I'm too tired and occupied with various things to write about the latest events.

Ribbity writes that British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks "almost addresses" the meaning of covenant in the absence of belief in divine revelation... Leo Strauss already demonstrated in "Philosophy and Law" that that's a question not really worth addressing. Gershom Scholem essentially agreed in "On the Possibility of Jewish Mysticism in Our Time".

In a similar vein, here's an interesting essay by Mark Lilla on the Counter-enlightenment.

Mark Lilla and Tony Judt were both interesting-to-read Europhiles who had a certain amount of disdain for America. After Sept 11, Judt seems to be even more of a Europhile, and, in his periodic "Fisk-me-please" articles in the NY Review of Books, identifies heavily with the EU approach to the Middle East. I had been wondering if Lilla, who has visited Israel periodically, had become more sympathetic to the USA - I just recently came across this piece from February that criticizes Bush's "Axis of Evil" speech. Lilla's remarks are interesting; but somehow it always works out that attempts to be "nuanced" and subtle with respect to Saddam or whomever just end up being appeasements. Lilla is also very critical of Yoram Hazony.

Friday I was walking around in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City and saw a group of 4 Arab kids, all probably under the age of 10, playing Cops and Robbers. Actually, maybe it wasn't Cops and Robbers. This boy wrapped a black bandana over his head and covered his face with it as he used his elbow to hold his sister[?] around her neck and placed a toy gun to her head. I regretted not having my digital camera with me, and realized I would have thought twice before photographing someone holding a gun that looked so real. They all seemed to be having fun.