Judaism 101 is an online encyclopedia of Judaism, covering Jewish beliefs, people, places, things, language, scripture, holidays, practices and customs. My goal is to make freely available a wide variety of basic, general information about Judaism, written from a traditional perspective in plain English. This web site has grown continually for more than 10 years and continues to be updated periodically
The Mosque’s Imam Is A “Moderate” But Abe Foxman Is A Bigot?
I trust the Imam and the Muslims at the new Ground Zero “Cordoba” mosque to tell me the truth of what they think about Israel and the United States. After 9/11, the Imam said America shared responsibility for the destruction of the World Trade Center. Now, that same imam refuses to condem Hamas. And he supported the anti-Israel flotilla that led the international political ambush of Israel. This imam is honest. He’s just anything but “moderate.”
Geert Wilders Message to Muslims
Muslims Debate asked Mr. Geert Wilders why he became anti-Islam and what is his message to the Muslims?
Geert Wilders: I first visited an Islamic country in 1982. I was 18 years old and had traveled with a Dutch friend from Eilat in Israel to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh. We were two almost penniless backpacking students. We slept on the beaches and found hospitality with Egyptians, who spontaneously invited us to tea. I clearly recall my very first impression of Egypt: I was overwhelmed by the kindness, friendliness and helpfulness of its people. I also remember my second strong impression of Egypt: It struck me how frightened these friendly and kind people were.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: We Must Speak Honestly About Islam
Voltaire famously said: “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Indeed, many people have died defending our ability to exercise that right
This week in Sydney, I attended a forum on Freedom of Speech organized by the prestigious Australian think tank The Centre for Independent Studies, in which Ayaan Hirsi Ali was the guest speaker (together with prominent conservative Australian journalist Janet Albrechtsen). Ayaan is a person who knows the risk in exercising freedom of speech only too well, and indeed, the obligation to protect that right . She has for many years now lived under a fatwa and constant security over her outspoken views about the dangers of radical Islam and refusal to be silenced.
Shut Up, He Explained
Last Tuesday, standing in front of the Statue of Liberty, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke on the subject of the proposed mosque at Ground Zero. His remarks will be read with curiosity by future generations of Americans, who will look back in astonishment at the self-deluding pieties and self-destructive dogmas
Liberal Piety and the Memory of 9/11
Americans may have lacked for much in the course of their history, but never instruction in social values. The question today is whether Americans of any era have ever confronted the bombardment of hectoring and sermonizing now directed at those whose views are deemed insufficiently enlightened—an offense regularly followed by accusations that the offenders have violated the most sacred principles of our democracy.
Muslims Know the Symbolism of the Ground Zero Mosque
Symbolism is at play in the debate over a grand mosque being built near the site of Islamic extremism’s greatest terrorist victory against a democracy.
While many embrace its construction as symbolic of a democratic society’s tolerance, there is danger in not understanding the symbolically sinister side of its construction as well
WikiLeaks must be stopped
Let’s be clear: WikiLeaks is not a news organization; it is a criminal enterprise. Its reason for existence is to obtain classified national security information and disseminate it as widely as possible — including to the United States’ enemies. These actions are likely a violation of the Espionage Act, and they arguably constitute material support for terrorism…
“The World Turned Upside Down”-Melanie Phillips
In what we tell ourselves is an age of reason, we are behaving increasingly irrationally. More and more people are signing up to weird and wacky cults, para-psychology, seances, paganism and witch- craft. There is widespread belief in ludicrous conspiracy theories, such as the 9/11 terrorist attack being an American plot…