INSIGHTS
The Myth of Charity
Jews don't believe in charity.
Don't be misled by their legendary philanthropy, by their saturation of social and humanitarian movements, by their invention of the pushkah, the meshulach and the UJA. Jews do not practice charity, and the concept is virtually non-existent in Jewish tradition.
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ESSAY
Jews are from Sinai, not Mars or Venus
Jewish men are often described as gentler and more spiritual than the general male population. Similarly, Jewish women have been described as more assertive and intellectual than the general female population.
Historically, Jews have been mocked and derided for these androgynous qualities.
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STORY
Kano
Do you know where Kano is? Look it up on the map of Nigeria in West Africa. 1963. Fall. But who in that climate of eternal heat, on the border of the Sahara Desert, knows whether it is fall or spring? Only the vultures are circling above, settling on the low, thatched roofs, waiting to come down into the courtyard for a morsel of abandoned meat. The plane leaves only in three days. And I still have to make my rounds in the market of this Moslem town, where everybody but me prostrates himself whenever one of their chieftains rides past in flowing robes on a coal black horse.
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QUOTE FOR THE DAY
Vayeira
Why does
G-d love Abraham? The answer appears in a key passage in the Torah section of Vayeira. "Because I know him," says G-d of the first Jew, "that he will command his children and his household after him that they shall keep the way of G-d, to do tzedakah (commonly translated charity but actually meaning 'righteousness') and justice."
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VOICES
Angels
Along the way I met angels. It was about 19 years ago. There were maybe 10,000 or so of them hovering about. They were all of different sizes and shapes. Some looked like Walt Disney cartoon angels, the kind that carried Goofy to heaven when he’d been hit over the head. Others were straight out of store window displays or greeting cards. Some looked like the plaster angels I used to buy in a Mexican market, primitive, brightly painted in pastel blues and pinks. It was a fascinating assortment, all vigorously flapping their big, little and medium sized wings.
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