a novel, and a website about science, progress and culture
Many Americans, including President Obama, are righteously concerned about North Korea’s seemingly blatant attack on freedom in its hacking of Sony Pictures, and the threats of violence against any theater that dares screen the movie ‘The Interview.’ The film’s depiction of the assassination of Kim Jong-Il goes beyond acceptable standards for the North Korean dictatorship. […]
Read More Attacking Films, Attacking FreedomEighteen hundred years ago Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi taught: What is the proper path a person should choose for himself… Know what is above you: an eye that sees and an ear that hears, and all your deeds are recorded in the Book. (Ethics of the Fathers 2:1) While this is stating the obvious for believing […]
Read More All Your Deeds Are Recorded In The BookHijacking Planes In 1968, Palestinian terrorists hijacked an El-Al plane, and got away with it. They used the tactic repeatedly after that, with varying degrees of success. The most infamous incident was the forcing of Air France plane to Entebbe, Uganda, and Israel’s successful rescue of the hostages. Hijacking Feminism More such rescue operations are required […]
Read More Aboriginal Americans & the Jewish StateTonight is the 11th anniversary of the death of my father, Yehuda Elberg. He was a renowned author and essayist in the Yiddish-speaking world. This is one of his English essays, a discussion of the importance of the word “oy” to the Jewish soul. Oy: The Music of a Sigh- by Yehuda Elberg, © 1993 All […]
Read More Oy: The Music of a SighA More Human Mouse Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently spliced the human gene associated with language into the brains of a mouse. While the rodents didn’t say anything about the experiment, they were better able to find chocolate in a maze then regular mice. This is perhaps another example of science mimicking […]
Read More Are You A Man or a Mouse?Historical Wrongs: Deportations and Expulsions Assyrian Destruction of Peoples and Nations In 1300 BCE, the Assyrian Empire ensured the docility of the nations it conquered by expelling peoples from their homelands, and replacing them with other deportees. The best way for a nation to survive was to humbly submit as an Assyrian vassal state. The […]
Read More Expulsion and the Will to SurviveThe recent Sabbath murder of a rabbi in Miami, the sucker-punching of Jews outside a kosher restaurant in Montreal, and many similar incidents around the world do not point to a rise in Jew hatred. Rather, they show that anti-Semites (whether neo-Nazi or Muslim) feel more comfortable expressing their contempt, whether through insults, vandalism, or […]
Read More Once We Were WarriorsApril 27, 2014 is Holocaust Remembrance Day, the anniversary (according to the Hebrew Calendar) of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. My father, Yehuda Elberg, was part of that struggle. I present these notes of his in memory of my grandparents, siblings, cousins, uncles and aunts whose lives were destroyed in those horrible times. Although we say “Never […]
Read More Ghetto NotesChapter I And it came to pass in the third year of the reign of Achashverosh, King of Persia, that the King threw a great party. And it was during that party, that the King became intoxicated and called for his wife Vashti to come dance naked in front of the guests. Now, Vashti was […]
Read More The Politically Correct Megillat Esther; story of PurimRight-thinking and progressive people have looked ruefully at the sordid history of western imperialism, grateful for the enlightened attitudes of contemporary societies and governments. The former colonies are treated respectfully; indigenous people receive apologies, sometimes even financial compensation. The relation is between equals, not conqueror and victim. Tourists now visit exotic places that were once […]
Read More Down With Yankee Imperialism!The massacre of twenty-six people, mostly children, in Sandy Hook, Connecticut drew international attention to American gun culture, where it’s easy to get your hands on very dangerous weapons. It was a repeat of the outcry from an earlier school massacre, in Columbine, Colorado, or the uproar after the Virginia Tech rampage, where a student […]
Read More Responsibility, Guns & Drugs In A Brave New WorldNeil Young, the aged, iconic music star caused a stir recently with his concerts to support the fight against the Alberta Oil Sands. He had with him David Suzuki, the iconic environmental star, famed for equating humans with maggots. Also on the stage lending credibility was the Chief of an Indian band that earns […]
Read More Music: 3 Rules of Discipline & 8 Rules of Self-PromotionScience-fiction enthusiasts and geeks consider themselves for the most part as enlightened, progressive people, but Orson Scott Card, author of the award-winning novel Ender’s Game, has taken a Christian-principled (conservative) stance against homosexual marriage. When the Ender’s Game movie was released, the progressives faced a conundrum. How can you support an author who respects the […]
Read More Orson Scott Card Goes Bible Shopping at CostcoNineteen fifty-nine was an exciting year for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Luna 2 was the first man-made object to reach the moon, an important step in space exploration. As a token of friendship, the U.S.S.R. gave U.S. President Eisenhower a copy of the pennant that declared the Soviet presence on the moon. Not […]
Read More Beat Your Plowshares Into Swords And Your Pruning Hooks Into SpearsIn many primitive cultures, God is not portrayed as all-knowing, wise or benevolent. He’s rather a cosmic prankster who delights in provoking, sometimes tormenting his subjects. He may be insatiably hungry, either for food or sex. He’ll lead people down a path and then chastise them for taking it. He (she, it) is not someone […]
Read More God Goes ‘Trick or Treat’