Alan Elsner

For once in my life, I am ahead of the cultural curve. Despite being a curmudgeonly old fart of 58, I have actually read all three volumes of the Hunger Games trilogy -- the first of which is about to be loosed on us all in the form of a...

The latest confrontation between Israel and Iranian-backed terrorists in the Gaza Strip seems to be coming to an end. In four days of violence, Palestinians fired over 200 rockets, most at major Israeli population centers, such as Ashdod (pop. 200,000), Beersheba (pop. 190,000).

Responding to rocket fire, the...

The word "snob" has been much in the news lately -- which prompted me to wonder about its origins and history.

Apparently, according to the Oxford University Press, the word was first recorded in the late 18th century as a term for a shoemaker or his apprentice.

The advent of another birthday recently prompted me to ask myself: At what age does a person stop getting older and actually become old? In other words, when does old age begin?

Turns out I'm far from the first person to ask this question. In fact, it was the...

I recently received one of those emails from a popular language-learning company promising that I could painlessly master a foreign language in just 10 days. I watched the attached video and saw that there would be no annoying grammar, no tiresome lists of vocabulary to remember, in fact no effort...

A sad story approached a sad conclusion last week when Maryland-based Rabbi Menachem Youlus pleaded guilty to mail and wire fraud for falsely selling what he claimed were Torah scrolls rescued from the Holocaust to synagogues and Jewish communities over a period of several years.

Youlus billed himself...

Each year, Freedom House issues its Freedom in the World report, a comprehensive global tally of the gains and losses for freedom over the previous year.

This year, Arch Puddington, the group's director of research, also picked the "top 10 trends in global freedom." Unsurprisingly in...

In recent weeks, there have been so many important and confusing developments connected with Iran and its nuclear missile program that it's hard to figure out exactly what's happening.

Mixed messages from the United States, including statements by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, have not helped.

On December...

What would you say if you had met a person of genuine historical significance -- one who might with some justice be called a "great man," -- and were completely oblivious to the experience?

Such was my contact with Richard Seaver (1926-2009) - -subject of a new, posthumous autobiography, The...

Who is the most popular, most fascinating character in English literature?

Judging by the number of spinoffs bearing his name, the hands-down winner has to be Jane Austen's haughty Mr. Darcy.

A quick and far from exhaustive search on Amazon revealed the following titles (my apologies to anyone I have...

A forthcoming CD of French music for violin and piano (French Impressions, with Joshua Bell and Jeremy Denk, Sony Classical) gives an opportunity to revisit a much-loved and much-recorded work: Cesar Franck's Violin Sonata.

I fell in love with this work over 40 years ago after hearing a performance by...

As Syria teeters ever closer to civil war, one little-discussed danger concerns the fate of its stockpile of deadly chemical weapons, possibly the largest in the world.

Reports suggest that Syria has amassed hundreds of tons of chemical weapons including nerve agents Sarin, Tabun, VX and mustard agents....

For the past 15 years or so, I have run a 10K on the morning of Thanksgiving Day -- the Bethesda Turkey Chase sponsored by the local YMCA. It's a healthy way to begin the day and makes the subsequent meal relatively guilt-free.

I had imagined that I'd...

A visit to the German city of Worms prompts interesting thoughts about the sweep of Jewish history while offering insights into a very contemporary Israeli dilemma.

Worms, an easy hour-long drive from Frankfurt International Airport, vies with Trier and Cologne for the title of Germany's oldest city. The Jewish presence...

This is testing week for Israel and its supporters, coming at the end of a very tough summer.

The Israelis have lost their traditional alliance with Turkey. Their peace treaty with Egypt is barely hanging on as Islamists and other extremists flex their muscles. Terrorists attacked Israeli civilians...

In her classic work The March of Folly, historian Barbara Tuchman examined several examples of governments or leaders who doggedly pursued policies counter to their self-interests, with disastrous results.

That is exactly what Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is doing by going to the United Nations next week with his unilateral...

Virtually ignored by the international media, Gaza-based terrorists have resumed rocket attacks on Israeli towns and villages after a two-month pause. Three rockets and at least one mortar shells hit southern Israel Tueday night and early Wednesday morning, bringing the total for the year to 341. One damaged...

If you don't mind steep hills, Jerusalem is a delightful city in which to take a morning run.

My usual route takes me through some of the stately old neighborhoods of west Jerusalem -- Rehavia, the German and Greek Colonies, Talbiyeh and Katamon. These are well-established, tree-lined quarters made...

Thirty years ago, I was a young Reuters correspondent in Tel Aviv. It was a sleepy June day, as I recall -- the festival of Shavuoth. People were at the beach, or hiking in the hills or in synagogue.

That afternoon, I went to the office to begin what...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is on a quest to make peace -- with Hamas.

He's so anxious to kiss and make up with the Islamic fundamentalists who slaughtered his Fatah loyalists in 2007, driving the survivors out of Gaza, that he's apparently willing to sacrifice $470...