Hesder Oleh

My reply to "Right of Reply – the kosher labelling submission"

2010-05-27T05:35:00.001+03:00

http://galusaustralis.com/2010/05/3073/right-of-reply-the-kosher-labelling-submission/

This is ridiculous.

How often in Australia do we find products that claim to be kosher? Most products don't have kashrut symbols on them, and are just listed in a book. Are we really worried that a marketer might say something is kosher? If that happened, the community would be very quickly informed of the lies without the need for government intervention.

Are you really scared that Food Standards Australia will mandate what is kosher in the future if you don't now? They are not concerned by such claims. Just look at how many times they pushed back requests for standards of vegetarian and other religious labeling.

see here: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/_srcfiles/A545%20Vegetarian%20Labelling%20Info%20Paper%20FINAL.pdf

You mention the importance of "our community is unable to achieve a consensus on the details of a regulatory system". What makes you think that it is important that we reach a consensus. 2 Jews, 3 opinions. People do or don't follow the Eruv here in Melbourne. Around the world each person has different Kashrut organizations they do or do not trust. I do not think I should have the strictest strictures of "Kosher Australia" foisted upon me and I don't think the community should be forced to follow these rabbis which they themselves don't necessarily trust.

I would think that that ORA would forced glatt and other "mehadrin" ideas that would drive up the price of kosher food making it less available. There is more than one way of keeping kosher, and ORA admits this. There are Halakhic disagreements between different supervising businesses in Australia. However they represent a very narrow band of the spectrum of what is acceptable, and they should not be allowed to legally dictate to Australia's Jewish community what is acceptable to them.

Intresting tidbit about Bnei Akiva

2007-12-18T20:37:00.000+02:00

Via a comment from failedmessiah that was turned into a post:

Tibi writes:
My father is from the region of Satmar. He is now 82 and still remembers R' Yoilish bribing the regional governor to ban B'nei Akivah.

Maybe the scientists are sane

2007-12-03T20:39:00.001+02:00

Scientists Debating Scientific Method

I always hated it how teachers always worshiped THE "Scientific Method". To me it always seemed like a model. Just like most of the models we get, from models of the atom or of an ecosystem, are just that, models. They don't really reflect reality; they are merely a way of conveying a certain specific amount of information about the thing you are modeling. THE "Scientific Method", at least to me, seems a pretty lacking model. But I guess for people who aren't used to thinking logically or scientifically its a good start.

Finished GED!

2007-12-03T18:49:00.000+02:00

I finished my GED today. I had to go through this because I started University before graduating High School.
I thought that maybe because I did early admissions I could just transfer. But no, thats not the way it works here. I remember instructions always telling you to bring every document when making aliyah, even your high school transcript because employers will care about it. I thought maybe times had changed...but no, they haven't.

I was even told by one of the test center employees about her daughter who started college at 16 in America, graduated, did her Masters (MA), and then wanted to apply to a PhD. program in Israel but wasn't accepted simply because she didn't have a High School diploma

I have been trying to complete the GED for months now. The material is not the problem, it is ridiculously easy, easier than the SAT in my opinion. The problem is the company that gives the test -Prometric. The people in the Israel office are really nice. The problem is that they can't do much to help. Holland controls booking, South Africa does tech support, the test itself comes from America, and England is also thrown in the mix.

Besides lots of booking errors in the past (theirs not mine), I had a new problem. The tests were asking me to input a number for the essay I had to write. The number was on an essay answer booklet. This "5 digit code" that the computer wanted doesn't exist anymore. Now you would think this could be solved easily, after all its only a 200 word essay.

I don't want to tell the story now. But don't be fooled, this isn't an Israel bureaucracy story, this is a story of a messed up multinational company that don't care about its customers. If you can avoid Prometric and especially Prometric GED then do.

On the bright side, the head of the test center invited me over to his house for Shabbat. Makes you love Israel.

100th Post - America tells Israel to stop supporting Iran?

2007-11-28T00:30:00.000+02:00

This is ridiculous:
Jewlicious - Fighting Iran One Nut at a Time

US asks Israel to stop importing pistachio from Iran

Washington displeased with nuts smuggled to Turkey from Tehran and imported to Jewish state

US Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Keenum demanded Monday that the Israeli import from Turkey of pistachio nuts originating in Iran be halted immediately, Yedioth Ahronoth has learned.

The US undersecretary met with Israeli Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon in Rome during a conference organized by the International Food and Agricultural Organization.

The Israeli embassy in Italy reported to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem that the Americans are working to stop the export of Iranian pistachio nuts as part of the economic sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic.

Keenum told Simhon that it was absurd that Israel was purchasing most of its pistachio nuts from an enemy state. According to the undersecretary, Washington was extremely troubled by this, as US pistachio growers have protested the fact that America's friend favors Iranian pistachio nuts over American ones.

But in so many ways this just fails to surprise me.

I would post about Annapolis, but I just don't think there is a point...well except that David Miliband (Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs) said that the real elected Palestinian government rejected violence and wants peace and is representative of the Palestinian people and is led by Abbas. At least thats the way it sounded on CNN. Maybe he forgot that Hamas won the last elections, and that the PLO hasn't ever had real elections ever, and none at all in the last 10 years. I hope I misunderstood him, because I wouldn't want to think someone in his position completely misunderstands the situation.

Exercising my Free Speech

2007-11-26T01:40:00.000+02:00

My free speech is accomplished through this blog among other ways. I haven't been blogging lately, but with free speech being muddled I figure its time for me to use mine.
Whats this all about?
"Holocaust deniers to speak at Oxford"

Irving and BNP people are (maybe) going to be speaking. Now I am for free speech, very much so, but that doesn't mean I am for giving wacky and damaging views a honoured place. Sometimes I wish people would take on the debate a bit and show how exactly the Holocaust deniers, the 9/11 wackos, and Rabin assassination wackos are lying, but a debate society is not the place for that.

Oxford University's students associated condemned the idea as well several Muslim students' organizations who object to Griffin's policies and the Jewish student body

I was thinking, wouldn't this be a wonderful issue for activists from both the Jewish and Islamic communities to work together on. I did a bit of searching, and this was the best I could find

Hopefully this won't be relevant because the event will be canceled but here it is
Join the protest against Griffin & Irving this Monday 26th November - Oxford Union is no place for fascism meet at 7pm, outside the Oxford Union, St. Michael Street, Oxford, OX1 3JB

Unite Against Fascism is a broad based national campaign aimed at stopping the BNP, which brings together Black, Jewish, Muslim communities and other faith representatives, Lesbian and Gay activists, trade unionists and MPs into an alliance with all those who are threatened by and oppose fascism.

I don't know how true they keep to that but it sounds cool. But if only we could get the right-wing elements of both communities working together.

While looking around I saw this good quote by Trevor Phillips, the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission:

"People have died for freedom of speech, they didn't fight and die for it so it could be used as a silly parlour game. Nobody needs to invite these people to deny the holocaust. The issues are too serious. I would say to the Oxford Union -- think again. If this goes ahead I hope the Oxford students will turn their backs on this shabby exhibition."

Of course the article calls Irving, a self-taught historian. Shame on the BBC for that. So that led me to look up Deborah Lipstadt's take on this. It turns out she has a good blog.

Some other recommended recent posts from that blog
Rwanda: A new form of genocide denial
Egyptian cleric preaches antisemitism to children
Armenian University gives award to Ahmadinejad: A double standard???

and back on topic
Oxford Union: Muddled reasoning

Another thing I found while researching is that the pathetic BNP can't spell in the headlines of their press releases.

and while on the subject of free speech, yes it is related in more than one way
November 25 letters to the editor of jpost:

"Personal kosher playground

Sir, - Dr. Haim Katz misses the point entirely when he compares the ownership of Park Avenue apartments by wealthy Europeans to the feeding frenzy of Diaspora Orthodox Jews on the epicenter of Jerusalem ("Priced out of the market," Business & Finance, November 22).

In Jerusalem, virtually every major real estate development in the city's center is exclusively intended for absentee owners. There is no such parallel in New York. And, yes, there is a domino effect, whereby small shop-owners and providers of basic services are either priced out of the market or bereft of a livelihood, displaced by overpriced boutiques that peck at the eyes of a population surviving on overdrafts.

The malaise, however, goes far deeper. There is a phenomenon today whereby a certain segment of American Jewry looks at Jerusalem as its personal kosher playground. Here they can drop in when convenient; enjoy overpriced restaurants; make fancy kiddushes in their rarely-used million-dollar homes in order to show off their real estate swag; and then go home to Lawrence or Englewood without ever making any real investment in Israel, the kind of investment that involves genuine risk and commitment.

The children of such people come to Jerusalem for a year or two after high school. An entire industry of overpriced, underperforming "yeshivot" caters to their whims without imparting even minimal appreciation of Israel in terms of familiarity with the land, let alone recognition of the fact that their Israeli counterparts are in uniform defending their country, at times giving their lives for it. Instead, these unsupervised boys and girls often disport themselves with a sense of entitlement that is nothing short of galling.

The message this conveys to young Israelis goes far beyond "Abandon ye all hope of living in your own city." The message is that a galut Jew and his children can exercise an ownership attitude which requires no real commitment, and that easy money buys American 18- and 19-year-olds the right to flash their lavish allowances, behave inexcusably in the city's streets and cafes, and look at the soldiers who defend their "Disneyland" as if they were invisible.

The entire phenomenon of such tourism needs to be more closely examined. The so-called yeshivot should be scrutinized. Standards should be set for what they teach and what values they impart. And the nouveaux-riche parents should be taxed for their assets here to the extent that they feel the pain a bit, too.

And, yes, through proper legislation, they should know that these taxes are being used to build affordable housing for those to whom Jerusalem is not merely a place to visit - housing alongside theirs, not in remote peripheries. (I live in the US, but my son is a soldier in the IDF.)

JJ GROSS
Riverdale, New York

Thats all for now

Waiting for a bus on a warm summer night

2007-10-12T00:38:00.000+02:00

I was waiting in Petach Tikva near my Yeshiva for the 78 bus to Sirkin junction צומת סירקין, at 8pm Thursday night, along with an older Russian couple. Along comes by a girl, about 10 years old, skipping jump rope out of breath followed by her brother, about 7 years old, running after her. At first I thought it was just the two siblings having fun at night, in Israel. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary because parents feel comfortable letting there ids out in most places in Israel because its mostly a very safe environment.

However behind them comes their father carrying an infant in a baby carrier strapped on in front of him. With one hand he is playing with the baby. I was a bit confused with the way he was walking and holding his other hand. Although I already suspected it I was still surprised to see a lit cigarette in the hand trailing behind him. How could someone who looked like such a good and responsible father smoke in front of his kids like that. If he is addicted, why doesn’t he at least smoke away from his children? As if to intentionally compound my disillusionment, 10 meters later he throws his still lit cigarette on the sidewalk.

Either way it was nice to see kids having innocent and healthy fun on one of the last of the hot summer nights in the urban environment.

Yom Kippur - Gmar Tov

2007-09-21T12:29:00.000+02:00

I want to wish everyone a meaningful Yom Kippur. May we all be judged with through mercy (רחמים). I apologize to anyone who I have offended in anyway, and I hope that you forgive me. I of course forgive everyone for anything that they have done to me. Tefillat Zaka is something that is written in the Machzor for Yom Kippur to say before the Holiday/Fast starts. One of the most important parts of it I will write below, so that everyone can say it. It is something you can say anytime, but it is especially appropriate now:

"I extend complete forgiveness to everyone who has sinned against me, whether physically or monetarily, or spoke lashon hara(negative speech) about me or even false reports. And (I also forgive them) for any damages, whether on my body or my property, and for all sins between a man and his fellow except for money which I can claim in a court of law and except for someone who sins against me saying, "I will sin against him and he will forgive me". Except for these I grant complete forgiveness and no person should be punished on my account. [And just as I forgive everyone so should You grant me favor in the eyes of all men that they should completely forgive me]."

"והנני מוחל במחילה גמורה לכל מי שחטא נגדי, בין בגופי ובין בממוני או שדיבר עלי לשון הרע, ואפילו הוצאת שם רע, וכן לכל מי שהזיק לי בגופי או בממוני, ולכל חטאות האדם אשר בין אדם לחבירו, חוץ מממון אשר אוכל להוציא על פי דין, וחוץ ממי שחטא כנגדי ואמר אחטא לו והוא ימחל לי, חוץ מאלו, אני מוחל במחילה גמורה ולא יענש שום אדם בסיבתי.[וכשם שאני מוחל לכל אדם כן תתן את חיני בעיני כל אדם שימחלו לי במחילה גמורה]".

May we all have a meaningful fast and remember Tshuva is something we can do all year round and to keep up the heightened awareness we have in treating others so that next Yom Kippur we need to ask for less forgiveness.

If I have done anything specific to you that I can change for the future please tell me. Whether it is not answering the phone enough, not emailing you back, talking to you to little, talking to you to much, stealing a million dollars from you, taking your pen without permission or anything of that sort or any other sort please tell me so that I can try to not do it in the future

Gmar Tov
Seraphya

Overheard: Israel wins?

2007-09-11T01:20:00.001+03:00

Overheard in the falafel shop near Yeshivat Hesder Petach Tikva

Customer: How much did Israel lose by?

Falafel Shop Owner: when?

Customer: tonight

Falafel Shop Owner: they didn't play tonight, last night they lost by...

Customer: I mean against Spain

Falafel Shop Owner: thats tomorrow night

A few seconds go by

Falafel Shop Owner: hey, why did you say they lost, they didn't even play yet, they might win

Customer: If only (Halevai)

A new way to "sell" Israel

2007-09-05T22:07:00.000+03:00

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told olim who arrived in Israel from North America that Israel "is not an easy country to live in as it has security problems in addition to bureaucratic problems."

Well its not anything that I didn't know before. I am sure most olim also know it already. If they don't know it, then they must be living in some dream world. In fact in the video the Jewish Agency shows you to prepare you for aliyah they show a clip about a guy trying to go to the Interior Ministry (Misrad Hapnim) and the office just happening to have decided to close with the narrator saying that this is a common occurrence which will most likely happen to you.

Its nice to hear an Israeli politician being honest. But I wouldn't try this as hasbara to anyone except Olim.

At least Olmert said he was proud and happy that the olim wanted to settle in Israel. Becuase after all where else besides Israel would Olim settle?

(Hat Tip: Israellycool )
(Source: Ynet )

Things I have stumbledupon

2007-09-05T01:29:00.000+03:00

So I recently downloaded StumbleUpon (which Ebay bought for $75,000,000) and I have found a few interesting things with it

Such useful things like how to build your own yurt

Or some really interesting things like what money really is and how it works

Turning yourself into a lie detector

you also get this useless and fun wastes of time

or other randomness

Then I found this, which reminded me to post
http://www.xinureturns.com/
which lets you freely check tons of stats about your page. So I checked HAeD and then I checked this blog...

and I looked at where people had linked to me through technorati while I was away and not blogging
http://bogieworks.blogs.com/treppenwitz/2007/04/the_time_of_our.html
http://www.balashon.com/2007/04/begilufin.html
http://ninjamess.livejournal.com/17783.html
http://daledamos.blogspot.com/
http://curiousjew.blogspot.com/

Jokes in Shmita Shiur

2007-08-26T22:17:00.000+03:00

On Sundays at Yeshivat Petach Tikva I go to a shiur on shemita with Rav Gil. He told a few jokes in shiur today.

He told the one about the psak not to smoke which in the American version goes
After it was decided it that smoking was against Halacha (which it of course is [even if you are addicted]) the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Rabbis get together to decide what to do.
The Reform Rabbis simply decide that since this is a Halachik ruling they can ignore it.
The Conservative Rabbis decide that from now on Conservative Rabbis will no longer smoke.
The Orthodox Rabbis decide that before a Jew may smoke he must sell his lungs to a Non-Jew.

The Israeli version which doesn't play on movements that don't exist in Israel, simply has a guy taking a neder (oath) not to smoke. Making the same point about the legal fiction of Matana Al Minat L'Hachzir (A gift on the condition of return) and the general idea of selling Hametz on Pesach.
This of course relevant to Heter Mechira. Some Talmidim were complaining about it, so he said everyone sells hametz on pesach, and eats hametz that was sold by big companies over pesach.

Then the other really good joke which has a good moral that he told goes as follows:
A rav of a town was very respected and served his congergation day and night. After many years this exuasted him so he decided to go on a short vacation. The community was petrefied, what would they do without the Rav. As the Rav leaves he gives intsturctions as to how to check if meat is kosher. He tells them to throw any questionable meat to his dog. My dog is smart he says, he knows you are supposed to throw treif meat to the dogs, so if he knows its treif he will eat it. If he doesn't' eat it, then its kosher. After a few weeks teh Rav comes back and everyone is so happy to see him. The first thing they say to the Rav on his return is: "We are so glad to have you back, your dog is so machmir!(gives strict rulings)"... Which goes to teach any old dog can be machmir, but it takes a real Rav to be meikil.

And just to add in a joke which reminded me that I wanted to post this, from MomInIsrael

A girl comes to her father and announces her marriage plans. When the father asks the boy's occupation, the girl tells him that he is a chazan (cantor). The father says, "No daughter of mine will marry a chazan!" The girl and her mother cry and beg, but the father is adamant. He won't consider a chazan for his daughter. Finally, they convince him to go to shul to hear the potential chassan (groom) in action. After the davening the father comes to his daughter and wishes her mazel tov. The daughter, delirious with joy, asks her father what changed his mind about her intended. He replied, "I heard him, and he's no chazan!"

(Unfortunately, the bar mitzvah speaker who originally told this joke concluded by saying that the bar mitzvah boy was also no chazan, but had other wonderful qualities!)

Back at Yeshiva & Family has made Aliyah!

2007-08-26T21:54:00.000+03:00

I am back at Yeshivat Petach Tikva after Ben Hazmanim. Working at Derech Hateva over the summer was great and I recommend it both as a camp for 13-18 year olds and as a place of employment. I'll post more about it later. Meanwhile...

MY FAMILY HAS MADE ALIYAH!!

which is very exciting. I met them at the airport. I woke up at 3am to ride my bike to the airport and came back in a taxi with them to Yerushalim. We dropped off the luggage and went to the kotel and did some basic shopping. I took us through the Arab Shuq to get some electronics. Shlomia got to see her friends on MTA and we picked up a the green Melamed Aramaic-Hebrew-English dictionary (the happy dictionary, called so because it is green[?]). on the way back we went through the new shopping area just outside שער יפו which is really nice, we picked up some naot shoes and desperately needed toiletries.
After that Shlomia and I went to pick up my Shoresh sandals which were in for repairs at Orcha. The popular myth that the sandals are only under guarantee while the green dot is still there isn't 100% true. The warranty is good for two whole years or (not and) while the green dot is completely whole. After collapsing at home for a few hours we took a sherut to Rambash רמב"ש Ramat Beit Shemesh. Somewhere in all of this my Tefillin went missing. Luckily they have my email on them. No point putting a telephone number or even worse address on them, because those change to often. Now I just have to hope the person who finds it read the parsha and saw the positive and negative commandment of Hashavat Aveidah (returning of a lost object)

Off to the Trail

2007-06-20T00:31:00.000+03:00

I will be backpacking for the next week, so there goes nay hope for me updating the blog.

Meanwhile I will leave some questions for people to ponder:

How should one view the "kiruv" of Jews to non-observant but involved Judaism, and why?

Which is more important: Kiruv Rechokim (bringing those who are far close to Judaism) or Kiruv Krovim (bringing those who are close into a real care and vibrancy about Judaism)

Why is Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel important (imagine in theory Jews could live in Israel peacefully under foreign rule)?

Does a Jewish democracy have din malchut, if not is a theocracy (more accurately a monarchy becuase the kohen kadol/ Av beit din) is the religious leader the ideal?

Is it a form of tzedakah to save the environment?

If your brother has a flu and your neighbor is getting a stroke, who do you deal with first? If a Jewish person has the flu and a non-Jew is getting a stroke who do you deal with first?

Should the a government be responsible for needs beyond basic necessities of life towards its citizens?

Should the Israeli government be a diffrent case becuase it is obligated to care for the Jewish people?

Is a representative democracy the same thing as the people?

If Am Yisrael is obligated to do something is the government obligated?

If you take in refugees to save lives, how do you draw the line at which you can't save more lives?

Is it better not to accept any refugees because you really can't help every single person in the world or is it better to set an arbitrary line?

How can you accept the 1000th person but not the 1001st?

If the lives were Jewish Lives would you act the same way? Is it ok if the answer to that was yes?

and a bonus:
What should be the place of Arab's in Israel (politically, socially etc)?

Is it (and if yes to what extent) is it ok to use psychological warfare in the occupation of the West Bank? If shooting at a blank wall in an Arab village will stop terrorists from shooting at nearby settlements for instance...or random arrests and detentions?

Is it ok for Jews to settle in the West Bank considering there are Arabs in Israel?

If the Palestinians view themselves as at war with Israel and some/most see it fit to resort to violence why is it wrong to play our side of the struggle and try to build on as much land(not that belongs to private Palestinians) as possible?

Darfur Rally - Jerusalem (The Kenesset) Tuesday june 19th

2007-06-18T10:23:00.000+03:00

http://haedarfur.org/ for ang English poster

and http://haedarfur.org/homehe.html for a Hebrew poster

Celebrating the Hamas takeover of Gaza?

2007-06-17T22:07:00.000+03:00

I have had trouble posting lately, so there are many things that I have wanted to write about hat I haven't got a chance to, because it won't save my drafts. I have lost interesting posts that I have put a lot of effort into, so now I write it all in Gmail.

I have gotten a bit tired of the "More power = More responsibility = More accountability" reasoning. This reasoning was among the lines of thought that gave me hope that the disengagement might produce something. In the sense that if Israel was gone they might actually try to fix the real problems, which really have nothing to do with occupation.

I said the same thing when Hamas won the elections; maybe now the world will realize what Palestinian "nationalism" is all about. It didn't happen, because the world chose to shut its eyes.

The reasoning is true in the sense that people try to fill their roles. So, if someone is thinking of themselves as a student/chanich they will try to find loopholes in the rules and be disruptive. While if they suddenly are put in charge of a group, they will try to establish order and think of themselves as a part of the solution and not the problem.

So why am I "celebrating" the Hamas takeover of Gaza?

Its very simple. No its not that I am glad that Palestinians are killing each other, that's actually a pretty sad result of the depravity of their society. So why is it? Because the West Bank and Gaza are now separate. Gaza will unfortunately become a backwards taliban/Iran mixture of Islamic religious extremism. While the West Bank will gravitate towards modern more secular palestinian Arab nationalism. Neither is a great enemy for Israel to be up against. It was also easier for Israel to combat a divided Palestinian population through the old "divide and conquer". So what is it that we are gaining from this (lest anyone think that Fatah aren't also crazy) ? The concept that maybe we can have a tri-state solution. Its not quite Rav Yoel Bin-nun's idea of Egypt taking Gaza and Jordan taking the West Bank, but its a step in the right direction. With no need for territorial continuity we really may be able to achieve some sort of permanent borders. In fact, Hamas understands that this separation of the West Bank and Gaza can hurt the Palestinian ideal of taking over all of Israel through stages or otherwise. I happen not to think that Egypt and Gaza reclaiming the lands that they had until '67 is a realistic idea. I much prefer we break up the Palestinian extreme nationalism and let them focus on the land they currently occupy rather than carving up Israel for the needless desire for a contiguous state, when two separate sates would do equally well. The only question remains is if and how to transfer people from Gaza to the West Bank and vice versa who want to live in the other Palestinian state.

No Time For Blogging

2007-06-05T22:59:00.000+03:00

Well I really just don't have the time to blog, or actually do anything else. I have to work on time management. The fact that I am writing this now shows that I might actually start getting there. The process of Aliyah takes a while and there is much bureaucracy to go through. After going on a long journey to Lishkat Giyus Tel Hashomer (Tel Hashomer Recruitment office) and not even getting past the information desk outside the offices, and faxing a few times, and calling many times until I find out a good way to avoid the long telephone menus and actually reach a person in a few seconds instead of waiting on hold for 5 minutes and thn being disconneted, and then having Liora (she is the best), the yeshiva Secretary to call on my behalf, I finnaly got my tzav rishon (first call up) to be in a week, more about why that's so important later.

If you think I haven't being a good job of keeping up my blog now, be prepared when I go into the wilderness for 7 weeks this summer.

For now before I got to bed I will relate one story:

I was getting my phone fixed today. My phone does everything but ring which is a bit of a problem when it is also your alarm clock and you don't always have it in a place where you can feel the vibrations. After starting at the place I bought my phone, they told me I needed to go to the "Orange" store, which luckily was about 600 meters down the road, at least something was going right. I figure while I am there I might see about other plans instead of my current pay-as-you-go.
It had a nice atmosphere and you could see through a big window into the area where the technicians were working; it was still a place where you had to wait and wait of course. They gave me no trouble about warranties or faults or this or that. They just checked that I didn't accidentally have it on silent and took it in. Meanwhile I had a sales rep explain to me that I shouldn't buy now, and should wait until I get a certain status in the process of the army (which an Israeli is explaining to me as I write this). I learn a bit of mishna Eruvin as I wait for my phone to be fixed. The phone works for about 3 rings before dieing again, but by that time the store already closes in ten minutes and I am busy at the doctor filling out driving license forms. The interesting Israeli story to this:
There were these two guys, I was trying to figure out how to refer to them, they were an amazing sociological or psychological phenomenon. One was "dati" and the other was "hiloni", but I wouldn't consider either one religious or ethical secular. The word that kept on creeping into my head was the ביריונים beryonim of the mishna (or from the movie Kazablan). I guess thugs, but it wouldn't do them justice, maybe "grown-up" Arsim. The manager was working at the checkout, where I was buying a set of headphones (so I could listen to the radio for news in Hebrew and spend less of my computer time reading the news). They get fed up and walk around the shop, so I sit down on the stool where one of them was sitting.
He comes back and says "I was here first, so get up" but not in such a menacing way, and I happened to agree with him that even though he left he still was there first so I said "yah sure go ahead sit". As the rest of the customers and I wait in line and other people keep coming up and complaining about how its been an hour, even though "the computer says very clearly that you have been waiting 14 minutes, but I will do my best", this guy keeps on being pushy to the manager about finding two girlfriends of his work at the shop. In Israel, that's fair enough, you push for the unusual things for your friends and you sometimes get what you are after.
The manager was accepting his actions, as he was on the phone with one of the girls, she was telling him that they should come to the shop with a CV. He asks her to hire them on the spot or at least guarantee them jobs by tomorrow or the day after. She explains to him that as much as she has a role, "Orange" also is involved and you can't cut corners like this in a real company, because it just won't work even for her. She is helpful, giving him information, telephone numbers, and a website, but he wants a fax number for the CVs. She explains that "Orange"'s website has fax details but that she doesn't have the number for a fax to accept CVs in the shop. He gets fed up and gets her to take the phone from him to talk to the girl herself.
Meanwhile the "dati"(and by that I mean he was wearing a kipa) friend is on the store's phone making calls. Neither has any respect for anyone in the store or any societal norms and are pushing it to the point where I would think in America or any other western country you would ask them to please step out of the shop.
I laugh a bit about how ridiculous this is that people are barely phased by this here. The guy who now has nothing to do as the manger is talking on his cell phone yells at me "are you laughing at me?", I wanted to answer "YES! you are acting like thugs out of a movie and everyone is demurring to your every wish", but I just said "yah just the situation."
He wasn't happy and he said back "Well if you keep laughing, I am going to make you cry," which just wanted to make me laugh more. He got distracted and was just going around being bothersome.
While he was away a well biult guy said to me "you can't go around talking talking like that, not everyone in the world is a nice person like you."
The manager replies "yah you have to be careful you can't argue with these guys you have to just agree."

While this is atypical, I could only imagine this happening to me in Israel.

Instead of capitulating to the every whim of these thugs we should get them negotiating with the Palestinians, maybe show the Palestinians that if we wanted to really be ruthless thugs with nothing in mind but ourselves we could be. It would be a nice way to set the tone before entering real negotiations.

English helps Israelis study Torah at YPT

2007-05-14T23:05:00.000+03:00

I plan to write up the shiur I heard today from Rav Ti about Ruth, but with my laptop broken I wasn't able to take notes, and it may take some time. Meanwhile, its just intresting that for all the complaints people make about having to learn Tanakh in Hebrew, it actually helps to know English. Transilations by thier very nature will be impercise, but in the Tanakh it makes a big diffrence because the language is meant to be very very percise. Normally that means that when you try to transilate the Tanakh you have two problems (well there are many more, but these ones are relevant to what I am saying).

1) It is difficult or impossible to fight the equivlent word in English (or whatever language you are transilating into)

2) Since most words don't have an exact 1-to-1 correspondance from Hebrew to English, your word choice is by definition an interpretation.

So after all that introduction, what is my point?
רות א:5 Ruth 1:5

וַיָּמֻתוּ גַם-שְׁנֵיהֶם, מַחְלוֹן וְכִלְיוֹן; וַתִּשָּׁאֵר, הָאִשָּׁה, מִשְּׁנֵי יְלָדֶיהָ, וּמֵאִישָׁהּ.

And Mahlon and Chilion both died, and the woman (Naomi) Va'tishaer from/of her two children and of her husband.

So what belongs in place of Va'tishaer ?

Well Rav Ti asked the full room: "מה התגום של ותשאר...הרתגום לאנגלית?" (What is the translation of Va'Tishaer, the translation into English)

So people threw out ideas: survived, left, stayed, remained

The point was that it was pretty obvious that if her husband and children died, then she was survived by them, so what is this verse adding?

In context if you use the word stayed or remained then you develop a picture that Naomi is staying in the Galut outside of Eretz Yisrael. This is why English helps you understand Tanakh

This is a good time to mention that "A Jew is Israel has G-d, a Jew outside of Israel has no G-d." Not "is like he has no G-d." There is a reason that it was especially true in biblical times, but here is not the place to expand on it.

An interesting post on translating and Torah can be found here

Tafnit on thier night off - Pokemon

2007-05-14T22:51:00.000+03:00

Tafnit, the other program from Australasia/South Africa besides MTA, while they are at YPT (Yeshivat Hesder Petach Tikva) usually get Tuesday as a night off. Yom Yerushalim is Tuesday night this week, so they have off tonight. On their night off, some are at the computers. Often they can be found playing Age of Empires II. The computers reset each time they are turned off, so they have to reload it each time off an ipod or disc-on-key(flash drive, USB stick etc), which takes 5-10 minutes per computer, but that doesn't deter them. Tonight however, most of them are playing Pokemon on the computer. Seven of them are playing the original Yellow (not Blue/Red) Pokemon on the computer, including their madrich. A little nostalgia never hurt, but it's quite funny. I guess it's better than GTA: Vice City which one of them is playing.

(correction thanks to The Life and Times of the World's Greatest Jewperhero )

In Israel electronically doesn't mean instant

2007-05-03T19:02:00.000+03:00

I get my Teduat Zehut (identity card) on Sunday by picking it up at the NBN offices in Jerusalem. Without it I can't go to the Misrad Ha'klita or open a bank account. I do have a document called a Teduat Oleh, which looks like a passport, but is something that a new immigrant gets. I keep on hearing about its importance, but all I really know that it does is give Bnei Akiva money from the sochnut because I am a boger. I'll soon see what it actually is good for. Meanwhile with it and another piece of paper I went to the post office to get a form that lets me join a kupat holim(lit. sick fund, basically medical insurance). That is the only thing I can do in the bureaucracy chain that doesn't require a Teudat Zehut. I arrive at the post office and of course it is siesta, so I wait until 3:30. The post office workers get back earlier than that, but there is no way they will open it up until at least 3:32 at the earliest. To get free medical care for the first 6 months as an oleh, you need to pay 13.72 shekel. NBN had written down 12, I guess they need to tax you even on the fees you pay for your "free" services. The post office worker entered some information on a computer, scanned a printout had me sign something and that was it.

With the voucher from the post office I went to the Kupat Holim. I had chosen Klalit, purely for its location. There siesta ended at 4:00 so I waited around a bit. After some people pushed in front of me, I finally got to the desk armed with everything I needed. I lay it all out and say I want to join the Kupat Holim. The clerk starts to enter some data into her computer, and then enters some more information. Finally she looks up and says sorry you are not in the computer, did you go to the post office yet? I point to the form from the post office. I tell her I just came from the post office 45 minutes ago. Her response left me dumbfounded:
"Oh that was too soon, try coming back next week."

This was done by computers, it should be instant. Ok, if not instant, then at least overnight. How long could it take to transfer data, at worst there should be a nightly dump of data into the different systems.

Hey, at least I am Israeli now.

Two Words

2007-05-01T15:38:00.001+03:00

I'm Israeli

Aliyah in 27.5 hours with Nefesh B'Nefesh from JFK

2007-04-29T22:52:00.000+03:00

I haven't blogged in a while. Too busy dealing with Aliyah preperations and seeing friends and family.

There have been so many things I have wanted to blog about and have written out whole posts including links in my head, but they have remained there.

I should get back to blogging soon. Meanwhile I am still packing and somehow 210 pounds just isn't enough.

100 lbs for a set of Talmud Bavli
and about another hundred for a green mini set of kehati mishnayot, a rambam, a large set of Kehati, an english midrash rabbah, and more
then some clothing.

What most annoyed me is finding out that most suitcases way a bit over 10 lbs. Isn't there a better way to construct suitcases so that they don't take up a fifth of the weight that you are often allowed

Anyway, if anyone wants to meet me at the airport on May 1st at 1:15PM.

And to add another link to a Jewish site that has enough links:
http://onlysimchas.com/galleries/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewsimcha&simchaid=60385&simchatypeid=11

Apparently, Jdate gets 135% more traffic than the second most trafficked Jewish websites, or all other major Jewish websites put together, don't know if that's true. Maybe someone can verify that.

Of course I will be wearing my Hultza/Tilboshet for the flight.

You too can fly Nefesh B'Nefesh. Unless you are already Israeli or live outside the US & Canada & UK. If so then at least there is the Global Aliyah Centre which is a free call from almost anywhere you might live, or at worst a free skype call. They will help you with just about anything Israel & Aliyah related
http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/Aliyah/Contact+Addresses/GCI/

NCSY Six Flags Great Adventure - Post I (Videos)

2007-04-08T09:26:00.000+03:00

When the Jews take over Six Flags Great Adventure (well it was also Easter so it wasn't a complete takeover this year):

Just some videos that I took on the roller coasters for now.

Will the Left Wing Shut Up?

2007-04-03T01:40:00.000+03:00

I often am on the left on many issues including Israeli "politics" Being on the left in Israeli politics is Pro-peace, but that doesn't mean that the right is anti-peace of course as some people would like to say. It’s a bit like pro-choice or pro-life. It’s all spin. People underestimate how much people on the right want peace. After a trip to Bethlehem I am inclined to agree with them that peace now or any time soon is untenable in the current situation. I don't care whose fault it is that the Arab street and the Palestinians aren't ready for peace. It’s much to complex and instead of assigning blame on anyone we have to figure out how to fix the problem rather than trying to take apart the situation. However, denying that there is a problem is just as much a sure predictor of failure as discussing blame. We can't treat a problem we deny exists. That said, I still think that it may be possible to talk to the dictators who control the Arab world and may be able to convince the "Arab street" to go along. I normally agree with Sharansky's Open Society vs Closed Society, but we should not close off any option when looking for peace. So why do I say the left should shut up? I have been reading for so long about how Israel needs to offer a comprehensive peace plan to the Arab World. Of course much of it was couched in cynicism about how Israel doesn't really want peace or it would have done so long ago. I don't think being a Zionist means thinking that Israel can do no wrong, and anyone who knows Israel bureaucracy and the way the Gush Katif evacuees were dealt with and the war (yes its officially a war) in Lebanon was conducted and the financial and sex scandals sweeping Israeli leadership, knows that things in Israel aren't handled properly. However being a Zionist should be done through truly believing that you are doing the best for Israel and that even if Israel is imperfect it deserves the benefit of the doubt. I am not saying all the critics of Israeli policy from the left or the right handled themselves inappropriately, but I was disappointed with the number that did. Why all of this? Because Israel finally did extend her hand. My opinion in all of this is that if Israel would have been the first to extend her hand she would not have been taken as seriously and this was a tactical move in the "war for peace."

Well it looks like despite letting the Arab World go first, nothing much was gained.

Basically, the Arab World wants to give Israel an ultimatum, not engage in negotiations. As I learned in Bethlehem, they really think that all they are required to do for Israel to give up everything that she could possibly give up is for the Arab States to say they are willing to meet with Israel, and “recognize Israel.”

Yeshivish Feminism and have I really left Israel?

2007-04-02T21:34:00.000+03:00

Location: Monsey, New York
Date: Erev Pesach 5767 יד ניסן ה'תשס"ז
Or should I say 3319, especially considering that it is almost Pesach. 3319 is the number of years that it has been since the exodus from Egypt according to the traditional Rabbinical counting. If you look on the Daf Kesher, the newsletter of Yeshivat Har Etzion (Gush), that number is listed there. Apparently Rav Meidan thinks that it is a good way to fulfill the mitzvah of Zechirat Yetziat Mitzraim (Remembrance of the Exodus from the Egypt). There is no real reason to be recalling creation specifically, unlike the exodus, which we are supposed to remember everyday. This is different than the mitzvah of Sippur Yetziat Mitzraim(retelling the story of the Exodus from Egypt) which can only be done at the Seder once a year(twice a year if you are in the Galut, in Chutz La'aretz, in the Diaspora). I have heard this all second hand while learning at Gush, and I couldn't find any site or dvar torah about it on the web. Rav Meidan also has interesting Egypt much earlier than we usually think.

But that wasn't my point.

I was a salon where my sister was getting a manicure and pedicure. She didn't want to go by her self so I took along something to read, specifically the Hebrew Version of the Haggadah "A night to remember." While waiting I overheard some stories that a girl of about 11 was telling her younger brother of about 5 or 6. The family was definitely right wing, not sure how far. Big black velvet kippah on the kid and the girls were all wearing very long skirts and talking with yeshivish, some of which I didn't even understand easily. She told him two short stories to keep him occupied.

The first was about a woman construction worker who saved the day. All the other male construction workers were sick from a flu and there was a train that was going down the track and it was broken and the signals weren’t working, btu everyone except this women construction worker was sick that day, so she fixed it up and built it all by herself. So everyone was saved because of her, and she was rewarded with lots of medals and everyone thanked her and she was respected from then on. That was just about verbatim.

It was interesting to hear the very short story, but almost as surprising was the next story. The first story was possibly about females striving to fill male roles. I won’t try to write the second story word for word, because it basically matches the first one with a few exceptions. Just replace female construction worker with male beautician and his heroism was helping a kallah at chassnah(chatuna, wedding) when all the female workers were sick, and his reward was the kallah’s family and friends were forever grateful and everyone wanted to hire him. It looks like it is not just a drive for females to take on male roles. Its more of a two way street. Gender equality and fewer limits based on your anatomy. I should bring in an op-ed piece written by Yishai Schwartz in the SAR High School Paper, but I will need to get his permission to reprint. If and when I do, you will see why it is relevant.

Now the second part of the post:Why am I left wondering if I left Israel?
a) There are tons of Jews around. Haredim, Modern Orthodox, Reform Conservative, unaffiliated.
b) Everything, even the regular products have kosher l'pesach on them.
c) At The Young Israel of New Rochelle the congregation recited Tefillah l'shlom hamedina (prayer for the state of Israel) in unison with gusto. Well of course they also said a prayer for America and an interesting prayer for the troops, something that I will hopefully look at in a future post.
d) I have seen bumper stickers in Monsey from "ha'am im gush Katif" and "Hevron shelanu." Not sure if I have seen any left wing Israel bumper stickers. Well the extremists always are more committed, and the more committed are more likely to be extremists.
e) A siren when off when it was the last time you could eat Hametz. Coiencidence? Maybe, but it was too perfectly timed, and sounded like the ones you hear in Israel
f) At 2:30 erev pesach most of the stores at the local strip mall were closed and the parking lot which was impossibly busy just 2 hours earlier was almost empty

Hag Kasher V’Sameach
Or as I learned people say in a strange language : A Zissen Pesach

In New York for Pesach

2007-03-29T04:40:00.000+02:00

I am in New York for Pesach and until my Nesfesh B'Nefesh flight.

I am going to the New Voices conference which so far has been interesting. Looking forward to blogging about it and actually, you know, writing something. But that will happen, when I am actually thinking straight and its not 5am Israel time after a jetlag inducing flight.

Just a thought that you wouldn't expect from an oleh:
You know how some people talk of loving everything about Israel and how even the hoy dirt of Israel is beloved unto them. Well for me New York is the same in a way. I love the sounds and smells of New York and on the MTA Subway even the dirt covering the walls in the grimy stations remind me of my love of this city.

And a Did you know?:
The longest subway ride with a transfer is the 2 train from 241st Street in the Bronx, with a transfer at Fulton Street/Broadway-Nassau to the Far Rockaway-bound A train (more than 38 miles). - The MTA

I almost did that today. I took the AirTrain from JFK Terminal 4 to Howard Beach station of the A train and from there eventually ended up at 231st st of the 1 train. Not as long, but still one end of the line to another

Benisishm look down in Bethlehem

2007-03-28T01:13:00.000+02:00

On the trip to Bethlehem there were many components. I am still working on sorting out my thoughts on the trip to blog about. Meanwhile, here is a video clip. When the dancing got very raunchy the benishim (yeshiva students bnei yishiva) said:

We are such a bunch of benishim all looking away

It was so true. For me that would have been true even before, but I realized that we all were not looking without even us looking at each other to judge one another. An interesting note on the non-judgmental aspect of the trip. Of course this was while they were eating food that I would have to define as not Kosher in almost any way I could define Kosher food, not that I am judging anyone

Return To Homesh

2007-03-27T09:51:00.000+02:00

I just got an SMS saying:
חוזרים לחומש: המאבק על החזרה לחומש נמשך! כולנו באים לעזרת 1500 הגיבורים הנאחזים במקום! הסעות מביבי האומה בירושלים משעה 9:30 עד 11:30. הגעתכם חשובה!!! העבר

Sender +97297922073
Sent 8:58:18 27-03-2007

This was in addition to a message I recieved erlier.

The gist is that they are bussing in more people to Homesh to try to take the land and build on it, against the agreement with the Army which they made...prepare for violence.

I have much more to say, but I am going on a tiyul around the area of Jerusalem with some friends, and I am late. Well I am off to Sataf

Couldn't Find Wireless in Palestinian Area A

2007-03-26T17:31:00.000+02:00

I was in Bethlehem on Thursday and Friday. I thought I was going to blog from there. I couldn't find wireless. I was too tired to use the computer of the family I stayed with. I am working on a post about it on my laptop with pictures. Should be up soon

I went with this group
http://encounterprograms.org

I am in Raanana now, and rushing off to minha. So I will write more later to you readers

Dancing in YPT

2007-03-21T23:42:00.000+02:00

Now to Ben Hazmanim

Grog against Iran

2007-03-19T20:39:00.000+02:00

The Petition doesn't suggest using force against Iran. It talks about sanctions, which is something I think any sane person would agree with. The question is do they really mean it, or is the bait and switch of the IAJV?

So go sign it!

Missiles will be falling on me tommorow

2007-03-19T17:58:00.000+02:00

The rescue services will be dispatched to other "missile landing" areas in Petah Tikva and in a Jaffa community center. In Be'er Sheva a drill will be held simulating a "mega-terror attack," simultaneous to a heavy barrage of rockets in southern Israel, causing many injuries. - ynetnews

Don't worry its just a drill.

Its also the first time they are doing this. It sounds like a good idea. I just wonder if we are supposed to do anything when we hear the sirens. I mean its all very nice to test emergency services. But one of the biggest problems of the Lebanon war on the home front was the lack of adequate unlocked bomb shelters.

We can stop bashing the French?

2007-03-19T03:09:00.000+02:00

(IsraelNN.com) According to recent reports, French President Jacques Chirac was willing to support an Israeli attack on Syria during the 2006 war with Hizbullah. Chirac sent a secret message to Israeli officials saying that France would give Israeli full support if Israel were to invade Damascus and topple the current Syrian regime.

Israeli political commentators explained Sunday that the secret message shows Chirac’s understanding of the situation. Chirac realized that Syria is responsible for arming and supporting the terrorist group Hizbullah, they said, and saw Israel’s struggle against Hizbullah as legitimate.

Well I am surprised as you are about this. It doesn’t make up for the antisemitism in France.

It poses an interesting question. If Israel had the international support to deal with the root of the problem, why didn’t they?

NYTimes on Darfur & Israel

2007-03-19T03:07:00.000+02:00

Looks like I should have gone to yad vashem with the group. Well it looks like they had a good time at least. And by good, I mean meaningful as anyone who has been to Poland with a Jewish group knows.

NYTimes

Well I already went on one trip with them, and I can't just leave yeshiva for every trip, even if it is volunteering.

[hat tip shmarya http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2007/03/darfur_refugees.html ]

RAL – facebook and Ha’aretz

2007-03-19T02:22:00.000+02:00

Gush alumni are big fans of RAL. Some are so devoted to him that they ironically become Hassidim of Rav Aharon Lichtenstein. If you thought rebbe worship was something only for the ultra-Orthodox, you would be mistaken.

There are facebook groups such as I♥Rav Aharon

People at Gush were even thinking of printing shirts with “I♥Rav Aharon”, of course not to be worn in the biet midrash or anywhere where Rav Aharon would see you

One of this years ideas for the overseas program sweastshirt with Mt. Gushmore, moddled of course on Mt. Rushamore with the likenesses of the four Rashei Yeshiva (Rav Ahraon, Rav Amital, Rav Gigi, Rav Medan) cast into the cliff face.

There is this fan website. He admits:

This is either the closest thing I have to God or the closest thing I have to Avoda Zara. Or both.

If you want a more reasoned approach to Rav Aharhon I suggest you read his books, or at the very least this Ha’aretz article

Concerning Yonatan Bassi, Lichtenstein argues that, as head of the Sela disengagement administration, he displayed conduct reflecting profound morality, as well as Zionism and a sense of mission. "His actions betrayed neither his nation nor the religious camp," he states categorically. "He wanted to serve Israel's best interests. He wanted to open the eyes of a public that was uninterested in understanding the situation. I think such conduct deserves respect. I am very angry that there are still people in my world who not only state that he failed but joyously celebrate that failure."

This does not mean that Lichtenstein completely condemns the criticism directed at Bassi. He believes that, when people say harsh things, they are showing they really care. "We live in an era when the future of the Jewish community here and Israel's future hang in the balance, and some people are more sensitive to this than others," he notes. "The British poet and writer T.E. Hulme related how, during a discussion in France of who was the better dramatist, Shakespeare or Racine, people threw chairs at one another. That shows they deeply cared about the issue."

Somehow I don’t think that Rav Aharon would find it acceptable to throw chairs in the beit midrash. Also he is not exactly condoning people’s actions, he is just saying that it is good that people are passionate.

Nonetheless, he observes: "When people become more religiously observant, they are convinced they have a monopoly on the truth. Although they might care more passionately about certain issues, they are not particularly imbued with a sense of humility or self-criticism that is rooted in a full-fledged spiritual world. They are unprepared to hear what others have to say because they believe it might weaken their religious faith."

It is easy to imagine that this criticism is leveled against the Hardali - the Hebrew acronym for Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) nationalist - community. Although, in his view, the Hardali community displays some degree of intolerance, he sees a definite advantage in the strengthening of religious behavior it has fostered: "The Religious Kibbutz Movement is considered tolerant but is also perceived as prone to making compromises. Religiously speaking, it is less impassioned. The Hardali community is devoted to the Torah and strictly obeys the commandments."

Its interesting that he says that, considering how I have heard many times that despite the machon at gush he doesn’t exactly have a great love of academic Jewish studies. I for one would much rather be an impassioned meticulous member of the Religious Kibbutz Movement than an open-minded Hardali

Lichtenstein says that it's not his political positions that have changed; rather, the national-religious camp has moved further to the right. "Today," he admits, "I am in a political wilderness. I once belonged to the National Religious Party, but today the party is unprepared to hear my views."

People tried to obfuscate and doubt the move to right religiously, but I doubt people have the hutzpa to try the same tactics to convince us that Religious Zionism hasn't taken a drastic right wing turn politically. They also have taken on right wing politics as a religious credo, almost on the level of Rambam's 13.

Nevertheless, he emphasizes that he has never been a member of Meimad, although he supports it from behind the scenes: "I do not see myself going down that route. I advocate territorial compromise, but also hold the view that Jews must never be indifferent to the various parts of Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel."

His support of territorial compromise is based on the religious principle of piku'ah nefesh, Judaism's paramount directive to save human life. Soloveitchik also spoke of the need for territorial concessions. "When we talk about territorial compromise, we are talking about a calculated risk," explains Lichtenstein. "And, as long as experts see such concessions as serving Israel's best interests, we must respond. If every lieutenant in the army chooses to ignore policies established by democratic forces, that is a problem."

Don’t worry folks he hasn’t turned left on you. He is still central, all of you just ran as far up those Judean hilltops as you could.

There is also the moral aspect. "When a society becomes overly militaristic spiritually, a price is always paid," he explains. "One price is narrow-mindedness. Unfortunately, that statement holds true for a fairly large segment of the religious-Zionist community."

I’ll let that stand

*BONUS*

Then why is he in the minority? Why has modern Orthodox Judaism not caught on here in Israel?

"The very complexity of that outlook," he replies, "requires a certain level and ability to balance things and clarify issues. It is much simpler to follow a single flag."

The YouTube of documents

2007-03-19T01:56:00.000+02:00

I just found this website that lets you upload documents from almost any format and then converts them to PDF, Word and even audio. It does this for free, and you can set the document to public or private. If that weren’t enough you can also embed the document anywhere!
We are used to embedding videos, and this isn’t that different. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it is an amazing resource.

Like YouTube, it also will have copyright issues. I don’t know about you but I do have a problem with ripping, burning and downloading music illegally. I know almost everyone does it, and there have been many attempts to say that halakha doesn’t prohibit the practice. It’s interesting, the very same rabbis who complain about the slippery slopes in other areas will be the first to moreh heter for music and media. I am actually don’t have as much trouble with books. I know that for long books with large distribution that you want to actually read, you will want a real copy and support the author. For books with small distribution the royalties are tiny and it all goes to the publishing house. Why would I want to support a publishing house in its efforts to destroy forests? I still know its wrong to download copyrighted materials of the internet no matter what the format, but with google’s book project, and the access that we all have to public and academic libraries I know the lines are fuzzier here. At the end of the day I believe that data wants to be “free.” Not it the sense of zero-cost, but in the sense that it should be accessible to as any many people as possible without physical, technological or economic boundaries.
We have seen companies respond to the amazing ease with which it was possible to view and download their content. I am talking positive models, not suing YouTube. I mean things like opening up their databases to be people who want to view content and wouldn’t mind too much for a small fee to access content. Hopefully this will lead to the same results in print without all the road bumps. That looks unlikely to me, because despite the warning about copyright and some great documents that were out of copyright or not copyrighted, the site lets you upload anonymously. It’s too easy to upload things you shouldn’t be and have no responsibility.
Anyway for a positive use of Scribd, here is the diagram with text of the mishnah yevamot 4:7

In Defense of YCT

2007-03-19T01:39:00.000+02:00

I am not going to link to the horrible posts attacking YCT, but I will bring you this. A very worthwhile read:

http://indefenseofyct.blogspot.com/

Keeping it short!

Haveil Havalim #110 is up

2007-03-18T16:07:00.000+02:00

Haveil Havalim #110 is up this time on soccer dad

Go check out the interesting posts. I won't bias you by saying which ones I liked.
I just should have submitted a better one myself.

meh, I have been using it for a while

2007-03-18T06:39:00.001+02:00

Meh - the word that's sweeping the internet

How was my weekend? Meh. The mehness of it is indescribable. Just one big, fat meh. If you are an old-media kind of reader, "meh" won't mean a whole lot to you. The word has appeared in the national press three times in the past year. If you gain new vocabulary from conversation, it is probably unfamiliar. If you can't be torn from the web, however, you will almost certainly know it, and its meaning.

Meh means rubbish. It means boring. It means not worth the effort, who cares, so-so, whatever. It is the all-purpose dismissive shrug of the blogger and messageboarder. And it is ubiquitous. On the I Love Music messageboard, for example, 4,010 separate discussion threads feature the use of "meh". - The Guardian

I have been using this word on and offline for years now. So my response to this article is "meh"

learning moed katan

2007-03-18T05:33:00.000+02:00

With the starting of tractate Moed Katan, R' Chaim Kanievsky said that it is known in the name of the Chasam Sofer that there is a concern in learning Moed Katan because of the fact they you are learning the halachos of mourning. Therefore the Chasam Sofer said that a person should give charity before learning this tractate.

R' Kanievsky added that certainly someone who gives charity to "Kupat Hair" will be saved from any pain and anguish and has nothing to worry about.

As always, the names of all donors will be passed on to R' Kanievsky for a blessing
- published in the Yated Neman via Jewish Worker

Its a good thing I don't believe in the superstition and also follow Rabbis who think learning Moed Katan is important.

And to quote the Rav when people asked used to ask him for a bracha (blessing) :

What are you an apple?

Also it is shameless to say donate to my charity and no harm will come to you. Now if that only worked.

Math while listening to the parsha

2007-03-18T05:00:00.000+02:00

While I was listening to the Torah reading I did some quick math in my head twice

The first instance was when the Torah was going over the donations, I was wondering how much is a ככר(kikar, talent) of precious metal? So first I thought, well maybe

כד כָּל-הַזָּהָב, הֶעָשׂוּי לַמְּלָאכָה, בְּכֹל, מְלֶאכֶת הַקֹּדֶשׁ--וַיְהִי זְהַב הַתְּנוּפָה, תֵּשַׁע וְעֶשְׂרִים כִּכָּר, וּשְׁבַע מֵאוֹת וּשְׁלֹשִׁים שֶׁקֶל, בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ.

24 All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

So first I thought: maybe its 1000 shekel. its more than 730. But then:

כו בֶּקַע, לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת, מַחֲצִית הַשֶּׁקֶל, בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ--לְכֹל הָעֹבֵר עַל-הַפְּקֻדִים, מִבֶּן עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וָמַעְלָה, לְשֵׁשׁ-מֵאוֹת אֶלֶף וּשְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים, וַחֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת וַחֲמִשִּׁים.	26 a beka a head, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that passed over to them that are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.
כז וַיְהִי, מְאַת כִּכַּר הַכֶּסֶף, לָצֶקֶת אֵת אַדְנֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ, וְאֵת אַדְנֵי הַפָּרֹכֶת: מְאַת אֲדָנִים לִמְאַת הַכִּכָּר, כִּכָּר לָאָדֶן.	27 And the hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil: a hundred sockets for the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.
כח וְאֶת-הָאֶלֶף וּשְׁבַע הַמֵּאוֹת, וַחֲמִשָּׁה וְשִׁבְעִים, עָשָׂה וָוִים, לָעַמּוּדִים; וְצִפָּה רָאשֵׁיהֶם, וְחִשַּׁק אֹתָם.	28 And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their capitals, and made fillets for them.

Which reminds me of the nice drasha how all the people of Israel were equal and of utmost importance when it came to the very foundation of the משכן(tabernacle). Well turns out, not quite, they really only needed 100 talents so 1775 shekel was used for other things, still a nice drasha so I am sure there is a way to work this out nicely.
Anyway the math
603,550 people (men over 20 of the nation of Israel) give 0.5 shekel which makes 301,775 shekel. Subtract 1775 for the left overs and you are left with 300,000 shekel being equal to 100 talents, meaning one talent was 3,000 shekel. Hmm before I calculated it during the reading I thought it would be 2,000 shekel, I wonder why I thought that?

Then later we have the Golden Altar for the sacrifices of animals, I always think of it as very big and impressive, tall and imposing. Well, it couldn't be that big, it would have to be carried whole.

א וַיַּעַשׂ אֶת-מִזְבַּח הָעֹלָה, עֲצֵי שִׁטִּים: חָמֵשׁ אַמּוֹת אָרְכּוֹ וְחָמֵשׁ-אַמּוֹת רָחְבּוֹ, רָבוּעַ, וְשָׁלֹשׁ אַמּוֹת, קֹמָתוֹ.

1 And he made the altar of burnt-offering of acacia-wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof, four-square, and three cubits the height thereof.

An אמה(bredth) is normally 5 tefachim(handbreadth) but for the משכ ן(tabernacle) it is 6. A handbreadth is taken to be between 8-10cm. So it is between
3 x 6 x 8cm = 1.44 meters (4'8") and 3 x 6 x 10 cm= 1.8 meters (5'11")

I guess I already knew that, but I just usually thought of it as bigger in my mind. Well if you didn't know, now you do

RSS feeds - right wing conspiracy? not any more

2007-03-18T01:25:00.000+02:00

So I just started using RSS feeds. I have been so hesitant to do this for some reason. Normally I am the first one to try to get my hands on technology, but this one took me a while to get comfortable with. While setting up some RSS feeds with this blog
Subscribe in a reader

I finally decided to start using the myself. I actually like it, it means I can quickly browse many blogs and see when people actually update. I am using Google reader , and I have to say so far I am really impressed.

Now the title mentions a right wing conspiracy. So what is this conspiracy?
the RSS feed symbol is Orange. It is very clear that they are protesting the disengagement. Don't worry Feed Icons is here to save the day for those left wing bloggers who are tired of the right wing imperialism and neo-colonization of the blogosphere feeds

Not a fan of orange? Download the package and customize the icon to your liking. It is believed that as a symbol, the feed icon is recognizable enough that it doesn't need to be restricted to one colour.

I'll stick with orange, thank you. Its my protest to the anti-disengagement folks attempt to take a colour and give it political connotations. Everything in Israel is already political, do we really need to politicize colours?

Sudan fights for right to do Evil

2007-03-16T05:25:00.000+02:00

Apparently Sudan finds it easier to fight the law instead of following it.

Sudan would rather fight a lawsuit about their assistance to terrorism, rather than stop the actual terrorism.

Sudan would rather fight a UN condemnation of the genocide in Darfur, rather than stop the actual genocide in Darfur.

Sudan rather than claiming it had no involvement in the Bombing of the USS Cole, tries to get off on a technicality

Families of American sailors killed in the suicide bombing of the USS Cole warship are suing the government of Sudan, accusing it of aiding terrorism.
They claim the African nation helped al-Qaeda, which was blamed for the attack, and are seeking damages of more than $100m through a Virginia court.
Sudan has tried to have the case dismissed, saying too much time had passed since the 2000 bombing. - BBC

As for Darfur, Sudan doesn't just rely on technicalities, it creates them:

Sudan tries to block UN from considering Darfur atrocities report
March 13, 2007 (GENEVA) — Sudan on Tuesday accused a United Nations panel of bias, and moved to block the U.N. Human Rights Council from considering its report accusing Khartoum of orchestrating attacks in Darfur.
Sudanese Justice Minister Mohamed Ali al-Mardi told the 47-nation council that the American head of the mission, Nobel laureate Jody Williams, took "a preconceived and hostile attitude against Sudan."
Al-Mardi said Sudan "strongly and resolutely" opposes any consideration by the council of the report, which he said should be dismissed because it was written without the team having visited Darfur. The team said it had to proceed that way because Sudan refused to grant them visas. - Sudan Tribune

And if that wasn't enough, they also lie

"Any attempt to confer legitimacy on this mission will constitute a serious and dangerous precedent in the eyes, not only of the Sudan, but also of many members of this esteemed council," al-Mardi said.
He asserted that two of the six team members had failed to participate, which made the mission "no longer valid."
U.N. officials said Indonesian Ambassador Makarim Wibisono had withdrawn from the panel, but that he was the only one to do so. Gabonese Ambassador Patrice Tonda had to return to Geneva while the panel was waiting in vain for Sudanese visas, but he remains a member of the panel, the officials said. - Sudan Tribune

Some may think that we shouldn't be overly harsh with the Government of Sudan, but as an Israeli Jew, I have no reason to pretend to love a government which gets into bed with Ahmadinejad.

A Random Mishna in Yevamot (4:7 + diagram)

2007-03-16T04:06:00.000+02:00

I was happily learning Mishna Yevamot until I got up to this one, when suddenly even with all of the help of Kehati I was underly confused. I made a diagram of it, and now digitized it. So now all of you can learn this random Mishnah. I don't want to even think how complicated the Gemara must be on this one. Anyway, all of what I am talking about is centered on just the last line.

ד,ז החולץ ליבמתו--הוא אסור בקרובותיה, והיא אסורה בקרוביו. הוא אסור באימה, ובאם אימה, ובאם אביה, בבתה, ובבת בתה, ובבת בנה, ובאחותה בזמן שהיא קיימת; והאחים מותרים. והיא אסורה באביו, ובאבי אביו, בבנו, ובבן בנו, באחיו, ובבן אחיו. מותר אדם בקרובת צרת חלוצתו, ואסור בצרת קרובת חלוצתו.

I tried translating that last line for the last while, doing lots of searches and thinking, but I give up. If anybody wants to suggest an good translation, please leave a comment.

This is just how complicated Yibbum and Halizah used to be when men had multiple wives.
An explanation of the diagram:
Diamonds are males. Circles are females.
Shapes with the same color are related, brothers or sisters.
Hollow shapes are dead, full ones are alive.

Click on the picture below to be able to actually read it:

Colbert Report: 3rd World should donate to USA

2007-03-16T00:54:00.000+02:00

It gets funnier as it goes along. Near the end I was laughing so loud my roommates asked if I was ok. Luckily they weren't trying to go to sleep yet.

I just wish I could see the whole show online, which had Nicholas Kristof as the guest, but with Viacom cracking down on YouTube, and Comedy Central not letting us see the whole show, its not going to happen. Would it hurt them to host whole shows and forcing us to watch commercials?

For those of you who don't know Nicholas Kristof, I suggest you get to know one of the most well regarded reporters on Darfur. And a lot more, this is from the the NYTimes:

About Nicholas D. Kristof
Nicholas D. Kristof, an Op-Ed columnist for The Times since November 2001 and previously one of its associate managing editors, is the winner of two Pulitzer prizes. Mr. Kristof has lived on four continents, reported on six, and traveled to 120 countries, plus all 50 states, every Chinese province and every main Japanese island. He's also one of the very few Americans to be at least a two-time visitor to every member of the Axis of Evil. During his travels, he has had unpleasant experiences with malaria, wars, an Indonesian mob carrying heads on pikes, and an African airplane crash.

Luckily I headed over to Kristof's blog and found that although injured by Colbert, he put a link up to more of the show...still not the same as the whole show though

Kaluach3 Funny Help

2007-03-15T17:26:00.000+02:00

Kaluach3 is a program that besides helping you with the Jewish calendar also gives you complete customizable zmanim, daf yomi(bavli and Yesrushalmi), Mishna Yomi, Halakha Yomi, and Tanakh Yomi.

I was going to try to figure out how to use it with Google calendar, which I am now starting to use to keep track of where I will be when during ben hazmanim (intersession for Yeshiva). In the end I found the easiest way to get a Hebrew calendar, Hebrew dates, שבת times was by using hebcal which lets you export a calendar according to your specifications in either iCal or a CSV, which are both recognized by Google calendar.

But while searching the Help file of Kaluach3 I found some funny things, among the serious questions pertaining to how kaluach figures out the zmanim and the different halakhic shitot (opinions)

" - quote marks, used in rashei teivot (phrase contractions)

In Hebrew, phrase contractions are called rashei teivot, or "the first letters" (of the words in a phrase). Years ago they were commonly used to cut down the size of a book since printing was quite expensive and time consuming. Today, when printing is much cheaper, rashei teivot still appear in places where the context is clear, or in books that were printed using the original plates (or photocopies).

Rashei teivot are also commonly used by the Israeli army in order to obfuscate even the most trivial matters. It is common to receive an order to report to army reserves with a line, stating the objective, similar to this:
מטרה: שחיו"מ טב"י א:כ שטויות

It might look like this in English
Objective: tcx"e pi"w z"a nonsens"e

Upon calling the army to clarify, the usual answer is something like: "I'm not sure what it means, but I think you'll be doing guard duty or driving a jeep."

gehinnom - loosely translated as "hell"

This is a sort of holding tank where those whose fates have yet to be decided wait. Gehinnom physically resembles a dentist's office with Barry Manilow songs piped in 24 hours a day. Israelis wait in a separate room that resembles an Interior Ministry office with Tzvika Pik songs piped in. This is a place to be avoided at all costs.

tzaddikim - "the righteous ones"

Tzaddikim are those individuals that devote their lives to the service of the Almighty and to helping their fellow man. They also eat foods rich in fiber and don't put sugar on their grapefruit.

And after a long complicated explanation of shitot for tzeit hashabbat

David Kramer has suggested the inclusion of the "Egged tzeit Shabbat" (Egged is the major bus line in Israel). To the best of my knowledge, this is based solely on observation... If no one's looking, start the bus.

Its true that buses in Israel depending on which city they are in, do drive or don't, but Egged is no El-Al. Egged only runs buses 30 minutes after Shabbat goes out they say, but according to which shita?

And I'll end off with one funny mistake

In order to prevent desecration of Shabbat, the Chief Rabbinate decreed that the 27th of Nissan falls on Sunday, Yom Hashoah will be observed on Monday.

No, the Chief Rabbinate does not have the authority to fiddle with the calendar and decide that the 27th of Nissan will always fall on a Sunday.

Amazing article on Palestinain Youth from the NYTimes

2007-03-15T17:17:00.000+02:00

A Review of The Front Page New York Times Article of March 12th, 2007
Years of Strife and Lost Hope Scar Young Palestinians
See the picture that goes with the aritlce

This story has so many points that could be used to show pro-Palestinian or pro-Israel bias, but at the end of the day I think it is an objective perspective of one journalist looking into the future of Palestinian youth. Sure its all quotes by Palestinians, but the spin is mostly absent. Sure, some stuff is blamed on Israel, but that is partially true, and definitely is the major Palestinian perspective. However there is internal criticism too. What is frightening is that the internal criticism is that they haven’t done a good enough job harming Israel, but it is more about the failure to build a future for Palestine than destroy a future for Israel.

The article starts out with an objective and frightening statement:

Their worried parents call them the lost generation of Palestine: its most radical, most accepting of violence and most despairing.

The first quote sounds like it could from PMW

“Ever since we were little, we see guns and tanks, and little kids wanting little guns to fight against Israel,” said Raed Debie, 24, a student at An Najah University here.

But that is responded to by

Issa Khalil, 25, broke in, agitated. “We never see anything good in our lives,” he said. He was arrested for throwing stones in the first intifada, the civil disobedience that began in the late 1980s and led to the 1993 Oslo accords with Israel. He was arrested again in the second uprising as the agreement faltered.

I wouldn’t exactly call the intifada civil disobedience. Also, the agreement didn’t falter with the second intifada, it was being broken by Palestinian terrorism, and a Palestinian Authority which did nothing to stop the scourge.

Then we get to the depressing part

Few talk of peace, only of a lifetime of “resistance.”

Opinion polls show a generation more supportive of armed struggle and terrorism than their parents, according to Waleed Ladadweh of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. The violence is directed not only toward Israel, but also toward one another.

We are given the Israeli line and the Palestinian line as to why this is happening

Now, the only Israelis whom Palestinians see are armed — soldiers and settlers. The West Bank is cut into three parts by checkpoints; Gazan men under 30 are virtually unable to leave their tiny, poor and overcrowded territory. Few talk of peace, only of a lifetime of “resistance.”

Many Israelis agree that the current generation of young Palestinians has been thoroughly radicalized, but say that is the product of Palestinian political and religious leaders who have sanctioned and promoted violence and terrorism against Israel.

Both are true, and it’s a viscous cycle. But, it is not the “cycle of violence” that everyone talks about, that could be broken by anyone at anytime. Israel can not suddenly decide that it does not need to protect itself, the Palestinians could decide to stop their propaganda and their attacks. That’s all very nice, but telling other people to change doesn’t work, what can Israel to do help? The security fence is an amazing solution. This “apartheid wall” will actually ease life for Palestinians and make it easier for them to commute and move. Less checkpoints will hopefully be neccasary, and there will be less need for confrontation between the IDF and Palestinians.

A few paragraphs down we see that the Israeli line is probably more accurate

“We’re pushed all the time to be more political, more militant, more religious, more extreme,” said Shadi el-Haj, a 20-year-old student at An Najah. “We want to be Palestinians, like the generation of the first intifada. But people push you, ‘Are you Fatah or Hamas?’ All our problems start with, ‘I’m Fatah, I’m Hamas.’ It wasn’t like that before.”

We also get a chillingly accurate depiction as children as pawns used and abused. Reminds me a bit of Molech worship, I guess all that death-cult stuff wasn’t far off target

“It was always our choice to be fuel for the struggle,” he said. “But our problem now is that the car burns the youth as fuel but doesn’t move. There’s a problem in the engine, in the head. These kids are willing to be fuel, but many have been burned as waste.”

Later we have Mustafa (age 6) saying:

‘I want to be fat, Mommy,Because I want to put on a suicide belt and not have the Israelis see it.’

I recently have had a few conversations with people about what they really think the current situation will lead to. Here is what some Palestinians think of where we are all heading

For the Id al-Fitr festival, the boys asked for toy Kalashnikovs and Uzis, and they know all about the crude rockets, the Qassams, that militants fire into southern Israel. “They classify the weapons, they want a particular gun,” Mrs. Assar said. “And when you think of the violence, and what future will we have here? It will be a very violent future.”

Mr. Assar broke in. “The world is moving ahead, and we’re moving backward,” he said. “We’re back to 1948.”

Doesn’t give much hope does it? Well at least maybe someone will realize there that they are stuck in 1948, and that they should move along and come up with some new ideas, hopefully ones that don’t involve violence.

Here is what a remember of of the Abu Rish brigades, a militant Gazan offshoot of Fatah that opposed the Oslo accords with Israel and has moved closer to Hamas, has to say:

Raed, 30, was arrested in the first intifada, when he was 16. He felt a hero at the time, but the political result, the 1993 Oslo accords, “were useless and benefited Israel,” he said. “No one can resist with stones or build a nation without violence.”

You can’t resist with stones? Wasn’t that what the whole first intifada was about? I guess he means that he thinks the current means of "resistance" with bigger and bigger guns is actually helping...except he doesn't.

“Hamas and Fatah are so divided, the goal of Palestine disappears,” he said. “I talk about willing my children to be martyrs for Allah, but I honestly wish for them to be safe and healthy, that’s all.”

Now if this is what some crazy terrorist is saying, how much can we extrapolate to what real Palestinians are feeling deep inside?

There is bravado there, but also frustration. None of the fighters, who agreed to talk if their last names were not published, believes a Palestinian state will be established; none can imagine living next to Israel. All of them want to leave and start again, somewhere.

That’s amazing. Now if Israel could just figure out a way of making that dream come true. Its funny that they want to start again elsewhere. They are the ones who created this situation. It was there choice to use first stones and now AK-47s, they should clean up the mess, rather than run away from it. If the Palestinians wanted to, I do believe they could “stay, start again, right where they are now.” But if they don’t want to, how come there aren’t right-wing NGOs devoted to helping Palestinians leave Gaza and the West Bank? After writing that, I realized that there are some who help Palestinians and Israeli Arabs move away after they sell their land or property, but why not expand beyond that?

With the economy of Gaza shutting down, much of the work available for young people is either in the swollen and disorganized security forces or in the armed militias or gangs, many of them built on clan loyalties, and some of which engage more in racketeering than in fighting. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, with considerable financial help from Iran and Syria, are known at least to pay their people, even if Hamas cannot pay full salaries to all Palestinian Authority employees.

Hassan, 21, ran out of money before finishing university, but cannot imagine what he would do in Gaza with a degree. “I look at the graduates here, and their diplomas are useless,” he said. “That’s why I’m in the resistance.”

Many were skeptical that the Palistinians voted in Hamas for anti-curroption and ecomic reasons. Why not vote Hamas, when we all know that Fatah is no less violent? Oh, yah they are fanatical book banners, but hey they give us money. It’s pretty sad that a degree is worth nothing and that it is easier to fight. Yet that doesn’t excuse your decision to go around and kill people.

According to the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, about 19 percent of those killed since 2000 have been 18 or under, whether in fighting against the Israelis or among Palestinian factions.

You know all those complaints about Israel killing children? Guess what? When you use children as soldiers, its inevitable. Also note this report is careful to include the important information that the death tolls we see include Palestinian internal violence.

To anyone seriously interested in getting the Palestinians out of the west bank and gaza, dream on. We can’t get olim to Israel, what makes you think you will get the Palestinians out of where they are? There are millions of them. Sure some of them want to go:

Where young Palestinians once dreamed of staying to build a new state, now many are giving up and scheming to get out.

Moayyed Haj Hussein is 22, educated and well spoken. But after he failed to find a job in six months, his mother pressed his brother-in-law to give him work in a coffee shop near the Hawara checkpoint, which the Israeli Army uses to control who comes in and out of Nablus.

He hates waiting on people and washing dishes, and says he is still looking for a decent job. But he is also looking to get out — to the United States, if possible, where his sister lives, but “almost any place,” he said, “where I can work and live a normal life.”

He is a Palestinian patriot, he insists. “But there’s no hope here,” he said. “You see the situation. It’s useless to think it will improve. You see it; it just gets worse.”

If we help people like Moayyed get out it will just get worse. The brain drains the every country worries about are probably the most severe with the Palestinian population. The smart people find ways out. Not only that, but the more liberal minded Palestinians will be found in scattered throughout the world. If people like Moayyed leave en masse we will be left with a more violent Palestinian population, if that is even possible to imagine.

In his own quest to leave, Mr. Hussein, the cafe worker, has contacted the American Consulate in East Jerusalem. But, he said, “I can’t get a permit to go to Jerusalem to make an application.”

What about those who would accuse you of giving up your rights in your land?

Mr. Hussein turned away. “I don’t care,” he finally said. “I want to live happily.”

If Hussein and those who are like him leave, there is no hope for peace. Remember the famous golda quote?

Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us

Well when the Palestinians concentrate more on building a Palestinian state than destroying the State of Israel there will be peace. It is tautological that those who leave י"שע (West Bank and Gaza) care more about their livelihood than about destroying Israeli livelihood. When they leave they take with them the last shreds of hope for the peaceful formation of a Palestinian state.

One thing both people on the right and the left would probably agree with is that we find a way to let Mr. Hussein into ירושלים (Jerusalem). Its funny how things work out that way sometimes, in this crazy country.

Kadima Bnei Akiva...Katzav?

2007-03-13T02:43:00.000+02:00

I love Bnei Akiva, and I just realized how little I have posted about it when I saw this

Thats probably not the best advertisement to be making when you are trying to show parents how responsible you will be for their kids while you guide them around Israel.
Its not just Bnei Akiva. Nefesh B'Nefesh still had lots of Katzav stuff around the office in Jerusalem

I am the top blog for search of IAJV ??

2007-03-13T02:39:00.001+02:00

Top blog for search of IAJV
Originally uploaded by seraphya.

I am apparently the top blog people find when they search for the "IAJV" (Independent Australian Jewish Voices). It beats me how this happened. There are no links that are pointing people to this blog about the IAJV.

Considering that this is the case I should just make it very clear what the IAJV is. It is a trick being used by Self-hating Jews and anti-Zionists to divide the Jews of Australia and to make people think that the Jewish community of Australia is not run democratically. Its mission statement is misleading and is easy to agree with as I showed in earlier posts. It has worked into tricking very well intentioned people into supporting it. It does not stand for peace between Israel and a future Palestinian state as it claims, but for the destruction of Israel. If you want a real left-wing Zionist organization in Australia try Hashomer Hatzair, which accidentally signed it before realizing it was duped, or try 'Jewish Voices for a Just Peace'.

One post I recommend exposing the IAJV is THE BLANK PAGES OF THE AGE

Darfur: The "palestine" of American Jews

2007-03-12T20:40:00.000+02:00

No one will accuse me of thinking that Darfur is not one of the most important issues that is facing World Jewry and humanity at large.

So I do not need to start by saying that I am glad that the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) put Darfur high on their agenda.

However, I am disappointed by lack of effort to bring awareness to the genocide which Iran is planning.

The JCPA explained afterward that the resolution was voted down for technical reasons, not because of its content. However, it seems indisputable that the issue of Iran's nuclear armament was not the most popular item on the agenda of the JCPA's plenum: The genocide in Darfur was the top-priority international item on that agenda. In the case of Darfur, a divestment resolution was passed by a large majority.

The mood at the JCPA conference gives some indication of public opinion on the "Jewish street" in America. The fact is that there has been no massive Jewish mobilization to date for the struggle against a nuclear Iran. The largest mass demonstration, in which tens of thousands of American Jews participated, was held in protest of the genocide in Darfur. Israeli leaders like former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and even historians like Benny Morris have declared that Israel is facing the prospect of a second Holocaust; however, Jewish activists in the United States prefer to deal with the genocide of another nation that is taking place right before our eyes.

- Ha'aretz

While it is commendable to be working against a current genocide, that is no excuse to ignore a imminent threat of genocide directed at your people. So what are their excuses?

David M. Elcott, who was recently appointed executive director of Israel Policy Forum, believes that American Jews are simply smarter than Israeli politicians. He says that Netanyahu's apocalyptic rhetoric is not acceptable from the standpoint of Jewish theology; the Jews, he notes, have always spoken of hope, and the language of despair is foreign to Jewish tradition. (still Ha'aretz)

Since when did most of American Jews care about theology? Which tradition is he talking about? Jews are always in despair and they turn to many recourses including Messianism throughout the ages.

In an unforgettable speech that he delivered of the United Jewish Community's General Assembly in Los Angeles last November, Netanyahu kept repeating the same point - namely, that it is as if we are in 1938, but instead of Germany, the threat is an Iran that is trying to arm itself with weapons of mass destruction.

In Elcott's view, the analogy Netanyahu made between Iran and Nazi Germany has a flip side: It draws an analogy between Israel and European Jewry on the eve of World War II. As Elcott sees it, saying that the Jews in Israel are in the same situation as the Jews of Warsaw or Berlin in 1940 "undermines the Zionist vision of an independent State of Israel." (still Ha'aretz)

How are we in such a different position? We were afraid to rock the boat and protest without a state of our own, and now even with a state of our own we are afraid to rock the boat. Political action and acknowledgment of threats to Israel undermines the Zionist vision? What does he suggest, oh right, Jewish theology. I guess by that he means pray to G-d and hope that everything will be alright. G-d forbid you should take action and try to find solutions to the threat of a nuclear Iran, because that would undermine the Zionist vision. I guess when I learned about how Zionism was about taking bold action as opposed to sitting around and talking and waiting for the messiah to come, it was all lies.

I am not saying we should be rushing to go to war with Iran. I know that many people don't want another Iraq, but that is no excuse to hide under the covers and hope it all blows over. It won't blow over if we ignore it, it will blow up in our faces.

But why did I call Darfur the "palestine" of American Jews?

Given the choice between an internal threat and a threat aimed at Israel, many of America's Jews prefer to sit on the fence. It is much simpler and much easier to struggle for the victims of genocide in Darfur. (still Ha'aretz)

Its exactly the same reason the left focuses on Palestinian issue when it looks for someone to rally for. Its easy, and to them non-controversial. We can't just save Darfur because it is convenient and everyone else is doing it. We must do it with the same conviction against genocide that will make us stand up to genocide anywhere in the world, including from Iran. We should not just be interested in Darfur because its the "in" thing. We must stand up in North Korea as well. And as for Jewish groups, its great how we are helping others, but lets not die in the process

Oh... and SAVE DARFUR!

Aliyah Confirmed!

2007-03-12T19:19:00.000+02:00

Good news, with all the different confusions I am having, I just got this in my inbox!

Your participation on the April 30, 2007 Nefesh B'Nefesh block of seats has been confirmed (1 seat).

Along with lots and lots of documentation and instructions, but its nice to know I have been doing something right!

Iran Learns Genocide from Sudan

2007-03-12T18:56:00.000+02:00

Iran preparing its own genocide, has decided to get advice from Sudan about its current genocide in Darfur. Well that wasn't the version the media have told us, but what they told us wasn't much better.
Ahmadinejad apparently went to deny the genocide in Darfur and at the same time try to create bonds between the two evil regimes.

Ahmadinejad referred to the increasing willingness of the Sudanese people to have cultural bonds with Iran and said Iran and Sudan enjoy converging viewpoints about regional and international affairs notably regarding the Muslim world.

Converging viewpoints, eh? Yah, they both believe that genocide is acceptable and that its all the Jews fault.

He remarked that he voiced Iran's support for the Sudanese government and people during his talks with Sudanese authorities.

Roughly meaning, he supports the genocide in Darfur and will work to great lengths to pin the blame on the Jews.
That was the official version of events according to Iran's government news outlet.

Thank you Mr. Mahmoud "The Zionists are the true manifestation of Satan" Ahmadinejad.

Its one thing to deny a genocide in the past, and at the same time reflect on the "glory" of the Third Reich and talk about how there was "no final solution" and at the same time believe "Hitler should have finished the job". But this is some thing new, Ahmadinejad does of course believe that but he adds a twist. He denys a current genocide while plotting his own!

Targum for Pequdei - Engraving in Hebrew and Aramaic

2007-03-12T17:59:00.000+02:00

Shabbat, just a few hours ago for me we read Vayaqhel-Pequdei. I made a note to myself to blog about this for Tetzaveh, but I forgot about it, so luckily it completely repeats itself in Pequdei.

What I was interested in was the word גלופה which I became acquainted with when I trying to translate the order forms for the SAVE DARFUR / הצילו את דרפור shirts
which HAeD prints. In modern Hebrew גלפ means
גְּלוּפָה שֵם נ' (printing) block, plate
גִּלּוּף שֵם ז' carving, etching, engraving

What piqued my intrest in the root גלפ is that it for some reason sounded familiar in the context of printing. After a few days of it bothering me, I finally hit on it. גלפ or גלופה (g-l-pf or glufa) sounds exactly like glyph. Here is what glyph means according to Answers.com (Answers.com is actually an Israeli company, that much I knew. But who knew they are right next to the mall in Jerusalem!)

A symbolic figure that is usually engraved or incised or A displayed or printed image. In typography, a glyph may be a single letter, an accent mark or a ligature.

They have some etymology too

Etymology
The term has been used in English since 1727, loaned from glyphe in use by French antiquaries (since 1701), from Greek γλυφη "a carving," from γλύφειν "to hollow out, engrave, carve" (cognate to Latin glubere "to peel" and English cleave). - http://www.answers.com/glyph&r=67

They have some Hebrew translation, but every time I copied it to blogger, it would mess up the whole post reversing the English and messing all the HTML so if you want to see it, take a look its at the very end of the site.

They may be right that glyph reached English though French, Greek and Latin, but I will tkae it a step back and say that it comes from the Aramaic גלפ

Here is where the word appears in the Targum to this weeks Parsha
שמות לט,ו
וַיַּעֲשׂוּ אֶת-אַבְנֵי הַשֹּׁהַם, מֻסַבֹּת מִשְׁבְּצֹת זָהָב, מְפֻתָּחֹת פִּתּוּחֵי חוֹתָם, עַל-שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
וַעֲבַדוּ יָת אַבְנֵי בֻּרְלָא, מְשַׁקְּעָן מְרַמְּצָן דִּדְהַב,גְּלִיפָן כְּתָב מְפָרַשׁ, עַל שְׁמָהָת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל

שמות לט,יד
לט,יד וְהָאֲבָנִים עַל-שְׁמֹת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל הֵנָּה, שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה--עַל-שְׁמֹתָם:פִּתּוּחֵי חֹתָם אִישׁ עַל-שְׁמוֹ, לִשְׁנֵים עָשָׂר שָׁבֶט

וְאַבְנַיָּא עַל שְׁמָהָת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אִנִּין, תַּרְתַּא עַסְרֵי--עַל שְׁמָהָתְהוֹן: כְּתָב מְפָרַשׁ כִּגְלָף דְּעִזְקָא גְּבַר עַל שְׁמֵיהּ, לִתְרֵי עֲסַר שִׁבְטִין.

Other instances of root גלפ in the targum
שמות כח9
שמות כח11
שמות כח21
שמות כח36

A friend deals with the etymology of Ptil/פתיל with his knowledge of Russian http://kopo.livejournal.com/15941.html

Palestinians protest actions of Hamas

2007-03-12T03:25:00.000+02:00

So they aren't protesting against terrorism? What you though they were?

No they are protesting the banning of a book of Palestinian folk tales by the Hamas government.

AbbaGav and many others are cynical about it.

I am just glad that the Palestinians are standing up to Hamas about anything. It shows how the Palestinians really do learn democratic values from "The Occupier".

I would say that it also possibly could be that Palestinians can't stand up against the destruction of Israel and terrorism vocally so they chose this instead. I will not say that because this was a book of "folk tales". An anthology that is trying to strengthen the myth that there is a unified Palestinian tradition and people that existed before Zionism. Still I am happy to see dissent going on in Palestinian politics and liberal values. We've got to start somewhere.

AbbaGav adds:

Maybe Israel's next peace offer should include some mild sexual innuendo in addition to the usual dangerous concessions. That might be enough to get the Palestinian people sufficiently interested to launch an outcry against their own leaders' violent response.

The Zionist Boycott - of Coca-Cola?

2007-03-12T02:43:00.000+02:00

If fighting the Illegal Arab boycott and all the other anti-Israel boycotts weren't enough, enter the Zionist boycott of Soft Drinks. The ZOA decided to fight fire with fire and start its own boycott of Coca Cola.

Wait a second
Coke vs Pepsi. Did you know that from 1966, Coca Cola has been a firm supporter of commerce with Israel? Coca Cola has refused to follow the Arab boycott for decades. Pepsi followed the boycott and didn’t begin trade with Israel until 1992. Coca Cola not only sells its soda in Israel, it built and currently operates a plant there as well. The next time you are looking for a cool taste to simmer down the summer, remember – Coke is it! - http://www.25waystohelpisrael.com/pages/t1.asp?PID=3001
This also goes against the grain of most Jewish and Zionist organizations who are very hesitant to get involved in boycotts, even the very careful one about Darfur.

It seems like the ZOA have a point though

ZOA: "Don't Buy Coca-Cola"

New York — The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) condemns the Coca-Cola Company ("Coca-Cola" or the "Company") for occupying and using certain property in Egypt, all the while knowing that the property was stolen by the Egyptian government from its Jewish owners, the Bigio family. This participation in anti-Semitic and immoral conduct is made even more egregious by how boldly and self-righteously Coca-Cola describes itself.

Now here is the thing. The ZOA is a Right Wing organization on the fringe of anything that people would call mainstream Zionism. They are not going to be listened to, we already know that from the UPZ controversy.

It seems they weren't content with simply using the strategy of the Arab Boycott, but they also got writing tips. Its fair enough that they want to stress how this property was stolen from the Jewish owners and they see the Palestinians making claims and getting listened to. The 1,000,000 Jews who fled Arab lands and lost everything could probably use some of the double speak that is used against Israel and instead use it for the truth.

But Come On! "occupying" isn't that a bit much?

anti-Semitic - I'll say the same old line: There is no such thing as Semitism, call it Antisemitism, not Anti-Semitism. This makes it clear that it is not a valid position; unlike Anti-abortion or Anti-Zionism, Antisemitism is not up for discussion. Also it will make it clear that it just refers to Jews, not other "Semites"

Having said that Coke has some explaining to do

For approximately 60 years beginning in the early 1900's, the Bigios owned land and factories near Cairo, Egypt. Coca-Cola leased a factory building from the Bigios for over 25 years, and the Bigios' factories provided bottle caps and other products to the Company.

In 1962, the Egyptian government forcibly stole the Bigios' property from them, without any compensation whatsoever, for one reason only: they were Jews. The Egyptian government's actions were part of a campaign of anti-Semitic discrimination and persecution that caused almost a million Jews in Arab/Islamic countries, like the Bigios, to lose their homes, properties, businesses and livelihoods.

In 1980, the Egyptian government ordered that the property be returned to the Bigios. But the occupier, a government-owned and operated entity, never returned the property.

In approximately 1993, the Egyptian government decided to privatize the entity that was occupying and using the Bigios' property. When the Bigios learned that Coca-Cola intended to bid for the entity, they contacted Coca-Cola to remind the Company of the family's right to the property. But top Coca-Cola officials cavalierly brushed aside and ignored the Bigios' legitimate pleas to be justly compensated for the loss of their property, and went ahead with the bid. Through subsidiaries, Coca-Cola purchased 42 percent of the entity occupying the Bigios' property, knowing full well of the immoral and anti-Semitic manner in which the property had been stolen from the Bigios by the Egyptian government. The Company then formed a joint venture known as the "Coca-Cola Bottling Companies of Egypt" that has been occupying, using and benefiting from the Bigios' stolen property since 1994.

The Bigios repeatedly requested that Coca-Cola compensate them for their loss, but Coca-Cola never offered them a penny. The family was thus left with no choice but to file a lawsuit to obtain justice. They sued in Egypt 12 times. All of their lawsuits were dismissed and not permitted to go forward, some in a matter of weeks. In 1997, the Bigios filed suit against Coca-Cola in a federal district court in New York. In the almost 10 years since the lawsuit was brought, Coca-Cola's lawyers have used every legal maneuver to avoid reaching the merits of the Bigios' case because the Company has no legal or moral defense for its conduct. - ZOA

Tefillin Advice from Facebook

2007-03-12T00:00:00.000+02:00

It really is a problem that many people wear their tefillin incorrectly.

Have no fear, there is a facebook group here to save us from the falling tefillin:

My Tefillin Shel Rosh is not on my forehead!

The group has diagrams of correct tefillin positions and pictures of members with tefillin.

It is an open group, so as expected it includes women who wear tefillin, before you go crazy, just remember Rashi's daughters among many women who we have stories about wearing tefillin.

(EDIT - While many stories can not be varrified, one intresting one I suggest you look into is the story of Hannah Rochel Verbermacher, a Hasidic holy woman known as the Maiden of Ludmir)

Other controversies in the group include, the Lubavitcher Rebbe's tefillin placement:

R'Hillel Chayim Yisraeli (Israel) wrote
at 2:23am on March 9th, 2007
I have received my very first hate mail! Yay! I was criticized for the comments I made about Rabbi Schneerson's tefillin. Well, let me tell you, I'm proud of that! And Yes, my Hebrew IS good enough to understand what the Shulchan Arukh says about the proper place of the Shel Rosh! So, rebbe or no rebbe, halakhah is halakhah. Halakhah doesn't play favourites, my friends. A tzaddik is a tzaddik based on the halakhah he keeps, not the halakhah that he breaks. But this is what makes me a misnaged, I guess. Well, I'm proud of it.

More on that can be found here.
A great line is

If you think a dead man is the messiah, though, there's no point continuing this conversation since in my mind there's no difference between you and any other Christian.
And I'd rather be in the company of frum, tefillin-wearing women than a dead halakhah-breaking messiah.

2007-03-11T16:46:00.000+02:00

I got a copy of Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels after I saw it on a blog.
Since then, I have lent it to tens of people, and its circulating around. Its part of my library of books which I lend around. This one is in high demand, so I don't really know when it will get back to me. I really don't understand why most of those who rebel don't choose Modern Orthodoxy, but one day maybe I will understand.

Meanwhile there is an interesting post on FailedMessiah about the phenomenon.

Germany tries integration - Kebab style

2007-03-11T16:28:00.000+02:00

Germany is trying to improve the integration of people of Turkish descent

You are faced with a problem Turkish teenagers in Germany are leaving school early with few qualifications.
Whats your creative solution? If you answered make up a course and a qualification, then you got it right.
It will be called "Meat Processing with Doner Kebab Production Specialization" and will take place at Hamburg's Vocational School for Gastronomy and Nutrition.

While it seems gimicky it apparently is for some a life ambition

"Getting a qualification in kebab production should help me stay in the branch in the long term and that is what I want to do," student Dursun Atekin, 25, told Reuters.

Take up blogging!

2007-03-11T16:13:00.000+02:00

In my opinion, blogging is an activty that everyone should take up. We have so much to say, so just say it. If you keep it professional and well kept, all the better for the world.

Anyway, Arielle started up her blog again after seeing me start up this blog, it can be found here

The Tav Hevrati

2007-03-11T15:59:00.000+02:00

Social Justice.
What does it mean? Is it worthwhile?

The first question is hard to answer fully without getting into politics.

The second question is very easy to answer. It is an emphatic yes!

Just take a look at Nevi’im(prophets)[נביאים] and the main message you will find is one of tzedek u’mishpat(loosely social justice)[צדק ומשפט]. One of the lessons I learned from some of the rabbis at Gush (Yeshivat Har Etzion) and also since is how the main point of the Torah is tzedek u’mishpat. It is also one of the driving forces of my activism for Darfur. I don’t apologize for helping “goyim.” Non-Jews would deserve our help when facing genocide even if the Holocaust and Purim had not occurred. However the people who ask why I am looking for causes 1000 km away when there are so many problems at home do have a valid point. Of course Darfur activism and social justice in Israel are not mutually exclusive. But what about the normal Israeli scene?

There are so many programs and volunteer opportunities out there and so many causes to donate money to. But lets start with something easy and free.

The Tav Hevrati

It’s a certification that restaurants, caterers, and cafes can receive. What does it mean? It basically means that they treat their workers fairly

Bema'aglei Tzedek’s “Social Seal” initiativeexpands the idea of kashrut certification, which is so widespread in Israeli society, to include a "Social Seal," a certificate of approval that is issued to businesses (whether or not they are kosher in the traditional sense) that commit to deal with people – staff and customers, Jews and non-Jews alike – in accordance with the laws of the State of Israel and with the ethical values of Judaism. The criteria for obtaining a certificate are based on Israeli law and Jewish values stressing the need to preserve the basic rights of workers. Although eateries and catering halls are not yet required by Israeli law to be handicapped-accessible, such accessibility is also a prerequisite for receiving the "Social Seal."

- http://www.mtzedek.org.il/upload/socialse.pdf

More details about the exact requirements are here in Hebrew

For more about the Bema’aglei Tzedek look here

Of course this phenomenon has a facebook group to go with it with at this time over 215 members

Parshat Ki Tisa - Targum, play on words?

2007-03-09T17:20:00.000+02:00

לב,לב וְעַתָּה, אִם-תִּשָּׂא חַטָּאתָם; וְאִם-אַיִן--מְחֵנִי נָא, מִסִּפְרְךָ אֲשֶׁר כָּתָבְתָּ.
Targum :
וּכְעַן, אִם שְׁבַקְתְּ לְחוֹבֵיהוֹן; וְאִם לָא--מְחֵינִי כְּעַן, מִסִּפְרָךְ דִּכְתַבְתָּא.

לב,לה וַיִּגֹּף יְהוָה, אֶת-הָעָם, עַל אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ אֶת-הָעֵגֶל, אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אַהֲרֹן.
Targum
וּמְחָא יְיָ, יָת עַמָּא, עַל דְּאִשְׁתַּעֲבַדוּ לְעִגְלָא, דַּעֲבַד אַהֲרוֹן.

Moshe asks Hashem to forigve the Jewish People after the sin of the golden calf, and if not he asks that hashem wipe out (Maha) his name from the Torah

Later when Hashem decides to forgive the Jewish people, yet also send a plauge against them, the Torah uses the word Nagaf (meaning strike). While in the Targum the word Maha is used. While it is true the the word Maha is used many times in the Targum as a translation of Nagaf, it doesn't 100% of the time.

Whether accidental or on purpose it is interesting to note that possible answer to Moshe's request that he me wiped out is met by Hashem partially wiping out some of Israel.

Where else do we see the Hebrew word Maha to refer to wiping out a nation?
- Amalek

Facebook Right Wing Hate Groups

2007-03-09T02:57:00.000+02:00

Coalition For Arab Expulsion From Israel!

!כהנ�? צדק Kahane Tzadak!

So Maybe you can argues that these groups are political in nature.

Some would disagree

Hind Hassan (U. Leeds) wrote
at 11:51am on March 5th, 2007
This group is racist.

Matthew Civiletti (TCNJ) wrote
at 2:40pm on November 26th, 2006
The very existence of a group like this, which advocates racial and religious persecution, makes me sick.

And some would make the point very clear on the wall of the group

Saling Simon (no network) wrote
at 7:48pm on December 3rd, 2006
im getting really sick of these god damn arabs.

god bless Kahane, may he rest in peace

This is against Facebook's policy. Yet when people reported these groups, nothing was done.
How would we like it if facebook was letting groups use swastikas as their symbols, because I am sure to many people the Kach symbol has just about the same meaning.

On the other side of things, facebook lets Anti-Israel and Antisemitic groups stay on its site.
We hate israel (Shabab Masroof)
WE HATE ISRAEL
F*** ISRAEL!
I HATE ISRAEL
i hate israel

'-=_x_=-' Too Bad Get Off Tha Map NOW '-=_x_=-'

Well I just used up my limited number of reports I am allowed to make to facebook per week. So I encourage everyone to report these groups, and make facebook, the web, and the world a better place

Statcounter - 1

2007-03-09T02:32:00.000+02:00

So I have a little Javascript code that tells me who is visiting the blog. Just installed in yesterday, and there are a few surprising results.

First of all is that 40 people have visited, even if you guys don't comment! go ahead comment!

over 60% of you use FireFox. Thats pretty good, some of you even use Safari.

Now the most surprising thing is which keywords led to this blog, so far only one has. Want to guess? I never would have got it right, turns out its
"high-temperature superconductors"
Thanks to my post on Cool Physics.

Selling pigeons to cure hepatitis

2007-03-09T02:12:00.001+02:00

Selling pigeons to cure hepatitis
Originally uploaded by seraphya.

No you aren't imaging this.

They are selling pigeons to cure hepatits / jaunice / Yellow Fever

We aren't supposed to be using these magical cures according to the sources I have seen.

But even worse, in this case it involves killing multiple pigeons. Tzar Ba'ale Hayim for no reason!

http://www.ottmall.com/mj_ht_arch/v21/mj_v21i06.html
http://www.ottmall.com/mj_ht_arch/v20/mj_v20i78.html

Germany, no not the Jews...

2007-03-08T23:57:00.000+02:00

Israellycool comes out with this
Cardinal Sin

Germany's top Roman Catholic official has said that a controversial comparison made by a group of German Bishops between conditions in the West Bank and the Holocaust was "not appropriate."

The comments, made in a letter by Cardinal Karl Lehmann to Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev, came one day after Israel's Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority blasted the German comparison between the Palestinian-controlled West Bank cities and the Warsaw Ghetto as "political exploitation and demagoguery."

The German Cardinal wrote to the Yad Vashem director that the "oppressive situation" in the West Bank, "in the shade of security fences and walls in Bethlehem," was "reflected in some harsh statements, of which some…were certainly not appropriate," according to an English translation of the March 7 letter released Thursday by Yad Vashem.

- Jpost

Well at least we know its not just the Jews of Germany who have lost the plot

Even the Left wing isn't fooled by IAJV - and a possible solution

2007-03-08T23:31:00.000+02:00

Dissent debate: The rebuttal
Backlash against dissident petition

Hashomer Hatzair was issued with an urgent “please explain” from the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA), after the youth movement’s controversial decision to sign the IAJV petition.

Claiming a “grave misunderstanding”, the youth group later moved to distance itself from IAJV founder Antony Loewenstein and said it had “signed in agreement with only the sentiments expressed in the letter”.

“In no way is our statement intended to express support for Antony Loewenstein’s personal opinions nor any of the other signatories.”

ZFA president Philip Chester said while he disagreed with the IAJV campaign, Hashomer Hatzair was entitled to its view and wouldn’t be ostracised for signing the petition.

The youth group had “misunderstood” the political agenda behind the dissenting campaign, he said.

Now Hashomer Hatzair (Hashi) was formed in Melbourne for those who were too left-wing for Habonim Dror, and therefore are just about the most left you will get in the scale of Australian Zionists. Now I am not suprised they signed the petition. It was written in a away that anyone, even a right-wing person could sign. What was the trick? it was to make people think something was wrong with the way Jewish and Zionist groups conduct themselves. While there maybe be valid issues that need to be brought up, as I pointed out earlier, this is a scam. The IAJV is having people sign onto a petition whose meaning is not what it seems to be.

Just in case you really believed that the Zionist groups in Australia don't behave well, we have perfect proof that they do. The ZFA would let people publicly condemn it and remain members without penalty.

Maybe we should all take a page out of Hashi's book and sign the petition. Imagine if everyone on the Jewish Board of Deputies and the ZFA and every organization were to sign the statement of principles, which as pointed at earlier, they already agree with. What better way of showing the IAJV and the world that the IAJV is redundant or has an ulterior motive?

Michael Danby - Federal MP against IAJV

2007-03-08T23:13:00.000+02:00

After agreeing with the bland petition(which I posted about earlier to show how bland it really was) a group came out with this statement

But we object to and wish publicly to dissociate ourselves from disingenuous and misleading aspects of the IAJV petition.

The statement pretends that Israel's mainstream has not yet acknowledged Palestinian aspirations for a homeland.

We object to its saying nothing about either the rejection of Israel's legitimacy by Arab parties to the conflict or the role of Islamist terror.

In our opinion, an Arab-Israel peace will not be achieved by attempting to impose pariah status on Israel. Some of the key organisers of the IAJV petition have a long record of one-sided, Israel bashing.

The anti-Israel bias evident in the omissions of the IAJV petition forms part of that record and it is not a constructive step towards the peaceful solution of the conflict. That will come only when moderates prevail and extremists are condemned on both sides.

Only a tiny minority of Australian Jews reject the fundamental role that Israel plays in Australian Jewish life and identity and the need to ensure the security of Israel and we believe that this minority who condemn Israel have a right to express their views.

Nevertheless, the views of the large majority of Jews who support Israel's legitimacy and security are of greater significance in any debate.

Nor should a vocal minority be given special dispensation from community debate, scrutiny, and rational criticism. Australian Jews have a good understanding of what Israelis face every day. There are security guards at the gates of our children's schools and our Synagogues are terrorist targets. Peace in the Middle East will only come after terrorism is renounced and the extremists accept the right of Israel to exist free from attack in safe and secure borders.

Michael Danby
Federal MP

Eric Roozendaal
NSW government minister

Marsha Thomson
Victorian government minister

Martin Pakula
Parliamentary Secretary to the Victorian Minister for Transport

Michael Borowick
Assistant Secretary, Australian Worker's Union

Associate Professor Douglas Kirsner
Dr Phillip Mendes
Dr Paul Gardner
Dr Henry Pinskier
Justice Howard Nathan
Mark Dreyfus QC
George Newhouse
Rabbi John Levi
Leora Harrison
Roland Lindell
Jennifer Huppert
Bobby Guttman
Peter Koadlow
Jonathan Slonim
Vladimir Tsivlin
Ron Finkel
Michele Bernshaw
Reeva Lederman
Marcia Pinskier
Clem Issavitch
Amanda Mendes Da Costa

- The AJN

So far, I have just talked about the theory of an "independent voices". This tells you more about the Facts

The German group is problematic

2007-03-08T22:54:00.000+02:00

Selected Quotes and commentary on:

English translation of Schalom 5767 (Berliner Erklärung)
Shalom 5767 (Berlin Declaration)

The root of the problem is the continuing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory since 1967. The Occupation humiliates and disenfranchises the Palestinians. It paralyzes their economic, political and social life. Moreover, this daily recurring experience of injustice prevents a peaceful resolution of the old injustice done to the Palestinians when they were forced to leave in 1948. All this further fuels the spiral of violence.

The root of the problem is clearly NOT the occupation. The problems and terrorism have been going on long before 1967. This paragraph puts all the blame on Israel, and there is no paragraph to be found in the document which puts any responsibility in the slightest on the Palestinians. This paragraph also solely blames Israel for the Palestinians leaving Israel in 1948, when the reality is much more complicated than that.

We call upon the German government, together with the European Union,
- to no longer tolerate the Israeli policy of occupation
- to promptly end the boycott of the Palestinian Authority
- to strive earnestly for the realization of a viable Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and the entire West Bank that was occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem, a state with full sovereignty and freedom of movement.

That is being blatantly Anti-Israel. Advocating that Germany somehow sanction Israel an no longer tolerate Israel's actions, rather than being helpful, increases hatred towards the State of Israel.
Ending the boycott of the Palestinian Authority would send a message that the destruction of the Israel is legitimate, the Quartet and Israel all realize that letting accepting Hamas as is means accepting the destruction of Israel. And this comes after saying that Israel should be "boycotted" for her actions?!
Why do they insist on the entire West Bank and Gaza? They seem to be more interested in Palestinian Nationalism than in Zionism. Because there are no Zionist statements in here, only Palestinian Nationalist ones.

I could add more, but its painfully obvious that this German group is not exactly an alternative Zionist voice, but merely a Palestinian voice. The other "Independent Voices" may be the same, but their declarations haven't made it clear

A close look at the IAJV Declaration

2007-03-08T21:35:00.000+02:00

The Blue italics will be my comments

The Declaration

Statement of Principles: A Call for an Alternative View

We are Jews with diverse opinions on the Middle East who share a deep concern about the current crisis in the region.

How many affiliated Jews aren't deeply concerned about what is happening in Israel and the middle east?

We are committed to ensuring a just peace that recognizes the legitimate national aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians with a solution that protects the human rights of all.

Most people shouldn't have a problem with this. However not everyone will agree that the Palestinian national aspirations are legitimate. Certainly Hamas's vision of a Palestine that destroys and conquers Israel is not legitimate, so it wouldn't be included. Now skeptics will point out that most national aspirations of the Palestinians, including Fatah's are illegitimate, and would be right. I think that being that this organization is set up against the mainstream it will have a very broad definition of what is legitimate, but this line doesn't necessarily imply that. Very few Zionists cling to a one Jewish state solution, so I don't think people can complain about this line

We condemn violence by all parties, whether state sanctioned or not. We believe that Israel’s right to exist must be recognized and that Palestinians’ right to a homeland must also be acknowledged.

Treading on dangerous ground of moral equivalence. Israel's right to exist is not exactly Zionism, but it certainly isn't Anti-Zionism. I don't know exactly why the Palestinians have a "right" to a homeland. Maybe it is necessary to give them one given the situation, but a "right" to a Palestinian homeland that isn't Jordan is already becoming left wing. But thats OK, no one claimed that they weren't left wing Zionists.

As Australians we are privileged to live in a democratic state that embodies the principles of tolerance and free speech. We feel there is an urgent need to hear alternative voices that should not be silenced by being labelled disloyal or “self-hating.”

Often those being labeled disloyal or "self-hating" are, but I know plenty of people who are mislabeled, as I argued in my last post, they have a point.

Uncritical allegiance to Israeli government policy does not necessarily serve Israel’s best interests. Our concern for justice and peace in the Middle East is a legitimate opinion and should be met by reasoned argument rather than vilification and intimidation. In particular, we are concerned that the Jewish establishment does not represent the full range of Jewish opinion. Contrary to widespread concerns, anti-Semitism is not fuelled by Jews who publicly disagree with actions of the Jewish State.

Well the Orange anti-disengagement people will agree with that first sentence. Its hard to be against Justice and Peace, I know many a right-winger who are for that just us much as anyone else. I think they are being a bit alarmist in saying that the Jewish establishment does not represent the full range of Jewish opinion. Sure there are politics, in the Jewish establishment, but the ones who are attacking these progressive voices are much extreme and far form the centre than these progressives. Rather than remove themselves from the establishment, maybe they should have protected their rightful place inside the establishment. However, removing themselves from the establishment instead of firing back at those who attack them can be commended. At the end of the day, they are doing a disservice to themselves by removing themselves from the debate; they are also doing a bigger disservice to the establishment by removing themselves from it.

On the last point they are just plain wrong. Neturei Karta and Extremely Left-Wing Jews are some of the biggest fuelers of Antisemitism. Many Left-Wing groups which "publicly disagree with actions of the Jewish State" and don't do a good enough job at separating themselves form anti-zionists and antisemites bring about both antisemitism and mar the Left-Wing.

Jews understand what it is to suffer racism and victimization and therefore we are not only concerned about anti-Semitism but also the demonisation of all other minorities.

Sorry, but that therefore doesn't work. While I am concerned about all discrimination, I don't think one neccasarily has to lead to the other. While I use a variant of this approach to support Jewish efforts for Darfur, I think this statement could be clearer. Nothing wrong with it though.

We call upon fellow Jews to join us in supporting free debate to further the prospects of peace, security and human rights in the Middle East.

Free debate sounds good. As long as we are not talking about Holocaust Denial, which we aren't.

So I got through all of it, and found nothing wrong. Well, just that anti-semitism should be spelled antisemitism, because there is no such thing as "semitism"

Independent Jewish Voices - necassary?

2007-03-08T20:47:00.001+02:00

Lately there has been a move by those who are dissatisfied by the current Jewish organizations to set up "independent" organizations to make themselves heard.
These include
IJV
IAJV
Schalom5767

I won't deal with the question of: "Are these organizations Anti-Zionist?" except to say on paper they certainly aren't, and that they don't necessarily have to be.

The fact that these organizations have sprouted up is a possible cause for worry, but is also surprising. Most Jewish and Zionist organizations in the diaspora took a policy of staying away from political issues, even under the intense pressures of the disengagement. Certainly the Executive Groups, Coalitions and the Umbrella Organizations would not dare to take a strong political stand.

At this point it would seem that these "independents" are firebrands who want to stir trouble and are not being suppressed. Come on, we all know that there are fair elections in these organizations and no one is rigging the elections of the World Zionist Congress. If these "independents" can sign on the Jerusalem Program, then they are having their fair vote. If they can't, then well they aren't really Zionists then, so they should stop pretending to be.

But that is all on paper, maybe they are being suppressed in reality? boo-hoo stop whining! Well no, not exactly. When policies on paper, and systems of fairness are being abused, there should be an answer. Bnei Akiva in most of the diaspora is politically non-partisan, and they do any things to make sure they keep to that ideal. However, when certain Madrichim (counselors) teach the chanichim(kids) songs about hating Arabs, a line has been crossed, even if he claims that those are his/her "personal opinions." It damage control isn't taken on and apologies aren't made, something is wrong. Now why is this relevant?

Because the ZOA wants to kick the UPZ out of the ICC. lots of fun 3 letter acronyms!

Take the story
from: JewSchool , OurJerusalem , The Jewish Daily Forward

So there was some damage control

But at the end of the day, organizations on the right who are members of the Executive Groups, Coalitions and the Umbrella Organizations such as the ZOA criticize Israel with impunity, harm Israel's image, make extremely controversial even possibly racist statements, connect themselves either officially or unofficially with other hate groups and terrorist organizations. Meanwhile no one is suggesting that that the ZOA be kicked out. No one is saying that the ISM or other anti-zionist organizations should be let in, just left wing Zionist groups.

If Left-wing groups are made to feel uncomfortable in the establishment, let them do what they do best, rebel against the establishment.

Science is cool - well at least physics

2007-03-08T19:09:00.000+02:00

The New York Times Reports that Physics is cool!

Still, for those few days in 1987, physicists were excited, and the excitement spilled out of the Hilton into the rest of New York City.

“The stores and the bars were all ‘Physicists welcome,’ ” said Paul M. Grant, who headed the superconductivity research at I.B.M.’s Almaden Research Center in San Jose. He recalled a discotheque in Chelsea with a long line of people waiting to get in.

“The bouncers took anybody that had a physical society badge on to the front,” Dr. Grant recalled, “and we got in gratis. Can you imagine what a culture shift? We had a hell of a good time.”

Well at least it was 20 years ago

Fifty-one talks later, the session ended at 3:15 a.m. People lingered in the halls until almost sunrise. The session quickly became known as the “Woodstock of Physics.”

So they talked a lot, but maybe also cool stuff came out of it?

But today the heady early promises have not yet been fully filled. High-temperature superconductors can be found in some trial high-capacity power cables, but they have not made any trains levitate. The rise in transition temperatures has stalled again, well below room temperature. Theorists have yet to find a convincing explanation for why high-temperature superconductors superconduct at all.

Well maybe someday!

Meanwhile, if people would look into science as an interesting field to pursue and there was more money available we would get to these amazing places.

Don't forget, there will be peace in the Middle East when someone finds an efficient renewable power source.

Purim 5767 - Just for the Jews?

2007-03-07T19:22:00.000+02:00

I will be making a few posts about Purim.
Before I make some of the more interesting posts, I am going to relate to you an incident that occurred while waiting at a Trempiada (place where hitchhikers wait) at Tzomet Ha'Gush (thats Gush Etzion, the settlement block in the West Bank to the South of Jerusalem).

While waiting at the bus stop in Petach Tikva, a group of us noticed that it had been over an hour and a few buses should have stopped for us already (I heard similar accounts from people trying to get around the country on Purim and Shushan Purim). Luckily a taxi came by and offered us the incredible fare of 25 shekel to Yirushalim, just 3 shekel more than a bus. It turned out that this was a Jerusalem Taxi an was just looking to not lost money on Gas going back to Jerusalem.
The trip should have been quicker by taxi but I still had just missed the bus to Efrat. So I hopped on the 160 which is an express to tzomet ha'gush. On the bus I met two British guys who were trying to get to Hevron. I gave them a tour and analysis of what they were seeing out the window and what they should expect in Hevron. They said they were here visiting their sister who is doing maarava, which is when one took of his baseball cap and I realized they were identical twins. I told them Purim was an interesting day to visit hevron, considering Baruch Goldstien, but they wanted adventure. They didn't seem to have a real understanding of Israel, but they were right wing through and through. They told told me about a blog where a settler gives extremely eloquent and detailed descriptions of his attacks on Arab property, and how they loved reading it.
After getting of the bus at Tzomet Ha'Gush, I had to find a way to get a tremp to efrat, but not getting in the car with someone who was drunk. This is something especially worrying on Purim, as people who don't drink usually don't realize what just a bit of alcohol will do to them.
This can be represented by "Settler dressed in orange", this right-wing settler was in the spirit of the day and a bit tipsy too. I was very surprised when he waved to an Palestinian car. The driver waved back, so I thought maybe they know each other somehow. When I asked hi if this was true, I got an amazing response back:
"No, I have never met him before, but its Purim, we should be friendly to everyone" as he waves at another Palestinian car "Purim is not about hating other people. Its only about remembering what amalek and Haman did to us and how we came out on top. But to everyone else we should be nice to them, all the other nations of the world didn't try to destroy us like amalek. Look at him, he is probably a very nice guy and he has done nothing to me, its Purim so lets make everyone happy today"

I was a bit taken aback. I already know that being a right-wing settler decked in orange doesn't mean that you fit some evil stereotype, but this was pretty progressive especially the Purim part and to a Palestinian Arab at that. I would have asked him more about his opinions, but then a tremp took us to Efrat with a driver that I knew and who hadn't had a drop of alcohol.

Gammad Anaq / Dwarf Giant

2007-02-27T22:18:00.000+02:00

A game they play at the yeshiva during Adar is called Gammad Anaq / Dwarf Giant. It involves the Dwarf giving something small and creative to the Giant. Think "Secret Santa" or something like that.

Someone made a blog for instance for his Anaq.

And Here is something that I got, if you can understand the Hebrew its quite funny and besides for #10 its all joking.

Tour of Jerusalem with Darfur Refugees

2007-02-27T21:30:00.001+02:00

Darfur Refugees on the mount of Olives 2
Originally uploaded by seraphya.

On Sunday I went around Jerusalem with a group of Sudanese refugees, mainly from Darfur. They have been in Israel a while, but are mostly stuck in the moshavim and kibbutizim that they work in.
They are mostly cool people with interesting stories to tell and intresting perspectives.

There is a bit of a language barrier though. They speak their tribal languages, Sudanese Arabic, Egyptian Arabic, and some speak some level of English, and some even can put very simple sentences together in Hebrew.

The tour was with an experienced tour guide. It was very interesting to get a tour of Jerusalem from a Non-Jewish perspective. The refugees are mostly Muslim, but there area few Christians. So, we did go to the Cardo, but the main focus was the Temple Mount (as the Haram Al-Sharif) and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

I was upset by how many of them smoked, but considering that most of the other volunteers with us smoked, it was hard to view it so negatively. Most of them say they got addicted in Egypt, some still in Sudan, they say that they know its bad and most want to stop, but they say that under the stressful conditions which they are in, it will have to wait. Its a pity, because it is a waste of their hard earned salaries.

The fact that they are supporting themselves is a matter of pride. Nir tried to offer to buy some of them lunch and when they refused, he later offered to buy some of the Christians who weren't allowed on the Temple Mount some tea, they insisted on buying some for him.

A lot of the Sudanese bought the cheapest item they could find for lunch in the rova, but were unwilling to receive any money from anyone or an offer for a better lunch....hopefully some day we will be able to say the same of the gangs of beggars in Jerusalem.

Who isn't Antisemitic?

2007-02-26T19:18:00.001+02:00

Korean-American community leaders plan to launch protest against publisher of popular South Korean comic book containing anti-Semitic images

One comic strip in the book shows a man climbing a hill and then facing a brick wall with a Star of David and stop sign in front. "The final obstacle to success is always a fortress called Jews," a translation says.

Another strip shows a newspaper, magazine, TV and radio with the description: "In a word, American public debate belongs to the Jews, and it's no exaggeration to say that US media are the voice of the Jews."

Yohngsohk Choe, co-chairman of the Korean American Patriotic Action Movement in the USA, said, "I don't have words to describe the outrage I feel."

Sure he is upset, but outraged? I guess I would be also be outraged if I saw an Israeli comic book say something like that against Koreans, but I think he is overdoing it a bit

I am very glad that Koreans in America have the imbibed the values of America, and a bit impressed.

But this is whats shocking

The book, written by South Korean university professor Lee Won-bok, is part of a series called "Distant Countries and Neighboring Countries," which is intended to teach youngsters about other countries. The series has sold more than 10 million copies.

A professor, wrote this in a book meant to educate about the world, oh and its going out to 10,000,000 people

Why don't you go Iraq?!

2007-02-26T17:51:00.000+02:00

It seems that in America, politicians like asking would you want your kid in Iraq.
People also can't seem to get over where and if politicians served in the military.

Well it looks like in the UK, even the royalty(useless institution) serve in Iraq.

Who is really supporting this?

2007-02-26T17:28:00.000+02:00

http://www.noterror.info

Is this really done by people in Iraq who were tired of terrorism, or was it something that was done from abroad?
Who is really paying for it? Is it the U.S. government or some rich guy in America?
Or
Maybe its really all done and financed by Iraqis?

The real question is: Will this have an effect?

Blogger rights in Egypt

2007-02-23T03:51:00.000+02:00

I talked about Orthomom, and now a much more serius case of blogger rights is taking place in Egypt.
Its a pity because Egypt is one of the more moderate Arab nations.

An Alexandria court convicted an Egyptian blogger on Thursday for insulting both Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and sentenced him to four years in jail over his writings on the Internet.

Abdel Karim Suleiman, 22-year-old former law student is getting four years in Jail for this

He described some of the companions of the Muslim prophet Mohammad as "terrorists," and has likened Mubarak to dictatorial pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt.

The last part is especially interesting, because it makes us think if we should relate to Egypt in at all the same way as we relate to the Biblical Egypt. Also the modern day Persia/Iran which is once again threatening to wipe out the Jews "Men, Women, and Children in one day", can we compare Iran's nuclear ambitions with Haman?

"I was hoping that he would get a harsher sentence because he presented to the world a bad image of Egypt. There are things that one should not talk about, like religion and politics. He should have got a 10-year sentence," said lawyer Nizar Habib, who attended the trial as a member of the public.

Nizar Habib, my friend, you just gave me a worse impression of Egpyt than anything this blogger my have written would give me

I thought I was still dreaming...oh wait I am

2007-02-23T03:39:00.000+02:00

I woke up in the middle of the night, and realized I hadn't checked the news in a while, at least not properly.

The first thing I saw was this

Arab ministers call for peace
Foreign ministers of seven Arab countries - including Syria and Iraq - issue joint statement following Madrid conference, expressing desire to 'advance together towards recognition and normalization of relations with Israel'

At first I was so surprised. Why are they getting rid of the Three NOs of Khartoum(Yes the same Khartoum that is run by the NIF that is committing genocide in Darfur). Then realizing that I was dreaming, not in the sense of sleeping, but of wishful thinking, I laughed.
Who knows what exactly the ulterior motive is, but there definitely is one.
Some of it probably has to do with trying to get the Quartet to recognize the Terrorist PA government as legitimate, even though it doesn't meet the basic demands of the Quartet. Also, it doesn't hurt to try to look good and make Israel look like the bad guys. Now if only they meant their rhetoric, instead of using it as an excuse to call Israel's actions unfair and illegal, but look good in the process because they just did something that they should have done years ago

Anonymous Blogging - Orthomom

2007-02-21T20:28:00.000+02:00

This doesn't really affect me, because I am not doing this anonymously. Still, I think blogger rights are important. So I want to tell everyone about this case.

Its a bit ridiculous, considering the comments did not come from orthomom.
People don't understand that that bloggers are not responsible for the people's bad commenting on their blogs, any more than people are responsible for graffiti that is drawn on their wall.

A full deconstruction of the case can be found on Orthomom's blog

Rav Avi and Zionism

2007-02-20T19:07:00.000+02:00

People sometimes ask how I became so Zionist/into Bnei Akiva, or how I got so into Darfur, or why I love tiyulim so much. I don't really have an answer to questions like that. But for the Zionism, well here is a partial answer to the first one:

A Dry Adar

2007-02-20T01:26:00.000+02:00

This seems like really good news

Alcohol-free pub for youngsters opens in J'lem

Just in time for Purim too, on Rosh Hodesh Adar.

For those who don't know, on Purim the teens in Israel get drunk, this includes even the RZ "good kids"[i.e. the ones who aren't off the derech or disillusioned] who would never ever think of drinking at any other time of year.

They just can't resist Israel and the fence

2007-02-19T18:00:00.000+02:00

This story would not have made international news if it had happened anywhere besides Israel. It reminds me a bit of the time a boiler exploded in Jerusalem and one person was injured and it was all over the international news.

But wait...there is more.

Apparently instead of using a stock picture of a crowded road, they felt a need to show an Israeli road.

They apparently couldn't find a normal road in Israel in their files.

They couldn't go outside and snap a picture of a lane or a street in the city.

So they just had to take a picture of a military vehicle go along a dirt road next to the security fence

The actual article, listed under odd news in Yahoo

Racist or Misinterpreted?

2007-02-19T17:11:00.000+02:00

There is a whole scandal going on right now with a visiting professor in Australia who made talked about Islamic immigration to Australia.

“You have to infiltrate all those circles where the Muslim radicals operate, to arrest them, and to limit immigration into western countries where these Muslims, who are bent on destroying western civilisation ... to limit immigration, even students who apply to come from Islamic countries to the West,” he said.

“It serves no purpose when you have this home-grown terrorist, who has been preparing for years to blow up undergrounds in London, and all you do is lead a war of words. The war of words doesn’t help. There is a whole gamut of actions that are possible in order to check this threat of Islam.”

I might want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but due to another "Australian" using the misunderstood defense, I am disinclined to do so. Sheik Hilaly himself:

Children and mothers are crying. Sons of Islam, there is a war of infidels taking place everywhere. The true man is the boy who opposes Israeli tanks with strength and faith. The boy who, despite his mother’s objections, goes out to war to become a martyr like his elder brother...
...Don’t be surprised if one day you hear the Muezzin calling for prayer and saying “Allah Akbar (Allah is Great)” from the top of the white house. September 11 is God’s work against oppressors.
-ABC

If you haven't heard about him I suggest you read these.

On the other hand, we really do have some misinterpreted Israeli academics lately. A Bar Ilan Professor writing about blood libels

Another important factor in deciding how comments should be considered is if there are other people saying the same thing who are clearly not racist.
And there are.

After a suicide truck bomb killed more than 132 people and wounded hundreds in a Baghdad market a few weeks ago, the head of the Shiite-controlled Interior Ministry's explosives department, Maj. Gen. Jihad al-Jabiri, told state-run Iraqi television: "I call on the government to deport (foreign) Arabs immediately."
...
A day after the Interior Ministry general asked for Arabs' deportation, some Shiite members of parliament echoed the call. That led to a dispute after the parliament speaker, a Sunni Arab, retorted that both Arabs "and others" should be deported — a reference to Iranians. Many Sunnis here fear Iranians are infiltrating Iraq.
- Yahoo News

I guess the context is very different in this case. After all we have no problems with Jews making Jewish jokes, or blacks making black jokes etc. Then again Sunnis and Shiites aren't one big happy family. Maybe they deserve equal condemnation as our visiting professor, or maybe we can forgive them because of the pressures of a war.

So there you have it...make up your own mind, but I hope I gave you some directions to think in

Darfur Purim Dvar Torah

2007-02-19T02:02:00.000+02:00

One of the things I do besides learn in Yeshiva is run HAeD www.haedarfur.org

Arielle Perlow wrote this Dvar Torah for our Purim campaign. I'll post details of how you can get involved, if you want to know more, e-mail haedarfur@gmail.com
but for now here is the dvar torah:

Everyone knows the story of Purim: Haman, outraged at the
insubordinate Mordechai, decrees that on Adar 14 all the Jews are to
be annihilated and their property plundered. In response, the Jews,
lead by Esther and Mordechai fast for three days before Esther visits
King Achashverosh and the decree is overturned.

As simple as the storyline is, the lesson of Purim is far more
significant than the fairytale narrative suggests. Through Haman's
wicked decree, we learn as Jews the despair of impending genocide. We
understand what it feels like to be targeted as a nation, the threat
of annihilation.

Currently, a similar genocide to the one proposed by Haman is taking
place. This time, the decree is against the people of Darfur, and the
evil perpetrator is the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed. Sadly,
unlike the proposed genocide of the Jews in ancient Persia, the
genocide in Darfur has been allowed to occur. So far, an estimated
600,000 have been murdered, countless women have been raped, houses
burnt, property pillaged.

What have you done to overturn this evil decree?

When Esther, afraid of the King's reaction to her uninvited entrance,
decides not to petition the King on behalf of her people, Mordechai
reproaches her saying "Do not imagine that you, of all the Jews, will
escape with your life being in the king's palace. On the contrary, if
you keep silent in this crisis, relief and deliverance will come to
the Jews from another quarter, while you and your father's house will
perish. And who knows, perhaps you have attained to royal position for
such a crisis?"

In the Megila, Mordechai is confident that the Jews will be saved; it
is Esther's morality that concerns him. With the Darfur situation, it
is not apparent that "relief and deliverance" will come from anyone
else. We must try our hardest to end to the genocide!

OnlySimchas

2007-02-18T20:58:00.000+02:00

Well here is my Aliyah page, still some time till I officially take the plunge though.

http://onlysimchas.com/galleries/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewsimcha&simchaID=60385

Religious Zionism vs Modern Orthodoxy

2007-02-18T20:46:00.000+02:00

What is the difference between the way the way the Religious-Zionists(RZ) look at the secular and the way the Modern Orthodox(MO) look at the secular?

Torah U’Madda, Torah V’Avodah, what’s the difference?

Let’s make it very clear that neither is Torah U’parnasa, the ideology that masquerades as part of the MO world. It’s so clear that people need to make a living, and in the past people made a living. Haredim also work. Not being in denial about the fact that you need to provide for yourself and your family is not some new idea, and it’s not much of an ideology either.

The followers of Ha’Rav (Kook) talk about bringing the secular and the holy together to reach a combination that is elevated above either one.

The followers of The Rav (Soloveitchik) talk about the secular that has a real truth which can bring one closer to knowledge of G-d, in a similar way as Torah does.

Don’t read too much into that, its just what I hear from people who claim to be the students of The Rav or Ha’Rav.

I was writing this up after hearing a shiur about Purim in which Rav Kook was used as a source many ties in discussing how Purim was a special holiday that represents the eventual eschatological era when the greatest connection to G-d will be attained through physical and spiritual means with no conflict between the two. After the shiur I was reading some Kol Dodi Dofek. This question of MO vs RZ has been on my mind for ages. It was emphasized at a Tish by Rabbi Yosef Blau of Yeshiva University (The model of Torah U’Madda) on divisions in the Jewish world; he mentioned that RZ in America and in Israel made dialogue between the two theoretically equivalent groups difficult, even without a language barrier.

As I was writing this in the front of the beit midrash, Rav Cherlow was giving a shiur on Orot Ha’Rav Kook. I wasn’t in the shiur because the shiur I was just in ended long after Rav Cherlow’s began. However suddenly I hear him talking about Rav Soloveitchik, and the difference between him and Rav Kook. Apperntly someone asked a question about it. I only caught the end of Rav Cherlow’s response, which would be interesting because people say he represents Israel’s version of the closest thing to Modern Orthodoxy. If I heard him correctly, he mentioned something about how The Rav viewed literature as inherently holy, while Rav Kook viewed it as something intresting and part of this world. I am not really sure what that really means, but make what you want of it.

Well that was a short little look into the matter, with no sources or anything passing for a real analysis. Just a sort of an intro to the subject to the hang of blogging.

Another subject I am thinking about a lot is State of Israel vs Land of Israel. Small issue? Nope, just about the biggest thing dividing the religious community, both Zionist and non-Zionist.

Starting Petach Tikva

2007-02-18T20:44:00.000+02:00

Here I am starting my second week at Yeshivat Hesder Petach Tikva and I am still without permanent hevrutot (learning partners) for the morning and night. Its just about the most important thing, but I know I need to give it time, because I am coming in the middle of a zman (the chunks of time the year is divided to with breaks in between). The most amazing thing is how nice and helpful everyone is. I am constantly having people make sure I a settling in and asking what they can do to help. It’s not just a few students or my ram, it’s all of the rabbis, rashei yeshiva, staff and all the students. Now if only all their caring actually got me a chevruta, but its ok, I need time to understand the place before jumping in all the way, which is why I am not being a nudnik to them, even though they tell me I should bother them.

On the bright side, it’s much warmer than the hilly Judean Hills where Yirushalim is. The food is really good, the rooms are nice, and there is wireless access. Add to that, that I am the only Hutznik (non-israeli) and I am happy.

Not Real Aliyah yet

2007-02-16T13:37:00.000+02:00

Hello and welcome to:

Seraphya’s Aliyah.

I still have not yet opened a tik aliyah, but I am on the airplane that will bring me to Israel permanently. I am in Hong Kong, a hub of international ship and air traffic. All paths lead to Israel eventually, but some paths are more direct and faster than others. Although I might later make Aliyah wit Nefesh B’nefesh from America, or make Aliyah from Israel, I consider this flight my return home.

I left Sydney for the last time as a ben hutz laaretz, maybe one day I shall return on Shlichut. Bnei Akiva gave me a farewell at Seudah Shlishit that I will never forget. I know some people think they have said goodbye to galut for the last time, but eventually find themselves back I the fray and mundane life of the Diaspora. I am not worried about this happening to me, I have no place to return to(never end your sentences with prepositions by the way). I think the best time to make aliyah is for university, for many reasons. First and foremost, you see many people who plan to make aliyah for many years, some in the end do, and some don’t, but putting aliyah off off and setting down roots, is a sure way to get stuck. Secondly, most people need to improve their Hebrew after having lived with Laaz for so long, you brain learns languages better when it is younger and the university years are the final cut-off for most people being bale to learn a language with ease. Thirdly, you are planning to work in Israel; So you want to get the training in Israel; Israel has good universities. Oh, and you get free university when you make aliyah.

I arrived safely in Eretz Yisrael at Ben Gurion Airport. While waiting for my luggage I charged my phone and went online with the free wireless at the airport terminal. I had Shekel in my pocket, an Israeli phone with a sim car, I felt like I was arriving without a worry. I told my family which I had just left 24 hours ago that I was fine and headed for a sherut to Jerusalem. I ended up in one where the 9 other people spoke French and barely spoke Hebrew, but I was on the phone and it was nice to know that people are coming to Israel in general. It’s time for me to check out Nefesh B’Nefesh. There are so many different little technicalities and options, so I am hoping they can help me through them

The directions they give to their office is a good example of how something seemingly so simple suddenly gets complicated.