A Letter with Family

Hi, Tziyona, Thanks for your detailed message. We agree on some things and maybe don’t on others. Meaning, I’m for peace, and I don’t pretend to know the entire history of the region, or what’s really going on. There is so much propaganda on both sides. I’m not sure how you got the idea that I don’t allow discourse; I do. I welcome discourse, as long as it is kind and respectful. (Which yours has been.) I’m aware of the Israelis who were murdered, raped, etc. — and just because I want peace doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s beyond heinous. I do — it is terrifying, heartbreaking, and horrific. And if those people were betrayed by friends, that is awful too. I don’t know if they were, or if that’s something people are being told, though.

Hi Karen,

Thanks for writing back to me.  I didn’t realize you had until recently and I have been thinking of what to answer.  There are so many points, issues, and perspectives to understand.  But let me start off just saying that (which won’t come as a big surprise) this issue is very personal for me.  So I get bothered by the statement:  ‘there are 2 sides’, ‘both sides are pushing their propaganda.  Israel is not just another country.  Israel is home.  Every Jewish home.  So when you doubt Israel, you are accusing your own family (and in this case, me – I am family.)  Does that mean that families don’t have differences? Well, that is an obvious answer.  But families believe each person can have different perspectives. Still, families don’t insist that the ones they disagree with are lying, making up stories and the other side is more believable.

’Tziyona

From Karen,

Hi, Tziyona, I completely agree with you about Hamas. It is different from the Palestinians, though there is overlap. I know that the Palestinians have also been victims of Hamas in many ways. I have mixed feelings about how Israel is responding. I know it has to do something. I know it has to find Hamas. But killing so many innocent civilians — so many of them children — does not get at Hamas. It only makes Palestinians hate Israelis because their (Palestinians’) families were killed. This makes it way more likely that if Israel manages to destroy Hamas — which would be great — another group that hates Israel and Jews will rise up.

Hi, Karen, So, let’s break this down. 

The Palestinians voted in Hamas, and like any other dictatorship (Nazi, Putin, all the Arab countries, etc.), there was never another election (including in the west bank). Their doctrine (Hamas, as well as the PLO and all the other Arab anti-Jewish groups) writes: Our goal is to obliterate Israel and all Jews. And then America, Europe.

They have freely said they don’t feel any responsibility to the Palestinians.  Their job is to destroy Israel.  So they don’t build bomb shelters. They don’t provide water pipes (though Israel supplied them with the pipes.  They ripped them up and used them for bombs.  They don’t provide electricity.  They tore down the hydro plants that Israel left them after the Israeli government forcibly removed every Israeli (dead or alive) from the area so they could be an independent state.  (See here the two-state solution failed).  So since then, Israel has had to give them water, fuel, medicine, and food, because Hamas has stolen it from the Palestinian people. 

Did you ever hear of the enemy giving and is expected to give these supplies?  During a war? And yet, Hamas still won’t give any fuel to the hospital they sent under, because they need it for the tunnels.  They took all the medical supplies and fuel and kept it underground.  Any doctor who complains may not be seen the next day.

Yet the Palestinians still support Hamas by 75%.  They cheered and followed the jeeps that came in with dead Israel women and men.  They are taught from a very young age that they are to rejoice at the killing of Jews.  Did you hear the voice of the terrorist who gleefully called his parents on the phone of a girl he had just killed and wanted to share the ‘good’ news about how he had killed 10 Jews that day?  His father answers,” I wish I could be there with your martyrs.”  These people are worse than the nazis, can’t be called animals.  They are evil itself.

So it is infuriating when you (and most of the West) say they have to listen to both sides.  How can you believe anything they would say?  This includes the numbers they announce of who is dead.  They haven’t the foggiest notion of how many died, nor do they care.  It is all their propaganda to announce. When we announce numbers, it takes days to verify.  They don’t verify.

Not that I’m declaring they haven’t been killed in great numbers.  But let’s examine that.

1. They use human shields.  They literally have children that hang around them, so if Israel wants to take them down, they will hurt children.
2. They have always used human shields, not allowing civilians to move out of the way.  They put them directly in the way.
3. Israel sends notices, drops leaflets, and calls telephones to warn when they are taking down a building.  Hamas then doesn’t allow them to escape. 
4. Israel has been telling the civilians to go south to Egypt, but Hamas has actually tried shooting any Palestinian who has tried to leave.
5. In any war, civilians get killed.  In most cases, the aggressor eventually has more victims than otherwise.  Germany had a huge number of civilians killed, but no one raised a fuss about it.  And the Americans wiped Dresden flat with no notices, calls, or any previous notice.  Germany didn’t warn England about the blitzes either.
6. The only country in the world that warns civilians sends fuel and water to the enemy and is criticized by the world is Israel. 

Hi, Tziyona, So, my standing for peace does not show a lack of concern for Jews or stupidity. I believe Israel has got to exist. I also believe it should treat Palestinians with kindness and respect, which it hasn’t for a long, long time. Not all Palestinians are Hamas. Israel has told the Palestinians to flee to a certain place, and then it bombs that place. Where are they supposed to go? What are they supposed to do without electricity to refrigerate food and water? Two different stories are circulating, and I really have no idea which is correct. One says Israel is trying to not kill civilians. One says it is killing way, way more civilians than necessary to get to Hamas. Of course, all the officials telling these stories have their vested interests, so who to believe?

Hi Karen, The only reason the Israelis have killed Palestinians is when they have attempted or, unfortunately, been successful in terrorist attacks.  The army has not been in Gaza since 2005 until now.  There has not been any genocide. The facts make a very different picture. How fast has the Palestinian population grown?

Their population growth rate is among the highest in the world: 3.4 percent in the West Bank and 4.0 percent in Gaza, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. 

Hi, Tziyona, I am well-aware that Hamas is evil, and would happily kill all Israelis, Jews, and Americans. I’m also aware that Hamas doesn’t care about Palestinians. I don’t think Israel does either. I don’t think any Arab countries do either. It’s tragic.

Hi Karen, Israel is the only country that has helped the Palestinians.  No Arab country.  Egypt does not want to take them in.  They have a serious problem  They might be better liked when Hamas is dead.  Almost all the Arab countries are hoping we will take them out.  But the world fights us.  Go Figure.

Hi, Tziyona, We Jews know what it is to be scapegoated, unfairly treated, and killed. This time, I get it, but it really seems (no pun intended) to be overkill. Israel has been treating Palestinians horribly and killing many innocent Palestinians for a long time now, though. Why are we doing that to another group when we know what it feels like?

Hi Karen, I Hope you realize this is false.  You are buying what Hamas wants you to believe.   Does that mean no Israeli police, citizen, or army have not hurt or killed an innocent Palestinian? No, I couldn’t say that, but it isn’t a lot.  As I said before, 72% of the Palestinians believe in Hamas and want to kill all the Jews.  (This includes the Palestinians that were hired by the very liberal groups – the ones who were massacred)

Hi, Tziyona, I do support Israel, just not all Israel has done and is doing. I support peace, and I think it is possible — if enough people would be committed. It would be a hard road filled with hard and heartfelt dialogues. But it is possible. And it is the most secure way — for everyone, especially the Jews and Israel.

Hi Karen, Everyone wants peace.  But at what cost? We don’t want peace with people who cheered on the savages, who want to see these brutal acts again and again and again.  We can’t make peace with people who think we deserve what came to us and insist more and more we should be killed.  I’m sure you didn’t see the videos (neither have I), but just listening to eyewitnesses has made me cry and cry.  No.  We can’t have peace. Not until every Hamas terrorist is dead and the civilian population who has the same desire needs to be dealt with.  ( I have no idea what).

Hi, Tziyona, So many people in the world have been watching Israel’s treatment — now and in the past — of Palestinians. Not Hamas, but innocent civilians. It makes them hate Israel and hate Jews, so besides hurting other human beings, it hurts us. And makes the world a way more dangerous place for us (Jews).

Hi Karen, These are the people who refuse to believe facts and rather get their information from murderers.  It doesn’t prove a thing; it just proves that there are so many idiots worldwide.  During the holocaust, people didn’t want to believe what was happening to the Jews.  Even today, they don’t believe it.  Does that mean that what these monsters are trying to spread as truth should be believed? 

Hi, Tziyona, I was and am so upset about the horrible things Hamas did to innocent Israelis. I’m also very upset that innocent Palestinians are being killed. Children, young people, no one who is an innocent civilian in either place or any place, deserves to die.

Hi Karen, Of course, it is sad to see children die on both sides.  But their side is self-inflicted. Our side was the worst pogrom anyone had seen in 500 years.

Hi, Tziyona, I’m not sure how you feel I was throwing daggers with my words, but if you tell me, I’m happy to address it.

I didn’t like the equation ‘of both sides’ as I think you understand.  But the use of calling our fight ‘revenge’. That is wrong.  We are not taking revenge.  We could never lower ourselves to their evilness. We are fighting for our lives.  For all Jewish life.  For the world.

Hi, Tziyona, I trust neither the right-wing nor the left-wing propaganda on this issue. Both have their own agendas, and neither cares about peace or the truth. Peace is life. Life for everyone. Peace is safety. Safety for everyone. It’s the only way to create mutual goodwill. It’s complex because I realize that Israel can’t just let Hamas get away with what it did. But I’m talking about innocent civilians here, families, children….Obviously on both “sides.”

When the massacure happened, all I could do for the first week was watch the news and sob. So…I care very much about what happened to innocent Israeli civilians. And…I don’t want anyone innocent to die. And I want people everywhere to be treated kindly and with respect so they won’t hate and want to kill the people treating them badly and killing their families. On both “sides.”

Hi Karen, Like I said.  There aren’t ‘both sides.’  There is innocence and evilness.  No way can they be equated.  The lies have destroyed our name, but that is what they are. Lies. There is no occupation, there is no massive slaughter on the Israeli front, and there is no apartheid.  All lies.

What there is – is real, ugly, old-fashioned anti-semitism leaking out of the universities, Hollywood, and many other people.  We are grateful for the support we have gotten.  But I get so upset to see “Jews for ceasefire’ ‘Jews for Gaza’ and ‘Jews for peace.’ They are so misguided, so treacherous, and they should not think for one moment that because they support Hamas, Hamas won’t come after them when given a chance.  That is true for all the Wokism who support Gaza. Don’t they realize Hamas throws gays off of buildings? They beat women who look at another man.  They chop off youth’s heads if they catch them listening to Western music.  These are the people any Jew (much less any American) is supporting is very sick.

Jews and people of the West stop thinking that the world is progressive and that all we need is love. Hamas is pure evil and believes in death. They say it about themselves. It is time to believe what they say and act accordingly. They want to take over the world and the Jew is their first stop. (And let us pray it will be their last).

Thanks for writing and being in contact, Karen.

Love, Tziyona

Some notes and videos:

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fworldisraelnews.com

https://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-72-of-palestinians-support-forming-more-armed-groups-in-west-bank/

What percentage of Palestinians support Hamas?

That’s three-quarters in total who supported the indefensible. Another three-quarters of Palestinians (76 percent) said Hamas was playing a positive role, while 98 percent said they feel some or great pride as a Palestinian. Just 13 percent of Palestinians opposed Hamas’ attack (21 percent in Gaza).

According to another New York Times report, “Hamas has used civilians as human shields and positioned underground bunkers, weapon depots, and rocket launchers under or near schools, mosques and hospitals”.

https://unmasking-campus-antisemitism-a-call-to-action-against-students-for-justice-in-palestine/?

htthttps://highlandcountypress.com/why-woke-support-hamas#gsc.tab=0

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12681617/What-irony-deranged-defence-Hamas-campuses-West-fuelling-counter-revolution-finally-loosen-stranglehold-wokeism.html

Operation Swords of Iron

I was awake and reading an article about the 50^th anniversary of the Yom Kipper War when I heard the first siren. This attack on Israel can be explained in so many ways.  It was almost to the date the 50^th anniversary of the Yom Kipper War, which, although we won, the Arab nations believe they won since they took us by surprise and we took much longer to turn it around.  Ironically, we who won felt we lost since we lost so many Jewish souls. We already know this will be our reality this time, too.

To me, I realized there was going to be a connection. It was a Jewish Holiday, Simchas Torah, which means almost every family was home and together. The monster, Hamas, wanted to kill families as a whole.  They wanted the parents to be there so they could watch the atrocities happen.

Until this war started, the Israeli community had been at war with each other.  Our enemies know that we have little power when we are not unified. So, seeing the horrible protests and even the pilots swearing they wouldn’t help even in a time of need, the Arabs knew this was a time to attack.

But I think the final straw is when the extreme leftists and the Supreme Court knocked down first by law and then actually physically the concept of a mechitza ( a physical separation banner between men and women) when davening in a public place. 

A most beautiful event had been established many years ago: on the holiest day of the year, right in the center of Tel Aviv and the bastion of the secular part of the city, all traffic was closed, and they had an outdoor shul where everyone of all types would join the Yom Kipper prayers altogether.  When the Supreme Court said the mechitzas were unlawful (a case the mayor of Tel Aviv brought to the court), the stage was set for friction. On that holy day, the religious part of the crowd put Israeli flags up as mechitzas, then torn down by the left who felt they were upholding the law.  But that wasn’t enough; they actually started hitting, pushing, and screaming at those who wanted to pray like a Jew on the holiest day of the year.

I believe (and I certainly don’t think I am original in this – See Rav Sternbach’s announcement) that the fight on Yom Kipper was the last straw. G-d was angry. Our enemies know our weak spots.  (During the holocaust, the Nazis kept track of the holidays and would make sure to decimate them for the Jews any way they could.

Although many countries have come out in full agreement and supportive of Israel and express great encouragement that Israel must wipe out Hamas, antisemitism has risen over 300%! It is not normal.  We know that Jews and Israel aren’t ever treated normally.

What are our strengths?  We do believe in our army.  But not because it is superior to any other army but because every Israeli knows our army doesn’t win from it is bravery, smartness, better equipped, or any other reason.  Everyone knows that Israel survives on miracles.  It is our strategy. 

The story is told in West Point, the United States Military Academy, where they learned methodologies that won wars worldwide.  One of the students raised his hand and asked, “Why don’t we ever discuss Israel’s maneuvers?  The instructor answered, “Because they rely on miracles.”

But in order to have miracles, we need to deserve them.  Here is what allows us to have miracles

1. We need achdus unity.  That is why our downfall was the protests and hatred between each group.  So, the opposite is true we need to be together and care for each other. Not call anyone names, labels, and the what.  (That includes young people who think they know everything calling their elders nazis. This is a great sin.)

• We need faith in Hashem.  The Muslims have faith and power over us if we fail in this department, it could defeat us G-d Forbid!  We have to know that it is only Hashem who can save us.  There are no safe places for any Jew.  That is why boys sitting in yeshiva learning Torah are just as important as the army. 

Before the 6-day war started, the head of the Airforce called the Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh, Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahneman (the gadol of the time) before they started to battle and asked for special prayers for the pilots.  The Rav called out his troops, and the entire yeshiva prayed all night with spectacular results.

We learn in the Parashat Vayishlach from Yaakov Avinu when he split his family into two camps, one in charge of prayers and the other the soldiers because he knew he needed both to survive from his brother who approached him with 400 men.  Modern-day war situation is no different.

My son, a yeshiva bocher, Yosef, was called back from his yeshiva from their planned week vacation to come back and learn with intensity.  They may not be on the physical line like the army, but they are part of it.  And I haven’t seen Yosef learn as well as he is now learning. He knows it is serious, and all the boys take it seriously. 

(That doesn’t mean we don’t have soldiers in Betar.  All the bus drivers had to drive 150 soldiers to the south on that horrible Shabbos.  Also, men with their yentiv streimels and tallsim left their dancing in shul to get in their cars.  They are part of the city’s private security.  They spent the rest of their Shabbos circling Betar to look out for terrorists.) 

• Helping each other doing hesed is also part of the equation.  Israelis waited in 4-hour lines to give blood all over the country.  People sent so much food to the army they asked to stop sending. (To the army!) Arabs are not being let into any Jewish city for fear of what they may have in mind.  (The Arabs who worked in the southern settlements reported to Hamas and laid out the land so they knew exactly where to go and do whatever they wanted.  And those Arabs had been employed for years and never said a word to protect their bosses. ) So, their jobs are given to Israelis for money or volunteering.  Yeshiva boys have taken over the garbage trucks.  Rabbis are stocking shelves.  Women are cleaning the sidewalks. Where I work, we offer free coaching (if anyone needs it –  let me know). And over 150% of those called up for the army (soldiers and reservists) have shown up.  (Rumor has it, a Haredi Jew sat by the El Al counter in America and quietly paid every soldier returning to fight his ticket.  It is said he paid for 150 tickets.

• It is known that if a Jew keeps Shabbos, then Shabbos will keep you.  I don’t want to point fingers at anyone, but it is important to say that those who kept that Shabbos (and Simchas Torah) the Shabbos kept them.

• The final thing I want to add is that we are commanded to see the miracles and publicize the miracles.  Here are the miracles we have heard of so far.

1. 260 or so young adults who came to the desert music festival were massacred, shot at, burned alive, and another 100 were kidnapped.  Yet there were another 260 people who somehow made it into a cave undetected by the butchers and stood packed in the cave unseen for 12 hours or so until the Israeli police found them. A miracle.

• “An Israeli policeman credited with saving 500 people from the Supernova festival has been hailed as a hero. Yigal Singer led a convoy of 100 civilian cars to enable terrified festival-goers to flee and were able to escape the Hamas terrorists. A miracle.

• “Inbar Lieberman, 25, is credited with saving the community of Kibbutz Nir Am when she led a group of residents in killing 25 terrorists infiltrating the site. The kibbutz security coordinator, Lieberman heard explosions erupting early on Saturday when Hamas launched the deadly attack. According to Israeli media, she raced to the town’s armory, equipped her 12-member team with weapons, and directed their response to the unfolding attack. A miracle.

• “Noa Beer, who grew up in the UK before moving to Tel Aviv, survived the Supernova festival attack and helped three others flee. As she escaped the attack in her car, the 29-year-old Beer stopped to help injured victims crawling toward the vehicle, including a woman who had been shot in the leg, she told the BBC. “https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/heroic-police-officer-credited-with-saving-500-people-from-supernova-festival-breaks-down-in-tears” A miracle.

• Inspector Mali Shoshana, who, together with another police officer, fought valiantly in the battle for the Sderot police station when many terrorists raided the place on Shabbat Simchat Torah, October 7. She managed to eliminate four terrorists. She lost many friends in that battle, and reinforcements were not coming. The terrorists who entered the police station threw a grenade, and she somehow took it and threw it back at them. Mali continued to fight.

In her own words: I was the officer on call at the Sderot station,” she relates. “I arrived at 6:30 in the morning on Shabbat, Simchat Torah. We changed shifts, I met the desk officer, and the night shift and the morning shift started arriving. And while we were talking, the red color sirens started. So, we started organizing with bulletproof vests, and helmets. And then we get a phone message that there’s a terrorist infiltration from Zikim, that some terrorists were inside on a pickup truck.”

“We heard light weapons shooting,” Mali continues. “One, two minutes later, we see a white pickup truck parked outside, with five, six Hamasniks with bandanas around their heads, and a firefight ensues between us and them. We returned fire. After this initial attack, we eliminated two.” Mali and another officer began a battle for their station and their lives, and within one hour, Mali eliminated four terrorists.

“They yelled at me, ‘Mali, Mali, a grenade!’ I caught it and threw it back at them on the staircase. I asked that they tell my son I love him. Suddenly, we see two climbing the stairs there and reach the door. I fired in their direction; one fell, and the other was probably injured, but he managed to shoot me. He hit the palm of my hand,” she says.

Mali figured that her ammunition was finished, and more terrorists were on the way. Reinforcement was not coming yet, and what was left for her to do was play dead – for four hours. “I put my hand over my head,” Mali continues. “I figured, if they come to verify that I’m dead, maybe the bullet, you know, will hit my hand, or won’t pierce the skull completely, to have a chance to stay alive. And I’m trembling in the cold water. And then the water washes off, and I’m drenched, and the wind is freezing, and I start trembling. And how can a trembling person pretend to be dead? So, I started thinking, how to continue playing dead? I tried to stop breathing for a minute and a half. And I prayed.” Many miracles    https://www.jewishpress.com/news/police-news/sderot-policewoman-killed-4-hamas-terrorists-who-invaded-her-station/2023/10/11/

It was a heroic battle of the police officer who wouldn’t surrender, and almost everyone paid with their lives. After a special police force rescued Mali, the battle on the station continued until it was demolished, burying the terrorists.

“Seven officers of the Sderot station, brave heroes, who fought for our lives, their lives, did everything so we would come out of there in peace, alive. They came from home without thinking twice and were killed by this human scum,” Mali says.

• In Beitar Illit, we had a direct hit by a missile from Gaza.  It fell three buildings from my apartment.  It landed in the middle of the day in the boys’ elementary school’s yard. The government had called off all schools the day before.  Otherwise, the boys, for sure, would have been playing right where it landed.  As it was, six people were slightly hurt (we lost our electricity for a short while).  One boy is still in the hospital, Thank G-d the rest are okay. A crowded bus had just turned the corner and told everyone to leave the bus since he heard the siren.  The missile missed the bus and its passengers by only a few seconds. Glass was everywhere. A miracle.

I’m sure we will hear many more miracles because we are a nation that relies on miracles.

I feel there are already many lessons we need to learn from this war, which has only started.

1. The word ‘Hamas’ in Hebrew has many meanings: theft, kidnapper, violence, murdered, destruction, and rapist. They stand for it all.

• We have to learn to believe the enemy.  Hamas, as well as Iran, Hizballah, and many other terrorist organizations, has long been promising they want to wipe off the map of Israel. (Or as the Palestinians say, “From Sea to Sea”. But that is not all.  They also have said they want to kill every Jew.  And the United States.  We should believe them.  We shouldn’t give these monsters money, prestige, or anything else because they mean what they say.  And they will sacrifice not only their lives but their children’s lives as well.  We must prepare. 

• Anti-semites are everywhere.  They are part of Harvard, Yale, and many other liberal colleges and think nothing wrong to intimidate Jews.  They are in business, such as Starbucks, Chinese retail sites SHEIN, Target, and Budweiser.  They are part of the extreme leftist squad in the National House of Representatives.

• They are part of leftist organizations: LGBTQ+ https://time.com/4839592/anti-semitism-lgbtq-pride/,https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/11/opinion/israel-hamas-gaza.html, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/09/israel-hamas-terrorism-palestine-dsa-antisemitism-zionism/ even though if any of the LGBTQ lived in Hamas land they would either be killed or spend 10 years in Jail, Black Lives Matter, https://time.com/6323730/hamas-attack-left-response/[L1] ,  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/10/10/black-lives-matter-palestine-twitter-hamas-chicago-israel/, https://www.npr.org/2021/06/07/1003872848/the-complicated-history-behind-blms-solidarity-with-the-pro-palestinian-movement, https://time.com/6323730/hamas-attack-left-response/

• Jewish Anit-Zionists are anti-semitic, and no one at this point should have problems understanding this.  The line is always thrown, “I am allowed to be critical.”  The problem with that is most people who voice that sentiment don’t know anything about Israel’s history or workings and want to be broad-minded but are missing a lot of information.  These are the same people who don’t know any of the names or events or certainly understand the importance of the Bible.  They see the Bible and the Talmud as too old.  They like everything new, like their new morality, which is about 10 years old and soon will be passe^ when the results of their stupidity become evident.

• The countries mostly seem to be backing us but don’t expect it to last too long.   Moral equivalency is soon and already is being demanded.  There is no morality in demanding equivalency or similar proportion.  Nor is any other country demanded of such rules.  There is no other army as moral as the Israeli army.  It is Hamas who refuses to allow Palestinians to leave the country.  They want them to stay and be human shields so the world can cry out against Israel.  But remember, it is Hamas who prevents them from leaving. Egypt is not allowing the entrance (they built a wall to prevent them from entering). No Arab country is helping the Palestinians out.  No one wants Hamas in their country. Hamas is worse than the Nazis (the Nazis did publicize what they did, but both filmed their crimes). And Hamas is worse than ISIS.

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A Conversation with a Far-Left Advocate

Leaning to the Write Jul 10 I had a conversation with a friend about the issues that separate the right from the left, and it stayed as a conversation.  I was very impressed with her ability to keep it low tones.  And because it didn’t flare up (though I needed to be tempered by my husband), we actually were to agree on basic issues that I didn’t think possible. So, let’s start at the beginning. I hadn’t seen this friend in 30 years.  She came to visit and put up with my pestering questions and blatant statements.  I was sincerely impressed by her commitment to having a conversation. So, what were the main points that we actually shared (though at times from opposite viewpoints)?  Homosexuality is natural.  It is a desire which one can choose (not easily) not to indulge in because most gay men are truly born with these desires.  Now, just because it is natural, it does not have to be fulfilled.  I know my cousin never dreamed that I would have a problem with homosexuality.  But because most liberals don’t read or know the bible except when they try to use it as a weapon and look to find a particular phrase or understanding that suits them. It is a surprise to most liberals that it is clearly written in the Torah (not even just in the oral law) that homosexuality is not only forbidden, but it is an abomination. Sodomy (which is what homosexuality is when it is two men) is named after the city that chose that lifestyle and was considered so evil that G-d had to obliterate it forever.   We didn’t discuss that, but we were (Thank G-d) on the same page that pedophilia is an abhorrent desire. So, even if we understand that a person naturally is born with those tendencies, he is not allowed to act upon them. In fact, she told me there is a support group for pedophiles who never acted out on their desires and know they don’t want to. So again, though we didn’t discuss it, I know there is the same such group for homosexuals.  Men who feel great not only desire for their own kind but recognize the law in the Bible and support each other in their hardship so they won’t break the laws written in Torah. Because the left is so much into feelings and natural desires should all be allowed, it won’t be long until pedophilia will be the norm and considered permissible. G-d Forbid. 2. We both agreed that transgenderism is a mental sickness.   Body dysphoria, which is the medical name for the sickness, is when the mind, feelings, and whatever else the left wants to convince the general population doesn’t align with the biological body parts, thus causing confusion, depression, and many other factors depending on how the person has been treated.  But whatever the case, it is a mental sickness. I don’t know if all transgenders would agree they are mentally sick, but it was a nice place for us to have an agreement.  I, of course, wanted to scream out, IF IT IS A SICKNESS, WHY DOES THE WHOLE WORLD HAVE TO BOW DOWN TO THEM?  Meaning, yes, if a person is wheelchair-bound, we must build ramps and elevators so they can have easy access to public and private places.  But we still have stairs. We don’t make everyone else suffer.  There are special Olympics for wheelchair-bound people.  They don’t compete with other runners and take advantage of their wheels over a person who is running on two legs.  Yet, women in sports now don’t have a place to compete anymore since, suddenly, these FAKE women are competing against them.  Wheelchair-bound people have their separate bathrooms or stalls.  This is where these FAKE women should go, not in the women’s bathroom.  Not in women’s dorms (when they are only women in the dorm).  These are FAKE women and don’t belong in places that have been traditionally safe places for women. My friend also wanted to point out that no one wants to be trans.  It is a hard life, and unless they are pretty, they must start hormones before they turn into their real biological selves instead of their mentally sick desires. What I learned.  She did teach me that puberty blockers are not the same thing as hormones.  Puberty blockers have been used on children for years for those who start puberty too early.  They are reversible.  And we both agreed that the hormones that give transmen hair on their faces and breasts on the FAKE women are forever damaging the person. They can never go back.  Girls who go this way will have low voices and hair in places they may not want. They may have problems with pregnancies. And it is coming to light that girls are developing osteoporosis from hormones!  What we didn’t agree on is the age.  She insisted that even though the person (especially boys wanting to be FAKE women) will be infertile, we as a society have to give them hormones starting at the age of 16, if not earlier.  Why? Because they may be bullied, they may commit suicide. Children under the age of 18 can’t have a gun, can’t drink or buy liquor, can’t vote, can’t be in the army, can’t even get a tattoo, but can decide to ruin their bodies and take away the possibility of being a parent anytime in their lives because they may not be pretty enough to pass as a female if they didn’t get hormonal castrated early enough? Also, there may not be as much damage from puberty blockers, but there are consequences (besides just not being normal like all their other classmates); “puberty blockers can weaken bones. The effects on her brain development and fertility aren’t well-understood. The risk of inaction was even more alarming”. Women come in all sizes and looks.  If these men want to be women, who cares if they are not pretty women?  3. We did agree on another point.  The left is trying to change the language so it will reflect only their point of view. Though we both agreed to this, obviously, we had opposite viewpoints on the approval rate.  This is a biggie! By the left using and changing basic words and meaning in the English language, they are intentionally trying to make us approve of their way of thinking.  This is the precise reason why if confronted (and honestly, I have been spared) with a trans whom I know or can see is a FAKE woman, I will use the biological pronoun and not their ‘preferred pronoun’.  (If they want to change their name, go ahead, that’s personal, but pronouns are grammar and not up to an individual to choose.  If they would insist, I’ll call them ‘it’.) I do not accept their new language grammar or vocabulary.  I am not a cis-woman. I am a woman. A transwoman is not a woman; HE is a man dressed in women’s clothes.  (Like the fabled fox in woolen clothing). (And as such, HE does not belong where women need to have no men.) Sex is actually the performance, and gender is what you are born as a male or a female.   There are only two genders.  (there are many men who have feminine tendencies and women who have men’s tendencies, and that’s fine, but that doesn’t make them suddenly another gender. It makes them an interesting person to have as a friend. And what sex you do, is behind your bedroom doors. PLEASE do not share.  We don’t want to know.  And don’t feel the need to explain your sexual appetite to children. Speaking of which, when I was in high school, there were always debates on what would be taught in sex-ed and when.  But it was clear no need for sex-ed before 7th grade.  And sex-ed was to learn how to have safe sex.  Not to teach how to have sex. The idea that there have to be debate books that show how to share in immorality is sick.  There should be many books, classics, and teenage thrillers, but there should never be in a children’s library the how–to–do-it sex books.  Personally, in our circles (Religious), the girls get a sex-ed class, where they are taught the beauty of their bodies and informed how they are or will be shortly going through puberty.  Before our children get married, they are again given private lessons on the beauty of sex and how it builds a marriage—no deviation needed. More words LGBTQ…. Soup is trying to change: Gay used to mean happy. Queer meant odd. Pansex means an immoral person. Affirmative Care now means a place to get medical castrated and mutilated. Affirmative Action is a government policy encouraging racism just now prohibited by the Supreme Court. Planned parenthood means killing preborn babies. Demisexuality is to have relations with only people you love.  This is morality, not to be considered an oddity by needing to put on a prefix.   Assigned male at birth – Mazel tov a baby boy Pride used to be something good. Now it means arrogant.  If trans is a mental sickness, why are we proud? The rainbow has been abducted by the alphabet soup group.  But the joke is on them.  The Rainbow, though beautiful, is really G-d’s sign that he is angry with us.  He shows us the rainbow to remind us we are only alive because he promised he won’t destroy the entire world when we are sinful. It was the promise he made to Noah. Okay, now comes the point should really defeat the left’s aggression toward anyone who disagrees with them. Suicide. Suicide is the argument that the left uses to end all arguments and always with tears. Yep, even my friend used tears, though we were speaking hypothetically and not about a real person.  (She is an incredibly sweet, sensitive, and soulful person, so I don’t want to make fun of her tears, but they were predicted by the right in any case.) The argument is that these children need to get the hormones that medically castrate them and more, and can never be reversed because they will otherwise commit suicide. But guess what? That argument doesn’t hold water at all. Let’s break it down. The argument is that transgenderism is a chemical and biological gene that has been with mankind always.  These people need to be transgender in order to feel normal and to belong.  If They don’t get their hormones, they will need to kill themselves. So, for thousands of years, there have been these people hiding out in their houses and not being able to transgend.  In this case, we should see a tremendous number of suicides for these people over the generations, especially among the young, since, anyway, they are more volatile, and that is the group we are talking about. And then the argument should be that now, now that it went from less than a handful of places who would do this type of hormonal and surgical manipulation in the United States, there are now thousands of places in the country.  Suicide should be way low. Guess what?  It is the opposite. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/suicide-rate-increased-since-2011-among-us-youth-young-adults-cdc/story?id From ABC: Suicide rate increased 60% since 2011 among US youth and young adults: CDC reports The rate rose from 6.9 per 100,000 in 2001 to 11 per 100,000 in 2021. ByMary Kekatos June 15, 2023 Among preteens and teens aged 10 to 14, suicide rates declined in the first half of the aughts and then tripled from 0.9 per 100,000 in 2007 to 2.9 per 100,000 in 2018, with no significant changes through 2021. Teen Suicides Jump 29% Over the Past Decade, Report Finds https://www.medpagetoday.com/ Adolescent suicides rose from 8.4 per 100,000 during the 2012-2014 timeframe to 10.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2018-2020, according to the new edition of America’s Health Rankings Health of Women and Children Report opens in a new tab or window from the United Health Foundation. Adolescent suicides also rose significantly in 10 states. The report captures 121 health measures based on the most recently available public health data from 30 different sources. PEW: Youth Suicide Risk Increased Over Past Decade. New national data highlights concerning trends among high schoolers. The reports are in.  As more and more Teenagers and young adults are making permanent decisions that can’t be reversed to their bodies chemically and surgically, they are killing themselves in greater and greater numbers. The suicide reason is false.  And Manipulative. The left viewpoint of society, “Wokism,” is a death cult.  They push abortion, promote infertility, push suicidal transgender medical intervention on the mentally sick, create dangerous places for women who only recently got those spaces, and want to tell everyone how to speak, thereby changing the way we think. (And don’t get me started with their belief in the green deal, which they justify different forms of murder (like the above). NO, THANK YOU. Don’t give in.  Push back this agenda.  Recognize the evilness.  Their sign, the rainbow, says it all: They are evil.   https://www.medpagetoday.com/psychiatry/generalpsychiatry/101188

Why do I, as a Reform Jew, feel put down by Orthodox Jews?

I’m so glad you asked this question.  Since I also came from a Reform background I understand your sentiment.  Though I have to be clear I can’t answer for conservative Jews only from an orthodox point of view, where I am today.

The most important thing you should understand above all things is the Orthodox dislike the labeling altogether.  In the ideal world (and actually the reality) there are no labels.  It is the labels that have caused much misinformation and actually was brought upon by the Reform.

Let me explain.  Judaism is a 3500-year-old belief system that was given to the children of Avraham, Issac, and Jacob and given the Torah on Mount Sinai by Moses. The Torah and the oral law was passed down from Moses to the elders and on through history.  (Can read all about it in Perke Avot (Ethics of our Father) in the first chapter.

Since even the time of the desert from Korah on till today (including the Sadducees, Essenes, Karaites) there have been movements who want to deny the oral law and “modernize” the Torah. (Included in this; can also be the Christian movement – but in actuality, it never really comprised of Jews).  These groups eventually were not part of the Jewish people. Reform and Conservative, humanist and Reconstructionist will follow.

One reason, because they will have stretched the meaning of what is a Jew that there will be nothing left of the original meaning and therefore will have created something that is outside of the Jewish people.

The second reason, even though Reform (and I’m sure Conservative will follow like they usually do just later) will change the law that a Jew is maternally passed down, but now Reform also include paternally transmitted Judaism, added on specifically not to lose in their numbers. They also convert anyone who is marrying a Jew and thus further muddy up the definition of a Jew. (A convert by Orthodox standards cannot be accepted only if they want to marry a Jew and must take on a commitment to keep the laws of the Torah.) Yet in spite of all these attempts to bolster their numbers they are losing to non-interest, intermarriage, and self-hatred.  The Torah promises this premise.  It is said in the Talmud; there can only be 4 generations of “going off the path”, before there is no connection at all.

Now the reason Orthodox don’t like these labels: Judaism is for everyone who is Jewish.  The wealth of learning, the beauty of family life, the rich holidays are meant to be given to all Jews.  Yet Reform and Conservative (and all the rest) come and say; “no you don’t have to follow any of the laws of the Torah – you are exempt” (very similar to what Christianity says.) and so Reform Jews think they are not obligated. Reform Jews think that Shabbes, Kosher, Family Laws, Not eating Chometz on Pesach, and on and on are arbitrary.  You are being lied to.  The halachos were given to us to keep and they keep us. (Only the Orthodox have survived the 3500-year history.)  By giving water down Judaism a label fools people into thinking they are part of something which is a fallacy.  They have stolen your heritage.

Reform Judaism believes in only one mitzvah – tikun olam.  Which is a very beautiful mitzvah and very appealing to Jews. But 1. it is not the only mitzvot that define a Jew. and 2. What makes that different than any other righteous gentile who is involved with tikun olam.  Nothing.  Thank G-d there are many wonderful gentiles as there are many wonderful jews helping others – but that is not enough to make you uniquely Jewish.  And when Reform Jewish youth realize that that pretty Christian or Muslim co-ed does also amazing things helping people why shouldn’t he marry her?

Reform Judaism doesn’t have an answer.  Orthodoxy; really the Jewish way does.  We are part of even a bigger and more beautiful life.  We have history, family, ideals, that affect every part of our lives from the moment we get up until we die.

I’ll tell you a story I heard once.

Before the war, there were 2 men who grew up together in yeshiva and were captured by either the Germans or Soviets and somehow they both survived and made their way to Israel.  They lost track of each other until many years later.

One, who we will call Sam gave up on his faith. He moved to Tel Aviv got married had two sons and lived well. The other Baruch moved close by in Bnei Brak and had a typical Ultra-orthodox lifestyle; marriage, lots of kids and then grandchildren.

Once they met.  Baruch invited Sam to join him one Shabbes.  Sam declined to stay a whole Shabbos would be too much, (he knew that he wasn’t allowed to drive over) but he lived close enough – he would walk over. Sam didn’t make it.

Baruch called him Sam up after Shabbos went out and asked what happened. Sam explained; “I was coming over. I got to the border of Tel Aviv and Bnei Brak and then I saw the streams of people.  Parents out with their many children. The Grandparents with their grandchildren.  Just children playing with each other.  I couldn’t walk anymore.  I turned around. I knew after the war I was probably giving up on my “olam habah” (the world to come) but I didn’t realize I gave up on my “olam hazeh” this world too.”

Be a Jew.  Just a Jew.  If you don’t want to keep the laws; don’t.  That is your choice.  But know that you have chosen that choice.  Don’t be fooled into thinking that the laws were not meant for you.

Follow up on Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo is not anti-Semitic. I had a problem with their services and was told it was because I lived in an unauthorized country, Israel.  What I hadn’t understood it was because the type of account I had was not legal for Israeli laws and therefore they called it an unauthorized country. I apologize for any misunderstanding.

Don’t Vote for HARRIS!

In the last election, people forgave me for voting for Trump.  “You are Israeli, so I get it.” 

This time, I don’t get Democrats.  If you understood that as an Israeli Trump was good for us, how can this time you don’t vote for Trump?  Israel is facing an existential war.  Under Biden, who has many faults as we; as being mostly senile, but he does have a deep love for Israel. 

Harris doesn’t.  She doesn’t know the history of Israel, nor the importance of supporting Israel.  She doesn’t mind siding with the people who accuse Israel of causing genocide.

You can make excuses because Trump is not good for the country, but most of those excuses are based on misinformation given out by the puppet managers of Harris (Obama, Clinton, and others).  For instance, “Trump speaks like a Nazi.”  SERIOUSLY, because he says he wants to ‘make America great again’, that makes him a Nazi.  Based on that, those who say let’s bring down America aren’t they the nazis?

Or that he is against abortion.  He said it has nothing to do with him it is based only on each state.

Or about Project 25, he said he has never read it, is not interested in reading it, and has nothing to do with it. Besides being almost 1000 pages, no one has read it, and anyone can pretend they know what is in it.

Or his total support for Israel where he understands Israel needs to WIN and not be stopped before we change the Middle East to a safer region.  

Trump wants to allow legal immigration with extreme vetting put in place so murders, rapists, the sex-slave industry, drugs, and terrorists should not be allowed in the country. Biden and Harris see no problem with these types of people in the country and then don’t understand when Trump complains of that ‘enemy within’.  These types of people are the enemy and Harris has invited them in. And admits she loves every one of them and would like them to be planted in American cities and given housing, medical care, and education before real Americans.

Does she help the veterans?  Does she give them a break in college tuition?  Does she give them housing?  Does she even recognize that there are soldiers out protecting America’s interests?

Does she give veterans a month to celebrate them?  No, only half-naked transgenders get a month to celebrate and a flag on the white house ground.  What a mixed-up moral-value system she wants to impose on the country.

She only promises taxes and more taxes so she can tell parents what to do to their children.  She takes parents away if their child is sick more than 12 days in a year.  She will take parents away if the parents don’t agree to provide their children with sex-changing surgery. (Read: mutilation) She thinks only the government in charge can decide what children should learn and not learn.

She has no respect for any religion unless it is Wokism. She didn’t go to the Catholic dinner; she threw out 2 boys who said Jesus’s name at one of her rallies.  She is a menace to society and should not be allowed to become the president.

It doesn’t matter she is a woman.  She is not fit for the office and she will destroy America. Don’t vote for identity politics.  That is just stupid.

And the most important point is: if you care about Israel if you care about your family in Israel: DO NOT VOTE FOR HARRIS!

Israel, the Indigenous Homeland of the Jews

Dialogue with a Liberal

Event: Trump goes in a car with Secret Service to wave to his fans.  The windows are shut, everyone is wearing a mask.

The Liberal media goes berserk.  How dare he exposed the SS?  How was he going to go home anyway or how did he get to the hospital, I assume with the same SS, but this was worthy of impeachment was some of the reactions.

So I wrote on an old friend’s Facebook who actually lives in D.C. “why is everyone making such a fuss?  His window is shut and he has a mask on.”  Okay it may not have been the best protection for those in the car, but that kind of hysteria?

She wrote back:

I am part of a community in which many people are experts, working within the government for decades – from the White House office of management and budget to the EPA. (READ: THE SWAMP) Everyone I know and respect abhors and fears trump. He has consistently proven himself to be hateful, incompetent and corrupt. He is doing immeasurable damage to our country and our democracy. When you defend him on my Facebook page I feel the way you might feel if I were to write on your fb page the Jesus is King of the Jews. Please stop.  What? She is Jewish – so what is her point?

I’m sorry I didn’t write more than one sentence – a response which was really just a question. Are you part of the group of people who believe only one side is allowed to have an opinion? If I wrote more on your FB – I’m sorry. I certainly only meant to write on my own FB. But it is sad that you only have people you communicate with are only one side. And why would you write a missionary statement. Are you implying I can’t be Jewish if I’m not liberal?

No I don’t believe only one side can have an opinion. But sadly anyone who happens to support Trump is supporting a fascistic hater who has fomented anti-Semitism and hate of all kinds and uses the presidency only to benefit himself and his malignant narcissistic fragile ego. It is a death cult and there are many honest and wise conservatives and republicans who despise him. Look up the Lincoln Project and learn something from smart republicans who recognize a corrupt death cult when they see it. You’re supporting the wrong team, which is very dangerous and annoying.

Meaning: “you can have any opinion you want as long as it is mine.

 No. But it would be rude and offensive for me to write on your page that Jesus is King of the Jews. Even if I believed that I wouldn’t have the chutzpah to write it on YOUR page because I understand that it would be offensive and rude. Enough already. You can advocate for the fascistic cult in your own page.

Thanks for your permission. Sorry I have the same political opinion as most of Americans and certainly most Israelis.

The vast majority of American Jews support Democrats because democratic values are much more consistent with Jewish values. Today, the choice isn’t between Democratic and Republican candidates. It’s between a democrat and a wannabe Autocrat.

.This I understand, but what I don’t contemplate how liberal Jews can accept the party that time and time again (especially under Obama and Biden) was so against Israel. American liberalism has taken over any values the Jews used to have and replaced it with green deal which is communism and against the values our grandparents taught us which has totally been discarded. This will lead to the end of modern Jewry except for the orthodox. Thank G-d the goyim have better sense. Trump has been accused of many things which most (though not all) are really taken out of context and therefore not true. Biden’s record doesn’t stand too well for Jews, Black or anyone else, but it doesn’t matter because the will of Kamila, AOC and the rest of the squad will lead the country right into the hands of Castro.

Trump is Putin’s puppet which makes your mention of communism laughable. I lived in Russia and live in the US now and recognize Soviet type propaganda when I see it. Just wait to see Trump and his kids go to jail just like numerous of his friends and allies already have. You and I do not agree on any of this. It is offensive that you accuse me of only communicating with people who think like me. Clearly you don’t know me and it is offensive and obnoxious to be accused of that. Have a nice day.

But as long as I think Trump is the best president for us I cannot be heard from. Only those who have repented.

In the end we did find what to agree with.  She wanted to show me Trump with ‘his mistress” (which I have no idea is true, an earlier time or what) and I showed her the rape accusation against Biden and mentioned that Roosevelt, Kennedy, Clinton and many more presidents had problems keeping their hands to themselves.

She called them all scums.

I agreed.

Hatred begets strange bedfellow

But I find that the hatred and name calling is a sad outcome of what is going on around the world.  Even though we are all fighting the same virus no-one seems to help the other and people can’t seem to find common ground.  If I don’t agree with you then there is no need for discussion. 

Facebook, twitter, and all the other social Medias use algorithms to send back to our pages the stories, news items that we already agree with.  We no longer need to hear or sift through the ‘other’ side’s opinion. And all of us, me included, just go further to the right or left and leaving the center bald.

Never before has a presidential race so extreme (except for maybe last time).  There are not central feelings the valley is filled with the bones of hatred. 

Yes, I think Trump is the best person to be president because he has been unbelievable to Israel, built up the economy when Obama said it couldn’t be done, give more jobs back to Americans instead of bowing down to all of USA’s enemies or trade breakers.    \

But the real problem is because we have left the need to be centralized which meant there usually would be two men fighting for the presidency who were actually not so different – just slightly – which is normal considering the country is a two-party country.

But now the split causes the worst to come forward and be extremism.  Hilary would have been the worst and Biden is going to be controlled by the green deal ladies.

Watch out America.  But please reign in your own safe spaces and allow another voice to be heard.

How do we count the problem?

When the yeshiva bochrim went back to learn after Pesach they were very careful.  The whole country had been at lockdown.  The boys had to be in isolation in their homes after taking a corona test before returning to the yeshiva in for summer zman.  The numbers of covid19 patients in the yeshiva were low if not even heard of (except for one or two yeshivas, which were hit hard).  When my son came back home after Tish b’aAv, I felt we were the ones who were exposing him to the sickness.  His yeshiva was a sacred cloister in more ways than one.

Then Av came.  The boys left the yeshivas altogether.  They are young, with a great need to go and do something.  They had not been allowed to leave their campuses not even to shop for their favorite snack or drinks for the three months.  I don’t know about other people, but my son was off.  He visited his married siblings, went on bar-b-ques with friends as they hiked and camped out throughout the north.  There was always a touch of fear as these boys go out and conqueror their restlessness. (Unfortunately, they are not the most safety-conscious or careful as every year has had horrible accidents) happen, this year seemed to have the fear of just being together could pass along the sickness.

Yosef, my son, turned 18 in the beginning of Ellul, right for the beginning of the new zman a time of introspection and seriousness. He took a corona test that day, which showed him to be negative.  But he had already been exposed to his roommates who were not only positive but coughing and already with a fever.

Within a few hours of supposedly of a negative answer, he got a terrible headache.  Though I don’t usually call him too often knowing that most of the day he is either learning or sleeping, I started to call him two or three times a day.  He was getting worse.  It took a Shabbes and another day before he could get another test.  By that point his back was in severe pain, his headache persisted and he had a slight fever.  Even though we were suffering from the highest temperatures ever recorded (42 or higher) he actually told me he was cold.

I got nervous and knew there was nothing I could do.  I couldn’t be near him and take a chance of getting corona not with my husband having the exact symptoms that are considered the most dangerous with corona. And yet what if he needed me or someone.  I knew he was in the yeshiva with all the other guys who would be at least company, and for good or bad, they were all in the same boat.

The results finally came in two days later and were not surprising, he had corona.  He was pleased.  If he was sick, it might as well be covid19 (as long as he shouldn’t suffer and long-term effects), because then he didn’t need to worry and be tested anymore. What was surprising were the phone calls.

First, we got the answer from Kupat holim that he was positive.  We gave the doctor my son’s phone number so he could check on him directly, which is their policy. A doctor needs to call the sick patients every day. Then we got another call from the City government, and another from the country government, then the department of health and honestly I don’t know how many calls and where they were all calling from.  Each one asking for Yosef by name. 

Already by the next day, he started to get a bit better.  His headache subsided and his backache lessen. The fever was long gone.

The numbers for many Haredi cities are going up but I want to propose it may not be as bad as it seems. First of all, just the idea that each city is counted by how many people are affected by corona (yes with a balance towards total populations) may not show an accurate picture.  Many times we have heard how a small town will have 30 or so people but 14 of them may be from the yeshiva and the other 16 are two families that got together – thus not meaning the whole town is sick. If they broke down the numbers by families the picture of how far and fast the flu has been catchy would be clearer.  And now that it is yeshivas across the country that is being inundated by the sickness (with thank G-d very few have needed any hospital care) also make the cities look sicker than they may be. In the yeshivas, bochrim are in their own entity, forbidden to leave the premises thus creating separate bubbles of sickness, which aren’t being spread beyond its borders. My son’s yeshiva which has 450 students at the moment has nearly 100 sick.  These numbers should not be counted in our town where they are not even present in, but neither should they be considered part of Rehovot where it is based.

By portraying the cities worse than they are, is causing either curfews (as of now) or lockdowns, but certainly a lot of unrest and discussion.  What if it is not as bad as it seems.  I suppose the real numbers we need to focus on are in the hospitals.  How many patients are in hospitals (serious and/or on respirators)? What is the toll taken on our health care workers?

These are the questions and numbers that will tell the real story. 

Now, ironically, I feel my son is in the safest environment.  That is until he gets home and is exposed to other types of impurities.

Tziyona

How is the life of an Orthodox Jew different than a Secular life.

As a person who was brought up in Reform Judaism and chose to be an Orthodox Jew, I feel I might be able to answer this fairly. My husband and I are BTs. (Baeli Tshuva – people who have returned to their religious roots.)

I saw secularism (with holidays, emphasis on family and etc – so not totally secular without anything) a bit scary. I was in college, my roommate was dating a married man, I saw people choosing life decisions that didn’t seem to be based on morality. And I realized I wasn’t happy with people who I thought were friends involved with life choice I found wrong. This was a long time ago, and today it seems more apparent. The moral code of today is ‘if it feels good, it must be okay’. Without anyone noticing that the more you follow your desires the further you are from finding truth and reality. It all scared me. I didn’t want to be married and know that a good chance my husband would have an affair. I didn’t want to be the only one concerned about whether an action was stealing from someone else or making money or moving in a high powered career was the only value in life.

My husband was even more affected by these ideas, especially when he got invited to his first Shabbos meal with a family of 8 children. He had never seen a family so large before and they all sat in their seats waiting for their father to make kiddush. The drinks were poured out and given from the oldest to the youngest – and no one complained. At that moment he decided he wanted to create a family like that. We both had been brought up in religious reform or conservative, where making kiddush was integral in most of our family Friday evenings, but it still was always a bit rushed affair – have parties to go to, basketball games, friends to see or even needed to be hurried to go to temple every Friday night at 8 regardless what time the sun went down. But to have such a large family sit, listen, wait, and then be so attentive to each child around the table – was beyond anything we had ever experienced. No one was going anywhere, the family was the most important event happening. And the meal was prolonged; first kiddush, then motzi, then fish and salad course. Followed by the soup course. Then the main meal and finally dessert. Hours together and inviting strangers like us into their home. Seriously, it was something to aspire and want in our future. (And just for the record – I believe we did accomplish that reality and now are seeing our grandchildren being raised in similar homes – a mark of success I can’t imagine anything to prove greater.

I was totally taken by all that, but honestly, I was moved by a history class I took in a BT seminary. The idea that G-d gave us the Torah and it has never been falsified, but rather given over in full detail not only in the Torah parsha but through our Holidays; Pesach and Shauvos were intriguing. How could it be rejected with over 3 million people saw it? It wasn’t the story of Joe Smith who claimed he found tablets (Moromism) and suddenly could translate the strange text, it wasn’t the story that in ones dream they stopped and saw the Haram al-Sharif (the Temple Mount) and G-d and thus he must be G-d ‘s true prophet,(Muslim) it wasn’t like G-d’s son died and then resurrected with three people witnessing it(Christianity). It was seen and passed down generation to generation over 3,000 years with millions of witnesses. You can’t fool people to believe that unless it really happened. I was so struck by it – that all the denials I had grown up never even try to address the possibility of its reality.

But all that doesn’t really answer your question. How does it feel to live a religious life? It is comforting that I feel the choices I make or made based on what I learn from what Rabbis determined after sifting through years of learning and understanding the Talmud to fine pick the right answer for each situation. (Does that mean I ask the Rav every detail of my life – no – we are all commanded to learn and understand the issues. So if I accidentally put a dairy spoon in a meaty hot pot, I already know that I probably have a problem with the spoon but need to ask a rav about the pot based on how hot it was, how much food was already in it, when was the last time it was used before, and did it have meat in it. And if those answers don’t help me to know what to do, I now know at least what my question will be.

Or in another situation if I lent someone money, the laws are incredibly thought out: can I ask for the money if I thought it was forgotten? Can they do me a favor for me or will it be considered interest, which may be forbidden? Can I take interest? If so, how? What if they don’t pay back? What are my options? All these questions are asked and answered based on so many factors that need to be dealt with. To think a person can go through life and assume they can answer all these questions without allowing their own biases feelings to come through is ridiculous. And just to be on the side of even caring that one’s decisions and actions are important is an encouragement to me.

Or what about that deep down fear I saw in college – would my husband have an affair? In the orthodox world, it is almost unheard of. There might be divorces (and still also way lower than the secular lifestyle) but adultery – really incredibly low. Why? Because since the marriage is considered so important, steps are taken to protect the relationship over anything else. That is the reason women (and men!) dress modestly, women cover their hair, don’t sing with other men. The concept of yichud (Not to be alone with a man who is not a husband, son, brother, or grandfather)is very important. These are some of the laws set up to protect marriage – because it is one of the worst things to experience – adultery.

Is my life hard? I guess sometimes, but so are many things that secular people insist they need to do which in the end can every difficult and at the end useless. And here we are protecting the most important thing we have in our lives – family and our marriages.

You know how everyone says when a person is dying they wish they had spent more time building relationships, especially with their family, spouse and children, and less time making money. I am not worried. I decided to actually do that.

So in three words, I would say living an orthodox life is rewarding, logical and beautiful. I often think back ‘what if…’ and I always come out happy with the choice I made.

The Bodies are Piling Up

Should we be fighting for Civil Rights not to wear a mask?

Hey guys, WE ARE AT WAR!

https://www.zerohedge.com/health/shocking-footage-bodies-piled-manhattan-hospital

I am amazed how people like Dennis Prager (who I respect and admire his work, usually) wrote April 28th ”

All my life, I have dismissed paranoids on the right (“America is headed to communism”) and the left (“It can happen here” — referring to fascism). It’s not that I’ve ever believed liberty was guaranteed. Being familiar with history and a pessimist regarding the human condition, I never believed that.

But the ease with which police state tactics have been employed and the equal ease with which most Americans have accepted them have been breathtaking.” https://www.facebook.com/DennisPrager/posts/10157797870066998?notif_id=1588078236823055&notif_t=comment_mention

It seems the conservative movement don’t get the incredible ferociousness of the Coronavirus. People are still claiming the virus is no different than the flu and we should only be concerned of losing our liberties. What about our lives!

Seriously? As of today, 60,000 Americans have died! If one were to add the Korean War, the war in Afghanistan, 9/11, the Spanish American war, and the war in Iraq together there would be less people who died than the amount of people have died already in the past few months from the coronavirus. The Vietnam War lasted from 1964 -1975 – 11 years had about the same amount of Americans who died as the amount of Americans who have died since March.

which police state tactics have been employed and the equal ease with which most Americans have accepted them have been breathtaking.” https://www.facebook.com/DennisPrager/posts/10157797870066998?notif_id=1588078236823055&notif_t=comment_mention

It seems the conserative movement don’t get the incredible ferociousness of the Cornovirus. People are still claiming the viris is no different than the flu and we should only be concerned of loosing our liberties. What about our lives!

Seriuosly? As of today, 60,000 Americans have died! If one were to add the Korean War, the war in Afganistain, 9/11, the Spanish American war, and the war in Iraq together there would be less people who died than the amount of people have died already in the past few months from the coronavirus. The Vietnam war lasted from 1964 -1975 – 11 years had about the same amount of Americans who died as the amount of Americans who have died since March.

https://prospect.org/downloads/1908/download/american_war_deaths.jpe?cb=0bbb1c8e0153fe817cd2a8a67acc21e8&w=320&h=

https://prospect.org/power/american-war-dead-numbers/

The Spanish flu was worse. There were 850,000 died in America alone, almost 28% of the population. Thank G-d we are nowhere close to that destruction. (That would equal the amount of Americans killed in the Vietnam War and the Korean war together which were fought over 14 years not a few months.)

During that time, the flu was ignored. No media, no numbers being posted. It came at the end of the World War I and no one wanted the other side to know how many soldiers were actually dying from the epidemic. Precautions were not taken. Anyone was allowed to visit the sick, no one was told to wear masks, stay home – not until it hit the cities big time. Only when many were already dead.

Only San Frisco took the first action to close down the city and was able to save their population. That was until the anti-mask demonstrations started – people protested against the health measure. They won and lost big time. San Fricsco became the worst hit with the flu in the nation.

“San Francisco was reportedly one of the hardest hit cities in the U.S. during the 1918/1919 pandemic.  As Kamiya explained in a Chronicle piece a few years ago, “In less than a year, 45,000 people [in San Francisco] fell ill and more than 3,000 died, out of a population of 500,000.” 

The amount of people who have died from the regular flu is surprisingly high: For the 2016-2017 34,200 people died from the flu. For the 2017-2018, 34,157 died. The corona virus in a matter of 2 months has already killed almost 60,000 people in America alone.

I totally agree we must always be careful that the government doesn’t overstep is boundaries and police officers should not take health measures beyond the care that is meant behind it. But people need to respect that their actions affect all of us. If a person goes without a mask, because he doesn’t think it is constitutionally, he is effecting all those he comes close to in a 2 meter circumference! What if that action kills someone – is he still entitled to reckless behavior?

Our economies need to be protected, and many people are going to be hurt. Obviously a balance needs to be constructed and no one has a magical ball to see the future. That means many mistakes will happen that will affect our jobs and our health. But to deny totally the reality is immoral.

Wearing masks is not really protecting the wearer but is preventing each person effecting others. It comes down to caring for your fellow person.

Learn from the past. Keep social distaining. Wear masks. Stay home as much as possible. Stay alive. We are at war with an invisible enemy.

Using a face mask, the following conditions are important: https://www.fhi.no/en/op/novel-coronavirus-facts-advice/facts-and-general-advice/hand-hygiene-cough-etiquette-face-masks-cleaning-and-laundry/

• Do not buy face masks that needed in the healthcare service (Face mask class II or IIR, or respirator masks)
• Using a face mask does NOT replace other infection control advice such as hand hygiene and cough etiquette, staying home with respiratory symptoms and maintaining a distance of 2 metres from others.
• For the face mask to have any protective effect for the wearer, it must sit tightly around the mouth and nose.
• Face masks have a limited effect and lifetime and must be changed regularly (when they become damp).
• Face masks are uncomfortable and, as a rule, untrained people who wear face masks will frequently touch the face mask and the rest of their face. Avoid touching the front of a face mask that has been used. Avoid touching the front and then your eyes / rest of face.  
• Dispose of the used face mask with regular household waste and be careful to clean your hands both before and after touching the mask.

Building Self-Esteem

Self Esteem by Tziyona Kantrowitz

What is it?

Self-esteem is how you feel about your own self-worth. Of course, a person can think too well of themselves which could make them a narcissist, but generally most people need to feel more confident.

Our self-confidence changes from day to day if not hour to hour.  How do we work on it so we can feel good about ourselves and allow us to function better? Having self-esteem influences your choices and decisions and how you will react in any given situation.

Scientific research has proven that the better you think of yourself will actually cause different hormonal reactions in the body giving off more or less energy. You can build and change your own body chemistry based on how you act or think of yourself. Here are 8 steps to help you build your self-esteem.

1. Building Self-EsteemKnow Your Own True Self and Go Out of Your Comfort Zone.

Self-esteem is built by knowing and doing what you are really capable of doing.  Being involved with the things that you care about and are good at will make you feel worthy. It doesn’t mean you should only do the things your good at, but being involved with things that you have mastered makes you feel proud.  If you enjoy cooking, make dinner parties. If you’re a good runner, sign up for races and train for them. If you are good with kids, babysit or run a nursery school. But don’t forget to also go out of your own comfort zone and try something you haven’t worked on yet to perfection.  It exercises your belief in yourself making you even stronger.

2. Create your own Body Language

Brain scan studies have shown that when your self-esteem is high, you react better to rejection and failure, and are able to bounce back from them more quickly. The hormone cortisol gets released into the bloodstream when you’re under stress.  Yet if you can make yourself feel strong your reaction the very same situation can instead release the hormone testosterone, which makes you feel strong.  If you are about to face a difficult situation, take a deep breath, strike a power pose (not necessarily in public) by standing tall with your feet spaced out, hands on your hips and feel powerful, in charge. When a person feels nervous or weak they try to take as little space as possible, by folding in their shoulders and stoop. Look at how you are standing and make your posture work.

In a widely shared TED Talk “Your body language may shape who you are”, social psychologist Amy Cuddy of Harvard Business School explained how the hormones are effected by how one stands and thinks. She ended her speech with a powerful message. She said, “a person not only can ‘fake it to you make it’ but even more so, a person can ‘fake it until they become it’.” Allow yourself to be confident. 

3. Give Yourself the Benefit of the Doubt

We are trained to give everyone else the benefit of the doubt.  But at times we forget to apply it to our very own selves.  Self-criticism can be harsh.  Stop the inner dialog of putting yourself down and taking one example of a failure and blow it up to characterize your whole life. “This always happens to me”, “This is the story of my life” or ‘I’m so stupid, lazy or not getting it’. Allow yourself mistakes once and a while like you would for a stranger.  Instead focus on how to improve and make your mistake work out better either now or the next time. Spend time to know what your strengths and weaknesses are and forgive yourself for your flaws.

4. Make Your Fear Work for You

It sounds too simple to be true, but telling yourself that you are excited instead of anxious allows you to think of the situation at hand as an opportunity rather than a threat. In actuality, the same hormone adrenaline works both when you get nervous or excited. It is up to you to define which direction.  You can make that hormone work for you.

5. Exercise and Eat Well

When you exercise, your body releases another hormone called endorphins. These endorphins not only make you feel pain less, but they trigger a positive feeling in the body, leaving you happier and energetic. These hormones stay in your body for at least another half hour after a workout. By eating healthy and exercising you actually feel better physically and emotionally.

6. Dress Nicely

How you dress affects how you feel about yourself. Dressing in a modest, but attractive way makes you be treated with respect by others and allows you to feel worthy of that respect.   

7. Keep a Chart of Things That You are Grateful For

Keeping a list of successes—however small or otherwise—can give you motivation and raise your positive emotions like joy and pride, as well as build your sense of confidence. Write down your accomplishments weekly and see your creative juices grow and your self-esteem develop over time.

Noticing the many things that you should be grateful for, forces you to be more aware of Hashem who only wants to give you good. The more you realize all the things that Hashem has given you that make you happy then when even those stressful, upsetting events happen, will let you remember it is all for your own good. Look for the silver lining of any situation and you can feel happier.

In the book, ‘Holy Woman’- The Road to Greatness of Rebbetzin Chaya Sara Kramer by Sara Yocheved Riger, the Rebbetzin, the sole survivor of her entire family and a survivor of Mengele’s experiments, told Ms. Riger “Auschwitz was not a bad place, I at least could still do mitzvos.”

8. Learn to Accept Compliments

Instead of discrediting the person who gives you compliments find the right response when offered a compliment.  Just even saying a simple, ‘thank you’, can make the other person feel acknowledged and allows the compliment seep into your belief system.  When you believe a compliment and accept it, people will actually compliment you more and will find you admirable. And you may also find out they are right as well.

As a Jew, how do you feel about the Ultra-Orthodox?

I don’t like the term Orthodox. In fact, I don’t like any of the labels, I think of ourselves as Jews all bound by the same Torah, and each finding our own path to have a connection to G-d. Yet, I totally get the need for the terms. It allows us to understand what most likely how the person will think and their life’s view.

Though I was born and raised as a ‘religious’ Reform Jew, I am now officially part of the very orthodox group you are asking about. So, I would imagine that would answer your question; I think pretty highly of the Orthodox.

But how did it happen this major move in my life?

I had always been interested in studying Judaism to get to know the history, details. And though until I was in Israel on a junior year of college abroad in Haifa overseas program, I never had had a chance to actually meet and speak with anyone Orthodox. I remember being part of NFTY a Reform teenage group and we were given the chance to learn about other religions and spend a day of Sabbath with different groups. When I asked could we go to an orthodox home, we were told absolutely not, that was not on the agenda. I guess that just got me more interested.

I took a chance and went to spend a Shabbos with an orthodox family and actually was not too happy about the event. I came in knowing they would be anti-women, have many rules and when in the middle of Shabbos I wanted to leave I took my bag and left, I was not amused by all the staring I got as I left.

Of course, coming in with preconceived notions and walking around the way I did a very un-Shabbos action it was no surprise how I was stared at (not to mention my dress was not exactly fit the definition of modesty that is expected in the community.)

My boyfriend, later husband, at the time, though loved the Shabbos and thrived on it. Forcing me to give it another chance. In any case, I really did want to go learn. so I took a chance and joined a women’s religious school for Baeli Tshuva (people who like me were testing the waters of Orthodoxy). I fell in love with the learning. The logic, the depth, the understanding was so over anything else I had ever studied whether it was in my upbringing, college or any other classes I had attended.

My husband was struck by the family. He couldn’t believe that a family of so many children would actually sit down together and enjoy a long meal. Each child knew how to be quiet during kiddush, and wait their turn for the grape juice. After spending a few Shabboton he realized that this was the kind of family he wanted.

So, I went to other Shabboses with families and saw also the beauty of the families. When I dropped the anger, and daf’kanic (the contrariness) and opened my eyes I also realized it was a beautiful event Shabbos with a family.

Today, I can only say how happy that we chose that path long ago. I have beautiful children, grandchildren and a marriage that is over 35 years strong. I know most of my friends of that long ago, can not claim such achievements.

Are there problems in the Orthodox world? Sure. There are groups in it, I don’t want to be associated with and give us all a bad name. But that is the tradition of Jews throughout history.

Those Jews that hate the Orthodoxy, is incredibly sad. They come with preconceived notions and wish to see only the bad. It takes an open mind to see the beauty. Besides to be a self-hater – since we are all connected – is a sad state to be in.

Elke Weiss’s (from Quora) answer to How is Tikkun Olam Judaism different than traditional Judaism?

Why do so many anti-Zionists Jews use the phrase ‘Tikkun Olam’?Elke Weiss, Degree in Jewish Studies, Feminist, Zionist, ScientistAnswered Jun 16

I think it’s an attempt to create a new Judaism.

Let’s be honest here. The Tanakh isn’t politically correct or liberal. It is heavily gendered, homophobic and authoritarian. It doesn’t speak of modern values and it’s incredibly centered on building an Israelite/Jewish state in the land of Israel.

So, what do you do as an Anti-Zionist when you want to speak in the name of Judaism, but all of Jewish scripture is against you?

You can either leave Judaism behind or you can change your views of what Judaism is.

Instead, some create an entirely new faith, based on “Tikkun Olam” which isn’t really a concept in Judaism, but a cherry-picking of some minor phrases to just ignore all of Jewish scripture and not have to wrestle with the problematic parts.

Now, many like the Reform and Conservative and Reconstructionist Jewish movement do wrestle with the texts and use Tikkun Olam to interpret it, but the foundation is the text, not the concept.

How can you oppose a state of Israel, given the textual foundation in Judaism for such a state? Apply “Tikkun Olam”.

Problem is, the Mishna (Jewish oral traditions) uses the term “mipnei tikkun ha-olam”to mean “In the interests of the public good,” not meaning “fixing the world” and is talking about providing extra protection for citizens in society.

It is also a concept in Jewish mysticism about God scattering shards of holiness into the world, and people collecting it through good deeds.

Anti-Zionists who use it without scriptural support make it into an amorphous catch-all for anything people wanted to make of it. If it means anything you want it to mean, it becomes meaningless.

So for Anti-Zionists, fixing the world is a great idea, but what exactly is Jewish about it? Many people do good, and aren’t even Jewish.

So, if all you have to do to be “Jewish” is do good, do you even need to be Jewish if you do good?

Can you all mass convert to Catholicism and still do good and consider it Tikkun Olam?

I think that has led to a huge crisis in Jewish life, because they no longer have a definition of what it means to be Jewish.

A Portrait of Jewish Americans indicates that

• 73% say remembering the Holocaust is key to being Jewish, and leading an ethical and moral life.
• A majority say working for justice and equality.
• 42% said being Jewish was about having a good sense of humor
• 49% said it’s about being intellectually curious.

Not even a third say it’s even being part of a Jewish community.

So, let’s see? To be a Jew, just remember being slaughtered for being Jewish, live an ethical and moral life, work for justice and equality, be funny and intellectually curious.

By that logic, the Dalai Lama is an ideal Jew. His people were slaughtered, he lives an ethical and moral life, and work for justice and equality. He was even the very first visitor when the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum opened in April 1993. He’s funny and intellectually curious.

While I admire the Dalai Lama, that’s not Judaism and he’d be the first to say so. Elke Weiss’s answer to How is Tikkun Olam Judaism different than traditional Judaism?

So, it’s a way to ignore the text of Judaism, without having to disavow Judaism.

Do Orthodox Jews Practice Tikun Olam?

Tikun Olam which sounds like a beautiful idea, to dedicate one’s life to fixing the world, is not practice in Orthodox Judaism, at least not the way Reform practice it. If one would follow the entire Torah as Orthodox Jews try to do, will result in Tikun Olam.

The problem is when Reform Judaism chooses whatever their momentary issue they think needs fixing, without any guidance and a real understanding of the Torah. Thus, by following modern ideas of what is good, they are causing more damage to the world and not fixing it. Most of the modern philosophies are not only not discuss in Torah but runs directly AGAINST the Torah. How can fixing the world be against G-d’s word?

The Reform will say, ‘but according to our interpretation, it is not against Torah and why should we have to hold by the Orthodox interpretation?’ So let’s not make them follow and give validity to 3000-year learning and compiling of the Oral Law. How can they deny the Written law, which most of their ‘doing good’ runs smack against?

And if they decide that the only real ‘mitzvah’ is tikun olam and let’s forget the whole Torah and its non-liberal 613 mitzvot that G-d gave to the Jews in Har Sinai after we escaped from Egypt – then what makes them any different than any person who tries to ‘do good’ in the world as they impose any modern flashy ideal? There are many people, Christians, Moslems, even atheists who like to help others. In fact, G-d created all people with a special need and desire to be helpful. What makes Reform JEWISH? We never deny there are good people who try to do good into the world. Tikun olam is not a unique part of most religions.

If you ask “does following the Torah and understanding what is permitted, what should be promoted, what is not allowed, is tikun olam?” – the answer yes!! That is what the Torah is. Like Hillel said, “Don’t do to others, what you don’t want them to do to you” is the basis of Torah – GO LEARN THE REST so you can fulfill that dictum.

What is the rule about chametz in an interfaith household during Passover? Is it fair to deny them their allowed food just so I maintain Kosher?

Jews (it doesn’t matter if you are reform, conservative, orthodox, unaffiliated, intermarried) have the Torah and 613 commandments. it is your choice whether you follow the law or not.

According to halakha, Jewish law, Jews may not own, eat or benefit from chametz during Passover. This law appears several times in the Torah; the punishment for eating chametz on Passover is the divine punishment of kares (“spiritual excision”). This means your progeny and spiritual life is cut off. If a Jewish man is married to a non-Jewish wife, it is already a fact his children are not Jews fulfilling part of the punishment.

The attitude that non-Orthodox think that there is another set of laws for them I find dangerous. Face up to your reality. If a person chooses to go against halacha – then invariably they will face many difficult issues, which do not have the benefit of being ‘right’, just perhaps the best of a bad situation.

It is commendable that you want to keep kosher and Pesach. But if you think your stringencies should not be on account of the non-Jews in your household, you may lose everything. (Seriously they can’t live without noodles or a sandwich for a week?)

It is said that the last thing a Jew keeps is Pesach. Is that what you want – the end of your connection to the Jewish people?

G-d promised us that the Jewish people will always survive. But he never promised that every Jewish family will make it. In fact, the opposite. Look at the Chinese people. Their history is not as long as the Jews but still quite long and they are billions of people – the largest of any other nation. And this is natural.

The Jewish people should have died out or been huge. Neither is true. Miraculously, we have survived (seriously only with the help of the Master of the world – G-d we are still around after the Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and even the Nazis – we are still here. And we are one of the smallest people in the world with a small parcel of land.

If you wanted to be counted part of this incredible chain, there are expectations. If not, it is understandable why karas is the punishment.

Pesach is the time of the year when the Jews became the Jewish people. If you forego your right to be part of that people – it is clear your Jewishness will be cut off.

Like most ways of halacha the punishment isn’t really a punishment but the consequence of your choosing not to follow halacha. And that is whether you are a reform, conservative, unaffiliate or intermarried. A Jew is a Jew, chosen by the Almighty and given the Torah at Mount Siana. The Torah says you can choose to follow or not. Choose life.

A Conversation Between Evolutionist and Me – the Religious Baeli Teshuva

Dec. 25

Victor: Hi, I have several questions regarding Judaism. Feel free to let me know if you want help out a bit thanx

Tziyona: sure

Victor: Ok thanx. So how do you respond to an evolutionist who is using his logic as opposed to using faith? Do you not agree that logic supersedes blind faith?

Tziyona: I’m sorry I don’t have a lot of time to answer, so I just want to point out a few points.  Your question assumes many things. First of all, who is being an evolutionist logical, when it is assuming something happened that can’t be clinically proven – that sounds like blind faith to me.  2, Why is believing in G-d blind faith?  Just like in science and especially theory, one needs to set as many facts down but there is never a 100% proof, but there could be tremendous good arguments and understanding.  Both are based on a little leap of faith, but not BLIND faith.  Check out some interesting articles: http://www.aish.com/ci/sam/48936… , http://www.aish.com/ci/sam/48936… , http://www.aish.com/sp/ph/48918137 , http://www.aish.com/sp/ph/48918137, http://media.aish.com/designimag…  Happy searching.

Dec 27

Victor: First off thanx for the pseudo-answer. I never said evolution is logical. I said somebody who is studying evolution is making a claim that he is using logic. As opposed to just belief. Second, forgive my lackluster typing; it is not me at fault but that of my worker (smartphone). You, however, it is quite obvious the effects of your current residence (Israel, I assume) has taken quite a toll on your writing style. I understand you are busy so thanx again for the response.

I’m sure as i type this you are currently preparing sandwiches for the men in your household to take with them to the next protest where they will decry all the injustices of your country, blocking the roads, throwing stones, screaming about Saturday desecration and lack of funds for their own cause (which frankly even they don’t know what it is). I mean no offense as I am simply humoring a situation of religious radicalism. Hopefully, I elicited a chuckle from this kind person as the last wisps of almond butter slither their way across some form of carbohydrate, which some Israelis pathetically call bread.

Dec 27

Tziyona: The assumption one who is religious is based on only belief may be true by some religions but not by Judaism.  Jews study, ask questions, and as you pointed out are not the types to nod their heads and accept anything without a fight.  If one is a religious Jew it is from understanding, logic and a deep search for truth.  Much more is at stake than just worrying whether it was the gorilla or the dinosaur you think you might be related to.  (We, on the other hand, are more driven to prove we are from our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).So I disagree with your premise.  Religious Jews do not have blind faith – they have logic.  Just because you don’t get it (and why should you if you have never invested your effort into it) doesn’t mean there isn’t any logic.  Do you have any idea what the gemorah is about?  It is the battles of logic to a degree I don’t think you can appreciate until you start approaching the concepts. As Rav Refson responded, (who is undeniably English) at a debate between a scientist who admitted that he didn’t know much about religion, but he could surmise it in blind faith to which Rav Refson answered: “I don’t know much about science, but I think I could summarize it in ‘twinkle, twinkle little star’.  Assuming that one has no logic, deep thoughts is ridiculous.

Dec 27

Victor: Wow, actually I think you are making a gross tactical error. True that there is a logical debate in Talmud (btw so does Quran and don’t say it’s not the same level cuz that is ignorance. I know u haven’t studied it) however the REASON you believe that Moses gave the commandments at Sinai is not based on logic. IT is based on the fact that it has been passed down from generation to generation what transpired there, that is FAITH. I don’t care how deep the kabala masters can think (hopefully they are not ALL scam artists trying to make a buck). The CORE of your beliefs is based on faith. On a more personal note. Are you claiming to have studied the Talmud? Or did you hear a cute snippet of ethical haberdashery written somewhere in the oral part of the bible and say wow that is deep? I guess the latter, which is EXACTLY my point. Being that most religious women are actually quite ignorant in Talmudic debate and its logical counterparts how do you have the gall to say that Jews are different than they have logic in their religion. Do you really think the women are less pious and less convinced of their beliefs that men are for example?

Dec 27

Victor: Dear Tziyona your silence is deafening. If I offended you, I’m sorry. I’m also Jewish just not religious.

Jan 1

Tziyona: I’m sorry I haven’t written recently.  I will try to later today – been busy.  Glad to know your status.  Stay tuned.

Jan 3

Tziyona: I see you have a particular bent towards or rather against religious women.  If I understand you, just because we have laws, stories passed down faithfully every generation to the point all over the world it is known that the Torah says ‘frontlets between your eyes’ men all wear black leather boxes above their eyes, or that it says don’t boil a kid in its mother’s milk, all over the world in every Jewish community, (except for the reform) Jews know that milk can’t be mixed with meat.  And on and on.  Or that there is no other religion that can claim that thousands of people stood at Har Sinai and received the Torah because it would be foolhardy to make an outrageous statement like that without being challenged, yet every Pesach we tell the story over and never has there been an objection – no one claims it is made up. (Not until this generation).

Call it what you want – but that is considered proof.  The idea there are artifacts that show the first and second Temple with rings, signature tablets and more being found on site from the ancient time is just faith – how then could you come and ‘prove’ that there were dinosaurs.  There is no more leap of faith if not less for such claims. The story of Babel in the bible talks about men being punished by being turned into monkeys.  Maybe you evolutionists got it all backward.  You’re reading the material the wrong way!

Now to go back to the women… It is true most women are not knowledgeable in Talmud (and that is certainly true by me – in fact, I don’t profess to know very much), but one.  There are women who are learned in Talmud, 2. Women are generally very knowledgeable in Chumash, Navi, and Kativim (meaning the Torah), three. Women are usually more knowledgeable in Halacha of Shabbos, kashrus, and Taharas mishpacha, as well as other issues and four. I can’t say in previous generations, but now there are so many lectures, articles, books written in every language on every subject.  No one needs to be considered ignorant.  If I am on the bus, waiting in line, or washing dishes, I personally try to take advantage and listen to what is available.

So, though I am a bit passed the day of diapers and making sandwiches, I remember clearly (and I know my married daughters) take advantage of such readily brilliant lectures (by men and women) to learn and learn like the generations before us. Yes, we do have more logic than any other religion, because Judaism demands everyone to learn as much as possible, not to rely on an authority to do the learning for you. On the other hand, the ones who do learn realize how much there is to know and depend on the great Rabbium of our time and the books and letters of the great Rabbis of older times to learn how to interpret, understand to guide our lives in the way of Torah. I dare you to speak to any girl graduating from high school about Halacha, Torah, history, or Jewish ideals (if they would let you).  I think you would be incredulous how knowledgeable they are.

Jan 3

Tziyona: I just want to point out to you a strange phenomenon of the Jewish people. The Chinese are almost as old of a people that we are.  And today the Chinese are the largest nation in the world.  And we are one of the smallest. G-d never promised we would be great in number, just great in longevity. In every generation, we lose many people.  The holocaust was one of the worst in our history but certainly not unique. Intermarriage as well is destroying the people.  G-d did not promise all of us would be part of the great history of the Jewish people.  He promised the Jewish people would survive; we have a choice to be part of it. What is now happening in the western world among Jews is another spiritual holocaust.  The denial of the Torah, of G-d, the denial of Halacha, leads to the destruction of those Jews.  There will be those of us who will survive and be counted in the Jewish chain like every generation before us.  But those who deny will not be part of that chain.

Jan 3

Tziyona: If you call yourself a Jew, you owe it to your grandparents and their grandparents, from the long chain of Jews that go back to Abraham to know what it really means.  To a person who thinks and values something that may never have had happened and certainly happened an extremely a long time ago, yet be actually connected to the only people to survive through tremendous odds (one would have to say even miraculously) of 5000 years seems you are missing out on something special.  Check it out.

Jan 3

Victor: You clearly misunderstood my rather elementary point regarding Jewish women. I have nothing against or toward religious women. In regards to you, how can you refer to yourself as a religious Jewish lady when you profess to be past the age of making sandwiches and changing diapers? NO Jewish women that i know of are past that stage. If it isn’t for your children than it is for your grandchildren so go ahead and be a good Jewish bubby and allow the soothing waters of maternal instinct to flow throughout your offspring’s dwellings as well your own.

Jan 8

Tziyona: I’m so glad you love Jewish Women.  I am a working woman and therefore miss many chances to be that kind of grandmother.  Though you are right, I relish it when I get a chance.

I was thinking why believing in evolution is such a problem.  It could be sort of worked out with the story of creation.  The million years evolutionists love can be really a day in the first week of creation.  The problem with the whole theory is that it allows you to say life is random. I’m better than who was before me and I know better as well, because before they were gorillas and now I am a man. There is no need to answer to a G-d, no need to act righteously, beside what is natural and innate.  However, as you can see by today’s craziness this theory has pushed everything to strange extremes.

You probably don’t view it as harshly as I do, but I’ll give you an example.  Right we all consider innately that murder is wrong. Nevertheless, how do you view a Hindu woman whose husband has died, it is (or was) the custom that she would be burnt up at his funeral with him?  When College students were asked would that bother them, they said no, it is their culture. If that is true then murder is not wrong.  But we know it is wrong and murdering the wife because of custom is still murder.  (Just like honor killing among the Arabs). Our ‘let it be’ in the attitude of the western world is redefining right and wrong.  But how can right and wrong be fashionable, changeable?  It can’t, so the premise is wrong. However, if we believe everything can randomly change: how do you decide right from wrong?  What makes you into a growing righteous person?

Alternatively, ‘be merry because tomorrow I may die’ is your viewpoint.  I can’t imagine as a Jew, you feel an urge to make yourself into a better person and seek what better means regularly.  No? How do you decide what is better, what is the truth, righteousness, perfection of the soul? How do you determine anything?  All by yourself?  Why don’t you want to take advantage of all the wisdom that the Jews have?  There is no need to recreate the wheel every generation when we have a history of people seeking truth and recording it for us.

Just thinking.

Jan 9

Tziyona: I was wondering what you thought of the validness of Torah Judaism?

Jan 14

Victor: Torah Judaism as opposed to Judaism? Hmm sounds like someone is stuck with the religious fervor. I believe Nietzsche said it best “religious is the opium of the masses “

Jan 14

Tziyona: I think it was Marx.  Torah is the beginning of Judaism – the Law, the logic, and meaning to everything.  Everything else is culture.  What makes you a Jew – because you eat bagels or because your mother was Jewish?  Where do you think we learn that?

Jan 14

Victor: You apparently didn’t understand me. You asked about the validness of Torah Judaism. If the essence of Judaism is what u say why not just call it Judaism? Isn’t that your question? About Judaism? Are you being extra religious by adding flowery names?

Feb 6

Victor: Hmmm. Almost a month. Let me ask you. You were raised non-religious. What happened?

Feb. 7

Tziyona: Thanks for asking.  Brought up as a proud Reform Jew, I was taught that a reform Jew is one who learns all about the mitzvoth and chooses what is meaningful to him. At age 12, (which I did not know was the year of bas mitzvah – since Reform celebrates girls and boys the same year – 13) I told my parents, “It is very fine that I call myself a Jew since I was born one.  But to call myself a reform Jew is difficult – I haven’t learned everything there is to know about the mitzvot.”(In fact, I really didn’t know any except the few we didn’t keep Shabbos, Kosher, etc.) By the age of 21, I hope to have enough knowledge to choose what kind of Jew I am.”

And by the age of 21 I took off a year to go to Israel and after a 1/2 year in Haifa University, (where I met my husband to be) we decided to go learn in a yeshiva and seminary for people not brought up religious.  I loved it. I remember the first time talking about Har Sinai as a fact, not as a mysterious fable and brought actual logical proofs. (How is a story pretending to be true for 600,000 people and never was denied.  Every other religion only can start their authenticity with one person that no one else witnesses.  However, the giving of the Torah was witnessed by so many.)

I remember meeting a young woman in the class who said she was from Persia (most Jews from Iran will not call themselves Iranian – but Persian.) I asked her about the story of Purim. We had been taught that it was a made up story and a nice holiday for children.  I was shocked that she said it is part of the national history and people make trips to the gravesites of Esther and Mordechai (Jews and non-Jews). Lie, after lie that I was fed as a Reform Jew was disclosed.

However, backtracking a bit.  In college, I had a roommate who was dating a married guy and another friend who was being wooed by another married guy.  I did not want to have that in my future.  Orthodox Judaism certainly has the benefit of recognizing that marriage is the utmost importance to everyone and uses strong measures to prevent adultery and therefore divorce.  The adultery rate is extremely low, and divorce is way below any other group of Jews or non-Jews.”(https://www.ou.org/jewish_action…) a study by Dr. Yitzchak Schechter (a clinical psychologist and director of the Center for Applied Psychology at Bikur Cholim in Monsey, New York) that reveals that the overall divorce rate in the American Orthodox community appears to be around 10 percent. ”

When my husband and I went to spend time in religious homes for Shabbos, we were delighted by the family dynamics.  We both come from good families who actually made Shabbos meals with Kiddush and motzi Friday nights, but nothing was as moving as going to these families.  There was nothing else pressing anyone since no one would have any other plans than being at the meals for Shabbos.  The children generally pay attention, waited for their turn for Kiddush or washing their hands, they participated in talking about the Parsha each at their own levels, and the meal was long and delicious. We both decided that was what we wanted for our future. (Thank G-d, now I get to watch my grandchildren grow up in the same environment.)

I will tell you a story, not of my own.  Two men grew up together in Europe, both going to yeshiva, and lived in religious homes.  The war came and they both somehow survived without too many other relatives. Together they made it to Israel. That is when they separated.  One felt betrayed by G-d and wanted life from then on to be ‘easy’. He was married and lived in Tel Aviv.  The other stayed religious and got married and moved to Bnei Brak.  (Both cities share a border but are very different in religiousness.) One day they met up with each other and the Bnei Bracker invited his Tel Avian friend to come for Shabbos. He agreed.  However, came Shabbos and the old friend never showed up.  The religious friend called his old friend after Shabbos and asked what happened.  His friend answered, “I knew I couldn’t drive to you, so I was walking to your house on Shabbos morning and I kept passing young families, some accompanied by grandparents all beautifully dressed, spending time together.  I couldn’t move on.  I knew when I chose not to be religious that I probably was forfeiting my olam habah (world to come) but I never realized I had given up in this world, too. I have two children, who never come to visit except under dire need and haven’t even started to think about having a family.

 

The Seeds of Hitler’s Nazi Party

The End of World War I, the Beginning of the Weimar Republic, the formation of the Freikorps/SA/SS

A 100 Years Ago This Week

Officially, World War I ended November 11, 1918, leaving Germany in shambles. Two days earlier, November 9, 1918, the Keiser Wilhelm II, the imperial leader of Germany, abdicated.

Though Germany had clearly lost the Great War (which later would become known as World War I) the Kaiser hadn’t quite realized to what extent he lost the solidier’s loyalty and obedience until his heir presumptive, Prince of Baden, who had been recently appointed as Chancellor abdicated. The German soldiers saw that on the battlefield the end was a reality. No one wanted to be the last soldier to die. Prince Max reluctantly signed the armistice with the Allies ending the war and the end of the German imperial government.

The same day, Prince Max appointed the largest political party, Socialist Democrat Party (SPD) in charge of the government. Philipp Schneidermann as the head of the SPD announced the beginning of a new government naming Fredrick Ebert from the same central left party as president and he, himself as Chancellor. It was the first time Germany ever had a Democratic government.

Revolutions

Just a year prior to this auspicious date, in 1917 the Bolsheviks had ended the rule of the imperial Czar of Russia inspiring a new future, power to the people. Kings around the world were being toppled, resulting in various forms of government from communism, socialism as well as Fascism.  Korea, Portugal, China, Mongolia, and later Spain as well as Russia’s monarchy were all replaced with new ‘ism’s’ in those first few decades of the 20th century.

‘The German Revolution’ or known as the ‘November Revolution’ (Novemberrevolution) unleashed the new political unrest. Between the extreme burdens suffered by the people during the four years of war, the demoralizing defeat of the German Empire and general social tensions between the elite of aristocrats and the middle class many were looking for a new direction in government, whether it was the new democracy or communism from Russia.

The Communists, already gaining power during the war was led by Rosa Luxemburg (a Jewess among many other Jewish personalities) and Karl Liebknecht. The large party was well organized all over the country and staged strikes demanding their rights.  In addition, a dispute between the Navy Command, who called their troops to fight (without authorization) and the German sailors who refused to go to battle the English. The long four-year war without any victory in sight had proven to be more than enough for the sailors. They led a mutiny against their officers during those first days of November. They wished only to collect their paychecks and go home for the December holidays. The spirit of civil unrest spread throughout Germany. It was clearly a time for a change as the army dissipated while terms were being negotiated at Versailles.

The Weimar Republic

The new fledging democratic government named after the city it was formed in the center east of Germany, Weimar, was a true democracy. It had a constitution, a bill of rights; which granted civil liberties to all of the people (including for the first time: Jews, women, and others), all political parties had true representation in the government, and the people voted directly for the Chancellor every seven years and President every four years. Since numerous amount of parties could be voted in, many coalitions were made up of unpredictable partners. Rarely (especially when Hitler was trying to gain power) did the full four years elapsed before there was another election.

Article 48

Unfortunately, there was a clause in the constitution, which was not limited, maintained a check or balance when used.  Article 48: stated the President, under circumstances that he could decide upon, was permitted to take emergency measures without the prior consent of the Reichstag (the rest of the government). The government could overturn the decree with a simple majority. Yet, since the government tended to be unruly with many dissents of opinions, as well a need to squash ‘revolutions’ which threatened the demise of the Weimar Republic besides the famous hyperinflation and then depression, which created havoc in the economic spheres, President Ebert took the liberty 136 times.  This set the precedent, which Hitler and the Nazis used to become democratically a Totalitarianism fascist state.

The new fledgling democracy lacked an army to deal with the Communists or other pressures and increase violence. The army’s General Groaner offered protection in lieu of complete independence running the army himself. Ebert accepted.

The communists joined the democracy forming a new but large party: “First General Convention of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Councils” which encouraged further communist revolution. The army, however, turned out, was not interested in any battles in spite of the agreement, claiming that ‘Germans don’t kill Germans’. Ebert and his defense minister Gustav Noshke, known for a hostile approach, brought in the Freikorps to put the Communists down.

 

Who were the Freikorps?

The Freikorps (meaning free corps – an army group without any direct connection to the government, was an old concept from the 1880’s.  They were a mercenary troop). During the Weimar period, the Freikorps came from all over the country and formed into a fierce military with each group headed usually by an ex-army leader.  They became disciplined and violent employed by the new republic to keep order.  They were men who had come home from the army who missed the action, the commandership, and the power. Sometimes they really didn’t have a home to go back to at all.  Many men were restless and unable to return to civilian life. Perhaps in our modern day hindsight, we would recognize them with PTSD and would have sought help for them. Some of them were also men who had been too young to join the army (like Hendrich Himmler) and having missed the main action wanted to be part of it then.  Some were unemployed, some were from gangs, thugs, and other low lives who enjoyed violence and were happy to join. The Freikorps attracted the strong, right-wing men who had supported the Kaiser and hated the communist. They became a fighting machine who reveled in the fear and terror they held over regular citizens. The more they were used to keep the Weimar Republic in power the more they became haters of anyone who wasn’t like them opposed to being pro-government.

The Freikorps when brought in to squash the Communist revolution killed over 15,000 Germans died in nine days of street fighting in Berlin in March 1919, with another 12,000 wounded. The unrest spread throughout Germany.  In Munich, the communist “government” was brought down, with 10,000 communists killed.

In January, the Freikorps abducted the leaders of the communist party (without government approval), Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.  First, they tortured them and then brutally murdered and disposed of their bodies unceremoniously. They threw Luxemburg’s decapitated body into the sea. Liebknecht was found the next morning at the steps of a morgue.

This violent self-governing behavior became the signature mark of the Freikorps.  They would not think twice about shooting into a crowd of people whether it was a democratic protest or a group the Freikorps defined as ‘wrong’.

Freikorps read as Who’s Who of the Nazi Party

The members of Freikorps would eventually be the Who’s Who for the Nazi party (for those who survived the ‘Night of the Long Knives’ in 1933 under Hitler’s command).  The original list of the Freikorps in 1918 included:

• Rudolf Höss had a strict Catholic upbringing. He joined the war underage, and by 17, he was a commandment. He joined the Nazi party in 1922 after attending university and became the longest Kommandant of Auschwitz. He personally proudly developed the Z-gas Showers, which brought three and a half million people to their death in the camp.  He was sentenced in Nuremberg but hung in Auschwitz. 
• Heinrich Himmler, the son of a Roman Catholic secondary-school master, was too young to join the army, so he joined the Freikorps after the war. He became one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. Though he was not considered too close to Hitler, he was one of those directly responsible for the Holocaust.  He committed suicide when caught by the British. 
• Reinhard Heydrich was also too young to fight in World War I and joined the Freikorps afterward. He came from a religious, wealthy, musically known family. He became a high-ranking German Nazi official, the main architect of the Holocaust, responsible for half million deaths. He was assassinated at the end of the war.
• Ernst Röhm did serve in the army as general and was wounded severely a few times including scars on his face. He was an early follower of and close friend of Adolf Hitler. He created the Sturmabteilung the SA, “Storm Battalion” from the Freikorps and others. The SA’s devoted obedience to Röhm caused Hitler to feel threatened.  Hitler had Röhm murdered ‘The Night of the Long Knife’. 
• Rudolf Hess, the Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler and ‘editor’ of Hitler’s Mein Kampf, became enchanted by Hitler in 1922, believed, and promoted the ‘stab in the back’ myth. Hess attempted to make peace and flew to London near the end of the war, thus saving himself from being hanged. He was given life but committed suicide in 1987 at the age of 93 in prison. 
• Hans Frank was brought up with a strong belief in Christianity. He was only 17 when he joined the army. He became an SA General as well as Hitler’s personal lawyer. He was one of the few Germans who was executed in Nuremberg who showed remorse. He said, “A thousand years will pass and still Germany’s guilt will not have been erased.” 
• Wilhelm Keitel the third highest-ranking officer to be tried in Nuremberg and executed in 1946. He was from a middle-class family, had a career in the army, and became Hitler’s yes-man and knowingly followed orders that were crimes against humanity. 

Born Killers?

The Freikorp were nationalistic and radically conservative.  Having served the Emperor during the war, they were not followers of the New Democracy but were happy to be involved with the government’s policing. Ebert, president of Germany, called on them to put down many left-wing revolts and uprisings all over Germany in spite of the groups’ ruthless and use of terror.

It would be easy to say these men were born killers and had something mentally wrong with them right from the start.  However, it would not be true.  Most of these men as seen above came from normal, good homes; most of them had been Catholic or Protestant Christians.  (Though Jewish history has not been treated kindly by Christians). Perhaps looking in hindsight with modern eyes the ex-soldiers would be diagnosed with (PTSD) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder causing them to have the capability to kill so many innocent human beings. Maybe we could blame the Versailles Treaty, which placed the entire fault of World War I on the Germans as well as ridiculous monetary demands, which destroyed the German economy. Yet, even with all the excuses, what made the Freikorps who became Nazis leaders so evil.

   

Although the German Army left the battlefield defeated, the “Stab-in-the-Back” theory held that the war was not lost on the battlefield, but betrayed by civilians (read: Jews) on the home front. The theory blamed the government officials who overthrew the monarchy and accepted the humiliating armistice agreement and the Jews who caused damage with their communist leanings were responsible for Germany’s loss. The ‘Stab in the Back’ theory was held, in spite of the fact, that the soldiers themselves recognized the end of the war and didn’t want to take any more chances of being the last one to die in a fruitless battle.

When the treaty of Versailles was signed in January 1920, it contained many steep demands from Germany. One was the downsizing of the army to only 100,000 soldiers, smaller navy and the complete disbandment of the Freikorps and air force.  The reparations were huge (3.2 billion gold marks) and unattainable. Yet, perhaps the greatest insult of the treaty for the Germans was the entire blame of the war was left on the German’s doorstep. This left an anger that became directed at the Jews.

The Freikorps’ strong belief in this myth which they accepted early on became Hitler’s and the Nazi regime’s backbone philosophy. It would be their justification to kill callously 12 million guiltless people.

Even though the Freikorps were under the auspices of the new government they were not criticized for their extreme violent behavior.  Their signature mark to shoot wildly in the crowds never got on.  In the 1920’s they were involved in several political assassinations without again any government intervention, thus basically condoning them. In 1922, Walther Rathenau, the country’s foreign minister, in spite of his excellent handling of affairs, was murdered, with no culprit apprehended.  His crime? He was a Jew.

The SA Demise and Hitler’s Complete Rule

The newly formed SS composed the disbanded Freikorps members. Ernst Röhm, a war-general and one of Hitler’s earliest and closest supporters, became the commander of the Freikorps and built them into the SA, Sturmabteilung, “Storm Troopers”.  He was known for his bravery, scarred face from near deaths, and surprisingly was openly homosexual. He was one of the only officers who spoke to the Fuhur with the friendly ‘du’. Yet, in the end, Röhm’s complete control of the SA made Hitler afraid of him and marked as the enemy.

   

Hitler expected total allegiance from all military outfits – to him alone. In April 1925, Hitler created his own bodyguards, the SS, Schutzstaffel (“Protective Echelon”) became Hitler’s small own personal bodyguards under Himmler’s direction.  In January 1933, when Hitler was appointed German chancellor, the Nazi government took over all aspects of German life. Under Nazi rule, the SS grew into a state within a state as the Nazi police force. That summer, in the last days of June and early July 1933, Hitler used the SS to murder the top officials of the SA, including his good friend Röhm (who refused to commit suicide).  The ‘Night of the Long Knife’ made Hitler in complete control of all military personnel. At that point, Hitler was the Fuhr of Germany, a totalitarian state.

Hitler demanded complete obedience and loyalty without question from his constituents.  It was the end of the first democratic government and the beginning of the Shoah.

‘Tikun Olam’ is Destroying the Future of Liberal Jews

Guest Author’s Book Review of “To Heal the World – How Jewish Left is Corrupting Judiasim and Endangers Israel”  by Jonathan Neumann

An author predicts Diaspora Jewry’s death, at the hands of Tikkun Olam liberals

Lambasting progressive Jewry as inauthentic at best, Jonathan Neumann writes that ‘American Judaism is broken because the Jewish Left broke it’

By MATT LEBOVIC13 July 2018, 1:08 am26

Illustrative: Demonstrators at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport protest US President Donald Trump’s executive order imposing a freeze on admitting refugees from certain countries into the United States, January 29, 2017. (Scott Olson/Getty Images via JTA)

Liberal Jews in the United States have “distorted” Jewish teachings to align with a narrow political agenda, according to the author of a new book called, “To Heal the World? How the Jewish Left Corrupts Judaism and Endangers Israel.”

Published on June 26, the book “sets out to slaughter the sacred cow of Tikkun Olam, at whose udder too many unlearned Jews have suckled,” according to author Jonathan Neumann. He blames American Jewry’s leaders for not only reinventing aspects of their ancient heritage, but also for causing damage to Israel by aligning with groups hostile to the Jewish state.

For much of the book, Neumann explains how the concept of Tikkun Olam — or “repair the world” — has been co-opted by liberal Jews to advance their vision of “social justice.” The author claims that based partly on a reading of isolated words in the Hebrew prayer “Aleynu,” a generation of American Jews have come to equate their religion with a commandment to tackle all of society’s ills.

Calling this application of Tikkun Olam “the bastardization of an ancient civilization,” Neumann claims the movement “was conceived by Jews who had rejected the faith of their fathers, and midwifed by radicals who saw it as a pretext to appropriate Jewish texts and corrupt religious rituals — such as the seder — to further political ends.”

In a point he makes several times, Neumann argues that Tikkun Olam and “social justice” are political ideologies, as opposed to tenets of Judaism. Specifically, believes the author, liberal Jewish leaders have misapplied teachings of the Prophets as intended for a “universal audience,” as opposed to a set of guidelines for the Jewish people.

“What the Bible says and what the Jewish social justice movement thinks it says diverge,” wrote Neumann. “Abraham’s appeals for Sodom are not the purpose of Judaism. The story of Joseph is not a straightforward example of benevolent government. The Exodus from Egypt is not reducible to political revolution.”

Jonathan Neumann’s 2018 book, ‘To Heal the World? How the Jewish Left Corrupts Judaism and Endangers Israel’

                                                                                                 Author Jonathan Neumann (courtesy)

In a New York Post op-ed published last month, Neumann claimed that American Jews “have been led to believe that the purpose of the Jews in the world is to campaign for higher taxes, sexual permissiveness, reduced military spending, illegal immigration, opposition to fracking, the banishment of religion from the public square and every other liberal cause under the sun — all in the name of God.”

As rhetorically asked by Neumann, “Isn’t it just a little bit incredible for the teachings of the ancient faith of Judaism to happen to comprise without exception the agenda of the liberal wing of today’s Democratic Party?”

In Neumann’s assessment, the Hebrew Prophets spoke about taking care of Jewish orphans and widows — as opposed to the downtrodden members of other communities. Additionally, the Prophets were not opposed to Jewish ritual and worship, despite claims to the contrary.

“Liberal Jewish activists now apply [Biblical injunctions] universally and obligate everyone to everyone else,” wrote Neumann. “But this undermines the covenantal connection between each Jew, and the Jews’ distinction from gentiles, and the relationship between the Jewish people and God.”

Even more alarming than Tikkun Olam’s application to politics, believes Neumann, is the progressive Jewish movement’s framing of “the Jewish people as an outdated and chauvinistic relic, with no need for a nation-state of its own in its ancient homeland. Consequently, Jewish social justice activists help to defame Israel and weaken America’s bond with the Jewish State,” wrote the author in his op-ed.

Taking on an array of liberal Jewish thinkers and organizations, Neumann claims a critical mass of American Jews have essentially “checked” their connection to Israel at the door in order to gain acceptance from progressives.

“According to this logic, if you do not recognize that challenging ‘Zionist oppression’ is part of social justice — if you try to pretend for pragmatic or ideological reasons that it is separate from social justice or a tolerable special case — then your social justice efforts are disingenuous and are not going to succeed,” wrote Neumann.

Referring to former president Barack Obama as the “Tikkun Olam” commander-in-chief, Neumann claims that Jewish social justice warriors are “in disarray” following a year and a half of President Donald Trump’s leadership. Despite their staunch opposition to many of Trump’s policies, liberal Jews are not seen as full allies in the battle against Trumpism, according to Neumann.

“[The] activists have been evicted from the White House, together with their messiah [Barack Obama], replaced by a coalition of religious Christians and traditionalist Jews,” wrote Neumann in The Post. “And natural as it comes to the political exiles to oppose the new administration, these activists are discovering that left-wing social justice marches have no place for Jewish warriors.”

‘The eventual end of the Jewish people’

A graduate of Cambridge University and the London School of Economics, Neumann is a regular contributor to Jewish-themed publications. “To Heal” is Neumann’s first book, and its publication was met by censure from some of the Jewish thinkers he criticizes.

In the assessment of author Shaul Magid, Neumann’s book “is not a source-based critique of social-activist Judaism but simply an ideological bromide against Jewish liberalism under the guise of a serious critique of social activism.”

Several hundred Jewish activists in Boston march for the Black Lives Matters movement, including members of Jewish Voice for Peace, in 2014 (photo credit: Ignacio Laguarda/Wicked Local)

As one of the Jews targeted in the book, Magid takes exception not only to Neumann’s thesis, but also the author’s qualifications to write such a book in the first place. Accusing Neumann of making glaring errors when it comes to Jewish history, Magid takes issue with Neumann’s claim that America’s early Reform Jewish leaders were unschooled in Jewish texts, even as they attempted to contort those texts to meet “assimilationist” ends.

“Neumann’s argument is that the progressive social-justice movement is aberrant of ‘traditional Judaism.’ So what is ‘traditional Judaism,’ or ‘traditional Jewish thought’ — phrases that Neumann uses dozens of times yet never once defines,” wrote Magid in an essay for Tablet.

In addition to Neumann’s failure to define “traditional” Judaism, the author erroneously claims that progressive Jewish leaders use the Bible as prime justification for their activism, according to Magid. In fact, most liberal Jewish leaders turn to rabbinic literature when making cases for social change, as opposed to the Bible, asserts Magid.

Magid also takes issue with Neumann’s claim that progressive Jewish leaders are dogmatically opposed to textual interpretations that don’t align with their worldview.

“This would be damning, except that for the fact that most of those [Jewish thinkers] criticized in the book simply do not make that claim,” wrote Magid. “They know, as do most social-activist leaders, that biblical texts can support everything from social welfare and universal health care to Baruch Goldstein’s murder of 29 Muslim worshipers.”

In terms of liberal American rabbis who beat the drums of social justice, Neumann accuses the progressive cohort of “[seeming] to affiliate almost uniformly with groups that are hostile to Israel.” From Black Lives Matter to LGBTQ activism, Neumann believes some liberal movements pull a bait-and-switch when it comes to permitting Jews in their ranks.

“Whereas the Jews are subject to extreme universalism, the particularism of other communities is, apparently, to be protected at all costs,” wrote Neumann. “It is, for example, inconceivable that advocates of Jewish social justice would tell African-Americans or Muslims that ultimately they should abandon their particular cultures, practices, or beliefs.”

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, center, and other progressive Jews clashing with security guards in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, November 16, 2017. (Noam Rivkin Fenton/via JTA)

Particularly alarming to Neumann is the culmination of social justice ideology, which “envisions the eventual end of the Jewish people,” according to the author.

“However noble the motive of American Jews, their pursuit of Tikkun Olam is a betrayal of the traditional faith of their people,” wrote Neumann. “That faith holds that through Abraham’s progeny all the people of the earth will be blessed (Gen. 22:18). Jews and non-Jews alike should be alarmed by the prospect of Tikkun Olam succeeding in assimilating the Jewish people into all of humanity, for then that blessing will be no more.”

With most of his book focused on diagnosing the ills of American Jewry, Neumann devotes some pages to offering correctives. First off, believes Neumann, Jews need to return to defining Judaism based on what he views as the religion’s core beliefs, as opposed to trendy social causes.

In other words, Jews need to stop equating Judaism with Tikkun Olam and social justice.

“The fact that American Jews have long engaged in political activism does not mean that activism makes them Jewish,” wrote Neumann. “It just makes them more like everyone else undertaking that same activism.”

In his final chapter, called “The Way Forward,” Neumann calls Tikkun Olam “an unreasonable answer” to the “reasonable theological question” of Jews’ obligation to the wider world. He calls for “Jews in exile” to focus on “the security, welfare, and ultimately the survival of the Jewish community,” as opposed to “following the lead of the Jewish social justice movement.” That movement, Neumann holds, is responsible for eroding Jewish life in America.

As noted by critics of the book, Neumann covers well-trodden ground in his quest to hoist Jewish social justice warriors by their own petards. Unlike a reading of the Talmud, “To Heal” makes few efforts to juxtapose opposing perspectives, much less identify common ground between “Tikkun Olam Jews” and the author’s brand of Judaism.

The Danger of Blaming Trump for Pittsburgh

OCTOBER 30, 2018 12:48 PM  Algeimer.com

Guest Blogger

  by Mark S. Golub

“Rabbi Mark Golub is the founding rabbi of Chavurat Aytz Chayim and an exciting dynamic and gifted teacher with the unusual ability to explain the genius of Jewish tradition and its unique values to the families of the Chavurah community. Ordained a Reform rabbi by the Hebrew Union College-­‐Jewish Institute of Religion, Mark reflects an eclectic approach to Judaism that blends the feel of Jewish tradition with a liberal philosophy.Mark is also the president of JBS˛ (Jewish Broadcasting Service), the first Jewish television network in America (Optimum Channel 138), for which Newsweek Magazine named him one of America’s most influential rabbis.”

The Jewish community’s overwhelming sense of shock and grief at the senseless, callous, brutal mass murder of 11 people at the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh on Saturday is heart wrenching.

The extraordinary outpouring of solidarity throughout the American Jewish community — indeed the entire Jewish world — is not only warranted, but an affirmation of the truth that the Jewish people is one “family” in which each feels responsible “one for every other.”

No less important is the extent to which the non-Jewish community has stood with the Jewish community at this horrific moment. Their outrage and support is yet again a testament to the tsunami of goodness that rises in the hearts and souls of people of good will when others must endure a grave desecration of life.

The Jewish community of Pittsburgh is not alone in its sorrow. It is enveloped in an embrace of compassion and love. The Internet resounds with beautiful words of comfort.

OCTOBER 31, 2018 10:00 AM

The following is a joint editorial drafted by Jane Eisner, Editor-in-Chief of The Forward, and Dovid Efune, Editor-in-Chief and CEO…

Moreover, if the Pittsburgh massacre reveals anything about America it is the extent to which “hate” is an anathema to the people of our nation. There has been an immediate and total rejection throughout our country — from government officials to the man and woman in the street — of hate in general and antisemitism in particular.

The American response should be seen and appreciated for who and what the American people are and the extent to which the history of Jewish America is the pinnacle of Jewish Diaspora life unparalleled by any other “Golden Age” of Jewish history.

But there is a self-destructive response threatening to undermine Jewish perspective on the murders in Pittsburgh.

There are those in the Jewish community who are now blaming Donald Trump for creating “a climate of hate” that is the cause of Saturday’s shooting.

Whenever a tragedy like Pittsburgh occurs, there is a natural reaction to try to “make sense” of the event — to find “a reason” — to affix “blame.” But such responses tend to succumb to hysteria that creates ghosts, demons, and enemies where there are none.

According to a recent Mellman Group poll, more than 75 percent of American Jews disapprove of Donald Trump. Many Jews detest and despise the man. The upcoming midterm election is seen by many as a referendum on the Trump presidency, and they hope that a “blue wave” will change the political landscape significantly.

But it is simplistic and self-deceptive to blame Donald Trump for the murders at the Tree of Life Congregation. Such a suggestion is an ignoble expression of partisanship that threatens to fashion a frightening fiction of an emerging wave of violent antisemtism in America — demanding a series of responses by the Jewish community that threatens to distort the Jewish future.

Calmer heads must prevail for the Jewish community to emerge from this tragedy with an honest sense of what it means to be a Jew in America.

In reality, the Pittsburgh shooting has no more to do with Donald Trump than any of the prior mass shootings have had to do with prior presidents. America has a long and wretched history of mass murders that far predates Donald Trump. The phenomenon of hatred mixed with mental illness is a profound feature of American life, compounded by America’s unique obsession with guns and a host of firearms meant to kill other people.

Tragically, during the years 2009 to 2017, there were nine mass murders. Barack Obama was president. Appropriately, no one blamed Barack Obama for creating a “climate of hate” when 27 were killed in a house of worship, the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs Texas. No group protested outside the White House accusing President Obama of having blood in his hands.

Appropriately, no one accused Barack Obama of creating a “climate of hate” when 49 people were murdered at Pulse night club in Orlando by a mentally deranged man who wanted to punish gays and exact revenge for America’s involvement in Syria. No one in Orlando told the president he was not welcome to visit the families of Orlando and express the nation’s grief.

For all of the nine mass murders during his term of office, no one blamed President Obama because Americans understood that mass murders are the acts of deeply disturbed individuals for whom “reason” is irrelevant.

Fortunately for the Jewish community, no synagogue or Jewish institution was the target of a mass murderer during the nine years of the Obama presidency.

But in July of 2006, a mentally ill Muslim man angry at Israel shot six women at the Seattle Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle — murdering Pamela Waechter. George W. Bush was president in 2006. No one blamed him or his policies for creating a climate or context that would prompt the shooting.

Seven years earlier, in 1999, a man entered the lobby of the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles and fired 70 shots that wounded five people. Bill Clinton was president in 1999. No one blamed him or his policies for the shooting.

We have always understood that the social challenge facing our nation is the extent to which violence has always been an inherent quality of the American personality, expressed in a national obsession with guns that is unique in the civilized world. America’s shame is the extent to which it tolerates, excuses, and glorifies violence — especially gun violence.

This sad reality is exacerbated by a large and ever-growing population of Americans who suffer from severe mental illness. No matter how loud health professionals beg for the funds necessary to house and treat the mentally ill, our society remains unprepared to allocate the monies required for appropriate care. As a result, mentally ill people filled with hate and rage walk our streets and sleep on our sidewalks — and sometimes go mad with one or more guns at their disposal — and people tragically die.

The object of the hatred born of mental illness takes many, many forms. Gays are murdered. Americans of color are murdered. Christians are murdered. Muslims are murdered. Jews are murdered.

The tragedy of the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh is that a severely mentally disturbed individual decided he hated Jews and would kill them all. This is the transcendent message of the tragedy in Pittsburgh — and it is a message for all Americans: America must rein in its love affair with guns and must devote economic resources to treat the mentally ill.

Those in the Jewish community who make Trump part of the story make a serious mistake. The inappropriate fixation on blaming Trump for Pittsburgh threatens to warp the Jewish community’s strategic response. It suggests that there is a looming threat of more murders and that Jews should feel less at home in America. Neither concern reflects American reality.

We Jews have a long memory that goes back some 3,000 years. The older generation today well remembers the Holocaust of a mere 80 years ago in which Jews were gassed, incinerated, and murdered in unimaginable forms of human cruelty — only because they were Jews!

When a madman murders 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue screaming how he hates Jews, it evokes waking nightmares among anyone with a sense of Jewish history. But any Jewish leader who suggests that America is becoming “Paris” is guilty of a gross misrepresentation of America and perhaps, in some institutional settings, of self-serving aggrandizement.

Are there people in America who hate Jews? Of course. There will always be antisemites in every society. But the American people and the American social fabric is wholly non-antisemitic. There once was a time in America when Jewish children were taunted for being “Christ killers,” and were sometimes beaten up by Christian gangs for the crime of deicide. Jews were denied access to colleges and neighborhoods, professional opportunities and country clubs. When my mother first met her roommate at the University of Michigan, the roommate asked “innocently” if she could see my mother’s horns.

Virtually none of this is true in contemporary America. My wife and I have five wonderful children ranging in age from 30-50. My daughters have experienced sexism. None of my children have experienced antisemitism. This is the reality of American Jewish life today.

There will always be antisemites. They should never be taken for granted. Vigilance is a Jewish mitzvah! But there is no antisemitic threat to the Jews of America. Despite the tragedy of Pittsburgh, Jews need not live in fear or feel one wit less rooted in American life.

This is the message Jewish leaders need to stress today. For whatever number of skinheads, and white supremacists, and David Dukes and neo-Nazis may exist in various nooks and crannies of our country, they neither represent any significant piece of American society nor do they represent any concerted threat to the Jews of America.

The Jewish community should now have a moment to grieve and mourn. The healing that will follow need not be confused by making our family’s tragedy about Donald Trump. He had no more to do with it than any other president has had — and to suggest otherwise dilutes and distorts both our mourning and our healing with all the members of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Congregation.

Mark S. Golub is an American rabbi, media entrepreneur, personality, and educator.

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