Dear New York Times: I Must Decline Your Offer

I have received your invitation to resubscribe to the New York Times at a discount.  I must decline that offer.

When I cancelled my subscription earlier this year, I informed you that the reason for that cancellation was my anger and disappointment that your obvious bias against Israel was demonstrated clearly by your editorials and Op-Ed columns.  Even worse, you allowed that bias to openly pervade the supposedly objective coverage in your news section.  I told you that I would consider subscribing again in the future if, and only if, you took the necessary steps to provide fair and objective reporting and, at a minimum, more balance in your selection of editorials and individual columns on the subject.

Judging from the many editorials, columns, and news articles pointed out to me by friends who still read your paper, you have done nothing to curtail the demonstration of such pervasive bias on this subject.  Accordingly, I still do not want your newspaper to come into my home at any price.  As I previously informed you, until I see evidence of a significant change in your policy toward Israel, I will not consider subscribing to your paper again.  Please do not bother to send me any more offers.

Howard Rosenthal
Sarasota, Florida

An Open Letter to the Leadership of the Presbyterian Church

Sent by Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, Senior Rabbi, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue

June 23, 2014

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Faith:

There is a Jewish folktale that defines a friend as one who knows what gives his comrade pain. If we do not know what gives our fellow pain, we cannot be a friend. You have caused us deep pain, the kind of pain that penetrates the heart.

Our friendship has been ruptured not because we may disagree on any specific policy of the government of Israel. Good friends often disagree with, and criticize each other. Rather, you have evolved views that come perilously close to classic Christian animosity towards Judaism.

The recently-published study guide Zionism Unsettled is a disgrace. It is an anti-Zionist screed in the guise of intellectual depth. It is propaganda, a hit job that pulls out a few Jewish writings - frequently out of context - to support the anti-Zionist points you want to make. Every single page of the study guide is flawed and biased.

What don't you accuse Zionism of: ethnic cleansing, racial and religious superiority, and exclusiveness! The guide even goes so far as to compare Zionism with Nazism. You ask whether Paul Tillich, an advocate of Zionism, might have expressed the same prophetic critique against Zionism as he did against Nazism if he only knew how Zionism would develop. (p.38) Have you strayed so far from Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich that you would now seriously suggest that were they alive today Tillich and Niebuhr would be anti-Zionists?

You criticize Israel incessantly. But you are silent about Arab rejectionism, intolerance, and terrorism. Your minds are made up. There is little reflection, little sophistication, and little effort to understand underlying causes. There is only superficial bias: no depth of analysis and no friendship. You even ignore the reality that Israel is the only place in the Middle East where Christians are comfortable and safe, and Christian holy places are protected and open to all.

It is, indeed, tragic that there is violence in Israel and Palestinian territories. You are not the only liberal movement that seeks peace. We, too, have been fighting for peace our entire lives. But it is even more tragic that Israel has been left with no alternative but to fight against those who have never recognized her and have made it their cause to destroy her.

It is easy to sit in a convention center and debate philosophy and policy far removed from the realities of daily life. It is easy to write resolutions if you have never experienced the fear of sending your children to school in the morning and worrying about whether they will come home at night. It is easy to voice noble sentiments of love and brotherhood if you have never had to don gas masks or spend days on end in an underground shelter. It is easy to condemn the walled section of the security barrier in Bethlehem, utterly ignoring why the security apparatus was built in the first place: That Palestinian terrorists simply crossed into Israel and murdered and maimed thousands of Israelis or climbed onto rooftops in Bethlehem and sniped at Israeli civilians, shooting into homes, schools, shops and playgrounds.

Is it too much to expect fellow liberal believers to take context into account: to understand that our lives are not only about the religious ideal, but also about the real? Is it too much to expect some understanding and some sympathy from fellow religious liberals that we live in an imperfect world, and that we must struggle for justice in the world as it is? Instead, you voice what sounds to us paltry pieties and self-satisfied sanctimonies about peace and "our love for our Jewish brothers."

The test is not whether you can quote religious chapter and verse. The test is to apply religious values to a difficult reality where it takes two to love and two to practice brotherhood and two to make peace. You cannot make peace by yourself. You act as if Israel alone has the sole power and responsibility to make peace: that the Palestinians are potted plants, victims who have no power, no influence and no responsibility.

We hoped that fellow liberals would understand the full complexities of the Middle East. We hoped that fellow liberals would work with us to advance the cause of peace. Instead, you have placed yourselves on the other side. You are on the side of Israel's foes, whether this was your intention or not.

While you attack what you perceive as the exclusivist and even racist elements of Judaism, you mention in Zionism Unsettled the inclusive nature of Islam (p.50). I have no doubt that many Muslims are inclusive. I have met, and deeply respect, many of them, and we have worked together in common cause.

But it is dishonest to ignore the reality that Israel, and the West itself, are fighting not that part of Islam that is inclusive, but the part that is rejectionist. Moderate Muslims are allies in this struggle. If only Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, or just the individual teenager who blows himself up in a restaurant or a hospital were to have read your study guide and be convinced that true Islam is the way of moderation.

In the most recent Anti Defamation League survey, 93% of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza express anti-Semitic views. In Lebanon the number is 78%; in Saudi Arabia, 74%, in Jordan, 81%, in Iran, 56%, and throughout the Middle East and North Africa, 74% of the population has an anti-Jewish worldview.

At this moment of anti-humanitarian, anti-Christian, anti-Jewish, anti-women's rights, anti-gay, anti-pluralistic, anti-Western tribal savageness in the Middle East - this is the moment that you chose to divest from companies trading with Israel? There is no mention of Israel's fundamental democratic character or sympathy for its struggle to survive in the world's worst neighborhood, encountering challenges the likes of which no other democracy in the world must face.

Divestment is shameful. Boycotting enterprises trading with Israel is reminiscent of dark chapters in Jewish-Christian relations that we thought were forever behind us. You have fallen in with a bad crowd, morally, philosophically and religiously. No matter how much you seek to explain or distinguish, you have fallen in with the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) crowd. These are among the worst and most implacable of Israel's enemies. They are not in favor of what you say you support: two states living side-by-side in peace.

In fact, you will forgive me if I voice my doubts about whether you really do believe in a two-state solution. You made a point of emphasizing Israel's right to exist in the divestment resolution. But if, in your view, Zionism was born in original sin, why uphold Israel's right to exist? If the very basis and purpose of Zionism was to dispossess another people, as you claim in Zionism Unsettled, why now uphold, justify and cleanse a philosophy that you consider ethnic cleansing?

Rather, isn't it more natural first to have an anti-Zionist philosophy, and then to pass resolutions expressing it? That is usually how life unfolds. Statements follow beliefs. All your protestations, clarifications and softening language notwithstanding, your words speak volumes because your beliefs are clear.

You should not be comforted by the relative handful of Jewish activists and academics you have found to support your views. We are a famously argumentative, intellectually pluralistic and ideas-loving people. Jews have always disagreed with each other on everything, including as you point out, on Zionism, itself. Your Jewish supporters are marginal and unrepresentative and cannot be the slender reed upon which to justify your anti-Zionism or renew a productive partnership, if that is even what you want.

Finally, and I say this with the deepest respect, and with no intention to offend: It is not for you to decide what constitutes legitimate Jewish devotion to God. That is for Jews to decide. It is not for you to decide whether Zionism is a legitimate expression of Judaism; that is for Jews to decide. It is for you to decide only whether you will respect our understanding of Judaism.  

Perhaps there is some consolation that the vote on the divestment resolution was so close. On the other hand, the fact that it was so close in the first place is deeply concerning.

I join you in praying for peace; may it come speedily in our day. May we work ceaselessly to bring about that day when all shall sit under vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid: a day when justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Be'shalom,
In peace,


Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch
Senior Rabbi, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue
New York City    

CONSTITUTIONAL AND CRIMINAL LAW SCHOLARS CALL FOR POLLARD'S RELEASE - SET FORTH 10 COMPELLING CONSIDERATI​​ONS FOR THE EXERCISE OF EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY BY PRESIDENT OBAMA

​​​​FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  (June 22, 2014)

​Contact: Office of the Hon. Irwin Cotler, MP - +1.514.283.017; Prof. Alan 
M. Dershowitz - (Harvard Law School)

A distinguished group of American constitutional and criminal law scholars 
and practitioners have written to US President Obama requesting the 
commutation of Jonathan Pollard’s sentence to time served.

As the letter puts it, “such commutation is more than warranted if the ends 
of justice are to be served, the rule of law respected and simple humanity 
secured.”

Among the signatories are six professors from Harvard Law School, Obama’s 
alma mater, including: Alan M. Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of 
Law; Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Jesse Climenko Professor of Law; Philip B. 
Heymann, James Barr Ames Professor of Law; and Mary Ann Glendon, Learned 
Hand Professor of Law. They are joined by Canadian law professor emeritus 
and former Minister of Justice & Attorney General of Canada, Irwin Cotler, a 
sometimes visiting professor at Harvard.

The letter sets forth ten compelling considerations for the exercise of 
executive clemency by President Obama, including:

Pollard is now serving his twenty-ninth year of an unprecedented life 
sentence for the crime of “conveying classified information to a foreign 
government.” The usual sentence for this offence is six to eight years, with 
actual jail time before release averaging two to four years. Simply put, 
Pollard’s unprecedented life sentence is “excessive, grossly 
disproportionate, unfair and unjust.”

The sentence of life imprisonment is itself a breach of the plea bargain, 
wherein the prosecution had agreed not to seek life imprisonment in return 
for Pollard’s guilty plea, a breach characterized by Judge Stephen F. 
Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First District as a “complete 
and gross miscarriage of justice.”

The life sentence was itself secured as a result of the submission - after 
the plea bargain and in violation of it - of a prejudicial ex parte 
affidavit to the sentencing judge.

Pollard has not only been excessively and disproportionately punished for 
the crime he did commit, but has been effectively punished and maligned for 
the crime he never committed – nor was ever charged or convicted of – 
namely, the crime of treason.

Pollard was falsely accused over the years of having compromised US security 
and American lives  in Eastern Europe, when it was Aldridge Ames, the head 
of the CIA’s Soviet/Eastern Europe Division, who had himself been both the 
architect of those treasonable acts, and the original source of the false 
allegations against Pollard.

Virtually everyone who was in a high position of government – and dealt with 
the ramifications of what Pollard did at the time – now support his release, 
including Secretary of State George Shultz, FBI Director and subsequent CIA 
Director William Webster, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence David 
Durenberger, and Chairman of House Intelligence Lee Hamilton.

The signatories conclude that, “it is precisely for standing injustices like 
this – and where the justice system has failed – that the U.S. Constitution 
has vested in the President the power of executive clemency. We urge you to 
exercise this power in the pursuit of justice, the rule of law and simple 
humanity.”

​Text of letter to President Obama:June 20, 2014

President Barack H. Obama
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC, 20500

Re: Jonathan Pollard

Dear President Obama,

We, the undersigned, scholars and practitioners of American constitutional 
and criminal law, write to respectfully request the commutation of Jonathan 
Pollard’s sentence to time served. Indeed, such commutation is more than 
warranted if the ends of justice are to be served, the rule of law respected 
and simple humanity secured – the whole as set forth in the following 
considerations:

First, Pollard was charged with, and pleaded guilty to, one count of 
conveying classified information to a foreign government, in this instance, 
Israel, an ally of the U.S. The usual sentence for this offense is no more 
than six or eight years, with actual jail time before release averaging two 
to four years. Pollard is now serving his twenty-ninth year of an 
unprecedented life sentence – an excessive, grossly disproportionate, unfair 
and unjust sentence.

Second, the sentence of life imprisonment was itself a breach of the plea 
bargain wherein the prosecution agreed not to seek life imprisonment in 
return for Pollard’s guilty plea, his cooperation with the authorities and 
his agreement to waive his right to trial by jury, agreeing that a sentence 
of less than life imprisonment would serve the interests of justice and also 
act as a deterrent. This plea bargain also saved the government much time, 
money and prospective embarrassment of conducting a trial involving highly 
sensitive information, and where Pollard might well have been acquitted of 
the more serious charges. Indeed, Judge Stephen F. Williams of the U.S. 
Court of Appeals for the First District later referred to the government’s 
breach of the plea bargain as a “complete and gross miscarriage of justice.”

Third, the life sentence was itself secured as a result of the submission - 
after the plea bargain and in violation of it - of a prejudicial ex parte 
affidavit to the sentencing judge by then Secretary of Defense Caspar 
Weinberger, to the effect that Pollard had compromised American National 
Security and was guilty of “treason.” However, in a 2004 interview, Mr. 
Weinberger himself admitted that, in retrospect, the Pollard matter was 
“comparatively minor,” and it is not even referenced in his memoires.

Fourth, Pollard has not only been excessively and disproportionately 
punished for the crime he did commit, but has been effectively punished for 
the crime he never committed – nor was ever charged or convicted of – 
namely, the crime of treason. Indeed, notwithstanding Weinberger’s 
affidavit - which Pollard never saw nor was ever able to challenge - there 
was never anything in the Pollard indictment to suggest that he intended any 
harm to the U.S., or sought to benefit any country other than America’s ally 
Israel. Yet, regrettably, prosecutorial “sources” in the Central 
Intelligence Agency, and the Defense, State and Justice Departments, 
continued to maintain, long after the plea bargain, that Pollard was charged 
with, and convicted of treason. Indeed, inspired media leaks, often 
coincident with Presidential reviews, sustained and amplified this false and 
misleading allegation.

Fifth, Pollard was also accused by government agencies over the years of 
having compromised intelligence “sources” and “methods” in Eastern Europe – 
a charge that was never part of the Pollard indictment, for which no 
evidence has ever been adduced, but whose recycling implicated Pollard in 
the deaths of at least a dozen U.S. informants in the former Soviet Union. 
Importantly, this last accusation is a case study of both government 
misrepresentation and cover-up. For while the CIA was accusing Pollard of 
this most egregious of charges, it knew – as it later became publicly 
known – that senior CIA official Aldridge Ames, the head of the CIA’s 
Soviet/Eastern Europe Division, had himself been both the architect of those 
treasonable acts, and the original source of the false allegations against 
Pollard on those charges.

Sixth, interestingly enough, a largely ignored December 2012 
declassification of a 1987 CIA damage assessment concerning Pollard shows, 
as Lawrence Korb, assistant Secretary of Defense from 1981-1985 under Caspar 
Weinberger reported, that “Pollard had cooperated with them fully and in 
good faith, acknowledged that Pollard did not divulge the most sensitive 
U.S. national security programs, including military activities, plans, 
capabilities, equipment, or communications… that Pollard provided 
intelligence only on the Soviet Union’s activities in the Middle East, the 
Arab States and Pakistan.” Yet CIA officials, as set forth above, continued 
to knowingly and falsely accuse Pollard of actions prejudicial to U.S. 
national security.

Seventh, Pollard was himself deprived of the right to effective legal 
counsel and defense as his attorney neglected to file a notice of intent to 
appeal following the prejudicial sentencing hearing, and Pollard was 
therefore forever deprived of his right to a direct appeal against his life 
sentence. The only appeals he has been able to bring have been of a 
collateral nature only, were dismissed on technical and procedural grounds, 
and were never addressed on the merits. Indeed, American former prosecutors 
and directors intentionally mislead when they write that Pollards’ life 
sentence “was subsequently upheld by the Appellate Court” – masking the fact 
that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First District had rejected Pollard’s 
appeal in a two to one decision on narrow technical grounds; and that the 
only comment on the merits was that of the dissenting Judge Stephen F. 
Williams, who – as we previously discussed – had castigated the government 
for its breach of the plea bargain agreement.

Eighth, as Governor Bill Richardson recently wrote to you, “virtually 
everyone who was in a high position of government – and dealt with the 
ramifications of what Pollard did at the time – now support his release. 
They include Secretary of State George Shultz, FBI Director and subsequent 
CIA Director William Webster, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence David 
Durenberger, and Chairman of House Intelligence Lee Hamilton.” Indeed, those 
in the Clinton and Bush administrations who have seen the classified 
information have come out for Pollard’s release, including major figures 
from both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Ninth, it is important to recall and to note that Pollard fully honored the 
plea agreement that the government violated; that he fully cooperated with 
the authorities; that he has been a model prisoner; that he has apologized 
and expressed remorse for his actions; that he has been falsely accused over 
the years – by those in a position to know better – of compromising American 
security if not American lives - that in a word, Pollard was guilty of 
treason; that his sentence and imprisonment is as unjust as it is 
unprecedented; that Pollard is aging, in deteriorating health and deserving 
of release.

Finally, in the words of Lawrence Korb, “We believe that commuting Pollard’s 
sentence to time served is the right and compassionate thing to do. We 
believe that his continued incarceration constitutes a travesty of justice 
and a stain on the American system of justice.”

Mr. President, it is precisely for standing injustices like this – and where 
the justice system has failed and cannot provide relief – that the U.S. 
Constitution has vested in the President the power of executive clemency. We 
urge you to exercise this power in the pursuit of justice, the rule of law 
and simple humanity.


Respectfully,


Alan M. Dershowitz
Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School

Charles J. Ogletree, Jr.
Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at Harvad Law School
Director, Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice

Philip B. Heymann
James Barr Ames Professor of Law at Harvard Law School
Former Deputy Attorney General of the US

Irwin Cotler
Emeritus Professor of Law at McGill University, and sometimes Visiting 
Professor at Harvard Law School
Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Gabriella Blum
Rita E. Hauser Professor of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at Harvard Law 
School

Frank I. Michelman
Robert Walmsley University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University

Mary Ann Glendon
Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard University
President of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences

Nadine Stroessen
Professor of Law, New York Law School
Former President, American Civil Liberties Union, 1991-2008

Monroe Freedman
Professor of law, Hofstra University
Former Dean at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University

Suzanne Last Stone
Professor of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University

A Purposeful Trip to Israel

Brian Grodman wrote this article about a recent trip to Israel he took with his father. It was originally published in The New Hampshire Jewish Reporter.

In late April, my father and I spent nine days in Eretz Yisrael.  This was my tenth trip to the Holy Land, and my dad has doubled my visits.  I speak with many folks about traveling to Israel and I understand that, for many, there is hesitance.  Is it safe?  What do I do there?  How do I get around?  Who do I go with?  This particular trip included a myriad of activities.  I thought many readers could glean ideas as there is something for everyone.

Brian Grodman with his father, Larry, in front of the Fogel home.

Brian Grodman with Colonel Mordechai Kedar,
director Efraim Inbar, Professor Efraim Karsh, Larry Grodman,
and Jerry Haas at the Begin-Sadat Center for
Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University.

We are fortunate to have 18 (chai) relatives living in Israel.  We landed during the late afternoon on Thursday.  On Friday, we visited a huge recycling plant outside Tel Aviv.  This facility is a tourist attraction with almost 1,000 visitors during peak times.  The facility includes a beautiful park overlooking the city below.  Friday evening brings much of the country to a slower pace as Shabbat is observed with family and friends.  While the vast majority of Israelis consider themselves secular (rarely attending synagogue), most honor Shabbat with a group of friends and/or family over a special dinner.  Saturday continues this feeling as couples, families and friends walk and hike everywhere.  There are fewer cars on the road.  Route 6, the major north-south artery (similar to Route 93) is quite empty.  This toll road was built a half dozen years ago with the same EZ pass system that was just installed in Hooksett.  However, there are no toll booths.  No electronic pass - no drive on Route 6!

My adventurous side was satisfied the following day as we rented small four-wheel buggies for a wonderful few hours in the Judean hills surrounding Jerusalem.  These fun vehicles seat two people and seeing the capital outskirts and historic sites in this manner was special.  Jerusalem is the only world capital not containing a foreign embassy.  The dozen countries that previously had their embassies in Jerusalem moved to Tel Aviv.

Tuesday provided us with a guided tour of Samaria (the northern half of Judea & Samaria), which is also called the West Bank (of the Jordan River).  This part of Israel is also described as "outside the green line."  The "green line" refers to the 1949 armistice borders that were drawn with a green marker.  Through my contacts, a community leader was pleased to spend four hours educating us regarding biblical history and current events.  There are 350,000 Jews living here.  Gush Etzion is home to 70,000 people.  Modi'in Illit has a population of 60,000.  The (Jerusalem) bedroom community of Ma'ale Adumim boasts 35,000 inhabitants.  The Little League home of Williamsport, PA is her sister city. Technically, the eastern part of Jerusalem is outside the "green line."  This is similar to partitioning the people of north Manchester from others in the city.  The violence that rained upon Jewish inhabitants prior to the 1967 Six Day War, from East Jerusalem, was constant.

My initial visit to Israel, in 1966, could not include the Western Wall.  Her US sister city is Mobile, Alabama.  From the Mediterranean city of Netanya to the "green line" is only nine miles.  This was the width of Israel according to the pre-1967 borders.  (The great Foreign Minister Abba Eban called these borders "Auschwitz Lines")  The elevation rises 300 feet during this quick drive.  However, continuing directly eastward to the city of Ariel, (with 20,000 population and Mobile, Alabama as the sister city) provides another 1,200 feet of elevation.  Thus, whoever controls the heights of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) controls the cities and communities on the coast below.  Additionally, 50% of water flows through the West Bank.  We drove deep into the territory and onto a hill called Three Seas Lookout.  From this vantage point we could follow the footsteps of the patriarchs.   In Itamar (population 1,000), we stopped in front of the Fogel family home.  The parents and three children (from newborn to eleven years old) were massacred, in their home, late in the night in 2011.  The newborn, Hadas, was decapitated.  I got out of the car and watched children playing quietly and walking on this residential street.  The 17 year old perpetrators are currently serving multiple life sentences.  Of course, there is constant security surrounding this, and other, communities with an armed guard and gate.

The following morning illustrated the diversity of Israel with a meeting at Tel Aviv University (TAU).  The CEO of their high tech venture capital fund explained various endeavors in the life sciences, computer sciences and other forays.  For example, US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was saved due to a special Israeli-designed bandage applied immediately after she was shot in 2011.  An amazing six Nobel laureates in chemistry, in the past ten years, have come from Israel.

We then drove from TAU to Bar Ilan University for a highly informative two-hour lunch meeting with the director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA) and three involved political science professors.  These men have high level contacts within the diplomatic and military communities.  Our discussion included, the Iranian threat, internal decision-making and foreign relationships.  When I asked for the three closest allies of Israel at the current time, I received a response of only one country: Canada.  All four believed the window of opportunity had closed for Israel to attack the Iranian nuclear facilities.

On Thursday, we were invited, on a very private tour, of the Israeli Navy SEAL (Shayetet 13) base outside Haifa.  I knew this three hour experience would be worthwhile when I had to place my cell phone and camera in a locker prior to entering the briefing room.  The highly guarded base provides the home for this unit of the IDF which is responsible for fighting the "war between wars."  The deputy operational commander was our guide and began with a Power Point presentation of some recent activities.  The constant threats and responses were illustrated and described.  We left this room and headed to the building where the dozens of Shayetet members Killed In Action, since 1949, are honored.  My request to see some of their special boats had been granted and we were escorted into a large boat hanger.  These boats are generally received from the US and then retrofitted.  Additionally, the US SEALS and Shayetet teams have some joint training.  Walking into the dormitory was interesting.  Instead of carrying backpacks containing computers and books, these young men between 19 and 22 years old, carry their automatic rifles and other weaponry.  These college-age men are listening to music, training and relaxing - knowing that they may be called into deadly action without notice.  Less than one out of 100 applicants becomes a member of this elite special force.

Friday (erev Shabbat) brought me to the Dead Sea for a hike in the 100° heat and then rappelling down six cliffs.  The view of the hills, sea and Jordanian coast is always beautiful.  I had stayed on the Jordanian side a few years ago and it was ironic to look across again.  I spent most of this time seeking bits of shade and thinking about the upcoming family Shabbat dinner!

After a failed early morning hot-air ballooning attempt, due to wind, I enjoyed the one hour drive to the family on Saturday as the roads were quiet.  We had a wonderful lunch of falafel, hummus, tahini and salads at an Arab restaurant (Jewish owned establishments are generally closed on Saturday).  Many Jews and Arabs packed the tables.

Thus, we had a plethora of activities during our nine days in Israel...and it was my first trip to Israel without being in the capital city of Jerusalem!  So, there are many interesting ways to spend time in this truly remarkable country.  Please feel free to contact me for assistance in planning your visit to the only Jewish country in the world...you will feel at home.

Brian Grodman may be contacted at brian.grodman@comcast.net.