Vishnitzer Rebbe: There is Yiddishkheit Around the World In The Zechus Of The Lubavitcher Rebbe

Speaking to thousands of chassidim on Shabbos Parshas Korach, the Vishnitzer Rebbe discussed his relationship with the Lubavitcher Rebbe ZT”L. 

“In his merit there is Yiddishkheit around the world” stated the rebbe. 

The Chabad kehilla and Jews around the world on Shabbos marked the 21st yahrzeit of the rebbe, 3 Tammuz. Tens of thousands of mispallalim have already visited the ohel.

During his divrei torah on the Friday night tisch, the rebbe spoke of the uniqueness of the late rebbe, sharing details of his first visit with the rebbe in Teves 5744, 31 years ago. 

The late rebbe spoke with the Vishnitzer and his entourage for 20 minutes and then the two rebbe met alone for over an hour.

He explained that the Lubavitcher Rebbe asked him to deliver a message to his father, the Yeshuos Moshe of Vishnitz ZT”L, who at the time was among the leaders of the Moetzas Gedolei Torah of Agudas Yisrael. He did not detail the message.

He spoke of the Rebbe’s koach and how he literally brought Yiddishkheit to all corners of the world, bringing countless numbers of Yidden back to a live of Torah observance.

The Vishnitzer Rebbe also highlighted the simplicity of the rebbe and his lifestyle and the modesty in which he lived and conducted himself, sacrificing everything for the Klall.

Satmar Grandchild in the IDF, Video

Ari Fuld and IDF special forces soldier (and grandson of the Satmar Rebbe) Chaim Meisels.

One Lone soldier's journey from the anti-Zionist Satmar enclave in Borough Park to an elite IDF combat unit...

The Jews of Lawrence-Cedarhurst NY are no strangers when it comes to IDF support. There are tens of “Lone soldiers” who are currently serving in the IDF from that area. That is why it was no surprise that the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst made a very generous donation and asked Standing Together to help a specific unit in which one of their congregants has a nephew serving.

We made contact with the officer of the elite Egoz unit and after a month of preparations we scheduled a day to meet them on base and give them the gear that was sponsored by YILC.

As we drove on to the base it was hard not to notice the smiles on the soldiers’ faces.

The Egoz unit is a “Sayeret”(Elite) unit and they have now been on base for over 3 weeks in an intense training course. Their phones have been confiscated and I cannot tell you details of their training regimen, but I can tell you that they have been completely cut off from the outside world and they are working hard, VERY HARD!

As we unloaded the water packs, dry-fit clothing, Leatherman utility tools and personalized gear backpacks to give out to the soldiers, we could hear the bursting excitement from the soldiers.

“Oh my God! WOW! Where is this from? Are you serious?! YEEESSHHH! (‘Yeah baby’ in Hebrew).”

The truth is, if the day would have ended right there, it would have been a perfect day, but nothing prepared me for what happened next!

I asked the guys if there is someone who speaks English as we are looking for someone to send a video message back to the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst. They all immediately pointed to a specific Kipah wearing soldier and as I walked over to introduce myself he stood up to shake my hand and say thank you.

I have met many Lone soldiers and the first thing any respectable Jew does is play Jewish geography, so I asked him where he is from.

When he answered Borough Park, I felt my face shift in wonder as I said, “Did you say Borough Park?!”

He gently smiled and repeated it again, Borough Park.

The prominent Ultra-Orthodox community in Borough Park, NY does not have many kids drafting into the IDF, so my curiosity was at its apex.

I asked the soldier for his name and when he responded, Chaim Meisels, my knees buckled.

Chaim Meisels is no ordinary Lone soldier. Chaim Meisels is the grandson of the Satmar Rebbe!

(I will pause here a second for those of you who just fell off your chair or spilled your drink.)

You read correctly, Chaim Meisels is the grandson of the Berach Moshe, better known as the Satmar Rebbe.

What is he doing in Sayeret Egoz?

I asked the question and before I knew it, I was in a deep discussion with this very special Lone soldier.

One can understand if Chaim would have been angry and bitter towards Satmar as they completely shut him out since he left, but that is simply not the case.

As much as I tried not to speak about politics and hashkafa, it is a little difficult when speaking to the Satmar Rebbe’s grandson who happens to also be wearing an IDF uniform and serving in one of the IDF’s most elite units.

No matter how many times I asked about his family and Satmar, Chaim did not have a single negative word to say about anyone.

“I love my parents dearly and have only love and respect for them.” That is the way Chaim answered my question about his family’s reaction to his decision to join the IDF.

It’s not that I was looking for something negative to report, I just wanted to understand the hardships Chaim had to go to to get to where he is now. No matter how many questions I asked, Chaim had only positive things to say.

Even when I inquired about his recent trip to the States for his brothers wedding, Chaim refused to say anything negative.

I knew from a friend in the Satmar community that when Chaim arrived dressed in a bekeshe and all, the community did not allow him into the hall for his own brother’s wedding.

Chaim smiled and said, “In the end my parents let me in and it was a happy and beautiful Chassene (wedding).”

I cannot imagine the amount of personal strength and courage needed to do what Chaim did and I do not really know how the Satmar community is reacting. What I do know is that while supplying Chaim and his unit with gear, I felt a tremendous feeling of unity.

A young IDF soldier by the name of Chaim Meisels taught me, in his modest and Menshlechkite way, that a love for Am Yisrael and a positive attitude is more powerful than anything else.

About the Author: Ari Fuld is a sergeant in an IDF reserves elite paratroopers unit. His is the assistant director of Standing Together, an organization that supports IDF soldiers.

Chareidim freaking out because a lady will replace Alexander Hamilton on the 10.00 bill

Police are clearing lower Manhattan for a huge rally against the not-tznisdik proposal to put a picture of a lady on the $10.00 bill.

Chareidim have already torn all pictures of women from their respective newspapers and magazines. Some even remove the lady's name , and there is talk of removing all references to women from the entire Torah, especially the part where Yaakov kissed Ruchel!

So this is a huge setback for them... they don't even want to talk about the possibility of Hillary Clinton becoming President .....

Rabbonim are trying to convince the Lakewood Roshei Yeshivas to close the Lakewood Yeshivah so they can attend this mass protest, since it is an inyan of "Yehereg V'al Yaavor"
 In a show of achdus, both Bobover Rebbes will attend. Both Satmar Rebbes  will also attend providing that they burn the Israeli flag for good measure.

The U.S. Treasury announced on Wednesday that beginning in 2020, a woman’s face will replace Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said he’s looking for public input on which female historical figure should become the first to appear on U.S. paper currency for the first time in 119 years.

Hamilton will remain either on the bill’s reverse side or in a separate series while the 1.9 billion $10 bills in circulation are likely to last another 10 years.

No woman has appeared on a new currency since Martha Washington on a $1 silver note until 1896. Pocahontas was the first female, appearing on the $20 note beginning in 1865. 

New Video Exposes Provocation Leading Up To IDF Soldiers Beating Palestinian Man

Aha! This is what I wrote before... Reuters (probably funded by Satmar gypsies) originally showed a half-assed video that only shows the soldiers beating the hell out of the Palestinian....'
but now we have the full video and a completely different story!
No apology from Reuters!
Notice the photo below was taken by a Mohamad for Reuters!

Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian protester during clashes following a protest against Jewish settlements, in Jalazoun refugee camp, near the West Bank city of Ramallah June 12, 2015. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

 A new video posted Tuesday exposed the full scope of events, including provocations, leading up to an incident on Friday in which four soldiers struck and verbally assaulted a Palestinian man during a violent disturbance in the village of Jalazun.

The unsettling video shows individuals, as well as those with press vests, repeatedly approaching the group of Kfir Brigade soldiers even after being repeatedly told to leave. Swarms of press photographers followed the soldiers constantly, waiting to catch the perfect moment, as firebombs are hurled at the soldiers.

The 10-minute-long video, posted by a group calling itself the International Solidarity Movement, shows this back-and-forth of provocations which culminated in a man being beaten. The much shorter video circulated by Palestinian media shortly after the incident, showed only the beating itself, without context.

An army investigation concluded on Sunday said that the situation occurred in the course of a lengthy violent disturbance that lasted for several hours, during which rioters hurled firebombs and large rocks at soldiers. A platoon commander was injured by a rock thrown at his face and suffered a suspected eye socket bone fracture.

The Palestinian man seen in the video approached the soldiers and attempted to create a provocation, the investigation found. “After ignoring calls by soldiers to stop, and grabbing the weapon of one of the commanders, commanders decided to utilize force to arrest him,” the army said.

The IDF tried and punished the soldiersinvolved. Kfir infantry brigade commander Col. Asher Ben Lulu concluded that the decision to arrest the man was correct, but the manner in which the arrest was carried out was wrong. The brigade commander condemned the way in which one of the solders spoke to the man, saying it contravened IDF values and the army’s expectations of conduct by soldiers.

Two soldiers exercised disproportionate force during the arrest, Ben Lulu said. A total of four soldiers were tried for the incident. The company commander received a verbal rebuke, a soldier seen cursing the man was confined by his battalion commander to base for 30 days. The battalion commander sentenced two soldiers found to have used disproportionate force to a suspended sentence of 28 days in army prison.

Rabbi Yair Hoffman throws the Har Habayis under the bus!

Rabbi Yair Hoffman became a posik writing for the 5 "Clowns" Times. He seems to be a "Yodia Sefer" and actually has some interesting "Teshuvois".
For example,  he once paskened that Goldfish are not kosher, even though they clearly have scales and fins!
But in order to fit in with the Yesivishe Crowd, ..... R' Hoffman  has to throw them a bone once in awhile, otherwise he would be branded a "Zionist" Chas Ve'sholem, or even worse, an "Am Haaretz."
So what better way to find favor with the "big beards" than to give the entire Har Ha'bayis, that cost so much Jewish blood, to the Arab savages, that would make all the Litvishe "gedoilim" happy, and R" Yair could now be counted as one of "them!" 

The great poisek Morah Harav Hagoen HaTzaddik Hoffman (Av Bais Din d"kock" 5 Clowns) now suggests that the OU statement supporting the campaign of the Temple Institute Organization to give equal freedom of prayer and visitation rights to all religions including Jews...... be "rescinded." 

Personally, I laud the courages statement of the OU. 
Finally an organization who doesn't take Litvaks as Torah Me'sinai! An organization that will not allow Arabs to tell Jews in Eretz Yisroel what to do and where to daven!

I am not going to go into the halacha whether one is allowed to go on the Har Ha'bayis..... that was tackled by great gedoilim all the way back to the times of the Geonim.... with many great poiskim ruling that one is allowed to walk on the Har Habayis..
but if there are Frum Jews who follow their "Daas Torah" and put their lives literally on the line... by going to the Har Ha'bais so that the Arabs don't completely control our Holy Makom Ha'Mikdash, and fight every single day to be there, so that the Israelis don't G-D forbid relinquish their control, why is  Hoffman the "Tuchis Leker" denouncing the statement of the OU supporting The Temple Institute Organization .... all because he wants to  curry favor with the Litvishe Roshei Yeshiva?

 Because Yair wants the  Roshei Yeshivah and the Litvishe Chachumim to give him the proper respect, he is prepared to let the Arabs have the Bais Ha'mikdash!

So here is an introduction to his "teshuvah" in referece to the Temple Mount!


"Yesterday, the Orthodox Union released a statement supporting the campaign of the Temple Institute Organization in their demands of the Knesset regarding the Temple Mount. The Temple Institute has been demanding equal freedom of prayer and visitation rights for Jewish visitors at the Temple Mount.
While the sentiment that lies behind the OU statement is certainly laudable, the halachic position taken by the organization’s leadership lies in stark contrast to the position of the great Poskim of the generation, both who are still living and those who have passed on. The OU’s statement follows a similar statement released by the RCA approximately one year ago.
With due respect, it is this author’s opinion that the OU statement should be rescinded. The Temple Institute’s platform, which certainly l’shaim shamayim, is a position that is against what most of Poskim, Roshei Yeshiva and Gedolim hold.
What follows is a Halachic analysis of why we should not, at this point, be praying on Har HaBayis. It is written with due respect for the Rabbis who feel that it is permitted to go up on Har HaBayis. Nonetheless, we cannot allow our ahavah for Eretz Yisroel obscure our thinking. The greatest of our Gedolim have forbidden treading upon Har HaBayis and we must endeavor to understand the reasoning behind it."

Lufthansa Discriminates Against Israel on Baggage policy

This German airline, the airline that is preferred by the Satmar  Rabbis when they travel to the Zionist State...(they won't,G-D forbid travel on El Al) is discriminating against anyone traveling to Israel, allowing only one free bag while passengers flying to Arab countries are allowed 2 free bags!

Here is a letter to the airline 

Ms. Linda Stiene

Customer Relations North America

Lufthansa German Airlines

1640 Hempstead Turnpike

East Meadow, NY 11554

Dear Ms. Stiene:

We received your response to our inquiry about why Lufthansa is treating travelers to and from the Jewish State of Israel differently and more harshly than travelers to and from the Arab/Muslim countries in the Middle East. Lufthansa permits passengers to bring two bags free of charge to and from every country in the Middle East – except the Jewish State of Israel.

You provided no explanation for this policy. Your letter referred vaguely to baggage allowances that are “based on economic and commercial factors,” but you offered no information about how these factors identically affect every Arab/Muslim country in the Middle East, except the Jewish State of Israel.

You claim that the baggage allowance policy for passengers flying to and from the Jewish State of Israel “is not discriminatory.” Yet on its face, it is discriminatory, because the Jewish State of Israel alone is being singled out and subjected to harsher treatment than any Arab/Muslim country in the Middle East.

We urge you to immediately revise this policy and make it crystal clear – in a letter to us and in a notice posted on the Lufthansa website – that passengers flying to and from Israel will now be afforded at least the same free baggage allowance that they are permitted when flying to any other country in the Middle East. If the baggage policy is not so revised, then we will have no choice but to inform the public, the media, the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. Presidential candidates that Lufthansa – a German airline that should be especially sensitive to discriminating against Jews and the Jewish State – is singling out Israel for different and harsher treatment. We know that they, like us, will have zero tolerance for Lufthansa’s discriminatory practice against the Jewish State of Israel.

Please let us hear from you no later than Tuesday, June 23, 2015. Thank you.

Very truly yours,

Morton A. Klein Susan B. Tuchman, Esq.

National President Director, Center for Law and Justice

Israel’s Reform Jews Call For Removal Of Religious Affairs Minister Over ‘Offensive’ Comment

The Reform Jews never recognized Israel, I think that the Vatican recognized Israel before they did...
 Few Reform Rabbis side with Israel on any issue, they are by in large  a leftist anti-zionist  group.
In a lot of respects they are just like Satmar... they both hate Israel, and both are anti-Zionist.
So I find it amusing to see that they want to remove David Azulay, from his position as Minister of Religious Affairs, because he uttered the absolute truth, when he called the 
Reform movement a “disaster for the nation," today!

Leaders of Reform Jewry in Israel are demanding the removal of the new minister of religious affairs David Azoulay after he called the Reform movement a “disaster for the nation” Wednesday.

Azoulay, a member of the Orthodox Mizrahi Shas party, made his comment in a meeting with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked regarding the government’s position on Women of the Wall, the feminist prayer group that makes monthly meetings at the Western Wall, according to Haaretz (http://bit.ly/1CdXhE9 ).

Azoulay reportedly referred to group members as “provocateurs” for defying Orthodox customs.

Women of the Wall issued a statement saying that expect Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked not to take part in discriminatory regulations.

Reform Jewry reps sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asking that he remove himself publicly from the comments.

Azoulay replaced Naftali Bennett as religious affairs minister.

Information taken from Haaretz

Chevra Kadisha gangsters destroy a Women's kever on Har Hazeisim

The following is a bizarre story from Kikar Shabbos and was translated into English!
I don't know what really happened, since I never heard about this lady and  the son claims that thousands attended her Levayeh, but I speak to people in Yerushalyim and they never heard of her before either. 
Also the accolades on the Metzeivah don't fit in with the other Metzeivos, the other ones surrounding this Metzeivah are far more humble...
So I really don't know the truth.... but I do know that the Chevra Kadishah in Israel are by in large controlled by the Chassidishe Yerushlaimer Mafia..


Unfortunately, too often there are reports of damage to matzeivos in Har HaZeisim, by area Arab residents. 

In this case the damage to the matzeivah in the Har HaZeisim Cemetery was ordered by the Prushim Chevra Kadisha

Mrs. Leah Fisch died 20 years ago and thousands took part in the levaya to pay their last respects to the special woman who was known as one of the righteous women of Yerushalayim.

A few short years after she was buried the family noticed the matzeivah did not cover the kever as it should. 

Her son Dovid built a special addition including a place to light candles, thereby solving the problem of an area being exposed.

Dovid spoke with Kikar Shabbos News, explaining “My mother died 20 years ago and 5 years later the then-head of the chevra kadisha told me my mother was very tall, more so than the average person, and extended past the standard matzeivah area and he asked me to construct something as an addition to entirely cover the area to avoid any disgrace to my mother and this is just what I did”.

Dovid adds “Years passed and they did not speak to us about this. A year ago the son of the then-head of the chevra kadisha ran into me, and he told me ‘if not for my father I would destroy the matzeivah’ and a short time letter is was destroyed.

I rebuilt it. 

A few months ago the story became complicated. They began destroying the kever and removed the chairs placed nearby. We first believed it was the work of Arabs but we eventually learned the chevra kadisha was responsible”.

He continues to explain that despite the intervention of Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, who tried negotiating between Dovid and the chevra kadisha, the chevra kadisha during the night destroyed the entire matzeivah. He explains this time the damage was beyond repair and not only the matzeivah, but the actual kever too.

The son arrived the following day armed with a camera to document what had occurred. When an Arab worker was questioned regarding the materials that were removed, he told them “I sold the stuff” and then immediately changed his statement to “I placed it all in genizah”.

The worker explained that he was instructed to be break the matzeivah. 

The Arab worker explained to Dovid he was given a generator by his supervisor and they worked during the night. 

When asked who this person is the worker responded it was one of the directors of the chevra kadisha.

Dovid headed to the chevra’s office and broke down in tears over what was done to his mother’s kever. 

They told him to submit new plans to re-build ,which he submitted but one of the officials rejected it. 

Dovid adds they then had the nerve to suggest exhuming his mother’s remains to bury her elsewhere. They even offered to arrange this with a rav who would permit moving the remains.

Dovid was pained to the core, explaining his mother was a holy person and thousands attended the levaya yet they come like thieves in the night and destroy her kever.

Responding to the report, Zaka CEO Yehuda Meshi-Zahav explains that just this week the Knesset Interior Committee held a session to address the damage to kevarim from local Arabs and here the damage is from the chevra kadisha. 

He added in this case the chevra actually paid an Arab employee to destroy a kever without regard for kovod hameis. 

Meshi-Zahav concludes “Even if there are problems with the size of the matzeivah why destroy the actual kever. Who permits such action? How did your hands commit such an act?”

Chevra kadisha official Yitzchak Glaubstein told Kikar Shabbos “We have a psak halacha from Rav Moshe Brandsdorfer to destroy the matzeivah for it is gezel from the rabim”.

Moshe Montag a city counselor from the Degel HaTorah party, swims with half naked women but wants modesty in Beit Shemesh

Groiser Tzaddik Moshe Montag in Eilat 

Gender equality advocates in Bet Shemesh are up in arms with charges of hypocrisy over images of a local ultra-orthodox politician lounging near scantily clad women in Eilat that are being circulated on social networks.

The photos of Moshe Montag -a city counselor from the Degel HaTorah party close and a senior member of the administration of Shas Mayor Moshe Abutbul- were posted on Facebook Tuesday night and immediately generated an uproar among opponents of the municipality’s policies regarding controversial modesty signs hung by extremists around the Bet Shemesh.

Mixed gender swimming is considered unseemly by the ultra-orthodox.

“I’m not surprised- we’ve known all along that this has nothing to do with real modesty or Jewish and its all been about corrupt power and control and capitulating to extremist elements in the name of politics,” said activist Nili Philip.

The photos of such a prominent ultra-orthodox figure with women who do not meet his community’s modesty norms was especially galling to Philip given recent events in the city.


Moshe Mantag goes for a dip in an Eilat pool frequented by non-religious men and women. he is the one in the pool with the bald head

In January she and several other women won a lawsuit against the municipality for its failure to remove prominent signs put up in central locations in the city warning women to dress modestly and not to linger in certain places.

According to the court’s ruling “the municipality and the mayor chose not to take any steps to enforce the authority and obligations incumbent upon them to remove the signs... they absolved themselves from this obligation.”

The municipality countered by stating that it had repeatedly taken the signs down but that they were replaced on each occasion, adding that taking the signs down had led to riots.

“Unfortunately the court did not manage to understand the complicated reality in Beit Shemesh which we are dealing with, and did not accept the claim of the municipality that concern for the public safety and the harm to the fabric of the delicate relations between different population groups in Beit Shemesh outweighed the immediate and repeated need to remove the signs,” the municipality stated at the time.

Asked about the photos, Montag’s office manager Benzion Rockov said that he did not understand what the point was of even discussing the topic.

“Are you serious” he queried. “Do you really think that you can use pictures of a private individual to defame a person?…These are pictures that also the media in Bet Shemesh understands that they can’t use. Only you think that you are smarter than everyone. Do what you think, on your responsibility, and don’t say you didn’t know.”

The use of religion in Bet Shemesh politics also played a role in stoking anger over the images, with local residents taking to Facebook to vent their feelings, with one local complaining about what he saw as the “obsessive nature of the modesty regime in the city, backed by Rabbonim [rabbis]” as well as “the sanctimonious election campaign which [Montag] headed with the Mayor.”

During the 2013 mayoral race, the ultra-orthodox community distributed campaign advertisements claiming that “evildoers” seeking to “uproot the Torah” were intent on taking over the city” and stating that voting for the ultra-orthodox incumbents would be a “sanctification of God’s name.”

According to Rabbi Dov Lipman, a former Yesh Atid legislator who has been active in combating religious extremism in Bet Shemesh, the problem is not related in any way to Montag’s choice of swim partners.

“How dare he act as part of the political establishment in Bet Shemesh which has worked to prevent the construction of an outdoor pool in the city, a culture hall in the city, a movie theater in the city, and more, all in the name of ‘representing the will of the gedolei Torah [great Torah scholars].’ My issue is with the hypocrisy, not with his own personal lifestyle and I have seen that hypocrisy throughout the haredi political establishment,” Lipman told the Post.

"I believe that the private activities of a public figure which go against the policies and lifestyle which he forces on the citizens he leads is very relevant and is important for the public to know." Weighing in on the issue, Rabbi Uri Regev of the Hiddush religious equality NGO commented that the “ Sages of Old observed [that] it’s not the truly faithful that pose a threat, but the hypocrites.”

“Montag, who is part of a fundamentalist leadership circle in the anti-women war zones of Bet Shemesh, may have shown his true colors in the permissive environs of Eilat. It's high time that greater openness towards human nature be practiced in Bet Shemesh, rather than women being denied their their rightful, equal positions in the public sphere.”

However, not everyone believed that the issue was worthy of public attention, with city opposition councilman Moshe Sheetrit (Likud) stating that he did not think that “it’s any business of mine what a council member does in his own time.”

The issue received no coverage in the ultra-orthodox media aside from one tweet by journalist Israel Cohen of the Kikar HaShabbat news website. He later deleted the tweet with an apology.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report

Is the שיטה הקדושה פון ויואל משה running out out of steam and not connecting to young people anymore?

from the Circus Tent Blog

There was some talk about it a few weeks ago, where some young people were interviewed anonymously in some publication. 

Obviously those that were interviewed are likely not the guys you want to use as your "proof." They're not on the Satmar path at all. 

So the fact that they like the Land of Israel is not proof that the Shittah is bankrupt. But we're not talking about the guys in that interview. 

We're talking about young people, in their 20s, 30s and 40s, who send their kids to Satmar mosdos, who daven in Satmar shuls, and who may even spend all the דערהויבענע מאמענטן of the year in Satmar. 

Does the shittah speak to them? 

More and more we see that it doesn't, and for a very simple reason. It's tough to raise a generation on a basis that is the antithesis of what a Jew believes and yearns for. 
Eretz Yisroel is in the heart of every Jew. 

He yearns to go there, whether he feels it or not. It's part of our past, present and future. 

Some choose not to see any of the wrongs going on there, because of the love, and I dare say, some choose to see EVERYTHING as wrong. Maybe because they love it so much, and it's hard to see a beloved country, G-d's country, act that way. 

Young people, however, they're in need of love, to love and be loved. They can't live the way their parents and grandparents did. This is true with regards to most things in life, the way they raise their families, and even the way they see Eretz Yisroel. They need to love. 

The Shittah was good for the old generation, it doesn't seem to be working with the younger ones. Even if we do see bochurim marching and wearing sackcloth, and even if we see 13 year old kids saying דאון וויט איזראעל.

Rare Inscription from the Time of King David was Discovered in the Valley of Elah "Eshbaʽal Ben Beda"

A rare inscription from the time of King David was discovered at Khirbet Qeiyafain the Valley of Elah. 

A ceramic jar c. 3,000 years old that was broken into numerous shards was discovered in 2012 in excavations carried out there by Prof. Yosef Garfinkel of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University and Saar Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority. 

Letters written in ancient Canaanite script could be discerned on several of the shards, sparking the curiosity of researchers.

Intensive restoration work conducted in the laboratories of the Israel Antiquities Authority Artifacts Treatment Department, during which hundreds of pottery shards were glued together to form a whole jar, solved the riddle – 

he jar was incised with the inscription: 

Eshbaʽal Ben Badaʽ. 

Dr. Mitka Golub and Dr. Haggai Misgav were among the team of researchers involved in deciphering the text.

According to Professor Yosef Garfinkel of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University and Saar Ganor of the IAA, 

"This is the first time that the name Eshbaʽal has appeared on an ancient inscription in the country. 

Eshbaʽal Ben Shaul, who ruled over Israel at the same time as David, is known from the Bible. Eshbaʽal was murdered by assassins and decapitated and his head was brought to David in Hebron (II Samuel, Chaps. 3-4). 

It is interesting to note that the name Eshbaʽal appears in the Bible, and now also in the archaeological record, only during the reign of King David, in the first half of the tenth century BCE. 

This name was not used later in the First Temple period.The correlation between the biblical tradition and the archaeological finds indicates this was a common name only during that period. 

The name Bedaʽ is unique and does not occur in ancient inscriptions or in the biblical tradition."

According to the researchers, the fact that the name Eshbaʽal was incised on a jar suggests that he was an important person. 

He was apparently the owner of a large agricultural estate and the produce collected there was packed and transported in jars that bore his name. 

This is clear evidence of social stratification and the creation of an established economic class that occurred at the time of the formation of the Kingdom of Judah.

Garfinkel and Ganor add, "In  Samuel 11,there was apparently reluctance to use the name Eshbaʽal, which was reminiscent of the Canaanite storm god Baʽal, and the original name was therefore changed to Ish-Bashat, but the original name of Eshbaʽal was preserved in the Book of Chronicles.  Thus, for example, the name of the warlord Gideon Ben Joash was also changed from Jerrubaal to Jerubesheth." 

 

Khirbet Qeiyafais identified with the biblical city Shaʽarayim. 

During several seasons of excavations directed by Prof. Yosef Garfinkel and Saar Ganor, a fortified city, two gates, a palace and storerooms, dwellings and cultic rooms were exposed there. 

The city dates from the time of David, that is, the late eleventh and early tenth centuries BCE. Unique artifacts that were previously unknown were discovered at the site. For example, in 2008 the world’s earliest Hebrew inscription was uncovered there. Now, another inscription from the same period is being published from the site.

According to Garfinkel and Ganor,"Until about five years ago we knew of no inscriptions dating to the tenth century BCE from the Kingdom of Judah. 

In recent years four inscriptions have been published:

 two from Khirbet Qeiyafa, one from Jerusalem and one from Bet Shemesh. 

This completely changes our understanding of the distribution of writing in the Kingdom of Judah and it is now clear that writing was far more widespread than previously thought. It seems that the organization of the kingdom required a cadre of clerks and writers and their activity is also manifested in the appearance of inscriptions. "

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Everything is Honkey Dorey ... Rabbanim ban the app "Whatsapp"

B"H we solved all other issues, we have time now to ban apps! 

Translation:
After a number of admorim announced the prohibition of using WhatsApp, a number of prominent dayanim join their call. 

Dayanim HaGaon Rav Yehuda Sliman (סלימן) and HaGaon Rav Shriel Rosenberg of HaGaon HaRav Nissim Karelitz’s Shlita beis din released a letter on Tuesday, 29 Svan in Yated Neeman and HaMevaser warning against using the program for other than earning a livelihood. 

The notice stresses that the tzibur is to use only kosher approved phones. Only persons that absolutely must use the other phones for parnasa may do so.

This applies particularly to using WhatsApp, Telegram and others like it, which are accompanied by destructive dangers to the point one may lose oneself, expose one to prohibited sights, and expose these forbidden sights to one another rapidly via the application. 

Even among many using the application for parnasa, they too often use it for recreational use too and this leads to the destruction of their neshomos.

Hence the safe thing is to use a protected phone and to avoid or cut off from WhatsApp.

Signed by the two rabbonim.