When I go to a Bar Mitzvah, I don’t expect to get an education. I only go to join in a family’s celebration of a happy occasion. Today, I got two for the price of one.

I post the comments made by Elie Zimring at his Bar Mitzvah today. If you aren’t as steeped in the Jewish tradition as Elie is, you might want to keep WikiPedia opened in another window.

Elie Zimring is my cousin, a few generations removed.

The excerpt below is from the D’var Torah by Elie Zimring.

Anyway… when I was reading the parsha at my first bar mitzvah lesson, something struck me as strange. Bilhah and Zilpah are responsible for one third of the Jewish people. Bilhah gave birth to Dan and Naphtali, and Zilpah gave birth to Gad and Asher. A lot of the Torah would not happen it wasn’t for them. The Jewish People are what I am a part of & they include every tribe. Maybe I’m descended from Bilhah or Zilpah. But Bilhah and Zilpah are barely mentioned in the Torah, and they’re not remembered by us when we say the Amidah every day. This doesn’t seem fair to me. I think they deserve more attention — and they even deserve to be in the imahot. I decided to learn more about them.

Here are some references that give some context for Elie’s remarks. Parashat Vayetze 5776 and Haftarah for Va-yetzei.

Rawstory has the article ‘Get him the hell out of here!’: Trump sics supporters on black protester who gets beaten and kicked.

It is not enough for us to realize that we don’t like Trump’s politics. We also need to recognize that this man is dangerous. We aren’t going to bring about peace in this world by rousing people to hate. Each of us must be responsible for our actions. If we appeal to the fear and hate in other people, we become as dangerous as the people we currently call terrorists. Trump is trying to quiet the protests by instilling terror into the hearts of the protesters. He will find that many people are too strong to be silenced this way (at least the people who haven’t suddenly become afraid to help Syrian refugees.)

Alan Grayson has sent an email explaining how we can end terrorism.

This letter is a good exposition on how I feel about the current hysteria over Syrian refugees.

Alan Grayson is running for Senator in Florida in the Democratic primary.

Our meddling exacerbated the situation in Syria. We drove the Syrian refugees to desperation, and now we don’t want to take them in? It’s partially our mess. We have no moral right to try to wash our hands of the consequences now. Just like a child in a china shop, “You broke it, you bought it.” Didn’t our parents and the china shops teach us anything?

I received this email from Elizabeth Warren.

Bernie2016tv has posted the video Bernie Sanders LIVE from Georgetown University

Bernie’s speech starts around 1:08:13
Bernie Sanders on Thursday will deliver remarks on democratic socialism and his vision for creating an American future based on economic and social justice and environmental sanity. His remarks will also include specific ideas on U.S. foreign policy, how the U.S. can lead the world in defeating ISIS and a long-term strategy to promote a safer and more peaceful world. The speech will take place at The Institute of Politics and Public Service at Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy. Following his address, the Democratic Party presidential candidate will respond to questions from Georgetown University students.
Thursday, November 19
2 p.m. Georgetown Speech, Georgetown University, Gaston Hall, 3rd Floor Healy Hall, Washington
Photo credit:
photographer: Rob Pongsajapan

This is a tremendous speech that Bernie Sanders gave. All of it (and then some) is in the attached video. If you want to get directly to the speech, you have to slide the fast forward button until you see scenes of Bernie Sanders. Backup a tad from there, and listen to the whole speech. This may be an historic speech that will be quoted for years into the future.

The Daily Kos has the post France isn’t afraid, why is the Republican Party?

Since Friday’s horrific attacks in Paris, the Republican Party has delighted ISIS by tripping over themselves to declare that the United States shouldn’t take in Syrian refugees because … uh … well, because even if they didn’t have anything to do with the attacks, they are Muslims, so why not equate all of them with the terrorists who murdered at least 129 people last week? After all, their base loves it. French President François Hollande, on the other hand, decided that France would not bow down to terrorists:

The Daily Kos post makes reference to this ABC News tweet NEW: Pres. Hollande commits to taking 30,000 refugees in next 2 years; says France has duty to honor that commitment. “Life must go on.”

ABC News also has the article President Obama Mocks Republicans on Refugee Stance.

All of this may be the proof that we need that Republicans are cowards, just as Bernie Sanders calls them for being too afraid of facing the consequences of letting all of the people vote in fair elections.

See my previous post On Rejecting the Human Intelligence of Syrian Refugees to understand why this Republican stance is not just cowardice, but it is stupid cowardice.

I found the following excerpts from the CBS Democratic debate transcript: Clinton, Sanders, O’Malley in Iowa. Emphasis added by me.

JOHN DICKERSON:

Okay, Governor O’Malley would you critique the administration’s response to ISIS? If the United States doesn’t lead (UNINTEL)?

MARTIN O’MALLEY:

John, I would– I would disagree with– with Secretary Clinton, respectfully, on this score. This actually is America’s fight. It cannot solely be America’s fight. America is best when we work in collaboration with our allies. America is best when we are actually standing up to evil in this world.

And ISIS, make no mistake about it, is an evil in this world. ISIS has brought down a Russian airliner. ISIS is now attacked the western democracy in– in France. And we do have a role in this. Not solely ours. But we must work collaboratively with other nations. The great failing of these last ten or 15 years, John, has been our failing of human intelligence on the ground. Our world in the world is not to roam the globe looking for new dictators to topple. Our role in the world is to make ourselves a beacon of hope, make ourselves stronger at home.

But also our role in the world, yes, is also to confront evil when it rises. We took out the save haven in Afghanistan but now there is undoubtedly a larger safe haven. And we must rise to this occasion in collaboration and with alliances to confront it. And invest in the future much better human intelligence so we know what the next steps are.
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MARTIN O’MALLEY:

John, may I– may I interject here? Secretary Clinton also said that we left the h– it was not just the invasion of Iraq which Secretary Clinton voted for and has since said was a big mistake, and indeed it was. But it was also the cascading effects that followed that.

It was also the disbanding of– many elements of the Iraqi army that are now showing up as part of ISIS. It was– country after country without making the investment in human intelligence to understand who the new leaders were and the new forces were that are coming up. We need to be much more far f– thinking in this new 21st century era of– of nation state failures and conflict. It’s not just about getting rid of a single dictator. It is about understanding the secondary and third consequences that fall next.

Isn’t it odd that people want to slow down or reject the welcoming of Syrian refugees to this country in light of the terrorist acts in Paris and other cities around the globe? If one of the things we are lacking is human intelligence about the terrorists, wouldn’t bringing in Syrians who are fleeing the terrorists in their own country bring in valuable human intelligence?

There may be some terrorists that sneak in with these refugees, but they may be far outnumbered by true refugees who want these terrorists defeated. The refugees don’t have enough support in Syria for them to fight the battle for peace. However, in the United States of America with the help of our police, military, and intelligence agencies, they could prove to be the balance that turns the tide against the terrorists emanating from Syria.

If human intelligence is what we are so dearly lacking, why would we work against gaining more of what we need? Has our Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker considered what he is rejecting because of his fears? Has he thought of what we could gain by displaying a little courage?

YouTube has some excerpts from Bernie Sanders’ fantastic speech in Cleveland.

Now is not the time for demagiguery and fear mongering.
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We are going to be tough, but not STUPID.

Here is the part covering terrorism in France and around the world.

You can watch the full speech including the introduction on C-SPAN. This video takes about 30 seconds to get to the actual coverage of the event.

When you hear the introduction from Nina Turner, you may be listening to the words of a future Vice President for Bernie Sanders.

LinkedIn has the Cass Sunstein article Why They Hate Us.

Social networks are often responsible for terrorism — as, for example, when terrorist leaders create groups of like-minded people, breeding a sense of rage and humiliation, which feeds on and intensifies itself. We cannot understood (sic) the roots of terrorism without understanding the phenomenon of group polarization and the importance of social networks.

This article does an excellent job of identifying and describing a problem. It introduces an idea that was novel to me. However, the article has a flaw that I find in many such books and articles that do an excellent job of identifying and clarifying important ideas. The solutions that they propose are almost always vague and difficult to imagine how to implement.

What are the lessons for policy and for law?

The simplest and most important is that if a nation aims to prevent terrorist activities, a good strategy is to prevent the rise of enclaves of like-minded people. Many of those who become involved in terrorist activities could end up doing something else with their lives. Their interest in terrorism comes, in many cases, from an identifiable set of social mechanisms (generally from particular associations). If the relevant associations can be disrupted, terrorism is far less likely to arise.

In this case, the possible implications of the solution are almost as frightening as the original problem. I am thinking of the context of the political revolution that Bernie Sanders is calling for. I do see the social dynamic described by Cass Sunstein as occurring in groups to which I belong as far as a tending toward more extremism. However, the people who are trying to thwart this political revolution are using exactly the techniques that Sunstein recommends for controlling terrorism.

LinkedIn has the article Please, no more brainstorm sessions. This is how innovation really works.

Imagination is not fragile. It feeds off flaws, difficulties, and problems. Insulating ourselves from failures is to rob one of our most valuable mental faculties of fuel.

I was intrigued by this article because I have participated and facilitated many brainstorming sessions throughout my career. Coincidentally, in a meeting last night, the idea of holding brainstorming sessions was suggested. I took note (literally) of that suggestion.

I am glad to see that this article does not dispose of the idea completely. It only suggests a procedural change in the way these meetings are conducted.