Cole Aronson

Dec 9, 2024 | thepublicdiscourse.com | Cole Aronson

Someone must have been telling lies. When he’s arrested at the beginning of Franz Kafka’s The Trial, Joseph K. thinks first of his innocence. To be innocent is to be innocent of some crime, but the court that’s ordered K.’s arrest never says what crime K. has committed. K. seems to be guilty simply–there are no reports or accusations for him to expose as lies. Because the court “is attracted to guilt,” it will wait for K. wherever he goes.

Sep 30, 2024 | mosaicmagazine.com | Cole Aronson

American Jews do a lot to teach their children Hebrew. Dozens of Jewish day schools teach Hebrew grammar and vocabulary. Some use Hebrew as the language of instruction for classes about Jewish texts. Synagogue-run Hebrew schools teach children what they need to make it through their bar- and bat-mitzvah services. A new group of charter schools, Hebrew in form and non-parochial in content, is now teaching Hebrew to hundreds of secular and non-Jewish students.

Sep 22, 2024 | wsj.com | Cole Aronson

WSJ Opinion: Don't Blame Israel FirstYour browser does not support HTML5 video. 0:00Paused0:00 / 6:13WSJ Opinion: Don't Blame Israel FirstPlay video: WSJ Opinion: Don't Blame Israel FirstBenjamin Netanyahu’s government has been criticized for not giving Gazans a political alternative to Hamas. But recent polling suggests that the war itself is teaching Gazans that terrorism is both futile and costly. Stabilizing Gaza for a more fruitful “day after” will be difficult.

Sep 10, 2024 | firstthings.com | Cole Aronson

Good news from Jerusalem. For weeks, groups of Jews have ascended the Temple Mount and prayed out loud and prostrated themselves. They are resisting what is colloquially known as the Temple Mount “status quo,” an informal arrangement between Israel and the Muslim Council administering the site that restricts Jewish prayer. Meanwhile, Muslim prayers at the Temple Mount’s al-Aqsa Mosque, the most famous mosque in the Holy Land, have gone on normally. And there has been peace.

Sep 10, 2024 | europeanconservative.com | Cole Aronson

For Americans like me, who’ve known their country at war only in the Middle East, one of the most interesting things about World War II is the lack of a postwar insurgency. After the Nazis and imperial Japanese surrendered, groups of disaffected soldiers did not lead violent campaigns to restore the defeated regimes (an end-of-war coup attempt in Japan failed rather quickly). The occupations of Germany and Japan were peaceful. Both countries became reliable American allies in short order.