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Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Satmar Rebbe, Reb Aaron Teitelbaum Visits Otisville Jews

The Satmar Rebbe R' Aaron Teitelbaum met some 20 Jewish men in Otisville prison, including Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin.
I will give credit where credit is due! I believe, even though people are locked up, they still deserve some chizuk, and if Reb Aaron Teitelbaum offered chizuk, then "kol hakovod" 
The only thing that I don't get is why Reb Aaron needed a translator, he speaks fluent English!

By COLlive reporter

Jewish prisoners at the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York, enjoyed an uplifting encounter before the start of the holiday of Chanukah, last week.

The Satmar Rebbe of Kiryas Joel, R' Aaron Teitelbaum visited the medium-security federal prison for male inmates on Monday, December 15, and spoke about the power of spiritual freedom.

About 20 Jewish inmates met him in the prison chapel and prayed Mincha service together. For a total of one hour, the Satmar Rebbe spoke with each person present, encouraging them to stay strong and hopeful.

Serving as his translator and ad hoc gabbai was Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, the Lubavitcher chossid sentenced to 27 years in prison for running the now-bankrupt Agriprocessors kosher meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa.

"Sholom Mordechai welcomed him in English," a Satmar source told COLlive.com. "The Rebbe said Divrei Torah in Yiddish and Sholom Mordechai translated it into English. And when they came to give 'kvitlach' he helped as well."

In his most recent email to his family, Rubashkin discussed the "contradictions and opposites" that can be found in "the place called prison."

"Starting with the opposites used to 'bring' the prisoner to the 'correctional' facility which in truth is a punitive facility, where a person's soul is constantly being destroyed, where the body is hardly fed enough food, and "served' in a 'Dining Hall' under flowery names that hide more than reveal."

He continued to describe prison as a place "where prisoner's clothes is called a 'uniform', and a prison cell is referred to 'home'; Where the claim is to promote family ties, yet the phones time with a child is limited to an impossible 9 minutes a day; Where torture of 'Solitary Confinement' is called 'Special Housing' and is for the person's 'Safety'."

The Satmar Rebbe raised a L'chaim with the prisoners - only it was said on grape juice. Prisoners told him they plan to light the Menorah with olive oil over the course of Chanukah.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Is "ALIYAH" a Mitzvah Today? If YES, Then what is the Torah Policy, Vis a Vis Security?

Rabbi Eliezer Melamed
The writer is Head of Yeshivat Har Bracha and a prolific author on Jewish Law, whose works include the series on Jewish law "Pininei Halacha" and a popular weekly column "Revivim" in the Besheva newspaper. 

This article appears in the ‘Besheva’ newspaper, and was translated from Hebrew.

From time to time the question arises: Is it possible to learn from the Torah and halakha what the State of Israel’s proper security policy should be, and can Torah scholars, occupants of the study halls, run the security policy of the State?

While the answer is extremely complex, basically, it can be summarized in one sentence: the principles certainly should be learned from the Torah, but their implementation is contingent on the overall, existing situation.

Therefore, in order to implement the Torah’s vision, first, Torah scholars must thoroughly clarify the principles of the Torah. 

Alongside these Torah scholars, there is a need for extremely intelligent people who understand the principles of Torah and believe in them, and at the same time, understand the political and security state of affairs in all its components, in order to examine how to implement the vision. And among these intelligent people must evolve leaders who are capable of actualizing the practical idea into reality.

At the same time the public is busy electing its operative leaders, we must endeavor to fulfill our task of clarifying the principles – without which the vision cannot be realized.

The first principle that needs to be learned from the Torah is – think before you act. Study precedes action. First we must know what we are striving for, because the more unclear the goal is, the more difficult it is to achieve. 

This is the underlying problem of Israeli policy: on the one hand, they say they desire only calm, peace and tranquility. On the other hand, beneath the surface and beyond official statements there is a yearning for redemption, the in gathering of the exiles, and settling the Land – and in times of need, Jews are even willing to sacrifice their lives in order to achieve this vision.

If you listen carefully to the words of the key leaders of the State of Israel, this discrepancy can almost always be detected.


Let's begin clarifying the principles.

The Mitzvah of Settling the Land of Israel

The foundation of Israel’s policy lies in God’s promise of the Land to our forefathers, and the Biblical mitzvah (commandment) to settle it. Without the promise and the mitzvah, the Zionist movement would not have emerged, and the State of Israel would not have been established.

Ramban’s Position - Conquest and Settlement

The chief spokesman for the mitzvah of yishuv ha’aretz (settling the Land) is Ramban, Nachmanides, who practiced what he preached by making aliyah and to Israel and founding a community in Jerusalem. To this day, the Ramban synagogues in Jerusalem bear his name.
He wrote: "We were commanded to take possession of the Land which the Almighty, Blessed Be He, gave to our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and not to abandon it to other nations, or to leave it desolate, as He said to them (Numbers 33:53-54): ‘You shall inherit the Land and dwell in it, for I have given the Land to you to possess it…’ (Supplement to the Sefer HaMitzvot of the Rambam, Positive commandment #4). The meaning of the word ve’horashtem (‘you shall inherit’) is to conquer – namely, Israeli sovereignty over the Land; andthe meaning of the word ve’yeshavtem (‘to dwell in’) is to settle the Land, so it won’t be desolate."
The mitzvah requires Israel to conquer the Land, "and this is what our Sages call a milchemet mitzvah [war by commandment] (Sotah, chapter 8, Mishna 6) .... and in the words of Sifri ‘ve’yarashta, ve’yashavta ba’ – in the merit of your inheriting (conquering), you will dwell…" 

And in order for us not to mistakenly think that the mitzvah was given only to the Jews who left Egypt in the times of Joshua, Yehoshua bin Nun, Ramban emphasizes that the mitzvah requires all generations not to abandon the Land "to other nations at any time…behold, we are commanded with the conquest of the Land in every generation." By virtue of this positive commandment, every individual Jew is required to dwell in the Land of Israel, "even in the times of exile."

Notwithstanding, for many generations the Jewish nation was in a state of oh’nes (coercion) stemming from the exile of both body and mind and could not fulfill the general mitzvah; consequently, most individual Jews were negligent in making aliyah. But in recent times, by the grace of God, Hashem began to allow our redemption to flourish, our situation changed, and we can now fulfill the mitzvah, both as a nation and as individuals.

It is important to further add that this mitzvah overrides pikuach nefesh (saving lives) of individuals, for we were commanded to conquer the Land and Torah did not intend for us to rely on miracles, and since in all wars there are casualties, the mitzvah of kibush ha’aretz (conquering the Land) requires us to risk lives for it (Minchat Chinuch 425, 604; Mishpat Kohen, pg. 327).

Rambam’s Position - Settlement and Defense

Albeit, Rambam, Maimonides, did not write in his rulings that 
Israel is commanded to conquer the Land. It seems that in his opinion the mitzvah to conquer the Land was assigned to the generation olei Mitzrayim (those who left Egypt), and apparently, to the kings of Israel throughout history as well.
There is a general and basic mitzvah for every Jew to live in Israel, Eretz Yisrael, and for the Jewish People, Am Yisrael, to establish its nation in the land. The reason Rambam did not count this mitzvah in his 613 commandments, is that the rule on which he based his counting is that he would not include general mitzvot on which other mitzvot are contingent. Many mitzvot are contingent on the mitzvah of yishuv ha’aretz, including all the agricultural commandments that apply only in Israel, mitzvot ha’te’luyot ba’aretz, the mitzvah to erect the Beit Hamikdash, sanctification of the months, not giving the seven nations a foothold in the land (‘lo techanem’),  the prohibition of extraditing a slave who escaped to Israel, and the mentioning of the Land in the Grace ater Meals, birkat ha’mazone.

Nevertheless, according to the Rambam, if the Gentiles conquer the Land of Israel and exile the Jews, there is no obligation for Israel to initiate a war to re-conquer the Land. 

Rather, the mitzvat ha’milchama (war) mentioned in the Torah presently applies only to “ezrat Yisrael me’yad tzar” (helping to save Israel from an enemy).

In other words, according to the Rambam this is the realistic plan for settling the Land – progressively more Jews are to immigrate and settle in Eretz Yisrael and gradually strengthen the Jewish community in the land. 

Then, one of two things will happen: either, in a process of great teshuva (repentance), they will merit a miraculous redemption leading to full sovereignty, or, in a gradual process, the Jewish presence will grow stronger in their land and if nations endanger their existence – the Torah mitzvah of going to war to save Israel will be applicable.

In this situation, the mitzvah of going to war is not only for defensive purposes, but also to attack in order to defend. As our Sages said regarding Shabbat, if Gentiles come to steal even minor things such as straw or hay from towns situated on the border, it is a mitzvah to profane the Sabbath and go out armed to fight them, for if the residents do not react to the theft of straw and hay, in the end, the Gentiles will come to murder (Hilchot Shabbat 2:23). Thus, out of the need to defend, sovereignty is achieved (Milumdei Milchma, sect. 1).

The Precedent of the First and Second Temples

It can be said that in the opinion of the Rambanthe obligatory example of fulfilling the mitzvah of settling the land, yishuv ha’aretz, for future generations is the conquest and settlement of the Land by Yehoshua bin Nun and his contemporaries

Therefore, the mitzvah incumbent on Israel when they are in exile or under foreign rule is to strive with all their might to achieve sovereignty, and be willing to initiate a war to conquer the Land and liberate it from foreigners.

On the other hand, in the opinion of the Rambam, the obligatory example is the manner Israel acted during the Second Temple, where initially the Jews settled in Eretz Yisrael under the auspices of the ruling Gentiles, and eventually the community expanded to the point where the need to protect their existence, both spiritual and physical, forced them to fight the rulers and restore sovereignty and kingdom to Israel.
The Rambam writes: "In the era of the Second Temple, the Greek kingdom issued decrees against the Jewish people, attempting to nullify their faith and refusing to allow them to observe the Torah and its commandments. They extended their hands against their property and their daughters; they entered the Sanctuary, wrought havoc within, and made the sacraments impure.”
“The Jews suffered great difficulties from them, for they oppressed them greatly until the God of our ancestors had mercy upon them, delivered them from their hand, and saved them. The sons of the Hasmoneans, the High Priests, overcame them, slew them, and saved the Jews from their hand.”
“They appointed a king from the priests, and sovereignty returned to Israel for more than 200 years, until the destruction of the Second Temple” (Laws of Hanukkah 3:1). 
And for this, we thank and praise God during Hanukkah.
The Difference between the Two Approaches

In practice, the actual difference between the Rambam and Ramban is not great. For even the Ramban would agree that the entire country should not be conquered all at once, as the Torah instructed us first to conquer the essential areas of the country and gradually expand, and that war should be conducted according to rational considerations without relying on miracles.
Rambam, who holds that a milchemet mitzvah is only a defensive war, also recognizes the historical fact that it is almost impossible for a large Jewish community to defend itself without sovereignty, and that there is no defense without deterrence - including capturing the locations from which the attackers come.

Nevertheless, in principle, there is a considerable difference between them: according to Ramban’s approach, first we must strive to conquer the Land and afterwards settle it, whereas the Rambam’s approach is to first strive to settle the Land and then protect its inhabitants, a reality which usually requires war for sovereignty.

In Practice

How wonderful it would have been had we merited complete repentance and fulfilled the obligation to live in Israel according to the words of the Ramban – or “even in a city of mostly non-Jews”, in the words of Rambam. Had most of the Jewish people ascended to their land way before the Holocaust, to settle it and re-establish their sovereignty, millions of Jews would have been saved and the Final Redemption would have been brought closer.

Not having achieved this, the main ingathering of the exiles began only after the Holocaust; few in number and out of the need for self-preservation, Holocaust survivors and refugees from the Diaspora merited establishing the State of Israel.

Future Policy

In light of what we have learned, the right policy according to the Torah emerges and becomes clear; a policy which includes a combination of all the principles presented by Rambam and Ramban: aliyah, settlement, defense and conquest.

The basic declaration of the State of Israel should be that of the Ramban: as members of the Jewish nation, and according to our holy Torah, we strive to settle all areas of our country – from the Nile River of Egypt to the Euphrates, on both sides of the Jordan. 

Only non-Jews who are lovers of Israel, who believe in the Torah, and observe the Seven Noahide commandments, are permitted to be citizens in our country (according to the laws of ger toshav [resident alien]).

However, as a peace-loving people who have respect for all human beings, we restrain our aspirations and do not intend to initiate a war of conquest, and do not intend to deport foreigners who fail to completely identify with our aspirations.

However, if God forbid, our enemies dare to attack us, we will take advantage of any war to gradually expand the boundaries of our country. 

And if the non-Jews living with us dare to threaten our sovereignty, in addition to crushing the violence, we will work to gradually remove them from the country.

All normal countries act this way towards their sworn enemies, however, we are not like all other nations; therefore, only when we understand that a sacred value guides us to do so, will we be able to achieve this policy with wisdom, determination, and sensitivity.

By adopting this political policy, a policy of vision in addition to those anchored in moral and historical considerations, we will be able to cope with international pressure in a much more successful manner.

Brandeis University student leader does not "care that NYPD Officers were murdered"

Khadijah Lynch, the America hater
Following the execution of two New York Police Department officers, a Brandeis University student leader wasted no time in making it clear that she did not care that they were murdered.
“i have no sympathy for the nypd officers who were murdered today,” Khadijah Lynch, a junior and an Undergraduate Department Representative in the African and Afro-American Studies Department, wrote on Twitter. 
Two NYPD officers were shot execution style by a Baltimore gang-member, identified as Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who boasted about killing cops before embarking on his rampage. 
This is not the first time that Lynch has made questionable statements on race relations in the United States. In September, the main Brandeis University student paper The Justice asked Lynch if she believed there is a "trend of racial bias in law enforcement violence" in America following the cases of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. She proceeded to claim that "American police forces of today descend from a legacy of slave captives and overseers" and are racist bigots.
The very essence of the United States relies on the social implications of race in which black bodies are deemed as sub-human with little to no access of the rights that are so called applicable to every American citizen. The American police forces of today descend from a legacy of slave captives and overseers whose job was to protect the property (enslaved black bodies) of rich, slave owning capitalists. We must understand that we are not that far removed from this country’s legacy of slavery and that most of our laws are shaped to uphold a system of white supremacy. The Mike Brown case is only a reflection, a repeat and a reminder that this nation rests on the brutality and criminalization of black people and other non-whites. Once we as a nation acknowledge and understand these parallels, only then can we heal collectively from the past. 
Lynch was also a featured speaker at a Brandeis community-wide vigil in memory of those allegedly killed as a result of racial profiling earlier this academic year and is listed as an undergraduate department representative for the Department of African and Afro-American studies.
Her Twitter account is similarly riddled with objectionable remarks and justifications of violence.
“She's a UDR, which means she's a leader on campus responsible for advising younger students,” a recent Brandeis graduate told TruthRevolt. “Someone with these extremist views shouldn't have a position of influence at Brandeis.”
After TruthRevolt contacted Lynch for a comment on this story, she took to Twitter andwrote, "so bdeis "journalists" be creeping on my twitter. byee." She later responded to TruthRevolt and refused to clarify if she felt that the executed NYPD officers deserved to die.
"Does matter what i believe?" she wrote. "Its my own personal opinion which I as a private citizen which do not want publicized in any form and if you do not abide my wishes i constitute your disregard as slander."
Lynch then returned to Twitter and called for an "intifada," in which innocents are murdered, in America. 
Update I: 
This article was updated to include a follow-up Tweet from Lynch in which she said "lmao, all i just really dont have sympathy for the cops who were shot. i hate this racist fucking country."
Update II: 
Lynch has now made her Twitter profile private.

First color photos in America

A new book, An American Odyssey by Marc Walter, features hundreds of the first colour photographs of the United States. The rediscovered Photochrom and Photostint postcard images were produced by the Detroit Photographic Company between 1888 and 1924. Here is a selection from the book.


Book Cover


Mulberry Street, New York,
New York,

Seminole Indian family in dugout canoe, Miami River, Florida

Zuni Pueblo Indians, the Rain Dance, New Mexico
Clear Creek Canyon, Georgetown Loop, Colorado,

Monday, December 22, 2014

Neturei Karta Savages, depict Chareidi IDF as Hellinists

 The Neturei Karta snakes, have launched a fierce attack against Chareidi IDF soldiers in honor of Chanukah.

This time, posters distributed throughout Chareidi neighborhoods in Jerusalem present the soldiers as the "Hellenists of our generation" - the enemy in the traditional Channukah story who attempted to sway that period's Jews from their Judaism.

The graphic sign features a cartoon depicting a Chareidi soldier with his face distorted into a pig's and sitting on the back of an elephant as the troops of Antiochus (Alexander the Great - villain of Channukah story - ed.) march chasing Chareidi children.

At the top of the sign, is a group of Charedi soldiers chanting. "Torah is not kosher, no no, we do not have tzniut (modesty), no no, that licentiousness is our company and the sword is our pride, it is our hope to help our government campaign to introduce Hellenism to our generation, and we have no part in the God of our fathers."

"Who are Hellenists at this time?" the caption in the center reads. "Every child knows: these hardakim (pejorative term combining word for 'vermin' and Chareidi - ed.).  

At the bottom of the sign is a caption in the spirit of the "Al HaNissim" traditional blessing for Chanukah on miracles.

"When the conviction was given on your people Israel to forget Your Torah and break Your Laws and Your Will [. . .] within a fence around fences is a garden of roses."

The phrase "fence around fences," a term in Jewish law for additional stringiness and oftentimes practical laws placed to prevent the Jewish people from breaking fundamental principles (e.g. Shabbat) over centuries of changes in Jewish law, is meant to symbolize the Chareidi community's struggle to keep separate from "bad influences." 


Ironically, the Chofetz Chaim - the Rabbi known for his works on improper speech and slander - is featured on one corner of the poster. 

It is important to note that the Chofetz Chaim particularly condemned poor speech about a particular religious or social group within Judaism.

Posters inciting hatred against Chareidi IDF soldiers have become common in Chareidi neighborhoods in Jerusalem and elsewhere over the past year.  

In recent months, the IDF has confirmed that officers and soldiers living in Cidi - have been subject to physical and verbal abuse

Recently, Arutz Sheva exposed a particularly shocking and similar campaign in which Chareidi soldiers were literally portrayed as pigs just a month or so after dozens gave their lives in Operation Protective Edge.

The offensive cartoon was even gleefully shared by Hamas.

Israel Celebrates 25,000 new Olim in 2014


Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sarah lit the seventh candle of Hanukkah Monday night with new immigrants from all over the world who had made aliyah to Israel in the past year. 

"This year we have witnessed the largest aliyah in 10 years and counting,"Netanyahu said. "I welcome you all to the land of Israel and the State of Israel. May you be blessed and may many more follow you." 

While addressing the immigrants, Netanyahu stated that that there are two reasons why immigration to Israel has increased. "One is good and one is bad," he emphasized. 
"The bad reason is the growth of anti-Semitism in the world. We see that, for example, in Europe, there is a wave of anti-Semitism stemming from growing Islamization. Jews understand that Israel is a safe haven for all Jews in the world. 

"There is also a second reason, and it is good, and that second reason is that Israel is a good country to live in," Netanyahu said. "We heard a statistic today that unemployment has dropped, and that unemployment in Israel is almost the lowest of all countries in the Western world." 
"I congratulate you that you have decided to take your destiny into your hands and to join your fate to that of our nation's. You have done a great deed. I salute you," Netanyahu lauded the crowd.

Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharanky also spoke at the ceremony. 
"Today a plane with 200 immigrants from Ukraine landed in Israel. They join 25,000 immigrants who have arrived since the beginning of 2014 - an increase of 35% from 2013."
"For the first time most of the immigrants come from the West, the free world. The reason they chose Israel is their desire to live in their home," Sharanky added. 

"The Israeli government and the Prime Minister supported immigration even during the struggle over the budget. This should be maintained as we expect to see an increase of immigrants from France, Ukraine, and the rest of of the world," Sharansky stressed. 

"Every Jew who comes to Israel closes a cycle of 2,000 years. Your fathers prayed, cried, hoped - and you have come to Jerusalem."

North Korea's Internet Shut Down! USA Counter-attack?

North Korea is having major Internet problems, just days after President Barack Obama promised a proportional response to the devastating hacks against Sony.
The country, which the FBI accused last week of the cyberattack, is suffering from periodic Internet outages, and experts at DYN Research found that recent problems were out of the ordinary, as first reported by North Korea Tech.
According to the research firm, North Korea's Internet grew steadily worse beginning Sunday night, and then went completely offline Monday morning.
"I haven't seen such a steady beat of routing instability and outages in KP before," Doug Madory, director of Internet analysis at DYN Research, told North Korea Tech. "Usually there are isolated blips, not continuous connectivity problems. I wouldn't be surprised if they are absorbing some sort of attack presently."
In an interview with Re/code, Madory said that even typically strong connections are experiencing disruptions. (CNBC's parent NBC Universal is an investor in Re/code's parent Revere Digital.)
"They're pretty stable networks normally," he told Re/code. "In the last 24 hours or so, the networks in North Korea are under some kind of duress, but I can't tell you exactly what's causing it."
He added that there is no way to know if the outages are the result of an attack, or are just from maintenance or a power outage. Still, "given the timing," a cyberattack is worth considering, he told Re/code.
In a Friday media conference, Obama promised a response "at a place and time and manner that we choose," and he declined to rule out military force or economic penalties.
When asked for comment, a White House National Security Council spokesperson told CNBC that "we don't have any new announcements on North Korea today."
"We aren't going to discuss publicly operational details about the possible response options or comment on those kind of reports in anyway except to say that as we implement our responses, some will be seen, some may not be seen," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said during a media briefing.
North Korea is having major Internet problems,just days after President Barack Obama promised a proportional response to the devastating hacks against Sony.
The country, which the FBI accused last week of the cyberattack, is suffering from periodic Internet outages, and experts at DYN Research found that recent problems were out of the ordinary, as first reported by North Korea Tech.
According to the research firm, North Korea's Internet grew steadily worse beginning Sunday night, and then went completely offline Monday morning.
"I haven't seen such a steady beat of routing instability and outages in KP before," Doug Madory, director of Internet analysis at DYN Research, told North Korea Tech. "Usually there are isolated blips, not continuous connectivity problems. I wouldn't be surprised if they are absorbing some sort of attack presently."
In an interview with Re/code, Madory said that even typically strong connections are experiencing disruptions. (CNBC's parent NBC Universal is an investor in Re/code's parent Revere Digital.)
"They're pretty stable networks normally," he told Re/code. "In the last 24 hours or so, the networks in North Korea are under some kind of duress, but I can't tell you exactly what's causing it."
He added that there is no way to know if the outages are the result of an attack, or are just from maintenance or a power outage. Still, "given the timing," a cyberattack is worth considering, he told Re/code.
In a Friday media conference, Obama promised a response "at a place and time and manner that we choose," and he declined to rule out military force or economic penalties.
When asked for comment, a White House National Security Council spokesperson told CNBC that "we don't have any new announcements on North Korea today."
"We aren't going to discuss publicly operational details about the possible response options or comment on those kind of reports in anyway except to say that as we implement our responses, some will be seen, some may not be seen," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said during a media briefing.
Speaking with the Wall Street Journal, Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince suggested that North Korea's loss of Internet may not necessarily be the result of U.S. action. In fact, he told the Journal, the country could have shut off its own Internet to assert control over its population or guard against cyberattacks. China—which provides Internet to the embattled nation—also could have taken North Korea offline in response to American pressure, he said.

A Number of Israelis Hospitalized After Choking on Jelly Donuts


A 60-year-old woman choked as she was eating jelly donut on Sunday 29 Kislev, and she was transported by Magen David Adom to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, where she is listed in serious condition. She is on a respirator.

Paramedic Yarit Farkash explained when she arrived, the woman’s state of consciousness was “foggy” and she tried to get her to cough up the obstruction but her condition worsened and they had to intubate her and begin advanced resuscitation in addition to CPR.

In yet another case of choking, a 75-year-old woman from Pardes Chana was transported to Hillel Yafeh Hospital in Hadera, also listed in serious condition.

MDA adds that two weeks ago an 86-year-old male died as a result of choking on a jelly donut. The report adds he was in good health and apparently choked to death while eating the donut and watching a soccer game.

In yet another case involving a jelly donut, a 9-year-old girl from Rishon L’Tzion is listed in serious condition in Assaf HaRofeh Hospital as a result of an allergic reaction to a jelly donut.

Sunday, December 21, 2014

A Political Party in Israel That Calls Knit Kippa Wearers "Amalek"

Watching from afar the politicking surrounding the upcoming election, one sees many politicians whose political interests concern only themselves. 

Watching the ugly scenes of the brawl last week when Shas supporters attacked the hall where Eli Yishai announced his new political party, and seeing them wrestle over the photo of the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, one wonders how those who stormed the hall wearing kippas and tzitzit deem themselves "religious."  

Going to brawl with another political party and threatening Yishai's safety while Shas itself is bereft of ideology is far from religious. 

Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef was a great Jew. On the other hand, Aryeh Deri, who leads Shas, is a felon - who was convicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, and was prohibited for seven years after the end of his prison sentence from being elected to the Knesset. Nevertheless, the Shas “Council of Torah Sages” deems Deri as fit to lead the party. 

Shas is unsurpassed in the number of leaders in their political party who are convicted criminals - 
for example, Rafael Pinhasi, Yair Levy, Ofer Hugi, and Yair Peretz and Shlomo Benizri - 
hence, Deri is the leader of quite a crew.  

This gang is most concerned with power for themselves; witness their partnering with the left on numerous and critical occasions, including being a part of the coalition with Meretz and Labor when the Oslo Accords were approved in 1993. 
Lest one forget, a member of Shas’s Council of Torah Sages just last year called the national-religious party Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) party a “home of non-Jews.”  

Indeed, he asked a laughing crowd “Are these people even Jews? We would be unfortunate to end up with a [chief] rabbi who wears a knit kippa.” He said “The [heavenly] throne is not complete when Amalek exists,” and “As long as there’s a knit kippa, the throne is not complete (reference to a well-known midrash based on the word for throne that in the biblical story of Amalek, is written missing a letter, ed.).

 That’s Amalek … When will the throne be complete? When there’s no knitted kippa.” 

Describing knitted-kippa wearers as Amalek speaks for itself. 
There’s more to being religious than davening – ethics, honesty, and love of our fellow Jew are also necessities.  

Truly religious people have values and beliefs – a core value system which stands for something. 
Leaders - from all political parties - should be concerned about the State and people of Israel.