Questions

What happens to Israeli leftists when African infiltrators move into their neighborhood?

What happens when a BT who is not an ordained rabbi is asked to officiate at a wedding? (Part One, Part Two)

How does a convert to Judaism view Baalei Teshuvah?

Who is worse, Syria or Israel?

Rabbi Eliezer Melamed: A Good Reason Not to Serve in the IDF

Arutz 7:

There are two major factors which presently cause the hareidi society not to encourage recruitment of students who are not going to become rabbis and educators – one good reason, and the other, unfair.

The unfair reason, say those serving in the army, is that it is safer and more comfortable to avoid the army. At home when war breaks out, God forbid, you don't get killed, and parents and wives are free from the burden of worrying.

The good reason is that military service is likely to cause a spiritual decline, to the point of abandoning the Torah and mitzvoth. This already represents an existential threat that cannot be compromised. Indeed, over the last few decades, the religious-halakhic situation in the army has improved, but the spiritual-moral state has deteriorated, in accordance with society at large.

Nevertheless, despite certain improvements in the ability to fulfill halakha in the army, there are still serious problems that cause many of the youth from the religious society to decline spiritually in the army.

And when it appears that there is no pressing demand to enlist all the young men, many Torah scholars believe it is better to ensure their spiritual future over the mitzvah to serve in the army.

May the situation be corrected soon, and all of Israel joins the effort for the sake of the Nation and the Land.

Elder of Ziyon: Debunking the "Bride is beautiful, but she is married to another man" myth

The Elder of Ziyon has yet another important blog post, in which another of the anti-Zionist talking points is thoroughly debunked.

My Condolences to the Krein Family of Cherry Hill, New Jersey

I would like to express my condolences to the Krein family of Cherry Hill, Stanley and Bunny, on the "marriage" of their son Howard to Ashley Biden. Oy Vey, what happened to their son, the doctor?

I imagine that as proud Jews they find no consolation in the fact that Ashley is the daughter of Vice President Joe Biden. I am almost certain that they, as intelligent and educated people, were not fooled by the antics of the clown that masqueraded as a rabbi at the ceremony:

Vice President Biden’s daughter Ashley married Dr. Howard Krein, a Jewish doctor from Philadelphia, on Saturday at the bucolic St. Joseph’s of the Brandywine in Wilmington, Delaware, which is the same church where she was baptized. In the official statement released by the vice president’s office, Joe and Dr. Jill Biden said, “We’re happy to welcome Howard into our family, and we wish them all the best in their new life together.”

The wedding ceremony, which was limited to 200 close family and friends of the bride and groom, was officiated by a Catholic priest, Father David Murphy, and a Reform Jewish Rabbi, Joseph M. Forman of Or Chadash synagogue in Flemington, N.J. Forman, a graduate of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Learning in Cincinnati, Ohio, assures the Forward that the ceremony contained the typical elements of the Jewish and Catholic wedding ceremonies.

“A Ketubah was signed. The couple got married under a beautiful chuppah, made of natural branches with a cloth covering,” he said. The wedding ceremony started with the traditional burach habim and included the priestly blessing and the shevai brachot. The groom stepped on a glass at the end.”

Of course, real rabbis do not perform intermarriages. According to Jewish law a Jew cannot marry a non-Jew, plain and simple. Not only that, the thought of "sheva brachot" being recited at such a ceremony is truly nauseating. I think that "rabbi" Forman has descended even lower than the level of the "temple rabbis" described in Rabbi Kahane's famous essay, What Makes Bernie Run?:

And who else made Bernie run from Judaism? The temple rabbis. The kept theologians who knowingly preside over fraud and grotesque jokes. The well-paid functionaries whose salaries are payments to hold their silence and to declare light, darkness and darkness, light: to give their stamp of kashrut on the impure meat that their temples serve up as "Judaism." The bribe takers whose eyes are blinded and consciences dulled by kavod, the honor of sitting on the pulpit before the eyes of the congregants, and by the comfortable salary augmented by the offerings of thankful beneficiaries of weddings, funerals and unveilings. The false prophets who hold their silence as Judaism is twisted, perverted, turned into a humorless joke and who, knowing their own corruptness and fraud of soul, rush to justify the fraud by 'rabbinical' or lingo that pronounce them "good." The temple rabbis who take a Judaism of Divinity and truth and go about Reconstructing it and Reforming it and making a mockery of Conserving it.

The temple rabbis who took the age-old axiom of Revelation, real Revelation, upon which is built the Divinity of Torah and junked it. The temple rabbis who made Judaism the product of ''wise men" (and if so, are there not wise Christians and Buddhists and atheists) and thus removed any sacredness and necessary reason for observance. The temple rabbis, so many of whom do not believe in G-d, who took the real and awesome Jewish G-d of history who made man and Created all and who rewards and punishes, and exchanged Him for a "god" who is "the spirit within man," indistinguishable from indigestion...They are the models of Jewish "religious" leadership we give unto Bernie, these empty vessels whose greatest fortune is that their congregants know even less, about Judaism than they do.

These are your rabbis, Oh Bernie, and then we wonder why he refuses to enter the temple over which they preside. Only they themselves know what frauds they are; only they, in their hearts, know what a life of lies they lead: only they, in the inner recesses of their being, know the self- hate and contempt they feel for themselves each day that they have to perform acts of faith they no longer believe in and teach a religion that long ago they secretly began to doubt. The temple rabbis; they created Bernie, they made Bernie run.

May the Krein family know no more sorrow.

The Hunger Strike

Have you heard about the hunger strike?

Hunger strikers are calling on the government to pass the Regulation Law, which would protect legally built homes in established Israeli communities from destruction. Demolitions ordered by the Supreme Court have been based on rulings that the homes are built on land owned by Palestinian Authority Arabs, although this is disputed and if not, the option of monetary compensation for bona fide errors in land registration has not been utilized.

I decided to visit the hunger strike tent to give them my support.  The tent is near the Israeli High Court of Justice:

Hunger Strike Tent

They will be there on Shabbat too.

Rabbi David Samson: Why NOT Aliyah?

Torat HaMelech: Case Closed!

Sanity prevails:

The Attorney General's office on Monday announced that it would not pursue charges against Rabbis Yitzchak Shapira and Yosef Yirmiyahu Elitzur, who authored the book that was considered controversial by some over claims that it incites against Arabs. The cases against Rabbis Yitzchak Ginsburg and Dov Lior, who gave a haskama - a stamp of approval- to the book will be dropped as well.

Interesting to note are the reasons for closing the investigation:

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said that the investigation was being closed because there is not enough evidence that the book was published with the intention to incite racism. Weinstein wrote that the Torat Hamelech is written in a general manner and does not call for violence. 

Readers of this blog already knew that.  Such a shame that the police harassed leading rabbis for no reason at all.  

Shavuot and Teshuvah

The "time of the giving of our Torah" is near.  We count the days from Passover until Shavuot, connecting the physical freedom of the exodus from Egypt with the spiritual freedom of receiving the Torah: And it says (Exodus 32:16): "And the tablets are the work of G-d, and the writing is G-d's writing, engraved on the tablets"; read not "engraved" (charut) but "liberty" (chairut)---for there is no free individual, except for he who occupies himself with the study of Torah (Avot 6:2).  A couple of more days and we are there.

Time flies.  I'm over half a century old. and I've been a BT for over a quarter of a century.  At this age usually the hair is graying if not disappearing altogether.  The aging process is taking place before my very eyes.  The reality of death is much more tangible.  An inner voice cries, "Ribono Shel Olam, Al Tashlicheini Le'eit Zikna!"

On the other hand, with age comes the opportunity for retrospection.  I have the ability to look back at over three decades of adult life.  Many important and fateful decisions were made: what to learn in college, who to marry, to make aliyah, etc.  However the most difficult and most important decision that I ever made was the decision to do Teshuvah.  To receive the Torah as is, unreformed, neither conserved nor reconstructed.

What was difficult about it?  Well, this was a radical idea, a move far away from my comfort zone.  For someone who grew up in suburbia, it meant giving up a lot of things that I was used to.   No, I will not list them!  It also meant being the object of ridicule and even pity to those that did not understand what I was going through.

Looking back, I had no idea of what I was getting into.  The Torah is so big! "Rabbi Chananya ben (son of) Akashya said: The Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to give Israel merit; therefore He gave them Torah and mitzvos (commandments) in abundance, as it is written: 'G-d wanted, for its [Israel's] righteousness, to make the Torah great and mighty' (Isaiah 42:21)." 

I was lacking Torah knowledge when I took upon myself the yoke of Heaven.  I must have known about as much as the average five year old here in Jerusalem.  However, what I was lacking in erudition I made up in instinct.  My soul sensed where it needed to go.  I had no idea of the depth of the spiritual treasures that awaited me.  After all of this time I have only scratched the surface!

We live in a time where moral clarity is lacking.  However, "... Thou dost light my lamp; the LORD my God doth lighten my darkness (Psalms 18:29)."  The Torah that we are about to receive is an everlasting light which guides us while others stumble and fall.  For instance, the whole controversy about gay marriage.  For us as Jews, the controversy does not really exist, for the Torah already had its say on the issue:

Lesbian relations are forbidden and it is among the “doings of Egypt” that we have been warned about as it is said, “After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do”. The sages said, “What did they do? A man marries a man, and a woman marries a woman, and a woman marries two men” (Maimonides, Laws of Forbidden Relations 21:8).

My forefathers left Egypt and I have no intention of going back!  Rather, I will rejoice in the Torah this Shavuot.  I am a truly free man, free from the lewdness of Egypt, free from being politically correct, free from those that have forgotten God.   Blessed is He, our God, who has separated us from those that go astray, and gave us the Torah of truth, and planted eternal life within us.

(Update: also posted on Beyond Teshuva)

Simply Brilliant!

Click!

Egyptian-Belgian journalist interview with David Wilder

Just saw this at Arutz 7.  Interesting!

An Imaginary Continuation of a Famous Midrash

Shavuot, "the time of the giving of the Torah", is quickly approaching.  A famous Midrash (Sifri, Zot HaBerachah) associated with the giving of the Torah came to mind:

ויאמר ה' מסיני בא. כשנגלה המקום ליתן תורה לישראל לא על ישראל בלבד הוא נגלה אלא על כל האומות. בתחילה הלך אצל בני עשו, ואמר להם: מקבלים אתם את התורה? אמרו לו: מה כתוב בה? אמר להם 'לא תרצח'. אמרו לפניו: רבש"ע כל עצמו של אותו אביהם רוצח הוא שנאמר 'על חרבך תחיה'. הלך לו אצל בני עמון ומואב ואמר להם: מקבלים אתם את התורה? אמרו לו: מה כתוב בה? אמר להם 'לא תנאף'. אמרו לפניו: רבש"ע כל עצמה של ערוה להם שנאמר 'ותהרין בנות לוט מאביהם'. הלך ומצא בני ישמעאל, אמר להם: מקבלים אתם את התורה? אמרו לו: מה כתוב בה? אמר להם: 'לא תגנוב'. אמרו לפניו: רבש"ע כל עצמו אביהם לסטים היה שנאמר והוא יהיה פרא אדם  

Here is my translation of the Midrash:

When the Omnipresent revealed Himself to give the Torah to Israel He did reveal Himself  to just to Israel, rather (He revealed Himself) to all the nations.  At first he went to the children of Esau, and said to them, "Will you receive the Torah?"  They said to Him, "What's written in it?" He said to them, "Thou shalt not murder."  They said before Him, "Master of the Universe, our father's entire essence was that of a murderer as it is said, 'You shall live by the sword.'"  He went to the children of Amon and Moav and said to them, "Will you receive the Torah?"  They said to Him, "What's written in it?" He said to them, "Thou shalt not commit adultery."  They said before Him, "Master of the Universe, our  entire essence is lewdness as it is said, 'Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.'"  He went to the children of Yishmael and said to them, "Will you receive the Torah?"  They said to Him, "What's written in it?" He said to them, "Thou shalt not steal."  They said before Him, "Master of the Universe, our father's entire essence was that of a bandit as it is said, 'He will be a wild beast of a man.'"

I could not help but think of a imaginary continuation of the Midrash, based on my experience posting at a certain "liberal" blog:

He went to the children of "the liberal" and said to them, "Will you receive the Torah?"  They said to Him, "What's written in it?" He said to them, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind; it is abomination."  They said before Him, "Homophobe! Kahanist!   !  Downding! Downding! Downding! Downding! Downding!"

Did You Ever See a Loquat Tree?

Do you know what a loquat tree is?  I didn't, that is to say that I did not that in English it is called loquat.  In Modern Hebrew it is called "shesek", and it is now in season.

Here's a close up:

I've Been Downdinged to Death!

This was my latest and final post at LGF.  I would link to it, but it has been "hidden" by the powers that be over there:

The verdict is in: I have been down-dinged to death.  100 percent of the people here disagree with what I write.  (Or if anyone here agrees, perhaps he/she id afraid to speak up for fear of being down-dinged himself.) I certainly did not expect to everybody to answer "Amen" to my posts.  Nor did I expect the majority to agree with me.  However, if everybody disagrees with me, 100 percent from wall to wall, it's a sign that I really should not be posting here.   I am not a martyr, neither am I a masochist.   I can always retreat back to my own little blog, or search for a different forum where my views will be better received.

My email is available on my Blogger profile for anyone who is interested in being in contact with me.

All the best to each and every one of you.

 Like I said, here (and perhaps elsewhere) I plan to continue posting my thoughts from time to time.  Shavua Tov and Happy Jerusalem Day! 

Wash Your Keyboard Out With Soap

What separates man from the animal world? There are probably a variety of different answers for that question. I would like to offer one answer from this verse: “Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). The words for living soul in Hebrew is Nefesh Chaya. Targum Onkelos translates this into Aramaic as Ru’ach Memalela, a speaking spirit. This extra vitality that is in man is expressed by his speech, for better or worse.

If a person’s speech is littered with profanities, he is abusing this precious gift. The same goes for the written word. Perhaps some of you remember how embarrassing it was during the “Watergate” scandal when the phrase “expletive deleted” appeared on the transcripts of conversations in the White House. Unfortunately, this sense of shame seems to be getting rare. The expletives, not deleted, are all over the Internet. What happened to class and decorum?

People talk about keeping the environment clean: using less fossil fuels, recycling etc. Let’s try to keep our Internet clean as well. That would be a great improvement in the standard of living.

(Crossposted here.)

America, Whither Go You?

Who will win the elections in November, Obama or Romney?

The elections remind me of what the Talmud says (Sanhedrin 109B) about On Ben (the son of) Pelet and his wife. On Ben Pelet was one of the leaders of Korah’s rebellion against Moses’ leadership (see Numbers ch. 16). He appears at the beginning of the story but is not mentioned later on. What happened? The Talmud says that his wife saved him from the fate of Korah and his followers, from being swallowed up by the earth. She asked him, “What benefit will you derive from the insurrection? If Korah wins, he will be the master and you will be the student. If Moses wins, he will be the master and you will be the student. ” There’s more to the story, but the main thing is that On’s wife, with her great wisdom, saved her husband. The Talmud says of such a lady, “Every wise woman buildeth her house…” (Proverbs 14:1).

So who is going to win in November? Does it really matter if you are not a party hack? Are the two candidates really that different? Are they the ones who will decide our future?

On the micro level the future of America is more dependent on the average Joe than the guy who sits in the Oval Office. I recall a telephone conversation that I had with my father. It must have been about five years ago. A little bit of background first. I live in Israel and my father lives on the East Coast of the U.S.A. He is not an Orthodox Jew. The conversation went something like this:

My Dad: Everything is kaput over here in America.

Me: What do you mean?

My Dad: No families here anymore. Young people are not getting married. Television is disgusting. People are talking about the most intimate things on television. You would not believe it. Everything is kaput.

Could things really be that bad? I hadn’t been in the U.S. for over 20 years. After that conversation I wondered what the neighborhood that I grew up in looked like today. Were the little girls still playing jump-rope? Were there still children there riding bicycles, doing “wheelies”, playing touch-football and running-bases in the street? Or were the few children in the neighborhood communicating with their friends through their computer keyboard? What else were they viewing on the WWW?

I don’t really think that my father thought that everything was “kaput”. He was looking at his surroundings from the vantage point of 80 years of life experience, and was pained by the decay of the family unit and the lack of decency in the public domain.

I believe that America has a great future. I believe that future is more dependent on the behavior of the individual than who he votes for in November. We may not be able to determine foreign or domestic policy, but we can sure decide what our homes will look like. We can certainly improve the way that we act with our friends and our loved ones.

(Also posted here.)

Legalizing Gay Marriage: Progress or Regress?

From Maimonides, Laws of Forbidden Relations 21:8 (my translation):

Lesbian relations are forbidden and it is among the “doings of Egypt” that we have been warned about as it is said, “After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do”. The sages said, “What did they do? A man marries a man, and a woman marries a woman, and a woman marries two men.”

What would Maimonides say?

(Also posted on LGF.)

Cosmic X at Little Green Footballs

Check out  this page that I put up at Little Green Footballs, and the discussion in the comments.

Rabbi Lau Speaking in English

Wise words from a wise man:

Rabbi Lau Speaking Yiddish (With English Subtitles)

RabbI Lau is one of our national treasures:

Am KeLavi by Naftali Lau-Lavie

I just finished reading the book Am KeLavi by Naftali Lau-Lavi.  Naftali is Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau's older brother, and was instrumental in saving him during the holocaust.  After the war, Mr.  Lau-Lavie came to Israel.  He became a journalist who later went on the serve as a media advisor and spokesman for Moshe Dayan.  He was witness to and played a major role in some of the major events in Israeli history, such as the Camp David Accords.

The book is fascinating and well worth the read.  After reading it, one really appreciates the privilege of living here in the State of Israel.  An English version of the book is available for those of you that do not understand Hebrew.

Here are a few videos of the Lau brothers discussing their experiences during the holocaust:

Nachal Besor

The Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman Mobile

I saw this in Givat Shaul the other day:

These guys even have an entry in Wikipedia:

Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman (Hebrew: נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן‎) is a Hebrew language name and song used by a subgroup of Breslover Hasidim colloquially known as the Na Nachs. The complete phrase is Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'uman. It is a kabbalistic formula based on the four Hebrew letters of the name Nachman, referring to the founder of the Breslov movement, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, along with a reference to his burial place in Uman, Ukraine.

In 1922, Rabbi Yisroel Ber Odesser a Breslover Hasid, claimed to have received a petek (note) addressed to him from Rebbe Nachman, although the latter had died in 1810. The seventh line of this petek is signed Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman, which became Rabbi Odesser's personal meditation and song. Before he died, he taught this phrase to a group of devotees who formed the Na Nach movement.

Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner Relieved of Command Duties

I think that Chief of Staff Gantz has made a major error here:

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz has decided to remove Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner from his comman position following the media storm over an edited video showing him using force to restrain a protester.

Lt. Col. Eisner will not be allowed to perform any duties as a commander for two years. Military sources told Arutz Sheva that Lt. Gen. Gantz made his decision after consulting with the Central Command and the Ground Forces commander.

The IDF did not eject him from the armed forces, and his rank was not changed.

Lt. Col. Eisner was the commander of the Jordan Valley Battalion and was caught on film by International Solidarity Movement activists, who blocked the only highway linking the southern and northern communities near Israel’s border.

He shoved his rifle butt in the face of a Danish activist who had broken Eisner's finger while the activist was beating him with a stick during a two-hour confrontation, which the ISM video did not show.

Lt. Gen. Gantz’s decision was a foregone conclusion given the unprecedented media outrage over the incident, which quickly erupted into a broadside even before a thorough investigation had begun.

Does Gantz realize how much encouragement he has given to the terror supporters? Does he realize how he has demoralized his troops?

Now Shalom Eisner will have more time to learn Torah. Good for him!

Thank You Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner

Thank you Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner for years of service in the IDF.

Thank you Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner for for protecting me, my family and the rest of the country.

And thank you Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner for giving the ISM trouble maker what he deserved!

Kol HaKavod!!!

Update: Petition for to support Eisner here.

Peisach 5772 - Old City of Jerusalem

Here are some sights and sounds from Jerusalem. Be sure to click on the pics for an enlargement.

This is what I saw in front of the Jaffa Gate:

For those of you who cannot read Hebrew the sign says, "Jews Eat Matzah During Passover". The guy was distributing Matzah for free to anyone who asked, and there were many takers. Kol HaKavod!

I saw this nice mural in the Cardo:

Mincha under Wilson's Arch:

Directing traffic near the Kotel:

The klezmer sitar player with the white clothes and face painted white attracted a lot of attention:

Hear him in action:

Schalit: Free Pollard!

From jpost:

Former captive IDF soldier Gilad Schalit on Thursday joined the petition calling on President Shimon Peres to increase pressure on the US to release imprisoned Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard. Gilad's parents Noam and Aviva Schalit also signed the petition.

So far nearly 30,000 people have signed the petition, demanding that Peres act on the issue, before receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from US President Barack Obama in the summer.

The president's office said they were working hand in hand with the campaign for Pollard's release and that Peres intends do his utmost to bring about the release of Pollard.

"As president, I see it as very important to work determinedly to bring about Jonathan Pollard's release," Peres said a week earlier.

"We are all united in the call to release him immediately. In all my meetings with president Obama and top American government leaders I raised the request to release Pollard and I will continue to do so when I meet with Obama in June."

Education Ministry to Recognize "Chutzim"

Check this out (hat tip: Daas Torah):

For the first time the Education Ministry is set to recognize haredi seminary final exams as Bagrut matriculation exams in every way. This means that any young woman who graduates from the independent education system’s haredi seminaries to become integrated in higher education institutions.

The decision is set to come into effect retroactively for any woman who has taken the exams in the last decade.

The Szold Exams - the haredi equivalent to Bagrut exams- are carried out by the Szold Institute. Some 4,500, a majority of seminary students take external exams in Hebrew, history, English, math and grammar. Data previously published by Ynet revealed that 90% of the girls pass the exams successfully, yet until now, were not recognized as graduates by the Education Ministry.

The external testing system has been in use for 50 years, ever since haredi rabbis refused to allow their students to take the Bagrut exams. On Monday Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced the recommendations presented by officials within the ministry would be a accepted.

The recognition process will allow seminary graduates to complete the full Bagrut externally and according to ministry officials, will remove employment barriers.

“These are great tidings for thousands of haredi girls who study the core curriculum,” said Sa’ar. “It’s time to act in line with professional standards in order to remove barriers of furthering their education including and academic education and integration in the workforce.”

This is fantastic! Kol HaKavod to all involved!

Carnivals!!!

The jblog carnivals are still alive and kicking.

You can see the latest edition of jpix here.

The latest edition of Haveil Havalim can be found here.

I Fear For Iran

I fear that the Iranian's will become victims of their own nuclear reactors and/or bombs. We've already seen in Chernobyl how a city can be devastated by its own nuclear facilities.
Now that it's Purim it is interesting to take a look at the Book of Esther:

Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him: 'Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak thou unto the king that Mordechai may be hanged thereon; then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet.' And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.

Ahmadinejad Haman planned to hang Mordechai on the gallows. But who hung on them in the end?

Then said Harbonah, one of the chamberlains that were before the king: 'Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman hath made for Mordechai, who spoke good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman.' And the king said: 'Hang him thereon.' So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordechai. Then was the king's wrath assuaged.

And also:

Then said Esther: 'If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews that are in Shushan to do to-morrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.' And the king commanded it so to be done; and a decree was given out in Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.

From what I have heard, most Iranians are decent people. It is such a shame that they have this schnook as a President. I hope that they will not have to suffer because of him.

Peres Asks Obama to Free Pollard

Thank you, President Peres:

President Shimon Peres formally asked US President Barack Obama to release Jonathan Pollard during their meeting at the White House on Sunday. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was also expected to request Pollard's release during his meeting with Obama on Monday, his office reported. Netanyahu officially asked Obama to commute Pollard's life sentence to time served in January 2011. Since then, Obama has not responded.

Peres did the right thing. What will Obama do?

Snow in Jerusalem

Rabbi Chaim Vital Street:

A broken umbrella...I've seen so many of those lately.

Snow and Jerusalem stone:

I wonder what those palm trees are thinking. As for the man with the umbrella, I am sure that he is having fun.:

Japanese Holocaust Rescuer: Sugihara 'Sempo' Chiune

Videos From the "Yerushalmi Institute" Convention

I blogged about this not too long ago. Now you can be there:

The False Prophets

Who remembers the diplomatic tsunami that we were promised last September? Nostalgia:

Palestinian Talmud Enthusiasts Convene

Last Thursday the "Yerushalmi Institute" presented an evening of lectures devoted to the redeeming of captives. I cannot claim to be a Yerushalmi enthusiast, since I think that the only Yerushalmi tractate I ever learned was Sheqalim. However, I am a wannabe.

The evening was quite interesting and I regret that I did not take notes.

The first speaker was Rabbi David Bar Chaim:

Rabbi Bar Chaim's remarks are more or less summarized here and here.

Next up was Professor Eliav Shochatman who mentioned a variety of sources dealing with the subject:

Moshe Feiglin also spoke, saying that we need to look to the written Torah in order to deal with problems related to running a Jewish State:

Rabbi Eliyahu Zini, the Rabbi of the Technion, was fascinating, showing the differences between the Bavli and the Yerushalmi when dealing with the same matters:

Last up was Rabbi Ratzon Arusi, who explained the issues from the eyes of a posek:

For me, this evening of "Torat Eretz Yisrael" was a breath of fresh air in the midst of the ongoing atmosphere of turmoil and incitement.

Sexual Harassment?

Things have gotten way out of hand. They really have!:

An indictment was filed Thursday against Jerusalem resident Shlomo Fuchs, 44, an ultra-Orthodox man who hurled sexist slurs at a female soldier on a public bus in the capital.

Police officials said Fuchs' behavior was unruly, and that he sexually harassed the soldier, Doron Matalon, by humiliating her and making sexual remarks.

What did he do? Apparently he called her a "prutza", which means a slut or a harlot. Not a very nice thing to do, but does this amount to sexual harassment?

The court also stated that sexual harassment does not only apply when the harasser demands something of sexual nature from the harassed, but also when the harassed is humiliated based on remarks relating to his or her sex. The judge ruled such was the case in this incident, since "there is no dispute that Fuchs spoke bluntly and shouted harsh and humiliating words at the soldier aboard the bus, calling her a 'slut' three times."

"I am not a sexual offender," Fuchs told his attorney afterwards. "If anything – she harassed me. I wanted to move away and she kept moving closer."

Fuchs' attorney claimed this was not a criminal offense. "We live in a free country. We're allowed to curse, it's part of the freedom of expression," he explained.

If the court does decide this is a sexual harassment case, said the attorney, then any man who calls a woman a "bitch" or other curse words would be considered a sexual offender.

I have to agree with Fuchs' attorney. It seems to me that this is all a product of the media-fed frenzy of incitement against the ultra-Orthodox: the police and the court are abusing their power to legally harass Fuchs.

Once again we can learn a lesson from this. First of all, I do not think that the Rambam or the Chafetz Chaim would approve of calling this soldier a prutza, even if she did not follow the etiquette of the mehadrin line. We really should be careful about what we say. Even our mundane speech should be something that is worth studying.

Secondly, what I quoted recently from chapter 20 of "The Path of the Just".

Let's hope that things will calm down soon.

נס פך השמן וצלחת החומוס

Happy Hanukkah

Learning from the Beit Shemesh Zealots

The violent riots regarding the OROT National Religious school in Beit Shemesh gives us an opportunity to learn a few valuable lessons.

Our Rabbis taught us (Avot 1:6)

והוי דן את כל האדם לכף זכות

which could translated as "judge every man favorably." If you see someone doing a certain act, which could be interpreted negatively or positively, we should judge the person in a positive light.

An alternative translation could be "judge the entire man favorably." You should not judge someone on the basis of an isolated act. Everyone has their ups and downs. The same guy that you saw doing something nasty may also have many good deeds to his credit. You have to see the whole picture. Keep this in mind as you view the following clip about the zealots in Beit Shemesh:



The clip presents those people in a very unfavorable light. However, imagine if a camera crew followed you around, with the explicit purpose of filming you doing something improper. Afterward, after editing, adding narration and subtitles, the clip was uploaded to YouTube. Would this be a true representation of who you really are? So it is with the zealots in Beit Shemesh: I am sure that they have many good deeds to their credit and that there are many positive things to learn from them.

With regards to the OROT school, and what the zealots are doing their fellow Jews in Beit Shemesh (spitting on them, calling them "shikse" etc.), I believe they are terribly mistaken. What is their error?

When one wants to improve his service of God beyond the letter of the law, one must be very careful that his actions do not cause him to be lax in other areas. Rabbi Moshe Chayim Luzzatto discusses this issue in his book, "The Path of the Just":

WHAT MUST Now be explained is the weighing of one's deeds in relation to the aforementioned standards of Saintliness. This is an extremely fundamental process and one which constitutes the most difficult operation in Saintliness because of the great subtlety it demands and because of its susceptibility to great inroads by the evil inclination. The weighing of Saintliness entails great danger because it is within the power of the evil inclination to draw many good things far from one, as if they were evil and to draw many sins near to him, as if they were great mitzvoth. The truth is that a man must fulfill three requirements in order to succeed in this "weighing." He must possess the most just of hearts, whose only inclination is to give pleasure to the Blessed One; he must submit his actions to the closest scrutiny and exert himself to perfect them in accordance with this end; and after all this, he must cast his lot with God, after which it may be said of him (Psalms 84:6,12), "Happy is the man whose strength is in You ... Goodness will not be lacking for those who walk in purity." if one of these conditions is not observed, he will not attain to Wholeness and he will be very apt to stumble and fall. That is, if his intention is not select and pure, or if he weakens in the analysis of his deeds so that his full potential is not brought to bear upon them, or, if after all .this, he does not put his trust in his Master, it will be very difficult for him not to fall. But if he correctly observes all three - purity of thought, analysis, and trust, he will walk securely in truth and no evil will befall him, as Channah said in her prophecy (I Samuel 2:9), "He will protect the feet of his Saints." And David also said (Psalms 37:28), "And He will not forsake his Saints; they will forever be protected."

What must be understood is that actions should not be judged for saintliness at first glance, but should be carefully observed and reflected upon so that it may be determined how far their results extend. For at times an action in itself may seem worthy of performance, but because its results are evil, one will be obliged to leave it; and if he does not, he will be adjudged a sinner rather than a Saint. The episode of Gedaliah ben Achikam (Jeremiah 40:13ff) provides a clear illustration of this fact. Because of his abundant Saintliness, which would not permit him to judge Yishmael adversely, or which would not permit him to receive slander, he said to Yochanan ben Kareach, "You are speaking falsely of Yishmael." What was the result? He died, the Jews were scattered, and their last hope was extinguished. And Scripture attributes to him the death of those men who were killed, as if he were the murderer, as indicated by the comment of our Sages of blessed memory upon the verse, (Jeremiah 41:9), "All of the corpses of the men who were killed through Gedaliah."

It was also such incorrectly weighed Saintliness in the incident of Bar Kamtza (Gittin 56a) that was responsible for the destruction of the Temple: "The Rabbis thought to sacrifice the animal. R. Zechariah ben Avkulos said to them, `They will say that animals with imperfections may be sacrificed upon the altar.' The Rabbis thought to kill him [Bar Kamtza]. R. Zachariah ben Avkulos said to them, `They will say that one who causes an imperfection in sacrificial animals should be killed.' While all this was going on, the evildoer slandered the Jews to the emperor, who came and destroyed Jerusalem." It was to this that R. Yochanan was referring when he said, "The humility of R. Zechariah destroyed our Temple, consumed our Sanctuary and exiled us among the nations."

We see, then, that one should not decide upon the saintliness of a deed on the basis of surface appearances, but should view it from every angle that human intelligence can be brought to bear upon it, until he can truthfully determine the better course - performance or abandonment.

In their pursuit of modesty, the zealots violated several Torah precepts: Insulting others(Ona'at Devarim), harming people and property, and desecrating God's name to name a few. They "rebuked" their fellow Jews, in an uncivilized and violent manner. The fact that they yell and terrorize little girls is especially revolting. Even if the girls are not dressed properly, it is the parents' duty to educate their children, and not the duty of the zealots. If the zealots were to put aside their emotions and to weigh their deeds according to the ways of Torah, I think that they would agree with me. However, when emotion rules, Torah precepts are often forgotten.

This reminds me of something I saw many years ago in Me'ah She'arim. Apparently a woman who was not dressed according to the standards of Jewish Law walked down the street. I did not notice her. All of a sudden, a wannabe zealot ran down the street after her all the time yelling "prutza, prutza" (harlot, harlot).

I could not help but wonder: If she is a harlot, why is he running after her?

A Hanukkah Song By John Lennon?

The Fire in Beit Oren Gave Birth to a Synagogue

This week's parsha sheet from Chabad has an interesting story - so interesting that I thought it was worthwhile to translate it into English:

It happened several days after the fire in the Carmel forest, exactly one year ago, where 44 people lost their lives and tens of houses were burnt down. A group of Jews from New Jersey visited Beit Oren, with the willingness to help rehabilitate the village.

Moti Dagon (53), one of the veteran members of the village and a professional tour guide tells us: "At the meeting the members of the delegation asked: 'What do you need? How can we contribute in order to start the rehabilitation?' The head of the village committee answered, 'We don't have a Torah scroll.' The others present agreed with him. The village exists 70 years, and there was never a synagogue or Torah scroll in it. Why didn't they request $10,000? That's hard for me to explain. It's astonishing."

Several months later one of the heads of the New Jersey congregations phoned the committee head. "Do you remember us from the visit?" he asked. "After much effort we succeeded in acquiring for you a Torah scroll that is 100 years old and we will send it to you soon", he said.

There was great excitement among the residents, but it was not complete, since they did not have a synagogue. "We asked ourselves: What good is a Torah scroll without a synagogue?" Dagon tells us. It did not take long before there was a surprising turn about. "A few days after we received the tidings one of the veteran members of the village, Mrs. Berta Ben-Chaim passed away. In her will she requested that a synagogue be opened in her home. The hand of Divine Providence was amazing - within a short time we received a Torah Scroll and a synagogue."

It was a festive day in the village when the synagogue was inaugurated and the Torah scroll was placed inside of it. "Everyone here cried in emotion", Dagon describes. "The event symbolized a new flowering, a new age. Now there are set prayers in the synagogue, mainly on the Sabbath, but perhaps that will expand in the future."

Dagon lives close to the synagogue. "In addition to the set prayers, the very presence of the synagogue in the village is heartwarming. It is something that we did not have, and now we understand how much it was lacking."

Even now, a year afterwards, the job of repairing and rehabilitating is still not over. "The government did not help us as much as they promised", protests Dagon. And as he speaks about the damage, he returns to that black night in the village. "We saw the fire approaching quickly. We did not appreciate its intensity. When the fire got close, it was too late. We tried to take our whatever was possible from the house. Everyone here fled, only we (a group of six residents - CX) stayed.

For hours we ran between the houses and extinguished the sparks - which saved many houses. In spite of the fire Dagon thinks that we must look forward: "Luckily, I did not lose my home, but my son's home went up in flames and there is nothing left of it. It is not simple to lose a home, but the people are continuing forward and are not stuck in the past."

Dagon says that when he lights the first Hanukkah candle, this week on Tuesday, he will say the words "sheAsa Nissim La'Avoteinu" (who performed miracles for our ancestors) with great intention. "A great miracle happened here. We lost our homes but we received a new life. There was a great danger to life here, but thank God nobody from the village was harmed."

Nice story, isn't it?

Dvar Torah For Parashat VaYeishev

In this week's Torah portion Ya'akov sends Yosef on a special mission:

12 And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said unto Joseph: 'Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them.' And he said to him: 'Here am I.' 14 And he said to him: 'Go now, see whether it is well with thy brethren, and well with the flock; and bring me back word.' So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying: 'What seekest thou?' 16 And he said: 'I seek my brethren. Tell me, I pray thee, where they are feeding the flock.' 17 And the man said: 'They are departed hence; for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothan.'

Rashi comments on the words, "They are departed hence":

They have caused themselves to depart from brotherhood.

After reading the news this week, I feel that we have departed from brotherhood. I seek my brethren! I seek my brethren who strive to build up the land of Israel and not to destroy it. I seek my brethren that will not judge me by whether I have a beard or not. I seek my brethren that will not judge me by the color of my head covering or the lack of one. I seek my brethren that understand that the Israeli Defense Force is not a tool to be used for partisan gains. I seek my brethren who are not gung ho for a civil war. I see my brethren who do not incite. I seek my brethren that would never dream of harming our soldiers or damaging our army in any way.

We have to restore the feeling of brotherhood within the nation. Our sages have taught us over and over again that this is the key to redemption.

Unity does not mean uniformity! There is room for differences of opinion and differences in style. The main thing is to stress what unifies us and not what divides us.

I seek my brethren! Are they seeking me?

Why Newt Gingrich is Right About the "Palestinians"

Check out this post at Daled Amos!

The Truth About the Refugees

Nehemiah Perlman to Receive 770,000 NIS in Damages From the IDF

In an out of court settlement, the IDF will pay 770,000 NIS in damages to Kedumim resident Nehemiah Perlman. What did the IDF do to merit paying such a large settlement?

Some background first:

Oct 19, 2000 - Rabbi Binyamin Herling, 64, of Kedumim, was killed when Fatah members and Palestinian security forces opened fire on a group of Israeli men, women, and children on a trip at Mount Ebal near Nablus.

The hikers were pinned down by terrorist fire for more than five hours before the IDF rescued them, well, at least most of them. Here is a time line of the attack:

11:00 a.m.

The tour bus, carrying 36 passengers from Yerushalayim, Haifa, Kfar Saba, Karnei Shomron, Kedumim, Yitzhar and Peduel leaves Kedumim. The IDF's senior commander in the area has approved the trip on three different occasions-the first time, two weeks before the outing; the second time, three days before the outing; and the final confirmation, on the morning of the outing. Major (Res.) Nechemia Perlman, a resident of Kedumim who has led dozens of similar outings to the same site, is the guide. A military escort consisting of two vehicles carrying a total of six soldiers accompanies the bus. The bus reaches its destination a few minutes later. Seven passengers stay with the bus, while the other 29 follow their guide, Perlman, and begin the hike toward the ruins of ancient Shechem and Yehoshua Ben Nun's altar. Two soldiers remain in the parking lot to guard the bus and the military vehicles, while the other four follow the group. The area is completely deserted. There are no Arab houses in sight.

12:30 p.m.

Six hikers get tired and decide to stop for a rest and wait where they are until the main group, consisting of 23 people, visits the ruins and the altar. Two soldiers stay with them, while the remaining two soldiers-a medic and a soldier carrying a field radio-follow the main group.

12:45 p.m.

The group descends the slope leading to the archaeological site. Several hundred yards below them they can see the last houses of the Askar Palestinian refugee camp, located on the northeastern edge of modern-day Shechem. Suddenly members of the group hear bullets whizzing by, followed a split second later by the noise of semi-automatic gunfire. A soldier screams, "Take cover!" and each member of the group runs in a different direction and throws himself behind the first boulder he can find. Meanwhile, the two soldiers run forward a few yards while firing their weapons in an effort to provide covering fire for the civilians. They take up parallel positions approximately 20 meters, or 60 feet, away from one another and continue firing. Eliezer Mizrahi, once a member of the IDF's elite Golani unit, and today a resident of Yitzhar, runs to the left of the two soldiers, takes cover behind a boulder, and begins firing his M-16. Another member of the group, Michael Chernin, who is on 24-hour leave from the parachutist unit in which he serves, cocks his weapon and takes up a firing position approximately 10 meters to the right of the two soldiers. Rabbi Herling, carrying an Uzi submachine gun, runs alongside him and joins Chernin behind the boulder. The group is thus divided into two-the two soldiers and three civilians forward at the firing line, and the rest of the men, women and children hiding behind a large boulder a few yards behind. According to Mizrahi, "In the first five minutes they shot at us in long bursts using Kalashnikov semi-automatic weapons, and it was not very effective. Those of us on the firing line instructed the men, women and children hiding in back of the boulder behind us to try to make their way to the top of the hill and reach the other side, which would have put them out of danger. "They began crawling up the hill while those of us on the firing line returned fire. Since the attackers were some 200 meters away, Rabbi Herling's Uzi would have been ineffective, so he held his fire and saved his ammunition in case they would close in on us."

12:50 p.m.

Some members of the group manage to advance about 10 meters up the hill, but then the intensity of the fire increases. They hear the ominous barking of Zero Point Five heavy machine guns capable of penetrating armor. The huge bullets impact heavily on the rocks all around them and shatter them. Sniper fire then joins in, and suddenly no one is able to make a move without a bullet whizzing by. The group is pinned down. The noise of the Zero Point Five machine guns can be heard all the way to Alon Moreh, approximately two kilometers, or 1-1/2 miles, east of the group.

1 p.m.

Michael Lev, one of the six hikers who stopped to rest, contacts the IDF by means of his cellular phone and reports the incident while the sounds of shooting are heard in the background. "We're taking care of it," he is told. Immediately, the field radio at the firing line comes to life. The guide, Perlman, who also happens to be the senior officer at the scene, describes the situation and asks for helicopters to get the women and children out.

1:30 p.m.

Half an hour after alerting the army, the situation gets worse-the group, still pinned down by sniper and heavy machine gun fire, is unable to return fire. Meanwhile, pairs of black-robed Tanzim fighters begin advancing up the hill toward the group in an effort to outflank the firing line. Lev, who had contacted the IDF a half hour earlier, calls Arutz 7 radio station and is patched through to a talk show in progress. Shocked citizens throughout Israel listen with disbelief to his live report and hear the sound of shooting in the background. "Please send help!" he pleads in a broken voice.

2:15 p.m.

The first IDF unit arrives on the scene a full hour and a half after the shooting begins. One of the reasons for the delay is the circuitous route the unit takes to get to the scene of the battle-under strict orders not to violate any signed agreements with the Palestinians, the unit commander makes sure to stay within Israeli-controlled territory, thus lengthening the journey by some 30 minutes. However, not only the commander is to blame. The order to move came only an hour after the initial report was received. Meanwhile, five members of the group pinned down on the slope manage to reach the top of the hill and rejoin the two soldiers and six hikers. There they discover the reason why the two soldiers have not fired their weapons-located some 800 meters from the attackers, they are too far to take aim effectively. One of the two soldiers borrows a pair of binoculars from one of the five survivors and starts shooting, but with poor results.

2:30 p.m.

Perlman reaches the top of the hill. The IDF troops that have arrived on the scene are standing by waiting for orders. Perlman screams at them to do something. They say they have orders not to proceed until they receive further instructions. Using his cellular phone, Perlman contacts the area's IDF commanding officer and demands that something be done immediately. The IDF unit receives the long-awaited order to open fire. An officer and three soldiers crest the hill and advance a few steps down the slope before a barrage of bullets forces them to retreat and take cover behind the hill. Two attack helicopters arrive and hover over the area.

3:00 p.m.

Palestinian gunfire intensifies, and the soldiers and citizens still in the firing line are unable to raise their heads. From the top of the hill, Perlman, and the others, spot three Palestinians clad in black moving quickly up the hill toward those in the firing line. They shoot at the figures, but miss their targets. The three Palestinians outflank the firing line and begin shooting from the right at Rabbi Herling and Chernin. Chernin is hit first-a bullet ricochets against his elbow and the left side of his chest. Mizrahi and the medic try to reach him, but accurate sniper fire prevents them from moving away from their position. Minutes later Rabbi Herling is hit. The bullet enters near his left hip and exits through his right shoulder. Three others are wounded: Barak Chalaf and Shmuel Ben Yehuda of Kedumim, and Yossi Friel of Yerushalayim.

3:30 p.m.

Ambulances, jeeps and half-trucks arrive. The hikers behind the rocks are taken to the ambulances while the jeeps and half-tracks, unable to descend the steep slope, look for a different route to enter the battlefield. IDF snipers begin shooting at the Palestinians, but from a difficult angle. The helicopters are still hovering overhead.

4 p.m.

At long last an elite recon unit arrives by helicopter, but it takes them no less than half an hour to get organized and ready to mobilize. Meanwhile, four wounded Israelis are bleeding on the slope below alongside the murdered Rabbi Herling. Those on the firing line are running out of ammunition and check their fire. The helicopter pilot overhead notifies the commanding officer in charge of the operation that he has been circling overhead for almost two hours and has not been called upon to fire. "You are not using me," he says over the radio to the officer. Those on the firing line release a color-smoke bomb, thinking the reason for the delay is that their position is unclear. Immediately their position is peppered with bullets.

4:15 p.m.

After warning the Palestinian residents of the area to evacuate the houses from where the attackers are firing, the attack helicopters shoot-but not in the direction of the attackers. Rather, they shoot warning shots at an empty field nearby.

4:30 p.m.

The IDF notifies the media that all the wounded have been evacuated. In reality, the situation has remained unchanged. Four Israelis are slowly bleeding to death in the field of battle, and the army personnel on top of the hill have done nothing. The helicopters have not shot a single shot at the attackers, who continue to shoot enthusiastically. Several Arabs take a few potshots at one of the helicopters with their Kalashnikovs. The pilot reports this and is ordered to leave the area. Mizrahi and the others at the firing line receive a message: "We'll take you out under the cover of darkness. Wait a little longer." As if they had a choice.

5:00 p.m.

Four kilometers away from the battle zone, the IDF mobilizes a few tanks and armored personnel carriers for the benefit of the media cameras. They come nowhere near the battle. Residents of the area, finally waking up to the fact that the IDF is being held back, organize a rescue unit including reserve soldiers and medics and start running toward the slope, determined to save the soldiers and civilians trapped below.

5:15 p.m.

Mizrahi calls the IDF once again from his cellular phone. "This is Mizrahi reporting that I am alone here with two soldiers and two wounded, Rabbi Herling's condition is still unknown, we are located 50 meters from the path."

6:30 P.M.

Nightfall. The Palestinians, lacking night vision gear, are unable to continue firing effectively. Under the cover of darkness a team of medics reaches the firing line and transports the dead and the wounded. As the survivors are being evacuated, the sounds of wild cheering and celebration can be heard drifting over the dark, bloody mountain from the refugee camp below.

The IDF set up an inquiry commission which included General Yoram Yair and Brigadier Generals Yoav Galant and Elazar Stern. The inquiry commission placed much of the responsibility for the death of Rabbi Herling on Nehemiah Perlman's shoulders, saying that he misled the army with regards to the hike.

However, there were several problems with the inquiry. First of all their mandate was to investigate the army, and not to find civilians that may have some kind of liability for what happened. Secondly, they did not notify Perlman of their intention to place the blame on him. Usually in such a case the person is given a hearing to see the evidence against him and to defend himself.

After years of unsuccessfully trying to clear his name through dialog with the army, he decided to sue the army and General Yoram Yair personally. As I mentioned, they settled out of court.

BTW, as far as I know only one Israeli news outlet (NRG) has covered this story!

Dvar Torah For Parashat VaYishlach

Last week's Torah portion ends with Ya'akov's confrontation with the master swindler, his father-in-law Lavan. In this week's portion Yaakov faces another dangerous confrontation, this time with his brother Eisav. As he gets ready for this encounter the Torah tells us the following:

וַיָּקָם בַּלַּיְלָה הוּא, וַיִּקַּח אֶת-שְׁתֵּי נָשָׁיו וְאֶת-שְׁתֵּי שִׁפְחֹתָיו, וְאֶת-אַחַד עָשָׂר, יְלָדָיו; וַיַּעֲבֹר, אֵת מַעֲבַר יַבֹּק. וַיִּקָּחֵם--וַיַּעֲבִרֵם, אֶת-הַנָּחַל; וַיַּעֲבֵר, אֶת-אֲשֶׁר-לוֹ

How are we to understand the verb וַיַּעֲבִרֵם , the causative of the root ayin-beit-reish,"to pass"? The JPS translation reads as follows:

And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven children, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok. And he took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had.

This translation fits in well with Nachmanides' understanding of the verse:

ויעבר את אשר לו, בצווי, כי חזר וציווה שיעברו לפניו ונשאר הוא אחריהם

And he transfered that which he had, by command, for he returned and commanded that they should pass before him and he remained behind them.

Rashi, however, interprets the verse according to the Midrash in Bereshit Rabbah:

את אשר לו - הבהמות והמטלטלין, עשה עצמו כגשר, נוטל מכאן ומניח כאן

that which he had - the livestock and the chattels. He made himself as a bridge, taking from here (one side of the stream) and placing here (on the other side of the stream).

In other words, Ya'akov personally, with his own hands, transferred all of his numerous possessions from one side of the Jabbok (Yabbok) to the other. Why would Ya'akov do such a thing? The Torah tells us that Ya'akov had

"... large flocks, and maid-servants and men-servants...".

Why would Ya'akov do all the work by himself when he had others who could have lent a hand?

Rav Teichtal, in his book Eim HaBanim Semeichah, tells us that the Midrash is coming to teach us something beyond the plain meaning of the verse. Ya'akov made himself like a bridge. A bridge has two "feet", one on each side of the river. Ya'akov figuratively had one foot in the exile, and one foot in the land of Israel. That is to say, his heart and head were in the land of Israel even when he was outside of the Holy Land. The fact that Ya'akov never forgot the land of Israel is what enabled him to save his possessions from falling into the hands of the wicked Eisav. Rav Teichtal, writing in the midst of the Holocaust, bemoans his generation which was so firmly entrenched in Europe and in many cases felt at home there. They forgot where their home really was, in the land of Israel. In the end, millions of them were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. The hard-earned possessions of European Jewry fell into the hands of Eisav.

Ya'akov, who never forgot where he really belonged, made it to the land of Israel, complete in body, Torah and worldly possessions (see Rashi on Genesis 33:18). May all the Jews living outside of the land of Israel realize that they are not as American as apple pie or as English as the Queen. May they follow Ya'akov Avinu's example. May they learn to always have (at least) one leg in the land of Israel.

Season's Greetings

Great clip:



Update: Ouch! The truth hurts! The Israeli Absorption Ministry received orders from above to remove the video from YouTube:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu personally intervened over the weekend to halt an ad campaign aimed at Israeli yordim (former Israelis) living in the United States encouraging them to consider returning to Israel. The campaign was cancelled after Israelis living in the U.S. and American Jews complained that the campaign was “insulting and hurtful.”

The campaign, consisting of several clips that were posted on Youtube and spread via e-mail and social media that highlighted the dangers of assimilation for Jews and especially Israelis living in the U.S. In one of the clips, a child of an Israeli couple living in the U.S. tells her grandparents who ask in a video chat what holiday is coming up, that she will be celebrating Christmas.

You can take down the video, but making the problem go away will be a little more difficult.

I'm With You Highland Park!

What's new on the banks of the old Raritan?:

The central New Jersey community of Highland Park was targeted Tuesday night in a series of anti-Semitic attacks on at least five Jewish-owned establishments.

Vandals hurled bricks through the plate glass windows of a kosher restaurant, a kosher pizza shop, two Judaica stores, and a Jewish-owned hardware store.

At least three other Jewish-owned establishments in nearby New Brunswick were also similarly attacked, including the Rutgers Chabad House, the Rutgers Hillel and an Israeli-owned falafel eatery.

The destruction took place on the anniversary of the 1947 United Nations Partition Vote to create the Jewish State in Palestine.

A report published by the Algemeiner Journal quoted "Facebook rumors" relating two separate incidents in which a local individual made anti-Semitic remarks and threatened to launch a new Kristallnacht -- a reference to the 1938 "night of broken glass" pogrom in which thousands of Jewish stores and synagogues were destroyed and that launched the Nazi Holocaust in Germany.

It is not clear whether the two incidents were related, nor is it clear whether all the attacks were perpetrated by the same vandal or vandals.

The newspaper pointed out that Highland Park has recently elected an Orthodox Jewish man as its mayor.

Local police said in a statement detectives were "actively investigating these incidents and are in contact with and coordinating efforts with other law enforcement agencies that may be able to expedite the investigation."

However, police cautioned that it was "too soon to reach a conclusion" as to the nature of the crimes.

"We would also like to briefly address the fear that these are acts motivated by anti-Semitism or that these are bias crimes," the statement said. "The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office has been notified, but it is too soon to reach a conclusion.

“All of our officers are aware of the sensitivity of this situation and we will make every effort with patrols and surveillance to keep everyone safe. We would like to encourage you to communicate with your congregants and urge them to avoid speculation which could lead to unnecessary anxiety."

Hang in there Yidden...or better yet, make Aliyah!

Who Defeated The Arabs?

I read an interesting story about Rabbi Benny Eisner that I thought was worth sharing with the English speaking world.

One time Rav Benny arrived at one of the veteran ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Jerusalem (Ge'ula or Me'ah She'arim) with an Israeli flag flying from his automobile. Suddenly he noticed that a "holy flock" of local youth was congregating around his car. He got out of the car and asked them, "Tell me, who defeated the Canaanite kings, Joshua or the Holy One, blessed be He?"

The answered him, "For sure, the Holy One, blessed be He!"

He continued to ask, "And who defeated the Greeks, the Hasmoneans or the Holy One, blessed be He?"

They answered, "For sure, the Holy One, blessed be He!"

In the end he asked, "And who defeated the Arabs, the IDF or the Holy One, blessed be He?"

That question confused them a bit!

גדול יום הגשמים

אמר ר' אבהו גדול יום הגשמים מתחיית המתים דאילו תחיית המתים לצדיקים ואילו גשמים בין לצדיקים בין לרשעים ופליגא דרב יוסף דאמר רב יוסף מתוך שהיא שקולה כתחיית המתים קבעוה בתחיית המתים אמר רב יהודה גדול יום הגשמים כיום שניתנה בו תורה שנא' (דברים לב, ב) יערף כמטר לקחי ואין לקח אלא תורה שנא' (משלי ד, ב) כי לקח טוב נתתי לכם תורתי אל תעזובו רבא אמר יותר מיום שניתנה בו תורה שנאמר יערף כמטר לקחי מי נתלה במי הוי אומר קטן נתלה בגדול

אמר רב אושעיא גדול יום הגשמים שאפי' ישועה פרה ורבה בו שנאמר תפתח ארץ ויפרו ישע אמר רבי תנחום בר חנילאי אין הגשמים יורדים אלא א"כ נמחלו עונותיהן של ישראל שנאמר (תהלים פה, ב) רצית ה' ארצך שבת שבות יעקב נשאת עון עמך כסית כל חטאתם סלה

ואמר רבי יצחק גדול יום הגשמים שאפילו פרוטה שבכיס מתברכת בו שנאמר (דברים כח, יב) לתת מטר ארצך בעתו ולברך את כל מעשה ידיך

Rabbi Meir Kahane Memorial

Translation:

Tuesday the 18th of Chesvan 21 years since the murder of the holy leader of Israel

Rabbi Meir David Kahane (my God avenge his blood)

Today everybody knows:

Rabbi Kahane was right!

The ascent to his grave on Har HaMenuchot at 4 PM.

The Central Memorial Gathering

Will take place on Tuesday the 18th of Chesvan (15.11.11) at 6:00PM

at the Heichal David Hall

14 Oholiav St. Jerusalem, near the Central Bus Station

With the participation of

MK Dr. Michael Ben Ari

Family, rabbis, and public officials

Those interested in holding a memorial where they live please call 02-5823540

www.rabbikahane.org

Hope to be there!

I'm Learning "Eim HaBanim Semeichah" - Again

I'm busy learning the book Eim HaBanim Semeichah by Rabbi Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal zt"l hy"d.


I think this is the third time around! Yeah, I really like the book. It is a must read for anyone wanting a true Torah outlook regarding the land of Israel. Here is a little of what Rabbi Berel Wein has to say about the book:

There is an enormously powerful book about the Holocaust, Orthodox Jewry, the Land of Israel, Zionism, Jewish unity and hatred and the Messianic Era, that has been in circulation for the past number of decades. Written in difficult and scholarly rabbinic Hebrew, it is called "Eim Habanim Semeichah" (The Mother of the Children is Happy), a phrase taken from Psalm 113. The author is Rabbi Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal, a noted scholar, author of three volumes of responsa, and rabbi in pre-World War II Slovakia and Hungary. Rabbi Teichtal was murdered by the Germans during the forced evacuation of Jewish and Ukrainian prisoners from Auschwitz to the Mathausen concentration camp, at the end of January, 1945. He was barely sixty years old at the time of his death.

What if you can't read "difficult and scholarly rabbinic Hebrew"? Well, you really should make an effort to learn. In the meantime the book has been translated to English, not once but twice! Rabbi Wein read the English translations and you can read his review of them.

One of the translations is available on-line at Tsel Harim web site. Not only that, Rabbi Spolter of Yad Binyamin has put up a series of lessons on the book on his blog.

The only thing left to do is learn!

Jpix!!!

Some very nice images here!