After terrorists killed my cousin Daniel Pearl, my family called for peace. But after the worldwide celebration of our people’s slaughter, my hope for peace is dead

 

As an IDF soldier stationed near Gaza in 2011, Ilan Benjamin believed he could promote “goodwill with our Palestinian neighbors.” 

Once, I Was a Peace Advocate. Now, I Have No Idealism Left.

The story I’m about to tell is one that many progressive Jews can relate to. In some ways, it’s a prototypical arc of a diaspora Jew who has always advocated for nuance. This week, something broke in us. We watched history repeat itself. Not just on the global scale, with the wanton massacre of our people, the savage mass murders and dismemberments of entire families and communities. But for many, my family included, history is repeating itself on a personal level as well. 

In March 2003, I turned 13 and celebrated my bar mitzvah in Walnut Creek, California. By Jewish tradition, I became a man. But the ceremony felt redundant; I had already grown up. Only one year earlier, my older cousin, Daniel Pearl, an investigative journalist for The Wall Street Journal, was kidnapped and beheaded by Islamist jihadis while on assignment in Pakistan.

His killers, like the Hamas killers of last weekend, proudly released a video documenting Danny’s murder. Among Danny’s last words were, “My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am Jewish.” At first, I was in shock—how had my own cousin become a player in such a large international nightmare? Why did people get murdered simply for being who they are? In this case, for being Jewish?

Danny’s parents did not call for revenge. Instead they set up The Daniel Pearl Foundation that offers fellowships, sponsors cross-cultural music events (Danny was a gifted musician), and brings people together to improve the world. Even after what my family had been through, their work encouraged me to be idealistic and believe that the Jewish people could make peace with our neighbors. I became a fierce advocate for peace.

When I immigrated to Israel at the age of 18 and enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces, I was still driven by ideals. I thought I could promote more goodwill with our Palestinian neighbors. Serving in a combat unit based on the Gaza border, I witnessed the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, held for five years by Hamas, when his freedom was exchanged for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. One for 1,000. Despite my many criticisms of the Israeli government, I recognized then how much Israel valued the life of every soldier.

The late journalist Daniel Pearl

On my rare free weekend, I spent my time at Kibbutz Be’eri. Because I was a “lone soldier”—that is, an immigrant without much close family in Israel—I was given a host family. They treated me like a son, including teasing me relentlessly for choosing to come to Israel and serve, whereas most Israelis have no choice. They were politically left, just like me. Despite rockets often raining down on them, they believed in peace, just like me. This week, when the terrorists came, ideals didn’t make a difference.

I watched the news in horror as terrorists massacred over 100 people at Kibbutz Be’eri. Women. Children. I frantically messaged my host family and heard nothing back. Like my cousin Danny years ago, my family was being held hostage. The good news: unlike Danny, my host family at Kibbutz Be’eri was saved. They are physically okay. But how can they really be okay, after watching their friends and neighbors being slaughtered? 

There was a time when these types of events couldn’t shake my ideals. I used to argue relentlessly for a two-state solution. I fought bitterly with Israeli friends about the decency of the Palestinian people. Even though radical Islamists had murdered my cousin, even though civilians had been blown up in buses daily during the Second Intifada, I refused to give in to nihilism. 

In 2012, I returned to the States to study film at University of Southern California, and published a book about my military service that criticized the Israeli government. This didn’t win me many friends, but I continued to advocate for nuance regardless. I proudly supported Black Lives Matter, LGBTQIA+, and feminist causes. I called myself a progressive Jew.

But over the years, I noticed a disturbing trend: With all the atrocities in the world, why did my social justice warrior friends hate Israel so disproportionately? Why did it feel like intersectionality excluded Jews? Why did the left—who supposedly stood up for human rights—put child-murdering Hamas terrorists on a pedestal? 

At first, I thought it must be miseducation.

“Ah, they think Palestinians are the indigenous people. I’ll show that Jewish history, and the archaeology to prove it, dates back millennia.” 

“Ah, they think we’re white colonizers. I’ll show how many Jews are people of color, including those who are Mizrahi, Sephardi, and Ethiopian.” 

“Ah, they’ll get it once I show them that there are fifty Muslim countries, and only one Jewish state.” 

But my friends weren’t interested in correcting their misunderstandings. 

Ilan Benjamin at his bar mitzvah.

I agreed that the settlements were unlawful, that Gaza was a humanitarian crisis, that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyuahu was a dictator. I assumed—if I cared enough, if I mourned for the Palestinian dead, if I put nuance above all else—our neighbors and their allies would give us the same decency.

How wrong I was. This past week, as over 1,300 Jews were slaughtered, the most murderous attack on Jews since the Holocaust, I saw the true face of Palestinians and their allies. All around the world, they celebrate. They gloat. They mock our tears. They do not protest against Hamas. They embrace pure evil. 

And so, to the terrorists I now say:

When you killed my family, I forgave you. When you killed my people, I forgave you. But when you killed my idealism, I had no forgiveness left. 

To non-Jewish friends who have reached out, thank you. It is simply the human thing to do. To friends who dare justify what has happened, you are not friends. You are nothing but Nazi supporters dressed up in leftist intellectual language. To the Palestinians: you have lost all moral authority to claim victimhood. I will never advocate for you again. To my family, friends in Israel, and Jews around the world hurting right now, I love you. Stay safe.

In Berlin, where I live today with my German-Ukrainian Jewish wife, Germans love to say “Never Again.” Right now, Never Again is happening again in real time, livestreamed for the whole world to see. I find myself looking up my military number in case the IDF reserves call for me. Unlike our enemy, I feel no joy at the prospect of going to war. But if our people’s existence is at stake, I will do what I must. I will be the world’s favorite villain: the Jew who has the audacity to defend his people.

https://www.thefp.com/p/daniel-pearl-cousin-hamas-idealism

Child Killer in Brooklyn --- Who Only Eats Glatt Kosher & Cholov Yisroel! ---- Prosecutors wrote in a memorandum to the court that Mr. Daskal had “methodically groomed an exceedingly vulnerable 15-year-old girl in his care, sexually abused her and then threatened her to prevent her from exposing his crimes.”

Prosecutors said Jacob Daskal was acting in his capacity as a shomrim leader when he brought a teenage girl to his home, where he sexually abused her

 

 

 

מילים ישירות מהתחת שלו

 To Paraphrase Elya Brudny -  Whenever Daskal attacks, and when he does the most atrocious things in the world, it is only because Hashem allowed it. Hashem, the Av Harachaman,  deems it in our best interest.  but we cannot forget that Hashem is allowing Daskal to do what he is doing...

Brooklyn Safety Patrol Leader Who Abused Girl Gets 17-Year Sentence ("So Obvious The New York Times Hates Orthodox Jews" Heard In Shul)

 

Jacob Daskal, head of a private Orthodox crime patrol, took a 15-year-old runaway to his upstate home. Her family thought he was helping.

 

After a 15-year-old girl had run away from her Brooklyn home in 2017, her relatives turned for help to a trusted figure: Jacob Daskal, the head of a private crime patrol called the Boro Park Shomrim Society.

The girl’s aunt and uncle asked Mr. Daskal to help find their niece a place to live and he offered his summer home in upstate New York. There, according to federal prosecutors, Mr. Daskal began months of sexual abuse that took place in New York State and Illinois.

On Wednesday a judge sentenced Mr. Daskal, who pleaded guilty last summer to transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, to 17 and a half years in prison, the maximum allowed under his plea agreement.

Before the sentencing, a prosecutor, Erin Reid, read a statement from Mr. Daskal’s victim, who wrote that he had subjected her to “nightly rape sessions” and emotional abuse, adding: “I will live with the pain of this trauma forever.”

Mr. Daskal also spoke, sobbing as he told the court that “words cannot capture the overwhelming shame and regret I feel.”

A defense memorandum had asked that Mr. Daskal, who had been free on bail, receive a lesser sentence, writing that he is “plagued by guilt” and will be “forever branded by the crime he committed.” In a letter to the judge, Mr. Daskal apologized, adding: “I know that I can never repair the damage I did to this girl.”

Mr. Daskal worked as a real estate property manager but was known for his role as a leader in the shomrim, the Hebrew word for “guards.” Various shomrim organizations have existed in New York City since the 1970s, serving as a sort of auxiliary police force for ultra-Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn neighborhoods like Borough Park, Crown Heights and Williamsburg.

The shomrim are valued by supporters for chasing thieves, searching for people who are missing and handling crowds at weddings and other events. But some men connected to the patrols have been accused of bullying, vigilantism and breaking the law. In 2016 a member of the Williamsburg shomrim was convicted of beating a Black student, who lost vision in one eye as a result. Later that year, Alex Lichtenstein, a member of the shomrim in Borough Park, pleaded guilty to bribing police officers for expedited handgun licenses.

The shomrim cultivate ties with police commanders, have served as liaisons with precincts and have received funding for equipment from elected officials. Members’ cars and clothing are typically emblazoned with logos that resemble that of the New York Police Department. Within Orthodox neighborhoods, the shomrim can be seen as more sympathetic or culturally attuned than the police.

Mr. Daskal was acting in his capacity as the Boro Park Shomrim Society’s founder and chief, prosecutors said, when he “coordinated efforts” with the teenage girl’s relatives who wanted to address their problems with her.

The girl moved into Mr. Daskal’s home in South Fallsburg, N.Y., in summer 2017, prosecutors said. On a Saturday in August, they said, Mr. Daskal called her into his bedroom, locked the door and sexually assaulted her.

Afterward, prosecutors said, Mr. Daskal sent text messages to her describing sexual fantasies, saying that he was “going to make her into a lady” and describing himself as a “father figure.”

The assaults continued, prosecutors said, taking place in his South Fallsburg home, about 90 miles northwest of New York City, where other members of his family were also living. They also happened in his car, when he took the girl from the home under the pretext of bringing her to see friends.

In fall 2017, prosecutors said, Mr. Daskal helped the girl’s parents enroll her in a school in Chicago. Mr. Daskal communicated with the girl by text message and video calls while she was living there, prosecutors said. Around early November, prosecutors said, Mr. Daskal flew to Chicago and picked the girl up at a driver’s education class, then sexually assaulted her in a hotel room.

In 2018, prosecutors said, as Mr. Daskal continued to try to contact the girl, she described the abuse to a mentor, who helped her go to the police. The F.B.I. searched two phones that Mr. Daskal had used and found what prosecutors said were “extensive chat communications between the defendant and the victim” including some that had been deleted but were recovered with forensic tools.

Prosecutors said that Mr. Daskal had told the girl to erase messages between them and said nobody would believe her if she described her encounters with him. At one point, prosecutors wrote, he asked her to write a letter stating that whatever sex they engaged in was “therapy” and that she loved him.

In a WhatsApp exchange cited by prosecutors, the girl asked whether a blood test could show that she had engaged in sex with him. Mr. Daskal told her not to worry.

“U know what my last name is,” he wrote. “Mr careful.”

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/11/nyregion/brooklyn-safety-patrol-leader-abuse-sentencing.html?unlocked_article_code=3flisyOUEJCQcwNm4E1vVyx1NHaDjDCYr9NZ4sEjCzMfHEHVy92fPHVp16zHYnyY55O1bwoZMdyLLYbNhFQk2xCTrBv_Suov5JwTaoSeWNoS3uWsS2weuV_bnlAEtCEjQlL7LUbP55tVe8t91m57SeYOpG_fuPCNoTj9sL5HIXu6HTWpHUHTODU6DGyNKBNt5tXh14KrtdHoeeQGr2Z1Q2b4TJ4MFAXJXVD5r3bin7M4IodIqZvHMBZdmA34bDhLlhCKIazqNBqoLtfljXOlbdsQRqm_lI9AlFBtQcKz5j9f5J54IaVHMu6GNKjQydKkfgBAtlZ5eXTqkIbZGHnt8JOnVDBTJADR7VqIHaYIN514Ilbmce9Kv4k&smid=fb-share

Divrei Outrageous Idiocy, Brazen Stupidity v'Sheker -- from Elya Brudny!

"First and foremost is the recognition and internalization that everything is ein od milvado. Everything is run by the hand of Hashem. Whenever Hamas attacks, and when they do the most atrocious things in the world, it is only because Hashem allowed it. Nobody can lay a finger on us if Hashem, the Av Harachaman, did not deem it in our best interest. That does not take away the appreciation of the cruelty, but we cannot forget that Hashem is allowing Hamas to do what they are doing. The first address of our frustration and pain must be our Father in shamayim."  Elya Brudny

מילים ישירות מהתחת שלו

 CLICK: BABIES BUTCHERED PICTURES:

KIDNAPPED & MURDERED JEWISH TODDLERS

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=572890011&sxsrf=AM9HkKkfGKMFbW3lEZ5sJg2CdKHRKtaPhQ:1697123154927&q=babies+murdered+by+hamas+pictures&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjEiqi25PCBAxWHJkQIHWezDq0Q0pQJegQIDBAB&biw=1024&bih=643&dpr=1

https://vimeo.com/873085648

Yaakov Meir Schechter: Do Not Leave Eretz Yisroel Now ---- Put This Idiot On The Frontlines In Gaza!

In response to the questions of many during the current eis tzarah, Rav Yaakov Meir Schechter was posed a number of shailos by his close talmid and associate, Rav Yehuda Deutsch.

Rav Yaakov Meir encouraged people not to fear and emphasized that they should “remain in Eretz Yisroel,” which is “a place of ultimate safety.”

Rav Yaakov Meir acknowledged that there are concerns from individuals living abroad who are considering returning and parents overseas whose children are studying in Eretz Yisroel. However, he unequivocally advised them to stay in the country, assuring them that there is no reason to leave.

Rav Yaakov Meir firmly believes that fleeing from the land is not the solution to the challenges at hand, and he urged Yidden to recite Tehillim to strengthen their faith and dispel fear.

Rav Yaakov Meir explained that reciting Tehillim at every available moment will not only strengthen one’s emunah, but also help eliminate fear.

“The root of fear,” he said, “lies in a confused mind and a lack of faith. Therefore, the solution is to recite Tehillim, which strengthens faith, clarifies the mind, and purifies the heart.”

I FULLY ENDORSE UNITED HATZALAH! I KNOW 100% OF YOUR DONATED DOLLAR GOES FOR EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT!

 

EMERGENCY CAMPAIGN FOR EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT

Shabbat morning at 6:20 am Israel was targeted by Hamas terrorists who crossed its border, infiltrating southern towns, resulting in many killed, people kidnapped, and hundreds injured. At the same time, thousands of rockets were launched into Israel, reaching Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. A state of war has been declared by Israel’s Defense Minister. In this state of emergency – unlike anything Israel has experienced since the Yom Kippur War – Israel needs your urgent support. We are launching an emergency appeal to raise funds for desperately needed supplies to provide our volunteers with the equipment they need to save lives and the protective equipment to keep themselves safe. The goal of the campaign is to raise $20 million to equip an additional 1,000 United Hatzalah volunteers with protective vests and helmets, oxygen tanks, defibrillators, trauma bandages, and tourniquets. These supplies can be ordered and delivered over the course of the next week to ensure that UH volunteers have everything they need to respond to the ongoing attacks. Our medics are on the front line and in need of support and reinforcements as they respond to lifesaving calls. The time is now. Your support is critical to ensure the safety of our volunteers and the people of Israel.

United Hatzalah of Israel is the largest independent, non-profit, fully volunteer Emergency Medical Service organization that provides the fastest and free emergency medical first response throughout Israel. United Hatzalah’s service is available to all people regardless of race, religon, or national origin. United Hatzalah has more than 6,500 volunteers around the country, available around the clock – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. With the help of our unique GPS technology and our iconic ambucycles, our average response time is less than 3 minutes across the country and 90 seconds in metropolitan areas. Our mission is to arrive at the scene of medical emergencies as soon as possible and provide the patient with professional and appropriate medical aid until an ambulance arrives, resulting in many more lives saved.

 PLEASE DONATE ANY AMOUNT YOU CAN:

https://israelrescue.org/campaign/israel-at-war/?utm_campaign=gaza2023&utm_medium=popup-new-2&utm_source=homepage

KEl Male Rachamim

An Almost Jewish Doctor & a Hungarian Meet In a Lab....

 

Drew Weissman, (Whose father was Jewish) immunologist, wins Nobel Prize for his work on COVID vaccines

Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman speak onstage at the Ninth Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, April 15, 2023.

 

(JTA) — Drew Weissman, a Jewish scientist who identified the technology that made possible the mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, has won the 2023 Nobel Prize in medicine. Weissman shared the prize with Katalin Kariko, his Hungarian-born research partner at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kariko and Weissman’s story of collaboration became famous in 2020 when the technology they had started experimenting with more than two decades earlier allowed the swift creation effective vaccines against the crippling pandemic.

The pair first encountered each other while photocopying research papers in 1998 and realized they were working on related topics. Kariko, who had been a low-level researcher for years, was trying to prove that messenger RNA, the genetic material that tells cells what to do, could be programmed. Weissman, a physician who previously worked under Dr. Anthony Fauci, later the U.S. COVID czar, at the National Institutes of Health, was working on a vaccine against HIV.

They teamed up and, in 2005, published a paper showing that mRNA could in fact be altered to instruct cells to take certain actions. But their breakthrough was widely overlooked for decades until it became clear that it could be used to take action against COVID-19, which was killing hundreds of thousands of people and crippling the global economy. Their technology fueled both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which arrived with unusual speed and effectiveness in late 2020 and together have been administered millions of times.

“Through their groundbreaking findings, which have fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system, the laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times,” the Nobel Prize committee said in announcing the award.

Weissman is the son of a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother who grew up celebrating Jewish holidays at home, he told the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent in 2021. Together with his wife Mary Ellen, who grew up in a more observant Jewish home, he sent his children to Hebrew school at Temple Beth Hillel/Beth El, a Conservative synagogue in suburban Philadelphia. Mary Ellen Weissman is heavily involved in Momentum, which seeks to engage Jewish women with Israel, and together with her husband has spoken to and donated to the organization.

Drew Weissman told the Exponent that his personal religious outlook was not specifically Jewish. ““I’m more of a Daoist, in that point of view that I think that Earth, nature is the supreme — the main component of life,” he said. “And that’s what needs to be celebrated.”

About a quarter of Nobel laureates in medicine over time have had one or more Jewish parents, according to Jinfo.org, a website that meticulously documents the Jewish lineage of prize winners across all fields. The site, which was updated swiftly to include Weissman, says that nearly 40% of U.S. Nobel laureates in medicine have been Jewish.

https://www.jta.org/2023/10/02/health/drew-weissman-jewish-immunologist-wins-nobel-prize-for-his-work-on-covid-vaccines?utm_source=JTA_Maropost&utm_campaign=JTA_DB&utm_medium=email&mpweb=1161-62716-462090

I Miss Ringling Brothers Circus --- Where The Clowns Were Funny & had Better Costumes! OY! The Gold Ol' Days Of Chol Hamoed...

 

Israel's chief rabbi: Secular Jews have lower intelligence....

 

"They do not find satisfaction in life; everything is driven by the desires of this world," Sephardi Chief Moronic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said.

Israel's Sephardi Chief Clown Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef

 

Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Yosef has said that the mental faculties of secular Jews who eat unkosher food are "impaired," and therefore it is "difficult for them to comprehend things."

His comments were released by Israel's Channel 13 on Sunday. 

The rabbi added that, "I observe everything happening within the secular community. They are in a state of jeopardy. They do not find satisfaction in life; everything is driven by the desires of this world."

"They are poor souls...they are jealous of us. They see the haredi sector, with its holidays and children, it is all jealousy," the rabbi continued. "And the hate is developed from jealousy." He also called on religious organizations to promote the ultra-Orthodox lifestyle to secular Israelis.

Opposition outrage by chief rabbi's comments

His statements have sparked a political uproar, with strong condemnations coming from the opposition.

The Sephardi chief CLOWN is seen as the masses pray at the Western Wall

 

Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid commented that Yosef has misrepresented his role, saying, "he is not the Chief Rabbi of Israel but rather the rabbi of a vocal minority that condemns millions of Jews who serve in the army, risk their lives, work, and support this nation. In one aspect, he is correct - they felt somewhat foolish tonight when they realized they are the ones funding his salary."

Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman, also commented, "The sole foolishness with your statements is the fact that the secular public is funding and paying a salary to someone as uninformed as you." A member of his party, MK Yulia Malinovsky, added, "Based on Chief Rabbi Yosef's statements, even consuming kosher food alone doesn't ensure profound wisdom." 

 

List of 200 Jewish Nobel laureates: 1 observant Jew out of 200 laureates:

2005

Robert Aumann[231

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_Nobel_laureates

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-761245?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Excerpt%3A+Trump+wanted+%245b++from+SBF+to+not+run+in+2024&utm_campaign=October+2%2C+2023&vgo_ee=U0Cnp9xWz33fm%2F9cYm1%2Fa94frB0F1cyLbrCVMkTOeY%2FGLg%3D%3D%3AK8QxLBqa%2BRUUFgVWtliqCIH5l4rydqL8

Lest We Forget The Mass Slaughter Of Ukranian Jews By The Ukranians! On Sept. 3, 1941, the first murders took place in the gas chambers of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. On Sept. 29, 1941, mass shootings of Jews began at Babi Yar in Kyiv, Ukraine.

 

The dark legacy of Babi Yar 

 

We must remember not only the Jews who were slaughtered but the millions of Jews who were never born. 

 

A memorial at Babi Yar in Ukraine, the site of a September 1941 massacre carried out by German forces and Ukrainian collaborators

 

 

The English word “holocaust” is borrowed from the Latin word holocaustum, used in the Latin translation of the Bible. This word is based in turn on a Greek word that means “burned whole” or “burnt offering.” In English, holocaustum was first used by an English chronicler of the second half of the 12th century—the monk Richard of Devizes—in order to describe an anti-Jewish pogrom that began in London after the coronation of Richard the Lionheart on Sept. 3, 1189. Some 750 years later, the Nazis decided to “burn” the Jews of Europe.

On the evening of July 31, 1941, in a luxurious baroque mansion in the Schorfheide Forest north of Berlin, Hermann Goering, the Nazi’s commissioner for the “Jewish question,” signed an order for the “Final Solution of the Jewish question.” It had been brought to him by Gruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, the first deputy reichsführer of the SS. In 1961, Adolf Eichmann testified at his trial in Jerusalem that, in early August 1941, Heydrich summoned him, showed him a document signed by Goering and said: “The Führer has given orders for the physical extermination of the Jews.”

On Sept. 3, 1941, the first murders took place in the gas chambers of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. On Sept. 29, 1941, mass shootings of Jews began at Babi Yar in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The Holocaust unites Jews because it is a tragic demonstration of their national and religious commonality. Jews speak dozens of languages, but what they have in common is the “language” of the Holocaust—a reminder of their common fate. The Holocaust continues to affect the entire Jewish people to this day. Professor Sergio Della Pergola of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a specialist in Jewish demography, believes that if the Holocaust had not happened, the number of Jews in the world would now be between 26 million and 32 million.

Kyiv has fertile soil. Everything grows well in it, including antisemitism. In the ravine called Babi Yar, the soil was especially fertile. Everything that nature desired grew there. The women of Kyiv from time immemorial saw their husbands off to war from the site. Tears of grief mixed with the waters of the overflowing Dnieper. There was plenty of moisture in Babi Yar.

But woe to the Jews who wanted to live. The Nazis chose the largest and saddest ravine in Kyiv as the place of execution. Fifty years after the mass shootings, my landlord in Stuttgart, where I worked at the Max Planck Institute, told me that he had heard machine-gun bursts from Babi Yar. His wife recalled how he woke up from nightmares in which he heard the sound again, as well as shouts and prayers of “Shema Yisrael!” He would wake up, but my relatives would sleep there forever.

On Sept. 28, announcements in three languages—Russian, Ukrainian and German—were posted in the streets of Kyiv: “All Jews of Kyiv and its environs should come on Monday, Sept. 29, 1941, by 8 am to the corner of Melnikovskaya and Dochterevskaya (near the cemeteries). Take with you documents, valuables, as well as warm clothes and underwear and other things. Whoever of the Jews does not fulfill this order and is found elsewhere will be shot.”

The Jews believed they were going to be resettled, as there was a railroad freight station not far from the appointed place. Dozens of members of my family read this announcement. They packed their belongings and recited the Jewish traveling prayer, which included words addressed to God: “Save us from every enemy and ambush, from robbers and wild beasts on the trip, and from all kinds of punishments that rage and come to the world.”

But no one spared them from ambush, from robbers and from wild beasts. My grandmother’s brother was shot at Babi Yar in 1941, along with dozens of our family members. Unlike his relatives, he was not wounded. He crawled out of the moat of death and escaped.

As I grew up, I heard his stories. Often, he said, “Many Jews were killed, but because of these executions, even more Jews were not born.” When one honors the memory of the Jews who died in the Holocaust, one must be aware of the many millions of Jews who never existed at all because of the slaughter.

Twelve years before my scholarly visit to Germany, I repatriated to Israel. I chose Israel, a country of limited opportunities and unlimited dangers, a country of uncertain borders and certain enemies, a country of three seas and three deserts, standing at the crossroads of three continents, a country flowing with milk, honey and blood. Before leaving for Israel, I brought my 5-year-old son to Babi Yar. We came to say goodbye to those who could not leave with us.

https://www.jns.org/the-dark-legacy-of-babi-yar/?_se=bWpwb2xvQGJib3guZnI%3D&utm_campaign=Evening+Syndicate+Wednesday+9272023&utm_medium=email&utm_source=brevo

The Most Damning & Cogent View Of Donald Trump I've Heard To Date and Agree With Entirely - Mild Use Of Foul Language ...An Insurrection of Lies!

I believe that confronting anti-science movements is essential and necessary - Many of us even apply our training to develop novel and exciting technologies, such as new medicines, diagnostics, medical devices, or vaccines. A common denominator is that we use science to save lives.

Vaccine Research and Combating the Anti-Science Movement Go Hand in Hand...

 

Why You Should Trust Dr. Hotez and NOT medical smut peddlers like Shmuel Kamenetsky, Malkiel Kotler, Eli Ber Wachtfogel...v'chulu... and the other giants of ignorance & arrogance!

***“An authority who allows himself to be consulted [when a life is in danger] is reprehensible, and he who consults him (rather than speedily acting to save the life in danger) is a murderer” (Tur, Orah Hayyim 328).***

— An excerpt from Hotez's new book, The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science

Hotez is a professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology. 

 

by Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD

It might not be intuitive why, as an MD-PhD laboratory investigator who develops vaccines for global health, I should also take on the challenge of combating anti-science or authoritarian regimes. Some colleagues, especially those who have been scientists for decades, even question my taking a public stance. Their position is a traditional one, that countering anti-vaccine movements or defending science and scientists is best left to others, while speaking out to defend the discipline is even inappropriate for our profession.

But I believe that confronting anti-science movements is essential and necessary. Our training as biomedical scientists gives us the knowledge and tools to advance the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology, microbiology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and physiology. Many of us even apply our training to develop novel and exciting technologies, such as new medicines, diagnostics, medical devices, or vaccines. A common denominator is that we use science to save lives. I embarked on MD-PhD training to apply the then-new science of molecular biology -- the first gene had been cloned just a few years earlier -- to the study of medically important parasites in Africa and elsewhere. I brought hookworms into the Rockefeller University Laboratory of Medical Biochemistry (headed by Anthony Cerami, PhD) to take a first stab at developing hookworm vaccines. Now we have a human hookworm vaccine in clinical trials in Africa, as well as a vaccine for another devastating parasitic infection known as schistosomiasis, and of course our COVID-19 vaccine released for emergency use in India.

It is in that same spirit that I embarked on a parallel career of combating anti-science. My mindset for writing and publishing the book about my daughter, Rachel, was basically: If I don't write this or stand up for vaccines, then who will? After all, I am a vaccine scientist and have particular expertise on information that conclusively shows there is no vaccine-autism link. I also have firsthand knowledge about autism; I discussed with Rachel's medical geneticists the steps of whole exome sequencing to identify her autism gene. A downside to writing about Rachel was that it invited waves of attacks from the anti-vaccine movement. However, this also gave me experience and understanding about the tactics and approaches used by these groups. By circumstance, I became an anti-science expert.

 I was among the first to call out the Trump West Wing for its use of disinformation and anti-science propaganda -- not from brilliance, but because by default I had become a national expert in deciphering the rhetoric of anti-science, including the false narratives in particular, which in some cases are spun around real facts.

 Beginning in 2021 and continuing into 2022, with 200,000 unvaccinated Americans needlessly losing their lives because of their COVID-19 vaccine defiance and refusal, I again felt an obligation to confront and combat this anti-science aggression.

****** 

My Comments:

Achrei Mos, Vayikra 18:5. וָחַי בָּהֶם, Vachai Bahem: The Obligation to Preserve Life Countermands Other Religious Obligations 

וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת חֻקֹּתַי וְאֶת מִשְׁפָּטַי אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם הָאָדָם וָחַי בָּהֶם  אֲנִי ה
Observe my ordinances and laws, that man shall do them and live; I am Hashem.

“The saving of a life overrides the commandments of the entire Torah; and he shall live by them and not die by them. Desecrate one Sabbath on his account that he may keep many Sabbaths” [Yoma 85b]. This law is the watchword of Judaism. “An authority who allows himself to be consulted [when a life is in danger] is reprehensible, and he who consults him (rather than speedily acting to save the life in danger) is a murderer” (Tur, Orah Hayyim 328). Maimonides, that master of conciseness, deviated from his regular manner and treated this issue with great elaborateness… [Rav Soloveitchik, in the original, inserts the previous citation of Rambam.]
 
The teachings of the Torah do not oppose the laws of life and reality, for were they to clash with this world and were they to negate the value of concrete, physiological-biological existence, then they would contain not mercy, lovingkindness, and peace but vengeance and wrath.[2] 

 "Rav Moshe Feinstein Zt"l, in his sefer "Igros Moshe," writes  that this common understanding of the pasuk is incorrect. That is not what the pasuk is saying. The true explanation is as basic as a Targum Onkelos. 

 
The Targum Onkelos translates this pasuk as: "and you should live through them in the World to Come." In other words, the pasuk is not telling us to stay alive and neglect the mitzvos, because life is more precious than mitzvos. The pasuk is telling us that the most precious thing in life is keeping mitzvos, because they bring us to olam haba, the World to Come.
Therefore, if I have a choice between observing the Shabbos or being murdered, the Torah says, "live!" Why? Not because life, for its own sake, is more precious than G-d's Commandments. Rather, life is precious because you can do those Commandments! 

Therefore, perform work on this Shabbos so you can keep so many more Shabbasos in the future. Eat chometz on Pesach. Why? So you can go on and do more mitzvos, and be worthy of life in the world to come. 

 
This is an entirely different perspective. Life is not valuable just for the sake of life itself, without a purpose. Life is not valuable simply in order for a person to work, do errands and go to ball games. That is not what makes life worth living! What does make life worth living? "V'chai bahem" - "l'chayei alma" [in the world to come]. Life that leads to this goal is worth living. The Torah is instructing us to violate the Shabbos and to eat chometz [leaven] on Pesach. Why? The reason is because a human life is valuable because it can do so many more mitzvos in this world. Therefore, violate the Shabbos once so that you can observe Shabbos many more times." 

*******

Those of us in the biomedical community who feel it is a moral imperative to direct our scientific energies toward saving lives must recognize that battling anti-science is an essential element of this cause. For inspiration, I turn to the writings and thoughts of Jacob Bronowski (1908-1974). Bronowski was a Polish-born mathematician and philosopher who taught mathematics in the U.K., and over time became a renowned public intellectual through his writings, and later as the presenter of a BBC documentary (and companion book) known as The Ascent of Man. One of the more moving segments was filmed at Auschwitz as Bronowski spoke about a dark side of science that can be twisted for nefarious purposes. Previously, in his 1956 book, Science and Human Values, Bronowski wrote about the liberation of the concentration camps and Holocaust victims, as well as the aftermath of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He used these examples to develop an essential moral framework for scientists. Bronowski became one of the first "scientific humanists" in residence after the founding of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. When I met with Jonas Salk, MD, there in 1995, he explained to me that the rationale during the organization's early years for devoting a part of the institute to building bridges between the sciences and the humanities was the striking gap between the two groups. He and Bronowski believed that close intellectual contact between each discipline could significantly enrich the other. Over time, for the institute to focus on its continued excellence in biomedical sciences, this emphasis on the humanities became a lesser priority.

Therefore, it remains urgent to build out meaningful programs in the humanities and public engagement at many of our major research institutions and universities. There are now some interesting and successful examples of such collaborations, including the Center for Humanities & History of Modern Biology at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, strong programs in the humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a 2018 report from the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on integrating humanities and the arts into science, medicine, and engineering. However, much more needs to be done.

Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, is a professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology, and the founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also the co-director of the Texas Children's Center for Vaccine Development. This piece was excerpted from his new book, The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science: A Scientist's Warningopens in a new tab or window. Copyright 2023. Published with permission of Johns Hopkins University Press.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/106399?xid=nl_secondopinion_2023-09-24&eun=g2011045d0r

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hotez

https://www.bcm.edu/people-search/peter-hotez-23229

https://peterhotez.org/

UOJ & Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz Of Yated Ne'eman Collaborate On A Shabbos Shuva Drasha Heard 'Round The World!

 

UOJ & Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz Of Yated Ne'eman Collaborate On A Shabbos Shuva Drasha Heard 'Round The World!

A UOJ Archived Parody! September 21, 2009

Agudath Israel

The fascination with this group's downfall and the manner in which they hoodwinked shrewd, intelligent people seems bottomless. Why is the public appetite for details about how they defrauded people so insatiable?

The thousands of people who were wiped out spiritually when the web of deceit ripped apart, have yet to be quantified. Is it because they abused the trust of so many? Is it because they took every last dime of emunah? Is it because they took the lies from rabbis/gedolim when they knew that, and passing it off to the next sucker in line? Is it because of the unprecedented number of people whose trust they abused and lost?

Is it the spectacular amounts of cover-ups that they supposedly gobbled up that is driving the public's obsession with this group?

They are not the first group of crooks and sociopathic liars, and they won't be the last. They are not the first persons to look into people's eyes and lie to them. The world is, regrettably, full of fast-talkers who sweet-talk people into a variety of schemes aimed at fleecing them.

Most of us have had the experience of talking to habitual, bold-faced liars - and realizing that we are being lied to. Most people are intelligent enough to at least be on the lookout for charlatans.

It is true that we live in a period when we are more susceptible to those who are blessed with the gift of oratory and the ability to offer glib optimistic promises. It is doubtful if the current president-elect would be in his position if he wouldn't have been blessed with the gift of oratory. There are many other individuals in leadership positions who are looked up to by a variety of people strictly because of the way they communicate and not necessarily because of their superior knowledge or intellect. Can it be that the fascination with Agudah is that people are enamored by their salesmanship abilities?

What is so different about this group of rabbis? Why is everyone so fascinated by their capers?

These fabulously pathetic Jews generally view themselves and their lives as more important than those of the little people who have to sweat over a blatt gemora. The culture of power and privilege that comes with their immense phony emunah makes these Jews feel superior to common folk. With a multitude of subordinates like Zwiebel, Shafran and Weinberger catering to their every need and want, and a way of life that defies description, they seem to inhabit a parallel universe.

But it's more than that. The delusion of superiority enjoyed by the rabbis is reinforced by the masses who pay homage to them. Even rabbis who speak out against the worship of money, defer to the rich and bend over backwards (very far) to please the wealthy in their community.

Why?..... Speak to any Swiss banker!

A rabbi commands respect and attention wherever he goes. People point him out when he walks into a room and seek his counsel on various matters, most of which he often knows nothing about.

Everyone wants to be associated with gedolim and, more often than not, the barometer of tzidkas is the size of the rabbi's beard and hat. Usually it matters not how corrupt the rabbi is.

With very few exceptions, this is the way of the world. Honesty is viewed as naivete. One who declines to participate in an Agudah Convention because of the dubious ethics of that group of child-rape enablers, or refuses government benefits he may not be entitled to, is scorned as a fool.

The hardworking electrician or craftsman who works from early in the morning to late at night, never overcharging and remaining fastidious about paying his taxes, may not earn any one's admiration. It's the one who cuts corners, gives dishonest answers on government forms, overcharges and plays fast and loose with the rules who often seems to be more respected for his accomplishments.

An honest middle class man who pays his tuition and is punctilious in the giving of maaser and charity to the less fortunate isn't respected enough for his integrity and reliability. The same goes for the kindhearted fellow who doesn't push his weight around trying to dictate what others should do and does not let child-rapists run loose in his Borough Park two inches of backyard.

We have in our midst people of sterling character, individuals who are intelligent, capable and resourceful, who can envision solutions and follow through on a project to completion. These people realize that all their talents and possessions are gifts from Hashem. They remain humble and G-d fearing. It is this kind of person whom we need in positions of leadership, not the idiots we have now.

Unfortunately, however, we don't appreciate these people. We look for people with glitz and glamour of shtreimels, spudiks, Borsalinos, and the ganovim surrounding them. Awed by their success in duping people to buy them huge amounts of yeshiva real estate with private toilets and basements for their rebbes, we put our trust in these people, imagining that they possess the brilliance and competence to lead us to success.

Then, suddenly, our eyes are opened when we see the rabbis taken down by the cheapest UOJ tricks in the book. We are astounded. How were successful Jews taken in by these thieves? How did they allow themselves to ignore the most basic laws of trust that relatively unsophisticated people are familiar with?

The very people who inspired so much envy and hero-worship, and who we turned to for advice and guidance, have been exposed as fatally blinded by their hunger for more money and power. It fascinates people to realize that the rabbis are no smarter than they, and may even be less intelligent. Middle class people are amazed to see that the wealth they so covet is fleeting and meaningless, while the money they have given to fraudulent rabbis was used for the thieves own gain at the expense of the community.

The media will get over its obsession with child sexual molestation in the Jewish community; the public will soon lose its fascination with this story. Yet, long after the allure of these criminal incidents fades, we must remember its lessons.

Don't rush to respect these rabbis again. Don't become enamored by people who seem to to tell you the truth no matter what the situation. Don't judge a person by the black clothing he wears. Be a true Jew -- eliminate the middleman - go direct to the manufacturer! What kind of Jew buys retail?

Remember that sechel - common sense is a Divine gift intended for the recipient to better mankind and those around him. He who uses his gifts wisely has fulfilled his obligations and accomplished what is expected of him. The one who disburses his largess to worthwile mosdos of Torah and chesed has earned eternity for himself and his loved ones. He who squanders it in selfish pursuits or phony tzedakas and thieving yeshiva owners, leads an empty and purposeless life. He fritters away the benefits he could have accrued in this life and wastes numerous opportunities for eternity.

People who lead honest lives don't chase after phony promises and empty words of fraudulent rabbis behind the rainbow. They have their emunah the old-fashioned way - the Torah hakedosha. They avoid subterfuge and dishonesty. When asking sheilos, they take great care to diversify, never putting all their eggs in one rabbinic basket.

They know that nothing works in a straight upward curve; life has its ups and downs that affect every sphere of faith. Now its the down --- kick your kids out of kollel and force them to go to work.

Enough with these bums hamming it up in the Lakewood coffee room. Stop the checks to them and to the Kotlers --- tell Malkiel and Aron to get real jobs. Shenky can get them traffic cop jobs in a jif! You - parents - are expected to work yourselves dead so your kids can putz around in Atlantic City?

Even though your kids are devious, lazy bandits, don't become broken and give up hope when things are pointing down. Maintain your emunah and bitachon. In the good times, don't flaunt your success and don't force others to conform to your meshugasin of attending lavish yeshivah dinners and conventions. Remain committed to the greater good at all times. Tell the rabbis who knock on your door with their hands out, to kiss off!

We are currently experiencing a spiritual depression as well. Many good people are losing not only their emunah but their savings and the possessions they worked so hard to earn. Everyone we know seems to have been forced, at least somewhat, to lower their standard of living. In the dark as to what tomorrow will bring, many are now cutting back on all forms of spending and holding on to what they have.

People upon whom charitable organizations depended to continue their work are no longer in a position to be of much financial assistance. People with hearts overflowing with the desire to help, and who formerly supported yeshivos and enabled them to maintain genaiveshe real estate holdings, the golden chain stretching back as far as the thief was able to deceive you, are themselves broken-hearted and in need of support and mercy. Nothing like a good molesting by a rabbi to get them to appreciate how lucky they really are.

In difficult straits, rabbis, yeshivas and Jewish organizations will find themselves various unethical schemes to attain wealth and success by taking moral shortcuts. When tempted by dishonesty and duplicity, one has but to remember Margo's downfall. In the end, the truth always emerges, but the rabbis' have short memories, are short on brains, and have been shortened by untrained mohelim.

Frauds and lies will only get you so far. Eventually, the treachery will catch up with you. Together with your wealth, all those adoring friends who couldn't do enough for you will disappear.

Everything temporary comes to a crashing end. Only truth is enduring. Shidduchim for your kids will disappear unless you create some new fraudulent Ponzi scheme -- and Agudath Israel will get the government's money to teach you exactly how to pull it off! Project Dope!

At times like these, we search for things that will uplift and inspire us positively. Neginah, song, has the power to do that in unparalleled ways. Good Jewish music is intended to reach the recesses of our neshamos and make us into better people. Simple poetic words of timeless truth when combined with proper music have a way of doing just that.

Sing and declare "Toras Hashem Temimah" loud and often! Beseech God with "Achas Shoalti", and remember our only source of sustenance when singing "V'yiten L'cho Elokim M'tal Hashomayim...."

[The Lord's Torah is perfect, it restores the soul. The Lord's testimony is reliable, it makes the simple person wise.












Track Title: Toras Hashem
Composer: Feivel Mendlowitz
Ensemble: The Choir of Pirchei Agudath Israel of America
Conductor: Stanley Sperber
Language: Hebrew
Album/Collection Title: Pirchei Sings - Ani Maamin
Label: Pirchei Records
Country of Publication: USA
Archived by the Trustees of Dartmouth College

There is one thing I ask the Lord, one thing that I desire --- That I might dwell in the Lord's house all the days of my life, witnessing the Lord's goodness and contemplating in His sanctuary.

And the Lord giveth from the dew of the Heavens....

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE:


As these hit songs proclaim, let us stay strong and cling to our beliefs. Let us cast aside the alma deshikra that tempts us every day from the bowels of 42 Broadway, and strengthen our connection to the One Above and His Torah. In that merit, we will be zoche to greet Moshiach Tzidkeini, may he come speedily, in our day.

{Contact the Yated for the original undoctored article - Pinny you owe me one --- a check to Survivors For Justice would be a good start!}

 

READ COMMENTS:

https://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/search?q=UOJ+%26+Rabbi+Pinchos+Lipschutz+Of+Yated+Ne%27eman+Collaborate+On+A+Shabbos+Shuva+Drasha+Heard+%27Round+The+World%21

Israelis should carry guns on Yom Kippur, police say --- So Should Americans Who Know How To Use A Gun! (PM)

(My opinion - Take an unloaded gun to shul before yom-tov, on a separate trip, take the clips and ammo.  Always check & follow the gun laws in your state!) PM

 

In a press statement, the Israel Police spokesperson urged Israelis to carry guns for personal safety amid the High Holy Days.

POLICE PATROL outside al-Aqsa Mosque amid clashes in the area this week.

The Israel Police spokesperson suggested that Jews should carry weapons on Yom Kippur in a Tuesday press statement.

The recommendation came in a message regarding police preparedness as the approach of the Jewish High Holy Days brings increased security risk in a Tuesday press statement.

As part of the measures that the public should take, he emphasized was for citizens to carry weapons and be trained in their use.

The Israel Police spokesperson, Commander Eli Levi, noted the police were ramping up their preparedness at key locations across Israel.

“As every year, in preparation for the High Holy Days, the level of readiness has been increased in certain areas, with an emphasis on cities such as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and prayer and entertainment venues,” Levi said.

He went on to assert that in the weeks leading up to the High Holy Days, Israel faces more severe threats to public safety as a result of crime and terror.

“Now, a few days before Yom Kippur and during the holiday season, there are dozens of alerts. Alongside the escalating incitement to terror on social media, this has led the Israel Police to deploy thousands of officers, Border Police, and volunteers,” he stated.

Levi went on to explain that, at this time, the Israeli security apparatus is focusing on stopping terrorist acts before they occur, being able to respond immediately in the event that they do, and doing everything possible to keep the public safe.

Levi: Israelis should carry weapons

However, keeping the public safe, Levi advances, involves the active participation of the public in their own personal safety. That is, the public should carry weapons, he says.

“Today,” Levi said, “we reiterate the call of the Chief of Police and the Head of Operations and call on the public to carry weapons and be trained in their use when necessary, to bear their weapons during these days, even in places of prayer and family entertainment.”

The Israel Police spokesperson also addressed violent crime in Israel, particularly in the country’s Arab sector. He noted the police’s ongoing effort to combat such violence, particularly via the confiscation of weapons, saying that every firearm, explosive, or grenade recovered could prevent it from making its way to those intending terroristic violence.

Levi also warned against harboring illegal residents who unlawfully crossed into Israel.

“Most importantly,” he added in conclusion, “promptly report any unusual event that you find yourself involved in or exposed to and any publications that raise concerns about incitement to terror and violence on social networks."

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-759794