The Rabbi and I

I open with a claim: the word 'Zionism' has stopped doing the one job it was created to do. And I'm going to make that case using the Torah and the Talmud, not a communications consultant.Matthew Berger, a communications consultant, was hired by the Jewish Federations of North America to figure out what language actually works when Jewish groups talk about Israel and antisemitism. He got fired two weeks ago for saying avoid using the word 'Zionism.' His reasoning was that the word confuses more people than it persuades.#Zionism#Palestine#Israel#antisemitism

Real antisemitism looks different from anti-Israel: blaming random Jews for a government's choices, claiming American Jews are secretly more loyal to Israel than their own country, reviving blood libel language — or being fine with every other people having a homeland except the Jewish one. This is antisemitism.

Iran's been building a nuclear site buried deep inside a mountain — deep enough that normal bombs might not crack it. U.S. officials, including the President, have floated using a small — 'tactical' — nuclear weapon to destroy it instead.I'm not here to tell you what the Pentagon should do. I'm going to show you how our own tradition would build both sides of this argument.