Labels: humor, Talmud, Yeshiva
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:21 PM
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Labels: 1929 Hebron massacre, Hebron, Hebron yeshiva, Yeshiva
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:45 PM
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Gold then moves on to address the economic concerns of the businesses in yishuvim ['settlements' CiJ], facing a growing boycott of their goods in the international marketplace, with a growing number of nations unwilling to purchase goods originating over the Green Line. The continued use of these products by the chareidim is the “oxygen lifeline” for these companies, Gold believes, for at home there is no concern regarding the origin of the product vis-à-vis the Green Line, at least not among the chareidim. In Tel Aviv for example, the settlers realize they cannot market their goods. Now if the chareidim decide to launch a boycott against products from yishuvim or from the dati leumi tzibur [national religious public. CiJ], it will only be a matter of time until some of these companies fold as a result.
Calling for such a move is not an easy task for much of this community are persons who are shomer Shabbos and mitzvos [Sabbath observers who keep the commandments. CiJ], and they too are probably dissatisfied with Bennett, but such a decision should be made when the serious decisions surrounding the chareidi community are made.
If such a decision is made, one that has proven itself effective time after time, even a partial boycott or an unofficial boycott, the impact would be realized in a very short time period. The organized chareidi consumer might is known and several large companies can show their scars from such actions in the past.Sorry, but this is way overboard. If you want to expose how much it costs the government for keeping each town in place, because the public has a right to know, that might (emphasis might - not would) be justifiable.
Labels: BDS, Haredim, hesder, Jewish Home party, Judea and Samaria, Naftali Bennett, National Religious, Yeshiva
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:06 PM
2 comments
This is a bit off the normal fare for this blog, but I think a lot of you will find it interesting.So what preserves Israel if not her military and political leaders? God, of course.Okay, I agree with all that. But how did we survive in the diaspora for all those years when most of us were there? And by what merit does God continue to Preserve us? We don't really know for sure why God does what He does, but this seems like a good guess even if it comes from (would you believe) academia.
You don't have to be religious to draw this conclusion, because no secular explanation makes any sense given the location of this minuscule and dysfunctional state in a hostile Arab sea. In fact, God has given Israel the Best Enemies! After all, Israel secular leaders are tripping over each other trying to make peace with Arabs who can't even make peace with themselves—and this has preserved what is left of Eretz Israel!
Consider Israel's intelligent and mellifluous Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He has gone so far as to endorse the creation of an Arab state in Judea and Samaria, Israel's heartland. All he wants is the impossible, that Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian authority, recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people. Abbas refuses.
But for this we must thank God, for if you look at what the Torah tells us about Ishmael and his descendants, of course they won't recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people. Netanyahu might as well ask Abbas to renounce the Quran! But do you know that the Quran, with its racist maledictions about infidels, is helping to preserve Israel as a Jewish state?
Of course, the Quran is only a negative reason for Israel's preservation. There are two positive factors working to sustain Israel—and for this we must also credit Israeli governments, notwithstanding their secular intentions.
One factor is the burgeoning number of Israel's yeshivas—unprecedented in Jewish history. These Jewish academies of learning are sanctifying the Name of God, and God is rewarding Israel by making it fruitful. While Muslims exalt death and want to destroy Israel, Israel exalts life and has become the greatest source of life-preserving discoveries in medical science and life-giving water technology.
The second positive factor that preserves Israel is that it is the most charitable nation on earth. Look how Israel has absorbed millions of refugees—and not all are Jewish! Consider its charitable organizations. Do you know that Israel has a group of people that is on call 24/7 to go to any place in the world that has suffered some catastrophe such as an earthquake or a flood? Israel set up clinics in earthquake shattered Haiti and even sent help even to unfriendly Turkey when that Islamist regime was recently struck by an earthquake.
So, what preserves Israel is its charity and sanctifying God's Name. This is why countless righteous Gentiles love Israel and rally to her support. They love Israel because Israel loves God and helps God's children, be they Jew or Gentile.
And by the way: the only way to bring peace to the Middle East is for Israel to become a light unto the nations.
Anthropologist Melvin Konner of Emory University, Atlanta, attributes the Jewish people's survival to their devotion to some of the mitzvot of the Torah, which he says were specifically suited to guarantee the continued existence of the children of Abraham.Read the whole thing.
According to Prof. Konner, circumcision and practicing family purity (Niddah) are mitzvot which allowed and encouraged the birth of a greater number of offspring, contributing to the people's continued existence.
He adds that the model of prolific mothers matches Darwin's Natural Selection theory, according to which many offspring improve the chances of survival. In other words, "be fruitful and multiply" is a winning formula.
Konner presented his theory last week at the conference on "Judaism in Evolutionary Perspective" at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.
"The existence of the Jewish people throughout history, in light of the exiles and persecution, is a real challenge," says Konner. "Religious people see this as divine intervention.
"There is no doubt that their commitment to religious texts helped, but if we look at certain Jewish traditions, we can definitely examine their influence on the reproductive system."
...
Konner was born into an Orthodox family, but according to Israeli terms he is a former religious today. And yet, he view Torah and mitzvot as an essential asset for Jewish existence.
"I don't think we would have survived as a people without the Torah," he says. "Even though every generation has people like me, who draw away from observing the Torah's mitzvot, it remains the core of the Jewish people.
"Like most Israelis, I don't approve of religious extremism either and view it as a potential threat, but like Ben-Gurion realized – the Jewish people need religious people.
"In Israel today you can be completely secular without affecting your Jewish identity. In the Diaspora there is no such thing. In recent generations, secular Judaism has been a way out of Judaism. But three things have allowed the existence of the Jewish people in the past, and in the future: The people, Torah and God."
Labels: charity, circumcision, Family purity laws, God, Yeshiva
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:07 AM
1 comments
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
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