Unwavering commitment

Michael Medved has written an article titled Correcting Mistakes About Hanukkah.


Far from a victory for tolerance, or for the ideals of moral relativism, Hanukkah counts as a commemoration of fervent, unwavering religious commitment and Jewish particularism. It emphasizes the ancient covenant demanding that Jews differentiate themselves from their pagan neighbors – and oppressors. To the frustration of most Jewish Americans (who tilt irrationally but stubbornly to the left), this is a holiday far more in line with underlying messages of today's religious right than the secularist sentiments of the ACLU.
http://www.truthrevolt.org/commentary/medved-correcting-mistakes-about-hannukah


Yesterday's State Department briefing included the following questions.


QUESTION: It’s my understanding – and correct me if I’m wrong – that the Justice Department says that it does not intend to reopen any investigation into the alleged – what was alleged to have happened. And I’m wondering if you – if that’s not wrong, how it is going to be when you call for accountability for rights abuses in other countries, how you’re going to be able to do that without being essentially laughed out of the room?


QUESTION: Yes, very quickly. Today in the West Bank, in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian official Ziad Abu Ein was killed as a result of a scuffle with the occupation army. I wonder if you have a statement on that.


QUESTION: So the claim that you are trying to unseat or helping in the process to unseat Netanyahu is wrong, correct?


QUESTION: That’s what Likud sources – they’re saying that you are rallying, you’re marshaling resources and efforts and so on, basically, to seat someone else other than Netanyahu.
Read the whole transcript: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2014/12/234934.htm

Jewish values

David Benkof has written an interesting article titled Liberal Orthodoxy, Not Jewish Orthodoxy: ‘Repairing The World’ Isn’t In The Torah.

And make no mistake: tikkun olam as it’s used today grew out of recent liberal American politics, and is not a value uniting the Jewish community across space and time. If tikkun olam is for everybody, why are its advocates almost always on the left? Right-of-center Jews like me believe in world-repairing policies just as compatible – if not more so — with Jewish values. http://dailycaller.com/2014/12/10/liberal-orthodoxy-not-jewish-orthodoxy-repairing-the-world-isnt-in-the-torah/

A Jewish MP says he has received death threats because of his religion.

Lee Scott, the Conservative MP for Ilford North, said he has had five death threats in the last year.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-30416704


רעיית הקדוש הי"ד לנשים: 'קצרו את הפאות הארוכות'

Alleviating pain

I went to visit an elderly woman in an old age home yesterday and met a friend who was taking care of a nonagenarian. My friend was complaining of severe back pain and was at her wit's end.
As I was on my way home, I bumped into a woman who was touting the benfits of magnetized water and  therapeutic magnetic jewelry  to alleviate chronic pain. She told me that the people who received the products from her experienced less pain. She added that she prayed for them to get well.
I wanted to blurt out to her, "Okay, how about if I skip the magnetic therapy products and proceed to your praying for me instead?"
Probably the woman's prayer is providing more benefit than the magnetized jewelry.  All I can say is Baruch Hashem that I don't suffer from back pain my friend is experiencing.

In an article titled Twice-Bereaved Mom Refuses Bibi's Offer of Likud MK Spot? Miriam Peretz explains why she turned down Prime Minister Netanyahu's offer to go into politics. She prefers to devote her life to meeting and educating IDF soldiers;


“I need the personal touch, it keeps me alive,” she added. “I will not have that when I am sealed off inside the Knesset. I pray to G-d to give me strength to continue and light the heritage of the fallen – not just of my sons, but of all of the fallen soldiers of this country. They fell so that we can be worthy, so that we build a country that seeks kindness, and that yearns for this peace, already. I am doing it my way.”
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/188469#.VIgZvZVATIU


US comedian Joan Rivers left money in her will for some of her favourite charities, including Guide Dogs for the Blind, Jewish Guild Healthcare and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Read more: http://www.jewishnews.co.uk/joan-rivers-includes-jewish-charities-will-fortune/

One positive thing

Susanne Cervenka writes about being happy and outlines the tips of author Shawn Achor for achieving joy.


• Write down three new things you are grateful for everyday.
• Journal about one positive thing that you have experienced every 24 hours
• Exercise for at least 10 minutes a day, which he says teaches your brain that your behavior matters
• Meditate for at least 10 minutes a day, which will train your brain to focus on one thing
• Send random acts of kindness: write one positive email or note thanking or praising someone in your social support network every day
http://www.app.com/story/life/wellness/2014/12/08/studying-happiness/20090425/

Rabbi Daniel Glatstein talks about giving to others in a short video titled Parashat Vayeshev: The Secret Of How To Live And Really Be Successful

Rabbi Yonoson Roodyn talks about Hilchos Chanukah In 10 Minutes.


Congressman Trey Gowdy questioned Jonathan Gruber about comments he made regarding the stupidity of the American voter. In one instance Professor Gruber responds, "Once again, it is another example of my inexcusable arrogance in trying to insult others to make myself seem smarter."
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/12/video_of_trey_gowdys_questioning_of_jonathan_gruber_today.html


Isn't that what people do when they speak lashon hara? Insulting others to make oneself seem superior to another?

Every day is Thanksgiving

Dr. David Lazerson writes about his Thanksgiving moment. He writes about how how a librarian at the school where he was teaching music whose job it was to "save souls" asked him whether Jews believed in Thanksgiving. One of his students saved Dr. Lazerson from answering.

"Shoot, everyday is Thanksgiving to Dr. Laz," he declared. "He says a blessing over everything he eats. Every day! Every time!"
http://collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=32994&alias=my-thanksgiving-incident

הקבלה של תלמידי ישיבת מיר אחרי הטבח בבית הכנסת

Looking up

A Thanksgiving Sermon delivered in 1851 by Rabbi Sabato Morais.

Rebecca Terrell writes about the history of Thanksgiving in America and quotes Abraham Lincoln who talks about nations being blessed whose G-d is the Lord.

In a video regarding this week's parsha, Rabbi Wallerstein has a question regarding Yaakov Avinu's dream about the angels going up and down a ladder. Why was it a ladder? Why wasn't it steps?
Cause a ladder is the only thing that whether you're going up or down, you're always looking up. So Hashem wantd to show Yaakov Avinu that whether you're going up the ladder, whether you're going down the ladder, G-d is standing on top. Hashem says even when you're falling and you're doing sins, and you're not doing so well, always look up.


The singer in the video below looks up when he sings about Hashem and thanks G-d for all.

Thanks a bunch

"Again she [Leah] conceived and bore a son and declared, 'This time I will thankfully praise Hashem'." Beresheet 29:35

The Talmud says: "From the time of creation there was no person who praised Hashem until Leah came and thanked him upon the birth of Yehudah. (Berakhot 7b)" Could it be that Leah did not express thanks for her first three children? Is it possible Abraham, Yitzhak, Sarah and Ribka never thanked Hashem for their good fortunes? Was there no human being before Leah who gratefully praised G-d?
Read more: http://www.torah.org/learning/tabletalk/5764/vayeitzei.html


This afternoon I heard about how a relative thanked his grandmother for supper.


"I wanted to thank you and show how much I appreciate how you served dinner in shifts, first serving my grandfather and then having to heat up food a second time because I was working late. I especially wanted to thank you because today my manager asked me to do many tasks at work; I put in a great amount of effort and the manager didn't even say thank you when I completed what had been assigned.
I learned a lesson today on how important it is to thank someone so, once again, I thank you for the effort you put into the dinner this evening."


Click here to read a beautiful letter of appreciation that accompanied the delivery of pizza to the Houston police and fire departments.


Below is an individual who shows his appreciation to the Holtzbergs, HY'D, for all that they did for him and his sister.


I will end this post by thanking Hashem for all the good bestowed upon me.
Thank you to my family, my friends and to you all.

Jewish Heritage night

Why UNRWA Perpetuates the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict


Donors offer $5,000 for stopping terror attacks


New York Times Israel Correspondent Jodi Rudoren Attacks Critics as ‘Noisy Group of Advocates’
 

As the Nets gear up for the third season in their new home in Brooklyn, CTeen, Chabad’s global teen network, is planning its 2nd Annual Jewish Heritage Night which will take place in the Nets’ arena, Barclays Center, on the fifth night of Chanukah.
Read more: http://jewishvoiceny.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9273:nets-to-host-chanukah-jewish-heritage-night-at-barclays-center&catid=119:sports&Itemid=321


An IDF commander will no longer be able to prosecute a soldier who has been exempted from shaving his facial hair for religious reasons.
Following the imprisonment of a soldier-student who refused to shave his beard on grounds of religion, as first reported by Ynet, the army has announced that it will change its procedures on the matter.
Read more: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4596009,00.html

Coming under live fire

Former University of Illinois professor Steven Salaita received a standing ovation from Middle East scholars and academics from around the world on Saturday afternoon.

Salaita, who was terminated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign faculty in September for a series of viciously anti-Israel tweets during the Gaza War, seemed overwhelmed by the hero’s welcome.
Read more: http://freebeacon.com/culture/disgraced-anti-israel-professor-cheered-in-washington/


Reader-submitted: Tzevet Hatzolah Seeks to Purchase Helmets after Coming Under Live Fire at Scene of Har Nof Massacre

NFL Star Reggie Bush Joins With Pro-Palestinian Activists in Co-opting Ferguson Tragedy

Meddling in their affairs

Sen. Ted Cruz, ’16 Presidential Hopeful, Woos New York Jewish Donors

Israeli officials have rebuked the U.S. for meddling in their country’s domestic affairs after it voiced concerns about efforts to enshrine Israel’s Jewish character in law.
 Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-25/israeli-officials-rebuke-u-s-on-reaction-to-jewish-state-bill.html?cmpid=yhoo

'I Held a Talmud in One Hand and Fought with the Other'

WATCH protesters loot LIQUOR STORE, smash windows at McDonald’s [VIDEO]