UMM AL HIRAN AND COTTAGE CHEESE 0 Comments 29 March 2016 The following op-ed by Rabbi Ed Rettig was originally published in Hebrew on Ynet. By Rabbi Ed Rettig The solution to the collapse of solidarity based systems is solidarity itself. By reclaiming mutual responsibility, the Israeli people can rebuild what the elites have broken.
“Here is a question that will not go away when the storm over one peeping tom rabbi dies down. To what extent are these dysfunctional leaders our creations because we venerate their management skills, outward charisma and emotional shallowness. To what degree are we responsible in that we allow ourselves as a community to define
“The core failure of these two men, so different in so many ways, lies in their inability to work with those with whom they disagree. True, Congress is dysfunctional. But in the American system, the president must lead the whole country, not just his/her supporters. The politics of bridging gaps can be ugly. A quote
“Yet, the long term significance of the Bardem letter may not lie in its vituperative flash of hateful publicity. Rather it lies in our ability to recognize it as a symptom. Next year we will commemorate a half century since Vatican II. What this formulation by 100 elite Spanish celebrities tell us is that Western
Europe is an interesting place to observe from Israel. Europeans live in a society that is not easy to understand. Their culture seems based on a flattering paradigm: When humanity is going to advance, it does so in Europe first. Yet the term “Europe” provokes a dual reaction in this region. On the one hand, there is
Israel once had a commercial for a brand of bra. Women who wore it could “go with and feel without.” The ad seemed to me subversive political commentary masquerading as commercial copywriting. How much political behavior we can summarize in those four words? Take the example of the governments of the 15 EU states. These
My son and unindicted co-conspirator Haviv Rettig Gur has written an important essay on contemporary Jewish peoplehood for the Times of Israel. Six million Jews died in the Holocaust. That fact, the millions of Jews shot and incinerated at the hands of European insanity, will go down in history as the single greatest calamity in Jewish
President Morsi of Egypt scares Israelis. His election, and the rapid consolidation of power in the hands of his Muslim Brotherhood, culminates a year and a half of revolution. While public attention remains focused on the Iranian nuclear threat, the rise of this Egyptian Muslim Brothers regime is widely seen as opening another threatening front. But
As Netanyahu ponders the government he is likely to set up after the election, the new power of the Jewish Home could make him consider the advantages of a broad national unity coalition, particularly in the face of the threat from Iran. READ MORE The Times of Israel, January 2, 2013;
The Likud primaries and the merged list with Israel Beitenu moved it to the right. The Labor primaries strengthened its position as a social democratic party. The center remains divided. The national-religious, Haredi and Arab parties remain focused on the constituencies that they have historically represented. Most observers believe that the next coalition will look
By taking equally energetic, clear stands regarding settlements and the definition of refugees, the international community can lay the groundwork for the resumption of serious negotiations on two states for two peoples, with these obstacles much reduced in their power to obstruct peace. Read more: Who is a refugee? | Ed Rettig | Ops & Blogs
Public announcement of a joint Israeli-Chinese plan to construct a rail link between Eilat and Ashdod ports carefully avoided mentioning Egypt, but the connection is inescapable. The Egyptian economy is in distress and unlikely to prosper anytime soon. The central government already struggles to maintain security in Sinai and the large portion of Egypt South
The Israeli and American non-Orthodox movements took a victory lap following the decision by Israel’s Attorney Generalrequiring rural municipalities to fund the salaries of non-Orthodox rabbis of congregations with more than 50 member families. But though understandable, the joy is tragically misplaced. There are a number of reasons to be wary of the Attorney General’s decision.
Last week’s anti-migrant riot in South Tel Aviv was a wakeup call to begin a serious public discussion of Israel’s handling of the influx of illicit migrants. For the better part of the last decade, NGOs involved in migrant affairs have urged adoption of a constructive, well-planned policy, to no avail. The recent violence may accomplish what
The widespread perception among Israeli decision-makers of the European Union’s irrelevance is a perplexing conundrum of Israeli foreign relations. While one would think that a continent-sized institution representing Israel’s largest export market would somehow have more clout, the already limited capacity of the EU to play a constructive role contracts at an alarming rate. This
Dr. Hassan Barari, a Jordanian-born professor of political science at the University of Nebraska, has chosen a difficult, possibly dangerous academic path: he is committed to “peaceful coexistence and historical reconciliation between the Arabs and the Israelis.” In a step unusual among his Arab colleagues, he took the trouble to learn Hebrew “in order to
Too often, the urgent overwhelms the important. Israeli media have recently focused on the Iranian nuclear program, primaries in the Kadima party, the American presidential campaign, and the fiasco of the “Global March to Jerusalem,” worthy topics all. Yet all the attention paid to these urgent matters has crowded out the critically important issue of
Israelis took satisfaction in the appointment of Belaynesh Zevadia, their first female ambassador to Ethiopia, who is herself of Ethiopian-Jewish origin. “It is a great honor to be appointed ambassador, and especially the first ambassador from the Ethiopian community,” said Zevadia. “I made aliya as a youth and am returning to Ethiopia as an ambassador.” AJC
However, as Cyprus and Israel reach out to build that relationship, the change in policy will require a deeper change in orientation toward each other and perhaps toward the region. This is a difficult process that needs to take place not only in the political echelon and public opinion (where strong anecdotal evidence suggests it
On the surface, things are going well for Hamas, the Palestinian affiliate of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. Unless Israel decides on a full-blown invasion of Gaza, Hamas faces no real threat to its rule over its small Islamic republic there Read more:The Hamas drama | Ed Rettig | Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israelhttp://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-hamas-drama/#ixzz354IY4BmJ
Another Israeli advantage lies in community-building. Jews through the ages have excelled in setting up communities. In Israel, the challenges of development led to the creation of a nationwide network of community centers. The IsraAID/Tevel B’tzedek team in the Leogane organized such a network on a smaller scale. In Port au Prince a small, dedicated
Al Jazeera (Reuters): “Panetta: Israel must ‘get to the damn table’”New York Times: “Defense Chief Says Israel Must Mend Arab Ties”Fox News: “Panetta Scolds Israel on Peace Talks” Sometimes media can make a public event into a Rorschach test, reporting what they are predisposed to want us to see. Coverage of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s speech to the Saban
Soccer players live in dread of the “own goal,” where a player inadvertently kicks the ball into his own team’s goal, giving the other side the point. As I write, Israel appears poised to provide the world with a rare example of two “own goals,” and in the process harming Israeli democracy. The Israeli cabinet set
A burning house of GodOp-ed: Israel’s leadership must unite to confront menace threatening very fabric of societyDavid Rosen, Edward RettigA burned house of worship, in this case a mosque in the Israeli Arab town of Tuba Zangaria, and a desecrated Arab cemetery in Jaffa, were together an ominous opening to the New Year. To be sure,
Putting it all together, several tentative conclusions suggest themselves. The government can do things to correct the distorted credit market that is throttling economic development. It can find ways to free up more land for construction while cutting red tape and bringing down the cost of housing. It can open the market to greater competition
We saw history in the making as the crowds in Juba celebrated the declaration of independence of the new Republic of South Sudan. This independent state the size of Texas creates a precedent for the continent of Africa to break the bondage of boundaries imposed by colonial empires. We in Israel and Palestine need to
Rabbi Michael Graetz offers a provocative suggestion: Masorti must form a political party. This is a bad idea on two counts: first, it would put the Masorti movement into the sick bed of political parties in Israel—political institutions whose existential crisis is a major component of the dysfunctions of the Israeli political system; and second,
Finally, it is interesting to speculate how this reads from a Palestinian perspective. Brimmer seems to imply that not only can the Palestinian initiative succeed in delivering its primary goal of a propaganda victory with possible international legal ramifications. It could provoke a congressional response that will further weaken the U.S. in Turtle Bay and
Will the Turkel Commission Report help Israel make its case to the world? If the Palmer Commission endorses its fundamental findings, that the occupation is over and the blockade is necessary, proportionate and legal, Israel’s actions enforcing it will be vindicated in the eyes of many. However, if the Palmer Commission finds that the occupation
The Israeli Knesset designated Jerusalem Day as a national holiday in 1968. It falls on the 28th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar, the anniversary of the day the State of Israel proclaimed the reunification of the city in 1967. This year the Hebrew date fell on June 1. The occasion calls for some reflections
