Perhaps we truly are on the verge of significant positive changes.  But then again, we may be facing only frustration and stagnation.  It’s difficult to call on several counts. I am speaking, first, about the election which is now – yikes! – less than two weeks away. It’s difficult to …

  I do not doubt that many of you are wondering about the title of this posting, which may seem more than a bit enigmatic. Uti possidetis juris is a term that refers to a doctrine in customary international law.  And in a moment my reference to it will become …

It is such an enormously tangled time. I want to begin by sharing something that is a source of enormous pride.  It bolsters us as we face that tangled state of affairs. Last week I wrote about a terror attack – the car ramming of IDF recruits not yet sworn …

Please, be sure to read this to the end. I turn first today to President Trump’s State of the Union address, delivered on Tuesday night. I found it to be brilliantly executed. But what resonated most strongly for me were the values he espoused. I have been mourning big-time for …

How quickly things can change. Last week, after President Trump unveiled his “Deal of the Century,” there was euphoria, both here in Israel and abroad, expressed by those committed to Israel’s legitimate rights to the Land. It was considered a “Wow!’ moment:  For the first time, an American president had …

As promised, this is my follow-up posting on the “Deal of the Century.” I think it likely that there will be a follow-up #2, at some point. The situation is highly complex and still in flux. In fact, the further the situation is exposed, the more complex it seems – …

I am a strong supporter of President Trump, as my readers know.  Starting with cancellation of the Iran agreement, he has taken bold and constructive stands on many issues. But the “Deal of the Century”—which he undoubtedly considers to be bold and constructive and which has major good points—also has …

The world of politics: It would be wrong to say that there is never clarity of purpose inspired by high ideals. But it is rare. Much of the time there are shifting scenarios, and complex, conflicting motivating factors at play. Rivalries, certainly. We find pretence (allegedly, for good reason). And …

It was Vice President Mike Pence, a speaker today at the Fifth World Holocaust Forum gathering – “Remembering the Holocaust, Fighting Antisemitism” at Yad Vashem – who brought tears to my eyes. “The world can only marvel at the faith and resilience of the Jewish People,” he said: “Three years …

As the rain is pouring down while I sit at my computer, I begin with this. Year after year Israel suffers drought. Last year was a good year, and this year, with torrential rains, is turning out to be even better: We have broken a 50 year record and there …

Time to touch base on Israel’s political situation. I have studiously avoided writing about it for many weeks because the situation has been so in flux that whatever I wrote would probably have changed by the time most of my readers read my posting. More to the point, perhaps, I …

  After completion of the reading of each of the five books of the Torah in synagogue, the congregation calls out, “Chazak, Chazak, V’nitchazek!”  It might be translated: Be strong!  Be strong!  And let us be strengthened! I thought this a good way to begin. In my last posting I …

  How heartening to see a leader make a bold decision that improves the state of the world! My friends, I spent hours on Wednesday attempting to find the most effective words to convey my thoughts on President Trump’s decision to take out Soleimani. There are, I wanted to say, …

  The Talmud (Sanhedrin 72:1) tells us, “If someone comes to kill you, rise up early in the morning and kill him first.” I seriously doubt that President Donald Trump considered this source when giving the order last Friday morning to kill Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, head of the IRGC …

It is 18 years since my aliyah.  Had someone told me back then that in less than 20 years there would be a plague of antisemitism in the US, I would have responded: “In America?  No way!  Impossible!” But I would have been wrong. Jew hatred is the oldest persistent …

I begin with a report on the Likud primary that took place last Thursday: As expected, Binyamin Netanyahu defeated his challenger Gideon Sa’ar.  And he did so in a landslide, with 72.5% of the vote. Out of 106 Likud polling stations across the country, Netanyahu won 99 and Sa’ar seven. …

What I am eager to offer here is a different perspective on some of the matters confronting us. It is not my intention to suggest that all is well.  We know it is not, not even remotely. Yet information that provides hope of better times going forward is out there. …

The eight-day festival of Chanukah began on Sunday night. And its message seems especially important – especially relevant – this year. We know about the miracle of the oil: When the Jews achieved victory over their Greek oppressors, in the second century BCE, they went to rededicate the Temple, which …

A powerful symbol: the reaching up of hands. It means so many things. I reflect on this, as I begin a new posting: I see the negative – resignation, and the positive – celebration. I touch on both here. ~~~~~~~~~~ Before writing about anything else, I share a link to …

The time for politically correct obfuscation is past.  There is no room for pretending we don’t see: The issues are simply too important for it to be any other way. I turn back here to the attack last week at the kosher market in Jersey City, which is now being …