Netanyahu and the Republicans

I read that Netanyahu was invited by Boehner to speak to the Congress about greater sanctions on Iran without discussing it with the White House. It is no secret that there is a personal dislike between Netanyahu and President Obama. The move is political by Boehner and Netanyahu. Netanyahu thinks appearing tough will give him points with his base in the Radical Right in Israel. Boehner thinks putting Netanyahu on a pedestal might help the Republicans win over some of the Jewish votes. Mr. Boehner, we American Jews think for ourselves and are not so easily swayed. Mr. Netanyahu, you do not represent us American Jews, and your policies seem to benefit your political interests more than the safety and welfare of Israel. As to how to approach the problem of Iran developing nuclear weapons, there is no sure fire iron clad cure for the problem. Bluster and swagger won't do it. Contrary to what the Radical Right has been claiming, President Obama has been applying pressure on Iran. At some point an intelligent leader has to close the deal, unless we want to be in a constant state of turmoil.
Technology is and will be continually advancing, both for good and evil. The human race will have to figure out how to deal with it before some screwball pushes the wrong button and we all go up in smoke.

Are We Chosen?

Are we Jews the Chosen People? This is something that seems to occupy the thoughts of gentiles more than our own. Whoever wrote the dialogue of Fiddler on the Roof stated best our attitude toward the idea when Tevye says to God, "I know we are supposed to be the Chosen People, but next time maybe you could choose someone else." Chosen is not a gift but an obligation. If we are chosen, what are we chosen for? The simple answer is chosen to bring the idea of monotheism to the world. If that is all there is to it, then we did our job a few thousand years ago. Most of the people in the world today follow one of the monotheistic religions. So why can't the world leave us alone? Why are we still scrutinized like goldfish in a bowl.
Somehow we have been given among us a pool of people who stand out. We have more than our share of scholars, of physicians, of lawyers. We have more than our share of people who stand up for the rights of others.
Israel, the one nation with a Jewish majority, has built itself from a poor country into a financially successful country with a number of first rate universities. Israel  certainly could do better in many of the things it does and many people in its Jewish majority are challenged in how they interact with the Israeli Arabs and the Arabs in the Palestinian territories, as I have repeatedly said in many of my previous blog entries, but what nation is perfect? Certainly hypocritical Europeans who lay blame on Israel are the same Europeans who drove most of us out of Europe. Somehow we Jews are held to a higher standard to which we often do not adhere. If only God or the world could answer Tevye's question and choose someone else.

Terror in Paris

We hear today of an attack by terrorists on freedom of speech. I have not previously heard of Charlie Hebdo. Now "I am Charlie." I don't know when it will happen, but let us hope that one day reason will prevail over stupidity. True belief in God is to search for meaning in life. These fundamentalist terrorists pervert religion and have no real purpose other than terrorism for its own sake.