The Belgian National Railway Company SNCB "strongly condemned" an announcement made Thursday in a train over the loudspeaker by an unknown person "Welcome to the train to Auschwitz. The Jews are asked to get off at Buchenwald."
Read full article: http://www.ejpress.org/article/57743
Click here to read corrections and clarifications at the Guardian regarding Israel's capital.
Shirat Devorah posted about instant gratification and self-control.
Here is another thought about physical indulgence.
Finally, I leave you with an acapella video I came across this week.
4 May 2012
Moving videos
IsraelMatzav posted a moving video of a woman who woke up one morning at the age of 24 paralyzed from the chest down due to a stroke in her spinal cord.
Moran Samuel won the gold medal in a rowing competition for the disabled in Italy. Since the organizers didn't have a tape of the Israeli national anthem, she picked up the microphone and sang it herself.
The following advice she gave when she was interviewed is a lesson for all.
"If you look at an obstacle as an obstacle, there's a good chance it will knock you down. If you look at an obstacle as a challenge, then you'll do the maximum to overcome it."
Below is a video of a rally being held on May 3, 2012 in front of the Bolivian Mission in Manhattan for Jacob Ostreicher, a businessman who has been imprisoned in a Bolivian jail for close to a year, without charge.
Moran Samuel won the gold medal in a rowing competition for the disabled in Italy. Since the organizers didn't have a tape of the Israeli national anthem, she picked up the microphone and sang it herself.
The following advice she gave when she was interviewed is a lesson for all.
"If you look at an obstacle as an obstacle, there's a good chance it will knock you down. If you look at an obstacle as a challenge, then you'll do the maximum to overcome it."
Below is a video of a rally being held on May 3, 2012 in front of the Bolivian Mission in Manhattan for Jacob Ostreicher, a businessman who has been imprisoned in a Bolivian jail for close to a year, without charge.
3 May 2012
Prayers and Psalms
I received an email from Kupat Tzidkat Rashbi regarding "Lag B'Omer Wednesday evening, Iyer - May 9 Receive the blessing of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai."
To learn more and donate or to send a free kvitel, click here.
INN has an Op-Ed titled What You CAN do to Help Jonathan Pollard.
So let’s not forget the spiritual side – let’s do acts of chesed, give tzedakah and say Tehillim to merit Jonathan Pollard’s release. The Worldwide Jonathan Pollard Tehillim Chaburah on www.CholimList.org was created to help organize the recitation of all Sefer Tehillim every day until the day that Jonathan Pollard is released, IY’H soon. There are currently Chaburah members from across the world and across the US reciting most of Sefer Tehillim every day. The Worldwide Jonathan Pollard Tehillim Chaburah can be found on www.CholimList.org, a website that organizes cholim lists and tracks cholim status.
Read full article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/11588
To learn more and donate or to send a free kvitel, click here.
INN has an Op-Ed titled What You CAN do to Help Jonathan Pollard.
So let’s not forget the spiritual side – let’s do acts of chesed, give tzedakah and say Tehillim to merit Jonathan Pollard’s release. The Worldwide Jonathan Pollard Tehillim Chaburah on www.CholimList.org was created to help organize the recitation of all Sefer Tehillim every day until the day that Jonathan Pollard is released, IY’H soon. There are currently Chaburah members from across the world and across the US reciting most of Sefer Tehillim every day. The Worldwide Jonathan Pollard Tehillim Chaburah can be found on www.CholimList.org, a website that organizes cholim lists and tracks cholim status.
Read full article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/11588
Presidential proclamations
President Obama has issued a Presidential Proclamation declaring May 3, 2012 to be a National Day of Prayer.
Click here to read full text.
The White House has issued a Presidential Proclamation declaring May to be Jewish American Heritage Month.
Click here to read the full text.
Meanwhile, the Algemeiner discusses the inclusion of Gertrude Stein in the list of those who made contributions to American society.
The American Thinker has a cartoon which pokes fun at the new Presidential campaign slogan, "Forward."
Politico reports on Mitt Romney speaking at a campaign fundraiser.
Speaking of the Obama campaign, he got a laugh with, "Forward is his new slogan, forward what, over the cliff!"
Click here to read full text.
The White House has issued a Presidential Proclamation declaring May to be Jewish American Heritage Month.
Click here to read the full text.
Meanwhile, the Algemeiner discusses the inclusion of Gertrude Stein in the list of those who made contributions to American society.
The American Thinker has a cartoon which pokes fun at the new Presidential campaign slogan, "Forward."
Politico reports on Mitt Romney speaking at a campaign fundraiser.
Speaking of the Obama campaign, he got a laugh with, "Forward is his new slogan, forward what, over the cliff!"
2 May 2012
Spanning the generations
Avi Shafran writes about the close connection between two families which spans four generations. It startes with a visit to a supposedly dying man in Siberia and continues with the great-granddaughters playing together in the neighborhood of Ramapo, New York.
Click here to read Fourth Generation Software.
Jack Cohen writes about a series of lectures being given by Gloria Mound about Marranos.
In one case Gloria found that the first inkling that a family from Brazil was of Jewish origin was that they knew a certain song. It was only after much coaxing that the grandmothers both admitted their Jewish origins. By tracing their families back for 300 years, Gloria was able to confirm their Jewish identity and the granddaughter was accepted as Jewish by the Israeli Rabbinate and was able to marry and live in Israel.
Read full article: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/course-on-the-anusim-marranos/
As coincidence would have it, I had a long conversation with a woman this afternoon who admitted to me that her mother and many other members of the family would light candles Friday night in a hidden place. Because her mother had died at a young age, the woman was unable to ascertain her true lineage and was advised to undergo full conversion, which she did.
Click here to read Fourth Generation Software.
Jack Cohen writes about a series of lectures being given by Gloria Mound about Marranos.
In one case Gloria found that the first inkling that a family from Brazil was of Jewish origin was that they knew a certain song. It was only after much coaxing that the grandmothers both admitted their Jewish origins. By tracing their families back for 300 years, Gloria was able to confirm their Jewish identity and the granddaughter was accepted as Jewish by the Israeli Rabbinate and was able to marry and live in Israel.
Read full article: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/course-on-the-anusim-marranos/
As coincidence would have it, I had a long conversation with a woman this afternoon who admitted to me that her mother and many other members of the family would light candles Friday night in a hidden place. Because her mother had died at a young age, the woman was unable to ascertain her true lineage and was advised to undergo full conversion, which she did.
Commemorating war
The city of Vorden in the Netherlands will commemorate soldiers who died fighting for Nazi Germany as part of its official memorial ceremony.
Read full story: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/05/01/3094396/netherlands-town-to-honor-german-ww-ii-soldiers
This morning I cae across an article titled The Holocaust in Support of Rebellion.
Last night I listened to a video in which Rabbi Lazer Brody spoke to an audience on the eve of commemorating Holocaust day. He spoke about the German leader of yesteryear who made no distinction between various classes of Jews. The rabbi said that we all died together, why can't we all live together? The rabbi's words make for worthwhile listening.
Read full story: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/05/01/3094396/netherlands-town-to-honor-german-ww-ii-soldiers
This morning I cae across an article titled The Holocaust in Support of Rebellion.
Last night I listened to a video in which Rabbi Lazer Brody spoke to an audience on the eve of commemorating Holocaust day. He spoke about the German leader of yesteryear who made no distinction between various classes of Jews. The rabbi said that we all died together, why can't we all live together? The rabbi's words make for worthwhile listening.
1 May 2012
The tweets
President Obama's account had the following tweet: "Last call for Clooney's—today is the last day you can enter to be George's guest when he hosts the President in May:"
The following is an excerpt from an article about Mitt Romney.
It’s not often that Mitt Romney omits from his remarks that he’s running for president, but today the presumptive GOP nominee did just that, secretly dropping by a New Hampshire police station to offer his condolences to a unit grieving over the sudden death of their police chief. “There was no mention of votes, he didn’t talk about any political issues,” said current Police Chief Tara Laurent in an interview with ABC News. “He kept his remarks exclusively to offering condolences to the officers here.”
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/04/mitt-romney-secretly-drops-by-grieving-police-station/
Joel B. Pollak opines about Jewish support for the Presidential candidates.
I'm often asked by fellow conservatives why so many Jews support Barack Obama, given how bad he is for Israel. The answer is that Jews who care most about Israel, and about U.S. security, don't--but also that most Jews don't put those issues first.
Read full article: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2012/05/01/Jews-Who-Put-Security-Israel-First-Want-Romney-Other-Jews-Want-Obama
A punch and a slap
A number of years ago my uncle was walking down one of the neighborhood streets on Friday evening when he was approached by a man brandishing a gun who demanded his wallet. My uncle explained that he was Jewish and did not carry money on the Sabbath. Fortunately, the man did not harm him.
I recalled this incident when I read an article this morning titled Young Bochur Assaulted for Not Having What to Steal. It seems the 15-year-old youth was walking home from shul on Motzaei Shabbat when he was accosted by two men demanding his cell phone. The boy was punched in the face after the would be robbers searched his pockets and came up empty.
Chadrei Charedim has an article about a man who had passed away and appeared to his son in a dream. Years before, the son had been falsely accused by a student in the class of taking his Gemara. The maggid shiur went up to the boy and slapped him, not realizing that the boy had been unjustly accused. The father of the boy related in the dream that a judgment was taking place in the heavens relating to the incident. The boy consulted with Rav Kanievsky. It was ascertained that the teacher was in the hospital and, in the presence of a minyan of men, the son forgave the maggid shiur.
Here's an article titled Bluffton teacher accused of assaulting student, commenting about Nazis, Jews.
I recalled this incident when I read an article this morning titled Young Bochur Assaulted for Not Having What to Steal. It seems the 15-year-old youth was walking home from shul on Motzaei Shabbat when he was accosted by two men demanding his cell phone. The boy was punched in the face after the would be robbers searched his pockets and came up empty.
Chadrei Charedim has an article about a man who had passed away and appeared to his son in a dream. Years before, the son had been falsely accused by a student in the class of taking his Gemara. The maggid shiur went up to the boy and slapped him, not realizing that the boy had been unjustly accused. The father of the boy related in the dream that a judgment was taking place in the heavens relating to the incident. The boy consulted with Rav Kanievsky. It was ascertained that the teacher was in the hospital and, in the presence of a minyan of men, the son forgave the maggid shiur.
Here's an article titled Bluffton teacher accused of assaulting student, commenting about Nazis, Jews.
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