Video of Prager at Cal

In case you are interested in seeing video of Dennis Prager's speech at Cal for Israel's 60th Birthday, follow this link.

Reflection on Yom Ha'atzmaut

We hope that everyone has had a meaningful Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israeli Memorial Day, and Israeli Independence Day. If you have not already done so today, now would be a good time to take a moment and read Israel's Declaration of Independence, just to remind yourself of the principles on which Israel was founded.

Some Photos from Dennis Prager's Lecture

Dennis Prager's talk yesterday at Dwinelle proved to be a successful start to "Israel at 60 Week." Some 250 people, both students and community members, filled the lecture hall as Prager explained why American universities espouse hatred of Israel, when, by all logic, one would think they would support Israel.

According to Prager, people tend to divide the world into two types; for example, Prager himself has always perceived people to be either "just" or "unjust," and subsequently favors the "just" in any situation. University professors, however, generally seem to have a different classification system, that of the "strong/rich" versus the "weak/poor," and tend to favor the latter category, perceiving the underdog as more exciting and romantic. Up to 1967, Israel had been classified as the underdog and had a romantic image: a country founded as a product of draining swamps, making the desert bloom, escaping the Holocaust and immigrating to Israel on ships.

After 1967, however, when Israel captured the West Bank in a defensive military maneuver, all this changed. Israel came to be seen as "strong" and therefore "bad;" the negative image was only compounded in the eyes of the university as Israel's technological infrastructure improved and Israel started to look more like America, and therefore became boring and unworthy of support. Thus, while the university advocates values like tolerance, equality and compassion and should by all appearances support Israel for being a champion of these values, its tendency to eschew the "just/unjust" classification system has obscured its moral clarity.

May Israel stay strong, stay just, and may university professors realize that it is a society's practice of justice, rather than that society's military capability, socio-economic status, skin-color, or any other criterion, that determines whether that society is good. Stay tuned for other Tikvah events throughout the week.

Dennis Prager Coming to Berkeley on Monday, May 5

Don't miss Dennis' talk coming up in a couple days!

Date:	Monday, May 5, 2008
Time:	7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location:	UC Berkeley, Dwinelle 145

Topic: “Why Berkeley Should Be Celebrating Israel’s 60th Birthday”


Dennis Prager is one of America's most respected radio talk show hosts. He has been broadcasting on KABC Radio in Los Angeles since 1982. He has written numerous books, including Happiness Is A Serious Problem, Think A Second Time, The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism, and Why the Jews ? The Reason for Anti-Semitism, regarded by many as the most persuasive explanation of anti-Semitism written. His writings have appeared in Commentary, the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. Mr. Prager was a Fellow at Columbia University's School of International Affairs and was appointed by Ronald Reagan to the U.S. Delegation to the Vienna Review Conference on the Helsinki Accords. New York's Jewish Week described him as "one of the three most interesting minds in American Jewish Life."

No signs, banners, posters, fliers, or noise makers allowed at the event.