Primrose Road

While I don't agree with everything it says, this piece on the ethics (moral, religious, and otherwise) of conflating Judaism with unquestioned support of every action Israel takes is worth a read.

Israelis question, debate, and even satirize their government's and military's decisions; why can't an American Jewish man or woman do the same without being labeled "self-hating"? It would be blatantly ridiculous to expect an American to unquestioningly accept all the United States' government's and military's decision, so ...

I've expressed concerns before about an apparent waning of our rich intellectual tradition and why we need to be able to ask questions and discuss them openly.

This week's Parshah (Torah portion):

Moses' great-nephew is rewarded for his zealotry; he receives a "covenant of peace" because he killed a prince and princess from two non-Hebrew tribes who indeed posed a serious threat to Moses and his people.

In the Torah, the vav (ו) in the word "shalom" (שלום) is broken.

This story is followed by a story of five women who, facing an injustice, ask the question, "is there another way?"