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November 06
QUESTION: 3 angels came down to the world: Raphael, Michael and Gavriel. But there were 4 tasks to accomplish. 1.To Heal Avaraham 2.To Save Lot 3.Tell Sarah the news about her having a son 4.To Destroy Sdom. Why didn't Hashem send 4 angels to do this? There could be many answers to this question, here is one of them... ANSWER: I have to begin with an interesting story told of Rav Shlomo Kluger - There was once a family who wanted to postpone the circumcision of their son in order to name the child after a relative who was deathly ill, and who was about to pass away at any given moment. Rav Kluger told the family to go ahead with the Bris, and not to wait any longer. The family followed the Rav's advice and they went ahead with the Bris. The deathly ill relative ended up not dieing. He actually went on to continue living a happy and healthy life. The Rav explained how he learned this from Parshat Vayera and the Angel of Avraham and Lot. Which will also answer our question: Lot did not have enough merits (zechuyot) to bring an Angel down to this world to save him. But since Hashem was already sending down an Angel to heal Avraham after the Bris Mila, Lot was able to be saved once that Angel was already here. It is known from our tradition, that Eliyahu Hanavi comes down and attends the Bris of every Jewish boy. The deathly ill relative did not have enough merits to bring down an Angel to heal him. Although as soon as the family made a Bris Mila for their son - and Eliyahu Hanavi was already sent down in this world, the deathly ill relative was then able to be healed by him. Source: http://70faces.blogspot.com/2009/11/3-angels-for-4-tasks-dvar-torah-parshat.html Have a Good Shabbos Aaron
September 25
While reflecting upon the upcoming holiday of Yom Kippur, I came across the following story, as told by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky in his Parsha Parables:
When Russian soldiers entered the town of Radin, the Jewish residents prepared special Kosher meals for the Jewish soldiers in the Czar's army. But then they saw their kindness and charity thrown back in their faces, as it were, as the soldiers devoured their food -- and then lined up for the standard, non-Kosher Russian rations.
When several people complained about this to the Chofetz Chaim, the saintly Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan, and suggested that they might as well stop preparing Kosher food, he reflected with an insight that will stay with us for generations.
"Every Mitzvah that a Jew does, every good deed, is not a fleeting act. It is an eternity. No matter what precedes or ensues, we must cherish each Mitzvah done by each and every person."
And, as well, a second story involving the Chofetz Chaim, found in a recent interview with Jackie Levinson in Mishpacha magazine:
When Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahanemen, the Ponovezher Rav, contemplated establishing a Rabbinic school, his father-in-law wondered if it would detract too much from his own studies. So they approached the Chofetz Chaim, who asked Rabbi Kahanemen how much progress he had made that day. The Chofetz Chaim then announced that he had studied 800 pages of Talmud that day -- truly an impossible sum. He explained: "I have two hundred students. Each of them learned two folios (four pages), so it is considered as though I learned four hundred folios today." Rabbi Kahanemen went on to create a Rabbinic school that is today one of the largest in Israel.
The holiest day of the year is rapidly approaching, the day on which our Tradition teaches that G-d comes closest to us, helping us and forgiving our past errors as we resolve to do better in the future. In these days between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, every Mitzvah is a life saver. G-d treasures every positive effort that we make, no matter how small. When we're up close with the Almighty, every one of us can make Him smile.
Your gift at this hour is especially valuable for three reasons. First, it is an act of charity before Yom Kippur, when, as the High Holy Day prayers say, "Repentance, Prayer and Charity avert an Evil Decree." Second, it encourages Torah study -- with your support, you take a portion in not only your own studies of our material, but that of each and every reader. And third? We have now taken our first, tentative steps towards a major upgrade, one which will both expand our reach and reduce our ongoing costs. From every angle, now is a very auspicious time to help if you are at all able to do so.
Whether it's $100, or $36, or even $1, it's not a fleeting act - its an eternity.
Please
As always, all donors of $100 or more will receive a free signed copy of the Everything Torah Book.
May you be sealed in the Book of Life for a year of prosperity and spiritual growth.
Sincerely Yours,
Rabbi Yaakov Menken
Director, Project Genesis - Torah.org
menken -at- torah.org
September 24
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Stop President Obama From Putting Israel on the Chopping Block!
Dear Friend of Jerusalem,
One would expect the President of the United States to stand firm against America's enemies and support its allies.
 Today however, President Obama used the forum of the United Nations to abandon Israel and embrace the unfounded demands of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
President Obama became the first US President to refer to the territories that Israel won in the (defensive) Six Day War as, "Occupied Territory." This implies that Israel must retreat from its own land, return to indefensible '67 borders, divide Jerusalem, and capitulate to Palestinian forces bent on destroying Israel.
A few weeks ago, One Jerusalem sent out a Red Alert warning that Obama was going to ambush Israel at the United Nations. He did it, today.
Israel faces a real challenge with Obama. On the one hand, President Obama continually pressures Israel to give up its secure borders. On the other hand, Obama allows for existential threats to Israel, by refusing to engage the US in actively stopping Iran's nuclear weapons program.
One Jerusalem has been -- and will continue to be -- on the front lines, in defense of Jerusalem and the Jewish State of Israel. When Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu arrived in New York this week, we were invited to meet and strategize with him.
Now we need you to step up your efforts for the difficult months ahead. We count on you to make phone calls, sign petitions, and demonstrate in the streets.
We need each other now more than ever. Sign up!
Sincerely,
Allen Roth & David Goder
www.OneJerusalem.org |
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| You are currently subscribed to this mailing as [EMAIL] |
| One Jerusalem, 136 East 39th Street, New York, NY 10016 |
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August 03
Hakirah
The Flatbush Journal of Jewish Law and Thought
Volume 8 / Summer 2009
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The new Volume 8 of Hakirah is currently shipping and includes a new Forum section with debates on the following issues:
Conversion to Judaism: What precisely are the requirements for conversion to Judaism and is the conversion still valid when some of the qualifications are not met?
Entering a Church for Hatzalat Yisrael. Under what conditions and circumstances is it appropriate for a Jew to enter a church?
Academic Approaches to the Study of Rambam. Did Rambam make an excessive amount of errors in his Mishneh Torah, and is there value in an ahistorical approach to the study of halakhah?
See the table of contents for additional articles...
New subscribers are welcome.
http://www.Hakirah.org/
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FORUM |
| 19 |
Response to "A Hagiographer's Review" |
| Marc B. Shapiro |
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| 35 |
Reply |
| Asher Benzion Buchman |
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41 |
Response to: “Conversion to Judaism” |
| Eliezer Ben Porat |
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47 |
Reply |
| Marc D. Angel |
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53 |
Entering a Sanctuary for Hatzalat Yisrael: An Exchange |
| Michael J. Broyde and Kenneth Auman |
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HISTORY OF HALAKHAH |
| 69 |
Rabbi Banet’s Charming Snake |
| David Nimmer |
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| 109 |
R’ Shlomo Yehuda Rapoport (Shir), Champion of Jewish Unity in the Modern Era |
| Chaim Landerer |
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TALMUD TORAH |
| 141 |
Modern Scholarship and Yirat Shamayim |
| Heshey Zelcer |
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| 157 |
Who Was Re’uel? Finding a New Solution to an Age-Old Puzzle |
| Yacov Balsam |
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JEWISH LAW |
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181 |
Tradition! Tradition? Rambam and the Mesorah |
| Asher Benzion Buchman |
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223 |
The Beginning of the Jewish Calendar |
| Bernard Dickman |
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| JEWISH THOUGHT |
| 237 |
Faith and Heresy” and “Principles of Philosophy” |
| Meir Zelcer |
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חינוך |
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מקומו של "משנה תורה" במערכת החינוכית של ספרד והמזרח התיכון |
| יוסף פאור |
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לג |
בדין טבילה ביום במקום אונס |
| אליעזר בן פורת |
July 28
OU IPA Washington Wire July 28, 2009
Advice to Obama on Israel
Now that there's not only anecdotal evidence, but hard data (a newly released Pew Trusts survey showing that, "Israel [is]... the only public among the 25 surveyed where the current U.S. rating is lower than in past surveys" that Israelis across the board view President Obama unfavorably, thus freezing the President's Mideast initiatives, the advice and counsel from an array of pundits is starting to flow.
Yossi Klein Halevi offers six ways Obama can regain Israeli trust in The New Republic while Haaretz's Aluf Benn urges that Obama make a grand speech to Israelis directly.
These two essays are probably a representative sampling of all the other advice that will flood the op ed pages (and, for the well connected, White House and Capitol Hill email inboxes).Thus, comparing them is a useful exercise (especially if people inside The White House are reading them) because they highlight underlying agendas which Obama must be wary of.
In particular, while Aluf Benn's analysis of "what went wrong" in the U.S.-Israel dynamic over the past six months, he belies the agenda of his homebase - Haaretz - which is passionately anti-Netanyahu with his prescription for the President. The Haaretz cafe crowd who, in Benn's words, "rarely have anything to do with the settlements; many have no idea where they are, even when they’re a half-hour’s drive from Tel Aviv" are despondent that Netanyahu is in power, with the Labor Party in his coalition, and has majority support. Thus, as Benn says: Obama "has failed even to stir debate about the merits of one: no Israeli political figure has stood up to Mr. Netanyahu and begged him to support Mr. Obama; not even the Israeli left, desperate for a new agenda, has adopted Mr. Obama as its icon."
So, Benn's advice to Obama is not to change his policies, but to make a speech in Israel and explain them better so that, presumably, the Israeli Left will be able to take on Netanyahu. In other words, they are asking for a sequel to what President Clinton did when he unsubtly intervened in Israeli politics and forced the fall of Netanyahu's first tenure as premier.
In contrast, Klein-Halevi suggests concrete steps in diplomacy and policy that President Obama should undertake. These steps would forge a working relationship between the U.S. and Israeli governments and resonate with the Israeli populace too. Some are rhetorical (Halevi: "In his Cairo speech, Obama rightly noted that the key obstacle on the Arab side toward making peace is the ongoing refusal to accept Israel's right to exist. Crucially, he has made clear that he intends to carry the issue of Israel's legitimacy into his dialogue with the Muslim world. This presents an unprecedented opportunity for Muslims to hear Israel's case. So far, though, the president has failed to make it. By referring only to the Holocaust, and ignoring the historical Jewish attachment to the land of Israel, the president has inadvertently reinforced Muslim misconceptions regarding Jewish indigenousness. The Holocaust helps explain why Israel fights, not why Israel exists. It doesn't explain why thousands of Ethiopian Jews walked across jungle and desert to reach Zion;") but others are substantive (Halevi: "Make clear that renewing the peace process requires simultaneous Israeli and Arab concessions....Reaffirm the Israeli status of the settlement blocs in a future agreement.")
President Obama is a gifted orator and speeches are a key tool for how he advances his agenda. But presidents don't just make speeches, they implement policy - and that will be the key metric by which the Obama Administration will be measured by Israelis and their allies should the President seek a new start in his still-new relationship with Israel.
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Links
IPA Website
IPA Blog
OU Defending Jerusalem Website
July 22
OU IPA Washington Wire July 20, 2009
- OU Applauds Israeli P.M. Netanyahu’s Defense of Jerusalem
- OU President Savitsky Comments on Meeting with President Obama at the White House
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations Applauds Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Defense of Jerusalem
Appearing today in a JTA piece today, the OU commended Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his continued commitment to a unified Jerusalem
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
OU Thanks Bibi
The Orthodox Union is applauding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for reportedly rebuffing a U.S. request to stop the building of 20 houses in eastern Jerusalem.
At Sunday's Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu emphasized that "the united Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people and of the State of Israel." In a letter to the prime minister, the OU leadership responded, "The Orthodox Union disagrees with the position of the United States that, like Jewish settlement activities in other areas of Judea and Samaria, Israel must not permit new Jewish residency or construction is eastern sections of Jerusalem. We remain partners with you…for the continued preservation of Jerusalem’s unity as the Jewish people’s holy and eternal capital."
The entire OU release and letter is after the jump:
Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, applauded the statements and decisions of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in defense of Jewish sovereignty over the holy city of Jerusalem.
At a cabinet meeting Sunday, the Prime Minister stated:
“… I would like to re-emphasize that the united Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people and of the State of Israel. Our sovereignty over it cannot be challenged; this means inter alia that residents of Jerusalem may purchase apartments in all parts of the city… This is the policy of an open city, an undivided city that has no separation according to religion or national affiliation. We cannot accept the idea that Jews will not have the right to live and purchase in all parts of Jerusalem…This has been the policy of Israeli governments over the years and it is also the policy of our Government.”
In a letter from the Orthodox Union leadership to Prime Minister Netanyahu commending him for his statements and Government’s policy, the OU leadership stated:
The Orthodox Union disagrees with the position of the United States that, like Jewish settlement activities in other areas of Judea and Samaria, Israel must not permit new Jewish residency or construction is eastern sections of Jerusalem.
We remain partners with you…for the continued preservation of Jerusalem’s unity as the Jewish people’s holy and eternal capital. Additionally we will continue our commitment to Israel and Jerusalem through our service programs at our Israel Center in Jerusalem and through our advocacy for Israel’s interests in Washington, DC.
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ORTHODOX JEWISH LEADER COMMENTS ON MEETING WITH PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA AT THE WHITE HOUSE
Mr. Stephen Savitsky, president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (the “Orthodox Union”) the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization was among a small group of American Jewish leaders who met yesterday with President Barack Obama.
Mr. Savitsky issued the following statement commenting upon the meeting:
The Orthodox Union appreciated The White House’s invitation to participate in this meeting with the President at which issues of concern and interest to the Jewish community were discussed respectfully and candidly. I was honored to represent the organization and our community in the meeting.
The Orthodox Union thanks President Obama for his clear statement of support for Israel’s security and his express commitment to thwart Iran’s effort to obtain nuclear weapons, which would pose a grave threat to the nations of the Mideast, including Israel, and undermine global stability.
The Orthodox Union subscribes to the serious concern, expressed by several participants in the meeting, that the Administration has allowed a perception to develop that the onus for progress toward peace between Israel and Arabs lies with Israel, and also that the U.S. is pressuring Israel to undertake various steps while demanding little of the Palestinians or other Arab governments. We welcome the President’s recognition that this perception gap is problematic and his stated intention to recalibrate his Administration’s actions in the coming weeks to make clear that the U.S. insists that concrete steps with regard to incitement and other anti-Israel activities must be taken by the Palestinians and others.
However, while the President’s acknowledgment of this perception gap is encouraging, the Orthodox Union remains deeply troubled by the President’s underlying approach - which is to have the U.S. play an “evenhanded” role. The Orthodox Union asks our President to recognize that there are no moral equivalencies between Israel, which has acted time and again to defend itself while actively seeking peace, and those who reject Israel’s legitimacy and make war against her. We look to the United States to be Israel’s friend in a world of enemies and we support the view, expressed to the President in our meeting, that while allies may of course disagree on specifics, there ought not be significant “daylight” between the United States and Israel that would give the nations’ mutual enemies comfort and encouragement.
We appreciate the opportunity to have spoken with President Obama about these matters and look forward to continuing conversation with him about these matters.
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Additionally, for further reading regarding the current debate around Israeli settlements in the West Bank, please see Elliot Abrams’ editorial, An Unworkable Compromise, in today’s National Review.
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Links
IPA Website
IPA Blog
OU Defending Jerusalem Website
Suggestions and Comments
We welcome any suggestions and/or comments you might have regarding this or future issues of the Washington Wire. We encourage you to contact us with any suggestions or comments regarding the Orthodox Union Institute for Public Affairs please contact Ethan Cohen at ecohen@ou.org.
July 10
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Un rendez-vous à ne pas manquer |
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Dimanche 25 octobre 2009
Le rendez-vous qui prépare l’avenir !
Quelle communauté pour demain ?
Une journée d’échanges et de réflexion ouverte au public
Un site internet vous permettra, dès septembre, de vous exprimer sur les
thématiques abordées et d’interpeller les intervenants des tables rondes.
Trois tables rondes et les résultats d’un sondage exclusif avec la
participation d’invités exceptionnels et des grands acteurs de la vie juive en France
Premier thème
L’action communautaire est-elle encore compatible
avec la laïcité républicaine ?
Deuxième thème
L’organisation de la communauté : faut-il tout réinventer ?
Troisième thème
Israël et Diaspora : une relation à repenser ? |
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July 02
SPECIAL EDITION
OU IPA Washington Wire July 1, 2009
Orthodox Union Leads the way in First Major Step Toward Energy Efficiency Funding for Faith-Based Organizations
With coverage in the Washington Post and the New York Jewish Week, the OU has taken the lead in securing fair and equal treatment of faith-based nonprofits in the U.S. House of Representatives’ American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.
Faith-Based Coalition Wins In Energy Bill
The Washington Post
After a spirited (pun intended) lobbying effort, a group of faith-based organizations has persuaded House movers and shakers to include religious organizations in the energy bill that passed on Friday.
At the last minute, at the behest of a coalition led by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, House leaders inserted a provision in the bill that would provide subsidies of up to one-half the cost of retrofitting energy systems of faith-based and other nonprofits. It's a testament to the lobbying clout of faith-based groups--although how far that influence will extend into other issues looming in Congress is an open question (more on that later).
On the energy bill, Nathan Diament, director of public policy for the Orthodox Union, said today that his group noticed back in March, when House Democrats first unveiled the bill, that it didn't include anything for nonprofits. His group met with Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman and subcommittee chairman Edward J. Markey - "both of whom were receptive to our perspective" that nonprofit groups should be included.
It put together an influential coalition, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Council of Churches, United Jewish Communities, as well as the Rev. Joel Hunter of megachurch Northland, Jim Ball of the Evangelical Environmental Network and Jim Wallis of Sojourners.
By the time the committee marked up the bill, Waxman had inserted language making nonprofits, including faith-based, eligible under the retrofit subsidy program.
Victory there. Now onto the Senate. The bill in the works there doesn't have an analogous provision. The coalition is working on increasing the subsidy beyond 50 percent since, Diament points out, many nonprofits wouldn't be able to afford pricey energy retrofits even with a 50 percent subsidy.
Now, onto other issues. Health care reform, in which faith-based groups are deeply involved. Several hundred have formed large coalitions to push for universal health-care coverage. They're paying for ad campaigns, organizing pastors' sermons, launching lobbying campaigns, holding candle-light vigils, arguing that ensuring that all should be covered by health insurance is a moral and theological imperative.
Will they be successful on that front? Of course, that's impossible to predict right now. But they're hunting bigger game this time around. The retrofit subsidy is very narrow and affects a particularly slice of civil society. This goal is far more sweeping--and more prone to failure.
The New York Jewish Week
Climate change is a difficult issue to grasp. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that the planet is warming and that the emission of greenhouse gases are a cause, but it’s hard to identify the milestones of these changes in our everyday lives.
Seriously addressing climate change will require sacrifices from all of us, never a popular notion with politicians in our democracy. And there are too many vested interests determined to fight any real attempt to reverse climate change before it is too late.
That’s why last week’s House passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act was such a landmark. The legislation is hardly comprehensive, and passage in the Senate is by no means assured, but it represents the first real attempt by political leaders to deal with the root causes of climate change. Perhaps more importantly, it is an important first step in altering a national mindset that puts today’s economic comfort ahead of the planet’s future.
We are pleased to note that several Jewish groups, led by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) and of Reform Judaism, were active players in the fight for passage. The Orthodox Union played a role in ensuring that religious groups would get a share of the funding for environmental upgrades.
Addressing the crisis in a practical but aggressive fashion is crucial to giving future generations a chance for the security and prosperity we have enjoyed in our lifetimes. It is related to the essential drive for energy independence that will greatly affect Israel’s as well as our own nation’s future. It is a matter of social justice, since the world’s poor are being more adversely affected by the early consequences of climate change. And time is running out, many scientists warn, with the potential costs of inaction reaching genuinely perilous levels.
“We have only been given one world to live in and for too long humanity has not done its part to ‘till and tend’ the earth for future generations,” said JCPA president Rabbi Steve Gutow. “We must do a better job in reducing air pollution, cleaning up rivers and streams, and protecting the wilderness. Congress’ vote to move forward with the climate bill was a good first step.”
We agree.
Here is our original press release:
June 28, 2009
UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS CONGRATULATES HOUSE ON PASSAGE OF HISTORIC CLIMATE CHANGE LEGISLATION;
APPLAUDS APPROPRIATE INCLUSION OF FAITH-BASED PROPERTIES IN RETROFIT SUBSIDIES
Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (the “Orthodox Union”), the nation's largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, congratulated the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the American Clean Energy and Security Act (HR 2454), a multi-billion set of spending and regulatory programs to reduce energy costs, create jobs, and aid the environment, and applauded the inclusion of faith-based properties in the Act's building retrofit program designed to provide subsidies of up to 50% of the cost of retrofitting a building’s energy systems - with funding dependent on the level of demonstrated energy use reduction.
The Orthodox Union is pleased that based on our discussions with Chairman Waxman, Subcommittee Chairman Markey, and other key offices, the legislation includes faith-based and other non-profits in this retrofit program and we applaud Representatives Waxman and Markey for this important provision.
In March, the Committee released a discussion draft of the legislation providing energy retrofits for residential and commercial buildings while neglecting non-profits. The Orthodox Union with the support of key partners from the non-profit sector brought this omission to the attention of Committee staff citing the nearly half a million houses of worship throughout the United States, and specific cases within the Orthodox community, that could benefit from this program. Thanks to our coalition partners in the faith-based community, the bill’s drafters agreed that amending the language would expand the goals of this program by allowing full participation. While many non-profits will still face a cost hurdle with only a 50% subsidy, this new language begins to addresses the concerns of the Orthodox Union and our partners in a very clear way.
Nathan Diament, director of public policy for the Orthodox Union stated:
“We are very pleased that the House of Representatives chose to address the concerns of the Orthodox Union and our coalition partners. If finally enacted, this legislation will provide needed resources to implement energy improvements in our synagogues and schools. From new heating and air conditioning systems to lighting and windows, this legislation will assist our communal institutions to save costs, reduce energy use, and aid the environment. All of this has been proposed and passed in a way completely consistent with Constitutional principles. As the legislation moves to the Senate we will continue to advocate for our community to enhance the program’s level of support for non-profits.”
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Links
IPA Website
IPA Blog
OU Defending Jerusalem Website
Suggestions and Comments
We welcome any suggestions and/or comments you might have regarding this or future issues of the Washington Wire. We encourage you to contact us with any suggestions or comments regarding the Orthodox Union Institute for Public Affairs please contact Ethan Cohen at ecohen@ou.org.
If you know someone who'd like to receive the OU-IPA Washington Wire, please have them register at our registration page, http://ou.org/public/subscribe.htm, where you can also sign up for IPA Action Alerts, the OU's "Shabbat Shalom" weekly email, and receive information regarding other OU programs and projects.
June 19
Grand Reopening . Did you think you would ever see this in your lifetime?
Germany's biggest synagogue, on Rykestrasse in Berlin ,
has reopened after a lavish restoration.
The synagogue was set ablaze on Kristallnacht,or the Night of
Broken Glass, in 1938.
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Friday's inauguration saw rabbis bringing the Torah to the synagogue,
in a ceremony witnessed by political leaders and Holocaust survivors from around the world
The synagogue, with a 1,200-person capacity, has been described
as one of the jewels of Germany's Jewish community.
Rabbi Chaim Roswaski, who presided at the ceremony, described the
reconstruction as 'a miracle.'
Restoration of the neo-classical building,
which is more than 100 years old,cost
more than 45m euros ($60m, 30m).
The re-opening comes at the start of
a Jewish culture Festival in the capital.
June 02
The American Jew: The Future of an Illusion
Saul Goldman
Can the Jewish nation rely upon the American Diaspora as a strategic ally? Will it find a way to strengthen itself and re-orient itself as a Diaspora community or will it further assimilate to the point where American Jews see themselves as merely a religious minority in a new multi-cultural America? Since the 19th century Emancipation, Jews throughout the Diaspora began a cultural/social transformation. Indeed, the very notion of “Diaspora” as opposed to Exile (galut) indicates the manner in which Jews changed the way they see themselves. After the destruction of the Second Commonwealth, Jews saw themselves as defeated and exiled from their land. Galut had a clear political meaning and our liturgy reflected our ambition which was to find our way home and to restore our sovereignty. Perhaps because we were always under gentile scrutiny and our books were censored, the idea of national resurrection was encoded in what would appear, to the censor, a metaphysical notion. Yet, our sages made it clear that our sovereignty, even in exile, existed within the “four cubits” which halacha or Jewish law forged as a polity in exile.
In many respects modern Zionism was merely the translation of these ideas into a 20th century socioeconomic vocabulary. Many Jews, however, chose to opt out of our messianic plan and began to imitate our gentile neighbors by a “spiritualization” of the Biblical program. The more frustrated we became, the more vulnerable we were and the more persecutions we endured, the greater and the more fanciful the image of the hoped for Messiah. In a cultural sense, Judaism morphed from the civilization of the Jewish nation into a religious cult that would eventually find its place in the interfaith community as rabbis became clergy and Jewishness was synonymous with religious observance. After the emergence of Reform Judaism in 19th century Germany under the influence of thinkers like Herman Cohen and Franz Rosenzeig, Jews became Germans or Hungarians or Americans of the “Mosaic persuasion”. Or, that’s what they thought.
About a century ago, Sigmund Freud offered an analysis of religion that would have made a lot of sense to Moses. Indeed, like Moses confronting Aaron’s molten calf, Freud was deeply troubled by the group delusion that passes as socially accepted religious practice. It is the “delusion” that is pertinent to our understanding of political religion. For many individuals attribute to politics the capacity to go far beyond service to the polis; they project onto politics salvation itself. Hence, we often see devotion and belief mixed together as political fervor suppresses reason; especially in those situations where we are confronted by the “cult of personality”. This, of course has its roots in paganism. The Greeks called the process, by which a man becomes a god, apotheosis. It is a combination of the unrestrained hubris of political leaders and the need to believe among the masses. We have seen elements of man-worship in Nazism and in the way many Americans speak Obama’s name with an almost ecstatic intonation. Such fervor toward the new American idol bodes ill for the Jews.
What does it mean to Israel that the Jews of America overwhelmingly supported Obama? More than liberal or conservative fiscal policies, the Obama phenomenon represent what Freud would have called a mass neurosis; a collective suspension of critical thinking based upon history and facts. It tells us that great frustration, anxiety and failure can result in the abandonment of reason. The new generation of American Jews have become like their ancient ancestors approaching Aaron in the midst of the desert. Their leader Moses was away on a lonely mountain and experiencing profound anxiety, they demanded, “make us a god that we may worship (literally enslave ourselves to) him. Erich Fromm would have called this an escape from freedom.
It appears that neither Jewish history nor Jewish philosophy had any effect upon the consciousness of American Jews during the last election. Jews were always skeptical of any messiah. Usually, their skepticism proved to be valid. This is what irritated Christians and Muslims. Implicit in the first statement of the Decalogue was an insight into the ultimate source of freedom; the refusal to worship any other god other than the God who has commanded us to be free. Hence, the Covenant contracted at Sinai was not a document of faith or about “right thinking”. The Torah was about knowing the difference between right and wrongdoing. Rabbi Hiya is said to have summed up the importance of this notion, by quoting God as saying “even if Israel abandons belief in Me, let them keep the Law” (J. Hagigah 1:7). It was that Law as constituted in a dynamic ongoing polemic which preserved Israel for over 30 centuries. It was the law that mitigated between a freedom that would become chaos and an order that could take on the quality of mental oppression.
The Jewish response to Obama seems to be symptomatic of their degree of assimilation. Jews allowed themselves to become mesmerized by his charisma. How else can we explain why the Jews supported him? He campaigned upon the promise of change. Yet, his only credential for facilitating that change was his political inexperience incredulously set forth as a virtue. My assessment is that it was a concession to their desperation. America was once again in a hard place. A six year war against terrorism landed America in the quagmire of Iraq and Afghanistan. The economy collapsed due to the inversion of our basic morality. Narcissistic managers and politicians led the country into financial and political chaos. Against such a foreboding scenario, Jews joined with so many other Americans and rejected reason for hope. They elected an untried and ill-equipped charmer. Beneath this, however, is the deeper problem of the intellectual or mental assimilation of the Jews. Judaism was not faith based ideology; it was performance based. Our social theory was founded upon obligations rather than rights. And now in 21st century America, we have seen the majority of the Jewish community turn on their heels and engage in a desperate attempt to resolve the challenges facing America and the free world in one sweeping act of faith. By doing this, we abandoned our stubborn commitment to equality for a new political program of affirmative action. Actually, Obama extends the “entitlements” not only to Americans but to the Palestinians as well. The two state solution is not based upon a clear headed evaluation that Palestinians have demonstrated their ability to live freely and maintain a cooperative and civil relationship with the Jewish state. It derives from the disproved theory of affirmative action. And because a Palestinian state will be an obvious threat to Israel, one cannot fail to recognize an animus toward the Jewish state.
It is the assimilation of America’s Jewry that challenges a long standing Israeli belief that they need American Jewry as a source of political influence. Further, those institutions that so many Jews tout as “making Jews” like the rabbinate, have actually failed. Over the last three decades, the Jewish population in America has declined by one million people. We have succumbed to intermarriage and assimilation. Yet, Israeli leaders continue to occupy themselves with the myth of the powerful American Jew. At best American Jews have been charitable toward Israeli universities, hospitals and welfare organizations. But, when it came to American foreign policy toward Israel, American Jews were of little value. Although a few American Jews joined Mahal or smuggled arms to Israel in 1948, they failed to change American policy and Truman embargoed arms to Israel. They could not stand up to Eisenhower and Dulles in 1956 or to persuade Johnson to be more than “neutral in thought and action” in 1967. Indeed, the successive IDF victories in the field were always undermined by American insistence that we return our gains in exchange for meaningless peace initiatives. American Jews were impotent while the St. Louis was ordered back to Europe in 1939. American Jewry was afraid to challenge the US Government while Jonathan Pollard was prosecuted (actually persecuted) on charges of espionage. While Pollard did spy for Israel those who spied for the Soviets, North Korea and China were generally given much lighter sentences. Pollard’s cruel punishment was a warning to American Jews about dual loyalty and American Jewish leaders just rolled over.
Assimilation is not simply a response to anti-Semitism by hiding behind some cultural camouflage. Assimilation is a mental process beginning in the way we understand or perceive our reality. Basically it is the result of hundreds of years of Enlightenment in which Jews were variously accepted and rejected. The French parliamentarian Clermont-Tonnere addressed the transition of the Jew from the ghetto to the citizen when he offered: “to the Jew as an individual everything; to the Jews as a nation nothing”. As the ghetto walls were broken down so was the collective consciousness of the Jew. Freud treated many patients whose symptoms were the result this collision between Jewishness and assimilation. John Murray Cuddihy described psychoanalysis in its 20th century social context. The Id relentlessly attempting to break through into consciousness was a metaphor for the Yid being repressed so that the Jew can be accepted and enjoy upward mobility. Of course, Freud was adamant that in the end the price one pays for this repression is much too high. It is illness on the one hand and homelessness on the other. The only individual the assimilated Jew fooled was himself; certainly, as the German experience revealed, his Gentile neighbors knew who he was.
Today’s generation of Jewish leaders was educated in duality. I remember how Louis Finklestein, the chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary used to speak about being a Jew at home and a gentleman on the street. Our identity was hyphenated traumatically. Hence, we were American-Jews or Jewish-Americans. Generations of Jews were educated by Reform and Conservative rabbis who were anti-Zionist or disciples of Buber who promoted an eviscerated cultural Zionism.
In our pluralistic society in which diversity seems to be a norm Jews have redefined themselves as a religious group and that clearly distinguishes them from Israelis and Judaism from Zionism. Anti-Semites, then, are free to attack the Zionist state while embracing Jews. Indeed, apparently devout Jews can weigh in every time an Israeli soldier whacks a terrorist because they like their Gentile compatriots see the human rights violation. The attack on Zionism, however, is an attack upon the core value of Judaism and the very authenticity of the Biblical eschatology. Commenting upon that vision of the end of days, in a discussion recorded in the Talmudic tractate of Sanhedrin, the sages agreed that we shall know that the Messiah has arrived when Israel is sovereign. So in a subtle but not entirely unconscious manner Christian ideologues continue to promote those circumstances which would undermine Jewish sovereignty. The Pope’s call for a two state solution is one illustration of the strategy to accept Jews as stateless as opposed to Israelis or Jews as sovereign. In other words, the Pope’s vision calls for nothing more than tolerance which clearly implies dependency. Various Popes were tolerant toward the Jews. They were of course succeeded by Popes who initiated pogroms or boycotts of Jewish businesses.
Thomas Friedman once described Israel as a shtetl with an Air Force. His sad but insightful commentary speaks to the essential failure of Zionism to spiritually transform the Jew. This has clearly distorted our self image. While Israel is not a super power, neither is she a weakling. But, we do project a dependency that frightens us and emboldens our enemies. More importantly, we look toward any American Administration, as the medieval shtadlan would look at the local baron, trying to curry favor. No one else in the world behaves that way. Not even Hugo Chavez the dictator of a banana republic! We re-enforce the American attitude that they can dictate policy because the Americans know that we perceive ourselves as weak. Hence, Obama’s policies in the Middle East are based upon human rights theory and Christian/Islamic tolerance which is radically different than equality. Equality is the legal recognition not only of Israel’s right to exist but of her right to pursue her manifest destiny in a peaceful manner and to resolve her conflicts with hostile neighbors using the same methods that all nations employ aimed at achieving a victory that would dictate a peaceful co-existence.
Our invitation to citizenship in the western world was contingent upon abandoning our national vision. Many of the Jews supporting Obama, share the view that a two state solution is good because they are more concerned about abused Palestinians than murdered Israelis. They have become a caricature of moral leadership in such organizations as Rabbis for Human Rights and B’Tzelem, seeking only to chastise Israel. Many of these individuals are rather myopic in their self-anointed prophetic roles. They have forgotten that men like Isaiah, Hosea or Jeremiah not only criticized Israel, they also comforted and encouraged the nation in its darkest hours. Perhaps, someday we will have an adequate understanding of what drives them. Perhaps, Bruno Bettleheim’s theory of “identification with the aggressor” will enhance our understanding of Jews who would undermine Israel’s resolve, encourage desertion by IDF soldiers and proclaim that the Obama administration must mete out to Israel a dose of “tough love”.
Our task as Israelis is to regain perspective. Independence which is the political expression of liberty derives, as John Stuart Mill recognized, from our mental freedom. It is such an insight that prompted Moses to offer the Law to the nation in the desert. This delicate balance between order and chaos maintained Israel throughout its history, enabling Israel to overcome such antinomian threats as Shabbtai Zevi and the more recent incursion of eastern mysticism in the form of “new age” Judaism. Once we regain our orientation, our moral balance so to speak, we can function as a leader in the world and especially as a leader for world Jewry. If the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs is to serve its true purpose, it must approach world Jewry confident in the Zionist interpretation of history. But, like Moses, we must consider by-passing those Jews who have succumbed mentally to their own form of bondage. We must seek new “shlichim” in America and arm them with a new curriculum.
Saul Goldman
May 28
SPECIAL EDITION
OU IPA Washington Wire MAY 28, 2009
Two ‘State’ Challenges
Published yesterday in the Jewish Daily Forward was the following Op/Ed piece written by Orthodox Union public policy director, Nathan J. Diament:
Two ‘State’ Challenges
In the weeks leading up to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s White House meetings with President Obama, the American Jewish community vigorously debated whether to support a “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Groups on the left called for Obama to press the Israeli prime minister to openly state his acceptance of the “two-state solution,” while groups on the right urged Netanyahu to resist any presidential arm-twisting.
In the leaders’ Oval Office press conference, Netanyahu threaded the needle on this issue by stating: “I want to make it clear that we don’t want to govern the Palestinians. We want to live in peace with them. We want them to govern themselves, absent a handful of powers that could endanger the State of Israel… my view is less one of terminology, but one of substance.”
With this statement, Netanyahu made explicit what so many, on the political left and right, have elided or assumed for many years. The term “state,” in the context of international law and diplomacy, has a specific meaning of sovereignty and autonomy. A state gets to run its own affairs internally — from taxation to traffic regulation to electing its own leaders. A state also gets to raise an army and acquire weapons from abroad. In short, a Palestinian state, if possessing all the attributes of sovereignty, threatens the daily lives of Israelis.
The prime minister’s position highlights that people are throwing around the term “two-state solution” rather cavalierly. Netanyahu has thus “called the question” — for the Obama administration certainly, but also for the American Jewish community, particularly those at our political poles.
There are those on the Jewish right who, for religious or ideological reasons, do not believe a single square inch of what was historically biblical Israel ought to be relinquished to the Palestinians under any conditions. Netanyahu’s argument does not challenge their views.
Many on the Jewish right (and in the center), however, do not oppose — in principle — the creation of a Palestinian state in portions of Judea and Samaria, but they do believe that an autonomous Palestinian state will imperil Israel’s security and the lives of her citizens, especially if established anytime soon.
Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, as we well know, resulted in it becoming a launching pad for terrorist rockets aimed at innocent Israelis. One cannot accuse those who do not wish to see rockets similarly rain down from the Judean hills onto Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as being “anti-peace.” Those rightly concerned over such a sequel to the Gaza experience can reasonably demand more than mere assurances, but rather a track record demonstrating Palestinian will and ability to ensure Israel’s security.
But while those on the center- right might need to more explicitly enunciate their opposition to the “two-state solution,” in these temporal terms, the stronger challenge seems to be to those on the Jewish left — especially in the United States.
For it was the self-styled “pro-peace” organizations and pundits that pilloried the prime minister for his refusal to verbally embrace “the two-state solution.” But now they must explain: By their definition, when they urge this solution and insist the Obama administration press for it, do they dissent from the view that the Palestinian state be demilitarized and lack other sovereign powers?
Even Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, who supports a two-state solution, accepted this logic at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee meeting a few weeks ago, when he said: “Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon, only to face Hezbollah missiles. Israel withdrew from Gaza, only to face Hamas rockets. The Israelis are not about to let the same thing happen in the West Bank, and nor should they.”
If those of the Jewish left cannot concur on this, that begs the question: What kind of peace are they interested in for Israel?
But if, as I hope, they do agree that a “two-state solution” must not mean its literal definition, then we have stumbled onto a significant opportunity for unity in the American Jewish community. For while there will still be disagreements over critical details, the “pro-peace-process” left can join with the skeptical center-right in a clear message of unified support for a substantive result and, moreover, support the current prime minister of Israel’s stated goal of assuring that any result from negotiations guarantees Israel’s security, peace and Jewish character.
As Obama noted in his Oval Office statement, Israel is currently “confronted with as many important decisions about the [state’s] long-term strategic interests… as any… that we’ve seen in a very long time.” American Jewry must rally to a common message and common purpose to support Israel so that the Jewish homeland will make wise decisions and endure.
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May 24
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SPECIAL PRESENTATION MOTZI SHABBOS - MAY 23, 2009:
Does God Exist? How Science Reveals the Ultimate Truth
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Nuclear physicist and professor Dr. Gerald Schroeder continues his live interactive dialog on the harmony between Bible and Science and shows how science reveals the ultimate truth behind one of the most obvious perceived contradictions between Torah and science -- the age of the universe -- six days or 15 billion years. If you missed our last presentation, you can watch it by linking here (takes a moment to load). |
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Dr. Gerald Schroeder is a scientist with over thirty years of experience in research and teaching. He earned his Doctorate at MIT, before moving to Israel, where he joined the Weizmann Institute of Science and Volcani Research Institute at Hebrew University. His formal theological training includes fifteen years of study under the late Rabbi Herman Pollack, Rabbi Chaim Brovender and Rabbi Noah Weinberg.
You are invited to join us LIVE in Torah Chat on Saturday, May 23 at Midnight EST (Eastern Standard Time). |
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2:00 pm EST, "Parashat haShavuah," Toronto's Rabbi Elirok discusses weekly chapters in the Chumash, in both hebrew and English, explained according to Rashi and other rabbinic sources, in the Jewish Home Room. 1 hour.
7:00 pm EST, [NEW CLASS!] "The Tanya: Psychology of the Soul," Rabbi Shmuel Shmueli's ongoing discourse on human dilemmas and the psychology of the soul through Kabbalistic eyes, in the Torah Chat Room. 1 hour.
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9:00 pm EST, "Introduction to Chassidic Study," Rabbi Phil Cohen's presentation of Tzava'as Harivash, an enlightening anthology of teachings and instructions attributed to the Baal Shem Tov and his successor, R. Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezhrich, supplemented with inspiring Hasidic stories, heritage, humor and niggunim, in the Torah Chat Room. 1 hour.
9:00 pm EST, "Modern Hebrew for Beginners," Starting from scratch and assuming no prior knowledge of the Hebrew language, Professor Uri Yosef teaches an "open-ended" course introducing the basic building blocks of Modern Hebrew and then applying these to develop phonetic reading skills of Hebrew text with vowel points, in the Jewish Home Room. 1 hour.
10:00 pm EST, "The New Jewish Wake-Up Call," Veteran broadcaster Jeff Osias's live Torah-based discussion covering many provocative subjects generally left unsaid, yet affecting us all. We aim to expand the envelope of consciousness to combine our Neshumas; only Hashem knows the inroads before us, in Torah Chat Room. 2 hours.
Midnight EST, "The Tamar Yonah Show," broadcasting live from our Virtual Studio on Arutz-7: Israel National Radio, Tamar Yonah features exciting interviews with some of the most dramatic and interesting people on the Israeli scene, in the Virtual Studio. 1 hour.
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2:00 pm EST, "Parashat haShavuah," Toronto's Rabbi Elirok discusses weekly chapters in the Chumash, in both hebrew and English, explained according to Rashi and other rabbinic sources, in the Jewish Home Room. 1 hour.
3:00 PM EST, "Tovia and Tamar Show," broadcasting live from our Virtual Studio on Arutz-7: Israel National Radio, featuring topics ranging from politics to religion with Rabbi Tovia Singer and Senior News Correspondent for Israel National Radio, Tamar Yonah in the Virtual Studio. 1 hour.
3:00 PM EST, "Tovia Singer Show," broadcasting live from our Virtual Studio on Arutz-7: Israel National Radio, Rabbi Tovia Singer features evocative guests on topics ranging from politics to religion, while focusing on truth and balance in the media, in the Virtual Studio. 1 hour.
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7:00 pm EST, "Kitzur Shulchan Aruch," Rabbi Ben-Tzion Saloff's Teaching and Discussion of the "condensed" Code of Jewish Law, deduced from the Talmud or decided according to Talmudic principles, in the Torah Chat Room. 1 hour.
8:00 pm EST, "The Laws and Customs of Judaism" HaRav Michoel Seligson leads an interactive teaching and discussion of Jewish halacha and minhag, with special emphasis on Jewish Holy Days. Appropriate for talmedi chachomim and beginners as well, in the Torah Chat Room. 1 hour.
9:00 pm EST, "Stories of the Rebbe," A student of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Gil Hirsch has provided Chabad social work and kiruv for over 35 years. Having many private audiences with the Rebbe, he relates his personal stories and insights, in the Torah Chat Room. 1 hour.
9:00 pm EST, "Service from the Heart," a weekly discussion for Noahides using the rabbically-sanctioned Siddur on biblical prayer and service for Noachides of the world with Rabbi and Rebbitzn Dov Yitzchak, in the Noah Chat. Room. 2 hours.
10:00 pm EST, "Jewish Thought: The Calm and The Storm," Rabbi Benjamin Hecht shares his insights and perspectives in the fields of Torah law and ethics and their interaction with the world political scene and the human condition, using stories and uplifting examples that will inspire those who are - or are not - already living a life of Torah to refresh their commitment, in the Torah Chat Room. 1 hour.
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2:00 pm EST, "Parashat haShavuah," Toronto's Rabbi Elirok discusses weekly chapters in the Chumash, in both hebrew and English, explained according to Rashi and other rabbinic sources, in the Jewish Home Room. 1 hourh.
3:00 pm EST, [NEW CLASS!] "Shir HaShirim: The Song of Songs," Rabbi David Katz's interpretation of the timeless allegory of the relationship between HaShem and the People of Israel, in terms of the love between a man and a woman, based on the commentary and works of the Vilna Gaon, in the Jewish Home Room. 1 hour.
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5:00 PM EST, [NEW CLASS!] "Proverbs and Providence, Mishlei and Mysticism: A Kabbalistic Look at Life," Rabbi Yaakov Spivak illustrates the depths implied by the words of Solomon, instilling the mystical light of Sefirot with metaphorical insights of Mishlei, through the use of Pshat, Remez, Drash and Sod, in the Torah Chat Room. 2 hours.
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May 18
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Getting to the "Ruth" of the Matter
Tomorrow Night - 7pm | |
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Free Shiur!!!
Rabbi Daniel Rapp on Megillath Ruth
This Tuesday Night at Cong. Adereth El
Looking for new insights the Shavuot? Join OU Singles Connection for a pre-Sahvuot shiur.
Rabbi Rapp is the Assistant Dean of YU's Stone Beit Midrash Program and his intelligent and humorous personality makes anything an exciting subject.
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Event Info
Congregation Adereth El
133 E. 29th Street
New York, NY 10016
May 19, 2009
7:00PM | |
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May 12
SPECIAL EDITION
OU IPA Washington Wire MAY 12, 2009
ORTHODOX UNION APPLAUDS PRESIDENT OBAMA PROPOSAL OF $15 MILLION TO FUND SECURITY GRANT PROGRAM
Protecting Synagogues, Jewish Day Schools, and More
Yesterday, the Orthodox Union (“OU”) commended President Obama for including $15 million to fund the Urban Area Security Initiative Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) in his fiscal year 2010 budget to Congress.
At the behest of the OU and other community organizations, Congress established in 2005 the grant program in recognition that segments of the nonprofit sector are at risk of terrorist attacks including synagogues, Jewish day schools, community centers, and other institutions that attract large civilian populations.
Since its inception, the program has provided millions of dollars, through modest grants, to assist nonprofits considered by the Secretary of Homeland Security to be at risk and vulnerable to terrorist attack. The grants are used by these community organizations to improve their physical security, including by the acquisition and installation of perimeter fencing and lighting; video surveillance; reinforced or blast resistant doors, locks, and windows; gates and bollards, and related enhancements.
To make certain that this security grant funding is available to all those institutions that need it, every year the OU's Institute for Public Affairs (IPA) posts the necessary information for each eligible institution to determine their state’s specific requirements.
This information identifies grant websites, offers grant guidance and information kits, provides links to the grant applications themselves, and provides a contact name and number for each state’s administrative agency that is responsible for receiving the grant applications and submitting them to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
As the NSGP is now an integral part of the nation's homeland security preparedness planning, integrating nonprofit preparedness activities with broader state and local preparedness efforts, President Obama’s request will only serve to strengthen the bi-partisan effort already underway in Congress to fund the NSGP in FY2010.
Please feel free to contact us at the IPA at 202-513-6484 for more information regarding NSGP funding for your synagogue or school.
Links
IPA Website
IPA Blog
OU Defending Jerusalem Website
Suggestions and Comments
We welcome any suggestions and/or comments you might have regarding this or future issues of the Washington Wire. We encourage you to contact us with any suggestions or comments regarding the Orthodox Union Institute for Public Affairs please contact Ethan Cohen at ecohen@ou.org.
If you know someone who'd like to receive the OU-IPA Washington Wire, please have them register at our registration page, http://ou.org/public/subscribe.htm, where you can also sign up for IPA Action Alerts, the OU's "Shabbat Shalom" weekly email, and receive information regarding other OU programs and projects.
[This email is comprised of excerpts from cited news articles and does not necessarily represent the views, opinions, or positions of the Institute for Public Affairs, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, its affiliates or its employees.]
May 07
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"Frum Satire's" Heshy Fried @ Ramath Orah!!
7 PM, Thursday, May 14 | |
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Where & When
Date: May 14, 2009
Time: 7 PM Doors Open
Location: 550 W 110th Street, Manhattan
Cost: $10 | | |
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Comedy Night with Heshy Fried!
Enjoy reading the Frum Satire blog and the latest developments in "Frum" comedy? Always wished you could see him live and in-person? Now is your chance!
World-famous Heshy Fried - www.frumsatire.net
"Heshy Fried takes humorous situations and idiosyncrasies inherent with living an observant lifestyle and rants about them in both a highly animated and humorous manner. I would describe him sort of as the 'Frum Dennis Miller.'"
- Baltimore Jewish Times
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Getting to the "Ruth" of the Matter |
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Where & When
Date: May 19, 2009
Time: 7 PM
Location: Adereth El
Congregation
133 East 29th Street
New York, NY 10016 | | |
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Novel Insights into Megillath Ruth
Special Lecture on Megillath Ruth by
Rabbi Daniel Rapp
Assistant Dean of Yeshiva University's Stone Beit Midrash Program
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No RSVP is required for these events and they are open to all singles. For more information, please call 212-613-8300 or visit http://www.ou.org/
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