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Join the Message Board It is strictly forbidden to moser [inform the civil authorities on] either a Jewish person or his property. One who mosers a Jewish person or his property has no share in the world to come. (Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 388) Quote: Jewish code snarls probe into Crown Heights attack BY LARRY McSHANE DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Friday, [...]

  RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: Jewish Ethical, Spiritual and Personal Considerations with Illness, Dying and Death     A friend asks:  I have a question.  Technology can make the experience of age differentdepending on your income level.  Is that new?  How would the Rambam have practiced medicine now?Another answered but didn't expound on the Rambam nor on Je

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: SEVEN SHEPHERDS OF THE OMER: RIBBIT : HETTER ISKA: ELEPHANTINE ISLAND, EGYPT JEWISH TEMPLE    Shalom:As always, one can post an answer by emailing spiritualrenewal@shamash.org  . If you want your name and email ''off'' or amended, just ask, and I will do so.At sundown tonight , Monday 5/12/08,  begins the 23 day of the Omer tak

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: YETZER HA RA: CHARACTER DEFECTS    The below is a posting from a member of the Jewish Spiritual Renewal Class of Hebrew College, Newton Centre, MA, USA via Shamash.Org. Following it, is a comment by Rabbi Arthur Segal. The member's last name has been eliminated and his email address has been redacted as per his request.    RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: YETZER HA RA: CHARACTER DEFECTS       POST FROM MARTY: ________SBC@AOL.COM. with a comment after by Rabbi Arthur Segal:   This  message  was originally  submitted  by  _____SBC@AOL.COM to  the SPIRITUALRENEWAL  list at  SHAMASH.ORG. You  can  approve it  using the&nbs

This is a follow up on the article about the Jewish teens who were taken hostage by a peaceful and tolerant muslim. Read the original post here WARSAW, Poland: Polish authorities charged the Kuwaiti ambassador’s son with briefly abducting three Jewish teenagers at a hotel and claiming he had a bomb, police said Tuesday. The 23-year-old son [...]

 RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: HE WHO CONDEMNS OTHERS, SEES IN THEM HIS OWN FAULTS: TALMUD KIDUSHIN 70A     Shalom and Yom Holedet Someach Israel (Happy Birthday, Israel....# 60!):   As always to post an answer, comment, question etc, email spiritualrenewal@shamash.org . If you want your name and email address redacted, just say so, and I shall delete it before posting.   Jews celebrate on June 8's eve, Shavuot, commemorating Moses receiving the Torah atop Mt. Sinai. It is 7 weeks from Passover. Shavuot is derived from the Hebrew word for 'seven.'   The sages teach that Sinai was chosen because it belonged to no nation so that the teachings in the Torah could belong to all humankind. The wh

A very disturbing event. CIVILIAN kids TARGETed by a terrorist. Warsaw: Jewish teens held captive A foreign man claiming he had a bomb briefly held three Jewish teenagers captive in their Polish hotel room Monday where they were staying for Holocaust commemoration ceremonies, police said. The three Brazilians - originally identified as Israelis - were pulled into [...]

The decision by the European Union to allow pig remains to be used to fed poltry has sparked an uproar of anger among Jewish and Muslim citizens of the EU. Both religious and animal rights activists argue the change would place families at risk, offend religious sensibilities, and lead to a major consumer backlash. There [...]

Fitna - The Jewish Response Bravo to the courageous creators of the film Fitna, which honestly exposes what the Koran teaches. Our beloved leader, Rabbi Meir Kahane, was murdered in cold blood for telling the truth about Islamic terrorism since the 1960s. In fact, the murder of the great Rabbi Kahane in 1990 was the [...]

 RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL; JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: THE GATES OF TESHUVAH ARE ALWAYS OPEN: KEDOSHIM     Shalom:   I hope each of your, and your family's, Passovers were sweet and spiritual.   For those who wish to comment, answer, question or post, email spiritualrenewal@shamash.org and if you wish your name and/or email address deleted, please just ask and I will do so.   We are into the 7 weeks preceding Shavuot, the holiday commemorating the Torah being giving to Moses and us on Mt. Sinai. During these 49 days, we immediately, on the eve of the first full day of Pesach, which would have been Sunday the 20th of April this year (2008), we begin counting the Omer. Shavuot will begin on the 8th of June in the evening this year.   Rav M. Weiman, a wonde

 RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: MEDITATION: CONSCIOUS CONTACT WITH GOD   Dear Chaverem:   Marco's question (below) about how we meditate and hear God is an important one. It is frankly what Jewish Spiritual Renewal  brings us to. It is part of developing a personal relationship with Ha Shem.   It is a question which I was planning to delve into much later in the class.   But let me touch on some salient points today.   As Jews we are a 'listening' people. The watch words of our faith are in the Shema, "Hear, O' Israel". When we all stood at Mt. Sinai listening to the Ten Utterances (Commandments) , we said ,"We will do, and we will listen." (na'aseh ve-ni'shema - Exodus 24:7)   But we have forgotten how to liste

For more than 1200 years, Jews and Muslims have lived together in Morocco and have cooperated in the development of its physical and cultural wealth and development of its artistic wonders. This site is devoted to illustration and the dissemination of Jewish culture in MoroccoJewish Wedding in Moroccointends to give evidence of this cooperation and the interweaving of men and sensitivities and to

The JTA talks about some good news for religious Jews living in central America: MANAGUA, Nicaragua (JTA) – After 28 years without a Torah scroll, Nicaraguan Jews joyously welcomed a new Torah in a ceremony community members say helped rekindle the Jewish spirit in this turbulent Central American country. The morning after Sunday's ceremony, the Torah was used for the first time in a minyan, at

 RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: WORRY AS AN AFFRONT TO GOD   Shalom and again Chag Somaech:   I hope your Seders were marvelous and filled with signs and wonders with family and friends.   Again, to post a reply, comment or answer, just email SpiritualRenewal@shamash.org   and state if you want your name and email deleted before its sent to the rest of the class.   In Psalm 32:2 we read: "Fortunate is the person to whom God imputes no iniquity"  The sages said that the verse lends itself to another translation: "Fortunate is the person who considers every moment he does not think of God, to be an iniquity."   What the sages were teaching, that as spiritual Jews, one tries to have a conscious contact with Go

Its not just any old bread tho. Its of the Jewish Matzah type with a lovely gold embroidered phrase from Moses on the top. “Let My People Go”. That will give people something to think about when they go for a poo. Theres obviously a market for this! Product Link via

(via Huffington Post) Video: Quote: At last, at long last. There will be a hard money lobby in Washington that represents progressives on Israel/Palestine issues, that lobbies for Israeli/Palestinian peace, that acts as a counterweight to AIPAC. (Snip!) Unlike the existing groups, this group will actually support candidates for office. Right now, they are taking nominations for who they should support in the fall. Make the best case that your favored candidate will work to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace. That's exactly the dynamic we need: candidates competing to do the most to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace, as opposed to competing to do the opposite. There is no time like the present. This week, former President Carter is meeting with the exiled leader of Hamas

How would the rest of the Islamic world feel if Iran burned 7 Mosques to the ground for the purposes of “renovation”? Tehran, 15 April (AKI) - Seven ancient synagogues in the Iranian capital, Tehran, have been destroyed by local authorities. The synagogues were in the Oudlajan suburb of Tehran, where many Iranian Jews used to live. “These [...]

According to reports David and Victoria Beckham are sending their son Cruz who is 3 to an exclusive Jewish school in the US Last week David and Victoria met the staff at a top private nursery which is attached to a Jewish temple in LA. A source said that “There’s no plan for Cruz to be [...]

David and Victoria Beckham are sending son to an exclusive Jewish school in the USA. Last week they met staff at a top private nursery attached to a Jewish temple in LA. David Beckham spent the whole... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The New Jewish Baby Book: Names Ceremonies Customs a Guide for Today’s Families (Paperback)By Anita Diamant 67 used and new from $0.01 Customer Rating: First tagged “parenting” by Tammie R. Hersh Customer [...]

  Shalom and Chag Sameach and Happy Passover!   As always, for those who wish to post, send an email to spiritualrenewal@shamash.org . If you want YOUR email left off, please say so, and I will remove it, before posting it. I will do the same with names.   If you are forwarding this to friends, and they wish to sign up, all they need do is to email listserv@shamash.org (no 'e' in serv) and write in the body, with nothing in the subject, 'SUBSCRIBE SPIRITUALRENEWAL your name." "Your name", can be an avatar of two words, or simply the word 'anonymous'. The computer needs something. This class from Hebrew College, outside of Boston, MA, USA, is 100% free to audit and participate in.   Ok. So let us begin.   All of us, in our lives, at one time or another,

The Article: Reverend Eric Lee’s Anti-Semitism: A Personal Story [video] (via Pajamas Media)   On April 4, 2008, at a Los Angeles event commemorating the assassination of Martin Luther King, the African-American fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi gave Israeli-American Daphna Ziman its Tom Bradley Award for community service. Then the event's keynote speaker, Reverend Eric Lee, turned to Ms. Ziman and launched an anti-Semitic diatribe. Roger L. Simon interviewed Ms. Ziman.   Watch this Video:     That's the saddest thing I have ever had to watch. I think Senator Barack Obama needs to publicly condemn this, there's just no call for it. I look for this to be the big story in the next couple of days.   Update: Thankfully, this is being picked up, several B

That’s right, JEWISH refugees. The Jews who were run out of Arab countries, by those tolerant peaceful muslims, after the UN created (or rather, GAVE BACK WHAT WAS RIGHTFULLY THEIRS TO BEGIN WITH) Israel in 1948. All the media ever harps on about is the Arabs who left Israel (which they previously invaded and occupied [...]

Nice sign, huh? Spread the Good News. Anyway, we’ve been talking lately about whether or not Christians are in some way special in the eyes of God – if one must be a Christian in order to be ‘saved’ from damnation or at least from missing out on heaven. Amy-Jill Levine, a Jewish scholar of [...]

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH SPIRITUALITY: 'TOPLESS JEWS'   Dear Reader: From one of my students, in Brazil : Marco:    Shalom:I apologize if my English is not as eloquent as Rabbi Riemer's below post. It  is not my first tongue. My rabbi's wife has helped shape this for me.I read the below and many thoughts came to my head from my reading and my  studies with my rabbi-teacher Dr Rabbi Arthur Segal this past year.I remember the story in the Talmud of the two young boys asked, to see if  they were able to participate in a minyon, where God is.One pointed up to the ceiling, and the other went outside and pointed up to  the heavens.Both where considered by the head rabbis to understand the concept of Who  we worship and eventually became famous r

The American Thinker reports that Congress is set to vote on an important issue that's been long ignored, in contrast to that of the Arab "refugees" whose own rejected them for the purpose of using them as a tool against the state of Israel. The issue in focus here is Jewish refugees who'd been driven out of Arab lands at the time of the 1940s. Justice For Jews (via Point of No Return) is

 RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: INVITATION to the Jewish Spiritual Renewal Mailing List Class of Hebrew College, via Shamash.Org   Our Spiritual Renewal Seminar via Torah and Talmud study and honestsharing is designed for Jews of all backgrounds and educationlevels, especially modern Jews, searching for Jewish meaning intheir lives. We meet on-line weekly with a d'var Torah withTalmudic references, to help us develop a spiritual awakening,and live a life that is happy, joyous and free. There is no costand Rabbi Segal is available for guidance and motivation.   This class is hosted by Hebrew College of Newton Centre, MA, USA,via their computer based Shamash: The Jewish Network. To join this class, which is free, send an email to LISTSERV@SHAMASH.ORG.(note there is no 'e' in 's

Just this morning I was thinking that there was a growing consensus that Samanta Power was right, even if politically indiscrete, in calling Hillary Clinton a monster and therefore it  may be time for her to return. As I mentioned yesterday,Clinton is now being compared to Tonya Harding. After alienating many black voters with the [...]

Digital ID: cph 3b22239 Source: b&w film copy neg. Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-74996 (b&w film copy neg.) Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieve uncompressed archival TIFF version (1,524 kilobytes)TITLE: The Jewish passover of 1858. CALL NUMBER: Illus. in AP2.L52 1858 (Case Y) [P&P] REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62-74996 (b&w film copy neg.) RIGHTS INFORMATION: No known restrictions on publication.SUMMARY: 2 illustrations of kosher bakery, Chatham St., N.Y.C. 1. General view of preparing an dbaking metzoth, the unleavened bread for the passover; 2. Weighing an kneading of the flour in presence of the Rabbi. MEDIUM: 1 print : wood engraving. CREATED, PUBLISHED: 1858.NOTES: Illus. in: Frank Leslie's Illustra

While reading an interesting post at Mike's Weekly Skeptic Rant, I had an interesting thought I'd like to share. The atheist blogosphere is filled with criticism for the Christian right, and Christian extremism is increasingly recognized as a pox on American society. So how come we almost never hear about Jewish extremism? I'm not just talking about the mainstream media here but about what you'll find on atheist blogs, including this one.Frankly, Jewish extremism is something about which I devoted little thought. Maybe it is because I have never personally come in contact with a Jewish extremist. I have probably been more than casual acquaintances with no more than five Jewish people to this point in my life. Where I grew up, there simply was no Jewish presence. I met my first Jewish frien

Nazi Restrictions on the Jews of Prague & The Role of the Jewish Community Council  [Guest publication by Holocaust Survivor Frank "Brichta" Bright]     Adolf Hitler reviews his troops at Prague castle on      March 15, 1939 The rules, orders, prohibitions and restrictions with which the Jewish population had to comply are shown in the sequence shown on the original pages, i.e. they are not always in chronological order.   The following represents only a small fraction of the total number of prohibitions, restrictions, confiscations and humiliations Jews had to endure before their deportation to the Final Solution.   Dates are shown in the order: day, month, year. Words are shown in bold lettering where they are thus shown in th

Happy Purim!!   I am writing this as my fast for the fast of Esther is almost concluded as I will soon break-the-fast and make my way to Synagogue to fulfil one of the five mitzvoth of Purim, to hear the Megillah of Esther being read. We all know of Purim. But do we know of the Holiday of Nicanor, which for a time was more important than Purim to the Jewish people? Read on to learn, please.   The fast of Esther is on the 13th of Adar and unlike  most of our holidays and holy days, this fast does not start at sundown the evening before the day. It started at dawn today. And it ends at sundown of the day of 13th. Of course, we understand, that when sundown comes on the 13th, the 14th of Adar begins, and hence Purim begins.   The Fast of

So my very favorite #1 fan wrote me an email earlier and asked me to send him pictures of myself in my camo bikini (they are on the way, *wink wink*) and also if I could please point him to my very first post.I was so flattered but then I remembered why I took my whole "Offensive Archive" down!!You see, The Offended Blogger started out not as a humor blog, but as a political and social commentary blog.That's right!!Believe it or not, I wasn't always this funny. ;)Actually, my original goal with this blog was simply to point out just how offended and offensive our little planet was. I would scour the online newspapers daily looking for 'offenses' from all over the world, and sometimes I would find so many it made my eyes bleed!On a good (or rather, bad) day, I would blog upwards of 20 or mo

Women (and men!) who have Type 1 Diabetes and are planning on attending full-time any public or private undergraduate school in the United States are eligible to apply. The primary considerations for this award are outstanding service to the diabetes community, promotion of diabetes awareness in the community, or having overcome personal obstacles related to your diabetes, academic achievement, essays, and recommendations.Contact Lilly For Learning, Diabetes Scholarship Program, Eli Lilly and Company, Lilly Corporate Center, Drop Code 1625, Indianapolis, IN 46285; 800-88LILLY; {www.lilly.comJdiabetes.scholarship/index.htm} .

In Poland, hundreds of Jews have commemorated the German businessman who saved many Jews from the Holocaust. On the the 65th anniversary of the destruction of the Krakow ghetto, a march has taken place between the site of the former ghetto to the suburb of Plaszow; once the scene of a German labour camp. The occupying Germans gunned down many ghetto residents and herded its survivors into the

Britney Spears had her Hebrew tatoos removed recently…unless she’s wearing cover up. Not sure why she even had a Hebrew tatoo, I’m pretty sure she’s not Jewish and according to my research (cartoons), only Jewish people can read Hebrew. They also have big noses and are good with money. It’s amazing what you learn on

The annual Jewish Christian Muslim Association conference is coming up and now is the time to apply. It’s for both women and men, and is being held May 26 to May 29 in Millgrove (near Warburton, I had to look it up I will confess). The JCMA conferences are wonderful opportunities to engage in interfaith dialogue [...]

For the second time in the past several months, there have been a string of assaults on members of the Orthodox Jewish community in southern Oakland County, prompting residents to once again meet with city officials to formulate a plan to stop the attacks.Police said they believe teens committed the assaults, but no one has been arrested in either community. The incidents have prompted police in both cities to increase patrols in neighborhoods with heavy Orthodox populations.Southfield Police Chief Joseph Thomas said there's no indication that the assaults last week were hate crimes, but added that the violent behavior has the department concerned.

I did not write anything about it yesterday because I did not have enough information , but today it is more clearer to me. To be honest I was surprised to know that the Hezbollah's channel Al Manar declared that the Militia of Emad Mughniyeh is responsible for the shooting . The surprise came from the fact that the Jewish Seminary school is in the west Bank of Jerusalem, if Hezbollah was behind that operation then it reached to the heart of Israel. To be honest I do not like nor welcome this sort of operations that targets religious civilians people even if they were radical Jews who want to kill all Muslims and blow up our holy mosques to the build their temple , it is prohibited in Islam to kill a religious holyman , also this sort of operation will give the Zionist media in the world

Blood-thirsty bastards… News.com THE Palestinian Hamas movement hailed a deadly attack on a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem tonight as “heroic,” without claiming responsibility for the strike that killed eight people. “This heroic attack in Jerusalem is a normal response to the crimes of the occupier and its murder of civilians,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said. The [...]

Nachum Remba    Nachum Remba Nachum Remba was born in Kolna, Poland in 1910, into a prominent Zionist family, Remba spent most of his adult life as a communal worker. Prior to the Nazi invasion of Poland in September 1939, Remba was the secretary of the education department of the Warsaw Kehililla, the official administrative body of the Warsaw Jewish community.  Although himself an employee of the Warsaw Judenrat, he did not hesitate to join a committee to combat corrupt Judenrat practices and he secretly organised some of the Judenrat employees into an association of which he was chairman.   During the initial phase of the mass deportation of the Jews of Warsaw Nachum Remba established a “First Aid Station,” right next to the Umschlagplatz, which was the col

  I am attracted to a shirt that is full of prints. Especially when these prints have their sense or an attitude, with a good design that really catches one’s attention in a crowd. As I hopped to this site that is the shalomshirts.com that offers Jewish t-shirt online, I see this shirt well even if [...]

 RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: BERACHA HA GOMEL: JEWISH PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING   Monday, February 25, 2008   In Vayikra (Leviticus) 7:11-12 we read "This is the law of the zevach shlamim, peace offering, that one will bring to God when he brings it as a thanksgiving offering." According to Rashi, of circa 1000 years ago, one brings the offering ''regarding a matter of thanksgiving for a miraculous act which occurred to him such as if he returned from a sea voyage, crossed the desert, was healed from an illness or emerged from priso

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: TORAH COMPENDIUM: TORAH PORTIONS: PARASHA: JEWISH HOLIDAYS A COMPENDIUM TO THE TORAH FROM AN ETHICAL SPRITUAL AND RENEWAL JUDAIC POINT OF VIEW, DRAWING ON TALMUDIC, MIDRASHIC, AND RABBINIC REFERENCES  FROM POST TALMUDIC TO MODERN TIMES. TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE EVERY PARASHA, [TORAH PORTION] FOR THE FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES [CHUMASH] CLICK ON THE BLUE VERBIAGE FOR THE ONE OF THE FIVE BOOKS YOU WISH,(HINT: THE FIRST LINE OF THE BLUE WORDS ON THE YELLOW BACKGROUND ARE THE LINK, WHILE THE OTHERS WORDS, SEEM TO NOT LINK ONE ANYWHERE), AND A HYPERLINK WILL APPEAR. THEN CLICK ON THAT, AND YOU WILL BE TAKEN TO CHUMASH CANDESCENCE  OF RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL, AND THEN CLICK ON ANY PARASHA YOU WISH TO READ AND STUDY. HINT: CLICK ON THE TOP LINE OF THE BLUE ON

Parents with a laundry list of questions regarding Jewish camping may find answers at www.jewishcamping.org - the website of the Foundation for Jewish Camping (FJC) - the central address for the field of Jewish summer camps in North America.With a constituency of over 130 non-profit overnight Jewish summer camps, the FJC serves as a catalyst for growing the Jewish camping system. It has moved the importance of the Jewish summer camp experience to the forefront of the Jewish community’s agenda.Through its programs and consultation, the non-profit organization encourages and assists with the expansion of existing Jewish camps and the development of new ones.

Question:  If the Gospels are literary fictions, can you give us any other examples of a fictitious narrative written by Hellenized Jews to reflect reinterpretation of scripture with Greek influence?   Atheist Answer   ANSWER FROM ROOK HAWKINS: Yes. There are quite a few examples I could give, but because I’m short on time because my book demands so much from me, I’ll use the most simple example with the most groupings I can list without having to go into a whole lot of details. The book of Tobit. Tobit is, for lack of a better way to put it, edifying fictions. The story uses very specific literary motifs and tropes, as well as Greek folklore (the dangerous bride, the greatful dead, etc…). Nothing in this story is meant to be taken as historical narrative. I’ll lay

The man who'd bought the "Peace House" in Hevron is speaking out and is angry that the government is acting as though it were an invasion: (IsraelNN.com) The man who purchased the Hevron Peace House from its Arab owner lost his patience with government claims that its residents are living there illegally, and spoke out this week to confirm that the sale was conducted legally. The buyer is a

This is based on the my memory and is completely true. Unexplained but true. Way back when I was a young lad I went with my family to a Christmas “party” and my neighbors on Christy Drive in Phoenix, Arizona. I do not remember the party but I do specifically remember the events after the party. I can’t remember how old I was but I distinctly remember looking up in the sky and seeing Santa’s sleigh. Not a small speck in the dark night sky but it was right over my house, full in size and bright red with gold trim. There were no reindeer or Santa himself, just the giant red sleigh hovering above my house. I remember blinking a few times and pointing it out to my three older sisters who reacted with confusion and awe. Think about it, we are Jews programmed to be anti-santa and suddenly right above us his is sleigh. How would you feel? My parents shuffled us into the house and sent us to bed. In the morning was the largest pile of presents I have ever seen. I got ev

According to official German websites, the Jewish population in Germany has tripled in the past decade, especially thanks to a large wave of immigration from past Soviet countries, but is still only one fifth of what it used to be before the Second World War. The Jewish community (at least the registered one) in Berlin [...]

The Jewish Museum in Berlin is a very impressive museum. The building itself, designed by the famous American architect Daniel Libeskind, is something worth seeing. The permanent exhibition is interesting, some parts of it very impressive, even overwhelming. And as if that’s not enough, they also present excellent special (changing) exhibitions.

The Jewish Museum in Berlin is a very impressive museum. The building itself, designed by the famous American architect Daniel Libeskind, is something worth seeing. The permanent exhibition is interesting, some parts of it very impressive, even overwhelming. And as if that’s not enough, they also present excellent special (changing) exhibitions.

Heroes of IsraelFlickr Photo by: templar1307.The phrase "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" is often used by lazy minds to make moral equivalencies where none exist. You might as well say, "One man's beef is another man's chicken." This last would only be true if you had lousy taste buds or a sloppy dictionary. When the historical expert Mos Def was last on the Bill Maher show he said, "You know, when the Revolutionary War was going on, George Washington and all them dudes was terrorists...". Of course, Mos Def confuses treason with terrorism. As far as the King was concerned, George Washington and his fellow separatists were traitors, not terrorists since the Continental army never attacked civilians, as far as I know, to achieve their political ends. And since Mos Def gets his info from the local barbershop, it is unlikely he ever read the pamphlets of Thomas Paine or he would have read the arguments for separation from England were based on reason and the ri

Due to a lot of confusion out there in regards to the role of a Jew in exile, there is a need to be specific about what should otherwise be considered obvious. An American Jew is and should be loyal to America first before the State of Israel; the same goes from each Jew of whichever particular nation he lives in. As the Talmud phrases it: "The Law of the Land (you dwell in) is the Law." If a Jew finds this concept confusing he should move to Israel. Because God dispersed his people throughout the world to spread His Glory, not to desecrate it by disloyalty to their homeland or any other sinful pursuits. A truly religious American Jew should place America before Israel if he wants to remain truly religious.A Jew's connection to the people of Israel and the Holy Land, however, is connected

Sometimes religion and politics do mix and in some places in the world, they have no choice but to. Jerusalem is such a place. The generally held belief, however, of Jerusalem being equally holy to three religions is simply not true.Unlike other faiths, Judaism has but one religious center in the world, and that place has remained so for some 3000 years. Jerusalem.Whereas Christianity moved its religious seat from Jerusalem to "New Jerusalem" (aka, Rome) to "New Rome" (aka Constantinople/Istanbul) and so on, Judaism is under Biblical directives to never exchange its religious seat for any other.Time and place have such profound meaning in Judaism.And Islam does not embrace Jerusalem but rejects it for Mecca and Medina.Therefore, the question of retention of Jerusalem in Israeli sovereignt

Jewish Music Old & NewSpin The Globe playlist for 7 December 2007This week's show romped through the Jewish world in the first hour, from traditional klezmer tunes to the constructed hip hop beats of Socalled, and much in between. Got a call from Elizabeth Schwartz during the show, and she's right: there were too few women musicians represented. Sorry about that, and I pledge to do better. But what's done is done, and what was done was this:hour 1 David Krakauer - Moskovitz and Loops of It - Bubbemeises Red Hot Chachkas - Sha! - Spice It Up Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band - The Medyatsiner Waltz / The Minsker Corporal's Waltz - The Flower of Berezin Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi - Kalarasher Bulgar - Moldova - Borsht with Bread, Brothers Golem - Belz - Homesick Songs Socalled - (Rock the) Belz - Ghettoblaster Frank London's Klezmer Brass AllStars - Shish Kebab - Brotherhood of Brass

Program Scholarship:Butrimovitz Family Endowment Fund for Jewish EducationVivienne Camp College Scholarship FundMiriam S. Grunfield Scholarship FundJacob Rassen Memorial ScholarshipHenry and Tilda Shuler Scholarship Fund for Young PeopleAnna and Charles Stockwitz Children and Youth FundZisovich Jewish Studies Scholarship Fund to teach the HolocaustButrimovitz Family Endowment Fund for Jewish Education(Undergraduate/Scholarship)Purpose: Must be Jewish resident of San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin, or Sonoma county. Scholarships for individuals in need who wish to pursue traditional Jewish education in context of a Jewish day school, undergraduate, or graduate school setting. For more details and an application see Web site: Qualif.: Applicant must be: 13-17 years old. High school students no

Something that was not revealed until after Annapolis, and it should be noted that American tax dollars helped to fund these kind of monsters: Palestinian policemen confessed to killing Ido Zoldan, 29, a father of two from the settlement of Shavei Shomron, in a drive-by shooting last week, the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) revealed Sunday night. Zoldan was killed the night before the

Howdy Folks! For today's post, I want to tell you all about a new cookbook I just finished reading yesterday.To me, cooking will always be a celebration of family traditions that come to life each time we prepare food.  A good example of what I'm talking about can be found in Judy Bart Kancigor's Cooking Jewish:  532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family (Workman Publishing, 2007).

A new political movement has just been formed: (IsraelNN.com) The New Jewish Congress was launched in Jerusalem on Tuesday - the same day as the Annapolis summit, whose defeatism it seeks to fight. Organizations, speakers and supporters from across the spectrum of nationalist, right-wing and religious thought were present at the Renaissance Jerusalem Hotel to take part in the opening sessions.

A New York judge is presiding over the divorce proceedings of a Jewish couple. When the final papers have been signed and the divorce is complete the woman thanks the judge and says "Now I have to arrange for a GHET".The judge inquires what she means by a Ghet. So, the woman explains that a Ghet is a religious ceremony required under the Jewish religion in order to receive a divorce recognized by the Jewish faith.The judge says, "You mean a religious ceremony like a Bris?" (Circumcision)She replies. "Yes, very similar, only in this case you get rid of the entire prick!"

1,400 police deploy but fail to stop rival demonstrators from fightingNeo-Nazis trying to march through the Jewish quarter of Prague on Saturday clashed with groups trying to stop them, and at least 80 people were arrested in outbreaks of violence around the capital.Police seized weapons including a gas gun, axes and sticks as the extremists tried to reach the Jewish quarter, police spokesman Ladislav Bernasek said. At least six people, including one policeman, suffered head injuries, said Prague rescue service spokeswoman Jirina Ernestova.The march was scheduled a day after the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night in 1938 when the Nazis attacked synagogues and Jewish homes and businesses throughout Germany and parts of Austria. Authorities banned the march, and about 1,400 police were deployed in the capital, including riot police and officers on horses to prevent it. Equipped with armored vehicles and water cannons, they sealed off most of the historic Jewish quarter.In a major cl

The Jewish Reconnection Project is spearheaded by Todd Schechter.Todd said, "The video is the first in a web-only mini series I produced called the Jewish Reconnection Project. It shows young Jews in New York and Jerusalem talking to each other and sharing how their Judaism affects their lives. It's meant to give viewers a sense of the diversity of Jews around the world and to let college age people express their own ideas about Judaism. Ultimately, we hope that helping disparate groups of Jews understand each other will make for a stronger, healthier Jewish community. New episodes will come out every Wednesday for the next six weeks."It's a six part series that you can view on their site or over at YouTube (links below). I've posted the first installment Chance for Peace. The other installments are Morally Damaged, Our Promised Land, Jewish Enough, Necessary Criteria and A Place to Call Home. I watched the videos (5-6 minutes a pop. Ya'can't spare a half-hour?) I'm joining the S

Jewish Assimilation into Greek Culture By Rook Hawkins Recently, I published several blogs on the mythicist position. One was in response to the recent occult-like followers of Acharya S on the radical claim of hers that both Krishna and Buddha had established some sort of influence on the development of the Jesus mythos. Why this is near impossible has already been discussed in that blog, and thee are other threads dealing with said topic in my Jesus Mythicist Campaign forum, and won’t be touched on much more in this entry. However, with the recent blog to Rick Hillegas who published in American Atheist magazine recently, I felt it necessary to explain what counts as credible acculturation and socio-cultural assimilation.read more

After much soul searching and political pressure, Israel has decided not to cut off electricity to Gaza in response to kassam attacks. Yet again Israel's attempt to thwart the peace process didn't work (Or as the BBC would say 'Attacks won't get in the way of the peace process).The idea of supplying the enemy with electricity to power their bomb factories reminds me of a piece from Tomer Devorah, which I hope to blog about tomorrow (if I am awake enough).Another interesting quote from Yossi Beilin, who claims that cutting off the electricity would have been "un-Jewish". From the Jerusalem PostIn response, Meretz Chairman Yossi Beilin claimed that cutting off electricity and fuel was not the best way to halt rocket attacks from the Strip."Former prime minister Ariel Sharon's biggest mistake was to allow Hamas participation in the Palestinian elections. We must arrive - via indirect means - at a cease-fire agreement with Hamas," he said. "They approached us, but we weren't interest

This weekend, on November 4, 2007, will be the 5th Annual Jewish Food Festival at the Levite Jewish Community Center in Birmingham, Alabama.What a great opportunity to see, experience, and taste some different things from a culture that may not be your own! This years festival will have shopping, entertainment, and food to enjoy. You can check the menu in advance to plan ahead.Birmingham, Alabama has a lot of different food festivals that give us many opportunites to see, taste, and learn about the different cultures that make Birmingham such a rich and diverse area.To get more information please visit thier site about the Jewish Food Festival.For directions please see the map below. View Larger Map

Just when you thought that finding that ideal match would be an easy procedure. Guess again. Little do most single Jewish people understand the tips and advice that is required in converting that first date into a lasting relationship. (more…)

Sayings of the Jewish BuddhistIf there is no self, whose arthritis is this?Be here now.Be someplace else later.Is that so complicated?Drink tea and nourish life;with the first sip, joy;with the second sip, satisfaction;with the third sip, peace;with the fourth, a Danish.Wherever you go, there you are.Your luggage is another story.Accept misfortune as a blessing.Do not wish for perfect health, or a life without problems.What would you talk about?Zen is not easy.It takes effort to attain nothingness.And then what do you have?Bupkis.The Tao does not speak.The Tao does not blame.The Tao does not take sides.The Tao has no expectations.The Tao demands nothing of others.The Tao is not Jewish.Breathe in.Breathe out.Breathe in.Breathe out.Forget this and attaining Enlightenment will be the least of your problems.Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers.Each flower blossoms ten thousand times.Each blossom has ten thousand petals.You might want to see a specialist.Be aware of your body.Be aware o

By: Avram Z With thousands of men finding romance (and more!) online, Jewish Matchmaking services seem to be popping up everywhere! But do they really help you find women?Well first, you may be thinking, "What is the difference between Online Matchmaking and Online Dating?" Good question. And the line is often blurred.The best distinction I've heard, is that matchmaking has marriage as a definite "end goal". Whereas dating has more flexible goals (starting new relationships, finding sexual partners, or yes, even "playing the field"). But people who use a Dating Service, often wind up "pairing off" anyways - so the distinction really doesn't exist.Even more confusing for you, is the fact that there are many types of services who claim to be "matchmakers": singles publications, speed dating events, private matchmakers, and now, even some "social networking sites". So let's clear up some of the confusion, by looking at how Matchmaking works (online and offline).Historically, the Jewish

As if Richard Dawkins wasn't controversial enough, he has now been quoted as saying,When you think about how fantastically successful the Jewish lobby has been, though, in fact, they are less numerous I am told -- religious Jews anyway -- than atheists and [yet they] more or less monopolize American foreign policy as far as many people can see.Not surprisingly, this is quickly becoming a hot topic throughout the blogosphere. The outrage has began, anti-Semitism has been suggested, and I predict Dawkins will be called a Nazi by the middle of next week.Tags: Richard Dawkins, Jewish lobby, America, atheist

I had a phone call a couple of days ago from someone who was in a bookshop, trying to decide what to buy (thanks Vivi). Which led me to think about which books would make a basic Jewish library, and which every Jewish home should have. Of course, for me now Rabbeinu Yonah on Pirkei Avos is top of the list. But what else should every home have?I'm thinking only of English books at the moment. Here is my list. What else would you add?Essential Jewish LibraryBasic Introductory Books about Judaism:To Be a Jew: A Guide to Jewish Observance in Contemporary Life by Hayim Halevy DoninNine Questions People Ask About Judaism by Dennis PragerThis Is My God by Herman WoukBasic Jewish (Synagogue) SurvivalSiddur. Every Jewish home should have at least one siddur (prayerbook). There are many good English/Hebrew siddurim around. The first thing you have to know is which ‘nusach’ you need. The three main choices are Ashkenaz (Jews of European origin), Sefard (Used by Chasidim – not to be confuse

Great minds do not come from Genetics. If it did, we would have heard great things from Albert Einstein, Jr. and all the other Jr's of geniuses from our past. Who knows if Einstein's entire genius did not come from a simple observation when he was 5 years old: Albert's father showed him a pocket compass. Albert then realized that that some force in empty space was moving the needle. A recent article about some scary future possibilities lends the first half of the title to my present post:TCS Daily, 2 Oct 2007,A Thousand Chinese Einsteins Every YearHumankind may be changed radically by the recently developed technique allowing the safe gathering of thousands of immature eggs from a woman's ovarian tissue. This technique combined with cheap DNA sequencing and embryo selection will soon allow parents to multiply their newborn children's intellectual potential. ... Embryo selection gets even more interesting when we consider how a nation such as China might use it. Imagine that

I mentioned last time the news of Israel's electric company, regarding its new initiative to recruit 150 new non-Jewish workers to work on the Holy Sabbath and other sacred holidays. Another news flash I heard this week reported a conversion program in the IDF, in which converts to Judaism are not only taught about the Jewish Code of Law, but also of various aspects of everyday life in Israel and basics of Israeli culture (songs of Naomi Shemer were mentioned as an example, of particular interest to me, but I'll discuss this on another occasion).The thought of hiring non-Jews in order to physically maintain a Jewish state seems untenable to me first of all from the Halakhic point of view. If there is a problem with Jews working on the Sabbath in order to produce electricity, I would expect all observant Jews in Israel to refrain from using electricity at all until this problem was solved. However, for decades orthodox Jews have enjoyed electricity with the use of the "Shabbos Clock"

As desperate as State is for translators, that won't hire Jews that speak Arabic. (YidwithLid, via Tomorrow War.)According to Israel National News. The US State Department was funding a business training course for middle east residents, run by the University of California (no surprise there). This program was initially open to citizens of "Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel (limited to Israeli Arab citizens), Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, West Bank/Gaza and Yemen."On the other hand:"Israeli-made bullets bought by the U.S. Army to plug a shortfall should be used for training only, not to fight Muslim guerrillas in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. lawmakers told Army generals on Thursday."(Useful Fools, via Tomorrow War.)

Is online dating safe, you ask. Aren't the online dating sites made up entirely of perverts, sexual predators and weirdoes in assorted shapes and sizes? Well, the answer is, no they aren't. Not anymore anyway.That was true when online dating first came on the scene but now it is mainstream. It's as safe as as long as you are using common sense and sound judgment. Use the same caution that you would when meeting any stranger. Don't give your real name, address or phone number until you feel safe doing so. Don't rush into a face-to-face meeting until you are confident and then make the first meeting in a public place and during daylight hours. Nowadays, dating sites have gone niche too. For instance, you have jewish dating sites where jewish singles meet and mingle since they share common interests with each other. Jewish personals can display their photos and profiles on the sites to provide brief info about themselves. I believe this important piece of information will determine t

In 1866, Richmond was reeling from the devastation brought about by the Civil War. Congress paid for the burial of Union troops, but the thousands of Confederate soldiers who died near Richmond were left as the responsibility of the civilian population. Concerned that members of their faith that fought for the South not be neglected, the ladies of Richmond’s Jewish Community rose to the occasion. WCVE Public Radios’ Peter Solomon reports.

The Jaunt would like to direct your attention to a particular guy who has managed to spin a very simple -- yet downright brilliant -- college football tour concept into an ongoing feature on "SI On Campus." The guy is Dan Rubenstein who began an independently-funded tour last season of PAC-10 schools. This time around, Dan's hard work ...wait, wait...who the hell am I kidding? The dude goes to several college football campuses, campusi, campusees and gets to booze it up at legendary tailgating venues, mingle with sexy; drunken co-eds and kick it with the potty-mouthed; cabbage-scented elderly. No hard work at all, really. But at any rate, his entertaining scoop ability now has a big brother slapping down the dollars for his weekend outings. Good for him!You can watch his latest episode which took place at Penn State this past Saturday. Also, here is the accompanying write-up detailing his experience. Hope you had fun, Dan. They don't call it "Beaver Stadium" because it's named after

Believers love to insist that they are given a bad name by extremist fringe groups and that it is not fair to generalize from such groups to the larger community of believers. Okay, then what are we to do when a particularly influential and widely admired religious leader puts his foot in his mouth?Ovadia Yosef, described as "a highly respected religious scholar among Jews of Middle Eastern descent," has made controversial statements to the effect that Israeli soldiers were killed in battle because they were not sufficiently religious. It is nice to know that the Jewish community has their own Pat Robertson!"Is it any wonder if, heaven forbid, soldiers are killed in a war?" he said, "when they don't observe the Sabbath, they don't observe the Torah, they don't pray every day, they don't put on phylacteries every day. Is it any wonder that they're killed? It's no wonder."With the focus of America squarely on Islamic extremism and the focus of this blog on Christian extremism, one

Prime Minister Olmert’s decision to deport hundreds of refugees from the Sudan and to bar any more from entering Israel was met with vigorous dissent by leading American Jewish leaders. Rep. Rahm Emanuel sent a sharp letter of rebuke to Israel’s ambassador to the United States: “I am writing today to express my disappointment [...]

Here's a press release I got from Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Steve Rabinowitz Tami Holzman Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications Thursday August 30, 2007 Phone: 202-265-3000 Leslie Bernstein Phone: 202.422.6580 Top-Ranked Israeli Tennis Duo Announces Creation of Jewish Sports Foundation FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY – Two of the world’s leading tennis players have formed

Last month Israel's parliament overwhelmingly endorsed the first stage of a bill which would formally allow the JNF to continue its established practice of barring non-Jews from leasing land and housing held in its name - 13 per cent of the area of Israel, much of it now prime real estate. The Knesset bill has led to renewed accusations both in Israel and abroad that the JNF denies Israel's 20 per cent Arab minority access to what is in practice state land. Under the headline "A Racist Jewish State" an editorial in the center-left Israeli newspaper Haaretz wrote that "the Jewish National Fund's land policy counters the interests of the state and cannot discriminate by law against the minority living in Israel.

The Nazi SS had a "mascot" back during the World War II days - a 6-year-old orphaned boy who was pictured in newsreels of the time as "the Reich's youngest Nazi," and even paraded before the Führer who hailed him as an upstanding example to German youth. There was just one tiny snag in this cozy little tale: The boy, named Alex Kurzem, happened to be Jewish... Mr. Kurzem is now 71 and living in Melbourne, Australia, and only now, after more than 60 years, has he told his story in a book, The Mascot, authored by his son. Source: "Hitler's SS mascot was Jewish," Daily Mail, August 22, 2007 Technorati tags: Alex Kurzem • bad thinking • mascot • Nazis

When it comes to Jewish dating, the term 'matchmaking' is really not far behind. Jewish tradition has always had matchmakers play a pivotal role in bringing couples together. Is it any surprise then that Jewish dating enters the world of online dating personals? However, unlike mainstream online dating, there are a few Jewish online dating tip pointers you should always keep in mind. Jewish Online Dating Tip Points to Ponder... Jewish Online Dating Tip # 1 - Go with dating services online that focus on the Jewish community. Although there is nothing wrong with marrying someone outside one's own faith, it's always easier, and perhaps better, if you use a paid or free online dating site that focuses on single Jews. This way, you don't have to fear that the people you meet using online dating personals will not be knowledgeable, understanding or respectful of your faith. Also, when previewing dating services online, you will immediately notice that most Jewish dating sites try very h