Fortune's Ambassador
A folk hero to the persecuted, a man of fortune who helped the less fortunate.
By WALTER LAQUEUR
Moses Montefiore, a world-renowned figure in the 19th century, was virtually forgotten by the 20th and is remembered today, at times, simply by the resonance of his name. A hospital in the Bronx is named for him, another in Pittsburgh, and a Jewish quarter in Jerusalem just outside the Old City. The accomplishments of some of Montefiore's descendants—including a pugnacious Anglican bishop—may remind us the progenitor's renown, but his story certainly needs to be retold. It is a remarkable one.
Born in Livorno in 1784 to an Italian-Jewish family with British connections, Montefiore moved to London with his family when he was a small child. He began his working life in London's merchant world and then becoming a broker at the stock exchange. He had a most spectacular career, marrying into the Rothschild family and eventually joining its banking enterprise. By an early age he had acquired a great fortune. He was accepted by the best social clubs and even became a member of the Royal Society. He was knighted at the age of 51 and made sheriff of the city of London, a largely ceremonial position but a highly prestigious one.
As Abigail Green (herself a descendant of the family) tells us in her thoughtful biography, Montefiore had a reputation for the utmost probity. There may have been, it is true, a darker side to his character—he seems to have been guilty of occasional philandering—but we know virtually nothing about it, in part because his private correspondence was burned after his death.
Montefiore was a man of probity in a larger, public sense. As much as he liked making money, he liked even more giving it away to those who needed it more than he did. And so, at what will now be considered early middle age, he retired from business and devoted the rest of his life (he died in 1885, at the age of 101) to acting as a one-person first-aid flying brigade, donating his money to worthy causes and traveling to places where his brethren in faith were persecuted—from Morocco to Palestine, from Russia and Rumania. He became a folk hero of the persecuted, who attributed to him extraordinary powers. He traveled everywhere at a time when travel was often difficult. He went Jerusalem for the last time at age 91, braving cholera and pirates.
It is a little hard for us to imagine Montefiore's public role, since there is no equivalent today. He was roving foreign minister and emissary of a people without a state. In many places they called him "sar"—a Hebrew word for minister, a person of great influence. People attributed to him almost magical powers.
Moses Montefiore
By Abigail Green
Belknap/Harvard, 540 pages, $35
The belief in Montefiore's omnipotence was of course exaggerated. Not all his missions were successful. He could hardly influence harsh czarist policy toward Russia's Jewish subjects, and there were narrow limits to what he could achieve in the Ottoman Empire even in its weakened state in the 19th century. But even symbolism was important. That Montefiore had been received for an audience by Czar Nicholas I, not known as a philo-Semite, did matter. The czar had given orders, on the occasion of Montefiore's visit to the Russian capital, that the guard in front of his palace be constituted of Jewish soldiers, whom he praised as being as brave as the ancient Maccabeans.
Montefiore's intervention did help at the time of the Damascus scandal (1840), when local Jews were accused of blood libel (slaughtering Christian clergymen to use their blood for Passover) and some of them were tortured and killed. Montefiore alleviated the misery in Palestine, Morocco and other places by generously financing new initiatives aimed at providing better health services and better education and curtailing the abuses of a hostile bureaucracy in Eastern Europe and parts of the Ottoman Empire.
To what did he owe his success? He was a man of imposing stature and great dignity. Britain at the time was a great power, and he was known to have influential friends in the highest circles. But there must have been in addition some personal qualities that made him likable and persuasive—a person not to be ignored or trifled with.
Montefiore had not been particularly religious in his younger years but became more observant later on, and Jerusalem was closest to his heart. On his four-poster bed in Ramsgate, the English town where he lived for part of his life, there was the inscription: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem" (Psalms 137). Jerusalem was a miserable place at the time—and remained so for years after. The situation of the Jews there, existing in abject poverty, was certainly miserable—the great majority lived from handouts from their more fortunate and pious co-religionists in Europe. Montefiore tried to help in many ways. He built alms houses and, perhaps most important, bought farm land to encourage young Jews to engage in productive labor. At one stage there seems to have been a chance for obtaining from the Ottomans something approaching political autonomy for the Jews, provided that European Jews would come with their money and help in the development of the country. But Montefiore ruefully admitted that he did not know a single Jew in Britain who would settle there.
Ms. Green writes deftly and tells Montefiore's story with a admirable thoroughness. (She is herself a professional historian.) "Moses Montefiore" is mercifully free of academic theory. It is exactly what a good biography should be—fair and illuminating without ever descending to hagiography. Still, it is clear that Montefiore was a genuinely good man. Their number in history is not substantial, and praise should be given where it is due.
Mr. Laqueur is the author, most recently of "Best of Times, Worst of Times: Memoirs of a Political Education" (University of New England Press, 2010).
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Great lecture at Columbia University
DATE: May 3, 2010 TIME 6:30-9pm PLACE: Earl Hall Auditorium, Columbia University FREE Dinner SPONSOR: Campus Media Watch TOPIC Relativism and Reporting On The Arab-Israeli Conflict RSVP contact@campusmediawatch.org CO-SPONSORS: SPME, Lionpac, Koleinu, Campus Watch, CPU
DATE: April 27, 2010 TIME 9am-5pm PLACE: Fordham University School of Law, 140 W 62d St, NYC LAWFARE : THE UN'S GOLDSTONE REPORT: THE DEFAMATION OF ISRAEL AND THE THREAT TO AMERICAN NATIONAL SECURITY IN THE AGE OF TERRORISM; THE DEMONIZATION OF ISRAEL AND HUMAN RIGHTS DISTORTIONS; THE GOLDSTONE REPORT: UNDERMINING SELF-DEFENSE IN THE AGE OF TERRORISM; LEGAL WEAPONRY: THE PERVERSION OF INTERNATIONAL JURISPRUDENCE AND INSTITUTIONS; INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC LEGAL RECOURSES: RESPONDING TO 'LAWFARE.'
SPONSORS: American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, and Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, along with The New York Legal Assistance Group, B'nai Brith, The Lawfare Project, The American Jewish International Relations Institute, The International Council of Jewish Women, World Council of Conservative/Masorti Synagogues, Women's League for Conservative Judaism, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, The Endowment for Middle East Truth, Jewish Law Students Association of Fordham Law School
LUNCH PROVIDED : SEATING IS LIMITED AND PARTICIPANTS MUST PRE-REGISTER PLEASE RSVP TO kvboyko@gmail.com
CLE Credit: 1.5 credits for each of the 4 panel sessions or a total of 6 credits for the full program.
PREMISE: International law and legal institutions are being used to pursue strategic and political goals as a corollary to modern warfare. In the case of Israel and the threat posed by terrorism in the 21st century, "lawfare" can be as biased and lethal as any other form of weaponry. Attacks on the legitimacy of actions taken in self-defense by democratic states, in the halls of the UN and international and domestic courts, radically undermine the ability to protect the welfare of Israel, the United States and all democracies from the scourge of terrorism. This assault empowers and emboldens the enemies of democracy and encourages the intolerance and antisemitism at the root of the terrorist agenda. The Goldstone Report and the lawfare strategy it embodies, erode the legitimacy of international law and pose a clear and present danger to the right of all democratic states, including the United States, to defend themselves. This program will explore, examine and expose the fallacies of the Goldstone Report, and other manifestations of lawfare, as well as suggest strategies for fighting back.
SPEAKERS INCLUDE: William C. Banks, Director, Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, Syracuse University, College of Law; Anne Bayefsky, Director, Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute; Abraham Bell, Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law and Bar Ilan University Faculty of Law; Lt. Col David Benjamin, former Director of the Strategic and International Branch, International Law Department, Israel Defense Forces; Laurie Blank, Director, International Humanitarian Law Clinic, Emory Law School; Elizabeth Defeis, Professor of Law, Seton Hall; Samuel Edelman, Executive Director, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East; Allan Gerson, Chairman, AG International Law, PLLC; Brooke Goldstein, Director, The Lawfare Project; Stephen Greenwald, President, American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists; Peter J. Haas, President, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East; Malvina Halberstam, Professor of Law, Cardozo School of Law; Martin Kramer, Senior Fellow, Shalem Center; Wexler-Fromer Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Richard Landes, Professor of History, Boston University; Nathan Lewin, Partner, Lewin and Lewin, Washington DC; Herb London, President, Hudson Institute; Kenneth Marcus, Ackerman Visiting Professor of Equality and Justice in America, Baruch College; David Matas, Senior Honorary Counsel, B?nai Brith, Canada; Ed Morgan, Professor of Law, University of Toronto; Trevor Norwitz, partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Adjunct professor, Columbia Law School; Nicholas Rostow, University Counsel and Vice Chancellor of the State University of New York; Gabriella Shalev, Ambassador of Israel to the United Nations; Shmuel Trigano, Professor, Paris X University Nanterre.
DATE: May 3 PLACE: Columbia University TIME: 6:30-9:00 pm TITLE: Relativism and Reporting on The Arab-Israeli Conflict
DATE: April 27, 2010 TIME 9am-5pm PLACE: Fordham University School of Law, 140 W 62d St, NYC LAWFARE : THE UN'S GOLDSTONE REPORT: THE DEFAMATION OF ISRAEL AND THE THREAT TO AMERICAN NATIONAL SECURITY IN THE AGE OF TERRORISM; THE DEMONIZATION OF ISRAEL AND HUMAN RIGHTS DISTORTIONS; THE GOLDSTONE REPORT: UNDERMINING SELF-DEFENSE IN THE AGE OF TERRORISM; LEGAL WEAPONRY: THE PERVERSION OF INTERNATIONAL JURISPRUDENCE AND INSTITUTIONS; INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC LEGAL RECOURSES: RESPONDING TO 'LAWFARE.'
SPONSORS: American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, and Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, along with The New York Legal Assistance Group, B'nai Brith, The Lawfare Project, The American Jewish International Relations Institute, The International Council of Jewish Women, World Council of Conservative/Masorti Synagogues, Women's League for Conservative Judaism, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, The Endowment for Middle East Truth, Jewish Law Students Association of Fordham Law School
LUNCH PROVIDED : SEATING IS LIMITED AND PARTICIPANTS MUST PRE-REGISTER PLEASE RSVP TO kvboyko@gmail.com
CLE Credit: 1.5 credits for each of the 4 panel sessions or a total of 6 credits for the full program.
PREMISE: International law and legal institutions are being used to pursue strategic and political goals as a corollary to modern warfare. In the case of Israel and the threat posed by terrorism in the 21st century, "lawfare" can be as biased and lethal as any other form of weaponry. Attacks on the legitimacy of actions taken in self-defense by democratic states, in the halls of the UN and international and domestic courts, radically undermine the ability to protect the welfare of Israel, the United States and all democracies from the scourge of terrorism. This assault empowers and emboldens the enemies of democracy and encourages the intolerance and antisemitism at the root of the terrorist agenda. The Goldstone Report and the lawfare strategy it embodies, erode the legitimacy of international law and pose a clear and present danger to the right of all democratic states, including the United States, to defend themselves. This program will explore, examine and expose the fallacies of the Goldstone Report, and other manifestations of lawfare, as well as suggest strategies for fighting back.
SPEAKERS INCLUDE: William C. Banks, Director, Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, Syracuse University, College of Law; Anne Bayefsky, Director, Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute; Abraham Bell, Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law and Bar Ilan University Faculty of Law; Lt. Col David Benjamin, former Director of the Strategic and International Branch, International Law Department, Israel Defense Forces; Laurie Blank, Director, International Humanitarian Law Clinic, Emory Law School; Elizabeth Defeis, Professor of Law, Seton Hall; Samuel Edelman, Executive Director, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East; Allan Gerson, Chairman, AG International Law, PLLC; Brooke Goldstein, Director, The Lawfare Project; Stephen Greenwald, President, American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists; Peter J. Haas, President, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East; Malvina Halberstam, Professor of Law, Cardozo School of Law; Martin Kramer, Senior Fellow, Shalem Center; Wexler-Fromer Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Richard Landes, Professor of History, Boston University; Nathan Lewin, Partner, Lewin and Lewin, Washington DC; Herb London, President, Hudson Institute; Kenneth Marcus, Ackerman Visiting Professor of Equality and Justice in America, Baruch College; David Matas, Senior Honorary Counsel, B?nai Brith, Canada; Ed Morgan, Professor of Law, University of Toronto; Trevor Norwitz, partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Adjunct professor, Columbia Law School; Nicholas Rostow, University Counsel and Vice Chancellor of the State University of New York; Gabriella Shalev, Ambassador of Israel to the United Nations; Shmuel Trigano, Professor, Paris X University Nanterre.
DATE: May 3 PLACE: Columbia University TIME: 6:30-9:00 pm TITLE: Relativism and Reporting on The Arab-Israeli Conflict
Emanuel told Jewish organizations to stay away from rally for Israel
'Break the Silence' Speaker: Obama's 'Alice-in-Wonderland' Gov't
by Hana Levi Julian
A former aide to New York State Governor George Pataki slammed the Obama administration's treatment of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the State of Israel in a prelude to Sunday's “Break the Silence' rally, set to begin at 1:00 p.m. (EDT) outside the Israeli Consulate in Manhattan.
The event will take place rain or shine, according to organizer Beth Gilinsky, head of the Jewish Action Alliance.
Among those on the podium will be Jeff Weisenfeld of Bernstein Global Wealth Management, a long-time leader in New York's “mainstream” Jewish community who for years was also active in the National Committee for Jewish Education. Weisenfeld spent four years as chief of staff in the city administration of former Mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat before becoming an aide to Governor George Pataki, another Republican.
Speaking late Friday afternoon in an interview with Israel National News, Weisenfeld called the current diplomatic crisis “the biggest accidental or deliberate miscalculation in American-Israeli relations made by any American president.” He added that the Obama administration's overtures to the Muslim world, and the contrast with its hostility to the State of Israel, had transformed the U.S. executive branch into a “complete Alice-in-Wonderland government. I don't want to make light of it here,” Weisenfeld said with some sarcasm, “but it's like Purim, when Mordechai becomes Haman, and Haman becomes Mordechai.”
He reserved special criticism for White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Special Presidential Adviser David Axelrod, both traditonal Jews in the Obama administration who are among the president's closest aides. “I had positions like theirs, I worked for a governor, a senator... I always made sure that I was representing the Jewish community to the governor, and the governor to them. But there are some who see their power as an end in itself. They don't want to tell the boss when he's wrong. And they are the worst kind of people to have in government,” Weisenfeld said.
“Islam has evolved backwards, has become more violent than perhaps it was even in its inception, since they did not have the weapons then, that they have today. And you have Emanuel and Axelrod, who have bad judgment, and who do not see the need to fight this moral equivalency.”
Weisenfeld also noted that most “mainstream” Jewish community organizations did not – and could not – officially sign on to sponsor Sunday's rally for fear of retribution from the Obama administration. “The mainstream groups are about access and response to a direct threat from the White House.
“The [Jewish] Federations and their beneficiaries and subsidiaries have been warned by Rahm Emanuel to stay away from public criticism of the president on Israel. But unless the weather is horrendous,” he added, “there will be an abundance of “establishment-affiliated” people. Maybe we can wake up this president and pull him back from the abyss.”
by Hana Levi Julian
A former aide to New York State Governor George Pataki slammed the Obama administration's treatment of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the State of Israel in a prelude to Sunday's “Break the Silence' rally, set to begin at 1:00 p.m. (EDT) outside the Israeli Consulate in Manhattan.
The event will take place rain or shine, according to organizer Beth Gilinsky, head of the Jewish Action Alliance.
Among those on the podium will be Jeff Weisenfeld of Bernstein Global Wealth Management, a long-time leader in New York's “mainstream” Jewish community who for years was also active in the National Committee for Jewish Education. Weisenfeld spent four years as chief of staff in the city administration of former Mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat before becoming an aide to Governor George Pataki, another Republican.
Speaking late Friday afternoon in an interview with Israel National News, Weisenfeld called the current diplomatic crisis “the biggest accidental or deliberate miscalculation in American-Israeli relations made by any American president.” He added that the Obama administration's overtures to the Muslim world, and the contrast with its hostility to the State of Israel, had transformed the U.S. executive branch into a “complete Alice-in-Wonderland government. I don't want to make light of it here,” Weisenfeld said with some sarcasm, “but it's like Purim, when Mordechai becomes Haman, and Haman becomes Mordechai.”
He reserved special criticism for White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Special Presidential Adviser David Axelrod, both traditonal Jews in the Obama administration who are among the president's closest aides. “I had positions like theirs, I worked for a governor, a senator... I always made sure that I was representing the Jewish community to the governor, and the governor to them. But there are some who see their power as an end in itself. They don't want to tell the boss when he's wrong. And they are the worst kind of people to have in government,” Weisenfeld said.
“Islam has evolved backwards, has become more violent than perhaps it was even in its inception, since they did not have the weapons then, that they have today. And you have Emanuel and Axelrod, who have bad judgment, and who do not see the need to fight this moral equivalency.”
Weisenfeld also noted that most “mainstream” Jewish community organizations did not – and could not – officially sign on to sponsor Sunday's rally for fear of retribution from the Obama administration. “The mainstream groups are about access and response to a direct threat from the White House.
“The [Jewish] Federations and their beneficiaries and subsidiaries have been warned by Rahm Emanuel to stay away from public criticism of the president on Israel. But unless the weather is horrendous,” he added, “there will be an abundance of “establishment-affiliated” people. Maybe we can wake up this president and pull him back from the abyss.”
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
RALLY for a UNITED JEWISH JERUSALEM
Amcha eNewsletter for April 20, 2010 Inbox X
Reply
AMCHA - CJC to mrdovid
show details 3:25 PM (23 hours ago)
Amcha Newsletter
April 20, 2010 / 7 Iyar 5770
In this issue:
*Rally for a United Jewish Jerusalem
* We Pray
* We Mourn
* Get Connected
* Shabbat Forshpeis: A Taste of Torah in Honor of Shabbat
**************************************************
Rally in Support of a Jewish Jerusalem
Protest Against the Continued Mistreatment of Israel
At 1:00 pm
On Sunday April 25, 2010
At the Permanent Mission to Israel in New York City (800 2nd Avenue)
**************************************************
We pray for the complete and speedy recovery of our brave IDF soldiers who were wounded in battle defending our homeland Israel and wherever they are. We would like to express our gratitude for their sacrifice and effort.
He Who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - may He bless the fighters of the Israel Defense Force, who stand guard over our land and the cities
of our God from the border of the Lebanon to the desert of Egypt, and from the Great Sea unto the approach of the Aravah, on the land, in the air, and on the sea.
May Hashem cause the enemies who rise up against us to be struck down before them. May the Holy One, Blessed is He, preserve and rescue our fighting men from every trouble and distress and from every plague and illness, and may He send blessing and success in their every endeavor.
May He lead our enemies under their sway and may He grant them salvation and crown them with victory. And may there be fulfilled for them the verse: For it is
Hashem, your God, Who goes with you to battle your enemies for you to save you.
Now let us respond: Amen.
**************************************************
We mourn our brothers in the US Armed Forces
who were killed fighting terror this past week:
Michael K. Ingram Jr., 23, of Newport, Michigan
**************************************************
If you are interested in learning more about the issues that our brothers and sisters are facing in Israel now, here are the links to the major Israeli newspapers:
• The Jerusalem Post: http://m1e.net/c?60317947-4zgJV/aggj8/E%405241554-C8cwVaNqWSgfU
• Arutz Sheva: http://m1e.net/c?60317947-AfftNzqnWBskA%405241555-cvd3SZ7lDzP8Q
• Debka File: http://m1e.net/c?60317947-JcoivfL8DhpKY%405241556-T/qJfZGZToRC%2e
• Jewish Telegraphic Agency: http://m1e.net/c?60317947-kvpyMl1UjIL9w%405241557-aXh43J3QkG8zc
**************************************************
SHABBAT FORSHPEIS
A Taste of Torah in Honor of Shabbat
Parshat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
The Lessons of Holiness Even in Death
April 23-24 2010 / 10 Iyar 5770
From a literal perspective, the names of portions are nothing more than the first major word of the part of the Torah that is read during the week. It can, however, be argued that deep meaning actually lies within the names themselves. The two portions we read this week-Acharei Mot that literally means after death, and Kedoshim that means holiness, are fine examples of this phenomenon.
What is the challenge that presents itself after death? In my early years of the rabbinate, I always felt that my challenge as a spiritual leader was to sit with bereaved families and help them undo the pain they were feeling. Death is a kind of darkness, a deep darkness. My role, I thought, was to remove that darkness.
But after my mother died, I stood before my congregation and apologized. Through that painful experience, I came to realize that the goal of removal is simply unrealistic. The goal is rather to find a way to cope with the suffering that comes with termination. I compared it to the following: Imagine walking into a dark room for the first time. Not knowing one’s way or one’s place, one trips over the furniture, unaware of which way to turn. However, after days and weeks and months and years, when one walks into that very same dark room, although the darkness still exists, with time we learn how to negotiate the furniture and we can make our way.
The truth is that after suffering a great loss, one is actually blessed if one constantly feels the darkness of the pain of termination. Such an emotion is reflective of the power of the relationship between the bereaved and the deceased. If there is no sense of darkness, it could mean that that sense of connection has been blurred-even lost. The challenge, however, as one continues to feel the darkness, is learning how to cope, to use the analogy, learning where the furniture is and while feeling the darkness, finding a way to move about.
The last time I was at my mother’s grave, my dear sister Suri, a woman of profound spirituality, turned to me and said, "Mommy is far away." I keep thinking of that comment. My mother died on Yom Kippur 1983. It is certainly a long time ago. In a certain sense my sister was right-with every year the soul seems to move further and further away.
While not denying that reality, our portions this week remind us that after life (Acharei Mot), there can always be Kedoshim - a sense of continuum that is expressed through holiness. How so? The challenge of death is to keep the person who has died alive in spirit. Indeed the Talmud says, there are some people who are actually living yet are not really alive-they're only going through the motions. On the flip side, there are others who, although physically dead, continue to live through the teachings they left behind and through those whom they have touched in life.
In Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik's Halakhic Man, his introductory page includes the Talmudic statement that in a moment of great personal conflict, the biblical Yosef (Joseph) looked up and, in the window saw the image of his father Ya’akov (Jacob). It was Rav Soloveitchik's way of saying that his writing and teachings continue to be powerfully influenced by his late father, Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik.
I bless you and ask you to bless me that we always remember those who have passed on, like walking through the darkened room full of furniture. And I pray that we always feel those who are closest tapping us on the shoulder and helping us along the complex path of life.
Rav Avi
______________________________________
Amcha – The Coalition for Jewish Concerns
Phone: (718) 796-4730
Fax: (718) 884-3206
Email: amchacjc@amchacjc.org
Web: www.amchacjc.org
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Reply
AMCHA - CJC to mrdovid
show details 3:25 PM (23 hours ago)
Amcha Newsletter
April 20, 2010 / 7 Iyar 5770
In this issue:
*Rally for a United Jewish Jerusalem
* We Pray
* We Mourn
* Get Connected
* Shabbat Forshpeis: A Taste of Torah in Honor of Shabbat
**************************************************
Rally in Support of a Jewish Jerusalem
Protest Against the Continued Mistreatment of Israel
At 1:00 pm
On Sunday April 25, 2010
At the Permanent Mission to Israel in New York City (800 2nd Avenue)
**************************************************
We pray for the complete and speedy recovery of our brave IDF soldiers who were wounded in battle defending our homeland Israel and wherever they are. We would like to express our gratitude for their sacrifice and effort.
He Who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - may He bless the fighters of the Israel Defense Force, who stand guard over our land and the cities
of our God from the border of the Lebanon to the desert of Egypt, and from the Great Sea unto the approach of the Aravah, on the land, in the air, and on the sea.
May Hashem cause the enemies who rise up against us to be struck down before them. May the Holy One, Blessed is He, preserve and rescue our fighting men from every trouble and distress and from every plague and illness, and may He send blessing and success in their every endeavor.
May He lead our enemies under their sway and may He grant them salvation and crown them with victory. And may there be fulfilled for them the verse: For it is
Hashem, your God, Who goes with you to battle your enemies for you to save you.
Now let us respond: Amen.
**************************************************
We mourn our brothers in the US Armed Forces
who were killed fighting terror this past week:
Michael K. Ingram Jr., 23, of Newport, Michigan
**************************************************
If you are interested in learning more about the issues that our brothers and sisters are facing in Israel now, here are the links to the major Israeli newspapers:
• The Jerusalem Post: http://m1e.net/c?60317947-4zgJV/aggj8/E%405241554-C8cwVaNqWSgfU
• Arutz Sheva: http://m1e.net/c?60317947-AfftNzqnWBskA%405241555-cvd3SZ7lDzP8Q
• Debka File: http://m1e.net/c?60317947-JcoivfL8DhpKY%405241556-T/qJfZGZToRC%2e
• Jewish Telegraphic Agency: http://m1e.net/c?60317947-kvpyMl1UjIL9w%405241557-aXh43J3QkG8zc
**************************************************
SHABBAT FORSHPEIS
A Taste of Torah in Honor of Shabbat
Parshat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
The Lessons of Holiness Even in Death
April 23-24 2010 / 10 Iyar 5770
From a literal perspective, the names of portions are nothing more than the first major word of the part of the Torah that is read during the week. It can, however, be argued that deep meaning actually lies within the names themselves. The two portions we read this week-Acharei Mot that literally means after death, and Kedoshim that means holiness, are fine examples of this phenomenon.
What is the challenge that presents itself after death? In my early years of the rabbinate, I always felt that my challenge as a spiritual leader was to sit with bereaved families and help them undo the pain they were feeling. Death is a kind of darkness, a deep darkness. My role, I thought, was to remove that darkness.
But after my mother died, I stood before my congregation and apologized. Through that painful experience, I came to realize that the goal of removal is simply unrealistic. The goal is rather to find a way to cope with the suffering that comes with termination. I compared it to the following: Imagine walking into a dark room for the first time. Not knowing one’s way or one’s place, one trips over the furniture, unaware of which way to turn. However, after days and weeks and months and years, when one walks into that very same dark room, although the darkness still exists, with time we learn how to negotiate the furniture and we can make our way.
The truth is that after suffering a great loss, one is actually blessed if one constantly feels the darkness of the pain of termination. Such an emotion is reflective of the power of the relationship between the bereaved and the deceased. If there is no sense of darkness, it could mean that that sense of connection has been blurred-even lost. The challenge, however, as one continues to feel the darkness, is learning how to cope, to use the analogy, learning where the furniture is and while feeling the darkness, finding a way to move about.
The last time I was at my mother’s grave, my dear sister Suri, a woman of profound spirituality, turned to me and said, "Mommy is far away." I keep thinking of that comment. My mother died on Yom Kippur 1983. It is certainly a long time ago. In a certain sense my sister was right-with every year the soul seems to move further and further away.
While not denying that reality, our portions this week remind us that after life (Acharei Mot), there can always be Kedoshim - a sense of continuum that is expressed through holiness. How so? The challenge of death is to keep the person who has died alive in spirit. Indeed the Talmud says, there are some people who are actually living yet are not really alive-they're only going through the motions. On the flip side, there are others who, although physically dead, continue to live through the teachings they left behind and through those whom they have touched in life.
In Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik's Halakhic Man, his introductory page includes the Talmudic statement that in a moment of great personal conflict, the biblical Yosef (Joseph) looked up and, in the window saw the image of his father Ya’akov (Jacob). It was Rav Soloveitchik's way of saying that his writing and teachings continue to be powerfully influenced by his late father, Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik.
I bless you and ask you to bless me that we always remember those who have passed on, like walking through the darkened room full of furniture. And I pray that we always feel those who are closest tapping us on the shoulder and helping us along the complex path of life.
Rav Avi
______________________________________
Amcha – The Coalition for Jewish Concerns
Phone: (718) 796-4730
Fax: (718) 884-3206
Email: amchacjc@amchacjc.org
Web: www.amchacjc.org
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Wednesday, April 7, 2010
A call to action
A Call to Action By standwithisrael / A Call to Action: Leaders, Step Forward Now By Beth Gilinsky and Rabbi Aryeh Spero
forwarded with commentary by Emanuel A. Winston, Middle East Analyst & Commentator
The nation of Israel has been under extreme pressure and intimidation to cave in to the Muslim Arab Palestinians’ demand by several American Presidential Administrations, including George Herbert Walker Bush, James Baker III, Hillary & Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush and now President Barack Hussein Obama.
The Jews of America were similarly pressured through attacks against AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and other Jewish organizations not to dare go to the American Congress or the Media to press for the cessation of pressure - in order to accommodate Arab Muslim Terrorist nations and their Terrorist proxies.
Let us never forget the pressure during WW2 for Jewish organizations to remain silent about Adolph Hitler’s massacres of European Jews. The threat was that protesting in public would give rise to anti-Semitism in America. Some Jews did protest to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt but most closed their eyes and mouths in fear. The Shame of their perfidious cowardly behavior still lingers and, regrettably, is repeated by today’s leaders of many Jewish organizations.
As Obama and his gang of pro-Muslim Arabs attack Israel once again, the silence (except for some outstanding exceptions) is deafening. Obama seems to be a reincarnation of Pharaoh, ignoring the Ten Plagues that made Egypt a miserable, poverty-stricken nation - even to the present.
Obama’s vicious Muslim-based hostility against the Jewish Nation/State is bringing new Plagues to America and the Free West countries as it once did to Egypt. Like Pharaoh, Obama’s heart is hardened against the Jewish nation until Americans also suffer terrible disasters, some of which have already occurred.
Please contact those Jewish organizations to step up and protect Israel - or to step out!
COMMENTARY BY EMANUEL A. WINSTON
###
By standwithisrael
IT IS TIME TO MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD.
RALLY TO STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH ISRAEL, FOR A UNITED JEWISH JERUSALEM,
AND TO PROTEST THE CONTINUED MISTREATMENT OF ISRAEL.
"WHERE THERE IS NO LEADERSHIP, STEP FORWARD AND LEAD"
DATE: Sunday, April 25th, 2010 TIME: 1pm
forwarded with commentary by Emanuel A. Winston, Middle East Analyst & Commentator
The nation of Israel has been under extreme pressure and intimidation to cave in to the Muslim Arab Palestinians’ demand by several American Presidential Administrations, including George Herbert Walker Bush, James Baker III, Hillary & Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush and now President Barack Hussein Obama.
The Jews of America were similarly pressured through attacks against AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and other Jewish organizations not to dare go to the American Congress or the Media to press for the cessation of pressure - in order to accommodate Arab Muslim Terrorist nations and their Terrorist proxies.
Let us never forget the pressure during WW2 for Jewish organizations to remain silent about Adolph Hitler’s massacres of European Jews. The threat was that protesting in public would give rise to anti-Semitism in America. Some Jews did protest to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt but most closed their eyes and mouths in fear. The Shame of their perfidious cowardly behavior still lingers and, regrettably, is repeated by today’s leaders of many Jewish organizations.
As Obama and his gang of pro-Muslim Arabs attack Israel once again, the silence (except for some outstanding exceptions) is deafening. Obama seems to be a reincarnation of Pharaoh, ignoring the Ten Plagues that made Egypt a miserable, poverty-stricken nation - even to the present.
Obama’s vicious Muslim-based hostility against the Jewish Nation/State is bringing new Plagues to America and the Free West countries as it once did to Egypt. Like Pharaoh, Obama’s heart is hardened against the Jewish nation until Americans also suffer terrible disasters, some of which have already occurred.
Please contact those Jewish organizations to step up and protect Israel - or to step out!
COMMENTARY BY EMANUEL A. WINSTON
###
By standwithisrael
IT IS TIME TO MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD.
RALLY TO STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH ISRAEL, FOR A UNITED JEWISH JERUSALEM,
AND TO PROTEST THE CONTINUED MISTREATMENT OF ISRAEL.
"WHERE THERE IS NO LEADERSHIP, STEP FORWARD AND LEAD"
DATE: Sunday, April 25th, 2010 TIME: 1pm
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