#samlehmanwilzig
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Israel: Zooming Out to the Long-Term Picture: Some Good News
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Israel: Zooming Out to the Long-Term Picture: Some Good News Israel today is focused on an immediate concern: Hamas, Hezbollah, and especially Iran. But it is always worthwhile stepping back and zooming out to take in the l
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig: Hanukkah: The Jewish Response to a DOUBLE Attack
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig: Hanukkah: The Jewish Response to a DOUBLE Attack Historically, there have been two ways to try and weaken Jews: physical attack or cultural assimilation. With the holiday of Hanukkah being celebrated this week, it is useful to und
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Why Atheistic Proselytizing is Misguided
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Why Atheistic Proselytizing is Misguided On the question of whether God exists, only one thing is certain: there is no complete proof that the Almighty exists and there’s no complete proof either that “He” doesn’t.
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Saving Life (Pikuach Nefesh) Should be a Long-Term Issue Too
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Saving Life (Pikuach Nefesh) Should be a Long-Term Issue Too Saving a life (pikuach nefesh) in Jewish law is considered almost the highest value. Indeed, for this purpose, a Jew can transgress almost every commandment, exce
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Rebuilding the Tower of Babel
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Rebuilding the Tower of Babel Once in a while a novel contemporary technology raises new questions regarding an ancient biblical story. This past sabbath’s Torah reading is a case in point. It includes one of the most fam
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Two-State Solution? In the Middle of the Muddle
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Two-State Solution? In the Middle of the Muddle Two-state solution. One state solution. Green Line. Purple Line. Autonomy. Sovereignty. These and other terms are thrown around quite glibly as solutions to the Palestinian/Is
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Conservatism in Israel? In Judaism, Not If It’s Laissez-Faire
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Conservatism in Israel? In Judaism, Not If It’s Laissez-Faire This past July, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), one of the most influential political organizations in the United States, held its inaugur
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – THE FUTURE OF ISRAEL’S VIABILITY AND VITALITY (9): Summing Up the Future
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – THE FUTURE OF ISRAEL’S VIABILITY AND VITALITY (9): Summing Up the Future This is the summing up finale of my essay series that analyzed all seven major factors influencing a country’s future flourishing or decline: 1- N
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – THE FUTURE OF ISRAEL’S VIABILITY AND VITALITY (6) – Effective Institutions
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – THE FUTURE OF ISRAEL’S VIABILITY AND VITALITY (6) – Effective Institutions Last week I discussed in-depth the fifth factor (of seven) – “The Activist State” – underlying national competitiveness and dynamism (ht
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – THE FUTURE OF ISRAEL’S VIABILITY AND VITALITY (5) – The Activist State
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – THE FUTURE OF ISRAEL’S VIABILITY AND VITALITY (5) – The Activist State Last week I discussed in-depth the third of seven factors – Cohesive National Identity – underlying national competitiveness and dynamism https:
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – THE FUTURE OF ISRAEL’S VIABILITY AND VITALITY (4) – Cohesive National Identity
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – THE FUTURE OF ISRAEL’S VIABILITY AND VITALITY (4) – Cohesive National Identity Last week I discussed in-depth the second of seven factors – Shared Opportunity – underlying national competitiveness and dynamism (http
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – The Future of Israel’s Viability and Vitality (1)
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – The Future of Israel’s Viability and Vitality (1) “Since the Temple’s destruction, prophesy [prediction] is given only to the foolish” (Bava Batrah 12b). This is a wise Talmudic statement: no one really knows what t
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Israel’s Gas Galore – and the Future Danger of Running Out of Economic Gas
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Israel’s Gas Galore – and the Future Danger of Running Out of Economic Gas Charles Dickens’ immortal book A Tale of Two Cities starts with the famous line: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”.
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Dangerous Domestic Geo-Politics: Israel and the U.S.
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Dangerous Domestic Geo-Politics: Israel and the U.S. Geo-politics is normally viewed as something within the field of international relations. However, it can also appear within any specific country – occasionally with se
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Telling it Like It Is(n’t) in Israel and America
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Telling it Like It Is(n’t) in Israel and America If there’s a common theme running through Israeli and American Jewry’s thoughts about each other, it’s the different way they talk and how they say it. This is not a
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Israel Joining the Tide of Regionalism
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Israel Joining the Tide of Regionalism If you follow the pundits, then you’re aware that Corona and the Ukraine conflict have basically rung the death knell of Globalization, as countries realize that they must be more se
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Israel: Backing Into the Modern World: Ultra-Orthodoxy and “Secular” Education
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Israel: Backing Into the Modern World: Ultra-Orthodoxy and “Secular” Education On the face of it, the issue of Ultra-Orthodoxy and secular education might seem to be rather esoteric. Nothing could be further from the tr
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Good News Beyond the Arab-Israeli Negev Conference
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Good News Beyond the Arab-Israeli Negev Conference The impressive, Foreign Ministers’ Negev Conference between Israel, Bahrain, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates is a very positive step but shouldn’t surprise anyone
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Converting Israeli Conversion: Twice Over
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Converting Israeli Conversion: Twice Over Israel has not one, but two “conversion” issues. The first is less known: prohibiting “conversion therapy” of homosexual-leaning individuals to “revert” to their “corr
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Towards the End of Conservative Judaism?
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Towards the End of Conservative Judaism? Conservative Judaism in America is in deep trouble with several recent news items illustrating just how ominous the situation has become. How did it get to this position? And does it
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Israel’s Arab Spring
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Israel’s Arab Spring My headline here is misleading – but only if it reminds you of what occurred a decade ago among other Arab countries in the Middle East. Taken metaphorically for the positive connotation it should h
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – The New Domino Crisis: Iran, Ukraine, Taiwan
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – The New Domino Crisis: Iran, Ukraine, Taiwan Dominoes might be a child’s game, but not when it involves international relations. President Biden is now learning that game quickly, as he’s faced with a particularly acute
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Israel: Political Responsibility and Family Loyalty
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Israel: Political Responsibility and Family Loyalty Sara Netanyahu, Chris Cuomo, and Gilat Bennett: what do they have in common? All three are family members of political leaders whose actions straddle (overstep?) the fine
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – For Israel’s Army, More is Less
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – For Israel’s Army, More is Less We’ve all heard of the maxim: “More is Less.” Israel’s army is now facing precisely that phenomenon, and its headache will only increase in the coming years. What does it have an ov
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Can/Should Israel Double Its Population?
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Can/Should Israel Double Its Population? Lately, in progressive newspapers and serious magazine articles, a new claim has appeared: the world has to reduce its population numbers in order to survive. The same goes for Israe
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – The Policy of Headline “Gotcha”
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – The Policy of Headline “Gotcha” Full disclosure: this essay is about headlines, not Holocaust denial. You’ll immediately understand why a “disclosure” is needed here. A short while back, this headline appeared in
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Positive Palestinian Progress (within Israel)
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Positive Palestinian Progress (within Israel) Israeli news reports these past few months have focused on the political changes occurring among Israeli-Arabs (most of whom now self-identify ethnically as Palestinian-Israelis
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – A Funny (but Deadly Serious) Sukkah Joke for our Time
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – A Funny (but Deadly Serious) Sukkah Joke for our Time With the holiday of sukkot approaching, I am reminded of my favorite Jewish joke. For reasons to be discussed below, I realize for the first time that the joke also h
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – De-Confusing “Orthodoxy” and “Ultra-Orthodoxy”
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – De-Confusing “Orthodoxy” and “Ultra-Orthodoxy” Lately, there have been too many news articles and commentaries using the term “Orthodox” when they mean “Ultra-Orthodox.” This confusion extends to TV as well,
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – High Teching Israel’s Housing Problem
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – High Teching Israel’s Housing Problem Israel’s #1 domestic problem is the price of housing – skyrocketing for the last decade. Surprisingly for the “StartUp Nation” that specializes in advanced, creative, high-tec
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – A New “University” in Israel: Depth Without Breadth
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – A New “University” in Israel: Depth Without Breadth This week Israel officially granted University status to the Inter-Disciplinary Center (IDC) situated in Herzliyah, to be now called Reichman University in honor of it
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Cherry (Garcia) Picking the Concept of Tikkun Olam
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Cherry (Garcia) Picking the Concept of Tikkun Olam “Every person [when they see evil] who can protest against their family and do not – are as guilty as their family; against their townspeople – are as guilty as the t
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Why Israel’s “Jewish Nation-State” Law is Legitimate
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Why Israel’s “Jewish Nation-State” Law is Legitimate While last week’s Israeli Supreme Court ruling upholding the Jewish Nation-State Basic Law was unsurprising, neither were the attacks by the Left against that dec
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Fearing Anti-Semitism is Counter-Productive
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Fearing Anti-Semitism is Counter-Productive As this essay will raise the hackles of many Diaspora Jews, let it be said at the outset: anti-Semitism is an evil and should be fought with all legal means possible. Period. &nbs
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Israel: Nine Women in the Cabinet: Cooperation Instead of Depredation
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Israel: Nine Women in the Cabinet: Cooperation Instead of Depredation For the first time in Israel’s history, fully one-third of the Government Cabinet will be filled by women: 9 out of 27. Commentators have pointed (corr
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – An Arab Party in Israel’s Coalition? From Iron Wall to Iron Dome
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – An Arab Party in Israel’s Coalition? From Iron Wall to Iron Dome Almost a century ago, Ze’ev Jabotinsky wrote his famous essay “The Iron Wall (We and the Arabs)”. In a nutshell, he argued that the Palestinian Arabs
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Hanging (On Against) the Party: Trump and Bibi Despite the Fall
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Hanging (On Against) the Party: Trump and Bibi Despite the Fall There are several ideological similarities between former President Trump and (about-to-be) former Prime Minister Netanyahu. There’s also an interesting poli
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Front-Line Zionism
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Front-Line Zionism It’s hard to explain to many of my American friends why Israel is such a great country on a personal level (its mighty achievements, everyone knows). The following true story provides insight; indeed, m
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – The Weight (and Wait) of History: Why the Conflict Won’t Be (Re)solved
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – The Weight (and Wait) of History: Why the Conflict Won’t Be (Re)solved Now that the shooting has stopped, it’s time to ask the long-term question: Why is it so irresolvable? The answer (typically Jewish) is another ques
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – The Declining Value of Preserving Life
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – The Declining Value of Preserving Life For at least two millennia, the cardinal value in Judaism above (almost) all else has been “pikuach nefesh” – saving human life takes precedence over everything else (with three
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Why A Bi-Polar Memorial Celebration? It’s Profoundly Jewish
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Why A Bi-Polar Memorial Celebration? It’s Profoundly Jewish Israel’s practice of connecting Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day) and Yom Haatzmaut (Independence Day) is highly unusual. The U.S. has five weeks between them (last
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – The Jewish Heritage & Israel: Tribal Partying
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – The Jewish Heritage & Israel: Tribal Partying “Political Culture” is deep-rooted – sometimes so deep that uprooting it proves impossible. Contemporary Israeli politics and society might seem to be light years away fro
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig Physically emPOWERing Women is the Only Real Way to Stop Violence Against Them
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig Physically emPOWERing Women is the Only Real Way to Stop Violence Against Them. Israel is in the throes of a wave of (mostly) domestic violence against women. Great Britain is in shock over a brutal murder – with massive female d
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Converting the Torah
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Converting the Torah The latest Israeli pre-election brouhaha revolves around the High Court of Justice’s ruling that non-Orthodox conversions are legitimate for eligibility regarding the Right of Return, i.e., automatic
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Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Purim: A Holiday for the Jewish People but NOT for Judaism
Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Purim: A Holiday for the Jewish People but NOT for Judaism Despite its very festive nature, the holiday of Purim based on the Book of Esther is an object lesson of what can happen when we become too comfortable with a traditional
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Why is Lapid Beating Saar and Bennett?
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Why is Lapid Beating Saar and Bennett? The past weeks have seen some dynamic change in Israel’s election polls, mostly within the Right/Center camp. Lapid’s Yesh Atid is up by several seats (approaching twenty), while S
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Fighting or Righting Extremism in Israel and the World
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Fighting or Righting Extremism in Israel and the World Right-wing populist extremism has increased dramatically in the past few years. Governments have begun to comprehend the threat to democracy and are fighting back. Unfo
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Two Roads Taken Towards Israeli Integration: Arabs & Haredim
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Two Roads Taken Towards Israeli Integration: Arabs & Haredim Israel has entered a new era with its two major non-Zionist sectors finally moving to integrate into general society. But the path taken by the ultra-Orthodox har
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Kowtowing to “Authority”
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Kowtowing to “Authority” Which of these two is worse? 1- Elected officials acceding to illegal commands of a legal authority; 2- Elected officials acceding to illegal commands of a non-legal authority. Welcome to the U.
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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – The Totally Taboo Topic: Why Are American Jews So Successful?
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – The Totally Taboo Topic: Why Are American Jews So Successful? There is almost no question that the American Jewish community considers off limits for public discussion, except for this: why are Jews so successful? Most Jews
