G-d speaks to Abram, commanding him to "Go from your land, from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you." There, G-d says, he will be made into a great nation. Abram and his wife Sarai, accompanied by his nephew Lot, journey to the Land of Canaan, where Abram builds an altar and continues to spread the message of a One G-d.
A famine forces the first Jew to depart for Egypt, where beautiful Sarai is taken to Pharaoh's palace; Abram escapes death because they present themselves as brother and sister. A plague prevents the Egyptian king from touching her and convinces him to return her to Abram and compensate the brother-revealed-as-husband with gold, silver and cattle.
Back in the Land of Canaan, Lot separates from Abram and settles in the evil city of Sodom, where he falls captive when the mighty armies of Chedorlaomer and his three allies conquer the five cities of the Sodom Valley. Abram sets out with a small band to rescue his nephew, defeats the four kings, and is blessed by Malki-Zedek the king of Salem (Jerusalem).
G-d seals the Covenant Between the Parts with Abram, in which the exile and persecution (Galut) of the people of Israel is foretold and the Holy Land is bequeathed to them as their eternal heritage
Still childless ten years after their arrival in the Land, Sarai tells Abram to marry her maidservant Hagar. Hagar conceives, becomes insolent toward her mistress, and then flees when Sarai treats her harshly; an angel convinces her to return and tells her that her son will father a populous nation. Ishmael is born in Abram's 86th year.
Thirteen years later, G-d changes Abram's name to Abraham ("father of multitudes") and Sarai's to Sarah ("princess"), and promises that a son will be born to them; from this child, whom they should call Isaac ("will laugh"), will stem the great nation with which G-d will establish His special bond. Abraham is commanded to circumcise himself and his descendents as a "sign of the covenant between Me and you."
Abram took Sarai his wife and his nephew Lot, and all their wealth that they had amassed, and the people they had acquired in Charan; and they embarked for the land of Canuan, and they came to the land of Canaan (Bereishis 12:5). They brought them under the wings of the Divine Presence. Avraham converted the men, and Sarah converted the women (Rash) to Bereishis 12 5).
World history, Chazal tell us, is divided into three periods, each lasting two thousand years. The first is called the era of tobu vavobu (void and nothingness), the second the era of Torah, and the third the Messianic Era. Chazal identify the beginning of the era of Torah with Avraham's conversion of the idol worshipers of Charan into believers in God.
The question arises Why did Chazal view this event as ushering in the era of Torah? After all, the Torah pre-existed Creation and was the blueprint for Creation. Adam and Noach learned Torah long before Avraham was born, and Shem and Ever even set up a yeshivah.
In order to answer this question, we must first understand Avraham's unique role in the transmission of knowledge of Hashem. Raavad (to Hilchos Avodah Zarah 1 3) asks why Avraham alone of all the righteous people of his generation and the preceding ten generations is credited with influencing the masses. Surely the others also protested against idolatry and rebuked their wayward contemporaries. He answers that while the other tzaddikim admonished their contemporaries, they were not able to break the idols because the idol worshipers hid them. Only Avraham was able to find the idols.
Raavad's words are difficult to understand. Was Avraham Avinu, then, only a better detective than the other tzaddikim, and thus able to ferret out the hidden idols? Moreover, what does Raavad mean that they hid their idols? Nimrod and his cohorts publicly worshiped idols and idol manufacturers, like Avraham's father, carried on a brisk, open trade.
To understand Raavad we need a deeper understanding of ancient idolatry. Rambam explains that the original idol worship was a well intentioned mistake. Just as one honors the king by honoring his emissaries, so did the generation of Enosh worship various natural phenomena, which God had invested with certain powers, as a means of honoring the Creator of those phenomenon. Their mistake lay in failing to recognize that showing respect to the king's emissary is only a form of honoring the king when he is absent. But when he is present, it is tantamount to rebellion. Since Hashem is always present, the worship of His creations is always a diminution of Him: Don't accept any other powers in My presence" (Devarim 5:7).
The two thousand year period preceding the era of Torah is described as tobu vavobu-an era of confusion, of light and dark mixed together and not easily delineated one from the other. With the sin of Adam, the relative terms good and evil, replaced the absolutes of truth and falsehood. The various shades of good and evil became a confusing admixture.
The Torah, by contrast, distinguishes absolutely between pure and impure, light and darkness, life and death "Behold I have placed before you today life and good, and death and evil" (Devarim 30:15). Only the Torah allows us to separate the light from darkness, to perceive good as absolute truth and evil as absolute falsehood.
The confusion introduced by Adam's sin became the principal tool of the yetzer hara (evil inclination). As the Baal Shem Tov explains, the Satan will be held culpable in the future not for attempting to seduce man into sin-that is his function-but rather for making the sin appear as a mitzvah. Thus we tell ourselves when we sleep late and miss davening with a minyan that our sleep is a mitzvah and our intention is only to learn Torah with a clearer head that day. This is the tobu vavobu of the yetzer hara. Torah is the remedy.
The idol worshipers of Avraham's generation did not hide their idolatry physically, but spiritually. They masked it as righteousness and honor to God. They created ideologies to cloak their sins in light and virtue. Prior to Avraham no one was able to expose the sham, to delineate the light and darkness. This failure prevented them from exercising any lasting influence on those they admonished. They could not break the idols.
Only Avraham saw the light and darkness in their true perspective and conveyed this to the masses. He exposed evil for what it was and thereby transformed the idol worshipers into believers in God. Avraham's life work, then, was the beginning of the era of Torah, the delineation of light and darkness.
Since Avraham's unique ability was to distinguish between light and darkness, he could welcome into his house wanderers who bowed to the dust of their feet, yet found it necessary to distance himself from his nephew Lot. His very resemblance to Lot made it imperative that he separate himself so as not to confuse his true righteousness with Lot's apparent righteousness. "Separate yourself from me," Avraham told Lot, "for we are brothers." Rashi explains the term "brothers"-"They looked alike."
Lot was the personification of tobu vavobu. On the one hand, he appeared to be righteous like Avraham he baked matzos and invited in guests, even at risk to himself. But, in fact, the jumble of darkness pervaded his life he chose to live among the wicked people of Sodom, lured by the wealth he saw there. Lot's admixture of good and evil represented the antithesis of Avraham's mission in this world. Hence, Avraham had to separate from him.
Of all the non-kosher animals, the pig has always symbolized impurity for the Jewish people precisely because it bears the external sign of a kosher animal, cloven feet. It is the kosher feet that make it the most loathsome of the non-kosher animals. So, too, the most dangerous ideologies are those that succeed in garbing themselves in an aura of piety and righteousness, that claim the mantle of Torah and authentic Judaism, but are in essence total distortions of the Torah.
As descendants of Avraham, who introduced the era of Torah, it is our task to toil in Torah to discern truth from falsehood, light from darkness, the holy from the profane.
What's Bothering Rashi? by Dr. Avigdor Bonchek - Parshas Lech Lecha
Parashas Lech Lecha (70) This week's sedra tells of Abram's following G-d's instruction to go to the land of Canaan; Lot's separation from Abram; the destruction of Sodom in spite of Abram's intervention; G-d's covenant with Abram; the birth of Ishmael; and the mitzvah of circumcision. Below we discuss Lot's separation from Abram. Genesis 13:9
Is not the whole land before you, please separate from me. If (you go) to the left, I (will go) to the right and if (you go) to the right, I (will go) to the left.
RASHI If (you go) to the left, I (will go to) the right: Rashi: Wherever you will settle I will not be far from you as a protection and for help. Ultimately, indeed, he (Lot) did need him (Abraham) as it says: 'And Abram heard that his brother was taken captive' etc. (14:14).
QUESTIONING RASHI A Question: Rashi tells us something very strange here. Remember the shepherds of Lot and the shepherds of Abram quarreled over the grazing land. So Abram suggested they separate so they would not be in conflict, "for we are brothers."
So separation was to be the guarantee that they would no longer fight with each other.
The verse tells us how Abram suggested how they should separate: "You go right then I'll go left; or if you want to go to the left, then I'll go to the right." Abram's idea would be to put a lot of geography between the two of them.
But Rashi seems to say just the opposite! Abram promised Lot he would dwell near him!! Rashi says: " Wherever you will settle I will not be far from you."
Why would Rashi say this? What is bothering him that he had to turn the verse on its head?!
Your Answer:
WHAT IS BOTHERING RASHI? An Answer: There may be two reasons for Rashi doing this:
1) As Rashi himself says at the end of this comment "And in the end he did need him" So Abram didn't disown his nephew, he was there to help him when he was in danger.
2) When we look at the Torah's verses after they separated (13: 11, 12 ) we find these words: "And Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and Lot journeyed east; and they parted one man from his brother. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan while Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain and he pitched his tent until Sodom."
So Abram didn't go to the right or to the left - he stayed where he was. It was Lot who travelled and who separated himself from Abram. In light of this it is difficult to understand the words "If you go to the left I'll go to the right" as meaning Abram would journey as Lot is journeying.
Possibly for these reasons Rashi sought a different understanding of our verse.
How does his comment help us?
Your Answer:
UNDERSTANDING RASHI An Answer: When the Torah says: "If you go left, I'll go to the right", it means according to Rashi: "If you go to the left I'll still be to the right of you." Not: I'll go to the right, but I'll be to the right of you." Being to the right of someone means being nearby. See the verse in Zechariah 3:1 where it says "And the Satan stood to his right to accuse him."
So Abram's words do not mean that he will distance himself even further from Lot (as they appear to mean) because we see that Abram did not move at all. Rather these words mean Abram will "be to your right" - nearby. So too, the meaning of the words "I will go to the left", actually mean "I'll be to the left of you - nearby."
THE LESSON With some effort to understand, even strange sounding Rashi-comments can be made meaningful and reasonable.
Shabbat Shalom Avigdor Bonchek
"What's Bothering Rashi?" is produced by the Institute for the Study of Rashi and Early Commentaries. The five volume set of "What's Bothering Rashi?" is available at all Judaica bookstores.
Morsels of Hebrew Grammar by Dr. Meshullam Klarberg - Parshas Lech Lecha
Parashat Lech Lecha from 5762 What is the teva of our father Abraham? lech lecha (Gen. 12:1) ('go') '…that I spread the knowledge of your teva in the world'. (Rashi, ad loc, based on a Midrash, Tanchuma Lech Lecha 3.) What does this mean? The development of changes in Hebrew throughout the generations is too large a subject for this column, but the Sages said 'the language of Torah is distinct, and the language of the Sages is distinct' (Hulin 137b). Since Talmudic times many more changes have taken place in the language. Here we will limit ourselves to looking at the changes that have occurred in words derived from the root Tet, Bet, Ayin.
In the Tanach we find verbs derived from this root and it means sink, immerse, drown. The noun taba'at ('ring') also appears frequently and it would seem that it was called so because rings were made with symbols on them to impress (or sink) into a seal. In the language of the Sages words derived from this root are matbe'a ('coin'), tiv'a ('authority' the thinking here may be that one who has authority can mint coins), and also tiv'ah (a particular coin) (Jastrow). The Gemara in Nidda (20b) uses the word tiv'a; the two major Talmudic dictionaries explain the word differently; Jastrow explains it as 'a coin', Melamed as 'Nature'.
In 1705 the Chacham Tzvi wrote (Responsa No. 18) to the leaders of the congregation Sha'arei Shamayim (London) about the sermon delivered by their rabbi, R' David Nieto, who said 'Hashem Yitbarach and Nature, and Nature and Hashem Yitbarach are all One. I say that I said this and I confirm this and prove it, as David haMelech supports it in Psalm 147 "…He covers the heavens with clouds and prepares rain for the earth and causes the grass to sprout on the hills"; but you need to know (pay heed Jews, for it is the first principle of our faith) that the noun teva was coined relatively recently - some four or five hundred years ago, close to our own era, and is not to be found in the works of our early Sages'. After quoting this passage from R' D. Nieto's sermon, the Chacham Tzvi refers to him as 'the exalted Sage, our Master and Rabbi, David Nieto' and praised his opinions. These rabbis are saying that teva meaning 'nature' was coined in the Middle Ages, and teva in the Gemara in Nidda cannot mean nature.
The period when Rabbi David Nieto indicated that the word teva ('Nature') originated is that of the Ramban and indeed the Ramban uses the word teva in this meaning. He writes 'No man has a share in the Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu until he believes that all our matters and happenings are all miraculous and are not teva or the way of the world. Rabbi Yehuda ibn Tibbon's Hebrew translation of Sefer Kuzari also provides examples of this new meaning of the word teva, 'there is a cause for something which moves of itself, and comes to rest of itself, and that cause is teva'. Clearly in both of these cases teva means Nature.
In the Chumash with Rashi translated into English (Rosenbaum and Silberman, Jeruslaem 1973) 'your teva' is translated as 'your character'. After discussing the various meanings of teva in the Talmudic period, Jastrow, out of character with the goal of his dictionary, adds '[In later Hebr.: nature, character, Nature.]'. We can see that Jastrow agrees with the opinion of R' D. Nieto as reported by Chacham Tzvi. In accordance with the 18th century rabbis, and in accordance with Jastrow a 20th century scholar, a preferred translation of Rashi's comment of '…that I spread the knowledge of your teva in the world' would be '…that I spread the knowledge of your authoritative [opinions] in the world'.
* * * * uvein ha'ai (Gen. 13:3) ('And between the Ai') The Mislol (a widely quoted Hebrew grammar book, first published in Hamburg, 1788, my edition Vilna, 1858 p.165) states:
A proper noun is a noun which is known and recognized as being that and no other; like the names of men and women such as Avraham … Sara … and the names of mountains … and rivers … and peoples and the like. A proper noun is distinct from other nouns by virtue of four features: 1. it cannot be used in the plural to say "Avrahamim" … because a proper noun only refers to a specific single item; 2. it does not accept the definite article Heh to say "haAvraham" …; 3. it does not accept pronominal suffixes to say "Avrahamcha" … 4. it does not accept the construct state (semichut) to say "Avraham Yerushalayim" where the intention is Avraham of Yerushalayim; for all of the above denote definition, and there is no need for definitive information for this noun as it is known to be specific. Although this rule applies throughout the Tanach, here there is an exception. Ai is a proper noun naming a city but nevertheless comes with the definite article. It seems to me that in spoken Hebrew the rule is not binding. These comments have been put into book form for publication in English and Hebrew. Dedications are available for both books.
I will be pleased to have comments on these notes on the Parasha. Good Shabbos, Meshullam Klarberg, 35/4 Meshech Chochma, Kiryat Sefer, Israel 71919 E-mail address: fredit@bezeqint.net
Deiah veDibur News - Parshas Lech Lecho
DEIAH VEDIBUR - INFORMATION & INSIGHT A Window Into the Chareidi World http://www.shemayisrael.com/chareidi/ PARSHAS LECH LECHO 11 Cheshvan 5770 - October 29, 2009
NEWS
Rebbetzin Basha Scheinberg o"h
By Yechiel Sever
Gedolei Torah, roshei yeshivos, rabbonim, dayonim and innumerable Yeshivas Torah Ohr alumni took part in the levaya last week for Rebbetzin Basha Scheinberg o"h, the wife of HaRav Chaim Pinchos Scheinberg ylct"a, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Torah Ohr, who devoted her entire life to fostering her husband's harbotzas Torah until her petiroh at the age of 96.
HaRav Eliashiv Signs Ban Against Fellowship of Christians and Jews
By Yechiel Sever
Maran HaRav Yosef Sholom Eliashiv shlita has added his holy signature to a psak din against receiving any funding assistance from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews or any affiliated charities, and has told individuals not to derive benefit from the organization since doing so constitutes chilul Hashem and avizraihu de'avodoh zorah (appurtenances of idolatry).
Agudath Israel Sponsors Yeshiva Administrator Tax Conference
by Yated Ne'eman Staff
Close to 400 yeshiva administrators and accountants participated in a conference Tuesday focused on important issues relating to federal taxation laws. The conference, organized by Agudath Israel of America, was the latest in a series of major gatherings for administrators of religious and charitable organizations in the Orthodox Jewish community, and was designed to promote greater awareness of, and compliance with, secular law.
Kadima and Yisrael Beiteinu Try to Alter Military Exemption for Religious Girls
By Eliezer Rauchberger
The Knesset held a heated debate last week when MK Yisrael Hasson (Kadima) and MK Moshe Matlon (Yisrael Beiteinu) tried to raise a bill that would harm the status quo on the issue of drafting girls into the army.
Education Conference Planners Receive Guidance from HaRav Eliashiv
By Yechiel Sever
In preparation for the Education Conference scheduled to take place 23-25 Cheshvan at Nir Etzion, the rabbonim on the steering committee met with Maran HaRav Eliashiv this week to seek his guidance and blessings. Conference participants will include roshei yeshivos, mashgichim, ramim, principals and educational supervisors from all parts of Eretz Yisroel, led by maranan verabonon gedolei Yisroel shlita.
Everyone remembers the iconic images from the dramatic breaching of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989. But the groundwork was laid elsewhere. The fate of Germany and the rest of Europe was decided in Warsaw, Budapest and Moscow.
The Maldives Islands in the Indian Ocean could disappear by the end of the century. Global warming threatens to raise sea levels, submerging the low-lying archipelago. Newly-elected President Mohamed Nasheed has therefore set himself the task of holding back the tide of climate change.
The financial crisis has mauled Las Vegas like no other city. What was once the land of luxury and excess is now the home of empty houses and broken dreams. While the city and its investors keep hoping for a turnaround, others see long, lean years ahead.
Global warming has left many ski resorts in the Alps struggling to maintain their snowy slopes -- and their business. But technology has come to the rescue of Austria's Pitztal Valley, which now boasts an Israeli-made snowmaking machine.
Angela Merkel is blocking aid commitments for climate protection and risking the failure of a global deal in Copenhagen. The chancellor is squandering an opportunity to demonstrate European leadership and show Barack Obama what it really means to be a "citizen of the world."
A top German general says that a confidential NATO report has exonerated a Bundeswehr officer who called in a controversial air strike in Afghanistan in September that is believed to have resulted in a number of civilian deaths. German commentators are critical of the report and fear the incident may never be resolved.
US diplomat William R. Smyser was stationed in Berlin when the Wall went up in 1961. In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, he explains how President John F. Kennedy was initially relieved by the construction -- and even tried to sell it as a success for the West.
One of the most important works in cinematic history is to be shown in its complete uncut version at next year's Berlin International Film Festival. The restored version of Fritz Lang's silent classic "Metropolis" is to hit the silver screen 83 years after it first premiered in Berlin.
There is a very interesting Medrash connected to this week's reading. The Medrash tells us that after Avraham circumcised himself, many people came to convert and join the Jewish People. The Bais HaLevi, Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik zt"l of Brisk, asks: isn't this contradictory? The pain of circumcision should have people running away, not rushing to join.
What they saw, says the Bais HaLevi, wasn't the circumcision itself, but the enduring nature of the Covenant of Avraham. Once a person is born into or has joined the Jewish People, he or she is always a Jew, and can steer his or her children into that same people for generations. Our people is like a nation without borders, and that concept was very compelling.
This week on CNN there was an article about "New Jews," who are "building Jewish identities" without "the pressures that come with fitting into religious, political and social molds." On the one hand, I find it very sad that people would imagine that they can create a sustainable model for Jewish identity -- or, indeed, have something distinctly Jewish and worth handing off to the next generation -- by attaching Jewish symbols to their own personal causes and interests.
But, on the other hand, it does express a desire to affiliate, a desire to be part of the Jewish people and the Jewish future. The Jewish spark still burns inside, and it is our job to help the "new" Jews to reattach themselves to the Covenant of Avraham, in the good, old path of Avraham.
Good Shabbos! Rabbi Yaakov Menken Director, Project Genesis - Torah.org Those using Twitter are invited to follow me for my thoughts on Torah and the Jewish world.
Please see other Lech Lecha articles at Torah.org, and find audio classes at TorahMedia.com.
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Question: How is possible live in peace, love and health these days? There’s so much war, pain, so much poverty, and people feel so alone!
Answer: No one could possibly deny that there is terrible suffering in the world. I’m not really sure, though, that there’s more of it now than at any other time in history: there have always been frightening wars and diseases etc. and the Jewish people have a long, uninterrupted record of very hard memories.
The practical question, of course, is how do we deal with it. On the one hand, we can’t allow ourselves to be swallowed up in sadness over what happens around us as that will prevent us from living normal and productive Jewish lives. on the other hand, though, we certainly can’t simply ignore all the pain and go about our lives pretending it’s not happening.
Here, then, are two possible suggestions: We could devote some time regularly (perhaps every day) to thinking about other people and their needs. Not just thinking, of course, but praying for them and, even more important, considering which practical steps we can take to help. This could be as simple as committing ourselves to stronger Torah observance in the merit of which God will, if He sees fit, lighten the load on the shoulders of someone who needs it.
We could also consider the idea that our own personal happiness does not depend on any particular circumstances or conditions: people can, if they choose, be optimistic and happy in the gravest of situations. Remembering that happiness is independent of what’s going on around us is a powerful tool in becoming more effective and productive – and thereby in improving the lives of everyone who knows us!
I hope these ideas are of some help to you.
With my regards and best wishes, Rabbi Boruch Clinton
Listen to a new 9 minute clip on this week's Torah portion from Rabbi Moshe Hauer of Baltimore. Rabbi Hauer discusses the different interpretations of the verse "And he called out in God's name" after Abraham built an alter.
Be sure to see 3 additional installments from Rabbi Moshe Hauer on Parshas Lech Lecha.
For premium members of TorahMedia.com, listen to Mrs. Leah Kohn's new recordings: The War of the Four and Five Kings, The 10 Tests of Avraham, and Chayei Sarah - Correcting Adam and Chava's Sin.
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Claimant and Claimee - Toen ve-Nitan by Rabbi Dr. Azriel Rosenfeld If a claim concerning tangible, movable property is made against someone and he admits to part of it or there is a single witness against him or he is a renter or watcher, he must take an oath and is then excused, as it says "[On every matter of... Read more in Halacha Overview
Do Not Steal1, Part 13 by Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen In the past months we have discussed various aspects of stealing, involving taking money or items from other people. What is the law with regard to borrowing items without permission, but having intent to return them after use?[2]... Read more in Jewish Values
Cynicism: The Joy of Inexistence, Part III by Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld In Judaism we don't go for that old expression "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." Only little kids could possibly believe that. Names are a serious business, capable of ruining a person's life and self-worth far... Read more in Maimonides on Life
All Men are Created Equal, Part II by Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld We often find the greatest zeal, exactitude -- and arrogance -- in younger Torah students who know so much less. Such people often feel morally and intellectually qualified to criticize and preach to the unlearned masses who they themselves have not... Read more in Pirkei Avos
A Fresh Start by Rabbi Daniel Travis Lying is such a serious transgression that it is compared to idol worship.[1] Truth, on the other hand, is such a fundamental value in Jewish thought that clinging to truth can lead one to a life of Torah observance, as described in the following... Read more in Priceless Integrity
Da'at Tevunot - The Knowing Heart by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman Probably the most vexing topic of all is why there’s evil, injustice, and wrongdoing in a world created by a good and benevolent G-d who expects and enables us to be good and just. After all, what purpose does wrong and injustice serve? Why did G-d... Read more in Ramchal
Chapter 89 by Rabbi Y Reuven Rubin We live in times that are so noisy, yet so many are deafened by the silence. In the midst of all the distractions that make up today... Read more in Rhythm of the Heart
The Path of the Just by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman Studied closely and sincerely, Torah can be forever fresh and rich. The same text that was simple and clear-cut one day is often uncanny and unexpected the next. And nuances can suddenly pop up along the edges as quick ironies come out of nowhere.... Read more in Spiritual Excellence
Hand Positions by Rabbi Daniel Travis “Before Shemoneh Esrei, Rava would put his hands on his chest, one resting on the other, like a slave in front of his master” (Shabbos 10a). The halacha upholds this practice and recommends holding one’s hands in this position during Shemoneh Esrei... Read more in Tefilah: Waking up Jewish
Glimpses of Jewish Femininity (Part 1 of a Series) by Mrs. Leah Kohn Ashet Chayil / "A Woman of Valor" is an ode of praise to the righteous woman, written by King Solomon in honor of his mother, Batsheva. The text, from the Book of Proverbs (31:10-31), is a compendium of the many facets of Jewish femininity. While it... Read more in Women in Judaism
The other day, shortly after Sukkot, I bought a scarf for my son before he headed back to yeshiva and, as we all are, into winter. The experience, slight as it was, convinced me that a thought bouncing around in my mind for several days prior deserved to be wrapped in some words.
There are drawbacks to working in lower Manhattan, but advantages too. Among the latter is the ability to buy an apple or banana or necktie or watch – or scarf – at a very reasonable price from one of the street vendors that pepper the neighborhood’s broad sidewalks.
Some of the merchants are not very helpful, others are “helpful” in an aggressive sort of way. The necktie-scarf-kerchief salesman near our offices was – Goldilocks would have approved – just right. A middle-aged black gentleman, he pointed me to a pile of garments, told me to let him know if I needed any help and left me to inspect his wares.
After I found what I wanted and made my purchase, he thanked me but seemed to want to say something else, so I didn’t rush away. Looking me in the eye, he told me that he sometimes plied his trade in another part of Manhattan, where there are many people “like you.” I assumed – correctly it turned out – that he meant Orthodox Jewish men with hats and beards.
“Really?” I said tentatively, wondering what was to come.
“Yeah,” he continued, with a broad smile, “and I want you to know that they are the nicest people. They always treat me really good.”
Relieved, I returned the smile that I only then noticed, told the businessman how happy I was that “my people” were acting as we are supposed to and wished him well.
Heading to the office, my relief embarrassed me. But I understood it.
Because the image of Jews, and identifiably Jewish ones in particular, has been tarnished over recent years. That is partly because of the observant Jewish community’s growth – rendering its failures both more numerous and more visible – and partly because of a media ethic that seems to have updated “if it bleeds, it leads” to something like “if it’s a scandal, it gets a handle.” That’s the fourth estate’s approach to any group or individual, but the media take particular glee in making sure that a religious person – extra credit if he’s a religious Jew – who has done something wrong gets top billing. And then there are the farther reaches of Blogistan, where facts don’t even matter, and a toxic mix of venom, imaginativeness and psychopathy serves as the local currency.
The actions of most observant Jews, though – the “daily Jews,” who invest their quotidian lives with behavior becoming members of a holy people – reflect Jewish ideals in all they do. That was the scarf man’s experience.
And that of the man at the bus stop mere days earlier who asked me how my holidays had been.
I had seen him many times and we would always exchange greetings but had never spoken much. I had pegged him as an Egyptian but he turns out to be from India. I responded “wonderful,” the truth, and asked him if he was Jewish. “No,” he said, going on to explain how he knew about the holidays, “but I work for a government agency and some of my superiors there are Jewish people.”
And then he volunteered – I am not embellishing – that “they are wonderful bosses to have, they really are. I admire them.” I realized then why he had always been so friendly to me.
The dovetailing of the two experiences was reassuring. Despite the mistakes, or worse, of some and the accusations leveled against others, there is still a mass of Jews who daily and diligently heed the Talmud’s admonition to act in a way that “causes the name of G-d to be loved because of you[r actions]” (Yoma 86a). The countless individuals who make up that population will never appear in the media world. Their due will come in another one.
The effects, however, of the way they live have impact here and now. Despite the misguided actions of some members of the tribe, and the media’s enthusiasm in providing them prominence, the “daily Jews” broadcast an accurate message about Jews and Judaism to countless people like the scarf-seller and my bus stop friend – non-Jews and Jews alike.
The mass of “daily Jews” – and, despite the headlines and headhunters, it is a critical mass – may not even realize the effect they have on the image of the Jewish people. But the rest of us should – and we should aspire to make our places among them.
(c) AM ECHAD RESOURCES
[Rabbi Avi Shafran serves as director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America]
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The OU’s Tefillah Education Initiative: The Answer to Your Prayers
By Bayla Sheva Brenner. Jewish Action, Fall 2009/5769 Launched in 2008 by the OU’s Department of Community Services, the Tefillah Education Initiative brings scholars-in-residence to communities throughout the country to underscore the power of Jewish prayer. Read More »
Featured Articles
Reflections on the Power of Prayer Jewish Action, Fall 2009/5769 A collection of successes, and struggles, with prayer. Read entire story »
Don’t just read the parsha, understand it. The people who brought you Nach Yomi now present Shnayim Mikra, an exciting way to review the weekly Torah portion aliyah by aliyah. Learn more
Parsha Columns
One Day We Will All Be Together - Rabbi Weinreb on Parshat Lech Lecha By Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb I picked him up at the airport. He was arriving in Baltimore, where I was then a rabbi, to deliver an address and then return home to New York... Read entire article »
Lech Lecha: For the Love of God By Rabbi Asher Brander Success! We all want it and seek numerous ways to attain that promised word! Our desire for it has spawned a newly minted genre. Read entire article »
Finding the Holy By Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik “And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem… and the Lord appeared to Abraham and said: To your seed will I give this land; and he built there an altar unto the Lord who appeared to him” (Gen. 12:6-7). Why was it necessary to say “who appeared to him”? Read entire article »
Food Columns
Rice Pudding Recipes By Eileen Goltz Like many other well-loved comfort foods, rice pudding recipes have a long and delicious history. It’s believed to have originated, as a recipe, in the Middle East as a kind of porridge like dish made up of several indigenous grains. Read entire article »
Exceptional New Books from OU Press OU Press has published two new books that are available at a special discount on the OU Press website www.OUPress.org.
Covenant & Conversation: Genesis The Book of Beginnings (co-published with Maggid) is the first ever collection of Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks’ essays on the weekly parsha. Erudite and eloquent, Covenant & Conversation allows readers to experience Chief Rabbi Sacks’ sophisticated approach to life lived in an ongoing dialogue with the Torah.
Fresh Fruit & Vintage Wine: Ethics and Wisdom of the Aggada (co-published with Ktav and Yeshivat Har Etzion) by Rabbi Yitzchak Blau takes the enduring wisdom of the Aggada and expresses it with freshness and vitality. Arranged by topic, the book explores enigmatic Talmudic texts and uses classical commentaries to explain the passages and show their relevance to contemporary life. Learn more about these books and buy them at a 15% discount at www.OUPress.org.
Presenter: Rabbi Mordechai Becher Here's your chance to ask one of the funniest, most talented Rabbis in the world every question you've always wanted to ask, but couldn't find the right address. Rabbi Becher has been answering students questions from around the world for nearly 2 decades. Don't miss this amazing opportunity. Free Online Classes Participate in a series of live, interactive online classes and explore key aspects of living Judaism. Ask questions in real time via chat to the presenter. A certificate of completion will be awarded upon the conclusion of this September - December Fall Series. All classes start at 9:00 pm EDT Sign up now!
This Week's Haftarah* Rabbi Jeremy Wieder Torah Tidbits Audio Phil Chernofsky is the educational director of the OU Israel Center and the editor of Torah Tidbits, the Center's weekly Torah publication distributed throughout Israel.
The Coming Week's Daf Yomi by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz This essay is based upon the insights and chidushim (original ideas) of Talmudic scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, as published in the Hebrew version of the Steinsaltz Edition of the Talmud. Masechet Bava Batra- 70a-76b
Motza'ei Shabbat, October 31 at 8:30 PM Kew Gardens Hills, NY
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb will address the great expectations parents have for their children who are getting married and ways that couples can cope with the problems of the early stages of marriage in the Orthodox Jewish Community.
Kashrut Feature Article ASKOU Outreach Program to Visit Passaic-Clifton Community for Series of Kashrut Lectures
OU Events:
OU Kosher Coming October 29, 2009 Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel, OU Kosher rabbinic coordinator, Meat certification specialist will be speaking on topic: "What is the Beef with Meat?"
ASK OU OUTREACH Comes to the Passaic-Clifton Community November 07, 2009 The Harry H. Beren ASK OU OUTREACH Kashrut Program will conduct a series of fascinating kashrut shiurim in the Passaic-Clifton community on 3 consecutive Motzoei Shabbat: November 7, 14 and 21.
Not the Newlywed Game November 07, 2009 A fun and hilarious game show involving four couples (as contestants) with audience participation.
Thursday, 18 Cheshvan - November 5 8:00pm Students & Young Adults - Start a new PARSHA in your life! Featuring Rabbi Moshe Taragin, Senior Maggid Shiur, Yeshivat Har Etzion On Parsha and Machashava - Weekly at the OU Israel Center - Thursdays at 8.00pm beginning Thursday, October 15 - Men & Women invited, Refreshments
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In gratitude and friendship --- and wishes for a Good Shabbes/ Happy Weekend, Binyamin L. Jolkovsky Editor in Chief
Today's A Torah Minute is in memory of Chaya Annaelle bat Dahlia Z L Dedicated to Brigitte & Ari
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Lekha Lekha: the righteous are called "Holekh"
by Rabbi Ya'aqob Menashe
(Links to the audio appear after the text)
Angels are called "'Omdim" (standing still) because they do not have a Yeser Hara' (evil inclination) which pulls them down the wrong path. A righteous individual (Saddiq), on the other hand, is called "Holekh" (one who goes), and constantly ascends from one level to the next.
The fact that G-d tells Abraham Abinu,'a"h, "Lekh Lekha" (go), means that He is saying to him: "You have the title of Lekh, not 'Omed". This means that G-d is informing Abraham Abinu that he still has not reached his highest level of perfection but rather, must keep going down his long path towards his ultimate goal.
It is best illustrated by a parable about a man who dreamt that the king was climbing a ladder which had 1000 rungs, but only reached the 500th rung. The man went and related his dream to the king who gave him 500 gold coins.
When the man's neighbor's wife heard this she told her husband to go and tell the king that he dreamt the king reached the 1000th rung. The king would surely be delighted and reward him with 1000 gold coins. But when the man told the king about his supposed dream the king had him physically thrown out of the palace. The reason was that the dream indicated that the king had reached the top of the ladder of his career and would, perforce, only have the option of descending. However, the dream showing that he was only half way up the ladder indicated that he was only half way up to the power and position that he would eventually have.
(See 'Od Yoseph Hai Derashoth, Parashath Lekh Lekha)
For the first year, which ended with the 100th Hillula of the Ben Ish Hai on 13th Elul 5769 (September '09), Rabbi Ya'aqob Menashe gave Halakhoth and pearls of Torah from the Ben Ish Hai, Hakham Yoseph Hayyim, 'a"h. The daily bulletins continue to feature the Ben Ish Hai and also include a wide variety of sources.
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Israel infos : Actualites Israel, Presse monde juif, Informations communauté juive francophone Revue de Presse No 868 du 30 octobre 2009 12 Heshvan 5770 Gérez ICI votre abonnement
Selon la dernière édition du New-York Times, l'Iran a répondu par la négative à l'essentiel des propositions formulées à Vienne par les six grandes puissances, sous l'égide de l'Agence Internationale pour l'Energie Atomique (AIEA), et notamment de transférer 75% de son uranium à la Russie et à la France.
Le président du Liban, Michel Sleiman, a accusé Israël d'avoir elle-même tiré, mardi soir, la roquette Katioucha (en provenance du Liban) contre la ville de Kiryat Shmoné, pour lui permettre de poursuivre ses violations contre le territoire national et ses missions d'information au cœur du Liban.
Les parlementaires de toutes les formations politiques se sont réunis à la Knesset pour une cérémonie à la mémoire des 14 ans de l'assassinat d'Istahk Rabin, par le meurtrier juif Yigal Amir, au cours de laquelle, après une minute de silence, le Premier ministre, le président de la Knesset, la chef de l'opposition et le ministre de la Défense, ont prononcé des allocutions principalement axées sur l'héritage laissé par l'ex-chef du gouvernement assassiné.
Le parlementaire de la Knesset le Dr.Ahmed Tibi du parti arabe Raam-Tahal, a appelé la communauté internationale à faire pression sur Israël, pour qu'elle cesse "le vol des terrains et l'expulsion de Palestiniens de leurs maisons à Jérusalem".
Le porte parole officiel du Hamas, le Dr. Sami Abou Zouhri, a menacé le Caire de saisir les instances de justice internationales et les organisations des droits de l'Homme, concernant la mort dans une prison égyptienne de son frère, dont le corps mutilé a été rendu à la famille, à Gaza.
L'ex-ministre français de l'Intérieur, Charles Pasqua, qui a décidé de faire appel contre le verdict du tribunal qui l'a condamné à un an de prison ferme dans l'affaire de l'Angolagate, a déclaré que l'homme d'affaires Arcadi Gaydamak, également inculpé, était un agent de la DST, fait d'ailleurs connu du président français en exercice à cette époque.
Le scientifique américain, Stewart Nozette, soupçonné avoir accepté l'offre d'un agent fédéral s'étant fait passer pour un responsable des renseignements israéliens, d'espionner au profit de l'Etat hébreu, a totalement nié, à l'ouverture de son procès, les faits qui lui sont reprochés.
HAMAS : Lors d'une rencontre avec des médecins américains en visite à Gaza, Le Premier ministre Hamas, Ismaël Haniyeh a estimé que Barack Obama est "capable d'apporter la stabilité à la région", concernant particulièrement le conflit israélo-palestinien, et affirmé "n'avoir aucune opposition" à un dialogue avec l'administration des Etats-Unis.
JUSTICE : Le rabbin Elior Hen, qui est arrivé mercredi du Brésil d'où il a été extradé à la demande de la justice israélienne, par laquelle il sera jugé pour des sévices commis contre des enfants, devra également répondre d'une accusation pour tentative de meurtre.
SUISSE : L’historien vaudois Jean-François Bergier est décédé jeudi, à 78 ans. Il était principalement connu pour avoir dévoilé le rôle de la Suisse vis-à-vis des juifs pendant la 2e guerre mondiale, et notamment son refus d'ouvrir ses frontières à 20.000 d'entre eux, bien les autorités helvétiques connaissaient le plan nazi de la "solution finale".
EUROPE : Le dernier écueil à la signature du traité européen de Lisbonne par la République tchèque, dernier des 27 pays à devoir le ratifier, semble avoir été levé, par l'acception d'une dérogation, demandée par le président de ce pays, Vaclav Klaus, de ne pas signer la chartre des droits fondamentaux qui, dans le contexte tchèque aurait permis, selon lui, des recours d'Allemands expropriés après la guerre dans le contexte des décrets Benes.
Toute l'équipe d'Israel-infos.net vous souhaite un excellent week-end, et vous invite à vous rendre sur notre site tout au long de la journée pour y retrouver les actualités diffusées en continu. Shabbat Shalom. Fin de nos éditions vendredi 14h00, reprise du direct dimanche à 14H00.
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EVENEMENT ISRAEL
MUSIQUE POUR ISRAEL
« Musique pour Israël » est un programme de tournées musicales de jeunes Français en Israël.
Dans le but de promouvoir des relations entre jeunes musiciens français et israéliens, établir une connaissance réciproque fondée sur l’estime, tisser des liens d’amitié, et leur permettre de jouer ensemble, l’«Association des Amis du Concert », dont le siège est à Nice, organise des voyages où de jeunes Français jouent en Israël, et de jeunes Israéliens jouent en France.
La Tora est recommencée - elle est, comme la mer, toujours recommencée - et dans toutes les synagogues du monde, chabat prochain, on lira l'histoire du déluge. En hébreu: maboul. En français, maboul signifie: "fou". Le mot nous vient de l'arabe ma'hboul, introduit dans l'Hexagone par les tirailleurs africains.
Etymologiquement, il n'y a pas de vrai rapport entre le maboul hébreu, d'un radical "déverser" (yBL) et le maboul franco-arabe qui mêle tout dans sa tête.
Mais la Tora, qui raconte aussitôt l'histoire de la tour de BabeL, se plaît à mêler les deux mots avant de mêler (d'un radical BLl) la langue de ces constructeurs qui voulaient monter jusqu'au Bab-El - la "porte de Dieu" - pour l'ouvrir aux hommes.
Bon, on ne va pas tout mêler mais, en ces temps bouleversés, comment ne pas rappeler que cette histoire a commencé en Turquie, quand l'arche déposa Noé, son ménage et sa ménagerie sur le mont Ararat, le point culminant de la région? C'était bien avant qu'à leur tour, les charters d'Israël n'y déversent leurs vacanciers et que les joueurs ne déboulent dans leurs casinos. Aujourd'hui, fini les boules. Les Israéliens sont en boule. Ils disent qu'ils ont perdu la boule, là bas, à Istanbul.
NOTES DE LECTURE
QUELLE EST LA SIGNIFICATION DU TIRAGE AU SORT ET DE L'ALEATOIRE ?
A travers l'histoire, à commencer par la philosophie grecque jusqu'au rationalisme moderne, les concepts de loterie et de hasard ont été soumis à un processus continu de laïcisation et de sécularisation, ces notions évoquant généralement une réalité aveugle, sans causalité, et non explicable.
Sur un autre plan, les mathématiques ont développé des outils de calcul de probabilités et leurs applications au domaine des statistiques. Ces outils permettent d'analyser les événements fortuits et soumis au hasard en évitant toute possibilité d'interprétation subjective.
Dans le monde de la sagesse juive, la façon de voir les choses est totalement différente. Le hasard et le tirage au sort représentent des valeurs profondément significatives, en relation avec la volonté Divine.
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This product bears an unauthorized OU symbol and is being withdrawn from the marketplace. Consumers spotting this product are requested to contact the Orthodox Union at 212-613-8241 or via email at kashalerts@ou.org.
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is not only one of the world's largest media empires, it is also one of the most controversial. SPIEGEL spoke with James Murdoch about the company's image, speculation that he could take over for his father Rupert and the future of online news.
Many climate change activists have been disappointed with the administration of US President Barack Obama so far. But German energy giants are ecstatic. With US money flowing into alternative energies, companies from this side of the Atlantic are eager to get their share.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are being shaken by attacks, and the Taliban is dictating the course of the war. US President Obama has been silent about the situation for far too long and European countries like Germany and France are correct to demand better American leadership on the issue of Afghanistan.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is used to unsolicited remarks about her dowdy taste in clothes. Now, fashion designer Wolfgang Joop has come up with an unusual tip for the world's most powerful woman: Wear more low-cut tops.
Muslims should make peace with Germany, argues former hate preacher Mohammed El Fazazi, the man who once provided religious instruction to the men behind the 9/11 terror attacks. SPIEGEL ONLINE has published an abridged version of his open letter to Muslims.
Angela Merkel kicked off her second four-year term as Germany's chancellor on Wednesday, but the shine was taken off her success by a group of parliamentarians from her center-right coalition who refused to back her. Merkel, say German commentators, may not have the smooth second term she had hoped for.
Phillip Rösler, a 36-year-old doctor, has had a meteoric political career -- and on Wednesday he was sworn in as Germany's health minister. But Rösler, born in Vietnam and adopted by a German couple, doesn't have much time left. He says he wants to leave politics by the time he's 45.
SAP's third-quarter numbers were a disappointment to analysts, who look to the German software giant as a bellwether for the general health of the IT industry.
Today's A Torah Minute is in memory of Chaya Annaelle bat Dahlia Z L Dedicated to Brigitte & Ari
by the Uzan Family
To sponsor ATorahMinute
please call 516 487 6676 x123 or visit the link after the Torah Minute.
Washing dishes on Shabbath
by Rabbi Ya'aqob Menashe
(Links to the audio appear after the text)
The Shulhan 'Arukh writes that cutlery, crockery and the like may be washed on Shabbath, provided that they will be needed for that Shabbath, such as when there are other S'euddoth (Shabbath meals) remaining. However, after Se'uddah Shelishith (the third Shabbat meal which is eaten after Minha), they may not be washed.
This implies that one may wash utensils after the Friday night meal for the Shabbath morning meal, or even for Se'uddah Shelishith, if they are needed. In addition, even if one requires only one cup, he may wash several since each of the ones washed would be fit to be used. However, if one has other clean utensils that could be used it is good to use the clean ones and not wash the dirty dishes on Shabbath because of the effort it requires.
The reason why we may not wash dishes and the like after Se'uddah Shelishith is because one does not normally eat after this, but if someone wishes to eat more, or guests are expected, then it is permitted.
For the first year, which ended with the 100th Hillula of the Ben Ish Hai on 13th Elul 5769 (September '09), Rabbi Ya'aqob Menashe gave Halakhoth and pearls of Torah from the Ben Ish Hai, Hakham Yoseph Hayyim, 'a"h. The daily bulletins continue to feature the Ben Ish Hai and also include a wide variety of sources.
Spread the word
Pleaseforward your daily emails to your contacts, but remove the "manage your subscription" link at the bottom, so they don't unsubscribe you by mistake.
JWR TODAY: Do tactics avert flu or reduce humanity?; Why what we wear impacts who we are; Hanson, Jacoby, Barone + much more --- Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009
"Regard as trifling the great good you did to others, and as enormous the little good others did to you."
--- Talmud
**<>**<>**<>**<>****<>**<>**<>**<>**
[ J E W I S H L I V I N G ]
---> worth considering? Do tactics avert flu or reduce humanity? By Lini S. Kadaba
Some wonder whether Western culture and its love of physical contact will suffer from social distancing. Won't we lose our ability to connect with each other?
"Building Your Self-Image and the self-image of others"
This series can change your life. And the life of your spouse, your children, your friends and your employees.
Every success story begins with a positive attitude. This series will show you how you can maintain a winning state of mind --- and how you can instill a sense of confidence in those around you. And that is sure to improve your life; physically, emotionally and spiritually.
For decades, Rabbi Zelig Pliskin has been motivating people to believe in themselves and to realize their potential. As a counselor, he has transformed the lives of hundreds; through his books and lectures, he has motivated and inspired many thousands. Rabbi Pliskin explains the emotional dynamics of success. He shares insights and stories. Most importantly, he gives us practical tips on how to believe in ourselves --- and how we can get others to believe in themselves. From recognizing our abilities and appreciating our talents to coping with setbacks and and dealing with failures, this series has it all.
TODAY: Realizing the Complexity of Accurate Self-Knowledge, Part II
* 1675, Leibniz makes the first use of the long s as a symbol of the integral in calculus
* 1863, 16 countries meeting in Geneva agree to form the International Red Cross
* 1886, the ticker-tape parade is invented in New York City when office workers spontaneously throw ticker tape into the streets as the Statue of Liberty is dedicated
* 1901, Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of US President William McKinley, is executed by electrocution.
* 1921, the Harvard University football team loses to Centre College, ending a 25 game winning streak. This is considered one of the biggest upsets in college football
* 1923, Turkey becomes a republic following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire
* 1929, the New York Stock Exchange crashes in what will be called the Crash of '29 or "Black Tuesday," ending the Great Bull Market of the 1920s and beginning the Great Depression.
* 1969, the first-ever computer-to-computer link is established on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet
* 1979, on the 50th anniversary of the great stock market crash, anti-nuclear protesters tried but failed to shut down the New York Stock Exchange
* 1994, Francisco Martin Duran fires over two dozen shots at the White House (Duran was later convicted of trying to kill US President Bill Clinton)
* 1998, ATSC HDTV broadcasting in the United States is inaugurated with the launch of STS-95 space shuttle mission. ALSO: Sen. John Glenn, at age 77, roared back into space aboard the shuttle Discovery, retracing the trail he'd blazed for America's astronauts 36 years earlier
* 2004, the Arabic news network Al Jazeera broadcasts an excerpt from a video of Osama bin Laden in which the terrorist leader first admits direct responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks and references the 2004 U.S. presidential election. ALSO: In Rome, European heads of state sign the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution.
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(c) 2009, JewishWorldReview.com: Permission to distribute this newsletter -- NOT articles' text -- is not only granted, it's also ENCOURAGED, as is using the "e-mail a friend" option!
Israel infos : Actualites Israel, Presse monde juif, Informations communauté juive francophone Revue de Presse No 867 du 29 octobre 2009 11 Heshvan 5770 Gérez ICI votre abonnement
Dans le contexte d'une récente reprise des émeutes à Jérusalem-est, le ministre de l'Intérieur, Itshak Aharonovitz, a assuré qu'il ne "laissera pas, les dirigeants des deux parties en cause, arabe et juive, attiser le feu ni utiliser les endroits saints pour faire avancer leurs intérêts politiques (…), ni encore à transformer le mont du Temple en un ring de boxe".
Le ministre de la Défense Ehud Barak a qualifié "d'évènement exceptionnel qui a porté atteinte à Tsahal, et qui n'a sa place dans aucun système militaire", le fait que des soldats de l'unité Shimshon aient brandi - lors d'une cérémonie officielle au mur des Lamentations - un panneau contre l'évacuation de Homesh (effectuée par Tsahal en Judée Samarie en 2005).
En visite officielle à Moscou, la chef de l'opposition, Tzipi Livni, a rencontré le ministre russe des Affaires étrangères, Sergueï Lavrov, auquel elle a confié les craintes israéliennes que l'Iran ne continue de tromper les pays occidentaux, et affirmé que Téhéran poursuit sa politique de manque "de transparence, et d'honnêteté vis-à-vis de la communauté internationale".
Quatre missiles prêts à être envoyés sur Israël ont été découverts par des forces conjointes de l'armée régulière et de l'Unifil, mercredi matin au sud Liban, alors que la veille, une Katioucha libanaise s'était abattue non loin de la ville de Kiryat Shmoné, au nord d'Israël.
"De notre coté, nous avons le soutien du peuple pour poursuivre les négociations avec Israël. La condition en est que les Israéliens eux-mêmes désirent également poursuivre ce dialogue" a déclaré le président syrien Bachar el Assad lors d'une conférence de presse donnée en Croatie où il s'est rendu en visite officielle.
Le président de l'Etat, Shimon Peres, a ouvert, mercredi soir, les cérémonies marquant le 14e anniversaire du meurtre de l'ancien Premier ministre israélien, Itshak Rabin, et prononcé un discours dans lequel il a affirmé que "le souvenir de ses actions, de son amour et de son dévouement pour son peuple, ne s'effacera jamais".
Suite à l'annonce unilatérale du président palestinien, Mahmoud Abbas, portant sur l'organisation d'élections générales le 24 janvier prochain, le ministère de l'Intérieur à Gaza a déclaré que ce scrutin, convoqué "sans accord national" est illégal, et formellement mis en garde les Palestiniens d'y participer.
POLITIQUE : Après le report du vote sur le projet de loi exigeant un référendum pour tout retrait israélien de territoires sous son contrôle, suite à l'opposition du ministre Dan Méridor, c'est maintenant la loi proclamant Jérusalem "capitale du peuple juif", qui fait l'objet d'une opposition des ministres travaillistes.
AUTORITE PALESTINIENNE : Selon des sources palestiniennes rapportées par Ynet, des hauts responsables politiques du monde arabe ont appelé le président Mahmoud Abbas à reprendre les négociations avec Israël, sans plus conditionner la reprise de celles-ci par l'arrêt de la construction en Judée Samarie, "leur manque jouant le jeu de Netanyahou, et affaiblissant Obama".
GUILAD SHALIT : Participant à une marche intitulée "Guilad Shalit, où es-tu mon enfant?", le père de l'otage du Hamas a déclaré "notre marche a nous a débuté il y a 1221 jours, elle est longue épuisante, et nous n'en voyons pas la fin". Par ailleurs, selon un responsable islamiste, les négociations actuelles achoppent sur le refus d'Israël de libérer 125 terroristes "durs", réclamés par le Hamas.
FRANCE : Suite à la condamnation d'une trentaine de personnes dans l'affaire de ventes d'armes à l'Angola, dont l'ancien ministre Charles Pasqua (à un an de prison ferme), et Arcadi Gaydamak (6 ans), qui vont faire appel, le ministre Hervé Morin envisage, sous la pression de nombreux députés, de lever le "secret défense".
RUSSIE : Selon le vice-premier ministre russe, Sergueï Ivanov, son pays n'a jamais livré à Téhéran de missiles antimissiles S300 (qui sont de nature à compromettre toute éventuelle opération aérienne contre les installations nucléaires iraniennes).
PAKISTAN : Quelques heures après l'arrivée au Pakistan de la secrétaire d'Etat américaine, Hillary Clinton, un attentat meurtrier au nord ouest du pays a couté la vie à 86 personnes, et fait plus de 100 blessés.
Toute l'équipe d'Israel-infos.net vous souhaite une excellente journée, et vous invite à vous rendre sur notre site pour y retrouver les actualités diffusées en continu.
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EVENEMENT ISRAEL
MUSIQUE POUR ISRAEL
« Musique pour Israël » est un programme de tournées musicales de jeunes Français en Israël.
Dans le but de promouvoir des relations entre jeunes musiciens français et israéliens, établir une connaissance réciproque fondée sur l’estime, tisser des liens d’amitié, et leur permettre de jouer ensemble, l’«Association des Amis du Concert », dont le siège est à Nice, organise des voyages où de jeunes Français jouent en Israël, et de jeunes Israéliens jouent en France.
La Tora est recommencée - elle est, comme la mer, toujours recommencée - et dans toutes les synagogues du monde, chabat prochain, on lira l'histoire du déluge. En hébreu: maboul. En français, maboul signifie: "fou". Le mot nous vient de l'arabe ma'hboul, introduit dans l'Hexagone par les tirailleurs africains.
Etymologiquement, il n'y a pas de vrai rapport entre le maboul hébreu, d'un radical "déverser" (yBL) et le maboul franco-arabe qui mêle tout dans sa tête.
Mais la Tora, qui raconte aussitôt l'histoire de la tour de BabeL, se plaît à mêler les deux mots avant de mêler (d'un radical BLl) la langue de ces constructeurs qui voulaient monter jusqu'au Bab-El - la "porte de Dieu" - pour l'ouvrir aux hommes.
Bon, on ne va pas tout mêler mais, en ces temps bouleversés, comment ne pas rappeler que cette histoire a commencé en Turquie, quand l'arche déposa Noé, son ménage et sa ménagerie sur le mont Ararat, le point culminant de la région? C'était bien avant qu'à leur tour, les charters d'Israël n'y déversent leurs vacanciers et que les joueurs ne déboulent dans leurs casinos. Aujourd'hui, fini les boules. Les Israéliens sont en boule. Ils disent qu'ils ont perdu la boule, là bas, à Istanbul.
NOTES DE LECTURE
QUELLE EST LA SIGNIFICATION DU TIRAGE AU SORT ET DE L'ALEATOIRE ?
A travers l'histoire, à commencer par la philosophie grecque jusqu'au rationalisme moderne, les concepts de loterie et de hasard ont été soumis à un processus continu de laïcisation et de sécularisation, ces notions évoquant généralement une réalité aveugle, sans causalité, et non explicable.
Sur un autre plan, les mathématiques ont développé des outils de calcul de probabilités et leurs applications au domaine des statistiques. Ces outils permettent d'analyser les événements fortuits et soumis au hasard en évitant toute possibilité d'interprétation subjective.
Dans le monde de la sagesse juive, la façon de voir les choses est totalement différente. Le hasard et le tirage au sort représentent des valeurs profondément significatives, en relation avec la volonté Divine.
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* 1538, the first university in the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is established
* 1636, a vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony establishes the first college in what would become the United States, today known as Harvard University
* 1775, during the American Revolutionary War A British proclamation forbids residents from leaving Boston
* 1886, President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty
* 1893, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Pathetique, premiered in St. Petersburg, only nine days before the composer's death
* 1919, Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January
* 1922, Italian fascists led by Benito Mussolini march on Rome and take over the Italian government
* 1929, Black Monday, a day in the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which also saw major stock market upheaval.
* 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicates the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary
* 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba
* 1986, the centennial of the Statue of Liberty's dedication is re-celebrated in New York Harbor
* 1998, in London, the High Court ruled that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was immune from prosecution in British courts. (The House of Lords later overturned the decision, saying Pinochet's arrest could stand. Pinochet was eventually allowed to return to Chile, where a court later held that he could not face charges because of his deteriorating health and mental condition. Pinochet died in 2006.)
* 2003, the seven astronauts who died in the Columbia shuttle disaster were honored with the unveiling of their names carved into the national Space Mirror Memorial
* 2005, the Plame affair: Lewis Libby, Vice-president Dick Cheney's chief of staff, is indicted in the Valerie Plame case. Libby resigns later that day
* 2007, the first NFL game played outside North America was played at Wembley Stadium
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If solving the Israel-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli conflict is the centerpiece of the Obama Administration’s Middle East policy—at times it seems the keystone of the government’s entire policy—there's an obvious problem derailing it.
Here it is. The president of the United States on several occasions and notably in his UN speech and high officials repeatedly have announced that they want and expect there to be quick, final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to resolve all issues and end the conflict.
This event isn't going to happen.
When the president of the United States announces there will be talks soon and has no reason to believe that's true he's making a fool of himself. It is one of the most basic rules of presidential behavior that you don't put the chief executive’s prestige on the line, that you do not let him predict an imminent event, unless you know for darn sure it is going to happen.
Yet when President Barack H. Obama stood before the world's assembled leaders that's precisely what he did. For an administration approaching the end of its first year in office that's dangerous amateurism.
The fly in the ointment here is the PA and this is no minor detail. The PA says repeatedly that it will not even meet formally with Israel until all construction on all Jewish settlements on the West Bank plus east Jerusalem stop completely. Already, however, U.S.-Israel discussions have moved past that point. We don’t know precisely where they stand but clearly the administration isn’t pushing for a total halt and it isn’t pushing all that urgently on the issue.
Therefore, while Israel has succeeded in conciliating the United States, the PA is going to defy the United States. We know that it is serious in doing so because of what has just happened with the Goldstone report in the UN. The administration asked the PA not to take a leading role in pushing the report; the PA complied for about 48 hours and then internal pressure forced it to go back on its word. Most of this pressure was not the spontaneous outrage of the masses but from the hardline elements which dominate the ruling Fatah group as well as in the PA itself.
In short, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is not going to back down on his demand. He is more afraid of his own colleagues, Hamas’s baiting him as a “moderate” (a compliment perhaps from the West but a deadly insult in Palestinian politics), and his own people than of Obama. Indeed, nobody is afraid of Obama which is one of the main problems with his foreign policy.
Disdaining the use of threats, leverage, and pressure, the Obama administration is not likely to push the PA very hard on this and even if it did Abbas would stand firm. Having extolled the Palestinians as peace-loving martyrs, courting Arab and Muslim opinion, treasuring popularity, the administration won’t get tough. No amount of funding or other goodies is going to move the PA or Abbas either. For Abbas, it is something like the classical choice which can be paraphrased as: Your money or your life?
So there is, and will be, a deadlock, month after month through into 2010. Is there some clever way out? I don’t see one and am willing to bet the administration doesn’t either.
Remember this president said repeatedly--in his Cairo speech, at the UN, almost daily--that he is going to solve the issue; that his predecessor missed easy opportunities to do so; that this is the world's main issue. So what's he going to do other than spin about how hard he's working and how much progress he's making?
In contrast, Abbas has an attractive policy alternative: strike a militant pose, blame America, seek rapprochement with Hamas. In addition, what both the United States and Europe fails to see is that the Palestinians don’t need or want rapid progress on negotiations or even a state except on what would be completely their own terms.
The Palestinians can also afford the luxury of believing—and this is what Western policy has taught them—that Europe and America needs them more than they need the West. Moreover they believe, and again this is what they have been shown, that intransigence on their part actually brings more criticism on Israel. If you believe, rightly or wrongly, that the world is about to condemn Israel as a pariah, war criminal state why make compromises with it?
This is the corner into which the Obama Administration has painted itself. And all that it has left is what might be called the cat strategy. Have you ever seen a cat miss a leap or have an embarrassing fall? It merely licks itself and looks around with an expression saying: I meant to do that. Everything is going according to plan. But it isn’t.
The newest development is the idea, favored by many in the European Union, of endorsing PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s “plan” for there to be a Palestinian state within two years. Of course, this won’t happen either.
The whole thing is taking on a comic opera air. It reminded me of something. And then I remembered: the classical description of the Arab defeat in the 1948 war and Israel’s creation by Constantine Zurayk, vice-president of the American University of Beirut, in his book The Meaning of the Disaster. He wrote:
“Seven Arab states declare war on Zionism in Palestine, stop impotent before it and turn on their heels. The representatives of the Arabs deliver fiery speeches in the highest international forums, warning what the Arab state and peoples will do if this or that decision be enacted. Declarations fall like bombs from the mouths of officials at the meetings of the Arab League, but when action becomes necessary, the fire is still and quiet and steel and iron are rusted and twisted, quick to bend and disintegrate.”
For the Arab states, the fiery speeches do have a value of their own, cowing rivals and mobilizing the masses to support their local dictator. But when the United States acts like a pitiful, helpless giant—even if it is a nice and friendly, apologetic one—the world shudders and shakes. The evil, with laughter; the good, with tears.
If you find these articles useful and interesting, please read and subscribe to Barry Rubin's blog, Rubin Reports, at <http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com>:
*Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), with Walter Laqueur (Viking-Penguin); the paperback edition of The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan); A Chronological History of Terrorism, with Judy Colp Rubin, (Sharpe); and The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley). To read and subscribe to MERIA, GLORIA articles, or to order books, go to http://www.gloria-center.org
The Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center
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Netilath Yadayim if dipping cookies in coffee
by Rabbi Ya'aqob Menashe
(Links to the audio appear after the text)
If someone dips his cookie into a cooked liquid, such as into a cup of tea or coffee, he must first do Netilath Yadayim (the ritual washing of the hands) as we do when eating bread, but without a Berakha (blessing). This assumes that the person actually touches the liquid.
If the person uses a spoon to eat the cookie and dips the cookie into the cooked liquid with the spoon, then Netilath Yadayim is not needed. Similarly, If a person dips a cookie into a cup of tea or coffee by hand, but is careful not to touch the liquid at all, then Netilath Yadayim is not required either.
(See Ben Ish Hai, Yr 1, Parashath Tazria', Oth 19. Kaf Hahayim 158, Oth 39. See also Ohr LeSion 11:6)
For the first year, which ended with the 100th Hillula of the Ben Ish Hai on 13th Elul 5769 (September '09), Rabbi Ya'aqob Menashe gave Halakhoth and pearls of Torah from the Ben Ish Hai, Hakham Yoseph Hayyim, 'a"h. The daily bulletins continue to feature the Ben Ish Hai and also include a wide variety of sources.
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A public prosecutor in Milan has completed a five-year investigation into the CIA and their Italian counterparts. The case of the extraordinary renditions kidnapping of Egyptian suspected terrorist Abu Omar is also a test of judicial independence in Italy. Twenty-six Americans are being tried in absentia in the case.
For weeks, many have speculated that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was in line to become the European Union's first president. But now, Jean-Claude Juncker from tiny Luxembourg may have torpedoed the plan. EU logic indicates that a third candidate may emerge victorious.
Italy's Serie A, once the world's most exciting football league, is in a state of crisis. Its stadiums are outdated, match attendance is down sharply and extreme acts of violence are on the rise. But now Juventus, the club that triggered a referee-manipulation scandal three years ago, is leading a movement for change.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been broadly praised for bowing to international pressure to accept a runoff vote. But the same problems that plagued the first round of voting haven't disappeared and low turnout and fraud could produce an equally tainted outcome.
Germany has launched the biggest vaccination program in its history. But the inoculation jabs are proving so effective and the disease is so mild in most cases that experts have their doubts about whether swine flu is a real pandemic.
SS assassin Heinrich Boere shot dead three innocent Dutch civilians in World War II -- and has never been punished. The trial of the 88-year-old started on Wednesday in the German city of Aachen. The justice system is still struggling with the case it shunned for decades.
Angela Merkel's second term as chancellor begins on Wednesday. But this time around, the business-friendly Free Democrats have taken over the role of junior coalition partner from the Social Democrats. SPIEGEL ONLINE introduces the new government in Berlin.
Angela Merkel's second four-year term as German chancellor officially began on Wednesday when parliament re-elected her to the office. But it wasn't a complete success for the Christian Democrat: Not all parliamentarians belonging to her center-right coalition cast their ballots for her.
A US flag flying in the rubble of the World Trade Center. A scruffy and worn-looking Saddam Hussein. A headbutt from one of the world's greatest football players. Reuters has released its best press photos of the decade. SPIEGEL ONLINE presents a selection.
A German government flu expert is advising a group funded by the pharma industry. The European Working Group on Influenza says it wants to raise awareness of the dangers of a pandemic. But epidemiologist Luc Bonneaux says ESWI is a lobby group "that has as much to do with science as McDonald's with healthy nutrition."
Times have never before been this bad for US newspapers. Within six months, they have seen their circulation drop, on average, by 10.6 percent. Now experts are calling for a radical solution: state aid. But protests are already mounting -- even inside the industry itself.
Former Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic again failed to show up for his trial in The Hague on Tuesday and some fear the proceedings could descend into chaos as happened during the Milosovic trial. German commentators say it's time to rein him in. There is also criticism of France's failure to ban Scientology.
American law-enforcement authorities have arrested two men charged with preparing terrorist attacks against Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that offended Muslims around the world in 2005 when it published caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. The cartoon artist was reportedly also a target.
Clinton to visit Israel Jewish Telegraphic Agency JERUSALEM (JTA) -- US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to visit Israel this week, Israeli media is reporting. ... See all stories on this topic
Outils 
