Marcus Aurelius's Beliefs (Stoic Emperor) and How It Affects Jews

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                

Jews and their beliefs of Monotheism different from other life over 4,000 years ago, which was mostly all polytheistic.  Jews had a set of rules;  613 of them to be exact with the Ten Commandments known to most all people living today.  The rules were brought to the Jews, in those days called the Israelites,  by Moses, who got them directly from G-d and Moses wrote them down.  Then along came a Roman Emperor (161-169 CE) quite different from previous ones, most likely affected also by the new ideas of Christianity, Marcus Aurelius.

Rome had taken over the land from the Greeks and Alexander the Great who was so good to Jews, so by the year   Roman Emperor Claudius (reigned 41–54 C.E.) generally maintained traditional religious rights and favored specific Jewish leaders, but he also expelled Jews from Rome and curbed assemblies to keep public order.  Nero (reigned 54–68 CE): Took the throne after Claudius. While his wife Poppaea Sabina interceded on behalf of Jewish priests on multiple occasions, Nero famously launched a brutal, localized wave of persecution against Christians in Rome after the Great Fire of 64 CE

Emperor Marcus Aurelius’ ruled from (161-169 CE) full name was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, and Jewish tradition identifies him with the benevolent Roman ruler,  Antonius , mentioned in the Talmud. (Some scholars equate Antoninus with different Roman leaders, including the Emperor Elagabalus.)

  (Talmud=records of Academic discussions  and how judges shared  them).  The Babylonian Talmud was one of 2 written,   the most popular, and the other one was the Palestinian Talmud on the Jewish Law  The Talmuds were about these  generations of scholars who interpreted the Jewish Law.  They all were the Einstein's of their day.                                  

 

   Emperor Antonius Pius---Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty and also the fourth of the six adoptive emperors.  

According to tradition, the future emperor Antonius developed a deep affection for the Jewish people as an infant, following an extraordinary episode involving his mother and the great Jewish leader Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel II. At the time, Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel and his wife had a newborn son, Yehuda, whom they circumcised (when 8 days old)  in defiance of the Roman Empire’s harsh decrees restricting Jewish life. Summoned before Roman authorities, the couple traveled to Rome with their baby.                                                                   

Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel was renowned for his wisdom and kindness among Jews and Gentiles alike, and along the journey many people offered assistance—including Antonius’ mother. In a daring act, she exchanged her own infant son with Yehuda.  (The baby might be taken from the parents and killed by the emperor.  It was circumcised against the law of Rome.)

When Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel and his wife presented the baby Antonius before the Roman judges, the authorities were astonished: the child was not circumcised. The couple was released, and on their return journey the newborns were switched back. At that moment, the two mothers pledged that their sons would remain lifelong friends.

Antonius later became Emperor of Rome, succeeding his uncle in the year 161 CE. Yehuda, meanwhile—now Rabbi Yehuda, known simply as “Rabbi” because of his greatness—succeeded his father as Nasi, leader of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, in 163 CE. As distinguished leaders of their respective worlds, Rabbi and Antonius maintained a close relationship, bound by a shared love of philosophy. The Talmud describes Antonius seeking Rabbi Yehuda’s counsel on matters of governance.

The period of Marcus Aurelius’ rule is often described as a golden age of Jewish life in the Land of Israel. Roman authorities generally allowed Jewish life to continue with little interference. During this time, Rabbi Yehuda the Nasi established a major yeshiva in Beit She’arim in the Galilee, which became a leading center of Jewish intellectual life. While Marcus Aurelius ruthlessly persecuted Christians in the Land of Israel, he did not target Jews in the same way.

Bust of Marcus Aurelius, AD 161-169, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (© Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY 2.5)

Marcus Aurelius is known to have visited the Land of Israel on more than one occasion. One of his first acts as emperor was to wage war against the Parthian Empire (in present-day Iran, Iraq, and Central Asia), using the Land of Israel as a forward base from which to rally troops. Roman soldiers returning from these campaigns brought plague with them. Marcus Aurelius took steps to protect Jews in the Land of Israel, ensuring they were not scapegoated by soldiers or others.

At the same time, the later Roman historian Marcellinus recorded that Marcus Aurelius harbored negative views of the Jews, writing that he considered them “to be worse than” a number of other despised minorities. In 175, Avidus Cassius, Rome’s governor of Syria—which included the Land of Israel—declared himself emperor. Many local Jews supported his rebellion. Marcus Aurelius crushed the revolt with extreme brutality, killing Cassius along with many of his Jewish supporters.  (What the?-so Cassius betrayed Marcus who could be brutal now, and too bad that Jews were on the wrong side as he saw it.)

When Marcus Aurelius was eleven years old, he adopted the distinctive dress of ancient Roman philosophers. After a youth spent exploring philosophy and the arts, he embraced the ancient Greek philosophy of Stoicism as a guiding principle for his life.

“Stoics think that each of us are finite, limited beings,” explains Prof. Ralph Wedgwood, director of the School of Philosophy and professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California. “There are a few things we can control and other things we can’t control, and we should keep track of those things and have different attitudes toward those domains. That’s the goal of life: to have this accurate understanding and to be guided by it.”

Stoicism regards emotions such as fear, anger, and grief as “irrational” distractions from what truly matters. Marcus Aurelius subscribed to the Stoic ideal that a state of tranquility—ataraxia in Greek—should be humanity’s highest goal.

Some aspects of Stoic philosophy find parallels in Jewish thought, including curiosity, a willingness to learn about the world around us, and self-awareness. Yet Judaism diverges from Stoicism in fundamental ways. Where Stoicism emphasizes an unalterable fate, Judaism stresses the power of human action: each person can shape their own life and influence the world through choices, acts of kindness, Jewish learning, charity, good deeds, and prayer.

Judaism teaches that each individual has a unique and burning purpose to fulfill. 

Entirely absent from Stoic philosophy—and from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations—is the Jewish conception of the Divine, and the understanding that every person is an equally vital part of the universe, entrusted with a mission that only they can carry out.  Nearly 2,000 years later, Marcus Aurelius remains a figure of enduring fascination. (My apologies;  I doubt if all of us Jews knew that we were to carry out a special mission in life, and it is  good to know.) 

Resource:

https://aish.com/roman-emperor-marcus-aurelius-and-the-jews/?utm_source=googlegrants&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=19561819333&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=24351647003&gbraid

Noro Virus In Portland, Oregon

 Nadene Goldfoot                                      

Yes, there is active norovirus transmission in the Portland metro area. Local health officials have confirmed recent activity as the region enters the 2026–2027 viral season.

Current Outbreaks & Regional Status

Noro Virus was recently  found in a day-care center.  A 2-year old is showing the symptoms by throwing up a lot.  His father is giving him medicine to help control that.  

School Outbreaks: Health officials confirmed a substantial norovirus outbreak at a Portland-metro area elementary school, with around 85 cases reported.
Statewide Surveillance: According to the CDC NoroSTAT Data, Oregon's overall norovirus activity for the start of this seasonal cycle remains within normal historical ranges, though officials have warned of a highly active respiratory and gastrointestinal virus season ahead. 


Norovirus is a highly contagious virus that causes acute gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestines). It is the leading cause of vomiting, diarrhea, and foodborne illness in the United States.


How you catch it:  Contaminated surfaces or objects: Touching a surface with the virus and then touching your mouth or face. 
Contaminated food or water: Eating food prepared by someone who is sick or consuming raw/undercooked shellfish.
Note: Infected people can shed billions of viral particles, and it only takes a few to make someone sick. Viral shedding can continue in stool for two weeks or more after recovery. 
Treatment and Care
No specific medicine: There is no antiviral medication or vaccine for norovirus, and antibiotics do not work because it is a virus. 
Supportive care: The main goal is to rest and prevent dehydration by drinking plenty of fluids (water, oral rehydration solutions, or clear broths). Severe dehydration may require intravenous (IV) fluids at a medical facility. 
When to see a doctor: If you cannot keep fluids down, show signs of severe dehydration (extreme thirst, little to no urination, dizziness), or if symptoms last beyond a few days (especially in young children, older adults, or immunocompromised individuals). 
Prevention and Disinfection
Handwashing: Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after using the bathroom or changing diapers, and before eating or preparing food. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are not effective against norovirus.
Surface cleaning: Clean and disinfect contaminated surfaces (especially after vomiting or diarrhea) using a bleach-based household cleaner. 

Stay home: Remain at home while sick and for at least 48 hours after symptoms stop to prevent spreading the virus to school, work, or the community.           



 Assisted Living Centers that have a population of residents that live altogether for meals  and staff  that come and go are a similar situation to a cruise ship.  

Cruises are sold as floating holidays, but they are also useful for understanding public health. Cruise ships are carefully designed places where many people live, eat, relax and move through the same shared spaces for days at a time. 

Think of a cruise ship as a temporary city at sea. It has restaurants, theatres, lifts, cabins, kitchens, water systems and indoor gathering spaces. That is great for convenience, but it also means that once an infection gets on board, it can move through the ship in ways that are hard to stop.



The Diamond Princess outbreak is perhaps the best-known example. During the 2020 COVID outbreak, 619 passengers and crew tested positive for the disease. Researchers found that the ship conditions made the novel coronavirus spread more easily. Their modelling suggested that public health measures, such as isolation and quarantine, prevented many more cases, but it also showed that an earlier response would have further limited the outbreak.

Norovirus (the so-called vomiting bug) is the infection most closely linked to cruise ships. In a review of previously published studies, researchers found 127 reports of norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships, with many linked to contaminated food, contaminated surfaces and person-to-person spread. A more recent report from the US also showed that norovirus can spread very rapidly from person to person on a cruise ship.  They show how easily illness can spread when people are packed into a single interconnected environment.  Unfortunately, this is so true of day-care.  

             Flu or Noro virus ?  






You’re fine one minute, and the next, it hits you: stomach pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

You’ve got a stomach bug. And while a few different germs could be to blame, chances are it’s the dreaded norovirus, the most common cause of these symptoms. Each year, norovirus sickens about 20 million Americans and causes around 900 deaths, mostly among adults 65 and older.

Resource:

https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/norovirus-stomach-bug-symptoms-prevention/?cmp=PDS68ZW2RSL5T&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23744629420&gbraid=0AAAAAC1RszuYVV5-D
 

Differences in Elections Between Israel and USA

 Nadene Goldfoot

There are many differences in the voting systems of Israel and the USA.  I thought Israel's system was based on the UK system but I am wrong.  

  Israel and the UK have very different electoral systems: the United Kingdom is divided in electoral wards (constituencies) – each electing a Member of Parliament from among several candidates.  The winner is the recipient of most votes, irrespective of whether s/he achieved an absolute majority (the ‘first past the post’ system). 

 The Israeli system is a purely proportional one: it views the entire country (Israel is almost exactly the size of Wales) as a single constituency, whose inhabitants vote for one of several political parties.  The number of Members of Parliament elected from each party is in direct proportion to the number of votes received (i.e. a party that received 10% of the votes will have 10% of the seats in Parliament).  Each system has advantages and disadvantages; but whatever the technicalities, both give suitable expression to the collective will of the people.

Key Takeaways with U.S. system:

• In the U.S., you vote for a person to represent your district or state; 
• in Israel, you vote for a party and that party’s preset candidate list determines who actually fills the seats it wins.
• In the U.S., Election Day settles it; 
• in Israel, Election Day just starts the real negotiation. No Israeli party has ever won a Knesset majority outright, so a party leader must first cobble together a coalition of at least 61 seats before anyone becomes Prime Minister.
• Israel has no fixed election calendar and no written constitution governing elections. Unlike the U.S.’s fixed cycle, the Knesset can dissolve itself and trigger new elections at almost any time.

Elections                  

     37th government of Israel  The thirty-seventh government of Israel is the current cabinet of Israel, formed on 29 December 2022, following the Knesset election the previous month. The coalition government currently consists of five parties — Likud, Shas, Otzma Yehudit, Religious Zionist Party and New Hope — and is led by Benjamin Netanyahu, who took office as the prime minister of Israel for the sixth time. The government is widely regarded as the most right-wing government in the country's history,  and includes far-right politicians.

 In Israel’s system, there is a maximum term a legislature, known as the “Knesset”, can serve. However, the Knesset can dissolve itself at almost any time and trigger new elections for all 120 Knesset seats.

The election process is also much shorter in Israel. Generally speaking, Israeli election campaigns are approximately 100 days. 

In the United States, of course, the 2028 Presidential election will kick off in earnest as soon as the votes in the 2026 Congressional elections have been counted, if not earlier..

In Israel, there are no local constituencies for the Knesset, and voters do not vote for any particular Knesset member. Voters instead vote for a party. When they go into the voting booth, they are presented with paper slips representing each of the dozens of parties running in the election (see the top line image of this piece). They choose the paper slip of their preferred party, place it in an envelope and deposit the envelope in a box. Based on the percentage of the total votes received – and a few overcomplicated vote sharing mechanisms – once all the votes are counted, each party receives a number of seats based on its share of the total vote.

If a party receives 10% of the total vote, they will likely receive approximately 12 seats, 10% out of 120 total seats in the Knesset. Who will actually sit in the Knesset is determined by the candidate list the party submitted ahead of the election. How each party chooses their list is up to the discretion and bylaws of the particular party. In this example, the first 12 candidates on the list occupy the seats won by the party, and become members of Knesset. Those lower down on the list do not.

What Happens After the Elections?

In Israel, where the Prime Minister is the head of government and also a member of Knesset, that strict separation between executive and legislative does not exist.

In Israel, Election Day and vote counting are just the first steps. Once the parties have been allotted seats in the Knesset, the next step is for each party to visit the President where they will recommend who they support to form the next government and become Prime Minister.

The President is the Head of State of Israel, and the Prime Minister is the Head of Government, unlike the United States where the President is the single most powerful actor and serves concurrently as Head of State and Head of Government.

While the Israeli Presidency is largely ceremonial, the President can wield real power when there is a closely divided Knesset vote. Based on the recommendations the President receives from the parties, they give one member of Knesset, often the leader of the largest party,( Netanyahu) a mandate to form the next government. That is when coalition negotiations, often lasting many weeks, begin.

Forming a Coalition

Never in Israel’s history has any one party won an outright majority of Knesset seats. This means that after every election campaign, the person who would ultimately become Prime Minister (Netanyahu) has needed to negotiate with one or more other parties to reach the Knesset majority needed to approve their new government.

There are many things that can be up for discussion in the coalition negotiations. Often there is bargaining relating to aspects of the parties’ 

I.  platforms

 II. and what issues will become priorities for the new government. 

   A. Some issues will have to do with levels of spending or 

   B. Commitments on the diplomatic front. 

   C. However, the one thing that is always a major sticking point is the allocation of ministries.

Unlike in the United States, where the elected President chooses their cabinet and the Senate simply has the right to advise and consent to the choices, 

in Israel the cabinet comes from the elected Knesset itself. 

       Just as certain agencies such as State and Defense are considered the most prestigious in the United States, 

       their counterparts are also in high demand in Israel.  

       More senior coalition partners, those who have secured more seats in the elections, will demand the most prestigious ministries as conditions for joining the coalition.

This coalition system is why polls cannot be read simply by looking at individual party vote share. The leader of the party who receives the most votes will not necessarily become Prime Minister. 

The “bloc” or combination of parties that can reach 61 seats, are willing to work together, and are capable of reaching consensus on an array of issues and personal ministerial demands will ultimately form the next government.

Once the horse trading is complete, if the member of Knesset designated by the President has the support of parties representing at least 61 members of Knesset,

 they will announce they have been successful and the new government will be sworn in.                                               

If they are unsuccessful in the time allotted by the President there are three main possibilities.

 1. They can ask the President for an extension for more time to negotiate; 

2. The President can designate another member of Knesset and give them the opportunity to form a coalition; 

3. There is a stalemate and the country heads back to another round of elections.

The third possibility, another set of elections, is not something Israel had experienced until quite recently, when on several occasions in a row, no coalition was formed and there were several national elections in a single year. 

When no coalition is formed, the current government, and current Prime Minister, remain in office, but will have somewhat limited powers as the leaders of a temporary or provisional government.

Resource:

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-tale-of-two-systems-general-elections-in-uk-and-israel/

https://honestreporting.com/how-does-israels-electoral-system-really-work/

Election Day Is Here in Israel -Netanyahu and General Eisenkot

 Nadene Goldfoot                                           

Benjamin Netanyahu's opponent  is this man, a former General...

Gadi Eisenkot (May 19, 1960), 66 yrs, former chief of staff and leader of the Yashar party, holds his ballot as he waits for his wife Hannah to vote with him in Israel's general elections in Herzliya, Israel, on October 27, 2026. Photo by Jim Hollander/UPI   License photo | Permalink

Today is Election Day-Tuesday:  October 27, 2026 in Israel.  Of course we have an 10 hour difference with Israel being ahead of our Pacific Coast time by 10 hours.  IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir had placed the IDF on its highest alert level and suspended all leaves beginning last Thursday, in preparation for the election. The IDF also has decided to increase the presence of senior commanders in operations centers, headquarters and units to ensure operational readiness and effectiveness. Reinforcements have also been deployed to Judea and Samaria.

Gadi Eisenkot, also spelt Eizenkot, is an Israeli general, politician, and leader of the Yashar party. He served from 2015 to 2019 as the 21st chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and from 2023 to 2024 as a minister without portfolio in Israel's unity government. Gadi Eisenkot was born in Tiberias, in northern Israel. He is the second of four children born to Meir and Esther Eisenkot, Jewish Moroccan immigrants from the town of Safi. His mother was born in Casablanca, and his father was born in Marrakesh. It is thought that the family name was originally Azenkot and was changed to Eisenkot by a clerk after his father immigrated to Israel. His parents subsequently divorced. Both went on to remarry, and Eisenkot has numerous half-siblings as a result.

Background: Eisenkot is a career military commander and strategist who retired from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in 2019 and entered the Knesset in 2022. 
Platform: He is a center-right former general who opposes a Palestinian state, supports drafting ultra-Orthodox Israelis, and has criticized extremist settler violence. 
The Opposition Bloc: Eisenkot heads an anti-Netanyahu coalition of centrist, left, and right-wing parties.
Current Status: In the October 27, 2026, Israeli elections, exit polls and results have shown a tight race between Netanyahu's Likud-led bloc and Eisenkot's opposition alliance.                         

The IDF announced that it killed three Hamas terrorists, including a cell commander and a member of the group's engineering battalion, in a series of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Saturday. The 3 were involved in preparing attacks against Israeli troops and civilians and efforts to rebuild Hamas' military capabilities in violation of the ceasefire. Parties of ceasefire: Israel and Hamas (mediated/backed by the U.S., Qatar, and Türkiye)

The most recent major ceasefire involving Israel and Hamas in Gaza came into effect on October 10, 2025, brokered by the United States, Qatar, and Türkiye.Current Status: Although the agreement remains in place as an active framework, ongoing skirmishes, daily airstrikes, and accusations of violations have continued through 2026.

The Israel police arrested eight Jewish suspects in Judea and Samaria early today as part of a new operation launched following violent attacks on American photojournalist Heidi Levine and European diplomats over the weekend. On Friday, dozens of masked Jewish attackers descended on Palestinian olive harvesters near the village of Abu Falah, in the Ramallah area, injuring two people, including veteran photojournalist Heidi Levine, who was covering the harvest for The Washington Post. On Saturday, Jewish extremists attacked diplomats from France, Belgium and Poland, along with Israeli activists, who were visiting an olive harvest near the Palestinian village of Taybeh, widely considered the West Bank's last entirely Christian village. The incidents drew condemnations, including from senior officials in the U.S. administration. Yesterday, "On October 16, 2026, Levine, along with several Palestinian olive farmers, was attacked by a group of Israeli settlers while reporting on the Palestinian olive harvest at Abu Falah in the occupied West Bank. The Washington Post, for which she was reporting, stated that she was wearing a vest identifying her as a member of the press, and was robbed of her phone and cameras. (So they obviously didn't want any pictures taken.)   Levine was taken to a hospital in Ramallah with multiple lacerations, a broken rib, four broken vertebrae and a ripped finger. According to witnesses, Israeli soldiers who arrived fired tear gas at the Palestinians and did not attempt to control the settlers. In a video statement made from the hospital, Levine said, "Today I was brutally attacked," adding, "We saw in the distance, in the hilltop, I would say at least 50 masked men, slingshots. And when they came running down, I was attacked, pushed to the ground," and "they just kept kicking me and kicking me."  According to colleague Jasper Nathaniel, Levine was provided cover by young Palestinian men who threw rocks at the attacking settlers, without whom "Heidi could be dead".  Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, described the attack as a "despicable act of terror" and called for the arrest and prosecution of those responsible."        Red roofed Jewish homes  Jewish settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank are often built on nearby hilltops directly overlooking or immediately adjacent to Palestinian olive groves. Judea-Samaria has been divided into areas A, B, and C, and it is C that is all Jewish.  B is a mixture and A is all Muslim.   Proximity to Groves and Homes: Many settlements and illegal outposts sit within a few hundred meters or a short walk of Palestinian lands. (Legal Status: While these outposts lack official government approval under initial municipal planning and are widely considered illegal under international law, the Israeli security cabinet has periodically moved to retroactively legalize dozens of them (including over 30 approved in recent cabinet actions)  Area C, where this may be going on, is the Jewish side and is supposed to be all Jewish.  )  For example, an outpost in Qaryut was established about 200 meters (656 feet) from Palestinian homes and olive groves, while other groves sit directly below settlement-occupied hillsides in areas like Lubban al-Gharbi, Deir Abu Masha'al, and Nablus. Hilltop Dominance: Settlements are frequently constructed on elevated terrain, allowing settlers to look down upon or physically access Palestinian agricultural fields.  Access Restrictions: The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) often restrict Palestinian farmers from accessing groves near settlements, requiring coordination or limited window periods, which frequently leads to friction, confrontations, or the seizure of land by nearby farms and outposts. As the Central Elections Committee continued counting votes Wednesday morning and the actual vote count was updated, it appeared that neither political bloc had a clear majority needed to form a government. Resource: https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2026/10/prime-minister-longest-in-israel.html israelAM Ynet