Islam Rocks!

Worship changes the worshipper into the image of the One worshipped
Jack Hayford

From Friday's Opinion Journal

A Funny Way of Worshipping
"Israeli police stormed the grounds of Islam's third-holiest shrine Friday, firing stun grenades and tear gas to disperse thousands of Muslim worshippers who hurled stones, bottles and trash in an eruption of outrage over Israeli renovation nearby."--Associated Press, Feb. 9 [OpinionJournal's emphasis]

Throwing stones at Jews is rather popular among Muslims. Sam Harris notes in his book The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason:

In parts of the Arab world it has been a local custom for Muslim children to throw stones at Jews and spit upon them. (page 114)

More to the point, what is it that triggered another Muslim attack on Jews this time?

In Temple Mount Truths, Honest Reporting quotes the Jerusalem Post on the background to this incident:

What is Israel doing that has sparked such violent threats? Some years ago, the pedestrian ramp leading up to Jerusalem's Temple Mount fell apart. Now municipal authorities plan to build a permanent ramp to maintain access to this holy site, and are conducting, as required by law, an archeological salvage dig to make sure no artifacts are destroyed in the process.

All of this is completely outside the Temple Mount platform, and bears no relation or threat to that structure, let alone to the Aksa mosque. Why would Israel dream of undermining the Temple Mount, which is Judaism's holiest site? The claim that Israel is doing so is patently absurd, as anyone familiar with the area can immediately see. ...

What is going on now, of course, is a rerun of the violent riots of September 1996, over the opening of an additional exit to the then already existing Western Wall Tunnels, well outside the Temple Mount. Today this tunnel is a popular tourist attraction. It too had as much to do with the "foundations" of Al Aksa as does the reconstruction of the World Trade Center in New York.

Honest Reporting also quotes Caroline Glick, about the steps that the Israeli government took in advance--coordinating the project with the Islamic Wakf and the Jordanian government, in addition to any other relevant groups.

The Muslim attack this time is the result of fear--but since Muslim leaders in the Wakf and Jordan were warned in advanced about the renovations, and the project is done in coordination with them, just what is it that these Islamists are afraid of? The truth.

Muslims fear these excavations, not because they physically endanger al-Aqsa's foundations, but because they undermine the tissue of lies proclaiming that the Jews have no valid historical roots in the city and its holy sites.

In spite of claims by CAIR to the contrary, the biggest enemies of Islam and Muslims today are such Islamists.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Islam and Mugrabi Bridge.

Jack's Shack Hosts Haveil Havalim #106

This week, Random Thoughts is hosting Haveil Havalim #106, bringing a veritable cornucopia of interesting and provocative posts from the past week. This week's theme is The Terrible Twos.

Make sure to take a look at what this week's Haveil Havalim has to offer.

You can always submit one or two of your best Israel or Judaism related posts to dhgerstman at hotmail dot com.

If you'd like to host an upcoming edition you can e-mail Soccer Dad at the same address.

You can also submit entries to Haveil Havalim using either Conservative Cat's submission form or the submission form at BlogCarnival--where you can also find past posts and future hosts.

Listed at the Truth Laid Bear Ubercarnival.

Technorati Tags: Blog carnivals, haveil havalim, Israel, Judaism.

How a 7 Year Old Plans a Sleepover

My daughter has already had one sleepover. Actually she has had two, but the first time, the girl who slept over got homesick and I had to take her home. The first successful sleepover was on a Motzei Shabbos, when a friend who lives a few blocks away slept over till Sunday.

But this time, this past Shabbos, she had a sleepover with a friend, a classmate who lives on the other side of town. This friend was sleeping over Shabbos--and her parents were out of town, so if the girl got homesick we would have to manage.

Naturally, under the circumstances, precise planning was essential.
At least that is what my daughter thought. So she and another friend of hers got together to plan the proper--if not perfect--sleepover.

Here is the plan--which I have translated for those who do not understand 7-year-old.

Sleepover Party Plans make tent Night 5:00 dinner 6:00 Barbies 6:20 Scary Stories 6:30 Read Books 7:00 Sleep Morning 7:00 Breakfast 7:20 Get Dressed 7:30 Barbies 7:40 Project 8:00 Devorah until 12:08 House 1:00 Project until 6:00	Sunday 7:00 Project Breakfast 8:00 Get ready for Sunday Funday (held at local YMHA) 9:00 10:00 Go to Sunday Funday 12:30 Pick up Go Home

The sleepover was this past Shabbos, and it turned out very well--
Probably because my daughter lost the plans for the sleepover.

Elizabeth, NJ: Yarchei Kallah, February 16-19 Men's Schedule

YARCHEI KALLAH, AMERICA

Erev Shabbos Parshas Mishpatim – Monday, Presidents’ Day February 16-19, 2007

Newark Hilton, Newark, NJ

P R O G R A M

S U G Y A D’K A L L A H: MASECHES MEGILLAH / INYANEI PURIM, M’CHIYAS AMALEK

F R I D A Y A F T E R N O O N

1:30 p.m. Check In

2:30 p.m. “To’ame’ah” Refreshments

4:30 p.m. Seder Limud

5:13 p.m. Licht Bentschen

L E I L S H A B B O S

5:15 p.m. Mincha

Kabbolas Shabbos

6:15 p.m. Seudas Shabbos

8:15 p.m. Shiur Iyun

Rabbi Uren Reich

9:00 p.m. Parshas Hashavua

Rabbi Usher Weiss

9:45 p.m. Oneg Shabbos

S H A B B O S M O R N I N G

7:30 a.m. Daf Yomi Shiur

מגילה י'

8:30 a.m. Shacharis

10:45 a.m. D’var Torah

Rabbi Uren Reich

11:15 a.m. Seudas Shabbos

S H A B B O S A F T E R N O O N

3:30 p.m. Seder Limud

4:15 p.m. Shiur

TBA

5:05 p.m. Mincha

Sholosh Seudos

Rabbi Usher Weiss

6:31 p.m. Ma’ariv & Havdala

M O T Z O E I S H A B B O S

7:30 p.m. Seder Limud

8:15p.m. Shiur Halacha

Rabbi Betzalel Rudinsky

9:15 p.m. Melave Malka

Rabbi Yaakov Perlow

Rabbi Matisyahu Salomon

Sponsored by: The Torah Projects Commission of Agudath Israel of America

S U N D A Y

7:00 a.m. Daf Yomi Shiur

מגילה יא'

8:00 a.m. Shacharis and Breakfast

9:45 a.m. Shiur Halacha

Rabbi Yisroel Montel

10:30 a.m. Seder Limud

12:15 p.m. Shiur Iyun

Rabbi Usher Weiss

1:15 p.m. Mincha and Lunch

3:30 p.m. Seder Limud

5:00 p.m. Shiur Halacha

Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbaum

6:00 p.m. Dinner

7:30 p.m. Seder Limud

8:45 p.m. Divrei Machshava

Rabbi Shmuel Dishon

9:30 p.m. Ma’ariv

M O N D A Y

7:00 a.m. Daf Yomi Shiur

מגילה יב'

8:00 a.m. Shacharis and Breakfast

9:45 a.m. Divrei Machshava

Rabbi Avrohom Schorr

10:30 a.m. Seder Limud

12:15 p.m. Shiur Iyun

Rabbi Yeruchim Olshin

1:15 p.m. Mincha & Lunch

Technorati Tag: Yarchei Kallah and Daf Yomi.

Elizabeth, NJ: Yarchei Kallah, February 16-19 Women's Schedule

Sponsored by: The Torah Projects Commission of Agudath Israel of America

YARCHEI KALLAH, AMERICA

Erev Shabbos Parshas Mishpatim – Monday, Presidents’ Day

February 16-19, 2007

Newark Hilton, Newark, NJ

W O M E N’S P R O G R A M:

F R I D A Y

1:30 p.m. Registration Opens

2:30 p.m. “To’ame’ah” Refreshments

5:13 p.m. Licht Bentschen

L E I L S H A B B O S

5:15 p.m. Please join us for Shir HaShirim

Followed by Kabbalas Shabbos and Maariv

6:15 p.m. Seudas Shabbos

8:15 p.m. SEMINAR: Growing Our Children,

Growing Ourselves

Parenting for Children of All Ages

Rebbetzin Yael Kaisman

Followed by: Open Discussion

9:45 p.m. Oneg Shabbos

S H A B B O S M O R N I N G

8:30 a.m. Shacharis

10:45 a.m. D’var Torah

Rabbi Uren Reich

11:15 a.m. Seudas Shabbos

S H A B B O S A F T E R N O O N

4:30 p.m. Shiur,Parshas HaShavua

5:05 p.m. Mincha

5:30 p.m. Sholosh Seudos

Rebbetzin Kaisman

6:31 p.m. Ma’ariv & Havdala

M O T Z O E I S H A B B O S

7:45 p.m. Controlling the Net (and more)

Before It Controls You

A Dialogue with Miriam Turk

9:45 p.m. Melave Malka

Rabbi Yaakov Perlow

Rabbi Mattisyahu Salomon

S U N D A Y

8:30 a.m. Breakfast

10:30 a.m. Challah Baking Insights:

Halacha & Hashkafa

with Mrs. Devorah Heller

12:00 p.m. Text-Based Shiur

“Megillah Insights-Inside”

Rebbetzin Esti Reisman

1:30 p.m. Lunch

2:30 p.m. Local Excursions (See Brochure)

6:00 p.m. Dinner

8:45 p.m. Divrei Machshava

Rabbi Shmuel Dishon

M O N D A Y

8:30 a.m. Breakfast

10:00 a.m. Pikuach Nefesh: The Gripping Stories

of Rav Weissmandl and Dr. Schonfeld

Audio-Visual Presentation

1:30 p.m. Lunch

Technorati Tag: Yarchei Kallah and Daf Yomi

The Inaugural Issue of JPix Is Up!

What is JPix?

Bagel Blogger explains the idea:

Simply put JPix is a carnival for Jews and their pictures, it doesn't necessarily have to be that 'joyous expression of art' which photography can capture, it doesn't have to be just about photos of Eretz Israel, though they are most welcome, its not even about communicating some deep spiritual meaning in a long photo essay, although that's alright too, its about two things.

You're Jewish and you have photos you want to share, wether they be family, historical, artful, funny, quirky its about sharing, so with out further ado, we now begin to look at what is in essence a virtual 'part of us'.

This issue of JPix is broken down into the following categories:

• Eretz Israel
• Sights, Out and About
• Family and Friends
• Occasions
• Art for Arts sake

Go take a look at photos from around the JBlogosphere.

Technorati Tag: Jpix 1 and Jpix and Jewish Photography and Jewish Photography Carnival and JPix CarnivalJ Pix Carnival and Jewish Art and Jewish Photos and Blogs and Jewish Photo Blogs and Jewish Photo Essays and Israel and Photos and Jewish Creativity and Jewish and Israel and JewishBagelBlogger and Bagel Blogger

Getting My Daughter Ready For School Is An Adventure

In order to make it possible for my wife to get to work--and back home--earlier, my wife and I changed our schedules around. Now I am the one that wakes up our 7 year old daughter, gets her dressed, gives her breakfast, and brings her to school.

And of course, that is where the trouble begins.

Wednesday morning did not start out well. My daughter finally found what she wanted to wear--a favorite dress with a bear and pom-poms. Cute dress, but it was a bit short on her. Since the hour was late and our area is going through a cold spell, we worked out a compromise after some intense negotiation: this would be the last time she would wear the dress, she would wear pants because of the cold and that would be that.

I brought my daughter to school and drop-off went without a hitch.

Two blocks before I got to work, I got a call and saw that it was from the school.

You should know that so far this school year:

• My daughter got a nosebleed on the first day of school that could not be stopped and required my taking her to the hospital.
• She has had strep twice.
• The third time, when we thought she had strep and got a rash that was diagnosed as Scarlet Fever--it turned out to be something else.
• Instead of repeated cases of ear infections as in past years--now she gets sore throats.
• This week a number of teachers have noticed that she is blinking excessively
  

Out of desperation, I have suggested to the doctor that she give out cards. She could punch a hole in the card after each visit--and you would get the tenth visit for free. Or at least get a free coffee. She was amused, but rejected the idea.

So when I saw that it was the school calling, I expected the worst. Instead, the teacher assured me that my daughter was fine. However my daughter was dressed improperly--her dress was too short.

True, she was wearing pants--and that was OK due to the cold--however because the dress was short on her, the combination of the dress and pants gave the appearance that she was wearing a pants suit.

A pants suit? Not being a maven of women's fashion, I have no idea how a dress and pants can look like a pants suit--especially with a bear and pom-poms. The school asked that I come to school with more suitable clothes. As it turns out, we have steam coming out from under the bathroom sink [doesn't everyone?] and I was planning to come home early in the afternoon anyway to let the plumber in to fix it, so that was no problem.

I was thinking afterward about why I didn't make a bigger fuss. After all, it was the first time. Why not just let her--and me--off with a warning? I think part of the reason was a story I had heard. I'm not sure who told it. According to the story, it once happened that a man who had badmouthed a certain rabbi came to him one day for help because his daughter was considering intermarriage. The rabbi told him the following story:

A doctor was on his way to a particular village, but along the way a robber held him up. The robber threw away his bag with the medicine in it, took his money and ran off. The doctor proceeded to the village. The next day, a man came to the doctor pleading with him to help his sick daughter. The doctor, recognizing the voice of the man, asked him if he was in fact the man who had robbed him the previous day. When the man answered yes, the doctor informed him that he could not help the man. Since the man had thrown away the bag with all the medicine, the doctor was helpless to save the man's daughter.

The rabbi concluded by telling the man in front of him that having badmouthed him, the rabbi would have no influence with his daughter, just as the doctor robbed of his medicine could not save the robber's daughter.

My wife and I have had issues with the school, but we make a point of not badmouthing the school to our daughter. In the same way, I thought that rather than fighting the school on this, the incident would be a learning experience. I wanted my daughter to see that rules in general, and issues of Tziniut (modesty) in particular have meaning--so much so that Abba will leave work to come home early to bring in a change of clothes.

I ended up bringing a black skirt to school for my daughter to wear. I forgot that she was wearing a dress--not a skirt and blouse. In the end she ended up wearing the light blue dress with the black skirt underneath. The things we do to our kids...

My daughter and I had a talk about the incident and about Tziniut--to the degree that a 7 year old has the patience for such things (about 4 minutes). I asked her what Tziniut means. She answered that it means "appropriate"--which is good enough for now.

She and I will have further talks on this and other issues...many other issues.
For myself, I have a growing respect for what it takes to get a 7 year old to school in the morning.

The Jewish School Where Half The Pupils Are Muslim

Hat Tip: Alex Grobman

The Jewish school where half the pupils are Muslim

It's infant prize day at King David School, a state primary in Moseley, Birmingham. The children sit cross-legged on the floor, their parents fiddling with their video cameras. The head, Steve Langford, is wearing a Sesame Street tie.

A typical end-of-term school event, then. But at King David there's a twist that gives it a claim to be one of the most extraordinary schools in the country: King David is a strictly Jewish school. Judaism is the only religion taught. There's a synagogue on site. The children learn modern Hebrew - Ivrit - the language of Israel. And they celebrate Israeli independence day.

But half the 247 pupils at the 40-year-old local authority-supported school are Muslim, and apparently the Muslim parents go through all sorts of hoops, including moving into the school's catchment area, to get their children into King David to learn Hebrew, wave Israeli flags on independence day and hang out with the people some would have us believe that they hate more than anyone in the world.

The Muslim parents, mostly devout and many of the women wearing the hijab, say they love the ethos of the school, and even the kosher school lunches, which are suitable because halal and kosher dietary rules are virtually identical. The school is also respectful to Islam, setting aside a prayer room for the children and supplying Muslim teachers during Ramadan. At Eid, the Muslim children are wished Eid Mubarak in assembly, and all year round, if they wish, can wear a kufi (hat). Amazingly, dozens of the Muslim children choose instead to wear the Jewish kipah.

At the prize morning Carol Cooper, the RE teacher, says: "Boker tov," (Ivrit for "Good morning").

"Good morning Mrs Cooper," the children chant in reply. The entire school, Muslims, Jews, plus the handful of Christians and Sikhs then say the Shema, the holiest Jewish prayer, all together.

The Year Four violin club (five Muslims, two Jews) play "Little Bird, I Have Heard". Just as many prizes are being distributed to Hussains and Hassans and Shabinas as there are to Sauls and Rebeccas and Ruths. In fact, if anything, the Muslim children have beaten the Jewish ones. Thus does the Elsie Davis Prize for Progress go to a beaming little lad called Walid, the religious studies prize to a boy called Imran wearing a kipah and the progress prizes for Hebrew, to a boy called Habib and a girl called Alia.

Times being as they are, King David doesn't advertise its presence in a city where its pioneering multiculturalism could raise all kinds of unwelcome attention. There's a discreet signboard outside that reveals little about the school's unique nature. There are watchful video cameras high up on the walls, plus two electronic gates to pass through. Sadly, it is, to a significant extent, says Laurence Sharman, the (Christian) chairman of the PTA, "an undercover school".

The Muslim parents, however, are only too keen to talk in the playground about what might be seen by some in their communities as a controversial schooling decision.

"We actually bought a flat in the catchment area for the children to come here," says Nahid Shafiq, the mother of Zainah, four, and Hamza, nine, and wife of Mohammed, a taxi driver. "We were attracted by the high moral values of the school, and that's what we wanted our kids to have. None of us has any problem with it being a Jewish school. Why on earth should we? Our similarities as religions and cultures are far greater and more important than our differences. It's not even an issue.

"At the mosque, occasionally, people ask why we send the children here, but there is no antagonism whatsoever, and neither is there from anyone in our family. In fact, it was a big family decision to try and get them into King David. This is the real world. This is the way real people do things in the real world. All the violence and prejudice and problems - that's not real, that's just what you see on the news."

Fawzia Ismail (the mother of Aly-Raza, nine, and Aliah, six) is equally positive. "My nephew came here and my brother showed me the school, so it's a bit of a family tradition now. We're very, very pleased with the school. It's so friendly. All the kids mix and go to one another's parties and are in and out of each other's houses. They teach a bit about Israel, but we don't have any problem with that. There are such similarities between our people and our societies."

Irum Rashid (mother of Hanan, nine, and Maryam, four) says that a lot of people in Small Heath are considering moving to Moseley because of King David. "It's a very happy school, the behaviour is fantastic, the food is great - because it's kosher - and so are the SATs results."

But what about learning Hebrew and the Jewish prayers? "I think it's great. The more knowledge, the more understanding," says one of the mothers. "They learn all they need about Islam at mosque school. Actually, the kids often sing Hebrew songs in the bath, which is a bit confusing because we speak Gujarati at home, but I think it's great."

The Jewish parents and teachers I speak to are just as enthusiastic. "You know, in these difficult times in the world, I think we show how things should be done. It's really a bit of a beacon," says one teacher, whose three children all went to King David and ended up at Oxford University.

Parent Trevor Aremband is from South Africa. "In Johannesburg, we have Jewish schools, but they're 100 per cent Jewish, so we were a bit shocked when we first came here. But the integration works so well. It's clearly the way to go in today's world. My son is eight and has loads of Muslim friends."

The most important thing, I am told repeatedly, is that the cross-cultural friendships forged at King David last a lifetime. I hear a conversation about how a Rebecca is going to fly over from the States for a Fatima's wedding. I am told about a pair of lads, one Jewish, one Muslim, who became friends the day they started in the nursery, went to senior school together as well as to university and are now living close to one another with their wives and families and are currently on holiday together.

King David was not designed to be such a beacon of inter-faith cooperation and friendship. Founded in 1865 as The Hebrew School, it was 100 per cent Jewish until the late 1950s.

Then two things began to happen: there was a growth in the Muslim population in middle-income areas such as Moseley, and a shrinking of Britain's Jewish community, especially outside the main centres of London and Manchester. Muslim children started coming to the school in the early 1960s, but the current position, in which they are in the majority (Jewish children comprise 35 per cent, Muslims 50 per cent, Christians, Sikhs and other, 15 per cent) is very new.

"One of the things that surprises people about this school," says Langford, "is that it's not an especially privileged intake. Half of our kids have English as an additional language. But the amazing thing is how well it all works. We have a new little boy here from China, whose only English a few weeks ago was to ask for the toilet. He now speaks English - and can say the Shema perfectly.

"If you gauge success, for instance, by racial incidents, which schools always have to report to the LEA, we have at the most one a term. And that can just mean some harsh words with a racial slant used in the playground. At multicultural inner city schools where I've taught, there will be far, far more than that, possibly one or more a week."

In terms of SATs and Ofsted inspections, King David has also shone. It is rated as good - the second highest possible ranking - in all areas, and Ofsted made a special mention at the last inspection of the integration between children of different faiths and races. In the recent SATs results, the school also came in well above the national average in all subjects.

Steve Langford, a Warwick University economics graduate, is himself a bit of a paradox. He is Church of England on both parental sides and only became interested in Judaism when he worked in a Jewish summer camp in Massachusetts in his gap year. His interest paid off when he got a teaching job a King David. Now he is learning Ivrit at evening classes and goes to Israel for holidays.

The Rabbi of Birmingham's Singers Hill Synagogue, one of the financial backers of King David, is proud of Steve Langford and of the school's extraordinary interfaith record.

"King David School is amazing," says Rabbi Tann. "The reason I think it works well is that racism is engendered entirely by adults. Children don't have it within themselves. Their natural mode is to play happily with everyone. It's only when adults say, 'Don't play with him, he's black, or don't have anything to do with him, he's Muslim, that troubles begin.'

"We never have any racial or inter-faith problems at all. Not ever. In 20 years here, it's simply never happened in any significant way. We teach that if you don't like someone, you avoid them. Don't play with them. Go to the other side of the playground. I believe that if more people followed the lead of King David School, we'd have a much more peaceful world."

One could argue that the philosophy behind "if you don't like someone, you avoid them. Don't play with them. Go to the other side of the playground" is what Iran is espousing when Ahmadinejad says that Jews in Israel should go back to Europe.

More to the point: the Moslem-Jewish ratio is 50-35. What will happen as the ratio inevitably increases in favor of the Moslem?--Will the curriculum stay the same? How will the curriculum change, and with it the atmosphere of tolerance that the school is famous for? It might continue--it might not.

But the lessons to be learned from the King David School will be even more relevant then.

Technorati Tag: Jews and Judaism and Muslims and Islam.

A Question of Race: Obama and the Jews

Hat Tip: Instapundit

Times Magazine delves into the question of Barack Obama's background--and what it takes to be a "black man."

As much as his biracial identity has helped Obama build a sizable following in middle America, it's also opened a gap for others to question his authenticity as a black man. In calling Obama the "first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," the implication was that the black people who are regularly seen by whites — or at least those who aspire to the highest office in the land — are none of these things. But give Biden credit — at least he acknowledged Obama's identity.

The same can't be said for others. "Obama's mother is of white U.S. stock. His father is a black Kenyan," Stanley Crouch recently sniffed in a New York Daily News column entitled "What Obama Isn't: Black Like Me." "Black, in our political and social vocabulary, means those descended from West African slaves," wrote Debra Dickerson on the liberal website Salon.

Apparently there are all kinds of implications in this for Obama's relationship to the African American community and to what degree he will actually be able to rely on the African American vote. The matter has gone so far as the use of the word "halfrican" to describe Obama, and the question as to whether this is a negative term.

Mickey Klaus at Slate writes:

I don't quite understand why it's offensive to call Sen. Obama a "halfrican." It's a useful word! It efficiently describes a real phenomenon. It isn't, on its face, pejorative--and even if it were, it wouldn't be pejorative for long if it were simply used descriptively to mean people with one parent from Africa. ... Update: A reader emails to point out the word is distressingly close to "half-breed." That does seem like a hard connotation to shake.

I don't see how a term using the word "half" when applied to a person's race can be anything but pejorative. The whole idea of splitting hairs over what it takes to be a member of a race is unsettling and can lead to some bizarre verbal gymnastics. When Teresa Heinz Kerry, who comes from Mozambique, described herself as an African American--it caused a huge controversy...and an unusual defense:

"African-hyphen-American belongs to blacks," Heinz Kerry's spokesman told reporters, insisting that it was proper for his boss to call herself African American as long as no hyphen was used or intended.

I'm glad they got that settled.

I mention this because it seems to connect with an article I found--entitled Zionism and Race--by Fred E. Foldvary:

Jews that lived in Ethiopia are as black as their Christian neighbors. In India, Jews who have lived there for hundreds of years look Indian. Chinese Jews looked Chinese. Jews who come from northern Africa look like Arabs. European Jews look Caucasian. There are many ways to look Jewish. Anyone from any race may convert to Judaism and become a Jew. So are Jews a race?

A dictionary will tell you that a "race" in this context is a variety of the human species characterized by various physical features such as skin color, hair color and texture, body shape and size, eye color, and so on. Anthropologists have divided human beings into several races, such as the Caucasoid, Negroid, Mongoloid, African pygmy, and American Indian. Race is a genetic classification; one is born into a race and is of a certain race or mixed race because of one's ancestors. One can covert into a religion, but one cannot change one's race.

Jews are therefore not a race. Jews are members of a religion, Judaism. There was at one time a Hebrew nation that was an ethnic group, but since ancient times the scattering of Jews throughout the world and intermarriage and conversions have made the Hebrew origin less a genetic and more a spiritual tie. There is also a culture tied to the religion and its laws regarding diet, the Sabbath, and various rituals, along with cultural practices picked up in various locations that are "Jewish" by coincidence. But there is no "Jewish race."

This seems to be a particularly odd sort of argument that Foldvary makes. The point he wants to make is that since Jews are not a race, but rather a religious identification, Zionism can therefore not be racist. At the same time though, he does seem to rely on Jews as a race when it helps his cause:

Arabs and many Jews are of the same ethnic family, the Semites. Hebrew and Arabic are both Semitic languages. Many Arab Palestinians and Israeli Jews have common ethnic origins, some Jews in Israel having converted to Islam after the Arab conquest, and some ancient Canaanites having converted to Judaism. Jews and Arabs are ethnic cousins, if not brothers.

According to the resources used brought down by dictionary.com, designations such as Caucasian, Mongoloid, and Negro are "no longer in technical use." Instead, racial designations seem to be based more on different physical characteristics and genetic markers such as blood groups. In terms of blood and DNA, there would seem to be a lot to bind Jews together as a race (see What Is It With Jews and DNA?). More than that, race is also defined in terms of "any people united by common history, language, cultural traits, etc."--a definition that goes beyond religion.

There's lots of room to argue and discuss Jews as a race, as a religion, and as both. That should be especially obvious since that is something we have been arguing over for quite a while. But during times of adversity, Jews have historically tended to come together and unite--a history that has been more tested in recent times.

Likewise, it would be a terrible waste of talent and human resources if African Americans would allow the issue of "Who is an African American" to get in the way of further empowerment and achievement.

Technorati Tag: Barack Obama and African-American and Jews and Judaism.

With Friends Like Hillary and Edwards...

The issue of Iran and it's pursuit of nuclear capability is of major concern both to Israel and the US--so it is important to hear what the presidential candidates have to say on the topic. Apparently, some candidates feel they don't really have to say anything at all--even while they're saying it.

That seems to be the case when Hillary Clinton addressed AIPAC, as presented by James Taranto on Monday:

How does Mrs. Clinton deal with a problem about which public opinion has not yet gelled? On Thursday she spoke to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and blogress Heather Robinson captured this choice quote:

I have advocated engagement with our enemies and Israel's enemies because I want to understand better what we can do to defeat those who . . . are aiming their weapons at us. . . . This is a worthy debate. . . . There are many, including our president, who reject any engagement with Iran and Syria. I believe that is a good-faith position to take, but I'm not sure it's the smart strategy that'll take us to the goal we share.

What do I mean by engagement or some kind of process? I'm not sure anything positive would come out of it . . . but there are a number of factors that argue for doing what I'm suggesting.

Says Robinson: "And what was it she was suggesting, exactly? Well, she never said." [emphasis his]

So on Iraq, Mrs. Clinton stands resolutely on the side of public opinion, whichever side that may be in any given year. On Iran, about which public opinion is unformed, she is maddeningly noncommittal.

Compare that with the comments by John Edwards who seems to want to actually take a stand--a stand depending on who he is speaking to. James Taranto comments on this on Tuesday:

On Sunday her fellow Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards gave an interview to Tim Russert on "Meet the Press," in which he engaged in similar circumlocution:

Russert: Would President Edwards allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon?

Edwards: I--there's no answer to that question at this moment. I think that it's a--it's a--it's a very bad thing for Iran to get a nuclear weapon. I think we have--we have many steps in front of us that have not been used. We ought to negotiate directly with the Iranians, which has not, not been done. The things that I just talked about, I think, are the right approach in dealing with Iran. And then we'll, we'll see what the result is.

Russert: But they may get one.

Edwards: Yeah. I think--I think the--we don't know, and you have to make a judgment as you go along, and that's what I would do as president.

Compare this with what Edwards said on the subject Jan. 22--just 13 days earlier--when he delivered an address by satellite to Israel's annual Herzliya Conference:

Let me be clear: Under no circumstances can Iran be allowed to have nuclear weapons. . . . Once Iran goes nuclear, other countries in the Middle East will go nuclear, making Israel's neighborhood much more volatile.

Iran must know that the world won't back down. The recent U.N. resolution ordering Iran to halt the enrichment of uranium was not enough. We need meaningful political and economic sanctions. We have muddled along for far too long. To ensure that Iran never gets nuclear weapons, we need to keep ALL options on the table, Let me reiterate--ALL options must remain on the table.

Last week Ezra Klein of The American Prospect, a liberal-left magazine, asked Edwards about the Herzliya speech, and he sounded quite a different note:

Klein: So, I just want to get it very clear, you think that attacking Iran would be a bad idea?

Edwards: I think would have very bad consequences.

Klein: So when you said that all options are on the table?

Edwards: It would be foolish for any American president to ever take any option off the table.

Klein: Can we live with a nuclear Iran?

Edwards: I'm not ready to cross that bridge yet. I think that we have lots of opportunities that we've . . . We're not negotiating with them directly, what I just proposed has not been done. We're not being smart about how we engage with them. But I'm not ready to cross that bridge yet. And I think the reason people react the way they do--I understand it, because, when George Bush uses this kind of language, it means something very different for most people. I mean when he uses this kind of language "options are on the table," he does it in a very threatening kind of way--with a country that he's not engaging with or making any serious diplomatic proposals to. I mean I think that he's just dead wrong about that. [emphasis his]

Both of these candidates made their pitch before Jewish groups--Clinton before AIPAC and Edwards in Herzliya. One refused to take a firm stand; the took a firm stand that he promptly diluted when having to deal with a different audience. Granted this is very early, but even granted that we are talking politics, is it really too much to ask that when a candidate touches on an issue, they actually tell you where they stand on it--and say it consistently?

Barack Obama, for his part, has suggested launching surgical missile strikes into Iran in order to prevent extremists from gaining control of nuclear bombs--at least he did back in September 2004.

Fast-forward to January 2007:

In regards towards Iran's nuclear program, Obama called for exhausting all diplomatic options but declared that U.S. must "keep all options on the table" and try to stop Iran from pursuing its nuclear ambitions, lest anyone listening think the presidential hopeful would be afraid to use America's military might should he become commander-in-chief.

Obama also warned the aministration that he and his colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will keep a close eye on U.S. action against Iran, saying that "we do not want to see precipitous actions that have not been thought through, have not been discussed, have not been authorized."

Of course, that was during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. What would Obama say in front of a Jewish or Israeli audience?

Bottom line, this whole issue is moot, considering the lock the Democratic Party has on the Jewish vote. But whatever other issues the average Jewish voter makes a priority, perhaps he should give some consideration to the issue of honesty.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Hillary Clinton and John Edwards and Barack Obama.