Jul 1, 2007
new criteria for "Who is a Jew": chulent
The Mishpacha (Hebrew) newspaper had a fairly shocking story this week. You will not believe it to be true..
I will translate it here to English. If you wish to see the original, bluke scanned it and commented on it.
In a baal teshuva yeshiva there was a student who has been learning there for the past 2 years, who came from a country with a mass aliya. This student has "strengthened himself" [i.e. become religious] and has been keeping all of the mitzvos. Over a recent shabbos he was a guest at the home of one of the married kollel students.
The avreich realized the student despised the chulent and could not even taste a little bit of it. He remembered the words of the Rishonim, that someone who does not eat hot food on shabbos [day] needs to be investigated to see whether he might be a heretic (source: the Baal HaMaor).
In addition, he realized that the student did not shuckle/sway when he prayed, and this too is brought down (in the Zohar) as being a custom of Jews.
Since he realized that this student came from a neglected country {i.e. ostensibly Eastern European, but it does not specify] , he connected the dots and decided that according to halacha this student was likely not a Jew.
Attempts to investigate the background of the student revealed nothing conclusive, so the avreich, at the behest of the student, approached Rav Elyashiv with the situation and asked what to do.
Rav Elyashiv answered that the student must go through a conversion as a stringency [because of the chance he might not be jewish]. However any wine he might have handled is not to be considered "yayin nesech" [wine handled by a non Jew which may not be imbibed by a Jew], as the student behaved like a Jew and considered himself a Jew the whole time, and it is only a "safek" that he might not be a Jew [so the issue of yayin nesech does not apply].
As I said, you would not believe it. So now we are deciding whether or not a person is Jewish by whether or not he likes chulent and whether or not he shuckles during shmoneh esrei.
Soon we might have measurements for how much of a sway is called a sway. The meikil opinion will say something like a sway of 7 centimeters is ok and the most machmir opinion will say probably a minimum sway of 11 centimeters.
And then there will be a debate what is called chulent. What if you make your chulent without barley? And if you use chicken instead of beef?
I took out my shulchan aruch and looked up the halacha. At the end of Siman 257 the Rama mentions the issue quoted from the Baal Hamaor in the story. He says that one who does not eat "chamin" - hot foods, but this word is used in modern day Hebrew to mean chulent, one is suspect of being an apikorus.
According to the commentaries and the explanations, the issue is not if one does like hot food/chulent. Rather, it is if one refuses to eat it becaus ehe is of the opinion that one is not allowed to heat up food on shabbos, using the method we consider permitted. The heretics held to the literal meaning of verses and decided that one could not heat up food at all on shabbos, while we are of the opinion that there are certain methods in which heating up food is allowed. One who refuses to eat hot foods on shabbos is suspect of being a heretic.
And before I continue, let me just say before some people jump down my throat, that I am sure Rav Elyashiv knows that section of shulchan aruch at least as well as me, if not 500 times better (though one does not need to be the gadol hador to quote a siman in shulchan aruch).
The halacha does not say one has to eat chulent. It talks about hot foods. Had they offered this student hot soup maybe he would have accepted. Had they offered hot shnitzel maybe he would have devoured it. According to the reported story, they offered him a food that he did not like.
As a matter of fact, and this might solidify my standing in the minds of some of you, we often in the summer shabboses do not have chulent. I have not made chulent for three weeks in a row now. It is just too hot for chulent in my opinion. Does that mean we might not be Jewish? Does it matter that we have hot soup for lunch? (hot soup is better than chulent because, even though it is hot, it is a lighter meal.)
As well, it does not say that one who does not eat hot food might be a gentile. It says he might be an apikorus. An apikorus is generally a Jew. A Jew does not need to go through conversion when he becomes religious.
It is possible that this student, who clearly grew up non-religious in a completely non-religious and even ostensibly a non-Jewish environment, did not like chulent because he did not grow up with it culturally.
So all of the sudden he is exposed to a new food he has never seen before, and chulent by any description is not a pretty food, he is turned off by it and refuses to eat it, and his Jewishness is suspect?
As well, maybe that avreich just made a horrible chulent!! I wonder if they tried to serve him different chulent recipes and he had to reject each one before they decided he was not a Jew. Or did he just not like this one chulent and that was enough to seal the deal?
As well, there are many people who do not sway when davening. Many German Jews do not. Bluke reports that Rav Moshe Feinstein was famous for not swaying when he davened.
These are ridiculous criteria to use to decide whether or not someone is Jewish.
That being said, my only conclusion can be that the newspaper got the story wrong. Completely wrong, I mean. Not just the "inaccurate details wrong" as in all newspaper articles, but completely wrong.
They must have been missing a major detail. There must have been another reason to suspect his background. I do not believe Rav Elyashiv bases geirus on someones like or dislike of chulent.
I will translate it here to English. If you wish to see the original, bluke scanned it and commented on it.
In a baal teshuva yeshiva there was a student who has been learning there for the past 2 years, who came from a country with a mass aliya. This student has "strengthened himself" [i.e. become religious] and has been keeping all of the mitzvos. Over a recent shabbos he was a guest at the home of one of the married kollel students.
The avreich realized the student despised the chulent and could not even taste a little bit of it. He remembered the words of the Rishonim, that someone who does not eat hot food on shabbos [day] needs to be investigated to see whether he might be a heretic (source: the Baal HaMaor).
In addition, he realized that the student did not shuckle/sway when he prayed, and this too is brought down (in the Zohar) as being a custom of Jews.
Since he realized that this student came from a neglected country {i.e. ostensibly Eastern European, but it does not specify] , he connected the dots and decided that according to halacha this student was likely not a Jew.
Attempts to investigate the background of the student revealed nothing conclusive, so the avreich, at the behest of the student, approached Rav Elyashiv with the situation and asked what to do.
Rav Elyashiv answered that the student must go through a conversion as a stringency [because of the chance he might not be jewish]. However any wine he might have handled is not to be considered "yayin nesech" [wine handled by a non Jew which may not be imbibed by a Jew], as the student behaved like a Jew and considered himself a Jew the whole time, and it is only a "safek" that he might not be a Jew [so the issue of yayin nesech does not apply].
As I said, you would not believe it. So now we are deciding whether or not a person is Jewish by whether or not he likes chulent and whether or not he shuckles during shmoneh esrei.
Soon we might have measurements for how much of a sway is called a sway. The meikil opinion will say something like a sway of 7 centimeters is ok and the most machmir opinion will say probably a minimum sway of 11 centimeters.
And then there will be a debate what is called chulent. What if you make your chulent without barley? And if you use chicken instead of beef?
I took out my shulchan aruch and looked up the halacha. At the end of Siman 257 the Rama mentions the issue quoted from the Baal Hamaor in the story. He says that one who does not eat "chamin" - hot foods, but this word is used in modern day Hebrew to mean chulent, one is suspect of being an apikorus.
According to the commentaries and the explanations, the issue is not if one does like hot food/chulent. Rather, it is if one refuses to eat it becaus ehe is of the opinion that one is not allowed to heat up food on shabbos, using the method we consider permitted. The heretics held to the literal meaning of verses and decided that one could not heat up food at all on shabbos, while we are of the opinion that there are certain methods in which heating up food is allowed. One who refuses to eat hot foods on shabbos is suspect of being a heretic.
And before I continue, let me just say before some people jump down my throat, that I am sure Rav Elyashiv knows that section of shulchan aruch at least as well as me, if not 500 times better (though one does not need to be the gadol hador to quote a siman in shulchan aruch).
The halacha does not say one has to eat chulent. It talks about hot foods. Had they offered this student hot soup maybe he would have accepted. Had they offered hot shnitzel maybe he would have devoured it. According to the reported story, they offered him a food that he did not like.
As a matter of fact, and this might solidify my standing in the minds of some of you, we often in the summer shabboses do not have chulent. I have not made chulent for three weeks in a row now. It is just too hot for chulent in my opinion. Does that mean we might not be Jewish? Does it matter that we have hot soup for lunch? (hot soup is better than chulent because, even though it is hot, it is a lighter meal.)
As well, it does not say that one who does not eat hot food might be a gentile. It says he might be an apikorus. An apikorus is generally a Jew. A Jew does not need to go through conversion when he becomes religious.
It is possible that this student, who clearly grew up non-religious in a completely non-religious and even ostensibly a non-Jewish environment, did not like chulent because he did not grow up with it culturally.
So all of the sudden he is exposed to a new food he has never seen before, and chulent by any description is not a pretty food, he is turned off by it and refuses to eat it, and his Jewishness is suspect?
As well, maybe that avreich just made a horrible chulent!! I wonder if they tried to serve him different chulent recipes and he had to reject each one before they decided he was not a Jew. Or did he just not like this one chulent and that was enough to seal the deal?
As well, there are many people who do not sway when davening. Many German Jews do not. Bluke reports that Rav Moshe Feinstein was famous for not swaying when he davened.
These are ridiculous criteria to use to decide whether or not someone is Jewish.
That being said, my only conclusion can be that the newspaper got the story wrong. Completely wrong, I mean. Not just the "inaccurate details wrong" as in all newspaper articles, but completely wrong.
They must have been missing a major detail. There must have been another reason to suspect his background. I do not believe Rav Elyashiv bases geirus on someones like or dislike of chulent.
did she think I was young or do I sound like a girl?
I had to call my credit card company to clarify something. Avoid doing that at all costs. It is almost as bad as going to a doctor.
I had to go through the torture of acually getting a person to speak to.
The first thing the computer aks me to do is to type in my identity number and four digits of my credit card into the phone.
You then go through machines with selections that offer none of the things you need as choices. I need to check up a certain charge. All they offer is "For travellers insurance, press one, for information on the start system, press 2, for information for business, press 3, etc." And every time you press a number it takes you to another sub-menu with selections that are meaningless.
I keep selecting "For other, press 5".
After then being put on hold and waiting to some annoying tunes of muzak, a clerk finally comes on the line.
The first thing she does is ask me for my identity card number and the last four digits of my credit card. I say, "I put those into the phone, why do you need to ask me again?"
She says, "Just give the numbers sir so I can help you."
Fine, I give her the numbers. She then asks me, "What is your name?"
I tell her my name.
She hesitates and says, "Are you sure it is yours? I think the card belongs to a man."
ARGHHHHH!
I say , "I am a man."
She hesitates and says, "ummm OK, so how can I help you?.." Not even an apology!!!
So, did she just think I was young (the bus drivers would offer me a youth pass until I was 27) or did she think I sounded like a girl? If the latter, then I know I should not start a singing career.. (not that I have the voice for it anyway..)..
I had to go through the torture of acually getting a person to speak to.
The first thing the computer aks me to do is to type in my identity number and four digits of my credit card into the phone.
You then go through machines with selections that offer none of the things you need as choices. I need to check up a certain charge. All they offer is "For travellers insurance, press one, for information on the start system, press 2, for information for business, press 3, etc." And every time you press a number it takes you to another sub-menu with selections that are meaningless.
I keep selecting "For other, press 5".
After then being put on hold and waiting to some annoying tunes of muzak, a clerk finally comes on the line.
The first thing she does is ask me for my identity card number and the last four digits of my credit card. I say, "I put those into the phone, why do you need to ask me again?"
She says, "Just give the numbers sir so I can help you."
Fine, I give her the numbers. She then asks me, "What is your name?"
I tell her my name.
She hesitates and says, "Are you sure it is yours? I think the card belongs to a man."
ARGHHHHH!
I say , "I am a man."
She hesitates and says, "ummm OK, so how can I help you?.." Not even an apology!!!
So, did she just think I was young (the bus drivers would offer me a youth pass until I was 27) or did she think I sounded like a girl? If the latter, then I know I should not start a singing career.. (not that I have the voice for it anyway..)..
Haveil Havalim #123 - the"Take me out to the Ballgame" edition
This edition of Haveil Havalim is being dedicated to the brand new Israel Baseball League, in honor of having just completed their first week of playing baseball in Israel. There is little more that can actually be described as Haveil Havalim as professional sports, so it is appropriate to dedicate in their honor.
Playing sports can at least be rationalized by using an excuse such as exercise, for example. But watching professional sports does not even have that. I had a Rebbe in yeshiva (don't remember which rebbe, just remember that it happened by a rebbe in yeshiva) who used to say that professional sports has the zchus that it keeps the goyim off the streets. If not for [insert name of any specific sporting event here], there would be tens of thousands of goyim with nothing to do who might end up taking out their boredom on the Jews. Professional sports in Israel doesn't even have that.
The 123 edition is going to begin with a tribute to Harry Caray - who does not need any introduction.He was famous for leading the 7th inning stretch in Wrigley Field in his great rendition of "Take me out to the ballgame" with his climax coming at "1-2-3 strikes you're out!"
And I will now begin the edition, leading off is Harry Caray himself!!
"All Right now! Lemme hear Ya!!! Everybody! A one, a two, a three..."
and in case you actually wanted to see Harry and not just listen, here goes (enjoy the Bud Light commercial at the end)....
Kudos to Soccer Dad who is the founder and manager of the Haveil Havalim roundup of the Jewish blogging world. Be in touch with him if you wish to volunteer hosting a future edition of HH.
I was actually surprised I did not see very many posts about baseball in Israel this week. Most were just making the announcement that baseball is finally here. (at least) Two bloggers went to Opening Day, and their posts are included within.
MISC:
Jewish Blogmeister interviewed a blogger - DafNotes..
Irina is hopeful for the future of the world after meeting a bunch of NATO generals.. and then she met up with the Germans again..
Yitzchak reviews some Gitmo poetry..
PsychoToddler goes kicking and screaming into the digital age - and even offers a free song for download!!
Treppenwitz thinks he is a bad husband..
postblogism discusses the writing of fake history
Elie reaps naches as he reviews his fortnight..
Schvach Yid wonders where the Ladino speakers have gone...
Michael discusses his plan on dyeing his tzitzis with Tcheiles...
Batya reviews a book about the United Nations..
Smooth Stone remembers the yahrtzeit of Alfred Dreyfus..
Irina learns a lesson from her grandmother..
Fiery Spirited Zionist shows that sanctions cannot stop Iran..
Jack remembers his grandfather..
MizEllie hates her doctor..
Frum Satire describes different types of womens hair coverings...
Neil has some old siddurim on his shelf, and felt connected to history...
DAG finds a funny connection between the Chicago White Sox and Breslav...
CosmicX offers mystery tree #3..
Our Bs, eh? talks about inconsistencies...
Hirhurim discussed some of the halachic issues of a singing guy whose voice sounds feminine. I wrote about the story as well, as did yaak, LOR and JoeSettler.
bluke discusses how much of a person's parnassah is really from heaven..
LOR breaks down a Jewish music advertisement..
Its Almost Supernatural does not like the South African Jewish Leadership.
Jews for Hillary brings us a video of Hillary's talk with the OU...
Yid with Lid says Barack Obama is not a leader. He has no guts.
Nuch Epes a Chosid has some inspirational words and stories about Monkey See Monkey Do.
Mottel is on vacation, and his friends could not guess where....
Carl is rethinking his support for Guilliani..
Friar Yid discusses the phenomenon of less Jews giving their sons circumcision..
Israeli Tikkun Blog talks about the Jewish wedding season..
Yisrael discusses some facts about womens hair coverings..
Sarah is still posting pictures from her (not so) recent trip to the US..
DAG would prefer to shop at Wal-Mart than at a Jewish store...
Dag emailed a prof at University of Denver about some Bible criticism Aish dismissed. Then he got into an email discussion about it..
The Rabbi Without a Cause talks about a Tisha B'Av video that blames the Holocaust on non-observant jews.
Israel:
Akiva guest blogged about a story of intimidation. A few days later an amazing follow-up story took place.
Michael talks about some cultural differences he has noticed since making aliyah..
I reviewed the situation of Gilad Shalit, one year later.. Yaak discusses Gilad Shalit as well...
Batya tells us how the international media don't pay attention to what the Arabs really say...and then compares Olmert's attitude to terrorists with his attitude to young Zionists..and more about Darfur..
CosmicX wants Gilad Shalit freed, but not with an open check.
Steve from Its Almost Supernatural talks about how South African Cabinet Ministers have been attacking religions, specifically Judaism and Israel..
Elder of Ziyon smirks at the demands for humanitarian treatment for convicted terrorists..
LGF brings to light CNN's omission of Jerusalem, Israel in their weather section... Isreallycool also talks about it, with an update. hubscubs talks about it too in his post on Middle East Reporting..
Aussie Dave at IsraellyCool talks about negotiation tactics that he imagines Olmert used for the recent Sharm Summit..
Schvach Yid tells Israel to watch its back!
Mere Rhetoric talks about media lies
Solomonia talks about the culture of death in the Palestinian Authority..
Meryl Yourish tells us who Mahmoud Abbas really is..
Olah Chadasha points out that while everybody else claims the moral ground, immoral Israel is the only country actually taking in refugees from Darfur.
Judith at HNN has a Quote of the Day about the only -ism to actually do anything practical..
Barbara shows how for many, Palestinians included, Israel has become a beacon in the Middle East
A Mother in Israel took her family to Opening Day in the new Israel Baseball League...
Ezzie sent his Israel Baseball Correspondent to Opening Day and he reported back..
Rock of Galilee has been back to blogging recently and discusses Yitzchak Levy's agreement to release his daughter's murder...
JoeSettler breaks down the statistics of agunot and finds something very surprising...
Rafi G (that's me) brings you news updates from the Israel Baseball League..
Jameel has disappeared again. My sources tell me he is on a mission from the CIA to secure a shipment of waffles that is at risk of being hijacked by terrorists. It is all hush hush because of they get hold of the World Waffle Supply, the Muqata will be in serious danger of attack by these anti-waffle fundamentalists. So while Jameel is away, his blog has been overrun by anarchists and gues bloggers. J-Cop brings an article from Rabbi Shandalov of Chicago about why he is making aliyah.
A Town Crier sends us to an article about Israel's missing children...
A Town Crier calls Condi on her calling Hamas a resistance movement. I wrote about the same issue.
Daled Amos points out Israel is letting 5000 Muslims into Israel, yet only allowing less of the Falash Mura.
Schvach Yid has links to a bunch of important articles...
Mobius comments on the GOP rejection of a $2.4 Billion aid package to Israel. Steve also talks about the GOP rejection vote..
Yid with Lid tells us about how the US made up Palestine..
Carl in Jerusalem says it is deja vu all over again.. and informs us of some inappropriate video tapes discovered about some Fatah leaders... and comments on a stupid idea...Here Carl tells us what Israel can learn from Denmark..and then discusses the announcement that the IDF is prepared to perform a military op to free Shalit...
Yid with Lid points to a recent slip up in Mahmoud Abbas's speech. It shows he is a liar.
Batya, the teacher, now gives us a geography lesson..
The Right Coast talks about his experience at the Israeli Supreme Court..
Israeli Satire Laboratory has a funny piece on Mahmoud Abbas accepting responsibility for the recent PA fiasco...
Oleh Michael says we need need a real man in government. He, of course, is referring to Golda Meir.
Dr. Sanity talks about the Palestinian Middle Class.
Happy anniversary to Yisrael Medad. No, not his wedding anniversary... and here Yisrael discusses PA repression..
Esser Agaroth thinks Jerusalem needs a new logo..
Serandez posts a letter about what two children would do if they were locked in a room with only one piece of bread...
This Ongoing War comments on a NY Times review of a movie about Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
Schvach Yid comments on Israel's taking in refugees from Darfur..
Playing sports can at least be rationalized by using an excuse such as exercise, for example. But watching professional sports does not even have that. I had a Rebbe in yeshiva (don't remember which rebbe, just remember that it happened by a rebbe in yeshiva) who used to say that professional sports has the zchus that it keeps the goyim off the streets. If not for [insert name of any specific sporting event here], there would be tens of thousands of goyim with nothing to do who might end up taking out their boredom on the Jews. Professional sports in Israel doesn't even have that.
The 123 edition is going to begin with a tribute to Harry Caray - who does not need any introduction.He was famous for leading the 7th inning stretch in Wrigley Field in his great rendition of "Take me out to the ballgame" with his climax coming at "1-2-3 strikes you're out!"
And I will now begin the edition, leading off is Harry Caray himself!!
"All Right now! Lemme hear Ya!!! Everybody! A one, a two, a three..."
and in case you actually wanted to see Harry and not just listen, here goes (enjoy the Bud Light commercial at the end)....
Kudos to Soccer Dad who is the founder and manager of the Haveil Havalim roundup of the Jewish blogging world. Be in touch with him if you wish to volunteer hosting a future edition of HH.
I was actually surprised I did not see very many posts about baseball in Israel this week. Most were just making the announcement that baseball is finally here. (at least) Two bloggers went to Opening Day, and their posts are included within.
MISC:
Jewish Blogmeister interviewed a blogger - DafNotes..
Irina is hopeful for the future of the world after meeting a bunch of NATO generals.. and then she met up with the Germans again..
Yitzchak reviews some Gitmo poetry..
PsychoToddler goes kicking and screaming into the digital age - and even offers a free song for download!!
Treppenwitz thinks he is a bad husband..
postblogism discusses the writing of fake history
Elie reaps naches as he reviews his fortnight..
Schvach Yid wonders where the Ladino speakers have gone...
Michael discusses his plan on dyeing his tzitzis with Tcheiles...
Batya reviews a book about the United Nations..
Smooth Stone remembers the yahrtzeit of Alfred Dreyfus..
Irina learns a lesson from her grandmother..
Fiery Spirited Zionist shows that sanctions cannot stop Iran..
Jack remembers his grandfather..
MizEllie hates her doctor..
Frum Satire describes different types of womens hair coverings...
Neil has some old siddurim on his shelf, and felt connected to history...
DAG finds a funny connection between the Chicago White Sox and Breslav...
CosmicX offers mystery tree #3..
Our Bs, eh? talks about inconsistencies...
Hirhurim discussed some of the halachic issues of a singing guy whose voice sounds feminine. I wrote about the story as well, as did yaak, LOR and JoeSettler.
bluke discusses how much of a person's parnassah is really from heaven..
LOR breaks down a Jewish music advertisement..
Its Almost Supernatural does not like the South African Jewish Leadership.
Jews for Hillary brings us a video of Hillary's talk with the OU...
Yid with Lid says Barack Obama is not a leader. He has no guts.
Nuch Epes a Chosid has some inspirational words and stories about Monkey See Monkey Do.
Mottel is on vacation, and his friends could not guess where....
Carl is rethinking his support for Guilliani..
Friar Yid discusses the phenomenon of less Jews giving their sons circumcision..
Israeli Tikkun Blog talks about the Jewish wedding season..
Yisrael discusses some facts about womens hair coverings..
Sarah is still posting pictures from her (not so) recent trip to the US..
DAG would prefer to shop at Wal-Mart than at a Jewish store...
Dag emailed a prof at University of Denver about some Bible criticism Aish dismissed. Then he got into an email discussion about it..
The Rabbi Without a Cause talks about a Tisha B'Av video that blames the Holocaust on non-observant jews.
Israel:
Akiva guest blogged about a story of intimidation. A few days later an amazing follow-up story took place.
Michael talks about some cultural differences he has noticed since making aliyah..
I reviewed the situation of Gilad Shalit, one year later.. Yaak discusses Gilad Shalit as well...
Batya tells us how the international media don't pay attention to what the Arabs really say...and then compares Olmert's attitude to terrorists with his attitude to young Zionists..and more about Darfur..
CosmicX wants Gilad Shalit freed, but not with an open check.
Steve from Its Almost Supernatural talks about how South African Cabinet Ministers have been attacking religions, specifically Judaism and Israel..
Elder of Ziyon smirks at the demands for humanitarian treatment for convicted terrorists..
LGF brings to light CNN's omission of Jerusalem, Israel in their weather section... Isreallycool also talks about it, with an update. hubscubs talks about it too in his post on Middle East Reporting..
Aussie Dave at IsraellyCool talks about negotiation tactics that he imagines Olmert used for the recent Sharm Summit..
Schvach Yid tells Israel to watch its back!
Mere Rhetoric talks about media lies
Solomonia talks about the culture of death in the Palestinian Authority..
Meryl Yourish tells us who Mahmoud Abbas really is..
Olah Chadasha points out that while everybody else claims the moral ground, immoral Israel is the only country actually taking in refugees from Darfur.
Judith at HNN has a Quote of the Day about the only -ism to actually do anything practical..
Barbara shows how for many, Palestinians included, Israel has become a beacon in the Middle East
A Mother in Israel took her family to Opening Day in the new Israel Baseball League...
Ezzie sent his Israel Baseball Correspondent to Opening Day and he reported back..
Rock of Galilee has been back to blogging recently and discusses Yitzchak Levy's agreement to release his daughter's murder...
JoeSettler breaks down the statistics of agunot and finds something very surprising...
Rafi G (that's me) brings you news updates from the Israel Baseball League..
Jameel has disappeared again. My sources tell me he is on a mission from the CIA to secure a shipment of waffles that is at risk of being hijacked by terrorists. It is all hush hush because of they get hold of the World Waffle Supply, the Muqata will be in serious danger of attack by these anti-waffle fundamentalists. So while Jameel is away, his blog has been overrun by anarchists and gues bloggers. J-Cop brings an article from Rabbi Shandalov of Chicago about why he is making aliyah.
A Town Crier sends us to an article about Israel's missing children...
A Town Crier calls Condi on her calling Hamas a resistance movement. I wrote about the same issue.
Daled Amos points out Israel is letting 5000 Muslims into Israel, yet only allowing less of the Falash Mura.
Schvach Yid has links to a bunch of important articles...
Mobius comments on the GOP rejection of a $2.4 Billion aid package to Israel. Steve also talks about the GOP rejection vote..
Yid with Lid tells us about how the US made up Palestine..
Carl in Jerusalem says it is deja vu all over again.. and informs us of some inappropriate video tapes discovered about some Fatah leaders... and comments on a stupid idea...Here Carl tells us what Israel can learn from Denmark..and then discusses the announcement that the IDF is prepared to perform a military op to free Shalit...
Yid with Lid points to a recent slip up in Mahmoud Abbas's speech. It shows he is a liar.
Batya, the teacher, now gives us a geography lesson..
The Right Coast talks about his experience at the Israeli Supreme Court..
Israeli Satire Laboratory has a funny piece on Mahmoud Abbas accepting responsibility for the recent PA fiasco...
Oleh Michael says we need need a real man in government. He, of course, is referring to Golda Meir.
Dr. Sanity talks about the Palestinian Middle Class.
Happy anniversary to Yisrael Medad. No, not his wedding anniversary... and here Yisrael discusses PA repression..
Esser Agaroth thinks Jerusalem needs a new logo..
Serandez posts a letter about what two children would do if they were locked in a room with only one piece of bread...
This Ongoing War comments on a NY Times review of a movie about Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
Schvach Yid comments on Israel's taking in refugees from Darfur..
Batya wonders about some Arab construction..
Yid With Lid says Olmert is like an accountant..TORAH:
Reb Chaim explains the Urim V'Tumim
The Harry Potter Torah blog darshens about the importance of fighting for truth
Barbara talks about how important being a good mother is...
Torah Thoughts points out the idea of changing your perspective..
NY's Funniest Rabbi has two human looks at Bilaam.. and some miraculous middle of the night thoughts..
Dixie Yid talks about geirim..
Jun 28, 2007
Israel Baseball League updates
Here are some basic news updates from the Israel Baseball League's first week.
No, I still have not yet gone to a game.
The Bet Shemesh Blue Sox are still leading the standings. The Blue Sox are undefeated with a record of 3-0.
There has already been a game played under protest. League Commissioner Daniel Kurtzer (yes, the same guy who used to be US Ambassador to Israel) ruled to disallow the protest. The protest was based on the suspicion of use in a home run derby between Ranana and Modiin, which is basically the way the resolve a game when it is tied and goes into extra innings.
"Take me out to the ball game..."
No, I still have not yet gone to a game.
The Bet Shemesh Blue Sox are still leading the standings. The Blue Sox are undefeated with a record of 3-0.
There has already been a game played under protest. League Commissioner Daniel Kurtzer (yes, the same guy who used to be US Ambassador to Israel) ruled to disallow the protest. The protest was based on the suspicion of use in a home run derby between Ranana and Modiin, which is basically the way the resolve a game when it is tied and goes into extra innings.
The first no-hitter of Israel Baseball has been thrown! Ra’anana's Esequier Pie threw a no-hitter against Modiin while striking out 7 batters. Ra'anana won the game 1-0 after winning the home run derby by 4-3..Although the bat in question was clearly not allowed per League rules, and although the Modi’in Manager followed the proper procedure for protesting the situation during and immediately after the batter’s at-bat, there are insufficient grounds to overturn the umpire’s ruling on the field.The Commissioner also considered penalties against the batter for using an illegal bat. However, because the League did not adequately communicate its rules to Managers and players before the start of the season, the Commissioner decided to issue a warning to the player. Furthermore, the Commissioner has advised all Managers and players that any future breach of the IBL rules could, without further warning, result in suspensions, fines or other penalties.
"Take me out to the ball game..."
the boy who sounds like a girl...
A lot of bloggers have been writing about the recent story of the guy who sounded like a girl. So many, that I am only going to link to two of them, otherwise this post would be way too long. See yaak's take and Joe's take on the story. The story was in all the various Israeli papers, as well as on the bulleting boards of a number of sites.
The story goes that this young man from Netanya, Eliyahu Faizikov,
a 20 year old charedi yeshiva bachur, sings like a girl. His voice is very feminine. He put out an album and number of songs as singles. He distributed them to be played on the radio, religious Radio Kol Chai to be specific, and they were met with a certain amount of success.
After some time, Faizikov noticed that the station was no longer playing his songs. He contacted the station to query why they stopped. Their response was that because his voice sounds so feminine, every time they would play his songs they would be bombarded with phone calls complaining that they are playing songs by women singers.
(to explain for those of you who might not understand: there is a prohibition for a man to listen to a woman singer. That is in brief. It comes with a lot of caveats and people find all sorts of ways around the problem, but in general a man should not listen to a woman sing, as it is considered to be erotic and arouse improper thoughts)
So, the listeners think they are playing a woman singer, and they call the station outraged to complain. The station received so many of these complaints, they decided to stop playing his songs.
I heard a couple of his songs. The Ynet article on the subject has 2 of his songs. Go listen to them. He sounds like a girl. Seriously. Poor kid.
Some of the articles/posts/comments I read on the subject were witty. Some were topical. Yet many of them claim that the religious world is awash with chumrohs and this is just another baseless, ridiculous chumroh. He is a guy, so even if he sounds like a girl it is not a halachic problem.
I would like to clarify the story as I see it. This is not a baseless chumroh. This is not the chareidi world banning an innocent victim. This is not a bunch of old-fashioned Rabbis coming down on a ridiculous irrelevant law.
It is simply a business decision.
No signs were posted on the walls of Mea Shearim declaring Faizikov and his music to be in cherem. no letters (that I know of) were presented to Rabbis Elyashiv and Kanievsky to be signed declaring him persona non grata.
Listeners heard, what they thought, was a womans singing voice being broadcast over the radio and called to complain. They were skeptical as to the explanation, and just don't want to listen to women sing. Does it matter that it is really a guy? To Eliyahu Faizikov it does, but it does not to the listeners who think it is a girl!
When the radio station receives a lot of complaints about something they are broadcasting, they have to make an evaluation. They have to decide whether the offending broadcast brings in more revenue than the loss of upsetting listeners (something akin to broadcasting the vile Howard Stern - he upsets many people, but many more enjoy listening to him).
The radio station manager decided that more people were upset and would stop listening to the station/program than the gain they had by continuing to play the girlie music.
That is it. It is not a chumroh, rather a simple business decision.
If he has truble getting himself heard, he can go audition for Miami Boys Choir. They have tons of kids who sound like girls. That is their specialty.
a 20 year old charedi yeshiva bachur, sings like a girl. His voice is very feminine. He put out an album and number of songs as singles. He distributed them to be played on the radio, religious Radio Kol Chai to be specific, and they were met with a certain amount of success.After some time, Faizikov noticed that the station was no longer playing his songs. He contacted the station to query why they stopped. Their response was that because his voice sounds so feminine, every time they would play his songs they would be bombarded with phone calls complaining that they are playing songs by women singers.
(to explain for those of you who might not understand: there is a prohibition for a man to listen to a woman singer. That is in brief. It comes with a lot of caveats and people find all sorts of ways around the problem, but in general a man should not listen to a woman sing, as it is considered to be erotic and arouse improper thoughts)
So, the listeners think they are playing a woman singer, and they call the station outraged to complain. The station received so many of these complaints, they decided to stop playing his songs.
I heard a couple of his songs. The Ynet article on the subject has 2 of his songs. Go listen to them. He sounds like a girl. Seriously. Poor kid.
Some of the articles/posts/comments I read on the subject were witty. Some were topical. Yet many of them claim that the religious world is awash with chumrohs and this is just another baseless, ridiculous chumroh. He is a guy, so even if he sounds like a girl it is not a halachic problem.
I would like to clarify the story as I see it. This is not a baseless chumroh. This is not the chareidi world banning an innocent victim. This is not a bunch of old-fashioned Rabbis coming down on a ridiculous irrelevant law.
It is simply a business decision.
No signs were posted on the walls of Mea Shearim declaring Faizikov and his music to be in cherem. no letters (that I know of) were presented to Rabbis Elyashiv and Kanievsky to be signed declaring him persona non grata.
Listeners heard, what they thought, was a womans singing voice being broadcast over the radio and called to complain. They were skeptical as to the explanation, and just don't want to listen to women sing. Does it matter that it is really a guy? To Eliyahu Faizikov it does, but it does not to the listeners who think it is a girl!
When the radio station receives a lot of complaints about something they are broadcasting, they have to make an evaluation. They have to decide whether the offending broadcast brings in more revenue than the loss of upsetting listeners (something akin to broadcasting the vile Howard Stern - he upsets many people, but many more enjoy listening to him).
The radio station manager decided that more people were upset and would stop listening to the station/program than the gain they had by continuing to play the girlie music.
That is it. It is not a chumroh, rather a simple business decision.
If he has truble getting himself heard, he can go audition for Miami Boys Choir. They have tons of kids who sound like girls. That is their specialty.
Jun 27, 2007
8 things about me
MizEllie from EllieTalk tagged me recently to do this meme where I have to write 8 things about myself.
I am not very big on memes, and was leaning towards not doing this one, when my wife told me she would like me to do it. I guess she is curious what I would write.
So, here goes:
The Rules are:
I am not very big on memes, and was leaning towards not doing this one, when my wife told me she would like me to do it. I guess she is curious what I would write.
So, here goes:
The Rules are:
- Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.
- The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.
- At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
- I eat my pets. That is, as long as it is a kosher species of animal. That means my son's rabbit is safe. I have eaten pet ducks, chicken, and goose. I do not think the sheep count, though they were alive in my car for about an hour before I slaughtered them. They were not in my possession long enough to qualify as "pet".
- I am not very imaginative or creative, so I have a hard time thinking of good things for a list like this.
- I have this feeling that I have a book inside of me. No, not something I ate by mistake, and not like the magazine my son's rabbit ate once. Rather, a book that I need to write. I am just not yet sure what the topic of the book is. I guess, for now, my blog(s) is (are) my book.
- I can't stand the sight of blood. Yeah, this one does not make sense, considering my shechting habits. But it is true. Animal blood does not bother me, but human blood does. I cannot stand up close by a bris. I decided one time, after I was well into the shechita stuff, that I would look at and watch a bris I was at, considering bris is considered a natural continuation of shechita, but as soon as it began, I had to turn away.
- I like, more or less, sticking to routine, and schedule. I dislike surprises, and I dislike things that make me change my routine. Especially when they crop up at the last minute. Sometimes it can't be avoided, but oftentimes it can. I deal with it, but I like to keep to routine and to schedule.
- I never pick up "call waiting". I hate it. I consider it rude. What makes the second call more important than the first? They can call back. if I am expecting an important call, I will not put one on hold and pick up the second, but will tell the first that I have to go. And if somebody puts me on hold to pick up a "call waiting", I will usually hang up.
- I pretty much do my own thing. If I feel something is right and appropriate (and I want to do it), I do it, even if it goes against social norms. I should add, to my wife's chagrin.. :-). And if I feel something is wrong, I won't do it, even if everybody else does.
- I am not big on following all the rules, in any given situation. "Most of the rules" is usually enough for me. That is why I am not going to tag any other bloggers (rule 3, see above)!! That is, as long as it is not a competitive sport or anything like that, where I would get an unfair advantage. I will not cheat, let alone at someone else's expense. But as long as it is just me and I am trying to do something, I will often "wing it" to a certain extent.
Hamas is now a "resistance movement"?
I know it is all a matter of semantics, but that really is everything in politics. Politicians have to be cautious how they word their statements. If they choose one word over another, it could be the cause for an embargo, a war, warming of relations between countries, etc. A politician has to be very careful with his (or her) wording.
US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, in a recent interview with the New York Daily News, referred to Hamas, twice, as a "resistance movement". The full text of the interview can be read on the State Department website.
That is unusual, because the official US government's policy has been that Hamas is a terror organization, not a resistance movement.
Was it a simple slip on Condy's part, or is it indicative of the Bush administrations attitude to the Middle East situation?
(HT with more details: WorldNet Daily)
US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, in a recent interview with the New York Daily News, referred to Hamas, twice, as a "resistance movement". The full text of the interview can be read on the State Department website.
That is unusual, because the official US government's policy has been that Hamas is a terror organization, not a resistance movement.
Was it a simple slip on Condy's part, or is it indicative of the Bush administrations attitude to the Middle East situation?
(HT with more details: WorldNet Daily)
church song in Portugal (video)
My wife has this theory that about 90% of the world population must have some sort of Jewish ancestry and Jewish blood in them. I pretty much agree, but would place the number a bit lower....
Here is a video clip of a church in Portugal - I have no idea what they are saying,at least until the 45 second marker. You will be stunned.
(HatTip: I saw this recently on Dreaming of Moshiach)
Here is a video clip of a church in Portugal - I have no idea what they are saying,at least until the 45 second marker. You will be stunned.
(HatTip: I saw this recently on Dreaming of Moshiach)
HH announcement
I will be hosting this week's edition of Haveil Havalim.
Please send in your submissions and try not to wait until the last minute!
Also, I have no plans to limit the number of posts per blog, but if I receive too many from someone, especially if it is late in the week, I might do just that. So, be selective and submit the posts you really want included, rather than leaving it up to me to select...
Please send in your submissions and try not to wait until the last minute!
Also, I have no plans to limit the number of posts per blog, but if I receive too many from someone, especially if it is late in the week, I might do just that. So, be selective and submit the posts you really want included, rather than leaving it up to me to select...
Herzog's speech is recognized as "world changing" (video)
On November 10, 1975, the United Nations passed the resolution that Zionism is a form of racism.
Chaim Herzog, Israel's Ambassador to the UN at the time, had some serious cojones. He got up to the podium and gave a speech that blasted the resolution. As he concluded the speech, he picked up the resolution and tore it in half.
I was only 3 years old at the time. However, that whole debate on "Zionism is Racism" became such an integral part of Jewish life and American Jewry's relation to Israel, that during later years one could not avoid hearing the debate and references to the great speech of Chaim Herzog.
Now some British historians are publishing a new edition of the book "Speeches that Changed the World". They have debated which speeches should be included in the book and Herzog's speech is one of them.
I could not find a video of the full speech, but I did find this of excerpts of the speech. It comes from the Yad Chaim Herzog Foundation:
Chaim Herzog, Israel's Ambassador to the UN at the time, had some serious cojones. He got up to the podium and gave a speech that blasted the resolution. As he concluded the speech, he picked up the resolution and tore it in half.
I was only 3 years old at the time. However, that whole debate on "Zionism is Racism" became such an integral part of Jewish life and American Jewry's relation to Israel, that during later years one could not avoid hearing the debate and references to the great speech of Chaim Herzog.
Now some British historians are publishing a new edition of the book "Speeches that Changed the World". They have debated which speeches should be included in the book and Herzog's speech is one of them.
I could not find a video of the full speech, but I did find this of excerpts of the speech. It comes from the Yad Chaim Herzog Foundation:
Jun 26, 2007
Picture of the day (potd)
Do you remember hearing the old refrain, "It's hot enough to fry an egg!"?
Well, in Israel right now it is hot enough to fry an egg!
The chef says it took a couple of minutes longer than usual, but the taste was great.... he cooked these eggs at 46 degrees centigrade in the shade in Tiberias....
Well, in Israel right now it is hot enough to fry an egg!
The chef says it took a couple of minutes longer than usual, but the taste was great.... he cooked these eggs at 46 degrees centigrade in the shade in Tiberias....
tidbits from today's news
1. A few hours ago I heard PM Ehud Olmert's speech from the Sharm Summit. In it, he was very forthcoming to the Palestinians. He compared their suffering to the suffering of the Israelis. He then announced that in an effort to shore up support for Abbas, as a form of goodwill, as a gesture to show the Palestinians that we are really concerned about their suffering, Israel would soon release 250 prisoners in Israeli jails, provided they do not "have blood on their hands" and they promise not to engage in terror activities any more in the future.
This is very hasty of Olmert. It is a reward for terror. Fatah has shown no signs of coming through on any promises ever made, and they hardly ever make promises anyway. I am not sure what Olmert thinks he will gain from this, unless he is looking to get support from Israel's "left wing" so he can survive politically, for just a little bit longer.
Another option I thought of is that this is part of a secret deal with the Palestinians. It could be that they agreed Hamas would release information about Shalit's condition and Olmert would release 250 prisoners. The only thing is neither side can admit to such a deal. That is why Hamas would blindside Israel with a surprise audio recording, and on the same day Olmert would announce his intentions to release 250 prisoners.
Not sure it is true, but is an idea I had. There are things that do not make sense with the theory, like Olmert said he will release Fatah prisoners, so why would Hamas agree to that? But maybe Hamas does not really care about those differences, because either way they still come out looking good (to their people)..
Maybe. Who knows? We probably never will..
2. Yesterday, Omri Sharon's sentence was lessened from 9 months in prison to 7 months in prison.
To remind you, he was convicted of fraud, election fraud and other nefarious activities related to manipulating the political system.
Omri and his attorney are not happy with today's decision to lessen his sentence. They think the jail time aspect of it should have been totally cancelled. They are considering a further appeal to the higher courts.
I find it funny that the judges take into consideration the fact that his political career is over and he was forced to resign as a result of the conviction. That was a major factor in the lessening of his sentence.
If a common criminal is convicted of something, and loses his job because of it, should he not still have to sit out his prison sentence? Why should the fact that he lost his job be a reason to lessen his sentence?
Another dose of hutzpa from Omri Sharon was his claim that when he committed his crimes he was under duress because his mother was very sick. At the time, he entered politics because of "the great love he had for his father". He also used his father medical situation (being in a coma) as a plea for leniency...
3. Olmert, earlier in the day, when discussing the upcoming Sharm Summit, referred to the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip. he said, "It is difficult to watch what Hamas has done to its own people, but it was expected. We saw it coming."
So, if you saw it coming, why did we give them weapons, money, training, electricity and water? Why do we still offer them goodwill gestures, like releasing 250 prisoners? Releasing hundreds of millions of dollars in tax monies?
Does he not see it coming again?
Does he think that because Abbas escaped Gaza and retained control of the West Bank, that Hamas can't eventually take over there as well?
Does he not realize that everything he gives to the "moderate" Abbas, will soon fall into Hamas control?
4. Elchonon Tannenbaum - yes, him. The guy who went to Lebanon, supposedly to deal in drugs, was kidnapped, and eventually released back to Israel in a prisoner exchange.
Today Elchonon Tannenbaum was stripped of his army ranking of Officer and was demoted to private.
There are no ramifications of this, as supposedly he is not receiving any pensions from the army, but he is going to appeal the decision anyway. he is slighted and says he would give up everything else, and even be willing to stand trial and be punished for any crimes he committed (dealing drugs, etc..) but he insists on retaining his ranking.
This strengthens, in my mind, the original suspicions that the fact that he was a drug dealer was just a cover story. The suspicion was that he was a government rep at some level, possibly a Mossad agent. The whole story never made much sense, and this just adds to it.
5. Back to Omri Sharon: Jameel pointed out to me today another aspect of the court decision.. There was a minority opinion by Justice Caspi that Omri Sharon has suffered enough and should not sit in prison at all for his crimes. Caspi was of the opinion that public service should be enough of a punishment.
2 years ago, during and after the disengagement, Justice Caspi was very strict with anti-disengagement protesters. Caspi sentenced two teenagers who blocked a road during an anti-disengagement protest to two years in rpison, and refused any requests for leniency.
Is Caspi working for the Sharons? Is Caspi part of the Sharon network of officials who were forced to play along or lose their career?
Was Omri Sharon's crimes less serious than that of those two teenagers?
This is very hasty of Olmert. It is a reward for terror. Fatah has shown no signs of coming through on any promises ever made, and they hardly ever make promises anyway. I am not sure what Olmert thinks he will gain from this, unless he is looking to get support from Israel's "left wing" so he can survive politically, for just a little bit longer.
Another option I thought of is that this is part of a secret deal with the Palestinians. It could be that they agreed Hamas would release information about Shalit's condition and Olmert would release 250 prisoners. The only thing is neither side can admit to such a deal. That is why Hamas would blindside Israel with a surprise audio recording, and on the same day Olmert would announce his intentions to release 250 prisoners.
Not sure it is true, but is an idea I had. There are things that do not make sense with the theory, like Olmert said he will release Fatah prisoners, so why would Hamas agree to that? But maybe Hamas does not really care about those differences, because either way they still come out looking good (to their people)..
Maybe. Who knows? We probably never will..
2. Yesterday, Omri Sharon's sentence was lessened from 9 months in prison to 7 months in prison.
To remind you, he was convicted of fraud, election fraud and other nefarious activities related to manipulating the political system.
Omri and his attorney are not happy with today's decision to lessen his sentence. They think the jail time aspect of it should have been totally cancelled. They are considering a further appeal to the higher courts.
I find it funny that the judges take into consideration the fact that his political career is over and he was forced to resign as a result of the conviction. That was a major factor in the lessening of his sentence.
If a common criminal is convicted of something, and loses his job because of it, should he not still have to sit out his prison sentence? Why should the fact that he lost his job be a reason to lessen his sentence?
Another dose of hutzpa from Omri Sharon was his claim that when he committed his crimes he was under duress because his mother was very sick. At the time, he entered politics because of "the great love he had for his father". He also used his father medical situation (being in a coma) as a plea for leniency...
3. Olmert, earlier in the day, when discussing the upcoming Sharm Summit, referred to the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip. he said, "It is difficult to watch what Hamas has done to its own people, but it was expected. We saw it coming."
So, if you saw it coming, why did we give them weapons, money, training, electricity and water? Why do we still offer them goodwill gestures, like releasing 250 prisoners? Releasing hundreds of millions of dollars in tax monies?
Does he not see it coming again?
Does he think that because Abbas escaped Gaza and retained control of the West Bank, that Hamas can't eventually take over there as well?
Does he not realize that everything he gives to the "moderate" Abbas, will soon fall into Hamas control?
4. Elchonon Tannenbaum - yes, him. The guy who went to Lebanon, supposedly to deal in drugs, was kidnapped, and eventually released back to Israel in a prisoner exchange.
Today Elchonon Tannenbaum was stripped of his army ranking of Officer and was demoted to private.
There are no ramifications of this, as supposedly he is not receiving any pensions from the army, but he is going to appeal the decision anyway. he is slighted and says he would give up everything else, and even be willing to stand trial and be punished for any crimes he committed (dealing drugs, etc..) but he insists on retaining his ranking.
This strengthens, in my mind, the original suspicions that the fact that he was a drug dealer was just a cover story. The suspicion was that he was a government rep at some level, possibly a Mossad agent. The whole story never made much sense, and this just adds to it.
5. Back to Omri Sharon: Jameel pointed out to me today another aspect of the court decision.. There was a minority opinion by Justice Caspi that Omri Sharon has suffered enough and should not sit in prison at all for his crimes. Caspi was of the opinion that public service should be enough of a punishment.
2 years ago, during and after the disengagement, Justice Caspi was very strict with anti-disengagement protesters. Caspi sentenced two teenagers who blocked a road during an anti-disengagement protest to two years in rpison, and refused any requests for leniency.
Is Caspi working for the Sharons? Is Caspi part of the Sharon network of officials who were forced to play along or lose their career?
Was Omri Sharon's crimes less serious than that of those two teenagers?
Jun 25, 2007
get in your houses
There are two big events happening in Beit Shemesh right now.
There is a huge fire from Kibbutz Tzora, right next door to BS. As I passed it on the train a little while back, we could see the furniture factory burning down along with part of a field.
The plumes of smoke are humongous, blackening the sky over the whole Bet Shemesh.
The second event is the police have just begun driving around the neighborhood using their bullhorns to announce that everybody should get into their houses and close their doors and windows.
The last time they did that, a few years ago, it was because they were looking for a terrorist that was supposedly hiding in the area of Bet Shemesh. This time, I have not yet heard why. It might be because of that, or maybe they are concerned about the breathing intake of smoke. Or maybe they suspect some chemicals leaked during the fire.
Who knows? But if it is anything exciting, I will update you..
UPDATE - the local Hatzolah hotline is saying they are concerned the smoke might be toxic..
There is a huge fire from Kibbutz Tzora, right next door to BS. As I passed it on the train a little while back, we could see the furniture factory burning down along with part of a field.
The plumes of smoke are humongous, blackening the sky over the whole Bet Shemesh.
The second event is the police have just begun driving around the neighborhood using their bullhorns to announce that everybody should get into their houses and close their doors and windows.
The last time they did that, a few years ago, it was because they were looking for a terrorist that was supposedly hiding in the area of Bet Shemesh. This time, I have not yet heard why. It might be because of that, or maybe they are concerned about the breathing intake of smoke. Or maybe they suspect some chemicals leaked during the fire.
Who knows? But if it is anything exciting, I will update you..
UPDATE - the local Hatzolah hotline is saying they are concerned the smoke might be toxic..
A video of a recent chalitza
Someone just sent to me (thanks YG) this video of a chalitza that took place recently (supposedly). I was uncomfortable stealing the video considering all the Rabbis that are in it, so I am only linking to it instead of embedding it...
The video is just over an hour long, but much of the beginning is them setting up and getting ready and saying some Psalms. When it gets down to the mid 40's (minute marker), that is where the actual chalitza begins, though it is fairly slow.
The process looks very emotional. She has a hard time getting enough saliva to spit out, so they do that a few times..
The video is just over an hour long, but much of the beginning is them setting up and getting ready and saying some Psalms. When it gets down to the mid 40's (minute marker), that is where the actual chalitza begins, though it is fairly slow.
The process looks very emotional. She has a hard time getting enough saliva to spit out, so they do that a few times..
former NBA player in Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel's top basketball team, recently signed (former Chicago Bull) Marcus Fizer to a contract. Fizer spent last year playing in Spain, and will in the coming years, if he can stay out of trouble, play in Israel.
Fizer, in a "dis" to Tel Aviv, while claiming his colorful past is behind him, said, "in Israel I will do everything I can to live outside the Tel Aviv area, because quiet and peacefulness are very important to me."
Take that Tel Aviv! You are too busy for the likes of Marcus Fizer! You really must be "the city that doesn't sleep!"
Fizer, in a "dis" to Tel Aviv, while claiming his colorful past is behind him, said, "in Israel I will do everything I can to live outside the Tel Aviv area, because quiet and peacefulness are very important to me."
Take that Tel Aviv! You are too busy for the likes of Marcus Fizer! You really must be "the city that doesn't sleep!"
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