Author Archives: Victor Rosenthal

Mourning for Terrorists

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

In Israel, Memorial Day (yom hazikaron) is the day before Independence Day (yom ha’atzmaut). It makes sense: you can’t think about the miracle of our Jewish state without remembering the 23,816 soldiers, police, and other security people who lost their … Continue reading →

Posted in American Jews, Israeli Society, Post-Zionism, Terrorism | 4 Comments

Ministers of Silly Walks

Posted on April 26, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

I’ve complained several times (here and here) about the number of ministers and deputy ministers in the planned unity government and their cost. But this is only the symptom of the real problem. What’s truly wrong is that portfolios are … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Politics | 1 Comment

My Tuesday Morning

Posted on April 23, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

We found a chair on Tuesday morning. In Israel, unlike the USA, most people don’t have garages, basements, or attics to fill up with junk. When something is no longer useful to them, they often put it out on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Society, Jew Hatred, Post-Zionism | 4 Comments

The Bibiad

Posted on April 19, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

The idea of a hero with a tragic flaw echoes throughout Western literature. It’s found in Homer, in classical Greek tragedy, and of course in the Bible. The tragic flaw is sometimes a character defect, a particular weakness in an … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Politics | 2 Comments

Lessons from the Pandemic

Posted on April 16, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

We went on a shopping expedition yesterday. Masked up, we walked to the supermarket and pharmacy and then returned home by way of the greengrocer. We made a special stop at a small market that was said to have eggs. … Continue reading →

Posted in The Future | 1 Comment

Moral Dilemmas Then and Now

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

Dario Gabbai died last month, aged 97. Gabbai was a Sonderkommando, a Greek-Jewish prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau who was forced to help herd new arrivals to the German death chambers and remove their bodies to the crematoria a few minutes later. … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Society, War | 1 Comment

The Season of Plagues and Freedom

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

It’s almost Pesach, when the thoughts of Jewish bloggers turn to plagues and freedom. Plagues we certainly have. In addition to the coronavirus, Africa (and possibly the Middle East) is about to experience one of the paradigmatic Biblical plagues, swarming … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Society | 1 Comment

Governments and Other Parasites

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

Today is supposed to be the day Netanyahu and Gantz finalize their agreement to form Israel’s new unity government. But so what? What is a government for, anyway? Why do we allow ourselves to support such bloated, parasitic organisms? Especially … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Politics | 3 Comments