Friday, February 29, 2008

Yes Odeleya, the OU has finally broken their Silence! Endorsement for Palestine!

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The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (including the OU) endorsed for the first time a
two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/107213.html
 
We call upon each and every Orthodox Jew that is affiliated or not affiliated with the OU to call on it's boss or Rabbi and voice a complaint. The OU as an organization is not representing our Jewish interests.  Employees, voice your public disapproval even at the risk of being fired. Congregants, call upon your congregations to disassociate themselves from the OU Leadership.  Don't depend on your Rabbi. Insist that either he voices his dismay or you will voice it and risk your respect for him and perhaps even his job as your Rabbi. That will counter his fear of speaking out because he fears his position in the Orthodox Union political echelon.
 
Members of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs

American Jewish Committee http://www.ajc.org
American Jewish Congress http://www.ajcongress.org
Anti-Defamation League http://www.adl.org
B'nai B'rith http://www.bnaibrith.org
Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life http://www.coejl.org
Hadassah http://www.hadassah.org
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Life http://www.hillel.org
Jewish Labor Committee http://www.jewishlabor.org
Jewish Reconstructionist Federation http://www.jrf.org
Jewish War Veterans http://www.jwv.org
National Conference on Soviet Jewry http://www.ncsj.org/
National Council of Jewish Women http://www.ncjw.org
National Jewish Coalition for Literacy http://www.njcl.net
ORT America http://www.ortamerica.org
Union for Reform Judaism http://www.urj.org
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America http://www.ou.org
United Jewish Communities http://www.ujc.org
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism http://www.uscj.org
Women's League for Conservative Judaism http://www.wlcj.org

Thank you Dovid Wilder of the Hebron Community for passing on this information.
 
Forwarded Message:
Subj: Fwd: BREAK THE SILENCE!! 
Date: 2/28/2008 12:27:58 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
From: Odel216
To: plerner@youngisrael.org
-----------------
Forwarded Message:
Subj: BREAK THE SILENCE!! 
Date: 2/28/2008 12:26:31 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
From: Odel216
To: yochevedg@ou.org
 
Dear Rabbi Weinreb,
    I CAN NOT UNDERSTAND HOW YOU AS A RABBI CAN REMAIN SILENT AND BY DOING SO KEEP SO MANY OTHERS IN THE DARK AS KASSAM
ROCKETS HIT , HURT, MAME AND KILL OUR JEWISH PEOPLE IN ISRAEL.  AS THE SO CALLED LEADERS IN THE ISRAELI GOV'T FAIL TO PROTECT AND SECURE THE JEWISH CITIZENS OF ISRAEL, AS THE PRESSURES FROM PRES. BUSH AND RICE CONTINUE ON ISRAEL TO GIVE LAND TO TERRORISTS , ENEMIES OF BOTH ISRAEL AND AMERICA,     YOU, RABBI WEINREB, AND THOSE WHO SIT WITH YOU,
DO NOT PUBLICLY CONDEMM ANY ACTIONS OF THE ENEMIES THAT WORK HARD TO DESTROY THE JEWISH IDENTITY , AND JEWISH MORALE IN ERETZ YISRAEL.  HOW CAN THOSE ,WHO HASHEM PLACES
IN HIGH POWERFUL POSITIONS  ACT IN SUCH WEAKNESS???
 
YOU WITH THE REST OF THE OU EXECUTIVES WERE VERY QUICK TO CONDEM RABBI WOLPE FOR WORDS THAT WERE TWISTED .  WHERE
IS YOUR PUBLIC ACTIVISM ON BEHALF OF YOUR JEWISH BRETHREN
THAT ARE HURT AND TRAUMATIZED???
 
YOU ARE A HISTORIAN AND UNDERSTAND THAT HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF IF WE FAIL TO LEARN LESSONS FROM THE PAST!
 
THE SILENCE MUST BREAK!  I URGE YOU TO DO RIGHT BY OUR JEWISH PEOPLE!!  THE TIME HAS COME FOR ALL OF US WHO BELIEVE
THAT THE JEWISH LAND OF ISRAEL BELONGS TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE TO UNITE IN ACHDUT ALL OVER THE WORLD AND FIGHT THE BATTLE TOGETHER IN ACHDUT AND IN STRENGTH!!
 
THERE IS MUCH TO DO AND THE SILENCE MUST BREAK!
 
WE MUST MOBILIZE OUR PEOPLE IN THE SHULS AND YESHIVAS AND INFORM THE KLAL OF THE DANGERS THAT WE ARE ALL IN.
 
HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR ANY JEW TO SIT BACK AND SMILE AND GO ON WITH LIFE AS USUAL WHILE IN ERETZ YISRAEL OUR JEWISH BRETHREN ARE ATTACKED, WITH INNOCENT CHILDREN LOSING
LEGS , ARMS, LIFE?????????? CHILDREN ARE BECOMING ORPHANS
AS KASSAMS CONTINUE TO RAIN IN  HUNDREDS OF THEM DAILY???
 
WE MUST ACT IN WAYS THAT HASHEM EXPECTS HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE TO ACT.  WE ARE OUR BROTHERS' KEEPER.  WE MUST NOT BE SILENT!!  PURIM IS COMING AND SO WE MUST BE MOBILIZED THROUGH OUR RABBIS, ORGANIZATIONS, YESHIVOT
IN MASSIVE TEFILA GATHERINGS   AND   ACTIVISM ON BEHALF OF OUR JEWISH BRETHREN!!  WE SHOULD BE OUTRAGED AND EXPRESS
OUR OUTRAGE .  WE MUST HAVE A STRONG UNITED MEDIA CAMPAIGN TO EXPRESS TO THE WORLD THAT ERETZ YISRAEL INCLUDING YEHUDA AND SHOMRON BELONG TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND THAT APPEASMENT TO TE ARABS WILL ONLY ENCOURAGE MORE EXTREMIST
TERRORISM AGAINST THE WEST AS WELL B/C THAT IS WHAT JIHAD
IS ALL ABOUT. 
 
THE OU HAS A CHOICE  EITHER YOU ARE WITH US IN THE FIGHT FOR
THE JEWISH LAND OF ISRAEL , OR YOU CONTINUE TO BE SILENT AND CHOOSE WEAKNESS OVER STRENGTH AND  PEOPLE WILL NOT FORGET!!
 
LET US ALL UNITE IN ACHDUT AND STRENGTH !! Rabbi Weinreb,
please take the lead to BREAK THE SILENCE !!     TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!!
 
                                                                                                 Odeleya Jacobs
                                                                                                  WORLD COMMITTEE FOR THE LAND OF ISRAEL
 
 
 




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Thursday, February 28, 2008

G-d help us from our leaders from ourselves. RED FLAG for Mishpacha Magazine.

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Mishpacha Magazine arrived this morning.  We all look forward to this wonderful magazine...but....
 
Point of View by Rabbi Moshe Grylak  Editor in Chief of Mishpacha Magazine is entitled Barack Obama and the Prophets.  page 12
 
 
The side bar reads "We also look at our fellow man and see him lonely and isolated, swamped by a sea of media messages, and hear his silent cry for change.  "Stand for Change," says Barack Obama, and it's no wonder the American collective is flocking after him. 
 
The other side bar is Food for Thought "Master of the Universe, I ask of You, redeem the Jewish People, And if You won't do that, then redeem the non-Jew (-Rabbi Yisrael, the maggid of Kozhnitz)
 
The last paragraph of Rabbi Grylak article is
 
"And this is the focus of our fascination at this moment.  For, if the evidence is not deceiving us, and America has freed itself of its mental block against a black man as their leader, that is proof that established norms can change.  If this can happen, then we shall surely also see the total change of human consciousness that our Prophets declared would occur, as explained by the author of Michtav Me"Eliyahu, ztz"l
 
The phenomenon of Barack Hussein Obama serves as a wonderful illustration of this truth."
 
The article describes Obama as a gifted speaker, maybe the best in the Democratic Party, drawing an ever-increasing following.  The article continues to ask Are the American people so inspired by his elegant outward appearance that they aren't bothering to look too deeply at what he actually has to offer his country in terms of policy on the issues?
 
The article however doesn't bother to address Obama's policy on the issues. 
 
Good Question Rabbi Grylak. Did Rabbi Grylak bother to investigate what Obama's policy might be regarding the establishment of a Palestinian State?  How about Obama's inner circle, the ones most likely to define his foreign policy.  The advisors that have history of aligning with anti-Semites.  I suppose such information was better left unsaid for reasons I can not really figure out.  I suppose the establishment of a Palestinian State is no big dea to Rabbi Grylak.  Neither was the expulsion from Gush Katif in 2005 prior to the disengagement to Rabbi Grylak. At that time I personally wrote Rabbi Grylak a letter begging the Gedoilim to speak out and he responded that we must follow the guidance of the Gedoilim even if we don't understand the whole picture. 
 
So, in my opinion this portrayal of Barack Obama put him in a very positive light. After all, he's quite a popular guy. 
 
Then on page 21 in Mishpacha magazine there was an article regarding Fidel Castro.  It quotes Rabbi Meir Lau.  "Fidel Castro is one big riddle to me.  He was very opposed to anti-Semitism, but on the other hand, he joined hands with our greatest enemies"  Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau.  There is a nice picture of Rabbi Lau viewing a box of Cuban cigars with Castro in their 1994 meeting. The article states, "As dictator of a country noted for atheism, Castro, surprised Rabbi Lau with his grasp of the Bible, displaying curiosity as to how seventy Jews could multiply into a nation of 600,000 in just 210 years in Egypt. "
 
The article ends with the paragraph
 
"Castro refused Rabbi Lau's request for permission to import kosher meat because he thought it would be showing favoritism to the Jews, in a country where meat is rationed, but he did permit a shipment of matzos, because matzos are "a religious product and not food."
 
Rabbi Lau. Is Castro really a big riddle?  Was Castro a bad guy  or a good guy?  The article portrays him as human just like the rest of us.  I suppose good and evil is really not that important anymore.
 
There was no mention in this page of being anti Israel. In fact the article puts Castro in a very human light. There is no indication that he was indeed our enemy.  In contrast an article by Hillel Fendel in A7 was much more negative.  Please visit http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125304 .  Here is an excerpt of the article.
 
" In October 1973, during the Yom Kippur war, not only did Castro break diplomatic relations with Israel, but he deployed thousands of Cuban soldiers, including helicopter pilots and tank crews to fight alongside the Syrians, The next year, Castro gave the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) an expropriated Jewish community center in Havana - and awarded the visiting Yasser Arafat with Cuba's highest award, the Bay of Pigs Medal. "
 
This is a red flag regarding Mishpacha Magazine.  Editor in Chief, Grylak is involving himself with politics and is not focusing on Torah.  Yet he has the title of Rabbi and the backing and support of the Chareidi Rabbanim.  He is the number one promoter of listening to Daas Torah.  We might get confused that all this politics is actually Daas Torah.
 
When a chareidi women was asked who she will vote for, she said, whomever I'm told to. 
 
We have been brainwashed not to think for ourselves. Our understanding of Torah is not as clear as our Gedoilim. 
 
So if Rav Perlow and Rav Malkiel Kotler and Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky and Rav Belsky etc. names are on a poster banning an all separate seating concert, a real evil that must be exorcised from our midst, that must take priority on the establishment of a Palestinian State putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of Jews in danger.   But what do I know? I'm just a female.
 




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Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Vehaya Machanecha Kadosh! Banning the Lipa Shmeltzer Concert in Madison Square

Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Vehaya Machanecha Kadosh! Banning the Lipa Shmeltzer Concert in Madison Square.
 
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Why was this concert targeted rather than the Hasc Concert or others?  I understand that the fear was that Lipa adapts his music from Goyish Music and this might affect adversely on his fans, many from the insulated and sheltered chareidi community and will give them a taste for Goyish music. 
 
Which Mitzvah DOrayta, Biblical commandment, is being violated? According to the poster they quote the Mitzveh "Vehaya Machanecha Kadosh" , and your camp shall be holy. The source is Devarim/Deuteronomy 23:14-15  The Torah is referring to a military camp.  "You shall have a shovel in addition to your weapons, and it will be that when you sit outside, you shall dig with it; you shall go back and cover your excrement.  For Hashem, your G-d, walks in the midst of your camp to rescue you and to deliver your enemies before you, so your camp shall be holy, so that He will not see a shameful thing among you and turn away from behind you." (Stone Edition translation).
 
This verse is specifically referring to a military camp that needs to be free of sin in a time of war so that Hashem will find us worthy to rescue us from our enemies.
 
So why are the Rabbanim focusing on the Mitzva of " Vehaya Machanecha Kadosh?"  Perhaps this Mitzva is precisely the one they should be focusing on.  Our enemies are surrounding us.  There is an arsenal of weapons that is being smuggled and now openly being brought to Gaza and Lebanon.  The military will attest to this.  The Hizbollah has restocked in the north and Al Qaeida and Hamas have stocked up in Gaza.  Sederot is daily being attacked and  within close rocket range after the expulsion of Gush Katif and anti missiles are ineffective at such close range.  The Rambam states that a Milchemet Mitzvah, a war that is a commandment, is one which we are obligated to fight when we are attacked.  So perhaps the Rabbanim could be focusing on seeing to it that the Machana, the military camp, remains Kadosh, holy in a time of war.  Nachal Chareidi (the Chareidi battalion) does that.  Women are not  allowed in combat or in military positions that would compromise on Tzniyut (modesty) , distracting the soldier from doing his job.  There are the laws regarding covering excrement, etc. It is the job of the Rabbanim to advise us on the many Halachoth (laws) regarding these  matters.
 
Speaking out against the present Israeli Government, the American Foreign Policy and Bush's Roadmap and the 2 State Solution in a United Torah Roadmap Campaign signed by these same 33 Gedoilim seems like Daas Torah, a Torah perspective,  to me. In fact "VeHaya Machanecha Kadosh" is the perfect theme.  
 
abridged version.
 
 
 




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Vehaya Machanecha Kadosh! Banning the Lipa Shmeltzer Concert in Madison Square.

bs"d
 
This past week posters were plastered around Boro Park and Flatbush banning a concert that was to take place March 9th in Madison Square Garden to benefit needy couples that were to be wed in Eretz Yisroel.  I understand an ad was placed in Hamodia as well, banning this concert.  The ban also included any media advertising this concert .
 
Why then was this concert targeted rather than the Hasc Concert or others?  I understand that the fear was that Lipa adapts his music from Goyish Music and this might affect adversely on his fans, many from the insulated and sheltered chareidi community and will give them a taste for Goyish music.  However, these Rabbanim did not simply advise their people not to attend,  they publicly declared this concert  against Daas Torah and it seems from the text of the ban that all such concerts are not allowed following the rulings in Eretz Yisroel by Gedoilim (which banned Simchat Beit Hashoeva concerts).
 
Now, Is this really Daas Torah? 
 
What we have to ask is how come all these Rabbanim are publicly blasting a separate seating concert where it is hard to find which Mitzvah DOrayta is being violated. They quote the Mitzveh "Vehaya Machanecha Kadosh" whose source is Devarim 23:14-15  The Torah is referring to a military camp.  "You shall have a shovel in addition to your weapons, and it will be that when you sit outside, you shall dig with it; you shall go back and cover your excrement.  For Hashem, your G-d, walks in the midst of your camp to rescue you and to deliver your enemies before you, so your camp shall be holy, so that He will not see a shameful thing among you and turn away from behind you." (Stone Edition translation).
 
This verse is specifically referring to a military camp that needs to be free of sin in a time of war so that Hashem will find us worthy to rescue us from our enemies. I wonder seriously if it was referring to  going to a separate seating concert with only Jewish music to raise up our spirits.  And if you say it is forbidden to dress up Goyish music and turn it into Jewish music, then why is the Levush of these same communities adapted from 1800 Polish Nobility?  And would it be so terrible if on the way to the concert, perhaps on the subway, a boy met a girl and eventually actually became engaged and went on to build a Bayit Neeman Beyisroel filled with Kedusha.  But Tzepast Nisht.  I suppose the way Yaakov Avinu met Ruchel Imeinu and the way Moshe Rabbeinu met Tsipporah was Tsepast Nisht as well. Maybe it's because that was before Matan Torah.  Now we know better.
 
So why are the Rabbanim focusing on the Mitzva of " Vehaya Machanecha Kadosh?"  Perhaps this Mitzva is precisely the one they should be focusing on.  Our enemies are surrounding us.  There is an arsenal of weapons that is being smuggled and now openly being brought to Gaza and Lebanon.  The military will attest to this.  The Hizbollah has restocked in the north and Al Keida and Hamas have stocked up in Gaza.  Sederot is daily being attacked and  within close rocket range after the expulsion of Gush Katif and anti missiles are ineffective at such close range.  The Rambam states that a Milchemet Mitzvah is one which we are obligated to fight when we are attacked.  So perhaps the Rabbanim should be focusing on seeing to it that the Machana, the military camp, remains Kadosh.  Nachal Chareidi does  that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netzah_Yehuda_Battalion   Women should not be allowed in combat or in positions that would compromise on Tzniyut, distracting the soldier from doing his job.   The Mitzvoth of covering excrement, etc. It is the job of the Rabbanim to advise us on the many Halachoth regarding these  matters. 
 
How come the Rabbanim have united to come out with a Public Statement regarding a Jewish, all separate seating concert, yet these Rabbanim were silent when the property of 10,000 people, were stolen, destroyed, for no reason in Gush Katif?  Dead bodies were interred to other places.  Shuls and communities destroyed.  Families torn apart. Parnassa lost with no easy way to reestablish and retrain in another profession. Kids uprooted from their homes, the family structure undermined.  Once stable successful teenagers now suicidal, depressed and/or on drugs.  How come these Rabbanim are not focusing on Pikuach Nefesh and Al Taamod Al Dam Reiacha and the shameful abandonment of the government of Israel to the people in Sederot ordering the army not to fight back effectively. Let us not forget that this situation is a direct result of the Government's policies to uproot the settlements from Gush Katif.  Not learning a lesson, the government is still pursuing the evasive dream of "peace" with their desire to establish a State of Palestine and slice away Yerushalayim like one slices a salami leaving the rest of Israel, including Chareidi population centers, to become like the next Sederot.
 
Are these Rabbanim uniting to pressure Shas to leave the gov't?  Are they working to unite with parties that are against territorial concessions to the Arabs and in fact promote a government based on our Torah Heritage and Torah values and  Torah based Judicial system?
 
Speaking out against the present Israeli Government, the American Foreign Policy and Bush's Roadmap and the 2 State Solution in a United Torah Roadmap Campaign signed by these same 33 Gedoilim seems to be more like Daas Torah to me. In fact "VeHaya Machanecha Kadosh" is the perfect theme.  
 




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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

BEIT OROT Promotes JMINTHEAM who promotes Malcolm Hoenlein who promote Palestine

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Hurrah!  THERE IS A NEW FLOOR AND CONSTRUCTION ON HAR HAZEITIM.  I would love to believe that this is all good.  In fact there was a super crane overlooking the area showing to all that there is now construction going on in this part of Jerusalem.   And JMINTHEAM deserves a lot of the credit for bringing Yerushalayim into the minds, hearts and souls of all of its listeners.  Shlomo Zwickler could not say enough good things about JMINTHEAM.
 
I too promote JMINTHEAM for their wonderful Jewish music and wonderful promotion of worthy Jewish Institutions such as Hebron and Beit Orot, Rachel's Children and for wonderful speakers such as Rabbi Benjamin Yudin etc.
 
Every year for the past several years my husband has been sending in $72 to JMINTHEAM in honor of my birthday. I love their T shirts and wear them all the time (they are long sleeves and comfortable and were for free) I love their free CD's.  There is lots that I love about JMINTHEAM.  Nachum Segal is a fantastic host and promoter and the entertainment is first class.
 
Yet, I am not blinded to other very serious matters about JMINTHEAM that I find very disturbing and dangerous to Am Yisroel.  They have been quiet along with mainstream Jewish Media about being critical of the American Foreign Policy in promoting the establishment of a the Two State Solution in accordance with President Bush's Roadmap Plan and the policy of the State Department.  So while Nachum Segal will promote Hebron and Beit Orot, he will at the same time promote Malcolm Hoenlein who will speak out against anti-Semitism yet is busy negotiating for a Palestinian State Chas Vechalila which has been the number one cause for anti-Semitism throughout the world. 
 
I was at the Beit Orot Dinner where Nachum Segal was honored and was the MC.  While we all stood at attention singing Hatikva yet there was not one mention at that Dinner regarding the dangers of the establishment of a Palestinian State and the evil destructive policies of the Olmert Administration to the settlers and the girls from the hilltop youth that were in jail. I don't remember them being critical of the Israel gov't for allowing the Kassam rockets to continuously fall on Sderot.  Why mar an elegant dinner?
 
Also the Hebron dinner was MC'd by Nachum Segal.   We saw the Mesiras Nefesh of all the Jews living in Hebron and in Beit Hashalom.  Who in America could even compare the Mesiras Nefesh for Eretz Yisroel than the Jews in Hebron and the Jews Beit Orot.   I myself included can not compare with the Mesiras Nefesh of these Holy Jews in Hebron.
 
Maybe we can say the Young Israel is the best of Jewish Mainstream groups in the States to speak out for Jerusalem.
 
Yet none of these organizations have united to publicly condemn American Foreign Policy and the establishment of a Palestinian State.
 
Yes, Beit Orot has a nice new floor and a big crane showing everyone that yes there is now construction going on in East Jerusalem, Yes, finally Beit Hashalom now has windows and the women and children and babies don't have to freeze anymore and they can now save the $30,000 a month on heating bills. And yes the Young Israel just accepted a large donation from the Jewish Agency for their educational programs.
 
And yes the Silence regarding the establishment of a Palestinian State and the two state solution "Roadmap" continues.  So what will having a new floor and several new buildings in East Jerusalem and even a warm Beit Hashalom building accomplish, if within the year there is the establishment of a Palestinian State and we know from experience that the bulldozers can destroy new and old construction within a few hours.  It doesn't even have to take a bulldozer.  An earthquake can be equally as effective. 
 
What about the Torah Roadmap?  If I was on the dark side I would say to myself, whatever the price for installing a temporary  new floor for Beit Orot and new windows for Beit Hashalom and the new educational programs for Young Israel, it's a steal in order to SILENCE all opposition to the greater goal of establishing a New Palestinians State (hurrah) (hu ra).  Cause once WE get into power, there will be no Beit Orot and no Hebron.  When we Silence the Pioneers themselves, then effectively we Silence them all.




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