Israel | Daniel Gordis - Dispatches from an Anxious State - Part 4

Tag: Israel

What Obama Said, What the Mideast Heard

Posted by Daniel Gordis in Featured Articles, Israel, Zionism on June 5, 2009 | 25 Comments
nytlogo153x23While 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. obamacairoBut 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 ...
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For the Sake of Clarity – A Thought Experiment

Posted by Daniel Gordis in Uncategorized on May 17, 2009 | 42 Comments
securityfenceIn 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 ...
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Pope Benedict’s Missed Opportunity

Posted by Daniel Gordis in Featured Articles on May 13, 2009 | Leave a comment
nytlogo153x23 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. ...
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A Response from Dr. K

Posted by Daniel Gordis in Featured Articles on May 11, 2009 | 48 Comments
A Street Sign on GraetzA 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 ...
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Aipac Policy Conference, Washington DC, June 2008 – Part 1

Posted by Daniel Gordis in Podcasts on May 4, 2009 | Leave a comment
Part 1

Aipac Policy Conference, Washington DC, June 2008 – Part 2

Posted by Daniel Gordis in Podcasts on May 4, 2009 | Leave a comment
part 2

address to American Friends of Technion Dinner in Chicago

Posted by Daniel Gordis in Podcasts on May 4, 2009 | Leave a comment
Technion

dialogue with rabbi david wolpe at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles

Posted by Daniel Gordis in Podcasts on May 4, 2009 | 1 Comment
Wolpe

Boston AIPAC

Posted by Daniel Gordis in Podcasts on May 4, 2009 | Leave a comment
Boston AIPAC

Erev Yom Ha-Atzma’ut – A Brief Reminder About Purpose

Posted by Daniel Gordis in Featured Articles, Uncategorized on April 28, 2009 | 29 Comments
There's a certain look to a widow who's in her mid-twenties, whose husband was killed in Gaza in January.  Eyes swollen with tears, yet with steely determination at the same time.  A certain vulnerability on her still very young face, and a face that seems too old for her age, all at the same time.  An image of pain and of unspeakable sadness, but not asking for pity.  Was it just me, or was it clear that even in the midst of her unbearable burden, she knew full well that she - like the young husband who was taken from her far too early - is part of something much larger than she is?  Is that why, looking at her, I had a sense ...
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