1,800 years ago, Chazal prohibited drinking from this ‘idolatrous’ waterspout

An ancient 1,800-year-old waterspout was recently uncovered by chance at northern Israel’s Tzippori National Park, according to an Israel Nature and Parks Authority press release on Monday. The humanized lion spout is exactly the type of “idolatrous” faucet head that the Babylonian Talmud warns Jews against drinking from in Tractate Avodah Zarah.

The 3D gargoyle measures 15 centimeters x 12.5 centimeters (6 inches by 5 inches). Its gaping mouth leaves room for a 2-centimeter diameter pipe, from which water would have splashed in a drinking fountain or bathhouse. It is formed from marble, likely imported from Turkey, according to the Parks Authority. Similar gargoyles have been discovered in the Hamat Gader, Beit She’an and Caesarea national parks.

Ornately decorated drain spouts were usually formed into the images of animal heads or characters from mythology. They were in use from the Hellenistic era through the Roman/beginning of the Byzantine era as common architectural elements, and had a resurgence of popularity in the Renaissance, said Iosi Bordowicz, director of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority’s Heritage Section.

The newly discovered “fountain head” was uncovered near the archaeological site’s ancient bathhouse by David Goren, a resident of modern Tzippori, who turned it over to the Parks Authority.

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES!

Stop excusing the looters — they’re destroying New York

Midtown Manhattan and Times Square looked like a war zone Tuesday. The mayor and his would-be successors are a lost cause, but if Gov. Cuomo won’t stop the looting, we’ll lose our retail tax base and hundreds of thousands of jobs — for years.

Macy’s, Bergdorf Goodman — icons of New York, windows smashed. But that’s not the worst part: It was clear that the office-building and retail managers and workers were bracing for more.

From Central Park South through Rockefeller Center through the Bowtie to Herald Square, hundreds of essential workers — most of them minority men — scrambled to sweep up the broken glass. Then, they unpacked lumber pile after lumber pile, block after block, to board everything up fast, before the looters strike again.

Midtown smelled and sounded like a woodworking shop — but instead of building something productive, property owners are bracing for destruction.

No major elected official — not Council Speaker Corey Johnson, not Comptroller Scott Stringer, not Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams — has shown public solidarity with the retail owners, managers, and workers who are bearing the brunt of New York City’s failure to keep order.

Macy’s — which sponsors two of the city’s biggest events, the July 4 fireworks and the Thanksgiving Day Parade? Abandoned by the pols to a mob, because the pols are afraid of looking racist.

The optimistic view of this is: Well, so what? Stores have been closed for three months anyway, due to a lockdown that all responsible people (of all races) are still observing. Workers — 350,000 people worked in retail last year — were already on temporary furlough.

This thinking — quite common on woke, white, “urban Twitter” — is a fatal mistake. Chain stores such as Macy’s were already struggling pre-pandemic. Small businesses were squeezed between high local taxes and cheap online shopping.

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES!

Live Chick from "Eirav Tavshilin" Egg

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES!

Rep. Eliot Engel Says He Doesn’t Care About Riots

NY Rep. Eliot Engel, the 16-term Democratic congressman got himself into a mess on Tuesday when he openly stated that he doesn’t care about the riots and looting taking place in the city.

Only, we weren’t supposed to hear it.

Engel’s remarks were caught on a hot mic at a press conference with local leaders and elected officials following a night of heavy protests in the Bronx.

Engel had asked Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. if he could have a turn at the microphone to say a few words. Diaz Jr. replied that there were too many people already on the list. It was then that Engel mumbled something through his face mask.

“What was that?” Diaz Jr. asked.

“If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care,” Engel repeated.

Engel released a statement defending his words following the blunder, saying that since he is running for reelection, he felt he needed to clarify his stance to the voters.

“Of course I care deeply about what’s happening in this country, that’s what I wanted to convey,” sadid Engel. “I love the Bronx, grew up in the Bronx and lived here all my life,” he continued.

“I would not have tried to impose on the Borough President if I didn’t think it was important,” he added.

Engel recently was criticized for not returning to his Bronx district while the COVID-19 pandemic raged on.

It was also recently reported that Engel had failed to repay a controversial $125,000 “mortgage loan” from one of his top campaign donors.

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES!

How an abusive Teacher or a Rebbe Can Destroy a Student for life!

Chevra ... the following is a long story ...but once you start reading you won't stop .....

If you are a teacher or a rebbe.... you have the power to uplift a student but you also have the power to destroy ....

and not only are you destroying the student but all his future children .... 

Niggun of Broken Hearts

He sat in the women’s gallery of the neighborhood shul from morning to night, writing his chiddushim and dissecting folios, but what really sparked my curiosity was the tune he used to accompany his Torah learning — sometimes it sounded like a ballad of yearning, sometimes like a victory march. Little did I know it was a song that would change my Yom Tov — and my life. 

A true story.

The following story and its sequel are real live dangers of abusive teachers (or parents). It is a story of souls being repaired. The catalyst of bringing back this off derech youth was through a Rabbi with a guitar, long hair,

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES!

Bobov 48 Distributed Infested B'Gan Strawberries on Shevuois

I am not exactly certain when on Shevuois the infested strawberries were distributed to the hungry Bobov 48 mispallalim...

because if it was served before "matan torah" there is a "tzad" to say that there was no prohibition to eat shratzim....

I'll go out on a limb to say it was served after krias ha'torah ...

According to the Yudel Shain Blog ...Bobov 48 chassidim had some extra protein this Yom Tov ......

Here is. some advice from a former Talmud ...

Stick to Shmaltz Herring...

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES!

Soros Paying Protestors

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES!

Apple is tracking iPhones stolen by looters

Apple has an eerie message for the looters who have pillaged its stores during recent protests: 

We’re watching you.

Thieves who made off with iPhones from ransacked Apple retail locations in recent days quickly learned that the gadgets were loaded with special security software, as they displayed a message on their screens indicating that their locations were being monitored.

“Please return to Apple Walnut Street,” read the onscreen message of an iPhone stolen from an Apple store in Philadelphia, according to social media posts. “This device has been disabled and is being tracked. Local authorities will be alerted.”

Apple — which has recently been gearing up to reopen over 100 stores across the United States following an extended closure due to the coronavirus pandemic — saw locations attacked and looted in cities including New York, Los Angeles and Washington.

The looting sprang from a week of civil unrest and protests following the police killing of George Floyd, an event which Apple chief Tim Cook called “senseless” in a memo to employees over the weekend.

“I have heard from so many of you that you feel afraid — afraid in your communities, afraid in your daily lives, and, most cruelly of all, afraid in your own skin,” Cook said in the note, which was published by multiple news outlets.

“To our colleagues in the Black community — we see you,” he added. “You matter, your lives matter, and you are valued here at Apple.”

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES!

Elizabeth Taylor's Visit to Jerusalem in 1970

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES!

Watch President Trump's Powerful Speech About Ending the Riots

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES!