A peaceful match

Bake Me A Match

Chofetz Chaim: The Value Of Peace

Yesterday I posted a link to an an article at Breitbart about a gorilla which was shot to death to protect the life of a young black boy. The article posted tweets such as, "Killing an endangered gorilla at a zoo for a white boy's safety is white privilege. If the boy was black they would've found a tranquilizer."
The first comment under the article included, "And the boy (named Isaiah) wouldn't have been Jewish would he?"

I wrote that there were some anti-Semitic comments posted below the article and questioned whether Breitbart checked its comments. I got an answer today when I saw that a number of comments were now replaced with, "This comment was deleted."
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/05/30/black-outrage-gorilla-shot-protect-white-privilege-just-one-problem/

Glick: The Old Generals' Old Plan

מ ת ר ח ק י ם / חיים ולדר



'I wanted so badly to be Jewish'

Nassau County Legislators Unanimously Vote to Pass Economic Boycott Against Businesses Engaging in BDS

Lucky to get old

Rivky Berman, 29, OBM

Activist Meir Ettinger to be freed on Wednesday

שר הביטחון הנכנס אביגדור ליברמן, הגיע לכותל המערבי מייד עם השבעתו, וקרא פרקי תהילים

It's incredible how a Breitbart article titled Black Outrage Over Gorilla Shot To Protect ‘White Privilege’. Just One Problem… has generated so many anti-Semitic comments. Does Breitbart check comments before publishing?

The NYPost informs its readers about the tragic death of Jack Jakubek, 22, "a college swimmer from upstate New York [who]drowned during lifeguard tryouts over the weekend." http://nypost.com/2016/05/30/college-swimmer-drowns-during-lifeguard-tryouts/

Ironically, a January Facebook entry of Jack Jakubek (I think it is the same person)linked to an interesting Washington Post article titled We’re lucky if we get to be old, physician and professor believes.

Instead, he sees too many baby boomers clinging to tropes that no longer serve them.

“It’s very American language — ‘You’re as young as you feel, and I feel like I’m 22 years old.’ That’s not good, that’s not right . . . and the reason it’s wrong is it doesn’t allow you to be who you are.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/were-lucky-if-we-get-to-be-old-physician-and-professor-believes/2016/01/23/251ed8b2-b9c2-11e5-829c-26ffb874a18d_story.html

A political rant about in a Facebook post includes the statement, "WE NEED NEW LEADERS WHO ARE NOT AFRAID TO STAND IF FOR TRUTH!"
https://www.facebook.com/AriFuld/posts/10157009503580541

The Blaze reports on a study about morality.

"When it comes to moral truth, just 35 percent of Americans surveyed believe that it is absolute.." http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/05/30/the-end-of-moral-absolutes-as-christian-morality-is-being-ushered-out-new-study-reveals-where-americans-stand-on-ethics/
...it has been taught, R. Judah said: in the generation when the son of David comes,.... God-fearing men despised,.. and truth entirely lacking..."
Sanhedrin 97a

Hearing the voices

Steven Spielberg: I was wrong to think anti-Semitism was fading

I was reading a discussion at the end of an article titled Congresswoman Interrupts Woman Opposing Trans Bathrooms, Screams ‘You’re an ignorant bigot!’ .

One reader commented, "We don't tell schizophrenics that we too hear the voices. We encourage them to seek help."
A commenter responded, "As crazy as things are now, I would not be surprised if Obama issued a directive saying that we have to tell the schizphrenics that we hear the voices too."

The comment about hearing voices reminded me of a hysterical Key and Peele clip in which a patient claims to have different medical problems, in order to get a special presciption from the doctor. Click here to watch.

Success is in the hands of G-d

‘God Put Me in This Seat Next to You’: Dr. Heimlich Saves Choking Woman by Performing Namesake Maneuver

קידוש השם: חרדי הציל חיי נוסע במהלך טיסה

האוטובוס התנגש במשאית, הנוסעים רקדו עם הנהג

Where are my 700 Facebook 'friends' on my birthday? Why life for the 20-something social media generation is lonelier than ever   -  Interesting article, interesting comments posted under the article and photos of the author pictured in "tzniusdig" clothing.

Being pushed out

REVEALED: Malia Bouattia was investigated by NUS for anti-Semitism

Below are two headlines from articles regarding Prime Minister Netanyahu offering Avigdor Lieberman the Defense Ministry. Which one is the one from CNN?
For Netanyahu, a devil's bargain?

Why we should stop worrying and learn to love Israel’s new defence minister

Jewish community claims it is being pushed out of Montreal neighborhood

About time

Parshas BeHar - It’s About Time: For You ...

Cell phone radiation causes cancer in rats, government study finds

Neocon Tribalism vs. Jewish Universalism

Martina Anderson, an Irish member of the European Parliament, said Israeli lobbyists were “all over this place like a rash” during a parliament meeting on Wednesday.
Read more: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/israelis-are-like-a-rash-says-irish-member-of-european-parliament/2016/05/27/

On her Facebook Page, Ms. Anderson links to a video posted by AJ+ titled What happened to the Palestinians? It can be seen on youtube and the AJ+ Facebook page.
The video narrator states that after Israeli Independence, 80% of the Palestinians fled while "the rest stayed behind where they lived withour rights under military rule until they were given Israëli citizenship in 1967."
Correction: Palestinians who stayed behind after the creation of Israel actually received citizenship in 1949, but lived under a separate military law until 1966. We regret that mistake. https://www.facebook.com/ajplusenglish/videos/730476790427164/?pnref=story

The video is on youtube without the correction. What other mistakes were made?

Couldn't the producers of the video do even some basic research such as finding out about "Amin-Salim Jarjora, an Israeli Arab politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Democratic List of Nazareth between 1949 and 1951"?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amin-Salim_Jarjora

Getting what you want

McAuliffe’s 180°: From I never met him to an invite to Hillary’s home

Parshas Behar - Brothers and Others

Famed Hostage Negotiator Reveals How To Get What You Want From People- Including Your Kids!

A Message from the Kalever Rebbe for Lag Ba’omer 5776: Seeking True Wealth – A Lag Ba’omer Lesson

Never too late

It Is Never Too Late

Parashat Behar: Financial Security

Civil rights groups challenge UCI to honor new anti-Semitism policy

"תביעת המיליונים של משפחת קרישבסקי נגד הרוצח מ"בזק

American Airlines waives man's $200 change fee after witty letter

Below is an exchange from the State Department Briefing about Hillary Clinton's email server in which the State Department Spokesperson misspeaks. I thought the job of a spokesperson is to speak, not to misspeak.


MR TONER: I do know there were hack attempts or that – but none of them were successful.

QUESTION: How do you know that none of them were successful?

MR TONER: But I would just have to refer you to the --

QUESTION: How do you know that? Because the report does not say that none of them were successful.

MR TONER: I apologize, actually. I misspoke.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2016/05/257729.htm#ISRAEL

Over the rainbow

State Department sets new single-day record for Syrian refugee approvals

Video: Massive Dangerous Tornado Touches Down In Kansas

Anyone ready to meet the Wizard of Oz?

Facebook Admits Rogue Employees May Have Shown Bias Against Conservatives

Dead voters

High-speed camera captures amazing lightning flash

A friend asked me a couple of weeks ago about my prediction as to who would win the American election. I told her that it depends how many dead voters and 114-year-olds will be participating in the election this year.
Tonight I read an article which begins with the following words:

Hundreds of “dead voters” are casting ballots in Southern California, according to an investigation by KCBS-TV.
Read more: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/05/24/what-voter-fraud-investigation-finds-hundreds-of-dead-voters-are-casting-ballots-in-southern-california-alone/

Maimonides #13 - Resurrection of the Dead

Direct from Sinai

DOJ Investigates McAuliffe Over Donation From Chinese Clinton Foundation Donor

The parsha starts by telling us that Hashem told Moshe on Har Sinai. Then it goes on to talk about Shmita. Rashi asks, “Mah Inyan Shmita Eitzel Har Sinai”; what does Shmita have to do with Har Sinai. He answers that this teaches us just like all the halachos of Shmita with all the details was given on Har Sinai so too were all the mitzvos and their intricate details. The Chasam Sofer asks why did the Torah choose specifically the mitzva of Shmita to teach us this lesson?

He answers that the Torah promises the farmers that even though they will not plant during shmita, Hashem will bless them with such an abundant crop the year before that it will last them for three years until the next crop is ready. This is a mitzva that is obviously given from Sinai directly from Hashem and not invented by man, for who else would dare make such a promise other than Hashem alone. Therefore the Torah tells us, just like Shmita was clearly given over by Hashem on Har Sinai so too were all the other mitzvos.
http://revach.net/parshas-hashavua/quick-vort/Pashas-Behar-Chasam-Sofer-Shmita-Teaches-Us-That-Torah-Comes-From-Sinai/2217


Proof that Labour MP's anti-Israel outburst was anything but a one off: Naz Shah is pictured attending a series of protests against McDonald's and Sainsbury's

14-Year-Old Arrested After Snatching Boys “Yarmulka”

Down the aisle

Jonathan Tobin asks Will the Dem Platform Dump Israel?

Video, Photos: Kretchnif-Sigeter Rebbe Eats Matzah on Pesach Sheini – With Heseibah

After readng an article titled Paralyzed father uses robotic legs to walk daughter down aisle and watching the bride's father take his momentous steps, I do believe that I will say the blesssing of zokeif kefufim with more kavanah tomorrow morning.

Singles Names to Be Read at Ohel

Belgian Minister: Time to ban ritual slaughter

Sanders wins greater say in Democratic platform; names pro-Palestinian activist

The pro- Palestinian activist nominated by Sanders is James Zogby, who wrote, "In a real sense, the plight of Palestinians is to the Arabs, what the Holocaust is to Jews world-wide." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/israel-using-wikileaks-to_b_792009.html

Impartiality

42 Years after Ma'alot Massacre: Letter of 15-Year Old Written Hours Before she was Murdered

Op-Ed Questions Rubashkin Case

Michigan public radio station refuses to air birthday greeting to Israel
The station first said it needed two months notice to broadcast a message, but then rejected the message outright, saying in a letter to the couple: “We have determined that this message would compromise the station’s commitment to impartiality and that it crosses over into advocacy, or could imply advocacy.”
http://www.timesofisrael.com/michigan-public-radio-station-refuses-to-air-birthday-greeting-to-israel/

Group that pushed for Iran nuclear deal gave NPR $100,000 to support reporting
I suppose the donation doesn't influence impartiality.



המיליארדר היהודי הודיע: לא אוריש כסף לילדיי

On Friday, AP revealed that the Ploughshares Fund, a group that the Obama administration aide Ben Rhodes had identified as a key partner in creating a pro-Iran deal "echo chamber," had given over half a million dollars to J-Street:
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.be/2016/05/j-street-officials-met-with-ben-rhodes.html?m=1

David Bedein commented on the above article with a link to an article he wrote in 2012 about Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf’s organization, Breira.

Rabbi Wolf explained that representatives of the US State Department and the Carter Administration approached him, offering logistical support and funding to Breira, to bolster grass roots Jewish support for a Palestinian Arab state.

Rabbi Wolf explained that such a US government initiative convinced him that he should disband Breira.

Rabbi Wolf explained that while he wanted American Jews to support a Palestinian Arab state, he felt that it would be morally wrong to accept financial and logistical support for this effort from the US government.
http://israelbehindthenews.com/why-did-breira-implode-rabbi-arnold-jacob-wolfaes-refusal-to-take-funds-from-a-foreign-government/8204/

A single mitzvah

Zakia Belkhiri’s “Peace Selfies” (and Her Antisemitic Rants)

Anti-Semitic statements of 'joy and peace' selfie star

This Orthodox Jewish Rabbi's Home is Going High-Tech for Shabbos

How corporate America bought Hillary Clinton for $21M

King David Hotel orders Jewish band to remove kippot, tzitzit  

Jewish Woman Forced to Hide From Anti-Israel Activists at UC-Irvine

Caught on Video: FedEx Driver Shoves Yeshiva Bus Driver to Ground

Counting Yovlos

Few Tips For Happiness

The Torah tells us (Behar 25:8) to count the years, then to count each seven years for Shmita, then to multiply it get to forty nine for Yovel. Why all these calculations?

The Dubno Magid explains with a Mashal. There was a poor beggar who spent many years collecting money from door to door. Later in life he managed to escape his plight and become a regular Ba'al HaBayis in a small town. In this town he bragged to the other townspeople how wealthy he was despite being a man of meager means. "Fool!" said one his neighbors to him. "All the years you were a beggar you counted your money in pennies. Even now that you earn a meager living, you are still counting your wealth in pennies and are proud of your thousands upon thousands of pennies. However if you count your money in the larger denominations that normal people use, you have but a few gold coins which does not make you rich."

Our life in this world is fleeting, says the Dubno Magid. We are here today and gone tomorrow. However we mistakenly measure our life in years, days and hours, and we think we've been here forever and will continue to be here for a very long time. Not so says the Torah. Count Shmita and Yovel. You will see from seven years you have one shmitta. You'll only be here for a few shmittos, and probably not even two Yovlos. Think of it that way and you will be less concerned with your temporary dwelling and more concerned with your permanent one. Then, instead of collecting trivial events worth mere pennies, you will instead focus on collecting gold coins in the form mitzvos. Each one is worth not a Shmita or even a Yovel, but an eternity.
http://www.revach.net/parshas-hashavua/mashal/Parshas-Behar-Dubno-Magid-Do-Thousands-Of-Pennies-Make-Us-Rich/3734

רבנים ועסקנים קיימו יחד את המצווה הנדירה

Nefesh HaChaim

Saying no

J-Street received more than half a million dollars to advocate for the Obama administration's controversial nuclear deal with Iran, it has been revealed.
Continue reading: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/212592#.V0DYifmLTIU

A friend gave me a number of Mishpacha magazines from the past year and I perused some of them over Shabbos. An interesting comment written by a reader regarding an article about chinuch and saying "no" caught my attention.

Saying no is what we are placed in the world to do - to set limits on ourselves. Notice there are more negative mtzvis than positive, and that the number of negative mitzvos is 365, suggesting that every day of the year should have a "no." The Hebrew word for no is spelled with a lamed and an alef, which can be an acronym "for G-d." Because a "no" is like a korban, a sacrifice.
Mishpacha Magazine - September 9, 2015.


 

What's the point?

Pesach Sheni - What's the point? is it really helping to bring Mashiach? - Rabbi Alon Anava

Below is a question posed at the State Department Brieifing yesterday.


A group of Belgian parliamentarians want to – they’re gathering support and some sort of signatures to offer the peace prize to a Palestinian political parliamentarian who is in prison, who’s been in prison for a dozen years – Marwan Barghouti. Is that something that you would not look too kindly on, would you support, or anything like this? Or would you rather wait until this comes to light, this issue?

MR KIRBY: I’ve not heard about this particular decision or this group’s desire to nominate this individual. So I think I’m going to refrain from commenting on that until we can get a little bit more information about it. I just have not heard about it, Said.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2016/05/257402.htm#ISRAEL

Torah Wellsprings - Emor 5776

השבת אבידה לארנק המשוררת • קידוש השם בטוויטר

Parashat Emor: Kiddush Hashem and Hilul Hashem

A wonderful run

Reaching Their Hearts

  צפו: ניצול הטביעה מברך 'הגומל' בדמעות

“60 Minutes” correspondent Morley Safer has died at the age of 84, CBS News announced Thursday.

Safer retired just a week ago after 52 years as a reporter, CBS News reported.

“It’s been a wonderful run, but the time has come to say goodbye to all of my friends at CBS and the dozens of people who kept me on the air,”...
Read more: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/60-minutes-correspondent-morley-safer-has-died-2016-05-19

Safer was born to an Austrian-Jewish family in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Anna (née Cohn) and Max Safer, an upholsterer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morley_Safer
Below are two 60 minutes clips which Mr. Safer narrates.

Cell phones and crying babies

Rabbi Moshe Hauer: What on Earth is Holiness?

This week I attended a shiur where a woman brought a baby who started making noises which disrupted the lecture. Instead of taking the child out, she continued to stay at the shiur, oblivious to the disturbance her baby was causing to the speaker and the audience. This morning I was listening to a shiur titled Parashat Emor: A Ben Torah Is A Mench. A few minutes into the shiur, a cell phone rings and the person to whom the phone belonged said "hello" loudly enough for the lecturer to hear. The rabbi giving the shiur, without missing a beat, responded, "hi."
How about we leave cell phones and crying babies outside of the lectures we attend?
 

Brooklyn Heights Shliach Rabbi Aaron Raskin was listed as one of Forward's 32 most inspiring Rabbis of 2016.

Divine Justice and the Mysterious ‘Vov’

The promise

AMAZING: Two Girls Promise to Keep Shabbos after watching Misameach event for Sick Child 
 

Kentucky Bible theme park set to open life-sized replica of Noah’s Ark

This is the Reason You Nixed that Shidduch Idea for Your Son

The testimony

WH Refuses To Let Aide Ben Rhodes Testify To Congress About Lying On Iran Deal

UK Labour Party Suppresses Full Report on Anti-Semitism at Oxford

מפעים: כשילד שפך מים על מחברת של הגר"ח

Testimony to U.S. Congress: Has UNHRC Turned into Frankenstein?

Half a year later

‘Suspicious’ Fire That Killed Jewish Lawyer in Dallas May Have Been Revenge

A funny title for a sedra?!?

Miami boys hand out goodies to Israeli soldiers

"עכשיו אני מבין למה התעקש על חלאק'ה ביום ההולדת"

November 2015 - Rabbi robbed of thousands of dollars in jewels in North Miami

May 2016 - TRAGEDY IN MIAMI: Two Prominent Members Of NY Jewish Community Killed By Rip-Tide

The "accidental" rabbi

Jewish scholar Shakh's study room opens in Moravian town

I accidentally hired an Orthodox rabbi for my father’s funeral — and he was great

A reader comments on an article in the Washington Post titled In their 80s and 90s, three Jewish women finally become bat mitzvahs.

I believe the correct Hebrew plural would be bnot mitzvah -- בנות מצוה -- and not "bat mitvahs" as written in the Post headline to this story.

A guilty conscience

Pensioner with guilty conscience takes out newspaper advert to apologise to Jewish classmate he punched SIXTY years ago

Meet the Catholic grocer who helps Mexican Jews keep kosher

תפילת המופת: 15 אלטעררס מצאו זיווג

A dose of inspiration

This Facebook Employee Was Inspired by a Challah from Chabad to Create Something Amazing

Keeping My Past From My Present

Act of ‘Chesed’ helps struggling University Heights family

A post titled Jewish Actor Michael Douglas and Family Turn Their Celebrity Into Serious Philanthropy caught my eye this morning. While I would have no problems defining Michael's father as Jewish, I don't believe Michael's mother was Jewish, and, as such, according to Orthodox Judaism, he wouldn't be recognized as Jewish. So, either the site which posted the article accepts the definition of the Reform movement as who is Jewish or I am misinformed about the actor's mother's roots.

Tehillim for Rubashkin

Stop giving British aid money to Palestinian terrorists, Jewish community say in new campaign

Rubashkin: Please Say Tehillim

“Smelly Jews” and Harvard

VIDEO: Dr. Wikler: How To Listen Like A Professional Therapist

In the video below, the speaker delivers a Torah thought for Emor, this week's parsha in the diaspora, which was read in Israel this past Shabbos.

Back to life

Palestinian Arab refugees – whose responsibility?

Scientists Seek To Bring Dead Brains Back To Life

I’ve read the missing pages of the 9/11 report — you should be able to, too

איש חיזבאללה שהפך לרב בישראל

Disconnecting

Parshas Kedoshim - How To Change The World

Militairen helpen jongetje met fietspech uit de nood - Click here to see a photo of Belgian soldiers helping a young Jewish boy with a problem he was having with his bicycle.

Second University Leaves UK’s National Student Union After Anti-Israel President Elected

Kedoshim - Chassidus on the Parsha

'We could say sorry for creating Israel' suggests Labour MP as party continues to reel from Livingstone's suspension over his remarks on Hitler

Becoming a Tech-Smart Parent

The Bible contest winner

Bible Contest winner celebrates with Arutz Sheva

Parashat Kedoshim: Modern-Day Idolatry

New Rubashkin Claims Garner Support From Former Attorneys General, Judges

Always listening

Matt Novak writes about listening devices in an article titled The FBI Can Neither Confirm Nor Deny Wiretapping Your Amazon Echo.

We live in a world awash in microphones. They’re in our smartphones, they’re in our computers, and they’re in our TVs. We used to expect that they were only listening when we asked them to listen. But increasingly we’ve invited our internet-connected gadgets to be “always listening.” http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-fbi-can-neither-confirm-nor-deny-wiretapping-your-a-1776092971

How many of us have read the above article and have decided to change the way we speak, knowing what we can say can be eavesdropped by others? How many of us have read Pirkei avot ""Know what is above you — a seeing eye and a listening ear" and have resolved to change the way we speak?

Harvard’s clueless illiberalism

Ellen Futterman offers her best wishes to a Chabad rabbi in an article titled Suffering Seniors; Kudos to Rabbi Novack.

Congrats to Rabbi Hershey Novack, co-director of Chabad on Campus, who is being honored as one of America’s most inspiring rabbis by the Forward, a national Jewish newspaper. His name will be included as part of a larger list published next week by the newspaper, honoring these rabbis for their charismatic leadership within the local Jewish community.
According to the Forward, “In a time of growing secularization and general anxiety about the country’s future, (these) leaders are swimming against that tide and giving their communities a sense of strength and purpose. http://www.stljewishlight.com/news/news_schmooze/article_d5606e1a-1788-11e6-87a0-1782ac322c4e.html

Power Of Prayer: Ragilut InTorah

One nation un indivisible

Video: Clinton Laughs As Supporter Introducing Her Takes “Under God” Out Of Pledge…

In the week that a video is aired of a Hillary Clinton supporter introducing the Presidential candidate by stating, "only Hillary can bring us together as one nation un indivisible with liberty and justice for all," those who read the Torah portion of the week in the diaspora will be reminded numerous times about the word she omitted. Click here and count how many times the phrase, "I am the L-rd your G-d" appears in Parshat Kedoshim.

On the road again

Friends of Chaim Javitz, the bus driver whose bus was torched in Crown Heights, are asking your help to get him on the road again.
Read more: http://www.collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=40468&alias=friends-aid-torched-bus-owner

דוגמא מהגר"ח קנייבסקי: תורה - בלי לפגוע

Elderly terror victims: Arabs refused to help us as we bled

Dept. of Justice Investigating Hillary Email Scandal Gave $75K to Her Campaign

The aspiring mogul

This 14-year-old could become a vending machine mogul

Yartzheit of Reb Shaya Kerestirer - 3 Iyar - Click here to read a story about the Rav.

Differing parshas, headlines and spellings

Below are two headlines regarding the stabbing attack in Germany. Which one gives more of a clue as to the identity of the perpetrator? Which one is the CNN headline? With stabbing attacks in Germany and in Israel, what is next? Outlawing knives and scissors?

Knifeman screaming 'Allahu Akbar' kills one person and leaves three more fighting for life after random attack on passengers at train station in Germany

1 dead, 3 injured in knife attack in German train station

Terrorist stabs two elderly women in Jerusalem

I tried to comment on an article about former President Bill Clinton's "doodles on White House stationary" by sharing a link to a post explaining when to use the word "stationary" and when to use "stationery." My comment wasn't posted and the word "stationary" remains in the article.

Last week, I was asking myself the same question as the person who asked the question below. Note- this week the parsha in Israel is Emor while the parsha in the diaspora is Kedoshim.

The exhibit

The Moshe Muller family fund

Historic Jewish exhibit comes to Chicago’s Daley Center

Former Facebook employee: We suppressed conservative news

Family members

This morning I came across a Facebook posting that a young man who lost his mother shared. It was a photo taken at a beach with the words, "I miss my mother" etched in the sand. It got me thinking. When I wished my mother a "Happy Mother's Day" yesterday, did I stop to appreciate that I have a mother in my life?
Thank you, Hashem, for my mother.

A Daughter’s Death Motivates a Mother to Become a Doctor Late in Life

What to Look for in a President

Your friend's success

Terror victim's husband slams outgoing UN chief Ban Ki-moon

In the video below, the speaker talks about the verse, "You shall love your fellow as yourself" which is found in this week's portion of Parshat Kedoshim, which is read in the diaspora. In Israel, the week's Torah poriton is Emor.

One of the most famous phrases in this week’s Torah reading is (Vayikra 19:18), “You shall love your fellow as yourself.” R’ Moshe ben Nachman z”l (Ramban; Spain and Eretz Yisrael; 1194-1270) writes about this mitzvah:

What the Torah is expressing is the ideal, but a person’s heart is not capable of loving another person as it loves itself. Moreover, Rabbi Akiva taught (Bava Metzia 62a) that saving one’s own life takes precedence over saving another person’s life. [Rabbi Akiva spoke of two people traveling in a desert, one of whom has water and the other doesn’t. If there is only enough water for one to survive, he is not permitted to share, which would not be the case if he had to love the other as much as he loves himself].

Rather, Ramban writes, the mitzvah is to desire your friend’s success as you desire your own.
Continue reading: http://torah.org/torah-portion/hamaayan-5775-achareimos/

Some of you may have purchased tickets for this week's powerball lottery; When you began reading an article about how one person had purchased the winning tocket, your thought might have been, "Well, I don't have to bother checking the numbers because I didn't purchase a ticket." Another person might have said, "I know I didn't win because I checked the numbers but let me see if I conceivably could have picked the winning numbers." I didn't buy a ticket but I did check if I could have come up with those numbers and felt relieved that I wouldn't have picked those numbers.
As more details came out, I read that the winning ticket was purchased in New Jersey. Since I know a number of people living in New Jersey, I thoought that perhaps a Jewish person living in Lakewood had won. What was my initiial reaction when I thought about the possible success of a fellow brother or sister? Would I have been happier if the winning ticket had been purchased in Alaska?
"The mitzvah is to desire your friend’s success as you desire your own."
Did I desire my friend's success as I desire my own?

Rosh Chodesh Iyar - a new month - a new beginning to practice "veahavta lereacha kamocha." It's time to give people the benefit of the doubt, to stop the petty arguments about the yerusha, to contact someone with whom you've had a falling out.
I will try to take concrete steps to fulfill the mitzva, iy"h.

The good Jew

In short, to many on the far left, the only good Jew is a secular left-wing internationalist political activist with no particular interest in the well-being of his fellow Jews.
Read more: https://www.commentarymagazine.com/anti-semitism/obama-jewish-heritage-month/

Pop superstar Katy Perry declared in a recent interview that the whole world needs a weekly day of rest “like Shabbat,” to disconnect from social media.
Read more: http://www.algemeiner.com/2016/05/05/non-jewish-pop-singer-katy-perry-says-she-wishes-there-were-a-weekly-worldwide-shabbat-to-disconnect-from-social-media/# H/T Mr. Cohen

Iyar: A Month of Light

A gutten chodesh.

Acts of Chessed

Rav Vosner's Handicapped Granddaughter and Her Orphan Chosson Need your Help to Get Married

Master Your Life's Mission (1st Key)

7 Keys to Mastering Your Life's Mission, #2: Gevura

Parshas Acharei Mos - The Two Goats - great story about R’ Elchanan Wasserman zt”l at the end of the article.

Climbing higher

INN prefaces an article about the parsha of the week with the following words:

This year the eighth day of Passover, kept only in the Diaspora, fell on the Sabbath, so while Jews in Israel read Parshat Acharei Mot, the Sabbath Torah portion, Jews in the Diaspora were still celebrating Passover and read the Passover holiday reading. The result is that Jews outside Israel are reading Acharei Mot this week, but Jews in Israel are up to the next portion, Parashat Kedoshim. The Jewish people will be literally "on the same page" again once a double parsha reading in the Diaspora balanced by the reading of one parasha in Israel on the same Sabbath lets the Diaspora communities catch up.

Judaism: Parshat Acharei Mot: Israel and morality

Climb a little higher

Survivor and ex-Chief Rabbi Lau gives a powerful talk during the March of the Living ceremony.

Our actions

Parashat Ahareh-Mot: The Impact of Our Actions

Judaism: For the Diaspora: Parshat Acharei Mot, a lesson in contrasts

British dad beaten up 30 times in three years 'for being Jewish' forced to flee home

Why the Left Hates Jews

The truth

Video - Egyptian-German Scholar Hamed Abdel-Samad: Our Hatred of Jews Has Poisoned Us

After watching a video about one of the Presidential candidates, I found myself searching for a NYT article by William Safire written in 1996 in which he writes about lying, which I found over here.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel would say: The world stands on three things: justice, truth, and peace as it says ‘Execute the judgment of truth, justice and peace in your gates’ (Zekharya 8:16).
Continue reading: http://blog.webyeshiva.org/insights-in-pirkei-avot-truth-peace-and-justice/

"פעם אחת שאלתי 'איפה אלוקים?' - וכל חיי התחרטתי על זה"

Four tons

Israeli Authorities Find Four Tons of Rocket-arming Material in Salt Bags Headed to Gaza
Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.717678

Clinton Campaign Made Payments to Hard Drive and Document Destruction Company

שיפור במצבו של פצוע הדקירה אמש - Chadrei Charedim reports that there has been an improvement n the condition of the man who was stabbed yesterday at Jersualem's Lion's Gate. The victim has been assisting people in putting on tefilin and tzitzit at the kotel for the past five years. May Harav Yisrael ben Tirtza merit a complete recovery.

Parshas Acharei Mos: Rav Moshe Feinstein - Life is Not More Important Than Any Mitzva

Below are two headlines reporting on the same incident.

Israeli troops kill Palestinian driver who rammed soldiers in West Bank: army

Three soldiers hurt in West Bank car-ramming attack

Teaching the children

The Importance of Saying Amen

Teach Your Children Well: Unhook Them From Technology

Raffle Winner Gives Away Prize

Enrollment in New York State’s Jewish day schools and yeshivas increased by 4.4 percent last year. Read more: http://www.jewishjournal.com/religion/article/buoyed_by_charedi_growth_jewish_school_enrollment_in_ny_up_by_4.4_percent_i

My hero

Why Rabbi Akiva is My Hero

Analysis: The upside of the British Labor Party’s anti-Semitism furor

Father Asks to Continue Praying for Young Boy Struck by Car in Borough Park

הגר"ח לנין: 'אמת' זה קשה יותר מכל התורה

זריזים מקדימים: צפו בקציר חיטים לפסח הבא

Judicial Watch: Benghazi Documents Point to White House on Misleading Talking Points

Just don't understand

Parents Just Don't Understand

When Things are Going Well

A deadly US air strike in Afghanistan last year that destroyed a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders did not amount to a war crime but was caused by human error, equipment failure and other factors, a U.S. military report released on Friday concluded.
Read more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/US-strike-on-Afghan-hospital-in-2015-not-a-war-crime-Pentagon/articleshow/52060934.cms

Jen Psaki
Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
August 3, 2014
The United States is appalled by today’s disgraceful shelling outside an UNRWA school in Rafah sheltering some 3,000 displaced persons, in which at least ten more Palestinian civilians were tragically killed. The coordinates of the school, like all UN facilities in Gaza, have been repeatedly communicated to the Israeli Defense Forces. We once again stress that Israel must do more to meet its own standards and avoid civilian casualties.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/230160.htm

Different standards?

Under pressure

A View of Israel: The 19th Century

Britain’s Labour launches investigation into party’s anti-Semitism

Jeremy Corbyn under pressure to denounce 'friends' Hamas and Hezbollah

Should I worry about Parnasa? (Livelihood) - Rabbi Alon Anava

The email

The Jewish Community’s Suicidal Tendencies

כך תדעו אם החמץ יוצר לאחר הפסח

Not a single member of the White House press corps is a registered Republican, according to survey results recently published by Politico.
Read more: http://freebeacon.com/issues/no-white-house-reporter-republican/

He Sent an Email to the Ohel

The splitting of the sea

Many recited Shrat Hayam this Pesach and a woman told me it was an auspicious time to daven for a shidduch as finding a mate is "as difficult as splitting of the Red Sea." Click here to read some thoughts regarding the topic including one by Rabbi Frand.

My plea to the left: treat Jews the same way you’d treat any other minority

Why Do We Count the Omer Specifically at Night?