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Is the Torah true? Millions of Jews (as well as non-Jews), particularly those raised in traditional, religiously observant homes, schools, and communities, would answer an unqualified “yes.” Millions of others would respond “of course not.” But what does “true” mean for purposes of answering this question?
“If you can say something nice about someone, don’t!” This seems like an illogical and mean-spirited miscasting of the familiar maxim: “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” But, taken as a general rule, “don’t say nice things about people” accurately reflects both Jewish ethics and human nature. This week’s Torah portion helps explain why.
I have a good friend who is “ultra-orthodox.” Only, he is not haredi; quite the opposite. You might say that he is ultra-orthodox in his secularism. Or, to put it another way, he “religiously” avoids and is even hostile to religion. Recently, he said to me “I want to ask you a question, not as a friend, but as a rabbi.” (Whether this meant that, in his mind, the two are mutually exclusive, I don’t know). Here was his question: “Why do otherwise intelligent people engage in absurd religious rituals?” He was referring, of course, to the other kind of “ultra-orthodox.”
Letter to the LA Times Editor: Miko Peled’s Op-Ed “Six days, 45 years later” (6/6/12) is highly misleading. While opposing the policies and decisions of one’s government, past and present, on principle is perfectly legitimate and even noble, spreading hateful misinformation in the guise of “activism” is unconscionable. As the son of an Israeli general, Peled surely knows that the Arabs, not Israel, are primarily to blame for the Palestinian refugee situation, for the “occupation” and most of its unfortunately necessary evils, and for the fact that there is still no Palestinian state. Yet his Op-Ed is little more than vituperative Palestinian propaganda against Israel. He has either forgotten the history he learned in school or is determined to ignore it. Those who seek a just resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should do neither. At the end of WWI, ...
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