The rabbi of Beth Meyer Synagogue in Raleigh, North Carolina announced on Friday that the trip to Arafat's tomb is off.
On Friday, August 19, 2016, 10:15 AM, Beth Meyer Synagogue wrote:
August 19, 2016
Shalom Beth Meyer Family,
I write to you with a very heavy heart.
The past few weeks have been
extraordinarily painful for me, Rabbi Jenny, our congregation's leaders,
and many in the Beth Meyer family and extended Jewish community. This
letter - which admittedly is quite lengthy - is designed
to provide a detailed explanation of how this situation came about and
how I have chosen to resolve it.
During my time at Beth Meyer, I have led
four "pilgrimage" trips to Israel that visited many of the historic and
spiritually-rich sites that lift the soul and build one's love for and
connection to the State of Israel. These tours
included stops at sites that illustrate the threats and precarious
security issues Israel faces on a daily basis. I will continue to offer
such tours in the future.
A few months ago, I invited Beth Meyer
members to participate in a trip to Israel and the West Bank under the
auspices of MEJDI Tours, a company that provides customized educational
tours in regions worldwide suffering from conflict.
In this case, the tour was to be a "dual-narrative" tour with both
Israeli and Palestinian tour guides that would visit Israel and the West
Bank.
This process began some two years ago
when I first heard of MEJDI Tours and began to look into the
organization. I learned that MEJDI, in the past, has partnered with the
Israeli Ministry of Tourism, the Israeli Foreign Ministry,
Israeli educational institutions and numerous American synagogues. In
addition, MEJDI has been featured in a range of respected media outlets,
including Haaretz, Forbes and National Geographic Explorer.
After thoroughly researching MEJDI's
credentials with rabbis and Jewish leaders across the U.S. and Israel, I
was comfortable that MEJDI was, in fact, a non-partisan tour operator
that offers individuals unique immersive experiences
to learn about complex issues first-hand. MEJDI does not preach or
support any specific agenda or form of hate, violence or terror. Rather,
it is an apolitical organization that believes increased education and
understanding can help build bridges across cultures
and stimulate peace.
While studying in Israel in the summer
of 2015, I took the opportunity to tour the West Bank in a group that
had with it a Palestinian MEJDI guide. It was, to say the least, a
profound (and often surprising) experience that allowed
me to hear perspectives few of us ever hear. For example, the guide was
highly critical of the Palestinian Authority and its leaders, both past
and present. He condemned violence by Palestinians and emphasized that
he "despises Hamas." When I asked challenging
questions, his responses recognized weaknesses in Palestinian
positions. Moreover, he mocked the backwardness of the Arab world, as
well as its lack of support for human rights and democracy. And, while
he did criticize a number of Israeli government policies,
his words were balanced, thoughtful and nuanced.
After reviewing this idea with Beth
Meyer's leaders and securing their approval, I invited the Beth Meyer
family to participate in a MEJDI tour next spring. I wholeheartedly
believed I was helping to provide a rare opportunity
for seasoned Israel travelers to learn about the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict in a broader, deeper way. With expert guides who would be both
supportive and critical of their own government's policies, I hoped
participants would gain new insights and hear from
peace-makers working on the ground to make a difference. I thought,
perhaps naively, that this MEJDI tour would offer a different kind of
experience for Zionist, Israel-loving Jews who want to explore the many
intricacies of this terrible conflict.
For some in the congregation, there was
immediate interest in participating and many quickly submitted their
deposits. For others, there was no interest at all. Some congregants
asked thoughtful questions, and others criticized
my attempt to organize such a trip due to their belief that the
itinerary was unbalanced. And there were some who expressed serious
concerns about the potential damage the tour could cause the Beth Meyer
community and the image of the State of Israel.
While my intentions were pure, my heart
broke as I listened to the pain my actions had caused some congregants. I
listened carefully to this feedback and discussed what I heard with
Rabbi Jenny and synagogue leaders.
After deep reflection and
soul-searching, I have decided to cancel the trip. To anyone who feels
confused, hurt or upset on account of my actions, I sincerely apologize
and ask your forgiveness.
Please know my decision was not made
because I don't believe in the tour's value - I do. Nor was it made
because a handful of individuals outside of our holy congregation - none
of whom have ever talked or met with me - spread
inaccurate and misleading information about Rabbi Jenny and me that
spawned threats of personal violence. In this season of Tisha B'Av when
we remember the many tragedies of our people, personally experiencing
this kind of sinat hinam (baseless hatred) was
especially painful.
Rather, I made this decision because I
deeply love Beth Meyer and what we, as a family, have built these past
11+ years. And I want to emphasize that my love embraces each and every
one of you, regardless of where you land on the
spiritual, social or political spectra. I am touched that so many
congregants pleaded with me to move forward as planned, but I cannot -
and will not - do anything that jeopardizes the integrity of the Beth
Meyer family.
I want to thank everyone who has shared
their thoughts with me about this issue. Most particularly, I want to
acknowledge the input and guidance I received from our President Eric
Lamb, the Beth Meyer Synagogue Executive Board,
lay leaders and, of course, my wife and partner, Jenny.
Just as the Torah teaches that God
created the world with immense variety, so too my vision of our
congregation is one where we accept and celebrate both the common bonds
and differences among us. Civil discussion, respectful debate
and honoring diverse opinions are Jewish values that our people have
embraced for millennia. They are the values that form the foundation of
my rabbinate, and they are the values that make Beth Meyer such a
welcoming community.
When appropriate and rooted in Jewish
values, I will continue to take public positions on issues where I
believe my contribution can be constructive. I want to stress, however,
that I do not and never will expect to have consensus
across our membership on any issue, least of all, the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (In fact, if all I heard was a unanimous
"Amen," I would think something was wrong. It wouldn't be Jewish, and it
wouldn't be the Beth Meyer that I cherish!)
At some point in the future, perhaps,
our congregation may again consider an educational initiative such as a
MEJDI tour. But that would happen only after there has been ample
opportunity for all interested members to learn about
the opportunity and discuss it thoroughly with input from a broad
cross-section of our members.
In that spirit, I invite anyone who has
questions about this situation or would like to share any other
concerns to contact me via e-mail (rabbi@bethmeyer.org ) or phone (919.848.1420).
I will be delighted to sit down and hear your thoughts and ideas.
This episode, though challenging, has
been a valuable learning experience for all of us. I pray that we use it
to deepen the bonds we share and inspire us to continue nurturing the
Beth Meyer family and strengthening our commitment
to and love of God, the Torah, the Jewish people, the State of Israel
and one another.
At this moment, perhaps more than ever, I
thank God and each of you for the privilege of serving as Beth Meyer's
rabbi. Rabbi Jenny and I, along with our entire family, look forward to
welcoming the New Year with our holy, hamish (warm)
congregation at the High Holy Days.
B'ahavah (With love),
Rabbi Eric Solomon
Something tells me there may still be a trip in the future....
The problem with trying to 'understand the other' is that it only works if it's a two-way street. In Israel, much of our population spent 1993-2000 trying to 'understand the other.' Unfortunately, it was never a two-way street (and we suffered plenty of terror attacks during that period) and it ended in a full-blown intifadeh that left hundreds of Israelis dead, wounded, widowed and orphaned.
The 'conflict' is insoluble because only one side is interested in a solution. Most Israelis now have had enough pain inflicted on them that they get that. I hope the rest of world Jewry comes around without suffering all the pain that we suffered.
Wednesday the Rabbi threw in the towel - visit to Arafat's tomb is off the itinerary
Greetings from Boston.
Earlier today, the following email from Rabbi Blumofe in Austin, Texas (the subject of yesterday's post) was forwarded to me:
> Dear Friends,
>
> Thank you for being in touch with me personally regarding the
unfortunate insinuation, opprobrium and personal defamation that has
surfaced based on the inaccurate and reckless premeditated judgments
from a member in our community about the draft of an itinerary
to Israel in June, 2017. The refusal to have communicated directly
with me has added hate and peril into this world.
>
> I very much appreciate your requests to help.
>
> Here's where things stand -- if you can communicate this
information to expanding circles and to folks who have reached out to
you, or whom you know would be interested to have a fuller/current
briefing, this would help to bring accuracy to a volatile and
distressing situation.
>
> 1. The draft of the itinerary that has gone public is no longer accurate. That itinerary was cancelled.
>
> 2. There will be a trip to Israel in June, 2017 that will be
planned with a different itinerary in the coming weeks, with the input
of the leadership of Agudas Achim. I believe that the goals of
exploring Israel as it wrestles with its status as a democracy
and Jewish state can be achieved in alternative, affirming ways -- and
rest assured, the new itinerary will not stop at the grave of Arafat.
>
> Please do not hesitate to be in touch as we continue to strive to
build engagement, literacy, and positive excitement for Israel within
our community -- and as we look to keep each other safe and well.
>
> Am Yisrael Chai.
>
> Neil Blumofe
> Rabbi. > ___________________ > Neil F. Blumofe, Rabbi
> > Congregation Agudas Achim > P.O. Box 28400 > Austin, Texas USA 78755-8400
The emphasis added was mine - not in the original.
Raleigh, North Carolina is not the only place where a rabbi thinks that Judaism requires him to go worship at the tomb of the father of terrorism. I'd like to introduce you to Rabbi Neil Blumofe of Congregation Agudas Achim (it's Conservative - contrary to what some of my Orthodox friends might conclude from the name) in Austin, Texas.
Below is a letter written by Richard Brook, a congregant of Rabbi Blumofe, who vehemently objects to Blumofe's idol worship.
Yes, the visit to Arafat's tomb is on Day 11. But it's only the start of the problems with this tour. This is how people are being educated to Judaism?
As it happens, I was in Austin two years ago on business, as some of you might recall. Congregation Agudas Achim is located in a huge gated complex that was donated by Michael Dell, the chairman of Dell Computers, who donated $1.8 million to American Friends of the IDF in 2014. The complex includes a day school, a community center, and Orthodox, Conservative and Reform synagogues (although when I was there in November 2014, the Orthodox synagogue was meeting in a classroom in the school). One has to wonder whether Mr. Dell is aware of what is going on at his campus, and whether visiting Yasser Arafat's tomb violates the terms of the land grant to Congregation Agudas Achim (I have no way of getting a copy of that grant - just raising the issue).
For the record, Mr. Brook has been in touch with me directly, and gave me permission to publish his letter (Hat Tips: Richard Allen and Sloan Rachmuth).
ICYMI: Sheryl Sandberg on her husband's Shloshim (end of 30-day mourning period)
This is off topic from my usual fare, but it's a very powerful and important post written by Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook.
Today is the end of sheloshim for my beloved husband—the first thirty days. Judaism calls for a period of intense...
Posted by Sheryl Sandberg on Wednesday, June 3, 2015
I've been sitting on an email Mrs. Carl sent to Israel Radio on Wednesday morning, waiting to see if someone would be able to download the broadcast she heard so I could post the email with the broadcast. There's now an article in Haaretz that expresses similar sentiments to those expressed on Israel Radio (what a surprise), so I'm going to post that article, and then I will post Mrs. Carl's comment to Israel Radio. After that, I will forward all emails that urge her to write this blog in my place, or at least to co-author with me :-)
There's been a controversy in the IDF - at least since Operation Cast Lead - over God's role in the army. I should preface this by saying that I firmly believe - as do many Israelis - that without God's help, the IDF would be defeated regardless of how good our technology is and how strong and clever our soldier's are. I believe that it is God who Wins the wars for us, and everyone else is just an actor carrying out God's wishes.
The opposite conception is known as כחי ועוצם ידי - my power and the strength of my hand wins. There are even people who have gone so far as to say that had we not gotten caught in the latter conception after the Six Day War, the Messiah would have come (just heard that again this week). I don't purport to be God's accountant, and I have no idea how He would have reacted had we attributed His victory in 1967 to him, but the possibility must at least be acknowledged.
As you might recall, as the troops were going into Gaza for Operation Cast Lead in December 2008, then-IDF chief rabbi Avichai Ronsky handed them brochures which summarized what the Torah has to say about going to war with non-Jews.
"[There is] a biblical ban on surrendering a single millimeter of it
[the Land of Israel] to gentiles, though all sorts of impure distortions
and foolishness of autonomy, enclaves and other national weaknesses. We
will not abandon it to the hands of another nation, not a finger, not a
nail of it." This is an excerpt from a publication entitled "Daily
Torah studies for the soldier and the commander in Operation Cast Lead,"
issued by the IDF rabbinate. The text is from "Books of Rabbi Shlomo
Aviner," who heads the Ateret Cohanim yeshiva in the Muslim quarter of
the Old City in Jerusalem. [Deuteronomy 7:2 and the Rabbis' gloss on it says "you shall not give them a place in the land. CiJ]
The
following questions are posed in one publication: "Is it possible to
compare today's Palestinians to the Philistines of the past? And if so,
is it possible to apply lessons today from the military tactics of
Samson and David?" Rabbi Aviner is again quoted as saying: "A comparison
is possible because the Philistines of the past were not natives and
had invaded from a foreign land ... They invaded the Land of Israel, a
land that did not belong to them and claimed political ownership over
our country ... Today the problem is the same. The Palestinians claim
they deserve a state here, when in reality there was never a Palestinian
or Arab state within the borders of our country. Moreover, most of them
are new and came here close to the time of the War of Independence." [That's a statement of historical fact. CiJ]
The
IDF rabbinate, also quoting Rabbi Aviner, describes the appropriate
code of conduct in the field: "When you show mercy to a cruel enemy, you
are being cruel to pure and honest soldiers. This is terribly immoral.
These are not games at the amusement park where sportsmanship teaches
one to make concessions. This is a war on murderers. 'A la guerre comme a
la guerre.'" [Deuteronomy 20:13. CiJ]
While the current chief rabbi of the IDF is far less likely to be as politically incorrect as Rabbi Ronsky was, there are other people in the IDF who still believe that God Runs the show. Here's what Mrs. Carl described hearing on Israel Radio on her way to work Wednesday morning (when she couldn't just pop in a music CD because it was before Noon on the day after Tisha b'Av).
I listened to the program this morning on my drive to work.
(I usually listen if I can – the discussions are usually interesting and thoughtful.)
I heard the topic about unauthorized speakers coming to Army bases to speak to soldiers about spiritual topics. I heard one recording of someone offering Tzitzit, and another of someone speaking.
She didn't remember the names of the people involved, but one of the people she heard about might have been Colonel Ofer Winter, the commander of the Givati Brigade. This is from Haaretz, which is not only generally anti-Israel, but generally anti-Judaism as well:
Col. Ofer Winter, the commander of the Givati Brigade, is a thorough officer. Before going into Gaza he
asked Kabbalists and yeshiva heads to pray for the operation’s success.
“They promised to do it and asked me to take something upon myself –
more mitzvoth, more enhancement of the mitzvoth,” the commander told
military correspondents of the ultra-Orthodox newspaper Bamishpacha. [For those of you overseas, BaMishpacha is the Hebrew language Israeli version of Mishpacha. CiJ]
And
so it was. “I decided to take it upon myself to pray the morning prayer
with great purpose,” Winter added. “We’re in a combat situation, of
nights without sleep, so sometimes the morning prayer comes after a
sleepless night. It’s very hard, but I know it’s for the soldiers and I
try to keep it up, lengthen my prayer and pray more intently.”
“At this time of war of all times, when the desire to join the troops is
strong, we must reiterate that what the Jewish people needs most is for
the Torah students to sit and study Torah more strongly,” Winter
explained. “The study of Torah protects the Jewish people more than
anything. Those who can sit and study – that is their obligation.”
Winter added that before going into combat he reads his soldiers the
words “Hear, O Israel, ye draw nigh this day unto battle,” from
Deuteronomy 20:3. According to the colonel, “When a person’s life is in
danger, he gets connected to his deepest inner truth, and when that
happens, even the greatest unbeliever meets God.”
Columnist Uri Misgav wasn't happy with Winter.
This needs to be discussed as part of the investigation into the war.
There are concerns that the army of the people, in a process amazingly
similar to the one in civilian society, is breaking up into tribes —
almost militias — whose character derives from the values of the
commanders and their initiatives.
...
Is this a new policy for the Israel Defense Forces?
...
That is missionary terminology of Gog and Magog
heralding the end of days. The written message Winter sent his soldiers
— he declared a religious war on the Gaza enemy who blasphemes against
the Lord of Hosts — was just for starters. Remember his calls to the
government; for example, “Just have them release the handbrakes for us.”
According to his troops, at the end of the clash in which five Hamas
fighters were killed, their brigade commander raised his hands to the
heavens and said "thank you God.”
This ultra-Orthodox-Zionist
ethic was fully expressed in the interview in Bamishpacha. Winter
apparently felt at home. “A miracle like at the Battle of Khuza'a I’ve
never seen in all my military career, “ he said, referring to a village
east of Khan Yunis.
“We decided to attack the place before dawn so
no one would notice us. But for some reason the soldiers were late. We
didn’t know what to do; dawn was breaking …. Then suddenly clouds
protected us, ananai kavod,” he said, using a rabbinic phrase combining the word for cloud with the word for divine presence.
“It
suddenly covered us, all the soldiers, a heavy fog that accompanied us
throughout the assault. No one saw us. Only when the houses were blown
up that were to be blown up and there was no danger to our lives did the
fog suddenly lift. Really, ‘for the Lord your God is He that goeth ...
to save you,’” Winter said, borrowing from Deuteronomy 20:4. Has Givati
turned into the Jewish Jihad Brigade?
Misgav goes on to call for Winter - a decorated officer - to be relieved of his command, lest he turn all his soldiers into 'religious fanatics.'
Enter Mrs. Carl and her email to Israel Radio. On the whole, Israel Radio is as Leftist and anti-religious as Haaretz:
My feeling is:
1. Yes, I agree, it should have always been made much clearer that this was an optional motivational speaker, and attendance was NOT required or even necessary if the soldier was not interested.
2. In all armies, no matter what the religious position, encouragement, including spiritual words of “chizuk” or strengthening before battle, are accepted practice and seen as something good before going in to face the terrible challenges of battle. This was not something unreasonable. Yes, Christian, Druze, even Muslim speakers should also be provided, depending on the soldiers’ preferences, but I would assume the assumption here was that the majority of listeners were Jewish, and there presumably weren’t any requests for other types of speakers.
3. What I heard in the second clip was someone encouraging the soldiers to keep up and maintain the feelings of unity and solidarity and love and “achdut” that have been seen so clearly in the past 6 weeks. To take these feelings back with you when you go home, and try to keep up the feeling of unity and solidarity. This seems a Universally Wonderful message – especially in our argumentative, divisive society. (After all – look at how you are trying to create a controversy and argument over calls for unity!!)
4. I believe the speaker was trying to speak poetically when he spoke of writing a new “perek” in “Tanach” – this is the Hebrew literary equivalent of “writing a new chapter in our nation’s history” – a common phrase in English. In fact, it could NOT have been a “religious” harangue because in the orthodox/religious world it is forbidden to add anything to the Tanach. So it must have been a poetic device.
Putting this topic as the LEAD HEADLINE in the 10:00 news clip seems a little bit of an over-reaction to natural attempts to give encouragement to our soldiers. I see this as equivalent to the outpouring of supplies - dry goods and food – that were flowing down to the military camps. Yes, I agree, it should have been more controlled, it should have all been organized through the official military and affiliated soldier-support organizations, yes it was too much – but the source of it was deep love and a need to help our soldiers – our brothers and sons (and sisters and daughters) – in blood and in spirit.
Are you going to criticize the nation for expressing too much love and solidarity and unity?
Does the media have an agenda to increase the divisiveness in our nation, when we are so desperate for unity?
And do you see how ridiculous (I hope) that last question was – how ridiculous it is to take a natural thought, question, or action, and start to wrap it in layers of agenda and evil intent?
Again – I agree – the optional nature of these things must be made absolutely, unequivocally clear to every single soldier. And it has to be made available to everyone, of every religion, if requested. (Did you know that President Lincoln added Jewish chaplains to the US army only after it was requested by Jewish soldiers during the Civil War?)
But would you deny a little bit of encouragement to a soldier about to go into battle and feeling sick and maybe he would be strengthened by a feeling that he is loved and shielded by the prayers of his fellow Jews? Even if he is not officially “religious”?
This reminds me of 21 years ago when the Left tried to throw Chabad (Lubavitch) out of the army and the airport because they opposed Oslo. Freedom of speech in this country isn't always all it should be. And there is a lot more secular coercion than there is religious coercion - all protestations to the contrary notwithstanding.
What else happens on those 10-day trips? There is a lot of hooking up
and plenty of, as Feldman writes, “reinforcing the Zionist claim to the
land” (Feldman’s tour guide identified everything they saw out of the
bus window as “in the Bible,” and her group was given maps that
identified the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria”). And, “at some point
during their all-expenses-paid ten-day trip to a land where, as they are
constantly reminded, every mountain and valley is inscribed with 5,000
years of their people’s history,” there is “the moment”— the moment when
participants realize just how important Israel is to them, to their
fundamental identity, and how important they are to Israel.
According to Steinberg’s parents, that is exactly what happened to Max. His mother told the Washington Post
that, initially, he didn’t want to go on the Birthright trip, but once
he did, it changed him. It was on his group’s visit to Israel’s national
cemetery at Mount Herzl that Steinberg saw the grave of an American
“lone soldier” who died fighting for Israel and “decided that Israel was
where he wanted to be.” He joined the IDF, his father said, because he saw it as an obligation were he to stay in Israel.
Birthright says that aliyah—the immigration of diaspora Jews
to Israel—is not one of its goals, but like Steinberg, many
participants come away with the feeling that Israel is where they
belong. Birthright estimates that 20,000–30,000 of its participants
have acted on that feeling by moving to Israel. I have known many young
American Jews who have made the same decision—who at 18 decided that
they belonged in Israel and, though they’d never considered joining the
American military, moved across the ocean to join the IDF right after
high school. People say Birthright is “just like camp,” and it sure sounds like a very condensed version of the Jewish camp I attended as a kid,
whose purpose was, at the very least, to foster a connection to Israel
in young Jews—and at best, to get us to move to the country and fight
for it. My camp, filled with the children of liberal American Jews, did
this by presenting a very simplistic picture of the political situation
in Israel and the threat to Jews worldwide, all within the context of
helping to fix the world while having the time of your life. Birthright
does a form of the same.
On Tuesday, Birthright issued a statement from its CEO, Gidi Mark.
“We are deeply saddened to inform you of the tragic loss of one our
Taglit Birthright Israel alumni Max Steinberg,” Mark wrote. “His life—a
life filled with promise cut short far too soon—will live in our hearts
forever as a reminder of the sacrifices he and so many before him have
made to keep Israel safe.”
What makes an American kid with shaky Hebrew and no ties to the state
of Israel suddenly decide he is ready to make this sacrifice? Maybe Max
was especially lost, or especially susceptible, or maybe he was just
looking to do some good and became convinced by his Birthright
experience that putting on an IDF uniform and grabbing a gun was the way
to do it. That serving and protecting the Jewish people was the moral
thing to do, and that the best way to accomplish it was to go fight for
the Jewish state. It turns out that it’s not that hard to persuade young
people to see the world a certain way and that Birthright is very good
at doing it. You spend hundreds of millions of dollars to convince young
Jews that they are deeply connected to a country that desperately needs
their support? This is what you get.
Maybe this explains why 78% of American Jewry voted for Barack Obama - his non-support of Israel notwithstanding. Because to them, being Jewish isn't about joining their lives and fate to that of the Jewish people, including by supporting Israel. It's about liberalism and liberal values and not seeing the basic goodness and morality embodied in the Jewish state. Max Steinber saw it and that's why he came here. His death is a tragedy, but it should not be used as a club with which to destroy Birthright. He was not brainwashed. He chose to realize his identity with the Jewish people.
By the way, 30,000 people attended Max Steinberg's funeral in Jerusalem last night. Even John Kerry was moved (check out the link). And another 6,000 attended the funeral of French lone soldier Jordan Simon in Ashkelon, where the biggest concern was that too many people would show up and there would ba rocket attack during the funeral.
Oh my... 9-year old boy walks off baseball field rather than play without tzitzis
How many of you would have had the guts to do the same thing? How many of you would have had the guts to do it at the age of 9? An off-topic story that must be shared.
The game was going fine, with Yossi (as always) very actively
participating, and very much looking forward to his "at bat." As he came
up to bat, the umpire happened to notice that Yossi wears two uniforms,
his team uniform, and also the fringe undergarment uniform of every
male Jew - Tzitzit.
But then, for the first time, the umpire insisted that Yossi remove his
Tzitzit in that it could produce some type of "interference or unfair
advantage."
Yossi --the only Jewish boy, not just on the team, but we think in the
entire league-- respectfully explained to the umpire that he is wearing a
religious undergarment, had never had an issue with this previously,
however the umpire would not listen, decrying in affect "foul ball."
What was Yossi to do? Disrespect the umpire (an adult), or disrespect his religion?
To Yossi, the choice was easy and clear. He had "two feet on the ground"
in more ways than one. He walked off the field and would not play!
The game stopped, Yossi's team also volunteered to walk off the field and forfeit the game in its entirety.
After a significant "pow-wow" between the coaches and the umpire, Yossi was allowed to play, "double uniforms" and all.
Read the whole thing. Perhaps even more amazing than what Yossi did is that the rest of the kids were willing to walk off with him. Of course, if he is the best player on his team, that becomes a bit more explicable.
May Yossi grow up to be a talmid chacham (scholar) and a tzadik (righteous person) and bring only nachas (contentment) to his family.
David Ze'ev Jablinowitz is an English-language correspondent for Israel Radio. He posted this story to his Facebook page on Wednesday night.
So I'm speaking on a US campus, and during the question time that
followed my remarks, a student asks how it can be that Judaism is older
than Islam if the State of Israel wasn't established until 1948.
Yes, this is what passes for being college-ready in the United States in 2014. Unbelievable.... No, not anti-Semitism. Just plain, old fashioned stupidity.
Picture at the top of the post has no relation to content.
If you watch this video (Hat Tip: Ruchy A), you will see that at former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's funeral on Monday morning, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US Vice President Joe Biden are both wearing kipot (skullcaps). Blair and Biden are both non-Jews. On the other hand, Sharon's two (to the best of my knowledge, Jewish) sons, Omri and Gilad, are both bare-headed.
Israel
would require some operational logistics and intelligence support from
the United States, and I would not put it past the Islamist-centric
President Obama to withhold such support. Furthermore, it is the “day
after” which should mainly concern Israel. Will the United States back
their play and have their backs?
This career soldier and former Paratrooper thinks not, and that is a
major concern for PM Netanyahu — to a point. Since his rise to power,
President Obama has effectively destabilized the neighborhood in which
Israel resides, and not by incompetence, but by intention.
Yet the American Jewish community blindly followed this mastermind of
disaster, not once but twice. And don’t forget, Hillary and Bill
Clinton entertained Yasser Arafat in the White House. The question is,
now that Obama doesn’t need the Jewish community for another election,
will they awaken from their misguided politically-driven stupor?
I guarantee you that you won't need a magnifying glass to find the anti-Semitism at the New York Times this time. A couple of weeks ago, an article by one Joseph Levine (a 'man of the Left,' of course) scraped about as low as the Times has ever scraped. This brief essay by Edward Alexander in response is a must read.
American Jewry is often said to be divided between those who judge
Judaism by the principles of the New York Times and those who judge the
New York Times by the principles of Judaism.
...
Those Jews who judge the New York Times by the standards of Judaism
believe that the creation of the state of Israel was one of the few
redeeming events in a century of blood and shame, one of the greatest
affirmations of the will to live ever made by a martyred people, and the
most hopeful sign for humanity since the dove returned with the olive
branch to Noah. They tend also to cling to Orwell’s view that some
ideas–like the virtue of Jewish powerlessness–are so stupid that only
intellectuals can believe them.
Those who judge Judaism by the standards of the New York Times boast
of not having “danced in the streets when Ben-Gurion declared that the
Jews, like other peoples, had a state of their own.” They believe (as
does a majority of today’s Germans too) that Israel is the chief
obstacle to world peace, a diversion from such compelling goals as gay
marriage and unlimited access to abortion, and indeed the principal
cause of most of the world’s evils with the (possible) exception of
global warming.
I will guarantee you that every Orthodox Jew over the age of 12 - and probably many others - who read this blog, know exactly what the headline means. But for those who don't....
Negiya means touching in Hebrew. To oversimplify, in Orthodox Judaism, a man is not permitted to touch a woman who is not his wife, mother, daughter or sister. (And he's only permitted to touch his wife when she is not menstruating and has been to the ritual bath).
Apparently, Islam has a similar rule, something of which I was not aware. As a result, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in a lot of trouble because of the picture above. The woman he's hugging (sort of) is the mother of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.
After comparing recently
deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Jesus Christ and the hidden
Imam, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continued to draw criticism
at home for another sort of embrace. Iranian officials blasted the
Iranian president after pictures emerged of him hugging the late Chavez'
mother. The photos were considered inflammatory as religious Islamic
tradition prohibits physical contact between men and women who are
neither married nor related.
Following the dissemination of photos showing
Ahmadinejad embracing 78-year-old Elena Frias de Chavez, Ahmadinejad's
detractors claimed he had undermined the religious pride of the Islamic
republic and defied religious authority. The outrage over the embrace
comes as Iran prepares for presidential elections, set to take place in
June. Ahmadinejad's camp is seen at odds with those aligned with the
country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and the friction continues to
escalate as each side seeks opportunities to mar the other.
Iranian news outlet Mehr quoted Mohamed Taqi
Rahbar, parliamentarian and religious leader in the city of Isfahan, of
accusing Ahmadinejad of "losing control ... shaking the hand of a woman
who is not a relative is not allowed under any circumstance. Hugs or
displays of emotion are not befitting of a president's honor in a
country like the Islamic Republic of Iran."
I wonder if Islam has a concept of repentance.... Heh.
Twenty percent of those who received PhDs in math from Israeli higher learning
institutions from 1985 to 2005 had been living abroad for at least three years
as of 2011, according to a survey released this week by the Central Bureau of
Statistics.
The number of graduates from Israeli academia had steadily
increased from 21,000 in 1985 to 106,000 in 2005. The study focused on the
360,000 Israelis who obtained academic degrees during that 20-year
period.
As of 2011, 4.9 percent of them had been living outside of Israel
for three or more years. The percentage of those who left the country is even
higher among those with PhDs – 10.5%. The percentage of those with medical
degrees who left the country as of last year stands at 7.2%.
In 2011,
6.7% of those with medical degrees or PhDs in math and engineering returned to
Israel.
Among those with bachelor’s degrees, 4.8% of them sought
employment abroad as did 4.2% of those with master’s degrees.
The data
also showed that the percentage of PhDs in scientific fields and in engineering
who lived abroad for over three years is close to four times higher than that of
PhDs in social sciences, and most of those graduated from universities not
colleges.
What the survey doesn't ask is why. There's one small hint.
Out of the seven Israeli universities, the Weizmann Institute
of Science has the most graduates – 17.8% – going abroad, and Bar-Ilan
University the least – 2.9%.
It's not surprising that fewer Bar Ilan students leave because Bar Ilan includes as part of its mission,
The University aims to forge closer links between Torah and universal
studies, "to blend tradition with modern technologies and scholarship,
and teach the compelling ethics of Jewish heritage to all... to
synthesize the ancient and modern, the sacred and the material, the
spiritual and the scientific."
As you might imagine, that means that Bar Ilan has a reputation for having a higher percentage of religious Jewish students than is the case at other Israeli universities. And it shows.
Israel suffers from one of the highest tax burdens in the world. The Left would have us believe that's because of the 'settlers' and the ultra-Orthodox. But it's neither of the above. There are still a myriad of inefficiencies built into the Israeli economy from the early days of the state that raise prices, stifle competition, and give a sense of entitlement that leads to higher taxes just to keep the country running. Here are a few examples:
Dairy products, fruit and vegetables are still solely marketed by a conglomerate owned by the Kibbutzim.
Everyone gets a monthly child subsidy that's equal regardless of your income. It depends only on the number of children you have.
Most imports are structured in a manner that lines someone's pockets and costs everyone else money. For example, there is one exclusive importer for each automobile make. That's because getting an import license here is almost impossible.
This is the only country in the world where the banks make the majority of their profits from fees paid by ordinary consumers (you and me).
While the level of medical care to which the average citizen has access is astoundingly good, a doctor can make tens of times more money by moving abroad. That tradeoff would actually be fair if you assume that the doctor has to make less money for many years because he gets a heavily subsidized education (university tuition here runs about $2500 per year, and if you maintain over a 90 average, you generally don't pay after the first year). But this isn't a closed market, and nothing stops a doctor from getting an education here and then taking it abroad to practice more profitably.
The cost of living here is simply higher, and if your decision to stay or leave is purely a function of economics, you are likely to leave if you have the opportunity to move abroad (The article specifically mentions American immigrants - who keep their US citizenship - moving back to the US. Given what I have just told you, is anyone really surprised?).
What's the answer? The answer is a stronger education in Jewish values. 'Israeliness' is not going to motivate anyone to stay here.
Here's an example of the type of family values a second Obama administration plans to support. Meet President Obama's friend, Dan Savage.
Let's go to the videotape.
I forgot.Those who have replaced Judaism with Liberalism believe in those same 'values.' That's why they'll vote for Obama anyway.This will only encourage them.
Nancy Pelosi, Steve Israel and Chris Murphy appeared at CAIR (Hamas' US branch) fundraiser
Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) and Steve Israel (D-NY), and Senate candidate Chris Murphy (D-Ct), appeared at a secret May fundraiser on behalf of CAIR. CAIR, which acts as Hamas' US branch, was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land terrorism trial in 2007-08.
Nancy Pelosi, Democratic congresswoman from San Francisco, Steve
Israel, Democratic congressman from NY, and Chris Murphy who is running
for the Senate against Linda McMann in Connecticut, joined Reps Keith
Ellison and Andre Carson as headliners at a Democratic Party fundraiser
with leaders of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood front groups on May,
2012.
It was held in secret.
Why is it a secret? Aren’t they transparent? Shouldn’t they be
flaunting the names of their new bundlers who will in turn expect
support for their many anti-Israel goals?
Nancy Pelosi, who has been a supporter of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian
leader who is currently massacring his own people, is now supporting
the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) whose Executive
Director Nihad Awad, has openly championed Hamas and defended suicide
bombings as “legitimate resistance.”
Awad views the Democratic Party as supporters who are bringing about
change in U.S.-Hamas-Brotherhood relations. Not all Democrats are on
board, but too many are.
The Nassau County Federation of Republican Women hosted a forum to discuss
the assault on Religious Freedom in the US at all levels of
government and in particular by the Obama administration and members of
the Democratic Party. The guest speakers/panelists were renowned
commentator Rabbi Aryeh Spero and Jim Krug, president of the Long Island
Chapter of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. This
video shows Rabbi Spero repsonding to an audience question about why
Congressman Steve Israel and other Jewish politicians support the
anti-semetic group Occupy Wall Street.
Let's go to the videotape.
You will note that Rabbi Spero makes a point that I have often made on this blog about how so many Jews have substituted Liberalism for Judaism as their religion. Indeed.
I think you have latched on to politics because you are searching for
something to build. There is only so much pulling down one can do
without feeling utterly destructive.... You are driven. You are
passionate. I pray that you channel your drive and direct your passion
to something positive, something that will make you a better and more
positive person, something that will allow you to touch eternity and
truly impact the world forever. I pray that you pursue marriage and, if
you are so blessed, raise children.
I noted in my earlier post that Silverman's father had written an obscenity laden comment on JewishPress.com, the site that carried the letter. Now, some larger sites have stepped in (Hat Tip: Benny).
Why is Rabbi Rosenblatt so threatened by Sarah Silverman?
Because — make no mistake — that's exactly what he is. He's clearly
threatened by the fact that a 42-year-old childless (gasp!), unmarried
(double gasp!) woman (TRIPLE GASP!) wields so much power and influence —
and that she actually seems fulfilled by her unorthodox life choices.
But most importantly, Silverman's dad took to the comments section on Rosenblatt's post and fired off a couple of warning shots:
Hey asshole: Daughter #1 is a rabbi. Not by your standards.
She's reform. How dare she, a lowly woman think god wants her to be a
rabbi, created from a mere rib. Her hubby, three times nominated for a
nobel peace prize was listed by the Jerusalem Post as the 49th most
influential jew in the world built the worlds largest solar field in
israel. By the way, Sarah was also on the list. I missed your name.
Oldest granddaughter is serving in the Israel Defense Forces. I'm sure
you also served.Oh I forgot the orthodox don't do that. You don't fuck
with my family.
The Jewish Press' Stephen Leavitt was surprised by the raw nerve Rabbi Rosenblatt's letter touched.
I propose that many of the Jewish-American commenters got so upset
because the Rabbi crossed a line. But the line he crossed was not about
his views on motherhood, but rather his views on the role of the Rabbi
and of Judaism.
Judaism, to some of those commenters, belongs locked in a box in a
synagogue, and should never be allowed out to offer any moral
observations, opinions or guidelines that disagree with the most
permissive of Western cultural values.
As expressed by some of these commenters, Silverman actually represents “Judaism” to them.
Some of them might have a list of humanitarian/liberal values and
call them Jewish values, while taking traditional Jewish values like
Shabbat and Kashrut (as well as Judaism’s own social values), and
relegating them to archaic, comical, even dark places in the culture.
For them, Judaism is Liberalism. A definition and identity where
anything is permitted, alongside a strong pride in their cultural/ethnic
identity as Jews, regardless of whether that identity actually
represent a Jewish value system, or an accident of birth.
The question is certainly open as to whether the Rabbi was right or
wrong in his analysis of Silverman, but one thing is clear, Rosenblatt
rattled something deep and painful in the psyches of those who define
themselves as cultural/ethnic Jews, without any actual Judaism to go
with it.
I would add that some of those commenters are outraged because of the guilt they feel at having their 'Judaism' thrown in their face in favor of real, authentic Judaism. Maybe they should try learning something about the real thing. They may be surprised.
The Democratic Party didn’t quite succeed in banning God from its platform, but it did its best to ensure that no-one would listen to him by putting a liberal clergyman who talks about anything except God in front of a deserted stadium. That checked the God box without allowing the Maker of Heaven to get a word in edgewise.
Rabbis from the wrongly named Conservative movement are used to preaching to empty rooms, but there was something surreal in the image of the Los Angeles Sinai Temple’s Rabbi David Wolpe blessing a deserted stadium late Wednesday night long after the Democrats had departed. Named by Newsweek the most influential American rabbi, Wolpe beamed empathy and gestured eloquently to the vacant stadium. After the last-minute vote by acclamation to return God to the party platform, Wolpe’s benediction had deep symbolic overtones. Clint Eastwood talked to an empty chair, while Wolpe talked to ten thousand empty chairs.
...
The whole of the Republican convention delegates remained in place to hear Cardinal Dolan after Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech, unlike their Democratic counterparts, who walked out on Rabbi Wolpe. Viewers of CNN, though, did not hear Cardinal Dolan, because Wolf Blitzer was too busy trolling the punditeska for instant comments on the Romney speech to allow Dolan to be heard. Fox News carried the cardinal’s benediction rather than the pundits.
The opening invocation at the Republican convention came from the Orthodox Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, before whom the whole mass of delegates stood with bowed heads.
...
One difference between the two addresses is the fact that the whole Republican convention heard Rabbi Soloveichik, while no-one but the cleaning crew was there for Rabbi Wolpe. There was a also a world of difference in the content. Rabbi Wild and Wonderful preached social work and psychobabble, while Rabbi Soloveitchik linked God’s revelation to Moses and the American founding, much closer in spirit to Cardinal Dolan than to the progressive Rabbi Wolpe.
It’s no surprise that progressive Judaism is imploding. In the past decade, the Reform and (poorly named) Conservative movements have lost 30% to 40% of their members by various estimates. If Judaism boils down to social work, why not do the social work, rather than bother with the laborious practices of an ancient religion? Progressive Jews have the lowest fertility rate of any identifiable (heterosexual) segment of the United States population, and half of their children intermarry. The American Jews will be a smaller, but far more devout, community a generation hence.
It is perhaps indicative of how seriously 'progressive Jews' take their religion that an image search for "Wolpe benediction" in Google turns up more pictures of his most famous congregant - Monica Lewinsky - than of the 'most influential rabbi in America,' Rabbi Wolpe himself. Pretty sad.
And while we know the president enjoys "a good party," the real question is whether he enjoys sharing them with Jewish people when they do not involve raising money for his campaign. In a New York Timesreport on the history of "the Obama Seder," candidate Obama joined several staff members in a small gathering during the Passover holiday that fell during the campaign.
Obama invited several African-American friends who "peppered the outnumbered Jews at the table with questions...'We're not exactly crack Hebrew scholars,'" responded one of the Obama staffers. Apparently, the man who claims to know more about Judaism than the 43 U.S. presidents who preceded him was also incapable of responding to any of the questions relating to the Passover story. But the article does share with us that Obama took it upon himself to revise the Haggadah ending the Seder with "Next year in the White House!"
What we also learn from the Times story is that the Seder is now a WH tradition, and "[n]o one considered inviting prominent rabbis or other Jewish leaders; it is a private event." We also learn that "as in many Jewish households, the Obama Seder seems to take on new meaning each year, depending on what is happening in the world and in participants' lives." Wrong. The meaning of the Jewish holiday has not changed in thousands of years.
The man who claimed to "serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views" is nothing of the sort. He is more like Sybil, intentionally morphing into a different persona when he determines it politically expedient. He is certainly not knowledgeable about Judaism, he is not an honest man, and he has spent his life in the midst of some very bad people. Obama's personality will be vetted this time around whether he likes it or not. And grandiose statements made in the shadows of Greek columns will prove to be incapable of supporting his faux image and multiple personalities, just as the European Union has proven incapable of supporting the faltering Greek economy.
While the rest of the country is waking up to the fact that the smartest man to catapult to the highest office in the land may not actually be as brilliant as his handlers would have us believe, Obama has yet to take off his rose-colored glasses when he views himself in the mirror.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
