Our Sages loved to have a play on words or other jokes to get their students on their feet. While reading Halachos of the Aruch Chaim 154:14 with Rabbi Mimran Shlita, I came across a Halacha of the Synagogue if one finds a dead mouse in the oil it is 'ma-ous' (disgusting) and should be discarded.
Parsha Tetzaveh
Last week, we learned what was
needed for the Mishkan and this week the Cohain Gadol.
There
is a famous Midrash which states that Moshe commanded the artisans to first
manufacture the vessels of the Tabernacle and then to construct the Tabernacle
itself. When Betzalel, Moshe's great nephew and head of the builders, heard
this, he protested. Said Betzalel, "It is the way of the world to first
build the house and then construct the utensils. Otherwise, where does one
store the vessels? – Rabbi Salid Shlita.
Moshe
then acquiesced to Betzalel enthusiastically. It has been suggested that
metaphorically, Betzalel was making a profound point. The utensils of the
Mishkan, especially the Ark containing the Tablets, represented the glory of
G-d's Torah which should illuminate the whole world. The Mishkan represented
the protective cover of those utensils.
27:20 And thou shalt
command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure olive oil beaten
for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually.
The property of Olive Oil is that a few drops
will come out from the weight of olives upon the other olives but when pressed
hard the first Shemen Katit or Extra Virgin Oil comes out and then when pressed
harder Virgin Olive Oil drips out until beaten and the rest of the Oil comes
out. Our Sages compare the Jewish People to olives sometimes when pressed and
beaten the best comes out of us. {Your Rabbi in Shemos becomes a procrastinator
as there never will be a Mishkan again and while we are waiting for the third
Temple, there are no garments of the Cohain Gadol and some attempts by Rabbi
Riskin and members of the Temple Institute for ordinary Priestly Garments. So
Rabbi Pauli likes to look at pictures and delays the commentary working on the
stories first.}
21 In the tent of meeting, without the veil
which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall set it in order, to
burn from evening to 30: morning before the LORD; it shall be a statute forever
throughout their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel. 28:1 And bring thou near unto thee Aaron thy brother, and
his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that they may minister
unto Me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and
Ithamar, Aaron's sons. 2 And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron
thy brother, for splendor and for beauty. 3 And thou shalt speak unto
all that are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that
they make Aaron's garments to sanctify him, that he may minister unto Me in the
priest's office.
It is written 'forever' but while we are in the diaspora and
without a Temple, we have nothing really to talk about. The sky blue and purple
strings are beautiful and the bells at the end ring but without seeing them on
the Cohain Gadol is a daily extension of Tisha B'Av.
4 And these are the garments which they shall make: a
breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a tunic of chequer work, a mitre,
and a girdle; and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his
sons, that he may minister unto Me in the priest's office. 5 And they
shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the
fine linen.
I suggest that you look here like I
do for the Priestly Garments the ordinary vs. the high Priest. Yes a picture is
worth 1000 words. https://templeinstitute.org/priestly-garments/ Rabbi Riskin Shlita and others only
dress the white garments.
6 And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple,
scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skillful
workman. 7 It shall have two shoulder-pieces joined to the two ends
thereof, that it may be joined together. 8 And the skillfully woven
band, which is upon it, wherewith to gird it on, shall be like the work thereof
and of the same piece: of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine
twined linen.
Noble items with special spiritual conduction properties as well
as richness and beauty in this world.
9 And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the
names of the children of Israel: 10 six of their names on the one
stone, and the names of the six that remain on the other stone, according to
their birth.
Rare and valuable stones and large enough to be cut to the
shoulders of the Cohain and engraved with six tribes on one and six on the other.
Thus we would see, if we could get near the Cohain Gadol, starting from left to
right per Temple Institute Lt. Reuven, Rt. Shimon, Lt. Levi, Rt. Yehuda. (see https://templeinstitute.org/priestly-garments-2/)
11 With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings
of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones, according to the names of the
children of Israel; thou shalt make them to be enclosed in settings of
gold.
And looking at the photograph we see the gold setting.
12 And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulder-pieces
of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel; and Aaron
shall bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial. 13 And
thou shalt make settings of gold;
And the stones had engraved names on them.
14 and two chains of pure gold; of plaited thread shalt thou
make them, of wreathen work; and thou shalt put the wreathen chains on the
settings. 15 And thou shalt make a breastplate of judgment, the work
of the skillful workman; like the work of the ephod thou shalt make it: of
gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, shalt thou make
it. 16 Four-square it shall be and double: a span shall be the length
thereof, and a span the breadth thereof.
This is according to the Jewish Encyclopedia as follows: Zeret (
17 And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, four rows of
stones: a row of carnelian, topaz, and smaragd shall be the first
row; 18 and the second row a carbuncle, a sapphire, and an
emerald; 19 and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an
amethyst; 20 and the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper;
they shall be enclosed in gold in their settings.
Each stone had a special property one against accidental murder,
miscarriage, for spirituality, etc. "smaragd" was greenish color but
different than the emerald. The first row was ruby, chrysolite, and beryl; the second row was turquoise,
sapphire and emerald; the third row was jacinth, agate, and amethyst; the
fourth row was topaz, onyx, and jasper. (from search) Again
Lt. to Rt. Ruby-Reuven, Chrysolite-Shimon, Beryl-Levi, Turquoise-Yehuda, etc.
21 And the stones shall be according to the names of the
children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a
signet, every one according to his name, they shall be for the twelve tribes. 22 And
thou shalt make upon the breastplate plaited chains of wreathen work of pure
gold. 23 And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold,
and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.
The breastplate was attached to the shoulders by the gold chains from
the back and front of the onyx stones on both shoulders plus according to the
Temple institute there was a way to tie the Ephod in the back.
24 And thou shalt put the two wreathen chains of gold on the
two rings at the ends of the breastplate. 25 And the other two ends
of the two wreathen chains thou shalt put on the two settings, and put them on
the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, in the forepart thereof. 26 And
thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of
the breastplate, upon the edge thereof, which is toward the side of the ephod
inward. 27 And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and shalt put them
on the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod underneath, in the forepart thereof,
close by the coupling thereof, above the skillfully woven band of the
ephod.
The rings aided in tying and securing the Ephod to the Cohain
HaGadol.
28 And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof
unto the rings of the ephod with a thread of blue, that it may be upon the skillfully
woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the
ephod. 29 And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in
the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goes in unto the holy
place, for a memorial before the LORD continually.
I mentioned above from left to right Reuven, Shimon, Levi, the
next row Yehuda, Yisachar, Zevulon, …etc.
30 And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim
and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goes in before
the LORD; and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his
heart before the LORD continually.
The inanimate objects formed a spiritual dimension and other worldly
contact for Aaron to judge with.
31 And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of
blue. 32 And it shall have a hole for the head in the midst thereof;
it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were
the hole of a coat of mail that it be not rent. 33 And upon the
skirts of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of
scarlet, round about the skirts thereof; and bells of gold between them round
about: 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a
pomegranate, upon the skirts of the robe round about. 35 And it shall
be upon Aaron to minister; and the sound thereof shall be heard when he goes in
unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die
not. 36 And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and engrave upon
it, like the engravings of a signet: HOLY TO THE LORD.
The bells were to warn the Shechinah
to go up and leave only sparks on Yom Kippur for Aaron to enter the Kodesh
Kodeshim.
37 And thou shalt put it on a thread of blue, and it shall be
upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be. 38 And
it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity committed
in the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow, even in all
their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be
accepted before the LORD.
Certain things we will never fully
understand while limited to the physical world why the Techeles thread bears
the iniquity.
39 And thou shalt weave the tunic in chequer work of fine
linen, and thou shalt make a mitre of fine linen, and thou shalt make a girdle,
the work of the weaver in colors.
These were woven per the pictures from
the Temple Institute.
40 And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make tunics, and thou
shalt make for them girdles, and head-tires shalt thou make for them, for
splendor and for beauty.
Besides the beauty, the girdles or belts
in combination with the pants separated the heart from the lower body organs.
41 And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and upon
his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify
them, that they may minister unto Me in the priest's office. 42 And
thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover the flesh of their nakedness; from
the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach.
The breeches were to keep the
stones of the Mizbayach from 'seeing' the immodest part of the Cohain like the
Arabs do with their robes and Scots with kilts.
43 And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they
go in unto the tent of meeting, or when they come near unto the altar to
minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die; it shall be a
statute forever unto him and unto his seed after him.
The Cohanim had to be dressed
modestly and holy.
29:1 And this is the
thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto Me in the
priest's office: take one young bullock and two rams without
blemish, 2 and unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened mingled with
oil, and wafers unleavened spread with oil; of fine wheaten flour shalt thou
make them. 3 And thou shalt put them into one basket, and bring them
in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams.
The consecration of the Cohanim
appear later with changes. Simon Gelbart a Cohain in our minyan pointed out
here blood is poured on the fingers of the Cohain then the oil and in practice
first the oil then the blood as the blood would drip off before the oil could
be poured.
30:1 And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense
upon; of acacia-wood shalt thou make it. 2 A cubit shall be the
length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be; and
two cubits shall be the height thereof; the horns thereof shall be of one piece
with it. 3 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof,
and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make
unto it a crown of gold round about. 4 And two golden rings shalt
thou make for it under the crown thereof, upon the two ribs thereof, upon the
two sides of it shalt thou make them; and they shall be for places for staves
wherewith to bear it. 5 And thou shalt make the staves of
acacia-wood, and overlay them with gold. 6 And thou shalt put it
before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the ark-cover that
is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. 7 And Aaron shall
burn thereon incense of sweet spices; every morning, when he dresses the lamps,
he shall burn it.
Only Cohain can do this.
8 And when Aaron lights the lamps at dusk,
he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your
generations. 9 Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor
burnt-offering, nor meal-offering; and ye shall pour no drink-offering
thereon.
Ner Tamid or eternal or daily
light.
10 And Aaron shall make atonement upon the
horns of it once in the year; with the blood of the sin-offering of atonement
once in the year shall he make atonement for it throughout your generations; it
is most holy unto the LORD.'
Ed-Op escape to
Brigadoon from a crazy world.
The year I was born, Lerner and
Lowe wrote a musical production called Brigadoon. I began to think of the WOKE
and LQBT agenda and other assorted wickedness and twisted ideas of our
generation. To protect Brigadoon from being changed by the
outside world, 200 years ago the local minister prayed to God to have Brigadoon
disappear, only to reappear for one day every 100 years. All citizens of
Brigadoon are forbidden to leave the town, or it will disappear forever. Tommy
asks hypothetically if an outsider could be permitted to stay. Mr. Lundie
replies, "A stranger can stay if he loves someone here – not jus'
Brigadoon, mind ye, but someone in Brigadoon – enough to want to give up
everythin' an' stay with that one person. Which is how it should be. 'Cause
after all, lad, if ye love someone deeply, anythin' is possible." But one cannot escape into a Brigadoon so somehow we
must resist, repent, pray and give charity to preserve what sanity is still
left.
The Fight
Neal Zundell writes a daily CaringBridge
article from Sunday to Friday, advocating for
his 11-year-old angel, who was born with a rare genetic
neurological disorder, Leukodystrophy, which was officially diagnosed around
his 3rd birthday. Although his life expectancy is 8-9 years, as per
his pediatric geneticist, Neal continues to consider all plausible medical
treatments and interventions capable of improving Izzy’s severely limited
quality of life, and to attempt to provide him a life that is primarily
pain-free for as long as this progressive, degenerative, and irreversible
disease will enable this. Additionally, Neal shares his personal and poignant
perspective of living with an angelic-mortal, and how the blessing of Izzy has
profoundly affected all aspects of his life, due to the benevolence of the
almighty God!
Perhaps this morning’s CaringBridge blog title is intentionally
misleading, in order to entice the attention and interest of those who
cursorily glance at the fanciful title. In actuality, although the
aforementioned title is quite the exaggeration, in actuality a component of
Izzy was present in the synagogue this morning, as I recited the daily morning
prayers with the requisite quorum. Arguably the most cacophonous sound in my
universe is that of the morning alarm, which characteristically awakens me
subsequent to a night of restless slumber. As I attempt to don my clothing,
this morning, with my eyes standing at half mast, I inadvertently grabbed Izzy‘s
religious head covering (kippah) (Click on Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kippah ),
which would not have necessarily been such an egregious mistake it’s the only
difference between his and mine was the size. However, his was a juvenile head
covering, with stitching around the outer perimeter, rendering it decidedly
boyish. Thankfully, I did not grab one of his others, many of which have
psychedelic colors and patterns upon them.
In an obscure sense, Izzy
goes to synagogue is not an entirely fallacious
proclamation. Moreover, by wearing his kippah during my morning prayer, I
sensed an additional measure of intensity, as I was reciting the morning
prayers, beseeching the Omnipresent G-d to continue protecting Izzy from the
variety of comorbidities that accompany his advanced case of Leukodystrophy,
which lamentably continues to progress at an alarming rate, further depriving
him from being capable of accomplishing even the most rudimentary physical and
cognitive basics. Izzy‘s Kippah served as a tangible reminder to myself,
regarding the criticality of the spiritual aspect of my attempt to combat this
most formidable opponent, Leukodystrophy, which is perpetually attempting to
obliterate Izzy’s pristine physical presence from upon
this transient earth. In essence, this morning Izzy goes to Synagogue vicariously,
as he is not only front of mind, as I beseech the Omnipresent G-d to continue
to serve as his proverbial cloud of protection, but also was represented
tangibly, via his Kippah resting upon my head.
Moreover, based on the aforesaid supposition, I can similarly
proclaim that Izzy accompanies each and every time that I mount the
“evil elliptical” to perform my habitual workouts. Although Izzy is not
physically joining me on the “torture train”, he is vicariously present, via
one of his old head coverings, which I wear upon my sweat latent head.
Subsequent to undergoing the detrimental effects of enduring (sort of !) in
excess of 100 rigorous workouts, although almost entirely shredded, and
appearing as if it had been resurrected, subsequent to spending a century
underneath compacted soil, replete with a variety of bacteria, it still serves
as my tangible reminder of why my workouts are a physical and emotional
imperative. Izzy’s Kippah provides me with the inner fortitude to desperately
procure the requisite energy in order to complete my workout, as I remain
overtly cognizant that the principal imperative for my demanding workouts three
times weekly, is not only to maintain my physical health, but also to afford me
the opportunity to remain mentally and emotionally apt, that being a
prerequisite to being able to adequately emotionally advocate for my Angelic
Izzy, ensuring that I am predominantly in an emotional state of positivity and
resiliency. https://www.caringbridge.org or http://www.gofundme.com/jiwf7o
The American Couple
who risked everything to help Holocaust Refugees.
By Menucha Chana Levin
Only 5 Americans were honored by
righteous of the nations by Yad Vashem and this is the story of two of them.
Martha and Waitstill
Sharp, graduates of Radcliffe and Harvard University, were a young couple
leading a comfortable life in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts with their two
young children in the late 1930s. Waitstill served as the minister of the local
Unitarian church and Martha was a respected social worker. But their tranquil
existence was about to come to an end due to a request from the American
Unitarian Association (AUA).
In September 1938,
when Nazi Germany invaded the Sudetenland in northern Czechoslovakia, thousands
of refugees, Jews and political dissidents fled from the Nazis to the city of
Prague in the south of the country.
The AUA, affiliated
with the Unitarian church, was concerned to hear about the Nazi occupation. The
church, with its strong connections to Czechoslovakia’s small but active
Unitarian population, asked the Sharps to travel to Czechoslovakia to assist
the refugees and coordinate relief work.
Waitstill discovered
that the Association had approached 17 other ministers who had each refused the
request. But the Sharps didn’t hesitate to accept the challenge despite not
knowing what might await them in Prague.
In February 1939,
leaving their two children in the care of close friends from their
congregation, they departed for Europe.
In Czechoslovakia,
they were welcomed by the American embassy, grateful to find Americans willing
to assist with the desperate needs of the refugees.
Initially, the Sharps'
work in Prague involved setting up a voluntary network to obtain travel
documents, education, and employment for the refugees. Later, working closely
with the British Quakers, Waitstill and Martha assisted hundreds more refugees
by providing them with financial and humanitarian aid. Though they had to
remind the refugees that the offices were not American territory, and the
Unitarians were not an immigration agency, the couple decided to assist
individual immigration cases whenever they could, despite the risks involved.
Martha also
accompanied a group of refugees fleeing Nazi territory on a long train ride
towards freedom in Great Britain, managing to prevent their arrests by invoking
her protected status as an American citizen.
As the Nazis
approached Prague, the Sharps could have returned to the U.S. but instead
decided to stay and continue their work. They secretly burned all their
documents and notes in an office in Prague during the night of March 14, 1939.
Afterwards, they kept no records of the refugees they smuggled out of
Nazi-occupied Europe. For their own safety and for those they were assisting,
nothing could be written down. What had first appeared to be a simple church
mission suddenly became a dangerous venture with many lives at stake.
The following day,
when the Nazis marched into Prague, Martha guided an important resistance
leader to asylum at the British embassy. Stopped by Nazi guards three times,
Martha’s American passport enabled them to safely get through each checkpoint.
A few days later, Waitstill arranged for a member of the Czech parliament to be
smuggled from a hospital morgue in a body bag.
The Gestapo did not
permit people like the Sharps to continue their life-saving rescue of refugees.
In July their office was closed down and the furniture tossed into the street.
Yet the courageous couple remained in Prague until August, when Waitstill
attended a conference in Switzerland and was not permitted to return to Czechoslovakia.
Threatened by imminent arrest by the Gestapo, Martha fled Prague alone. The
Sharps then reunited in Paris and sailed for home.
However, in May, 1940,
the president of the American Unitarian Association asked the Sharps to again
return to Europe as representatives of the newly formed Unitarian Service
Committee (USC). Although the danger had increased with many European countries
now under Nazi occupation, the Sharps accepted the new mission.
The Sharps planned to
open the USC’s offices in France, but before they arrived in Europe, Nazi
Germany occupied Paris. Instead, the couple opened an office in Lisbon, since
thousands of refugees were rushing to neutral Portugal hoping to find safety
and a ship to the United States.
While Waitstill Sharp
was based in Lisbon, Martha worked at a new USC office in Marseilles, the
primary port in unoccupied France from which refugees could escape.
During this time, the
USC worked closely with Varian Fry, an American sent to Europe by the new Emergency
Rescue Committee in New York. As refugees
escaped with the help of the Emergency Rescue Committee, the USC helped them
navigate the French-Spanish border and assisted with travel arrangements and
money once the refugees reached Lisbon.
Among those the Sharps
assisted were Jewish Nobel laureate physicist Otto Meyerhof and writers Franz
Werfel and Leon Feuchtwanger. Smuggling Feuchtwanger out of Europe was
extremely difficult as he was on the Nazi's "most wanted" list.
Dressed as a French peasant woman, Martha accompanied Feuchtwanger by train
from Marseilles to the Spanish border where she distracted the guards so they
would not discover him. When no extra ship tickets were available, Martha
generously gave up her own ticket so that Feuchtwanger and his wife could sail
to New York with Waitstill.
Martha continued to
find ways to break through the antisemitic United States immigration
bureaucracy to allow Jewish children to come to the United States. She
determinedly battled numerous bureaucracies to secure exit visas, transit
permits, and identity papers for 27 children and ten adults. She sailed from
Lisbon with two of the children and four adults in early December 1940. The
others followed on a second voyage.
In 1940, Marianne
Scheckler was 12 years old, one of triplet sisters who had fled Vienna with
their parents just ahead of the Nazis. Now a resident of Laguna Hills,
California, Marianne Scheckler-Feder still remembers that day and Martha Sharp:
"She was a very elegant lady. Kind of serious and very concerned. You
looked up to her... What she did for us was outstanding. It will never be
forgotten."
Martha’s organization
of the children’s transport became a model for the United States Committee for
the Care of European Children, which brought several hundred children from
France, Spain, and Portugal to the United States during World War II.
Waitstill and Martha
Sharp remained involved with humanitarian organizations after returning to the
United States in late 1940. In 2006, after both of their deaths, Martha and
Waitstill Sharp were the second and third Americans, after their colleague
Varian Fry, to be designated as “Righteous Among the Nations,” a title granted
by Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial to the Holocaust.
The Sharps have also
been recognized by The United States Holocaust Museum, the United States House
of Representatives and by more than 2,000 adults and children the Unitarian
Service Committee helped rescue from Nazi persecution.
The work of the Sharps
is detailed in a book called Rescue and Flight by Susan
Elisabeth Subak, published in 2010. A documentary film, Defying the
Nazis: The Sharps' War, was co-directed by Ken Burns and the couple's
grandson, Artemis Joukowsky III, of Sherborn, Massachusetts.
The other side of hate a former Nazi speaks out:
By Rivka Ronda Robinson
https://www.aish.com/ci/s/On-the-Other-Side-of-Hate-A-Former-Nazi-Speaks-Out.html?s=hp3
TM Garret realizes he could have been in that synagogue in
Colleyville, Texas – not in his former life as a white supremacist and Ku Klux
Klan leader, but as someone in the process of becoming a Jew by choice.
After a terrorist took the rabbi and three Congregation
Beth Israel members hostage during Shabbat morning services, Garret flashed
back to the first time he had gone to synagogue to pray. It was Yom Kippur two
years ago. He had attended many times as a public speaker, but in 2019 Garret,
a researcher and analyst for the International Center for the Study of Violent
Extremism, threw his hat in the ring and began to identify with the Jewish
people.
“I already had joined Jewish friends for Shabbat dinners,
Passover and Hanukkah. I had lectured many times at synagogues and Chabad
houses. But I had never been to a synagogue just for the purpose of being in
services and praying,” he reflects.
“So I decided to make Yom Kippur my first time. I became acquainted
with the rabbi of Or Chadash Synagogue in Memphis, Tennessee, and was warmly
welcomed. Yom Kippur was a perfect day for me – I had to ask for a lot of
forgiveness that night. For the first time in life I wore a yarmulke and they
handed me a transliteration so I could pray in Hebrew.”
After services a congregant sought him out to inquire about
antisemitism in Germany, where Garret was born. Garret assured him that Jews
wouldn’t have to worry about the Germans again, knowing how much his homeland had
atoned for its egregious Holocaust history.
He spoke too soon. The next day – the holiest on the Jewish
calendar – a neo-Nazi attacked a synagogue in Halle, Germany. Garret felt
betrayed: “What did I tell these people last night?” Then it dawned on him: “If
someone had entered that synagogue where I was last night with the intention of
murdering everybody inside, I would have been dead. I looked like a Jew, I
prayed like a Jew.”
After many years of exploration, the 46-year-old human
rights activist finally feels he has found his spiritual home in Judaism.
Garret was born into a German Catholic family that only
attended church on Christmas. While he grew up believing in God, religion
didn’t play a major part in his life for a long time.
He felt like an outcast in the small German town of his
youth. Both parents had a drinking problem and they divorced shortly after his
birth. His mother was rearing four children by herself, which was unusual in
those days.
Uncomfortable in his own skin, Garret embraced bigotry to
blend in. As a teenager he fell in with hate groups, became a white supremacist
and then climbed the ladder to become a leader in the Ku Klux Klan in Europe.
Fifteen years ago, after vilifying anyone who was
different, from Jews and Muslims to immigrants and gays, a door opened to
escape the hell of hate. It came in the form of a Turkish Muslim man who showed
Garret love, compassion and commonalities that are bridges.
“After a long journey I was allowed to explore all these
groups I once hated,” says Garret. “I found out how many stereotypes that many
people believe in are just wrong.
“In 2018 I started to explore Judaism. The ethics of
Judaism aligned with my newly formed ethics, I felt attracted to this diverse
community and since I never stopped believing in God, I also found a new
religious home. At first, I wasn’t sure what I was attracted towards most – the
community, the ethics or the religion. I found that Judaism is all of it! I
developed a deep love for it, and in 2020 it became clear to me. I made the
decision to join these wonderful people and to convert.”
Garret asked himself many questions before coming to that
conclusion. Is this the right thing? Does it make sense? Would I be a good Jew?
His rabbi reassured him, “It’s a journey. Do the best you can.”
Garret has a sense of what it feels like to belong to a
minority group. The Simon Wiesenthal Center once gave him a jacket emblazoned
with a Star of David after speaking engagements at the Alpha Epsilon Pi 106th
International Convention and National Museum of American Jewish Military
History in Washington, D.C. Wearing it on the street, Garret had a startling
thought. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I get hit in the back by a bottle.” He
didn’t take off the jacket.
After the synagogue standoff in Colleyville, where all four
hostages were saved, Garret said it’s important not to cave into fear. “I think
this is why the Jewish people are still here. They never gave into fear or
abandoned their beliefs.”
Garret counsels people to recognize they have the power to
help others get out of the forest of hate before becoming violent actors
who inflict hurt. Try to talk rather than vilify them. Show understanding for
their fears, with empathy but not sympathy, while clearly saying you don’t share
their opinions.
Find compassion for those you might disagree with. Seek to
understand them as people rather than dismissing them with a label. Look for
ways to have a conversation. Listen rather than enter these conversations with
the goal to change them or to tell them that you are right and they are wrong.
They’ll often let you become a trusted source for them
before they trust the radicals, says Garret. “We break down their barriers with
compassion and unconditional love. This is how I got deradicalized. You can’t fight hate with hate.” Reference to clicked link: https://www.aish.com/ci/s/A-Former-Nazi-Preaches-Tolerance.html
Milestone: Rebbitzen Nava Begun, woman behind
Machon Meir. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321766
From Nosson Shulman: 10 greatest Biblical
Discoveries in 2021. https://guidedtoursofisrael.wordpress.com/2022/02/05/top-10-archeological-discoveries-in-israel-from-2021/
Milestone: Todd Gitlin, 79, leftist activist
who criticized left anti-Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/todd-gitlin-jewish-radical-turned-critic-of-lefts-attacks-on-israel-dies-at-79/
Milestone: Jack Mikulincer, 99, resistance
fight, Israeli independence war, https://www.timesofisrael.com/99-year-old-holocaust-survivor-killed-in-traffic-on-way-to-brooklyn-synagogue/
Study why do locusts swam? https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/02/09/why-do-locusts-form-devastating-swarms-israeli-researchers-tackle-mystery-of-biblical-plague/
Oct. 7,'73 Golda "They’ve
thrown us to the dogs.” https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/314533
WWII the murder of Jewish American POW's https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/02/09/the-murder-of-american-jewish-soldiers/
Inyanay Diyoma
Bad cops used cell phone taps w/o court
approval Netanyahu make get off scot free. https://www.timesofisrael.com/not-just-filber-tv-reports-claim-cops-targeted-phones-of-others-in-netanyahu-cases/
Drug smuggling thwarted on Egyptian Border. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321758
Cop tell woman to kill herself and she does. https://www.timesofisrael.com/young-woman-dies-by-apparent-suicide-after-policeman-tells-her-to-kill-herself/
37 members of Lev Tahor leave Bosnia. https://www.timesofisrael.com/37-members-of-extremist-cult-lev-tahor-leave-bosnia-destination-unknown/
Police arrest ex-husband & brother of woman
shot in Lod. https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-arrest-brother-ex-husband-of-woman-26-shot-and-seriously-hurt-in-lod/
Lieberman plans to stop price increases. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321753
Lockdown only prevents .2% of the death rate. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321552
Second Opinion on Covid. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321620
Serious cases in Israel reach 1,213 patients. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-february-05-2022/
Drama over boy who fell into well in Morocco. https://www.timesofisrael.com/bid-to-free-5-year-old-moroccan-boy-from-well-reaches-nerve-wracking-final-stages/ he died before he
could be rescued.
Somali US Army Vet runs against Omar. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321683
Pandemic induced work from home helps
environment. https://www.ynetnews.com/environment/article/bklkthy0t
Non-Jew slurred in Yiddish. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321760
Three charged in antisemitic rally in Orlando. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321754
Out pouring of support for Canadian Truckers. https://www.foxnews.com/world/supporters-rally-around-canadian-trucker-convoy-providing-food-gas-and-rides
VA shooting in Hookah Lounge. https://www.foxnews.com/us/virginia-shooting-blacksburg-hookah-lounge
Coca Cola noisy about GA voting but silent on
Uyghurs. https://www.foxbusiness.com/sports/beijing-olympics-coca-cola-uyghur-genocide-georgia-election-law
Fentanyl deaths rise in 30 States. https://www.foxnews.com/us/fentanyl-poisoning-deaths-double-30-states
Critical Race Theory is bad – Dr. Ben Carlson. https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/critical-race-theory-gov-noem-classroom-indoctrination
Republicans censure two congressmen. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321757
US gives Iran sanctions waiver civilian Nuke. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hyrhccjay
Insurance fraud flees to Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321683
Russian Naval drill 140 warships in Syria. https://www.debka.com/an-armada-of-russian-warships-masses-for-drills-at-tartus-syria/
US warns Russia could leave 50,000 Ukrainian
Civilians dead. https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-warns-russian-invasion-could-see-kyiv-fall-in-days-cause-50000-casualties/
Restored Iranian deal leaves breakout time a
few months. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-said-to-fear-restored-iran-deal-will-leave-breakout-time-of-only-a-few-months/
Citizenship law passes will Meretz break up
coalition? https://www.timesofisrael.com/coalitions-meretz-warns-shaked-of-painful-response-to-citizenship-law/
Israel approaches 900 Covid deaths since 2022
started. https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/hjgyt1trk
Holocaust survivor dies from last Gaza War hit
in Ashkelon. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/ryvowi6cf
We will bring Costco and Walmart to Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321784
Israel may halt flights to Dubai over security
concerns. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-airlines-may-halt-flights-to-dubai-over-security-concerns/
This Bederman Ed-Op applies to Canada: https://dianebederman.com/dear-doctors-shame-on-you/
New defamation bill regarding the internet. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321787
Shaked tests positive for Covid. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321780
Electricity for young settlements? https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321786
Queen wants Camilla to be Queen. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321781
Women snuck out of hospital by Yad Le Achim. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321772
NY Five Towns fund raiser for friend of Israel
Sara Sanders. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321735
Medical Breakthrough Israelis Engineer spinal
cord for paralyzed. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-lab-made-spinal-cords-get-paralyzed-mice-walking-human-trial-in-3-years/
Fee phi foe fum I smell midterm Biden to visit
Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321840
Houthi missiles and drones can reach Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321848
After drill in the North a surprise drill in
South. https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-launches-surprise-gaza-drill-to-test-southern-commands-readiness/
Plan to approve E1 suspended because of Mertz. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321839
Organizations that boycott Israel will have no
non-profit status. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321783
PLO creates Israel dispute in African Union meeting.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/b1lpw16ay
Ed-Op Whoopi Goldberg reflects Black view of
Jews. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hkoddmfaf
Earthquake drill. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-to-hold-earthquake-drill-after-several-small-quakes-rattle-country/
Ramle murder. https://www.timesofisrael.com/ramle-man-shot-dead-in-latest-murder-thought-linked-to-jaroushi-family-feud/
Police spied w/o writ. https://www.timesofisrael.com/ministry-heads-netanyahu-associates-activists-said-targeted-by-police-with-spyware/
First female AG. https://www.timesofisrael.com/set-to-be-approved-monday-relatively-unknown-ag-will-take-office-amid-falling-trust/
NSO may be dismantled but scandal continues. https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/bjmtbdyak
Runaway costs and politics Ed-Op. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/LL4RB7ZZQ
TN Bible teacher tells how to torture Jews. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321847
Jews around the word protest China over Uyghur.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321850
Rep. Gohmert: Israel need Judea and Samaria. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321838
Jews have been attacked by Arabs in the Shimon HaTzadik. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321832
Ed-Op ADL refuses to state the truth about
Amnesty. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321826
Doritos Pagan values have no place in Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321798
BDE 20year old IDF killed 2 injured in hit and
run. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321793
Two State Confederation proposed. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1laheaak
IDF will choose who will get into cyber units
vs. combat as the front line is more and more religious vs. the population. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r16d2ltay
One out of five Israelis caught Covid in Jan. https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/skutcq6at
Tinder Swindler a true Israeli Story on
Netflix. https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/bkc9dut0t
HEIL LIEBERMAN fueling hatred: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321871
Other storm trooper tactics: https://rumble.com/vubdvc-covid-cops-storm-church-during-service.html
Hamas enlisting children of unified families. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321854
Virus will never disappear. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321919
Jews dress as Muslims to pray on Temple Mount. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321924
Environmental Group oppose expanded route 2. https://www.timesofisrael.com/green-groups-warn-planned-road-in-central-israel-will-kill-off-crucial-wetlands/
3Shachidim in Schem. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321941
Anti-aircraft missile fired into Israel from
Syria and reply. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321973
NSO spying by police a full scandal. https://www.debka.com/police-hacking-of-key-netanyahu-trial-witness-explodes-into-full-blown-scandal/
NSO scandal - Who will investigate the
investigators? https://www.ynetnews.com/article/b100z4i1k5
Yossi Yehoshua Army Status and Social Class. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r16d2ltay
Less Matriculation exams. https://www.timesofisrael.com/major-education-reform-will-slash-number-of-high-school-matriculation-exams/
Gazans cross border set truck afire and return.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322018
The public is asked to pray for the recovery of Rabbi Baruch Dov, the son of Chaya
Feigel, https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321992
Somalian Refugee against Ilhan Omar. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321933
Art Spielman on Maus. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321916
Air Pollution costs ME and N. Africa
$141billion annually. https://www.ynetnews.com/environment/article/hjsy5fk19
Nuke talks have reached a critical stage. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322038
Dir. Of FM visited Turkey. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322042
Former Police Commissioner the spyware hacking
is not real. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322037
Plan to reduce cost of living. https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/rkzp5twkq
Ed-Op Fishman thirst of power by police. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/s1sctlb1q
Israel not opposed to US. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-tells-biden-administration-it-wont-oppose-us-returning-to-unesco-report/
US tries to settle gas dispute between Israel
and Lebanon. https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-envoy-calls-on-lebanon-to-end-maritime-border-dispute-with-israel/
Kosher phone sales. https://www.timesofisrael.com/non-smartphone-sales-jump-in-israel-amid-fears-of-nsos-pegasus/
Where was safety harness two men fall to their
deaths. https://www.timesofisrael.com/2-construction-workers-fall-to-their-deaths-from-40th-floor-of-tel-aviv-building/
Celebrants injury by firecrackers in Bnei Brak.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/five-injured-in-blast-at-bnei-brak-event-hall-apparently-due-to-firecracker/
Court rejects Olmert's request for Netenyahu
sanity test. https://www.timesofisrael.com/court-rejects-olmert-request-for-psychiatric-evaluation-of-netanyahus-in-libel-case/
Blood Bank running out of blood as Charedim
reject LGBT
agenda questions. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321995
Nuke sniffer checks Russian Ships. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321951
WOKE and the holocaust. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321883
Antisemitism at Toronto School. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321975
I welcomed a terrorist into my Schul. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321976
Fire and explosion in Abu Dhabi. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321972
2nd gentleman evacuated in bomb
threat. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321977
JNJ Euro-Covid Vaccine production halted. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321978
Maccabi Medical Group breaks with Sheba
Hospital. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321922
Unlike escape to Brigadoon this is a real
evacuation. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322103
NATO on higher alert. https://www.timesofisrael.com/nato-members-heighten-alarm-over-russia-invasion-fears-send-more-troops-east/
Iranians tried to kill Yair Geller. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322118
Latvia's Holocaust restoration bill. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322104
Rockets appear to have been intentional. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322117
Charedim are not responsible for inflation. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322069
Abbas no apartheid. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/02/10/israeli-arab-party-leader-abbas-dismisses-charge-of-apartheid-state-our-fate-here-is-to-live-together/
Israeli interests in American Super Bowl. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/02/10/israeli-ambassador-i-will-personally-deliver-falafels-to-cincinnati-bengals-if-they-win-super-bowl/
Right winger kicked off radio. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322084
NJ Woman refuses first aid from Jews so
hospital sends more Jews for first aid either Jews or death so she chose Jews. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322088
Pfizer Vaccine does not hurt fetuses. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-study-shows-pfizer-vaccine-safe-for-pregnant-womens-fetuses/
Ganz goes after settlers in Shomron and Negev. https://www.timesofisrael.com/security-forces-demolish-structures-at-jewish-outposts-in-west-bank-negev/
Pres. Of Brazil condemns Nazism. https://www.timesofisrael.com/bolsonaro-condemns-nazism-after-popular-podcaster-says-brazil-should-have-it/
Hezballah does not think Israel will attack Iran.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321969
Wants Israel narrower than his Congressional
District. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321950
Missionary bibles in Yiddish. https://www.timesofisrael.com/seeking-converts-christian-missionaries-pitch-yiddish-bibles-to-ny-ultra-orthodox/
Only 1 out of 26 was spied upon. https://www.timesofisrael.com/only-1-of-26-people-allegedly-spied-on-by-police-successfully-hacked-claims-probe/
Had weapons threatened Jews but may serve no
time. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322028
Abnormalities in Fetuses and Autism. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322001
Space Hummus soon. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/321921
Gerer Chassidic Sect girls w/sister not kidnapped.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322009
Use Hydroxychloroquine and Zinc then Covid will
end. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/280690
Russian Army Defense interferes w/GPS. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/02/09/russian-army-in-syria-activated-defense-system-during-israeli-strikes-that-interfered-with-gps/
Iran has new long range Missile that can hit
more of Europe. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/02/09/iran-unveils-long-range-missile-as-vienna-nuclear-talks-resume/
French Nazi Priest fined. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/02/09/french-court-fines-neo-nazi-activist-and-catholic-priest-for-video-inciting-hatred-of-jews/
Bennett to Biden don't sign deal. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/02/09/bennett-reportedly-urged-biden-not-to-sign-iran-nuke-deal-nothing-will-happen-if-you-dont/
Free Palestine sparks UK antisemitism. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/02/09/fueled-by-free-palestine-demonstrations-antisemitic-incidents-soar-to-new-heights-in-uk/
Lawmakers ask Dept. of Ed. To speed up
antisemitism guides. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/02/09/us-lawmakers-call-on-dept-of-education-to-end-delay-of-campus-antisemitism-guidance/
Turkey wants to partner with Israel on gas
pipeline. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/02/04/erdogan-says-turkey-israel-can-jointly-bring-gas-to-europe/
NYer Mag. Puts Negev in Palestine. https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/02/04/new-yorker-magazine-crossword-puts-negev-desert-in-palestine-with-no-mention-of-israel/
Have a healthy and peaceful Shabbos,
Rachamim Pauli
