The most jarring phrase, to my ears, during the recent election, was: "Many people say Stephen Harper is a mensch." I heard it on a radio panel about rising Jewish support for Harper. In some heavily Jewish Toronto-area ridings, Tories defeated long-term Liberals (Joe Volpe, Ken Dryden) based largely and perhaps solely on Harper standing "four-square behind Israel." Harper's support for anything Israel's government does has indeed been more automatic and unflinching than any other government's. But mensch?