Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor | | | | Being a responsible, reliable and rational human being takes a lot of work. And you can start right now. Make sure you see your dentist and dental hygienist regularly. Eat healthy. Get exercise. Check your vitamin D levels! Cheer your victories. This is what "fixes" people. Most important, keep your word and try not to change your mind after you agree to do something. This drives a Yecchi (German Jew) crazy because you have one plan and it keeps changing. Last week I was privileged to attend the 6th Conference on Antisemitism held here in Jerusalem. The Ministry did a fantastic job, well run and high class. There were top speakers, including Malcolm Hoeniein, who made the excellent point that the Jews through their banking connections and wide spread families had the ability to somewhat make things happen in the world, so they were the first global people. Now that this happened as a historical fact, it is being used against them in many ways on the Internet by the antisemites claiming it was done for ulterior purposes. So said Malcolm, while we were the first global people, the internet makes us into villains and we have to fight antisemitism whenever it shows its ugly head. Love Yehuda Lave | | Rabbi Mirivis, Malcom Honenien, and Mayim Bialik On Day two of the Forum on Antisemitism, Chief Rabbi of the UK, Rabbi Mirvis spoke as well as a powerful speech by Malcolm Hoeniein and with a closure by Mayim Bialik | | Mayim Bialik: I am happy to take public bullet for Israel The 'Big Bang Theory' star provides a window into the life of a Jew in the public eye. By Tamara Zieve March 21, 2018 Mayim Bialik speaking at the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism. (photo credit: TAMARA ZIEVE) TV star Mayim Bialik said she is "happy to take a public bullet for this state," while talking about her experiences of antisemitism at the Global Conference on Antisemitism in Jerusalem.
Bialik was delivering the keynote address on Tuesday night entitled "Web hatred and the public person" at the events' gala dinner, providing a window of experience into the life of a Jew in the public eye.
Famous for her role in The Big Bang Theory and a former child star in the role Blossom, the actress is a proudly Zionist and Jewish activist for which she regularly faces backlash online. She has 633,000 followers on Twitter, two million on Facebook and 2.6 million on Instagram.
"The decision that I make on a daily basis about what to talk about, what to share, what to feel about Israel – these with come with a heavy price," she told the audience. "The price for me has not yet – that I know of – impacted my acting career, but it has impacted the way that I'm seen and that does impact my career in terms of speaking engagements and endorsements, in terms of my writing, because I am outspoken and I chose to be outspoken about Israel."
But, she said, "I will not and would not distance myself from my statements on the State of Israel and my belief that the State of Israel has the right to exist in safety."
A key problem she highlighted was a basic lack of knowledge around the world of what Zionism is, which she said she witnesses at UCLA where she earned her BSc and PhD degrees in neuroscience.
Bialik said she was devastated by the willingness with which other minority communities side against Israel.
She went on to note that the Internet is a tremendous tool for connecting people, for education, and "a powerful vehicle for advancing human dignity and human potential."
"I'm very grateful for the opportunity to be alive and to be able to speak freely about my love for this country, which my grandparents prayed for as they fled Eastern Europe, and to hopefully educate people through my public platform about the truth about Zionism and Jews and the State of Israel," she said, as the crowd broke out into enthusiastic applause.
The Internet, she continued, also hold a capacity for hatred, division and the spread of darkness. "Is there a way to harness this incredible technology to make this a more peaceful and compassionate world? I hope that will be the case," Bialik said.
"I am devoted to my people, to this country, to my faith and I hope to take advantage of my position to combat even in small ways, the ignorance and hatred that continues to bring antisemitism, even only one follower at a time," she said. | | Distraught Bennett Asks Ron (2-State or Bust) Lauder: 'What Are You Doing? What Are You Doing?'By David Israel - 4 Nisan 5778 – March 20, 2018 Hat tip to Ma'ariv's political reporter Yanir Cozin for the clip he tweeted Monday night from the Jerusalem 6th Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism, showing a brief exchange between Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett and the heir to the Estée Lauder Company Ronald Lauder. "What are you doing? what are you doing, Man?" Bennett is heard asking Estée's kid, to which Lauder responds: "You are my inspiration." Taken aback, Bennett retorts: "I'm your inspiration? If you say that, I'll lose five seats in the Knesset." Lauder laughs, and Bennett says an angry, "Shalom" and moves on down the line of dignitaries. Bennett was referring to an op-ed Lauder wrote in Sunday's NY Times (Israel's Self-Inflicted Wounds) in which the elderly trust fund boy assembled every last cliché ever conceived about the two-state solution in yet another effort by a diaspora Jewish macher to shove this wet sock into the mouths of those pesky Israelis who won't listen to reason. It's a masterpiece of copy & paste blurbs that didn't make sense back when they began to erode Israel's safety, in the early 1990s – and they certainly make less sense today. They're also mostly alternative-facts, such as this pearl: "the reality is that 13 million people live between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea." Based on which census? The only reliable numbers we have come from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics that state the current figures (2018) for Israel's population as: 8,809,200 Israelis altogether, out of whom 6,566,200 are Jews and 1,841,700 are Arabs. Lauder's implication that in the rest of the area between the river and the sea there are 4.2 million Arabs is not based on a scientific census because such a document does not exist. The views on this matter vary from 1.5 or 2 million to 5 million plus, but it doesn't matter – not as long as actual census takers had been sent out there to knock on real doors and gather data. Lauder follows with the oldest and most vile assertion, which he parrots in the NY Times, a newspaper which, to its credit, has published its share of intriguing alternatives to the 2-state solution. But Lauder, apparently unaware, repeats the Peace Now lie: "If current trends continue, Israel will face a stark choice: Grant Palestinians full rights and cease being a Jewish state or rescind their rights and cease being a democracy." Estée Lauder had another, smarter boy, Leonard, but she made him run the company – leaving Ronny to mess with Israeli Jews from the safety of his New York City bastion. Which leads us to the inevitable question: has Ron Lauder read anything about the "peace process" since 1994? Halfway through his diatribe, Lauder turned to attack Israel for being so damned Orthodox Jewish and for refusing to emulate his own egalitarian and progressive Jewish faith. It's the old "Why can't they be more like us" question, the answer to which is, if a million Reform Jews made Aliyah they could change Israel's adherence to Orthodoxy – and until they do, their opinion doesn't matter. Speaking from the podium at the anti-anti-Semitism forum Monday night, Naftali Bennett gave it to Lenny Lauder's younger brother: "Ron, I read your piece in The New York Times. It was not a great piece," Bennett said. "I very much respect you, but I disagree. Assimilation in America is not a result of Israel's policy but a result of Jewish prosperity in America" Bennett stressed that assimilation is "an ongoing trend we have to fight back," and then noted: "I don't see a moral equivalence of settlement building – what I call building communities in our homeland – and Palestinian incitement. It's not the same thing." Ha'aretz reported that at this point US Ambassador David Friedman clapped in approval. Which stands to show you there are still sane and well read American Jews, but most of them just aren't invited to write op-eds for the Times. | | Greenblatt Begging Abusive Abbas to Return to NegotiationsBy David Israel - 4 Nisan 5778 – March 20, 2018 "The time has come for President Abbas to choose between hateful rhetoric and concrete and practical efforts to improve the quality of life of his people and lead them to peace and prosperity," President Trump's envoy to the Middle East Jason D. Greenblatt tweeted Monday night, in response to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' horrible insult against the highest US official in Israel. That was not a reasonable response, certainly not in the Middle East. It was more the response of a negotiator infatuated with his mission who sees one of the parties throwing a tantrum, than the healthy response of a self-confident man who's just seen one of his best friends being spat on. What Greenblatt should have said was that every last American cent coming the PA's way is stopped until the chairman gets on his hands and knees and apologizes. It should be noted that the curse used by Abbas Monday night against US Ambassador David Friedman – "Son of a dog" – was harsher and more personal than the version used by many Western English language reports of the episode, the much milder, almost jovial "Son of a b***." It's true that the B word is still considered an expletive (even though it merely describes the female of the species Canis familiaris), but it's a soft expletive. Even when President Trump Saturday before last used it in public to describe NBC's anchor ["Sleepy-eyed son of a b***"] Chuck Todd, he still did not pack into it the raw hatred Abbas did with his diatribe Monday night: "The US is lending legitimacy to settlements. That is what senior American officials have done who are led by their ambassador in Tel Aviv, David Friedman. He said: 'They are building on their land.' You son of a dog. They're building on their land? He himself is a settler and his family are settlers," Abbas cried. Angrily, hatefully, as if Friedman has personally robbed him, the "Ra'iss" (leader), for whom the very idea of Jews living anywhere in "Palestine" is a form of blatant desecration of everything he holds holy. And it's nothing like President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's immortal—and humorous—1939 quip about his support for ruthless Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza: "He may be an SOB but he's our SOB." When Abbas called Ambassador Friedman "son of a dog," he also meant that Friedman is a dog. And the ambassador was absolutely on the money when he told the 6th Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism Monday night: "Abbas chose to respond, I saw his response on my iPhone a few minutes ago. His response was to refer to me as son of a dog. Anti-Semitism or political discourse? Not for me to judge, I leave that all up to you." No country, especially not the country led by President Donald J. Trump, can forgive such a verbal assault. For one thing, it invites new assaults; and it makes America look weak. I'd have expected the president to take a short break from his attacks on the Mueller investigation and defend the good name of the brave man who represents him in Jerusalem. Greenblatt certainly wasn't. "Notwithstanding his highly inappropriate insults against members of the Trump administration, the latest iteration being his insult of my good friend and colleague Ambassador Friedman, we are committed to the Palestinian people and to the changes that must be implemented for peaceful coexistence. We are finalizing our plan for peace and we will advance it when circumstances are right." Or, as Charles Dickens would have put it, "Please, Sir, may I have another?" Greenblatt's choice not to declare that the Abbas slur effectively disqualified the elderly chief from ever being invited to the negotiations table has been described well by King Solomon (Proverbs 26:11): "As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly." Be a man, Jason Greenblatt. Better yet, be a Jewish man. | | Jerusalem's Cafe De Paris Closing This Month Jerusalem's Cafe De Paris on Azza Street will close on March 30, right before Pesach, the restaurant announced on its Facebook page. The restaurant is on the corner with Ben Maimon Street across from the Prime Minister's residence. It opened in 2013 after the property owner told the previous tenant, Restobar, that he would not continue renting to a non-kosher establishment. Before Restobar, it was the site of Moment Cafe, where a major terror attack in March 2002 killed 11 and wounded 54. No word on what will open next in that spot. | | TZAV by Rabbi Wein The entire relationship between God and Israel is reflected in the opening verb of this week's Torah reading. The word "tzav" reflects an attitude of command and of subservience. Even though explanations for the command may be given and understood, the command itself remains viable and imperative no matter what. The Lord called the Jewish people "an army of God." An army operates on commands and discipline, on following orders and executing them faithfully and accurately. Though individual initiative is always to be treasured and admired, an army that operates completely on that initiative is doomed to defeat and destruction. In all relationships in life a command structure is necessary in order for achievement and accomplishment to occur. By the nature of human society there must exist those who will command and those who in turn will obey and execute those commands. That is why the word for an imperative fulfillment of a positive act of spirituality – mitzvah - has as its root the word for command. The difference throughout the ages, between traditional Judaism and those groups within the Jewish people who created for themselves new and different ways of Jewish thought and observance, has always been this concept of command. We are commanded to observe the Torah in a detailed and sophisticated manner. By substituting our own whims, ideas and political correctness for God's command we invariably slip down the road of historical extinction. At Sinai we declared that we would do and obey and only then submit the command to rational explanation. In an age when loyalty and obedience to any authority has become rare and even subject to being looked at askance, the triumph of traditional Judaism is based, now as always, on obeying commandments and executing them faithfully. Judaism has a moral code that prevents it from obeying the commandments and orders that are within themselves intrinsically evil and immoral. The explanation given by all of the Nazi war criminals for their bestiality and atrocities committed in World War II has always been that they were only following orders. Judaism does not allow for obeying immoral orders of murder and the deprivation of other human beings. Even at the risk of sacrificing one's own life, one is not allowed to kill others wantonly. The Torah therefore emphasizes that one is not permitted to add or detract from the Godly commandments ordained for us. The rabbis of the Talmud and of later generations built a fence around those commandments to protect them and preserve them. But there is no change in the value and method of observance of the commandments. A commandment that can be countermanded or ignored at one's own whim is in reality no commandment at all. In a society where there are no fixed commandments and all morality is relative and subject to change, chaos and immorality will undoubtedly eventually prevail. All of history, both Jewish and general, testifies to this immutable truth. We are sanctified by obeying God's commandments and Jewish tradition. Shabbat shalom Rabbi Berel Wein | | Math Lesson-What is a billion? Math Lesson This is Too True to be Funny The next time you hear a politician use the Word 'Billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending
YOUR tax money A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, But one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases. A.
A billion seconds ago it was 1959. B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive . C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age. D.
A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet. E.
A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it. While this thought is still fresh in our brain...
let's take a look at New Orleans ...
It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division. Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D)
was asking Congress for
250 BILLION DOLLARS To rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number... What does it mean? A. Well .. If you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman and child) You each get $516,528 B. Or... If you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787. C. Or.. If you are a family of four... Your family gets $2,066,012. Washington, D.C. HELLO! Are all your calculators broken?? Building Permit Tax CDL License Tax Cigarette Tax Corporate Income Tax Dog License Tax Federal Income Tax (Fed) Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA) Fishing License Tax Food License Tax Fuel Permit Tax Gasoline Tax Hunting License Tax Inheritance Tax Inventory Tax IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax) IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax) Liquor Tax Luxury Tax Marriage License Tax Medicare Tax Property Tax Real Estate Tax Service charge Taxes Social Security Tax Road Usage Tax (Truckers) Sales Taxes Recreational Vehicle Tax School Tax State Income Tax State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) Telephone Federal Excise Tax Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax Telephone State and Local Tax Telephone Usage Charge Tax Utility Tax Vehicle License Registration Tax Vehicle Sales Tax Watercraft Registration Tax Well Permit Tax Workers Compensation Tax (And to think, we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes) STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago...
And our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt.
We had the largest middle class in the world.
And Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What happened? | | See you tomorrow Love Yehuda Lave | | | |
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