Arik Einshtein- Hameitav
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Alma- Me’al Ma She’anachnu
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It’s a New World, Bibi
Posted by Daniel Gordis in Featured Articles on July 6, 2009 | 17 Comments
Jul. 2, 2009
Daniel Gordis , THE JERUSALEM POST
I wouldn't be surprised if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu were thinking of Tevye these days. Tevye was, after all, a quasi-pathetic character simply trying to make sense of a world changing far more quickly than he might have ever imagined possible. Having granted his daughter, Hodel, permission to marry Perchik the pauper, he wonders, "What am I going to tell your mother?" He didn't choose Perchik, and he doesn't really approve. But he is powerless. And when his wife expresses her dismay, the best explanation he can offer is "It's a new world, Golde."...
Obama is right, it’s time for honesty
Posted by Daniel Gordis in Featured Articles on June 12, 2009 | 29 Comments
In Perspective: Obama is right, it's time for honesty
Jun. 11, 2009
Daniel Gordis , THE JERUSALEM POST
In the days leading up to his landmark speech in Cairo, US President Barack Obama said it was time for "honesty" between the United States and Israel. Now he has spoken, and we should respond in kind. For Obama is right - it is time, at long last, for honesty.
Too many analyses of the speech have ignored the fact that it was addressed primarily to the Muslim world, and was delivered in Egypt. And in that setting, Obama insisted that the US-Israel relationship could not be upended. He mentioned the Holocaust, ...
Protecting the Zionist Narrative, At Last
In Perspective: Protecting the Zionist narrative at last
Jun. 4, 2009
Daniel Gordis , THE JERUSALEM POST
Imagine that Germany, embittered by incessant reminders of what happened during the Holocaust, passed a law forbidding German Jews from publicly marking the destruction of European Jewry. Or that the US Congress, tired of hearing Native Americans recite their tales of woe, made it illegal for them to mention their losses on July 4. If Turkey passed legislation like that, directed at Armenian memories of 1915, we would hardly blink an eye. But if a genuine democracy followed suit? We would scarcely believe our ears.
So why are we not more distressed by legislation before the Knesset that would criminalize marking the "Nakba" ...
Israel’s Holocaust ‘Obsession’? — A Radio “Debate” With Avrum Burg
Interfaith Radio (http://interfaithradio.org) recently interviewed Avrum Burg, former speaker of the Knesset, on his recent controversial book. They then interviewed me for an alternate perspective. The interview (along with an audio file that can be downloaded) is available at http://interfaithradio.org/node/892. Burg's interview begins at 22 min 56 sec, while the segment with me begins at 37 min 12 sec.
In a controversial new book, Avraham Burg argues that Israel is “stuck in Auschwitz,” using the Holocaust as the defining experience of Jewish identity. This former speaker of the Israeli Parliament says his country's preoccupation has led to an unhealthy nationalism that mourns the past, fears the future and feeds violence.
Daniel ...
What Obama Said, What the Mideast Heard
While President Obama's speech was addressed to the Arab world, it had been nervously anticipated in Israel, as well. In its aftermath, some Israelis are quibbling with word choices or wondering whether he is naïve in believing that Hamas might renounce terror or that Iranians can be entrusted with civilian nuclear capacity. Others are assailing his comments about settlements.
But the real news is that contrary to what many expected, or feared, President Obama assumed positions virtually identical to those of Israel's political center -- namely, that the Palestinians must renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist, while Israel must cease settlement building and permit a Palestinian state ...
For the Sake of Clarity – A Thought Experiment
Posted by Daniel Gordis in Uncategorized on May 17, 2009 | 42 Comments
In Perspective: For the sake of clarity, a thought experiment
May. 14, 2009
Daniel Gordis , THE JERUSALEM POST
He was in his 20s, the young man with the question after my lecture. He couldn't have asked it more kindly or gently. Without a hint of cynicism or anger, he expressed what was clearly on the minds of many of the people his age in the crowd: "Can you justify a Jewish state," he wanted to know, "when having a Jewish state means giving up on so many of Judaism's values?"
Here's what he didn't say: Israel is the root of evil in the Middle East. It's the cause of checkpoints, of roadblocks, of a big ugly wall that runs ...
Pope Benedict’s Missed Opportunity
Posted by Daniel Gordis in Featured Articles on May 13, 2009 | Leave a comment
Pope Benedict XVI had his work cut out for him when he arrived in the Holy Land. His childhood Hitler Youth membership and his Wehrmacht service during World War II have sowed deep discomfort in a country where the Holocaust still feels like recent memory. Disappointment over his reinstatement of Bishop Richard Williamson, an unabashed Shoah denier, further contributed to the close scrutiny to which his words, particularly at Yad Vashem, have been subjected.
Was Israelis' disappointment in the Pope's remarks here inevitable? Perhaps. But the Vatican's defense of Benedict XVI, saying that "he can't mention everything every time he speaks," illustrated how completely the Holy See misunderstood what Israelis had hoped to hear.
...
A Response from Dr. K
Posted by Daniel Gordis in Featured Articles on May 11, 2009 | 48 Comments
A number of years ago, we had a bit of a motley crew over for Shabbat lunch. I remember that my brother was in town, visiting from New York. Another friend, a significant player in the Federation world was also there, as was a high school friend of one of our kids. And we were joined by one more friend, an Israeli Arab woman whom we'd initially met through my work.
It was an interesting, though hardly relaxed, Shabbat afternoon. (The conversation took place in English ironically, since even though the Arab woman spoke a mellifluous Hebrew, our American Jewish leader friend didn't. But the abandonment of Hebrew on the part ...
Dr. Daniel Gordis is Senior Vice President of the Shalem Center, where he is also a senior fellow. The author of numerous books on Jewish thought and currents in Israel...
The Jewish State must end, say its enemies, from intellectuals like Tony Judt to hate-filled demagogues like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Even average Israelis are wondering if they wouldn't be better off somewhere else. 
