I just recently had a chance to read Ehud Barak’s speech from earlier this summer in full and I truly consider it to be one of the most important commentaries in years on the challenges Israel faces. On the State of the Nation—and what is to be done? A speech at the IDC, Herzliya, June [...]
In the wake of a heinous murder of an octogenarian priest in France by radical Muslims, Muslims across Europe attended Catholic Mass and spoke out assertively against extremism within. I hadn’t seen this courageous act of solidarity in the news till my friend Martin Varsavsky pointed it out. What a powerful and strategically effective response [...]
This brief piece in the National Review provides very provocative contrast about the way Trump’s new campaign CEO thinks about building the right wing (“turn on the hate”) and how traditional conservatives do (“love of country”). We shouldn’t give a pass to those in the ‘Establishment’ that flirted with the racism and hatred that over the [...]
Fareed Zakaria’s latest Washington Post column. For some of us, the puzzle of this election is not why Donald Trump is doing so badly but why he is doing so well. Given his obvious lack of qualifications, his absurd proposals, his hypocrisy, his obnoxious rhetoric, his sheer incompetence as a candidate, why is he not [...]
Bee colony collapse is a major issue that society should be concerned about and focused on. If there’s any animal that can’t seem to catch a break, it’s the honeybee. Thanks to what scientists believe is a combination of disease, parasites, pesticides and other environmental stressors, honeybee colonies have experienced significant losses over the past [...]
Purim is a holiday in which we are not afraid to be ridiculous. We don funny costumes; we drink ourselves into oblivion; we are boisterous and noisy. Purim is all about ridicule. And, above all, Purim ridicules intolerance. The misogynist King Ahasuerus, who objectifies his wife Vashti, ends up being outwitted by a woman; the [...]
Say it’s Monday and it’s a bad one. You overslept and definitely didn’t shower, so your hair might smell and maybe you spill some coffee on your shirt while you’re barreling toward the Metro, which is especially unfortunate because you’re meeting with your boss at 9:30. Just when you think your bloodstream has reached maximum [...]
The New York Times opens its story of anti-Semitism in France last week with a terrifying paragraph: “It was the heavy leather-bound volume of the Torah he was carrying that shielded Benjamin Amsellem from the machete blows.” The barbarism and brutality of the attack by an ISIS inspired youth on a Jew brings a feeling [...]
This video about my cousin Emmanuel’s cinematography literally moved me to tears. The humanity within every one of his shots, the fragility and beauty these convey about our human condition and the world we inhabit are so humbling, so poetic, so powerful. Emmanuel, aka “Chivo”, has won two Oscars thus far and just got nominated [...]
This is a fantastic piece that combines classy comedy along with actual insights in to the life of our President, and the politics, fame, and global issues that surround him. President Obama is outstanding. http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/president-barack-obama-just-tell-him-you-re-the-president