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Israel at 60

A video from the American Jewish Committee, with original footage of the 1947 UN partition vote:

From Front Page Magazine, a comparison of earlier Israel to the Israel of today:

Growing up in the Israel of the 1960’s meant experiencing a bonding intimacy of idealism grounded in the soil of this newly liberated Jewish homeland. The Holocaust was put behind us, and was perhaps even a taboo for discussion. But the lessons of the Holocaust remained fresh and real to young Israelis.

Self-reliance and sacrifice were the demands of the day. Israel in the early 1960’s was an idealistic society and nobody needed to be lectured on Zionism. Israelis resented anyone’s fulminations on idealistic Zionism, since it was practiced rather than discussed.

In today’s Israel, the leftist post-Zionists no longer see Zionism beyond a topic for discussion. Does it indicate the death of Zionism and an end to the idealism that made several generations of pioneers toil the soil and shed their blood to make the dream of a Jewish State a living reality? Not really!

The State of Israel is a reality cemented in established institutions, rooted in a strong and flourishing civil society that enjoys a free press, the rule of law, and a democratic government. Like all modern states, Israel is no longer a “developing country,” but part of the developed world with an average per capita income of $30,000. Its GNP is larger than that of all its Arab neighbors combined and it exports to other western countries some of the most sophisticated computer technology, optics, electronics, military hardware and software, and the best medical devices that high–tech can produce. While the lives of many of those living in the greater Tel Aviv and Haifa areas may resemble those of western Europeans and Americans, the pioneering spirit can still be found in the communities of Judea, Samaria, Golan, the Negev and Galilee and even in a few Jerusalem neighborhoods.

The intimacy of a small-beleaguered nation of the 1960’s has, in 2008, given way to great material expectations. The streets of Tel Aviv are a testament to such material changes. In the 1960’s, only two out of ten Israelis owned a motor vehicle. Today, it is about 9 out of 10. Israelis own the latest and the best gadgets, and the fashion leaders in New York, LA, Paris, or London can be assured that what’s “hip” in Soho is “cool” in Tel Aviv too.

Veteran Israelis who put their lives on the line in successive wars have sought more comfortable lives for their children. They have reasoned that if their sons and daughters must still depend on arms to preserve their country from attack, at least let them enjoy the luxuries of life. Israelis travel abroad more than virtually any other people per capita. Israelis can be found trekking the far corners of the earth in what has become a rite-of-passage following completion of their compulsory military service.

Link

Six decades of Israeli history as seen in photographs from private albums.

The European Jewish Press discusses commemoration plans:

Israel was founded on May 14, 1948, when its first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, declared statehood as Britain's UN mandate over historic Palestine was expiring.

Holidays in Israel, however, are marked according to the Hebrew calender, so the celebrations are to begin on May 7, the eve of what in Israel is known as Independence Day.

As part of dozens of additional projects, children have begun collecting 1.5 million marbles, symbolizing the 1.5 Jewish children who died in the Nazi Holocaust. Artists plan to use these marbles to construct a memorial to them.

A highlight of the celebrations is a three-day international conference hosted by President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem.

Many of the world's leaders  are to attend the festivities, including US President George Bush, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, former Soviet president Michael Gorbachev and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Like Bush, some of the other dozen presidents on the list have been to Israel before, but this will be a first visit for Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar, among others.

Other presidents to attend the conference include Victor Yushchenko of Ukraine, resident Lech Kaczynski of Poland, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Michael Saakashvili of Georgia, Stjepan Mesic of Croatia, Bamir Topi of Albania, Blaise Campoare of Burkina Faso, Danilo Türk of Slovenia and Valdis Zatlers of Latvia.

As a Nobel Prize winner, Peres invited other Nobel Prize laureates, at least seven of whom will be coming to Israel to share their views of the future.

Prominent figures from the private sector who will attend include Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.

The agenda for the conference covers a myriad of topics, including the future of the world economy, the content and meaning of a Jewish state, the extent to which Jewish tradition is relevant in tomorrow's world, whether a green Israel is possible, the tipping point of the geopolitical arena, Israel's ability to continue to be a leading contender in the world of science and cultivating future leaders of Israel and the Jewish people.

Link

Columnist David Brumer asks why Israel is cast as the obstacle to peace in the region when it has "said yes to virtually every partition plan put forth in modern times while the Palestinians have said no" :

For more than 3,000 years, Jews have been spiritually as well as corporeally bonded to the land of Israel. In 1921, Winston Churchill proclaimed, "It is manifestly right that the Jews, who are scattered all over the world, should have a national center and a national home. And where else could that be but in this land of Palestine, with which for more than 3,000 years they have been intimately and profoundly associated?" For French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the recreation of a sovereign Jewish state "is the most significant event of the 20th century." He described Israel's re-establishment as "the 20th century's miracle" and noted that "defending its existence is an international duty."

So why, 60 years later, or 3,060 years, if you will, is Israel living under such a barrage of existential threats? Why does Israel still have to prove itself worthy of being included in the family of nations? Why indeed is Israel singled out as the one nation on Earth whose very existence is questioned? Cynthia Ozick bristles at the "the scandal of calling into question a living nation's existence ... The Big Lie that demonizes Israel and contaminates the viler estuaries of what is nowadays dubbed 'the international community' ... ."

Yet among "progressive" intellectuals, especially in Europe, it is axiomatic that Israel is not merely "not doing enough to for peace in the Middle East," but is responsible for Islamist "outrage" against the West; that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains at the core of the Arab world's grievances, and, if only this conflict could be solved, peace would ensue. Leaving aside the illogical nature of this proposition (al-Qaida and other radical Islamists have as much a gripe against Christian nations whom they see as usurping their place in history), it is hard to find a country that has striven more for peaceful co-existence with its neighbors than Israel. No nation has taken more demonstrable risks for peace. Israel proved its intention to live in harmony with its neighbors when it enacted peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. Israel has shown its willingness to make painful sacrifices in the name of peace, withdrawing from all of Gaza in 2005 while evacuating more than 8,000 Israeli citizens from their homes.

Israel has said yes to virtually every partition plan put forth in modern times while the Palestinians have said no, starting with the Peel Commission in 1937, which would have given the Palestinians nearly 80 percent of the land between the "River and the Sea." In 1947, the Palestinians again rejected statehood on 45 percent of the land, while Israel agreed to the remaining 55 percent divided into three cantons (60 percent of which is desert). Finally, in 2000 Israel offered the Palestinians more than 96 percent of contiguous West Bank land and all of Gaza in the hopes that the century-old conflict could end. The Palestinian response to that offer was the Second Intifada, more aptly understood by Israelis as a Terror War unleashed against the Jewish State.

Yet Israel continues to be viewed as the obstacle to peace in the Middle East.

Link

Why we should support Israel:

The last living witness to the birth of Israel, at 93, recalls what it was like:

Arieh Handler participated in Israel's birth on two separate occasions. The lesser event, in his view, was on May 14, 1948, when he was among some 200 persons invited to the Tel Aviv hall where David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the state. Handler, 93 this month, is believed to be the only one of those present still alive.

"...The Arabs were quite strong and the British didn't like us," said Handler. "We didn't know whether we could oppose the British empire."

Some delegates favored accepting the American proposal for very different reasons; they believed that if the partition proposal were scrapped the Jewish state could expand beyond the territory allocated to it in the UN resolution.

The debate was stormy, Handler remembers, and lasted close to six hours. "It seemed at times that people might come to blows."

In the end, it was Ben-Gurion who decided the issue with a passionate speech. Despite the fact that neighboring Arab states had 40 times the population of the Yishuv, he said, and despite the abundance of weapons in the hands of the Arabs and the assistance they were receiving from the British, no Jewish settlement had yet been captured or abandoned. (This would change shortly.) The most difficult test still lay ahead, with the incursion of the Arab armies, he said, but the Yishuv would prevail if it summoned up the powers inherent in it.

When the issue was put to a vote, Ben-Gurion won a clear victory. "We have decided," said the concluding resolution, "relying on the authority of the Zionist movement and the support of the entire Jewish people, that upon the termination of the mandatory regime there shall be an end to foreign rule in Palestine and the governing body of the Jewish state shall come into being."

Says Handler: "This event was more important than the actual signing of the Declaration of Independence. We felt at the time very clearly that the meeting was decisive."

Long article - read the whole thing.

From the Jewish Chronicle (London), some Haiku:

Haiku Mania

By Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah

To mark Israel’s upcoming 60th anniversary, we challenged JC readers to write a haiku —the traditional Japanese verse form — to sum up what the country means to you.

This obviously struck a chord, with over 100 readers taking on the tricky three-line, 17-syllable structure of the haiku to express views about Israel, from the poetic to the political.

A variety of themes emerged, with many entrants extolling Israel for providing oppressed Jews with a homeland, this example by Ruth Landsman being fairly typical:

Israel means to me
A safe haven for all Jews,
A place to call home

A sizeable number of readers chose to lament the enduring conflict with the Palestinians. Witness this entry from Hannah Hutchinson:

Jew and Muslim, sons
Each of Abraham — long-term
Sibling rivalry

Some opted for the humorous approach (which we said might win extra points), and found a rich source of amusement in the restrictions of the haiku form itself. This from Barry Hyman:

Eretz at sixty?
How can you do it justice
In just five syllab…?

Food, naturally enough, figured large, particularly falafel, as this example by 10-year-old Jasmine Sadlik demonstrates:

Feeding the people
Falafel in pitta bread
Ever so tasty!

Falafel was one attraction that inspired Adam Mizler to express his enthusiasm for Israel. There was another:

Beautiful women,
And the best fresh falafels…
Man, I love Israel!

Some, like Rose Abrahamson, simply strived to conjure up a memorable image:

The train was chugging
Through sweet-scented orange groves
To Jerusalem

A few more:

She-ma Yis-ra-el,
A-do-nai E-lo-hei-nu,
A-do-nai E-chad

Moshe Rabbennu

(sent in by
Jonathan Samuel)

Children of Israel;
Wandered for thousands of years.
Where were the adults?

Adam Grossman

Sixty years have passed
It’s about time we had peace
In the Middle East

Joseph Adams

Shalom Aleichem
Two brothers in God’s own house
Salaam Aleikum

David Ury

Sixty years ago
Israel became our homeland
But we’re still fighting

Laura Gold

Tattoos on bodies
Dent on cars. Cellphone clubbers
In non-kosher bars

Monty Goldin

I'm not reprinting them, but also included were some anti-Israel haikus.  The author of the article deplores them and so do I.

Some of you might be familiar with the fact that Israel has a long history.  There's an Ancient Book called, "The Bible" that tells the story. Jews read it in its original Hebrew, one section at a time, in temple throughout the year.

American Thinker has some of the background:

The nation of Israel is about to commemorate its 60th birthday. That's the official, politically correct, line. But to be truly accurate, a cake celebrating the milestone should have more candles than 60 -- thousands more.

While it is most certainly true that David Ben-Gurion stood in Tel Aviv in front of a portrait of Zionist Patriarch Theodor Herzl and proclaimed Israel's independence from Britain on May 14, 1948, (immediately after which the armies of five Arab nations attacked the Jewish state), this year's celebration would more accurately be "Israel 3,200" or perhaps even "Israel 3,400."

In other words, the popularly promoted notion that Israel was "founded", "created", or "established" just in 1948 to give the Jews a piece of land by the Western powers out of guilt over the Holocaust is not accurate. Israel's detractors use this claim to try to delegitimize the Middle East's only true democracy.

After all, Israel has really been in existence since at least 1200 BCE and some experts place the establishment of Israel as the home of the Jewish people as early as 1406 BCE.

It is dutifully recorded in Scripture (Book of Joshua, ArtScroll Edition) that after the Children of Israel had gathered on the eastern bank of the Jordan River, as instructed to do so by G-d, that "When the bearers of the Ark [of the Covenant] arrived at the Jordan and the feet of the Kohanim, the bearers of the Ark, were immersed in the edge of the water - and the Jordan was overflowing its banks all the days of the harvest season - the waters descending from upstream stood still and they rose up in one column ... and was cut off; and the people crossed opposite Jericho. ... [A]ll Israel crossing on dry land until the entire nation finished crossing the Jordan." Joshua 3:14-17

Next, G-d commanded Joshua to select 12 men - one from each Israelite tribe -- to each gather one stone from amidst the river bed, bring it into the land of Israel and erect a memorial "and these stones shall remain a remembrance for the children of Israel forever." Joshua 4:7.

Scripture chronicles the date of this miracle: "The people ascended from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month, and encamped at Gilgal at the eastern end of Jericho." Joshua 4:19.

Nisan is the first month of the Jewish calendar, and this year the 10^th of Nisan coincides with April 15 in the Gregorian calendar. [Note: Though Nisan is the first month, the Jewish New Year is marked in a different month.]

The Children of Israel -- better known today as the Jewish People -- has inhabited the land of Israel continuously ever since, despite a string of wars, conquests and expulsions.

Read the rest.

The Original Source.

Commemorating the 65th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

The Jewish prayer for the dead echoed Tuesday across what was once the heart of the Warsaw ghetto as Polish and Israeli leaders marked the 65th anniversary of a doomed battle waged by young Jews against Nazi troops.

Israeli President Shimon Peres and his Polish counterpart, Lech Kaczynski, led a crowd of 1,000 gathered beneath the stark granite Monument to the Heroes of the Ghetto in ceremonies honoring the Jews who rose up on April 19, 1943 in the face of imminent death and held off German troops for three weeks.

Survivor Hela Rufeisen, who was part of the fight as an 18-year-old, remembered the goal of the insurgency was simple.

"They are killing us, so we have to fight and hurt them, too," recalled Rufeisen, one of a few ghetto fighters who attended the ceremony.

Link

************

Marek Edelman, the last surviving commander of the 1943 uprising in the Warsaw ghetto by a handful of scrappy, poorly armed Jews against the Nazi army, becomes emotional when he speaks of the fighters he led.

"I remember them all — boys and girls — 220 altogether, not too many to remember their faces, their names," says the 89-year-old doctor, who still works in a Lodz hospital. Edelman will lay a wreath in their honor at the Monument to the Heroes of the Ghetto on Saturday, the 65th anniversary of the uprising.

The Nazis walled off the ghetto in November 1940, cramming 400,000 Jews from across Poland into a 760-acre section of the capital in inhuman conditions. On April 19, 1943, German troops started to liquidate the ghetto by sending tens of thousands of its residents to death camps.

Several hundred young Jews took up arms in defense of the civilians — the first act of large-scale armed civilian resistance against the Germans in occupied Poland during World War II.

"It was the first, most important and most spectacular" instance of Jewish armed resistance to the Nazi Holocaust, said Andrzej Zbikowski, head of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Edelman said the Nazis "wanted to destroy the people, and we fought to protect the people in the ghetto, to extend their life by a day or two or five."

Then 24 years old, Edelman took command of one of the revolt's three groups. His fighters, between the ages of 13 and 22, scraped together guns and ammunition that they and the Polish resistance managed to smuggle in from the outside.

His brigade included 50 fighters known as "brush men" because their base was a brush factory.

"There weren't enough guns, ammunition. There was not enough food, but we were not starving. You can live for three weeks just on water and sugar," which they found in the homes of those deported to death camps, he said.

They adopted hit-and-run tactics. With time, as supplies and forces began to run low, they resorted to attacks at night, for more safety.

"Every moment was difficult. It was two or three or 10 boys fighting with an army," Edelman said. "There were no easy moments."

But they were outnumbered and outgunned.

"It lasted for three weeks, so this great German army could not cope so easily with those 220 boys and girls," he said with a grain of pride.

The uprising ended when its main leaders — rounded up by the Nazis — committed suicide on May 8, 1943. The Nazis then burned down the ghetto, street by street.

About 40 fighters escaped through Warsaw's sewers and joined the Polish partisans.

"No one believed he would be saved," Edelman said. "We knew that the struggle was doomed, but it showed the world that there is resistance against the Nazis, that you can fight the Nazis."

Link

Jews and the Black Community

Finally had a chance to watch parts 2 and 3 of the PBS show,The Jewish Americans, last night. Fantastic.  From Tin Pan Alley, to the Catskills, to stand up comedians, to WW2, to Jewish soldiers who fought in the war and helped to liberate the concentration camps and the way they felt when they were greeted by the skeletal European Jews they liberated, to Soviet Jewry, to relations with the African American community - it covered a lot of ground.

Jews felt a tremendous sense of betrayal and sadness when they began to be shunned by the black community as the Black Power movement of the late 60s came into being.  After having felt so close to the black American experience, and having marched along side blacks in their demand for equality, risking their own safety in what was, in those days, an extremely antisemitic south - many were stunned to have been rejected.

I was pleased to have been able to find the following clip on YouTube about Julius Lester.  He'd been a radio show host in NY and in 1968 read an antisemitic poem on the air as an illustration of how negative things had become between blacks and Jews after a long and increasingly hostile confrontation between Jewish teachers and the black community of Ocean Hill-Brownsville, NY. Lester was accused of being antisemitic for having read the poem on the air.

In a surprise twist, he later ended up discovering that his great grandfather was a German Jew, and converted to Judaism. Very interesting and moving:

In the place and time where I grew up (Westchester County, NY, 1960s and 70s) blacks were pretty hostile to the Jewish population, considering them to be part of the white community at which they were very angry. The black students were tough - much tougher than we were - and they'd shake us down for money, tease and taunt us.  Everyone seemed to think all Jews had money, and some in Westchester County certainly did, but I wasn't one of them.   

Lester explained that blacks didn't realize that due to the antisemitism of the 1930s and 1940s, (fully half of the white population held deeply antisemitic views at that time) American Jews didn't consider themselves to be part of white America. Blacks somehow didn't know about antisemitism or Jewish suffering, didn't realize that the great majority of the white people marching along with them in support in the 60s were Jews until much later. Or perhaps, they simply couldn't see past the white skin.

Things have changed.  We're all part of the same America now.  Racism and antisemitism have receeded, but some memories hold on.  Some Jews are still upset by past rejection from the black community and some are not at all happy about the current criticism of Israel by some black leaders nor the overt statements of antisemitism from Louis Farrakhan and Jesse Jackson.  From Wikipedia:

Jackson has been criticized for some of the remarks he has made about Jews and Jewish issues. Most infamously, Jackson referred to Jews as "Hymies" and to New York City as "Hymietown" in January 1984 during a conversation with Washington Post reporter Milton Coleman. Jackson at first denied the remarks, then accused Jews of conspiring to defeat him. The Nation of Islam's radical leader Louis Farrakhan, an aggressive anti-Semite, threatened Coleman in a radio broadcast and issuing a public warning to Jews, made in Jackson's presence: "If you harm this brother [Jackson], it will be the last one you harm." Finally, Jackson apologized during a speech before national Jewish leaders in a Manchester, New Hampshire synagogue. Yet Jackson refused to denounce Farrakhan, and continuing suspicions have led to an enduring split between Jackson and many Jews.^[28] Among Jackson's other remarks were that Richard Nixon was less attentive to poverty in the U.S. because "four out of five [of Nixon's top advisors] are German Jews and their priorities are on Europe and Asia"; that he was "sick and tired of hearing about the Holocaust"; and that there are "very few Jewish reporters that have the capacity to be objective about Arab affairs". Jackson has since apologized and was invited to speak in support of Al Gore and Joe Lieberman at the 2000 Democratic National Convention.^[29]

Barack Obama, if he should become president, will shoulder grave responsibilities in many areas. Fostering improved relations between black Americans and Jews will be one of them. For the most part, on an every day basis problems between blacks and Jews are few, and most Jews are still very supportive of the black community. Politics tends to widen polarization and magnify differences. However, if Obama were to win the election, a potential flashpoint focused on Middle East issues could cause problems to worsen. Jews won't sit back and be silent, blacks will be protective of Obama - it has the potential to get ugly.

In any event, hearing Julius Lester sing Sim Shalom was very moving, and his conversion to Judaism is emblematic of a very important principal that I try very hard, but don't always succeed in remembering: Things are not always what they seem. 

This, of course, can be interpreted in more ways than one.

Martin Luther King

Remembering his words today:

"How easy it should be, for anyone who holds dear this inalienable right of all mankind, to understand and support the right of the Jewish People to live in their ancient Land of Israel. All men of goodwill exult in the fulfillment of God's promise that His people should return in joy to rebuild their plundered land. This is Zionism, nothing more, nothing less." 

(Thanks again, Chaya.)

Huge Archaeological Find in Israel

From the Jerusalem Post:

A stone seal bearing the name of one of the families who acted as servants in the First Temple and then returned to Jerusalem after being exiled to Babylonia has been uncovered in an archeological excavation in Jerusalem's City of David, a prominent Israeli archeologist said Wednesday.

The 2,500-year-old black stone seal, which has the name "Temech" engraved on it, was found earlier this week amid stratified debris in the excavation under way just outside the Old City walls near the Dung Gate, said archeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar, who is leading the dig. 

...

"The seal of the Temech family gives us a direct connection between archeology and the biblical sources and serves as actual evidence of a family mentioned in the Bible," she said. "One cannot help being astonished by the credibility of the biblical source as seen by the archaeological find."

Palestinians continue in their unconscionable attempts to destroy archaeological evidence of Jewish history in order to support false claims that Jewish temples never existed on the Temple Mount and thus reinforce their hold on the territory. Thankfully, this is one piece of history left unscathed.

(Hat tip: Chaya)

From the Jerusalem Post:

A stone seal bearing the name of one of the families who acted as servants in the First Temple and then returned to Jerusalem after being exiled to Babylonia has been uncovered in an archeological excavation in Jerusalem's City of David, a prominent Israeli archeologist said Wednesday.

The 2,500-year-old black stone seal, which has the name "Temech" engraved on it, was found earlier this week amid stratified debris in the excavation under way just outside the Old City walls near the Dung Gate, said archeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar, who is leading the dig. 

...

"The seal of the Temech family gives us a direct connection between archeology and the biblical sources and serves as actual evidence of a family mentioned in the Bible," she said. "One cannot help being astonished by the credibility of the biblical source as seen by the archaeological find."

Palestinians continue in their unconscionable attempts to destroy archaeological evidence of Jewish history in order to support false claims that Jewish temples never existed on the Temple Mount and thus reinforce their hold on the territory. Thankfully, this is one piece of history left unscathed.

(Hat tip: Chaya)

PBS: The Jewish Americans

I already mentioned this, but wanted to do so again. PBS is currently broadcasting a terrific series on the history of Jews in America - beginning in the 1600s and working its way to the present.  I have watched part of the first show and intend to watch the whole thing.  It's very much worth your time - highly recommended. They are repeating all the parts over again at various times, so it's still not too late to watch the whole thing.

Many clips from the show can be watched here, if you'd like to get a flavor of what it's all about. There are also some outtakes here. 

From Pinsk to America

Beryl, pious but poor, was applying for a job as shamesh of a synagogue in Pinsk. The interview was going well, until the president of the shul handed Beryl the shul bulletin, in Yiddish, to read. Embarrassed, Beryl admitted that he was illiterate.

"We can't hire a shamesh who doesn't know how to read," the synagogue president said.

With no other prospects in Pinsk, Beryl sailed to America. Like other immigrants, he became a peddler. He prospered. Quickly he was a business owner, then a magnate, then a multi-millionaire.

In a business meeting one day, one of Beryl's employees handed him a report to read. "I don't know how to read," Beryl told him.

The employee was amazed. "Do you know where you would be today if you knew how to read?" he asked.

"Of course," Beryl answered. "I'd be a shamesh in Pinsk."

Link

The Steven Spielberg Archive of Jewish Film

A short film overview of Spielberg's collection of rare 20th century footage which gave me goosebumps.

Jewish History

What has been taken away from Judaism and the Jewish people over the past 2,000 years?  Taken away and forgotten in some distant past - and the world moves on.  But some people study history, and maybe as suggested in the article below, such study can border on obsession, but it's an obsession I can understand.  Jews are directly affected today, and Jewish right to Israel is questioned based upon lies, the origin of which gets forgotten. Theft is forgotten, wrongs are not righted and there is no accountability.

But even as I say this, I am reminded of those who would say that others have been wronged too, that other civilizations died off completely - that at least the Jewish people still live, and what am I complaining about?

However, in my view, each people has a story of their own and are responsible for it and for carrying on their civilization and culture.  My responsibility and focus is on Jewish civililization and culture.  I have a double responsibility in supporting American civilization and culture - but America is not in nearly as much need of my help and focus, having many others to help it.  Jews are few and far between and each of us has to shout louder and more frequently to make up for our lack in number. 

This doesn't mean I don't care about other cultures, but of course I think about mine and what concerns me and my family first and foremost.  Yes, that's blunt, but true. And it's true of everyone (or should be) who cares about their culture and feels it has something to offer them and their descendents and the rest of the world.

I see Judaism and the Jewish people as being endangered - and not only from hostile forces, but from our own lack of interest and assimilation into the cultures in which we live. I see something there, a lot actually, worth fighting for, and I try my best to get my children to understand and see it too.  Frankly, I don't know how well I've succeeded.

My concerns play out on this blog - I keep coming back to them, though I don't always write about it overtly, I just keep posting articles showing different aspects of the same thing - Judaism, Jews and Israel endangered, and the misinterpretation of the facts - both deliberately and in ignorance - by other cultures who would like to conquer Jewish territory and by the media.

The article below is a discussion of a book called God's Gold, written by an archeologist who specializes in the archeology of the Holy Land.  His views are disputed by some Israeli archeologists.  In my opinion he may or may not be wrong, but the one thing his book does do is help to focus interest on the area, its meaning to the Jewish people and their historical claim.  From the Jewish World Review: 

The boundary between quest and obsession is not defined until it is crossed. By then it is too late — and extremely perilous. This is inevitable when the search is for some of the most precious and potentially explosive objects in the world: religious icons that, if found, will further agitate the roiling cauldron that is the Middle East.

In "G-d's Gold: A Quest for the Lost Temple Treasures of Jerusalem," archaeologist Sean Kingsley provides a dramatic account of his personal journey in search of the golden menorah, silver trumpets, and jewel-covered Table of Divine Presence taken from the Second Temple of Jerusalem in the year 70. These iconic artifacts were spirited away by the Roman emperor Vespasian and his son, Titus, during the razing of Jerusalem that followed the First Jewish Revolt. Back in Rome, the treasures became the centerpiece of a massive victory parade, the report of which can still be read 2,000 years later as intricate carvings on the Arch of Titus.

Although missing since antiquity, there are enough written references to them, and more than enough conspiracy theorists who claim that they reside in the Vatican, to suggest that the treasures were not melted down for pagan purposes. This is all Kingsley needs to launch what seems to be an impossible mission — one that is both delicate and dangerous because of the ever-present tensions that surround the jurisdiction of the Temple Mount.

I visited the Vatican several years ago and was shocked to see not only the extent and value of the treasures it owns, but the fact that there were Jewish artifacts in its posession. I no longer remember exactly what I saw, but I do remember the flash of anger that the objects were owned by someone else and not exhibited in a Jewish museum. I wondered at the time how it was they came to be there.

In a narrative that is part history, part travelogue, and all action movie, Kingsley describes his 10 years of travels from the Holy Land to Rome to Tunis to Istanbul, digging for clues in the dusty texts of ancient scribes and the dangerous dirt of Hamas-controlled territory.

Has Kingsley crossed over, then, from quest to obsession? Perhaps. He is absolutely obsessive about knowing the objects of his search, although this is just excellent methodology. Part forensics investigator and part profiler, Kingsley is adamant that the key to any search is the understanding of both the material and psychological properties of the missing objects. It is not enough to know what the Temple treasures were made of, and their design; it is just as important to know their significance to Second-Temple Jews, and to the Romans and Vandals after them. It is Kingsley's hypothesis that the icons survived not because of their monetary value, but because they could be used to support the founding myths of all those who held them, an ultimate source of "via fide" — street cred — in a world breaking free from Roman rule.

Read the rest.

A review from the Boston Globe which discusses the archeological controversy raised by God's Gold.

The History Channel has a 2-part series based on the book which I have not seen.  Part 2 will be shown on 10/15 and part 1 will be repeated on 10/27.

Jewish Contributions to Columbus's Voyage to America

From The Jewish-Ameerican Hall of Fame:

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) 

There has been much speculation over the centuries as to whether Christopher Columbus may have been Jewish or of Jewish descent. The Encyclopaedia Britannica indicates that he may have come from a Spanish-Jewish family settled in Genoa, Italy.But there is no question that it was his Spanish-Jewish friends who were instrumental in arranging for his meeting with the Spanish Monarchs in 1486 and who turned his dream into reality.

---

Luis de Santangel (?-1498) 

Contrary to popular opinion, it was not Queen Isabella’s jewelry, but Spanish Jewry that made Columbus’ historical trip of discovery possible. Actually it was Luis de Santangel, whose grandfather had converted from Judaism to Christianity under pressure of Spanish persecutions, who lent nearly 5 million maravedis to pay for the voyage. In addition, Santangel’s influence with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella was decisive in gaining their acceptance of Columbus’ proposals. In recognition of his assistance, Santangel was the first to hear of the historic discoveries directly in a personal letter from Columbus. Showing his allegiance to his former co-religionists, Luis de Santangel made substantial contributions toward the hiring of ships that enabled them to leave when they were expelled en mass from Spain. 

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Don Isaac Abravanel (1437-1508) 

Another of Columbus’ stalwart friends was Don Isaac Abravanel, who had remained stalwart to his religion and who was one of the most distinguished biblical scholars, philosophers and statesmen of the period. He also helped to finance Columbus’ voyage, although he was not there to greet the great explorer upon his return ... since Abravanel was also expelled from Spain, in spite of his high position in the court of Ferdinand and Isabella.

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Abraham Zacuto (1452-c.1515) 

Before the Expulsion, Abraham Zacuto was forced to leave his native Spain. He was later named Royal Mathematician to the Portuguese royal court. There, he improved the astrolabe (early navigational instrument) and prepared astronomical tables, greatly improving navigational accuracy on the high seas. A copy of Zacuto’s astronomical tables, along with Columbus’ personal annotations, is still preserved in Seville.

Link

Mem'ries, Like the Caw....nuhs of My Mind

I recently happened across a list of the top 100 songs of the 1970's.  Some - many - are the most gawdawful excuses for pop tunes that you will ever hear (Seasons in the Sun, Do Ya Think I'm Sexy, and more). However - - the 70s were the years of high school and college for me, and these songs bring back so many fond, misty water-colored mem'ries from the cawnuhs of my mind, that I can't help but enjoy listening to every sappy one of them.  Here's the list from 1974,the year I graduated high school, featuring a towering triumvirate of corn - Barbra, Terry Jacks and John Denver:

The Top 10 Singles of 1974

1."The Way We Were" - Barbra Streisand

2."Come And Get Your Love" - Redbone

3."Seasons In The Sun" - Terry Jacks

4."Show And Tell" - Al Wilson

5."Love's Theme" - The Love Unlimited Orchestra

6."The Loco-motion" - Grand Funk

7."Bennie And The Jets" - Elton John

8."You Make Me Feel Brand New" - The Stylistics

9."Sunshine On My Shoulders" - John Denver

10."T.S.O.P. (The Sound Of Philadelphia)"" - MFSB featuring The Three Degrees

The rest of the list can be found here, along with links containing some fairly detailed information about the tunes, the performers, and writers.

History Repeating?

The Palestinian version of Hitler Youth.

About Face: German and Austrian Jewish G.I.s in World War II

ABOUT FACE documents the as-yet-untold World War II story of young Jewish men who escaped certain danger at the hands of the Nazis and returned to fight them in Europe and North Africa. Told through the eyes of these men, the film chronicles the journey from Nazi victim to refugee and, finally, to Allied soldier and hero:

A Must Read: The Hidden Basis For Hostility to Israel - and America

Michael Medved has written a very insightful essay exposing the roots of modern contempt for Israel and how it connects to anti-Americanism.  I am not going to post an excerpt - the article is one which needs to be read in its entirety in order to understand the crux of Medved's argument. Highly recommended reading.

Rejoicing at an Enemy's Demise

"They're firing at us, firing RPGs, firing mortars. We're not Jews," the brother of Jamal Abu Jediyan, a Fatah commander, pleaded during a live telephone conversation with a Palestinian radio station.

Minutes later both men were dragged into the streets and riddled with bullets.

As I read this story (discussed in greater detail here, here and here) and was tempted to gloat at the death of such a blatant example of antisemitism (note that he did not say, "We are not Israelis," he said "We aren't Jews"), I couldn't help remembering the midrash in which it is described that after the drowning of the Egyptians in the Red Sea, the angels were scolded by God for singing songs of praise.   "The creations of My hands are drowning in the sea and you sing before Me?"

At times it can be very difficult to remember that we are all God's children, we are all miracles of creation.

When a human in possession of the gifts of life and free will goes wrong, it is a thing of great sorrow. Instead of rejoicing right now, I am thinking about what might have been.

What if the Muslim world had embraced Israel?  What if they were great friends and neighbors?

So much destruction and death and grief could have been avoided.

It could have all been so different.

Graphical Representation of the Battles of the Civil War

I've heard them mentioned many times over - Fort Sumpter, Philippi, Antietam, Vicksburg, Sherman's "March to the Sea."  But I never had the patience to read any detail or to try to gain any understanding of the battles of the Civil War.  Here's a fantastic 4-minute film that shows the battles sequentially and teaches more about the Civil War in 4 minutes than I learned in any history class I ever took.

More info here.

How Jews Saved the World From Tyranny

A well-written must read from Planck's Constant:

Why the Nazis did not take over the world is quite simple to answer: Jews.

(I'm thinking maybe the Brits, Americans and Russians had just a little to do with it as well...)

Jewish Refugees From Arab Countries

There has been an uninterrupted presence of large Jewish communities in the Middle East from time immemorial. The ancient Jewish communities of the Middle East and North Africa − including in the Land of Israel − existed for over 2,500 years before the birth of the modern Arab states.

COUNTRY/REGION	DATE OF JEWISH COMMUNITY
Iraq	6th century BCE
Lebanon	1st century BCE
Libya	3rd century BCE
Syria	1st century CE
Yemen	3rd century BCE
Morocco	1st century CE
Algeria	1st-2nd century CE
Tunisia	200 CE

One thousand years before the advent of Islam, Jews in substantial numbers resided in what are today Arab countries. For centuries under Islamic rule, following the Moslem conquest of the region, Jews were considered ‘dhimmi’, or second-class citizens. But they were nonetheless permitted limited religious, educational, professional, and business opportunities.

It is within the last 55 years that the world witnessed the mass displacement of over 850,000 long-time Jewish residents from the totalitarian regimes, the brutal dictatorships and monarchies of Syria, Trans-Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.

The rise of pan-Arabism and independence movements in the 20th century resulted in an orchestrated, multi-state campaign against Zionism. These states vehemently opposed the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people. Hundreds of thousands of Jews resident in Arab countries were ensnared in this struggle.

Immediately before and after its declaration of statehood, the Arab world sought to destroy the newly created State of Israel between 1948-49. The rights and security of Jews resident in Arab countries came under legal and physical assault by governments and the general populations. In Syria, anti-Jewish pogroms erupted in Aleppo in 1947. Of the town’s 10,000 Jews 7,000 fled in terror. In Iraq, ‘Zionism’ became a capital crime. More than 70 Jews were killed by bombs in the Jewish Quarter of Cairo, Egypt. After the French left Algeria, the authorities issued a variety of anti-Jewish decrees that prompted nearly all of the 160,000 Jews to flee the country. After the 1947 United Nations General Assembly Resolution on the Partition Plan, Muslim rioters engaged in bloody pogroms in Aden and Yemen, which killed 82 Jews. In numerous countries, Jews were expelled or had their citizenship revoked (e.g. Libya). Varying numbers of Jews fled from 10 Arab countries. They became refugees in a region overwhelmingly hostile to Jews.

State-sanctioned restraints, often coupled with violence and repression, precipitated a mass displacement of Jews. While the results were similar, life became untenable and Jews were displaced from some 10 countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa. This caused the Jewish refugee problem in the Middle East.

The result: over 850,000 Jews were uprooted from the lands where they and their ancestors had lived for generations.

A detailed history of state-sanctioned displacement of Jews from Arab countries.

Travel Research Part 2: The Jews of Prague

From the Jewish Virtual Library (Part 1: Budapest):

In the early 18^th Century, more Jews lived in Prague than anywhere else in world. In 1708, Jews accounted for one-quarter of Prague’s population. Unfortunately, the golden age ended with the ascension of Empress Maria Theresa who expelled the Jews from Prague from 1745-1748.

The Jews returned to Prague and conditions improved during the reign of Emperor Josef II (1780-90). Joseph II issued the Edict of Toleration in October 1781, which affirmed the notion of religious tolerance. He allowed Jews to participate in all forms of trade, commerce, agriculture and the arts. Jews were encouraged to build factories and school systems. Jews were even allowed to attend institutions of higher learning. In the chedar (study rooms), a western-style education was encouraged, Jews were not only taught Hebrew and Yiddish, but also basic accounting. The government also required Jews to switch their business records from Hebrew and Yiddish to German to facilitate better government monitoring. In fact, the Jews appreciated Joseph II so much that they named the Jewish town, Josefov, after him, and this name still exists today.

During the 19^th Century, Jews gradually became emancipated. Temporary civil equality was granted to Jews under the law in 1849. The ghetto was abolished in 1852 and Josefov became a district of Prague. In the 1800's, Jews became caught up in the culture wars between the Czech-speaking middle class and the German-speaking members of the Austro-Hungarian empire. From the 1830's to the 1870's, Jews began to adopt the German language and assimilated German cultural patterns. Following the 1870's, however, the growth of Czech nationalism increased the level of antagonism felt by the Jews. By the last quarter of the 19^th Century, a network of Jewish institutions dedicated to Czech-Jewish acculturation emerged; however, not all Jews supported them, some remained faithful to German language and culture, while others favored Zionism.

In 1899, Zionism began to become popular in Prague among the young professionals and students. They formed their own Zionist organization, Bar Kochba, which published Selbstwehr, Self-defense, a Zionist biweekly publication in Prague from 1907-1938. Conflict between the Zionists and the Czech Jewish nationalists existed; Jewish nationalists (Zionists) did not want to be involved in the national conflict over the usage of German and Czech language, while the Czech-Jewish assimilationists were involved because they resented the German denigration of Czech culture and also wanted to have a rapprochement between Jews and Slavs in Czech lands.

German was spoken widely among many members of the Prague Jewish community and continued to be taught despite the tensions with the Czech-Jewish nationalists. During the first decades of the 20^th Century, German-speaking Jews in Prague produced a large body of internationally acclaimed literature. The most famous of these writers were Franz Kafka, Max Brod and Franz Werfel. This is the last generation of writers and intellectuals before World War II.

World War II

On March 14, 1939, Slovakia declared independence from Prague and signed the Treaty of Protection with Nazi Germany. The next day, Germany occupied Czech lands. At the outbreak of World War II, 55,000 Jews lived in Prague, almost 20 percent of the city’s population. At least two-thirds of the Jewish population of Prague perished in the Holocaust.

In the Czech republic, about 26,000 members of the Czech Jewish community escaped and emigrated to various countries and regions, including Palestine, the U.S., South America and Western Europe. Not all Czech Jews were so fortunate, 92,000 Jews remained in occupied Czech lands. Seventy-four thousand of the Czech Jews were imprisoned in Terezin and 80 percent of those were deported to Auschwitz, Maidanek, Treblinka and Sobibor. Other Czech Jews were sent directly to death camps.

Post-World War II

Following the war, about 13,000 Czech Jews remained. By 1950, half of them emigrated to Israel.

In May 1945, as Germany was being defeated, the Soviet Army entered Prague. A provisional government was installed, but the Soviet presence enabled the Communist party to gain influence. In February, 1948 the provisional government was ousted, and the Communist Party took power. From 1948 to 1949, the Soviet block supported the newly created State of Israel and therefore allowed Jews in the Czech Republic to immigrate to Israel. However, following 1949 emigration was virtually impossible and Jewish life was stifled by the Communist regime.

Communist rule was unpopular and ruthless and a movement demanding socialism with a human face gradually emerged in the 1960's. In 1968, a Slovak Communist, Alexander Dubcek, became the party leader and, in a movement called Prague Spring, began to introduce sweeping reforms to make the government more democratic. The Soviet Union disapproved of these changes and, together with the troops of other Soviet-bloc countries, invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968. The subsequent period of so-called normalization wiped out all democratic trends and intensified the stagnation in all spheres of life.

As change began to sweep through Eastern Europe in the late 1980's, Czechs more openly protested and called for reform. Demonstrations resulted in the resignation of the Communist party leadership in November 1989. Alexander Dubcek, the Prague Spring reformer, was elected chairman of parliament and dissident playwright Václav Havel, the acknowledged opposition leader, was named president. In June 1990, the country held its first free election since 1946. On January 1, 1993, the country split into Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Prague, the historical capital of the region since the Ancient Kingdom, was adopted as the capital of the Czech Republic.

The Jewish Community Today

Today, about 1,700 people are associated with the Jewish community in Prague, however, a revival of Jewish life is occurring. Many Jews found it easier to be quiet and hide their identity during the Communist era and so many people learned of being Jewish only after 1989. The average age in Prague’s Jewish community has dropped from 70 (the average age in the 1980's) to about 55 because of increased involvement of younger Jews.

The center of Jewish life is the historic Jewish Town Hall, which houses Jewish cultural, social and religious events. A Jewish kindergarten, sponsored by the Lauder Foundation, recently opened in Prague. A new Jewish old age home also opened recently. There is also a monthly journal, Rosh Chodesh, and a radio program "Shalom Aleichem."

While Prague has many beautiful historic synagogues, there is sparse synagogue attendance and many synagogues are only open on high holidays. "Beit Praha" is a Conservative congregation and conducts Kabbalat Shabbat services every Friday evening. The Reform community has several congregations as a result of different splits, the largest of which is Beit Simcha, which is even older than Beit Praha. The only Rabbi in the Czech republic resides in Prague, other services are lead by community members.

One of the major problems facing the Jewish community is the rise of skinheads and many of the Jewish leaders are worried about the lack of action against the rise of xenophobia and violence perpetrated by them. They believe the skinheads are misusing their rights to free speech and the government should not protect them during their marches.

On the other hand, the Jewish community is pleased with President Havel, who they see as pro-Jewish and were relieved when the extremist, right-wing parties were unable to gain a seat in the Parliament in the last elections.

I Am a Zionist

The first song - translation:

I HAVE NO OTHER COUNTRY

I have no other country even if my land is aflame Just a word in Hebrew pierces my veins and my soul - With a painful body, with a hungry heart, Here is my home. I will not stay silent because my country changed her face I will not give up reminding her And sing in her ears until she will open her eyes I have no other country even if my land is aflame Just a word in Hebrew pierces my veins and my soul - With a painful body, with a hungry heart, Here is my home. I won't be silent because my country has changed her face. I will not give up reminding her And sing in her ears until she will open her eyes I have no other country until she will renew her glorious days Until she will open her eyes I have no other country even if my land is aflame Just a word in Hebrew pierces my veins and my soul - With a painful body, with a hungry heart, Here is my home. With a painful body, with a hungry heart, Here is my home.

The second song:

JERUSALEM OF GOLD
by Naomi Shemer

The mountain air is clear as wine
And the scent of pines
Is carried on the breeze of twilight
With the sound of bells.

And in the slumber of tree and stone
Captured in her dream
The city that sits solitary
And in its midst is a wall.

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

How the cisterns have dried
The market-place is empty
And no one frequents the Temple Mount
In the Old City.

And in the caves in the mountain
Winds are howling
And no one descends to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho.

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

But as I come to sing to you today,
And to adorn crowns to you (i.e. to tell your praise)
I am the smallest of the youngest of your children (i.e. the least worthy of doing so)
And of the last poet (i.e. of all the poets born).

For your name scorches the lips
Like the kiss of a seraph
If I forget thee, Jerusalem,
Which is all gold...

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

We have returned to the cisterns
To the market and to the market-place
A ram's horn (shofar) calls out (i.e. is being heard) on the Temple Mount
In the Old City.

And in the caves in the mountain
Thousands of suns shine -
We will once again descend to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho!

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

Americans Found Shot in Iraq "Execution-Style"

Four of the five Americans killed when a U.S. security company's helicopter crashed in a dangerous Sunni neighborhood in central Baghdad were shot execution-style in the back the head, Iraqi and U.S. officials said Wednesday.

A senior Iraqi military official said a machine gunner downed the helicopter, but a U.S. military official in Washington said there were no indications that the aircraft, owned by Blackwater USA, had been shot out of the sky. Two Sunni insurgent groups, separately, claimed responsibility for the crash.

In Washington, a U.S. defense official said four of the five killed were shot in the back of the head but did not know whether they were still alive when they were shot. The defense official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

The helicopter was shot down after responding to assist a U.S. Embassy ground convoy that came under fire in a Sunni neighborhood in central Baghdad, said a U.S. diplomatic official in Washington.

A second helicopter also was struck, but there were no casualties among its crew, said the diplomatic official, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to make statements.

The doomed helicopter swooped into electrical wires before the crash. U.S. officials said it was not clear if gunfire brought the aircraft down or caused its pilot to veer into the wires during evasive manuevers.

Why on earth would they bother to shoot them in the back of the head, "execution-style", if they were DEAD? The victims were civilians - though they worked in security:

Blackwater USA confirmed that five Americans employed by the North Carolina-based company as security professionals were killed, but provided no identities or other details.

Nixon Playing Piano

Here's a video of Richard Nixon playing a piano composition of his own on the Tonight Show when Jack Paar was hosting.  Nixon came across as stiff and socially inept compared to JFK's effortless charm, and at the end of his performance, Paar makes a couple of comments obliquely referencing this. It was March 8, 1963 - just so happens, the day I turned 7 years old.

Wow. That Sure Took a Long Time.

And yet we've never complained:

Britain will this week pay off the last instalment of the multibillion-dollar loans that were secured from the United States and Canada more than sixty years ago to help fund the war effort.

On Friday this country will make its final repayment on the US$4.33 billion loan given by the United States in 1945. Canada will also receive the last payment on its Can$1.25 billion loan.

The payments — $83.25 million (£43 million) to the US Government and $22.7 million to Canada — are the last of fifty instalments that have been paid since 1950, totalling $7.5 billion to the United States and $2 billion to Canada, including 2 per cent annual interest on the initial loans.

Britain agreed the loan with the United States in 1945 in the form of a direct line of credit worth $3.75 billion and a lend-lease facility worth $585 million. It was intended as a final settlement for the financial claims of each country against the other for costs arising out of the Second World War, and provided the essential capital to fund Britain’s postwar construction. Canada followed suit with a direct line of credit of $1.25 billion agreed in 1946.

Ed Balls, the City minister, told The Times last night that it was a historic moment. “This week we finally honour in full our commitments to the US and Canada for the support they gave us 60 years ago. It was vital support which helped Britain defeat Nazi Germany and secure peace and prosperity in the postwar period. We honour our commitments to them now as they honoured their commitments to us all those years ago.”

...The loans have been repaid on the same principle as a home mortgage. Repayments cover both the capital sum borrowed and the interest due on the loan. In the 1950s and 1960s, payments were geared mainly to paying off the interest, while in latter years, the repayment of capital has increased.

Under the terms of the agreement, this country was allowed to defer up to six annual instalments and did so in 1956, 1957, 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1976, on the grounds that international exchange rate conditions and the UK's foreign currency reserves made payments in those years impractical.

Link

The Passing of Gerald Ford

President Ford was handed a very difficult job at a very difficult time. 

Ford was able to laugh at himself and I liked his wife and family too.  For White House residents, they were very down-to-earth people.

I still can't quite decide if his decision to pardon Nixon was right or wrong.  In my reading this morning, I came across this quote from one of Ford's speech writers, James Hume:

Yet, as the president told this writer in Vail, Colo., in 1977 while working on his memoirs, "A Time to Heal," Ford said: "I did it not for Nixon but for the country. I knew at the time it would probably cost me my re-election, but President Nixon's legal team could advance constitutional arguments that could tie up the courts for years. The prospect that a former president could face jail time would divert the country's attention ... I had to turn the page and let the healing process begin."

Two decades later, the Kennedy Institute of Politics awarded Ford its Profile in Courage Award, confirming what historians now say.

From the Washington Post:

When he assumed office, Ford immediately made clear his intention to change what historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. called "the imperial presidency."

He was "acutely aware," he said in his inaugural address, that he had not been elected to the position he held, and he asked Americans "to confirm me as your president with your prayers." He said he had neither sought the presidency nor made any "secret promises" to attain it.

"In all my public and private acts as your president, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy at hand. . . .

"Our Constitution works; our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule. But there is a higher power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy.

"As we bind up the internal wounds of Watergate, more painful and more poisonous than those of foreign wars, let us restore the golden rule to our political process and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and hate."

A new spirit was soon evident in the nation's leadership. The Oval Office, long a fortress for an embittered president who frequently fled its confines to his homes in San Clemente, Calif., or Key Biscayne, Fla., was thrown open to members of Congress, old friends, public officials and reporters.

The president's approval rating reached 71 percent. He was photographed making his own breakfast. He was freely contradicted by his eldest son, and his aides said what was on their minds without waiting for official clearance. In the press office, he appointed Jerald F. terHorst, a respected Washington correspondent, as his chief spokesman.

This euphoric honeymoon lasted precisely one month.

On Sept. 8, Ford granted Nixon a full pardon for all federal crimes he had "committed or may have committed" when he was in the White House. The only acknowledgement he received in return was a six-paragraph statement from Nixon in San Clemente saying that "I can see clearly now . . . that I was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate, particularly when it reached the stage of judicial proceedings and grew from a political scandal into a national tragedy."

Ford said the pardon was necessary to bring Watergate to a close, that he would have had to pardon Nixon sometime in any case and that it was easier to do it sooner than later.

The response was a tidal wave of criticism. Every opinion poll showed a large majority of Americans opposed the pardon. It was denounced in Congress, including by members of Ford's own party. Republican officials gloomily and accurately forecast that it had reintroduced the Watergate issue into the 1974 elections, which proved to be a Democratic landslide. TerHorst resigned in protest.

It was widely assumed that Ford had doomed his political career. By January 1975, his approval rating had plummeted to 36 percent. Not even two assassination attempts, both in California in 1975, generated significant popular support.

The consequences included a three-month delay in confirmation of Ford's choice of former governor Nelson A. Rockefeller of New York as vice president. In congressional hearings, it was disclosed that Rockefeller had made large private gifts to employees on the New York state payroll and that he had played a hidden role in financing a campaign book against Democratic gubernatorial nominee Arthur Goldberg. The disclosures undermined his ability to play an influential role in the Ford administration.

Many conservative Republicans in Congress joined Democrats in opposing Ford's programs. In mid-1975, Gov. Ronald Reagan of California, the darling of the right wing of the GOP, announced his intention to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 1976.

Ford beat back the Reagan challenge, but he narrowly lost the general election in November 1976 to the Democratic candidate, former governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia.

Asked in his 2004 interview with The Post whether the pardon had hurt him in the 1976 election, Ford replied, "It probably did. It was a close election, as you know. . . . There is a group of bitter people who never forgave me and probably voted against me, and the net result is that they probably helped that I didn't win."

Ford closed strongly against Carter after trailing by as much as 30 points in the polls but was damaged by asserting during a debate that Poland was not under Soviet domination.

Darn, I wish he'd won instead of Carter.

The UN's Fateful History

SoccerDad has written a terrific, must read post on the history of the UN as seen through the eyes of Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Jeane Kirkpatrick. Funny the way things, which once weren't obvious at all, become so clear over time. The seeds for Israel's problems and by extension, our own problem with terrorism today, were sown years ago. And strangely enough, one of the principle actors in the play was Jimmy Carter, who to this very day can't seem to leave well enough alone.