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Sundown: Forget the Loch Ness Monster

Jews should return to Iraq, and other unconventional wisdom

by
Hadara Graubart
August 12, 2009

• The Israeli town of Kirvat Yam is offering over $1 million for photographic proof of a mermaid some claim to have seen off its shore. No word on how much the town is offering for that even more elusive mythical entity, a workable peace plan. [Daily Mail]
• That is, if we still need one: A new magazine in Iraq implores Jews to return to the country, turning the tables on the idea of “right of return” by suggesting that if Arab countries welcome back their native Jews, all could be rainbows and lollipops in the holy land. [AFP]
• As some Jewish groups squabble over who should take the blame for allowing comparisons between President Obama’s health care plan and the Holocaust, a Florida rabbi OKs the analogy in hopes that “the shock value may keep lawmakers away from what he views to be threatening policies.” [WP]
• As if that isn’t enough heresy, in the Boston Globe, a rabbi says that Jewish identity is about more than just Israel! [BG]
• Big-shot Zionist rabbi Shlomo Aviner declares that non-Jews should not serve in the Israeli military—his hands are tied folks, it was Maimonedes’ idea. [Ynet]
• The largest-ever Hillel conference is happening now, which, says the organization’s president, “clearly places engagement at the center of the Hillel world.” (Let’s hope attendees won’t have to sit through much of that kind of non-speak.) [JTA]

Hadara Graubart was formerly a writer and editor for Tablet Magazine.