bs"d
Dear Hashem,
Thank you Hashem for giving us a beautiful Land called the Land of Israel. Thank you Hashem for giving us the Mitzvot in the Torah whereby we can bring Sanctity to the World. Thank you Hashem for choosing the Nation of Israel to be the Light unto Nations and thereby infuse the world with Holiness. Thank you Hashem for giving us the Holy Torah whereby the Roadmap of your desires is clearly spelled out and boundaries clearly delineated. Thank you Hashem for each and every inch of precious soil in Eretz Yisroel, where the land overflows with your blessings and will only produce for those Chosen to keep the commandments in the Holy Land.
We love you Hashem and we love this precious Land. We will give the first fruit of our efforts to the Kohein. We will take off a tenth and give it to the Levites who will give their tenth to the Priests. In the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th year of the Sabbatical cycle we will take off an additional tenth and bring it to Jerusalem where we will enjoy the fruits of our labors, and share it with joy with the Levites,widows and orphans. We will in this way show our Hakoras Hatov for your blessings. In the 3rd and 6th year of the Sabbatical cycle we will give this additional tenth to the poor. We will not take dropped or forgotten sheaves as is prescribed in the Torah, the Oral and Written law, nor will be take from the corner of the fields.
In the Seventh year we will return this precious Land back to YOU, Hashem, and in this way demonstrate that the Land and the entire world belongs only to You and You alone can determine to whom this precious Land belongs. The Land will rest and we will not work the Land. We will experience a year with a taste of the World to Come and we will eat and be happy and share what we have. We will know first hand that it is not our hard work that sustains us but it is You and You alone and we will be the recipients of the produce of holiness given to You Hashem by our fellow brethren. Not only will we not starve, chances are we will gain weight. In obeying Your commandments with joy and unfailing belief, we demonstrate our Hakoras Hatov for all of your blessings!
No powerful gov't nor powerful leader is more powerful than you Hashem.
And no Palestinian State will serve you like we, the Nation of Israel will.
Let it be Your Will that the Nation of Israel and the World begin to understand that peace and prosperity can never be realized when we go against the Divine Roadmap and that pain and destruction can be averted by following your Roadmap to Peace which is prescribed in your precious Torah .
Sincerely,
Your faithful servant bs"d
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| | Weekly Window Agudath Israel of America Office of Government Affairs News and Information from the week of
Sept 18 - Sept 23, 2011 |
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| | | We wish to extend a hearty Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Meir Brody on the birth of their new daughter. We wish them much yiddishe nachas from their whole mishpacha. | |  Thank you, Mr. President Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel Executive Vice President September 23, 2011 Honorable Barack H. Obama President of the United States The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500 Mr. President: On behalf of the thousands of families that comprise Agudath Israel of America's Orthodox Jewish constituency across the nation, I write to commend you for your clear and wise words to the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week. The stance you took on the Palestinian Authority's ill-conceived unilateral declaration of statehood was courageous and principled. So too was your pointed description of the daily dangers Israel faces - made before a group that, unfortunately, includes representatives of states that display undisguised ill will toward Israel. By reprising both the distant and not-so-distant Jewish past, and referring overtly to the "historic homeland" of the Jewish people, you boldly stated facts that have been crying out for a voice. That you did so on a world stage, in full display to people all across the globe, enhanced the power of your words immeasurably. Coming mere weeks after your unhesitating and decisive action to rescue the Israelis who were trapped by a mob in Cairo, your speech at the United Nations further confirmed your deep concern for Israel and her citizens. The Jewish religious tradition hallows a concept called "hakarat hatov" - that when good is done, it must be recognized and appreciated. We recognize the good you have done. And we deeply appreciate it. Sincerely, Rabbi David Zwiebel | |  New Voucher Program Passes Key Committee Rabbi A.D. Motzen - Director (serving OH, IN, MI, MO, GA)
After eight lengthy hearings over seven months, House Bill 136 (Huffman) was voted out of the House Education Committee this week in a 12-10 vote. The proposed PACT scholarship would significantly expand voucher eligibility and help thousands of students who are currently unable to access the existing Ohio voucher programs. Although the EdChoice voucher program was expanded in the most recent budget to allow 60,000 slots, the eligibility rules remained virtually the same. PACT would not eliminate EdChoice. It would simply add students across the state who qualify based on income level, regardless of where they reside. Unlike EdChoice, PACT scholarship amounts are awarded on a sliding scale, depending on family income. Initially, current private school students would not be eligible, but they are phased-in over the next few years. If you haven't done so already, please thank Rep. Matt Huffman for his leadership on this issue. Phone: (614) 466-9624 Email: district04@ohr.state.oh.us Please also contact your own state representative and encourage them to vote for HB 136 when it reaches the House floor. Guest Speaker at Legislator's Conference While the Ohio House Education Committee was in the midst of a four-hour hearing on HB 136 (see above), I was in Indianapolis at a school choice summit hosted by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. The conference brought together lawmakers from 17 states and speakers from around the country. On Wednesday, I delivered a presentation to suburban legislators on how to design effective school choice programs and repeated it the next day for rural legislators. I was honored to share the podium with Dick Komer Esq. of the Institute for Justice, who focused on the constitutional aspects of bill design. Thank you Jeff Reed and Dale Buwalda of the Friedman Foundation for giving me the opportunity to participate in such an informative conference. It was encouraging to see so many different states moving forward with school choice efforts. | | 
Board of Appeals Reaffirms Employee's Religious Rights Rabbi Ariel Sadwin - Director Maryland This week, one of our many open cases of community members with workplace religious discrimination issues was thankfully resolved. A local employer was unwilling to allow his Orthodox Jewish employee to take leave for the four Yom Tov days of Pesach. Ahead of the onset of Yom Tov, our office provided the employee with information pertaining to the relevant law and various suggestions of how to negotiate with the employer. Despite the best efforts of the employee to explain her need for a religious accommodation, the employer justified his unwillingness to provide the requested accommodation, by arguing that it would create "undue hardship" for him. Unfortunately, the current employment law in Maryland lacks the stronger language that exists in the statutes of some other states which provides a clearer and more employee-friendly definition for "undue hardship" to the employer. That, coupled with the fact that the employee did not have any accrued leave, made the situation rather difficult. When Pesach came and the employee didn't show up for work, she was immediately terminated from her position - for "voluntarily quitting" and "misconduct" in not reporting for work. The employee then filed a successful claim with the Maryland Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation (DLLR) for unemployment benefits. As the responsibility for repayment of DLLR-provided unemployment benefits falls on the employer, it was of little surprise that the employer appealed his former employee's right to those benefits. At a hearing at the DLLR Division of Appeals in mid-June, both parties explained their positions The hearing examiner ruled in favor of the employer stating that the employee's leave of absence was "without good cause" and ordered the employee to return the entire amount of benefits received. Upon reviewing the written decision of the hearing examiner, I was disturbed by the inaccurate description of the facts as it pertained to the employee's request and religious needs. I urged the employee to appeal the decision to the Board of Appeals, and assisted her throughout the process. Aside from the negative financial affect on this individual employee, the ruling of the State could have had repercussions in future cases. This week, the employee received great news from the Board of Appeals stating that after review of the case it was clear that the employee's leave of absence was indeed "with good cause" and reinstated her unemployment benefits. The ruling quoted the 1981 U.S. Supreme Court decision of Thomas v. Review Board of Indiana "where the duties of employment conflict with a sincerely held religious belief causing the employee to voluntarily quit, no penalty may be imposed under the unemployment insurance law." We hope that our work on the Federal and Maryland Workplace Religious Freedom Acts will help avoid such situations in the future and help guarantee greater religious accommodation for our community in the workplace. I wish to thank the following attorneys who have been helpful in dealing with the various workplace law issues about which our office has been contacted: Eric R. Stern, Esq., Eric Pines, Esq., and Jacob Statman, Esq. | |  Agudath Israel Calls for Culturally Sensitive Redistricting in New York State Rabbi Shmuel Lefkowitz - Vice President for Community Affairs At a hearing before the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment I was one of several representatives of the Orthodox Jewish community to express concern that the Orthodox Jewish community is currently divided amongst five different Congressional districts and six State Senate districts. The effect of such a fragmented political map is that the voice and influence of our community has been diluted and our community is disenfranchised. I stated that, "What we are asking for is culturally sensitive redistricting. Not political, not independent, but culturally sensitive. Look at the Southern tier of Brooklyn, see who lives there and draw the lines based on common culture and common needs". Other community activists who testified to the committee include Leon Goldenberg, Dr. Meir Wikler, Chaim Israel, Yeruchem Silver and Garry Schlesinger, Executive Chairperson of UJCARE of Williamsburg. The group intends to submit maps which show where the Orthodox community in Brooklyn resides and offer suggestions that will make the State Senate district and Congressional district more culturally sensitive. |
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| Agudath Israel of America
Office of Government Affairs
Executive Vice President: National Director
of Government Affairs: Rabbi Yehiel M. Kalish 212-797-9000 x232 Director of Communications: American Citizens Gemach in Israel - Director: Rabbi Aharon Spetner aspetner@acgemach.org | | Click here to join our mailing list! | | Save the Date Please join us at this year's Agudath Israel Midwest Annual Dinner on Sunday, November 6th at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Rabbi and Mrs. David Langsner will be our Guests of Honor for their many years of dedication to Agudath Israel of Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Glenner will receive the Young Leadership Award. The Honorable Brian Bosma, Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, will receive the Public Service Award. Rabbi Mordechai ("Yari") Yaroslawitz will receive the Spetner Memorial Avodas Hakodesh Award. Please call 773-279-8400 for reservations and more information. |
| Should you experience problems printing, please e-mail
ykalish@agudathisrael.org and we will send you the report as a Word document. ________________________________________
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Agudath Israel is continuing to look at expanding with new offices we hope to open in the near future.
For more information, please direct your inquiries to Rabbi Kalish at 212-797-9000. |
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| Agudath Israel of America | 42 Broadway 14th floor | New York | NY | 10004 |
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Sincerely,
Robin Ticker
Activist emails sent to my list are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) a great activist and lover of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichrono Baruch.
Most of these emails are posted on
Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com
Personal emails to individuals will not be posted to my blog.
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