Pre 9th of Av Thoughts

I just got over reviewing the laws of the 9th of Av with my family, and in the little bit of time until we start the se'udah hamafseket I thought that I would jot down a few thoughts here.

Unless a miracle happens, we will once again be mourning the destruction of the Temple. I saw on a calendar this morning that it is 1946 years since the Temple was destroyed. The more one learns Torah, the more one realizes the depth of this tragedy. This is a wound that the passage of time does not heal.

The truth is, we mourn its destruction on a daily basis, explicitly mentioning it many times every day. We end all of our prayers with the request that God will rebuild the Temple speedily in our days. We also remember the Temple in other ways, for instance leaving a square cubit of our homes unpainted. It is always in our head and heart.

Even so, we do not live our lives in a state of depression. A healthy Jew is an optimist, always looking at the half of the glass that is full of water. I once read how Rabbi Chana Porat, who was seriously wounded in the Yom Kippur War, thought that he had lost one of his arms. At that time, he was busy thinking how grateful he was to God for the one arm that remained.

But the 9th of Av is different. The entire day is devoted to remembering the destruction of the Temple and other tragedies that have befallen our nation. We take a serious look at the half cup of water that is empty.

There is hope. With the current war and all of its horrors, we were witness to a tremendous display of Jewish unity here in Israel. To paraphrase Rabbi Kook, if the Temple was destroyed because of senseless hatred, it will be built through unbounded love. Please God, have mercy on Zion for the time has come.

That's all in the meantime. It's time to go and dine on bread and a hard boiled egg dipped in ashes. Our sages said that those who mourn for Jerusalem will merit to rejoice in its rebuilding. May it be in our days.

UNRWA Exposed!

Hamas' Objectives

Don't say that you were not told:

The truth is that the Arabs are "alien usurpers of the land" here in the land of Israel. Jews are the indigenous people here.

CNN and Hamas's Human Shields

You just got to love the headline of this article on the CNN web site: Is Hamas using human shields in Gaza? The answer is complicated. The truth is, the answer is a simple, well documented, yes! So why is CNN having a hard time saying it? The answer, I suspect, is also quite simple.

It is the same reason that CNN hushed up the atrocities committed by Sadam Hussein, as admitted by none other than former CNN executive Eason Jordan way back in 2003:

Over the last dozen years I made 13 trips to Baghdad to lobby the government to keep CNN's Baghdad bureau open and to arrange interviews with Iraqi leaders. Each time I visited, I became more distressed by what I saw and heard -- awful things that could not be reported because doing so would have jeopardized the lives of Iraqis, particularly those on our Baghdad staff.

For example, in the mid-1990's one of our Iraqi cameramen was abducted. For weeks he was beaten and subjected to electroshock torture in the basement of a secret police headquarters because he refused to confirm the government's ludicrous suspicion that I was the Central Intelligence Agency's Iraq station chief. CNN had been in Baghdad long enough to know that telling the world about the torture of one of its employees would almost certainly have gotten him killed and put his family and co-workers at grave risk.

Working for a foreign news organization provided Iraqi citizens no protection. The secret police terrorized Iraqis working for international press services who were courageous enough to try to provide accurate reporting. Some vanished, never to be heard from again. Others disappeared and then surfaced later with whispered tales of being hauled off and tortured in unimaginable ways. Obviously, other news organizations were in the same bind we were when it came to reporting on their own workers.

Hamas is a terrorist organization, a group of violent thugs who do not value human life. Using "human shields" is only one item on the long list of atrocities that this evil organization is responsible for.

Eason Jordan closes his "mea culpa" with the following:

I felt awful having these stories bottled up inside me. Now that Saddam Hussein's regime is gone, I suspect we will hear many, many more gut-wrenching tales from Iraqis about the decades of torment. At last, these stories can be told freely.

The same will be said when we finally get rid of the Arab terrorists in Gaza, Judea and Samaria. All of those journalists who feared for their lives and therefore covered up the crimes of Fatah, Hamas and all the other terror organizations, whitewashing their activities and calling them "militants", will be free to tell the truth.

Paris, France: Europe's "Gaza City"

They used to say that Beirut was the "Paris of the Middle East". It looks like today, Paris is the Gaza of Europe:

Contributing to the War Effort

How can you contribute to Israel's war against the Hamas, if you are not a soldier?

1) Pray - every prayer counts.

2) Take upon yourself to learn more Torah and perform more mitzvot.

3) Donate blood. The soldiers and the nation need it. I gave blood today.

4) Be an internet warrior. Counter the anti-Israel propganda spread by Arabs and other Jew-haters on the internet. Here are some sites that can help you:

Israel Defense Forces

Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Naftali Bennett

Honest Reporting

And of course there are many good blogs. Two which I find especially useful are The Elder of Zion and Israellycool.

"Come Rescue Me Now!...My Arab Husband is Coming - HELP!!!"

Click on the pic:

Naftali Bennett's Amazing Speech at Ha'aretz's "Peace Conference"

Talk about walking into the lion's den! This is a truly amazing presentation, historic in my opinion. The leftists in the crowd that tried to shout him down shot themselves in the foot by showing their anti-democratic nature. Enjoy.

Autz 7 reports the following in regard to the aftermath of the speech:

At the end of the speech, as Bennett got down off the stage, a group of roughly 20 to 30 youths tried to physically attack him. One of them succeeded in reaching him and punching him in the back.

Detection and Elimination of Arab Terrorists Today Near Zikim

Click here.

So perish all Thine enemies, O LORD;

Update: Here it is:

Here is the navy doing its part:

Ari Shavit Exposed

There was a lot of noise when Ari Shavit's book, My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel, came out. It spent a total of six weeks on the New York Times' non-fiction bestseller list.

Is the book really "non-fiction"? To receive an answer, you must read Martin Kramer's article, What Happened at Lydda.

To make a long story short, it looks like Shavit was quick on the trigger to accuse Israel of a massacre that in all likelihood did not occur. Read the article!

It is hard not to see the similarities between Shavit's academic sloppiness/negligence/ineptitude and that of Teddy Katz. Katz claimed that a massacre occured in Tantura, and was sued for libel by the veterans of that battle. Katz lost the case. Unfortunately, the veteran's of the Lydda battle, heroes who fought so bravely for Israel's independence, are probably no longer living or just too old and fragile to sue Shavit. Too bad.

BTW, did I mention that Shavit is a Ha’aretz columnist and member of its editorial-board? Are you surprised?

For extra credit, read what Caroline Glick has to say about this.

It seems that I've written about Ari Shavit in the past. See Do Murderers Sit Shiva? Almost eight years have passed since I published that post and it is interesting to see it in a historical perspective.

Ishmaelite Savagery

I was so sorry to hear that the three kidnapped boys, Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrah, were found dead 3 kilometers from Halhul:

Eyal Yifrah 19, from Elad; Gilad Sha'ar, 16, from Talmon; and Naftali Frenkel, also 16, from Nof Ayalon, went missing on June 12th, and officials soon identified Hamas as the culprits. Their bodies were found near between the Arab village of Halhul and the Jewish village of Carmei Tzur, near the city of Hevron, where the search operation for them - dubbed Operation Brother's Keeper - had been focused.

The bodies were apparently found together, bound and buried in a shallow grave in a field at approximately 5 p.m. The families of the boys have been informed of their tragic loss.

My heart goes out to their families. May they be comforted from Heaven.

Since the kidnapping the nation has been united in prayer for the safe return of the boys. In almost every prayer in the various synagogues that I have attended, special psalms were said after the regular prayer service for the boys. Unfortunately the prayers were not answered. I should have known that something happened when tonight, after ma'ariv, no psalms were said. It was only afterwards I received a phone call informing me of the bad news.

We do not know why this had to happen. I will not attempt to be God's bookkeeper.

What I do know that this is another manifistation of Ishmaelite savagery. Animals!

The nation of Israel will continue to build and be built, despite the acts of Arab terrorists and their Jew-hating supporters.

"He will swallow up death for ever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of His people will He take away from off all the earth; for the LORD hath spoken it." - Isaiah 25

Mother of Kidnapped Teen: Please Pray

This is Howard Cosell from the Kosel

Not really, just some pics from shacharit this morning:

I love the caper bush in bloom:

Free advert for Tova Embroidery:

Good Shabbos, Shabbat Shalom, have a good Sabbath!

Shame on America!

A malfunctining reproductive system is nothing to be proud of:

The Significance of Israel's Presidential Election

It is easy to downplay the election of Reuven "Rubi" Rivlin. After all, the function of the President of Israel is largely symbolic. I must admit that I myself did not think too much of it.

My wife changed my mind. She said that this is also part of the redemption, that he is a big improvement over the outgoing president in many respects. I must say that I agree with her. The redemption comes little by little (qim'a qim'a), and we should not belittle any event which can be seen as a step forward.

Farewell Shimon Peres. Welcome President Rivlin!

Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef on the Heter Mechirah

The Shmittah year is coming up and with it the usual controversy about the use of the heter mechirah. Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef's opinion is well known. However it is interesting to hear it from his mouth.

Unlocking the Mysteries of Shavuot

Here's a video about Shavuot from the rabbi of the Young Israel Aish HaTorah synagogue in Las Vegas.

Arab Christian From Bethlehem Voices Her Opinion

חה"כ פייגלין קורא לשר אהרונוביץ' להתפטר

Independence 66

Today is Israeli Indepence Day. Happy 66th Israel!

In ten years people will look back and say that this is the year when things turned around, when the redemption wagon got back on track. What I mean to say that Israeli society and the region at large is in the middle of some major changes.

The Arab states in the region are in a state of turmoil, some on the brink of disintegration. The so called "Arab Spring" has not brought about the democratic revolution that many had hoped for. I think that it would be fair to say that these societies are just not ready for democracy. It seems that they are doomed to be ruled over by violent autocratic regimes for the near future.

It is becoming increasingly clear to an increasing amount of Israelis that giving up territory to Arabs will not bring peace. This was obvious to me, long before the failure of the Oslo Agreements, the "disengagement" and the latest Fatah-Hamas unity agreement. New ideas, such as Naftali Bennett's Stability Initiative, are seriously being considered:

Israel is becoming more religious:

More than half of Israelis define themselves as secular (53%), 26% as traditional and 21% as haredi or religious. Among young people aged up to 34, 30% define themselves as haredi or religious, while among adults over 50 only 15% define themselves as such. The high percentage of haredim and religious among those aged 34 and under is due to the greater number of children in religious and haredi families than in secular families.

Another important milestone will be the passing of a law defining Israel as a Jewish state:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has announced his intention to submit a new Basic Law to the Knesset, enshrining the State of Israel's status as the nation-state of the Jewish people, and attacking attempts to undermine the country's Jewish identity.

"The Declaration of Independence sets, as the cornerstone in the life of the state, the national Jewish identity of the State of Israel," the Prime Minister said.

However, he continued, "To my great regret, as we have seen recently, there are those who do not recognize this natural right. They seek to undermine the historic, moral and legal justification for the existence of the State of Israel as the national state of our people."

"One of my main missions as Prime Minister of Israel is to bolster the status of the State of Israel as the national state of our people. To this end, it is my intention to submit a basic law to the Knesset that would provide a constitutional anchor for Israel's status as the national state of the Jewish people."

Mark my words: this year is a pivotal one.

How Muslims Behave When They See Jews on the Temple Mount

Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Wants Banks Without Interest

Now this is interesting. Rabbi Eliyahu says that we can learn from the Muslims how to run banks that don't take interest. Personally, I like the idea.

MK Moshe Feiglin on the Temple Mount

Before you do this, please consult your local Orthodox rabbi:

שלום לך(לבן) דודי

[lyrics]

MK Orit Struk on the New Conscription Law

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The New Conscription Law

MK Ayelet Shaked presents the new conscription law, along with a history of why this law had to be legislated:

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Sabbath Observance Saves Jew From Ill Fated Plane Flight

The saying "More than the Jews have kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jews" took on a new meaning.

MK Moti Yogev on the Conscription Law

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MK Yoni Shetbon Explains Why He Won't Vote For the New Conscription Law

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Haredim and the Mitzvah to Serve in the IDF

Here is a discussion, based on halachic sources, on the mitzvah to serve in the Israeli Defense Force. A taste:

The mitzvah to enlist in the army is based on two great mitzvoth – haztalat Yisrael (saving Israel), and yishuv ha’aretz (settling the Land of Israel). It should be noted that seventeen mitzvoth from the Torah relate to the army, as listed by Rabbi Zevin in his book ‘L’Ohr Ha’Halakha’, where he thoroughly clarifies the mitzvah to enlist in the army. This issue was also expounded upon at length by Tzitz Eliezer, Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah HaKohen Kook in his book ‘L’Nityvote Yisrael’, and other gedolei Torah.

A Nice Film About Har Bracha

I Protest!

The Hareidi newspaper HaModia has printed a scandalous article in which it disgraces Rabbi Eliezer Melamed Shlita, the Rosh Yeshiva and Rabbi of Har Bracha. In doing so they have disgraced themselves, for one who disgraces a Torah scholar earns the not so honorary title of "Apikorus". Yated Ne'eman, which I had hoped would be rehabilitated under Rabbi Steinman, is also up to its old disgraceful practices.

No, I will not be taking part in today's protest against the new conscription law that is being formulated. I would have liked to, but the Hareidi press ruined it for me.

For those of you who do go here is an interesting psak.

Bentzi Gopshtein vs. Mossi Raz

Another Sign of the Teshuvah Revolution?

One may argue that the following is the result of changing demographics here in Israel. Could be, but I suspect that this is just more evidence of the Teshuvah Revolution here in Israel:

So many religious recruits have joined the Mossad in recent years that the organization has hired an official rabbi to advise agents and employees on a wide range of issues, a report said Monday.

Among the questions the rabbi deals with are those relating to religious practices, keeping kosher, Sabbath observance, and other matters that may require compromise or adjustment regarding Jewish Law on the part of an agent during a mission.

Speaking to Ma'ariv, a Mossad source said that “there are many religious people in the Mossad, and that number has grown quite a bit in recent years. In the past, the IDF Chief Rabbi would advise agents, but with the larger number of employees here the Mossad realized that it needs its own rabbi.”

It's happening.

Hadassah and Purim Katan

Today is Purim Katan, the 14th of Adar I. I just read an article about the crisis taking place at the Hadassah hospitals here in Jerusalem:

The strike at the Hadassah hospitals in Jerusalem is expected to continue on Friday and workers are threatening further action as of Sunday.

A meeting on Thursday evening between representatives of the Histadrut labor union, the employees and the Hadassah board of trustees ended with no results.

The Histadrut subsequently announced that Hadassah employees will continue to operate on a Shabbat schedule on Friday as well.

The workers are demanding that their January salaries be paid in full by Sunday, or they will take further strike actions.

The Hadassah strike began at both Hadassah Ein-Kerem and Hadassah Mount Scopus medical centers, as a backlash against the Finance Ministry for stalling in negotiations to expand the hospital's budget. The budget cuts have been hurting patients, according to the staff, and the staff is reeling after a month on half-pay.

The ongoing strike at has already driven several senior members of both Hadassah Ein Kerem and Hadassah Mount Scopus to quit, fed up over the hospital's inability to compensate for missing wages and frustrated over the tedious negotiations.

This week, protests erupted outside the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, with demonstrators demanding that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yael German intervene to end the strike.

It is quite unfortunate to see these great institutions on their knees. I was wondering what the mother organization, Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, had to say about the situation. While browsing their web site, I found the following:

Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, Inc. is excited to announce the creation of an annual Hadassah Shabbat to be held on the Shabbat preceding Purim. Shabbat Zachor holds particular importance as Hadassah was founded during Purim and was Esther's Hebrew name. Hadassah is encouraging rabbis and congregations to become part of the first Hadassah Shabbat Zachor on March 14 and 15, 2014.

Hadassah Shabbat will celebrate Parshat Zachor, reminding us how evil can be transformed into good, focusing on the victory of Israel over Amalek and of Esther and Vashti over oppression and discrimination. As an organization of over 330,000 women across the country, Hadassah will read Parshat Zachor as a reclaiming of Vashti as a force against discrimination.

Sorry ladies, but our Rabbis, who lived close to the time of the Megillah, have a much different description of Vashti. Even though it is Purim Katan today, and on Purim there is a side of "venahafoch hu", I must condemn such a distortion. For those interested in Judaism's traditional view of Vashti, Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller wrote a very nice article about The Villainy of Vashti. It is no wonder that an organization that turns a villian into a hero, which is a symptom of spiritual bankuptcy, has financial problems.

Sid Caesar double talk from Chabad Telethon 2010

Seems that he was not only a comedian but also a proud Jew:

כנס ירושלמי - המכללה האקדמית נתניה - הרב דוד לאו הרב הראשי לישראל

A Palestinian State Will Ruin the Israeli Economy

Well put:

The Jews Rule the World!

It's official: we rule the world. How do I know? Former Egyptian Housing Minister Hasaballah El Kafrawy says so!

Yes, these are the people that Israel has to deal with.

Ariel Sharon in the Name of the Lubavitcher Rebbe: Jewish Nationalism is Not Enough

Now that Ariel Sharon has passed away many are struggling with the question: Was he a hero or a traitor? The man made many important contributions to the State of Israel and its security. On the other hand, his parting shot, the destruction of the Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria, will be an everlasting blemish on his name.

I will not delve into this question. Instead, to mark his passing, I am putting up this clip which I originally saw here. In it, Ariel Sharon tells us what he heard from the Lubavitcher Rebbe on the importance of keeping the commandments.

The American Bluff

It's true, America cannot be trusted:

Another Arab "Intellectual"

Check out Said Dudin. Yeah, we have already heard that the Zionists are behind the "Arab Spring", That's par for the course when your are dealing with Arabian fantasies. But this guy has it in for...Elie Wiesel and Bernard-Henri Levy!

Who Said Egyptian Television is not Entertaining?

Top US Officials: Free Jonathan Pollard Now!

Will Obama do the right thing?

Dealing With the Snow

Today, the fast day of Asara BeTevet (the 10th of Tevet), a perhaps unprecedented amount of snow has fallen in Jerusalem. The web is full of beautiful pictures of the holy city covered with snow. Here is a different kind of Jerusalem snow picture:

So what is the story behind the picture?

My neighborhood was blacked out from about 12:30 AM last night. These snow storms have a way of causing blackouts! Many times the snow weighs down tree branches which eventually break and fall to the ground. On the way down, if there is a power line on the way, the branch takes it down with it.

It was great going to daven this morning and seeing all the tzadikim that in spite of the inclement weather made it to the synagogue. There too there was no power but with the help of the breaking dawn and a few candles we were able to daven.

After davening I saw this devoted worker from the Israeli Electric Company (the guy in yellow) on Najara Street. He came to fix whatever was wrong. God bless him! I asked him when the electricity would be back and he replied, "Soon".

And so it was.

MDA Blood Drive in the Knesset Cancelled After Ethiopian MK Discouraged From Donating

Not to long ago I donated blood and posted about it on this blog. I mentioned that giving blood is a big mitzvah. I also mentioned that Magen David Adom has very strict criteria with regards to who can give blood.

Well, today MDA and those criteria made the news:

An MDA blood donation stand was removed from the Knesset after volunteers told MK Pnina Tamano-Shata (Yesh Atid), the Knesset's first female Ethiopian member, that her blood would not be used on Wednesday.

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein spoke to Tamano-Shata and expressed shock and displeasure at the incident.

"I thought this was behind us, but now it turns out I was wrong. This unacceptable phenomenon that has no place in the Knesset," Edelstein said.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke with Tamano-Shato saying that the incident was unacceptable and that it demanded investigation, Israel Radio reported.

Several ministers and MKs called the Yesh Atid MK to express solidarity. Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat said that she hopes that something good will come out of the story and change the "racist and humiliating policy."

MDA's policy is not to take blood from people who were born or have lived for more than a year since 1977 in a country where HIV is prevalent, such as Africa, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean Islands. They also do not take blood from people who lived in Great Britain for six consecutive months or more between 1980 and 1996.

Disgusting! That is to say, it is disgusting how the politicians are trying to get political mileage out of this incident. They seem to care more about getting a headline than the public's health.

The MDA website (in Hebrew) explains the policy:

הנהלים הקובעים את מדיניות התרמות הדם בישראל, לפיהם עובדים בשירותי הדם של מד"א, נקבעים ע"י משרד הבריאות, בהסתמך על המלצותיה של וועדת מומחים מקצועית בנושא רפואת עירויים. הם מבוססים על נהלים והנחיות הקיימים בארצות המפותחות בעולם, ושנקבעים שם ע"י גופים כמו ה-FDA והרשויות האירופאיות.

מטרתם לסייע למערכת הבריאות לעשות ככל שביכולתה כדי לצמצם סיכונים הנובעים משימוש במנות שעלולות לגרום לנזק בריאותי חמור למקבלי הדם.

גם הבדיקות המתקדמות ביותר שמבוצעות, בישראל ובעולם, לכל מנת דם במטרה לזהות מחלות שעלולות לעבור בעירוי (ובמיוחד דלקת כבד נגיפית ו-(HIV אינן מסוגלות לזהות תורם שנמצא ב"תקופת החלון", שהיא התקופה ממועד ההדבקה ועד לזיהוי קיום הנגיפים בדם. הסיכון שתיתרם מנה כזו גבוה יותר בקרב אוכלוסיות ופרטים שנמצאות בסיכון גבוה להידבקות, כאוכלוסיית הגברים המקיימים יחסי מין עם גברים.

היות ומכל מנת דם מכינים 3 מרכיבים, הניתנים ל-3 חולים שונים, הפוטנציאל לנזק הוא משמעותי ביותר. לא ניתן יהיה להצדיק, בשום פנים ואופן, כלפי החולים שנפגעו , את השימוש במנות דם נגועות אם יסתבר שהמערכת לא נקטה בכל אמצעי הזהירות המקובלים בעולם למניעת ההדבקה.

In translation:

Procedures that determine the blood donor policy in Israel , according to which the employees MDA blood services work, are set by the Ministry of Health , based on the recommendations of a committee of professional experts on the subject of medical transfusions. They are based on existing procedures and guidelines in the developed world , and determined there by bodies such as the FDA and European authorities .

Their purpose is to help the healthcare system to do its utmost to reduce risks arising from the use of (infected) units that may cause severe health damage to recipients of blood .

Even the most advanced tests carried out in Israel and around the world, to all the blood in order to identify diseases that may be transmitted through a transfusion (especially hepatitis and HIV) are not able to identify a donator who is in the "window period", which is the time from infection until the identification of the existence of viruses in the blood. Risk that such a unit will be donated is higher among populations and individuals who are at high risk of infection , such as the population of men who have sex with men.

Since all blood is made up of three components , which are given to 3 different patients , the potential for damage is significant. It can not be justified under any circumstances , to the affected patients ,the use of infected units of blood if it turns out that the (health) system has not taken all the accepted precautions to prevent infection.

MDA is right, and the politicians are wrong! Update: See what the Elder of Zion wrote on this.

Update: This may have been an intentional provocation by MK Pnina Tamano-Shata:

MK Tamano-Shata had approached the MDA's mobile unit, which came to the Knesset on a blood drive, and asked to donate blood.

She was allegedly told that she cannot donate blood because Health Ministry guidelines specify that blood should not be taken from people who were born in countries with a high incidence of HIV, or who spent more than one year in those countries. An MDA representative told her that donors from Britain and Ireland are also turned away, as are homosexuals.

Tamano-Shata told the MDA team that she has been in Israel since age 3 and served in the army. The MDA representative reportedly told her that if she insists that she wants to donate blood, it will be taken, but the blood might not be used. Tamano-Shata told the MDA representative that this was insulting.

The policy regarding blood donations by Ethiopian Jews was set many years ago, when it was determined that the immigrants have an especially high rate of HIV infection, compared to other Israelis. It is intended to protect blood donation recipients from infection with the dreaded disease.

Tamano-Shata may have known that she would be turned away: her entire conversation with the MDA representative was recorded with a cellphone camera, by a companion.

MDA spokesman Zaki Heller said following the incident that MK Tamano-Shata is a member of a committee that is currently discussing changing the criteria for blood donations, and therefore had to have known that she would be refused.

What Mandela's Legacy Can Teach Us About Zionism

This is certainly a thought provoking article. Here's a snippet but be sure to read the whole thing:

Whilst anti-Israel types fawn over Mandela's legacy and point towards his support for the PLO and his relative antipathy towards the Jewish state as proof of the righteousness of their cause, supporters of Israel seem to be divided. Whilst some scramble to salvage some "brownie points", by pointing out that "Madiba's" support for the PLO did not extend to negating Israel's right to exist (which is apparently how low the bar has sunk these days), others lazily write him off as an anti-Israel "Marxist", and end it at that.

Both are wrong.

Was Mandela close to the PLO, a terrorist group sworn to the destruction of the State of Israel and which has been responsible for the cold-blooded murder of countless Israeli civilians? Yes, he was. It is indeed ironic that whereas Mandela fought for the rights of the indigenous people of South Africa, when it came to the Middle East he sided with one of the groups which has always stood at the forefront of the push for Arab colonization, the Arabization of other indigenous nations and the eradication or appropriation of the legacies of non-Arab peoples.

And if any more proof were needed of his moral failure when it came to the Middle East, there was his friendship with former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, which he once defended by proclaiming that "those who feel irritated by our friendship with President Gaddafi can go jump in the pool."

Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu zt"l Lighting Hanukkah Candles at the Western Wall

I miss him.

I also miss the Lubavitcher zt"l.

Arik Einstein z"l

In a country often marked by tension, Arik Einstein's soothing voice will be missed:

The Mitzvah of Donating Blood

Blood, blood, blood:

And Reuben said unto them: 'Shed no blood; cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him'--that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colours that was on him; and they took him, and cast him into the pit--and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and ladanum, going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren: 'What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh.' And his brethren hearkened unto him. And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt. And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren, and said: 'The child is not; and as for me, whither shall I go?' And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a he-goat, and dipped the coat in the blood;

And some more blood:

For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life.

There was a blood drive where I work recently. Magen David Adom came with all the necessary equipment and staff and set up a room at the office for people who want to donate blood.

I decided to give a liter of the red stuff.

Before you can donate blood, you have to fill out a questionnaire. Not everybody can give blood. The Magen David Adom has strict criteria, which can be downloaded here. Some of these criteria were surprising. Among the conditions which make the blood unit unacceptable for transfusion::

Living in England for a cumulative period of 6 months between the years 1980 -1996 or receiving a blood transfusion in England since 1980... Living in Ireland or Portugal for a cumulative period of at least 10 years since 1980.

Less surprising was the following:

The donor practices a life -style, that in any way may increase the risk for the blood recipient (intravenous drugs use/sniffing , receiving payment for sexual relationship, sexual relations between men after 1977, etc.).

As the red (actually purple) stuff was flowing out of me into a plastic bag, the MDA guy told me that I should donate often, as my blood type (O-) is very special. It can be given to anybody. He mentioned that when there is a terrorist attack, the ambulances arrive with O- blood which can be given to those wounded without having to check their blood type.

I felt a little bit guilty that I do not donate blood more often. I started to wonder what the Torah has to say about giving blood. With the help of the good old world wide web, I found the following (in Hebrew), a summary of the laws of giving blood. I recommend reading it.

B'li neder, I will donate blood more often.

Will Freeing Arab Murderers From Israeli Prisons Bring Peace?

Take a look at this and decide for yourself:

Let's Not Grab That Dog by the Ears

This Shabbat we will read about how Ya'akov (Jacob) returns to the land of Israel. But before he returns to his homeland, he sends greetings to his brother:

And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the field of Edom. And he commanded them, saying: 'Thus shall ye say unto my lord Esau: Thus saith thy servant Jacob: I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now. And I have oxen, and asses and flocks, and men-servants and maid-servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favour in thy sight.'

The Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 75:3) describes Ya'akov's act as one who grabs the ears of a dog as it is written in the book of Proverbs (26:17):

He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife not his own, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.

It is not a good idea to grab a dog by the ears. Dogs usually do not like people grabbing their ears, and they are quick to sink their teeth into the offending hand. Similarly, Ya'akov should not have aroused Esau, who at the time was busy with his own matters, with these greetings. As the adage says, "Let sleeping dogs lie!"

This verse about "grabbing the dog by the ears" came to mind recently as I read about the Weiss-Dodelson divorce case. I was disturbed to see people who were not directly involved in the case actively taking sides, ignoring King Solomon's wisdom:

He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife not his own, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.

This case is a tragedy for those directly involved. There is no need to widen the tragedy by meddling in this strife, by grabbing the dog by the ears. It will most likely result in being bitten.

Kiddush Hashem

I heard about this here:

This brings to mind the story about Rabbi Shimon Ben Shetach and the donkey:

There was a case in which the students of Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach, one of the greatest Tannaim of all time, tried to find him a new business because he was exceedingly poor. Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach was involved in Linen work. Obviously the linen work was not sufficient for him to make a living. His students urged him to leave this business and instead they would buy him a donkey. This way he would not have to work so hard and at the same time would be able to live comfortably.

They went ahead and bought a donkey from a non-Jew. According to the notes at the bottom of the Talmud Yerushalmi (and we do not know exactly who they are from), he was an Ishmaelite thief so the donkey was not really his to start with. This makes the story even more interesting because of what is about to come. The students discovered a pearl on the donkey and took it to Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach exclaiming that they struck it rich and that from now on he does not have to work anymore. But Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach asked the students: Did the owner of the donkey know that there was a pearl attached to it. They answered “NO”. Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach said to them: “Go give it back!”.

Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef in Merkaz HaRav

Haveil Havalim!

The blog carnival is still around. Kol HaKavod, Batya!

Shmuel Shkedi Suffers Stroke

Please pray for Shmuel Yirmiyahu ben Breyna:

Jerusalem city council member Shmuel Shkedi, who is in his 60s and heads the nationalist United Jerusalem faction, suffered a stroke on Thursday at his Jerusalem home.

He was taken by Magen David Adom paramedics to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, and from there was transferred to the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer where Srugim reports he underwent an intracranial catheterization.

Srugim further notes that Shkedi's condition is still defined as critical, and that at this stage it is still unknown if Shkedi will be able to return to his role on the city council.

It is Good to Give Thanks to the Lord

MK Avigdor Lieberman after his acquittal:

:

This sums up the situation:

Lieberman has been a target of investigation by the State Attorney's Office for about 17 years, causing many to see him as a victim of political persecution by the state's legal system. Suspicions against him have come and gone, he has been questioned by police, and so have his relatives – but nothing "stuck" until last year, when charges were finally filed in the matter of Ben Aryeh.

One of the witnesses who testified against Lieberman was his former deputy, Danny Ayalon. Ayalon told the court that Lieberman had expressed preference for Ben Aryeh when the tender for ambassador was issued. This alleged fact, combined with Ben Aryeh's admission that he had leaked information about another investigation to Lieberman, were enough for the State Attorney to charge Lieberman with criminal behavior.

The judges found "problems" with Ayalon's testimony, which was given after Lieberman fired him as deputy minister.

The Amazing Story of Ovadia and Aliza Baruch

The story of how the holocaust affected Greek Jewry is seldom told. Here is the amazing "love story" of Ovadia and Aliza Baruch:

Aliza describes the "experiments" she went through in block 10:

You can read more about Ovadia and Aliza here.

Baruch Kopold's Story

The Yad Vashem channel on YouTube has many excellent films. Here is the story of Baruch Kopold, a partisan fighter and holocaust survivor:

Leading Religious Zionist Rabbis Declare That MK El'azar Stern is an Epikoros

Rabbi Uri Cohen, Rabbi David Chai HaCohen, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, Rabbi Arye Koren, and Rabbi Yosef Badichi are among the rabbis that have declared that MK Stern is an epikoros.

What is an epikoros?

"AN EPIKOROS. Rab and R. Hanina both taught that this means one who disrespects a Talmid Chacham [erudite Torah scholar]. R. Johanan and R. Joshua b. Levi maintained that it is one who disrespects his neighbour in the presence of a Talmid Chacham. "

—B. Talmud, Seder Nezikin, tractate Sanhedrin, 99b

I already mentioned that a lack of respect for Torah scholars is a sign of a lack of yir'at shamayim.

Isn't It Time To Request Forgiveness For The Oslo Agreements?

Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir confront Yossi Sarid:

Kahane Memorial: 23 Years

It's hard to believe but it has been 23 years since Rabbi Meir Kahane was murdered. Last night I had the privilege of attending the annual memorial. The place was packed! There were many young people there who were born long after the rabbi was murdered. Here are a few pics.

Adv. Itamar Ben-Gvir:

Baruch Marzel:

South Tel Aviv activist May Golan:

Recently elected Jerusalem City Councilman Arye King:

Dr. Michael Ben-Ari:

Among other things, Dr. Ben-Ari requested from Arye King that King George Street in Jerusalem be renamed Rabbi Meir Kahane Street. Let's see what happens.

Jerusalem Municipal Election Thoughts

His prayers were answered:

Nir Barkat was reelected. It was a tough race. Arye Deri and Avigdor Lieberman banded together to unseat Barkat. They thought that they found the man for the job: Moshe Lion. The idea was that all of the ultra-Orthodox community will unite behind the kippah-clad Lion. Many in the national religious camp would vote for him too, as he is "one of them". All that was needed was to convince enough seculars to desert Barkat, and the election would be in the bag.

The plan almost worked. However, the ultra-Orthodox public did not unite 100% for Lion. Some large Hasidic courts did not endorse him. The Bnei Torah faction even ran a candidate of their own for mayor. The final result is five more years of Barkat. Personally, I think that he has been a decent mayor and I hope that he will continue to be fair to all of the different sectors in Jerusalem.

In the council, it is interesting to note that the "United Jerusalem" faction got more mandates (2) than the Jewish Home (1). I hope that Naftali Bennett is paying attention: his attempt to force his cronies on the national religious public here was unsuccessful. I also have a feeling that many voted against the Jewish Home to protest the covenant on the national level with "Yesh Atid".

Rabbi Shmuel Orbach's Bnei Torah faction got a seat in the council which is no small feat. The Tov party, which is just a reincarnation of Po'alei Agudat Yisrael, did not get a seat. Too bad, I was rooting for them even thought I did not vote for them.

Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef Blesses His Son Rabbi Ya'akov

A week before Rabbi Ya'akov Yosef zt"l passed away, his father zt"l tearfully blesses him:

Rabinfest 2013: Martin Sherman Sets the Record Straight

A taste:

The perception of a positive Oslo-related Rabinesque “heritage” can only be maintained by pervasive distortion, deception and deceit. For the Oslo Accords were an act of moral turpitude that by any rational criterion of common sense and common decency should bring dishonor to anyone associated with it. It was an egregious, imbecilic blunder that precipitated all the tragedy its opponents warned of, and none of the benefits its proponents promised.

Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef on Rabbi Kook: "He Was an Angel of the Lord of Hosts"

I saw an interesting video at Kikar HaShabbat. In the video Rabbi Yosef's grandson Rabbi Yaakov Sasson tells his grandfather about a book that disparages Rabbi Kook. Rabbi Sasson protested against what was written and wanted to know what his grandfather's opinion was. Here is what Rabbi Ovadiah said:

כן, בוודאי היה אדם גדול. אסור לדבר עליו. הוא היה צדיק יסוד עולם. חכם יהודה צדקה הלכתי אתו פעם למרכז הרב, היה עושה שמחה תודה, הוא היה רוקד. הוא אמר לי (על הריא"ה קוק. י-כ) 'מלאך ה' צבאות', מלאך ה' צבאות, חכם יהודה צדקה לא היה מהמזרחי

Translation:

Certainly he (Rabbi Kook) was a great man. It is forbidden to speak (badly) about him. He was a righteous man, a foundation of the world, Hacham Yehudah Tzadka, I went with him once to Merkaz HaRav, it was Simchat Torah, he would dance. He told me that (Rabbi Kook) is "An angel of the Lord of Hosts". An angel of the Lord of Hosts. Hacham Yehudah was not from the Mizrachi .

Many people commented on the clip. Some of them mentioned that there is nothing new in the clip, as Rabbi Kook is mentioned in all eleven volumes of Yabi'a Omer (Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef's responsa), where is is referred to as Mara D'Ar'a D'Yisrael, the master of the land of Israel.

Update: Here's the clip:

Jerusalem Municipal Elections

It;s election time again. Next Tuesday Jerusalem residents will have the opportunity to vote for the mayor and city council.

Unlike the last time around, I'm not to emotionally involved in these elections. I am not excited about voting for or against somebody. Nir Barkat turned out to be a pretty good mayor. As far as I can tell, he has dealt fairly with the various different population sectors here in Jerusalem.

Barkat's main rival in these elections is Moshe Leon. It has been said that politics makes strange bedfellows. Here in Israel, political arch-enemies Arye Deri and Avigdor Lieberman joined forces to run Moshe Leon against Barkat. Leon seems to be a decent guy, but he is an outsider (from Givatayim) who only recently moved here. It is hard for me to get excited about such a candidate, even if he wears a kippah on his head.

The elections for the council also leave very little to be excited about. The National Religious public is running under (at least) two parties. One party is the Bayit Yehudi. The other is the United Jerusalem list headed by Shmuel Shekedi and Arye King. United Torah Judaism has splintered into three different parties: UTJ, Bnei Torah and Tov. Shas remains united and I expect them to do well in the elections. Unity usually pays off.

Rabinfest 2013: Yuval Rabin and His Father's Legacy

It's that time of year again! Today is the Yahrzeit of Yitzhak Rabin, according to the Jewish calendar. From last Saturday night and until the 4th of November (the day Rabin died according to the Gregorian calendar) , the Israeli Left and the Israeli MSM will be celebrating Rabinfest.

What would a festival be without a clown? Although I have not seen the Rabinfest organizers hiring professional clowns, there is always a leftist who is willing to beclown himself/herself for free. This year's festival has just begun, and it already has its first gratis clown, who is none other than the late Prime Minister's son, Yuval Rabin.

No, Yuval was not trying to be funny. He was absolutely serious. However, when one says ridiculous things with a straight face, it can be comical:

He then launched into criticism of those who link Oslo to terrorism. “To argue that terrorism happened because of Oslo is cynical and deliberately wicked,” he accused. “The escalation of terrorism is an ongoing process, and various factors did ‘contribute’ to it, but one thing is consistently clear – those who commit terrorism are against compromise.”

No good deed should go unrecognized, so I would like to thank Yuval Rabin for bringing a smile to my face. Who in the world are you trying to fool, Yuval Rabin? You cannot fool me, for I have been here in Israel long before the Oslo Accords. I remember Israel before the accords and after. Nobody claims or claimed that there was not terrorism before the Oslo Agreements. However, only a buffoon can claim they did not cause a sharp rise in terrorism. As the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted way back in 1998:

More Israelis have been killed by Palestinian terrorists in the 5 years since the first Oslo agreement was signed in September 1993 than in the 15 preceding years, the Government Press Office (GPO) has announced.

A total of 279 men, women and children have been killed in 92 lethal attacks by Palestinian terrorists since the signing of the Oslo Accords. This does not include victims of attacks launched by Lebanese-based terror organizations or incidents along Israel's borders.

So who is Yuval Rabin trying to fool? He cannot fool God. He cannot fool me either! If he is trying to fool himself....well, never mind.

Yuval Rabin did not always make me smile. In fact, one time I was truly embarrassed for him. It happened during his father's funeral. I was sitting at my desk at work in downtown Jerusalem, listening to the funeral on the radio. It was time for the son to recite Kaddish. Yuval Rabin totally mangled it, apparently thinking that the Aramaic words in the prayer were in Hebrew. His stuttered rendition was even more garbled than that of a second generation American Jew in a Conservative Temple reading the transliteration from the Silverman siddur. Yes, the thought that the entire nation and Jews all over the world heard this made me cringe in my seat. The son of the slain Prime Minister, ostensibly an educated man, does not even know how to say Kaddish!

This was the true legacy of Yitzchak Rabin and so many other secular Zionists: children woefully ignorant of their own heritage. Thousands of years of Torah and ethics were traded in for a dry nationalism combined with socialism, army service and speaking Hebrew: an Israeli version of "bagels and lox" Judaism, which like its American cousin has gradually evolved into a bizarre combination of liberalism and crass materialisim. What a sad joke!

May God save us such clowns and their [self] deceptions.

Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef Speaking on Israeli Independence Day

Was Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef a Zionist? Decide for yourself:

Land For Peace and Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef zt"l

Since Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef has passed away much has been written about his great legacy. Many have mentioned that Rav Ovadiah gave the halachic basis for the Oslo Accords when he ruled that it is permissible to surrender land for peace. They don't mention the rabbis who disagreed with him on this matter (for instance his friend and colleague Rav Avraham Shapira zt"l). What's worse is that they do not mention that Rabbi Ovadiah himself wrote that his psak does not apply to our current situation here in the land of Israel.

I have translated, to the best of my ability, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef's letter on this matter. (You can see the original here). I hope that I have faithfully conveyed his message:

B"H

23 Shevat 5763 (26 January '03)

To our dear and honored brothers of the house of Israel, residents of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip,

May God be upon you and may you live, may your peace be grow eternally.

It is my desire to make clear my positon with regards to Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.

I have already explained on more than one occasion that the legal decision that I rendered regarding "territory for peace" is not at all valid regarding the current situation. I had intended only ( a situation of ) true peace, where Jerusalem and its environs dwell in safety, peace and tranquility. However, now, our eyes see and are disappointed that to the contrary, the handing over of territory from our holy land causes danger to life. This is not the peace than we hoped for and this is not the child that we prayed for. Therefore the Oslo Agreements are null and void. I am all peace; but when I speak, they are for war. And we have nobody to rely upon except our Father in heaven.

I hereby bless you with all of my heart and soul, Hashem, should make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as He hath promised you! Hashem should guard your going and coming for good life and peace from now until eternity, in your days and in our days may Yehudah be delivered and may Israel dwell in safety. And Jacob shall again be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.

With great love,

Requesting your peace and benefit with heart and soul,

Ovadiah Yosef

The Yosef Family Mourning Tent in Har Nof

I have made a lot of shiva calls, but I have never seen anything like this:

In the end I was not able to comfort the mourners. In fact, I did not even see them. It was just too crowded. However,it is as if I comforted them for

מחשבה טובה הקב"ה מצרפה למעשה

The Holy One Blessed Be He considers a good thought as if you actually carried it out (Kiddushin 40A).

45 Kablan Street will never be the same:

Pics From Rav Ovadiah's Funeral

I know...the MSM has much better pictures...but anyway:

The Funeral of Rav Ovadiah Yosef zt"l

Yesterday I took part in the biggest funeral in the history of the State of Israel. I do not know how many people were there. Some say 700,000. Same say 1,000,000. But there is no question that more people participated in this funeral than in any previous one.

Unity! When was the last time that we witnessed so many different people from so many different sectors and walks in life sectors coming together for a united purpose? Sephardim, Ashkenazim, Hasidim, National Religious, tradtional and even secular Jews all devoted their precious time for the privilege to escort this great Torah scholar and leader on his final journey in This World.

It is important to understand that Rabbi Ovadiah's halachic influence was felt well beyond the world of Mizrahi Jews, most of whom accept his judgements as binding. His books are considered important to the entire Torah world. For example, I remember one of my rabbis saying, "If you want to know what the halacha is, see what Rabba Ovadiah has to say." What he meant was that sometimes there are stringencies in Jewish law which are the result of local customs, kabalah, or the desire to fulfil the law even according to a minority opinion. This is all good and fine. However, there are situations where you need to know what the Torah requires of us, period, without added chumrot. Rabbi Ovadiah was known as having that ability to define the letter of the law.

His dedication to learning Torah and teaching Torah are legendary. Who can count the number of Torah lessons he gave in syangogues all over Jerusalem and all over the country? Who can gauge the influence of all of those lessons that were broadcasted over the radio? A rabbi that I met during the levaya said that when he was growing the Sabbath preparations in his house were made while listening to Rabbi Ovadiah's lessons on the radio. And yes, he is an Ashkenazi.

Back to the levaya: I left my home at about 20 minutes to 6 stocked with a bottle of juice, some chocolate and a digital camera, all stuffed into the pockets of a double sided fleece jacket. This jacket was a pain at the start, much too hot. By the end of the night I was very thankful that I had brought it. Winter is here and it gets cold at night.

As I approached the Porat Yosef Yeshiva the crowd got bigger. At a certain point I saw a friend walking in the opposite direction. He warned me that it was too crowded near the Yeshiva. So I walked down to Yirmiyahu Street with many others, hoping to be able to catch the levaya (=funeral procession)there and accompanying Rav Ovadia zt"l at least for dalet amot (=4 cubits, about 2 meters or 6 feet). I had no intention of going all the way down to Sanhedria, where I anticipated that the crowding would be unbearable.

I found a window ledge where I could sit and wait. I could not hear the eulogies from where I was and I had no idea what was happening over at Porat Yosef. A young man with a knitted kipah sat down next to me. He had an mp3 player which was also a radio. In an "only in Israel" moment, he offered, without me asking, to let me listen to the eulogies through one of his earphones.

I had brought something to eat and drink but there were many others who did not. The stores all along the funeral route did some very good business that night.

It was getting late. As time went by and the car with Rabbi Ovadiah zt"l nowhere in sight I decided that I might as well walk further up Yirmiyahu Street and catch the levaya there. I saw a group of young men davening ma'ariv, and I realized that I had forgotten to do so myself. I found another group that had just started saying the evening prayers and joined them.

When I made it to the Beit Midrash of Gur I noticed that the people in the street were looking up in the direction of the Beit Midrash. The Rebbe was there, not in the Beit Midrash but seated behind a fence above the street. This was the first time that I had seen him in person.

A few minutes later, it finally happened. The car with Rav Ovadiah arrived and stopped in front of the Beit Midrash. The Hassidim tried to create a path for the Rebbe to come down and approach the car. However, this was an impossible task. The hundreds of thousands of people marching down Yirmiyahu Street continued to push forward. Shema Yisrael! If someone had fallen down at this point they might have been trampled to death, God forbid.

The car continued down Yirmiyahu Street and I finally got my wish. I was now an integral part of the procession, one in 700,000. I did my dalet amot and then some. Now the name of the game keeping my balance and finding a way to get out of this human tidal wave. I had been in this situation before. To make a long story short, I made it home in one piece, along with my camera and eyeglasses. Others were not so fortunate:

Over 70 people received treatment for injuries during overcrowding at the procession to the funeral of Sephardi Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef .

Of these, eight had to be evacuated by ambulances and mobile intensive care units to Jerusalem hospitals, including one woman who went into labor.

Among the medical problems of the people, all of whom were in good condition, were fainting, bruises and weakness.

Jerusalem after Rav Ovadiah zt"l is not the same place. He will sorely be missed.

HaRav Ovadiah Yosef zt"l

It is with great pain that I post this:

Cardiologist Professor Dan Gilon, has said Rabbi Haim Ovadia Yosef has died after he suffered a further serious deterioration in recent hours.

Baruch Dayan HaEmet.

Sukkot Revisited

What's the point of writing something about Sukkot now that it is already Marcheshvan? That's exactly the point: we have to carry the memories of Sukkot all year round.

I like to walk around the older neighborhoods of Jerusalem. These pics were taken in the Batei Neitin neighborhood, if I am not mistaken.Sukkot everywhere!

I love the way that the stairways are built upon arches:

Decked in white for Hoshanna Rabba:

The Temple Mount:

I am able to get a close-up with my zoom. [sigh]

עַל-זֶה, הָיָה דָוֶה לִבֵּנוּ--עַל-אֵלֶּה, חָשְׁכוּ עֵינֵינוּ. עַל הַר-צִיּוֹן שֶׁשָּׁמֵם, שׁוּעָלִים הִלְּכוּ-בוֹ

At the Kotel its the last day to use your lulav!

These Japanese (?) tourists may have thought that it was exotic to photograph the Jews praying at the wall. I thought that it was exotic to photograph the Japanese tourists taking pictures of the Jews.

The typical "Jews at the Wall" picture:

I hope that we have a nice rainy winter.

Palmach Ze'evi Speaks About His Father...12 Years Since the Murder of Gandhi

Deconstructing the "Arab Jew"

Check out this very interesting blog post by Point of No Return: Ella Shohat: misguided antonym queen. Among other things, the post reminds us that there were Jewish communitees in places like Iraq and Egypt long before the Arab conquest of those lands.

The Pew Survey of US Jews

I cannot say that the findings as reported by JTA were unexpected:

The proportion of Jews who say they have no religion and are Jewish only on the basis of ancestry, ethnicity or culture is growing rapidly, and two-thirds of them are not raising their children Jewish at all.

Overall, the intermarriage rate is at 58 percent, up from 43 percent in 1990 and 17 percent in 1970. Among non-Orthodox Jews, the intermarriage rate is 71 percent.

The JTA also points out:

* Overall, 22 percent of U.S. Jews describe themselves as having no religion, and the survey finds they are much less connected to Jewish organizations and much less likely to be raising their children Jewish. Broken down by age, 32 percent of Jews born after 1980 — the so-called millennial generation — identify as Jews of no religion, compared to 19 percent of baby boomers and just 7 percent of Jews born before 1927.

* Emotional attachment to Israel has held steady over the last decade, with 69 percent of respondents saying they feel attached or very attached to Israel. Forty-three percent of respondents said they had been to Israel.

* Far more respondents said having a good sense of humor was essential to their Jewish identity than observing Jewish law — 42 percent compared to 19 percent.

* Approximately one-quarter of Jews said religion is very important in their lives, compared to 56 percent among Americans generally.

* Less than one-third of American Jews say they belong to a synagogue. Twenty-three percent of U.S. Jews say they attend synagogue at least once or twice a month, compared with 62 percent of U.S. Christians.

The New York Times brings us the following from the survey:

Two-thirds of Jews do not belong to a synagogue, one-fourth do not believe in God and one-third had a Christmas tree in their home last year.

Excuse me while I puke!

You can read the full survey here.

I found the reaction of this non-Jew to the survey fascinating:

Though I, obviously, am not Jewish, I find this deeply troubling, though sadly predictable. Apart from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, there is no way to hold onto Jewishness across the generations. Modernity is a harsh solvent; only the Orthodox Jews, who are committed to living religiously, and as a sign of contradiction to the modern world, are holding the line. The lesson here is that if you are only passively Jewish, your grandchildren will probably not be Jewish at all.

He understands what so many "Jewish leaders" simply fail to grasp.