Feb 2, 2015
The lost phone, Baruch Marzel and a Palestinian Arab
INN has a great story about Baruch Marzel's daughter, an Arab, and a lost phone
From INN:
From INN:
With the entry of Hevron loyalist and activist Baruch Marzel into the Knesset election race, a story of his "correct" relations with his Arab neighbors in Hevron has been making the rounds.I've always liked and admired Baruch Marzel, even though I am not nearly as extreme in my views as he is. Far from it. But I like him, I like that he has his stance and sticks by it, I like his strong approach. And maybe it helps that I once had Shabbos lunch as a guest at his table in Hebron.
Marzel's daughter Racheli, 16 years old at the time of the story, had lost her cell phone. As is customary, she dialed the number to see if it would be answered, and possibly the phone could be recovered.
In this case, however, an Arab man answered the line, and explained that he would be glad to return the phone – for a payment of 1,000 shekels (over $250). The young owner, who grew up in a house where "fear of Arabs" was not readily tolerated, reportedly shot back, "I wouldn't give you money even if you cleaned my house for a month!"
She then added the kicker: "I'll just let my father, Baruch Marzel, take care of this."
At this point, the "finder" changed his tune. Though Racheli had hung up, he called her back several times, offering to return the phone free of charge. "I don't want any trouble with Marzel," he reportedly said. "He's like your Sheikh. I don't want any money, I'll return the phone to where I found it, just take it! I don't want a curse on me!"
Young Ms. Marzel was not impressed, and hung up.
Finally, in desperation, the Arab brought the phone in person to the Hevron police station, saying he had found it. The police were so surprised – they later said that it had never happened before that an Arab had returned a lost phone – that they suspected that the phone had been booby-trapped – and they detonated it in a controlled explosion. No explosives had been placed in the phone.
Baruch Marzel himself had a simple explanation for what happened: "This just shows that the Arabs of Hevron respect those who stand up for themselves, and they scorn those who are weak. We in Hevron live amongst a large Arab majority without fences and without protection – the Arabs respect our strong stand, but look down on the leftists who come to pander to them."
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wacky Letter to the Editor: redefining "Haredi"
Here is an awesome Letter to the editor that was in this past week's Mishpacha magazine (Hebrew):
The letter is referencing some articles recently in the magazine. Specifically, a couple of weeks ago they described a situation of married children going to their parents houses and "stealing" things from the house, cleaning out the pantry, etc. The second article referenced is one that described the need to properly prepare spiritually before joining the workforce.
The letter reads (my translation):
I want with my letter to connect between two articles you published in the previous edition of the magazine. The interview with the lawyer Gottlieb and the article with the solutions for the sorry phenomenon of children taking and taking from their parents without them putting an end to it. The breaking point of the solution for the problem of the children can be found in the second article, in which Gottlieb testifies to the spiritual danger awaiting people who are about to go out and on the workforce without being properly prepared. Meaning, the poverty would be perpetuated, as well as the becoming a burden on the parents.
This paradox has raised many thoughts, and we even raised it in a thought group I participated in, and I want to share with the readers the conclusions we arrived at.
In my opinion, in the reality of life today each individual and every family must make a decision about their personal identity. I will explain: it is very clear that the desires of the world and of life according to the norms are not options for one who chooses a Haredi lifestyle. If previously we lived a life of "also this and also that", there was also parnassa (due to payments and subsidies of sorts) and it was also possible to safeguard the strict definition of "harediyut", those days are long gone. Today someone who wants to be completely Haredi, like it once was, cannot want to also integrate into the general world, cannot be integrated into the discussion that sees parents and children living from one account as a negative thing.
Yes! The Haredi children take form their parents! yes, it is difficult for the parents! But if it is done by choice because they want that "harediyut" life, as it once was, that is the price they have to pay today!
What can you do: the price that needs to be paid today for the product that is called "to be Haredi" is much higher today. Somebody who that doesn't work for him, somebody who has a different definition of harediyut, somebody who is willing to buy a different "product" - can talk about integration. But, that is not the same harediyut as that of those who by choice prefer a world in which the parents are crashing economically because their children are completely dedicated to Torah.
It should be noted that this analysis is not a statement of what is good or bad, it is just a statement of the facts.
Wow! In order to be haredi today, one must embrace the lifestyle of children forever living off their parents.If you think any differently, you cannot be Haredi. This is definitely a new definition of Haredi.
This is one of the wackiest "Letters to the Editor" I have seen in a while...
The letter is referencing some articles recently in the magazine. Specifically, a couple of weeks ago they described a situation of married children going to their parents houses and "stealing" things from the house, cleaning out the pantry, etc. The second article referenced is one that described the need to properly prepare spiritually before joining the workforce.
The letter reads (my translation):
I want with my letter to connect between two articles you published in the previous edition of the magazine. The interview with the lawyer Gottlieb and the article with the solutions for the sorry phenomenon of children taking and taking from their parents without them putting an end to it. The breaking point of the solution for the problem of the children can be found in the second article, in which Gottlieb testifies to the spiritual danger awaiting people who are about to go out and on the workforce without being properly prepared. Meaning, the poverty would be perpetuated, as well as the becoming a burden on the parents.
This paradox has raised many thoughts, and we even raised it in a thought group I participated in, and I want to share with the readers the conclusions we arrived at.
In my opinion, in the reality of life today each individual and every family must make a decision about their personal identity. I will explain: it is very clear that the desires of the world and of life according to the norms are not options for one who chooses a Haredi lifestyle. If previously we lived a life of "also this and also that", there was also parnassa (due to payments and subsidies of sorts) and it was also possible to safeguard the strict definition of "harediyut", those days are long gone. Today someone who wants to be completely Haredi, like it once was, cannot want to also integrate into the general world, cannot be integrated into the discussion that sees parents and children living from one account as a negative thing.
Yes! The Haredi children take form their parents! yes, it is difficult for the parents! But if it is done by choice because they want that "harediyut" life, as it once was, that is the price they have to pay today!
What can you do: the price that needs to be paid today for the product that is called "to be Haredi" is much higher today. Somebody who that doesn't work for him, somebody who has a different definition of harediyut, somebody who is willing to buy a different "product" - can talk about integration. But, that is not the same harediyut as that of those who by choice prefer a world in which the parents are crashing economically because their children are completely dedicated to Torah.
It should be noted that this analysis is not a statement of what is good or bad, it is just a statement of the facts.
Wow! In order to be haredi today, one must embrace the lifestyle of children forever living off their parents.If you think any differently, you cannot be Haredi. This is definitely a new definition of Haredi.
This is one of the wackiest "Letters to the Editor" I have seen in a while...
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Women Wear Hijabs For A Day (video)
this is an interesting project, but that is not what is most interesting to me about this clip...
Edina Lekovic, the director of the program, has a Jewish sounding name, she looks Jewish in her appearance, she seems Jewish, but she talks Muslim... she looks like she could have been a Bais Yaakov graduate...
Edina Lekovic, the director of the program, has a Jewish sounding name, she looks Jewish in her appearance, she seems Jewish, but she talks Muslim... she looks like she could have been a Bais Yaakov graduate...
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Bennet thanks Livni for joining the Habayit Hayehudi approach (video)
as Livni leaves the stage and Bennet gets on the stage, Bennet thanks Livni for changing her opinion recently by saying the Golan is not negotiable, considering she had earlier negotiated its status. Livni did not like it, and comes back to face Bennet.
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Nissim Zeev: it is hard to like Aryeh Deri (video)
interesting how he stays faithful to the party despite being thrown out, though he is not happy with Aryeh Deri. The whole interview gave me a sad feeling about him.
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A Bissel of Technology (video)
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The Next Voice in Jewish Music (video)
a new reality show for frum singers, in the style of A Star is Born and the like...
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Feb 1, 2015
Rabbi Gold's alternative editorial in Hamodia
Please enjoy the following correspondence between Rabbi Shalom Gold and the Hamodia newspaper.
Rabbi Gold wrote to the Hamodia newspaper after reading the following article.
before I post the letter from Rabbi Gold, I will just point out that on Shabbos when I read this editorial in Hamodia I was disgusted and felt it was very inappropriate.
Here is Rabbi Gold's letter to the editor:
To their credit, while Hamodia said they would not publish this letter, they did write back to Rabbi Gold with a response:
Rabbi Gold wrote to the Hamodia newspaper after reading the following article.
before I post the letter from Rabbi Gold, I will just point out that on Shabbos when I read this editorial in Hamodia I was disgusted and felt it was very inappropriate.
Here is Rabbi Gold's letter to the editor:
To the Editors of Hamodia
Your vicious and wholly unjustified editorial attack on Binyamin
Netanyahu (2 Shevat 5775 – 22 January 2015) sounded like something that would
be more appropriate for Haaretz or worse. I wonder if your rabbinic
board approved that transparent premeditated assault on the Prime Minister. How
can any religious Jew find fault with a call to French Jews to fulfill the
mitzvah of Yishuv Haaretz? You profaned the memories of the Kedoshim of Har Nof
by suggesting that Eretz Yisroel, France and any other place in the world are
identical.
In 1956 when I was learning in Ponovez, American citizens were
notified by the embassy that the Sixth Fleet would be arriving in Haifa to
evacuate anyone who wanted to leave. There were many terrorist attacks that
year by Fedayeen that infiltrated from Egyptian-held Gaza. This would later
culminate with the Sinai Campaign.
We asked the Mashgiach, Rav Yechezkel Levenstein what we should do.
He replied that he didn't know but stated unequivocally: "If the Chazon
Ish would be alive (he had passed away in 1953) he would definitely tell you to
stay in Eretz Yisroel." I'm quite certain he would not have said the same
about France.
The final paragraph of the editorial states:
Whether or not to leave France at
this time is a decision for each individual Jew in France to make. But for an
Israeli Prime Minister to issue such a call is wrong and highly
counterproductive. Netanyahu would do well by keeping his thoughts – and his
hands – to himself.
Fascinatingly enough, in the Jerusalem Post Magazine, page 37,
there is an article entitled "Aliya: A matter of choice" by Reuven
Hammer, who is not orthodox, that makes precisely the same points as your frum
editorial writer. Here are some Reuven Hammer selections:
It must also be admitted that there
is something ingenuous about telling people to come to Israel because they will
be safe here – when we have all seen that there is no less terror here than in
France. How many Jews have been killed in France over the past year or two by
Islamist terrorists, and how many were killed here?
We cannot ignore the recent
slaughter in a Jerusalem synagogue, the three yeshiva students who were
murdered and the various incidents involving Palestinian vehicles that ran over
residents in the capital this year. And it was not that long ago that so many
were killed by suicide bombers in buses and elsewhere; I did not feel very
secure then. Nor can we simply forget the rockets that rained down last summer.
Unfortunately, safety cannot be
guaranteed here, just as it cannot be guaranteed in Paris, London or New York.
Should Jews from France come here on
aliya? As a dedicated Zionist who left the comfort of the US to make aliya,
obviously I cannot be opposed to that. But on the other hand, I believe that
aliya should be a matter of personal choice – something done because one wishes
to be part of a Jewish state, to live where Jews are a majority and participate
in the renewal of Jewish sovereignty after 2,000 years.
On the page before in the Jerusalem Post, there is an article by
Rabbi Stewart Weiss, orthodox rabbi and good friend. Here are some selections.
He writes like a frummer Yid:
Perhaps most shocking of all – I
almost lost my lunch when I saw this, on international TV, yet! – was the
statement by certain European rabbinic "leaders" urging Jews not to
make any "rash" decisions. When asked by a CNN interviewer, "Are
you advising the Jewish population here to leave for Israel?" the rabbi
replied, with a straight face, "I am asking the Jews of France to remain
where they are and to build up our community.
Stewart Weiss
continues:
I close my eyes, the I hear the same
tragic statements being uttered in the Berlin of 1934, the Warsaw of 1941 and
the Budapest of 1943. "Just calm down, stay here and don't worry; it will
all be all right."
Have we learned nothing?!
Now no one suggests that life in
Israel is risk-free. We have our own unique set of problems, and face our own
dangers. But there is a major difference between Europe and Israel: We are
going in opposite directions.
Imagine two triangles: one standing
on its base; the other above it, inverted. The bottom triangle is Europe; if it
ever was a decent place for Jews to live, its hope and hospitality is rapidly
shrinking, and no amount of wishful thinking or misdirected Jewish money will
resurrect it. As Islam spreads its net over Europe, things will only get worse,
and Jews will be the first victims.
Israel, on the other hand, may have
begun as a tiny, beleaguered outpost in the desert, but it has grown
exponentially into a dynamic, thriving oasis of Jewish life and learning that
embodies the collective answer to billions of prayers over thousands of Years.
Our best years are still ahead of us.
Dear brothers and sisters of Europe:
Ignore the false prophets – Jewish a non – and gather up your courage, your
belongings and your families, and come to Israel. Granted, it will not be easy
leaving behind the grand sites of the continent.
But your return to your one, true
home, your native land, will be – for you and for us – the
greatest Arc de Triomphe.
Shame on you Hamodia. You sound precisely like Reuven Hammer but
really good Jews should write like Stewart Weiss.
One final point. The editorial left me with the distinct impression
that if Netanyahu had not gone to Paris the editorial would have sounded just
like this:
"World leaders gathered in
Paris to demonstrate against terrorism. The Prime Ministers of Mali, Bali,
Ruanda and Lower Slobovia marched hand in hand but there was no sighting of
Israel's Prime Minister. Doesn't he know that Paris' Jews were brutally killed
while buying challahs on Erev Shabbos? He is an embarrassment to Jews
worldwide. Abbas laid a wreath at the kosher grocery store, Holland spoke in
the Great Synagogue – yet not a sign of Netanyahu. He should have been there in
the front row. Well, he was most probably at home filming another infantile
video for his reelection campaign and had no time for the Jewish people."
End of imaginary editorial.
I suggest that Hamodia should apologize for that ugly editorial, or
was it maybe motivated by dirty politics?
Painfully,
Rabbi Sholom Gold,
Har Nof
To their credit, while Hamodia said they would not publish this letter, they did write back to Rabbi Gold with a response:
Dear Rabbi Gold,
Thank you for sharing your opinion on our editorial. The intention and purpose of the editorial was obviously to correct the exploitation of events by comments that may further inflame anti- Semitic sentiments. Prime Minister Netanyahu should have taken this in consideration. In fact, the people in the Bais Haknesses immediately reacted to Mr. Netanyahu comments by singing the Marseillaise - precisely for this reason.
Thank you again for giving attention to this important matter.
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The Likud vs V15
The Likud is making a big deal about this V15 - the group of campaign advisers from the US that came to assist in the "Just Not Bibi" campaign. Corrupt, illegal, and immoral are some of the words being thrown about to describe the V15 involvement.
I don't know the details of the laws related to foreign funding or foreign involvement in party campaigns, so I do not know the nuances of how they play the legal issues. I won't comment on "illegal".
Unless there is something clearly illegal going on though, I don't see why the Likud is making such a big deal of this. The Likud has hired foreign advisers in the past, as have other parties. Maybe it is worthy of debate whether it is moral or right to involve foreigners in our local elections. Maybe the public should speak out and say we don't want to be influenced by foreigners with perhaps ulterior motives or concerns other than our best interests at heart.
Parties that fund-raise abroad and hire foreign advisers and consultants should not be criticizing other parties that do the same.
I don't know the details of the laws related to foreign funding or foreign involvement in party campaigns, so I do not know the nuances of how they play the legal issues. I won't comment on "illegal".
Unless there is something clearly illegal going on though, I don't see why the Likud is making such a big deal of this. The Likud has hired foreign advisers in the past, as have other parties. Maybe it is worthy of debate whether it is moral or right to involve foreigners in our local elections. Maybe the public should speak out and say we don't want to be influenced by foreigners with perhaps ulterior motives or concerns other than our best interests at heart.
Parties that fund-raise abroad and hire foreign advisers and consultants should not be criticizing other parties that do the same.
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Book Review: The Elephant in the Room
NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.
Book Review: The Elephant in the Room, by Ron Yitzchok Eisenman
When I first picked up The Elephant in the Room, by Rabbi Ron Yutzchok Eisenman, published by Mosaica Press, I was just expecting an easy and enjoyable read. I happen to love these types of books - anecdotes and stories that are told firsthand by people who are in central positions that see and experience so much.
The Elephant in the Room is more than that. It is more than just a light and an easy read.
I had not heard of Ron Eisenman before, though in the bio of him in the book it says thousands of readers around the world read his daily emails, and he is a popular columnist for Mishpacha Magazine. I don't read Mishpacha in English, so I was not familiar with him, though it turns out I know some of his mishpacha in RBS. However, after reading the Elephant in the Room I see why thousands would read his emails and columns.
Rabbi Eisenman writes with passion and with heart. Eisenman is a brilliant story-teller.
The Elephant in the Room is a book of stories and anecdotes. Ron Eisenman was involved, somehow, in all of them, so it is not just a story-book. It is the musings of the story-teller, the recounting of events, his thoughts, his approach and reaction to incidents and events.
The Elephant in the Room has stories and thoughts that will make you think, stories that will make you cry, stories that will make you smile or grimace, laugh or chuckle. The Elephant in the Room is more than just stories and anecdotes.
The Elephant in the Room is the thoughts of a person who plays a central role in communal life. As a community rabbi, Rabbi Ron Yitzchok Eisenman surely sees a lot and is involved in a lot. This, like many in similar positions, is a person who sees and experiences so much, as he is involved in the lives of so many people. When such a person also has the ability to be thoughtful and expressive, and then to be able to put that onto paper in a way that draws the reader in and makes him think and emote, that person can write a great book.
buy The Elephant in the Room on Amazon.com
NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.
Book Review: The Elephant in the Room, by Ron Yitzchok Eisenman
When I first picked up The Elephant in the Room, by Rabbi Ron Yutzchok Eisenman, published by Mosaica Press, I was just expecting an easy and enjoyable read. I happen to love these types of books - anecdotes and stories that are told firsthand by people who are in central positions that see and experience so much.
 |
| The Elephant in the Room |
The Elephant in the Room is more than that. It is more than just a light and an easy read.
I had not heard of Ron Eisenman before, though in the bio of him in the book it says thousands of readers around the world read his daily emails, and he is a popular columnist for Mishpacha Magazine. I don't read Mishpacha in English, so I was not familiar with him, though it turns out I know some of his mishpacha in RBS. However, after reading the Elephant in the Room I see why thousands would read his emails and columns.
Rabbi Eisenman writes with passion and with heart. Eisenman is a brilliant story-teller.
The Elephant in the Room is a book of stories and anecdotes. Ron Eisenman was involved, somehow, in all of them, so it is not just a story-book. It is the musings of the story-teller, the recounting of events, his thoughts, his approach and reaction to incidents and events.
The Elephant in the Room has stories and thoughts that will make you think, stories that will make you cry, stories that will make you smile or grimace, laugh or chuckle. The Elephant in the Room is more than just stories and anecdotes.
The Elephant in the Room is the thoughts of a person who plays a central role in communal life. As a community rabbi, Rabbi Ron Yitzchok Eisenman surely sees a lot and is involved in a lot. This, like many in similar positions, is a person who sees and experiences so much, as he is involved in the lives of so many people. When such a person also has the ability to be thoughtful and expressive, and then to be able to put that onto paper in a way that draws the reader in and makes him think and emote, that person can write a great book.
buy The Elephant in the Room on Amazon.com
NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.
------------------------------------------------------
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Moshe Gafni as next Minister of Finance?
The Haredi parties, and specifically Moshe Gafni, got a very big compliment from Globes. and Kol Hakavod to them for it.
Dror Feuer, in Globes, says that Moshe Gafni should be appointed Finance Minister in the next government, no matter who leads it.
After a nice introduction about the haredim and haredi politicians, which I won't translate but you should read anyway if the Hebrew does not scare you off, Feuer gets to the point.
Feuer says:
1. The Haredim are not classified as socialists, but they have a healthy and intuitive version of socialism as part of them; mutual responsibility, concern for the weak, respect for the poor. they know poverty. It does not mean they will be able to deal with it any better than anyone else, but at least they did not just read about it in the newspaper. Compassion and kindness are at the top of their traits.
2. the concept of "shliach tzibbur" runs deep in the Haredi community. In the prayers on Shabbos there is a nice blessing for those who serve the public faithfully, and at the end it is stressed that all Jews are their brothers.
3. one of the critical problems in the Israeli economy is the priority given to wealth and to the wealthy. All under the guise of "market forces", competition and removing impediments. That exists as well by the Haredim, but the difference is significant: on their list of values wealthy is not the best thing that you can be.
4. Their persistence, ability to learn, their love for the small print, their pedantry, their scholarliness. I want the Finance Minister to delve deeply into things - and there is nobody better than a graduate of a yeshiva to delve deeply into things - into the smallest details of the most remote footnote in the tenth addendum of the most hidden budgetary item. That he should inspect the budget and plow through it like a page of gemara. Wow, how much I'd like to see a Haredi Minister of Finance sit opposite the Ministry of Defense when they come asking for their annual increase and they spread their usual scare tactics. I think there will be far less secret expenses.
5. In this context the word "haredim" calms me. It is always good to know that there is always someone more anxious and worried than you, and I believe that healthy anxiousness is a necessary trait of a good Finance Minister.
6. Because we have never yet had one.
The Feuer continues and says, without offending anyone, what does the Finance Minister need? He needs knowledge and understanding of the material, but no less than that he needs a healthy sense of logic, and a heart in the right place. And a conscious. And I am sure this an be found in a Haredi Finance Minister that would be appointed, and then Feuer suggests that be Moshe Gafni.
Feuer says, there are MKs who are more social than him, but there are none others like him. Gafni's seniority (21 years in knesset), his healthy sense of humor, his sharp wit, the respect accorded to him by everyone in the Knesset, and the courage he has displayed until now, all these make him my candidate.
Gafni said, "I am for a free market, but also for giving assistance in education, in health and in welfare. Not everything is dependent on the free market. I am in favor of competition that will bring a benefit to the public. While on the other hand the State cannot absolve itself of its obligations to its citizens." Who does not agree with that?
Not a grain sticks to him. Gafni is a a sensitive legislator, social and environmental. I looked through his legislation and I get the feeling that he is fighting for me. Also for his own community, obviously, and that is fine. You can find him involved in the fight about the natural gas, in the fight for aggressive tax planning, against the "haircuts" (cutting the loans for the tycoons in trouble), and against the way contractors are dealt with, he fights for lessening the management fees, for limiting wages of senior administrators. He is in favor of small businesses and helps the periphery, and supports the weak. He knows how to work in a team, and diplomatically is a moderate person.
What else can you say? Moshe Gafni could be a good choice for the next Finance Minister of the State of Israel.
That is a pretty good compliment, in the leading financial newspaper in Israel.
Dror Feuer, in Globes, says that Moshe Gafni should be appointed Finance Minister in the next government, no matter who leads it.
After a nice introduction about the haredim and haredi politicians, which I won't translate but you should read anyway if the Hebrew does not scare you off, Feuer gets to the point.
Feuer says:
1. The Haredim are not classified as socialists, but they have a healthy and intuitive version of socialism as part of them; mutual responsibility, concern for the weak, respect for the poor. they know poverty. It does not mean they will be able to deal with it any better than anyone else, but at least they did not just read about it in the newspaper. Compassion and kindness are at the top of their traits.
2. the concept of "shliach tzibbur" runs deep in the Haredi community. In the prayers on Shabbos there is a nice blessing for those who serve the public faithfully, and at the end it is stressed that all Jews are their brothers.
3. one of the critical problems in the Israeli economy is the priority given to wealth and to the wealthy. All under the guise of "market forces", competition and removing impediments. That exists as well by the Haredim, but the difference is significant: on their list of values wealthy is not the best thing that you can be.
4. Their persistence, ability to learn, their love for the small print, their pedantry, their scholarliness. I want the Finance Minister to delve deeply into things - and there is nobody better than a graduate of a yeshiva to delve deeply into things - into the smallest details of the most remote footnote in the tenth addendum of the most hidden budgetary item. That he should inspect the budget and plow through it like a page of gemara. Wow, how much I'd like to see a Haredi Minister of Finance sit opposite the Ministry of Defense when they come asking for their annual increase and they spread their usual scare tactics. I think there will be far less secret expenses.
5. In this context the word "haredim" calms me. It is always good to know that there is always someone more anxious and worried than you, and I believe that healthy anxiousness is a necessary trait of a good Finance Minister.
6. Because we have never yet had one.
The Feuer continues and says, without offending anyone, what does the Finance Minister need? He needs knowledge and understanding of the material, but no less than that he needs a healthy sense of logic, and a heart in the right place. And a conscious. And I am sure this an be found in a Haredi Finance Minister that would be appointed, and then Feuer suggests that be Moshe Gafni.
Feuer says, there are MKs who are more social than him, but there are none others like him. Gafni's seniority (21 years in knesset), his healthy sense of humor, his sharp wit, the respect accorded to him by everyone in the Knesset, and the courage he has displayed until now, all these make him my candidate.
Gafni said, "I am for a free market, but also for giving assistance in education, in health and in welfare. Not everything is dependent on the free market. I am in favor of competition that will bring a benefit to the public. While on the other hand the State cannot absolve itself of its obligations to its citizens." Who does not agree with that?
Not a grain sticks to him. Gafni is a a sensitive legislator, social and environmental. I looked through his legislation and I get the feeling that he is fighting for me. Also for his own community, obviously, and that is fine. You can find him involved in the fight about the natural gas, in the fight for aggressive tax planning, against the "haircuts" (cutting the loans for the tycoons in trouble), and against the way contractors are dealt with, he fights for lessening the management fees, for limiting wages of senior administrators. He is in favor of small businesses and helps the periphery, and supports the weak. He knows how to work in a team, and diplomatically is a moderate person.
What else can you say? Moshe Gafni could be a good choice for the next Finance Minister of the State of Israel.
That is a pretty good compliment, in the leading financial newspaper in Israel.
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election campaign broadcasts (video)
here's some new videos for the 2015 election campaigns:
we'll start with an introduction rather than a campaign video - the Knesset Channel reviews some of th small and colorful parties that registered for the elections..
..
Yesh Atid:
listen to this amazing thing.. Yair Lapid claims nobody from yesh Atid was taken in for questioning or investigated or involved in corruption, etc.
I am not sure if this is a Likud-made video or if it is an unofficial video, but it looks like a campaign video..
how the Zionist Camp decided its campaign..
Habayit Hayehudi:
a country under care..
Likud:
Vote for the Bibi-Sitter
Hamachane Hatzioni:
response to the Bibi-Sitter video
Koolanu Kahlon:
are you thinking of voting Bibi?
are you thinking of voting for Lapid?
Kulanu Na Nach:
not really a campaign video, but I'll include them..
vote for us because we'll bring "tzchokim" to the Knesset
we'll start with an introduction rather than a campaign video - the Knesset Channel reviews some of th small and colorful parties that registered for the elections..
..
Yesh Atid:
listen to this amazing thing.. Yair Lapid claims nobody from yesh Atid was taken in for questioning or investigated or involved in corruption, etc.
I am not sure if this is a Likud-made video or if it is an unofficial video, but it looks like a campaign video..
how the Zionist Camp decided its campaign..
Habayit Hayehudi:
a country under care..
Likud:
Vote for the Bibi-Sitter
Hamachane Hatzioni:
response to the Bibi-Sitter video
Koolanu Kahlon:
are you thinking of voting Bibi?
are you thinking of voting for Lapid?
Kulanu Na Nach:
not really a campaign video, but I'll include them..
vote for us because we'll bring "tzchokim" to the Knesset
------------------------------------------------------
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The bracha (video)
another really good video by Machon Lev for their program of higher education for Haredim
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Interview: Dov Hikind (video)
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------------------------------------------------------
MK Dov Lipman on i24 News regarding party lists for the 20th Knesset (video)
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------------------------------------------------------
Yitzchak fuchs - Boro Park (video)
seems like a bit of a strange song to me...
------------------------------------------------------
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