I do not know how this poll changes the realities of the local political scene, but they polled the question "After Hamas' electoral victory, who should one vote for in knesset"?
The results are a resounding vote for the Likud party over Kadima (56+% to 16+%) with other parties filling out the balance...

I received this attachment in my Inbox this morning. Nothing more needs to be said.

Last night the Palestinian movie "Paradise Now" won the Golden Globe award. The movie shows the route that two young Palestinians take to become suicide murderers, up until the minute they board a bus in Tel Aviv filled with children.

The movie looks professional. It was made with great attention to detail, but it is extremely dangerous – not only to the Middle East, but to the whole world.

My son Asaf, almost 17 years old, was a high school student in the eleventh grade who loved computer science. One day after school he boarded a bus home, as usual. Along the way, a suicide murderer from Hebron, 21 years old, a computer science student at the Hebron Polytechnic, exploded on the bus.

17 people were killed, 9 of them school children aged 18 or less.
My son Asaf was killed on spot.

I watched the movie "Paradise Now" trying to understand what it is trying to say, what message it carries?
That the murderer is human? He is not.
That he has doubts? He has none. After all, he is willing to kill himself along with his victims.
That the Israelis are to blame for this brutal killing? Are the Israelis to blame for the Twin Towers in New York, the night club in Indonesia, the hotel in Egypt, the shop in Turkey, the restaurant in Morocco or in Tunis, the hotel in Jordan, the underground in London, the train in Spain? And the list goes on and on.

What makes this movie award-worthy? Would the people that awarded this movie the Golden Globe do the same if the movie was about young people from Saudi Arabia who learn how to fly airplanes in the USA and then use Islamic rituals to prepare themselves for their holy mission, crashing their airplanes into the Twin Towers in New York City? Would this movie get an award then?

This movie tries to say that suicide murder is legitimate when you feel you have exhausted all other means. But a suicide murderer who boards a bus kills 15 or 20 innocent people, so how about a suicide murderer who walks into a city with a biological bomb and kills 10,000 people or 100,000 people? Is that still legitimate? Where does one draw the line?

I believe that the world should draw the line at one person. The killing of even one person is not legitimate. My son was almost 17 years old, he loved surfing, he loved loud music. Now he is gone because a suicide murderer decided it's legitimate to blow himself up on a crowded bus.

Granting an award to this kind of movie gives the filmmakers a seal of approval to hide behind. Now they can say that the world sees suicide bombing as legitimate. By ignoring the film's message and the implications of this message, those that chose to award this film a prize have become part of the evil chain of terror and accomplices to the next suicide murders – whether they kill 17 people or 17,000 people.


Name: Yossi Zur
Phone: +972-54-4248912
Email: Yossi@blondi.co.il
Web: www.Blondi.co.il

We get tens of items of Tzedaka spam each week. What is tzedaka spam? Tzedaka spam is usually colorful brochures and flyersstuffed into mailboxes that tell a story of someone who has recently died leaving x number of orphans who have nobody to support them or a poor avreich (man learning in kollel) who has 12 kids and now has to marry one off, an avreich who is so poor that he cannot afford to pay for his extremely expensive medications for his cancer, etc. These flyers go on to request money - often a commitment of a small amount per month or a one time donation. They always have the support of a list of many usually well-known Rabbis, oftentimes it is the same Rabbis on many of the flyers.

If one takes the time to actually read some of these stories, they are heart-rending. How can one not feel compassion for these downtrodden? How can one not feel the intense need to help and mail off a check?

The thing is, most people do not bother reading these flyers. In my apartment building, the garbage can by the front door of the building is always filled to overflowing with these flyers that people removed from the mailboxes and threw right into the garbage. I almost never read them. I remove it from my box and toss it right into the bin.

I recently read one and it was unbelievable how much bad fortune could befall one person. This man was deathly ill with some form of cancer. The medicine he needs is not covered in the national healthcare basket of medicines, so the price is exorbitant and well beyong his capabilities. Despite all that, the medicine is only dealing with the side effects and pain, and it will extend his life by a few months. If he does not get the medicine and treatment, he will die in x number of months. He has 7 children and can't put bread on the table because his medicines are so expensive. It went on to say he considered not even taking the medicines, so as not to be a burden on people, especially because the medicine will not save his life, but merely extend it for a while. After many consultations with doctors and Rabbis, he decided to ask for help in raising the money.

This is just one example. Many of them tell similar stories of poverty and serious life threatening illnesses. Some are simply calls to support a tzedaka fund from one city or another. Some of them promise that certain great Rabbis will bless you or pray for you if you send a donation of x amount or more, etc..

Why do we mostly ignore these pleas for help. Do we not want to feel bad not sending money, so we don't even bother reading it? Do we not want to know about the troubles of our fellow Jews? Are we so cynical that we think that he had it coming and if he needed money so badly let him go get a job? Can we not afford sending each one money, as there are so many and it is never ending, so we just don't bother? Do we have different priorities for what we do with our tzedaka monies? Maybe the story is not true, or at best exaggerated for shock effect? Why must I send them a check when I have poor people in my own neighborhood?
I know I have rationalized my not giving, and even my not reading these flyers, with each one of these thoughts, at different times.

Some people I know read each one, say a short chapter from tehillim and will put a small check for a couple of dollars in the mail to each one. I think most of us (based on an informal survey of garbage cans near the different buildings mailboxes) choose to ignore the requests. But should we?
Are we simply trying to avoid the responsibility of helping a Jew in need (by not reading them, one can plead ignorance) or is it justified?

Google is in the process of founding a new Research and Development center in Israel.

Ynet is reporting that Chaim Ramon, one of the highest profile members of the Labor party who switched over to Kadima, has suffered from a heart attack. Refuah Shleimah.

I was advised to get rid of Haloscan's commenting system, and after looking around the web a bit for info, I followed the advice.
The drawback is that I lost all the comments..

The Marker, Israel's leading business daily, reports that the newest series of billboards cropping up around the country have begun to raise eyebrows. The billboards are advertising a clear political message, though it was unknown who was behind that message. No longer.

The message displayed on the billboards were derogatory in nature, specifically calling the left wing voters "Arab lovers" and "Leftist idiots" (my translation) among other things.

The billboards raised people's ire and in some places there were reports of vandalism.

It was discovered today that Meretz, the ultra secular liberal party, is behind those billboards. There goal was to be provocative and wake up the left wing lethargic voters, who generally can't be bothered to show up and vote. The reasoning goes, that if they think the right wingers are slamming them, they will take it personally and get off their lazy behinds and go vote.

Now we just have to wait to see what the backlash is after people find out about this underhanded ploy.

is taking place now. He should be a meilitz yosher for the rest of us...

I saw a little news article in the Mishpacha newspaper (Hebrew edition). The blurb said that the Roshei HaYeshivos have become aware of a new problem in the yeshivas. They have found more and more talmidim using mp3 and mp4 players to record shiurim and to listen to music.

You might ask, so what is the problem? Good question. The article goes on to explain that the Roshei Hayeshivas are concerned because they cannot control what is being listened to. They have no way of checking what music a talmid is listening to. Many of them are not familiar with how to navigate the menus on the player and even the ones who are familiar to an extent have a difficult time with it. They cannot control the situation. If a student uses a discman/walkman, the rebbe can take out the cassette/disc and see wat the kid is listening to and punish accordingly (if the music is not deemed kosher by the rebbe's standards). With the mp3 players, the situation has become too hefker.

The article said that the Roshei Hayeshivas have brought the issue to the gedolim and are looking for a solution how to deal with the problem.

Do you know what you are eating or putting on your lips?
The FDA will be changing their labeling rules to require products that contain bug juices (used as colorants in foods and makeups) to list an insect based ingredient as insect based rather than the real name (or in addition to), so consumers will know that the product contains insect based juices. This will allow them to decide whether they object to that or not and purchase or not purchase the product.

I have not clarified the halacha on this, but I remember from my youth that the issue had arisen then as well. I had relatives who were students of Rav Aharon Soloveitchik who would not eat sprinkles and other candies of sorts (I think jelly beans as well) because their coating contained these bug juices. I also remember that most people did eat them and it was only some people who were being machmir.

It looks like the issue is more widespread than a few select candies.

Why is he not responding to the PA election results? Why is he not giving the country direction in the wake of the uncertainties raised? Many other countries have already responded with statements, why has Olmert not yet responded?

I do not think his decision to allow voting in East Jerusalem is what caused Hamas to win. Their victory was too great to be based on that issue alone. I think it was the general atmosphere created by the politicians (who later founded and joined Kadima). They delegitimized Fatah (though Fatah deserved it) and would not speak to Abu Ala. They decided to do things unilaterally, meaning Abu Ala, who was considered moderate by most analysts, had nothing to take credit for and no gains to show his people. That is aside from the rampant corruption that has always been found in the PA leadership that people must have been sick of. So they voted for Hamas to effect a change.

Don't get me wrong - Olmert did us a great injustice and caused terrible damage (IMHO) by allowing them to vote in East Jerusalem. Note that he did this against the wishes of Ariel Sharon. Sharon had said he would not allow it to happen. By Olmert vascillating on the subject and allowing the vote in E Jerusalem, he has thrown the status of Jerusalem up in the air and opened what will become a can of worms, that can only end badly for us.

Right now it looks like it might have happened. The election results announcement has been delayed...

He posted some great posts, so head on over and take a look!

Ezzie's Blog Roundup for 1/26

I was just chatting with Ezzie about this and decided to write about here.
Many have discussed the Ultra-Orthodox ban on the internet in lakewood, Israel and other strongholds of the Haredi public, including myself briefly on this site. I have previously written on this, and now wish to add to the discussion some more.

My position on this is that the Rabbis who are against it have no chance of succeeding in accomplishing a full internet ban. The internet is too pervasive in our lives for most people to give up. the internet is too useful in our lives to give up. People pay their bills online, track their bank accounts, trade stocks, do business, communicate with friends and family, use voip telephones, find valuable and pertinent information along with many other uses that improve our daily life and save us time rather than standing in lines and travelling to banks and whatever else. This all in addition to the entertainement factor involved.

Of course there are dangers involved in using the internet. People must be mature adults and use it wisely and avoid the pitfalls (obviously different people will think differently as to what is a pitfall and what is acceptable), but the problems with it are not a good enough reason to throw the whole thing away. Should one not walk down the street because he might see an inappropriately clad woman or advertisement?

Not only is it useful, but as I said it is too pervasive to get rid of. Case in point: The other day I was reading some blogs and I was following links and I stumbled across a very interesting blog (no, I do not remember the name). The blog was written by a Bais Yaakov girl from Lakewood. The posts were very interesting and I noticed that almost every single post had comments numbering in the hundreds!! I followed her links and clicked on some of the names in the comments and was astounded to realize that almost all the names there and all the linked blogs were also Bais Yaakov girls from every part of America. There is this whole blogging thing going on, not just by 30 year olds , but by Bais Yaakov girls! As I said, it is too pervasive to get rid of.

The Rabbonim should accept the fact that the Internet is here to stay. Once they accept that, they can possibly have more influence on helping people improve their use of the Internet, both in time of usage (to avoid addictions) and in content of usage (to avoid inappropriate content).

Is there no end to the sleaziness in politics? Must we find out about more underhandedness, coverups, and corruption every single day?

Tonight I heard on the radio a report that Kadima had announced that Yitzchak Ben Aharon, a very prominent supporter of the Labor Party, had given his support to them (Kadima). They quoted a letter he had sent to Ehud Olmert saying he is with him and ready to help. Kadima publicized this letter now in order to make it appear that another very influential Laborite was switching allegiances to Kadima.

The problem is that after Kadima made their announcement, Labor announced that it is patently not true and Ben Aharon is a strong Labor supporter with no intentions of switching to Kadima. They asked Ben Aharon himself and lo and behold the truth comes out. He is a strong supporter of amir Peretz and is working to help Peretz be victorious. He has no intentions of leaving Labor for Kadima or any other party.
So what was that letter all about? It turns out that he sent that letter to Olmert right after Sharon had been hospitalized and Olmert was appointed Acting PM. He was being magnanimous in a time of crisis offering his support and assistance. at no point did he intend to switch to Kadima. Not only that, he only sent the letter on condition that it be private and not used for political purposes. Ben aharon was being compassionate in a time of crisis, much the way that Bibi and Peretz announced they were putting their campaigns on hold and were behind Olmert and ready to assist in whatever he needed. Did that mean they were switching to Kadima? Clearly not and neither was Ben Aharon planning any such move.

Why must our leaders be so blatantly dishonest? Is there no leader or politician who can run on a platform of honesty and integrity?

Good riddance!! he brought nothing to the local political scene other than hatred and more divisiveness. You won't be missed, Yosef.