Posts Tagged‘Words of the Week’

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Words of the Week

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

“When it comes to Hillel’s famous quote, selective memories prevail. The Jewish left has a tendency to forget the first clause—if we don’t stand up for ourselves, no one else will. And the right tends to ignore the second—if we’re only concerned about our own needs, what happened to our essential human empathy? Hillel knew that living in tension with these two values was the jumping-off point for much of Jewish ethics.

This tension surfaced on Thursday evening, as the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston voted to prohibit Council member-organizations from partnering with or co-sponsoring events with ‘self-identified Jewish organizations…that declare themselves to be anti-Zionist’. This is a good and proper decision.”

Source: Neal Gold, “Saying No to the Neturei Karta of the Left”

Words of the Week

by Erika Dreifus on
2

“The front page of the New York Times Sunday Review featured one of the most biased, poorly informed, and historically inaccurate columns about the conflict between Israel and Palestine ever published by a mainstream newspaper. Written by Michelle Alexander, it is entitled, ‘Time to break the silence on Palestine,’ as if the Palestinian issue has not been the most overhyped cause on campuses, at the United Nations, and in the media.”

Source: Alan Dershowitz, “Time to Tell the Truth about the Palestinian Issue” (The Hill)

Words of the Week

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

“’I had no idea how much of an impact it would have on the Jewish community,’ Raisman said Tuesday, describing her 2012 gold medal-winning routine, which included a component to the music of ‘Hava Nagila,’ the Jewish folk song.

‘I didn’t realize at the time I was representing not only the United States but the Jewish community,’ Raisman told the Lion of Judah conference, held this year at a Florida resort. ‘I received a letter from a Holocaust survivor saying she never imagined in her life seeing a young girl performing to ‘Hava Nagila’ in front of the world and see her win for it.'”

Source: Aly Raisman, quoted in this JTA article.

Words of the Week

by Erika Dreifus on
2

“[The New York Times Book Review Editor] surely does not mean to, but she manages to treat anti-Semitism as just another point of view — not a hatred with a unique and appalling pedigree that has led to unending slaughter, including the murder of 6 million, pogroms in Kielce in Poland (1946), York in England (1190) and the lynching of Leo Frank in Georgia (1915). What’s lacking from the Times is appropriate shock at Alice Walker’s bigotry and its own refusal to admit a mistake. An apology would be fit to print.”

Source: Richard Cohen, “Anti-Semitism Is Not Just Another Opinion: The New York Times Should Know Better” (The Washington Post)

Words of the Week

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

“I’ve learned from the ways Israelis responded to events like the Gulf War and the many, many attacks civilians have experienced over the years that the best way to deal with terror is not to let it overwhelm and defeat you, to get things back to normal as much as possible. Even though I feel jumpy in synagogue, turning to see who is in the room and feeling startled by noises, I have been going much earlier than I usually arrive each week. The only writing I have done until now has been pieces about the weekly Torah portion for the 929 website. I’ve made shiva calls and am trying to continue to support those who lost family members. I’m planning gatherings to teach Torah; our synagogue is starting new Hebrew classes and classes in Haftarah trope so others can learn this skill, which Dan Stein, Mel Wax and Rich Gottfried were so adept at.”

Source: Beth Kissileff, “When They ‘Go Low,’ We Go to Shul — Pittsburgh, a Month Later” (Times of Israel blog)