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A Stormy Relationship

our fingertips are directly connected to the
brain. Executing sequential finger strokes in
cursive letter formations activates massive
regions of the brain involved in thinking,
language and working memory.
Keyboarding, by contrast, only involves
touching a key. It does not involve connecting
letters, a skill that mobilizes muscle move-
ments requiring both down-stroke contrac-
tions and upstroke releases. Both right and
left hemispheres of the brain are engaged in
connected writings. This exercises neural
transmissions more completely than either
repetitive typing or simple down-strokes that
describe most printed letters.
All told, cursive handwriting, when mas-
tered, is more likely to be associated with
pupil gains in fine motor skills, hand-eye
coordination and focus.
Many other positive attributes favor cursive
writers, not the least of which is that young
people who have not been taught cursive can-
not read documents from the past.
It would be a mistake to drop cursive
from our curriculums at this critical stage of
our national efforts to improve competence
and the “reading, writing and ciphering”
toolbox of our next generation.

T

he relationship between
and Muslim communities
President Barack Obama and
and, again, while on Arab soil,
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin
called for a freeze of settle-
Netanyahu has been politically turbulent ments in Israel. It was quite a
— which is, admittedly, understating the start.
fact — for the last seven years, and PBS,
If that was not enough, the
on Frontline, broadcast on Jan. 5 a two-
president boarded Air Force One and,
hour documentary that examined what
although he was in the neighborhood,
led to almost a complete breakdown.
did not visit Israel, only a 45-minute
Titled Netanyahu at War,
flight from Egypt. Some of
the documentary started
Obama’s staff admitted, on the
with a brief biography of
program, that was a mistake.
Netanyahu and observed that
While Obama enjoyed the sup-
other Israeli leaders had issues
port of the Jewish electorate in the
with American presidents. But
U.S., his approval rating in Israel
much of the show was spent on
stood at 6 percent despite the fact
Obama vs. Netanyahu.
that he maintained, according to
The program pointed out
his strategist, David Axelrod, that
Berl Falbaum
that Obama had friendly rela-
he was as close to being a Jew as
tionships with powerful Jewish
any president who has sat in the
community leaders in Chicago, but that
Oval Office.
did not translate to Washington after his
When Egypt exploded, Obama called
election to president.
for its president, Hosni Mubarak, to
Given that Obama is in his last year in
resign. That made Israel suspicious
office, it is important to take an account
because Egypt was a U.S. ally. Could
of what happened, why and what it por-
Obama be trusted?
tends for the future.
Then the president said that negotia-
Obama, the liberal, and Netanyahu,
tions with the Palestinians should be
the conservative, were not only political
based on 1967 borders with mutually
opposites but clashed in their person-
agreed land swaps. The film reported
alities as well, the president being an
that Israel felt “ambushed.” Angry, frus-
optimist,and Netanyahu, given his his-
trated and outraged, Netanyahu returned
tory and that of Israel, a pessimist.
to the White House; and when he and
The two met in the summer of 2008
Obama met with the press, Netanyahu
before the presidential election that year
lectured the president on
in which Obama got almost 80 percent of Israel history and the exis-
the Jewish vote. Netanyahu’s aides stated
tential risks it faced. It was
that he was concerned about Obama,
Obama’s turn to be furious.
constantly asking, in effect, “Who is this
The peace process was as
man?”
good as dead.
Netanyahu found out quickly. The
Then, when Obama was
problems started almost immediately
up for reelection in 2012,
when Obama’s first phone calls as presi-
Netanyahu, hardly hiding his
dent were to Arab countries, and he
political preference, support-
approved his first major interview for an
ed the Republican presiden-
Arab TV network.
tial candidate, Mitt Romney.
When their first meeting was sched-
The White House skewered
uled at the White House, Rahm Emanuel, Netanyahu for “interfering”
the president’s Jewish chief of staff,
in U.S. politics and accused
warned the president against being
Netanyahu of crossing the
trapped by Netanyahu. The president
line, forgetting conveniently
called for a freeze of settlements, not
that President Clinton “cam-
only privately, but also at a press confer-
paigned” for Shimon Peres
ence following their meeting. Netanyahu when he lost an election to
was incensed. The narrator tells us the
Netanyahu. Obama won, and
meeting could not have been worse. The
he did so with 69 percent of
Israelis concluded that Obama’s soul was
the Jewish vote.
too cold to be connected with Israel.
Now came what was
That was followed by a major address
perhaps the most problem-
— the Cairo speech — delivered in
atic issue of all — the Iran
Egypt. He promised a new, more friendly nuclear deal. Obama started
and inclusive U.S. policy toward the Arab negotiations without inform-

8 January 21 • 2016

ing Israel. When Netanyahu discovered
the secret talks, he went apoplectic and
committed the ultimate political sin: He
lambasted the deal on Obama’s home
turf — he addressed Congress. Even crit-
ics of Obama and supporters of Israel/
Netanyahu felt the prime minister had
gone too far.
The program covered one more issue:
Israel’s reported plans to strike Iran on
its own. Israel wanted a green light, or
at least a yellow one, from Obama, but
didn’t get it.
There was much more in the docu-
mentary, but the conclusion laments that
the distrust between the two men (and
the two nations) was never overcome,
and that it was a sad chapter in the his-
tory of the U.S. and Israel relationship.
So, while the proverb says, “Never pray
for a new king,” given the present politi-
cal reality, the upcoming presidential
election should lead us, perhaps, to wel-
come an exception to the rule.

*

A veteran West Bloomfield journalist and author of
eight books, Berl Falbaum, was an adjunct journal-
ism faculty member at Wayne State University for
45 years.

*

David Littmann is a certified graphologist and
Midwest vice president of American Association of
Handwriting Analysts. He’s the retired chief economist
for Comerica Bank and lives in Rose Township.

Yiddish Limerick

TU B’SHEVAT
It’s Rosh Hashanah for the tree.
So plant a boyml,* two or three.
Then hob geduld** un vart a
bissl***
Un you’ll get frucht,**** a gantze
shisl.*****
Farges nor nisht****** to share with
me.

* boyml — little tree
** hob geduld — have patience
*** un vart a bissl — and wait a little
**** frucht — fruit
***** gantze shisl — a whole bowl
****** Farges nor nisht — only don’t
forget

— Rachel Kapen