MK Tehila Friedman’s maiden speech in the Knesset touches a cord with admonition that a Jewish state ‘is not a given’

Israeli society is fractured and fragile, and threatened from within by those who would spread “malignant hate” between its many tribes and communities. So argues one of the most wildly viral videos to ever cross the collective consciousness of Hebrew-speaking Israelis, urging in response “to seal an alliance of moderates with all those who understand the challenge of living together.”

The video is short, a speech in the Knesset by a little-known lawmaker named Tehila Friedman, a backbencher in the Blue and White party who only entered parliament two months ago after Michael Biton, now a “minister in the defense ministry,” resigned his Knesset seat to clear the way.

Friedman has been an active lawmaker in that short time, challenging the Education Ministry on its preparations for a school year in the shadow of the pandemic, and railing at the impact of spending cuts brought on by the budget impasse in the Knesset on Israel’s underprivileged and youth at risk.

Her energetic efforts notwithstanding, none of it brought much attention from the national news media.

Then, on Tuesday, she got up to speak at the Knesset podium for the first time. It was what Knesset protocol labels a “maiden speech,” when freshly-minted MKs traditionally thank their parents and teachers and say something unobjectionable about their aspirations and beliefs.

The soft-spoken Friedman stood at the lectern for just 11 minutes, twice choked up with tears, and sent shivers through the collective national spine.

In just two days, the video of her speech was viewed at least 1.5 million times on Facebook — a sizable chunk of the world’s Hebrew-speaking population. Excerpts were carried in primetime by Israel’s major television news channels.

It was the rare political speech that broke down barriers. Though Friedman hails from centrist Blue and White and railed against the right in her speech, it was shared most enthusiastically by right-wing viewers, from Channel 12 political analyst Amit Segal, whose share was the one that went viral and passed the one-million-view mark, to pundit, comedian and onetime Yamina Knesset candidate Hanoch Daum (48,000 views).

Friedman’s own post of the video was viewed 76,000 times.

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Amazon employee is beaten to death by 'random attacker' in Greenwich Village during another weekend of violence in New York that's seen more than 40 people shot

Deshawn Bush

A man out with friends in New York was beaten to death after a verbal disagreement with an unidentified man on Saturday morning. Deshawn Bush, 36, was found unconscious outside a bagel shop on Christopher St. in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, at around 4.20am. Bush was taken to the Lenox Health Complex but later died from his injuries, authorities shared. He had been out with a woman and a friend at the time of the incidents, authorities shared.  The assailant fled from the scene and is still being sought after by police.  'I'm still shocked,' said Shamel Bush, Deshawn's brother, told the New York Daily News on Saturday. 'I'm still going in and out of crying. I can't believe it, it's just disbelief.'  Bush had recently been hired at Amazon.  

Police are searching for surveillance footage that may help assist in finding the suspect.  It comes as New York continues to see an surge in shootings, with police recording shooting incidents involving 40 victims between the beginning of Friday and mid-day Saturday, NBC New York reports. 

At 10am, an unidentified man shot at a 40-year-old man in Grand Central Station following a dispute, according to police.  Police released surveillance footage of the suspect, who fled the scene on foot westbound on East 42nd Street.  The victim suffered an injury to his left arm and has been taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.    

Shooting incidents in the city have been up nearly triple for the last four weeks, compared to the same period of time last year. The statistics follow a pattern seen since June, as the coronavirus lockdown began to ease.  

Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea have been at odds over what is to blame for the increase. Factors offered include slowdowns in the court system, gang activity and pent-up rage from being in lockdown.    

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

The Rich and Famous are Fleeing Hollywood as the City Turns into a Cesspool of Junkies and Violent Criminals

Junkies and the homeless, many of whom are clearly mentally ill, walk the palm-lined streets like zombies – all just three blocks from multi-million-dollar homes overlooking the Pacific.

Stolen bicycles are piled high on pavements littered with broken syringes.

TV bulletins are filled with horror stories from across the city; of women being attacked during their morning jog or residents returning home to find strangers defecating in their front gardens. 

Today, Los Angeles is a city on the brink. 'For Sale' signs are seemingly dotted on every suburban street as the middle classes, particularly those with families, flee for the safer suburbs, with many choosing to leave LA altogether.

British-born Danny O'Brien runs Watford Moving & Storage. 'There is a mass exodus from Hollywood,' he says. 

'And a lot of it is to do with politics.' His business is booming. 'August has already set records and we are only halfway through the month,' he tells me. 

'People are getting out in droves. Last week I moved a prominent person in the music industry from a $6.5 million [£5 million] mansion above Sunset Boulevard to Nashville.'

O'Brien, 58, who moved to LA from London 34 years ago, is also planning to move to Tennessee. 

'Liberal politics has destroyed this city,' he says. 'The homeless encampments are legal and there's nothing the police can do. White, affluent middle-class folk are getting out. People don't feel safe any more.'

With movie studios still shuttered because of the coronavirus pandemic and businesses only just starting to remove the wooden boards put up after city-wide rioting following the death of George Floyd while being arrested by three white officers in Minneapolis, LA is now in the grip of white flight.

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

MBD Son-in-Law Enters Fight to Purchase El Al

Ok ... enough with the "kvetching" neggunim ...

enough with the "eye ya ya" "oy ya yoi" "boo hoo hoo" "bee hee hee"

This is serious business ..

Businessman and real estate mogul Meir Gurvitz has entered the race to purchase El Al Airlines Ltd., the Israeli airline that has been hit hard financially due to lack of business as an outcome of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Calcalist.

The 56-year-old works out of the US and filed an application to the Companies Authority for a permit that would allow him to purchase between 25% and 40% of the airline's shares.

 

Gurvitz's requested permit would not demand the acquisition of control over the company, unlike that of Eli Rozenberg, the son of Kenny (Naftali) Rozenberg, who was the first bidder announced to express interest in purchasing El Al.

Gurvitz, according to Calcalist, holds a pilot's license and belongs to some haredi (ultra-Orthodox) circles.

The new player in the bid to purchase the airline company is an Israeli, born in Kiryat Atta, who left the country when he was only 15 to study in a religious Yeshiva in Gateshead, in northern England.

Later, after moving to London, he started trading in building materials what led him to real estate. 

In 1996, Gurvitz made his first significant fortune after a successful investment during a period of depression in the British real estate market with his then-business partner Moti Zisser.

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Bahrain Next Country to Sign Deal with Israel

Mossad chief Yossi Cohen spoke with Bahrain's prime minister ahead of the establishment and normalization of relations between Israel and Bahrain, News 12's "Weekend News" reported Saturday night.

At the same time, Bahrain sent a series of signals over the weekend that it aims to be the next country to sign an agreement with Israel.

According to the report, the matter has been discussed for some time, but Bahrain is now pushing for it to happen sooner rather than later.

Also on Saturday, it was reported that Bahrain's Prime MInister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has left on a private journey.

On Saturday evening Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa spoke on the phone with United Arab Emirates crown prince, congratulating him on the country's agreement with Israel.

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Rabbi Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg, Editor Encyclopedia Talmidot , Hospitalized after Stroke

Rabbi Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg, a retired member of the Rabbinical High Court and the main editor of the Talmudic Encyclopedia, fell at his home and suffered a serious stroke.

Rabbi Goldberg is currently hospitalized at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem.

He is considered a leading halakhic (Jewish law) authority among Israeli Jews.

Over more than 50 years, Rabbi Goldberg has given hundreds of Torah lectures at Religious Zionist institutions, and he served as president of dozens of Religious Zionist institutions.

Rabbi Goldberg also served as the yeshiva dean of the Lev Academic Center, and the head of the Shevet Mechokek yeshiva for rabbinic judges.

The public is asked to pray for the complete recovery of Rabbi Zalman Nehemiah, the son of Freidel.

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

UN Security Council Rejects US Proposal To Extend Iran Sanctions

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi (Blue and White) slammed the United Nations Security Council's rejection of the US proposal to extend the arms embargo on Iran.

In a statement, Ashkenazi said: 

"The rejection of the US proposal by some members of the Security Council is a mistake that will undoubtedly lead to the Middle East’s deterioration, which must be stopped."

"Israel condemns the decision of some members of the Security Council not to extend the arms embargo on Iran. We stress that the Security Council was established for the exact purpose of preventing regimes such as that of the Iranian Ayatollahs from amassing military capabilities, which will be used by Iran to seize control of the region militarily and ideologically."

He added:

 "The sunset on the arms embargo on Iran legitimizes Tehran’s aggressive ambitions and the advancement of its military capabilities."

"The extremist regime in Iran doesn't just finance terrorism: It takes an active part in terrorism through its branches around the world and uses it as a political tool, This behavior represents a danger to regional and international stability.

"The international community must take every possible step to prevent Iran from spreading destruction and terrorism around the world."

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Trump's Revenge .. First FBI Lawyer Indicted For Spying Against Trump Campaign

An ex-FBI lawyer will plead guilty to doctoring an email that led his agency to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser, officials said Friday — which the president claimed is clear proof he has been “spied on.”

Kevin Clinesmith will cop to lying, which helped lead to a renewed wiretap of Carter Page, his lawyer confirmed — in what will be the first guilty plea produced by special prosecutor John Durham’s probe of the Russia investigation.

“The fact is, they spied on my campaign, and they got caught,” Trump said Friday after news of Clinesmith’s plea broke.

“What happened should never happen. It’s a terrible thing.”

Trump reelection campaign officials added in a statement that the “abuses of power” displayed in the Russia probe “represent the greatest political crime in American history.”

Durham has been investigating the Russia probe, which examined alleged collusion between the Russians and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, since May 2019, when he was appointed by US Attorney General William Barr.

Clinesmith — whom Trump called a “corrupt FBI attorney” — figured into Durham’s inquiry over a June 15, 2017, email.

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Bibi Netanyahu Chats Live With Ruler of UAE

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Israeli Family Schnorring Because They Vacationed in Switzerland and Fined $61,557.33 For Not Quarantining

The ad featured above is actually a parody .. a fake ad.... 

but in fact people I know in Switzerland have told me that the ad maybe fake but the story is true...

The ad was inspired by stories that happen on a weekly basis as Israeli and American families vacation in Switzerland and refuse to follow the local regulations and then get fined ......

Why go on vacation if you are going to be quarantined for 14 days?

Why are Jewish people making a Chillul Hashem by defying the local quarantine rules? 

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Big Setback for Hatzala "Machers" As Ezras Nashim Receives License To Operate Ambulance

The Ezras Nashim, (aka Chasdei Devorah Inc.) Organization has been granted an ambulance permit by New York State EMS Council on Thursday.

The vote at SEMSCO passed by 23 votes, with two members voting against it. A third person abstained.

The organization will now be permitted to serve female clientele within a 2.7 square-mile area in the Boro Park neighborhood.

Hatzala fought against it as they want to be the ones watching as their neighbor's wife gives birth. They wanted to be with the ones running when a lady falls, G-d Forbid, in a shower...

Now women in Boro-Park will get dignity when being in a vulnerable position ....

Of course we need male Hatzala guys and they should be commended for volunteering their time and efforts ... but women need this too for many reasons ... Ve'hameivin Yavin!

Ezras Nashim founder Judge Ruchie Freier said that she believes that SEMSCO supported the application because they understood that it was motivated by altruism.

“They realized that we wanted to protect women’s modesty and that we had no ulterior motives,” Freier said.

Carson Kessler of The City tweeted that one council member cited the opposition of 49 rabbis as the reason for their no vote and quoted SEMSCO member Donald Duvall’s different view of the application saying, “The idea…that EMS is men’s work and women aren’t capable escapes me.”

Freier expects the ambulance certificate to be issued within the next few days and said that she has been eyeing a Sprinter-type vehicle, whose slightly smaller size is better suited to the crowded streets of Borough Park.  

Having heard that SEMSCO felt it was unfortunate that Hatzolah and Ezras Nashim couldn’t work together, Freier noted that she had spent a full year in 2011 trying to team up with Hatzolah, who told her to open up her own organization.  Despite all that has transpired since then,  Freier said she would still be amenable to working together with Hatzolah.

“We are not fighting with anyone – we are fighting for women’s modesty,” said Freier. “If Hatzolah wants to work with us, my number hasn’t changed.”

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Israel and UAE peace deal is vindication for Trump

Now we’re talking the Art of the Deal!

While it is not unusual in political circles to describe something as a historic breakthrough, it is unusual when the term is justified. Yet that is the right way to describe the three-way agreement announced Thursday by the Trump White House, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Based on its immediate impact alone, you can even call this one an earthquake. In an instant, regional fault lines are redrawn and the door is thrown open for Israel to normalize its relations with other Arab states.

The agreement also dramatically turns up the heat on the Palestinians to make a deal, lest they find themselves further isolated in their standoff with Israel.

“It means they either have to finally come to the negotiating table, or keep going where they’ve been going,” Jared Kushner, the top American official involved in crafting the terms, told me.

Indeed, there is a sweetener in the deal aimed at the Palestinians. Israel’s agreement to suspend its plan to assert sovereignty over much of the West Bank is a huge concession that buys time for the Palestinians, but not endlessly. Kushner defined the suspension as covering the “foreseeable future.”

He said UAE leaders were concerned that the Israeli move would be a “big setback in relationships” and thus pushed for the suspension.

Meanwhile, establishing formal diplomatic relations and starting direct airline flights means Muslims from the UAE will be able to fly to ­Israel and visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. That opening shreds the claim from Islamists that Israel prevents them from worshipping at the mosques, among Islam’s holiest sites.

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Chicago Blacks Sick and Tired of BLM looters and anarchists

by Andrea Peyser

The police have been scorned, demonized, despised and depleted by the woke crowd calling the shots in New York City. Lawlessness, homelessness and hopelessness once again threaten to transform this town into an open-air restroom by day, with mayhem and shootings reigning by night. There is, however, something we can do to stop what seems to be an inevitable slide into the abyss.

New Yorkers must band ­together and fight the madness, like the good citizens of the city of Chicago. They’re mad as hell about the politician-endorsed chaos infesting the streets, and they’re refusing to sit back quietly and take it.

It’s been frightening, for sure. On Monday night, sick kids and their families, more than 30 groups in all, cowered in fear inside a Chicago Ronald McDonald House as looters smashed the front door while trying to get inside.

But on Tuesday, residents of the Windy City’s South Side neighborhood of Englewood decided they’d had enough. In that nabe, a black man allegedly initiated a gun battle with police on Sunday, sparking unrest and widespread looting. But good people joined forces to drive out Black Lives Matter protesters and others who aim to leave police as helpless as ailing children and ordinary folks.

“If you ain’t from Englewood, get the f - - k out of here,” local resident Darryl Smith railed at protesters.

“Y’all don’t come out when a kid gets shot. Y’all come out when it’s got something to do with the f - - king police,” he shouted, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. He demanded that marchers take up their beefs with authorities and leave everyone else alone.

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Zera Shimshon Parshas Re'eh

My Grandfather Wrote the ‘Mein Kampf’ of Lithuania

by Silvia Foti

Research into my grandfather, Jonas Noreika, a magnificent WWII hero of Lithuania, started going off track when rumors arose that he may have persecuted Jews. I hoped further examination would exonerate him, until that dreadful day when I discovered a booklet he had authored in 1933, titled “Raise Your Head Lithuanian”.

Initially, I assumed it would be a rallying call to patriotism and loyalty to Lithuania, then in its 15th year of independence from Russia. I found the booklet rather hidden in my mother’s archives, amid newspaper articles of my grandfather’s heroism, and so was not prepared for what I would read.

Here are some excerpted translations of the 1933 document …

Lithuania belongs only to Lithuanians! 

She is held ransom with our blood. We can become the owners of the existing capital if we exert our will. Let us be open and sincere. Let’s reveal our wounded spots! Let us determine once and for all, what we are creating: A benefit for the nation, the party, or the foreigners?…

Our life is our land

All of Lithuania’s residents are well aware that we are an agricultural land. The farmer carries the entire country on his shoulders. That is why we must first examine the farmers—how are they living? What are today’s farmers doing and thinking? We can answer quickly: They are waiting with clenched teeth. They are waiting for better times! But those better times are not appearing…

…Those who live the best in our cities are the Jews! Thousands of litas rustle through their hands! They sit in the coffee shops dressed smartly and make new plans on how they can get more of our money. Let us declare our news one time loudly! We have been hiding our wounds for too long! Let us not be afraid to look with open eyes at the existing poverty and discord among us!…

…In the land of Klaipėda, the Lithuanians are being overthrown by the Germans, and in Greater Lithuania, the Jews are buying up all the farms on auction. What are we going to do if all the capital and land will be in the hands of the Jews?! . . .

Original plaque of Jonas Noreika, placed in October 2000, which was shattered by a sledgehammer by Stanislovas Tomas in April 2019. Photo by author.

(Click for more on the shattering of the plaque.)

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

United Arab Emirates & Israel Reach Historic Peace Deal ....

 A"peace deal" is a "peace deal" .... 

We must remember that the UAE is not the one killing Jews it's the Palestinians ... so let wait and see!

Israel and the United Arab Emirates have reached an agreement to normalize relations between the two countries for the first time since the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948, according to a report by Reuters Thursday afternoon.

The historic peace deal was brokered by the Trump administration, senior White House officials told Reuters.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is expected to make a formal statement on the development at 7:00 p.m. Jerusalem time.

As part of the deal, Israel has agreed to suspend its plan to apply sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria, for now.

“Israel will suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President’s Vision for Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world,” reads a joint statement to be issued by the US, Israel, and the UAE which President Trump tweeted out.

“Huge breakthrough,” Trump tweeted.

The president later hinted that more diplomatic breakthroughs between Israel and Arab states are likely to be announced.

“Things are happening that I can’t talk about."

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

The Shomrei Emunim Rebbe of Bnei Brak Dies From Vovid-19

The Chassidic world was plunged into mourning Thursday morning, with the news of the petirah of the Shomrei Emunim Rebbe of Bnei Brak, Harav Refael Aharon Roth, zy”a, at the age of 72.

The Rebbe had been hospitalized in recent weeks in the Laniado Medical Center in Netanya, after he caught the coronavirus. 

The Rebbe, Harav Refael Aharon Roth, was the oldest son of the previous Shomrei Emunim Rebbe, Harav Avraham Chaim Roth, zy”a, the Chukei Chaim. His father was the only son of the famed Rebbe Harav Aharon (Reb Arele) Roth, zy”a, the author of Shomer Emunim. He was born in Cheshvan 5708/1947, and was named Aharon for his grandfather who had passed away just a few months earlier. His mother, Rebbetzin Basya Chaya, a”h, was the daughter of Harav Mordechai Goldman of Zhvill, zy”a. Her grandfather, Harav Gedalya Moshe of Zhvill, zy”a, served as sandak at the bris.

He learned in Yeshivas Shomrei Emunim in Yerushalayim, and later received semichah from Harav Shmuel Tobias, zt”l.

The Rebbe served as Rav of the Shomrei Emunim community in Ashdod during his father’s lifetime, and after his father’s petirah, on 4 Elul 5772/2012, he was appointed Shomrei Emunim Rebbe in the main beis medrash in Bnei Brak. He continued his father’s legacy and led the Chassidus to greater heights.

When the Rebbe took over from his father, the court of Shomrei Emunim began to experience his leadership, as he founded a yeshivah in Bnei Brak, Yeshivas Chukei Chaim, named for his father. He also founded many chessed and tzedakah initiatives in the community.

His leadership was lofty and sublime, and he served as a role model for all the Chassidim. Many would flock to the Rebbe’s tischen, and his divrei Torah were published and widely spread.

The Rebbe is survived by his twelve children.

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! 

Nick Cannon Claims Great-Grandfather Was a Jew and a Rabbi

American media personality Nick Cannon revealed that he was Jewish on his mother’s side during an appearance on Monday on the American Jewish Committee’s online program “AJC Advocacy Anywhere.”

“The Masked Singer” host apologized last month for voicing antisemitic conspiracy theories in the June 30 episode of his podcast “Cannon’s Class,” after he initially refused to back down from his comments that caused an uproar in the Jewish community.

In a conversation with Rabbi Noam Marans on the AJC program, Cannon said his mother had been calling him “every single day” since the controversy erupted to share information about their family history.

“My great-grandfather was a Spanish rabbi,” Cannon asserted. “He’s a Sephardic Jewish man. So, as much heat as I’ve been catching from the public and the outside, this hit home for my family in a real way because I come from a Black and Jewish family on my mother’s side.”

KINDLY SUPPORT OUR BLOG BY BROWSING THE ADS

THANKS SO MUCH, IT MEANS A LOT ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES!