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The Miracle

The state of Israel is the product of more than 4,000 years of Jewish history. "If you want to understand our country, read this!" said David Ben-Gurion on the first occasion I met him, in 1957. And he slapped the Bible. But the creation and survival of Israel are also very much a 20th-century phenomenon, one that could not have happened without the violence and cruelty, the agonies, confusions, and cross-currents of our tragic age. It could even be argued that Israel is the most characteristic single product, and its creation the quintessential event, of this century.1948: Palestine Betrayed

Zionist Jews were not interlopers in Palestine. The creation of the Jewish state was not an "original sin" foisted upon the Arab world. The tragic flight of the Palestinian refugees was overwhelmingly not the fault of the Zionists. To the contrary, at every momentous junction the Zionists opted for compromise and peace, the Arabs for intransigence and belligerency.  This, in summary, is how most people once understood the Arab-Israel conflict. Today, however, as Israel marks its Independence Day, an entire generation has come to maturity believing a diametrically opposite "narrative" . . .  The Holocaust and Atrocity Prevention

Obama excoriated the Bush administration for failing to speak up about the Armenian genocide, yet he has also remained silent. But official recognition often comes at a high cost.Tazria-M’tzora: Gone to Seed

Torah Talk with Michael Carasik Our text begins by discussing a woman who does the verb tazria before giving birth—but does it mean that she conceives, delivers the baby, or . . . ? (Click here for source sheet.)  Download | Duration: 00:11:54Fixed Stars Govern a Jewish Life?

An alarming fundamentalist tendency has arisen in Orthodox thought—leading, for instance, to a book whose premise is that astrology is a true science having the full support of Jewish tradition. Pop! Goes the Patriarchy

A new study offers a strong focus on the faults inherent in Orthodox masculinity without adequate discussion of its strengths.War Diary

"Arab Legion reported to be trying to smoke out the Haganah who had entered underground channels . . ." Excerpts from a British clergyman's 1948 journal.Standards and Practices

The idea that one may convert without intent to carry out mitzvot is a minority opinion.