The Jewish New Year 9 Years after 9/11

For Jewish people all over the world Rosh Hashanah marks the creation of the universe. According to Jewish tradition that creation reoccurs all the time and this recreation is what enables change, choice and other free-will concepts. This is why Rosh Hashanah is also a time of reconciliation, atonement and judgment. Jews look back at the year, what has been created, what part have they taken in this creation and what they would like to create in the future. The holiday ends on a positive note with the festive blows of a ram’s horn, signifying that redemption is one year nearer.

9 Years ago WTC bomings

Yesterday was September 11th; in America people bowed their heads in silent memory of the victims of the WTC bombings. 9 years have passed since that bloody day. The USA went guns blazing into Iraq and Afghanistan, Bombing occurred in London, Iran has become a nuclear power. Obama was elected president of the USA under the slogan YES WE CAN, Israel withdrew from Gaza and built a wall around the West Bank, Palestinians have elected Hamas into power and a new round of peace talks began in Washington between President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

When we look at all these years, the chain of events, it’s easy to feel like nothing can be done, to sit at home, watch the TV screen and sigh at our cruel fate. But it is important for us to remember that nothing is predetermined, that despite conflicts, deaths, hatred the potential for change is always there and that we can influence the world and change it for the better until the day of redemption comes when:

"They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore." - Isaiah 2:4

Rare People in the White House

"Statesmanship is knowing how to combine vision and reality,” said Netanyahu before heading to the summit in Washington to promote the vision of peace in the Middle East. Reality caught up with him on the plane.

Rare People in the White House

The murders in Hebron showed how delicate the situation is. Hamas took credit for the attack and settlers immediately responded by reinitiating their building projects in the West Bank.

In the Middle East there is no shortage of vision. Some have a vision of a future where Israel is replaced with a Palestinian state. Some envision a bigger Israel, which spans from the Jordan River all the way across to the Mediterranean. Some envision a two state solution and peace.

There is also a large dose of reality in the Middle East. Demographics, geographics, politics, cultural gaps, historical injustice, armed factions, settlements, terrorist attacks, an endless list of words and connotations that make up a complex reality.

What we are lacking in the Middle East are people who combine the two, people who envision a better world. People, whose vision is realistic, people who envision a way and not just an end. This combination is rare here. These people are rare.

We hope that at least two of these people are meeting today in Washington.

Abbas Meets George Clooney and the Survivors

Abbas and Barak - the rerun

Abbas Meets George Clooney and the Survivors

Israelis were glued to their screens yesterday. A secret meeting in Jordan between Ehud Barak, Israel's Minister of Defense and Mahmoud Abbas, Chairman of the Palestinian Authority was pushed to the sidelines. The new long range rockets acquired by Hamas couldn't even grab a headline. Israelis were far more interested in the final episode in this season of Survivors (the Israeli Version).

Some may criticize the final episode of being a costly ceremony devoid of real content and aimed simply at entertaining the masses. Others may point out the multitude of seasons and short lived fame of reality stars as proof of the mundane nature of these over-rated events. With all the REAL news out there why do Israelis vote with their remote for reality TV?

Perhaps it is that the Peace Process or Arab-Israeli Conflict also had too many seasons. Perhaps - like so many reality stars, however successful or unsuccessful they may be, politicians are destined to be forgotten in the dusty TV archives when the season ends. My opinion is that we watch TV, to deflect from our own survival in this conflict torn region, and that the ceremonious hand-shakes and hopeful speeches at the white house simply do not achieve this end anymore.

We tune in to see dramatic events not long drawn out processes that need years or decades to take root. At the Emmy awards, the pinnacle of TV events, George Clooney conveyed it perfectly:

"The truth is, when the disaster happens, everybody wants to help, everybody in this room wants to help, everybody at home wants to help. The hard part is seven months later, five years later, when we’re on to a new story. Honestly, we fail at that…that's the fact."

Reality TV plays on our need for immediate gratification, it promises a resolution and it delivers on-time, on-prime time…And Barak and Abbas? Well… Who wants to see another rerun?