Saturday, January 28, 2006

Kaduri Passes And Moshiach Is Still In Hiding

Jan. 28, 2006 21:08 Updated Jan. 28, 2006 22:38
Rabbi Yitzhak Kadouri, leading kabbalist, dies
By JPOST.COM STAFF


Rabbi Yitzhak Kadouri, one of the best-known rabbis in Israel, and the leading Sephardic kabbalist of his time, died Saturday night at Jerusalem's Bikur Holim Hospital.

Rabbi Kadouri had been hospitalized in Jerusalem's Bikur Holim Hospital for the past two weeks, initially due to a severe lung infection. The rabbi was initially sedated and respirated, but his condition had stabilized until a fungus was discovered in his bloodstream last week.

Zaka reported his funeral will begin Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Jerusalem's Bokharim neighborhood, with the procession beginning at the Rehov David yeshiva which the rabbi led.

When Rabbi Yitzhak Kadouri was 16 years old Rabbi Yosef Haim, known as the Ben Ish Chaim, the most important Sephardi rabbi of the 19th century, blessed Kadouri with a long life. Apparently the blessing worked.

Nobody knows precisely how old Kadouri was as the time of his death. Estimates range between 106 and 113.

Kadouri arrived in Israel from Bagdad, Iraq at the age of 17 and studied under several legendary kabbalists, including Rabbi Yehuda Pedaya, author of Beit Lechem Yehuda and Rabbi Efraim Cohen, head of a group of kabbalists who studied at Porat Yosef Yeshiva. Other rabbis include Rabbi Ezra Atia, head of Porat Yosef, Rabbi Mansour Ben-Shimon, and Rabbi Salman Eliyahu, father of former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu.

Kadouri later studied at Rabbi Yehuda Hadaya's Yeshivat Beit El in Jerusalem's Makor Baruch neighborhood. Rabbi Shmuel Darzi, one of Kadouri's
last students/study partners passed away in January. Darzi was in his eighties.

Kadouri s close circle of friends and family say he was one of the few known living kabbalists who use 'practical kabbalah', a type of Jewish magic aimed at affecting a change in the world.

They say Kadouri learned from the great kabbalists of previous generations the practice of writing amulets which heal, enhance fertility, and bring
success.

Also, according to his son David, Kadouri was involved in the removal of at least 20 Dybbuks, lost souls that stray into the hapless bodies of living people to torment them.

However, according to sources close to the ancient mystic, even Kadouri never dabbled in the most dangerous types of Kabbalah that included forcing oaths on demons and evil spirits.

Kabbalists believe that it is possible, in
theory, to use holy names to trap demons and harness their powers. But the father of modern Kabbalah, the type learned in all the Kabbalah Yeshivot of Israel, Rabbi Yitzhak Luria Askneazi [the Ari], forbid the use of practical Kabbalah that involves forcing oaths on demons and evil spirits.

More rational schools of Judaism are skeptical about Kadouri's powers. For instance, haredi Lithuanian yeshiva heads and halachic authorities were conspicuously absent from the list of hospital visitors and rabbis who called to pray for Kadouri.

In contrast, in certain Sephardi circles Kadouri is considered a miracle worker. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of testimonials by Kadouri's faithful
back up this claim to supernatural power. But even in the Sephardi yeshiva world rabbis such as Ovadia Yosef belittled Kadouri s ability to work
miracles.

Nevertheless, few doubted Kadouri's righteousness. For most of his life Kadouri was unknown to the general public. He led a modest life of study and
prayer. He worked as a bookbinder.

Kadouri s became known as a supernatural mystic began during and after the Yom Kippur War. Families of soldiers missing in action came to Kadouri to ask him to use his powers to determine whether their loved ones were dead or alive.


Kadouri s popularity reached an all-time high in the 1996 elections when the centenarian kabbalist s amulets helped Shas achieve an amazing electoral success.


At the time Shas was at an electoral low point. It's long stint with Labor, which led to the Oslo Accords, had repelled Shas's predominantly rightwing constituency. The haredi Ashkenazi rabbinic establishment had blackballed the Sephardi party for bucking Rabbi Elazar Menachem Man Shach, the undisputed spiritual leader of Lithuanian haredi Judaism. Polls were forecasting that Shas would drop from six to four mandates.

The idea to use Kadouri s spiritual prowess to help Shas win the elections belonged to Shas chairman Aryeh Deri. Deri told the haredi weekly Bekehila that God showed him the light when he joined the annual Rosh Hashana pilgrimage to the gravesite of Rabbi Nachman of Breslav at Uman, Ukraine.

Shas managed to distribute 100,000 amulets before Chairman of the elections committee Theodore Or prohibited their use. Soon after Ofir Pines-Paz drafted a bill ratified by the Knesset that anchored Or's prohibition in legislation. But the amulets did the trick: Shas mustered 10 mandates.

In the 2003 elections Kadouri's grandson Yossi, who had demanded, and been refused, a realistic spot on the Shas list, attempted to use his grandfather to rekindle the electoral success of 1996 with his own political party called Ahavat Yisrael. But the party failed to gain the minimum votes needed to enter the Knesset.

Kadouri's son David claims his father passed on to him the secrets of amulet-writing. However, others claim that Kadouri's metaphysical powers cannot be inherited.

"He is the last of a lost generation," said one source close to the Kadouri family.

UOJ Comments

I hope he is the last of his generation. People love being made fools of and there's more than enough people willing to oblige.
Kaduri's divulging his dream of meeting the Moshiach is scandalous. Anyone can make up stuff and get it right part of the time. Enough already with these phony kabbalists and Moshiach greeters
.


I found a whole bunch of people looking for Moshiach as well! Why can't we all JUST GET ALONG and go looking for this guy together?

'Hot line' set up to usher in Shiite messiah
By Scott Peterson
The Christian Science Monitor
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.08.2006
advertisementQOM, Iran — Have a quick question about when the Mahdi is coming to save mankind, according to Shiite Muslim adherents? Need to know the signs?
Just call the new messiah "hot line." Or log on to Bright Future News Agency to get the latest religious readout — all part of the effort by freshly rejuvenated true believers in Iran to spread their message of the imminent return of the Mahdi, the 12th imam who is expected to return to impose justice and spread peace.
"People are anxious to know when and how will he rise; what they must do to receive this worldwide salvation," says Ali Lari, a cleric at the Bright Future Institute in Iran's religious center of Qom.
"The timing is not clear, but the conditions are more specific," he adds. "There is a saying: 'When the students are ready, the teacher will come.' "
Paving the way is a renewed commitment to "Mahdaviat" beliefs by the ultraconservative government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who lives so modestly that declared assets include only a 30-year-old car, an even older house and an empty bank account.
These ideologues see the creation of the Islamic Republic in 1979 and efforts to rekindle its revolutionary ideals as critical to paving the way for the Mahdi's return.
That return — which they believe will happen soon — will prompt a global battle between good and evil (not unlike biblical "Armageddon" interpretations), and herald an era of justice, peace and the ultimate triumph of Shiite Islam.
The Bright Future Institute is preparing the ground, a leaflet explains, by developing the "true culture" of waiting for the Mahdi, "reject(ing) wrong ideas and preparing scientific answers to respond (to) superstitions," while working to "accomplish an ideal society which Imam Mahdi wants."
While he waits, Morteza Rabaninejad sits at a computer with a telephone and headset, answering five calls and 10 letters a day.
Started in 2004, the institute is the eighth of its kind in Iran to study and even speed the Mahdi's return. But it is the largest and most influential, with 160 staff, a growing reach in local schools, children's and teen magazines, and unlimited ambition to spread the word.
The blend of modern technology and ancient prophecy echoes efforts of U.S. evangelicals who use 45 categories — from liberalism to natural disasters — to predict the "end time," when holy people will experience rapture and go to heaven. For them, the Rapture Index is at 151; anything higher than 145 means "fasten your seat belts," because of what they deem a high level of prophetic activity.
Critics in Iran and outside dismiss end-of-timers as unscientific, traditional followers of myths. To counter those critics, the institute's news agency began churning out reports in Arabic three months ago.
"There is a gap between us and the popular media," says editor-in-chief Sayed Ali Pourtabatabaie. "We started the idea of a messiah news agency of the Mahdi (because) we thought we needed a news agency to publish his news."

This is really important for anyone who ever committed sexual sins


Kabbalists hold prayers to rectify sexual sins
By MATTHEW WAGNER



Kabbalists and their followers in dozens of Kabbalah yeshivot across the country this week began a six-week regimen of special prayers and fasting, known as Tikkun Shovavim or Tikkun Habrit, to rectify the spiritual damage caused by sex-related transgressions and, more specifically, nocturnal emissions.

"These six weeks are particularly propitious for the expiation of these sins and for raising up sparks of holiness trapped as a result of these transgressions," said Rabbi Yitzhak Batzri of Yeshivat Shalom in Jerusalem.
Batzri explained that the six weeks of prayers and fasting coincide with the six weekly public Torah readings in synagogues of the first half of Exodus. These readings tell the story of the Jewish nation's bondage in Egypt and conclude with the revelation on Sinai and the giving of the Torah. Shovavim is an acronym for the names of these six weekly portions.

"Just as the children of Israel went down into Egypt, a place of impurity and defilement, to raise up holy sparks, so too can we rectify what we have damaged in the spiritual world and raise up holy sparks," Batzri said.
Every day during these six weeks select kabbalists, such as Rabbi David Batzri and Rabbi Benayahu Shmueli, fast and pray. However, mass prayers are normally said on Mondays and Thursdays. These prayers, which include special kabbalistic intentions or "kavanot," last for several hours.
Batzri said that evil demons from "the other side" use nocturnal emissions to create more demons.

"Most of our troubles are caused by these demons," said Batzri. "They hurt us, they hurt our children, they cause poverty." Batzri said that the special prayer, which includes the reading of portions of the Zohar, fasting and repentance can destroy these demons.

At Yeshivat Nahar Shalom, headed by Rabbi Benayahu Shmueli, in addition to the prayers said for rectifying the damage from nocturnal emissions, prayers are also recited for other sexual transgressions such as having relations with a married women, homosexual intercourse, and having relations with a gentile woman.

"Even if someone never did one of these sins, he might have done it in a past life," said Dror, one of Shmueli's aides, expressing the kabbalistic belief in reincarnation.

Sephardi Jews are more likely to take part in Tikkun Shovavim prayers, although there are a few Ashkenazi yeshivot for the learning of Kabbalah, including Sha'ar Hashamayim and Anshei Ma'amad, both in Jerusalem. Many hassidic sects also take part in the special prayers.

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

As long as the numbskull Chasidim with their half-baked distorted practice of Judaism continue to procreate, the Kabbalists will have a market for their vile bullshit.

Anonymous said...

Thankfully, the many thousands of people who came to pay their respects at the funeral including president katsav, bibi, and silvan shalom, don't agree with you.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

All politicians hoping to get some "crazy" votes. They'd go to Philip Berg's funeral as well if there were votes involved.

Anonymous said...

true, crazy vote worth the same as a sane vote.

Anonymous said...

Gypsies are much cheaper than these con artists.

Anonymous said...

Kabbalists=Tarot card readers and bullshit artists.

Anonymous said...

all they care about is sex and money. they belong in hollywood!

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Dave,
Kabbalah is a bogus scam.There is no such a thing as Kabbalah.It's voodoo bullshit.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

wait a minute youre sayin theres no such a thing as kabbalah now, then i'll have to agree (just think maddonna)

but i dont see how can say there is NO kabbalah what about sefarim written by maharal, the ari, the ramban, reb chaim v'tal etc

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Anonymous,
What about seforim written by Larry Flynt and Hugh Hefner????

Anonymous said...

uuuhh.. nice and white. just like cameron highlands lobak.

Anonymous said...

It's bath salts that you can scoop yourself into glass bottles. I took this on Pier 39 in San Francisco. I thought in the photos it looked rather exotic, but in reality it couldn't have been more touristy.
Your Niece

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

uuuhh.. nice and white. just like cameron highlands lobak.

Anonymous said...

It's bath salts that you can scoop yourself into glass bottles. I took this on Pier 39 in San Francisco. I thought in the photos it looked rather exotic, but in reality it couldn't have been more touristy.
Your Niece

Anonymous said...

To the 2 males so far who implied that it was OK to urinate in public, if not by a shul, whether "because we're guys and it's easy" or because it was an "emergency". As far as I know, guys' bladders present no more urgency than girls' bladders. There are muscles that take care of this sort of thing. We live in civilized society. There are plenty of things we could do, because theyre easy, and we want to, but we dont. Such is being a higher evolutionary species than, say, dogs (note to dogs: no offense, I LOVE you guys, get down with your cute selves, just mean its OK for you to drop trou and micterate in public...)(bonus points for knowing the "micterate" movie ref. Would it help if I said it really tied the room together?). So seriously, boys- Yes, boys, MEN would not urinate on a street- have a little respect for yourselves and your communities.
-TRSPL

Anonymous said...

Jack and Ezzie -
Thanks. I am glad to know I am not the only one.

Debbie -
I have invested in some much better make-up these days (those lasting lipsticks really do make it through Shabbos!) and it is not as much of an issue to me as it used to be. I like your quote, hope it does count for chesed.

Annabel Lee -
Thanks for the info and the link. I love much of Rambam's thoughts. In this case, it wasn't so much of giving begrudingly as it was just having mixed feelings about helping this person, because I know the eventual outcome could end up hurting me, though it would also bring a lot of joy to someone else. I don't begrudge the act, rather I wish I had a full heart of joy for it.

Anonymous said...

I pee outside. In the woods. That's about it. I hope the guy didn't realize he was urinating in close proximity to a shul. Maybe he's just a run-of-the-mill gross dude.

Tell the dork you do not, contrary to popular belief, relinquish your given name when you marry a rabbi. With a haughty air. (I have a feeling the RenReb has a haughty air on file, somewhere.)

No Letterman, here, sorry. And blogger is being a dork and not letting me into my OWN blog, which is lame.

Hope you have a good Shabbos!

Anonymous said...

Elisheva,

I don't anticipate arguing the blog issue further, as it's your decision and your life. Best of luck, whatever you do.

But I do want to make one point that has a more general application. It is a mistake to automatically equate disapproval of something, even strong disapproval, with "party line close-minded[ness]". These concepts are not necessarily correlated (although they may be related in a given instance). There are frequently genuine grounds for disapproval of a given activity, and even if you yourself disagree with someone else's disapproval, this may be a legitimate difference of opinion rather than an instance of close-mindedness on the part of the other.

It's particularly striking in that you yourself seemed to concede that at least some of your activity here constituted a "failing" (that you therefore intended to keep secret). This seems to contradict your subsequently presenting potential unease with your activities as being necessarily the result of close-mindedness.

(If you'll forgive my suggestion, I think sometimes people can be influenced by the atmosphere and society in subtle ways that they themselves may not be aware of. Sometimes this takes the form of adopting a terminology and frame of reference from other people, which can have a subtle and subconscious influence. This may have relevance here. Or not.)

Anonymous said...

When it comes to tzedakah and helping others, it's definitely better to help people than not to help them. But the Rambam teaches that it is more meritorious to do it willingly than reluctantly. You might want to take a look at the Rambam's ladder of tzedakah...


The levels of charity, from the least meritorious to the most meritorious, are:

1. Giving begrudgingly
2. Giving less than you should, but giving it cheerfully.
3. Giving after being asked
4. Giving before being asked
5. Giving when you do not know the recipient's identity, but the recipient knows your identity
6. Giving when you know the recipient's identity, but the recipient does not know your identity
7. Giving when neither party knows the other's identity
8. Enabling the recipient to become self-reliant

Anonymous said...

"another nail in the coffin of a civilized society."

smug.

I am all for the jewish family and share those values. I live those values.

But, to imagine that we live in Sodom is unrealistic. Huge numbers of abortions in the west. Did I hear anyone complaining about the moral problem?

Hookers abound. There are plenty of sexual scandals now as in the past. So what? The nail in the coffin?

Everyone will answer for their sins when the time is ripe, not before. But, how we treat others is equally relevant. If you wish to cast stones, look for the mechallelei Shabbes in your midst. They exist. Do you believe everyone goes to mikveh? They don't. Are these nails in the coffin?

A S is a blip on the screen of history and the gay agenda affects such a minority of the population they are largely irrelevant.

like this blog.

Anonymous said...

I dont remember who it was, but someone commented that you should buy lingerie for yourself and he will come around. Every one is different so that is a very not fair statement. There are plenty of frum, good, Yeshiva guys who will appreciate it very much. For many reasons, some because they want it, some cause they see the kallah understands what a guy needs and likes, even if hes frum etc...
About your blog, I think you write well and do it all in a very nice way.

Anonymous said...

But, there's something I agree with Shira (gasp!). Some kallah teachers can really, really, screw up marriages! Big Time! I know that happened to a friend of mine - who was VERY NAIVE and really found everything out about marriage from her teacher. So this teacher DECIDED, that a frum man needs it once a week.

So naturally, this friend married a regular guy - who we all know doesn't work on the kallah teachers timetable... so she thought - oh my gosh, I must have married such a bum! And the marriage relationship in general starting spiraling downward...

Long story short, it took LOTS OF counseling, and lots of heartache to patch up this DUMB, DUMB, DUMB, (did I say DUMB?) one sentence her kallah teacher told her... and the hundreds of other things she DID NOT tell her that could have had such a positive impact on her marriage.

My kallah teacher guided me so perfectly (bh): Everything in the bedroom - between husband and wife - goes. (If its not against actual halacha...)

So basically, my friends kallah teacher - by virtue of being her "halacha teacher"... insinuated that it's halacha to have intimate relations only once a week.

Horrible. Terrible. Sin!

What that has to do with this conversation? Have no idea. Just remember that one of the comments pushed this hot-button of mine.

Anonymous said...

Ah, have to disagree with you on the Poti point. Ppl will never give us good value for him. He has also fantastically elevated his play as of late, and I say we keep him in the lineup, and dont trade him. I do think malek needs to be benched, and pock should definately be up here. Struds also looks a bit worn, but we need his size on the blue line. As for hossa, you cant bench him, he has played WAY too well, BUT you really need to have Hollweg in the lineup, because he is one of the few physical threats we do have on this team. Id love to bench rucinsky, but he has been playing better, so i guess you are right, the odd man out would have to be Rucchin...

Anonymous said...

Wow! Your bubbe is �bercool! The next time your mother is on your case about buying some underwear which only a nun or an Amish chick would find nice, call your bubbe and have her talk to your mother. I hope that you get to a point in your relationship with your bubbe that you can talk to her openly about many things and benefit from her experience and perspective. As many frum bloggers have noted, things have changed A LOT in the last 20 years - moved to be more conservative. Not all of that is written in stone.

Anonymous said...

As everyone has said, this issue is stale and not going anywhere.

It was actually a nice try by UOJ.

Maybe you should go and try to dig up some other story and make a big rucckus over it.

How about Kennedy's assissination?
Who really killed JFK?

That'll get more people going than some made-up revitalized story about Rabbi K.

Anonymous said...

I dated in israel thinking is it was a joke.... met my wife in israel and the rest is history......I do think the s who date there too are yanking the guys chain too, some are just looking to "break the ice" "have someone to compare the next couple of boys to.... And we definitely go back to the dira and compare ;-}

Anonymous said...

this is to all holy brothers why cant we just all love, and the leshonos oy GEVALD this is not what we need now it can wait till mashiach comes. so smile at youre neighbor and be nice to youre family and maybe they were grecht this internet is nisht ken gute zach. whoever knows UOJ (oy the name UN ORTHODOX JEWS it breaks every yidishe harts) he mistama just is missing some chizuk love mama love smile at him maybe invite him for a warm meal, oy atzubruchine yidishe kind, tell him mir ken nuch teshuva ton svet zein gut he will still maybe have vus men darf un efsher oich trefen a shiduch and a home not just some homeless shelter that has internet and read some reishis chochma and may be some chofetz chaim and find a minyan anf find where reb elchonon is buried to go ask him michila hope you didnt forget to eat melava malka have a good week shalom

Anonymous said...

Thanking God for the stroke

By Bradley Burston

If e-mails could kill, Ariel Sharon would not have lived past that first long night.

Let it be stressed, and stressed again, that the vast majority of letters from readers were, in fact, frank and full and heartfelt prayers for a stricken leader.

Let it be emphasized that the vast majority of those who disagreed entirely with Sharon's policies and actions, be they Jewish, Muslim or Christian, still were most forthcoming in wishes for his survival and recovery.

Then there were the others.

They came from all over. Vile, snide letters, incomparably cowardly pot shots at an elderly man fighting for his life.

Letters wishing him swift death, letters wishing him hellish torture before lingering, agonizing death. Letters and more letters thanking God for the stroke.

Some wrote in to express support for the aging Damascus-based onetime Palestinian terror warlord and tireless self-aggrandizer Ahmed Jibril, who wedged himself back into the momentary limelight by thanking the Almighty for Sharon's massive cerebrovascular accident and cerebral hemorrhage, calling it "this gift He presented to us on this new year."

Others seconded the latest oratorical gem by the president of Iran, who could hardly wait for the prime minister to emerge from a seven-hour surgery Thursday to tell a gathering of clerics, "Hopefully, the news that the criminal of Sabra and Chatila has joined his ancestors, is final."

Still a third group rallied around U.S. evangelist Pat Robertson, who -pointing out that he was sad to see the prime minister in his condition and that he had personally prayed a year ago with Sharon, "a very tender-hearted man and a good friend" - informed his 700 Club television show that the biblical prophet Joel "makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who 'divide my land.'"

"God considers this land to be his," Robertson said. "You read the Bible and he says 'This is my land,' and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says 'no, this is mine.'"

But Robertson wasn't through with Sharon just yet. "He was dividing God's land and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU, the United Nations, or the United States of America," Robertson continued, referring to the unilateral pullout from Gaza and the destruction of the 21 settlements there.

"God says, 'This land belongs to me. You better leave it alone.'"

The Robertson camp soon divided into two. The first half wrote in to say that Robertson had been misinterpreted, and that he hadn't meant to suggest that the stroke had been an expression of God's wrath.

The second half wrote in to say that Robertson had, in fact, meant to suggest exactly that, and that they agreed with every word.

Poor taste?

We didn't know what poor taste was, until the e-mails and Talkback responses came in from one last group, which put the others to shame for vehemence, lack of boundaries and all-around obscenity.

"Did you leftists, you self-haters, you Israel-bashers really believe G-d was going to let the Fat Man get away with butchering Gush Katif?" wrote a reader from Boca Raton, Florida.

"Sharon had it coming. G-d saw to it that he would be struck down. He threw thousands of Jews out of their homes," he added. "But the settlers will win in the end. This is the sign, from shamayim [heaven]."

"The Pulsa De Nura, it worked again - the perfect answer to the traitors, the atheists," wrote another, this one from upstate New York, alluding to the Medieval curse renegade rabbis had applied to Yitzhak Rabin before he was assassinated.

A fourth reader, this one from South Africa, wrote this in response to a plea to offer a prayer for the prime minister:

"By all means, let us pray for the prime minister - let us pray that with G-d's help, he'll burn in hell with Rabin forever."

It cannot be stressed enough that these last letters do not speak for, nor do they reflect, the mainstream ranks of the opponents of the disengagement, decent, committed, thoughtful, patriotic.

They reflect only a rabidly radical fringe of Voodoo Jews, who have forged a powerful, bizarre fellowship of lunacy.

Still, and all, what are we to make of these last letters?

What are we to make of people who feel triumphant, vindicated when a tragedy befalls a prime minister and an entire country?

What are we to make of the fact that Jews the world over are actually, openly, proudly praying for the death of a fellow Jew, and, in fact, the prime minister of the Jewish state?

What manner of response should counter the new Voodoo Jew?

Sharon knew. That's what makes the Voodoo Jews so crazy with rage. Sharon knew what the Voodoo Jews could not: that the vast majority of Israelis were only too happy to give Gaza back to the Philistines, or to their descendants, and the sooner the better.

To the Voodoo Jews who wish Ariel Sharon ill, I have only this message:

We are your curse. You're stuck with us. You may well be smarter than we, more knowledgeable than we, but that only makes the curse more potent.

There are more of us than you, galling as that may be. We are the majority, the Radical Center, the people who protected you, year after year, going to reserve duty, keeping Jabalya and Nablus from slaughtering the settlers in their midst, resisting the calls of the militant left to refuse orders to protect you.

We are your curse. You're stuck with us. We are the Jewish People. We are your future. We lack your monopoly on the truth. But we have a faith that does not rest on infallibility. We believe in common decency. We believe in each other.

We do not believe in the eternal sanctity of colored lines on maps. We don't believe that a Green Line means that all territory on the other side nust be granted to Palestinians just because they say so and put a gun to our heads. We don't believe that all territory on the other side must be denied them because it has been decided that God said so.

We are your curse. We are the Radical Center. We love this country. During the disengagement, we resisted your calls to buck the army as if that were patriotism.

More bad news: By and large, we believe in God, in the power of prayer, in the ability of Jews to care for each other, and - unlike the militant left and right - respect each other and not simply sniff and look down on
those who have the temerity to disagree with us.

We love this country. We are the Radical Center.

Get used to it.

Anonymous said...

gross,

I have to say that was one of your stupidist comments I have heard. Whats wrong with a intense learning program? Why are more modern ones better, I am considered modern, and you dont learn as much. You obviously are part of this minority that had a bad situation within the yeshiva/seminary world.

You can have a blast in all the seminaries you go to. Each one has great teachers, modern or not modern. They all have great teachers, great trips and a great learning experience.

Please dont stick your bad experience and negative ideas on someone else, who might have a real open mind, and enjoy living a jewish religous life.

Anonymous said...

Josh, thanx a million! Lots of you were very helpful with all this stuff, and thanx to you all. Yes, I figured out what you were saying. (I'm not dumb just ignorant! lol.)

And CJ, not only can you be the Dude, but you definitely ARE The Dude!

As far as the thread, I had one other thought over Shabbos, and that is about what Elster said about free will. I am thinking to do a post about it. But for now I just wanted to say that like the fact that we are ultimatly in control of our choices, which I guess like I always knew, but like kinda we don't focus on that and realize what that really means on a practical level, but I realized that it is so true that though things are hard, we cannot say we have no choice. We are not animals. Sure we really can choose. If we'd know we'd get a million dollars we'd choose right. So it's a matter of focus and I guess maturity.

Doesn't make the choosing easier, lol, but it gives it a different perspective, and we can't say it's too bad what can I do. We can only say, gosh this is REALLy hard! Did that just make any sense?

I hope so. Shalom.

Anonymous said...

uuuhh.. nice and white. just like cameron highlands lobak.

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

To the 2 males so far who implied that it was OK to urinate in public, if not by a shul, whether "because we're guys and it's easy" or because it was an "emergency". As far as I know, guys' bladders present no more urgency than girls' bladders. There are muscles that take care of this sort of thing. We live in civilized society. There are plenty of things we could do, because theyre easy, and we want to, but we dont. Such is being a higher evolutionary species than, say, dogs (note to dogs: no offense, I LOVE you guys, get down with your cute selves, just mean its OK for you to drop trou and micterate in public...)(bonus points for knowing the "micterate" movie ref. Would it help if I said it really tied the room together?). So seriously, boys- Yes, boys, MEN would not urinate on a street- have a little respect for yourselves and your communities.
-TRSPL

Anonymous said...

When it comes to tzedakah and helping others, it's definitely better to help people than not to help them. But the Rambam teaches that it is more meritorious to do it willingly than reluctantly. You might want to take a look at the Rambam's ladder of tzedakah...


The levels of charity, from the least meritorious to the most meritorious, are:

1. Giving begrudgingly
2. Giving less than you should, but giving it cheerfully.
3. Giving after being asked
4. Giving before being asked
5. Giving when you do not know the recipient's identity, but the recipient knows your identity
6. Giving when you know the recipient's identity, but the recipient does not know your identity
7. Giving when neither party knows the other's identity
8. Enabling the recipient to become self-reliant

Anonymous said...

I pee outside. In the woods. That's about it. I hope the guy didn't realize he was urinating in close proximity to a shul. Maybe he's just a run-of-the-mill gross dude.

Tell the dork you do not, contrary to popular belief, relinquish your given name when you marry a rabbi. With a haughty air. (I have a feeling the RenReb has a haughty air on file, somewhere.)

No Letterman, here, sorry. And blogger is being a dork and not letting me into my OWN blog, which is lame.

Hope you have a good Shabbos!

Anonymous said...

It's bath salts that you can scoop yourself into glass bottles. I took this on Pier 39 in San Francisco. I thought in the photos it looked rather exotic, but in reality it couldn't have been more touristy.
Your Niece

Anonymous said...
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