Links

I've got a lot of different books on the reading table right now and some waiting to be picked up from the library. I just finished Embedded by Wesley Gray and have started on The Strongest Tribe by Bing West - looking forward to comparing the two, and getting Dave's take as well (Dave, I hear, has the distinction of being the very first person to check out Bing West's book from the Stanford Library). 

So far it seems that Gray and West do have some similar take away lessons: it was a big mistake to disband the Iraqi Army, Iraqis do things very differently than Americans, and bureaucratic miscommunication at the top levels of the military has disastrous effects. 

I thought Bing's book would be a lot drier than Gray's more colorful "sea story" style of writing, but so far I'm wrong. 

One might ask: you're going to be a rabbi. Allright, probably one who is indeed in the military, but why would any rabbi need or want to read all these books about OIF? Shouldn't I put em all down and read some Rashi?

I've got a couple of reasons: One is that because so many other Reform rabbis have taken it upon themselves to preach politics from the pulpit, I feel an extra incentive to be truly informed about those topics. Second, OIF and Afghanistan are the major wars of my life so far. It would be pretty silly to find someone who lived through, say WWII and all that person could say was "Yeah, something to do with the Germans...and the Japanese, but I don't really know how they fit in exactly, and um...." I figure, I have a college education and am in graduate school - if I'm going to be considered an educated person I should at least make an attempt to be reasonably informed about what's happening in the world. And ten minutes of network morning news while drinking my coffee does not count for anything. That's like eating a Flintstones gummy vitamin and saying you have a balanced diet. 

But, anyway, I DO have some links that could fall under the topic heading "Jewish." (Dave has advised that I try to label my posts, to give some sort of context for the following links). 

The book comes out mid-August and I've ordered it. 

Great question, Mr. P! 352 pages, eh? No pithy Hillel-style on-one-foot answer? Well, looking forward to it, nonetheless.  I'm sure quite a lifetime of research was involved. 

I did not know much about this organization before. I have to say, Ms. Chesler's association with it certainly raises my level of interest, because from what I've read, she is not your typical "feminist" - she tends to be concerned with extremely important and very real womens' issues, like stoning and such in Sharia-dominated countries. 

Hopefully more to follow as I once again have my internet access. It was pretty spotty at the "Chalet" aka bachelor officer quarters of Navsta Newport.