There is a pernicious nationalism gripping the world today. The President of the United States has gone so far as to state "You are either with us or against us!" Increasingly, one must support and endorse every action taken by the government or be considered a traitor. The beat of the jingoistic drum can be even louder in Israel. Especially disturbing is the accusation of anti-Semitism towards anyone who disagrees with the actions of Israel in dealing with the Palestinians.

It is not my intention with this editorial to open a debate on the Israeli government's policies. The diversity of opinions supporting and opposing Sharon ranges from avid Zionism to outright hostility towards all Jews. There are those who have the misguided notion that any disagreement with Israel's activities is automatically indicative of anti-Semitism.

As a Jew and a caring human being, I believe in the existence of Israel as the Jewish homeland. I do not question the right of Israel to defend herself against all aggressors. Israel rightfully prides itself on being the only democracy in the Middle East and democracies should allow the right of dissent. It is grievously unfair to accuse people who engage in debate over Israel's policies of being anti-Semitic.

There have been many leaders and governments in Israel. Every administration has had its critics yet I do not remember such a heightened correlation between loyalty to the government's policies and loyalty to the Jewish people.

As Jews, we look towards Israel as the official homeland of our people where all Jews are welcome. We have the right to be heard when our ideas differ from the ruling government without being accused of disloyalty to our heritage and people. We must not confuse our love of Judaism and our commitment to one another with blind acquiescence towards a set of political ideas. Governments and their policies will come and go as they always have and peace between Israel and her neighbours will be achieved for there is no other acceptable choice. One thing which should never change is the commitment of the Jewish people to each other no matter what our individual political beliefs might be.

I would like to thank, once again, our Megillah family for your support during our recent server problems. We realize that the bombardment of test messages was disconcerting to many of you and at the very least a pain in the tukhes. With perseverance and determined effort, we ultimately discovered the root of the difficulty and repaired it. I cannot promise there will never be any problems in the future, but for now we seem to have clear sailing ahead.

Many people have written commenting on the outstanding cover presentation Arnold created for the September Megillah. I want to thank Arnold personally for the tremendous amount of work, creativity and time he devoted in the design of his memorable tribute.

Our Megillah photo album continues to grow. We invite everyone who has not yet submitted a photo for the album to do so. Please email your pictures to Yiddishkeit@pass.to . You can view the album at http://www.pass.to/GMPhotoAlbum/index.htm . This is a wonderful way to become better acquainted with the members of our Megillah family.

I am happy to report that the Weekly Megillah is receiving rave notices from our members. It appears that our decision to create the weekly edition covering ongoing news stories of interest to our community was a good one. Thank you to everyone who has sent in notes of encouragement and support for this new project. We have also been hearing lots of kind words about the new monthly format. I want to acknowledge the ongoing contributions of our regular columnists who are making the Monthly Gantseh Megillah such a success.

Finally, thanks to everyone who has made financial contributions to our ongoing efforts. It is these voluntary donations that help keep Yiddishkeit alive on the Web. Arnold and I try to provide the best possible service to the members of our Megillah family, but we can't do it alone. For those members who have not yet made a contribution, please consider doing so. Your donations are our only source of assistance in meeting the expenses of providing these services to our members. Please click on the links below for all the necessary information on how you can contribute to our ongoing efforts.

To all of our friends in Canada, Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the Megillah!
Much love to all of you,
Michael
Editor