Daniel Lubetzky

Mohammad Malek gave me a ride to a CNN interview yesterday and I was so struck by his uncanny resemblance to Warren Beatty, and by his insightful comments on Pakistan, that I thought I’d share this with you.   What are Mohammad’s feelings about the situation in Pakistan? "Musharraf has to go.  He cannot break [...]

This was a statement sent by the President’s "Office of Public Liaison" THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ___________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release                     November 25, 2007 STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT I am pleased to welcome Prime Minister Olmert, President Abbas, and representatives of more than forty countries to the United States for the November [...]

Not sure of the source of this b/c I got it in an email from a friend, but it helped me keep things in perspective… Sheikh Abdallah Nimr Darwish, founder of the Israel’s Islamic movement told Israeli President Shimon Peres that the Arab world is ready to make peace once and for all if the [...]

Gary Sharma from Srinagar in Kashmir joined us at a blogger meeting bc he is stimulated by the OV approach. He explains he and his family cannot go back to their hometown – and neither can anyone else – since it literally became a military no man’s land after extremists took over. A cautionary tale [...]

Yizkor happens five times a year, during holy days of Judaism.  During Yizkor prayer services, people who lost their loved ones repeat the Kaddish prayers that they conducted on a daily basis during the first year of their family member’s passing. For me Yizkor is a time when I go back to the memories of [...]

When my Dad passed away, I struggled a lot at the beginning with the concept of doing Kaddish.  Kaddish is a Jewish prayer where one exhalts, praises and blesses G’d.  It is a blessing recited by people who have lost a close relative (parent, child, sibling, or spouse).  The first year after the passing of [...]

I wrote before about Yom Kippur and fasting.  But like all things Jews do, we manage to eat a lot, so the pre-fast meal and post-fast dinner more than make up for the lack of food during the fast. This is the first year since my Dad passed away that all of our family was [...]

How does a secular Jew relate to prayer? What is the meaning of Judaism, particularly in the modern world?  What I love about Judaism has always been its overarching emphasis on striving to become better human beings.  The golden rule stems from Judaism: Do onto others… I particularly admire the concept of “Tikun Olam”, that [...]

One of the greatest strengths of the OneVoice Movement is that it is made up of mainstream nationalists from each side.  The Chief Palestinian Islamic Justice, Sheikh Taysir al Tamimi, a fervent Palestinian patriot, is the equivalent in Palestine to what in Israel would be a merger between the Chief Rabbi AND the Head of [...]

On September 11th, I wrote a piece wondering about Bin Laden’s motives.  Could he really believe that his actions would make us surrender? But as much as we revile him, we must assume he is calculating and smart. Bin Laden’s goal could not have been to defeat America in one blow or make America retreat [...]