Moving to Israel

It is always difficult to tackle the delicate happenings in the world when this blog is trying to focus on moving to Israel, yet today is one of those days. As the world continues to scream and shout at Israel regarding the flotilla story I felt compelled to point out a fantastic article to get some perspective on the ordeal from Kyle-Anne Shiver, a devout Catholic who freelances for various publications and who recently published a brilliant piece on the episode entitled “Shouldn’t We All Be Israeli Now?”

Shiver relates a story about how she had recently shamelessly berated a dear Jewish friend for becoming paranoid about unfolding events in America. The friend was noticing the telltales in American foreign policy under the new administration and calling her attention to signs she couldn’t then read. To her credit, Shiver has come to see the light on the realities of how America’s White House higher ups seem to be viewing the whole “Jewish question” and the article crisply and clearly takes us through her process of realization.

It is a highly recommended piece and puts a great perspective on Israel’s latest crisis from a non-Jew who ends off with the fitting statement “I say again, shouldn’t we all be Israelis now? Yes, we should.”

Ari

As a common topic among concerned Jews around the world has always been whether or not the President of the United States is “pro Israel” or not, Danny Gottlieb provided a great piece of insight the other day in an article over at Arutz Sheva entitled “Obama is Not the Problem.”

It is a great read regardless of one’s opinion of President Barack Obama as Gottlieb makes the case that we should be more concerned about our political situation here in Israel and stop spending so much time worrying about the pros and cons of the leaders of other nations (yes, even America) via their affinity - or lack thereof - of our people.

He hits the nail on the head when he says “The Knesset is our national and natural home for decisive political debate, not Washington. When we take our fate back into our hands by taking back the Knesset from those who currently sit within it, only then will we get the kind of government we need. And not by expecting miracles from the tall skinny fellow with the different name who sits in that big white house, so detached from us in every respect.”

Here’s hoping we all heed Gottlieb’s message.

Ari

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how US President Barack Obama, along with his family, attended the second night Passover Seder in the White House with staff and friends. This is believed to be the first White House Seder attended by an American president. I also noted how we must look closely before celebrating such an event as being a positive occurrence for Israel and the Jewish people by noting that it was former President Jimmy Carter, hardly a friend of Jews of the world, who had set the closest precedence to this and we all know how his reign of terror played out (and, unfortunately with his world wide influence, continues to play out to this day).

Therefore, I thought it was interesting to point out an article by Carol Schwartz entitled “Seder in the White House, Oy Vey” that takes this point further and brings in examples throughout history telling us to beware of what such an event can mean. It is a truly chilling account as it makes us look at our own past and see how we are potentially putting ourselves in great danger once again when we take our supposed “great relations” with our host (and foreign) government and assume that it bodes well for our long term future there.

As Carol closes her article “Let us not forget our history and let us remember that history has a way of repeating itself. (May G-d protect us.)”

Ari

As Passover goes on throughout the world many are talking of the Seder that was conducted at the White House on Thursday night to mark the second night of the  holiday in what is believed to be a “first” for the executive mansion.

While this has been lauded by many in the Jewish community and various media have viewed the celebration as a sign that the new president would invest much in a close relationship with his Jewish supporters we must be wary and cautious before reading too much into this. Remember, President Jimmy Carter attended a Seder in 1979 at the Washington home of adviser Stuart Eizenstat and, unfortunately, he turned out to be hardly a friend of the Jewish people (to put it mildly).

Let’s hope that history does not repeat itself and this historic event truly does indicate a confirmation of friendship between Obama and the Jewish nation.

Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful Passover.

Ari