Morbid Halacha

These are questions that G-d forbid, no one should ever have to ask.

Unfortunately, (or perhaps, it is an amazing testament to Judaism), during the Holocaust people did ask these questions from halachik authorities.

Is it right to give a German soldier a gold watch in exchange to killing someone's father without torturing him?

Is resorting to cannibalism allowed during famine in the ghetto?

These are only two examples of dilemmas raised by Jews during the Holocaust and collected in more than 150 books throughout the years. A CD containing the dilemmas was revealed for the first time Tuesday. It was produced by the Claims Conference (an organization representing global Jewry on issues of reparations against Germany and Austria) in association with Bar-Ilan University and the Netivei Halacha institute.

The whole article is here on YNETnews.

Today, when some people's emuna/faith maybe challenged by questions of Torah vs. science (but it's really not something worth losing sleep over) -- all of that falls to the wayside when reading about the faith of Jews under unthinkably difficult situations during the Holocaust.

Their commitment to Judaism -- the desire to find the most moral answers to their questions using Judaism as a moral compass should serve as an inspiration to us all.

And may these questions never have to be asked again.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Nobel Prize Winner to Sederot: Crybabies!

Shimon Peres never ceases to amaze me.

Just when I thought he couldn't say anything more insensitive,

"Why don't you go back to where you came from?" -- (Peres yelled this at a Women in Green anti-Olso demonstrator in 1995. She was a concentration camp survivor)

or more stupid,

"What, I'm a loser?" (Shimon Peres asks the Labor Party central committee, and they yelled back a resounding "YES!" )

"Instead of dwelling in the history of the past, we have to look to the history of the future." (Speech to American Jewish Committee, May 3, 2001)

or more thoughless,

"I think violence is the intervention of the past in the attempt to change the future." (Speech at the Peres Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation, April 2001),

he lets loose with a new statement that embarrasses me to live in the same country as him.

The city of Sederot is under fire. Daily barrages of missiles aimed at civilians. Downed power lines.

And what does Shimon Peres have to offer the residents of Sederot?

'I don't understand what the hysteria is about. Kiryat Shmona was shelled for years." YNetnews

I guess only someone as heartless as Peres, who could say such a thing to the residents of Sederot is capable of helping plan and execute Olmert's upcoming "Convergence".

Once again the adage from the Talmud rings strong: One who is merciful to the cruel ends up being cruel to the merciful.


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

The Multilingual JBlogosphere welcomes Spanish J-Blogs!

(An English translation will follow the Spanish one)
CrossPosted to JBlogosphere

Shalom y Bienvenidos a la Seccion en Español de la JBlogsphere (Blogesfera Judia).

Ademas de toda la maravilla de los JBlogs en ingles, existe todo un interesante universo de JBlogs en español sobre importantes e interesantes temas que van desde politica en Israel hsta Judaismo y Noticias Judias. Algunos de llos tambien son bilingues.

Como un servicio para aquellos JBloggers que leen esapñol, adjunto una lista preliminar de JBlogs en español. Sientense libres de conctactarme para actualizar/modificar la lista, y le doy una calida bienvenida y agradezco a El Rejunte.il por avisarme de este asunto importante.

Saludos,

Jameel

(Wow, I didn't realize that going to Yeshiva College in Washington Heights had so many fringe benefits...like being able to subliminally translate Spanish! :-)

Shalom and Welcome to the Spanish Language Section of the JBlogosphere (Jewish Blogosphere). In addition to all the wonderful English language JBlogs, there's a whole universe of interesting Spanish JBlogs on important and interesting topics ranging from Israeli politics to Judaism to local Jewish news. Some of them are bilingual as well...

As a service to Spanish Reading JBloggers, enclosed is a preliminary list. Please feel free to contact me to update/modify the list, and a warm welcome and thanks to El Rejunte.il for bringing this important issue to my attention.

Regards,

Jameel.

The Spanish-language JBlog list....

El Rejunte.il - elrejunteil.blogspot.com [SPANISH]
Herut -heruth.blogspot.com [SPANISH]
Desde Sefarad - desde-sefarad.blogspot.com [SPANISH]
La Bella Aurora - bellaaurora.blogspot.com [SPANISH]
Del Arte de Cruzar los Oceanos - fabitas.blogspot.com [SPANISH, ENGLISH]
Isreal - isreal.wordpress.com [SPANISH]
El Blog de Rafael V. Rabinovich - rafvrab.blogspot.com [SPANISH, ENGLISH]
Safed-Tzfat - safed-tzfat.blogspot.com [SPANISH]
Eretz Blog -eretzblog.blogspot.com [SPANISH, ITALIAN]
Israel Facts Review - hasbarablog.blogspot.com [SPANISH, ENGLISH]
Enfoque - enfoque.blog-city.com [SPANISH]
Noti-Israel - noti-israel.blogcindario.com [SPANISH]

La Internet Judia - internetjudia.blogspot.com [SPANISH]
Que! - www.quediario.com/blogs/8307/ [SPANISH]
Israel Grafico - israelgrafico.typepad.com/mi_webblog/ [SPANISH]
Tizas - blogs.periodistadigital.com/tizas.php?cat=165 [SPANISH]
Los jovenes judios de Barcelona - uejconline.blogspot.com [SPANISH]



Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

JoeSettler has 3 hours to remove his illegal "outpost" or face forcible eviction from my blog.

Last night, JoeSettler illegally erected an embedded "mondial" outposting on The Muqata (see below). Be advised, he has till 13:00 Israel time to remove it, or he will be forcibly evicted from this blog, his outpost destroyed, and it's going to get very messy.

The High Court of the JBlogosphere has ruled 8-1 that he will not get any reparations, no alternative place to host his outpost, and no link benefits whatsoever. What was he thinking when he illegally set it up?

And it's totally irrelevant that I invited him to guest post a while back, or that I set up the first posts for him.

This blog will not be held hostage to a radical, messianic minority.

He has till 13:00.

UPDATE: Its gone. whew.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

JoeSettler Illegal (Out)Post

When I first commented in a post here regarding Jameel’s open-arms policy of talking to bloggers of all ideologies I warned that dialogue went both ways and he would be influenced by others as much as he might influence them. Who knew how quickly those words would turn out to be true.

Jameel has threatened to use all means and force at his disposal to shut down my embedded illegal (out)post on the Mondial - instead of deploying those resources to more pressing issues attacking the Jblog(o)sphere. I know Jameel and I know how far he is prepared to go and how much violence he is primed and waiting to use now that he has been compromised turned become more open-minded.

So we’ve been forced to remove the illegal (out)post that was here (initially built with permission and approval on unclaimed blogspace) and detach from his pagehits and reader pipeline we plugged into. We were lucky that we managed to bring most of our assets back to resettle in our secure and established blog before his first red deadline.


Wherever Jameel is, Yehudi Lo Migaresh Yehudi

"Pray for Peace"

So I had meant to blog about this a few weeks back, but as John Lennon said in his song Beautiful Boy, "Life is what happens to us while we're busy making other plans"... Then I noticed that Jameel posted about the phenomenon about Soccer --er, I mean Football -- and the World Cup. And here I am sitting in London's Heathrow airport because I missed my connection. So as I wait for my next flight... and as I try to ignore the masses of english folk huddled around the "telly" watching some arcane world cup game (I'm sure Kasamba would sympathize), I realized that I have a story to tell. I think that the story fits perfectly on Jameel's stage, as you'll soon see.

So several weeks ago, I was in Chicago speaking at a conference. There were about 450 people in the room, and after my presentation, as is normal at these kinds of events, several people approached me with comments and questions. After helping several people, a man approached me and said "MUST, first of all, I want to say "shalom". I smiled and responded in kind. Then he dropped the bombshell -- "I also want to tell you that I'm palestinian". Before I could even respond, a woman behind me dove behind a table. But the man had a few legitimate questions to ask, which I answered calmly. Then the man asked if I'd ever been to Israel. Now it was getting interesting -- a crowd was beginning to form around us.

We discussed the state of Israel today, and although the man currently lives in the US, he made his case for his dream for peace in the Middle East (as if I actually somehow had control over that). After several minutes, he told me how impressed he was with my presentation and that he was honored to meet me and talk with me. As he turned to walk away, he exclaimed "PRAY FOR PEACE!"... It was the first time any had said that to me after a presentation.

I'm not sure what the message of the story is, but one thing is for sure. We work and do the things we do every day, and we think that's what we're spending our time on during each day, but it's just the reverse. Our jobs are just a way to get us in front of more people in the world and to demonstrate who we really are.

Wherever I am, Jameel's blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Soccer-crazed Country Grinds to a Halt.

Fine, so 2 billion people like the World Cup. Reading this posting at ExSemgirl's blog makes me wonder how the stock market in England can come to a grinding halt because of a football match?

On the bright side, I hope there's less anti-semitism there as a result of their once-every-four-year wonderful expression of national harmony and brotherhood.

Should Jews get overly caught up in their national sport? Or their nationality?

I'm reminded of the following true story I read a few years back:

A TALE TO BE TOLD:
"G-d will Fight for You" [Shemot 14:14]

by Eliyahu Misgav

The war fought by England in the Falkland Islands has almost been forgotten. However, in this war as in others in the past, the participants included Jews, on both sides.

The following happened close to Tu B'Shevat, in the winter, when there is not much plant growth, but on the other hand some trees are filled with glorious blossoms. A company of British soldiers was sent to clean out an area that had already been captured from the Argentine fighters. The soldiers were ordered to conduct a careful search to make sure that nobody was hiding in the bushes or the trees. They spread out in the area, with a constant distance separating them. They went in straight lines, completely covering the area in a well defined grid. They walked with guns at the ready, bullets in the chambers, and fingers on the trigger, ready to fire.

Suddenly, one of the British men saw an Argentinean soldier hiding in a bush. He pointed his rifle at the man, but at the very last moment before firing he heard him start to recite the words, "Shema Yisrael..." The Argentinean was a Jewish soldier by the name of Rami. When he saw death staring him in the face, he instinctively began to recite the Shema.

The British soldier, who was also Jewish, stopped his finger a hairsbreadth before firing the gun. In Hebrew, he said, "Baruch shem kevod malchuto..." - may His holy name of authority be blessed forever - and he continued on his way, without saying anything to the other soldiers.

And Rami, completely unnerved by the miracle that he had experienced, took an immediate oath to move to Israel and to strengthen his bond to Judaism. He will soon finish his studies as a rabbi.

(With thanks to Rami Avigdor.)

I guess it's OK to root for England or one's country of birth even if it isn't Israel -- just as long as, at the end of the day, we realize where our interests really lie.




Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Crocs are as Israeli as Apple Pie and Humus

Classy Footware in Israel - A Timeline:

1980's - Nimrod "Tanachi" Sandals

1990's Teva "Theraputic" Sandals

2000 - 2005: Source "Shoresh Extreme" Sandals


2005 - present: Uglyest Shoes on Earth: "CROCS"

I have no clue if Crocs are sweeping the rest of the world like they are in Israel, but they are appearing everywhere. I was just at a meeting at work and the guy next to me was wearing lime green ones. On Shabbat, someone came to shul wearing white crocs.

Personally, I think they're the ugliest footware on the planet, but I'm told they're very comfortable. In Israel, they sell for close to 250 NIS ($56) -- isn't that a bit expensive for such silly looking shoes? Then again, if you wear them to work during the week and to shul on shabbat it could be a decent investment.

Do people wear these to shul in the US? On Shabbat? To Work?

Can you do carpool with these, or is that a major faux pas?

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

What Drives a Jewish Politician?

(Probably should be called, "What Drives a Jewish Leader?")

Probably the most interesting comment on my blog concerning the weekly Parashat HaShavua out-of-sync Israel/Chutz LaAretz disengagement, came from reader Drew Kaplan. Since Shavuot, Israel and the Diaspora read different parashot every shabbat and will only resync in July. Drew commented:

Although the Jews within the land [J@TM: Israel] and the ones in the diaspora won't currently be on the same lectionary cycle, the diasporean ones get to benefit due to having read blogs and other Torah sites with parsha stuff a whole week ahead of time.

Therefore, I offer an interesting thought on Parashat "Shlach" -- what we read yesterday in Israel and what those of you in the Diaspora will be reading this coming shabbat.

Parashat Shlach starts with G-d commanding Moshe Rabbeinu to send 12 people to tour the land of Israel. And who were these people? They were the leaders of Israel -- each tribe sent a leader, a "Nasi." These leaders all saw the miracles of leaving Egypt and the revelation of G-d at Har Sinai when the Torah was given. They saw the daily miracles of the man/manna which fell daily from the sky to feed the people, the cloud pillar which lead the Jews through the desert, the traveling well, and many others.

So how could it be that they returned with such a negative report on the land of Israel? If G-d commanded them to go, how is it that 10 gave a negative and scary report, while 2 others (Yehoshua and Calev) gave such a diametrically opposed (and positively glowing) report on the land? Not content to simply announce their report before the people (imagine a press conference setting), the midrash states that these leaders then went tent to tent to personally convince the people what a bad idea it would be to cross the Jordan and enter the land of Israel.

The Zohar gives us a frightening answer in human nature as to what drove these leaders to reach such a conculsion. ( זהר, שלח, קנח ע"א, וראה בשפת אמת, שלח, תרל"ט, שמבאר שעיקר החשש של המרגלים היה שיאבדו את מדרגתם, כהסבר המובא להלן. ראה גם: מסילת ישרים, פרק יא, עמ' קכ"ב ( אורות חיים, ירושלים תשמ"ח).

What would have happened had all 12 people given a positive report?

1. The Jews would have gone directly into the land of Israel.
a. They wouldn't have wandered in the desert an additional 38 years.
b. An entire generation would not have died in the desert.
c. According to the midrash, none of the major tragedies would befall the Jewish people on the 9th of Av -- destruction of the Jewish Temples, and more.

2. The Beit Hamikdash would be built -- without the need of a temporary mishkan

3. The immediate anointing of a king.

It was item #3 that worried these leaders the most. If a king would be anointed, then these leaders would no longer be leaders of the Jewish people. Their personal leadership status would disappear, and in today's language -- they would be out of a job.

Astoundingly (or not) , these 10 leaders of the Jewish people sacrificed the future of the Jewish people for thousands of years to come, indirectly causing the destruction of both Temples and countless deaths of Jews -- all to support their own personal agenda of continuing to lead the Jewish people for the next 38 years in the desert.

All to keep their jobs.

Obviously, this isn't an indictment of ALL Jewish leaders, and there are many who selflessly work on behalf of the Klal, sacrificing much of their own freedom and family time for the sake of the betterment of the Jewish people.

Unfortunately, in the time of the spies, it was only 16% (2 out of 12) that knew how to do the right thing.

How many of today's Jewish leadership honestly serve the Jewish people selflessly, with 100% of their dedication for the good of the Jewish people and Israel? What drives Israel's Knesset Members, Government Ministers and Prime Minister? When story after story of corruption, or alleged corruption emerge, one could think that their paradigm for leadership are the 10 spies instead of Yehoshua and Calev.

When we read about the RCA and Israeli rabbinate jockeying for the pole position -- is it really a "machloket lisheim shamayim?"

When the OU leadership writes an open Op-Ed piece to Prime Mister Ehud Olmert in the Haaretz newspaper (Big hat-tip to JoeSettler who discusses this entire issue here) -- is that really about what is best for Israel as a whole? There's not one mention of the Gush Katif displaced families -- how most of them do not have real housing, welfare or employment solutions.

First the article states why the OU is a force to be reckoned with:

While a minority within the U.S. Jewish population, the Orthodox are unsurpassed as those closest to and most supportive of Israel. We travel to Israel more frequently than our less observant brethren; our children study in and emigrate to Israel in higher percentages; in participatory terms, we contribute more broadly to Israel-related charities and institutions; and we consistently poll as those most highly affiliated with Israel. We also identify closely with the settler community.

Then they demand that Olmert discuss the issues with the OU to gain their support.

No, Prime Minister Olmert must engage religious Zionist Americans directly and appeal to the community's deep commitment to Israel in the context of its modern role in world Judaism

I would like to think that the Israeli Rabbinate, RCA and OU are among the 12% that are exclusively thinking about the good of the Jewish people.

Back then in the desert the results were terrifying.

What drives our Jewish Leadership today?

Food for thought.

Jameel's after thought: If the 10 spies back then went from tent to tent trying to dissuade the Jews from entering the land, it is crucial that we do exactly the opposite today, even going from home to home, blog to blog, and actively encourage as many people as possible to visit the land, move to the land, and appreciate the report from Yehoshua and Calev: טובה הארץ מאד מאד

The Land is Very, Very Good!

Source links from here and here.


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael