• In Israel faces up to religious extremism, Klein Halevi examines the “perception that “Israeli democracy is under imminent threat by religious fundamentalism,” and it’s underlying truth—that Israel’s ultra-Orthodox “itself is in deep crisis.”
• Can the Center Hold? explores the paradox facing centrist Israelis: supporting a two-state solution while remaining “deeply skeptical of Palestinian intentions.”

• In Ultra-Orthodox extremism is a reaction to growing reform in the community, on Ha’aretz.com, Yair Ettinger explains that an “extremist minority is much smaller than the large group of ultra-Orthodox women working in high-tech, the thousands of men and women studying at ultra-Orthodox colleges and the men volunteering for special ultra-Orthodox programs in the IDF and civil service.”
• On jpost.com, Natan Slifkin’s Everyone is fighting a different battle in Beit Shemesh explores how many secular Jews possess the absurd belief that all haredim, or even all religious Jews, are of the same mindset as the extremists.

But while the New Year is about to begin and we are supposed to “ring out the old and ring in the new,” I still have some unfinished business from this past year which I want to take care of this morning. Amidst a year filled with earthquakes, tsunamis, nuclear crisis, street protests and the Arab Spring, the most significant event of this past year came toward the end of the year, with the arrival of my sixth grandchild – my second grandson. Nothing can compare to that! But today I want to tell you about three news clippings I came across this past year that I wanted to comment on, but somehow they didn’t fit in to any of my sermons. The first story is the most ridiculous one of the year. The second, in some way, is the saddest one of the year. And the third, in some way, is the nicest one of the year. Collectively, they say much about the present American and Jewish condition. READ MORE

1. Beit Meir Boys Choir – Light Up The Nights
2. Six13 – Chanukah Rights!
3. Hanukkah Boosters Light a Fire Under Holiday, by Stephanie Simon and Ann Zimmerman, The Wall Street Journal
4. Reinvention of Hanukkah in the 20th Century: A Jewish Cultural Civil War by Rabbi Rabbi John Rosove, JewishJournal.com
5. Chanuka & Card Games by Rabbi Ari Enkin, Torahmusings.com (Hirhurim)
6. Jews, Christmas and Chinese Food by Stuart Schoffman, JewishJournal.com
7. All I Want for Christmas Is… Jews
8. Santa Puts on Tefillin, FrumSatire.com

Have a Happy Chanukah!

• An ad from yesterday’s New York Times about the Obama administration’s proclivity for “treating Israel like a punching bag.”

• An article from the Washington Post:  Why Netanyahu can’t ‘get to the damn table’

• A good blog from the Jewish Journal:  Spreading the myth of “Israel’s theocracy”

• And a special treat … great latke recipe from the New York Times:  Polishing Up Latkes With Apples

See you on Sunday on Square Off at 10 AM!

Shabbat  Shalom.

A wonderful response by Jonathan Tobin in Commentary magazine:  Thomas Friedman and the New Anti-Semitism-Part One

And here is a letter I wrote to the New York Times (read it here … they will  never print it!):

Thomas Friedman’s charge [column, Dec. 14, 2011] that Benjamin Netanyahu’s standing ovation in Congress “was bought and paid for by the Israeli lobby,” is rather nefarious sounding, especially when no proof is offered for such a highly charged claim.

Backing his position by the belief that Mr. Netanyahu would receive a  more negative reception speaking at the University of Wisconsin, Mr. Friedman overlooks the possibility that the members of the U.S. Congress are better informed and have a clearer picture regarding the Middle East than the students on a Madison, Wisconsin campus.

Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg,
Rabbi, Beth Tfiloh Congregaton
Dean, Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School

So this morning I wanted to do something “light.” It’s been a difficult week, so I’m not going to talk about a person; I’m going to talk about a “thing.” And what thing is central to the life of every Jew? Food! And if you don’t believe me, come to Beth Tfiloh – or most any shul – on any Shabbat and stand in the corner and watch as the people come in for Kiddush. It looks like the running of the bulls in Pampalona. What one minute before looked like a group of well-dressed, respectful, mild mannered, Shabbat worshippers … all of a sudden turns in to a wild mob, ready to kill anyone who stands in their way of getting a piece of kugel. It’s unbelievable! And it can only be matched by the tuna fish and egg salad that people put into their pockets for a little snack later on at home. And it is never enough! It’s like the Jewish woman sitting in a restaurant with her husband complaining, “The food here is so terrible and the portions are so small.” READ MORE

• It all started with a provocative, anonymous essay about premarital sex published by an online student newspaper on Monday, the kind of first-person tell-all that would probably pass without much mention at the average secular university. But this essay was different, because it was written by an Orthodox woman and posted by a publication at Stern College for Women — part of Yeshiva University of Manhattan — where the writer says she is a student. Orthodox Jewish Student’s Tale of Premarital Sex, Real or Not, Roils Campus, New York Times

• The Palestinian Authority claims in English to pursue peace, but a new 269-page
  book and CD entitled Deception, published by the research institute
  Palestinian Media Watch, says that in the Arabic-language media, their statements
  tell a different story: Palestinian Authority: Pursuing Peace, or Pushing Propaganda?,
  The Daily Beast

• Israel, despite socialist roots, now has a huge income gap. Displays of riches, such as a $2-million wedding and a ‘Real Housewives’-style show, draw awe and contempt: Super-rich Israelis no longer ashamed to flaunt their wealth, Los Angleles Times

One night a man got into trouble when his wife informed him that the day had gone by and he had forgotten her birthday. He told her how sorry he was, and said he would do anything to make up for it. She immediately said, “All right, tomorrow there better be something in the driveway for me that goes from zero to 200 in two seconds flat, or you’re in for it.” The next morning the wife awoke early, and looking out her bedroom window saw a small package in the driveway. She was a bit perturbed, as this was not what she was expecting. She went out and retrieved the package and upon opening it, found a handsome brand new bathroom scale! The funeral for her husband took place earlier this week.

According to the dictionary, a dialogue is “an exchange between two people of ideas or opinions on a particular issue, with a view to reaching an amicable agreement or settlement.” But not every dialogue – as we just heard – works out that way. On this Thanksgiving weekend I want to draw your attention to four dialogues that have received attention in recent weeks, and see what we can learn from them. READ MORE