Miriam Elman has a detailed summary of the bizarre rules that govern Jewish visits to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. I strongly urge you to read the whole thing, especially if you're not familiar with the situation. But I found especially intriguing Miriam's summary of an essay by RabbiMeirSoloveitchik.
In an important essay for the online journal Mosaic
this past November, Meir Soloveichik, the Director of the Straus Center
for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University in N.Y., writes
that Israel’s 1967 “status quo” arrangement is one of the “most
misguided in Israel’s history”.
Instead of setting aside a designated section on the Temple Mount for
Jewish prayer—one that wouldn’t have interfered with Muslim worship and
would’ve also been appropriate according to halakhah (Jewish
religious law), which forbids Jews from visiting certain portions of the
Har HaBayit—the government’s decision “set in place a policy that
resulted in the worst of all possible worlds”:
First, many Jews who continued to visit the Mount did so
without any rabbinic guidance, entering areas where according to
halakhah they should not have set foot. Second, Israel’s self-imposed
ban on Jewish prayer persuaded both the Waqf and the Palestinians and
Arab world in general that Israel’s leaders lacked any attachment to or
reverence for the site”.
According to Soloveichik the indifference has merely reinforced the
“foul false narrative” that the Jews never worshipped God on the Mount,
that the Temples never existed, and that the Jewish nation has no
historical legitimacy.
It’s a sentiment echoed recently by the indefatigable Vic Rosenthal. Writing in Abu Yehuda, a “blog about the struggle to keep the Jewish state”, Rosenthal claims that Israel now either has to “exercise sovereignty” on the Temple Mount “or lose it”:
When Israel conquered the Old City in 1967, the Arabs
expected that they would be kicked out. After all, that is what they did
to the Jews in eastern Jerusalem in 1948. That is what a victorious
people in a national conflict over possession of land have always done,
if they didn’t kill or enslave the population. But that is not what
Israel did. When Israeli law was extended to eastern Jerusalem in 1967,
Arab residents were offered Israeli citizenship. Most refused and became
permanent residents, with the right to vote in municipal elections,
health and social security benefits, etc…When the IDF took control of
the Temple Mount, IDF Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren wanted to build a
synagogue there…But Defense Minister Moshe Dayan had other ideas: he
prohibited Jews from praying on the Mount, and placed its administration
in the hands of the Jordanian waqf…Thus were the seeds planted
for the current situation, which includes absurdities like Israeli
police officers arresting Jews who are seen to move their lips when
visiting the Mount, and shrieking Arab women confronting Jews who want
to just stand there”.
We have only ourselves to blame. But then, it's not surprising. Anyone who has read Michael Oren's account of the Six Day War is aware that the government did not want to liberate Jerusalem and the Temple Mount - only the late Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren was interested in doing so. Unfortunately, the government of Israel has never reconciled itself to being in control of the Mount.
After Wednesday night's terror attack in which Yehuda Glick, an advocate of Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount, was shot and seriously wounded, the Israel Police announced on Thursday that no one would be allowed on the Temple Mount.
Former ISIS hostages: No, Sotloff didn't convert; Yes, he fasted on Yom Kippur
When Stephen Sotloff HY"D (May God Avenge his blood) was murdered by ISIS, and it was publicized that he was an Israeli citizen and observed Yom Kippur, at least one blogger attacked him for converting to Islam (see the comments to that post).
Former
hostages said that a majority of the Western prisoners had converted
during their difficult captivity. Among them was Mr. Kassig, who adopted
the name Abdul-Rahman, according to his family, who learned of his
conversion in a letter smuggled out of the prison.
Only
a handful of the hostages stayed true to their own faiths, including
Mr. Sotloff, then 30, a practicing Jew. On Yom Kippur, he told his
guards he was not feeling well and refused his food so he could secretly
observe the traditional fast, a witness said.
As he's called a 'terrorist sympathizer,' Stephen Sotloff's mother talks about his connection to Israel
The mother of Stephen Sotloff HY"D (May God Avenge his blood) has spoken to Israel's Yedioth Aharonoth daily about her son's connection to Israel.
"The first time Steven visited Israel he immediately fell in love
with it," Shirley told those coming to comfort the bereaved family,
according to Yedioth Aharonoth.
Sotloff was an Israeli citizen,
having made aliyah (immigration) to the Jewish state in 2005, where he
studied at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya until 2008.
According to his mother, who is herself the daughter of a Holocaust
survivor, Sotloff first traveled to Israel on the Taglit-Birthright
Israel program and was enchanted by what he saw.
On Friday the family is to hold a memorial ceremony for him at the
Beit Am synagogue in Miami, where Sotloff studied as a child and where
his mother taught, and then sit shiva, the traditional seven-day period of intense mourning.
The grieving mother added "our Steven was not a man of war. He always
looked for the human things; he always told us that his goal was to
show the world what really is happening in the daily lives of citizens
in Syria during the war."
Sotloff's family has asked for privacy during their mourning; on Wednesday a family friend Barak Barfi spoke to media representatives on their behalf, saying Sotloff was "pulled by the Arab world” to “tell the stories of those who didn't have anyone else to tell them.”
Yid with Lid reports that a number of people have attacked Sotloff as a 'terrorist sympathizer.' Yid with Lid refutes those claims here.
Sotloff made Aliyah
and studied at the IDC. Little information regarding his time in Israel
is known, and after he was captured in Syria it seems any connection to
Israel was deleted from his online presence in a bid to prevent the
information reaching his captors.
National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden announced the US
intelligence community's assessment of the video in a statement
Wednesday.
Colleagues and acquaintances recalled Sotloff as a generous man
fascinated by journalism and the changes gripping the Middle East, and
determined to tell stories from the perspective of average people, not
army movements on the battlefield.
A friend who was with
Sotloff in captivity told Ynet's sister-print publication Yedioth
Aharonoth that Sotloff was Jewish - a fact he hid from his captors - and
even managed to observe the Yom Kippur fast while in Islamic State
captivity.
"He told them he was sick and doesn’t want to eat, even though we
were served eggs that day," the friend said. "He used to pray secretly
in the direction of Jerusalem. He would see in which direction (his
Muslim captors) were praying and then adjust the angle."
...
Sotloff, a 31-year-old
Miami-area native who freelanced for Time and Foreign Policy magazines,
vanished in Syria in August 2013 and was not seen again until he
appeared in a video released last month that showed Foley's beheading.
...
Just how Sotloff made
his way from Florida to Middle East hotspots is not clear. He published
articles from Syria, Egypt and Libya in a variety of publications.
Several focus on the plight of ordinary people in war-torn places.
One individual familiar with the case said the family's theory
had been that Sotloff was grabbed by a criminal gang, and later
transferred or "sold" to Islamic State. This could not be confirmed by
his family, which declined interview requests.
Preparing for the trip to Syria, Sotloff reportedly asked a
fellow reporter in June 2013: "What type of lawlessness in Aleppo?
Should I keep my eyes open for anything regarding safety?"
"Can you meet with ISI," he asked, using an earlier acronym for
Islamic State. "And the quality of life? Is there still plenty of food
available? Gas?"
In a statement, Foreign Policy magazine called him a "brave and
talented journalist" whose reporting "showed a deep concern for the
civilians caught in the middle of a brutal war."
Time
Editor Nancy Gibbs said Sotloff "gave his life so readers would have
access to information from some of the most dangerous places in the
world."
Given that that Sotloff's Judaism was widely publicized after Foley was beheaded, I find it hard to believe that ISIS did not know Sotloff was Jewish. Therefore, the acronym HY"D (May God Avenge his blood) seems to fit here.
UPDATE 4:04 PM
Much more detail about Sotloff's time in Israel and his contacts with Israeli journalists here.
Please daven for Rachamim Ben Aliza Chana an Israeli soldier who jumped
on top of a live grenade to save his friends. He is in very bad
condition and needs all our prayers.
Some of you may recall a similar incident during the Battle of Bint Jbeil in the Second Lebanon War.
Register an IDF soldier to have prayers recited and Torah studied on his behalf
For many years, Mrs. Carl has had an idea to have yeshiva boys study Torah and pray for the success of IDF soldiers. The idea is that the yeshiva boys will feel more of a connection and more responsibility if they are praying and studying for a specific named soldier.
Now, the online group Dossim is making it happen. To register the names of IDF soldiers for whom yeshiva boys should study Torah and pray, go here (link in Hebrew).
This was sent out by Rabbi Yitzchok Eisenman of Passaic, New Jersey to his Short Vort list on Friday morning. Rabbi Eisenman and I have known each other for 35 years (Hat Tip: Debbie R, who has known me even longer).
Sorry to bother you on Erev Shabbos, however, I just got off the phone
with *Mrs. Rachelli (née Sprecher) Frankel, mother of Naftali Frankel
(Yaakov Naftali ben Rachel Devorah) *one of the three boys abducted by
Hamas last week.
The phone call lasted about 7 or 8 minutes; however, I am still
shaking from the experience.
Mrs. Frankel related to me how she received a text message from her
son Naftali last Thursday night at about 9:30 PM informing her that he
would be home soon.
Having heard that he was on his way home and thinking that this
Thursday night would be the same as any other Thursday evening, she
replied via text that she and his father would be going to sleep and
they would see him on Friday morning; no different than any other
weekend when he came home from Yeshiva.
They were awakened in the middle of the night with the news that their
son was missing and was abducted.
And from that day on all she and her family have been attempting to do
is ‘stay sane'.
From that phone call in the middle of last Thursday night her life has
been thrown into a confused and painful existence.
From a mother concerned with the normal mundane things of life, she
has been transformed into a one woman spokesperson and representative
of all Jewish women and of their love and concern for their children.
She told me how the ‘achdus' (unity) she has witnessed has been
‘amazing'.
She specifically told me how both the Chareidi and secular communities
have been unbelievable in their outpouring of support and caring.
She told me that numerous secular Jews have contacted her to tell her
that although they have not put on Tefillin for years, this week they
put on Tefillin!
Evan Yair Lapid, the secular Minister of Finance said, “I haven't
prayed in six years. I haven't gone into a synagogue since my son's
bar mitzvah. When I heard what had happened to your sons, I turned my
house upside down to look for my grandfather's prayer book. I sat down
and prayed.”
Mrs. Frankel related to me how people from all over the country have
informed her of acts of kindness and about learning they have taken
upon themselves for the sake of the boys.
She ended the conversation by saying, “I have never seen such
‘achdus' as displayed by all Jews of all stripes as I have witnessed
this last week.”
She then paused and added, “You know, if Hamas- whose mission is to
destroy us- would have realized how much unity and how much harmony
they have generated among us, they would have never kidnapped the boys
in the first place.”
She begged me to tell all of you to continue your acts of Tefillah and
kindness and mitzvohs on behalf of the boys.
She pleaded with me to spread the message among my congregants and
among Americans (Jew and non-Jew) of the importance of remaining
united and focused on the task of doing whatever we can do to keep the
pressure on to get the boys released.
She then added, “You never know which act of kindness, which
Chessed, which person saying Tehillim and which Tefillah offered by
which person is going to be the one to finally tip the scales in
Heaven in their favor. Please, please tell everyone to continue.
Please tell them to remain unified and to continue their mitzvohs
until I can once again hug my Naftali.”
He voice became weak and I could hear and sense the tears swelling in
her eyes.
“Shabbat Shalom” she whispered, and hung up.
As I placed the phone down, I thought to myself, ‘She said
“Shabbat Shalom” which means a Shabbos of Shalom, of peace;
indeed, she is correct, that is exactly what we all need: a Shabbos of
Shalom.'
May all Jewish mothers- including (and especially) the mothers of the
three boys- be privileged to hug their children this Shabbos.
When we first moved to Israel, we lived within a half hour walk of the Kotel (Western Wall), and every Friday night I went with my oldest son, who used to tell me the weekly Torah portion on the way there and back, and who is now married.
Every Friday night, we brought back 2-4 guests for our Sabbath table - people who were 'picked up' at the Kotel by Meir Schuster zt"l (may the memory of the righteous be a blessing) and l'havdil bein chaim l'chaim (to differentiate between the living in the next world and the living in this world) Jeff Seidel.
We also took back many more guests - often dozens - who were eating with another family, the Machlis family, that lived in an apartment complex across the street from ours. The Machlis' are known for having as many as 150 people at their Sabbath table, all at their own expense. Literally thousands of American kids had their first exposure to the Sabbath at the Machlis' table.
Mrs. Machlis is now very much in need of Mercy from Heaven. I ask that you all please say a prayer for
Henna Rasha Bat Yitta Ratza
You should be privileged to do mitzvot (good deeds).
King David's tomb now Judenrein, arrested Jews denied legal counsel
Israel Police cleared King David's tomb of Jews on Sunday morning to ensure that there would be no opposition to Pope Francis' visit to the tomb on Monday (photo credit). 26 Jews were arrested in the expulsion, and they are now being denied legal counsel to ensure that they will not be able to return to the tomb before Monday.
This is from the second link followed by the third link.
26 people were arrested at the site of David’s Tomb in Jerusalem,
after they formed a stronghold in protest against the police’s decision
to evacuate the area in preparation for Pope Francis’s visit.
Among
those taken into custody was a soldier who threatened an officer with
his weapon, in an attempt to prevent the arrest of someone else.
...
The Haneinu organization claim that the 26 people taken into custody
on Sunday at the site of David’s tomb including many youths as young as
14-years-old and that the arrestees have been denied legal counsel.
The
organization also claims that police officers exerted much violence
against the suspects and even inexplicably broke into a yeshiva (Torah
academy) dormitory located at the site of David’s Tomb.
Don't hold your breath waiting for Slimy Shimon to protest the arrests. He's too busy packing his bags to go pray at the Vatican. His forebears - who were Orthodox Jews - must be rolling over in their graves at the prospect.
Thousands demonstrate in New York against drafting yeshiva students
Anywhere from 50,000 to 150,000 (link in Hebrew) Haredim filled a 10-block area of lower Manhattan on Sunday to protest against the government of Israel's proposed draft of yeshiva students.
Let's go to the videotape.
So what's it all about. I'd like to quote two sentences from the first link, which I think summarize why the Haredi community - both in Israel and abroad (there was also a huge demonstration in London last week) - has reacted so strongly.
'We're all united against military service for religious men in Israel because it doesn't allow for religious learning,' said Peggy Blier, an interior designer from Brooklyn. 'The Israeli government is looking to destroy religious society and make the country into a secular melting pot.'
...
'They came out of fear of one thing: that they are going to be changed, that they will be put in a melting pot and changed,' ultra-Orthodox lawmaker Israel Eichler told Israeli Channel 2 TV.
Yes, that's really what it's all about. When the Israeli government makes the effort to convince Haredim otherwise - which they won't do through sanctions, criminal or otherwise - they might succeed in getting Haredim to join the army and/or the workforce. Until then, all they've accomplished is to undo the progress which has been made in the past ten years:
In 2011, for instance, 55 percent of ultra-Orthodox women and 45 percent of the men held jobs, up from 48 percent and 33 percent respectively nine years earlier, according to Israel's central bank and its central bureau of statistics. The numbers, while still far below the national average of around 80 percent, show the community is far from the homogenous mass viewed by outsiders.
I suspect 2014's numbers will go back in the other direction.
The 'official' response to the 'official' video of the Haredi prayer rally
I suppose this was inevitable. There is now an 'official' response to the 'official' video of the Haredi prayer rally. It's been posted by a YouTube user who has no other videos posted under his account (what a shock).
I have no complaints about this one. The only scene of someone learning is a soldier (who looks Haredi) with another man (who also looks Haredi). The video is not attacking Torah learning.
And I love the song (three weeks to the next Daf Yomi - daily Talmud folio - party for finishing a tractate and I'll have this song in mind the entire time I'm saying that passage).
'Official video' of Sunday's prayer rally not so official?
In an earlier post, I reported on what purports to be an 'official video' of Sunday's prayer rally. Those who have not seen it may want to click that link and go back and see it. The video is causing quite a storm on social media, where it has been roundly criticized for its clever coordination of the song's words and the pictures to make it seem that any pursuit other than the rally is a worthless pursuit.
I took the video from a Haredi website called Kikar Shabbat, and I downloaded it onto my hard drive and embedded it so that it doesn't turn on automatically like many other videos from places other than YouTube. I know some of you will appreciate that.
It turns out that the video was originally uploaded to YouTube. It was uploaded by a user called ChemouelYaacov around midnight Tuesday night Israel time.
The user is apparently a new user. I doubt this is an official video. More likely it's a spoof intended to embarrass the rally organizers. Does anyone really think that an 'official' Haredi video would be posted on YouTube? Really?
The 'official video' of Sunday's prayer rally - UPDATED
I'm posting this because I really like the song (it's from a prayer that's said every time one finishes a tractate of Gemara or an order of Mishna), but I have to tell you honestly that the video is a little too over the top for my tastes. Those who understand Hebrew will probably understand why, and I'm not going to comment on it further.
Let's go to the videotape.
UPDATE 12:20 PM
I was anticipating this (which I had not seen) when I said that this video is over the top.
Images of hareidi protesters are timed for the lines "we get up early
to study Torah," and are juxtaposed to "they get up early for worthless
pursuits" which is played to images of IDF soldiers, as well as Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warning the UN about the Iranian nuclear threat.
Emergency workers who worked to provide medical aid and keep the
rally safe were also shown on the clip in time for the lines criticizing
"worthless pursuits."
...
The clip has raised an outcry; Emily Amrousy of Yisrael Hayom wrote
"I'm sure the clip will anger the hareidim who study Torah as well.
After all, most of them value and respect the IDF, understand that it's
important for the physical existence of the state of the Jews, and just
don't want to enlist themselves."
"The clip turns the soldiers, who endanger their lives, to actual
enemies," added Amrusy. "Even two innocent soldiers who accidentally
crossed the road at the place where the protest started with large heavy
bags on their backs are 'waking early for worthless pursuits.'"
I agree. I can think of a lot of things that go on in this country that are far more deserving of the characterization 'worthless pursuits.' This was really unnecessary. Note that there is no one who takes credit for producing this video. And I would bet that these guys are not very happy about it either.
Last Thursday, just days before the mass protest, 21-year-old Yossi Ashtamkar became the second Nahal Hareidi (Hareidi brigade) officer to receive a prize for excellence in IDF history at an officers' course graduation ceremony.
Nahal Hareidi has won three other prizes over the past several months. In December, the unit won the IDF Chief of Staff's prize; the unit was also awarded the IDF Department of Technology and Logistics' Award and the GOC Army Headquarters Safety Award.
The unit was also nominated for the Education Award, along with an
award in Excellence in Maintaining Sector Security, issued by the
Paratroop Command and Chief Infantry Officer.
Here's a video about Nachal Haredi's Netzach Yehuda brigade, the largest in the IDF.
Let's go to the videotape.
Sorry, but you can maintain the preeminence of Torah (with which I wholeheartedly agree) without putting other people down. There's no need to continue the descent that this week's discourse has spawned.
If you have any doubts as to how many people were at Sunday's prayer rally to the Haredi draft, please click the picture below to expand it to full size (Hat Tip: Dani K).
Here's a raw video of the prayers at the end of Sunday's prayer rally in Jerusalem.
Let's go to the videotape.
The only crowd estimates I have seen say that 'hundreds of thousands' of people were there, but I can tell you that the rabbis made - and told others to make - the blessing for seeing 600,000 Jews with God's name (i.e. no doubts).
There were no riots, no violence and the police had little to do. I cannot remember any other gathering of this many people at which there were absolutely no problems.
For those wondering about the program for Sunday's prayer rally, one of my kids brought it home from school. This is the sum total of what's planned:
11 chapters of
Tehillim (Psalms) (79, 80, 137, 55, 51, 90, 89, 95, 107, 96, 86) then י"ג מידות (the 13 Divine Attributes)
and קבלת עול מלכות שמים (accepting the burden of God's Kingdom upon us). God willing, very dignified.
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
