Israel, circa 1900: 115 year old photos of the Holy Land

In 2011, Rev. Stephen White brought to Dublin several old cardboard boxes found in the old Church of Ireland Killaloe deanery in Limerick. He delivered them to Dr. Susan Hood, the archivist for the Church of Ireland's Representative Church Body Library.

Above is what a treasure looks like. Boxes of lantern slides -- the precursor to photographic slides and slide projectors

Dr. Hood understood she had just received a photographic treasure: hundreds of century-old "lantern slides" of sites in Ireland, India, and the Holy Land.

Dr. Hood deserves credit for preserving the images, digitizing them and posting them on the RCB's homepage.

We thank her for granting us permission to publish the RCB photographs.

Last year, Dr. Hood and BBC undertook an investigation to discover the name of hitherto anonymous photographer. They were able to identify him as David Brown, a soap manufacturer from Donaghmore who was also an amateur photographer. In 1897 he joined a pilgrimage led by his brother in law, a Presbyterian minister from Northern Ireland.

Healing Chasidishe "Masturbators and Adulterers" — With Psychiatric Drugs

By Batya Ungar-Sargon

These ultra-Orthodox Jews admitted to religious taboos ranging from same-sex attraction to extramarital affairs. The treatment they received was alarmingly severe.

Joseph, a thin man with a delicate bearing and soft gray eyes, has a mellifluous accent that is hard to place – evidence of growing up in the United States but in a world apart. Until 2009, he was living in a religious enclave of upstate New York as a Belzer Hasidic Jew. He worked as a travel agent, spending his days arranging flights to far flung places, often for people with more freedom than he could ever dream of.
Like many Hasidim, Joseph (who, like several of the people interviewed for this article, requested that his real name not be used here) married at twenty. His wife was the first woman he had ever touched, and she got pregnant soon after their wedding. But their sex life left much to be desired for both partners, and then petered out altogether. Joseph says his wife would sometimes decide not to go to the mikvah, the ritual bath required of Hasidic women after they menstruate to “purify” them, making them once again sexually available to their husbands. According to Jewish law, if Joseph’s wife had not gone to the baths, he was forbidden from touching her, much less having sex with her. After their fourth child was born, Joseph says she stopped going altogether.

Joseph grew desperate for intimacy. After two years of celibacy, he finally went to a strip club, Stiletto, on Route 59. A stripper asked him if he wanted a dance and a confused Joseph told her he didn’t know how to dance – was she going to teach him? “She meant a lap dance,” he told me when we met in his Brooklyn apartment, shaking his head with an embarrassed smile. “I had no clue.”

About once a month, Joseph would go back to the strip club. Sometimes there would be other Hasidic men there. Fearful of being recognized, he learned to ask the bouncer before entering if there were others like him inside, and if the bouncer said yes, Joseph would go to Lace Gentleman’s Club, on Route 303.

One day Joseph sold a ticket over email to a Hasidic woman planning a family trip. A mild flirtation developed when she got her ticket and made a throwaway comment about the airport code listed at the bottom of the itinerary – something most customers never noticed. Joseph remembered their first interaction fondly: “I was like, ‘Wow, a chassidishe woman, you know airport codes? You go, girl!’ And she was like, ‘You bet I know!’” The woman, who I’ll call Dini, managed a store. She had an open-mindedness and a brassy confidence that Joseph found intriguing; her curiosity about the world mirrored his own. “I liked her power,” he remembered, and for her part, Dini was drawn to Joseph’s gentleness.

Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis Passes Away: Pioneer In World Of Kiruv

With deep pain and anguish we are saddened to report the petirah moments ago of Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis a”h founder of HINENI and pioneer in the world of Kiruv. With the Rebbetzin’s petirah K’lal Yisroel has suffered an irreplaceable loss.

The Rebbetzin was a trailblazer, for over a half century, crisscrossing the globe with her message of loving-kindness and hope. She was a teacher of Torah to millions of Jews from every walk of life.

She spent her life showing the beauty of Yiddishkeit to Jews across the globe bringing countless neshomos back to their roots.

Rebbetzin Jungreis was born in Szeged, Hungary in 1936, where her father HoRav Avrohom HaLevi Jungreis zt”l was Chief Rabbi.

A Holocaust survivor, Rebbetzin Jungreis made it her life mission to bring back Jews to authentic Yiddishkeit. She was a pioneer in the world of kiruv/outreach and founded the international HINENI Movement.

The Jungreis family had been deported with other Jews from Szeged. After suffering through many concentration camps, B’chasdei HaShem, the family eventually arrived in Switzerland.

In 1947, after being spared the horrors of the concentration camps and the Holocaust, the Jungreis family arrived in Brooklyn, New York where the Rebbetzin married a distant cousin, HoRav Meshulem HaLevi Jungreis zt”l. The newly-married Jungreis couple settled in North Woodmere, New York, where Rabbi Jungreis was the spiritual leader of Ohr HaTorah.

The Rebbetzin, together with her husband embarked on a lifelong mission devoting their lives to combating the spiritual Holocaust that was occurring right in front of their eyes here in the United States. She waged a fierce battle against interfaith marriages, secularization, and other forms of assimilation, which she firmly believed was an existential threat to the continued existence of K’lal Yisroel.

Under the Rebbetzin’s leadership HINENI became a worldwide movement, inspiring Jews to seek out their roots and return to Yiddishkeit. Rebbetzin Jungreis authored several best-selling books including “The Jewish Soul On Fire”, “The Committed Life”, and “The Committed Marriage”, all of which have been translated in many languages with millions of volumes disseminated in every corner of the globe. Her latest book – “Life Is A Test” was widely acclaimed as one of the 10 best Jewish inspiration books of all time.

The Rebbetzin’s pioneering work has been widely recognized, and she received brochos and encouragement from numerous gedolim, including such giants as the Satmar Rebbe, HaRav Yoel Teitelbaum zt”l, HaRav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin zt”l, HaRav Moshe Feinstein zt”l, and many others.

She was also recognized by numerous world leaders for her work within the Jewish community to advance Yiddishkeit. Among them were such notables as the late Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin a”h and President George W. Bush who asked the Rebbetzin to accompany him to Yerushalayim for the celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel in 2008.

The Rebbetzin was an incredible woman – a person who has literally influenced and touched countless people. The many thousands of individuals who were fortunate enough to receive her brocho immediately felt the connection with this unique person.

Rebbetzin Jungreis is survived by her children Chaya Sora Gertzulin, Rabbi Yisroel Jungreis, Slovi Wolff and Rabbi Osher Jungreis, and by many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

The Levaya will be held on Wednesday morning at 11:00AM at the Agudath Israel of Long Island, located at 1121 Sage Street in Far Rockaway, NY.

Boruch Dayan Ha’Emmes…

Every Single Jew Must Watch This Video

HELLO NEWMAN!

The actor, Wayne Knight, most familiar for his role on ‘Seinfeld,’ as Seinfeld’s annoying and conniving neighbor, has landed in Israel. Newman is in Israel to launch an ad campaign for IKEA,  the furniture company.

Israel seems to be popular among Seinfeld’ stars. Last year,  Jerry Seinfeld was in Israel for a performance as part of his world tour.

Protests against Mizrachi the "Holocaust Denier !"

New Chassidishe look?

Steven Hill passes away at 94

  

Shlomo (Steven) Hill, (b. 1922), legendary actor, prominent advocate for Yiddishkeit and beloved father and grandfather, passed away today in Monsey, NY. His impassioned speaking, sage advice and, general example of profound Emunah and Bitachon inspired thousands.

At the height of his acting career, Hill opted to become a practicing Orthodox Jew. This decision entailed enormous Mesiras Nefesh, due to his unwavering commitment of basic Halachic requirements, which often conflicted with the demands of the acting world. Yet, under the influence of the Skver Rebbe, R’ Yaakov Yoseph Twersky (1990 – 1968), he persevered, often refusing major roles and the accompanying allure of wealth and fame. 

Despite his determined allegiance to Torah, he still managed to carve out a long and prestigious career on stage and screen. 

In later years he would remark that he delighted in his acting much more after becoming frum since it was no longer the essence of his identity but simply a career which he enjoyed.

A series of events led Hill in the 50s and early 60s to a fateful trip to New Square, where the hakafos of the Rebbe Z”L and the friendship of the community culminated in his life’s devotion to Torah.

His determined faith and trust in the Ribbono Shel Olam will forever serve those who knew him as a source of strength and inspiration.

The Levaya will be held today (Tuesday) at 2:00PM at K’hal Sharei Tefillah (Rav Schlessinger Shul) located at 7 Nelson Road in Monsey, NY.