuscule
Gangster states threaten even when seriously outgunned Read More »
International, Middle East, Steve Kramer, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Prominent in what’s similar between the Great Leaders of the US and Israel are their claims about the media. Fake news, especially from the mainstream-leftwing print and electronic. Those who worry see these preoccupations as the tricks of demagogues. Some have compared them with how Hitler moved toward the complete
Others before Bibi and Donald castigated ‘fake news’ Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — As always, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom gave her traditional Christmas message, which was televised and broadcast all over the world. Although I don’t usually pay it much attention, this year I happened to catch it live on TV, and watched with greater interest than usual,
Home is where the hearth is Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Middle East, Theatre, Film & BroadcastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Dr. Dmitry Shumsky was born in Ukraine, came to Israel at a young age and now teaches Jewish history at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He’s also a regular columnist in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz. His column on December 28 started with a story about a childhood friend who
Is peace between Jews and Arabs a pipe dream? Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The label and the concept of Final Solution have no place in Israeli discourse. What’s behind this column is not the Holocaust, nor any perception of dire threat, but the importance of continuity. None should be more aware than Jews that history does not end. And none should be more
No solutions likely for Israeli Jews, Arabs Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Steve Kramer ALFE MENASHE, Israel — When I get annoyed at something that I read in our daily newspaper (still delivered to our door), I often quickly dash off a letter to the editor on my iPhone. Often they’re even printed, but I always feel better for having expressed my thoughts in writing. Below
Is Diaspora criticism of Israel top-down? Read More »
Middle East, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C — Palestinian refugees are a slippery population — but when 285,535 of them go missing from a small country such as Lebanon, it should raise eyebrows. UNRWA in Lebanon reports on its website that 449,957 refugees live under its protection in 12 camps, but a survey by Lebanon’s Central Administration of Statistics, together
Does U.N. bill U.S. for refugees who don’t exist? Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenNEW YORK (Press Release) — The Anti-Defamation League on Tuesday called on FIDE, the World Chess Federation, to take a strong stand against Saudi Arabia for its refusal to allow entry to Israel’s chess team to participate in the World Chess Championship, which opened Tuesday in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia will be hosting this competition for
Saudi Arabia bars Israeli chess team from competition Read More »
International, Middle East
HAIFA, Israel (Press Release) — A pagan amulet used by a senior clergyman at the church in Hippos (Sussita), a fresco depicting the Greek goddess Tyche on a wall by the church; and a figurine of one of the regular participants in the alcohol-soaked processions devoted to the god of wine Dionysus all tell
Artifacts of ancient Hippos on display at U of Haifa Read More »
Middle East, Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It’s hard to get away from the men at the top of the two governments most important to these fingers. They appear to be close to one another with respect to policies of mutual interest, and they are both at the focus of severe criticism, with many of their countrypeople, and
Comparing the tsuris of Bibi and Donald Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Binyamin Netanyahu’s days as prime minister of Israel may be numbered. He may, after all, not beat the long tenure of David Ben-Gurion, the founding father of the state. There’re indications that the police may be close to recommending indictment of Netanyahu on one or more charges based on the
Netanyahu faces foes inside and outside his coalition Read More »
Middle East