Friday, March 04, 2016

Money for Jewish Refugees? Money for Jewish Education? AT What Price? Al Chait...Agudah and OU; AFSI Newsletter: Congress: Israel-Arab Peace Deal Must Include Jewish Refugees

bs"d

This is basically the letter I sent to AFSI in response to a post on their newsletter which is entitled "Congress: Israel-Arab Peace Deal Must Include Jewish Refugees".  Afsi's newsletter follows this letter (btw I highly recommend and encourage you to subscribe to AFSI's newsletter and while you're at it,  become an AFSI Member!  AFSI is an amazing organization and I am very proud to be an AFSI member and one of the co-chairs of the Brooklyn chapter). 

I cc'd Agudah and OU Leadership for obvious reasons once you read this letter
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Robin Ticker <faigerayzel@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Mar 3, 2016 at 11:28 PM
Subject: Re: Congress: Israel-Arab Peace Deal Must Include Jewish Refugees
To: "Judy (Freedman) Kadish" <judy@afsi.org>, "Jonathan J. Grauman" <jonathan@afsi.org>, Helen Freedman <helenfreedman18@gmail.com>, 

Cc: 
Mr. Nathan Diament <ndiament@ou.org>
Roz Singer <rsinger@ou.org>
Rabbi Abba Cohen <acohen@agudathisrael-dc.org>,
Chaim Dovid Zwiebel <DZwiebel@agudathisrael.org>,
"Yehiel M. Kalish" <ykalish@agudathisrael.org>,
Rabbi Leibish Becker <lbecker@agudathisrael.org>, 
Shlomo Werdiger <swerdiger@outerstuff.com>,  
Lefkowitz Leadership Initiative <lli@agudathisrael.org>


Ps. Elliot Engel and Sentator Schumer did reject Iran deal but not in any significant way...Ditto for Agudah and OU! 

On Mar 3, 2016 11:25 PM, "Robin Ticker" <faigerayzel@gmail.com> wrote:


Bsd

Re: Israel Arab peace deal must include Jewish refugees.
Judy, amvsh   (Judy is co-Executive Director of AFSI who sent out the newsletter)

Not your sting and not your honey!!!...

My gut feeling is...

Israels enemies want and need Jews to be a pawn for an anti Israel agenda and will throw in some bones to Jews to sweeten the package. 

We, the Jewish community in America, should be extremely wary being on the receiving end of any deal that endangers Israel!

Agudah and Ou didn't really put any passion to campaign against Iran deal.  Or let me rephrase. They came out for being on the record against the deal but not in Tachlis (i.e. Not to significantly derail the Iran Deal)

My guess is that they were afraid of endangering the educational funding that miraculously seem to come through in the early summer of 2015 to the point that when asked about the Iran deal and everyone was looking towards Schumer for leadership, Senator Schumer replied that he was too busy with Education issues and didn't get a chance to study it. 

Schumer interviewed at Juniors on July 19th in Up With Steve Kornacki. The Youtube of this interview has been removed from youtube  but in this interview he openly says Iran is not his priority but education is and he didn't really have the opportunity to study the deal....Schumer also said he sides with America first and Israel second. 

Caroline Glick asked publicly what exactly about hundred and fifty billion dollars to Iran did Schumer need to study?

I believe, and please prove me wrong, that released monies for Jewish and private Education  in early Summer 2015, bought Agudah and OU silence re: Iran.  Buying their silence continues to be the current modus operandi. I can think of no other explanation to explain Agudah and Ou passivity and meek protest re: Iran nuclear threat and against the 2 State Solution, a terror Palestinian State threatening all of Israel.

What is most hurtful however, is their unwillingness to speak up for Torah regarding our Biblical Heritage on behalf of Yehuda and Shomron in a way that in any way challenges the 2 State Solution, peace process narrative.  I can see no other explanation for their aversion to making a public statement regarding Israel's Jewish ancestral Homeland. The heartland  of Israel was and will always be Judea and Samaria, the very places where our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob walked the Land and settled. It is clear from the Torah that it was in Judea and Samaria, where G-d made a Covenant with Jacob, and a Covenant with Isaac and a Covenant with Abraham. And G-d promised Moses that He will remember the Covenant He made with our forefathers as it says in Leviticus 26:42 (taken from http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9927/jewish/Chapter-26.htm)
 מב וְזָכַרְתִּי אֶת בְּרִיתִי יַעֲקוֹב וְאַף אֶת בְּרִיתִי יִצְחָק וְאַף אֶת בְּרִיתִי אַבְרָהָם אֶזְכֹּר וְהָאָרֶץ אֶזְכֹּר:
42 and I will remember My covenant [with] Jacob, and also My covenant [with] Isaac, and also My covenant [with] Abraham I will remember. And I will remember the Land,
that even when Israel sins, G-d will remember the Covenant He made with our forefathers.

And indeed when Israel sinned with the Golden calf Moses prayed on behalf of Israel and begs G-d to spare them Exodus 32:13
 יג זְכֹר לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל עֲבָדֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתָּ לָהֶם בָּךְ וַתְּדַבֵּר אֲלֵהֶם אַרְבֶּה אֶת זַרְעֲכֶם כְּכוֹכְבֵי הַשָּׁמָיִם וְכָל הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר אָמַרְתִּי אֶתֵּן לְזַרְעֲכֶם וְנָחֲלוּ לְעֹלָם
13 "Remember for the sake of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, Your servants whom You swore by Yourself, and You told them, I shall increase their offspring like the stars of heaven. and this entire land of which I spoke, I shall give to your offspring, and it shall be their heritage forever."  translation from Stone Chumash
 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your very Self, and to whom You said: 'I will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens, and all this land which I said that I would give to your seed, they shall keep it as their possession forever.'  translation from http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9927/jewish/Chapter-26.htm

Would any Aguda or OU Rabbi dare to suggest that G-d is referring to pre '67 borders when it says the "Entire" land?  There is no shadow of a doubt  that the Promise that G-d made individually to each of our forefathers, encompasses the entire Land of Israel of which Judea and Samaria and of course Jerusalem, East and West is an  integral part  There is no Orthodox Rabbi that is a member of Agudah or a member of OU that would deny these sacred words of the Torah!  To do so would be heresy, Apikorsus!

However they choose to continue to remain silent!

They unfortunately have shown that silence to neutralize Jewish opposition to Obama's policies can be bought.

When the Leadership of Jewish mainstream organizations are silent then the Jewish majority by extension is Silent. Their leaders rationalize with misplaced humility that people wouldn't really listen to them in any event and they would not make much of a difference with coming out with a Biblical Statement and it may even make matters worse. 

Luckily Moses didn't use this rationalization to stop him when he demanded from Pharaoh to let his people go!

The recent Agudah advocacy this past week, focused clearly on educational  funding, social services, lunch programs etc and the Iran threat and antisemitism fell to the bottom of the agenda. There was some mention, but nothing serious in substance. I didn't see Palestinian terror knifivada on the agenda but please prove me wrong.  

But most upsetting is that there is no mention of our Biblical rights to Judea and Samaria! Would mention of these Biblical truths prove to be a stumbling block to the release of funds that has been owed to these Jewish institutions in arrears?  Would it put a damper of approved government funding for urgent projects, educational, social, security etc.  to finance schools, provide employment, provide social welfare and security to the Jewish community in the face of a struggling economy, Islamic terror and Antisemitism? 

Those who are farsighted can see that funding which buys silence, is actually tainted blood money.  

Agudah and OU have been passive in fighting the Iran deal. Yes, Rabbis were bused into Washington but it was quite clear that it was merely for public consumption but not much substance.  They did not mobilize the masses. The fringe "ultra Orthodox" computer savvy Neturei Karta group probably funded by Iran, got much more online presence and publicity!

The Iran deal passed through with no vote.

Whether or not it would have passed with serious advocacy from Agudah and OU and its members, only G-d knows. But activism of hundreds of thousands of Jews if not millions of Baaleh Batim, simple believing Jews,  to fight the Iran deal would surely have had some impact at least in a Heavenly court.  It seemed to me that a serious prayer gathering to pierce through to the heavens was called for.  

 Never too late to do Teshuva...

We are soon to be "reaping", G-d Forbid, the sour fruits of our collective passivity, failure to stop the Iran deal.  

The money freed up by lifting sanctions on Iran is now being promised by the Iranian government to fund Palestinian terror. No real surprise.

This should now be a collective concern and weigh heavy on our conscience... because we didn't fight Iran hard enough in the Summer and early Fall of 2015.

Iran is now promising every Palestinian terrorist $7,000 and if their home is demolished by Israel, $30,000.  Clearly a wonderful incentive for many more terror attacks, G-d forbid.

Yes, it is on our collective heads...

In addition, American taxpayer money is being used to fund hundreds of millions of dollars to UNRWA which educates Palestinian kids to murder Israelis.

America is empowering evil and major Jewish organizations in return for their silence and acquiescence continue to receive payback,  funding for their worthy programs.  

Let's test and see if we receive this funding in spite of a Biblical stand and a vociferous and vocal protest against Obama's feckless policies endangering Israel and the entire region. If we do, great. If we don't it was not in our best interest to receive such funds.

Let us be cognizant that our brothers and sisters in Israel  get the brunt of dealing with Islamic terrorism triggered, fed and nurtured by the Iran Deal that we did not stop.

With an infiltration of Muslim Brotherhood in the White House and Syrian Immigration being  a humanitarian concern, It is only time, Chas VeShalom, heaven forbid,  until the terror reaches Americas shores to the point where it can no longer be ignored.

At that point would we prefer funding to help pay for security guards as is the case in France to combat terror ... or no funding and no terror because it was prevented by strong preemptive measures?

Initially, when the Disengagement from Gush Katif was in the planning stages, UTJ Rabbis clearly came out against it.  Then they were promised educational and housing subsidies and lo and behold they changed their tune and they backed the govt who then carried out the expulsion which threw 10,000 Jews from their homes in Gush Katif and in the Shomron. This only happened following a psychological campaign to discredit the right wing settlers...Initially Chareidi families perhaps received monies only to have it later withdrawn.

Chareidim felt betrayed.  They felt the government had an agenda against the Chareidim.  Actually it was they who betrayed their brothers and sisters in Judea and Samaria who lost their homes, their livelihood, their dignity and their emotional and physical well being.  These Nationalist Settlers lost years of love and devotion that they invested in their beautiful communities.

Now years later, traumatized teenagers, innocent victims of this terrible expulsion from their beautiful homes, now have to come to terms and confront the evil that was inflicted upon them and their families from fellow Jews. Many have become hilltop youth.

It is not surprising that once again these hilltop youth are being slandered as "Jewish Terrorists" basically the victims of a viscious blood libel against them.  Yet instead of clopping (Yiddish expression for banging on the breast) Al Chait (confession) and saying we were indirectly responsible for not stopping the Expulsion from Gush Katif and maybe admitting that their emotional pain is something we helped cause, unfortunately it's easier to blame the victim rather than look at ourselves in the mirror....

I am Ccing both Agudah and Ou hoping that these very painful insights will somehow penetrate before collectively we have to confront a Heavenly Court who will ask us What did we do to stop this evil when we had the opportunity?

By all means take the Govt funding so long as it doesn't buy your silence. Bribery blinds the eyes so we must be extra careful.  And if the funding is withdrawn as a result of your advocacy  for Judea and Samaria and against Iran, know that it was just tainted blood money poisonous materially and spiritually!

Ain Od Milvado. Trust in the Almighty for our Protection and Sustenance. Al Tivtachu Beven Adam Sheain lo Teshuah.. Don't put your trust in man for there is no salvation in him.. Let us collectively recite Parshat Haman, the Manna Portion in the Torah for Chizuk, for inner strength to depend on G-d alone for our Sustenance... Let us recite the Akeida and the portions of the Karbanot and beg G-d to return the Avoda, the animal sacrifices of the Temple, the Beit HaMikdash,  rather than being subjected to daily occurrences of human sacrifices. BeDamayich Chayii! Please Hashem,  let us once again Live with Blood from the Brit Milah and the Korban Pesach.  

 Shabbat Shalom Umevorach!

KT
On Mar 3, 2016 4:52 PM, "Americans for a Safe Israel" <judy@afsi.org> wrote:
Rabbis for Human Rights Hide This From U.S. Donors!

Americans for a Safe Israel      

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Thursday, March 3, 2016
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Congress: Israel-Arab peace deal must include Jewish refugees
By David Rosenberg
First Publish: 3/3/2016, 2:40 PM

Yemenite Jews flee their homes


A bipartisan coalition of 14 congressional lawmakers have cosponsored a bill intended to rectify the losses suffered by Jewish refugees who fled their homes across the Middle East following the establishment of the State of Israel.

According to a statement released on Wednesday by the office of New York Democratic congressman Eliot Engel, the Displaced Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries and Iran Act would require the President "to ensure resolution for Jewish refugees displaced from Arab countries and Iran."

The President would be required to include provisions for Jewish Middle East refugees in any future Arab-Israeli negotiated settlement.

A joint statement released by the bill's sponsors recognized the hardships faced by the ancient Jewish communities across the Middle East and North Africa, and the oppression they suffered under local Arab governments.

"The Arab governments subjected hundreds of thousands of Jews to displacement, political marginalization, or property confiscation with no compensation."
"The Displaced Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries and Iran Act ensures that the interests of all refugees displaced as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict are fairly considered in any final settlement of Arab-Israeli peace."





Rabbi Rabbis For Human Rights Hide this from US Donors!



Over the past several months we have written about Arab land grabs, including stories about the Ultra-left groups that aid the "Palestinians" in killing Arabs for selling land to Jews.  Ezra Nawi ,working with B'Tselem, a far left Israeli organization with backing from the New Israel Fund, is one of the main culprits.  
New footage shows Ezra Nawi  and a whole network of others, including some from Rabbis for Human Rights, also a New Israel Fund beneficiary, coaching and inciting Arab takeover of Jewish State land.
We praise the NGO Ad Kan for work in exposing this travesty.





Gil Ronen - Arutz Sheva

First Publish: 3/3/2016, 8:18 PM


The latest video released by nationalist NGO Ad Kan features hidden camera footage that outlines a sophisticated method used by what Ad Kan calls "anti-Israeli organizations" for taking over state land. The footage was shot by the group's activists who infiltrated the ultra-leftist groups that operate in Judea and Samaria over a three year period.
The land involved was allocated in the past to some of the Arabs who live in Judea and Samaria for cultivation purposes only. The land does not belong to these Arabs, and reverts to full state ownership if they fail to cultivate the land for several years.
A group called Ta'ayush seeks to transfer these plots to full Arab ownership, according to Ad Kan. Prof. Amiel Vardi, Head of the Classical Studies Department in Hebrew University and one of the heads of Ta'ayush, explained on hidden camera that Ta'ayush's activists find the plots of land and then consult the legal department of Rabbis for Human Rights, which tells them what legal documents they need to obtain in order to claim the land.
Arabs are then solicited to file lawsuits demanding ownership of the land. In one case documented, the Arab insists that he has already sold the land, but Ta'ayush's Ezra Nawi tells him to "forget the word 'sale'... If you sold it, nobody knows."
'Provocations for proof'
In another Ad Kan video, a Ta'ayush activist is seen explaining: "We work very closely in some of the cases here with the legal department of Rabbis for Human Rights... There are several instances in which we work in cooperation... where we are like the field agents for Rabbis [for Human Rights]..."
The activist makes clear that Rabbis for Human Rights enjoy large scale support from US donors who would not support Ta'ayush and therefore must not know that the two groups are connected: "[They have] a huge amount of donors from Jewish congregations in the US," he says. "That's why their connection to us is, like... delicate... 


Calendar

AFSI Calendar of Events



for additional details on events below,
and for a complete schedule of Israel events



Sunday, March 6, 5:00 PM - AFSI Co-Sponsors
Join Our Soldiers Speak at its annual Regional Conference, NY
At the Paley Center For Media
25 West 52nd St. NYC
 


Monday, March 7, 12:30 - 2 PM
The Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET) invites you to a New York Chapter Event Co-sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition:
 "America Makes a U-Turn in the Middle East". Featuring: Tony Badran
1155 Avenue of the Americas, NYC
$10 for EMET Insider Members, $20 for non-members
Payment collected at the door; space is limited, RSVP required (HERE).

Lunch served; dietary laws observed; bring photo I.D. to pass through security.

Questions to Deanne: dheffernan@emetonline.org

Note: Republicans & Democrats welcome!

Tuesday, March 8, 6:00 PM
Dr. Vladimir Khanin - Chief Scientist, 
Ministry of Immigrant Absorption of the State of Israel
At the ISGAP Center 165 E 65 St. NYC; www.isgap.org

March 10-17
New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival

Saturday, March 12, 8:30 PM
Charlie Bernhaut presents "Yossele's World"
West Side Institutional Synagogue
120 W. 76th St. NYC, between Columbus & Amsterdam
This three-track power-point presentation is sure to dazzle. Free admission.

Sunday, March 13, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Breakfast with Danny Ayalon
At Bnai Tikvah, 1001 Finnegans, Lane North Brunswick, NJ 08902

Sunday, March 13, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Conference on Global Anti-Semitism
At Kean University, NJ; Hosted by the Jewish Faculty and Staff Association
An incredible line-up of speakers.
Click HERE for more info and to register.

Monday, March 14, 12:00 PM
Benny Morris speaking on "The War of 1948: New Perspectives"ISGAP Center 8th Floor 165 E. 56th Street, NYC

Tuesday, March 15, 5:30 PM
Friends of the IDF Annual Gala
Waldorf Astoria 301 Park Ave. NYC

Wednesday, March 16, 7:30 PM
Save the date! - Rochester, NY
AFSI Rochester Chapter presents: Daniel Luria from Ateret Cohanim 
Topic: Reclaiming Yerushalayim.Thursday March 2
LIGHT OF ISRAEL 
1675 MONROE AVE.  
ROCHESTER NY 14618


Thursday, March 17
Save the date! - New York City
AFSI presents: Daniel Luria from Ateret Cohanim 

Topic: Reclaiming Yerushalayim.

 7:30 - 9pm - Congregation Ohab Tzedek - 118 West 95th Street, NYC


Wednesday, March 23, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Yossi Kuperwasser, JCPA, speaking on: "Similarities and Differences Between Antisemitism and the Contemporary Delegitimization of the Democratic Nation State of the Jewish People"
Location TBD; see www.isgap.org for info


Monday, March 28, 8 PM
The Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies at Columbia University presents:
"Where do we go from here? The U.S.-Israel relationship after Obama"
614 Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia U.
RSVP: iijs@columbia.edu; walk-ins ok

Wednesday, March 30, 7:30 PM (VIP entry 6:15 PM) - Boca Raton, Florida
An evening with Mosab Hassan Yousef: "Son of Hamas"; 
and honoring Dr. Jeffrey Zipper
Temple Beth El of Boca Raton 333 SW 4th Ave. Boca Raton, FL 33432

Thursday, March 31, 6:00 PM
Benjamin Weinthal, European Affairs Correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD); speaking on:
"Europe's Economic War on Israel: 
The Role of Antisemitism in BDS and Product Labels"
At the ISGAP Center 165 E 56 St. NYC; www.isgap.org

HOLD
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NON-REFUNDABLE PAYMENT BY MARCH 7
Come to Israel with AFSI on our Spring 2016 Chizuk Mission. 
Celebrate Yom Yerushalayim in Israel with AFSI. 


Mark Langfan: Chairman
 Helen Freedman: Executive Director
Judy Kadish: Co-Executive Director
Jonathan Grauman: Research Analyst
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--
Sincerely,

Robin Ticker

Israel Advocacy Calendar (www.IsraelAdvocacyCalendar.com).
Activist emails sent to my list  are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) and Howard Chaim Grief great activists and lovers of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichronum Baruch.  May their memories serve as a blessing. 

Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com

Personal emails to individuals will not be posted to my blog. 

Tuesday, March 01, 2016

Fwd: Article for Yated re: letter writing campaign to free Meir Ettinger. End the Sinas Chinam to the Hilltop Youth

bs"d

Dear Rabbi Lipschutz, avm"sh

Please raise awareness. We have an opportunity to bridge the Chareidi and Dati Leumi Communities if the Gedoilim step out of the comfort zone. We are in dire need of many zechusim and unity.  Please Lobby the Rabbanim to write a letter. 

My guess is that the reason that they have been silent is because of the Har HaBayit issue.  

Rabbi Shternbuch via Rabbi Daniel Travis seems to  hold that going on Har HaBayit endangers Am Yisroel in that it angers the Goyim.  Perhaps he holds that it's better to keep Meir Ettinger and the hilltop youth in jail and silent.  I can't find any other justification for the Silence re: their Administrative Detention and severe violations of their human rights..  

Still even if we assume that is the case, that they must be in jail because by their speaking out and possibly even ascending Har HaBayit it offends the Goyim so that they will riot etc.and commit acts of terror  is not the same as they must be in jail because they are violent and will do something violent that endangers the public. Can we incarcerate someone just because they may anger the Goyim for their belief system?  Am Yisroel davens every day to return to the Avoda in the 'Beis Hamikdash. This is said privately but just like hilltop youth we pray and aspire the same things.  

Is it halachically sound to imprison someone for publicly stating what we believe to be the truth like our desire for a court based on Torah, just because it will infuriate the  Goyim? How far can this go.  How many hilltop youth will they put under administrative detention? .

Many others, myself included believe that the Goyim don't need any excuse to commit a terror attack.  We should not be silent about our aspirations.

End the Sinas Chinam Against the Hilltop Youth