tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-215197322024-03-18T20:56:43.421-04:00Unorthodox-Jew A Critical View of Orthodox JudaismPaul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.comBlogger3287125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-64752704631493321812024-03-18T03:00:00.001-04:002024-03-18T03:00:00.133-04:00 Haredi life has largely continued as usual, untouched by the war and its toll. Yeshiva students have even been photographed enjoying ski vacations abroad while their same-age peers are on the battlefield. 66,000 military-age Haredi men received exemptions; just 540 had enlisted since the war began. Put another way, more Arab Israelis serve in the Israel Defense Forces than ultra-Orthodox Jews. <p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6bgo0BOnbI4KvnhWVOZhkw3MEWE0id29-yFmvSb0ZW_6CJXTuppui5XuHONq5-CXzEoLe_qfcKdM4kfscZeYChL9L9PMsY-GR98qqkyPrwgRLSpq0lpVR3QL5jvjVMTO_tRpoA_50_JoqYadBrAgLLGM86kWxB6FWW0T7bXmGpnkwa8rSj-VVSw/s768/bums.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="768" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6bgo0BOnbI4KvnhWVOZhkw3MEWE0id29-yFmvSb0ZW_6CJXTuppui5XuHONq5-CXzEoLe_qfcKdM4kfscZeYChL9L9PMsY-GR98qqkyPrwgRLSpq0lpVR3QL5jvjVMTO_tRpoA_50_JoqYadBrAgLLGM86kWxB6FWW0T7bXmGpnkwa8rSj-VVSw/w400-h225/bums.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: red;"><u><span style="font-size: medium;">More Arab
Israelis serve in the Israel Defense Forces than ultra-Orthodox Jews.</span></u></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div class="ydpb1845edaviewsInfo ydpb1845edagradientBackground" data-setdir="false" dir="ltr"><div class="ydpb1845edaviewsHeader" data-test-id="views-title"><h1 class="ydpb1845edaviewsHeaderText">The Earthquake That Could Shatter Netanyahu’s Coalition</h1><div><br /></div></div> <div><p data-t="{n:blueLinks}"><span class="ydpbdbe40e5dropcap-element-slot">T</span>he most controversial Israeli <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@israel_bidur/video/7335574319046610183" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">comedy sketch</a> of the current war is just 88 seconds long. Aired in February on <i>Eretz Nehederet</i>, Israel’s equivalent of <i>Saturday Night Live</i>,
it opens with two ashen-faced officers knocking on the door of a
nondescript apartment, ready to deliver devastating news to the
inhabitants. The officers are greeted by an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man
who is similarly stricken when he sees them.</p><div class="ydpbdbe40e5intra-article-module" data-t="{n:intraArticle,t:13}"></div><p data-t="{n:blueLinks}">“I’ve
been terrified of this knock,” he says. “Ever since the war began, I
knew it would eventually come for me.” But before the pained officers
can continue, he interjects: “Listen, there is no situation in which I
will enlist—forget about it.”</p><p class="ydpbdbe40e5continue-read-break" data-t="{n:blueLinks}">It
turns out that the officers have the wrong address. This is not the
home of a fallen soldier, but of one of the many thousands of
ultra-Orthodox Jews who do not serve in Israel’s army, thanks to a
special exemption. As the officers depart to find the right family, the
man calls after them, “Tell them that we prayed for him! We did
everything we could.”</p><p data-t="{n:blueLinks}">The gag struck a nerve. Channel 14, Israel’s pro-Netanyahu equivalent of Fox News, ran <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTWRAWrK2Hs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">multiple</a> <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4Q63sqGqP4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">segments</a> denouncing the satire. Commentators for right-wing <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.maariv.co.il/culture/tv/Article-1076362" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">media</a> <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.makorrishon.co.il/culture/734511/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">outlets</a>
called it “incitement,” a term typically applied to pro-terrorist
speech in Israeli discourse. Why did a short sketch warrant such an
overwhelming response? Because it took aim at the most vulnerable
pressure point of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition—one with the potential
to cause the current government’s collapse.</p></div><span>Since Israel was founded in 1948, it has fielded a citizens’ army with
mandatory Jewish conscription—and one very notable exception:
Ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, yeshiva students do not serve. This
dispensation dates back to David Ben-Gurion, the country’s first prime
minister. A secular Jewish socialist, he saw Israel’s ultra-Orthodox as
the dying remnant of an old world, and when the community’s leadership
requested an exemption from the draft, Ben-Gurion calculated that it was
a small price to pay for their support. At the time, the ultra-Orthodox
constituted about 1 percent of Israel’s population, and the exemption
applied to just 400 young men in religious seminaries</span></div><div><p data-t="{n:blueLinks}"><i>[<a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/09/ultra-orthodox-jewish-art-boom/620116/?utm_source=msn" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Read: The unorthodox of an ultra-Orthodox community</a>]</i></p><p data-t="{n:blueLinks}">That
was then. Today the Haredi community numbers some 1.2 million, more
than 13 percent of Israel’s total population. And because this community
has the <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/haredim-are-fastest-growing-population-will-be-16-of-israelis-by-decades-end/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">highest birth rate</a>
in the country, its ranks will only swell. In other words, the
fastest-growing group in Israeli society does not serve in its armed
forces. Since October 7, the divide has been thrown into stark relief.
After Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped hundreds more, the
country initiated one of the largest mobilizations in its history.
Children and spouses departed their families for the front, leaving fear
and uncertainty in their absence. Nearly 250 soldiers have since been
killed, and thousands more injured. Many Israelis spend their evenings
at home fretting about that ominous knock on the door.</p><div class="ydpd311d0ceintra-article-module" data-t="{n:intraArticle,t:13}"></div><div data-t="{n:blueLinks}">Meanwhile, Haredi life has largely continued as usual, untouched by the war and its toll. Yeshiva students have even been <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://rotter.net/forum/scoops1/840031.shtml" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">photographed</a>
enjoying ski vacations abroad while their same-age peers are on the
battlefield. Some ultra-Orthodox individuals do voluntarily serve in the
army, and others act as first responders, but their numbers are small
enough to be a rounding error. In February, a record-high <b>66,000
military-age Haredi men <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/in-record-high-66000-haredim-received-exemption-from-military-service-in-past-year/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">received exemptions</a>;
just 540 had enlisted since the war began. </b></div><div data-t="{n:blueLinks}"><b> </b></div><div data-t="{n:blueLinks}"><b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Put another way, more Arab
Israelis serve in the Israel Defense Forces than ultra-Orthodox Jews.</span></u></b></div><div data-setdir="false" data-t="{n:blueLinks}" dir="ltr"><div><p data-t="{n:blueLinks}">The Haredi carve-out has long <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/hundreds-gather-in-preperation-for-suckers-protest-march/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">rankled</a>
Israel’s secular citizens. Yair Lapid, the center-left opposition
leader and past prime minister, rose to prominence in 2012 on a campaign
that promised “equality of the burden.” Before him, the right-wing
politician Avigdor Lieberman built his secular Russian constituency on a
similar pledge. But what has changed since October 7 is that this
discontent is no longer emanating solely from the usual suspects, such
as the left-wing <i>Eretz Nehederet</i>, but from supporters of the current governing coalition, including the more modern religious right.</p><div class="ydp19d8da7aintra-article-module" data-t="{n:intraArticle,t:13}"></div><b>Unlike
the ultra-Orthodox, Israel’s religious Zionist community is fully
integrated into the country’s army and economy. Sympathetic to Haredi
piety, it has typically sat out the debates over conscription—but no
longer. In early January, a religious Zionist educator from Jerusalem
published an “<a class="ydp9994e87aenhancr_card_1129190176" data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfT7lDYfGJTKmTysGESMB6-Y-iHHxTU4FmSjFSprLkdzBzyYQ/viewform" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Open Letter to Our Haredi Sisters</a>.”
In it, she implored ultra-Orthodox mothers to encourage their sons to
enlist in the IDF. “This reality is no longer tolerable,” she wrote.
“For those who think that their son is not suited for military service,
we say: Many of our children are not suited to be soldiers. None of them
are suited to die in war. None of us are suited to sending a child to
risk his life. We all do this because it is impossible to live here
without an army … and we are all responsible for one another: it cannot
be that others will take risks and risk their children for me, and I and
my children will not take risks for them.” </b></div><div><b> </b></div><div><b>The letter now has nearly
1,000 signatures</b></div><div><b> </b></div><div>The grassroots
pressure on this issue from the non-Haredi religious community has risen
to the point that Bezalel Smotrich, the ultra-nationalist politician
and finance minister who has courted Haredi votes, joined the
anti-exemption campaign, at least rhetorically. “The current situation
is outrageous and cannot continue,” he <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/smotrich-joins-calls-for-haredim-to-enlist-the-current-situation-is-outrageous-and-cannot-continue/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">said</a>
last month. “Israeli society’s claim against the [Haredi] community is
just.” But this demand may be one that Netanyahu cannot satisfy.</div><div> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr">Much has been <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/12/israel-election-bibi-netanyahu-ben-gvir/672572/?utm_source=msn" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">written</a>
about Netanyahu’s dependence on the Israeli far right to remain in
power. But the backbone of his coalition for many years has actually
been the ultra-Orthodox political parties. They stuck with the premier
after he was indicted on corruption charges, and they refused to defect
to the opposition even after Netanyahu failed to form a government
following successive <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-election-cycle-2022-10-30/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">stalemate elections</a>.
Today, the far right provides 14 of Netanyahu’s 64 coalition seats; the
Haredi parties provide 18.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr"> The Israeli leader has richly rewarded this
loyalty by ensuring an ever-growing flow of public subsidies to
ultra-Orthodox voters and their religious institutions. Because Haredi
men can maintain their military exemption only by remaining in
seminaries until age 26, they rarely enter the workforce until late in
life and lack the secular education to succeed in it. As a result,
nearly half of the ultra-Orthodox community lives in poverty and relies
on government welfare—an unsustainable economic course that is another
perennial source of Israeli <div>angst.<div class="ydp3a906123intra-article-module" data-t="{n:intraArticle,t:13}"></div><p data-t="{n:blueLinks}">The
Israeli public—and especially the Israeli right—was previously willing
to look the other way on Haredi enlistment to advance other political
priorities. But now, in a time of perceived existential conflict, Haredi
enlistment has become a prime concern. Israel faces war with Iranian
proxies—Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north—and it needs more
soldiers, not more people who can’t be drafted. To cope, the country has
<a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-785696" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">extended</a>
reserve duty for current enlistees, further underscoring the disparity
between their experience and that of the ultra-Orthodox. A long-standing
fault line in Israeli society has now produced an earthquake.</p><p data-t="{n:blueLinks}"><a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://en.idi.org.il/articles/53305" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Recent</a> <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://twitter.com/UriKeidar/status/1766124633118347676?t=BP5dkeM6NtIemkKwzKbYRg&s=19" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">polls</a>
show that Israeli Jews—including majorities on the political right and
center right—now overwhelmingly oppose blanket Haredi exemptions. A
February survey <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://twitter.com/UriKeidar/status/1766124633118347676?t=BP5dkeM6NtIemkKwzKbYRg&s=19" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">found</a> that an astonishing 73 percent were against exemptions—up 11 points from November. A poll released this week similarly <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/lawmakers-kick-off-knesset-debate-on-contentious-amended-2024-budget/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">found</a>
that 73 percent of Israeli Jews, including a majority of people who
voted for the Netanyahu government, oppose the billion-shekel subsidies
to Haredi institutions that are included in the government’s current
budget proposal.</p></div><div><p data-t="{n:blueLinks}">Unfortunately for
Netanyahu, he’s running out of time to solve this problem, and his usual
stalling tactics may not suffice. That’s because not just the Israeli
public but the Israeli Supreme Court has put the issue on the agenda.
Back in 1998, the high court ruled that the ultra-Orthodox exemption
violated the principle of equality under the law, and ordered the
Parliament to legislate a fairer arrangement to replace the existing
regime. Since then, successive Israeli governments have <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://en.idi.org.il/articles/53301" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">tried and failed</a>
to craft such a solution, constantly kicking the can down the road.
Months before the war, the current government set a March 31 deadline
for passing its own legislation to resolve the Haredi-draft issue. This
was widely expected to be yet another exercise in equivocation, leaving
most of the ultra-Orthodox exempt so as to keep the coalition together,
and likely setting up another showdown with the Supreme Court. In other
words, more of the same.</p><div class="ydpc3698208intra-article-module" data-t="{n:intraArticle,t:13}"></div><p data-t="{n:blueLinks}">But
more of the same is no longer enough after October 7. With the public
incensed at what many see as Haredi privilege, Netanyahu is facing
revolt within his ranks. Most notably, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has
publicly <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/gallant-say-no-haredi-draft-bill-without-centrist-support-risking-coalition-crisis" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">called</a>
for an end to the exemptions and said he will not support any
legislation on the matter that is not also approved by Benny Gantz, a
centrist opposition lawmaker and rival to Netanyahu who sits in the
country’s war cabinet. But any Haredi-draft bill that satisfies <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/ahead-of-budget-vote-gantz-urges-government-to-conscript-ultra-orthodox/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gantz</a>
and Gallant is unlikely to satisfy the Haredi parties, who perceive
enlistment as a threat to their cloistered way of life. And if no new
legislation is passed, the IDF will be required to begin drafting the
ultra-Orthodox on April 1.</p></div><div><p data-t="{n:blueLinks}">As this deadline
approaches, tensions have exploded into the open. This past week,
Yitzhak Yosef, the Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel, <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/chief-sephardic-rabbi-says-ultra-orthodox-will-bolt-country-if-forced-into-army/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">declared</a> that “if you force us to go to the army, we’ll all move abroad.” The ultimatum drew <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/lapid-if-haredim-go-abroad-theyll-find-they-have-to-work-for-a-living" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">widespread</a> <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-791115" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">condemnation</a>, even <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/a-disgrace-and-insult-to-idf-soldiers-lawmakers-respond-angrily-to-chief-rabbis-threat/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">from within</a>
the hard-right government. “Drafting to the military: A good deed!”
retorted Smotrich’s party. “Army service is a huge privilege for a Jew
who defends himself in his country and a great deed,” added the
far-right faction of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. It’s
not clear that these worldviews can be reconciled, and the failure to
bridge them could bring down the government.</p><div class="ydp6540b2d5intra-article-module" data-t="{n:intraArticle,t:13}"></div><div data-t="{n:blueLinks}">Polls show that the overwhelming majority of Israelis <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://13tv.co.il/item/news/politics/politics/new-poll-903840583/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">want</a> Netanyahu to resign, either now or after the war; that most Israelis <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://en.idi.org.il/articles/52742" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">want</a> early elections; and that the current hard-right coalition would be <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/new-poll-shows-anti-netanyahu-bloc-with-74-seats-smotrichs-religious-zionism-still-out/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">crushed</a> if those elections were held tomorrow. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, surely aware of those surveys, <a data-t="{n:destination,t:13,b:1,c.t:7}" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/video/full-speech-sen-schumer-calls-for-new-elections-in-israel-206515781819" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">called</a>
yesterday for Israel to go to the polls to choose new leadership. The
problem for the Israeli public is that no external mechanism forces
Netanyahu to hold new elections, and the terrible polls for his
coalition give its members every incentive to swallow their differences
and keep the government afloat rather than face voters. Haredi
conscription is perhaps the one issue that could shatter this cynical
compact.</div><div data-t="{n:blueLinks}"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" data-t="{n:blueLinks}" dir="ltr"><span>It’s never wise to bet against Netanyahu, Israel’s ultimate survivor. He
will pursue every possible avenue to paper over this problem. But if he
fails, his ultra-Orthodox allies could be compelled to leave the
coalition, breaking it from within to force elections and freeze the
status quo until a new government is sworn in. And if that happens,
Israel’s other civil war may claim its first casualty: Netanyahu’s
political career.</span><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><a class="ydp9994e87aenhancr_card_1236553679" href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-earthquake-that-could-shatter-netanyahu-s-coalition/ar-BB1jWHVD?ocid=socialshare" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MSN</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-70547178640414476132024-03-17T03:00:00.001-04:002024-03-17T03:00:00.252-04:00 “Those who were killed because they are Jews — they sit in the first row before God.” Man With Funny Hat Becomes Ticket Broker for God's Theatre! Nosebleed Seats Reserved For All Secular Jews!<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zSsYIP-oVjiseaNXg3jCMTHlpqHVShL_YjUr8LZEsZ4lThFz8l4opeHgpr2Fv1NaAoUq_lit6_lujXrqk7VDbFWfoe1btIn-JWd8obzeA3zF8DtpKr3lOhcH2foz6s1y5Xd0drIxGpyOZXkC1ksANeIdE4wtbNSNAd4FeW5OMFCVqJ1BQ44WVg/s583/NOSEBLEED.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="583" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zSsYIP-oVjiseaNXg3jCMTHlpqHVShL_YjUr8LZEsZ4lThFz8l4opeHgpr2Fv1NaAoUq_lit6_lujXrqk7VDbFWfoe1btIn-JWd8obzeA3zF8DtpKr3lOhcH2foz6s1y5Xd0drIxGpyOZXkC1ksANeIdE4wtbNSNAd4FeW5OMFCVqJ1BQ44WVg/w400-h390/NOSEBLEED.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red;">“Those who were killed because they are Jews — they sit in the first row
before God.” - Not Haredi - Section 9 Rear</span><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><h1 class="headline">God's Ticket Agent claims his threat of Haredi exodus in case of army draft was ‘distorted’</h1><h1 class="headline"> </h1>
<h2 class="underline">Yitzhak Yosef <i>does not walk back comments,</i> but says he never meant to offend bereaved families</h2><h2 class="underline"><br /></h2>
<div class="media"><a data-featherlight="image" href="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2024/03/F231025CG308.jpg" rel="lightbox"><img alt="Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef attends a prayer for the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Rachel's Tomb, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, October 25, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="250" src="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2024/03/F231025CG308-640x400.jpg" title="Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef attends a prayer for the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Rachel's Tomb, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, October 25, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)" width="400" /></a><div class="caption">Sephardi
Chief Ticket Broker Yitzhak Yosef</div><div class="caption"> </div><div class="caption"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSr3TIQNcd9bc62Bdmmoq46hhUCnQipL8dHnt-4Oggy6t9yuJAyPAlhu3uApj2xXlpHc8V9i8sliDqZEX4FdadQgX_v_bM_HOmoZqlBzG_F6eFE1TFImLhw_5rqQYCIHlC47wtTDzGHS3dKC-LAy-se2rzfRArHVv-3lJATPf4VQvzDQoQT-CusQ/s980/ticket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="980" height="49" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSr3TIQNcd9bc62Bdmmoq46hhUCnQipL8dHnt-4Oggy6t9yuJAyPAlhu3uApj2xXlpHc8V9i8sliDqZEX4FdadQgX_v_bM_HOmoZqlBzG_F6eFE1TFImLhw_5rqQYCIHlC47wtTDzGHS3dKC-LAy-se2rzfRArHVv-3lJATPf4VQvzDQoQT-CusQ/s320/ticket.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> </div><div class="caption"> </div></div>
<div class="article-content">
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<p>Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef pushed back Friday against
criticism sparked by his recent threat that ultra-Orthodox Jews would
leave the country en masse if their community-wide exemption from
military service was nullified.</p>
<p><b>“Some people distorted my words as though we had offended — heaven
forfend — the bereaved families,” said the rabbi in an interview with
Kan Moreshet, the public broadcaster’s religion-themed subsidiary.
“Those who were killed because they are Jews — they sit in the first row
before God.”</b></p>
<p>“All we had said on Saturday night was only in honor of the Torah —
that we must continue and embolden Torah study in order to safeguard the
people of Israel,” Yosef said.</p>
<div class="cnx-player-placeholder">
</div>
<p><b>“Of course, it is necessary to pray daily for the soldiers, who give
their lives for the residents of this country,” he added, listing
various prayer initiatives he had organized on behalf of troops.</b></p>
<p>Yosef did not walk back the threat he made at a weekly lecture on March 9, when <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/chief-sephardic-rabbi-says-ultra-orthodox-will-bolt-country-if-forced-into-army/">he said</a>: “If they force us to go to the army, we’ll all move abroad. We’ll buy a ticket… We’ll go there.</p></div></div><p>“All these secular people don’t understand that without kollels and
yeshivas, the army would not be successful,” he had said, referring to
institutions where religious men study Jewish texts rather than working
or enlisting. “The soldiers only succeed thanks to those learning
Torah.”</p><p> </p>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_3246294"><a data-featherlight="image" href="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2024/03/F240315CG06.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-3246294" height="250" src="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2024/03/F240315CG06-640x400.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<div class="wp-caption-text">Ultra-Orthodox Jews walking
past a pashkevil on the IDF draft law in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood
of Mea Shearim, in Jerusalem</div><div class="wp-caption-text"> </div>
</div>
<p>The Chief Rabbi’s comments were made while the government <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/ag-says-haredim-face-military-draft-if-no-legislation-by-april-seeks-deadline-extension/">mulls</a> a new military draft law, as a manpower crunch, effected by the Gaza war, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-announces-plans-to-increase-service-time-for-conscripts-and-reservists/#:~:text=Currently%2C%20male%20recruits%20serve%2032,for%20retirement%20from%20reserve%20duty.">has led</a> the military to extend mandatory service, call up greater numbers for reserve duty, and raise career soldiers’ retirement age.</p>
<p>Yosef is the son of the late Shas party spiritual leader Ovadia
Yosef, and wields major influence within the faction, which is part of
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.</p>
<p>Yosef’s March 9 comments drew harsh criticism from both lawmakers and relatives of fallen soldiers.</p>
<p>National Unity chairman and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz called
Yosef’s words “a moral blow to the Israeli state and society.”</p>
<p>“Everyone should take part in the sacred right to serve and fight for
our country, especially in this difficult time — our ultra-Orthodox
brothers included.”</p>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_3246296"><a data-featherlight="image" href="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2024/03/F240314EM17-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-3246296" height="200" src="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2024/03/F240314EM17-1-640x400.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<div class="wp-caption-text"> Protest calling for equal military service in Tel Aviv</div><div class="wp-caption-text"> </div>
</div>
<p>Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, chair of the centrist Yesh Atid party,
said the remarks were “a disgrace and insult to IDF soldiers who
sacrifice their lives for the defense of the country.”</p>
<p><b>In a statement, the far-right Religious Zionism party also criticized
the chief rabbi’s comments. “After two thousand years of exile, we will
never leave our country. A community that is willing to pay with its
life for the Land of Israel will not give it up under any conditions,”
it said.</b></p>
<p><b>Rabbi Tamir Granot, whose son Amitai was killed by an anti-tank
missile on the Lebanon border in October, slammed Yosef. “You need to…
go up to Mt. Herzl and apologize to my son, a yeshiva student and
soldier,” <a href="https://www.ynet.co.il/judaism/article/bktmf111ap#autoplay" target="_blank">said</a> Granot in an interview to Ynet on Wednesday, referring to the Jerusalem military cemetery.</b></p>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_3246297"><a data-featherlight="image" href="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2024/03/F240305TN022.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-3246297" height="250" src="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2024/03/F240305TN022-640x400.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<div class="wp-caption-text"> Israelis protest outside the
Tel Shomer army base calling for an end to ultra-Orthodox Jews’ blanket
exemption from the draft</div><div class="wp-caption-text"> </div>
</div>
<p>Successive Netanyahu governments have struggled to come to a
consensus on legislation dealing with ultra-Orthodox military service
since a 2017 High Court decision that determined blanket military
service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students to be
discriminatory and unconstitutional while ordering the state to find a
solution to the issue.</p>
<p>The IDF’s Personnel Directorate told a Knesset committee in February
that some 66,000 young men from the ultra-Orthodox community, the
fastest-growing sector of the population, received an exemption from
military service over the past year, reportedly an all-time record. Some
540 of them decided to enlist since the war started, the IDF said.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/chief-rabbi-claims-his-threat-of-haredi-exodus-in-case-of-army-draft-was-distorted/?utm_source=The+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=daily-edition-2024-03-16&utm_medium=email">https://www.timesofisrael.com/chief-rabbi-claims-his-threat-of-haredi-exodus-in-case-of-army-draft-was-distorted/?utm_source=The+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=daily-edition-2024-03-16&utm_medium=email</a><br /></p>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-54953599270738708262024-03-15T10:24:00.001-04:002024-03-15T10:24:07.013-04:00The upcoming recruitment cycle, Nisan 5784 (March 2024), is going to be the largest Yeshiva student recruitment cycle in the history of the State of Israel! Around 1,000 fighters from the Hesder yeshivot; 300 combat supporters; another 300 from Zionist yeshivot gevohot (post high-school yeshivot); and hundreds more from religious pre-military preparatory schools.<p> </p><div data-v-8e604d58="" data-v-d4ae79e0-s=""></div><h1 class="article-title" data-v-d4ae79e0="">The largest recruitment of Yeshiva students in history</h1><h1 class="article-title" data-v-d4ae79e0=""> </h1><h2 class="article-summary" data-v-d4ae79e0="">Where
do these people come from? From a great perception of Torah, which we
call "the Torah of the Land of Israel" in the way of Rabbi Kook.</h2><div class="article-info-container" data-v-d4ae79e0=""><div class="article-info-container-text" data-v-d4ae79e0=""><div class="article-info" data-v-d4ae79e0=""><span class="article-info-details" data-v-d4ae79e0=""><span class="article-info--author" data-v-8e604d58="" data-v-d4ae79e0-s=""></span><br /></span><span class="article-info--logo icon-logo_en" data-v-d4ae79e0=""></span></div><hr class="article-hr" data-v-d4ae79e0="" /><div class="article-info article-info-sub" data-v-d4ae79e0=""><div class="article-tags" data-v-8e604d58="" data-v-acb3da49="" data-v-d4ae79e0-s=""><a class="" data-v-acb3da49="" href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/tags/IDF">IDF</a><a class="" data-v-acb3da49="" href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/tags/yeshiva_students">yeshiva students</a><a class="" data-v-acb3da49="" href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/tags/Rabbi_Hagai_Lundin">Rabbi Hagai Lundin</a></div><ul class="article-info-details" data-v-8e604d58="" data-v-d4ae79e0-s=""><li class="article-info-details--detail article-info-details--detail-clock" data-v-8e604d58="" data-v-d4ae79e0-s="">3 minutes</li></ul></div></div></div><div class="article-content-img" data-v-63fefeec="" data-v-8e604d58="" data-v-d4ae79e0-s=""><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="New Hesder recruits" class="image" data-v-63fefeec="" height="225" src="https://a7.org/files/pictures/781x439/1149414.jpg" style="background-color: #473f31; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="article-content-img" data-v-63fefeec="" data-v-8e604d58="" data-v-d4ae79e0-s=""><figcaption class="details stripe-credit" data-v-63fefeec="" data-v-d822bfc2=""><span class="details-desc" data-v-d822bfc2="">New Hesder recruits </span><span class="details-credit" data-v-d822bfc2="">Hesder Yeshiva Center</span></figcaption></div></td></tr></tbody></table><figure class="article-image" data-v-63fefeec=""></figure><figcaption class="details stripe-credit" data-v-63fefeec="" data-v-d822bfc2=""><span class="details-desc" data-v-d822bfc2=""></span><br /></figcaption></div><div class="article-content-inside article-content" data-v-d4ae79e0="" id="articleContent" style="font-size: 1.125rem;"><p class=""><strong>Some uplifting facts for these days:</strong></p><p><b>The
upcoming recruitment cycle, Nisan 5784 (March 2024), is going to be the
largest Yeshiva student recruitment cycle in the history of the State
of Israel! Around 1,000 fighters from the <u>Hesder yeshivot; 300 combat
supporters; another 300 from Zionist yeshivot gevohot (post high-school
yeshivot); and hundreds more from religious pre-military preparatory
schools.</u></b></p><p><b>These wonderful soldiers – who unfortunately also lead
the number of fallen in the current war– are a new breed of fighters
that the Jewish people has not seen in two thousand years (in fact, not
so new, the IDF's ground forces have long had a profile of the religious
and traditional recruits).</b></p><p>Here is a short and instructive story
from the past month: students who returned from fighting in Gaza
gathered at the <b>Ma'ale Adumim Yeshivat Hesder </b>for a summing-up talk.
Their Rabbi asked that everyone choose a verse or a rabbinic saying that
reflects their feelings. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">One of them chose the sentence "there
is no joy like the resolution of doubts" (Zevachim 90a). Asked why he
chose it, he replied: <u>"During the weeks of fighting in Khan Yunis, we
were constantly fighting day and night with occasional breaks, without
outside communication, and I was always wondering if I was on the right
page within the framework of the Daf Yomi. Now that we have returned
from the fighting, it has become clear to me that I was indeed on the
right page, and I feel even more strongly the words of our sages that
there is no joy like the resolution of doubts."</u></span></b></p><p><b>Got it? These are our fighter! And that's one reason – among thousands of others – that we are going to win!</b></p><p class=""><strong>Superheroes</strong></p><p><b>Every
time a fighter falls, I try to find out a little about him and
understand where the power came from; I am overwhelmed each time. In the
case of Amishar ben David Hy”d, I can no longer contain the phenomenon:
he was a Torah scholar; was an incredible educator; an exemplary
father; a pioneer and a settler; commander of the commando brigade; and
the head of the community's charitable fund; a MDA volunteer and a
kidney donor. As the Israeli song goes, "what else will you ask of us, O
homeland?"</b></p><p> (In Hebrew: מה עוד תבקשי מאיתנו מכורה, ואין ואין עדיין)</p><p><b>Where
do these people come from? From a great perception ov Torah, which we
call "the Torah of the Land of Israel" as did Rabbi Kook. </b></p><p>A
growing list of Dror Weinbergs, Roi Kleins, Eliraz Peretzs, Emanuel
Morenos, Noam Razs, Yossi Hershkovitzs and many more. In every war,
extraordinary heroes fall, and then, inspired by them, an even more
remarkable generation of fighters steps into their shoes.</p><p>We know
that this breed of superheroes is still relatively small; on the one
hand, there are those who see the State of Israel only as a place for
getting material benefit and therefore threaten to refuse to serve if
something does not work out the way they want it to; and on the other
hand, there are those who see the State of Israel only as a place for
spiritual fulfillment and therefore threaten to leave the country if
they are forced to enlist.</p><p class="">However, these wonderful
heroic figures are increasing in number (in fact, the profile of IDF's
ground forces has long been religious and traditional) and the day is
not far off when everyone will understand this. In the meantime, until
day dawns and the shadows flee, these superheroes are the silver platter
on which the Jewish state has been granted to us (to paraphrase poet
Natan Alternman - see the famous poem in translation<a href="https://zionism-israel.com/hdoc/Silver_Platter.htm"> here</a>, it is well worth the time)</p><p>Shabbat Shalom!</p><a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/386759?utm_source=activetrail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl">http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/386759?utm_source=activetrail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl</a></div>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-63270297203522916292024-03-14T07:27:00.003-04:002024-03-14T11:43:26.448-04:00No Hoax to Paul Alexander, Rabbi Dr. Fool~!<p> </p><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
But Tatty...... Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky said "Even The Polio Vaccine Is A Hoax"
</h3>
<div class="post-header">
<div class="post-header-line-1"></div>
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<p><span class="no-print"><span><span id="BkcbuhZHarc"></span></span></span><span class="no-print"><span></span></span><span class="no-print"><span><a href="http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2022/03/but-tatty-rabbi-shmuel-kamenetsky-said.html">http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2022/03/but-tatty-rabbi-shmuel-kamenetsky-said.html</a></span></span></p><p><span class="no-print"><span> </span></span></p><p><span class="no-print"><span></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimZt7hL-HlJM30i2dBrraLgmnqfvxlhwgA7htl_A-HD3olCoCd4x6kWPmyN4FERsXae31HLOx6uyip-s-jvENCZ6YjWpf_oZ3mGpmvJ2Z8L75LK1ty_SwITFeUeRLLmQW2bg_4JdLjmUg5jlKax03KmHT3Yp9CQ9niLzHhI4bpHHVANyfuPxY/s450/gedolimsamk.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimZt7hL-HlJM30i2dBrraLgmnqfvxlhwgA7htl_A-HD3olCoCd4x6kWPmyN4FERsXae31HLOx6uyip-s-jvENCZ6YjWpf_oZ3mGpmvJ2Z8L75LK1ty_SwITFeUeRLLmQW2bg_4JdLjmUg5jlKax03KmHT3Yp9CQ9niLzHhI4bpHHVANyfuPxY/s320/gedolimsamk.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h1 class="hh jk jl jm jn jo jp jq jr" data-test="articleHeaderTitle"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> “I see vaccinations as the problem,” Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky told the Baltimore Jewish Times in a </span><a href="http://jewishtimes.com/27549/a-healthy-dose/2/#.VBMZXkvM5vZ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">story</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;"> published in late August. “It’s a hoax. Even the Salk [polio] vaccine is a hoax. It’s just big business.”</span></span></span></h1></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span class="no-print"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>If you are, or anyone you know is a godol --- please register at <a href="https://gedolim.com/">https://gedolim.com/</a></b></span></span></span></p><span class="no-print"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span></span></span><p><a data-link-tracking="TopArticle|Subcategories|Health issues" data-tmdatatrack-name="Health issues" data-tmdatatrack="nav" href="https://www.dailystar.co.uk/latest/health-issues" itemprop="item"><span itemprop="name"></span></a>
</p><div itemprop="publisher" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="https://schema.org/NewsMediaOrganization"><div itemprop="logo" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"></div></div><article class="article-main channel-news" data-converse="" data-init="true" data-mod="articleSso,converse,horizontalSwipe,trackScrollDepth,affiliatetext,axate,conversationStarter,readNextRecommended,updateTimezone" data-observed="false" data-url="https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/polio-paul-alexanders-cause-death-32349427"><div class="headline-with-subtype"><h1 class="section-theme-background-indicator publication-font" itemprop="headline name">Polio Paul Alexander's cause of death after surviving 70 years inside 'iron lung'</h1><h1 class="section-theme-background-indicator publication-font" itemprop="headline name"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjer_JZd34P5Z9qz3dj9ZgjElzk-WGI5GZfF_S6Qd22EI2KFougF_LeWt0p4ffM1x8ZswycqBzPbsbcxU8loMcwQySRMVYFsqTWTD9MInXxBgTf1nOJ6_LgXQ1AR7I04BhpbLMGk0JGXoH6NKSjYVWTiuzKGgO85pvvc4095K5VLVKkLQ3vwN73_g/s620/palex.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="620" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjer_JZd34P5Z9qz3dj9ZgjElzk-WGI5GZfF_S6Qd22EI2KFougF_LeWt0p4ffM1x8ZswycqBzPbsbcxU8loMcwQySRMVYFsqTWTD9MInXxBgTf1nOJ6_LgXQ1AR7I04BhpbLMGk0JGXoH6NKSjYVWTiuzKGgO85pvvc4095K5VLVKkLQ3vwN73_g/w400-h225/palex.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /></h1><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">After he was paralyzed by polio at age 6,
Paul Alexander was confined for much of his life to a yellow iron lung
that kept him alive. He was not expected to survive after that
diagnosis, and even when he beat those odds, his life was mostly
constrained by a machine in which he could not move.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But
the toll of living in an iron lung with polio did not stop Mr.
Alexander from going to college, getting a law degree and practicing law
for more than 30 years. As a boy, he taught himself to breathe for
minutes and later hours at a time, but he had to use the machine every
day of his life.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">He died on Monday at 78, according to a statement by his brother, Philip Alexander, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.facebook.com/philip.alexander1/posts/pfbid02TKK9DLmgSfRr6na9VXthYb5DBZED5aWy9CUJyyb4XGQsyMztuVvqb61iYSfWooFgl" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">on social media</a>.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">He
was one of the last few people in the United States living inside an
iron lung, which works by rhythmically changing air pressure in the
chamber to force air in and out of the lungs. And in the final weeks of
his life, he drew a following on TikTok by sharing what it had been like
to live so long with the help of an antiquated machine.</p></div><p class="sub-title" itemprop="description"><br /></p><p class="sub-title" itemprop="description"> </p><div class="sharebar-top-sentinel"></div><div class="byline"><div class="sharebar" data-article-id="32349427" data-context="share-bar-32349427" data-friendly-name="Share Bar Link Click" data-max-times-to-track-links="5" data-share-image="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article32345371.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200/3_Polio-Paul-who-has-been-inside-7ft-iron-lung-for-70-years-shouldnt-be-alive.jpg" data-share-url="https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/polio-paul-alexanders-cause-death-32349427" data-stream-id="dailystar-32349427"><ul><li class="bookmark-btn-container"><div class="bookmark-share"><span class="bookmark-text" data-name="Bookmark"></span><div class="article-wrapper"><div class="content-column"><figure class="in-article-image lead-article-image" data-tmdatatrack-articleid="32345371" data-tmdatatrack="inline-widget" itemprop="image" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"><div class="img-container"><img alt="Polio Paul" content="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article32345371.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/3_Polio-Paul-who-has-been-inside-7ft-iron-lung-for-70-years-shouldnt-be-alive.jpg" height="213" src="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article32345371.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/3_Polio-Paul-who-has-been-inside-7ft-iron-lung-for-70-years-shouldnt-be-alive.jpg" width="320" /></div><figcaption class="publication-theme-indicator"><span class="caption" itemprop="description">Paul Alexander passed away aged 78 this week </span></figcaption></figure></div></div><br /><form class="skinny-signup skinny-signup-top custom-form-styling hide-inline-skinny-signup" data-init="true" data-json="{"mailingListId":"76592","displayName":"News - Daily headlines you can't miss","callToAction":"<p>Never miss any of the fun stuff. Get the biggest stories and wackiest takes from the Daily Star, including our special WTF Wednesday email</p>","buttonText":"Sign up today!","contentId":20561716,"newsletterImage":"https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article25099420.ece/ALTERNATES/s615d/0_smartphone.jpg","endpointUrl":"https://e.dailystar.co.uk/interface/list.php","profile":"Daily_Star","isPure360NewsLetter":false,"pure360MailingListId":"Daily Star - Daily Newsletter","isDoubleOptIn":false,"newsletterSiteName":"Daily Star","ConsentDate":"06/08/2021"}" data-mod="skinnySignup" data-observed="false"><div class="skinny-form skinny-form-inline hide-inline-skinny"><div class="skinny-signup-variant-container skinny-variant-2-container-inner"><div class="skinny-signup-bottom-links bottom-links"><span class="privacy"><span></span></span></div></div></div></form><div class="article-body" itemprop="articleBody" style="position: relative;"><p>'Polio
Paul', who spent more than seven decades living in an 'iron lung', has
died at the age of 78 – and his cause of death has been revealed.</p> <p>Paul
Alexander sadly passed away on Monday (March 11). He spent most of his
life paralysed inside an iron lung after he was struck down by <a data-content-type="section-topic" data-link-tracking="InArticle|Link" href="https://www.dailystar.co.uk/latest/health-issues" rel="Follow" target="_blank">polio</a> in Dallas, <a data-content-type="section-topic" data-link-tracking="InArticle|Link" href="https://www.dailystar.co.uk/latest/united-states" rel="Follow" target="_blank">Texas</a>, in 1952.</p> <p>Reports have now suggested Mr Alexander caught <a data-content-type="section-topic" data-link-tracking="InArticle|Link" href="https://www.dailystar.co.uk/latest/coronavirus" rel="Follow" target="_blank">Covid</a>, which ultimately led to his death.</p><br /><figure class="in-article-image" data-init="true" data-mod="image" data-observed="false" data-orientation="landscape" data-tmdatatrack-articleid="32346483" data-tmdatatrack="inline-widget" itemprop="image" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject">
<div class="outer">
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<img alt="Polio Paul" content="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article32346483.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/1_Screenshot-2023-02-19-at-073803.jpg" data-inline-image="true" height="190" src="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article32346483.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/1_Screenshot-2023-02-19-at-073803.jpg" width="320" />
</div>
</div>
<figcaption class="publication-theme-indicator">
<span class="caption" itemprop="description">Mr Alexander has lived in an iron lung for more than 70 years</span>
</figcaption>
</figure> <p><i><b><br /></b></i></p> <p>Alexander contracted polio in 1952. As a result
he could only move his head, neck and mouth for most of his life, a side
effect seen in about one in 200 cases of the disease. Doctors then put
him in the contraption that kept him alive for 70 years, reports <a data-link-tracking="InArticle|Link" href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/breaking-paul-alexanders-cause-death-32345271#google_vignette" rel="Follow" target="_blank">The Mirror</a>.</p> <p>His
death was announced on his GoFundMe page on Tuesday. The post read:
"Paul Alexander, 'The Man in the Iron Lung', passed away yesterday.
After surviving polio as a child, he lived over 70 years inside of an
iron lung."</p> <p>Last month Mr Alexander's social media manager took to <a data-content-type="section-topic" data-link-tracking="InArticle|Link" href="https://www.dailystar.co.uk/latest/tiktok" rel="Follow" target="_blank">TikTok</a>
to inform fans Paul had tested positive for the contagious disease. He
said: "I know there has been a lot of questions and comments about where
have the videos been, is Paul OK.</p> <figure class="in-article-image" data-init="true" data-mod="image" data-observed="false" data-orientation="landscape" data-tmdatatrack-articleid="32345359" data-tmdatatrack="inline-widget" itemprop="image" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject">
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<img alt="Polio Paul" content="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article32345359.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_youtube-dallas-Morning-NEwsJPG.jpg" data-inline-image="true" height="222" src="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article32345359.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_youtube-dallas-Morning-NEwsJPG.jpg" width="320" />
</div>
</div>
<figcaption class="publication-theme-indicator">
<span class="caption" itemprop="description">Mr Alexander reportedly contracted Covid which ultimately caused his death </span>
</figcaption>
</figure> <aside class="read-more-links" data-immediate="" data-mod="readMoreTweak"><br /></aside> <p>"Last week he was unfortunately rushed to the emergency room
in the hospital, he tested positive for Covid, which is really, really
dangerous for somebody with his condition. Fortunately they have an iron
lung at the hospital just for him, and he was able to come home this
weekend. But unfortunately he's still kind of weak, he's still got some
confusion going around, he's still struggling to eat and hydrate."</p> <p>Despite
Mr Alexander's difficult start in life he went on to become a lawyer
and author, and his story inspired people around the world. The GoFundMe
page continued: "In this time Paul went to college, became a lawyer,
and a published author. His story travelled wide and far, positively
influencing people around the world.</p><p> </p> <figure class="in-article-image" data-init="true" data-mod="image" data-observed="false" data-orientation="landscape" data-tmdatatrack-articleid="32341344" data-tmdatatrack="inline-widget" itemprop="image" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject">
<div class="outer">
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<img alt="Polio Paul" content="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article32341344.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/2_Screenshot-2023-02-19-at-073807.jpg" data-inline-image="true" height="187" src="https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article32341344.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/2_Screenshot-2023-02-19-at-073807.jpg" width="320" />
</div>
</div>
<figcaption class="publication-theme-indicator">
<span class="caption" itemprop="description">Mr Alexander was an inspiration to many </span></figcaption><figcaption class="publication-theme-indicator"><span class="caption" itemprop="description"> </span></figcaption><figcaption class="publication-theme-indicator"><h1 class="entry-title entry-title--with-subtitle">
Anti-Vaccine Rabbi Sits on Prominent Ultra-Orthodox Panel as Measles Spread </h1>
<div class="newspack-post-subtitle">
Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky, who calls vaccines a “hoax,” is on the
policy-making council of the influential Agudath Israel of America. </div><div class="newspack-post-subtitle"> </div><span class="caption" itemprop="description"><a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/2019/05/23/anti-vaccine-rabbi-sits-on-prominent-ultra-orthodox-panel-as-measles-spread/">https://www.thecity.nyc/2019/05/23/anti-vaccine-rabbi-sits-on-prominent-ultra-orthodox-panel-as-measles-spread/</a></span></figcaption><figcaption class="publication-theme-indicator"><div class="css-1vkm6nb ehdk2mb0"><h1 class="css-1l8buln e1h9rw200" data-testid="headline" id="link-4c497fd1">Lawyer, Author and TikTok Star Spent 72 Years in an Iron Lung</h1></div><p class="css-1n0orw4 e1wiw3jv0" id="article-summary">Paul
Alexander, who died at 78, was paralyzed with polio at age 6 and relied
on the machine to breathe. Still, he was able to earn a law degree,
write a book and, late in life, build a following on TikTok.</p><span class="caption" itemprop="description"> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/13/us/paul-alexander-iron-lung-dead.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/13/us/paul-alexander-iron-lung-dead.html</a></span></figcaption><figcaption class="publication-theme-indicator"><span class="caption" itemprop="description"> </span></figcaption><figcaption class="publication-theme-indicator"><span class="caption" itemprop="description"><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/paul-alexander-78-year-old-dallas-man-who-lived-in-iron-lung-for-most-of-his-life-dies/">https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/paul-alexander-78-year-old-dallas-man-who-lived-in-iron-lung-for-most-of-his-life-dies/</a></span></figcaption>
</figure> <div class="factbox has-image">
<span class="factbox-header"><h3><a href="https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/polio-paul-alexanders-cause-death-32349427?utm_source=daily_star_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily+Star+-+Daily+Newsletter_newsletter&utm_content=&utm_term=&ruid=b14e5dda-d075-4dce-b6e5-a7d975b8ba82"><span style="font-size: small;">https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/polio-paul-alexanders-cause-death-32349427?utm_source=daily_star_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily+Star+-+Daily+Newsletter_newsletter&utm_content=&utm_term=&ruid=b14e5dda-d075-4dce-b6e5-a7d975b8ba82</span></a><br /></h3></span></div></div></div></li></ul></div></div></article>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-84410622590829006512024-03-13T03:00:00.001-04:002024-03-13T03:00:00.137-04:00 If Israel had wanted to wipe out Gazans as Germans sought to wipe out Jews, it could have done so on the first day of the war. Israel is fighting a tough war against an evil enemy that puts its own civilians in harm’s way. Maybe there should be more public pressure on Hamas to surrender than on Israel to save Hamas from the consequences of its actions.<div class="css-1vkm6nb ehdk2mb0"><h1 class="css-xkf25q e1h9rw200" data-testid="headline" id="link-ba5693a">Israel Has No Choice but to Fight On</h1></div><div data-testid="reading-time-module"><div class="css-ki3vv6"><time class="css-1g7pp1u e16638kd0" datetime="2024-03-12T19:00:07-04:00"><br /></time></div></div><div data-testid="imageblock-wrapper"><figure aria-label="media" class="sizeLarge layoutHorizontal css-nlqgyf" role="group"><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="imageContainer-children-Image"><picture><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)"></source><img alt="A view through a windshield of a military jeep with a soldier carrying a gun. In the background is a palm tree and low-slung buildings." class="css-rq4mmj" height="267" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/03/14/multimedia/12stephens1-qlfm/12stephens1-qlfm-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" width="400" /></picture></div><figcaption class="css-1ifeaca e3rygrp0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-ImageCaption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip</span></figcaption></figure></div><article class="css-1vxca1d e1lmdhsb0" id="story"><header class="css-bxp3sd euiyums1"><div class="css-103l8m3"><div class="css-t91cuf epjyd6m1"><div class="css-ehpuw4 epjyd6m0"><p class="css-1tx0lhj e1jsehar1"><span class="byline-prefix"> </span></p><p class="css-1tx0lhj e1jsehar1"><span class="byline-prefix">By </span><span class="css-1baulvz last-byline" itemprop="name"><a class="css-n8ff4n e1jsehar0" href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/bret-stephens">Bret Stephens</a></span></p><div class="css-8atqhb" id="enhanced-byline"><p class="css-1fovwrw e1wtpvyy0">Opinion Columnist</p></div></div></div></div></header><div data-testid="region" id="NYT_ABOVE_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION"><div><div><div><div class=""><div class="css-1lpvp6o"><div class="css-81mraw"><div class="css-le223v"><div class="css-1ibyhwt"><div class="css-myrxjz"><div class="css-13brihr"><strong class="css-in3yi3"></strong><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><section class="meteredContent css-1r7ky0e" name="articleBody"><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><b><em class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">On Saturday, President Biden warned that Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the war in Gaza was “</em><a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.msnbc.com/jonathan-capehart/watch/-he-knew-what-i-meant-by-it-biden-explains-hot-mic-moment-showing-frustration-with-netanyahu-206038597832" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title=""><em class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">hurting Israel more than helping Israel</em></a><em class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">.” The Israeli prime minister replied the next day that Biden was “</em><a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.politico.eu/article/israels-netanyahu-says-he-will-defy-bidens-red-line-and-invade-rafah/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title=""><em class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">wrong</em></a><em class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">.” The rift between the two leaders means that Israel risks losing its most important pillar of military and diplomatic support.</em></b></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><em class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0"><b><span style="font-size: large;">I’ve
argued that Israel has no choice but to destroy Hamas as an effective
fighting force. Here I imagine a conversation with an intelligent critic
of that view.</span></b></em></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Thousands
of Gazan civilians, many of them children, have now been killed, bombed
in their homes or out of them. Now they face a humanitarian catastrophe
in the form of medicine and food shortages, even starvation.</strong></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">How can you possibly justify it?</strong></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Like all wars, this one is horrible and heartbreaking. But I blame Hamas, not Israel, for the devastation.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div><div class="css-8atqhb"></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Look,
Hamas is a terrorist group whose leaders should face justice for the
massacres of Oct. 7. But it isn’t Hamas’s bombs, missiles or artillery
that have leveled Gaza. It’s Israel’s.</strong></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Right. And Hamas, which started the war, could put a halt to that rain of fire tomorrow. It <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/07/world/middleeast/hamas-cease-fire-talks-cairo.html" title="">rejected</a>
a six-week cease-fire that would have paused the fighting and allowed
much more aid in exchange for the release of roughly 40 of the remaining
100 Israeli hostages. It could stop the fighting for good by simply
surrendering.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Hamas
may not want to stop the fighting, but there’s little we can do about
that. Israel can stop its assault, and thus spare Palestinian lives. And
because Biden has leverage on Israel, he should use it.</strong></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The
best way to get Hamas to stop fighting is to beat it. If Israel were to
end the war now, with several Hamas battalions intact, at least four
things would happen.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">First, it would
be impossible to set up a political authority in Gaza that isn’t Hamas:
If the Palestinian Authority or local Gazans tried to do so, they
wouldn’t live for long. Second, Hamas would reconstitute its military
force as Hezbollah did in Lebanon after the 2006 war with Israel — and
Hamas has promised to repeat the attacks of Oct. 7 <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/hamas-official-says-want-hostages-go-home-rcna123396" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">“a second, a third, a fourth”</a> time. Third, the Israeli hostages would be stuck in their awful captivity indefinitely.</p></div></div><div><div class="css-8atqhb"></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Fourth,
there would never be a Palestinian state. No Israeli government is
going to agree to a Palestinian state in the West Bank if it risks
resembling Gaza.</p><div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">All
that is speculative. The reality is that children are hungry, the sick
aren’t getting medicine, innocent Palestinians are being killed, now.
It’s wrong to avert theoretical harms by causing actual ones.</strong></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">It
might be more speculative if this weren’t the fifth major war that
Hamas has provoked since it seized power in Gaza in 2007. After each
war, Hamas’s capabilities have grown stronger and its ambitions bolder.
At some point this had to end; for Israelis, Oct. 7 was that point.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Maybe, but why can’t Israel be much more judicious in its use of force?</strong></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Do you have any specific suggestions for how Israel can defeat Hamas while being more sparing of civilians?</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">I’m not a military expert.</strong></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">I’ve
noticed that whenever Israel’s critics lecture the country on better
calibrating its use of force, they don’t have any concrete suggestions.
Are Israelis smart enough to fight better, but too stupid to appreciate
the diplomatic consequences of not doing so?</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div><div class="css-8atqhb"></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Maybe they’re thirsty for vengeance.</strong></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The
reality of urban warfare is that it’s exceptionally costly and
difficult. The United States under Barack Obama and Donald Trump spent
nine months helping Iraqi forces flatten the city of Mosul to defeat
ISIS, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/07/14/mosul-before-and-after-in-satellite-images/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">with results</a>
that looked even worse than Gaza does today. I don’t remember calls for
“Cease-Fire Now” then. Hamas has made it even more difficult for Israel
because, instead of sheltering civilians in its immense network of
tunnels, it shelters itself.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Even so, that doesn’t relieve Israel of the obligation to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.</strong></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">It’s not as if Israel is not lifting a finger. On Sunday alone, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://govextra.gov.il/cogat/humanitarian-efforts/home/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">225 truckloads of aid entered Gaza through Israel,</a>
according to the Israeli military. But you seem to think that the
government of Israel’s primary responsibility is to the welfare of the
people of Gaza. It isn’t. As with any government, its obligations are to
its own people.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Israelis are mostly doing fine now. It’s Palestinians who are dying.</strong></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Israel
has spent the last five months degrading Hamas’s military capabilities
to the point that it seems to have run out of rockets to fire at Israel.
And around 200,000 Israelis <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://jewishinsider.com/2023/11/israel-internal-displacement-hamas-terror-attacks-oct-7-kibbutz/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">are living as refugees</a>
inside their own country because its borders aren’t secure. No country
can tolerate that. Israel didn’t come into existence to showcase the
victimization of Jews. It came into existence to end their
victimization.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Well,
since you’re alluding to the Holocaust, it surely can’t be in Israel’s
interests to be seen perpetrating a version of it in Gaza. Just look at
the worldwide explosion of antisemitism since Oct. 7.</strong></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">That
analogy is false and offensive on many levels. Israel is fighting a war
it didn’t seek, against an enemy sworn to its destruction and holding
scores of its citizens hostage.<b> If Israel had wanted to wipe out Gazans
as Germans sought to wipe out Jews, it could have done so on the first
day of the war. Israel is fighting a tough war against an evil enemy
that puts its own civilians in harm’s way. Maybe there should be more
public pressure on Hamas to surrender than on Israel to save Hamas from
the consequences of its actions.</b></p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div><div class="css-8atqhb"></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">As for antisemitism, the war hasn’t generated a torrent of antisemitism so much as it has exposed it.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">Probably
a mix of the two. Still, you make the mistake of imagining that Hamas
can be defeated. You can’t kill an idea, particularly by generating the
terrible resentments that are surely brewing in Gaza and throughout the
Arab world.</strong></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">By that logic,
the Allies should have spared Germany because National Socialism was
also an idea. You may not be able to kill an idea but you can defang it,
just as you can persuade future generations that some ideas have
terrible consequences for those who espouse them.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><strong class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">So what do you suggest the Biden administration do?</strong></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Help Israel win the war decisively so that Israelis and Palestinians can someday win the peace.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/12/opinion/israel-hamas-war-military.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/12/opinion/israel-hamas-war-military.html</a><br /></p></div></div></section></article><p></p>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-28264763348728506172024-03-12T09:20:00.006-04:002024-03-12T15:30:01.576-04:00George Bernard Shaw once said, “The greatest folly in a community effort is the illusion that someone else will do it.” Chelm Revisited!<p> </p><p><b><i>" <span>Let it be as clear as the noon sun in a cloudless blue
sky, without the Israel Defense Forces at full force, all of the
yeshiva students in Israel wouldn’t survive more than ten minutes before
Ishmaelite murderers stormed into their yeshivot and slit their throats
from ear to ear until their blood reddened all of their pages of
Gemara, just as the Arab terrorists did to the devout holy Jews in
Hebron and the Old City during the pogrom of 1929 when there was no
Israel Defense Forces to protect them, the students at Otniel and Merkaz
Harav yeshivas.</span></i></b></p><p class=""><b><i><span>Just as the Torah alone
didn’t protect all of the millions of devout holy Jews from Nazi firing
squads and gas chambers. Just as Hashem brings healing through doctors
and medicine, He brings security to the Nation through the tanks and
holy soldiers of the IDF. All of the Jews in the Holy Land today can
live here in the Holy Land precisely because the Holy One Blessed Be He
has enabled us to have our own Jewish army after being slaughtered
helplessly for 2000 years in foreign lands at the whims of the goyim. </span></i></b></p><p class=""><b><i><span>No
one is demanding that all yeshiva students be drafted. But there are
many who can serve and indeed they must for the future of the Jewish
Nation."</span></i></b></p><p class=""><i><span> </span></i></p><h2 class="title">Parshat Shekalim: <u>None of Us Can Be Bystanders</u></h2>
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<p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">There is a timeless Jewish folklore legend, often set in the quaint,
mythical town of Chelm, renowned for its endearing tales of simplicity
and wit. The story always elicits a wry smile but also imparts a
timeless lesson regarding the essence of community and the significance
of each individual’s contribution.</span></b></p>
<p>One day, the residents of Chelm decided they were going to celebrate a
great communal occasion, and that each household should contribute a
bottle of wine that would be poured into a collective barrel. The barrel
would then provide a blend of the town’s finest vintages for all to
enjoy on the great day.</p>
<p>The local beadle was charged with taking the barrel from home to
home, where each family poured their bottle of wine into the barrel, so
that on the festive day, everyone would benefit from the full selection
of wines from across the community.</p>
<p>Finally, the day of the celebration arrived, and, with great
excitement, the community president was given the honor of opening the
spigot into the first glass of wine. Imagine his surprise — and everyone
else’s — when the liquid that emerged was crystal clear. The president
took a sip, and lo and behold — it was water.</p>
<p><b>Apparently, each contributor to the wine appeal had reasoned that if
they substituted water for wine, among all the other contributions, who
would notice? The result was a barrel of water — and great
disappointment.</b></p>
<p><b>George Bernard Shaw once said, “The greatest folly in a community
effort is the illusion that someone else will do it.” </b>His pithy
observation was thoroughly underscored in 1968 by a seminal study
conducted by John M. Darley, a professor of psychology at Princeton, and
Bibb Latané, a prominent social psychologist at Columbia.</p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The study focused on a phenomenon they defined as the “bystander
effect,” where individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim
when other people are present. Critically, the lesser the number of
bystanders, the more likely any one of them is to help.</span></b></p>
<p>Darley and Latané conceived the study after the 1964 murder of <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese&source=gmail&ust=1709946879214000&usg=AOvVaw3z8UtCEiw-5Cb0ObD_4mRc" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Kitty Genovese</a>,
a young woman who was stabbed to death outside her apartment in New
York City. Reports claimed that numerous witnesses did nothing to
intervene or contact the police. The researchers sought to understand
why the witnesses failed to act, hypothesizing that the presence of
others can lead to a diffusion of responsibility, with each bystander
feeling less pressure to respond due to the assumption that someone else
will do so.</p>
<p>To test their hypothesis, Darley and Latané conducted a series of
experiments. One of the most notable involved participants being placed
in a room alone or with others, who were actually confederates of the
researchers and not real participants.</p>
<p>During the experiment, participants overheard what seemed to be a
real emergency: for example, a person having a seizure in an adjacent
room. The key measure was whether participants would leave the room to
try and get help, and how quickly they would do so.</p>
<p><b>The findings were striking. Participants were significantly less
likely to help when they believed that others were also aware of the
seizure. If they were alone, 85% of participants went for help, compared
to only 31% when they believed that there were four other witnesses.</b></p>
<p>This compelling evidence of the “bystander effect” demonstrated how
the presence of others inhibits people from taking action in emergency
situations.</p>
<p>This Saturday, in synagogues across the world, we will hear Parshat
Shekalim, recalling the time in Jewish history when every adult Jew gave
a half-shekel donation towards the upkeep of the Temple in Jerusalem.
This passage from Exodus (<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.30.11?lang%3Dbi%26aliyot%3D0&source=gmail&ust=1709946879214000&usg=AOvVaw3LTx4sxInY1uwJxT5k7ElF" href="https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.30.11?lang=bi&aliyot=0" rel="noopener" target="_blank">30:11-16</a>)
describes God’s commandment to Moses to take a census of the Israelite
men over the age of 20 by having each one give a half shekel of silver.</p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">It has always struck me as odd that each person was expected to give
the same amount, notwithstanding their economic circumstances. But
perhaps this was God’s way of ensuring that the “bystander effect” never
gained traction among the Jewish people.</span></b></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: large;">By mandating the same amount from everyone, the Torah emphasizes a
revolutionary concept: not just the equal worth of every individual’s
contribution to communal life but the importance of <u>everyone’s
involvement in society, not just letting others do the work while you
stand on the sidelines.</u></span></b></p>
<p>This message of half-shekel uniformity is that no one’s offering is
deemed less significant because of its monetary value. It is a statement
that every person, regardless of their economic status, has an
invaluable role to play in the community’s well-being and sanctity. This
inclusivity fosters a sense of belonging and significance among all
members, reinforcing the idea that collective strength is derived from
the unity and commitment of its individuals. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">No one can ever afford to
be a bystander, and no community can afford to have bystanders.</span></b></p>
<p><b>The equality of everyone’s contribution also serves as a reminder
that in the eyes of God, the intentions and heartfelt commitment behind
an act of giving are as important, if not more so, than the gift itself.
This perspective is an inspiration for a community where values like
compassion, empathy, and collective responsibility are paramount,
creating an environment where everyone’s participation is not only
valued<u> but seen as essential to the communal fabric.</u></b></p>
<p>This concept of valued contributions extends beyond financial giving
to encompass the diverse talents, time, and energy that individuals
bring to their communities. Just as the half-shekel symbolizes financial
equivalence, the broader application of this principle recognizes the
unique contributions each person can make, whether it be in the form of
volunteer work, sharing knowledge, or offering moral support. In
recognizing and valuing these varied forms of contribution, the
community is enriched and strengthened in multiple ways.</p>
<p>In the wake of the harrowing events of October 7th, a profound and
stirring example of the principles embodied in Parshat Shekalim and the
psychological insights into the bystander effect has unfolded across
Israel and the Jewish world. Amidst the devastation and heartbreak, a
remarkable array of individual contributions has emerged, which has been
a wellspring of strength for us all.</p>
<p>In this time of unparalleled challenges, each person has stepped
forward, offering their “half shekel” — not in the form of silver, but
through acts of kindness, solidarity, and support, tirelessly working to
alleviate the pain and to address the multitude of challenges that have
arisen. This collective endeavor, where no act of giving has been
deemed too small and no offer of help too insignificant, reflects the
very essence of communal resilience and unity<b><u>. It is the anti-bystander
effect phenomenon.</u></b></p>
<p><b>What Parshat Shekalim has taught us — and clearly, it is deeply
embedded in our Jewish psyche —<u> is that none of us are bystanders. </u>And
this is a principle that guides us, animates us, and ultimately helps us
get through a crisis so that we get to see better times.</b></p>
<p><i>The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California. </i></p><i><a href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/03/11/parshat-shekalim-none-of-us-can-be-bystanders/">https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/03/11/parshat-shekalim-none-of-us-can-be-bystanders/</a></i></div>
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</div>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-25532347712639172122024-03-11T03:00:00.024-04:002024-03-11T03:00:00.141-04:00Who Needs An Army When You Have Bench Kvetchers - Part 5 - Purim Come Early!<p><i>" <span>Let it be as clear as the noon sun in a cloudless blue
sky, without the Israel Defense Forces at full force, all of the
yeshiva students in Israel wouldn’t survive more than ten minutes before
Ishmaelite murderers stormed into their yeshivot and slit their throats
from ear to ear until their blood reddened all of their pages of
Gemara, just as the Arab terrorists did to the devout holy Jews in
Hebron and the Old City during the pogrom of 1929 when there was no
Israel Defense Forces to protect them, the students at Otniel and Merkaz
Harav yeshivas.</span></i></p><p class=""><i><span>Just as the Torah alone
didn’t protect all of the millions of devout holy Jews from Nazi firing
squads and gas chambers. Just as Hashem brings healing through doctors
and medicine, He brings security to the Nation through the tanks and
holy soldiers of the IDF. All of the Jews in the Holy Land today can
live here in the Holy Land precisely because the Holy One Blessed Be He
has enabled us to have our own Jewish army after being slaughtered
helplessly for 2000 years in foreign lands at the whims of the goyim. </span></i></p><p class=""><i><span>No
one is demanding that all yeshiva students be drafted. But there are
many who can serve and indeed they must for the future of the Jewish
Nation."</span></i></p><p class=""><i><span> </span></i></p><p><span class="overline"></span>
</p><h1 class="headline">Chief Sephardic rabbi turned comedian says ultra-Orthodox will leave Israel if forced into army</h1><h1 class="headline"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv6FKZmQVFVXN_g2bOY05zOS8Avn_WMBurjTsw_hR_VpL_BTHeqEkTnLe95YhRRrLg4aab5xpVyyPan6n9ydIIdjwRSWlDy7JAnzwmjlNdXirvhFIYeCE27jmakZBOeONFCCJKw0y0toAyyu0KtAn6XrzaAiVrHwQk9K89YnU8GnLCyB_iUZtHnA/s851/jackieMasonOct06.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv6FKZmQVFVXN_g2bOY05zOS8Avn_WMBurjTsw_hR_VpL_BTHeqEkTnLe95YhRRrLg4aab5xpVyyPan6n9ydIIdjwRSWlDy7JAnzwmjlNdXirvhFIYeCE27jmakZBOeONFCCJKw0y0toAyyu0KtAn6XrzaAiVrHwQk9K89YnU8GnLCyB_iUZtHnA/s320/jackieMasonOct06.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h2 class="underline"><span style="color: red;">‘All these goyim (secular Jews), not really people, don’t understand that
without kollels and yeshivas, the army would not be successful,’ says
Yitzhak Yosef & Jackie Mason, sparking backlash across the political spectrum</span></h2>
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<div class="media"><a data-featherlight="image" href="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2017/05/F170413YS66.jpg" rel="lightbox"><img alt="Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef speaks at Jerusalem's Teddy Stadium on April 13, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="200" src="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2017/05/F170413YS66-640x400.jpg" title="Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef speaks at Jerusalem's Teddy Stadium on April 13, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)" width="320" /></a><div class="caption"><b>Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef moonlighting at the Improv.</b><br /></div><div class="caption"> </div></div>
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<p>Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef warned Saturday that
ultra-Orthodox Jews will leave Israel en masse if the government ends
exemptions of mandatory military enlistment enjoyed by the community.</p>
<p>“If they force us to go to the army, we’ll all move abroad,” Yosef
said during a weekly lecture. “We’ll buy a ticket… We’ll go there.”</p>
<p>“The [biblical] tribe of Levi was exempted from the army,” he noted
by way of comparison, referring to the biblical tribe from which the
priesthood was drawn in Temple times. “They didn’t take them; absolutely
not.”</p>
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<p>Yosef is the son of the late Shas party spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef
and wields major influence with the faction, which is part of Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.</p>
<p><b>“All these secular people don’t understand that without kollels and
yeshivas, the army would not be successful,” he said, referring to
institutions where religious men study Jewish texts rather than working
or enlisting. “The soldiers only succeed thanks to those learning
Torah.”</b></p></div></div><p>Pressure is mounting for the coalition to end the exemption from
military and national service for the ultra-Orthodox community,
especially amid the war against Hamas.</p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The IDF’s Personnel Directorate told a Knesset committee last month
that some 66,000 young men from the ultra-Orthodox community, the
fastest-growing sector of the population, received an exemption from
military service over the past year, reportedly an all-time record. Some
540 of them decided to enlist since the war started, the IDF said.</span></b></p>
<p>In 2022, the Haredi population was some 1,280,000, about 13.3% of
Israel’s total population, according to the Israel Democracy Institute.
By 2050, nearly one-quarter of Israel’s population will be
ultra-Orthodox, according to <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/nearly-1-in-4-israelis-will-be-ultra-orthodox-by-2050-study-says/">projections</a> by Israel’s National Economic Council.
</p><p>Impassioned reactions poured in after Yosef’s remarks were publicized.</p>
<p>National Unity chairman and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz called
Yosef’s words “a moral blow to the Israeli state and society.”</p>
<p>“Everyone should take part in the sacred right to serve and fight for
our country, especially in this difficult time — our ultra-Orthodox
brothers included.”</p>
<p>Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, chair of the centrist Yesh Atid party,
said the remark “is a disgrace and insult to IDF soldiers who sacrifice
their lives for the defense of the country.”</p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">“Rabbi Yosef is a state employee, with a salary from the state — he cannot threaten the state,” he wrote on X.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></b></p>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_3237254"><a data-featherlight="image" href="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2024/03/F240303IR03.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-3237254" height="200" src="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2024/03/F240303IR03-640x400.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<div class="wp-caption-text">A police officer removing an ultra-Orthodox protester from the street, Route 4 near Bnei Brak, March 3, 2024.</div><div class="wp-caption-text"> </div>
</div>
<p>Avigdor Liberman, chair of Yisrael Beytenu, wrote: “Without duties, there are no rights.”</p>
<p><b>“It’s a shame that Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and the ultra-Orthodox
hustlers continue to harm the security of Israel and act against
halacha,” he said.</b></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Even the coalition’s far-right Religious Zionism party lamented the
remarks: “Drafting to the military: A good deed! We are grateful for the
privilege of serving the people of Israel, learning Torah, and helping
Israel in a time of need.”</span></b></p>
<p><b>“After two thousand years of exile, we will never leave our country. A
community that is willing to pay with its life for the Land of Israel
will not give it up under any conditions,” it said.</b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Religious Zionism party leader and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose cousin Amishar Ben-David was <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-officer-killed-in-gaza-fighting-raising-toll-of-slain-troops-to-248/">killed</a>
in Gaza on Friday, noted that his relative was “a son of Torah and a
hero of Israel, who fought to defend the homeland and fell sanctifying
the name of God, the people and the Land.” Referring to Yosef’s
comments, Smotrich went on, “Comments to the contrary contradict the
Torah, cause pain, and deepen the wounds, and I hope that he who uttered
them will be wise enough to recognize his error, backtrack and
apologize.”</span></b></p>
<p><b>The ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party said that “army service is a
huge privilege for a Jew who defends himself in his country and a great
deed.”</b></p><p> </p>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_3237251"><a data-featherlight="image" href="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2024/03/F240303IR06.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-3237251" height="200" src="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2024/03/F240303IR06-640x400.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<div class="wp-caption-text">Ultra-Orthodox Jews block a road during a
protest against drafting of Haredi Jews to the IDF, Route 4 near Bnei
Brak, March 3, 2024.</div><div class="wp-caption-text"> </div>
</div>
<p>Successive Netanyahu governments have struggled to come to a
consensus on legislation dealing with ultra-Orthodox military service
since a 2017 High Court decision that determined blanket military
service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students to be
discriminatory and unconstitutional while ordering the state to find a
solution to the issue.</p>
<p>A law that authorizes the exemption expired in June 2023, and a
temporary regulation to extend it is set to expire at the end of March,
after which the military will not be authorized to exempt ultra-Orthodox
men from the draft.</p>
<p>While the Haredi-backed coalition seeks to legislate a new law
extending the exemption, the matter has become increasingly contentious,
given the war in Gaza and the great strain it has put on the serving
population.</p>
<p>Defense Minister Yoav Gallant <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/gallant-say-no-haredi-draft-bill-without-centrist-support-risking-coalition-crisis/">announced</a>
Wednesday he opposes extending blanket exemptions and that he would
only back legislation on the matter that is endorsed by centrist
ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, who joined the cabinet for the
sake of the war effort.</p>
<p><b>According to Gallant, manpower strains on the army during fighting in
Gaza and on the northern border require the contribution of all sectors
of society, making the exemption that ultra-Orthodox men receive in
order to study in yeshivas impractical.</b></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/chief-sephardic-rabbi-says-ultra-orthodox-will-bolt-country-if-forced-into-army/?utm_source=The+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=daily-edition-2024-03-10&utm_medium=email">https://www.timesofisrael.com/chief-sephardic-rabbi-says-ultra-orthodox-will-bolt-country-if-forced-into-army/?utm_source=The+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=daily-edition-2024-03-10&utm_medium=email</a><br /></p>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-85685165221110837952024-03-10T10:20:00.003-04:002024-03-10T15:41:07.842-04:00Ask The *Wise* Rabbis Podcast!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQLkQxWOuq6hRU4u8575wVZiEuR3nqMNRtKgSEK-JJa64PwH4pGxndJoz71kp7kJ9Mefdn-n1AnlCyS_r9do3xIr94mgy5lGFzr6Vh6xSwMG3P_wHRLTzMRTH7Jrgov3XmEpE5bedM-LvAZnU4h489vcex_ccfGr0Dn_W7MEjP29sg8r6qD7FIaA/s960/measles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="723" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQLkQxWOuq6hRU4u8575wVZiEuR3nqMNRtKgSEK-JJa64PwH4pGxndJoz71kp7kJ9Mefdn-n1AnlCyS_r9do3xIr94mgy5lGFzr6Vh6xSwMG3P_wHRLTzMRTH7Jrgov3XmEpE5bedM-LvAZnU4h489vcex_ccfGr0Dn_W7MEjP29sg8r6qD7FIaA/w482-h640/measles.jpg" width="482" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVej-pvubXcyjsdTfTx7UlgDUZknwaG5SvZBjPIzxpCt1QbZ10bcJU6MH684r5mRPTIN6RsXYX7RLR2EH70_jkrOBdnNrTG3N1LZbjGQ-3OFDLzkYwXeZ07MbbOn5nKGjGTHp_p5Kl-Kf6IIq0pRq2sV6CaO8p2eDReLig-TjFMpsCe-TLS3caPA/s960/measels2letter.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="745" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVej-pvubXcyjsdTfTx7UlgDUZknwaG5SvZBjPIzxpCt1QbZ10bcJU6MH684r5mRPTIN6RsXYX7RLR2EH70_jkrOBdnNrTG3N1LZbjGQ-3OFDLzkYwXeZ07MbbOn5nKGjGTHp_p5Kl-Kf6IIq0pRq2sV6CaO8p2eDReLig-TjFMpsCe-TLS3caPA/w496-h640/measels2letter.jpg" width="496" /></a></div><br /><p></p><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="yiv3996307180wrapper" id="yiv3996307180wrapper" style="width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="border-collapse: collapse;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="yiv3996307180body-component" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="yiv3996307180body-component__content" style="border-collapse: collapse; padding: 0px 10px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmf0joP0oQ6ZRhpIk1EDlzv-l3z9pioqoBxWcpLCef5wsX-xiV7flSoTSlv97PN0vToGBVP1G0PXTuCZGjpeiq7xpF_IkKL6WstqL99VbKTUBCcYOIslAIxY1xsvtJLZT7IzfUocoWMINDbkw2wRdD_1lEWP9CHkfg1JCYkLvmzlrEWdHPA1MJkA/s943/LakewoodPhysicians.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="943" data-original-width="691" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmf0joP0oQ6ZRhpIk1EDlzv-l3z9pioqoBxWcpLCef5wsX-xiV7flSoTSlv97PN0vToGBVP1G0PXTuCZGjpeiq7xpF_IkKL6WstqL99VbKTUBCcYOIslAIxY1xsvtJLZT7IzfUocoWMINDbkw2wRdD_1lEWP9CHkfg1JCYkLvmzlrEWdHPA1MJkA/w468-h640/LakewoodPhysicians.jpg" width="468" /></a></div>
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Can I get the measles… again?
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<p style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin: 16px 0px;"><i>Can you get
measles as a grown up if you had measles as a kid? Also, does a vaccine
when you were a kid still protect you later in life? Kristin, Palm Beach
Gardens, Florida</i><br /><br />Measles has been in the news a lot lately. As of Friday, there have been 45 <a href="https://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/34630153.41525/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY2RjLmdvdi9tZWFzbGVzL2Nhc2VzLW91dGJyZWFrcy5odG1s/5e572fcff7304337e90e64e8Bea8b7186" itemprop="StoryLink" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cases reported</a>
in 17 states so far this year. For comparison, in 2023 there were 58
cases in the entire year. That uptick is concerning enough that the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised doctors and other
healthcare providers on <a href="https://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/34630153.41525/aHR0cHM6Ly9lbWVyZ2VuY3kuY2RjLmdvdi9uZXdzbGV0dGVycy9jb2NhLzIwMjQvMDEyNTI0Lmh0bWw/5e572fcff7304337e90e64e8Bde4c6241" itemprop="StoryLink" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">January 25</a> to be on alert for measles cases. <br /><br />“Most
of the measles cases involved in these outbreaks are children and
adolescents who had not received a measles vaccination,” says <a href="https://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/34630153.41525/aHR0cHM6Ly9wdWJsaWNoZWFsdGgudWljLmVkdS9wcm9maWxlcy93YWxsYWNlLWthdHJpbmUv/5e572fcff7304337e90e64e8B08af1b29" itemprop="StoryLink" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Katrine Wallace</a>, an epidemiologist at University of Illinois Chicago. <br /><br />Declining vaccination rates are the reason measles has had such a resurgence in recent decades. Measles was considered to be <a href="https://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/34630153.41525/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY2RjLmdvdi9tZWFzbGVzL2VsaW1pbmF0aW9uLmh0bWwjOn46dGV4dD1JbiUyMDIwMDAlMkMlMjBtZWFzbGVzJTIwd2FzJTIwZGVjbGFyZWQscGVvcGxlJTIwd2hvJTIwYXJlJTIwbm90JTIwdmFjY2luYXRlZC4/5e572fcff7304337e90e64e8B7c4861d5" itemprop="StoryLink" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">eliminated</a> from the US in the year 2000. But in 2019, there were more than 1,200 cases, the biggest reported case load since 1992.</p><p style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin: 16px 0px;">It’s an <i>extremely </i>contagious
virus. If one person has it, says Wallace, as many as 9 out of 10
people around them will wind up infected if they aren’t vaccinated.
That’s why containing the spread of measles requires a very high
vaccination rate, about 95%. And according to a <a href="https://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/34630153.41525/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY2RjLmdvdi9tbXdyL3ZvbHVtZXMvNzIvd3IvbW03MjQ1YTIuaHRtP3NfY2lkPW1tNzI0NWEyX3c/5e572fcff7304337e90e64e8B77d6636a" itemprop="StoryLink" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CDC report</a> from November, kindergarten immunization rates have dropped nationally to 93%.</p><p style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin: 16px 0px;">Misinformation
about the MMR vaccine, which includes the measles, has proliferated in
the last two decades, fueled further by vaccination concerns that arose
during the pandemic. (I have a podcast episode on that topic you can
listen to <a href="https://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/34630153.41525/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmxvb21iZXJnLmNvbS9uZXdzL2FydGljbGVzLzIwMjEtMDMtMzAvdGhlLW1vbWVudC12YWNjaW5lLXNrZXB0aWNpc20td2VudC1tYWluc3RyZWFtP2NtcGlkPUJCRDAzMTAyNF9wcm9nbm9zaXMmdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX3Rlcm09MjQwMzEwJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1wcm9nbm9zaXM/5e572fcff7304337e90e64e8B79f895f0" itemprop="StoryLink" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.)<br /><br />But, says Wallace, adults are sufficiently protected from the measles if one of these four things applies to you:</p><ul style="list-style-type: disc; margin: 16px 0px; padding-left: 10px;"><li style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">You had measles at some point in your life.</li><li style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">You were born before 1957.</li><li style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">You’ve
had two doses of a measles-containing vaccine if you spend time in a
high-risk setting for transmission, like schools or hospitals. </li><li style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">You’ve had one dose of a vaccine if you don’t spend time in high-risk settings. </li></ul><p style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin: 16px 0px;">Kids and teens need one or two doses for protection depending on their age. </p><p style="font-family: Georgia, serif; margin: 16px 0px;">If you aren’t sure whether you’ve been vaccinated or had the measles, you can get what’s called an <a href="https://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/34630153.41525/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub25kZW1hbmQubGFiY29ycC5jb20vbGFiLXRlc3RzL21lYXNsZXMtbXVtcHMtcnViZWxsYS1tbXItaW1tdW5pdHktdGVzdA/5e572fcff7304337e90e64e8Bae105974" itemprop="StoryLink" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MMR titer test</a>, which is available commercially at various labs for about $129, Wallace advises. <br /><br />Measles, she says, can cause severe complications and hospitalization. In November 2022, for example, there was an <a href="https://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/34630153.41525/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY2RjLmdvdi9tbXdyL3ZvbHVtZXMvNzIvd3IvbW03MjMxYTMuaHRt/5e572fcff7304337e90e64e8B285be384" itemprop="StoryLink" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">outbreak in Columbus, Ohio</a>, among primarily unvaccinated children. <br /><br />“It is never too late to get children vaccinated or catch up on missed doses,” says Wallace. “Or adults for that matter.” — <a href="https://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/34630153.41525/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmxvb21iZXJnLmNvbS9hdXRob3JzL0FUcF9TZThDNnZVL2tyaXN0ZW4tdi1icm93bj9zcmVmPUVONE03amh2/5e572fcff7304337e90e64e8B17404941" itemprop="StoryLink" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><i>Kristen V. Brown</i></a></p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-13888687930192119942024-03-08T03:00:00.024-05:002024-03-08T03:00:00.193-05:00Who Needs An Army When You Have Bench Kvetchers - Part 4 - The Need To Replace Fellow Dead Soldiers, That Happen To Be Proud Jews, Who Died Defending Their Homeland!<p> <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news" title="Israel News"></a>
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<h1 class="g-row article-title"><span style="font-size: x-large;">IDF chief again slams exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jews from national, military service</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #847b4f;"> </span></span></h1><h1 class="g-row article-title"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #847b4f;"> </span><u>מי יימר דדמא דידך סומק טפי דילמא דמא דהוא גברא סומק טפי</u><u>". </u></span><br /></h1><h3 align="center"><span style="font-size: large;">סנהדרין עד ע"א</span></h3><h1 class="g-row article-title">
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<h2 class="g-row article-subtitle"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga8kSaw2kPatFMpelEx6CJrizlAfPFbeCcLi23EqSfIgVYOkaNwoNoBAL-rGpjluoHlr_tr1NyoGQIK1CIuMwpo3Tskp1iWwapQcRiuHUGoXZxEKXkS6eEuBofl7j-NbxQobR5DLvo8d2pou1ZULXyV1RSq-iK2aF36D_owmuDadEpwtu4qkLAsg/s320/rambamwork.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="205" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga8kSaw2kPatFMpelEx6CJrizlAfPFbeCcLi23EqSfIgVYOkaNwoNoBAL-rGpjluoHlr_tr1NyoGQIK1CIuMwpo3Tskp1iWwapQcRiuHUGoXZxEKXkS6eEuBofl7j-NbxQobR5DLvo8d2pou1ZULXyV1RSq-iK2aF36D_owmuDadEpwtu4qkLAsg/w205-h320/rambamwork.jpg" width="205" /></a></div> </h2><h2 class="g-row article-subtitle">Halevi said that broadening
the sectors of Israel's population that serve in the IDF and national
service is the only way to replace the many Israeli soldiers who have
died in the current war.</h2>
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<img alt="IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi seen on February 13, 2024 (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)" class="article-image-element" height="260" src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/q_auto/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/578346" title="IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi seen on February 13, 2024" width="290" />
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<section> IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi seen on February 13, 2024</section>
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<p>IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on Thursday slammed <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-788976" rel="" target="_blank">the exemption of haredim</a> from IDF and national service for the second consecutive day.</p><p>Speaking
at the graduation of the IDF officer course in the South, Halevi said
that broadening the sectors of Israel's population that serve in the IDF
and national service is the only way to replace <a href="https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-784762" rel="" target="_blank">the many Israeli soldiers</a> who have died in the current war.</p><p>Further,
he said that Israel as a country and the IDF as an organization would
only remain united if all of the sectors of Israel's population become
part of the IDF and national service - clearly referring to a need to
draft haredim.</p><p>Just
yesterday, Halevi appeared to issue a veiled rebuke of any government
officials who are considering maintaining the haredi sector's blanket
IDF and national service draft exemption.</p><h3><b>Calling on the hardeim</b></h3><p><b>Speaking
at the navy's captain's graduate course on Wednesday, Halevi said, "We
promise at all times that our victims, those who have fallen, will not
have been in vain. There is no other way to do this other than to be
drafted for substantial service, to adorn the uniform, and to become
commanders."</b></p><p><b> </b></p><figure class="article-image-in-body"><img alt="A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN)" class="mfp-image-popup-container-link" data-image-credit="" data-image-name="A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN)" data-mfp-src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/581276" height="283" src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/581276" style="max-width: 758px;" title="A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN)" width="400" /><figcaption class="article-image-caption article-image-credit" style="height: auto; max-width: 100%;">A
group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in
Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February
26, 2024</figcaption><figcaption class="article-image-caption article-image-credit" style="height: auto; max-width: 100%;"> </figcaption><figcaption class="article-image-caption article-image-credit" style="height: auto; max-width: 100%;"><br /></figcaption></figure><p>Halevi's
comments came as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant lined up alongside War
Minister Benny Gantz, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, and others against
the government's haredi parties over the issue.</p><p>In
addition, Halevi and Gallant's aggressive stances have also potentially
pitted them against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, in
principle, is in favor of additional haredi service but, in practice,
has been a major enabler of their exemption to maintain their political
backing for his various governments over the years.</p><p>It
is still unclear whether the sides will reach some kind of compromise
on the issue, whether Netanyahu will try to push through what the
haredim want at the expense of losing Gantz and possibly even Gallant,
or whether the disagreements over potential solutions will eventually
cause the government to fall entirely.
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<h1 class="article-title" data-v-d4ae79e0=""><span style="font-size: x-large;">Courage and bravery: These are the 248 soldiers who heroically fell in the war</span></h1><h2 class="article-summary" data-v-d4ae79e0="">These are the 248 soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice fighting terror.</h2><div class="article-info-container" data-v-d4ae79e0=""><span class="article-info-details" data-v-d4ae79e0=""></span><span class="article-info--logo icon-logo_en" data-v-d4ae79e0=""></span><div class="article-info-container-text" data-v-d4ae79e0=""><hr class="article-hr" data-v-d4ae79e0="" /><div class="article-info article-info-sub" data-v-d4ae79e0=""><div class="article-tags" data-v-8e604d58="" data-v-acb3da49="" data-v-d4ae79e0-s=""><a class="" data-v-acb3da49="" href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/tags/fallen_soldiers">fallen soldiers</a><a class="" data-v-acb3da49="" href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/tags/Gaza_Region">Gaza Region</a><a class="" data-v-acb3da49="" href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/tags/fallen_IDF_soldiers">fallen IDF soldiers</a><a class="" data-v-acb3da49="" href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/tags/Swords_of_Iron">Swords of Iron</a></div></div></div></div><div class="article-body" data-v-d4ae79e0="" style="margin-top: 1.4rem;"><div class="article-main" data-v-d4ae79e0=""><div class="article-content-img" data-v-63fefeec="" data-v-8e604d58="" data-v-d4ae79e0-s=""><figure class="article-image" data-v-63fefeec=""><img alt="Military cemetery (illustrative)" class="image" data-v-63fefeec="" height="180" src="https://a7.org/files/pictures/781x439/1116144.jpg" style="background-color: #5c6343;" width="320" /></figure></div></div></div><div class="article-content-img" data-v-63fefeec="" data-v-8e604d58="" data-v-d4ae79e0-s=""><figcaption class="details stripe-credit" data-v-63fefeec="" data-v-d822bfc2=""><span class="details-desc" data-v-d822bfc2=""></span><a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/379499?utm_source=activetrail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl">http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/379499?utm_source=activetrail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl</a><br /></figcaption></div>
</section></section></section></section></article></section>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-8044968572457291042024-03-07T03:00:00.031-05:002024-03-10T18:26:25.225-04:00Shovel Ready for Moshiach! “99.99%” of Lubavitchers believe the rebbe will return as the messiah." <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxwbA7JLhctSWRugJVk2h0NbBSdJxAXGj8rNBOMnqzIXOsaPuVqfOuRo_J8TfInzU53qtCApRRDMGs4f2Oq_uLEKiGFghY7OKZ-cwIgOi-fetvcKHN3XV5TH8vNYskvq-jnyzgBkfLqEAn45lB5fxnj4L2jt3gISF0LqvUi2py8IB1b7IMGXfFQ/s256/never.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="256" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxwbA7JLhctSWRugJVk2h0NbBSdJxAXGj8rNBOMnqzIXOsaPuVqfOuRo_J8TfInzU53qtCApRRDMGs4f2Oq_uLEKiGFghY7OKZ-cwIgOi-fetvcKHN3XV5TH8vNYskvq-jnyzgBkfLqEAn45lB5fxnj4L2jt3gISF0LqvUi2py8IB1b7IMGXfFQ/w320-h246/never.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxwIPeXg9gBixiS5uw8Wk7yqpTK68aLJcNHRghvQGyagW39zkBatXPA6wrXxj8kZiS57qu7-WJ_7GuZFUEOsHnoHo4thpJQA7GY8sevZwghOSnUt8zzbAMGBU3G3oeru5qSMd7_4JLNOFBB6Z99XBoSJujFysOavGn9OxpXXbW-XgcnXJf5bw7vw/s360/iam.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="360" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxwIPeXg9gBixiS5uw8Wk7yqpTK68aLJcNHRghvQGyagW39zkBatXPA6wrXxj8kZiS57qu7-WJ_7GuZFUEOsHnoHo4thpJQA7GY8sevZwghOSnUt8zzbAMGBU3G3oeru5qSMd7_4JLNOFBB6Z99XBoSJujFysOavGn9OxpXXbW-XgcnXJf5bw7vw/s320/iam.gif" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><h1 class="heading-2"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdjIAMYahNsnOtkLSeakBvcYh-Uqfp08xrDcWJ0hR0GYA3UZS0khmJApe5emP0p6y153G2TkQjQDosTM7cEhciuk8bPe1OMO1cpRMS5I6iuj5g6GDWNpqkk7Lq9YYozNmmVEwuwRtUOiwIP9dvdo0xrNiaVoqDI7lL9rhqPsGtf-aO9RxHEFhZYA/s360/wait.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="360" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdjIAMYahNsnOtkLSeakBvcYh-Uqfp08xrDcWJ0hR0GYA3UZS0khmJApe5emP0p6y153G2TkQjQDosTM7cEhciuk8bPe1OMO1cpRMS5I6iuj5g6GDWNpqkk7Lq9YYozNmmVEwuwRtUOiwIP9dvdo0xrNiaVoqDI7lL9rhqPsGtf-aO9RxHEFhZYA/s320/wait.gif" width="320" /></a></div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg965mHR9cLtprs2PH7ZniFublguOYSQWa1eYSN3yOP3Cy_0DgfcIf4Sa5cTGEqYE7Qc3Z-ZZqC68p5cG8qBc0RNDsHg62VR2vLs71fKgsDKheakH5XvRDl9ESwUOJno8GBXexnUHGg64234Lx2d8-1H-ftZmD80Tk6OQvs-sI2xxu2LWjUxpw0Tw/s903/frank1.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="903" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg965mHR9cLtprs2PH7ZniFublguOYSQWa1eYSN3yOP3Cy_0DgfcIf4Sa5cTGEqYE7Qc3Z-ZZqC68p5cG8qBc0RNDsHg62VR2vLs71fKgsDKheakH5XvRDl9ESwUOJno8GBXexnUHGg64234Lx2d8-1H-ftZmD80Tk6OQvs-sI2xxu2LWjUxpw0Tw/s320/frank1.webp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Jacob Joseph Frank</b><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Frank#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language" title="Hebrew language">Hebrew</a>: <span dir="rtl" lang="he">יעקב פרנק</span>; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_language" title="Polish language">Polish</a>: <i lang="pl">Jakub Józef Frank</i>;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Frank#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-slownik_4-0"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Frank#cite_note-slownik-4">[4]</a></sup> born <b>Jakub Lejbowicz</b>; 1726 – 10 December 1791) was a <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Jews" title="Polish Jews">Polish-Jewish</a><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-auto_1-1"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Frank#cite_note-auto-1">[1]</a></sup> religious leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_messiah_claimants" title="List of messiah claimants">self-proclaimed messiah</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatai_Zevi" title="Sabbatai Zevi">Sabbatai Zevi</a> (1626–1676) and also of the biblical patriarch <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob" title="Jacob">Jacob</a>.
The Jewish authorities in Poland excommunicated Frank and his followers
due to his heretical doctrines that included deification of himself as a
part of a trinity and other controversial concepts such as neo-<a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpocratian" title="Carpocratian">Carpocratian</a> "purification through transgression".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Frank#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ciekawe.onet.pl_6-0"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Frank#cite_note-ciekawe.onet.pl-6">[6]</a></sup></span>
</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">Frank arguably created a religious movement, now referred to as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankism" title="Frankism">Frankism</a>, which incorporated aspects of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity" title="Christianity">Christianity</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism" title="Judaism">Judaism</a>. The development of Frankism was one of the consequences of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_messiah" title="Jewish messiah">messianic</a> movement of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatai_Zevi" title="Sabbatai Zevi">Sabbatai Zevi</a>. This religious mysticism followed socioeconomic changes among the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Poland" title="History of the Jews in Poland">Jews of Poland</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Lithuania" title="History of the Jews in Lithuania">Lithuania</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Ukraine" title="History of the Jews in Ukraine">Ruthenia</a>.
</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></h1><main class="mw-body" id="content" role="main"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><div aria-labelledby="firstHeading" class="vector-body ve-init-mw-desktopArticleTarget-targetContainer" data-mw-ve-target-container="" id="bodyContent"><div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div>
<div class="mw-body-content" id="mw-content-text"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a class="mw-file-description" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brockhaus_and_Efron_Jewish_Encyclopedia_e13_783-0.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Etched portrait of Sabbatai Zevi from 1666" class="mw-file-element" data-file-height="2419" data-file-width="1558" height="342" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Brockhaus_and_Efron_Jewish_Encyclopedia_e13_783-0.jpg/220px-Brockhaus_and_Efron_Jewish_Encyclopedia_e13_783-0.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" dir="ltr" lang="en"><table class="infobox biography vcard"><tbody><tr><th class="infobox-above" colspan="2" style="background: rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black;"><div class="fn">Sabbatai Zevi</div></th></tr><tr><td class="infobox-subheader" colspan="2" style="font-size: 125%; font-weight: bold;"><div class="nickname" lang="he">שַׁבְּתַי צְבִי</div></td></tr><tr><td class="infobox-image" colspan="2"><span class="mw-default-size"></span><div class="infobox-caption">Etched portrait of Sabbatai Zevi from 1666</div></td></tr><tr><th class="infobox-header" colspan="2" style="background: rgb(211, 211, 211); color: black;">Personal</th></tr><tr><th class="infobox-label" scope="row">Born</th><td class="infobox-data">August 1, 1626<br /><div class="birthplace" style="display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smyrna" title="Smyrna">Smyrna</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire" title="Ottoman Empire">Ottoman Empire</a> (modern <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B0zmir" title="İzmir">İzmir</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey" title="Turkey">Turkey</a>)</div></td></tr><tr><th class="infobox-label" scope="row">Died</th><td class="infobox-data"><abbr title="circa">c.</abbr> September 17, 1676 (aged 50)<br /><div class="deathplace" style="display: inline;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulcinj" title="Ulcinj">Ulcinj</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire" title="Ottoman Empire">Ottoman Empire</a> (modern <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montenegro" title="Montenegro">Montenegro</a>)</div></td></tr><tr><th class="infobox-label" scope="row">Religion</th><td class="infobox-data category"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism" title="Judaism">Judaism</a>, later <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam" title="Islam">Islam</a></td></tr><tr><th class="infobox-label" scope="row">Nationality</th><td class="infobox-data nickname">Ottoman</td></tr><tr><th class="infobox-label" scope="row">Founder of</th><td class="infobox-data"><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbateanism" title="Sabbateanism">Sabbateanism</a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p><b>Sabbatai Zevi</b><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatai_Zevi#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language" title="Hebrew language">Hebrew</a>: <span dir="rtl" lang="he">שַׁבְּתַי צְבִי</span>, <small><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Hebrew" title="Romanization of Hebrew">romanized</a>: </small><span title="Hebrew-language romanization"><i lang="he-Latn">Šabbĕṯai Ṣĕḇî</i></span>; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_language" title="Turkish language">Turkish</a>: <i lang="tr">Sabetay Sevi</i>; August 1, 1626 – <abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space: nowrap;"> September 17, 1676</span>)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatai_Zevi#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> was an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire" title="Ottoman Empire">Ottoman</a> Jewish <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_mysticism" title="Jewish mysticism">mystic</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_messiah" title="False messiah">false messiah</a> and ordained <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbi" title="Rabbi">rabbi</a> from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smyrna" title="Smyrna">Smyrna</a> (now <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B0zmir" title="İzmir">İzmir</a>, Turkey).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatai_Zevi#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-wigoder_4-0"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatai_Zevi#cite_note-wigoder-4">[4]</a></sup> He was likely of Ashkenazi origin.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatai_Zevi#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup> Active throughout the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire" title="Ottoman Empire">Ottoman Empire</a>, Zevi claimed to be the long-awaited <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Messiah" title="Jewish Messiah">Jewish Messiah</a> and founded the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbateans" title="Sabbateans">Sabbatean movement</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatai_Zevi#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup>
</p></div></div></div></main><h1 class="heading-2">Latest accessory in Crown Heights: A shovel lapel pin to signal support for the 770 tunnel</h1><br /><br /><article>
<div class="featured-image"><img alt="A lapel pin shaped like a shovel with a silhouette of Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway signals support for a tunnel that was dug there illegally." class="attachment-xlarge size-xlarge wp-post-image" height="225" src="https://forward.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_4053-2400x1350.jpeg" width="400" /><p class="caption"><span class="caption-text">A
lapel pin shaped like a shovel with a silhouette of Chabad-Lubavitch
headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway signals support for a tunnel that
was dug there illegally.</span></p><p class="caption"><span class="caption-text"> </span></p></div><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Are lapel pins shaped like shovels the latest accessory in Crown Heights, Brooklyn?</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p>
<figure class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_588737" style="width: 310px;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-588737 size-medium" height="180" src="https://forward.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Untitled-design-e1709587274785-300x180.jpg?_t=1709587274" width="300" /><figcaption class="caption">Mendy Gerlitzky is shown wearing a shovel pin <br /></figcaption></figure>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The pin can be purchased for $3 at Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mendy Gerlitzky, a young Lubavitch
man, wore the pin to a videotaped interview about an illegally dug
tunnel at 770. A near-riot erupted when city officials ordered the
tunnel filled in last month. </span></p><div class="Parallax-unit"></div>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gerlitzky had the small gold-colored shovel pin conspicuously attached to the lapel of his black jacket as he spoke on the </span><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/1VUDcUfJ1nrsNw1WUb8wIS?si=N3K_GK_dR6eErdchc5_hwQ" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Trauma Dump with Zach Adler</span></i></a><i> </i><span style="font-weight: 400;">podcast. The episode, titled “Interview with a Secret NYC Jewish ‘Tunnel’ Digger,” was </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQiIl-dNUbo" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">posted on YouTube March 1</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“So he’s wearing a shovel on the
lapel,” Adler, the podcast host, said. “I love that you’re wearing this
and I want one by the way. Can you get me one?” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Yeah, sure,” Gerlitzky said. Pointing
to details on the pin, he said, “Here it says, ‘Expand 770,’ and there
is a little 770 in the shovel,” referring to a silhouette of the
building on the pin.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Oh my God, it’s beautiful,” Adler said. “I think I want to be on Team Expand. So I would like a shovel.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Someone posting anonymously on the
Orthodox Jewish news site collive.com also referred to the item, saying:
“I have seen a new lapel pin of a gold shovel. The shovelist’s.”</span></p>
<div class="youtube-player" data-id="yQiIl-dNUbo" data-size="hq"><img data-youtube_format="webp" data-youtube_id="yQiIl-dNUbo" data-youtube_size="hq" height="240" src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/yQiIl-dNUbo/hqdefault.webp" width="320" /><div class="play"></div></div>
<h2><b>The melee at 770</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://forward.com/fast-forward/575528/arrests-at-chabad-770-secret-tunnel/">Police were called to Chabad headquarters</a> on Jan. 8 after the building’s owners attempted to fill the tunnel in with concrete. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The
city Buildings Department described the space as a “linear tunnel,” 8
feet wide, 60 feet long and 5 feet high, and issued emergency work
orders to stabilize nearby buildings that had been rendered unsafe by
the digging near an abandoned mikvah adjacent to 770. </span></p>
<p><b><span>Video of the ensuing fracas showed
young Hasidic men throwing furniture and ripping tiles from the wall of a
synagogue beneath the organization’s offices. Five people were
arrested.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ1YoiNjJYG8oW1MFy7Q29XwGL5O_DvQJlb6U3sPWbg7Us8R3aOSdpUeVlJjm89BFT1PEusIOrSC4Fq3KWbUrckgOvDSLvmNAcdRwHmAiqUic4wtRVBWclnxZV6qLW3DlsXBZ37TTdIexZmBYVcPuVcuWiIsZR2DHbDD8_4jv9K9XZIiBOZQYrAw/s532/drink.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="532" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ1YoiNjJYG8oW1MFy7Q29XwGL5O_DvQJlb6U3sPWbg7Us8R3aOSdpUeVlJjm89BFT1PEusIOrSC4Fq3KWbUrckgOvDSLvmNAcdRwHmAiqUic4wtRVBWclnxZV6qLW3DlsXBZ37TTdIexZmBYVcPuVcuWiIsZR2DHbDD8_4jv9K9XZIiBOZQYrAw/w400-h291/drink.gif" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /> </span><p></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gerlitzky disputed the use of the term
“tunnel,” saying that those using the term to get attention for stories
about the incident “owe an apology to all those people, all the
hostages, who are sitting in tunnels for the past four months,”
referring to hostages taken from Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7. He said
instead of calling it a tunnel, it should be called “a failed attempt to
expand the shul.”</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p>
<figure class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_588767" style="width: 296px;"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-588767" height="300" src="https://forward.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_4058-scaled-e1709587960194-286x300.jpeg" width="286" /><figcaption class="caption">Shovel pin signaling support for the illegally dug tunnel at Chabad headquarters. </figcaption><figcaption class="caption"><br /></figcaption></figure>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Did you pick up a shovel at any point?” Adler asked.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’m not going to confirm or deny,” Gerlitzky responded.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“That’s a yes,” Adler said. </span></p>
<h2><b>What the rebbe wanted</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gerlitzky also said “770 is my life,”
and that he goes there daily to pray. He said that Chabad’s Rebbe
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who died in 1994, had at one point said he
wanted the synagogue expanded to accommodate increased numbers of
supporters. A few years ago, Gerlitzky said, some of those young
Lubavitchers took matters into their own hands and began digging the
space out without permission from the Chabad establishment. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Litigation has been ongoing for years </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">between Chabad officials and the group that occupies the synagogue. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“They’ve
been in court for 20 years over who should be in charge of the shul.
The establishment within Chabad wants to take control of the shul
because they don’t like the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">meshichist </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">(messianist) stuff that goes on there,” Gerlitzky said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This is a <i>Game of Thrones</i> at 770!” Adler exclaimed, adding that it was </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">a “power struggle” between the “old guard” and “the young guys” who were “going ahead and doing what they thought was right.” </span></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Gerlitzky also said, without evidence, that “99.99%” of Lubavitchers <a href="https://forward.com/news/575897/a-brief-history-of-the-messianic-movement-that-inspired-the-tunnel-under-770-eastern-parkway/">believe the rebbe will return as the messiah.</a> <u>But he said the belief is kept under wraps because Chabad leaders “think it’s going to make Lubavitchers look crazy.”</u></span></b></p>
<p>Officially, the movement maintains an anti-meshichist stance. It does
not list meshichistic Chabad outposts on its website’s synagogue lookup
tool. Its spokesperson <a href="https://forward.com/news/507424/messiah-is-here-signs-new-york-chabad-schneerson/">has publicly disavowed</a> activists who post “Messiah Is Here!” posters around New York.</p>
<h2><b>The big reveal</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Asked by Adler whether those doing the
digging had considered safety issues, Gerlitzky said they had
informally consulted contractors who told them, “I’m not going to tell
you, dig or don’t dig, but if you’re going to do it, put a beam there.”
He said the group’s intention was to “reveal” a finished space at some
point with lights, tiles, plumbing, benches, floors and tables. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Adler also asked him about the video
footage that showed a soiled mattress and high chair in the excavated
space. Those objects helped fuel baseless antisemitic conspiracy
theories online that the tunnel was being used for a child-sex ring. </span></p>
<p><b><span>Gerlitzky said mattresses were used to
soundproof the digging and that the high chair was being stored there
along with other unused items by someone in the community who didn’t
need it but hadn’t thrown it away. </span></b></p>
<p><b><span><u>“Just this guy keeping his old crap by the abandoned mikvah,” Adler said. </u></span></b></p><a href="https://forward.com/fast-forward/588719/tunnel-chabad-shovel-pin-770/?">https://forward.com/fast-forward/588719/tunnel-chabad-shovel-pin-770/?</a></article><br />Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-45458400341321388612024-03-06T03:00:00.001-05:002024-03-06T03:00:00.156-05:00Dr. Shalvi said the dye probably created both the argaman (purple) and techelet (azure) mentioned dozens of times in the Hebrew Bible. Techelet was used for dyeing tzitzit (tassels) on tallits (prayer shawls) used in Jewish religious rituals, and inspired the blue of the Israeli flag.<p> </p><h1 class="css-1l8buln e1h9rw200" data-testid="headline" id="link-7bea3e2c">In Israel, <u>a 3,000-Year-Old</u> Purple Factory</h1><h1 class="css-1l8buln e1h9rw200" data-testid="headline" id="link-7bea3e2c"> </h1><p class="css-1n0orw4 e1wiw3jv0" id="article-summary"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Archaeologists have revealed a major production site for one of history’s most luxurious, and smelliest, colorants.</span></b></p><p class="css-1n0orw4 e1wiw3jv0" id="article-summary"> </p><article class="css-1vxca1d e1lmdhsb0" id="story"><div class="css-1vkm6nb ehdk2mb0"></div><header class="css-1gkjb1c euiyums1"><div data-testid="imageblock-wrapper"><figure aria-label="media" class="sizeMedium layoutHorizontal css-nlqgyf" role="group"><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="imageContainer-children-Image"><picture><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)"></source><img alt="A person’s hand holds a snail’s shell, its purple innards exposed." class="css-rq4mmj" height="264" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/03/05/multimedia/05SCI-PURPLE-04-bkhm/05SCI-PURPLE-04-bkhm-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" width="400" /></picture></div><figcaption class="css-1ifeaca e3rygrp0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-ImageCaption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">Tyrian purple, one of the most expensive dyes in ancient times, is extracted from the mucus glands of murex sea snails.</span></figcaption></figure></div><br /></header><section class="meteredContent css-1r7ky0e" name="articleBody"><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The
most prized pigment of antiquity was processed not from a tangle of
root or the frothy extract of a weed, but by drawing out a slimy
secretion from the mucus glands behind the anus of murex sea snails —
“the bottom of the bottom-feeders,” the historian Kelly Grovier has
written. The common name of the dyestuff, Tyrian purple, derives from
the habitat of the mollusks, which the Phoenicians purportedly began
harvesting in the 16th century B.C. in the city-state of Tyre in
present-day Lebanon.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Because each
snail yielded little more than a drop of the discharge — a clear,
malodorous liquid — some 250,000 were required to produce an ounce of
dye, by some accounts. Purple was labor-intensive, but so widely
produced that piles of shells discarded millenniums ago are now
geographical features in the region. The dye was also so pricey — worth
more than three times its weight in gold, according to a Roman edict
issued in 301 A.D. — that its use was reserved for priests, nobility and
royalty. “Though purple may have symbolized a higher order, it reeked
of a lower ordure,” Dr. Grovier writes in his book, “The Art of Colour.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Where
all this purple came from has long been a mystery. Just a few locations
along the Levant’s southern coast and in Cyprus show evidence of
dye-making at the start of the period, and all were on a modest scale.
But <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03344355.2023.2190283" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">a new study</a>
by researchers at the University of Haifa in Israel suggests that
through most of the Iron Age biblical era, from roughly 1150 B.C. to 600
B.C., a small promontory called Tel Shiqmona on Israel’s Carmel coast
was not a residential settlement, as previously supposed, but a major
purple-dying factory.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div><div class="css-8atqhb"></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“Tel
Shiqmona fills in this gap with continuous production, most of the time
in massive quantities,” said Golan Shalvi, a postdoctoral student in
archaeology at the University of Chicago and the lead author of the
paper. “For the majority of the Iron Age, it is the only site where
manufacturing can be demonstrated with certainty.”</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div><div data-testid="imageblock-wrapper"><figure aria-label="media" class="img-sz-medium css-d754w4 e1g7ppur0" role="group"><div class="css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-figure"><br /><div class="css-1pq3dr9" data-testid="lazy-image"><div data-testid="lazyimage-container" style="height: auto;"><picture class="css-1j5kxti" style="opacity: 1;"><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)"></source><img alt="An aerial view of an archaeological site on a brown strip of land between a highway and a turquoise coastline." class="css-1m50asq" height="267" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/03/05/multimedia/05SCI-PURPLE-02-bkhm/05SCI-PURPLE-02-bkhm-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" width="400" /></picture></div></div></div><figcaption class="css-gbc9ki ewdxa0s0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-caption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">Archaeological
evidence from Tel Shiqmona, on Israel’s Carmel coast, suggest it was a
major purple-dying factory from roughly 1150 B.C. to 600 B.C</span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Aaron
Schmitt, an expert on Phoenician culture who teaches archaeology at the
Heidelberg University in Germany and who was not involved with the
project, hailed the study for shedding new light on the neglected ruins.
“To find a site that really specialized in this economic branch is
highly significant and special,” he said</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The
research, published in the Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of
Tel Aviv, proposes that during the first half of the ninth century B.C.,
the Israelites took over Tel Shiqmona and set about cornering the
lucrative purple-dye market by converting the small dye installation
into a fortified manufacturing plant surrounded by a casemate wall.
(<b>This was at about the same time that Ahab ruled the Kingdom of Israel.)</b></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The
new operation was more or less a joint venture, run by the Israelites
and staffed by skilled Phoenician workers who held the secrets to making
the dye, Dr. Shalvi said. Whether the locals had continued the
operation by coercion or cooperation is unclear.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In
theory, the goods assembled at Tel Shiqmona, mainly purple-dyed wool or
textiles, were distributed to the elite and temples across the area,
including Israel, Phoenicia, Philistia, Aram, Judea and Cyprus. Dr.
Shalvi said the dye probably created both the argaman (purple) and
techelet (azure) mentioned dozens of times in the Hebrew Bible. Techelet
was used for dyeing tzitzit (tassels) on tallits (prayer shawls) used
in Jewish religious rituals, and inspired the blue of the Israeli flag.</p></div></div><div><div class="css-8atqhb"></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><b><u>“The
purple manufacture at Tel Shiqmona overlapped with the existence of the
First Temple in Jerusalem,” Dr. Shalvi said, referring to the house of
worship that, according to Jewish tradition, was built by King Solomon
on the spot where God created Adam. </u></b>“For most of that time, it was the
only place known to make the dye. Therefore, it is the only candidate to
provide the color for the scarlet and sapphire hues of the temple’s
robes and tabernacle curtains.”</p><div></div><h2 class="css-9ycfei eoo0vm40" id="link-ba35588">It took guts</h2><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Tyrian
purple was the sole colorfast dye known to the ancients; fabric tinted
in the color grew brighter with weathering and sunlight. Shades ranged
from bluish-green to a purplish red, depending on how the dye was
prepared and fixed in textiles. The most vibrant tone was the deep
crimson of “clotted blood” tinged with black, the Roman historian Pliny
reported.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In imperial Rome, sumptuary
laws restricted the buying and wearing of purple-dyed fabrics to the
emperor (purple silk was to be used only at his direction under penalty
of death) and, to a lesser extent, senators and consuls, who were
allowed to wear broad bands of purple at the edges of their togas.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The
name and provenance of Tyrian purple were inventions of the Romans. As
far back as 1900 B.C., the Minoans of Crete were already preparing a
purple dye from marine snails, spawning an industry that then caught on
and flourished throughout the eastern Mediterranean. The center of
production is thought to have moved to the port of Tyre, although Dr.
Schmitt said it could not be corroborated by primary sources, either
textual or archaeological. At the port, the snails were gathered from
shallow waters and left to rot in large vats before being distilled into
the purified dye. (Phoinike, the area’s corresponding Greek name, is
related to phoinix, meaning “reddish purple,” leading some scholars to
speculate that Phoenicia was “the land of purple.”)</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div><div data-testid="imageblock-wrapper"><figure aria-label="media" class="img-sz-medium css-d754w4 e1g7ppur0" role="group"><div class="css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-figure"><br /><div class="css-1pq3dr9" data-testid="lazy-image"><div data-testid="lazyimage-container" style="height: auto;"><picture class="css-1j5kxti" style="opacity: 1;"><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)"></source><img alt="Several pieces of beige pottery that show traces of purple dye." class="css-1m50asq" height="275" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/03/05/multimedia/05SCI-PURPLE-01-bkhm/05SCI-PURPLE-01-bkhm-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" width="400" /></picture></div></div></div><figcaption class="css-gbc9ki ewdxa0s0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-caption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">Pieces of an ancient vat of purple dye from Tel Shiqmona.</span><span class="css-1u46b97 e1z0qqy90"><span class="css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0">Credit...</span><span><span aria-hidden="false">Moshe Caine, via Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem</span></span></span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div><div class="css-8atqhb"></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Julius
Pollux, a Greek scholar and grammarian from the second century A.D.,
attributed the discovery of the color to Tyrian Hercules, known to the
Phoenicians as Melqart, guardian deity of Tyre. In his “Onomasticon,” a
10-volume thesaurus, Pollux relates that a nymph named Tyrus was walking
along the beach when her dog bit into a sea snail, staining the dog’s
mouth an intense purple. Tyrus was enthralled by the brilliance and told
Hercules, her lover, that she wanted a robe of the same color. Hercules
complied and purple became a royal rage.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In
the 17th century, the artist Peter Paul Rubens recreated the yarn in
the oil painting “Hercules’ Dog Discovers Purple Dye.” Alas, he got the
shell wrong, depicting a spiral nautilus snail instead of a prickly
murex.</p><h2 class="css-9ycfei eoo0vm40" id="link-2f42cb51">Shell game</h2><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Tyre
is 30 miles north of Tel Shiqmona, where the purple pigment was created
from the dried and boiled guts of three species of predatory sea
snails: the spiny dye-murex (Bolinus brandaris), the banded dye-murex
(Hexaplex trunculus) and the red-mouthed rock shell (Stramonita
haemostoma). Each added a slightly different cast to the mix.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Tel
Shiqmona had long confounded archaeologists, who wondered why what
looked to be some kind of fort had been erected far from agricultural
lands on a rocky stretch of shoreline that didn’t offer safe harbor to
ships.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">From 1963-77, the eight-acre
site was excavated extensively by Yosef Elgavish, an Israeli
archaeologist. Working on behalf of the Haifa Museum, he unearthed
weaving and spinning equipment, large purple-stained ceramic vats and
evidence of human habitation dating to around 1500 B.C. Although some
archaeological layers harbored Phoenician pottery, Dr. Elgavish also
found a four-room house and olive presses, which he identified as
typical of the 10th-century B.C. settlements of the Israelites.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div><div class="css-8atqhb"></div></div><div><div data-testid="imageblock-wrapper"><figure aria-label="media" class="img-sz-medium css-d754w4 e1g7ppur0" role="group"><div class="css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-figure"><br /><div class="css-1pq3dr9" data-testid="lazy-image"><div data-testid="lazyimage-container" style="height: auto;"><picture class="css-1j5kxti" style="opacity: 1;"><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)"></source><img alt="An unappetizing mash of white salt crystals and purple snail guts." class="css-1m50asq" height="260" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/03/05/multimedia/05SCI-PURPLE-sub-bzvt/05SCI-PURPLE-sub-bzvt-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" width="400" /></picture></div></div></div><figcaption class="css-gbc9ki ewdxa0s0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-caption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">Salted glands of murex snail dry in the sun during the production of Tyrian purple</span></figcaption><figcaption class="css-gbc9ki ewdxa0s0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-caption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0"> </span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“Dr.
Elgavish had a hunch that Tel Shiqmona had some role in the production
of the purple dye, but he didn’t delve into the amount of production or
who ran the dye process,” Dr. Shalvi said.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">For
the next four decades, the site was almost completely ignored for
academic research. “The results and finds of the early expeditions were
neither researched nor published,” Dr. Shalvi said. In 2016, he and
Ayelet Gilboa, his doctoral adviser at the University of Haifa, began a
project to save what they called the “cultural and intellectual assets”
hidden in the forgotten finds.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Dr.
Shalvi soon realized that defining Tel Shiqmona’s as exclusively
Israelite did not reflect the region’s complexity. He divided the site’s
Iron Age chronology into four main episodes: a Phoenician village (1100
B.C. to 900 B.C.); a walled enclosure controlled by the Israelites (900
B.C. to 740 B.C.); an ephemeral resettlement after the destruction of
the kingdom and the facility (740 B.C. to 700 B.C.), and an unfortified
industrial compound under Assyrian domination that survived until the
Babylonian takeover of the territory (700 B.C. to 600 B.C.)</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Three
years ago, after carefully reviewing the thousands of finds from Dr.
Elgavish’s excavation, Dr. Shalvi had an epiphany. ”I discovered purple
traces that no one else had observed,” he said. “As soon as my eyes were
opened to the purple staining pattern, I noticed it everywhere.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">That
afternoon he called Dr. Gilboa and told her about his revelation. “We
discussed whether it might be a good idea for me to see a psychiatrist,”
Dr. Shalvi said with a dry chuckle.<b> “Fortunately, chemical analysis
demonstrated that in every case the purple was real.”</b></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/05/science/archaeology-tyrian-purple-murex.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/05/science/archaeology-tyrian-purple-murex.html</a><br /></p></div></div></section></article>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-28547696708936561452024-03-05T03:00:00.011-05:002024-03-05T13:25:23.815-05:00Who Needs An Army When You Have Bench Kvetchers - Part Three - The Idiot Brigade - “If all the soldiers studied Torah, we wouldn’t need an army,” the boy replied.<p> </p><h1 class="g-row article-title">Ultra-Orthodox Jews block Israeli highway in protest of IDF draft</h1><h1 class="g-row article-title"> </h1>
<section>
<h2 class="g-row article-subtitle">The protesters can be seen
blocking vehicles and clashing with police officers at the intersection
near the Coca-Cola factory in Bnei Brak in footage shared on social
media.</h2><h2 class="g-row article-subtitle"> The Idiot Brigade:<br /></h2><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><b>In Bnei Brak, a city east of Tel Aviv
that is considered Israel’s ultra-Orthodox capital, there are few
posters of the Israeli hostages who were captured on Oct. 7 and whose
photographs are ubiquitous in secular neighborhoods.</b></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><b>Rabbinical
leaders in the city remain unmoved by calls for Haredim to serve in the
military. Within Haredi communities, many fear that the fabric of their
insular life would begin to fray if men were forced to skip the
full-time study of Scripture.</b></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><b> </b></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwhZJNh2EZZUqasHBZDkkwiUMymbUjWqhfJSlbihKnNzJXnqjfzYxnoh-vTwqkNUoANolV7hAO_MLthN9xOlCs4ebi7metEYxhOa6YiGbpNBoxnWwMCBKJDGtFULFxreexewXoz6puwu1KO2TyS4zGJfxJ2HU8DJ78f6lmvdUCGkVTQKCVE7a_SA/s1024/bergman.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwhZJNh2EZZUqasHBZDkkwiUMymbUjWqhfJSlbihKnNzJXnqjfzYxnoh-vTwqkNUoANolV7hAO_MLthN9xOlCs4ebi7metEYxhOa6YiGbpNBoxnWwMCBKJDGtFULFxreexewXoz6puwu1KO2TyS4zGJfxJ2HU8DJ78f6lmvdUCGkVTQKCVE7a_SA/s320/bergman.webp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><b>FIVE STAR GENERAL OF THE IDIOT BRIGADE </b></span><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0"><b><span style="color: red;">Rabbi Meir Zvi Bergman, center, a revered religious leader, said the way to help Israel is to study Scripture</span></b>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jA4g848I8S53w7ZeuB0CklveZDf0MdrgFyMFXI7xoNifm_louotwFFUZ-awz28sD9H7-EshmX2KnZ55OEc94cvAdBhtQ_HI3p7Xqx9JHpIUvSsmIwBqf5U66TZPrKWlFMZ-CDdCmF1H4pTskJTJP-AujfFQ4ktXNMP6RSqhW_erVjfQVbIIOQQ/s200/200w.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jA4g848I8S53w7ZeuB0CklveZDf0MdrgFyMFXI7xoNifm_louotwFFUZ-awz28sD9H7-EshmX2KnZ55OEc94cvAdBhtQ_HI3p7Xqx9JHpIUvSsmIwBqf5U66TZPrKWlFMZ-CDdCmF1H4pTskJTJP-AujfFQ4ktXNMP6RSqhW_erVjfQVbIIOQQ/s1600/200w.gif" width="200" /></a></div><br /></b><p></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><b>“The way
to help is to study Torah,” Meir Zvi Bergman, one of the most revered
rabbis in Israel, said during a rare audience with journalists from The
New York Times. “No one can give up on the Torah,” he added.</b></p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><b>To show how Rabbi Bergman reflected mainstream Haredi opinion, a Haredi commentator took us to meet boys from a nearby school.</b></p><div class="feed-shared-update-v2__description-wrapper mr2" tabindex="-1">
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span dir="ltr">“How are we going to win the war?” the commentator, Bezalel Stauber, asked. “With guns?”</span></b></span></span></div><div class="update-components-text relative update-components-update-v2__commentary" dir="ltr"><span class="break-words"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span dir="ltr"><br />“Not with guns,” one boy replied.<br /><br />“With what, then?” Mr. Stauber asked.</span></b></span></span></div><div class="update-components-text relative update-components-update-v2__commentary" dir="ltr"><span class="break-words"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span dir="ltr"><br />“Just with prayer,” another boy shot back.</span></b></span></span></div><div class="update-components-text relative update-components-update-v2__commentary" dir="ltr"><span class="break-words"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span dir="ltr"><br />“So where are we going to get our soldiers from?” Mr. Stauber said.</span></b></span></span></div><div class="update-components-text relative update-components-update-v2__commentary" dir="ltr"><span class="break-words"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span dir="ltr"><br /><u>“If all the soldiers studied Torah, we wouldn’t need an army,” the boy replied.</u></span></b></span></span></div><div class="update-components-text relative update-components-update-v2__commentary" dir="ltr"><u><span class="break-words"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span dir="ltr"> </span></b></span></span></u></div><div class="update-components-text relative update-components-update-v2__commentary" dir="ltr"><a aria-label="Open article: Gaza War Is Shifting Ties Between Secular and Ultra-Orthodox Israelis by nytimes.com" class="app-aware-link update-components-article__meta flex-grow-1 full-width tap-target display-flex justify-space-between align-items-flex-start" data-artdeco-is-focused="true" data-test-app-aware-link="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/04/world/middleeast/israel-haredi-military-service-idf.html" target="_blank"><span dir="ltr">Gaza War Is Shifting Ties Between Secular and Ultra-Orthodox Israelis</span></a><span class="break-words"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span dir="ltr"> </span></b></span>
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<p>Dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jewish protesters blocked Highway 4, near the <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-788797" rel="" target="_blank">haredi city of Bnei Brak</a>, in a demonstration against recent calls for equal IDF conscription rules on Sunday afternoon.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>The
protesters can be seen blocking vehicles and clashing with police
officers at the intersection near the Coca-Cola factory in Bnei Brak in
footage shared on social media.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p></p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; max-width: 560px; width: 100%;"></div><p></p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>According to Israeli media, the protesters were affiliated with the Peleg Yerushalmi sect.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Ultra-Orthodox Jews block a road during a protest outside the city of Bnei Brak, March 3, 2024 (credit: ITAI RON/FLASH90)" class="mfp-image-popup-container-link" data-image-credit="" data-image-name=" Ultra-Orthodox Jews block a road during a protest outside the city of Bnei Brak, March 3, 2024 (credit: ITAI RON/FLASH90)" data-mfp-src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/582553" height="283" src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/582553" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 758px;" title="Ultra-Orthodox Jews block a road during a protest outside the city of Bnei Brak, March 3, 2024 (credit: ITAI RON/FLASH90)" width="400" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <b style="color: red;">Some protesters had
called the police "Nazis." Ultra-Orthodox Jews block a road during a protest outside the city of Bnei Brak, March 3, 2024</b></td></tr></tbody></table><figure class="article-image-in-body"><br /></figure><p>During the protest, an Israeli border police officer was seen kicking a protester.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p></p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; max-width: 550px; width: 100%;"></div><p></p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>Israel
Police released a statement on the matter, saying: "Traffic
arrangements on Highway 4 following an illegal demonstration: Israeli
police officers are on the scene directing traffic to alternative
routes.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><section class="hide-for-premium"> </section><p>Route
4 to the North - traffic is diverted to Route 471. Highway 4 to the
South - traffic is directed towards Am Moshevat, Bnei-Brak. We recommend
traveling by alternative routes."</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>Later,
the Israel police provided an update, signaling that the protest had
ended while summarizing the event and claiming that some protesters had
called the police "Nazis."</p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUlMYRcXhhWdyglUJuGSKqwrzmgMGg3RVkmxvD7H3O2dL17yf4YoSXb-Uy5A2Dp7CBz6kZIUkmURDnkL-H8Kb9Ke4i23k9AoF4vdJK5vSQUE4rji9bSi_ogi9xqH2xu3sY2IG-DFgsYNWRA70QwHYmfh6Tm2zvX0GQj06wAroGTOKiqbh_sSBVvA/s820/rambam.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="820" data-original-width="526" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUlMYRcXhhWdyglUJuGSKqwrzmgMGg3RVkmxvD7H3O2dL17yf4YoSXb-Uy5A2Dp7CBz6kZIUkmURDnkL-H8Kb9Ke4i23k9AoF4vdJK5vSQUE4rji9bSi_ogi9xqH2xu3sY2IG-DFgsYNWRA70QwHYmfh6Tm2zvX0GQj06wAroGTOKiqbh_sSBVvA/s320/rambam.jpg" width="205" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>The
update read: "All the roads are open to traffic following an illegal
demonstration starting at noon, hundreds of protesters began to break
the order and block highway 4, clashing with the police, while they laid
down on the road under the vehicles accompanied by calls of "Nazis" at
the police. During the evacuation of some of the protesters, the police
had to use force in order to stop the offense and the violation of
freedom of movement. The Israel Police considers the right to protest
as a cornerstone in a democratic country and allows protests as long as
they are held within the framework of the law. At the same time, the
police will not allow disturbances of any kind or damage to freedom of
movement or any behavior that may endanger the safety of the public."</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><h3><b>Gallant sets ultimatum for haredi IDF draft</b></h3><p>The haredim's protest comes after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, for the first time, <a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-789460" rel="" target="_blank">publicly called for a "wide consensus" bill</a>
that would end the blanket exemption given to the ultra-Orthodox on
Wednesday evening. Gallant said that there was a "real and direct" need
to lengthen the service of mandatory and reserve IDF soldiers but that
"the war has proven that everyone must enter under the stretcher."</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>A day later, <a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-789680" rel="" target="_blank">Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu</a>
said that he believed he could pass a draft law arrangement that would
not tear the nation apart and would be supported by a majority in the
Knesset. </p><p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqWdHlbMjfmOOAqkWHyb3rrzNV32eKFWfUkRvHJDJipnjr3U3RyuUWWHGXqn_GGFG2DxG7WrRW_7CYf5YqJ_MxtREp3MgZ8fZxlOKuoh6lkDUCI692OPL6U1-4K8ByD_ntZeMDjN_OnNNMWvnDFU2uDgWJE05TAWbPBF7aOj6_4k_M0oN1Pm63Q/s450/haredi.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="450" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqWdHlbMjfmOOAqkWHyb3rrzNV32eKFWfUkRvHJDJipnjr3U3RyuUWWHGXqn_GGFG2DxG7WrRW_7CYf5YqJ_MxtREp3MgZ8fZxlOKuoh6lkDUCI692OPL6U1-4K8ByD_ntZeMDjN_OnNNMWvnDFU2uDgWJE05TAWbPBF7aOj6_4k_M0oN1Pm63Q/s320/haredi.webp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red;">Some Were Persuaded To Take Up Arms</span><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p> </p><p><b>WATCH VIDEO: </b><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article">https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article</a><br /></p><section>
</section>
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</section></section>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-86817329343904489522024-03-04T03:00:00.007-05:002024-03-04T09:28:23.336-05:00 19,000 Israeli kids physically or mentally injured since Oct. 7 ---- UN EMERGENCY RESOLUTION UPON HEARING THIS NEWS - JEWS EAT TOO MUCH!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg6nsjDgqf2A_gaUNsFRsltYrMm9BKoVolnzwqvgdov77FZOIAdPNhzCH97qde-r6sL48DgS16lAGfs6eFazhOkh0iDb79ndQjaLJXmM1lWUYPgCSvnGK9hcax7hXZ6BySqhMyBmA_eDfImhW4WN7bVreHfr_cSEzb6D9VmKJkLJi6V_b_ISF-UA/s460/unterror.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="460" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg6nsjDgqf2A_gaUNsFRsltYrMm9BKoVolnzwqvgdov77FZOIAdPNhzCH97qde-r6sL48DgS16lAGfs6eFazhOkh0iDb79ndQjaLJXmM1lWUYPgCSvnGK9hcax7hXZ6BySqhMyBmA_eDfImhW4WN7bVreHfr_cSEzb6D9VmKJkLJi6V_b_ISF-UA/s320/unterror.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a class="article-header-label-topic" href="https://www.jns.org/category/israel-at-war/"></a>
<p></p><h1 class="article-headline ">
19,000 Israeli kids physically or mentally injured since Oct. 7 </h1><h1 class="article-headline "> </h1>
<h2 class="article-underline">
A new report shows the devastating impact of the war on the children of the Jewish state. </h2><h2 class="article-underline"> </h2>
<div class="article-header-media">
<div class="media "><img alt="Israeli children in their Sderot classroom on their first day of school since the Oct. 7 massacre, March 3, 2024. Photo by Liron Moldovan/Flash90." class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="266" src="https://cdn.jns.org/uploads/2024/03/F240303LM20-1320x880.jpg" title="Israeli children in their Sderot classroom on their first day of school since the Oct. 7 massacre, March 3, 2024. Photo by Liron Moldovan/Flash90." width="400" /><div class="caption">Israeli
children in their Sderot classroom on their first day of school since
the Oct. 7 massacre, March 3, 2024.</div></div></div><div class="article-meta-str"><br /></div>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><b>An alarming <a href="http://chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://img.mako.co.il/2024/03/03/children_israel_new.pdf?Partner=interlink">new report</a>
demonstrates the devastating impact of the Hamas-led terrorist attack
of Oct. 7 and the ensuing war in Gaza on the children of Israel,
including nearly 20,000 physically and mentally injured in hostilities.</b></p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><b>From Oct. 7 to Feb. 28, the National
Insurance Institute recognized 19,407 children as physically or mentally
injured, according to the data published by the Child Safety Council on
Sunday. About 37% of them (7,257 children) are under the age of 6.</b></p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><b>Other notable data points published
include 84% of parents responding to a national survey saying that their
children aged 2-12 were in emotional distress, 64% reported fear and
62% reported anxiety.</b></p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A jump in reports of violence, sexual
abuse and neglect towards children was also reported. In the month of
October to December, there was a 28% increase in calls to the Ministry
of Welfare and Social Services’s 118 support and guidance hotline
compared to the same period a year earlier. There was also a 37%
increase in calls regarding violence against children in the family. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In those months, 13 investigative cases
were opened against adults suspected of committing criminal offenses
against minors in hotels, where many of the tens of thousands of
evacuees from the north and south have relocated after Oct. 7. Twelve of
those cases were for violence and one was for sexual abuse.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">During the Hamas-led rampage across the
northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, terrorists murdered 38 children and
kidnapped 42 others under the age of 18 to Gaza. Three of the murdered
children were under the age of 3 and four were between the ages of 3 and
6. Two of the hostages are still in Gaza—Kfir <a href="https://www.jns.org/bibas-family-marks-kfirs-first-birthday-in-hamas-captivity/">Bibas</a>,
9 months old at the time of his kidnapping, and his older brother
Ariel, 4 years old, who were kidnapped along with their parents from
Kibbutz Nir Oz.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Fifteen of the kidnapped children, including those released and the Bibas brothers, have parents still held hostage in Gaza.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In addition, 116 children were left <a href="https://www.jns.org/wire/onefamily-comforts-newly-orphaned-israelis-who-lost-both-parents-on-oct-7/">orphaned</a> after the massacre of some 1,200 people, including 20 kids losing both parents and 96 losing one parent.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><b>Nearly 50,000 children of school age as of
December 2023 lived in areas that the government forcefully evacuated
after Oct. 7, of whom 17,725 were children of preschool age (up to 6
years old). That is in addition to the many families who voluntarily
relocated away from the northern and southern border areas.</b></p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">As of December, there were 8,000 children
who had not been integrated into the education system, and if a military
campaign is launched to remove Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon, many
more will be evacuated.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><b>There is a shortage of about a thousand
educational psychologists and also a shortage of educational counselors,
according to the report.</b></p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Attorney Vered Vindman, CEO of the Child
Welfare Council, sent an open letter on Sunday to members of the
government ahead of a meeting on the state budget, calling for billions
of shekels to be allocated for the field of mental health for children
and youth.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><b>“Caring for their fate cannot be satisfied
with nice words, it requires budgets and putting the acute needs of
children and youth for health, education and welfare as top priorities,”
Vindman wrote, adding that if this isn’t prioritized then “the meaning
is that we, as a society, are on the sure path to the abyss, with our
eyes open.”</b></p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The data was presented to Israeli President Isaac Herzog as part of the “Children in Israel 2023” report.</p><p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://www.jns.org/19000-israeli-kids-physically-">https://www.jns.org/19000-israeli-kids-physically-</a></p>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-6718418349381989572024-03-03T09:32:00.002-05:002024-03-03T09:32:57.557-05:00Muslim Hatred Of Jews Is Embedded in their DNA, in their mother's milk - It Is Ubiquitous - Peace With Them Is Impossible!<p> <a class="post-category -underlinedcat category-antisemitism" href="https://www.jta.org/tag/antisemitism" itemprop="articleSection"></a>
</p><h1 class="entry-title" itemprop="headline">On 30th anniversary of her son’s death in a terror attack at the Brooklyn Bridge, Devorah Halberstam decries ‘plague’ of hatred</h1><h1 class="entry-title" itemprop="headline"> </h1>
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<img alt="Devorah Halberstam, center, at a Brooklyn Bridge ceremony marking 30 years since her son's death. At left is New York Attorney General Letitia James and at right, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, March 1, 2024. (Luke Tress)" class="attachment-single-posts-large size-single-posts-large wp-post-image" height="222" src="https://www.jta.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/20240301_untitled_07417-2160x1200.jpg" width="400" /> </div>
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Devorah Halberstam, center, at a Brooklyn Bridge ceremony marking
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Letitia James and at right, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, March 1,
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">(</span><a href="https://www.jta.org/newyork"><span style="font-weight: 400;">New York Jewish Week</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">)
— Devorah Halberstam, whose son Ari was killed in a 1994 terror
shooting at the Brooklyn Bridge, decried rising antisemitism at a
commemoration of the attack’s 30th anniversary.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Hate has seeped into our society
like a plague and we need to make changes,” Halberstam said at the event
Friday afternoon at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, where her
16-year-old son </span><a href="https://www.jta.org/archive/conviction-of-brooklyn-bridge-gunman-brings-relief-to-lubavitch-community"><span style="font-weight: 400;">was gunned down</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Each day, men women and children are
being targeted,” she said. The event occurred during a spike in
antisemitism in New York City, and Halberstam emphasized that Jews
especially are seen as “fair game.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Halberstam family belongs to the
Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, and on the morning of March 1, 1994,
Ari had visited the movement’s ailing leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel
Schneerson, known as the Rebbe, at a Manhattan hospital. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While traveling back to his home in
Brooklyn in a van with 14 other Chabad students, attacker Rashid Baz
opened fire on the vehicle, wounding Halberstam and three others.
Halberstam succumbed to his injuries five days later.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Baz later </span><a href="https://nypost.com/2012/03/26/killer-jews-my-target/#ixzz1r2UnKrQS"><span style="font-weight: 400;">confessed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">
that he had targeted the group because they were Jewish. He was
sentenced to 141 years in prison. The FBI designated the case as an act
of terrorism only in 2000, following </span><a href="https://www.jta.org/2014/02/27/united-states/devorah-halberstams-path-from-bereaved-mother-to-counterterrorism-authority"><span style="font-weight: 400;">a years-long campaign</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by Devorah Halberstam. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">During her push for the terror attack
designation, Halberstam forged ties with New York leaders and emerged
as a community activist. She played a leading role in founding the <a href="https://www.jta.org/1999/09/09/lifestyle/jewish-childrens-museum-to-teach-traditions-to-a-broad-range-of-visitors">Jewish Children’s Museum in Crown Heights</a>,
which is dedicated to her son and aims to counter hate through
teaching. She now serves as the museum’s director of external affairs.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We must never give up the fight to
destroy terrorism, to destroy antisemitism,” she said in her speech on
Friday. “We are here in America, in the land of the free and the home of
the brave. The brave must stand up and speak out.”</span></p>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_1855890" style="width: 1006px;"><img alt="Ari Halberstam in an undated photograph. (Courtesy/Chabad.org)" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1855890" class="size-full wp-image-1855890" height="178" src="https://www.jta.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/4-e1709326153926.jpg" width="320" /><p class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-1855890">Ari Halberstam in an undated photograph. </p></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before she delivered her speech,
Halberstam visited the ramp where the shooting occurred, which has been
named for her son. Standing in the cold winter sun alongside Mayor Eric
Adams and other elected officials, Halberstam lit memorial candles for
her son that were placed on the bridge’s railing. Halberstam and Adams, a
former police officer, state senator and Brooklyn borough president,
have become particularly close over the past 30 years, Halberstam said. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Adams had been there for the family “for decades,” Halberstam said, and “not just when the cameras were there.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She mourned her son in her emotional
speech, describing how she had sat by his bedside for five days after
the shooting and “cried from the depths of my soul hoping for a
miracle.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She said the grief still weighed on her after 10,957 days.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I speak for all parents whose children were taken from them – there is no peace for us,” she said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Speaking after Halberstam, Adams
voted to “weed out hate no matter where it is.” The mayor said the 1994
shooting and Halberstam’s push for the terror attack designation had a
lasting impact on the city’s security, forcing officials to confront
“dangers that lurk in the shadows of our city.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This country takes a different view
of terrorism because of what happened on this bridge,” Adams said. A
number of attacks on Jews have taken place across the country since the
1994 shooting.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The event took place as Jews in New York City have grappled with a <a href="https://www.jta.org/2024/02/06/ny/nypd-reports-31-antisemitic-incidents-in-january-as-surge-continues-four-months-after-oct-7">surge in antisemitism</a>
following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the ensuing war. The NYPD
has documented an average spike of more than 100% in antisemitic hate
crimes since October. Jews are consistently targeted in hate crimes more
than any other group in the city, according to NYPD figures.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">During the memorial ceremony, a
person in a passing car shouted anti-Israel epithets at the crowd while
it was walking up the ramp where the shooting occurred, but there were
no other protests.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">New York Attorney General Tish James,
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Ari Halberstam’s younger
brother, Shea, also spoke at the event.</span></p>
<div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title"><a href="https://www.jta.org">https://www.jta.org</a></h3></div></div>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-32145773154203563432024-03-01T03:00:00.002-05:002024-03-01T11:22:31.172-05:00Pastor Tiago Cardozo & Avrohom Mondrowitz Walked into a monastery after a stop at the bar .... (Then Mondrowitz probably) Took Him To A Yeshiva....<p> </p><h1 class="g-row article-title">Brazilian pastor indicted in Jerusalem over pedophilia allegations</h1><h1 class="g-row article-title"> </h1>
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<h2 class="g-row article-subtitle">Cardozo committed sexual
assaults against minors belonging to the community, according to the
indictment. He would invite them to “hang out” and sleep in the
monastery where he lived. </h2>
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<p><b>Pastor Tiago Cardozo</b>, a Brazilian citizen, was in Israel as part
of his priesthood studies, working within the Convent of the Sisters of
Zion. He belonged to <a href="https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-787444" rel="" target="_blank">the Catholic community</a> under the Monastery of Saint Simeon and Anne, where he was a recognized religious official.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>Cardozo
committed sexual assaults against minors belonging to the community,
according to the indictment. He would invite them to “hang out” and
sleep in the monastery where he lived in the Ein Kerem area in
Jerusalem.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>There, he would commit the indecent acts.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><div class="divAnyClip hide-for-premium"></div><div class="divVidazoo hide-for-premium"></div><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><section class="hide-for-premium"> <div class="OUTBRAIN" data-src="https://www.jpost.com//israel-news/article-789686" data-widget-id="AR_36"></div> </section><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><h3>A history of 'befriending' minors at the monastery</h3><p>In one case, Cardozo befriended a young boy <a href="https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-784479" rel="" target="_blank">on the autism spectrum</a> as well as his mother and would regularly come to stay at their home, and the child would visit him at the monastery.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>The
monastery includes a room that serves as a living room for hosting,
including sofas, video games, and a television – something children
would enjoy.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>According
to the indictment, the minor would come to play video games and watch
movies with the pastor. During one such occurrence, when the two were
watching a film together sometime between 2020-2022, the pastor
repeatedly attempted to touch the boy against the minor’s wishes,
including near his genitalia.</p><p>A
week later, Cardozo offered to buy the boy a game if the minor would
provide him with manual stimulation. Shortly after being rejected, he
forcibly pulled the boy onto his lap and forced his hand down the
minor’s pants while the other hand was around the boy’s throat amid
cries of dissatisfaction such as, “Leave me be” and “I don’t like this.”</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><section class="hide-for-premium"> </section><p>Cardozo only stopped when he heard someone approaching, allowing the minor to run and hide in the restroom.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>In
another case, during one of the visits to the monastery of four minors
aged 12-14, Cardozo committed sexual acts on them while they were in the
living room of the monastery.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>The
four children belonged to the Catholic community and would regularly
visit with Cardozo to play video games, watch movies, and have a
sleepover. During one such occasion in the summer of 2022, Cardozo came
into the living room where the children were hanging out and proceeded
to touch each of them in their genital region over their clothing for a
short period of time.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>A
year later, in 2023, Cardozo came to the boarding school in Gan
Hapa’amon in Jerusalem, where one of the four children lives, so as to
say goodbye before traveling to Brazil. They hugged, during which the
pastor allegedly purposely touched the child’s genital region over his
clothing once more.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>He did so to the same child once more later that same year while the two were having dinner together.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><h3><strong>The arrest of Cardozo</strong></h3><p>The indictment claims the pastor “did all this for sexual stimulation or satisfaction.”</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>Cardozo was <a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-788305" rel="" target="_blank">initially arrested on February 18</a>,
and his arrest was extended the following day. The prosecution asked
the court to order the pastor's arrest until the end of the legal
proceedings against him. They continued to gather evidence, including
through the search of the pastor’s cell phone, where they found
“sexual-pedophilic content,” according to Israel Police.</p><section class="fake-br-for-article-body"></section><p>The
indictment alleges that the exact crimes committed by the pastor were
indecent acts, indecent acts by force, and indecent acts upon a minor
below the age of 16.
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<a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-789686">https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-789686</a><br /></section></section></section></section></section></section>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-48028098853957119252024-02-29T12:21:00.000-05:002024-02-29T12:21:21.390-05:00מי שברך לחיילי צה"ל - יונתן שטרן | The Prayer for the IDF Soldiers - Now is the time to speak out loudly and clearly to these members of the Haredi community, and to request their assistance. Our country is burning, and this existential threat requires us to play an integral role in the national effort. This is the moment of truth, and if we deny this reality, we may be instrumental in inflicting a real crisis on ourselves. <h1 class="headline">
The more Haredi men enlist, the easier it is for others to join them </h1><h1 class="headline"> </h1>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">If you're ultra-Orthodox, male, and not truly studying Torah all day long, it's time to think of the IDF </span></b></div><div class="underline"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></b></div><div class="underline"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>However, when it comes to yeshiva students, many – and today I
would even say a large proportion – are not really learning all day in
the Beit Midrash. We need to admit this openly. </b><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<div class="media"><a data-featherlight="image" href="https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/2024/02/IMG_0390.jpeg" rel="lightbox"><img alt="Haredi men who decided to join the military amid the war between Israel and Hamas, at the IDF recruiting offices in Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv, October 23, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="250" src="https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/2024/02/IMG_0390-640x400.jpeg" title="Haredi men who decided to join the military amid the war between Israel and Hamas, at the IDF recruiting offices in Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv, October 23, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)" width="400" /></a><div class="caption">Haredi
men who decided to join the military amid the war between Israel and
Hamas, at the IDF recruiting offices in Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv, </div><div class="caption"> </div></div> <div class="article-content">
<p>The Jewish nation is living through days of uncertainty, shock and
pain that never seem to end. Every Jew in the world is watching daily
events in Israel with nerves on edge. I lost many friends on October 7,
and many of my friends lost loved ones. We are all traumatized by what
happened, and we live in fear of what lies ahead.
</p><p>The issues that divided us on October 6 dissolved overnight. All
those arguments and hostile positions became meaningless when we
confronted the monsters of Hamas. We all woke up facing a fight for our
survival that no one wanted.
</p><p>This war has united our nation, bringing our fragmented society
closer together. We have encountered love and generosity at every level.
Dormant organizations sprang into action to help and support the army.
As part of my own IDF service, I encountered the best attributes of
Israeli society, and I was moved to tears more than once by their
generous spirit.
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<h3>Learning Torah vs. national service</h3>
<p>My brothers in the Haredi community, whom I love and appreciate, also
feel the pressure on our nation, and they have turned out in droves to
volunteer and play their part in the national effort. Some visit the
injured in hospital, others pay shiva visits to the families of
soldiers, or prepare food on IDF bases, and help families who have fled
their homes. Their generosity comes from the heart, but to tell the
truth, their generosity is also an attempt to compensate for their
inability to help on the battlefield. It is an expression of their
embarrassment.
</p><p>I appreciate those who learn Torah and I support their
institutions financially, because my faith is based on the living Torah.
Last Friday, I sent flowers to a number of genuine <em>talmidei chachamim</em>
(Torah sages) whom I admire, with notes saying: “You dedicate yourself
to nurturing the soul of the Jewish people, and you deserve our thanks.”
If the IDF is the body, then these sages are the soul of our nation.
Both are critical to our existence.
</p><p><b>However, when it comes to yeshiva students, many – and today I
would even say a large proportion – are not really learning all day in
the Beit Midrash. We need to admit this openly.
</b></p><p><b>Now is the time to speak out loudly and clearly to these members
of the Haredi community, and to request their assistance. Our country is
burning, and this existential threat requires us to play an integral
role in the national effort. This is the moment of truth, and if we deny
this reality, we may be instrumental in inflicting a real crisis on
ourselves.
</b></p><p>We have to answer this question honestly, and not shy away from
this crucial issue, as expressed by Moses when the tribes of Reuben and
Gad asked to separate themselves from the nation and remain on the
eastern side of the Jordan River: “Are your brothers going out to war
while you sit here?”
</p><h3>Haredi army service</h3>
<p>This week, Israel’s Supreme Court is discussing a petition from
“Achim B’Neshek” (the “Brothers in Arms” organization) concerning IDF
military service and Haredim pulling their weight. The government has
put off dealing with this issue many times for various political
reasons, leaving the status of the conscription law uncertain.
</p>
<p>Since October 7, we have seen changes in attitudes in the Haredi
community, with greater readiness to reconsider the issue of army
service. Since October 9, I have been working with senior army
representatives from their human resources department on the recruitment
of 2,000 Haredi men to the IDF. Together, we have been working to find
suitable jobs for Haredim in the army, and I am impressed by how
invested they are in this project, despite the pressures of the war.
</p><p>Over the past four months, 800 Haredi men have enlisted, mostly
as what we call “Stage 2 Volunteers,” meaning that they are older than
regular IDF recruits. Some people are calling for younger Haredim to
sign up, but I think that this is the first stage – to normalize the
idea of army service in the Haredi community. I believe that this will
work better than making conscription compulsory, which will alienate the
community.
</p><h3>The need of the hour</h3>
<p>It’s time for the leaders of the IDF and the Haredi community to sit
together and create new and suitable army frameworks that can contribute
in real ways to the national defense forces, while upholding our
uncompromising halachic standards. At the same time, we should be
integrating Haredim into other national service units, such as ZAKA and
the rescue organizations.
</p><p>In recent days, I have witnessed the enthusiasm of many
idealistic young Haredim who have approached me personally about
enlisting in the IDF. I believe that we need to seize this opportunity,
because there is a willingness among the younger generation to step up
and share the burden of the nation’s defense. It’s time for the Haredi
leadership to recognize the opportunity, to show their wisdom, and
acknowledge the urgency to reach an agreement on this issue. Otherwise, I
fear that the rest of Israeli society will never forgive us.
</p><p>We have been invited to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our
brothers, and it is crucial that we find a way to do so. If not, who
will protect us from the coming crisis? </p><p><a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/my-call-to-arms-to-haredim/">https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/my-call-to-arms-to-haredim/</a><br /></p></div><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/aZ3x__U83dM?si=5zGEkaxE423I2DXU" width="480"></iframe>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-42430314968106955922024-02-28T09:28:00.001-05:002024-02-28T09:28:27.416-05:00Nechemia Was Not A Bench Kvetcher! Nechemia suffered evere shrapnel injuries on one side of his body, one of four soldiers injured in the incident. His friend, just feet away from him, was dead. <p> <a class="post-category -underlinedcat category-israel" href="https://www.jta.org/category/israel" itemprop="articleSection"></a>
</p><h1 class="entry-title" itemprop="headline">For thousands of Israeli soldiers wounded in Gaza, a long journey to recovery of body and mind</h1>
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<p><b>RAMAT GAN, Israel (<a href="http://www.jta.org">JTA</a>)
— In December, Nechemia, a combat engineer, was serving in Gaza
alongside his close friend when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded next
to them. </b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nechemia suffered evere shrapnel
injuries on one side of his body, one of four soldiers injured in the
incident. His friend, just feet away from him, was dead. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, Nechemia is recovering in Sheba
Medical Center, a massive hospital complex in the Tel Aviv suburb of
Ramat Gan, in a ward for seriously wounded soldiers. He appreciates the
camaraderie of his fellow injured troops and feels grateful to have come
out with life and limb. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But the hardest part, he said, has
been survivor’s guilt. He was unable to leave the hospital for his
friend’s funeral, and the bereaved family came to visit him. </span></p><div id="lightbox-inline-form-9fad5317-cc1f-4c75-869d-4249b53b851a"></div>
<div id="lightbox-inline-form-8eaf9ca1-0df5-46d3-b00e-5af82833377d"></div>
<div id="lightbox-inline-form-f7e91d8e-6381-4dc6-b7d7-09a05defdd2e"></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“At some point when I was in the
hospital, his family and his girlfriend came to meet me and it was tough
for me,” said Nehemia, who did not give his last name per Israeli
military policy. “My mentality after coming out alive, after getting hit
by an RPG used against tanks, a meter from me, and not losing any
limbs, and no mental damage, and just just being alive is absolutely a
miracle.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He added, “And suddenly, my friend
who died, his family came and it just all went down. And it was like,
f—, like, they’d lost their son. And I was talking to them and
explaining to them what happened, and it was very, very tough.” </span></p>
<p><b>Nechemia’s challenges encapsulate
those faced by the almost 6,000 Israeli security personnel who have been
injured since the launch of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7. Now, the
Defense Ministry estimates that in addition to the hundreds of Israeli
soldiers who have been killed in action, <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-786904">the number of wounded soldiers could rise to as many as 20,000 by the end of 2024</a>.
If that number bears out, it would be the highest number of Israeli
soldiers wounded in any war in the country’s 75 years of existence —
topping the 1948 War of Independence’s count of 15,000 wounded and 1973
Yom Kippur War total of 9,000. </b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Israel’s Health and Defense
Ministries say their system is equipped to tend to the needs of so many
injured soldiers, and several of the wounded told JTA that they are
confident in their recovery. But in the long term, the prognosis is
unclear: How will Israel deal with the high number of injuries in the
coming years? And how will the thousands of wounded soldiers cope with
the physical and mental trauma they experienced?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Rehabilitation will be the biggest
national challenge in the State of Israel in the coming decades, and the
journey of the injured and their families has only just begun,” said
Amitai Ziv, who is director of the Sheba Integrated Rehabilitation
Hospital in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan. </span></p>
<p><b>Since Oct. 7, Ziv’s facility has
provided both physical and psychological care for about 70% of the
seriously wounded in-patient soldiers after they leave emergency care,
including Nechemia. Many are amputees. During that time, the
rehabilitation center has grown from 140 beds to 262. Ziv sees no end in
sight to the increased capacity — especially as war threatens to erupt
on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. </b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It was and still is a huge
challenge, but we went through it and we continue to do it as we speak,”
he said. With an air of calm, he added, “The healthcare system in
Israel at large and the Sheba Medical Centre in particular is well
prepared for any scenario from the north, including the extreme
scenarios.”</span></p>
<p><b>More than 4,000 soldiers have already
gained fast-track membership to the country’s official IDF Disabled
Soldiers Organization, which has provided treatment and social
opportunities for injured soldiers and their families since 1949. That
number is more than 10 times the organization’s typical growth of about
300 wounded soldiers per year. </b></p>
<p><b>About 20% of the newly wounded
soldiers are being treated for mental injuries, but it is still too
early for them to be formally diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder, or PTSD, per the Defense Ministry’s guidelines. The ministry
typically waits one year following the injury to make a PTSD diagnosis. </b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But there are informal ways the
soldiers are working to maintain their mental health. One of the
benefits of treating so many wounded soldiers in just a few locations —
with rooms containing as many as six beds — is the camaraderie that
forms among wounded soldiers.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’m here with all the injured
soldiers together,” said Nechemia. “We are all going through this
together with other guys who went through similar stuff. We all have
nerve damage, and we are all screwed up, so going through it together
for sure makes the process a lot easier.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A few doors down from Nechemia rests
Aaron, an infantry reservist who was shot in both of his legs in Gaza
and caught shrapnel on his right side and back. He sustained the
injuries after unsuccessfully trying to extricate his commander, who was
shot while in a school run by UNRWA, the aid agency for Palestinians.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I thought that he was dying and if I
could run over fast enough to save him, or to get to him and bring him
into the house, I could save his life,” he said. “I went on a spiritual
journey where I saw my life a bit blurred and there was definitely a
higher presence there and of course the classic image of sky. I remember
basically saying thank you for a beautiful life up until now that I
lived.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Aaron’s hospital room is frequently
filled with visitors and adorned with a “wall of communal support and
love” that includes many handwritten notes from schoolchildren. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">He says that his injury has caused him to reconsider his professional future as a tech worker. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I want to do something that has a
greater direct impact on the people of Israel, not just on the high tech
sector in Tel Aviv,” he said. “It’s made me think a lot about what I’ll
do next and maybe I won’t leave tech, but I certainly will value my
time differently and spend it helping the people of Israel and the
country at large.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some of the soldiers are working
toward recovery by aiming to reach a milestone they had achieved before
their injury. Orr Sheizaf, a long-distance runner who was wounded by a
booby-trapped tunnel in the central Gaza city of Khan Younis, will be
the official ambassador of the <a href="https://jerusalem-marathon.com/en/tracks-en/marathon-en/">Jerusalem Winner Marathon on March 9</a>, which is sponsored by the footwear brand Saucony. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sheizaf completed his first marathon
in Jerusalem in 2020 but knows even running several kilometers this year
will be a struggle: He’s run in the pool at Soroka Medical Center, in
Beersheva, but cannot yet run on the ground. Not long ago, he had
several pieces of metal removed from his foot. </span></p>
<p><b>Even as they face a long road ahead,
however, Sheizaf says the vast majority of wounded soldiers he has met
are feeling grateful. “I would say 90% of people are happy about being
alive, feeling that they’re in a good place and going in a good
direction,” he said. He added that he feels a sense of identification
with the soldiers who were wounded in some of Israel’s past,
mythologized wars, in 1967 and 1973.</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s going to take time, you need to
be patient and you won’t be able to go back to what you used to do as
soon as you want to,” he said. “But [you] might be able to go absolutely
back, eventually.” </span></p>
<div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title"><a href="https://www.jta.org/2024/02/27/israel/for-thousands-of-israeli-soldiers-wounded-in-gaza-a-long-journey-to-recovery-of-body-and-mind?utm_source=JTA_Maropost&utm_campaign=JTA_DB&utm_medium=email&mpweb=1161-68976-25499"><span style="font-size: small;">https://www.jta.org/2024/02/27/israel/for-thousands-of-israeli-soldiers-wounded-in-gaza-a-long-journey-to-recovery-of-body-and-mind?utm_source=JTA_Maropost&utm_campaign=JTA_DB&utm_medium=email&mpweb=1161-68976-25499</span></a><br /></h3></div></div></div></div>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-89442479004329946502024-02-27T03:00:00.002-05:002024-02-27T03:00:00.134-05:00Who Needs An Army When You Have Bench Kvetchers - Part Two<p> <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news" title="Israel News"></a>
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<h1 class="g-row article-title"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Ultra-Orthodox Jews block traffic, light rail in haredi draft protest</span></h1><h1 class="g-row article-title"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></h1><h1 class="g-row article-title"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY_I-XJyimnqmnazzwRft4rz8KUrA2YtQaLtK0rSI7ItnZQSRkvgfSFCE8k9r3c9UJbR247mvFihsL1iASD_Er9n_p_jwZ5Mh8gqBtzCdGbdJe6YRjsKuBWBL88zfF85GxfIDcCzTON3CvOOFe9kGp9I64py77DPJBrlj1JQd8ehY3KmzeS7SRdQ/s820/rambam.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="820" data-original-width="526" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY_I-XJyimnqmnazzwRft4rz8KUrA2YtQaLtK0rSI7ItnZQSRkvgfSFCE8k9r3c9UJbR247mvFihsL1iASD_Er9n_p_jwZ5Mh8gqBtzCdGbdJe6YRjsKuBWBL88zfF85GxfIDcCzTON3CvOOFe9kGp9I64py77DPJBrlj1JQd8ehY3KmzeS7SRdQ/w256-h400/rambam.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br /> </span></h1>
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<h2 class="g-row article-subtitle">A Jerusalem Post intern at
the scene reported witnessing one of the Haredim at the protest blocking
a car. The orthodox Jewish man persisted in blocking the vehicle even
as it drove forward.</h2>
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<img alt="A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (photo credit: SOL SUSSMAN)" class="article-image-element" height="260" src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/q_auto/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/581276" title="A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024." width="290" />
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<section>A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the
light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the
IDF. February 26, 2024.</section><br /></section>
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<p>A group of <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-786690" rel="" target="_blank">ultra-Orthodox Jews</a> blocked traffic and the light rail on Monday during a protest in Jerusalem demonstrating against a <a href="https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-788426" rel="" target="_blank">haredi draft into the IDF</a>, according to police and eyewitness reports.</p><p>The protest took place at the intersection of Sarei Israel Boulevard and Nordau Street.</p><p>Police
subsequently arrived at the scene and began efforts to restore order,
the police noted, adding that traffic officers were directing vehicles
in the area to alternate routes.</p><p>A <i>Jerusalem Post</i>
intern at the scene reported witnessing one of the haredim at the
protest blocking a car. The orthodox Jewish man persisted in blocking
the vehicle even as it drove forward.</p><h3><b>Altercation between police and Orthodox Jews</b></h3><p>A police officer subsequently pulled the man out of the way, resulting in an altercation between the two.</p><figure class="article-image-in-body"><img alt="A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN)" class="mfp-image-popup-container-link" data-image-credit="" data-image-name=" A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN)" data-mfp-src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/581277" height="226" src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/581277" style="max-width: 758px;" title="A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN)" width="320" /><figcaption class="article-image-caption article-image-credit" style="height: auto; max-width: 100%;">
A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in
Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February
26, 2024</figcaption><figcaption class="article-image-caption article-image-credit" style="height: auto; max-width: 100%;"> </figcaption></figure><p>According to the eyewitness testimony, the <a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-788656" rel="" target="_blank">police officer</a> began to drag the man away before other haredi men separated the two.</p><p>Protest signs at the scene read, "We say to the high court, to prison and not to the army.'
</p><section>
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<a href="https://www.jpost.com">https://www.jpost.com</a><br />
</section></section></section></section></article></section>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-73743150321945777082024-02-26T09:26:00.000-05:002024-02-26T09:26:10.699-05:00One More Reason To Hate The Jews -- They Even Control The Medical Schools.....<p> </p><div class="css-1vkm6nb ehdk2mb0"><h1 class="css-1l8buln e1h9rw200" data-testid="headline" id="link-2cd2f16">$1 Billion Donation Will Provide Free Tuition at a Bronx Medical School</h1><h1 class="css-1l8buln e1h9rw200" data-testid="headline" id="link-2cd2f16"> </h1></div><p class="css-1n0orw4 e1wiw3jv0" id="article-summary"><b>Dr.
Ruth Gottesman, a longtime professor at the Albert Einstein College of
Medicine, is making free tuition available to all students going
forward</b></p><p class="css-1n0orw4 e1wiw3jv0" id="article-summary"><b> </b></p><p class="css-1n0orw4 e1wiw3jv0" id="article-summary"> </p><section class="meteredContent css-1r7ky0e" name="articleBody"><div class="css-79elbk" data-testid="photoviewer-wrapper"><div class="css-z3e15g" data-testid="photoviewer-wrapper-hidden"></div><div class="css-1a48zt4 e11si9ry5" data-testid="photoviewer-children"><figure aria-label="media" class="sizeLarge layoutHorizontal css-nlqgyf" role="group"><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image"><picture><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)"></source><img alt="Dr. Ruth Gottesman, in a royal blue jacket and white scarf, poses for a portrait." class="css-rq4mmj" height="267" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/02/26/multimedia/26Montefiore-donation-01-fzpl/26Montefiore-donation-01-fzpl-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" style="cursor: pointer;" width="400" /></picture></div><figcaption class="css-1ifeaca e1maroi60" data-testid="photoviewer-children-ImageCaption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">Dr.
Ruth Gottesman’s donation is notable not only for its staggering size,
but also because it is going to a medical institution in the Bronx, the
city’s poorest borough.</span></figcaption><figcaption class="css-1ifeaca e1maroi60" data-testid="photoviewer-children-ImageCaption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0"> </span></figcaption></figure></div></div><section class="meteredContent css-1r7ky0e" name="articleBody"><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The
93-year-old widow of a Wall Street financier has donated $1 billion to a
Bronx medical school, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, with
instructions that the gift be used to cover tuition for all students
going forward.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The donor, Dr. Ruth
Gottesman, is a former professor at Einstein, where she studied learning
disabilities, developed a screening test and ran literacy programs. It
is one of <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/18/us/michael-bloomberg-johns-hopkins-donation.html" title="">the largest charitable donations</a> to an educational institution in the United States and most likely the largest to a medical school.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/29/business/dealbook/david-s-gottesman-dead.html" title="">The fortune came from her late husband</a>,
David Gottesman, known as Sandy, who was a protégé of Warren Buffett
and had made an early investment in Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate
Mr. Buffett built.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The donation is
notable not only for its staggering size, but also because it is going
to a medical institution in the Bronx, the city’s poorest borough. The
Bronx has a high rate of premature deaths and <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/explore-health-rankings/new-york/bronx?year=2023" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">ranks as the unhealthiest county</a>
in New York. Over the past generation, a number of billionaires have
given hundreds of millions of dollars to better-known medical schools
and hospitals in Manhattan, the city’s wealthiest borough.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div><div class="css-8atqhb"></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">While
her husband ran an investment firm, First Manhattan, Dr. Gottesman had a
long career at Einstein, a well-regarded medical school, starting in
1968, when she took a job as director of psychoeducational services. She
has long been on Einstein’s board of trustees and is currently the
chair.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In recent years, she has become
close friends with Dr. Philip Ozuah, the pediatrician who oversees the
medical college and its affiliated hospital, Montefiore Medical Center,
as the chief executive officer of the health system. That friendship and
trust loomed large as she contemplated what to do with the money her
husband had left her.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In an interview
on Friday at the Einstein campus in the Morris Park neighborhood, Dr.
Ozuah and Dr. Gottesman spoke about the donation, how it came together
and what it would mean for Einstein medical students. </p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> </p><span class="css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0"></span><div class="css-1pq3dr9" data-testid="lazy-image"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Dr. Philip Ozuah, in a dark suit and tie, and Dr. Ruth Gottesman, in a blue jacket, sit side by side." class="css-1m50asq" height="214" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/02/26/multimedia/26Montefiore-donation-03-fzpl/26Montefiore-donation-03-fzpl-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">Dr.
Gottesman became close friends with Dr. Philip Ozuah, who oversees the
medical college and its affiliated hospital, Montefiore Medical Center</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div data-testid="lazyimage-container" style="cursor: pointer; height: auto;"><picture class="css-1j5kxti" style="opacity: 1;"><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)"></source></picture></div></div></div></div><div><div class="css-79elbk" data-testid="photoviewer-wrapper"><div class="css-1a48zt4 e11si9ry5" data-testid="photoviewer-children"><figure aria-label="media" class="img-sz-large css-hxpw2c e1g7ppur0" role="group"><br /></figure></div></div></div></section><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In
early 2020, the two sat next to each other on a 6 a.m. flight to West
Palm Beach, Fla. It was the first time they had spent hours together.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div><div class="css-8atqhb"></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">They
spoke about their childhoods — hers in Baltimore, his, some 30 years
later, in Nigeria — and what they had in common. Both had doctorates in
education and had spent their careers at the same institution in the
Bronx, helping children and families in need.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Dr.
Ozuah described moving to New York, not knowing a single person in the
state, and spending years as a community doctor in the South Bronx
before ascending to the top of the medical school.</p><div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Leaving
the airport, Dr. Ozuah offered his arm to Dr. Gottesman, then not quite
90, as they approached the curb. She waved him off and told him to
“watch your own step,” he recalled with a chuckle.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Within
a few weeks, the coronavirus brought the world to a grinding halt. Dr.
Gottesman’s husband, in his 90s, became ill with the new pathogen, and
she had a mild case. Dr. Ozuah sent an ambulance to the Gottesman home
in Rye, N.Y., to bring them to Montefiore, the Bronx’s largest hospital.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In
the weeks that followed, Dr. Ozuah began making daily house calls — in
full protective gear — to check in on the couple as Mr. Gottesman
recovered. “That’s how the friendship evolved,” he said. “I spent
probably every day for about three weeks, visiting them in Rye.” </p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div><div class="css-8atqhb"></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">About
three years ago, Dr. Ozuah asked Dr. Gottesman to head the medical
school’s board of trustees. She had done the job before, but given her
age, she was surprised. The gesture reminded her of the fable about <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://read.gov/aesop/007.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">the lion and the mouse</a>,
she told Dr. Ozuah at the time, explaining that when the lion spares
the mouse’s life, the mouse tells him, “Maybe someday I’ll be helpful to
you.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In the story, the lion laughs haughtily. “But Phil didn’t go ‘ha, ha, ha,’” she noted with a smile.</p><h3 class="css-15h6bi9 e1gnsphs0" id="link-3015a9e3"><span>The Money</span></h3></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Dr.
Gottesman’s husband died in 2022 at age 96. “He left me, unbeknownst to
me, a whole portfolio of Berkshire Hathaway stock,” she recalled. The
instructions were simple: “Do whatever you think is right with it,” she
recalled.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">It was overwhelming to think about, so at first she didn’t. But her children encouraged her not to wait too long.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">When
she focused on the bequest, she realized immediately what she wanted to
do, she recalled. “I wanted to fund students at Einstein so that they
would receive free tuition,” she said. There was enough money to do that
in perpetuity, she said.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div><div class="css-8atqhb"></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Over
the years, she had interviewed dozens of prospective Einstein medical
students. Tuition is more than $59,000 a year, and many graduated with
crushing medical school debt, often more than $200,000.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Not
only would future students be able to embark on their careers without
the debt burden, but she hoped that her donation would also enable a
wider pool of aspiring doctors to apply to medical school. “We have
terrific medical students, but this will open it up for many other
students whose economic status is such that they wouldn’t even think
about going to medical school,” she said.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“That’s
what makes me very happy about this gift,” she added. “I have the
opportunity not just to help Phil, but to help Montefiore and Einstein
in a transformative way — and I’m just so proud and so humbled — both —
that I could do it.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Dr. Gottesman
went to see Dr. Ozuah in December to tell him that she would be making a
major gift. She reminded him of the lion and mouse story. This, she
explained, was the mouse’s moment.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“If someone said, ‘I’ll give you a transformative gift for the medical school,’ what would you do?” she asked.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div><div class="css-8atqhb"></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">There were probably three things, Dr. Ozuah said.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“One,” he began, “you could have education be free —”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“That’s what I want to do,” she said. He never mentioned the other ideas.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Dr. Gottesman sometimes wonders what her late husband would have thought of her decision.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“I
hope he’s smiling and not frowning,” she said with a chuckle. “But he
gave me the opportunity to do this, and I think he would be happy — I
hope so.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Einstein will not be the first medical school to eliminate tuition.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In 2018, New York University announced it would begin <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/nyregion/nyu-free-tuition-medical-school.html#:~:text=Medical%20Students,-Share%20full%20article&text=The%20New%20York%20University%20School,overwhelming%20financial%20debt%E2%80%9D%20facing%20graduates." title="">offering free tuition</a> to medical students and <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2019/01/14/nyu-medical-school-sees-surge-applications-after-going-tuition-free" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">saw a surge in applications</a>.</p><h3 class="css-15h6bi9 e1gnsphs0" id="link-48c53ef8"><span>The Name</span></h3><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Dr.
Gottesman was reluctant to attach her name to her donation. “Nobody
needs to know,” Dr. Ozuah recalled her saying at first. But Dr. Ozuah
insisted that others might find her life inspiring. “Here’s somebody who
is totally dedicated to the welfare of others and wants no accolades,
no recognition,” Dr. Ozuah said.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div><div class="css-8atqhb"></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Dr.
Ozuah noted that the going price for getting your name on a medical
school or hospital was perhaps a fifth of Dr. Gottesman’s donation.
Cornell Medical College and New York Hospital now include the surname of
Sanford Weill, the former head of Citigroup. New York University’s
medical center was renamed for Ken Langone, a co-founder of Home Depot.
Both men donated hundreds of millions of dollars.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But
it is a condition of Dr. Gottesman’s gift that the Einstein College of
Medicine not change its name. Albert Einstein, the physicist who <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1955/04/19/archives/dr-albert-einstein-dies-in-sleep-at-76-world-mourns-loss-of-great.html" title="">developed the theory of relativity</a>, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1953/03/16/archives/dr-einstein-gives-name-to-a-college-new-yeshiva-medical-school-here.html" title="">agreed to confer his name</a> on the medical school, which opened in 1955.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The name, she noted, could not be beat. “We’ve got the gosh darn name — we’ve got Albert Einstein.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><a href="http://NYT.COM">NYT.COM</a><br /></p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div></section>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-53753750148314999172024-02-25T03:00:00.001-05:002024-02-25T03:00:00.160-05:00Two of the victims claimed to have been anally raped, while another said the camp counselor offered him $100 to touch his genitals, according to the complaint which sought a $1.8 million payout.<p> </p><div id="content">
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<h1><span class="is-exclusive">EXCLUSIVE</span>: Baltimore
rabbi, 47, accused of sexually abusing three young boys at an Orthodox
Jewish camp, bribing them with $100 to 'touch his genitals' and holding
sleepovers with kids</h1><h1> </h1><ul class="mol-bullets-with-font"><li class="class"><b>Rabbi Steven 'Shmuel' Krawatsky, 47, was found liable for battery and assault against two children</b></li><li class="class"><b>The incident took place at Orthodox Jewish Camp Shoresh in 2014 and 2015 </b></li><li class="class"><b>Married father Krawatsky was ordered to pay his victims $8,000 each in damages</b></li></ul><br /><div data-preferred-shared-network-enabled="" id="articleIconLinksContainer"><a class="comments-count home" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13114183/Baltimore-rabbi-accused-child-sex-abuse.html#comments"><p class="count-number"> 45</p> <p class="count-text">View comments</p> </a> </div> <div class="adHolder column-content cleared"><div id="para_top" style="margin: 0px auto; width: 638px;"></div></div> <p></p>
<div itemprop="articleBody"><p class="mol-para-with-font">A
Baltimore rabbi accused of sexually abusing three young boys at an
Orthodox Jewish summer camp has been found liable for battery and
assault.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">Rabbi Steven 'Shmuel'
Krawatsky, 47, was accused of abusing the boys who were then between
seven and eight-years-old at Camp Shoresh in 2014 and 2015.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font"><b>Two
of the victims claimed to have been anally raped, while another said
the camp counselor offered him $100 to touch his genitals, according to
the complaint which sought a $1.8 million payout.</b></p><p class="mol-para-with-font">Last
week, a jury ruled that he committed assault against one child and
battery against another, claims against the third child were not
upheld. Each victim has now been awarded $1 in compensatory and $8,000
in punitive damages.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font"><b>Krawatsky, of
Pikesville, previously denied the allegations and has not faced any
criminal charges, despite being interviewed by police and Child
Protection Services who initially found indications of abuse according
to the civil lawsuit against him.</b></p><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"><div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Maryland rabbi Steven 'Shmuel' Krawatsky has been accused of sexually abusing three young boys at an Orthodox Jewish summer camp" class="blkBorder img-share b-loaded" data-gallery-handler-attached="true" height="400" id="i-d0b4c55f443d5fd2" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/22/21/81593017-13114183-image-m-57_1708636515338.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="276" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: red;">AN IDIOT TO BOOT!</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="image-wrap fff-pic" style="cursor: pointer;"> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"><div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"> <div class="container-3zJLP vertical-2XJd5">
<ul class="linksHolder-3KBa2"><li class="linkItem-2NXrW shareIcon-8A2dW"><br /></li></ul>
</div></div><div class="clear"></div><p class="imageCaption">Maryland rabbi Steven 'Shmuel' Krawatsky has been accused of sexually abusing three young boys at an Orthodox Jewish summer camp</p></div><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"> <div class="image-wrap fff-pic" style="cursor: pointer;"> <img alt="The married father was found liable for battery and assault against two of the children. The names and images of the boys, who do not appear in this photo, are being withheld to protect their privacy" class="blkBorder img-share b-loaded" data-gallery-handler-attached="true" height="254" id="i-745ed053ded4e3e9" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/22/20/81597429-13114183-image-a-53_1708633188032.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" width="400" /> </div></div></div><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"><div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"> <div class="container-3zJLP horizontal-1eH9F">
<ul class="linksHolder-3KBa2"><li class="linkItem-2NXrW shareIcon-8A2dW"><br /></li></ul>
</div></div> <p class="imageCaption">The married father was found
liable for battery and assault against two of the children. The names
and images of the boys, who do not appear in this photo, are being
withheld to protect their privacy</p></div><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"> <div class="image-wrap fff-pic" style="cursor: pointer;"> <img alt="The abuse was said to have taken place at Camp Shoresh (pictured) in 2014/15" class="blkBorder img-share b-loaded" data-gallery-handler-attached="true" height="395" id="i-1b81604622a28b77" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/22/20/81589425-13114183-image-a-46_1708632605215.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" width="634" /> </div></div></div><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"><div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"> <div class="container-3zJLP horizontal-1eH9F">
<ul class="linksHolder-3KBa2"><li class="linkItem-2NXrW shareIcon-8A2dW"><br /></li></ul>
</div></div> <p class="imageCaption">The abuse was said to have taken place at Camp Shoresh (pictured) in 2014/15</p></div><div><div class="mol-fe-related-replace ccox" data-track-module="related-replace"><br /></div></div><p class="mol-para-with-font">The accusations first surfaced in a<a class="class" href="https://www.facebook.com/556761002/posts/10154945764916003/?mibextid=WC7FNe" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"> 2017 in a post</a> by sexual abuse survivor Chaim Levin and were later reported in a 2018 New York Jewish Week article.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">Krawatsky
was accused of abusing three boys while working at the camp after they
came home and began displaying strange behavioral issues.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">Eventually, they disclosed to their parents that 'Rabbi K' had sexually abused them, a lawsuit brought by their parents states.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">The explosive allegations saw Krawatsky fired from his role at the private Jewish Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">The institution issued a statement at the time insisting it had not received any safeguarding concerns directly.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">The
married rabbi then tried to sue Levin, the publication, its reporter
and the parents over the accusations. The parents countersued for the
abuse of their children and Krawatsky's claims were dismissed.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font"><b>According
to the lawsuit, Krawatsky would often host sleepovers with children at
his house and would also dole out 'punishments' in the camp's pool
changing room, without any other adults present.</b></p><p class="mol-para-with-font">The filings state that three boys were abused although claims against just two were upheld.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font"><b>Allegations
included that one boy was 'touched in an offensive and inappropriate
manner' while at the camp and another was 'offered money to engage in
sexual acts' per the lawsuit.</b></p><p class="mol-para-with-font">He was not found liable for the claims relating to a third boy which stated that he was also raped.</p><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"><div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"> <div class="image-wrap fff-pic" style="cursor: pointer;"> <img alt="A jury awarded each of the two victims $8,000 each in punitive damages. Charges against the third boy were not upheld" class="blkBorder img-share b-loaded" data-gallery-handler-attached="true" height="306" id="i-72b31eb1b526ca61" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/22/21/81589419-13114183-A_jury_awarded_each_of_the_two_victims_8_000_each_in_punitive_da-m-64_1708637161471.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" width="400" /> </div></div></div><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"><div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"> <div class="container-3zJLP vertical-2XJd5">
<ul class="linksHolder-3KBa2"><li class="linkItem-2NXrW shareIcon-8A2dW"><br /></li></ul>
</div></div><div class="clear"></div><p class="imageCaption">A jury awarded each of the two victims $8,000 each in punitive damages. Charges against the third boy were not upheld (<b>PATHETIC</b>)<br /></p></div><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <p class="imageCaption">One of the victims claimed to
have been anally raped, while another said the camp counselor offered
him $100 to touch his genitals, according to the complaint. Pictured:
Krawatsky with his wife Shira</p></div><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"> <div class="image-wrap fff-pic" style="cursor: pointer;"> <img alt="Krawatsky has not faced any criminal charges despite being interviewed by police and CPS in 2015, according to the lawsuit" class="blkBorder img-share b-loaded" data-gallery-handler-attached="true" height="316" id="i-be10d3b4f624b8ff" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/22/22/81589417-13114183-Krawatsky_has_not_faced_any_criminal_charges_despite_being_inter-a-1_1708640909807.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" width="400" /> </div></div></div><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"><div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"> <div class="container-3zJLP vertical-2XJd5">
<ul class="linksHolder-3KBa2"><li class="linkItem-2NXrW shareIcon-8A2dW"><br /></li></ul>
</div></div> <p class="imageCaption">Krawatsky has not faced any criminal charges despite being interviewed by police and CPS in 2015, according to the lawsuit</p></div><p class="mol-para-with-font"><b>In
all cases, the lawsuit describes how Krawatsky would allegedly heap
praise on the boys before isolating them to carry out the alleged
attacks.</b></p><p class="mol-para-with-font"><b><span style="font-size: large;">In his closing statement, <i>the
victims' attorney told the court that the one of the boys had described
how Krawatsky 'peed on his arm'.</i></span></b></p><p class="mol-para-with-font"><b>'You
saw the terror in those kids’ eyes when they talked,' Jon Little said.
'They were afraid of Rabbi Krawatsky and they were afraid of the other
evil, the rope running through this whole thing. The community that
failed to protect its children.'</b></p><p class="mol-para-with-font">Krawatsky was interviewed by Frederick County Police and CPS, according to the lawsuit.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">CPS
initially found that abuse was 'indicated' against one victim, and
'unsubstantiated' against another, which means that they could neither
prove nor disprove that it happened, the filings state.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">Krawatsky
was placed on leave from the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School, but
was allowed to return after he appealed the 'indicated' finding and had
it downgraded to unsubstantiated, according to the suit.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">The
case rocked the Orthodox community where it unfolded, with allegations
of intimidation on the part of Krawatsky's supporters who rallied around
him despite the accusations.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">Little,
who acted for the families pro bono, said that his practice had been
bombarded with one star reviews in the wake of the case.</p><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"> <div class="image-wrap fff-pic" style="cursor: pointer;"> <img alt="The rabbi was working at Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School when the allegations were made public but was later fired from the post" class="blkBorder img-share b-loaded" data-gallery-handler-attached="true" height="400" id="i-6f07138d897d5d8b" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/22/22/81597427-13114183-The_rabbi_was_working_at_Beth_Tfiloh_Dahan_Community_School_when-a-3_1708640909905.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" width="233" /> </div></div></div><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"><div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"> <div class="container-3zJLP vertical-2XJd5">
<ul class="linksHolder-3KBa2"><li class="linkItem-2NXrW shareIcon-8A2dW"><br /></li></ul>
</div></div> <p class="imageCaption">The rabbi was working at Beth
Tfiloh Dahan Community School when the allegations were made public but
was later fired from the post</p></div><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"> <div class="image-wrap fff-pic" style="cursor: pointer;"> <img alt="The parents counter sued Krawatsky after he tried to pursue them for defamation when the allegations were made public. Pictured: Camp Shoresh" class="blkBorder img-share b-loaded" data-gallery-handler-attached="true" height="301" id="i-d8574d9a6cb5c96b" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/22/22/81590069-13114183-The_parents_counter_sued_Krawatsky_after_he_tried_to_pursue_them-a-6_1708640912265.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" width="400" /> </div></div></div><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"><div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"> <div class="container-3zJLP vertical-2XJd5">
<ul class="linksHolder-3KBa2"><li class="linkItem-2NXrW shareIcon-8A2dW"><br /></li></ul>
</div></div> <p class="imageCaption">The parents counter sued
Krawatsky after he tried to pursue them for defamation when the
allegations were made public. Pictured: Camp Shoresh</p></div><p class="mol-para-with-font">He
slammed the meagre damages awarded to his clients and speculated it may
have been because they could not point to any large medical expenses
incurred.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">'When we got the liability
verdict I thought okay wow, but apparently the community do not consider
raping a seven-year-old a serious and traumatic event. I do, that is
something that will stay with you for life,' Little said.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">'Firstly I am so dismayed at the way the Jewish community rallied to defend a man accused of raping children.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">'But
then also the people who saw what happened and refused to take care of
these children. People think they do this for money, but this was a
defensive suit.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">'One of the moms said
to me, "I want to find out what happened to my kid but at the same time I
don't want it to be true". So we talk about vindication and I'm glad
the jurors saw what I have known to be true for the past six or seven
years, but really what have these parents gained?'</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">Little
claimed that Krawatsky's supporters may have spent up to $7 million
defending him and had attempted to bury him in legal fees by also
unsuccessfully trying to sue him for defamation.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">'After
six years of hell that he put them through with the defamation suit —
and the community did with its harassment of the victims — this verdict
vindicates them,' said Asher Lovy, founder of Za'akah, which fights
child sex abuse in the Orthodox community.</p><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"> <div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"> <div class="image-wrap fff-pic" style="cursor: pointer;"> <img alt="The parents' lawsuit described how Krawatsky would allegedly host sleepover with kids and discipline them away from other adults" class="blkBorder img-share b-loaded" data-gallery-handler-attached="true" height="226" id="i-de481ff95c96a3e5" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/22/22/81589427-13114183-The_parents_lawsuit_described_how_Krawatsky_would_allegedly_host-a-7_1708640913213.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" width="400" /> </div></div></div><div itemprop="articleBody"><div class="artSplitter mol-img-group"><div class="mol-img" style="position: relative;"> <div class="container-3zJLP horizontal-1eH9F">
<ul class="linksHolder-3KBa2"><li class="linkItem-2NXrW shareIcon-8A2dW"><br /></li></ul>
</div></div> <p class="imageCaption">The parents' lawsuit described how Krawatsky would allegedly host sleepover with kids and discipline them away from other adults</p></div><p class="mol-para-with-font"> 'I
hope it can bring them healing, and I hope it sends a message to
enablers that they can try as hard as they want to but the truth is
going to come out.' </p><p class="mol-para-with-font">In his 2017 post,
Levin called Krawatsky 'extremely dangerous' and said he is 'alleged to
have inflicted severe harm on multiple children'.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font"><b><span style="font-size: large;">He also accused higher ups of being aware of the concerns but protecting the rabbi anyway.</span></b></p><p class="mol-para-with-font">After sharing his initial post, Levin claims he was flooded with threatening messages.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">'Throughout this lawsuit we have learned a lot about the cover up that allowed this to happen,' Levin said.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">'Many
of the details are disturbing and sad. They demonstrate that this
community did not and does not care about the safety of children.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">'I'm proud of these kids for standing up to this bully and their families for sticking by them.' </p><p class="mol-para-with-font">The
rabbi's lawyers said in a statement: 'Rabbi Krawatsky passed a
polygraph test back in 2015. The matter was fully investigated by the
Frederick County Sheriff’s Office and the Frederick County State’s
Attorney’s Office. </p><p class="mol-para-with-font">'Rabbi Krawatsky
was never arrested and was never charged with any crime. Ever. The
Frederick County Department of Social Services found the matter to be
unsubstantiated, the records have been destroyed, and he is allowed to
work with children.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">'Krawatsky has never harmed a child in any way. Ever.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font"><i>'The
jury obviously did not believe the false accusations against him made
by one of the three children because they found that he did not harm
that child, in any way. And that child had made the most serious
allegations. And the jury only awarded the other two children nominal
damages of One Dollar.</i></p><p class="mol-para-with-font">'Unfortunately,
Rabbi Krawatsky was not able to tell the full story at the trial so he
intends to appeal the case in order to fully clear his name.'</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">CPS
said in a statement: 'The department takes very seriously its duty to
protect the health and well-being of children and ensure youth are safe.
While confidentiality laws prevent us from providing specific details
regarding your questions, Child Protective Services (CPS) has a duty to
conduct either an investigation or a family assessment if someone
reports that a child has allegedly been abused or neglected. </p><p class="mol-para-with-font">'Before
closing an investigation, we will determine the nature, extent, and
cause of any child abuse or neglect and, if possible, the person
responsible for the abuse or neglect, and share that investigative
report with law enforcement.</p><p class="mol-para-with-font">'Maryland
Department of Human Services employees care deeply about the safety and
well-being of children, and we work relentlessly to ensure all families
we serve are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. <b><u>
Reporting child abuse and neglect is everyone's responsibility, and we
encourage everyone to Know the Signs and report child abuse and neglect
concerns immediately.'</u></b></p></div><div class="linkButtonRow articleTopicsRow" data-track-module="article-topics-row"><a class="linkButtonRowItem" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/maryland/index.html?ico=article_topics_module">https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13114183/Baltimore-rabbi-accused-child-sex-abuse.html</a></div>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-6893655084417064662024-02-23T03:30:00.001-05:002024-02-23T03:30:00.131-05:00Why The Jews? The Truth About Antisemitism<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/kogbCPXZBkU?si=6p4MDCiJ1ivI4Uex" frameborder="0"></iframe>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-87576531900993356632024-02-22T12:57:00.001-05:002024-02-22T12:57:28.857-05:00What opened my eyes are the Left’s beliefs that men can become women and women can become men; men give birth; there are more than two genders/sexes<p> </p><header class="entry-header"><h1 class="entry-title" itemprop="headline">The Left and Chaos</h1><h1 class="entry-title" itemprop="headline"> </h1>
<h3 class="fpm-subtitle-heading">Why the Left hates order.</h3><h3 class="fpm-subtitle-heading"> </h3><h3 class="fpm-subtitle-heading"> by <span class="entry-author" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="https://schema.org/Person"><a class="entry-author-link" href="https://www.frontpagemag.com/author/dennis-prager/" itemprop="url" rel="author"><span class="entry-author-name" itemprop="name">Dennis Prager</span></a></span> </h3><img alt="" class="singular-image entry-image" height="224" itemprop="image" src="https://www.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_2308-750x420.jpeg" width="400" />
</header><table id="trinity-audio-table" style="border: none; display: table; margin: 0; width: 100%;">
<tbody><tr>
<td id="trinity-audio-tab" style="border: none;">
<br /></td>
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</tbody></table><p><b>It is impossible to understand what is
happening to America — and to the rest of the West — without
understanding the most dynamic ideology of the last hundred years:
leftism.</b></p>
<p>We need to begin with the understanding that leftism (or
“progressivism”) and liberalism are not only not the same ideologies,
they are in fact opposed to each other on virtually every major issue.</p>
<p>Leftism and liberalism have only two things in common:</p>
<p>One is belief in big government, which, given that individual and
societal liberty decline as the state grows, is a significant
similarity.</p>
<p>The other Left-liberal commonality is antipathy to the Right. This is
even more important than commitment to big government because it
explains why liberals vote for the Left despite the fact that liberals
differ with far more left-wing positions than with conservative
positions.</p>
<p>Unlike the Left, most liberals love their country. Unlike the Left,
most liberals do not believe that there are more than two sexes/genders;
that prepubescent boys and girls who claim they are members of the
other sex should be given hormone blockers; that girls under 21 should
be allowed to have their breasts surgically removed; or that men who say
they are women should be allowed to compete in women’s sports. So, too,
liberals do not believe that capitalism is evil, that America is
systemically racist, that all whites are racist, that Israel is the
villain in the Middle East and Zionism is racist.</p>
<p>So, then, given that those leftist positions are as destructive as they are absurd, how are we to explain leftism?</p>
<p>This question has preoccupied me all my adult life. It is why I was
one of fewer than 10 graduate students in all of Columbia University to
major in what was called “Communist Affairs.” (I was a fellow at the
Russian Institute at Columbia’s School of International Affairs.) In
other words, I have studied the Left all my life.</p>
<p>Early on, I recognized that the Left opposes liberty — the clearest
example being that wherever the Left gains power, whether at a
university or in society as a whole, it suppresses free speech — and
that it destroys everything it touches. But while I (and many others)
have always understood that the Left (again, not liberalism) has always,
everywhere, been a force for evil, I needed to understand why.</p>
<p><b>How can people believe that men give birth; that a country to which
more than 4 million black people have emigrated and which twice elected a
black president is systemically racist; that the freest country in the
Middle East, one in which millions of Arabs live as equal citizens, is
the villain, while its barbaric enemies are worthy of support?</b></p>
<p>Here are some answers:</p>
<p>Throughout their history, Americans have had three great providers of
meaning: family, religion and patriotism. Leftists lack the latter two
(indeed, they seek to get rid of them), and increasing numbers of them
lack the first. Since human beings cannot live without meaning — it is
as great a need as food, and even greater than sex — they seek meaning
elsewhere. So they create new meanings through creating secular
religions: socialism, communism, feminism, environmentalism, DEI
(Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), “anti-racism,” anti-Zionism, LGBTQIA+
pride, and trans activism, among others.</p>
<p>All these are united by one overarching aim: destroying the
institutions of Western civilization (e.g., religion, art, music, the
nuclear family, moral norms, schools and universities, free speech,
capitalism, even medicine).</p>
<p><b>Those of us who appreciate Western civilization and wish to preserve
it (while, of course, correcting its flaws) cannot understand why anyone
would want to destroy it. That is a major reason it is so difficult for
non-leftists to understand the Left.</b></p>
<p>After decades of mulling this over, I think I have discovered one answer that is not obvious even to all leftists.</p>
<p><b>What opened my eyes are the Left’s beliefs that men can become women
and women can become men; men give birth; there are more than two
genders/sexes; men who say they are women should be placed in women’s
prisons, women’s colleges and women’s shelters; men who say they are
women should be allowed to compete in women’s sports; and children
should be taken to drag queen shows.</b></p>
<p>All these positions represent … chaos.</p>
<p>The Left’s trans-positions are the most obvious areas of Left-induced
chaos, but there are many others. These include the Left’s contempt for
the ideal of the nuclear family (i.e., a married mother and father and
children); its support for defunding police; its raising the dollar
value of stolen goods that qualifies as a felony, which can only
incentivize theft; and its support for progressive district attorneys.</p>
<p>Fighting crime represents order; crime represents chaos.</p>
<p>And why does leftism seek chaos? Because the Left hates the opposite
of chaos: order. And order ultimately represents a religious view of
life. Order represents divine order. The proof is that no religious
people say, “Men give birth.” Not all secular people believe men give
birth, there are more than two sexes, men can compete in women’s sports,
children should be exposed to drag queen shows, or children should be
given hormone blockers if they claim to be a member of the other sex.
But <em>only</em> secular people believe those things. Virtually no one
who believes in the Bible and the God of the Bible believes them. We
believe in a God-created social order.</p>
<p>Chaos is the normal state of the world. The second verse of the Bible
states that the world was in a chaotic state. God then made order.
Which is why the Left is undoing it.</p><p> </p>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-22106497864138430782024-02-21T11:41:00.002-05:002024-02-21T11:41:48.247-05:00mRNA Vaccines, Mask Mandates, and the COVID-19 Response --- Dr.Paul Offit Talks About What Science Now Knows!<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/by67kv1_VnA?si=mdJ0Op5si4TYBvHk" frameborder="0"></iframe>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-33157454546414565022024-02-20T09:14:00.003-05:002024-02-20T09:14:25.423-05:00The controversy concerned the safety of children. Moreover, it concerned broader policy questions about how Jewish institutions should best protect children upon learning of a sexual abuse allegation against one of its employees<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRH_vbFzCvSnwibxMJ4CKD2rk4QGcChWLTQxyMCiqWEkgtUcRUQgKAaO42MNn4quP9EAlLl_-aiDIL7RPwTOHDseQFmvfUCw6ueOVY50ajihwERPB7muU75RY21cyR9Sd5blkAQvX8R7L3Ir7dQz-Ja5TIrzdEw1dFzHaulXIPnpI1VBdTRzp9A/s317/shmuel-steven-krawatsky-2013-pic-aka-rabbi-k.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="302" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRH_vbFzCvSnwibxMJ4CKD2rk4QGcChWLTQxyMCiqWEkgtUcRUQgKAaO42MNn4quP9EAlLl_-aiDIL7RPwTOHDseQFmvfUCw6ueOVY50ajihwERPB7muU75RY21cyR9Sd5blkAQvX8R7L3Ir7dQz-Ja5TIrzdEw1dFzHaulXIPnpI1VBdTRzp9A/s1600/shmuel-steven-krawatsky-2013-pic-aka-rabbi-k.webp" width="302" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red;">THE RABBI CALLED HIMSELF - "SPECIAL K"</span><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><h1 class="entry-title"><a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2022/07/12/hiring-reputation-management-co-made-rabbi-limited-public-figure-making-it-harder-for-him-to-win-libel-case/">Hiring Reputation Management Co. Made Rabbi Limited Public Figure, Making It Harder for Him to Win Libel Case</a></h1>
<p class="meta">
<span class="byline author vcard">
<a class="author url fn" href="https://reason.com/people/eugene-volokh/" rel="author" title="Posts by Eugene Volokh">Eugene Volokh</a>
</span>
<span class="pipe">|</span>
</p>
<p class="">From <a href="https://medialaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/07.12.22krawatsky.pdf"><em>Krawatsky v. Avrunin</em></a>, decided Friday by Judge Christopher Fogleman (Md. Cir. Ct.):</p> <blockquote><p><b>From
2010 to 2015, Plaintiff Steven Krawatsky ("Rabbi K") was a head
counselor at Camp Shoresh, a summer camp for children in Adamstown,
Frederick County, Maryland. The parents of three boys who had attended
the summer camp during that time have alleged that Rabbi K had sexually
assaulted the boys. In 2017</b>, Defendant Hannah Dreyfus …, a reporter for
The Jewish Week, Inc. …, began investigating the allegations. As a
result of Ms. Dreyfus's investigation, on January 17, 2018, Jewish Week
published an editorial drafted by its Editor and two articles authored
by Ms. Dreyfus.</p></blockquote> <p>Rabbi K sued Dreyfus and Jewish Week
for various defamation-related claims; the court held, in relevant
part, that Rabbi K was a limited purpose public figure, because he had
voluntarily injected himself into an existing public controversy:</p> <p><span id="more-8194777"></span></p> <blockquote><p>The
record is clear that the allegations against Rabbi K <i><u>did not concern
only the boys and their families. </u></i>The outcome of this controversy would
certainly affect the general public or some segment of it in an
appreciable way.<u> <b>The controversy concerned the safety of children.
Moreover, it concerned broader policy questions about how Jewish
institutions should best protect children upon learning of a sexual
abuse allegation against one of its employees</b>. </u>The Court concludes that
there was a particular public controversy [preexisting the allegedly
defamatory statements' publication] that gave rise to the alleged
defamation…. The Krawatskys hired the public relations consultant in
November 2017 "to help restore the damage to Rabbi K's online reputation
caused by the controversy." The articles and editorial were published
two months later, on January 17, 2018. The controversy continued
unabated following the public relations consultant's November 2017
retention, through the articles' and editorial's January 17, 2018
publication.</p> <p>Using the media to gain notoriety and establish a
positive public image can confer limited public figure status. It is
beyond dispute that the professional reputation management consultant's
objective was to influence and counter the adverse impact of the
unfavorable publicity that attended the Newspaper Defendants' two
Articles and Editorial. Rabbi K's public relations campaign did not
substantively respond to the allegations but rather was a more
generalized effort to improve his image. Its objective was not to reply
to the allegations, but rather to silence the negative information. By
waging this public relations campaign, Rabbi K became a public figure in
terms of First Amendment protection.</p></blockquote> <p>Because Rabbi K
was a limited-purpose public figure, he had to show "clear and
convincing evidence that the Newspaper Defendants acted with actual
malice" (rather than just negligently), and he couldn't.</p><p><a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2022/07/12/hiring-reputation-management-co-made-rabbi-limited-public-figure-making-it-harder-for-him-to-win-libel-case/">https://reason.com/volokh/2022/07/12/hiring-reputation-management-co-made-rabbi-limited-public-figure-making-it-harder-for-him-to-win-libel-case/</a></p>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-10798636880410015812024-02-19T03:00:00.001-05:002024-02-19T03:00:00.145-05:00Today the jury in the first part of the Krawatsky Trial returned a unanimous verdict:<p> <a class="ryu-featured-thumbnail" href="https://hareiani.com/2024/02/16/krawatsky-found-liable-for-abuse-of-two-of-three-accusers/" rel="713" title="Permalink to Shmuel Krawatsky Found Liable for Abuse of Two of Three Accusers"> </a>
</p><header class="entry-header">
<h1 class="entry-title"><a href="https://hareiani.com/2024/02/16/krawatsky-found-liable-for-abuse-of-two-of-three-accusers/" rel="bookmark">Shmuel Krawatsky Found Liable for Abuse of Two of Three Accusers</a></h1> </header>
<footer class="entry-meta">
<span class="entry-date"><a href="https://hareiani.com/2024/02/16/krawatsky-found-liable-for-abuse-of-two-of-three-accusers/" rel="bookmark" title="3:59 pm"><time datetime="2024-02-16T15:59:56-05:00"></time></a></span><br />
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<figure class="wp-block-image"><img alt="" class="wp-image-708" data-attachment-id="708" data-comments-opened="1" data-id="708" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="krawatsky-12" data-large-file="https://hareiani.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/krawatsky-12.jpg?w=696" data-medium-file="https://hareiani.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/krawatsky-12.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://hareiani.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/krawatsky-12.jpg" data-orig-size="1080,600" data-permalink="https://hareiani.com/2024/02/15/boy-it-sure-looks-like-the-krawatskys-fraudulently-benefitted-from-a-fake-charity/krawatsky-12/#main" height="222" src="https://hareiani.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/krawatsky-12.jpg" width="400" /></figure>
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<p><b>Today the jury in the first part of the Krawatsky Trial returned a
unanimous verdict:</b> On the first and second alleged victims they found
that Krawatsky was liable for the abuse alleged (the actual charges were
battery for the first and assault for the second), and for the third he
was found not liable (battery).</p>
<p>Next Tuesday the case will resume with the damages phase to determine
the damages he’s liable to those two families for. As of now his
lawyers are still planning to pursue defamation against the third family
and Chaim Levin.</p><a href="https://hareiani.com/">https://hareiani.com/</a>Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.com0