My dearly loved cousin, nearing 90 and a libertarian at heart, believes there is no evidence to suggest that humans are having an impact on the climate. He thinks that global warming is a figment of the liberal imagination. My 15-year-old son has a very different take...
Everyone seems to be talking about global warming these days, my family included. My dearly loved cousin, nearing 90 and a libertarian at heart, believes there is no evidence to suggest that humans have had an impact on the climate. He’s convinced that the idea is a figment of the liberal imagination and a fixation of the media. My 15-year-old son Noah, who spent the year studying climate change in school, has a completely different take: He ranks global warming among the most critical issues of our time, worrying that the earth will resemble something out of a bleak science fiction novel by the time his grandchildren are born.
Both Noah and my cousin—not to mention those of us who may hold less definite opinions—should turn to page 46 to read “Why Going Green Will Make the World Safer for Jews—and Everyone Else.” New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman makes a refreshing economic case for why going green should interest conservatives and liberals, skeptics and worriers, Jews and non-Jews alike. A green energy policy, Friedman argues, could also have the additional benefit of bringing Israel’s enemies to the peace table.
Friedman is not the only one mulling over tough subjects in our August issue. Israel’s neighbors also interest guest columnist Joshua Muravchik of the American Enterprise Institute. He has his own ideas as to why political reform is progressing at a glacial pace in Arab lands. Columnist Nathan Guttman zeroes in on yet another Arab angle: Neglecting Arabs who live in Israel, he posits, has led to hostility and rigidity. He believes American Jews should encourage a dialogue between Jews and Israeli Arabs, which could strengthen Israel’s democracy.
Moment ventures back into Israel’s political history in an interview with photographer Micha Bar-Am. As he profiled Israel’s leaders for Life, The New York Times and Magnum across the decades, Bar-Am observed not just with his camera but with his heart. He catches these notables—from David Ben Gurion to Golda Meir to Ehud Olmert—in moments of triumph, crisis and exhaustion.
Writer Rachel Safier reports from a remote corner of northeastern India where she visited with the people known as the Bnei Menashe. Converted by missionaries to Christianity in the early 20th century, they are now embracing Judaism, having come to believe that they are descendants of the Lost Israelite Tribe of Manasseh. Safier tells a story of ancient migrations and modern seekers, genetic sleuths and Jewish devotion, all wrapped up in a controversy that envelops both the Israeli and Indian governments.
As Nonna Gorilovskaya relates in her poignant memoir of Soviet and post-refusenik life, “tribes” can be lost even in their homelands. Gorilovskaya, Moment’s assistant editor, ruminates on the history—and meaning—of passports, in particular those with clauses that affirm and embody anti-Semitism. Plus, who knew that what might have been the world’s first passport was created for a Jew?
No passport—or ticket—needed to enter the world of classical music. Moment’s staff, a decidedly young crowd, became fascinated by violinist Joshua Bell upon reading that the virtuoso—who sells out concert halls around the world—went unrecognized by passersby as he serenaded them on a Washington, DC, subway platform earlier this year. Senior editor Mandy Katz caught up with Bell in a chichi Manhattan teahouse where he talked about his passion for music, his joys and vices and the tumultuous past of the famous “Jewish” violin he bought for nearly $4 million.
While Bell usually flies under the “Jew-dar,” Texas country-rocker, mystery writer and would-be governor Kinky Friedman certainly doesn’t. Friedman has an opinion or two or three about Michael Chabon’s much talked about new novel, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. (See the quick link on our website for a visit with Kinky at home on the range, in Jennie Rothenberg’s 2004 Moment profile.)
Our book section also includes a review of Nathan Englander’s outstanding novel, The Ministry of Special Cases, and a wild ride through the 2006 mid-term elections courtesy of Naftali Bendavid’s book, The Thumpin’: How Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats Learned to Be Ruthless and Ended the Republican Revolution.
For yourself, your family members, your friends and students, please take note of upcoming deadlines for Moment contests, starting with the 2007 Moment Magazine-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest. The deadline for submissions is September 1. Publish-A-Kid book reviews (from children ages 9-13) are due by December 15. And this year, we’re asking high school students to write an essay on—guess what—global warming. For more information visit momentmag.com.
While on the website, click on our Music Guide to download MP3s of the musicians’ songs. After you’ve listened to those songs, download our free podcast of Mandy Katz’s popular story “Is Einstein a Jewish Saint?”
See you in October!
