It’s been a while since I’ve written about politics, but today’s New York Times carries a really disturbing editorial. The Times argues against Israel’s position to bar East Jerusalem Arabs fom voting in the PA elections in which Hamas is on the ballot. For the Times, such an action violates the fundamental principles of democracy:

The messy thing about democracy is that people tend to vote for the candidates they want – a point that seemed lost on Israel…Israel is concerned about a strong showing by Hamas. That’s understandable, but democracy doesn’t work this way.

Of course, the Times conveniently forgets that Hamas is not just a political party, but an officially designated terrorist organization. For the Times, Hamas achieving power democratically “is the lesser evil because any movement, once in power, is compelled to supplement its bluster with deeds.” Considering that one of their “blusters” is that “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it,” are we to assume that the Times then is advocating the destruction of Israel?
The issue here is not merely on the rights of democracy, but of responsibility. Thomas Jefferson famously declared “the price of freedom is eternal vigilance,”and legitimizing a terrorist organization as a policital party hardly demonstrates vigilance.
Hitler also rose to power through the democracy of the Weimar Republic, and we see how well that worked.

The New York Post has some excellent coverage of the strike including some history of past strikes and apparently, my observations from yesterday could have used a little more research.
The Transit Workers Union was formed way back in 1934 and even went on strike in 1966. Back then, the public sector employees were subject to the “Condon-Wadlin Act” which also prohibited city workers from striking, but imposed such harsh penalties that it wasn’t enforced.
Although then Mayor Lindsay acquiesced to the union, Governor Rockefeller commissioned a new panel to reevaluate and redefine the labor arrangement for employees of the public sector. This panel was chaired by George W. Taylor and its recommendations ultimately became The Taylor Law. Striking was still prohibited, but the penalties, while harsh, were more reasonable and thus would have a better chance of being enforced by the courts.
That said, I still share the views of the many angry New Yorkers who are fed up with the union.

For as difficult as it must be to write quality fiction, it is probably more challenging to write good Jewish fiction. Not only must the author tell a compelling or insightful story in a specific religious context, but s/he must do so without resorting to shallow stereotypes, condescending explanations, or heavy-handed moralizing. Sadly, I’ve found that most authors of Jewish fiction fail on one or more of these areas, and in the worst cases do so while compromising the actual story. The result often is not only a biased or inaccurate portrayal of Judaism, but also a work of bad fiction.
That said, I was pleasantly surprised by Rabbi Gidon Rothstein’s Murderer in the Mikdash. While exploring the highly controversial Messianic era, R. Rothstein skillfully addresses significant religious issues without compromising or distracting from the core narrative. The end result is a readable work of fiction in which the narrative is supported by educational material and social commentary.

Ever since I returned from Chicago I’ve been trying to move back to New York. Until now I’ve been staying in Springfield, which has had it’s advantages, but it’s really not a long term solution. However, I’ve been finding that moving back to NY after a few years isn’t as simple as it used to be.
The first obstacles were short term logistical ones. I needed to wait until the job came through and I had an income. Then I was sent out to Seattle and came back just in time to get hit with the hagim.
Most of my time and energy since then has been directed to fighting the old adage that “you can’t go home again.”
Unfortunately, the adage has been winning handily.

I mentioned last post about starting up some new features on YUTOPIA. While I’ve been too busy as of late to write up my thoughts on the parasha, I am just about ready to break in a new section for reviews.
While I’m open to reviewing most media, I will probably wind up doing more by way of books in whatever genre I happen to be reading at the time. Solicitations are more than welcome, and are in fact encouraged. I can guarentee that anyone who sends over a book for review will not only be bumped to the Top Of The Pile, but will also find me in a less ornery mood than usual. If you’d like your book (or anything else for that matter) reviewed on YUTOPIA, let me know via e-mail.
Obviously the nature of reviews will depend on what I’m reviewing; some will be more serious and academic than others. However, I’m well aware of the limits people have in terms of time, money, and bookshelf space so I will be instituting a completely arbitrary rating system. For books at least the numbers would mean something like this:

***** (5/5) – Excellent. Buy it in hardcover and memorize.
**** (4/5) – Really good. A strong recommendation to read and own.
*** (3/5) – Pretty good. Worth your time, and perhaps a spot on the bookshelf.
** (2/5) – Eh. Only if you’re holding in the topic/genre, otherwise get the gist from someone else.
* (1/5) – Bad. You can safely ignore this book without missing out on anything.
No Stars – Labotomy in print. Reading this book will actually lower your I.Q.

You get the idea. Also, I’ll probably give different ratings based on the genre of the book or how it would be used. For example, As a Driven Leaf would have to be rated differently than academic or halakhic books because the latter types presumably aren’t intended to be fiction.¹
You’ll see what I mean when we get started, hopefully some time this week.

1. Yes, it’s taking a lot of self-restraint not to name names.

Today is a special day on YUTOPIA. According to SiteMeter today will be the day we will have received our 100,000th hit. Granted, it took some time to get here, but considering my frequent and often extended absences from writing that’s to be expected. In a way it’s fitting to reach this milestone on Hoshanna Rabba. The meaning and significance of both the holiday and web hits have been greatly exaggerated over time, but both still mean something I suppose.
Sometime after the hag I’ll do a little retrospective and contemplate where this blog will go from here. Despite my inconsistent postings and a general malaise afflicting some fellow bloggers (including my self), I’m not ready to close up shop just yet. The truth is I do miss the writing and there are some topics I’ve been meaning to address. I’m looking for ways to continue in my new schedule while maintaining some semblance of quality. Two new features to look for are weekly parasha related derahsot and book reviews, and we’ll see what else comes up along the way.
In the meantime, to all loyal and accidental readers thanks for reading.
Moadim Lesimha / Hag Sameach
Josh