Just posted at the Commentary pages: On NYTimes. BlogRunner and Pope Benedict XVI.
read on... 

  Natalia and Vladi have kindly posted some new translations:
from Natalia, in Polish; Natalia is also polishing (no pun meant) a longer post for which we're waiting eagerly.

From Vladi, in Russian: three amazing stories, linking to Passover. Hold your breath, I'm about to translate them into English soon.

Enjoy! 

  Natalia has just asked me, What is the status of the Israeli anthem, Hatikvah.

The truth is, I never gave it too much thought, regarded it as the weather.
"Hatikvah" means Hope. Read today, it sounds quite naive. Back in 1886 it was written for the stateless Jewish people.

Nowadays the State of Israel has non-Jewish citizens as well, which for sure cannot but feel left out, if not alienated.

So, no less than it is an anthem, it has become a mirror of our weakness and wrong doing.

I assume, or rather hope, that in a future peaceful Middle East and egalitarian Israel, this will also be amended into another, no less naive, poem:

As long as the human spirit is yearning deep in the heart,

With eyes turned toward the world, looking toward Peace,

Then our hope - the humanity-old hope - will not be lost:

To be a free people on our Planet Earth,

The land of all of us here.
.......................

Actually to-night, 18 hours from now, on the eve of Passover, we'll be celebrating this very hope and yearning.

High time to notice the difference. 

  I've just received in the mail this disturbing message from Gush Shalom.
It touches me in person... read on 

  I've lost my twin sister at the age of ten and have been mourning her loss to this very day.

With bowed heads we feel with Mehdi the loss of the beloved sister, Sara, at the tender age of fifteen.

 

  Even if the news are given in a newspaperly language, or just because of it, this story is gravely heart breaking.

And today I made some visits to Persian Carpets stores, on my way back home from one place to another.

Met a man whose parents came to Israel back in 1948 or 1950. He speaks Farsi but cannot write or read.

Was telling me there are hundreds of thousands of Jewish people in Iran, and that they feel well and content there. He gave me the name of a center in nearby Holon city, The Koresh Center for the Jewish Persian Culture.

Koresh was the Iranian king who in the year 538 BC proclaimed a call allowing the Jewish people to return to the land of Zion and rebuild Jerusalem - from where they were deported with the destruction of the first Temple.

The prophet Yeshayahu calls Koresh, "the Messiah".

Such a person could be helpful today in Iran, or am I mistaken from that far away? 

  Apparently there is a little scandal in little Hempstead, NY: A certain Rabbi Tendler is accused of sex predation.

The Israeli courts have more than once sentenced a Rabbi for sex crimes. Spiritual leaders are human beings prone to become sex predators, no less than secular judges, teachers, etc.

Wherever there is Power, you'll find abuse of Power. Only that with the rabbi, guru, priest, and such - the crime is one of double abuse: Faith itself, or God, are lined up for support. In the name of a religion you, the victim, are silenced so as not to blemish the good name of God and Religion.

Manipulation by the herd instinct: What will the Gentiles say?
As usual, that kind of question is shot at the victim, not at the offender.

Don't they bring such cases to the court in USA? 

  Following Blogger Buzz I was pleasantly surprised to see how smart they are at Blogrunners:

They're publishing citations from bloggers' articles/posts, relating to NYT, with links to the blogs themselves.

What a great project. Who is the genius behind it?

This is a mutually benefiting gesture. As a blogger I'll be inclined to read NYT, relate and link to it, and so, apart from the mutual publicity, a discourse might evolve, bringing life and truth to old worn newspaper existence.

Here is a project acknowledging the vibrant power of blogs and adapting media to the new reality.

I find the step most challenging.

I've immediately e-mailed the editor in chief at the Haaretz newspaper, suggesting they'll push for a Hebrew Blogrunner.

Will they? They better do, as competition is fierce here.
A trickle turning soon into a large river.
Times are a'changing!

Stay tuned. 

  I got it in the e-mail and couldn't but share it with you:

"As a decent person, I am supposed to feel compassion for the Gush Katif settlers. To embrace them. To shed a tear for their plight... read more... 

  The Velvet Days have finally reached this beautiful country and people:
Swedish delegates and experts have arrived tonight in Teheran to study democracy at its highest level.

Young children, waving UN flags, received them with flowers all along the road from the airport.

Dorn, Swedish delegation member proclaimed:
"A small step for democracy, a huge one for Iran!"

Do join me in my humble greetings.

Any news from your own fourty corners of the world?