Chaf Gimmel (23rd) of Shevat this year will be the 42nd anniversary of the passing of my father. It is also close to 100 years since he was born. I want to dedicate this issue to the memory of Felix ben Yitzchak.
FALSE CHARITY ALERT FRAUD MOST LIKELY INVOLVED HERE: We were called by someone who claims to be the Gabbai for the "Mattersdorfer Rebbe of Beit Shemesh", a/k/a Shmuel Dovid Lazerovitz. We are not offering them Vaad of Miami certificates at this time, based on the following:
1. We requested passport information, and it was not forthcoming in over 24 hours. The Gabbai wanted to satisfy this request with a driver's license instead. If indeed he lived in Israel and came here, he should have a passport.
2. We requested references from Beit Shemesh, and telephone numbers, and likewise this wasn't provided.
The Gabbai agreed to call back with this information, and never did.
3. We placed inquiries to several people in Beit Shemesh and none heard of this "Rebbe". Moreover, people informed us that neither the "Rebbe" nor the "Gabbai" were in the local directory.
4. Previous rejection by Vaadim in Lakewood and NY for being an impostor, acting as a Rebbe/Admor. The driver's license was for a bus driver.
HaRav Yacov Eidelstein Shlita of Ramat Hasharon has requested to spread the word that there are several mishulachim using him as a reference w/o his knowledge. Therefore, if anyone collects using his name (possibly on a letterhead) please contact us. As a general policy, we avoid relying on letters, unless we reach the person on the phone.
Parsha Yisro and the Kabbala
When Adam sinned, the Shechina left the heaven on earth complex in Gan Eden and moved up to the second spiritual height in heaven further away from earth. Mankind could hear the voice of the L-RD and knew when HASHEM traversed Gan Eden. Kayn murdering Hevel made the Holy Matron go up one more level. Idol Worship in the time of Enosh still higher and in the days of Tuval Kayn even higher until the Shechina was farthest away from earth in the 7th level of heaven. Avraham and the Avos brought down the Shechina again until finally Moshe made it possible for the DIVINE SPIRIT to be between the Cherubim on the Aharon. Also sparks of the Shechina can rest upon each and every person who deserves such merit.
Rabbi Yehuda opened up the conversation when reflecting upon these words: 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying: And Rabbi Yehuda stated: 106:2 Who can express the mighty acts of the LORD, or make all His praise to be heard? Said he: “In how many ways does the Torah testify to the glory of G-D and admonish man not to sin! How many are the Forums that counsel the man not to sin or turn to the right or to the left! And how numerous are the signs which scatter in his way to lead him back to the true path that he may return to the L-RD to receive forgiveness.”
The speaking of the words uses the Hebrew Aleph Tav or ET. This indicates that this proclamation come from Gevurah or Severity. Gevurah was joined through the ET with the right hand of the L-RD and the voice of the L-RD was heard knocking the souls out of the body. (Adam did not have this problem from his original high spiritual level in Gan Eden) Angels had to coax the soul back into the body after each utterance. The Torah was given to the Bnei Yisrael by fire and darkness to warn them of the fire of Gehenna and the darkness of Galus among the nations of the world. Nobody gave them a lecture on fire and brimstone they could literally see what would happen.
Rabbi Chiya stated that the two Luchos (Tablets) were of Sapphire in appearance with letters that went through to the other side. In the space there was white fire and covered or outlined with black fire. (This is a physical appearance but has such deep spiritual meaning that it went right over my head) The truth is that the power of the Luchos emanated from the left side within the right side and the white fire was from Chessed (mercy) and the black fire was from Gevurah. The Luchos with their full power went through the Sefiros until they raised the nation to Chachma (father) and Bina (mother) from Ayn Sof (never ending).
20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying:
As we say in the Pessach not by an Angel or a Seraphim but the L-RD HIMSELF spoke the words – the first two to the whole world but when Yisrael was so terrified they asked Moshe to get the rest. A year or two ago I brought down the whole Talmud Bavli Shabbos 88.
2 I am the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
I am the prime cause of everything. There is nothing without ME. I am THE CREATOR there are no partners in creation. When the Medrash talks about let us make man in our image the Medrash is talking about the Attributes of Justice and Mercy arguing over the creation of man and the Sefiros of G-D. Giving man Chachma, Bina, Daas, Chessed, Gevurah, Netzach, Hod, Yesod and Malchus in this world within mankind and his own emotions which gives him the potential to do good or evil. Thus man is an earthly creature with heavenly attributes. He is capable of a dialogue with HASHEM Yisborach.
3 Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
The prohibition starts here for if one makes an image of the best or worst man, one may end up worshipping him. The USSR was filled with images of Stalin and Lenin and Iraq of Saddam Hussein. Things could get out of hand with the Statues of Lincoln and Washington or Mt. Rushmore if the US wasn’t a monotheistic Republic. When my grandchildren were in Washington DC my grandchildren thought it fun to run around and play on the statue of James Monroe and the little park they being Israeli viewed the Statue as some sort of children’s play thing in the park.
4 thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me;
You will lose the Shechina, Tiferes, Hod, Yesod, etc. from your soul and be just a thinking animal. Jews were killed on Kiddush HASHEM over the centuries from the times of the Greek occupation through close to modern times for not bowing down to Statues of the gods of the powers that be in the host countries.
5 and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments.
This is essentially a pledge for all time for people who uphold the Mitzvos. As along the line some Jews will observe Torah and Mitzvos which will keep the world functioning. (Legends of the 36 Tzaddikim)
6 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.
One can curse mankind with no problem as a man does not know what you say or do behind his back. However, the CREATOR, ALL HEARING, ALL SEEING, ALL UNDERSTANDING able to check a mind, kidney and heart at any given time. HE knows what you are thinking and most likely will do without even having to look into the future as HE can read our minds and souls like one reads a large billboard. The most interesting aspect of this command is that your very subatomic particles through atoms to the complemented systems such as nerves, digestive, circulatory, etc. all emanate from HASHEM. In fact they are held in place by the will of the L-RD and could not exist a Pico-second or a trillionth of that without HIS WILL.
7 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Shabbos here is a Remembrance and in Devarim it is guarding. The custom among Kabbalist is do take a bunch of myrtle branches or two types of spices and smell them one as opposed to remembering and the other as opposed to guarding. (We take the spices as per Rabbi Shimon and Elazar in Shabbos 33 when Eliyahu HaNovi ran Erev Shabbos with the myrtle branches ‘Knegged Zachor v’Shamor’.) The addition of spices on Shabbos is a help for the second soul that we get only on Shabbos.
8 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; Melacha and not the definition of physical work (W = F x D) 9 but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto the LORD thy God, in it thou shalt not do any manner of work,
Melacha which is changing usually a state of affairs – plowing, shearing, burning, sewing, etc.; or doing something that was done in the Mishkan like carrying form one section to another, erasing or even taking apart.
thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates;
You are not supposed to have in your house any guest who is Jewish that will use an electronic device on Shabbos (outside of medical or security people involved in saving or guarding lives.) However, if you have as a guest a person who does not follow the Torah, one should be very careful and avoid inviting people who will violate the Shabbos over on Shabbos. However, if you have an obligation to invite a relative such as mother, father, child, spouse, etc. one should try to explain to them if they are will to observe even temporary. Many non-Jews recognize the Shabbos so where are my brethren who violate it? http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=250689
Why would one want to destroy his second soul’s glory and a defending Angel? We don’t need a weaken regular soul with a lower grade of Tiferes, Netzach etc.
10 for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Here is the first national connection to the act of creation. Shabbos is Kodesh (holy, sanctified, glorified). When one first becomes observant it is hard because of the negative commands of each of the 39 Melachos but as one gets used to the observance the rest, glory, intensity of one’s soul expands. It does not matter to me as far as the rest and refreshing go if I am out as a lonely Jew in Cody, SD or with a Minyan at the Kotel the holiness and the joy of Shabbos Kodesh penetrates and enlightens my soul. As is written, “A fool does not understand this.” Shabbos not only refreshes the physical body but refreshees the spirit. That is why on Motzei Shabbos when our second soul leaves us we need spices, wine and light to restore ourselves from a holy level to a mundane level. If one does not feel this way there is something wrong with his/her Shabbos observance.
11 Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God gives thee.
Sometimes it is more than rebellious teens who don’t do this. The spiritual damage that they do to their souls in the next world I don’t want to go into as the vast majority of the population of the world do honor their parents.
12 Thou shalt not murder.
I repeat myself again that the Torah was not given to Angels but to very, very Orthodox Jews who witnessed the 10 Plagues and the DIVINE CHARIOT as the sea parted on their right and their left and they walked through on the dry land. This week a member of the Haifa Chevra Kaddisha (burial society) was murdered gangland style as people want to have access to the land rights and grave rights of the Haifa area. I hope that it is more criminal people than a religious group.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
I am always the last to know what happens even in my small neighborhood as I don’t look for or listen to Lashon Hara. However once a couple is divorced certain things become public knowledge. I could not figure out how such a lovely pair just when they wanted to marry off their daughters would get divorced. It turns out that the man worked in the same area as the wife of a professional who was a Talmud Chacham. Whether they physically committed adultery or mentally fell in love I kept my nose clean. He divorced his wife and she the G-D fearing man. They then got married.
Thou shalt not steal.
Ever heard that business is business and the Yetzer can teach a man to make excuses for his actions.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Again from this week’s news: Some ultra-Orthodox Jews trying to take over a hospital in Yerushalayim hired an actress to pretend to be the daughter of a wealthy donor. She asked the head of the collections for the hospital to come to her hotel room to get a check she then went to the bathroom stripped and put on her act. The treachery and blackmail involved had hidden cameras. Five people were arrested the girl was let go as she was only putting on an act and was not involved in the blackmail or the filming. She is State’s Witness. This scandal is a real Chillul HASHEM as it desecrates THE NAME before the non-religious Jewish World.
13 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.
In Perkei Avos there is a question and answer: Who is wealthy? – One who is happy with his lot. One who is sitting in Africa by a hut next to pig style with the stench and flies an lack of more than one garment and just a morsel to eat but is satisfied in his lot is better off than a billionaire who is not satisfied and wants more and more power, wealth and political control.
Rabbi Yacov Yosef Jacobson Shlita of Chabad wrote an essay with a web broadcast this week: Two Versions
The rabbis in the Midrash proposed a novel answer. The Ten Commandments, they suggested, were engraved on two tablets, five on each stone, so that they would be read in two directions -- from top to bottom, and from side to side (2).
The simplest way of reading the Ten Commandments is, of course, from top to bottom:
On the first stone:
1) I am the Lord your G-d who has taken you out of Egypt...
2) You shall have no other gods...
3) You shall not swear in G-d's name in vain...
4) Remember the Sabbath...
5) Honor your father and your mother...
And the five commandments engraved on the second tablet:
6) You shall not murder.
7) You shall not commit adultery.
8) You shall not steal.
9) You shall not bear false witness against your fellow.
10) You shall not covet your fellow's house; you shall not covet your fellow's wife ... nor anything that belongs to your fellow.
This was the way of reading the Ten Commandments vertically.
Yet due to the fact that the first five commandments were engraved on one stone and the second five on a separate stone, there was another way of reading the commandments -- horizontally instead of vertically, from commandment No. 1 directly to No. 6; from No. 2 to No. 7; 3 -- 8; 4 -- 9; 5 -- 10.
This version of the Ten Commandments would then read like this:
1) I am the Lord your G-d/You shall not murder. 2) You shall have no other gods/You shall not commit adultery; and so forth with the rest of the commandments.
Yet this explanation begs the question: Why is it necessary to read the Ten Commandments horizontally? What insight can we gain from this alternative reading of the commandments?
In this essay we will discuss the juxtaposition of the first and sixth commandments: "I am the Lord your G-d/You shall not murder." The significance of this "horizontal" reading from a historical, political and religious standpoint cannot be overstated. It embodies one of the most stunning aspects of Judaism. What is at stake in this juxtaposition is nothing less than the future of human civilization.
Two Historical Attempts
Two groups have made an attempt to divorce commandment no. 1 from commandment no. 6 -- to sever the idea of a Creator, who conceived the world for a moral purpose, from the imperative to honor the life of another human being. The first group was comprised of the philosophers of the Enlightenment during the 18th and 19th centuries, the second of religious leaders in many and diverse ages. The result for both was moral defeat.
The thinkers of the Enlightenment ushered in the Age of Reason and the modern secular era, founded on the belief that the great ideal of "You shall not murder" did not require the prerequisite of "I am the Lord Your G-d" in order to be sustained. Religion was not necessary to ensure moral behavior; reason alone, without G-d, would guide humanity into an age of liberty and to the achievement of moral greatness. The sixth commandment could operate successfully independent of the first.
While religion embodied the vision of man standing in a continuous relationship with G-d, the essence of the Enlightenment represented the vision of man without G-d. It was a vision already introduced during the first days of creation near the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, by the most sophisticated animal of the time, the serpent. "You shall be like G-d," it promised Eve (3). Man could, and ought to, replace G-d. Left to his own vices, the thinking went, the human being will achieve moral greatness.
But the Holocaust spelled the end of this grand faith in the promise of progress based on human reason. In Auschwitz, the belief that modern man felt a natural empathy for others was ruined forever.
The gas chambers were not invented by a primitive, barbaric and illiterate people. To the contrary, this people excelled in sciences and the arts, but nevertheless sent 1.5 million children, and 4.5 million adults, to their deaths solely because they had Jewish blood flowing in their veins. SS guards would spend a day in Auschwitz, gassing as many as 12,000 human beings, and then return home in the evening to pet their dogs and laugh with their wives. As the smoke of children ascended from the crematoriums, these charming romantics would enjoy good wine, beautiful women and the moving music of Bach, Mozart and Wagner. They murdered millions of innocents in the name of a developed ethic, and they justified genocide on purely rational grounds.
In "Schindler's List," there is a scene during the liquidation of the Krakow Ghetto where a little girl hiding in a piano is shot dead by an SS guard. As her little angelic body lay in a river of blood, another guard sits down to play the piano.
First SS guard: Was ist das? Ist das Bach?
Second SS guard: Nein. Mozart.
First SS guard: Mozart?
Second SS guard: Ja. And they both marvel at the exquisite music.
This was Nazi Germany at its best.
Elie Wiesel who gripped the world's imagination with his book "Night," a personal testimony of life and death in Auschwitz, once asked the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who himself lost many members of his family in the Holocaust, how he could believe in G-d after Auschwitz. If G-d existed, Wiesel asked, posing the single greatest challenge to faith, how could He ignore 6 million of His children de-humanized and murdered in the cruelest of fashions?
The Rebbe replied, "In whom do you expect me to believe after Auschwitz? In man?"
This must remain one of the lasting legacies of Auschwitz. If there is any faith at all left after the extermination of 6 million people, it must glean its vitality from something transcending the human rationale and its properties. If morality is left to be determined exclusively by the human mind, it can become a morality that justifies the guillotine, the gulag and the gas chamber. As Dostoevsky famously put it in "The Brothers Karamazov," "Where there is no G-d, all is permitted."
The atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote: "I cannot see how to refute the arguments for the subjectivity of ethical values [resulting from atheism], but I find myself incapable of believing that all that is wrong with wanton cruelty is that I don't like it." Russell's point is critical. Without G-d, we cannot objectively define any behavior as good or evil. As difficult as it is to entertain, no one can objectively claim that gassing a mother and her children is any more evil than killing a mouse. It is all a matter of taste and opinion. The validity and effectiveness of "You shall not murder" can be sustained only if it is predicated on the foundation of faith in a universal moral creator who gave humanity an absolute and unwavering definition of what constitutes good vs. evil.
Professor Abraham Joshua Herschel, who escaped Warsaw a few weeks before it was invaded and lost most of his family in the Nazi Holocaust, captured this sentiment succinctly: "If man is not more than human, then he is less then human." Either we climb to a place beyond ourselves, or we are likely to fall to a place below ourselves. When the vision of the sacred dies in the soul of a person, he or she is capable of becoming a servant of the devil.
Religious Evil
But this is far from the whole picture.
While the Enlightenment abandoned commandment no. 1 in favor of no. 6, various religions over the ages abandoned no. 6 in favor of no. 1. Theirs has been the atrocious belief that as long as you believe in the Lord, or in Allah, you can kill and maim whomever you brand an "infidel." Whether it is a business executive in New York, or a teen-ager eating a slice of pizza in Jerusalem, or a child on the first day of school in Beslan, or a commuter in Madrid, or a tourist in Bali, or a Chabad couple in Mumbai, if the person is not a member of your faith, G-d wants him or her to die. For the religious fundamentalist, "I am the Lord your G-d" has nothing to do with "You shall not murder."
This is the greatest perversion of faith. Faith that does not inculcate its followers with the sanctity of every single human life desecrates and erodes the very purpose of faith, which is to elevate the human person to a state beyond personal instinct and prejudice. If you delete "You shall not murder" from religion, you have detached yourself from "I am the Lord your G-d." To believe in G-d means to honor the life of every person created in the image of G-d. What the juxtaposition of the two commandments is telling us is that you can't believe in G-d and murder (3*).
Conversely, if you truly believe that taking the life of another human is wrong -- not just because you lack the means or motive to do so or are afraid of ending up in jail, but because you recognize the transcendent, inviolable value of life -- that's just another way of saying you believe in G-d. For what confers upon human life its radical grace, its transcendent sanctity and its absolute value if not the living presence of G-d imprinted on the face of the human person?
More than 3,300 years ago, Judaism, in the most ennobling attempt to create a society based on justice and peace, established its principle code in the sequence of the two commandments - "I am the Lord your G-d/You shall not murder." A society without G-d can become monstrous; a society that abandons the eternal and absolute commandment "You shall not murder" is equally evil. Both are capable of burning children alive during the day and then retiring to sleep with a clear conscience.
The Mountain
The Talmud captures this notion in a rather strange, but intriguing, fashion (4).
The Talmud cites a tradition that when Israel approached Sinai, G-d lifted up the mountain, held it over the people's heads and declared: "Either you accept the Torah, or be crushed beneath the mountain." (The Talmud bases this tradition on the verse in Exodus, "And they stood beneath the mountain (5).")
This seems ludicrous. What worth is there to a relationship and a covenant accepted through coercion (6)?
The answer is profoundly simple. What G-d was telling the Jewish people is that the creation of societies that honor life and shun cruelty is dependent on education and on the value system inculcated within children of the society. The system of Torah, G-d was suggesting, was the guarantor for life and liberty. If you reject the morality of Torah, if you will lack the courage and conviction to teach the world that "I am the Lord your G-d" and that I have stated unequivocally "You shall not murder," the result will be humanity crushed under a mountain of tyrants.
Sixty-five years since Auschwitz and after more than a decade of incessant Islamic terrorism, the mountain is hanging over our heads once again. Shall we embrace the path of divine-based morality? Shall we forget that religion must always be defined by "You shall not murder (7)?"
Halachos from Danny Shoemann
It's a Torah prohibition to graft trees with branches from a different type of tree or plant. One may not own a grafted tree; it needs to be uprooted. One may graft a tree with a branch of the same type of tree. One may take a branch from a grafted tree and plant it. One may eat the fruit from grafted trees.
Source: Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 174:1-2
The blessing "HaEtz" is only made on fruit that grows on trees which retain their branches in winter and then leaves grow again from these branches. Otherwise a "HaAdamah" is made on the fruit. These blessings are only said if the fruit (or vegetable) is normally eaten raw. If the fruit is normally eaten cooked then on the raw fruit one says "Shehakol".
On fruit pits that are sweet one says "Shehakol"; if they are bitter one doesn’t make any blessing on them. Fruit eaten during a meal as desert does require a blessing.
If the entire meal is a "fruit meal" then the HaMotzei blessing covers the fruit too. Source: Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 52:1, 4, 10, 43:3-4
Thursday will be Tu B’Shevat and customarily lots of fruit will be served. Which fruit should you choose as the one to hold in your right hand and make the Bracha on?
- If one has a favorite fruit and it's being offered, it should be used to make the Bracha.
- If one has no preference then one of the "7 species" has preference.
- If there are none of the 7 species, then one should pick a whole fruit, as opposed to a cut one.
- A Boray Pri HaEtz has precedence over Boray Pri HaAdamah (e.g. strawberries and bananas).
The 7 species are (in order of Bracha-precedence): Bread from wheat, Cakes from wheat, Wine, Olives, Barley (baked or cooked), Dates, Grapes (in solid form), Figs, Pomegranates Source: Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 55:1 – 3
Tu B’Shevat started Wednesday evening. Tu B’Shevat - the 15th of the month of Shevat - is the New Year as far as tithing fruits is concerned. Fruit from trees that blossomed before Tu B’Shevat belong to the previous year's Trumos & Maaser quota. The custom is to eat more fruit than usual on Tu B’Shevat. One does not say Tachanun on Tu B’Shevat, nor at Mincha the day before. Source: Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 22:8, 139:26. Rosh Hashanah Mishna 1:1.
Our Sages have designated the 15th of Shevat - Tu B’Shevat- as the boundary between one year and another, since (in most years) most of the rain of the winter has already fallen by then. Any new growth of fruit after this day, is the result of the blessing of the new year. It is customary to pray for a beautiful Kosher Etrog on Tu B’Shevat. Source:
The Book of our Heritage, Vol I, page 346-349Shabbat Shalom - Danny
B'H
"The Personality of Jethro / Yitro" Father-in-law of Moses (Exodus 3:1)
The Kohen of Midian (ibid. 18:1). He was a priest. R'Eleazar the Modai said: He was a prince (Mechilta Yisro 1:1). He fattened calves for idolatry (Sotah 43a)From Moses, who wed Jethro's daughter, descended Jonathan who served idols and later repented fully (Maharsha) (Bava Basra 109b). There was not a deity in the world that he Jethro had not worshiped (Mechilta Yisro 1:1).
He had seven names. Jether (his original name while a non-Jew), Jethro-Yisro (the new name he assumed when he became a gair because a Parsha was added to the Torah in him name), Chovav, Chaiver, Re'uel, Putiel, and Keni. He was called Jether because through him one additional portion was added to the Torah (i.e., Exodus 18:21). When he did good deeds, an extra letter was added to Jether, making it Jethro-Yisro (Mechilta Yisro 1:1). Re'uel is Jethro. Why was he called Re'uel? Because he joined with G-d (i.e., he converted) (Shemos Rabbah 1:32). Why was he called Keni? Because he stemmed from Cain (Zohar 1:28b).
When the people of Israel do G-d's will, the Holy One, Blessed be He, searches throughout the world, and if He finds a righteous person among the nations, He brings him and attaches him to the people of Israel. Examples are Jethro and Rahab (Yerushalmi Berachos 2:8). The Holy One, Blessed is He, brought Jethro near but did not choose him (Bamidbar Rabbah 3:2).
At first Jethro was a priest to idols. Then, even before Moses came, Jethro saw that there was no truth in idolatry, and he renounced it and thought of repenting. He called the people of his town and said to them, "Heretofore, I have served you, but now I am old. Choose for yourselves a different priest." And he brought out the vessels used in the service of idols and gave them to the townspeople. They then excommunicated him so that no one would associate with him or work for him. That is why he sent his daughters to tend his sheep. Moses came and judged that the shepherds were abusing Jethro's daughters and he saved them (ibid. 1:32).
In reward for Jethro's saying, "Call Moses, that he may eat bread" (Exodus 2:20), Jethro's descendants merited to sit in the Office of Hewn Stone, the seat of the Great Sanhedrin (Sanhedrin 104a). Jethro drew Moses near (i.e., prepared a feast for him (see Exodus 18, Rashi) only for his own honor (Berachos 63b).When Re'uel learned that Moses had fled from Pharaoh, he threw him into the pit. Zipporah, his daughter sustained Moses for ten years, after which Re'uel released him (Targum Yonasan, Shemos 2:21).
Bethiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, and Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, were twin sisters whom Pharaoh and Jethro took into their homes as foundlings from the marketplace because of their beauty and raised as daughters (Midrash Talpios, Bethiah, citing Zohar).
The Staff that was used to split the sea had been given by Adam to Seth, and each generation passed it down to the next. When Joseph died, Jethro, who was one of Pharaoh's sorcerers and who knew the importance of the staff, took it and planted it in the garden of his house, where it took root. He divined that whoever would uproot it would be Israel's redeemer. Moses came and uprooted it (Midrash Hashkem, ed. Greenhut, Shemos 4).
Moses agreed (Exodus 2:21). This may be interpreted as he swore to him. Why did Jethro administer an oath to Moses? He said, "I know that after Laban gave his daughters in marriage to your ancestor Jacob, Jacob took them and left without Laban's knowledge. Perhaps if I give you my daughter in marriage, you will do the same to me." Thereupon Moses swore that he would not, and Jethro gave him Zipporah in marriage. According to a different interpretation, since he married Jethro's daughter, Moses undertook to tend Jethro's sheep (Shemos Rabbah 1:33).
Moses took his wife and his sons (Exodus 4:20). "Where are you taking them?" asked Jethro. "To Egypt," Moses replied. "Those who are in Egypt wish to leave, "said Jethro, " and you are bringing your family there?" Moses said to him, "Soon the Israelites will leave and they will stand at Mount Sinai to hear 'I am H-shem your G-d' from the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed is He. Shall my sons not hear as they Hear?" Thereupon Jethro said to Moses. "Go in peace" (Ibid. v. 18) (Shemos Rabbah 4:4).
Jethro came to the Israelites before the giving of the Torah. According to a different opinion, he came afterward (Zavachim 116a). Jethro heard (Exodus 18:1). What news did he hear that he came? One said, He heard of the battle of Amalek. Another said, He heard of the giving of the Torah. Still another said, He heard of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds (Zevachim 116a).
When Jethro saw that the Holy One, Blessed is He, had destroyed Amalek in this world and the next, he regretted his idol worship and repented, saying "I should follow only the G-d of Israel" (Shemos Rabbah 27:6). Jethro sent Moses a letter (he was unable to enter the camp of Israel) with a messenger which said, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you (Exodus 18:6). Do it for me, if you do not do it for me, do it for your wife, if you do not do it for your wife, do it for your sons." The Holy One, Blessed is He, told Moses, "Go out. This man who is coming to Me has come only for the sake of Heaven, he has come to convert. You, too, should draw him near and do not distance him." There upon Moses went out to meet his father-in-law (ibid. v. 7). Since Moses had gone out, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel's elders also went out. Some say even the Ark went out with them (Shemos Rabbah 27:2).
Jethro came at midday (Shocher Tov 78:4). The Holy One, Blessed is He, sent manna down for him (Shemos Rabbah 27:5). Vayichad Jethro (Exodus 18:9). He passed a sharp sword over his flesh, he circumcised himself. Vayichad Jethro (Exodus 18:9). He professed the unity of the Name of the Holy One, Blessed is He, and he became a Jew (Yalkut Shimoni, Yisro 268).
When Jethro, who was the high priest of idolatry, said, "Now I know that H-shem is greater than all gods" (Exodus 18:11), the honor of the Holy One, Blessed is He, rose and was given dominion over all. Because Jethro served the Holy One, Blessed is He, everyone immediately distanced themselves from their idolatry, for they realized that there was no truth in it. Then the Name of the Holy One, Blessed is He, was sanctified throughout the world (Zohar 2:69a).
Yaffa "PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF ISRAEL"
AN ANGEL OF ONE THOUSAND
In the early 5700's (1940's), Rabbi Shmaryahu Gurary of blessed memory, who was married to the eldest of the Rebbe Rayatz's three daughters, was sent by his father-in-law on a mission to Toronto along with Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Kazarnovsky. They arrived to find the city completely paralyzed by a blizzard. Deep snow had buried practically everything and storm winds blasted through the streets. Since no transportation of any sort was available, they were forced to take refuge in a nearby hotel.
A number of chassidim and admirers of Lubavitch found their way to the place where they were staying in order to pay their respects to their city's distinguished guests. Among them was a certain local rabbi, who related an amazing story.
"Not so long ago, one of the members of my shul fell seriously ill. When his family realized that one of his legs was paralyzed, they quickly took him to the hospital.
"As soon as I found out about it I went right away to visit him. When I arrived at his floor, I encountered the members of the family who had stationed themselves in the room next to the patient's. They told me the frightening details of his condition: in addition to not being able to walk, he was also barely able to speak.
"Their mood was gloomy. The unpleasant situation of the head of the family would have been reason enough. In addition, his son was supposed to be getting married but had postponed his wedding because of the sudden tragic development.
"They warned me not to go in the room. However, the patient heard my voice while I was speaking to them and asked his nurse to call me in. I entered.
"As soon as he saw me, he managed to say: 'I heard that the Lubavitcher Rebbe is now in the United States.'
" 'That's true," I replied. He came in 5700 (1940)."
" 'Please!' he implored, gasping the words. 'Write to him on my behalf and ask him what I can do to save myself from this ghastly illness and regain my health.'
"Of course I agreed. As soon as I got home, I dispatched an urgent telegram. The Rebbe's answer arrived very quickly, also by express. He instructed me to tell the stricken man that a branch of Lubavitch's Tomchei Temimim Yeshiva was being established in Montreal and that he should donate $1000 to it, for 'tzedakah saves from death.' Specifically one thousand, because the angel of a hundred is incomparable to the angel of a thousand, as it says [Job 33:23], 'If a man will have an interceding angel-one of a thousand...' [see note below]. In this merit he will get well, and have full use of his legs, the Rebbe concluded.
"I hurried back to the hospital with the Rebbe's letter in hand. The relatives were all still there. When the patient's wife saw me, she said in surprise, 'What! Did you already get an answer from the Rebbe?'
"I told her what the Rebbe had said. Her brother, who had also come to visit, overheard. He remarked to her sarcastically, 'Ah! They've already started to try to squeeze money out of him. You know how these people are.'
"I didn't bother to respond. Instead, I went directly inside to the patient. I told him what I had written and that the Rebbe had answered right away. I then read to him the Rebbe's letter. When I finished, he turned to his son, who had been standing next to the bed the whole time. 'Son!' he said, as emphatically as he could manage; 'I want to live! Please take one thousand dollars and deliver it to Montreal, to whatever address that the Rabbi tells you.'
"The son, the one whose wedding was postponed, did exactly as his father requested, without hesitation. A few days later, a doctor in the hospital who was known to be a leading specialist for this particular problem, came to do an examination. The room was cleared for him, and he remained alone with the bedridden man for some time. When he came out, his face was contorted with fury. He went directly over to the relatives of the patient, who were still maintaining their faithful vigil.
" 'Who gave you permission to bring in an outside doctor and for him to initiate treatment?' he demanded. 'And without my knowledge, no less. This is outrageous!'
"The relatives looked at one another and then back at the doctor, thoroughly perplexed. 'Doctor, please, we don't know what you are talking about. We haven't consulted any other doctor, nor do we know what extra treatment you are talking about.'
" 'If that's so,' responded the doctor in a calmer tone, but with lingering overtones of suspicion, 'then a miracle has occurred here. The patient's condition has changed radically. There are no longer any internal signs of the disease. I can't understand it. Still,' he said, shaking his head, 'if this present situation persists, we will discharge him very soon.'
"And that's what happened. Shortly thereafter he was released, and although he needed crutches to help him walk, it wasn't too long before he was able to discard them. His condition continued to improve rapidly until he was better completely.
"The rescheduled wedding was celebrated with unusual joy."
[Translated and freely adapted by Yrachmiel Tilles (and first published in Kfar Chabad Magazine - English) from Shemuos v'Sipurim by Rafoel Nachman Cohen (vol.1, p.191-192), who heard it directly from Rabbi Kazarnovsky.]
NOTE:
In Avos 4:11 it says, "With every mitzvah a person does, he acquires for himself an advocate- angel...." The full quote from Iyov is: "If [he has a merit, then] there will be for a man an interceding angel, one of a thousand, to declare his uprightness on his behalf; then He will be gracious to him, and say, 'Redeem him from going down to the grave; I have found atonement for him'" (Job 33:23-24-this verse is utilized in the Kapparos atonement custom on the eve of Yom Kippur, see Siddur Tehillat HaShem, p.198).
Biographical note
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-10 Shevat 1950) was the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, from 1920 to 1950. In 1940 he moved to the USA, established Chabad world-wide headquarters in Brooklyn and launched the global campaign to renew and spread Judaism in all languages and in every corner of the world, the campaign continued and expanded so remarkably successfully by his son-in-law and successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
A Silent Confrontation
In a townlet near Ushamir in the Ukraine there lived a Jew who was manager of the estates belonging to the local paritz. This manager was an evil man - evil in the eyes of heaven and evil in the eyes of man - and the Jews of the township suffered bitterly at his hands.
One day Ushamir was visited by Reb Mordechai Dov of Hornisteipl, and great numbers of Chassidim from all the surrounding regions converged on the town in order to greet him - and among them, of course, came the embittered townsfolk of that little place. When their turn came to speak to the Rebbe they told him of their woes, and asked his advice as to what they should do.
"I'll visit your township myself, G-d willing" he said, "and once there we'll see what to do."
When he paid his promised visit hundreds of people accompanied him, some by wagon, some on foot. As the Rebbe and this whole retinue passed by the house of the manager, someone pointed it out to the Rebbe. He motioned the wagon-driver to stop, turned to face the house, and gazed upon it at length.
Meanwhile, since the Rebbe’s carriage stopped, all the other carriages halted too. As did the hundreds who had followed on foot and as that vast crowd stood there watching the Rebbe, they were quite certain that he was gazing so intently at the house that at any moment the hated man inside would be miraculously turned in to a heap of bones.
When the man inside looked through the window and saw the silent multitude outside his house he went out to the balcony and surveyed the strange sight.
For some time the Rebbe looked him straight in the eye. Then he stepped down from his carriage, and with measured steps walked into the house.
The master of the house meanwhile went downstairs, and met the Rebbe inside.
He led him into a room and there, the two of them sat alone, facing one another. Five whole minutes and still they had not exchanged a word. Then the Rebbe rose and left the house, accompanied by the other, stepped up to his seat in his carriage, and went off to his lodgings.
After spending Shabbat in the township and reciting Havdalah to mark the departure of the Day of Rest, the Rebbe was sitting in his room, with large crowds of people at his door waiting to see him. Suddenly the man whom everyone dreaded appeared at the door, and asked to be admitted to the Rebbe’s presence.
He was consulted, and he gave the order that the man should be allowed in at once. What they spoke about while alone there for two hours no one knows. But the man who came out of the room at the end of the two hours was a different person.
The first thing he did was to hand out money for the purchase of refreshments for a Chassidic celebration. He danced with all those present and hurried home, where he shattered his trafe [non-kosher] kitchenware. He replaced it all with new utensils, and from then on conducted his household conscientiously according to the dietary laws for the preparation of kosher food.
And, as he became a penitent in all the areas of his life, he went out of his way from that day on to deal kindly and charitable with his fellows.
Just half a year later he died. He was buried with every mark of respect, and was mourned with genuine regret by all the townsfolk.
Some time later the Tzaddik of Hornisteipl visited Ushamir once again. And again, among those who flocked there to see him were of course the citizens of that little township.
But this time, as they took their turns for a private audience with the Tzaddik, he asked each one of them in turn: "Well, what do you have to say about my baal Teshuva?"
In response, each one of them praised at length the acts of charity which had distinguished the last months of this man's life. This exchange was repeated so many times that the townsfolk finally understood the Rebbe’s intention: the more said to his credit in This World, the better would it be for his soul in the World Above.
The last townsman to enter was an individual who had not yet forgotten all the suffering that he had undergone in former years at the hands of the estate manager. When the rebel asked his question, he therefore enumerated bitterly all the acts of undeserved malice and spite that were still fresh in his memory.
The Rebbe interrupted his tirade with an original paraphrase of a Talmudic teaching.
There is a statement in Tractate Sanhedrin that if all the judges of the high court are unanimous in saying "guilty," then the accused is to be returned innocent.
With this in mind, Rebbe Mordechai Dov said: "It seems that if all say 'innocent', that is likewise not desirable…."
And from then on he never spoke of that man again.
[Selected and adapted by Yrachmiel Tilles from the rendition in A Treasury of Chassidic Tales (Artscroll), as translated by our esteemed colleague Uri Kaploun from Sipurei Chasidim by Rabbi S. Y. Zevin.]
Biographical note:
Rabbi Mordechai Dov Twerski of Hornisteipel [1840 - 22 Elul 1904] was named after his two maternal great-grandfathers, Rabbi Mordechai of Chernobyl and Rabbi DovBer of Lubavitch. In addition, he was a direct descendant of Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli and the son-in-law of Rabbi Chaim of Sanz. A highly respected Talmudic scholar, he was also the author of a popular book of Chasidic guidance, Pele Yoetz
Yrachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and editor of Ascent Quarterly and the AscentOfSafed.com and KabbalaOnline.org websites. He has hundreds of published stories to his credit.
Courage by Yaffa
You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam. It's November 11, 1967.
LZ (landing zone) X-ray. Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 yards away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the Medevac helicopters to stop coming in. You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you're not getting out. Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.
Then - over the machine gun noise - you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter. You look up to see a Huey coming in. But ... It doesn't seem real because no Medevac markings are on it. Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you. He's not Medevac so it's not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway.
Even after the Medevac’s were ordered not to come. He's coming anyway. And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on board.
Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety. And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!! Until all the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm. He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.
Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Air Force, died last Wednesday at the age of 70, in Boise, Idaho … May God Bless and Rest His Soul.
I bet you didn't hear about this hero's passing, but we've sure seen a whole bunch about Michael Jackson, Tiger Woods and the bickering of congress over Health Reform.
Ed W. "Too Tall" Freeman (November 20, 1927 - August 20, 2008) was a United States Army helicopter pilot who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in the Battle of Ia Drang during the Vietnam War. During the battle, he flew through gunfire numerous times, bringing supplies to a trapped American battalion and flying dozens of wounded soldiers to safety. Freeman was a wing-man for Major Bruce Crandall who also received the Medal of Honor for the same missions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Freeman Since he was also a hero from the battle of Pork Chop Hill I added this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pork_Chop_Hill
With Ed on the Mission was Bruce Crandall and I clicked his story too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Crandall
What happens when you assimilate and change your name? Your son marries a Shicksa and all your grandkids are Goyim. Arizona Jewish Post GABRIELLE GIFFORDS 10.27.06 Israel needs U.S. to push the peace process
My grandfather, Akiba Hornstein, was the son of a Lithuanian rabbi. My grandfather changed his name to Giff Giffords for reasons of anti-Semitism and moved to Southern Arizona from New York more than a half century ago. In the 1940s, he founded my family's tire and automotive business, El Campo Tire, which grew into a successful and thriving business for 50 years, which I ran for several years before serving in the Arizona Legislature.
Growing up, my family's Jewish roots and tradition played an important role in shaping my values. The women in my family served as strong role models for me as a girl. In my family, if you want to get something done, you take it to the women relatives! Like my grandmother, I am a lifetime member of Hadassah and now a member of Congregation Chaverim.
When I served in the State Senate in Arizona, I had the opportunity to visit Jerusalem. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I had the opportunity to meet with the then-mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert, and I got to see firsthand the sacrifices that Israelis make in the name of security because of the dangerous state of affairs there.
I will always be a strong supporter of Israel. As the only functioning democracy in the Middle East, Israel is a vital strategic ally of the United States. I believe the United States must do everything possible to secure Israel's long-term security and achieve a lasting peace in the region. The failure of the current administration to continue the peace process has been a loss to America and Israel. That is why we need a new direction in Washington.
Peace between Israel and her neighbors can only be achieved by direct talks between the parties. Until the Palestinian leadership and other hostile regimes are willing to accept Israel's right to exist, it will be impossible to achieve peace. I believe that the United States can help by providing a mediator who can be trusted by both sides, like former President Bill Clinton. It's an approach that worked in achieving a peaceful settlement to the violence in Northern Ireland. People in the Middle East need to know that the U.S. is serious about the peace process.
We cannot forget our past. I have worked to protect the rights of Holocaust survivors in our state. In 2002, I sponsored legislation that was signed into law by Governor Jane Hull, and unanimously approved by the Senate, to allow victims of the Holocaust, or their heirs, to collect insurance claims (HB 2541). It re-opened the statute of limitations for these claims. My opponent, Randy Graf, was one of only 13 legislators to oppose this bill.
Putting aside the shooting aspect by the Neo-Nazi, there is a tragedy above. 1) Instead of staying within Judaism Akiva’s son marries a Shicksa. Being with an assimilated name and out of the main areas for Judaism the man capitulated to the normal convention of an assimilated society. 2) Gabriella tragically also identified herself as a Jew. She fortunately does not have children of her own to grow up thinking that they might be Jewish. OTOH it is perhaps her misfortune that she does not have biological children.
Ever been bothered by Missionaries? I picked this up from a Christian who likes to mind his own business: While I'm not ever going to obnoxiously shove Jesus in anyone's face or give them a guilt trip -- I was on the receiving end of that tactic from strangers before I became a Christian, and believe me, it really backfires -- I will quietly pray for God to open up their hearts and ears to Him and the truth, and pray to God for Him to show me the absolute optimal time and method of showing them the absolute bliss.
Let me add that it is cults that spread fear and brainwashing tactics to keep their members in check. In Texas there is a cult run by a Israel Hawkins who for years have been talking about a Nuclear baby near Iraq. If he talks for 15 years eventually Iran will get the bomb.
From Meir: When HASHEM unleashes nature: http://www.wimp.com/flashflood/
Some religions take time to recognize science and advancement. Judaism is usually the first: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/01/13/pope-benedict-reconciles-science-religion/?test=faces
Chinuch = Education. When one is not under the influence of Torah and G-D’s word the world becomes Hefker (free from leadership). Even though this is not a Jewish School it is part of the signs of our times. Torah Education is our key: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/01/14/teens-pregnant-menphis-high-school/?test=latestnews
But Children having Children legally in Chassidic Communities will only perpetuate poverty by getting larger and larger families. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4013584,00.html
Inyanay Diyoma
Meir Dagan says that Iran could get the bomb earlier than his pervious remarks: http://www.debka.com/article/20558/
Lebanon a developing story this week: http://www.debka.com/article/20550/
New Imam for ground zero: http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/01/ground-zero-mosquestrosity-new-imam-abdullah-adhami-calls-con-conspirator-in-93-world-trade-center-b.html
An important read: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4013704,00.html
Mossad “Spy” is a member of the Revolutionary Guards and is a hard liner: http://www.debka.com/article/20554/
Hip Hop Coffee and the Jewish Rapper: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4012980,00.html
Judaism is happiness: http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=203994
25% of the people want to be told what to do a 3 minute film. http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/glenn-beck/transcript/arizona-shooting-doesnt-follow-medias-script
Caroline Glick: Tunisian president’s regime was not the only thing destroyed. The two main foundations of ‘expert’ Western analysis of the Mideast have also been undone. http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=204051
What was the governor and mayor thinking? http://9-11domorethenneverforget-stopislam.blogspot.com/2011/01/alert-usa-new-jersey-garden-state-has.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+9-11DoMoreThenNeverForget-stopIslam+%289-11+Do+more+then+Never+Forget-Stop+ISLAM%29&utm_content=FaceBook
BARAK QUITS LABOR by Emanuel A. Winston, Mid East Analyst & Commentator
Now we know that Israel’s Secretary of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Barak has turned in his notice to leave the Labor Party. Therefore, he should have also resigned his job as Minister of Defense which falls within the Likud Party government coalition. However, so far Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has accepted the switch and NOT fired Barak on the spot. This can only mean that Netanyahu was not only informed of Barak’s plotting but, was probably a part of it.
Barak claims that he is leaving Labor because it has moved too far Left. This claim is frankly a farce from a man known for his radical Leftist policies, actions and his pro-Arab bias.
One is reminded of former PM Arik Sharon’s secret plotting to bolt Likud in order to create his own Party called “Kadima” so he could flee Likud restraint to keep his political promises to defend the Land and People of Israel. Having quit Likud, then Sharon was able to surrender to America’s demands that Israel accept Palestinian demands to retreat to the 1949 Armistice Lines – the ones that Abba Eban called the “Auschwitz Lines” that invited Muslim Arab attack in 1967.
The first thoughts that came to mind are “Who has Barak been collaborating with to advance his Land abandonment policies?” and “From where are his funds coming to create a new Leftist Party that he names “Independence” and calls ‘centrist’?”
Barak has been well-known for his policies to surrender and make “Judenrein” Judea and Samaria, The Jordan Valley and The Golan Heights, and all those parts of Jerusalem that Jordan had occupied and desecrated for 19 years between 1948 and 1967.
Don’t forget that in 2000 when Barak was Prime Minister he made his lightning run out of the defensive buffer of South Lebanon, making it empty of protection and vulnerable - to be filled up quickly by Hezb’Allah who have now stocked as many as 60,000 missiles and rockets amongst the Lebanese civilians for their next assault on the Jewish Nation/State of Israel. That bit of betrayal was tied to President Bill Clinton, who offered a personal bribe of $800 million – which Clinton never did pay to Barak or the State of Israel for leaving the South Lebanon security zone.
Barak also offered to gift more than 96% of the territories Israel liberated in 1967 to Yassir Arafat (1), Head of the PLO, father of modern Terrorism but, Arafat refused, starting the Second Intifada on Rosh Hashanah 2000.
The question of where his funding and planning is coming from can too easily be deduced. That the Europeans have been funding Israel’s Left directly and the extreme Left NGOs is no secret. When a Knesset member puts up a bill to investigate from whence such illegal monies are coming, Labor, Kadima and whatever Party Barak concocts will all go ballistic and try to kill the bill.
So, who wants Netanyahu out and the Radical Left in? Most certainly European nations in appeasement mode have funded and collaborated with Leftist Israelis like Barak, Shimon Peres, ‘et al’. Some will recall the failed secret Oslo scheme, conducted by Peres, Yitzhak Rabin, Yossi Beilin and a host of ultra Left academics. That bit of dirty work, undercover in Oslo Norway, cost Israel dearly, both in lives and the weakening of her defenses.
Then we have the American Arabists in Washington, glued to Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iran…. Here we find George Herbert Walker Bush, James Baker, Brent Scowcroft – others and the deeply Arabist State Department.
Some will have forgotten the election between Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin. The Leftists in Washington thought Shamir was too stubborn in his protection of Israeli sovereignty and had to be replaced. The Administration in Washington used all the tools of the U.S. “Shadow Government” to flush millions covertly into Rabin’s campaign. Rabin was acceptable to the U.S. Arabist power brokers as a confirmed “Leftist” who would “go along”. Rabin was easily manipulated.
One recalls that Ehud Olmert and Tzippi Livni were also acceptable to Washington as easily malleable by the pro-Arab State Department – (not called “Foggy Bottom” without cause).
Start looking for the Barak money trail which, no doubt, will track to European nations, the American administration through its thousands of conduits. Do not be surprised to see Saudi money flow through Israeli Leftist organizations to Barak as a fellow-traveling Arabist.
Clearly, the Knesset should once again put up a bill to investigate the source of probably illegal monies to Leftist political parties and the 13 different anti-Israel Left-Liberal Israeli organizations, including B'Tselem, Mossawa, Adalah, Breaking the Silence, Yesh Din, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, the Public Committee against Torture, HaMoked Center for the Defense of the Individual and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.*** They will prove the first indicators of foreign monies pouring into their coffers to start the drumbeat to support Barack and his cronies.
As a relevant aside, I often think of the secret Billions of American taxpayers’ money that were gifted to Saddam Hussein’s regime and military might by President George Herbert Walker Bush and James Baker. It is thought that the funds went to Saddam via the back door and then, in part, to France to pay for the Osirak Nuclear Plant in Iraq. The Arabists in Washington went ballistic when the Israelis under Prime Minister Menachem Begin ordered a successful attack on that Plant before it went operational.
Neither the dollars nor the planning were ever investigated. But, that is a separate story – except for the fact that America is arming the Muslims and Arabs again, including allowing Iran to build a nuclear capability.
So, what are we to think about Ehud Barak’s move to form a new party, no doubt, thinking to draw supporters from Labor, Kadima, old Meretz, etc.? On January 17, 2011, Barak announced that he and four other members (Matan Vilnai, Einat Wilf, Orit Noked and Shalom Simchon) of the Labor Party would form a "centrist Zionist and democratic" faction, known as Independence [Hatzmaut]) which will eventually secede from the Labor Party altogether. Reasons stated by the letter for the secession include allegations of insubordination by other party members concerning the coalition government and Labor party leaders. The decision was slammed by other parties such as Kadima and Meretz.
If there is a new Barak Party, it lowers the power of Likud to keep Netanyahu on track to his pre-election promises to Likud and the Nation. To me this sounds like Sharon’s plan, wherein part of the thinking came from Baker’s Jew-boys, namely, Dennis Ross, Aaron David Miller, Daniel Kurtzer and later Martin Indyk. Obama’s unofficial advisors like James Baker, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Brent Scowcroft, Prince Bandar, and Shimon Peres – among other Arabists to be useful and tried again as they did with Rabin-Peres, and later through Sharon-Olmert plus Livni. Naturally, one can expect support for a government change from Tzippi Livni, now leader of Kadima) – in concert with the ultra-Leftist Media such as Ha’aretz, among others.
As Sharon’s Kadima Party diluted the voting power of Likud, so too will Barak’s “Independence Party” allow Netanyahu to use a weakened Likud to pass legislation to accommodate Obama’s policies in favor of the Palestinian Authority’s Mahmoud Abbas and even Hamas. This is in keeping with the Obama’s “outreach to the Muslims” to train the Palestinian Authority’s ever-strengthening military.
Remember – The American CIA’s seems to have a traditional obligation to overthrow governments – when ordered to do so by the U.S. President.
The dominant clue is that Barak was not summarily fired – with Netanyahu playing an approving role.
COMMENTARY BY EMANUEL A. WINSTON
1. U.S. can't make Mideast leaders want peace
***Report: How Arab money is transferred to Israeli Left by Roni Sofer - YNet News, January 11, 2011
A report issued by Im Tirtzu supports the government's decision to set up an inquiry commission into the activity and funding of left-wing organizations in Israel.
The report, published for the first time by Ynet Monday night, claims that Arab and European countries support Palestinian funds which donate to leftist movements in Israel “in order to influence public and legal discourse in Israeli and international media.”
According to Im Tirtzu, a centrist extra-parliamentary movement that “strives to strengthen the values of Zionism in Israel,” the findings prove the need for the establishment of an inquiry commission. The report focuses on two Palestinian organizations – the Welfare Association and the NGO Development Center –which it claims work together to fund pro-Palestinian activities in Israel and the territories.
The report states that the organizations' yearly budget, which is estimated at tens of millions of dollars, comes from a number of sources: Countries and organizations in Europe – including the European Union, Sweden, Switzerland, Holland and Denmark – as well as Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria and Qatar.
According to Im Tirtzu, large banks, such as the Islamic Development Bank, as well as Arab funds, also allocate money to the Welfare Association and the NGO Development Center, which then transfer 97% of the funds to Palestinians in the territories and some 3% to leftist Israeli organizations.
The report also claims that the Welfare Association is directly involved in Arab activity in Israel, including a campaign against obligating Arab youths to participate in Israel's National Service program.
Im Tirtzu said that among the Israeli organizations to receive funds from the Welfare Association are Adalah, Mada al-Carmel and the Galilee Society.
According to the report, $2.65 million were allocated by the Welfare Association to finance activity in Israel, specifically to boost the socio-economic status of Arab-Israelis and to preserve and foster Palestinian national identity.
The Welfare Association also supports two local councils – Nazareth and Kafr Kana.
Over the past few years the Welfare Association's annual budget stood at roughly $40 million, making it one of the key channels for the transfer of funds to the Palestinians.
'Funding from Saudi Arabia'
A Ynet inquiry revealed that Iran, Syrian and Lebanon are members of the Islamic Development Bank, which is one of the Welfare Association's financial backers.
In 2000, Following the outbreak of the second intifada, the bank established two funds to assist the Palestinians “in the face of continued Israeli aggression” – the Al-Aqsa Fund and the Al-Quds Intifada fund.
The report shows that between 2005 and 2008 the Welfare Association transferred nearly $3 million to Israeli organizations working, among other things, to strengthen Arab identity, promote the right of return agenda and support the campaign against National Service for Arab-Israelis.
In 2006, the NGO Development Center (NDC) was founded on the organizational infrastructure of the Welfare Association to launch projects in the Palestinian sector. The NDC projects were funded by the World Bank and a number of European countries.
According to Im Tirtzu, the NDC is involved in the funding of Israeli and Palestinian organizations promoting activities against Israeli policy and the IDF.
According to the reports published by Im Tirtzu, between 2008 and 2009 it transferred close to $2.4 million to Israeli organizations and about $3.5 million to Palestinian organizations. In 2009 alone, the organization transferred nearly $2 million to 13 different Israeli organizations, including B'Tselem, Mossawa, Adalah, Breaking the Silence, Yesh Din, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, the Public Committee against Torture, HaMoked Center for the Defense of the Individual and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
Fifteen left-wing organizations declared last week that they have “nothing to hide,” following the motion to establish an inquiry commission. However, the report said that “an intensive and thorough examination of the funding sources of these organizations and of public documents and online sites of Arab foundations, Islamic banks, Arab media and international research – finds there is extensive support of Arab sources funding extreme left organizations in Israel.”
Im Tirtzu claimed that “Arab money funds these organizations working to de-legitimize the State of Israel, calling to boycott Israel, aiding to put Israeli officials on trial for war crimes, strengthening the Palestinian identity of Israeli-Arabs and disconnecting their affinity to Israel, as well as strengthening the Palestinian-Islamic hold on Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa, the Negev and Galilee.”
B'Tselem officials responded to the claims: “Unlike the unfounded report of Im Tirtzu, the B'Tselem organization is funded by four Israeli-friendly countries: Switzerland, Denmark, Holland and Sweden. The money comes from the countries themselves and the NDC is used to transfer the money. Im Tirtzu is welcome to file a complaint with the police if they have further accusations and claims.”
Breaking the Silence is blaming Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. “Apparently the foreign minister, who's being treated as a persona-non-grata by the western world, has decided to turn Israel into a leper and ruin its relations with Switzerland, Denmark, Holland and Sweden. Breaking the Silence received donations only from friendly countries and if the foreign minister, the government and their strategic partners from Im Tirtzu wish to turn them into enemy states, they have the diplomatic tools to do so,” it said.
The Adalah organization also rejected the claims, saying, “The Welfare Association is an international foundation which has been operating for dozens of years, supporting human rights organizations and social organizations, enjoying a well respected and important status in European countries, with its headquarters in Geneva. No one has ever disputed its integrity. It was never claimed that the foundation supports or funds any illegal activity. And so its support of renovating of structures in Jerusalem is not only legal but blessed, and follows the norms of the international law. As far as the NGO Development Center – not only is it a completely legal foundation, but it is also supported by many west European governments.”
Yuval Mann and Avigail Lushi contributed to the report
"The Shepherd Hotel in Perspective" by Arlene Kushner
Forwarded with commentary by Emanuel A. Winston, Mid East Analyst & Commentator
As you read the following in-depth analysis, you may conclude that President Barack Hussein Obama and Hillary Clinton are a perfectly matched set when it comes to lying, making speeches of appeasement to Muslims and – always ready to sacrifice Israel to their political ambitions.
Both have studiously ignored what Islamists have brought upon the world, including their own people. Neither Obama nor Hillary can utter the words “Terror” and “Islam” in the same breath. Were they always this way? If you check their records and their friends, Obama was always a host of anti-American thugs while Hillary was a follower of Saul Alinsky, a guide to the collapse of America.
They have not changed except for having professional speech writers who artfully color over the true person behind the appalling speeches.
COMMENTARY BY EMANUEL A. WINSTON
###
Forwarded from: Arlene Kushner - Shepherd Hotel in Perspective" by Arlene Kushner
This is going to be a two-part posting. Today I participated in a tour of eastern Jerusalem, which incorporated the Shepherd hotel of Sheikh Jarrah as well as part of the Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood. Other commitments prevent me from doing justice, today, to relevant information regarding this area and its history that I want to share in a posting. And so this will come tomorrow.
Today, I want to share what someone else has written:
I've often praised Daniel Greenfield, who, writing as Sultan Knish, does a great job on his blog. His piece, "The Crime of Building a House," not only pertains to the Shepherd Hotel, it sets matters into a context that is best called obscene:
"The Crime of Building a House," by Daniel Greenfield, aka Sultan Knish
"In Niger, two Frenchmen were murdered by their Islamic kidnappers. Saudi Arabia sentenced a 23 year old girl who was gang raped to a year in prison and 100 lashes. Iran arrested two dozen Christians for the crime of being well... Christians. Which of these awful things did Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the EU's Red Baroness Ashton forcefully condemn?
"The answer is none of them.
"Instead they forcefully and vigorously condemned the demolition of a hotel built by a Muslim Nazi collaborator and now owned by an American-Jewish businessman who bought it in order to build an apartment complex on the spot. An apartment complex for a mere 20 families that is somehow worse than all the aforementioned murders and atrocities. So much worse that they demanded the personal intervention of the highest diplomatic officials of the United States and the European Union.
"The Shepherd Hotel in Jerusalem is not the Plaza Hotel. It is a dilapidated neighborhood eyesore that has been abandoned since the 1980's. No one lives in the Shepherd Hotel, a grim ugly fortress surrounded by barbed wire, that remains behind as a legacy of the Mufti of Jerusalem, who championed Hitler and helped recruit Muslims to serve in the SS. But with its demolition, people might actually begin to live on that spot. Children might actually play on ground that had been previously fenced off by barbed wire. And the worst thing of it all is that those people and their children will be Jews.
"...In her statement, Hillary Clinton said the United States is "very concerned" about the demolition of a Nazi collaborator's abandoned hotel. In a world where North Korea and Iran are racing ahead to build nuclear weapons, Russia and China are racing to outstrip the United States in weapons development and the economy is on the brink-- that is what the Obama Administration is "very concerned" about. That 20 Jewish families will be able to have homes in the capital of their own city.
"Hillary Clinton chose to attack Israel from Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE, a totalitarian regime whose own construction boom was built on slave labor imported from India. Where there are no political freedoms and where non-Muslim foreigners have few rights, if any. Where a video showed the brother of the ruler of Abu Dhabi torturing a man in ways too horrifying to describe, with the approval of the police and the judicial system over a debt. Where 42 percent of the prisoners are there for being indebted. The UAE is essentially a slave state, built on the backs of mostly non-Muslim migrant workers with no human or legal rights.
"While in Abu Dhabi, Hillary Clinton might have called on its rulers to open up the system to democratic elections. She might have raised the issue of Western women who are raped in Dubai and then sentenced to jail for being raped. Or the case of Roxanne Hillier, who was sentenced to jail for just being in the same room as her male boss. It certainly would have been appropriate for Hillary Clinton to have challenged the UAE on its abusive treatment of female visitors and tourists. But none of that happened.
"Instead Hillary Clinton used the platform of a barbaric skyscraper studded dictatorship to denounce the only democracy in the region. In a speech more inspired by Monty Python, than any concern for human rights, she described the demolition of a long abandoned hotel as a 'disturbing development' and warned that 'this move contradicts the logic of a reasonable and necessary agreement between the parties on the status of Jerusalem.' Yet oddly enough, Arab construction does not contradict such an agreement, only Jewish construction does."
http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2011/01/crime-of-building-house.html
This week the Good Shabbos Story did not arrive. Wishing everybody a happy, peaceful and blessed Shabbos.
Rachamim Pauli
