Archive for April, 2007

Six ‘Rabbis’ for May Day

On we go with our list of “rabbis” for the secular and progressive-minded. May 1 being international labor day, it’s time to roll out some of my favorite Jewish lefties:
3. Joe Slovo
When Joe Slovo died, the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party, of which he was the Secretary General, wanted to put a [...]


Why the U.S. Can’t Leave Iraq

The debate in Washington over troop withdrawals from Iraq is largely a pantomime for domestic political consumption — the Democrats are maneuvering to disassociate themselves from an unpopular war that a majority of their senators originally backed, and that they know can’t be ended any time soon but for which they don’t want to share [...]


Three ‘Rabbis’ for Israel’s Independence Day

Continuing my series on the 50 “rabbis” (teachers) who most influenced my understanding of being Jewish in the world, I offer up three more to coincide with Israel’s Independence Day .
9. Avraham Burg
Former Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg was a decorated paratrooper and the son of a prominent conservative cabinet minister before he played a prominent [...]


Aux Armes, Etcetera…

Listen to Lillian Thuram
Looking at the political choices facing voters in France, today, I’m glad I’m not French — although I guess I would be if the Catholic Church hadn’t driven France’s Jews out in the 14th century, starting my family on its way to Poland where Caron became Karon to keep the pronunciation. Still [...]


Rabbi Rollout #2: Amira Hass

By way of further preview to my personal “50 Most Influential Rabbis” (i.e. people who taught me something about being Jewish in the world), following Sunday’s salute to Primo Levi, it is timely to introduce Amira Hass, if only because of the profound op-ed she penned in Haaretz to coincide with Shoah Day in Israel.
First [...]


Salute Primo Levi, My Favorite Rabbi

I’ve been slowly at work, for weeks now, on a project spawned by Newsweek’s decision idiotic to publicize a rather silly list of America’s 50 most influential rabbis according to a couple of corporate executive types. (Sorry, Gary, but it’s true!) I’m compiling a list of my own most influential rabbis, which I want [...]


There’s hostages, and there’s hostages

The Iran-Britain standoff looks to be over with Iran’s announcement that it will send the 15 captive Britons home. And it’s not surprising that Tehran is claiming victory: It has used the incident to sound a warning to the U.S. and its allies that Tehran will retaliate if the U.S. persists in its provocative program [...]


The Latest
  • A Skeptical Read
    Rosner, Haaretz's Itchy Beard
    The right-wing nationalist blogger always seemed a little out of step with his paper's editorial line. Now, Carter's visit has provoked him to growl menacingly at the editors
  • A Wondering Jew
    Healing Israel's Birth Scar
    With the 60th anniversary of Israel's birth -- and of the Palestinian Nakbah (catastrophe) -- which are, of course the same event, almost upon us, I was reminded this week that April 9 was also the 60th anniversary of an event that has long epitomized the connection between the creation of an et...
  • 99c Blogging
    All Hat, No Cattle #7682
    President Bush loves playing the Bad Cop, but anyone vaguely familiar with the routine knows not to take the Bad Cop seriously.
  • The 51st State
    A Teachable Moment in Basra
    It should come as no surprise that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's disastrous offensive against the Mahdi Army of Moqtada Sadr in Basra has had the exact opposite effect of that intended -- strengthening rather than weakening Sadr, and making clear that he, and the Iranians, have far greater in...
  • Futures Market
    Will Russia Partition Kosovo?
    Why my tea-leaf reading suggests that Moscow has a nasty surprise in store for Washington in the Balkans
  • Guest Columns
    Iraq and U.S. Faith in Violence
    Guest Column: Alastair Crooke warns of a dangerous fantasy that persists in Western capitals in which the West faces an "onslaught" from "radical Islam." The problem is that this intersects all too tragically with a the persistent belief in Washington and elsewhere that by applying its overwhel...
  • Cuisine
    Yummy yummy Umami
    Why a leftover lamb bone turned a bean stew into an ecstatic event
  • Glancing Headers
    Spare Us More 'Globalization & Football'
    The claim that Egypt's Cup of Nations win "proves" that stronger domestic leagues make stronger international sides is not born out by football's bigger picture. In fact, the teams that do best internationally are those with weaker domestic leagues
  • Shameless Cronyism
    Is Israel-Iran Enmity Irreversible?
    No, it isn't. Two of my favorite commentators, Daniel Levy and Trita Parsi, explain why
  • Housekeeping
    'Lost' Entries on Rootless Cosmopolitan
    Previous entries that now register as "not available" are ones that got left behind in a server migration. We're working on retrieving them
  • Unholy War
    U.S. Pours Gasoline on Gaza Fires
    Once upon a time, Israelis and Palestinians looked to the U.S. to intervene at moments of heightened confrontation to mediate between the two sides and contain the damage. The Bush Administration, however, has proved entirely incapable of playing this role, because its own interventions are hidebou...
  • The Whole World's Africa
    South Africa's Racist Present
    Guest Column: Sean Jacobs. What to make of the racist torture incident at a South African campus
  • Featured Analysis
    Obama and the 'Jewish Vote'
    The problem with Obama, for the Zionist establishment, is that they can't be sure he hates the Palestinians enough. The deeper problem for the Zionist establishment, of course, is that Jewish Americans are flocking to Obama despite their coded warnings
  • Annals of Globalization
    Honey, I Shrank the Superpower
    In a snide reference to Bill Clinton's 1992 promise to "build a bridge into the 21st century," Barack Obama recently quipped that what Hillary Clinton really offers is a bridge back into the 20th century. Yet, a bridge back into the last century may be what all the major candidates are offering when...
  • Could Die Laughing
    Mearsheimer, Walt and the Erudite Hysteria of David Remnick
  • New York Moments
    The Debka Made ‘Em Do It
  • From Tony's Archive
    A Playground Lesson for Bush
  • Rebellion Into Money
    The Rebel Grace of Patti Smith
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