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Monday, March 9, 2020
Sunday, March 8, 2020
"Shtickl" Show About Reform Jews Is a Surprise Hit Among the Very Frum
Who knew that a half-hour comedy/drama about the loves and lives of a Reform Jewish family would be such a runaway hit in Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community?
That’s exactly what’s happening with “Shtickl,” the new series from Ori Kumi and Elchanan Duranduransky, now showing on Netflix.
The series stars Jeff Goldblum as Arthur Shtickl, the patriarch of a loving but complicated Reform Jewish family living in Syosset, L.I. Arthur, a psychiatrist, goes to synagogue three times a year and feels bad about it, but feels even worse that his daughter Lindsey is becoming a rabbi and will probably be dependent on him until she pays off her student debt. His wife, Shelly (Fran Drescher), a real estate broker, has opened a boutique selling scented candles, and has been feuding with Linda (Christine Baranski), the synagogue administrator, who refuses to carry her products in the Beth Elohim Judaica shop.
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Ger, Belz And Pinsk Karlin Cancel Purim Tish Due To Coronavirus
With coronavirus spreading in Israel, some chassidish Rebbes took the initiative to contain the viral epidemic by canceling their annual Purim tish.
Ger, Belz and Pinsk Karlin all announced to their chassidim that they would not be holding a public Purim tish this year due the risk of spreading the dangerous virus. A chassidish tish at by these Rebbes would have thousands of chassidim converged into one room and the close encounters with others can make it a breeding ground for the virus to spread.
17 Israelis have already contracted coronavirus and over 100,000 are in self imposed quarantine.
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Saturday, March 7, 2020
Trumpeldor's 100th Yahrzeit Was This Shabbat.... Died Al Kiddush Hashem
The 100th yahrziet of Yosef Trumpeldor was this Shabbat eve before Purim this year.
A century after his combat death, Trumpeldor stands out as one of the most important individuals who played a part in the founding and building of the State Of Israel.
A courageous soldier, a brilliant and indefatigable organizer, and a highly principled and selfless pioneer, Trumpeldor was universally mourned by Zionists of all ideological persuasions.
Born in Russia in 1880, Trumpeldor lost an arm during the Russo-Japanese War at the 1904/1905 Siege of Port Arthur. Taken off of the front-lines because of his injury, he pleaded with his commander: “Even though I have only one arm, it is my right arm, and my request is that I be given a sword and rifle to continue to fight.”
Later he was a prisoner of war and organized Zionist activities for hundreds of Jewish fellow captives.
Trumpeldor rose to become an officer in the Czarist army, an extremely rare accomplishment for a Jew. After returning from the war, the intensification of Russian anti-Semitism convinced him that as a Jew, he had no future in Russia. His thoughts turned again to practical Zionism and he decided to leave Russia for the Land of Israel.
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Nazi Flag Display at Sanders Rally
The display of a Nazi flag by a man at a Bernie Sanders campaign rally in Arizona drew condemnation from Jewish American groups on Friday amid ongoing worries about Democratic candidates’ security at public events.
Images of a flag depicting the Nazi swastika symbol that was displayed at Sanders’ Thursday night rally in Phoenix began circulating online after the incident.
“Good people, regardless of how they vote, should call this out in no uncertain terms,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in an interview, adding that “I worry we’ll see more of this” given the anti-Semitism that emerged, particularly online, during the 2016 campaign.
The American Jewish Committee tweeted in response to reports of the Sanders rally display that “Nazi flags are symbols of pure hate and have no place anywhere in America, much less in a rally for a Jewish presidential candidate.”
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US Sending 94 Year-Old Nazi Back To Germany
A Tennessee man who served as a guard in a Nazi concentration camp at Neuengamme has been sent back to Germany.
Friedrich Karl Berger was ordered by judge Rebecca L. Holt on Thursday to return to his home country, where he is still a resident and continues to receive a pension 'for wartime service'.
The now 94-year-old was said to have been 'willing' to work at the subcamp in Meppen, where prisoners were held during the winter of 1945 in 'atrocious' conditions.
Widower Berger, who came to the US in 1959 with his wife and daughter and has two grandchildren, told The Washington Post: 'After 75 years, this is ridiculous. I cannot believe it. I cannot understand how can happen in a country like this. You’re forcing me out of my home.
Berger is said to have been 'part of the SS machinery of oppression that kept concentration camp prisoners in atrocious conditions of confinement', according to Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski.
The court heard that Berger, who came to the US legally, admitted that he guarded prisoners to prevent them from escaping.
And with the advance of Allied forces Berger even helped guard the prisoners during their forcible evacuation to the Neuengamme main camp after the Nazis abandoned the sub camp at Meppen.
The two-week move, in March 1945, claimed the lives of some 70 people.
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Israeli Researcher Finds 2000 year-old Caves with Help of Josephus Flavius.
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Friday, March 6, 2020
List of 12,000 Nazis Living in Argentina during the 1930s Who hid Jewish money in Swiss banks
Researchers have discovered a list of 12,000 Nazis who lived in Argentina in the 1930s including many who hid stolen money in Swiss bank accounts.
The long-forgotten list was found in a store room at a former Nazi headquarters in Buenos Aires and handed to the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Centre.
The centre said it believed that the 'long-dormant' bank accounts could still hold funds which were looted from Jewish victims under Nazi rule.
Although Argentina is better known as a refuge for exiled Nazis after World War II, many also lived there in the 1930s while a pro-Nazi military regime was in power.
Many such records were burned when another pro-Nazi regime took power in 1943.
However, the surviving list was discovered by Argentine investigator Pedro Filipuzzi and handed to directors at the Wiesenthal Centre.
Many of the Nazis on the list held funds that were sent to a bank called Schweizerische Kreditanstalt, now known as Credit Suisse.
'We believe very probable that these dormant accounts hold monies looted from Jewish victims, under the Nuremberg Aryanization laws of the 1930s,' the Wiesenthal Centre said in a letter to Credit Suisse.
'We are aware that you already have claimants as alleged heirs of Nazis in the list.'
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Thursday, March 5, 2020
Eretz Yisroel ..... Explaining the Different Views ..... by DIN. Part 2 .."Rambam's View"
Before we begin discussing the Rambam's view on the Mitzvah of "Yishuv Eretz Yisrael,"
I would like to preface our discussion with a Shlah Hakodesh
(d. 1630):(he is buried right next to the Rambam)
צריך כל איש ישראל לחבב את ארץ ישראל ולבא אליה מאפסי ארץ בתשוקה גדולה, כבן אל חיק אמו, כי תחילת עונינו שנקבע לנו בכיה לדורות יען מאסנו בה
{ספר השל''ה שאר האותיות ק-קדושת המקום ד''ה עוד כתב( [בשם ספר החרידים )
I am translating loosely ...
"Every single Jew must be a lover of Eretz Yisrael, and come to her from the corners of the earth with a great desire, like a child running to his mother's lap, Because Hashem designated a day (Tisha Bav) of crying for generations because of our sins ....the sin of hating her (Eretz Yisrael.)
Powerful words!
Let us together learn the view of the Rambam.
The last post was Part 1, and it was our introduction to the series of the Mitzvah of Yishuv Eretz Yisrael!
Lamma Lo?
A Jewish man from Cleveland, Ohio, brought a llama wearing a tuxedo and a kippah to his sister’s wedding, following through on a 5-year-old vow.
Mendl Weinstock arrived with Shocky the llama, which he rented from a llama farm, on Sunday to the wedding of his older sister Riva.
Mendl told Riva five years ago, when she wasn’t even dating, that he would bring a llama to her wedding to tease her over how often she spoke about getting married, he told Insider in an interview for an article that was published Tuesday.
“She tried to use reverse psychology on me and said, ‘OK, the llama is invited to the wedding,’” he said.
Riva was engaged in October, and Mendl told her that he intends to hold her to her words.
And he made sure she remembered.
“He has been torturing me with this, in good fun, and has been reminding me of this probably twice a week for the last five years,” Riva told Insider. “I have tried striking so many deals, I have tried doing literally everything possible to make sure it didn’t happen, and lo and behold, there was a llama at my wedding.”
Mendl had the tuxedo and kippah specially made for his guest.
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Here’s how to tell if you have the coronavirus — and when to see a doctor
With the coronavirus outbreak spreading across the US, fears of catching the new illness have spiked — but coming down with a fever and cough doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve been infected.
So how can you tell if you have the virus? And when should you see a doctor?
Symptoms of the coronavirus — fever, cough, runny nose — are similar to those of the common cold or the flu.
If you’re experiencing those symptoms but feel like you can manage them with over-the-counter drugs from the comfort of your home, experts say that’s what you should do.
“If you feel well enough that if it weren’t for coronavirus you wouldn’t see a doctor, don’t see a doctor,” Lauren Sauer, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine, told The Washington Post.
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Crying Schumer Threatens Supreme Court Justices ... Wants Them To Vote Permitting Killing of Newborn Babies!
“I want to tell you Gorsuch. I want to tell you Kavanugh. You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price!”
— Chuck Schumer at a pro-choice rally near SCOTUS as the court hears arguments about Louisiana’s abortion law
“There can be few things worse in a civilized, law abiding nation, than a United States Senator openly, and for all to see and hear, threatening the Supreme Court or its Justices,” Trump wrote on Twitter Wednesday night.
“This is what Chuck Schumer just did. He must pay a severe price for this!”
Earlier Wednesday, at a rally on the steps outside the high court, Schumer warned Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh would “pay the price” if they voted to restrict abortion rights.
The court was hearing a challenge to a Louisiana state law that required doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic. Opponents said the law would limit women’s access to abortion in the state.
“I want to tell you Gorsuch, I want to tell you Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price,” Schumer said. “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”
Schumer’s comments even elicited a rare public rebuke from Supreme Court Justice John Roberts.
“Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangers,” Roberts wrote on official Supreme Court letterhead.
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Israel to France, Germany, Spain, Austria and Switzerland STAY HOME!
Israel on Wednesday imposed tough new travel restrictions on five European nations due to fears of coronavirus, barring entry to almost all non-residents of the Jewish state arriving from these affected countries.
Israel had earlier in the day ordered all citizens and residents returning from the five countries -- France, Germany, Spain, Austria and Switzerland -- into 14-day home quarantine upon entering the country.
The measures come on top of restrictions previously imposed on arrivals from mainland China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Macau, South Korea, Japan and Italy.
Guidelines issued by the health ministry on Wednesday afternoon declared that foreigners from the affected European countries "will not be able to enter Israeli territory unless they can prove they have a place to stay in quarantine".
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Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Frum Attorney and his Wife, children, and neighbor test positive for Coronavirus
The wife and two children, including a Yeshiva University student, of a Midtown lawyer infected with coronavirus also have been diagnosed with the illness, along with a neighbor — bringing to six the number of confirmed cases in the state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday.
“They’re home on self-quarantine,” the governor said at a press conference in Albany, referring to the four people, including the neighbor, who had driven the Westchester County man to a hospital.
“We have unfortunately received news this morning that our student has tested positive for COVID-19. Our thoughts are with him and his family as well as to all those affected,” Yeshiva University said in a statement.
“We are taking every precaution by canceling all classes on Wilf Campus in Washington Heights. This includes all in-person graduate courses on that campus as wall as the boys’ high school,” it added.
The 20-year-old undergrad lived on campus at Yeshiva, officials said Tuesday, though he had not been there since Thursday, when his father — identified by sources as Lawrence Garbuz, 50, of New Rochelle in Westchester County — was admitted to NewYork-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville.
On Wednesday morning, two people who had contact with the student were taken to Bellevue Hospital for testing, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.
“We will continue working closely with our State partners to ensure we are doing everything we can to keep New Yorkers safe,” Hizzoner said.
The Yeshiva student had been quarantined at his parents’ home, along with his mother and sister, while his dad remains hospitalized at NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center in Manhattan, where he was transferred Monday.
His 14-year-old sister attends the private Jewish SAR Academy in Riverdale that closed Tuesday for “precautionary measures” — as did its nearby sister school, the SAR High School. The school remained closed Wednesday.
“By definition, the more people you test, the more people you will find who test positive,” the governor said at the Albany news conference.
He also said about 300 students and faculty from SUNY and CUNY schools studying abroad in five high-risk countries — China, Iran, Italy, Japan and South Korea — would be brought home on a charter flight and quarantined in dorms for 14 days.
The sixth coronavirus patient is a 39-year-old health care worker who arrived from Iran and is self-isolated at her Manhattan home, where she is feeling better, Cuomo said. Her husband, who traveled with her, tested negative for the disease, he added.
Also testing negative was a “cluster” in Oneida County and six people in Buffalo who had been isolated in their homes after recently traveling to a part of Italy where travel warnings have been issued.
Temple Young Israel in New Rochelle, where the Westchester patients are congregants, has been ordered to suspend services and some members have been ordered to self-quarantine because of possible exposure.
Garbuz’s two other children are in Israel, according to Westchester County Executive George Latimer.
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Rebbelich Going Into Panic As Chassidim Refuse to Kiss Their Hands Because of Corona
Rumors have it that the Rebbelich are perplexed by this new plague, and are trying to figure out ways to continue having the Chassidim kiss their hands....
Chassidim have decided that it's enough that they have to share their Rebbe's soup, luckshin and bubbelich!
My sources say that kissing the hands of a Rebbe that had his hands kissed by hundreds, and we have no idea where those hands were before, is a breeding ground for hoof and mouth disease.
In Israel, Chief Rabbi Lau asked that people stop kissing the mezuzah, stating that R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach z"l never kissed the mezuza ..he would just raise his hand toward the mezuzzah!
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Shaked: Israeli Left Trying to Destroy Israeli Democracy
Former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Yamina) on Wednesday attacked the imitative of the Blue and White and Joint Arab List parties to advance legislation that would prohibit the president from imposing the task of forming a government to people under indictment.
"The left-wing camp that has the rule of law in its throat is trying to change the rules of the game and cancel the results of elections right afterwards through personal and retroactive legislation, is a violation of the foundation of Israeli democracy," Shaked said.
On the results of the election,
Shaked said, "Of course, we expected more, and the right-wing bloc will achieve 61 seats. We have to wait for the results of the truth and see how a government can be formed. For the Israeli public, every effort must be made to form a government."
"Of course we would be happy if Liberman would come in but even if not alternatives will have to be found," MK Shaked stressed.
Earlier, due to Blue and White's attempt to pass a law that would prevent Netanyahu from forming a government, Knesset legal advisor Ilan Yinun made it clear that private legislation is not possible during this period.
"As a rule, the Knesset plenum and Knesset committees do not convene in the two weeks between the elections and when the new Knesset convenes."
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