Inflammatory

The goal of this blog is to turn extrospection into introspection at your Shabbat table.... please print and share.

The image to the left is Joseph's Tomb, set ablaze by a mob last night.

Here is a little background.

In 1867, Mark Twain wrote:

"About a mile and a half from Shechem we halted at the base of Mount Ebal before a little square area, inclosed by a high stone wall, neatly whitewashed. Across one end of this inclosure is a tomb…. It is the tomb of Joseph. No truth is better authenticated than this....Few tombs on earth command the veneration of so many races and men of diverse creeds as that of Joseph. Samaritan and Jew, and Christian alike, revere it, and honour it with their visits. The tomb of Joseph, the dutiful son, the affectionate, forgiving brother, the virtuous man, the wise Prince and ruler. Egypt felt his influence--the world knows his history."

For Allasake, there is an entire sura in the Koran devoted to him (#12: "Joseph - Peace Be Upon Him").

So how has it come to this?

There are so many answers!

1. The Moslem preacher's answer:
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/5098.htm

2. The US government's answer:
Mr. Obama's true feelings.
Mr. Obama's "clarified" feelings.

3. The Stanford professor's answer:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-palumboliu/whats-behind-the-explosio_b_8298362.html

4. The American Anthropology Association's answer (make sure you read the comments):
http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2015/09/22/two-views-on-anthropologists-and-boycotts/

5. Hadassah Hospital's answer:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/terrorist-teen-executed-by-israel-confesses-to-attack/

6. The New York Times' answer (and a YU professor's critique of it):
http://www.jta.org/2015/10/13/news-opinion/opinion/op-ed-the-new-york-times-big-lie-about-the-temple-mount

7. The European press's answer:
http://www.jta.org/2015/10/13/news-opinion/world/in-european-coverage-of-israel-confusion-over-who-is-attacking-whom

Two weeks ago the question was, "When does life begin?" Last week the answer was: Now and the question was, How?

This week the question for your table is: 

8. What's the Jewish answer?

Shabbat Shalom

PS - Hint #1 - www.aish.com/jw/id/The-Solution-to-Israels-Wave-of-Terror.html
PPS - Hint #2 - www.youcaring.com/children-of-rabbi-eitam-and-naama-henkin-h-yd-450838
PPPS - Hint #3 - www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-ideas
PPPPS - Hint #4 - www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578194547?ie=UTF8&tag=j099-20

PPPPPS - Hint #5 - www.learntorah.com or www.webyeshiva.org or jsli.org/recommended-readings 

Like this blog? How about voting with your finger: Like it, tweet it, or just forward it.

Half-Full, Right?

Dedicated to my amazing wife, on our anniversary. You must be the epitome of patience and tolerance, to have put up with me for 14 years!

To my wife’s sometimes chagrin, our children have learned a very Roman ritual from their father that they insist on practicing every Friday night. Read on.

This will be my attempt to counter all the bad news out there about oil and Israel….

OK, the oil spill is really, really bad news. The isolation of Israel is really, really bad news. Is there any good news out there? Especially about Israel? Or about oil?

First of all, it's always a good idea to remember that about 50% of what we hear about Israel on the news is simply false.

The best way to understand this phenomenon is to watch this video:



(For more info, visit seconddraft.org.)

Thus, although the evidence points to a terrorist operation under cover of humanitarian aid, the media firestorm makes the defenders into the criminals! Brilliant flank, if this were chess, Israel would be losing on points.

Question #1 for your table - What's your favorite bit of good news from the Land of Israel?

Can't think of anything? There’s so much, from the serious to the light-hearted. Here's a giant vegetable to break the ice: In fact, the world's largest ever, evidently.

Here’s something else inspiring, from just a few weeks ago.

OK, now to oil. There's really no good news about crude oil, so could we talk about olive oil?

As I mentioned, some time ago, I found myself in Rome. I wasn't the first Jew to live there, no the last, but I may have been the first Jew in Rome to watch the sunrise from the Gianicolo. (Or maybe not.)

Anyway, while there, I observed some very strange customs using olive oil. Until then, I had thought of olive oil as something to dress a salad with, and that's about it. But those crazy Mediterranean folks have all kinds of ways to use olive oil that haven't caught on in this country...yet.

For example:

- Dipping. They put some first-cold-press oil in a dish, add salt, and dip bread in it. With the right kind of bread (let's just say, for the sake of discussion, Mrs. Seinfeld's fame-us challa), it sounds crazy to a lot of "real Americans" but can add a little taste of Heaven to your Friday night dinner table.

- Pizza. Some Romans will tell you that the original and best way to make pizza is to coat the crust with a layer of olive oil, and nothing else. If you want to add cheese or other toppings, OK, but only after you've slathered with O.O.

- Suntan lotion. take a bottle of extra virgin, squeeze in a few drops of lemon juice, and presto, you have a lotion that will let you tan, but not burn. Or so they say, I was never able to overcome my aversion to rubbing salad dressing on my body.

By the way, speaking of pizza, did you know that the very first pizza was created when Imperial Roman soldiers put olive oil on Jewish matzas? (if this trivia interests you, and you have an iphone or ipod touch, please send me an email).

Question #2 for your table: What's your favorite olive oil, and your favorite way to enjoy this miracle fruit?

Shabbat Shalom

Do not let spacious plans for a new world divert your energies from saving what is left of the old. - Churchill

Nobel Oblige

Dedicated to our friend Eric Swergold, who recently raised $60,000 for cancer research with “Swim Across America” - way to go Eric!

+ + +

Since the Norwegians have turned the Peace Prize into a political tool, is it food for Table Talk?

After they gave the Prize to Arafat, maybe we should just try to ignore them.

But maybe we could add one thought.

People are saying that this award for the President’s rhetoric is equally a rebuke of the former president.

How does the President's diplomatic rhetoric look from a so-called “Jewish” perspective?

George W., who was touted by some Israelis as “the best friend Israel ever had”, was the first president to use the term “two-state solution.” Even though a Palestinian state would be disastrous for Israel, thanks to him, this goal has become official US policy.

Barak O. has reiterated that policy and further declared that the Jewish People’s connection to the Land comes from our suffering in the Holocaust (see his Cairo speech).

So here’s the Q for your table: Do you think that the President’s rhetoric will have any impact on peace in the Land of Israel? If not, what will?


Shabbat Shalom and Happy Simchas/t Torah


PS – In honor of Simchas Torah (Sunday), here is your happiness video of the week:



“I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.” - Churchill

Free Speech

In memory of my grandparents (Eliezer ben Zelig and Sima bas Golda) whose yahrzeits are yesterday and tonight.
To dedicate a future Table Talk, send an email.

The goal of Table Talk (the Art of Amazement blog) is to stimulate conversation at your Friday night dinner table. Please print and share.

Ahh, the power of concentrated thinking.

Yesterday, I heard a scientist interviewed on the radio about the development of “ivisibility cloak” technology. There have been recent breakthroughs on bending light around an object, so that a viewer would not see the object. The sharp reporter asked, “Since the light is being bent around, if you were wearing one of these, would that mean that you couldn’t see anything, because the light would not be reaching your eyes?”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” admitted the scientist.

As you know, I generally avoid politics in this forum.

I don't intend to change that practice today.

So I will not discuss, for instance, the way the President's Cairo speech seemed to equate Nazi genocide with the suffering of Palestinians.

(By the way, if you search for the text of the speech, most websites have the AP transcript, which is inaccurate and leaves out most of what he said about Israel. The accurate (searchable) text can be found here and here is the video:

What I would like to suggest as food for discussion is the following line:

"America's strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable. It is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied."

Is this the basis for Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel? Is this a tenable argument from an Arab perspective?

It seems to me that the Holocaust has been used as the basis for modern Israel, but the further it recedes into the past, the less compelling it becomes for Jews and presidents alike (not to mention Arabs).

But...if Israel’s not justified by the Holocaust, then what?

Shabbat Shalom

PS - my grandfather was particularly fond of Johnny Carson, and this was one of his favorite sketches: