That the neocons at the helms of the so-called Major Jewish Organizations couldn't get the US embroiled in another war means American Judaism is "fracturing"? Maybe it just means that fewer and fewer of us are identifying with the largely Republican and very conservative "leadership" that has much more in common with evangelicals in Congress than they do with moderate and liberal Jews!

Israel's right wing cabinet has been saying Israel needs a new major strategic ally, like China or Russia. China and Russia signed the P5+! deal with Iran. Last week France was Israel's hero for subverting an agreement with Iran 2 weeks ago, but France signed the current deal with Iran. Israeli politicians should stop railing against Obama and realize that their view of Iran is shared only by the Gulf sheikhs that fund al-Qaeda and congressional Republicans.

Moshe's first Jewish riddle: Q: How do we know Pharaoh's daughter was a smart businesswoman? A: She drew a prophet ("profit") from a rush on the bank.

"Jon Stewart Jews" (who, BTW, don't necessarily find cross-bearing Sarah Silverman amusing) and "Martin Buber" Jews are not mutually exclusive. I'd suggest there's significant overlap, as a matter of fact. The humorless Jews are partisans of Daniel Pipes, Bill Kristol, Charles Krauthammer, Jennifer Rubin, Mark Dubowtiz and their neocon ilk.

As far back as 1882, the great Zionist thinker Leon Pinsker, wrote in Auto-Emancipation, which--inexplicably, but in the long run appropriately, read in conjunction with Leonard Fein's article-- became one of the classics in the history of Zionism:

If we would have a secure home, give up our endless life of wandering and rise to the dignity of a nation in our own eyes and in the eyes of theworld, we must, above all, not dream of restoring ancient Judaea. We must not attach ourselves to the place where our political life was once violently interrupted and destroyed. The goal of our present endeavors must be not the "Holy Land," but a land of our own. We need nothing but a large tract of land for our poor brothers, which shall remain our property and from which no foreign power can expel us. There we shall take with us the most sacred possessions which we have saved from the ship-wreck of our former country, the God-idea and the Bible . It is these alone which have made our old fatherland the Holy Land, and not Jerusalem or the Jordan.
**********
In other words, Pinsker, writing 130 years ago, thought a Jewish national homeland should NOT be located where it is today.

This cartoon is definitely mocking the outrage against Hawking by "the pro-Israel community," not Hawking himself. Besides "we invented hummus" and Hawking exhaling carbon dioxide that was "pioneered by Soda Stream in Samaria," the giveaway (if you need one) is Albert Einstein having been an Irgun milita leader, Hebron resident and professor at Ariel University.

Kol hakavod to the Toronto Board of Rabbis, and shame on the Toronto Zionist Center. As for the Jewish Defense League of Toronto is an embarrassment to Jews there and everywhere. I have personally met some of its members and they are a bunch of paranoid lunatics. They hold annual memorial services for the late racist Meir Kahane, revering him as a great tzaddik. Not surprising they would invite Geller, whose targets are not limited to "radical Muslims."

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center's Profile of Geller:

Pamela Geller is the anti-Muslim movement's most visible and flamboyant figurehead. She's relentlessly shrill and coarse in her broad-brush denunciations of Islam and makes preposterous claims, such as that President Obama is the "love child" of Malcolm X. She makes no pretense of being learned in Islamic studies, leaving the argumentative heavy lifting to her Stop Islamization of America partner Robert Spencer. Geller has mingled comfortably with European racists and fascists, spoken favorably of South African racists, defended Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic and denied the existence of Serbian concentration camps. She has taken a strong pro-Israel stance to the point of being sharply critical of Jewish liberals.

In Her Own Words
"Islam is not a race. This is an ideology. This is an extreme ideology, the most radical and extreme ideology on the face of the earth."
— Pam Geller On Fox Business' "Follow the Money," March 10, 2011

"Obama is a third worlder and a coward. He will do nothing but beat up on our friends to appease his Islamic overlords."
— Pam Geller, AtlasShrugs.com, April 13, 2010

"Hussein [meaning President Obama] is a muhammadan. He's not insane … he wants jihad to win."
— Pam Geller, AtlasShrugs.com, April 11, 2010

"I don't think that many westernized Muslims know when they pray five times a day that they're cursing Christians and Jews five times a day. … I believe in the idea of a moderate Muslim. I do not believe in the idea of a moderate Islam."
— Pam Geller, The New York Times, Oct. 8, 2010

Why are you going to the Mikva as a single woman? Sounds "unorthodox" from the outset, and certainly meta-halakhic. Not judging you, just suggesting that you are trying to fit into a world view that has no space for your life choices. No wonder you feel alienated and frustrated.

Since you are not bound by the Orthodox halakha of Mikva in your situation, why not consider that as a positive? Go swimming in a lovely lake, the ocean, or even a pool or hot tub. No, you do not have to be naked (unless you want to be). Do something that really is meaningful and spiritual for you, that you can make your own. Seriously, who needs the anxiety associated with trying to do things the frummy way if you aren't frum? This is an OPPORTUNITY for you to create a meaningful ritual for yourself (and perhaps others too!) that really does "balance halakhah and real life".

Birtherism lite.

Or the boys could have been bullying the girl.