Reason, Rationality, and the Challenge of Religion

June 24 2022

As a young man, Jeffrey Bloom read an essay by the philosopher Leo Strauss that, for him, opened up the possibility of religious faith, paving the way for him eventually to become an Orthodox Jew. Yet the same problems of belief, doubt, and certainty continue to preoccupy him today, and led him to seek essays on these subjects from a number of rabbis, scholars, and theologians—recently published as Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith. He discusses the book’s themes from a personal angle in conversation with Dovid Bashevkin. (Audio, 94 minutes.)

Read more at 18Forty

More about: Faith, Judaism, Leo Strauss, Orthodoxy

The Mass Expulsion of Palestinians Is No Solution. Neither Are Any of the Usual Plans for Gaza

Examining the Trump administration’s proposals for the people of Gaza, Danielle Pletka writes:

I do not believe that the forced cleansing of Gaza—a repetition of what every Arab country did to the hundreds of thousands of Arab Jews in 1948— is a “solution.” I don’t think Donald Trump views that as a permanent solution either (read his statement), though I could be wrong. My take is that he believes Gaza must be rebuilt under new management, with only those who wish to live there resettling the land.

The time has long since come for us to recognize that the establishment doesn’t have the faintest clue what to do about Gaza. Egypt doesn’t want it. Jordan doesn’t want it. Iran wants it, but only as cannon fodder. The UN wants it, but only to further its anti-Semitic agenda and continue milking cash from the West. Jordanians, Lebanese, and Syrians blame Palestinians for destroying their countries.

Negotiations with Hamas have not worked. Efforts to subsume Gaza under the Palestinian Authority have not worked. Rebuilding has not worked. Destruction will not work. A “two-state solution” has not arrived, and will not work.

So what’s to be done? If you live in Washington, New York, London, Paris, or Berlin, your view is that the same answers should definitely be tried again, but this time we mean it. This time will be different. . . . What could possibly make you believe this other than ideological laziness?

Read more at What the Hell Is Going On?

More about: Donald Trump, Gaza Strip, Palestinians