Here's Looking At You, Dad...And Pop-Pop, And Great-Granddad, And Whoever Else

This, again, is where the mixed feelings come in. I am staring at a picture of a notable actor. I am staring at a picture of a relative (I'm not joking. I said that "Danilovich" was a patronymic in his case. Then I saw the pictures, and I knew who Pop-Pop pretty much looked like. Right now, I see maybe who Dad will look like down the road.). I am also staring at a picture of the guy who raped Natalie Wood and murdered Jean Spangler.

What do you do when you know that your family wreaked havoc on the world and yet had some of the most-influential people come out from among them? Even my granddad, one of the three IRS Agents who served tax papers to Richard Nixon, came from the Daniloviches.

A long time ago, my aunt Mary (z"l) told me of the following exchange at a funeral:

*Fist slams on table* "Do you know what that Jack Czarnecki did today?"
"That's my father."
"Oh...I'm so sorry."
"No; it's okay—I agree with you.

And this coming on the day before the anniversary of Great-Granddad's suicide...




What the heck have we done?

My father's current wife with her late in-law father on her and my father's wedding day. She put this picture up after he passed away.

On the Rusnak Family Reunion Page. My dad is behind his wife and her daughter. The Rusnaks are another story, too, by the way; I'll just leave my description at that for right now.

And the mistaken obituary will be published for real soon. I guarantee you that. I guarantee you that since God finally did in Jack Czarnecki (and I have never backtracked from saying that), He will do in Kirk Douglas. Here's hoping, too, that Lana Wood can finally name her sister's rapist.

That shouldn't be said about a relative (ideally at least), although truth outweighs family loyalty—and in the end, might save the family in at least the next few generations. I know that the truth saved my generation (at least me and my sister), and I hope that'll it save the ones to come (for all sides of the Danilovich Family, too, might I add; not just "Katarzyna" Danilówiczowna Czerniecka's side, and certainly not just Kirk Douglas' side).

As an in-law Danilovich (my great-grandmother Mary Trudnak Czarnecki) told my Aunt Mary, "I want to talk about it." That's exactly what I myself intend to do as a Danilovich and as a human being, so that I don't see my family wrecked again or wrecking the world again—and so that many other families won't wreck themselves or the world again.

How A Skewed Taglit-Birthright Study Endangers Both the Jewish Community At Large And Will Taglit-Birthright's Reputation

I see plenty of issues with this study:

1) "Saxe and research associates Michelle Shain and Shahar Hecht collected data from August 6-11 via an online questionnaire, which included versions of the Pew survey questions. It was sent to eligible US Birthright Israel-Taglit candidates who had applied for a trip between summer 2011 and winter 2013/14."

There is no real "control" group. There are only Birthright applicants.

2) "Encouraged through an an opportunity to win one of two $100 Amazon.com gift cards, 1,756 young Jewish adults filled out the survey. The respondents included 1,122 who actually did go to Israel on a Birthright trip, and 634 nonparticipants."

The one group that there was, was pooled and divided unevenly. There should've been a total of either:

1.  878 Birthright travelers and 878 non travelers (still 1,756 people total, and and bringing in a control subgroup of 878 people—because, again, there was no control group; and a control group within a group does not count as a separate control group), or 
2. 1,122 travelers and 1,122 non travelers (keeping the 1,122 travelers who filled out the survey and bringing in a control subgroup). 

Either way, the surveyed ("treatment")-to-control group ratio is completely absent, let alone lacking.

3) "For the study, the Birthright applicants’ results were compared to a recent Pew survey and a Gallup poll, both of which were completed at the end of July."

The same problem regarding the subject pool and control groups is here, and data collection is also a problem here. Data from June 21, 2011-December 21, 2013 is older and more plentiful than data from July 2014, for example. Thus, there is no adequate amount of recency and amount of data to compare. In other words, the study would have been less skewed if both sets of data were from June 21, 2011-December 21, 2013; June 21, 2011-July 31, 2014; or July 31, 2014.


4) "Saxe feels the young Jews polled are a representative cross-section of young American Jews for several reasons. Primarily, bluntly, “because Birthright is free — and fun,” said Saxe, meaning the trip doesn’t only draw those who think it’s worth spending money on  a trip to Israel."

Any "representative cross-section of young American Jews" would include Messianic Jews (who are banned from applying to [and even specifically targeted for persecution by] Taglit) and others who Taglit bans .

In fact, the specific wording is in part:

"Eligible individuals are those who identify as Jewish and are recognized as such by their local community or by one of the recognized denominations of Judaism. Applicants must also have at least one Jewish birth parent, or have completed Jewish conversion through a recognized Jewish denomination. 

"*Those applying for trips leaving from the Former Soviet Union are eligible if they have at least one Jewish birth grandparent. The accuracy of information pertaining to the heritage of an applicant for a trip leaving from the Former Soviet Union is also verified by a local Consul before an applicant is considered eligible."

This on an international level alone would single out Karaites (who Rabbinate Judaism often slanders) and many other Jews, including Lemba Jews (who go by Patrilineal Descent and are mostly Messianic— despite that most sources try to separate them from the Jewish community at large because they "are Christian" [as if Christianity is not Jewish], etc..). Therefore, this certainly would not allow for just a "representative cross-section of young American Jews".

5) "Saxe said his team has analyzed the backgrounds of those who responded and the profiling is in context with last year’s massive Pew survey study of American Jews. The years of Jewish education, day school all look just about the same, he said, noting one slight difference — Birthright draws a lower proportion of children from intermarriages."

This skews the study as well. The "cross-section" are mostly Rabbinically-Jewish Rabbinical Jews (with a Rabbincally-Jewish Rabbincal Jew being a Jew who has at least one Matrilineally-Jewish parent "[and/]or have completed Jewish conversion through a recognized Jewish denomination".

([Do not kid yourself; Taglit would not look twice at Jews whose family was raised outside of a Rabbinate shul for two or more generations. In other words, for instance, Isaac Kaganowicz would not be considered a Rabbincally-Jewish Rabbincal Jew if both of his parents were Atheistically-raised Jews who were raising Issac in the same way that their parents raised them.)

"Since Taglit was founded in December 1999, annually some 20-25% of candidates have had no prior involvement in Jewish life, said Saxe. “The great piece of Taglit is that it levels the playing field,” said Saxe."

They do go to shul, though. In fact, I had a peer at UMBC who is an Atheist and whose family goes to a Reform shul. So, the "20-25% of candidates" have either parents and/or grandparents who at least go to shul.

6) "Pew doesn’t consider many of the people who went on Taglit to be Jewish because they don’t call themselves Jewish by religion, rather by parentage. “They might not count themselves as Jews until they go on Birthright,” added Saxe."

The Pew data also skews the study.

In other words, the Taglit study (which is called a "Brandeis University" study) is flawed and both dangerous to the Jewish community at large (who, for example, loses numbers according to Taglit-Pew-Saxe standards) and Taglit Birthright itself (and Taglit Birthright has had trouble in the past).

Submission For Essay Contest As Sponsored By the Galilee Center for Studies in Jewish-Christian Relations

Jews, Christians, and Religious Persecution—and My Own Family

            My name is Nicole Victoria Czarnecki, and I am set to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science. I am to be counted as having graduated in December of 2013, provided that I am able to pass a class which I had trouble completing over the semester. To make a long story short, I was recovering from surgery which I had in July, and my granddad died on the weekend before the exam for the class with which I had difficulty.

            Speaking of my granddad, I had found out the fact that he is the son of a pogrom survivor, about which he was not happy. That fact bothered him, and he hid it from me and his other grandchildren for years. He also changed his story from that we are somehow related to Stefan Czarniecki, to something along the lines of “If we had any Jewish blood, I don’t know about it.” He never outrightly admitted that we are Jewish, although he did have very-Jewish wishes for when he died. His obituary reads, in part:

“Visitation with the family will be held at Singleton's Funeral Home, 1 2nd Ave. SW, Glen Burnie, MD 21061 on Wednesday, December 18, 2013 from 3:00-5:00PM and 7:00-9:00PM. Services will be held on Thursday, December 19, 2013 at 11:00AM at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 126 Dorsey Rd., Glen Burnie, MD 21061. Private Interment at Glen Haven Cemetery, Glen Burnie, MD. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made to either of the following organizations: NCEON, 305 5th Avenue SE, Glen Burnie, MD 20161, or H.O.P.E. for All, P.O. Box 1548, Glen Burnie, MD 21060…”

            As I remember, having a visitation was expressly against his wishes. In fact, as my Aunt Mary recalled to me, he had expressed that he wanted to either have a funeral without calling hours beforehand or be cremated. He did, however, get to keep his wishes of having tzedekah done in his name and being buried in a non-Catholic cemetery.

            The cremation wishes, meanwhile, probably come from the fact that his wife’s—my grandmother’s—cousins were murdered in Auschwitz, and he perhaps felt guilty about that. He also may have had cousins who were murdered in the Holocaust, as an e-mail from my granduncle Tony reads:

“In mid 1960's the Polish family asked the American family to deed the farm to them since the Americans would not be returning.  One hundred twenty nine (129) signatures were required from the American family members to complete the transfer, because under Polish law, all living survivors of Julian were an heir to the property.”

            Before the mid 1960s, our side of the family was not talking to the side of the family whom stayed in what eventually became Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia. In fact, they were quite angry at Great-Granddad Czarnecki’s parents, Julian John “Felix” and Alexandria Alice Andrulewicz Czarnecki, for being Anusim during the pogroms. For Alexandria’s family, however, being Anusi was nothing new. This is because some Andrulevičuses had become Anusim beforehand, and Alexandria’s branch was among the last of the Andrulevičuses to become such. In fact, some Andrulevičuses—the family of whom carried variants of “Andrulevičuses” such as “Andrulewicz”, “Andralowitz”, and “Andrulevich”—continued to identify as Jewish even while they remained Catholic.

            For example, Jacob L. Androlowicz, who served in World War Two, was counted among wounded Jewish soldiers. His wounded-soldier card reads as follows:

            He was buried in a Catholic cemetery when he died in 1974, and his gravestone reads “Jacob Androlowicz”. As for his cousin Alexandria’s family (Great-Granddad Czarnecki’s branch), they were among the Andrulevičuses who were not open about being Jewish, although they did observe some minhag v’nusach. For example, there was no “Mary” among Alexandria’s daughters—they were named Regina, Alexandria Alice, and Cecelia. In fact, the first “Mary” in Alexandria’s line was my aunt Mary, who was named for her grandmothers—Mary Trudnak Czarnecki (the daughter of Anusim Mihály “Michael” and Anna Amalia Munková “Anna Monka” Trudniak) and Marysia “Mary” Elizabeth Rusnak Gaydos (the daughter of Anusim András Stef “Andrew Stephen” and Juliana Foczková “Julia Fosko” Rusnak).

Given that the Andrulewicz, Czarnecki (originally “Czernecki”), Trudnak (originally “Trudnyak”), Monka (“Munka”), Rusnak (originally “Rusznak”), Fosko (originally “Foczko”), and other families of Alexandria’s grandson and in-law daughter (Joan Adele Czarnecki née Gaydos) were Anusim Ashkenazim, how they observed some minhag Sefardi surprised me. I suspected, therefore, that the Andrulewiczes et. al. had Sefardic heritage and were well aware of what their Sefardic ancestors suffered in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Holland. I turned out to be correct, as my dad’s AncestryDNA autosomal DNA test shows that Dad has 1% Iberian Peninsular DNA:

In fact, my great-granddad Anthony Czarnecki was named for Anthony Claret of Spain when he was baptized. I suspected this—and was able to confirm my suspicion per Dad’s DNA results[1]—because, as I found out, Anthony Claret was born on October 24^th, the same date (even though not in the same year) as the birthdate of my great-granddad.

As I mentioned beforehand, Great-Granddad Czarnecki was a pogrom survivor. He was born on October 24, 1904 in Cumań, Wołyn, Rusia (now Tsuman, Volyns’ka Oblast in the Ukraine). At the time, his mother was en route from or to visiting a cousin named Vil’gel’m Andrulevich. According to Hebcal.com and given Vil’gel’m lived in Buzhanka, Zvenigorodka uyezd (now Tsuman in the Ukraine’s Cherkas’ka Oblast), she was visiting Vil’gel’m to celebrate either HaRosh-HaChodesh Cheshvan 5665 (since she lived in Lipsk nad Bierbzą, Suwałki Gubernia with her husband, and she would not have been able to visit on the 1^st of Cheshvan) or the 15^th of Cheshvan (since Tanakh reads, “Blow the horn at the new moon, at the full moon for our feast-day.”[2]). Since she gave birth to her son on 15^th Cheshvan, however, that she was visiting Vil’gelm to celebrate Rosh Chodesh seems more likely.

After all, the Andrulevičuses were originally Orthodox, and at least one branch—the Andrelewitzes—remained so throughout the 1900s. The Andrulevičuses were Litvakn Yidn who took Tanakh and Talmud seriously. In fact, one cousin—Rochla Andrelewtiz—identified herself as “Hebrew” and her dad as “Gitla Andrelewitz”. They had no aversion to identifying as Jewish or taking identifiably-Yiddish names.

Then came the times of Anti Semitism in the Russian Pale and the Congress of Poland. For Alexandria’s branch, the times were the era of the pogroms in and around Lipsk nad Biebrzą. As my granduncle Tony wrote:

“I don't know who came with the group to America.  It seems that there were only a few family members and friends.  These people mostly settled in NE PA.  Your Great Grandfather had a few cousins living within 50 miles of Wilkes-Barre…There were several "friends" in Sugar Notch and the area that would periodically return to Lisco Poland to visit family and mail was occasionally received by them from family in Poland.  One of the friends who lived in Sugar Notch would bring pictures of Great Grandpop's family to share with him.  Since he left at a young age, he didn't recognize anyone but as I recall they all had names of the people in the pictures on the back.

“The move from Poland was permanent.  There was never any talk of returning.  Not even for a visit…

“I never seen nor did anyone mention anything special brought from Poland.  A friend from Sugar Notch, Mrs. Bertha Wawrzyn, visited Poland every few years to see her family and would visit the family while there.  All she ever brought back were photos that she took of the Polish Czarnecki's…

“There was very little discussion of the Polish life and family.  Usually, when there was, it was a brief mention of the farm that was left behind.  There did not seem to be any regrets about leaving for a better life.  After all , they settled among Polish, Slavic, Hungarian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian people just like themselves.  Similar language, similar customs, similar faces, houses, churches, etc.  But life was much better than on the farm.  They were quite happy in America and much better off.  The motherland, Poland, was far off and just a memory, not to be forgotten but no regrets for leaving either.

“Periodically a church pastor would run a heritage trip back to Poland for a group.  Very few of those who immigrated would return.  Occasionally someone "in the family" in America would join a relative for the return trip, Usually meeting the Polish or Slovak relatives for the first time and occasionally maintaining a letter writing relationship afterwards.  This DID NOT happen in our family… 

“Bertha's photos which came after the trips were the only contact until they asked for the deed to be changed in the mid 1960's.

“There was no special items from Poland that were kept by the family that I know of.  They came with little and acquired everything they had in America.  Over the years all traces of Poland disappeared.  They were now AMERICANS and wanted to be known as such…..”

            The more that I researched and talked to family members, the more that what happened became quite evident: the Andrulewiczes, Czerneckis, and other families (e.g., the families of Great-Granddad’s grandmothers—the Morgiewiczes and the Daniłowiczes) were very unhappy about their family members giving up their Jewish faith at the hands of Czar Nicholas the Second and the Polish and Russian Churches. Therefore, their son Julian and their daughter Alexandria left for Sugar Notch, Pennsylvania, and blended in there by pretending to be Polish-Lithuanian Catholics.

            This did not mean the end of trouble for Great-Granddad, though. In fact, his wanting to marry a Jewish Catholic—Mary Trudnak by name—extremely upset his mother, who did not believe in anything other than shidduch or marrying fellow Yidn. Marrying who she considered to be a meshumadah—since Great-Grandma, as I remember and as Aunt Mary told me, was a genuine Jewish Catholic—was Great-Granddad’s way of asking for trouble. In fact, as Great-Grandma told Aunt Mary, Great-Granddad’s and Great-Grandma’s doctor warned them to leave Great-Great-Grandma’s house before Great-Grandma could have a mental breakdown.

            Great-Great-Grandma died of nephritis on April 6, 1936, shortly before my granddad was born. Nonetheless, the damage had already been done, and Pop-Pop was not born into a stable family or raised in a stable household. In truth, Pop-Pop became just like his grandmother, whose son became just like her. My granduncle Tony even once quoted the following about my great-granddad, my granddad, and my dad: “Like father, like son.”

            In sum, the persecution that the Poles and Russians enacted against my paternal granddad’s dad and his family affected my granddad’s family to consider their Jewishness a dark secret, and a secret that—by becoming and being kept a secret—affected much of the dysfunction in our family. As HaShem warned through Moshe, “HaShem is slow to anger, and plenteous in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.”[3] This has certainly been the case in our family, and this has caused me to do what Great-Grandma wanted to do with Aunt Mary at the end of her 93 years—“talk about it”.

            I myself will never commit a chillul HaShem by hiding my Jewish heritage and perverting my Jewish heritage into a secret that will destroy my children and grandchildren. While I myself am a Jewish Christian and will never give up Yeshua (since I became a Christian long before I knew that I am Jewish, and I believe that being a Christian is fully compatible with being Jewish), I understand why my granddad was an Anusi up until his dying day. I also know that my dad, if he was honest with himself, would be Reform Jewish (much to the chagrin of his dad’s late paternal grandma).

            I can also see the effects of Polish and Russian Anti Semitism that was committed in the name of Yeshua, and know that HaShem would have this to see about the Poles and Russians who claimed to be Christians in order to hurt my family:

“And the L-rd said: Forasmuch as this people draw near, and with their mouth and with their lips do honour Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear of Me is a commandment of men learned by rote”.[4]

Works Cited

Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

“. U.S., WWII Jewish Servicemen Cards, 1942-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.

“. Web: New Jersey, Find A Grave Index, 1664-2012 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Czarnecki, Anthony J., Jr. "RE: Family Research Project For School." Message to the author. Oct.-Nov. 2012. E-mail.

Czarnecki, Gregory M. "DNA Tests for Ethnicity & Genealogical DNA testing at AncestryDNA." DNA Tests for Ethnicity & Genealogical DNA testing at AncestryDNA. http://dna.ancestry.com/#/ethnicity/85CDAAEB-7A37-4BAF-8B86-86BA65C81CB2 (accessed January 6, 2014).

“. "Jack Czarnecki." The Capital Gazette. Legacy.com, Dec.-Jan. 2013. Web. 06 Jan. 2014. .

JewishGen.org, comp. Russia, Duma Voter Lists, 1906-1907 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.

The JPS Tanakh. 1917 ed. N.p.: n.p., 1917. Jewish Virtual Library. The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2013. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. .

Sadinoff, Danny, and Michael J. Radwin. "Hebrew Date Converter." Hebrew Date Converter. HebCal.com, 1999. Web. 06 Jan. 2014. .

---

[1] Which, according to Ancestry.com, could be updated. The screenshot results come from AncestryDNA Version 2.0..

[2] Psalm 81:4, JPS. Obtained via http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Bible/Psalms81.html

[3] Numbers 14:18, JPS. Obtained via Jewish Virtual Library.

[4] Isaiah 29:13, JPS. Obtained via Jewish Virtual Library.

(Some Of) My Big Moments In 2013 (Including at the End)

This is not an exhaustive list, but it's way more than what I mentioned in the video:

1. Being called Geraldo Rivera's "favorite tweeter"
2. Establishing that I have kohen and Levi heritage through the Gajdoszes, Dudays, Foczkos, Rusznaks, and Levais.
3. My ITB Pump surgery (and I envy Geraldo—the lucky guy got well over a total of 100 Facebook and Twitter "likes", well wishes, etc. regarding his foot surgery. I got no more than 52 "likes" at a time—actually, that was my uncle who posted about me and the ITB Pump surgery. Geraldo's probably going to hate me for that, and I may not be his favorite tweeter anymore; but, c'mon—I was under anesthesia on both July 17th and July 18th. Plus, I was in Johns Hopkins until July 22nd, and then Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital until August 2nd. Furthermore, they had to give me caffeine and have me drink coffee to prevent further caffeine withdrawal and headaches. All I got was a few visits, comic books back from my dad, and a few other things).
4. My granddad passing.
5. My dad disowning me—but at least I got the atDNA test from him before he did.
6. Great-Granduncle Andy's passing—that's huge, given that my generation of Fosko Rusnaks is second in line to carry to torch (Dad's is the first.).
7. The first year that I did not attend the DeBoy Family Reunion (I was recovering from ITB Pump Surgery).
8. Almost (almost!) graduating college (One more paper to revise and turn in!).
9. Having major people follow me on Twitter
10. Figuring out that I'm related to Thomas Andrew, Michael Andrews, and Kirk Douglas (By the way, some of 2012 is going to have overlapped into 2013.).
11. Getting a resume written (Well, my friend wrote it for me. I still owe him a handmade tallit, even if I don't ultimately use the resume that he wrote.).
12. Being a formal סטודנטית ללשון העברית—and getting an "A" in הכיתה. (Of course, I don't why I thought "הרבה" was "class" as I was typing this.).
13. Turning 23 on January 23 (Ok, I really turned 23 on January 12, 1990; since that was טבת 26, 5773. יהוה, ברוך הוא, goes by the lunar Hebrew year. In Gregorian terms, I did turn 23 on the 23rd of January.).
14. Getting bullied by and watching vengeance against Krystal Keith and her dad.
15. Beginning to write my family-history memoir.
16. My aunt attempting suicide (I sat שבע for her for an hour days before—that was a big deal, and I didn't know that that's why she moved without telling me.).

By the way, my mom feels that 2014 is going to be my year...we'll see, Mom.

And Liz Was Right....

Pop-Pop was no longer alive within five years. While I can say only "Baruch Dayan Ha'Emet v'Melech Ha'Olam", I will certainly never pretend or believe that Pop-Pop was a great man. Also, the best that one can do for the dead is speak the truth about them. After all, and as my mom recalled to me:

Matthew 8:18-22
The Cost of Discipleship

New King James Version (NKJV)

18 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

I don't know where he is, but I do know that there are fools who are deceived into thinking that Jack Czarnecki was a great man. Even if he turned around at his final moments, that does not make him to have been a great man. I am also quite sure that many of the dead who will be at Pop-Pop's funeral will not want me there, so I would not mind if I am even disinvited.

Apparently, though, Dad wants me and my sister there. I can guarantee you that, nonetheless, his wife and stepdaughters, his nephew Greg, and his cousin Janet—for example—will not want me there. In fact, I'd be honored if they would not want me there. They are my enemies, not my brothers and sisters. While Scripture states that I ought not rebuke fools—for they will hate me more if I do so—and that I ought to love my enemies, it does say:

Matthew 5:22

But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.

It also says to "judge righteously" (Proverbs 31:9)—and without rehashing the discussion, I will remind you that it never says to not judge; it just says not to judge hypocritically. Also, I am angry at Greg and Janet—among others—with cause. Firstly, they are fooled into thinking that the man who committed second-degree murder against his mother with murder-malice intent was a great man. Secondly (as I have discussed before), Janet was absolutely okay with Great-Grandma's vile actions against Vilmosz Rusznak; and as far as I know, even Pop-Pop would not have been that vile—certainly, his parents were not. After all, Great-Granddad Czarnecki's families stopped talking to us when we became Anusim (except for the deed change regarding the farm in the 1960s), and the same certainly would have gone for Great-Grandma Czarnecki's families—in fact, one family member had a daughter by the name of Jutte Jurkovitsova within the Turczocz, Hungary Jewish community; so she wasn't looking to become an Anusit or Messianic Jew anytime soon. So, they were not given the opportunity to help, anyway; and they would have if they could have. Thirdly (and I'm being generous by not bringing up specifics), I know that Greg has some very-Pop-Pop-like sins for which he still needs to repent.

As I stated, with Greg and Janet among many of the dead being at Pop-Pop's funeral and probably not wanting me there, I would not mind if I am even disinvited. After all, I have no time for council among the wicked. "Depart from me, you evildoers, [f]or I will keep the commandments of my God!" (Psalm 119:115)

Whether Jack Czarnecki is merely physically dead or dead altogether, only God (B"D"E) knows—he apparently died peacefully and very quickly, even within five second of being administered morphine and in his sleep. Scripture does say, "When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it. But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it." (Ezekiel 33:18-19) So, he could have been made right with his Maker. In either case, though, "let the dead bury their own dead" and may I be disinvited from the funeral if—God forbid—I would have to have council among them. "I have hated the assembly of evildoers, [a]nd will not sit with the wicked." (Psalm 26:5) After all, Jesus warned, "“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26-27)

Boycott Latvia!

According to PolishForums user kotlomoy, "Meanwhile, Latvian government leads annual Waffen SS parades in Riga. Nobody complains". Just as a Hitler statue at the Warsaw Ghetto is unacceptable, so is any kind of Nazi or Anti-Semitic parade, rally, or event run by any government. I'm complaining about Latvia.If what kotlomoy stated is true (and, given all the Anti-Semitic governments that are out there today with the resurgence of Anti-Semitism in Europe, I see no reason why kotlomoy would lie), we need to boycott Latvia. I'm already working in the United States on Twitter to get Latvia boycotted until the Latvian government will no longer lead any Nazi or other Anti-Semitic parades in Riga or anywhere else in the Diasporan nation of many Jews. Also, the CIA World Factbook notes perhaps up to 64.1% of Latvians scared and hiding themselves for their lives (and who knows how many of the "Russian" Latvians, etc., are really who they say that they are? Remember that my own relatives pretended ethnic Slavship and Magyarship?):

Ethnic groups:
Latvian 59.3%, Russian 27.8%, Belarusian 3.6%, Ukrainian 2.5%, Polish 2.4%, Lithuanian 1.3%, other 3.1% (2009)
Languages:
Latvian (official) 58.2%, Russian 37.5%, Lithuanian and other 4.3% (2000 census)
Religions:
Lutheran 19.6%, Orthodox 15.3%, other Christian 1%, other 0.4%, unspecified 63.7% (2006)

Boycott Latvia, and stand with Latvian Jews! 

Who Exactly Were And Are Mitt Romney's "47%"?

Maybe I'm Trying To Justify Myself Here, But...

So what? For:

1. , Michelle has a boyfriend; I don't have one. So why not buy myself a few items--some of which are free (excepting the worth-it shipping costs) and promoting charity; others of which are both life investments and going 5% toward charity; and two of which are life investments (one for university spirit , and one for religious reasons)?
2. , it's my SSI Money. Besides, given Reason #1, I'm making life investments with them. Also, why can't I have First Amendment Rights (e.g., the kippah and tallit) if people on welfare can be TVs, cars, blingy jewelry, and X-Box sets--among other things?
3. , I just gave Michelle a bit of it to use for her campus card.
4. , I bought a kippah (which I've needed, anyway; since I don't know what Jason would do if he caught me wearing one of the JSU-provided ones, and wearing kippot is a Biblical option for women) and an American-Israeli flag pin (to replace the one that I lost)--and both of which are the 5%-charity items (since JewishSource partnered with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and the haredim considered the IFCJ trief ). I also bought a Messianic tallit--again, a life investment.
5. , I plan on--G-d willing--wearing the kippah and tallit at least at Shabbat at UMBC and wherever else, and New Heritage Church and wherever else--if not daily--for the rest of my life. I also plan on wearing the American-Israeli flag pin daily for the rest of my life.
6. , Look at the picture and its caption below. Right now, I am wearing five of the free charity items that I've worn daily since I got them--and you can't see the American flag pin that I'm wearing (with will become Dubru's when--G-d willing--I get the other pin), but I'm wearing it. One item I sadly lost (the glass keychain--it fell off and broke), and the bracelet that I first got is now a keychain--since I can no longer wear it, since it was falling apart.
7. , speaking of Dubru the University Spirit Teddy Bear, I actually held him during the debate to keep my anxiety--e.g., over my IBS and peeing myself during the long debate--down; and he's currently sitting on my pillow. I--G-d willing--may also pass him down to any children and grandchildren who I have.
8. I considered and searched a long time for a worthy tallit--G-d led me to a Messianic one.

I could go on, but you get the point.

Guatemalan bracelet, "Home Is Where Your Pet Is" bracelet, grass-woven bracelet, "Live, Laugh, Love" ring--which could fit only on middle finger--, American flag pin--all of which come from the GreaterGood Network. On my person, but not shown: the American flag pin and the keychain, which is on my purse on my said person.

I guess that part of the reason that I'm feeling guilt, too, is that I know that Mom could flip--Jewish guilt, although Mom (as far as we know) is a gentile (or mostly gentile, anyway)! Also, Dad did never give me but $40 for the past four or so birthdays--so, consider the kippah, pin, and tallit (since he claims to be a Messianic Jew, and I'm Jewish through him), and Dubru his birthday presents to me (and treats to myself, since--among the other reasons that I gave--I don't have a boyfriend and I'm making life investments, anyway).   

I Couldn't Resist...

I got him at the UMBC Bookstore for the sake of University Spirit, since it is Homecoming Season (I used Campus Cash.) and so that I could have something by which to remember UMBC--and after all the trouble that I put the cashiers through to make sure that I wouldn't get one made in Indonesia as the others are (since he was made in China--the lesser of two evils). His Spanish nickname is "Oside" (for "Osito de la Espiritu Universitario"), his Hebrew nickname "Dubru" ("Dubi-Ru'ach-Ha'Universita").