A Jew's view from the capital of Israel and the future site of the Third Temple, may it speedily be rebuilt.
Now, BeDavka in the middle of Parshat Miketz, the U.S., who has incarcerated Jonathan Pollard for 25 years for revealing secrets to a friendly nation, is getting what it deserves by having its state secrets revealed to any and every nation in the world, says the article.Also see what he wrote about the graveness of revealing secrets.
In light of the continuing drought in Israel, Chief Rabbis Shlomo Amar and Yonah Metzger have declared Monday as a second day of prayer and repentance, in which Israelis will be asked to fast and hold special prayers for rain. The Chief Rabbis called on everyone who is able to fast on Monday. Individuals who plan to fast should accept the fast upon themselves when praying Mincha on Sunday. The fast will begin at dawn Monday, and end at sunset.Secular Jews are also joining in:
The Chief Rabbis will participate in special prayers at the Kotel on Monday afternoon at 3:30 PM, and they called on those unable to get to the Kotel to hold prayers of repentance in their local synagogues. A similar day of fasting and prayer was held several weeks ago.
The Head of the Regional Council Center, Shmulik Rifman, a member of secular-socialist kibbutz Revivim, called upon residents of all regional authorities to take part in the prayers and ask for rain.May God answer our prayers with a lot of the wet stuff!
My husband and I met in New York, through a mutual teacher who knew us well. I'd spent plenty of time engaged in the rites of Los Angeles-style dating. This was a whole different ritual. In venturing into this shiddich -- which, loosely translated, means "date" -- we had agreed to an express purpose. We were to decide if we were a match -- and with far less dillydallying than in most modern courtships.Now read the rest!
Aaron and I spent hours together eating Chinese food, playing miniature golf and pinball, ice-skating, boating in Central Park. I came to respect his integrity, his strength and his constant striving to do and be better. (And he's cute!) Four months after we met, we began a 10-week engagement. (My mother, who had spent a year planning my sister's nuptials, was aghast.) We never touched, but got to know each other, unclouded by the bond of physical intimacy, which so often super-glues the wrong people together.
"He cooked this dish in public in order to find favor in the eyes of those who hate Torah," it continues. "He, as a teacher, is kicking his rabbis. He is added to our troubles - peasants and haters of Torah sages - and caused a desecration of God's name."It should read, in my humble opinion:
"He burned his dish in public in order to find favor in the eyes of those who hate Torah," it continues. "He is like a student who has rejected his rabbis. He is added to our enemies - ignoramuses and haters of Torah sages - and caused a desecration of God's name."
But the effects on the marriages themselves can be tragic -- it is an open secret among academics that tsk-tsking grandmothers may be right. According to calculations based on the American Religious Identification Survey of 2001, people who had been in mixed-religion marriages were three times more likely to be divorced or separated than those who were in same-religion marriages.What's the moral of the story?
In a paper published in 1993, Evelyn Lehrer, a professor of economics at the University of Illinois at Chicago, found that if members of two mainline Christian denominations marry, they have a one in five chance of being divorced in five years. A Catholic and a member of an evangelical denomination have a one in three chance. And a Jew and a Christian who marry have a greater than 40 percent chance of being divorced in five years.
A story was told by Mr. George Rohr, an American philanthropist, at a convention for the Lubavitcher Rebbe's emissaries in 1996. Mr Rohr related how he had the privilege to meet the Rebbe on one occasion just after Rosh Hashanah. Mr. Rohr thought it appropriate to present the Rebbe with a "spiritual" gift. A short time before, he had set up a beginners service at his shul in Manhattan, and on Rosh Hashanah 120 Jews attended this new service. Mr. Rohr decided to announce this to the Rebbe and was sure the Rebbe would receive much nachas from this good news. When his turn arrived, he confidently strode up to the Rebbe and said, "Thank G–d, this Rosh Hashanah we set up a beginners service in our shul and had 120 Jews with no Jewish background participate!"Until that point the Rebbe had a broad smile on his face, but when Mr. Rohr told him the news the Rebbe's face dropped, and Mr. Rohr searched his words for anything he may have said that had upset the Rebbe.
"What?!" said the Rebbe.
Mr. Rohr repeated, "… 120 Jews with no Jewish background."
"No Jewish background?" asked the Rebbe. "Go and tell those Jews that they are all children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
Now Mr. Rohr understood. The Rebbe objected to these Jews being described as having no Jewish background. Every Jew has a very illustrious background – they are all sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
United States President Barack Obama is under increasing pressure to free Jonathan Pollard with 39 Members of Congress submitting a letter calling for his release. The petition was initiated by four Democrats in Congress.It was signed by some considered close allies of the president, including Representatives Barney Frank and Henry Waxman.
The petition notes that Pollard has been punished more severely for his actions than have others. “We believe there has been a great disparity from the standpoint of justice between the amount of time Mr. Pollard has served and the time that has been served – or not served at all – by many others who were found guilty of similar activity on behalf of nations that, like Israel, are not adversarial to us,” the letter states.
Let's hope that Jonathan Pollard will be free soon!
Minorities Affairs Minister Avishay Braverman on Wednesday called on Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman to immediately suspend Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu for his ruling banning the renting or sale of Jewish-owned apartments to Arabs in the northern city, Radio Israel reported.
Rabbi Eliyahu has abused his position to engage in a racist campaign against Arabs in contradiction of the peaceful spirit of Judaism, Braveman told Ne'eman in a letter he wrote. He added, the incitement against Arabs harms the social fabric in the Galilee region and Arab-Jewish relations in the area and does not advance the state interests that a municipal rabbi should serve.
Responding to Braverman’s letter – which had been in the works but was released after a front-page interview with Eliyahu on the subject was published Wednesday in one of the Hebrew dailies – Eliyahu slammed the minister, saying that as a member of the government, Braverman endorsed the same values, as far as land ownership.
“The Labor Party founded the State of Israel bearing two banners, redemption of the lands and Jewish labor,” Eliyahu wrote. “Braverman is putting the legacy of the party, whose depleted remains he represents, to shame.”
Eliyahu contended that “the Jewish National Fund (JNF), which deals in redeeming lands for the Jewish state, wouldn’t have existed, either, if the Labor party had endorsed Braverman’s ways.
“Braverman should be reminded that he, too, is bound to the government’s decision, which with the justice minister’s approval endorsed the JNF’s regulations that prohibit selling lands or homes to a non- Jew,” he went on.
“Braverman should further be reminded that as a minister in the government he is bound to its decisions, including that of ‘Judaizing the Galilee,’ a resolution aimed at preserving the Jewish character of that region, as required from the Declaration of Independence of the ‘democratic Jewish’ state,” he said.
“If I ought to be fired, thousands of other rabbis who ruled in the same manner should be fired as well,” declared Eliyahu. “If I should be fired for issuing a ruling to prohibit selling apartments to non-Jews – all the government’s ministers should be fired for being signatories to the exact same ruling. Enough of this hypocrisy!”
Private Potter was born near the town of Birmingham, England and came to serve in the Holy Land in 1938 shortly after signing up with the British military.How long will it take until the Arabs claim that Harry Potter was a Muslim/Arab/Palestinian?A member of the Worcestershire Regiment, Potter was killed in action on 22 July 1939 while battling armed gunmen in Hevron. A post on his regiment’s website states that he was 18 at the time. On his tombstone, however, it lists his age as 19, due to his having lied in order to enlist.
Thousands of tourists flock to Ramle’s British military cemetery each year to snap photos alongside the gravestone, which has proved to be a great tourist attraction for the working class town.
Tour guides have begun to make the grave site a regular stop on their routes, and the city has listed it on the municipality’s tourism website.
British soldiers who fell in Israel during World Wars I and II, and in the period in between, are buried in the military cemetery, which is located in the industrial zone on the road from Ramle. It was built after World War I, when Ramle was under the control of the Australian Brigade of Light Cavalry. Also buried in Ramle’s British military cemetery is the grandson of Baron Edmond de Rothschild.
Today, Jewish intermarriage is common. According to the National Jewish Population Study of 2000-01, the intermarriage rate for Jews who marriedInteresting and sad: when I grew up in the 1960s, the rate of intermarriage among American Jews was around 10%. Today, it is about 50%!The reasons for intermarriage today differ from those in the past. Intermarriage today is primarily the result of 1) American Jews living in an open society in which they are more likely to meet non-Jews, 2) American Jews being less educated about and thus attached to Judaism and their Jewish heritage.
- before 1970 was 13%
- between 1970-1979 was 28%
- between 1980-1984 was 38%
- between 1985-90 was 43%
- between 1991-95 was 43%
- between 1996-2001 was 47%
The vast majority of American Jews receive no Jewish education after age 13. Thus, their knowledge of Judaism is elementary, and they are not exposed to the more advanced theological, philosophical, and ethical teachings of Judaism. Since they are not knowledgeable about their heritage in the first place, intermarriage today, in contrast to intermarriage in the past, is not a deliberate rejection of Judaism.
Further on this note, it has been found that the more intensive the Jewish schooling, the lower the rate of intermarriage. The intermarriage rate among Jews who did not receive Jewish education is 43 percent and among those who received some kind of Jewish schooling is 25 percent. Intermarriage is rare among those who attended a Jewish day school or yeshiva. It follows that intermarriage is far lower among orthodox Jews, who are much more likely to give their children intensive Jewish schooling, than among Jews of other denominations.
The Knesset's Information and Research Center has revealed that intermarriage has skyrocketed 200% in the past 50 years in Diaspora Jewish communitiesIn Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union 65% of Jews marry non-Jews. This is followed by the United States where 55% of all Jews intermarry. Rates of 35%-45% were recorded in France, Britain and most of Latin America. Meanwhile in Australia, Canada and Turkey the rate is “only” 25%-30%.
But regardless of one’s political position there’s two things that can’t be denied. Judaism and Jewishness is directly tied to the Land of Israel. One cannot deny this without denying the Torah, the Mishnah, the Gemora, the Mishneh Torah and the Shulchan Aruch.
From Vos iz Neias:
New York - Eccentric artist Morris Katz, in a career spanning six decades, used toilet paper to create instant art - and a lasting legacy.
The Polish-born Katz, hailed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s fastest and most prolific painter, died Friday after reportedly suffering a stroke. He was 78.
Katz’s motto, as detailed in a book and his worldwide appearances, was simple: “Paint it good, paint it fast and sell it cheap.”
Katz moved to New York with his family in 1949 and launched his unique approach seven years later - using only a palette knife and wads of toilet paper to produce his paintings.
The rolls of bathroom tissue were used to clean the knife or create shadings and shapes.
The artist was cited by the Guinness book after completing one painting - a child in the snow - in a mere 38 seconds. Katz sold more than 225,000 pieces of art in his career, setting another record.
I'm happy to say that one of the 225,000 pieces is property of the X family. About twenty years ago the X family was vacationing at Kibbutz Chafetz Chaim and Morris Katz was there. We saw how Mr. Katz created very nice paintings in no time, while keeping the crowd entertained with his gab and jokes. My wife wanted one, so we bought it.
Yehi zichro baruch!
Rabbi Yisrael Rosen published the following in this week's issue of the popular parsha sheet, Shabat BeShabato:
To: The Honorable President of the United States, Barack Obama:I assume that this is a moment for self reckoning after the significant losses of the Democratic Party in the United States Congress, in relation to the opposing Republican Party. It can be assumed that you are surrounded now on all sides by strategic advisors, perhaps trying to draw you into various aspects of the discussion about "What happened?" – And all this in an effort to improve your situation and your status, and perhaps also your image.
From my miniscule position, as a Jew born in Israel who lives not far from Jerusalem, I am allowing myself to presume to write you with typical Israeli "chutzpah" and in a straight manner to give you a small piece of advice. Perhaps this will not help your situation, your status, or your image, but it stems from a basic point of truth, both humanitarian and moral, and in my opinion it also corresponds to the democratic principles which you so proudly uphold.
My advice is this: Do what you can to give a pardon to Jonathan Pollard and to set him free! This month marks a full twenty-five years that he has been kept in prison (starting in November, 1985)!
I can imagine your reply to this request. Such a move will not add to your political credits on a global scale, and certainly not within the Middle East. Granting a pardon might even force you to give up a "card" in the hand which you are using to pressure Israel into making various political moves. I am aware of the advice that your predecessor Bill Clinton received from his Jewish advisor Dennis Ross - to keep the "card" Jonathan Pollard close to home and take advantage of having him under your control, making use of this factor in very small doses. Anybody familiar with Jewish history realizes that in giving this advice Ross was acting in the role of those "little Jews" who gave advice to their Gentile governments which was against the best interests of the Jews, evidently in order to avoid being accused of collaborating with their own people. Such people have been objects of total disgrace within the Jewish nation, which has a very long memory, for good and bad.
In any case, you are a man who rose to the presidency on a platform promising to improve the lot of the weaker people in society, to uphold human rights, and to be fair and open, all based on a deep religious faith (perhaps you should consult the compassionate preacher from the Trinity United Church who has had such an influence on you in the past). As far as I am concerned the time has come for you to make what is a very small move on your part, but one that is very significant in practical terms. I read your autobiography, "Dreams from My Father," and I was quite impressed by the humanitarian approach that you demonstrated in the book. You managed to convince your readers that among everything else you are a man with humanitarian values. This feeling instills in me some hope that you might not just throw this letter of mine away.
For the record, here are some relevant details, which I assume you already know: Twenty-five years ago Jonathan Pollard was put in prison for the crime of spying for a friendly country, the State of Israel, without any intention on his part to cause harm to the United States. In his trial (twenty-three years ago), no claim was made that he gave any indirect help to the Soviet Union, through Israel, although as years have gone by this was one of the suggestions that appeared in various speculations by the press. A secret declaration by the Secretary of Defense at the time, Caspar Weinberger, which was seen only by the judges and not by Pollard's defense lawyers, seems to have been the main reason for the punishment meted out to him – life imprisonment, with no chance of parole or a reduced sentence. Your great nation has never given such a harsh sentence to any person who spied for a friendly country. Just last month those who ask for leniency for Pollard were joined by Lawrence J. Korb, the deputy of Secretary of Defense Weinberger, who gave this important declaration to the court. Korb stated that Caspar Weinberger himself felt that the case and the punishment have been blown out of all proportion.
Even if you feel that Pollard's motives were as low as possible (in the interests pf financial gain and for the "adventure" involved), and that the security interests of the United States were harmed, take into account the spy-prisoner exchange that took place this year between the United States and Russia. Remember too how many murderous terrorists Israel had set free as a result of pressure by the United States, in return for dead bodies. Where is the proportionate character of justice?
Mr. President, I will end on the same note that I started this letter: In a moment of reckoning, it is good to rack up a few merits in the eyes of the Almighty and of humanity.
Sincerely yours,
Rabbi Yisrael Rozen, Alon Shevut, Israel 90433.
Margalit Har-Shefi of Beit El is engaged to marry a man from Be'er Sheva, a member of the Chabad chassidic movement. The engagement party was held Sunday in Jerusalem.Fifteen years ago, when she was a 19-year-old law student, Har-Shefi was publicly blamed of being complicit in the murder of Prime Miniter Yitzchak Rabin. She had known assassin Yigal Amir, and was convicted of not taking seriously and therefore not reporting, remarks he made about murdering Rabin which she said she considered mere rhetoric. She was sentenced to nine months in prison.
Even attempts by Emunah, the Religious Zionist Women's Organization, to let her be at home for the Passover Seder were denied and she was only allowed to conduct the seder with a Chabad volunteer so as not to spend it in the company of criminals.
In recent years, many public figures have come forth to fight to retroactively exonerate Har-Shefi. In 2007, former Israel Security Agency (Shabak) head Ami Ayalon announced that Har-Shefi was falsely convicted. “Har-Shefi did not know that Yigal Amir wanted to murder the Prime Minister. I know this from intelligence, I was head of the intelligence agency,” he declared.
This year, MKs and rabbis advocated on Har-Shefi's behalf, calling on State Prosecutor Moshe Lador to vindicate her retroactively. The request was rejected.
In 2001, as she began her jail term, Har-Shefi said, "I am being sent to prison today for one reason only: They had to find someone to blame, to cover up for an entire network that fell asleep on the job - as if I, a 19-year-old girl at the time, was the one who could have saved the country from this terrible trauma."
She admitted after the Rabin assassination that she – like many others – had heard Yigal Amir say that he wanted to kill the prime minister. However, she has argued from the beginning that his threats sounded “imaginary,” and that if she had known that Amir actually planned to commit murder, she would have done everything in her power to stop him.
Politicians and activists on the political Left opposed the move to vindicate Har-Shefi, although their arguments were largely philosophical, and did not mention the specifics of the case, such as Ayalon's declaration that Har-Shefi was innocent. MK Yoel Hasson (Kadima) said, “We must not pardon or relieve the burden of anyone who was involved in Rabin's murder,” and added that anyone who does so is “no less than a collaborator.”
The far-Left Peace Now organization accused those speaking up for Har-Shefi of running “a cynical campaign whose aim is to cover up the murder and pardon Yigal Amir in the future.”Once out of prison, Har-Shefi' was hounded by the left and then-Education Minister Yossi Sarid refused to allow her to engage in education, even as a teaching assistant.
I can only say Mazal Tov. She yizku livnot bayit ne'eman beyisrael!
לכן, במקרה שבחורה מושיטה לבחור יד ללחיצת שלום (וכן להפך), איסור לחיצת היד אשר נובע מההחמרה היתירה בקרבה לעריות, נדחה מפני כבוד הבריות והלבנת פנים. מובן שעל לחיצת היד להיות רשמית בלבד, ואין לגלות בה גילויי חיבה יתרים
פעם נערכה לו קבלת פנים אצל מלכת אנגליה, והיא הושיטה לו ידה, אך הוא נאלם דום והצמיד ידיו לצדדיו לעיני כל בית המלוכה והטלויזיה. בערב התקבלה התנצלות מבית המלוכה על כך שהביכו אותו, ובדקו בספר הפרוטוקולים, וכתוב שאין למלכה להושיט יד לרב יהודי
Once there was a reception with the Queen of England, and she offered him her hand. However he stood silent and placed his hands at his sides in front of the Royal House and television. In the evening an apology was received from the Royal House on that they had embarrassed him. They checked the book of protocols, and there it is written that the Queen should not extend her hand to a Jewish Rabbi.
Residents of the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem were reeling Friday night after an attempt by Arabs to break into Jewish homes in the neighborhood – dressed as Hareidi Jews.
The two “Hareidim” were seen walking around the neighborhood Friday night by residents, and at about 9:30 PM, a resident named Eliran saw the pair attempting to break into an apartment near the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in the neighborhood. He called police, who came within minutes. The Arabs began to run, and Eliran joined police in chasing them. He nabbed one of the Arabs himself, while police chased down and tackled the second one.
The two were quickly questioned, and they told police that a third member of their gang was awaiting them at the nearby Har Hamenuchot cemetery. Police converged on the site, and he, too was arrested. Residents praised police, and especially Eliran, for his quick thinking and quick action.
Ben-Ari said Kahane should be remembered as a different kind of leader, one who, unlike those who saw Israel as a shelter, believed Israel existed to spread the message that God rules the world and that Jews must reiterate that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people.Compare this to what President Peres says:
“This impacts everything we do,” Ben-Ari said. “For example, the letter to the UN secretary-general.
Some say, how can we fight the US when it’s so big? Kahane said God is great and America is nothing. I don’t mean to mock or harm the US, but we aren’t the slave of any empire.”
President Shimon Peres said that Israel cannot survive without the help of the United States, at a Jerusalem conference of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute on Thursday.
Peres said that, "for our existence, we need the friendship of the United States of America."
MK Uri Ariel (National Union) has given Prime Minister Binyamin Netenyahu a letter signed by 109 MKs calling on U.S. President Barak Obama to grant a pardon to Jonathan Pollard. The number of MKs who signed the letter means that MKs from all the Jewish parties signed on and only the Arab MKs refused.More information on the Pollard case can be found here.
Pollard will soon mark his 25th year in American prison. Recently several former senior U.S. defense officials have said Pollard's sentence was extreme and unfair and have called for his release. Prime Minister Binyamin Netenyahu is to visit the U.S. Sunday.
This blogger did not pay too much attention to the elections in the U.S.A. Obama revealed himself as a sleaze bag to me and others here is Israel during his Cairo speech. His racist policies with regards to where Jews are allowed to live are just a continuation of his sleaziness. BO stinks!
As more details on the story of an Palestinian Authority Arab ex-con on his way to converting to Judaism are revealed, the more astonishing it becomes.
Yaniv Ben-David, an Arab from the PA territories and Haifa whose official name until recently was Busmon Abu-Ras, found Judaism and G-d while serving a 12-year term in prison. The full miraculous story has come out in three interviews, including one with Arutz-7’s Hizky Ezra [which can be seen here, in Hebrew] and another on Radio Kol Chai with the head of the Civil Administration, Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, known as Poli.
Yaniv’s speech is liberally sprinkled with “May G-d’s Name be blessed” and the like, as if he had grown up all his life in a traditional Sephardic neighborhood. But in actuality, his story is very different. Without getting into details, he explains that he became involved in criminal activity of which today he is very ashamed, but that once in jail, no one in his family ever visited him. “My crime was not related to terrorism, Heaven forbid, chas veshalom,” he says, “but I don’t want to discuss it.”
