According to Israel Hayom, Israeli bronze medalist from the Tokyo Olympics Sagi Muki has had to send back his medal.

Quote Of The Day

My son is the "Holy of Holies". He made a kiddush hashem the like that has never before been seen in haredi Judaism. Even a goy recognized that [Yoel] did not know what he was doing and did not recognize those substances at all. I cannot forgive Yisroel Gliss at all. How can I forgive him after the tremendous chillul hashem he made in the media? He needs to ask forgiveness of the Torah and from the gedolei yisorel. Even the goyim said they recognized my son is holy, so Gliss, a Haredi jew won't believe that and say he deserves two slaps?

  --- father of Yoel Goldstein

1. suddenly if the goyim say something it is true? the goyim like him so everyone else has to?
2. I am not quite sure "not guilty" can be translated to "wow, he is so holy".
3. Even being found not guilty, I am not quite sure how he qualifies as "holy of holies".. he was not learnig, but traveling to Japan smuggling what he thought were antiques. Perhaps not guilty of drug smuggling, but also not quite so "holy of holies".
4. What kiddush hashem did he make by smuggling and sitting in jail for 3 years? Maybe he is not such a bad guy, and the not guilty verdict vindicates him to a certain degree (not quote to the degree the father thinks), but that is a far cry from saying he made a kiddush hashem and is holy.
5. I respect and admire the father that despite the entire ordeal he still can only see good in his son. Halevai to all of us!

Quote Of The Day

I don't accept the "Admorship" of [Yoel] Goldstein. Everyone davened for his release and they collected 3 millions dollars in the campaign for him... but, and a very big "but".. I and many others in haredi Judaism are embarrassed by the chillul hashem that the three boys caused. In the middle of learning in the yeshiva they went with a suitcase supposedly with antiques - not suitcase full of shofars, sifrei kodesh, esrogim, or menoras for the Jews of Japan, but suitcases with other stuff. As parents you should tell your children that they should not be proud of what he did. 
I would bring him to the corner of Kikar Shabbos and give him two slaps across the face and send him home, like a father  who's child runs into the street - first he saves him and then he gives hi two slaps to teach him not to run there again.

  -- Rav Yisroel Gliss

While the crazies of Mea Shearim and their offshoots in other areas, known as the "sikrikim" or thugs, mostly provide us with upsetting news of conflict, they are also good for the occasional humorous moments.

This article on Kikar Shabbos website about the sikrikim/thugs response to the yeshiva bochur from Japan's release provides the perfect humorous interlude a busy day can always use.

Since Yoel Goldstein was released from his Japanes jail cell a few days ago and returned to Israel (speedily with the help of Minister of Interior Eli Yishai cutting through the bureaucracy), Goldstein has been making the rounds going to various rabbonim, hassidic rebbes and gedolim getting blessings and asking for continued prayer for the remaining bochur in Japan.

So, of course, we now get to the sikrikim and their plucky chutzpa. Sit back and enjoy.

Yesterday, Goldstein went to pay a visit to Rav Ovadia Yosef, along with Minister of Interior Eli Yishai. The sikrikim are upset that he went to pay such a visit. They said "Rav Ovadia is a leader of a zionist organization and Goldstein should not have gone to him. Goldstein resides in Mea Shearim, and it is not possible that he should go and meet with a Zionist minister, and the rav of the Zionists. It does not matter what the reason is. We are not interested in the fact that Eli Yishai helped him come back to Eretz Yisrael. He is a Zionist, and nothing else changed. [Goldstein] should not have gone to the Zionists to start with. Hashem would have helped him without those impure people."

Even among the kannoim there is not complete agreement. Others are of the opinion that the meeting was necessary. Someone from the Eida said (note how these kannoim almost always speak anonymously) "When we need to use the Zionists, there is nothing we can do. Even the Gaavad of the Eida met with the Minister of Interior when dealing with the case of the "Starving Mother" - would anybody be able to say that Rav Weiss is a Zionist?! You must understand - we do not take budgets from the State and we do not benefit from them, but when we have to use them and there is no other way, then we cooperate. When there were cases we suspected there would be autopsies, we went to Meir Porush who is a Zionist to sign agreements with the police. The sikrikim can say what they want, but we have rabbonim and they decide what is right."

I hope you enjoyed the humor in that.

I was happy to hear that the third yeshiva bochur in Japan who had been awaiting the conclusion of his trial and a decision has been declared not guilty. Yoel Goldstein has been released and just returned to Israel.

I get that everyone is happy to see him and are in a celebratory mood. It is a big simcha that he got out, especially considering that his two partners on the trip were both found guilty. I just hope they won't turn the simcha into turning him into a hero or the next gadol ha'dor.

What I don't understand about this is:

1. why was he found not guilty if the other two were found guilty? Was it simply a case of having a better lawyer and learning from the mistakes of the first two cases?
2. Do the other two resent his having gotten off while they have criminal records having been found guilty for the same thing he was part of or are they happy for him?

While we have received occasional updates about the status of the three boys arrested for smuggling drugs into Japan, along with frequent collections appeals on their behalf, I don't remember seeing updates regarding the drug dealer menuval who took advantage of them and sent them off to Japan carrying drugs.

The three boys in a Japanese jail: One boy was serving his sentence, eventually was transferred to serve the remainder of his time in a prison in Israel. He was eventually pardoned and has been released. One boy just had his appeal in Japan rejected, and he will be serving i think 3 more years in prison in Japan. The third boy is waiting for his appeal to be heard.

Benzion Miller, the drug peddler

The drug dealer: His name is BenZion Miller and he was arrested. He served some time under hosue arrest, and then when his case came to trial he was sentenced to three years in prison. Bechadrei is reporting that this week Miller is being released from prison. His release was approved based on his good conduct. Of the three year sentence he served a year under house arrest, 8 months in actual prison, and one full year was deducted for good behavior. Upon his release, Miller plans to move to a different city and get a new start on life. (source: Bechadrei)

Needless to say, the families of the three boys are pretty upset that he is being released while the boys (2 of them at least) still sit in jail.

The Boys In The Japanese Jail
Today, the appeal for Yaakov Yosef Greenwald was heard. Greenwald is one of the three boys arrested in Japan after being caught smuggling drugs.

The three were mules for someone else, their kindness and naivety used to take advantage of them. They were caught, they went to jail in Japan, and have spent a few years in jail in Japan. One of the three has since been moved to a jail in Israel, and was eventually pardoned.

The Appeal
The family, and Greenwald himself, along with the askanim helping him, were all very optimistic about the appeal and expected to be released.

The Verdict
Unfortunately, today the appeal was heard and decided upon. the judge in Tokyo ruled and rejected the appeal. Greenwald must remain another two years in jail in Japan. (source: Bechadrei)

More earthquakes, on a fairly regular basis, that are at major levels. Tsunami warnings, More nuclear problems.

Japan just cannot get a break. I feel horrible for them.

And it is amazing how the news there got so "boring" that it is hard to find updates (well, until the latest nuclear warning that is). You have to search them out, as the news media have all moved on to fresher stories.

According to this report on Kikar Shabbos, a rescue team of ZAKA from Israel (though they were acting as an independent rescue team with international recognition, and not as an official Israeli delegation) has been working in Japan. They have both been helping out, and observing how to act efficiently in a mass casualty calamity.

While there, they have been working alongside other rescue teams. One of the rescue teams they worked with was a team from Iran.

They greeted each other, they seem to have been courteous to each other, and they worked together. They even took pictures together.

The only things I wonder about is whether Iran has already killed the members of the team. And if not, will are they going to let this rescue team back into the country after they were so audacious as to greet the Israelis.

And speaking of Japan, people have been coming up with all sorts of reasons why the tragedy happened to them. I have heard a number of suggestions, and there are probably even more floating around that I have not heard. And no, not all the suggestions are from Jews or suggestions of Jewish reasons, but some were. The thing is that all the talk I heard was from regular people making suggestions, and not from community leaders or clergy.

That has changed now. On Purim, the Rachmastrivke Rebbe, a great and well respected leader of a powerful chassidus in Yerushalayim, held court with his tish. At his Purim Tish, the rebbe spoke about many things, including Japan.

Bechadrei has video of the event, but I don't understand the yiddishe, so I only read the report. The Rachmastrivke Rebbe said that God is striking the Japanese repeatedly, but they are like Pharoah and the Egyptians who received multiple blows and plagues but could not seems to understand why they were getting hit and that it was connected to their holding the Jews as slaves and how they treated the Jews.

The Japanese, the Rebbe said, are holding the yeshiva boys in jail, despite their having done no wrong. They think these yeshiva boys know what drugs are, but from where would a hassidic yeshiva boy know anything about drugs? Only the non-Jews know what drugs are. Instead of admitting their mistake, they continue to hold them, and for that they are getting punished.

The rebbe then said a bracha, wishing for their release in the near future. He closed off with a call for Hashem to send Mashiach, saying we are ready for his arrival, and a promise to the throngs of followers that by next year the price of an apartment would be 5000NIS and there would no longer be a housing crisis. I am assuming he was referring to rental prices, that the price of a rental apartment would be no higher than 5000 NIS per month, rather than that being the price for purchases.

Until now I did not feel the need to comment on the suggestion, as people talk and say stupid things, while leaders are usually more careful. Now that this reason is out and about by a serious community leader, it is time to comment.

These boys might have been naive, and they were clearly taken advantage of by someone they thought they could trust, but that does not make them innocent. They were caught carrying drugs, with or without knowledge does not really make much of a difference to that fact. Had they done the same in any country around the world they would have been put in jail, just the same as what happened in Japan. Perhaps the Japanese prison conditions are harsher than many other countries, as the askanim are claiming, but that doesnt really change anything about what they did and the Japanese perspective of law enforcement.

The Japanese did not go catch a couple random boys off the street and imprison them on false charges. They caught 3 boys smuggling drugs into the country, albeit naively, and arrested them. I don't believe it is right to blame their incarceration as the cause for God's wrath.

From The New York Times:

On a normal Monday, Motoatsu Sakurai would have focused on a board of directors meeting scheduled for the next day at the Japan Society, on East 47th Street. He might have reviewed cultural programs, like a series of films now running about Japanese mobsters, known as yakuza.

This, however, was anything but a normal Monday for Mr. Sakurai, the society’s president since 2009. He may not have a normal Monday, or any other normal day, for some time, despite his desire to “continue business as usual.” The earthquake and tsunami that have buckled Japan’s knees will see to that.


For the moment, Mr. Sakurai, a retired business executive and a former Japanese consul general in New York, is in effect chief collector in the city for the Japanese relief effort. The Japanese consulate, on Park Avenue, has no mechanism for accepting contributions. “The Japanese government doesn’t have a kind of pocket to receive aid,” said Yasuhisa Kawamura, a deputy consul general.


So the consulate asked a few organizations, principally Mr. Sakurai’s, to serve as collection agencies. By late Monday afternoon, the society had received $160,000 in donations on its Web site, www.japansociety.org.


In his office, Mr. Sakurai scrolled through a long list of donors on a computer screen. Most of the names — “my gut feeling is 90 percent,” he said — were not Japanese.


“Everybody is very much touched by the sympathy and generosity of American people,” he said.


Some people gave $1,000 and similarly large sums. But most gifts were much smaller: $50 here, $25 there. They came from the heart, not from a deep pocket. On occasion, there was a donation of $18. It seemed an odd figure to Mr. Sakurai, until he learned that it meant the donor was probably Jewish. Jews often make charitable contributions in multiples of 18. In the Hebrew alphabet, letters have numerical equivalents. Eighteen represents “chai,” Hebrew for “life.”

1. These $18 donations were significant enough that Mr. Sakurai noticed them and tried to understand what they are all about.
2. Amazing kiddush hashem that so many people donated, non-Jews as well but here we focus on the Jewish aspect, out of concern to help the Japanese. The fact that so many of these donations were obviously from Jews raises the kiddush hashem.
3. We sometimes donate money, often donate money, and instinctively write out the check to a multiple of 18, chai, life. We probably dont even think about it most of the time. Almost every time I make a donation (not including the small change donations), it is to a multiple of 18. It's just what we do. In the case of the Japanese, reading it in the NY Times like this, it is a stark reminder that it really is about life.

In its postwar prosperity, Japan is unaccustomed to relying on the kindness of strangers. As Mr. Sakurai said, “We have always been on the giving side.” So aid-averse was Japan in the past that after an earthquake killed more than 6,000 people in Kobe in 1995, the Japanese government rejected most international offers of help.


Things are different now. To Mr. Sakurai, that is a positive glimmer in an otherwise bleak situation.


“It is very good for Japanese people to realize that Japan is not alone on the Earth,” he said. “When you put yourself in the other side’s shoes, you realize the importance of being on the receiving side as well as on the giving side.”

4. The Jews and the Japanese both qualify, in different ways, as what is described in the Torah as am l'vadad yishkon, a nation that dwells alone. The Jews have always been isolated, or mostly isolated most of the time, by the choice of the other nations. The Japanese chose to isolate themselves. Both are eventually learning that their fates cannot be ignored. No matter how much the Jews try to avoid it, our fate is to remain alone and isolated - no matter how much we try to fit in with the nations of the world, they reject us. The Japanese are not destined to be alone, and no matter how much they have tried to remain alone, fate is catchign up with them. They realize now they cannot remain alone any longer.

THE crisis in Japan provides a glimpse into New York’s own attitudes toward disaster elsewhere.


The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, a nonprofit group created nearly two decades ago to encourage private support for public programs, added a line on its Web site for donations to the Japanese relief effort (www.nyc.gov/html/fund/html/donate/donate.shtml). But New York officials themselves, from the mayor on down, have said next to nothing about the importance of standing by Japan in its ordeal. Contrast that silence with their many appeals for aid to Haiti after the earthquake there last year.


Maybe the explanation is simply that Haiti’s death toll was much higher than Japan’s and that Japan is rich while Haiti is unspeakably poor. But it doesn’t take a cynic to sense a political calculus at work: This city has a large population with origins in Haiti and elsewhere in the Caribbean. It has very few Japanese who aren’t business people, diplomats and students here temporarily.


The Department of City Planning says that a mere 26,000 or so New York City residents have roots in Japan. Not a lot of votes in that group.


Once Japan gets past the crisis, New Yorkers might want to track its recovery. As someone who lived and worked in Japan for five years, I’m prepared to wager that the devastated areas will be rebuilt in what would qualify as mind-boggling speed for New York. The better part of a decade will not pass with little to show other than a hole in the ground, as was long the case at the World Trade Center site.


Peter M. Grilli, president of the Japan Society of Boston, agreed. Mr. Grilli knows Japan well, over a good many years. “Japan,” he said over the weekend, “always manages to recover with amazing resilience and solidarity.”

5. The Japanese are known as a hard working people, they are resilient, diligent and industrious. They always bounce back, and they bounce back even better. We can all  learn this from them. In the meantime they still need our help and prayers.

Israel fears sushi shortage after quake

  -Ynetnews

Oh, the horror!

(hattip: Specialed)