Category Archives: current affairs

A 9 Av thats feels

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Reading Eicha tonight was somehow more meaningful to me than ever

There was no need to try and think back 2000 years- the events of the past weeks, however miniscule in comparison to the Holocaust described in this moving book, all seemed to be described here so poignantly and prophetically.

Almost every possuk had immediate relevance.

Here a few that jumped out at me ,leaving me either in tears or numbed with cold.

קלים היו רדפינו מנשרי שמים

“Our pursuers were swifter than eagles of the sky”

Eicha 4/19

I thought about missiles and 15 second warnings in Sederot.

 

על אלה אני בוכיה עיני עיני ירדה מים

Over these I do weep, My eyes keep flowing with water

Eicha 1/16

 

I thought of our boys, our murdered teens, our fallen soldiers, our dead

 

כל איבי שמעו רעתי  ששו

All my enemies heard of my plight and rejoiced

(Eicha 1/21)

I thought of those who hate us, in the Middle East, in Europe, in South Africa, in America , around the world, who are being targeted by the same terrorists as us, but hate us so much, they still have to condemn us.

 

כל רעיה בגדו בה

All her friends have betrayed her

(Eicha  1/2)

 

I thought of Obama and Kerry and the Brazilian government and some of our “allies”  in Africa  and South America who voted against us in the U.N. and some of whom even recalled their ambassadors.

 

חטא חטאה ירושלים

Jerusalem has sinned greatly

(Eicha 1/8)

 

I thought of our own Sinas Chinam (causeless hatred) for one another and for other people and how we were so busy fighting amongst ourselves since the last election that we didn’t pay attention to what Hamas was digging under our noses.

 

פקד עונך בת אדום גלה על- חטאתיך

He remembers your iniquity, daughter of Edom, he will uncover your sins

[Eicha  4/22]

I thought of all those who cover their inbred anti-Semitism with “concern for Palestinians”

 

השבינו ה עליך ונשובה חדש ימינו כקדם

Bring us back to you, Hashem, and we shall return, renew our days as of old.

[Eicha 5/21]

 

We need this now as much as ever!

 

Bringing Ebola to America

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AMERICAN DOCTOR WITH EBOLA BROUGHT BACK FROM AFRICA TO ATLANTA FOR TREATMENT

 

Now this is a tough one- bringing an Ebola patient back to the U.S. for the first time ever for treatment.

Is this wise?

On the one hand, with the number of flights coming in and out of West Africa, it seems inevitable that some-one will come back infected, and this might be a unique chance to work on a cure and heal with dedicated man at the same time.

On the other hand…….

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/03/health/ebola-outbreak/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

As we go into Gaza

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And Yaakov was very afraid and he was distressed- afraid that he might be killed, and distressed that he might kill others.”
וַיִּירָ֧א יַעֲקֹ֪ב מְאֹ֖ד וַיֵּ֣צֶר ל֑וֹ – ויירא שמא יהרג, ויצר לו אם יהרוג הוא את אחרים
(Beraishis 32/8 and Rashi, according to Midrash Rabbah.)

The Torah tells us that when Yaakov went to meet his estranged brother Eisav, he was afraid that he might get killed by him or his men, but was also afraid that he might land up killing Eisav or his men.

When the Jewish people are attacked, we are commanded to fight the enemy with all our strength in order to defend ourselves, and if that involves killing them in the process, that is the sad and unavoidable cost of war.

However, we do not enjoy killing people- on the contrary, the thought terrifies us.

It does not stop us from defending ourselves in any way, but it does show that our preference is always peace, and we would much prefer to be able to achieve our objectives without having to kill.

As our beloved soldiers enter Gaza on foot, by air, and by sea, to stop the brutal and insane indiscriminate rocket fire at all parts of our land, and to destroy the terrorist tunnels and infrastructure being used to kill our people, we daven for their success, their safe return, but we do not sit eating popcorn while the enemy is dying- we are hurt and distressed by every person we have to kill, how much more so innocent young children who get in the way or are used as human shields by the barbaric Hamas overlords.

לשועתך קויתי ה

 

Jew don’t do that-Innocence lost again

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Innocence Lost again

When the Jewish underground bombed Arab Civilians, we said “Jews don’t do that”

When Baruch Goldstein massacred innocent Muslims while they were praying, we said “Jews don’t do that”

When Yigal Amir murdered Rabin, we said “Jews don’t do that”

When a mob of 400 rushed down Yafo street beating up Arab citizens, we were too preoccupied and angry to say “Jews don’t do that”

When a gang of Jews is arrested for burning a 16 year old boy alive in a savage fashion equal to that of ISIS, we still would love to be able to say “Jews don’t do that”

how long can we carry on kidding ourselves with self-righteousness? There are some pretty awful Jews out there, and unfortunately, they “do that.”

They are not the norm, thank God, and our society is not proud of them, but they exist, and might well be growing.

As our enemies continue to taunt us and the government continues to show paralysis, I fear that they will only grow and grow, as they try to show our enemies that they are not the only savages on this planet.

Make no mistake-they are worse than our worst enemies, for because of them, we can no longer say that ” Jews don’t do that .”

That is the victory Hamas has been waiting for, that all the rockets in the world cannot deliver: the death of our innocence

 

 

A red line crossed?

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If the savage burning alive of an innocent Arab teenager was indeed carried out by Jewish extremists, something which seems highly unlikely and has certainly not been proven yet, it would represent the crossing of a new red line, the likes of the Rabin assassination and Baruch Goldstein’s Hebron Massacre, a deed too horrendous and ghastly for a Jew to even contemplate doing.

We should all be hoping that it wasn’t.

 

 

The Chofetz Chaim and Apartheid

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“All human beings are God’s children”

The Ponovizer Rov, Rav Kahanaman zt’l used to visit South Africa a lot as he had relatives there and the Jewish community there has mainly Lithuanian roots.

He once visited the Chofetz Chaim zt’l after one of these visits, and the Chofetz Chaim asked him about how the black people in south Africa were doing and that he had heard they were being persecuted.

Rav Kahanaman asked the Chofetz Chaim what his interest was in south african affairs.

The Chofetz Chaim replied that they are also G-d’s people and he needs to be concerned about their welfare.
(heard from Rabbi Abraham Tanzer שליטא , Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva College of South Africa)

Kosher products in danger?

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It has been reported in the “The Times”,  (Johannesburg,June 18, page 6 “Food labelling on the boil”) , that under proposed new “consumer” legislation, “if a shop stocks foods with religious endorsements, such as “kosher” or “halal”, identical food without religious claims on the labelling must also be available.

This would ‘give consumers their constitutional right of freedom of choice’, the draft says.”

In a free market economy, people have the right to buy and sell whatever they want, and not be forced to buy and sell anything, so the entire spirit of this law is anti-progressive and smells of interventionism and communism.

 

However, even if there was merit in the absurd  argument that stores had a “constitutional” obligation to stock products that their patrons were happy with, the idea that the presence of a label on a product which does nothing more than confirm the absence of any products forbidden to a particular religious group, is an infringement on anyone’s “constitutional right of freedom of choice” is absolutely preposterous.

On the contrary, any requirement to produce separate product lines, will inevitably achieve one of two things:

  1. Either the price of the product will be driven up, which would have  a REAL negative effect on consumers, and also provoke religious hatred and resentment as a result
  2. Producers and retailers would be unable to stock products suitable for religious groups, which would certainly be a very REAL infringement of these groups “constitutional freedom of religion”, leaving them with nothing to eat.

Now, I ask you, what is more of a constitutional infringement? A small harmless label, or interfering with free-trade PLUS a choice between forced price-increases and religious incitement or religious persecution and forced starvation?

As is common these days, some people in high places

Science and Torah- age of the universe?

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Scientists just admitted that they got the age of the earth wrong by 60 million years! because of  few crystals found in South Africa nd Australia. and we supposed to take science seriously as a real challenge to our G-d given Torah? I’m all for reconciling Torah and science wherever possible, but give me a break!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/06/14/newser-earth-60-million-years-older/10518499/

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Kidnapped teens and the declining superpower

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Fatah orders the people to sabotage army’s search for missing teens and posts cartoons about their kidnapping, Palestinians give out sweets to celebrate the abduction, and the U.S. takes three days to condemn the outrage. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Middle-East, Obama and his new friends in Iran prepare to defend Baghdad against ISIS. in Eurasia, Putin wipes the dust off the iron curtain and gets ready to roll it back over Eastern Europe, while America joins the long list of former superpowers. and on whom can we lean, if not on our father who is in heaven?

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