“The only way we have left to control suicide-terrorists would be precisely to convince them that blowing themselves up is not the worst-case scenario for them, nor the end scenario at all. Making their families and loved ones bear a financial burden— just as Germans still pay for war crimes— would immediately add consequences to their actions.”
Nassim Taleb
Would Israel exist if the United States had let in a million mostly Jewish refugees in the 1930’s and 1940’s? Almost certainly not. Israel came to be because of the intense need for a place of safety for the Jews of Europe. There was nowhere to go so we created one. If Franklin Roosevelt had been less of an anti-Semite than his contemporaries and used his pen to admit a million refugees then the need for Israel would have been much lower. The anti-Semites in… Read More »Roosevelt and Israel
The State of Israel was 64 years old this week which makes it about middle aged as nations go. Happy Birthday Israel To add a little more historic perspective: Israel was founded before the fax machine and outlived it. Israel was founded before the cassette tape and has outlived it. The same for the floppy disc, the princess phone and the pager. Looking at some companies Israel has out lived WT Grant, Polaroid, Wang and Lehman Brothers It looks like Israel will outlive Kodak and… Read More »Happy Birthday Israel
Our Israel trip with Dennis Prager was one of the highlights of this year. Here are links to: the flickr album of photos I posted about the trip. My other blog posts related to the trip Dennis Prager’s web site where you can learn about his future trip
“I don’t care about inequality. I care about how well the people at the bottom live.” Dennis Prager Author and Scholar New Book Still the Last Best Hope
One of the Passover rituals is to dip parsley in salt water. I’m not sure why. At every Seder I have ever been to the salt water was made at the home. It is easy to do but sometimes it is done wrong. Usually not enough salt. My suggestion is to sell premixed salt water in a beautiful bottle with a connection to Israel. It could be purified Red Sea or Dead Sea water. A test market could be done by having a youth group… Read More »Tears of Affliction
In Israel so many of the caregivers are from the Philippines that the Hebrew word for caregiver has become “philippina.” So that it is possible (and we overheard this) to say: “My philippina is from Turkey.” The photo above was taken in one of the malls in Tel Aviv. It is a group of caregivers playing card while their charges sit around them in their wheelchairs. Globalization? Good or bad?
“Whether women are better than men I cannot say – but they are certainly no worse.” Golda Meir Israeli Prime Minister
“Experiences are better than things.” Dennis Prager Author and Scholar New Book: Still the Last Best Hope
“A mother can take care of three or four children but three or four children can’t take care of a mother.” Christine Leventhal A very wise woman on the Prager Israel Trip during a conversation about taking care of elderly parents.