In an article about the Washington National Cathedral's 9/11 program, Richard Weinberg, the Cathedral’s director of communications, said "the Washington National Cathedral serves as the 'spiritual home for the nation.'”
Meanwhile, it has been reported that "a crane used to help repair the main tower of the earthquake-struck Washington National Cathedral, toppled over Wednesday, inflicting fresh damage at the site of the US capital's best-known house of worship.
....The crane was at the cathedral to repair the roof, which had been damaged in last month's earthquake.
...It was not immediately known if the observances would have to find a new venue as a result of the mishap."
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.1ed529f5773eca2a7522d667c5bbf188.5c1&show_article=1
7 Sept 2011
Giving thanks
In keeping with this week's acts of kindness theme of giving thanks, I would like to direct you to a fabulous article by Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz titled Hakaras HaTov—Gratitude at the 5 Towns Jewish Times.
Here is one excerpt which shows the beauty of the Hebrew language.
Rav Hutner points out that the Hebrew word for “thanksgiving” (hoda’ah) is identical to the Hebrew word for “admitting.” This is so because the ability of a person to offer thanks is commensurate with his willingness to admit and acknowledge that he is incomplete and requires the help of others. For a person to say “thank you” he must acknowledge that he needs somebody else. This is why it is so difficult sometimes to thank people; it is difficult for us to acknowledge and admit that we are not complete. The more we are indebted to someone, the more difficult it is to thank that person, because thanking him properly exposes the depth of our own vulnerability.
Here is one excerpt which shows the beauty of the Hebrew language.
Rav Hutner points out that the Hebrew word for “thanksgiving” (hoda’ah) is identical to the Hebrew word for “admitting.” This is so because the ability of a person to offer thanks is commensurate with his willingness to admit and acknowledge that he is incomplete and requires the help of others. For a person to say “thank you” he must acknowledge that he needs somebody else. This is why it is so difficult sometimes to thank people; it is difficult for us to acknowledge and admit that we are not complete. The more we are indebted to someone, the more difficult it is to thank that person, because thanking him properly exposes the depth of our own vulnerability.
6 Sept 2011
Erasing and spying
Our friends at the invaluable Palestinian Media Watch (PMW-Palwatch.org) have been diligently following the latest in the Palestinian policy of historical revisionism: erasing Jewish connection to the Temple Mount -- ginning up energy for the big day at the U.N.
Read full article by Janet Tassel at American Thinker.
The comments posted at the end of the article are quite interesting. Here's one.
"Religious Jews have scratched their heads and asked since 1967: "Can somebody
explain why the Temple Mount is in the custody of Muslims?" "
The Temple was clearly far more appealing in the abstract. It seems to me that too many Jews were afraid of what having a real Temple would mean for them personally and for Israel as a nation. Like maybe that God is real and He means what He says.
I had wanted to post regarding the NYT article discussing Shamai Leibowitz, the convicted spy sentenced to 20 months, but I will refer you to Israel Matzav's post instead.
A NYT article from 2002 provides insight into Mr. Leibowitz who defended Marwan Barghouti. The Palestinian leader "said he supports attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip." So, was it okay to murder members of the Fogel family including a three month old baby girl?
One of Mr. Barghouti's lawyers, Shamai Leibowitz, an Israeli, compared him to Moses. Speaking of Moses, he said, ''According to some lawyers, he should be called a terrorist, but according to Exodus, he is a freedom fighter.'' Mr. Leibowitz argued that Moses killed an Egyptian not because he hated Egyptians but because the man was beating a fellow Jew.
Mr. Barghouti smiled, but Yaakov Shemesh, who lost his brother and pregnant sister-in-law in a bombing in Jerusalem earlier this year, shouted at the lawyer, ''How dare you call yourself a Jew?''
Zvi Garfinkel, the chief judge of the three-judge panel, cut Mr. Leibowitz off, saying, ''You can read me this story on Passover, not here.''
Read full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/04/world/palestinian-urges-defiance-plan-to-grab-arafat-reported.html
My advice to Jonathan Pollard is to compare other terrorist leaders to Moses. Perhaps, then, your sentence will be commuted to time served.
Read full article by Janet Tassel at American Thinker.
The comments posted at the end of the article are quite interesting. Here's one.
"Religious Jews have scratched their heads and asked since 1967: "Can somebody
explain why the Temple Mount is in the custody of Muslims?" "
The Temple was clearly far more appealing in the abstract. It seems to me that too many Jews were afraid of what having a real Temple would mean for them personally and for Israel as a nation. Like maybe that God is real and He means what He says.
I had wanted to post regarding the NYT article discussing Shamai Leibowitz, the convicted spy sentenced to 20 months, but I will refer you to Israel Matzav's post instead.
A NYT article from 2002 provides insight into Mr. Leibowitz who defended Marwan Barghouti. The Palestinian leader "said he supports attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip." So, was it okay to murder members of the Fogel family including a three month old baby girl?
One of Mr. Barghouti's lawyers, Shamai Leibowitz, an Israeli, compared him to Moses. Speaking of Moses, he said, ''According to some lawyers, he should be called a terrorist, but according to Exodus, he is a freedom fighter.'' Mr. Leibowitz argued that Moses killed an Egyptian not because he hated Egyptians but because the man was beating a fellow Jew.
Mr. Barghouti smiled, but Yaakov Shemesh, who lost his brother and pregnant sister-in-law in a bombing in Jerusalem earlier this year, shouted at the lawyer, ''How dare you call yourself a Jew?''
Zvi Garfinkel, the chief judge of the three-judge panel, cut Mr. Leibowitz off, saying, ''You can read me this story on Passover, not here.''
Read full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/04/world/palestinian-urges-defiance-plan-to-grab-arafat-reported.html
My advice to Jonathan Pollard is to compare other terrorist leaders to Moses. Perhaps, then, your sentence will be commuted to time served.
Thank you Toda Rabba
Week 2 of the Five Towns Acts of Kindness initiative focuses on giving thanks. As I read an article that Yoel Zev Goldstein, the young man who was acquitted in Japan, is on his way to Israel, I am sure that many are thankful about his release. Another article in Hebrew about a man who brandished a knife demanding to see a rebbe thankfully ends better than the fatal stabbing incident which occurred recently.
The following are A-OK suggestions for week 2.
GIVE THANKS
1. Let’s remember to say thank you more often. For at least one thank you of the day be specific in your gratitude for the acts that people do for you daily or occasionally with a detailed explanation of why what they did for you was so meaningful. For example, thank you for packing the groceries for me - it was so helpful since my back was hurting me today. Or Thank you for the water- I was so thirsty and my mouth was dry- I really appreciate it. Feel what it would be like to not have this done for you and express it.
2. Let’s speak to people who serve us with a soft tone, respect and gratitude. Paying for a service does not absolve us from good manners or from appreciation. Disappointment in the quality of service should be expressed only in a calm, pleasant, and respectful manner.
3. Go to the fire department, police, Hatzolah, post office, Town Hall, crossing guard, and even the meter maid, and thank them for their service to our community.
4. Make it a point to acknowledge gratitude and focus on the good that someone did for us even if we generally find that person difficult to get along with.
5. Call or write, to express appreciation you have towards your parents, Rabbis and teachers for anything they have done for you in your lifetime.
6. Express gratitude to anyone else that may have had an impact in your life. Call someone who gave you encouragement in the past and express to them how effective their words were to this day. Kind words last forever, use your words to encourage others and to uplift them as you were.
7. When we appreciate who we are, it is easier to appreciate others. List three things you are grateful for and thank Hashem for your unique gifts. Also, at a family meal have each member express one thing they are grateful for that day.
Just to give examples on two points. A cousin of mine got married when she was twenty-one. The day of her wedding, her mother received twenty-one roses from her in gratitude for all the years she had raised her. How many brides would think of thanking their mother on the day the wedding?
When there is a Jewish Holiday and I notice a police presence on the street helping to ensure security, I often walk over to a policeman and thank him for protecting the community.
The following are A-OK suggestions for week 2.
GIVE THANKS
1. Let’s remember to say thank you more often. For at least one thank you of the day be specific in your gratitude for the acts that people do for you daily or occasionally with a detailed explanation of why what they did for you was so meaningful. For example, thank you for packing the groceries for me - it was so helpful since my back was hurting me today. Or Thank you for the water- I was so thirsty and my mouth was dry- I really appreciate it. Feel what it would be like to not have this done for you and express it.
2. Let’s speak to people who serve us with a soft tone, respect and gratitude. Paying for a service does not absolve us from good manners or from appreciation. Disappointment in the quality of service should be expressed only in a calm, pleasant, and respectful manner.
3. Go to the fire department, police, Hatzolah, post office, Town Hall, crossing guard, and even the meter maid, and thank them for their service to our community.
4. Make it a point to acknowledge gratitude and focus on the good that someone did for us even if we generally find that person difficult to get along with.
5. Call or write, to express appreciation you have towards your parents, Rabbis and teachers for anything they have done for you in your lifetime.
6. Express gratitude to anyone else that may have had an impact in your life. Call someone who gave you encouragement in the past and express to them how effective their words were to this day. Kind words last forever, use your words to encourage others and to uplift them as you were.
7. When we appreciate who we are, it is easier to appreciate others. List three things you are grateful for and thank Hashem for your unique gifts. Also, at a family meal have each member express one thing they are grateful for that day.
Just to give examples on two points. A cousin of mine got married when she was twenty-one. The day of her wedding, her mother received twenty-one roses from her in gratitude for all the years she had raised her. How many brides would think of thanking their mother on the day the wedding?
When there is a Jewish Holiday and I notice a police presence on the street helping to ensure security, I often walk over to a policeman and thank him for protecting the community.
5 Sept 2011
Waging war
As this week's parsha begins with the words, "If you go out to war against your enemies," Ynet reports ominous predictions from a senior IDF officer who warns of a 'radical Islamic winter' which may lead to regional war and could prompt the use of WMDs.
And another type of war is being waged against cell phones. Click here to sign up to an initiative to disconnect from your cell phone for at least one hour on Tzom Gedaliah, October 2, 2011.
May we emerge victorious.
And another type of war is being waged against cell phones. Click here to sign up to an initiative to disconnect from your cell phone for at least one hour on Tzom Gedaliah, October 2, 2011.
May we emerge victorious.
Holy Shabbos
רפאני ה' כי נבהלו עצמי, ונפשי נבהלה מאוד. ועתה ה' עד מתי, שובה ה' חלצה נפשי
הושיעני למען חסדך
שבת היא מלזעוק, שבת קודש היא מלזעוק, ורפואה שלימה קרובה לבוא
heal me, Hashem, for my bones are frightened. And my soul is frightened; and now, Hashem, how long? Return, Hashem, deliver my soul; save me for your mercy's sake. (Psalms 6)
Shabbos is forbidden from screaming (crying). A complete cure is close to arrive.
I haven't seen any corroboration to a WND article about the schedule for speakers at the United Nations General Assembly meeting on September 23.
An internal United Nations document containing the upcoming General Assembly's speakers list bestows an unwarranted honor upon Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, while also slighting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
...A rare G.A. address by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been scheduled on the same Friday as Abbas, but as the last speaker at 9:00 p.m. that evening, a time slot that would not only violate Jewish Sabbath laws, but also assure a minimum amount of publicity, since the U.N. is all but abandoned during that hour.
Read more: http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=341593#ixzz1X4S0uMWu
Let's hope that the address will be rescheduled so that no violation of the Jewsih Sabbath should take place by a prime minister representing the Jewish state.
הושיעני למען חסדך
שבת היא מלזעוק, שבת קודש היא מלזעוק, ורפואה שלימה קרובה לבוא
heal me, Hashem, for my bones are frightened. And my soul is frightened; and now, Hashem, how long? Return, Hashem, deliver my soul; save me for your mercy's sake. (Psalms 6)
Shabbos is forbidden from screaming (crying). A complete cure is close to arrive.
I haven't seen any corroboration to a WND article about the schedule for speakers at the United Nations General Assembly meeting on September 23.
An internal United Nations document containing the upcoming General Assembly's speakers list bestows an unwarranted honor upon Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, while also slighting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
...A rare G.A. address by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been scheduled on the same Friday as Abbas, but as the last speaker at 9:00 p.m. that evening, a time slot that would not only violate Jewish Sabbath laws, but also assure a minimum amount of publicity, since the U.N. is all but abandoned during that hour.
Read more: http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=341593#ixzz1X4S0uMWu
Let's hope that the address will be rescheduled so that no violation of the Jewsih Sabbath should take place by a prime minister representing the Jewish state.
4 Sept 2011
Saying thank you
Last week I posted about the Acts of Kindness initiative which focuses on one item per week leading up to Yom Kippur. Last week, the theme was about smiling. This week the theme focuses on saying thank you. Below is a selection of articles and comments dealing with that suggestion.
After a must read by Slovie Jungreis-Wolff titled Abba, where are you?, someone posted this comment.
As someone who lost my father over a year ago, I found this article very, very powerful and meaningful. Thank you.
In Honor of Teachers by Charles M. Blow
So to all of the Mrs. Thomases out there, all the teachers struggling to reach lost children like I was once, I just want to say thank you. You deserve our admiration, not our contempt.
Thank You, America by Nicholas Kristof
Belgassim Ali, a petroleum engineer, told me: “I would thank America for the stance to protect my people.” Without America, he added, “we would not be celebrating. We would be in the cemetery.”
After a must read by Slovie Jungreis-Wolff titled Abba, where are you?, someone posted this comment.
As someone who lost my father over a year ago, I found this article very, very powerful and meaningful. Thank you.
In Honor of Teachers by Charles M. Blow
So to all of the Mrs. Thomases out there, all the teachers struggling to reach lost children like I was once, I just want to say thank you. You deserve our admiration, not our contempt.
Thank You, America by Nicholas Kristof
Belgassim Ali, a petroleum engineer, told me: “I would thank America for the stance to protect my people.” Without America, he added, “we would not be celebrating. We would be in the cemetery.”
Israel singled out
In the September 2nd daily press briefing by the office of the spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the U.N. the following was discussed.
On the Horn of Africa, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says that it is very concerned about the increasingly poor health of Somalis recently arriving in Ethiopia. Nearly one fifth of all children at the Kobe camp are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, while high rates are also being reported at other sites.
One would assume that this would be a major concern for those attending the briefing. However, when the spokesperson asked if anyone had any questions, the first question, as well as the preponderance of questions, related to the Gaza flotilla report.
My first question is that, actually we were told by the Spokesperson’s Office that the Secretary-General was going to have a statement on the flotilla report, and we haven’t heard about the flotilla report. Has the report been submitted to the Secretary-General officially?
Read full briefing and get an idea of how acute malnutrition doesn't disturb the questioners. http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2011/db110902.doc.htm
WND has an article about an attorney who is not assured that an ariline won't discriminate.
The New York Port Authority has been asked to investigate what state and federal anti-discrimination laws might be violated by imposing anti-Jewish Islamic restrictions on passengers boarding flights to Jeddah from the publicly owned JFK Airport.
The request has been brought by a Washington attorney who first raised questions about Delta Air Lines and its new agreement to include Saudi Arabian Airlines in its Sky Team Alliance of airlines.
Read more: http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=339585#ixzz1WyczfDcD
The following is part of a screen from the Delta Airlines website page.
National Israel (IL) /Destination Saudi Arabia (SA)
Saudi Arabia (SA)
Admission and Transit Restrictions:
- The government of Saudi Arabia refuses admission and transit
to nationals of Israel.
On the Horn of Africa, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says that it is very concerned about the increasingly poor health of Somalis recently arriving in Ethiopia. Nearly one fifth of all children at the Kobe camp are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, while high rates are also being reported at other sites.
One would assume that this would be a major concern for those attending the briefing. However, when the spokesperson asked if anyone had any questions, the first question, as well as the preponderance of questions, related to the Gaza flotilla report.
My first question is that, actually we were told by the Spokesperson’s Office that the Secretary-General was going to have a statement on the flotilla report, and we haven’t heard about the flotilla report. Has the report been submitted to the Secretary-General officially?
Read full briefing and get an idea of how acute malnutrition doesn't disturb the questioners. http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2011/db110902.doc.htm
WND has an article about an attorney who is not assured that an ariline won't discriminate.
The New York Port Authority has been asked to investigate what state and federal anti-discrimination laws might be violated by imposing anti-Jewish Islamic restrictions on passengers boarding flights to Jeddah from the publicly owned JFK Airport.
The request has been brought by a Washington attorney who first raised questions about Delta Air Lines and its new agreement to include Saudi Arabian Airlines in its Sky Team Alliance of airlines.
Read more: http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=339585#ixzz1WyczfDcD
The following is part of a screen from the Delta Airlines website page.
National Israel (IL) /Destination Saudi Arabia (SA)
Saudi Arabia (SA)
Admission and Transit Restrictions:
- The government of Saudi Arabia refuses admission and transit
to nationals of Israel.
3 Sept 2011
Ki-Ki-Ki
by Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple
This week and next, the parashah begins Ki – “When”. There is a Ki in the Book of Sh’mot – Ki Tissa. This week’s Ki is Ki Tetzei – “When you go out”. Next week it is Ki Tavo – “When you come in”. Ki Tissa is “When you count” (literally, “When you lift up”).
The three “Keys” may or may not have any intrinsic link, but homiletically we may posit one. In life you have to know when to go out – when to leave your comfort zone, when to venture forward, when to move ahead. It is tempting to say, “I am bored, I am restless, I can’t sit still”, and to get up and move – anywhere, no matter where, so long as you are in action.
The next key is a warning: know where you are headed – not just anywhere, but a destination or at least a general direction. You might not reach the place you planned to get to, but being on the right road and making a degree of progress is important. External events may get in the way and something quite unexpected might frustrate your plans, but even taking these things into consideration a person must have what I have called “a general direction”. You might ask, quite legitimately, how to decide upon a general direction in life, and that is where the third key comes into play. If you “lift up” a set of values so that you know what you believe in and aspire towards, you have a ready-made yardstick and standard. From the Jewish point of view that yardstick and standard is enshrined in the Torah.
http://www.oztorah.com/2009/08/three-keys-ki-tetzei/
This week and next, the parashah begins Ki – “When”. There is a Ki in the Book of Sh’mot – Ki Tissa. This week’s Ki is Ki Tetzei – “When you go out”. Next week it is Ki Tavo – “When you come in”. Ki Tissa is “When you count” (literally, “When you lift up”).
The three “Keys” may or may not have any intrinsic link, but homiletically we may posit one. In life you have to know when to go out – when to leave your comfort zone, when to venture forward, when to move ahead. It is tempting to say, “I am bored, I am restless, I can’t sit still”, and to get up and move – anywhere, no matter where, so long as you are in action.
The next key is a warning: know where you are headed – not just anywhere, but a destination or at least a general direction. You might not reach the place you planned to get to, but being on the right road and making a degree of progress is important. External events may get in the way and something quite unexpected might frustrate your plans, but even taking these things into consideration a person must have what I have called “a general direction”. You might ask, quite legitimately, how to decide upon a general direction in life, and that is where the third key comes into play. If you “lift up” a set of values so that you know what you believe in and aspire towards, you have a ready-made yardstick and standard. From the Jewish point of view that yardstick and standard is enshrined in the Torah.
http://www.oztorah.com/2009/08/three-keys-ki-tetzei/
2 Sept 2011
Three articles
Congratulations to Barry Rubin on being named the Middle East editor for Pajamas Media.
Below is a selection from his newest article titled Reflections on the First Day of School in Israel.
In general, this is the point that the mass media in the West keeps from its readers. In 2011 the situation is not a matter of “right-wing” Israelis wanting to hold onto the West Bank forever (and it was a “right-wing” government that pulled out of the Gaza Strip and removed all of the Jewish settlements there).
It is a knowledge that more concessions will not be met by real peace based on such things as: the withdrawals from southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip; the experience of the 1990s’ peace process with both the Palestinian Authority and Syria; and now the undoing of the Egypt-Israel peace agreement.
Read full article: http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin/2011/09/01/reflections-on-the-first-day-of-school-in-israel/
Below is the beginning of an article by Rabbi Berel Wein.
In spite of all policies, agreements, hopes and wishful thinking, it should be obvious that the Israeli-Arab dispute is nowhere near solution or accommodation. It really is not about borders, land swaps, or even begrudging acceptance of the two-state solution to the dispute. It is something far deeper, religious in nature and hardened over centuries of behavior and custom.
It basically is that the Jew, the dhimmi, the infidel, has no right to rule over territory that was once under Moslem sovereignty and certainly no right to rule over Moslem people themselves.
Read full article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/10565
Finally, an article by Giulio Meotti.
France has banned the "Shoah".
” No more “Holocaust” or “Shoah”, but the more bureaucratic, anonymous “anéantissement”, a French word that merely means annihilation.
The new French rules for the scholastic year of 2011 require the textbooks to avoid the use of any Jewish connotation for the genocide of the Jews.
Read full article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/10566
When someone from the mainstream media publishes these articles or hires the authors to be Middle East editors, I think that will be a sign that Mashiach is coming.
For your listening pleasure, click on the video below to hear the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra uninterrupted.
Below is a selection from his newest article titled Reflections on the First Day of School in Israel.
In general, this is the point that the mass media in the West keeps from its readers. In 2011 the situation is not a matter of “right-wing” Israelis wanting to hold onto the West Bank forever (and it was a “right-wing” government that pulled out of the Gaza Strip and removed all of the Jewish settlements there).
It is a knowledge that more concessions will not be met by real peace based on such things as: the withdrawals from southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip; the experience of the 1990s’ peace process with both the Palestinian Authority and Syria; and now the undoing of the Egypt-Israel peace agreement.
Read full article: http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin/2011/09/01/reflections-on-the-first-day-of-school-in-israel/
Below is the beginning of an article by Rabbi Berel Wein.
In spite of all policies, agreements, hopes and wishful thinking, it should be obvious that the Israeli-Arab dispute is nowhere near solution or accommodation. It really is not about borders, land swaps, or even begrudging acceptance of the two-state solution to the dispute. It is something far deeper, religious in nature and hardened over centuries of behavior and custom.
It basically is that the Jew, the dhimmi, the infidel, has no right to rule over territory that was once under Moslem sovereignty and certainly no right to rule over Moslem people themselves.
Read full article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/10565
Finally, an article by Giulio Meotti.
France has banned the "Shoah".
” No more “Holocaust” or “Shoah”, but the more bureaucratic, anonymous “anéantissement”, a French word that merely means annihilation.
The new French rules for the scholastic year of 2011 require the textbooks to avoid the use of any Jewish connotation for the genocide of the Jews.
Read full article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/10566
When someone from the mainstream media publishes these articles or hires the authors to be Middle East editors, I think that will be a sign that Mashiach is coming.
For your listening pleasure, click on the video below to hear the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra uninterrupted.
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