Last week, I apparently "stirred the pot."
I wrote a blogpost reflecting on the life and death of the great Jewish historian Menachem Stern, and the imminent release of one of his murderers. That blogpost (accessible here) provoked two reactions from opposite ends of the political spectrum.
First, Paul Scham, contributing to the "Partners for Progressive Israel Blog," criticized me for "short-sighted[ness]" in focussing exclusively on Israeli pain. Here is his blogpost.
Then, someone in my congregation brought to my attention a very different blogpost, entitled, "Sacrifices of Peace," found on the "Sultan Knish" blog maintained by Daniel Greenfield. This blogpost was not a response to my blog; rather, it was a direct response to the prisoner release, which Mr. Greenfield saw as shameless and unproductive appeasement. See here.
The perspectives of these two blogposts are, of course, far apart. Yet they share something in common: a lack of respect for those holding different opinions. Mr. Scham, for example, is convinced that my "seeming inability" to understand that there are two sides to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is perhaps the "greatest danger" to the peace process. And Mr. Greenfield deems just about every recent Israeli prime minister to be no better than the infamous heads of the Judenrate in Europe during World War II.
The ease with which these two authors can dismiss those who hold different perspectives is disappointing and worrisome.
As a response, I offer the sermon I delivered last year on the second day of Rosh HaShanah. It is available on my congregation's website (www.templealiyah.com), and can be accessed by clicking here.
Click on the image to visit Temple Aliyah's website.
