6 thoughts on “Happy Arrival Day”

  2. Monk, do not conflate the Jewish people — perhaps the longest-suffering people on the face of the Earth, who are currently beseiged by terrorists — with a political position advocated by a few Rabbis (and hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of Gentiles, it’s worth noting).
    Open the doors: This is a place of refuge for all.

  3. What von said. “I lift my lamp beside the golden door” as the saying goes.
    I’m not Jewish but have gone to synagogues several times, usually of the liberal reform persuasion, and have heard some of the best insights I have ever heard about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict there. I remember one rabbi saying words to the effect of:
    “It’s entirely understandable for the Israeli people to react as they have. But Sharon’s approach is wrong, and it is also leading to the deaths of innocents, and it will not work. It is easier for American Jews, whose children are not being murdered on shopping malls and in buses, to realize this, and to hope for a peaceful solution and a better day–and I think it is our solemn duty not only to support Israel, but to provide that hope.”
    It’s not a very good paraphrase; I’m not doing it justice. But that was the gist.

  4. marguerite,
    How’s Sharon approach different from let’s say… Barak’s?
    By the way, the first Jew in America was Columbus’ translator:
    Researchers note that the Jewish presence in the Caribbean
    dates to Christopher Columbus` crew. Luis de Torres, who knew Arabic, Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew and Latin, escaped the Spanish Inquisition by serving as Columbus` official translator. After landing on San Salvador, Columbus assigned de Torres to lead a scouting mission and subsequently to serve as an ad hoc governor.

  5. Take it easy, ya’ll. I’m in no way conflating the Jewish people with these cretins.
    I was actually surprised to see this group sinking as low as extremist Muslims. One thing disturbs me above all, and that’s the use of religion to justify deeply immoral actions, no matter where it comes from. So, to read about rabbis citing the Talmud as a means to not just excuse, but encourage the killing of civilians, shocked me. If I was Jewish, I would be mortified that the phrase “right-wing rabbi” even existed.
    One of the reasons I’m a Buddhist is that you never, ever hear on the news “Buddhist extremists today blew up a mosque in Sri Lanka…”
    Anyway, apologies if it was inappropriate to bring all this up in this thread. This was not in any way an indictment of a people, just these people.

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