Looking at the beginning of Chumash Bamidbar we seem to see a very ideal situation where Am Israel is in the desert learning torah, traveling according to G-d's commandment and all united to do the right thing. It is just after the pssukim of "Vayehi binsoa haaron" that we witness a horrifying downfall. Am yisrael begin to complain, they want more food and in a sudden reaction Moshe tells Hashem that he can not stay as a leader with such a nation.. Moshe does not seem like a teacher that his best student just failed a test but rather as a teacher who already gave up hope. How is it that after such a beautiful beginning of Chumash Bamidbar Moshe acts like Am Yisrael - his students - are so bad. If it only a single downfall, where does this reaction come from?
Read full article: http://www.torahmitzion.org/eng/resources/show.asp?id=695
6 Jun 2012
Proof of identity
Last Thursday an incident occurred in Belgium when a policewoman asked a woman wearing a niqab to produce proof of identity.
"She refused to remove her niqab and was taken to a Molenbeek police station for questioning. At the police station the woman injured a female police officer by head-butting her.
The policewoman had been trying to frisk the woman. She sustained a broken nose and lost two-teeth in the attack. Another policewoman also sustained slight injuries in the attack."
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c1b_1338558242&comments=1
Nieuwsbald.be has reported that the woman has filed a complaint against the police.
http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=DMF20120605_190
GVA.be is reporting that Prime Minister Elio de Rupo wants to ban groups such as Sharia4Beglium.
http://www.gva.be/nieuws/binnenland/aid1185429/ook-di-rupo-wil-sharia4belgium-verbieden.aspx
The Progress Lawyers Network are against a ban of Sharia4Belgium.
"A law that prohibits radical organizations may sooner or later be used against political or trade union opposition."
http://www.gva.be/nieuws/binnenland/aid1185672/progressieve-advocaten-tegen-verbod-sharia4belgium.aspx
Click here to see a disturbing video and article titled "CANADIAN TALK SHOW HOST MICHAEL COREN HOSTS ERICK STAKELBECK: THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD IN THE U.S."
"She refused to remove her niqab and was taken to a Molenbeek police station for questioning. At the police station the woman injured a female police officer by head-butting her.
The policewoman had been trying to frisk the woman. She sustained a broken nose and lost two-teeth in the attack. Another policewoman also sustained slight injuries in the attack."
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c1b_1338558242&comments=1
Nieuwsbald.be has reported that the woman has filed a complaint against the police.
http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=DMF20120605_190
GVA.be is reporting that Prime Minister Elio de Rupo wants to ban groups such as Sharia4Beglium.
http://www.gva.be/nieuws/binnenland/aid1185429/ook-di-rupo-wil-sharia4belgium-verbieden.aspx
The Progress Lawyers Network are against a ban of Sharia4Belgium.
"A law that prohibits radical organizations may sooner or later be used against political or trade union opposition."
http://www.gva.be/nieuws/binnenland/aid1185672/progressieve-advocaten-tegen-verbod-sharia4belgium.aspx
Click here to see a disturbing video and article titled "CANADIAN TALK SHOW HOST MICHAEL COREN HOSTS ERICK STAKELBECK: THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD IN THE U.S."
The primaries
Last night, Breitbart News contributor Rabbi Shmuley Boteach won the Republican primary in New Jersey's 9th congressional district--and his campaign received an additional boost when his most likely opponent, incumbent Democrat Rep. Steve Rothman, lost to Rep. Bill Pascrell, a fellow Democrat incumbent whose supporters include some notoriously anti-Israel members of the local Arab and Muslim communities.
Read full article: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/06/06/Rabbi-Shmuley-Boteach-Has-a-Shot-in-NJ-09-After-Pascrell-Defeats-Rothman-in-Primary
Incidentally, according to this article, Rabbi Boteach is in Israel, attending his sister-in-law's wedding.
Tony Lee writes about Michael Shear, a New York Times' political reporter, in an article titled New York Times Preemptively Spins Wisconsin Recall Results in Obama's Favor.
Shear lists five reasons why national implications should not be taken from Wisconsin’s recall. He and the rest of the mainstream media have begun a wholesale attempt to soft peddle of the national implications of Wisconsin’s recall election even as the Obama campaign has.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/06/05/New-York-Times-Preemptively-Spins-Wisconsin-Recall-Results-In-Obama-s-Favor
Mr. Lee, I think you meant "pedal", not "peddle of".
soft-pedal something to play something down; to de-emphasize something. (Alludes to the soft pedal on the piano, which reduces the volume.) Try to soft-pedal the problems we have with the cooling system. I won't soft-pedal anything. Everyone must know the truth.
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/soft-pedal
Below is a video of an interview with a person who didn't want Governor Scott Walker to win. He claims democracy has died in the U.S. because "we just got outspent." If a liberal camdidate wins an election because he outspends a more conservative one, I don't think the man in the video would have the same complaint. H/T The Blaze
Read full article: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/06/06/Rabbi-Shmuley-Boteach-Has-a-Shot-in-NJ-09-After-Pascrell-Defeats-Rothman-in-Primary
Incidentally, according to this article, Rabbi Boteach is in Israel, attending his sister-in-law's wedding.
Tony Lee writes about Michael Shear, a New York Times' political reporter, in an article titled New York Times Preemptively Spins Wisconsin Recall Results in Obama's Favor.
Shear lists five reasons why national implications should not be taken from Wisconsin’s recall. He and the rest of the mainstream media have begun a wholesale attempt to soft peddle of the national implications of Wisconsin’s recall election even as the Obama campaign has.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/06/05/New-York-Times-Preemptively-Spins-Wisconsin-Recall-Results-In-Obama-s-Favor
Mr. Lee, I think you meant "pedal", not "peddle of".
soft-pedal something to play something down; to de-emphasize something. (Alludes to the soft pedal on the piano, which reduces the volume.) Try to soft-pedal the problems we have with the cooling system. I won't soft-pedal anything. Everyone must know the truth.
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/soft-pedal
Below is a video of an interview with a person who didn't want Governor Scott Walker to win. He claims democracy has died in the U.S. because "we just got outspent." If a liberal camdidate wins an election because he outspends a more conservative one, I don't think the man in the video would have the same complaint. H/T The Blaze
5 Jun 2012
Attacks and responses
Crown Heights Info furnishes new details about the attack in Lyon this past weekend including that one of the victims is scheduled to be married this week.
Three Chabad Rabbinical students were brutally attacked in Lyon, France on Shabbat afternoon, June 3rd, by a large group of Muslims. The victims were returning home from a Shabbat meal with friends, and were passing through a predominantly Muslim neighborhood when they were verbally and physically assaulted.
Mrs. Azulai, a mother of one of the victims, spoke to Lubavitch.com. “At first there were only three thugs who attacked my son and his friends, screaming ‘Dirty Jew’ and spitting at them. Soon they recruited a group of their friends—another 10-- who were waving hammers, iron bars and a knife, and they all began beating the boys up.”
http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=44439
The response to the attack was as follows:
Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Monday condemned a weekend assault on three Jewish youths, as Jewish organisations warned of an increase in anti-Semitic attacks in France.
http://www.heralddeparis.com/france-french-pm-ayrault-condemns-unbearable-attack-on-jewish-youths-near-lyon/178661
The following is an EJPress report from April 2011 about a victim of another attack in France.
As he was walking home from the synagogue late Thursday night, the two aggressors, in their twenties, asked their victim’s name.
After hearing his response, the two told him: "you don’t look to be named Antoine, you look Jewish, you are a Jew."
...A police source quoted by Agence France Presse said "the tone heightened between the three youths. There was an exchange of blows and two youths of North African origin took out a gun ball and possibly a truncheon."
...In a statement, the mayor of Villeurbanne “strongly” condemned "this intolerable act."
http://www.ejpress.org/article/50284
The following are comments made by Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, after the attack on a Jewish school in Toulose.
"Whoever did this is looking to target the Jewish community at its weakest point, its youth, in the hopes of spreading fear throughout the community," Mr Kantor said.
"They will not succeed, the Jews of Europe in general and the Jews of France in particular have a long history of standing firm against hatred and violence," he added.
"I know as a community French Jewry will send a message of strength and resilience in the face of those who wish to terrorise them."
He continued: "The greatest defence against race-based murder is not by creating higher walls and more effective security systems, but by teaching and imparting tolerance in the classrooms."
Read full article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9152992/Toulouse-shooting-Israeli-PM-condemns-despicable-murder-of-Jews.html
Wow! The condemnations and responses really seem to be working in minimizing attacks in France.
Three Chabad Rabbinical students were brutally attacked in Lyon, France on Shabbat afternoon, June 3rd, by a large group of Muslims. The victims were returning home from a Shabbat meal with friends, and were passing through a predominantly Muslim neighborhood when they were verbally and physically assaulted.
Mrs. Azulai, a mother of one of the victims, spoke to Lubavitch.com. “At first there were only three thugs who attacked my son and his friends, screaming ‘Dirty Jew’ and spitting at them. Soon they recruited a group of their friends—another 10-- who were waving hammers, iron bars and a knife, and they all began beating the boys up.”
http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=44439
The response to the attack was as follows:
Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Monday condemned a weekend assault on three Jewish youths, as Jewish organisations warned of an increase in anti-Semitic attacks in France.
http://www.heralddeparis.com/france-french-pm-ayrault-condemns-unbearable-attack-on-jewish-youths-near-lyon/178661
The following is an EJPress report from April 2011 about a victim of another attack in France.
As he was walking home from the synagogue late Thursday night, the two aggressors, in their twenties, asked their victim’s name.
After hearing his response, the two told him: "you don’t look to be named Antoine, you look Jewish, you are a Jew."
...A police source quoted by Agence France Presse said "the tone heightened between the three youths. There was an exchange of blows and two youths of North African origin took out a gun ball and possibly a truncheon."
...In a statement, the mayor of Villeurbanne “strongly” condemned "this intolerable act."
http://www.ejpress.org/article/50284
The following are comments made by Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, after the attack on a Jewish school in Toulose.
"Whoever did this is looking to target the Jewish community at its weakest point, its youth, in the hopes of spreading fear throughout the community," Mr Kantor said.
"They will not succeed, the Jews of Europe in general and the Jews of France in particular have a long history of standing firm against hatred and violence," he added.
"I know as a community French Jewry will send a message of strength and resilience in the face of those who wish to terrorise them."
He continued: "The greatest defence against race-based murder is not by creating higher walls and more effective security systems, but by teaching and imparting tolerance in the classrooms."
Read full article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9152992/Toulouse-shooting-Israeli-PM-condemns-despicable-murder-of-Jews.html
Wow! The condemnations and responses really seem to be working in minimizing attacks in France.
Holocaust education
In 1994, Florida made news as one of the first states to mandate Holocaust education in public schools. Students in kindergarten through 12th grade were required to learn about the systematic destruction of Jews by the Nazis during World War II and the importance of tolerance and diversity in a democratic society.
Eighteen years later, this requirement, despite sincere efforts from teachers and school administrators, suffers from a lack of funding and depends on the largesse of wealthy donors, who are courted at cocktail parties and other elaborate events in an attempt to maintain the program.
Read full article: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-holocaust-video-20120602,0,4559991.story
Maybe this princess will be willing to foot the bill.
Below is an interview from a number of months ago with Samuel Pisar, a Polish-born Holocaust survivor and acclaimed international lawyer, author and human rights activist.
Eighteen years later, this requirement, despite sincere efforts from teachers and school administrators, suffers from a lack of funding and depends on the largesse of wealthy donors, who are courted at cocktail parties and other elaborate events in an attempt to maintain the program.
Read full article: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-holocaust-video-20120602,0,4559991.story
Maybe this princess will be willing to foot the bill.
Below is an interview from a number of months ago with Samuel Pisar, a Polish-born Holocaust survivor and acclaimed international lawyer, author and human rights activist.
4 Jun 2012
The June 5th election
The Algemeiner writes that because "of redistricting, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D, NJ) is running for re-election this coming Tuesday against a fellow Democratic incumbent Congressman." The article also details "his troubling associations with Muslim figures who have espoused fiery anti-Israel rhetoric and turned a blind eye to Hamas sympathizers."
Read full article: http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/06/03/the-friends-of-bill-pascrell/
Former President Bill Clinton has stumped for Bill Pascrell and said he's with him because “I like him and because I worked with him and because I know how effective he is for you.”
Read more: http://www.nj.com/njvoices/index.ssf/2012/06/steve_rothman_bill_pascrell_ge.html
Read full article: http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/06/03/the-friends-of-bill-pascrell/
Former President Bill Clinton has stumped for Bill Pascrell and said he's with him because “I like him and because I worked with him and because I know how effective he is for you.”
Read more: http://www.nj.com/njvoices/index.ssf/2012/06/steve_rothman_bill_pascrell_ge.html
The Hasidic court's leader
Jason Zengerle writes about Peter Beinart in an article titled The Israeli Desert.
In talking to various Jewish journalists about Beinart over the past few months, I heard the words shmegegge and “Sammy Glick,” as well as this joke: “A yeshiva student goes to his rabbi and says, ‘Rabbi, I had a dream last night that I was the leader of a Hasidic court and I had 300 followers.’ The rabbi says, ‘When 300 Hasidim have a dream that you’re their leader, come back and we’ll talk.’
...Beinart and Goldberg’s biggest disagreement on Israel may have to do with how they acquired their understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although Beinart has been to the West Bank on several occasions, he readily concedes that he derives much of his knowledge of the situation there from what he reads....Goldberg, by contrast, has reached most of his conclusions from firsthand observation during his fifteen years reporting from the West Bank and Gaza, and he bridles when, for instance, Beinart argues that Hamas has made certain statements that suggest a greater (albeit insufficient) openness toward accepting a two-state solution. “I’ve spent a lot of time with Hamas over the years, and I feel like I have a better sense of Hamas than Peter does,” he says. “I hereby invite Peter to Gaza with me, and we’ll spend a couple of weeks in the mosques, and then he’ll tell me if he thinks that they’re philo-Semitic or non-anti-Semitic or non-annihilationist in their fundamental outlook.”
Read full article: http://nymag.com/news/features/peter-beinart-2012-6/
And here's an article about a Rav with a number of followers.
In talking to various Jewish journalists about Beinart over the past few months, I heard the words shmegegge and “Sammy Glick,” as well as this joke: “A yeshiva student goes to his rabbi and says, ‘Rabbi, I had a dream last night that I was the leader of a Hasidic court and I had 300 followers.’ The rabbi says, ‘When 300 Hasidim have a dream that you’re their leader, come back and we’ll talk.’
...Beinart and Goldberg’s biggest disagreement on Israel may have to do with how they acquired their understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although Beinart has been to the West Bank on several occasions, he readily concedes that he derives much of his knowledge of the situation there from what he reads....Goldberg, by contrast, has reached most of his conclusions from firsthand observation during his fifteen years reporting from the West Bank and Gaza, and he bridles when, for instance, Beinart argues that Hamas has made certain statements that suggest a greater (albeit insufficient) openness toward accepting a two-state solution. “I’ve spent a lot of time with Hamas over the years, and I feel like I have a better sense of Hamas than Peter does,” he says. “I hereby invite Peter to Gaza with me, and we’ll spend a couple of weeks in the mosques, and then he’ll tell me if he thinks that they’re philo-Semitic or non-anti-Semitic or non-annihilationist in their fundamental outlook.”
Read full article: http://nymag.com/news/features/peter-beinart-2012-6/
And here's an article about a Rav with a number of followers.
Baruch Hashem
A reader writes to Rebbetzin Jungreis about two words - Baruch Hashem.
Dear Rebbetzin Jungreis:
Your articles speak to each and every person and always touch a sensitive chord in the heart. The letter in last week’s column was a case in point. The writer found strength and courage for herself and her ailing mother in your story of the prima ballerina.
The column that spoke to me most powerfully was “Our Calling Card: ‘Baruch Hashem,’ ” in the May 11 issue.
I have been married for thirty years. We have five children, and that is a “Baruch Hashem.” We have never been wealthy but have always been able to make our mortgage on time, pay school tuition, send our children to camp and take a family vacation now and then – and for all that, I can once again say, “Baruch Hashem.”
Read full article: http://www.jewishpress.com/judaism/rebbetzins-viewpointrebbetzin-jungreis/two-magic-words/2012/06/01/
Dear Rebbetzin Jungreis:
Your articles speak to each and every person and always touch a sensitive chord in the heart. The letter in last week’s column was a case in point. The writer found strength and courage for herself and her ailing mother in your story of the prima ballerina.
The column that spoke to me most powerfully was “Our Calling Card: ‘Baruch Hashem,’ ” in the May 11 issue.
I have been married for thirty years. We have five children, and that is a “Baruch Hashem.” We have never been wealthy but have always been able to make our mortgage on time, pay school tuition, send our children to camp and take a family vacation now and then – and for all that, I can once again say, “Baruch Hashem.”
Read full article: http://www.jewishpress.com/judaism/rebbetzins-viewpointrebbetzin-jungreis/two-magic-words/2012/06/01/
Dangerous tampering
Dana Evan Kaplan asks Why Did Facebook King Move Away From Reform Judaism?
So how does a devoted Jewish family attending an exemplary Reform synagogue have a young man come out of that experience with no discernible interest — not even to speak of commitment — to the Judaism with which he had supposedly been raised.
Read more: http://forward.com/articles/157074/losing-zuckerberg/?p=all#ixzz1wl56b7xr
Tzvi Fishman reminds us of a letter by Rabbi Meir Kahane to a Reform Jew.
After all, if Reform Judaism is based on the fact that the Torah is not Divine and can be rejected or changed as we see fit, then surely you can tell your rabbis that the time has come to reject their dangerous tampering with the foundation of Judaism.
Read full article: http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/blogs/felafel-on-rye/letter-to-a-reform-jew/2012/06/01/
So how does a devoted Jewish family attending an exemplary Reform synagogue have a young man come out of that experience with no discernible interest — not even to speak of commitment — to the Judaism with which he had supposedly been raised.
Read more: http://forward.com/articles/157074/losing-zuckerberg/?p=all#ixzz1wl56b7xr
Tzvi Fishman reminds us of a letter by Rabbi Meir Kahane to a Reform Jew.
After all, if Reform Judaism is based on the fact that the Torah is not Divine and can be rejected or changed as we see fit, then surely you can tell your rabbis that the time has come to reject their dangerous tampering with the foundation of Judaism.
Read full article: http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/blogs/felafel-on-rye/letter-to-a-reform-jew/2012/06/01/
3 Jun 2012
Anti-Semitic attack
The Interior Ministry says an attack by 10 assailants on 3 people in southeast France was anti-Semitic, and has called for the assailants to be brought to justice. Two of the victims were hospitalized.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/International/2012/Jun-03/175553-2-jews-injured-in-anti-semitic-attack-in-se-france.ashx#ixzz1wky6s9Xr
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/International/2012/Jun-03/175553-2-jews-injured-in-anti-semitic-attack-in-se-france.ashx#ixzz1wky6s9Xr
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