General News
The Four-Letter Word
|
But he has brought the word back into the language. Now people speak again about peace. Shalom. PEACE? WHAT is peace?
Empathy
Fall Harvest
|
The earth has yielded its harvest; God, our God, Blesses us.” Psalm 67:7
Today I return to writing about God’s gifts in our lives! It seemed to me that everywhere I turned this summer I heard retirement conversations going on and those same conversations caused me pause. My cousin Charlie, my brother in law Larry, my friend Herman all talked about the event with an excitement which made me stop and think. Questions surfaced, Do I want to retire? When? Why? What would I do if I didn’t go to work? Questions swirled through my mind, an endless and consuming battle raged inward.
General News
China builds new type of globalization
|
Major corporate media around the world warn that the gathering signals the end of the American Century — the U.S. claim to be the world’s sole superpower. Numerous analysts suggest the project could shift the center of the global economy and challenge the U.S.-led world order.
General News
The Settlement Legality Debate: FAQ
|
One could quibble further about the language of the Balfour Declaration (for example, it seems to promise only that the “national home for the Jewish people” will be somewhere “in Palestine,” rather than providing for the constitution of Palestine as a whole as a Jewish national home). However, the establishment of the State of Israel, with its over-fulfillment of the “national home” policy, suffices to render the related provisions of the Mandate obsolete.
General News
Making a Long-Standing UN Vision for Compassion a Reality
|
In the programmatic and tactical realms, GMP and Heralding Article 25 differ. The former lays out a series of specific policy proposals, whereas Mesbahi in his book prescribes frameworks for action that leave it mostly up to the reader how to best carry them out. Mesbahi also looks more deeply at how people and politicians have perpetuated the status quo through misplaced priorities. While both writings highlight the need to put human needs and rights before money, the GMP very explicitly states that the concept of generosity through security is about more than material wealth, while Mesbahi is more focused on resource redistribution. The ESRA complements the vision laid out in Heralding Article 25 by seeking to enshrine its prescriptions within the Constitution in a manner that would compel the centers of political and economic power to get on board.
General News
The President Was Right About Improving Our Relationship With Russia
|
To avoid misunderstanding, I should start by saying that I don’t like Russia, nor do I like Ukraine. I was born in Ukraine, but during many years of my life in the Soviet Union, I had more than enough “pleasant” interactions with Russian and Ukrainian reality and people, along with the nationalism and anti-Semitism of a good portion of the population.
General News
Curiouser and Curiouser
|
Like Alice in Wonderland when she got bigger and bigger, the story turned “curiouser and curiouser” and here too, odd language was important. This young blond German officer, 28, had been registered in the German states of Hesse and Bavaria as a refugee from Damascus in Syria. He had said he was Catholic but the men of ISIS had persecuted him and killed some of his family because of his partially Jewish background and Jewish name – “David Benjamin”. Strangely enough, he spoke little or no Arabic and was questioned in French – with a German accent. No-one had ever been suspicious, or so it was claimed.
General News
The Process of Creation as the New Paradigm for our Civilization
|
Our universe contains an enormous variety of different forms. All these forms are finite; and the resources for sustaining finite forms are also finite. In order to conserve finite forms, their range of possibilities, or degrees of freedom, must expand, which will allow them access to new resources. Gaining new possibilities requires new properties, that is, properties that have had no prior existence; in other words, it requires an act of creation.
General News
Standing Rock in Colombia: A Real Vision of Peace After Decades of War and Displacement
|
But they cannot be silenced. They are driven by the same power as the resistance movement in the United States: Standing Rock – “Defend the Sacred.” Their challenge, their suffering and their chances of survival are the same there as here. They will never make it on their own, but with the help of a planetary network that recognizes and supports this fight for survival with all its might, we can prepare for the planetary global system change: away from globalized violence toward decentrally organized peace communities that are creating a new foundation for the future on Earth.
General News
Parashat Tazria-Metzora
|
Our sages teach us that tzaarat is a condition that only occurred during biblical times. The reason: our level of spiritual refinement then was higher and our tolerance for evil was very low. Over time, our spiritual and ethical sensibilities have become dulled. We are now able to endure corruption at levels that in biblical times were toxic.