Eshman, Jones, Castro and Me

Random thoughts on the eve of my departure for Europe to promote Mormon-Jewish ties in six countries:
1) Jewish Journal Editor-in-Chief Rob Eshman’s poignant essay in this week’s issue profiles a Jewish musician who was helped by a Mormon in his time of need:  http://www.jewishjournal.com/rob_eshman/article/you_dont_know_jack_20100908/
2) Pastor Terry Jones’s 15 minutes of fame expired long ago. It’s scary to see how an idiot with 50 followers and a harebrained scheme can come to the attention of some of the most powerful people in the world. The best news I’ve heard all week is that the webhost for the pastor’s “world outreach center” has shut its website down, along with the accompanying “Islam is the Devil” site. It’s time for the nation’s media and pundits to pull the plug on this story as well. I don’t have children, but I’m told that brats don’t throw too many tantrums when no one is around to notice.
3) The second-best news I’ve heard all week is that Fidel Castro strongly denounced anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial by Iran’s president in a revealing conversation with the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg. Of particular interest to me were his comments concerning theology-based anti-Semitism:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/09/fidel-to-ahmadinejad-stop-slandering-the-jews/62566/
4) I will be sans cell phone and laptop during my trip, which will be a welcome vacation from gadgets and technology. I hope to have interesting tales to relate in two weeks’ time. In the meantime, I wish my Jewish friends a Gmar Chatimah Tova as their fates are sealed in the book of life next week on Yom Kippur.