Word: secularism
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...even on the field of battle, ranked second in dignity and priority to higher concerns. To a pious Christian, politics cannot provide a final solution because it only is concerned with this world, which is always passing away. But to American youth, immersed in a self-consciously and radically secular culture, especially at a place like Harvard, the precepts and promises of religion have diminished appeal. Limiting their perspectives to this world, youth understandably can see politics—once shorn of the ostensible cynicism of the older generations—as the catholicon of their...
These setbacks have not helped Gaydamak's chances of being elected mayor of the Holy City. He is an outsider, joining an election fray that has polarized the city's black-hatted community of ultra-Orthodox haredim from the rest of its secular inhabitants. The outcome of this race will have repercussions for the Obama Administration's Israel-Palestinian peace plans, since the dilemma of Jerusalem - whether it will be shared with the Palestinians or remain the undivided Jewish capital - lies at the heart of any future accord. Gaydamak's rivals for the mayoralty are an ultra-Orthodox...
...third of Jerusalem's 750,000 population are ultra-Orthodox Jews, another third are a mix of secular and less Orthodox Jews, while the remaining third are East Jerusalem's Arabs. Gaydamak, 56, can forget about winning the ultra-Orthodox vote. It will be delivered in a bloc to Meir Porush, 54, a former Knesset member who has the backing of the city's key rabbis. Says Anat Hoffmann, a former city council member: "When Porush says 'our children,' he doesn't mean Jerusalem's children. He means those of his community. And when he says 'our Jerusalem,' he means...
...look cuddly and friendly. And so, instead of a photo, Porush is represented on posters by a cartoon figure of a smiling rabbi. It does little to warm the hearts of non-haredim, however. Porush recently told his followers, "In another 10 years, there won't be a single secular mayor anywhere except in some rundown village." That is a day that many ordinary Israelis in Tel Aviv and elsewhere would dread. Already, droves of secular Jerusalemites are leaving the city, stifled by its increasing religiosity, and a Porush victory would increase the exodus, his critics...
Gaydamak is setting his sights on Jerusalem's secular and less Orthodox Jews. But the Russian faces competition from Nir Barkat, 49, a software multimillionaire and city councilman. They will end up splitting the secular votes, with Barkat scooping up the larger share. Barkat has swung to the right, promising to build more Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem. Gaydamak thinks his only chance is to make inroads among the city's Arab community...