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Thursday, September 18, 2014

"Worried Jew" writes letter to Matzav Blog


For those in the know: the "matzav" blog is really the English Yated. Since the Yated wants to be the Chareidi voice, it cannot possibly have a website, the Rabbis banned the internet, so to get around the ban, they  pawned the website off to their children, so that it appears as a separate entity! 
This is the way Chareidim operate, and it's no wonder no one trusts them anymore.
But here is a letter to the Matzav editor and my answer!
Dear Editor,
I have some questions for the readers of Matzav.
How have we allowed much of Yiddishkeit to be hijacked by those who have decided to rebrand everything so that it is “fun”? 
It is these people who are promoters of running away to the Ukraine for Rosh Hashanah, when a person’s place on the Yom Hadin should be his shul or yeshiva. They run to a Carelbach-concert-kumzitz type of Selichos, because a “regular,” normal Selichos in their local shul is not “fun.”
Good, old-fashioned, genuine Yiddishkeit is cast aside for the new, more “hip” type of Yiddishkeit, where the Yomim Noraim are a chance to escape to Europe and Havdalah has to be a 45-minute guitar-fest. Conventional Torah learning and davening, and normal Yiddishe dress and family life are replaced by feel-good versions of “anything goes.”
Where is the outcry? Or is there no outcry because most Jews have just gone off the deep end and people like me are now far and few between?
I’d rather hear from Matzav readers that people are just apathetic than hear that most people have been baptized and “farchapt” by the insanity, leaving me and some other yechidim to practiceYiddishkeit in purity, without all the fake fluff and the feel-good Judaic culture that seems to surround us wherever I look.
A Worried Jew
DIN:
Dear Worried Jew.
I am "really "worried" about you and YOUR  "hashkafa".  Personally, I am not for going to Uman for any reason. I will not support the Ukrainians, the murderers of my grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and brothers. May Putin destroy them all.
Since the founding of Chassidism  in the late 1700's, Chassidim left their families and went to their perspective Rebbes' to be with them thru Succos,  nothing new here. The Litvishe Rosh Yeshivos also required their students to remain in Yeshiva, as you point out yourself, nothing new here either. 
The reason being,, that Chassidim felt spiritually enhanced being surrounded by their fellow Chassidim and their Rebbe, and the Litvacks wanted to be near their Roshei Yeshivos to grow in Yiddishkeit and spirituality. Everyone in their own way! 
This surge of Ruchniyois that they experienced during these special weeks, remained and kept them going for the entire year. 
During the times of the Bais Hamikdash, men went to be Oilie Regel, and left their families behind, and that's where all this comes from. 
So, Mr. Worrier, what's wrong if a guy feels spirituality at a "Carlebach Selichos Kumzitz?"
It doesn't fit into your narrow-minded lilliputian brain? For you a guy who wants to get close to Hashem by attending a "Carlebach Selichos" is "farchapt" and "babtized?" 
Did you know, that the Leviyim in the Bais Hamikdash played their instruments while chanting the Yoim? Even on Shabbos!
What do you mean by saying "Good, old-fashioned, genuine Yiddishkeit ?"
What does that mean? Does that mean, shukling and rolling your eyes back into your head?
What's wrong with a "Havdalah that is a 45-minute guitar-fest." Who cares? What matters is that they are connecting to their Creator.
Thank G-D, that we have all these ways to connect. Some go to hear a Chazzon, some seek out a "good baal tefilah" some go to a Rebbe, and some, yes, go to a Carlebach Selichos. What's wrong with that? Because it doesn't fit into your mold?  Only a hat with a 4 1/2" Brim, and fancy eyeglasses with pleated pants, is your derech? Or Bushy, thick brisker payis half over the ear and the other half flying in the wind? 
And if a guy wears a blue shirt, he is an outcast?
What's wrong with "feel-good Jewish culture?"
 Depressed is better? What's wrong with "fun?"
There are many ways to connect to Hashem...

Judaism has evolved.
 In the times of the Rambam, they were turbans .... this Shtreimel, and the hats the Yeshiva guys wear is a new phenomenon,. The Chofetz Chaim wore a cap....
You Shoiteh!
You are the one who hijacked our religion !

Satmars in Monroe Vote for a Shiksa instead of Chassidic guy for Assembly seat

Aron Weider
Elisa Tutini
Nu Nu, pass the bubbilich! 
Satmar decided that a  shiksa will be better for them than the Chassidiser Guy, so they voted as a block for Tutini. I think Weider didn't hold from the shita, and the shiksa is probably against the "medinah" so it's a perfect fit  ... just speculating!

Rockland County legislator Aron Wieder lost the Democratic primary for the 98th Assembly District seat said election officials Wednesday.

Wieder trailed Elisa Tutini of Monroe by 107 votes in last week’s primary, reports LoHud (http://lohud.us/1tizkK9 ).
Outstanding votes were counted for Orange and Rockland counties, showing Wieder lost by 61 votes.
The seat for the 98th Assembly District has been open since Annie Rabbitt became Orange County clerk in January of this year.
Tutini will go up against Deerpark Town Supervisor Karl Brabenec in November.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Avraham Gefner arrested for molesting in Nyack..

Hey guys remember when I broke the story July 31? Well they finally arrested the guy who wants to grope for free!

46-year-old Avraham Gefner allegedly grabbed the thigh and buttocks of a waitress at a South Broadway restaurant, the Journal News reported.
The woman reported the alleged assault to her manager, but Gefner left before police arrived.
Police used normal investigative methods and a search of social media to find Gefner, who was arrested Friday by Orangetown police.
Gefner was reportedly released without bail.
He is scheduled to appear in Nyack Village Court on September 23 right after Selichos!

Monday, September 15, 2014

Meisels Israeli Seminaries give a new meaning to Loshon Harah!


Dear loyal readers, 








I was really hoping that before the Yomim Noraim, I wouldn't have to write or report bad tidings. I'ts a time of reflection and a time of Teshuvah, and I really wanted to take a break. Well, the "Samach Mem" won't let me rest. 
Yesterday in response to an article that I posted on July 23, 2014, titled, "R' Kahane's letter to Chedvas Seminary telling them to "shut up" about Meisels,  I got an email, that made me blow my stack. 
But first  let me briefly update you on what's happening. 
The truth is that the story is now so complicated, that I lost track myself of the present situation. Suffice it to say, that some innocent teenage girls flew 5,665 miles  to Israel to Seminary, to reinforce their spirituality, and lo and behold, Mr. Meisels, owner of three Seminaries took advantage of them, sexually. 
Then R. Kahane, a mechanech at Chedvas Seminary, a Meisels Seminary,trying hard to contain the damage, sent an email to the girls that they are in effect prohibited to speak "loshon hara" and cannot disclose to anyone that Meisels is an admitted sexual predator. Better to let him roam around and contaminate innocent souls than tell the world that there is a sexual predator on the loose. 
If you want to read the story in detail read Frumfollies '
Now read the email and then my thoughts:

Anonymous said...
If people actually knew what the Chafetz Chaim said, they would know that Rabbi Kahane was NOT wrong when he wrote in this private email to a few Chedvas alumni that “…And even l’toeles the halacha is that it’s assur to believe it.”

If you have ever learned Hilchos Lashon Hara, you know that they are vast and complicated. The Chafetz Chaim makes a clear differentiation between acting on lashon hara to protect oneself (and no further) and believing and accepting it wholeheartedly to be true. The latter is what Rabbi Kahane was referring to in his letter.

If you want to twist this to claim that Rabbi Kahane was telling girls not to report abuse to authorities (although his letter was written after the whole Meisels scandal had gone public) that is your choice. But please do not do so on a public forum.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Satmarism vs Zionism Part 4 "Miracles"


Recently, Satmar published a booklet,  שמעו דבר ה׳  a transcript of Reb Yoel Teitelbaum's Shalosh Seudois Torelech given  during and immediately after the 6 day war, in 1967. The booklet is accompanied with an MP3 which is an actual  recording of the Rebbe speaking on Shabbos at Shaloish Seudois.
Notice the arrogant title of the booklet: "Listen to the Words of Hashem," as if the Satmar Shitah is the words of Hashem!

Click on links to read :
**Part 1 Titled "Chabad Shabsai Tzvi" 
was posted on Sept 7


**Part 2 Titled "Zionists Started the 6 Day War " 
was posted on Sept 8

**Part 3 Titled "Israeli Flag Avoda Zara "

was posted on Sept 11


Part 4 "Miracles"

In this transcript, on page 11 of the booklet, the Rebbe denies that there were any miracles during the 6 day war, he says, that all the "miracles" were performed by Satan (Samach Mem)! 
He cannot fathom that Hashem would perform any miracles for the Zionists, since the Zionists are the "avoda zara themselves" and they are "rashaim" and there is no way that Hashem would perform miracles for rashaim and the avoda zara ... he says throughout these  Shalosh Seudois "Toralech", that if anybody holds  that "Hashem performed miracles for the Zionists" then that person is an "apikoras".
The Rebbe throughout his life called anyone that did not agree with his "shitah" an "Apikoras" and a "Meen" 
It was his way, or the highway, he could not have a normal debate,

Before we translate the Rebbe's "holy words" that all "miracles" were done by Satan himself, take a couple of minutes and watch the video!





Page 23 of the booklet:
In this talk, the Rebbe contradicts himself. First he says that these "miracles" were all performed by  the Satan, and then in the same sentence he says that the Satan didn't perform any "miracles".
If your confused, don't worry, you're in alot of company. Through out this booklet the Rebbe talks about the Miracles performed by the Samach Mem, the Satan. Below is just a sample!



"Let's talk, and let's give a little understanding of what happened here [the miracles of the 6 day war],
I already predicted this 10 years ago, in 1957, and this prediction was printed Shevuois, that they (the religious Zionists) will point out that these were miracles! Like the Gemarrah says in Avoda Zara 55, "that whoever wishes to get tamei, gets help from above." 
Therefore the Satan performs miracles for them! 
There is special "chassodim" that there are no miracles yet, what we see now, is all "shetusim and havalim" nothing!
Anyone that knows a little, does not wonder why there are no miracles yet. Looks like as if  the Satan when he doesn't need to .... doesn't perform any miracles, This generation's spirituality is so low that he [the satan] doesn't need to perform any miracles, he only needs to do something that people will be able to lie and say that they were miracles, this alone is enough to make them blind. 
For just nothing, the Satan doesn't perform any miracles, if not there would have been big miracles already. I was counting on more miracles. 
I predicted this 10 years ago, and its not because I'm a prophet and not because I possess  Ruach Hakoidesh, but we see that all this [the miracles] comes from the Satan..."

Page 25 
In this talk, a week later, (now the whole frum world is chattering about the great miracles, since it's now a week after the war) the Rebbe, panics, and calls frum Jews (not Zionists, but any frum Jew) that says the 6 Day war,  "was a miraculous event" ..... 
"Shotim," "Tipshim" and Rashoim" ...
(don't forget, that just the previous week in the Toreleh he said that the Satan didn't find it necessary to perform miracles, here the Rebbe reverses course because of the obvious miracles all around the 6 day war, and admits that the Satan did perform "miracles,"

"Can this be understood? 
We find Shotim and Tipshim and Rashoim, the Religious Liars, that are misleading the world that say "more Miracles" and again "miracles and miracles!"  
G-d should protect us if these were miracles.
I am afraid of [these] miracles! I already said this ten years ago... 
Challilah V'chas, Challilah V'chas, If this were nebech miracles, then this is a terrible catastrophe for the Jews ...... 
these are not miracles but  dressed up naturally. Even the gentile newspapers said that this war is a natural war..
We see what kind of achzarim they (Zionists) are, they are placing the entire Jewish people in jeapordy only because of their honor and their government!
This entire war could have been avoided thru many different approaches, everyone knows that. There is no time now to discuss politics ... but those whose eyes are open, have no doubt!
Just the smear campaign, the apikorses from those who say (that it was miraculous)..
They should have said that Hashem helped them"

Now, my friends, notice, that the Rebbe cannot have a civil debate, he must call religious, frum Jews that don't agree with him:
"Tipshim, Shoitim, Rashoim and Apikorsim!

And for his remark "that even the "gentile newspapers say that this is a natural war"
Let me tell you guys a story.
I'm not going to disclose much about myself, since this blog is not about me, but in my business, I go to West Point on many occasions.  I befriended, during the course of business, a general in West Point, and we became pals. He told me that in West Point, they naturally teach techniques of war, since the students all graduate as officers. They study all past wars, except for one ..... the 6 day war.... why? Because as the General told me ..."there is nothing that students of war can learn from this war, since this was a miraculous war..." 

After witnessing the miracles of the War of Independence, R' Tzvi Pesach Frank z"l commented:
"It has been almost two years since we were privileged to see that Hashem has remembered His nation, saving us with the beginning of redemption (hischata d'gulah) and Israel's Defence Forces have conquered the majority of western Eretz Yisroel. Some retort saying that the State of Israel is the work of Satan. We, however, trust the Gemarrah (Berachos 50a) that states, "Who performs miracles? The Holy One Blessed be He"
(Kuntras Hat Tzvi  page 48).

Now the question is:
Why would Hashem perform miracles thru people who are not religious?

Answer: 
Because he did and does!

Hashem created and performed miracles for Ahav Hamelech, despite him being a Rasha Me'Rusha. 
See the Radak and Abrabanel on Sefer Melachim 1 (20:14) that comment that Ahav himself was surprised that Hashem would perform a miracle on his behalf, since he was an ovod Avoda Zara! 
We also see the miracle that Hashem did on Purim thru the intermarriage of Achashverosh, the Rasha, and Esther.

The Satmar Rebbe (Va'Yoel Moshe, Ma'amer 3 Shevuois ch 131-134) actually discusses Ahav, and says that Ahav was actually a Tzaddik who was overcome by his Yetzer Harah towards Avoda Zara (isn't that everyone's problem, overcoming the Yetzer Hara?). The Rebbe adds (and this is unbelievable) that other than him being an Ovad Avoda Zara, Ahav was not only a Tzaddik Gamur, but sacrificed greatly for the sake of Torah! And because of his Tzidkas, he was respected by the Neveeim and therfore had miracles performed by Hashem on his behalf.  Now, that takes care of the issue whether Hashem would perform miracles thru Rashaim, because  according to the Rebbe, Ahav was a Tzaddik!

The problem with this theory is that it flies in the face of the Mishna Sanhedrin (11:1) that states explicitly that Ahav has no portion to come. The gemarrah in Sanhedrin 102b also states that Ahav wrote on the gates of Shomron that he is a "kofer" of the G-D of Israel. 
All, and I mean all meforshim state that he was a Rasha. The Rambam (hilchos rotzeiach 4:9) states that Ahav was not only an ovad ovada zara, but a murderer. 

 Rav Menachem Kasher z"l (Ha'tekufah Ha'gedoilah ch 2 pp 34-39) quotes passages directly from VaYoel Moshe and offers a point-by point refutation. 
So we see here just One example of how Hashem performs miracles thru Reshaim! So even if you were to say that the Zionists are Rashoim, how can you say that these are not miracles?

Rav Shmuel Kamenetzky says that the polio vaccine was a "hoax" and so are all vaccines!


Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky, is the  founder and dean of the Talmudical Academy of Philadelphia, his wife, Temi, speaks out against vaccinating children. The rabbi wrote a letter on R.B.’s behalf, leading to her son’s principal relenting and apologizing.
When reached by phone, both Kamenetzkys confirmed their belief that vaccinations, not the diseases they prevent, are harmful.
“There is a doctor in Chicago who doesn’t vaccinate any of his patients and they have no problem at all,” said the rabbi. “I see vaccinations as the problem. It’s a hoax. Even the Salk vaccine [against polio] is a hoax. It is just big business.”
Kamenetzky says he follows the lead of Israeli Rabbi Shmaryahu Yosef Chaim Kanievsky, who rules that schools “have no right to prevent unvaccinated kids from coming to school.”
“What about the people who clean and sweep in the school?” argued Kamenetzky. “They are mostly Mexican and are unvaccinated. If there was a problem, the children would already have gotten sick.”
Sharon Billing, a Baltimore nurse and mother, said she once challenged Temi Kamenetzky at a lecture.
“How can you advise young mothers to do this?” she asked the rebbetzin. “You’re old enough to remember whopping cough and diphtheria. As Jews, we are required to guard our health.”
Billing has a cousin born just prior to the development of the polio vaccine.
“He was wheelchair bound all of his life and had the use of only one arm,” she said. “I find it distressing that so many are so uninformed about vaccines.”

Now read a response:
BY RICHARD DAGGETT
082914_cover-lgSo, Rabbi Kamenetzky and his wife believe that vaccinations, not the diseases they prevent, are harmful (“A Healthy Dose?” Aug. 29). Kamenetzky is quoted, “There is a doctor in Chicago who doesn’t vaccinate any of his patients, and they have no problem at all. I see vaccinations as the problem. It’s a hoax. Even the Salk vaccine [against polio] is a hoax. It is just big business.”
I won’t question the rabbi’s authority on rabbinical law, but his opinion on vaccines and illness is just his opinion. I give it no more weight than I would someone who believes the earth is flat. On the other hand, stating that vaccines are a hoax steps beyond his rabbinical authority. It is dangerous. I am president of the Polio Survivors Association. I survived polio … just barely … and work with polio survivors every day. In 1952, nearly 60,000 people in the United States contracted polio, and polio killed more American children than any other communicable disease.
Has the rabbi ever seen a hospital filled with children in iron lungs? Probably not. Why? Because we now have a vaccine!
And calling vaccines “just big business” is an illustration of his lack of serious thought. Does the rabbi grow his own food? Does he weave his own cloth or make his own clothing? I hope he understands that these things are sold for profit and are “just big business.”

Friday, September 12, 2014

Satmarism vs Zionism Part 3 .... "Israeli Flag is Avoda Zara"

Recently, Satmar published a booklet,  שמעו דבר ה׳  a transcript of Reb Yoel Teitelbaum's Shalosh Seudois Torelech given during and  immediately after the 6 day war, in 1967. The booklet is accompanied with an MP3 which is an actual  recording of the Rebbe speaking on Shabbos at Shaloish Seudois.
Notice the arrogant title of the booklet: "Listen to the Words of Hashem," as if the Satmar Shitah is the words of Hashem!

Click on link to read Part 1
Part 1 Titled: Chabad Shasai Tzvi?" was posted on Sept 7


Part 2 Titled "Zionists Started the 6 Day War "was posted on Sept 8

PART 3 Titled "Israeli Flag is Avoda Zara"

In this segment on page 44 of the booklet, the Rebbe says that the Israeli flag is an a Avoda Zarah!

So before I translate what the Rebbi said, I will give you a background of the Israeli flag, to put the flag situation  into perspective!

The Torah assigns great importance to flags (Bamidbar, Ch2)
Long before the Shevotim even needed flags, Yaakov Aveenu fixed the color and design of each flag (Rashi, Horoyaois 6b)
Moshe Rabeinu introduced a general flag for all of Israel. When the Jews left Egypt, they raised a national banner symbolizing their independence, as the Ramban writes :" The children of Israel made for themselves a flag and a banner to raise high" (Ramban, v5).

All of this demonstrates that a Jewish flag is a purely religious concept. Now that we have been privileged to return to our Homeland, we must raise our flag anew with great joy. Unfortunately, we have no tradition as to the colors and design of Moshe's flag. If we knew what that flag looked like, we would certainly, and gladly use it as our State's symbol.

For hundreds of years, the Magen Dovid has been the most unmistakable Jewish symbol around. The Magen Dovid symbolizes Hashem's dominion over the heavens, the earth, and the four corners of the world. It bears the name of Dovid Hamelech, who always trusted Hashem and, therefore, never feared mortal kings.

Thus, when choosing the flag of the Jewish people, we would certainly place in its center this ancient and familiar Jewish symbol. This would demonstrate that we do not rely on our military prowess alone, but primarily on the Rock of Israel, as Dovid Hamelech did. 

To express our commitment to Mitzvos, we would naturally choose a Mitzvah that represents the entire Torah, which is the Mitzvah of Tzizit (Rashi Bamidbor v41) 
What better way to express our commitment to Torah and Mitzvos than by representing the Tzizit on our flag, Therefore, it was fitting to decorate the flag with two stripes, like the stripes on our Talis.

We would also choose a color that represents the Schchina. Techelet, light blue, is such a color, as the Chazal say "techelis resembles the sea, which resembles the sky, which resembles Hashem's throne of glory" (Sotah 17a).
Techeilis resembles Hashem's garments (Bamidbar Rabbah 14:3), and it was used to cover the Holy Aron (Bamidbar 4:6). The Midrash states, "When the people of Israel look at the blue string, it appears to them as if the Shechinah is in their midst" (Tanchuma, Shelach 30).

How surprising it is, then, that the creators of the Israeli flag, who did not define themselves as frum Jews, designed the most religious flag possible.
David Wolfson, a delegate at the First Zionist Congress in 1897, explained why Herzl chose to adorn the flag with two blue stripes, to resemble the stripes of the Talis.

So even if the founder of the State defined themselves as secularists, they harbored religious motives deep in their hearts.

No Jew keeps all 613 mitzvos, not even the Chassidim, not the Litvishe, and not the secularists. Everyone, on his or her own level, struggles with their Yetzer Hara!

Long ago, lived the Navi Hoshia who became very distressed by the rebellious behavior of the Jewish people. He suggested that 
G-D exchange them for another nation that would keep His Mitzvos more faithfully (Pesachim 87a). Hashem commanded him to marry a prostitute and subsequently evict her and their shared children. Thus, Hoshia learned that Hashem will never exchange us for another nation, just as a father would never trade his children for someone else's, even if they sin.

Today's Jews, as well, are Hashem's beloved children. The flag represents the nation, which for the most part, does not outwardly define itself as observant. Nonetheless, this is the nation that Hashem chose and loves. 

Our current task is not to denounce the new-found expression of nationalism, but to teach our brethren, with great love and faith, the true essence of Judaism.
The State of Israel is a foundation upon which Jewish nationalism can develop.  
The flag, does not represent the essence of the State, rather the essence of the Jewish people who live there.
It is true that most Jews living there are not frum, and maybe even anti-frum, but they are our brethren and this is our situation, whether we want to acknowledge it or not.

We are not going to get any Jew closer to Hashem by calling them "Koifrem" and "Rashaim" heretics and evil!

Now read what the Rebbe said in 1967, at Shalosh Seudois, following the 6 day war in reference to the flag!



Loose translation: 
Note: Some words cannot be literally translated, for example when the Rebbe says "geshmadt" it would mean in another context "converted,"  but here he means that they went off the derech or destroyed" So we used the words "destroyed" instead!

" The truth is that the greatest Avoda Zara are the Zionists themselves, The flag that brought so much heresy (kefirah) onto the world .... so many Jews destroyed (geshmadt) , ... 80% of Klall Yisroel they converted into heretics..... 
Entire countries they destroyed ... (they destroyed) the youth with their books ...and what they are doing now over there with force.. 
they killed many millions, this is all with their contaminated ideology of the Medina!
They place the flag in a holy place, woe to our eyes that have seen this!
What we have to live thru in this generation. Caused by our sins!
This is the pain of the days of Moshiach, woe to us that we have to live to hear all this!
There are those who see fit that the flag should remain...they want to place the flag in the Holy Place, .... 
well, That (the flag) is equivalent as a cross placed  in the Holy of Holies!
Not only is the flag like a cross but far worse, it is the Avoda Zara, itself, placed in the holy place...
Whoever thinks like this (to fly the flag) is not a Jew!"

The Rebbe, as you see, doesn't want to be confused by the facts!
"80% of Klall Yisroel" were converted to heretics by the Zionists???  
Didn't the Haskala movement convert frum people into heretics way before Zionism.... Most Haskala guys were actually against having a State! 
They were happy, like Satmar, living in Roumania!
The Flag is "avoda zara?" 
Maybe worshipping the Rebbe is "avoda zara"! 
I say the anti-Zionist idology by Satmar and now the Yeshivishe world is the new "avoda zara!"
I'll take the flag! You can "chop" herring "sherayim!"




Thursday, September 11, 2014

Rabbi Eliezer Berland, alleged sex pervert, flees South Africa,and arrested in Amsterdam, will likely be forced to make Aliya

As the saying goes, you can run but you can't hide! 

R' Berland will soon have to face his female accusers in Israel, who are saying that he forced himself on them, and that he is a sexual pervert!

Shuvu Banim Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Eliezer Berland departed from Johannesburg where he managed to evade police and avoid being arrested.

According to a Kikar Shabbos report the rabbi fled on Wednesday night the eve of 16 Elul for an “unknown destination”.

During recent weeks South African police attempted to arrest the rabbi twice, albeit without success. As a result of the events the rav and his closest talmidim made the decision to leave that country.
Chassidim are trying to remain optimistic, that they will see their rosh yeshiva at the tziyun of Rav Nachman of Breslob in Uman on Rosh Hashanah.
It is likely that he is going to be extradited to Israel.

It has been reported that an international arrest warrant had been issued for Rabbi Eliezer Berland. Rav Berland has been on the run for some time, seeking to evade arrest in Israel for alleged crimes.

South African police almost placed the rabbi in custody while he was attending a wedding but with the help of some of his chassidim, the rav succeeded in fleeing the chasenah without being taken into custody.

Since fleeing Eretz Yisrael, the rav has been in Morocco and Zimbabwe as he continued to evade arrest.


Rabbi Berland’s travels began when he fled Israel around 23 months ago to avoid arrest amid accusations of law-breaking. He first set up shop in Morocco, where he was for seven months until being instructed to leave. He then chose Zimbabwe as his new home, where he remained until his visa expired – as well as being questioned by local police. He was instructed to leave immediately, and then proceeded to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he remained until a few days ago.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Black Christian a rising star of pro-Israel campus activism


Growing up in New Orleans, Chloe Valdary kept kosher, studied the Jewish Bible and celebrated Jewish holidays with festive meals. 

In recent years she has become an outspoken pro-Israel campus activist, contributing regularly to the Jewish press, and speaking and posting widely about the merits of the Jewish state on social media.

But the senior at the University of New Orleans is not Jewish. She is Christian — a member of the Intercontinental Church of God, whose adherents revere the Hebrew Bible and follow the Jewish calendar — and she is black.

In July, Valdary, 21, garnered widespread attention for a Tablet piece in which she accused pro-Palestinian activists of misappropriating the rhetoric of the black civil rights movement. 

In the piece, titled “To the Students for Justice in Palestine, a Letter From an Angry Black Woman,” Valdary addressed the campus group.

“You do not have the right to invoke my people’s struggle for your shoddy purposes, and you do not get to feign victimhood in our name,” she wrote.

Valdary also listed prominent black civil rights-era Zionists, telling Israel’s college-age critics, “You do not get to pretend as though you and Rosa Parks would have been great buddies in the 1960s. Rosa Parks was a real Freedom Fighter. Rosa Parks was a Zionist.” (Parks signed a 1975 letter by the Black Americans to Support Israel Committee, backing Israel’s right to exist.)

Her outspoken support for Israel in the name of civil rights not only cuts against the arguments of Students for Justice in Palestine and other critics of Israel, but also against the drift of much black civil rights rhetoric over the past few decades.

While a number of early civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., were supportive of Israel, subsequent black leaders — particularly starting with the black power movement in the late 1960s — often have been sharply critical of the Jewish state. 

Black power leader Stokely Carmichael described Israel as a “settler colony,” while more recently, professor and activist Cornel West endorsed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal.”

Against that backdrop, Valdary’s stance and identity make her a uniquely compelling voice in the world of Israel advocacy.
“Because so many prominent black leaders are hostile to Israel, it makes it even more powerful to have someone who’s black supporting Israel,” said Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, a hardline Israel advocacy group.

Indeed, a number of pro-Israel organizations, including AIPAC and Christians United for Israel, have made concerted efforts in recent years to develop ties with African-American supporters.

According to recent public opinion surveys by Pew Research Center focused on the conflict in Gaza, black Americans have tended to be somewhat less sympathetic toward Israel (64 percent expressing “a lot” or “some” sympathy for Israel, versus 70 percent for whites), and somewhat more critical of its response to Hamas, with 36 percent saying Israel’s response had gone too far, compared to 22 percent of white Americans.

Valdary, who grew up attending grade school with a number of Jewish friends, said that despite their common religious practices, she didn’t feel a particular sense of personal connection to Jews. That changed in her freshman year of high school, when Valdary saw the 2007 film “Freedom Writers,” in which a high school teacher uses the Holocaust to teach her minority students about facing discrimination in their own lives.
Inspired by the movie, Valdary began to read voraciously about the Holocaust and Jewish history, as well as novels such as “Exodus” by Leon Uris and “The Town Beyond the Wall” by Elie Wiesel.

The themes raised in her reading, combined with hearing news about anti-Semitic incidents around the world, sparked Valdary’s passion for Zionism. “Exodus,” a fictional and highly sympathetic account of the founding of the State of Israel, was particularly influential.

chloe-valdary2
Chloe Valdary spent the summer in Boston working as a consultant for Camera. (Chris Keuhl)

“The importance of Jewish pride as a theme throughout the book really inspired me to take action and do something about the rising anti-Semitism,” Valdary told JTA.

Once she arrived at the University of New Orleans, Valdary threw herself into campus activity, both at her school and nearby Tulane University, which unlike UNO has a substantial Jewish population. 

Her work caught the attention of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, or Camera, which has funded Valdary’s own campus organization, Allies of Israel, at UNO.

One of her pro-Israel rallies at UNO also was noted by a coordinator for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which then sponsored her to come to an AIPAC policy conference and subsequently paid for her to take a 10-day trip to Israel — a trip Valdary described as “life changing.”

Since then, Valdary has worked with and spoken to a number of pro-Israel groups. She spent this summer in Boston employed as a paid consultant for Camera, which is still funding Allies for Israel, and will resume working for the group later this month.

Her mentor, Dumisani Washington, is a black minister who serves as the Diversity Outreach Coordinator for Christians United for Israel, an evangelical pro-Israel group led by Pastor John Hagee. 

Valdary also was a featured speaker at the ZOA’s national convention in March, and she has recorded videos for Americans for Peace and Tolerance, which was founded by conservative pro-Israel advocate Charles Jacobs.

But Valdary also has found a receptive audience beyond the more hardline groups. In August, she spoke at an event organized by The Alumni Community, a New York-area alumni group for Birthright Israel, which is less ideologically oriented. And not all of her fans consider themselves conservative.
“She’s a champion on campus of a Zionism that doesn’t apologize and also comes from a deep place of humanism,” said Rabbi Menachem Creditor of Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley, Calif., who describes himself as a “progressive Zionist.” 

“Her rejection of the demonization of Israel is not based on being a talking head on the right or the left. It’s based on being a very articulate and thoughtful leader on campus.”

Although her views on Israel tend to be aligned with more right-leaning pro-Israel groups, Valdary maintains that her opinions are based on liberal ideals. She argues that Israel’s sovereignty over Arab citizens “speaks to the concept of indigenous people” — the Jewish people, according to Valdary — thus is a liberal value. 

This places her at odds with a number of Israel critics, as well as black leaders such as Carmichael and Angela Davis, who have argued that the Palestinians are indigenous while Jewish-Israelis are colonizing interlopers.

Valdary says that “Israeli society, like any other society, has issues with discrimination, but in terms of systematic discrimination, like apartheid in Africa or Jim Crow, that does not exist in Israeli society.” 

She says that she opposes a two-state solution, favoring a “Jewish one-state solution” in which all citizens in Israel and its territories can vote, but “the culture, the personality” of Israel is Jewish.

Valdary’s political views, and her invocation of civil rights history and rhetoric in the cause of Zionism, has made her a controversial figure and a lightning rod for criticism. Some of the criticism has been racially derogatory, as when blogger Richard Silverstein posted an article of Valdary’s on Facebook with the note, “They finally did it: found a Negro Zionist: Uncle Tom is dancin’ for joy!”

Other criticism has focused more on her aggressive attacks on critics of Israel. In a speech at Brandeis University, writer and filmmaker Max Blumenthal, a harsh critic of Israel, after describing a pair of Valdary critiques of Israel critics Judith Butler and Maya Wind, said, “This is a perfect example of where the Israel lobby is heading, of where Zionism itself is heading, is that a right-wing evangelical has been recruited to attack Jewish intellectuals and to tell them that they are bad Jews.” (Valdary does not consider herself an evangelical or right wing.)

Blumenethal added, “I find it peculiar that someone with no credentials is so outspoken, so heavily promoted on this issue.”

In a response to Blumenthal, Valdary herself invoked race, 
when she and co-author Daniel Mael accused Blumenthal of classifying critics like Valdary as “black people who obviously have no capability to think for themselves.” 

Blumenthal did not mention Valdary’s race in his comments at Brandeis.

After she graduates from the University of New Orleans, Valdary hopes to intern at The Wall Street Journal, on the opinion side, and to study at the Tikvah Advanced Institutes, a right-leaning series of political and economic seminars. 

She also wants to spend a year in Israel. Upon her return, Valdary hopes to start a “Zionist movement,” though her plans on that front are still hazy.
Whatever it turns out to be, though, Valdary will have fans eagerly awaiting her moves.
“Her heart is beautiful, her mind is beautiful, her words are powerful,” the ZOA’s Klein said. “She’s really the whole package.”

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

The Watch that the "gedoilim" will soon prohibit!

Nu Nu! The Chasidishe Rebbes along time ago, "osered" wrist watches, watch them go bananas now!

Apple  strapped computing to the wrist with Apple Watch.
“Apple Watch is the most personal device we have ever created,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said while announcing the hotly-anticipated move into wearable computing.
The watch comes in two sizes and an array of choices of interchangeable, fashionable bands. Cook introduced Apple Watch with the “one more thing” introduction that was a trademark of iconic Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

“It is the next chapter in Apple’s story,” Cook said of the first new product category to be entered by the company since the death of Jobs in 2011.
“We invented intimate ways to connect and communicate directly from your wrist; it works seamlessly with iPhone and it is also a comprehensive health and fitness device.”
Apple has been working on Watch for a long time, and didn’t just shrink the iPhone and strap it to the wrist, Cook told a rapt audience in a performing arts center in Silicon Valley where Jobs introduced the Macintosh computer 30 years ago.
While Apple Watch has touch-screen capabilities, many controls were designed into a “digital crown” button to avoid fingers from blocking screens.
Sensors on the Watch can detect a wearer’s pulse, and the devices tap into motion sensing features in iPhones to provide a “comprehensive picture of activity” and get help working toward fitness goals, according to Apple senior vice president of design Jonathan Ive.
Applications for Watch including map software that guides people to destinations with gentle “taps” on the wrist.
Apple watch will be available early of next year starting at $349.