Headlines and signs

I rememember seeing a photo of a protestor at an anti-Israel rally holding up a sign which read "No Juice." At the time, I wasn't sure if he had misspelled the sign deliberately so that  he wouldn't get into trouble for calling for "No Jews" or if he was just plain stupid. (I have been looking for the photo on the internet but haven't come up with it. If anyone finds it, please leave a comment.)

Update: Thanks to 10rainbow who found the sign I was looking for together with some background information over here.

This morning I was reminded of the sign when I opened up the NYPost's home page.  But I suppose I'm just being a bit too sensitive.

A JTA article from 1930 reads:
A sign “No Jews Allowed”, placed on the Troy-Hoosick Falls Road by the proprietor of an automobile service station and refreshment stand, has been ordered removed by Sheriff Herman C. Schneider after he received a formal complaint from Jeseph Hormats, president of the Brotherhood of Beth El Congregation.
Read more: http://www.jta.org/1930/07/07/archive/sheriff-of-troy-orders-no-jews-allowed-sign-removed#ixzz2bAbVdYjH

In a HuffingtonPost article, titled No Dogs and Jews Allowed, Bernie Farber writes:

In cottage country, and even on Toronto's beaches up to the mid 1950s, it was common to see signs that read "No Dogs or Jews Allowed".

 

Defender of Judaism and a non defender of a Jewish State

As peace talks are scheduled to begin in Washington tomorrow evening, the next phase of getting rid of the Jewish state has begun.

CNN's Fareed Zakaria asked Sunday why it was important that Israel be called a Jewish state.
Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2013/07/28/fareed-zakaria-why-does-israel-have-be-called-jewish-state#ixzz2aNCWH4Ce

Rabbi Dr. Jacob Immanuel Schochet, a Chabad scholar and academic, and a preeminent defender of traditional Jewish belief, passed away on Shabbat, the 20th of Av 5773, July 27th 2013, following a long illness. He was 77.
Continue reading: http://crownheights.info/notices/395525/immanuel-schochet-a-scholar-who-defended-judaism-with-passion/

Radio show personality dies at 53

David "Kidd" Kraddick, whose morning radio show aired in nearly 100 cities, has died. He was 53.

He died Saturday in New Orleans at a golf tournament to raise money for his Kidd's Kids Charity, his management company said.

...Last week, Kraddick did a humorous segment on what he'd say to his co-hosts in his "final moments on Earth."

"When I die, you have permission to take a bunch of creepy pictures of my body," Kraddick said. "I want to thank all of you guys for being at my deathbed today. I'm going to miss you so much."

Saturday's golf tournament was for his non-profit Kidd's Kids Charity, which raises money annually to send children with chronic and terminal illnesses -- and their families -- to spend five days at Walt Disney World.
Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/28/showbiz/kidd-kraddick-death/

Breaking barriers

The New York Times has an article about Nelson Mandela serving as an inspiration for Sara Hurwitz, the dean of Yeshivat Maharat.

For Ms. Hurwitz, born and raised in South Africa during the turbulent years of apartheid, Mr. Mandela had long served as the inspiration for her journey to breaking the gender barrier in the Orthodox Jewish rabbinate.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/27/us/a-jewish-pathbreaker-inspired-by-her-countryman-mandela.html?_r=0

Harry Maryles wrote in the Jewish Press, "The truth is that there are Halachic issues with female rabbis."

..."What is gained on some sort of equal rights way is lost by the radical departure from normative Orthodoxy."
http://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/haemtza/the-maharat-wonderful-achievement-bad-idea/2013/05/16/

The Rabbinical Council of America issued a statement about the ordination of women "as clergy" and concluded, "The RCA views this event as a violation of our mesorah (tradition) and regrets that the leadership of the school has chosen a path that contradicts the norms of our community."
http://www.rabbis.org/news/article.cfm?id=105753

Nelson Mandela and Sara Hurwitz?

Bringing the redemption closer

This morning I came across a post from a few years ago in which Dr. Stephen Rabinowitz discusses the word eikev in this week's parsha. Below is an excerpt.

Korban Oni quotes the Gemara Avodah Zara 9a stating that the world was designed to last 6000 years.  The first 2000 were without Torah, the next 2000 were with Torah, and the last 2000 are with Torah and the possibility of the arrival of Moshiach.  The last 2000 years began 172 years (the gematria of eikev) after the destruction of the second Temple.  This tells us that we are in the period in which we will hear the ikveisa d’Mishicha, the footsteps of Moshiach. 

R. Avrohom Chaim of Zlotchov (d. 1816) in his sefer Orach L’Chaim, says the word ‘v’hoyo’ is a loshon of simcha.  Therefore, v’hoyo, there will be a great simcha in shomayim, if eikev, during the ‘ikveisa d’Mishicha,’ when there will be great nisyonos and difficulties being a Jew, tishma’un, Klal Yisroel will heed the Torah and do the mitzvos.
Read more: http://www.gns.org/archives/1963

In response to a question I posted earlier this week about keeping the Sabbath, the Torah thought below provides one answer.

Midrash Rabbah records that, while Moshe lived in Pharaoh's palace as a young man, he convinced Pharaoh that slaves work more efficiently when they are given one day of rest each week. Pharaoh instructed Moshe to implement this idea, and Moshe arranged for Bnei Yisrael to have Shabbat as a day off.

At the end of the parashah we read that Pharaoh decreed (5:9), "Let the work be heavier upon the men and let them engage in it; and let them not pay attention to false words." Midrash Rabbah explains that Bnei Yisrael used to gather on Shabbat to read scrolls that had been passed down from their ancestors, in which it was written that they would be redeemed in the merit of Shabbat observance. Therefore Pharaoh proclaimed: Take away their day of rest so that they will not have time to dream of freedom.
 
R' Moshe Chaim Luzzato z"l (Ramchal; 1707-1747) observes that the yetzer hara uses the same strategy to distract a person from focusing on his task in this world. Man's task is to reflect upon every step he wishes to take and every action he wishes to perform and to ask himself: Will this step or action bring me closer to G-d or will it distance me from G-d? The yetzer hara knows that if man would merely think about his actions, he would certainly begin to regret his deeds, Ramchal writes. To prevent this, the yetzer hara makes sure that we are always busy with all types of activities and tasks that appear to be very pressing. (Mesilat Yesharim ch.2)

In this light, perhaps we can understand why Shabbat observance, in particular, brings the redemption closer, for it gives us the opportunity and the peace of mind to reflect on our purpose in the world and the need to become a nation that merits redemption.
http://www.torah.org/learning/hamaayan/5773/shemos.html?print=1

Europe and the Jews

Ronald Lauder discusses Europe’s New Jewish Question.

In March 1936, Poland’s Sejm (the lower house of parliament) almost succeeded in outlawing shechita (slaughter according to Jewish law). Only the Polish Constitution prevented an outright ban. Had the majority of legislators gotten their way, many of Poland’s 3.2 million Jews would have gone meatless.
A few days ago, the ghosts of the past returned to the Sejm, when deputies rejected a government bill intended to keep religious slaughter legal.
...But was this decision really motivated by concern for animal welfare? ...As The Economist noted succinctly, “Poland is not a country hitherto known for championing animal rights.” Indeed, it is hypocritical that hunting for sport and unsupervised home slaughtering continue to be permitted, whereas shechita, which is carried out by experienced people according to well-established procedures, is not.
Read more at http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/the-threat-to-religious-freedom-in-europe-by-ronald-s--lauder#FuuyyJTS6ZBwyL8u.99

World Jewish Congress Vice-President Boris Fuchsmann, the head of the Jewish Confederation in Ukraine, has said in an interview that anti-Semitism is on the rise in his country also due to cynical political maneuvers. “World history has shown many times that the level of xenophobia and intolerance in any country rises during times of economic crisis. Ukraine is not an exception.
http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/13797/ukrainian_jewish_leader_unfair_politicians_whipping_up_public_opinion_against_jews

Getting married

Before you read this post, you might consider standing while reading it. A Daily Mail reporter lost  weight just by changing her habits and standing up more and she chronicles her activities over here.

As you can see from my bloglist, one of the blogs I follow is IsraelMatzav. Today Carl of IsraelMatzav writes, "Happy Anniversary to the love of my life ad meah v'esrim (until one hundred and twenty). The best move I ever made was marrying you!"

Wishing Carl and his wife many more happy years. It is fortunate that my husband doesn't have a blog because, if he did, oy va voy if he weren't to echo Carl's sentiments when it comes time for my husband and me to celebrate out anniversary.

Couples are getting married and starting work later and there are fewer young grandparents around than in previous years, according to new research.

Couples are getting married and starting work later and there are fewer young grandparents around than in previous years, according to new research.

Four out of five of those over 60 were married before they were 25, compared with one in seven under 30s, a study of 2000 adults for the Co-operative, tracking three generations of people in their 20s, 40s and 60s, found.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/married-life-begins-later-for-couples.21694474

Before marriage, there are shidduchim and the Jewish Press has an article titled Debunking the ‘Age Gap Theory’…Again.


 1) The age gap theory is based on premises that are proven false by actual marriage statistics....
...
EndTheMadness pulls no punches. We give the straight truth about what is wrong and real solutions for how to fix it. There is no gentle way to tell people their values and behaviors are way off. But until more people accept that we have no one to blame for our problems but ourselves, things will only continue to get worse.
http://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/haemtza/debunking-the-age-gap-theory-again/2013/07/24/


Click here to check out EndTheMadness.org.

The train ride

The Washingoton Post has an interesting article titled A Jewish-Hindu connection in which Jeffrey Stanley related an encounter on a train which involved a Lubavitcher named Lev, a secular Jew named Dan and a Hindu.               

 

Lev wanted to know all about Dan’s history as a Jewish man in New York and what led him to fall away. Had he gone to a yeshiva as a child? Yes. In fact, he had been on Long Island that very afternoon visiting a friend. He had taken a wrong train and wound up in the middle of nowhere. When he realized his error he hopped off but had no ready cash to pay for a return ticket. He took to the streets and asked a rabbi parked in front of a yeshiva the way to the nearest ATM. The rabbi instead gave him money to buy a ticket, no questions asked. Dan had refused at first but the rabbi insisted, telling him he could repay the favor by promising to do one mitzvah, or good deed, for some other stranger on the way home.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/wp/2013/07/23/a-jewish-hindu-connection/

I was impressed by the dedication of the rabbi in getting Dan to perform a mitzvah, as well as Lev, who deliberately missed his stop, so that he could assist dan in performing the mitzvah of tefillin.

V-ahavta et Hashem elokecha, bechol levavcha, uv'chol nafshecha uv'chol m'odecha

Forbes defines lashon hara

An article at Forbes describes how the haredim are making inroads at Intel in Israel and how the company takes care to respect tradition.

 Unexpected problems have arisen. Fraenkel says it’s a battle to give the haredim raises, since they are brought up to express modesty at all times. Employee reviews are even more complicated. “They didn’t want to do it,” says an ultra-Orthodox woman named Sari, who has risen to manager level. “There is something in Hebrew called lashon hara–that you cannot talk bad things about another person.”
Continue reading: http://www.forbes.com/sites/richardbehar/2013/07/24/bringing-israels-ultra-orthodox-into-startup-nation/

Speaking about Israel, the JPost reports, "Thirty-two of the 287 major five-year scientific grants by the European Research Council (ERC) to young scientists around the world this year were awarded to Israeli researchers, according to Prof. Shy Arkin, vice president for research and development at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem."
Read more: http://www.jpost.com/Health-and-Science/Israeli-researchers-stand-out-in-competition-for-European-grants-320976

The name David

Last night there was speculation as to the name of the future King of England. A reporter thought that the baby would be named James but someone else thought that the name James is associated with an unsuccessful English king so he wouldn't receive that name.
"If you want a successful king, how about naming him David," I thought to myself.

William and Kate had other ideas as they welcomed George Alexander Louis into the royal household.

This evening I read an article by Dr. David Liepert in which he ended his words about the royal baby with the words, "And perhaps you'll consider naming him David?" So, we agreed on one thing. Dr. Liepert speaks about something that Jews and Jihadists agree upon.

However, one aspect of the conversation came as a surprise to me, because I soon learned that -- according to my Jewish colleagues in the room -- Kate Middleton was Jewish. Apparently there has been a massive worldwide conspiracy to prevent the rest of us from finding out, because of the rampant but little talked about ant-Semitism that our world still suffers from. That meant that Britain would one day have a Jewish King. ...So later on that day I did an online search, whereupon I learned that Kate's Jewishness is quite questionable. ...But I also learned something that truly astounded me: the only other group as adamant as my Jewish colleagues that Britain's one day King will be Jewish -- and that there is a world-wide conspiracy to prevent the rest of us from knowing that -- is the government of Iran, and their various allied and associated jihadists. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-david-liepert/royal-birth-news-flash-je_b_3640775.html

Speaking about the name David, mazal tov to Rav David Lau Shlit"a and Rav Yitzhak Yosef Shlit"a upon being selected as the Chief Rabbis of Israel. I looked to see if Rabbi Glazerson found the names of the rabbis in the Torah codes before the election and found the video below posted last week.