The recent terror attack in London was unique–it was carried out by British-born fundamentalists, not foreigners. After suffering years of IRA-sponsored terrorism, the question people here in Britain are asking is why people would want to blow their fellow citizens and themselves to smithereens in a crowded rush-hour underground train….
Month: March 2006
Should We Hate Them?
Many of us are not quite sure how to react towards terrorists who have no qualms about killing huge numbers of people. Should we feel sorry for them because manipulative, demagogic religious leaders have indoctrinated them into these acts of killing? Or should we hate them for the terror, fear…
Cartoon Riots and An Interfaith Dialog
This week in Lahore, Pakistan, religious parties protesting the publication of caricatures of Prophet Muhammad by various European newspapers ransacked a McDonald’s outlet and set fire to the outlets of KFC and a foreign cellular service provider. Demonstrators also burned vehicles and about 2,000 sat near the Punjab Assembly, followed…
Should We Mourn The Pope
Pope John Paul II (1978 – 2005) was the leader of the Catholic Church and I am a rabbi. His fundamental beliefs were completely foreign to the religion I follow. Yet, I must confess that when I finally learnt that the Pope had passed away I felt a sense of…
We Must Learn From Children
The prophet Malachi (3:24) prophesised about the day when “he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children,” a recent experience in a London state primary school made me yearn for the fulfilment of this prophecy. I was invited to talk to children in a state school regarding…
Arafat’s Legacy of Terrorism
There are conflicting views about the life of Yasser Arafat. France gave him a full state final farewell. Some say that Arafat was a freedom fighter and a hero, who symbolised the suffering and hope of the Palestinian people. Others are more realistic. They say he was the founding father…
Violence in Israel
Which Jew doesn’t cringe in horror at the scene from Fiddler on the Roof where in the middle of a wedding Cossacks appear on horseback to beat innocent Jews? Who would have believed that today, in the modern State of Israel, Jews would act this way towards other Jews? Shockingly,…
The Expulsion Of The Jews: To Whom Can We Turn Now?
Over the last few days together with people all over the world I have been watching the heart-rending scenes that have come out of the Gaza strip. Beyond the immense sympathy I have for the Jewish residents of Gaza and their cause, I am deeply bothered and troubled by the…
Thoughts on the Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections
The terror group that pioneered the concept of the suicide bomber and is hell-bent on killing Jews and destroying Israel is now forming a government within twenty miles of Israel’s major population centers. This is bad news for Israel. Anyone who has studied Hamas literature and understands their ideology will…
You Have Made Us Proud
We Jews have tremendous coping power. The "Massacre of the Children" put this power to the test yet again. The pain and suffering that the "Massacre of the Children" caused is beyond belief. Like all of us, I was deeply pained that once again Arab Jew-hating murderers are slaughtering…