Mass Women's Prayers Before Rosh Hashanah

A week before Rosh Hashanah, three quarters through the Jewish Month of Elul, and this year's deadline to do Teshuva, repent to Gd is getting closer and closer. Some Jews have been going to Uman to the grave of Rabbi Nachman, but there are other Jews who don't like the idea of praying to dead man or traveling far from the Holy Land.

Last night was the humongous gathering of women, from young girls to grandmothers and great-grandmothers at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh. Prayers, tours, words of Torah and song. Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi was the featured speaker, and Etti Ankori was the star entertainer.

Let the pictures speak, though they barely give the true spirit of the evening.

Lapid's Tirades vs Chareidim and Army Wrong

This post is also on Israel Blogger as Chareidim to IDF with Honey not Lapid’s Tirades.

The truth is that I do think that the chareidim and the extreme Leftists who have been finding lots of loopholes to to get out of IDF service should serve. But there's one thing for sure. Yair Lapid's hateful and spiteful tirades against the exemption for chareidim will only make them oppose army service more. And all those religious people who support him, like Dov Lipman, should take Lapid's rabid anti-chareidi statements more seriously. Lapid doesn't have the personality characteristics to make him a national leader of the State of Israel.

Chareidim aren't a small marginal part of the Israeli demographics, the way they were seventy years ago as the modern State of Israel came into being. A very large portion of the First Graders each year are in various chareidi educational frameworks, and the percentage shows no real sign of shrinking. One of the big problems in chareidi society and families is the vast difference in educational curriculum between the girls and the boys. The girls generally study enough English and math to pass the Bagrut, Matriculation exams, study a profession and support their families. The boys have an extremely limited curriculum, which sometimes even ignores Hebrew as a spoken language, besides not teaching English and Mathematics. This not only limits professional opportunities, but it can make for difficult homelife.

Lapid's We're done being suckers statements only makes army service into an unbearable burden for fools/"suckers," rather than an opportunity to serve one's country, mature, make lifelong friends and even learn a profession or complete a Bagrut Diploma.

I have no doubt that by being amenable, understanding and sympathetic, plus offering an extensive "end of service educational package," more and more chareidim will decide that it is to their advantage to serve in the IDF. To make it more suitable, the teachers should be male, preferably religious/chareidi, and some will be graduates of the program who undergo teacher training. The added bonus will be a new cadre of chareidi men qualified to teach academic subjects. That's the educational revolution that must happen here in Israel, the sooner the better.

Interesting Posts from Blogs Near and Far aka "Havel Havelim"

Once upon a time there was a weekly roundup of Jewish blog posts called Havel Havelim. It was a great way to read a variety of blogs, and I made quite a few friends both real and virtual that way. But many of the bloggers have ceased to blog, and most mainstream internet media have added "blogs" to their Opinion pages. In some cases, it's just another way to get people to write for free, but that's another story.

I tried to continue Havel Havelim on my own, but on my blogs, it just didn't generate enough "excitement," meaning readership. Now there's an actual "blogger site," called Israel Blogger, where I and some other bloggers post articles. It's a lot more professional than any of us could really do on our own. Consider it a real/professional online Israeli magazine, and ignore the fact that the writing is done by bloggers. Most of us are professional writers to be honest.

You may not know this, but there are still some fantastic bloggers who are blogging only on their own blogs. Some blog very infrequently, but their posts are worth waiting for. And there are still a few of us who blog a few times a week. I'm going to list titles of some interesting blog posts that have appeared recently and hope that you read, comment and share. Enjoy!

The Birth of a Book
Immigration
What Should a Goi Do?
Conversion to Judaism Complicated Business
How 9/11 Made Me What I Am
9-11 Sixteen Years After: Never Forget, Never Forgive
Head Wrapping in the Professional World by Lila H.
My Journey is Still Relevant
Education Rip-Off
Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #24 Horse Park WC Staff Horsing Around
Ingredients of Jewish Leadership
Can I Lecture?
A Period of Grace
FLOODS, FUNERALS, FIRSTS…..
And finally Incredibly Detailed LEGO Model of Second Temple in Jerusalem (video)

שנה טובה!

Shanah Tovah

Have a Wonderful New Year

Conversion to Judaism Complicated Business

A version of this book review was posted on Israel Blogger as Post-Conversion Situations and Complications.

A Concise Code of Jewish Law for Converts By Rabbi Michael J. Broyde is an amazing book about the complexities that face people after their conversion to Judaism. I know many converts, but until I read the book I hadn’t a clue as how complicated things can get for them in their new status as Jews.

A Concise Code of Jewish Law for Converts by Rabbi Michael J. Broyde goes into all sorts of situations and “what ifs,” whether it’s the day of the conversion or in general. Some of the situations seem rather improbable, like conversion on Yom Kippur, but I guess if Broyde wrote about it, such as situation must have occurred. Other situations, like kosher food cooked before the actual conversion. Is it considered permissible, even though food cooked completely by a non-Jew is generally problematic?

Rabbi Broyde goes into some very important and common questions about the halachic and problematic family relationships that many or most converts find themselves in. Even though a convert is a “new person,” he/she came from a family, and in most cases continues very loving and respectful relationships with them. Quite often the non-Jewish family members are their own biological children and grandchildren. I think we all know of converts in those situations.

Following are a few pages to give you an idea of what it covers:

I must admit that I’m not an expert in halacha, Jewish Law, nor do I make it a practice to read books about halacha. And I had no idea what I would be getting myself into when I asked to review A Concise Code of Jewish Law for Converts. So I really must say that this book about conversion and the halachic ramifications is fascinating and appropriate for laymen like myself. To summarize, every synagogue library should have a copy or two.

Product details

• Hardcover: 180 pages
• Publisher: Urim Publications; Bilingual edition (June 29, 2017)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9655242498
• ISBN-13: 978-9655242492

Building for Growing Shiloh

Baruch Hashem, bli eyin haraa, my home town Shiloh has been growing. This summer many families with children have moved to Shiloh. And there are many homes under construction. Some are being privately built, while others are a part of a large building project. There are a total of nine first grade classes between the boys and girls schools. And that doesn't count the children going to school in other places for various reasons.

Our school is a regional school. Not only do the children come from the very nearby communities, but we see school buses from the Jordan Valley and the Shomron bringing and taking kids everyday.

Thirty-six 36 years ago, on September 1, 1981, eighteen 18 children, six in the third grade, four in the second grade and eight in the first grade began studying in Shiloh. It's mind-boggling miraculous to see how the school has grown. Second generation, meaning the children of some of those pioneers study in the Shiloh elementary schools today, and some have have even graduated already.

Shiloh is considered one of the most pleasant and convenient places to live. Not only is there work here in Shiloh and closeby, but we're near the Jordan Valley, Jerusalem and the "coastal plain," meaning Petach Tikva, Kfar Saba etc. And of course Ariel and the university there are just a few minutes from Shiloh.

There are two health fund with clinics in Shiloh, plus numerous stores. And we have quite a few buses each day to Jerusalem, Ariel and Maale Levona. There are also all sorts of activities for children, adults and senior citizens. Don't forget that my neighbors include some of the nicest people in the world. Moving to Shiloh was one of the best decisions we could have made, B"H.

Not all houses are made from bricks nowadays.

Before Rosh Hashanah Tefilat Chana, תפילת חנה

The Jewish Month of Tishrei is the only month without a Rosh Chodesh, first day of the month holiday. That's because the first two days of Tishrei are Rosh Hashana. So obviously we don't have our monthly women's prayers at the site of the Biblical Tabernacle at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh.

Instead of our simple Rosh Chodesh Prayers, I will join the thousands of women of all ages who come to Tefilat Chana, תפילת חנה to tour, listen to the Torah classes, enjoy the musical performances and, yes, pray, too.

It will be this Wednesday, September 13, the 22nd of Elul. It begins at 4pm with tours, music and prayers. At 8pm Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi will speak, and then Etti Ankori will sing spiritual songs, suited for the Eve of Rosh Hashanah. I hope to see you there, Gd willing.

You can order tickets, including for the buses to a from Shiloh by clicking here.

מכירות את זה שעוד רגע ראש-השנה אבל בלב אתן עדיין בתוך הבלאגן של סוף החופש? מכירות, בטח מכירות. אל תכחישו. ובכן, כנהוג אצלנו מדי שנה, הכנו לכן ערב שלם, מושקע ומהמם, שיכין אתכן טוב טוב לימים נוראים.

שריינו לכן: יום רביעי, כ"ב אלול // 13.9, אצלנו בשילה הקדומה.

בתכנית:

 16:00-18:00 סיור מודרך בשילה הקדומה, "מגדל הרואה" וסיור במוזאון 17:30-19:30 "בדרך אל המשכן" אתנחתא מוזיקלית ותפילה עם להקת "אחותי"

 וב-20:00 המופע המרכזי שבתוכו: הרבנית ימימה מזרחי, בשיחת לקראת הימים הנוראים ומעמד תפילת נשים מרוממת, אתי אנקרי בניגוני נשמה וניגוני תפילה, ואנסמבל "פעימה" במופע קצב סוחף.

המחיר: 30 ש"ח בלבד (הסיורים בתוספת תשלום של 15 ש"ח) ניתן להצטרף להסעות מירושלים ומתל אביב בעלות של 45 ש"ח (מומלץ להזמין כבר עכשיו מקום בהסעה, מספר המקומות מוגבל)

לינק לפרטים ולהזמנת כרטיסים  http://bit.ly/2vId3uN

Harvey and Irma Pre-Rosh Hashana Reminder

Yesterday I had a wonderful time in Matan, Jerusalem, preparing my soul for the spiritual aspect of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. And I have many friends who have already begun cooking and freezing food for the holiday meals.

It's difficult to believe that there are many Jews, and of course millions of others, who may not even know where they will be for the holidays. They've been forced from their homes by two catastrophic storms, Harvey and Irma.

The ramifications of Harvey on Texas have yet to be calculated, and people are fleeing their homes in Florida, as I write this.

In just two weeks it will already be Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish Year, a two day holiday, which this year is "extended" to three, since there's no break before Shabbat.

The month leading to Rosh Hashana is Elul, when we are supposed to do Teshuva, which is more than repentance. We're supposed to carefully think of our past year and how we should do better in our relationship to Gd and our fellow man.

As the many millions of people who live in the areas of the American south, who have been and are being affected by Harvey and Irma know much too well, Gd who controls the weather is most powerful.  The powers of man are ridiculously puny in comparison.

Is Bibi Guilty of Corruption?

The Israeli media has been unsuccessfully trying to prove that Prime Minister Binyamin "Bibi" Netanyahu and his wife Sarah are corrupt for years. As a general rule "where there's smoke there's fire," but the unabashedly Leftist Israeli media is untrustworthy and highly subjective. They believe in making news, rather than just reporting it.

On Israeli newscasts, journalists interrogate and argue with rather than interview when the interviewees aren't of their political ilk. It takes a lot of guts and confidence to be in their "hot seat." But, in contrast, they excessively fawn over Leftists and Arabs.

Honestly, I don't have any "inside information" about the Netanyahus. They may not be the most pleasant people to work with, but few top politicians, no matter what the country, are. To get high up in politics it takes single-minded, self-centered ambition and backers.

The Israeli media has blamed Bibi for everything including the weather, water-shortage and seasonal high prices of tomatoes. So, I just don't trust them. Yes, I trust the media less than I trust Bibi.

Why is The Israeli Supreme Court Supporting Criminals?

A version of this article appears on Israel Blogger as Israeli Supreme Court Supports Illegals Over Citizens.

It's no secret that the Israeli Supreme Court has an agenda. And their agenda is of the extreme Left variety. The "justices" consider it their job to decide rulings according to their "moral compass," rather than the laws voted by the Knesset, Israel's legislature.

The Extreme Leftist Israeli Supreme Court has totally lost its legal and moral moorings in its rulings about the illegal migrants invading the State of Israel.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that illegal infiltrators cannot be detained indefinitely for refusing to be voluntarily deported. (Arutz 7)

The illegals have been invading Israel without work permits. They are breaking the law. They are criminals, and the Israeli Supreme Court is treating them as above the law. This is consistent with the philosophy of the Extreme Left here in Israel that sees these illegals as pitiful refugees and equates them with Jews who tried to flee the Nazi regime before and during Hitler’s rule. And they claim that welcoming the illegals is what Judaism teaches. Such a comparison shows no accurate knowledge of history and less of Judaism. They are being labeled as “migrants,” but the truth is that they aren’t really migrants.

mi·grantˈmīɡrənt/
noun
1. a worker who moves from place to place to do seasonal work.

These illegals seem to be here to stay. They like living in Israel, where salaries, general conditions, healthcare etc are far superior to where they came from what they are being offered as alternatives. Many are establishing families or bringing their families from abroad. Many now live in a poor neighborhood in Tel Aviv in such numbers that the veteran residents no longer feel safe.

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas) on Monday morning spoke about his trip to south Tel Aviv and the attempts to solve the problem of the infiltrators by legal means..
Deri quietly visited Tel Aviv on Sunday evening, together with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu). The visit included the same areas Netanyahu toured publicly last Thursday – Neve Sha’anan, Levinsky Park and the Hatikva neighborhood.
“I have been on official trips to Tel Aviv in the past, together with Interior Ministry staff,” Deri told Kol Hai Radio in an interview. “But a night trip with the Prime Minister in Tel Aviv’s alleys brought Netanyahu and I to understand that we’re in a different country. It’s horrific to see how synagogues have become cafes.” (Arutz 7) 

Law-abiding Israeli citizens have gone to the courts to have the illegals taken out of the country, but the Israeli Supreme Court has defended the law-breakers against the law-abiders. This is the same court that has no compunctions about destroying the homes of Israeli citizens on the vaguest suspicion that the land may have been promised to an Arab by the illegally occupying Jordan over half a century ago. But when it comes to the rights of a Jewish community in Tel Aviv, suddenly the occupiers, the illegals have more rights.

A7 PM Netanyahu tours Tel Aviv, Yoni Kempinski

The Supreme Court Judges weren’t elected by the citizens of the State of Israel. We demand true justice, not extreme Leftist ideology.

Melanie Phillips and Abraham H. Miller, Two Must-Reads from Jerusalem Post

ON THE WRONG SIDE OF AMERICA’S CULTURE WAR 
BY MELANIE PHILLIPS AUGUST 31, 2017 20:24

If anyone is “lacking in moral leadership and empathy” for the victims of hatred, it’s surely the liberal rabbis.

In America, four liberal rabbinic organizations have scrapped their participation in the annual conference call in which the president traditionally offers his greetings for the Jewish New Year.

Their reason? President Donald Trump’s statements about the neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville were “lacking in moral leadership and empathy for the victims of racial and religious hatred.”

After that rally, which gave rise to a violent counterprotest and the murder of a young woman when a white supremacist driver plowed his car into a group of “antifa” (or anti-fascist) protesters, Trump provoked widespread fury by observing there had been violence on both sides.

According to the liberal rabbis, responsibility for the violence “does not lie with many sides, but with one side: the Nazis, alt-right and white supremacists who brought their hate to a peaceful community.”

Yes, they did so; and the fatality was caused by a white supremacist. But until that point, violence had mainly come from the antifa attacking the far-right rally, which although obnoxious was legal; indeed, the antifa had come equipped with baseball bats and other weapons.

There is now ample evidence of the hatred, intimidation and violence these supposed anti-fascists direct – not just against far-right extremists, but against all conservatives and white people, and Israel, too... (For complete article click here.)


RABBIS BOYCOTTING TRUMP ARE IGNORANT OF THEIR OWN HISTORY
BY ABRAHAM H. MILLER AUGUST 31, 2017 20:31

The president was correct in condemning all violence. In a viable democracy, there is no excuse for political violence in the streets.

The novel Bridge on the Drina is a poignant depiction of the Balkans being torn between the competing empires of the Ottomans and the Austro-Hungarians.

In 1878, Austria-Hungary occupied Bosnia-Herzegovina. As the troops of the Hapsburg Empire came across the bridge on the Drina, representatives of the three Abrahamic faiths stood there as supplicants, hoping their new rulers would recognize them as representatives of their respective communities.

In America, even minority religions have access to the corridors of power, and some of these political relationships are informally institutionalized.

The representatives of faith groups are not supplicants standing on a bridge waiting humbly for some sign of recognition.

For Jews, one of the mechanisms that affirm their access to the political structure is the annual High Holy Day conference call with the president.

This year, three non-Orthodox rabbinic associations, seemingly unaware of their own painful history, will boycott the annual event. The Central Conference of American Rabbis (Reform), the Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative) and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Assembly, joined by the political arm of the Reform Movement, will not take US President Donald Trump’s call.

Their decision is as contemptible as it is outrageous and self-indulgent.

For centuries Jews were wantonly deprived of the opportunity to have the needs of their communities heard. Now, possessing political access, these religious leaders seek to squander it.

Their forebears, who stood on the bridge over the Drina waiting for recognition by the Hapsburgs, could not have imagined either this kind of access or behavior.

The boycott will further alienate the Jewish community from the administration.

It is an immoral form of grandstanding at the expense of the Jewish community.

The non-Orthodox rabbis are vexed over Trump’s statements about the violence in Charlottesville, which the mainstream media characterize as a morality struggle between the forces of light and darkness.

It obviously wasn’t. There were violent elements on both sides. Antifa is not the Girl Scouts. It actively trains people in the use of violence at demonstrations and it justifies violence through the delusion that it is standing in the streets of the Weimar Republic fighting Hitler’s Brownshirts... (For complete article click here.)

"Roman Holiday" and The Death of Diana

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit, but I was among the millions to have watched some of the new documentaries that came out for the 20th anniversary of the death of Diana Princess of Wales. I can't say that I was ever one of those enamored with her, but I must say that she helped "humanize" the British Royal Family in ways that the "casting director" and "vetting committee" could never have predicted in their worst nightmares.

I think that many of you, if not all, know what I mean by "casting director" and "vetting committee." Her marriage, rather arranged/choreographed by what we'll call the "casting director" and "vetting committee" was the last of such marriages in the family. It ended up causing an explosion, comparable to a leaking sewer that just can't be stopped up, which spews all the "garbage" far and wide, further and further with time.

"Roman Holiday" is a favorite movie of mine. It tells of a princess who rebels and disappears when on "assignment" in Rome. She eventually returns to her duties, making do with memories of love and freedom. The movie came out in 1953 just when Princess Margaret, younger sister of Queen Elizabeth flirted with freedom. Her life ended up a sad one.

A generation later, her nephew Prince Charles also took the advice of the royal "experts" a gave up the woman he loved*. Close to a decade after that, when he had reached the it's time to get married already and have an heir age, First in Line to the Throne Charles agreed to marry the young virgin recruited and vetted, Diana.

We all know what happened to Diana. She believed the hype and thought that she could charm Charles into being a modern loyal and loving husband. He had been hoping for a cooperative photo-op wife who would give him and heir and spare, plus the freedom that most, if not all, royal and aristocratic men took for granted.

Twenty years after Diana's death more unpleasant revelations are coming out about their relationship and the royal family. But one good thing we see is that the younger generation seem to be much more grounded and "ordinary" than ever before for royals. And I think one of the major reasons is that Diana wasn't on the scene to finish raising her sons. Towards the end of her life she showed less maturity and stability. I think that the boys actually ended up better and stronger without her being around.

Of course, time will tell. It must be really awful to be living under a microscope.

*Remember that Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret's uncle gave up the throne for the love of his life. In the 20th century, the many British royals were having public problems with their marital restrictions.