tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57069852178567351342024-02-08T12:02:50.864-08:00Thoughts From the DesertLarry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-62264809118371317812014-08-21T04:47:00.001-07:002014-08-21T04:47:14.432-07:00Leonard Fein--Loved, Admired, and Blacklisted<div class="gmail_quote" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>During the few days since the death of Leonard Fein there has been an outpouring of testimonials in the Jewish press written by several of the hundreds of <a href="http://thewisdomdaily.com/in-memory-of-leibel/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">people who were personally and profoundly affected </a>by the teaching, actions, and wisdom of this man. To those of us who were lucky enough to know him and study with him, "Leibel" was clearly a true mensch, and true Zionist, and a true lover of Israel and the Jewish people.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I first met him when he taught my Wexner Heritage Foundation class in Milwaukee almost 30 years ago and then reconnected with him frequently over the years at Jewish conferences and, most recently, at J Street events. Others who knew him far better than I have eulogized him eloquently in recent days and cited his many accomplishments and ways in which he affected the lives of thousands of American Jews and made our community and the world a better place. He was a true mentor and an inspiration.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Perhaps the most profound testimonial to the importance of a man who most Jews had never heard of was<a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#inbox?compose=147f424c3a8a0802%2Cnew" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">published as an editorial in the Jewish Daily Forward</a>:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>"Since his death, Fein has been justly praised for the things he created: Moment, a magazine of Jewish ideas; MAZON, a Jewish anti-hunger initiative; the National Jewish Coalition for Literacy, a network of organizations that provides volunteer tutors for schools. Not only did he create, he left a sturdy legacy: All these institutions continue to thrive long after he left their employ, a testament to his values and foresight.</i></b></span></blockquote>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">He became a Zionist in his teenage years, honed his involvement with Israel at the University of Chicago... but always remained, at heart, a teacher. Perhaps that is why he was able to influence and touch so many disparate lives — he was a teacher, not an instructor. He engaged those around him with good humor, in the sense of being funny — and he had a wicked wit — but also in the sense of being well intentioned. His aim was to use his mind to improve the world, not to win a political war of words."</span></i></b></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />What has gone unmentioned in any of the many pieces that have been written is any reference to the fact that this great teacher and lover of the Jewish people and Israel would have been blackballed from speaking or teaching at any of our college Hillels as well as many other Jewish venues for the last several years of his life.<br /><br />That is because, true to form as a man of conscience, Leibel was very outspoken about his sincere belief that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the growth of settlements in the region posed perhaps the greatest threat to Israel's survival as a Jewish democracy going forward.<br /><br />As a result, he <a href="http://forward.com/articles/159261/think-before-joining-anti-israel-boycott/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">openly urged Jews and others to boycott</a> the purchase of products that were made in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and also<a href="http://forward.com/articles/182847/justice-calls-for-boycott-of-ariel/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"> urged Jewish organizations not to visit Ariel</a> and other Jewish cities that had been built in the West Bank while on missions to Israel. He was characteristically clear:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><br /></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"Goods manufactured in Jewish West Bank settlements should never be labeled “Made in Israel” — a position gaining considerable popularity throughout the world. Those of us who advocate a two-state solution ought to stay away from Ariel, as many Israeli artists and intellectuals have pledged to do. Surely we should not consume the fine wines, dates and beauty products of the settlements. All these acts of protest are pro-Israel, in both intent and effect."</i></span></b></span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br />Those words expressed in writing and publicly clearly put this great teacher and lover of Judaism and Israel on the Black List and would have surely caused him to be banned by Hillel International and other Jewish organizations who have drawn red lines regarding who is and is not permitted to speak in their venues.<br /><br />Hillel International President Eric Fingerhut made it clear that people like Leonard Fein are not welcome to speak about ANY issue in a Hillel building anywhere in the country as <a href="http://www.hillel.org/about/news-views/news-views---blog/news-and-views/2013/12/29/president-fingerhuts-response-to-new-york-times-article" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Fingerhut stated on the Hillel International website</a>:<br /></span></b></blockquote>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">"Where Hillel draws the line...</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"> is that “‘anti-Zionists’ will not be permitted to speak using the Hillel name or under the Hillel roof, under any circumstances.” O</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">ur Israel guidelines that spell out that Hillel “will not host or work with speakers or groups that deny the right of Israel to exist; “delegitimize, demonize or apply a double standard to Israel”; support boycotts, divestment or sanctions against Israel; or “foster an atmosphere of incivility.”</span></span></i></b></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />These are clearly stressful and challenging times for Jews in Israel and those here in the U.S. who care deeply about the future of the Jewish people. <br /><br />Among those who care the most are the many wonderful professionals and volunteer leaders at the Hillel chapters around the country. Since moving to Tucson I have become most familiar with the Hillel at the University of Arizona where I have served on the board and remain increasingly impressed with the work of its director and her staff and her community and student leaders to create engaging, innovative and effective programming that provides Jewish students with a safe and exciting venue and make their Jewish college experience and relationship with Israel better in every way.<br /><br />I have the same respect and praise for the leaders of the Federations, JCCs, synagogues, day schools, and other organizations which do important and amazing work to help build our Jewish community. That is why it is so essential that we all work to change those policies which are designed to show support for Israel but which actually are proving divisive and harming instead of building our community.<br /><br />In an often misquoted phrase, the Old Testament suggests that THE LOVE OF money--not money itself--is the root of all evil. Similarly, it is THE LOVE OF Israel by certain of our American Jewish leaders and organizations--not Israel itself--which is leading to sometimes counter-productive behavior and policies that are driving good people away instead of bringing us together.<br /><br />With the death of Leonard Fein our community has lost an effective and important builder, teacher, and voice. It is appropriate and important for those among us who were touched and moved deeply by his friendship and insights to remember him for all that he gave us.<br /><br />But perhaps the greatest testimonial--and certainly the one that Leibel would have found most meaningful--would be to both acknowledge and to focus on the well-intentioned but damaging policies of demonization and <i>sinatchinam</i>--baseless hatred of one Jew toward another.<br /><br />Acknowledging and addressing THAT threat is perhaps the best way to honor the memory of this great and important Jewish leader, teacher, and mentor.</span></b></blockquote>
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Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-23280508491344051542014-06-02T12:44:00.000-07:002014-06-02T14:22:07.992-07:00Why Gun Control Should Be a Jewish Issue<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The most recent gun-related murderous rampage in our country has been greeted by the predictable outcry from families of the victims regarding the need for a more sane gun control policy.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The pleas about the rights of Americans to live in safety and not become innocent victims not to be murdered in cold blood are the most common.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>But for Jews who take the Torah and its teachings seriously there should be a different and unique argument put on the table.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>One of the most compelling and pragmatic commandments in the Hebrew Bible is found in Leviticus (Kedoshim) where were are forbidden to "place a stumbling block before the blind" and we are reminded that we are to "love our fellow man."</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>For more than a thousand years our rabbis and sages have believed this prohibition is a metaphor compelling decent people to be sensitive to the weaknesses and pathology of people who are challenged or have issues with self control or adequate intelligence to make responsible decisions.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The majority of mass murders in recent years have been committed by people who had a history of issues which were very challenging. It would be hard to argue that the easy availability of mass killing machines helped them make the transition from being a troubled person to a mass murderer.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rashi and other great Jewish sages normally speak in terms of this commandment forbidding us from engaging in irresponsible or predatory business practices where we take unfair advantage of our own insights and knowledge and <a href="http://torahmitzion.org/eng/resources/show.asp?id=170">exploit or tempt those who are "blind" in these matters. </a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>For example, according to the commandment a decent person is not allowed to buy a free cocktail for an alcoholic friend who is trying to quit drinking or to encourage an ignorant or unsophisticated friend to make a risky investment that he is not capable of fully understanding.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>But an equally compelling case can be made that it also forbids us to make assault weapons and high-capacity magazines available without stringent background checks on the buyers to make sure they are not impaired or "blind" when it comes to issues of self control and civilized behavior.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The inclusion of the uniquely Jewish commandment would simply add even greater credibility to the arguments made by those of us who seek a saner policy and further discredit the already bankrupt arguments of those who hide behind a self-serving interpretation of our Constitutional rights to justify arming those who have killed far more Americans than terrorists in recent years.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>As we know, most of those who oppose greater gun control are not motivated by Second Amendment rights or issues related to self defense.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>When was the last time anyone ever heard of a person warding off an attacker with an AK-47 or a semi-automatic weapon capable of killing 30 people in 30 seconds? </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>When people walk into a Wal Mart or gun show and buy a killing machine and unlimited amounts of ammo and clips capable of firing 30 shots in 30 seconds without regard to their psychiatric or behavioral history, they are never doing it to protect themselves. We all know that. But the NRA has twisted the narrative and used its immense power in Washington to make those of us who oppose their agenda feel thoroughly beaten.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>When my friend Gabby Giffords was gunned down along with 18 other people in Tucson a couple of years ago, there was a man named Joe Zamudio in the crowd who did have a gun. By the time he realized what was going on, raised his weapon, took off the safety and moved in, the killer was already on the ground being subdued and one of the heroes had taken his gun away. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/myth-of-the-hero-gunslinger/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0">The patriot with the gun came within an inch of shooting one of the heroes who had subdued the killer mistakenly thinking he was the shooter.</a></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Here in Arizona, <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/01/10/arizona_civil_defense_league_wants_members_of_congress_staff_trained_in_firearms.html">the pro-gun crowd had the chutzpah to name a bill after Giffords and her Jewish aide Gabe Zimmerman (who died in the attack) </a>that would broaden gun availability and training on the theory that if everyone has a gun in all venues then there will be fewer victims of the bad guys.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The whole narrative of the NRA and the gun lobby is evil and self-serving and we all know it and hate it. But the Jewish community just hasn't gotten passionate about it. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The people who support the NRA and those who want to suppress a woman's right to choose on her own health and reproductive issues and ongoing discrimination against gays and illegal laws trying to keep Blacks and Hispanics from voting are passionate and they put their money and their power behind their passions. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Isn't it time for Jews to go to spend more time, money, and energy on gun issues which are leading to the deaths of dozens of innocent Americans every year. It sure seems like it is time to change or at least expand our priorities and change our behavior in this area.</b></span></div>
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<b style="font-size: large;">Particularly in view of the uniquely Jewish narrative that we can add to the existing chorus of common sense and life-affirming arguments that should be compelling but are apparently falling on the deaf ears of so many of our legislators and Congressmen. </b></div>
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<b style="font-size: large;">The following news clip should have been the lead of</b><b style="font-size: large;"> the Washington Post article about the incident. Instead it was buried at the bottom.</b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 22.5px;">"Elliot Rodger owned three 9mm semiautomatic handguns, all legally purchased in his own name, and he had enough ammunition for a massacre — 41 magazines with 10 rounds each, Brown said. Two of the guns were Sig Sauer P226s and one was a Glock 34.</span></b><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></blockquote>
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<b></b><b>“Our family has a message for every parent out there: You don’t think it’ll happen to your child until it does,” the grieving father said. “His death has left our family lost and broken. Why did Chris die? Chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and NRA. They talk about gun rights. What about Chris’s right to live? When will this insanity stop?"</b></blockquote>
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<b style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For Jews, one could argue that we have lost sight of our Jewish responsibility to each other as well.</span></b>Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-52206736362601342432014-06-02T03:53:00.004-07:002014-06-02T11:50:58.852-07:00Why is There Never Enough Anti-Semitism To Make Some Jews Happy?<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px;">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>Some believe that the study is a badly flawed and transparent attempt by the the ADL to make a case for its own importance and overstate the extent of real anti-Semitism in the world. Forward columnist <a href="http://forward.com/articles/198475/i-am--billionth-anti-semite/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Jay Michaelson, a rabbi with a deep and lifelong history of commitment to Israel and the Jewish people, came to that conclusion</a>. He took the test himself and scored out as an anti-Semite—which he clearly is not.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>Others believe that anti-Semitism in the U.S. and around the world is bad and getting worse. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>They seem less concerned with the validity of the survey than they are with emphasizing their belief that there are Jew haters all around us and that Jews should be as fearful as ever. <a href="http://www.thejerusalemconnection.us/blog/2014/05/15/anti-semitism-in-america.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Jewish Federation professional Robert Horenstein wrote praising the study and offered this daunting conclusion:</a></b></span></div>
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<b><br /></b><b>"Not only has there been an uptick in anti-Jewish attitudes among Americans over the past 15 years, but even more disturbing, anti-Semitism has been gradually creeping out of the shadows into the mainstream. The tragic murder of three people at two Jewish facilities in Kansas City in mid-April served as a stark reminder that anti-Semitism is alive and well."</b></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>Actually, one could easily conclude that the incident in Kansas City proved just the opposite. It was a reminder that while Jew haters are alive and well and capable doing great damage, there is virtually no societal anti-Semitism in the U.S. any more.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>Jew hatred in the U.S. is racism and bigotry felt and acted upon by individuals and small groups of hateful people. Anti-Semitism--a condition where the behavior of those bigots is tolerated or even welcomed by the standards of the broader community is something very different. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>As we saw in Kansas City there are very few places in our country where these people are welcome and where the entire community does not rise up and speak with a single voice to condemn, punish, and ostracize them if they speak out or act in a violent hateful way.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>The most important conversation about anti-Semitism is the one that is not taking place—and which no Jewish funder has shown interest in sponsoring.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>The real question for American Jews is why so many cling so tightly to the belief that Jews have always been and will always be hated and hunted victims—people who are supposed live in suspicion and fear of non-Jews? </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>After all, we live at a time and in a country where non-Jews overwhelmingly and actively are seeking us out as neighbors, club members, business partners, friends and spouses.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>Why do so many Jews believe that Israel is a victim of unfair bias in our mainstream media even though we live at a time and in a place where Israel has never been more widely supported or admired by Americans and when <a href="http://www.hks.harvard.edu/research-publications/vbt/index/putnam-american-grace" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">an important study by Robert Putnam showed that Jews are the most widely respected religious group in the U.S.?</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">T<b>he real question for American Jews is why so many cling so tightly to their addiction to their belief that Jews have always been and will always be hated and hunted victims—people who are supposed live in suspicion and fear of non-Jews? </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>So why do so many of older Jews still obsess about anti-Semitism at a time when few American Jews under the age of 50 can ever cite a personal experience or situation where they suffered in any way from Jew hatred or even minor religious discrimination?</b></span></div>
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<b style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Most of what all we feel and believe is based on our personal life experiences. We are all human and can only change our narrative so much. So it is understandable that older American Jews who grew up in a society where discrimination against Jews was widespread and accepted by broader society would cling to the time-honored mantra that "if you scratch a goy, you'll find an anti-Semite" long after that slogan was based on fact and experience.</b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>Growing up in St. Louis 50 years ago, I knew people who were getting nose jobs and changing their names so they would appear to be less Jewish. There were clubs, neighborhoods, professions, and private schools where Jews were not welcome. Today, most Jews are very proud to be Jewish. I don’t know any Jews who are changing their names or appearance anymore--at least not for THAT reason.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>Today, most non-Jews seem very anxious to befriend, work with, partner with, and marry us--so much so that many Jewish leaders have declared intermarriage to be a crisis.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>Intermarriage is certainly a challenge, but let's be honest. The main reason that there is so much intermarriage is not because Jews are less Jewish--it's because non-Jews are so much more willing to marry us than ever before. It's because our parents fought bigotry and intolerance for decades to create a society where we would be fully accepted and have freedom to choose where we want to live, go to school, play golf, work, and socialize. And, to fall in love with and marry anyone we want.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>Teaching about the Holocaust and the persecution and genocide that Jews have suffered over centuries is critically important. It is also important to realize that there are still places in the world where anti-Semitism is alive and well and to appreciate how blessed are Jews who live in the U.S. or Israel.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>Jews should never forget our past and be informed about the challenges that remain in an often hostile world. But let's keep it in perspective.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>Instead of arguing over frightening studies and wringing our hands over how many people hate us, we should be getting on with the conversation about how to build a pluralistic, values- and wisdom-driven Jewish community that is both sustainable and compelling.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>A narrative that than can thrive in a world in which Jews have unlimited choices—a situation that we fought to create for a very long time.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>We need to find the right balance between the importance of Tribalism and Aspiration as we define what it means to be Jewish and how to best help and relate to Israel.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>The choice is ours and we control the outcome. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>Not the anti-Semites. Whether there are hundreds or billions of them out there. They are not the biggest challenge in a world where so many Jews have so much power and unlimited choices.</b></span></div>
Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-3493470687467154932014-04-02T04:43:00.001-07:002014-04-02T04:56:48.490-07:00Please God -- Save the Jewish Community from Itself<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">For more than 30 years, my relationship with Jewish Federations, Israel Bonds, AIPAC, J Street, CLAL, and Hillel have been the focus of my life as Jewish study, Jewish values, and the Jewish community have provided me with the moral and intellectual compass that has guided all of my important life decisions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">I have chaired Federation and Israel Bonds campaigns and led and helped create Jewish day schools in both Milwaukee and Tucson and donated millions of dollars to the Federation and other pro-Israel causes, from AIPAC to J Street.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">That is why I am so saddened and frustrated at recent decision by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and Hillel of Greater Philadelphia </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">to</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> co-</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">sponsor</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> a divisive film screening which demonizes a fellow Jewish group--in this case, J Street. Their decision is beyond disappointing. It flies in the face of everything that Federation claims to stand for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">The film, “The J Street Challenge” is nothing more than a lengthy political attack ad, featuring testimony from like-minded right wing pundits, and funded by well-known J Street </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">detractors</span><sup><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=Xm#14513cceae9dc2c1_cmnt1" name="14513cceae9dc2c1_cmnt_ref1" style="color: #1155cc;">[a]</a></sup><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">, who are trying to move from the fringe of our community to defining our community. The event was packaged as an educational event entitled, “What it Means to be Pro-Israel.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Without question, an honest and respectful conversation on pro-Israel advocacy is sorely needed in the Jewish community--if only this event had genuinely pursued that goal. The “J Street Challenge” does not promote this sort of conversation, any more than “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” promotes academic understanding of Judaism.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">On its website, the Philadelphia Federation proudly boasts its commitment to "One People. One Community. One Federation." But their decision to sponsor this film paints a different picture. According to the filmmakers, there are two camps: the good, realistic Jews who love and support Israel and the naive, fantasy-addicted Jews who are threatening the survival of our people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">This message may resonate with some in our community, because it reaffirms everything that they already believe. Sadly, it will also alienate the large portion of the community--myself included--that has a different idea of what it means to be pro-Israel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Indeed, given their shared missions of creating a broad and inclusive Jewish community, it is not clear what the Federation and Hillel hoped to accomplish by sponsoring this event. What they did succeed in doing was sending a clear message to their many caring pro-Israel friends and neighbors who support J Street that both they and their opinions are unwelcome.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">That is personally painful to me as a supporter of Federation, Hillel, and J Street and, I am certain, to many others as well who are not in the J Street camp, but who also don’t wish to see a large and growing segment of the Jewish community alienated from the community as a whole.</span><sup><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=Xm#14513cceae9dc2c1_cmnt2" name="14513cceae9dc2c1_cmnt_ref2" style="color: #1155cc;">[b]</a></sup></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">And</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> who benefited here? A handful of wealthy Jewish donors out to smear a pro-Israel organization whose success and message of openness apparently frightens </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">them</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Our community has a vibrant diversity of opinion and we should embrace that. Whether you are a fan of this film, or one of the thousands of Jews who identify with J Street or among the millions of Jews who are trying to sort these complex issue out, we all love and care about Israel. If we disagree about the proper course for Israel to take, we should debate those differences openly, instead of slinging mud.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: white;">That’s why I’ve urged Federation leaders in my hometowns of Tucson and Milwaukee and around the country to speak out against this trend of Federations and Hillels working to stifle open discussion by promoting divisive programming driven by ad hominem attacks on members of our own community.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">. It’s not because I can’t handle those who express ideas with which I disagree, but because it would mean that the Federation has transformed from a force that builds community into one that destroys it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">I am sure that the Federation staff and leadership in Philadelphia have done wonderful and important work in their community. However, on this occasion, they undermined that work, and should be ashamed of themselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">As a person who has worked so hard and invested so much in building and benefiting from our Jewish communities, it saddens me profoundly to see so many of the very organizations and people whom I believed shared common Jewish values and a commitment to open respectful conversation suddenly behaving in such destructive ways.</span></div>
Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-72224870360643755072013-09-01T19:07:00.000-07:002013-09-02T16:33:33.762-07:00Obama's Most Brilliant Decision Corrects His Worst MistakeI think Barack Obama has been a pretty good president. Most Americans are much better off today in virtually all aspects of our lives than we were five years ago and Obama has had something to do with that.<br />
<br />
But a year ago, he made a huge mistake that in recent months he has come to regret. He succumbed to pressure from the pro-Israel and Republican Right to intervene in the horrific mess that was evolving in Syria by stating, perhaps in an effort to seem as tough as his Israeli counterpart Bibi Netanyahu, that Obama had his Red Lines too and if the Syrian government ever used chemical weapons against its own people the the U.S. would have to take strong and forceful military action..<br />
<br />
It was an inexcusable error since Red Lines have no place in our dynamic and fast changing world. Our leaders need to constantly update their information and determine what course of action makes sense at any point in time. That applies even moreso in the Arab Muslim countries of the Middle East which have been involved in dramatic internal upheavals that have nothing to do with us and which we don't begin to understand. <br />
<br />
It was a particularly unfortunate statement for Obama to make since he himself had stated in 2007 that no president has the right to unilaterally commit American troops without the approval of Congress. So last year, Obama essentially promised to do something that he had stated was clearly illegal if his Red Line was crossed in Syria.<br />
<br />
When it became clear a few weeks ago that the Assad government had used chemical weapons to murder more than a thousand of his own citizens, Obama was about to reap the harvest of his Red Line bravado.<br />
<br />
As George W. Bush did regarding Iraq, Obama seemed on track to allow his ego and desire to save face to overcome common sense and plunge our country into an armed conflict in a part of the world where we really don't know as much as we need to know and, more important, where it would be impossible for us to make a positive difference.<br />
<br />
The Israeli blogger and J Street friend Bernard Avishai made the complexity of the Syrian mess and the futility of armed intervention by the U.S. in Syria perfectly clear <a href="http://bernardavishai.blogspot.com/">in his brilliant blog the other day.</a> Avishai set the following as a backdrop:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<strong>Let's get things straight. Syria is now fractured into zones controlled by 1) Assad, armed by Russia and backed by Iran, 2) Hezbollah, backing Assad's Alawite Shi'a sect, 3) the Kurds, always looking for ways of unifying the Kurdish homeland on the Iraqi border, 4) an insurgent Sunni-Islamist group, Jadhat al-Nusra--admiring (if not loyal to) Iraqi Al-Quaeda--and, 5) a (more or less) secular and (more or less) puny Free Syrian Army, the heart of an opposition ("maybe 1200 free floating groups") backed by Qatar, and led ("this month, anyway") by Ahmad Jarba, with ties to Saudi Arabia.</strong></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
His conclusion was that an armed attack on Syria, no matter how "limited in scope" it might be at first would be an exercise in futility since we have no idea who the good guys are over there, quoting PBS commentator Ivo Daalder:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<strong>a punitive strike...to send a message to the regime that this kind of behavior is unacceptable"--is something like trying to stabilize the picture on an old TV by smacking it. What good it does bears no relationship to how good it feels.</strong></blockquote>
<br />
Faced with the prospect of making a disastrous decision just to save face--and also facing enormous pressure in Washington and from around the world to do just that--Obama came through with a courageous and brilliant decision.<br />
<br />
Instead of focusing on saving face, our president staked out the moral and legal high ground by stating that he favored taking action against Syria but believed it would be in the best interest of our country and true to our laws to do so only with the approval of Congress.<br />
<br />
Think about how smart that is. First, it forces those on Capitol Hill who have spent the last five years doing nothing on their own except criticizing the president to actually become engaged in a conversation and determine a course of action.<br />
<br />
It is already clear how much confusion and disorientation that has created in Washington. Republicans who have never said a good word about Obama in their lives have been issuing statements that the president did the right thing. Many liberal Democrats who always support Obama are saying they disagree with the president. The partisan divide that has defined Congress for the last four years seems to be in total disarray--at least for the time being.<br />
<br />
None of the major pro-Israel organizations has had a word to say about what they think should be done. J Street did come out with a statement condemning Syria's use of chemical weapons but, as an active participant in J Street's leadership online forum I can tell you I have never seen an issue where there were more heartfelt and compelling opinions and arguments on all sides of any issue.<br />
<br />
On the Obama hating hard Right there of course has been focus on what a horrible leader Obama has been on this and every other issue. <a href="http://frontpagemag.com/2013/bruce-thornton/our-contrare-president-2/">FrontPage.com ran an article by Bruce Thornton</a> which began with the accusations that Obama is a "malignant narcissist" and "incompetent" and made the obligatory comparisons to Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler. As is usual for FrontPage and the other sites which exist only to smear Obama and Muslims, none of the charges or insults was backed by a single fact or quote or any source material. <br />
<br />
I really encourage you to click on the link and read the whole piece--counting the number of serious accusations made against the president in the harshest of terms and then counting the number of facts or quotes or source materials used to support those provocative claims.<br />
<br />
But after Thornton worked through the obligatory litany of unsupported smears of Obama, he made his major point-:<br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">By far the biggest mistake of our contrary president is to ignore the wisdom every global power has known from Rome to the British Empire: the importance of prestige, which a great power nurtures by consistently rewarding its friends and punishing its enemies. Both friends and enemies have to believe your promises and threats will be followed by meaningful action. But this president gets it backwards: just make empty threats and preen morally, and then rationalize a failure to act by invoking “international law” and “U.N. mandates”</span></strong></blockquote>
<strong></strong><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">So our contrary president has managed to destroy our prestige, alienate our friends, embolden our enemies, increase contempt for our power, and leave behind a Middle East more violent, murderous, and hostile to our security and interests than it ever has been. Just what you would expect from someone who sees the world backwards.</span></strong></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<u></u></span></strong><u></u></span>
<br />
In other words, if a president screws up or allows political pressure or the passion of the moment to cause him to make a statement that he later regrets, it is better, according to Thornton, to follow through on what might be a catastrophic mistake rather than risk losing face and prestige by changing course based on new facts and developments.<br />
<br />
We actually just had a president who did that. George W. Bush successfully pushed for war against Iraq based on his belief they possessed weapons of mass destruction that posed a threat to the security of the United States. He was wrong and within a matter of months he KNEW he was wrong. But rather than lose face and prestige, he pressed forward with a war that was based on a faulty premise causing the death and maiming of tens of thousands of patriotic Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis--not to mention the devastation it wrought on our world standing and financial health.<br />
<br />
Thankfully, our current president--who also took a position a year ago that was ill advised--had the courage and wisdom to regroup and rethink and pursue a different course of action.<br />
<br />
He may lose face over this in the eyes of some. The media is already replete with stories about what an embarrassment it would be if Congress does not approve the limited strikes that Obama has said he favors. There are also complaints coming from Israel and the Syrian rebels and others around the world that American can no longer be trusted to deliver on its promises.<br />
<br />
This could be a rough patch for Obama politically and he will have to brave many slings and arrows for his wisdom and bravery which, by the way, is not unfair since he did screw up in the first place. <br />
<br />
But thankfully for our country and for the world he had to courage reconsider and change course rather than keep doubling down and pushing more resources and lives and treasure into the pot as our previous president did--long after he and everyone else knew he was playing a losing hand.<br />
<br />
You have to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. We are lucky that Barack Obama understands that far better than the man who came before him.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-50892617689132463982013-07-05T12:17:00.001-07:002013-07-05T12:22:56.888-07:00What the Hell is Going on With the Market?<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Although the
end of the first half of the year now behind us, the volatility in
the financial markets in recent weeks warrants an immediate comment.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I continue
to believe that, now more than ever, it makes sense for investors to own
outstanding American companies for long-term growth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For several years now my accounts have been
fully invested in reasonably-priced quality companies and every quarter my
client letter has said the same thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“We are seeing a bubble in gold and bonds that will at some point burst
in an ugly way and stocks will emerge as the most attractive investment of
choice.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It had to
happen—the only question was when.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
many years, there were net inflows into bond and gold funds which were falsely
labeled as “safe havens.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the
money that fueled those bubbles came out of stock funds which suffered two full
years of monthly outflows even as the market averages doubled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The media
ads promoting gold flooded the airwaves and the pitchmen were often the same
conservative “news” reporters who had been predicting economic catastrophe as a
result of our government’s policies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their status as wise people gave them even more credibility with their
audience and the ease with which investors could participate in gold and silver
through Exchange Traded Funds helped inflate the bubble even more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Last month, Federal
Reserve chairman Bernanke stated the obvious—that the U.S. economy was steadily
improving and if that continued the Fed could and should taper the size of its
bond purchases in the open market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
innocuous announcement served as a wake-up call to investors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Bernanke repeated the obvious again last
Wednesday, it was apparently the needle that popped the bubble.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">During the
ten trading sessions since then, 10-year interest rates have soared to over
2.70 percent—up from their lows of 1.60 percent just weeks ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gold has plummeted to its lowest level in
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Massive mutual fund redemptions
are causing the rout to feed on itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">These
developments should have been great news for stocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The economy is getting better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One would think that much of the money
suddenly flooding out of bond and gold funds would be reallocated to
equities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most stocks are trading at
valuations that seem quite reasonable by historical standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So why are stock averages down by more than 7
percent in recent weeks?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If those of us
who have favored stocks have been so right about the fundamentals, why is the
stock market going down when it should be going up?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Here are a
couple of thoughts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">First, we
are in an environment where the majority of trading in all markets is dominated
by huge hedge funds and high frequency traders which has added to short-term
volatility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a result, in this
interconnected world, nothing happens in a vacuum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For example,
one large hedge fund manager reportedly saw his gold holdings drop by almost
$200 million in value last Thursday when gold fell by almost $100 an
ounce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When huge leveraged funds suffer
big losses, they don’t just sell off their gold—they sell whatever they can to
raise the cash to meet margin calls and rebalance their models.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In addition,
even as the U.S. markets have held up reasonably well in recent months and are
still well ahead for the year, overseas and emerging markets have fared much worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Dow is still up by almost 10 percent for
the year while the MSCI Emerging Market Fund (EEM) is down by almost 20
percent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Chinese market in
particular has been quite weak and fell by 5.6 percent today alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Second, our
media have become addicted to crises and do their best to scare investors
whenever possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is bad for the
country but good for ratings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By any
reasonable measure, the downturn of the last week does not yet qualify as a
crisis or a major turning point in the market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What we have right now is a 7 percent correction in an ongoing bull
market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last year, the market suffered
two 10 percent corrections in what turned out to be a very good year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This could just be part of the normal volatility
that goes along with being a long-term investor in stocks.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The other
media mantra is that stock prices have gotten way ahead of themselves and
investors are way too exuberant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the
fact of the matter is that a smaller percentage of Americans own stocks today
than ever before in recent history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On
top of that, a recent CNN poll showed that 87 percent of Americans believe this
is a bad time to be in the stock market.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">During my
33-year career I have learned what a market top looks like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1999, investors were firing their brokers
for “only” producing 20 percent annual returns and were losing sleep at night
because they didn’t own enough internet stocks and were missing out on the
rally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is what a top looks and
feels like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is almost the exact
opposite of the sentiment among investors today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So on
balance, we live in a dynamic world where no reasonable person could say that
“nothing has changed.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot has changed
and more is changing every day.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But our
investment outlook remains the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now
more than ever, we believe that owning quality, well-run, reasonably priced
American companies will prove very rewarding for investors with a medium to
long-term investment horizon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-71596576100859221332013-06-22T21:42:00.001-07:002013-06-24T11:39:29.618-07:00Israelism Revisited<div>
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I have received a number of responses to <a href="http://www.larrygellman.blogspot.com/2013/06/israelism-cult-that-is-destroying.html">yesterday's article</a> in which I coined the term "Israelism" to describe the over zealousness on the part of many of my fellow Jews who are loving Israel to death. Perhaps more damaging are their slanderous accusations of anti-Semitism against dozens of decent people and public figures--many of whom are Jewish themselves.<br />
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Some people have thanked me for "hitting the nail right on the head" and "saying what needed to be said." But others, including many close friends, were annoyed and even angry over my use of the term "Israelism."<br />
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Here is part of what my good long-time and very intelligent friend Bruce had to say:<br />
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<strong><em>Your use of labels makes you, if not equal, then worse, then those you criticize. You are worse, because by criticizing those who falsely label others as anti-Semites, you admit that you know how wrong it is to label this way, yet you do it anyway.</em></strong></div>
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<strong><em>You seek to support the branding of Israelism and Israelists to be a dirty word. Just what we need is a new title to label and brand another Jew. This is what Judaists think will return civil discourse?</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>Imagine if you were successful. We would all learn to hate Israelists. We would root out the ugly Israelists amongt us. Sort of like the new Amalekites. Supporting Israel must make you a dirty Israelist. And Israelism will eat your soul. Hell, if you were successful enough, your term would catch on and the mass media would begin to call any supporter of Israel an Israelist. Now, wouldn't that be wonderful?</em></strong></blockquote>
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First and foremost, I do not use "Israelist" to describe the vast majority of Jews who, like myself, feel a strong connection to the land and people of Israel and who take pride in the many accomplishments of the Jewish state. It is only descriptive of the small but vocal and powerful group that claims to speak for the Jewish community (although it clearly doesn't) and violates most of the key Jewish prohibitions against using slander, distortions, and lies in an overt effort to destroy the reputations and careers of good people.<br />
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As always, I fell back on a sports analogy. I can't help myself. Before I was God's gift to money management and then the savior of the Jewish people I worked for ten years as a TV news reporter.<br />
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<strong><em>I am a big University of Arizona basketball fan. Like all successful programs they have a strong booster club (AIPAC?) which holds pep rallies where they sing the school song (Hatikvah?).and show highlight films which feature the great plays made by our team and the dirty plays made by the other team because the booster club is not there to educate or provide balance. Their goal is to get their fan base whipped up and make them even more devoted to the team. That is all a good thing. I attend these pep rallies myself.</em></strong></div>
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<em><strong>When I go to the games--which I love--the most vocal and rabid fans sit in a corner the student section--the Zona Zoo. In past years, a small but vocal group of self-described fans have shown their support for the team by spitting on and swearing at members of the other team. Often these fans (which of course is short for the word "fanatic") did some research and found personal details about opposing players and used personal insults about their families as part of their desire to help the home team. It got so bad that two opposing coaches said they wouldn't play at Arizona again unless their teams didn't have to walk through the tunnel that is always flanked by the abusive Wildcat fans.</strong></em></blockquote>
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<em> <strong>I don't think it is hateful for me as a fan to speak out against those who are giving the rest of us a bad name. Quite the opposite. I am proud that the University of Arizona revoked the season tickets of several of those fans, publicly apologized to their victims, and made it clear that this kind of "support" is in conflict with the schools values and ethics. The players and coaches also made it clear that this kind of behavior actually hurts and embarrasses the team that these fans were trying to help.</strong></em> </div>
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As an aside, a strong and healthy team also has radio talk show and blogs where fans like me who have opinions--sometimes positive and sometime critical-- can weigh in and be heard. That was the huge void in the pro-Israel infrastructure that was missing before J Street came along.<br />
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My friend, we have studied Torah and Jewish wisdom together and you have worked with me for years on Federation and Israel Bonds campaigns and you know I was a past board member of AIPAC. I am a bigger fan of Israel than I am of either the Packers or the University of Arizona about which I am borderline fanatic.</blockquote>
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The last thing in the world I would do is demonize or perjoratively label people who support the democratic Jewish State of Israel. But I think we need to rise up as a community and police our own ranks and make it clear that those who violate principals of Jewish values and ethics by unfairly and publicly slandering public officials and fellow Jews and smear them as anti-Semites are crossing the biggest of red lines.<br />
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And when their behavior is as shameful and outrageous as those cited in my article from yesterday, they should be stripped of their tickets and asked to leave the stadium. Not because I disagree with their right to express their opinions and certainly not because they consider themselves staunch supporters of Israel but because those who engage obscenity and vulgarity and disregard for Jewish values should not be allowed to claim they speak for our Jewish community and reflect our values.</blockquote>
</strong></em><br />Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-63868311243098239252013-06-21T15:52:00.000-07:002013-07-01T09:04:29.723-07:00Israelism--The Religion That is Destroying Our Jewish CommunityLast year <a href="http://www.larrygellman.blogspot.com/2012/09/lets-be-honest-about-jewish.html">I wrote about the two new denominations of Judaism</a> that have emerged and made the traditional Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform labels less relevant. <br />
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Now the most meaningful distinction is between Aspirational Jews who look to Judaism as a value-added app that will help them live happier, better, and more productive lives and Tribal Jews whose main goal is to not grant Hitler a posthumous victory and to remain vigilant against the ongoing threats of anti-Semitism and our many enemies who are still out there trying to destroy us.<br />
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Most American Jews incorporate some mix of these approaches to Judaism viewing it as encouraging hope for the future while remaining aware of life's harsh realities. <a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/4-27.htm">The Book of Proverbs tells us not to "veer too far to the right or the left."</a> The conversation and tension between the approaches is healthy.<br />
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But in recent years, a small but vocal sect of passionate Tribalists have taken the tone of conversation to a new and much uglier place and it is driving a new and deep wedge into our already-fractured community.<br />
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These Jews who are damaging our community in the name of saving it have emerged on the scene with a renewed vigor and venom in a way that further threatens our ability to have a civil conversation about Israel and the important challenges we face. Unlike extremists on the Left, who can be annoying but are far less affluent and organized, this group tends to be wealthy, well positioned, and very influential.<br />
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I call this group the Israelists and Israelism has become their religion. Not just because they feel a deep connection as Jews to the state and land of Israel as we all do but because they have used their passion as license to attack those who do not share that passion with stunning disregard for the clear Jewish prohibitions against slander and negative speech about others. Their focus and tunnel vision has risen to cult status where it has functionally become their defining connection with their Judaism.<br />
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Elevated passions and Tribal views on the part of many older, wealthier American Jewish "leaders" is not a new phenomenon. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/opinion/18goldberg.html?pagewanted=all">Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic wrote about it more than five years ago in his New York Times article entitled "Israel's American Problem."</a> His words are even more relevant today.<br />
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<strong><em><span style="background-color: white;">Jewish leaders, who live in Chicago and New York and behind the gates of Boca Raton country clubs, loathe the idea that Mr. Olmert, or a prime minister yet elected, might one day cede the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem to the latent state of Palestine. These are neighborhoods — places like Sur Baher, Beit Hanina and Abu Dis — that the Conference of Presidents could not find with a forked stick and Ari Ben Canaan as a guide. And yet many Jewish leaders believe that an Israeli compromise on the boundaries of greater Jerusalem — or on nearly any other point of disagreement — is an axiomatic invitation to catastrophe.</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="background-color: white;">This is an existentially unhealthy state of affairs. I am not wishing that (President Obama) be hostile to Israel, God forbid. But what Israel needs is an American president who not only helps defend it against the existential threat posed by Iran and Islamic fundamentalism, but helps it to come to grips with the existential threat from within. A pro-Israel president today would be one who prods the Jewish state — publicly, continuously and vociferously — to create conditions on the West Bank that would allow for the birth of a moderate Palestinian state.</span></em></strong><br />
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The situation that Golberg described back then was serious, but look how things have deteriorated since then. <br />
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In recent months I heard former Assistant Secretary of State Elliot Abrams--the featured speaker at AIPAC's annual event in Tucson--accuse <a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/blaming-jews-again_614478.html">award-winning columnists Joe Klein and Thomas Friedman of being "Jewish anti-Semites"</a> because they expressed opinions that were critical of specific actions of AIPAC and the Iseraeli prime minister. <br />
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The Israelist Right--using tactics made popular by Tea Party activists--has smeared caring Jews like Peter Beinart and J Street executive Jeremy Ben Ami as anti-Israel and anti-Semitic, even though each has lived in Israel and has worked tirelessly to promote conditions that will enable it to survive as a Jewish democratic state..<br />
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Most recently, the Israelist rhetoric has kicked up to a new level as Islamophobe Pamela Geller's group has taken out <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=pamela+geller+subway+ads&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=uc7EUauhJKH4yQG-wYD4AQ&sqi=2&ved=0CDgQsAQ&biw=984&bih=461">ads in New York and Washington subways comparing Muslims to "savages" in the name of the Jewish people</a> and those who support Israel.<br />
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The vitriol and accusations of anti-Semitism have expanded well beyond Jews in recent months. When twice-decorated war hero and former Senator Chuck Hagel was nominated to be the next Secretary of Defense, the <a href="http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2012/12/20/the-absurd-chuck-hagel-anti-semitism-accusations">Emergency Committee for Israel and other Israelist groups ran an expensive smear campaign against him labelling him an anti-Semite</a>--again in the name of American Jews. lAnd what was Hagel's sin that qualified him as a Jew hater? He had complained seven years ago about the heavy-handed tactics of AIPAC--an opinion I have heard from dozens of members of Congress.<br />
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Also appalling is the recent campaign against Samantha Power who is nominated to be our next Ambassador to the United Nations. As soon as she was nominated, the Israelist hit squad ran <a href="http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/06/samantha_power_obamas_pick_as_americas_ambassador_to_the_un_will_fit_right_in.html">articles branding her as an anti-Semite </a>in headlines based on a two minute out-of-context snippet culled from an interview she gave on an obscure cable channel eleven years ago.<br />
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The email campaign waged hot and heavy <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/samantha-power-gets-early-boost-from-pro-israel-voices/">until people like Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach chimed in </a>that they thought Power would be an excellent choice based on her past performance and commitment to Israel.<br />
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But the crusher came when <a href="http://forward.com/articles/178355/samantha-power-cares-deeply-about-israel-says-mich/">Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren defied precedent and wrote a passionate endorsement of Power</a>.. The respone from the Israelists who smeared her as an anti-Semite has been deafening silence.<br />
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It brought back visions of Goldberg's article about Israelist American Jews who are far to the Right and far more strident than the counterparts in Israel they claim to represent. <br />
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What is most striking (and most troubling) is that the terms anti-Israel and anti-Semite have become synonymous and are used interchangeably. Neither Friedman, Klein, Hagel, or Power ever said anything negative about Jews or Judaism. What few comments they made were about the tactics and/or policies of AIPAC and/or the Israeli government. Can you imagine if every person who is sincerely critical of the policies of the U.S. government was branded as anti-America or unpatriotic? <br />
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In a recent interview on Jackie Mason made the following telling comment to<a href="http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/theater-and-dance/133893/happy-birthday-jackie-mason"> David Evanier in Tablet Magazine</a> when he asked Mason if he has experienced anti-Semitism in his life<br />
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<strong><em><span style="background-color: white;">I did 45 years ago, but I haven’t in the last 30 because the Gentiles in America have changed from looking down at a Jew 40 years ago to looking up to a Jew today. They used to condescend to a Jew; now they apologize to me for not being a Jew. They say their sister-in-law is a Jew, they’re married to a Jew, they’re trying to move into a Jewish neighborhood, they want to be a Jew. The only anti-Semitism that I suffer from today is from Jews.</span></em></strong><br />
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Although they claim to be obsessed with concern about the future and safety of Israel and the Jewish people, much of what they write and forward in emails are criticisms--often laced with lies or distortions--about the evils of Arabs, Palestinians, and Islam.<br />
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Many of these Israelists are bright, caring people who are my very good friends. I have spent the last three decades working along side them as I have chaired Federation and Israel Bonds campaigns, worked to raise and have given money to day schools and synagogues. <br />
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But isn't there a risk that the Jews who cry "anti-Semite" so frivilously will not be listed to if real anti-Semitism rears its ugly head.<br />
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Going forward, Judaism will thrive or wither not based upon our ability to idenify and demonize our perceived enemies but rather upon its ability to provide people with a wonderful values and wisdom based system that can help them live happier, better and more productive lives. It is a complicated and nuanced mix of those values along with ritual observance, culture, and a unique relationship with the land of Israel and, in recent years, the democratic Jewish state that has been built on that land.<br />
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As so often before in Jewish history, our people is facing a number of existential threats. For the first time in Jewish history, the most serious of those threats is internal--not coming from outsiders who want to destroy us but from the likely outcome of disastrous decisions being made by those who claim to be our leaders.<br />
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As the great Talmud scholar<a href="http://www.igopogo.com/we_have_met.htm"> Rav Pogo once said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."</a><br />
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We might not be able to eliminate Jew hatred in the world and control the forces of evil out there that target Jews, but can't we at least find a way to call off the circular firing squad.<br />
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<br />Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-83994084965674200272012-11-07T09:40:00.002-08:002012-11-07T13:32:55.880-08:00The Confederacy, Bible Belt, and Wilderness PartyI'm going to try to get through my post-election analysis without being too much of a jerk. But it will be hard. I'm used to being sort of right but not THIS right.<br />
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I caught major grief from friends and foes when <a href="http://www.larrygellman.blogspot.com/2012/09/lets-be-honest-it-is-so-over.html">I stated as a fact--not a prediction--in September</a> and repeated <a href="http://www.larrygellman.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-election-will-resolve-important.html">for emphasis yesterday</a> that the presidential election was over and that Obama had won. Not only was I correct, but it was actually over for the reasons I stated. More on why the rest of the news media seemed oblivious to that fact later.<br />
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The most relevant statistic that you will not hear anywhere else is that this is the second straight election during which a decent and intelligent Republican candidate did not come close to winning a single state outside the Confederacy, Bible Belt, or Wilderness. <br />
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And for the second straight election that was largely due to the fact that the Republican party has been taken over by people who are so crazy and evil that the candidate had to say so many bizarre things and support such toxic policies to get the nomination that he essentially became unelectable in a national race.<br />
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The smart Republicans candidates like Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels, Michael Bloomberg, and Jeb Bush wanted no part of that game and chose to stay as far away from this election as possible--waiting for saner times in the future. So it was Mitt Romney who outlasted a field of wing nuts to get the nomination but, despite his last minute efforts to disavow his previous statements to appear more in touch with most Americans, he never had a chance.<br />
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All the conversation continues to be about divisiveness and partisanship but the real issue is that the Republicans can't win a national election unless they make some major changes. The simple fact is that if over the next four years Republican leaders (and many of my friends) would commit the same amount of time, energy, and money to solving our country's problems as they have over the last four years to destroying and demonizing our president and his family, most of our problems will be solved.<br />
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After all, Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and his co-religionists already have what they have wanted since 2008. The assurance that Barack Obama will not be re-elected four years from now. With that in hand, they might as well try a new approach and focus on helping the country.<br />
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As an independent voter who longs for a viable choice again I hope and pray that happens. If it doesn't, it will be sad but not shocking.<br />
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What IS shocking is the fact that none of the so-called news media--mainstream or otherwise--pointed any of this out at any point during the campaign. Even as Intrade was showing us that real people betting real money had determined that Romney had no chance to win (Intrade accurately predicted the outcome in each of the 49 states that have been decided), we were constantly being told right up until the last minute that this was the closest race in history--neck and neck--and it would go right down to the wire.<br />
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It was as though a football game between the Green Bay Packers and the University of Wisconsin was being discussed by "experts" as a toss-up with none of them pointing out the fact that real people betting real money had made the Packers six touchdown favorites.<br />
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It calls into question if we still have real journalists or real news organizations. They seem to have been replaced by celebrities who appear on TV shows and write blogs and columns but make their real money doing guest speaking appearances before adoring fans around the country.<br />
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Journalistic standards and commitment to the truth have gone so far by the wayside that we now have a handful of people (none of whom are well-known, high paid or famous) who have been delegated as "fact checkers" for various shows and publications. I must be getting old but back when I was a newspaper and TV reporter, we were ALL supposed to be fact checkers. That was the job. Reporting the truth and calling out lies when we found them.<br />
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But <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/06/opinion/the-real-loser-truth.html?src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB">an article in today's New York Times</a> points out how dramatically that has changed during this election:<br />
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<em><strong>...most news organizations (with notable exceptions) abandoned their roles as political referees. Many resorted to an atrophied style that resembled stenography more than journalism, presenting all claims as equally valid. Fact checking, once a foundation for all reporting, was now deemed the province of a specialized few. </strong></em><br />
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<em><strong>But as this campaign has made clear, not even the dedicated fact-checkers have made much difference. </strong></em></div>
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<em><strong>PolitiFact has chronicled 19 “pants on fire” lies by Mr. Romney and 7 by Mr. Obama since 2007, but Mr. Romney’s whoppers have been qualitatively far worse: the “apology tour,” the “government takeover of health care,” the “$4,000 tax hike on middle class families,” the gutting of welfare-to-work rules, the shipment by Chrysler of jobs from Ohio to China. Said one of his pollsters, Neil Newhouse, “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers.” </strong></em><br />
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So, as Tevye famously said during <em>Fiddler on the Roof</em>, "Send us the cure. The sickness we've already got." Will anything change? Is there a cure out there?<br />
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As far as the Republican Party is concerned it is up to them. <a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/11/07/fox_news_dark_night_of_the_soul/">Watching Karl Rove on Fox News</a> last night was like seeing Matthew Harrison Brady at the end of <em>Inherit the Wind</em> as he continued to argue his case even after the jury had rendered its verdict. He was Don Quixote in a business suit tilting at windmills and flailing at imaginary demons. I'm curious to hear what Rove tells the billionaires who gave him hundreds of millions to smear Obama regarding what they got for their money. I wonder if Sheldon Adelson feels his $100 million was well spent.<br />
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And the trend is not their friend. Former Wilderness states like New Mexico, Colorado, and Nevada have already joined the civilized world due to changing demographics and places like my home in Arizona and North Carolina will be close behind. There are fewer and fewer places where science and facts and American values and freedoms--not as defined by Evangelicals but as defined by history and common sense--just don't matter any more. We'll see if the Republicans can figure it out or if they will just keep dooming themselves to failure on the national stage.<br />
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Regarding the news media, I'm not optimistic. As with professional sports, it has become a business that seems more focused on individual fame and entertainment than on teamwork, traditional values and a commitment to the public good. That part is sad.<br />
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I guess I will just have to keep writing to try to offset the decline.<br />
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<br />Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-24198964120958245672012-11-05T15:09:00.004-08:002012-11-05T17:21:16.503-08:00The Election Will Resolve an Important IssueI have received a number of calls from my many fans in recent days who want to know if I still stand by<a href="http://www.larrygellman.blogspot.com/2012/09/lets-be-honest-it-is-so-over.html"> my bold (and apparently annoying) statement of six weeks ago in which I declared the presidential election to be over and declared Obama the clear winner.</a><br />
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I have never wavered in my conviction, despite President Obama's apparent determination to prove me a liar during the first debate, and I certainly am not concerned now. At the end of the day, the combination of Romney's weakness as a candidate and the Republican party's toxic platform are every bit as damaging to his candidacy today as they were months ago.<br />
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It was over then and it is over now. <br />
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But that is not the reason for this article.<br />
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An interesting question that has emerged during the last two months of the campaign has been whether traditional polls (Gallup, Pew, Rasmussen, and such) have gone the way of credit rating agencies and become completely useless as a predictive tool or if they are able to measure public sentiment accurately.<br />
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Politcal polls have a spotty track record but in the new world where no one under the age of 50 has a land line telephone any more it really calls into question how a pollster can sample opinion at all today. During the last few months, I have received more than a dozen calls from pollsters on my home phone but no calls on the cell phone which I use for most of my communication.<br />
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How do pollsters sample public opinion if they are using telephone polling but they aren't calling anyone who only has a cell phone? A good question, but also not the reason for this article.<br />
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The burning question is how and why there is such a huge disconnect between the predictions being made by traditional pollsters and the odds being quoted on the betting sites where real people are betting tens of millions of dollars on the upcoming elections?<br />
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Full disclosure. As an investment adviser and as an observer of the human and political condition I have always paid far more attention to how people behave than to what they say. It is an approach that tends to serve us all well.<br />
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That is why I confess to being an addict of <a href="http://www.intrade.com/v4/markets/?eventClassId=19">Intrade</a>, <a href="http://sports.ladbrokes.com/en-gb/Politics/US-Presidential-ElectionPolitics/US-Presidential-Election-t110000608">Ladbrokes</a>, and other betting sites where gamblers (investors) can wager on the outcome of upcoming events.<br />
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From the outset, Obama has been a solid favorite to win re-election on all the betting sites and at this very moment with the election just hours away, the president is <a href="http://www.intrade.com/v4/misc/scoreboard/">a 70-30 favorite to win on Intrade</a> and <a href="http://sports.ladbrokes.com/en-gb/Politics/US-Presidential-ElectionPolitics/US-Presidential-Election-t110000608">a 2-9 favorite at Ladbrokes</a> (U.S. casinos are not allowed to take bets on our elections) in Great Britain. Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/158519/romney-obama-gallup-final-election-survey.aspx">Gallup--the most prestigious of the traditional pollsters--now says that Romney is slightly AHEAD overall.</a><br />
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The odds have always favored Obama although his lead dropped into the 55-45 range during the week after his disastrous performance and Romney's clear win in the first debate in September. But real bettors betting real money have never--not ever for a second--considered Romney likely to win.<br />
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Even more dramatic is the widely divergent message we are getting on the likely outcome in the so-called swing states. We are told at this very moment by the mainstream media and the traditional polls that the election is neck and neck and could go either way. That states such as Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Nevada, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire are essentially deadlocked and too close to call.<br />
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Meanwhile, the betting sites are stating clearly that there are only two real toss up states remaining--<br />
Virginia and Colorado (Obama is ahead slightly in each). Real people betting real money have made Romney a huge favorite in Florida and North Carolina and Obama is a prohibitive favorite--25 points or more--in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Iowa, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin.<br />
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If investors are to be believed, it will be a very early night tomorrow.<br />
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The issue that should get a lot of attention but probably won't is why, armed with prestigious but probably very misleading polling data, have our mainstream media been tricking us into believing that this race has been a cliff-hanger all along? Could it be that they are less interested in keeping us informed than they are in insulating themselves from charges of liberal bias from the Right? And that most of all they are desperate to keep us sitting on the edges of our seats until the game is over even though real people betting real money have been telling us for months that this election will be a blowout?<br />
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This is the only real question regarding the presidential election--whether polls are worth the paper they are printed on and the way the media use them--that remains to be resolved tomorrow. The rest of it was over weeks ago.<br />
<br />Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-61605453296547911022012-09-25T11:43:00.002-07:002014-09-27T09:45:14.981-07:00Let's Be Honest--About High Holiday Sermons--How Do You Jew--Part IIIn the first part of this series, I pointed out that people who view Judasim as an important part of their lives today fall into two denominations--Tribalists and Aspirational--with most of us incorporating aspects of each into our own Jewish experience.<br />
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For years we have framed Jewish denominations as Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform which differed mainly in their levels of ritual observance. But the new denominations cut across the old lines and focus on their followers' view of what it means to be Jewish.<br />
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Tribalists tend to believe that they were born Jewish and have a responsibility to unequivocally support Israel and to remain vigilant in their fight against anti-Semitism, discrimination against Jews and existential threats to the Jewish people here and in Israel--threats which they believe are both real and daunting.<br />
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Aspirational Jews tend to view Judaism as a package that includes a Jewish homeland, a rich history, a written and oral tradition of rituals, wisdom, values, and ethics. It is an option with which they are fully prepared and even anxious to engage if and only if it can provide them tools that enable them to live happier, better, more productive lives.<br />
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The very different messaging and views regarding the true meaning of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and how they are being played out in High Holiday sermons provide a dramatic example of this dynamic.<br />
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In Jewish tradition, the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur--called the "Day of Awe--are a time for intense self-examination (<em>heshbon hanefesh</em>) as each of us is commanded to repent for the sins we have committed during the last year. We are supposed to seek out those who we have hurt or treated badly during the last year and ask them for their forgiveness. We also are to do repentance (<em>tshuvah</em>) before God and make our case to be inscribed in the Book of Life for the coming year. <br />
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But in recent years, even as life for American Jews has become better and Israel has become stronger and more secure, many Jews and rabbinic leaders have become increasingly vocal about their existential fears and sense of victimhood--so much so that their Rosh Hashanah sermons have morphed into fearful and demonizing rants against others--both inside and outside the Jewish tent--who are perceived as threats.<br />
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A tipping point occurred two years ago when every Jews Inbox suddenly filled up with forwarded emails from friends sharing what they were calling "<a href="http://frontpagemag.com/2011/frontpagemag-com/a-brave-rabbi-speaks-out/">The Sermon of the Century</a>."<br />
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The now-famous sermon was delivered on Rosh Hashanah in 2010 by Rabbi Schlomo Lewis of Atlanta's Etz Chaim (Conservative) synagogue. It earned him a commendation from both the Georgia legislature and the U.S. Congress. <br />
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On Rosh Hashanah, instead of helping his congregants with their upcoming negotiations with God where their very lives stood in the balance, Rabbi Lewis decided to deliver a passionate warning about the evil perpetrators of radical Islam--comparing the Islamists to the Nazis and making numerous allusions to the Holocaust.<br />
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He concluded by saying:<br />
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<em><strong>Our parents and grandparents saw the swastika and recoiled, understood the threat and destroyed the Nazis. We see the banner of Radical Islam and can do no less.</strong></em><em><br /><strong></strong></em><br />
<em><strong>A rabbi was once asked by his students….</strong></em><br />
<em><br /><strong></strong></em><em><strong>“Rebbi. Why are your sermons so stern?” Replied the rabbi, “If a house is on fire and we chose not to wake up our children, for fear of disturbing their sleep, would that be love? Kinderlach, ‘di hoyz brent.’ Children our house is on fire and I must arouse you from your slumber.”</strong></em><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><em><br /> </em><em><strong>My friends – the world is on fire and we must awake from our slumber. “EHR KUMT.(yiddish for "He--meaning Hitler-is coming)”</strong></em><br />
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Thousands of Jews were so moved by this Rosh Hashanah message that they forwarded it all over the country and it has received hundreds of thousands of views. <br />
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With others like the <a href="http://www.loonwatch.com/2010/11/shlomo-lewis-atlanta-5771-might-as-well-be-1935/">blogger Gefilte on loonwatch.com it raised some red flags.</a><br />
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<strong><em>Quite simply, it’s nothing but a piece of hate speech by a religious leader. Not only that, it’s a piece of dreck delivered at a pulpit by a rabbi on the first day of Rosh Hashanah — a day for introspection and self-examination, not high political theater.</em></strong><br />
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And the Tribalist approach to the High Holidays continues.<br />
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Last week former New York mayor Ed Koch gave his annual "sermon" at the Modern Orthodox Park East Synagogue in New York and reportedly used the opportunity <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160066">to deliver a screed blasting President Obama for his policies and actions regarding Iran</a> and his weakness when it comes to dealing with Muslims in general.<br />
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This represents the third complete flip for Koch on the subject of Obama and Israel. Two years ago, he vilified Obama for "throwing Israel under the bus" only to decide months later that Obama was great for Israel. Now he has apparently flipped again on the subject. All of that is interesting (or not) but in any event is it what we should be hearing from the bimah during a Rosh Hashanah sermon?<br />
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Meanwhile in Israel, two of the most powerful and influential rabbis in the Jewish world sent Rosh Hashanah messages to the their followers.<br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovadia_Yosef">Rabbi Ovadia Yosef,</a> the spiritual leader of the politically powerful religious Shas party, <a href="http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/rav-ovadia-yosef-we-must-pray-for-the-destruction-of-iran/2012/08/26/">sent out a message before the holiday urging all Jews to use the Rosh Hashanah observance as an opportunity to pray for the destruction of Iran.</a><br />
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At the same time, Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel used the Rosh Hashanah platform to make a single statement--that <a href="http://forward.com/articles/163059/sephardic-rabbi-reform-jews-are-biggest-threat/">Reform Jews pose the greatest threat to our people today and that it is better for a Jew not to pray at all than to pray along with Reform Jews.</a><br />
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Most American Jews dismiss the impact of rabbis like Amar and Josef, describing them as fringe elements, fanatics, and worse. But they are not the least bit fringe. These rabbis have enormous political power and influence in Israel and elsewhere and their opinions form the basis for policy and law in the Jewish homeland.<br />
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Those widely hailed dark and ominous sermons were far different from those delivered last week here in Aspen. The sermons on the mount(ain) were the work of <a href="http://www.jewishaspen.com/aboutus/staff/">Rabbi David Segal, the young spiritual leader of the Aspen Jewish Congregation</a>--a fast growing center of Jewish life in a community where the congregants range from old and very wealthy to young and middle class and who come from all neighborhoods of the Jewish, economic and political spectrum.<br />
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Rabbi Segal is a Reform rabbi who is bright and innovative and would even be called progressive but his sermons seemed far more true to Jewish tradition that those delivered by the more ritually observant religious leaders described above.<br />
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On Erev Rosh Hashanah Rabbi Segal <a href="http://aspenjewish.blogspot.com/2012/09/immigrants-and-iconoclasts-erev-rosh.html"> traced the Jewish tradition of reforming the rules and tradition back to Abraham,</a> and suggested that each of us can be true to that tradition by changing it in ways that retain its essence but keeps it relevant.<br />
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On Rosh Hashanah morning he talked about politics. But instead of promoting or bashing one of the candidates, <a href="http://aspenjewish.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-jewish-party-rosh-hashanah-morning.html">Rabbi Segal talked about our need to support candidates and promote our political agendas in a way that is consistent with Jewish values and civility</a>.<br />
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He closed with the following prayer for the New Year: <br />
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<strong><em>Ribono shel olam, Great One of the World, we’re trying really hard here to put Your will into action through our political affiliations.</em></strong><br />
<strong><br /><em></em></strong><strong><em>Remind us that You are bigger than party and faction, and that some of Your truth always resides in the words of our opponents. Give us the confidence to learn from them, especially the ones who seem so wrong at first... Remind us of the wisdom of our ancestors, who taught,“Who is wise? He who learns from all people” (Pirkei Avot 4:1). </em></strong><br />
<strong><br /><em></em></strong><strong><em>Teach us that our People’s record of your Revelation is subtle, complex, multi-vocal, at times confusing and troubling, and elsewhere a clarion call for justice. Help us to study it more (perhaps with a local rabbi), and through our learning to know You better, and Your will, for our action in the world. </em></strong><br />
<strong><br /><em></em></strong><strong><em>Then may we fulfill your promise to Abraham, that we shall be a blessing to the community and nation we all call our home.</em></strong><br />
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As Rabbi Segal quotes from the Talmud, a truly wise person is one who learns from all people. And as we are also advised in the Talmud, we should travel down some part of the middle of the road and not on the far right or the far left.<br />
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Today we have new Jewish denominations. The Tribalists on one extreme who view being Jewish as a real life game of "Survivor" where even today we face enemies and discrimination and existential threats. And on the other extreme are the Aspirationalists who view Judaism as a value-added set of beliefs, history, rituals, and wisdom traditions that can help us lead happier, better, and more productive lives.<br />
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Each side is correct--to a point. There are existential threats to the Jewish democratic state of Israel and to our ability to maintain a vital Jewish community here in the U.S. But the most daunting of those threats is not a nuclear Iran or radical Islam or intermarriage or anti-Semitism. <br />
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The major threat is that in our efforts to fight each of those very real challenges we lose sight of the Jewish values and ethical guidelines regarding how we treat each other that were the whole point of Judaism in the first place.<br />
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Now more than ever before, Jews are in a position where we have the power and standing to implement our tradition and our values more fully and completely than ever before. Along with that power comes the freedom to make choices--including the choice of simply walking away from a tradition if it loses its meaning and ability to help us be better, happier, more productive human beings.<br />
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The key challenge of 5773 is to spend less time demonizing others (even with fair criticism) and to seek out more opportunities for self-examination and linking to our tradition and wisdom in ways that truly make each of us, the world, and the Jewish people better.<br />
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That seems like the best New Year's resolution of all.<br />
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<br />Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-33647279904396892762012-09-17T14:36:00.000-07:002014-09-27T09:37:36.234-07:00Let's Be Honest--About Jewish Denominations--How Do You Jew--Part 1<br />
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The time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called the "Days of Awe" since we are supposed to spend them making our case before God that we are worthy to be inscribed in the Book of Life for yet another year. It is the one short period when we are supposed to focus completely on our own strengths and weaknesses and our personal relationship with God. The rest of the year, and Judaism in general, focuses on prayers for the Jewish people, the communities in which we live, and the rest of the world.<br />
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The various flavors of Judaism--Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, Vegan, Jew-Bu, etc.--have always more or less agreed on this model. We are very different in the trappings and the role that ritual observance plays in the process. But the various denominational labels have been used for decades to help Jews and other differentiate between the various denominations and how different Jews choose to be religious in their own way.<br />
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But as with most labels that have served us well for a long time, those denominational labels are becoming more meaningless by the day. In the past, the list above (in order) has been used to determine which Jews are "more Jewish" ranging from Orthodox at the top to Jew-Bu at the bottom.<br />
But now, many of my Orthodox friends have become more flexible in their levels of observance while more and more of my Reform friends are wearing kippot and keeping kosher. <br />
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As with our relationship to Israel and a whole broad range of issues, things are just getting more and more complicated when it comes to using the old measures and language to talk about what it means to be Jewish.<br />
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I would suggest that as a practical matter, there are really only two denominations of American Judaism that exist today and that they have far less to do with ritual observance per se than they do with the macro view regarding what it means to be Jewish.<br />
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One view--the one I hear about in emails from my older Jewish friends of all existing denominations--is that Judaism carries with it first and foremost a set of obligations. Those of us who were born Jewish have a duty to perpetuate the Jewish people (by marrying inside the faith), to unequivocally support the government of the State of Israel without which Judaism would essentially cease to exist, and to be fully aware that even though things may seem pretty good for us right now, the anti-Semites and Jew haters are still out there and we must always be alert and vigilant for the signs of the next catastrophe. <br />
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We owe it to the memory of those who died in the Holocaust not to grant Hitler a posthumous victory and must forward every article and statement documenting horrible acts of anti-Semitism from anywhere in the world to make sure that the current complacent generation of Jews is snapped out of its dangerous illusion that life for Jews is pretty good here.<br />
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The other denomination consists of those who believe that in this new open source world without boundaries and limitations in which we are blessed to live in this country, Judaism like every other religion, way of life, and wisdom tradition, is to be viewed as a choice--not a burden or responsibility. It will thrive or wither based on the ability of its rituals, ethics, values, historical memories and insights to help people live happier, better, and more productive lives. <br />
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The same applies to the legacy organizations such as synagogues, Federations, pro-Israel groups and all of the other entities that for decades essentially had a large captive audience and suddenly find themselves having to compete for customers in the open market.<br />
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Perhaps the best example of how the failure of most Jews and the media to understand that there are now just two relevant denominations has surfaced in the jumbled and contradictory conversations about "The Jewish Vote" and whether President Obama is as popular with Jews as he was four years ago or if he is losing ground to Mitt Romney. It also applies to the corollary question regarding the role that Israel plays in the voting decision of Jews.<br />
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Polls and surveys have yielded a broad range of results and answers to those questions because the pollsters and pundits don't understand that the differences in issues, politics, and actual definition of what it means to be Jewish is so profoundly different between the denominations that the term "Jewish" no longer has a single definition.<br />
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Among the "tribal" Jews, unequivocal support for Israel and its government is a huge priority and the almost omnipresent sense of victimhood, fear, and anger that is voiced at meetings and articles that are forwarded by these folks has caused many of them to employ the tactics and tone of the political Right.<br />
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Within the other denomination people who turn to Judaism as an important part of their lives embrace its rituals, culture, history, wisdom, ethics, and values as a life choice due to its ability to help them live happier, better, and more productive lives. They believe that a Jew's first responsibility is to leave the world a better place (tikkun olam) than it was when we got here. <br />
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I will call this group Aspirational Jews--not because they don't feel as strong an historical and cultural connection to Judaism and Israel but because they tend to pick and choose among the rituals and traditions and focus on observing only those that make their lives better, happier, and more productive. They don't feel "commanded" nearly as much as they feel empowered to make relevant and value-added choices.<br />
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As is always the case, the best result will occur when pluralism prevails and the extremists of each denomination work hard to find the partial truths that certainly exist in the positions of the other.<br />
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The Tribalists need to understand that we live in times when even the legacy organizations that they embrace have determined that the greatest threat that American Jews face today is not that gentiles hate Jews and want to destroy us but is rather that <a href="http://www.northjersey.com/news/169936066_As_intermarriage_grows_among_Jews__the_High_Holidays_represent_a_tricky_negoitation_.html">so many gentiles love Jews so much that they can't wait to marry our children. </a> That fact should cut into the fear just a smidge.<br />
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The Aspirational Jews need to understand that although we enjoy a life in the U.S. that none of our forefathers and mothers ever dreamed possible, there are still enormous threats that exist in a very ugly world and that Jew hatred is a very major challenge in many places around the world.<br />
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Our tradition teaches us over and over that some version of the middle road is always the best way to travel. It also teaches that we grow and survive not by demonizing those with whom we disagree but rather by engaging those very people in dialogue and conversations that will make each of us wiser and lead to the best result possible.<br />
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During these Day of Awe we need to look at ourselves and determine how we can best make the positive difference that our tradition teaches were are all obliged to seek.<br />
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Part 2 will be a discussion of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the Days of Awe and point out new differences are emerging the the way the Tribalists and the Jews by Choice frame this period as well.<br />
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<br />Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-91100993018118962892012-09-15T16:41:00.002-07:002012-09-18T20:11:21.893-07:00Let's Be Honest--It is SO OVER!<em>Full Disclosure: I voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and have known for a long time that I will vote for him again in November. I am socially liberal and fiscally conservative and have voted, worked for, and donated money to the campaigns of both Democrats and Republicans in the past and in the current election cycle.</em><br />
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I had planned to write this article two months ago and I wish I had because back then it was less clear to most people that the upcoming presidential election has already been decided and that Barack Obama has won. Actually, it is more accurate to say that Mitt Romney and the Republican party have lost. But the result is the same.<br />
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Even though our president has done a pretty good job under horrible circumstances over the last four years, it is disappointing that his imminent victory has come so easily. Americans deserve a real choice between candidates with a vision for the future.<br />
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Unfortunately, for the last four years Republicans have been so caught up in their proudly announced determination to cause Barack Obama to fail and so anxious to please the extremists in their base that they have presented us with a candidate and a platform that are out of touch with the wants, needs, and values of most Americans.<br />
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In Mitt Romney, Republicans nominated a candidate that was the second or third choice of most of their party members. His only seeming strength is his ability to master the ins and out of the legal and free market system to build a huge personal fortune for himself and a handful of wealthy investors.<br />
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During the last few months, his ineptitude in the areas of diplomacy and foreign affairs has been showcased through a serious of unforced statements that make most people cringe. He has<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-mitt-romney-russia-syria-20120910,0,7040098.story"> declared Russia to be the number one geopolitical threat to the U.S., </a>has gratuitously insulted the people of our most reliable ally by saying <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/27/politics/romney-london-troubles/index.html">they weren't ready to host the Olympics</a>, has said he would do "everything the opposite of Obama" regarding Israel even though Obama has been called the most pro-Israel U.S. president ever and cited as a true friend by current and former Israeli prime ministers, and has recently used the tragic murders of U.S. diplomats in Libya for political purposes. Enough said.<br />
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Also to blame are <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/15/mitt-romney-campaign-gop-activists_n_1887069.html">Romney's campaign advisers who have led him horribly astray</a>. His first major downturn came when he responded to calls for him to release his tax returns by mounting a racist offensive against the president <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/17/us-usa-campaign-romney-idUSBRE86F1CM20120717">stating that Obama "needs to learn how to be an American."</a><br />
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But most damaging was choosing to <a href="http://pollways.bangordailynews.com/2012/09/15/national/are-you-better-off-today-than-four-years-ago-sets-up-an-obama-opportunity/?ref=blogswidget">key his entire campaign around asking Americans if they are better off today than they were four years ago.</a> The answer for most Americans is a resounding "yes." The stock market has doubled, millions of new private sectors jobs have been created, the real estate collapse has started to reverse, and <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/157295/consumer-spending-climbs-close-four-year-high.aspx">polls show that consumer spending and confidence are now at four year highs.</a><br />
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Does it make sense that the Romney campaign is spending millions to encourage Americans to realize that <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20120915/NEWS15/120915019/obama-ad-says-nation-is-better-off-than-in-2008">under President Obama our nation and most voters' view of the future</a> have emerged from a death spiral and are headed in the right direction?<br />
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But the impending Republican disaster is not all Romney's fault. The truth is that the Republican Party never really had a chance.<br />
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He has been saddled with <a href="http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/09/massachusetts_republican_party_3.html">a party platform that is so extreme and out of touch with most Americans</a> on a broad range of social issues and the role of religion in our government that only those who truly hate Barack Obama could support him.<br />
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This sad story for Americans like me who were hoping for a real choice has been unfolding for months but just a few weeks ago the race was still close. The politics betting site Intrade showed Obama as a 54-45 percent favorite to win in November.<br />
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Then came the Republican convention followed by the Democratic convention and that was that. The focus of each convention was Obama. All of the energy and passion and both conventions were in speeches about Obama. The Republicans hate him and the Democrats love him. But it also became painfully clear that Romney was the second or third choice for most Republicans. <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/ballot-2012/2012/09/04/no-gop-convention-bounce-in-polls-for-mitt-romney-yet">They aren't passionate about HIM</a>. They are passionate about beating Obama. The Democrats on the other hand are running the candidate that all of them want. The difference in energy level, organization, and charisma from one week to the next was palpable.<br />
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Then came <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/09/12/836791/romney-camp-blames-obama-libya/">Romney's unfortunate and unpatriotic comments in the wake of the catastrophic murders of U.S. diplomats in Libya</a> and suddenly it was over.<br />
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In an unprecedented three week slide on <a href="http://www.intrade.com/v4/markets/">Intrade, the odds on the election have suddenly exploded</a> to the point where Obama has now become a 67-33 favorite to win.<br />
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It has been a Wizard of Oz-like stretch where suddenly voters realized that the man behind the Republican curtain is not a wizard at all and that the party he represents has become so consumed with demonizing the president that they have forgotten to put together a positive plan for the future that makes any sense.<br />
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<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/post-poll-obama-up-8-points-over-romney-in-virginia/2012/09/18/ca691d9a-0193-11e2-9367-4e1bafb958db_story.html?hpid=z1">Just look at what has happened in Virginia</a>--a key swing state that had been leaning toward Romney prior to the conventions. The Republicans became so obsessed with including every Obama-bashing speaker in their shortened convention that <a href="http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/susan-milligan/2012/09/11/explaining-romneys-brain-freeze-on-the-troops-and-afghanistan">not a single speaker--including Romney--made even a mention of the fact that our country is at war in Afghanistan</a> and that tens of thousands of troops are fighting and dying there every day.<br />
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The Democrats then seized on the opportunity and made the troops a key part of every day's agenda. <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-military-mom-michelle-obama-20120904,0,4814119.story">They even had a mother of four servicemen--one currently serving in the Army, Air Force, Marines, and Navy--introduce Michelle Obama. </a> Both Obama and Biden talked extensively in their speeches about how grateful our country is to our men in uniform.<br />
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In Virginia, where one out of every three voters is either a veteran or a current member of the Armed Services, voters were apparently listening. Senate candidate and former Governor Tim Kaine told me this week that support for both him and the president spiked dramatically during the last 10 days. <br />
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Now Intrade shows Kaine as a 58-30 favorite in his race while Obama is listed as a 58-42 percent favorite. Both races were neck and neck just two weeks ago. Romney's numbers have also fallen off a cliff in Wisconsin, Ohio, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, and Iowa since the conventions. <br />
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You get the picture.<br />
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There are thousands of writers and broadcasters who will make their living over the next seven weeks trying to convince us that the race is neck and neck and could easily tilt in either direction. That the three upcoming debates will swing the race one way or another. That's their job. But they will be fibbing.<br />
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It is over. <br />
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<br />Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-16021032279583548282012-09-14T11:10:00.001-07:002012-09-14T11:52:59.009-07:00Let's Be Honest--About IranAfter studying with the Dalai Lama and his chief rabbis (they actually called themselves "rimpoches" but I assume that is Tibetan for "rabbi") here in Aspen a few years ago, I realized I needed a mantra. <br />
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So I came up with the observation that "the more I know, the less I know for sure" which isn't all that different from the mantra of CLAL that we should always be looking for the partial truth in the opinion of others or the statement in the Talmud that a truly wise person is "one who learns from all people."<br />
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It has actually been a very useful mantra during these times when we are confronted by so many people who believe they have 100 percent of the truth on a variety of complex issues and instead of engaging with people who have different opinions and trying to learn from them the response too often is to demonize and delegitimize others and simply turn up the anger and the volume on their own positions.<br />
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With that as background, let's look at the situation in Iran and the conversation regarding what, if anything, the U.S. and Israel should be doing in response to that country's presumed march toward a nuclear weapon.<br />
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In the media and blogosphere, the conversation is relatively simple. On one side are those who believe that Iran is on the verge of manufacturing a nuclear weapon that would pose and existential threat to Israel and other countries in the region and that the only responsible action for Israel and/or the U.S. to take would be to <a href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136917/matthew-kroenig/time-to-attack-iran">launch a preemptive military strike against Iran</a> to destroy that country's nuclear capability.<br />
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On the other side are those (including most military experts in both Israel and the U.S.) who believe that Iran is not that close to developing nuclear capability and/or<a href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/137031/colin-h-kahl/not-time-to-attack-iran"> who <span id="goog_301623990"></span>doubt that a military strike would accomplish its goal in any event.</a><br />
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It seems pretty straight-forward. But the more one knows, the less one knows for sure.<br />
President Obama has stated repeatedly that <a href="http://www.njdc.org/media/entry/president_obama_stopping_iran">he will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon</a> and has imposed <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57323914/obama-iran-sanctions-have-enormous-bite/">harsh economic sanctions against Iran</a> which by all accounts are causing great economic hardship to Iranian citizens and which are therefore considered to be successful by many people who are hopeful that the people there will pressure their government into abandoning their nuclear aspirations.<br />
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Here in Aspen I met with <a href="http://www.defenddemocracy.org/about-fdd/team-overview/may-clifford-d/">Clifford May</a> and <a href="http://www.defenddemocracy.org/about-fdd/team-overview/dubowitz-mark/">Mark Dubowitz </a>of the <a href="http://www.defenddemocracy.org/">Foundation for the Defense of Democracies</a> (FDD) who acknowledge that the sanctions are indeed making life miserable for average Iranians. They reported that <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443295404577545373520451172.html">the price of chicken--the staple of the Iranian diet--has quadrupled in recent months</a> and there are other hardships. But they claim that the hatred of Israel, Judaism, and western values is so hard-wired into the soul of the radical Muslims who run the country that it won't have any impact on their quest for a nuclear bomb. <br />
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Despite their reservations, FDD is reportedly pushing for even tougher sanctions and its leaders are actually helping to draft them.<br />
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Then I had lunch in Washington with <a href="http://www.tritaparsi.com/">Dr. Trita Parsi,</a> the head of the <a href="http://www.niacouncil.org/site/PageServer?pagename=NIAC_index">National Iranian American Council</a> (NIAC) this week who told me that Obama and the FDD are both correct that sanctions are indeed making life miserable for Iranian citizens but they are hurting--not helping--the Israeli and American cause.<br />
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Parsi claims that most Iranians actually love--not hate--America and western values. Their real hatred is reserved for their own corrupt, fundamentalist government leaders who have no qualms about making their own people suffer. But now that the American-led boycott is creating a shortage of medicine that is causing many Iranians to die needlessly, he says a lot of that anger is being redirected toward the U.S. and Israel and away from the very government leaders that we are trying to hurt.<br />
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Later the same day, I talked with former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Dan Haloutz who believes that Iran has no intention of developing a nuclear weapon at all and that even if they did, <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4172169,00.html">Israel is the last country in the region they would ever attack. </a> Israel, he pointed out, is the one country in the neighborhood that is already a major economic and military power that could wipe Iran off the face of the earth in a retaliatory attack so, he asks, why would Iranian leaders (who may be evil but who are not stupid) pick a fight with the toughest kid on the block.<br />
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Haloutz, like virtually all current and former Israeli military and IDF experts, doubts that a preemptive Israeli strike would succeed in destroying Iran's nuclear capability and that the inevitable Iranian response would result in massive casualties among Israeli citizens--most of whom are opposed to an attack in the first place.<br />
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And because this is the silly season in the U.S., everything has a political component. The Right wing has used Obama's unwillingness to endorse an attack (which polls show that more than 70 percent of Americans and virtually all of our military leaders oppose) as a sign of his weakness and lack of true support for Israel.<br />
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Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/netanyahu-crosses-a-red-line/262338/">Netanyahu has shockingly decided to once again publicly criticize the leader of Israel's only major ally and benefactor in a very public and direct way</a>, leading to speculation that he is trying to help his friends Mitt Romney and Sheldon Adelson accompish their goal of defeating Obama in November.<br />
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I have some thoughts on who is more right than wrong on each of the above issues, but there is certainly a lot of truth in each of these positions and points of view. And I have no doubt that all of the people I refer to above are sincere in their belief that their position on Iran is correct and will lead to the best result.<br />
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And, because our media has become more focused on advocacy and quick and simple answers than on providing real insights and education, there is a lot more heat than light being produced by all the ranting and raving on this issue. <br />
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And the energy and passion are coming from those who are convinced the situation is simple--not complicated--and that their side has 100 percent of the truth. Their response to troublesome facts or different opinions is to either ignore them or demonize those who voice them.<br />
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But for those of us who dig even a little bit deeper, it is clear that nothing is clear.<br />
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The more I know, the less I know for sure.<br />
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<br />Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-21094032380532337112012-09-12T13:13:00.000-07:002012-09-12T18:02:04.178-07:00Let's Be Honest--J Street is SO Inside the Tent<em>Full disclosure up front. I have been very involved in Jewish and pro-Israel organizations for three decades and I try to use Jewish wisdom, values and ethics as my moral filter. I have chaired two Federation campaigns, chaired state Israel Bonds campaigns, made 20 trips to Israel, served on our local AIPAC board and am now on the National Advisory Committee of J Street. </em><br />
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I spent the last couple of days in Washington, D.C. at the <a href="http://www.jstreet.org/">J Street National Leadership Summit </a>and came away proud and enthused over how J Street has evolved and matured during over the last few years. It has truly taken its place among the ranks of the important national Jewish and pro-Israel organizations in a very short period of time.<br />
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You don't have to take my word for it. The list of speakers who addressed us and their tone and message said it all. I'll deal with some of what I heard and learned in subsequent articles over the next couple days.<br />
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But first and foremost, my many self-described pro-Israel friends who have been anywhere from very suspicious to downright hostile toward J Street since its inception just a few years ago should all know once and for all that J Street is here to stay and has clearly established itself as a major pro-Israel player on the national and international scene. <br />
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The days are long gone when small, wealthy passionate groups of wealthy Right wing Jewish community leaders will be able to intimidate community professionals and rabbis who have agreed to host J Street programs and speakers. The most egregious example of that behavior occurred two years ago in Boston where <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/11/17/newton_synagogue_cancels_talk_by_israel_critic/">a speaking invitation to J Street head Jeremy Ben-Ami was cancelled</a> by a synagogue rabbi just hours before a scheduled event after the rabbi said he was pressured by a few large donors. But those days are behind us..<br />
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J Street's amazing growth (more than 180,000 donors and followers and a <a href="http://jstreet.org/supporters/rabbinic-cabinet">Rabbinic Cabinet</a> of more than 600) is a reflection of the huge void in the American Jewish discussion about Israel it has filled. It is the only place where honest, open and balanced conversations about the many nuanced and complicated issues surrounding Israel can really take place.<br />
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Look at what happened in just 24 hours in Washington this week. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Oren">Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren</a> spoke to our group of about 75 J Street leaders. Although his specific comments were off the record, the difference in his tone was like night and day from his appearance at the same event two years ago when he <a href="http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/01/31/israeli-ambassador-michael-oren-blasts-j-street/">spent all his time criticizing J Street</a> for everything from its unhelpful statements and policies to its logo.<br />
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This time, he didn't talk about J Street's credentials as a pro-Israel group--that was a given. Instead he gave us a detailed update of all the issues and challenges confronting the Jewish state. It seemed obvious that his different and friendlier tone was based on <a href="http://jstreet.org/policy/policy-positions">J Street's clear stands on a number of issues over the last year that removed doubt about its commitment to Israel</a> as a Jewish democratic state. Oren answered many questions from the audience--all of which were respectful and asked by people who clearly cared about Israel. But he still hates our logo.<br />
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His talk was followed by an interview of former <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/09/10/823101/halutz-redline-immediate/?mobile=nc">Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff General Dani Haloutz </a>who is in the U.S. on a three-day J Street speaking tour. Gen. Haloutz was interviewed by <br />
<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/03/goldblog-is-a-pro-j-street-blog/73009/">Jeffrey Goldberg</a>--a highly respected reporter with The Atlantic who had accepted an invitation to appear at a national J Street event for the first time. Jeff told me after his interview that he was surprised by the "moderate" tone of the questions and the crowd in general.<br />
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That night, our group attended a J Street fundraiser for former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine who is running for the Senate in a close race. <a href="http://jstreet.org/blog/post/jstreetpac-announces-two-new-endorsements_1">Kaine has accepted J Street's endorsement--as has California Senator Dianne Feinstein</a> and more than 60 other Congressional and Senate candidates. Just two years ago, candidates of that stature told J Street they couldn't accept our money or endorsement for fear of being ostracized by those on the pro-Israel Right.<br />
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But a lot has changed in two years.<br />
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The next morning, we heard from PLO Chief Representative <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303830204577448343969347360.html">Maen Areikat</a> who gave us a very different perspective than the one presented by Oren. He was also treated with respect and was pressed hard by the group with questions about his version of the story.<br />
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Then we went to Capitol Hill where I had the opportunity to meet with two Congressmen from former homes--Ron Kind of Wisconsin and Marcy Kaptur of Ohio who represents the district including Oberlin where I sent to college and lived for nine years.<br />
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It was an energizing and informative couple of days and I came away very aware that only J Street could have put a program like that together. No other Jewish or pro-Israel organization would invite and treat with both respect and probing questions a group of top level speakers representing such a rich and broad range of perspectives. <br />
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That's because J Street doesn't do pep rallies and is not strictly a booster club for the Israeli government . J Street promotes conversation and informed discussion for those who acknowledge how complex and complicated the issues surrounding the relationship between the democratic State of Israel and most Jewish Americans have become. What an opportunity and what a blessing it is that J Street has filled that gaping void in our national Jewish conversation.<br />
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It is defiinitely time for those who have never attended a J Street event or read a J Street statement or policy from our website but instead have forwarded vicious emails <a href="http://danielgordis.org/2011/05/27/in-the-tent-or-out/">decrying J Street's hidden agenda of destroying Israel </a>to actually do some reading and get some first-hand knowledge of the important role the organization is playing on the political scene after just a few short years.<br />
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Thankfully more and more people like Michael Oren, Jeffrey Goldberg, dozens of members of Congress and many, many others are no longer part of that crowd and are acting out the Jewish mandate to try to learn from all people and to embrace disagreements that are the result of good, caring people all working to make the world a better place.Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-20401103894199442522012-06-10T08:13:00.000-07:002012-06-10T12:08:13.429-07:00Why is Obama Still So Far Ahead?By any measure, this has been a very rough week for the Obama re-election campaign.<br />
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It began with <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/05/scott-walker-tom-barrett_n_1572452.html">the decisive decision of the voters in Wisconsin to allow Republican Scott Walker to remain governor.</a> Then on Friday, the President held a brief news conference during which he was not at his best. He fed his detractors a line<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/08/obama-private-sector-doing-fine_n_1581419.html">--"I believe the private sector is doing just fine</a>"--which is already coming back to haunt him. <br />
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Actually, I agree with Obama that by any reasonable relative measure the economy, the stock market, corporate profits, consumer confidence, the housing markets, and job creation are doing so much better than they were three years ago. But during this politically supercharged election year, it was not a smart thing for Obama to say.<br />
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Many of my Republican friends have sent me emails dripping with confidence and glee telling me that the events of the last week have pushed Mitt Romney far into the lead and, as my friend Jeremy exulted, "your boy Obama is toast."<br />
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But, as is so often the case with pronouncements from the Right wing echo chamber, that is simply not the case. Like a fifth marriage, it is yet another triumph of hope over experience<br />
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The only polls that are always correct and that really matter--the online and Casino based betting sites--show that Obama is still a more than 10 point favorite. <a href="http://www.intrade.com/v4/home/">A recent check of Intrade</a> shows that one would has to bet 54 cents on Obama today to win back a dollar while a mere 43 cent bet on Romney is required to win back the same dollar. Romney remains a big underdog in the only poll that matters--the one which measures how real people are betting real money. The <a href="http://sports.ladbrokes.com/en-gb/politics/us-presidential-election/2012-us-presidential-race-e212304268">betting odds at the casino-based sites </a>are pretty much the same. In fact, Obama is a slightly bigger favorite there.<br />
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Of course the odds are dynamic and if bettors change their behavior, the odds will reflect that in the future. But Intrade has never been wrong by the time elections roll around. Last week, as the news media tried to convince us that the Wisconsin election was going to be close, <a href="http://weaselzippers.us/2012/06/05/intrade-95-2-chance-wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-will-win-today/">Intrade was showing that Scott Walker was a 20-1 favorite to defeat Tom Barrett.</a> If you want to know how things are really going, follow the money--not the pundits.<br />
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So why is Obama still favored by so much, even as the point men on the Right flood the talk shows with examples of his supposed incompetence and describe an administration that is out of control and out of touch with what is really going on in America?<br />
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My answer is what it has always been. There simply aren't enough Obama detractors out there to get Romney elected. If a voter dislikes Obama and his performance and, over the course of time, comes to dislike him even more, that voter can still only cast one ballot. For Romney to win, he will have to display a vision and a program for the future that inspires millions of American independent voters and get them to vote for him. Thus far, Romney hasn't even been able to inspire most Republicans.<br />
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In fact, his performance on the campaign trail has been almost Palinesque. Throughout the Republican primaries, he seemed to be his own worst enemy as he made comment after comment that revealed his seemingly hard-wired affliction with either stage fright or stupidity. <br />
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He talked about <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57355212-503544/mitt-romney-i-like-being-able-to-fire-people-for-bad-service/">how much he enjoyed firing workers</a> at the companies that Bain Capital took over. In an effort to show a patriotic commitment to America and what an "ordinary" guy he is, he mentioned that his wife buys American and owns a couple of Cadillacs. He went on to <a href="http://by%20any%20measure,%20this%20has%20been%20a%20very%20rough%20week%20for%20the%20obama%20re-election%20campaign./">take credit for the new found success of the American auto industry</a>--companies from his home in Michigan which<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1722569491"> he famously wrote should be allowed to go broke just a couple years ago.</a><br />
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During just the last few weeks, the presumptive GOP nominee has stated that <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/26/mitt-romney-russia-geopolitical-foe_n_1380801.html">it is Russia--not Iran or North Korea or Muslim terrorists--that poses the greatest geopolitical threat to the U.S</a>. Why does he feel that way? He didn't say. <br />
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And he recently praised the massive layoffs of public employees--including thousands of teachers, police, and firefighters on the state and local levels in dozens of states led by Republican governors around the country.<br />
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There are still almost five months remaining before Election Day in November. A lot can change.<br />
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But I still receive several emails and read articles and hear Right wing news and media reports every day reminding of what a horrible president Barack Obama has been. There are tens of millions of Americans who feel that way and since they get most of their "information" from inside the echo chamber where only voices confirming the previously held beliefs are allowed, the the outrage, fear, and anger expressed inside that closed environment will only grow.<br />
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Meanwhile, I have yet to receive a single missive extolling the leadership qualities and vision of the man who they plan to vote for in November. Not one.<br />
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Unless and until that message starts getting framed and expressed in a convincing manner, there is no reason to believe that Barack Obama will not be our president for four more years.<br />
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The best way to keep track of what is really happening is not to stay tuned to Fox or MSNBC or any of the mass media outlets that thrive on dissension and close races. Just make Intrade your home page and check it on a regular basis. If and when Romney pulls ahead in a meaningful way, you'll be the first to know.<br />
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But for now, like it or now, Obama is still a heavy favorite.Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-90309049397470778982012-05-22T20:29:00.002-07:002012-05-23T07:56:29.229-07:00J Street Makes it to Main StreetFor more than two years, I have become increasingly involved with J Street, a pro-Israel, pro-peace organization that shares. discusses, and promotes the belief of most Jews that Israel cannot remain a viable Jewish democracy unless and until an independent Palestinian state is established in much of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.<br />
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Unlike other pro-Israel organizations, J Street believes it is not only permissible but it is actually positive for those who care deeply about Israel to engage in public discussions regarding what we believe makes the most sense for Israel and the Jewish people.<br />
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Since <a href="http://www.jstreet.org/">J Street</a> was created just a few years ago, leaders of the Israeli government and other American Jews who also care deeply about Israel's future have done their best to frame J Street and its leaders as dangerously misguided. So much so that <a href="http://jewschool.com/2010/11/18/24682/j-street-sweeps-pr-coup-after-boston-shul-cancels-on-ben-ami/">they have put enormous pressure on Jewish professionals and rabbis to keep J Street speakers out of synagogues</a> and other Jewish centers.<br />
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Nevertheless, J Street has consistently gained traction and credibility. There are now dozens of J Street chapters around the country and branches of J Street U on dozens of campuses. More than 600 rabbis and cantors proudly serve on the J Street Rabbinic Cabinet and J Street now has more than 10,000 donors and almost 200,000 followers.<br />
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Still, the <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Opinion/Article.aspx?id=222330">debate raged on in certain circles over whether J Street should be allowed "inside the Jewish tent"</a> or whether its message was just too toxic and threatening to even be heard.<br />
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While not everyone who cares about Israel is part of J Street or will ever agree that its message and approach are a good thing, there now seems to be little doubt that J Street is now clearly inside the tent and the tactics and efforts used to destroy it have failed.<br />
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Just a few weeks ago, the Israeli government sent <a href="http://www.jewishjournal.com/israel/article/j_street_and_israel_are_still_arguingbut_on_friendlier_terms_20120327/">Baruch Binah, the second highest-ranking diplomat in the Israeli Embassy in Washington to attend the J Street National Conference</a> where it was my privilege to sit with him at the gala dinner attended by more than 2,500 people. In his speech, Binah made it clear that the Israeli government is not a fan of J Street's approach but it was equally clear that the government knows J Street is here to stay.<br />
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Just last week , <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0c3PisqOZ4&feature=youtu.be">Conservative pundit Bill Kristol appeared in a debate with J Street founding president Jeremy Ben Ami</a>. The debate, moderated by Jewish Daily Forward editor Jane Eisner, drew a standing room only crowd and there have been no reports of anyone contracting a disease from watching two thoughtful Jews who care deeply about Israel discuss their contrasting views in public.<br />
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Israeli columnist <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/israel-s-right-wing-wants-to-maintain-the-occupation-status-quo-1.431139">Chemi Shalev attended the debate</a> and wistfully wrote that he was jealous that civil and respectful conversation could take place here in the U.S. in ways that it never could in Israel.<br />
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"As an Israeli observer," <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/west-of-eden/j-street-s-ben-ami-u-s-congressmen-live-in-fear-of-pro-israeli-intimidation-1.430842">Shalev wrote</a>, "I must admit I found myself envious of the ability of the two debaters and of their audience to conduct such a potentially volatile political debate in an atmosphere of mutual respect. In Israel, I suspect, such civilized debates may no longer be possible." <br />
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Shalev attributed the respectful atmosphere, in part at least, to the relatively moderate tone and tenor of Kristol's remarks. He was not vulgar or offensive in reference to President Obama. And he proclaimed his support, in principle, for the two-state solution. Indeed, both debaters strove to eschew emotive extremism in their presentations.<br />
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And just a couple of days ago, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31510813/">MSNBC contributor David Goodfriend appeared on the Dylan Ratigan show and told the world why he is a strong supporter of J Street </a> after Goodfriend returned from a family trip to Israel that was highlighted by his son's bar mitzvah. Goodfriend's sentiments and reasoning are typical of what I have found among most of my fellow J Street supporters. It is very different from the way we are portrayed by our many detractors on the outside.<br />
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Left to our own devices, we American Jews will revert to the pluralistic values of free speech and trying to find the partial truth in the opinions of others. As I wrote several weeks ago (<a href="http://www.larrygellman.blogspot.com/2012/03/j-street-and-aipac-eilu-v-eilu-these.html"><em>J Street and AIPAC--These and These are the Words of Being Pro-Israel</em></a><em>) </em>we are always well served by having multiple approaches and opinions to sift through. That's how we have always learned and grown.<br />
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Despite the best efforts of many of our wealthiest and most influential leaders, it seems that more and more gatekeepers of the Jewish tent have opened the doors to J Street. Not necessarily to agree with us but to acknowledge the infinite value of open discussion.<br />
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These and these are the words of the living God.<br />
<br />Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-12207731246179212212012-05-20T12:33:00.000-07:002012-05-21T11:06:32.566-07:00Auschwitz, Israel, Arizona and This Week's Torah PortionThe <a href="http://azjewishpost.com/2012/guiding-teens-tucsonan-finds-joy-on-march-of-the-living-trip/">headline story in the Arizona Jewish Post this week</a> was a report on the 2012 March of the Living and the joy that my fellow Tucsonan Bill Kugelman felt in being part of it<br />
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The March of the Living is a 24-year old program that has involved more than 200,000 participants since its inception. <a href="http://www.motl.org/index.htm">On its website</a> it states its mission as follows:<br />
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<em><strong>The March of the Living brings students from around the world to march from Auschwitz-Birkenau on Yom Hashoah in memory of all Holocaust victims. After visiting other places of Nazi persecution and sites of Jewish life in Poland, many participants travel to Israel, the homeland of the Jewish People.</strong></em><br />
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I have many friends who have participated in this program over the years and found it to be a memorable and worthwhile experience. <br />
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Bill is an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who has lived in Tucson for almost 50 years and has devoted a large part of his life to educating others and sharing his memories and knowledge about the horrors of the Holocaust.<br />
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It is clear that his concentration camp experiences of almost 70 years ago have played a major role in shaping his world view and his life even today. His presence on the trip must have added great value since he was able to walk with the young people as someone who actually lived in the places they were seeing and could tell them how it felt to be part of the history they were trying to recreate in their own minds.<br />
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When Kugelman was asked what he hoped to accomplish and why he agreed to go on the trip at the age of 88, he said something that really got my attention.<br />
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<em><strong>"If Jewish parents want their kids to remain Jewish, to have a spark of Jewishness, they need to know the price of Jewishness."</strong></em><br />
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Kugelman, speaking sincerely based on his own very real life experience, seems to view the message of the Holocaust in Jewish terms--a narrative that he finds every bit as relevant today as he did back then. The Nazis were the latest in a long line of people who have hated Jews and came after us. He believes that any Jewish parent who wants his child to remain Jewish owes it to that kid to teach him about the Holocaust so he will know how high that price might be.<br />
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Near the end of the article, a teenager from Tucson who also went on the trip talked about why the trip was such a transformative and meaningful experience to him. After spending time in Auschwitz and then in Israel on a trip that is choreographed to highlight the Jewish journey from death and despair to hope and prosperity, Benjamin Bressler said, <br />
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<em><strong>"I cannot stress how important the trip is. Not just because you are Jewish but because you are human."</strong></em><br />
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Benjamin's comment provides what is to me a more contemporary perspective. And on top of that, it really reflects a more Jewish perspective as well. Our Torah and our values have always obsessed on ways to make the world a better place for all people--not just a safer place for Jews.<br />
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That is in no way to diminish the very real respect and gratitude that I feel toward Bill and the many other survivors for their tireless effort to create programs and museums and curricula to make sure that the world never forgets the atrocities committed during the Holocaust.<br />
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For the vast majority of the world's Jews who live in Israel and the U.S., the Holocaust years are truly a reflection of a time in history and a mindset that are an important memory--not a measure of our current reality. In Israel and the U.S. today, Jews enjoy lives of unprecedented power, prosperity, and are widely sought out as friends, business partners, neighbors, and spouses by those around us who are not Jewish.<br />
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Both Kugelman and Bressler loved participating in the March of the Living and thought it was important and life changng. It gave the teenager, gave him a first-hand sense of the story of the Holocaust and how it led to the return of the Jews to the State of Israel. And it showed him how horrible and cruel humans can be to one another and that we need to be vigilant to make sure that kind of behavior doesn't happen on our watch. <br />
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But for the Holocaust survivor, the point of the story is uniquely Jewish. No parent should allow his child to remain Jewish unless that child understands they will pay the price of being universally tormented by the outside world that will always hate and want to destroy us.<br />
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As happens with shocking frequency, I found a line in this week's Torah portion (with the help of my friend and teacher Rabbi David Segal of Aspen) that brought this news story into sharper focus. After outlining dozens of commandments that people are required to follow in their daily lives, God launches into a long and daunting list of curses that will befall those who ignore his instructions and act badly.<br />
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One of the more subtle curses--but obviously an important one since it is repeated twice in Leviticus 26:17 and again a few pages (or a turn of the wrist) later in 26:36--is that those who are truly cursed are those who live in constant fear of dangers that are no longer real. <br />
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<strong><em> I will cast a faintness into their hearts...The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight. Fleeing, as though from the sword, they shall fall, though none pursues. With no one pursing they shall stumble over one another as before the sword. They will not be able to stand their ground. </em></strong> (Leviticus 36:36-37).<br />
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I receive several emails daily from fellow Jews who want to make sure I know how anti-Semitism is alive and well and, in the opinion of many, worse than ever. I am constantly being warned by very sincere people that I must remain vigilant in fighting and, in the words of my friend Bill Kugelman, know the very high price that comes with being Jewish. Meanwhile, I look around and just don't see it. In fact, we are surrounded by signs of the opposite--love, acceptance, and respect for and appreciation of Judaism and Jewish values by my non-Jewish friends. <br />
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Is this the fulfillment of God's warning as we all read in the Torah just this week? That we will be self-afflicted with the fear and outrage and anguish that leads to the perpetual feeling of victimhood and the need to flee, even when no one is chasing us? Is this part of the price we are paying for the inability of so many Jews to treat others in a civil manner?<br />
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Perhaps many Jews are doomed to suffer from that curse unless and until they can learn, as so many younger Jews have, to opt for Jewish values, wisdom, ethics, and ritual observance as a treasure that will lead to happier, more productive, and more meaningful lives instead of only seeing being Jewish as a high-priced burden that those who choose to remain Jewish are doomed to bear.<br />
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There is a more full-blown blog in that line and it will be coming. But for now, I just wanted to share what started as a random musing that, when seasoned with a little Torah wisdom, became something much more.Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-91116567917981496182012-03-24T18:13:00.003-07:002012-03-24T18:38:16.287-07:00Live from the J Street ConferenceKristen and I will be here in Washinton for the next three days for our second J Street National Conference I would encourage all Jews and others who care deeply about the future of Israel and the American Jewish community to follow live at www,jstreet.org or to check out the videos on line. <br />
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The conference hasn't even started yet and I've already had a chance to connect and reconnect with a number of Jewish journalist friends from the U.S. and Israel and to have meaningful conversations with Amos Oz, Jeremy Ben Ami and others <br />
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I have been to many Federation General Assemblies, AIPAC local and national events, and other Jewish gatherings and haved really enjoyed and learned from then all. But right now today, J Street is tapping into a void that we desperately need to fill. <br />
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We have to have a venue where Jews who care about Israel to come and vigorously debate the challenges that face us. Not just to stand and applaud every five seconds and hear speech after speech designed to pander to the wealthiest and politically significant Jews and others who have already made up their minds what policies regarding Israel should be. We don't need another booster club where the kinds of serious debates about morality and values are banned instead of encouraged. <br />
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We need a venue where the implications of the actions of American political leaders and the Israeli government and religious leaders are discussed by people who care about Israel's chances for survival as a Jewish democracy and on what it the actions of the Jewish state has on the practical meaning of Jewish values, wisdom, and ethics. <br />
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Where the external threats are acknowledged and discussed along with--not instead of--the moral implications of actions taken in the name of all Jews everywhere. <br />
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So far more than 2500 people have shown up for the opening plenary. Thousands of caring rabbis, students, and Jews like me. I am really looking forward to the next couple days and will be sharing my thoughts here.Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-20437780424640395662012-03-04T20:36:00.005-08:002012-03-05T06:36:47.758-08:00J Street and AIPAC--"Eilu v' Eilu"--These and These are the Words of Being Pro IsraelMany centuries ago, contentiousness among the followers of two great Jewish rabbinic leaders became so toxic and destructive to the community that God felt the need to personally intervene.<br />
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Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Shammai were great sages who disagreed constantly and had very different views regarding how Jews should behave in almost every situation. Then, <a href="http://judaism.about.com/od/yomkippu1/a/yk_loyalty_3.htm">according to Rabbi Michelle Missagheih:</a><br />
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<strong>"So the students of Hillel and Shammai, two schools of thought concerning Jewish law, continue debating for three years and then the Talmud says, “A <em>bat kol</em> – a voice from God – came forth and said <em>"eilu v’eilu divray elohim chaim hen,”</em> meaning “both these and these are the words of the living God.” This is amazing. God is the one who gets fed up with the fight! God can’t take it any more and says “enough is enough. Both of you are right. You both have legitimate approaches to law and life.”</strong><br />
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<strong>Another implication is that if we take what the Talmud says seriously, and I do, then there is no “truth” with a capital “T.” Being “right” is not the goal. Rather the goal is remaining engaged in the discussion." </strong><br />
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I watched the opening session of the AIPAC Conference in Washington this morning--a conference I have attended in person in the past. It reminded me of why that organization is so compelling to so many Americans who care about Israel.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.aipac.org/">AIPAC</a> conference has sufficient political clout and gravitas to attract government leaders such as Shimon Peres and <a href="http://www.c-span.org/Events/President-Obama-Addresses-Annual-AIPAC-Conference/10737428706-1/">Barack Obama</a> to appear at its opening session. And no booster club in the world does a better job than AIPAC of producing multi-media introductions and choreographing events to elicit the maximum positive effect. I cried during the video introduction to Shimon Peres. It made me feel proud to be a Jew.<br />
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In a couple of weeks, Kristen and I will again attend the <a href="http://conference.jstreet.org/">J Street Conference</a> in Washington (in the same room in which Peres and Obama spoke today) to hear former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert talk about the critical bonds that connect the U.S. and Israel and to praise J Street for the important role it plays in furthering that process.<br />
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As an American Jew who cares deeply about Israel and our Jewish community here at home, It seems both logical and obvious that fellow Jews who share those feelings should rejoice that we have two powerful organizations supporting Israel and trying to secure and promote its future.<br />
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And yet, none of my many Jewish friends who support AIPAC can understand how in the world I can be involved in a leadership position at J Street. Most of them read and .forward emails (and, in Tucson, have listened to Yom Kippur sermons) which demonize J Street as being anti-Israel and committed to a Palestinian triumph over the critical interests Jewish people and our homeland. Although those friends have strong negative feelings about J Street, I have yet to meet one that has ever visited the J Street website or attended a J Street event.<br />
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Conversely, many of my J Street friends are surprised to learn that I am chairing my second Federation annual campaign and believe that AIPAC is an important and valuable part of the Jewish mosaic in our country. They believe that AIPAC is a tool of the Right wing government leaders in Israel and the U.S. who are committed to an Israeli triumph over legitimate interests of the Palestinians, Jewish values, and the need for a two-state solution to the problems in Israel and the West Bank.<br />
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I respect the concerns of all those friends--each of whom I sincerely believe cares deeply about the future of Judaism and our community. But they have apparently bought into the mantra of American politics that if we disagree about anything, then for me to be right, you have to be wrong. To them I recommend <a href="http://www.bradhirschfield.com/book.html">Rabbi Brad Hirschfield's important book</a> which clearly states the opposite--"You Don't Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right." It provides a different and much needed perspective.<br />
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But the truth of the matter is that J Street and AIPAC are not competitors. They are separate organizations with the common agenda of supporting Israel in very different ways.<br />
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AIPAC is a pro-Israel booster club--an advocacy and marketing organization. Its stated mission is to lobby U.S. citizens and our political representatives to support whatever actions the Israeli government chooses to take. It is an important job and they do it with passion. Its leaders and followers tend to be Americans (more and more of whom are not Jewish) who view Israel and Jews as the perpetual victims and underdogs facing constant existential threats from hostile neighbors who was determined to destroy Israel and the Jewish people.<br />
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Although the AIPAC Conference is just underway, I am confident that all of the conversation and presentations will focus--accurately--on Israel's many accomplishments against overwhelming odds and on the threats to that country's very existence that it faces on a daily basis from hostile neighbors. There will be no mention of Operation Price Tag or illegal confiscation of Palestinian land to build settlements or the occupation of the Palestinians that is now in its 45th year. That's not what a booster club does.<br />
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J Street is a pro-Israel group whose core belief is that a peaceful two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian situation is the only way that Israel can continue to exist as both a democracy and a Jewish state. Its leaders and followers tend to be American Jews (including a majority of our county's young Conservative and Reform rabbis and cantors) who view the 45-year occupation of West Bank Palestinians by Israeli Jews as a demographic time bomb and a test of whether the Jewish values, ethics, and wisdom that have guided us through centuries of powerless exile can survive in an unprecedented environment where Jews actually have power.<br />
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What an amazing testimonial to the power and wisdom of our Jewish community that we have two such organizations--each with thousands of donors and tens of thousands of supporters and followers here and Israel co-existing in a country where just a few decades ago Jews suffered from widespread discrimination and few were willing to raise their voices in support of Israel in a public setting.<br />
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Sadly, politics and passion have prevailed and I seem to be among the very few who are actually celebrating this victory for Jewish community and pluralism. Instead, the voices of angry demonizers seem to be the only background music.<br />
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As he was introducing Barack Obama this morning, AIPAC president Lee Rosenberg emphasized that Obama was speaking at AIPAC, "THE central address of the pro-Israel community." In my opinion, Rosy didn't need to say that, but I would have really been upset if he said AIPAC is the ONLY address of the pro-Israel community which I regret to report than many of my friends believe. <br />
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On the flip side, I have J Street friends who can't believe that I still find AIPAC to be an important and positive piece of the pro-Israel mosaic and not just a tool of the pro-Israel and Republican Right.<br />
According to the Jewish wisdom and values that have sustained us for millenia, they are missing the whole point. What matters is that we recognized what God felt compelled to remind us during a similar time--that these and these are both acting out God's will and it is the acknowledgement and rejoicing in that facts that makes us truly holy.<br />
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J Street and AIPAC--these and these--are what being pro-Israel is all about.<br />
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Those who don't get and understand that are desecrating God's words and our glorious pluralistic tradition in a fruitless effort to achieve short term political gain.<br />
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May the same God who blessed us with the insight of "eihu v'eilu" give those well-meaning people the insight to understand the error of their ways and the great harm they are doing to the Jewish community, Israel, and the United States. For the sake of us all.Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-909337920044683452012-01-12T07:58:00.000-08:002012-01-12T07:58:00.821-08:00Investment Outlook for 2012--The More Things Change...I believe that 2012 will be the fourth straight rewarding year for investors who can sleep at night and deal with the very real headline risks that will whip the markets around on a daily basis. I further believe it is an excellent time to be invested in outstanding American companies that are earning record profits, some of which selling at levels we have not seen since I first got into the business more than three decades ago.<br />
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More about where we are headed and why in a minute. First, let’s look back on the year just ended and see what we have learned.<br />
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On one level, 2011 was an extremely volatile period for the investment markets. It seemed that every day the focus would shift from one economic “crisis” to the next with the headlines of the moment combining with the steroids of high-frequency computer trading to whip the market up, down and around on an hourly basis.<br />
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We went from periods of angst about the budget deficits to concerns about the U.S. unemployment rate to fears of the effect of tax increases to the catastrophic implications of a downgrade to the U.S. credit rating to worries about a double-dip recession to the Congressionally-created threats of a U.S. default to the grim speculation over the impact of a Chinese slowdown to the current doomsday scenarios regarding the future of European Union and the economic and financial disruptions that are still being touted as a likely outcome of a full-blown crisis in that part of the world.<br />
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Each of these looming disasters was labeled a crisis by the disaster-addicted media—at least until they completely dropped the story the next day—and the ebb and flow of hourly headlines had the ability to create “risk-on” euphoria or “risk-off” despair—sometimes with several of each taking place during the same trading day. And, for the most part, the accompanying frenzies disappeared as quickly as they had appeared and the media spotlight and obsession moved on to the next disaster du jour.<br />
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And yet if someone went to sleep on January 1, 2011 and woke up on New Year’s Eve, he would think that things had been pretty calm since all the stock market averages ended the year about where they started. So who were the real experts—those who told us we needed to make daily adjustments to our holdings or face calamity or the guy who slept through it all and didn’t change a thing?<br />
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This obvious attempt at sarcasm should not suggest that there aren’t serious issues that hang like a cloud over the future of our economy and that there aren’t real problems out there. Far from it.<br />
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Our media’s addiction to crises has distracted investors from the real underlying story. After a real cataclysmic, system-threatening financial meltdown in 2008 followed by three years of rehab, high unemployment and slow economic activity, there seems to be evidence that things are getting better across a whole variety of data points and the slow steady economic recovery of the last two years is finally gaining some real traction. More jobs are being created every month, fewer people are submitting new claims for unemployment, and consumer confidence is rising.<br />
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At a time when stock prices across a broad swath of companies ranging from Apple to McDonald’s to IBM to Union Pacific to Nike to Philip Morris trading at or near all-time highs in revenues, earnings, and stock prices and most market averages up almost 100 percent over the last three years, many investors still fear the market and have been steering their purchases to so-called safe havens such as gold and U.S. treasuries.<br />
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My plan for 2012 is similar to my approach in 2011. Investors should be positioned in quality companies which are showing outstanding growth in revenues and profits, solid management, a history of raising dividends and distributions in industry sectors that seem likely to benefit from an improving economy and rising confidence. In summary, I believe 2012 should be very much like 2011 in a number of respects—only better.<br />
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Those sectors that were favored in 2011 (energy, agriculture, oil and gas pipelines, and life-changing technology) should continue to do well. If the economy and sentiment continue to improve, sectors such as industrials, banks, and home builders could end their multi-year bear markets and finally make a turn to the upside. Even though the headlines remained bad during the fourth quarter, some of the largest gains were registered by housing related investments. Many of the bank stocks have spiked sharply in recent weeks as well. It is an area we will continue to watch.<br />
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The headlines will be far different in 2012 as the presidential campaign kicks into full swing. The Republicans will certainly continue to convince Americans that we have been suffering mightily from the policies of President Obama while Democrats will try to focus on all of the many hopeful signs I have mentioned above. As usual, the pundits will do their best to stir the pot and create controversy and confusion.<br />
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Meanwhile, I will continue to keep my eye on the data which, at least recently, have shown signs of significant and hopefully sustainable improvement.<br />
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Buy good stocks and live a long time. That has been my mantra for more than 30 years. For the first 20 years, it worked like a charm. Not much has worked for anyone during the last 10 years. Now the whole idea of long-term investing has been thoroughly rejected by luminaries such as Jim Cramer and a broad range of high-speed hedge fund traders (many of whom lost quite a bit of their clients’ money last year).<br />
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Hopefully, this will be the year that we are all fully rewarded for our belief and confidence in some of our country’s premier companies. Obviously, there are event risks, but I believe there are greater risks to losing both money and/or buying power to those who load up on cash, bonds and gold in the name of safety than to those who buy quality companies at reasonable prices.Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-36043261178842354102011-10-03T14:37:00.000-07:002011-10-03T14:41:51.813-07:00The Rick Perry Mezuzah --UpdateI guess I'm behind the curve on this story but I have to admit that it continues to grow on me.<br />
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I<a href="http://jhvonline.com/texas-governor-signs-mezuzah-law-p11283-90.htm">n late June, Governor Perry signed into law </a>a bill that prevents Texas homeowner's associations or condo boards from outlawing the placement of mezuzot no longer than 25 inches on the doorposts of their houses and, presumably upon their gates. The bill was introduced by a state representative after two his constitutents moved out of their apartment after being told they had to remove a mezuzah from their door frame. The couple said they pushed for the new law to protect the rights of other Jews in the future.<br />
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Perry, whose credentials as a friend of Israel and the Jewish people are now carved in Jerusalem stone as far as I'm concerned (see previous article), signed it into law immediately.<br />
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Within weeks, <a href="http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/75797/rick-perry-inspired-mezuzah-is-texas-sized/">Tablet Magazine reported</a> The Mezuzah Store had commissioned a strictly limited edition Rick Perry 26 inch Texas-Sized Mezuzah. The work of art is non-compliant under Texas law but was clearly designed to be a priceless collector's item which pushes the legal limits yet another inch further.<br />
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The last time I looked, <a href="http://mezuzahstore.com/products/the-rick-perry-mezuzah">this one-of-a-kind masterpiece was still available for only $999.99</a> although the inclusion of scroll upgrades ranging from Kosher to Superior to Alter Rebbe could jack the price up to $1,100.<br />
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Among the responses received to this article was one from a gentleman who thought a mezuzah was "one of those obnoxious horns that people blow at soccer matches" and thought 25 inches sounded about right to him. Another was from a more knowledgeable respondant who expressed the oft-repeated opinion that "anything over 8 inches is just showing off."<br />
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I hope to hear from my rabbinic scholar friends on the halacha regarding whether size matters and to what extent.Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-84665469495799318262011-10-03T10:58:00.000-07:002011-10-03T15:03:16.587-07:00Rick Perry's Two-Foot Mezuzah Sealed the Deal For This JewEver since I met Rick Perry in Aspen a couple months ago (before he was an official candidate) I have been convinced that he had a combination of attributes that would likely win him the Republican presidential nomination. (Actually, now I'm not so sure but I digress).<br />
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That was before I knew about all his close Jewish friends and his great, unshakable support for Israel. But he truly became my BCF (Best Chaver Forever) when I learned from this article in today's Jewish Daily Forward that Perry changed Texas law to allow gonga mezuzahs of more than two feet in length (batteries optional) to be installed on condominium door frames. We all know that size matters--particularly when it comes to mezuzot--and it's nice to see that Perry believes in taking care of his friends and co-religionists who share his refutation of the theory of evolution.<br />
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<a href="http://forward.com/articles/143670/">That and more can be found in the article</a> which is a treasure trove of good news for Jewish voters and which also features a picture that is suitable for framing. <br />
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Perry's obvious love for Israel and the Jewish people as well as his astute diplomatic skills have also been on display during the last month. Prior to the U.N. speeches by Netanyahu, Abbas, and Obama, <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/texas-governor-rick-perry-like-a-likudnik-1.385653">Perry held a news conference with Likud Knesset leader Danny Danon</a> who is bringing a bill to a vote next week calling for Israel to annex the entire West Bank and end all this foolish talk about a Palestinian state once and for all.<br />
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Perry honed in on President Obama's "arrogant" attitudes toward Israel and repeatedly criticized Obama's tactics of "appeasement" toward the Palestinians--a subtle yet skillful attempt to conjure up illusions of Neville Chamberlain appeasing that bad guy in Germany a few decades ago.<br />
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Of course this news conference was taking place as Obama was infuriating the Palestinians with his strong speech supporting Israeli rights, <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/online/happy-new-year-president-obama-sees-dramatic-jump-in-poll-of-israeli-citizens/">Netanyahu was praising Obama</a> and stating that our president deserved a "medal of honor" for his strong and instantaneous efforts to save those trapped in the Israeli embassy in Cairo, and Obama was yet again using up huge amounts of political capital to bail the Israelis out in the U.N. But when have trivial facts like that made a difference?<br />
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We already know that Perry is a real man with real <em>baytzim</em> who can handle a 25-inch mezuzah. He's as tough as they come. He has already made it clear to the Chairman of Federal Reserve that the chairman has "almost" committed treason ("almost treason" is probably still a capital offense) and will be shown the door as soon as Perry takes over. <a href="http://we%20already%20know%20that%20perry%20has%20real%20baytzim%20and%20is%20no%20appeaser.%20%20he's%20as%20tough%20as%20they%20come.%20%20he%20has%20already%20made%20it%20clear%20to%20the%20chairman%20of%20federal%20reserve%20that%20he%20has%20%22almost%22%20committed%20treason%20(which%20still%20a%20capital%20offense)%20and%20will%20be%20shown%20the%20door%20as%20soon%20as%20perry%20takes%20over.%20%20in%20addition,%20he%20has%20warned%20bernanke%20not%20to%20show%20his%20face%20in%20texas%20unless%20he%20wants%20the%20kind%20of%20%22ugly%20reception%22%20normally%20reserved%20for%20gay%20men%20in%20that%20state./">In addition, he has warned Chairman Bernanke not to show his face in Texas</a> unless he wants the kind of "ugly (violent) reception" normally reserved for gay men, terrorists, traitors, and almost traitors in that patriotic state.<br />
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If the Tea Party and its tactics are the wave of the American political present and future and Netanyahu, Lieberman, and Danon are the same in Israel, then the ties and similarities between our governments, level of discourse, and commitment to Jewish and democratic values have, in fact, never been more clearly aligned. And none of the other candidates can hold a candle (Havdolah, Yahrtzeit, Shabbat, Chanukah, or otherwise) to Perry when it comes to being a perfect American partner for the Right wing coalition that now governs Israel and the Jewish religious leaders there.<br />
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For some of my fellow Jews, that might a cause for celebration. <br />
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For the rest of us, not so much.Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-32505890898674457022011-09-02T08:58:00.000-07:002011-09-02T10:38:13.584-07:00Buy Good Stocks and Live a Long Time--Lessons Learned From Irene, the Debt Crisis, and TVFor reasons discussed in a series of emails (available upon request), Kristen and I left Aspen last Friday to fly directly into the teeth of Hurricane Irene where we were repeatedly assured by the news media we would face certain death. It was a case of choosing between staying alive, or missing her father's 70th birthday party, and Kristen made it pretty clear that life would not be worth living for me going forward if we missed the party (which was canceled as soon as we landed). <br />
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But I digress. This piece is about the stock market and lessons learned.<br />
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First let's talk about what we have learned about the news media in general and TV news in particular.<br />
On a broad range of issues, it is clear that given their huge investment in 24-7 coverage, news media's top priority is no longer keeping us better informed. It is now about keeping all of us as frightened and/or angry as possible all the time. It is a lesson that they learned from politicians over the years. Going negative works if your goal is to attract attention.<br />
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Let's start with our widely reported debt crisis. Actually, the U.S. doesn't have a debt crisis. A debt crisis is when you owe a lot of money and can't get anyone to lend you any more. The U.S. owes a ton of money, but a whole variety of investors are lined up to loan us more at lower and lower rates. That is despite the threat of the Tea Party Congressmen to make the U.S. default on its debts and promises, the equally irresponsible decision of Obama to cave in to those tactics, and the subsequent downgrade of our credit rating. The net effect of all that was to cause buyers of our debt to loan us even more money at even lower rates. <br />
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What we do have is a structural problem, well known to millions of Americans from their personal lives, of spending way more money than we are taking in. That needs to be addressed by finding ways to take in more money and spend less. But the U.S. is not bankrupt by any definition nor are we out of money.<br />
Yet the media treated it as an "end of days" scenario that would kill the stock market and life as we know it as well as causing our borrowing costs to immediately go through the roof. <br />
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Without missing a beat, the media obsession transitioned to the European debt crisis and the pending implosion of all their banks. <br />
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Then focus shifted to the Middle East and the Arab Spring. We were told that the overthrow of murderous dictators (and our longtime allies) like Mubarak and Assad and Qaddafi would destroy stability and oil supplies in that part of the world and it would kill the stock market and life as we know it. Apparently, the theory is that freedom and democracy are just too messy when they come too suddenly and we were better off when the thieving and vicious despots ran that part of the world.<br />
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Just when the Libya story was reaching a climax, reporting from the entire region stopped for a solid week as Hurricane Irene became the only story worth reporting. We were told that the entire eastern seaboard was going to be washed away and life as we know it would never be the same. <br />
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I know because I'm still here in Connecticut since all the flights were preemptively canceled for days to accommodate the end of the world which never happened—again. <br />
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Do you notice a trend here? <br />
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It seems as though whatever happens and wherever it happens in the world today, the story line is always the same. This is really scary and the end of life as we know it. You should be very afraid and sell all your stocks.<br />
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The other trend, again because of the desire to keep us glued to our TVs and computers nonstop, is to make investors believe that it is no longer a good idea to buy good companies and hold them for a long time. We are told that we have to be proactive and trading in and out of the markets constantly in order to protect ourselves. And, of course, watch the markets like a hawk every minute of the day to know what and when to buy and sell and buy and sell.<br />
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I couldn't disagree more in general and particularly right now.<br />
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It is true that our country and much of the world has behaved irresponsibly over the last decade. Spending needs to be cut and tax revenues need to be raised. It is true that high levels of unemployment and underemployment in the U.S. are a huge problem. It is true that the slash and burn ideology-driven political tone in Washington is making it difficult to enact constructive policies. It is true that there are financial crises in Europe and elsewhere that are very frightening. There are and have been real challenges that are worthy of concern.<br />
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Like my clients, I want to invest long-term money in assets that offer the best chance for preservation of buying power, future income, and capital appreciation.<br />
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But unlike most of the pundits and a lot of investors, I believe that buying gold at $1,900 an ounce and loaning money to the government for 10 years at 2 percent interest or putting it in the bank at zero percent interest is not the way to be safe and prudent. <br />
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Unlike CNBC (whose most popular shows are now called "Mad Money" and "Fast Money" (which should speak volumes about their priorities), I continue encourage investors NOT to be very proactive in their trading and check the value of their accounts six times a day (or six times an hour for some).<br />
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What is getting lost in the popular discussion is the fact that in the face of all that has happened during the last few years, hundreds of companies are now making record profits, sitting on record amounts of cash, have little debt, and are paying ever-rising dividends that are far higher than the returns available from "safe" alternatives.<br />
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Several of my clients contacted me over the last month and asked what I was doing to protect their accounts. I told them I was keeping them invested in what I believe to be profitable, high yielding and/or potentially fast growing companies that are projecting good earnings going forward and are benefiting from macro-world trends that are not changing. I honestly believe that those are not only the best places to be going forward, but are also the safest places to be if your goal is to maintain or grow your net worth and buying power during a period of unprecedented deficits and political dysfunction.<br />
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Yes, August was a terrible month for the stock market. Most averages dropped 15 percent or more during just a few weeks. It happens. On average, in normal times, the market suffers a 20 percent or greater correction once every two years. When that occurs, it is not a "crash." It is simply the market being the market.<br />
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And when that happens, it is generally an opportunity to pick up great companies at good valuations —not the last chance to get out before the end of the world and life as we know it.<br />
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Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5706985217856735134.post-17026897050789984202011-05-24T08:29:00.000-07:002011-05-24T15:14:20.881-07:00Barack Obama--Our Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace, and Pro-America PresidentAs an American Jew who cares deeply about my religion and the State of Israel, the last few days have been the best of times and the worst of times.<br />
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The good news is that President Barack Obama has once again gone out of his way to show his grasp of the complex issues in the Middle East and his strong commitment to the safety and security of Israel as America's greatest ally in the region.<br />
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In both his speech at the State Department a few days ago and his address to AIPAC two days later, he stated (as he did in front of a Muslim audience in Cairo two years ago) his unshakeable commitment to Israel's safety and security.<br />
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He also made it clear in no uncertain terms that his support for a Palestinian state was contingent upon their abandonment of terrorist tactics and their willingness to recognize Israel's right to exist. He made it clear that he will strongly oppose Palestinian efforts to be recognized as a state by the U.N. and all efforts to delegitimize Israel.<br />
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Here is what our President actually said:<br />
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<i><b>"For the Palestinians, efforts to delegitimize Israel will end in failure. Symbolic actions to isolate Israel at the United Nations in September won’t create an independent state. Palestinian leaders will not achieve peace or prosperity if Hamas insists on a path of terror and rejection. And Palestinians will never realize their independence by denying the right of Israel to exist.</b></i><br />
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<i> </i><i><b>As for Israel, our friendship is rooted deeply in a shared history and shared values. Our commitment to Israel’s security is unshakeable. And we will stand against attempts to single it out for criticism in international forums. But precisely because of our friendship, it’s important that we tell the truth: The status quo is unsustainable, and Israel too must act boldly to advance a lasting peace. </b></i><br />
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His speech at the State Department seemed to be great news for Israel and horrible news for those who would like to see the views and tactics of Hamas become the dominant culture if the proposed reconciliation betwen that terrorist group and Fatah actually comes to fruition.<br />
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The only suggestion he had for Israel was to pick up where former Israeli prime ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert left off and to use the 1967 borders as a starting point for boundary discussion with mutually agreed upon land swaps that reflect the changes that have taken place since Israel took control of the West Bank 44 years ago. <br />
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This was not a new or shocking suggestion. Olmert made the identical statement just two years ago.<br />
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<i><b>"On the 16th of September, 2008, I presented him (Abbas) with a comprehensive plan. It was based on the following principles.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>One, there would be a territorial solution to the conflict on the basis of the 1967 borders with minor modifications on both sides. Israel will claim part of the West Bank where there have been demographic changes over the last 40 years.</b></i><br />
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I repeat (for emphasis) that <b>the above quote is from then-Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert detailing what he offered the Palestinians two years ago</b>. Whether one thinks his approach was ill-advised or not, there is no doubt that Obama was simply repeating a stated position of the Israeli government--not coming up with some radical new game changing idea.<br />
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<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/obama-seeks-to-reassure-israel-on-mideast-policy-in-speech-at-aipac-conference/2011/05/22/AFDYQH9G_story_1.html">Obama's speech at AIPAC</a> put an exclamation point on all those sentiments and should have been reassuring to all of us who care deeply about Israel and long for peace in that region.<br />
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That assessment was clearly shared by many others who care deeply about Israel and the Jewish people.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=2818289&ct=10711747&notoc=1">American Jewish Committee came out with a strong statement praising Obama's comments</a>. Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/adls-abraham-foxman-obama-didnt-throw-israel-under-the-bus/2011/03/03/AFV3Rv7G_blog.html">called Obama's speech strongly pro-Israel</a> and said it showed that Obama has a good understanding of the issue in the Middle East. Atlantic Magazine columnist <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/05/netanyahu-should-be-very-happy-with-obamas-speech/239163/">Jeff Goldberg, a strong supporter of Israel and former soldier in the Israeli army, concurred</a>. Tzipi Livni, the member of Knesset who heads Israel's largest political party, <a href="http://www.jta.org/news/article/2011/05/20/3087792/livni-praises-obama-blasts-netanyahu">praised Obama's comments in the strongest terms</a>. J Street <a href="http://jstreet.org/blog/j-street-commends-president-obamas-middle-east-speech/">added its approval</a> as well.<br />
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But, as we all know, Prime Minister Netanyahu responded to Obama by throwing what<a href="http://www.globalindigo.com/the-pro-israel-crowds-1967-hissyfit"> several analysts referred to as a "hissy fit"</a> and just one day before he was to privately meet with our president he felt the need to publicly state that he "expected" Obama to take back what he had said. Then, the very next day, he openly lectured Obama in a way that suggested that our president was naive and needed a history lesson.<br />
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I will have more to say about Netanyahu (this article is the first in a trilogy) after his speeches to AIPAC and Congress but I will simply add now that one has to question the wisdom, common sense, and motivations of a national leader who would go out of his way to publicly admonish and distort the statements of the leader of his country's best and only friend and benefactor in the world.<br />
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But Netanyahu's remarks and attitude opened the floodgates for a numbers of Republicans and many Jews who care deeply about Israel to go "birther" and "Tea Party" on our president.<br />
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Mitt Romney was first--<a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0511/Romney_Israel_under_the_bus.html">claiming that Obama had "thrown Israel under the bus"</a> without stating how or why. He was followed by the rest of the opportunistic Republicans who sensed (falsely I hope) that this distortion of our president's comments could be exploited as a wedge and used to lure our president's massive Jewish support away.<br />
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Zionist Organization of America head Morton Klein went the furthest, issuing <a href="http://scrollpost.com/blog/2011/05/20/zoa-aipac-should-rescind-invitatio">a vitriolic statement in which he called Obama all sorts of nasty names and called on AIPAC to rescind their invitation</a> for the president to address their conference. ZOA members also <a href="http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/05/obama-rally-against-most-anti-jewish-president-ever.html">led an anti-Obama rally outside the Israeli embassy</a> in New York.<br />
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I just heard Rush Limbaugh's cogent assessment of Obama's speeches <a href="http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201105230019">as he told millions of listeners</a> that "Obama has clearly chosen the Palestinians over the Israelis. He has told Israel to go commit suicide." Many other <a href="http://www.galganov.com/editorials.asp?id=1336">Right wing and pro-Israel bloggers have piled on</a> in an effort to outdo themselves creating adjectives and invectives describing Obama's efforts to destroy Israel.<br />
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Equally disappointing was the way the mainstream media promoted the distortion of Obama's comments instead of providing truth and clarity. Headlines and sound bites<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43091459/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/obama-tells-israel-borders-key-peace/"> repeatedly gave the false impression that our president had ordered Israel to return to the 1967 borders</a>. None mentioned the other 98 percent of his speech, including the many criteria and guidelines he set for the Palestinians. It was all about reacting to the distortion that had been angrily invented by the Israeli prime minister.<br />
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Never mind that Obama has done nothing of the sort. Never mind that Obama in his words and actions has done just the opposite. Never mind that this is the same Barack Obama whom Israeli ambassador Michael Oren--a man who has actually been in the room during each of the meetings between our president and Netanyahu--has repeatedly and effusively praised as a strong and steadfast friend of the Jewish state.<br />
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I find all this confusing and depressing. Not so much the fact that other Americans and Jewish figures disagree with my assessment of Obama's performance but the fact that the smearing and vitriol and lies and distortions that have characterized one-issue fact-free hate campaigns against our president by the birthers (Obama was born in Kenya) and the Tea Party (Obama wants to destroy America) and the NRA (Obama wants to take away your guns) and the Right to Lifers (Obama wants to kill the unborn) are now being employed by Jews and others who claim to care so deeply about the future of Israel (Obama wants to destroy the Jewish homeland).<br />
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I believe that many of these people do mean well but it is sad beyond my ability to express that so-called Jewish leaders have resorted to slash-and-burn tactics in their inexplicable zeal to demonize our president. The tactics of distortion and fabrication have apparently replaced the respectful and nuanced, fact-based conversation that has always been the hallmark of Jewish debate.<br />
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It is both sad and disappointing that they are targeting a man whom I believe has acted and spoken more honestly and courageously in his efforts to bring peace to the Middle East and generate the best outcome for Israel and the U.S. than any president in my lifetime. <br />
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It is even more tragic what this tone and attitude is doing to our efforts to build community and have a civil, productive conversation as committed American Jews. <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/05/a-cornucopia-of-hate-mail-obama-and-goldblog-edition/239253/">Jeff Goldberg has shared some of the hatemail he has received from fellow Jews</a> after he stated that he believes Obama is pro-Israel and made a wonderful speech. But that too is a topic for another day.<br />
<b></b>Larry Gellmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01742752540516030687noreply@blogger.com2