Venues and Chmuras

Rounding up some great posts, because they wrote them instead of me.

Ezzie and DovBear converge on Hirhurim's change of venue. My two cents? Not a great idea -- I'll try to discuss it with Ben and see if he gives me any insights I'm lacking. (Good luck to them all regardless)

Fellow settler Yisrael Medad finds more great blog material out there; the latest Chumra for sukkot is: Bug Free Schach. In NYC, the copecods may swim in your water; here we're worried about them falling into your soup! Therefore, you can now buy pre-fumigated schach without the worry that bugs will fall into your food. Unless of course, it first rains, washes off the pesticide, and then the bugs come and nosedive...



Gotta love Israel!

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

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I can't quite figure out how to properly spell yamulkas yarmulkes.

But I know where to buy them online:

Check out the online store!

(Not to mention, Talleisim, Benchers, and Challah Covers).

Smoking Gaza: The Paradox

This one's tough. Smoking is bad...but since when do we care about the health of those who want to kill is? Perhaps we prefer Gaza to smoke after what they do to us daily.

Smoking in Gaza

Gaza Smoking

Smokers in Gaza have another reason for concern. The price of cigarettes has soared in the last few months. Why? Because Hamas decided that cigarette taxes would be an excellent source of income for Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's government.

"There are fewer cigarettes in Gaza now, and dodgy merchants have taken over and put stands at every corner where they sell cigarettes at insane prices. Hamas taxed the cigarettes that people who had been stuck in Egypt brought over. People thought they'd made a good deal to earn a few lira, then found themselves paying a steep price for the cigarettes they brought into the Strip after Hamas started charging 50-70 percent tax on the second pack," Abu Sayid said

And what about quitting smoking? "Yes, sure. Everyone knows from the first cigarette they smoke that its better for their wallet and their lungs not to smoke, but if we could quit we wouldn't be complaining about the price of cigarettes," Abu Sayid retorts. That's why he found an alternate solution: He smokes less and finds alternatives. "After all, there are kids at home that need to eat," he says.

"Listen, a heavy smoker will continue smoking. I know people like me that smoke less, but very few have stopped. But if all the smokers vote in the elections, Hamas is going to bite it. Actually first there even have to be elections, because Hamas objects to them. Until then, we'll keep rolling," says Abu Sayid, sealing his words with a strong expletive. YNET

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

High Holy Day Box Seats: $50,000

Crossposted at DovBear.

(Great Belz Shul in Jerusalem)

YNET Reports today that a seat near the Belzer Rebbe for the High Holy Days in the Great Belz Shul in Yerushalayim costs 50 thousand dollars. Wow.

At synagogues of the hassidic rabbis' courts the prices vary according to how close they are to the admor (acronym for "our master, our teacher, and our rabbi). A reserved seat near the admor at the Belz (hassidic sect) synagogue can reach a whopping $50,000.

Synagogues are also charging for the right to read from the Torah, especially following the afternoon prayer session on Yom Kippur. Worshippers at the Vishnitz synagogue can purchase this right for no less than $50,000. A similar price will be charged from those wishing to take part in the opening of the Holy Arc ceremony at Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's Kol Nidre synagogue.

Kfar Chabad is charging NIS 60,000 ($14,500) for being the last person to be called up to the Torah and NIS 30,000 ($7,250) for being called up to the Torah for the opening prayer of the Eve of Atonement (Yom Kippur) service.

My personal shul is 1300 NIS ($310) per family...how about you?

Shana Tova,

Jameel.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

SchoolTime in Sderot

Its the second day of school in Sderot, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Education Minister Yuli Tamir promised that it would be safe for Israeli schoolchildren to go to school.

This morning on their way to school, the "Color Red" missile warning system blared, sending children scampering to safety in the school building. The Palestinian Qassam rocket landed only 100 yards from the entrance to the school.

This video is being released on DovBear's blog (and the Muqata) -- the first showing in the JBlogosphere.

Uploaded with permission by the Sderot Media Center


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Refusing Orders: Back to the Future

CrossPosted at the DovBear.

In the [Israeli 1948] War of Independence, I served as an infantry soldier in the religious platoon in the 22cnd division of the Carmeli Brigade. Our company commander assembled the company, and announced the that IDF and Hagana Chief of Staff had ordered us to squash an insurgence by the “Etzel” – a boat full of ammunition and Etzel soldiers was arriving. He threatened us that we needed to follow every single order, including opening fire, if so commanded. Insubordination would be dealt with extremely harshly.

The religious platoon was the only one in the company, perhaps the only one in the Brigade. We inspired shock and awe. I will mention that our company, specifically our platoon were very battle experienced. We labored tirelessly, with unparalleled mesirut nefesh, and through the help of Hashem we had many successes -- the conquests of Haifa, Ako, Bazet, Ramat Yochanan, the Hula Valley, and more. Afterwards, we fought in the Jordan Valley, Jenin and others. We all served in the “Hagana” and were drafted in January 1948. Our platoon was the pride of the company and brigade, and we paid for that honor with the lives of our fighters and many wounded.

The orders about the “Altalena” reached us when we were up North, far away from Tel Aviv. Our platoon got on the bus in silence. There was no rabbi or spiritual leader that told us to refuse orders. The refusal was not as a collective, but each and every one individually, according to their conscience. I will note that Religious Zionism at the time (Mizrachi and Hapoel Mizrachi) was aligned with Mapai, specifically, “Red Haifa.” The leaders of the Religious Zionist movement saw eye to eye with Mapai on matters of security, settlement and social welfare.

During the ride on the bus to the Altalena, I contemplated the predicament, and deicded that I would not fight against my brothers, and if G-d forbid the time would arrive [and the order came] I would remove the firing pin from my rifle. Our luck improved and the drive from the North to Tel Aviv was drawn out, so that when we arrived at Tel Aviv, the Altalena was already burning. Every explosion [from the ship] flayed our skin, as we knew that the [destroyed] weapons and ammunition were desperately needed for the war [of Independence]. In the Hagana camp across from the Altalena, thousands of soldiers arrived from all battlefronts. There were fierce Palmach fighters, bearded and dirty, battle scarred “Negev Fighters” who arrived for this holy mission with rejoicing and merriment. The education they received from their mother’s womb was a hatred of religious Jews, the Etzel, the Lechi, and anything that had the fragrance of an international anthem: “The old world will be destroyed to its foundations.” Their faces beamed with happiness when they saw the boat explode and hundreds of Etzel soldiers taken captive and imprisoned in the camp. I saw the young innocence on the faces of the captives, scarred by fire -- they came with the ship to fight for the Jewish State. I heard that many of them died in battle after being conscripted into the IDF – thrown into battle without knowing the language and without appropriate training.

We returned back to our regular duties, and we didn’t discuss the subject, but our hearts were broken.

Printed in this past week's Makor Rishon by Chagai Segal -- a letter received from Ben Zion Abudi, an 80 year old Yerushalmi who served in the Hagana. The impetus for this letter was the refusal of IDF soldiers to evict Jewish families from Jewish owned property in Hevron. [The Hebrew article is not online yet, I translated it from the printed copy]

Points to ponder:

1. Mapai's intense hatred of religious soldiers and religion -- even at the expense of losing Jerusalem in 1948 to the Jordanians. Sixteen unarmed Jewish Etzel soldiers were killed while swimming to shore.

2. Religious soldiers don't need a Rabbi to dictate what's right or wrong -- and are perfectly capable of drawing their own conclusions.

Rashi writes on the pasuk, Yosef was thrown into a pit by his brothers that was "empty and had no water in it." Why the double language, obviously if the pit is empty, it has no water in it. Rashi answers, "there was no water in the pit...but there were snakes and scorpions in it." Nature abhors a vacuum -- if you don't fill a pit with it's natural filler (water), then it will be filled with other things. (hat-tip; R' Shlomo Riskin)

If Eretz Yisrael isn't filled with Jews who strive to observe the Torah and mitzvot, (or at a minimum, love their fellow Jew as themselves), then it will be filled with others.

You too can be part of the solution.

Shana Tova,

Jameel @ The Muqata.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

The Annual Waffle Hunt

Get ready folks, it is almost time for the annual Mad Muqata Waffle Hunt. It is that special event in which Jameel hides a golden waffle. The person who finds the waffle receives a very special prize and is eligible to participate in one of Jameel's special tiyulim.

As you can see from the picture above some people have already begun playing. What are you waiting for? Stop reading and get out there and find that waffle!


Wherever I am, I make very special waffles.

You will be assimilated

Meet..."The Berg"

No, he's not from StarTrek, he's an Israeli IDF soldier using top of the line equipment from ITL Optronics -- advanced infantry electro-optic systems, thermal imaging, navigation, orientations and battle management systems, as well as with laser-aiming devices and sights. (YNET)

Now, if this soldier were a cohen, he could also do the "Live Long and Prosper" thing with his hands as well.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Of Outsides and Insides.

Jameel's recent post about the El Al plane with the wrong tires has prompted me to share yet another travel story from your friend the Road Warrior.

A few weeks ago, I had boarded a flight at JFK, bound for SFO (that's San Francisco for the less-traveled). As I was walking towards my seat (always aisle), I looked ahead to see who I would be sitting next to. This was going to be an interesting flight I thought to myself as I noticed a Christian Monk sitting in the Window seat. Well, I'm assuming he was a Christian Monk, only because he was dressed in a long flowing robe, had a shaved head, was wearing a kind of kippah on his head, and there was a huge wooden cross hanging from his neck.

In reality, I have countless stories about conversations I've had around the topic of religion and Judaism (you'd think I work for AISH or something), and so I naturally assumed that I'd be spending the next few hours engaged in an active discussion. Boy was I wrong. I sat down, said the friendliest hello (he responded in kind), and then the fun began.

The plane was pretty full and just the last few stragglers were boarding. The flight was totally full and this guy walks on carrying what seemed like 5 carry on bags. Of course, this individual proceeds to open all the overheads to find space, and of course, it's a futile search. Yet, the man persists. Dave Barry jokes about people trying to stuff pianos into the overhead compartments, but this was no joke. He stops right above us and peers into the overhead. The man moves a few things around and then lifts his bag and proceeds to JAM them in.

The monk sitting next to me obviously had a bag in that overhead compartment because he seemed particularly annoyed at this guy jamming more stuff on top of his. Then the guy takes yet another one of this bags and jams it into the overhead. Then the monk reaches across me and pokes the guy in the aisle. He says "hey, what's your problem, there's no room up there." Then the monk starts cursing under his breath and calls the guy an idiot. I admit I was a bit taken aback by that reaction -- I guess I didn't expect to see or hear such a response from this gentleman. But whatever. I now turned back to the book I was reading as everyone took their seats and we were getting ready to back away from the gate.

Then the pilot gets on the PA and tells us that during a final walk around the aircraft, they found a cut in one of the tires. The tire would have to be replaced. No worries though -- the plane could be jacked up and the tire replaced without us having to leave the plane, but the process could take up to an hour.

The monk besides me just lost it at that point. He was livid. He was cursing (louder now) and I really didn't even know how to respond. I tend to use humor to help me deal with many of life's challenges, and so I remarked, "well, I guess it's better than having to try to change the tire in the air". The monk did not think that was funny at all. I thought he was going to hit me. I buried by head back in my book.

The monk apparently had his cell phone in his bag which was up in the overhead compartment, and he mumbled an excuse me as he stepped over me to get to the aisle. As he dug for his bag and his phone, he gave plenty of nasty glances to the guy across the row who had jammed all of his bags on top of the monk's bag.

Finally, the monk sat back down, visibly frustrated. He didn't say another word the entire flight. In fact, he took his blanket and wrapped it completely around his head and went to sleep. Odd behavior indeed.

I was struck by two things as this story unfolded before me.

One, I totally did not expect such behavior from this person. I kept thinking about how a Rav might respond to similar circumstances. For some reason, I just couldn't picture the same responses and behaviors. It brought to mind a lesson once learned that you can dress to look like something or someone, but that is just the outside appearance. The inside is what really counts. As Jews, we hold ourselves to different standards, and while we dress differently, that means nothing unless we ACT differently as well.

Two, I realized that I was judging this person. Maybe it was his first time flying, or maybe he was just a really nervous flyer? Maybe he had a bad day? Maybe there were other challenges he was dealing with at the time? But WHY was I judging him? Obviously, it was because of the way he was dressed. Plenty of other people on the plane had similar reactions to this man (especially so when we were informed of the hour delay), but those reactions didn't bother me at all. Yet, because this man was dressed a certain way, I expected a certain behavior from him. Is that wrong? I don't know. Maybe.

But more importantly, it made me realize that because of the way I dress -- wearing a yarmulka wherever I go -- causes other people to look at me and expect a certain kind of behavior as well. Like it or not, I'm sure I'm judged differently by others. Even if it isn't a conscious thing, but it happens. And not necessarily for bad things either (I know that in business for example, anytime a coworker or associate uses foul language, they will always turn to me and apologize). Knowing this makes me realize that I have to act differently as well -- both on the outside, and also on the inside.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael