Should Israel Take the Deal?? The Day After vs. Forever After
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As President Herzog implied, while Israel needs to have a plan for the day after (they don't, and the government appears hell bent on delaying that indefinitely), now is not the time to be discussing forever-after. Grandiose peace proposals have their time and place, and this is neither. Still, the two state solution should remain the gold standard. For the people of Israel, now may not be the time to discuss pursue a detailed peace plan...
UNLESS... this is an offer that truly cannot be refused. The sketchy details revealed by Axios might be an indication that the Saudis are willing to go where they have never gone before. So let's maintain an open mind on this, and certainly no Israeli government should become the first to dismiss the two state solution in principle. Which is exactly what this one is doing. |
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Recommended Reading
On Shabbat morning, a special treat... Beverly Stein will be reporting to us following her return from Israel.
An instruction guide of how to handle the inner struggle after a massacre between the human voice which calls for revenge and the safety of your children and the voice of reason which comes to remind you that all mothers want the same thing. The text investigates the idea of humanism seen in the light of the meaninglessness of war and from the mother’s perspective: Mothers on both sides of a conflict. Who do you turn to or listen to – or not at all! – to understand or put an end to the atrocities? God, the military, humanists from the peaceful Europe, the media including social media…? Heartbreaking text written during an ongoing conflict. While the text addresses a woman, the speakers may be of any gender. Theaters can make their own mise-en-scène or ask for permission to use an existing mise-en-scène by Sapir Heller for 1 female actor. Request a copy.
- From the Haaretz interview with the author. ...overconsumption of news, images of horror that are seared into our consciousness, obsessive thoughts about hostages and people who have been killed, tears amid reports of murder and rape, mutilated bodies, amputated limbs and the stench of death. But there's also the overabundance of carbs and sweets, anti-anxiety drugs, the little, encouraging stories of human kindness and heroism and an endless effort to protect the children from the horror – to construct an alternative reality for them that provides an illusion of normality.
The incident involved an unauthorized and haphazard attempt by a group of students to expand the main Chabad synagogue, commonly referred to as “770.” . . . The tunnels, [perhaps better described as holes in basement walls], were access points to an area the students had been excavating. In subsequent statements, synagogue officials referred to the students as “young agitators” and “extremists.” Several well-placed sources within the Crown Heights Chabad community, however, have identified the tunnel-diggers as having a more distinct identity: the “Tzfatim.” Named after the city of Tzfat—or Safed, Israel—from which many of these students hail, the group, and some others aligned with it, have a three-decade reputation for numerous incidents of violence and mayhem in and around the Chabad headquarters at 770. In the parlance of Chabad factionalism, they are said to be the most extremist among the meshikhist—or messianist—faction, believing that their late leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, is the messiah, and despite his death in 1994, is still meant to reappear as the long-awaited redeemer of the Jews. In fact, some deny his very death. The underground excavations, it now appears, are the latest in a long string of incidents of anarchy and lawlessness by this group.They are, needless to say, rejected by the group’s mainstream leadership, which has only partial control over the building itself. |
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Temple Beth El 350 Roxbury Road Stamford, Connecticut 06902 A Conservative, Inclusive, Spiritual Community |
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