A Kidnapping That Made Israel Into One Family How Three Boys United a Country in Death

By Elana Sztokman
With news that the bodies of the three kidnapped boys — Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frankel, 16 — were found near Hebron, a collective sigh of grief has been released throughout Israel.
It is one of these moments that brings both tragedy and closure — the former, which Israel already has in excess, and the latter which is far more elusive.

It also brings a certain degree of vindication at the end of a 17-day period of aching unknown and seemingly endless scenarios, one worse than the other.

But while these events have exacerbated tensions and added anxiety-filled narratives to a country overflowing with conflict, they also highlight some of the most important and inspiring aspects of life in Israel at a time when we can all use some sources for optimism, and reminds Israel of some important lessons as we go forward.

These past two and a half weeks since the three boys disappeared on their way home, after calling the police to say, “We have been kidnapped,” Israelis everywhere have been walking on eggshells. Even as Israelis mostly continued life almost as normal, concern for the boys dominated the public consciousness everywhere.

 Prayer vigils united even those not prone to praying; bar mitzvahs and weddings included mentions of the boys; meetings and conversations on mundane and non-mundane agendas incorporated updates and exchanges about the search. This collective anguish in some ways epitomizes life in Israel. There is this constant sense of family connection, sometimes to the extreme, but always genuine in its care for victims whose crime is being a Jew.

This kidnapping, coming so shortly after the release of Gilad Shalit, also brought out a particular kind of panic. The thought that we were going to be subjected to another indefinite period of waiting, in which the threat of long-term kidnappings hangs over the heads of Israelis, inducing unbearable guilt and tortuous uncertainty, was at times too much to bear. The sight of the mothers going to the United Nations to plead for their release — a scene that is especially sad in retrospect now that we know the boys were already gone — was both empowering and frightening.

The mothers, especially Rachel Frankel, demonstrated remarkable poise and strength, but also revived images of Noam Schalit traveling the world to release his son, hinting that Israel may once again be in it for the long haul. I think it’s in some ways easier to deal with the certainty of death than with that kind of indefinite unknowing. Thoughts of Ron Arad, whose fate so many decades later is still unknown, hang over Israel’s head like a flock of vultures. The enormous emotional and spiritual toll that these stories take on Israel is in some ways what makes Israel who we are.

I think this is why Israel was so quick to strike back at Hamas, to isolate Hebron, and to take as many prisoners as the top brass felt necessary. There was this sense that we must preempt that scenario no matter what. I think that this is also why most Israelis fully supported the actions of the IDF, even when some of these actions seemed unexplainable.

There were quiet corners of question, asked in ways that would not disturb the search. Why arrest so many Palestinians, some whispered? What about the toll on Palestinian lives, others dared say, but not too loudly? Is all this really necessary? With all those challenges, it seems clear now that had it not been for that no-holds-barred approach, the IDF may have never actually found the bodies. Despite doubts some people may have had along the way, right now the IDF is having a moment of proud if despondent vindication, an unspoken posture that they did precisely the job that they set out to do.

And then there were the conspiracy theories. Several different Facebook feeds gently explored the strange possibility that this was all a façade, the work of the Mossad, an excuse for the IDF to go into Hebron and root out the Hamas infrastructure. That no reliable group came forward to take responsibility or demand ransom added troubling fodder to the theories. That today’s New York Times quoted Palestinians as widely believing those theories did not help either.

Still, in other conversations both online and in person, it seemed clear that most Arabs do not favor kidnapping. Some Arabs — MK Zoabi notwithstanding – came forward to bravely show solidarity with the three boys and their families.” Personally, I would really like to believe that many more were silently in this camp. It meshes with encounters I have recently had with Arab women. And besides, the alternative is too hard for me to live with.

Ultimately, this is a very, very sad day in Israel — especially for the families, but also for all those who prayed and spoke out in allegiance with the victims. But in some ways it is a reminder of what Israel is really made of. When a Jew is in danger because of his or her Jewishness, the entire country feels for the victim. Israel’s willingness to go on a mission to save the victim still resonates very strongly.

Now, our challenge is how to retain that feeling of unwavering protection for Jews while maintaining a stalwart and uncompromised commitment to the humanity of everyone else as well.


Read more: http://forward.com/articles/201082/a-kidnapping-that-made-israel-into-one-family/#ixzz36ANAS74d

Obama wants Israel to Show Restraint?

"On behalf of the American people I extend my deepest and heartfelt condolences to the families of Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar, and Naftali Fraenkel – who held Israeli and American citizenship. As a father, I cannot imagine the indescribable pain that the parents of these teenage boys are experiencing. The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms this senseless act of terror against innocent youth. From the outset, I have offered our full support to Israel and the Palestinian Authority to find the perpetrators of this crime and bring them to justice, and I encourage Israel and the Palestinian Authority to continue working together in that effort.
 I also urge all parties to refrain from steps that could further destabilize the situation. As the Israeli people deal with this tragedy, they have the full support and friendship of the United States."

Netanyahu: They Were Abducted & Murdered In Cold Blood By Human Animals

Remarks by Israeli PM on killings of abducted teens:
“With heavy grief, this evening we found three bodies. All signs indicate that they are the bodies of our three abducted youths – Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frankel.

They were abducted and murdered in cold blood by human animals. On behalf of the entire Jewish People, I would like to tell the dear families – the mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, and brothers and sisters – we are deeply saddened, the entire nation weeps with you. We will give the boys a proper burial. ‘Vengeance for the blood of a small child,

Satan has not yet created. neither has vengeance for the blood of three pure youths, who were on their way home to meet their parents, who will not see them anymore. Hamas is responsible – and Hamas will pay. May the memories of the three boys be blessed.”

BD"E: BODIES OF THREE KIDNAPPED YESHIVA BOYS FOUND IN ARAB VILLAGE

After 18 days of tefilos, tears and unprecedented achdus, Am Yisrael has learned that the kidnapped youths who were snatched by Hamas terrorists are not among the living. The boys were abducted from Alon Shvut Junction on Thursday night the eve of 15 Sivan 5774. Their bodies have been found in Halhul.

The rumors began flying during the evening hours on Monday 2 Tammuz as official state vehicles accompanied by IDF, Israel Police and ISA (Israel Security Agency – Shin Bet) vehicles headed to Halhul, a PA autonomous city south of Gush Etzion and north of Hebron. Halhul has been known as a hotbed for terrorism since the first intifada in 1987 and it has only gotten more hostile since the
As the rumors are confirmed following official notification to the parents of the youths, the nation can now begin to shed tears together amid a realization that despite the tefilos from the heart and cries of family members and Am Yisrael around the world, the gzar din has been rendered, a difficult one for the countless numbers of Yidden and supporters around the world that linked to the plight of the youths and their parents.

The Shaar, Frenkel and Yifrach families were emissaries for Klall Yisrael giving strength to Jews worldwide, being MeKadesh Shem Shomayim with their words and actions as they exhibited unshakable bitachon in HKBH and spread a message of kedusha to the international community from any and every forum that could reach.

The IDF activity in Halhul continues at this time. The Security Cabinet is convening at 21:30.

Once again, the nation prepares for levayas R”L and aveilus. יהי זכרום ברוך
n.

 

Developing News! Large number of IDF forces gather north of Hebron in search for kidnapped teens....

A large number of police officers and security forces were gathered at the Halhul junction north of Hebron as part of ongoing operations in search of three kidnapped Israeli teenagers.

Halhul junction

Clashes broke out in the area between security forces and Palestinians.
A cabinet meeting was reportedly set to convene later tonight.

The Prime Minister's office would not confirm or deny reports that the cabinet is meeting to discuss a development in the case.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Monday evening that progress had been made in the more than two-week search for Gil-Ad Share, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrah, reported Israel Radio.
The entire area has been shut down as police, IDF, ISA (Israel Security Agency – Shin Bet) and other agencies are operating in that area. Security forces are being attacked with rocks and whatever the terrorists can grab in an effort to complicate efforts of soldiers to operate in the area.

The IDF Spokesman is not commenting on the widespread rumors that the worst has occurred R”L. Additional confirmed information will be published as it becomes available 

2 Black Shiksas beat 83 year old Naftali Lebovitz Unconscious Sunday Night

An elderly chasidishi Williamsburg man was hospitalized after being beaten by two black shiksas, police in New York said.

Brooklyn Police said that the incident unfolded on Sunday night, and Naftali Lebovits suffered serious wounds as a result of the beating.

According to the police investigation, the 83-year-old man was walking on Taylor Street, after having dinner with family. Suddenly, the two women approached and beat him until he fell unconscious to the floor.

Raven Small, 20, and Tatyana Bone, 18, are also accused of screaming anti-Semitic slurs during the attack. Neighbors who heard the screams, called the police.

The old man was transferred by an ambulance to a nearby hospital. Later, the two women were detained by police. They were both charged with assault.

IDF Arrests Father of Kidnapper .. Mother of Kidnapper says she is proud of her Terrorist son

Omar Abu Aysha

The Hamas-affiliated newspaper Al-Resalah is reporting that the father of an at-large suspect believed to be involved in the kidnapping of three Israeli teens was taken into custody by IDF soldiers during a series of overnight raids in Hebron on Sunday.

TIMESOFISRAEL.com (http://bit.ly/1rMBiQq) reports that Omar Abu Aysha, father of kidnapping suspect 32 year-old Amer Abu Aysha, was one of seven Palestinians arrested in a 190-location sweep by the IDF early Sunday morning.

Amer Abu Aysha disappeared immediately following the kidnappings and has yet to resurface.

Questioned about his son’s whereabouts last week, Omar Abu Aysha denied having any knowledge of where his son is, saying only that Amer quickly exited a family gathering hours before the kidnappings occurred.
Amer’s mother said that she too had no knowledge of his whereabouts, but added that she would be proud of him if he was involved in the crime and hopes he continues to evade authorities.

Watch Israeli Air Force kill 2 Terrorists that flew missles into Israel, Video

CCTV footage from the Gaza Strip appears to show the moment two terrorists were eliminated in an Israel Air Force precision strike.
The terrorists' car can be seen traveling down a quiet road before suddenly exploding after apparently being hit by a missile.
 

The IDF confirmed the strike Friday afternoon, and identified the two dead terrorists as Osama Hasoumi and Mohammed Fatsih, saying they were targeted for their involvement in recent rocket fire against Israeli communities in the Israel's southern Negev region.
An IDF statement said Israel held Gaza's Hamas rulers responsible for any rocket fire against Israel.
It came just hours after terrorists detonated a bomb near troops manning Israel's security fence. A spokesman for Gaza's health services, Ashraf al-Qudra, told AFP the five were hurt after IDF tanks returned fire at positions east of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.
The Israeli military said "an explosive device was activated against (army) forces operating adjacent to the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip," causing no injuries.
"The force responded with tank fire towards lookout posts used to guide the attack against the forces," it said.
Later Friday Gazan terrorist groups fired a barrage of rockets against Israeli towns and villages in the south. Three rockets exploded in the Eshkol Region Friday evening, and two more rockets were shot down by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system as they were targeting the Hof Ashkelon Region.

ISIS Terrorists in Syria crucify eight Terrorists from rival group as fierce three-way clashes intensify

May they all have Success!

 

 

A jihadist group in Syria has publicly executed and crucified nine men, eight of them rebels fighting both President Bashar al-Assad's regime and the jihadists, a monitor said on Sunday.
The report comes amid fierce clashes on the outskirts of Damascus between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which is spearheading a major offensive in Iraq, and rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"ISIL executed eight men in Deir Hafer in the east of Aleppo province" on Saturday because they belonged to rebel groups that had fought against the jihadists as well as Assad's forces, it said.

ISIL then "crucified them in the main square of the village, where their bodies will remain for three days", the Britain-based monitor said.

Also in Aleppo province, a ninth man was executed and crucified in Al-Bab town near the border with Turkey.

ISIL first emerged in Syria's war in late spring last year and was initially welcomed by some Syrian rebels who believed its combat experience would help topple Assad.

But subsequent jihadist abuses quickly turned the Syrian opposition, including Islamists, against ISIL.

Rebels launched a major anti-ISIL offensive in January 2014, and have pushed them out of large swathes of Aleppo province and all of Idlib in the northwest.

However, ISIL remains firmly rooted in Raqa, its northern Syrian headquarters, and wields significant power in Deir Ezzor in the east near the border with Iraq.

Activists say the group's Iraq offensive and capture of heavy weapons -- some of them US-made -- appears to have boosted its confidence in Syria.

East of Damascus, "fierce clashes broke out early Sunday between rebels from the Army of Islam and ISIL near the town of Hammuriyeh", the Observatory said.

The Army of Islam is a major component of the Islamic Front, Syria's largest rebel coalition which has been fighting ISIL for months, but such fighting in Damascus province is unprecedented.

Regime soldiers and warplanes backed by Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah also pounded rebel positions near the capital with rockets and surface-to-surface missiles, said the Local Coordination Committees activist network.

Syria's war began as a peaceful protest movement in March 2011 demanding political change, but became an armed insurgency when Assad's regime unleashed a brutal crackdown.

Many months into the fighting, jihadists began to flock to Syria where upwards of 162,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in more than three years of conflict

Hamas Militants Named as Kidnappers

Wanted for kidnapping: (left to right) Marwan Quasma and Amar Abu Eisha

Israel  identified two well-known Hamas operatives in the West Bank as the central suspects in the recent disappearance of three Israeli teenagers, in the first sign of progress in a frantic two-week search for the missing youths.

Officials said the two men have been missing since the teenagers disappeared, and that a large manhunt is underway for them.

In a statement, Israel’s Shin Bet security service identified the men as Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisheh. It said both men are activists from the Hamas militant group in the West Bank city of Hebron, the area where the youths disappeared on June 12.

Israel has accused Hamas of kidnapping the three teens, who disappeared as they were hitchhiking home. But until Thursday, it had provided no evidence to support the claim. It said both Qawasmeh, who was born in 1985, and Abu Aisha, who was born in 1981, have served time in Israeli prisons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has condemned the kidnapping, to end a unity government he formed with the backing of Hamas earlier this month.
“I now expect President Abbas, who said important things in Saudi Arabia, to stand by those words (and) to break his pact with the Hamas terrorist organization that kidnaps children and calls for the destruction of Israel,” he said.

Following the disappearance of the teens, Israel launched its broadest ground operation in the West Bank in nearly a decade, rounding up nearly 400 Palestinians, most of them Hamas activists.

Hamas officials in Hebron confirmed the two suspects were members, and said Israeli troops have targeted the men’s homes since the beginning of the operation.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fears for their safety, said the brothers and wives of the two men had been taken into custody, though the women have since been released. They said troops had entered the homes several times, conducting intense searches and confiscating certain items as evidence.

A relative of Qawasmeh declined comment, fearing Israeli retribution. Abu Aisha’s family could not immediately be reached.

While Abbas has refused Israeli calls to break up his alliance with Hamas, he has instructed his security forces to continue a controversial policy of security coordination with the Israelis.

A senior Palestinian intelligence official said the two suspects are believed to be hiding and that Palestinian security forces were also searching for them. He said the fact that the two men have been missing since the kidnapping is “clear evidence they have links with the abduction.”

10,000 "ghost apartments" in Yerushalyim will now pay double taxes

It's about time the government cracked down on these "richies".

Walk down the streets of Rechavia and you will find the streets empty  of children. Rich Americans and "Euro-pishers" are investing and buying apartments in Yerushalim and leaving them empty a whole year.
There are now at least 10,000, what the government calls "ghost apartments."

This has reduced the housing supply, resulting in under-uninhabited neighborhoods.

On top of the 10,000 empty apartments in Yerushalyim, there are 1,500 abandoned buildings.
The government will now double the property taxes if an apartment is un-inhabited for nine months of the year.

I have a rich friend who owns two empty apartments. Once a year, on Succos, he brings his family to Yerushalyim, and sits in his Succah with his starched white shirt with his initials embroided on his sleeve, and sips  his Gamla wine, while Avreichim have no where to live, because he refuses to rent his apartments.

One sunny day, I asked him,"why do you need these apartments? Isn't cheaper to go to a hotel?"
So he answers very seriously: "I'm a student of history so I keep these apartments, so  I'll have where to run, when they come rounding up the Jews again!"


 

Is Pollard Coming Home? Peres thinks so.

US President Barack Obama promised President Shimon Peres to have American attorney-general Eric Holder look into the possibility of commuting the life sentence of Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard, Israeli sources in Washington said Wednesday.

Holder heads the American justice department and is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the US government. He is considered particularly close to Obama.

Peres told Obama that he had made a promise to Pollard’s wife Esther and to the people of Israel to try to bring about the release of the agent who is in his 29th year in prison.

The world’s only two current male heads of state who have won the Nobel peace prize are set to meet again Thursday

As the prime minister at the time of Pollard’s arrest, Peres has a special interest in using his ties with Obama to bring about his release. He submitted documents to the US with Pollard’s fingerprints that were used to incriminate him.
“Peres is responsible, and he would not promise to bring Pollard home if he had no chance,” Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz told The Jerusalem Post. “Peres would not say what he did if Pollard was not in his pocket, so I have hope.”

Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) said that if Peres succeeded in bringing Pollard home, the outgoing president’s image would improve substantially in his eyes.

Bayit Yehudi faction head Ayelet Shaked, who heads the Knesset’s Free Pollard caucus, said she believed Peres could succeed in bringing Pollard to Israel.
“I hope President Obama unshackles Pollard as a gesture of friendship to President Peres, if not as a matter of justice, at least out of mercy” she said.

Likud MK Moshe Feiglin said he doubted Peres would bring about Pollard’s release.
“There is no one more to blame for Pollard being in prison than Peres,” he said. “As long as Peres has any power, I think Pollard will remain in jail.
Labor MK Hilik Bar said Peres could not be blamed if he returned from Washington without Pollard.
“Peres gets along with Obama well but they are not best friends and the president of the United States doesn’t work for Peres,” he said.

Muslims Spreading Chaos and Murder Around the World

From a beheading in Iraq to the hard-line repression of religious freedoms in Sudan, a string of extremist acts in recent weeks have raised the worrying spectre of a new era of Islamic fundamentalism spreading across the world.

Over the last month, the world's media has been awash with gruesome images of barbarism - pulled into sharp focus in recent days with the barrage of horrific videos and hate-filled messages pouring onto the internet from Sunni militants in Iraq.
But it is far from restricted to that country alone. In just the last few days:

• Footage has emerged showing armed militant children as young as eight watching as an Iraqi prisoner is executed by ISIS, while another shows a captured Iraqi police officer being beheaded;
• At least five people have died in an attack on Kenya's coast just days after Al Qaeda-inspired terror group Al Shabaab kills 60 in twin massacres;
• Islamist militants Boko Haram are feared to have snatched 90 villagers in the same area of Nigeria where they seized nearly 300 Christian schoolgirls two months ago;
• A human rights group has warned that revenge attacks between Christian and Islamic militia in the Central African Republic risk creating conditions for a genocide reminiscent of Bosnia in the 1990s.

Another form of religious extremism has also gained widespread attention and subsequent outrage in Sudan, where a mother was handed the death sentence for marrying a Christian and was forced to give birth in shackles in prison.
Mariam Yehya Ibrahim was released after an international outcry, but yesterday was re-arrested and charged with fraud as she tried to leave the country with her American husband, Daniel Wani, and their two children.


The Sudanese authorities claim she failed to use her Muslim name on her travel documents.

Also yesterday, the highest court in Malaysia upheld a ban on Catholics using the word Allah to refer to their own god in what some experts fear is the latest step in a creeping Islamisation of the country.

In Libya, voters were heading to the polls for parliamentary elections which they hope will bring in a government that can clamp down on violence at the hands of a patchwork of militias, including Islamic extremists, that continues to grip the country since the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi.

Meanwhile, the lightning insurgency by Sunni militants ISIS threatens to overthrow the Shia-led Iraqi government and even break up the entire country as it seeks to create an Islamic state.
ISIS, in particular, appear to relish their growing publicity, increasingly courting online platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to promote their hate-filled agendas of murder and oppression.

Professor Lee Marsden, international terrorism expert and head of East Anglia University's School of Political, Social and International Studies, said: 'Images of brutality perpetrated by these terrorist groups are being circulated around the world on an unprecedented scale.
'While the levels of brutality seen here by ISIS and al-Shabaab are no different from what we have seen them do before, the way they are publicising their acts of terror is wholly new.'

Ongoing civil war in Syria adds further instability to the fragile Middle East.
In nearby Afghanistan, Taliban insurgents hellbent on destroying the first peaceful transfer of authority, ordered voters not to participate in the weekend's general election.
And in further blow to the global fight against terrorism, Nigeria's former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, said the 200 schoolgirls taken snatched from the classrooms in the village of Chibok by Bokok Haram in northeast Nigeria in April may never return home.

\Boko Haram, which wants to set up an Islamist caliphate in Africa's largest economy, has fought back against an army offensive and killed thousands in bomb and gun attacks, striking as far afield as the central city of Jos and the capital Abuja.
‘I believe that some of them will never return. We will still be hearing about them many years from now,’ Obasanjo told the BBC's Hausa-language radio service last week. ‘If you get all of them back, I will consider it a near-miracle...'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2669427/From-Syria-Iraq-Kenya-Malaysia-How-new-era-Islamic-fundamentalism-spreading-fear-chaos-world.html#ixzz35fwPup34

Gerer bullies trying to take over a Non-Chassidic shul in Bnei Brak

Yemin Zedek Shul

Police forcibly removed a group of Gerer bullies from a Bnei Brak shul after a violent brawl broke out over who should lead the davening, Israel Police said.

The Tel Aviv Police Department said that the violent confrontation broke out on Monday night, at the Yemin Zedek shul.

At 7:00 p.m., two men simultaneously began leading the Maariv service, one belonging to the Gerer Chassidim  and one non-Chassidic Jew. When neither side backed down a large crowd gathered and the disagreement turned violent.

Police officers arrived at the scene and stopped the fight. Police removed the Gerer Chasidim from the shul and stayed there until the end of Maariv.

This was not the first fight that broke out at the shul. On Shabbos, several people were injured after a large brawl broke out between Ger and non-Chasidishe Frum Jews over who should lead the davening.

Over the past ten years non-Chasidic Jews attended the shul for davening. However, over the past several months, Gerer Chasidim are attempting to take over the shul by bringing more people to daven each week.

This Shabbos, the Gerer bullies decided that its time to send one of their own to lead the davening. The non-Hasidic Jews refused.

That is when a large brawl broke out between the two camps. A witness at the scene reported that women poured water on the men below and a Torah scroll was damaged.

It is unclear which side began using physical violence. On Sunday, the Gerer Chasidim justified their actions, saying that since they outnumber the non-Hasidic Jews it is time that the Chasidic Jews lead the davening.

Leiby Frankel Molests 13 year old boy in Monroe, Video

A Kiryas Joel  yungerman has been charged with forcibly touching a 13-year-old boy.
Police say the crime happened in the Hassidic community at a vitamin store called Monroe Health.
State police say 27-year-old store clerk Leiby Frankel molested the boy after work hours back in February.

Police say the boy and his father reported the alleged molestation last week.
Frankel was arrested Monday and charged with forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child.
He is due in Monroe Town Court Thursday.

I'm happy that Satmar is finally allowing to have these things reported to Police!

see video
See Video

There is no Segula for a Shidduch davening at Amuka, says Sefardi Poseik

Prominent Sephardi posek HaGaon HaRav Bentzion Mutzafi released a psak halacha on Tuesday, 26 Sivan, the yahrzeit of the Tanna Yonasan ben Uziel, Kikar Shabbos reports.

 In his words, Rav Mutzafi says visiting the tziyun will not do anything to assist one looking for a shidduch and the people running the operation “are non kosher and dishonest individuals”.

At least 10,000 people are expected to visit the tziyun during the yahrzeit in addition to ads on chareidi radio offering to be mispallel for people at the tziyun on the yahrzeit. Rav Mutzafi says there is no segulah for a shidduch associated with the kever despite what organizers would like the tzibur to believe.

The rav says this is not new and he has published his words many times in the past and the tzibur must stop believing the lies spread about a segulah for a shidduch being associated with visiting the tziyun.
He adds “To my sorrow in our generation there are dishonest non kosher individuals who take advantage of the naiveté and pain of those unfortunate lonely people who believe they will find their match, bleeding them by cheating and lying to them, promising one type of yeshua or another”.

The rav told his talmidim “Daven to HKBH with your pure heart and please, do not assist those who defraud and lie, who are just interested in money and have no mercy on their brothers in Klal Yisrael, and may be soon be redeemed”.

Jews in droves leaving France for Israel, not Kiryas Yoel

Why is it, that when a Jew feels threatened in his country, he flees to the Zionist State? Why doesn't he go to Kiryas Yoel in Monroe?
Monroe and Williamsburg Chassidim feel that they are safe in their little towns. Let them study Jewish History and they will read all about countries that Jews felt safe in. They will read that not too long ago Jews that were leaving Germany, had no country including the USA ,that would take them in. Some had no choice but to head back to Nazi Germany where they perished.
Instead of thanking G-D that there is a country accepting ALL Jews, they (Satmar) pray 3 times a day for Israel's destruction! Shame on them!
The country willing and able to take in Jews is the Zionist entity called the State of Israel!

Citing rampant Islamic anti-semitism and poor economic prospects, more than 5,000 French Jews are set to depart their homeland for the hopes of a better future in Israel.

France, trailing Israel and the United States, has the world’s third-largest population of Jewish people, with an estimated 500,000 of its citizens espousing the Jewish faith.

Newly minted Israeli citizen Laurie Levy told The Washington Post she could not be happier with her newfound home in Israel after leaving France in 2013. She said that for the first time, she feels safe wearing her Star of David around her neck. “Life is beautiful here. You work. You go to the beach. You see your friends. You’re not afraid. The irony is that I am more concerned about them than they are about me,” she said.

French Jews often cite concerns with the rise of Islamist ideologies along with anti-semitic sentiments spewed by individuals who support nationalist institutions such as the National Front party. “They are finding themselves between the extreme right of Europe and the radical Islam of Europe,” said Ariel Kandel, who runs the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Tiffany Nizard told The New York Times that the last straw for her was when four people were killed in an anti-Semitic attack at the Jewish museum in Brussels. She said that she was beaten and harassed by Muslim gangs, called a “dirty Jew,” and was also discriminated against in the job market. “I love France, and this is my country, but I am disgusted now. In Israel there is an army that will protect us. Here, I can no longer see a future for my children,” she said.

Countless horrific anti-Semitic acts have occurred in France over the past few years.

In 2012, a French national who recently returned from fighting for radical Islamists in Syria, killed seven people, including three children, at a Jewish day school in Toulouse.

The first three months of 2014 saw a 40 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents from the same period last year.

In May, two Jewish teens were beaten on their way to a synagogue. That same month, dozens of anti-Semitic inscriptions were found in Toulouse, including, “SS,” “Hitler burned 6 million Jews and forgot half,” and “Long live Palestine.”
Also, in June, two teenagers were reportedly attacked by a group of individuals with “North African” origins.

Sfardi Kollel Guys will now have to work .. Top Sfardi Rabbi Bans Women from Acedamic Studies

Folks ... this is the beginning of the end for the Sfardi Kollel guys....the women will have to stop working as special ed teachers, nurses, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Speech Therapists, etc., because they will no longer be permitted to get any academic degrees..
Now the Avreichim will have to get off their proverbial butts and work for a living! The women will now have to get to know their children!

Newly installed spiritual leader of the Shas movement Rabbi Shalom Cohen wrote a letter earlier this month in which he effectively banned women from participating in academic studies, saying it contradicts the Torah.

The haredi news website Kikar Hashabat published on Monday a leaked brief position paper issued by Cohen in his capacity as the president of the Shas Council of Torah Sages in which he expressed his opinion that teachers and subject matter in academic institutions are not commensurate with the values and principles of the Torah.

"The great rabbis totally opposed academic studies even in haredi institutions since a significant portion of the lecturers are university graduates who do not hold the perspectives of the holy Torah in which we were educated," Cohen wrote.

"Similarly, the subject matter in colleges is based on research and scientific methods which contradict the Torah," he continued.

"Therefore female [high-school] students should not even think about undertaking academic studies in any framework, because this is not the way of the Torah." The Hiddush religious freedom lobbying group denounced Cohen's position, saying he was breaking new records for religious zealotry.

"Shas under Rabbi Shalom Cohen prefers to guarantee that graduates of its institutions remain in poverty and ignorance," said Hiddush director and reform rabbi Uri Regev.

Frum Guy sells Mezzuza with Cross to the Goyim...

A Yiddishe Kup .....

A Jewish man from Queens is offering Christians an idea from his religion to theirs — a Christian mezuzah.

Henry Zabarsky’s Christooza is a hollow plastic cross containing a piece of prayer-inscribed parchment — which, like the traditional Jewish mezuzah, is also intended to be affixed to doorposts.

“I was visiting a client in Rockaway. She’s very religious — Catholic. There were pictures of Jerusalem everywhere, crosses. And I was thinking, Jews have this mezuzah — so why not create one for everyone else?” said Zabarsky (above), 43, a financial adviser.

The crosses sell on his Web site for $20, with several prayer options, including an Irish house blessing and a Catholic prayer for the home. A custom blessing fetches an additional $5.

Satmar moves further away from Judaism and Rules that people should not pray for kidnapped teenagers

Satmar has a pamphlet called "Halichois V'Haluchois" where they publish Questions and Answers pertaining to the Satmar Community!

Here is the above question and answer,  loosely translated from the above pamphlet:
Question :
"We are in an unfortunate bitter situation;  3 Bochrim were kidnapped by Arabs, and the Zionist Army are doing actions to recue and free them. Are we allowed to daven that the Zionists should succeed to recue the boys?
Answer:
"G-D Forbid! We are prohibited to pray that the Rashoim should succeed, and we all must know and believe that from Evil people comes Evil. From Rashoim there cannot come any good for Jewish children, and only bad tidings and tzurois came to Klall Yisroel from them ., and they are also guilty and  it is totally their fault that we are in this situation!

There you have it folks, this sect has totally cut themselves off Klall Yisroel,
I have nothing more to say!
Feel free to comment!

Presbyterians start another Christian Crusade by divesting from Israel

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on Friday became the most prominent religious group in the United States to start an economic Christian crusade to endorse divestment as a protest against Israeli policies toward Palestinians, voting to sell church stock in three companies whose products are used in Israel.
Meanwhile Muslim Arabs are slaughtering Christians all over the world, but the Presbyterian anti-Semites would rather have their fellow Christians murdered brutally by Arabs than have anything to do with the people that gave them their religion.

The General Assembly voted by a razor-thin margin — 310-303 — to sell stock in Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions. Two years ago, the General Assembly rejected a similar divestment proposal by two votes.

The American Jewish Committee, a policy and advocacy group based in New York, said the vote was “driven by hatred of Israel.”
But Heath Rada, moderator for the church meeting, said immediately after the vote that “in no way is this a reflection of our lack of love for our Jewish brothers and sisters

The decision is expected to reverberate beyond the 1.8 million-member church. It comes amid discouragement over failed peace talks that have left activists desperate for some way to affect change and as the broader movement known as BDS — or boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel — has gained some momentum in the U.S., Israel’s closest and most important ally.

Presbyterians who advocated for divestment insisted their action was not part of the broader boycott movement. Israeli officials, along with many American Jewish groups, denounced the campaign as an attempt to delegitimize the Jewish state. Separately, the assembly also voted to re-examine its support for a two-state solution.

In a statement on its Facebook page, the Israeli Embassy in Washington denounced the resolution as “shameful.”

“Voting for symbolic measures marginalizes and removes its ability to be a constructive partner to promote peace in the Middle East,” the statement said.

Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of the BDS movement, praised the vote as a “sweet victory for human rights.”

He said Presbyterian supporters of Palestinian rights have introduced divestment into the U.S. mainstream and have given Palestinians “real hope in the face of the relentless and intensifying cruelty of Israel’s regime of occupation, settler colonialism and apartheid.”

The top Presbyterian legislative body has been considering divestment for a decade. Representatives of the Presbyterian socially responsible investment arm told the national meeting in Detroit that their efforts to lobby the three companies for change had failed. Carol Hylkema of the Israel/Palestine Mission Network, a Presbyterian group that advocates for Palestinians and spearheaded the drive for divestment, said their action was modeled on the divestment movement to end apartheid in South Africa. The 2012 assembly had endorsed a boycott of Israeli products.

“Because we are a historical peacemaking church, what we have done is, we have stood up for nonviolent means of resistance to oppression and we have sent a clear message to a struggling society that we support their efforts to resist in a nonviolent way the oppression being thrust upon them,” said the Rev. Jeffrey DeYoe, of the Israel/Palestine Mission Network.

The vote was the subject of intense lobbying both from within and outside the church. Rabbis and other members of Jewish Voice for Peace, which advocates for Palestinians, lined the halls of the meeting and prayed in vigils outside the convention center wearing T-shirts that read, “Another Jew Supporting Divestment.” Other rabbis and their Presbyterian supporters held panel discussions and sent letters to delegates urging them to vote no.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, head of the liberal Union for Reform Judaism, which is the largest branch of American Judaism, addressed the delegates twice, urging them to reject divestment. After the vote, Jacobs said the denomination as a whole is no longer “a partner for joint work on Israel-Palestine peace issues.”

In leading an effort to strike down the proposal, Frank Allen of the Central Florida Presbytery told delegates, “Divestment will create dissension. Dialogue and relationship building will lay the groundwork for true peace.”

Bill Ward of the Presbytery of the Inland Northwest, based in Spokane, Washington, argued the proposal was not an attack on Israel. The measure adopted Friday reaffirms Israel’s right to exist. “It is motivated by stewardship integrity, not partisan political advocacy,” Ward said.

Two smaller U.S. religious groups have divested in protest of Israeli policies: the Friends Fiduciary Corp., which manages assets for U.S. Quakers, and the Mennonite Central Committee. Last week, the pension board of the United Methodist Church, the largest mainline Protestant group in the U.S., revealed plans to sell holdings worth about $110,000 in G4S, which provides security equipment and has contracts with Israel’s prison system. However, the United Methodist Church had rejected church-wide divestment.

Motorola Solutions said in a statement that the company follows the law and its own policies that address human rights. Hewlett-Packard said its checkpoints for Palestinians were developed to expedite passage “in a secure environment, enabling people to get to their place of work or to carry out their business in a faster and safer way.” Caterpillar has said it does not sell equipment to Israel, just to the U.S. government.

A church spokeswoman estimated the value of Presbyterian holdings in the companies at $21 million.

Jewish Community Want to Know Why the Kabbalists are not revealing where the Kidnapped Boys Are?

Kabbalists, Handreading Rabbonim, and Mindreading Rabbonim  that can see in the future, keep coming to America from Israel, telling people that they can see the future and they reveal all kinds of secrets for the people that give them money!

So why won't they tell us where the kidnapped teenagers are? Why are we putting our precious soldiers  in danger when there are "Tzaddikim" that know where they are?

How come these guys can tell me, how many children I  have, and if my wife is my real zivug, but won't tell me what the world wants to know?

Why, oh why, are they torturing the parents of the kidnapped teenagers?

I have the solution to this problem:
If these guys won't tell us, where they are, I think the IDF should arrest them and execute one Kabbalist every hour on the hour, until they reveal to us this secret!

Monsey Community Unites In Prayer For Kidnapped Israeli Boys

R' Bamberger, R' Avrumi Jordan in center (organizer of event)

by Sandy Eller

Over 1200 men and boys gathered Thursday night at Provident Bank Park just north of Spring Valley for an evening of prayer for the three teens kidnapped in Israel. 

Participants ran the gamut of the religious spectrum, ranging from teens in white crocheted kippot, to boys in black jackets and hats, to chasidic men in black bekeshes, but all were united in their mission to storm the heavens with tefillos for the safe return of Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach.

The event, which featured just Mincha, Maariv, Tehillim and zemiros by singer Simcha Leiner, was pulled together in two days and several participants remarked that they had just learned of the gathering on the Monsey bus on their way home from work.

“We have spent days sitting here in pain because of our missing boys and we knew we had to do something as a community,” said Avrumy Jordan, senior vice president at Ash and Crew and chief marketing officer at Evergreen, who organized the event.  “We needed to come together and tell Avinu Shebashomayim that we are all his children and we need our boys to come home.”

“It is extremely refreshing to see how many people came together in such a short time,” said Rockland County legislator Aron Wieder.  “It shows the achdus of klal yisroel.”

Both Daniel Stern of New City and Jared Kulak of New Rochelle, recent graduates of the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester, felt a strong kinship with the three kidnapped boys. Stern plans to continue this studies in Israel next year, while Kulak, who is enrolled at the University of Michigan for the fall semester, hopes to persuade his parents to let him join the IDF instead.

“They are like our brothers and we are praying for their safe return, doing our part in terms of prayer and advocacy in the hopes that they come back safe,” said Stern.

chdus and unity were the themes of the night and a small group of women who were unaware that the gathering was for men and boys only remained at the gates of the stadium so that they too could offer their prayers for the teenage boys.  Two of the women were wrapped in Israeli flags.

“If you look around you see Chasidim, you see people with big and small yarmulkas, you see people with colored shirts it seems that on this issue, we are united,” observed Rabbi Ronald Greenwald.  “How can we not be on an issue like this?  Halevay we should be united on so many other issues that also affect us as a Jewish people.”

“A gathering like this is so beautiful because it shows the achdus of klal yisroel,” said Rabbi Aron Fink, principal of Ateres Bais Yaakov.  “It doesn’t matter what stripe you are what color yarmulka you have, what color tzitzis you have.  Big hat, no hat, black hat, it means that you show and you care, that is the strength of the Jewish people.”

The kidnapping hit home for the many boys and teens in attendance.

“The fact that these boys are my age is so emotionally jarring and it hurts me so much,” said 18 year old Akiva Gottleib, who will be attending Yeshiva Kerem B’Yavenh next year and admitted that the kidnappings have him shaken.  “This really hits me at the bottom of my heart and really tests your faith.”

“It is hard to relate because we live in America but you feel it more when it is someone your own age, especially when he is an American citizen,” added 17 year old Ary Katzenstein.

Some expressed their dismay at the lack of public outcry regarding the kidnappings.

“They are saying the same Tehillim tonight that Jews said as they marched to the gas chambers,” said Dr. Bill Schwart.  “No one cared about Jews then and I just hope that more people care about us now.”

Others viewed the gathering as an important display of solidarity with the families of the missing boys.

“It is important for us to get together, to show support, to daven and I hope that the families in Eretz Yisroel know that we here in Monsey are thinking of them,” said Rabbi Yisroel Gottleib.

“I can’t imagine what the parents and the family are going through but I think tonight we see it’s not just an issue of Israel but of the people here in the United States,” said Christopher St. Lawrence, supervisor of the Town of Ramapo.  “This outpouring is cathartic for the community and it gives hope that Hashem will hear these prayers.”

Several relatives of the Frenkel family, all of whom asked to remain anonymous, were in attendance.  A clearly emotionally distraught uncle said that seeing the masses of strangers who turned out at the event was a great source of chizuk and a cousin noted that the family is “broken but carrying on with incredible dignity.”

The evening began with Mincha, led by Rabbi Shamai Blobstein of Machon Tiferes Bachurim with the first two perakim of Tehillim, which were read responsively, led by an uncle of Naftali Frenkel.

The remaining Tehillim were led by Rabbi Benzion Bamberger of Yeshiva Ohr Reuven, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Berger of Yeshiva Gedola of Bridgeport and Yeshiva Ohr Reuven, community activist Rabbi Ronald Greenwald, Rabbi Eliezer Lieff of Yeshiva Gedola of South Monsey and Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Moskowitz of Kehillas Borov.

The event concluded with two songs by Simcha Leiner and Maariv, led by Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, founder and director of Project Y.E.S. The large stadium screen alternated between pictures of the three young men, their names, live footage of the davening and the words “Avinu Malkeinu, p’sach shaarei shomayim l’sfilaseynu.

According to event organizers, a few hundred people tuned in watch the event which was streamed live.

Hatzolah, Chaveirim and local police were all on hand for the gathering.

Leiner noted that he found the gathering to be incredibly moving.

“As a singer, typically I have the responsibility to inspire, but tonight, I felt the exact opposite: I was inspired by those around me.”

Rabbi Horowitz said that he hoped that tonight’s events will be a catalyst for positive developments in this terrible episode.

“All week long I have been wondering what the Berdichev Rov, who was known to be the defense lawyer of the Jewish people, would he say in response to these prayers,” said Rabbi Horowitz.  “I think he would say, ‘Master of the Universe, look at how your diverse children are getting together as one to daven to you. Grant them the zechus of seeing these three beautiful children coming home so that we can rejoice together.’”

Nuchem Rosenberg Rejects Apology From Bleach-Tossing Attacker

A rabbi who advocates against child sex abusers refused to accept an apology from a Hasidic man, the son of an accused abuser, who threw bleach in the rabbis’s face.

Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg told Brooklyn state Supreme Court Judge Joseph Gubbay, who asked Meilech Schnitzler to make the apology in court on Wednesday, that he would not accept the apology because “you didn’t harm me. You harmed all the children I represent,” the New York Post reported.

In December 2012, Rosenberg on his blog for sexual abuse victims accused Schnitzler’s father of being a child sexual molester. As Rosenberg walked past Schnitzler’s Brooklyn fish market, Schnitzler ran toward him with a cup of bleach and threw it in his face. Rosenberg, of the same Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn, was treated for burns on his face, around his eyes and in his left eye.

The incident came a day after Nechemya Weberman, a Satmar Hasidim leader, was convicted on 59 counts of sexual abuse of a then-18-year-old woman when she was between the ages of 12 and 15 and went to Weberman for counseling. Rosenberg supported and assisted the victim throughout the judicial process.

Gubbay on Wednesday sentenced Schnitzler to 5 years’ probation for the attack. Schnitzler had pleaded guilty to the felony charge of “Intent to cause physical injury with a weapon” at a hearing in April.

Rosenberg reportedly read an impact statement in the court but, according to the Failed Messiah blog, was not allowed to read some of the parts that criticized the DA or the plea deal.

According to a copy of the statement obtained by the blog, Rosenberg said that the “plea bargain has compounded the damage of my assault.” He said the day after the plea deal was announced he was pelted with rocks by teenage boys outside of a Satmar synagogue in Williamsburg. One of the teens yelled, “Ha, Ha, Schnitzler is going free!”

“The reign of violence in my community aimed at children and their protectors must be ended. Those of us in the Hasidic community willing to cooperate with the criminal justice system are entitled to protection from violence and intimidation. If not for my sake, for the sake of our children, please let the world know that our children will not be abandoned to those who would abuse them and protect their molesters.
Please help make all of Brooklyn a safe place for children and those who fight for them,” he said.
Rosenberg runs a website and telephone hot-line for sex abuse victims.


 

MONSEY: Boulder Stadium to Unite 5000 Concerned Jews in Atzeres Tefillah For 3 Abducted Teens

by Avrumi Jordan

“Our only agenda is creating the kind of achdus we hope will result in a miracle” explained one of the organizers for this Thursday’s Atzeres Tefila event.
The one hour program which will consist of Mincha, Tehillim and Maariv and will bring together 5000 concerned Jews to pray for the safe return of Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel & Eyal Yifrach—the 3 Israeli teens whose brutal abduction almost a week ago has dominated both the news and the hearts and minds of Jewish communities everywhere

“Responding with concern and sadness—to an event that happened thousands of miles away is what makes us Jews—this Atzeres is about something more…it’s about showing the world that as a nation we are one—that the very beliefs that keep us alive are a
Scheduled for tonight June 19 (21^st Sivan Hebrew) at Rockland Boulders Stadium starting with Mincha at 8:10pm followed by Tehillim & Maariv, the Atzeres for logistical reasons will only be open to men and boys.

Seating will be first come first served, and organizers are working with the staff and management of Boulder Stadium as well as Chaverim & Hatzoloh to ensure everything runs as smooth and orderly as possible so that the entire event concludes in about an hour.

There is no charge for admission and no solicitations or presentations will be made, except for the “solicitation” made by those attending as they “solicit” the one above for his help. The only “presentation” planned is presenting Hashem—and the rest of the world a 5000 seat stadium packed to capacity with attendees whose only agenda is the safe return of their fellow Jews.
lso a source of solace, emunah & achdus through even the most challenging of times.