http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com
November 2012/Kislev 5773
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
Page - 7
The Current Crisis: “Even in Laughter, the Heart Can Ache”
Simple Solution Dept: During his debates with his GOP challenger, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Democratic Representative Bill Pascrell of New Jersey said he is “virulently anti-Hamas,” despite his determination to keep his favorite imam, Mohammed Qatanani, in the US—regardless of Qatanani’s self-confessed membership in the Muslim Brotherhood and accusations that he is a Hamas member. Pascrell said that despite Israeli judicial records, there is no evidence that Qatanani was ever a member of Hamas. In that case, why doesn’t the congressman simply ask the imam to denounce Hamas and its policies regarding terrorism and targeting civilians? That should clear things up, right? Let’s just hope it doesn’t end with a fatwa. •••
At this year’s Republican Convention in Tampa, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik (son of Rabbi Eliyahu Soloveichik, grandson of Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik, zt”l, and the great-nephew of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, zt”l) was asked to deliver a convocation. When he arrived, he was escorted into a large room where all the speakers of the day gathered along with congressmen, senators, and other politicians. At one point, a woman approached him and asked who he was. “Meir Soloveichik,” he replied and the woman asked if he was from Florida. “No,” he answered. “New York.” She smiled and walked away, but returned a few minutes later with her husband, a congressman, whom she introduced. “Can you please tell us what city in New York you serve as Mayor (Meir)?” she asked. Telling that story later, Rabbi Soloveichik said, “It was the first time in my life that a person was more impressed with my first name than my last name.”
•••
During the debate between Vice President Joe Biden and his GOP challenger, Rep Paul Ryan, fact checkers told us the Veep interrupted Ryan 82 times during the 90-minute session. No one checked how many times he rolled his eyes or convulsed inappropriately in laughter. Our friend Yuval Zaliouk reached into the Biblical Book of Proverbs (Mishlei) for an apt description: “When a wise man debates with a fool, the fool rages and laughs and there is no satisfaction.” •••
French President François Hollande has a bold new plan to tackle injustice and inequality in France: ban homework. His intention is to make certain that children whose families can afford outside tutoring won’t have an unfair advantage over their less fortunate classmates. We figure it’s a page right out of President Barack Obama’s stump speech: “Everyone deserves a fair shot.” The Wall Street Journal’s editors pointed out that, at the Sorbonne, Mr. Hollande described school as the place where “the child becomes the citizen of the future.” Perhaps his ideas about homework say something about the kind of citizens of the future he envisions in France. ••• Last month, Torah scholar Zechariya Brashi, who was born in Kurdistan in 1900 and made aliyah in 1936, celebrated his 112th birthday. When asked if he thinks there will ever be peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors, he said, “Not a chance. There will never be peace between Esau and Yaakov.” We figured he might just as well have said, “Not in my lifetime.” S.L.R.