Showing posts with label Israel. Jewish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Israel. Jewish. Show all posts

Monday, April 20, 2009

Hate or Fear, What's the difference?


Anti-Semitism - noun: a person who discriminates against or is prejudiced or hostile toward Jews.

I've always been a believer in saying things like they are, and not mincing words. The definition above is just a nice way to say hate. Because isn't that what anti-Semitic behavior is after all?

Just read an article today on how Anti-Semitic hate crimes have risen sharply in the last 5 months, and most especially since Israel had Operation Cast Lead, to defend itself. This past Shabbos we experienced anti-semitism first hand in our community.

Racist and anti-Semitic stickers were placed on our Shul, other synagogues in our area and cars Friday night/Saturday morning sometime. Luckily some of the men from our community removed them before any of the children saw the on our shul.

Interesting how this act happened only a few days before the U.N. Racism Conference. Which has been boycotted by United States, Australia, Germany, Canada, Israel, Italy, Sweden, Poland and the Netherlands. There may be others, but this is the list I found. Note that England and France did NOT boycott. And they wonder why those countries are havens for terrorists.

The conference is a follow-up to the contentious 2001 conference in the South African city of Durban which was dominated by clashes over the Middle East and the legacy of slavery. The U.S. and Israel walked out midway through that eight-day meeting over a draft resolution that singled out Israel for criticism and likened Zionism the movement to establish and maintain a Jewish state, to racism.

Today at the conference Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was allowed to give a speech. To which U.N. diplomats walked out. Surprise! Why did they allow this person to speak? Then he said somethings that were racist, anti-Israel and anti-U.S., so some of them walked out. Why did they not see this coming is beyond me.

Some European diplomats immediately walked out of the room when Ahmadinejad said Israel was created on the "pretext of Jewish suffering" from World War II.

Ahmadinejad has always contended that the Holocaust did not happen. It is not really some revelation that he would speak about it again, given a world forum.

Another excerpt of Ahmadinejad's speech:
In a rambling speech, Ahmadinejad on Monday pointed the finger at the United States, Europe and Israel and said they were destabilizing the entire world.


So not only does he hate Israel and the Jews, but now everyone else is on his list of people to hate. Except I guess for North Korea, who is helping him in his quest for nukes.

After all of this the glaring question is why? Why has this man been allowed to get where he is? Why do we tolerate him testing and building nuclear weapons? Why does our President even suggest the idea of having "talks" with him? Why is he given the platform at a multi-nation conference to say the very things we knew he would? Why?

In this time why do people still hate? What are they afraid of? Is there really a difference in the two? Given the condition of our world don't we as a people have more constructive things to do with our time than to waste it on something so non-productive.

You know what is even less productive than hating, is expecting a different result. We all know people who are that consumed with hate never get passed it. It consumes them like a fire burning a piece of paper. Nothing else matters to them, and nothing will stand in the way of accomplishing the goal of removing the object of their discontent. Nothing.

Monday, February 23, 2009

It's A Bris! Everybody...Whence


Bris Milah is the covenant G-d established with the Jewish people. The words, bris milah, mean "Covenant of Circumcision". It is the sign attesting to the everlasting covenant that G-d established with Abraham (who was 99 years old when he circumcised himself!), and his descendants (Genesis 17). It was then reiterated through Moses 500 years later: "And on the 8th day he shall have his foreskin circumcised" (Leviticus 12:3).

The bris also is when the name of the baby boy is announced for the first time after the circumcision, and many brachas (blessings). The father gives his son a name that usually is from the Torah or Parsha for the week. This little angel is Neftali. Such a life renewing moment!

Though we all feel for the baby boy as he cries everyone in the room has a heart that is full. Full of the blessings for the child's life, his family and all Jews.

Watching the mother is particularly hard. Just 8 days past giving birth, she can only watch from the mechitza as her son cries. We all know she is not only feeling a strong pull to hold and comfort her infant, but such joy and closeness to Hashem that could only be understood by other mothers.

The whole process takes about 20 minutes. Most of which is spent by the congregants reading tehillim, and blessings for the baby and family, and the Mohel describing the process.

Then of course we eat. Jews and food just seem to go together! Seriously, it is a mitzvah to take part in a bris, and the seudah that follows.

Welcome Neftali Scwhartz!

Friday, January 9, 2009

Israel Tehillim List

This is the most up to date list I can find for those soldiers who are wounded and missing. This list also includes civilians who have been wounded. If you have other names please post in comments to add to list.

Good Shabbos, and please say tehillim 83, 130 and 142.


Gilad ben Aviva Shalit
- kidnapped Israeli soldier that Hamas claims was injured in air raids on Gaza;
Li'el Hoshea ben Miriam – critical (enoshot) head injuries;
Wahal Mijan – critical (enosh), has metal shards in his brain, has had 3 operations & doctors are battling to save his life;
Ben ben Netiva – critical (enosh) with head injuries & has had 1 hand amputated & doctors are battling to save his other hand;
Neriya ben Rivka – very serious head injury;
Noam ben Aliza - one leg amputated; doctors fighting to save the other;
Yosef Chaim ben Ziva – very seriously injured on the entire left side of his body- regained consciousness yesterday BH;
Dvir ben Laya - seriously injured in his legs;
Raphael ben Dina – very seriously injured;
Elishama Shalom ben Rivka Leah
Oren ben Chaya – seriously injured shoulder & hand – has had 1 finger amputated;
Ronen Chai ben Leah – seriously injured
Ron ben Havatzelet – seriously injured with shrapnel over all of his body;
Eitan ben Sarah – very serious leg injury;
Gal ben Hedva – seriously injured with shrapnel to his jaw & mouth;
Ran ben Merril – moderate shoulder injury;
Idan ben Nadi – moderate shrapnel injuries;
Yitzchak ben Navah - moderate shoulder injury;
Netanel ben Navah - moderate shrapnel wounds to a lower extremity;
Ohad ben Bracha – moderate facial injuries;
Maxim ben Olga - light lower leg injury, operation to remove shrapnel;
Yisrael ben Ilana - light shrapnel injury to an ear;
Yo'ad Ido ben Frieda Elka- light shrapnel injuries;
Idan ben Liora - light shrapnel injuries;
Nadav ben Miriam (Maria) - light shrapnel injuries;
Sagi ben Osnat – light shrapnel injuries to his leg;
Omer ben Dorit – light shrapnel injuries to legs;
Evgeny ben Elizabeth – leg injury
Lior ben Mazal
Oleg Dizengoff
Avi Cohen
Roni Rapaport
Yaakov Wolf
- hit by shrapnel in his neck that miraculously missed his jugular vein BH
Moshe ben Eidi – head injury

Wounded civilians:
Gavriel ben Sarah from Sderot – child in severe shock from kassam attack;
Yakov ben Rivka - very seriously injured from kassam rocket;
Bat El Hila bat Phoebe – moderately injured from kassam rocket that
fell in Netivot
Gila bat Odelia – moderately injured by kassam attack in Netivot

Kidnapped & Missing Soldiers:

Ron ben Batya (Arad)
Guy ben Rina (Hever)
Tzvi ben Pninah (Feldman),
Yekutiel Yehuda Nachman ben Sarah (Katz),
Zecharia Shlomo ben Miriam (Baumel)


This week's Parsha is Vayechi.
Gaza: Faces of War

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Eretz Yisrael Needs You

The picture at the left shows an IDF soldier davening Shacharis in his tefillin. This breaks my heart.

Though he is fighting a battle almost no thinks can be won, or the rest thinks Israel has no right to fight at all, he still makes sure he puts on his tefillin to daven. G-d bless him, and all the IDF troops.

For those people who want to do something to help Eretz Yisrael, and the IDF troops I want to share this information my Rav, Rabbi Chaim Silver, passed on to us last night at our communities Kinus tefillah prayer service.

“Operation Tefillah, Torah & Troops,” has been launched. Endorsed and guided by Rabbi Simcha HaCohen Kook, the Chief Rabbi of Rehovot, Israel, and the Bostoner Rebbe (Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz) of Har Nof, Israel, people from around the world are partnered with soldiers in the IDF. Each person who takes part in “Operation Tefillah, Torah & Troops” is paired with an Israeli soldier, and is responsible to say tefillot (prayers), learn Torah, and do special acts of chesed (kindness) on behalf of that soldier.

Rabbi Kook and the Bostoner Rebbe note that this concept is one that has been a part of the Jewish people for thousands of years. When Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses) led the Jewish people to war with the nation of Midyon, for every person who went to battle, there was a designated person who was responsible for praying and learning for him. Throughout his reign, David HaMelech (King David) utilized this practice as well.

To participate in “Operation Tefillah, Torah & Troops” and receive the name of an Israeli soldier who needs your prayers, send an e-mail to the office of Rabbi Kook at maortlmo@gmail.com.

For those who cannot for whatever reason commit to this much, you can still daven tehillim. In particular: Psalm 83, 130 and 142.

Every tefillah makes a difference! It’s the least we can do.