Democracy In Egypt

In Tunisia and Egypt we have seen unprecedented spontaneous popular revolts against moribund dictatorships. What kind of hubris makes a person think that they can rule over millions of their fellow citizens for decades without elections? These leaders not only rob the national wealth of their countries, they steal the national soul.  Whenever the people rise up to throw off their chains of oppression it is a time for the rest of the world to support and applaud their efforts.

It is time for the American people to support these movements.  Dr. Martin Luther King famously battled with President Kennedy and then President Johnson regarding civil rights reform.  Both leaders urged patience cautioning that the time was not yet right.  There is a famous picture of Johnson and King together at the White House and you can tell from that image things are not going well.  They are disagreeing as to the pace of reforms.  But, those reforms came in their own good time. 

I have been disturbed to hear how it is not in the best interest of the United States for Mubarak to be kicked out of office. Some say that it will destabilize the region and cause problems for Israel.  I do not buy that.  It is immoral, it is evil, to stand in the way and block the will of the Egyptian people as they struggle to throw off their oppression.  Years ago my ancestors strove to throw off the oppression of another Egyptian leader - Pharaoh.

If Mubarak is not removed from office he will go onto punish those who have participated in the uprising and take evasive action to prevent further revolt in the future.  Egypt is not his private fiefdom.  The future of Egypt is not dependent on Mubarak and he is not the savior of the Egyptian people.  They will save themselves if he will only get out of the way. They will save themselves if we gave them our support.

Israeli Scout Caravan 2009

On 28 Sivan 5769, June 20th 2009 in the secular calendar, one of the Israeli Scout Caravans visited congregation Beth Shalom in Columbia, Missouri. These young people from Israel follow a grueling schedule with very little time for sightseeing. It is It was a wonderful experience for members of the congregation and our guest from the community. Here is a video tribute to that experience.

Please note that the original photographs are much sharper. In order to get the file size for this video under the allowed limit the quality of the images suffered.

Hebrew Lessons

The National Jewish Outreach Program runs a whole series of educational events throughout the United States and Canada. Perhaps the most well known is Shabbat Across America which Congregation Beth Shalom, of Columbia Missouri, has participated in during the last ten years and which is in the early planning stages for this year.

Currently the congregation is hosting a beginning Hebrew class using the material provided free of charge from the National Jewish Outreach Program.


Above is our head instructor, Irwin Kaye, instructing the Sunday morning class. On Sunday the first hour is a review and a tutorial and the second hour is the regularly scheduled class.





Two participants talk during the break between the tutorial and the regular class.


Below everyone gets back to work as learning commences after a short break.


Stay posted for a review of Alan Dershowitz's new video The Case for Israel coming soon.

Israel in Context: Congregation Beth Shalom Men's Club Lecture

On 20 January 2009, the Men's Club of Congregation Beth Shalom here in Columbia Missouri hosted Dr. Ben Schwarz. Here are two pictures of Dr. Schwarz taken during that presentation:

In less than a half hour Dr. Schwarz provided a brilliant overview of the situation in Israel which placed that nation within a wider historical and political context. You can listen to that lecture, including the discussion after the formal lecture, by using this embedded player:



Below is a picture taken during the question and answer period showing Dan Goldschmidt, the president of the Men's Club, listening to Dr. Schwarz
This event was well attended and most persons in attendance were strong supporters of Israel including outside guest from the local Christian community.

Hiding behind political correctness and misguided liberalism is no protection to Jews and never has been. Rather, that timid tendency by a minority or our people to remain silent or even align with those who attack our brothers and sisters is a curious malady. I think that peace, and coexistence, with the Palestinian people is not only possible but preferable, However, the Torah never advocates for Jews to stand aside and just take it. It did not work well during the Shoah and it will not work well now.