Haredi Jews attend the funeral of the late Rabbi Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik on Jan. 31, 2021, in Jerusalem. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.
By: Meira Svirsky
Thousands of people packed the streets Sunday in Jerusalem to participate in the funeral processions of two prominent haredi rabbis, both of whom passed away due to complications from COVID-19.
The large processions—the first on Sunday afternoon for Rabbi Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik, 99, head of one of the Brisk yeshivahs in Jerusalem, and the second in the evening for Rabbi Yitzchok Scheiner, 98—took place despite Israel’s current coronavirus lockdown restrictions, which forbid large gatherings and with no intervention from police.
Scheiner had specifically cautioned people to stay away from crowded places in a letter of instructions he wrote about a month ago to students and followers.
The funerals came amid continued tensions within Israel over coronavirus restrictions and mass gatherings. Many segments within Israeli society, including both the secular and national religious, have been upset with the haredim for ignoring the rules.
Commenting on the large gatherings, Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum told JNS, “I just think it is completely ironic that the [rabbis] died of COVID, and the people who are going to the funeral are basically bringing more COVID on the rest of the community and the rest or the country.”
She added that “it seems to me like this community still hasn’t internalized the fact that these deaths have all been avoidable. It’s their [the community’s] actions that make them unavoidable.”
The deputy mayor was also quick to add that the overwhelming percentage of haredim are abiding by the restrictions. Hassan-Nahoum had equally harsh words for the large gatherings of protesters demonstrating against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu every Saturday night near the prime minister’s house in Jerusalem’s near Balfour Street.
“They are no better. They are still gathering,” she said. “They are using a democratic principle to gather and still spread the disease. I don’t think there is any difference. And what are they demonstrating about exactly? There is going to be an election in a month-and-a-half. If you believe in a democracy, then vote! They choose to see it as [participating in] an active democracy in the midst of a pandemic … it’s like the lunatics have taken over the asylum.”
Prominent haredi journalist Ariel Elharar summed up frustration in segments of the haredi world tweeting, “Crazy how the people who attended the demonstration yesterday are writing today against the funeral.”
Yehuda Meshi Zahav, founder and head of the volunteer rescue and recovery organization ZAKA and a well-known activist in the haredi community, criticized members of his community for wasting their time complaining about being discriminated against and pointing fingers at the demonstrators outside the prime minister’s house.
Excavating Slaves’ Hill. Photo Credit: Sagi Bornstein, the Central Timna Valley Project.
By: TPS Staff
Groundbreaking research conducted by Israeli archaeologists enabled them to recover scraps of fabric dyed in royal purple from the time of King David and King Solomon, some 3,000 years ago, the first time that purple-dyed Iron Age textiles have been found in Israel, or indeed throughout the Southern Levant.
The Book of the Song of Songs describes how King Solomon “made for himself the carriage; he made it of wood from Lebanon. Its posts he made of silver, its base of gold. Its seat was upholstered with purple, its interior inlaid with love.”
For the first time, rare evidence has been found of fabric dyed with this royal purple.
While examining the colored textiles from Timna Valley, an ancient copper production district in southern Israel, in a study that has lasted several years, the researchers were surprised to find remnants of woven fabric, a tassel and fibers of wool dyed with royal purple.
Direct radiocarbon dating confirms that the finds date from approximately 1,000 BCE, corresponding to the biblical monarchies of David and Solomon in Jerusalem.
Wool fibers dyed with Royal Purple,~1000 BCE, Timna Valley, Israel. Photo Credit: Dafna Gazit, the Israel Antiquities Authority
The dye, which is produced from species of mollusk found in the Mediterranean, over 300 km from Timna, is often mentioned in the Bible and appears in various Jewish and Christian contexts.
The research was carried out by Dr. Naama Sukenik from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and Prof. Erez Ben-Yosef, from the Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with Prof. Zohar Amar, Dr. David Iluz and Dr. Alexander Varvak from Bar-Ilan University and Dr. Orit Shamir from the IAA.
“This is a very exciting and important discovery,” explains Dr. Naama Sukenik, curator of organic finds at the IAA.
“This is the first piece of textile ever found from the time of David and Solomon that is dyed with the prestigious purple dye. In antiquity, purple attire was associated with the nobility, with priests, and of course with royalty. The gorgeous shade of the purple, the fact that it does not fade, and the difficulty in producing the dye, which is found in minute quantities in the body of mollusks, all made it the most highly valued of the dyes, which often cost more than gold,” she explained.
“Until the current discovery, we had only encountered mollusk-shell waste and potsherds with patches of dye, which provided evidence of the purple industry in the Iron Age. Now, for the first time, we have direct evidence of the dyed fabrics themselves, preserved for some 3,000 years,” she added.
Prof. Erez Ben-Yosef noted that an archaeological expedition has been excavating continuously at Timna since 2013, including a new site known as “Slaves’ Hill,” a misleading name, since the laborers were highly skilled metalworkers. Timna was a production center for copper, the Iron Age equivalent of modern-day oil. Copper smelting required advanced metallurgical understanding that was a guarded secret, and those who held this knowledge were the ‘Hi-Tech’ experts of the time.
Slaves’ Hill is the largest copper-smelting site in the valley and it is filled with piles of industrial waste such as slag from the smelting furnaces. One of these heaps yielded three scraps of colored cloth.
“The color immediately attracted our attention, but we found it hard to believe that we had found true purple from such an ancient period,” said Ben-Yosef.
“As a result of the region’s extremely dry climate, we are also able to recover organic materials such as textile, cords and leather from the Iron Age, from the time of David and Solomon, providing us with a unique glimpse into life in biblical times. If we excavated for another hundred years in Jerusalem, we would not discover textiles from 3,000 years ago. The state of preservation at Timna is exceptional and it is paralleled only by that at much later sites such as Masada and the Judean Desert Caves,” he added.
True purple, Argaman in Hebrew, was produced from three species of mollusk indigenous to the Mediterranean Sea: The Banded Dye-Murex (Hexaplex trunculus), the Spiny Dye-Murex (Bolinus brandaris), and the Red-Mouthed Rock-Shell (Stramonita haemastoma).
The dye was produced from a gland located within the body of the mollusk by means of a complex chemical process that lasted several days.
Most scholars agree that the two precious dyes, Argaman (true purple) and Techelet, light blue or azure, were produced from the purple dye mollusk under different conditions of exposure to light. When exposed to light, azure is obtained whereas, without light exposure, a purple hue is obtained.
These colors are often mentioned together in ancient sources, and both have symbolic and religious significance to this day. The Temple priests, David and Solomon, and Jesus of Nazareth are all described as having worn clothing colored with purple.
The analytical tests conducted at Bar Ilan University’s laboratories, together with dyes that were reconstructed by Prof. Zohar Amar and Dr. Naama Sukenik, can identify the species used to dye the Timna textiles and the desired hues.
To reconstruct the mollusk dyeing process, Amar traveled to Italy where he cracked thousands of mollusks, which the Italians eat, and produced raw material from their dye glands that were used in hundreds of attempts to reconstruct ancient dyeing.
“The practical work took us back thousands of years,” said Amar, “and it has allowed us to better understand obscure historical sources associated with the precious colors of azure and purple.”
Wool textile fragment decorated by threads dyed with Royal Purple, ~1000 BCE, Timna Valley, Israel Photo Credit: Dafna Gazit, the Israel Antiquities Authority
The dye was identified with High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), an advanced analytical instrument that indicated the presence of unique dye molecules, originating only in certain species of mollusk.
Sukenik said that “most of the colored textiles found at Timna, and in archaeological research in general, were dyed using various plant-based dyes that were readily available and easier to dye with. The use of animal-based dyes is regarded as much more prestigious, and served as an important indicator for the wearer’s high economic and social status.”
“The remnants of the purple-dyed cloth that we found are not only the most ancient in Israel but in the Southern Levant in general. We also believe that we have succeeded in identifying the double-dyeing method in one of the fragments, in which two species of mollusk were used in a sophisticated way, to enrich the dye, “she noted.
This technology is described by the Roman historian Pliny the Elder, from the first century CE, and the dye it produced was considered the most prestigious.
Ben-Yosef identifies the copper-production center at Timna as part of the biblical Kingdom of Edom, which bordered the kingdom of Israel to the south. According to him, the dramatic finds should revolutionize the concepts of nomadic societies in the Iron Age.
“The new finds reinforce our assumption that there was an elite at Timna, attesting to a stratified society. In addition, since the mollusks are indigenous to the Mediterranean, this society obviously maintained trade relations with other peoples who lived on the coastal plain. However, we do not have evidence of any permanent settlements in the Edomite territory,” he explained.
The Edomite Kingdom was a kingdom of nomads in the early Iron Age. When we think of nomads, it is difficult for us to free ourselves from comparisons with contemporary Bedouins, and we, therefore, find it hard to imagine kings without magnificent stone palaces and walled cities. Yet in certain circumstances, nomads can also create a complex socio-political structure, one that the biblical writers could identify as a kingdom.
This whole debate has repercussions for our understanding of Jerusalem in the same period, Ben-Yosef believes.
“We know that the Tribes of Israel were originally nomadic and that the process of settlement was gradual and prolonged. Archaeologists are looking for King David’s palace. However, David may not have expressed his wealth in splendid buildings, but with objects more suited to a nomadic heritage such as textiles and artifacts. It is wrong to assume that if no grand buildings and fortresses have been found, then biblical descriptions of the United Monarchy in Jerusalem must be literary fiction. Our new research at Timna has shown us that even without such buildings, there were kings in our region who ruled over complex societies, formed alliances and trade relations, and waged war on each other. The wealth of a nomadic society was not measured in palaces and monuments made of stone, but in things that were no less valued in the ancient world – such as the copper produced at Timna and the purple dye that was traded with its copper smelters,” he said.
We supported Donald Trump’s 2020 candidacy for a second term. He lost, we were depressed for a brief period but finagling with the words of the old Sinatra song, “When our chins are on the ground, we gotta pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and start all over again.” This should have been the post-election rallying cry of Republicans, but they were not. Our conservative leadership was battling among themselves even as the election date neared. They played into the hands of the Democrats resulting in the loyal rank and file voters being confused, irritated and anxious.
They were left in the lurch by the early opposition to Trump from such former Republican heavies as, to name just a few; The Bush’s, the Romney’s, the McCain’s, John Kasich, Bret Stephens, Charley Baker, Michael Steele, David Brooks and on and on. Their shocking switch of party allegiance had much to do with the loss of the election. For our nation’s sake, we’re calling for an immediate party initiative for the renewal of unity necessary to win back our losses in 2022. If we don’t deliver a knock-out punch in less than two years, we can kiss the party and nation “Good-bye.”
The Radical-Progressive-Democrat Party is not as befuddled as President Joe is. They are street smart, predator led, with animal instincts. This is their moment to accomplish the goals set by Obama just 12 years ago. Simply stated, two more states added to the union, voting by snail or e-mail, redistricting Republican held House seats, adding Supreme Court seats, federal voting laws over-ruling the states’, reducing the voting age and more. Their plans for violent civil unrest has worked. Their instigation of violence in D.C. on January 6th was turned by them and their media allies was used to impose military control over our nation’s capital. So well, in fact, it most probably will be used throughout the nation to gradually impose martial law management against any opposition. All moves to blanket us all in the darkness of fascism.
Enough said, now we must rally our forces. We must struggle now to stand united. Any differences among us must be eliminated by hasty agreements to work together. This must be done as a team effort. We must fight the takeover of our public schools by the Socialist led unions by pushing, supporting and electing conservatives on local school boards. Citizens must cram into school board meetings to hear, learn and to vocalize their concerns about radicalized curricula such as the “1619 Project.” Existing Republican and Conservative Clubs must be actively joined and their numbers increased especially in hostile cities and states in order to educate voters. Local Republican leaders will have to replicate the Democrats’ methods of bare knuckle campaigning to win over those fringe and on the fence Democrats.
And on that note, we think it is exceptionally important for conservative organizations, media outlets and outspoken individuals to not only unite but to work in tandem with the Jewish Voice. Because we have garnered an impressive number of followers on or social media platforms and through our daily e-mail blasts in addition to our weekly print edition, the Jewish Voice in an excellent position to be a highly effective megaphone for our shared values of true freedom, democracy and justice in a world gone mad! Contact us so that we can all make a difference in our future as Americans.
A 20th century dictator said it best, “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.” It stands to reason then, that the first military-like objective of any budding totalitarian regime is to capture the minds of the young, to indoctrinate them, to force feed them the mantra of those re-writing history and the rule of law. Schools, their staffs and teachers, those formulating the curricula to reinforce the radical goals of those running the show must be the puppets of those pulling the strings of power.
Once having a foothold in the educational system, like termites embedded in a structure, these revolutionaries reproduce from within, towards one goal…the inculcation into the minds of the young, the well formulated ideas set by the powerful few. And the current administration has the entire teaching system, from kindergarten way up through graduate school, willing and able to promulgate its Progressive program which is now based on the lunacy of our nation’s supposed race inequality, white supremacy, gender identity, America’s evil history, racism and homophobia. That’s what they offer.
But, now that we’re enmeshed in this Chinese Virus net, teachers unions are focused on blackmailing the entire country into meeting a set of Leftist demands for re-opening the schools. Recently an alliance of teachers unions and other leftist groups throughout the country staged a “National Day of Resistance,” demanding, before they return to work, such madness as: Rents and mortgages canceled, increased taxing of billionaires and Wall Street, moratoriums on new charter schools, voucher programs and standardized tests. Throw in for another chuckle, they want “police free schools.” Big Apple teachers, who’ve been paid to stay home for almost a year, want their paid vacation extended by demanding they not return until a minimum of 14 days have passed after any new Chinese Virus cases are reported. Their lives are at risk, they claim. But so are those of grocery workers, truck drivers, police, firefighters, doctors and nurses.
But our teachers hold themselves above all others. They are a selfish group and are willing to lie about the science of the transmission of this virus by their students.
We support the alternatives to public education. That would include private schooling, religious and secular, and as well, home schooling, where concerned parents, working with like minded dedicated neighbor/parents include in their lessons, family values, American greatness and its genuine good/bad history combined with the three “R’s,” according to the needs of the children. No, “One curriculum for all,” as utilized in public schools, taught by teachers, many of whom, because of affirmative action based hiring, lack the basics themselves. Home schooling protects kids from the sexual abuse and gender confusion now prevalent in schools. There are many options for concerned parents to remove their kids from the influence of the organized school systems overseen by our current breed of teachers who are union and politically dominated. Let’s save our kids and their futures from them.
President Joe Biden promised he would unite America again and appoint the most diverse cabinet and administration in history, representing the gorgeous American mosaic. Republicans continue to represent a significant portion of America. Why has he failed to appoint any to serve in his Cabinet and administration?
Mr. Biden has failed in following up on this public commitment on this issue. Actions speak louder than words. His call for bringing America together appears to just be campaign rhetoric. Biden practices to the victor belongs the spoils. Quid pro quo is alive and well in the White House under his watch. It is business as usual at the expense of taxpayers..
Even former Democratic President Barack Obama appointed Ray LaHood–Republican Congressmember from Illinois as his Secretary of Transportation
Sincerely,
Larry Penner
President Trump’s New Legal Team
Dear Editor:
Former President Donald J. Trump on Monday announced that highly respected trial lawyers David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor, Jr., will head his impeachment defense legal team, bringing national profiles and significant trial experience in high-profile cases to the effort.
Notably, Schoen has already been working with the 45th President and other advisors to prepare for the upcoming trial, and both Schoen and Castor agree that this impeachment is unconstitutional–a fact 45 Senators voted in agreement with last week.
“It is an honor to represent the 45th President, Donald J. Trump, and the United States Constitution,” said Schoen.
Castor added, “I consider it a privilege to represent the 45th President. The strength of our Constitution is about to be tested like never before in our history. It is strong and resilient. A document written for the ages, and it will triumph over partisanship yet again, and always.”
Mr. David Schoen is a seasoned trial attorney who has served as lead counsel in several high-profile matters. In 1995, the American Bar Association honored his work with its National Pro Bono Publico Award. According to several federal judges interviewed in connection with his nomination for the award, Mr. Schoen’s litigation was responsible for more change in public institutions in the South, including prisons, jails, public education, foster care, indigent defense and others, than the work of any other lawyer in this era. Mr. Schoen is also the recipient of the Hon. David S. Nelson Public Interest Award.
Mr. Bruce L. Castor, Jr., is the former District Attorney of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, serving in that role from 2000 to 2008. Mr. Castor was later twice-elected Commissioner of Montgomery County and assumed that office on January 7, 2008, concentrating on Public Safety and related matters building on his career in law enforcement. Mr. Castor also served as Solicitor General and acting Attorney General of Pennsylvania.
In 1995, he received the Trial Advocacy Award from the National Association of Government Attorneys for his work investigating and prosecuting homicides. He received state-wide recognition for his efforts by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on two occasions.
Sincerely
Office of 45th President Donald J Trump
New Food Pantry in Queens
Dear Editor:
As part of both organizations’ continued efforts to help feed New Yorkers during this COVID-19 pandemic, Met Council and Chazaq have partnered to open a new food pantry in Kew Gardens Hills on Thursday. The Lev Aharon Community Food Pantry will be supplied by Met Council’s citywide food distribution network and run by Chazaq staff and volunteers who are best equipped to serve the Bukharian community in Queens.
Chazaq and Met Council held a socially distanced grand opening and ribbon cutting at the food pantry on Thursday afternoon. The food pantry, located at 141-47 72nd Ave. in Flushing, provides kosher food tailored to the Bukharian Jewish community in nearby neighborhoods, but the food pantry is available to all families in need and is completely confidential.
“The crisis of hunger and poverty exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic continues and Met Council is proud to partner with Chazaq to open this new food pantry,” said David G. Greenfield, CEO, Met Council. “Food pantries are vital to supporting the struggling families, seniors, and working men and women of this city who have fewer and fewer places to turn to.”
“Building a stronger future for our children is only possible if we also provide for them in the present,” said Rabbi Yaniv Meirov, the CEO of Chazaq. “Through our partnership with Met Council, Chazaq will be able to provide reliable access to healthy, kosher food to thousands more in our community. Our seniors, our children, and anyone who is vulnerable to this pandemic should not and will not go without this winter.”
“Food insecurity has been a real threat to so many Queens families for a long time,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. “This threat has only been exacerbated by the pandemic, and we are grateful that the Met Council and Chazaq are helping address the problem by opening the Lev Aharon Community Food Pantry. We must not rest until all Queens families have the adequate food they need.”
Palestinians hold photo printouts during a rally in support of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Tubas on Sept. 27, 2020. Photo by Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90.
The foreign-policy establishment’s support for UNRWA and toleration of a corrupt Fatah are part of the reason why Palestinian political culture remains broken and unable to make peace.
By: Jonathan S. Tobin
The Biden administration’s first Middle East decisions make clear what was always obvious about the new president’s intentions: the foreign-policy establishment is back in charge in Washington. That’s led to a flurry of moves about U.S. policy towards the Palestinians that, predictably, have a lot of pro-Israel activists up in arms. However, the people who should really be upset are not those most concerned about the Jewish state; rather, it should be those who are worried about the plight of the Palestinians.
By that, I don’t refer to leading Israel-bashers in politics or members of the media who give credence to lies like the blood libel that Israel is denying the COVID-19 vaccine to Palestinians. I’m not even talking about supporters of the BDS movement whose aim is to destroy Israel and who are one of the leading practitioners of anti-Semitism in America. Nor am I discussing those who engage in anti-Israel propaganda under the guise of advocacy for human rights.
When I say those who actually care about the Palestinians, I’m focusing on those who understand that Palestinian leaders—the corrupt “moderates” of Fatah who run the Palestinian Authority, as well as the Hamas terrorists who operate the independent Palestinian state in all but name in Gaza—have betrayed them for generations. It also applies to those who point out that so many of their problems stem from the U.N. Relief Works Agency (UNRWA)—a body that is dedicated to keeping millions of people stuck in limbo as “refugees” rather than help them find new homes or better lives.
The point being that for those who are just fine using Palestinians as props in a pointless hundred years war against Zionism, then a shift back to the policies embraced by the foreign-policy establishment is great news.
As expected, the Biden administration announced this week that it is reversing some of the key changes made in American Middle East policy by former President Donald Trump. Among them is a resumption of diplomatic relations with the P.A., as well as aid to the Palestinians. That news—made in a speech by Richard Mills, the acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations—was cheered by the Fatah government led by Mahmoud Abbas. And it was accompanied by a promise to rededicate American policy to the goal of a two-state solution.
The United States won’t be moving its embassy back to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem. But the Trump “Peace to Prosperity” plan is off the table. It’s also likely that at some point, the State Department will also reverse the Trump-era ruling that correctly stated that Jewish communities in the West Bank are not illegal.
That’s all good news for those who hope that President Joe Biden will pressure Israel to make unilateral concessions in order to tempt the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. That’s despite the fact that no one in Washington, Jerusalem or Ramallah thinks Abbas is interested in negotiating an end to the conflict, no matter what the Israelis offered him.
Biden’s choices show that he has learned nothing from the mistakes made during the Clinton and Obama administrations. Reports that a determined appeaser like Robert Malley will take on the Iran portfolio is troubling. So is the fact that a former BDS activist has been tapped for a top intelligence post.
Just as bad is the news that he is halting arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. That means that an element of the normalization deal that the UAE struck with Israel is being tossed out by a Biden administration that regards the Abraham Accords as a distraction from an effort to satisfy the Palestinians.
The shift from historic levels of support under Trump to the traditional relationship in which the United States is as eager to strong-arm Israel on the Palestinians and Iran is troubling. Yet Biden does not appear to have had any conversations with leaders in the Middle East. With so much else on his plate, another futile quest for two states is the last thing he needs, and the president may know that.
Why then should we care about the gestures toward the P.A.?
These moves are a terrible idea not so much because they weaken Israel, but because they send the signal that the United States has gone back to tolerating the exploitation of the Palestinian people.
Trump sought to hold Abbas accountable for his financial support for terrorism and his ongoing refusal to negotiate peace with Israel was applying to the Palestinians. That was precisely the kind of tough love the establishment was always preaching with respect to the Jewish state in spite of Israel’s willingness to negotiate and to even make concessions for peace. Pressuring Israel did more to encourage Palestinian intransigence than anything else. Pressuring, rather than appeasing the Palestinians is the only path to peace.
Resuming funding to UNRWA sounds like a humanitarian gesture that will help Palestinians who were left in need by a supposedly mean-spirited Trump. But the truth is just the opposite. It is UNRWA that perpetuates the suffering of the Palestinians. The only way to solve the problem of the only population of refugees—or rather, the descendants of refugees—is to dismantle the institution that has helped keep them homeless.
Equally ill-considered is the resumption of aid to the P.A.
This will be tricky for Biden since U.S. law prohibits aid to the P.A. as long as it pays salaries and pensions to terrorists and their families. So what we will see is some sleight of hand move by Abbas’s corrupt government that will claim the money spent on terror is for welfare payments or from some other budget line. Either way, it will be a lie and much to Biden’s discredit if he accepts it.
The problem is not just the idea of the administration flouting the law or its willingness to appease Abbas, who has vowed never to give up the payments. It’s that the Palestinians will never give up their support for terror as long as the international community tolerates it.
Israel will survive, as it did from 2009 to 2017, with even a hostile American administration, even as it is to be hoped that Biden won’t repeat Obama’s mistakes or make worse ones.
But a U.S. government that goes back to tolerating Fatah and Hamas misrule, and U.N. support for the war on Israel dooms the Palestinian people to suffering more than anything else. As regional support for the Abraham Accords proved, the rest of the Arab world has given up on them and has decided not to let their security and economic interests be held hostage to a Palestinian movement incapable of making peace.
If Biden and his team of establishment know-it-alls actually cared about the Palestinians, they’d be doubling down on Trump’s policies rather than reversing them.
Four years of more of the same policies that failed prior to 2017 will be applauded by those who hate Israel or profit from Palestinian corruption. The “experts” who think their misguided foreign-policy theories are more important than reality will also be comforted. But those who view the plight of a people who have been led into a forever war they cannot win with sympathy must regard Biden’s moves with dismay.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and then-Vice President Joe Biden–Photo Credit: Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press
By: Gordon G. Chang
The new administration’s actions look as if they are setting a pattern for its responses to Beijing on the disease and other matters.
On January 26, Biden signed his executive order titled “Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.”
The order states that during the coronavirus pandemic “inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric has put Asian American and Pacific Islander persons, families, communities, and businesses at risk.”
There is nothing wrong with protecting minorities from racism, but racism is not the problem. “Political correctness presages policy incorrectness,” writes the Claremont Institute’s Ben Weingarten on the Newsweek site, commenting on Biden’s executive order. “And when it comes to matters of life and limb, political correctness can kill.”
Weingarten is correct.
“Xenophobia” has been a constant Biden theme. On January 31 of last year, President Trump announced the “travel ban,” prohibitions and restrictions on arrivals from China.
Within moments of the announcement, Biden went on the attack. “This is no time for Donald Trump’s record of hysterical xenophobia and fear mongering to lead the way instead of science,” he said.
Biden’s campaign said the attack was not in response to the travel ban, yet on the following day the candidate expressed the same thoughts in a tweet: “We need to lead the way with science—not Donald Trump’s record of hysteria, xenophobia, and fear-mongering.”
There was nothing “xenophobic” about Trump’s travel ban. It was imposed on arrivals from the country where the disease first appeared. The ban, therefore, saved lives, and it would have saved even more if it had been stricter, announced sooner, and had been more rigorously enforced.
Biden was against the China travel ban, and if he had been president then, the disease would almost certainly have spread faster in America. He was, during the campaign, against all such travel prohibitions.
Then, Biden’s criticisms of the travel ban aligned perfectly with Beijing’s attacks on Trump—and on the United States.
Now, Biden is supporting another Chinese propaganda campaign. “The Federal Government must recognize that it has played a role in furthering these xenophobic sentiments through the actions of political leaders, including references to the COVID-19 pandemic by the geographic location of its origin,” declares the January 26 executive order.
The order is expected to result in a ban, across the federal government, of the use of “China virus,” “Wuhan flu,” and variants.
President Trump emphasized “China virus” early last year, in response to Beijing’s statements. On March 12, the Chinese foreign ministry launched disinformation attacks, accusing the U.S. of being the origin of the coronavirus disease and hiding its source. An official foreign ministry tweet made explicit the claim that official Chinese sources had been hinting for more than a month: The United States was ground zero for COVID-19.
Beijing has not given up on this malicious line of attack. This month, Beijing, with absolutely no evidence, has been pointing to Fort Detrick in Maryland as the source of the disease.
The Chinese regime, which to this day uses geographical names for strains of virus, has been trying to ban any identification of China with the pandemic. Biden, with his executive order, is doing Beijing’s work as Chinese leaders try to deflect blame.
“The Chinese Communist Party would love to see itself delinked from the coronavirus pandemic that originated on its shores, that it sought to cover up, that it helped spread around the world, and that it has cynically sought to exploit at every turn,” writes Weingarten. “So Beijing must have been cheering when it got word of a gift, in this regard, from President Joe Biden.”
Moreover, Biden, within hours of taking the oath, rejoined the World Health Organization (WHO), something else Beijing wanted because, as a practical matter, it controls the political leadership of that body.
This decision was especially hideous because WHO was complicit in China’s deliberate spread of the disease. WHO disseminated Beijing’s position that the coronavirus was not readily contagious even though the organization’s senior doctors knew it was highly transmissible. Moreover, WHO championed the Chinese campaign against travel bans.
Americans died because of these and other indefensible actions on the part of WHO, and now Biden will go back to legitimizing and supporting that organization.
China’s challenge to America is comprehensive, on every front. So far, Biden has taken steps that certainly encourage Beijing. His rejoining the Paris Agreement, his cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline, and his repeal of the ban on Chinese equipment in the American electrical grid, among others, favor, directly or indirectly, Beijing. Also of great concern is the failure of Commerce Secretary nominee Gina Raimondo to confirm that Huawei Technologies will remain on the department’s Entity List.
Analysts say Beijing is testing Biden. Yes, but so far the Chinese do not need to lift a finger. The new president is giving them what they want, and they are not even having to ask.
(Gatestone Institute)
Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China, a Gatestone Institute Distinguished Senior Fellow, and a member of its Advisory Board.
On December 3, 2018, Cook made a speech to the Anti-Defamation League in which he made clear his plan to censor conservative voices on the pretext that they foment misinformation, violence, hatred, division, and white supremacy. Photo Credit: AP/Eric Risberg
Apple’s poster boy for virtue signaling
By: Discover the Networks
Sixty-year-old Tim Cook has been the CEO of Apple Inc. since 2011, when he filled the void left by the death of the company’s founder, Steve Jobs. In late 2011, Forbes magazine named Cook one of the “World’s Most Powerful People.” In 2012 he was the best-paid CEO among the heads of large publicly traded companies. Although his salary was about $900,000, Cook took in $378 million in total compensation from stock awards and bonuses.
With Cook at the helm, Apple came under legal scrutiny in 2013 for its practice of storing wealth overseas. That May, Cook testified before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which had recently completed a probe into how Apple avoided paying tens of billions of tax dollars by shifting its profits into Irish subsidiaries that the subcommittee’s chairman described as “ghost companies.” Denying that Apple was trying to circumvent U.S. tax laws, Cook asserted that his company was paying an effective tax rate that was among the highest of any major corporation: “We pay all the taxes we owe, every single dollar. We do not depend on tax gimmicks…. We do not stash money on some Caribbean island.”
Cook’s public statements were undermined, however, when in 2017 the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung leaked the so-called “Paradise Papers” — a set of more than 13.4 million confidential electronic documents pertaining to offshore investments — which showed that Apple had arranged a sweetheart deal with the Republic of Ireland that allowed the company to pay a miniscule tax rate, sometimes as low as 0.005 percent, on its Irish assets.
After the highly publicized death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, Cook became a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Photo Credit: AP
On March 29, 2015, Cook wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in which he attacked the long-sacrosanct protections for religious freedoms included in the First Amendment:
“There’s something very dangerous happening in states across the country. A wave of legislation, introduced in more than two dozen states, would allow people to discriminate against their neighbors. Some, such as the bill enacted in Indiana last week that drew a national outcry and one passed in Arkansas, say individuals can cite their personal religious beliefs to refuse service to a customer or resist a state nondiscrimination law.
“Others are more transparent in their effort to discriminate. Legislation being considered in Texas would strip the salaries and pensions of clerks who issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples — even if the Supreme Court strikes down Texas’ marriage ban later this year. In total, there are nearly 100 bills designed to enshrine discrimination in state law.”
Cook has taken positions on various other political issues as well, that place him to the left side of the political spectrum.
For example, he supports Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a 2012 executive action through which then-President Barack Obama granted temporary work authorization as well as protection from deportation to illegal aliens who had been brought to the U.S. before they were 16 years of age. “The DACA situation is one that I am truthfully, as an American, deeply offended by,” Cook said in 2018. “The DACA situation is not an immigration issue. It’s a moral issue…. This is one that goes to the core of who we are as Americans. Who among us would think that it’s the right thing to do to kick somebody out of this country when they came here when they were 1, 2, 3 years old, that have only known this country as their home, that know no other country as their home? This just doesn’t make any sense.”
On December 3, 2018, Cook made a speech to the Anti-Defamation League in which he made clear his plan to censor conservative voices on the pretext that they foment misinformation, violence, hatred, division, and white supremacy. Exhorting his listeners “not to be bystanders as hate tries to make its headquarters in the digital world,” Cook said: “We [at Apple] only have one message for those who seek to push hate, division and violence: You have no place on our platforms. You have no home here. From the earliest days of iTunes to Apple Music today, we have always prohibited music with a message of white supremacy. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do. And as we showed this year, we won’t give a platform to violent conspiracy theorists on the App Store. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do.”
After the highly publicized death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, Cook became a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. At the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) the month after, Cook said that he understood not only the pain being experienced across America, “especially in our black and brown communities after the senseless killing of George Floyd,” but also motivations underlying the BLM protests that had swept the country. Asserting that Floyd’s death and the public reaction to it had caused Americans to “face longstanding institutional inequalities and social injustices,” Cook stated: “This country was founded on the principles of freedom and equality for all. For too many people, and for too long, we haven’t lived up to those ideas. This means taking action.”
In 2020 as well, Cook published a statement titled “Speaking Up On Racism,” on the Apple website, where he said:
“Right now, there is a pain deeply etched in the soul of our nation and in the hearts of millions. To stand together, we must stand up for one another, and recognize the fear, hurt, and outrage rightly provoked by the senseless killing of George Floyd and a much longer history of racism.
“That painful past is still present today — not only in the form of violence, but in the everyday experience of deeply rooted discrimination…. We commit to continuing to fight the forces of environmental injustice — like climate change — which disproportionately harm Black communities and other communities of color. We commit to looking inward and pushing progress forward on inclusion and diversity, so that every great idea can be heard. And we’re donating to organizations including the Equal Justice Initiative, which challenge racial injustice and mass incarceration…. To the Black community — we see you. You matter and your lives matter.”
On June 11, 2020, Apple vowed to spend $100 million to challenge what Cook described as “systemic barriers that limit opportunity for communities of color in the critical areas of education, economic equality, and criminal justice.”
In a January 2021 interview with Fox News, Cook was asked to comment on Apple’s recent decision to suspend the social media platform Parler, which was a competitor to Facebook and Twitter, from its App Store. Because the suspension occurred shortly after a January 6 incident where several hundred people had swarmed into the Capitol building in Washington, ostensibly to protest what they viewed as an illegitimate presidential election in which Joe Biden had defeated Donald Trump, Cook’s implication was that Parler had been used by Trump supporters to organize and promote that event. Said Cook: “We looked at the incitement of violence that was on there. We don’t consider that free speech and incitement to violence has an intersection.” (www.FrontPageMag.com)
Notably, Cook did not provide any examples of the purported incitement to violence to be found on Parler, nor was he asked why Apple’s App Store had not suspended either Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube when, throughout the spring and summer of 2020, so many Black Lives Matter supporters were clearly glorifying and inciting violent riots from those platforms. Moreover, on January 12, leftwing journalist Glenn Greenwald reported that of the thirteen people who had been arrested thus far for the breach at the Capitol, “none appear to be active users of Parler.” Rather, “The Capitol breach was planned far more on Facebook and YouTube.”
If the dictionary entry for “leftist” were to be accompanied by a picture, Tim Cook’s photo would be a suitable choice. He has thoroughly mastered the shallow, insipid arts of virtue signaling and moral preening, while adopting political positions rooted in the premise that America is a racist cesspool which must be fundamentally transformed into something less objectionable. Moreover, Cook views conservatives as little more than a pack of unschooled Neanderthals who must be censored and silenced by any means necessary.
Ms. Jardim addressing The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue- New York Jewish Travel Guide
By: Meyer Harroch
New York Jewish Travel Guide sat down with Ms. Rita Mayer Jardim, Attorney at Mayer Jardim, to ask a few questions about Portuguese Citizenship for descendants of Sephardi Jews. The following interview was edited for clarity:
NYJTG: Thank you for this opportunity to meet with you. Can you tell us about yourself and how you became interested in working in this specific area and why?
Rita Mayer Jardim: I studied law in Portugal and I then completed my studies in International Human Rights Law at Oxford University. I think it was the Human Rights law angle that slowly led me to Citizenship law. I was working in the London law firm Mishcon de Reya when this law was approved and I immediately when this law was approved, I felt I wanted to be part of what I think is history, to play a very small part but to play something and to be doing something I believe is meaningful for many reasons.
In September 2020, the Jewish Community of Porto was received by the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, in the City Hall. The Mayor welcomed the leadership of a rapidly growing and rejuvenating community in the city, representing about 500 Jews from more than 30 countries. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
So from the moment the law came into force when it was possible to apply, I started working on these applications, in the beginning not really knowing, because there were no precedents, there was no track record I could use, which was also the appeal of this. I had to find my way around. How do you prove so many different family histories that they connect to this Sephardic anchor which could be very far in the past, or very recent, everything was so different, and it’s the diversity of these cases that I’m most interested in? There are geographical diversity and historical diversity in all these applications. It’s not just legal work you have to enjoy the historical elements which play a big role.
Since early 2015, I started working on applications and I feel I have traveled the world of the Sephardic diaspora. I still have many places to go to mentally, but I’ve covered an interesting amount of stories and geographies and times.
NYJTG: These cases are all over from all over the world. Can you share with us one or two interesting and rewarding cases you have worked on?
Rita Mayer Jardim: They are and of course once you start working with a given community, a given family, a given environment, you tend to grow exponentially within that area or geography. My first case was with the South African citizen, a Sephardic Jew, whose grandparents had lived in Rhodes and he also had connections to Izmir and Salonika. That was the first one. He was the first South African citizen to become Portuguese through this law. That was my first case.
The second one was a US citizen, the one whose ancestor he discovered to his surprise was the founder of the Savannah congregation. At the time his ancestor was one of the first colonial settlers. This case was extraordinary and I didn’t have anything so extraordinary since, I think since I’ve started, in the sense that through a genealogy study, we were led to the inquisition procedure of this man’s ancestors. It evolved from that. There are lots of other geographies which have grown immensely.
Façade of Shaare Tikvah synagogue. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Brazil is one of those. Currently, I think, leading the applications are Brazilians who trace their ancestors to the time when Portugal colonized Brazil. These are Brazilians whose families settled in Brazil 400 years ago, and whose ancestors were Converso, the New Christians.
Then I have some applicants from Israel of course, it became also an area of focus. I go to Israel frequently and in Israel, it’s a very well known law. There’s a lot of interest from Israeli citizens and then a few bits in every other different country, including people of Moroccan descent, Syrian descent, etc, with a current day connection to Israel. Finally, I have applicants from the Netherlands, the UK, and other European countries which don’t really need to apply in the sense that they already have European citizenship. If it’s a Dutch citizen, it would be in a sense redundant, but it’s not because motivations vary.
NYJTG: Even in England with the Brexit situation, there are people with Sephardic ancestry who are applying for the Portuguese Citizenship, correct?
Rita Mayer Jardim: It is absolutely true. It’s not the numbers that sometimes people say, there is no flood, no, but it´s true they are applying. They don’t do want to lose their European identity. It’s also a question of identity. It’s a statement, “We are European.” And it’s also a practical matter of, “I want to work like I always worked, with no boundaries, no borders in Europe. I want to travel, I want to study, I want to be part of a community I always felt a member of.”
So yes, there’s an increase in applications. Relatively speaking, it’s not a significant amount, but I think it’s expressive because of the background.
NYJTG: Of course, one of the things is that there’s a growing interest in Portuguese citizenship and the Sephardi Jew. How easy is it to obtain one? How long does it take? Who is eligible to apply? And what are some of the requirements, basically what is the process?
Rita Mayer Jardim: The process is comprised of two stages. First, you need to convince one of the Jewish communities of Portugal that you have a tradition of belonging to a Sephardic community of Portuguese origin. Portuguese as understood in the wider sense of Iberian origin. Once you have convinced one of those communities, you will receive a certificate that says, “You meet the requirements for citizenship under this law”, with your family tree on the back.
That is a process that is taking around two months. It can be more or less complicated, easier or harder depending on your personal circumstances and your family history and the origin geographically for your family, and your current circumstances. Each case is different, but around two months is the average of the processing of that request.
The next stage is the application for citizenship which is addressed to the Ministry of Justice of Portugal. This is a bureaucratic process that is currently taking around two years. It started as something as quick as six months. My first application was decided, with a passport in the hand of my client, in six months. It’s no longer the case because of the number of requests that every day, every week, just pile up. That has a tendency to increase especially due to the expected ending of the Spanish similar law, which is only similar in the sense that you need proving you have a Sephardic heritage. But in Spain, you also need to prove you know Spanish, and also that you know the Spanish constitution, values, and culture. You take two tests. Portugal has no such tests.
In September 2020, the Jewish Community of Porto was received by the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, in the City Hall. The Mayor welcomed the leadership of a rapidly growing and rejuvenating community in the city, representing about 500 Jews from more than 30 countries. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Also, in addition, you need to physically go to Spain and I think to meet with a notary. In Portugal, the process is easier in the sense of there’s no expense or time required to go to Portugal, even if new citizens always tend to end up visiting, but it´s not mandatory. For some, it is the first time they go to Portugal and it’s usually a very good surprise.
But the fact that the Spanish law is more difficult, more onerous, both in terms of cost and time, means that the Portuguese number of applications continues to increase. The Portuguese law was not approved with an expiry date in mind. It was considered at the time when the law was being developed, whether there should be a limitation on this and the Portuguese government and Parliament decided, and rightly so, that there shouldn’t be a limitation to a right. If this is a right, there’s no logic in assigning it a timeframe for this. Portugal is dealing with a huge influx of requests, which means that you should consider at least two years until you have your birth certificate, the registration as a naturalized citizen, which then allows you to have your passport done in any Portuguese consulate or in Portugal.
NYJTG: So they don’t have to come to Portugal?
Rita Mayer Jardim: No, they should because they will love it, but it’s not mandatory. It’s not a requirement. Everything is done remotely by a power of attorney. When you hire a lawyer, documents are sent by courier. The first stage doesn’t have formalities in terms of legalization. The second stage requires proving a very important requirement, that the person is free of criminal records so a formal document needs to be provided to prove that. There is discretion for the Ministry of Justice, there is freedom to decide whether to grant or not, just because technically the law was drafted as an option the Portuguese government. But there have been no refusals except on the basis of a criminal record, that, of course, is an impediment to citizenship. It takes a little bit of time, however slowly but surely you get to the desired outcome, which is to reconnect, to connect, to pay respect to your ancestors and also, very pragmatically, to be connected to a wider employment market as European citizens.
NYJTG: This is how the applicant can prove their Portuguese Sephardic ancestry by providing all these documents that you have outlined?
Rita Mayer Jardim: Yes, so each case will be different. There is no cookie-cutter approach. It’s not one single document that will prove your connection as much as you feel Sephardic. There must be some elements of proof. The proof does not need to be a genealogy that connects you to a Portuguese ancestor more than 300 years ago. That’s not the threshold. Sometimes it is possible to do that, but that’s a rarity in a sense. There are many elements which have weight and it´s the cumulative effect of the various elements of proof that will make your case successful or not.
NYJTG: Earlier you spoke about families and the restrictions imposed on children in certain situations, can you elaborate on this?
Rita Mayer Jardim: The way the Portuguese naturalization route into citizenship works is that you need to be over 18. So, children who are under 18 should wait until they become of legal age. If they are very close to eighteen, nothing prevents them or even younger, to get the certificate that attests they are Sephardic. It’s just that that certificate will not be able to be immediately used. You need to be eighteen.
Families can apply all at the same time and in a sense, it’s preferable because you’re not waiting for each application. Applications are independent in the sense that you don’t need first to get citizenship for the father and then for the children. Each person has an individual right. That’s why they’re 18. They have as adults, a right they may exercise or not. For spouses who are not Sephardic, they also have in the sense of facilitated route into citizenship not as descendants of Sephardic Jews, but as spouses of a Portuguese citizen.
It is crucial that they are also mothers or fathers of Portuguese citizens. The spouse does need to wait for the husband and for their sons or daughter over eighteen to become Portuguese. The minute that happens, the day that happens, we are able to submit an application as long as the spouse has been married before, doesn’t need to be from that moment, for more than three years. Citizenship by marriage in Portugal works like that. More than three years of marriage with connections to Portugal and the children who are Portuguese could be those connections.
Minor children need either to wait until they’re eighteen and then they apply or if the family decides to move to Portugal. every citizen has the right to move to Portugal whenever he or she decides and to take all family members, dependent ones. Minors are dependents and once a minor comes to Portugal and starts attending school, then he or she has the necessary connections to Portugal. So then the minor may become Portuguese as a son or daughter of a naturalized citizen that has connections to Portugal. So, no longer as the Sephardi Jew – in sum, there are ways for a family who is willing to move to Portugal, for all the family members to become Portuguese.
NYJTG: Can a DNA test be submitted for citizen application? Would it be accepted?
Rita Mayer Jardim: The DNA tests as far as I can understand, and I’m not a geneticist, will not be able to tell that you have Sephardic ancestors. They tell you whether you have Iberian origin, and that may be relevant if you’re an American citizen, with your life and your ancestors always here. The fact that you have an Iberian genetic marker, it could be relevant. In itself, it’s not a sufficient element of proof because as I said, and as far as I understand, there are no specific Sephardic markers to tell if someone is of Sephardic genetic origin. In any event, I have clients who have done those tests and what they say was that “I saw my genealogy report said I was descended from this person. I think I only believed it when I saw the genetic testing that said, ‘Yes, you’re Iberian.’” It’s more like a validation of something. To some people, it´s not evident. For you, for someone who knows in their heart they are of Sephardic descent, they don’t need scientific proof, but for someone who is not and discovers that maybe it is a sort of science rubber stamping that conclusion.
In this book, Israeli philosopher Moshe Halbertal presents us with an intellectual biography of the methodologies and ideas espoused by Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban), also known as Nachmanides. Photo Credit: Amazon.com
Written by: Moshe Halbertal–Translated by: Daniel Tabak (Yale University Press, 2020)
Reviewed by: Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein
In this book, Israeli philosopher Moshe Halbertal presents us with an intellectual biography of the methodologies and ideas espoused by Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban), also known as Nachmanides. The first quarter of the book is devoted to explaining Nachmanides’ halachic methodology, and how his approach differed from those of Provencal scholars in Southern France, the Tosafists in Northern France and Germany, and Maimonides in Andalusian Spain. The next half of the book comprises an exposition on Nachmanides’ Kabbalistic ideas and the implications of the positions he takes, while the final quarter of the book discusses Nachmanides’ view of the reasons behind the commandments.
In elaborating on Nachmanides’ halachic epistemology, Halbertal contrasts Nachmanides’ approach to “Torah from Sinai” with the very different approaches of Maimonides and the Geonim.
In elaborating on Nachmanides’ halachic epistemology, Halbertal contrasts Nachmanides’ approach to “Torah from Sinai” with the very different approaches of Maimonides and the Geonim. Maimonides isolates a kernel of Sinaitic revelatory content, and understands the rest of the halachic corpus as the results of the rabbis’ creative process, as explicitly endorsed by the Bible. According to Maimonides, the notion of “dispute” (machloket) stems from different ways of inducing and deducing new conclusions from that core truth. On the other hand, the Geonim understand the true content of the Sinaitic Revelation to be somehow lost in transmission, such that “truth” is defined as that which matches the knowledge given by the Divine at Sinai. The body of halacha thus comprises of the results of the quest for rediscovering those lost truths and what they entailed; the Geonim accordingly understand that machloket comes from different ways of trying to restore the original Sinaitic truth.
Maimonides isolates a kernel of Sinaitic revelatory content, and understands the rest of the halachic corpus as the results of the rabbis’ creative process, as explicitly endorsed by the Bible. According to Maimonides, the notion of “dispute” (machloket) stems from different ways of inducing and deducing new conclusions from that core truth. Photo Credit: Pinterest
Nachmanides rejects both of those positions. As Halbertal demonstrates, Nachmanides understands the Sinaitic Revelation in a broader sense to include all the possible options found within the corpus of rabbinic tradition, while maintaining that the Torah mandated that the majority of rabbis in each generation decide which viewpoints—out of a plurality of multiple legitimate viewpoints—to accept in practice and which, to reject. In Nachmanides’ view, machloket is built into the system of halacha, and does not derive from mistaken transmission or a subjective creative process. As opposed to Maimonides and the Geonim, Nachmanides would say that machloket is a feature, not a bug.
Throughout his halachic works, Nachmanides shows great reverence for the Geonim and, especially, for Alfasi. As a staunch conservative, Nachmanides generally strove to justify and preserve his predecessors’ rulings, even when he must resort to the innovative mental gymnastics typified by the Franco-German Tosafists to justify those positions. Nachmanides even penned works to defend Alfasi against the likes of the Baal HaMaor and the Raavad.
In explaining what drove Nachmanides to so strongly defend the Geonim and Alfasi’s rulings, Halbertal shows how Nachmanides used a sort of time-series analysis to introduce a distinction between Alfasi/Geonim, whom he branded Rishonim (“earlier sages”), versus Alfasi’s students (like Ibn Migash) and grand-students (like Maimonides), whom he branded Acharonim (“latter-day sages”). Using such temporal distinctions to grade the authority of different halachic personalities remains an important tool in the halachic process to this very day.
Halbertal notes that some scholars argue that Nachmanides’ role as a practical halachist informed his general worldview, and led him to take a more corporeal approach to Jewish eschatology. In other words, Nachmanides seems to give the human body special significance by explaining—contra Maimonides—that the Resurrection of the Dead will entail the soul returning to its body. The argument goes that Nachmanides’ scholarship and prominence in the more “practical” realm of halacha led him to thinking that the physical body will retain its centrality even in the post-Messianic Era.
However, Halbertal explicitly disagrees with this approach, instead preferring to explain that Nachmanides’ view of the significance of the human body stems from his Kabbalistic understanding of the human body and the human condition as reflecting as sort of Divine Drama played out in the cosmic cycles that we call history.
Interestingly, Halbertal makes a point of noting that Nachmanides sides with the Ashkenazic tradition of identifying “the final boss” to be vanquished in the End of Days as the Esau-Edomite-Roman-Christian axis. This contrasts with the view taken by Maimonides and Ibn Ezra that identifies the fourth beast in Daniel’s prophecy as representing the Ishmael-Islam typology.
In the Kabbalistic sections of this book, Halbertal dedicates much space to discussion of the perceived falling-out between the Sefirot of Tiferet and Shekhinah. As Halbertal understands Nachmanidean eschatology, the final reconciliation of those two conflicting elements within the so-called Godhead will only take place in the End of Days. He writes that “the pendulum of history swings from hardship to salvation and back in tandem with the complex movement between Shekhinah and Tiferet” (page 222).
In his commentary to the Pentateuch, Nachmanides famously writes that from God’s perspective “hidden miracles” and “open miracles” are both equally miraculous, only that the former are less obvious to man because they are obscured by nature, while the latter are clearly supernatural phenomena. Halbertal tries to expand on this distinction by arguing that these two sorts of miracles are rooted in two different Sefirot (Kabbalistic mechanisms or modalities) by which God operates. After making this argument, he remarks: “Examining the miracles through a kabalistic lens, however, has afforded us the additional insight that the two kinds of miracle are profoundly and metaphysically distinct, and not only observationally so” (page 150).
That said, the heresy inherent in viewing miracles as the results of a cold, mechanical sefirotic process is that through such an understanding “God’s voluntary involvement dissipates” (page 156). In fact, this reviewer objects to the usage of the term “Godhead” which implies that God Himself is comprised of multiple, contradictory traits or attributes. Those contradictions only exist in man’s perception, but the metaphysical reality always remains that there is One God, always indivisible and unchanging (see Mal. 3:6). After all, Judaism is a monotheistic religion. What Halbertal fails to emphasize in these discussions is that it is precisely God who created the entire sefirotic structure and who continuously provides the energy that powers the chain-reactions therein. In order words, God’s will always remains the starting point from which everything percolates down into increasingly coarse/physical aspects; the Sefirot are simply the tools He created to channel His energies in certain ways.
Moshe Halbertal notes that some scholars argue that Nachmanides’ role as a practical halachist informed his general worldview, and led him to take a more corporeal approach to Jewish eschatology
Halbertal continues to clarify Nachmanides’ view of the special divine protection afforded to those righteous men who cleave unto God (which allows them to escape astrological fate and other natural mishaps) and to those who live in the Holy Land. He again explains those phenomena as results of an automatic process of connecting to one Sefirah to escape the effects of another Sefirah, which harkens back to the Divine drama mentioned above. This essentially pagan understanding downplays the concept of Divine volition and reduces reward/punishment to pawns within a divine game playing out within the Godhead (see page 163–169). Halbertal again uses this model to argue that Nachmanides understands the various levels of prophecy to similarly be the “natural” results of the interplay between different parts of the Divine.
In explaining Nachmanides’ view of the reason(s) behind the commandments, Halbertal argues that there are two “unbridgeable” (page 284) layers of understanding. The exoteric approach presents the commandments as beneficial (in various palpable ways) to the individual and/or society at large, while the esoteric aspect presents the commandments as theurgic, or magical, ways of inducing God to reunite the various sefirot that are in conflict, and consequently shower His positive influence upon creation. This model deemphasizes the commandments as an expression of God’s will—a third factor which Nachmanides himself emphasizes when discussing the Tower of Babel and Golden Calf (which were theurgic in nature but contravened His will), as well as the Scapegoat (which was also theurgic, but reflected His divine will).
This book’s final chapter documents how and why Nachmanides took a middle-of-the-road approach concerning the controversy behind Kabbalah. Unlike the other pro-Maimonideans of his time, Nachmanides accepted and embraced Kabbalah; yet, on the other hand, unlike other contemporary Kabbalists (notably those operating in Gerona), Nachmanides did not agree that the esoteric teachings of Kabbalah ought to be open to the public. In striking a happy medium between these approaches, Nachmanides limited the esoteric content in his own works to a few score Kabbalist “allusions” in his commentary to the Pentateuch. This showed his allegiance to the Kabbalist tradition with which he is often associated, but still allowed him to retain that esoteric tradition as a “secret.”
Nachmanides’s legacy continued in subsequent generations through the Catalonian School, typified by the output of his students and grand-students, most notably Rashba, Ran, Ritva, and Nimmukei Yosef. Those scholars are more well-known for their novellae on the Talmud and Alfasi, but were also accomplished exegetes of Kabbalah as well.
In his concluding chapter, Halbertal summarizes the different schools of thought that flourished in the thirteenth century and how Nachmanides drew from all of them. Whereas Nachmanides’ staunch defense of Maimonides might peg Nachmanides as Andalusian, his acceptance of Kabbalah might associate him more with the Provencal school. Whereas Nachmanides’ halachic methodology more closely follows that of the Franco-German Tosafists, his actual rulings reflect the Spanish tradition. These various cosmopolitan influences on Nachmanides led to Halbertal’s final analysis in characterizing the great sage as “the first European Jew” (page 320).
While this reviewer quibbles over the finer details of how to understand certain Kabbalistic aspects in which Nachmanides engages, the author Moshe Halbertal clearly displays an intimate familiarity with all of Nachmanides’ written works, plus much of his students’ and grand-students’ as well. All in all, this book provides the reader with a much-needed framework for understanding the context of almost everything Nachmanides ever discusses. Kudos to the translator Daniel Tabak as well for providing us with an English rendition of Halbertal’s work in such a way that coins new theosophical terminology that can be applied to the study of the Ramban and beyond.
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin during a Joint Session of Congress when U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced the results of the Camp David Accords, Sept. 18, 1978. Credit: Warren K. Leffler of U.S. News & World Report, Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons.
“Upheaval” is part of a larger effort to tell the story of the Jewish nation’s founding to young Jews, many of whom have barely a passing knowledge of the country, its accomplishments and its continuing struggles to survive.
By: Judith Fleischer
Rem Bashari remembers growing up in a poor neighborhood in the city of Rishon Letzion, just south of Tel Aviv, and watching the dramatic changes in his community set into motion when Menachem Begin became prime minister in 1977.
“Under his leadership, there was Project Renewal, renewing those neighborhoods that were disadvantaged,” said Bashari, whose family immigrated to Israel from Yemen in the 1930s and 1940s. “There was huge development in these neighborhoods—roads, communications, institutions.”
More than infrastructure, though, the changes initiated by Begin’s Project Renewal also awakened in Bashari one of the key passions of his life: music.
Today, the Denver CPA and investment adviser is also a performing and recording musician thanks to Project Renewal, which launched an after-school music program that Bashari attended as a boy.
“That’s when I first learned guitar,” said Bashari. “My exposure to music was in the time of Begin—because of Begin.”
Now Bashari is using his musical talent to honor Begin in an upcoming documentary about Begin’s life and his impact on Israel and the Jewish people.
Produced by Denver’s Hidden Light Institute, the film, “Upheaval: The Journey of Menachem Begin,” will debut at the JCC’s Denver Jewish Film Festival, which starts on Feb. 8.
In it, Bashari sings the closing theme, “Tsion Tamati, Zion the Perfect One”—a song that sets to music the words of the poet Menachem Mendel Dolitsky as he promises never to abandon Israel.
‘A figure of admiration in my family’
It is a vow that was also a central theme in Menachem Begin’s life. “Upheaval” is more than a biopic. It tackles the dynamics of leadership through the lens of Begin’s tumultuous life.
Despite his achievements—including sealing a peace treaty with Egypt that earned him the Nobel Peace Prize, welcoming to Israel Jews of many ethnicities and cultures, and being the first to tackle contentious issues, such as the sensitive dynamics of relations between Jews and Arabs, Sephardis and Ashkenazis, blacks and whites—Begin is often painted as one-dimensional.
Some dismiss him as a terrorist for actions he took to ensure the creation and survival of Israel and which, in some cases, cost many lives. The film does not shy away from those decisions and events. It recounts the flaws as well as the achievements of this complex leader.
Bashari remembers hearing his grandparents tell stories about British soldiers searching their Yemenite community to find Begin, who at one point had gone into hiding. The community, he said, were “strong supporters” of his efforts to establish a Jewish state.
“Begin was always a figure of admiration in my family,” he said. “For me, hearing the stories from my grandparents from the time before Israel was formed added to my experience as a child.”
In telling the story of his life, the 87-minute documentary also chronicles the history of modern Israel, from the Holocaust to Begin’s death in 1988, touching on wars, peace, diplomacy and the internal politics of the young and often fractious Israeli state.
“Upheaval” is part of a larger effort by HLI to tell the story of Israel’s founding to young Jews, many of whom have barely a passing knowledge of the country, its accomplishments and its continuing struggles to survive.
The sponsors hope young people will learn from Begin’s unapologetic pride in being a Jew and from his uncompromising stance when dignity and survival were at stake. The institute hopes they will be inspired to stand up to and fight the anti-Semitism that is today making a comeback in the United States and Europe.
As part of this larger effort, the institute is creating a curriculum in five languages for high school and college students and plans to host an annual symposium examining Begin’s life and legacy, including the issues that occupied his years of leadership and remain relevant today.
The first symposium will take place in Jerusalem in May in partnership with the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.
‘I decided to make a documentary’
For Bashari, involvement in “Upheaval” came by way of his friend Rob Schwartz, who founded Hidden Light Institute after being inspired by Yehuda Avner’s book, The Prime Ministers. Schwartz read the book, said Bashari, after a Shabbat dinner at Bashari’s home where he met another guest who had written a doctoral thesis on Begin.
After reading the book, Schwartz fell in love with Begin and wanted to raise his profile on the world stage. “I decided to make a documentary, to tell the story of a man small in stature but large against the canvas of Jewish and Israeli history,” he said.
When Schwartz asked Bashari to select and sing a closing song for the documentary, it was Begin’s choice of a final resting place that inspired Bashari’s musical selection.
Begin chose not to be buried on Mount Herzl where many Israeli presidents, prime ministers and Zionist leaders are interred, but rather on the Mount of Olives, which overlooks the Old City of Jerusalem and has been the site of a Jewish cemetery for more than 3,000 years.
The words of Dolitsky’s poem and the song, “Tsion Tamati,” express Begin’s love of Israel and its centrality in his life, which led to his choice of the Mount of Olives: “I will not forget you Zion, my perfect one. As long as I live, you are my longing and my hope.”
While Bashari is excited about a new venture—the upcoming release of an original album of Israeli and country songs he recently recorded in Nashville, Tenn.—he said that his contribution to the making of “Upheaval” carries unique meaning: “Being able to participate in the movie, and coming up with a song that summarized everything about Menachem Begin and his love for Israel and Jerusalem, is a special gift.”
The Denver Jewish Film Festival will run from Feb. 8-17.
Author of more than 60 popular books and founder of Gateway Rehabilitation Center
By: Yaakov Ort
Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, a Chassidic rabbi, psychiatrist, prolific author of more than 60 popular books on Jewish spirituality and recovery from substance abuse, and founder and longtime head of the Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Pittsburgh, Pa., one of America’s leading facilities for addiction treatment, passed away on Jan. 31 in Jerusalem from complications from coronavirus. He was 90 years old.
Avraham Yehoshua Heschel Twerski was born in 1930 in Milwaukee to Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael and Devorah Twerski. His father was a scion of the Chernobler Chassidic dynasty. In his autobiographical work, Generation to Generation, he wrote how his father moved to Wisconsin in 1927 and began with a nucleus of Ukrainian Jewish landsleit (countrymen), but gradually achieved a following among all segments of the community, serving as a counselor to countless individuals and families.
Rabbi Twerski, upper right, listens as Rabbi Sholom Posner, founder of Yeshiva Schools and synagogue in Pittsburgh, speaks at a family celebration.
“When I was a child,” Twerski wrote, “I could not help but overhear many of the proceedings in his study. In addition, our Shabbos table was always graced by many guests, some of whom were itinerant rabbis, and I would hear father in his Torah discussions with them, or perhaps relating a parable or Chassidic story.”
“My father had a large library, and I read everything I could get my hands on,” Twerski recalled in an interview with the Pittsburgh Quarterly. “I went to high school in Milwaukee but was specially promoted twice, and graduated at 16, then went off to yeshivah and trained to be a rabbi, like my dad. He was a natural therapist and people flocked to him, Jewish and non-Jewish alike.
In 1951, Twerski married his first wife, Golda, who predeceased him. He was ordained at 21, and joined his father as assistant rabbi of his congregation. In the years following World War II, psychiatry and psychology had a meteoric rise. “After being a rabbi for several years, I noticed that people weren’t flocking to me for counseling the way they had to my father. They were not going to rabbis for that; they were seeing professionals. I decided that if I wanted to be the kind of rabbi my father was, I had to become a professional. So I went for broke, going to medical school to become a psychiatrist.”
In 1953, Twerski enrolled at Milwaukee’s Marquette University and subsequently graduated from its medical school in 1960. He then moved with his family to Pittsburgh, Pa., where he founded the Gateway Rehabilitation Center and served as medical director emeritus until his passing. He was clinical director of the Department of Psychiatry at St. Francis Hospital in Pittsburgh, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine and founder of the Shaar Hatikvah (“Gateway to Hope”) rehabilitation center for prisoners in Israel.
Recovery from addiction was made possible through the sagacious wisdom of Rabbi Twerski
Upon moving to Pittsburgh, the Twerski family established themselves in the Chabad-Lubavitch community, with Rabbi Twerski teaching classes in Tanya, the seminal work of Chabad Chassidic thought, and Talmud to both beginners and advanced students. He served for decades as president of the Lubavitch Center of Pittsburgh and the community synagogue, and would frequently travel to New York to seek the blessings and advice of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory on his many professional and communal responsibilities.
“I recall one time passing before the Rebbe and requested a dollar for ‘Dr. Twerski,’” recalls Rabbi Yisroel Rosenfeld, who, together with his wife Blumi, directs Chabad of Western Pennsylvania, serves as rabbi of the Lubavitch Center of Pittsburgh, and is a longtime friend to the Twerski family. “The Rebbe looked at me and corrected me, ‘Rabbi Dr. Twerski,’ and handed me another dollar—apparently one for the ‘rabbi’ and another for the ‘Dr.’”
Rosenfeld recalls how Twerski considered the Lubavitch Center as “his” synagogue and would do everything in his power to help support it. In addition to serving as its president, he would refer the many, diverse people with whom he dealt to lend their financial support to the center, spreading its name far and wide to the many places he would travel.
“Whenever Rabbi Dr. Twerski would travel somewhere on a speaking engagement, he would let me know so that I could contact the local Chabad representative there to see if there’s any way he could be of help,” said Rosenfeld. “He was happy to speak anywhere, and there are countless beautiful stories of his interactions with so many people he met and helped at Chabad Houses around the world.”
‘Just Call Me Abe’
A prolific and highly respected author. Rabbi Twerski writes about the eternal power of prayer in our everyday lives
But more than anything else, he was a counselor and friend to the thousands of alcoholics and addicts with whom he worked and befriended professionally and personally throughout his life, many of whom by his own insistence called him “Abe.” Not rabbi, not doctor—“Just call me Abe,” he would say.
“I was lucky enough to join him once for a weekend of Jewish men and women in various stages of recovery,” said Rabbi Shimon Posner, co-director of Chabad of Rancho Mirage, Calif. “He was the star of the show and did he ever shine. His talks were engaging, breathtaking really. He smiled exuberantly and hugged tightly the teenager whom others would see as a “case”. And when a newbie was tongue-tied, he grabbed his hand in his, “Tell it like it was, and tell it like it is, baby!”
Rabbi Shais Taub, scholar-in-residence at Chabad of the Five Towns in Cedarhurst, N.Y., and author G‑d of Our Understanding: Jewish Spirituality and Recovery from Addiction, had a deep relationship with Rabbi Twerski due to his work with recovery. “He was very supportive of me, and I owe a great deal to him,” he said.
“Of course people are aware of Rabbi Twerski’s powerful intellect and his masterful ability to communicate both in the spoken and written word,” said Taub. “But I hope what people also realize about him is how much courage he had. He was way ahead of his time championing causes and people that society once ignored or overlooked. Precisely because of the progress that he made, I think it may be hard for us today to understand how much of a trailblazer he was.”
Yudy Weiner, a psychologist and counselor from Long Island and now Jerusalem, knew Rabbi Twerski for almost 35 years. “He was so instrumental in bringing thousands of neshamas (‘souls’) back from hopelessness and despair, I was fortunate enough to be ‘one of his many diamonds.’ May we all be worthy to continue his most precious work in saving one life, one day at a time.”
‘I Get Questions From All Over, and I Try to Respond’
After many years of treating alcoholics and addicts, Rabbi Twerski decided to take some of the principles he had learned from his work with them and transmit those insights to the public at large.
His first title was on self-esteem, Like Yourself and Others Will, Too. “The idea of writing appealed to me, so I wrote another book called Caution: Kindness Can Be Dangerous to the Alcoholic. After that, I started writing on Jewish themes. Then something wonderful happened. I had always been impressed by the insights of Charles Schulz, the man who created the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip. I used to clip out meaningful strips and put them on the bulletin board for our residents to see. Then I stumbled upon what I thought was a good book idea. I called Mr. Schulz’s publishers and told them about it. Schulz thought it was a good idea, so I wrote the first book with his ‘Peanuts’ insights titled, When Do the Good Things Start? That was followed by Waking Up Just In Time. Next came It’s Not a Fault, It’s a Character Trait, which was followed by I Didn’t Ask to Be in This Family. These books were popular in the United States, but they sold like wildfire in Japan, where they’re crazy about Charlie Brown and Snoopy.”
Calling on Hashem for guidance and assistance was a message that Rabbi Twerski brought to his readers around the world
“I’ve kept writing. You could call it an addiction. I have an advice column in one of the Jewish papers, which resulted in two books called Dear Rabbi and Dear Doctor. I’m now working on three other books that will one day be published—numbers 56, 57 and 58,’ he said a few years ago. “And because my email address is pretty well known, I get questions from all over, and I try to respond. I receive three or four email messages, and three or four phone calls, every day about all kinds of problems. I’m a free consultant. And my days are still pretty long. But I’m really just doing what my father did.”
Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski is survived by his wife, Gail Bessler-Twerski; as well as children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brothers, Rabbi Michel Twerski of Milwaukee and Rabbi Aaron Twerski of Brooklyn, N.Y.
He was laid to rest in Jerusalem a few hours after his passing.
As is the custom of many, he asked that no eulogies be given at his funeral. Instead, he requested that those who would gather should to sing a now-famous melody he had composed sixty years before in honor of his brother’s wedding.
“Hoshia et amecha, uvarech et nachalatecha, urem venasem ad haolam.”
“Deliver Your people and bless Your heritage; tend them and exalt them forever.” (Psalms 28:9)”
arashat Yitro describes the most important event in human history–the Giving of the Torah
By: Rabbi Shlomo Katz
R’ Shlomo Brevda z”l (1931-2013; Maggid and author, noted for his commentaries on the teachings of the Vilna Gaon z”l) writes: Parashat Yitro describes the most important event in human history–the Giving of the Torah. Why is the Parashah that includes that seminal event named after Yitro, who was not even present when the Torah was given?
R’ Brevda explains: Rambam z”l describes the path that Avraham Avinu took, beginning as a child, to discovering Hashem. He began by wondering why there was a continuously repeating cycle of day and night, and he concluded that there had to be some power causing this cycle to occur. All this time, he continued to worship idols alongside his parents, until his innate intellect led him to the conclusion that there has to be one G-d who controls the universe. At that point, he realized that all the people that he knew were mistaken in their idolatrous beliefs, and he began to debate them. [Until here paraphrased from Rambam’s Hilchot Avodah Zarah]
R’ Brevda continues: Yitro followed a similar path. Midrash Tanchuma teaches that there was not a single idol in the world with which Yitro did not experiment in his search for the truth. In the end, however (18:5), “Yitro, the father-in-law of Moshe, came to Moshe with his sons and wife, to the Wilderness where he was encamped, by the Mountain of Elokim.” The Midrash asks: Do we not know that Bnei Yisrael were camped in the Wilderness? Nevertheless, the Torah mentions this fact to highlight Yitro’s sacrifice and sincerity.
R’ Brevda concludes: We now can understand why the Giving of the Torah is in “Yitro’s Parashah” — to teach the degree of truth-seeking that is required if one is to truly “receive” the Torah. (Lev Shlomo: Shavuot p. 233)
“Now I know that Hashem is the greatest of all the gods, for in the very manner in which the Egyptians had conspired against them.” (18:11)
R’ Ovadiah Seforno z”l (1470-1550; Italy) writes: [Yitro was moved by the fact that] Hashem saved Bnei Yisrael using exactly the same means that Pharaoh had used to oppress Bnei Yisrael. He killed their firstborn, as the Egyptians had killed Jewish children, and because (Shmot 4:22-23), “So said Hashem, ‘My firstborn son is Yisrael. So I say to you: “Send out My son that he may serve Me” — but you have refused to send him out; behold, I shall kill your firstborn son’.” He drowned the Egyptians in the sea, as the Egyptians had drowned Jewish babies in the Nile. And, He took away their free will after they refused to exercise their free will voluntarily to send out Bnei Yisrael.
Before the Exodus and Splitting of the Sea, R’ Ovadiah explains, people also were aware that Hashem punishes Middah K’negged Middah / measure-for-measure, i.e., that the punishments He metes out “fit the crime.” However, they thought that He could only match a punishment to a sin in a general way; for example, that the punishment would fit one aspect of the sin. What impressed
Yitro now was how precisely targeted Hashem’s punishments are. (Be’ur Ha’Seforno)
The Mishnah (Berachot 9:1) teaches: If a person sees a place where a miracle was performed for the Jewish People, he says, “Blessed . . . Who performed miracles for our ancestors in this place.” The Gemara (Berachot 54a) asks: What is the source for this? Because it is written (Shmot 18:10), “Yitro said, ‘Blessed is Hashem, Who rescued you [from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh, Who rescued the people from under the hand of Egypt]’.”
R’ Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook z”l (1865-1935; first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael) writes: Yitro praised Hashem both for the “general” fact that He saved Bnei Yisrael and for the details of the salvation. A king whose power is limited is constrained in how precisely the punishments he metes out will fit his subjects’ crimes. Hashem’s power, in contrast, is unlimited, so there is no limitation on His ability to devise perfectly fine-tuned punishments.
It follows from this, continues R’ Kook, that nothing Hashem does is by chance. That is why the Berachah is: “Who performed miracles for our ancestors in this place.” We recognize that, if a miracle occurred in a certain place, there is some significance to that fact; it is not by chance, because that is where the beneficiary of the miracle just happened to be. (Ain Ayah: Berachot 9:1)
“They journeyed from Refidim and arrived at the Wilderness of Sinai and encamped in the Wilderness; and Yisrael encamped there, opposite the mountain.” (19:2)
Why was the Torah given outside of Eretz Yisrael? Midrash Yalkut Shimoni explains: If the Torah had been given in Eretz Yisrael, the Jewish People could say to the gentiles, “You have no share in it.”
Therefore, the Torah was given in a public place, a wilderness, so that anyone who wants to can come and receive it. I might think that it was given at night [i.e., in secrecy]; therefore it is written (Shmot 19:16), “On the third day, when it was morning . . .” I might think it was given silently [again, in secrecy], therefore it is written (ibid), “There was thunder and lightning.” I might think that Hashem’s voice could not be clearly heard; therefore, it is written (Tehilim 29:4-5), “The voice of Hashem [comes] in power! The voice of Hashem [comes] in majesty! The voice of Hashem breaks cedars . . .” Bil’am said to those standing around him [who inquired what these noises were] (Tehilim 29:11): “Hashem will give might to His nation,” and they responded, “Hashem will bless His nation with peace.” Rabbi Yosé cites the following verse (Yeshayah 45:19), “I did not speak in secrecy, some place in the land of darkness.” The Torah was given neither in secrecy nor in a secluded place. [Until here from Midrash Yalkut Shimoni]
Midrash Tanna D’Vei Eliyahu Rabbah (ch.2) offers a different reason for why the Torah was given publicly. Says the Midrash [brackets are from the commentary Shai La’mora]: To what may this be compared? To a king who had gems and pearls. His subjects came to him secretly and said, “Sell us your gems [so we can make you a crown].” The king said, “Instead, I will give them to you publicly. [Even though you will make me a crown from my own gems, I will consider it as if you gave me a gift.]” This, too, is what Hashem did when He gave the Torah.
The greatness of Yithro was further evidenced when upon arrival at the desert encampment, he is told about the wondrous events that befell the Jewish people. The Torah relates: “Vayichad Yithro” – “Yithro rejoiced.” Photo Credit: Pinterest
By: Rabbi Osher Jungreis
Incredibly, the portion is entitled “Yitro” rather than “Moses” or “The Ten Commandments”. The reason for this begs an answer. The parsha opens with the simple, but piercing words, “Vayishma Yithro – Yithro heard”. The voice of G-d was audible throughout the universe, but it was only Yithro who heard. It was only Yithro who chose to abandon his prestigious position as a priest of Middian to join the Israelite in the desert. Our sages teach that when the kings of the nations heard the awesome sounds they thought that the world was coming to and end, and so, for a very brief moment, they stopped to listen. But when they realized that what they heard was the voice of G-d calling, they returned to their complacency.
We find this pattern repeated in every generation. In a moment of threatening doom, people stop to listen, but as soon as the danger abates, it`s back to business as usual. Yithro was different. He not only listened, but he absorbed the teaching, took it to heart, and changed his life. Now we can better appreciate why the parsha of the giving of the Torah opens with those monumental words: “Vayishma Yithro” – “Yithro heard.” Before HaShem proclaims His commandments, the art of listening must be mastered. Whether a man succeeds in fulfilling his mission in life will depend upon his ability to attune his ears to the voice of G-d that is constantly calling.
The greatness of Yithro was further evidenced when upon arrival at the desert encampment, he is told about the wondrous events that befell the Jewish people. The Torah relates: “Vayichad Yithro” – “Yithro rejoiced.” Our sages explain that the word “vayichad” is an expression of joy tempered by reservation, for even as Yithro heard the amazing events, he also felt a pang of sadness for his former friends, the Egyptians. And yet he declared “Baruch HaShem” – “Blessed be G-d who saved you from the hands of the Egyptians (Exodus 18:9-10). Our sages teach that Yithro is credited with proclaiming those two majestic words, Baruch HaShem, that have become the hallmark of our people throughout the centuries: “Baruch HaShem” – “Blessed be G-d” has been our response to all the challenges of life — to the joys as well as to the trials.
At first glance, it may be difficult to comprehend why this phrase, Baruch HaShem, should be attributed to Yithro. Surely there were others who blessed G-d before him. After all, did not Moses praise G-d at the crossing of the Red Sea when he composed his glorious song? There is one fine difference however. Moses praised G-d for the miracles that befell his own people, but Yithro thanked G-d for the blessings that befall others.
This concept of being happy for someone else is a goal for which we must strive. When we realize that we can find our own joy in the happiness that is visited upon others, we become elevated spiritual beings. To be sure, this is a difficult concept to accept in our culture which has conditioned us to measure our happiness by that which we acquire for ourselves rather than by that which we give to others. Therefore, we must bear in mind that G-d did not command us to become rich and successful, but He did command us to become giving, generous people, bestowing loving kindness, and to full heartedly proclaim “Baruch HaShem” when we behold the happiness of others.
The Ten Commandments
Every word, every aspect of the Ten Commandments is laden with profound meaning — even the structure speaks. For example, the first commandment, “I am the L-rd thy G-d” is parallel to the sixth – “Thou shalt not kill”, teaching us that when you kill someone, you don`t only kill that person, but you also kill a spark of G-d, for every man was created in His image.
In this same way, there is a direct correlation between the placement of all the commandments on the Tablets. The Ten Commandments are the bedrock of our faith, and therefore, when they are read in the synagogue, it is a tradition for the entire congregation to rise during their recitation.
Interestingly enough, the parsha in which this sacred gift is bestowed upon our people is called Yithro in honor of the father-in-law of Moses, who was a convert to Judaism. One would have imagined that it would have been more appropriate to dedicate the parsha in Moses` name or in honor of the Ten Commandments, but obviously there was something special about Yithro that merited this incredible privilege.
Break out your warmest coats and best winter boots for an avalanche of snow activities!
By: Emily Whalen
The Pocono Mountains is the place to be for quality bonding time. From frolicking in the snow to splashing in the pool, a family vacation filled with lasting memories awaits!
Indulge in snow adventures, sweet treats, and activities for everyone at our family resorts as you discover the beauty of the Pocono Mountains this winter. Keep reading to find insider tips to maximize the family fun of your getaway.
Snow Activities
Events
Winter Treats
Museums
Waterparks
SNOW ACTIVITIES
Break out your warmest coats and best winter boots for an avalanche of snow activities! Whether you prefer gliding down the slopes or riding through the trails, you and your family are guaranteed to love winter outdoor adventure in the Pocono Mountains.
Skiing and snow tubing are popular pastimes when visiting the area.
Skiing and snow tubing are popular pastimes when visiting the area. Weather permitting, try snowshoeing and snowmobiling over the snow-covered landscape too. Ready to kick the adrenaline up a notch? Book a winter tour on an all-terrain vehicle.
Insider Tip: Guests staying at Pocono Mountain Villas and Woodloch Resort can enjoy a variety of outdoor activities on-site.
EVENTS
Savor the winter season like never before with Pocono Mountains’ events. The region takes advantage of the cooler temperatures and transforms the elements into fun for the whole family!
Bundle up for Wally Ice Fest in February or join the festivities at Shawnee Mountain, from Costume Carnival Day to Bigfoot Showshoe Race Day. Visitors to WinterFest in Downtown Stroudsburg can take an ice safari to view animal ice sculptures in front of local businesses.
Come take a socially distanced winter stroll through Downtown Stroudsburg and check out the Stroudsburg Ice Safari! All your favorite Safari animals will be crafted out of ice and displayed in front of businesses.
Insider Tip: Pocono Organics will have food, games, alpacas, and more at their first annual Winter Wonderland Festival in January. Still hungry? Sample seasonal local fare select weekends at The Main Street Farmers’ Market at The Cooperage.
WINTER TREATS
All that excitement and energy can sure work up an appetite. Gather round the table and refuel at one of the region’s restaurants. Stop by a deli café to warm up with hot sandwiches and hot chocolate or enjoy a meal at a family restaurant.
Looking for something sweet? Visit a Pocono Mountains bakery and treat yourselves to yummy desserts and pastries.
Insider Tip: Resort restaurants like B-Lux Grill & Bar and Graffiti Pizza offer delicious fare in a family-friendly atmosphere.
MUSEUMS
Take the family back in time to discover the antiquity and arts of the Pocono Mountains at one of our historical attractions and museums. Explore downtown gems and take in the beauty that has brought visitors to this area for generations.
Historical societies live and breathe the rich culture of the region at places like the Columns Museum. Visit the Dorflinger Glass Museum and see the nation’s largest public display of Dorflinger crystal.
Insider Tip: For a truly immersive experience, dig deeper into the past by staying at historic resorts like Skytop Lodge and The Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort.
WATERPARKS
Enjoy the winter from indoors where the weather is always 84 degrees. Whether you’re looking for excitement or relaxation, Pocono Mountains’ waterparks provide both for all members of the family.
Water slides, wave pools, and aquatic children’s obstacles are just a few attractions your family will discover. Let the indoor adventures begin!
Insider Tip: Book a stay at Camelback Lodge & Aquatopia Indoor Waterpark, Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari Resorts and Conventions or Split Rock Resort & Golf Club to experience waterpark fun free with your trip!
Discover Pocono family resorts with activities, entertainment, and dining all under one roof! Find ways to save on accommodations with family packages too. Looking to plan a family reunion in the Pocono Mountains? Tell us what you’re looking for with a request for proposal, and we’ll assist you with your event planning needs!
Don’t forget to check out all our winter activities and trip ideas as well. You can also stay up-to-date with area snow conditions with the latest reports this winter in the Pocono Mountains.
Emily Whalen is the Communications Manager for the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau. A small town coffee shop connoisseur and lifelong lover of the mountains, she is excited to share tips to help visitors make the most of their stay in the Poconos.
The decades long search for the body of Jimmy Hoffa’s body may soon be coming to a close.
As reported by the NY Post, Frank Cappola, the son of the late mafia associate Paul Cappola Sr., told Fox Nation’s streaming service’s series “Riddle, The Search for James R. Hoffa” that he knows where the body was stashed. The son said that his father had a lot of respect for Hoffa, and that was why he is coming forth with the information. “My father said, ‘I want this man to go home to his family. He needs to go back home,’” Frank Cappola said.
The son said his father, Paul Cappola Sr., along with other members of the mob had put Hoffa’s body into a barrel, and then dumped the container with Hoffa’s body into a 12-foot hole and added more than a dozen containers on top of it before covering them all with dirt, buried Hoffa. “So they put [Hoffa] in head-first, and then they pushed the cover on top of him. And then they buried him,’’ Frank said. As reported on the show’s part 3 of the ongoing investigation released on Jan. 29, the location of the grave is just under a section of the Pulaski Skyway connecting Jersey City to Newark.
Since then, Fox Nation issued a new report, saying that using radar experts it had indeed located what seems to be a bunch of underground steel drums at the state-owned spot where Frank Cappola referred to. Fox Nation’s streaming show, said it hired a company specializing in ground-penetration technology and found numerous objects at the spot resembling barrels piled on top of one another. Now, it is up to law enforcement agents to follow up on the leads, and confirm whether or not the case can finally be closed.
Hoffa’s disappearance in 1975 has long been a topic of controversy and the mob was suspected for his murder. His body was never found, however, and the story had no conclusive ending. Hoffa had been a labor union leader who served as the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from 1957 until 1971. He became involved in organizes crime and in 1964 he was convicted of conspiracy, jury tampering, attempted bribery, as well as mail and wire fraud in two separate trials. He was imprisoned in 1967 and sentenced to 13 years. In 1971 he received commutation by President Richard Nixon. He disappeared in July 1975, was assumed and declared dead in 1982. The mystery and debates about Hoffa have become something of a legacy.
The spot that Frank Cappola named on the show, is just a few feet away from the Mafia associates’ former 87-acre landfill, which the FBI had searched extensively for Hoffa’s remains in 1975, finding nothing. The particular spot named, however, was never searched. The land is owned by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and is currently utilized as storage for empty dumpsters, “Fox Nation’’ said.
Frank Cappola, who suffered heart and lung issues, died after his interview, the show said. Frank had said that it was important to him to come forth with this information before he died.
