Parshat Re’eh: Curses Concealed as Blessings

BS”D 

Parashat Re’ah  5778

Rabbi Nachman Kahana

Curses Concealed as Blessings

Devarim 11,26-28:

ראה אנכי נתן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה

את הברכה אשר תשמעו אל מצות ה’ אלהיכם אשר אנכי מצוה אתכם היום

והקללה אם לא תשמעו אל מצות ה’ אלהיכם וסרתם מן הדרך אשר אנכי מצוה אתכם היום ללכת אחרי אלהים אחרים אשר לא ידעתם

26) Perceive (comprehend)! I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse

27) The blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I command you today;

28) And the curse if you do not obey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other beliefs, which are foreign to you.

It is apparent from these verses that there are three possible situations in the Creator-Yisrael relationship:

Verse 27) “…if you obey…” – life will be a blessing

Verse 28) “…if you do not obey…” – then life will be a curse

Verse 26) “Perceive! I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse” – when life is a blessing imbedded and disguised as a curse, as is transpiring today in front of our eyes.

For example:

The Israeli public, and certainly our political leaders who are more privy to what is happening, are angry and frustrated at the double standard being applied by the “enlightened” peoples of the world against the Jewish State.

Many Western European institutions and personalities are leading the movement to isolate Israel by boycotts, divestments and sanctions. The problem is that they assert their moral indignation only against the Jewish State. Where are the demonstrations on behalf of the Tibetans, Syrians, Kurds, Armenians, and Ukrainians? Where are the boycotts against the Chinese, the Russians, the Cubans or the Turks?  However, if one has “Jewish eyes,” he will discern that the double standard is a blessing in disguise!

There is a powerful subconscious compulsion active behind the double standard which the Christian and Moslem countries are imposing against the Jewish State. It is their painful, destabilizing gut feeling based on the Jewish nation’s quantitative and qualitative survival record that we are indeed God’s chosen people. Therefore, they must make every effort to prove that the Jews and the Jewish State are immoral and non-spiritual; and not only are we not God’s chosen, but we are unworthy to be included in the family of nations.

The hatred shown to us by these anti-Semites is a glaring expression of their own awareness that we are indeed God’s chosen people. For the more they attempt to negate the historical fact laid down at Mount Sinai and isolate us, the greater is their frustration as the Jewish State goes from success to super success, from victory to greater victory.

Here is HaShem’s blessing – the visible truth – arising out of man’s attempt to curse, as the prophet Yishayahu (54,17) said 2500 years ago:

כל כלי יוצר עליך לא יצלח וכל לשון תקום אתך למשפט תרשיעי זאת נחלת עבדי ה’ וצדקתם מאתי נאם ה’

No weapon forged against you will prevail,

and every accusing tongue will be silenced.

This is the heritage of the servants of God,

and this is their vindication from me,

declares the Lord.

One more example of man’s curse from which arises HaShem’s blessing:

The State of Israel is weary and fearful with every military acquisition made by an Arab country. Since we cannot acquire the quantity of arms that fill the facilities of our neighbors’ armies, we strive to maintain a qualitative edge. 

However, it is predicated on military circles that quantity becomes quality when the figures reach over three to one. A great pilot can expect to be victorious when combatting 2-3 enemy planes. Beyond that number, he is in serious trouble.

The total quantity of weapons given to our neighbors by powers such as the United States, Russia, England and France is beyond 4 to 1 and, and in some cases, 10 to 1 compared to Israel. Here is the curse, but where is the blessing that arises from this curse?

These great quantities of weapons are used daily to fan the fires of hatred among the Arabs themselves – in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Sinai desert, Yemen, Somalia, Mali, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Every day, our Arab enemies murder their own Moslem Sunni and Shiite co-religionists and become less focused on Israel.

Even in times when large segments of the Jewish nation do not observe the mitzvot prescribed in the Torah and the quality of harsh justice (midat hadin) demands its full expression, our heavenly Father reluctantly decrees a curse upon His children. He very carefully and with great dignity imbeds a cloaked blessing in the decree.

What is happening today is a replay of sorts of what transpired in ancient Egypt, where the Torah (Shemot 1,12) states:

וכאשר יענו אתו כן ירבה וכן יפרץ ויקצו מפני בני ישראל:

But the more they (the Jewish people) were oppressed, 

the more they multiplied and spread.

This will be the pattern of our history for the foreseeable future. We will face one danger after another, and in every case HaShem will extricate His children Yisrael, until the time when the cumulative miracles being performed for the Jewish nation in Medinat Yisrael will leave no room for doubt that we are and always were the exclusive nation of the Creator.

However, there is a reverse situation arising from verse 26) “Perceive! I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse”, when life is a blessing and also a curse.  

For example:

A beautiful, spacious home in a nice Jewish neighborhood in London, Buenos Aires, or Lawrence. Two cars in the driveway and an income of over a quarter million dollars a year. Children in day-schools, in universities. Daf Yomi with the chevra and a great talmid chacham teaching. Pesach in any one of the high-end hotels, which is not embarrassed to take from you $25k to $30k for the eight days.

Or an adequate home or nice apartment in any one of the yeshiva communities in the galut, where your soul feels uplifted daily, especially under the tutelage of an outstanding rosh yeshiva who upholds the belief that soon the Mashiach will come and bring an end to the Jewish suffering by whisking every Jew back to Eretz Yisrael to the 10-room house with adjoining Olympic pool in the Rechavia section of Yerushalayim.

Here are two instances of blessings which conceal an extreme curse, because the individuals involved have been sentenced to life imprisonment in the penitentiary of galut, with no chance of parole.

Shabbat Shalom,

Nachman Kahana

Copyright © 5778/2018 Nachman Kahana

_________________________________

Ahem! Rabbi Kahana, Rehavia also has young Yeshiva Kollelim in small apartments, with no olympic pool, happy to have a bathtub to wash the babies, and a small ‘adequate’ kitchen. Perhaps you think so, because it has a reputation as being an “americanish neighborhood.” 

Why not refer, rather, to what some Israelis homes were like in Gush Katif, before the catastrophe. Just view the “before” videos. And don’t stop there, go to Ramat Gan and the homes and shopping center there.

Parshas Re’eh – A Blessing and a Curse . . .

Parshas Re’eh by Rabbi Pinchas Winston Shlit”a

See, I set before you today a blessing and a curse . . . 

(Devarim 11:26)

WHEN WE REACH Parashas Re’eh, I can really feel Rosh Hashanah breathing down my neck. I think it also has to with the fact that the parsha itself is very Rosh Hashanah-like in nature, dealing with blessing and curse and judgment overall. Moshe Rabbeinu is in his final approach  for the World-to-Come, and he is trying to leave behind a nation intensely loyal to G–D.

Last Shabbos, I was told that the Vilna Gaon said that he could not even imagine what a simple thought was like in the mind of a Jew from the Temple period of time. As much as they seem similar to us, their spiritual level was VERY different from ours, and if the Gaon meant from the Second Temple of time, how much more so from the First Temple period.

The same thing can be said about us and the Vilna Gaon. We know he was a great rabbi. We know he was an amazing human being. If we could be in his presence today, we would accord him GREAT honor, even more than we do our current Gedolim who, themselves, would humble themselves before the Gaon from Vilna.

But it would still be like greeting an alien. As great as the spiritual and intellectual gap is between the average Jew and the Torah leaders of this generation, it is not nearly as great as the gap between the greatest of our generation, and the GR”A (the other name for the Vilna Gaon). It’s like comparing humans to aliens.

It’s hard to fathom, for two reasons. It’s like trying to appreciate a nuclear explosion from a small burn mark on a wall miles away. They’re connected, but so much exists between the two extremes. Secondly, it’s hard for us to imagine how, being so technologically advanced, some people from the past, who were technologically unsophistcated, could be so much smarter than we are. 

But that’s only because people have a much greater appreciation of material wisdom than they do spiritual wisdom. They can see how to apply for the former, and have already benefited tremendously from it. They do NOT see any practical value in spiritual wisdom. Can it make a phone smarter? Can it make a car better? Does it make a person more financially independent? Not as far as man can see.

Not as far as man can SEE.

Everything in life comes down to what a person SEES. It is seeing, in whatever form it takes, that makes a person aware of the world of which they are part, and what they have to deal with. That awareness is crucial for knowing how to adequately respond to the opportunities of life, and very often how to to avoid making a fool of ourselves.

It has happened on occasion that I have been in the same vicinity as a person who thought they were alone. I did not realize it until they did something, like talk to themselves, that they probably would not have done had they been aware of my presence at the time. That’s usually when I have ducked out, lest they discover me there and feel embarrassment.

But, at least the physical reality is one that CAN be seen. It would be a completely different life if we could see the spiritual one as well, as this story points out:

The king of Aram was greatly disturbed about this matter, and he summoned his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me who of ours [reveals my secrets] to the king of Israel?”

One of his servants said, “No, my master, the King, but Elisha the prophet who is in Israel tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” 

He said, “Go and see where he is, and I will send and take him.” 

He was told, “Behold, he is in Dosan.” 

He sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. They came at night and surrounded the city. The servant of the man of G–D arose early and went out, and behold an army with horses and chariots was surrounding the city. His attendant said to [Elisha], “My master! What shall we do?” 

[Elisha] said, “Have no fear, for those who are with us are more numerous than those who are with them.” 

Elisha prayed and said, “O G–D, please open his eyes and let him see.” G–D opened the lad’s eyes and he SAW, and behold the mountain was full of fiery horses and chariots around Elisha. 

(II Melachim 6:11-17)

We may not be able to see what Elisha caused Gechazi to see, but the request is just as relevant today. We have to pray for G–D to open our eyes so that we can see where He is, what He is doing, and why as much as possible. That is the kind of vision that makes it possible to go through life achieving levels of personal greatness that others only dream about, or don’t even consider at all.

Sha’ar HaGilgulim, Part 4: He does not acquire all of them at once, but rather, [he acquires each level] based upon his merits. At first he takes the lowest of them all called ‘Nefesh.’ After that, if he merits more, he also takes Ruach, just as it is explained in many places in the Zohar, such as in Parashas Vayechi, Parashas Terumah, and especially at the beginning of Parashas Mishpatim (94b), where it says: “Come and see: When a person is born, they give him a Nefesh, etc.”

Commentary: PERSONAL RECTIFICATION IS a lifetime of work. The moment it is complete, a person usually leaves this world. Most of the time, people leave this world WITHOUT completing their tikun, necessitating reincarnation to finish the work.

A person usually begins their first life on the level of Nefesh, the lowest level of soul. It too has intermediary levels, as do all the soul levels, so they will start on some Divinely-designated level WITHIN the level of Nefesh. This is the level they must rectify in order to ascend to a higher level of soul and its rectification.

If a person merits to rectify their ENTIRE Nefesh, then they will merit access to their level of Ruach, and be able to rectify it, level by level. If they succeed at completing the tikun of their ENTIRE Ruach, then they will gain access to their Neshamah, and be able to rectify it.

At the beginning of history it was possible to move on to the next level of soul, Chayah, and rectify this level as well. However, man, since leaving Gan Aiden, has descended spiritually to such an extent that, for the time being, Neshamah is the highest level of soul anyone is able to reach, even tzaddikim. At this stage of history, therefore, to have completed the tikun of one’s Neshamah is to have completed one’s personal rectification, as much as possible. 

How does a person graduate from Nefesh to Ruach, and from Ruach to Neshamah? Spiritual improvement, which is best accomplished through the learning of Torah and the performance of mitzvos. When Torah is learned and mitzvos are performed, Divine light is drawn into the world and to the person. The additional light causes a person to ascend to a higher spiritual level. They will act spiritually-enhanced.

The opposite is also true. If a person sins, Divine light is withdrawn from them, and this causes the person to spiritually descend. This will be reflected in their actions, and they will find it increasingly more difficult not to sin, resulting in a spiral downward.

Since the level of Nefesh is more “physical,” it is the more action-oriented mitzvos that will cause its tikun. The better a person forms the mitzvah, especially with respect to intention, the greater the tikun it will cause.

Speech-related mitzvos have a greater impact on the level of Ruach. For example, the proper and holy use of speech will rectify the Ruach, as will mitzvos such as tefillah—prayer. Abuse of speech, and sins such as loshon hara—derogatory speech about another—blemish the level of Ruach.

It is thought-based mitzvos, like thinking about Torah, and focusing on coming closer to G–D, that rectify the Neshamah. A person should intend for a mitzvah to rectify on any level, but especially when rectifying the Neshamah.

Meir Ettinger – אך הפעם הזה

אך הפעם הזה

הכניעה המבישה של ממשלת ישראל לחמאס מלמדת עד כמה עמוק השבר. עלינו להפנים שרוח הגבורה הלאומית חלפה מן הממסד

• מאיר אטינגר
 
• כ"ז אב תשע"ח - 10:51 08/08/2018

לאחר מעל מאה ימים של טרור העפיפונים בשדות עזה, סבבים של הפצצות על יישובי הדרום, חדירות של מחבלים לתוך שטח מדינת ישראל והתשה סיזיפית של הצבא על הגדר, כשכל אלו לא נענו בשום תגובה ראויה והגיונית ונורמלית, התבשרנו שמדינת ישראל אפשרה לארכי רוצח - סאלח אל ערורי להיכנס לעזה בהבטחת חסינות.

אל ערורי נכנס לעזה בטענה של קידום הפסקת אש, שהמשמעות שלה היא השלמה עם שלטון החמאס ברצועת עזה, והקמה למעשה של מדינה פלסטינית לחמאס בעזה. כל זה תחת המשך טרור העפיפונים, ירי ואיומים להשמדת ישראל.

הכניעה המבישה של ממשלת ישראל למחבלי החמאס מלמדת עד כמה עמוק השבר.

ממשלה שנחשבת לממשלה ה"ימנית" ביותר, מנהלת משא ומתן עם ארגון טרור רצחני, שלא חדל מהשאיפה לחסל אותנו.

כל זה בא כהמשך לעובדה שלכל אורך התקופה של טרור העפיפונים, כאשר אויבינו משלחים עפיפונים כדי לשרוף את שדותינו, מתפאר המתפ"ש מדי חודש באלפי המשאיות שהכניס לתומכי הטרור שבחרו בשלטון החמאס.

אי אפשר לצפות לאן יתפתח המשא ומתן המופקר שמנהלת ממשלת ישראל ה"ימנית" ביותר עם החמאס.

כשהיא מורה לצה"ל 'לנהוג באיפוק'  תוך כדי שמחבלי החמאס ממשיכים להשתולל בהפגנות כל יום שישי ולנסות להצית את שדותינו.

יתכן שכמו שקרא עד היום בדרך כלל, הערבים יצילו את המצב בסירובם העיקש, אז כמו בסיפור הידוע גם נאכל את הדגים וגם נגורש מן העיר – המדינה תאלץ לצאת לבסוף למבצע צבאי בעזה לאחר שביזתה את עצמה והשפילה את כבוד ישראל (שהוא כבוד אלוקי ישראל) עד עפר.

במקרה הרע תהפוך הממשלה הזו לממשלה הראשונה שמכירה בשלטון חמאס, ותמורת כמה שנים (במקרה הטוב...) של שקט תצמיח לנו מפלצת של טרור.

רוח הגבורה הלאומית חלפה מן הממסד

מציאות הזויה זו מלמדת אותנו כי אותה רוח גבורה לאומית שאפיינה את המפעל הציוני בראשיתו, עברה ממנו.

אין זה סוד כי כבר לא נכון לומר שהדרג המדיני קושר את ידיו של הצבא מלהילחם. כבר ידוע לכל כי צמרת צה"ל אחראית לגמגום לרפיסות ולהיעדר הפתרון.

אותו צבא שמיהר להתגייס בנחישות וללא רגישות למדינת גירוש היהודים מחבל עזה, אינו מסוגל להתמודד עם הדייסה שבישל, ועם תוצאותיה המרות של תוכנית ההתנתקות, בה היו שותפים פעילים כל הקצינים שאמורים להתמודד עם תוצאות מעשיהם.

מסתבר היום כי הימין, בדיוק כמו השמאל חסר את אותה רוח גבורה והאמונה בצדקת הדרך שהיתה להם אולי בעבר.

אותה רוח גבורה שהסתלקה מן הממסד, והשאירה את הגמגום והביזיון, עברה לשרות על נוער הגבעות, ועל כלל יראי ה', אנשי התורה והמצוות שמובילים היום את אהבת הארץ והאכפתיות לכבוד עם ישראל.

דווקא לאור מציאות זו, תפקידנו – תפקידם של אנשי האמונה והתורה להוביל את המאבק נגד הממשלה המגמגמת הזו, ולקרוא לכיבוש עזה, וחיסול ארגוני הטרור לפי הוראת הרבי מליובאוויטש ש'ניתוח עושים בבת אחת'.

עלינו להפנים שרוח הגבורה הלאומית שהיתה קיימת בעבר חלפה מן הממסד.

רוח הגבורה והאחריות על מצבו הביטחוני והלאומי, והסמיכה על כבוד ישראל שהוא כבוד ה' – מוטלת על כתפינו, ושיהיה ברור לנו שהממסד המתפורר אינו מסוגל ואינו רוצה להכניע באמת את האויב.

לא מדובר בעניין של פתרון מעשי  וריאלי, או בחישוב אסטרטגי – כאלו ישנם למכביר. מדובר אך ורק בעניין של אמונה בבורא עולם ובזכותנו על הארץ ובכוח הרצון.

הלווית רס"ר אביב לוי הי"ד שנורה בידי צלף ערבי בגבול עזה (רן כרמי בוזגלו - ציונות בנחישות)

נרדפים על ידי הממסד אך דואגים לעם ישראל

הנביא מספר לנו על כך שבזמן שדוד המלך בורח משאול, ומתחבא במדבר יהודה מגיעה לאוזניו השמועה על כך שהפלישתים – יושבי חבל עזה באותם ימים, נלחמים בקעילה ופוגעים בחקלאות - שוסים את הגרנות.

זו מציאות שיכולה להזכיר לנו את טרור העפיפונים. דוד שואל את ה' באורים ותומים האם לעזור לתושבי קעילה? כשאנשי דוד חוששים מאד מהצעד המסוכן.

התשובה של ה' (פעמיים) היא חד משמעית – לרדת, ודוד אכן יורד ומושיע את תושבי קעילה מיד פלישתים. שאול ממהר לנסות לתפוס את דוד שנמצא בתוך עיר מוקפת חומה, ודוד שואל באורים ותומים האם יסגירו תושבי קעילה אותן הציל ממש עכשיו אותו לידי שאול – והתשובה היא שכן. ברגע האחרון נחלץ דוד מידי שאול ומצליח לברוח מקעילה.

סיפור זה כמו כל סיפורי הנביאים נועד ללמד אותנו.

העובדה שאנחנו נרדפים על ידי הממסד, אינה פוטרת אותנו מהידיעה שהאחריות לדאגה והאכפתיות ממצבו הביטחוני של עם ישראל מוטלת עלינו.

אין בכוחו של הממסד הישן לעזור עוד. תפיסות העולם שהחזיקו אותו התפוררו, כחלק מתהליך חיובי של התפוררות הקליפה שחנקה את הרצון חשוב אל ה' שהיה חבוי בתוך הרצון לחזור לארץ.

כעת – רק שומרי התורה והמצוות הפועלים מתוך קריאה בשם ה' ודבקות בבורא מסוגלים להוביל את העם לניצחון.

"באנחות לא ניוושע" אנחנו מוכרחים להתעורר ולקחת אחריות, ולשכנע את עם ישראל ש"אין ברירה – מוכרחים לכבוש את עזה".

ברוח קריאתו של שמשון כשנהרג בעזה: "זכרני נא וחזקני נא אך הפעם הזה", כי ניתוח עושים בפעם אחת. 

 . . .But this time

The shameful surrender of the Israeli government to Hamas shows how deep the crisis is. We must understand that the national spirit of heroism has passed from the establishment

After more than a hundred days of kite terror in the fields of Gaza, rounds of bombings on the southern settlements, infiltrations of terrorists into the territory of the State of Israel, and the Sisyphean army's assault on the fence, when all of them did not respond to any reasonable, logical and normal response, Are forced to enter Gaza with a guarantee of immunity.

entered [ . . . ] Gaza on the pretext of promoting a cease-fire, which means accepting Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip and establishing a Palestinian state for Hamas in Gaza. All this under the continuation of kite terrorism, shooting and threats to destroy Israel.

The shameful surrender of the Israeli government to the Hamas terrorists shows how deep the crisis is.

A government that is considered the most "right" government, is conducting negotiations with a murderous terrorist organization that has not ceased to seek to destroy us.

All this comes as a continuation of the fact that throughout the period of kite terror, when our enemies send kites to burn our fields, COGAT boasts every month of the thousands of trucks that it has brought to the supporters of terrorism who have elected Hamas.

It is impossible to predict where the far-fetched negotiations that the "right-wing" Israeli government is going to take place with Hamas.

When she instructs the IDF to "exercise restraint" while the Hamas terrorists continue to riot at demonstrations every Friday and try to ignite our fields.

It is possible that, as he has usually read, the Arabs will save the situation with their stubborn refusal. As in the well-known story, we will eat the fish and also be expelled from the city. The state will eventually have to launch a military operation in Gaza after it has humiliated itself and humiliated the honor of Israel dirt.

In the worst case, this government will become the first government to recognize the Hamas regime, and for a few years (at best ...) quiet will produce a monster of terror.

The spirit of national heroism passed from the establishment

This delusional reality teaches us that the same national spirit of heroism that characterized the Zionist enterprise at its inception passed from it.

It is no secret that it is no longer correct to say that the political echelon ties the army's hands to fight. It is already known to all that the IDF leadership is responsible for stuttering and the absence of a solution.

The same army that hastened to enlist with determination and sensitivity to the state of expulsion of the Jews from the Gaza Strip is unable to cope with the porridge that he cooked, and with the bitter consequences of the disengagement plan, in which all the officers who were supposed to deal with the consequences of their actions were active partners.

It turns out today that the right, just like the left lacks the same spirit of heroism and belief in the justice of the way they had perhaps in the past.

The same spirit of heroism that left the establishment, leaving the stuttering and humiliation, went to serve the hilltop youth, and all those who fear God, the people of Torah and mitzvot who lead today the love of the land and caring for the people of Israel.

It is precisely in light of this reality that our role - the role of the people of faith and the Torah - is to lead the struggle against this stuttering government and to call for the occupation of Gaza and the liquidation of the terrorist organizations according to the instructions of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

We must understand that the national spirit of heroism that existed in the past has passed from the establishment.

The spirit of heroism and responsibility for its security and national situation, and the authorization of Israel's honor, which is God's honor, rests with us, and it is clear to us that the disintegrating establishment is incapable and does not really want to subdue the enemy.

This is not a matter of practical and realistic solution, or strategic calculation - there are many. It is only a matter of faith in the Creator and our right to the land and the will.

PHOTO

Are persecuted by the establishment but are concerned about the Jewish people

The prophet tells us that while King David flees from Saul and hides in the Judean Desert, he hears rumors that the Philistines, the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip at the time, are fighting the agglomeration and harming agriculture.

This is a reality that can remind us of the terror of kites. David asks God to help the inhabitants of Keila. When the people of David are very afraid of the dangerous move.

The answer of the Lord (twice) is unequivocal - to descend, and David indeed descends and saves the inhabitants of Keila from the Philistines. Shaul hastens to try to catch David, who is in a walled city, and David asks the urim and tumim whether they will turn over the residents of Keila whom he has now saved to Shaul - and the answer is yes. At the last moment, David was rescued from Shaul and managed to escape from an operation.

This story like all the stories of the prophets is meant to teach us.

The fact that we are persecuted by the establishment does not exempt us from the knowledge that the responsibility for concern and concern for the security situation of the Jewish people rests with us.

The old establishment can not help anymore. The worldviews that held him crumbled, as part of a positive process of disintegration of the shell that suffocated the important desire to God who was hidden within the desire to return to the land.

Now, only the Torah and mitzvot who act by calling for God and adhering to the Creator are able to lead the people to victory.

"We will have to wake up and take responsibility, and convince the Jewish people that" there is no choice - we must conquer Gaza. "

In the spirit of Shimshon's call when he was killed in Gaza: "Remember me, please strengthen me, but this time," because surgery is done once.

Is Antisemitism Escalating in Europe? And Why? See UPDATE

German schools grapple with a string of anti-Semitic incidents:

Bullying, Death Threats, Violence

Jewish teachers in Germany's public schools are grappling with the question of whether it is safe and appropriate to reveal their identity amid a rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the nation's schools.

"It took me a while until I had the self-confidence to tell people," said 41-year old school teacher Michal Schwartze, who worried early on in her career that she could be seen as biased as she teaches history and politics. Eventually Schwartze decided that she couldn't hide her Jewish perspectives and personal activism against racism and discrimination. "I think it's important to take a position, and to be explicit about my stance," she said.

But 32-year-old Berlin-based teacher Anna Furer, on the other hand, does not want her students to know she's Jewish, especially not the one who praised Adolf Hitler. "I'm trying to ignore this as much as I can, but at the end of the day I have feelings, too," she said, referring to the student's anti-Semitic remarks in the past. She is scared of someone in the classroom eventually finding out how much such comments affect her. [ . . . ]

To read full long article, go to sfgate

–––––––––––––––––––––––

See Also:

Haredim / Israelis in Europe

Antisemitism in Europe

UPDATE: Attacks on Jews dramatically increase in Germany – The number of attacks on Jews in Germany during the first half of 2018 increased 10% over the same period last year.

There were 401 officially reported attacks on Jews in Germany from January through June, according to government data reported yesterday by Politico. It is claimed that the vast majority, 87%, came from Germans. One-fifth were committed in Berlin.

Politico reports the Central Council of Jews in Germany President Josef Schuster said many cases are not reported and therefore don’t figure in the official statistics. Official figures included 12 violent crimes.

NEW POLICE TACTIC!

NEW TACTIC!

Police Use Portable Foul-Smelling ‘Crowd Dispersment Device’

On the Kite Arson Terrorists?

Oh, no,

it wasn’t used on them, they used it on the Peleg Torah Protesters

At many Peleg protests, the Israeli police bring in truck carrying water canons to help disperse the crowds. The blue-dyed water is foul-smelling, often referred to as ‘skunk spray’, which leaves the protesters soaked and smelly.

Monday’s protest in Bnei Brak was no different and water canons were brought in. But this time, portable water canons were used as well. Police officers wearing protective suits and face masks had the water-spraying devices strapped to their backs, and sprayed the protesters close-up. YWN


––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Maybe someone should have turned the spray on the police?
Someone should devise the same, to use back against the police.
SOMEONE TELL THE IDF THAT THIS IS A GOOD IDEA FOR GAZA!

Haredim in Europe – Israelis in Norway SEE UPDATE

"ISRAELI VOLUNTEERS IN NORWAY REPORTEDLY DETAINED, QUESTIONED IN AIRPORT ORDEAL" Strip-Searched and Sent to Refugee Camp.

Israelis Dor Tibi, 23, and Anan Hamoud, 21, were looking forward to traveling through Norway and volunteering on Norwegian farms. But at passport control problems began [. . .] they were moved to a separate room for additional questioning. [. . .] officials told them that working with WWOOF, the Norwegian volunteer organization with branches all over the world, is illegal in Norway [. . .] they were photographed and fingerprinted, and told they were being sent to a refugee camp[. . .] they were transported to the Trandum refugee camp in a prison car [. . .] they were told that, as Israelis, the camp may be dangerous [as there might be ISIS there. They took all their possessions and] were subjected to a humiliating strip-search. Dor and Anan were detained in Trandum for two days [and. . .] flew home to Tel Aviv on April 15, with a stopover in Istanbul.  JPOST


Residents of Vienna Call on Vacationing Chareidim to be Respectful YWN

Thousands of Chareidi families are currently vacationing in Europe, in the mountains and in resort towns, sometimes causing tension between them and the local residents.

While some think that it is anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews by the locals, despite the fact that chareidi Jews support them during the summer, the hatred continues to grow. Others however will argue that it is causes by bad behavior of individuals from the chareidi community; those who do not follow the rules of conduct in these countries, and repeatedly violate them, leaving dirt and causing noise and environmental damage.

chareidi residents of Vienna have hung a sign in a fishing park in the St. Anton area of the Austrian Alps that the owners complain of abuse of fish, damage to tools and failure to pay.

“This is a Chilul Hashem! Please adhere to the instructions, please behave with respect!” The sign reads, posted by “Jews living in Vienna and Austria”.


Swiss Tourism Official Complains About ‘Jewish Guests’’ Behavior arutzsheva

Official in Davos, Switzerland, complains to Jewish community about Jewish guests whose behavior ‘disturbs’ other visitors.

recent years, Davos hoteliers have depended on a haredi clientele who flock there during the summer months, which for the skiing region is off season. This trend has allowed haredi families with large children to enjoy reduced cost for vacations in Alpine resorts with excellent infrastructure, and the local tourism industry to increase the potential of amenities there.

But tensions have begun to form in what some attribute to cultural differences and some inappropriate behavior by the haredi guests from insular communities, and others maintain is intolerance and xenophobia by some hosts.

UPDATE: Gaza man jailed for assaulting kippah-wearing Jew in Switzerland

NOT A HATE CRIME?: Witnesses say Mohammed told Israel he’d like to slit his throat. A Muslim who brutalized a Jewish man wearing a kippah on a Switzerland train was sentenced to four months in prison for assault, but was not convicted of a hate crime.

The assault occurred in February aboard a train near Lausanne, the German-language 20 Minuten news website reported Monday. It had not been reported in major Swiss media prior to this week. The perpetrator, a 40-year-old born in Gaza identified only as Mohammed, threw a shirt in the face of the victim, identified as Israel. He stole the victim’s water bottle, book, and kippah, throwing the latter in a trash bin. Mohammed, who has multiple drug-related convictions, also stole Israel’s watch, broke his glasses, and proceeded to hit the Jewish man all over his body. arutzsheva

Role of Switzerland during the Holocaust: Switzerland, Confronting its Holocaust Past

Virtual Tour of the Great Synagogue of Vilnius

The Great Synagogue of Vilnius in VR - Official Trailer

The virtual tour inside and outside the synagogue demolished in the middle of 20th century. Recreated according to historical facts and visual material, this demonstrates the future of museums, galleries, history lessons and the whole education system.



Inlusion Netforms - an innovative VR company behind the project of recreating the Great Synagogue of Vilnius. Partnered with HTC VIVE we have recreated of what was called the hearth of Northern Jerusalem - an ancient Jewish Synagogue, destroyed in 1957 in Vilnius, Lithuania.


––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

What a magnificant pre-war Synagogue of Vilnius. We can only imagine how it was when filled for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

This video came from the following article on arutzsheva

In archaeological excavations conducted last month in Lithuania, Israeli and Lithuanian archaeologists discovered the bimah (central platform) from which the Torah was read to the Jews of Vilna (Vilnius) for some 300 years. This tradition suddenly ceased during the Holocaust, when the Great Synagogue of Vilna, the center of Jewish life, was destroyed by the Nazis 63 years ago.

The remains were later destroyed by Soviet authorities, and a modern school was constructed on the site.

Built in the 17th century in Renaissance-Baroque style, the synagogue was surrounded over time with other community buildings, including twelve synagogues, the community council, kosher meat stalls, the famous Strashun library, a complex of mikvaot (ritual baths) and other communal institutions that formed a great center of Torah study, the beating heart of the Lithuanian Jewish movement of Mitnagdim and the home for Rabbi Eliyahu, the Vilna Gaon.

The bimah was excavated below the floors of the school that was built over the Great Synagogue in the 1950s. The ornate bimah, that was documented prior to its destruction, was a two tiered Baroque structure decorated with 12 columns. It was constructed in the 18th century, thanks to a donation by the noted Jewish benefactor known by his acronym as the Yesod. The excavations also revealed part of the massive back wall of the Great Synagogue, together with long sections of the walls of the adjacent bathhouse and the men's mikvah (ritual bath), which was decorated with colored tiling.

In the words of Dr. Jon Seligman of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Justinas Račas.of the Kultūros paveldo Išsaugojimo pajėgos, "the discovery of the walls of the bimah and the mikvah shows the further potential for excavation at the site and the exciting possibility to present the remains of the Great Synagogue of Vilna (Vilnius) and the Shulhoyf in the future to both the local and international audience."

The work was conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority, Kultūros paveldo Išsaugojimo pajėgos, the Good Will Foundation, and the Jewish Community of Lithuania. It was aided by Zenonas Baubonis (Kultūros paveldo išsaugojimo pajėgos); Prof. Richard Freund (University of Hartford); Prof. Harry Jol (University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire) and Prof. Philip Reeder (Duquesne University).

CALIFORNIA INFERNO

Full devastating article from ZeroHedge, because it is so devastating.

Photo taken Saturday morning. Via Antionio Paris/Twitter

The CNN report details the Carr fire's origins in late July — but one of the 17 currently burning across the state:

• It happens countless times on roads across America: a vehicle gets a flat tire, usually just a temporary inconvenience.
• But on one road near Redding, California, when a tire failed last month on a trailer and its rim scraped the asphalt, the result was catastrophic for an entire region
• The sparks that shot out July 23 from that minor incident, California fire officials said, ignited what is now the sixth-most destructive wildfire in state history.
• The Carr Fire blazed a fiery path along Highway 299, lighting up mile after mile of dry brush as it crept up on residential areas
• One man, Ed Bledsoe, lost his wife and two great-grandchildren, ages 4 and 5, within only a 15 minute time frame.

The man's family were victims of the previously reported "fire tornado," or what some are calling a "firenado" that ripped through Redding, which produced whirling winds of fire in excess of 143 mph.

"The tornado was hovering over the house," Bledsoe's granddaughter Amanda Woodley recounted to CNN. "It was just a tornado fire over the house."

Ed Bledsoe and other family members gave an account of the unbelievable and tragic moments the fire tornado struck : (photo above)

• He said his son drove toward the flames in the hope of rescuing his family members. "My son said the grass wasn't on fire, the trees were getting sucked up in the air and burning," Bledsoe told CNN. "He said when he opened his doors, the leaves hit him like somebody was slapping him. He said it was sucking his breath out, and he got back in his car and tried to get out."
• Bledsoe was on the phone with his wife and great-grandchildren until the very end.
• "It sucked the roof off the house and the walls fell out and the roof went right down on them," he said.

“This is historic in the U.S.,” Craig Clements, director of San Jose State University’s Fire Weather Research Laboratory, told BuzzFeed News. “This might be the strongest fire-induced tornado-like circulation ever recorded.”

The blaze has even created its own weather system, according to multiple climatologist reports.

Known as a pyrocumulus cloud, the ominous red weather formations usually occur over volcanic eruptions or forest fires when intensely heated air triggers an upward motion that pushes smoke and water vapor to rapidly rise. They can develop their own weather patters, including thunderstorms with severe winds which then further fan the flames.

On Saturday morning an astrophysics professor and Chief Scientist at the Center for Planetary Science at St. Petersburg College, Antonio Paris, posted a surreal photograph he identified as "firenado" that occurred Friday:

Meanwhile, a number of areas of the state, including parts of Shasta County where the Carr fire is still burning, are still under evacuation orders while firefighting teams endure exhaustion and casualties.

Among the six dead from the Carr Fire include two firefighters: one has been identified as Jeremy Stoke who was in the middle of a rescue attempt and another unidentified bulldozer operator killed while battling the flames. Some 1,500 structures have been burned to the ground in the Carr Fire alone, and state fire officials estimate the wildfires will cost California billions of dollars over the next decade.

"What we're seeing in California right now is more destructive, larger fires burning at rates that we have historically never seen," Cal Fire spokesman Jonathan Cox told CNN.

In Northern California, the Mendocino Complex Fire surpassed the size of Carr fire by the weekend, and is now the state’s largest at more than two-thirds the size of sprawling Los Angeles, which has forced the evacuation of nearly 16,000 residents and destroyed more than 100 structures.

New reports indicate the Mendocino Complex Fire is threatening 9,000 structures

Eyewitnesses have described entire swathes of charred land and streets that look "like a bomb hit" with cars and homes turned to ash.

In total there are 17 wildfires which have ravaged pars of the state, some of them now nearly 100% contained, as over 14,000 firefighters from California and more than a dozen other states continue to work on the front lines.