Remembering Harry V. Jaffa
Historian Harry V. Jaffa was born this day (October 7) in 1918.
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Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USAInternational
Remembering Shana Alexander
Television’s Point-Counterpoint debater Shana Alexander was born this day (October 6) in 1925.
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USAThe swastika in a U.S. military cemetery
Paul Eilert died of cancer in a Utah hospital in 1944. Eilert was a German POW. He is buried in a section reserved for POWs in Ft. Douglas, Utah. There are 20 other German WWII interments in the Utah U.S. military cemetery. His is the only one with the Knights Cross and Oak Leaves, a very, very high military decoration for his actions against the enemy, clearly carved with a swastika into his tombstone. Of the 800 German POW deaths in the U.S., from the lowest rank to generals, his unusual stone is the only one with the Knights Cross on his tombstone. Research, so far, has found his name, nowhere. Paul Eilert, the Swastika in the U.S. Military Cemetery, is a mystery. (To read more, please click on the headline)
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International, Jerry Klinger, USAJews excluded from British Holocaust commemoration
In a chilling message about the future of Britain, the University College Union in Britain sent out an email to all their groups informing them of the Holocaust Memorial Day 2020 commemorations next year. What is chilling is the fact that they listed trade unions, Roma gypsies, gays and lesbians, black people, Jehovah’s Witnesses, as the named victims of the Holocaust.
But thaey “forgot” to mention Jews!! (To read more, please click on headline.)
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Barry Shaw, International, Jewish HistorySefer Devarim and Jewish Sovereignty
Sefer Devarim, the last “book” of Torah, is also called Deuteronomy because it contains many laws (1) that were not presented earlier and are especially relevant to the conquering and settlement of Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel). Commanded to conquer and “take possession” of Canaan, the Jewish people were apparently having doubts about whether this was possible, what it would cost in lives, if they would be successful, and what they should do with the Canaanites.
Contemporary Israelis ask similar questions. Although the words of Torah guide our lives, some have a political meaning today, and may be, for some, controversial. (To read more, please click on headline.)
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Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle EastRepercussions of Israel’s fractured democracy
Relative to most parliamentary (particularly West European) democracies, Israel has a larger number of parties which has only grown over the years, each vying for the biggest representation in the Israeli parliament.
There are two major reasons behind the vast number of political parties. The Jews who immigrated to Israel from nearly 120 different countries came with different cultural, political, and ideological backgrounds – there were liberals, conservatives, socialists, and even communists. (To read more, please click on headline.)
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Alon Ben-Meir, Middle EastImpeachment unlikely to affect Democratic control of the House
Pundits are questioning if the impeachment inquiry conducted by the House of Representatives will cost Democrats their majority in the House. What they overlook is the prospect that some Republicans may lose their jobs – like Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick who represents Bucks County and a sliver of Montgomery County in southeastern Pennsylvania. (To read more, please click on the headline)
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Bruce Ticker, USANotes on Torah reading for October 5, 2019
This passage led me to explore whether other ancient conquerors also made such a claim that their gods marched with them. In exploring the internet, I found no such claims for other nations. There, in fact, is the story in II Kings 3:27 that King Mesha of Moab, about to suffer a military defeat, sacrificed his eldest son, followed by withdrawal of the appalled enemy.
The Internet did yield a review of the military mights of “10 of the Greatest Ancient Warrior Cultures…” Hereby I offer you a sample of their military actions. (To read more, please click on the headline).
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International, Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion, Middle EastIts people and geography make Israel special
Like every country, Israel has its advantages and its disadvantages. One of the former is its climate, which is on the whole pleasant (at least in Jerusalem) with sunny days throughout the summer, often with cool evenings and nights. It also has a long coastline giving most of the population access to the sea with all its benefits.
Considering its small size, the country encompasses a particularly wide range ofinteresting geographical features, with hilly areas in the north, and even mountains on which one can ski in winter. (To read more, please click on the headline)
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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastSelf- esteem key to women’s progress in Morocco
By Lailah Said and Victoria Burns AGERZRANE, Morocco–“I do not love myself.” “I do not feel confident in myself.” Imagine feeling this way about yourself. Now imagine hearing this from your mother, sister, or daughter, and knowing that the negative self-conception that they hold within themselves is due to social and cultural constraints beyond their
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International, Lifestyles, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & EducationHolocaust survivors remember childhood traumas
Survivors of the Holocaust: True Stories of Six Extraordinary Children, edited by Keith Shackleton, illustrated by Zane Whittingham; Sourcebooks, © 2019; ISBN pending, 96 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –This set of six memoirs, illustrated cartoon style, is intended to make the Holocaust accessible to children ages 10 and up. Today living in
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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish HistoryArab support for Gantz a sign Jewish – Arab relations improving?
Ten Knesset Members of the United Arab List advised the President to select Beny Gantz as the next Prime Minister. Three other MKs of that list refused to select anyone as the next Prime Minister.
What we’re seeing is another element of the Israelization of the Arab citizens of Israel.
And the approach of many other Arabs to support some kind of accommodation with Israel.
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Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastHolocaust answers in de Wind memoir
Not all members of today’s de Wind family, although all descendants of the Patriarch Issachar, are Jewish.
After a “mini-diaspora” from “Holland” in the late 1800s and early 1900s to places as close as Belgium and Spain and as far as Asia and the Americas, the Levys-de Winds married into other nationalities, ethnicities and religions.
But most have never forgotten their Jewish roots.
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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorian de Wind, International, Jewish HistoryFighting academic anti-Semitism
“Lofty” has long been a word that traditionally describes academia. Yet a more apt word, to be nice, is “bizarre” when an Asian leader fulminates about Jews at a respected university and a so-called academic program rewrites Middle East history.
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AAA-Writers and photographers, Bruce Ticker, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA