Thanks, David. While Israel still has very much to offer the world - science, high technology, medicine, and culture, I think it would not be wrong to see Israel's political evolution as a 2,000-year-old tragedy. It is hard for me to hold out room for optimism. A nation can simply not hold dominion over five million people forever without suffering from moral decay (which it is) or politically disintegrating, which it might.
A subject that is so fraught, I hesitate to comment. I appreciate that you allude to the task of maintaining some kind of honoring of religious/spiritual impulse for those of us in the diaspora. For me the value of quest for Zion is as a metaphor and ideal which is exclusive of if not antithetical to - the place where exceptionalism and tribal hatred lives.
Thanks, David. While Israel still has very much to offer the world - science, high technology, medicine, and culture, I think it would not be wrong to see Israel's political evolution as a 2,000-year-old tragedy. It is hard for me to hold out room for optimism. A nation can simply not hold dominion over five million people forever without suffering from moral decay (which it is) or politically disintegrating, which it might.
I enjoyed reading it. A very balanced write-up.
Wow, Joe! What a terrific interview. As someone who would never attempt a 500 page history, I really appreciate this discussion of Israel.
A subject that is so fraught, I hesitate to comment. I appreciate that you allude to the task of maintaining some kind of honoring of religious/spiritual impulse for those of us in the diaspora. For me the value of quest for Zion is as a metaphor and ideal which is exclusive of if not antithetical to - the place where exceptionalism and tribal hatred lives.
Thanks, Joe.
Most informative!
Thanks, Joe. Very informative.
well done, though more than sad, actually tragic.