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Turning Elections into a Binary Choice: Us or Them

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Photo by Avi Ohayon/GPO.

What’s common to both the anti-Trump and anti-Netanyahu media-supported campaigns orchestrated by the Leftist-progressive political parties in the United States and in Israel, is the goal of making the coming elections an either us or them choice

By: Ron Jager

The juvenile “Mod Squad” of four freshmen congresswomen deceptively accuse anyone critical of their clearly anti-American, anti-Semitic, and anti-Western rantings of being racists and fundamentally opposed to people of color.

Ehud Barak and Benny Gantz, both vocal opponents of the Likud party and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dishonestly accuse the current leader of Israel of being a danger to Israel’s Democratic system demonizing the legitimacy of his re-election over the years.

What’s common to both the anti-Trump and anti-Netanyahu media-supported campaigns orchestrated by the Leftist-progressive political parties in the United States and in Israel, is the goal of making the coming elections in both countries a binary choice, an either us or them choice, an issue of black or white, vote for reality or vote for the illusion.

Netanyahu’s supporters credit him with keeping Israel relatively safe and prosperous, maintaining its Jewish character and Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People, and boosting Israel’s standing internationally. In contrast to many of his political predecessors, Netanyahu hasn’t left his mark by “winning” a war or signing a “peace accord” such as the disastrous Oslo Accords. His major achievements have been a booming economy with prosperity trickling down benefitting all sectors of the population, combating Iran’s nuclear program which is considered an existential threat on Israel–responding by covertly striking weapons shipments to Israel’s enemies – and by building a massive border fence to stop the flow of illegal African migrants. Netanyahu is perceived as being a politician who speaks the language of the people, is on their side, and they watch his back. His imperfections are the people’s imperfections.

Trump’s supporters credit him with singlehandedly bringing American pride back into the mainstream. Trump’s political message of “Making America Great Again” has been wholly adopted by a majority of Americans as their message too. Since the Trump election, America has experienced an economic boom unseen for decades, unemployment has reached low levels unseen for half a century including the lowest level of unemployment among Black Americans. The opioid epidemic has seen, for a first time in 30 years, a 5% drop in overdose deaths.

Executive directives and a demand for accountability by the Pharmaceutical industry has resulted in lower drug prices of medication. The “Wall” and Trump’s efforts to restrict the chaos of unrestricted flow of illegal immigrants on the Southern border have proven effective and are serving the interests of the American public. Trump is perceived as a blunt leader who cuts through to the people, who speaks their language, and the public listen to him. Trump is not associated with the liberal elite that tell the American public what to say and what to think and how to vote.

Both support sustainable equality. Both promote economic policies that reinvigorate the key elements of a healthy public-private partnership, empowering the private sector to create more real jobs, supporting a more responsible capitalism that is necessary for growth.

Both President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu build excitement and passion in their respective general public, dominating the public arena and the public discourse.

The electronic and printed media in the United States and in Israel have hyped up their reporting of both Trump and Netanyahu to levels of a hysterical frenzy, creating a loss of credibility and a general public that has tuned them out. The public associate the hyped up media as an extension of the liberal/progressive left that has always patronized and treated the general public as unable to decide for themselves as they are perceived by the left as lacking any true intellectual depth.

Both use the non-stop ridicule of the media in collusion with opposing political opponents to expose the hypocrisy of the left/progressive agenda who have nothing real to offer the voting public except a childish and unconvincing vision of what American or Israel should be in the future. Both President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu focus on national unity and the betterment of their respective people.

The media and the liberal progressive left will warn the public, as we approach the election period, against what philosopher Max Weber has claimed,that the West–meaning the “uninformed” general public–has always been vulnerable to: Demagoguery, Charisma and Celebrity, which have often mattered more than ideas.

They will claim that the liberty-loving public, intrinsically fearful of an unrestrained radical socialistic system, has always been liable to exploitation by charismatic conservative leaders. They will remind us all of Machiavelli’s The Prince, and the amoral charlatans desirous only for power and why in politics, oratory always mattered. They will bring up Cicero’s warning, that eloquence divorced from wisdom can destroy a country. They will warn us that we should be wary of George Orwell’s warning of totalitarianism. They will quote Hanna Arendt who has said, that between anarchic arbitrariness and the “fantastically fictitious consistency of an ideology,” people will often choose the latter. That’s “not because they are stupid or wicked,” she said, but because it gives the holder of an ideology intellectual security and sometimes escape, providing an illusion of meaning and a sense of self.

Both in the United States and in Israel; the silent majority, the middle class, and all those that reject the condescending attitude of the liberal/progressive elite will reject their warnings and their political message of why only they can prevent the destruction of “our country” as we know it. The liberal/progressive left will find itself, whether in the coming Israeli elections or in the 2020 elections in the United States, to be overwhelmingly rejected by the public and sent back to all their respective constituencies as false political prophets having nothing to show for their efforts and losing any semblance of credibility in their eyes of those that believed their deceitful promises to bring about change and their illusions.

(INN)

(This article was originally published on the Arutz Sheva web site: www.israelnationalnews.com)

The writer, a 25-year veteran of the I.D.F Medical Corp., served as a field mental health officer. Prior to retiring in 2005, served as the Commander of the Central Psychiatric Military Clinic for Reserve Soldiers at Tel-Hashomer. Since retiring from active duty, he provides consultancy services to NGO’s implementing Psycho trauma and Community Resilience programs to communities in the North and South of Israel. Is a former strategic advisor on Public Diplomacy for the Office of the Chief Foreign Envoy of Judea and Samaria.

Time for Europe to Get Over The “Worst Deal Ever”

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While Iran shows no sign of scaling down its aggressive stance towards the US and its allies in the region, Europe continues to cling to the wreckage of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in the misguided belief that the deal remains the best means of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. "Technically all the steps that have been taken, and that we regret have been taken, are reversible... We invite Iran to reverse the steps and go back to full compliance," Federica Mogherini, EU foreign policy chief, recently told EU foreign ministers. Pictured: Mogherini (left) stands with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, during her August 2017 visit to Iran. (Image source: European External Action Service/Flickr)

By: Con Coughlin

With tensions rising in the Gulf by the day as a result of Iran’s increasingly provocative conduct, the refusal of the major European powers to back the Trump administration’s determination to confront Iran is looking increasingly untenable.

In the past few months Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks on oil tankers operating in the Gulf, and forced a British Royal Navy warship to intervene when a number of fast patrol boats operated by the naval division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attempted to harass a British-owned tanker sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, the main shipping route into the oil-rich Gulf.

Additionally, US military officials at Central Command (CentCom) are currently investigating claims that Iran was behind the mysterious disappearance of the oil tanker Riah while sailing in Iranian waters at the weekend.

Also, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have been blamed for carrying out a number of attacks against targets in neighboring Saudi Arabia, including a missile attack on a Saudi civilian airport and a drone attack on a key Saudi pipeline.

Iran’s most audacious act so far has been to shoot down an American naval drone conducting a reconnaissance mission in the Strait of Hormuz last month. The strike came within hours of provoking a military response from the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, as all this has been going on, the ayatollahs have announced that they have resumed work on enriching uranium, a blatant breach of the controversial nuclear accord Tehran signed with the world’s leading powers in 2015.

Yet, while Iran shows no sign of scaling down its aggressive stance towards the US and its allies in the region, Europe continues to cling to the wreckage of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), to give the nuclear deal its proper name, in the misguided belief that the deal remains the best means of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Europe’s insistence on adopting a different approach to the White House in its dealings with Iran dates back to President Donald Trump’s original decision last year to withdraw from the JCPOA, after arguing it was the “worst deal ever.”

That, however, is not a viewpoint supported by the European signatories to the deal — Britain, France and Germany. They still wrongly cling to the illusion that the agreement is a triumph of diplomacy, and has severely limited Iran’s ability to pursue its ambition of becoming a nuclear-armed power. Under the JCPOA deal, upon its sunset, a mere ten years away, in 2030, “Iran will be permitted to build an industrial-size nuclear industry” with the ability to build and potentially deliver as many nuclear weapons as it liked.

To this end the Europeans have actively sought to undermine the Trump administration’s new sanctions regime against Tehran by trying to find ways to continue trading with Iran. The Europeans have even come up with their own trading framework — the so-called Special Purpose Vehicle — which is supposed to enable European companies to continue trading with Iran without attracting punitive measures from the US.

In fact the measure has become an exercise in futility, as major European business conglomerates such as Airbus have shown that they are far more interested in protecting their lucrative business ties with the US than dealing with an economic basket case like Iran.

But not even this setback has deterred the Europeans from pursuing their policy of appeasement towards the ayatollahs. The determination of the Europeans to stick with the nuclear deal at all costs was very much in evidence earlier this week during a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels at which they came up with the decidedly bogus notion that Iran’s breaches of the 2015 nuclear deal were not significant and therefore did not require the Europeans to withdraw from the JCPOA.

“Technically all the steps that have been taken, and that we regret have been taken, are reversible,” Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief, told EU foreign ministers.

As none of the signatories to the deal considered the breaches to be significant, they were not prepared to trigger the dispute mechanism which could lead to further sanctions.

“We invite Iran to reverse the steps and go back to full compliance,” were her final words on the matter.

Europe’s insistence on sticking with the nuclear deal, and its refusal to support Washington’s attempts to provide naval protection for international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, could ultimately prove self-defeating.

Europe is far more dependent on energy supplies from the Gulf than the US, and any further attempts by Iran to disrupt oil and gas supplies from the Gulf would have catastrophic consequences for Europe’s economy.

(Gatestone Institute)

Con Coughlin is the Telegraph’s Defence Editor and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute. He is the author of “Khomeini’s Ghost

“Confronting the Deception” Challenges Insidious Propaganda with Irrefutable Facts

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Confronting the Deception by Tabitha Korol, reminds all of us that it wasn’t just Osama bin Laden or al Qaeda that murdered innocent Americans on September 11, 2001. The threat had been growing for decades and Americans were comfy thinking we were immune to it. Not so much. If you read her research, it tells that although Muslims assure us of their peaceful intentions, most of it is Taqiyya (lies) to infidels.

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Clouds of smoke rise from fires at the World Trade Center Towers as a result of terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Photographed 9:54 am in Lower Manhattan. The author writes, “Jihadists and their holy war are now here in America; we invited them in even after we saw their attacks in Israel and in Europe, and after they slaughtered almost 3,000 Americans on that fateful sunny morning in 2001.” Photo Credit: Shutterstock

It has been my honor and pleasure to get to know Tabitha Korol. She’s not only a wonderful author and writer, but a true patriot and someone who is not afraid to tell it like it is. As America roils with chaos and uncertainty foisted on her from leftists who are intent on removing a duly elected president and forcing the freest nation on earth into bowing before Marxism, Tabitha writes of what we have forgotten. She writes on what happened on 9/11/2001… and on what many of us swore we would never forget.

It has long been my belief that we should have attacked Iran after 9/11 as the major culprit in the attack on our homeland and the major supporter of terrorism against Israel. But in the end, the enemy here is radical Islam and always has been. And the threat has not diminished but has grown in the last 17 years. We have let our guard down and we have let the enemy within America. Communists on the left seed our communities with Islamist refugees we know nothing about – a recipe for murder, chaos, conquest, and terrorism. Jihadists and their holy war are now here in America; we invited them in even after we saw their attacks in Israel and in Europe, and after they slaughtered almost 3,000 Americans on that fateful sunny morning in 2001.

Confronting the Deception by Tabitha Korol, reminds all of us that it wasn’t just Osama bin Laden or al Qaeda that murdered innocent Americans that day. The threat had been growing for decades and Americans were comfy thinking we were immune to it. Not so much. If you read her research, it tells that although Muslims assure us of their peaceful intentions, most of it is Taqiyya (lies) to infidels.

I agree with Tabitha’s conclusion that it is not only a small number of radical Muslims who wish us harm, but it is also the Ummah itself… the Muslim collective. The radical terrorists are just those tasked with the dirty work. Islam believes it should rule the world under shariah law. From the beginning, I have considered it a flawed, fractured religion and for that, I have been censored and purged. So has Tabitha. It is an internal and an external threat we dare not ignore but seem bent on doing so. It is an existential threat to Judaeo-Christian civilization.

As Glenn Beck and others have pointed out often, the Caliphate (and there are multiple ones among Muslims) is a danger to all of us. The US stands with Israel because we believe in freedom. Islam does not. It is a theology that thrives on conquest, subjugation, bloodshed, and suppression. Korol’s book points out all of this and more. Photo Credit: Shutterstock

As Glenn Beck and others have pointed out often, the Caliphate (and there are multiple ones among Muslims) is a danger to all of us. The US stands with Israel because we believe in freedom. Islam does not. It is a theology that thrives on conquest, subjugation, bloodshed, and suppression. Korol’s book points out all of this and more. I believe this to be literally a fight to the death for civilizations.

Confronting the Deception puts forth that Islam claims that 9/11 was an act of the Caliphate and “is still being fueled by a Shadow Government.” With CAIR and numerous organizations now on US soil, that is a foregone conclusion. We have never been given the truth on radical Islam by the media, most of the government and certainly not by the left. In the end, the political theology of Islam in America screams hatred towards infidels and our way of life. “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” are no longer just sayings, but a goal of the Caliphate and we had better come to terms with it before it is too late.

Academia, from kindergarten to university, is disinviting valuable speakers, suppressing analysis and discussion, and turning patriots into globalists. Curricula, textbooks and teaching methods have been changed to Islamize the students, inspiration is extinguished, their vocabulary changed by fear or force, and competition discouraged by an equalizing grading system, engineering the children’s psyche to produce a compliant nonproductive generation. They are also being destroyed with intentional rejection of their gender, encouraging children to be what they are not sexually, thereby preventing marriage and procreation to diminish our population (a globalist agenda), and removing masculine traits to reduce our ability to self-defend from invaders. The media strongly encourages and supports the illegal invasion of America and keeps us from knowing most of what jihadists are doing worldwide.

“Confronting the Deception” challenges the insidious propaganda with arguments supported by irrefutable facts. Korol exposes the gravity of the threats we face with copious links to Koranic quotes, historic accounts, and trustworthy documentation not available in any other single source, and reveals the mentality that creates the jihadi terrorist, in order to help the reader to navigate the distortions that are peddled as truths.

Her book has been strongly recommended by Steven Emerson, journalist, author, executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT); Dr. Bill Warner, PhD., founder of Center for the Study of Political Islam (CSPI); Joan Swirsky, New York-based journalist, writer for the New York Times (Long Island section) for over 20 years, author/co-author of 12 books; Dr. Carl Goldberg, PhD, European and Russian history, author, anti-Islam lecturer; John Molloy, OJS, chairman, National Vietnam & Gulf War Veterans Coalition, and more.

Deception is the modus operandi of Islam and the Left. We are being indoctrinated to disrespect and dislike America, to devalue our freedoms, and to cast aside the advancements we’ve made since our founding. The “Eight Years” have brought us an increase in divisiveness, intolerance, street violence, rapes, honor killings, and FGM, combined with a drip-feed of false narratives to direct the thinking of the gullible. This book is an attempt to redress our endangered world, a must read. I cannot recommend the book highly enough. Tabitha Korol nailed it and she is a tremendous writer and researcher. You can purchase your copy on Amazon.com.

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is a Writer/Publisher/Editor for NoisyRoom.net and researcher for KeyWiki.org

 

The Crackup of the Israeli Left

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Mordechai Nisan’s new book, The Crack-Up of the Israeli Left, published by Mantua Books. In it, Dr. Nisan brilliantly dissects the rise of the Right and the decline of the Left in the Jewish state. Photo Credit: Amazon

A new book details how the Left chose to surrender to the Arab enemy

In recent weeks the mostly left-leaning news media have published articles about the turbulence of this year’s elections in Israel with such handwringing titles as “Is the Israeli left doomed to marginalization?” “The Decline of the Israeli Left,” and “Whatever Happened to the Israeli Left?” But if one really wants to educate oneself deeply and broadly about this shift in the tiny democracy’s political landscape, one can hardly do better than to read Mordechai Nisan’s new book, The Crack-Up of the Israeli Left, published by Mantua Books. In it, Dr. Nisan brilliantly dissects the rise of the Right and the decline of the Left in the Jewish state. To quote from the book cover’s description, it details how “the Left detached its moorings from reality and principle, raised its voice against the Zionist enterprise, and chose surrender to the Arab enemy.”

If anyone is qualified to expound upon Israel’s political and cultural battlegrounds, it’s Mordechai Nisan. Dr. Nisan (with a doctorate in Political Studies from McGill University) has been a teacher and consultant for a number of academic and public institutions in Israel, including Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he taught Middle East Studies for 35 years. Among his many books are Toward a New Israel: The Jewish State and the Arab Question (1992), Only Israel West of the River: The Jewish State and the Palestinian Question (2011), and Politics and War in Lebanon (2015). He has written articles for The Jerusalem Post, Israel National News, Global Affairs, Middle East Journal, and many other publications. He has also been an activist for Jewish settlement in the territories of Judea and Samaria.

Dr. Nisan was kind enough to take time to answer some questions for FrontPage Mag.

Mark Tapson: You begin your book by describing Israel as “a fable and a myth, but also a Great Truth.” What do you mean by that?

Mordechai Nisan: Myth as an expression of inner thoughts and memories mobilizes people to action. Fables arouse children’s imagination, as myths do for adults. Israel was born from a great myth rooted in the Biblical story of liberation and conquest, awakening the Jewish people to relive their past through the medium of Zionism and reconstituting their freedom and sovereignty in modern times. This is a revitalized myth actualizing an ancient truth of God and Jewish peoplehood in history.

Thus, the distinction between reality and imagination, truth and fable, collapses in the dynamic Jewish Return to the Land of Israel. This is the secret of the founding or re-founding of the state of Israel in 1948. A culture that has lost myth, wrote Nietzsche in The Birth of Tragedy, “has lost its natural healthy creativity.” Israel’s myth lives on, and so does Israel.

MT: What IS “the crackup of the Israeli left”?

MN: The Israeli Left is stuck in a deep moral and political crisis. Its cyclical downturn has degenerated into ideological rigidity (against the Land of Israel) and political arrogance (against the citizens of Israel). Rootless leftist elites, who are entrenched in the media, academia, the arts, and the judiciary, parade secularism against tradition, vaunting a pro-Palestinian political narrative and having abandoned a pro-Israel one. The more radical elements in the Labor and Meretz parties severed their spiritual ties to the vision of a proud Jewish state, as when they opposed the 2018 Basic Law recognizing “Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.”

This Leftist “crack-up” includes a long list of political pathologies: siding with the BDS travesty, charging Israel with fascism and Nazi-like policies, refusing to sing the national anthem, employing blood libel terminology to denigrate Jewish settlers, praising Palestinian enemies as peace-loving, and trivializing the dangerous consequences of territorial withdrawal. Leftist incoherence and despair have cost them votes, with the nationalist-rightist Likud Party dominating Israeli politics for decades, since 1977.

MT: To confront the Palestinian “war is peace” mindset toward Israel, you state that “Israel is in need of a culture of war to secure its future.” Can you elaborate on that?

MN: The Israel Defense Forces, with an array of intelligence and cyber capacities, are on 24/7 alert since the day Israel arose in 1948; and poised to defend the country from threat, attack, and terrorism by Iran and Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah. For its part, Islam is a religion of war – as Ayatollah Khomeini said; but this does not prevent the Palestinian war donning the mask of peace as a strategy of deception.

Israel enlists and trains its youth for military service and instills love for the homeland, to fight and sacrifice to protect its citizens. This is not a sign of militarism, rather a call for realism and vigilance. When I say that Israel must cultivate a culture of war, despite Judaism in its biblical, prophetic, and rabbinic sources teaching that the highest human value is peace, I am speaking about a patriotic spirit for the defense and survival of Israel.

MT: You refer to the 1993 Oslo Accords as a “swindle,” “plotted in darkness” and “abundant in Israeli hubris.” What did the Accords lead to instead of peace and democracy?

MN: The 1993 Oslo Accord was born in the political shadows by Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who maneuvered Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to take a leap of faith into political oblivion. The Israeli government galvanized parliamentary support by scandalous means, shamelessly recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as a peace partner, and propounded the absurdity of a “New Middle East.” The Jews embraced their murderers, fantasizing that the Palestinians want nothing more than independence and sovereignty when, in fact, their goal was and remains the destruction of Israel and the elimination of the Israelis.

Thus the idiocy of a “two-state” solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conundrum. Israel agreed to imprudent territorial withdrawals and, in return, the Palestinians violated obligations and commitments, unleashing the “Oslo War” indiscriminate terrorism against Israelis, in restaurants, hotels, markets, and busses, on the roads and in the forests. This diabolical war/peace political theatre led to the slaughter of many hundreds of Jews. Leftist complacency and naivety brought fear and panic, suffering and death, upon the people of Israel. The loony Left has not confessed its error and continues to promote further capitulation and withdrawal from land. Fools repeat their mistakes and do not learn from them.

MT: You’re critical of the Israeli response to Arab terrorism, which is to treat it too much like a law enforcement issue. What is a more effective approach to deterring terrorism?

MN: The anti-terror agencies have the responsibility to monitor, detect, and prevent, apprehend and punish those elements engaged in terrorism against a country and its citizens. Israel’s security apparatus is exceptional; its performance level is perhaps the best in the world. The Israelis are Middle Easterners expected to understand the cultural code and workings of Arab society. As such, fighting terrorism as a law enforcement task misses the point, because the Palestinian war against the Jews and Zionism is rooted in religious and ideological Islamic and Arab imperatives. When Palestinians arson Jewish fields or throw rocks at an Israeli car, this is not an isolated misdemeanor or youthful prank, but jihad as a deadly campaign.

To apply effective deterrence, the people closest to the terrorist must pay the price of expulsion for the individual terrorist’s lone foray to destroy and murder. Before the sun rises, the terrorist’s family disappears. To act with boldness in applying collective punishment is not to be arbitrarily ruthless toward the enemy, but to show compassion for your people and implement an effective policy to save lives.

MT: You point out that the prescient philosopher Eric Hoffer recognized as far back as 1968 that, “as it goes with Israel, so it will go with all of us.” Why is Israel the canary in the coal mine?

MN: The image of “the canary in the coal mine,” as the bird faces impending death while warning humans of a like fate, ostensibly misconstrues the connection between Israel and the West. Considering the ignoble collapse of Europe facing militant Islam, the European miner is in a more dire condition than the Israeli bird. Eric Hoffer foresaw the link between Israel and the West, the Jewish state being a litmus test for the survival of the West.

However, his prediction did not account for signs of a loss of meaning and political submission that have afflicted western and central Europe, Canada and Australia as well. Like a wounded animal, Europe seems lifeless. While Europe’s loss of will ill-prepares it to withstand the multi-level Muslim challenge, which strikes at the very core of peoples’ historical culture and national pride, Israel – that lone canary – forges ahead with resolve.

Yet, were Israel to go down and the Muslim world triumph against the Jews, the forces of Islam would be emboldened to believe that Christian Europe–Madrid and London, Paris and Rome – later perhaps New York and Washington – would fall into their hands. In that regard, Eric Hoffer grasped the interconnection of things in the historical process. Worth mentioning here is the menacing Arab adage: “after the Saturday people come the Sunday people.” When the West supports the Jews, they are also saving the Christians.

            (Front Page Mag)

Historian Jonathan Sarna on the Present & Future of American Judaism

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When it was published, in 2004, historian Jonathan Sarna’s “American Judaism” quickly became the authoritative textbook on the subject. It won five awards, including the Jewish Book of the Year award from the Jewish Book Council, and was praised as “the single best description of American Judaism during its 350 years on American soil.”

Earlier this year, Yale University Press released the second edition of the book with a new introduction, conclusion, chronology and index.

It brings the story of American Judaism up to the present, analyzing the latest demographic and societal trends and offering new insights concerning present-day and future developments.

“Jews witness two contradictory trends operating in their community: assimilation and revitalization,” Professor Sarna writes in the book’s conclusion. “Which will predominate, and what the future holds, nobody knows. That will be determined day by day, community by community, Jew by Jew.”

We asked Professor Sarna, the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History and University Professor, about the new edition.

Q: You’ve added new material on the Jewish LGBTQ community

A: That whole movement in Jewish life has advanced with astonishing speed, perhaps not fast enough for those who live it, but still astonishing speed from the perspective of a social movement. I barely touched on it in the first edition.

I tell the story of how AIDS really affected Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, which was New York’s first gay synagogue. In the 1980s, half of the congregation’s males perished. And they wrote a prayer, an amazing prayer in 1984: “Our community is afflicted, and we know not why.”

I also obtained a picture of the first Jewish AIDS quilt, created by Beit Simchat Torah as part of its Names Project. Surrounding the names of those who died is the text of the Mourner’s Kaddish.

Q: You also discuss the growing numbers of Jews of color

A: In one generation, the idea that someone “looks Jewish” essentially disappears. There are a variety of reasons for that — conversion, adoption, intermarriage, the coming of Sephardic and Mizrachi Jews from Israel, and more.

Adoption plays a much larger role than most people realize. It used to be that adoptions most often took place within the Jewish community because the operative principle was that children and parents should “match.”

That idea disappeared in the 1980s and cross-cultural adoptions became more and more normative. One study suggests that 70 percent of all adoptions by Jews are now transracial. Those kids are growing up, so we are now seeing more and more Asian, African and Latin American children within a Jewish setting.

Q: You point out another big trend — the decline of the Conservative movement. Membership has dropped by about 50 percent since 1970.

A: All over the United States, we see the decline of the broad middle in American religion. Mainline Protestantism has also declined. When you have a culture that’s riven between right and left, the hardest place to be is the middle. That is part of the Conservative movement’s problem.

Q: Meanwhile, there’s been huge growth in the Chabad-Lubavitch movement

A: Chabad has risen in part, I think, because they offered an entirely new and disruptive model, welcoming everybody in and not asking for membership dues. In many respects, they have broken with the typical American Jewish pattern. The Chabad rabbi doesn’t move from community to community. He comes and stays for life. “This is your assignment,” he is told. “What can you do with it?” And it’s a top-down model, very different from the independent congregational model that’s long been characteristic of American Judaism.

Q: What can you tell us about American Jews’ changing views of Israel?

A: We have a younger generation that doesn’t remember when Israel became independent in 1948, doesn’t remember the Six Day War of 1967, and doesn’t remember the great fear that accompanied the Yom Kippur War.

Instead, they only know a very strong Israel. They’ve heard story after story of how Israel is a dominant military power while several million Palestinian Arabs live as second-class citizens chafing under Israeli control. And if you’re a member of a Jewish community that has long sympathized with the persecuted and the downtrodden, that new calculus proves unsettling.

Thanks to the internet and a lot of English language periodicals that represent a wide spectrum of views, American Jews are now much better acquainted with internal Israeli politics. Whereas before, they were simply mobilized in support of the Israeli government’s policies, today they mirror the range of opinions found within Israel itself. American Jews, however, are much more liberal politically than their Israeli counterparts. Forty-nine percent of American Jews characterize themselves as liberal but only 8 percent of Israelis do.

Q: Is there a growing rift between Israeli and American Jews?

A: There are three different views on this question.

The first argues that, indeed, there is a growing rift. This “distancing hypothesis” is probably the consensus view among scholars and there’s plenty of evidence to support it. The most worrisome evidence is a recent poll which asked young Jews whether it would be a great tragedy if the State of Israel were destroyed, and only about half of them said yes.

A second view is that nothing has really changed. There have always been opponents of Israel. Meanwhile, more and more Jews have gone on Birthright Israel trips and have a positive view of Israel, whether or not they support its current government. The so-called “distancing hypothesis,” according to this view, has been manufactured for political purposes.

The third argument is that young Jews are indeed more critical of Israel than older ones, but that is nothing new. Remember Mark Twain who once observed that his father was a remarkable man — “The older I get, the smarter he gets.” So it is with Israel, according to this view. The older we get, the smarter Israel gets.

I suspect that all three of these explanations are partially true. They’re not necessarily incompatible.

Q: Of course, what everyone wants to know is will American Judaism survive?

A: I have tended to view American Judaism as cyclical, much like so many other religions in America. We are currently experiencing a national religious recession — many a synagogue and church is in decline — but remember that every past religious recession has been followed by a surprising religious revival, as young people rediscover religion’s power and benefits.

Someday, I expect, journalists will discover a surprising new interest on the part of young people in synagogues and religious life, and then the cycle will begin again.

That, of course, does not mean that the new synagogues will be identical with the old ones. We see lots of fascinating Jewish religious start-ups today — emergent congregations, partnership services, independent minyanim, and the like. Many of these start-ups will not survive, I suspect, but some of them will make it very, very big. They will reshape American Judaism in the decades to come.

Rabbi Reuven Bauman, zt’l – A Hero Who Risked His Life to Save His Student

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When Rabbi Reuven Bauman saw an 11-year-old student struggling in rough choppy water off the coast of a state park in Virginia Beach on July 9, 2019, he didn’t hesitate. Rabbi Bauman, a 35-year-old father of five, jumped into the water and swam towards the student to save him.

When Rabbi Reuven Bauman saw an 11-year-old student struggling in rough choppy water off the coast of a state park in Virginia Beach on July 9, 2019, he didn’t hesitate. Rabbi Bauman, a 35-year-old father of five, jumped into the water and swam towards the student to save him.

Students from the Toras Chaim school in Norfolk, Virginia. Photo Credit: YouTube

Rabbi Bauman was visiting False Hope State Park as he chaperoned about 20 campers from a local day camp. During the school year Rabbi Bauman taught 3rd, 7th and 8th grade students at nearby Toras Chaim school in Norfolk, Virginia.

It seems that as Rabbi Bauman struggled to reach the swimmer at least one other passerby jumped in to help as well. The student made it back to shore (some news reports say that there were several children), while Rabbi Bauman was swept out to sea.

The Coast Guard searched the rough seas all day for Rabbi Bauman, then reluctantly, after many hours, they called off the search. “It’s always a hard decision, and it’s not one we make lightly” explained Coast Guard Lt. Steve Arguelles at the time. The likelihood that Rabbi Bauman was still alive in the rough, dangerous seas was nil.

While the Coast Guard had given up on finding Rabbi Bauman’s body, a plethora of Jewish organizations refused to give up the search. Volunteers from New York, New Jersey, and Baltimore came out with boats, jet skis and even several small airplanes and helicopters to repeatedly search the waters off the beach where Rabbi Bauman disappeared. Volunteers brought what equipment they could. Those with no access to boats or aircraft walked the beach, looking out at sea in case they could find any of a person floating in the water.

Norfolk’s tight knit Jewish community came together this morning to say a final farewell to a beloved member, paying their respects to Rabbi Reuven Bauman z’l whose body was found Sunday in the ocean waters off the southern Virginia coastline after a six day search that drew volunteers from hundreds of miles away. Photo Credit: Eli Wohl – VIN News

Volunteers searched right up until Shabbat, three days after Rabbi Bauman disappeared, then resumed searching the waters on Sunday once more.

Meanwhile, Jews across the world did what they could too, reciting Psalms, donating charity and praying for his rescue, or at least that his body might be found. “Please stop what you are doing and say Tehillim (Psalms) chapter 69 right away” for Reuven Tzvi ben Esther Baila was an urgent message that came up on my Facebook feed, hundreds of miles away. The same message reached thousands of other women too, as it was shared and sent thousands of times around the world.

As Jewish organizations refused to give up searching for Rabbi Bauman’s body, a virtual army of thousands of Jews across the world prayed and hoped and worked doing mitzvot and studying Torah on his behalf. If we couldn’t save him, at least we hoped his body might be found and he could receive the dignity of a proper funeral.

“The hundreds of thousands of tefillos (prayers) from all of Klal Yisrael (the Jewish people) have given our community, the family, and our children unnatural strength during this difficult time,” wrote Rabbi Sender Haber of Norfolk’s B’nai Israel Congregation. For five days, the tight-knit Jewish community prayed for a miracle; the surge of support they received from Jews around the world helped them to not give up hope.

Finally, on Sunday July 14, Rabbi Bauman’s body was found by volunteers from Misaskim, a Jewish organization that aids people in crisis based in Brooklyn. After days of agony, Rabbi Bauman’s family will be able to make plans for his funeral and begin to sit shiva.

“He acted heroically,” explained Coast Guard Lt. Arguelles, who led the Coast Guard’s search. Giving his own life to save others, Rabbi Reuven Bauman exemplified all that’s best and most noble. He lived and died a hero. May his memory inspire us all.

For those who are interested in passing on any messages to Mrs. Bauman or any of the Bauman/Stern families, an email address has been created for this purpose at [email protected]

                                    (Originally published on Aish.com)

Former NBA Player Mike Sweetney: Life on the Rebound

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Former pro-basketball players and longtime friends Sweetney and Goodman in Jerusalem, July 2019. Credit: Courtesy

On his first visit to Israel, former NBA player Mike Sweetney sits down with JNS to talk about depression, loss, family, faith and basketball.

Mike Sweetney had it all.

Named the best high school basketball player in the Washington, D.C., area in 2000, he then joined the list of star centers for Georgetown University. At Georgetown, he averaged 18.2 points and left his mark as seventh in career scoring, fifth in career rebounds and sixth in career blocks. He was drafted by the New York Knicks as the ninth overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft.

Coaching kids at basketball camp in Jerusalem, July 2019. Credit: Courtesy.

Sweetney, 36, had fortune, fame and a career doing what he loved best, but then tragedy struck. His father died suddenly from a heart attack, just days before he had to report to the Knicks’ training camp. The loss sent him spiraling into a depression that made it impossible for him to focus on basketball.

Sweetney struggled in the NBA, revealing recently that he even tried to commit suicide during his rookie season. After four unsuccessful years, he played overseas for 12 years, and now dedicates himself to raising awareness about mental-health issues, and the importance of seeking and receiving assistance.

JNS talked with Sweetney last week in Jerusalem during his first-ever visit to Israel. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Q: What did you know or hear about Israel during your college and professional basketball days?

A: I didn’t know that much about it. From the news, it always sounded like it was a pretty rough place, but when I played ball overseas, I kept hearing other players saying how their goal is to play in Israel so I knew it couldn’t be that bad.

On the court in Israel, July 2019. Credit: Courtesy.

Q: Did you have any connection to the Jewish people, especially playing in New York?

A: My only connection to Jews was my friendship with [Israeli-American former pro-basketball player] Tamir Goodman. The two of us played together in the Capital Classic, one of the most prominent high school all-star games. We even won co-MVP of the game together!

Tamir is one of the most amazing people I ever met. He is always smiling and always in a great mood. I admired him so much, and wondered how anyone could never get upset and be so happy. It was also incredible how we would literally give the shirt off his back to help anyone in need. So my only connection to Judaism was an extremely positive one.

Q: Since you brought up Tamir, did you think it was strange that he played with a kipah on his head? I was actually at that Capital Classic game when you played together with him and wondered what the 20,000 people in the arena thought about his kipah.

Former pro-basketball players and friends Mike Sweetney (left) and Tamir Goodman (center) at basketball camp in Israel. Credit: Courtesy.

A: I don’t know about everyone else in the arena, but I never saw Tamir as being different. I knew the kipah meant something religious, and I respected that. I never asked him about it and just saw him as one of the guys. We became close and have been in touch for 20 years.

Q: So you got to the NBA, the ninth pick in the same draft in which LeBron James was chosen as No. 1. But you struggled after your dad passed away. What happened?

A: My father dying was the hardest thing I ever had to deal with in my life. He was my best friend and mentor. He was the one who introduced me to basketball. My dad attended every single college game that I played. Not having him by my side during that should have been the greatest moments of my life threw me into depression.

I didn’t realize then that I was suffering from depression, but I was in a very dark place and could not get out of it. Basketball was my only outlet to distract me, but I could not succeed in basketball without my dad.

So, I was caught in a vicious cycle of sadness that spiraled me to deeper and deeper darkness. I lost my NBA career, and I almost lost my family because of it. I can tell you one thing I learned from that experience: Money doesn’t buy happiness.

Q: How were you able to get out of that dark place and depression?

A: I remembered the things which my dad taught me about God. I connected to my church, prayed a lot and decided to let God handle things. I was trying to do things my way, and I was not following His lead. Once I started getting things together spiritually, I was able to connect to what truly makes one happy and what truly matters—God and family. That’s when things started turning around for me.

Q: How did you end up coming to Israel?

A: I knew through my religious faith that Israel was a special place; it’s the Holy Land. But I had never been. I saw that my good friend, Tamir, was advertising that he was holding a summer camp in Jerusalem. So I contacted him to see if he could use my help as a coach. Next thing I knew, I was planning my visit.

Q: How has your first-ever visit to Israel been for you?

A: Let me start by saying that if my wife and three children were here with me now, I don’t think I would be able to get on that plane and leave at the end of the trip. I went from the airport to my hotel and didn’t even unpack. I left straight for the Western Wall. Being there, and walking in the Old City, was surreal for me. I was seeing and walking in the places which I read about in the Bible. Words cannot explain the feeling.

It has also been special being reunited with Tamir and working with all these great kids in the basketball camp in Jerusalem. I plan to come back next summer with my family. I really don’t know how I will be able to leave.

Q: What message do you have for people around the world about Israel?

A: Don’t believe what you see in the news. The people here are so nice and loving. No words that I say can describe how peaceful it is here. You have to come here to experience it yourself. Where else in the world can young children play in the park at 12 a.m.?

I saw children playing and asked Tamir, “Where are their parents?” He told me that children in Israel have freedom to just be kids and parents don’t have to worry. The news tell us that Israel is a war zone. I don’t know—in the United States, I would never let my child ride a bus alone and here in Israel that is the norm. So, you tell me: Which place is more dangerous?

It also amazes me how everything here is so family-oriented and how family is so important to the people of Israel. This has been the most incredible experience of my life, and I cannot wait to come back.

(JNS.org)

NJ Gang Uses Water Guns & Anti-Semitic Epithets at Jews Leaving Shul in Teaneck

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Last week in Teaneck, four people in a car used water pistols to spray Jews with liquid. The gang also yelled anti- Semitic comments at the Jews while they were leaving their synagogue. This anti- Semitic incident happened on July 12th right outside the Young Israel of Teaneck

Last week in Teaneck, four people in a car used water pistols to spray Jews with liquid. The gang also yelled anti- Semitic comments at the Jews while they were leaving their synagogue. This anti- Semitic incident happened on July 12th right outside the Young Israel of Teaneck. Deputy Mayor Elie Katz reported that the car was a silver Honda Accord, and that it sped up to the building as the occupants squirted the Jewish worshippers with liquid. Katz also reported that the gang members also took videos of the Jews while taunting and insulting them. He said that, “When asked to stop, they yelled [anti-Semitic] comments.

The Teaneck police reported on Monday that they have identified three out of the four people in the car and they are not minors. Kats said that “There is an ongoing investigation,” and that “The police will be working with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office to determine how this should be classified and any relevant charges. The Teaneck Police Chief Glenn O’Reilly said that there were no reported injuries and that no other incidents have happened since the water gun incident. In late April, the Anti-Defamation League disclosed in their annual report that ever since Donald Trump’s victory in the elections, anti-Semitism has grown sharply.

In addition, they reported that New Jersey is the third to most anti- Semitic state in the nation, with over 200 incidents last year. Within the 200 incidents there were 94 harassment incidents, 104 acts of vandalism, and two accounts of assault. The harassment charges include bomb threats against Jewish institutions as well as a Jewish cemetery. The vandalism happened mostly in public places, however there was still 17 accounts of anti- Semitic vandalism on private property, which included swastikas that were found on homes, cars and apartment buildings. The second to most anti-Semitic state is New York with 340 incidents occurring last year.

The state with the most anti- Semitic incidents is California who had 341 incidents last year, only one more than New York. Overall, anti-Semitism rose exponentially after the tragedy in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in October of 2018. Over the past two years Jews all over the world have witnessed an alarming escalation of anti-Semitic incidents. Additionally, the topic of anti-Semitism has been dominating the headlines as of late in the national discourse as President Trump has publicly castigated four Democratic congresswomen who have made a number of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements since their election to the House of Representatives in November of 2018.

(Ezra Ashkenazi is currently an intern in the Jewish Voice Student Journalist Initiative)

Trump Crashes MAGA Themed Wedding at NJ Golf Club; Couple Ecstatic

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President Donald Trump crashed a MAGA themed wedding at his eponymously named golf club in Bedminster, NJ last weekend. Photo Credit: YouTube

This past weekend a couple threw a wedding at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. The theme of their wedding was “Make America Great Again” which was the Trump’s campaign slogan for the 2016 elections. Nicole Perosi and PJ Mongelli are long- time Trump supporters and their engagement was also in a Trump golf club. Their MAGA themed reception even had Trump 2020 signs and American flags, they also gave out Trump gold bars of chocolate as their wedding favors. The only thing missing from this Trump filled wedding was Trump himself, until he decided to show up. Trump walked in and embraced the bride and the groom, who were so happily surprised by their surprise guest.

As the couple hugged Trump, the guests chanted “USA! USA! USA!” Everybody at the wedding couldn’t be happier, with the bride exclaiming, “We love you so much,” and another guest said to the president, “You have all supporters here,” and that, “You’re a class act that you came in here.” These are words Trump hasn’t heard in a while, with many Americans that are extremely unhappy with Trump’s presidency, the president was definitely comforted by these words of affection. Trump has a tendency of making spontaneous appearances at weddings that go on in his golf club.

Just a couple of weeks ago, President Trump showed up to different wedding in that same New Jersey golf club. Although he had a busy work schedule of calling prime ministers, electing a new judge to take a seat on the Supreme Court, Donald Trump was still able to spend time making wedding days a little more special. President Trump showed up to Gerald Papa and Jenna Bucholtz’s wedding, and they too were ecstatic.

Trump, who owns the beautiful club, made sure that the couple was having an amazing stay, saying, “Take good care of them,” multiple times. The couple had huge smiles on their faces and people from the crowd were screaming, “We love you!” Since becoming president, Trump has visited four separate weddings, including the one mentioned earlier in the article. This doesn’t include the time when Trump stopped to take a picture with a bride right after a press conference about the North Korean missile launch in February of 2017. People aren’t sure why there was a rise in wedding crashes by Trump recently. But a possible theory is that the president wants to see love from supporters, rather than hate from people who are unhappy with the things he has done since he was elected president in 2016. True or not, Trump is definitely improving these people’s wedding day.

(Ezra Ashkenazi is currently an intern in the Jewish Voice Student Journalist Initiative)

Doctor Who Exposed the Flint Water Crisis Expresses Worries in NJ

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Residents are infuriated with how this is being handled and there were many comparisons to the crisis that took place in Flint, Michigan. Photo Credit: YouTube

Newark natives stood outside of St. Stephens Church to receive a water filter to prevent lead poisoning in their homes. The city has battled with lead poisoning problems lately, and it is becoming an alarming problem. According to an NJ Advance article, Dr. Hanna- Attisha said, “We are never supposed to wait until we see things in children, we are never supposed to wait until we test children.” She spoke to the community at a forum organized by the Newark Water Coalition about the effects of lead poisoning, and how to handle it. She taught them the chemistry of lead when it enters your body, she said, “Once it’s in your blood stream it’s an irreversible neurotoxin,”

According to the NJ Advance article, “Not everyone exposed to lead will have problems, toxic stressors like poverty, poor nutrition and split families can influence lead’s impact on cognition and behavior.” In a recent water test in Newark, 30 percent of the tested sites contained amounts of lead that exceeds the federal action level, although no amount of lead is healthy, the government set a threshold of 15 parts per billion, this an increase from last year’s results.

Authorities do know where the lead is coming from though, and it is not from the city’s water source. It comes from the old underground water pipes, known as lead service lines. These pipes transport water from water mains to the homes of city residents. Kareem Adeem, the acting sewer and water director in Newark said that having high levels of lead for the fifth consecutive monitoring period was no surprise. He said that although the water cleaning process has started in May, there won’t be a decrease of lead in water for a couple of more months, because the purifying is a long process. Residents are infuriated with how this is being handled and there were many comparisons to the crisis that took place in Flint, Michigan. Despite the fact that Dr. Hanna- Attisha said that the comparison is flawed, the problems sure do seem the same. For the sake of the health of Newark’s residents, a solution must be met, and it must be met quickly.

(Ezra Ashkenazi is currently an intern in the Jewish Voice Student Journalist Initiative)

Parshas Pinchas – “It’s All Up to You and Me”

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When should you speak out and when should you remain silent? To what extent do you have to take responsibility and when should you remain passive? In our culture, it is politically correct to mind your own business, keep your nose clean and not become enmeshed in situations that are sensitive and difficult. Our parsha teaches us differently.

Pinchas, the grandson of Aaron, is awarded G-d’s Covenant of Peace and Priesthood. What is the reason for this awesome privilege? The Torah gives us the answer: “Because he took vengeance for his G-d.” (Numbers 25:13).

The passage should give us pause. What is the Torah trying to impart to us by referring to HaShem as the G-d of Pinchas exclusively? Isn’t He the G-d of all of us?

In time of crises, when you have to put yourself on the line in defense of a cause, when you have to battle injustice, corruption, immorality and evil, it is easy to rationalize and justify complacency by stating “It’s not my concern. Let others speak out. After all, G-d is the G-d of everyone, so why should I be the one to take up His cause? Why should I be the one to assume responsibility?

But if you feel that G-d is your personal G-d, if you love G-d with all your heart and all your soul, then you cannot bear to see His honor desecrated, and you feel compelled to cry out in His defense. Therefore, our sages advise us to write for ourselves two notes. ..one for each pocket–the first stating, “For me, the world was created, meaning that “I am responsible. It’s all up to me”. I cannot shirk my duty and scapegoat, and even if the entire world is complacent, corrupt and immoral, I dare not be.” This is all valid when it comes to injustice and desecration of G-d’s Name.

On the second note however, we are to write “I am nothing but dust and ashes”–meaning that, when it pertains to our own personal Kavod/honor, our own position, our own parking place, our own esteem–we must be forgiving and forego our honor.

Pinchas never considered his own honor–only that of G-d. Thus, he made G-d his personal G-d, Pinchas could have rationalized–why should I get involved let Moses and Aaron be the ones to combat immorality, but Pinchas assumed responsibility. It is for this reason that he was rewarded with the eternal covenant of Priesthood and Peace. Even as Pinchas, we too must have the courage to speak out and unafraid raise our own voices on behalf of our G-d, our Torah and our people. We must do our share to restore peace and harmony to a world gone mad.

 

CAPTURING THE ESSENCE OF TORAH

If someone were to challenge you as to which passage from the Torah most poignantly reflects the essence of G-d`s Holy Book, which would you choose? Our sages had much discussion on the subject. Some advocated “Shema Yisrael”, for the Shema proclaims the One-ness of G-d, the credo of our people; others recommended “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” which can truly be a life-transforming experience if you follow its dictates, and still others suggested the Ten Commandments.

As important and fundamental as all these teachings are, our sages have chosen a totally different commandment, one that is relatively unknown, a mitzva from this week`s parsha that, if followed, our sages assure us, will have lasting impact on our lives.

At the end of this week`s parsha (Numbers, 28), G-d commands us to bring an offering for the Temple called, “Olas Tamid”, an offering that had to be brought every single day. You might wonder why our sages consider this passage to be the essence of the Torah….There is a profound wisdom in this choice which reflects the importance of consistency in face of man`s instability. It is easy to be enthusiastic, to soar with fervor, zeal, and passion at the inception of any undertaking, but to maintain that commitment on an ongoing basis is the test of human character.

We all have visions and dreams in which we are convinced that we would do such and such only to see those dreams dissipate with the passage of time. The first time we lit candles, the first time we put on a tallis, were special moments in our lives in which our spirits soared with love for HaShem. But have we been able to maintain these emotions? Do we still feel that love, that sanctity?

This holds true for all our relationships. How often does it happen that, on special occasions, (wedding day, birth of a child) or in moments of crisis such as illness, we make resolutions only to see them vanish with the passage of time? Therefore, our sages taught us that the key element in any relationship is consistency. It is only through consistency that true commitment is demonstrated.

It’s easy to be inspired to change for a moment, but the real sign of our devotion is whether we can retain that devotion throughout our lives during good as well as difficult times. So yes, this is the passage to bring offerings day in and out that best conveys the essence of the Torah, for we must maintain our Jewish commitment throughout our lives. Our loyalty must be ongoing — from day to day, from year to year, from generation to generation, spanning the centuries.

             (Hineni.org)

Pinchas & The Three Weeks

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The Daughters of Zelophehad

The period between the Fast of the 17th of Tamuz and Tishah B’Av is known in halachah as “Bein Ha’meitzarim” / “Between the Troubles.” During this period, we mourn the destruction of both the First and Second Temples.

However, writes R’ Eliezer Ze’ev Rosenbaum z”l hy”d (the Nadvorner- Kretchnif Rebbe in Sighet; killed in the Holocaust), chassidic works teach that there is also a reason for optimism during this period. We read in Eichah (1:3), “All rodfehah / her pursuers hi’seeguhah / overtook her bein ha’meitzarim.” The word “rodfehah” / “her pursuers” can be read “rodfei-Kah” / “Those who pursue G-d.” (The “K” in “Kah” is inserted to avoid pronouncing G-d’s Name, but it is not part of the word.)

Those who pursue G-d during the period can “overtake” him. Also, “hi’seeguhah” can mean “grasped it,” in the sense of grasping a deep concept. Those who pursue G-d during this period can grasp deep spiritual levels.

How can this be? How can a period of such sorrow be an opportunity for such joyful attainments? R’ Rosenbaum explains with two parables.

First, when is it easier for the common man to approach a king – when he is in his palace or when he is traveling? Presumably, when he is traveling. Similarly, it is easier for us to approach G-d when He is in exile from His home, the Temple, so-to-speak.

Also, imagine a father who, G-d forbid, lost many of his children. Whenever the father recalls that tragedy, he will feel closer to his surviving offspring. Similarly, when G-d mourns, so-to-speak, over the Destruction, He brings Himself closer to us. (Raza De’Uvda p.144)

“Pinchas, son of Elazar, son of Aharon the Kohen, turned back My wrath from upon Bnei Yisrael when he zealously avenged Me among them, so I did not consume Bnei Yisrael in My vengeance.” (25:11)

Chazal comment: “Justice requires that Pinchas receive his reward.”

What does this mean? asks R’ Yitzchak Yaakov Reines z”l (rosh yeshiva in Lida, Poland and founder of Mizrachi). Might we think that Pinchas should not be rewarded? Reward and punishment is one of the fundamental beliefs of our faith!

He explains: We read in Yirmiyah (50:17), “Yisrael is like scattered lamb.” The Midrash Rabbah asks, “In what way is Yisrael like a lamb?” The sage Chizkiyah answers in the Midrash, “Just as a lamb that is hit on one limb hurts all over, so when one limb of Yisrael (i.e., one person) is hurting, all of Yisrael is in pain.”

The Midrash continues that the sage Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai illustrated the importance of Jewish unity in another way. Imagine several people sitting on a rowboat. Suddenly, one pulls a drill out of his pocket and begins boring a hole under his seat. The other passengers will surely yell at him, “What are you doing?” Can he rightfully answer, “It’s none of your business; I’m only drilling under my seat”? Of course he cannot.

R’ Reines writes: Both sages, Chizkiyah and Rabbi Shimon, acknowledge the importance of unity. What then is the difference between their two analogies? Chizkiyah’s illustration refers to unity based on emotional attachment. If one Jew is hurting, all should be in pain. In contrast, Rabbi Shimon’s analogy is based on reason, on the recognition that one Jew’s improper act can harm all Jews. (For example, writes R’ Reines, world opinion often condemns all Jews for one Jew’s act.) We are all “sailing in the same boat.” If the boat sinks, G-d forbid, we will all drown.

Pinchas’ killing of Zimri was an emotional act. We know this because it is the source of the halachah that, for certain sins, a zealot may take the law into his own hands and execute the offender. The law is that if the “zealot” comes to bet din / court and asks whether he should take the law into his own hands, he is told, No! There is no doubt that one who commits a Zimri-like act harms the Jewish people whether his act is judged rationally or emotionally.

Nevertheless, the law that “A zealot may strike him down” applies only when the zealot feels the collective pain of the Jewish People, not when he has concluded rationally that the Jewish People may be harmed by the sinner’s act. On the other hand, when a court-appointed agent administers lashes or executes a murderer, he may not act emotionally; he must act rationally.

Since Pinchas acted emotionally, emotion clearly requires that he be rewarded. However, the Midrash says, justice, i.e., reason, also requires that he be rewarded [for in the final analysis, he saved Bnei Yisrael].  (Sefer Ha’arachim: Gmul Va’onesh)

(Torah.org)

What is the Torah Perspective on Political Correctness?

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A quick visit to any Talmudic study hall is enough to make it abundantly clear that Judaism is very much in favor of boisterous, spirited (to put it mildly) debate to help sharpen one’s opinions and reach a correct conclusion. The Talmud itself is essentially arranged as a series of arguments between the rabbis, debating a host of Judaic subjects. Photo Credit: Wikipedia.org

I currently attend a college in the U.S., and lately there has been much controversy surrounding “safe spaces,” where students can retreat to avoid the overwhelm caused by triggering words and ideas. Many insist on their importance, while others contend that they hamper dialogue and free speech.

I was wondering, what is the Jewish perspective on safe spaces and the overabundance of political correctness on campuses these days? Should professors and other lecturers not speak about certain topics or use certain words because students might feel triggered?

 

Reply

I’m well aware that this controversy is nuanced and politically charged, so without getting into the particulars of safe spaces, let me give you a Jewish perspective:

A quick visit to any Talmudic study hall is enough to make it abundantly clear that Judaism is very much in favor of boisterous, spirited (to put it mildly) debate to help sharpen one’s opinions and reach a correct conclusion. The Talmud itself is essentially arranged as a series of arguments between the rabbis, debating a host of Judaic subjects.

In fact, the Talmud tells us that one can really acquire Torah knowledge only through learning in groups, and it has some very harsh words for those who don’t want to learn with others.1

In short, it’s clear that healthy and even heated discussion between opposing viewpoints is the Jewish way. The real question, however, is, what is the Torah’s view on freedom of speech? Should some speech be curtailed?

 

Freedom of Speech and the G‑d Factor

First, we need to understand an underlying philosophical difference between the Constitution and the Torah. According to the Constitution, man was created with natural rights, so the government sees it as its job to create laws that protect those rights. According to the Torah, however, G‑d did not just create us and leave us up to our own devices; rather, He is actively involved in the world and cares what we do. Therefore, He did not give us passive rights, but active responsibilities and duties.

So as much as the Torah holds vigorous debate and speech in high regard, it doesn’t hesitate to prohibit certain types of speech, such as lashon hara—i.e., to speak negatively about someone else, even if it is true.2 Speaking negatively about someone violates the biblical commandment “You shall not go around as a gossipmonger amidst your people. You shall not stand by [the shedding of] your fellow’s blood. I am the L‑rd.”3 And depending on the situation, tale bearing can violate up to 31 Torah commandments.4

To be sure, if keeping silent will result in physical or financial harm to someone, then one is required to speak up.5 Nevertheless, all things being equal, such speech is prohibited.

 

Political Correctness and Noah’s Ark

The Talmud points out a fascinating detail in the Bible’s description of Noah gathering all the animals into the ark.12 The verse states, “Of the pure animals, and of the animals that are not pure . . . two by two they came to Noah into the ark, male and female, as G‑d had commanded Noah.”13

This is an unusual expression. In general, the Torah is written in short and concise language. Every letter has meaning, and no letters are extraneous. So why call an animal “not pure” instead of “impure,” which uses an extra eight letters in Hebrew? Because the Torah is avoiding referring to these animals in a derogatory way, teaching us the importance of refined speech.

But then the Talmud goes on to say that many times the Torah does use the term “impure”—because when it comes to teaching students, one should always use clear, concise language, even at the expense of more refined speech.14

So although teachers need to be mindful of what they say, and certainly never intentionally use harmful speech, when choosing between PC and non-PC language, it is important that clear, concise and unambiguous language be used, lest the lesson become garbled and misunderstood.

 

Safe Spaces Are Still Up for Debate

We’ve left plenty of room for your classmates to debate the pros and cons of safe spaces from the perspective of constitutional rights. Just keep in mind that from a Jewish perspective, talking negatively is almost always prohibited. (Chabad.org)

FOOTNOTES

1. Talmud, Berachot 63b.

2. See Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Orach Chaim 156:10.

3. Leviticus 19:16.

4. Chafetz Chaim, prohibitions 1–17 and positive commandments 1–14.

5. See Sifra, Leviticus 19:16; Talmud, Sanhedrin 73a; Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 426:1; Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Choshen Mishpat, Hilchot Metziah uFikadon 33; Chafetz Chaim, Be’er Mayim Chaim, Hilchot Issurei Rechilut 9:1.

6. Leviticus 25:17.

7. Talmud, Bava Metzia 58b; Sefer haChinuch 338; Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 228:1.

8.

Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 228:4.

9. See Shulchan Aruch, ibid.

10. See Sefer HaChinuch 338.

11. Sefer HaChinuch, ibid. Nevertheless, if one can remain silent and it will not be detrimental, then that is the ideal.

12. Talmud, Pesachim 3a.

13. Genesis 7:8–9.

14. See Talmud, Pesachim 3b, and commentaries ad loc.

Maimonides Stroke Center Ranked #1 in the Nation for Patient Survival

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Maimonides recognized Stroke Awareness with a recent public flag-raising ceremony

The Comprehensive Stroke Center at Maimonides Medical Center has the highest survival rate of any hospital stroke program in the US, according to the most recent mortality report published by the federal government.

“Our nationally acclaimed Stroke Center remains committed to achieving superior stroke patient outcomes,” says Kenneth D. Gibbs, President and CEO of Maimonides Medical Center. “The outstanding care that is delivered demonstrates one of the many reasons why our hospital is among the Top 10 in the nation for overall clinical excellence.”

BE FAST Infographic

Led by Program Director Dr. Tony Qingliang Wang, the fully accredited Comprehensive Stroke Center at Maimonides is comprised of a distinguished team of specialists working together to provide exceptional care. Physicians and nurses in emergency medicine, interventional neuroradiology, vascular and neurosurgery, neurocritical care and rehabilitation medicine collaborate to deliver a full range of technologically advanced diagnostic and treatment services to all patients.

“As the fifth leading cause of death in the United States, stroke impacts a significant part of our population,” explains Dr. Wang. “A person suffers a stroke approximately every 40 seconds in the US, someone dies from stroke ever four minutes, and 80 percent of strokes can be prevented. So when it comes to diagnosis and treatment, every moment counts.”

In addition to the superb results reported by the federal government, the Comprehensive Stroke Center at Maimonides has earned American Stroke Association top honors for the eighth consecutive year, receiving the Get With The Guidelines®- Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award and the Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite Plus – the ASA’s highest level of recognition for stroke care excellence.

Dr. Wang joined Mr. Gibbs, New York State Assembly Member Steven Cymbrowitz and New York City Council Member Dr. Mathieu Eugene at the hospital’s recent Stroke Awareness Flag-Raising. He stressed the importance of acting quickly when witnessing possible signs of a stroke: “If you suspect you or a loved one may be experiencing a stroke, phoning 911 immediately can make a big difference.”

Since blood flow to part of the brain is cut off during a stroke, acting fast can help minimize the risk of brain damage and ensure care is received promptly.

The National Stroke Association provides a useful acronym to help identify stroke symptoms and respond quickly, “BE FAST.” In the event someone might be experiencing a stroke, be sure to observe these crucial signs:

  • (B) Is the person having difficulty maintaining Balance?
  • (E) Is there a loss of vision in one or both Eyes?
  • (F) Ask the person to smile–does one side of the Face droop?
  • (A) When the person raises both arms, does one Arm drift downward?
  • (S) Is Speech slurred or unclear?
  • (T) If the person is exhibiting one or more of these signs, it’s Time to call 911 immediately.

“Prevention remains our most effective weapon in stroke care,” Dr. Wang points out. Therefore, it is important to be mindful of lifestyle habits and medical history. He recommends these valuable tips to minimize risk factors and achieve a healthier lifestyle:

  • Check your blood pressure regularly.
  • Eat a balanced diet of vegetables, whole grains, fish, lean meats and fruit.
  • Maintain a steady weight.
  • Monitor your blood cholesterol. Aim to lower your LDL (or “Lousy”) cholesterol and increase the “Healthy” kind known as HDL.
  • Strive for at least two and a half hours per week of moderate exercise.
  • Avoid excessive alcohol consumption.
  • Quit smoking.
  • Treat circulation problems.
  • Consult your doctor if you have a family history of stroke or high blood pressure to determine if additional assistance in prevention efforts is needed.

To learn more about Maimonides’ award-winning Stroke Program, call 718-283-7670 or visit https://www.maimonidesmed.org/stroke-and-neurosciences/our-services/stroke-and-neurosciences.

Maimonides Medical Center is nationally recognized for clinical excellence across all major specialties. Our accomplished physicians are known for innovation and strengthening our teaching and research programs. With 711 beds, the Medical Center is dedicated to bringing patients the most advanced care available—anywhere. Maimonides continues to grow in response to evolving models of care that better serve patients and families, and is an affiliate of Northwell Health. To learn more, please visit http://www.maimonidesmed.org.

 

Donna Karan & Julian Schnabel Honored at Sold-Out East Hampton Longhouse Reserve Gala

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Left to Right: Benjamin Clementine, Vito Schnabel, Laurie Anderson, Julian Schnabel and Louise Kugelberg with Schnabel sculpture. Credit for all photos: Lieba Nesis

The symbiosis between art and fashion was never more evident than at the Longhouse Reserve Summer Benefit held at 133 Hands Creek Road in East Hampton on July 20, 2019-one of the hottest days in years. The Reserve is a sprawling 16-acre property that owner Jack Larsen has turned into a space that houses collections, gardens, sculptures, and programs which will eventually be turned into a museum. Tonight, we were greeted by pink rose petals that adorned the walkway and legendary photographer Patrick McMullan who photographed the arriving guests with a contagious enthusiasm.

By: Lieba Nesis

Jon Marder, who expertly ran the event, ensured there was a seamless progression from one space to the next as guests had the opportunity to fraternize by the art in the front or hang out on couches in the back. Marder is the best kept secret in New York due to his unassuming manner, and he performs his job with an effortless professionalism. His recent birthday party, held at Susan Gutfreund’s mansion, had socialites from Paris and Germany flying in to celebrate this elegant gentleman. Marder handed out rose colored glasses to the 500-person sold-out crowd. Tickets which started at $1,250 ran out quickly; excited guests arrived at 6 PM to pay homage to illustrious honorees Donna Karan and Julian Schnabel.

It was no surprise that these two luminaries brought the best and brightest in fashion and art with Robert Wilson and Ross Bleckner colliding with Zac Posen and Fern Mallis. Surprisingly, designer Posen came ,not for Karan, but for his great friend Schnabel since Posen’s father was a painter and he grew up hanging out in Julian’s studio. Even the impossibly elegant Posen was sweating as he discussed his excitement at being asked to design the costumes for the New York City Ballet Gala in September. Posen’s structurally masterful gowns are indicative of his artistic upbringing and I am looking forward to his upcoming collection which will be arriving soon.

As the guests streamed in, attendees were confounded as Schnabel and Karan were nowhere to be found. Finally, Schnabel appeared hiding behind his masterful white sculpture as he dodged photographers with his three sons Vito, Olmo, and Cy in tow. An hour later, Schnabel, who abandoned his typical pajama attire for a more “formal” denim shirt, acquiesced to picture taking with his striking girlfriend Louise Kugelberg in tow. “Where was Karan?” I inquired, “Oh she is always late,” a friend responded.

At approximately 7:30 PM Karan came waltzing in wearing a silk ensemble that had the signature Karan draping and styling that she revolutionized in the 90’s. As guests excitedly ran over to congratulate her we were asked to head to the tent nearby as it was getting close to 8 PM where the dinner of halibut and steak with a vegan and gluten free option was being served. The meal began with the necessary acknowledgements before artist Ross Bleckner introduced his high school friend Karan praising her philanthropic efforts with “7th on Sale” and her Urban Zen empire which has trained 900 clinicians to administer western medicine and eastern holistic care for sick patients. Bleckner joked that Karan was focused in her own “elliptical way.”

Karan arrived on stage and spoke with an honesty that left attendees in “shock and awe.” She joked about failing “typing” and “draping” in school and how she had wanted to be an artist and singer but wasn’t good enough to do either. Karan, 70, went on a lengthy exposition on the importance of health care and how concerned she was that patients didn’t have adequate advocacy in the current system. She said her memory had diminished with increasing age and she was concerned that others have appropriate caregivers as they battle health issues. Karan’s other philanthropic focuses include the preservation of cultures of the past and education for future generations while she acknowledged that the inner soul was of paramount importance. Karan exited the stage to enthusiastic applause and attendees were shown an expertly crafted video documenting her tremendous success as a designer who has won more than six CFDA awards.

As guests fanned themselves to ease the scorching heat, artist Laurie Anderson (wife of rocker Lou Reed) introduced Schnabel with the caveat that she needed some help since she was notified her speech was to be three minutes. She recalled Schnabel’s kindness as she watched him care for his parents assiduously and praised Schnabel’s art for being “perfect, breathtaking and completely free”. Anderson asked one side of the audience to utter “a griffin and a fez” and the other to declare “what is ecstasy”-the significance of which I am still unsure of. We were then treated to the tunes of award-winning composer and vocalist Benjamin Clementine whose piano work was inspirational as he caressed the keys with a surprising ease. Schnabel, referred to Clementine as a second son, and said he was duly impressed by the collection of art Larsen had assembled on the property. Schnabel then asked Clementine to sing his hit “Cornerstone” and concluded his one minute speech by saying he would like to thank everyone who means something to him as he looks out into the audience.

If brevity is the soul of wit then Schabel is the cleverest artist of all time. As guests headed to the Pavillion to enjoy Laurie Anderson’s performance and sample desserts by “Carissa” I headed to my uber nearly tripping on the open grates as my heel got caught in the dark abyss of the Reserve-a scary conclusion to an exceptional evening.

New Yorkers Deal with Worst Heatwave Since 2011; Mercury Rises to 113

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Sunday was a dreadful repeat with temperatures reaching 100 degrees, and a heat index topping Saturday’s to hit 113 degrees in Times Square, as reported by the NY Post’s unscientific titanic thermometer. Photo Credit: FoxNews.com

New Yorkers were at a loss as to how to spend Saturday, which was branded the hottest day since 2011.  Sunday topped off the weekend with even hotter temperatures.  

By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh

Official temperatures on Saturday matched the record of 96 degrees at Kennedy Airport. After combining humidity, however, the “heat index” reached 110 degrees, as per the National Weather Service.  The streets of NYC were a lot hotter than the weather services reported though, thanks to the asphalt, concrete and glass buildings, which absorb heat from the sunlight, known as the “heat island” effect.  Weather services place official thermometers in grassy areas, protected from direct sunlight, which underestimate the heat. As per the NY Post, on Saturday temperatures reached 110 degrees in Union Square. At a basketball court in Greenwich Village, the pavement reached a sweltering 122 degrees, and in a Brooklyn playground, the rubber flooring measured an extreme 155 degrees.

Sunday was a dreadful repeat with temperatures reaching 100 degrees, and a heat index topping Saturday’s to hit 113 degrees in Times Square, as reported by the NY Post’s unscientific titanic thermometer.

Big Apple residents did anything they could think of to keep cool.  The pools and beaches were packed beyond capacity, leading to long lines and overcrowding.  Hours of operations at city beaches and pools were extended, as well as hours for Spray showers and fountains at the city parks.  Five extra New York Public Library branches were open for customers on Sunday, functioning as official city “Cooling Centers”. Brooklyn and Queens libraries followed suit at a number of branches. Lyft, the ride-sharing company, had a nice idea, offering two free rides going to a nearby Cooling Center, via a coupon on the app.  The EMS logged more than 88 calls for heat exhaustion on Saturday alone. 

New Yorkers who had air conditioning should consider themselves lucky.  Some feared another loss of power, due to the heavy strain onto the grids. There were some patchy outages, but luckily they were limited.  Con Edison reported that roughly 2,900 customers lost power. PSEG said there were about 2,000 outages in the Rockaways.  

About 3,700 inmates at two of New York’s jails had no air conditioning.  City Correction officials at the Brooklyn Detention Complex and at Rikers’ Otis Bantum Correctional Center said prisoners were given fans, ice, plenty of water and cool showers in the absence of air conditioning.

Adults and children alike across the five boroughs eagerly awaited forecasted showers and thunderstorms, ushering the break of the heatwave, and mid-80s temperatures expected for Monday.