Categories
Middle East

The Status Quo Runs Counter To Israel’s Interests

Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog was right to mock Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent assertion that he’s ready to take “brave steps” to achieve peace with the Palestinians. Netanyahu made this claim in a speech to the Knesset on the eve of appointing Avigdor Liberman, a hawk, as Israel’s new defence minister. Commenting on this […]

Categories
Jewish Affairs

A Symbol Of The Jewish Revival In Poland

Poland has experienced a Jewish revival since the end of the Communist era and the advent of democracy in 1989. And there is no better symbol of that remarkable phenomenon than the Lauder Morasha Middle School in Warsaw, which is marking its 22nd anniversary this year. Although it’s generously supported by grants from the Ronald […]

Categories
Middle East

A Wakeup Call For Israelis

Shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cavalierly relieved him of his duties as minister of defence last week, Moshe Yaalon took to the podium to deliver a remarkable speech peppered with ominous references to the growth of extremism in Israel. Yaalon’s comments should be regarded by Israelis as a wakeup, reinforcing widespread fears that Israel is […]

Categories
Arts

Let There Be Water

Countries ranging from China and Jordan to India and the United States are experiencing water shortages. Yet strangely enough, Israel — a semi-arid nation whose annual rainfall has dropped by half in recent years — does not face a water crisis. As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put it, “Israel doesn’t have a water problem.” […]

Categories
Arts

Love And Friendship

Whit Stillman’s romantic comedy, Love and Friendship, stars the divine Kate Beckinsale as a devious man hunter obsessed with finding a suitable husband for herself and her daughter. This drawing room period piece, based on a novella by Jane Austen, opens in Canada on May 27. More farcical than dramatic, it unfolds in a series […]

Categories
Travel

Manaus Was Once The Paris Of The Tropics

Improbably enough, one of the world’s most impressive 19th century opera houses, the Teatro Amazonas, is in Manaus, right in the middle of the great Amazon rainforest. The elegant pink and white neo-classical building, sporting an iridescent dome sprinkled with a dusting of colors, lies in old quarter of Manaus, the commercial capital of the […]

Categories
Jewish Affairs

London’s Muslim Mayor Can Be A Role Model

Sadiq Khan, the first Muslim mayor of London, can be a role model to his fellow Muslims if he continues to preach the virtues of tolerance and coexistence. At a time when radical Islam is making disturbing inroads in western European Muslim communities, Khan is setting an example by standing up to this destructive phenomenon […]

Categories
Travel

Spring — A Harbinger Of Hope

Canada is a calm and placid country, an idyllic place to live and bring up a family, but when it comes to the weather, Canada can be maddeningly fickle and disappointing. Spring in this country is a cruel tease. It comes and goes as it wishes, dashing hopes and expectations. When spring officially arrived in […]

Categories
Arts

Zahav: A World Of Israeli Cooking

Michael Solomonov has carved out a gastronomic niche for himself in the United States. He’s the co-owner and executive chef of Zahav, the acclaimed Israeli restaurant in Philadelphia. He and his partner, Steven Cook, are also the owners of Percy Street Barbecue, Federal Donuts, Dizengoff and Abe Fisher, all in the same city. Having established […]

Categories
Arts

The Man Who Knew Infinity

When British philosopher Bertrand Russell observed that “mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty,” he may have been thinking of Srinivasa Ramanujan. A Tamil from southern India, he was a lowly clerk with a gift for numbers when he received a scholarship to Cambridge University. Arriving in Britain in 1914, on the eve […]