How much is a Palestinian worth?

I have thought about this issue a number of times and keep forgetting to put my thoughts down, but with the (supposed) impending release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who has been held hostage by Hamas for over three years and as the (suposed) details of the deal come out, I once again am thinking about this issue, but this time I'm putting them in writing.

One of the critical arrows repeatedly flung at Israel in response to its military actions against the Palestinians is that the disparity in dead and wounded, especially among civilians, indicates either a distinct indifference on the part of Israel to the sanctity of Palesinian life or an intentional attempt by Israel to inflict as much damage as possible on the Palestinian populace. Now, it is very possible that either or both of these are true on some scale (to what degree I do not care to guess). However, the details of the Gilad Shalit deal indicate that it is the Palestinians themselves who devalue the worth of their people's lives. The number that I have read (on haaretz.com) is that Israel will be releasing a total of 1,150 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for this one Israeli soldier. 1,150 to 1. That is a staggering number, especially when we consider the following.

The reports vary but the death toll from the Gaza war earlier this year are put at between 1,166 and 1,417 Palestinians and approximately 13 Israelis. Using the ratio established by Hamas in their negotiations with Israel over the Shalit deal, the Israeli losses were equivalent to 14,950 Palestinians, more than ten times the maximum number of Palestinain losses quoted. Thus, it was Israel who sustained the far heavier losses; it is the Palestinians that should be criticized for inflicting such a level of damage and for their disregard for Israeli lives.

I am sure some, if not many, will content that it is not fair for me to make this kind of comparison, but why not? Gilad Shalit has sat imprisoned for over three years because Hamas has sought to push higher and higher the number of prisoners released for his freedom. At the same time, how many Palestinians have languished in Israeli jails because Hamas has viewed them as little more than commodities to be traded. Think I'm off base? If so, why didn't Hamas make the deal for even a couple of hundered prisoners two or three years ago? Why hasn't Hamas pursued the release of their 'soldiers' (I am clearly using that term very, very loosely in order to make my point) with the same vigor and increasing desperation that Israel has sought the release of Gilad Shalit? I think we can only conclude that it is because they are at least as guilty, if not more so, of the 'depraved indifference' of which they accuse Israel. They do not care about the plight of their own people, only the pursuit of their political and ideological goals. Now maybe I should have expected such behavior from a terrorist organization like Hamas, and I do, but I guess I assumed that they actually gave a damn about their own people even if they don't care about anyone else. Looks like I was wrong, for as they say, the numbers don't lie.

Birkat Hachamah ba'Kotel

This morning was an event that happens once every 28 years. According to the Talmud, once every 28 years the sun returns to its 'creation point', namely the exact location it was placed by God at the creation of the universe. There is a special prayer that is said for this which thanks God for creation and for the sun (birkat ha'chamah means "the sun blessing", chamah is a term used for the sun in the Mishnah and Talmud). This year is thought to be particularly special because this rare event is taking place on erev Pesach (Passover eve). There are sources that say that this has only happened two other times in history, one was the Exodus from Egypt and one was Purim, so many people believe that the timing of birkat hachamah this year indicates the coming of great things.

As for me, I do not necessarily believe that the sun returns to its creation point every 28 years. In spite of that, the chance to say this blessing is a relatively rare occurace, especially because of its timing relative to Pesach, and perhaps a unique opportunity for me to experience this in Jerusalem. So I got up early this morning to go to the Kotel (Western Wall), not only because I thought it would be cool to say this blessing at the Kotel, but also because I thought it would be an interesting scene. I arrived at about 7:30am, and actually missed the crowd at its largest, which was at around 6:30am (I know this because there was a webcast of the Kotel on chabad.org, so I was able to see the crowd before I left my apartment). There were still a lot of people there when I arrived, but it wasn't too crowded, and I was able to pray the morning service and the extra little service for birkat ha'chamah in relative peace. I also took a few pictures and videos and thought people might enjoy seeing a bit of what the scene was like. The video is sideways, so you will either need to turn your screen on its side, or it might just be easier to turn your head. Anyhoo, I wish all the M.O.T's out there a chag Pesach sameach v'kasher (a happy and kosher Passover) and hope that today's event really is a sign of good things to come.

On justice...

I have been following on-line the story/case in Austria about a man who imprisoned his 18 year old daughter in a dungeon underneath his and his wife's home, repeatedly raped her and fathered her seven children, one of whom died underground and none of whom saw the outside of the dungeon until 11 months ago. The daughter is now 42. (For more info on this case you can go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29733949/)

The man is facing a variety of charges that could put him in jail for the rest of his life. As I read this article and as I have thought about this case over the past few days, I had the thought that not only would it be appropriate for this man, who is in his 70's, to spend the rest of his life in prison, but also it would be appropriate if he was raped while incarcerated.

One of the definitions of justice is "the administering of deserved punishment or reward." Keeping this definition in mind, can anyone really argue that if this guy was raped in prison he wouldn't deserve it? Would that not be a perfect definition of having the punishment fit the crime? To those who argue that prison should be geared towards rehabilitation rather than punishment (and I find myself in that camp quite often), I would say that what better way to show this man what a horrible thing he has done than to have him experience something similar. Would that not be a means of inspiring empathy for the plight of his victim?

My thoughts on this are still not fully formed, and I realize that essentially encouraging the rape of a prisoner is problematic for all sorts of reason, but I have had a very strong reaction to this case and felt like putting a few of my thoughts down. Feel free to comment, critique, etc.
Be well.

Chag Purim Sameach

So a couple of things from today that I found entertaining and felt like sharing.

I went to services this morning at HUC and the guy giving the sermon used the term
"stiff-neckedness" and I found that really funny for reasons that still aren't totally clear.

I went to a concert tonight to see two bands Regaestan and Coolooloosh. That's not that entertaining, but...

Regaestan
Okay, try and imagine the lead singer from Counting Crows, Weird Al Yankovik (sp?) with long dreadlocks, a white version of the guy from Digital Underground (the Humpty Dance guy), two strung out looking hippies and two 'typical' Israeli dudes playing Regae. They actually weren't bad though. Not great, but not bad.I'm not sure how well my description explains it (probably not at all) but I assure you, it looked really funny.

Coolooloosh
This band I really enjoy. This is the second time I see them and both times they have put on a great show. I highly encourage you all to check them out at http://www.coolooloosh.com. I recomend scrolling down to find Yogi's drum solo. If you like The Roots or Ozomatli or that kind of stuff you will probably enjoy it. If not...well check it out anyways. (That wasn't really entertaining either. Hmmmm...)

Since it is Purim tonight they had some costume items for sale at the show. Not having any kind of costume to wear, I decided to by an afro wig, although its really more like a Jewfro wig (to all of my non-Jewish readers, if you are not sure exactly what a 'Jewfro' is, ask a Jewish friend or colleague to explain it...if they are offended by your question, kick them in the shins for being lame and then tell them that I said it was okay to ask...or you can always just ask me). Anyhoo, I was wearing this thing most of the night and towards the end I saw another guy with the same hair and at first I felt mildly silly for having the same goofy wig as someone else...until I realized that this guy didn't have a wig on.

So this all sounded a lot funnier in my head when I was thinking about it. Now that I have put it in writing it just seems...I'm not sure...but not that funny. Hopefully I am wrong and this stuff is comic gold...or at least comic aluminum. I hope all the MOT's out there (and anyone else who is into it) have/had a great Purim.

Keeping America safe,

Scott

Its been a while...

So I have not posted anything in several months, mostly out of laziness. I will not go into everything that has gone on in the past number of months but rather start anew in the hopes that I will be consistent in my posting from this point forward. So...the main thing happening in my life these days is that I began my spring semester yesterday. I am only taking three classes this semester, but before you go chiding me for being a slacker, the three classes are Talmud, Midrash and Halachah (Jewish law) and I am taking these classes in HUC's Israeli rabbinic program in Jerusalem. So that means that the entirety of all three classes is in Hebrew, spoken at a pace that would put an auctioneer (or the MicroMachines guy, anyone remember him?) to shame. I would say that I am functioning at about 60% at the moment, so I understand the majority of what goes on, but just barely. I am counting on my ear adjusting to the speed over the next couple of weeks, but for right now it just makes my brain hurt. If you want to try this at home you have a couple of options:

Option 1-If you kind-of speak/understand another language (if you're fluent it doesn't count), find a radio or tv program on-line and then have it play from 12 different speakers, and start the broadcast at 3 second intervals so that it sounds like everyone is talking over each other. Do this for at least 1.5 hours and that is similar to how my classes feel right now.

Option 2-If you are totally mono-lingual, find one of those foam or rubber squeaky hammers and have someone beat you over the head with it for an hour-and-a-half or so. It doesn't recreate the classroom experience, but it will enable you to feel (once it is done) how I feel when I get out of class.

So hopefully this is the worst of it and that each week will get a little easier and I will understand more and more, but for now, it is very overwhelming.

That's really all I've got at the moment. Like I said above, I am hoping to post regularly from this point on, but we'll see if that actually happens. So until next time, take care all and don't forget to save those wrappers!!

Hope and Fear

I woke up this morning to the news of Obama's victory in the election and shed a tear or two of joy. Obama has inspired more hope than any other politician in my lifetime and now he has the opportunity to take all of that energy that has been generated and direct it towards helping the US return to a place of true prominence and respect in the international community. Our nation is in bad shape. Our economy sucks, there are a variety of social ills (insufficient health care being one of them) and we are losing two wars (one of which was entered into under false pretenses). Granted, we are still in better shape than many of the other nations of the world, however for the past eight years we have fallen far short of our potential.

I hope that our new president along with the Democratic majority in Congress will be able to help our country move back towards its rightful place as leader of the free world. I hope that the fear-mongering and diplomatic ineptitude exhibited by the Bush administration will be replaced by a reasoned and well-thought-out approach that does not view compromise as failure and recognizes that the US cannot bully the world around. I hope that the election of an African-American president will serve to help heal some of the racial wounds that continue to fester throughout the US. I hope that Obama's election will serve as proof that American truly is the land of opportunity and inspire the youth of America to strive for greatness. I hope that Obama lives up to his promise and is the great leader that many of us expect him to be.

but...

I fear that perhaps the hole we have dug for ourselves is too deep. I fear that Obama and his administration will be held hostage by a Congress that remains beholden to lobbyists and special interest groups (including AIPAC). I fear that the election of an African-American president will serve as a rallying cry to bigots, neo-nazis, the klan and other racist scumbags who will crawl out from under their rocks to try and poison the nation with their hate. I fear for Obama's safety. I fear that Obama's talk of change will remain talk. I fear that if Obama is not successful it will crush the optimism and enthusiasm exhibited by the younger generation of voters during this election (myself included) and in its place will grow the bitter herb of cynicism.

I think a lot of people don't realize that Obama inspired hope not just in the US but around the world. There are critics out there who will say that this is because he is viewed as weak by the international community, however in my reading I have not found this to be the case. It is much more about people wanting to believe in the American ideal and the American dream and feeling like they could not do that while W was president because of the way he related to the world. The international community, like much of the US, believes that Obama truly will be an agent of change and provide a fresh start for how the US interacts with the rest of the world, not simply because of his background, but because he is viewed as being a thoughtful, reasonable man.

I hope President-elect Obama and the Democratic Congress realize the opportunity they have now. They have the chance to make great and positive changes and to remind the world why the US is thought to be the best nation in the world.

I fear that they will squander this opportunity and in four years we will find ourselves, at best, no better off as a nation than we are today.

But I hope...

Sukkot in Israel #2: Scott goes north

During Sukkot, it is 'traditional' for Israelis to travel. So in the spirit of "when in Rome..." I decided to take a short trip to Yehudiyah Nature Reserve in the Golan Heights. It was a really nice trip, and a great hike; the pictures don't do it justice at all. Anyhoo, it felt great to get out and about a bit and I look forward to much more hiking this year. I am especially endebted to Yonatan and Anton, two of the rangers up there, who were super cool and helpful.


This is my idea of a sukkah...

This waterfall is one of the main attractions of the upper canyon hike. You can't tell from the picture but there was about 20 screaming and splashing kids running around.

This is a different waterfall, but for this part of the hike one must climb down the ladder you see on the right (about 30 feet or so) and swim accross the little (freezing-ass cold) lagoon. I sat and had tea with Yonatan the ranger on the rocks just to the left of the top of the waterfall before making my way down.

Trying my best to look bad-ass, but failing miserably as usual.

The hike that I did was an upper and lower section of a canyon. The good news was that it was a great hike. The bad news was that towards the end of the hike one must climb back up the canyon. It was steep and rocky and put a stairmaster to shame, but invigorating none-the-less. Of course the very end of my hike had me traipsing through a field full of natural land-mines (aka cow poop) but I decided that this was not pic-worthy.

So hopefully that gives you a least a small sense of my northern jaunt. I only stayed for the one night, but plan to head back north again soon. Hope all is well for whoever is reading this. much love!!