Spent the past 15 minutes musing on Isaiah 1:27, “Zion will be redeemed with justice, and her returnees with charity.” Wondering what that means for refugees, returnees to home lands, Jews and Palestinians…
Archive for the 'Musings' Category
Any love I have for the Jewish state is rooted in her prophets
Can you love a state? A set of policies and procedures manifested as a bureaucracy and office buildings, people in uniform, and budgets for garbage collection, school, roads? I argue you can love a set of principles. But you can’t love a state. And I’ve fallen in love with the principles of many Israelis I’ve [...]
Feb 19th, 2009 Israel and Musings 0 Comments
I want you to know about my birthday cause
The 25th is my 26th birthday, and I want you to know about my birthday cause. I am the local Chapter Co-Chair and a national board member for Brit Tzedek v’Shalom. It’s the biggest pro-Israel, pro-peace grassroots org in the American Jewish community — 40,000+ supporters in 40 cities and growing! Unabashedly speaking, I am [...]
Feb 18th, 2009 Musings 1 Comment
Direction
I’m presently in DC, just having completed a two-day professional development retreat and am preparing for a board retreat tomorrow night. I’ve prayed at the Silver Spring Moishe House, I’m staying with my college best friend, and am very tired. There’s all too much to blog about, what with Gaza aftermath, Hamas may release Shalit, [...]
Feb 14th, 2009 Musings 2 Comments
Waltz with Bashir “has to do with everyone who has been in a war here, which is everyone here”
A beautifully moving peice by Bradley Burston on Haaretz about Waltz with Bashir, the animated documentary film about the director’s search for his memories of the Second Lebanon War. He says, I went to see “Waltz with Bashir” this week, not suspecting for a moment that the story it told would have anything to do [...]
Feb 2nd, 2009 Musings 0 Comments
Safeguarding Jewish universalism in times of terror
Last week, I was accused on two separate occasions and blogs of not issuing a “peep” and of a “deafening silence” about the Mumbai killings. One was even on a blog with nothing to do with international affairs. Meanwhile, the conservative blogs are in a bloody feeding frenzy. But on the other hand, as the [...]
Dec 7th, 2008 Israel, Musings and X-posted to Jewschool 1 Comment
Inadvertently baiting the establishment
So some of us have a habit of opening our big, fat mouths and saying, oh God, what we actually think about things. And blogs are lovely, private, secluded places to say them. Like on popularly-trafficed small blogs.
Nov 6th, 2008 Musings 0 Comments
Victory in Brooklyn, victory in America
Contrary to many a nervous, Democratic wreck last week and last night, I was quite assured that Barack Obama would win last night. I was even predicting a landslide electoral college victory, just for shits and grins. (And to all those superstitious knockers-on-wood out there, see, he still won!) Our gathering in Park Slope flipped [...]
Nov 5th, 2008 Musings 0 Comments
Remembering Yitzah Rabin on Elections Day
Cross-posted to Jewschool. Although his official rememberance day is Monday, November 10th, today is the 13th anniversary of Yitzak Rabin’s assassination, which we consider as violent settlers increase their “price tag” intimidation and as Likud campaigns to end all negotiations. All this in the shadow of American elections. The symbolism is layered within the American [...]
Nov 4th, 2008 Israel, Musings, Politics and X-posted to Jewschool 0 Comments
ENFJ
I love putting people into categories. Seriously. It’s nothing I can quite avoid, even as I resist labels myself, because that’s the shorthand I use to understand the world. I love personality sorters, like the Myers-Briggs or this quick facsimile thereof. So this is me, ENFJ, 2% of the population. Summary: People make me happy. [...]
Jul 28th, 2008 Musings 3 Comments