The Great Debate Continues
by: Schvach Yid

Talk about Darwinism, Tim Russert of NBC fame had two guests on his TV show to discuss (debate) the age-old conundrum of Science vs Creationism. The two interviewed participants of opposing views were Christopher Hitchens and Jon Meacham, each of whom has recently, and separately, published a book on this very subject (hence, their respective invitations to appear).

I find this contest between ‘Reason’ and ‘Faith’ boring and worn. Face it folks, enough is enough (so why do I blog about this?). I for one have no difficulty reconciling the two views; they are far from mutually exclusive. But the arts-minded person traditionally has difficulty coming to terms with Science, and Science people tend to miss the perspective of artists. Decades ago Scientific American magazine published an article that dealt with this mutual misunderstanding between the science-minded and arts-minded.

The anti-faith boys invoke rubrics like ‘The Big Bang’ and ‘Natural Causes’ to explain the origin of all things, you know, the Universe. Silly kids! They should realize, and undoubtedly do, that these terms are euphemisms for Gd. What’s supposed to be the difference between ‘Natural Causes’ and ‘Gd’ (it’s Richard Dawkins who conscipts that term in exchange for religion’s explanation)?

Getting goo-goo eyed over science is silly stuff. As I’ve written in an earlier blog, I have a couple of sub-doctoral degrees in Biology, and there’s nothing magical about the subject.

As a student I was taught a valuable lesson about the consideration of the sciences and their place in our lives. One of my advisors taught that the sciences do not answer the question ‘why’, they only function to provide descriptions – subjective or analytic – of the world we see around us. Physics, perhaps the most analytic of the sciences, is peopled by individuals who often double as philosophers. My Physics professors tended to be very soulful individuals, in constant search of ‘answers’ to what makes everything work, but never declaring they understood. At the end of a research effort the investigator is left with a bunch of data which must be interpreted. That interpretation is as much philosophy as ‘science’. The data backs up the idea, but the idea is still the stuff of imagination – our ability to reason. There really isn’t much of a break between Science and Religion.

As the sciences progress in their ability to describe the universe, and ‘everything’ in it in increasingly greater degrees of resolution, we come no closer to understanding ‘why’. All we have is a more detailed description of whatever is under study, and perhaps a slightly improved ability to provide only a modicum of an ability to predict, but the question ‘why’ remains forever in the realm of Philosophy. Science, for those who are familiar with that conglomerate of subjects, doesn’t even attempt to answer that question.

We see this in the ever increasing ability of Molecular Biology to define the genomes of organisms. With greater and greater detail we are provided with definitions of the identity of the world’s living creatures based on their genomes’ nucleotide sequences and their arrangements relative to each other within the genome, yet, this ultra-level of detail causes us to miss the point. Is it any more valid to define an organism according to its genotype than according to its appearance and function – phenotype? The world of ecological relationships is
evident at the organismic and community levels; evolution now seeks to define the relationship between various organisms at the molecular – DNA – level, and neither alone has the answer, yet the spectator who is unschooled in this subject seeks to provide understanding by refuting the opposing non-scientific view. Greater detail does not provide greater understanding, just facts in larger number and variety.

The ‘Big Bang’ is a nice explanation of the origin of the universe, but the Kabbalistic explanation is very close to that provided by astrophysicists. Mr. Hitchens and Mr. Dawkins both need to read Darwin, or perhaps reread his most famous work. In the summary chapter Darwin refers to Gd as ‘the Creator’, and attributes the subjects of his empirical studies to Him.

Jews on Campus
by: Schvach Yid

Wanna know where the Yiddin go to college? Reform Judaism Magazine has published a list of the top 60 colleges/universities Jewish students choose to attend – 30 private, and 30 public.

Also included is a list of the top 20 colleges/universities ranked according to Jewish students as a percentage of the total student population (Yeshiva University ranks first, followed by Brandeis – surprise!). Here’s the link (you’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader – it’s a PDF):

http://reformjudaismmag.org/_kd/Items/actions.cfm?action=Show&item_id=1278&destination=ShowItem

Did you know that Jews comprise almost one third (30%) of the student body at Harvard? Unberufen!

Darwinism of the Vanities
by: Schvach Yid

I think Darwinism – I mean the real stuff, the study of biological evolution – makes a great academic subject, and I should, having a couple of degrees in Biology. It also makes an entertaining hobby. I love the outdoors, and field botany is my all time favorite outdoor activity. I’ve even read Darwin’s On the Origin of Species - twice – once in high school (but not for high school), and a second time just a few years ago. Despite my six years of formal academic schooling in the subject of Biology, Darwin’s most famous literary work was never given as an assigned reading (I attended school in New York and so there was never a conflict with religion).

Competition seems to be the stuff of life, much as I shun it. I’m too much of a sloth to be bothered, but many, many others thrive on competition. ‘Type A personalities’, those who love the ‘thrill of victory’ (I’m one of those chumps who’s usually concerned with the losers), and so-called ‘adrenaline freaks’ generally first run circles around me, then leave me choking in the dust.

The bit about life’s competitive nature raised its smiling sunny face again, back in April – it always does. A Google search for Newsweek Magazine’s list of the top 50 rabbis in America turned up the article on the MSNBC web site on the first page of Google Search results, and also provided a link to a competing list shown on the On Faith blog site of Jon Meacham and Sally Quinn (no, they’re not Jewish, and neither is their blog site). The list was compiled by Letty Cottin Pogrebin. Letty’s list of America’s top 50 rabbis consists of 45 female and 5 male rabbis, compared to Newsweek’s list of 45 male and 5 female rabbis. Oh yeah? So who’s competing?

If you’re into this sort of thing, here’s the link to Letty’s list: http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2007/04/more_than_50_top_rabbis.html,

and here’s the link to Newsweek’s list (courtesy of MSNBC): http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17721005/site/newsweek/

Dr. Strangebomb,
or how I learned to stop worrying and not give a fart in the bathtub about the prospects for a global thermonuclear conflict
by: Schvach Yid

You know all that stuff on the news about a US Air Force bomber that flew from its base in North Dakota to a base in Louisiana, carrying cruise missiles tipped with nuclear warheads? Supposedly, it shouldn’t have (evidently, the honor for the entailed risk goes to Canada).

Do you recall that a scant few weeks prior to this story, Pres. Bush and Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin emerged from some sorta meetin’. Pres. Bush appeared, and sounded, just a bit miffed - no, make that overtly shaken, over the prospect of renewed hostile posturing between the USA and Russia?

So? What to do? We had to get a message across to the Kremlin, you know, something like ‘we’re not a bunch of pushovers – we’ll match you and then some’, but one can’t say or do anything too overt, because once the gauntlet has been thrown down, one’s bluff might just be called, and then what?

Enter diplomacy, and I mean the sort of diplomacy far removed from threats of confrontation. Let’s just let them know we still have the ‘thing’, and it’s loaded and ready to go. But nothing too brash.

Let’s have a domestic incident. Yeah, that’s the ticket, and so, we have this news ditty about a nuclear missile (or several) that careened over the heads of unsuspecting Americans, rather than over the heads of unsuspecting Canadians (hey, someone has to pay the price – why should it be us?).

I’m no political scientist. I know nothing about politics, diplomacy, or international relations, and I mean nothing at all. I barely qualify to pick up a year-old copy of Newsweek at the dentist’s office as I wait for the drill ‘em - fill ‘em – bill ‘em torture fest to begin. And to top it off, this is a Jewish blog site, so what gives?

Well, I’m itchy about this matter, and so is the rest of the world. It’s been said by enough news commentators, so why not by me?

The world does not want to be shepherded by America’s current serving president. No one outside the US wants him as the custodian of the free world, and the gauntlet has indeed been thrown down – by Vladimir Putin. Fifty-one percent of American voters in the last presidential election voted to continue George Bush’s presidency. That’s the problem. A brainiac like Newt Gingrich is no match for our boy from Crawford, TX. Unfortunately, the rest of the world disagrees, and they’re doing more than just speaking up.

The presidential wannabes are all over the news reports. One primary candidate after another is after the job. The debates looked like reality TV gone Huntley-Brinkley (remember?). Fred Thompson was smart to not participate – the whole thing looked like a humiliation fest (the sight reminded me of a scene from the movie version of Catch 22 – enough said). But thankfully, as long as Trent Lott is out, the error of electing a George Bush clone seems remote, and to coin the popular phrase – ‘that’s a good thing’.

The last Texas president we put into the White House was LBJ. He gave us the Vietnam War. His replacement, Richard Nixon, continued the war for almost his entire, but not quite, two term presidency because, as he intoned at a news conference, he didn’t want history to record him as the first American president to lose a war (he was wrong; that honor went to Jefferson Davis).

Now our nation’s second son-of-Texas president is ‘winding down’ his term of national service, and another American war rages on with no end in sight. The rest of the world doesn’t approve, and despite Bush’s Texas bravado, that is a problem for America, and for the entire world, because in response, the former USSR’s head of dastardly deeds, Vladimir Putin, is on the march, and frankly, this can’t lead to anything good.

Tzipi Speaks
by: Schvach Yid

Yesterday, at the UN. In English no less. It was the usual rhubarb, except the Israeli Foreign Minister accused that less than august international body of favoritism against Israel. She delivered a lot of cliché about peace and mutual security. She did her standard vocal impersonation of Yitzhak Rabin (may he rest in peace) – she even invoked his ‘enough is enough’ bit (don’t you think she sounds just like him? I do).

More yak, yak, yak. The UN TV camera regularly zeroed in on the Arab Palestinian representative. It was dry. It was canned.

But then Mme. Livni did us proud. She did the right thing. She spoke words of Torah to the membership of the UN General Assembly.

When I was a lad in college taking Introductory Physics, we were taught a valuable lesson concerning problem solving; in fact, I suspect this singular teaching may constitute the central concept of Physics – all the rest may be commentary. We were instructed to solve a Physics problem ‘from first principles’ – to begin with a definition, and derive the solution from there.

This is precisely what Foreign Minister Livni did at the conclusion of her presentation to the UN General Assembly.

After so much drone, she informed her audience that this is the Festival of Sukkot. She explained the significance of this Festival, and the significance of Jews dwelling in sukkot (which she translated as ‘huts’) as a component of our religious observances. She then informed her audience that those sukkot provided us with shelter on our ancestors way to the Promised Land. Bravo Tzipi, finally, someone in the Olmert government got it right!

Finally (really) Mme. Livni concluded her presentation with words of Torah from the siddur:
“As we turn to Jerusalem and say in our prayers every day: 'Spread over us the tabernacle of your peace....' May it be in our days, and for all nations. Amen.”

The response from the UN General Assembly was applause. They applauded the Israeli Foreign Minister. I’ve never heard any assemblage of the UN representatives applaud any Israeli speaker. Perhaps they have and I’ve simply missed it – I don’t stay glued to C-SPAN you know.

Their response wouldn’t have been better had she blessed her audience by reciting the Birkat Cohanim.
Not that we should be grateful for the acknowledgement. It’s HaShem who gives, not the UN, but it’s always nice to have friends rather than enemies (or as one pr billboard stated: ‘It’s nice to be important, but it’s also important to be nice’).

Not long ago I read an article on line in which the author stated that two US delegations visited Israel, each one in succession. The first delegation was taken on a tour of ‘modern’ Israel - upon their return to the United States the anticipated US funding was not approved. The second US delegation was taken on a tour of the religious sights and communities in Israel. They were shown religious Israeli Jews at work and study. Bingo – Israel received what it had requested.

True or not, the message is clear:
When Israel stands and talks ‘turkey’ – nothing;
When Israel stands and talks Torah – results.

Applause means acceptance and approval. In the Chumash we are commanded to function as a Nation of Priests, not as overly assertive know-it-alls who spawn swaggering, sunglass-wearing tattooed kids who spew Arabic colloquialisms rather than words of Torah.

‘It’s a Tree of Life to those who cling to it, and its followers are praiseworthy’, we chant in schul as we return the Sefer Torah to the aron kodesh. These are not empty words – the world is willing to accept the religious devotion of Jews, but not the scheiss of secular Yiddin who emulate the emulators and intentionally violate everything in the ‘book’ in a vain attempt at profundity and superiority. Remember (and not to be offensive) that one third of everyone in the world worships one of us as their Savior. This is no slight matter. A great deal is expected from us, and I don’t mean Nobel Prizes.When the government of Israel gets it right, then opinions are swayed in our favor.

Had Tzipi Livni, as the Foreign Minister of Israel, stood on the podium of the UN’s General Assembly and talked politics and diplomacy until doomsday she would have been greated with dismissal. Had she yapped biblical archeology, she would have invoked the same response. But a divrei Torah, as brief as it was, delivered the right message. This is our claim to the Land promised to us – all of it, and no argument can be devised that can displace it or us.

Nefesh b’Nefesh – Nebich
by: Schvach Yid

Not to be a spoil sport, not to serve as the naysayer, but really, 600+ olim from North America settling in Israel? There are 6+ million of us stewing (in a religious sense) in golus (mostly in the US), and only 0.01% of those of us in this region of chutz l’aretz have officially signed up to make this ‘big move’ via Nefesh b’Nefesh this year.

I don’t mean to be critical, and I certainly don’t mean to deride the decisions of these most recent olim from North America – kol hakavod to them, but their number is a bit thin, don’t you think?

Do we remember that the Jewish State of Israel was established as the Jewish Homeland, in part to provide a safe haven for Jewish refugees from the gleeful efforts of rampaging Jew-haters who, on a somewhat regular basis, choose to express their brand of population cropping by cropping us? There are still 6+ million Jews residing outside Israel. What happens if the 6+ million Jews living in North America and Europe suddenly ‘feel’ the need to move – you know, to Israel? Just how long do you think that would take? Go ahead, ask the airlines. I’m sure that under the appropriate circumstance, they would be eager to accommodate.

And just how long does one reckon Israel would need to settle 6+ million new olim, thus doubling Israel’s current population? Just where would Israel fit us in? What would the Sachnut use as an absorption shoehorn - the ‘West Bank’? Not with the current Israeli administration.

The fact is that aliyah en masse is a matter of mass migration – a population shift. It cannot occur as an acute event, but must be accomplished over a protracted period of time, and those of us who are so comfy here in the West, and who are so put off by current Israeli administration policies, are – to put it bluntly – loathe to even consider the possibility.

So yasher koach to those brave and idealistic few who have made the commitment, and who have made good on it. In the long run they may, in fact, prove to be the smarter ones.

Columbia is No Gem
by: Schvach Yid

When I was a lad ‘growing up’ (hah!) in New York, Columbia University in the City of New York (its formal name) was the place. It was a bit of a phenomenon. I wanted to attend this űber-university as an undergraduate – no luck. Years later, my sister was awarded a Ph.D. from this same institution. Two of the older kids – brothers - at our bungalow colony in the Catskills would both become fencing heroes (or so we kids thought - their mother was so proud) at Columbia (the older brother would be provided sponsorship by, but denied membership in, one of New York’s prestigious private sports clubs in the early 1970’s – the brothers were Jewish, of course). While in college (CCNY – just 1 mile uptown from Columbia) I used to visit the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia just to stroll around and imbibe its academic scene. It’s a beautiful campus. (Columbia, by the way, takes it etymology as a synonym for America from the name of Christopher Columbus).

Then, years later, Professor Edward Said, who had first joined Columbia’s faculty in the 1960’s (and who passed away in 2003), made his mark on the world of Middle East (ie Israel-Arab) politics (see Daniel Pipes at http://www.danielpipes.org/article/1063), and Columbia University was no longer so rosy.

My sister had a friend, an Iranian lady, who used to say of the then Shah of Iran, ‘that guy’, with effervescent vocal venom. Now, Iran is about to land on that beautiful Morningside Heights campus, and bucolic is about to become bulimic.

Who needs this effrontery? One commentator from the University said something about the pursuit of intellectual dialogue. Malcolm X at Oxford University I could understand (not that I agree with Malcolm X), but not this.

The last time I remember hearing ‘intellectual pursuit’ mentioned as justification was during a TV interview concerning America’s development and use of the ‘atomic bombs’ used against Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the close of the Second World War in the Pacific. The Manhattan Project staff, it was sad, wanted to know if the development of such a bomb was possible, ‘out of intellectual curiosity’ (or similar words). The project’s scientific leader, J. Robert Oppenheimer, however, eventually stated that the use of such a device was ‘implicit’ in its development (Columbia University, by the way, played a role in the Manhattan Project).

Now we have more intellectual curiosity. I’m not anti-intellectual – I’m no Nazi – however, I do have a tendency of drawing the line. There are limits.

It’s my unqualified opinion, offered as one of the slated-for-death targets of Columbia University’s invited guest from Iran, that its head of state, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has no business being provided with a platform, anywhere in the free world, from which he may espouse his hatred and calls for annihilation. As far as I’m concerned, he does not have that right, and Columbia University in the City of New York should know better.

Death of the Silent Jew
by: Schvach Yid

Baruch Dayan haEmet.

I’ve just learned about the death of Marcel Marceau, at age 84, yesterday, Yom Kippur.

Marceau was best known for his theatrical work as a mime artist. He was born Jewish, was forced into hiding during ‘the War’, and emerged from the protective arms of the French Catholic Church safe, sound, and a bit less Jewish, according to his statements made at a National Press Club luncheon, where he appeared, with functional vocal cords, as the honored guest on several occasions.

I included a brief bio about this favored son of Judaism in one of my earlier blogs dated May 8, 2007 titled The G Word; here’s the link:
http://schvach.blogspot.com/2007/05/g-word-by-schvach-yid-i-wonder-why-non.html

And thanks to Yisrael Medad of Arutz Sheva for posting this bit of news; here’s the link:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/5#2304

A more complete article was offered by BBC News at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7009040.stm complete with a link to photos of the artist in performance at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7009202.stm .

Here is a link an account of Marceau’s experiences under the Nazis from The Canadian Press, at
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hHtBwOW585VVoSC05yRgfkTuEumg

May he rest in peace.

Photo credit: BBC News

Jew On Jew – Part 3
by: Schvach Yid

The third installment of Todd Schechter’s 6-part video series, found at his web site Jewish Reconnection Project, and titled Jewish Enough? – Secular vs Religious, is now posted.
Here’s the link:

http://www.jewishreconnectionproject.com/?p=12

Here’s what Todd has to say about his project:

About the Jewish Reconnection Project

The Jewish Reconnection Project is a web video series that features dialogues between a group of Jews in New York and in Jerusalem. The ultimate aim of the series is to showcase the diverse individual perspectives that populate the global Jewish community and to encourage further conversations. More about the project here.

Kosher Fress
by: Schvach Yid

Batya, of Arutz Sheva fame, as well as author of several blog sites, has emailed a link to The 22nd Kosher Cooking Carnival which, she reports, 'is full of a great variety of kosher recipes, cooking advice and more'. Here’s the link:
http://me-ander.blogspot.com/2007/09/kosher-cooking-carnival-tutu-yes-22.html

Here are links to Batya’s various web sites:

http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/

http://samizdatblogfree.blogspot.com/

http://me-ander.blogspot.com/

http://shilohpics.blogspot.com/

Small Items Administration
by: Schvach Yid

Lousy Jokes Department:

No, this is not a take-off from MAD Magazine. This is exactly the stuff I can’t stand, so I just have to share it with everyone. It was delivered via email. Hold your nose – I think it stinks!

One day, a kindergarten teacher said to the class of 5-year-olds, "I'll give $2 to the child who can tell me who the most famous man who ever lived was." An Irish boy put his hand up and said, "It was St. Patrick." The teacher said, "Sorry Sean, that's not correct."

Then a Scottish boy put his hand up and said, "It was St. Andrew." The teacher replied, "I'm sorry, Hamish, that's not right either."

Finally, a Jewish boy raised his hand and said, "It was Jesus Christ." The teacher said, "That's absolutely right, Marvin, come up here and I'll give you the $2."
As the teacher was giving Marvin his money, she said, "You know, Marvin, since you're Jewish, I was very surprised that you said Jesus Christ."

Marvin replied, "Yeah. In my heart I knew it was Moses, but business is business!"

Kol HaKavod Department – Almost:

Here’s a link to a well deserved tribute to the Queens of Judaism who serve in the IDF. Regrettably, the various links on this web page, as well as some of the pic of IDF soldiers, belie the true intent of the webpage, but still, our women (and men) in uniform deserve all the recognition we can muster.

Here’s the link:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=46c_1187848390

A ‘Jewish Nazi’ is a Moronic Ox
by: Schvach Yid

Have you heard/read the news about the young Russian olim who have been taken into police custody in Israel on suspicion of belonging to a neo-nazi organization? They have been charged with racially-motivated aggravated assault. How can a Jewish Nazi even exist? The two, Jew and Nazi, are mutually exclusive. I don’t get it. This is not Jewish.

This is not a nice subject to dwell on, so I won’t . The Israeli government should know just how to deal with this sort, but given the current administration of Israel, I wouldn’t place any bets.

Here, however, is a photo of one of the apprehended and charged ambitious lads. One might title this pic ‘The Face of Pride’. Nicht fűr die kinder.

(The very prominent tattoo on the culprit’s forearm is also un-Jewish, as stated in Parshos Kedoshim, (Leviticus 19:28); here’s Rashi’s commentary on the matter (my apologies to all tattooed Yiddin who read this blog):

etch a tattoo. Heb. קַעְקַע וּכְתֹבֶת, an inscription etched (מְחֻקֶּה) and sunken (שָׁקוּע), never to be erased, for one etches it with a needle, and it remains permanently black. etched. Heb. קַעְקַע. Similar to the expression [found in the verses], “and hang (וְהוֹקַע) them” [lit., “and sink them”] (Num. 25:4), and, “and we will hang them (וְהוֹקַעְנוּם) ” [lit., “and we will sink them”] (II Sam. 21:6). They would thrust a pole into the ground, and hang the [guilty people] on it; in this way, [the ones hanged would appear as if] inserted and thrust into the ground [and thus the word קַעְקַע denoting “etched in and sunken” into the skin]; porpoynt in Old French [according to Greenberg, porpoint according to Gukovitzki].

Here’s the link: http://www.chabad.org/parshah/rashi/default.htm/aid/15582/jewish/
Kedoshim.html).

Shana Tova Tikateivu

To all the readers of my blog site, I wish you all Shana Tova. May you and your families enjoy peace, success, and happiness throughout the coming year; may you know only good things, and may you ‘live long and prosper’.
-Schvach

photo credit: Tamar Yonah, Arutz Sheva

Marginalia
by: Schvach Yid

Luciano Pavarotti, the great operatic tenor, died last week. He wasn’t Jewish, and this is a Jewish blog site, so what gives? Well, lots of Jews like/liked his work (thank Gd for audio and video recordings). My maternal Oma (grandmother) was among them.

The great caricature artist Al Hirschfeld, who was Jewish, died in 2003 (age 99 years). He was renowned for his rapidograph-like portraitures of the rich and famous which, I suppose, are known to just about everyone. A biographical piece about this artist was written by Andrea Sachs for Time Magazine in 2002 and can be accessed online at: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101020121-193543,00.html.

Al Hirschfeld honored Luciano Pavarotti with his schematic renderings on more than one occasion, and so, in tribute to them both, here is one of those depictions by Mr. Hirschfeld, a tribute by a great fine artist to a great performing artist.

(My apologies to the readers of this blog for the error I made in the now-deleted predecessor to this blog titled The Jew As Artist.)

Pavarotti with friends:

Al Hirschfeld:

Herrrrrre's Yourish
by: Schvach Yid

If you’re not already familiar with Meryl Yourish’s blog site at http://yourish.com/, then here’s a good reason to become introduced to it. She’s just posted a blog about a New York Times review of Mearsheimer’s and Walt’s weigh-in on the ‘great Israel cook-off’ (with Israel on the ‘barbee’, of course). Here’s the link to Wm. Grimes book review at the NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/06/books/06grim.html?ex=1346731200&en=

ef5640db234a5b58&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss,

and here’s the piece; judge for yourselves: (it’s CNN’s ‘diamonds and schmooze’ accusation all over again):

A Prosecutorial Brief Against Israel and Its Supporters

By WILLIAM GRIMES

Published: September 6, 2007

“The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy” arrives carrying heavy baggage. John J. Mearsheimer, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, and Stephen M. Walt, a professor of international affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, set off a furor last year by arguing, in an article that appeared in The London Review of Books, that uncritical American support for Israel, shaped by powerful lobbying organizations like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, does grave harm to both American and Israeli interests.

A bitter debate has raged ever since, with accusations of anti-Semitism leveled by, among others, Alan M. Dershowitz, the Harvard law professor, and Abraham H. Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, one of the principal lobbying organizations taken to task by Mr. Mearsheimer and Mr. Walt.

“The Israel Lobby,” an extended, more fully argued version of the London Review article, has done nothing to calm the waters. The authors have been barred from making appearances by at least one university and several cultural centers to discuss their subject, and continue to reap a whirlwind of criticism and abuse. If they were looking for a fight, they have found it.

Slowly, deliberately and dispassionately Mr. Mearsheimer and Mr. Walt lay out the case for a ruthlessly realistic Middle East policy that would make Israel nothing more than one of many countries in the region. On those occasions when Israel’s interests coincide with America’s, it should count on American support, but otherwise not. What Americans fail to understand, the authors argue, is that most of the time the two countries’ interests are opposed.

The reason they do not realize this, Mr. Mearsheimer and Mr. Walt insist, can be explained quite simply: The Israel lobby makes sure of it. Working closely with members of Congress, public-policy organizations and journals of opinion, energetic, well-financed groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the American Jewish Committee, along with dozens of political-action committees, perpetuate the myth, as the authors see it, of Israel as an isolated, beleaguered state surrounded by enemies and in need of America’s unstinting financial and military support.

This lobby is particularly adept at stifling debate before it begins, the authors argue. “Whether the issue is abortion, arms control, affirmative action, gay rights, the environment, trade policy, health care, immigration or welfare, there is almost always a lively debate on Capitol Hill,” they write. “But where Israel is concerned, potential critics fall silent and there is hardly any debate at all.”

There is nothing underhanded or devious about this, the authors say. Like the National Rifle Association or the AARP, the Israel lobby relies on the traditional political weapons available to any special-interest group in pressing its agenda. It just happens to be unusually skillful and effective.

“It is simply a powerful interest group, made up of both Jews and gentiles, whose acknowledged purpose is to press Israel’s case within the United States and influence American foreign policy in ways that its members believe will benefit the Jewish state,” they write.

The problem, Mr. Mearsheimer and Mr. Walt argue, is that Israel has become a strategic liability with the end of the cold war and a moral pariah in its dealings with the Palestinians and, most recently, the Lebanese. Uncritical American support for its closest Middle East ally has damaged American credibility in the Arab world, encouraged terrorism, stymied the search for a solution to the Palestinian problem, and in every way made America’s international position weaker and more dangerous.

Coolly, not to say coldly, Mr. Mearsheimer and Mr. Walt mount a prosecutorial brief against Israel’s foreign and domestic policies, and against the state of Israel itself. They describe a virtual rogue state, empowered by American wealth and might, that blocks peace at every turn, threatens its cowering neighbors with impunity, crushes the national aspirations of the Palestinians and, whenever the opportunity arises, bites the hand that feeds it.

Working tirelessly in the background is the Israel lobby, playing Iago to America’s Othello, leading president after president down ever more dangerous paths. Without intense pressure from the Israel lobby, the authors argue, America would not have undertaken the war in Iraq.

Most American readers will bristle at the authors’ characterization of Israel. This is to be expected, Mr. Mearsheimer and Mr. Walt argue, because of the completely false image of Israel and its history that has been manufactured by the Israel lobby. As a result, Americans completely misinterpret the Palestinian issue and fail to support a productive policy that would tilt away from Israel and toward the Palestinians.

The authors state, on several occasions, their belief that Israel has a moral and legal right to exist, but the effect of their book is to leave it dangling by a moral and strategic thread. In essence they call for the United States to cut Israel loose, to return more or less to American policy before the 1967 war, when the United States tried to occupy a middle ground between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Strangely, the authors do not itemize the fabulous benefits delivered by this approach in the 1950s and ’60s.

It is a little odd that so chilly a book should generate such heat. Most of Mr. Mearsheimer and Mr. Walt’s arguments are familiar ones, and it is hardly inflammatory to point out that the major Jewish organizations tend to take a much tougher line on, say, a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem, the Iraq war or settlements in the West Bank, than most American Jews favor. The writers stand on eminently defensible ground when they argue for a more constructive, creative American role in peace talks.

The general tone of hostility to Israel grates on the nerves, however, along with an unignorable impression that hardheaded political realism can be subject to its own peculiar fantasies. Israel is not simply one country among many, for example, just as Britain is not. Americans feel strong ties of history, religion, culture and, yes, sentiment, that the authors recognize, but only in an airy, abstract way.

They also seem to feel that, with Israel and its lobby pushed to the side, the desert will bloom with flowers. A peace deal with Syria would surely follow, with a resultant end to hostile activity by Hezbollah and Hamas. Next would come a Palestinian state, depriving Al Qaeda of its principal recruiting tool. (The authors wave away the idea that Islamic terrorism thrives for other reasons.) Well, yes, Iran does seem to be a problem, but the authors argue that no one should be particularly bothered by an Iran with nuclear weapons. And on and on.

“It is time,” Mr. Mearsheimer and Mr. Walt write, “for the United States to treat Israel not as a special case but as a normal state, and to deal with it much as it deals with any other country.” But it’s not. And America won’t. That’s realism.

Jew On Jew
by: Schvach Yid

I just received an email from Todd Schechter, producer of a web-only miniseries called The Jewish Reconnection Project. Here’s what Todd wrote:

It shows young Jews in New York and Jerusalem talking to each other and sharing how their Judaism affects their lives. It’s meant to give viewers a sense of the diversity of Jews around the world and to let college age people express their own ideas about Judaism. Ultimately, we hope that helping disparate groups of Jews understand each other will make for a stronger, healthier Jewish community. New episodes will come out every Wednesday for the next six weeks.

Sounds good to me!

Here’s the YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WslLNTYzmzw

Enjoy reconnecting!

Olmert Unbound
by Schvach Yid

At last, finally, I’ve figured it out. Thanks to an article posted on Arutz Sheva, I have at last reasoned the solution to this most perplexing problem, namely, the odd policies of Israel’s current administration. My mind is not always crisp, certainly not on matters concerning international relations, but I am convinced that now I have it.

Ehud Olmert misses the days of the Yishuv. Forget that he was only 3 years old when Israel declared its independence. He wants back to the ‘good old days’: checkpoints – for Jews; weapons searches – of Jews; population relocations – of Jews. That’s the spirit. Ehud Olmert really wants to be British.

I’m so relieved.

I thought it might have been something other than this narcissistic wannabe nonsense. Now I can fathom why the political leader of the Jewish state would do all those lousy things to his people. He wants to turn back the clock and start from scratch. Push the reset button. Perhaps he views the Jews of Israel as a population of Joseph Trumpeldors – ‘it’s good to die for your country’.

The Palestinians of course, also want to push the reset button. They want to undo 1967 and Olmert is all too happy to oblige. If Olmert thinks he can undo Israel’s impending mistake, then he’s sorely mistaken. The Arabs are no longer a military pushover. One may think Olmert learned this lesson last summer; evidently, he hasn’t. Once YESHA is gone, it’ll be gone, and given the unending assertions of the Palestinians and the Arab nations, so too will all of Israel (the Arabs assert Israel is Palestine – remember?).

Perhaps the good people of Israel – I mean the Jews of Israel – might consider electing a new government. I know it’s not simple, and I know I know nothing of Israel’s parliamentary system of government. But c’mon, my favorite holiday of the year is Bastille Day, so ‘aux barricades’, if he’s really intent on giving away YESHA. If it works for the Palestinians in getting a wall moved (this was just a test case; there’s much, much more on the way; you know, all of Israel), then the Yiddin of Israel (and not just small isolated communities on the West Bank) need more than just an argument. Perhaps they should follow by example. It seems to work.

Here’s My Take
by: Schvach Yid

It seems that commentaries and opinions continue to grace the Jewish contribution to the internet about CNN’s recent 6-hour ditty on the Middle East – Gd’s Warriors. I have an opinion too, so here it is.

I thought Ms. Amanpour's 3-part ditty was fairly boring stuff. Most of it seemed like a rehash of old headlines interspersed with her commentaries. Big deal. The Middle East is about religion; everyone has a religion, and no one is objective about his/her religious identity. The old canards are still applied, and after 1500 years they are not about to resolve. Rather than constituting the current day's content of political debate, I think her recent CNN presentation is the stuff of refuse.

Not that Christiane Amanpour doesn’t know what she’s doing ; she knows exactly what she’s doing, and so should we. She's expressing her opinions. I too have opinions, about which I freely blog. If you don’t like to read my opinions, well shucks, you should only hear me voice them – I can hardly stand the sound of my own voice on these issues.

So, since I’m not objective about my religious identity, or my religious beliefs (I would never make such an accusation about Ms. Amanpour; I’ve never even met her), who am I to make accusations, but as I’ve stated above, who possesses objectivity about this absolutely personal subject (it’s almost like discussing one’s sex life)?

So we resort to the political side of religion when we bring that delicate subject into the realm of public intercourse. So politically, what do I like about my religion, Judaism?

First and foremost, Judaism is not political (don’t you just love it? I do!). I think this may be the reason we don’t do politics very well. A wannabe Moslem with whom I used to be acquainted (a guy who started out life as Christian but changed to Islam – it was all about melanin) intoned in a rather public place that ‘Islam is very political’. Okay, I accept his pronouncement. I think the Arabs do politics rather well. By contrast, I think we Jews are not very adept at it, to our absolute disadvantage. Why? Because Judaism is not about politics, pure and simple.

Secondly, Judaism places no demands on non-Jews. We don’t proselytize. We Jews have asked the non-Jewish world for only three provisions. One: stop murdering us. Two: accept us an individually constituted group, ie, don’t try to convert us or change us in any way. I think the world in general calls this respect. In other words world, please respect us. Three: we’ve asked for that geographic cuticle that rims a portion of the eastern-most lip of the Mediterranean. It’s not much land, and anyone who possesses any objectivity about the matter will readily accede to the fact that it is Jewish land – all of it, right up to the Jordan River (that’s not much land folks). If you’re into displacement theology (I know, I know, it’s really called ‘Replacement Theology’, but this excludes the Moslems) then go back to number 2.

Thirdly, I like the Hebrew Bible – Tanakh. Gd speaks in the Hebrew Bible, and I mean in quotation marks (according to the English translations). In that fine work of revelatory insistence, Gd tells me, and all other Jews, how to live our lives. He makes us decent, and not political, and it’s for us, the Jews, because Gd says so. What more could I possibly want? So many people run after us, demanding to dislodge and displace us. There must be a good reason, and there is. They know, and we know, that the Hebrew Bible is right, and that we Jews are the recipients of HaShem’s revelation. Chauvinistic? Bigoted? No! If you’re Western religious, then you believe in Gd, and Gd said so.

You can now relax about Christiane Amanpour and her remarks about diamonds and schmooze.

Shavuah Tov!