The New York Times devotes three full pages in its weekly travel section to Jerusalem seen through the eyes of a writer soured on Israel and Judaism.  Naturally one could expect that.  This is after all the secular, liberal Times which still hasn't reconciled itself to the rebirth of a Jewish state. Right at the start of his article ("Lost in Jerusalem" Jan.15)  Matt Gross spells out his peculiar bona fides to tackle Jerusalem as a travel writer.  Among all the countries in the world, he writes, "there was only one that I had absolutely zero interest in ever visiting:  Israel." Why?  Because "to me, a deeply secular Jew, Israel has always felt less like a country than a politically iffy burden." As for any religious sensibilities and connections, Gross proudly confesses that "I'd tried to put as much distance between myself and Judaism as possible." Yet, despite his atheistic, anti-Zionist armature, Gross finds lots of interesting things in...(Read Full Post)