Over the decades, I've heard several different interpretations of my Christian friends' New Testament's 'mark of the beast,' usually associated with the number 666.

     Listening to various news commentators lately, I couldn't help but think of yet another twist to this.

     Fox News is usually the television station most balanced when it comes to dealings with Israel and the Middle East. So, if the Jews can't get a fair hearing on this channel, they're in real trouble.

     Regarding the world's current energy crisis (and America's in particular), the subject of continuously increasing oil prices repeatedly is being discussed in the same breath as Iran's non-stop nuclear ambitions.

     Whether the particular program is the business news or Bill O'Reilly, the audience hears one variation or another of the following…

     Israel better not dare to attack Iran's nuclear facilities because, if it does, Americans will be pointing the finger at it for six dollar a gallon gasoline.

     6…6…6

     Now, let's see…

     It took six million dead Jews--1/3 of all in existence at the time--to serve as a down payment for at least part of the world's fleeting sympathy for the rebirth of the Jewish State.

     Of Israel's roughly seven million people today, about six million are Jews.

     And, while Ahmadinejad and the Iranian mullahs openly call for Israel's obliteration, Israel's best friends in the media warn that it must be willing to take a nuclear first hit so that gasoline won't hit six dollars.

     Now, I don't want to see the price of gasoline go that high either, but understand that an Israel--over thirty of which fit into President Bush's home state of Texas--that takes a nuclear first strike virtually ceases to exist.

     What would America--3,000 miles wide, with two huge oceans buffering it, and a population over three hundred million--do with an enemy which promises to end its existence, and one already supporting deadly proxies as a step in that direction? America, or anyone else for that matter…

     I seem to remember another story from my Christian friends' New Testament…one about Jesus being sold out for thirty shekels of silver.

     But, along with this, I have to also share a Jewish interpretation of a famous quote that Christians like to use from the Jews' own Hebrew Bible, aka the 'Old Testament.'

     For us, you see, Israel--the Jewish People itself--is the Suffering Servant of G_d.

     Just how high does the price of gasoline have to go before that fleeting support for the Jew of the Nations vanishes completely? Do we really need a second Holocaust Remembrance Day so folks can momentarily show sympathy for more dead Jews? And have others claim that it never happened afterwards?

     How about empathy for live Jews instead?

     Alas, it seems that that's too much to ask for.

     So, let's see, just how many shekels does it take to equal six dollars these days?