I Agree With the Following Re Eric Yoffe's Op Ed

Eric Yoffe's disingenous & hypocritical Op Ed was well responded to:

"Michael Doyle said:

I couldn't be more embarrassed to be a Reform Jew right now. This op-ed manages to insult all parties and invite Israel to feel free to continue to act unilaterally. If Rabbi Yoffie was trying to alienate non-AIPAC supporting Reform Jews, this piece does a really good job of it.

I have a better question for Rabbi Yoffie--where is the evidence that Israel wants peace? In the outrageously still-growing settlements? In the Netanyahu government's repeated pandering to the virulently xenophobic (including to other Jews!) ultra-Orthodox community? In the inability of low-wage Arab workers to reach jobs on the other side of security walls at any moment Israel deems they shouldn't be allowed to cross?

If this piece were a little less angry and a little less pandering, there might have been a little more substance to it. And grace and compassion, for that matter."

Michael Doyle hit it. For example:

 
• "To the leaders of the Palestinian Authority: Stop deluding yourselves! You will not be taken seriously as proponents of a two-state solution if you fail to support the underlying principles that make such a solution possible. A two-state solution means that there is no "right of return" to Israel, and that once a treaty is signed, the conflict is over. Really over. If you cannot say this now, and if you talk about Palestine being occupied since 1948, you are not serious about two states--or about peace."

Many Pleshetim are Pro Israel and learned from what happened to Goly'at.

• "To the leaders of the Israeli left: Stop deluding yourselves! You say that the Palestinians want peace, and Israelis would like to believe that, but where, for heaven's sake, is the evidence? Hints, and feints, and winks are not enough. Abbas at the UN should have said: "I welcome the Jewish state as my neighbor, and I welcome the Jews home;" but he had his chance, and he blew it. Please, no more making excuses for him."

Reverend Yoffe stereotypes Pleshetim again. And he gets angry at many of the haredim? Excuse me, but he is sounding haredi.

• "To the leaders of the settlement movement: Stop deluding yourselves! No one believes you when you claim that the thugs who burn mosques, uproot olive trees on Arab land, spout anti-Muslim slogans, and deface army bases exist only on the margins of your community. This violence has been going on for years, feeding on extremist views of Jewish law put forward by too many of your rabbinic leaders. And everyone knows that you could do far more about this hooliganism than you are now doing if you really wanted to."

Yoffe stereotypes Pleshetim again and fellow Jews this time as well. Many Pleshetim want Pleshet shel Goly'at b'Yehudah back and recognize that Noah David Simon and David Appletree, Yad L'Achim, and the Jewish Defense League don't represent all Jews who'd like the West Bank and kol Yerushalayim back.

Besides looking at a historical map for once and taking the inerrancy of Tanakh seriously, Reverend Yoffe and most of the URJ (who couldn't love and agree with Reverend Yoffe any more) need to get a clue.

Who Was Great-Granddad Czarnecki Really? Besides a Jew, We Won't Know Now...

"843-86/11
Szanowny Panie, informujemy, ze Archiuwm w Suwałkach nie posiada akt okregu mojzeszowego w Lipsku. Akta metrykalne z powiatu Augustow ulegly zniszczeniu w czasie II wojny swiatowej.
Zoja Luksza"


"843-86/11

Dear Sir, We inform you the Archive in Suwalki the county does not have files of Jewish people in Lipsk. Records of birth certificates from the county Augustow were destroyed during World War II.
Zoya Luksza"

 

It means that whoever "Antoni Jan Julianowicz" Chernetski and his parents, "Julian Jan 'Feliks'" and "Aleksjondria Alicja" nee Andrulewicza Chernetski, were is gone from human knowledge. And "Antoni" and "Katarzyna" Chernetski, Danilowicza, Andrulewicz, and Morgiewicza ("Margiewicza")? Absolutely gone. 

While their being meshumadim and koferim (since they were Crypto-Jewish Roman Catholics) saved their lives and enabled them to live as Anusim in Sugar Notch, they destroyed much of their mishpacha for the knowledge of which they deliberately left them in lack. And while even many of their children became Meshichim (Alexandria Alice, Stanley-- which grandchildren Mark and Renee can confirm, since Mark even prayed with his "Pop-Pop"--, Edward, Bernie, and Cecelia. And as for Regina, I can't confirm since she died when she was 16; and Great-Granddad and his brothers John and Jospeh did not), they left both their Meshichim v'Lo Meshichim Zerim without a full and solid knowledge of their history and heritage vin Yisra'el v'b'Yeshua.

And the Problem With Being Spiritual Is? Tracey R. Rich Is A Classical P'rushit Chauvinist...

"Women are discouraged from pursuing higher education or religious pursuits, but this seems to be primarily because women who engage in such pursuits might neglect their primary duties as wives and mothers. The rabbis are not concerned that women are not spiritual enough; rather, they are concerned that women might become too spiritually devoted....

"There is no question that in traditional Judaism, the primary role of a woman is as wife and mother, keeper of the household. However, Judaism has great respect for the importance of that role and the spiritual influence that the woman has over her family. The Talmud says that when a pious man marries a wicked woman, the man becomes wicked, but when a wicked man marries a pious woman, the man becomes pious. The child of a Jewish woman and a gentile man is Jewish because of the mother's spiritual influence; the child of a Jewish man and a gentile woman is not. See Who Is a Jew? Women are exempted from all positive mitzvot ("thou shalts" as opposed to "thou shalt nots") that are time-related (that is, mitzvot that must be performed at a specific time of the day or year), because the woman's duties as wife and mother are so important that they cannot be postponed to fulfill a mitzvah. After all, a woman cannot be expected to just drop a crying baby when the time comes to perform a mitzvah. She cannot leave dinner unattended on the stove while she davens ma'ariv (evening prayer services).

"It is this exemption from certain mitzvot that has led to the greatest misunderstanding of the role of women in Judaism. First, many people make the mistake of thinking that this exemption is a prohibition. On the contrary, although women are not required to perform time-based positive mitzvot, they are generally permitted to observe such mitzvot if they choose (though some are frustrated with women who insist on performing visible, prestigious optional mitzvot while they ignore mundane mandatory ones). Second, because this exemption diminishes the role of women in the synagogue, many people perceive that women have no role in Jewish religious life. This misconception derives from the mistaken assumption that Jewish religious life revolves around the synagogue. It does not; it revolves around the home, where the woman's role is every bit as important as the man's.

1. Let's (according to Tracy R. Rich) blame the women for the man. "[W]hen a pious man marries a wicked woman, the man becomes wicked, but when a wicked man marries a pious woman, the man becomes pious." Tracey R. Rich, raised Reform, has become Orthodox in Yahadut shel HaP'rushim. So she believes that a man isn't personally responsible for how he is ultimately affected.
2. Women can apparently be too spiritual. "Women are discouraged from pursuing higher education or religious pursuits, but this seems to be primarily because women who engage in such pursuits might neglect their primary duties as wives and mothers. The rabbis are not concerned that women are not spiritual enough; rather, they are concerned that women might become too spiritually devoted." A truly-spiritual woman would perform the duties of her calling or vocation with a sound spiritual foundation in mind, for anything and everything that she does should glorify G-d. After all, D'vorah was a shofetah.
3. "There is no question that in traditional Judaism, the primary role of a woman is as wife and mother, keeper of the household." Do we need to go over D'vorah again?
4. " However, Judaism has great respect for the importance of that role and the spiritual influence that the woman has over her family." This statement contradicts that "women might become too spiritually devoted." If the woman is supposed to be such an influence, how can she be too spiritual? Can one be too truly-- not legalistically, not ritually, but spiritually-- pious?

What If Gilad Shalit Does Become Messianic?

What will the Antimissionaries do if Gilad Shalit has become firmly, genuinely, unequivocally, & not-just-while-a-POW Messianic? While my friend Yohanahn may be right that Gilad's being a Jewish Christian and testimony is a "beautiful thought", it's scary as well. Persecution will uptick. e.g., "Oh; those were MISSIONARY Palestinians. 'Death to Arabs!' Death to Messianics! Let's get them!"

Remember how Stephen was murdered? Sha'ul who became "Paul" murdered at first, then was murdered by Nero? Christian (unless I find out otherwise, including Jewish Christian) graves in Yaffa (Jaffa) were desacrated with "Death to Arabs"?

Will the Antimissionaries force Gilad Shalit into rehab to try to rid him of his "stress-induced" or "Stockholm Syndrome" faith? Will they send him back into Hamas custody? Will they even dishonorably discharge him from the IDF and even murder him for supposed treason? Remember, the Netanyahu-Lieberman government supports Yad L'Achim and similar groups such as the Jewish Defense League.

Alex Jones: Another Traitorous Self-Despising Jew? Here We Go Again...

   ¹¹ For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:
¹² “ Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’
Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy,
Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.
¹³ The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow;
Let Him be your fear,
And let Him be your dread.
¹⁴ He will be as a sanctuary,
But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense
To both the houses of Israel,
As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
¹⁵ And many among them shall stumble;
They shall fall and be broken,
Be snared and taken.”

(From Yesha'yahu 8, NKJV)

And for the able Jew who can but refuses to make aliyah.

Needless to say, if the rumors about Alex Jones being Jewish are true, he is in big trouble.

Great-Grandma Czarnecki Would've Been 99 in 2012...

And while she maybe died at a good time to go to Heaven, anyway (Look at where this country's gone since 2007 up to 2008!); she was still murdered. That she was going to die, anyway, doesn't change that. Pop-Pop fully intended to get rid of her re the Social Security Fraud. And I said Southeast (when I should've said East South or just E South) Street, but my intent was the same: to give Great-Grandma the birthday or (I suppose) the yahrzeit or yizkor present for which she has long awaited. As I said, "I firmly believe that Mary M. Trudnak Czarnecki would not have gone to the hospital and gotten her leg amputated without knowing that someone was going to fight for her and to pursue justice against Jack Czarnecki someday."

I admit that I'm human and afraid of what happens if Mom and Aunt Mary do find out; but at the same time, even five years or five-plus years later-- be it July 28, 1913 (for which the P'rushi date was Tamuz 23, 5673) or February 12, 2007 (for which the P'rushi date was Shevat 24, 5767), or even later depending on how long the case takes-- I'm going to follow the mitzvah "Tzedek, tzedek tirdof". Besides, if people can look down from Gan 'Eden, Great-Grandma Czarnecki is proud to know that her Jewish granddaughter is following the Jewish command of the Jewish Messiah whose commands she tried her best to follow for all of her 93 years b'ha'olam haza.

More Jews Are Asking For No Religion and Gideon Levy Doesn't Find Jews To Be Chosen...

Well, I actually wrote a few blog entries (e.g., this and this) on this recently. No wonder many fellow Jews are dropping untrue religion, though they won't accept the "true religion [which] comes from our Father"; and I'm not the only one to make the points made in my blog. See the comments on Gideon Levy's article.