My "Date" with History… and Hope

Scientists on a desert kibbutz coaxed fruit out of 2,000-year-old seeds found at Masada. It tastes like honey mixed with inspiration

“All things are mortal but the Jew,” Mark Twain once marveled. “What,” he wondered, “is the secret of his immortality?”

The answer, I’m happy to say, is sweeter than you think. And it is blossoming on Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava region, 40 minutes north of Eilat. Yes, the New York Times just broke the story of the children of Methuselah and Hannah, biblical date trees (that didn’t meet on JDate) with some impressive history and something to teach at this perilous time as a lead up to the Jewish New Year.

Times reporter Isabel Kershner has been to Ketura before and in her article on the budding solar industry in Israel back in 2012 dubbed me “Captain Sunshine.” Actually, she quoted Dr. Elaine Solowey calling me Captain Sunshine. “Anyone who beats the government bureaucracy is a superhero,” said Dr. Solowey, a renowned authority on desert agriculture. And since then I’ve been wearing a ring with a 2,000 year old coin minted in the temple in Jerusalem with an insignia of the sun, fighting the fossil fuel lobby and working with partners to achieve, finally, the redemptive 100% solar daytime goal for Eilat and the Arava.

Dr. Solowey, along with her partner in bringing ancient history alive, Dr. Sarah Sallon from Hadassah Hospital, are the heroes of the day. Or actually the millenium. Back in 2005, Dr. Sallon got hold of some ancient date seeds found at Masada, the last stand of the Jews against the conquering Romans. The seeds were from the Judean Palm, a variety that is extinct. Could they resurrect these ancient seeds in this, the Third Jewish Commonwealth?

A year after Theodor Herzl convened the first Zionist Congress, in Basel, Twain published “Concerning the Jews” in Harper’s Magazine. “The Egyptians, the Babylonians and the Persians rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greeks and Romans followed and made a vast noise, and they were gone,” observed the essayist, but not the Jew. “All other forces pass, but he remains.”

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Tischler.... “Go drop dead, Cuomo, go drop dead, Mayor de Blasio,” "Im going to put you over my knee and slap you like a little girl Cuomo"

New York City revealed Sunday that despite a citywide test positivity rate of less than 1%, some neighborhoods are registering results far higher. Borough Park, home to the largest Hasidic population in the city and one of the neighborhoods with the highest rate of positive cases at the beginning of the pandemic, saw a positivity rate of over 4%, with that number surpassing 6% in part of the neighborhood.

“In recent days, we have observed heightened rates of COVID-19 in many neighborhoods with large Orthodox Jewish populations,” Dr. Dave Chokshi, New York City’s health commissioner, wrote in a letter to local Orthodox media outlets Sunday. Chokshi pointed to increased positivity rates in Borough Park, Midwood, and Williamsburg in Brooklyn and Forest Hills and Far Rockaway in Queens.

“The neighborhoods experiencing transmission were particularly hard hit in the worst weeks of the pandemic this past spring and we never want to return to those awful days,” Chokshi wrote.

According to charts prepared by the city’s health department, the spikes in positivity rates in New York City’s Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods appear to begin around Aug. 15.

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We Found the Video Of President Trump Talking About Wounded Soldiers

Forget the Fake News smear articles with ridiculous anonymous sources. 

Here's a 2007 video of Donald Trump talking candidly about our wounded soldiers. 

What people don't know is that for years he has been giving them free trips to Mar-a-Lago among many other donations to our veterans.

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Osama Bin Laden's Niece Endorses Jewish Laura Loomer

Loomer

Loor bin Laden, the estranged relative of Osama bin Laden, is esteemed today for her human rights work and for courageously speaking out against radical Islamic terrorism and extremism. The resulting intimidation and persistent threats of death haven’t deterred her. She has repeatedly expressed her praise for President Trump. Now, she’s throwing her support behind Republican Congressional candidate Laura Loomer.

​

In a recent interview with the New York Post, Loor stated, “Another 9/11-style attack may be just around the corner if Joe Biden is elected president.” She continued, “You look at all the terrorist attacks that have happened in Europe over the past 19 years. They have completely shaken us to the core … [Radical Islam] has completely infiltrated our society”. Bin Laden also noted, “In the US it’s very worrying that the left has aligned itself completely with the people who share that ideology.”

Lastly, the article announced Noor’s endorsement for Laura Loomer, “Laura has been very vocal about this and I commend her for being brave enough and speaking out”. Laura has said of Noor, “She is a very kind hearted person.”

Here we have two prominent and courageous women defending modernity and civilization from Jiihadist barbarism, something to be praised by American institutions, yet almost the opposite has happened. 

Noor’s endorsements have hardly been reported and Laura is unfairly and harshly attacked as “far right” or some kind of a conspiracy theorist.

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Closeted Chasidic Trans Inches Closer to Her 'feminine dream'

I'm thinking after reading this article, that "Rivky" of the story below will not help the "shidduch crises.' We have enough girls trying to find a shidduch and now this guy becoming a lady will add another girl to the crises.....

By Monica Haider

Rivky strolled through the Zara store in Manhattan's fashionable SoHo neighborhood, one eye examining the racks of skirts and blouses and the other looking out for anyone she might know. She was looking for something that would fit her broad frame. Rivky made her way to the women's dressing room line, dresses and skirts piled on her forearms. The female attendant looked confused and then chuckled. Why was this male-presenting person — wearing traditional Hasidic Jewish men's attire — walking into the fitting room with women's clothing?

Rivky, 41, is not your typical gender-conforming religious observer. Her white dress shirt, black vest and black slacks — the daily dress code for Hasidic men — serve as culturally acceptable covers for the bra and women's underwear she frequently wears underneath. She feels her best when dressed in women's attire, and at home she regularly strips down to just a bra, panties and nylon tights when she knows her wife will not be back for hours.

"It makes me feel like I want to dance for joy," said Rivky, who asked that her full name not be published because she is not out to friends and family about her gender identity.

Rivky identifies as transgender but deeply buries these emotions and feelings away from her ultra-Orthodox community in Borough Park, Brooklyn. She fears that if she were to come out of the proverbial closet, she would face social expulsion or, worse, abandonment by her wife and four children. While there is no set Hasidic policy regarding those who come out as transgender, the community's strict code of living does not condone even the slightest deviation from the Hasidic norm.

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Watch A Chat of 2 Mothers Who Lost a Child

Hindel Swerdlov grew up in LA as one of 12 children to the late Chabad campus Rabbi and Rebbetzin of UCLA, Shlomo Schwartzie and Olivia.

She has been living in Jerusalem for the past 23 years with her husband and 7 children.  Hindel is the founder and director of Shula's Library and writes for Our Tapestry magazine and other publications. She is also a teacher of Chassidut on Self-growth at Mayanot Women's Yeshivah.

She is the latest guest of Real Talk with Hadassa Chen, who also a child, her daughter Navi, whose birthday is today and who passed away 8 years ago after an illness.

from ColLive

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Facing Charaidie Rebellion, Ministers Approve Local Curfews Instead of Lockdowns

Ministers on Sunday evening approved nightly curfews in some 40 cities with high infection numbers, instead of the previously planned full lockdown on a smaller number of towns — a plan that had sparked a threat of rebellion from some ultra-Orthodox mayors and a major political crisis with the ultra-Orthodox parties.

The curfews will be in effect every day between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. Non-essential businesses will be closed during the curfew. Schools will be closed at all times.

The cabinet had been due to vote on a plan formulated by the government’s virus czar, Prof. Ronni Gamzu, to impose new lockdowns on 10 municipalities, including the Arab towns of Umm al-Fahm, Tira and Kfar Qassem, and the Haredi towns of Elad, Bnei Brak, Beitar Illit and Emmanuel. Israel this weekend passed 1,000 COVID-19 fatalities.

But facing a withering backlash by Haredi leaders, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day called off the special cabinet meeting on the lockdowns and held a meeting with the heads of the two major ultra-Orthodox political parties, Housing Minister Yaakov Litzman of United Torah Judaism and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri of Shas, to hammer out a new policy toward so-called “red” municipalities — those with the highest infection rates — as he seeks to assuage rising anger in the Haredi street.

Netanyahu’s about-face came after four Haredi mayors published an unprecedented open letter earlier Sunday accusing him of “trampling” their communities and “turning us into disease vectors and enemies of the people.”

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Tamar Sheetrit 40 Killed in Car Accident Near Netivot

A 40-year-old Chareidi woman from Netivot was killed in a devastating car accident shortly after midnight on Motzei Shabbos. The woman’s husband and teenaged daughter were moderately injured in the accident and the driver of the other vehicle, a Chareidi man in his 60s, was seriously injured.

The head-on collision near Netivot occurred between a commercial vehicle and a private car on Highway 293 near Netivot. When emergency responders arrived, they were forced to declare the mother’s death at the scene of the accident.

The nifteres was later identified as Tamar Sheetrit, a’h, 40, a mother of three. She was known in her community as a ba’ales chessed who held weddings in her home for needy couples. Her husband, R’ Meir Sheetrit, became aware of the couples in need through his work in the municipal marriage department in Ofakim as well as his earlier work as the hospital Rav of Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.

“It was a very serious accident,” an MDA paramedic said. “We saw two crushed vehicles on the road. In one vehicle there were three family members. A woman about 40 was trapped in the seat next to the driver. She wasn’t breathing and had no pulse and had multi-system injuries. Within a short amount of time we were forced to declare her death.”

“A girl around 16 was trapped in the back seat and with the assistance of firefighters, she was extricated from the car while fully conscious, with wounds on her head and limbs. The driver of the car, a man around 40, exited the vehicle on his own, with wounds on his limbs.”

The driver of the commercial vehicle, in his 60s and also Chareidi, was seriously injured. The wounded victims were treated at the scene and evacuated to Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva.

The circumstances of the accident are unclear. Israel Police have opened an investigation.

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Guy Goes on a Date And She Grills Him on What He is Learning

The following Q&A appeared in FJJ (Flatbush Jewish Journal this past week, titled "Ask the Flatbush Shadchan." 

A guy is on a "shidduch" date, and instead of the girl asking him if he is going to learn his entire life, or if he is ever going to work for a living, she wants to know what "sugye" he is learning and why he is learning that particular "sugye." 

Am I missing something? 

Marriage Partners Or Chavrusas 

DEAR MRS. ROSE, 
Our son just went out with his first girl. Naturally, we did our homework and everything checked out to our satisfaction. We would be delighted if this would be his “bashert.” So what’s the issue? Here goes… he went out on a second date after a very promising first date. The girl spent most of the date questioning him about his learning. What he is learning, where, (what sugya), why he is learning that particular inyan etc. It was obvious from the questions she asked that she did not have any understanding, not even elementary knowledge about “learning”. My son felt that there was no point in him being grilled by someone who doesn’t really “chap the inyan” It’s almost insulting! Even if she would have “chapped the inyan”, isn’t she overstepping her boundaries? It was only a second date, our son didn’t grill her about her schooling (not to say that he would have even begun to know what to ask her about her OT, PT, special ed choices). We have heard from other parents of boys in shidduchim that they have encountered similar scenarios. Are they being taught to ask these questions in Seminary? Do you think this makes any sense? 
Confused Mother of An Up and Coming Star Learner Just Looking for A Wife

DEAR CONFUSED MOTHER,
Whoa! What an experience your son must have had! 
Usually, the zooming- in question is about “Hashkafos”. Usually discussed at about date 3 to 4, usually initiated by the boy. This is a new one on me! I really think you’ve picked out a one in a million girl. Clearly, dating is about gradually getting to know a person’s qualities, strengths, direction in life etc. It should be a pleasant experience, not an interview and certainly not an interrogation. When people are put on the spot they tend to shut down and feel overwhelmed and negative feelings surface. Our seminaries teach respect for learning, love of learning, kovod habrios. They are not preparing our girls to be “chavrusas”. Most boys are looking for a wife, not a chavrusa and certainly not a “mashgiach”. This doesn’t make any sense to me, but given that the first date seemed to be great, there is potential here. I would love to be a fly on the wall and be able to see what REALLY transpired on the date. Certainly, do not drop the girl based on that scenario, (unless he didn’t pass her interrogation, and she needs something else, and therefore she’ll say no). Keep me posted, would love to hear how this plays itself out. At the end of the day, Bashert will prevail! 

Chana Rose

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Dubai official: Hamas Can Go to Hell

A high ranking official in the Dubai police department said on Tuesday that the UAE's newly brokered peace deal with Israel was a positive step for "for regional stability and security" and that Hamas can "go to hell."

"Israel never threatened us. [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan has. Iran is threatening us," Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, deputy chief of the Dubai police, told Kuwaiti media outlet Diwan al-Mullah.

"The Turkish leader's claims that he was the champion of the Palestinians is a sham," he continued.

Tamim also questioned why it was necessary for a government to receive approval from the Palestinians before signing a peace treaty with Israel.

"Is it conceivable that the decision of heads of state whether or not to sign an agreement with a certain country depends on the approval [of the head of the Palestinian Authority] Mahmoud Abbas?" Tamim asked during the interview.

Is it conceivable that a president or a Prime Minister is basing his [decision] on the advice of [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas? Abbas himself is unable to make a decision to resolve the [Palestinian] problem," he continued.

"If Abbas had been a worthy leader, he would have solved the Palestinian problem or would have already resigned. How can we expect public opinion in the Gulf states to favor the Palestinians when they pray in their mosques for the destruction of ... countries?"

"Ismail Haniyeh, when you are hostile to Saudi Arabia and open your arms to Iran, who do you think you are? Go to Iran and let them help you. Go to hell!" he said, addressing directly the leader of the terrorist group Hamas.

According to the lieutenant, Iran has three choices: it can die economically, or it can sign a peace agreement with Israel and coexist with the region.

"The third option is the fall of the mullahs' regime," he concluded.

This article was originally published by i24NEWS

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