Genesis 32:27

Last week’s parsha was Va-Yishlah, which continues the story of Jacob.  There are plenty of lessons in the reading: Jacob’s need to be left alone, in preparation for making amends with his brother Esau. Or his struggle with the divine being, through which he becomes Israel, his more holy self. These are instructive, and Jacob’s is one of my favorite stories, because he is one of the first of the very flawed fathers of Judaism to prove that he is worthy of God’s choice, and because as someone who has alternated between completely skeptical and deeply faithful, I love that Jacob’s descendents, the Israelites, take for their name a word that means ’struggle with God’.  But the lesson that resounds the most, that echoes through my mind at all times, is Genesis 32:27.  Jacob has struggled with the being, and been grievously hurt, but he has held his own.  The being says, ‘let me go, for dawn is breaking,’ but Jacob refuses.  ‘I will not let thee go, except thou bless me,’ he says.

Constructing Identities and the Public Sphere

Last week I was outed on Twitter: the rabbi’s sister called him, concerned that one of her fellow congregants (who also knows the rabbi through her (the congregant’s) husband) pulled her aside and showed her my Twitter feed.  Besides the oddity that a woman I have never met would be reading my tweets, this has implications for the rabbi, because he is the most tweeted subject in my feed.  I never refer to him by name, and mention few identifying characteristics, but with time, it would be possible to figure out who he is.  Because of me, he now has a Twitter presence, without ever having signed up for the service.  We are, for better or for worse, now linked in the public sphere, and on a scale that neither of us will be able to control.

Actually Alive and #IranElection

I’ve actually been very active online recently, but through twitter.  Just keeping up with twitter feeds on #iranelection is taking most of my time (and the rest goes to actual work), but check out @mmckone and @georgetownDG.

Next Week’s IR Events (7.14-7.20)

Transforming Development? The Role of Philanthropic Foundations in International Development Cooperation
7.14.08
12-2 PM
German Marshall Fund
RSVP by email to Asha Davis at adavis@gmfus.org

IISS Book Launch: ‘Political Islam in Turkey: Running West, Heading East?’
7.15.08
9-11 AM
RSVP by email to events-washington@iiss.org

McCain and Obama: Comparing Their Economic Platforms
7.15.08
12-2 PM
Cato Institute
More information available online

YPFP Speed Debates
7.16.08
6-8 PM
More information available online

Interesting Links

• Mugabe is not the worst dictator in Africa.
• Stop Mugabe by cutting off his supply of…. paper.
• British mercenaries try to take over Guinea.
• The rise and fall of European and Arab cities.
• Advice for fixing the global food crisis.
• The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart – Bill Bishop
• A debate about evolution and the origin of life from a Muslim perspective.
• Possible good news for veterans with PTSD: give them ’shrooms.

The Rebellion Within

Just in case you didn’t see this or haven’t yet read it, this was an excellent article in the New Yorker about the internal struggle within radical Islam about the legitimacy of violence.

New Postings in Writings

I’m slowly adding to my portfolio on the Writings page.  Topics include:

• Ethnicity in Nigeria
• Liberation theology and apartheid in South Africa
• The Milliennium Challenge Account
• The state in Botswana and Sierra Leone

And my recent review of “Wither the Darfur Mediation” and “Beyond Darfur” is also posted there.