Happy Purim, Mr. President?
The media and Senator Barack Obama's campaign have rightly reported on or mocked Senator John McCain's apparent foreign affairs ignorance, or gaffe if one is to be generous, during his recent trip to the Middle East -- ignorance which led to him state (repeatedly) that "everyone knows" that Iran is supporting Al Qaeda in Iraq. As witnessed on television, Senator Joe Lieberman came to the hapless McCain's rescue by whispering something in his ear, perhaps something along the lines of "no, no, you idiot, Iran is Shiite!" As bad as McCain's belligerent ignorance, or outright lies were, another gaffe less reported, one that is perhaps even more telling of the Republican nominee's grasp of Middle Eastern history and culture, was his comparison of the Jewish holiday of Purim to Halloween. Yes, Halloween. Again, Senator Lieberman came to his rescue, offering that it was his fault for comparing the festive nature of Purim to Halloween, presumably in explaining what Purim is in the first place to Senator McCain who might have been curious in hearing the word during his trip to Israel.
Purim, as perhaps not everyone knows, is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people (of Babylon, which had become a part of the ancient Persian Empire) from a plot to annihilate them. The plot was uncovered and foiled by Queen Esther, wife of Xerxes and herself Jewish, and Mordechai, a Jewish courtier. Since that time, Jews have continuously lived in Persia, now known by its original Farsi name Iran. And of course, naturally, Purim is, to Iranian Jews at least, one the most important holidays in the calendar. But why, one might wonder, should a Gentile American Senator, or even a presidential candidate know this story? One reason might be that Purim also explains, to some degree, why Iran still has the second largest population of Jews in the region outside of Israel. It might explain why the Iranian parliament has a Jewish MP, why there is a Grand Rabbi in Tehran, and why synagogues exist openly in Iran. Iranians of all religions, including fundamentalist Shias, tell the story of a Persian king and his Jewish queen with much pride, as evidence to them of the Iranian national character, a character that produced the first declaration of human rights (under Cyrus), and a character that they maintain believes in justice.
Now one might argue that that is all well and good, but Iran today is no picnic for Jews, or that Iran's present Holocaust-denying government is rabidly anti-Semitic and bent on the destruction of Israel. Or that Iran is at odds with the U.S. and is a dangerous nation that threatens our very security. But even if that is all true, then shouldn't the commander-in-chief know a little about the history of that nation? A history that in this case, is also an important part of the history of the Jewish people? Should he not know that Iranians have great pride in their past, that every Iranian schoolchild can recite their ancient history and that that history partly forms their worldview? Perhaps not. Perhaps if one merely intends to bomb a nation, it is unimportant. But if the next president of the United States wants to engage in dialog and diplomacy with Iran, if he or she wants to find a way to come to some sort of understanding with what we think of as our great adversary in the region without resorting to war, then the president needs to know who Iranians are beyond the label 'Shiite' whispered into his ear at an opportune (or inopportune) moment. President Ahmadinejad, and whomever is the next president of Iran (who will be elected six months after our new president takes office), may not actually celebrate Purim today while their Jewish countrymen do, but they know what it means, they take pride in its significance, and they know it's not Halloween.
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you seem to assume that everyone should just know what purim is... by this i mean the reader. your tone is what lost me to your cause.
I believe you rather missed the man's point completely. First, he doesn't expect you, me, or any "average" American to know about Purim. The issue is whether a presidential candidate should have clue about a topic ofsome considerable significance before talking about it publicly. The thing of it is that American politicians actually count on American voters being largely clueless or worse, not caring about what happens in a non-Western, non-white country. Sadly, the politicians are often right in their assessment. You seem more concerned about the parochial nature of Majd's comment rather than the substance of his criticism of McCain and that's too bad. In any event, if you did catch the less than oblique criticism of McCain you certainly didn't suggest it by your comment.
Sunni and Shia confused once? Be charitable and call it a gaffe.
Four times? That's not confusion. That's ignorance.
It's not ignorance. Rove has proven that if you repeat a lie often enough, the gullible Americans will think it's true. It's like the the Iraq/911 thing. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. But when Cheney says Iraq did it over and over, Americans believe it. Which is why America has the government it deserves.
Rove proved that? I thought it was Goebbels.
Hey Huff Post;
My comments are clean. I do not cuss or seriously attack anyone (although a jab here and there can be fun).
Sure my view points are different than most but isn't that what a comments section is all about? Example; I really and truly after very serious study and observation (And I'm no dummy) believe Ron Paul is the only qualified candidate to head up our country. He lives, eats, sleeps, and drinks our Constitution. And as if that isn't enough he is also honest to a fault! No other politician can make that claim. No one!
Some would disagree but those folks just won't take the time to learn about Paul. They have been media manipulated and are not even aware of it.
So my question to you, Huff, is why do all my comments get censored? Not one comment has ever surfaced and I worry that this one won't either.
Lest you should believe Ron is out of the race nothing could be farther from the truth. He has a tremendous grass roots support team and more than enough money to take him all the way.
All that and we accept Democrats too! :-D
yahoo.comul2008@yahoo.com
Please be fair about this, okay?
Tommy~
You know, I can understand why you would post this, and although I disagree with you, I can also understand your point. The one thing that I don't understand is why you posted this in here. I mean, this is a comment section on a post about how John McCain doesn't understand something that he should, and you're talking about how good a president Ron Paul would be.....
It's much easier to bomb a country celebrating Halloween.
Not covered in the post are some key aspects of the Purim story. In brief:
The hatcher of the plot, a gent named Haman who has escalated a personal grudge to a cause for genocide, is a minister in Xerxes' government.
And Esther is happily assimilated / intermarried, picked by Xerxes for her beauty. And she has a secet.
Xerxes doesn't at first listen to the pious Mordechai, but he DOES listen to his wife, Esther, Mordechai's cousin, who raised her, and who risks her own life to declare her true heritage to King Hubby in order to save her cousin and his -- make it their -- people.
I like to think of Haman as yesteryear's neo-cons, maybe at the VP level of today. But that's just me.
The return-to-roost of the assimilated spouse angle, I can live without. Many a Jewish mother reminds their intermarried kids of their responsibilities with this story in mind.
Anywho... it's a big megillah. The original one, I believe. That my mom thought I wasn't listening to.
Pretty shoddy for a guy who passed Hillary's commander-in-chief test.
I think the bigger question is: Why does Lieberman need to travel with McCain, prepping and correcting him on his mideast tour?
Looked like Halloween to me. There was Joe Lieberman dressed up as a Democrat, and McCain disguised as an expert on foreign policy. And the press gave them a nice treat : minimal coverage of this -- at best -- outrageous senior moment.
In fact, I wonder is Lieberman operating as a double-rev
(sdrawkcab
Honorary HuffPick!
Some suggest these gaffes are just that gaffes, and don't matter. Think, if you are 73 years old and aware that your competition will be watching to make use of anything that suggests that you are too old for the job, wouldn't you be making sure that you don't make easily preventable gaffes like this. He has people advising him to wear sweaters in order to look more hip and with it, they choose his ties and makeup and control where the cameras are. These aren't gaffes, they are evidence.
HuffPost's Pick
Great post, thank you.
I am an American Jew, I love America, but the willful ignorance of Americans about the rest of the World is shocking and dangerous.
I am regularly shocked, not only at what Americans don't know about Jews, but more so, what they "know" that isn't true.
And they probably know more about Jews than they know about most other cultures, because, as Louis Black said: "We walk among you, and would be more than happy to take some time out of our Jewy, Jewy, day, to explain."
It's alright not to know. Realizing that you don't already know something is the first necessary step in learning.
What's not alright, is not to know, and then not to care.
That's not only willful ignorance, it's arrogance in the extreme.
The misadventure in Iraq was doomed from day one, but the extent of the fiasco can be largely attributed to willful ignorance and arrogance.
Turns out that, for example, not all Muslims share exactly the same beliefs, that some are Sunni and some are Shiite.
Turns out most of the people planning the War (including the Commander in Chief), didn't really understand this.
Turns out that mattered.
Woudn't it be great to have a president that would be willing to crack a book or ask somebody that knew before committing the Nation to war?
Just a thought . . .
Huzzah.
Or should I say, "chuzzah."
You could say the present administration has got a lot of chutzpah. Good post, Moshe.
That is a good post Moshe.
Moshe, excellent !!! Particularly, "What's not alright, is not to know, and then not to care." ...and over all, spot on!
And this would apply to all candidates, equally, such as on the Dmitri Medvedev question in TX, for example.
Regarding cracking a book, I have thought the same thing. In relation to Bush's presidency, I would recommend Dr. Justin Frank's book, "Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President," (although I do not subscribe to its psychoanalytic approach to religion which strikes more of prejudice in its vast generaliza
By failing to recognize such intricacies one would also fail to recognize subtle nuances and thus opportunities. Finesse is an Art, and the Key to diplomacy. An element required of our next President. In delicate situations knowing more about your advesary is crucial. Mac is no longer Fit for Duty. And Hillary has proven her inablity to be subtle or incorporate Finesse into her own monologue, let a lone in a dialogue. Seh needs to Concede Immediately
Mac had a honorable career but he is no longer fit for Duty.
His body mechanics show hints of mini Strokes,with some rehab improvement. but his mind has not . these recent cognitive 'mistakes' are signs of reduced recall ability. Granted lack of sleep and travel will effect accuatey but this is usual caught after the first mis spoken phrase, thought , word.
It's time Mac hang up his service boots and enjoy his time with his Wife & family.It'
Brother Hooman, from your column today, I'm scoping you out as one of them "furriners".
You're looking for intelligent life among our politicians?
You can't possibly be from here.
I am Jewish and I often describe Purim to non-Jews as the Jewish Halloween. Many Jewish people also do this and it seems that is how Joe Lieberman explained it to McCain. On Purim which is about the story of the heroes Queen Esther and Mordecai against the bad guy Haman we do dress up in costumes. It is the American tradition to dress up in costumes, boo and yell whenever anyone mentions Haman's name, and eat cookies shaped like his hat that we call hamentaschen. Last night at my temple, one rabbi dressed as Elvis, another as Jester and another depicting an Elton John song. The kids had a costume parade, we sang and danced and ate. How many Americans know anything about Purim? I wouldn't expect McCain to understand it.
Interesting info on something I hadn't heard of before. Can't expect many of us Americans to know what it is, but then again, we aren't running for president. Would it be too much to have his staff "google" it?
Exactly..w
Sorry, but I do expect McCain to understand it, at least beyond spouting shallow comparisons, since he expects people to vote for him to represent around the world, including in places where Purim is considered an important holiday, similarity to Halloween aside.
I expect him to speak respectfully and thoughtfully instead of spouting falsehoods and making comments based on the most cursory pre-comment briefing rather than a thorough understanding of what he is talking about.
See, because he expects us to place him face to face with the world's leaders, friend and enemy, and speak to them in our stead, and that means he has to be able to speak knowledgeably about just about everything without Joe Lieberman's (or anyone else's) arm up his rear.
I can't wait for the mysterious "box" to appear on his back during the debates with Obama - hooked directly into Joe Lieberman's whispers.
I am certainly not defending McCain's lack of overall knowledge and inability to be our President. The fact that Lieberman needs to be at his side to correct him at all is very disturbing. McCain will only bring us 4 more years of the Bush Doctrine or even worse. I hope everyone in this country understands that and votes for whichever democrat is the nominee.
Delphine wrote:
" I can't wait for the mysterious "box" to appear on his [McCain's] back during the debates with Obama - hooked directly into Joe Lieberman's whispers."
WE HAVE HORSE WHISPERERS
WE HAVE DOG WHISPERERS
NOW, WE HAVE, i dunno, OLD WHITE MAN WHISPERER??????
Well, he does not need to understand it, unless maybe he is..
RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.
With the exception of the current chimp, this office position used to require Intelligence.
Halloween does involve wearing costumes, it's true. But its roots lie in the ancient Druids. It has elements of Rosh Hashanah, Succoth, solstice, and then some. The connection with Purim is pretty weak.
Samhain (sow en) is the end of the harvest and for some the end / beginning of the Celtic New Year and the beginning of short days. October 31/ November 1 is technically the day when the boundaries between the sacred and profane - or the living and the dead - melt away and spitirs of the dead return. In olden days one would set a place at the table for the dead. The dead were believed to be roaming the roads.
The Catholic Church co opted this pagan holy day by naming November 1 All Saints Day, but reverence for the dead and old customs persisted. Food was put out to placate the spirits roaming the roads, just as we give treats to those who come to our door.
Whatever point Senator Lieberman was making seems to be reduced to the wearing of costumes. But he doesn't seem to know much about .what the costumes, or the customs, signify.
The last thing America needs is another President who doesn't have a clue what he's talking about! The world looks at America and its choice of leaders, like Bush and McCain, and just shakes its head. The quality of the country has proven to depend on its quality of leadership. That the American people would choose so poorly these kinds of leaders does not reflect well on the American people. Come on America! Get back in the game! Get it right this time! Hillary is the same old, same old. Barack Obama will immediately raise the profile of the U.S. and make the rest of the world will sit up and take notice.
Gaffes! Are you people hard up for something to write. Why don't you tell us about the "President of Canada" Obama will be speaking to.
People make mistakes-grow up
We are tired of mistakes..
You are apparently a mistake..
Obama 08
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Posted March 21, 2008 | 01:45 PM (EST)