Today, we’ve not only experienced a major spike in readership, we have also seen a plethora of comments, some of which we’ll answer in this post.
Firstly, Israel is clearly integral to a Jew’s identity – whether said Jew is pro- or anti-Zionist. We find it hard to imagine a Jew without an opinion either way. [...]
May
31
2009
31
2009
May
26
2009
26
2009
Reader Response 5: Israel, Kangaroo Courts, Unity, Speaking Out, and Subheadings
May
26
2009
26
2009
An Email to our Leadership
We have just sent an email requesting comments from the leaders of some of our key institutions. These include, AIJAC, the ZFA, ECAJ, AUJS, Maccabi, and the JCCV. Below is a copy of the email that we sent.
“The Sensible Jew is a web log devoted to discussion of matters pertaining to the leadership and representation [...]
May
24
2009
24
2009
The New Week: Ideas from SJ Readers 2 – Jewish Priorities, the Media, Jewish Schools, and our Leadership
While we strongly agree with Yoram on this, we do not agree with his extrapolation that we should not focus too much on the media, or get caught up in its “glamour.” Yoram believes that we are not in any danger of an imminent “pogrom,” and with this we would also agree.
…That does not mean that relations between our community and the Muslim community have not deteriorated considerably. There are many unpleasant actions and events that can take place before large scale violence occurs. It’s also important to remember that communal violence of any stripe never erupts without a long lead-up of perceived insults to honour. One of the hopes of The Sensible Jew is to catch the destructive tendencies of our leadership before any lasting and long term damage is done. Indeed, danger is not imminent, so we are blessed in that we have this opportunity, during a time of peaceful relations with other communities, to build networks and on-the-ground relationships that will prevent a slide into inter-communal animus.
May
24
2009
24
2009
The New Week: Ideas from SJ Readers 1 – Yoram’s Report from Auburn Rd Shul
Firstly, Yoram, of the Auburn Rd Shul, conducted a discussion among the Shul’s congregants regarding some of the themes raised on this blog. We thank him for doing that. For more information on that discussion, you can read Yoram’s comment here. The congregants, diverse in age and background seemed to agree that the community requires some form of leadership; however, Yoram contends that even though such a forum was effective at promoting discussion, the “Town Hall” style of meeting may not be best suited to establishing tangible changes.
May
13
2009
13
2009
Reader response 1: Representative Leadership
At The Sensible Jew, we’ve decided to include the odd post that responds to comments from readers that are particularly insightful, in the hope of stimulating further discussion on a particular topic.
Reader, Yoram, has asked a few really good questions in the comments section of the post here.
One question in particular, “To start working on [...]
An urgent request to Our Leadership for the Jewish reponse to anti-Indian violence
How is it that the only Jewish person to appear in the mainstream media condemning the recent violence against Indian students is David Vorchheimer? His letter to the editor, appearing in Saturday’s Age was a triumph of understatement, reason, and should be a template for the language with which our community’s leadership responds to this [...]