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Sep 30, 2014

Plant for kapparos during shmitta

one of the items that used to be customarily used for kapparos on erev Yom Kippur is a plant.

That led me to wonder, and thus the relevance to this group, can you do kapparos with a plant during the shmitta year? indoors? outdoors? if it has a hole in the bottom of the pot or if it doesn't?

What say you?


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Caffeine suppositories for Yom Kippur

This really is not anything new, but NRG thinks it is, or maybe it is becoming more popular..

for those addicted to caffeine, via the daily mug of coffee, or maybe the 3 daily mugs of coffee, Yom Kippur is a day some people dread due to the withdrawal headaches... The basic advice often heard is to cut down on caffeine a few days before Yom Kippur.. The other advice is mainly to suck it up and deal with the headache.

Another, less popular, solution is caffeine suppositories.

NRG says that the suppository is not certified by the Ministry of Health and is sold in stealth. Some pharmacies are more open about it, while others are secretive and don't want to get caught selling this stuff. It even says this is more common in the American-Israeli crowd. There are two types of suppositories - 1 that has just caffeine and a second that has caffeine and codeine and acamol all bundled within to give a more powerful punch.

NRG says some rabbonim allow it, some say it should only be used by someone with great difficulty fasting...

this reminds me of the joke.. a few days before Yom Kippur Reuven goes into the pharmacy and asks for 200 caffeine suppositories. The pharmacist asks what Reuven could possibly need so many suppositories for. Reuven answers that in a few days it will be Yom Kippur and he is sponsoring the kiddush in shul...

and here is a funny video about caffeine suppositories..




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Chief Rabbinate sets up system to circumvent local rabbinates for hetter mechira

The Rabbanut seems to not necessarily work on any given set of standards.

In the case of shmitta, the Chief Rabbinate has decided to allow the use of hetter mechira produce and deem it a shmitta solution. Some local city Rabbanuts have decided that despite the official Rabbanut position, they don't want hetter mechira to be used in their cities.

In Netanyah and Herzliya, the Rabbanut administrations have instructed local hotels to not purchase vegetables from hetter mechira produce, but to buy produce from abroad (often this means a bit from Europe, some from neighboring countries like Jordan and Egypt, and more from Palestinian Arabs in areas like Gaza and elsewhere).

This upset many people, specifically the farmers association. If the Rabbanut, and the army already announced it will be doing so, will be directing purchasers to imported produce, that would be a major blow to Israeli agriculture and local parnassa.

It almost seems like what's the point of the hetter mechira, which was meant specifically to avoid causing tremendous economic damage to Israeli farmers, if the Rabbanuts wont allow its use anyway and will make the major purchasers buy from the competition?

Chief Rabbi Dovid Lau responded saying he has instructed all the local rabbanut offices to approve the use of hetter mechira produce, for normal basic kashrut levels (meaning, a hotel or restaurant that is mehadrin kashrut, will buy imported produce or some other type but not hetter mechira, but hotels and restaurants under regular rabbanut should be using hetter mechira).

Even more interestingly, Rav Lau announced that any place that has a complaint that the local rabbanut is not authorizing the use of hetter mechira, the situation will be looked into. While the situation is being analyze,d which can sometimes take time, in order to avoid the hotelier to be hurt by the process, as what will he do in the meantime, Rav Avraham Yosef will be appointed to be able to circumvent the Rabbanut and give a temporary hechsher on his own to such places until the issue of the rabbanuts approval will be worked out.
source: TheMarker

That's pretty cool. Instructing the Rabbanut what to do, and then setting up a channel to circumvent them when they won't listen (i.e. he knows in advance there will be some who won't listen to the rules).

Perhaps, seeing this, this is why some people are so worried about the possibility of local rabbinates, made up of rabbis certified by the chief rabbinate and following the basic guidelines of the rabbinate, being given authority over conversions. If there is no set of standards that must be followed within the organization, then any city rabbi can do whatever he wants and demand or allow whatever he prefers. If the Rabbanut officially allows hetter mechira but any city rabbi can decide he doesnt allow it, then perhaps the same can happen in conversions..




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Boycotting a life saving device

An interesting BDS dilemma..

the South African government is considering the purchase of an Israeli device that will literally save lives. The device is one used in circumcisions, and it will save lives of young South Africans who might otherwise die from botched circumcision ceremonies.

On the other hand, they feel they must boycott anything that comes from Israel.
source: Yahoo News

hmmm.. BDS or save lives?

I wouldn't be angry if they showed some integrity and said they cannot make an exception. Unfortunately it would mean more needless deaths... It is easy to boycott products you don't need anyway. The boycott is only really effective if you boycott the products even when you do need them.

On the other hand, the entire boycott is silly, and they probably use plenty of Israeli products they most likely are not even aware of.. such as chips in cellphones, laptops, plenty of other medical devices, etc.


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Despair for Israel Morphing into a Militaristic, Racist Country

a guest post by Dr. Harold Goldmeier


We are in the season when Jews admit their guilt for sins committed and repeated. We promise to repent and act better next year.  What better time for liberal Jews to encourage Israelis to forgive their enemies, be serious about making peace, and forsake religious extremism? Are Israelis so evil that co-religionists are justified calling Israelis militarists and racists?
           
 In a recent New York Times editorial, Israel is warned that American Jews feel a growing dissonance with Israel as Israel moves to the political right. Moving to the right means taking a hard line on negotiations for a two-state solution. Israel is growing intolerant of rocket fire from Gaza pounding back with ever increasing ferocity. Making the Palestinians pay higher prices in land appropriations and nighttime raids in response to terror attacks on Jews. 

This forewarning of the price Israel is paying was explained in more detail by Antony Lerman’s assessment of modern Israel in his Op-Ed piece. The Britain-based persistent critic of Israel claims liberal Zionism is gasping its last breath.  He bemoans its replacement by a tenacious web of “shock and awe militarism” and religious extremism.  I agree with Lerman, and with the Times, not because Israel is evil and bloodthirsty, but for another reason, which Lerman and the left give short shrift.
           
The swing to the right is a natural reaction to constant existential threats, repeated sardonic abandonment by one-time friends, decades of war, terror attacks, missiles and mortars, denial and degradation of Jewish history.
           
Lerman, and what remains of the Left, misses the Israel of yesteryear: the pioneering kibbutniks dancing the Hora in their shorts and kova tembel hats; fighting off British supplied Arab armies and Palestinian marauders with smuggled Czech rifles, pots and pans. The only sweet, cold and thirst quenching in the desert heat were Sabras sold by street vendors floating in tubs of ice water.
           
Politics and government were in the hands of socialists, liberals, and anti-religious decision makers then. Freedom from moribund religious ties became the cornerstone of the utopian socialist Zionists. Zionism replaced Judaism. The 1950’s and 60’s were heady times. His service in the IDF was enthralling and romantic.
           
The new power elite is neo-conservatives and religious fanatics, he claims. They tarnish “the reality of modern Israel” attacking freedom of speech and human rights organizations. They are land-grabbing settlers. The country is infected by anti-Arab and anti-immigrant racism, and intolerance of religious differences. The “mixture has pushed liberal Zionism to the brink,” he pines in a daze of nostalgia.
           
I believe Israel is a more tolerant, dynamic, and free society today than in Lerman’s memory. Today we integrate immigrants of color into society.  Liberal Zionists shipped Sephardic immigrants Jews off to segregated camps, dust bowl communities, and stole their kids. Lerman’s heroes indoctrinated immigrants with imperious and impious Zionistic East European culture. Sephardic and religious Jews were systematically locked out of government. The liberal Zionists never initiated a two-state solution, but ruthlessly, for self preservation, authorized special forces like those under Ariel Sharon to track down and eliminate Palestinian terrorists no matter leaving dead civilians in their wake. They kept Gaza occupied and underdeveloped. The liberal Zionists exacted revenge worldwide for the killing of Jews.
           
Today, Israel enjoys its multinational mishmash of peoples, including significant intermarriage rates between Sephardim and Ashkenazim, black Ethiopians and whites, chyulim secularists and observant traditionalists. It took 60 years for Sephardim and religious Jews to break the glass ceilings in military, politics, and industry.
           
Concomitantly, urbanization replaced rural life; hi-tech and bio-med replaced agricultural economic dominance; higher education meant more than physical labor in the changing Israel; and most significantly, a hi-tech, disciplined military replaced the ragtag civilian defenders, but it also made Israel into an arms exporter and top dog.
           
The miraculous events of the Six Days War thrust the tiny State of Israel onto the world scene slaying the powerful unified Arab armies. She lost her innocence, as
European religions, values, military prowess, and old World power crumbled.  Post 1967, the Woodstock generation saw Israel as another nuclear armed, prodigious fighting force, oppressors and colonizers.  Israel’s economy began morphing into the start-up nation. Capitalism sliced through old socialist hamstrings in Israel.
           
Social liberals in the West became more resentful of Israel, and excised   Israel’s socialist leaders Golda and Rabin from their leftwing club.  Israel’s leaping standard of living, achievements in education, health care, medical, science, and a plethora of Nobel and other prizes, produced envy not admiration. Israel’s military and intelligence successes make her the neighborhood bully, blamed for Arab peoples languishing in misery, without mention of Arab leadership living lavishly on Europe’s and American handouts.     
           
Lerman returned home from his Israel excursion to Britain nurturing liberal Zionism philosophy from afar. Elsewhere, he wistfully describes life with his Christian wife, their celebration of Christmas and other holidays, as an exemplar of what Liberal Zionism has to offer the open-minded and good hearted.
           
Israelis became less tolerant over the decades of Arab hatred, boycotts, and launching wars. In time, the voters turned to conservative politicians and religious salvation, since the left never brought lasting peace or prosperity to the country. Years of lost lives and opportunities with young adults serving in the army; families torn asunder by dead fathers or disappearing for months serving in military guard duty; politicians with no time to focus on social problems for a developing society, because of the unquestionable demand to remain five steps ahead of sworn enemies like Hamas today who in each generation of the State promise to wipe Israel off the map. 
           
Israel’s social fabric frayed. High taxes to pay for self-defense stymied economic growth. Immigrants and survivors, the memory keepers of Jewish history, rejected the misology of their centuries in Arab lands and Europe. They revealed how brutalized they were by Muslim persecutors and Christian anti-Semites. Jews hone hate and their children mistrust. Israel’s fortitude is not limitless.   
           
Nevertheless, few countries treat their enemies with the kindness the Jews treat Arabs, give of themselves during tragedies like Haiti, and throughout Africa. Suffice to say Israel is one of the most generous countries on earth in spite of not being a nation run by liberal Zionists.
           
Lerman declares, “They should know that Israel is not Judaism. Jewish history did not culminate in the creation of the state of Israel. Regrettably, there is a dearth of Jewish leaders telling Diaspora Jews these truths.”
           
There you have it.  The elusive explanation of why some Jews are so fed up with Israel they may not care if the State survives. It has been a heart rendering mystery to Israel supporters—Jews, Christians, and Muslims. We are confused and slightly heartbroken when our own people attack Israel; when they undermine their own people collaborating in name-calling, boycotts and sanctions.
           
Israel is better behaved than her neighbors. Israel has a better human rights record than the world superpowers, holds regular, free elections empowering minorities in her sovereignty. Israel more than most strives to ensure the values expressed in the Magna Carta, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man, the U. S. Constitution and Bill of Rights ensured by an activist judiciary and hot-tempered parliament.
           
Dr. Seuss asked his countrymen during World War II, “What have you done today to help save your country from them?” It’s a shame Lerman and the anti-Israel cabal of Chait, Friedman, and Beinart he names cannot be as loyal to Israel as Dr. Seuss was to America.

Dr. Harold Goldmeier is a university instructor in Tel Aviv, business advisor, and writer. He was a Research and Teaching Fellow at Harvard, worked for four U.S. Governors, and President of a company before moving to Israel.






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Netanyahu@UN: 'Would you let terrorists fire rockets at your cities?' (video)









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Rabbi Runs 7 Miles to Blow Shofar (video)

amazing!




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Episode 1: Breaking The Fast (video)









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Eyal Cohen on The Vice (video)

I have absolutely no idea or understanding how this show works, but I am happy to see Eyal Cohen is doing well and advancing...




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The Yeshiva Boys Choir - "Adir" (video)








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Sep 29, 2014

Picture of the Day



Hanoch Daum posted this image saying it was sent to him from someone in Eilat... it seems the hospital in Eilat is the final destination..


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Tweet of the Day



Judy Mozes is entering politics and wants to run for head of the Likud.. wouldn't it be funny if she surpassed her husband, Silvan Shalom, right out of the blocks?

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Book Review: Food for the Spirit

NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.

Book Review: Food for the Spirit, by Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld


 Food For the Spirit is a great book leading up to Yom Kippur.

Rabbi Herzfeld is a synagogue rabbi in Washington DC, and Food For The Spirit is a compilation of about 20 essays that were originally divrei torah and speeches he shared with his congregation on Yom Kippur over a period of 10 years.

What is unique about Food For The Spirit is that these essays are not in the usual Yom Kippur style of being somber, calling for introspection and repentance, and perhaps a severe style. Rabbi Herzfeld's style is to look at Yom Kippur as a day of celebration, a joyous day, and his essays explore that approach.

Each essay is a joy to read. They are both thoughtful and thought-provoking. They are peppered with stories, but not parables or ancient stories of ancient rabbis - stories that happened to him, to his shul, to his community. Some are unbelievable, some are fascinating, some are humorous, and all make the essays so much more readable and enjoyable and help Herzfeld drive his point home.

Food For The Spirit is a book that I would take with me to shul on Yom Kippur to read from during the "down times" of the services,  to gain some inspiration and focus on some thoughts and ideas. I would, but I already read this book in the days leading up to Rosh Hashana and finished it in shul on Rosh Hashana! I found the themes discussed to be just as relevant and thoughtful for Rosh Hashana as they are for Yom Kippur. And, even though I already finished this book in shul on Rosh Hashana, I very well might take it to shul again on Yom Kippur and read parts of it again.

There is not much time before Yom Kippur for you to get this book, but if you can you should.


buy Food For The Spirit on Gefen

buy Food For The Spirit on Amazon.com





NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.


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Giving your Heart to the Heart (video)







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yom kippur (video)





Lemaan Achai


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Paula Abdul Is Keeping It Together (video)

Shabbos is her Club Med...




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The Jewish Food Taste Test (video)

this is hilarious







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Shira Chadasha Boys Choir Menucha V'Simcha (video)








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Sep 28, 2014

Tzaharons officially being reinstated after the holiday!

Good news regarding Tzahronim - afternoon day care for young children, for working parents.

To remind you, the budget was slashed in an effort to avoid raising taxes after the war. The Minister of Education applied his budget cut to the tzaharonim system. This raised an outcry, as working parents suddenly were stuck with either no afternoon daycare for the little kids or daycare that was too expensive to be worth the income.

After a debate in the Knesset committee responsible, a decision was arrived at that the tzaharonim should be reopened after the Sukkot holiday.

Today, Minister Shai Piron announced that the tzaharonim will be reinstated after Sukkot vacation, though in a slightly altered pay format.

To be brief, instead of being free as it was last year, the tzaharon will cost 90nis per child per month, totaling 900nis for the year per child. More details regarding the new format after Sukkot will be decided in the coming days.
source: TheMarker



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A brief review of shmitta solutions for fruits and vegetables

With shmitta now upon us, there is still a lot of confusion about the different options available during the shmitta year for buying fruits and vegetables. I found the following article online, on the Kosharot website, written by Rav Moshe Katz, and decided to translate it (and add a few words for clarity in the translation - any mistakes are mine). This article is very clear in its layout and explanation of the various option for keeping what he calls "shmitta laMehadrin".

NOTE: I am not writing this here for psak. Any psak mentioned is from Rav Katz and Kosharot. Feel free to disagree or follow your own rabbi. My purpose here is not to publicize a specific psak, but for the clarity of his explanation of the possibilities.

Shmitta LaMehadrin?
[...]
To begin, one must stress that today shmitta is rabbinic in nature and unfortunately we do not merit today to receive the blessings in full that are written in the Torah, that the 6th year will produce enough produce to last for three years. Therefore, we need to find other solutions to the question what we will eat during the shmitta year.

There are 7 possibilities before us:
1. (Isum Shishis) stored from the 6th year - these are produce that gree before the shmitta year began
2. Otzar Beis Din - produce that grew with kedusha of the shmitta year in a way that was permitted via messengers of beis din
3. grown in hothouses, detached from the ground (matza menutak) - shmitta laws do not apply
4. produce grown in the southern Arava region - the area of the southern arava is outside of the halachic broders of Eretz Yisrael for shmitta purposes and thus the produce grown there does not obtain kedusha of shmitta.
5. imported from abroad - imported, not from Israel, thus shmitta does not apply
6. hetter mechira - produce grown, bhetter, during the shmitta year on land that was sold to a non-Jew
7. non-Jewish produce - produce grown in Eretz Yisrael during the shmitta year via non-Jews

each method has its benefits and detriments, we will review them all briefly.
1. 6th year storage - a wonderful solution closest to the solution given by the Torah. The problem is that there is not enough to supply the entire country with produce, especially as there are not many fruits and vegetables that can be stored for long periods of time

2. Otzar Beis Din - it seems, this method is good and worthy, but there are poskim who hold that Chazal did not intend at all for such a form of a business transaction (which includes working the land via a messenger of beis din), but they allowed an organized distribution of the hefker fruits that remained in the field after everyone who wanted to already finished taking. Another problem is with 7th year vegetables, as according to the Rambam these vegetables remain prohibited under the category of sfichin. One using this will rely on the opinion of the "Rash" who allows these vegetables to be eaten.

3. hothouses, detached from the ground - an excellent solution, but from a halachic perspective one is obligated to grow such produce only in a hothouse. This significantly limits the types of vegetables that can be grown using this method (especially as there are poskim who hold that a hothouse is not considered a roof and one would need an actual walled structure). As well, this solution does not provide a solution for all the types of field produce (e.g. potatoes, carrots, onion, etc)

4. southern arava - according to many poskim these areas were not captured by the Jews who came up from Egypt, and therefore for shmitta their status is like the Diaspora and one can grow fruits and vegetables as normal. There are poskim who argue about this, so it is not a complete solution according to all opinions.

5. imported produce - this method has no problems at all of shmitta. The biggest problem of it is that it hurts local Israeli agriculture, which as we have said has yet to merit the abundance of the blessing promised by the Torah and can not yet be an alternative to imported produce.

6. hetter mechira - as its name implies, so it is - a hetter and not preferred from a halachic perspective. The poskim who created the hetter mechira, 2 shmitta cycles prior to Rav Kook arriving in Eretz Yisrael who based his hetter on those who allowed it before him, saw this as a temporary solution based on the economic situation in prior years, and it was deemed a dangerous situation of pikuach nefesh for the people of the new settlement. There is no doubt that today the situation is different, with agriculture in Israel being a small percentage. Still, even during this shmitta year the chief rabbis have paskened to use the hetter mechira.

7. non-Jewish produce - this is produce from Arabs living in Eretz Yisrael. It seems to be an excellent solution, as the prohibitions of shmitta do not apply to them and they can grow produce and sell it to us. However, this causes serious harm to Jewish farmers who need for their parnassa to use the hetter mechira, along with serious ramifications of strengthening the strong grip on our land, whether by Israeli Arabs or by Arabs from Judea, Samaria and gaza, Also, this method goes against the halachic preference of buying from Jews as a fulfillment of the commandment of "Your brother should live with you".  

To summarize, these issues have broad and deep debates and discussions. We have been brief here presenting these topics. In practice, according to Rav Elyakim Levanon, the president of Kosharot, all options presented here are allowed from a halachic perspective. The order of preference brought at the beginning of the article is the order of preference from a halachic perspective.

I thought this was a very good, brief, review of the topics and options for fruits and vegetables. Again, for practical purposes, consult with your own rav, or learn the topics more thoroughly yourself,  about each and any of the solutions you might want to consider eating and require an actual psak about. Rav Katz was very brief and there are many more details and arguments about each and every one of the topics discussed.

The one thing I dont get is that he calls this "shmitta lamehadrin". If he includes every possible option of shmitta produce under the title of mehadrin, what does he consider regular, non-mehadrin, shmitta solutions?

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Rabbi discriminated against and not allowed to eat treif

a Rabbi claims to have been kicked out of a restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi, after the owner discovered he was Jewish.

Rabbi Ted Riter also claims that the owner of the restaurant made a disparaging comment about Jews being cheap when he tried to order a salad.

It has come down to he said, he said. the rabbi says the owner insulted him with a racist comment and then threw him out, the restaurant owner says he doesn't know what anyone is talking about and nothing of the sort happened.
source: USA Today (with video)

Far be it from me to decide what happened, but I would suggest that if the good rabbi was thrown out (or even if he just thinks he was thrown out) of a treif restaurant 2 days before Rosh Hashana, perhaps he should not complain so much and consider that perhaps God was sending him a message...



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President Lincoln and the Jewish chaplains

We read a lot of stories from Jewish chaplains in the US army and how they served, and what they did, the Jewish soldiers they encountered, in all sorts of parts of the world...

I was not previously aware of this, but I just discovered, according to a book I am reading, that until Abraham Lincoln came along, only Christians could be chaplains in the US army.

Abraham Lincoln is known for bringing about an end to slavery and the emancipation of blacks, now known as African Americans. In reality, Lincoln was about emancipation of everybody from racial discrimination.

Upon encouragement from a Rabbi Arnold Fischel, President Abraham Lincoln was made aware of the law allowing only Christians as chaplains in the US Army. When Lincoln found out about this law, he moved immediately to have it changed, and was successful. This process began in 1861 ad was completed in 1862.

Due to Lincoln's involvement, and Rabbi Fischel's raising of the issue, the law was changed and now Jewish servicemen are able to get the religious leadership and direction they were not able to at one time. And it was not just Jews, but anybody besides Christians were in the same situation, until Lincoln.

And since then, we have Jewish chaplains who provide a tremendous service, to Jewish servicemen, but also to the US Army, as stories tell of the heroism and their dedication to the troops.

I was not aware of this until now, so I thought I'd share this piece of history.


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esrog with a one year warranty!

This has got to be the best deal available for buying the 4 minim, the lulav and esrog (and others) for sukkos... it is a great price, depending on the quality of the merchandise of course, but it even comes with a one year warranty!

on Walla Shops

and, not only that, but you can split the 39nis price into 5 interest-free payments, or 36 maximum payments with interest! That is either 7.8nis per month for 5 months, or a little over a shekel a month (plus interest) for 3 years!

The deal is limited and will expire soon, so don't waste time.. decide quickly.. at this price, what could possibly be a reason not to buy?


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a year without Rav Ovadia (video)






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Shana Tova From the IDF's Soldiers (video)






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Yavneh on the Town - Rosh Hashanah (video)








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All About That Rosh-Hashanah (video)






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Sep 24, 2014

Yitzchak Meir and Avremi Rot: Unetaneh Tokef (video)






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Yitzchak Meir and Udi Davidi : Ochila






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Itzik Bar Lev's Va'afilu b'hastara (video)






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Shana Tova

Shana Tova uMetuka, dear readers..

we'll be back after the holiday, and I hope you will be too..

enjoy and repent!


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Sep 23, 2014

Honey Bucket Challenge for Rosh Hashana (video)








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Hetter Mechira through the first Ger Toshav in 2500 years

Last week the Rabbanut announced it had performed the hetter mechira of State lands in advance of the onset of the shemita year. The lands were sold to a non-Jew from the Ukraine, living in Israel, named George Streichman.

Interestingly, there is more to the story...

Chief Rabbi Dovid Lau presided over a beis din in which, for the first time in supposedly 2500 years, granted official status upon Streichman as "Ger Toshav".

Streichman is the grandson of a Jew, but he himself is not a Jew. Streichman moved to Israel unde the Law of Return, due to his grandfather being Jewish. Streichman is a "ben noach" - he is a non-Jew that believes in the God of Israel, and was therefore chosen to be the buyer of Israel's land for the hetter mechira.

This move was meant to further mitigate any problems of "lo techaneim" in the process of the hetter mechira. Not only was the buyer not a non-Jew of the "idol worshiping religion", i.e. a Christian, but he is a ben noach, and a ger toshav to boot.

The process of the sale went down as such:
the farmers participating in having their lands sold transferred ownership rights to the Chief Rabbinate. The Chief Rabbinate transferred ownership rights to the Israel Lands Authority. The director of the Lands Authority, Bentzi Lieberman, then sold all the lands, the State lands and the relevant farms, to Streichman.
source: NRG

Those who oppose the hetter mechira by ideology won't change their opinion because of this, but it is clear that even more improvements have been introduced to the process to make it more and more reliable.




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Reform services on Rosh Hashana upset city councilmen

Haredi councilmen in Jerusalem are upset over some holiday services planned by the Reform synagogue in bet HaKerem...

The synagogue sent out an invitation for participation in Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services, and it includes some other events, such as tashlich by a spring, and it tells the invitees to bring food and make a picnic.

Being that the services are going to be held in a public building, a community center, there is some sort of implicit support by City Hall, though the City denies any involvement in the programming or the funding..
source: Kikar

Personally I think they are getting upset about nothing. There is no statement about bringing barbecues and publicly roasting meat on Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur. it just says to bring food to tashlich. Maybe that is potato chips and sandwiches or cut up vegetables and fruit.

However, if it is a barbecue, and becomes something more of a public display of chilul rosh hashana or eating publicly on yom kippur (though the invitation makes no reference to food, music and yom kippur), then I dont see why it should be treated any differently, at minimum, than the people who ignore sirens on Yom HaShoah and bbq in the park - and they get attacked annually in the media.

We cannot always control what other people do.. and I don't know why we want to...


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Rejecting the rule of law

Like always, some people like the latest decision by the Supreme Court, and some hate it. The court decided to annul parts of the law that dealt with the migrant workers.

The law allowed the government to put the workers in a gated compound for up to a year without any legal proceedings.

Among others complaining, Gideon Saar expressed his feelings that the Supreme Court should be limited in their authority over laws such as illegal migrant workers. Others also lobbed criticism at the Supreme Court for its making an open invitation for illegals to enter the country with no ramifications. the current law has dissuaded migrants from coming,, and the number of those leaving Israel has tripled since last year because of it, but this will likely stem that tide.

I just want to note that when others reject Supreme Court decisions, or those of other courts, they are lambasted for rejecting the rule of law.

Everybody seems to do it regarding laws that they are interested in, or more directly affected by.




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Parents Reunite with Their Lone Soldiers Children (video)






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Kommon Kiruv Kwestions - Episode 1 (video)


silly but cute






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The Mossad (video)


want to work for the Mossad?





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Shimon Peres is looking for work (video)

Peres always had a good sense of humor...




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New Years wishes from heads of Knesset (video)


from Yuli Edelstein:


and from his deputy, Moshe Feiglin:



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Sep 22, 2014

Rosh Hashana 5775 - Unetaneh Tokef (video)







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Tzaharon crisis coming to an end

the system for afternoon day care is pretty complicated. And each year it seems to get even more complicated, while ever remaining under the threat of being cut for budgetary reasons.

Israel wants to promote afternoon day care, tzaharonim, for little kids. To that end it subsidizes the cost for qualifying parents, in different ways. Israel wants the tzaharonim to function because it then encourages more people, especially women, to join the workforce.

I am not talking about private day cares. These are generally very expensive. They are a solution for some people, but for other people the cost is too prohibitive - they sometimes do not make enough money to justify the expense.

The government runs day cares that are subsidized. They are operated by the schools or by certified day care providers via a tender. The subssidy comes from, and therefore the authority in charge of the tzaharons is, either the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Commerce. I am not quite sure how it works, but in the past cities could choose under which authority they wanted their tzaharons to operate, and each has benefits.

Some cities chose to operate under the Ministry of Commerce. The benefits of this is that the Ministry of Commerce wants the tzaharons to function and considers it a priority. They subsidize to a point, dependent on a person's finances on a scale. The problem with this system is that there is a minimum cost of 300nis per kid per month to the parents. It is not a lot of money, but it is much more than the other option.

The other option is via the Ministry of Education. The cost of the tzaharon is much cheaper, free or almost free, and no need to prove income levels or anything like that - if your child goes to an approved school or system, that child can benefit from the free tzaharon as well.

Recently, the government decided to cut some budgets. The war was expensive. One of the budgets cut was that of the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education, in turn, turned around and said the tzaharons are the bottom of the list of priorities for us, and slashed the tzaharon budget.

That means any city operating tzaharons via the Ministry of Education has not had subsidized tzaharons since the beginning of the school year. Jerusalem, on the other hand, and probably other cities, has had tzaharons because they operate via the Ministry of Commerce.

No tzaharons means:
a. working parents have to pay private tzaharons, costing a lot of money and headache
b. working parents have to find a way to get their kids form their kindergartens to those private tzaharons, also costing more money and often not reliable
c. working parents consider quitting their jobs, often the mother, as the cost of the private tzaharon often makes their low paying job not worthwhile.
d. operators of tzaharons have to possibly fire many employees throughout many cities, as the public tzaharons have not been operating

It has been a fight. Parents have been calling public officials, both on the municipal and national levels and complaining and threatening and warning.

Today, the Knesset education committee met to discuss the issue. It seems the decision to slash the tzaharon budget was taken on the fly and did not even go through due process. According to amram Mitzna, head of the committee, the idea was never proposed to the committee and then debated and approved. It just happened. Today the committee debated the issue and came to a decision that right after sukkot holiday the tzaharons will re-open, in a slightly altered format.

Stars of the show were MK Yaakov Asher who argued that the tzaharons provide hot meals to kids, some of whom do not normally get such meals, Mayor of Bet Shemesh Moshe Abutbol who said the parents are ready to revolt in the streets soon if this does not get resolved, a mother from Beitar who described how much she has bene paying for private tzaharon since the beginning of the year and described how difficult it was to every day have to try to figure out how to get her kid to tzaharon, among others.

so, it looks like the tzaharon saga might finally be over.. for now..

sources: Ynet and Kikar


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Bet Shemesh Festival is back on the table!

The show must go on!

Good news. The mayor of Bet Shemesh, Moshe Abutbol, just announced that the Bet Shemesh Festival will happen this year, on Monday Occtober 13, the fourth day of Chol Hamoed, at the "Ampi" in Bet Shemesh.

Singers in this years festival will include Udi Davidi, Yosef Chaim Shwekey, Lenny Solomon, and others..

The festival is being produced under the auspices of the office of the City Spokesman, Mati Rozenzweig,and is the result of a number of departments working together to allow the festival to continue...

Whatever it was, or all the different efforts by different people together, worked!

Enjoy!

Update:

it is worth adding the following from Shemeshnet:

Abubtol is upset at MK Lipman, and his open letter published last week about the cancelation of the festival. Mayor Abutbol said that he does not have a good working relationship with Lipman, who takes every opportunity to smear the city leadership. Abutbol said "I am not his employee". When he begins to speak to the point and apologizes for his part in certain incidents that inflamed the city, there will be what to discuss..

Regarding the festival, Abutbol said the decision is in the hands of people responsible. Each department makes its decisions, and he backs them up. The decision regarding the festival was in the hands of Deputy Mayor Meir Balayish and Itzik Kazino.

Mati Rozensweig, the city spokesperson, is running the show this year. The festival is on but in a minimal format. Udi Davidi, Lenny Solomon and Yosef Chaim Shwekey are scheduled to play, and as of now that is it. There is no budget for the festival, and basically he is going to try to get some more local performers to join the program (for free?) like Ari Goldwag. Eli Friedman, and the Gat Brothers.

Interesting that the spokesmans office is now involved in putting on events, rather than the departments responsible for these things... but it is what it is..

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Sheva Brachos with no kalla on the way to Uman

This Facebook post probably captures better than anything else the warped sense of priorities some people give to traveling to Uman, and that is assuming he is going with the utmost sincerity of spiritual and inspirational goals... 

Or maybe it is my priorities that are warped.  He is chasing kedusha,  I assume,  and feels he can't find it with his new kalla in eretz yisrael in his shul or yeshiva. For him maybe going to uman is more important than anything because of that. 

This fellow just got married, and within the week of the wedding is already on the plane to Uman, leaving his wife behind. His fellow travel-mates held the sheva brachos for him on the plane. Can you even do sheva brachos without the kalla?

I wish them mazel and bracha!








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Is this the last generation that cares about Israel?

a guest post by Dr. Harold Goldmeier
           
            The latest effort among Jewish organizations to strengthen Jewish identity in the Diaspora, especially the U. S., is to financially support education, camping, and high school programs. Israel defines Jewish identity today. It is not Judaism, culture, Seinfeld, or bagels. Programs lacking a component bringing Jewish youth to Israel are worthless efforts. Israel is the lynchpin in Jewish identity.
            A small number will make aliyah.  Some will join the army, or enroll in Israeli colleges and yeshivot. Others will return with negative views reinforced. Most will have a love affair with the country and her people that lasts a lifetime. The hope is they will pass it on to their children, and not be the last generation of Jews.
            I teach international students in Tel Aviv for a semester or two. Their courses are for college credits. Zionism and Middle East Politics courses address foreign powers, social movements, the “look” of Middle East nations and Zionism in the 21st century. The following gathers from classes, student papers, and an opinion poll the students take.
            They are the generation decimated by intermarriage and secularism. Some come from homes active in Jewish community affairs, more than a few from mixed marriages, and some raised in another religion. Few know much about Judaism, culture, or news about Israel. One student told us about 15,000 kids in his high school, and he knew the three Jews.
            These students, novitiates in so many ways, are the quintessence of young Diaspora Jews: social media and pop music freaks, social liberals, political centrists, open-minded, and challenging. They are in Israel, while thousands of their contemporaries are off to Europe and semesters at sea. They develop a shared affinity for Israel. Some decide to remain. They take to the spiritual essence of Jerusalem appreciating its magnetism for Jews and Israel. Tel Aviv’s bustling culture, the sweetness of the Negev, the friendliness and gruffness of the Israeli people, eliciting from one, he never felt “so Jewish.”
             Turn-offs include the possibility of Jews interminably ruling over Palestinians, poor Jews living in tents, and hungry, abused Jewish children. They are shocked by rampant racism of young Israelis to Arabs, and Charedim brimming with endemic hateful distemper. One girl recounts visiting her ultra-Orthodox uncle being told, “Jews who smoke on Shabbos should be stoned to death.”
            Religious rule, they agree, creates intolerance for diversity, and a threat to democracy. God worshiping Jews hating the State, collaborating in violence against non-religious Jews, and rejecting values of modern society, are political issues they want to explore. The Law of Return has been turned on its head becoming an exclusionary device punishing Jews for not converting with the right Rabbi, or being born to the wrong mother.
            Students give no credence or quarter to people opposing the survivability of Israel. It angers them. They are disappointed by the lack of earnestness characterizing all peace negotiators. The students oppose a Palestinian state until there is a demonstrated commitment to end violence and accept Israel’s legitimacy.
            Israelis are kidding themselves believing Palestinians have no sense of nationalism, no desire for self-rule, and self-determination. It is delusional believing they prefer living as citizens of Israel, and will accept Jordan in place of the West Bank for their homeland. The students laugh at proposals to pay Palestinians to live in other countries. More likely, Israelis will move to New York or L.A. if Arabs offer Jews millions per family to emigrate. More than ten percent of the population is already yordim (emigrants).
            An agreement will ultimately make a long lasting peace more likely, but doubt a Palestinian state will help reduce Muslim anger at and terrorism in Western nations. There is near unanimity that Israel’s policies of “land for peace” and “prisoners for peace” are immoral practices as pre-negotiation tools.
             They expect Israel to enact more harsh and cruel military responses in crushing Palestinian quest for self-determination. Expect more prisoners and creeping settlement expansion. The BDS movement will gain more traction, and Israel will become increasingly isolated. The West Bank will more resemble the Chinese repression of Tibet and Russia’s violence against Chechnya, than U.S. rule over Puerto Rico.  Paraphrasing one student, more containment, greater repression, offers to soothe Palestinian angst with sweet-talks about economic development and infrastructure investment, are no substitute for a legitimate government.
            Kibbutzniks are heroes, remnants of idealistic Zionism, and early defenders against Arab marauders and armies.  Settlers are viewed as people taking advantage of low cost housing and ideological religious fanatics. “Price Taggers” are unfettered delinquent racists; hate crime vandals, emboldened by rightwing farceurs, reminding Palestinians the plan is to drive non-Jews out.
             An Australian student spent time with West Bank Palestinian farmers and Jewish activists. She wrote a lengthy account of her impressions and experiences concluding, “It's another world over the green line, a racial disharmony that is tarnishing Israel's image and destroying hopes for peace, a world, beach going tel avivians (sic) would, understandably, want to forget or be naive about.” 

            This young woman told us many times how great being in Israel is for
her. She loves the country, and hopes for peace. She is no wailing keener condemning Israel.
             Students traveled to Sderot.  One young woman from Texas “with my good friend…from Belgium” writes, “The city and its people are very strong…. The fact that we are together – two jews (sic) from opposite sides of the world – is an amazing accomplishment that goes to show how the Jewish people have progressed and survived throughout time and history. Even when our enemies try to destroy us, we always come together and persevere.”
                Their age, culture, and education practically demand the students fulfill the picture image written by Professor Ruth Scurr of French revolutionaries; i.e., they give “passionate witness to the grievances of the poor and virtues of the meek or oppressed betrayed by history….” These young students who choose to come to Israel, are prescient minds sometimes designing simplistic conceptualizations, but full of trenchant moral insights. They embody the dissonance of Israel and Diaspora, of the left and right, of students with a worldview and commitment to the Jewish people. They personify Shel Silverstein’s poem,
“I will not play at tug o’war. I’d rather play at hug o’war, Where everyone hugs Instead of tugs, where everyone giggles And rolls on the rug, Where everyone kisses, And everyone grins, And everyone cuddles, And everyone wins,” but never at the expense of the continuing existence of the Jewish State.  

Dr. Goldmeier was a Research and Teaching Fellow at Harvard, worked for four Governors, and recently sold his business in Chicago. He is a business management consultant, teaches international university students American Jewish University Aardvark Gap Year Program in Tel Aviv, writes a column in The Jerusalem Post, Seeking Alpha, Life in Israel, Arutz Sheva, and is a public speaker.
             




           
           
           
           

           


           
           
           






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PSA: halachos of yichud are there for a reason

almost unbelievable, but I know who wrote it and sent it to me..

an anonymous guest post

We had some shipputzim done a year ago.  Recently we noticed some water seepage in the additions, so we called the contractor to check it out.  He sent his foreman, a charming Arab guy with whom we have a great relationship; he works well and is always very willing to help.  My wife was home to receive him, and he came in, saw the problem and identified what needed to be done to fix it.  They walked together out of the house (my wife had to go somewhere else), but on the path towards the car, something seemed to be bothering this guy.  He turned to me wife and said, "How about we do something together?"  She looked at him, clearly not understanding.  He explained, "Sex!"  Gobsmacked, my wife just said "No!" and ran to the car.

I'm still shell-shocked just having heard this experience second hand, to say nothing of my wife who was actually propositioned by a worker for whom we previously had nothing but respect.

Gentle reader, lest you fall into any convenient stereotypes, hear out the rest of this story.  My wife spoke to one of her friends later, just to process what had happened.  Her friend told her that it's happened to her on no fewer than three occasions.  And these guys weren't as hung up on consent as our foreman; two of them actually physically held her before she beat off their respective advances.  It happened once with an Arab worker, and twice with Jewish men who live in our neighborhood.  You read that right.  There are men who live in Ramat Beit Shemesh, wearing a kippa and tzitzis, who will brazenly proposition and physically molest a married woman.

The take-home message from this is: please, treat the laws of yichud very seriously, even beyond the letter of the law.  When the foreman came to our house, my wife very properly left the front door wide open, and anyway I was in the city at the same time - but for all her technical compliance with hilchos yichud, had he not been so "gentlemanly" about his advances, my wife would have had no defense.

Be safe, and may Hashem inscribe us all for a good and sweet new year.


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World's Oldest Jewish Prayerbook on Display in Jerusalem (video)








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Author Alan Dershowitz: How to defeat ISIS? Ask Israel (video)









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Satmar Rebbes Grandson Joins IDF (video)

fascinating







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"Green Eggs, No Ham" (A JITC High Holiday Animated Short) (video)

cute idea







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Happy New Year from the US Ambassador Dan Shapiro (video)









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Sep 21, 2014

the Rabbanut helps the Zebu make a comeback!

About 10 years ago we had the big debate over the lashrut of the zebu. The zebu is some type of cattle that is like a cow but has some sort of a hump on its back, differentiating it from the normal ox and cows we are familiar with.

A debate was raised if it is kosher or not. Some kashrut organizations were machmir and said that despite having the signs of a kosher animal, we do not have a tradition for the zebu and therefore it should not be eaten. Other organizations argued, basically saying that either 1. no such tradition is needed or 2. we have a tradition as we have been slaughtering these animals for a long time.

Since that controversy, or argument, we all went back to being ignorant consumers and never again heard of the zebu, just like we had not heard of it before that eruption in the headlines of the argument.

The zebu is now making a comeback!

In the latest kashrut update issued by the Rabbanut, the zebu makes an appearance!

They announce that in recent imports from Argentina, by a company called Masterfood, the kashrut label includes the phrase "clear of any suspicion of inclusion of zebu meat". The Rabbanut explains, the Zebu is an animal that is kosher lchatchila to eat, and its slaughter is permitted even according to the standards of the mehudar shechita and chalak of the Rabbanut.

The Rabbanut also says that despite the implications of such a statement on the label, there is no problem with the meat, and the importer has been instructed to remove this from the label, and he has so agreed to.

Will this reawaken the zebu debate?





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Gone the way of the horse and buggy

Israel is now one step closer toward becoming a first world country..

Today, the Economic Committee of the Knesset approved a ban proposal submitted by Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz. Katz wanted to ban wagons pulled by animals in cit and intercity streets. Such methods of transportation can still be used in the roads of moshavim and kibbutzim. Wagons pulled by donkeys or horses are still commonly used by the alte achen people, though our alte zachen guy in Bet Shemesh uses a small truck, no donkeys or horses.

What about those tourist trap events, as we find all over the world, where one can take a ride in a horse-drawn wagon? The local municipality, in coordination with local police authorities, will be able to give special permits for such  wagons for entertainment purposes.

Katz says using animals in such a manner causes a danger for drivers and pedestrians, as well as causing traffic jams. Another concern is that the animals used for these purposes are not cared for properly, can spread disease, and it is cruel to use them in this fashion and not care for them.
source: INN

Progress!

Soon we will have all animals out of our streets and public areas. No more chickens for kapparot in the streets, and now no more horse and buggy meandering through our towns.... By hook or by crook we will pull our people into the first world!

we used to say something went the way of the dodo bird. now we can say it went the way of the horse and buggy..



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