A political homily on the Parsha

by DovBear | 11:39 AM |

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This week, Arad, King of Canaan, attacks the traveling Israelites. Gutsy move, no? After all, by this time the powers of the Hebrew God were well known. Already, he had overturned Egypt, split the sea, and sustained His people in the desert for 40 years, and this was no secret. As Rachav the whore/innkeeper of Jericho tells her overnight guests only a few months after Arad's attack: "the terror of [Israel] has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you."

So how do we explain Arad's nerve? Why didn't he melt away? Why had no terror fallen upon him?

According to an aggada recorded in BT Rosh Hashana (3a) Arad attacked Israel because he saw the Cloud of Glory had been removed. Both Ramban and Ibn Ezra disregard/ignore this teaching, and instead say that Arad atacked because of the spies. In fact, the King James Version of the Bible translates the verse in question as: And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel.... Most Jewish translations give by the way of Atharim instead, but from the perspective of the two Spanish giants, at least, KJV's gloss seems superior.

I bring all this up because I wish to make a point about Israel and Barack Obama. According to Nechama Leibowitz "by the way of the spies" means that Arad saw that the Jews had lost faith in themselves, and in the God who had brought them to this point. The spies said "and we were in our own eyes like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes.” When Arad heard that the Jews were without confidence, Ms. Leibowitz continues, he knew the time was ripe to attack.

Listening to RW bloggers fret about Barack Obama, I find myself mystified. Never mind that I hold Obama means us no harm. Let's stipulate that I'm wrong. Let's stipulate that Obama desires the destruction of every Jewish settlements, and the removal of every Jewish settler. Let's further stipulate that he's actively working behind the scenes to bring about this outcome. Even after making all those rhetorical concessions, I'm still mystified.

I'm mystified, because from the time I was knee high to a real grasshopper, I've heard from my RW Jewish friends, neighbors and teachers that the modern state of Israel is God's gift to the Jewish people. Not one of them ever expressed the slightest, tiniest bit of doubt about this. "All of its ours," they said. "Our right to settle every centimeter of land is absolute, and divinely proclaimed." Some even added, "This is the beginning of the Messianic era"

Yet, now that famous certainty seems to have melted away. The terror of Barack Obama has fallen upon them. Suddenly these same supremely confident Jews who once spoke unabashedly for God are worried that His promise has been withdrawn. Contrary to every Jewish teaching about gentile rulers and their relationship with Israel, these RW Jews seem to believe that Obama has the power to damage us absent God's express approval.

Instead of proclaiming confidently that every move they make carries God's blessing, they've turned themselves into grasshoppers

I hope no modern day Arad is listening.

Relating to a defaced lingerie advertisement

by Rafi G. | 6:25 AM |

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A Guest Post by Rafi G

Imagine the scenario - you are walking down the street and you see a sign. One of those advertising signs strategically placed in the middle of the sidewalk. The sign is advertising a lingerie shop with a scantily clad supermodel adorning it. Yet the sign is defaced, hiding her airbrushed beauty from you, as someone has spray painted black paint all over the sign.

What goes through your mind at that moment? "Those crazy religious fanatics! Always defacing other peoples property!" or maybe "we need to get rid of those haredim" or maybe "those advertisers have really gone overboard with the smut they put all over the city. at least someone won't put up with it!" or maybe "they give the rest of us religious people a bad name" or maybe something else.

This happened in the city, mostly mixed Modern Orthodox, National Religious and secular, of Ranana.

Yet after some name-calling, throwing blame around in various directions and debate, some investigating turned up the news that the ads were initially created like that. They came pre-defaced. Yes, the advertisers made ads of scantily clad women with black spray paint graffitied over them.

So you have to wonder what they were trying to accomplish by this. Were they just playing on peoples imagery to increase their bang for their buck? Meaning, they knew their posters, or at least some of them, would eventually be defaced, so they did it themselves to get people talking about their ads? Maybe they did it to malign the haredim who would be blamed for it, again drawing support for themselves on the backs of the haredim? Was the objective more benign and simply meant to be an eye-catcher and pique curiosity?

Rabbi Stewart Weiss addresses the Ranana situation and says this:

YES, FOLKS, we do have our problems, and we should not take them lightly. There is a legitimate debate over Jewish values, land for peace, pluralism and army service versus yeshiva study. And our situation isn't made any easier by kippa-clad demonstrators - in an obvious effort to bring honor to God and Torah - launching loaded diapers at police protecting a parking lot on Shabbat. Or by mustachioed men in bikinis riding on floats through the streets of Jerusalem in an effort to show off the joy of being a gender-bender.

But the fact is, we have more in common with each other than we realize. The vast majority of our country has a genuine respect for Judaism, though we may express it in different ways. We abhor corruption, whether by a secular Avraham Hirchson or an observant Shlomo Benizri, and we cheer when we see justice done. We want our children to be safe on the streets, well-educated and able to live securely, now and in future generations. We love Israel, we are in awe of its beauty, we are dedicated to its survival and we are willing to place our lives on the line - just by living here! - to demonstrate our loyalty to this country.

All this may sound overly optimistic, even naive. But I believe it, because Hope springs eternal. At least in life, if not in lingerie.

Search for more information about [defaced lingerie advertisements] at 4torah.com.

Games?

by DovBear | 1:10 PM |

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Last night the website of the Jewish Community Council of Montreal listed Rabbi Yochanan Wosner as a member of the Beth Din of Montreal. [See the screen grab]

Today, following my post about Wosner's fundraising activities on behalf of an accused child molester, his name is gone and a note has been added to the top of the page.

Hmm....

More disgusting Nixon and Graham Revelations

by DovBear | 12:02 PM |

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A new trove of Nixon tapes have been released by his library, and like the previous batches the new collection exposes the former president as a racist and an anti-Semite. For instance, consider this choice remark uttered just after the Roe v. Wade decision:

“There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white. Or a rape.”

Or, how about this phone call with Billy Graham, in which the president suggests that Jews bring hatred on themselves, or as he put it:

"This has happened in Spain, happened in Germany, and now it'll happen in America if they don't start behaving."

This prompts a mini-sermon from good Christian Graham about the two kinds of Jews, one of which is the "Synagogue of Satan" Jew who puts out "the pornographic material." Nixon offers no objection.

On the same call, Nixon says that Israel's attack on a Libyan passenger jet which killed 108 people was "worse then what happened at Munich" The two men agree Israel should pay reparations for it, and Nixon promises he "would talk pretty straight to Ms. Meir about it."

Before ringing off Graham bizarrely worries that all Christians might be expelled from Israel, Nixon sympathizes and offers this explanation:

“It may be they have a death wish. You know that’s been the problem with our Jewish friends for centuries.”

Ah well. At least he called us "friends"

Lenient librul judges

by DovBear | 9:16 AM |

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Bernard Madoff Gets 150 Years in Jail for Epic Fraud

Moral of the story: Steal from working people and you get a juicy bailout. Steal from rich investors? 150 years in slammer.

כִּי לֹא-אַלְמָן יִשְׂרָאֵל וִיהוּדָה

by The Bray of Fundie | 8:29 AM |

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by the Bray of Fundie

Just when you thought that we Jews were orphans, sheep without shepherds traveling on rudderless ships without captains, a Merciful Providence sends us a new, genuine Ba'al Ruakh HaQodesh= A "Master of the Holy Spirit" empowered with Likhtigeh Oigen= enlightened eyes that allow him to see what others cannot and prognosticate the future like and Old (New???) Testament prophet.

It seems that Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (reach for Boteach) could see the hand inside the glove and the glovewriting on the wall years before it happened.

Message to Shmuley; JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!

Search for more information about Michael Jackson at 4torah.com.

The Final Solution to the "Chosen People" Question

by The Bray of Fundie | 7:56 AM |

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by the Bray of Fundie

The "Chosen People." A concept that, at minimum, smacks of cliquishness and low-level xenophobia and that if taken to its logical conclusion is nearly indistinguishable from the concept of "the Master Race."

The Question: How does a 21st Century Jew living 70 plus years after the Holocaust, especially in the post-colonial, post-nationalist West, come to terms with the concept of the Chosen People?

The Solution: Easy. The Jews are NOT a People at all; hence it is preposterous to speak about a Chosen People.

Search for more information about The Chosen People at 4torah.com.

What Obama wants

by DovBear | 7:30 AM |

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One little article in today's Times appears to disprove the RW's most hysterical assertion about Barack Obama and his plans for Israel:

The assertion: Obama wants to destroy existing settlements!

From the Times: The Obama administration believes that in order to build a solid regional coalition to confront Iranian ambitions, West Bank settlement building needs to stop as a sign of Israeli willingness to accept a Palestinian state.

Again, RWers are invited to explain why they are so certain the Obama wants to see settlements destroyed and Jews removed from East Jerusalem.

Is a Montreal Rabbi Helping a Notorious Child Abuser?

by DovBear | 6:34 PM |

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Terrible if true...

One of my little birds tells me that a dayan in Montreal, Canada, is raising money on behalf of Elior Chen, a ringleader of what the Jerusalem Post called "one of the worst child abuse cases in Israeli history."

You can see what looks like some of the fundraising paraphernalia here.

The name on the material is Yochanan Wosner. He is a member of the Montreal Beth Din. I've written to the Beth Din to ask if its true that one of their judges is offering succor and protection to Elior Chen, and invite you to call or write as well. The telephone number is (514)739-6363 and the website gives goldie@mk.ca as the email address.

Arab activists and Iran

by JS | 7:47 AM |

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A guest post by JS:

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the demonstrations in Iran, particularly after the infamous video of Neda being killed by Iranian Revolutionary Guards (you can see a video here, but please be advised it is graphic and disturbing).

An article today on MSNBC is a must read, in my opinion. The article focuses on other democracy movements in the Arab world, in particular in Egypt, and asks the question I've had on my mind ever since the Iranian demonstrations started: What causes some people to rise up and what causes others to be complacent?

The article offers some theories from actual activists, many of whom have been beaten, jailed, and made to suffer countless times:

1) Lack of courage;
2) No support from other countries (particularly the US);
3) Stronger, more organized, more devious police force;
4) People are used to a dictatorship;
5) Limited number of social elites who care about politics; and
6) Cultural and religious reasons.

I'm curious what people think about the article and what is going on in Iran. Why do revolutions occur? What causes some people to rise up? Why do other people remain under the thumb of oppression and/or dictatorships for so long? What was the special ingredient(s) that led to a successful democratic revolution in this country?

Under what circumstances would you be willing to give up everything and demonstrate?

Search for more information about political activism at 4torah.com.

Orthodox Judaism's woman problem

by DovBear | 7:34 AM |

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What follows is an introduction to Bray's latest.

From where I sit, the real problem is that the Torah and the tradition and the law permit Jewish women to do lots of things that the 2009 culture frowns upon.

There are dozens and dozens of things we could do that are perfectly legal to make Orthodox Judaism more female friendly. For example, women can:

- daven with a minyan everyday
- learn anything they want
- receive aliyot (allowed by law, banned by tradition and a concern for the honor of men)
- form their own mezumen (100 percent ok per the mishha berurah)
- be yotze a man in any mitzvah that they are required to do themselves (eg any brocha on food, such as hamotzie)
- wear t'fillin (Tf'illin belong to the same category as a lulav; a woman has no chiyuv but she can do it as a kiyum. She doesn't by tradition)

Also, there is nothing in the law or tradition that says synagouge architecture must be so unfriendly to women.

Unfortunately, OJ refuses to do anything but frown on women who wish to pursue their own spirituality and sense of fufillment via the performance of permitted actions. That is what opens OJ to charges of sexism.

I say all this as an introduction to Bray's latest.

Dejected

by DovBear | 7:21 AM |

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As my trillions of Twitter followers already know:

@DovBear is dejected.
@DovBear Posted asking why RWers are *certain* #obama wishes to *destroy* settlements. Received no good answer.
@DovBear will admit that Obama believes settlement building and growth must end. But so did W and Clinton and GWHB and Reagen and Carter!

At this point @MarkSoFla averred: "No answer will satisfy you!"

To which @DovBear replied: The answer that would satisfy me is a direct quote. None exists. Ergo RWers are wrong.

I'm not a dishonest guy. Had the president stated plainly and clearly that he wants the settlements dismantled and their residents relocated I wouldn't deny it. But he hasn't said that. He hasn't said anything like that. No unambiguous criticism of the Israeli presence in the West Bank exists. The only objection is to "continued settlements" and "construction." He has not said one word about current settlements or buildings that have already been constructed.

And this gets to the root of my dejection about the whole Obama's-war-on-the-settlement thing. Everywhere I look, I see RWers saying they are certain the president wants Israel to withdraw all civilian populations from the West Bank, including Jerusalem and its suburbs. Again and again I've asked for the source of this certainty, but no one seems able to provide it in the form of a clear and unambiguous presidential statement. Instead, they talk subjectively about tone and style or point to statements that hardly differ at all from the anti-settlement statements made by every president since Carter, including both Bushes and Reagen.

So I'm left with two possibilities: either the RWs are predisposed against Obama and entirely unable to judge him failrly and objectively because of [something], or there's something very wrong with my own ability to gather and process information.

Either way, I'm dejected.

Search for more information about Twitter at 4torah.com.

Is Michael Jackson dead?

by DovBear | 2:56 PM |

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Developing story


And on gimmel tamuz, too.... wonder what that means?

Open challange to the RW

by DovBear | 12:15 PM |

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There are some RW bloggers who think Obama wants to destroy settlements, and that he expects Israel to withdraw from the West Bank, and even Jerusalem.

I've looked very carefully, and I've found no justification for this claim. I've directly asked two bloggers to explain the basis for it. No answer was given. Instead, additional claims were made, and I was accused of being unwilling to help Israel fight this "unprecedented" threat.

So let me be clear. I'll be glad to help Israel fight any battle that needs to be won, but first I need to be convinced that a threat exists. I agree that Obama, like every president since Carter - including George W. Bush - has called for an end to settlement growth* but I see absolutely no evidence that he wants or expects Israel to destroy settlements.

If you are aware of any substantiation for this claim, please share it with me.

Thank you.

*Yes, George W. Bush also told Israel to stop all settlement activity, including natural growth, and as the Wall Street Journal reported today, he also forced Ariel Sharon to destory various Gaza settlements.

E-Fink's Tzedaka Case

by DovBear | 11:01 AM |

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A guest post by E_Fink

Update:

A few weeks ago I debuted as a DovBear guest poster with an ethical quandary. If you recall, I had befriended a Jewish homeless fellow who lives in his van in Venice Beach. A struggling artist, he was down to his last few pennies. He came to me asking for Tzedaka and I simply did not know what to do.

I presented the issue in greater detail in the original post and the response was tremendous. There were a lot of comments to the post ranging from the hard-lined "give him a penny and you are a 'Rasha'" to the "who cares what he does with the money - it is still Tzedaka".

At first DovBear was unwilling to let me post, as he did not want a first-time guest post to seem like a solicitation. He was right so I made sure to indicate that our shul had the funds,

Turns out an anonymous reader of DovBear sent me some money anyway. He said he would cover the $1000, no questions asked. He was not concerned with what happened with the funds and was only concerned that this fellow be given the opportunity to leave Venice Beach.

[DB: I'm pleased as punch that my readers are so generous. As a totaly unrelated point, I'd like to remind the readership that donations and contributions are gladly accepted here, as well. Just click on the donate button.]

I made sure he was serious and that I offered no warranty as to what would happen with the money after I gave it to the homeless fellow.

He sent me $1000 via Paypal and made no stipulations.

[DB: Holy crap]

I went to my friend and told him that an anonymous person had given the shul $1000 for his benefit. I then added my own stipulation. He had to guarantee he would use the money to get to Montreal.

At first he hemmed and hawed as many of you predicted, but in the end, he decided he would go.

I told him after the money cleared it was his and he should make necessary arrangements. The morning that I was to deliver the money to him he asked me a "shaila". He said - "how important is it to be at my grandfather's funeral?". His mother's father was dying in Montreal and he wanted to be there. I told him, it is a huge Kibbud Em to be there for your mother before and during Shiva. He replied that it was a sign.

You see, he was having second thoughts. He was thinking that maybe he would take the money and go to British Columbia and sell some art there and hopefully he would have enough to get to Montreal. (A terrible plan.) As soon as he heard that his grandfather was very sick, he realized the folly in that plan and rededicated himself to getting to Montreal.

I gave him the money, he called me every morning until he got to the Canadian Border and he is now back in Montreal.

He is enrolling in a government sponsored vocational school and expresses his immense appreciation to those who believed in him and got him this second chance.

The day I reached 1 million

by DovBear | 8:18 AM |

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This week I registered my 2 millionth page view. Here's what I said when I made it to 1 million

Destroying settlements

by DovBear | 8:10 AM |

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Wall Street Journal: George W. Bush, aka, Israel's "greatest friend" demanded the destruction of Gaza settlements!

Meanwhile, it must be said (again) that despite the crazy talk on various RW blogs, Obama has not demanded the "destruction" of anything.

The truth about the agreement on settlement expansion and Gaza

by Rafi G. | 7:24 AM |

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A Guest Post by Rafi G

I have 2 points to make here, and I know DovBear will not like this: [DB: I like it just fine. See the first comment.]

1. The past weeks we have seen debates in many arenas, especially here, with the Obama denial strongly defended by DovBear himself, about whether or not there was a promise by the Bush administration, possibly a secret promise and understanding, to the Sharon government about natural growth. Sec. State Hillary Clinton and various aides have categorically denied it, saying straight out the the Bush letter to Sharon is extremely vague and contains no such promise, and there has been no promise substantiated elsewhere.

In the following opinion piece written by Elliot Abrams in the Wall Street Journal he says straight out that there was such a promise and understanding by the Bush administration and the Obama administration is wrong in their denial of the agreement. The agreement was part of a broad agreement on various issues that came up between Ariel Sharon and George Bush's government and there was a clear understanding to allow natural growth in the settlements.

2. During George Bush's term as president he was dubbed as the greatest friend of Israel. I personally said a number of times that I was not impressed and did not consider him such. I said nothing happens here without the demand/request of the American government and if Sharon made an about face and dismantled and disengaged to Gaza, I was pretty sure that George Bush was somehow behind it. Even if it was never stated as so in the news.

People thought I was crazy. It was all Sharon's idea and if he thought of it what do you want from the Americans but to agree, they said.

Turns out in the same article by Elliot Abrams he says that in 2003 the Bush administration demanded from Sharon dismantlement of a number of settlements including Gaza Strip.

In June 2003, Mr. Sharon stood alongside Mr. Bush, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas at Aqaba, Jordan, and endorsed Palestinian statehood publicly: "It is in Israel's interest not to govern the Palestinians but for the Palestinians to govern themselves in their own state. A democratic Palestinian state fully at peace with Israel will promote the long-term security and well-being of Israel as a Jewish state." At the end of that year he announced his intention to pull out of the Gaza Strip.

The U.S. government supported all this, but asked Mr. Sharon for two more things. First, that he remove some West Bank settlements; we wanted Israel to show that removing them was not impossible. Second, we wanted him to pull out of Gaza totally -- including every single settlement and the "Philadelphi Strip" separating Gaza from Egypt, even though holding on to this strip would have prevented the smuggling of weapons to Hamas that was feared and has now come to pass. Mr. Sharon agreed on both counts.

[..]

On the major settlement blocs, Mr. Bush said, "In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli populations centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949." Several previous administrations had declared all Israeli settlements beyond the "1967 borders" to be illegal. Here Mr. Bush dropped such language, referring to the 1967 borders -- correctly -- as merely the lines where the fighting stopped in 1949, and saying that in any realistic peace agreement Israel would be able to negotiate keeping those major settlements.

On settlements we also agreed on principles that would permit some continuing growth. Mr. Sharon stated these clearly in a major policy speech in December 2003: "Israel will meet all its obligations with regard to construction in the settlements. There will be no construction beyond the existing construction line, no expropriation of land for construction, no special economic incentives and no construction of new settlements."

Ariel Sharon did not invent those four principles. They emerged from discussions with American officials and were discussed by Messrs. Sharon and Bush at their Aqaba meeting in June 2003.

They were not secret, either. Four days after the president's letter, Mr. Sharon's Chief of Staff Dov Weissglas wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that "I wish to reconfirm the following understanding, which had been reached between us: 1. Restrictions on settlement growth: within the agreed principles of settlement activities, an effort will be made in the next few days to have a better definition of the construction line of settlements in Judea & Samaria."

Stories in the press also made it clear that there were indeed "agreed principles." On Aug. 21, 2004 the New York Times reported that "the Bush administration . . . now supports construction of new apartments in areas already built up in some settlements, as long as the expansion does not extend outward."

So take that, deniers.

For the full article, see here.

Search for more information about [lying government officials] at 4torah.com.

TWO MILLION PAGE VIEWS

by DovBear | 10:39 AM |

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Mazal tov, mazal tov and thanks to all of you who helped us reach this day.

Hillary Clinton: "The United States will never do anything to undermine Israel's security"

by DovBear | 9:13 AM |

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Elsewhere, RW bloggers are tearing their shirts over something a low-level State Department functionary said about settlements. As a tonic, see this video of Hillary Clinton's joint press conference with Avigdor Leiberman at the State Department in which the Secretary of State says this, plainly and directly: "The United States will never do anything to undermine Israel's security."

The first question (about @5:00) deals with settlements. Lieberman's answer is direct. Hillary's is less so, which is telling. After saying, in Obama's name, that the US wants settlements to "stop" she gives a long, windy answer about all the qualifications, and complexities and difficulties that apply. At the end of her answer, she says it has been confirmed that the claims made by Israel about "oral" agreements between Israel and the Bushies are false and/or not binding.

Search for more information about Israel at 4torah.com.

A great Jewish moment in movies

by DovBear | 2:11 PM |

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From the side matter: [This clip] is from the 1936 Yiddish film YIDL MITN FIDL [one of the most successful Yiddish film of all time, starring the very great Molly (Malkele) Picon.]

This was filmed... in Kazimierz, Poland, using local inhabitants as extras. It took over thirty consecutive hours to film, and the food had to be kosher of course as the locals used were all Orthodox Jews. As the filming went on, they ate, and for the successive shots of the table the food had to be replenished. The poverty stricken guests just couldn't understand what was happening, as they thought they had been invited to a real wedding. When one woman asked why so much food they explained that it wasn't a real wedding - only a film. It is possible she had never seen a film, for she said: "Why didn't you tell me that before? With so much food, I could have brought my daughter to get married for real. She has a chassen (bridegroom) but we have no money for a dowry to make a proper wedding." Molly suspected her husband (Jacob Kalich) may have given the woman the money, as later she smiled at Picon and said "Are you lucky to have such a rich husband."

It's a sobering thought to think what... happened to these people only a few short years later.

Was Rachav a harlot or an innkeeper?

by DovBear | 12:26 PM |

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The great R. Josh discusses the popular idea (suggested by some Rishonim) that Rachav was an ordinary innkeeper and investigates the contention of Radak that all of this is based on a mistranslation of Targum.

His conclusion? Radak was right.

Search for more information about Rachav at 4torah.com.

What's a Democrat doing speaking up for Israel\?

by DovBear | 9:37 AM |

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I'm so confused. Acording to the reliable information repeated in shul, from the pulpit and around the Shaloshudis table, Democrats are all Arab loving Jew haters.


Search for more information about the Shoah at 4torah.com.

I Have a Nightmare Today....

by The Bray of Fundie | 6:52 AM |

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By the Bray of Fundie

We live in a colorblind Democracy. Equal treatment under the law. Men are judged by the content of their character yada yada...

Yet there seems to be a double standard at work in NYC municipal politics. You see, two chaplains in the Correction Department signed off on the Tuvia Stern Jailhouse Bar-Mitzvah debacle. One was Jewish the other Muslim.

Initially Mayor Bloomberg said "clearly, this should not have happened". More recently, commenting on the resignations of chaplain Rabbi Leib Glanz and security Chief Peter Curcio, Bloomberg said "A three-star chief and the rabbi have chosen to resign, which was the right thing for them to do".

Yet the same mayor extended a ringing vote of confidence to Imam Umar Abdul-Jalil, saying "This is a guy who is somebody that does a good job and we need to have him and I'm very happy to have him," Click for all the details.

Seems that we still live in a land where men are judged by the color and length of their coats and peyos and NOT by the content of their character.

[DB: I couldn't disagree more.]

Search for more information about chaplains at 4torah.com.

Clinton: If I forget thee O Jerusalem

by Rafi G. | 3:06 PM |

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A Guest Post by Rafi G

US Foreign Minister Hillary Clinton fell and broke her right arm yesterday. The same day she was telling Israel, yet again, how they will accept nothing less than a complete cessation of construction in the settlements.

If I forget thee O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither... אם אשכחך ירושלים תשכח ימיני



Search for more information about [Hillary Clinton pressuring Israel to stop construction in Jerusalem because it is a settlement] at 4torah.com.

Fly Swatter in Chief

by JS | 11:37 AM |

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A guest post by JS:

In what can only be a sign of incredible boredom by our national news agencies, the BIG STORY is that Barack Obama swatted a fly during an interview with CNBC. See the video here. Obviously, what's going on in Iran, for example, is not as interesting or important.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has called Barack Obama out for his inhumane treatment of the fly. See the article here. The PETA spokesperson said "We support compassion even for the most curious, smallest and least sympathetic animals."

So what do you think? Should PETA be commended for their consistency - after all, wouldn't they be hypocrites if they said swatting a fly was OK? Is one animal life more valuable than another? Should PETA have kept their mouths shut as one is likely to dismiss them as ridiculous and thereby not listen to their broader agenda about cruelty to other animals?

Also, how would tza'ar ba'alei chayim (not inflicting pain/suffering on animals) fit in here? One of the cited purposes for the mitzvah is that being cruel to an animal makes us cruel to other human beings. Does mercilessly killing a fly instead of trapping it and releasing it influence how we treat others? Wouldn't a merciful person treat all of God's creations with mercy?

Search for more information about animal cruelty at 4torah.com.

Stewart Slays

by DovBear | 11:24 AM |

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Jon Stewart, a great American, demolishes Republicans, and their anti-Health Care Reform talking points:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Heal or No Heal
http://www.thedailyshow.com/

The sin of the Nazir

by DovBear | 7:26 AM |

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The Torah requires a Nazir to bring a sin offering, and the bold name Bible commentators argue about the reason. Ramban says the sacrifice is an atonement for the sin of returning to the world after the conclusion of the Nazerite term. His position is disputed by Rambam who, following Rabbi Eleazar Hakappar, says the Nazir sinned by becoming a Nazerite in the first place.

The basis of the disagreement, apparently, is this: Ramban admires the Nazarite for trying to improve himself spiritually by withdrawing from wine and other vanities, while Rambam sees this desire to separate from the world as a sign of weakness and the rejection of what the Torah permits as evidence of a spiritual shortcoming.

We don't have Nazerites in 2009, but we do have our religious ascetics. They don't grow their hair long, and abstain from wine; instead they crown their heads with hats and refuse to partake from any number of permitted foods and activities.

The culture compliments these modern Nazarites. They and their chumrahs are held up as examples for the rest of us to emulate, while those of us who prefer not to copy their clothing and abstentions are dismissed as "modern" "not really committed" or "lazy."

Certainly the 21st centruy Nazaerites have the support of the Ramban, and the many mashgichim who cite him. The point of this post is not to condemn their approach, but to defend the alternative. Because, isn't it possible to be a full Jew in good halachic standing without taking on the various food and clothing stingencies? And, following the Rambam, isn't this "ordinary orthodoxy" a legitimate l'chatchila approach, and not second best?

Sources:

This man sins against his soul when he completes his nezirut – for now he is leaving his holiness and Divine service; it would have been more fitting to remain a nazir forever, all his day as a nazir and Holy to his God. Behold he requires atonement when he returns to be besmirched with worldly passions - Ramban Bamidbar 6:14

If man should argue, since envy, passion and pride are evil, .. then I shall divorce and separate myself utterly from them till I eat no meat nor drink wine, nor marry .. after the manner of the gentile priests .. this is also an evil path and it is forbidden to walk on it. One who walks in the path is called a sinner and needs atonement -Rambam: Deiot 3:1

Anti Semites

by DovBear | 7:26 AM |

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Its my unhappy duty to report that every last one of my searches on Slacker for shiny shoe music, chazanut, or klezmer came up empty.

Slacker, of course, is the Internet music applicaton that creates a radio station for you, based on the selection of just a single song or artist. It was covered today, in the New York Times, which is where the concluding 16 words of the preceding sentence first appeared.

A Dreidal Song...

by DovBear | 7:11 AM |

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... with a good beat and a nice musar message, too, as Don McLean week on DovBear continues.

Psalm 137

by DovBear | 11:08 AM |

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Rivers of Babylon

This clip is from an early MadMen episode that featured a campaign for Israeli tourism as a subplot. The song is sung by a Jewish(?) beatnik, at a Village club, but the Babylon the song references can only be understood as the world of the Mad Men themselves.

Historicity: Wiki tells me this song was on Don Don McLean's American Pie album; the MadMen clip, however, is set in 1960.

Blame

by DovBear | 10:24 AM |

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The media's arguments over who is to blame for the James von Brunn shooting devolve into their lowest forms:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Blame
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

And, um, I called it.

What important issue is now the focus of the Israeli Sephardic Orthodox community?

by DovBear | 9:22 AM |

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By email:

What important issue is now the focus of the Israeli Sephardic Orthodox community?

Can you guess?

Is it Iran? The Palestinians? The religious-secular divide? Poverty?

Think again

And that boys and girls is how our tax system works

by TikunOlam | 1:42 PM |

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A guest post by TikunOlam

Sent to me by email (I am guessing the email orginated with a Republican friend):

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all tencomes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, itwould go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1The sixth would pay $3
The seventh would pay $7
The eighth would pay $12
The ninth would pay $18
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar everyday and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, theowner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers', hesaid, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to paytheir bill the way we pay our taxes so:

The first four men wereunaffected. They would still drink for free.
But what about the other six men - the paying customers, how could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings)!
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before and the first four continued to drink for free.

Once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
'I only got a dollar out of the $20', declared the sixth man.
He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!' '
Yeah, that's right', exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar,too. It's unfair he got ten times more than I!
''That's true!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'
'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine satdown and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money among all of them for even half of the bill! And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how ourtax system works.

The people who pay the highest taxes get the mostbenefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they mightstart drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

In the email this was attributed to David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D. Professor of Economics, University of Georgia, however, according to Snopes, he was not the author.

Search for more information about taxing the rich at 4torah.com.

Mamzerut

by TikunOlam | 8:12 AM |

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A guest post by TikunOlam

A friend of mine is a writer with an interesting idea for a novel. She is interested in finding out more about the concept of "mamzer" and what halachot apply in the cases of "mamzerut." She is thinking about writing about a baalat teshuvah to OJ who is engaged to be married. The protagonist finds out that her grandparent was a mamzer and becomes concerned about her status and how it may affect whether or not she can marry her fiance.

I know nothing about this subject other than what I just looked at on Wiki. Can you educate my friend and me on this subject? Ideas for the plot line are also more than welcome.

Search for more information about Mamzerut at 4torah.com.

He opened some minds in the Muslim world

by DovBear | 2:46 PM |

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Joe Leiberman, who opposed Obama's candidacy for president and is no fan of Democratic foreign policy, believes the Cairo speech, "opened some minds in the Muslim world."

Watch it:



This is why RW nitpicks and complaints about the speech miss the point. Obama wasn't speaking to RW Jews, or trying to to win their love and support. If he was, he'd have given a different speech.

The point of the Cairo speech, as Joe observed, was to open minds in the Islamic world, specifically among the close to 1 billion Muslims who may (or may not) hate America and Israel but won't ever get violent about it. The goal of the speech, and the reconciliation work behind it, is to marginalize the violent minority, and to show the majority that organizations like Hamas are dangerous to Muslim aspirations and unworthy of respect and support. One friend of a friend succinctly put it like this: the president's goal is to turn Hamas into Neturei Karta. I think he's right.

Search for more information about Neturei Karta at 4torah.com.

Chaplain...You're NO Rav Aryeh Levin

by The Bray of Fundie | 11:07 AM |

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By the Bray of Fundie
(edited)
I am trying to make some sense of the latest scandal to hit Kharedi Jewry. While I have no illusions that Rabbi Leib Glanz was not shmeared at some point, perhaps quite handsomely, I speculate that this was not what he first set out to do. As the old saw goes "Many a young man went to Washington to do good but ended up merely doing well."

I surmise that Rabbi Glanz is a lev tov "ah gooter" but an intellectual lightweight. And like many mekhankhim mired in middle school today who set out on their long circuitous journeys through Bais Medrash and Kollel with dreams of becoming superb, influential Roshei Yeshiva, true molders of young men, I'd imagine that the young Leib Glanz first entered the NYC Corrections System with visions of the sainted Rav Aryeh Levin dancing in his head. "What a Tzadik. Helping Yidden when they're down. I think that I can do that too! What could be a greater Mitzvah? It's no kunst to extend khesed to the suffering innocent. But to the suffering guilty and obnoxious? That takes REAL ahavas Yisrael".

Well let me tell you...you're no Rav Aryeh Levine! First you can hardly compare the prisoners being ministered to. Those prisoners Rav Aryeh first dealt with who were incarcerated in the Russian Compound were political prisoners of the British Mandate i.e. freedom fighters for Israel as well as societal criminals. True, after the State was established and the political prisoners were freed, he remained at the prison, serving the murderers, thieves, etc. Yet I hold that Hiskatnu Hadoros applies even to criminals and that the denizens of "The Tombs" weren't put there on charges of habitually missing z'man Krias Shema.

Next Rav Aryeh influenced l'toiv through his radiant and noble personality not through delivering goodies and favors. Loving someone != enabling someone, and from all the reports it seems that Rabbi Glanz traipsed down a hellbent path paved with good intentions that was riddled with many instances of enabling those very middos and behaviors that got the prisoners incarcerated in the first place and that MAY have even been transgressions of lifnei eeveir. Rav Aryeh had a big head governing his big heart. I doubt that the same could be said of this sad chaplain.

The fallout, much unlike that of Rav Aryeh ZY"A is khilul HaShem, increased anti-Semitism and rougher conditions for those Rabbi Glanz sought to help in the first place.


Search for more information about Jewish Prison Chaplains at 4torah.com.

Jews out

by DovBear | 9:52 AM |

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The satanic, liberal, goat worshipping, New York Times does its part to encourage Jews to leave New York City

What does Obama want to do?

by DovBear | 6:08 PM |

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I keep hearing from someone who isn't a fool, and often appears knowledgeable, yet keeps claiming Obama wants to recognize Hamas, uproot settlements, and divide Jerusalem. Part of me thinks he saying this only to bother me, because nothing I've seen backs up these claims, but maybe I'm wrong? If anyone has sources to support what my friend says please provide.

Search for more information about Obama at 4torah.com.

Netanyahu's big important speech

by DovBear | 4:26 PM |

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• Netanyahu's speech prompts anger from Palestinians, praise from the White House
• Netanyahu's speech: Yes to road map, no to settlement freeze
• Netanyahu speech 'an important step forward': White House
• Policy shift as Netanyahu backs two-state solution

I don't have much yet to say about the big Bibi speech aside from that its mighty, mighty odd that me, the White House AND the staunchest, craziest RW Zionist I know all think it was a good speech.

Here are (some of) my real time reactions, as posted on Twitter [all sic]

i hope bibi makes it clear that Obama doesnt despise Israel. (not that my omnicient rw blogging friends would bellieve him anyway)

I dont know why Obama needs to be *more* proIsrael than Bush was in order to win love from those who said Bush was Israels BF ever

Can we drink every time #netanyahu says "ribono shel olam"

I note the anti Israel Jew hating liberal humanist secular baby eating media isnt carring the netanyahu speech in the usa

I take it back FOX the only torah true station has it live.

Breaking!!!!! Netanyahu just said he agrees with Obama plan (per translator)

Netanyahi says he and Obama are in agreement! Wow

FOX now discussing the speech... their pundits seem stunned

Is Bibi embracing the two state solution? Boruch hashem Boruch hashem.

what will it take to make RW Zionists see that Obama is not out to get them?

so the biggest and most obnoxious rw zionist I know lso liked the bibi speech. hmm which one of us heard it wrong?

Moshe's Ethiopian Wife

by DovBear | 9:52 AM |

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The verse: Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Ethiopian wife, for he had married an Ethiopian woman.

Rashi: Tziporah wasn't really Ethiopian. Miriam and Aaron were just speaking in code. What they meant was that she was like, totally, beautiful.
Rashbam: Moshe took an Ethiopian wife during his long exile from Egypt, prior to the encounter with the burning bush:
Ibn Ezra: Tziporah wasn't Ethiopian, but Miriam and Aaron were not speaking in code. Euphemistically, they were saying that she was ugly, and that Moshe had therefore separated from her.


Related
What my kids said
What mephorshim say
What Josephus said

Search for more information about the Isha Cushis at 4torah.com.

In which a liberal zombie enthralled by the magic charisma of The One breaks free

by DovBear | 9:42 AM |

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I realize that criticizing a sitting president at a time of war might get me water boarded, but let's roll the dice: I'm disappointed today with Barak Obama. Why? When it comes to gay rights, he's just as bad as Bush was.

Comment of the day (Obama's policies have not been radical)

by DovBear | 1:36 PM |

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HaloScan.com - Comments: "Obama's policies have not been radical. On foreign policy his approach is only marginally different from the approach of Bush 2007-2008. Many of Obama's domestic policies are the same or similar to Bush's. Many others differ, but tend to take a mainstream Democratic approach.

It is true that many people have the perception that Obama is America's and Israel's worst nightmare. And the blame for this lies squarely on the mainstream right wing media outlets (i.e. Fox News, Rush Limbaugh), which are constantly provoking anger, resentment, and hate by repeating and fabricating lies and distortions about Obama and his policies.

For a substantial amount of evidence for this, check Media Matters. Media Matters is a partisan source, but they tend to support their claims with evidence."

avian30 Email 06.11.09 - 4:22 pm #


Search for more information about the Truth at 4torah.com.

Egg on HIS face

by DovBear | 12:09 PM |

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David Limbaugh

I know I'm naive, but the only violent right-wing extremist groups I've ever seen are those played in Hollywood by uninformed, whacked-out leftist actors. I've always wondered where all these Hitler throwbacks live. I've also never seen any of their recruiting signs posted at the local supermarket trolling for right-wing nut jobs prone to "Clockwork Orange" ultra-violence.

Oopsie.

HT @jilevin

ברוך אתה ה'...מתיר אסורים

by The Bray of Fundie | 12:08 PM |

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by the Bray of Fundie

Click.
Truth is REALLY stranger than fiction. My only question is how many hands had to be shmeared before the jailbird could celebrate a simkha b'meono ?

Search for more information about Jewsih Convicts at 4torah.com.

Overreaching and Understating

by The Bray of Fundie | 10:10 AM |

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by The Bray of Fundie

Yesterday I managed the neat trick of overreaching and understating in the same post. I'd like to correct both of my errors/sins/ crimes against humanity.

In that post I maintained that receiving an Orthodox Jewish Day School education WOULD have prevented a girl like Laura Miller from converting to Islam. DovBear provided ample historical examples of Jews steeped in Torah education and culture who had, nonetheless, converted to other faiths. IMO many of his example were "apples and oranges" comparisons and, to borrow a page from his book, products of the times and places in which those apostates lived. As such they were utterly irrelevant to the discussion of a non-affiliated twenty-something Jewess in 21st century USA. Still, I must admit that I overreached.

Let me restate and revise my position; receiving an Orthodox Jewish Day School education MIGHT have prevented a girl like Laura Miller from converting to Islam. IMO it WOULD have greatly reduced the chances of such a conversion occurring.

I also overreached when I dismissed the capacity of non-Orthodox Jewish education to prevent conversion. If nothing else it would have given Laura some identification with the Holocaust and the State of Israel and some visceral fear and loathing for all things Arabs and Islam. At the very least she would probably have developed her fathers sensibility that such a conversion is "worse" than a conversion to Buddhism or Catholicism (see 1:16-1:20 of the clip). Yet I still maintain that the more intense and "total-immersion" the type of early-childhood-on Jewish education one receives, the greater the chances of it inoculating the student against conversion.

I understated here when I flippantly dismissed the historical example of Elisha ben Avuyah /Akher (the Tanna NOT the very talented Blogger) as a graduate of a Solomon Schechter Academy. In so doing I missed an opportunity to raise Qedusha consciousness that I will now avail myself of. (Parenthetically, other than DB is there anyone else out there so completely oblivious of my sarcasm as to suppose that I did NOT know that Elisha Ben Avuyah was a Tanna???)

Elisha was an iconic heretic, renegade and collaborator. Per Tosafos in Chagiga 15A citing a Yerushalmi, among the causes of his eventual apostasy were Avuyahs ulterior motives in dedicating his son Elisha to a life of Torah study and his in-utero experience of imbibing some scintilla of the idolatrous as his pregnant mother passed by a Pagan temple and smelled a savory aroma (presumably of sacrifices to the pagan deities).

Point being that Torah Scholarship, and in particular the spiritual edification that accrues from Torah study, depends on more than "what" and "how much". It depends on "why" and "how" as well. Torah being sikhliyus elokus= Divine Wisdom sets it apart from ALL other disciplines and intellectual pursuits. And while all humans, even great Torah Scholars, are endowed with free will, including the free will to freely opt out of Judaism for other faiths or no faith at all, the Milkhemes haYetzer = battle with the Evil Inclination that culminates in so dramatic a wrong, bad choice is usually a war of attrition היום אומר לך עשה כך ולמחר אומר לו עשה כך עד שאומר לו לך עבוד עבודה זרה= "Today he (the inclination to evil) tells you 'do this' and tomorrow he tells you 'do that' until (ultimately, bit bu bit) he tells you 'go worship false gods' ". For former Talmidei Khakhamim like Akher, Spinoza or Mendelssohn to fall precipitously from the proverbial "high roof to the deep pit" there may have been nothing defective in the what" and "how much" of their Torah scholarship but , more than likely there was something wrong with the "why" and "how" of their Torah study.


Torah Study worthy of it's name demands awe, trembling, kavod and eventually the pure motivation of it being studied lishmah = for it's own sake.


Search for more information about Elisha ben Avuyah at 4torah.com.

Have you found this mattress?

by Rafi G. | 7:22 AM |

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A Guest Post by Rafi G

The story of the lady in Israel who wanted to surprise her mother with a nice gift but ended up causing a disaster has been picked up by news media all around the world, even CNN.

She bought her mother a new mattress and threw out the old one, hoping to surprise her mother. When dear mother came home and saw the new mattress, she freaked out, as she had been socking away her life's savings in her mattress - to the tune of $1,000,000!

Needless to say, the mattress by then was gone and they could not find it.

The story stopped there, with a nice quote from the daughter about how one must accept the good and the bad.

The story, however, does not really end there. The papers and radio discussed the situation with her. She has not given up and accepted the bad. She is looking for the mattress and money.

She has gone down to the dumping ground for the area, where the municipalities dump all the trash, and she has been searching for it. Knowing people would come looking for it, the administrator placed security guards there to keep them out. Unable to find it, but still looking, the woman said dejectedly that she probably will never find it - a security guard told her that had he found it he would just have pocketed it, walked away and not said a word to anybody, and she realizes that that is probably what happened.




There are two questions this raises in my mind:

1. If I was the security guard (or even if not - if I found the money), would I do the same? Would I just take the money and disappear, or would I return it? $1,000,000 is a lot of money, but it is also a lot of guilt to live with...
2. I wonder halachically if the person who finds it would be allowed to keep it. Clearly there is a siman - it is in a mattress stored in a certain way, which we know is a good siman even for money which usually has no siman. Also, she is looking for it, so there is no yi'ush. But on the other hand, despite the fact that she is looking for it, she has expressed yi'ush saying that she will probably never find it.

I actually wonder about the first question more than the second. I think I would like to believe that if I found it I would return it. But $1,000,000 is a pretty big test....

Search for more information about [topic] at 4torah.com.

Bush Flips off Roves and Hughes!

by DovBear | 7:59 PM |

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Well, not really, but in the post below we learn from Haaretz that presidents must never rest their feet on the desk lest some non-Muslim in the vicinity, or perhaps a Jew 5000 miles away, take offense.

Given the irrefutable logic of the Haaretz article, how else can this photo be interpreted?

HT: TTC

Quality Post

by DovBear | 2:31 PM |

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Rabbi Young's Blog: Eulogy for Dr. George Tiller

HT: Jew School

I dee double dare next week's host to include this in Havel Havalim...

Whatever You Think of Orthodox Education...

by The Bray of Fundie | 12:32 PM |

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Bray

...Do you think this could have occurred had this young lady received an Orthodox education?

Search for more information about "Donning the Fez" at 4torah.com.

More on Mid East Jews

by DovBear | 9:00 AM |

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A guest post by E-Fink

Do Anglo/American Jews care enough about our middle-eastern Jewish brothers and sisters?

Yesterday DovBear posted a really great Op-Ed piece from the NY Times.

In fact. before checking his blog I even emailed the article to him as I assumed he would find it interesting.

Of course, I was too late as it had already been posted!

What occurred subsequent to his posting of the article was even more interesting.

But first let's go to the NY Times column. An exiled Egyptian Jew recounts the persecution his family experienced in Egypt. His issue is that President Obama took the time to mention the suffering of Palestinians and ignored the suffering of middle-eastern Jews outside of Israel. A worthwhile read.

On Twitter DovBear posted this observation:
Egyptian Jew criticizes Obama in Times oped. TBF (to be fair), when was the last time any Ashkenazi Jew shed a tear for what happened to MidEastJews?

I responded with my experience:
R' Herman Neuberger dedicated YEARS of his life to save Iranian Jews. TBF - he not only shed tears, but years and saved thousands.

Which DovBear countered with a hilarious (and sad) take:
kol hakovod (kudos) for your yachid (individual). Average cholent fresser (eater) from flatbush doesn't know and doesnt care.

It seems to me that DovBear is right. Where is the outrage from Ashkenazic Jews? Why does it seem like we don't care?

The rest of this post is dedicated to bringing awareness to the plight of middle-eastern Jewry and an invitation for those of you may have first hand information regarding living as a Jew in Iran, Iraq, Egypt or any other middle-eastern country to contribute.

My first step was to contact a grandson of the aforementioned Rabbi Herman Neuberger.

Eli Neuberger relayed the following history of Iranian Jewry that is related to his grandfather's involvement. (I have edited his comments for brevity, grammar and overall fluidity.)

The traditional Iranian Jewish schools were run by an umbrella organization called Otzar HaTorah.In the mid 70's the Shah and his government decided to nationalise all religious schools, Jewish and Islam alike in order to curb the radical influence that was gaining traction amongst the Muslims. My Grandfather was approached by a Mr. Sasson from London, to travel to Iran to negotiate with the Government in order to minimize secular influence on religious studies.

While in Iran, my Grandfather visited the community in Shiraz. He thought that if a group of promising Iranians would come to learn at the Ner Israel Rabbinical College (NIRC), where he was the Dean. Then they could return to Iran and become the Klei Kodesh (spiritual leaders) that could lead the community.The first group arrived in 1977.

Meanwhile in 1979 the Shah was overthrown by radical Islamists.The students in NIRC could not expect to return home. At the time, many Iranian Jews were able to leave Iran and when they arrived in Austria, Italy etc. they were granted refugee status and were able to continue on to the US.

The situation became far more dire in 1980 when the Iran-Iraq war started.Boys as young as 12-13 were sent to the front lines to be used as mine sweepers. Many Jews were smuggled to Turkey or Pakistan. These trips were fraught with danger, even after they were able to leave Iran. My grandfather was instrumental in assuring good treatment in Turkey and safe passage to Europe. He made many trips to the corridors of power in DC to speak to Congressman,Senators and Diplomats to be able to insure this continuing clandestine exodus.

Many of the boys that made the harrowing trip came to study Torah in NIRC.

All this good work was done behind the scenes and with very little fanfare.

According to the never accurate Wikipedia, Rabbi Neuberger was instrumental in saving 60,000 Iranian Jews.

I contacted another friend of mine, Natan Davoodi. His family is Iranian (in LA they are called Persian).

He told me that as far as he knows the non-Jews only tolerate the Jews of they can exploited for the benefit of the non-Jew. That doesn't sound very good.

I would like to hear from you if you know of any injsutice to Jewish people in middle-eastern countries (outside of Israel). Just telling those stories will get the ball rolling.

We are all brothers and sisters and there is no excuse for ignoring their plight.

Values and ethics and morals, oh my!

by TikunOlam | 12:46 PM |

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A guest post by DYS

What is morality? And what are ethics? Or values?

In my discussions with Charedim, (and some Centrist Orthodox and even Modern Orthodox) both online & offline, we often come to an impasse when I realize that one of the basic assumptions they’ve made is that I, as a kipa wearing Jew, take all my cues for morality, ethics, and values from the Torah, and that there can be no other standard.

Even if one accepts that premise, there are far reaching disagreements on what the Torah has to say when it comes to value judgments. But leaving that aside, in any case I reject the basic premise. I see no reason that the Torah should be the only arbiter of my moral being. I may be a Jew, but that’s not the only thing I am. I’m also a human being.

When the Charedi I’m talking to realizes that I’m not on the same wavelength when it comes to this issue, he will often engage in circular arguments:

“How can you not see the Torah as the final word on every issue? The Torah says you’re supposed to see it that way, and therefore, as a Jew, that’s what you must do!”

Aha – that’s one of the very (supposed) “Torah values” that I reject, that the Torah is my only moral guide. So that argument holds no water with me.

I am a committed Jew. I keep kashrut & shabbat, daven, study Torah, wear a kipa, etc. But that’s not all I am. I’m also a human being who attended college, reads voraciously, has friends who have all sorts of beliefs and lifestyles, and is affected by contemporary western moral values.

An example: recently I was talking to my mother, and she referred to a relative who “nebach”, married a non-Jew. As is her wont, she said this in a low voice as if mourning a tragedy. I used to think the same way. Anyone who intermarried was destroying the Jewish people, and voluntarily doing Hitler’s work.

But as an adult, I got to know people who were intermarried. And you know what? Most of them are happy, raising well adjusted kids, and leading a meaningful lifestyle in their own way. Many of them even raise their kids with a strong Jewish identity, with the non-Jewish spouse attending synagogue along with the rest of the family.

And so I realized, why is it my place to judge these people and say that they’ve taken the wrong path in life? Am I so arrogant that I know the one and only true path and that they’ve abandoned their only route to some heavenly salvation? Why not just be happy for them that they’ve found happiness, something that’s hard to find in this world for so many people?
So what do I do with the halachic opposition to intermarriage?

One possible solution is to dig down deep into the mists of early Judaism and argue that the Torah doesn’t really prohibit intermarriage and that it’s all a Rabbinic innovation. And there may be some truth to that. But I’m a firm believe in Judaism as an evolving religion. And as such, it would be disingenuous to claim that traditional Judaism hasn’t had a major problem with intermarriage for at least 1 ½ millennia. And in any case, if I use that sort of argument, I’m boxing myself in and making it a requirement to find some sort of historical-religious justification for any personal moral value I hold that on the surface disagrees with tradition.

Instead, I prefer to concede that, yes, Rabbinic Judaism prohibits marriage to a non-Jew who hasn’t sincerely converted. But that’s irrelevant. I’m not intermarried and so it’s not a personal issue. And the Torah’s opposition? It is what it is. But I, as a human being with values that are a result of my almost 40 years of life experience, see nothing wrong with it for other people who’ve chosen that path. I don’t uphold it as an ideal, but once they’ve chosen such a romantic partnership, let them be happy! So I’ve gone to weddings and danced for Jewish brides and non-Jewish grooms and vice versa, and celebrated their unions. The Torah may say it’s wrong, but so what? Not every one of my values has to be from the Torah.

I have a similar attitude towards homosexuality. Admittedly, I’m not gay, so I can’t really understand the struggle that a gay Jew who was raised Orthodox must go through. Still, I can’t deny that the Torah calls homosexuality “toevah”, often translated as “abomination.” But when it comes to my gay friends? As long as they’re happy, I’m happy for them.

A few years ago, a co-worker to who I was close died young. Her funeral was held in a catholic church. I felt no need to ask a Rav whether I was allowed to enter for the funeral, because the answer would have been irrelevant. It was far more important to attend her funeral and be there to say goodbye in the manner her family chose.

It seems to me that giving over all of one’s decisions to what the Torah says (or some Rav’s interpretation of what it says) makes one a poorer human being. Struggling with ethical dilemmas and thinking for oneself, based on the richness of one’s own experience is part of life. And I think even most Charedim absorb ethical ideals from contemporary notions even as they deny it. For example, the Torah talks about slavery (yes, yes, I know the apologetics, it’s indentured servitude, not much better), but do any Charedim believe in slavery? Wouldn’t most recoil at the idea? We all get our morals, values, and ethics from various sources, often unconsciously.

So where does your value system come from?

Search for more information about morality and ethics at 4torah.com.

A criticism of Obama's speech DB "two million percent" agrees with

by TikunOlam | 6:00 AM |

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Posted by TikunOlam on DovBear's behalf (apparently he has better things to do today)

For those of you who thought DB was blinded by the halo that hovers above President Obama's head. . .here is a NYT article that DB sent me this morning, a criticism of Obama's speech written by Egyptian Jew, Professor Andre Aciman. DB said that he "two million percent" agrees with what Prof. Aciman has to say.

Excerpt:

The president never said a word about me. Or, for that matter, about any of the other 800,000 or so Jews born in the Middle East who fled the Arab and Muslim world or who were summarily expelled for being Jewish in the 20th century. With all his references to the history of Islam and to its (questionable) “proud tradition of tolerance” of other faiths, Mr. Obama never said anything about those Jews whose ancestors had been living in Arab lands long before the advent of Islam but were its first victims once rampant nationalism swept over the Arab world.

Nor did he bother to mention that with this flight and expulsion, Jewish assets were — let’s call it by its proper name — looted. Mr. Obama never mentioned the belongings I still own in Egypt and will never recover. My mother’s house, my father’s factory, our life in Egypt, our friends, our books, our cars, my bicycle. We are, each one of us, not just defined by the arrangement of protein molecules in our cells, but also by the things we call our own. Take away our things and something in us dies. Losing his wealth, his home, the life he had built, killed my father. He didn’t die right away; it took four decades of exile to finish him off.

For the article in its entirety click here.

UPDATE

Fred makes a killer point: Why blame Obama [for neglecting to mention this] when Ashkenazi Jews could give two hoots about it, themselves? When was the last time any pearly white Polish or Hungarian Jew shed a tear for the crime committed against his Arab-Jewish brothers? The Brays of the world hardly consider them Jews.

Search for more information about Jewish expulsion from Arab countries at 4torah.com.

Sammy Davis' Menorah - No Sale

by TikunOlam | 5:53 AM |

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Posted by TikunOlam on DovBear's behalf (he is too busy for us all today)

From the New York Times

The silver menorah branches out from its stem at hard right angles, and the plastic rubies glued onto the base add more kitsch than glitz. But the auctioneer, Jonathan Greenstein, owner of J. Greenstein & Company, said the anonymous seller was hoping for bids as high as $15,000 — when similar menorahs would ordinarily go for closer to $800.

That’s because it once belonged to the entertainer Sammy Davis Jr.

“It’s a tremendous conversation piece,” Mr. Greenstein said.

Conversation starter it may have been, but money magnet it was not. No bid met the $9,000 reserve, with the highest bid coming in at $8,000.

To see the full NYT article click here.

Search for more information about Sammy Davis Jr. at 4torah.com.

More on the Mishlei Mesorah

by DovBear | 7:06 AM |

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What follows are some of the arguments and refutations contained on the comment thread that developed beneath this post about Mishlei's authorship.

(1) Claim: Rejecting the veracity of Chazal is a non-Orthodox approach

Truth: Dozens of Rishonim and Achronim have said explicitly that Chazal were, at times, wrong about various matters, and they have gave us explicit permission to follow our brains and the evidence on any question that doesn't touch halacha. Though some pretend that this idea is contained only in a few obscure sources, or based on questionable readings, the truth is that its a widespread opinion and one that is stated many times and in unambiguous language.

(2) Claim: The academics who give Mishlei a late date are using a "non-Orthodox mode of thought" which poisons their conclusions.

Counter argument: Any statement about the attitudes or outlooks of the academics is purely speculative. We have no information about what these particular academics thought about the Sages or the Mesorah. We know nothing concrete about their "mode of thought." Moreover, whatever their "mode of thought" may have been is entirely immaterial to the quality of their evidence and the strength of their arguments. To suggest that evidence can't be considered because it was accumulated by people who are in the grips of the wrong "mode of thought" is an ad hom argument, akin to rejecting Euclid's math on the basis of his paganism.

(3) Claim: To say that the anyone other than Solomon wrote Misheli is to say that Chazal were incompetent at collecting and assessing information.

Counterargument: No it doesn't. To say that anyone other than Solomon wrote Misheli is to say that this one, lone, solitary claim was never investigated properly, and not because Chazal were mentally deficient, but because the necessary tools were not available to them.

(4) Claim: To say that the anyone other than Solomon wrote Misheli is to undermine the authority of Chazal

Counterargument: It doesn't follow from the fact that Chazal may have been wrong about one, solitary, thing that they were also wrong about everything. Besides, the Talmud Bavli overflows with statments made by Tanaim and Amoraim that were, at some later point, determined by other Tanaim and Amoraim to be untrue, or inaccurately transmitted. That fact that Chazal frequently make corrections to the tradition they inherited, strongly suggests that shortcomings in the accuracy of the Mesorah were recognized by Chazal themselves. [One of perhaps hundreds, if not thousands, of examples] Why should we deny what they admit?

(5) Claim: To say that anyone but Solomon wrote Mishlei is to undermine the Mesorah

Counterargument: To the best of my knowledge, only one lonely brysah makes this claim. There's no reason to think that this opinion was widely accepted by other Sages, and there is no evidence at all that this opinion was ever considered an essential, infallible part of the Mesorah. And, even if we stipulate that it was, evidence-based criticism of one small, tiny, little speck of the tradition is not the same as wholesale denigration of all of it.

(6) Claim: To say that anyone other than Solomon wrote Mishlei is to undermine the Oral law stretching back to Sinai.

Counterargument: Solomon lived several hundred years after Sinai, thus any tradition about his activities can't possibly be part of the original, from-Sinai Mesorah. (quoting Anon:) "A tradition about the authorship of a post Sinai book is [therefore] categorically different from a tradition about halacha that does go back to Sinai. So, how can you claim that rejection of a claim from one category of tradition is identical to the rejection of the whole of an entirely different category of tradition?"

What do I believe? Proverbs is an anthology of different Wisdom collections, assembled over time by various authors and editors. Some specific ideas, if not the text of some specific Proverbs may have originated with Solomon or his court, but it seems most unlikely the whole entire book can be attributed to him.

Geek of the Week

by DovBear | 6:54 PM |

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Has to be Gordon Browne, the British PM, for calling Omaha Beach "Obama Beach" at D-Day Ceremonies this weekend.

A new havel havalim is up

by DovBear | 9:55 AM |

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... in which my point about Obama's speech is misrepresented

I don't know what the future holds, and I concede its possible the president's conciliatory approach might fail. What's inarguable, however, is that I was right about the speech, and RW Jews like Spira were wrong. Obama didn't announce a new peace plan, he didn't call for the division of Jerusalem, and he did nothing to diminish or alter the United State's special relationship with Israel. Spira, and RW Jews like him, all but promised these things would occur. They did not. And if Spira and RW Jews like him had any guts they would admit it. (like Jameel did)

The Disaster that May have Saved D-Day

by JS | 10:40 AM |

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A guest post by JS:

In honor of the upcoming 65th anniversary of the storming of Normandy, an interesting article.

Search for more information about D-Day at 4torah.com.

Obama at Buchanwald: Rebukes Ahmadinejad Again

by DovBear | 9:21 AM |

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June 5, 2009

BERLIN (JTA) -- President Barack Obama visited the Buchenwald concentration camp site, calling it "the ultimate rebuke" to Holocaust deniers.

Obama joined German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust memoirist who was a Buchenwald inmate, on the tour on Friday, a day after Obama called on the Muslim world to reject Holocaust denial.

"To this day, there are those who insist that the Holocaust never happened," Obama said at a news conference at the gates of the camp. Such statements are "ignorant, baseless and hateful."

For more than an hour, Obama and Merkel walked the grounds of Buchenwald. Out of sight of cameras, they entered the crematorium building where camp victims were turned to ash. They placed white roses, a symbol of German resistance, at several sites.

Obama said he had wanted to visit this particular camp because his great-uncle, Charles Payne, was among the U.S. soldiers in Infantry Division 89 who liberated the Buchenwald sub-camp of Ohrdruf in early April 1945. Ohrdruf was the first camp liberated by American soldiers. The gruesome sights of burned victims haunted his uncle for a long time, Obama said.

"It is understandable that someone who witnessed what had taken place here would be in a state of shock," he said.

Wiesel, a Nobel Peace laureate whose father died at Buchenwald, said, "Memory must bring people together rather than set them apart."

After visiting Germany, Obama was scheduled to fly to France and take part in ceremonies marking the 65th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy.

In an interview with NBC, Obama expressed frustration with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who questions the story of the Holocaust.

“He should make his own visit," Obama said in Germany. "I have no patience for people who would deny history. And the history of the Holocaust is not something speculative."

Should he visit Germany, Ahmadinejad could face arrest as a Holocaust denier.