Does Judaism Provide an Antidote for the Current Age of Distraction and Political Polarization?

Jan. 23 2020

Contending that the Internet, and social media in particular, have had a corrosive impact on public discourse in democratic countries across the world, Micah Goodman looks to the talmudic tradition for a model of healthy disagreement. The Talmud, after all, is a collection of arguments about the Mishnah, itself a collection of arguments—and it is typically studied along with its medieval commentaries, which argue with one another.

Because many of these opinions—most notably, those of the academy of the ancient sage Shammai—have been rejected by subsequent jurisprudence, Goodman contends that “Jewish tradition expects us to study opinions that we’re not allowed to live by.” (Video, 56 minutes.)

 

Read more at Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

More about: Internet, Judaism, Politics, Social media, Talmud

Expand Gaza into Sinai

Feb. 11 2025

Calling the proposal to depopulate Gaza completely (if temporarily) “unworkable,” Peter Berkowitz makes the case for a similar, but more feasible, plan:

The United States along with Saudi Arabia and the UAE should persuade Egypt by means of generous financial inducements to open the sparsely populated ten-to-fifteen miles of Sinai adjacent to Gaza to Palestinians seeking a fresh start and better life. Egypt would not absorb Gazans and make them citizens but rather move Gaza’s border . . . westward into Sinai. Fences would be erected along the new border. The Israel Defense Force would maintain border security on the Gaza-extension side, Egyptian forces on the other. Egypt might lease the land to the Palestinians for 75 years.

The Sinai option does not involve forced transfer of civilian populations, which the international laws of war bar. As the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other partners build temporary dwellings and then apartment buildings and towns, they would provide bus service to the Gaza-extension. Palestinian families that choose to make the short trip would receive a key to a new residence and, say, $10,000.

The Sinai option is flawed. . . . Then again, all conventional options for rehabilitating and governing Gaza are terrible.

Read more at RealClear Politics

More about: Donald Trump, Egypt, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula