Mussar for teens: When you get to be in your 70’s or older your goals are to preserve your health and mobility and perhaps review your finances for investing for a rainy day and to be remembered for the inheritance you left your family. Perhaps at 30, 40, 50 you had the ambition to advance up the corporate later or in politics but what do you tell a teen.
This week I sat Menashe down twice as I know sometimes things sound nice go in one ear and out the other. I told him to write down realistic goals for himself. He is now 16 the equivalent of a High School Junior who would have the pressure of matriculation tests. He is in his last year of Yeshiva Katana. This is the year he most choose a good Yeshiva. It will determine who will want his daughter to marry such a Talmud Chacham. It will determine rising up the rungs in the Yeshiva or Rabbinate World.
I told him write down your goals based on the things that you are doing and the time you have on your hands. It is obvious that with your schedule you cannot learn 30 Dafim of Gemara a day and go through Shas 4 times a year. Even 7plus a day and finish Shas in a year is ridiculous but the Daf Yomi that you are doing plus a little extra here and there on Ethics will help you push forward. I told him that with his brains 160plus IQ he should be making it his goal to get either a 95 or a 100 on his Yeshiva Tests and not be lazy and not review like others and breeze through with an 80 or 90 as he has done in the past.
I told him take a look at how two converts saw the Gemara Learning. Avos 5:21 Ben Bag-Bag would say: Delve and delve into it, for all is in it; see with it; grow old and worn in it; do not budge from it, for there is nothing better. Ben Hay-Hay would say: According to the pain is the gain. That essentially is the only way to study.
In fact, I am working on going through the whole Shulchan Aruch with the Rema. It is not an easy task. Rabbi Mimran is patient and lets me break my head reading. Many times I make a mistake in Hebrew due to either bad print in my old Mishneh Berurah or Dyslexic effect in Hebrew. But we are getting close to completing Yeah Deah and close to 1/3rd of Aruch HaChaim. So even a half hour a day a few times a week, progress can be made. (A little humor here. I was reading slowly so Rav Mimran looked up the reference in one of the commentaries. I told him the laws of davening/forbidden davening in Mikveh House reminds me of Chapter 1 of Meseches Shabbos of which he piped up Daf Yud. Boy I said you have a phenomenal memory of which he said, he looked up the reference.)
It is the slowly but surely attitude in which one conquers the Torah, Midrash, Zohar, Mishnayos and Gemara onwards.
Parsha Eikev
This week we continue with the first of Moshe’s three speeches. This one is on Mussar. Last week we reviewed the Decalogue and got the first Paragraph of the Shema. This week we continue with observance and get the second Paragraph of the Shema.
7:12 And it shall come to pass, because ye hearken to these ordinances, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep with thee the covenant and the mercy which He swore unto thy fathers, 13 and He will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee; He will also bless the fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy land, thy corn and thy wine and thine oil, the increase of thy kine and the young of thy flock, in the land which He swore unto thy fathers to give thee. 14 Thou shalt be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. 15 And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness; and He will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou know, upon thee, but will lay them upon all them that hate thee. 16 And thou shalt consume all the peoples that the LORD thy God shall deliver unto thee; thine eye shall not pity them; neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.
This Mussar is based on the good things of Parsha Bechukosai.
17 If thou shalt say in thy heart: 'These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?' 18 thou shalt not be afraid of them; thou shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt: 19 the great trials which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out; so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the peoples of whom thou art afraid. 20 Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and they that hide themselves, perish from before thee. 21 Thou shalt not be affrighted at them; for the LORD thy God is in the midst of thee, a God great and awful. 22 And the LORD thy God will cast out those nations before thee by little and little; thou may not consume them quickly, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
It happened in the days of Yoshua and in the last 120 years with the slow Aliyah and then the push 73 years ago with the founding of the State of Israel.
23 But the LORD thy God shall deliver them up before thee, and shall discomfit them with a great discomfiture, until they be destroyed. 24 And He shall deliver their kings into thy hand, and thou shalt make their name to perish from under heaven; there shall no man be able to stand against thee, until thou have destroyed them. 25 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire; thou shalt not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein; for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God. 26 And thou shalt not bring an abomination into thy house, and be accursed like unto it; thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing.
No idols even if they contained silver or gold just destroy and throw them away.
8:1 All the commandment which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers. 2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness, that He might afflict thee, to prove thee, to know what was in thy heart, whether thou would keep His commandments, or no. 3 And He afflicted thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knew not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Just has G-D sustained you with Mann so in the future shall you be sustained from the land BUT YOU MUST KEEP YOUR BARGAIN AND OBSERVE THE COMMANDMENTS. So for 40 years you lived on Mann and had no need to prepare bread or sow seed but in Eretz Yisrael you shall have to do so.
4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. 5 And thou shalt consider in thy heart, that, as a man chastens his son, so the LORD thy God chastens thee.
He is OUR FATHER, OUR KING. (Avinu Malkaynu)
6 And thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him. 7 For the LORD thy God brings thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills;
By observing the commandments, you will have plenty of springs for drinking for you, your animals and crops.
8 a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey;
These are the seven species indecorous to Eretz Yisrael. The honey is from dates.
9 a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou may dig brass.
You will have crop resources and natural resources.
10 And thou shalt eat and be satisfied, and bless the LORD thy God for the good land which He hath given thee.
Observe all and have bounty but what happens if you do not observe.
11 Beware lest thou forget the LORD thy God, in not keeping His commandments, and His ordinances, and His statutes, which I command thee this day; 12 lest when thou hast eaten and art satisfied, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; 13 and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; 14 then thy heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; 15 who led thee through the great and dreadful wilderness, wherein were serpents, fiery serpents, and scorpions, and thirsty ground where was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; 16 who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that He might afflict thee, and that He might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end; 17 and thou say in thy heart: 'My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth.' 18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God, for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
Learn from the past, observe otherwise you will be put to trials and tests that you may fail and flay about.
19 And it shall be, if thou shalt forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I forewarn you this day that ye shall surely perish. 20 As the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall ye perish; because ye would not hearken unto the voice of the LORD your God.
So isn’t it worth listening to the words of the L-RD and observing the commandments.
9:1 Hear, O Israel: thou art to pass over the Jordan this day, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fortified up to heaven, 2 a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom thou known, and of whom thou hast heard say: 'Who can stand before the sons of Anak?' 3 Know therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is He who goes over before thee as a devouring fire; He will destroy them, and He will bring them down before thee; so shalt thou drive them out, and make them to perish quickly, as the LORD hath spoken unto thee.
These giants will die before you come upon them.
4 Speak not thou in thy heart, after that the LORD thy God hath thrust them out from before thee, saying: 'For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land'; whereas for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee. 5 Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thy heart, dost thou go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that He may establish the word which the LORD swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
The land is holy and it vomits out the wicked. It is not because of you being righteous to a degree like Avraham, Yitzchak and Yacov but in spite of the wicked ones.
6 Know therefore that it is not for thy righteousness that the LORD thy God gives thee this good land to possess it; for thou art a stiffnecked people. 7 Remember, forget thou not, how thou didst make the LORD thy God wroth in the wilderness; from the day that thou didst go forth out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.
You are a stiff necked and rebellious people yet G-D chose you because of your righteous forefathers and his promise to them.
8 Also in Horev ye made the LORD wroth, and the LORD was angered with you to have destroyed you. 9 When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water. 10 And the LORD delivered unto me the two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spoke with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. 11 And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant. 12 And the LORD said unto me: 'Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people that thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have dealt corruptly; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.' … 16 And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the LORD your God; ye had made you a molten calf; ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the LORD had commanded you. 17 And I took hold of the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes.
One day you heard straight from the mouth of the L-RD thy G-D not to make graven images before ME and the next thing that happens within 40-41days an Egel Zahav.
18 And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water; because of all your sin which ye sinned, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him. 19 For I was in dread of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me that time also. …. 24 Ye have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you. 25 So I fell down before the LORD the forty days and forty nights that I fell down; because the LORD had said He would destroy you. 26 And I prayed unto the LORD, and said: 'O Lord GOD, destroy not Thy people and Thine inheritance, that Thou hast redeemed through Thy greatness, that Thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember Thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin; 28 lest the land whence Thou brought us out say: Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which He promised unto them, and because He hated them, He hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness. 29 Yet they are Thy people and Thine inheritance, that Thou didst bring out by Thy great power and by Thy outstretched arm.'
I fasted for your sakes and had to act a Tovaya Rabbani to appeal directly to the L-RD that you and your generations after you would not be destroy in HIS WRATH over your rebellious nature.
10:1 At that time the LORD said unto me: 'Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto Me into the mount; and make thee an ark of wood. 2 And I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which thou didst break, and thou shalt put them in the ark.' 3 So I made an ark of acacia-wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in my hand. 4 And He wrote on the tables according to the first writing, the ten words, which the LORD spoke unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and the LORD gave them unto me. … 12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul;
This sentence describes the main theme of the Mitzvos. Once observed in this way, miracles will occur for those who observe.
13 to keep for thy good the commandments of the LORD, and His statutes, which I command thee this day? 14 Behold, unto the LORD thy God belong the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that therein is. 15 Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you, above all peoples, as it is this day. 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. 17 For the LORD your God, He is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the awful, who regards not persons, nor taketh reward.
All the paths of the L-RD are straight and just and things unknown to us happen either because of a faulty Mezuzah or a past incarnation. My mother left the States some 20 years ago and the house was inherited by my son and sold some 13plus years ago. Funny but a close relative and I had internal bleeding in the same area of our body. His hemoglobin fell to 4 and he needed 13 bags of blood. I tried taking care of myself all the time with diet and exercise but it was due to the wrong medicine and perhaps dosage. My hemoglobin fell to 7.1 and the man who used to donate twice a year or more ended up on the receiving end only one bag that and iron with a change in medication is getting me back to normal and my relative is recovering too. The recovery came about after giving myself full commitment to HASHEM and reflecting on the Mezuzah that should not have been in play but perhaps needed to move the soul of my mother to a higher spiritual plane so G-D has a way of making HIS own accounting.
18 He doth execute justice for the fatherless and widow, and loves the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. 19 Love ye therefore the stranger; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; Him shalt thou serve; and to Him shalt thou cleave, and by His name shalt thou swear.
Remember this and do not forget.
21 He is thy glory, and He is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and tremendous things, which thine eyes have seen. 22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.
You are a few million people and equal to the naked eye visible stars in the sky be thankful the L-RD.
11:1 Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep His charge, and His statutes, and His ordinances, and His commandments, always. 2 And know ye this day; for I speak not with your children that have not known, and that have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm, 3 and His signs, and His works, which He did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land; 4 and what He did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how He made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day; 5 and what He did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came unto this place; 6 and what He did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben; how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and every living substance that followed them, in the midst of all Israel; 7 but your eyes have seen all the great work of the LORD which He did. 8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandment which I command thee this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go over to possess it;
Try to remember the miracles and admonishments and observe the Mitzvos that you may prolong your days on the land. Why is it that even the scattered Jews who risked their lives and my uncle Julius died for the Kaiser were always thrown out and maltreated by their host countries?
9 and that ye may prolong your days upon the land, which the LORD swore unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land, whither thou go in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou didst sow thy seed, and didst water it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs; 11 but the land, whither ye go over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinks water as the rain of heaven cometh down; 12 a land which the LORD thy God cares for; the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
Therefore, it is imperative for you to observe the 613 Commandments of the Korbanos and dealing with the land and your neighbors. You must be righteous.
13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto My commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
The second paragraph of the Shema starts off similar to the first paragraph.
14 that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that thou may gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
If you observe the commandments and guard your behavior before G-D. You don’t have to be an Angel but strive to do your best before G-D.
15 And I will give grass in thy fields for thy cattle, and thou shalt eat and be satisfied.
Your animals (and in modern times) investments will thrive and you will have what to eat all the days of your life.
16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
This does not have to be the gods of the past but other distractions from G-D like money and fame. Mothers sending of their girls to be models and then underage undergarment and nude models. Suddenly, they find themselves abused and the same can be said for child actors. Cubby (my age) from the Mickey Mouse Show is an example google him. The poor girl who played “Kimberly” on “Different Strokes” ended up playing bit roles in movies ended up going into Pornography and Drugs and quickly overdosed.
17 and the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and He shut up the heaven, so that there shall be no rain, and the ground shall not yield her fruit; and ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD gives you.
The examples of the modern world given in the Pasuk above are strong enough.
18 Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul; and ye shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
Put the L-RD before yourself Tamid (always) and the putting on of Tephillin should bind the words over your brain and heart. The top part is close to the “Third Eye” of Buddhism that has extra spiritual connections.
19 And ye shall teach them your children, talking of them, when thou sit in thy house, and when thou walk by the way, and when thou lie down, and when thou rise up. 20 And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates;
Every minute of every day from time you wake until the time you fall asleep you should remember that HASHEM is with you and the Mezuzah guards your home and your exiting into the world.
21 that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, upon the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.
Do this and you will live and prosper and hopefully not have to have punishments in this world.
22 For if ye shall diligently keep all this commandment which I command you, to do it, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave unto Him, 23 then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. 24 Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the hinder sea shall be your border.
These borders are for the future.
25 There shall no man be able to stand against you: the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as He hath spoken unto you.
Observe the commandments and the nations will recognize your land. Don’t observe and you will have a situation similar or worse than today.
A Senior Moment & Solution
It can happen to younger people with too much in their heads not taking care of details. I had a bad night’s sleep from 2 to 4 tossed and turned. I knew I had a blood test scheduled for 7:07 in the morning. Left 22 minutes before the time and got there with 7 or 8 minutes’ spare!
Suddenly, I remembered that I forgot the MD’s request. Luckily in Israel, all is computerized so the nurse used my healing fund card and performed the test. In the States, where there is no central healing fund one would have to return home to get the request and go back to the independent laboratory. This way in Israel is quicker and records are obtained by ID or healing fund card.
As they say in the IDF if it does not penetrate your head it will get in by leg work.
The following story of a member of the Mafia does not get you to be a more G-D fearing person. As we see each week at the introduction to Perkei Avos: All Israel have a share in the World To Come, as it is stated (Isaiah 60:21): 'And Your people are Tzaddikim (righteous).' They shall inherit the land forever. They are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, in which I take pride. (Sanhedrin 90a) Yes, Meyer Lansky and Ben Siegel did a lot of terrible things but they helped supply arms to the Hagana and the new State of Israel and some of their violence playing with baseball bats and the German Bund saved the USA for inside Nazism in the late 30’s and 40’s.
When Meyer Lansky was in Israel, I bought and read a book “The Mob Runs America and Lansky Runs the Mob”.
Tough Jews, Las Vegas and the Legacy of Meyer Lansky. By Larry Greenfield https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310573
(JNS) In his autobiography, “Being Oscar: From Mob Lawyer to Mayor of Las Vegas,” Oscar Goodman recounts his 35 years as famed criminal defense lawyer for Jewish gangsters Meyer Lansky, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, on whom the character “Ace Rothstein” was based in the movie “Casino.”
Goodman served three terms as the mayor of “Sin City,” succeeded by his wife Carolyn, a former local Jewish Federation leader whose own third term ends in 2024, capping 25 consecutive years of this couple’s relatively non-partisan mayoral leadership.
Relentlessly promotive of Las Vegas as both a glamorous international tourist destination and an increasingly desirable suburb for California tax refugees, Oscar Goodman advocated the development of the highly regarded “Mob Museum” (The National Museum of Organized Crime & Law Enforcement), which carefully documents the many stories of the predominantly Jewish and Italian mafias in the United States, as well as today’s international criminal gangs engaged in financial cybercrimes, human trafficking and the global drug and exotic animals trades.
On a recent summer evening, guests of the Mob Museum gathered for a four-story tour of the well-curated exhibits as well as a movie screening and Q&A with the brilliant Israeli-born director Eytan Rockaway and charismatic actor David Cade of the new biopic “Lansky.”
The film is a soulful but lively retelling of the life and times of the legendary Jewish-American gangster, starring Academy Award nominee Harvey Keitel as a terminally ill Lansky relating his stories and secrets to a writer he commissioned to release his authorized biography upon death.
Aging in Miami, but still under federal investigation for a suspected $300 million in undiscovered cash savings (much of his fortune was made in 1950s Cuba but then likely lost when communists destroyed the gambling halls of Havana), the real-life Lansky did in fact reveal his tales prior to his natural passing in 1983, to historian Robert Rockaway, a longtime professor at Tel Aviv University and co-writer of the movie with his son Eytan.
Lansky’s notorious life helped inform Robert Rockaway’s insightful study “But He Was Good to His Mother: The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangsters,” which details not only disreputable criminal behavior but also lesser known but significant efforts to help their own people.
Prof. Rockaway tells the stories of Arnold Rothstein, the New York-based organized crime mastermind known as the key figure behind the infamous 1919 Chicago “Black Sox” World Series baseball scandal; the “Cleveland Four,” including “Moe” Dalitz, Morris Kleinman, Sam Tucker and Louis Rothkopf; Al Capone’s financial adviser Jack “Greasy Thumb” Guzlik; and the “Purple Gang,” the Detroit mob formed by Sammie Cohen and led by the Bernstein brothers.
In his book “Tough Jews: Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams,” author Rich Cohen adds to this catalogue of Jewish criminals the story of Louis “Lepke” Buchalter, the head of the mafia hit squad known as Murder, Inc. and the only mobster ever executed by the state of New York. Born in 1897 to Yiddish-speaking parents, his mother called him “lepkeleh” or “little Louis,” which later became “Lepke.” His three brothers became a dentist, a college professor and rabbi, and a pharmacist, but Louis rose to become a notorious garment industry and bakery trucking racketeer and independent contract murderer for Cosa Nostra mobsters.
Buchalter arranged for the 1935 hit on powerful New York gangster Dutch Schultz on orders of senior mafia officials after kingpin Charles “Lucky” Luciano rejected Schultz’s suggestion that the mob’s top Commission approve his request to assassinate rising “gangbuster” New York District Attorney Thomas Dewey.
Ironically, Dewey later prosecuted Buchalter for the murder of candy store owner Joseph Rosen, who had been driven out of the trucking industry and whom Buchalter (likely wrongly) suspected of cooperation with the law. Eventually sentenced to the death penalty, Buchalter then saw his final appeal for commutation rejected in a widely watched 1944 decision by the now popular New York governor and two-time U.S. presidential candidate Dewey.
But it is Meyer Lansky who was the top mobster of his era, as previously featured in David Mamet’s HBO movie Lansky (1999) starring Richard Dreyfuss. Among many popular films of this genre, arguably the two best are The Godfather trilogy (I and II in particular), which tells the story of an Italian crime family led by Don Corleone (based on both Frank Costello and “Lucky” Luciano, Lansky’s key associate and the most powerful Mafia boss in the United States), and Once Upon a Time in America, a stunning saga of the rise of young Jewish street gangsters (loosely based on Lansky and Bugsy Siegel) in Brooklyn, N.Y. during the Prohibition Era of 1920-1933.
In this violent but also more philosophical film treatment, writer-director Eytan Rockaway features Lansky’s efforts to lend his power to combat a period of threatening anti-Semitism and Nazism in the United States as well as to support the fledgling Jewish state of Israel.
Lansky was born Meier SuchowlaÅ„ski in Belarus on July 4, 1902 to a poor Polish family that faced persecution and pogroms. Meyer arrived at the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1911. A voracious reader, he also quickly exhibited the remarkable math and gambling skills that helped him become “the mob’s accountant” as he rose to increasing influence in the organized crime syndicate.
During the pre-World War II decades, attacks on Jews became rather virulent in parts of the country. Several religious broadcasters in the Midwest openly targeted Jews as undesirable, and the Brown Shirts in New York and the Silver Shirts in Minneapolis attacked Jews in the streets. Though not religiously observant, several Jewish gangsters noted the lack of strong response from organized Jewish leadership and decided to step up to protect Jewish communities.
First, upon the request of New York State Judge Nathan Perlman, Lansky was asked to break up the rallies of the German-American Bund in New York City, provided that Lansky’s “toughs” would not kill anyone. Lansky would have preferred to knock off some American Nazis, but he agreed and further advised he would take no payment, stating “I was a Jew and felt for those Jews in Europe who were suffering. They were my brothers.” Prof. Rockaway notes that “Nazi arms, legs, and ribs were broken and skulls were cracked, but no one died.”
Lansky described breaking up one Brown Shirt rally in Manhattan: “The stage was decorated with a swastika and a picture of Hitler. The speaker started ranting. There were only fifteen of us, but we went into action. We threw some of them out the windows. Most of the Nazis panicked and ran out. We chased them and beat them up. We wanted to show them that the Jews would not always sit back and accept insults.”
Gambling honcho David Berman and his allies similarly broke up rallies of the Silver Shirts in Minneapolis, who sought to replicate Hitler’s Brown Shirts in Germany and Mussolini’s Black Shirts in Italy by attacking “Jewish communists” in America. After three public meetings were violently disrupted, the Silver Shirts halted their campaign to demonize American Jewry.
Next, continuing his anti-Nazi efforts during World War II, Lansky led the efforts to assist the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence to identity German infiltrators and submarine-borne saboteurs. In exchange for the release of his friend Luciano from prison, Lansky’s men provided security for U.S. warships being built in the docks of New York Harbor. German submarines were sinking allied ships along the eastern seaboard and the mob went to work to infiltrate, identify, and inform on pro-Nazi supporters on the New York waterfront.
Further, both Meyer Lansky and his partner Bugsy Siegel helped the nascent Jewish state of Israel. One reported meeting took place between Bugsy and Reuven Dafne, the emissary of the Haganah, in 1945. Jews were seeking funds and weapons to liberate Palestine from British control. Bugsy said, “You mean to tell me Jews are fighting? You mean fighting as in killing?” When told yes, Siegel advised, “I’m with you.” He quietly provided suitcases full of cash in support.
Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky’s boyhood friend, went on to become the most famous of Jewish gangsters. As teenagers, they created the Bugs and Meyer Mob. Lansky served as the brains of the outfit, with Siegel providing the brawn. Siegel was the youngest member of the gang, known as the vilda chaya, yiddish for “wild animal[s],” which engaged in illicit activities like prostitution, gambling, loan sharking, bootlegging and labor racketeering.
In 1937, Bugsy moved his gambling rackets to California, where he befriended Hollywood moguls and starlets, borrowing money from several celebrities whom he never repaid. He dated actress Virginia Hill, an underworld moll herself who helped Bugsy’s bosses back east keep an eye on him. In 1945, Siegel and Hill came to Las Vegas to build a gambling mecca in the Nevada desert, starting with the Flamingo Hotel and Casino, funded by the eastern crime syndicate with $1.5 million.
Unfortunately, after Bugsy ran up debts of some $6 million through theft and mismanagement, all of Lansky’s defenses of his longtime pal proved insufficient to prevent the mob hit ordered by the syndicate. On June 20, 1947, Siegel was shot four times as he sat on a sofa in Hill’s Beverly Hills home while reading the Los Angeles Times.
The mob accelerated the development of the Las Vegas strip of casino hotels and ruled the town for decades until its replacement by corporate management. Famed mobster turned developer Moe Dalitz was given the key to Las Vegas in 1979. Over recent decades Jewish leadership in building Las Vegas included not only the mayors Goodman but also Steve Wynn, the visionary casino creator who was financed by the junk bonds created by investment banker and humanitarian Michael Milken, as well as the developers of the world’s largest hotel, Jewish philanthropists Sheldon and Dr. Miriam Adelson.
Lansky’s life was complex and brutal. His victims must be remembered and respected.
His personal life was marked by the ups and downs of family life, including a son, Paul, who attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and then joined the U.S. Air Force and served in Vietnam, and another son, Buddy, who sadly suffered from cerebral palsy. He also had a daughter, Sandi Lansky Lombardo, who grew up with wealth, parties and private schools, as described in her own autobiography, “Daughter of the King: Growing Up in Gangland.”
Perhaps the most compelling scene in “Lansky” focuses on his attempted emigration to Israel in the early 1970s, where he sought to avoid tax evasion prosecution in the United States by appealing for citizenship under “the law of return.” Denied asylum by Golda Meir, who faced pressure from American authorities, Lansky bitterly recounted that his early support of Israel was not reciprocated at his most critical time of need.
Lansky managed to evade U.S. prosecution, however, and live as a free man to age 80. Through his highs and lows, his fortunes and misfortunes, Lansky appeared at the end of his life as an intelligent and introspective figure. He never changed perspective, holding firm as a “tough Jew” to his motto, “life is shades of grey, not black and white.”
Smiling as he slowly walks into the sunset along the beach in Miami, with the Feds having quit their chase for his never-found (and always denied) remaining riches, Lansky survived and thrived on his own terms. He left a disturbing legacy of inexcusable violence, but endures as a humanized figure of intense fascination for the American public, and not least for American Jewry whose communal legacy includes several bigtime gangsters with humble Yiddish roots who fought against some of the Jews’ worst enemies.
Larry Greenfield is a Fellow of the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship & Political Philosophy.
A relative of Anna Citron, the first wife of Meyer Lansky, and friendly with his first cousin Sandra Lansky tells me stories of Cousin Meyer, Uncle Ben, and Uncle (Charlie) Lucky coming for Friday Night Flanken Dinner in his house.
His version of how Tom Dewey busted “Lucky” is a bit different from the standard version you heard. Here is how it goes. “Lucky” Luciano found out that there were a group of up starters in the Mafia who had a contract on his head. He went to Meyer for help in hiding him.
Meyer had a personal friend Tom Dewey who was a DA. He asked Tom to have Charlie aka “Lucky” arrested where he would be safe in jail. Meyer then presented Tom with some evidence that would send “Lucky” away. While in jail, “Lucky” had a special cook and brought in funds to help build a church in Sing-Sing. He continued running the business as usual and helped the US in WWII and the founding of Israel with smuggling arms to Israel.
Tom wanted his reputation to give him the governorship and presidential bid and Charlie ended up deported to Sicily. The young Jewish Boy also acted as a spy-observer for Meyer in the Cosa Nostra but stayed legal all the time and never too a penny of illegal money for some arbitration that he did. He paid a visit to “Uncle Lucky” once and was questioned by the FBI but told them that he did nothing illegal in meeting with an ex-patriot American on foreign soil and knew of no Federal Law that forbade such a meeting.
So as the article ended above Tom Dewey was not all white and Luciano was not all black but just shades of gray.
Jackie Mason life and jokes by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller
https://www.aish.com/ci/a/Jackie-Masons-Life-and-Jokes.html?s=shl
The Comic who died at the age of 93 was a keen observer of Jewish Life in America.
Born Yacov Moshe Maza in 1928, Jackie Mason came from a long line of Orthodox rabbis. He followed his father’s footsteps and became a rabbi as well. (His three older brothers also became rabbis; his two younger sisters married rabbis.)
After his father’s death in 1959, Mason adopted his new name and began performing comedy routines in Catskill resorts, New York city clubs and Miami hotels. At first, he received a poor reception from many of his fellow Jews, who felt that Mason’s heavy New York accent and Jewish-inflected way of speaking seemed old-fashioned: “My accent reminds them of a background they’re trying to forget.”
Mason found that even when he strayed far from the religious Jewish world in which he grew up, he retained some of the lessons and universal truths that his Jewish education imparted. “I came from a religious family,” he explained, noting that his background was completely at odds with the shallow materialism and trappings of fame which he later pursued.
“I was so absorbed with religion that I didn’t think about material things. We weren’t involved with Jewish contests, with status. There was no status among the Orthodox Jews. How can you judge a person as more successful because he has a more expensive car? A fancier jacket? A bigger apartment? A nameplate on the shoes? You judge a person by how far they went scholastically, if he or she became a philosopher, a thinker, a writer, an artist, a scientist. A grand rabbi. They don’t wait to see his shorts or his shirts…"
His Jewish education enriched his comedy. “Every time I see a contradiction or hypocrisy in somebody’s behavior,” he quipped, “I think of the Talmud and build the joke from there.”
“I don’t care about money. I give it to the families of my three brothers and two sisters. I have enough to last me the rest of my life. Unless, of course, I want to buy something.”
Mason was a staunch supporter of Israel. During the Gulf War of 1991, he insisted on flying to the Jewish state while it was under attack. He later recalled that “when I told the Israelis I was coming, they looked at me like I was a maniac. They didn’t know if I was such a great patriot or just a nutcase. The Israeli embassy initially discouraged me from going. Because they couldn’t imagine someone coming into Israel at a time like that. But I was insistent. I felt it was a moral obligation for a Jew to show support at a time like that when the fate of the state was imperiled.”
In 1987, he told the Los Angeles Times, “I don’t care about money. I give it to the families of my three brothers and two sisters. We’re very close. I have enough to last me the rest of my life. Unless, of course, I want to buy something.”
Through his long career, Mason was both beloved and reviled. He found himself blacklisted and boycotted after making highly insensitive jokes. Yet his biting humor illuminated the life of many American Jews in secular America in a way that no other comedian could replicate.
Here’s a sampling of Jackie Mason’s jokes, which brought enjoyment to generations of Jews. May his memory be a blessing.
Quotes by Jackie Mason:
On starting out as a comic:
“I used to be so self-conscious that when I attended a football game, every time the players went into a huddle, I thought they were talking about me.”
“It’s a big thing to be a star on the stage in England. But the biggest star’s dream is to be a big star in America. In America we don’t dream of being a star in England. I never heard of an American prizefighter, an American actor, a baseball player, anybody, saying that his greatest dream is that he should captivate Leeds. No, what bothers him is that he never played Madison Square Garden.”
“I had to sell furniture to make a living - my own.”
On becoming wealthy:
(Explaining that he earned three million dollars in one year:) “Where do you spend $3 million? Do you know a sandwich that costs three million dollars?”
“I’d rather make a fool of myself in front of two people for nothing than a thousand people who paid for a ticket.”
“Money is not the most important thing in the world. Love is. Fortunately, I love money.”
On being a Jew:
“(Being a Jew) means that the chances you are going to be a more intelligent person, and you’ll have more decency, and you’ll help people whether they deserve it or not. And no matter what crime any person from any denomination commits, somehow you’ll always convince yourself it’s your fault.”
“The truth is that in this country, Jew’s don’t fight, they don’t. They almost fight, they almost fight...They’ll always tell you, ‘If he said one more word! - He would have been dead today. I was ready. I was waiting. One more word! What’s that word? Nobody knows.”
“It’s easy to tell the difference between Jews and Gentiles. After the show, all the gentiles are saying ‘Have a drink? Want a drink? Let’s have a drink!’ While all the Jews are saying ‘Have you eaten yet? Want a piece of cake? Let's have some cake!’”
“I have a great identification with Judaism as a religion and as a culture, and all the values that created such a great history, and the Jewish contribution to the betterment of all humanity. Everything about my attitude and my thoughts were impacted greatly by being raised in this culture. My observations...of all of humanity express themselves in my comedy.”
“It’s no longer a question of staying healthy. It’s a question of finding a sickness you like.”
Observations on human nature
“If an Englishman gets run down by a truck he apologizes to the truck.”
“Did you ever hear of a kid playing accountant - even if they wanted to be one?
Milestone Rabbi Jackie Mason, 93, Comedian. He and I passed each other. He said, “A schonste (or finer) Yid” aka beautiful Jew and I replied “Shalom Aleichem. “ https://www.timesofisrael.com/legendary-jewish-comic-jackie-mason-dies-at-93-nyt/
Milestone Roni Daniel, 73, military reporter. https://middleeast.in-24.com/News/103860.html
Tzvi Shissel, 75, actor director. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/israeli-actordirector-tzvi-shissel-died-at-75-675160
Carl Lewin, 87, Ex-Senator MI. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310865
Inyanay Diyoma
5 infiltrators from Yarden caught. https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-hunts-for-border-infiltrators-from-jordan/
Jordanians kill infiltrator trying to pass over border to Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-2nd-border-incident-jordanian-troops-kill-man-trying-to-reach-israel/
3 terrorist caught one was shot. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310493
Hezballah & Iranians killed in Israeli raid. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310494
https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-russia-moving-to-curtail-israeli-strikes-in-syria/
Tell ‘em Joe sent you. https://www.debka.com/moscows-changed-line-on-israels-syria-raids-followed-first-putin-biden-summit/
Iran’s new port. https://www.debka.com/iran-opens-new-oil-terminal-on-gulf-of-oman-to-bypass-hormuz/
Israel becoming a powerhouse in defensive sports. https://www.timesofisrael.com/first-tokyo-medal-avishag-semberg-takes-taekwondo-bronze-israels-1st-in-sport/
Bronze Age economic collapse was not so bad. https://www.ynetnews.com/travel/article/b1jj11ufrd
Dead Sea Project dies. https://www.ynetnews.com/environment/article/h1gjgg000d
Israel must update arms export laws. https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/skd00qbdc00
Arab killed during riots. https://www.timesofisrael.com/pa-palestinian-teen-killed-by-idf-live-fire-during-west-bank-clashes/
Health officials debate 3rd vaccine or wait for vaccine against Delta. https://www.timesofisrael.com/health-officials-weighing-whether-to-wait-for-3rd-vaccine-dose-tailored-to-delta/
Surfside victim missing no closure. https://www.timesofisrael.com/family-of-final-missing-surfside-victim-without-closure-as-rescuers-end-search/
Ben and Jerry’s under serious investigation. https://www.timesofisrael.com/five-us-states-take-aim-at-ben-jerrys-over-settlement-boycott/
Superman was to contra the German “Ubermensch” but was he Jewish? https://www.timesofisrael.com/was-superman-a-hidden-jew-author-of-new-400-page-scholarly-tome-is-certain/
Israel plans to slash carbon emissions by 85% by 2050. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-announces-plan-to-slash-carbon-emissions-by-at-least-85-by-2050/
MK last holdout announces inoculation. https://www.timesofisrael.com/ahead-of-cabinet-appointment-knessets-vaccine-holdout-announces-inoculation/
MK Barkat prays at tomb of Rebbe. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310463
MK Netanyahu forgot that he is not PM. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310444
Antisemitism in British Columbia. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310468
Director of Health Min. against shaming refusers. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310476
Planning Netanyahu Law. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310425
UK antisemite. https://www.timesofisrael.com/i-fing-hate-jews-teen-charged-for-antisemitic-incident-at-uk-train-station/
Memorial for 1972 Olympic Team. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310453
Rabbi attacked in Shomron. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310438
Israel could face holiday lockdown. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310584
Suspected mentally ill woman kidnapper. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310587
Gaza fire balloons the response. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hjfaiaic00
Israel warns Iran almost nuclear. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310563
Childbirth centers don’t fall under Min. of Health. Not Beit HaRofeh. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310552
Chip manufacturers investing in Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-global-demand-for-microchips-surges-tech-giants-go-all-in-on-israel/
We might lockdown for the holidays. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310584
200 serious patients 20 on respirators. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310580
Arab Youth arrested from Guardian of the Walls murder. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310548
No more Ben & Jerry in Hempstead. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310548
Suspected Holocaust loot seized. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310545
After Publix in FL now NY Chains reducing contact with Ben and Jerry. https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/07/25/another-supermarket-chain-takes-action-against-ben-jerrys-over-boycott/
Delta Variant running amok. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310634
Iran blames Mossad and “arrest” armed agents. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310714
Iranian Riots on water shortages, freedom reach capital. https://www.debka.com/raging-protests-spread-to-tehran-with-shouts-clerics-get-lost/
4 ISIS members captured in Yarden. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310650
Ex-Iranian Medalist dedicates it to Israel. https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/h1tnljtc00
Israel helps the disabled. https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/07/26/israeli-startup-helping-the-disabled-regain-their-independence-with-a-flick-of-a-wrist/
Antisemitism as Academic Freedom. https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/07/26/antisemitism-now-has-academic-mandate-leading-expert-on-academic-freedom-tells-indiana-conference-on-jew-hatred/
EU wants to cut grants to Israel. https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/07/26/eu-funded-researchers-seek-to-cut-european-grants-to-israeli-academics/
Synagogues may need contingency plans for High Holidays. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310634
Lady Kitty Spencer may have converted to marry a Jewish man. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310637
98th victim found. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310619
Kahanist dragged from Podium after calling MK a terrorist. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310616
Hamas falsifying civilian casualties who are terrorists. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310607
Man Survives sidewalk explosion. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310700
Ted Cruz stops watered down Israel Bill. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310702
NYT Reporter calls Trump Supporters “Enemies of the State” and retracts. https://www.foxnews.com/media/new-york-times-katie-benner-deletes-tweets
Olympian broken by failure. https://www.foxnews.com/sports/simone-biles-message-olympic-teammates-exited-gymnastics-event
Is this gold medalist Jewish? https://www.jpost.com/j-spot/is-tokyo-olympics-gold-medal-swimmer-lydia-jacoby-jewish-675097
Harvard Astronomer searches for Alien Life. https://www.jpost.com/health-science/groundbreaking-project-shifts-search-for-aliens-from-military-to-science-674930
Tamar Eshel turns 101 “wonder woman”. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/israels-first-wonder-woman-tamar-eshel-celebrates-101st-birthday-674948
RINO beats Trump Republican. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ellzey-wins-us-house-seat-in-texas-in-closely-watched-race
50 Faculty Members of CUNY resign over pro Hamas. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/h17ub1ard
Israel to hold clinical tests on risk children in Covid Trial. https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/r1vlfc6a00
IOC concerned of Judokas quitting. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310707
Biden no place for antisemitism. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310713
Green Pass no longer effective. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310711
The road to hell is paved with good intentions by fools. https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/07/26/the-tale-of-two-ethnic-studies-a-case-of-bait-and-switch/
Letter to former UN Secretary General. https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/07/26/an-open-letter-to-former-un-leader-ban-ki-moon/
Reform Jews. https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/07/27/why-are-progressive-jews-defending-ben-jerrys/
German forced to remove statue too close to Adolph. https://www.timesofisrael.com/german-man-forced-to-remove-statue-at-grave-of-father-over-resemblance-to-hitler/
No correct funding for health care no budget. https://www.timesofisrael.com/health-minister-warns-he-wont-back-budget-unless-healthcare-funding-is-boosted/
Defense Minister in interview with BBC in Persian: The Iranian regime is spending billions of dollars on nuclear project instead of worrying about food, electricity and fight against COVID-19. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310706
No shorter quarantine for kids. https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/hj1qbuncu
Dutch woman who saved Jews honored. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310594
Iranian water shortages point to future trouble. https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/b1pxyryjk
Israel launches 3 injection against Covid. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/skgtlwejf
My wife and I with our medical background plan to wait for delta variant injection. Take multivitamins and zinc guard distance wear a mask consult your doctor.
Israel anti-Vax Minister has 75% of parents against her. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sk4lrxlyk
Israel praised for supplying cheap solution to test Dominican Women for Cancer. https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/hjbdx00gjt
Ed-Op Yemini Israel needs new approach to Iran. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/h1y111o0ao
War Correspondent buried. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hk9cgug1y
First Orthodox Rabbi appointed to Australian Supreme Court. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310871
Trump may pay a visit to Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310861
He leaked data on Drone Strikes 4.5years. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310867
Blinken US talks with Iran will not go on forever. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310852
Israel to use facial recognition cameras in public places. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310839
Toronto Jew assaulted. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310840
Iran attacks Israeli operated ship. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-operated-ship-attacked-near-oman-amid-iran-tensions/
After French President Hacked, NSO to block certain governments from using spyware. https://www.timesofisrael.com/nso-said-to-block-some-government-clients-from-using-its-spyware/
New Israel Military Attaché to US. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310836
Israelis charged with Fraud. https://www.timesofisrael.com/2-north-america-idealistic-immigrants-charged-with-close-to-50-million-fraud/
3 Israeli Filmmakers arrested in Nigeria freed. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310813
Dr. Price calls for changes at airport. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310819
Terrorist stabber gets 15years. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310811
Iranian Cyber-files leaked. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310748
Kushner to open up an Israel Investment Office. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310792
I have returned to the gym. I saw most of the time 12.5 meters to the middle of the pool but one time did in water not over my head 25 meters. This is from a man who used swim in a pool 75 to 90 meters non-stop not touching the floor about 2.5 to 3 kilometers. But B”H on the road to recovery. My Hemoglobin has risen to 11.4 so slowly returning to being active.
Wishing you all a nice summer vacation, great health, peace and a good Shabbos.
Rachamim Pauli
