Remember That Israel Was Also Attacked On 9/11 By Anti-Semitic Anti Americans

1) At least one of the 9/11 victims was Israeli, and others (e.g., the Falkenbergs and Alan David Cohen) were Diasporan Jewish.

2) One of Israel's allies was attacked, and for that very reason—the "9/11 Commission Report" states that OBL ordered Mullah Omar and KSM, whom wanted "to attack Jews, not necessarily the United States", to attack both "Jews and Crusaders".

3) Saudi Arabia, which may have been complicit in 9/11, borders Israel.

4) Mossad and other Jews have been Anti-Semitically blamed for 9/11.

Afghan Buddhas & China, Jerusalem & the SCOTUS, &c.

In the same way that people are outraged over China's handling of Afghanistan's ancient Buddha statues and other Buddhist architecture, people would be more outraged about Jerusalem being stepped on by the SCOTUS and other (unintentional and intentional) Anti Semites if the Government of Israel held to the "Declaration of Establishment".

In other words, the SCOTUS and others, instead of doing what is right, are saying to Netanyahu and Agudat Yisra'el, "Why should we care about Jerusalem when you all are stepping on it, anyway? After all, you arrest an American oleh for eating a ham sandwich!"

By the way, I told you that Netanyahu and Agudat Yisra'el were trying to sell Israel to the "Palestinians"—you don't for example, propose an "establishment of a confederate Israeli-Palestinian state encompassing the territory of Israel, as well as the West Bank and the Gaza Strip" if you do not want a "Palestinian" state.

Stubborn Yemenim, And An Even-Worse Israeli Government

According to Ynetnews:

The Jews living in Yemen - most of whom had the opportunity to leave for Israel or another country, but refused – face an approaching danger from the advancing rebel forces, who have repeatedly made statements against Israel.
"We don't want to leave. If we wanted to, we would have done so a long time ago," Sanaa's chief rabbi Yahya Youssef said in February.

So, many of them are doing what G-d warned against through Yirmiyahu (cf. Yirmiyahu 8:1-7). By the way, for The Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs to focus on those of us who Agudat Yisrael doesn't consider Jewish enough and would still like to go home to Israel would be nice, especially since (as YNet reports), "The Foreign Ministry and the Jewish Agency have been in an ongoing state of frustration over the refusal of Yemen's Jews to leave".

If they can and won't leave Yemen, perhaps they'd like to give the aspiring olim among them and us "not-Jewish[-enough]" Jews their opportunities, since they won't take them. Then again, Netanyahu and his government may not allow that to happen, since that might actually bring in Yehudim and others whom would vote Likud, Agudat Yisra'el, etc.. out of office.

I Wasn't Orchestrating Anything....And I've No Interest In a "Palestinian" State

As I said, I'm a non-leftist no-shame type when I speak about Netanyahu*. Now that Netanyahu admitted that he wanted a two-state solution, who's the Anti-Israel, Anti-American liberal now?

On Monday, Netanyahu, in the face of a seemingly deadlocked race, vowed there would be no Palestinian nation if he were re-elected, a seeming reversal from a 2009 speech he gave in which he backed the idea of a two-state solution. But Netanyahu's Likud Party ultimately triumphed, and on Thursday, Netanyahu seemed to dial back his remarks on the plan, which is a centerpiece of U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Remember that he tried to give 86% of the West Bank away? He unequivocally, by the way, "vowed [that] there would be" "no Palestinian state". So, 86% of the West Bank and no Palestinian State? More like "לא למדינת יהודית ללא משיח" ("No Jewish State Without the Messiah"). It's no secret: the same Agudat Yisra'el that affected ben-Gurion to be the Jewish von Hindenburg** are intent on, along with their "natural partner", destroying the current State of Israel***:

**One of the defining moments of the relationship of religion and state in Israel took place on the eve of the declaration of independence. David Ben-Gurion sent a letter dated June 19, 1947, to the political leaders of the religious parties (Mizrachi and Agudat Yisrael) making certain assurances concerning life in the future state.[19] Ben-Gurion promised that:

• The future government will do all it can to make sure that the religious demands be answered concerning personal status issues, such as marriage, divorce, and conversions. The result of this promise was that the Chief Rabbinate has authority over personal status issues and religious law governs marriage and divorce. This agreement continued the policy established during the Turkish and British era.

• All government-operated kitchens (army, police, hospitals, etc.) will have kosher food.

• The Sabbath will be the official day of rest for Jews.

• There will be autonomy in education and the state will not intervene in religious education but will demand and regulate a minimum curriculum in secular subjects such as science, grammar and history.

The status quo agreement was accepted with the understanding that the assurances given by Ben-Gurion could be altered with the adoption of a constitution, but that constitution never came into being, as described in another chapter in this anthology.[20] With no constitution, the “church”-state divide remained vague and the different political powers, secular and religious, constantly attempted to change the equilibrium.

***The ultra-Orthodox have not accepted the Zionist definition of the Jews as a nation in search of a homeland, and have remained faithful to the ancient definition of Jews as a religious community waiting for a messiah. In May 1912, some 200 Orthodox leaders from Germany and Eastern Europe met in Kattowitz (Katowice) to start Orthodoxy’s first organized response to Zionism, Agudat Israel, which still exists today as an anti-Zionist movement in Israel and as a lobby elsewhere. The ideologue of the movement was Nathan Birnbaum, a brilliant intellectual who collaborated with Theodor Herzl in the early days of political Zionism. He coined the term “Zionism,” and then became convinced that the secular definition of the Jews as a nation was inadequate, that secularization would lead to the disappearance of the Jewish people. Orthodoxy had to take a firm stand against Zionism, in the form of a political organization. Agudat Israel was Diaspora-oriented, and its center between the two World Wars was in Poland, where about one third of the Polish Jews were its supporters. It had elected representatives in the Polish parliament in the 1930s, and its delegates have appeared before international bodies, including the League of Nations and the United Nations.Historically, Agudat Israel has been opposed to the idea of a Jewish state, but the Holocaust deprived the movement of most of its constituency in Eastern Europe, leaving them more of a minority, less anti-Zionist and ready to accept the reality of Zionist success.
Since 1948, the party has been pragmatically involved in state institutions. It supports governing coalitions and is rewarded with ample budgets for its Orthodox schooling system. Agudat Israel accepts the state of Israel de facto, but judges it to be without the religious significance assigned to it by religious Zionists.

* As I said:

"Stand With Israel, Not Netanyahu"

Even I, a staunch Zionist who was already mad enough at Netanyahu and his Haredi Judaism which he attempts to disguise as Yahadut Chilonit, took a few steps back and thought:

If Netanyahu was largely passive while Arab citizens were being assaulted, he led the demonization campaign against the 47,000 African refugees and asylum seekers who entered Israel without permits. Despite reducing the number of refugees entering Israel to practically zero, thanks to the Sinai fence, he continues to lock up thousands of these desperate people – who, like our own Jewish ancestors, sought to escape persecution and poverty. Netanyahu’s policies flout Jewish values, and have been overturned multiple times by the High Court as immoral and unjustified. But they play well to his xenophobic base. 

Good points and reminders. In fact, I wager that some of the Sudanese and other refugees may even be Falasha and Lemba Jews who are making aliyah in what many would call an illegal way—and if any "illegal" olim are among the Sudanese refugees, the Government of Israel has no right to deny those olim ("eleh Kushim!") their taglit. Also, think about this: what if some illegal immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, etc. are Anusim who'd make aliyah if Netanyahu and his yadidim let them? After all, they're not considered Yehudim al pi HaHoq Shivut. They otherwise have to be under the auspices of nasty people such as Dr. Michael Freund. (Just like Netanyahu, Dr. Freund can fool people. That's even part of why I save most of my e-mails in my backup folders—that is, so I do not ever lose the proof of when I run into mitchazim like Dr. Freund. That's why I still have the link to the 2012 conversation.).

 Likud-led fear and hatemongering hardly stops with our non-Jewish minorities. Progressives, civil rights activists, leftists, the judiciary and anyone who criticizes the occupation have all been accused of being enemies of the state. So much for Jewish solidarity or democratic discourse. 

Indeed. I've experienced this myself. I even have a Facebook friend who called Senator Diane Feinstein (with whom I myelf hardly ever agree) a "witch" for standing against Netanyahu, and I've seen others harp on the fact that Senator Feinstein comes from a Jewish Catholic family (which I did not know until they harped on her for it. As I learned, the Feinsteins and the Rosenburgs were and are Russian Byzantine Catholics.).

From a family of Roman Catholic Anusim and b'nei Anusim, I know that feeling ("You're not Jewish!"; "Your family betrayed their people!"; "They're meshumadim!"; "They're bogadim!"; "Oh; no wonder your Hebrew's not good: your family didn't tell you that they're Jewish!")

Perhaps, by the way, maybe the Anusi and "meshumad" minds are among the ones which are quickest to pick up on trouble. Our ancestors knew when trouble was coming and/or already came, and at least two of us (Senator Feinstein and me, though I suspect that there are more who) knew that Netanyahu and the Haredim were trouble (By the way, I'll have some kavod for Taylor Swift if she goes to Israel and dedicates her famous song to Netanyahu.).

Anyway:

This week’s Netanyahu drumbeat claims that the Iranian threat trumps all traditional diplomatic considerations. But those who, like me, believe that Iran is an existential threat to Israel, and fear that the agreement currently being negotiated will be too forgiving and trusting of Iran need to acknowledge that Netanyahu has blown it. 

His anti-Obama tirades, his support for West Bank settlements over all other considerations, his efforts to undermine the Palestinian Authority, his expropriation of 988 acres of Palestinian land at the end of the Gaza War not only wasted the new diplomatic opportunities he promised toward the war’s end, but alienated and antagonized the very European leaders who, along with U.S. President Barack Obama, are the partners necessary to stop Iran’s nuclear program. 

Excellent reminder and point as well. For being such a Zionist, Netanyahu isn't taking the higher road. He also is not trusting יהוה. For example, bulldozing the houses of innocent Bedouins does not help—and deliberately failing to distinguish between the innocent and the guilty is a chillul יהוה.

Bulldozing the houses of terrorists and their accomplices is fine. Destroying terrorists and their accomplices is fine. Stereotyping all Arabs as terrorists and bulldozing their houses is not fine.

As for (and back to the point about) taking the higher road, to stoop down to the level of an enemy or even lower is a chillul יהוה (cf. Tehillim 25:21-22 and Mishlei 26:4). The applicable mitzvot, after all, say to love your neighbor as yourself (not be like him or her in doing evil), treat the stranger well (not do as he or she has done to you), and let יהוה avenge you. Netanyahu is doing the exact opposite when he has the IDF go beyond proactive counterproliferation, preemption, and deterrence.

By the way, counterproliferation, preemption, and deterrence are obviously mitzvot and acts of kiddush יהוה.

Netanyahu plays the statesman abroad, but back home he is known for his paranoia, his self-aggrandizement, and his lashing out against the courts, the universities and the media. Netanyahu aspires to be Israel’s Churchill, but in nurturing a nation divided against itself he has become our Nixon. 

I and others who follow news from and about 'Eretz Yisra'el keep trying to say that, though nobody believes us. Hopefully, Director Futterman (despite that he's looking at the situation from a leftist perspective) can affect you to get that through your head.

I'm Not the Only One Kvetching About Netanyahu

As if PM Netanyahu's rebuttal to MK Livni did not already reek of dictatorial language:

"Prime Minister Netanyahu is the only leader in the world openly leading the struggle against the signing of a dangerous deal that will turn Iran into a nuclear-threshold state. Tzipi Livni is mistaken and misleading Israel’s citizens. Instead of supporting the prime minister in the big process of stopping a nuclear Iran, Tzipi is busy with personal insults and small politics. In complete contrast to what she says, the legislative initiative to apply additional sanctions on Iran has not been abandoned. Ten Democrat senators announced today that they will support passing more sanctions if Iran does not abide by the required clauses for a general agreement.”

No wonder, then, that I called PM Netanyahu "Manhig Yakar"! I and others saw trouble a long time ago. Why didn't more people see trouble? For example, giving 86% of the West Bank away should've been a huge sign that Netanyahu is a haredi posing as a chiloni! He "has [even] expressed support in principle for a Palestinian state"! 

Isn't that a clue that he, like many other Haredim, believe that the current Medinat Yisra'el is a treif medina?! Also, Agudat Yisra'el, the party in control, opposes Medinat Yisra'el! 

Next, in 1905, came Reb Judah Aryeh Leib Alter's eldest son, Abraham Mordecai Alter (1866-1948), who was perhaps the most influential of all Gerer tsadikim. He was nicknamed "Imrei Emet" (Speaker of Truth). Under his leadership the Gerer court reached its height of influence, gaining a reputation of excellence throughout the Hasidic world. Imrei Emet was also among the founders ofAgudat Israel , a conservative anti-Zionist religious political party that stepped into the difficult and diverse political world of the 20th century, articulating their view of what the essentials needs were for Jewish survival in Poland.

Ding! Ding! Is a bell ringing now?! David ben-Gurion let himself be a self-hating pawn! If there is any conspiracy going on, the conspiracy is on the part of self-hating/Anti-Semitic Haredim to dismantle Medinat Yisra'el until whom they believe to be Moshiach would come!

They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be, until the day that I remember them, saith the Lord.¹  And R. Zera?²  — That text¹ refers³  to the vessels of ministry.⁴  And Rab Judah? — Another text also is available:³  I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, and by the hinds of the field, [that ye awaken not, nor stir up love,⁵  until it please]'.⁶  And R. Zera? — That⁷  implies that Israel shall not go up [all together as if surrounded] by a wall.⁸  And Rab Judah? — Another 'I adjure you'⁹  is written in Scripture. And R. Zera? — That text is required for [an exposition] like that of R. Jose son of R. Hanina who said: 'What was the purpose of those three adjurations?¹⁰  — One, that Israel shall not go up [all together as if surrounded] by a wall;⁸  the second, that whereby the Holy One, blessed be He, adjured Israel that they shall not rebel against the nations of the world; and the third is that whereby the Holy One, blessed be He, adjured the idolaters that they shall not oppress Israel too much'. And Rab Judah? — It is written in Scripture, That ye awaken not, nor stir up.¹¹  And R. Zera? — That text is required for [an exposition] like that of R. Levi who stated: 'What was the purpose of those six adjurations?¹²  — Three for the purposes just mentioned and the others, that [the prophets] shall not make known the end,¹³  that [the people] shall not¹⁴ delay¹⁵  the end,¹³  and that they shall not reveal the secret¹⁶  to the idolaters'.

By the gazelles, and by the hinds of the field.¹⁷  R. Eleazar explained: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, 'If you will keep the adjuration, well and good; but if not, I will permit your flesh [to be a prey] like [that of] the gazelles and the hinds of the field'.

As for Netanyahu, Artuz Eser surmises:

[W]ith the current poll findings[,] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could form a 68 member governing coalition by joining forces with Jewish Home, Shas, United Torah Judaism, Kahlon, Yishai and Yisrael Beytenu. Opposition leader Isaac Herzog would be harder pressed to form a government, having to rope in both the ultra-Orthodox and Yesh Atid to form a fragile ruling coalition of 61 seats.

This is why Amir Hetsroni wrote:

What does Israel have to offer? It is easier to find kosher meat here and there is more variety of synagogues. To young people, Israel also offers the dubious pleasure of devoting two or three years of your life to the army.

Sounds tempting? Perhaps to Netanyahu and Benett, but not in the eyes of hundreds of thousands of Israelis who desperately search their family vaults for a proof that would grant them EU passport and not long ago took part in the popular Olim LeBerlin (“ascending to Berlin”) protest that expressed a wish to immigrate to Europe. Perhaps, Israel is a case wherein what looks nice from a distance is less attractive when you take a close-up shot.

By the way, that the Haredim are drying up Israel's economy may explain the low wages, etc..

Depression, Dying In the Diaspora, and Likely Being An Alteh Moid (And Other Matters)

First with the schtick about dying in the Diaspora: well, an ex friend just died at 4:00 AM today. As I told my sister, "I keep telling you about dying in the Diaspora; you won't believe me" or something like that. To watch Yirimiyahu 8:1-7 continuously come true disturbs me. The ex friend was only in his 20s and had cancer, by the way.

Also, what about the four men murdered in Friday's terror attacks as well as Georges Wolinski murdered on Wednesday? Surely, some have to be looking at this and saying, "It is true: 'And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith יהוה צבאות.' Indeed, 'the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but My people know not the ordinance of יהוה.'

"'And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples whither יהוה shall lead thee away.'" That's not supposed to exacerbate the MDD with which I suffer?!

Also, I can't get out of the Diaspora myself. Why? Besides what I wrote yesterday (See "To watch...true" above.), that I'm not married is a factor (and a painful one!)! Did that get into a debate as well, by the way!

Given the following, I may pretty much be doomed either way:

1. Each but for two of my maternal grandparents' post-natal children (including my late aunt Mary Carole) have been divorced and remarried at least once.
2. All of my paternal grandparents' post natal children have each been divorced once.
3. My parents are divorced (no duh!).
4. I have C.P., OCD/ADD, MDD, ADD, and IBS.
5. I'm 24 years old and going on to be 25 years old.

There are other factors as well. Being an undesirable, a divorce statistic, and still single at 24 years old, I'm likely to die an alteh moid. Comforting? No! Exacerbating my MDD? Yes! Having nobody to at least get me out of the Diaspora? Even more exacerbating my MDD!

PS As I was trying to write this whole blog entry, I had to stop for multiple long periods because I couldn't get a moment of quiet. Also, I was pretty much, e.g., shot down on explaining why Francois Hollande called Netanyahu's bluff. To live in a house in which I can't share much without being interrupted, shot down, etc. is all the rougher.

The Worst Of the Tragedies At Charlie Hebdo

Read the articles and do more research, and the worst of the tragedies at "Charlie Hebdo" will become very clear to you: a Holocaust survivor was the direct target of those who murdered 12, injured 11, and affected many others at "Charlie Hebdo". A survivor of the Nazi invasions into French Tunisia, Georges Wolinski (ז''ל והי''ד) moved to mainland France only to live into his 70s and avoid the fate that he could've had in what became a part of Vichy France. He was also the son of a Volyn'ska-rooted Yehudi Ashkenazi  and a Tunis-rooted Yehudit Mizrachit.

Wasn't that his paternal family endured horrors, including pogroms, at the hands of Imperial and Soviet Russia enough? Wasn't that has maternal family endured centuries of Anti-Semitic Arabocentrism enough (and he was a teen during the aliyot from Arab countries in 1948!)? Now he, also a son of survivors of Anti Semitism, became the victim of the Anti Semitism that he and his family were able to elude when Germany and the "Grand" Mufti (more like a "Satan Gadol") invaded one of the countries in which his maternal family had endured enough Anti Semitism, and to which his paternal family fled to escape Anti Semitism.

That, either an irony or a paradox created by G-d, is the worst tragedy at "Charlie Hebdo".

PS Vive le peuple de Yisra'el!

Public OpinionPoll Results

Is "The Jerusalem Post" Ignoring History?

They apparently are. Then again, they may just be cutting it short. Still, isn't cutting off a part of history essentially ignoring it (at best)? (At worst, cutting off any part of history is either denial of it or even unspoken support of what happened at a point in it.).
Jeremy Sharon, the Post reporter who wrote the history in question, reported:

One of the most striking aspects of the 33rd Government of Israel was the absence of the two haredi parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, from the coalition.
Since 1981, at least one of the haredi parties has been a coalition partner in 11 out of the 15 governments since that time.

Is he kidding?  Even though Shas was absent (or Rabbi Ovadia Yosef had been deceased since October 7th of last year, which Sharon himself reported) and United Torah Judaism was absent, that doesn't make "the absence of the two haredi parties" (or any other Haredi party) a fact! On the contrary, the Haredim have always been in the government since then-PM David ben Gurion gave Agudat Yisra'el power.
All one constituency needs is an umbrella or big-tent party to be in its government, and that constituency is there for as long as the party is there. In this case, Agudat Yisra'el has been in HaMemshalah Yisra'el since before the "Declaration of Establishment" was written.
Therefore, for Jeremy Sharon and The Jerusalem Post to claim that the Haredim were missing from even one of the Israeli regimes, let alone four, is dishonest and (at best) sloppy or even (at worst) yellow journalism.
How would it be yellow journalism? For starters, yellow journalism itself

was a style of newspaper reporting that emphasized sensationalism over facts. During its heyday in the late 19th century it was one of many factors that helped push the United States and Spain into war in Cuba and the Philippines, leading to the acquisition of overseas territory by the United States.

Therefore, to claim a Haredi absence is yellow journalism in its own sense. To state that "the two haredi parties" were absent is sensationalistically acting like the Haredim were entirely absent, after all.
Besides, Jeremy Sharon also noted that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef had appointed an heir∗:

Roi Lachmanovitz, a former Shas spokesman, said that the designation of Moshe as inheritor, in particular of the rabbi’s library and publishing rights, gives him increased influence within the Shas party and the Yosef family.
Lachmanovitz noted that it had been Yosef’s other sons who had been chosen for public roles. Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef was nominated by Yosef himself, before he died, to be the new Sephardi chief rabbi, and Rabbi David Yosef was appointed to the Shas Council of Torah Sages after the rabbi passed away.
“Moshe and his wife are returning to the center stage, because whoever has control of the books and library... can direct the [haredi] public, can tell the public what the rabbi meant. They will have increased status because of this,” he said.

In conclusion, Jeremy Sharon cut off 34-67 years of history (34 years counting from 1947-1981; 67 counting from June 1947-2014) and submitted a yellow-journalism article for The Jerusalem Post to print and publish (and apparently fell for his own revisionism).

Update (10:54:45 PM EST on December 8, 2014): Now here comes the "Told ya."

147 Years Ago Yesterday, And The Disastrous Effects Which It Affected

On November 2, 1877, a newborn boy named András Rusznák was baptized. András was apparently just another Slovakian boy being baptized in Zlatá Idka, Slovakia (then Aranyida, Ausztria Magyarország) on, of all days, All Souls' Day. So, he allegedly was a newborn boy of Slovakian ethnicity being baptized on a special day. What's the big deal, then?

The big deal is this boy was neither a Slovakian ethnic or a real recipient of the Sacrament of Baptism. Speaking of souls as well, his parents' souls were not even into baptizing him at all. Furthermore, they themselves were נשמות אנוסים—forced souls. They weren't even there in Aranyida to be there.

They were there because they, Jakub and Marysia "Maria" Nováková, were בני אנוסים who just didn't feel comfortable returning to the shtetl of Kassa (now Košice) in nominally-religious-freedom-supporting Ausztria Magyarország (In fact, a Levite like Jakub—a kohen by the name of Fritz—would become an אנוסים in the next century. So, supposedly-tolerant Ausztria Magyarország wasn't so tolerant after all, and apparently became worse by the time that Fritz Kohn "Kerry" was persecuted.). 

András Rusznák himself, however, did leave Aranyida, though he also didn't return to his ancestral shtetl. He, with a Molnár cousin, immigrated to the United States and lived no differently than Jakub (the son of אנוסים György "Kvetkovits" Rusznák HaLevi and Erzsébet Rusznáková née Molnárová) had lived in Ausztria Magyarország—that is, he lived as an אנוסי. After he did that, disaster struck.

András came to the United States in 1902 and never thought that he would receive a letter from his Kassa-residing cousins, let alone one in which a request for help was written. 40-42 years later, however, that kind of letter was received by him and his daughter Mary Rusnak Gaydos. Thus, the boundary that was erected by the Kassa relatives' sitting שבעה was broken—or so the Kassa cousins hoped. 

Besides, they weren't sending a letter of reconciliation. They were sending a letter for העזרה לענין פיקוח נפש—help for the sake of piku'ach nefesh. They weren't looking after just themselves, either—they had families for whom to care and cousins who also had families, and family members in הארץ ישראל (which the Nazis and the Grand Mufti [ימח שמם] were targeting in their Middle Eastern invasion). 

As I alluded to, disaster then struck. András Rusznák (now Andrew Rusnak) and Mary Rusnak Gaydos, in order to cover that they were Jewish and follow the isolationist policy of the United States under Anti-Semitic Franklin Roosevelt (ימח שמם)—ceased all correspondence with their Kassa cousins, most of whom were murdered in השואה (Andrew's and Mary's kind of attitude, by the way, also had affects on the S.S. St. Louis Incident.),

Then Andrew, now the widower of  Julia Fosko Rusnak (née Juliana Foczková, ז'ל) was stricken with cancer and died of it. By the way, Julia (an אישה צדיקה and a לוית צדיקה) was taken before she had to see all that would befall her husband and her oldest child. After that, Andrew and whoever wrote his obituary (presumably Mary) decided to invent a fictional brother for Andrew (Stef) and lie to Andrew's son Carl (an איש צדיק) , who was charged with filling out with his father's death certificate.

As for the disasters that befell Mary—well, I can safely say that, for example, having a granddaughter who attempted suicide and living to attend the funeral of her great-grandson who drowned count as two disasters (She died in 1992, just after the deceased great-grandson's sister was born, by the way. The decedent drowned in 1991. So, she was alive when a descendant died and didn't live to see another descendant grow before her eyes.). 

By the way, all I received were evasive answers when I asked further questions about the supposed uncle of Mary, who allegedly wrote a letter to her in 1947. Also, there is no baptism record for him. So (so to speak), another hole was shot into that "Relatives wrote letters to ask for money, and she stopped writing" סיפור פיות. 

So, what's the point? The point is the point that I made on Twitter, and this account is a case in point:

[F]orcing someone against his or her will always ends in disastrous results somewhere along the line.

     

Sterling or Kerry: Whose Comments Are Worse For the U.S.?

This answer was originally for Sodahead, and quickly evolved into a blog entry:

Sadly, a Jewish guy making racist comments about Blacks is nothing new. Unfortunately, there is a whole lot of Jewish-Black animosity; and that stretches back to Biblical times (cf. Song 1:5-6, Jeremiah 13:23, Amos 9:7-9, Numbers 12. For Talmudic references, see Sanhedrin 108b, for example. I guessed that a reference would be there; but when I saw it...just wow!

(Incidentally, it gives me an idea of why my Crypto-Jewish granddad, who was born in Sugar Notch and had parents from areas where Blacks hardly resided [i.e., Lipsk, Poland and Hanover Township, PA], had negative attitudes about people whom he had hardly ever seen when he was growing up. In other words, he had a pretty-nasty pre-conceived idea about Blacks; and let me tell you, his paternal grandma came from an Orthodox—if not Haredi—Litvak family; so, the Talmud and Talmudic ideas were nothing new to him. His paternal granddad was a farmer, but he still could've studied the Talmud. Both were extremely literate, however, and certainly passed on Talmudic ideas to their son and grandson.

(I have no clue about his maternal grandparents; but I will say that his mother, who I knew briefly, did not have a racist bone in her body.).

Kerry's comments, on the other hand, bring Genesis 12:1-3 and other p'sukim into play. Let's just say that a self-hating kohein endangers everybody—himself, klal Yisra'el, and everyone over whom he has authority (and let me tell you, a Secretary of State carries some degree of authority to some extent).

I Was Reading (or Rereading) About Jews In Slovakia Tonight, And...

I got a better understanding of why my branch of the Foczkos fled from Russia to Upper Hungary (Slovakia)—I had pretty much figured that being Anusim in Slovakia felt better for them than being openly Jewish in even Poland (which, keep in mind, was under Russian control), and the (re)reading confirmed and solidified my figuring. Yes, we have Eastern European Y-DNA and atDNA; but that happens when men, for example (and as in our case), marry Leviyot (Levitesses) and are counted as Levites (as Yefuneh Hakenizi was counted as a Yehudi [Judahite] when he married Kalev's mother. After all, Tanakh talks about Kalev as a Yehudi. This doesn't mean that Yefuneh's ethnicity changed, by the way. He was a ger, after all; but his son was a Matrilineal Jew.).

Also consider Ruth: she remained a gentile, but Na'omi's people became her people.

Anyway, that's enough of that for right now. L'laila v'Shabbat Tov.

"Norway", Please Do Me A Favor...

Get out of there while you can. You don't want to be like our cousins in Odesa or Kiev (if any are still in Kiev), us in the U.S., or elsewhere but home. Go home, please, and choose life over death. Listen to Yirimiyahu. He may have even been one of ours (We did have a cousin named "Kasis" after all, and "Kasis" may come from "Qissis" or "priest".)!

Whether or not we're kohanim, go home, motek! Go home, mishpacha sheli! Go if and while you can!

Norway arrived from google.com on "The Nicole Factor: blogger".

16:44:07 -- 5 hours 47 mins ago

    

Oswego, Illinois arrived from google.com on "The Nicole Factor".

16:30:00 -- 6 hours 1 min ago

    

Norway left via en.wikipedia.org from "The Nicole Factor: Pending "Andrulewicz Family" Wikipedia Article"

14:45:09 -- 7 hours 46 mins ago

    

Norway left via en.wikipedia.org from "The Nicole Factor: Pending "Andrulewicz Family" Wikipedia Article"

14:44:57 -- 7 hours 46 mins ago

    

Norway arrived from google.com on "The Nicole Factor: Pending "Andrulewicz Family" Wikipedia Article".

14:42:58 -- 7 hours 48 mins ago

    

Norway arrived from google.com on "The Nicole Factor: Pending "Andrulewicz Family" Wikipedia Article".

14:01:54 -- 8 hours 29 mins ago

אני עושה עליה, בעזרת יהוה....

It means, "I do aliyah, Yehovah willing!" To make a long story short, I have been going through a difficult time right now and was having temptations of self harm again. Yehovah (ברוך הוא.) must've heard my cries. I didn't solicit the opportunity to make aliyah, although I've desired to do so if Yehovah ever wills that I should do. But, lo and behold, someone (I won't say who for right now.) asked me if I'm Israeli, etc. and wanted to make aliyah. So, again, Yehovah must've heard my cries.

I told my contact frankly that:

1. I'm a Patrilineal Jew.
2. I'm a Messianic Jew.
3. The חרדים (the so-called "יהודים אורתודוקסים" and "חסידים") would want to rid of me quickly.

He or she understands my concerns; and believe me when I say that I am not considering (let alone jumping at) this opportunity lightly, and:

1. I'm not content with being one who is "“settled” in New York and New Jersey."
2. I take ספר ירמיהו וכל תנ''ך seriously. That includes פרקים ירמיהו 8 ו 16.
3. Since Jews who "saw themselves as “settled” in New York and New Jersey" have chosen death rather than life (See פרק ירמיהו 8.) and those of us who live (Jewish and gentile) are all headed to Israel at some point, anyway (See פרק ירמיהו 16.), I might as well go as early as possible and while I can choose life rather than death.
4. I've already had discouragement. When I told two family members that I have a contact who offered to help me, one disbelieved me and said that I'd end up right in the sex trade if I trusted my contact.

So, I'll be doing תפילות, צומות, ותעניות, and asking others to do the same with and for me.  I'll also be retaking up רוזטה סטון בעברית (Using גוגל and קונקורדנציה סטרונג does not suffice.). I'll also be looking at הספרים ומילון מ'כיתה העברית שלי.

Besides, I need a תחלה חדשה, and this might be it.

Autoenhanced of Borlumiere's "HaTikvah" Extended

Seriously the most-powerful version that I have ever heard. All I did was extend and autoenhance it. If only a live orchestra played it!

Open Letter To Caroline Glick (For Transparency's Sake And In Case She Decides To Delete It)

Ms. Glick:

I find your article “American Jewry’s Fight” extremely offensive and nothing more than lashon hara. Messianic Jews like me (in my case, whose family members were Anusim—and many still are such) love and support Israel and find a Jewish man to be the Jewish Messiah, and want to share a Jewish message with Jewish people. In fact, many of my family remain Anusim because of fellow Jews like you—they are ashamed to be associated and/or affiliated with anyone who would reject them and/or others based on that they’re seen as “anti-Zionist Jews” who “engage in activities aimed at harming, defaming, weakening and delegitimizing the Jewish state.”

You also opine, “Everyone understands that while Jews have a perfect right to change their religion, they have no right to force the Jewish community to accept Christians as Jews. That is, they have no right to change the definition of Judaism to include people who worship Jesus.” Either I and other Messianic Jews are nobodies (and this is including many of my family—including quite a few Anusim, who would openly and proudly be Jewish were they not in dread of the likes of you) or you have shown your true—self-hating, intolerant, and hypocritical—colors. Clearly, you sides with the left when for you to do so is for your traditionally-religious convenience.

You also perhaps understand why some Messianic Jews may want nothing to do with Israel—your ilk, after all, is running Medinat Yisra’el and excluding pro-Israel (even if misguided and pro-“Palestinian”) Reconstructionist, Conservative, and even other Jews—such as fellow Orthodox Jews of yours—who don’t toe your line. You also nastily write on your website, “Obviously, the answer is no value. To do something you feel is intrinsically meaningless just because your forefathers did the same meaningless thing is a waste of time. If Judaism has nothing to offer beyond lox and Seinfeld, then there is no reason to remain Jewish.”

Then you lament, “Outside of the Orthodox Jewish community, intermarriage rates have reached 71 percent. Thirty-two percent of Jews born since 1980 and 22% of Jews overall do not describe themselves as Jews by religion. They base their Jewish identity on ancestry, ethnicity or culture.” Your kind of attitude will only affect the intermarriage and secularization rates to increase, and for fellow Jews of all denominations—including Messianic Judaism—to increasingly disassociate themselves from Medinat Yisra’el. Your kind of attitude will also only affect Jews like many in my family to be ashamed of and hide that they’re Jewish.

PS I hope that you’re not proud of yourself, because I’m surely not—in fact, I ashamed that people like you are a part of my people.

Nicole Czarnecki

I've Just Been Busy...

For example, I got an over-15-page paper done yesterday. I also have to finish the first part of my second research paper over the next two days. After that, I have a Hebrew oral exam for which to study. I also have a yahrzeit to observe (To observe it is not exactly conducive while Mom is playing Christmas music.).

The yahrzeit is for Great-Granddad Czarnecki. On this day, Kislev 27, he committed suicide. He was a troubled man, and hurt others; and he was definitely a candle in the wind—lights can be threatened with extinguishment, and spark up and burn others to try to stay burning.

He also came from a troubled family for sure. For example, Michael Andrews—handsome and talented, but clearly into an inappropriate lifestyle. As for Thomas Andrew, he died from a "long illness"—I suspect AIDS—and he had that awful Washleski cousin who—and it just hit me—used "Tufty" to promote Jack Washleski (and yes, I changed that Wikipedia entry. Get over yourself, Mr. Washleski. Your Jack Washleski could've had his own page if you wanted to talk about your cousin. And if what you say is true, that your uncle loved his wife's nephew more than his own children is just sad—and it maybe explains your cousin Thomas, but how you forget him! And how you deleted the information about William, which I had to add back into the entry! Was William's service nothing to you?).

The Andrulewiczes by themselves were clearly troubled, and this to say nothing of the Danilowiczes (Kirk, Michael, and Mia, anybody?) and the Czerneckis.

By the way, Pop-Pop, you are an Andrulewicz. You are your dad's son. Your brother, with all due respect, is wrong when he says that you look more like a Trudnak—you look like both of your parents—you are almost a spitting image of your cousin Thomas, and don't you forget it.

"If we have Jewish blood..."—well, I do know about it, and I'm proud of it. That you aren't is a shame. That your dad committed suicide in of itself is a shame without adding that he committed suicide during HaHag Hanukkah.

And that I couldn't know how God blessed the nations even through our troubled family is a shame. 

Toby Keith Is Probably Jewish? Also, Steve Azar Is Persian...

This was also noted on Wikipedia. As for Toby Keith, there's a possibility that he might be Mr. Self Hating (who's talking now, "Big Dog Daddy"?!). If he is Jewish, he had better watch out and reconsider his career choice—after all, God doesn't like those who won't take a moment to pause and remember His (if not also their own) people on יום השואה. For the schmuck to accept an award from a group which refused to remember Holocaust victims and survivors speaks volumes about him in any case, nonetheless.

Here's what Wikipedia (of all sources and in case you didn't click on "there's...Hating") notes:

His family name, "Covel", is a British "variant spelling of Covell"^[52] and means "habitual wearer of a cloak or perhaps a metonymic occupational name for a cloak maker."^[53]. If, however, the name was originally "Kovel", it is an Americanized spelling of a "Germanized spelling of Slavic Koval."^[54] If this is the case, then "Covel" was originally "Ukrainian, Belorussian, Czech dialect, and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic), [and was an] occupational name for a blacksmith, from the vocabulary word koval." ^[55].

Whether Keith is perhaps even Jewish is unclear. However, his family tree does not go beyond 1849 on WARGS.com ^[56] or the 1700s on Ancestry.com^[57], and Tracey R. Rich of JewFAQ notes that a Jew or a gentile of Jewish descent is "not likely to simply log onto Ancestry (or even JewishGen) and find a comprehensive tree listing [his or her] family back 300 years, as some gentiles do."^[58] If Toby Keith is Jewish, he would be the second widely-known country singer of Jewish descent (The first would be Kinky Friedman.).

Now songs like "Drinks After Work" really don't look כשר, do they, Mr. Schicker? By the way, forgive that I'm a little upset that two fellow possible Jews:

1. Had no problem going into a possibly-Anti-Semitic industry (Google "Jewish country singers", and you'll find that there are few Jewish country singers—plus, the related search "Jewish country music" shows a lot of discouragement and hesitancy on the part of Jews to be involved in country music in the first place, let alone identify as Jews when they are. PS ברוך יהוה that He rescued me from wanting to be a country singer, even before I even suspected that I am Jewish—now I know at least part of why He waited for me to find out that I am Jewish: he wanted me to jump off of the sinking country-music-industry ship first.).
2. Have treated me like crap for commenting that one of them was riding on her dad's coattails—and if they are Jewish, they'd better feel guilt about treating a fellow Jew like crap.
3. Have treated others besides me like crap—especially if they are Jewish, since they should've been treating their neighbor (including the stranger) with אהבה in the first place.

By the way, I found out that I'm Jewish when I was a kid (before I was 20 years of age—and keep in mind that the age of accountability varies from 12-20 years of age in most cases [See the endnote when you click on this entry.]), and Toby and Krystal have had had more time, resources, and knowledge to figure out if they are—and keep that in mind if that they are Jewish happens to be the case, and think about what that says about them! Also, if that they are Jewish and even knew that they are turns out to be the case, then think about what that really says about them—and a lot of other Jews (especially current and former Jewish country-music fans) would rightly be angry at them, especially since we've had few to no people (Jewish and gentile alike) blessing Israel within the country music industry.

I Know What Anti Messianics and Self-Hating Jews Want--And It's Not Pretty!

Here's an example from "Slippery Sack"--who, if he is even a real Jew himself, surely doesn't act like one, anyway (Having treif pictures on your YouTube channel does not indicate taking your Jewishness seriously, for example.):

•  
  Slippery Sack 1 hour ago

  Nicole, You may not be Jewish at all, your family tree seems unconvincing, I am a real Jew, for example my family tree can be traced back to Abraham in an unbroken chain. Nicole it's OK if you are a Goyim. You seem to be trying to hard to be Jewish and quite frankly I'm not convinced.

   · 
•  
  Nicole Czarnecki 24 minutes ago

  Not every Jew--especially many bnei-Anusim--have the luxury that you have. In fact, out of all people, Tracey R. Rich states that "So we see that Jewish genealogy is not as impossible as we might think. But it's not easy either. You are not likely to simply log onto Ancestry (or even JewishGen) and find a comprehensive tree listing your family back 300 years, as some gentiles do." She'd love for bnei-Anusim and Messianics like me to not identify as Jews.

   ·  in reply to Slippery Sack (Show the comment)
•  
  Nicole Czarnecki 18 minutes ago

  Also, see "Claim: All Jewish genealogical records lost in 70CE". And we know that after the Galut b'Bavel ended, some could not trace their genealogy. "These sought their register, that is, the genealogy, but it was not found; therefore were they deemed polluted and put from the priesthood. 63 And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim." (Ezra 2:62-63, cf. Nehemiah 7:64-65).

   ·  in reply to Slippery Sack (Show the comment)
•  
  Nicole Czarnecki 13 minutes ago

  Also, not every genealogy of everyone is listed in Tanakh or Brit Chadashah. Therefore, your logic would assume that they didn't even exist, let alone be Jewish if they were Jews. Besides, many Messianic Jews took "But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies..." (Titus 3:9) out of context. After all, Yeshua had His genealogy recorded. Paul noted being a Binyamini. The context is in line with "For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?" (1 Corinthians 3:4)

   ·  in reply to Slippery Sack (Show the comment)
•  
  Nicole Czarnecki 6 minutes ago

  As John Gill commented, "and genealogies; of their elders, Rabbins, and doctors, by whom their traditions are handed down from one to another, in fixing which they greatly laboured; see ( 1 Timothy 1:4 )". Do we not see that now? e.g., "I am of Calvin--that is, a Calvinist." "I am a Lutheran." But what does Scripture say? "Be... of one mind...." (See 2 Corinthians 13:11) G-d doesn't contradict or change. Messianics, too, will have to consult our genealogies when the Beit HaMikdash is rebuilt.

   ·  in reply to Slippery Sack (Show the comment)

I even emphasized what Anti Messianics and Self-Hating Jews want, in case you did not feel like reading carefully and thinking for yourself.