March 2011: Nearly ten years ago, the Korea Times reported: “Interestingly, there are at least two different books currently sitting on Korean best-seller shelves that purport to explain the Jewish Talmud. The popularity of these books initially came as a surprise. They read those books because Jews have gained a reputation for hard work and success, two things Koreans relate to well.” In addition, it is said, almost every home in South Korea boasts a Korean version of the Talmud, and mothers commonly teach it to their children, who call it the “Light of Knowledge.”

Why? “We were very curious about the high academic achievements of the Jews,” Young-Sam explained, according to a Ynet report. “Jews have a high percentage of Nobel laureates in all fields – literature, science and economics.

This is a remarkable achievement. We tried to understand: What is the secret of the Jewish people? How are they, more than other people, able to reach those impressive accomplishments? Why are Jews so intelligent? The conclusion we arrived at is that one of your secrets is that you study the Talmud… We believe that if we teach our children Talmud, they will also become geniuses. This is what stands behind the rationale of introducing Talmud study to our school curriculum.”

The country’s ambassador to Israel, Ma Young-Sam, told the “Culture Today” TV show that Talmud study is now a mandatory part of the country’s school curriculum. “I, for example, have two sets of the Talmud,” the ambassador stated. “The one my wife bought me, and the second was a gift from my mother.”

He also praised the Talmud and the Jewish tradition it represents for its family values, respect for adults, and respect for education in general. In South Korea there are close to 49 million residents, and they all learn Gemara in school. “We tried to understand why the Jews are such geniuses and we concluded that (it is because) they study Talmud,” explained South Korea’s ambassador to Israel.

“We were curious how come the Jews are so successful academically and have a much higher percentage of Nobel Prize winners in all fields… what is their secret?… one of your secrets is studying Talmud,” continued ambassador Young-Sam-Ma. There might be now more (translated) Talmud volumes in South Korean homes than in Israel! In his appearance on Israeli TV he spoke about shared values between the Jewish people and the Koreans such as the place of the family, respect for elders, education and culture. He was impressed with the fact that even in a small kibbutz there is a cultural center with on-going cultural activities.

The Talmud, which comes from the Hebrew root lmd “teach, study,” is a central text of Judaism’s oral law, composed of two parts: Mishnah (c. 200 CE) and the Gemara (c. 500 CE). Even if you speak Hebrew fluently, it can be most intimidating to try and study or just begin to read one line in it, but in order to appreciate what’s most fascinating about it, you don’t need to know Hebrew – or Aramaic. You just need to look at any random page in one of its many volumes.

The Talmud page doesn’t look like a regular book. It looks much more like a table with chairs around it. There is a central issue on that table, and all around it sit various guests with various opinions, discussing, debating and often fervently disagreeing with each other. Any page of the Talmud is a picture of a multi-generational, global dialog. It’s not an encyclopedia filled with information. It’s a culture of hearing, listening, commenting, structuring a discussion, being creative, thinking outside the box, seeking solutions in the most unlikely places, never giving up on finding them. That has been the strength of our people.

This is what we need today too. We find that, for most part, our issues are not what to do with an egg that was laid on a yom tov (holiday) or the exact methods of the sacrificial systems. But we need dialog. We crave conversations. We thirst connection based on content, good old face to face encounters.

In the last couple of weeks, our Israel Center team has been invited to several places in order to discuss dialogs regarding Israel. We are discovering that often the “program” is not some magical event, but working through the needs, and strategizing to build sustainable systems about bringing Israel to our community through local and overseas resources. In short the program might be talking about the program…

Two Jordanian officials stated Wednesday January 19, 2011 the baptism was closed to the media at the request of Russian officials, who stated the president wanted privacy. The Russian media stated President Dmitry Medvedev has been baptised in the Jordan River in commemoration of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist.

RIA Novosti and ITAR-Tass stated Medvedev was dunked three times in line with Orthodox tradition at a site in western Jordan where Jesus is said to have been baptized by John the Baptist. Earlier, an official stated Medvedev would have a priest splash him with Jordan river water in a symbolic commemoration of the baptism.

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Pope Benedict XVI, appealed to European nations as well as the Muslim world to protect Christianity in what he called the most persecuted religion in the world. Recent attacks on Christians in Egypt, Nigeria and Iran have claimed dozens of casualties. The pope stated, “This succession of attacks is yet another sign of the urgent need for the governments of the region to adopt, in spite of difficulties and dangers, effective measures for the protection of religious minorities.”

Responding to the report on the pope’s statements, U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley declined to directly answer a reporter’s question, “Who do you think is doing this?” “I’d be very wary at this point about making any sweeping statements about whether what’s happened in Iraq has a bearing on what’s happening in other countries such as Egypt or Nigeria,” Crowley stated. “These are all being investigated.”

The International Christian Concern was more direct. ICC president Jeff King stated, “Anti-Christian hatred arising from Islam has flowed into 2011, as seen in the horrific attacks in Egypt, Pakistan and Iraq already this year,” he stated. The ICC also noted that mainstream media rarely report the phenomenon of persecuted Christians despite its having becoming more common.

In Egypt, the government did not take kindly to the pope’s call for “effective measures” to protect Christian minorities in the Middle East. Cairo recalled its ambassador to the Vatican, stating that “Egypt will not allow any non-Egyptian party to intervene in our internal affairs under any pretext.”

Despite witnesses stating that an off-duty Muslim policeman shouted “Allahu Akhbar´(Allah is great) as he shot and killed a Copt last week, Egypt claimed that the murderer acted because of “his personal state” and not because of “the religion of his victims.” The shooter aimed his pistol at women, presumed to be non-Muslims, who were not wearing a head covering.

Nevertheless, Egypt’s ambassador to the Vatican denied there was any persecution of Christians in his country. “Persecution is a big word,” she said. “In order to prove that there is persecution, you have to be very careful. This is a legal term which should not be used casually.”

Western countries are in a state of denial, asserted Clifford D. May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism. Writing in the Boston Herald, he cited the bombing of Christian churches in Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria and the Philippines and Indonesia, the recent arrests of Christians in Iran, and the death penalty handed down to a Christian woman in Pakistan for insulting Islam.

“The reality is this: Within the Muslim world today are regimes, movements and individuals convinced that their religion justifies – and benefits from – the most heinous atrocities,” May wrote. “They are determined, ruthless and lethal – as Christians and other minorities across a broad swath of the world have been finding out.” “If we in the West fail even to speak up for them, can we really expect moderate Muslims to do more?”

The most widespread persecution of Christians has been in the Middle East, where Israel is the only country that grants freedom to Muslims and Christians, as well as Jews, to freely practice their religion. Prior to the Six-Day War in 1967, when Jerusalem was reunited and Judea and Samaria were restored to Israel, Jordan’s rulers closed all Jewish and Christian sites, except for high-profile official visits.

Christianity had been the dominant influence in Bethlehem until the first and second Arab intifadas, when Muslim rulers and clerics increasingly harassed Christians, forcing most of them to flee. The Palestinian Christian exodus and research has documented the harrassment by Muslims.

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