Dear Justin Trudeau: Don't Buy Into Israeli Exceptionalism

To the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau:

"How is this night different from all other nights?" Such is the question we Jews ritually ask the youngest child at the Passover table. Commemorating the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, the question carries with it resonances of a chosen people - -at once persecuted and graced with sanctity. Remarkably, this biblical narrative of specialness -- not only of what Jews do on Passover, but of who they are -- continues to grip the political conscience of many.

The Deadly Fraud of "American Exceptionalism"

Doubtless you have heard more than once the term "American Exceptionalism." It implies, in short, that we are somehow special, different, superior. We are the "city upon a hill" whose freedoms and accomplishments set us apart. Alexis de Tocqueville coined the phrase midway through the 19th century, and it has enjoyed constant deployment by politicians and pundits ever since, because it lights a warm bulb of self-satisfaction in many bellies ... and people feeling good about themselves are easier to convince. Salesmen thrived on this axiom before Babylon's bricks were laid.