Three Great Reads from the Jewish Journal
The new coalition in Israel, a controversial new movie about Israel’s founding, and an ode to small things.
The new coalition has ambitious plans for Israel, some good, some questionable. And as is the habit of new coalitions, the newly elected bosses rush to implement their agenda like a herd of running elephants. Alas, they soon notice, from a distance, an approaching wall. That’s the wall we will call “reality.” It’s a wall that tends to spoil early plans, to moderate ambitions, to alter purposes.
On Thursday, Netflix began streaming the Jordanian film “Farha,” which purports to focus on the experiences of a young girl during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The hero watches as Israeli soldiers, portrayed as inhumanly cruel, brutally and graphically murder innocent Palestinian families, including children. While the film claims to be “based” on true events, the director has admitted that it is not factual…
In Mishna Torah (4:17), the philosopher Maimonides makes a remarkable statement: “Small things are the overflowing goodness that Hashem gave us to settle this world in order to inherit the next world”. The emphasis is on small things that are filled with such goodness that they entitle one to heavenly reward. Why? Because they “settle the world”.