The NOSE POLICE and Why the Big and Small Letters in the Torah? By Yehuda Shurpin and Seven Branches, Seven Truths By Nechoma Greisman and Rep. Crenshaw: Defunding Police ‘Worst’ Way to Help Cities and Exploiting the Floyd Protests to Demonize Israel By Alan M. Dershowitz and Democrats circulate letter that proposes cutting US assistance to Israel over sovereignty plans

Can't see images? Click here... Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher, and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money,  and spiritual engagement. Now also a Blogger on the Times of Israel. Look for my column Love Yehuda Lave The NOSE POLICE The Nose Police   People being intelligent beings have an amazing ability to adapt to new circumstances.   The change from landlines to move around phones (what used to be called mobile phones in the house--those without a cord) was easy for people. "Look Ma-no cords".   Around the same time, true mobile phones came into existence and you couldn't take people off of them anymore. Everybody remembers the stories of how you couldn't get a clerk in an Israeli store because they were too busy on their phones to service the customer.    Then came the internet with youtube and music to go along with the phone calls and it was all over. People's attention was moved to their nose which is now constantly stuck in their phone.   Well, now thanks to the coronavirus, we now have a new thing for where you stick your nose-THE NOSE Police.   I have no idea whether the masks we wear are necessary or not or whether they do anything to protect our health or not. It would be common sense that if someone is sneezing or coughing, that any type of barrier would stop the germs from spreading.   But does wearing the cloth mask or plastic shield stop me from inhaling it? I have no idea and neither does anyone else. Differing opinions from all over the world, are telling me that the masks are either good or bad for me and I have no idea.   What I do know,  is that the masks have become part of Israeli society in a matter of months. Who would have believed that people could be trained in changing their behavior so quickly, but we have seen it before our eyes?   I am more exposed to the change than most people because I go to synagogue three times a day. The rules are that masks or visors (which I have changed to since it lets me breathe) must be worn and there is a designated policeman who enforces the wearing of the mask or you get thrown out of shul.   Now it was necessary to reopen the synagogues that we agree to the same untested behavior that we have on the street. Whatever logic we have had to the lockdown (and there has been precious little logic--who knows if the lockdown accomplished a single thing except single handily changed the world in three months) showed that if we have the same behavior in the shul as we do outside, the shul can't be any more dangerous. And so far they have been right, nothing has happened in the synagogue that hasn't happened outside.   But we now have the NOSE Police in the shul as we pray watching us constantly and telling us our nose mask has slipped down a centimeter and to push it back up.   Some people G-d created for this job and they do it well with courtesy and a smile. What was ironic tonight was the Gabi who is the nose policeman went over to someone to tell him something and as soon as he saw him, the person felt his nose to see if his mask was up, because now when he sees the Gabi all he can think is where is his mask!   The people change with the times as we become accustomed to the new normal! Exploiting the Floyd Protests to Demonize Israel By Alan M. Dershowitz As usual, anti-Israel extremists, especially some on the hard left, are trying to exploit the tragic and inexcusable death of George Floyd to level their typical baseless charges against Israel. Signs and chants at several protests have either tried to blame Israel – falsely as it turns out – for training the policemen who are responsible for Floyd's death, or to compare police brutality in America with legitimate efforts by the Israel military to prevent acts of terrorism against civilians. A cartoon that is being circulated on social media shows an American policeman with his knee on the neck of an African American man and an Israeli soldier with his knee on the neck of a Palestinian man. The policeman and soldier are embracing. The caption above reads: "Black Lives Matter," though there is no evidence that the organization has anything to do with this bigoted cartoon. A painting of George Floyd wearing a Palestinian keffiya is also being circulated, and BDS proponents at the University of California are accusing Israel of training racist American policemen. Anti-Israel graffiti – "F…K Israel," "free Palestine" – has been sprayed on synagogue walls in Los Angeles during anti-racist demonstrations. This "blame it on Israel" or "blame it on the Jews" bigotry is common throughout the world at demonstrations for legitimate causes, that are unrelated to the Mid-East. Anti-Israel extremists from the hard left try to promote the intersectionality propaganda that all the evils of the world are produced by privileged white democracies, such as the US and Israel. Islamic extremists – who are hard to classify as left or right – use any excuse to demonize Israel. Antisemitic extremists from the hard right have always tried to blame the Jews for all of the world's evils. An old Polish expression summarized it well: "If there is trouble in the world, the Jews must be behind it." Today that has been expanded by the hard left and Islamic extremists to include the nation state of the Jewish people among those who cause the world's problems, ranging from capitalism, to destruction of the environment, to police violence. The organization "Black Lives Matter," which does much good, is not immune from this bigotry. Its own platform blames Israel for police violence against African Americans, and compares such violence to what it falsely calls the "genocide" of the Palestinian people. Many good people who support the organization are unaware of its gratuitous demonization of Israel, and would oppose such distractions from its core mission. George Zeiden, a Palestinian activist, has urged his followers to "leave Palestine out of the current protests lest it take attention away from "this watershed moment in Black American history." Not everything is about the Palestinians, despite efforts by intersectionalists to make it so, and not everything is about Israel and Jews despite the obsessive focus of the hard left and hard right on these tiny elements of the issues facing the world. Historically, the Jews have always been caught between the black of Fascism and the red of Communism. This was true in the 1920's and 1930's in Europe, and there is a danger that it could now manifest itself during this time of extremism, when bigots on both sides are prepared to scapegoat the Jews and their nation state. Those of us who are both Jewish and Liberal – who support Israel and oppose unjustified police violence – must be willing to participate and encourage legitimate protests against police violence, such as that caught on video in the Floyd case. We must stand up and be heard in condemnation of such violations – but we must stand up and be heard against those who would exploit tragedies to foment violence against Jews and the nation state of the Jewish people. We should not generalize: the vast majority of protesters are focused on the injustices of police misconduct. But we cannot ignore those – even if they are relatively few in number – who would turn these protests into bigoted attacks against Israel. Bigotry unanswered grows in size and intensity. Why the Big and Small Letters in the Torah? By Yehuda Shurpin although you cannot tell from the translations if you look at a Torah scroll, certain letters are written larger or smaller than the rest of the letters. These letters have been carefully copied by scribes in a chain of tradition1 that, according to some opinions,2 can be traced all the way back to Sinai.3 Fascinatingly, the oversized and undersized letters of the Torah make up the entire aleph-bet.4 According to the sages, each of these letters hints to deeper meanings and secrets of the Torah. What Do the Differently Sized Letters Mean? The mystics explain that the Divine energy flows into this world through the Hebrew letters of the Torah. The oversized letters represent the Divine attribute of chesed ("kindness"), and the small letters are associated with the attribute of gevurah (often translated as "might," which is associated with restraint and withholding of His radiance).5 To illustrate some of the deeper meanings behind these letters, we'll bring just a few examples, with the understanding that each example really has multiple layers of meaning, well beyond the scope of this article. The Small Hei of Creation When recounting the creation of the world, the verse states, "These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, on the day that the L‑rd G‑d made earth and heaven." The word בְּהִ֣בָּֽרְאָ֑ם, "when they were created," is written with a small hei. The mystics explain that the world was created through G‑d's hiding His Divine energy.6 Thus, the word can also be read as "be'hei baram," "He created [the world] with the [truncated] letter hei." Big Aleph vs. Small Aleph The aleph in the first word of Leviticus, וַיִּקְרָ֖א, "He called," is small. In contrast, we find that aleph in the word "Adam" at the beginning of the book of Chronicles is large. The Chassidic masters explain that the small aleph alludes to Moses' humility even as G‑d called upon him to take an exalted role in human history. In contrast, the aleph in Adam's name is written larger than usual, alluding to Adam's self-esteem as the acme of G‑d's creation. Although it is both necessary and good to be aware of one's positive qualities, Adam allowed his self-esteem to degenerate into conceit, and this caused his ultimate downfall with the sin of the forbidden fruit. Moses rectified Adam's mistake. He recognized his greatness but nevertheless remained humble. His humility was not self-delusional, but the result of simple reasoning. "I cannot take any credit for any of my gifts or accomplishments," he thought, "since they are all G‑d-given." The Big Yud of the 10 Tests After the episode of the spies returning from the Land of Israel and giving a bad report, G‑d was angered and wished to punish His nation. Moses implored G‑d to spare them, and before invoking G‑d's 13 Attributes of Mercy, he said: "Therefore, I pray, let my L‑rd's forbearance be great, as You have declared, saying . . ."7 The word יִגְדַּל ("be great")is written with an oversized yud, which has the numerical value of ten. Thus, the commentaries explain that Moses was in effect saying to G‑d, "The Jews may have tested You in the desert ten times, but remember our righteous forefather Abraham, whose faith you tested with ten trials and he withstood them all."8 The Large Ayin and Dalet of Shema The Shema prayer is an affirmation that G‑d is the only true existence: "Hear, O Israel: G‑d is our L‑rd, G‑d is one." Not only is there a biblical commandment to recite the Shema twice daily, but this succinct statement has also become so central to the Jewish people that it is the climax of the final Ne'ilah prayer of Yom Kippur, and is traditionally a Jew's last words on earth. The last letters of the first and last words of Shema are oversized letters: שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל ה אֱלֹקינוּ ה | אֶחָֽד. One explanation is that the large letter ayin, which has the numerical value of 70, alludes to the idea that all 70 nations should hear (שְׁמַ֖ע) this message. The dalet, with the numerical value of four, represents the four directions of the world, alluding to the imperative that G‑d's oneness be revealed in all places. Another explanation is that together these letters make up the word עד, "witness," for when we testify to G‑d's oneness, G‑d, so to speak, "testifies" to our unique role in the world.9 This is but a very small sampling of some of the explanations behind the abnormally sized letters of the Torah, which are among the countless examples of how every nuance of the Torah is perfect, rich with meaning, and deep beyond our understanding. Footnotes 1. Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Sefer Torah 7:8. 2. Mordechai, Talmud Menochot, ch. 3. 3. However, unlike if a letter is missing or misshapen, if one made one of these letters normal-sized, the Torah scroll would still be considered kosher. See Rama, Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 275:6. 4. See Mesorah Gedolah, beginning of Genesis, Leviticus and Chronicles. Some say (see Machzor Vitri,p. 683) that both in the Torah itself as well as in the Neviim and Ketuvim, one can find a set of all of the aleph-bet in oversized letters. 5. Megaleh Amukot, ofen 53. 6. Maamari Admur Hazaken 5568, vol. 2, p. 737. 7. Numbers 14:17. 8. Baal Haturim ad loc. 9. See Baal Haturim and Kli Yakar on Deuteronomy 6:2. Notes from my sister IT'S BETTER TO HAVE LOVED A SHORT MAN THAN NEVER LOVED A TALL. GIVING UP ON A GOAL BECAUSE YOU HAD A SETBACK IS LIKE SLASHING YOUR OTHER 3 TIRES BECAUSE ONE GOT A FLAT. YOUR DIET IS NOT ONLY WHAT YOU EAT. IT'S WHAT YOU YOU WATCH, WHAT YOU LISTEN TO, WHAT YOU READ, THE PEOPLE YOU HANG AROUND WITH, BE MINDFUL OF WHAT YOU PUT INTO YOUR BODY-- EMOTIONALLY, PHYSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY. EVEN THOugh CHANGE CAN BE SCARY, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FOLLOW THE SAME OLD PATH AND REACH A NEW DESTINATION. MY WEIGHT GOAL IS ONE CHIN. MY BRAIN, SKIN, AND HAIR CELLS KEEP DYING. BUT MY STUBBORN FAT CELLS LIVE FOREVER. COURAGE DOESN'T MEAN YOU DON'T GET AFRAID. COURAGE MEANS YOU DON'T LET FEAR STOP YOU. Seven Branches, Seven Truths By Nechoma Greisman The candelabra in the Tabernacle and in the Holy Temple had seven branches. One of the major daily services of Aaron, the high priest, was kindling the candelabra. The verse, however, uses an unusual expression for this task—"when you will raise up the lamps," rather than the more common expression, "to light the lamps." The commentator Rashi explains that the priest had to coax the flame "until it rises up on its own." Based on a verse in Zechariah which compares the Jewish people to a golden candelabra, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi explains that each of the seven lamps of the candelabra corresponds to one of the seven holy character traits: kindness (chesed), austerity (gevurah), compassion (tiferet), etc. The Lubavitcher Rebbe points out that one of the conclusions we must draw from this is that there are really several different paths in Judaism. There are seven different ways. We are not all the same, and we are not all meant to be the same. Just as there are seven basic character traits, so too there are seven legitimate and valid ways to be a candelabra—a luminary. You don't have to be a carbon copy of somebody else to be a good Jew. The critical issue is, are you kindled? Are you lit up? If you are lit up, and you are illuminating the surroundings as a candelabra of Judaism, then your way is valid. The Torah teaches us this by the fact that the candelabra does not have one branch, but seven, so that everybody can be themselves and serve G‑d according to their own personality and way, provided that they are illuminating the world in the way G‑d wants. The windows of the Temple in Jerusalem were very unusual. Most of the time, when you build a house, you make the windows in such a way that the light from the outside will come into the house. But in the Temple, the windows were built in such a way that the light from inside could shine out, but not vice versa. This, too, is a lesson to every person—that he is not supposed to be influenced by the "outside" world, by what the street has to offer. Rather, he must kindle his own candelabra and illuminate the world around him, even the street outside. We mentioned before that there are seven paths, there are seven approaches to Judaism. There is the way of love (ahavah), and the way of fear (yir'ah)—austerity or severity . Everyone is probably familiar with both approaches. We've all gone through school, and have probably experienced teachers who teach with love. The kids love them; they love the kids. There's a feeling of joy and participation. Then we have all had teachers who were very strict disciplinarians. If you made one move, you were out of the room, or standing in the corner, or writing lines a hundred times. Both of them were teachers; both of them were trying to do the same thing—teach children. But they had different approaches—one with love, the other with fear. Now you might say, "What's the difference? Do it with love, do it with fear, as long as you accomplish your goals. What's the difference what method you use?" However, the Rebbe says that there is a difference. Even though the way of the person who kindles you with fear is legitimate, nevertheless how much better, how much more pleasant it is when your way of kindling is with love . . . By Nechoma Greisman By Nechoma Greisman, based on the teaching of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory. George Campbell Scott was a stage and film actor, director and producer George Campbell Scott was a stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of the prosecutor Claude Dancer in Anatomy of a Murder (1959), as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (1964), General George S. Patton in the film Patton (1970), Ebenezer Scrooge in Clive Donner's film A Christmas Carol (1984). He was the first actor to refuse the Academy Award for Best Actor (for Patton in 1970), having warned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences months in advance that he would do so on philosophical grounds if he won. Scott believed that every dramatic performance was unique and could not be compared to others. Rep. Crenshaw: Defunding Police 'Worst' Way to Help Cities By Sandy Fitzgerald(NEWSMAX) Calls to defund police departments nationally are more than an undercurrent or a fringe opinion, but as the demands grow, "it's hard to imagine a worse way to help the communities of color that you're seeking to help," Rep. Dan Crenshaw said Wednesday. "Fundamentally, a neighborhood needs safety to thrive," the Texas Republican said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "If anybody is going to invest, if anybody is going to have a thriving business, if anybody is going to get a good education, the community needs to be safe. There are no examples of a community becoming safer with less policing." Meanwhile, there are "smart ways" to reform police departments, said Crenshaw, and he believes bipartisan change is possible. "Even the bill that was proposed by Democrats has problems but there are certainly elements in there that we can all agree upon and that we should agree upon and get going," said Crenshaw. Some Democrats are saying that rather than taking money away from police departments, they want to allocate some of the budgets and redirect money, but Crenshaw said that still means defunding departments. "They like to hold up the example of Camden, New Jersey," said Crenshaw. "They actually increased the number of police officers on the street. Now what they did is break up policing and that was costing the city too much, but then they used that money and hired more police. He added that there is only one outcome when a city pulls back on police, and that's an increase of crime, which will "hurt these communities of color the most." "That has been borne out in every single piece of data and evidence and over the last few years, where violent crime and crime, in general, has gone up across major cities, and that is a result of police having to pull back," said Crenshaw. "It's the exact opposite outcome that we want if we're trying to help the people that we're claiming to help." FacebookTwitterEmail Fuzzy Math Fuzzy Math "Shmueli," said Mrs. Robinson the 3rd grade math teacher, "if coal is selling at $6 a ton and you pay your provider $24, how many tons will he bring you?" "A little over three tons, Mrs. Robinson," said Shmueli. "Why, Shmueli, that isn't right," said the teacher. "No, Mrs. Robinson, I know it isn't," said Shmueli, "but they all do it." Democrats circulate letter that proposes cutting US assistance to Israel over sovereignty plans The letter has been issued by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Betty McCollum (D-Minn.).Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) addresses the Women's March on NYC 2019.  (June 29, 2020 / JNS) Four Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives have been circulating a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, threatening the conditioning or even cutting off of U.S. assistance to Israel if the Jewish state goes ahead with its plans to apply sovereignty to parts of the West Bank in what many have said would be an annexation of the area, also known as Judea and Samaria. The letter has been issued by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Betty McCollum (D-Minn.). In the letter, the progressive members of Congress, citing unspecified "leading human rights experts," warn that "annexing parts of the West Bank will perpetuate and entrench human rights violations against Palestinians including limitations on freedom of movement, mass expropriation of privately-owned Palestinian land, further expansion of illegal settlements, continued demolitions of Palestinian homes, and a loss of Palestinian control over their natural resources." The letter accuses Israel of "paving the path toward an apartheid system" since it won't grant citizenship to Palestinians living in annexed territory," despite the Palestinians being under the control of the Palestinian Authority, known for corruption, human-rights abuses and supporting terrorism against Israelis. "The U.S. should work to build a future in which all Palestinians and Israelis live under full equality by upholding a foreign policy that centers human rights and dignity for all people," states the letter. "We therefore call on you to use a combination of pressure and incentives to stop Israel's plans to illegally annex the West Bank, which would ensure a worsening of the situation for all Palestinians and Israelis." The Congress members warn that if Israel were to go ahead with annexation, which the Israeli government has said it will do some time after July 1, "we will work to ensure non-recognition as well as pursue conditions on the $3.8 billion in U.S. military funding to Israel, including human rights conditions and withholding funds for the off-shore procurement of Israeli weapons equal to or exceeding the amount the Israeli government spends annually to fund settlements, as well as the policies and practices that sustain and enable them." In an action alert email on Monday, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee called the letter "one-sided" and "directly threatens the U.S.-Israel relationship," "supports conditioning and cutting America's security assistance commitment to Israel" and "would damage American interests, risk the security of Israel and make a two-state solution less likely."   See you tomrrow bli neder We need Moshiach now Love Yehuda Lave Rabbi Yehuda Lave PO Box 7335, Rehavia Jerusalem 9107202 LIKE TWEET FORWARD You received this email because you signed up on our website or made purchase from us. Unsubscribe

Netanyahu announces additional coronavirus restrictions and ‘Gaza is Everywhere!’: Anti-Zionist Activists Latch on to George Floyd’s Death to Bash Israel and The Great Threat to America, and to American Jewry By Caroline B. Glick and parsha Shalach and Just because G-d is a forgiving G-d doesn't mean you don't have to follow G-d's instructions

Can't see images? Click here... Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher, and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money,  and spiritual engagement. Now also a Blogger on the Times of Israel. Look for my column Love Yehuda Lave Knowing that G-d forgives you doesn't give you the right not to listen Knowing that G-d forgives doesn't give you the right not to listen   Great lessons for today are to be leaned from the inspirational stories of the bible.   Against the backdrop of the greatest Exodus in history, the Jews of 3333 years ago spend 40 years in the desert, going from place to place and essentially waiting for a Generation to die.   If you think I lockdown was bad, imagine it extending for 40 years!   One of the most famous inspirational stories is the story of the spies that went into the land of Israel, as advance men. The spies were either sent by G-d or by Moses depending on which version of the bible story you understand. It is not clear at all from the narrative. Arguments are made both ways and it is purposely left unclear as to whether they were on a mission from G-d (forgive me Blues Brothers movie) or Moses making an executive decision.   Whichever version of the story you believe, the Torah (bible) is very clear that the spies failed their mission. The ten spies that spoke against the land of Israel all died in a plague. All of the spies, except Joshua and Caleb, were struck down with a plague and died.   Obviously they didn't get a good result, but what lessons are we to learn today from the incident, which is why the Bible is a direct "ways" from G-d to teach us lessons for our time.   Rabbi Menachem Leibtag, is the founder of the Tanach Study Center www.tanach.org, is an internationally acclaimed Bible scholar and pioneer of Jewish Education on the internet. Rabbi Leibtag states that the people were not ready to do the Mitzvahs in the land of Israel. According to the Rabbi, it's not enough for Jewish people just to live in the land, they have to accept G-d's instructions regarding the Mitzvahs fully in their heart.   The people including the spies didn't have that in their heart. Knowing that G-d forgives doesn't give you the right not to listen to the commandments. This is the lesson we are still learning today. Although G-d is a forgiving and loving G-d, he also has a set of instructions that we don't follow at our own risk.   Speaking of following the instructions here is a quick story, though not biblical.               The Wailing What?                     Maureen and Patrick O'Connor are visiting Jerusalem for the first time and are pretty darn excited. On their first day, they get into a taxi and say to the driver, "Our friends told us of a very interesting site in Israel that we must visit. We can't remember the name, but could you please take us to the place where the Jews do their crying." So the taxi driver promptly took them to the Income Tax Authority building.                     The Portion of Shlach Lecha The portion of Shlach Lecha One Unusual Letter Reveals a Complete Story The portion of Shlach Lecha deals with one of the most painful incidents which occurred in the desert as the Children of Israel made their way to the Land of Israel. The Children of Israel are within reach of the Promised Land. In order to plan the strategy needed to conquer the land, the leaders of the 12 tribes are sent to collect intelligence. The spies embark on their mission and upon its completion, they return and present their report to Moshe and the people. Each of the spies saw the very same things but their interpretation of what they saw was different, and so they presented a majority report and a minority report. Ten spies reported that the local population was strong and well-fortified and that it would be impossible to defeat them in battle. The other two spies, Joshua and Calev, saw things differently. As Calev declared "Let us go up and take possession of it, for we can indeed overcome it (Numbers 13;30)." The punishment for this lack of faith is pronounced immediately. The Children of Israel will continue their trek in the desert for 40 years until the entire generation which violated their covenant with G-d will pass away. The next generation will merit entering and possessing the Land. The Talmud (Tractate Sotah 37) lists this covenant as one of the eight covenants (britot) between the Almighty and the Children of Israel and this is alluded to in the unusual manner in which the letter "chet" (the numerical value of the letter chet is 8) is written in the word "vayishchatem bamidbar"- and He slaughtered them in the desert" (Numbers 14;16). And in the words of the Baal Haturim: the broken letter "chet" shows that they violated the Torah which they agreed to in eight covenants and therefore G-d gave permission to His ministering angels to administer the punishment for their sin and break them.   Netanyahu announces additional coronavirus restrictions Coronavirus Cabinet Ministers unanimously decide on steps to limit gatherings and social functions. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu today convened the Coronavirus Cabinet to discuss further restrictions required in light of high morbidity data. Coronavirus Cabinet Ministers unanimously decided on the following steps to limit gatherings and social functions: - Halls and cultural performances: up to 250 participants. - Circumcisions and funerals: up to 50 participants. - Weddings: * Up to the 16th of Tammuz, July 9th 2020 - up to 250 participants. The public and hall owners are called to hold them as much as possible in open spaces. * From the 16th of Tammuz to the 10th of Av, July 31st 2020 - up to 250 participants in open spaces. In confined spaces, up to 50% of occupancy and no more than 100 participants. - Prayers and other gatherings: up to 50 people. - Higher education - switching to online exams (except for cases that have been agreed upon between the Health Ministry and Higher Education Council). - Public sector work - 30% work from home (in accordance with arrangements to be determined by the Civil Service Commissioner and with administrative flexibility for the office Director).   'Gaza is Everywhere!': Anti-Zionist Activists Latch on to George Floyd's Death to Bash Israel Anti-Israel activists on social media have recently launched a campaign that attempts to draw parallels between police violence in the US against African Americans and the alleged violence against Arabs by the Israel Police and the IDF. Following the police's killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, anti-Israel activists immediately began drawing comparisons with what they describe as systematic and deadly Israeli brutality against Arabs, and that in some cases, Israeli policemen trained the US cops to be employ brutality. Advertisement One image, typifying the campaign, depicts a photoshopped image of George Floyd on the security barrier between Israel and parts of the Palestinian Authority (PA). The anti-Israel German Das Palästina Portal published an article titled "Gaza is everywhere! What the current unrest and protest in the US have to do with Israel," arguing that police brutality can be attributed to an "ongoing Israelization of the world." Several groups have applied violent terms such as "Intifada" (Arabic for uprising) to the current eruption of protests in the wake of Floyd's death. The term Intifada was the name given to the first and second Palestinian violent riots in the late 1980s and early 2000s, which saw daily terror attacks, including suicide bombings, stabbings and shootings against Israeli civilians that claimed thousands of lives. By describing the current wave of protests as a "black intifada", the groups' statements appear to constitute an incitement to violence and terrorism. Samidoun, a global delegitimization organization with close ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a US-designated terror organization, released a statement titled "From Gaza to Minneapolis, one struggle for justice and liberation!" in which it called the protests an "intifada." The statement declared: "We support the uprising in Minneapolis, the intifada of people subjected to an ongoing, vicious and structural racism, inheriting a lengthy and rich tradition of Black resistance, organizing and struggle." The PFLP itself published a statement in Arabic in solidarity with protestors, stating that "it is not surprising for a country like the United States, which has a strategic alliance with the Zionist entity [Israel], to intersect with it in the discrimination, racism and repression that embodies its treatment of Palestinians." The BDS National Committee (BNC) stated that "as long as this system of oppression continues, it is up to our grassroots movements to work collectively and intersectionally to dismantle it, from the US to Palestine." BDS US group Adalah Justice Project linked white supremacy and Zionism, accusing them of being "underpinned by anti-Blackness." The hashtag #PalestinianLivesMatter, inspired by #BlackLivesMatter, has been used on Twitter since at least 2015. However, the hashtag's popularity surged following the killing of George Floyd as BLM protests gained momentum in the US. Many activists campaigned to highlight intersectional parallels between African American and Palestinian causes, once again reviving this hashtag. Usage of #PalestinianLivesMatter on Twitter grew exponentially from May 28-30, and was also highly visible to Twitter users from June 2-3, reaching an estimated 29.4 million users in this 24-hour period This exploitation of the tragedy in the US is a strategic attempt by delegitimization groups to entrench themselves and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement as a focal point of the progressive Movement. The Great Threat to America, and to American Jewry . By Caroline B. Glick Scattered among the thousands of cellphone videos depicting looting and destruction in the streets of America's greatest cities are clips of a different sort. In these short videos, we see throngs of white people on their knees, bowing before black people and asking for forgiveness for their "white privilege" and the "structural racism" in the deplorable, irredeemable United States of America. Earlier this week, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee former Vice President Joe Biden symbolically embraced these genuflecting denunciations of "white privilege" as the official position of the Democratic Party. Biden had himself photographed on bended knee with a group of African Americans standing behind him during a visit to a church in Wilmington, Delaware. These videos point to a socio-political phenomenon that sparked the riots throughout the country following George Floyd's brutal death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. They also make clear the reason that the liberal media in the United States continues to back the protests despite the fact that from the outset they have involved wide-scale violence, destruction and looting. Contrary to the narrative being pushed by the media and America's elites, the riots are not a consequence of increased police brutality towards African Americans. As Heather McDonald documented this week in The Wall Street Journal, over the past several years, police violence against black people has decreased significantly. The violence we are seeing is a result of the steep radicalization of progressive white Americans. Biden gave voice to this radicalization last summer when, during a campaign appearance in Iowa he said, "We choose truth over facts." Last year, political scientist Zach Goldberg published an article in Tablet online magazine where he presented statistical data demonstrating the depth and breadth of the radicalization of white progressives over the past 10 years. Goldberg revealed that between 2010-2019, white progressives became the only demographic group in U.S. history to prioritize the interests of other groups over its own interests. White progressives prioritize the advancement of the interests of minorities and immigrants over their own and over those of American society as a whole. Moreover, as Goldberg showed, white progressive positions on race and immigration are more extreme than the positions black, Latino and Asian progressives hold on these issues. Goldberg argues that the massive increase in internet usage by white progressives over the past decade is responsible for the radicalization. Online platforms have created an information bubble that has created a warped presentation of reality to those inside the bubble. In this warped reality, race relations are far worse than they are in reality. Hence, those who inhabit this bubble prefer "truth" as presented in the bubble to facts. Goldberg is undoubtedly correct that the more time people spend inside their internet bubble the more removed they become from objective reality. But the internet isn't the only source of the radicalization. The Obama presidency was also a factor. When Barack Obama won the presidential race in 2008, many Americans believed his victory was proof the United States had overcome its racist past. Obama however, did not support this view. Throughout his tenure in office, Obama used the power of his position to resonate and legitimize positions on race that until then had been relegated to the leftist margins of American politics. Obama cultivated the view that far from being a post-racial society, America is inherently racist and that American racism is structural—that is, it was baked in and impossible to overcome. In so doing, Obama gave credence to the false claim at the heart of the riots: that black Americans are under continuous, existential threat from the state as a whole and from law enforcement bodies first and foremost. Calls by Hollywood celebrities and Obama administration alumni to defund the police take this view to its logical endpoint. A third cause of the radicalization of white progressives is the higher education system. The more radicalized campuses are, the more radicalized graduates become. The radicalization of white progressive politics has been given its most dramatic expression in the refusal of progressive mayors and governors to act forthrightly to end the violence in their streets. Instead, we had the likes of New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio (whose daughter was arrested for participating in the mayhem) stand with those burning his city. In a letter to police sergeants in the New York Police Department, Ed Mullen, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, gave expression to the distress of New York police officers. "I know we are losing our city," Mullen wrote. "We have no leadership, no direction, and no plan. I know that you are being held back and used as pawns," he continued. He then asked the sergeants to hold the line. "Remember," he added, "you work for a higher authority." For American Jews, the violent riots constitute a challenge on several levels. First, there is the challenge of squaring their political identity with their Jewish identity. As the 2014 Pew survey of American Jews showed, around half of American Jews identify as progressives. As progressives, many American Jews share the views of their non-Jewish progressive counterparts regarding the need to prioritize the interests of minority communities over their own interests. But the Jews' progressive desire to work on behalf of those demonstrating for African Americans places their political identity on a collision course with their Jewish identity. Black Lives Matter, the radical group leading the demonstrations, is an anti-Semitic organization. BLM was formed in 2014 as a merger of activists from the anti-Semitic Nation of Islam, the anti-Semitic Black Panthers and Dream Catchers. In 2016, BLM published a platform that has since been removed from its website. The platform accused Israel of committing "genocide" and referred to the Jewish state as an "apartheid" state. The platform accused Israel and its supporters of pushing the United States into wars in the Middle East. The platform also officially joined BLM with the anti-Semitic BDS campaign to boycott, divest and sanction Israel. BDS campaign leader Omar Barghouti acknowledged this week that the goal of the BDS campaign is to destroy Israel. BDS campaigns on U.S. campuses are characterized by bigotry and discrimination directed against Jewish students. BLM's platform's publication was greeted with wall-to-wall condemnations by Jewish organizations from across the political spectrum. But today, Jewish progressive are hard-pressed to turn their backs on the group, despite its anti-Semitism. As white progressives, they believe they must fight America's "structural racism" even at the cost of empowering social forces that reject their civil rights as Jews. As Jews, they feel that their rights should be protected. One progressive Jew tried to square the circle writing in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, "Today Jews need to support Black Lives Matter; tomorrow we can talk about Israel." As white progressives radicalized over the past decade, radical Jewish progressives built a formidable Jewish organizational framework whose mission is to advance the progressive revolution. They have worked to recast Judaism itself as the apotheosis of progressive revolutionary ideals. under the banner of "tikkun olam." Last week Tablet published a 20,000-word essay titled "Bend the Jews," on Bend the Arc, the flagship organization spawned by those efforts. Bend the Arc first rose to the attention of the general public in 2018 in the wake of the massacre of worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. The organization quickly put out a statement blaming President Donald Trump for the massacre. When Trump came to the congregations to pay his respects, Bend the Arc organized demonstrations against him. Bend the Arc may not have members, but it has an annual budget of tens of millions of dollars. $28 million of its budget comes from three non-Jewish foundations that have no other foothold in Jewish organizational life. On the other hand, one of the funders, the Rockefeller Foundation, is well known for its generous support for radical anti-Israel and BDS groups. To achieve its goal of reshaping the worldviews of American Jews, among other things, Bend the Arc trains Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist rabbinical students. It also pays the salaries of associate rabbis in various communities. With many synagogues long steeped in financial crisis due to dwindling membership, Bend the Arc's ability to pay rabbis makes its involvement with synagogue hiring an attractive option for many communities. This is doubly true for synagogues whose members are progressive. As progressive politics paralyze Jews from acting against anti-Semites in their political camp, levels of anti-Semitic sentiment among white progressives are rising. As Goldberg reported, as white progressives became radicalized on issues related to minorities and immigration, they also turned against Israel. Today white progressives are hostile to Israel. And Goldberg argued that while they express support for Jews, "their sympathy toward and concern for Jews has become more conditional." What is it conditioned on? On Jews not being opposed by blacks or other minorities that are considered by white progressives to be less privileged than Jews are. On the burning streets of America today, leftist Jew-hatred is on clear display. Although New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio has prevented New York police from taking firm action against looters and arsonists, he did instruct them to use all necessary force to prevent ultra-Orthodox Jewish children from going to school. Earlier this week, police in Brooklyn chased a group of Hassidic children and their mothers off a playground in Williamsburg. Even worse, synagogues have been vandalized in New York and Los Angeles. According to Yeshiva World News, 75 percent of Jewish-owned stores in an Orthodox enclave of Beverly Hills were looted last weekend. Graffiti in Los Angeles made clear that the businesses and neighborhoods were targeted deliberately because they are Jewish. Between BLM's establishment in 2014 and the publication of its platform in 2016, anti-Israel activists went to great lengths to create an utterly false conceptual linkage between the Palestinians and African Americans. Today, anti-Israel activists in the United States have stepped up their efforts to capitalize on the riots. Anti-Israel activists in Bethlehem painted a picture of George Floyd wearing a khaffiyeh and draped in a Palestinian flag on the separation barrier. Photos of the picture are being heavily promoted on social media. Democrats believe the riots will wreck President Trump's reelection hopes. Polls this week indicate that at least in the short term, the unrest is hurting Trump's chances of being reelected. Then again, it's possible the chaos in the streets will strengthen public support for President Trump, who voters may view as the last bulwark separating them from national destruction. Whether Trump wins or loses in November, the radicalization of white progressives at the heart of the mayhem represents the greatest short and long-term threat to social cohesion in America. It also represents the greatest threat to the communal future of American Jewry, to relations between the American Jewish community and the rest of the Jewish world, and to US-Israel relations. See you tomorrow bli neder We need Moshiach now Love Yehuda Lave Rabbi Yehuda Lave PO Box 7335, Rehavia Jerusalem 9107202 LIKE TWEET FORWARD You received this email because you signed up on our website or made purchase from us. 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