judaism goes back generation after generation. in the u.s. we have some families they became a july choice in the last few years. they are focused observant jewish life. families just like the rest of the jewish community. identify as strongly jewish and do-nothing religious. nothing in their spiritual life. a very jewish identity might be cultural. might be based on different kinds of practices t religiplace. the same way people come into jewish rights across the jewish community and ways. you see it mirrors among jewish people of color. the one caveat want to put in there, when jewish, jews a color or spaces they are challenged with judaism based on identity or how they perceive our identity. there opted jews of color tremendous amount, jews of color are observant. jews of color committed and focused in the jewish community sometimes we do not with the general jewish committee. >>> believe it or not come to the end of our time together. i want to ask you a big question in the moment which is. where you want us to be in 10 years. >> where wh

. >> the aspect of judaism, we have so many different and unique organizations. so many leashes people can go into to express their jewish values. this kind of work, working on issues you care about deeply, is something that will bring people in, where perhaps in co for me >> would you say that's true whether you are a of color, a real jiles -- a religious ? any age, any ability, is that across the board from your perspective? >> these issues bring us all together. >> for sure. all of the research shows that people are most proud of commitment to justice of . when we get the opportunity -- on august 20th, in sacramento, we call it our high holy day, sometimes. we are expressing what it means to us to be jewish by acting on the world around us and trying to impact policies. >> i am wondering from a jewish perspective, the notion of justice in the world, the creation and the exodus, it means it's not just me, it's also you as well. as well as we were free from slavery, so we come out of a place of oppression and move into a place of freedom, those core biblical sto

i was practicing ultra orthodox judaism, but what it really -- what it led me to -- what it led me toltimate truth and the ultimate truth is really in how we treat other human beings. >> right. >> it doesn't matter if they're jewish, if they're muslim, if they're catholic, if they're spanish, if they're garifana, if they're black, if they're white, what really matters is compassion, is tolerance, is love, is mercy. >> yes. >> and that's religion. you could wear a koufi, you could have payot, you can be shown a shabot, but if you treat other human beings less than you would want to be treated, if you don't have compassion, if you are not a generous person, an honor rouse person. >> i'll tell you, sir, we see you out there working the side burn peo and you did it religiously. i've got about 30 seconds left. i've got to tell you, you know one of the best hip-hop love songs of all time, right? >> bonnie and shyne. >> that is just -- you could put that on in any year and it is just -- it's got the love and the romance and the swagger. i know you are now leading your life and into policy an

he knew that doing judaism how he learned it was not going to work so he told parables. hispable my girlfriend wit. >> i like that. >> well, we love that you came today. >> 47 years of wisdom. >> i just do -- i love to receive. >> were going to take another break. i want to hear more. >> okay. >> okay. we will be right back. >>> welcome back to mosaic. >> you did a lot of work in dc? >> i did. tell us about that. >> ywentto howard university an studied under dr. king hope, dr. lewis carpenter. it was a renaissance time. while i was there i served at channel baptist church in washington. they were founded by slaves. they have a social justice dna. i served as the youth pastor and built that program and model up to scale. it became nationally recognized and then shifted because dc was not the dc we know today. there were a lot of people in the community. i became their director for family services. >> you were extremely successful from what i read. your call is preaching and teaching. >> where did you get your doctorate? >> at fuller, it was in african- american leadership

and i visited places of great significance to the three major religions, islam, christianity, and judaismone special memory of the trip is of a young boy i had privilege of visiting in rome, italy. while there, i read the little boy a story and learned that he and his family had been waiting for a heart for a very long time. grim prognosis. the situation brought my staff and me to tears. as weke of a little elf got ready for the next part of our trip. upon landing a few hours later, we learned a heart had been donated and would be going to the little what. often, along him with so many young faces across our own country. and sadlyund unavoidable examples of our country's strength and character have appeared in the communities that have been impacted by natural disasters. hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding shows the ugly side of mother nature, but they can show us a beautiful side of humanity. my husband and i have visited many places that have been affected by natural disaster and we are deeply moved by the strength of the people who have lost everything. and the kindness of neighbors an

it's not the reason to celebrate judaism but it's our story and we have to remember thatstory .and as i said, the book is certainly tells a sad story but the story is being told so it can be remembered, and toward the end of the book i talk, i come back to memory and i come back to the fact that the memory is going to live on. it lives on in your children and other grandchildren and how people who perish, i'm sorry, survivors means people who have perished but that's the memory i wanted to carry forward but i want it to be a joyful jewish experience and i've spent most of my professional life in public relations and politics but then helping to build an institution designed to build a jewish future. and that's what this is all about. we have to keep those memories but we have to move forward. >> super. so i think we're opening it up now, right? >> exactly right. thank you esther and jonathan and iwant to go what you said . it's definitely a difficult time that we're all experiencing and coping with but the silver lining is we were able to put this together and now have hundreds

in jewish history in judaism not in jewish people that. the one discipline that transcends all others is a pursuit of peace even if it means giving up land even if it means giving up land it's all about the pursuit of peace israel's not giving up land have are all i mean israel's not israel is agreeing to suspend any further annexations in the west bank but it already controls most of the west bank and it's not agreeing to give up any territory that it's already in control. right but these are the lambs captured you know in battle in 67 so what is really is are now saying is that we are going to suspend an exception the 2 state solution is back on the table kudos to the emraan it's for helping to facilitate that and this is a win win for the palestinian people today 2 state solution back on the table and you're going to see tremendous economic opportunities for the houses but it's a read on what i'm wondering is how how you are seeing the 2 state solution being supported by this deal because as it stands now with the annexation and the set

husband and i visited places of great significance to the treaty major religious islam christianity and judaism was special memory from that is of a young boy i had privilege of visiting while at bombino jizo hospital in rome italy while there i read a little boy a story and learned that he and his family had been waiting for a heart for a very long time and he had a grim prognosis he situation brought my staff and me to tears and we spoke of the little else as we flew to bound for the next part of our cheap. upon landing just a few hours later we learned that the heart had been donated and would be going to the little one i think about him often along with so many amazing and strong young patients across our own country more profound and sadly unavoidable examples of our country's strength and character have appear in the communities that have been impacted by natural disasters hurricanes don't need us and flooding may show the ugly side of mother nature but in the air after matt they can show us a beautiful side of humanity my husband and i have visited many places that have been affected by

police say they're investigating how nathaniel judaism scales but residents here are convinced it's the police who are to blame and a calling for the arrest of the officer responsible. and he. joins me from johannesburg had a 2 so there are any geishas that police try to cover up this shooting tell us more about that they're going to have to visions for more the police are telling us and what the residents in fact saying the residents are saying the young boy was killed when police were questioning him and police just from knowing the short they had bullets and the child was down and killed and then alleged that the police tried to took the child to the put to dos based on something that they say the police if they were not coveting they should have waited for him to do that but on their side the police are saying they never wanted to cover up they wanted to help the child in fact they are saying the child didn't want to die because of a police shooting but they are saying there was a gang that was fighting and shooting each other in the child was that if victim oh of course why or when

and i visited places of great significance to the three major religions: islam, christianity and judaism of a young boy i had the privilege of visiting while at bambi new g0 hospital in italy —— at a hospital in italy. i heard he and his family had been waiting for a heart for a very long time and he had a grim prognosis. his situation brought me and my staff to tea rs. we brought me and my staff to tears. we spoke of little else as we flew to belgium for the next pa rt as we flew to belgium for the next part of our trip. upon landing, justa next part of our trip. upon landing, just a few hours later, we learned that a heart had been donated and would be going to the little one. i think about him often, along with so many amazing and strong, young patients across our own country. more profound, and sadly unavoidable, examples of our country's strength and character have appeared in the communities that have been impacted by natural disasters. hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding show the ugly side of mother nature. but in the aftermath, they can show us a beautiful side of humanity. my hus

reaction here on the israeli rights to return the israeli sovereignty over the jewish communities in judaism area so i imagine it's not so much a change in rhetoric but it's perhaps just a side step that's not an issue that can go away and that should remain on the table that representatives of the palestinian groups hamas and fatah have already rejected the peace deal what do you make of that. surprising and again it's another opportunity for the palestinians to miss an opportunity what we see here is a chance for israel on arab neighbors across the region to build economic prosperity peace and positivity for the whole region and the palestinians again to choosing to put themselves outside of that their choosing rather than to say yes and we can work forward for a better future for choosing to reject that and it's just not a surprise it's very sad i think for the palestinian people the message here is clear israel will continue to build a better future for the region and the palestinians need to understand the history will not wait for them so do you expect israel to stick to all parts of t

this is like the basement of anything that judaism would stand for.he army of tomorrow is the group of children today. what is there for you when you become 18? 36% of the boys have to go. 45% of them witnessed the beating and the killing of their fathers. they immediately switch from the helpless father, who could not protect them, to somebody who is more thoughtful. jews who are armed with machine guns and military jeeps victimize these children, and when we allow the children to play this game as part of the therapy, many of thee children prefer to play the role of the jew in the game becacause that power. ♪ >> under the deep strains of the current intifada, very few israelis went on examining how to make core examples tense happen. she is -- core existence. >> i asked to speak with prime minister netanyahu. i wrote to him five times. and then he doesn't want to speak with me. in the letters i wrote i want you to look me in the eye and to tell me that my son died for a reason. i want you to look at me. he never had the courage to do it. i feel a re

like anybody can do it and you don't have to believe, have a lot of christians during an idea from judaism again, i have great respect for people who have a religion but i come from it as a secular practice and i want to liberate it and make it a practice like meditation, it's great things for people from all different backgrounds but think the concept of a text shabbat and bring more joy and balance peace to people especially right now during the pandemic. i'd love to bring going back in because i am excited to talk to her and here what questions you might have had about the book or anything. >> thank you for sharing so much. i know you are a practicing jew, as i am myself. >> you are? your name did not give a little. >> my grandparents came from eastern europe and so yeah that was kind of my upbringing, too. i'm curious about how with your family, how it compares to the shabbat traditions when you're growing up. >> i didn't grow up with shabbat. i'm glad you brought that up because there are ways that are different from people who are really truly living shabbat. rabbi said to me once, y

i went back to her for other books as well when i needed help for something based in judaism. >> hostso after the book was published, what dud your team of -- what did your team of priests and rabbis and evangelicals, what did they say? >> guest: they were very happy with it. everyone got a copy of it, they seemed to feel it was dealt with honestly and openly. it really was about the nature of belief. there's a character, ian fletcher, he is the opposite of a televangelist. he's a television atheist. and he winds up on the front lawn of this woman mariah's house. her daughter faith is the one who is, quote, seeing god, and things happen that he can't explain. and so he is questioning husband own beliefs too. and, you know -- his own beliefs too. and ultimately that was why i wanted to write this. sometimes religion has gone from hole lu to holier than thou. we certainly see out in the meld of politics and religion. it is amazing to me what 2018 looks like when our founding fathers created this country really to be separate. they meant for religion and politics to stay very sharply div

the great major religions islam christianity and judaism.emory from that trip is of a young boy i had the privilege of visiting while at the hospital and rome, italy. while bayer i read the little boy a story and learned that he and his family had been waiting for a heart for a very long time and he had a grim prognosis for the situation brought my staff and me to tears. we flew to belgium for the next part of our trip. upon landing just a few hours later we learned that a heart had been donated and would be going to the little one. i think about him often along with so many amazing and strong young patients across our own country. more profound and unavoidable examples of our country's strength and character have appeared in the communities that have been impacted by natural disasters. hurricanes have shown the ugly side of mother nature but in the aftermath a can show us a beautiful side of humanity. my husband and i have visited many places that have been affected by natural disasters and we are deeply moved by the strength of the people

and i visited places of great significance for the three major religions, islam, christianity and judaisme special memory from that trip is of a young boy i had the privilege of visiting at a hospital in rome. while there, i read the boy a story and learned that he and his family had and waiting or a heart for a long time -- waiting for a heart for a long time. his situation brought my staff and me to tears. elf.e talked of a little we flew to belgium for the next part of our trip. upon landing a few hours later, we learned a heart would be donated and going to the little one. i think about him often, along with any amazing and strong young patient across our own across ourpatients own country. more profound and sadly unavoidable examples of our country's strength and character have appeared in the communities that have been impacted by hurricanes,sters, tornadoes, and flooding showed the ugly side of mother nature. but the near aftermath can show us a beautiful side of humanity. my husband and i have visited any places that have been affected natural disasters, and we are deeply moved by

islam, christianity and judaism. that no person better symbolizes the potential for unity than abraham. by the way, in a statement, i want to pass this along. we got this late this afternoon from joe biden. he said that this agreement was very good. he called it one that was certainly worth keeping and elm my late. he added that a biden harris administration would look to build on this progress and challenge other nations in the region to keep pace. very interesting all around except of course from hamas. we heard a statement from one of their leaders saying this does nothing for the palestinians. no surprise that not universal support for what we saw today, neil. >> neil: all right. kevin, thank you very much. good seeing you. kevin corke at the white house. meanwhile the controversy over mail should you or shouldn't you. if he became president of the united states the joe biden said you should. in fact i'm going to mandate it after this. at your local audi dealer. with one protein feels like. what getting fueled wi

history of russian orthodoxy and emphasizes the indigenous religion not just orthodoxy but islam, judaismut you can see he's getting into dimensions of fighting the shaman and other fringe groups but that is all very dangerous. he does know better than that but obviously fairly confident he can handle right now this larger base and i worry about that. i worry again it's a fairly [inaudible] how things have evolved but with polling people, as we all no, don't always give their full views and all of this polling. i think he ought to try to be more careful and there's this popular viewpoint or nationalist sentiment that is been on the ascendancy across europe here in the u.s. as well but i think a lot of developments shows this may be otherwise and if i were them i would try to put all those things into the constitution but may be think about amending it but he thanks maybe he can amended again for trying to consolidate everything they've done for the last 20 years. >> and a final two minutes fio fiona, i just want to apologize to all the wonderful questioners who i will not get to and but i

and i visited places of great significance to the three major religions, islam, christianity, and judaismecial memory of that trip is of a young boy i had privilege of visiting in rome, italy. while there, i read the little boy a story and learned that he and his family had been waiting for a heart for a very long time. and he had a grim prognosis. his situation brought my staff and me to tears. and we spoke of a little elf as we flew to belgium for the next part of our trip. upon landing just a few hours later, we learned that a heart had been donated and would be going to the little one. i think about him often, along with so many amazing and strong young patients across our own country. more profound and sadly unavoidable examples of our country's strength and character have appeared in the communities that have been impacted by natural disasters. hurricanes, tornados and flooding show the ugly side of mother nature. but in their aftermath, they can show us a beautiful side of humanity. my husband and i have visited many places that have been affected by natural disaster. and we are de

these three great religions, judaism, christianity, and islam, were all born in the revered and holy jerusalem. we are bound by dr. martin luther king jr. and rabbi abraham heschel, crying out from their graves for us to reach common ground. we are bound by shared blood and shared sacrifices. we are much too intelligent, much too bound by our judeo-christian heritage, much too victimized by racism, sexism, militarism, and anti-semitism, much too threatened as historical scapegoats to go on divided one from another. we must turn from finger pointing to clasped hands. we must share our burdens and our joys with each other once again. we must turn to each other and not on each other and choose higher ground. [applause] twenty years later, we cannot be satisfied by just restoring the old coalition. old wine skins must make room for new wine. we must heal and expand. the rainbow coalition is making room for arab americans. they, too, know the pain and hurt of racial and religious rejection. they must not continue to be made pariahs. the rainbow coalition is making room for hispanic americ

he always emphasizes the indigenous relations of russia, not just orthodoxy, but islam, judaism, muslim, he's going to into dimensions of fighting with shahmannism and other fringe groups, but that's all very dangerous and he really does know better, but he's also fairly confident he can kind of pander to this larger base and i worry about that. i worry that that is again a fail why your -- failure to see what's going on. and people don't always get their full views. the viewpoint is popular and nationalist sentiment across globally here in the u.s. as well once they can amend it again and consolidate everything they've been doing the last 20 years. >> in the final few minutes, fiona. i just have to be apologize for all the wonderful questioners, whose questions i won't reach and still without attributing to their names, like to do that, too. i can't not ask you that. when vladimir putin looks at the u.s. 2020 election. whatever takes to the office in january of 2021, how to deal with this guy? >> well, in terms of looking to see what he can get out of it no matter who it is. clearly he

and i visited places of great significance to the three major religions-- islam, christianity, and judaismecial memory of that trip is of a young boy i had the privilege of visiting in rome, italy. while there, i read the little boy a story and learned that he and his family had been waiting for a heart for a very long ti time, and he had a grim prognosis. his situation brought my staff and me to tears. and we spoke of little else as we flew to belgian for the next part of our trip. upon landing just a few hours later, we learned that a heart had been donated and would be going to the little one. i think about him often, along with so many amazing and strong young patients across our own country. more profound, and sadly unavoidable examples of our country's strength and character have occurred in the communities that have been impacted by natural disasters. hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding may show the ugly side of mother nature but in their aftermath, they can show us a beautiful side of humanity. my husband and i have visited many places that have been affected by natural disasters,

there are 18 recognized sects in lebanon for muslim 12 christian the drew sect and then the due date judaism as well since its inception lebanon's whole government governmental system has been built on power sharing between these different groups but it is from each group of maintain a power and influence through a system of patronage networks critics say it's led to an entrenched and entrenched and corrupt political class which has paralyzed politics and prevented reform there are also concerns about the power and influence of hezbollah which is sponsored by iran and forms part of lebanon's coalition government well let's now speak to rami curry who's a professor at the american university of beirut he joins us by skype from boston so rami obviously we've been speaking about what's happened in lebanon and people trying to cope with it but of course it's really i suppose a symptom of a system that has long been broken and riddled by corruption and negligence there was a lot of fieri on the streets of beirut today is that likely to get worse. it's definitely going to get worse to keep this in

and i visited places of great significance to the three major religions, islam, christianity and judaismspecial memory from that trip is of a young boy i had privilege of visiting while at a hospital in rome, italy. while there, i read the little boy a story and learned that he and his family had been waiting for a heart for a very long time. and he had a grim prognosis. his situation brought my staff and me to tears and we spoke of little else as we flew to belgium for the next part of our trip. upon landing just a few hours later, we learned that a heart had been donated and would be going to the little one. i think about him often, along with so many amazing and strong young patients across our own country. more profound and sadly unavoidable examples of our country's strength and character have appeared in the communities that have been impacted by natural disasters. hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding must show the ugly side of mother nature, but in their aftermath, they can show us a beautiful side of humanity. my husband and i have visited many places that have been affected by nat

christianity, judaism, and islam. it will be able to pray and interact peacefully together in the beautiful city of jerusalem. andism, with abu dhabi dubai they have become meccas for tourism. especially before the chinese virus. that will expand. trade between the uae and israel which both have incredible economies. as we recover from covid, this will help those economies expand. you will see an increase in jobs and all three countries as a result of these accords. with respect to the peace process overall, we have a great team. that team is going to be fanning out. we will be working the phones, we will be in the region and we believe there are other andtries that will watch see the tremendous response to the courage of the prime minister and crown prince have been received by their people and by the world. i have already been on the phone with a number of european counterparts who have called to congratulate us for our role in this accord but some of whom are astounded that this took place. toalso think this could

to be conscious, firstly, that we have work to do with any inclusion and making people feel like judaismn group on blackjews and jews of colour and what they can do to make our community is welcoming, safe, silly bakery spaces for everybody. and secondly, —— celebrate array —— spaces that can be celebrated. secondly, the more that we can raise consciousness of the diversity ofjews within our community, the more that people will feel like it is their home and it is a safe space. thank you for talking to us this morning. three victorian forts — originally built to defend england against the french — are going up for sale. they're in the middle of the solent. john maguire reports. when buying property there are important things to consider. the commute to work. the neighbours. seem friendly, but very serious. and local schools. well, here they're all fish. but of course the main factor — location, location, location. so how do you fancy the middle of the solentjust off portsmouth? the three forts being sold separately, or together for £9 million, were built around 150 years ago, as part of

>> seth: here's more of my conversation with seth rogen >> seth: this film is in many ways about judaismover generations, about the different relationships you can have with your religion. there is a joke that is so funny about, basically where the 100-year-old version, the great-great-grandfather finds out that jonas salk cured polio. and his first question is, "was he jewish? [ laughter ] >> "was he jewish? yeah, which is -- that taps into a very jewish thing. which is jews are very proud of other jewish accomplishments [ laughter ] and he's so psyched when he finds out that jonas salk is jewish and nothing evidences this probably phenomena more than the book "great jews in sports." which is a book every jewish person has which is a small book, but that is how much we want to know what every jewish accomplishment in history ever was and we will take the six great jews in sports and make an entire book about them [ laughter ] >> seth: you -- you mentioned, was it from the jump, was it the idea that you would play both characters was there a time that -- i mean, because it's not necessar

and i visited places of great significance to the three major religions -- islam, christianity, and judaismm that trip is of a young boy i had privilege of visiting while at bambino jesu hospital in italy. while there, i read the little boy a story and learned that he and his family had been waiting for a heart for a very long time, and he had a grim prognosis. his situation brought my staff and me to tears, and we spoke of little else as we flew to belgium for the next part of our trip. upon landing just a few hours later, we learned that a heart had been donated and would be going to the little one. i think about him often along with so many amazing and strong young patients across our own country. more profound and sadly unavoidable examples of our country's strength and character have appeared in the communities that have been impacted by natural disasters. hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding show the ugly side of mother nature. but in their aftermath, they can show us a beautiful side of humanity. my husband and i have visited many places that have been affected by natural disaster, an

and i visited places of great significance to the three major religions, islam, christianity, and judaismof a young boy i had privilege of visiting in rome, italy. while there, i read the little boy a story and learned that he and his family had been waiting for a heart for a very long time. grim prognosis. the situation brought my staff and me to tears. as weke of a little elf got ready for the next part of our trip. upon landing a few hours later, we learned a heart had been donated and would be going to the little what. often, along him with so many young faces across our own country. and sadlyund unavoidable examples of our country's strength and character have appeared in the communities that have been impacted by natural disasters. hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding shows the ugly side of mother nature, but they can show us a beautiful side of humanity. my husband and i have visited many places that have been affected by natural disaster and we are deeply moved by the strength of the people who have lost everything. and the kindness of neighbors and communities. the common thread i

islam, christianity and judaism, one special memory from the trip is of a young boy.rome, italy h italy. while there i had read a story, that he and his family had been waiting for a heart for a very long time. and he a grim prognosis. his situation brought my staff and me to tears and we spoke little else as we flew to belgium for the next part of our trip. upon landing just a few hours later, we learned that a heart had been donated and would be going to the little one. i think about him often. along with so many amazing and strong young patients across our own country. more profound and sadly unvoidable examples of our country's strength and character have occurred in the communities that have been impacted by natural disasters. hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding must show the ugly will side of mother nature. but in the after math they can show us a beautiful side of humanity. my husband and i have visited many places had that have been affected by natural disasters. and we are deeply moved by the strength of the people who have lost everything and the kindness of

i wonder what bible did they read because none of their behavior is reflective of judaism nor is anyf their behavior reflective of christianity. where was jesus behavior like anything that they manifested documents? -- manifested on humans? we heard this before. i used to be with karen mitchell. he made a statement. he said, every time we thank -- fight for something and we get it, they work to take it back. he said there is that one of his speeches when he was getting ready to retire. to try toy are going take it right back because they do that every time. and we fall for this and i like what doc rivers said. he made it clear. why do we keep loving a country that don't love us back? china, if you are listening, come here and we will try your communism rather than their democracy. host: let's go to moore from georgia. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span, good morning, america. i am a black 72-year-old african-american. i grew up under jim crow. things have changed. is thes not changed man's mind. just like your brother called this morning and said all we can do to stop this ki

husband and ii d places of great significance to the three mage or religions, islam, christianity and judaisme special memory from that tr a is of young boy, i had privilege of visiting at the hospital in rome, italy. while there, i read the littlery boy a stnd learned that he and his family had been waiting for a heartor a vey long time time. and he had a grim prognosis. it brought my staff td me tears. this spoke as we flew to belgium for the next part of our trip. upon landing just a few hours later, weearned that a heart had been donated and would be going to the little one. i think about hen oftalong with so many amazing and strong young patients across our own country. more profound and sadly u unavoidable examples of ou country's strength and character have occurred in the communities that have been impacted by natural disasters.r hurricanes, tnadoes and flooding show the you goly side of mother nature. but in the aftermath they can show u a beautiful side of humanity. usband and i have visited many places that have been affected by natural disaster did we are deeply moved by the stren

the country recognises 18 religious communities — four muslim, 12 christian, the druze sect and judaism political offices — president, speaker of parliament and prime minister — are divided among the three biggest communities. the seats in parliament are also divided evenly between christians and muslims and the including druze. and then, there's the role of militia groups, of which the iranian backed hezbollah is the largest. last week, lebanon's neighbour israel said it had thwarted an attempt by hezbollah to infiltrate israeli territory. but a senior israeli official has told the bbc that "israel has no connection" to the beirut blast. analysts say one consequence of having so many large competing sectarian groups is corruption. last year, lebanon ranked 137th out of 180 countries on transparency international‘s corruption perceptions index. all this means governments come and go, and struggle to get things done. next, here's ghada alsharif, a reporter at the daily star lebanon newspaper. it was a normal day, and then next thing i know, there was a shake. after the shake, there was a