Category Archives: Israeli Society

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

The Haredi Disconnect

Posted on March 29, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

About 12% of Israel’s population are Haredim, often referred to as “ultra-orthodox,” an expression which they strongly dislike. The Haredi population is growing rapidly with a birthrate of about 7 children per woman, and if this growth rate continues, Haredim … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Society | 1 Comment

Israel and the Pandemic

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

Is COVID-19 a blip or is it the apocalypse? It seems to me that unless humans do something stupid, like start wars, it will be a blip (this post is based on statistical and other data on the pandemic from … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Society | 1 Comment

Israel at War — with Corona

Posted on March 15, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

Good morning from locked down Israel. I was hoping to write that the Corona virus (called COVID-19) had accomplished what three elections failed to do, and forced the forming of an emergency unity government, as Netanyahu proposed. His main opponent, … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Politics, Israeli Society | 2 Comments

Seminary of Fools

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

I belong to a Masorti (Conservative) congregation in Israel. Although most Israelis don’t believe this, the movement is theologically much closer to Modern Orthodoxy than to Reform Judaism. There is a commitment to halacha, albeit somewhat more lenient than in … Continue reading →

Posted in 'Peace' Process, Israel and Palestinian Arabs, Israeli Society | 6 Comments

What is it about Jews?

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

Is there anything worse than European misoziony?* How about the Jewish version? I dislike the expression “self-hating Jew” because Jewish antisemites and misozionists generally think a great deal of themselves. They see their own Jew-hatred as a moral position, made … Continue reading →

Posted in American Jews, Israeli Society, Jew Hatred, Post-Zionism | 1 Comment

The Soul of the State Must be Jewish

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Victor Rosenthal

There is a struggle for the soul of the State of Israel. It isn’t about whether Israel should withdraw from Judea and Samaria, how the IDF should act in Gaza, or whether the buses should run on Shabbat, although your … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Society, The Jewish people, Zionism | 2 Comments