An Open Letter to NPR's David Greene

The goal of this email is to add some passion to your Friday night dinner. Please print and share.

To: David Greene, NPR's Morning Edition
Re: William Schabas interview

Dear Mr. Greene,

I listened with great dismay to your August 25, 2014 interview with Prof. William Schabas.

You began strong, with the real potential to tell this story well, but ended painfully.

You had the opportunity to hold him accountable.

But you let him get off so easy it almost sounded like pandering.

Now, to your credit, you played a passionate critical quote from the Israeli UN Ambassador:

Choosing William Schabas to lead this council makes about as much sense as choosing Count Dracula to run the blood bank!

Then you allowed him to respond. Here was his response:

The ambassador of Israel, he doesn't want this commission. He won't be happy with anybody. I'm obviously a lightening rod and a few of my previous statements have contributed to that, but he wouldn't be happy with anybody…. Because he's opposed to the Commission, he's opposed to the Human Rights Council, he's opposed to all the human rights mechanisms within the United Nations. That's his target. Perhaps I underestimated the venom that would be associated with my own appointment. But this is all to be expected, there is nothing surprising there. If there are other important governments around the world and more credible that come and say I'm not the right person, I'm going to be a little more attentive than I am to the Israeli permanent representative.

In other words, True, I've said some anti-Israel things in the past but the Israeli government is unconcerned with human rights and with truth so we can dismiss their concerns.

Israel is unconcerned with human rights? That's so patently false it leaves one speechless. Yet I suppose if you repeat a lie often enough it becomes true?

Notice how he down-grades the Ambassador's title to "Permanent Representative", an extraordinary Freudian slip!!

Mr. Greene, if that's not bias, what is?

How come you didn't ask him why such bias doesn't disqualify him from this commission?

How come you didn't ask him to explain his widely publicized question,

Why are we going after the president of Sudan (at the ICC) for Darfur and not the president of Israel for Gaza?

(Note: dovish Shimon Peres was Israel's President at the time!!)

How come you didn't ask him why he hasn't at the very least made comparable statements about the leaders of Hamas (a terrorist organization according to its neighbors Egypt and Israel, plus Australia, the European Union, Japan, the UK and the US, and banned in Jordan) who declare their pride that they target civilians with rockets, kidnap and murder, and bus bombs?

Or how about Iran, who are publicly proud of their role supplying Hamas with these rockets?

Because you are an excellent interviewer, it was particularly painful to hear you fall short of your usual high standard. This  and reinforced the long-term perception among many Americans that NPR has a subtle but persistent anti-Israel bias.

Sincerely,

Alexander Seinfeld

PS - Schabas Shalom.

PPS - Want to sign the petition to dismiss Prof. Schabas from the Commission? Click here (but don't bother if you're not from an "important and credible country"... ;-).

PPPS – You might find this commentary useful. Also, see this. Also this.

Tunnel Vision

The goal of this blog is to expand the vision of your Friday night dinner. Please print and share.
In honor of Shelly's birthday... Happy Birthday, Shelly!
In memory of Anita Ghitzes, who passed away this week.
To dedicate a future Table Talk, send an email
 

Last week's email, What's in a Doorpost, drew a large response.

Maybe that's because of a deep je-ne-sais-quoi that resonated. Or maybe it was just the contest.

In any event, this week is the sequel.

Let's go back two weeks, to Friday August 1st. What can you remember from that day?

That was the day of the first cease-fire, that Hamas broke by sending a suicide bomber through an attack tunnel.

(Cease Fire: We cease, you fire.)

Hamas first claimed that they had kidnapped an Israeli soldier - Hadar Goldin (pictured here). It later turned out that he had been killed by the explosion.

In fact, his body was ripped apart.

Reportedly, after the bombing, a second Hamas team emerged from the tunnel, grabbed parts of his body and dashed back into their attack tunnel which led  into a mosque. From the mosque, they escaped in a clearly marked UNRWA ambulance. The terrorists then made contact with high-ranking Hamas officials hiding in the Islamic University.

As a result Abu Marzook, a senior member of Hamas, announced in Cairo that Hamas had kidnapped an Israeli soldier. Israeli intelligence intercepted a conversation between the kidnappers and the Hamas officials at the Islamic University and thus got all the particulars regarding the hiding place of the kidnappers. Within minutes, the IAF attacked both the kidnappers' location and the Islamic University.

In the midst of this attack, a second force of IDF soldiers--which had gone into the mosque looking for weapons, explosives, and rockets-- encountered a young female wearing a suicide belt. She made a motion to detonate it and the soldiers realized that they were all about to die. One of them instinctively shouted the opening words of the holiest Jewish prayer “Shema Yisrael”!

She hesitated and began trembling, giving the soldiers a chance to grab her and disable the device.

The soldiers then took her to a counter-intelligence unit for interrogation. Their investigation uncovered that the would-be bomber’s mother was an Israeli Jew who had married a Palestinian in Israel and, after the wedding, was smuggled against her will into Gaza. There she lived a life filled with abuse and humiliation, and was basically a captive. In addition to the female suicide bomber, there were two smaller children as well. An armored force went in and rescued the two siblings.

Questions for your table....

Is this suicide bomber (and her two siblings) Jewish or Palestinian?
How does their rescue change the way you look at the death of Hadar Goldin?
How does Hadar Goldin's death change the way you look at life?

Shabbat Shalom

PS - There is still time to get a subscription to our new Amazing Nature for Teachers program - for your child's teacher or school - does your child's or grandchild's school even know about it?

Like this email? How about putting your mouse where your mouth is: Like it, tweet it, or just forward it to someone who might enjoy it.

As always, this message can be read online at http://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com

Yes, But Are They Evil?

In memory of my father, Dovid ben Eliezer (Dennis Seinfeld), whose 9th yahrzeit was observed this week.
We are wishing Nosson Tzvi ben Sarah Rivka Kashtia, a toddler in a coma, a speedy and complete recovery.
The goal of this blog is to meld some minds around your Friday night dinner conversation. Please print and share.

They use human shields to protect their weapons.

They invest millions of donated funds in sophisticated attack tunnels instead of schools, hospitals and roads.

They regard every Jewish community in the Land of Israel, without exception, as "occupied territory".

They aim to kill as many civilians as possible.

They celebrate death.

All these facts are well known.

But we still have the question: Are they evil?

Try asking this at your dinner table and you will likely be surprised at the range of opinions.

My father, who died 9 years ago yesterday, enjoyed ethics discussions.

He was eulogized by the local paper as "one of the good guys".

His epitaph reads, "Champion of Justice" but it could just as well have read, "Champion of Peace".

He fought tirelessly for justice, but he also had the wisdom to see that sometimes peace requires foregoing a bit of what you "deserve". In Jewish talk, this quality is called being mevateir.

He was able to see both sides of an argument. Doesn't mean he always agreed, but he could disagree without being disagreeable.

Someone asked me to write about what Jews and others around the world could do to help bring shalom to the Land of Israel. Here's my top four:

First and foremost, cultivate peace in your own relationships. Greet people with a smile, your family members, your neighbors (even the ones you don't like), strangers. Try to be mevateir.

Second, put your money where your mouth is:

Feed a Soldier
Adopt a Soldier
Thank a Soldier
Support Terrorized Civilians
Share this Video Liberally
Help Israeli Farmers
Visit Israel
Buy Cool Israeli Stuff (have you seen the Zaksenberg juicer?)

Third, if nothing else, be better informed And here. And here. Oh yeah, and here.

Fourth, ask this question at your Shabbat table:

True or False - "There are no evil people. Only very confused people."

Shabbat Shalom

PS - Have you told your kids'/grandkids' schools about the Amazing Nature for Teachers program?

Lucky Strikes

Mathematician Harold Gans made the following calculations:

Ehud Barak stated on January 5, 2009 that 125 Grad-Katyusha missiles "fell on populated areas" of Beersheva, Ashkelon and Ashdod.

Dr. Gans states that he obtained satellite photos and calculated that buildings cover 40% of space in populated areas of these three cities (39.7%, according to the email).

One would expect that if 126 rockets were fell on populated areas, and 40% of the populated areas had buildings, that 50 rockets (40%) would have hit buildings. Barak's announcement stated that only 2% (3 rockets) hit buildings.

If you expect 50 hits, and only 3 actually hit, this seems extraordinarily low. Dr. Gans estimates the odds against this happening as a gazillion to one, or whatever you call a 1 followed by 17 zeros. The calculations for that probability are provided below.

What do you think?


COMMENT FROM A DIFFERENT MATHEMATICIAN:

"I assume it's probably correct. The odds would certainly be minuscule.

The logic is something like this. In the numerator you have the number of ways you can have 1, 2 or 3 missiles landing on the buildings with the associated probabilities. For simplicity, let's assume there is a .4 probability of hitting a building and a .6 probability of missing the buildings.

There are 125 ways only 1 missile lands on buildings. (125 x 124 divided by 2) ways 2 of the missiles hit a building, etc.

125 x .4 x (.6 to the 124th power) +

[(125 x 124) / 2] x (.4 to the 2nd power) x (.6 to the 123rd power) +

[(125 x 124 x 123) / 6] x (.4 to the 3rd power) x (.6 to the 122nd power).

Now in the denominator you have the above cases plus all the other possibilities: 4,5,6.......................or 125 missiles hitting a building.""

Question for your Table – What’s the difference between “extraordinary good luck” and “miraculous”? Eye of the beholder?


Shabbat Shalom


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The Next Generation

In memory of Eidla bas Avraham Yonah, who lived to the age of 95, as sharp as she was growing up in Memphis. She was a role model for the idea that you're never too old to learn something new.

If you missed last week's post on the war in Gaza, see the "Here, Israel" link to the right - including how to "adopt" a soldier.


This week: a comment, a story, a story, and a question.

The comment:

I was in San Francisco this week and someone wanted to know: What is the Jewish view of the new leadership in Washington?

The question reminds me of a story, my first day teaching public school in rural Mississippi.

Fresh out of college on the West Coast, I'd never been to the South before. Some of my mostly-black students were suspicious of me for my whiteness as were some of my white neighbors (for my choosing to teach black students. (Most were just surprised that an outsider had taken interest in their little corner of the world.)

The students let me know that what they wanted most from me was to treat them "normal". What the white people wanted most from me was not to make waves. I never had any problems with anyone who met me, only those who saw me from afar, or heard about me.

For example, I once heard through the grapevine that some folks were talking about me because they saw me talking in a friendly way to a certain black person in the grocery store.

Similarly, once I had to call the father of one of my more challenging students in to school to discuss his son's behavior. His son, Toby, was rude to me and often refused to follow directions. The father was six-foot-two and spoke with a deep, slow voice. He came in wearing the dusty clothes of a lumberjack. had to take time off from his low-paying job, and this displeased him.

He spoke to me so deliberately it sounded like he was putting a comma between every word, "I, hear, you, are, too, hard, on, the, children."

It is no accident that Jewish people have been at the forefront of civil rights movements around the world. We should look at Obama's presidency as a great victory for Jewish values. Our vision of leadership is a meritocracy, period.

Or that's the way it's supposed to be at least.

Here's a mini Talmudic story you can tell at your dinner table:

On Yom Kippur, the High Priest used to make a giant break-the-fast feast. Everyone knew and believed that what he did in the Temple that day was on their behalf. So when he came out successfully, the crowd would cheer and escort him. Remember, the High Priesthood can only be held by a direct male descendant of Aaron, Moses's brother. No one else need bother apply.

One Yom Kippur, while being escorted by such a crowd, there was a sudden commotion through the crowd, and all of the people suddenly abandoned him to follow two scholars who had been seen passing down a side street. These were not just any two scholars - they were Shemayah and Abtalion, the greatest of the generation. And they were both descended from converts.

Question for your table - how do you interpret this story? What does it say about merit versus peerage?

(Question for children: How do you decide whom to be friends with? How do the other kids in your class decide?)

I was in record warm weather in San Francisco this week, to return to weather so cold it feels like we're headed for a record low. But things are supposed to warm up next week in Washington...


Shabbat Shalom

PS - sometimes we combine scholarship and royalty - have you heard of the royal rabbi from Swaziland? See also rabbigamedze.com.

Here he is telling his story:

Here, Israel

In honor of Marc S's birthday - Happy Birthday Marc!

4 ways to help, and one piece of table-talk quality trivia...

(as always, you are encouraged to print this blogand share it at the table)

1. Educate:

10 min film on history of conflict: http://tinyurl.com/whatreallyhappened
Short film on recent history: http://tinyurl.com/missilesfromgaza
Hamas charter: http://www.mideastweb.org/hamas.htm
- Hamas using UN ambulance to carry troops in battle: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=116_1231063776
- The Iran connection: http://tinyurl.com/iranconnection
- Tom Friedman's take: http://tinyurl.com/TomFriedmansTake

2. Empathize

- Li'el Hoshea ben Miriam - serious head injury;
- Neriya ben Rivka - serious head injury;
- Yitzchak ben Navah - moderate shoulder injury;
- Netanel ben Navah - moderate shrapnel wounds to a lower extremity;
- Maxim ben Olga - light lower extremity injury;
- Yisrael ben Ilana - light shrapnel injury to an ear;
- Yo'ad Ido ben Frieda Rivka - light shrapnel injuries;
- Idan ben Liora - light shrapnel injuries;
- Nadav ben Miriam - light shrapnel injuries;
- Raphael ben Nina
- Noam ben Elza (NOT Aliza as previously noted) - one leg amputated; doctors fighting to save the other;
- Dvir ben Leah and Tzviki Bar-Chai, seriously wounded on Sunday;
- Moshe ben Pnina Rose- soldier who is the only surviving child of a family who lost a son in the army a few years ago. He insisted on serving with his unit, even though he was exempted.
- Gilad ben Aviva has been in captivity in Gaza for over 900 days.

To "adopt" a soldier - ie, receive an individual soldier's name to pray and/or do other good-karma acts on his or her behalf, send an email to "Office of Rabbi Kook, Rehovot" .

3. Chesed

If you know someone living in Israel, pick up the phone and call them. Assure them that you share their pain and understand what they're going through. Send e-mails of support to any Israelis you know. Let them know they are not alone!

* Yashar La’Chayal delivers basic needs, like warm socks, to soldiers, and to poor soldiers’ families. http://yasharlachayal.org/
* Yad Eliezer is sending thousands of gift packs to our soldiers in Gaza. http://www.yadeliezer.org/
* Yad Ezra v'Shulamit is sending 20 tons of food to Israeli families being attacked by Hamas rockets. http://www.yadezra.net/
* Lema'an Achai is helping over 1,000 children from cities under attack attend classes in safety and get a much-needed respite. http://www.israelwar.org/
* Thank Israeli Soldiers delivers your personal letter of thanks and a care package of items soldiers need. http://www.thankisraelisoldiers.org/
* Even more ideas from Jack Kalla: http://tinyurl.com/7waysyoucanhelp

And don’t forget about that lonely person in your neighborhood who would enjoy a Friday night dinner invitation, or even a phone call.

4. Defend
The best way to respond to media bias is to contact the news agency and complain. Keep your remarks respectful and stick to the facts. There is a media-watch email list at HonestReporting.com which has over 155,000 subscribers protesting biased news against Israel.


The Table-Talk Trivia

Riddle - try it on family and friends:
1. Close your eyes and see if you can say the “Shema” by heart.
2. You just said a poem – what type of poem?
(answer below)


Shabbat Shalom.

PS – Yours, truly has a series of new short vids on Jinsider.com.








ANSWER TO RIDDLE: Haiku
Think about it.