Obama's weekend interview with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman a portrait of incoherence and inadequacy

Clueless Obama with Clueless (Self-hating Jew) Friedman

President Barack Obama's weekend interview with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman is a stunning portrait of incoherence and inadequacy. Friedman--a shameless promoter of Obama since the 2008 campaign, whose books have allegedly influence Obama's foreign policy views--tries his mightiest to wrest something of substance from the absentee president: "[I]t’s clear that the president has a take on the world," he declares.

And what is Obama's "take"? 

Two themes emerge from a morass of clichés and sophistry. The first is that the world is simply not worth engaging unless it agrees to behave itself: "no victor, no vanquished," says Obama. 

Second, America is its own worst enemy, and the political divisions at home threaten to become as disruptive as those in Iraq. (The Tea Party, Friedman chimes in, "accounts for at least half of [Obama's] gray hairs."

Obama is a man shockingly detached, not just from his job, but from himself. It takes particular chutzpah to blame your fellow Americans for political divisions when you are running around threatening executive orders if you don't get your way. 

And it takes a special kind of arrogance to insist that the world behave as you wish it to, or to think that withholding your interest in it presents any kind of threat that will be taken seriously.

As for a path forward, Obama has no ideas. Russia could invade Ukraine--and there is nothing we could do, he suggests. 
Iraq is imploding--but that was inevitable given "de-Baathification" (i.e. Bush's fault). 

Israel is united behind Benjamin Netanyahu--and that's too bad.

That such impotence poses as insight speaks to the narcissism of the man, and of those satraps who put him in a position to do the most damage to himself and the country.

Meisels owner of 4 Israeli Seminaries Sued By American Parents Who Allege Sexual Assault Of Their Daughters

The parents of teen girls sent to Orthodox seminaries in Israel are suing the rabbi in charge, stating he sexually assaulted the girls and falsely presented the seminaries to entice the parents to pay thousands of dollars to attend the schools.

The Seminary Tzadik, Meisels

According to the court documents filed at the NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS, the plaintiffs who are american citizens sued Rabbi Elimelech Meisels, and four subsidiary Jewish seminaries Peninim, Binas Bais Yaakov, Chedvas Bais Yaakov and Keser Chaya which are located in Israel. 

The lawsuit states that Meisels, traveled to and participated in personal, in-person recruiting meetings with the plaintiffs and their daughters at various Orthodox schools across the United States, including New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Maryland and California to entice them to enroll in his seminaries.
“From approximately 2004 until the present date, defendant Elimelech Meisels engaged in a fraudulent and unlawful scheme to induce Orthodox Jewish parents from across the United States to send their daughters to various seminaries in Israel that he controlled under the guise of educational and spiritual development,” says the complaint 

“In truth, defendant Meisels’ true aim was to fraudulently and unlawfully take thousands of dollars from each of these parents and to induce these girls, by telephone, mail, wire and other means, to travel thousands of miles outside the United States and away from their parents for the purpose of sexually assaulting these vulnerable young girls.”

The claim goes on to say that Meisels would lure the girls to late night coffee meetings to sexually assault them, and that he would intimidate the victims into silence by telling them nobody would “believe that a rabbi and author with his reputation would have done such a thing.”
He also said if the girls ever told he would ruin their reputations and would ensure they would never marry.

The plaintiffs accuse the staff of actively and passively hiding the assaults, and that it was “widely known” that Meisels was having late inappropriate meetings with the girls.

Last month, the Chicago Bais Din, a Jewish religious court, heard testimony from several of the victims and ruled that the students at Meisels’ seminaries were “at risk of harm.”

Hebrew Theological College and Tuoro College suspended their relationships with the seminaries, which meant that a student attending the seminaries couldn’t receive college credit for her attendance at American educational institutions.

The complaint describes how Meisels and other defendant created a scam where they would say Meisels sold the seminary and it was now under a new ownership, making it safe for the girls to return and therefore reaping the profits from the tuition deposits.

The plaintiffs seek punitive damages for racketeering, fraud, breach of contract, emotional distress, conspiracy and conversion.

Meisels has of course denied all the accusations, “The allegations are completely false,” Meisels told JTA in an email. “My attorney has advised me to pursue legal action against all those who are wronging myself and the seminaries.”

Aside from Meisels, other administrators of the seminaries are also names in the suit.
Meisels had admitted everything to the Chaicago Bais Din!

Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Chanon, father-in-law of Rabbi Avrohom Wallis, blames death on Zionists, but people in shul tell him to make his specch in gaza!

R' Yaakov Tzvi Chanon, the father-in-law of the murdered  Radical Extremists Avrohom Wallis, blamed his son-in-law's murder, not on the Arab but on the IDF and Zionists!
Well some people in shul in Mea Shearim, would have none of that, and told him to go "preach in Gaza"... People were screaming at him while he was davening. 

The Meshiginar , Yaakov Tzvi Chanon

At least one person shouted, “Go to Gaza! This is your place, the where you can make your speeches!”
The confrontation almost sparked a riot.
According to Bechadrei Chadorim, Chanon is a member of the of Mishkenot Haroim  and is known as a fanatic and extremist.. He  travels to the US where he serves as a Baal Tefilah  in the two main Satmar synagogues in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Chanon’s speech at his son-in-law’s funeral angered  Mea Shearim Charedim who reportedly felt that during a war, and when Chanon’s son-in-law was killed by a terrorist, Chanon’s words were inappropriate.
Here is his sick and demented Hespid in yiddish, but I decided not to translate his crazy rant!

Neturei Karta Join Hamas Rallies in New York and London on Shabbos

In New York

London 

Satmar Newspaper, "Der Blatt" calls Netanyahu a "Murderer"

Der Blatt, the Aronie Yiddish Newspaper, wrote an op-ed article in this week's edition, in reference to the funeral of  Avraham Walles, the radical Asra Kadisha member murdered by an Arab with a tractor.

Walles being arrested previously while protesting at a construction site

After blaming the murder of Avraham Walles on the Zionists, the article calls the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu a "murderer!" 

This article is no difference then the propaganda by Hamas!

I only cut out one paragraph of the lengthy diatribe that this author spewed against his fellow Jews!

I will loosely translate the clip:

"we know very well that it doesn't hurt, the murderer and crazy Netanyahu, that a young man of the Toldos Aaron was killed. 
He has no mercy on the (Wallas') orphans, it doesn't bother him at all that an extremist of Asra Kedisha was murdered.
The only reason he sent a condolance letter to the family is because he wants to have them in his "group" 
He wants to include Walles' death with the other martyrs that were murdered on the Zionist alter."

Rabbi Joseph Raksan murdered in Miami Beach on Shabbos by two Blacks

 A Brooklyn Rabbi visiting Miami was killed while walking to synagogue on Saturday morning.

Rabbi Joseph Raksin, 60, was walking with a friend to North Miami Beach synagogue Bais Menachem, at 1005 N.E. 172nd Terrace around 9 a.m. when two young men reportedly approached and shot him, Miami-Dade Police said.

Raksin was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where he died shortly thereafter.
The two suspects ran away on foot and by bike and police still do not have a description of them.

Yona Lunger, a local Jewish community activist and member of the Shmira Patrol said that Raksin is from Brooklyn Crown Heights section, who was in South Florida to visit his granddaughter and other relatives.

Police have released a statement saying “At this time there is no indication of this being a hate crime,”.

But Brian Siegal, director of the American Jewish Committee’s Miami and Broward Regional Office, said he believes Raksin’s shooting may be connected to the recent act of vandalism at the nearby Torah V’Emunah, an Orthodox synagogue, 1000 N.E. 174th St.
Chesed Shel Emes is working wth medical examiner to avoid an autopsy.

Hava Holzhauer, ADL Florida Regional Director, said in a statement. “That at this time, it appears to be a robbery that went badly.”
“Currently no evidence has been brought to light that it was motivated by anti-Semitism”.
“This is a terrible tragedy. While the motivation for this crime is still being investigated, nothing can justify the killing of an innocent man walking to his place of worship to pray on his holy day.”
“We appreciate the professionalism that the Miami-Dade Police Department has shown in securing all the evidence surrounding the crime and assuring that this investigation remains an exceptionally high priority. Let us hope that the culprits are swiftly apprehended and brought to justice.” Said Holzhauer

All Ladies Chassidic Band "Bulletproof Stockings"

Perl Wolfe and Dalia Shusterman make up the band Bulletproof Stockings.

This takes “Ladies Night” to a new level.
An all-female Hasidic rock band will play Arlene’s Grocery on Thursday night — and the Lower East Side music venue has agreed to shut its doors to men.

Dalia Shusterman and Perl Wolfe, the Crown Heights, Brooklyn, duo behind the band Bulletproof Stockings, follow strict Orthodox rules that bar them from playing in front of men. The stricture also requires them to cover their hair, knees and elbows.

It wasn’t easy convincing Julia Darling, the manager of Arlene’s Grocery, which holds 110 people, to snub male clientele for Bulletproof Stockings’ biggest gig yet.
“Julia was pretty skeptical,” said Shusterman, 40, who plays drums and sings backup. “Turning away half the audience isn’t something that’s ever been done. They had to really think about it.”
Determined to prove they were worth it, she and Wolfe hit the streets, amassing a list of women who vowed to pack the tiny venue. Darling was immediately impressed.
“We said, ‘OK, we like your music and you guys did some guerrilla promotion out there,’ which showed us that they were really serious about playing here,” said Darling.
“We did take a little bit of a risk on them because this is one of their first gigs in New York City.”
So far, there have been no complaints from men about being excluded, even though Darling is confident they will sell out the venue.

The male employees at Arlene’s are exempt from the ban because they’ll be there in a work capacity.
“They have a right to uphold their religious views,” said Darling.
Bulletproof Stockings, which formed 2¹/₂ years ago, is named for the opaque tights Hasidic women traditionally wear. The band hits the stage at 7 p.m.

The one-hour set will be filmed for Oxygen Network’s upcoming show “Living Different,” which will feature the band in one episode. The docu-drama series is expected to debut in early 2015.
Wolfe, 27, and Shusterman describe their music as drawing influences from classical, blues, jazz and rock — as well as the women’s Hasidic backgrounds. The band’s sound has been compared to Florence and the Machine, Fiona Apple — and even throwback rockers the Black Keys.
“Hasidic alt-rock,” joked Wolfe, who sings and plays piano. “We’re making a new genre.”

The women hope Thursday’s gig will help encourage more female-only audiences. “Right now, it’s a little bit of a novelty,” said Wolfe. “But we see it becoming a new movement.”
Shusterman added, “We’re so excited! It’s unbelievable — just the fact that it’s happening, that people are really interested in (us).”

It is time for Jews to say to the New York Times: we’ve had enough.

by Rabbi Benjamin Blech

I write often for Aish.com. I write infrequently to the New York Times. Sometimes they print what I have to say. But this time I knew they weren’t going to publish my letter.

Here’s what I said:

To the editor:

In the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the New York Times has repeatedly insinuated that Hamas enjoys the higher moral ground based on the premise of proportionality – the number of its civilian victims far exceeds that of Israelis. Since my children and grandchildren live in Israel and have thus far been spared from death thanks to their shelter, the Iron Dome, and most certainly God, I beg you for some clarification. To my mind, the thousands of rockets that have targeted 6 million innocent civilians – a number that somehow resonates for me with great significance – have gratefully not succeeded in fulfilling the stated goal of those who fired them. By charter, Hamas has made clear its intention to slaughter all Israeli residents, men women and children. Were Israel not to respond forcefully to this threat, admittedly and most regretfully killing hundreds of civilians during this war they did not seek or initiate, the results would catastrophically be in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Israeli deaths. Please enlighten me as to how many Israelis need actually die and how many photos of butchered Israeli children would be required for Israel to regain the media’s favor? I can only hope it’s not another 6 million – because, starkly put, been there, done that.

And why was I so sure it was an exercise in futility to send this letter to them?

Because it’s now become clear that the New York Times has lost any claim to journalistic integrity by the way it continues to distort its reporting of a war initiated by an internationally recognized terrorist organization against the only democracy in the Middle East.

Ignored and completely forgotten by the supposed “newspaper of record” are the simple facts that

• Hamas started a fight with a clear-cut goal, as affirmed in its charter, of killing every Israeli, or to be more precise every Jew. That means men, women and children. By the way there’s a name for these intended victims. They are called civilians, a term not to be selectively used only for Arab citizens of Gaza.
• Hamas sent hundreds – by now thousands – of rockets specifically designed to maim and to murder as many of these civilians as possible and their lack of success in no way diminishes their moral culpability.
• Hamas has refused to accept every cease-fire offered – and broken every limited humanitarian-based agreement to mutually suspend conflict.

Instead what the Times offers its readers to the point of nausea are heartbreaking photos of suffering residents in Gaza without the context of the reason for their grief – a leadership safely ensconced in luxury far from the fighting who praise death and martyrdom as the noblest aspirations for their followers.

One can only wonder if the Times would have covered World War II in the same fashion, keeping score as over 1 million Germans civilians perished as compared to only 12,000 Americans – none of whom it may be recalled were in immediate danger of missiles over the American mainland. If morality is determined solely by number of innocents dying the New York Times must truly believe that United States bears an unspeakable measure of guilt for its role in stopping Nazi Germany from its murderous plans because, after all, in order to accomplish its mission it caused the death of innocent victims.

What is perhaps most astounding about the Times’s coverage is not only its lack of objectivity and its inability to view events with any semblance of moral clarity but something that Bret Stephens pointedly noted in his column in the Wall Street Journal that smacks either of amateurish incompetence or willful and evil distortion. As source for the numbers of victims in Gaza, as well as for the breakdown between combatants and civilians in this figure, the Times cites the Palestinian Health Ministry and United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Just a little digging by a responsible journalist would reveal that that the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza is run by Hamas and the United Nations group gets his information from two Palestinian agitprop groups!

So even if war has been reduced to a game of numbers by the New York Times,the information it offers its readers is nothing more than propaganda filtered through what is supposed to be a reliable newspaper.

It is time for Jews to say we have had enough. It is time for Jews to say what Emile Zola said when he could no longer stand the lies, the fabrications, the deceits and the dishonesty of the press of his day as they falsely accused the Jew Dreyfus of treason when the real reason for their attack was because Dreyfus was a Jew: J’accuse.

We, even the liberals and leftists and the intelligentsia who have so long been taken in by the prestige and the esteem the New York Times has for so long enjoyed in their circles, must finally take note of reality. Loudly and clearly, as well as by way of cancellation of subscriptions, we must shout out J’accuse! We accuse the newspaper that has built its reputation on fairness and objective reporting of losing its way as it grants the moral high ground to terrorists and to those whose admitted goals are violence and terrorism.

Sent from my iPad

Geraldo Rivera says he can back Hamas against Israel because he has a tattoo of a Star of Davis on his hand! LOL!!!

Listen to this dope say at 2.44 in the video, that he has a Star of David tattooed on his hand, so that gives him the right to bash Israel??????

Geraldo Rivera recently referred to Israel’s killing of civilians as a “travesty,” for example, but Andrea Tantaros was having none of it. She called Rivera an “apologist for a terrorist organization” that hides weapons in schools and hospitals.1

Rivera mentioned the number of Palestinian civilians killed so far in the conflict–a tragedy, of course–but whereas he blames Israel for those deaths, Tantaros says Hamas is to blame for hiding its weapons and leaders behind human shields.

“You are unbelievable to defend Hamas,” she said, and argued that America “should get out of Israel’s way” and let them finish their operation to wipe out the terrorists in Gaza.

A Jewish right to a Jewish land

The Rebbe of Gur was visited by an official of the British Mandate. In the course of conversation the official informed the Rebbe that the British were poised to move out and leave Israel to the Jews. 
The Rebbe’s reply was a Yidishism – “Mi-heChe-Teise,” an idiom loosely translated as "let it be." Unsure of how to translate the Rebbe’s response, the interpreter said, “The Rebbe is pleased with the news.”

After the interview the interpreter asked the Rebbe why he was so casual in his response. The Rebbe replied, “G-d promised the land to our forefather Abraham, to our forefather Isaac and to our forefather Jacob. The British also want to promise us this land? Nu, Mi-heChi-Teise,” let it be…”

This is the true Jewish perspective of why Israel belongs to the Jew. We don’t require legal arguments or scientific proof to justify our claim to Israel. To us, Israel and the Jew belong to each other because it is inherent in our heritage. It is enshrined in the Bible, where it wasn't only promised us, but given to us.

That archaeology, sociology and anthropology buttress this claim is superfluous to the Jew. It’s nice to know that our tradition is corroborated, but it is hardly surprising to us nor is it necessary. It is not for science or history that we lay claim to Israel. It is for our G-d given right.

Yet Jews often shy away from making the Biblical claim outright. You hear Jews speak of the United Nations Vote for Partition in 1948. You hear Jews speak of a historical right to reclaim the land of our ancestors, but rarely does one hear Jews speak publicly about a G-d given right enshrined in the Bible.
The obvious reason is that such a claim would subject us to the counter-claim that Islam has its own tradition, its own holy book and isn’t subject to ours. While this is true, it essentially allows the other side to dictate the conversation. If we don’t claim our Biblical right out of respect for Islam and the secular west, we essentially discard our best, and truthfully our only, argument.

It is well known that some early Zionists weren't particular about Israel. As secular European Jews, their chief aim was to secure a homeland for Jews. They were willing to establish this land wherever they could. The British offered to provide a Jewish homeland in Uganda and in principle, the early Zionists weren't opposed. It was ultimately rejected, as Herzel told the Zionist Congress in 1903, because no other land would motivate Jews to accept marching orders. Only Israel holds that resonance and drama.
Jews would only leave their homes and businesses for the Holy Land, given us by G-d. The land whose loss we never stopped mourning and for whose shores, we never stopped yearning. The land of our fathers, the land of our glory, the land of our home, the land of our soul; only that land that would move the nation. No other land would do.

This is the only true reason Jews live in Israel today. It isn’t a gift of the UN and it is not ours by right of conquest. It isn’t ours on account of history, it is ours because G-d made it so. Had the UN given us California, we would not have gone. Had the Jewish people defeated the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto, they would not have claimed that land.

Let us face the truth. The only reason we are in Israel is because it belongs to us and we belong to it. It is no less a part of our Jewishness than the Torah. Of the 613 commandments, 343 are unique to the land of Israel. We can survive anywhere, but we can thrive only there. Plainly put, if Israel weren't ours, we wouldn't have had a homeland.

Should we deny this essential truth only because Islam isn’t not prepared to accept it?

Instead we devise all kinds of new arguments. We claim it is ours because the UN gave it to us. That is a weak argument. The UN dictates all manner of things to Israel that Israel conveniently ignores. If the UN’s authority suffices to create the land, it should suffice to dictate to the land. If we won’t accept its dictates, how can we claim its partition?

We use the argument of our historical right, but it too doesn't work. If the tribes indigenous to America and Canada were to take up to arms to reclaim their historical lands, international law wouldn't support them. The fact is that when Jews returned to Israel to establish a government, there was an indigenous community on the land. We can’t just displace them because we lived there thousands of years earlier.
In fact, even if we posit that Jews lived in Israel thousands of years earlier, what of the tribes we conquered and displaced when we arrived? If historical rights are claimed, the descendants of those tribes should be located and awarded the land. In addition to Jews, Hittites, Philistines, Jebusites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and the Turks all controlled Israel at some point. How do we determine whose it really is? That we cannot identify the descendants of these nations doesn't justify our claim to it.

The only conclusive and resounding argument for a Jewish right to a Jewish land, is the Biblical one. G-d gave it to us. It is only through this argument that the others make sense. They buttress our G-d given right, but they can’t stand as independent arguments.

As He gave it, He also took it. We mourn the destruction of our Temple and the loss of our land, but we also know it why it was taken. It was for our sins that we were driven from our land.

“When you beget children and children’s children… and you become corrupt and make a graven image….. you will speedily and utterly perish from the land” “And you will return to the Lord your G-d with all your heart and all your soul… then the Lord your G-d will bring back your exiles and have mercy … and bring you to the land which your forefathers possessed.”

We hesitate to speak this truth because we are a diaspora people surrounded by nations. Even in Israel we hesitate to speak because we are dependent on the good will of these nations. Yet the Torah tells us that it is precisely in the diaspora, where we ought to seek and find G-d.

“From there you shall seek him out and you shall find him - if you shall seek Him with all your heart and soul. From there, from your exile and diaspora, where G-d is hidden and must be sought in order to be found, you shall seek Him. Don’t despair of finding Him and bringing Him to the attention of the nations. Seek Him with all your heart and soul, and you shall find Him."

Over and over we hear that these arguments are good for the synagogue, but not “out there.” The Torah tells us to seek G-d when we are “out there,” “From there you shall seek him out.” The mystics point out that the Hebrew word for there is sham and the Hebrew word for name is Shem. The two words are similar because they belong together. On the surface, there, represents a place where G-d needs seeking because He is concealed. Name connotes that G-d’s name is known. Yet the two words are comprised of similar letters because it is precisely “out there” that we should seek Him. And when we do, we make a name for Him. Sham, out there, turns out to be a most conducive place for Shem to make His name.

We are wary because on the surface G-d is utterly concealed “out there.” But the Torah enjoins us to have a little faith and make that leap. Though you are out there, tell your neighbors, colleagues and friends that Israel is yours because G-d gave it to you and because the Bible says it is so. Don’t worry that they will think of you as way “out there.” G-d told us to think differently. G-d said that your words will make a real difference. You will create a name for G-d and a bastion of support for Israel, even “out there.”

Rabbi Lazer Gurkow, a respected writer, scholar and speaker, is the spiritual leader of Beth Tefilah congregation in London, Ontario. He is the author of Reaching for God: A Jewish Book on Self Help, and his new book, Mission Possible: Living With Higher Purpose will be released this spring and can be pre-ordered by emailing egurkow@gmail.com