Thursday, October 14, 2021
"Chassidim on a Plane"
Because of the tight schedule, I needed to fly direct and the timing had to be so so; so I flew Delta which accommodated my needs.
On the way back, the entire plane was Chareidie, specifically chassidim.
During the flight, they got up to make minyanim. I went with the psak of Harav Eliyashiv who suggests you daven in your seat without joining the minyan.
Suddenly, we hit turbulence, and the crew "begged" everyone to get back into their seats and buckle up.
You guessed it.... אין קול ואין עונה
They totally ignored the crew and the pilot's warning, and even ignored when the crew got a Hebrew speaking passenger on the speaker system to "beg" them to get back to their seats.
Mayhem broke out, as the stewardesses couldn't get the food carts back in the galley fast enough, since the "daveners" were in the aisle refusing to move. Food and drinks were flying over the entire aisles and seats but the "Daveners" refused to budge.
Finally the pilot started to itemize the numbers of all the empty seats, and announced that those who bought those seats will be forever banned from flying Delta again.
When they heard that in English (suddenly they didn't need any translators) they abandoned G-d, and ran to their seats.
Why am I writing this now?
I mentioned this story to a neighbor of mine and he said that the blog called "Rationalist Judaism" has horror stories of "Chassidim on a Plane"
and so I am copying a letter from one of his readers who describes her experience ..
I just flew to and from Israel... and I have never been more mortified to be Orthodox. The plane was trashed. The bathrooms wrecked. A flight attendant remarked that this route is always left this way, while after 15 hours to Japan, the plane is left spotless. Men crowded the aisles and blocked the passageways, forming a minyan even while being explicitly told that they could not do so A- because the seat belt sign was on and B- because of the pandemic. While attendants were buckled in because of turbulence, stopped food service because of turbulence, men were up and putting on tefillin even while flight attendants and the captain himself begged them to sit down and buckle up. They could not have cared less. It was as if they were deaf or above the rules or both.
To describe myself as shocked is an understatement. It got to the point that I asked them who they were even praying to, who would possibly listen to their tefilot when they were causing us such humiliation and chillul Hashem. I don't know who to turn to to speak about this and I do not want to trash an entire community. But this was so so bad that if I myself was feeling such anger and animosity and close to posting videos I can't think that someone actually doing this who is not Orthodox is far off. In all seriousness, rabbis and Leadership needs to address this. If anyone has ideas as to who to turn to, please let me know.
Israel Must Do What It Needs to defend its Citizens and the Hell with the world!
This month’s anniversary of the 1953 battle of Qibya has triggered yet another outpouring of Jewish guilt. But Israel has no more reason to feel guilty about Qibya than the Allies do for bombing Dresden, Hiroshima, or Nagasaki.
The Biblical book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) was read by Jews during Sukkot. Even non-synagogue-going Jews know it’s verse “a time of war, and a time of peace” — thanks to the 1959 Byrds hit “Turn! Turn! Turn!” But it should be made clear that nowhere in Kohelet does one find a verse declaring that there’s “a time of guilt.” And there’s good reason for that.
US Announces Increase in Benefits for Social Security Recipients
The US Social Security Administration (SSA) has some good news for those who receive benefits: those payments will rise by nearly six percent by next year.
On Wednesday, the agency announced that its beneficiaries will see a 5.9 percent increase in their monthly benefit checks – about $92 per month — beginning in January.
This the largest increase in social security payments since 1982, according to SSA data.
Nearly 70 million people are affected by the decision, which came in response to a spike in inflation cause by bottlenecks in the supply chain, worker shortages and other COVID-19 pandemic issues.
The consumer price index rose by 5.4 percent in September over the previous year – the largest annual gain since 2008.
Satmar Newspaper Claims That "Iran is NOT close to having Nuclear Capabalities
In their by-line underneath the photo they proclaim:
"Ex- Mossad Chief says :
"Iran isn't anywhere close to developing a Nuclear bomb"
What was the point of writing about this?
Satmar has as much trust in what the Mossad says, be it someone working now for the Mossad or someone who no longer works there, as a mouse would trust a cat.
To Satmar, Zionists are a bunch of liars, they really don't care whether the guy was an ex- Mossad agent or a janitor, as long as what he said fits neatly into their crooked agenda.
So why the headline?
Not too long ago, R' Aron Teitelbaum went out of his way to support the disastrous Iran Deal that would hand nuclear weapons to murderers who vowed to wipe Israel off the map. He even asked his naive dumb uneducated sheep to write letters to their congressmen to have them vote for the Obama suicide pact!
Of course, his chassidim can't write English, (FYI they can't even write Yiddish,)so the Holy Rebbe who cares about all Jews and who like the Salvation Army does only "chesed", pre-printed the letters, distributed them to his chassidim and all they had to do was put their "thumb-print" or an "X" on the bottom where they "signed"!
Well at the end of the day, even goyim saw that this deal is not only dangerous to Israel but to the entire safety of the world, and R' Aron came out looking like a bloody fool. He never retracted from his advocating writing the foolish letters, and never apologized to the Jewish people for this dumb and dangerous idea.
His stance for opposing Netanyahu's speech in congress to stop the Iran deal, was basically to support the Black anti-semite who was president at the time, Hussain Obama, and he, R' Aron, of course being the anti-Zionist (though he married a Hebrew speaking Zionist) was opposed to Netanyahu giving that speech even if the deal threatened over 6 million Jews living in the Zionist State, even at the cost that this deal could wind up G-d forbid wiping out the Jewish State!
G-d acts in funny ways, so to keep R' Aron busy and keep him from engaging in other shenanigans that could destroy the Jewish State, G-d sent him an enemy in his own camp, R' Zvi Hersh Meisels, Shlitah, who happens to be his sister's son, to rebel against his "dynasty" in Bnei-Brak.לכבוש את המלכה עימי בבית
R' Tzvi Hersh, is busy taking control of all of Samar Real Estate in Bnei-Brak, even as I am typing this post.
But to keep the dumb sheep in line, and to take their minds off the "Great Satmar Rebellion"in Israel, his editor found an ex-Mossad guy, a leftist moron, who would sell all Jews living in Israel in exchange for a good Falafal, and who in an interview with an Al Jazira Arab reporter, said that Iran "is no where close to having a nuclear bomb"!
That statement vindicates R' Aron who said that all long!
Is Israel closing in on Iran?
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| Drone hovering over Hezbolla Fighters |
First, let's look at a report about another mysterious explosion at a hitherto secret base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in late September.
Originally, the media reported that a fire had broken out at the base and later that an explosion had taken place that killed two members of the IRGC and wounded another.
It was then revealed that the target was an IRGC missile development facility named Shahid Hemmat.
Satellite images from Israeli firm ImageSat International, which were released more than a week ago, showed that a quarter of the facility had been completely destroyed.
One could conclude from the released images that another attack with a drone or a so-called Quadcopter had taken place.
Saeed Khatibzadeh, a spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, reacted to the explosion by blaming Israel, saying that "the war with the Zionist entity had already begun."
The spokesman accused Israel of state terrorism and of obstructing the resumption of nuclear negotiations with the US. Israel would like to prevent the resumption of these negotiations, according to Khatibzadeh.
Khatibzadeh also pointed to the "hundreds of bombs (nuclear weapons)" Israel allegedly possesses and said the Jewish state had never signed the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Indeed, Israel never signed that treaty because the Jewish state has developed its nuclear weapons solely to use them as a purely defensive weapon in a last option scenario.
Iran, on the other hand, signed the treaty, but has been developing a nuclear weapon since at least 1987. It is now closer to the bomb than ever and, furthermore, will almost certainly use a nuclear weapon as an offensive weapon in a future war.
How Mark Zuckerberg spent Nearly Half a Billion Dollars on 2020 Election to Defeat Trump
During the 2020 election, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent hundreds of millions of dollars to turn out likely Democratic voters. But this wasn’t traditional political spending. He funded a targeted, private takeover of government election operations by nominally nonpartisan — but demonstrably ideological — nonprofit organizations.
Analysis conducted by our team demonstrates this money significantly increased Joe Biden’s vote margin in key swing states. In places like Georgia, when Biden won by 12,000 votes, and Arizona, where he won by 10,000, the spending likely put him over the top.
This unprecedented merger of public-election offices with private resources and personnel is an acute threat to our republic and should be the focus of electoral-reform efforts moving forward.
The 2020 election wasn’t stolen — it was likely bought by one of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful men pouring his money through legal loopholes.
De Blasio Kicks Out The author of the Declaration of Independence From City Hall
Still peeved that the city has no Confederate monuments he can remove, lame-duck Mayor Bill de Blasio is instead ousting Thomas Jefferson from City Hall’s Council chambers.
He hoped to do it on the down low, having his handpicked Design Commission quietly vote Monday to pack the 187-year-old statue (gifted to the city in 1834) off to the New-York Historical Society. Perhaps enough public outcry can stop it.
We’re talking about the guy on Mount Rushmore, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and a statue whose replica sits in the US Capitol.
Yes, Jefferson owned slaves — but he penned the words, “All men are created equal,” that led inexorably to the end of slavery.
City Councilman I. Daneek Miller (D-Queens) told The Post that “for us to really highlight such an individual is really not who we are as a council.” Our opinion of the council isn’t high, but we didn’t think it opposed to unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
How many more outrages will de Blasio try to pull off before he’s finally done?
Mom jailed after refusing to leave daughter’s side at hospital
A fiercely devoted Florida mom was thrown in jail because she refused to leave her daughter’s bedside in the hospital — and she’s “not sorry that I made them take me out of there in handcuffs.”
Lynn Savage, 70, was taken into custody on trespassing charges after she wouldn’t comply with visiting hours while her daughter, Amber, was recovering from brain surgery at UF Health North in Jacksonville, news station WKRC reported.
“I could not in good conscience and good heart leave her bedside not knowing how she was going to make it through the night voluntarily,” Savage told the outlet.
Savage said she had been at the hospital that day since 6:30 a.m. acting as an interpreter for her daughter, who is non-verbal and paralyzed on her left side from a stroke.
At one point, a doctor asked Savage to come into her daughter’s room in the intensive care unit to help calm her down after her operation.
“As soon as I approached the bedside, she was fine,” Savage told the outlet.
But when visiting hours ended at 7 p.m., a nurse told Savage that she had to leave.
“I said, ‘I’m not going to leave. I want to stay here with my daughter. Can you call the doctor because the doctor is the one that wanted me here with her?'” she said.
“And [the nurse] said no, that they couldn’t do that. That COVID rules said that visiting hours were over at 7 and I had to leave.”
Security officers then came to the room and asked her to go.
100s Of Lev Tahor Members Traveling To Iran ..declare their loyalty and submission to the Supreme Leader and Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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| Lev Tahor members outside the Guatemalan airport last week |
Israelis with relatives in the Lev Tahor cult, who are currently trying to reach Iran, are terrified of the possible consequences of hundreds of Jews congregated in an area frequented by ISIS terrorists, close to the Iranian border.
Hundreds of Lev Tahor members are attempting to leave Guatemala and move to Iran. Their Israeli relatives have urgently appealed to Israel’s Foreign Ministry to intervene and US relatives of cult members are appealing to the US State Department.
“If they reach the Iranian-Kurdistan border, it can lead to a mega political-security incident,” the relatives warned. “The Shalit deal will be like child’s play compared to this.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has appealed via the Israeli Ambassador to Guatemala Matti Cohen to Guatemalan Attorney General Consuelo Porras, to prevent the Lev Tahor members from leaving the country. They also requested that legal proceedings be advanced against the cult leaders, following the testimony of several Israeli and Canadian victims of the cult to Guatemalan authorities.
Biden's New America: US Records Highest Increase In Nation’s Homicide Rate In Modern History
Provisional data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, released early Wednesday, suggest the homicide rate for the United States rose 30% between 2019 and 2020. It is the highest increase recorded in modern history — and confirms through public health data a rise in homicides that so far had been identified only through crime statistics.
The previous largest increase in the US homicide rate was a 20% rise recorded from 2000 to 2001 because of the September 11 terror attacks, according to NCHS.
It is the largest increase in 100 years,” Robert Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch at NCHS, said.
“The only larger increase since we’ve been recording these data occurred between 1904 and 1905, and that increase was most likely — at least partly — the result of better reporting,” Anderson told CNN. “We had states being added to what we refer to as the death registration areas, so we were counting deaths in more areas over time. We didn’t have all states reporting until 1933.”
The new data show the US homicide rate increased from about six homicides per 100,000 people in 2019 to 7.8 per 100,000 in 2020, according to NCHS. Researchers at the center noted that the 2020 homicide rate of 7.8 is the highest recorded in the United States since 1995 but is still significantly lower than the rates in the early 1980s, which topped 10 homicides per 100,000 people.
“So, it’s obviously of concern but we’re not at the levels that we were at that time,” Anderson said. “We’re heading in the wrong direction though, for sure.”
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
California’s Gavin Newsom Bans Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers, Lawn Mowers
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill No. 1346 into law on Saturday, which moves to outlaw the sale of gas-powered equipment that uses small motors, primarily impacting the state’s landscaping industry.
This law follows Newsom’s 2020 executive order that prohibits the sale of all gas-powered vehicles by 2035.
According to the AP, “state officials say running a gas-powered leaf blower for one hour emits the same amount of pollution as driving a 2017 Toyota Camry from Los Angeles to Denver, a distance of about 1,100 miles.”
The law prohibits the sale of small gas-powered off-road engines on or after January 1, 2024, or as soon as state regulators determine it is “feasible,” whichever date is later. The law further requires regulators to offer rebates for California residents who switch out their gas-powered equipment for new zero-emission alternatives. In addition, according to The Hill, $30 million is allocated to support professional landscapers in making the switch. The bill’s author, Assemblyman Marc Berman (D-Silicon Valley), told the LA Times: This is a pretty modest approach to trying to limit the massive amounts of pollution that this equipment emits, not to mention the health impact on the workers who are using it constantly.
However, critics of the law cite California’s increased costs to small businesses and the state’s widespread blackouts as significant flaws.
Andrew Bray, vice president of government relations for the National Assn. of Landscape Professionals, stated that zero-emission equivalents cost more than double the $7,000 to $11,000 price of gas-powered lawnmowers.
According to the LA Times, Bray also said, “a three-person landscaping crew will need to carry 30 to 40 fully charged batteries to power its equipment during a full day’s work,” which is another major expense for California landscaping businesses.
Lapid With His Mistakes in Foreign Policy Slowly Destroying the State of Israel
When Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid received the mandate from then-President Reuven Rivlin to form a government after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was once again unable to form a parliamentary majority, he succeeded in luring right-wing stalwart Naftali Bennett away from his natural political partners. He did this by offering Bennett the only position that would get him to break away from the “national” camp: that of prime minister.
The move was a political masterstroke. Despite having promised over and over again not to partner with Lapid, Bennett grabbed the opportunity to take Israel’s top seat. He did so even with a rotation arrangement in place, which has Lapid scheduled to take the reins in August 2023.
The government that emerged from the above deal was the farthest-left possible alignment that could have been constructed. With every last left-wing member of Knesset, it has a razor-thin, one-seat parliamentary majority that, for the first time in Israeli history, relies on an anti-Zionist Arab party.
Lapid currently serves as alternate prime minister—with veto power over government initiatives—and as foreign minister. The unwritten arrangement between him and Bennett is that the latter will handle domestic issues, while the former will deal with foreign policy.
With Bennett and most Israelis focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines and restrictions, Lapid has been free to operate without much attention or criticism from the media or general public. Since assuming office, however, he has overseen a number of highly questionable diplomatic moves.
Demented Biden pushing Israel to allow opening of consulate for PA in Jerusalem
The Clueless Biden administration is pushing Israel to allow it to open its consulate for the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem, a US State Department official told reporters in regards to the meeting between Blinken and Lapid today (Wednesday).
The naive official pointed out that the US still backs the two-state solution and stresses the importance of preventing violence or unilateral steps.
"The Biden administration began with an outright commitment to a two-state solution and we intend to see this happen. We expect cooperation from both sides: this includes prevention of the annexation of territories, building settlements, destruction of property, incitement to violence, and halting payments to terrorist prisoners," the senior official said.
The naive official also said that the US intends to reestablish its nuclear deal with Tehran. “We have had many discussions with many of our allies, including with Israel, regarding America's relationship with Iran. We continue to consult closely with them as this process progresses."
"The United States has stated that it is interested in returning to the nuclear deal if Iran adheres to it and we are working to achieve that goal."
In acknowledgment of the anniversary of the Abraham Accords another state official states that Biden's administration supports normalizing relations between Israel and Arab Countries. "We believe that the Abraham Accords serve as proof of the pros of dissolving prior agendas and barriers between the nations. We are working towards expanding the agreement, possibly to include other Arab countries." She said.
Another issue to be discussed in the meeting today between Blinken and Lapid will be future relations between Israel and China, specifically in trade.
Creator of iconic Chabad menorah accused of child molestation
A new lawsuit claims that the man who crafted what might be the most famous menorah in the world sexually abused a young girl dozens of times in the 1990s and that a rabbinical court failed to hold him accountable.
The survivor of this alleged abuse, now a 36-year-old woman living in Israel, is trying to get possession of her abuser’s brass menorah, which is normally displayed during Hanukkah at the headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Brooklyn.
Her lawyer says that if she succeeds, she’d consider melting it down in a symbolic act against taboos that have kept cases like hers from being known.
The craftsman behind the 6-foot-tall menorah was Hirschel Pekkar (no pun intended). After he died in July, an obituary on a Chabad community news site described him as “a renowned Crown Heights silversmith who created the famous Menorah which stands each Chanukah in 770 Eastern Parkway,” referring to the address of the Hasidic movement’s headquarters.
Think Your Spouse is Cheating? Google pulls ads for ‘stalkerware’ apps that let users spy on spouses
Google has reportedly pulled several ads for “stalkerware” apps that apparently allow users to spy on spouses’ phones.
The search giant already bans advertising apps designed to surveil spouses — which critics say violate privacy and enable domestic abuse — but five companies were still placing ads for stalkerware through Google last week, TechCrunch reported.
After the outlet asked Google for comment, the tech giant said it immediately banned the ads.
Stalkerware apps — which let customers secretly track other users’ locations, read their texts and monitor their calls, among other invasive features — occupy a gray area within Google’s advertising rules.
Google bans advertising apps used for “intimate partner surveillance” — but lets companies advertise so-called stalkerware apps if they are “designed for parents to track or monitor their underage children” or used for “private investigation services.”
Since private investigation services are sometimes used to catch cheating romantic partners, it’s unclear where Google draws the line when deciding whether to ban an ad.
In a statement to The Post, a Google spokesperson said: “We do not allow ads promoting spyware for partner surveillance. We immediately removed the ads that violated this policy and will continue to track emerging behaviors to prevent bad actors from trying to evade our detection systems.”
One stalkerware company called mSpy placed a Google advertisement promising to let customers spy on “your kids, husband or wife, grandma or grandpa,” according to TechCrunch.
Another app, called ClevGuard, promised to “dispel any doubts in a relationship,” the outlet reported.
A third company, called PhoneSpector, allegedly said its product would “catch a cheater.”
Stalkerware apps are more pervasive on Android devices but can also be installed on iPhones and iPads, experts say.
Daily aspirin for heart attack prevention may do more harm than good
t might be time to rethink that daily aspirin regimen.
US health experts have urged a revision to the routine prescription of daily, low-dose aspirin to prevent heart attack and stroke, as studies now show that the practice may put healthy adults at risk of other serious complications.
The US Preventive Services Task Force submitted a draft of new recommendations on Tuesday, which remain in review by peer researchers through Nov. 8.
The panel’s report maintained that low-dose aspirin, at 81-100 milligrams per dose, can reduce the risk of cardiac events and stroke, but at the same time “increases [the risk of] major GI bleeding, extracranial bleeding and intracranial bleeding,” they wrote.
Evidence also points to a “long-term reduction” in the incidence of colorectal cancer and mortality, but “results are limited” as to whether the benefits outweigh the risks for healthy patients with no previous signs of heart disease.
The new instructions would apply in particular to those aged 60 and below who are considered high risk for heart disease or stroke. Meanwhile, those on a daily aspirin regimen due to a prior heart attack should decide with a physician whether they should continue.
Cardiac history aside, the national task force now discourages anyone older than 60 to reconsider taking the daily dose, as bleeding risks increase significantly with age.
“There’s no longer a blanket statement that everybody who’s at increased risk for heart disease, even though they never had a heart attack, should be on aspirin,” Dr. Chien-Wen Tseng, a researcher at the University of Hawaii and member of the US preventative health panel, told the New York Times in a statement published Tuesday. “We need to be smarter at matching primary prevention to the people who will benefit the most and have the least risk of harms.”
The advice comes after the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology issued a similar warning with updated guidelines in 2019, suggesting a daily low-dose aspirin for patients already diagnosed with heart disease — but not for those who are otherwise healthy. Their report, produced by researchers with Harvard and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, found that nearly half of Americans over 70 were taking aspirin daily, some of which had no prior recommendations from their physicians.
The AHA also called attention to bleeding risk in older patients facilitated by aspirin, a type of blood thinner and anticoagulant, as seen in previous studies.
Dr. Jeffrey Berger, director of the Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at NYU Langone Health, called the trend “shocking” in an interview with The Post at the time. His lab studies blood platelets and coagulation as an indicator of heart health.
“The fact that many people use aspirin without consulting their health-care provider is shocking, and likely results from the perception that aspirin has little downside,” he said.
The AHA’s guidelines, similar to the US Preventive Services Task Force update, see that adults over 70 without heart disease, and younger than 40 with increased risk of bleeding, should avoid regular doses of aspirin. Anyone outside those groups should consult their doctor first.
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Girl Hospitalized After Hammer Crashes Through Car Window In Spring Valley
A 14-year-old girl was seriously injured after being hit with a hammer that was thrown through the windshield of the car she was riding in.
The incident took place around 2:20 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 10, just south of Exit 14A on I-87, in the town of Ramapo in Rockland County.
According to New York State Police Trooper Tara McCormick, a preliminary investigation determined that a hammer went through the windshield of a vehicle, striking the front seat passenger.
The victim was transported to Westchester County Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
The incident remains under investigation. State Police are asking anyone who may have information regarding this incident to contact State Police Tarrytown at 800-842-2233.
The Yente Anti-semitke Sally Rooney Refuses to have her new novel translated to Hebrew
It girl novelist Sally Rooney has reportedly refused to allow her new novel to be published in Hebrew because she supports a boycott of Israel.
The acclaimed Irish novelist turned down Modan, the Israeli publisher that translated her previous books, because of her outspoken views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Haaretz reported.
“When Modan approached Rooney’s agent in an attempt to sign another translation deal, the agent announced that Rooney supports the cultural boycott movement on Israel and therefore does not approve translation into Hebrew,” Haaretz reported as an addendum to its reprint of an interview Rooney gave last month.
Rooney’s agent, Tracy Bohan, confirmed that the author had declined the translation of “Beautiful World, Where Are You,”
Modan confirmed that it would not be publishing the award-winning writer’s third novel, but declined to say whether this was due to a boycott, the Telegraph said.
Rooney, 30, has previously been outspoken about her opposition to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, the Telegraph noted.
She recently signed a so-called “Letter Against Apartheid” that called for “an end to the support provided by global powers to Israel and its military; especially the United States.” The open letter also urged governments to “cut trade, economic and cultural relations.”
In her second novel, “Normal People,” the main characters attend a protest against Israel’s role in the 2014 Gaza war, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency also noted.
The reported boycott immediately brought condemnation.
“Boycotting the Hebrew language — spoken by millions of Jews worldwide — has nothing to do with Palestine. It’s just racism,” tweeted Stephane Savary, a member of the National Council Vice-Presidents of the UK-based Zionist Federation.
Fellow author Ben Judah called it “depressing and unpleasant,” while critic Tomiwa Owolade called it “appalling.”
Political pundit Gerard Howlin, meanwhile, insisted, “Sally Rooney’s refusal to allow her new book be translated into Hebrew is book burning in another way.”
Literary scholar Gitit Levy-Paz wrote in Forward that “Rooney’s decision surprised and saddened me.”
“Rooney has chosen a path that is anathema to the artistic essence of literature, which can serve as a portal for understanding different cultures, visiting new worlds and connecting to our own humanity,” Levy-Paz wrote.
“Given the rise of antisemitism in recent years, especially in Europe, the timing of her choice is dangerous.”
Monday, October 11, 2021
DIN & Kabbalah ...
There is a story told about the Gaon of Vilna, who was walking with his talmidim past a bar on Friday night on the way to shul. Suddenly one of his talmidim noticed that a former talmud of the Gaon was sitting in the bar, smoking a cigarette.
The Gaon commented that after this former talmud dies and comes up to heaven to face judgement for disgracing the sanctity of Shabbos, he will still be asked if he learned "maaseh markava" .... Kabbala.
In other words, even ,someone who has gone so far off the religious path that he publicly desecrates the Sabbath, still has an obligation to learn all parts of the Torah including the mystical aspects ... being a "mechallel Shabbos" does not give one an exemption , a pass.
That got me thinking, that before I go, I should delve into some Kabbala. Not that I am done learning Shas, Tanach, Halacha etc., but maybe just to dabble a bit so that I can say I tried, even though I will never be a "kabbalist"
And so I started my journey into Kabbalah, learning Chassidishe Seforim that contain Kabbalistic concepts albeit in a filtered way.
I also learned Tanye. The Tanye was written by the first Lubavitcher Rebbe who is called the "Baal Ha'Tanya" named after his sefer the "Tanye"
In this sefer he describes a kabbalistic concept called "Tzimzum". This is not the forum to discuss this deep concept but just to whet your appetite, let me explain very briefly and simply.
We all believe that Hashem is everywhere. If you ever went to the planetarium, and looked up at the vast sky with billions of stars, you will never find earth on your own. They will direct you to a tiny speck in the sky.
So how does Hashem manifest Himself into our own very lives and bodies, when He is so so huge and compared to the Universe we are so tiny and minuscule ?
The answer is, because Hashem is unlimited and infinite, He must therefore constrict (Tzimzum) His powerful manifestation, so that limitation and finitude can be actualized.
I just gave you a very simple surface explanation, just so that you can follow my story.
After learning Tanye I decided to delve into the Litvishe sefarim and I started learning Nefesh Hachayim, a small booklet written by R'Chaim Volozhin, the star pupil of the Vilna Gaon.
This booklet, Nefesh hachayim was printed posthumously by his son, R' Yitzchok, after R' Chaim on his deathbed begged him to publish Nefesh Hachayim "exceedingly quickly."
R' Yitzchok did not publish it right away and procrastinated and his son, Chaim, named after his father died within the year of his birth and soon after, his 8 year-old son died. R' Yitzchok in his preface to Nefesh HaChayim attributed these deaths for his procrastinating; not publishing the booklet immediately.
In this Nefesh Hachayim, R' Chaim also discusses the kabbalistic concept of "tzimzun" but has a different understanding, (I thought) than the Baal Ha'Tanye, and I was confused.
And even though I understand that Chassidic and Litvishe views differ, but "tzimzum" is "tzimzum" and can only have one understanding.
So one nice day I went into a shul in Beit Shemesh to daven Mincha. There was a half hour break between Mincha & Maariv, and I had time to browse the sefarim in their library and there, lo and behold, I saw on the shelf a two-volume set called "Nefesh Ha'Tzimtzum" by Avinoam Fraenkel.
I brought the book over to my seat in shul and opened it up and saw that it was an English translation of the Nefesh Hachayim. But it wasn't just a translation, it had very sensitive annotations with referencing and cross referencing, and the pinnacle of the book was clear and had profound sections that analyzed and discussed the topic of Tzimtzum in a highly innovative, truth-seeking and meticulous manner.
I decided that this would be my shul, because I became so engrossed in the sefer that I couldn't tear myself away from it. In fact one night I became so engrossed that I forgot to come home and my wife sent people to look for me.
Across the aisle, sat a young man who was apparently watching me as I learned this sefer, and he asked me what I found so intriguing. I told him, that I was trying to reconcile the view of Tzizum of the Baal Hatanye and the Tzimzum understanding of the Nefesh Hachayim, and I was hoping that this sefer would have the answer.
That's when he told me that he was Avinoam Fraenkel the author of those books and proceeded to tell me that he discusses it in Volume two. He then took me to his home and gave me a set of his seforim.
Why am I telling you this?
Avinoam Fraenkel just finished his new book a translation of "Shomer Emunim" a sefer written by Rabbi Yosef Ergas, in the late 1720's. Rabbi Ergas, was an Italian Kabbalist.
Shomer Emunim powerfully responds to those who claim Kabbalah was fabricated. It also explains Kabbalistic concepts simply, dispelling the illegitimate views of those encouraging blasphemous religious compromise by distorting those very concepts.
The original Shomer Emunim Hebrew text, together with its complete, facing-page, English translation and commentary, are presented in an innovative and easily digestible format. See the video below
You can get the sefer on Amazon.
I get no commissions from the sale of these books, and I am only promoting it because I found these sefarim fascinating and I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did.
I get no commissions from the sale of these books, and I am only promoting it because I found these sefarim fascinating and I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did.
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