ChabadCrownHeightsInfo has pictures of AvnerNetanyahu, the son of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, donning tefillin while praying in China.
Chadrei Charedim writes about Jerusalem seminary students who should make a kiddush Hashem by praying at the Kotel tomorrow.
Rochel Sylvetsky writes about her grandson's bar mitzvah which is scheduled to take place at the Western Wall on Friday.
Tomorrow, please G-d, my grandson is to don his tefillin for the first time at the Kotel. He doesn't know how to provoke his parents, let alone other worshipers. The "Women of the Wall" will do their best to ruin our joyous occasion - we have already been told that we will have to walk from Jaffa Gate, limiting the guests to those capable of that, and that the yeshiva we were supposed to have our breakfast in will be impossible to reach - and that made me think of how many happy family occasions the WoW have already managed to disrupt.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/13274#.UYwvKCz8Lcc
Below is a comment posted in response to a woman who wrote an article at the Huffington Post who calls members of Women of the Wall "discrimination-fighting superheroes with the guts to stand up for the human right to pray."
"Last year as I walked to the Kotel on Erev Yom Kippur, I jumped up and down with excitement at the thought of praying in one of the most holy places."
Why don't you go to try and pray in the holiest place? Oh that's right you are not allowed to and neither does any other Jew male or female.
10 May 2013
9 May 2013
A storm of criticism
A female lawyer who blurted out: 'I cannot stand Jewish people' during an office rant has been left with a huge legal bill after a discrimination case was brought against her by a former colleague.
Danielle Morris, 34, was subject of a three-and-a-half year investigation in front of two legal tribunals and almost lost her career after she made the remark during an office conversation.
The mother-of-two complained a Jewish man had jumped the queue at a medical centre while she was waiting to take one of her children to see a doctor.
Later she relayed the incident in the presence of a Jewish cashier at her law practice in Rossendale, Lancashire.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2321362/I-stand-Jewish-people-Lawyer-loses-career-office-rant-queue-jumping-man-medical-centre.html#ixzz2Snrh7Qnv
Last night I attended a lecture in which the rabbi spoke about the Ten Commandments. He explained that the third commandment about taking G-d's name in vain included making a chilul Hashem, a desecration of His name.
When someone double parks, cuts in line or jaywalks, people are upset but take it in stride. When a Jewish person commits the same act, people generalize about all Jews. So, before one commits a questionable or controversial action, one should bear in mind the chilul Hashem it can cause.
Speaking about controversial actions, the Dail Mail reports the following:
A German opera has been cancelled amid a storm of criticism after it featured performers dressed in Nazi uniform, a Jewish family being massacred and a brutal rape scene.
Members of the audience began walking out of Burkhard C. Kosminski's interpretation of Wagner's classic 'Tannhaeuser' after only 30 minutes and some required medical attention for 'psychological trauma'.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2321890/German-opera-cancelled-featuring-performers-Nazi-uniform-Jewish-family-massacred.html#ixzz2SntInVqZ
Finally, just a reminder for those who wish to say Tefilat Ha Shela today, click here.
Danielle Morris, 34, was subject of a three-and-a-half year investigation in front of two legal tribunals and almost lost her career after she made the remark during an office conversation.
The mother-of-two complained a Jewish man had jumped the queue at a medical centre while she was waiting to take one of her children to see a doctor.
Later she relayed the incident in the presence of a Jewish cashier at her law practice in Rossendale, Lancashire.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2321362/I-stand-Jewish-people-Lawyer-loses-career-office-rant-queue-jumping-man-medical-centre.html#ixzz2Snrh7Qnv
Last night I attended a lecture in which the rabbi spoke about the Ten Commandments. He explained that the third commandment about taking G-d's name in vain included making a chilul Hashem, a desecration of His name.
When someone double parks, cuts in line or jaywalks, people are upset but take it in stride. When a Jewish person commits the same act, people generalize about all Jews. So, before one commits a questionable or controversial action, one should bear in mind the chilul Hashem it can cause.
Speaking about controversial actions, the Dail Mail reports the following:
A German opera has been cancelled amid a storm of criticism after it featured performers dressed in Nazi uniform, a Jewish family being massacred and a brutal rape scene.
Members of the audience began walking out of Burkhard C. Kosminski's interpretation of Wagner's classic 'Tannhaeuser' after only 30 minutes and some required medical attention for 'psychological trauma'.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2321890/German-opera-cancelled-featuring-performers-Nazi-uniform-Jewish-family-massacred.html#ixzz2SntInVqZ
Finally, just a reminder for those who wish to say Tefilat Ha Shela today, click here.
Prayer on behalf of children
It is customary to recite the prayer composed by the SheLah Hakadosh for parents to say on behalf of their offspring on Erev Rosh Chodesh. The SheLah Hakadosh said the optimal time for parents to recite this prayer is Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan (today) for that is the month when Hashem gave us the Torah, and when the Jewish people began to be called His children.
Click here to say the prayer.
For a brief biography of the SheLah Hakadosh, click here.
Click here to say the prayer.
For a brief biography of the SheLah Hakadosh, click here.
A judge's ruling, a heroine and a moderate
A judge ruled Wednesday that cheerleaders at a Southeast Texas high school can display banners emblazoned with Bible verses at football games.
...School district officials had barred the cheerleaders from displaying banners with religious messages such as, "If God is for us, who can be against us," after the Freedom From Religion Foundation complained.
Read more: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/08/18128914-cheerleaders-can-quote-scripture-on-banners-judge-rules?lite
Charles Jacobs, President of Americans for Peace and Tolerance, calls Pamela Geller a Jewish heroine.
...School district officials had barred the cheerleaders from displaying banners with religious messages such as, "If God is for us, who can be against us," after the Freedom From Religion Foundation complained.
Read more: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/08/18128914-cheerleaders-can-quote-scripture-on-banners-judge-rules?lite
Charles Jacobs, President of Americans for Peace and Tolerance, calls Pamela Geller a Jewish heroine.
I ’ve been thinking about writing this piece for months. I’m not happy with myself for putting it off. When you know you’ll get blasted for doing something that’s right, not everyone rushes immediately to do the right thing. I’m not proud for hesitating.
I should have thrown my public support – for whatever it’s worth – to Pamela Geller a long time ago.
An AP article about Jerusalem mufti Mohammed Hussein, states, "Hussein has been known as a relative moderate."
A Daily Telegraph article describes the man who was called a "relative moderate" by AP.
Sheikh Hussein later caused controversy by defending suicide bombings "as long
as it plays a role in the resistance".
...He also drew criticism in 2011 for reciting an infamous hadith in which the
Prophet Mohammad is quoted as having urged his followers to kill Jews.
Memri.org has a clip of the recital of the hadith by the mufti.
8 May 2013
Reminders
There's a live stream of the Benghazi hearings over here.
Here's a perek Tehillim to say today on the yahrzheit of Shmuel Hanavi as verse 6 specifically mentions Shmuel's name.
There are still a couple of hours left to submit your names and donate to Kupat Hair for the gedolim to recite Tefilas HaShela''h tomorrow on Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan.
Here's a perek Tehillim to say today on the yahrzheit of Shmuel Hanavi as verse 6 specifically mentions Shmuel's name.
There are still a couple of hours left to submit your names and donate to Kupat Hair for the gedolim to recite Tefilas HaShela''h tomorrow on Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan.
The stuff of conflict
Below are some comments posted under an Economist video about Israeli settlers titled Little by little.
What a hypocritical one-sided approach! The report is empty and inadequate, it looks like a propaganda advert, not like a proper journalist work.
Unbelievalbe how mainstream Econonist allows a pure one-sided Palestinian propaganda piece. Why dont they show blood-thristy animal terrorits pieces that are they mainstain of Arab and Palestininan prograpanda? Why dont they show how many Palestinians lie in bed in Hadasahh hospital.
This piece was so blatant (even taking photos from the official palestinian (AFP)press office that at least everyone who now reads anything from "POMEGRANTATE" knows not to even expect a semblence of objective journalism, but instead petrodollar Arab PR.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/05/jewish-settlers-and-palestinians#comments
Of course, there were comments posted containing the opposite view, which reminded me of Avi Shafran's latest article at CrossCurrents regarding people with differing opinions.
It’s a story I tell a lot, since, well, its point comes up a lot. Blessedly, my audience, at least judging from its response, hadn’t heard it before.
The psychiatrist asks the new patient what the problem is. “I’m dead,” he confides earnestly, “but my family won’t believe me.”
The doctor raises an eyebrow, thinks a moment, and asks the patient what he knows about dead people. After listing a few things – they don’t breathe, their hearts don’t beat – the patient adds, “and they don’t bleed very much.” At which point the psychiatrist pulls out a blade and runs it against patient’s arm, which begins to bleed, profusely.
The patient is aghast and puzzled. He looks up from his wound at the slyly smiling doctor and concedes, “I guess I was wrong.”
“Dead people,” he continues, “do bleed.”
I interrupted the laughter with the sobering suggestion that it’s not only the emotionally compromised victims of delusions, however, who see the world through their own particular lenses. Most of us do, at least if we have strong convictions. And the yields of those sometimes very different lenses are the stuff of conflict.
Read more: http://www.cross-currents.com/#ixzz2SgZ9mfII
What a hypocritical one-sided approach! The report is empty and inadequate, it looks like a propaganda advert, not like a proper journalist work.
Unbelievalbe how mainstream Econonist allows a pure one-sided Palestinian propaganda piece. Why dont they show blood-thristy animal terrorits pieces that are they mainstain of Arab and Palestininan prograpanda? Why dont they show how many Palestinians lie in bed in Hadasahh hospital.
This piece was so blatant (even taking photos from the official palestinian (AFP)press office that at least everyone who now reads anything from "POMEGRANTATE" knows not to even expect a semblence of objective journalism, but instead petrodollar Arab PR.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/05/jewish-settlers-and-palestinians#comments
Of course, there were comments posted containing the opposite view, which reminded me of Avi Shafran's latest article at CrossCurrents regarding people with differing opinions.
It’s a story I tell a lot, since, well, its point comes up a lot. Blessedly, my audience, at least judging from its response, hadn’t heard it before.
The psychiatrist asks the new patient what the problem is. “I’m dead,” he confides earnestly, “but my family won’t believe me.”
The doctor raises an eyebrow, thinks a moment, and asks the patient what he knows about dead people. After listing a few things – they don’t breathe, their hearts don’t beat – the patient adds, “and they don’t bleed very much.” At which point the psychiatrist pulls out a blade and runs it against patient’s arm, which begins to bleed, profusely.
The patient is aghast and puzzled. He looks up from his wound at the slyly smiling doctor and concedes, “I guess I was wrong.”
“Dead people,” he continues, “do bleed.”
I interrupted the laughter with the sobering suggestion that it’s not only the emotionally compromised victims of delusions, however, who see the world through their own particular lenses. Most of us do, at least if we have strong convictions. And the yields of those sometimes very different lenses are the stuff of conflict.
Read more: http://www.cross-currents.com/#ixzz2SgZ9mfII
7 May 2013
In the hands of Hashem
The Chofetz Chaim points out that Shevet Benyamin had 35,400 people while Shevet Dan had 62,700 people. Yet Dan had only 1 son while Benyamin had 10 sons. And not only was Chushim the only son of Dan, but he was deaf as well.
If at the beginning of the Galus Mitzrayim, we had tried to predict which of these two Shevatim would be larger a few generations forward, clearly the mathematical projection would have been that Shevet Benyamin would be far more populous than Shevet Dan. This statistical likelihood, of course, never materialized. The Choftez Chaim says that we learn from here that if Hashem wants to bless a person with many descendents, he WILL be blessed with many descendents, even if through natural factors that is unlikely. Conversely, if Hashem feels that a person should not merit many descendents, then it will not happen, even if he has the best situation "on paper".
This lesson applies to everything in life. Sometimes we look at a situation and ask - based on natural projections (derech haTeva) - how will this person earn a living? How will he be able to survive financially? Hashem has many messengers. Shevet Dan and Benyamin are testimony to the fact that Hashem controls the world. He has His own calculations. That which we think will happen, by the natural order of events, is not always what happens. Everything is in the Hands of Hashem. http://www.thejewisheye.com/rev_pbamidb.html
If at the beginning of the Galus Mitzrayim, we had tried to predict which of these two Shevatim would be larger a few generations forward, clearly the mathematical projection would have been that Shevet Benyamin would be far more populous than Shevet Dan. This statistical likelihood, of course, never materialized. The Choftez Chaim says that we learn from here that if Hashem wants to bless a person with many descendents, he WILL be blessed with many descendents, even if through natural factors that is unlikely. Conversely, if Hashem feels that a person should not merit many descendents, then it will not happen, even if he has the best situation "on paper".
This lesson applies to everything in life. Sometimes we look at a situation and ask - based on natural projections (derech haTeva) - how will this person earn a living? How will he be able to survive financially? Hashem has many messengers. Shevet Dan and Benyamin are testimony to the fact that Hashem controls the world. He has His own calculations. That which we think will happen, by the natural order of events, is not always what happens. Everything is in the Hands of Hashem. http://www.thejewisheye.com/rev_pbamidb.html
Message in a box
ChabadCrownHeightsInfo has an article about one rabbi's response to the controversial Berlin exhibit "Jew in a box."
Rabbi Perl has responded by creating his own special ‘message in a box’, to portray some of the deepest aspects of Judaism. The cube box measures 8 ½” wide x 15” high x 9 ½” long and comes complete with a Harvey Magila Dancing Rabbi.
The rabbi takes the show on the road. Providing a fascinating ‘message in the box’ guided by inspiring insights culled from the Talmud, Kabbalah, Shaar HaYichud V’Emunah, many Maamorim & good humor!
“We all really live in a box…” explains Rabbi Perl, “just look around the room you are in…it has 6 sides, the four directions a ceiling and a floor”. “Just as a room provides a space for physical protection and safety, on a deeper conceptual level, we all have our six directions in life.
We create for our self, an enclosed spiritual space, a sanctuary of peace, when we consciously keep in mind, that the six directions in our own inner world, are protected by our own awareness of the six corresponding perpetual mitzvot.”
What are the six perpetual mitzvot? 1) To believe in the existence and providence of G‑d: 2) Not to believe that any other gods exist; 3) To believe in His absolute Oneness; 4) To love G-d; 5) To be in awe of G-d; 6) To shield one’s mind from negative thoughts.
Read more: http://crownheights.info/shlichus/384834/a-controversial-berlin-exhibit-inspires-chabad-shliach/
Below is another Rabbi Perl explaining one of the six perpetual mitzvot - to love G-d.
Rabbi Perl has responded by creating his own special ‘message in a box’, to portray some of the deepest aspects of Judaism. The cube box measures 8 ½” wide x 15” high x 9 ½” long and comes complete with a Harvey Magila Dancing Rabbi.
The rabbi takes the show on the road. Providing a fascinating ‘message in the box’ guided by inspiring insights culled from the Talmud, Kabbalah, Shaar HaYichud V’Emunah, many Maamorim & good humor!
“We all really live in a box…” explains Rabbi Perl, “just look around the room you are in…it has 6 sides, the four directions a ceiling and a floor”. “Just as a room provides a space for physical protection and safety, on a deeper conceptual level, we all have our six directions in life.
We create for our self, an enclosed spiritual space, a sanctuary of peace, when we consciously keep in mind, that the six directions in our own inner world, are protected by our own awareness of the six corresponding perpetual mitzvot.”
What are the six perpetual mitzvot? 1) To believe in the existence and providence of G‑d: 2) Not to believe that any other gods exist; 3) To believe in His absolute Oneness; 4) To love G-d; 5) To be in awe of G-d; 6) To shield one’s mind from negative thoughts.
Read more: http://crownheights.info/shlichus/384834/a-controversial-berlin-exhibit-inspires-chabad-shliach/
Below is another Rabbi Perl explaining one of the six perpetual mitzvot - to love G-d.
6 May 2013
Midbar Sinai
"And Hashem spoke to Moshe in Midbar Sinai". Why was the Torah specifically given in a Midbar? The Meforshim explain, since the Midbar is essentially Hefker (ownerless), no one has any particular claim to it. Hashem was indicating that the Torah belongs equally to everyone .
http://www.shortvort.com/bamidbar-parasha/10620-why-in-midbar-sinai
The World Jewish Congress and anti-Semitism
Below are excerpts from a speech Ronald Lauder presented at the World Jewish Congress.
The rise of anti-Semitic parties in the 1920s and the 1930s led to the darkest chapter of all - the deportation and gassing of more than 400,000 Jewish men, women and children. A staggering one-third of the 1.1 million Jews murdered at Auschwitz were Hungarian.
It is so clear that if these dark forces of anti-Semitism had not been allowed to rise in the 20th century – not just Jews but all Hungarians would have prospered.
This always strikes me as so obvious – when Jews are allowed to live their lives freely and practice their religion, countries always flourish. It is obvious. But all too often, the irrational hatred that is Anti-Semitism defeats common sense.
...Fascism and intolerance always single out the Jews first. But they are never the last victims. All good people suffer. Countries suffer. In the end, this hatred and intolerance only destroys a nation’s hopes, its progress and its future.
http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/13468/speech_by_ronald_s_lauder_at_opening_dinner_of_world_jewish_congress_assembly_in_budapest
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s speech against anti-Semitism at the World Jewish Congress (WJC) in Budapest on Sunday (5 May) failed to impress organisers, as the far-right Jobbik party staged a rally against Jews in the Hungarian capital.
Orban condemned the rise in anti-Semitism in Hungary and in Europe more widely. He called it a danger that “threatens even us Christians” and voiced determination to stamp it out.
Congress organisers said Orban did not confront the true nature of the problem, however
“We regret that Mr Orban did not address any recent anti-Semitic or racist incidents in the country, nor did he provide sufficient reassurance that a clear line has been drawn between his government and the far-right fringe,” the WJC, which represents Jewish communities around the world, said in a statement.
http://euobserver.com/social/120039
The rise of anti-Semitic parties in the 1920s and the 1930s led to the darkest chapter of all - the deportation and gassing of more than 400,000 Jewish men, women and children. A staggering one-third of the 1.1 million Jews murdered at Auschwitz were Hungarian.
It is so clear that if these dark forces of anti-Semitism had not been allowed to rise in the 20th century – not just Jews but all Hungarians would have prospered.
This always strikes me as so obvious – when Jews are allowed to live their lives freely and practice their religion, countries always flourish. It is obvious. But all too often, the irrational hatred that is Anti-Semitism defeats common sense.
...Fascism and intolerance always single out the Jews first. But they are never the last victims. All good people suffer. Countries suffer. In the end, this hatred and intolerance only destroys a nation’s hopes, its progress and its future.
http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/13468/speech_by_ronald_s_lauder_at_opening_dinner_of_world_jewish_congress_assembly_in_budapest
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s speech against anti-Semitism at the World Jewish Congress (WJC) in Budapest on Sunday (5 May) failed to impress organisers, as the far-right Jobbik party staged a rally against Jews in the Hungarian capital.
Orban condemned the rise in anti-Semitism in Hungary and in Europe more widely. He called it a danger that “threatens even us Christians” and voiced determination to stamp it out.
Congress organisers said Orban did not confront the true nature of the problem, however
“We regret that Mr Orban did not address any recent anti-Semitic or racist incidents in the country, nor did he provide sufficient reassurance that a clear line has been drawn between his government and the far-right fringe,” the WJC, which represents Jewish communities around the world, said in a statement.
http://euobserver.com/social/120039
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