Marc Tracy’s New York Times article on Jan. 14 refers to “left-wing” Jews and a “left-wing” Jewish publication, and a “far-right” Israeli government and its “extreme-right ministers.” The avian metaphors add up to the culture reporter to implications for human appendages as well.
“If I forget you, O’ Jerusalem,” states Psalm 137:5, “let me draw a blank on my right hand.”
The Times article headline has a different notion of the Jewish faith than does Jewish scripture. “Is Israel part of what it means to be Jewish?” the article asks, noting that “some progressive Jews” embrace “diasporism,” thus “reimagining their faith as one that blesses their lives in America and elsewhere.”
“The land of Israel is central to the religion, the foundational narrative of which is about returning from slavery to the Promised Land,” the article allows. “Over centuries of exile, Jews have pledged, ‘Next year in Jerusalem,’ and prayed facing that city.”
Since Oct. 7, “some Jews have been repelled by Israel’s military response, which has killed approximately 23,000, according to Gazan officials,” per the Times. (Hamas terrorists run the Gaza health ministry.)
“On Day 100, the NYT features a closely reported profile of the Wicked Son from the Passover Seder. ‘What does all this mean to you?’” wrote David Frum, an Atlantic staff writer and former speechwriter for former President George W. Bush.
“Oh look, the NYT has discovered more anti-Zionist Jews,” wrote John Podhoretz, editor-in-chief of Commentary magazine. “It’s their favorite thing, along with polyamorous moms and drag queens who love to entertain 3-year-olds.”
Other major national newspapers have in the past suggested that Jewish connections to Israel, including the Jewish Temples, are a matter of faith rather than history, even comparable to the Muslim prophet’s “night journey.”
A photo in the Times article, of a right hand’s index finger pointing to a passage from the Talmud, calls attention to the Aramaic text about how a Jewish man must not walk more than a certain, short distance without a yarmulke on his head.
Ironically, the other side of the page photographed in the Times cites a discussion in which one rabbi asks another whether one can legally leave Israel. “It is forbidden,” the second rabbi says.
