Category Archives: Law, Politics & Military

Jews in the World of Law and Politics

Jews of the Week: Eric Cantor and Moshe Kantor

Mineral Leader, Majority Leader

Moshe Kantor: “the Boss”

Majority Leader Eric Cantor

Recently named one of the world’s most influential Jews, Moshe Kantor (b. 1953) serves as president of the European Jewish Congress and World Holocaust Forum. The owner of Akron, one of the world’s largest chemical producers, he is on Forbes’ list of self-made billionaires. Meanwhile, Eric Cantor (b. 1963) is the current House Majority Leader in the U.S. Congress, making him the highest-ranking Jew in American political history. He’s been representing Virginia for over 10 years, and in recent months has pushed a bill to cut all aid to the Palestinian Authority. He is marked as a potential vice-president in next year’s elections. He’s already been shot at.

Words of the Week

If one walnut is removed from a pile, each and every other nut is shaken and disturbed. So too, when a single Jew is in distress, every other Jew is shaken.
– Midrash Shir HaShirim Raba 6:11

 

This Week in History

July 15, 1834: the Spanish Inquisition is abolished by the Queen Mother Maria Christina. However, practicing Judaism in Spain was still officially forbidden until 1967.

Jew of the Week: Benjamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister of Israel

Binyamin Netanyahu (b. 1949) Two-time prime minister of Israel, he fought in both the 1967 and ’73 wars. Netanyahu was a special forces operative in the IDF’s elite Sayeret Matkal unit for five years, participating in some of Israel’s most daring missions. His political career started off as ambassador to the U.N. Later he would serve as Israel’s finance minister, foreign minister, health minister, pension affairs minister and economic strategy minister. Netanyahu holds a B.Sc in architecture and an M.Sc in business from MIT and studied political science at Harvard. While in America, he went by the name Ben Nitay, a reference to the Talmudic sage Nitay HaArbeli, whose most famous dictum is “Distance yourself from a bad neighbour, do not associate with a wicked person and do not despair of retribution.” (Pirkei Avot 1:7) Interestingly, Netanyahu is the only Israeli prime minister in history to have actually been born in Israel. He has written five books. He is also a descendant of the Vilna Gaon.

UPDATE: Since this post was first published in 2011, Netanyahu has become Israel’s longest-service prime minister. Over his tenure, Israel has experienced some of its greatest economic and population growth; significantly strengthened its borders and reduced the number of terror victims; and managed to sign multiple peace treaties with Arab neighbours.

UPDATE 2: Netanyahu’s tenure as Israel’s prime minister ended on June 13, 2021. He served for a total of 15 years and 92 days, the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history.

From the History Vault

The church and the government of Rome set Wednesday, March 6, 1430, as the day when all the Jews of Rome must convert or face death. On that day a massive earthquake struck Rome and many of the archbishops and priests who conceived the decree were killed. Following the earthquake, Pope Martin V annulled the decree.

Jew of the Week: Ze’ev Jabotinsky

The Ultimate Zionist

Ze’ev Jabotinsky: Zionist Extraordinaire

Ze’ev Jabotinsky (1880-1940) Famous for his instrumental role in the establishment of a Jewish state, Jabotinsky first gained fame as a journalist. In Russia, he formed the Jewish Self-Defense Organization to arm Jews to fight back the pogroms, saying it is “better to have a gun and not need it, than to need it and not have it!” Later, he formed the Jewish Legion for the British Army, fighting in several wars, for which he was awarded the Order of the British Empire. A staunch Zionist and freedom fighter, he worked tirelessly for Israel, at one point being arrested and given a 15-year prison term. He also wrote nearly a dozen books. Amazingly, sensing what he called an impending “super-pogrom”, in 1936 Jabotinsky set up an evacuation plan to bring every single Jew from Poland, Hungary and Romania to Israel. All three governments eagerly agreed to the plan. Unfortunately, it was not popular among the Polish Jews. Ultimately, the British vetoed the plan and prevented it from materializing. Today in Israel, there are more streets and parks named after him than any other figure.

Words of the Week

Some people like Jews and some do not; but no thoughtful man can doubt the fact that they are beyond all question the most formidable and the most remarkable race which has ever appeared in the world.
– Sir Winston Churchill (in an article for the Sunday Herald, February 8, 1920)