Ahh, diplomacy Name calling

 

Did one of the sycophants of the current incompetent at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue actually call Israel's prime minister chicken manure (in a slightly less genteel word)?

Or, as a few have suggested, is the remark a figment of an anti-Israel Jew's imagination?

Having worked in a "lul," a chicken house for both chicks and layers, trust me, I know the foul smell of fowl feces.

The only manure smell worse than chicken poop is that of green feces from a new born. I have three children - now adults - and a grand-daughter so I am acquainted with that smell, too.

My personal opinion of Israel's prime minister is only slightly higher than my opinion of the U.S. president, which is to say on a scale of 1 to 10, both are in negative numbers. It's not a matter of party; I appreciated Harry S Truman and LBJ and, when I lived in Holon, I was 100% behind Begin. All three were, in my opinion, honest men who were true to their beliefs and worked for the betterment of their nations (although with LBJ, sometimes it was hard to determine).

Israel's PM reminds me of a wind sock at an airport; it moves whichever way the wind blows. The PM, of course, uses pollsters to determine which way the political winds are blowing: build on Jewish land today; tear down the homes built yesterday on Jewish land. (I have to wonder; does the PM have a financial interest in construction and demolition companies?)

As for as Washington goes, the U.S. has a president who has managed to hide his history from the people. No birth certificate. No college transcripts. We know he has no military service, not even pseudo-military in the National Guard a la Bush 2.

Compare that with Israel's PM. We know what he is - a Jew, perhaps not as observant as some would like, perhaps more observant than others prefer. According to a bio at http://www.biography.com/people/benjamin-netanyahu-9421908#early-years, Benjamin Netanyahu was born on October 21, 1949, in Tel Aviv, Israel and grew up in Jerusalem. He spent most of his teen years living in the Philadelphia area, where his father, noted Jewish historian Benzion Netanyahu, worked as a professor. In 1967, he returned to Israel to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces' elite unit, "Sayeret Matkal," and took part in a number of military operations, including the dramatic 1972 rescue of a hijacked Sebana passenger jet.

The entry at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/netanyahu.html states: Following his discharge (from the IDF), Netanyahu studied at MIT in Boston and received a B.S. in architecture and an M.S. in Management Studies. He also studied political science at MIT and Harvard University. In 1976, he was employed by the Boston Consulting Group, an international business consulting firm, where he befriended future American Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

While the PM's bio may be as fabricated as the U.S. president's, no one so far has proved it less than honest; I would trust members of Israel's left-wing and Moslem parties to uncover any falsehoods and broadcast them to the world.

We know the incompetent in D.C. is influenced by America-hating preachers and by Muslims and their money; we know that even his Jewish lackeys such as Democratic National Chair, US. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, put the president above her constituents. (Those Jews in her district who wanted anything accomplished on their behalf knew to turn to the congressman in the next district over, retired Army Col. Allen West . West was gerrymandered out of his seat.

I won't call the occupier of the White House "chicken manure" as his people refer to Israel's PM, but I will suggest that since he's been in office, Washington has generated an unprecedented about of bovine excrement regarding both domestic and foreign policy; actually the lack thereof. The only contemporary man who gives the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue competition for "America's Worst President" is Jimmy Carter.

The reason I have hope for the future is that I know "this, too, shall change." The change will HAVE to be for the better.

Opuscula If you don't know What you are sayingSIT DOWN

 

I'm told to "forget it, it's America."

"It" is Jews who stand up as representatives of the congregation and read - quite well - the Hebrew prayers yet DON'T COMPREHEND WHAT THEY ARE READING..

To this scrivener, it is bad enough that they don't know basic Hebrew, but to lead the services sans any understanding of the prayers is chutzpah.

It's not a matter of failing to comprehend a word here or there; these folks can't put together a simple Hebrew phrase. Tell them

תבדק אם יש מישהו בדרך

and you get a blank stare. Check (תבדק) if there is (יש אם) someone (מישהו) on the way (בדרך) (to complete the minyan)?

All the words above are found in the sedur with the possible exception of the future tense תבדק.

Many young Jews today go to "Hebrew" school but apparently there is (too) little emphasis on everyday Hebrew.

The kids study humash; in yeshiva the emphasis is on the talmuds and the language is largely Aramaic.

Nothing wrong with studying Biblical Hebrew or Aramaic, but most students of those languages can only read them; they cannot SPEAK them or UNDERSTAND them.

In my not-at-all-humble opinion, "Hebrew" school is a misnomer.

I DO know some American young people who do speak/comprehend Hebrew, but they are in the minority. I'm not sure from whom they learned Hebrew, but for some, Hebrew is their first language.

My spouse is a Jewish educator in all respects of the title. She tells me Biblical Hebrew is NOT the same as "modern" Hebrew.

No argument from me when it comes to tenses - past and future are reversed between the two Hebrews.

But the WORDS; the Torah's words are for the most part alive and well in modern Hebrew.

Consider the opening verses of Lech Lakah:

(Image from Machon-Memre, http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0112.htm)

For the most part, anyone who learned basic Hebrew, including future tense, and who can identify a word's root (shoresh) ought to be able to at least "get the gist" of the words.

Some words are "hidden" by their prefixes and suffixes, but with a little effort the reader can uncover the shoresh. For example, anyone who regularly prays the New Moon service can extract מולד with its partially hidden three-letter shoresh, ילד from ממולדתך (from the land of your birth).

Likewise אעשך -"I will do for you."

There will be words that the typical ulpanist or eighth grade Hebrew language student will ponder and head to a dictionary, but I contend that MOST of Biblical Hebrew, if Lech Lakah's opening verses are any example - and I think they are - should be understandable. (I am not a "typical" ulpanist* - I was in the "slow learner" class; nothing to brag about, but something to give hope to others.)

I don't expect anyone - certainly those who, like this scrivener, have Hebrew as a second or third language - to read and comprehend at the speed of the Torah reader; that's why we have a week to take our time with the portion. An aliyah each day, with one day doubled up.

Reading the aliyot will improve your Hebrew reading skills AND your understanding of what the Torah is telling us. A win-win situation.

Now, I'm going off to practice what I preach.>

 

* Kibbutz Netzer Serini, Be'er Yakov, Spring 1975/P>

Opuscula Israel rearming Hamas in Gaza

 

According to Arutz Sheva (Channel 7), Israel Ships Over 600 Tons of Construction Materials to Gaza. Never mind the incorrect use of "over" rather than "more than."

The text notes that

Israel began transporting construction materials into Gaza on Tuesday, in a "humanitarian gesture" to the Hamas-controlled territory which may be already rebuilding terror tunnels into the Jewish state.

The "aid" includes 600 tons of cement, 50 truckloads of aggregate and 10 truckloads of steel.

The office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) stated that the transfer is being conducted under the supervision of the UN and PA, as agreed with COGAT, General Yoav Mordechai.

"This method [of transfer] is designed to ensure that the construction materials will be used to renovate homes and public buildings for the benefit of the people of Gaza, while maintaining Israel's security," the IDF stated, noting it would "carried out under UN supervision."

In another story from the same source on the same day, Arutz 7 reports, in a story headlined ADL Decries UN Chief's 'Stunning' Bias in which UN chief Ban Ki-moon blames Hamas' attacks on Israel for Israel's "occupation" of Gaza. Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu fired back at Ban Monday by noting that the entire concept of an "occupation" in Gaza has been made moot after the 2005 Disengagement.

"The root cause of the violence that burst from Gaza is not Israel’s occupation in Gaza, for a simple reason: Israel doesn’t occupy Gaza," Netanyahu explained. "Israel left Gaza to the very last centimeter, to the very last inch. We uprooted all the settlements and vacated all the settlers. So there is no Israeli occupation of Gaza."

Netanyahu then pointed out that Ban justified Hamas's rocket barrage despite the fact that it used the UN's own facilities to break international law.

IN A RELATED ARTICLE heded UNRWA Asks for Record $1.6 Billion to 'Rebuild Gaza', Arutz reminds that

Three United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) schools were found during the course of Operation Protective Edge to have stored rocket caches for Hamas and Islamic Jihad. After the first find, UNRWA workers called Hamas to come remove them to use in their terror war on Israeli civilians, instead of destroying the weaponry.

In another incident, three IDF soldiers were killed and seven others wounded in a booby-trapped UN clinic that was situated on top of terror tunnel entrances, showing the complicity of the UN in Gaza-based terror against Israel,

And then editorializes, correctly in this scrivener's opinion, that

Ample evidence has proven that Hamas uses UN and other aid money, as well as materials, to build terror tunnels into Israeli territory with the aim of attacking Israeli citizens - instead of providing buildings to its own citizens.

To illustrate this, the IDF revealed during the course of Operation Protective Edge that 4,680 trucks carrying 181 thousand tons of gravel, iron, cement, wood and other supplies have passed through the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza since January 2014 - much of it directly from Israel to fund civilian projects.

Instead, however, a network of over 30 tunnels was found during the ground offensive, with each tunnel costing roughly $3 million to build. For every Hamas terror tunnel, the IDF stated, there was enough building materials to build 86 homes; seven mosques; six schools; or nineteen medical clinics.

Meanwhile, Hamas has begun to rebuild terror tunnels on foreign aid money - but despite this, the UN already joined the PA in making a call for $550 million to rebuild Gaza.

Meanwhile, Arutz 7 continues,

The UN Palestinian aid agency which made headlines for harboring Hamas's rockets is to make its largest ever financial plea to donors, it said on Thursday, asking for $1.6 billion to "rehabilitate Gaza" after Hamas's most recent terror war.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) unity government has already asked for more than $4 billion to rebuild the coastal territory, which is home to some 1.7 million people.

And while an international conference in March saw $200 million donated to the terror-run territory - and donations from the US and France reached a combined $61.8 million - the money is apparently still not enough for Hamas, nor for UNRWA, leaving many asking why.

Opuscula Do we really need, Can we afford Four day festivals?

 

We just started Sukot with a two day beginning followed immediately by Shabat. We'll do the same later this week with Shemini Atzeret on Thursday and Simhat Torah on Friday, followed by Shabat Bereshit. (The l_o_n_g weekends started with the worldwide two-day Rosh HaShana, and will continue with shorter weekends for Passover and Shavuot.)

In Israel, the Festivals (Shalosh Ragelim) have one day at the beginning and one day at the end. "B'hul" - outside of Israel - an extra day is added at the beginning of all the festivals and an extra day is added to the end of Sukot and Passover.

Added up, the total of days off for Jewish holidays is more than the average worker's vacation time:

Rosh HaShana = 2 days

Yom Kippor = 1 day

Sukot = 4 days

Pesach = 4 days

Shavuot = 2 days

And that's not counting the intermediate days (hol ha'moed) of Sukot and Pesach which the more observant take off as well.

Working for an Israeli company - at least in my experience with them in the U.S. - offers no benefit; Jewish holidays are ignored in order to be "real" American companies; never mind that these Israeli companies DO recognize the non-Jewish religious holidays of Christmas and Easter as paid holidays.

(Granted, both of the best known non-Jewish holidays have been so subsumed by merchandisers that any religious "taint" is almost obliterated, but that does NOT make them "American" {civil} holidays.)

THE REASON we have extra days to the festivals is, I was told, because at one time runners were dispatched from Jerusalem - or wherever the Sanhedrin was sitting - throughout the world were Jews were present.

Even back in Biblical times, we were scattered throughout the "known world." There were Jews in what is now Morocco when the second temple stood.

Since a runner could hardly reach, say, Bene Malal in time for the Jews there to celebrate the new moon at the proper time, the rabbis declared that all Jews outside Israel's borders would celebrate two days of the festivals - "just to be sure they had the right date."

That was then.

This is now.

We have had accurate calendars for centuries. We KNOW when there is a new moon, even when the skies are overcast. We KNOW when the first day of each month falls, and because of that, we likewise KNOW, without any doubt, when the first day of a festival occurs. We even know when to light candles before haggim and Shabat for our neighborhood ! (Plug in your longitude and latitude and, BINGO!, the times magically appear on your computer screen; or you can print out calendars with exact times for tallit and tefillin, for Shama, etc. for your particular corner of the world. You can even "get an app for that" on your smart phone or tablet.

So why do we still celebrate two days when we KNOW - exactly - when a holiday starts?

Reform long ago did away with the second day. 'Course Reform did away with a lot of things; some would say it "threw out the baby with the bath water." Apparently, most Conservative congregations officially celebrate two days at the beginning and end of Sukot and Passover, but I suspect that, as in many observant/traditional congregations, there are many empty seats on the second days.

For all the years I worked in the U.S., I never had a traditional, 10-day/two week vacation. I used up all my vacation days - and then some - in synagogue.

Some years were "better" than others when the beginning or end of a holiday included Shabat when I didn't work in any case.

My wife, a teacher at a Jewish day school, had the holidays off; at some schools, even the moed were paid holidays.

About the only ones to benefit - at least from my back of the shul perspective - are the rabbis and synagogue financial officers. Most congregations sell honors on the holidays; even when congregations have high membership and building and other annual assessments, a goodly portion of the congregation's operating capital is raised as members and guests bid for synagogue honors, for themselves or for others. Congregations of "wealthy-as-Rothchilds" get thousands of dollars for each "kavod" (honor); congregations such as mine are lucky to get bids of "101" for a "plain" aliyah - the last aliyah with kadish, and the maftir aliyah go for a premium, but even then, the donation rarely is in the thousands.

For the average working man (or woman) synagogue goer, the holidays are an expensive proposition. Lose money by taking time off from work, spend money for "incidentals" such as lulav and etrog, kosher-for-Passover foods, extra costs for electricity (leaving lights and stove/blech/oven and water urn on for the duration of two or three days).

Since most Jews have to work during the moed, visitors - parents, mostly - must go to the children, and while most children are delighted to host and honor their parents, the visitors ARE an added expense. On the other hand, Mom (-in-law) can help in the kitchen and with the children if both the wife and the mother are agreeable. (My mother-in-law is perfect.)

We KNOW beyond a doubt when the holidays are to start and end, just as we know when to light Shabat candles; the reason for the doubled days is history.

Maybe it's time to do the holidays are they are done in Israel. If it means making a "kavod-less" donation to the synagogue's operation, I'm willing to do that to give today's working Jew a break.

Or maybe it's all a plot to get us to move to Israel. Now THAT's a thought.

Kosher whiskies Only for the makpedim

 

A few years ago I wondered what makes some whiskies - specifically Irish and scotch - not acceptable to some Jews, this scrivener included.

The answer is in the aging, the "maturing" of the liquor.

More precisely, the barrels in which the whiskies are aged/matured.

It turns out that for the "makpedim" - people who (try to) follow minute points of kashrut law - putting whiskies into barrels formerly used to contain wine costs the liquor its "kashrut.'

Of course, if the wine that was in the barrel was a kosher wine, then there would be no problem.

There are those, and they are many and among the accepted "poskim" - decisors of Jewish law - who either (a) ignore the wine issue or (b) contend that there is no issue.

Normally, in the Orthodox world, is something 'falls into" a pot and that something is less than 1/60th of the volume of the pot's content, the "something" that "fell into" the pot is declared null and void. In other words, a drop of milk that accidently fell into a pot of kosher chicken soup would NOT cancel the soup's "kosher-ness."

The problem this scrivener has is that the liquors are aged in former wine casks to deliberately absorb the wine's remnants - color, flavor. There is no accident so the Rule of 1/60 doesn't apply - in my opinion. (Bear in mind that I am not a rabbi and I don't play one on tv.)

KOSHER scotch and Irish whiskies are aged either in barrels formerly used to age American Bourbon or they are "virgin" wood, that is, the scotch or Irish put into these "virgin" barrels is the barrels' first use.

Straight, unflavored American Bourbon is kosher "by default." Some American whiskies are not kosher due to added ingredients. (Southern Comfort is unusual in that the Southern Comfort when in Ireland, with a hechser from Badatz Basel and Badatz Beit Yosef is kosher if the kashrut symbols are visible on the bottles, which are parve. Southern Comfort produced in the USA and bottled in Ireland is a whey product and lacks the Badatz and Beit Yosef labels. Southern Comfort produced and bottled in the USA is not authorized, (See http://www.jerusalemkoshernews.com/2010/06/southern-comfort/,)

Most of the more popular scotches are matured in wine casks. Until recently this also was the case with Irish whiskies.

Several kashrut organization list "kosher" brands. The PROBLEM is that many of the brands have multiple labels, some aged in Bourbon barrels, some aged in wine barrels.

There are - as far as I know - only two ways to determine if the potable is aged in Bourbon or virgin barrels or in old wine barrels:

1: Go to the distiller's Web site, if there is one, and check the aging process for each label

2: Write (email) the distiller and ask: "Is this product aged in Bourbon or virgin casks.

Most distillers will tell you: Aged in Bourbon casks, aged in wine casks, or aged in Bourbon and wine casks. (Chivas Regal, as an example, is blend of scotches aged in either Bourbon or wine casks; only the master blender knows what goes into the bottles that end up in the stores.)

I used to trust the kashrut certifying agencies - most cRc and Star-K in North America - but two things prevent me from blindly accepting the word of any organization.

Thing 1: I don't know (although I could easily ask) if the certifying agency is strict (nothing aged in a wine cask) or lenient (wine casks are OK).

Thing 2: Distillers change their processes.

For example, an email from Ms. Lillian MacArthur of the Burnstewart/Bunnahabhain Distillery tells me that

I am afraid we do not have any bottlings as specified in your e-mail.

We did have a bottling called Darach Ur, however this Bunnahabhain product was only finished in Bourbon wood and was not specifically matured in these casks for the whole of their maturation period.

Our other products 12YO, 18YO and 25YO are a percentage mixture of different wood types made up of refill oak casks, sherry casks and bourbon casks.

Ms. Fiona J. MacDonald of the Dalwhinnie Distillery wrote that only Dalwhinnie's 15 year old product is aged exclusively in used Bourbon barrels.

I have enquired of a number of distillers and almost without exception I have received replies. I'm glad for email; imagine the stamp costs and delays of snail mail.

The bottom line is that if you'd like to try a particular brand of scotch, Irish, and possibly Canadian whiskey, it pays to ask the distiller how the product is matured or aged.

I queried a number of distillers of single-malt scotch whiskys; the results are found at Kosher vs. Kosher, Scotch for a makpeed.

See related entry "Your preferred scotch: Kosher, or not?"

The images above are for illustrative purposes only.

לפני יום כפור Last minute appeal

 

This is the time of year when Jews of all stripes contact their relations, friends, acquaintenances, co-workers - generally anyone with whom they were in contact from last Yom Kippor to this.

Actually, the appeal for forgiveness between one person and another starts with Rosh HaShana; the appeal for forgiveness from affronts to HaShem is on Yom Kippor.

Waiting for Rosh HaShana or Yom Kippor makes no sense; an apology - to our fellow or to HaShem - should be offered as soon as the injury is realized.

We learn that we can be absolved of our sins against HaShem on Yom Kippor.

But what it we don't make it to Yom Kippor?

We can make a confession on our death bed, if we are able. But what if we are not able? What if, in our final throes we don't remember injuries (used in the broad sense here) to others and to HaShem? What if the people we have intentionally or unintentionally injured fail to hear our apology because they are not near, or perhaps they are dead.

How many times have we heard people say at a funeral: "I wish I had said I'm sorry for" whatever the offense to the person whose body lies before us?

Observant Jewish men six mornings-a-week ask HaShem to forgive our shortcomings during takhanun תחנון assuming we understand what we are reading

חטאנו, עוינו, פשענו
Our sins, our iniquities, our transgressions

But in truth, usually the takhanun are recited as quickly as possible so most of the minyan can get to work on time. (The ba'al tefelah/prayer leader/hazan reads all but a few words aloud in Sefardi congregations.)

That may suffice for HaShem, but probably not for our neighbor who needs to be addressed personally - not in a shot-gun email or snail mail (both of which still are "better than nothing").

And if the offended person refuses to forgive, ask again, and even a third time. This assumes, of course, that the appeal for forgiveness is sincere and that restitution - if needed - has been made.

If we know we offended someone and we "missed" our chance to make amends, can we still appeal after Yom Kippor? Of course. HaShem gave us Pesach Sheni, a second Passover, for people unable to celebrate Passover at the appointed time; surely a sincere apology even after the "heavenly deadline" will have value - at least to the person who was wronged.

Waiting until Rosh HaShana is similar to waiting until a "special occasion" - birthday, wedding anniversary, graduation, whatever - to give a person a gift. If you see something and want to give it to the person, do it then. Who knows that tomorrow will bring.

If you offend someone, apologize as soon as you realize the person was hurt. Make amends; make restitution if necessary.

Don't wait for Rosh HaShana to make amends with your fellow; he or she may not be around when Rosh HaShana comes around.

Don't wait for Yom Kippor to ask HaShem for forgiveness; you may not be around.

Think about it.

 

Rabbi David Lau addresses the issue far better at http://tinyurl.com/k9fvu5c

 

G'mar Hatimah Tovah גמר כתיבה טובה

 

I am not a rabbi and I don't play one on tv.