Chai Zvi Moshe passed away.
If I were an important Rabbi I would put a ban on realistic dolls. Not only is too close to a real image of a child, but I saw that there were women who meet and dress up these dolls/idols as if they were real children and even buy them clothes and take them in strollers. Up until a few weeks ago they were a sick trend for idle older women in the States instead of volunteering for community service. Now the phenomenon has reached Israel. What ever happened to a cheap raggedy-Ann that made children happy with a little bit of old clothing sown together and some buttons and stuffing? Children in Africa and most likely other places around the world would love to get one. As a Rabbi I must protest before the blood of these women will be on their heads in the next world and I got blamed for not warning people about this.
Parsha Shelach
13:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 2 'Send thou men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel; of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, everyone a prince among them.'
The spies were chosen from the best stock, good families and possibly good qualities too. However, the motivations of the spies were different. Calev and Yehoshua were for the sake of heaven and could not care even if they would become insignificant once the land was settled. However, the others were for glory and power and knew that in the wilderness they had a name and fame for themselves. This is in my opinion is the first example in History of Political Leaders destroying a Nation and a generation for their own temporary political gains.
3 And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of the LORD; all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. … 6 Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Yephunneh. … 8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun. … 16 These are the names of the men that Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.
My changing the name ones changes the luck of a person just as moving to a different place. As soon as Yehoshua became the name, he was able to save himself from the advice of the spies. Calev prayed from strength and was granted it. Note that both the tribe of Yehuda and the tribe of Ephraim produce the Moshiach in the end. One is the Moshiach ben Yosef who is the forerunning of the Ben David.
17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them: 'Get you up here into the South, and go up into the mountains; 18 and see the land, what it is; and the people that dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many; 19 and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds; 20 What is the soil like is it fat or lean? Are there any trees in it or not?
For Pasuk 20 I took the Chabad translation. What type of question is this for Moshe to Ask? Obviously if the desert of Sinai has scattered trees so the land too should have trees. Did not the people know the story of the Oak of Mamre from the time of Avraham? What there not an Eshel tree mentioned in Beer Sheva did not Yacov send almonds from the local trees to the Prime Minister of Mitzrayim?
It is obvious that there is a deeper meaning to this than the physical. Whether there is the tree of live in Eretz Yisrael or only the tree of knowledge? It was a warning to the spies that they should note that there are two trees one on a higher spiritual plane and one on a lower. He who eats from the tree of life will be blessed in this world and the next and he who eats from the lower tree will only bring death and destruction upon himself.
Other things that they had to check out were the land an ordinary land like that of the nations and Tumay or was it a land that was blessed with Taharos and Ritual Purity?
The spies that were unworthy looked at the giants dying (to make way for Am Yisrael) instead of seeing a miracle and the path for conquest opened before them they said: Koheles 3:19 For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts; even one thing befalls them; as the one dies, so dies the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; for all is vanity. But of their council it is said: 9:3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event unto all; yea also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. The spies figured out that they were great as they were the messengers of the King but Mishlei: 26:6 He that sends a message by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet, and drinks damage. And this is contrary to what happened in Beresheis 24:31 And he said: 'Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; wherefore stand you without? For I have cleared the house, and made room for the camels.' Eliezer was the faithful servant of Avraham and he had the help of HASHEM in success in his mission. The gigantic cluster of grapes that Calev and Yehoshua brought back proved their faithfulness to their mission. In my words condensed from the Zohar HaKodesh.
You shall be courageous and take from the fruit of the land." It was the season when the first grapes begin to ripen. … Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.-- 23 And they came unto the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it upon a pole between two; they took also of the pomegranates, and of the figs.-- 24 That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from thence.-- 25 And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days.
For of the seven species mentioned in the Torah we find that barley and wheat ripen in the spring. In the summer the mid-season grapes ripen and the figs along with the early pomegranates. The spies gathered them and ended up in the came in the first half of Av. On Tisha B’Av they issue their evil report. I can picture it like Shakespeare in Julius Caesar where the mob is against Caesar and then Mark Anthony turns the mob a 180 degrees around.
26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, and said: 'We came unto the land whither thou sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
A mature adult knows that things are not black and white as a child or a teen sees the world. The spies therefore begin with a positive report sort of a reverse Mark Anthony of the Shakespearean Play.
28 Howbeit the people that dwell in the land are fierce, and the cities are fortified, and very great; and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
These were three giants like Og who had come from the fallen angels. The Zohar names them but they may be coded names and the number three might mean something else. These people were exceptionally tall and strong. (Golyad of Gat was supposed to have been close to 9 feet tall vs. the very short five foot or less David {2.7 m vs. 160 cm or less})
29 Amalek dwell in the land of the South;
Yisrael had already encountered them and defeated them in one battle but it brought back fearsome memories to the slaves. [Today air raid sirens bring back memories from the Gulf War to some and in the borders in the north and the south even more recent memories. Just a few hours before writing this a Kassam landed in the Negev.]
and the Hittite,
They had carved out an Empire for themselves and had a fierce reputation.
and the Jebusite,
They ruled over the holy areas of Yerushalayim, Beit Lechem and other places.
and the Amorite, dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along by the side of the Jordan.'
It is like our hearing today of the treat of missiles from Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Gaza and terror from the Shomron. Now we are about to see Mitzrayim in the south after their revolution return to be fully hostile for the old generals and soldiers from the Yom Kippur War of 38 years ago have retired from the military. Yarden has not fallen yet as of now but the kingdom there is not as stable as Yisrael might wish. So with all these military and paramilitary forces against the conquest, the people got a yellow streak running up their spine. {In WWII the Jews were accused of having a yellow streak … but many unfortunately spilled their guts on D-Day until victory in Europe and others in the Pacific.}
30 And Caleb stilled the people toward Moses, and said: 'We should go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.' 31 But the men that went up with him said: 'We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.'
HASHEM had defeated the first rate military power Mitzrayim with 10 Plagues and drowned them in the Sea and you are worried about disorganized peoples and perhaps third or fourth rate military fighters!
32 And they spread an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying: 'The land, through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, descended from the giants. In our eyes, we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes.
Some of the giants had died and they were entombed in even larger coffins. I have seen pictures of the grave of Noach supposedly in Lebanon and the plastered area based on the picture is something like four to six meters long. As I wrote about the height discrepancy between David and Golyad so too here and they lowered themselves to be grasshoppers or cockroaches in our manner of speaking to be crushed under foot. Chabad translate it as seemed like and then they deduced that they were Lilliputians vs. Gulliver.
14:1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
This was the night of Tisha B’Av.
…26 And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying: 27 'How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, that keep murmuring against Me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they keep murmuring against Me. 28 Say unto them: As I live, says the LORD, surely as ye have spoken in Mine ears, so will I do to you: 29 your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, ye that have murmured against Me; 30 surely ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I lifted up My hand that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Yephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 But your little ones, that ye said would be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have rejected. 32 But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your strayings, until your carcasses be consumed in the wilderness. 34 After the number of the days in which ye spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know My displeasure. 35 I the LORD have spoken, surely this will I do unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against Me; in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.'
Just like then, Yisrael could have been redeemed after WWII or the Six Day War or even the Yom Kippur War but the generation was unworthy for Moshiach. The time is fast approaching though that we will be ready but our history repeated itself with the unworthy politicians.
… 15:17 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 18 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye come into the land whither I bring you, 19 then it shall be, that, when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall set apart a portion for a gift unto the LORD. 20 Of the first of your dough ye shall set apart a cake for a gift; as that which is set apart of the threshing-floor, so shall ye set it apart. 21 Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the LORD a portion for a gift throughout your generations.
This is the Mitzva of taking Challah from the bread hence the bread we eat on Shabbos has gotten the common name Challah or even Holly Bread in English from the taking of this portion of a large quantity backed on Shabbos for the very large families that existed back then. My great-grandmother was one of 22 children of which 15 siblings survived until adulthood. So a large amount of bread was made in these large families.
… 32 And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks upon the Sabbath day. 33 And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. 34 And they put him in ward, because it had not been declared what should be done to him. 35 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.' 36 And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Violation of the Shabbos was one of the most heinous crimes spiritually wise. The punishment spelled out in the Torah equals that of incest and bestiality. Today with too many people violating the Holy Shabbos, we cannot commit National Suicide by trying for murder so many of our population. That is why education is needed today to bring back Shabbos to her former glory as a bride before HASHEM the groom.
37 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 38 'Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them throughout their generations fringes in the corners of their garments, and that they put with the fringe of each corner a thread of blue.
We have lost the tradition of what the tread of Techeles was and what shade of blue. We had the tradition that it came from a kosher fish which would eliminate sea lions, seals, snails, etc. There is one fish that does produce such a dye living most of the time off the coast of Italy and sometimes swimming down to Eretz Yisrael about once every sixty or seventy years. Again today we do not know the color and can only speculate with scientists concurring with the Rabbis.
39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye go not about after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go astray;
In past years, I brought down the story the man who looked at the Tzitzis and cried and did not commit a sin with the best Madam of his day. In fact the Madam upon seeing his behavior gave away her ill-gotten loot became a Giyores and the two lived happily ever after. – Sanhedrin
40 that ye may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy unto your God. 41 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.'
Your G-D and with no partners. I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE and there is none besides ME!
Perkei Avos Chapter 2 Mishnah 8 – 14 http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/682513/jewish/English-Text.htm
8. Rabban Yochanan the son of Zakkai received the tradition from Hillel and Shammai. He would say: If you have learned much Torah, do not take credit for yourself---it is for this that you have been formed.
As much as you learn and will learn of the Torah and spreading it will be a drop in the sea of preserving it for future generations. He faithfully transmitted what he learned from his teachers to his students. His grave is in Tiberius near the Grave of the Rambam (Maimonides) and his 5 Talmidim surround his grave this is a very holy site for prayers. One must remember that Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua were the teachers and colleagues of Rabbi Akiva. All three helped distribute the Mishnah to the masses and their stories are told in the Gemara even more so than Hillel, Shammai, Shemaya and Avtalayon mentioned last week.
9. Rabban Yochanan the son of Zakkai had five disciples: Rabbi Eliezer the son of Hurkenus, Rabbi Joshua the son of Chananya, Rabbi Yossi the Kohen, Rabbi Shimon the son of Nethanel, and Rabbi Elazar the son of Arach. He would recount their praises: Rabbi Eliezer the son of Hurkenus is a cemented cistern that loses not a drop; Rabbi Joshua the son of Chananya---fortunate is she who gave birth to him; Rabbi Yossi the Kohen---a Chassid (pious one); Rabbi Shimon the son of Nethanel fears sin; Rabbi Elazar ben Arach is as an ever-increasing wellspring.
Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurkenus was able to repeat word for word what his teacher taught him but he would neither add nor subtract anything if times changed. This resulted in him being placed in Cherem by the Sanhedrin (cut off) over an issue of Tuma and Tahara. He was the brother-in-law of Rabban Gamliel who led the ban but it was a ban for the sake of heaven. He was probably the Gadol HaDor.
Rabbi Yehoshua was milder in his approach but almost got banned by Rabban Gamliel HaNassi (prince) so the Sanhedrin revolted against Prince Gamliel and he had to be put in his place where for the sake of heaven for not one does not threaten bans on scholars greater than oneself. It was Rabbi Akiva who persuaded Rabbi Yehoshua to compromise with Rabban Gamliel.
[Rabbi Yochanan] used to say: If all the sages of Israel were to be in one cup of a balance-scale, and Eliezer the son of Hurkenus were in the other, he would outweigh them all. Abba Shaul said in his name: If all the sages of Israel were to be in one cup of a balance-scale, Eliezer the son of Hurkenus included, and Elazar the son of Arach were in the other, he would outweigh them all.
This is to let you know of the greatness of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai and these two of his Talmidim. However, the influence upon the Talmudic Thought was from Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Eliezer HaGadol while the influence of Rabbi Elazar ben Arach may have been greater I assume that do the popularity of these other Rabbis upon their Talmidim the continuation of Torah gives the other three Sages much less credit. (This is so in other fields too. Enrico Fermi and other scientists were greater physicists than many that worked on the Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs but their contribution is lost to the masses that don’t care about or learn about Fermions and Neutrinos.)
10. [Rabbi Yochanan] said to them: Go and see which is the best trait for a person to acquire. Said Rabbi Eliezer: A good eye.
Look favorable and judge people for good and not be suspicious. Do not get jealous of somebody else’s success and if you are successful wish it on all your friends.
Said Rabbi Joshua: A good friend.
I need not tell a parent of children especially teenagers how much their friends influence them. Sometimes a friend from a so-called good home can be more troublesome than a friend from a lower class home that has good personality qualities and rich values.
Said Rabbi Yossi: A good neighbor.
It is nice to be in a good neighborhood even for a non-religious person. Why do the religious people try to live in their own ghetto even among Jews? It is because of the environment. If as I wrote about marriages can be dissolved by even a platonic relationship among religious people (this is judging them on merit) all the more so when the neighbor is wearing a little more than a bikini etc. This is also a reason for the very wealthy in apartments to worry about a Genovese, Gambino or other similar families who might move into their build.
Said Rabbi Shimon: To see what is born [out of ones actions].
The scandal with Congressman Weiner is still ripe in the press daily and he could have avoided it totally if he acted like a 46 year old adult. Sometimes one does not put his brain into gear before opening his mouth or doing some action and getting the consequences.
Said Rabbi Elazar: A good heart. Said He to them: I prefer the words of Elazar the son of Arach to yours, for his words include all of yours.
If one has a good heart, the other ideas of the other Sages will fall into place. The Story of Rabbi Aryeh Levin brought down last week in the Good Shabbos Story shows a man with a good heart and his kindness was a better influence than all the threats and bullying in the world.
He said to them: Go and see which is the worst trait, the one that a person should most distance himself from. Said Rabbi Eliezer: An evil eye.
Somebody who is Jealous will eat his own heart out and that of the neighborhood by causing friction.
Said Rabbi Joshua: An evil friend.
Anybody who falls unwittingly under the influence of a bad friend could get into trouble.
Said Rabbi Yossi: An evil neighbor.
Even if the evil neighbor is not a member of the Mafia he can make trouble by throwing dirt, dirty water or assorted garbage out his window into the garden or on to your porch. Maybe by smoking when your window is open or having a set of drums and loud music at 11 PM at night over your head or drilling wood work which is his hobby for hours on end or putting keys on your car because you parked in an unmarked space that he decided was his. One does not have to be completely wicked to do wicked things to the neighbors. Honking horns or igniting a large truck’s motor at 4 AM without caring for the neighbors is a bad thing. Or even a distant neighbor in your town stealing copper gas lines for cashing in metal: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4083354,00.html Although the building complex housed some legitimate business owned and operated by a well-known Mafia Family. Our Sages did not idly say WOE TO THE WICKED AND WOE TO HIS NEIGHBOR.
Said Rabbi Shimon: To borrow and not to repay; for one who borrows from man is as one who borrows from the Almighty, as is stated, ``The wicked man borrows and does not repay; but the righteous one is benevolent and gives'' (Psalms 37:21).
My policy is to give loans that will not hurt me to non-family members so that I will not be hurt. $50 can become a gift to a friend who cannot return it but perhaps not $100 or more. For it is a Mitzvah to help a friend or neighbor if they have fallen down or their animals are under burdens or they could end up with a big loss.
Said Rabbi Elazar: An evil heart.
One who harbors grudges in his heart is a terrible thing. For the idle brain and a bad heart becomes a the playground of the Satan to design evil in the world.
Said He to them: I prefer the word of Elazar the son of Arach to yours, for his words include all of yours.
They would each say three things:
Rabbi Eliezer would say: The honor of your fellow should be as precious to you as your own, and do not be easy to anger.
Just as you would not want people stepping on your honor so too you should honor all people. People who make fun of other people are usually doing so because of their own faults.
Repent one day before your death.
Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai taught this to his students. Since one does not know the day of his death or the time of his death, he must be in a constant state of being repented and free of sin.
Warm yourself by the fire of the sages, but beware lest you be burned by its embers; for their bite is the bite of a fox, their sting is the sting of a scorpion, their hiss is the hiss a serpent, and all their words are like fiery coals.
Sit and learn from Chachamim and bathe in their Torah but woe to you if they catch you sinning. When I was 21 years of age and a new Baal Teshuva, a 16 year old fellow who wanted to go to the Conservative Jewish Theological Seminary and I became friends when I prayed with him in the Conservative Schul. One of the older members of the Congregation would honor us for our dedication and we respected the elder. One time after Kiddush on Shabbos, we passed by a non-kosher Hamburger Shop. He wanted to go through the floor. We did not have the fire of a sage but if he got burned by our presence you can imagine what a sage can do!
11. Rabbi Joshua would say: An evil eye, the evil inclination, and the hatred of one's fellows, drive a person from the world.
Jealousy and giving into sin are logical. Hating people who should not be hated will turn your stomach and your food and digestion will become poison. However, hating wicked deeds and wicked people is correct but it should not affect the ability of one to function.
12. Rabbi Yossi would say: The property of your fellow should be as precious to you as your own.
As I mentioned above it is a Mitzvah to protect and help your neighbor and his property including his good name, etc.
Perfect yourself for the study of Torah, for it is not an inheritance to you.
The Torah says Moshe commanded us the words of Torah an inheritance to the congregation of Yacov. However, learning Torah is hard work and study and it is not given on a silver plate like an inheritance.
And all your deeds should be for the sake of Heaven.
If your Torah Study is for becoming a Rabbi or Cantor in a large Synagogue in a rich town or making a great name for yourself you are doing things for the wrong reason. If you volunteer to help in the Synagogue and in Charity Organizations then you are doing things for the sake of heaven. Even giving free Bar Mitzva lessons to poor children is an example.
13. Rabbi Shimon would say: Be meticulous with the reading of the Shema and with prayer. When you pray, do not make your prayers routine, but [an entreaty of] mercy and a supplication before the Almighty, as is stated ``For He is benevolent and merciful, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, and relenting of the evil decree'' (Joel 2:13). And do not be wicked in your own eyes.
When we have to punch a clock or have a tremendous schedule we tend to weaken in our prayers as time is pressing and we put our own prayers under pressure. When one is a student it is much easier to take his time to pray and his worries are less, but the real test comes for a person who works for a living and runs from place to place.
14. Rabbi Elazar would say: Be diligent in the study of Torah. Know what to answer a heretic. And know before whom you toil, and who is your employer who will repay you the reward of your labors.
Nowadays most of the heretics are children of boors and common people of the land who never learnt Torah the bigger Mitzvah is to bring them closer to Torah and Mitzvos and not to answer them in their foolishness.
Halacha from Danny Schoemann
Blood spots in eggs may not be eaten, and usually the entire egg is discarded if it has a blood spot. If a fish has fins and scales then it is Kosher, and its blood may be eaten. However, if the blood has separated from the fish and cannot be distinguished from non-fish blood then it's forbidden. If a bowl of fish-blood has fish-scales floating in it, then it's permitted. Source: Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 46:1,2
ample - if it did not leave your mouth. Source: Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 41:3
- One may not derive any benefit from such a mixture
Some mixtures of meat and milk are forbidden even to be fed to one's pets. *
From other mixtures of meat and milk one is allowed to derive benefit. A competent Rabbinical Authority needs to be consulted on a case-by-case basis. Source: Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 41:5 *Danny noted above to make sure that dog and cat food to the best of one’s knowledge is not a mixture.
If there is some sort of separation on the table, then they are allowed to share the table. For example, if they each have their own place mat, or there is something between them on the table that normally is not on the table, e.g.: food (bottle of whiskey) or vessels (vase or extra salt cellars). They should not share the same cup, pitcher or bottle, since food can get stuck on it and passed from one to the other. They also should not be sharing the same loaf of bread. The custom is that they do not even share the same salt cellars. Source: Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 41:6, 7
oor handles) - then you cannot assemble them on Shabbat, even if you don't tighten the connection. Lids of dishes may be taken off and put back on even if they are tight (like Tupperware) since they are not meant to remain connected permanently. Source: Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 80:83 Shabbat Shalom - Danny Schoemann
A’s Journey to Judaism
It all started back in 2004/2005. Angela, being a studier and one to ask questions decided to go on a quest for "proof" that jc was G-d, the messiah etc. At that point I was only looking to confirm my own faith at that time. My digging however surprisingly brought me to a whole different light and down a totally different Road Map.
I have decided to keep this in an outline that would be easier to follow. I am going to address the 5 W's (who, what, where, when and why)
WHO: This transformation took place by forcing myself to meet with various xtians, pastors, Orthodox Rabbis and Orthodox friends. I wanted to understand full from both sides. Sadly as my questions got extremely deep and invasive, pastors were no longer able to give me proof texts, only the line "we believe by faith, you must too" However, on the flip side, the Rabbis I went to constantly welcomed me, enjoyed providing in depth proof contexts, and welcomed me back for more questions (maybe some regretted that invitation LOL)
I first started with only questioning if jc was truly G-d and where the roots of that came from. After determining he was not, and the trinity is a false man made doctrine, I went on to dig deeper to see if jc was at least possibly the messiah. We all know where that ended up.
In my heart I wanted jc to be the truth. This is what I believed my whole life. I was scared to no end. Could it be possible that for 32 yrs. of my life I was being innocently deceived? If I let go of jc aren't I bound for hell. I cried out for someone to give me answers from the Evangelical world. Men that have doctorate degrees in Theology....but left me empty from any validity to my questions.
SO the WHO of my journey were Respectable Evangelical Pastors with Doctorate degrees, Orthodox Rabbis, Myself, My Children, and MY KNEES where I spent a lot of time crying out to Hashem for Truth. AHHH as always, He was faithful to come through.
G-d brought my soul to Judaism. Where I am allowed to question anything, walk a much more fuller spiritual life, see Hashem through totally different glasses, and a real means of drawing on Hashem for every part of my life.
WHAT: I used several resources in my journey. Here are a few....that I started with AFTER spending countless hours with both pastors and Rabbis.
These people were responsible for the foundation and grounding of my current faith besides my local pastors and Rabbis.
I use the Chumash, Tanach, as the foundation of my proof texts and why the New Testament can NOT be validated when looked at through the original Hebrew texts. More of that later.
WHERE: So after I got to a comfortable level in my beliefs and realizing I wasn't going to 'hell' I decided to further my studies and walk by moving to Park Heights (Baltimore) where I lived for a year. This was when the HEAT OF REJECTION started. WOW, various people in my extended family (not my parents per say) no longer wanted to associate with me....first OUCH....then I would say just about 99% of my Xian friends turned and either accused me of so many things and the name calling begun....I was "Saul of Tarsus", leading my children to hell, without salvation, and NO LONGER worthy of their friendships.
IT WAS SO…SO difficult. Converting from xtianity to Judaism leaves a temporary hole in a person’s social life that is for sure. It is an extremely difficult process not alone dealing with the havoc that many of the xtians put on me AND my children.
Once I was in the Jewish Community though my walk became much stronger. Developed incredible friends and support and met SEVERAL people who have also gone through this journey. They lifted me up and carried me for a while.
to skip forward a little bit.....I am now living in the local Chabad Community in North Wilmington DE....VERY much love it, the Rabbis are wonderful, people are welcoming, there for you and we fit 100%
WHEN:
Here I would put a quick note on some answers to "when" because the actual bulk of my "note" will most definitely be in the "WHY"...
Time Line: Left the church in 2004
Moved to Park Heights 2005/2006 to begin my official conversion process
Moved to North Wilmington Chabad where hopefully B'H I will be completing my entire process.
Now for the big WHY:
Why did I choose Judaism? Why did I leave the very foundations of what I was raised to believe? Why would I reject jc when he is my means to salvation? Why is the NT a false document?
First of all, please understand, I am only sharing this as MY JOURNEY. My attempt is not to change anyone or try to convert. As Judaism DOES NOT allow proselytizing and the conversion process is EXTREMELY difficult. We have NO belief that ANYONE should become a Jew and they DO NOT need Judaism as a way of Salvation. Salvation was given to the righteous Nations as well as to the Jews. Each have their place in the world to come. What I do hope however, is that maybe this will prompt some of those who are quick to judge to actually learn for themselves and stop assuming on lack of knowledge and understanding. NO ONE wakes up one day and says hmmmmm today I want to become a Jew.....NEVER happens that way....NEVER...we would rather someone be a righteous Gentile than to take on the yoke of 613 Commandments, a righteous Gentile can abide by the 7 Noachide laws and obtain a place in the World to Come. For more information on that you can just visit http://noahidenations.com/ for a very simple explanation.
You may be asking WHY do I believe that jc is neither G-d NOR the messiah. Well I would have to have at a minimum a year to go into all of that and even provide a CLIFF NOTE version of explanation. But for the sake of this note I will try to briefly explain.
1. First of all, Protestantism itself was founded by Martin Luther. He was the original father of the church. WOW How many years of my life did I hail credence to our "church fathers" hmmm let’s see? Calvin, Martin Luther, CONSTANTINE?, and HAILED to the teachings of Paul, Timothy, the Gospels etc....Well let's briefly take a look at this:
LUTHER STATES:
Set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are Christians, and do not condone or knowingly tolerate such public lying, cursing, and blaspheming of his sun and of his Christians. For whatever we tolerated in the past unknowingly and I myself was unaware of it will be pardoned by God. But if we, now that we are informed, were to protect and shield such a house for the Jews, existing right before our very nose, in which they lie about, blaspheme, curse, vilify, and defame hrist and us (as was heard above), it would be the same as if we were doing all this and even worse ourselves, as we very well know. (If they were so right in their views, it would be easy to persuade anybody with a nice Yiddish Kopf that they were correct. When one resorts to violence either they are terrible in communications or deadly wrong. RP)
I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them. My essay, I hope, will furnish a Christian (who in any case has no desire to become a Jew) with enough material not only to defend himself against the blind, venomous Jews, but also to become the foe of the Jews' malice, lying, and cursing, and to understand not only that their belief is false but that they are surely possessed by all devils. May C…, our dear lord, convert them mercifully and preserve us steadfastly and immovably in the knowledge of him, which is eternal life. Amen.
CALVIN:
He states, "I have had much conversation with many Jews: I have never seen either a drop of piety or a grain of truth or ingenuousness—nay, I have never found common sense in any Jew.
JC:
Speaking to the Jews:
43 Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye (the Jews) are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
SO should we say that these were not "Real" xtians??? History is FILLED with persecution on the Jews all in the name of jc and forced to convert to xtianity or burn. BUT these weren't 'real' believers huh?
GIVE ME A BREAK.....
Let’s go further....
How can xtians take precious passages from the Torah or Tanakh and mistranslate them to fit their agenda?
I will only for sake of time, give you a few examples:
Isaiah 53 (which is one of the biggest ones) (Young woman/lady and virgin are different words in Hebrew)
NEVER POINT TO JC
Who is the suffering servant??? Just read a chapter prior out of the Hebrew Bible the Tanakh
Isaiah 41:8-9
But YOU, ISRAEL, my SERVANT.... Isaiah 44:1 But now hear O JACOB my SERVANT ISRAEL whom I have CHOSEN Isaiah 49:3 and he said "YOU are MY SERVANT, ISRAEL, in whom I will be glorified
Isaiah 53 fits totally with its surrounding chapters PROVING clearly that the Servant spoken of is the nation of Israel Isaiah 53:8 For the transgressions of my people (gentile nations) They (the Jews) were stricken. THIRD PERSON, plural proves it is the nation and NOT A SINGLE INDIVIDUAL...
THINGS TO CONSIDER: IN THE ENTIRE TORAH / TANAKH
There is absolutely NO mention of a Messiah Coming TWICE there is NO mention of a virgin birth (just another skewed translation of the Hebrew Text) No concept of a Triune G-d head
JC was NOT the Messiah for NUMEROUS Reasons....
I welcome you to message me on ANY passage and I can help ANYONE understand better because it is TO much to cover here:
Here are a few reasons:
Yeshu did not fulfill the messianic prophecies. (NO HE REALLY DIDN"T I PROMISE what is the Messiah supposed to accomplish?
The Bible says that he will:
A. Build the Third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28).
B. Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6).
C. Usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. As it says: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4)
D. Spread universal knowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one.
As it says: "God will be King over all the world -- on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One" (Zechariah 14:9)
He must be a direct male descendant of King David and King Solomon, his son - "And when your days (David) are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall issue from your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will make firm the throne of his kingdom forever..." (2 Samuel 7:12 - 13)
The genealogy of the New Testament is inconsistent. While it gives two accounts of the genealogy of Joseph, it states clearly that he is not the biological father of Jesus. One of the genealogies is through Nathan and not Solomon altogether!
He must gather the Jewish people from exile and return them to Israel -"And he shall set up a banner for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." (Isaiah 11:12)
Are all Jews living in Israel? Have all Jews EVER lived in Israel since the time of Jesus?
He must rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem - "...and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forever and my tabernacle shall be with them.." (Ezekiel 37:26 - 27)
At last check, there is NO Temple in Jerusalem. And worse, it was shortly after Jesus died that the Temple was DESTROYED! Just the opposite of this prophecy!
He will rule at a time of world-wide peace - "...they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." (Micah 4:3)
Have you seen a newspaper lately? Are we living in a state of complete world peace? Has there ever been peace since the time of Jesus?
He will rule at a time when the Jewish people will observe G-d's commandments - "My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow MY ordinances and be careful to observe MY statutes." (Ezekiel 37:24)
The Torah is the Jewish guide to life, and its commandments are the ones referred to here. Do all Jews observe all the commandments? Christianity, in fact, often discourages observance of the commandments in Torah, in complete opposition to this prophecy.
He will rule at a time when all people will come to acknowledge and serve one G-d - "And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, says the L-rd" (Isaiah 66:23)
There are still millions if not billions of people in the world today who adhere to paganistic and polytheistic religions. It is clear that we have not yet seen this period of human history unfold.
All of these criteria are best stated in the book of Ezekiel Chapter 37 verses 24-28:
And David my servant shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall also follow MY judgments and observe MY statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Yaakov my servant, in which your fathers have dwelt and they shall dwell there, they and their children, and their children's children forever; and my servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, which I will give them; and I will multiply them and I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. And my tabernacle shall be with them: and I will be their G-d and they will be my people. Then the nations shall know that I am the L-rd who sanctifies Israel, when MY sanctuary will be in the midst of them forevermore.
If an individual fails to fulfill even one of these conditions, then he cannot be "The Messiah." A careful analysis of these criteria shows us that to date, no one has fulfilled every condition.
Certainly NOT Jesus.
I will leave with this on the "WHY" because ANYONE is welcomed to message me if they made it THIS far:)
HOW CAN THE NT BE INFAILABLE? THE WRITERS DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHERE ABRAHAM WAS BURIED!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where was Abraham Buried?
The Cave of Machpelah is where Abraham is buried. That's the information that's given in Genesis 49:29-31. According to Genesis 23:19, the cave is near Hebron, which is about 20 miles/32 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem, Israel. Also according to Genesis 23:19, that's the final resting place of the Patriarch's wife Sarah.
Acts 7:16–And they were carried back to Schem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Schem.
Everyone knows that Abraham and his wife and sons are buried in Hebron where Jews and Muslims visit his tomb to this day.
OK probably MOST of you have given up on this note by now.
Please know. ........I have studied now going on 7 years.
My faith is NOT blind and Hashem is against Blind Faith.
On more accounts than I can mention here G-d says or gives instruction to His people so that they may "KNOW" I am G-d. It's not a secret blind faith.
Salvation is the same today as it was over 5000 yrs. ago:
Blood is not necessary for atonement. This is taught in many places, including Hosea Chapter 14, where it says, "Israel, return to Hashem your G-d, for you have fallen because of your sins. Take with you words, and return to Hashem; say to Him, 'Take away all sin, and receive us graciously, and will we give calves with our lips.'" In other words, instead of sacrifices, when we cannot bring sacrifices we will pray, and we will bring Hashem words. Hashem will then receive us and forgive us for our sins.
It is within our ability to be righteous. The Torah itself says, "The word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou may do it." (Deut. 30:14). And if we miss the mark, when we fail to fulfill the good laws that G-d has provided for us, then we can obtain forgiveness through prayer, repentance and good deeds.
When the Torah speaks of G-d as our Salvation or our Redeemer, it is not speaking of salvation or redemption from sin; rather, it speaks of salvation from the very concrete, day-to-day problems that we face, such as redemption from slavery in Egypt, or salvation from our enemies in war.
Although animal sacrifice is one means of obtaining forgiveness, there are non-animal offerings as well, and there are other means for obtaining forgiveness that do not involve sacrifices at all. The Biblical book of Jonah tells of an entire community condemned to destruction that was forgiven when they simply repented and fasted, without ever offering any sacrifice, blood or otherwise. (Jonah 3)
BOTTOM LINE....SALVATION IS NOT GIVEN THROUGH A BLOOD SACRIFICE. ACTUALLY HASHEM MENTIONS MANY TIMES THAT HE PREFERS REPENTANCE, PRAYER AND CHARITY....
BLOOD SACRIFICES FOR SALVATION IS A GREEK/ROMAN PAGAN IDEALOGY NEVER ADOPTED BY JEWS OR GIVEN BY HASHEM!
SO
To end this note...although I could go on and on and on......
I leave you with this:
Zechariah 8:23Thus says the L-rd of hosts: "On those days ten men out of all the languages of the nations shall take hold and seize the robe of a Jew, saying: `Let us go with you, for we have heard that G-d is with you.'"
PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS !!!!!
THIS IS ONLY THE START OF UNDERSTANDING WHY I HAVE CHOSEN JUDAISM. I SHOULD DO MORE NOTES ON MY BELIEFS....MAYBE I WILL AS QUESTIONS COME MY WAY :)
The only thing that A left out is Shemos 4:22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh: Thus saith the LORD: Israel is My son, My first-born. So if Israel is the first born then who is Yeshu and what is this only son stuff?
An Article from the Author Elisheva Barre author of Torah for Gentiles (Bnei Noach)
The first converts to Judaism were the Jews themselves, when they changed their status at Sinai from Bnei Noah to Bnei Israel, for it is the Covenant of the Torah which created the nation. Ever since, any Gentile who wants to enter the Covenant and join the Jewish people does the three things Israel themselves did when they received the Torah: bring a sacrifice, circumcise and immerse in a ritual bath - and for a woman, immersion. The lack of possibility to bring the sacrifice does not prevent conversion so at any time and in any place, Israel receives converts.
The Scroll of Ruth does not tell us that Ruth converted, but this is implied in her response to Noemi where she accepted upon herself the foundations of the nation Israel. By Oral Law, we know that the exclusion of Moabites to enter the congregation of Israel applies to the men "who did not greet you with water", and since women are not expected to go out to greet foreigners because it is not a proper thing for women to do, the exclusion does not apply to their women. This is the point Prophet Shmuel wanted to publicize when he was about to crown David king. (But before she goes to the threshing floor goes to the Mikvah! Reply to my mention below.)
(Yes, I did leave this out because it is not explicit, and I just gave the "asmachta" about her being Jewish in that Boaz allows her to reap with his people.)
Boaz was head of the Beit Din, the one which decreed it is allowed to greet a person using the Name of HaShem, and he certifies Ruth's conversion when he says: Stay attached to my youths (Ruth 2:8) for if she were not Jewish, he would not have permitted such a thing. So if Boaz had recommended Ruth to the Ministry of Interior, the Minister would have no way of refusing his recommendation.
As we have it today, the Ministry of Interior of the Jewish State does grant Aliyah to the non-Jewish partner in a mixed marriage, according to the very policies established by David Ben Gurion when he implemented the Law of Return. The State also gives Israeli citizenship to foreign workers and their children with no request to convert at all which further blurs Jewish identity in the very Jewish state.
In a query to some 150 leaders of world Jewry, Ben Gurion asked whether or not to accept the non-Jewish partner under the Law of Return. Most if not all replies stressed the importance of defining Jewish identity according to Halacha from various angles, and warned of the foreseeable dangers for not upholding it (the responses were published by Feldheim in a book entitled Jewish Identity). But Ben Gurion did not head to the warnings, and did not follow suit - in fact he never intended to, since his letter of invitation requires replies that will be "... in keeping with the accepted tradition among all circles of Jewry, orthodox and non-orthodox of all trends, and with the special conditions of Israel as a sovereign Jewish State in which freedom of conscience and religion is guaranteed".
These two propositions are mutually exclusive! As long as the State of Israel does not erase our debt to the British and Ottoman laws and does not proclaim the supremacy of Jewish law, we will not be able to establish Jewish identity in the Jewish state and we get more and more entangled in the mixed marriage between Halacha and liberal freedoms. So let it be said that Judaism is not restricted to "religious" matters and let's espouse all the injunctions of the Torah, in banking, marketing, farming, education, justice, politics, foreign relations, public services, in private and national life, as much as in the Synagogue and personal status.
Today, the Army has a conversion program for the non-Jewish children of mixed marriages who reached the age of recruitment. This somewhat repairs what was not done from the start because the Rabbinate did not make it a policy to offer conversion to the non-Jewish partner from the start, as a condition for their Aliyah.
Even a Gentile who merely wishes to drive through our land, say from Egypt to Lebanon, is to take upon himself the observance of the seven Bnei Noah commandments. So too, in keeping with Jewish Law, all foreign workers should be obliged to take upon themselves to observe the Bnei Noah Laws prior to entering the land and receiving a permit to work in Jewish homes.
That will be the Law of the Land which the King Moshiach will proclaim, but does it mean we have to wait for his coming to do so? We will have a lot of work to do when he comes to make room for the ingathering of the remnants of our people, to eliminate the seed of Amalek, and to rebuild the Temple - all things we cannot do without an acceptance of all the Torah laws. So if we really wanted the Moshiach, if we really wanted to be a free people in our land, free from oppression and free from the yoke of the nations, we would proclaim Torah Law in our land one day before his coming!
And what does all that have to do with Ruth? Sure it does! Because this daughter of the king of Moab left her land, her people, and the comfort of her position and said to Noemi: "Your people will be my people and your God will be my God and nothing but death will separate me from you", and because she humbled herself at the feet of Boaz and begot Oved who begot Yishay who begot David and David begot the King Moshiach.
This is something no government of Israel can uproot or abrogate- so why not humbly say, like Ruth: Whatever the Torah tells me to do - that I will do, and wherever the Torah leads me - there shall I go?!
The Interior Ministry and Aliyah Dept. after years of letting in hundreds of thousands of non-Jewish Russians made a it impossible almost for non-refugees like a Belgium and my Mother to make Aliyah. Go and try to find the older Reform Rabbi who married my mother in 5703 in the year 5761 as we say good luck.
This came from Fran. It is one of my favorite poems from my youth for it allows one to think of two paths one of good and live and one of evil and death each of us must choose things in our life.
Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.
The Road Not Taken
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Unfortunately in this world the path of Torah and Mitzvos is the one less travelled.
Baruch Dayan Emmes
For 43 years I followed the writing of this great man a fighter with his typewriter and computer or Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael. Baruch Dayan Emmes blessed be the true Judge.
Emanuel wrote for the Jewish Press and other Jewish Publications. He was relentless up until about the last month in his fight to help Yisrael and warn us of the gathering of nations for Gog and Magog. I never had the privilege of meeting him but I loved the man and his writings. His love of our people will not die but live long after the year of mourning. RP
From Gail Winston, Mid East Analyst & Commentator
Dear Friends,
Manny Winston was niftar this morning at 8:30 am CDT after an 11 year battle against cancer. We will miss his presence in this world but, perhaps HaShem wanted him back.
North Shore Chabad of Highland Park will hold a brief memorial after morning Davening at 7:30 PM, 847 Central Avenue, Highland Park June 13, 2011. You are welcome to come before we take off for Israel.
The levaya (funeral) for Manny will begin Tuesday, June 14 at the Sanhedria Funeral Home, hopefully around 5 PM after the 3 planes bringing family arrive. From there the levaya will be at Har Zeitim, Mount of Olives – through the gate to the left of the Intercontinental Hotel. Please come if you can.
May we all be blessed with Simchas and also be comforted among the mourners of Jerusalem.
All the Best,
Gail Winston & all of Manny’s family and friends
From Dina: http://www.freeman.org/winston.htm
Emanuel Winston writes extensively about geo-politics and war, often forecasting coming events in the region of the Middle East, including the relations between Washington and Jerusalem. He has published over 2500 articles in the International Press, both secular, Anglo/Jewish and Hebrew - including U.S.A. TODAY, the NEW YORK TIMES, the WASHINGTON POST, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, BOSTON GLOBE, JUF NEWS, MIDWEST JEWISH WEEK, the NEW YORK JEWISH PRESS, and THE MACCABEAN - as well as MA'ARIV and THE JERUSALEM POST. He also publishes technical articles in such military journals as U.S. DEFENSE NEWS. He was also Political Editor for the NATIONAL JEWISH NEWS/ISRAEL TODAY.
He has given hundreds of radio and television interviews on these topics - over 150 during the Gulf War and was ABC's Chicago expert on the Mideast. Mr. Winston travels to Israel 3 to 4 times a year where he meets with key government and industry officials, offering an American perspective.
He is founder of the WINSTON INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF PREJUDICE. He organized two 4-day International Congresses in Jerusalem on Prejudice, Discrimination, and Conflict by the WINSTON INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF PREJUDICE AT BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY with 100 participating scientists from the world over.
Winston has been an INTERNATIONAL TRUSTEE for the JAFFEE CENTER OF STRATEGIC STUDIES at TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY for twelve years and has been a member of the INTERNATIONAL BOARD OF GOVERNORS for the WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE for 25 years.
Rabbi Grossman and the NBA with Jewish Basketball Heroes – Rabbis love all Jews but religious and non-religious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghrOrP_KuGI
From Miriam anti-Semitical Jews: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/144888
Arabs throw stones at Jewish worshippers no injuries B”H but where was the Israeli Police? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EGcOEZ7TO_g
Why I think we need Moshiach now a list of problems many of us face with the economy in shambles and uncertainties in the world in combination with more diseases upon us from manipulated growth of food or even bad sanitary conditions in organically grown food.
From Noreen - The real Palestinians (Islamic Marannos) not the imported ones: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/
Inyanay Diyoma
The is a way to detect but curing and preventing are different things: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/health/research/24scans.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Maybe the Shahid idea will fade: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4080281,00.html
More Bin Laden raid results: http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=224563
Besides raping male and female opposition people and shooting indiscriminately, Syria is at it again. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4080792,00.html
Speaking in Itamar from the grave a new video surfaces: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/144016
The big lie against Glenn Beck: http://www.boycottwatch.com/misc/beck3.htm
Country club prisons for Arab Terrorists: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/144952
Got him: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4081723,00.html
After all the hidden inflation and high cost of gas I can’t afford VIP seating for 600 at $5000 it is sold out: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4082351,00.html
After San Francisco, Holland: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/144956
Tsoros making Tzaras: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=311053
Why Paris is less Romantic from Chaim a video: http://downloads.cbn.com/cbnnewsplayer/cbnplayer.swf?aid=17933
Forget about Weiner what about his wife? http://barenakedislam.wordpress.com/2011/06/16/forget-about-weiners-weiner-what-about-weiners-muslim-wifes-familial-connections-to-the-muslim-brotherhood/
Just as Israelis are denied their right to an open, objective public discourse due to the radical Left’s predominance in the media, so American Jews are denied their right to disown J Street due to the radical leftist American Jews’ takeover of key US Jewish umbrella groups.
Shimon Schiffer and Nahum Barnea are both senior political commentators for Yediot Aharonot, Israel’s largest circulation newspaper. They are both also leftist extremists. In their articles in last Friday’s weekend edition of Yediot they demonstrated how their politics dictate their reporting – to the detriment of their readers and to Israeli democracy. They also demonstrated the disastrous consequences of the Left’s takeover of predominant institutions in democratic societies.
Schiffer’s column centered on the subversive behavior of President Shimon Peres and ran under the headline, “Subversive for Peace.” Schiffer published top secret documents chronicling Peres’s long history of abusing his office to subvert Israel’s lawful governments and obstruct their policies.
Schiffer’s article opened with an account of Peres’s current moves to undermine Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s foreign policy. According to Obama administration officials, during his recent meeting with US President Barack Obama, which preceded Netanyahu’s stormy visit last month, Peres and Obama agreed that a future deal between Israel and the Palestinians must be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps involving Israeli withdrawals from areas that have been under its sovereignty since 1949. While he acknowledged that Netanyahu completely opposes these parameters and would openly oppose them if Obama adopted them publically, Peres embraced them.
His message to the US leader was clear: Work with me and we’ll get Israeli withdrawals. Work with the elected leader of Israel and you’ll get nowhere.
Schiffer then showed that Peres’s behavior is nothing new. Using classified documents from 1987 and 1988 when Peres served as foreign minister under then Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, Schiffer reported that during that time, Peres conspired with then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to defeat Likud in the 1988 elections. Peres also tried to convince the Reagan administration to disassociate with Shamir and deal only with him. His efforts were honorably rebuffed by then secretary of state George Schultz who reportedly told Peres that he could not ignore the elected leader of Israel.
Schiffer reported that Peres successfully collaborated with Mubarak to undermine Shamir’s policy goal of retaining Israel’s control over Taba in the post-Camp David implementation talks.
Finally, Schiffer reported that in the summer of 1987, unbeknownst to Shamir, Peres dispatched Avraham Tamir, then Foreign Ministry director general, to Mozambique to meet secretly with PLO leader Yasser Arafat. At the time Israelis were prohibited by law from maintaining any contact whatsoever with PLO members. So not only was Tamir’s meeting an act of gross insubordination and subversion. It was a crime.
Peres’s arguably treasonous behavior was not the only scandal Schiffer exposed in his article. From the perspective of Israeli democracy – equally scandalous was Schiffer’s admitted collusion with Peres’s subversive operations.
Specifically, in his discussion of Tamir’s illegal meeting with Arafat, Schiffer admitted that Tamir “told me at the time,” about the meeting.
What this means is that one of Israel’s most powerful reporters knew 24 years ago that the director general of the Foreign Ministry was sent by the foreign minister to conduct an illegal meeting with Israel’s sworn enemy behind the back of the prime minister. And he opted not to report the story. He decided that Peres’s moves to empower Israel’s sworn enemies against the expressed wishes of the prime minister and of the general public were more important than the public’s right to know what he was doing. And so he hid the information from the public. For 24 years.
Imagine how different subsequent events might have turned out if Schiffer had fulfilled his professional duty and informed the public in 1987 that Peres was engaged in illegal activities whose expressed aim was the overthrow of the elected leader of the country and the empowerment of Israel’s worst enemy.
IN COMPARISON to Schiffer’s double whammy, Barnea’s article on Friday was nothing special. But it was a representative sample of Israel’s most esteemed political commentator’s consistent moves to distort current events in a manner that adheres to his radical politics.
Barnea opened his essay with a sympathetic depiction of a delegation of five anti-Israel US Congressmen organized by the anti-Israel lobby J Street. Barnea then attacked Netanyahu and his ministers for refusing to meet with the delegation.
From reading his column, you’d never guess that the members of the delegation were among Israel’s most outspoken opponents on Capitol Hill. And from reading Barnea, you wouldn’t know that J Street is an anti-Israel lobby, which among other things, has urged Obama not to veto a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel for allowing Jews to build on their property in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria; lobbied Congress not to pass a resolution condemning Palestinian anti-Jewish incitement following the massacre of the Fogel family; and lobbied Congress not to pass sanctions against Iran.
What you would learn from reading Barnea’s article is that Israelis shouldn’t take heart from the overwhelming support we receive from Congress because the thirty-odd standing ovations Netanyahu received were nothing more than political theater.
The underlying message of Barnea’s piece was clear. Israel’s supporters in Congress are not really supporters, they’re just afraid of angering the all-powerful AIPAC. And obviously, if we have no real friends, then anyone telling us to stand strong is a liar and an enemy and what we really need to do is learn to love J Street and its anti-Israel Congressmen who share Barnea’s agenda.
It doesn’t matter to Schiffer and Barnea that the majority of the public opposes their views. It doesn’t matter that the government’s policies more or less loyally represent the positions of the public that democratically elected it. As Schiffer demonstrated by failing for 24 years to report Peres’s behavior and as Barnea showed by failing to inform the public about the nature of J Street and its anti-Israel Congressional delegation, radical leftist writers exploit their power to dictate the contours of the public discourse to advance their political agenda. And it doesn’t bother them at all that advancing their personal politics involves actively undermining the very mission of a free press – to enable the free flow of information to the public.
THE BEHAVIOR of the likes of Peres, Schiffer and Barnea is not unique to the Israeli Left. It characterizes the behavior of much of the American Jewish Left as well. There, as here, radical activists and ideologues have taken over mainstream institutions and transformed them into mouthpieces for their extremist policies.
Take the local Jewish Community Relations Councils in the US for example.
The JCRC’s are supposed to be local umbrella organizations that conduct community events and other activities aimed at advancing the interests, concerns and values of the members of their local Jewish communities. But like the Israeli media, many of the local chapters of the JCRC have been taken over by radical leftists who do not share and indeed seek to undermine the interests, concerns and values of their local Jewish communities.
Last week, Andrea Levin, the executive director and president of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle Eastern Reporting in America (CAMERA), published an article in Boston’s Jewish Advocate exposing how Boston’s JCRC’s leadership unlawfully and secretly brought J Street into the umbrella organization and then, when it was caught, used unethical means to gain approval after the fact for their actions. As a comprehensive survey of American Jewish views on Israel carried out last month by CAMERA demonstrated conclusively, the vast majority of American Jews oppose all of J Street’s positions on Israel and the Middle East.
But just as Israelis are denied their right to an open and objective public discourse due to the radical Left’s predominance in the media, so American Jews are denied their right to disown J Street due to the radical leftist American Jews’ takeover of key US Jewish umbrella groups and institutions.
Another depressing instance of this patter just occurred at the Union of Reform Judaism with the nomination of Rabbi Richard Jacobs to serve as its president. Whereas outgoing president Eric Yoffie referred to J Street’s anti- Israel positions on Operation Cast Lead as “morally deficient, profoundly out of touch with Jewish sentiment and also appallingly naïve,” Jacobs serves on J Street’s Rabbinic Cabinet. He also serves on the New Israel Fund’s board.
When a group of Reform activists called Jews Against Divisive Leadership published ads in Jewish papers signed by a hundred Reform rabbis, their actions met with condemnation by URJ’s leadership and even with calls to blacklist the signatories.
The younger generation of radical American Jewish activists on college campuses is following the same course.
Following Yale’s decision last week to close its institute for the study of anti- Semitism, recent Yale alumni Matthew Knee wrote a post at the Legal Insurrection blog claiming that Yale’s Students for Israel group is dominated by anti- Israel activists.
So too, at Berkeley, Hillel has been penetrated by anti-Israel organizations, which like J Street pretend to be pro- Israel when in fact they promote anti- Israel activities including economic warfare against Israel. The situation at Berkeley is so bad that members of the Hillel-affiliated Kesher Enoshi were key activists in the campaign to divest Berkeley’s holdings from Israeli companies.
As the URJ’s threat to blacklist JADL members indicates, there is only one effective response to the radicalization of mainstream institutions: the creation of new, actually representative institutions that will compete with and eventually replace those that have subverted.
In Israel this means creating alternative media organs through the Internet and other outlets to end the radical Left’s monopoly on information dissemination and engage in a discourse that reflects reality, engages the majority and upholds the rule of law.
In the US it means establishing new umbrella groups that represent the majority and deny membership to marginal groups that represent next to no one.
In Israel, independent Internet journalist Yoav Yitzhak just announced an initiative to form a new journalists union that will represent reporters and writers who have no voice in the leftist dominated Press Council. Initiatives like Latma, the satirical media criticism website I founded two years ago, have rapidly become major voices in the national discourse. Like people everywhere, when given the opportunity, Israelis seek out information sources that inform rather than indoctrinate and empower rather than demoralize them.
In the US, last October frustrated activists in the Indianapolis Jewish community disenfranchised by the far left agenda of the local JCRC founded JAACI, the Jewish American Affairs Committee of Indiana to serve as a new umbrella organization for the community.
Dedicated mainly to giving voice to the Jewish community’s deep concern and support for Israel, JAACI’s formation fomented an exodus of local Jewish groups and synagogues from the JCRC. When given an option to participate in a more representative organization, the local Jews grabbed it.
The ability of institutional leaders – whether Jewish professionals or journalists – to ignore their responsibility to serve those they claim to represent is not due primarily on their formidable resources. It is due to our willingness to put up with their behavior. If we want to have institutions that represent and serve us, we have to take the initiative and build them ourselves.
Thanks to Stephanie http://www.carolineglick.com/e/2011/06/confronting-our-subversive-ins.php
Now for M. Wolfbers – Ruth 2 and Cut Him off at the Bar
Good Shabbos Everyone. In this week’s portion Beha’aloscha Hashem commands Aharon through Moshe to light the large Menorah in the tabernacle. In commanding Aharon, Hashem uses the interesting word "Beha’aloscha." Rashi explains that the word “Beha’aloscha” contains the root meaning “to go up,” (as in “an aliyah to the Torah.”) Thus the Torah chose the term “Beha’aloscha,” to indicate that when applying fire to light the Menorah, one should make sure that the flame on the Menorah goes up -- “aliyah,” and burns on its own, before removing the source flame from the Menorah. If lighting a candle with a match, for example, one would leave the match burning on the candlewick until the flame of the candle burns high.
When we look deeper into the symbolic meaning of the verse, we begin to see a beautiful, spiritually uplifting meaning of “Beha’aloscha...” We read in Proverbs that “The soul of Man is the lamp of Hashem.”(Mishlei 20:27) We see that the soul is compared to a lamp. Similarly, the Talmud tells us that the soul of a man is called a candle.(Shabbos 30b) We can now begin to delve into a deeper mystical level of understanding of the verse “Beha’aloscha Es Ha-Neros...” -- “when kindling the lamp...”
Every Jew has a soul which is a spark of Hashem From On High. Hashem is the Origin of the Holy Fire, which is the Source of Life. Hashem keeps the pilot light of the soul alit as long as we are alive, however, we as individuals are responsible for making sure that the Holy Flame of the soul burns high. Let us now re-read the verse based on our new-found understanding... “when kindling the soul, you shall make sure that the flame of the soul burns high...” Let us hopefully be inspired by the following story, which is a continuation of last week, as told by Michèle Sankar.
"...Now, I'll change the direction of this story a bit. I was always interested in my family history. My Irish grandparents had lovely stories of their ancestors. My Hungarian grandfather also talked about the difficult years growing up in southern Hungary. My Hungarian grandmother did not like to discuss the past at all, saying that the wars and Communism were painful to discuss.
Fortunately, my father's sister had an excellent memory and was able to help me put together my family tree shortly after I got married. My grandmother's name was Eva, and her mother was Elly. Elly's father was a doctor. Really? A doctor? And what was his name? Simon. Simon? But no typical Hungarian man has the name Simon unless…. I decided to take a chance, and I wrote to the caretaker of the Jewish cemetery in the town where Simon once lived. Did they have a burial record for a Dr. Simon Winter, who died in 1943? Yes.
Things unfolded, leading me to more documents and discoveries that are another story altogether. Suffice to say, I discovered that my paternal grandmother was a Jew, born to two fully Jewish parents in 1914. In 1923, things were not good for Jews in Hungary, so my great-grandfather had the family baptized to improve their political and social situation. They did not maintain connections to most other family members, and lived thereafter as Catholics.
My grandmother was devastated when I discovered her "shameful" secret. But my grandmother was a Jew, which means that my father is a Jew. The two people who were the most distraught by my conversion were Jewish according to Torah law. My grandmother was devastated when I discovered her "shameful" secret and did not acknowledge or discuss it with me. I respected how painful it was for her, so I didn't probe – but my heart was aching. She passed away just before Passover three years ago. My research led me to discover that some of my Jewish ancestors and their families were killed during the Holocaust. Some tried to take refuge in the Portuguese safe-houses of Budapest, only to be forced out by the Hungarian Arrow Cross and murdered. Another survived and left the country, childless. My great-grandparents had to wear the yellow star, yet somehow survived in Budapest during the Holocaust. I do not know more because the one remaining relative from this time period refuses to discuss any of it with me. Even that person's own children do not know that their parent is Jewish. My Catholic grandfather must have known about his wife's Jewishness, but if he did, he never mentioned it. My father and sisters were certainly surprised by the news. We learned, however, that during the war, my grandfather hid a Jewish colleague in their apartment. I also have old letters attesting that he looked after some belongings for Jewish neighbors when they were sent to the ghetto – and that he returned all of it.
More than ever, I felt responsible for bringing back the Judaism that was lost to my family through murder and assimilation. My children and I are the only living Jewish descendants of my great-great-grandparents. Hashem had a reason for bringing me back to Him. I needed to be the voice – and the soul – for those who could no longer speak. So what was I going to do about it? It was a tremendous responsibility that Hashem entrusted to me. The truth is that during the first few years of married life, we had become somewhat lax in our observance. While I didn't write or go shopping or watch TV on Shabbat, we drove to synagogue, reheated food in the microwave, and flipped lights. I was blessed with three children. They all went to Jewish babysitters, and on to Jewish Day School.
Kosher? We had a separate meat and dairy section in our kitchen, and only food products with a kosher symbol were allowed. Despite the stringency at home, however, we still ate out, ordering "vegetarian" or fish.
One day, my husband came home and said, "Did you know that there is a synagogue here in Richmond Hill?" "You're kidding!" I replied. "Where is it? What's it called?" "It's Chabad Lubavitch, and it's actually in the basement of the rabbi's house." I looked at him. "Lubavitch? Are you kidding me? That's really Orthodox. Aren't they all black hat and beards? No way!" I assumed they would know that I "didn't belong."
The truth is, I was worried. Such a small group in a personal space… I wouldn't be able to slip in anonymously or check out the lay of the land. I assumed they would know that I "didn't belong," that I was "just" a convert. I thought that I would be judged by stern and solemn people. No, thank you. A few weeks later, David convinced me to give it a try.
On one lovely Shabbat, we reached the home of Rabbi Mendel Bernstein and his family. In we went, and a nice young brunette named Toby sat near me and smiled. She was friendly, made nice small talk, and didn't ask any uncomfortable questions. After an hour, it occurred to me that she was the rebbetzin.
We became regulars. My oldest son, about 8 years old, began bugging me about covering my hair. For the sake of peace, I started to put a kerchief over my head. Over the period of a couple of years, the kippahs and tzitzis stayed on my boys even when they were out of school. My pants remained unworn in my closet, and I began wearing more modest clothing. It was a new critical point in my life. Through increased learning, I knew that our growth had to continue. I decided that instead of announcing what I was going to observe, I needed to ask myself when I was going to embrace other aspects of Jewish life. These observances weren't burdens; they were gifts – gifts that had been taken away from so many Jews in the past, and I was grateful for them.
Just as the instruction manual for our new appliances is written to ensure the best results – even when it tells us what not to do – so too Hashem wants what's in our best interests, and gave us an eternal manual called the Torah. We quickly learned that when a person wants to increase in observance, obstacles soon disappear and life becomes easier and happier. Being Jewish according to Torah law is truly a joy for me, but there were difficult times too.
Unlike my friends, I couldn't refer to my bubby's kreplach recipe, or my zaidy's traditions. Everything we did we had to borrow and personalize, secretly watching the rabbi, for example, to make sure we were doing a mitzvah right. And that scared me. I had a fresh Jewish soul and I didn't want to soil it. But I also know that, as humans, Hashem always gives us another chance. Mistakes don't undo the good that has been done, and it doesn't tarnish the good we will do in the future. We need to live in the present, to make this moment count. I am a Jew. I never get tired of saying it, thinking it, believing it, loving it I used to feel sad that I had nothing Jewish to offer my children… no traditions, no stories, no heritage.
Now I know that every woman, no matter what her history or status, influences the dynamics in her home. Like most Jewish mothers, I fret over my menus for the High Holy Days, I grumble about the cleaning we need to do for Passover, I go into panic mode in the half-hour before Shabbos starts. But deep down, I am intensely grateful.
And that "stern Orthodox community" I was so worried about? How wrong I was! We quickly became a part of the Chabad family in Richmond Hill, sharing services, classes, celebrations, and friendship. This is a home where we have never been judged – only embraced. I am a Jew. I never get tired of saying it, thinking it, believing it, loving it. Every day, there is that a thrill in me that exclaims: "Yay! I'm a Jew!" Hashem made me work for my Jewishness, and because of that, I appreciate it every moment. I don't believe that any event in our lives is just coincidence. Every one of us has a wonderful ability to renew our commitment to Torah and good deeds, to learning, praying, and making a difference to others – every single day.
My wish for you is that every day you get hit with that thrilling realization, "Yay! I'm a Jew!" and that you do something with it. When someone gives you a designer jacket or an expensive purse, you don't leave them in the closet. You take them out, use them, and enjoy them. It's the same for your Jewish life. Don't keep your Jewish flame hidden in the closet. Take it out, utilize it, and go gently if you must. Flames can be shared without the giver losing any light; the more we share, the brighter it becomes. I pray that each of us treat every day as our first day as a Jew. Good Shabbos Everyone.
Good Shabbos Everyone. This week we read about how the spies went to Eretz Yisroel and carried, among other things, giant grapes on a wooden pole. Rashi explains that one person can carry 1/3 of the weight that two people can carry. For example, if one person can carry 100 lbs. on his shoulders, then two people can carry 300 lbs. together. From here, the Chassidishe seforim teach us an uplifting message: Two Jews have more power to uplift together than one alone! The following inspirational story illustrates, at least in part, this concept.
In Eretz Yisroel, about four years ago, Binyamin Newman began to prepare for his Bar Mitzvah. For six months Binyamin practiced reading the words and the proper sounds of Parshas Yisro (the section of the Torah that was read the week he was born), so that on the Shabbos of his Bar Mitzvah he would be able to read it from the Sefer Torah perfectly.
When those six months were up, not only did Binyamin know it, so did everyone else in his family! On the bright and sunny morning of the Bar Mitzvah Shabbos, the Newman group - grandparents, greatgrandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends - gathered at the shul for davening (praying). Then Binyamin's big moment arrived.
The Sefer Torah was taken out of the Aron HaKodesh (the holy Ark) and placed upon the Bimah, where the Torah is read. Binyamin and his father began to walk towards the Bimah from one side of the shul.
To everyone's surprise, at the same time, another Bar Mitzvah bochur Shlomo Pam and his father began walking to the Bimah from the opposite side of the shul. The Pams were new in the neighborhood, and Mr. Rutkin, the Gabbai charge of the shul's affairs, realized with a shock that he had completely forgotten Shlomo Pam's Bar Mitzvah was also that Shabbos. The Gabbai stood between the two Bar Mitzvah boys.
"I'm so sorry, I forgot that there are two happy occasions this Shabbos," he said. "You both have practiced many long hours in order to be able to read parsha. Let's divide the parsha between you." Binyamin saw the disappointment in the other Bar Mitzvah bochur Shlomo's eyes.
"Mr. Rutkin," he said, "I would like Shlomo to read the whole parsha."
"Why?" asked the Gabbai, surprised. "After all....I won't be any less a 'Bar Mitzvah because I did not read," said Binyamin with a smile. Then he leaned over, shook his new friend's hand warmly and said, "Mazel Tov, Shlomy!"
Upstairs in the women's section, one mother looked down, her heart filled with relief, while another mother's heart was filled with pride. "Baruch Hashem, Shlomo worked so hard..." whispered Shlomy's mother Mrs. Pam to her sister.
"The move to the new neighborhood hasn't been easy for him." And few feet away, Binyamin's mother Mrs. Newman whispered to her mother, "My 'tzaddik.' One who says 'What is mine is yours, and what is yours is yours, is called a 'righteous' person (a tzaddik). Thank you, Hashem, for helping us bring up our son Binyamin to be such a man..."
After the Torah reading, Mrs. Pam rushed over to Mrs. Newman. "I can't thank you enough for your son's chessed (good deed). May Hashem repay you and your family many times over." Binyomin's practicing of his bar mitzvah parsha was not for nothing; it came to good use 4 years later. This we will read about next week, with Hashem's help... Good Shabbos Everyone. M. Wolfberg is sponsored by: Refuah Shleima to Reb Mordechai Menachem Mendel ben Tziporah Yitta Refuah Shleima to Tsviah bas Bracha Leah
Have a wonderful Shabbos and a peaceful one,
Rachamim Pauli
