Are you in the know? Introducing the MJL Jewish news roundup, featuring important, interesting, and informative stories from around the Jewish world.
- Yehoshua Engleman says, “Hearing even a single note of Godly music can make people stop appreciating human voices, for they know that nothing can ever compare. One is left with the shame of being merely mortal.� (The Jerusalem Post)
- A look at the issues that Jews with very different backgrounds face when they decide to marry. (The Jewish Week)
- A glimpse at “the only place in the Middle East beyond Israel’s borders where Arab students and scholars and Israeli scholars meet on a regular basis and discuss Israeli history, literature and culture — in Hebrew� But: “There are no signs …There is no Web site. There are no announcements in newspapers�. (Forward)
- Although Falwell often boasted that “the Jewish people in America and Israel and all over the world have no dearer friend than Jerry Falwellâ€?, Evan R. Goldstein argues that this was not at all true. (Haaretz)
- And Former TIer Andrew Silow-Carroll says Falwell “left a grim legacy… he reduced the religious debate in this country to a dogfight over a few narrow and unnecessarily distracting issues.� (NJ Jewish News)
- But Jonathan Tobin calls Falwell “among our most zealous allies on the question of Israel, its security and its place in the world�, and regrets that he was “not merely unappreciated, but often met with outright rejection.� (Jewish Exponent)
MONEY:
- With the rise of Israeli philanthropy come some hard questions. Should Americans continue to send money to Israeli hospitals that now have their won foundations? What degree of transparency is needed? (Haaretz)
- A new report analyzes the numerous flows of tax money the State of Israel derives from human trafficking, especially trafficking in women, including taxes on the earnings of brothels, taxi drivers, real estate (“The moment a municipality discovers that an apartment is being used as a brothel and not for residential services, it starts charging a higher rate for commercial enterprises�) but also fines, confiscated bail etc. (Haaretz)
- A “massive shift in Jewish activism�, with “community relations councils across the country…becoming lobbyists for government funding� is resulting in a lot of government money flowing to Jewish institutions including shuls and JCCs. (The Jewish Week)
- A lack of money continues to threaten the existence of the Masorti movement in Israel. Its annual budget is only $2.5-3 million. (The Jerusalem Post)
GAZA AND SDEROT:
- Accounts of what it has been like for the residents of Sderot, under fire from Kassam rockets: The Jewish Journal and The Jewish Week.
- Helping people under those attacks: The Jerusalem Post, The Jewish Journal, The Jewish Week and Haaretz.
- David Kimche argues that a policy toward Gaza of all stick and no carrot is not the only reasonable approach. (The Jerusalem Post)
- Yaakov Katz argues that the tactical approach of targeted killings of specific Hamas terrorists needs to be combined with the strategic planning for the longer term. (The Jerusalem Post )
- Yossi Beilin argues that Hamas most wants an immense IDF incursion into the Gaza Strip, triggering a Palestinian Authority collapse, so that Israel will have to provide for “all the Palestinian population’s needs.â€? (Ynet)
- Similarly, Danny Rubenstein argues that Hamas needs conflict with Israel to justify its existence, so it “was Hamas operatives who invited the Israeli air strikes�. (Haaretz )
- Amir Oren argues that both Israelis and Palestinians need for a strongman to take over in Gaza, “who will suppress massacre with massacre�. (Haaretz)
PARENTING:
- Some recent books provide Jewish takes on parenting: The Forward and Nextbook
- David Klinghoffer makes the case that “A Jew who believes in Judaism cannot have too many children.�
- Is the “Jewish mother� dead?: The Jerusalem Post, Jewish Journal, and NJ Jewish News.
- A woman who is wrestling with whether to have a third child reacts to a “highly organized mother of 16�. (The Jewish Week)
