Click here to view the International Religious Freedom Report for 2012 which documents, among other items, "a continued global increase in anti-Semitism. Holocaust denial and glorification remained troubling themes, and opposition to Israeli policy at times was used to promote or justify blatant anti-Semitism."
The list of keynote commencement speakers at Ivy League institutions for 2013 does not include a single conservative, a recent study authored by the conservative Young America’s Foundation (YAF) found.
...Last year, a Campus Reform investigation found that 96 percent of the faculty and staff at Ivy League schools who contributed to the 2012 presidential race donated to President Obama’s campaign.
Read more: http://www.campusreform.org/blog/?ID=4763
Pamela Geller writes about Lois Lerner.
Lori Lowenthal Marcus writes about JStreet.
Jack Cashill writes about what the President was doing during the Benghazi attack.
At 7:30 p.m. or thereabouts Obama engaged in an hour-long phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Obama hoped to mend fences with Netanyahu to help secure the Jewish vote in the upcoming election.
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/05/what-did-obama-do-on-9112012/
22 May 2013
In the news
The first video below is a must see of the Belze Rebbe and Rav Ovadia Yosef at last night's wedding. At the 9'26 minute mark, the two rabbis dance together. Click here to read, in Hebrew, the words that were exchanged between them. May the shalom that exists between the two great luminaries, extend to the whole nation and may we see siman tov umazal tov.
A “secret” Facebook group of foreign correspondents and human rights activists quickly devolved into an anti-Israel hate-fest on Tuesday following the release of a new Israeli government report that cleared the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of wrongdoing in the 2000 death of a Palestinian boy.
Continue reading: http://freebeacon.com/vultures/
The Daily Mail reports on two men who hacked to death a soldier in Britain.
ITV writes about the attack on the soldier.
The Muslim Council of Britain has condemned what it called a "truly barbaric act" following an attack in Woolwich.
The second video below is of Lois Lerner invoking the fifth amendment during a congressional hearing. One comment posted on Youtube states, "I find it fascinating that she invokes the 5th amendment, to not answer questions about denying other people's 1st amendment rights."
Click here for a video of Ms. Lerner speaking about trust, transparency and accountability at the IRS during a speech at Charity Law Conference in Toronto, Canada in May, 2012.
Watching the grilling of IRS officials by members of Congress should give us pause to reflect on the grilling we are to receive leachar meah ve'esrim. I don't believe we can get out of it so easily by invoking the fifth.
A “secret” Facebook group of foreign correspondents and human rights activists quickly devolved into an anti-Israel hate-fest on Tuesday following the release of a new Israeli government report that cleared the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of wrongdoing in the 2000 death of a Palestinian boy.
Continue reading: http://freebeacon.com/vultures/
The Daily Mail reports on two men who hacked to death a soldier in Britain.
ITV writes about the attack on the soldier.
The Muslim Council of Britain has condemned what it called a "truly barbaric act" following an attack in Woolwich.
This is a truly barbaric act that has no basis in Islam and we condemn this unreservedly.
The second video below is of Lois Lerner invoking the fifth amendment during a congressional hearing. One comment posted on Youtube states, "I find it fascinating that she invokes the 5th amendment, to not answer questions about denying other people's 1st amendment rights."
Click here for a video of Ms. Lerner speaking about trust, transparency and accountability at the IRS during a speech at Charity Law Conference in Toronto, Canada in May, 2012.
Watching the grilling of IRS officials by members of Congress should give us pause to reflect on the grilling we are to receive leachar meah ve'esrim. I don't believe we can get out of it so easily by invoking the fifth.
A Detroit speech
While Vice President Joe Biden praised the Jewish community for its contributions to America, apparently one individual does not harbor the same sentiment.
The Anti-Defamation League is criticizing Louis Farrakhan for delivering blatantly anti-Semitic statements, using terms such as “Satanic Jews” and the “Synagogue of Satan,” during a speech at a Detroit church last week. The Jewish group is also asking why public figures who attended the Nation of Islam leader’s event have remained silent.
...According to the ADL and the Detroit Free Press, those present at the May 17th Fellowship Chapel event included the church’s leader, Rev. Wendell Anthony, who also serves as President of the Detroit branch of the NAACP, Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) and Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson.
Continue reading: http://www.freep.com/article/20130517/NEWS0102/305170150/louis-farrakhan-kwame-kilpatrick
The Anti-Defamation League is criticizing Louis Farrakhan for delivering blatantly anti-Semitic statements, using terms such as “Satanic Jews” and the “Synagogue of Satan,” during a speech at a Detroit church last week. The Jewish group is also asking why public figures who attended the Nation of Islam leader’s event have remained silent.
...According to the ADL and the Detroit Free Press, those present at the May 17th Fellowship Chapel event included the church’s leader, Rev. Wendell Anthony, who also serves as President of the Detroit branch of the NAACP, Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) and Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson.
Continue reading: http://www.freep.com/article/20130517/NEWS0102/305170150/louis-farrakhan-kwame-kilpatrick
Their contributions
Jonathan Easley writes about Vice President Joe Biden speaking at a Jewish American Heritage Month reception in New York City on Tuesday.
Biden went on to congratulate the Jewish community for its contributions to American society.
“The Jewish people have contributed greatly to America,” he said. “No group has had such an outsized influence per capita as all of you standing before you and all of those who went before me and all of those who went before you.”
“You make up 11 percent of the seats in the United States Congress. You make up one-third of all Nobel laureates,” he added. “So many notions that are embraced by this nation that particularly emanate from over 5,000 years of Jewish history, tradition and culture: independence, individualism, fairness, decency, justice, charity. These are all as you say, as I learned early on as a Catholic being educated by my friends, this tzedakah.”
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/301213-biden-needles-obama-with-teleprompter-joke#ixzz2U0O6XC74
Biden went on to congratulate the Jewish community for its contributions to American society.
“The Jewish people have contributed greatly to America,” he said. “No group has had such an outsized influence per capita as all of you standing before you and all of those who went before me and all of those who went before you.”
“You make up 11 percent of the seats in the United States Congress. You make up one-third of all Nobel laureates,” he added. “So many notions that are embraced by this nation that particularly emanate from over 5,000 years of Jewish history, tradition and culture: independence, individualism, fairness, decency, justice, charity. These are all as you say, as I learned early on as a Catholic being educated by my friends, this tzedakah.”
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/301213-biden-needles-obama-with-teleprompter-joke#ixzz2U0O6XC74
Givers
Adam Grant has authored an article titled Who's Smarter: The Selfish or the Generous?
In a series of experiments led by the Yale psychologist David Rand, people's actual choices fluctuated based on whether they had time to think. When they had less than 10 seconds to choose, more than 55 percent gave. But when they had more time to reflect, giving rates dropped, with fewer than 45 percent giving. This follows a pattern that Rand and colleagues call spontaneous giving and calculated greed. When our decisions are governed by emotion and instinct, we act generously. When we have time to rationally analyze the options, we become more selfish.
...Why would smarter people give more? This evidence is relatively new, but two related explanations are gaining steam. First, the more intelligent you are, the more you excel at analyzing other people's interests. As James writes, "people with higher cognitive ability are better able to understand the needs of distant others." Second, the smarter you are, the more you reject zero-sum, win-lose thinking.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-grant/whos-smarter-the-selfish-_b_3312169.html
Speaking about giving, this afternoon I came across a video on YouTube featuring an inspirational Hebrew speaker, Rachel Bolton. Listening to her advice, I was struck by one statement she made about how G-d gives us what we need, not necessarily what we want. Our spouses, our friends and neighbors are what we need.
Let's not waste time wanting something that G-d has determined is not what we need.
In a series of experiments led by the Yale psychologist David Rand, people's actual choices fluctuated based on whether they had time to think. When they had less than 10 seconds to choose, more than 55 percent gave. But when they had more time to reflect, giving rates dropped, with fewer than 45 percent giving. This follows a pattern that Rand and colleagues call spontaneous giving and calculated greed. When our decisions are governed by emotion and instinct, we act generously. When we have time to rationally analyze the options, we become more selfish.
...Why would smarter people give more? This evidence is relatively new, but two related explanations are gaining steam. First, the more intelligent you are, the more you excel at analyzing other people's interests. As James writes, "people with higher cognitive ability are better able to understand the needs of distant others." Second, the smarter you are, the more you reject zero-sum, win-lose thinking.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-grant/whos-smarter-the-selfish-_b_3312169.html
Speaking about giving, this afternoon I came across a video on YouTube featuring an inspirational Hebrew speaker, Rachel Bolton. Listening to her advice, I was struck by one statement she made about how G-d gives us what we need, not necessarily what we want. Our spouses, our friends and neighbors are what we need.
Let's not waste time wanting something that G-d has determined is not what we need.
21 May 2013
Times of modernity
A Haaretz article asks:
Should the Reform movement ordain intermarried rabbis? Hebrew Union College, which is the seminary of America’s largest Jewish denomination, is considering altering its current policy, which does not allow admission to its rabbinical, cantorial or education schools of applicants who are married to or partnered with non-Jews.
“In modernity everything is fluid and up for grabs. In the case of Reform Judaism we’ve not only grudgingly come to terms with that, we’ve embraced that reality,”
Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/u-s-reform-jewish-seminary-reconsidering-policy-against-intermarried-students-1.524953
What's the next step? Ordaining the non-Jewish partners?
Should the Reform movement ordain intermarried rabbis? Hebrew Union College, which is the seminary of America’s largest Jewish denomination, is considering altering its current policy, which does not allow admission to its rabbinical, cantorial or education schools of applicants who are married to or partnered with non-Jews.
“In modernity everything is fluid and up for grabs. In the case of Reform Judaism we’ve not only grudgingly come to terms with that, we’ve embraced that reality,”
Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/u-s-reform-jewish-seminary-reconsidering-policy-against-intermarried-students-1.524953
What's the next step? Ordaining the non-Jewish partners?
20 May 2013
Blessings
Chabad Crown Heights info has a video of professor Cyril Karabus being blessed by Chabad Shliach Rabbi Asher Deren with Birchas Kohanim upon his arrival from Dubai.
Rabbi Micha Peltz writes about The Jewish Birthday 'Bracha' That Teaches Us to Count.
On birthdays, Jews greet each other with 'ad meah v’esrim' - 'may you live until 120.' This blessing, which can be traced back to the Torah, seems to acknowledge that our days are numbered.
... we learn in Deuteronomy that Moses lived to be 120 years old. And great rabbis of the Talmud such as Hillel, Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakkai, Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, all lived to 120 as well. Pretty good company - suddenly living until 120 doesn’t sound so bad.
And why should it? The average life expectancy in the U.S. is 78. (It’s 80 in Israel – another reason to make aliyah!) Living more than 40 years beyond that could be quite a blessing. Assuming that a person still has their health. This caveat has given rise to a cute adaptation of this birthday blessing: “ad meah k’esrim” – “May you live until 100 [feeling] like you are 20!” That would truly be a blessing.
http://baltimorejewishlife.com/news/news-detail.php?SECTION_ID=2&ARTICLE_ID=38059
Rabbi Micha Peltz writes about The Jewish Birthday 'Bracha' That Teaches Us to Count.
On birthdays, Jews greet each other with 'ad meah v’esrim' - 'may you live until 120.' This blessing, which can be traced back to the Torah, seems to acknowledge that our days are numbered.
... we learn in Deuteronomy that Moses lived to be 120 years old. And great rabbis of the Talmud such as Hillel, Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakkai, Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, all lived to 120 as well. Pretty good company - suddenly living until 120 doesn’t sound so bad.
And why should it? The average life expectancy in the U.S. is 78. (It’s 80 in Israel – another reason to make aliyah!) Living more than 40 years beyond that could be quite a blessing. Assuming that a person still has their health. This caveat has given rise to a cute adaptation of this birthday blessing: “ad meah k’esrim” – “May you live until 100 [feeling] like you are 20!” That would truly be a blessing.
http://baltimorejewishlife.com/news/news-detail.php?SECTION_ID=2&ARTICLE_ID=38059
Anti-Israel
Below is an excerpt from a statement made on Sunday by Representative of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement to Tehran, Nasser Abusharif, regarding Israel.
"It is the time for the Islamic Ummah (community) to confront this cancerous tumor and wipe it out from the region."
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9202242130
Abraham H. Miller writes, "Tammi Rossman-Benjamin and Leila Beckwith, two University of California faculty members, have bravely stood up against campus anti-Semitism;"
Leftist faculty and campus administrators have given a wink, a nod, and an expansive tolerance to campus anti-Semitism in a way that no other vile form of bigotry would be tolerated.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/05/two_modernday_deborahs_fight_antisemitism.html#ixzz2ToNwUZK5
19 May 2013
Shedding light
“Bahaloscha Es HaNeiros," when you bring up the candles. Why the word Bahaloscha, shouldn’t it say BiHadlikcha, when you light the candles? This can be answered with the Medrash. We all know that Hashem needs nothing from us. Everything that He asks us to do is purely for our benefit and stems from His eternal kindness. When it came to lighting the menora the gemara asks (Shabbos 22b), “V’Chi l’Ora Hu Tzarich,” does Hashem need our light? The Medrash Tanchuma (Bamidbar 5) says that the light of the appearance of the “Chayos” in Shamayim can light up the whole universe. Another Medrash Tanchuma (Bamidbar HaYashan 9) brings a mashal showing that Hashem only uses our light to make us feel important.
The Medrash Tanchuma explains that Hashem refrains from using the word BiHadlikcha, when you light the candles, because that would imply that we are the ones supplying the light. Instead, Hashem uses the word, Bahaloscha, when you go up. Each Mitzva is an opportunity for us to go up, to improve ourselves and raise ourselves. The action that we take for Hashem’s sake has no benefit to Him whatsoever. It is purely an opportunity for us to raise ourselves higher. Bahaloscha, take advantage and do it for yourself, so that you can go up!
Read more: http://revach.net/article.php?id=2316
Speaking about light, I don't believe the interview below shed much light into the President's actions on the night of the Benghazi attack.
The Medrash Tanchuma explains that Hashem refrains from using the word BiHadlikcha, when you light the candles, because that would imply that we are the ones supplying the light. Instead, Hashem uses the word, Bahaloscha, when you go up. Each Mitzva is an opportunity for us to go up, to improve ourselves and raise ourselves. The action that we take for Hashem’s sake has no benefit to Him whatsoever. It is purely an opportunity for us to raise ourselves higher. Bahaloscha, take advantage and do it for yourself, so that you can go up!
Read more: http://revach.net/article.php?id=2316
Speaking about light, I don't believe the interview below shed much light into the President's actions on the night of the Benghazi attack.
12 May 2013
Rewording
The Church of Scotland will reword a controversial report which said “scripture” provides no basis for Jewish claims to Israel, the church said in statement.
The 10-page report, entitled “The Inheritance of Abraham” and published online earlier this month has been taken down from the Church of Scotland’s website until it is rewritten.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/2013/05/10/news-opinion/world/scottish-church-pulls-rewords-report-denying-jews-claims-to-israel#ixzz2T1VhTUyE
Senior Internal Revenue Service officials knew agents were targeting tea party groups as early as 2011, according to a draft of an inspector general's report obtained by The Associated Press that seemingly contradicts public statements by the IRS commissioner.
The IRS apologized Friday for what it acknowledged was "inappropriate" targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-irs-knew-tea-party-targeted-2011-190852283.html
...ABC News confirmed that State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland raised specific objections to an original CIA draft on the Benghazi massacre. ...But during her press conference on September 17, 2012, Victoria Nuland told reporters that what Ambassador Risce said on the Sunday talk shows was “very clear, very precise, about what our initial assessment of what happened.” Read more: http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/05/busted-state-department-spokeswoman-victoria-nuland-deliberately-lied-to-reporters-about-benghazi-talking-points-video/
Why has Patrick Ventrell, the Acting Deputy Spokesperson, been the one to speak at the State Department Brieifngs this past month instead of Ms. Nuland, the Spokesperson?
The 10-page report, entitled “The Inheritance of Abraham” and published online earlier this month has been taken down from the Church of Scotland’s website until it is rewritten.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/2013/05/10/news-opinion/world/scottish-church-pulls-rewords-report-denying-jews-claims-to-israel#ixzz2T1VhTUyE
Senior Internal Revenue Service officials knew agents were targeting tea party groups as early as 2011, according to a draft of an inspector general's report obtained by The Associated Press that seemingly contradicts public statements by the IRS commissioner.
The IRS apologized Friday for what it acknowledged was "inappropriate" targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-irs-knew-tea-party-targeted-2011-190852283.html
...ABC News confirmed that State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland raised specific objections to an original CIA draft on the Benghazi massacre. ...But during her press conference on September 17, 2012, Victoria Nuland told reporters that what Ambassador Risce said on the Sunday talk shows was “very clear, very precise, about what our initial assessment of what happened.” Read more: http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/05/busted-state-department-spokeswoman-victoria-nuland-deliberately-lied-to-reporters-about-benghazi-talking-points-video/
Why has Patrick Ventrell, the Acting Deputy Spokesperson, been the one to speak at the State Department Brieifngs this past month instead of Ms. Nuland, the Spokesperson?
10 May 2013
Speakers
FrontPage Mag has a video in which the Glazov Gang discusses Pamela Geller being banned to speak in a synagogue in Canada while convicted highjacker Leila Khaled can speak via Skype at the University of British Columbia.
Prior to Ms. Khaled's speech, the Globe and Mail reported the following.
A Jewish advocacy group has called on the University of British Columbia to prevent a controversial figure from speaking at a conference devoted to Palestinian issues, saying Leila Khaled’s past should preclude her from having any public platform in Canada.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bnai-brith-slams-controversial-ubc-talk-by-leila-khaled/article11647700/
In response, Omar Shaban called Bnai Brith's statement offensive.
However, I do want to point out to the fact that this statement is offensive to the UBC community. It assumes that students at UBC are not capable of critical thinking, assessing Khaled's speech and making informed judgements.
TheBlaze reports, "The Internal Revenue Service is apologizing for inappropriately flagging conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status."
Read more: http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3273796770070251781#editor/target=post;postID=2961620310238192383
Prior to Ms. Khaled's speech, the Globe and Mail reported the following.
A Jewish advocacy group has called on the University of British Columbia to prevent a controversial figure from speaking at a conference devoted to Palestinian issues, saying Leila Khaled’s past should preclude her from having any public platform in Canada.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bnai-brith-slams-controversial-ubc-talk-by-leila-khaled/article11647700/
In response, Omar Shaban called Bnai Brith's statement offensive.
However, I do want to point out to the fact that this statement is offensive to the UBC community. It assumes that students at UBC are not capable of critical thinking, assessing Khaled's speech and making informed judgements.
TheBlaze reports, "The Internal Revenue Service is apologizing for inappropriately flagging conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status."
Read more: http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3273796770070251781#editor/target=post;postID=2961620310238192383
The third month and the first Commandment
"In the third month after the Exodus of the Jewish People from Egypt, on that very day, they came to the Desert of Sinai" (Shemot 19:1)
Jewish Tradition says that "that very day" refers to Rosh Chodesh Sivan. About that day it is written, "And the People of Israel encamped there, opposite the Mountain." The verb written in Hebrew for "encamped" is "vayichan," a singular, rather than plural, form. This is to indicate that the acceptance of the Torah by the Jewish People was as if with a single mind, and a single heart. This was necessary because the Torah was like a marriage contract between G-d and Israel and, as such, there was no room for any hesitation or disloyalty between the parties.
Read more: http://www.ou.org/chagim/roshchodesh/sivan/rchsivan.htm
by Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple
The first of the Ten Commandments doesn’t seem to be commanding anything. It is a statement, “I am the Lord your God”.
One explanation is that the Decalogue is – as the Hebrew aseret hadib’rot makes clear – ten statements or principles, not necessarily ten commands. If, however, the ten are counted as mitzvot there still is a way of understanding Number 1 as a command – “I am to be the Lord your God”.
The true significance of that interpretation is suggested by a Chassidic saying in the name of the Rabbi of Kovrin. He looks at the words of Moses in Deut. 5:5, “I stood between the Lord and you at that time”, referring to the people’s reluctance to hear the voice of God, and their clamour for Moses, not God, to speak to them.
Says the Rabbi of Kovrin, what often stands between God and us is the “I”, the anochi, the human ego. When we boast and say, “I am great, I am powerful, I am clever”, we are posing one “I” against another. We can’t both be “I”. The Decalogue says, “The Divine ‘I’ must be your God, not the human one…”
http://www.oztorah.com/2013/05/the-first-commandment/
Jewish Tradition says that "that very day" refers to Rosh Chodesh Sivan. About that day it is written, "And the People of Israel encamped there, opposite the Mountain." The verb written in Hebrew for "encamped" is "vayichan," a singular, rather than plural, form. This is to indicate that the acceptance of the Torah by the Jewish People was as if with a single mind, and a single heart. This was necessary because the Torah was like a marriage contract between G-d and Israel and, as such, there was no room for any hesitation or disloyalty between the parties.
Read more: http://www.ou.org/chagim/roshchodesh/sivan/rchsivan.htm
by Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple
The first of the Ten Commandments doesn’t seem to be commanding anything. It is a statement, “I am the Lord your God”.
One explanation is that the Decalogue is – as the Hebrew aseret hadib’rot makes clear – ten statements or principles, not necessarily ten commands. If, however, the ten are counted as mitzvot there still is a way of understanding Number 1 as a command – “I am to be the Lord your God”.
The true significance of that interpretation is suggested by a Chassidic saying in the name of the Rabbi of Kovrin. He looks at the words of Moses in Deut. 5:5, “I stood between the Lord and you at that time”, referring to the people’s reluctance to hear the voice of God, and their clamour for Moses, not God, to speak to them.
Says the Rabbi of Kovrin, what often stands between God and us is the “I”, the anochi, the human ego. When we boast and say, “I am great, I am powerful, I am clever”, we are posing one “I” against another. We can’t both be “I”. The Decalogue says, “The Divine ‘I’ must be your God, not the human one…”
http://www.oztorah.com/2013/05/the-first-commandment/
About prayer
ChabadCrownHeightsInfo has pictures of AvnerNetanyahu, the son of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, donning tefillin while praying in China.
Chadrei Charedim writes about Jerusalem seminary students who should make a kiddush Hashem by praying at the Kotel tomorrow.
Rochel Sylvetsky writes about her grandson's bar mitzvah which is scheduled to take place at the Western Wall on Friday.
Tomorrow, please G-d, my grandson is to don his tefillin for the first time at the Kotel. He doesn't know how to provoke his parents, let alone other worshipers. The "Women of the Wall" will do their best to ruin our joyous occasion - we have already been told that we will have to walk from Jaffa Gate, limiting the guests to those capable of that, and that the yeshiva we were supposed to have our breakfast in will be impossible to reach - and that made me think of how many happy family occasions the WoW have already managed to disrupt.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/13274#.UYwvKCz8Lcc
Below is a comment posted in response to a woman who wrote an article at the Huffington Post who calls members of Women of the Wall "discrimination-fighting superheroes with the guts to stand up for the human right to pray."
"Last year as I walked to the Kotel on Erev Yom Kippur, I jumped up and down with excitement at the thought of praying in one of the most holy places."
Why don't you go to try and pray in the holiest place? Oh that's right you are not allowed to and neither does any other Jew male or female.
Chadrei Charedim writes about Jerusalem seminary students who should make a kiddush Hashem by praying at the Kotel tomorrow.
Rochel Sylvetsky writes about her grandson's bar mitzvah which is scheduled to take place at the Western Wall on Friday.
Tomorrow, please G-d, my grandson is to don his tefillin for the first time at the Kotel. He doesn't know how to provoke his parents, let alone other worshipers. The "Women of the Wall" will do their best to ruin our joyous occasion - we have already been told that we will have to walk from Jaffa Gate, limiting the guests to those capable of that, and that the yeshiva we were supposed to have our breakfast in will be impossible to reach - and that made me think of how many happy family occasions the WoW have already managed to disrupt.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/13274#.UYwvKCz8Lcc
Below is a comment posted in response to a woman who wrote an article at the Huffington Post who calls members of Women of the Wall "discrimination-fighting superheroes with the guts to stand up for the human right to pray."
"Last year as I walked to the Kotel on Erev Yom Kippur, I jumped up and down with excitement at the thought of praying in one of the most holy places."
Why don't you go to try and pray in the holiest place? Oh that's right you are not allowed to and neither does any other Jew male or female.
9 May 2013
A storm of criticism
A female lawyer who blurted out: 'I cannot stand Jewish people' during an office rant has been left with a huge legal bill after a discrimination case was brought against her by a former colleague.
Danielle Morris, 34, was subject of a three-and-a-half year investigation in front of two legal tribunals and almost lost her career after she made the remark during an office conversation.
The mother-of-two complained a Jewish man had jumped the queue at a medical centre while she was waiting to take one of her children to see a doctor.
Later she relayed the incident in the presence of a Jewish cashier at her law practice in Rossendale, Lancashire.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2321362/I-stand-Jewish-people-Lawyer-loses-career-office-rant-queue-jumping-man-medical-centre.html#ixzz2Snrh7Qnv
Last night I attended a lecture in which the rabbi spoke about the Ten Commandments. He explained that the third commandment about taking G-d's name in vain included making a chilul Hashem, a desecration of His name.
When someone double parks, cuts in line or jaywalks, people are upset but take it in stride. When a Jewish person commits the same act, people generalize about all Jews. So, before one commits a questionable or controversial action, one should bear in mind the chilul Hashem it can cause.
Speaking about controversial actions, the Dail Mail reports the following:
A German opera has been cancelled amid a storm of criticism after it featured performers dressed in Nazi uniform, a Jewish family being massacred and a brutal rape scene.
Members of the audience began walking out of Burkhard C. Kosminski's interpretation of Wagner's classic 'Tannhaeuser' after only 30 minutes and some required medical attention for 'psychological trauma'.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2321890/German-opera-cancelled-featuring-performers-Nazi-uniform-Jewish-family-massacred.html#ixzz2SntInVqZ
Finally, just a reminder for those who wish to say Tefilat Ha Shela today, click here.
Danielle Morris, 34, was subject of a three-and-a-half year investigation in front of two legal tribunals and almost lost her career after she made the remark during an office conversation.
The mother-of-two complained a Jewish man had jumped the queue at a medical centre while she was waiting to take one of her children to see a doctor.
Later she relayed the incident in the presence of a Jewish cashier at her law practice in Rossendale, Lancashire.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2321362/I-stand-Jewish-people-Lawyer-loses-career-office-rant-queue-jumping-man-medical-centre.html#ixzz2Snrh7Qnv
Last night I attended a lecture in which the rabbi spoke about the Ten Commandments. He explained that the third commandment about taking G-d's name in vain included making a chilul Hashem, a desecration of His name.
When someone double parks, cuts in line or jaywalks, people are upset but take it in stride. When a Jewish person commits the same act, people generalize about all Jews. So, before one commits a questionable or controversial action, one should bear in mind the chilul Hashem it can cause.
Speaking about controversial actions, the Dail Mail reports the following:
A German opera has been cancelled amid a storm of criticism after it featured performers dressed in Nazi uniform, a Jewish family being massacred and a brutal rape scene.
Members of the audience began walking out of Burkhard C. Kosminski's interpretation of Wagner's classic 'Tannhaeuser' after only 30 minutes and some required medical attention for 'psychological trauma'.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2321890/German-opera-cancelled-featuring-performers-Nazi-uniform-Jewish-family-massacred.html#ixzz2SntInVqZ
Finally, just a reminder for those who wish to say Tefilat Ha Shela today, click here.
Prayer on behalf of children
It is customary to recite the prayer composed by the SheLah Hakadosh for parents to say on behalf of their offspring on Erev Rosh Chodesh. The SheLah Hakadosh said the optimal time for parents to recite this prayer is Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan (today) for that is the month when Hashem gave us the Torah, and when the Jewish people began to be called His children.
Click here to say the prayer.
For a brief biography of the SheLah Hakadosh, click here.
Click here to say the prayer.
For a brief biography of the SheLah Hakadosh, click here.
A judge's ruling, a heroine and a moderate
A judge ruled Wednesday that cheerleaders at a Southeast Texas high school can display banners emblazoned with Bible verses at football games.
...School district officials had barred the cheerleaders from displaying banners with religious messages such as, "If God is for us, who can be against us," after the Freedom From Religion Foundation complained.
Read more: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/08/18128914-cheerleaders-can-quote-scripture-on-banners-judge-rules?lite
Charles Jacobs, President of Americans for Peace and Tolerance, calls Pamela Geller a Jewish heroine.
...School district officials had barred the cheerleaders from displaying banners with religious messages such as, "If God is for us, who can be against us," after the Freedom From Religion Foundation complained.
Read more: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/08/18128914-cheerleaders-can-quote-scripture-on-banners-judge-rules?lite
Charles Jacobs, President of Americans for Peace and Tolerance, calls Pamela Geller a Jewish heroine.
I ’ve been thinking about writing this piece for months. I’m not happy with myself for putting it off. When you know you’ll get blasted for doing something that’s right, not everyone rushes immediately to do the right thing. I’m not proud for hesitating.
I should have thrown my public support – for whatever it’s worth – to Pamela Geller a long time ago.
An AP article about Jerusalem mufti Mohammed Hussein, states, "Hussein has been known as a relative moderate."
A Daily Telegraph article describes the man who was called a "relative moderate" by AP.
Sheikh Hussein later caused controversy by defending suicide bombings "as long
as it plays a role in the resistance".
...He also drew criticism in 2011 for reciting an infamous hadith in which the
Prophet Mohammad is quoted as having urged his followers to kill Jews.
Memri.org has a clip of the recital of the hadith by the mufti.
8 May 2013
Reminders
There's a live stream of the Benghazi hearings over here.
Here's a perek Tehillim to say today on the yahrzheit of Shmuel Hanavi as verse 6 specifically mentions Shmuel's name.
There are still a couple of hours left to submit your names and donate to Kupat Hair for the gedolim to recite Tefilas HaShela''h tomorrow on Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan.
Here's a perek Tehillim to say today on the yahrzheit of Shmuel Hanavi as verse 6 specifically mentions Shmuel's name.
There are still a couple of hours left to submit your names and donate to Kupat Hair for the gedolim to recite Tefilas HaShela''h tomorrow on Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan.
The stuff of conflict
Below are some comments posted under an Economist video about Israeli settlers titled Little by little.
What a hypocritical one-sided approach! The report is empty and inadequate, it looks like a propaganda advert, not like a proper journalist work.
Unbelievalbe how mainstream Econonist allows a pure one-sided Palestinian propaganda piece. Why dont they show blood-thristy animal terrorits pieces that are they mainstain of Arab and Palestininan prograpanda? Why dont they show how many Palestinians lie in bed in Hadasahh hospital.
This piece was so blatant (even taking photos from the official palestinian (AFP)press office that at least everyone who now reads anything from "POMEGRANTATE" knows not to even expect a semblence of objective journalism, but instead petrodollar Arab PR.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/05/jewish-settlers-and-palestinians#comments
Of course, there were comments posted containing the opposite view, which reminded me of Avi Shafran's latest article at CrossCurrents regarding people with differing opinions.
It’s a story I tell a lot, since, well, its point comes up a lot. Blessedly, my audience, at least judging from its response, hadn’t heard it before.
The psychiatrist asks the new patient what the problem is. “I’m dead,” he confides earnestly, “but my family won’t believe me.”
The doctor raises an eyebrow, thinks a moment, and asks the patient what he knows about dead people. After listing a few things – they don’t breathe, their hearts don’t beat – the patient adds, “and they don’t bleed very much.” At which point the psychiatrist pulls out a blade and runs it against patient’s arm, which begins to bleed, profusely.
The patient is aghast and puzzled. He looks up from his wound at the slyly smiling doctor and concedes, “I guess I was wrong.”
“Dead people,” he continues, “do bleed.”
I interrupted the laughter with the sobering suggestion that it’s not only the emotionally compromised victims of delusions, however, who see the world through their own particular lenses. Most of us do, at least if we have strong convictions. And the yields of those sometimes very different lenses are the stuff of conflict.
Read more: http://www.cross-currents.com/#ixzz2SgZ9mfII
What a hypocritical one-sided approach! The report is empty and inadequate, it looks like a propaganda advert, not like a proper journalist work.
Unbelievalbe how mainstream Econonist allows a pure one-sided Palestinian propaganda piece. Why dont they show blood-thristy animal terrorits pieces that are they mainstain of Arab and Palestininan prograpanda? Why dont they show how many Palestinians lie in bed in Hadasahh hospital.
This piece was so blatant (even taking photos from the official palestinian (AFP)press office that at least everyone who now reads anything from "POMEGRANTATE" knows not to even expect a semblence of objective journalism, but instead petrodollar Arab PR.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/05/jewish-settlers-and-palestinians#comments
Of course, there were comments posted containing the opposite view, which reminded me of Avi Shafran's latest article at CrossCurrents regarding people with differing opinions.
It’s a story I tell a lot, since, well, its point comes up a lot. Blessedly, my audience, at least judging from its response, hadn’t heard it before.
The psychiatrist asks the new patient what the problem is. “I’m dead,” he confides earnestly, “but my family won’t believe me.”
The doctor raises an eyebrow, thinks a moment, and asks the patient what he knows about dead people. After listing a few things – they don’t breathe, their hearts don’t beat – the patient adds, “and they don’t bleed very much.” At which point the psychiatrist pulls out a blade and runs it against patient’s arm, which begins to bleed, profusely.
The patient is aghast and puzzled. He looks up from his wound at the slyly smiling doctor and concedes, “I guess I was wrong.”
“Dead people,” he continues, “do bleed.”
I interrupted the laughter with the sobering suggestion that it’s not only the emotionally compromised victims of delusions, however, who see the world through their own particular lenses. Most of us do, at least if we have strong convictions. And the yields of those sometimes very different lenses are the stuff of conflict.
Read more: http://www.cross-currents.com/#ixzz2SgZ9mfII
7 May 2013
In the hands of Hashem
The Chofetz Chaim points out that Shevet Benyamin had 35,400 people while Shevet Dan had 62,700 people. Yet Dan had only 1 son while Benyamin had 10 sons. And not only was Chushim the only son of Dan, but he was deaf as well.
If at the beginning of the Galus Mitzrayim, we had tried to predict which of these two Shevatim would be larger a few generations forward, clearly the mathematical projection would have been that Shevet Benyamin would be far more populous than Shevet Dan. This statistical likelihood, of course, never materialized. The Choftez Chaim says that we learn from here that if Hashem wants to bless a person with many descendents, he WILL be blessed with many descendents, even if through natural factors that is unlikely. Conversely, if Hashem feels that a person should not merit many descendents, then it will not happen, even if he has the best situation "on paper".
This lesson applies to everything in life. Sometimes we look at a situation and ask - based on natural projections (derech haTeva) - how will this person earn a living? How will he be able to survive financially? Hashem has many messengers. Shevet Dan and Benyamin are testimony to the fact that Hashem controls the world. He has His own calculations. That which we think will happen, by the natural order of events, is not always what happens. Everything is in the Hands of Hashem. http://www.thejewisheye.com/rev_pbamidb.html
If at the beginning of the Galus Mitzrayim, we had tried to predict which of these two Shevatim would be larger a few generations forward, clearly the mathematical projection would have been that Shevet Benyamin would be far more populous than Shevet Dan. This statistical likelihood, of course, never materialized. The Choftez Chaim says that we learn from here that if Hashem wants to bless a person with many descendents, he WILL be blessed with many descendents, even if through natural factors that is unlikely. Conversely, if Hashem feels that a person should not merit many descendents, then it will not happen, even if he has the best situation "on paper".
This lesson applies to everything in life. Sometimes we look at a situation and ask - based on natural projections (derech haTeva) - how will this person earn a living? How will he be able to survive financially? Hashem has many messengers. Shevet Dan and Benyamin are testimony to the fact that Hashem controls the world. He has His own calculations. That which we think will happen, by the natural order of events, is not always what happens. Everything is in the Hands of Hashem. http://www.thejewisheye.com/rev_pbamidb.html
Message in a box
ChabadCrownHeightsInfo has an article about one rabbi's response to the controversial Berlin exhibit "Jew in a box."
Rabbi Perl has responded by creating his own special ‘message in a box’, to portray some of the deepest aspects of Judaism. The cube box measures 8 ½” wide x 15” high x 9 ½” long and comes complete with a Harvey Magila Dancing Rabbi.
The rabbi takes the show on the road. Providing a fascinating ‘message in the box’ guided by inspiring insights culled from the Talmud, Kabbalah, Shaar HaYichud V’Emunah, many Maamorim & good humor!
“We all really live in a box…” explains Rabbi Perl, “just look around the room you are in…it has 6 sides, the four directions a ceiling and a floor”. “Just as a room provides a space for physical protection and safety, on a deeper conceptual level, we all have our six directions in life.
We create for our self, an enclosed spiritual space, a sanctuary of peace, when we consciously keep in mind, that the six directions in our own inner world, are protected by our own awareness of the six corresponding perpetual mitzvot.”
What are the six perpetual mitzvot? 1) To believe in the existence and providence of G‑d: 2) Not to believe that any other gods exist; 3) To believe in His absolute Oneness; 4) To love G-d; 5) To be in awe of G-d; 6) To shield one’s mind from negative thoughts.
Read more: http://crownheights.info/shlichus/384834/a-controversial-berlin-exhibit-inspires-chabad-shliach/
Below is another Rabbi Perl explaining one of the six perpetual mitzvot - to love G-d.
Rabbi Perl has responded by creating his own special ‘message in a box’, to portray some of the deepest aspects of Judaism. The cube box measures 8 ½” wide x 15” high x 9 ½” long and comes complete with a Harvey Magila Dancing Rabbi.
The rabbi takes the show on the road. Providing a fascinating ‘message in the box’ guided by inspiring insights culled from the Talmud, Kabbalah, Shaar HaYichud V’Emunah, many Maamorim & good humor!
“We all really live in a box…” explains Rabbi Perl, “just look around the room you are in…it has 6 sides, the four directions a ceiling and a floor”. “Just as a room provides a space for physical protection and safety, on a deeper conceptual level, we all have our six directions in life.
We create for our self, an enclosed spiritual space, a sanctuary of peace, when we consciously keep in mind, that the six directions in our own inner world, are protected by our own awareness of the six corresponding perpetual mitzvot.”
What are the six perpetual mitzvot? 1) To believe in the existence and providence of G‑d: 2) Not to believe that any other gods exist; 3) To believe in His absolute Oneness; 4) To love G-d; 5) To be in awe of G-d; 6) To shield one’s mind from negative thoughts.
Read more: http://crownheights.info/shlichus/384834/a-controversial-berlin-exhibit-inspires-chabad-shliach/
Below is another Rabbi Perl explaining one of the six perpetual mitzvot - to love G-d.
6 May 2013
Midbar Sinai
"And Hashem spoke to Moshe in Midbar Sinai". Why was the Torah specifically given in a Midbar? The Meforshim explain, since the Midbar is essentially Hefker (ownerless), no one has any particular claim to it. Hashem was indicating that the Torah belongs equally to everyone .
http://www.shortvort.com/bamidbar-parasha/10620-why-in-midbar-sinai
The World Jewish Congress and anti-Semitism
Below are excerpts from a speech Ronald Lauder presented at the World Jewish Congress.
The rise of anti-Semitic parties in the 1920s and the 1930s led to the darkest chapter of all - the deportation and gassing of more than 400,000 Jewish men, women and children. A staggering one-third of the 1.1 million Jews murdered at Auschwitz were Hungarian.
It is so clear that if these dark forces of anti-Semitism had not been allowed to rise in the 20th century – not just Jews but all Hungarians would have prospered.
This always strikes me as so obvious – when Jews are allowed to live their lives freely and practice their religion, countries always flourish. It is obvious. But all too often, the irrational hatred that is Anti-Semitism defeats common sense.
...Fascism and intolerance always single out the Jews first. But they are never the last victims. All good people suffer. Countries suffer. In the end, this hatred and intolerance only destroys a nation’s hopes, its progress and its future.
http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/13468/speech_by_ronald_s_lauder_at_opening_dinner_of_world_jewish_congress_assembly_in_budapest
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s speech against anti-Semitism at the World Jewish Congress (WJC) in Budapest on Sunday (5 May) failed to impress organisers, as the far-right Jobbik party staged a rally against Jews in the Hungarian capital.
Orban condemned the rise in anti-Semitism in Hungary and in Europe more widely. He called it a danger that “threatens even us Christians” and voiced determination to stamp it out.
Congress organisers said Orban did not confront the true nature of the problem, however
“We regret that Mr Orban did not address any recent anti-Semitic or racist incidents in the country, nor did he provide sufficient reassurance that a clear line has been drawn between his government and the far-right fringe,” the WJC, which represents Jewish communities around the world, said in a statement.
http://euobserver.com/social/120039
The rise of anti-Semitic parties in the 1920s and the 1930s led to the darkest chapter of all - the deportation and gassing of more than 400,000 Jewish men, women and children. A staggering one-third of the 1.1 million Jews murdered at Auschwitz were Hungarian.
It is so clear that if these dark forces of anti-Semitism had not been allowed to rise in the 20th century – not just Jews but all Hungarians would have prospered.
This always strikes me as so obvious – when Jews are allowed to live their lives freely and practice their religion, countries always flourish. It is obvious. But all too often, the irrational hatred that is Anti-Semitism defeats common sense.
...Fascism and intolerance always single out the Jews first. But they are never the last victims. All good people suffer. Countries suffer. In the end, this hatred and intolerance only destroys a nation’s hopes, its progress and its future.
http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/13468/speech_by_ronald_s_lauder_at_opening_dinner_of_world_jewish_congress_assembly_in_budapest
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s speech against anti-Semitism at the World Jewish Congress (WJC) in Budapest on Sunday (5 May) failed to impress organisers, as the far-right Jobbik party staged a rally against Jews in the Hungarian capital.
Orban condemned the rise in anti-Semitism in Hungary and in Europe more widely. He called it a danger that “threatens even us Christians” and voiced determination to stamp it out.
Congress organisers said Orban did not confront the true nature of the problem, however
“We regret that Mr Orban did not address any recent anti-Semitic or racist incidents in the country, nor did he provide sufficient reassurance that a clear line has been drawn between his government and the far-right fringe,” the WJC, which represents Jewish communities around the world, said in a statement.
http://euobserver.com/social/120039
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