Daily Archives: August 26, 2021

The Land of Israel is where Jewish identity was forged. It is unquestionably the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people.

But to read a Judaism Fast Facts page on the CNN website, one could be forgiven for thinking that the Jews connection to the Holy Land commenced only around a century ago.

CNNs fact sheets are typically split into three or four sections. Those about Christianity and Islam, for example, open with a section about Beliefs/Practices. Its page on Judaism does much the same, under a more general subheadline, About Judaism. The Judaism page then features sections about history and statistics. The Christianity page also includes these latter two parts. The Islam page is slightly different, and includes parts about Muslim denominations, Sharia law, other facts, and finally a brief timeline.

In the first section of the page about Judaism, CNN details the central texts of Judaism, religious practices, beliefs, the origins of Jewish faith, as well as the structure of Jewish life.

But absent is any mention of the Land of Israel.

Only in the following section, titled History, is any reference made to the Jewish homeland. There, it is written:

The creation of a Jewish state was discussed at the first Zionist Congress in Switzerland in 1897. In 1948, the state of Israelwas formed, afterWorld War IIand thegenocideof over six million Jews.

For this to be the first description of Jewish sovereignty is immensely misleading. By starting from modern Jewish attempts to achieve self-determination in the Holy Land, without any mention of the fact that Jews lived there consistently throughout the centuries, CNN makes it seem as if the State of Israel was only formed in response to WWII and the Holocaust, and thus erases the Jewish peoples millennia-long bond with the land.

According to Jewish tradition, all of creation began in Jerusalem. Abraham, Issac and Jacob all passed through the city. Kings David and Solomon built the Jewish temples there. The Land of Israel is subject to numerous biblical laws, observed by religious Jews to this day.

One of the best known is the Shmittah, which takes place every seven years. For an entire year, the lie must rest and lay fallow. Coincidentally, the current cycle is coming to an end now, meaning that Jews in Israel will observe the rules of this law starting from this Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year) in early September.

The Land of Israel is deeply significant in Jewish religious practice. For example, it is a religious commandment to live in the land of Israel. Many of those not able or not willing to move, however, have sought to be buried in Israel after they pass away.

For those unable to, there is a custom to symbolically sprinkle some earth taken from Israel into ones coffin.

Perhaps most notably, for centuries Jews around the world have fasted on two days each year (the 17th of Tamuz and the 9th of Av) to commemorate the destruction of the Jewish Temples in Jerusalem, as well as the various other calamities that occurred in the Land of Israel. And during the Passover and Yom Kippur holidays each year, as Jews around the world finish prayer services by singing the words LShana Habaah BYerushalayim, meaning next year in Jerusalem.

Jewish prayers speak of the Jewish yearning to return to Zion; the Talmud tells of stories that happened to Jews in the Holy Land; and for centuries Jews around the world have prayed facing Jerusalem.

Yet, CNN includes none of this in its summary of Judaism.

CNNs fast facts pages is a great idea in concept. People have a need for basic information on a broad range of topics and news outlets can provide a real public service with such background pieces. Unfortunately, HonestReporting has repeatedly found CNNs fast facts pages to be an unreliable source, with frequent omissions and distortions in those related to Israel and the Palestinians (see, for example, here and here).

This latest omission is even less excusable. Judaism is not a political issue. The basic tenets of Judaism are undisputed.

So why didnt CNN include the most basic facts?

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Originally posted here:

CNN's 'Fast Facts' Minimizes Judaism's Connection to Land of Israel - Honestreporting.com

In my daily studies, I ran across the Jude of the Old Testament- Obidiah. Obidiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament. But like its New Testament predecessor- It is jammed full of theological treasure. But to understand that treasure one must look at the context of the writing. It is there we find an instance where God selects a prophet from the opposition to speak out against the opposition.

Obidiah is one of only three prophets (Nahum and Habakuk) that calls out Israels enemies and not Israel itself. In Obidiahs case it is the Edomites. This is very interesting because According to the Talmud, Obadiah is said to have been a convert to Judaism from Edom. He was a descendant of Eliphaz, the friend of Job. He is identified with the Obadiah who was the servant of Ahab. It is said that he was chosen to prophesy against Edom because he was himself an Edomite. Having lived with two such godless persons as Ahab and Jezebel without learning to act as they did, he seemed the most suitable person to prophesy against Esau (Edom).

Obadiah is supposed to have received the gift of prophecy for having hidden the hundred prophets (1 Kings 18:4) from the persecution of Jezebel.He hid the prophets in two caves, so that if those in one cave should be discovered those in the other might yet escape (1 Kings18:34).

Obadiah was very rich, but all his wealth was expended in feeding the poor prophets. Then, in order to be able to continue to support them, he had to borrow money at interest from Ahabs son Jehoram.

What the historical context teaches us is that God can and will use those from an oppressor class to preach the truth to the oppressor. God continues to use those who could take freedom to preach liberation. There is nothing more powerful than the someone in an oppressor class speaking truth to oppressors. Many examples exist in history where a person is called from the oppressor class to serve the oppressed. Not only to serve, but to speak out against injustice and call out untruthfulness.

He is the biggest example of one who turned from power and luxury for the sake of truth. Paul participated in the persecution of early disciples of Jesus. Likely the Hellenized diaspora Jews converted to Christianity,in the area ofJerusalem, prior tohis conversion. In Acts, Paul was traveling on a mission to arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem. On this journey the ascended Jesus appeared to him in a great bright light. He was struck blind, but after three days his sight was restored by Ananias of Damascus. Paul began to preach that Jesus of Nazareth was the Jewish messiah and the Son of God.

Approximately half of the Book of Acts deals with Pauls life and works. Paul even refers to himself as a Pharasee of Pharasees. Paul, who once oppressed, liberated and fought for the oppressed. This turn of heart did not come without consequence as Paul was executed in Rome.

An English Anglican cleric, a captain of slave ships who later became an abolitionist, and an investor of trade. He served as a sailor in theRoyal Navyfor a period after forced recruitment.

Newton went to sea at a young age and worked on slave ships in theslave tradefor several years. In 1745, he himself became a slave of Princess Peye, a woman of theSherbro people. He was rescued, returned to sea and the trade, becoming Captain of several slave ships. After retiring from active sea-faring, he continued to invest in the slave trade. Some years after experiencing aconversion to Christianity, Newton later renounced his trade and became a prominent supporter ofabolitionism. Now an evangelical, he was ordained as aChurch of Englandcleric and served asparish priestatOlney, Buckinghamshire, for two decades. He also wrote hymns, including Amazing Grace and Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken.

Newton lived to see the British Empiresabolition of the African slave trade in 1807, just months before his death.

This is a man who made his living as a slaver. Yet God eventually called him to be one of the United Kingdoms greatest abolitionists. The words of Amazing Grace speak of how God pulled him away from an oppressor and lead to his lifelong fight for the oppressed.

Born to an affluent IrishEpiscopalianslaveholderof the same name inDanville, Kentucky,He and his sister were raised by their widowed aunt, who had come over fromIreland at the request of his father to look after the two. He was influenced by his aunts opposition to slavery; she refused to own slaves. Growing up, he saw the issue of slavery from a variety of perspectives. Though his father fought to prevent their state of Kentucky from joining the Union as a slave state, when the effort failed, he decided that until the legislature abolished slavery from the state as a whole, a person could own slaves as long as he treated them humanely.

During the 1820s, Birney became increasingly troubled by the issue of slavery. He became a member of theAmerican Colonization Society, which advocated for the migration ofAfrican Americansto the continent ofAfrica. After serving in various roles for the organization, Birney began calling for the immediate abolition of slavery.

Constance Georgine Gore-Booth was born atBuckingham Gatein London in 1868, the elder daughter of the Arctic explorer and adventurerSir Henry Gore-Booth, 5th Baronet, anAnglo-Irishlandlord who administered a 100km2(39sqmi) estate, and Georgina, Lady Gore-Booth,neHill. During thefamine of 187980, Sir Henry provided free food for the tenants on his estate atLissadell Housein the north ofCounty Sligoin the north-west of Ireland. Their fathers example inspired in Gore-Booth and her younger sister,Eva Gore-Booth, a deep concern for working people and the poor.

Even though part of the ruling Anglo Irish class, she saw the horrors being foisted on the Irish Catholic people and would eventually fight for the Irish in both combat and politics. In 1908, Markievicz became actively involved in nationalist politics in Ireland. She joinedSinn FinandInghinidhe na hireann (Daughters of Ireland), a revolutionary womens movement.

As a member of the ICA, Markievicz took part in the 1916Easter Rising. She was deeply inspired by the founder of theICA,James Connolly. Markievicz designed the Citizen Army uniform and composed its anthem, based on the tune of a Polish song. The British sentenced her to death for her role in the rebellion but this was reduced on the grounds of her sex. She died in 1927, spending most of her life speaking out for the oppressed in Ireland.

In the final account, where will we stand? Will we be brave like Obidiah, Paul, Newton, Birney and Markievicz? Will those that come from oppressor classes still have the courage to rise up and speak the truth, even if it means there death? I pray that me and many others would be so bold. That we would reach into the unknown of forsaking oppression for liberation, even though it may well kill us is my sincere prayer today. If our gospel is not liberating, it is oppressing. What side will we choose to be on? Never forget, history is always watching.

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When God Uses The Oppressor To Call Out Oppression - Patheos

The United Nations Security Council meets regarding the situation in Afghanistan at the United Nations in New York City on August 16, 2021. Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters.

Obscured by the evacuation effort in Kabul and the searing critiques of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan is an important question: What do United Nations sanctions actually mandate concerning the Talibans assets?

The answer lies in the archaic, nuanced language of the organizations resolutions. Unlike al-Qaeda, ISIS, the Pakistani Taliban, and many other similar groups, the Taliban is not specifically listed on any UN sanctions list, but it remains sanctioned nonetheless. Poring through Talmudic UN Security Council resolution (UNSCR) text from more than twenty years ago may seem a job fit only for lawyers and bureaucrats (or especially bureaucratic lawyers), but the real-world implications are significant. As the militant group settles in to rule the country again, sanctions remain one of the only viable points of leverage for the international community.

The confusion stretches back to 1999, when UNSCR 1267 was adopted in response to the Talibans sheltering of Osama bin Laden, wanted at the time for the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The resolution froze the Talibans funds and other financial resources, including money generated from property the group controlled directly or indirectly. Since then, the security council has not nullified the language of this resolution, which legally binds all member states, meaning that it remains in force. The Taliban was not added to any sanctions list because no such list existed at the time. In fact, that resolution formed the mechanism for the first UN sanctions list, to which al-Qaeda and other parties were later added.

In 2011 the sanctions regime established in UNSCR 1267 was split up to create separate tracks for the Taliban (UNSCR 1988) and al-Qaeda (UNSCR 1989) in part to provide momentum to the Afghan-led peace process by creating incentives for the Taliban to improve its behavior. This split, however, seems to have created some of the confusion. The original criteria for listing al-Qaeda were for supporting the Taliban and bin Laden, and it strains credulity to think that the security council had not intended to impose sanctions on the Taliban itself via UNSCR 1267, given that the asset freeze language is clear. Statements from the security council and key member states support the existence of the broader asset freeze on the group.

As the Taliban seeks international legitimacy, the lack of clarity over the groups sanctions status by the UN may have serious ramifications.

On one hand, China and Russiaboth eager to see the United States embarrassedmay seek to exploit confusion over their legally binding obligations as UN member states to strike deals with the Taliban and assist the group in consolidating power in Afghanistan. Both countries have been credibly accused in recent years of violating UN-mandated sanctions on North Korea. Striking deals with the Taliban in the absence of clear guidance from the security council would hardly be out of character for Beijing or Moscow. Once those deals are struck, it may be too late to argue over the nuances of relevant UNSCR language.

On the other hand, debate over the scope of sanctions may present tactical advantages. The UNSCchaired by Ireland in Septemberneeds to clarify and update a sanctions regime that has been largely dormant for fifteen years. The UNSC could and should use the threat of sanctions and the possibility of sanctions removal to push the Taliban to respect human rights and freedoms. Hibatullah Akhundzada, the de facto leader of the Talibans government, is not on the UN sanctions listbut the security council should warn him that this could change if the Taliban rules as brutally as it did in the 1990s.

Similarly, for those Taliban leaders who are on the list, the security council could dangle the possibility of delisting, or modifying the sanctions regime as a whole, as a reward for good behavior. Many of the Talibans leaders are on the sanctions list, and the measures clearly apply to them. The Taliban cares about the stigma of UN sanctions; for more than a decade, much of the Talibans leadership has clamored to be removed from the UNs blacklist.

Separate from the status of the Taliban, the security council also needs to issue clear guidance on humanitarian exemptions and work to ensure that they are viable paths to aid the Afghan people. The population must not be left dangling, especially with a possible economic disaster looming.

Despite pledges by the groups public relations personnel, early returns on the Talibans human-rights governance are disturbing. Reports of abuses and targeted killings are already prevalentas are accounts that the group is hunting people who supported US and coalition efforts. But whether the Taliban behaves or not, Russia or China could veto the UNs entire Taliban sanctions regime during a review scheduled for Decemberpresenting a new diplomatic crisis.

The looming threat of a resurgent Taliban repressing its own people and potentially serving as a training ground for terrorist groups lends great urgency to clarifying the obligations of all member UN states regarding the groups financing and assets.

A Taliban with tax revenues, access to official levers of power, and control of the countrys opium production is frightening enough. But one that is also striking mining deals with China and Russia, as well as securing access to International Monetary Fund reserves or loans from other major economies, would be a substantially larger threat. The United States and its partners must work with the United Nations to make one thing clear: Despite any dithering over the Taliban being listed or not, member states must adhere to the asset freeze already in place to refrain from financing this dangerous regime.

Brian OToole is a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Councils GeoEconomics Center and a former senior US Treasury Department official.

Tue, Jun 29, 2021

The Global Sanctions Dashboard aims to inform economic statecraft policies by analyzing sanctions globally and identifying trends across lists in partnership with Castellum.AI.

EconoGraphicsbyJulia Friedlander, Michael Albanese and Castellum.AI

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They aren't listed, but make no mistake: The UN has sanctions on the Taliban - Atlantic Council

I received the following question from a teenage girl:

How could the Torah command a father to sell his daughter into slavery?

She was referring to the verse in Parshas Mishpatim (Shemos 21:7) which states:

Now if a man sells his daughter as a maidservant, she shall not go free as the slaves go free.

She asked: isnt this cruel? How could the Torah tell a man to sell his daughter with the purpose of the master to marry her. Its disgusting for a 9-year-old girl to get married. This is forced marriage.

I think it is important to address this question. There are many places where the Torah appears to conflict with our modern moral sensibilities. It is vital for all of us, especially parents and educators to understand how to address such questions head-on without dismissing them. When students feel their questions are brushed aside or given only perfunctory answers they feel that maybe the Torah doesnt have all the answers and will start to look elsewhere.

A second reason to address this question is that it shows the supreme importance of not taking the written Torah out of context. It can only be fully understood with the help of the Torah she bal peh, the oral Torah, as we shall demonstrate.

The first question we need to address is whether the pasuk is actually referring to a , a positive commandment to sell a daughter. This would seem to hang on how we are to interpret the word (ki). Sometimes when a pasuk begins with ki the Torah is meaning if this happens to you then you will have a mitzvah, suggesting a positive commandment.

For example in Parshas Ki Teitzei (Devarim 22:6-7) we read about the mitzvah of Shiluach Hakan, sending away the mother bird from the nest. The text reads:

| | :If a birds nest chances before you on the road, on any tree or on the ground, [it contains] fledglings or eggs and the mother is sitting upon the fledglings or the eggs, you shall not take the mother upon the young

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You shall send away the mother bird, [and then] you may take the young for yourself, in order that it should be good for you, and you should lengthen your days.

The promise of the reward of longevity would seem to suggest that this is a positive commandment. In that case, ki does not mean just if you happen upon the nest, and the mother is there and you actually want the eggs or the chicks, you could do it, but rather that there is merit in seeking out opportunities for this mitzvah. ( Aruch Hashulchan 292:1, Birchei Yosef 292:8 quoting the Arizal. Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky (Am Hatorah Journal 5:7, pg 12) recommends trying to perform the mitzvah at least once. See, however, Responsa Chasam Sofer O.C. 100 and Responsa Torah Lishmah 27710. See Responsa Minchas)

Can we apply the same logic to the pasuk regarding selling a daughter as a slave? There is no explicit promise of reward, but the initial ki remains the same, potentially indicating a positive mitzvah.

To resolve this question it is necessary to examine our Oral tradition. We do not derive Torah law from logic alone, nor from looking only at the text of the written law. Unlike the ancient Sadducees, Karaites, or the reform Jews, we do not attempt to derive our religious practices solely from the Written Torah. We have Mesorah, an unbroken chain of tradition passed down together with the written law to Moshe at har Sinai and transmitted by sages from generation to generation until today. The Torah She bal peh comprises the Mishnah and the Talmud. The Mishnah was compiled between 200220 CE by Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi. The Gemara is a series of running commentaries and debates concerning the Mishnah. Together, the Mishnah with its relevant Gemaras forms the Talmud.

Even though the Oral Torah was ultimately written down, due to the existential threat of dispersion facing the Jewish civilization following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, it was written in such as way that it is virtually impossible to understand it without learning it together with a teacher himself steeped in the oral tradition. The belief that at least portions of the Oral Torah were transmitted orally from God to Moshe on Har Sinai during the Exodus from Egypt is a fundamental tenet of faith for religious Jews. Indeed it forms one of the Rambams Thirteen Principles of Faith, the Ani Maamin recited daily after Shacharis. Many passages of the Torah and the details of laws central to Jewish life are almost incomprehensible without the oral tradition that explains them. They were clearly never meant to be separated, but always learned together.

So let us examine how the oral law explains the pasuk about the father who sells his daughter as a slave. Both the Rambams Sefer HaMitzvos and the Sefer HaChinuch compilations of Jewish laws derived from the conclusions of the Talmud and the earlier Torah Law Codes show that there is no positive commandment at all for one to sell his so daughter even though it states . The positive mitzvah is only for the man who buys her as a (maidservant)

In the Rambams Sefer HaMitzvos, Mitzvah 233 is the mitzvah of (liyod ama ivriya) the designation of a Hebrew slave woman. If a Jewish man has acquired a slave woman, he has to marry her or give him as a wife to his son. This mitzvah is derived from the pasuk (Shemos 21:8) that if she is bad in the eyes of her master, who designated her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. Rashi shows, based on a Chazal (Bechoros 19a), that this verse hints at the fact of a commandment of designation (marrying her or marrying her off) that precedes the commandment of redemption.

The Rambam goes on to explain that this mitzvah actually shows Gods mercy on the poor girl who is sold, and on her father who needed to sell her. In Biblical times, as until very recently, there was no such thing as a girl who could be financially independent. Girls were supported by their fathers or older brothers until they could be married off and supported by a husband. If a father was so poor that he was unable to support his daughter any longer, it was considered a chesed for another family to buy her: that is, a man would give the father money and in exchange, take the girl in as a member of his household. She would receive work, food, and lodging. Better than redemption is for the master of the house to marry her himself or give her to his son to be married, for this would bring joy to the girl.

The Rambam (Mishneh Torah Chapter 4:2 about slaves) explains that a father may only sell his daughter into servitude if he has become so poor that he has nothing left: not land, movables, or even clothing. Even then, as soon as he is able financially, he should be compelled to buy her back to avoid further disgrace to the family. If the father has fled or died or had no means to buy her back, she must serve until she goes free.

Later the Rambam says he cannot force a marriage against the girls will. She has to be in agreement with the arrangement.

So we see there is no mitzvah to sell a daughter. Rather this is a provision made for a girl whose father was forced to sell her rather than starve to death. What may seem a barbaric practice from the written text alone turns out to be a remarkably compassionate approach when we look at the Mesorah.

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| Maidservants, Mother Birds and the Importance of Mesorah | Rabbi Dovid Abenson The Lakewood Scoop - thelakewoodscoop.com

In early August, the Biden administration announced a goal to make half of all new cars sold in the U.S. electric by 2030. In June, the congregation I serve, Temple Bnai Israel in Kalamazoo, installed an electric car charger with the assistance of Hope for Creation.

Through the congregations relationship with Michigan Interfaith Power & Light, as well as other groups, it has become clear that strong, clean car standards have the power to drive down vehicle pollution as well as spur innovation in the development of new clean car technologies.

Therefore, our congregation made the decision to invest knowing there are members who would benefit but also because our values teach us the importance of caring for the planet. Investing in electric vehicles is one way we can shift our dependency away from the fossil fuels that are causing our climate crisis.

As Reform Jews, we look to the Book of Deuteronomy for the basis of our belief in caring for the Earth. Verses 20:21-22 speak of actions during wartime that directly impact the Earth: When in your war against a city you must not destroy its trees, wielding the ax against them. You may eat of them, but you must not cut them down.

From these verses arise the value of bal tashchit which is translated as do not destroy. Humanity is taught that they shall not destroy fruit trees during wartime. But Judaism does not only draw from the Torah, but also from the later commentaries of the rabbis, the sages, of the Mishnah and Talmud. These sages extrapolate from this idea to include all ecological destruction during times of war as well as peace. The expanded rulings include not feeding livestock polluted water, not diverting or destroying water and not throwing away food or wantonly breaking usable items. These interpretations have shaped how we, as a Jewish congregation, engage with the world we live in.

Another value guiding the Congregations decision to invest in an EV charger, along with other measures to make our building more energy efficient and less polluting, is the value of betzelem Elohim the understanding that all people are made in the image of God. This directly relates to how we view one another.

All people should have access to clean air and water, but we know this is not the case here in Michigan. Low-wealth and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities experience disproportionate harm from dirty vehicle pollution, leading to increased rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses. We also know that low-wealth and BIPOC communities also are often closest to highways and bear the greatest burden from vehicle pollution.

We have a responsibility to act on our values, which teach us to care for the Earth and that all people are important and indeed, made in the image of God.

I am proud to lead a congregation who wants to put their values into action in any way that they can and know that there is still much to be done. The installation of an electric car charger is but one piece of a large puzzle that we must all work together on building.

As the EPA and Transportation Department now begin to work out the details of longer-term emissions standards, they have an opportunity to help create the conditions necessary for all life to thrive by supporting cleaner cars. We urge them to make these standards as strong as possible.

Simone Schicker is the rabbi of Temple Bnai Israel in Kalamazoo.

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Guest Column: Investing in the Future Detroit Jewish News - The Jewish News

It is difficult to adequately describe the feelings and emotions experienced by thousands of Gerer Chassidim in the United States during this daysas many remain in disbelief from the incredible history, and the special focus from the Rebbe to which they were privileged.

Events like this have never taken place since Gerer chassidim have streamed into New York following the terrible Churban that had consumed the glorious court of Ger that lived and thrived in Gora Kalwaria. While the American community had merited visits from the Gerer Rebbeim over time, a simchabringing forth the glory and the heartfelt joy with the Rebbes simchahas never taken place here, since the court is centered in Yerushalayim. Likewise, they have never experienced a tisch conducted by the Rebbe on American shoressince these only take place during specula Shabbosim.

Yet, 5781 was the year in which history was madeas the Rebbe endeavored to come to the chassidim following two years in which they had been unable to journey to the court.

The committees in charge overcame enormous logistical challenges to make this massive event happenbeginning with two Shabbosim in Boro Park (parashas Shoftim and Ki Teitzei). But even more remarkable was the wedding itself: Thousands of men packed the Viznizter Beis Medrash, while the women occupied the Vilchovitz Hall.

Through all this, the children were not forgotten.

During a special kinder tisch, hundred of talmdim from the Gerer chadorim packed the hall, in the presence of the Rebbe, where children sang special grammen in honor of the occasion, and merited special attention and brachos from the Rebbe. Following this, the Kabbolas Ponim was geared for the bachurim, where, once again, they heard divrei Torah and brochos from the Rebbe.

Following this, the massive crowd made its way over to the Vilchovitz hall for the chupah. Here, the experience was otherworldly, as the crowd stood with deep earnestness and emotionwhile the Gerer menagnim provided a backdrop to the heightened emotionsduring these uplifted moments.

The Rebbe served as mesader kiddushin, while Rav Hershel Rottenberg, Rov of the Gerer community read the kesubah. The Viznitzer Rebbe was honored with the first six brachos, and the Skverer Rebbe with bracha achrita. At the conclusion, the crowd broke out into spirited and uplifted dancing that lasted for a whiletruly feeling the simcha of the Rebbe.

Throughout the evening, the feelings of joy, connection, holinessand the experiences the likes of which most had never seenwere palpable by the entire crowd of thousands, which overflowed from the hall.

In the following days, Sheva brachos events were hosted by various committees and supporters of the Gerer mosdosthose who maintain a connection the entire year, and take an active role in supporting the massive network of institutions in the chassidus.

This led into Shabbos Sheva Brochos, where the Rebbe was again spent in Boro Parkthis time, conducting an unprecedented three tischen throughout the Shabbos. An even larger crowd filled the Belzer Talmud Torah this time, with many having arrived from Eretz Yisroel for the wedding. Throughout the Shabbos, the infusion of Torah, tefillah, and holy, joyful niggunim reverberated throughout the hall.

The Rebbe is scheduled to return to Eretz Yisroel in the early part of the weekleaving behind an aura of holiness and connection that will not soon be forgotten from amongst the chassidim in America.

[PRESS RELEASE]

Originally posted here:

| Thousands of Gerer Chassidim Infused with Joy and Holiness at Rebbe's Wedding in New York The Lakewood Scoop - thelakewoodscoop.com

The Talmudic tractate Chagigah tells the tale of Rabbi Meir and his teacher Elisha ben Avuyah. Despite his teachers abandonment of Judaism and Elishas descent into heresy, Rabbi Meir would not abandon his mentor. Elisha was branded as Acher "Other by a Jewish community in the Land of Israel that had shunned the apostate and rebel.

One Shabbat, as Elisha rode his horse in violation of the seventh days sanctity, Rabbi Meir walked behind his teacher to learn from him words of wisdom. When they reached the techum Shabbat, the maximum of 2000 cubits that one may walk from his home without violating Torah law on the Shabbat, Rabbi Meir told his teacher not to proceed beyond the limit. Despite his students urging, Acher continued riding, thus doubly violating Shabbat. Rabbi Meir was often scolded for following the heretic and attempting to learn from his former teacher. Meir responded that when he finds a pomegranate, he eats the seeds and discards the peel. There were still lessons to be learned from the renegade.

Why did Elisha ben Avuyah abandon Judaism and descend into the heresies of the Greco-Roman world? Rabbinic literature provides a number of answers. The one explanation that I find compelling is that in the wake of the persecutions of Jews by Roman Emperor Hadrian persecutions associated with the Bar-Kochba rebellion of 132-135 Rabbi Elisha ben Avuyah witnessed the tongue of Jewish martyr Chutzpit the Interpreter being carried by a pig in its mouth. That the vehicle for the teaching of beautiful words of Torah to be debased in such a disgusting manner convinced Rabbi Elisha that God had abandoned His teaching and His people. The sight shocked him into a rejection of God and into the embracing of foreign teachings.

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What Elisha ben Avuyah saw drove him over the edge. He could not repent. The God he believed in was no longer a God of Justice. He could no longer believe in that God. It reminds me of a lecture I delivered in a senior community in south Florida more than a decade ago. A Jewish man in his 80s approached me before the lecture.

Rabbi, I was a liberator of Dachau in WWII. When I approached the barbed wire fence of the camp I was overcome by the stench of rotting flesh. As the smell of rot entered my nostrils I lost my faith in God. I could no longer believe. I have since been an atheist.

I could not judge this man. Perhaps if I were in his boots on that day I would have lost my faith in God too. I told him that and he shook my hand and thanked me. My father was a heavy-machine gun sergeant in the American 97th Infantry Division in the last weeks of the war in Europe German sniper fire was a constant danger as the American troops moved from building to building to destroy the last fanatics yet his encounters with Holocaust survivors and his discovery of a synagogue destroyed in Kristallnacht only served to strengthen his will as a Jew. He billeted American troops in German homes and the first thing he told the civilians while carrying a carbine, before throwing them out, was I am a Jew. They shuddered with fear and ran out as quickly as possible.

We all have different reactions to severe trauma. Some Jews lose their faith. Others are strengthened by it. But as we end Elul and approach the High Holy Days, we must realize that after the Shoah and the founding of the State of Israel nothing will ever be the same. Those Jews who go to shul on Yom Kippur and fast till they are on the verge of fainting, have learned nothing about faith and doubt in God in such perilous times if they fail to grapple with the watershed events of Jewish history. It cannot be business as usual for Jews in the first quarter of the 21st century. We seek teshuvah (repentance) but we should ask God to seek repentance for violating the Sinai Covenant. For those who observe the High Holy Days, there must be so many difficult questions to ask and so few answers. There is nothing wrong with celebrating Rosh Hashanah and observing Yom Kippur. But there is something not right if we do so as automatons. When I lead my congregation in the El Maleh (Memorial Prayer) for millions of Jews murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, I will not forget the Jew I met who liberated Dachau.

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Acher and the difficulties of teshuvah - The Jerusalem Post

Politicians blocked all attempts by the police to limit attendance on the site during Lag Baomer celebrations, a senior police officer told the Mount Meron disaster state commission of inquiry Sunday.

Northern District Police Superintendent Shimon Lavi, who gave a highly emotional account of how the tragedy evolved, was the opening witness before the commission, which is expected to hear from political, religious and security officials and from injured victims.

The commission is expected to hear testimony on Monday from Lavis predecessor as northern police commander, Alon Asur, and Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Sites.

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The government of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and haredi parties, which were at least partially involved in demanding unlimited attendance, had refused to establish a state commission of enquiry that would be free of political interference.

This was in contravention of the wishes of the majority of the families of the victims who said only a truly independent panel would be able to find who was responsible for the death of their loved ones and prevent such a disaster in the future.

Some of the haredi officials had advocated improved infrastructure in the past, but few had been ready to limit the number of attendees, and none of them wanted an inquiry that would point fingers at them.

While there had been some expectation that the coronavirus crisis would force the government to limit attendance, the first wave of vaccines was being administered.

The new government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett promptly endorsed a commission of inquiry. At the end of June, Supreme Court President Esther Hayut appointed a three-member panel to chair the Meron disaster commission of inquiry.

The commission is chaired by former chief justice Miriam Naor, and the other two members are Rabbi Mordechai Karlitz and IDF Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Shlomo Yanai.

Each of the commission members asked Lavi some hard questions on Sunday.

Yanai cited a 2017 police report that said no more than 9,000 people could be on the Meron site safely. But Lavi had allowed more than 25,000 people onto the site, he said.

Lavi responded with two main points.

First, the police had revised their view because the site had been enlarged since 2017, he said.

Second, every time he or his predecessors had tried to limit attendees and bonfires, and to increase safety measures, there was political and haredi pushback demanding that police would not interfere with how worshipers conduct themselves, he said.

Lavi seemed to say he was able to place limits on the number of bonfires despite political pressure, but he was less successful in limiting the number of attendees.

Former public security minister Amir Ohana and various religious figures pressed him to be more flexible, Lavi said.

Naor asked him what he would do differently in the future.

We need to restart everything about events at Meron, Lavi said. We need to change the location of the bonfires, the parking, to change everything. We need to pave streets and [build] infrastructure. The area is too small.

Naor asked him if he would agree to hold the Lag Baomer celebrations at Meron next year if major changes had not yet occurred.

Lavi said he would not and that a hard line must be taken for reforms and against political pressure that undermined public safety.

When the commissions members were announced, Hayut said a state inquiry of this kind would ensure independence from political considerations and restore public faith in the states handling of the issue.

Naor was picked due to her judicial stature and her experience handling highly complex matters, the government said in a statement.

Rabbi Karlitz was selected for having served as mayor of Bnei Brak and having experience in building and design issues, with the Meron events in general and with public policy and the haredi community regarding integration in the IDF.

Yanai was selected due to his expertise in logistical and planning issues, both during his service in the IDF and in the private sector since his retirement from the military.

Hayut said she had announced the inquiry on the 17th of Tamuz, a fast day commemorating the Roman breach of the walls of Jerusalem in 70 CE. She expressed hope that the Meron commission would counter that breach by restoring some positivity and stability to Israeli society.

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Top police official: Politicians refused to limit Meron attendance - The Jerusalem Post

The Jewish month of Elul is a time to do teshuva, or ask forgiveness for our sins of the previous year, with the intent of not repeating or continuing these same sins in the coming year. As we get into this mindset, we should reflect on a recent apology to children by the editor of Germanys Bild, the largest circulating newspaper in Europe:

To the millions of children in this country for whom our society is responsible, I want to express here what neither our government nor our Chancellor dares to tell you. We ask you to forgive us. Forgive us for this policy which, for a year and a half, has made you victims of violence, neglect, isolation and loneliness. Sorry for this policy and media coverage which, like poison, made you feel like you were a mortal danger to society. You are not a danger to society, dont believe this lie. Its up to us to protect you

Instead, we persuaded our children that they were going to murder their grandma if they dared to be what they are, children. Or if they met their friends. None of this has been scientifically proven. It was easy to force that on the kids, they cant defend themselves, and they dont vote. When a state steals the rights of a child, it must prove that by doing so it protects him against concrete and imminent danger. This proof has never been provided! It has been replaced by propaganda presenting the child as a vector of the pandemic. Those who wanted to contradict this propaganda were never invited to the expert table. Our policies would do better to open schools and sports halls rather than polling stations! Otherwise, they will have on their conscience and will leave in the history books a multitude of innocent souls.

Following the year and half we just experienced, this apology from a major media organization is nothing short of stunning. In fact, similar, if less explicit mea culpas have been penned in recent months by many other mainstream media organizations, including New York Magazine, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and others.

As the editor of Bild and others have pointed out, there is no data that demonstrates that isolating children, either through closing schools or restricting mingling with elders, has reduced the spread of the coronavirus. In a recent study, the UK Office of National Statistics actually found that there was no difference in communal spread whether schools were open or closed even during the Delta surge. These results echo the findings of dozens of other countries, including Chinese, Danish, and Finnish data published over 16 months ago. (For clarity, these results do not say that the disease does not spread in schools, but rather that the spread would be similar even if the schools were closed)

Yet, the damage to children has been extensive and catastrophic, relative to their specific risk from Covid itself. Children born during the pandemic have experienced reduced cognitive development, and their older peers have experienced similar educational losses. In poorer countries, deaths among children due to malnutrition and lack of access to basic medication has skyrocketed. And, while many in the upper middle classes of the Jewish world have been less affected, we should not be so naive as to think our children have come through this unharmed. Teens and young adults are facing psychological crises of epic proportions, drug and alcohol use by teens has risen, and suicide ideation by children has overwhelmed emergency rooms across the US.

Unlike the media outlets mentioned above, neither the leaders of the Jewish community at large nor the Israeli government, have expressed any regret for these actions. Rather, they continue to burden children with the guilt and responsibility of matters of life and death, while simultaneously excluding them from communal prayer and other major events with a punitive Green Pass system. The requirement that children be either vaccinated or prove themselves clean from disease on a daily basis, combined with limits on how many can attend any single event, means that children will again be largely excluded from participating in prayers on our holiest days.

Less than a century ago, Rabbinic leaders struggled with Jewish children who were losing their connection to the community. In response, they made Jewish education an absolute priority and tolerated bending Jewish law in ways to assure that the younger members of the community were not only included, but actively encouraged to grow into functioning and committed members of the Jewish world. The act of participating in the High Holiday prayers, with the entire community singing as one with recognizable tunes, has been a formative act in the lives of millions of Jewish children. This plays a part in why many of even the most secularized Jews still come to synagogue three days a year to feel the same connection to G-d and the community they felt as children. Yet, for the second year in a row, many in Israel and abroad are choosing to actively exclude children from this formative process, implying that it is simpler and safer for the older generation if the children do not attend. In Exodus, Pharoah offered a similar opportunity to Moses in Egypt, allowing the Jews to simply worship G-d in the desert without the hassle of children and the weaker elderly, yet Mosess reply is an emphatic BeNaarenu UVizkenenu Nelech with our young and vulnerable we go to worship G-d together as one nation. This sense of unity, and the importance of including every facet of our community, should be a driving force behind any religious policy decisions.

In the Talmud, Rav Ada Bar Ahava states:

A person who has a transgression in his hand, and he confesses but does not repent for his sin, to what is he comparable? To a person who holds in his hand a dead creeping animal, which renders one ritually impure by contact. As in this situation, even if he immerses in all the waters of the world to become pure, his immersion is ineffective for him, as long as the source of ritual impurity remains in his hand. However, if he has thrown the animal from his hand, once he has immersed in a ritual bath of forty sea, the immersion is immediately effective for him.

Standing in front of G-d, begging for forgiveness while simultaneously insisting on an ineffective Green Pass system that excludes children and others from participating in these prayers, may be akin to one who immerses themselves while holding onto an impure object. Approaching G-d who values honesty and humility in such a way seems entirely hypocritical. Our sincere motivation to save lives does not exempt us from distinguishing good strategy from bad, or ignoring the consequences, even if unintended or unanticipated. Real teshuvah requires an honest assessment of our actions and their consequences, and changing course accordingly.

Ahead of this coming High Holiday period, we should take a lesson from the editor of Bild, beseeching forgiveness from our children for the damage we have caused them over the past year and a half. We must also find a way to employ safety measures in our synagogues without sacrificing the full, unconditional and meaningful participation of the younger population.

Etan Golubtchik is an energy industry professional with a background in engineering and financial modeling. He made the decision to join the oil and gas industry after researching the issues involved, and is proud of the work he does to help bring affordable energy to modern society.

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Teshuvah with a Green Pass in Your Hand - The Times of Israel