Author Archives: Victor Rosenthal

A Page a Day

Posted on August 20, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

Since January, I’ve been participating in a daf yomi program. That means that every day, 7 days a week, I study a page (actually, two facing pages), of Talmud. The fact that someone like me, who grew up in a … Continue reading →

Posted in The Jewish people | 3 Comments

The Downside of the UAE Deal

Posted on August 16, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

The announcement that Israel and the United Arab Emirates would be negotiating an agreement to normalize relations was greeted with cheers from most friends of the Jewish state, and boos from the Palestinians, Turkey, Iran and its satellites, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Middle East politics | 2 Comments

After Five years, the Duma Saga Approaches Conclusion

Posted on August 13, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

On the night of 31 July 2015, someone firebombed two homes in the Palestinian village of Duma, in the northern part of Judea, about 55 km. east of Tel Aviv. One of the buildings was empty, but sleeping in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Duma arson-murder | Comments Off on After Five years, the Duma Saga Approaches Conclusion

The Coming Political Crisis in the USA

Posted on August 9, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

I think the USA today is facing a crisis matched only by those that took place at the time of the Civil War and the period of the Great Depression and WWII. Those events led to big changes in the … Continue reading →

Posted in American politics, American society, The Future | 3 Comments

Who on Earth is Dana Ron, and the Beirut Explosion

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

The longer I live here, the more I understand how different Israel is from my former home, the USA. There are elements of Middle East culture, unsurprising since about half of all Jewish Israelis are descended from immigrants from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Politics, Israeli Society | 1 Comment

Who Owns the Land?

Posted on August 2, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

It never stops: Europeans complain about Israel building things, or rather, about Israelis planning to build things. Such activities, they claim are illegal, because according to them nothing east of the 1949 armistice line belongs to Israel. But to whom … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe and Israel, Israel and Palestinian Arabs, Israeli or Jewish History | 5 Comments

Incident at Har Dov

Posted on July 30, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

On Monday there was a “security incident” on our northern border. I am not going to try to explain it, because I have no idea of what actually happened. First reports were that Hezbollah fighters had crossed the border in … Continue reading →

Posted in War | 2 Comments

You Say You Want a Revolution

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

You say you’ll change the constitution Well, you know We all want to change your head You tell me it’s the institution Well, you know You better free your mind instead But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment