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.