well its been a year.
i started off as a frum skeptic who didnt like the complaining of the skeptics.
i then became a frum rationalist who didnt like the complaining skeptics
now im a frum rationalist who doesnt like crazy charedim.
progress?
So what about Dawkins?
XGH stole my thunder.
yet Dawkins sounds like XGH. Hmmmmm.....
Anyway, I thought he smashed christianity, but didnt touch judiasm.
He is not accepting the argument that morality then is different than now, and judiasm introduced some new ideas. He quoted rambam about killing a goy but the rambam was talking about the seven nations, not goyim today, which some hold are not seven nations, but ger toshav.
I dont buy the problem of who made god.
i also didnt see this question get answered:
how did some molecules become apples, others apple eaters?
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Saturday, October 28, 2006
A philosophical discussion with my son
Parshas Noach
2 incidents occur.
The first is the Mabul. Hashem kills everyone on earth. I ask my 11 yr old son, why did the children die. He says "think about it, abba, there was this 500 yr old man who people thought was crazy. there were no good people on earth. so you have no good role models. There was no doubt, in fact, it was impossible to be otherwise, that the children would turn out rotten. there was no oppurtunity for tshuva. Yishmael had avrohom, Avrohom had noach after the mabul but these kids had no one."
The second is the Tower of Babel. Hashem disperses them with many languages. I ask my son, why couldnt hashem wait for them to do tshuva once they failed in their quest. (as an aside, I had a funny conversation this shabbos about the idea that the people of the Tower were building a spaceship to attack hashem. the person relating this to me was marvelling that us jews thought about flying ships before it was invented. So I tell him, well the greeks had mythologies of ships floating in netherworld. The response, oh, thats mythology, this is truth.)
So my son says "think about it, abba, these people tried to kill hashem, would you want them to be worshipping you after they tried to kill you?"
I asked these questions, because I was curious how he would respond after reading Dawkins recent book which pointed out the lack of morality in these incidents.
Update: So it turns out, we turn the tale on its head. We make the story (as best we can) to emphasize the impossiblity of salvation of these people. In our society, we kill murderers, and the idea of killing a baby hitler we know will be hitler is not anathema to us. So the kids accept these stories.
Ill write more about Dawkins in my next post, IY"H.
2 incidents occur.
The first is the Mabul. Hashem kills everyone on earth. I ask my 11 yr old son, why did the children die. He says "think about it, abba, there was this 500 yr old man who people thought was crazy. there were no good people on earth. so you have no good role models. There was no doubt, in fact, it was impossible to be otherwise, that the children would turn out rotten. there was no oppurtunity for tshuva. Yishmael had avrohom, Avrohom had noach after the mabul but these kids had no one."
The second is the Tower of Babel. Hashem disperses them with many languages. I ask my son, why couldnt hashem wait for them to do tshuva once they failed in their quest. (as an aside, I had a funny conversation this shabbos about the idea that the people of the Tower were building a spaceship to attack hashem. the person relating this to me was marvelling that us jews thought about flying ships before it was invented. So I tell him, well the greeks had mythologies of ships floating in netherworld. The response, oh, thats mythology, this is truth.)
So my son says "think about it, abba, these people tried to kill hashem, would you want them to be worshipping you after they tried to kill you?"
I asked these questions, because I was curious how he would respond after reading Dawkins recent book which pointed out the lack of morality in these incidents.
Update: So it turns out, we turn the tale on its head. We make the story (as best we can) to emphasize the impossiblity of salvation of these people. In our society, we kill murderers, and the idea of killing a baby hitler we know will be hitler is not anathema to us. So the kids accept these stories.
Ill write more about Dawkins in my next post, IY"H.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Chozrim B'she'ela
Id like to get the opinion of skeptics out there re Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo.
My impression is that he has a unique approach to yiddishkeit, combining best of modern orthodox with charedim.
Below is excerpt from his essay on Dershowitz, Klotz Kashes & Chozrim B'she'ela :
"All in all, one has to conclude that the absence of intellectual reasoning and the lack of interest of these young people reflects badly on the Israeli and Jewish society at large. Instead of seeing people leaving the fold because they are bothered with serious questions concerning the Jewish tradition, we find a majority leaving for the wrong reasons: It is not for the lack of answers that they leave but for the absence of questions!
This, however, should not make us believe that there are no good questions to be asked and that there are no young people who are sincere questioners who have left the fold. Not every case of defection can be seen as the result of intellectual apathy.
Alan M. Dershowitz, the famous author of "Chutzpa" and "The Vanishing American Jew," in his latest book, "The Genesis of Justice" complains about his teachers in Yeshiva who often told him that he had "klotz kashes," questions which, instead of being answered by the teachers, were considered to be stupid and not to be bothered with. Most of these questions, as he repeats them in his book, are, in fact, profound and need a sincere response. These are not the traditional talmudic questions, but those which related to Jewish belief and Weltanschauung. Quite clearly, the teachers did not know the answers themselves and therefore conferred them to the "klotz kashes" category.
This is a major tragedy which has led to the loss of many sincere probing Jewish minds throughout the Jewish world. There are no klotz kashes and even when there are, they should not be treated as such. A good teacher must know the art of taking any real klotz kashe and restating it in such a way that it becomes profound, so as not to embarrass his student. Above all, he must not make him or her feel that the teacher is trying "to get away with it."
Teachers, schools and yeshivoth should allow plenty of time for questions by their students. No student should get a feeling that questions are not to be asked or are not welcome. The often repeated response by teachers: "God said so. You'd better believe it, case closed" is a death blow to many competent students, who otherwise would have continued their Jewish studies, finding many answers on their own. It is true that not all questions can be answered on the spot, and teachers definitely have the right to ask their students to have some patience so that they can supply the answer at a later time. But they should never give the student the feeling that they are trying to get out of it. It is better to say "I really do not know." than to be silent and hope that the student will forget. He won't.
Students should learn that not every question can always be sufficiently answered as some people may like to think. Sometimes, the best answer is to stay with the question. But students should be taught why such is the case and that such questions are equally, if not more, common in secular philosophies. It was Frank Moore Colby who once observed: "Clever people seem to feel the natural pleasure of bewilderment and are always answering questions when the chief relish of life is to go on asking them." (Simple Simon, The Colby Essays, 1926, v.1) Or as the Yiddish equivalent goes: "Man starbt nicht von a kashe" (One does not die from a question.)
One is indeed reminded of John Fowles' famous observation, "An answer is always a form of death." (The Magus, 1965,75.)
The Orthodox world should be aware that the movement of Chozrim B'she'ela is not caused by the secular world but is rather the fault of the Orthodox educational system. Would Orthodox teachers be prepared to acknowledge and encourage questioning in their classrooms it would give rise to the right kind of Chozrim B'she'ela in which young people would start realizing the profundity of Judaism. "
I wonder what Rabbi Cardozo would say about such skeptics as Misnagid, BHB, and Recovering Orthodox jew. These skeptics seemed to have explored judiasm in depth, and have found the questions they have damning. Rabbi Cardozo seems to think its not the problem of questions, but lack of what to question. He indicates that for many, its more about "being free". Jewish Philospher says this alot as well. However, the difference is that Rabbi Cardozo recognizes that there are valid questions and questioners.
Addressing a pet peeve of mine, which I see as the Talibanization of charedim, See his other essay, The purpose and ideology of David Cardozo Academy which offers insight (in a more gentle way) into the problems of the halachicization of ideology and hashkafa. R' Harry has lately been complaining about this as well.
Please share your opinions on this Rabbi. Thanks!
My impression is that he has a unique approach to yiddishkeit, combining best of modern orthodox with charedim.
Below is excerpt from his essay on Dershowitz, Klotz Kashes & Chozrim B'she'ela :
"All in all, one has to conclude that the absence of intellectual reasoning and the lack of interest of these young people reflects badly on the Israeli and Jewish society at large. Instead of seeing people leaving the fold because they are bothered with serious questions concerning the Jewish tradition, we find a majority leaving for the wrong reasons: It is not for the lack of answers that they leave but for the absence of questions!
This, however, should not make us believe that there are no good questions to be asked and that there are no young people who are sincere questioners who have left the fold. Not every case of defection can be seen as the result of intellectual apathy.
Alan M. Dershowitz, the famous author of "Chutzpa" and "The Vanishing American Jew," in his latest book, "The Genesis of Justice" complains about his teachers in Yeshiva who often told him that he had "klotz kashes," questions which, instead of being answered by the teachers, were considered to be stupid and not to be bothered with. Most of these questions, as he repeats them in his book, are, in fact, profound and need a sincere response. These are not the traditional talmudic questions, but those which related to Jewish belief and Weltanschauung. Quite clearly, the teachers did not know the answers themselves and therefore conferred them to the "klotz kashes" category.
This is a major tragedy which has led to the loss of many sincere probing Jewish minds throughout the Jewish world. There are no klotz kashes and even when there are, they should not be treated as such. A good teacher must know the art of taking any real klotz kashe and restating it in such a way that it becomes profound, so as not to embarrass his student. Above all, he must not make him or her feel that the teacher is trying "to get away with it."
Teachers, schools and yeshivoth should allow plenty of time for questions by their students. No student should get a feeling that questions are not to be asked or are not welcome. The often repeated response by teachers: "God said so. You'd better believe it, case closed" is a death blow to many competent students, who otherwise would have continued their Jewish studies, finding many answers on their own. It is true that not all questions can be answered on the spot, and teachers definitely have the right to ask their students to have some patience so that they can supply the answer at a later time. But they should never give the student the feeling that they are trying to get out of it. It is better to say "I really do not know." than to be silent and hope that the student will forget. He won't.
Students should learn that not every question can always be sufficiently answered as some people may like to think. Sometimes, the best answer is to stay with the question. But students should be taught why such is the case and that such questions are equally, if not more, common in secular philosophies. It was Frank Moore Colby who once observed: "Clever people seem to feel the natural pleasure of bewilderment and are always answering questions when the chief relish of life is to go on asking them." (Simple Simon, The Colby Essays, 1926, v.1) Or as the Yiddish equivalent goes: "Man starbt nicht von a kashe" (One does not die from a question.)
One is indeed reminded of John Fowles' famous observation, "An answer is always a form of death." (The Magus, 1965,75.)
The Orthodox world should be aware that the movement of Chozrim B'she'ela is not caused by the secular world but is rather the fault of the Orthodox educational system. Would Orthodox teachers be prepared to acknowledge and encourage questioning in their classrooms it would give rise to the right kind of Chozrim B'she'ela in which young people would start realizing the profundity of Judaism. "
I wonder what Rabbi Cardozo would say about such skeptics as Misnagid, BHB, and Recovering Orthodox jew. These skeptics seemed to have explored judiasm in depth, and have found the questions they have damning. Rabbi Cardozo seems to think its not the problem of questions, but lack of what to question. He indicates that for many, its more about "being free". Jewish Philospher says this alot as well. However, the difference is that Rabbi Cardozo recognizes that there are valid questions and questioners.
Addressing a pet peeve of mine, which I see as the Talibanization of charedim, See his other essay, The purpose and ideology of David Cardozo Academy which offers insight (in a more gentle way) into the problems of the halachicization of ideology and hashkafa. R' Harry has lately been complaining about this as well.
Please share your opinions on this Rabbi. Thanks!
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
A heimishe joke
over at angst gh, i posted some comments re a conversation with my father.
I thought the joke I said there was worth posting here:
2 chassidim were talking about their rebbes. One said "my rebbe made a chasenah where they served 50,000 bilkelach". The other chassid said "wow, 50,000 bilkelechs, impressive, but thats nothing compared to my rebbe. When he was in the lagge (camps), and he wanted to say kiddush levana, it was cloudy. So he waved his hands and there appeared 7 levanas! The other chassid said, "thats impossible, everyone knows theres only 1 levana."
the chassid responded, "if you take off some of the bilkelach, I'll take off some of the levanas!"
Nu, so how different is some of the shakla vtarya of the stories in the talmud. in upcoming daf in sukkos, we get to see claims that some chazal absorb all the sin of the world. almost jesus christ like. i think its time we stop yeshivas from teaching this as fact, and consider that they spoke in hyperbole. just like the joke!
chag sameach!
PS. if your father or grandfather is hungarian descent, please share your jokes or spin on yiddishkeit. Im thinking of starting another blog to capture the spirit of the heimishe hungarian oilam. its a breathe of fresh air!
As another example, a litvishe rav was sitting with my father. My father turns to him and says, people say yankiv uveeni had a yeshiva. how can that be, there were no yidden back then, who supported him?
common sense, no?
I thought the joke I said there was worth posting here:
2 chassidim were talking about their rebbes. One said "my rebbe made a chasenah where they served 50,000 bilkelach". The other chassid said "wow, 50,000 bilkelechs, impressive, but thats nothing compared to my rebbe. When he was in the lagge (camps), and he wanted to say kiddush levana, it was cloudy. So he waved his hands and there appeared 7 levanas! The other chassid said, "thats impossible, everyone knows theres only 1 levana."
the chassid responded, "if you take off some of the bilkelach, I'll take off some of the levanas!"
Nu, so how different is some of the shakla vtarya of the stories in the talmud. in upcoming daf in sukkos, we get to see claims that some chazal absorb all the sin of the world. almost jesus christ like. i think its time we stop yeshivas from teaching this as fact, and consider that they spoke in hyperbole. just like the joke!
chag sameach!
PS. if your father or grandfather is hungarian descent, please share your jokes or spin on yiddishkeit. Im thinking of starting another blog to capture the spirit of the heimishe hungarian oilam. its a breathe of fresh air!
As another example, a litvishe rav was sitting with my father. My father turns to him and says, people say yankiv uveeni had a yeshiva. how can that be, there were no yidden back then, who supported him?
common sense, no?
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
i know the following story casts doubt on my beliefs as much as the supertsitious ones of certain elements in our society, and he who is without sin should cast the first stone (apropos to the story below), but it struck while commenting on Streimels website that as a 9th grader in a yeshiva, i totally did not connect this story to my beliefs. i understood it to be a metaphor for the crazy goyim and their dumb religion.
i thought about it now as my daughter started asking me about the Zohar.
It struck me that there is so much in our religion that has become revisionized (if thats a word). we sort of just go along because its always been that way.
Here is the story in its entirety for those who havent encountered it before.
Please share your thoughts.
The Lottery
by SHIRLEY JACKSON
The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o'clock; in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 2th. but in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o'clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner.
The children assembled first, of course. School was recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play. and their talk was still of the classroom and the teacher, of books and reprimands. Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix-- the villagers pronounced this name "Dellacroy"--eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys. The girls stood aside, talking among themselves, looking over their shoulders at rolled in the dust or clung to the hands of their older brothers or sisters.
Soon the men began to gather. surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes. They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed. The women, wearing faded house dresses and sweaters, came shortly after their menfolk. They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husbands. Soon the women, standing by their husbands, began to call to their children, and the children came reluctantly, having to be called four or five times. Bobby Martin ducked under his mother's grasping hand and ran, laughing, back to the pile of stones. His father spoke up sharply, and Bobby came quickly and took his place between his father and his oldest brother.
The lottery was conducted--as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program--by Mr. Summers. who had time and energy to devote to civic activities. He was a round-faced, jovial man and he ran the coal business, and people were sorry for him. because he had no children and his wife was a scold. When he arrived in the square, carrying the black wooden box, there was a murmur of conversation among the villagers, and he waved and called. "Little late today, folks." The postmaster, Mr. Graves, followed him, carrying a three- legged stool, and the stool was put in the center of the square and Mr. Summers set the black box down on it. The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool. and when Mr. Summers said, "Some of you fellows want to give me a hand?" there was a hesitation before two men. Mr. Martin and his oldest son, Baxter. came forward to hold the box steady on the stool while Mr. Summers stirred up the papers inside it.
The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box. There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village here. Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done. The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained.
Mr. Martin and his oldest son, Baxter, held the black box securely on the stool until Mr. Summers had stirred the papers thoroughly with his hand. Because so much of the ritual had been forgotten or discarded, Mr. Summers had been successful in having slips of paper substituted for the chips of wood that had been used for generations. Chips of wood, Mr. Summers had argued. had been all very well when the village was tiny, but now that the population was more than three hundred and likely to keep on growing, it was necessary to use something that would fit more easily into he black box. The night before the lottery, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves made up the slips of paper and put them in the box, and it was then taken to the safe of Mr. Summers' coal company and locked up until Mr. Summers was ready to take it to the square next morning. The rest of the year, the box was put way, sometimes one place, sometimes another; it had spent one year in Mr. Graves's barn and another year underfoot in the post office. and sometimes it was set on a shelf in the Martin grocery and left there.
There was a great deal of fussing to be done before Mr. Summers declared the lottery open. There were the lists to make up--of heads of families. heads of households in each family. members of each household in each family. There was the proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers by the postmaster, as the official of the lottery; at one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory. tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year; some people believed that the official of the lottery used to stand just so when he said or sang it, others believed that he was supposed to walk among the people, but years and years ago this p3rt of the ritual had been allowed to lapse. There had been, also, a ritual salute, which the official of the lottery had had to use in addressing each person who came up to draw from the box, but this also had changed with time, until now it was felt necessary only for the official to speak to each person approaching. Mr. Summers was very good at all this; in his clean white shirt and blue jeans. with one hand resting carelessly on the black box. he seemed very proper and important as he talked interminably to Mr. Graves and the Martins.
Just as Mr. Summers finally left off talking and turned to the assembled villagers, Mrs. Hutchinson came hurriedly along the path to the square, her sweater thrown over her shoulders, and slid into place in the back of the crowd. "Clean forgot what day it was," she said to Mrs. Delacroix, who stood next to her, and they both laughed softly. "Thought my old man was out back stacking wood," Mrs. Hutchinson went on. "and then I looked out the window and the kids was gone, and then I remembered it was the twenty-seventh and came a-running." She dried her hands on her apron, and Mrs. Delacroix said, "You're in time, though. They're still talking away up there."
Mrs. Hutchinson craned her neck to see through the crowd and found her husband and children standing near the front. She tapped Mrs. Delacroix on the arm as a farewell and began to make her way through the crowd. The people separated good-humoredly to let her through: two or three people said. in voices just loud enough to be heard across the crowd, "Here comes your, Missus, Hutchinson," and "Bill, she made it after all." Mrs. Hutchinson reached her husband, and Mr. Summers, who had been waiting, said cheerfully. "Thought we were going to have to get on without you, Tessie." Mrs. Hutchinson said. grinning, "Wouldn't have me leave m'dishes in the sink, now, would you. Joe?," and soft laughter ran through the crowd as the people stirred back into position after Mrs. Hutchinson's arrival.
"Well, now." Mr. Summers said soberly, "guess we better get started, get this over with, so's we can go back to work. Anybody ain't here?"
"Dunbar." several people said. "Dunbar. Dunbar."
Mr. Summers consulted his list. "Clyde Dunbar." he said. "That's right. He's broke his leg, hasn't he? Who's drawing for him?"
"Me. I guess," a woman said. and Mr. Summers turned to look at her. "Wife draws for her husband." Mr. Summers said. "Don't you have a grown boy to do it for you, Janey?" Although Mr. Summers and everyone else in the village knew the answer perfectly well, it was the business of the official of the lottery to ask such questions formally. Mr. Summers waited with an expression of polite interest while Mrs. Dunbar answered.
"Horace's not but sixteen vet." Mrs. Dunbar said regretfully. "Guess I gotta fill in for the old man this year."
"Right." Sr. Summers said. He made a note on the list he was holding. Then he asked, "Watson boy drawing this year?"
A tall boy in the crowd raised his hand. "Here," he said. "I m drawing for my mother and me." He blinked his eyes nervously and ducked his head as several voices in the crowd said thin#s like "Good fellow, lack." and "Glad to see your mother's got a man to do it."
"Well," Mr. Summers said, "guess that's everyone. Old Man Warner make it?"
"Here," a voice said. and Mr. Summers nodded.
A sudden hush fell on the crowd as Mr. Summers cleared his throat and looked at the list. "All ready?" he called. "Now, I'll read the names--heads of families first--and the men come up and take a paper out of the box. Keep the paper folded in your hand without looking at it until everyone has had a turn. Everything clear?"
The people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the directions: most of them were quiet. wetting their lips. not looking around. Then Mr. Summers raised one hand high and said, "Adams." A man disengaged himself from the crowd and came forward. "Hi. Steve." Mr. Summers said. and Mr. Adams said. "Hi. Joe." They grinned at one another humorlessly and nervously. Then Mr. Adams reached into the black box and took out a folded paper. He held it firmly by one corner as he turned and went hastily back to his place in the crowd. where he stood a little apart from his family. not looking down at his hand.
"Allen." Mr. Summers said. "Anderson.... Bentham."
"Seems like there's no time at all between lotteries any more." Mrs. Delacroix said to Mrs. Graves in the back row.
"Seems like we got through with the last one only last week."
"Time sure goes fast.-- Mrs. Graves said.
"Clark.... Delacroix"
"There goes my old man." Mrs. Delacroix said. She held her breath while her husband went forward.
"Dunbar," Mr. Summers said, and Mrs. Dunbar went steadily to the box while one of the women said. "Go on. Janey," and another said, "There she goes."
"We're next." Mrs. Graves said. She watched while Mr. Graves came around from the side of the box, greeted Mr. Summers gravely and selected a slip of paper from the box. By now, all through the crowd there were men holding the small folded papers in their large hand. turning them over and over nervously Mrs. Dunbar and her two sons stood together, Mrs. Dunbar holding the slip of paper.
"Harburt.... Hutchinson."
"Get up there, Bill," Mrs. Hutchinson said. and the people near her laughed.
"Jones."
"They do say," Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, "that over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery."
Old Man Warner snorted. "Pack of crazy fools," he said. "Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them. Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live hat way for a while. Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing you know, we'd all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There's always been a lottery," he added petulantly. "Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody."
"Some places have already quit lotteries." Mrs. Adams said.
"Nothing but trouble in that," Old Man Warner said stoutly. "Pack of young fools."
"Martin." And Bobby Martin watched his father go forward. "Overdyke.... Percy."
"I wish they'd hurry," Mrs. Dunbar said to her older son. "I wish they'd hurry."
"They're almost through," her son said.
"You get ready to run tell Dad," Mrs. Dunbar said.
Mr. Summers called his own name and then stepped forward precisely and selected a slip from the box. Then he called, "Warner."
"Seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery," Old Man Warner said as he went through the crowd. "Seventy-seventh time."
"Watson" The tall boy came awkwardly through the crowd. Someone said, "Don't be nervous, Jack," and Mr. Summers said, "Take your time, son."
"Zanini."
After that, there was a long pause, a breathless pause, until Mr. Summers. holding his slip of paper in the air, said, "All right, fellows." For a minute, no one moved, and then all the slips of paper were opened. Suddenly, all the women began to speak at once, saving. "Who is it?," "Who's got it?," "Is it the Dunbars?," "Is it the Watsons?" Then the voices began to say, "It's Hutchinson. It's Bill," "Bill Hutchinson's got it."
"Go tell your father," Mrs. Dunbar said to her older son.
People began to look around to see the Hutchinsons. Bill Hutchinson was standing quiet, staring down at the paper in his hand. Suddenly. Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr. Summers. "You didn't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!"
"Be a good sport, Tessie." Mrs. Delacroix called, and Mrs. Graves said, "All of us took the same chance."
"Shut up, Tessie," Bill Hutchinson said.
"Well, everyone," Mr. Summers said, "that was done pretty fast, and now we've got to be hurrying a little more to get done in time." He consulted his next list. "Bill," he said, "you draw for the Hutchinson family. You got any other households in the Hutchinsons?"
"There's Don and Eva," Mrs. Hutchinson yelled. "Make them take their chance!"
"Daughters draw with their husbands' families, Tessie," Mr. Summers said gently. "You know that as well as anyone else."
"It wasn't fair," Tessie said.
"I guess not, Joe." Bill Hutchinson said regretfully. "My daughter draws with her husband's family; that's only fair. And I've got no other family except the kids."
"Then, as far as drawing for families is concerned, it's you," Mr. Summers said in explanation, "and as far as drawing for households is concerned, that's you, too. Right?"
"Right," Bill Hutchinson said.
"How many kids, Bill?" Mr. Summers asked formally.
"Three," Bill Hutchinson said.
"There's Bill, Jr., and Nancy, and little Dave. And Tessie and me."
"All right, then," Mr. Summers said. "Harry, you got their tickets back?"
Mr. Graves nodded and held up the slips of paper. "Put them in the box, then," Mr. Summers directed. "Take Bill's and put it in."
"I think we ought to start over," Mrs. Hutchinson said, as quietly as she could. "I tell you it wasn't fair. You didn't give him time enough to choose. Everybody saw that."
Mr. Graves had selected the five slips and put them in the box. and he dropped all the papers but those onto the ground. where the breeze caught them and lifted them off.
"Listen, everybody," Mrs. Hutchinson was saying to the people around her.
"Ready, Bill?" Mr. Summers asked. and Bill Hutchinson, with one quick glance around at his wife and children. nodded.
"Remember," Mr. Summers said. "take the slips and keep them folded until each person has taken one. Harry, you help little Dave." Mr. Graves took the hand of the little boy, who came willingly with him up to the box. "Take a paper out of the box, Davy." Mr. Summers said. Davy put his hand into the box and laughed. "Take just one paper." Mr. Summers said. "Harry, you hold it for him." Mr. Graves took the child's hand and removed the folded paper from the tight fist and held it while little Dave stood next to him and looked up at him wonderingly.
"Nancy next," Mr. Summers said. Nancy was twelve, and her school friends breathed heavily as she went forward switching her skirt, and took a slip daintily from the box "Bill, Jr.," Mr. Summers said, and Billy, his face red and his feet overlarge, near knocked the box over as he got a paper out. "Tessie," Mr. Summers said. She hesitated for a minute, looking around defiantly. and then set her lips and went up to the box. She snatched a paper out and held it behind her.
"Bill," Mr. Summers said, and Bill Hutchinson reached into the box and felt around, bringing his hand out at last with the slip of paper in it.
The crowd was quiet. A girl whispered, "I hope it's not Nancy," and the sound of the whisper reached the edges of the crowd.
"It's not the way it used to be." Old Man Warner said clearly. "People ain't the way they used to be."
"All right," Mr. Summers said. "Open the papers. Harry, you open little Dave's."
Mr. Graves opened the slip of paper and there was a general sigh through the crowd as he held it up and everyone could see that it was blank. Nancy and Bill. Jr.. opened theirs at the same time. and both beamed and laughed. turning around to the crowd and holding their slips of paper above their heads.
"Tessie," Mr. Summers said. There was a pause, and then Mr. Summers looked at Bill Hutchinson, and Bill unfolded his paper and showed it. It was blank.
"It's Tessie," Mr. Summers said, and his voice was hushed. "Show us her paper. Bill."
Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of her hand. It had a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers had made the night before with the heavy pencil in the coal company office. Bill Hutchinson held it up, and there was a stir in the crowd.
"All right, folks." Mr. Summers said. "Let's finish quickly."
Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper that had come out of the box Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. "Come on," she said. "Hurry up."
Mr. Dunbar had small stones in both hands, and she said. gasping for breath. "I can't run at all. You'll have to go ahead and I'll catch up with you."
The children had stones already. And someone gave little Davy Hutchinson few pebbles.
Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. "It isn't fair," she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head. Old Man Warner was saying, "Come on, come on, everyone." Steve Adams was in the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs. Graves beside him.
"It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.
i thought about it now as my daughter started asking me about the Zohar.
It struck me that there is so much in our religion that has become revisionized (if thats a word). we sort of just go along because its always been that way.
Here is the story in its entirety for those who havent encountered it before.
Please share your thoughts.
The Lottery
by SHIRLEY JACKSON
The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o'clock; in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 2th. but in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o'clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner.
The children assembled first, of course. School was recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play. and their talk was still of the classroom and the teacher, of books and reprimands. Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix-- the villagers pronounced this name "Dellacroy"--eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys. The girls stood aside, talking among themselves, looking over their shoulders at rolled in the dust or clung to the hands of their older brothers or sisters.
Soon the men began to gather. surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes. They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed. The women, wearing faded house dresses and sweaters, came shortly after their menfolk. They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husbands. Soon the women, standing by their husbands, began to call to their children, and the children came reluctantly, having to be called four or five times. Bobby Martin ducked under his mother's grasping hand and ran, laughing, back to the pile of stones. His father spoke up sharply, and Bobby came quickly and took his place between his father and his oldest brother.
The lottery was conducted--as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program--by Mr. Summers. who had time and energy to devote to civic activities. He was a round-faced, jovial man and he ran the coal business, and people were sorry for him. because he had no children and his wife was a scold. When he arrived in the square, carrying the black wooden box, there was a murmur of conversation among the villagers, and he waved and called. "Little late today, folks." The postmaster, Mr. Graves, followed him, carrying a three- legged stool, and the stool was put in the center of the square and Mr. Summers set the black box down on it. The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool. and when Mr. Summers said, "Some of you fellows want to give me a hand?" there was a hesitation before two men. Mr. Martin and his oldest son, Baxter. came forward to hold the box steady on the stool while Mr. Summers stirred up the papers inside it.
The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box. There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village here. Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done. The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained.
Mr. Martin and his oldest son, Baxter, held the black box securely on the stool until Mr. Summers had stirred the papers thoroughly with his hand. Because so much of the ritual had been forgotten or discarded, Mr. Summers had been successful in having slips of paper substituted for the chips of wood that had been used for generations. Chips of wood, Mr. Summers had argued. had been all very well when the village was tiny, but now that the population was more than three hundred and likely to keep on growing, it was necessary to use something that would fit more easily into he black box. The night before the lottery, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves made up the slips of paper and put them in the box, and it was then taken to the safe of Mr. Summers' coal company and locked up until Mr. Summers was ready to take it to the square next morning. The rest of the year, the box was put way, sometimes one place, sometimes another; it had spent one year in Mr. Graves's barn and another year underfoot in the post office. and sometimes it was set on a shelf in the Martin grocery and left there.
There was a great deal of fussing to be done before Mr. Summers declared the lottery open. There were the lists to make up--of heads of families. heads of households in each family. members of each household in each family. There was the proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers by the postmaster, as the official of the lottery; at one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory. tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year; some people believed that the official of the lottery used to stand just so when he said or sang it, others believed that he was supposed to walk among the people, but years and years ago this p3rt of the ritual had been allowed to lapse. There had been, also, a ritual salute, which the official of the lottery had had to use in addressing each person who came up to draw from the box, but this also had changed with time, until now it was felt necessary only for the official to speak to each person approaching. Mr. Summers was very good at all this; in his clean white shirt and blue jeans. with one hand resting carelessly on the black box. he seemed very proper and important as he talked interminably to Mr. Graves and the Martins.
Just as Mr. Summers finally left off talking and turned to the assembled villagers, Mrs. Hutchinson came hurriedly along the path to the square, her sweater thrown over her shoulders, and slid into place in the back of the crowd. "Clean forgot what day it was," she said to Mrs. Delacroix, who stood next to her, and they both laughed softly. "Thought my old man was out back stacking wood," Mrs. Hutchinson went on. "and then I looked out the window and the kids was gone, and then I remembered it was the twenty-seventh and came a-running." She dried her hands on her apron, and Mrs. Delacroix said, "You're in time, though. They're still talking away up there."
Mrs. Hutchinson craned her neck to see through the crowd and found her husband and children standing near the front. She tapped Mrs. Delacroix on the arm as a farewell and began to make her way through the crowd. The people separated good-humoredly to let her through: two or three people said. in voices just loud enough to be heard across the crowd, "Here comes your, Missus, Hutchinson," and "Bill, she made it after all." Mrs. Hutchinson reached her husband, and Mr. Summers, who had been waiting, said cheerfully. "Thought we were going to have to get on without you, Tessie." Mrs. Hutchinson said. grinning, "Wouldn't have me leave m'dishes in the sink, now, would you. Joe?," and soft laughter ran through the crowd as the people stirred back into position after Mrs. Hutchinson's arrival.
"Well, now." Mr. Summers said soberly, "guess we better get started, get this over with, so's we can go back to work. Anybody ain't here?"
"Dunbar." several people said. "Dunbar. Dunbar."
Mr. Summers consulted his list. "Clyde Dunbar." he said. "That's right. He's broke his leg, hasn't he? Who's drawing for him?"
"Me. I guess," a woman said. and Mr. Summers turned to look at her. "Wife draws for her husband." Mr. Summers said. "Don't you have a grown boy to do it for you, Janey?" Although Mr. Summers and everyone else in the village knew the answer perfectly well, it was the business of the official of the lottery to ask such questions formally. Mr. Summers waited with an expression of polite interest while Mrs. Dunbar answered.
"Horace's not but sixteen vet." Mrs. Dunbar said regretfully. "Guess I gotta fill in for the old man this year."
"Right." Sr. Summers said. He made a note on the list he was holding. Then he asked, "Watson boy drawing this year?"
A tall boy in the crowd raised his hand. "Here," he said. "I m drawing for my mother and me." He blinked his eyes nervously and ducked his head as several voices in the crowd said thin#s like "Good fellow, lack." and "Glad to see your mother's got a man to do it."
"Well," Mr. Summers said, "guess that's everyone. Old Man Warner make it?"
"Here," a voice said. and Mr. Summers nodded.
A sudden hush fell on the crowd as Mr. Summers cleared his throat and looked at the list. "All ready?" he called. "Now, I'll read the names--heads of families first--and the men come up and take a paper out of the box. Keep the paper folded in your hand without looking at it until everyone has had a turn. Everything clear?"
The people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the directions: most of them were quiet. wetting their lips. not looking around. Then Mr. Summers raised one hand high and said, "Adams." A man disengaged himself from the crowd and came forward. "Hi. Steve." Mr. Summers said. and Mr. Adams said. "Hi. Joe." They grinned at one another humorlessly and nervously. Then Mr. Adams reached into the black box and took out a folded paper. He held it firmly by one corner as he turned and went hastily back to his place in the crowd. where he stood a little apart from his family. not looking down at his hand.
"Allen." Mr. Summers said. "Anderson.... Bentham."
"Seems like there's no time at all between lotteries any more." Mrs. Delacroix said to Mrs. Graves in the back row.
"Seems like we got through with the last one only last week."
"Time sure goes fast.-- Mrs. Graves said.
"Clark.... Delacroix"
"There goes my old man." Mrs. Delacroix said. She held her breath while her husband went forward.
"Dunbar," Mr. Summers said, and Mrs. Dunbar went steadily to the box while one of the women said. "Go on. Janey," and another said, "There she goes."
"We're next." Mrs. Graves said. She watched while Mr. Graves came around from the side of the box, greeted Mr. Summers gravely and selected a slip of paper from the box. By now, all through the crowd there were men holding the small folded papers in their large hand. turning them over and over nervously Mrs. Dunbar and her two sons stood together, Mrs. Dunbar holding the slip of paper.
"Harburt.... Hutchinson."
"Get up there, Bill," Mrs. Hutchinson said. and the people near her laughed.
"Jones."
"They do say," Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, "that over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery."
Old Man Warner snorted. "Pack of crazy fools," he said. "Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them. Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live hat way for a while. Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing you know, we'd all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There's always been a lottery," he added petulantly. "Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody."
"Some places have already quit lotteries." Mrs. Adams said.
"Nothing but trouble in that," Old Man Warner said stoutly. "Pack of young fools."
"Martin." And Bobby Martin watched his father go forward. "Overdyke.... Percy."
"I wish they'd hurry," Mrs. Dunbar said to her older son. "I wish they'd hurry."
"They're almost through," her son said.
"You get ready to run tell Dad," Mrs. Dunbar said.
Mr. Summers called his own name and then stepped forward precisely and selected a slip from the box. Then he called, "Warner."
"Seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery," Old Man Warner said as he went through the crowd. "Seventy-seventh time."
"Watson" The tall boy came awkwardly through the crowd. Someone said, "Don't be nervous, Jack," and Mr. Summers said, "Take your time, son."
"Zanini."
After that, there was a long pause, a breathless pause, until Mr. Summers. holding his slip of paper in the air, said, "All right, fellows." For a minute, no one moved, and then all the slips of paper were opened. Suddenly, all the women began to speak at once, saving. "Who is it?," "Who's got it?," "Is it the Dunbars?," "Is it the Watsons?" Then the voices began to say, "It's Hutchinson. It's Bill," "Bill Hutchinson's got it."
"Go tell your father," Mrs. Dunbar said to her older son.
People began to look around to see the Hutchinsons. Bill Hutchinson was standing quiet, staring down at the paper in his hand. Suddenly. Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr. Summers. "You didn't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!"
"Be a good sport, Tessie." Mrs. Delacroix called, and Mrs. Graves said, "All of us took the same chance."
"Shut up, Tessie," Bill Hutchinson said.
"Well, everyone," Mr. Summers said, "that was done pretty fast, and now we've got to be hurrying a little more to get done in time." He consulted his next list. "Bill," he said, "you draw for the Hutchinson family. You got any other households in the Hutchinsons?"
"There's Don and Eva," Mrs. Hutchinson yelled. "Make them take their chance!"
"Daughters draw with their husbands' families, Tessie," Mr. Summers said gently. "You know that as well as anyone else."
"It wasn't fair," Tessie said.
"I guess not, Joe." Bill Hutchinson said regretfully. "My daughter draws with her husband's family; that's only fair. And I've got no other family except the kids."
"Then, as far as drawing for families is concerned, it's you," Mr. Summers said in explanation, "and as far as drawing for households is concerned, that's you, too. Right?"
"Right," Bill Hutchinson said.
"How many kids, Bill?" Mr. Summers asked formally.
"Three," Bill Hutchinson said.
"There's Bill, Jr., and Nancy, and little Dave. And Tessie and me."
"All right, then," Mr. Summers said. "Harry, you got their tickets back?"
Mr. Graves nodded and held up the slips of paper. "Put them in the box, then," Mr. Summers directed. "Take Bill's and put it in."
"I think we ought to start over," Mrs. Hutchinson said, as quietly as she could. "I tell you it wasn't fair. You didn't give him time enough to choose. Everybody saw that."
Mr. Graves had selected the five slips and put them in the box. and he dropped all the papers but those onto the ground. where the breeze caught them and lifted them off.
"Listen, everybody," Mrs. Hutchinson was saying to the people around her.
"Ready, Bill?" Mr. Summers asked. and Bill Hutchinson, with one quick glance around at his wife and children. nodded.
"Remember," Mr. Summers said. "take the slips and keep them folded until each person has taken one. Harry, you help little Dave." Mr. Graves took the hand of the little boy, who came willingly with him up to the box. "Take a paper out of the box, Davy." Mr. Summers said. Davy put his hand into the box and laughed. "Take just one paper." Mr. Summers said. "Harry, you hold it for him." Mr. Graves took the child's hand and removed the folded paper from the tight fist and held it while little Dave stood next to him and looked up at him wonderingly.
"Nancy next," Mr. Summers said. Nancy was twelve, and her school friends breathed heavily as she went forward switching her skirt, and took a slip daintily from the box "Bill, Jr.," Mr. Summers said, and Billy, his face red and his feet overlarge, near knocked the box over as he got a paper out. "Tessie," Mr. Summers said. She hesitated for a minute, looking around defiantly. and then set her lips and went up to the box. She snatched a paper out and held it behind her.
"Bill," Mr. Summers said, and Bill Hutchinson reached into the box and felt around, bringing his hand out at last with the slip of paper in it.
The crowd was quiet. A girl whispered, "I hope it's not Nancy," and the sound of the whisper reached the edges of the crowd.
"It's not the way it used to be." Old Man Warner said clearly. "People ain't the way they used to be."
"All right," Mr. Summers said. "Open the papers. Harry, you open little Dave's."
Mr. Graves opened the slip of paper and there was a general sigh through the crowd as he held it up and everyone could see that it was blank. Nancy and Bill. Jr.. opened theirs at the same time. and both beamed and laughed. turning around to the crowd and holding their slips of paper above their heads.
"Tessie," Mr. Summers said. There was a pause, and then Mr. Summers looked at Bill Hutchinson, and Bill unfolded his paper and showed it. It was blank.
"It's Tessie," Mr. Summers said, and his voice was hushed. "Show us her paper. Bill."
Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of her hand. It had a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers had made the night before with the heavy pencil in the coal company office. Bill Hutchinson held it up, and there was a stir in the crowd.
"All right, folks." Mr. Summers said. "Let's finish quickly."
Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper that had come out of the box Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. "Come on," she said. "Hurry up."
Mr. Dunbar had small stones in both hands, and she said. gasping for breath. "I can't run at all. You'll have to go ahead and I'll catch up with you."
The children had stones already. And someone gave little Davy Hutchinson few pebbles.
Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. "It isn't fair," she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head. Old Man Warner was saying, "Come on, come on, everyone." Steve Adams was in the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs. Graves beside him.
"It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.
Kabbalah and my daughter
HELP!
my 13yr old daughter started asking me about Kabalah and Zohar.
her friend told her she read some creepy stuff about neshomos and all. And now she thinks its like reading a good horror novel.
So what do I do? Im not sure the Zohar is real(many reasons to doubt its authenticity, despite various gedolim saying its a holy book). the last thing I need is my daughter becoming a freak.
She wants to know why i didnt learn it. I told her it pretty much doesnt make much sense, and you really have to know alot to understand anything it says. Im far away from that.
I told her i have a copy of R' Kaplans the Bahir. She can read the first few pages, and see for herself.
I told her its mostly a bunch of letters and gematrias and im not into that.
And Im not chassidish. I dont know what I meant, but she enjoyed that line, she told her freind.
my 13yr old daughter started asking me about Kabalah and Zohar.
her friend told her she read some creepy stuff about neshomos and all. And now she thinks its like reading a good horror novel.
So what do I do? Im not sure the Zohar is real(many reasons to doubt its authenticity, despite various gedolim saying its a holy book). the last thing I need is my daughter becoming a freak.
She wants to know why i didnt learn it. I told her it pretty much doesnt make much sense, and you really have to know alot to understand anything it says. Im far away from that.
I told her i have a copy of R' Kaplans the Bahir. She can read the first few pages, and see for herself.
I told her its mostly a bunch of letters and gematrias and im not into that.
And Im not chassidish. I dont know what I meant, but she enjoyed that line, she told her freind.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Attention Genuine Mekubalim - $1Million Reward
click here to claim your reward
From the website:
"The Foundation is committed to providing reliable information about paranormal claims. It both supports and conducts original research into such claims.
At JREF, we offer a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event. The JREF does not involve itself in the testing procedure, other than helping to design the protocol and approving the conditions under which a test will take place. All tests are designed with the participation and approval of the applicant. In most cases, the applicant will be asked to perform a relatively simple preliminary test of the claim, which if successful, will be followed by the formal test. Preliminary tests are usually conducted by associates of the JREF at the site where the applicant lives. Upon success in the preliminary testing process, the "applicant" becomes a "claimant."
To date, no one has ever passed the preliminary tests. "
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Jesus Camp
http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/09/22/movies/22camp.html
the url above is a link to an article in NY Times re
Kids on Fire, a summer camp in Devils Lake, N.D., that grooms children to be soldiers in “God’s army.”
Heard about this on NPR interview erev yomtov. The pastor pointed out that Christians are leaving their religion in alarming rates. She has found that taliban like indocrination of young kids has almost a zero defection rate.
She isnt teaching kids to be suicide bombers, but she is teaching them to be willing to die for their faith.
Indocrination at age 5-8 is the perfect age. Thus the idea for a camp.
any similiarities to our system?
well my kid is starting elu mitziyos. Got to do my part.
the url above is a link to an article in NY Times re
Kids on Fire, a summer camp in Devils Lake, N.D., that grooms children to be soldiers in “God’s army.”
Heard about this on NPR interview erev yomtov. The pastor pointed out that Christians are leaving their religion in alarming rates. She has found that taliban like indocrination of young kids has almost a zero defection rate.
She isnt teaching kids to be suicide bombers, but she is teaching them to be willing to die for their faith.
Indocrination at age 5-8 is the perfect age. Thus the idea for a camp.
any similiarities to our system?
well my kid is starting elu mitziyos. Got to do my part.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Lakewood Yid: a look in the mirror?
xGH posted a famous clip from the Ali G. show of HBO. When I went to YouTube I noticed some related videos that were clearly relevant to the recent ongoing discussions over at xGH.
Lakewood Yid, please watch the following and tell me how different these fundamentalist people are from your conception of Judiasm.
A evangelical preacher interviewed by an British Athiest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8sKvG3EEwk
A jew who converted to Islam interviewed by same British Athiest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHujjU8Tlxc
Lakewood Yid, please watch the following and tell me how different these fundamentalist people are from your conception of Judiasm.
A evangelical preacher interviewed by an British Athiest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8sKvG3EEwk
A jew who converted to Islam interviewed by same British Athiest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHujjU8Tlxc
Monday, September 11, 2006
9/11 - 5 Years later
I was going to work, 2 blocks from the WTC, that morning.
I was on the 5 train and at around 9:15 we were in Bowling Green station.
A woman comes on crying and shrieking that there planes that hit the towers.
I looked around and made eye contact with another yid, and kinda smiled that maybe a looney had joined our train.
The train then skipped the next stops and stopped at city hall.
Like an idiot, i got off. I looked up and saw the towers on fire.
I called my wife, asked her whats up and she said she had been trying to reach me to let me know what was going on.
(luckily, i was supposed to be there that morning at the Waters Software Conference being held at the Windows of the world. I had decided to not attend. One of the vendor reps I had met a couple of times wanted me to attend. He died.)
I told her i was going to work. (i know, mindless, but I had no idea the buildings would fall. I had been there in 1993 and this seemed similiar).
I went to work and was looking out the window. I called my father to tell him i was ok. While im on the line, i see the first tower fall. I was stunned. My father screamed on the phone "why was i screaming". I told him we have to evacuate and I would call him later.
We evacuated and went to the basement. Who knows what I breathed in? While waiting we heard speculation of 20 to 30 planes hijaaked. I actually watched the day in real time for the first time this morning. Amazing.
well, i finally decided to leave, and walked across the Brooklyn bridge using a mask to protect me from the smoke and stuff all over. A bus took us from there on another 2 hour trek until i made it home.
It wasnt until a few later that I was back. They assured us the air was safe. One lunch time, i took a stroll to J&R and my lungs were on fire.
I didnt go out again for a long time.
They assured us that the buildings filters would protect us.
Who knows?
I was on the 5 train and at around 9:15 we were in Bowling Green station.
A woman comes on crying and shrieking that there planes that hit the towers.
I looked around and made eye contact with another yid, and kinda smiled that maybe a looney had joined our train.
The train then skipped the next stops and stopped at city hall.
Like an idiot, i got off. I looked up and saw the towers on fire.
I called my wife, asked her whats up and she said she had been trying to reach me to let me know what was going on.
(luckily, i was supposed to be there that morning at the Waters Software Conference being held at the Windows of the world. I had decided to not attend. One of the vendor reps I had met a couple of times wanted me to attend. He died.)
I told her i was going to work. (i know, mindless, but I had no idea the buildings would fall. I had been there in 1993 and this seemed similiar).
I went to work and was looking out the window. I called my father to tell him i was ok. While im on the line, i see the first tower fall. I was stunned. My father screamed on the phone "why was i screaming". I told him we have to evacuate and I would call him later.
We evacuated and went to the basement. Who knows what I breathed in? While waiting we heard speculation of 20 to 30 planes hijaaked. I actually watched the day in real time for the first time this morning. Amazing.
well, i finally decided to leave, and walked across the Brooklyn bridge using a mask to protect me from the smoke and stuff all over. A bus took us from there on another 2 hour trek until i made it home.
It wasnt until a few later that I was back. They assured us the air was safe. One lunch time, i took a stroll to J&R and my lungs were on fire.
I didnt go out again for a long time.
They assured us that the buildings filters would protect us.
Who knows?
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Attention Parents of children with learning issues
Click here to see a video that may change your childrens lives.
If you need more information, please view the Arrowsmith School Website or email them at
info@arrowsmithschool.org
If you need more information, please view the Arrowsmith School Website or email them at
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Watch out for that Egg!
The gemera Yoma (80a) near the end of the Mesechte talks about shiurim for eating on Yom Kippur.
The gemera asks: "maybe the shiur is that maximal one of the egg from the Yochni bird". Rashi says that when its egg is cracked open it can drown 60 cities (bechoros 57b).
This is not a medrash. Is it?
FKM once chided me for not believing that its reasonable that mermaids may have once existed, since they are biologically possible.
If so....is this a similiar possible creature to mermaids?
*Update*
from dafyomi.org.il:
bechoros 57b:
R. Yishmael ben Sasri'el testified about the following things in his locale:
Now this is testimony from a Tanna! Rashi simply says its a big birds egg.
So why shouldnt we say that when R Chanina Ben Dosa testifies (in Shabbos) that he turned vinegar to oil, that its a allegory?
Its clear that across the ages, gedolim decided what to allegorize based on what made them feel comfortable.
The gemera asks: "maybe the shiur is that maximal one of the egg from the Yochni bird". Rashi says that when its egg is cracked open it can drown 60 cities (bechoros 57b).
This is not a medrash. Is it?
FKM once chided me for not believing that its reasonable that mermaids may have once existed, since they are biologically possible.
If so....is this a similiar possible creature to mermaids?
*Update*
from dafyomi.org.il:
bechoros 57b:
R. Yishmael ben Sasri'el testified about the following things in his locale:
1. When we see that an animal will die while giving birth, we flay her skin and wrap the baby in it.the Maharsha says its allegory. Or maybe just the 300 cedars breaking.i. Rebbi remarked, this reveals R. Yehoshua's reason (it is as if its mother is still alive);2. Lettuces have 600,000 layers of leaves in the part resembling Beis ha'Masas (a stomach of ruminants that has layers);
3. A cedar tree once fell - 16 wagons traveled across its length, side by side on its circumference (it was so wide that it barely sloped over such a wide area, so the wagons would not topple). (Maharsha - this refers to the death of Moshe, the sharp Pilpul he gave to Yisrael was passed down for 16 generations.)
4. Once, an egg of a Bar Yuchni (giant bird) fell - the contents flooded 60 great cities and broke 300 cedars. (Maharsha - this alludes to the breaking of the Luchos.)
5. Question: A Bar Yuchni does not drop its eggs - "Kenaf Renanim *Ne'ELaSaH*" (we expound this Nosei OLeh v'NiSCHatei, it goes up and gently lays its egg down into its nest)!
6. Answer (Rav Ashi): It was spoiled, therefore the mother dropped it.
Now this is testimony from a Tanna! Rashi simply says its a big birds egg.
So why shouldnt we say that when R Chanina Ben Dosa testifies (in Shabbos) that he turned vinegar to oil, that its a allegory?
Its clear that across the ages, gedolim decided what to allegorize based on what made them feel comfortable.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Book Meme - 9 Questions
1. One book that changed your life? Josephus - The war of the jews
2. One book you have read more than once? Dune by Frank Herbert.
3. One book you would want on a desert island? Dune by Frank Herbert.
4. One book that made you laugh? Lewis Black Biography.
5. One book that made you cry? the power of giving by the jim dwyer (i think). especially the story of that chai lifeline kid.
6. One book you wish had been written? A book focusing on the jews of the world of Dune
7. One book you wish had never been written? American Pshyco
8. One book you are currently reading? Rational Unified Process - In Practice (shoot me please)
9. One book you have been meaning to read? The Ruins by Scott Smith (author of a simply plan)
I tag the Jewish Freak, Yediah, That crazy commentor who keeps putting news headlines in my comments, and Lakewood Yid.
2. One book you have read more than once? Dune by Frank Herbert.
3. One book you would want on a desert island? Dune by Frank Herbert.
4. One book that made you laugh? Lewis Black Biography.
5. One book that made you cry? the power of giving by the jim dwyer (i think). especially the story of that chai lifeline kid.
6. One book you wish had been written? A book focusing on the jews of the world of Dune
7. One book you wish had never been written? American Pshyco
8. One book you are currently reading? Rational Unified Process - In Practice (shoot me please)
9. One book you have been meaning to read? The Ruins by Scott Smith (author of a simply plan)
I tag the Jewish Freak, Yediah, That crazy commentor who keeps putting news headlines in my comments, and Lakewood Yid.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Game of Chicken, Israel's deterrence
I've been reading many articles lately lamenting Israel's loss of deterrence.
Tom Friedman in the post once wrote an Op-Ed regarding how stuff works in the Middle East.
He likened it to a game of chicken. You know, the game where two drivers start at opposite ends of a roadway, and drive towards each other. Who ever veers off the road is the chicken.
what's the point of that game? Its the desire to show that I am just a little bit crazier than you.
Well that is the middle east. And the only thing people respect is other people who are just a little bit crazier than them.
Now lets take a look at what Israel accomplished.
Hezbollah was crazy to kidnap some Israeli soldiers and kill some others.
Israel didn't veer off the road. They destroyed billions of dollars of infrastructure in Lebanon, killed many many people and attacked Hezbollah militarily.
Now the next time an Arab state decides it wants a piece of Israel, they need to consider how much billions of dollars is it worth to them.
My guess the Arabs have learned the correct lesson from this war. We should too.
Tom Friedman in the post once wrote an Op-Ed regarding how stuff works in the Middle East.
He likened it to a game of chicken. You know, the game where two drivers start at opposite ends of a roadway, and drive towards each other. Who ever veers off the road is the chicken.
what's the point of that game? Its the desire to show that I am just a little bit crazier than you.
Well that is the middle east. And the only thing people respect is other people who are just a little bit crazier than them.
Now lets take a look at what Israel accomplished.
Hezbollah was crazy to kidnap some Israeli soldiers and kill some others.
Israel didn't veer off the road. They destroyed billions of dollars of infrastructure in Lebanon, killed many many people and attacked Hezbollah militarily.
Now the next time an Arab state decides it wants a piece of Israel, they need to consider how much billions of dollars is it worth to them.
My guess the Arabs have learned the correct lesson from this war. We should too.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Would Chazal Lie?
One of the arguments for our Mesorah is that our fathers who witnessed Torah M'Sinai (TMS)would not lie to their children.
Learning Yoma you see clearly, that Chazal were not sure what happened in the Beis Hamikdash.
They even report 2 witnesses presenting conflicting testimonies on what happened in a certain avodah. Now did these witnesses lie?
According to the infallable mesorah argument, they cant be. Yet they both cant be right. This is a disagreement in mitziyos not sevara.
So why did they forget? And why wouldnt they simply say, hey Im guessing?
Unless they actually thought that is what they saw.
Then is that the same with TMS?
Please discuss.
Learning Yoma you see clearly, that Chazal were not sure what happened in the Beis Hamikdash.
They even report 2 witnesses presenting conflicting testimonies on what happened in a certain avodah. Now did these witnesses lie?
According to the infallable mesorah argument, they cant be. Yet they both cant be right. This is a disagreement in mitziyos not sevara.
So why did they forget? And why wouldnt they simply say, hey Im guessing?
Unless they actually thought that is what they saw.
Then is that the same with TMS?
Please discuss.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Rosetta Stone
There is a stone that is famous for unlocking the mystery to the Egyptian Hieraglyphics.
I believe it was called the Rosetta Stone.
Baal Habos has started posting a series on various hashkafa issues and how he feels about them.
Recovering Orthodox Jew has been doing the same, but he seems to be angry.
I thought I would throw my two cents in.
Im trying to find the Rosetta Stone. The key answer that gives me that "Aha" moment that all the Charedi Hashkafa makes sense.
(I know GH made a big deal about Modern Orthodox not making sense either. But Modern Orthodox will not create a Taliban future for the Jews. There are Charedim that seem hell bent on doing that. I also want to point out there is a difference between some Charedim and Heimish, Chassidish, Litvish, yeshivish jews. )
Ok, Please share with me the Rosetta Stone of Charedi Judiasm.
I believe it was called the Rosetta Stone.
Baal Habos has started posting a series on various hashkafa issues and how he feels about them.
Recovering Orthodox Jew has been doing the same, but he seems to be angry.
I thought I would throw my two cents in.
Im trying to find the Rosetta Stone. The key answer that gives me that "Aha" moment that all the Charedi Hashkafa makes sense.
(I know GH made a big deal about Modern Orthodox not making sense either. But Modern Orthodox will not create a Taliban future for the Jews. There are Charedim that seem hell bent on doing that. I also want to point out there is a difference between some Charedim and Heimish, Chassidish, Litvish, yeshivish jews. )
Ok, Please share with me the Rosetta Stone of Charedi Judiasm.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
EY trip completed
July 20th:
Went to Geula and Mea Shearim. I wanted to get kugel in Maadan Hamuchan. But they only had cold kugel.
Got garanim in one of the many nut stores in Geula.
Didnt notice if Uri Pizza is still open.
I used to eat there (they had a mechitzah in the back/side).
I enjoyed walking around the life of Jerusalem, and it brought me back to my yeshiva days.
Then I walked back to the hotel like a lunatic.
July 21st M"S
Went to Ben Yehudah. What a scene. Big Apple Pizza is clearly the best pizza in Israel, maybe america as well.
July 22nd:
Biblical Zoo - Hoping to bump into Slifkin, Then I remembered he is on big tour of the USA.
It was hot like hell. It smelled something awful when you approached the big beasts.
Ate lunch at El Gaucho. YUMMMMMMMMMMMM!
At night I had Sushi at David Citadel. Which reminds me, there was a Sushi to go place on Ben Yehuda. Now, what person in his right mind would eat sushi from a take out place that had their door OPEN? Its freakin 100 degrees!
July 23rd:
Israel Museum - got a chance to see what the Daf is talking about.
I also found the Dead Sea scrolls very interesting. The children of Light called Chazal the children of Darkeness. Very interesting. Seems there were many competing groups. If Chazal version was so obvious, why the competition? Could it be that the Mesorah wasnt so clear?
At night I ate at Caffit. Didnt like it, and the service was lousy. We told the waitress to bring the appetizer before the soup and then the main. She brought the main and then the soup, and the appetizer. I guess she thinks in HEBREW.
July 24th:
Ate at Macdonalds at the airport. I told them NO MAYONAISE. And you know the rest.
Uneventful flight except that the we had to wait half hour for this family of 9 to show up.
Everyone was eyeing the empty rows, drooling over the possibility of bed.
Airline food was horrible.
Thats all folks.
Went to Geula and Mea Shearim. I wanted to get kugel in Maadan Hamuchan. But they only had cold kugel.
Got garanim in one of the many nut stores in Geula.
Didnt notice if Uri Pizza is still open.
I used to eat there (they had a mechitzah in the back/side).
I enjoyed walking around the life of Jerusalem, and it brought me back to my yeshiva days.
Then I walked back to the hotel like a lunatic.
July 21st M"S
Went to Ben Yehudah. What a scene. Big Apple Pizza is clearly the best pizza in Israel, maybe america as well.
July 22nd:
Biblical Zoo - Hoping to bump into Slifkin, Then I remembered he is on big tour of the USA.
It was hot like hell. It smelled something awful when you approached the big beasts.
Ate lunch at El Gaucho. YUMMMMMMMMMMMM!
At night I had Sushi at David Citadel. Which reminds me, there was a Sushi to go place on Ben Yehuda. Now, what person in his right mind would eat sushi from a take out place that had their door OPEN? Its freakin 100 degrees!
July 23rd:
Israel Museum - got a chance to see what the Daf is talking about.
I also found the Dead Sea scrolls very interesting. The children of Light called Chazal the children of Darkeness. Very interesting. Seems there were many competing groups. If Chazal version was so obvious, why the competition? Could it be that the Mesorah wasnt so clear?
At night I ate at Caffit. Didnt like it, and the service was lousy. We told the waitress to bring the appetizer before the soup and then the main. She brought the main and then the soup, and the appetizer. I guess she thinks in HEBREW.
July 24th:
Ate at Macdonalds at the airport. I told them NO MAYONAISE. And you know the rest.
Uneventful flight except that the we had to wait half hour for this family of 9 to show up.
Everyone was eyeing the empty rows, drooling over the possibility of bed.
Airline food was horrible.
Thats all folks.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Some Details of my trip to EY
Here is the first part of my diary of my visit to Israel:
July 18th
Sitting here, at 3:30 am, 7:30 hours into the flight, thinking so this is what I wasn't going to let them ruin? Sitting in coach trying your damnest to fall asleep without Ambien!
The plane smells like a locker room. They didn't have a glatt meal for me. Actually enjoyed the El Al food. Meatballs and pasta.
No sleep.
Arrived, this is the first time I'm here in 7 years. Things have changed. No longer do you get on a bus to get to the airports passport control.
Its now a long, long, long walk.
Shmuel picked us up, 50 dollars to jerusalem.
On the way Shmuel tells us, they should bomb till there are no bombs left
Arrive in hotel. Rest up for tour in the evening.
Old city, walked in shuk, and some arab yelled Jew.
Also davened maariv at kotel. More Shnorrers than at a wedding in williamsburg.
Went to Jewish quarter. More pizza and shwarma/falafel shops than in boro park.
Actually there is now a resteraunt in mea shearim that is called boro park resteraunt.
Also kids from all types of yeshivas are hanging out.
One set of charedi teenagers were at kotel bus stop and talking about taking her to red heiffer, but he will only pay for himself so it won't be a date.
Kids playing poker in front of the various pizza shops, acting loud. A table of girls next to them. Parrent who think their kids are supervised here are blind.
July 19th
Asked for 7 am wake up call, never got it. Ate breakfast at hotel. Then off to kotel for shachris
I did reis kriah.
Then to a bar mitzvah breakfast.
Visited the Davidson center which is the southern wall excavation.
Thank God its indoors!
It was very interesting. Had a virtual recreation.
You can see the daf come alive.
Shekels, buying animals, shabbos horn, the platform 3 football fields, 250k people.
Sign for goyim not to enter
Also did the Glass tour at the Kotel. Thing was nice but not great.
Went to Ben Yehuda street and did a falafel taste test.
Moaz on king George and moshiko on Ben Yehuda where "falafel buys you". It was better. Tell him the guy with hat who told him he is better than moaz sent you.
It is fresher and tastier. Moaz famous for shwarma.
Interesting sign on burger king "murder equals meat".
Went to cafe rimon for the evening.
Full of smokers, even charedi women where smoking. Woke up smelling like smoke.
more next post....
July 18th
Sitting here, at 3:30 am, 7:30 hours into the flight, thinking so this is what I wasn't going to let them ruin? Sitting in coach trying your damnest to fall asleep without Ambien!
The plane smells like a locker room. They didn't have a glatt meal for me. Actually enjoyed the El Al food. Meatballs and pasta.
No sleep.
Arrived, this is the first time I'm here in 7 years. Things have changed. No longer do you get on a bus to get to the airports passport control.
Its now a long, long, long walk.
Shmuel picked us up, 50 dollars to jerusalem.
On the way Shmuel tells us, they should bomb till there are no bombs left
Arrive in hotel. Rest up for tour in the evening.
Old city, walked in shuk, and some arab yelled Jew.
Also davened maariv at kotel. More Shnorrers than at a wedding in williamsburg.
Went to Jewish quarter. More pizza and shwarma/falafel shops than in boro park.
Actually there is now a resteraunt in mea shearim that is called boro park resteraunt.
Also kids from all types of yeshivas are hanging out.
One set of charedi teenagers were at kotel bus stop and talking about taking her to red heiffer, but he will only pay for himself so it won't be a date.
Kids playing poker in front of the various pizza shops, acting loud. A table of girls next to them. Parrent who think their kids are supervised here are blind.
July 19th
Asked for 7 am wake up call, never got it. Ate breakfast at hotel. Then off to kotel for shachris
I did reis kriah.
Then to a bar mitzvah breakfast.
Visited the Davidson center which is the southern wall excavation.
Thank God its indoors!
It was very interesting. Had a virtual recreation.
You can see the daf come alive.
Shekels, buying animals, shabbos horn, the platform 3 football fields, 250k people.
Sign for goyim not to enter
Also did the Glass tour at the Kotel. Thing was nice but not great.
Went to Ben Yehuda street and did a falafel taste test.
Moaz on king George and moshiko on Ben Yehuda where "falafel buys you". It was better. Tell him the guy with hat who told him he is better than moaz sent you.
It is fresher and tastier. Moaz famous for shwarma.
Interesting sign on burger king "murder equals meat".
Went to cafe rimon for the evening.
Full of smokers, even charedi women where smoking. Woke up smelling like smoke.
more next post....
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Chevron - Love it or Leave it?
I visited Chevron on my trip to Israel.
We had a guide from Chevron. He went on and on about the importance of Chevron.
Here are some pictures:
This is the Arab part of Chevron. According to the guide, 30,000 arabs have left it.
Why? Well, there are no jobs.
Another view of Arab Chevron:
And finally, a picture of Chevron that the Jews want to get back:
The picture above is the shopping mall that Jews used to own.
Now for a Trial Balloon:
This is tough to say, but I believe that we need to leave Chevron. At the very least, the Avrohom Avinu neighborhood.
The reason? Not only because there are 80,000 arabs and maybe 50 jewish families.
But also because i think you have to be nuts to live there. And the people I saw looked like nuts. They quote navi for everything, but what about putting your life in danger? I know the arguments:
A) israel is also outnumbered compared to arabs.
B) if we give up chevron, next is tel aviv.
both of those answers are stupid, and just re-enforces the point that you have to be nuts to live in chevron.
The jews of chevron dont realize, they are in a JAIL! And they put Israeli soldiers lives at risk.
I know I may have ruffled some feathers, and I apologize. Maybe the guide failed to inspire me.
I just had a headache after visiting chevron. All the memorials. Its really a museum and a macabre one at that.
I know this is bad timing, but its simply what I saw, and what Im reporting.
Chevron: We love ya, but we got to leave you.
your thoughts. Any convincing reason to stay?
We had a guide from Chevron. He went on and on about the importance of Chevron.
Here are some pictures:
This is the Arab part of Chevron. According to the guide, 30,000 arabs have left it.
Why? Well, there are no jobs.
Another view of Arab Chevron:
And finally, a picture of Chevron that the Jews want to get back:
The picture above is the shopping mall that Jews used to own.
Now for a Trial Balloon:
This is tough to say, but I believe that we need to leave Chevron. At the very least, the Avrohom Avinu neighborhood.
The reason? Not only because there are 80,000 arabs and maybe 50 jewish families.
But also because i think you have to be nuts to live there. And the people I saw looked like nuts. They quote navi for everything, but what about putting your life in danger? I know the arguments:
A) israel is also outnumbered compared to arabs.
B) if we give up chevron, next is tel aviv.
both of those answers are stupid, and just re-enforces the point that you have to be nuts to live in chevron.
The jews of chevron dont realize, they are in a JAIL! And they put Israeli soldiers lives at risk.
I know I may have ruffled some feathers, and I apologize. Maybe the guide failed to inspire me.
I just had a headache after visiting chevron. All the memorials. Its really a museum and a macabre one at that.
I know this is bad timing, but its simply what I saw, and what Im reporting.
Chevron: We love ya, but we got to leave you.
your thoughts. Any convincing reason to stay?
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
I'm Baaaaaaaaaack!
Arrived last night.
Now comes the battle of Jet Lag.
I decided before I went that I would not be checking Email or Internet. So for those who sent me emails, Im sorry I didnt get back to you.
As a famous Rosh Yeshiva, of a very hard to get into Yeshiva, said in one of my visits, the bochrim in his yeshiva do not have cell phones. They are disconnected from the street.
I was too, in fact, I was disconnected from the world at large. When you are in Jerusalem, you have no idea a WAR is raging with 2 1/2 million people under siege. Who gives a crap about 700,000 so called refugees, who made thier deal with their devil, Hizbollah. No news media is reporting what the scale of the crisis in Israel is.
In the Hotel you get Sky News and CNN. These channels are basically Arab run channels. Be prepared to be sick to your stomach while watching them. So I decided to watch Israeli News.
I had no idea what they were saying, but they seemed to cover the details no other media reported. Think Eyewitness news in Hebrew.
I had a wonderful time, maybe too good of time, considering its the 3 weeks and Israel is at War.
I will report more shortly.
For those who want to know if they should go.
As of now, no rockets have rained on Tel-Aviv. I think in that situation the stakes would be much higher and I would not of gone. We had a terror alert when traveling to Netanya, but they caught the cell.
If youre visiting Jerusalem, you will not notice there is a war on.
As a followup re the refugees in Lebanon.
Its very clear, Israel bombed roads and infrastructure, because that very infrastructure supports Hizbollah ability to fire missles. They get re-supplied by road via Syria, they get re-supplied by air via the Airport, and they get re-supplied by sea via the Ports.
Im not sure if American media showed the israeli strikes on katyushes. They literally have them between buildings. The refugee crisis is manufactured by Hizbollah as their ONLY lever to win their war. Of course Israel made mistakes, but its War, and its not one Israel started.
Now comes the battle of Jet Lag.
I decided before I went that I would not be checking Email or Internet. So for those who sent me emails, Im sorry I didnt get back to you.
As a famous Rosh Yeshiva, of a very hard to get into Yeshiva, said in one of my visits, the bochrim in his yeshiva do not have cell phones. They are disconnected from the street.
I was too, in fact, I was disconnected from the world at large. When you are in Jerusalem, you have no idea a WAR is raging with 2 1/2 million people under siege. Who gives a crap about 700,000 so called refugees, who made thier deal with their devil, Hizbollah. No news media is reporting what the scale of the crisis in Israel is.
In the Hotel you get Sky News and CNN. These channels are basically Arab run channels. Be prepared to be sick to your stomach while watching them. So I decided to watch Israeli News.
I had no idea what they were saying, but they seemed to cover the details no other media reported. Think Eyewitness news in Hebrew.
I had a wonderful time, maybe too good of time, considering its the 3 weeks and Israel is at War.
I will report more shortly.
For those who want to know if they should go.
As of now, no rockets have rained on Tel-Aviv. I think in that situation the stakes would be much higher and I would not of gone. We had a terror alert when traveling to Netanya, but they caught the cell.
If youre visiting Jerusalem, you will not notice there is a war on.
As a followup re the refugees in Lebanon.
Its very clear, Israel bombed roads and infrastructure, because that very infrastructure supports Hizbollah ability to fire missles. They get re-supplied by road via Syria, they get re-supplied by air via the Airport, and they get re-supplied by sea via the Ports.
Im not sure if American media showed the israeli strikes on katyushes. They literally have them between buildings. The refugee crisis is manufactured by Hizbollah as their ONLY lever to win their war. Of course Israel made mistakes, but its War, and its not one Israel started.
