This Scary World

I was trying to think about a situation that might be scarier than going to my local swimming pool to do some laps and finding a 12-foot tiger cruising around in the lane next to me. About all I could come up with was being an elementary school student in a city that has been targeted by thousands of kassam rockets and hit nearly every day for the past six months.

Imagine going to school and finding your soccer field with a huge hole right where the goalie should have been standing. Imagine waiting in line for an ice cream at the corner stand and watching as the guy pumping gas across the street gets blown to smithereens. Now try to imagine how the world can condemn your government’s attempts to stop the terrorists who fire rockets at your city—the maniacs who act not indiscriminately, but with the express purpose of attacking the civilian population.

Welcome to Sderot—a small city in Southern Israel—and the site of Shirel Feldman’s funeral earlier this week after she was struck with a kassam rocket fired by Hamas and Fatah terrorists. Welcome to a world where Britain’s University and College Union—the largest association of “Enlightened” British Academics—votes for a comprehensive boycott of Israeli Universities. Remember that this is the same week in which of hundreds of peacefully-protesting Iranian Students were brutally beaten and arrested in the streets of Tehran by the Revolutionary Guards for belonging to Pro-Democracy organizations; the same month in which thousands of Native Sudanese were slaughtered in Darfur by Government-Sponsored Arab Militias. And yet sadly their cries were not heard because Britain's Elite was busy fighting the more important battle against "Apartheid Israel." What’s next from these tea-sipping ninnies? Protecting the "Free Speech" of Moqtada Al-Sadr as he praises the roadside bombs that slaughter Sunni and Kurdish civilians? Or perhaps it will be condemning Sesame Street for its lack of social welfare programs that leave homeless Oscar The Grouch to live in a trash can and schizophrenic Big Bird to continue his hallucinations of an imaginary friend named Snuffleupagus because the government wont subsidize his medications?


Lets get serious here for a moment. The Residents of Sderot are under constant attack and unfortunately it seems as though the Rest of the World has abandoned them. Whether Economically (by visiting and helping to support the struggling businesses of the city), Politically (call your local Congressman and tell him/her to Support Israel in her Necessary Self-Defense), or Spiritually (Say a Prayer for Tens of Thousands of People who could really use it), The People of Sderot Deserve our Support!

Yom Yerushalayim 2007

Chag Sameach!

Today is Yom Yerushalayim, A Day to Commemorate the Reunification of The Jewish People with their Holy City for the First Time in Nearly 2000 Years! This summer marks the 40th Anniversary of the Jewish People’s Return to Yerushalayim—the source of all Holiness in the world—the City from where “All the blessings and consolations, all of the good which the Holy One, Blessed Be He, brings to the Jewish people comes from” (Midrash Tehillim).

It was 40 years ago that a vastly outnumbered and outgunned Israeli Defense Force fought off the armies of six invading Arab Countries bent on the destruction of the Jewish People—as Syrian Broadcasting Reported, “Let us pave the road to Tel Aviv with Jewish Skulls.” And let us never forget that this victory, like a modern-day Chanukah, was won not by superior firepower, but by the same determination and enormous faith that has sustained us for 100 generations and will continue to sustain us for 100 more.

As we celebrate the victory of The Six Day War in 1967, it would be shortsighted to ignore the fact that Israel remains in a life-or-death struggle for its existence. In addition to the threats of a nuclear holocaust at the hands of Iran and of war with the Terrorist states of Syria and Lebanon, Israel is faced with the same existential problems that have plagued her since her conception—whether to be a State of Jews or whether to be a Jewish State; whether to be another Westernized Country waiting to join NATO or whether to be a “Light Unto The Nations.” Even with the horrendous failure of the Retreat from Southern Lebanon and the Disengagement from Gaza, the current Israeli government seeks to hand over even more territory to the Terrorist Groups of Hamas and Hezbollah. This craziness extends to the point where the notion of separating Yerushalayim—Heaven Forbid—has been suggested by various parties. Therefore as we celebrate Yom Yerushalayim, let us remember that to disengage from our Land and our Tradition is to receive Rocket-Attacks, War, and Suicide Bombings; but to live in Israel—and to Settle what the Zohar calls “The Heart of All Lands”—is to Merit Redemption.

Am Yisrael Chai!


For More on the Miracles of The Six Day War: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/More/ActivePage.aspx/JerDay
For More on Maintaining a United Jerusalem: http://www.onejerusalem.org/blog/index.asp

A Local Call

Howdy Everyone…

We here at Doctor Hazak Incorporated would like to express our most sincere apologies for having neglected our extraordinary fan base during the past few weeks. Following Passover, a number of happenings kept our staff from producing any Blog-Worthy Material (other than our lead writer's unprecedented 13-Round Knockout Victory over Former Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis) and due to resource-allocation difficulties and management-miscommunications the Blog was left without its normal driving force at the helm.

Anyways, in response to the overwhelming need for further Hazak in this world, we present you with these few words of wisdom from this week’s Torah Portion: Behar-Behukotai. Leviticus 25:38 reads, “I am Hashem your God, Who took you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be a God unto you." In his commentary on the Torah, the great medieval scholar Rashi explains that God gave the land of Canaan to the Israelite nation as his part in the covenant at Mount Sinai; the same covenant in which Am Yisrael agreed to keep the 613 Commandments. Rashi then expounds the last part of the line, “To be a God unto you,” to mean, ‘anyone living in the land of Israel has Hashem as their God where as anyone living outside of Eretz Yisrael is comparable to an idolater.”

The obvious question of course, is how can Rashi say this? What about all of the great Jewish leaders who lived outside of Israel during the various Exiles? What about Rashi himself who lived in France (Clearly the Worst of the Nations)? The answer (with a dash of Kabalah to spice it up) is that amongst the nations of exile, God hides his face and it is necessary to go through various spiritual messengers (Malachim/Angels) for one’s prayers to reach Him. In Eretz Yisrael, God’s Splendor is tangible—If You Don’t Believe in Miracles Just Open Your Eyes (Rav Shimon Hurwitz Shlita)—and your can reach him directly. Forgive the overused metaphor but in Israel speaking with God is a Local Call.

So B’Kitzur—“to sum it up quickly”—The Jewish People’s Presence in The Land of Israel is contingent upon our following the laws of the Torah as given to Moshe Rabenu at Mt. Sinai; and get to Israel and make Aliyah before the Jerks at Verizon figure out at way to charge you seventy-five cents per minute for calling your Maker.

Link Time:
If you Missed out on Lag Ba’Omer and want to see what Hasidic Woodstock looks like: http://www.rashbimeron.org/
If you think that Arab Terrorism was at its lowest when they started sending suicide bombers to blow up Israeli night clubs then you haven’t met Hamas’ Mickey Mouse: http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD157707

The Five Sons

(or “Five Children” for which ever Matriach might get frazzled…let us remember that Hebrew, much like Spanish or Italian, has a “Male” or a “Female” gender for every word…this is not done to diminish the value of Women in the telling of Yitziat Mitzrayim—The Exodus—for were it not for the courageous defiance of The Midwives, Shifra and Puah, in refusing to kill the male babies as Pharoah had commanded then certainly none of us would be here to recount their glory on this day)

As a kid I remember Pesach Seders at Home with various family friends, all of whom would be inevitably harassed and bothered by my best friend Gabriel and I. Gabriel was slightly craftier than I, or perhaps it was just that he knew when to stop, or maybe it was just poor luck, but it seemed as though it was always myself who got into trouble for our various shenanigans. At these Seders, there were a few notable highlights—fighting to find the Afikomen all throughout the house only to discover that Gabe’s Dad had hidden it in his pocket so that it crumbled into a sweaty nothingness, “The Pharoah Rap” in which Gabe and I combined some sort of hip-hop stylings with non-hilarious slant rhymes of questionable educational value, and recounting the allegorical “Four Sons” in which Gabe and I would argue whom was the wickeder child.

The First Son, The Chacham, is most often called “The Wise Son,” but this translation is missing the essence of the Chacham. As Rashi notes in his commentary to Sefer Shmot, “Chochma” is the wisdom that we get from divine inspiration. The Chacham sees the beauty of the Pesach Seder and connects with his creator, craving more. He knows that the Seder is missing something and even though it has been nearly 2000 years since the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, The Chacham knows that our Temple will be rebuilt and that Hashem will bring his people out of Exile. Therefore we are instructed to teach The Chacham about the Laws of the Pesach Sacrifice for it is he who will merit seeing the rebuilding of the Temple and the reinstatement of the Korban Pesach.

The Second Son is The Rasha. The English Hagadah will not doubt call him “The Wicked Son” which is unfortunate as The Rasha is different from our concept of a Wicked Fellow—unlike Lord Licorice in Candy Land, Skeletor in He-Man, and Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore. This Wicked Son is more like Fredo in The Godfather, or Johnny Damon/Wade Boggs/Roger Clemens and any of the other shmucks who fled Boston for the money of New York—one who has seen the proverbial “Light” and yet for some reason, specifically his own selfish ambitions, will turn his back on The Truth and seek to separate himself from what he knows to be Right. The Rasha will ask “What does the Pesach Seder mean to you,” thereby isolating himself from his people because he thinks that he knows better. Our Sages teach us that begging him to come back will only increase his inflated ego and that the only way to deal with such a child is to put him in his place. We therefore let The Rasha know, “Had you been in Egypt, you would not have been saved!” For as Rashi tells us, 4/5 of Israel remained in Egypt because they were too attached to their material goods and their “enlightened society.” Rather than leave for Israel as their creator had commanded them, they knew better and remained behind, only to be lost in The Plague of Darkness. When we tell this to The Rasha, he will be forced to choose between the emptiness of Rolexes and Cocaine and Cheerleaders and the beauty of the Pesach Seder and the Torah of our Ancestors that has sustained us for thousands of years!

The Third and Fourth Child are quite similar really. One is merely the natural progression of the other. The Tam, The Simple One, will come to the Seder and think to himself, “Man, this seder is funny, we got all sorts of crazy stuff on the table and everyone is singing songs that I don’t really understand and this bread is pretty crummy, but its cool to be Jewish Tonight.” The Tam recognizes that something about being a part of Am Yisrael is special Tonight, but he doesn’t know exactly what it is. It’s not his fault that he doesn’t get it; it was never really explained to him. Therefore you hit him with the Beauty of the Basics—"There is a Creator and He Loves Us! If we serve him, he will redeem us again B’Yad Hazakah!" The Fourth Son is tougher to deal with. He is like the third son but knows even less about his heritage. He doesn’t ask questions about the Pesach Seder because he doesn’t even know where to begin. This guy knows that he’s Jewish, but the tradition hasn’t really had a chance to penetrate his skull because he never shows up for anything. Therefore we tell Benjamin Disraeli, Madeline Albright, and Kevin Youkillis, “Its Ok to be Jewish! You have nothing to be ashamed of! Show up next Shabat for lunch and I’ll feed you some of my Mom’s Chillunt and we’ll talk some Torah!”

It’s frightening how much of Am Yisrael is slipping through the cracks. In addition to the various threats of Nuclear War against the State of Israel and growing Physical Anti-Semitism that threaten our bodies, We are in the midst of a Spiritual Holocaust that is eating away at our very souls. Millions of our brothers and sisters are “Unaffiliated” 3rd and 4th Sons for whom being Jewish means only fasting on Yom Kippur and being guilted into showing up for Pesach Seder. But even more frightening are the numbers of “Fifth Sons” who do not even know that they are Jewish. Thousands of families in Southern Lebanon carry Jewish names and Jewish Genes, Millions of Jews remain in Russia where having a Brit Milah was outlawed for generations, and in America a staggering percentage of Jewish children are brought up without any knowledge of their beautiful heritage. When Moses returned from Har Sinai to find The Gold Calf in the midst of Am Yisrael he said “Whomever is for Hashem, come to me!” This rallying cry still resonates today and If we actively seek Torah, we will be strengthened and merit redemption ourselves, for indifference is the greatest weapon of the Spiritual Holocaust. May we all be inspired with Hochma to see the beauty of Torah and may we conquer our inner Rasha to avoid another year of wandering further from Our Path. May we merit a swift redemption and be together for The Pesach Seder in Yerushalayim in the coming year: L’Shanah HaBah Berushalayim!
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"The photo that heads this story was chosen at random from the internet.

The image is copywrite to R.Goldstein and it's showing does not imply there is any connection between the family portrayed and the contents of the article that follows"

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Accepting a Complement

Perhaps you remember Ex-NBA Allstar Michael Ray Richardson for his Magic Johnson-esque passing and scoring on the court. Perhaps you remember him as the only player to have ever been permanently banned from the NBA for repeatedly violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Perhaps you don’t remember him at all and that’s cool too, because it isn’t necessary to understand the rest of this article that focuses on his having dropped a few comments earlier this week that have been totally misinterpreted and blown out of proportion.

It all began when local newspaper reporters were asking Mr. Richardson—now the head coach of the CBA’s Albany Patroons—about contract negotiations between him and the organization. Richardson was quoted as saying, “I’ve got big-time Jew Lawyers,” for which he was immediately accused of Anti-Semitism. Obviously they weren’t listening to what was a most certainly a complement: that Jews are the Best Lawyers in The World and not to mess around! Mr. Richardson continued with a number of other complements that were unfortunately misinterpreted by the press. “If you look in most professional sports, they’re run by Jewish People. If you look at a lot of most successful corporations and stuff, more businesses, they’re run by Jews.” Mr. Richardson specifically added, “I think its great, I don’t think anything’s wrong with it,” so that no one would be confused of whether or not he was an Anti-Semite.

But unfortunately many Jews don’t know how to take a complement. Rather than thanking Mr. Richardson for his praise, he was lambasted for his ‘Intolerant and Offensive Statements’ and suspended from his job as coach of the Albany Patroons. Why are we so insecure as a nation that we cannot accept these honors that are laid upon us? Have we such a ghetto mentality that we cannot smile and accept a handshake for everything we've done? Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, The Chofetz Chaim zt”l, taught that one should never reject a complement from his neighbor. He taught his students that to refuse a gift would embarrass one’s fellow man which would cause in him feelings of shame and resentment. With the entire Arab World bent on Israel’s destruction and both The EU and The UN having signed a pact do avoid doing anything to stop Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program...Do we need any more enemies? Can’t we just accept a few kudos from a former NBA-Allstar who’s trying to get his life together?

So here we are, racing through Nissan—The Month of Miracles—towards Pesach. As we prepare for our festival and HaZman Charutanu, let us rejoice in the miracle of freedom. Am Yisrael has been blessed by Hashem and we should be proud of our successes—as most recently noted by Michael Ray Richardson—and thank Hashem for all of his blessings in this and every season. Shabat HaGadol U'M'Vorach v'Chag Kasher v'Sameach!

Rabbi Ninja

Taking a quick break from studying the other week, I was privileged to catch up with an acquaintance of mine. This particular individual is a relatively dangerous fellow—he happens to be the self-proclaimed Sword-Karate Champion of Worcester MA. Granted that there are probably very few people who practice this ancient art from The Land of the Rising Son in my humble Central Massachusetts Town, but I think it’s a fair assessment that anyone who can keep a straight face while introducing himself as a Sword-Karate Champion is at least Steven-Segal-Dangerous on a scale of Mr. Rogers-to-Chuck-Norris-Dangerous. Anyways, this most-likely-deadly acquaintance of mine is planning on moving to Israel and making Aliyah so he was asking me if I knew a good place for him to continue his martial arts training, and it just so happens that I do…

Suffering from a critical case of Night-Before-My-Huge-Infectious-Disease-Exam-Insomnia, I sought to clear my mind with a solid dose of Internet Surfing. Once I had finished all of YouTube's clips of Charles Barkley’s Greatest Dunks, I found myself Googling “Ninja Rabbis” and was directed towards www.abirwarriorarts.com , probably the coolest website I’ve inadvertently stumbled upon at 2AM in the past three-to-four months (besides my own website which is now listed on Google...Haza!!!).

Anyways, the www.abirwarriorarts.com website is devoted to the ancient art of Abir—the official martial arts of Am Yisrael since the time of King Solomon 3000 years ago. Like other ancient traditions lost to many Jewish Communities over the course of this Exile, Abir was miraculously maintained by the Jews of Yemen. Abir is a form of martial arts that combines the grappling of Jujitsu, the striking of Tae Kwon Do, and the defensive maneuvering of Aikido. All of its moves are based on the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet and the signs of The 12 Tribes. Rabbi Yehoshua Sofer—the world’s preeminent Abir Master—is a Temani Jew whose family emigrated from Yemen to Israel following years of persecution. Rabbi Sofer now lives in Yerushalayim where he runs Beit Abir : an amazing half-Yeshiva-half-Dojo institution. At his Beit Abir Academy near the Central Bus Station in Yerushalayim, Rabbi Sofer’s students study Torah and Abir in the path to becoming true Jewish Warriors—minds sharpened with Talmudic study and bodies perfected in hand-to-hand combat. I highly recommend checking out the his website and this video about Rabbi Yehoshua Sofer on YouTube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=b2aGALQqmEc

I would also like to take this as an opportunity to announce that Rabbi Yehoshua Sofer is officially nominated for Doctor Hazak’s “Toughest Jew Since Samson Award.” Stay tuned for more information about this Legendary Competition and please stop nominating Marv Albert as he is currently ineligible (though his courtside interviewing skills are impeccable he is not qualified for participation in the aforementioned prestigious competition at this time).

The Victory of Purim

Purim Sameach Everyone! Welcome to the happiest time of the year! Singing and Drinking and Dancing and Drinking and Eating and Drinking and Drinking and Drinking! Man, what an amazing time...

But of course, in the midst of our revelry we must remember what makes Purim such a happy time for Am Yisrael: Victory over our Enemies. Way back When over 2000 years ago in Shushan, the capital of the Persian Empire, an evil vizier rose to power with the same political platform that has subsequently been used by so many other horrible leaders—Blame the Jews! Is it because we Jews control the world’s economy, poisoned your wells, and gave you chewing gum that caused childhood cancers, or just because we are Jews? (NOTE: The PLO regularly accuses the Jewish People of these charges, including one about chewing gum). Facing the Genocidal Maniac Haman—yamak sh’mo—the Jews rallied around their leaders, Mordechai ben Yair and his niece Ester Hadassah. Then on the very day that had been slated for their destruction, The Jews arose and crushed their enemies in the streets of cities and towns all throughout the Persian Empire in a day-long (or two day-long in Shushan) battle royale.

Mordechai is compared to King David and to Moshe Rabenu Himself for his ability to unite the Jewish People. These three most hallowed Jewish Generals were all wary of the fact that our strength lies not in our numbers (yes as a Jew you are a minority so stop filling out “Caucasian” on your standardized tests) nor in our physical might (besides Boxing Champion Dangerous Dana Rosenblatt). The strength of Am Yisrael is in our Unity and our Spiritual Purity which is why on the day before battle, a Jewish Army observes a communal fast (observed yesterday as Ta’anit Esther).

If our strength is in unity then our weakness is in its absence—whether the lack of cooperation between Jews or the physical loss of even a single Jewish Soul. That is what makes the tragedy of Erez Levanon such a disastrous loss for the Jewish People. Erez, a forty-year-old Breslover Hasid, lived with his wife and three children in Bat Ayin (an amazing community located between Yerushalayim and Hevron). Erez was a musician and a torah scholar whose entire life was dedicated to bringing The Jewish People together. He was constantly involved in reaching out to his fellow Jews even when it took him all the way to the Himalayas where he went every summer to find lost Israeli souls and to bring them back to their own beautiful tradition. The only time that Erez would take for himself was a daily walk into the orchard near his home for an hour of solitude, and hitbodedut/meditation.

Earlier this week Erez Levanon did not return from his daily meditation. His body was found slashed to pieces in the orchard that had provided him with countless hours of clarity and peace. Later that day two Arab men were arrested in the nearby village of Beit Omar. They confessed to sneaking up upon Erez during his silent prayers and brutally attacking him. According to the police report, the two murderers, “were not motivated to kill Erez for any reason other than the fact that he was Jewish.”


So here we are on Purim 5767 and the story repeats itself: Genocidal Enemies seek to destroy us only because we are Jewish. And how much harder is it now to find strength as a nation when we are scattered across the Earth? How much harder to unite without a leader like Mordechai to guide us? How much harder to remain in the spirit of Purim following the tragic loss our fellow Jew, Erez Levanon? Such horrifying chaos and brutality breeds disillusionment, but in all of this there is undoubtedly hope. Though we Jews are separated by all sorts of barriers—language, politics, time zones—we are united as we shed tears for our fallen brother. As we learn more about this amazing man—who awoke every morning to sing songs with the local children on their way to school—we are inspired to live by his example and are strengthened in our resolve to work together to heal our fractured people. And as we remember Erez Levanon and look at pictures of the man who loved Hashem and Hashem’s people so much that he couldn’t stop smiling, we know that no matter what our enemy might try, they will never extinguish the fire of Am Yisrael, and we too will smile.

May his Neshama have an Aliyah and may we all celebrate Purim with the Simcha of Victory in memory of Erez ben Mordecai Levanon.

Dig Deep

THE PARSHA
This week’s Parsha (Torah Portion), Terumah, is the first of many dealing with the construction of the Mishkan. The Mishkan is translated as “The Tabernacle” in English (which is not really a good translation because there are probably more people that know who shot JFK than there are people who know what the heck a “Tabernacle” is). This is the structure that would serve “as the resting place for G-d’s presence in the Israelite camp.”

The Torah Portion begins with G-d speaking to Moses saying, “Take for me an offering (terumah); from every man whose heart makes him willing you will take my offering (terumah).” (Exodus 25:4) The Torah then goes on to describe the various building materials that are requested of the people and it is only in the eighth sentence of the Parsha that the Torah explain that these various donations would be used for the construction of the Mishkan, “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I might dwell among them.” (Exodus 25:8). The obvious question is: why would G-d tell Moses to gather these various terumah donations from the Israelites before anyone knew what they were to be used for?

A QUICK DIGRESSION
As a medical student, I spend a lot of time in a community hospital. Just about every day there are signs up for various events that can only succeed with the community’s participation—canned food collections, blood drives, bone marrow drives, etc… In my haste to make it to class or to-and-from the library I often find myself walking past these events. I tell myself that I will come back and donate blood after lunch or that I will bring some old clothes to give to the local homeless shelter the following day but naturally something else comes up. This is not because I don’t care; I am sure that if I was sitting at home making dinner one night and a hungry, naked person came to my door asking for a blood transfusion that I would do my best to help him out without blinking an eye…

BACK TO THE PARSHA
In his commentary to this week’s Parsha, Rashi explains that each Israelite gave at least one half-shekel of silver. Though everyone gave something, only those who merited it were inspired to dig deep into their pockets and come forward with the magnificent terumah offerings that were used to build the Mishkan. Had everyone known their donations would be used directly in building the Mishkan—which would then allow G-d’s Heavenly Presence to dwell amongst them—certainly they would have raced to find their checkbooks because of the immediate benefit of their actions. Yet were this the case then the decision to give would have be obvious, there would be no choice involved, no Free Will, and thus no terumah offerings (which by definition are voluntarily given). And as we have learned, only materials donated by a “Willing Heart” (Yidvenu Libo) could be used to construct the Mishkan. Thus it was necessary for G-d to conceal the purpose of the terumah offerings from Moses and The Israelites.

THE KESHER/CONNECTION
Just as Moses went to the Israelites and ask them to give terumah offerings, we too are provided with ample opportunities volunteer for our communities. Like our ancestors, we are blessed with the Free Will to act and the Free Will to passively wait and hope that others will act in our place. Most likely no one will show up at your door tonight asking for a pint of Type A Blood, but I can promise you that there is someone out there who needs it. Step up to The Plate. Shabat Shalom U’M’Vorach…

ONE LAST THING
Bone Marrow—it’s wicked important—you need it to live. So do people who have leukemia or lymphoma. Those of us who are healthy have a lot of bone marrow and more than enough to share with anyone who might be in need of a transplant. This is even more important amongst Jews—a genetically similar population—where one Jew’s bone marrow is very likely to be a good match for another Jew seeking a donor. Check out the website, get tested (it only takes a few minutes), and help a brother out: http://www.giftoflife.org/

ONE OTHER LAST THING
I know the picture of the mouse and the frog is kind of random, but I thought it was pretty cool.

BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL 2007

On Thursday, February 15th, Sign-Ups for Birthright-Israel Summer 2007 Begin. This is it! This is your chance to visit The Homeland (Not Africa, Sorry Marcus Garvey) on a 100%-Free Trip! The program is open to any Jew—ages 18-26—who has never been to Israel before and spaces fill up fast so you should probably get going. As a 2-time participant in the program (Winter 2005 as a Traveler and Summer 2006 as a Staff-Member) I can say without any hesitancy-or-risk-of-hyperbolizing these trips have been the best times of my life. Birthright is probably the most important thing you can do to get in touch with your people and your land (unless you never had a Brit Milah or never read Exodus). For people who are connected to their Jewish Roots, going to Israel is even more important in order to tap into the essence of our people and the land that sustains us.

Here is the Link: http://www.birthrightisrael.com/bin/en.jsp?enPage=HomePage

When it comes time to pick a trip, this one is led by my good friend Rabbi Chaim Burg: http://www.goisrael.org/future.htm

This trip is designed specifically for Medical Students and run by The American Physicians Fellowship for Israel: http://www.israeloutdoors.com/default.asp

I cannot stress this enough—Birthright is Amazing! If you are eligible, sign up (worst-case scenario you can back out later). If you’ve already been, spread the word because you know it’s the best program out there.

Also…I will be speaking at Congregation Beth Judah Young Israel of Worcester this Shabat (Feb. 10th) on Parshat Yitro, Mishnah Shabat, and “The Big Picture.” If you’re around, make sure to come by around 10AM. The Shul is located at 889 Pleasant Street, Worcester MA 01602.

Time For A Serious One

Before I go into anything else, I hope that everyone will take a moment to remember the three Jewish souls whose lives were so abruptly taken from them yesterday by a suicide bomber who exploded himself at a bakery in Eilat. Emil Almaliakh and Michael Ben Sa’adon were two young business partners who had just opened the Lechamin Bakery. There are each survived by a wife and child. Izzy Samolia was a 26-year-old Oleh who had moved to Israel from Miami less than three years ago; his family is proud that he will be laid to rest in Eretz Yisrael. In the wake of this great tragedy, it is imperative to examine the root causes behind the event…

The profound question uttered by Straight Alta-Pazz Rap Label-Founder Rodney King still echoes vibrantly throughout today’s world, “Can’t We All Just Get Along?” And while I awaken every day with great hopes, the rationalist in me has teamed up with the pessimist in me to bludgeon the optimist in me unconscious. The man directly responsible—21-year-old Muhammed Faisal Saksak—was a member of Jihad Islami, the terrorist group that orchestrated the attack in conjunction with Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. Saksak was armed with explosives smuggled into Gaza from Egypt and had filled his pockets with metal nails in order to maim as many civilians as possible with his explosion. Saksak’s family knew about his plans before the attack and according to his older brother Naim, “they are very proud of what he did.” Rather than try and stop her son from violently taking his own life and murdering innocent civilians, Saksak’s mother Ruwaidah wished him “Good Luck” and “Prayed for him to succeed.” Of her eight remaining children, Ruwaidah said she is prepared to ‘Sacrifice all her sons for the sake of Palestine.’


How is such madness possible? How could a mother wish her son well in a mission to blow himself up at a café? How has a significant percentage of the Arab World been deceived into thinking that suicide attacks are the highest form of religious devotion when they are expressly forbidden by the Koran itself? (for more on this please read Bernard Lewis' The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror). Only systematically indoctrinated hatred could bring about such insanity—the kind that is overwhelmingly present throughout the Arab World and specifically amongst the people governed by the Palestinian Authority. The PA leadership is as evil as it is corrupt—neither Hamas nor Fatah said it would take any steps to prevent further attacks after yesterday's tragedy. For children under their governance, “education” begins early with Cartoons, TV Shows, and Comics aimed at glorifying armed-conflict and suicide bombings (http://teachkidspeace.com/flash.php). An individual that blows himself up in an Israeli nightclub is described in newspapers and on the Al Jazeera Network as a Shaheed—Arabic for “Holy Martyr Hero.” Arab Terrorists are further glorified when hospitals, schools, and stadiums are named in their honor. PUBLIC FIGURES IN THE WEST BANK VILLIAGE OF YAABID HAVE NAMED A MAJOR STREET AND THE NEARBY SCHOOL “SADDAM HUSSEIN” after the man who paid $25,000 dollars to the family of any Arab who participated in a suicide attack against Israel. The ex-dictator who used chemical weapons against the civilians of his own country is being honored—according to the local paper Al-Hayat al-Jadida—because of “The Values of Arabness and Jihad which he represented.” But that’s not all; the school and surrounding municipality were funded by a $400,000 grant from USAID: The United States Agency for International Development. How can the US even pretend that funding these maniacs is a useful endeavor when even "Humanitarian Aid" is grossly misappropriated?

Nobel Laureate Professor Robert J. Aumann was a featured speaker at the Herzliya Conference earlier this month where much time was spent discussing the failures of last summer’s war and the looming threat of a nuclear Iran. Professor Aumann’s talk took a surprising turn when he said that there was something more dangerous than the establishment of a new terrorist state on Israel’s borders. Furthermore, there is something that he fears even more than an openly genocidal Iranian regime armed with nuclear warheads: Apathy. “Motivating ourselves is the most important thing, and the thing we are losing the most. Without motivation, we will not endure. What are we doing here? Why are we here? What are we aspiring to here? We are here because we are Jewish, we are Zionist, because of our ancient bond to this land; we aspire to realize our 2,000-year-old hope of becoming a free nation in our land, the Land of Zion and Jerusalem. Without this profound understanding, we will not endure. We will simply no longer be here; post-Zionism will finish us off."

The facts are on the table…As the world grows less-and-less friendly to Jews and The State of Israel, she will be pressured into further dangerous concessions. Roadmaps, Disengagements, and One-Sided Ceasefires only empower terrorist organizations (Hezbollah, Hamas, etc…) to continue their perpetual violence and to indoctrinate their youth with fanaticism. It is time to stop advocating for unrealistic plans that include the establishment of a “Palestinian State” between Jordan and Israel—a mistake that would provide a launching ground for international terrorism and an existential threat to both its neighbors. It is time to focus on practical goals for peace in region, beginning with the dismantling of Jihadist Groups and holding their leaders accountable for attacks targeting civilians (for more on a rational plan for peace, visit MK Benny Elon’s Website: http://www.therightroadtopeace.com/). Therefore I believe that it is incumbent upon us all to voice our support for the State of Israel as it continues its struggle for peace and as it is the lone democracy in a sea of 22 hostile Arab Nations. Sign a petition! Write your congressman! Call the White House!

Seriously. Call the White House. Tell them that you Support Israel in her Quest for Peace and that you want your government to do the same thing. 202-456-1111…

Regarding the guy in the back wearing sunglasses...

Sunday Night’s loss to The Indianapolis Colts marked the end of what was a pretty amazing season for The New England Patriots. The Pats were only a big play (or two or three or six) away from making it to the Superbowl where the would have most certainly vanquished The Chicago Bears. Remember that they accomplished this feat in an injury-plagued season in which they had $15 Million to spare before hitting the salary cap: something truly remarkable in modern football americano.

Flashback to March of last year when my sister Shoshana was spending her semester abroad at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Figuring to take a quick break from her studies, Shoshana and her friends trekked down to the Negev Desert to hike Masada—a 2000-year-old fortress where Israelite Warriors once held off the entire Roman Army for over a year. As if experiencing the heroic history of her people wasn’t enough excitement, my sister happened to run into a Boston-Area CJP tour that included Tom Brady and Bob Kraft. I can only imagine that he visited Israel in order to find my sister and get her autograph, but according to the All-Pro Quarterback himself, “I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to visit Israel as there is so much to learn about the Country.”

Now let us examine the facts…In 2005 after winning his third Superbowl in four years, Mr. Brady shocked the world when he told reporters that he was “discontented” with his life. How could this be possible given that he was one of the world’s premier superstars, dating beautiful Hollywood actresses, and a multi-millionaire to boot. Perhaps he was tired of living of life void of deeper meaning? Or perhaps it was far simpler and he was just bummed out that his girlfriend at the time, Bridget Moynahan, kind of looked liked a dude in that crappy movie “The Recruit” that she did with Colin Farrell. Either way…the following season was by no means a flop, but it hardly reached expectations as Brady and The Pats were swiftly eliminated by Denver in the Wild-Card game. Shortly after that loss, Mr. Brady traveled to Israel for a week where he had a wonderful time as evidenced by this quote, “I think its important to leave here not only realizing how special [Israel] is, but also to share it with other people.” And now as we look back on this season where The Pats were unfortunately eliminated in the AFC Championship game, it all becomes clear. Rather than perpetuate the downward spiral he was destined to follow, Mr. Brady made the career-changing decision to visit Eretz Yisrael. Rejuvenated for what would most certainly be a difficult season, Mr. Brady was able to bounce-back and carry The Pats further than anyone expected.

Now picture this: Brady visits Israel again this Spring, is spiritually strengthened by his time in The Holy Land and comes back to lead The Pats to an unprecedented, undefeated 19-0 season and their Fourth Championship in Seven Years, culminating in a Super Bowl in which he passes for nine touchdowns and throws a ball into the announcers' booth that hits John Madden in the noggin, causing the fat idiot’s head to explode like a Gallagher Sledge-o-Matic Watermelon and the poetic end of Madden’s moronic insights—the team that scores the most points is probably going to win the game—and “Boom! Tough-Actin Tinactin” commercials forever!

In Conclusion—Tom Brady said that he really liked Israeli hummus, but probably not as much as my Dad does. Also Jimmy Carter is a shmuck who needs to get his facts straight: http://camera.org/

Celebrating the Life of a Zionist

Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day to everyone. Dr. King was truly an amazing man. As we celebrate his legacy this week, I think we should all reiterate our commitment to the continued struggle that Dr. King made his life's mission. In addition to his work as a civil rights activist in America, Dr. King was very involved in Zionism, a cause he held close to his heart. Dr. King is best known for he refutations of “politically-correct” attacks against The Jewish State and its People.

The following quote is taken from a speech that Dr. King gave at Harvard back in 1968: “You declare that you do not hate Jews, you are merely Anti-Zionist…Zionism is nothing less than the dream and ideal of the Jewish people returning to live in their own land. What is Anti-Zionism? It is discrimination against the Jews, because they are Jews. In short, it is Anti-Semitism.”

So for all of us that hold a special place for him in our hearts, let us remember that Dr. King was an ardent Zionist and a true friend of Am Yisrael. And at some point in the future when we meet a person who tells us that they don't hate Jews but that Israel is an oppressive apartheid state...let us go ahead and kick their ass for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

some things are really hard to explain...

Look at this guy. He looks so good in this suit that you'd probably assume he got himself a court date on purpose just to get this fashionable picture of himself in the news. Sadly this is not the case...Terry "Tank" Johnson (who pays his bills as a starting defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears) was wearing this fine ensemble in order to look presentable as he plead not-guilty to charges that he violated his parole by having an 6 unlicensed firearms in his house. Does anyone realize how ridiculous this is!??!?! The man's name is "Tank" and he is roughly the size of my refrigerator. He's tougher than Robocop and if he punched you in the head, your brain would explode like an over-microwaved lasagna. The cops found over 550 rounds of ammo at his house and the only reason they came was because his neighbors had complained about the 3 pitbulls that he had tearing around in his backyard. But what I really don't understand is why the cops were so surprised to find plastic bags filled with marijuana and hydrocodone (an elephant-strength prescription painkiller) at his house. Obviously he's trying to relax in order to spend some quality time with his two kids and live-in girlfriend.

Given that the world has now reached new levels of insanity, I was not surprised to learn that US Congress just passed a law to give Mahmoud Abbas nearly 100 million dollars to fund his private army. This occured about two weeks after international pressure from the EU and the UN forced the Israeli government to transfer a matching 100 million dollars to the so-called moderate "Abbas." Let us remember that this fellow is the same "moderate" whose PhD thesis was written on The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism (available in paperback wherever jihadist literature is sold) which rejects 'The Zionist Fantasy, the fantastic lie that Six Million Jews were killed.' So now that Abbas has 200 million dollars at his disposal, do you think that he will use the money to build schools, hospitals, or any sort of infrastructure? Well, it would be nice to think that, but the record proves otherwise and he is pretty excited about training and arming his 1500-Man "Presidential Guard" of Al-Aqsa and Fatah Terrorists.

So the question arises: Why is this shmuck getting so much money? Is it because Jacque Chirac has a crush on him? Is it because Condoleeza Rice wants to borrow his recipe for felafel? Or is it because the Western World is willing to pay whatever it costs to placate OPEC and the Oil Czars of Saudi Arabia. Don't give me the argument that Fatah and Abbas are better than Hamas and Haniyeh because thats just like paying 200 million bucks for a kick in the crotch when you could get an unnecessary appendectomy with a rusty ice cream scoop for free. Does anyone really think that the money that Abbas spends on his guns wont eventually come back to haunt us? (bli ayin hara)

So what can you do? Well, you can start by writing a letter to your congressman, senator, and president telling them that funding terrorists leads to terrorism and that supporting Israel helps to ensure the survival of Jewish Civilians (and gets you a nice seat in the afterlife if you are an Evangelical Christian Zionist). Seems pretty straight forward. You can also get involved in Hasbara (http://israelactivism.com/) and help to plan, promote, and participate in Pro-Israel advocacy.

Epilogue: Willie B. Posey, the late bodyguard of "Tank" Johnson, was killed this week in an early morning shootout following a disagreement at a Chicago nightclub. Ignoring the obvious questions of why "Tank" needed a bodyguard when he had 3 pitbulls, 6 guns, and a Goliath-like physique, I wish to express my sincerest condolences to the family of Mr. Posey.

APF Event at UMass Medical School

After a lot of planning, cancelling, re-planning, re-cancelling, and phone-tag, I have finally managed to set up an event at UMass. JewMass (The Jewish Students' Organization at UMass Medical School) is sponsoring a talk on January 25th by Dr. Norton Greenberger, the President of APF: The American Physicians Fellowship for Israel. Dr. Greenberger will be speaking about the impact this past summer's Israel-Lebanon War had on the Israeli Healthcare System. He will also discuss ways for American Healthcare Workers to get involved in supporting Israel: whether through subsidized trips to Israel to study emergency medicine or through social and political action.
The APF is a fantastic organization that is involved primarily in strengthening the relationship between North American and Israeli Health Care Professionals. The APF helps to send American students, physicians, and other health care profressions to Israel to experience and help the Jewish State while bringing Israelis to America to further their training. In addition, the APF prepares North American physicians for crisis medicine in Israel and is recognized for its amazing work in bringing a large number of doctors to help the over-worked Israeli Medical System during the Yom Kippur War of 1973. The APF also runs a (free!) Birthright Trip for Young Jewish Professionals interested in visiting Israel each Summer.
The Time, Date, and Place are Set: Thursday January 25th 4:45-6:15pm in the Faculty Conference Room at UMass Medical School. So if you are in the Worcester Area, stop on by for a great talk followed by a coffee/tea/cookie shmooze. Whether you are a Health Care Professional or just a supporter of Israel (both Jews and Non-Jewish Supporters of Israel), we'd love to have you...
For More Info Here's The Link: http://www.apfmed.org/

In The Beginning...

Well, this all started about a month ago when I finally gave in and realized that I couldn't yell loud enough to be heard across the world. I got a megaphone and tried but after receiving a few noise violations I realized that the only people that could hear me were my neighbors who by this point were getting nice and ticked off. Thus I tried to recruit my Cousin Adam (seen pictured above with me and my other cousins Alexander and Ephraim Ben Yaakov HaKohane) to help me make a website but was unsuccessful do to political differences that culminated in us trying to throw each other into my grandmother's pool. Long story short, this blog is the best that I can do for now.

I feel as though I should try to offend as few people as possible with the first entry to my blog so I wont really do anything besides suggest that people take a look at the links I have posted off to the left.

Oh yeah, and there's no way that I can even pretend to get started without talking some tunes so here are 10 Albums that most people probably haven't heard by artists that you know of that everyone should check out regardless of their taste in music because they are just straight awesome...

1) Ry Cooder--Paradise and Lunch
2) The Rolling Stones--Their Satanic Majesty's Request
3) George Clinton + Parliament--The Mothership Connection
4) David Bowie--The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars
5) Jimi Hendrix--Axis Bold as Love
6) Pink Floyd--Meddle
7) The Moshav Band--Malachim
8) Buddy Guy--You're Damn Right I Got The Blues
9) Steely Dan--Pretzel Logic
10) Bob Dylan--Nashville Skyline