Out To Lunch

We Need To Be Faithful To The Torah

This week's Besheva magazine is devoted mainly to commemerating the second anniversary of the destruction of the Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria and the expulsion of their residents. I was particularly struck by what the legendary doctor of Gush Katif, Dr. Sodi Namir, had to say.

לד"ר סודי מצידו יש ביקורת נוקבת על הציבור הדתי לאומי, שלוקה לדבריו באי קבלת מרות של הרבנים הגדולים: "אצל החרדים גדלות בתורה זה הדבר הבלעדי והקובע, ולא יקום מאן דהוא ויצפצף נגדו. אצלנו כל אחד תופס מיקרופון, רשאי להביע את כל מה שיש לו. כשאנו נראים כך, התוצאות הן בהתאם". בחירתו של מנהיג חילוני לראשות מועצת יש"ע, היא לדעתו סימפטום נוסף לחולי בציבור הדתי: "אנחנו ציבור שהתורה רק מפריעה לו במובנים מסוימים. לוקחים את המדינה כערך בפני עצמו ומכופפים לזה הכול. מגיעים למצב שיו"ר יש"ע המתחדשת הוא אדם בלי כיפה וזה לא מפריע לאף אחד. אנחנו מעמידים בראשנו אנשים שלא חיים לפי מערכת ערכים של תורה, והרי ראינו לאיזה ערכים מושחתים אפשר להגיע בלי תורה".

A rough translation:

Dr. Sodi Namir has a piercing criticism of the national-religious public, which according to him is afflicted with a lack of acceptance of the authority of the great rabbis. "By the ultra-Orthodox greatness in Torah is the only thing that counts, and nobody will rise up and 'chirp' against it. By us, anyone who grabs a microphone and is allowed to express what he feels. When we appear like this, the results are in accord."

The election of a secular leader as the head of the Yesha Council, is according to his opinion another sympton of illness in the national-religious public: "We are a public that the Torah bothers in certain ways. We take the state as a value unto itself and we bend everything according to it. We have arrived at a situation where the head of the Renewed Yesha Council is a man without a yarmulke and this doesn't bother anyone. We are putting at our head people that do not live according to the Torah value system, and we have seen what corrupt values one can arrive at without Torah."

Is anyone in the national religious public listening?

Who Said It?

Who wrote the following with regards to a "Palestinian" state?:

"The establishment of such (a Palestinian) state means the inflow of combat-ready Palestinian forces (more than 25,000 men under arms) into Judea and Samaria; this force, together with the local youth, will double itself in a short time. It will not be short of weapons or other (military) equipment, and in a short space of time, an infrastructure for waging war will be set up in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. Israel will have problems in preserving day-to-day security, which may drive the country into war, or undermine the morale of its citizens. In time of war, the frontiers of the Palestinian state will constitute an excellent staging point for mobile forces to mount attacks on infrastructure installations vital for Israel’s existence, to impede the freedom of action of the Israeli Air Force in the skies over Israel, and to cause bloodshed among the population...in areas adjacent to the frontier-line."

The answer.

This Is Not A Spam Blog!!!

I wonder why the folks at Blogger think that this is a "spam blog". Could any spammer come up with this kind of blog?

Something To Read

I'm really sorry that I have nothing original to post today. Instead I'll offer up some links:

Matisyahu No Longer Lubavitch. Enjoys Jay-Z and Sipping Wine.

The Nesivos Shalom – Why Are We Mourning?

A Frozen Scream

Welcome to the 12th edition of JPix!

One Beit Din’s Decision

Eretz Yisrael and the Secrets of Torah

HH #126

Learn About Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook zt"l

Read a short biography

Lectures by Rabbi David Goldenberg

Exclusive Cosmic X pic:

Jerusalem Calatrava Bridge: Southern Approach

After climbing on a big block of cement I was able to see over the fence and snap this pic:



When will the construction end?

The President is Naked, and so is the Israeli MSM

The election of Shimon Peres as president of Israel is a disgrace. The man who is responsible for so much misery is being given an honor that he surely does not deserve. He was elected by a government and a Knesset that has long lost the support of the electorate.

It's interesting to see how so many Israeli MSM journalists are going all out to "explain" why Peres is fit to be president. They may be fooling themselves, but then again it is not such a big deal to fool such idiots.

See what some other jbloggers have to say.

Temple Mount Destruction

As we approach The month of Av, the month both Temples were destroyed, the destruction of anything that might be left of the Temples is being conducted with the tacit approval of the Israeli government. You can see pictures of the destruction here. Jpost.com has an editorial on the matter.

We want Mashiach NOW!

HH #50,000?

See it at Yid With Lid.

Aliyah Anniversaries

Two jbloggers celebrate: It's two years for Pinchas, and three years for Amechad.

Congratulations to them both!

A Thread For Lurkers

Do you lurk here? If so, why do you lurk? Are you too shy to leave a comment? Is it because you have nothing to say? Are you embarrassed that you read this blog? Dear lurker, this is your chance to make your voice heard! Go for it!

Update: Thank you to all the lurkers and non-lurkers who left a comment.

A Mourning Notice In Jerusalem

This is old news. I should have posted this earlier:

Maurice Wohl, one of the most generous donors to the State of Israel, died in London Sunday at the age of 84. He will be buried in Israel on Monday.

Wohl contributed tens of millions of dollars to the construction of public structures, all of which bear his name. These include an amphitheater in Ganei Yehoshua in Tel Aviv, an archaeology museum in Jerusalem and an auditorium in Bar Ilan University. A recently completed convention center in Bar Ilan University is named after his wife, Vivian, who passed away in 2004.

Wohl also established a fund that contributes to the medical community in Israel, and gave out thousands of scholarships to students in Bar Ilan University.

More from Ha'aretz:

Maurice Wohl, the prominent British Jewish philanthropist, will be buried Monday in Jerusalem. Wohl died Thursday in London of heart-related complications. He was 83.

A self-made real estate magnate, Wohl was known for his generosity. The president of the Jerusalem Great Synagogue, he was also a benefactor of Bar-Ilan University, Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem and Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, as well as many other Israeli institutions.

"When a book is written about the great Jewish philanthropists, there will be a very thick chapter on Maurice," said Zalli Jaffe, vice president of the Jerusalem Great Synagogue.

Born in London to working class, Eastern European immigrants, Wohl had long been active in philanthropic causes both in Israel and abroad. He and his late wife, Vivienne, donated the rose garden opposite the Knesset that bears their name, and Wohl was honored with the title "Trustee of Jerusalem" (Ne'eman Yerushalayim). Wohl, also made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE), split his time between his homes in London, Geneva and Tel Aviv.

"He was the kind of philanthropist who believed in charity not because it gave him prestige but because it was right and because it was good for other people," Prof. Moshe Kaveh, president of Bar-Ilan University and a personal friend, said Sunday.

Friends say Wohl's public philanthropy was only a small portion of his largess. "There are so many people in need that he helped privately, quietly and one-on-one," said Rabbi George Finkelstein, director general of the Jerusalem Great Synagogue.

The funeral will take place 9 A.M. at the Jerusalem Great Synagogue, followed by burial at the Sanhedria Cemetery.

Mystery #2 Update

A while back I posted this picture of a pomegranate tree:



Back then nobody was able to identify it. Today the tree looks like this:



Notice the fruit! The mystery is gone!

Worth Reading

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5

Just In Time For My Jerusalem Calatrava Bridge Update

From jpost.com:

A 44-year-old man was holed up in a crane in the entrance to Jerusalem, threatening to kill himself, Israel Radio reported Wednesday morning.

The man, apparently an artist, said he was protesting the ugly appearance of the bridge being built at the entrance to the city.

Police were at the scene trying to persuade the man to climb down from the crane.

The bridge, designed by renowned architect Santiago Calatrava, is meant to be used by the Jerusalem light rail, slated to start running in 2008.

While the bridge has been the cause of much controversy, Wednesday's suicide threat was undoubtedly the strongest response the project has yet seen.

Yes, the bridge is not pretty. It will look a lot better when it is finished though :-)>. In any case this is not a cause worth dying for.

Here is a photo of the southern end of the bridge:

The Conference on the Future of the Jewish People

Ynetnews has extensive coverage of "The Conference on the Future of the Jewish People" which is being sponsered by The Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, or JPPPI for short. They also have a bunch of articles by the JPPPI staff.

I once passed the posh JPPPI office building on Pinsker St. and I was wondering who these people are that want to plan the policy of the Jewish people. Here is what their web site says:

The Jewish People Policy Planning Institute (JPPPI) is an independent think tank incorporated in Israel as a non-profit corporation. The mission of the Institute is to promote the thriving of the Jewish people via professional strategic thinking and planning on issues of primary concern to world Jewry. JPPPI's work is based on deep commitment to the future of the Jewish people with Israel as its core state.

Located in Jerusalem, JPPPI engages in policy-oriented study and analysis aimed at identifying critical issues, developing creative, policy options and analyzing their potential impacts. JPPPI's work serves as the basis for assessments, alerts and strategic policy designs provided to Jewish decision makers, and to opinion leaders and publics at large.

Of course, this costs a lot of money:

The 2007 budget will reach one million and eight hundred thousand US dollars, one million from the Jewish Agency and eight hundred thousand from leading Jewish organizations and philanthropists.

They are not embarrassed to shnorr engage in fundraising:

Professor Yehezkel Dror, the Founding President of JPPPI, and Mr. Avinoam Bar-Yosef, the Managing Director, will be glad to meet interested potential sponsors, in Jerusalem or,at another convenient location.

David Eliezrie of Chabad notices a lack of ultra-Orthodox participation in the conference and asks why this is so:

AN INSTITUTE dedicated to long-term Jewish planning should, at the minimum, pick the brains of those - such as Chabad - who have created a successful modality of Jewish survival in both Israel and abroad. Not everyone in the frum community is prepared for this type of engagement. Some see little value in dialogue with more secular Jewish leaders. However, in the interest of intellectual honesty they should at least be invited.

Failing to do that raises a deeper question. Is not the unwillingness to extend such an invitation merely the mirror image of a narrowness found among segments of the haredi world? Shouldn't the spirit of liberal tolerance prompt organizers to seek partners outside their own world view?

Well I think I know the answer. Chabad, as well as the rest of the Orthodox Jewish world know that Jewish survival is absolutely dependent on learning Torah and keeping the mitzvot:

See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil, 16 in that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances; then thou shalt live and multiply, and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest in to possess it. 17 But if thy heart turn away, and thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; 18 I declare unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish; ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over the Jordan to go in to possess it. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed; 20 to love the LORD thy God, to hearken to His voice, and to cleave unto Him; for that is thy life, and the length of thy days; that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

This is not the kind of stuff that the JPPPI, the Jewish Agency and the Israeli government want to hear. But this is what God is telling us. Nothing else will work! A fancy office on Pinsker Street and a 1.8 million dollar budget may provide a livelihood for a few academics. However, the answer to Jewish survival can be summarized in one word: Torah!

Update: Don't forget the copper mirrors.

Mystery Tree #5

Alright, so this one isn't really such a mystery:



Update: Rafi got it right again! The grape vine, as is well known, is one of the "seven species" that the land of Israel was praised for(Deuteronomy Chapter 8):

And thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him. For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. And thou shalt eat and be satisfied, and bless the LORD thy God for the good land which He hath given thee.

Of course, the grape vine can lead to problems sometimes:

20 And Noah the husbandman began, and planted a vineyard. 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. 24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done unto him.

And then you have this incident:

31 And the first-born said unto the younger: 'Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth. 32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.' 33 And they made their father drink wine that night. And the first-born went in, and lay with her father; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the first-born said unto the younger: 'Behold, I lay yesternight with my father. Let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.' 35 And they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose, and lay with him; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

Like everything else that God has given us, it can be used for bad and it can be used for the good. It is up to us.

What Really Happened In RBS B

While ynetnews continues to reach new depths of shoddy journalism, Rafi lets us know what really happened in RBS B.

Awesome!

Click!

Brilliant!

Click.

A Monument To Stupidity

I saw this plaque at the base of a tree in Kfar HaMakabiah:



The plaque reads:

Youth Movement "Young Maccabbi"
National Leadership
"In his death he bequeathed us peace"
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin z"l
November 95
Planted by
graduates of the movement as an everlasting memory

Twelve years have gone by and we can look back on Rabin's term as Prime Minister and his "accomplishments" with a little bit of historical perspective. He certainly did not "bequeath us peace". He made what will probably be regarded as one of the most foolish diplomatic deals ever. The Oslo Agreements are a monument to stupidity, naiveté, corruption and evil.

I hope that one day the powers that be in Kfar HaMakabiah will have the wisdom to remove this kitsch from their premises.

Can You Do Math?

If you can, see if you can tell me what is wrong with this statement:

When Ramat Beit Shemesh B was built, most of the residents arrived from the overflowing extreme haredi communities in Jerusalem: Neturei Karta, Toldot Aharon and Satmar. Out of a total 5,000 haredi families in Beit Shemesh, 1,500 families are from these sects.

Today's Catch

Chana Meira Finds A Place To Lay Her Head

Rafi's QOTD

Peace Now Is Evil

Belz In Israel

Halachic Aspects Of Making A BBQ

Long Train Running

About the new Tel Aviv - Jerusalem train line:

The service on the line to Jerusalem, which opened in 1892, was suspended in 1998 due to the poor state of the track. However, it has recently been rebuilt and upgraded. The section of this line to Bet Shemesh re-opened in September 2003, while the remainder of the upgraded line to Jerusalem opened in April 2005 together with the opening of the new Jerusalem Malha Station in Southern Jerusalem. In October 2004, a new line from Tel Aviv to the new Terminal 3 at Ben Gurion International Airport was opened. From there this line will continue as a brand new high speed line currently being built to Jerusalem with a spur to Modi'in. This difficult to construct line will be electrified and make extensive use of long railway tunnels in order to make it possible for trains to achieve high speeds as they make their way from the coastal region to the mountainous Jerusalem area. In its first phase this line will terminate at a new underground station under construction underneath the Jerusalem Central Bus Station in Central Jerusalem. There are future plans to extend the line from the Jerusalem Central Bus Station so that it will connect with the (now upgraded) historic railroad that already reaches Southern Jerusalem. The ride on the new high-speed line from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem will take 28 minutes. The line is expected to be finished sometime around 2011.

Here are a couple of pics from the building site of the train station in Jerusalem:

Another Post Of Links

Check 'em out:

JPix - The 11th Edition!

Rabbi Shaya Karlinsky on Showing People a Proper Path

Their Next Generation

Former COS Yaalon: Pal. State No Longer Practical or Relevant

Global Warming

Meme-fied

The amazing Mr. Bagel has tagged me with a meme: Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Here it comes:

• I was born in the same hospital as my mother.


• My grandmother made the most delicious knishes in the world.


• My father fought in the Israeli War of Independence.


• In high school I was one of the captains of the fencing team.


• In college I joined a fraternity.


• My blood type is O negative.


• I own a pair of Crocs which I use as house slippers.


• I have a "Jewish nose".

Wasn't that interesting [snore]? Since this meme has been floating around for a long time, I am not going to tag anyone else. Have a nice day! :-)>

If You Will It, It Is Not A Dream

It's up to you. For the price of a plane ticket you can be here.

17th of Tammuz Links

Taliban Pincus Wins Prize For Shalom

Festival Of Sadness

I wonder if I am a kohein

The Mass Graves of Yanov

Mystery Tree #4

This one is easy:



Update: I told you that this was an easy one. Kol HaKavod to Rafi and Jacob.

The fig, as is well known, is one of the "seven species" that the land of Israel was praised for(Deuteronomy Chapter 8):

And thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him. For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. And thou shalt eat and be satisfied, and bless the LORD thy God for the good land which He hath given thee.

The fig tree is mentioned in many other places, one of them being Proverbs 27:18:

Whoso keepeth the fig-tree shall eat the fruit thereof; and he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.

Our rabbis understood that King Solomon was referring to the Torah as Rabbi Mendel Weinbach explains:

When King Shlomo compared Torah to the fig (Mishlei 27:18), he conveyed an important message about gaining and retaining Torah knowledge.

Rabbi Chiya bar Abba quoted Rabbi Yochanan (Eiruvin 54a) as to why the comparison was made:

“Just as one constantly finds figs when he approaches the tree (since they do not all ripen at the same time, there are always some available for eating- Rashi), so too will one always find a new taste in the Torah he is studying.”

If this message about gaining Torah knowledge is derived from the comparison to the fig tree itself, there is another message from the words of this passage regarding the protection of that fig tree which yields fruit for its protector.

“One who sees a fig tree in a dream,” say our Sages (Berachot 57a) “it is a message from Heaven that his Torah knowledge is retained and protected in him.”

The fig tree thus conveys the double message of gaining Torah knowledge by appreciating the new thrill which comes with every step of learning, and the need to retain and protect that knowledge through constant review so that we can enjoy the fruits of our study even if we are not lucky enough to see a fig tree in our dreams.

I could write a lot more about figs but today is a fast day and all of this fig talk is making me hungry.

Amazing Guitarist

Hat tip: LGF

1-2-3 HH #123

Here!