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Jewish World Review Sept. 14, 2009 / 28 Elul 5769 Get Out Your Crystal Ball! By Jonathan Tobin
Time to take the 5770 Jewish pundit quiz on the new year's news Of course, not everything was awful. The rocket barrage on southern Israel restarted but then was largely squelched by a successful Israeli counteroffensive in Gaza. Despite the fact that Israel had every right to defend itself against attacks from territory it had already completely evacuated years earlier, the international verbal assault on every Israeli measure of self-defense seemed to gather even more momentum. New governments in Washington and Jerusalem found themselves at loggerheads over settlements, while Iran's fanatic Islamist leadership not only engineered its own reelection in a sham election with the West no closer to a hope of a plan to stop Teheran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Elsewhere, the international economic slide continued throughout the year, but many Jewish philanthropies (as well as some of their big donors) suffered even more cruelly because of the collapse of the multibillion dollar Bernard Madoff Ponzi fraud.
SO, AS we pause to catch our collective breath, the arrival of a new Jewish year has us all wondering about what's in store for 5770. Can things get worse? Of course, they can! Yet, even as we cope with bankruptcies, frauds, indicted prime ministers, Islamists building nukes and the American politicians and their cheering sections who have abandoned any pretense of civility, we shouldn't lose what's left of our sense of humor.
But before the Almighty writes down just how much worse (or better) it will be for us in the proverbial Book of Life, I present (with apologies, as always, to former New York Times columnist William Safire) the annual "Jewish Pundit Quiz" for 5770.
Save this column, and see how you or I do in 5770. So guess - or should I say prognosticate - along with me about the coming year. My answers are at the bottom of the column. And remember, if you are worried about the outcome, teshuva (repentance), tefilla (prayer) and tzedaka (acts of justice and charity) may avert the severe decree. L'shana tova tikasevu!
1. By the start of 5771, the prime minister of Israel will be: 2. By the end of 5770, the government of Iran will have: 3. By the end of 5770, the Middle East peace process will: 4. By next Rosh Hashana, Israeli settlements in the West Bank will: a. Be frozen as Netanyahu's pledges to President Barack Obama of no new building are kept. 5. The most serious problem for Obama in 5770 will be: 6. By the end of 5770, America's health care system will: 7. In 5770, Israel's biggest problem will be: 8. In 5770, American Jews will be most worried about: 9. The most significant force in American Jewish life in 5770 will be: 10. Which of the following will not be true in 5770? Tobin answers: 1. a, 2. b, 3. c, 4. d, 5. a, 6. b, 7. e, 8. c, 9. e, 10. c.
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Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. JWR contributor Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of Commentary magazine. Comment by clicking here.
© 2009, Jonathan Tobin | ||||||||||||