The following is an adaption of the sign I have been posting around town. Please let me know if you have any ideas.
בחורים דתיים
אני מחפש דירה להשכרה בקרית משה, גבעת שאול, או באיזור, ורוצה להיכנס בי”ד חשוון 01/11/09 או לפני זה. אם יש לכם כבר דירה ואתם צריכים שותף – צרו איתי קשר. עובד ולומד. לא מעשן. יעקב
Religious Men:
I am looking for an apartment to rent in Qiryat Moshe, Givat Shaul, or in the surrounding area by Nov. 1, possibly sooner. If you have an apartment, and need another roommate, please contact me. I work and learn, am reliable, and do not smoke. Ya'aqov
As far as neighborhoods go, I am pretty open at this point. I have to be. Still I am happy to live in any number of neighborhoods in the right apartment with the right people.
I have been looking in Nahla'oth, Giv'ath Mordechai, Qatamon, Baq'ah, Beth HaKerem, you name it.
I'm not going to post my phone number here on this post. My e-mail address is yaaqov.ben.yehudah@gmail.com.
Rep. Sue Myrick (NC-R) talks with Alison Camoratta of Fox News about acquiring an internal memo circulating at Council of American-Islamic Relations [CAIR].
If not caught conspiring to infiltrate the body of Congressional interns, then certainly CAIR has some questions to answer regarding its lobbying efforts. CAIR's 501(c)(3) status prohibits the organization from lobbying.
CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in the "Holy Land" trial, with ties to Hamas.
(IsraelNN.com) Seven years after Boaz Shabo lost his wife and three of his seven children in a terrorist attack [in Itamar], he and his second wife are the proud parents of new-born triplets.
The babies, two boys and a girl, are currently hospitalized in the preemie ward of Tel HaShomer Hospital.
The murderous attack occurred in June 2002 – ending a tragic week in which no fewer than 38 Israelis were murdered by Palestinian terrorists, including 19 on a bus outside the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem and seven in a French Hill bus stop bombing. (Read more...)
Nothing could possibly "replace" Bo'az's wife Rahel and sons Avishai, Tzvika and Neria(May HaShem avenge their blood!). However, HaQadosh Barukh Hu (The Holy One, Blessed Be He) saw fit to give Bo'az a new wife and three more children (May they live long, healthy, and happy lives!). I defy anyone to call this a coincidence!
The attack on the Shabo Family and Yosef Twito took place the day after the attack I survived. Three weeks beforehand, I met Bo'az. He gave me a ride from Ofra to Jerusalem on Erev Shabbath. He was on his way to spend Shabbath on duty as a medic in a hospital emergency room. I remember how friendly he was, encouraging me to come visit Itamar, and telling me about his goats. Because of Bo'az, I knew that my desire to be closer to Jews working in agriculture could become a reality. Because of Bo'az, my spirits were raised that day.
On the way, we saw a bale of hay tumble off a Yishma'eli (Arab) truck.
Needless to say, we followed the halacha (Jewish law) regarding this matter.
מי שמבין יבין
He who understands, will understand....
I had only known him for an hour, yet I was able to witness him carry out several misswoth.
When I go out for Simhath Beth HaSho'evah, I always try to make it to Karlin-Stolen. in the Beis Yisroel neighborhood in Jerusalem (...conveniently located a block away from the cheapest, least worst, pizza place in Israel. But, I digress....).
Unlike Vizhnitz-B'nei Braq, I was unable to find a Karlin-Stolen YouTube Channel. Perhaps there's one on another video service. I don't know.
You see, I didn't make it to Karlin this year. It's always leibadik, and absent both of the food-fressing balaganim of some locales, and of the cliquishness of some yeshivas,...which shall remain nameless.
Karlin'sSimhath Beth HaSho'evah is very no-nonsense, with nice, live music, dancing, and soft drinks to quell the heat. Here's a clip from two years ago. Notice the mix of hassidim, Litvaks, and religious Zionist types,...all dancing together? Karlin is known for its very welcoming atmosphere, in the true spirit of Ahduth Yisra'el(Jewish Unity).
It has even been criticized for this, as some secular Jews drive on Shabbath to get to the Rebbe's tish. (If they're going to drive anyway, better to a rebbe's tish than to a night club, no?)
Don't tell anyone, though. We're not allowed to point out anything positive about hassidim, let alone haredim as a whole.
Whoops. I almost forgot. I'm not a member of the "mainstream" (leftist and/or anti-haredi) news media, so, I don't have to hold by that rule.
Don't hold your breath. I hardly see myself becoming a KarlinerHassid. Still, I like to give credit where credit is due.
משנה תורה הלכות תפילה ה,ה ...ובכל מקום, לא יאחוז תפילין בידו או ספר תורה בזרועו, מפני שליבו טרוד בהן; ולא יאחוז מעות וכלים בידו. אבל מתפלל הוא בלולב בידו בימות החג, מפני שהיא מצות היום
Mishnah Torah Laws of Prayer 5:5 ...one does not hold Tefillin in his hands or a Sefer Torah in his arms, because they will worry him; and one does not hold coins or vessels in his hands. But one who is praying has a lulav in his hand during the Hag [HaSukkoth], because it is the misswah of the day.
(Machon Shilo) Both Talmudhim indicate that one is to wear Tefillin during Hol HaMo'edh.
The Rif, Ramba"m, Rosh and Tur all agree that the misswah applies even during Sukkoth and Pesah. The Shulhan Arukh says otherwise, contrary to his own rule of thumb. He was influenced by the Zohar, classic and telling example of the influence of Qabbalah on Halakhic practice. (Click the link above for audio shi'urim on this topic.)
Before dawn I was standing outside the entrance to the Kotel (Western Wall) area calling upon the masses of Jews flowing into the are, to go up in purity to the Temple Mount. As I prepared to enter the security checkpoint to get into the Kotel to daven shachrit (pray the morning prayers), I was detained by the police for about 20 minutes and they only let me enter the Kotel plaza on condition that I not speak about the Temple Mount to anyone. They told me if I was caught speaking about Jewish ascent to the Mount I would be immediately arrested.
During the detention the police told me that if masses of Jews would be attempting to go up to the Temple Mount it would change the situation in our favor. The greater the pressure on police to open the Temple Mount to Jews, the greater the chance it will be open. Facts on the ground.
We must start a worldwide pressure campaign. We need serious activists from all over the world to come forward and help.
Let me know if you want to help and what area you are in.
Double standards on free speech, double standards on the Holiest site to the Jewish People, police intimidation... Still think Israel is a democracy?
"for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples"
Huh? When did he do this?
You can read the full press release here. Then please let me where my question is answered. Because I sure as heck can't figure it out. After all, the deadline for nominations was in February, only a couple of weeks after Obama was inaugurated.
So, what on earth did President Obama really do to be nominated? He gave speeches about what he wanted to do? He visited Iraq?
Nope. All he did to be nominated was that he was elected, a symbolic defeat and potential reversal of President Bush's foreign policy, America's Christmas present to Europe.
Nobel Shocker! Ellen Ratner, FOXNews.com, October 9, 2009
...He [Obama] is just beginning his presidency and although he has moved in the direction of talking to pretty much everyone on the world stage he does not yet have a feather in his cap to show for his vision and dreams.
This morning's announcement is even more shocking on the eve of the president's important decision about whether or not to send more troops to Afghanistan. In fact, he is scheduled to meet with his war council later today! -- Perhaps the Nobel committee wanted to nudge him in the direction of adding more schools and hospitals to the region rather than more troops.
Ratner goes on to use the word "encourage," and cites several examples of winners, which support her notion of Nobel Committee nudging.
I agree with her completely.
Don't forget, that in addition to the high level of prestige which accompanies the prize, it also includes a cash award. In 2008, the amount was 10 million Swedish Kronor (about 1.4 million dollars). So, perhaps we can call Nobel Peace a bribe as well as a "nudge?" ...not that President Obama needs it.
Stay tuned for more of Obama pushing Europe's foreign policy agenda (ie. bad for Israel).
Orthodox Jewish boxer Dmitriy Salita [age 27] will be the first to challenge Amir Khan for the WBA light-welterweight crown, as the unbeaten New Yorker takes on the defending champion December 5 in Newcastle, England....
What the article doesn't say is that he will be fighting against a Muslim, albeit a non-Arab, Pakistani-British Muslim. I suppose we will see if this has any impact as we approach the date of the fight. Amir Kahn was the Olympic silver medalist in the lightweight category in Athens, 2004.
And, yes, as the article does say, Salita is Torah-observant. A survivor of violent, antisemitism in The Ukraine, he became interested in Torah as a teen, after moving to Brooklyn.
Salita shrinks before no contender, but there is one line he said he simply won't cross - fighting on Shabbat.
"Anyone who wants a good whuppin' from me is just going to have to wait until sundown," he said.
I think that pretty much says it all.
Although December 5, 2009 is a Saturday, don't worry. Shabbath will be out in New Castle already by 4:44 pm, plenty of time to prepare for the fight later that evening.
There are several videos of Salita to be found on the Net. I selected this one to place here, even though it is four years old. It includes some music at the beginning by a surprise guest. Check out which famous, Jewish singer escorts him out to the ring.
You can also become a Dmitry Salita Fan on Facebook! (Log-in required)
This is the kind of post you would more likely see on Vos Iz Neias? or Yeshiva World News. than on Esser Agaroth. In fact, they have certainly covered issues related to the role of the Internet, and associated news and controversies, in Haredi communities.
When a Vizhnitzer friend of mine was over for Shabbath, in Tapu'ah several months ago, he showed me the Vizhnitzer YouTube Channel.
Nu? Who knew that there was a Vizhnitzer YouTube Channel? Isn't the Internet assur (forbidden)?
I should explain that my friend is from a major European city, and has an academic father, hardly the stereotypical hassid from an insulated community. The friends he brought with him, one from Borough Park and one from Europe as well, were also no strangers to the Internet. They were more interested in seeing the latest, music video from Lipa Shmeltzer than movies nor anything unseemly (has wehallilah!).
So, "What was Vizhnitz doing on YouTube?" I asked.
(I'm half Litvak, half Galicianer, with periodic delusions of being Yemenite. So, I don't know from Vizhnitz.)
He told me the story about the various mahloqoth (disagreements) which have plagued the Vizhnitz community the last couple of generations, and then came to the story of the current situation in Vizhnitz-B'nei B'raq. The Vizhnitzer-B'nei B'raq Rebbe (His brother is the Vizhnitzer-Monsey Rebbe, thus the additional of the city for clarification.) made shalom with his first son, after a long period of estrangement. Supporters of the rebbe's second son claimed that the decision to support the first son as "heir" was made after the rebbe started to become senile.
The Vizhnitzer YouTube Channel was started as a way to demonstrate to the public that the rebbe, indeed, had all of his faculties, and was making well-thought out decisions. Various videos were posted on line, for all to see, and to judge for oneself.
Now the channel includes everything, from speeches and simhas to a strong warning against dangerous activities on Purim. It is a good example of for how the Internet can be used constructive purposes, to disseminate information, to dispel rumors, and to spread simhah.
For some reason, I haven't been feeling very well this Sukkoth. I remembered my friend showing me the Vizhnitz Channel. So I decided to check it out. I haven't made it to any Simhath Beth HaSho'evah celebrations yet. But, with YouTube, I was able to bring them to into my apartment, and my spirits were immediately raised.
I'll share one of the videos from the channel here, in honor of Hag HaSukkoth. It's from Motza'ei Shabbath.and a includes a good sampling of nigunim (melodies). (Don't worry. The sound is fixed after the first 30 seconds.)
