Truth and Peace

Mammal at the time of the early Cretaceous Period A fossil that had been collecting dust in a museum in Germany was recently " rediscovered " by an American academic leading a field trip. The fossil shows an early snake-like creature, estimated to be 113 million years old, possessing small, vestigial legs. These are legs that, in an earlier epoch, had been larger and were used for walking, but which atrophied over the course of millions of years as the snake elongated and became a slithering creature. Some modern snakes are thought to still bear such vestiges. Boas and pythons have small buds protruding out where their hind legs would otherwise be, which they use to grip during mating. This isn't the first time such a fossil has been found, so I'm not sure what all the hubbub is about. But that's immaterial to what I wanted to get at here, which is an article posted by the Israel news site Arutz 7, reacting to the recent find: " Proof of the Torah? Sn...

A friend of mine, Brian Blum, wrote a candid piece in the Jerusalem Post about his experiences with online "bullying," in the form of malicious comments he's received in reaction to his articles. (I put "bullying" in quotes not to minimize the problem but to distinguish it from children who are cyber-bullied to the point of being suicidal . Hence my use of the term "jerks" in the title.) Steve Martin in "The Jerk" After reading the article, I started reflecting on what causes people, droves of them, to engage in such gratuitous verbal cruelty in online settings. And it occurred to me that there are a myriad of psychological and social factors converging here. Here are a few that come to mind:   1) Online culture is such that "strong" comments are rewarded with likes and attention - i.e. positive reinforcement.   2) People identify way too much with their "opinions." When an article or comment challenges th...

"We don't employ Arabs here." Posted on Facebook last November, as of today has upwards of 14,000 likes. 14,000 people who clearly are fed up with Jewish blood spilled here in Israel at the hands of Arabs - whether it's a Hamas "career terrorist," a thug throwing a Molotov cocktail at your car, or the guy who's been working with you for years and comes in one day brandishing a knife or rifle. It's a statement that there are consequences to all this, and that we'll choose "life" over being the nice guy if we have to... I get all that. I even sympathize with it. Nonetheless, I object to signs like this, for two reasons: 1) Arguably one of the most destructive forces in the world is the inclination to lump people together and condemn them based on their ethnic, racial or religious "category" (whites, blacks, Catholics, Arabs, Chinese, Jews, etc.), rather than judging them as individuals. That's the mentality...

If I believed it was my religious duty to vote for Moshe Abutbol - and not for Eli Cohen - because the latter isn't a ritually-observant Jew, I'd do the following thought-exercise... ...I'm elected as the mayor of the city. I visit a school under my jurisdiction, and I meet a classroom full of bright-eyed little boys and/or girls. One of them comes up to me and asks the following question: "Do you think I could be mayor someday?" Suddenly I'm taken aback. Because here's the thing - these kids are not religious . The question is, what would I respond? One thing's for sure - I could not, and would not, look that little girl or boy in the face and tell them what I really believed: "No, you can never be mayor, nor should you ever be mayor. Not unless you become religious." Or: "No, not unless you move to a non-religious city." Why? Because it's cruel. Because I know in my heart that it's wrong to say such ...

This week, a letter made the news (see an English article here ) written by the "Committee for Purity of Communications," stating the following: On the 5th of Tevet, 5774, I was by the great teacher, the sage, Rav Chaim Kanievsky, shlita , in the presence of his grandson, Rav Aryeh Kanievsky, shlita , and he said that anyone who has an iPhone, licentious internet and the like, is invalid as a witness for a wedding and a divorce. If such a person was a witness, even after the fact one has to perform the wedding or give the get (divorce document) once again. Similarly, he said that one who certifies the validity of a mikveh for women's immersion, and similarly for a woman who immerses others [i.e. a balanit ], they are invalid in their job if they have such devices; and even after the fact - if a woman already immersed - they cannot be deemed trustworthy. With blessings, Aharon Feinhandler, Head of the Committee for Purity of Communications p.s. And one should ...

The press is reporting the story worldwide that Mayor Moshe Abutbol said, "There are no gays in Beit Shemesh," and that gays need to be dealt with by the Ministry of Health and the police. So the first thing to do, if you haven't, is to watch the actual clip from "Shai b'Shishi" - specifically from 2:55 to 3:44. In Stern’s interview with Moshe Abutbul, he claims “there are no gays in this pure and holy city” and that if there were, “they would be dealt with by the ministry of health and police.” Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/tzedek-tzedek/mayor-abutbul-and-the-awkward-issue-of-beit-shemesh-child-abuse/2013/11/12/ “there are no gays in this pure and holy city” Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/tzedek-tzedek/mayor-abutbul-and-the-awkward-issue-of-beit-shemesh-child-abuse/2013/11/12/ “there are no gays in this pure and holy city” Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/tzedek-tzedek/mayor-abutbul-and-the-a...

Last month, the Board of Directors of Women of the Wall (WoW) voted to accept a compromise solution, whereby WoW would move its Rosh Chodesh prayer service to a new egalitarian section of the Kotel to be built in the area known as Robinson's Arch. A minority of WoW remains opposed to this compromise, seeing it not as a "compromise" but rather a surrender to Orthodox demands and a renouncement of WoW's very raison d'être . They thus want to continue praying in the women's section, in accordance with their legal right. Honestly, I can understand both sides. Original photo by Gil Yohanan / Ynet As I said in my previous post , we are dealing with a clash of two distinct visions for Israel as a society. And if all we do is push at one another, each side vying unyieldingly for its own self-interests without concern for the other, we will decrease the quality of life for everyone. Compromise is vital if we wish to be a strong Jewish people and a strong Isra...