I heard the news about Obama honoring Harvey Milk with the Medal of Freedom this…
Wednesday evening begins Tisha B’Av, or the Ninth Day of the Hebrew Calender month of Av. This is the saddest day of the year in the Jewish religion. On this day, the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E., and the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E..
Many Jewish sages stated that the Temples were destroyed because of sinat hinam, or causeless hatred. Their lack of concern and compassion led to a destructive disunity among the Jewish people. So along with many other Jews, I will communally mourn tomorrow night to reflect on the tragic events of my people, as well as the tragedies that have occurred and continue to occur to all peoples.
The second reason I will mourn is more personal. On Sunday, my 18 year old cousin will leave American and move to Israel (make aliyah). After a three month stay at a kibbutz acclimating into her new nation, she will be joining the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).
Over at The Cable, Laura Rozen discusses the diplomatic plans for Robert Gates, George Mitchell, and James Jones in Israel next week, and gives some curious insight into the present U.S./Israel relationship.
The article discusses the possibility that President Obama may need to set a deadline in order to break the stalemate with the Israeli Government. According to earlier estimates, the President has about four weeks to get the peace process moving forward. He and his Administration have done an excellent job reaching out to all elements of the Status-Quo, Pro-Israel community. It is now time to for Obama to stop listening and start acting, otherwise these defenders of the status quo will continue to find new and destructive ways of playing out the clock.