Quote Of The Day

There was a horrible tragedy in the north, when an entire family is wiped out and the entire country is focused on the one survivor, the little girl Rachel.  Rachel, the entire nation is with you. Rachel, the entire nation embraces you.

  -- PM Benjamin Netanyahu, regarding tragic car accident in which 8 family members were killed and only 7 year old Rachel survived after being thrown from the car

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New Jersey Woman Sues Orthodox Boss: Fired for Being 'Too Hot'

this video might be a bit racy.. the story seems strange. her being "too hot" seems like a great qualification for a lingerie shop...


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Gideon Saar At The Kotel On Yom Yerushalayim



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Maccabeats in Downtown Jerusalem

this is from last summers visit by the Maccabeats to Israel... I don't know how I miseed this video until now..
 

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Picture Of The Day

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In what led to a strange exchange, the Knesset committee for laws approved of a newly proposed law, allowing it to advance to the Knesset for the three readings it requires in order to pass.

There were 5 different proposed laws on the subject of the minimum age for marriage, and the committee decided to bundle them into one proposal. The proposal is that one cannot get married before completing his or her 18th year. According to the proposal, someone who does get married before he or she is 18, and the person who conducts the marriage ceremony, will be liable under criminal charges.

Currently, the law allows one to marry from age 17, and I think even from age 16 with parental consent for religious reasons (but I am not sure if this exception is part of the law).

The purpose of the law is to bring the Israeli law in line with Western societies in which the minimum age for marriage is 18. Marriage before that age often enough leads to abuse, poverty divorce, etc.

Shas obviously opposed the law, as it is fairly common, or common enough at least, among the religious and especially among the haredi community, to marry even younger than 18. MK Nissim Zeev attacked the proposal as being anti-religious in nature. Zeev said that when the Israeli youth are living in complete chaos and disorder and having sexual relations, so that is ok because they did not go to a rabbi to register, but when someone goes to register for marriage, k'dat moshe v'yisrael, then it is prohibited?

As a result, MK Nissim Zeev said that he is going to propose a new law of his own. His new law will make it illegal to engage in sexual relations outside of marriage. Zeev adds that the irresponsibility of Israeli youth, having relations outside of marriage, causes unwanted pregnancies, leads to abortions, and this has become a serious problem.

The left, led by MK Zahava Galon (Meretz) attacked Nissim Zeev and Shas for wanting to remain in the Middle Ages, both for opposing the original law and for Nissim Zeevs proposal.

I am all for protecting youth as much as possible, though Zeev does have a point asking why it is ok to have sexual relations but not marriage. By law it is already illegal to have sex prior to the age of 16. After 16 it is legal as long as it is consensual. Just because the hormones of teenagers are raging does not mean we have to allow them to do what they want. if it is backwards to get married before 18 and the girls must be protected, I see a certain amount of sense in saying that it is just as incumbent upon us to protect the youth from the ages of 16-18 from abusive relationships. It would go far in preventing the date rape situations as well as other situations where one side does not really want it but is under pressure. If we are protecting the kids, protect them all the way and change the law to say no sex below the age of 18.




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And the cost of living is about to get more expensive again. With the prices of electricity regularly increasing, with the cost of gas at just under it's all-time high, with the cost of many consumer items regularly increasing (perhaps due to sanctions on Iran), news like this is not something one wants to read.

The Ministry of Finance wants to, and is expected to receive approval fairly easily especially because it does not require approval from the Knesset, raise the VAT tax as of the beginning of July. While it currently sits at 16%, the Finance Ministry wants to raise it to 17% in order to add another 2 billion shekels to its coffers in advance of what looks like a weak forecast for next year. And it would add another 4 billion shekels in 2013.

In 2009 the VAT tax was increased from 15.5% to 16.5%, and then in 2010 it was lowered to 16%. It was supposed to be lowered further in 2011 back down to 15.5%, but it was not. And now they want to increase it up to 17%. As well, there might be other tax hikes as well, but the VAT increase is the easiest for them to approve. (source: TheMarker)

I guess if you are planning any big purchases, you might prefer to make them sooner rather than later.


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A Guest Post by Dr. Harold Goldmeier

Recently, a consultant from a Think Tank interviewed me. The consultant is working on a White Paper to identify and incorporate best practices into an immigration program for New York Mayor Bloomberg’s office.  An article I wrote on our experiences in Israel’s Ulpan program impressed her: a government funded, classroom experience, designed to teach newcomers in Israel to speak Hebrew. The number one barrier to successful immigration is lack of language fluency.  Job options are limited and schooling is near impossible; making friends, shopping, finding a bus, telling the doctor what hurts, and other daily tribulations of life are overwhelming.

The interview got me thinking about Israel’s appetence for immigration. Immigrating to Israel is known as “making aliyah.” Aliyah is Hebrew for going up, i.e., going up to Israel both physically and spiritually. It’s all in the ATTITUDE.  Israel wants new immigrants and expats to return.  She allocates huge sums in the national budget for outreach, programs, benefits, and services to encourage immigration.

 Israel has a Ministry of Immigrant Absorption that “offers updated information on all types of services (and their rights)…to both new immigrants and returning residents. Information is in Hebrew, English, Russian, Spanish, and French.”  An Absorption Basket of benefits and services begins upon arrival at the airport.  The NGO, Nefesh B’ Nefesh, established in 2002, contracts with the government to stimulate and manage immigration “Soul by soul…one person at a time.” They have brought in over 30,000 immigrants with a 97% rate of success.

Meanwhile, immigration policy discussions in other countries are dominated by nationalism, fear, and bigotry; their aversion is palpable.  America’s Homeland Security agencies handle immigration telling applicants, “Not so fast, buddy.” Even before the economy hit dirt, immigration reform was a killer issue for political careers spurred by radio hosts who rave against.  Migrants know they are going to have long waits, and will need to pay lawyers to fight for them. One U.S. immigration lawyer told me, “coming to the U.S. is a process: visas, Green Cards, work permits, naturalization, etc.” The immigrant to the U.S. is given a basket of laws, rules and regulations and is on his own relative to absorption, except for the goods works of non-profit organizations that operate independently on meager budgets.

The consultant who interviewed me wanted to know how we planned our aliyah. We started thinking about it a few years before, when we sold our family business.  At that time we had one married child living in Israel for nearly two decades.  After we sold our business, a second married son made aliyah. Though we kept active our lifestyle changed as we entered semi-retirement.

As we began to think more seriously about moving to Israel, we met in America with representatives of Israel’s Jewish Agency and Nefesh B’ Nefesh. We talked about the move—packing our house, finding a place to live, work, medical care, living expenses, language barriers, and the psychological impact of leaving our beloved U.S. where we lived in freedom and relative luxury all our lives; leaving our friends, family, our other four children and grandchildren behind in America.

Before we made our final decision we took Ulpan, Hebrew language classes, once a week for a year. The classes were ten minutes from our house and organized by the Jewish Agency We attended NBN gatherings to explore our reasons and socialize with other committed and potential immigrants.  Once we made the decision to move the detail work began.  A pilot trip to Israel was set to explore housing, communities, and if needed schools, employment, talks with doctors, and anything else. There were numerous meetings with the JA and NBN staff in America to process paperwork like health forms, passport pictures, financial aid, and entry visas.

We flew to Israel with forty other Americans making aliyah.  Charter flights are filled only with passengers making aliyah, but we went off-season in the middle of the school year.  The JA paid for our one-way ticket to Israel.  When we arrived at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport our group was taken to a large lounge area; they gave us telephones to call relatives and friends, real food, places to wash up, and then we met privately with counselors from NBN and JA.

We were each handed our Israeli identification card that includes a picture, our I.D number, which is like a U.S. Social Security number but used more often—even to retrieve a package at the Post Office, and other personal information. We were signed up with one of the national health insurance providers; all Israelis receive low cost health care coverage.  Everyone was given an envelope with Israeli shekels—my wife and I received 2,500 shekels, because no one should leave the airport with out money in their pocket.  How you going to buy toilet paper for your apartment, a Coke, toothpaste? A small stipend is also deposited every month for six months or a year directly into your bank account. Finally, each of us was given a free ride from the airport to wherever we were going in the country in a vehicle large enough to carry our six pieces of luggage.

It’s all about the attitude toward the new immigrant.  Make the system as wrinkle-free as possible.  Many staff we met through NBN had gone through this process before us, and their cumulative recommendations and complaints helped create the experience my wife and I share.  My wife keeps reminding me we promised not to take the small things seriously, but to smile and laugh. The immigrant’s attitude is also critical to a successful aliyah. The best gift from NBN is the counselor assigned to help us.  She gave us her email, cell, home and office phone numbers, to ask any questions about any subject.  She even returns emails when out of the country on NBN business. She is a lifeline in a sometimes-rocky sea.

We have a fourteen-point checklist from NBN.  Some items were taken care of in America or on the airplane. Others need more time like converting a foreign driver’s license to an Israeli one, getting diploma accreditation from American universities recognized in Israel to enroll in school or to teach. The checklist also includes information on buying appliances for your home, discounts on purchases as an immigrant, discounts on property taxes, and rent subsidies; getting your shipment of household and personal items released from customs and delivered from the dock. Item ten has to do with registering children in school, and what to expect; enrolling in social security, and paying property taxes.  After three months in Israel, we got an email from NBN reminding us about to-do 14, and go to a government office and register for temporary travel documents allowing us to go abroad for visits without interruption to our benefits package.  A year after immigration we will receive our official passport.  There is a lot to do when you move to a different country.

One day, my wife and I travelled to two different government offices in a nearby city to register for certain benefit programs. We checked online for office hours and locations.  We arrived at the first location, but it was closed on the day we went.  We walked to the other agency; entering a large empty waiting room with chairs lining the walls, I explained in pigeon Hebrew, our intent to the guard at the door.  The guard walks to his desk, puts on his security uniform jacket, presses a button, and hands me ticket number one.  I look around the empty room and ask who is number two? Not funny. He sends me to a clerk who speaks perfect English, but she only takes customer number two. She sends me to a colleague who speaks no English.  After ten frustrating minutes trying to explain why we came to him, my wife leans back in her chair, smiles, and says the magic words to him: “Olim Chadashim,”- New Immigrants.  He jumps from his chair with a broad smile on his face, extends his arms, and loudly proclaims, “Bruchim Habaiim,” -blessings and welcome.  He then realized why we were in his office, and quickly registered us with our I.D. numbers in his computer.  We spent the next fifteen minutes explaining when we arrived, why we came to Israel, about our children here, and discussing Jewish geography.

It’s all in the attitude: the government’s, native Israelis’, and our own.



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If you disagree with the settlements, why are you not more vocal against them?

interesting..


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Miriam Ungar on CNN talking about her husband Jacob Ostreicher in Prison in Bolivia

I don't know anything about them, but I do wonder why she and her husband have different last names...




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Mechinat Yeud's "I Gotta Feeling" Lip Dub



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Interesting Posts #383

1.  The Asifa was sure to create a situation in which some people thought positively of the event, while others thought negatively. To me it looks like nothing has changed, the ban is still a ban, and olam k'minhago noheig. Anyway, here are a few good posts, with different perspectives...

• I was fooled
• Klal Yisrael Steps Up To The Plate
• Funniest Tweets From CitiField
• Why Didnt They Break Their Computers, Like They Burned Their Wigs? (Hebrew)

2. Olmert tries to burst Jerusalem balloon

3. The Story of Jerusalem's Reunification

4. Rav Shteinman's Speech




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The news sites are quoting Rav Shteinman out of context from his speech last week in Bet Shemesh about the importance of Torah learning and whipping up a frenzy over a quote from within. Rav Shteinman did actually say what he is being quoted as having said, but I still felt that putting it back into context would do the statement a little bit of justice. I too was surprised when I read it, even in context, but I don't think it was meant the way it was quoted - that was not the point of what he was saying.

I am translating from a long text, so I might skip less interesting parts.. If I skip, it will be noted with a [...].

To preface it with one more thought, I found the point Rav Shteinman was making to be fairly clear, but once again Rav Shteinman said what he wanted to without saying it explicitly. He seems to prefer to leave his words with a bit of ambiguity, leaving it open to the listeners interpretation, to a certain extent.

And one more point, I find his point to be very strange. He seems to be thinking that the choices being considered are between either yeshiva [ketana] or public school with no torah learning. From his words, the way he encourages the learning of torah and sending boys to yeshiva, sounds, to me, like he thinks the other option is public school with no torah rather than a yeshiva with a little bit of secular studies (or limudei chochma, a term I like that was recently posted in the comments here)..

Anyways, here is the speech by Rav Shteinman. Mistakes in translation are mine alone:

Morai V'Rabosai. You know that Hashem created the world, as it says breishis bara elokim.. and Rashi says right there that it was created for the Torah that is called "reishis", and for the Jews who are called "reishis". This means that the entire purpose of the creation is only for torah and for the Jewish nation. And after that at the time of the giving of the torah  it says in the gemara that Hashem said if Israel will accept the torah, good, but if not there will be its burial place. Meaning, the entire creation was just for the Torah.
Really we see all the earlier generations until the giving of the torah, the generations that did not yet have the torah, were very not good. First of all in the 3rd generation of creation by Enosh they already began worshiping idols. Immediately! The third generation they already thought about idol worship!
Comes along the sea and wipes out a third of the world. Today the world isn't so big, a third is covered by the sea, only a small amount of dry land is left. People dont live in the sea, people live on dry land, and the dry land was minimized by a third. Why? because they sinned with idol worship. As well, all the generations after that, until the Flood came along and covered the entire world. There is an argument if the Flood was also in the land of Israel or not, but the rest of the world was wiped out - man, animals, and many inanimate objects. Everything was wiped out. Why? because they didnt behave the way Hashem wanted.
After the flood one could think everything is ok. No! Even after the flood there was Sodom and Gemorrah, Admah and Tzvoyim, and it says in Yechezkal that this was the sin of Sodom that they didnt support the poor. And for that Hashem overturned Sodom. We see all the generations were not good.
Until Avraham came along and changed things, first against the idols, all the getchkes - the idols, the entire world was full of idols, and Nimrod was the kind in that country commanded the throw Avraham into the furnace. The furnace was burning hot that even the people that wanted to throw him in got burned up even though they didnt go in. But Avraham lived, as Hashem did a miracle for him. And why was there a miracle?Because he gave himself up for Hashem, and even though Nimrod the wicked one commanded to throw him in the fire, hashem saved him. But the main thing is that he was the epitome of chessed- just like they did not support the poor, Avraham was the exact opposite and could not live without chessed. And after he was circumcised, at 99 years old he circumcised himself, on the third day after, Hashem did not want to bother him with guests...
[...]
The purpose of creation is for the torah! As long as there was no Torah, there were all sorts of no good things, until Avraham came. From Avraham began the spark of what began the Torah, Avraham then Yitzchak and Yaakov, Yosef and the Tribes. but without torah the world could not exist. And it was a great chessed that 26 generations until the torah was given, in the merit of chessed, because they waited for the torah. But without torah there is no world! So the purpose of the world, one must know, is the torah.
And today they say there are 8 billion people in the world. And what are they all? murderers and thieves, people without seichel .. but for whom is the purpose of the world? did Hashem create it for these murderers, for those evil people? Only for the tzadikim, those who learn torah, people who learn and keep torah. that is the purpose of the creation.
Hashem is satisfied with a little bit. Even put up against the 8 billion people is just a little bit of torah - first of all, only Jews learn torah, and even among the jews we have not merited that all the Jews will learn torah. But, baruch hashem there is a portion that learns torah, and fulfills the torah and Hashem is satisfied with that little bit. [...]
If so, a person needs to know if he wants to continue the generations he has to continue only through torah. Without torah, there is no continuation. God forbid, the countries with no torah, oy vavoy, the generations that assimilated with the gentiles, only torah survives and in that we have to strengthen ourselves.
I saw in the name of the Chafetz Chaim that he says, a person invests many years of his life to acquire a trade or position. Why does he do it for so many years? Because he wants to be able to support himself for his entire life. How long does a person live? 70, 80, 90 years. 100 years! Who already lives 100 years, maybe one or two or three people. Who lives so long? And that is it. and for that one has to give so many years in order to live, and without that it is impossible. If so, how much one must do for the everlasting (the torah)! A person does not need to live just 100 years.. he can live for eternity! The life of a person is not here in this world... in order to live everlasting life a person has to work his entire life to create the everlasting life, and what is the everlasting life? torah and mitzvos, and nothing else. From learning math and from geography one does not achieve everlasting life, only from torah and chessed. and that everyone needs to know.
The Chayei Adam writes in one of his books that when he was young the parents did not think about what the child would be later, from what he would earn his living. They only thought about the torah. So the Chayei Adam writes. And today everyone thinks about what will be, and thinks that only by learning other things will he later have parnassa, and without it there will not be parnassa, and how does the father himself have parnassa, even without having learned it? The answer is that Hashem gives everyone his sustenance, you just need a little bitachon.
Bu tone must know the main thing, for which bitachon does not help - to be a talmid chacham bitachon is irrelevant. One cannot just have bitachon and become a talmid chacham. If he does not learn torah, he will not be a talmid chacham. One who does not learn torah, will not do the mitzvos.  and if he does not learn torah, that is a destruction, a destruction of him and of the world! And for that we must try to achieve, to see all our kids, all our generations, to  bring the son in to learn torah, and then he will be happy. The fortune is not other things, only torah and chessed. Also chessed must be done, but torah is the main thing.
Hashem will help that everyone who wants to see nachas from his kids, will see them learn torah. without torah the son will be an ignoramus and he also wont get nachas from him! Even if he has money, is that the purpose? Money! can you take money to the grave? There is no such thing! What si there in the grave? torah, torah and mitzvos are there, and that is what a person must be concerned about. The main thing iif one wants to worry about his children that they should not have bad, he should see that they should learn torah and then he will have good... otherwise..
And with parnassa Hashem helps. Most of the time the richest people specifically are not people of such great education. Why? because that is not the main thing. It depends on Hashem supporting all His creations. The mian thing si that a Jew should learn torah...Klal Yisrael are connected to the roah. The gentiles have no connection to the torah. the nations of the world dont have anything, not security, not good deeds, and whatever klal yisrael has is only with the torah.
[...]

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I went this morning with a group going to Har HaBayi. the group was officially put together as the culmination of daf yomi having recently learned the tractates involved with the measurements and layout of the mikdash. The group was from Bet Shemesh, but not on the normal Bet Shemesh day (7th of every Hebrew month).

When we got to the entrance, it was already packed with tourists. Of course, we religious Jews get to go in a separate line with unique rules and directions. After checking our identity cards, something that is technically no longer done but was done today as a result of some "trouble" they had yesterday with a group (MK Ben-Ari's group), and only disqualifying one person from ascending, we were on our way.

The police combined us with another group - a group from Tekoa. There were some first-timers in the group, and that group was mostly older women, and the "guides" needed to say everything in both Hebrew and English, so we were moving pretty slowly, and the info was mostly basic. On the one hand that gave us plenty of time for prayer. On the other hand, it was a bit too slow.

The trip was mostly uneventful. One of the Tekoa ladies got told off for trying to take a rock as a souvenir.Eventually, as we moved the eastern side to the northern side, by Shaar Rachamim, we split off from the other group, an act which needed special permission from the police officers following us, including head counts, so we could finish quicker. The guides, both Baruch Ben-Yosef and Yoel Keren from Maaleh Adumim, were very knowledgeable and interesting.

While I did not get to do "hishtachavaya" this time, as the police and the Waqf officials kept very close eyes on us, there was at least plenty of time for [silent] prayer. Despite their ridiculous rule of not allowing prayer books up, rendered completely pointless in the age of smartphones with both siddurim on them along with internet access that can load any prayer from any source in a matter of seconds, I was able to download the tefillah of the Shlah and say it while they probably thought I was taking pictures or sending a text message or whatever.

Because I have been up on Har HaBayit so many times, and the place does not really change, I only took a few pictures...

The local daf yomi group

And, seemingly by chance, when leaving the Old City, we bumped into the Kalover Rebbe of Williamsburg  (a cousin of the Kaliver Rebbe of Jerusalem as explained in this Wikipedia entry). He and his entourage chatted with us for a few moments and then he gave us a bracha as we parted ways..


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Today is the day of the segulah that is probably the most popular in terms of sending out email reminders. The only one that comes close to today's segulah is probably the segulah of "Parshat Ha'Mon"  for parnossa that is said on the Tuesday of Parshat B'Shalach. Today's segulah, I think tops that and is, by my count, the top segulah in the sense of how many email reminders and postings (such as this one) that are sent out.

Today's segulah is to say the prayer written by the Shlah Hakadosh for parents on behalf of their children. The segulah is to say this prayer on erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan. I actually said the tefillat ha'Shlah today while on Har HaBayit - while one cannot bring prayer books up on Har HaBayit, cellphones are allowed, and I was able to access the "Tefillat HaShlah" easily with an Internet connection. Yes, there is reception on Har HaBayit. Take that, Asifa people!

I think that this segulah is such a popular one, with so many email reminders being sent out, postings in shuls, on websites, downloads, announcements, etc. just shows how concerned we all are for our children. I hope it is not indicative that so many of us are having trouble raising our children on the path of Torah, rather we are concerned and aware that we can always do better and ask for that help and guidance.

access the tefillah of the Shlah

I just want to point out that while it is popular to say the prayer as it was composed by the Shlah, there is more to his instructions than just saying the prayer. The Shlah wrote:

One should daven a lot that he should have children who are kosher, and all their needs and finding their soulmate should be from Hashem, and my heart tells me that the special time for this is on erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan. That is the month in which the Torah was given and that is when we were called "children of Hashem". It is appropriate to sit in fast on that day, both he and his wife, and arouse themselves to repentance and they should mend all the issues in the house that need mending - kashrus, impurity, etc. and they should give charity to proper poor people. And if possible, the husband should fast a "Taanis Hafsaka", but at least the fast should be a full fast with all the rules of a public fast day.

(Note: a taanis hafsaka is a 6 day fast beginning on Saturday night immediately after Shabbos has concluded and continuing until the following Friday night)






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Ariel Meets His "Gift of Life" Recipient, Marilyn. Hosted by Mayim Bialik

This is a very powerful video and experience..





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