faruq melave-malka

theantitzemach: Neo-Tzig is rethinking his belief system.

to faruq

I have no remedy for you. Misnagdim are evil and corrupt. Chabad is evil and corrupt. There is no place for truthful person in either camp. The Jewish religion has been completely taken over by pretentious hypocrites. I have no solution for you, there is no redemption. For certain today G-d is easier to be found in a secular kibbutz that in 770 or Lakewood. The Rebbe was proven to be a fraud. The others are obviously a fraud. The world of black hats is beyond redemption, grotesquely fraudulent and boring, a game on itself. Convert this...

einikel of a masmid, that night in Jerusalem you spoke about a film I should see, what was it, brother, I forgot?

mentalblog.com links

Menachem Mendel: The Yeshiva of the Rosh.
Hirhurim: Ida-Nudel Speaks.
The Zionist Conspiracy: Lakewood Internet Ban.
Psychology Today: Why I Hate Beauty.
Grog's Climbing Knots.

dance me to the end of love

Forgetfulness

On the subject of mentalblog.com: The giur factory rolls into Boston:

Somebody asked me in Israel how many observant families there are in the metropolitan Boston. We spoke about this last week again and the consensus is that perhaps less than a thousand families. This is irrelevant number compared to the general Jewish population. There are perhaps 10 families associated with the Kollel. Almost all of them came to the conference. As I was sitting there in the hotel desperately trying to strike a human conversation, I couldn�t help but think that I am in the middle of some kind of freak show or observing a miniature alien invasion.

I can see Rabbi Tropper going frantically from one guest to another. I can hear the words Rambam, Feinstein, etc. Lazer Gurkov, what a contrast to the hispashtus of his father. He has been emotionally shot as long as I know him, but he always knew how to ask clever questions.

Rabbi Pesach Lerner of YI tells Rabbi Tropper: �Before Nathan Lewin speaks please explain to him what is EJF��

I am sitting there thinking, looking at Rabbi Tropper going from one guest to another like possessed. It takes the energetic man like that to clarify this confused subject. Who cares about the history, I am not JWB, I don�t blog about the dirt. I don�t care, I care about the issues. I am going to talk to Rabbi Tropper as he just said that he will come back to me soon. At that moment his gabbay Mr. Balaban complained to police that I am uninvited (he previously told me that he reads this blog and that Chaim Grade was an important person in his life). Two plainclothes policemen came over and exceedingly politely asked me to leave. I am upset about this not because of what has happened but because it jams my existential unrelated-ness. How absurd it is. The G-d of Israel felt removed.

It is symbolic that when I first arrived at the hotel due to the fire alarm all the guest including the chief rabbis had to go outside. How symbolic. It is Boston, there is a raging fire of assimilation in this town. Jews forgot how to relate. How can you bring the convention of this magnitude to Boston without a token attempt to save the drowning souls on the other side of the channel? Ensconced in the dark dreary rooms of the Harborside, the freaks celebrate forgetfulness drunk with the illusion of consequence.

Siddur ARI on eBay

Jabotinsky commenting: I actually have around 70 letters of the rebbe rashab, 120 of the frierdikeh rebbe, 10 of them hand written does any body know what these would go for? (obviously those of the rebbe reshab are all ksav yad)

Schneur Zalman of NY: The market never lies; placing them on the block is one way to find out their value. Another way is to check recent auction catalogs from places like Kestenbaum and Froelich etc and see what similar items went for in recent shows. An Israeli concern led by Rabbis Rosenfeld and Winograd of Jslm has a CD available that among other information supplies auction prices for BOOKS. I would guess that the potential buyers would be from the general Chassidic community (Hungarian), as Lubavitchers are not that much into collectables. In my 25 years in YU I have never encountered a Chabad person interested in collecting rare books or Kisve yados etc. I have met Bobover, Satmar, Nitra, Belzer etc who are dealers, buyers, collectors, but never met a Chabad man "vos kocht zich in alte seforim un kisve yados". Of course that community has experts in the field Chitrik, Mundshine, Levine (who does not buy books as far as I know the Lubavitch community does not supply him with an acquisitions budget!!!) Naftali Krauss and I am sure others, but collectors, perhaps but not that I know of. And while we are ion the subject lets mention the gadol hador in bibliography of rare books - Reb Chaim Lieberman another Lubavitcher. I would guess depending on the contents that these letters are worth about $1,200-1,600 a piece but before anyone gets excited, that�s a guess. Good luck.

Ezra in Prayer

Engraving by Gustave Dore

To all the men who can�t see beauty in Jewish women. I don�t care that you transgress the religion but you are have committed an esthetic sin, the worst misfortunate that can befallen a man when he stops seeing beauty. Those layered eyes deep as an ocean, those dark curls and passion without bounds. Banish the misguided sons of Babylon, stop them at the gates of the David�s Kingdome. Let the Jewish maidens dressed in white swirl into the eternal dance of creation.

The giur factory rolls into Boston

On the subject of mentalblog.com: A transatlantic love story:

Yidden pay attention. A major well financed effort is afoot to change the procedural course of the orthodox conversions as the Eternal Jewish Family opens its third conference this afternoon in Boston.

Background:
Jewish Press: The Eternal Jewish Family.
FailedMessiah.com: New Orthodox Conversion Effort Aimed At Intermarried.
Canonist: �Eternal Jewish Family� and the Chief Rabbinate Conversion Issue.
Adderabbi: The Rabbanut and RCA Conversions: Clarifications and Response.
Jewish Press: Progress On Conversions.
Dei'ah veDibur: Maranan Verabonon Direct it to Go Ahead.
Interfaithfamily.com: Outreach, from Reform to Orthodox.

Money: Obviously the big money push behind the effort. Let me tell you Rabbi Amar might go for fun to meet the Kazakh Mufti, but Rabbi Amar, Rabbi Lau and other dignitaries will not come to the farkakte city with a quarter million Jews like Boston for nothing. Honestly people here do not understand why they have chosen the Bean Town as the venue. Officially the effort is supported by Lillian Jean Kaplan Foundation and Tom Kaplan. Its been alleged that Rabbi Leib Tropper who runs BT yeshiva in Monsey Kol Yaakov helped convert one of Tom Kaplan�s family relatives. Mr. Kaplan in turn recognized the need for progress.

Allegedly Rabbi Leib Tropper was married to a daughter of Rav Margolin, the student of Rav Aaron Kotler, who used to live in Crown Heights. He divorced his first wife and shortly married a woman whom he was mekarev to Yiddishkeit. Some say that this resume should disqualify Rabbi Leib Tropper from spearheading this global organization. I thought about this and decided that it is not a problem, this is in the spirit of our forefathers. You want a man who understands love not some eunuch lawyer geek from Lakewood.

Leadership: The conferences are careful to put a video of Rav Elyashuv at the head of the table witch makes other orthodox denominations apprehensive. Perhaps this is some Yeshivish conspiracy to the exclusion of other groups. It would be interesting to examine the standing of the participants visa vi Mi Hu Yehudi campaign by the Rebbe. Wasn�t the halachic standard that the Rebbe wanted to introduce is in essence what is attempted now by the Eternal Jewish Family together with the Rabbanut?

Goals: What does Eternal Jewish Family has in mind, a centralized list of Rabbis who can and who can�t perform orthodox conversions? The conversion fees must be a tremendous temptation. Understandably some families will spare no expense to rectify their grave personal anomaly. Is it the plan of the Eternal Jewish Family to standardize fees? More importantly are they trying to say that only Rabbis on their list can be paid to perform the immersion?

Rabbinic politics: One of the Rabbis on Boston Beis Din already indicated that he was slighted and he will not attend the conference. The following questions are of interest. Is it true that R. Aharon Feldman from Baltimore withdrew his participation in this event, and if so, why? Also, why the leadership of the Chicago Rabbinical council will not attend?

I took this photo half an hour ago. Rabbi Tropper with Harav Herschel Schachter in the foreground (I think).

Schneur Zalman of NY commenting: Frankly this conference does not interest me as Orthodoxy is so loosely organized and there are so many Lone Ranger Orthodox and (not so) Orthodox rabbis that very little control can be exerted over them. But as far as rabbi Tropper goes, let us not become callous to some serious issues. Obviously a Jewish layman can do whatever he wants as long as its legal and moral. But lets face it a Rabbi and leader is held to a higher standard. This woman he married was not only someone who he was involved in bringing to orthodoxy, she was also a very attractive model, if my memory serves me correctly. A long story about her appeared in the Women's section of the JEWISH PRESS about 10 years ago. There are many stories about Orthodox Rabbis in good standing who divorced their wives to marry girls who they converted or helped in bringing to Judaism. Nothing wrong, but how does the former wife feel, how do the children feel, when mommy is dumped by a "sexy newcomer" to Judaism? You are right romance is important, but the alternative to Rabbi T. is not a eunech, there are numerous Rabbis, etc. from all sorts of Yeshivoth with "no history " who have the guts, ideals and ability to lead such an organization. Should Orthodoxy reward the concept trophy wives too?

grose commenting: Schneur, go ask Rav Tropper for Mechilah. You all got your facts wrong. Rabbi Tropper was divorced a LONG time before he was mekarev his current wife. He was not mekarev her for the sake of marrying her. He gave a class in NYC that she attended and she (and I know her personally) decided to marry him. In fact, Rabbi Tropper's rebbetzin is an amazing human being (and yes, she was beautiful enough to model - but she also graduated Ivy League with a degree in psychiatry and ran a successful business) who happens to be on very good terms with his ex-wife. The divorce had NOTHING to do with the current rebbetzin.

Schneur Zalman of NY commenting: If the facts about R. Tropper are not as I stated (and nowhere did I accuse him of any moral, or halachic misdeeds), then I apologize to the readers for misleading and potentially hurtful information. As I said rabbis have to be held to a higher standard. If in fact he was long divorced etc, I am wrong and apologize to him and the readers. As Reb Yoel Kahan said - "taisi" and I am sorry.

Participants: Harav Levi Yitzchak Horowitz, the Bostoner Rebbe, Harav Reuven Feinstein, the well known Rosh Yeshiva and posek, Harav Shlomo Amar, Chief Rabbi of Israel, Harav Yisroel Meir Lau, Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Harav Herschel Schachter, Harav Nachum Eisenstein, Harav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi, Harav Shmuel Dishon and Harav Moshe Soloveitchik.

Harav Pinchas Goldschmidt, Chief Rabbi of Moscow; Harav Yaacov Katz, Rosh Kollel Yad Chaim Mordechai, Cleveland; Harav Shmuel Lazer Stern, Chief Dayan, Beit Din of Harav Shmuel Wosner Shiita, Bnei Brak; Harav Pesach Lemer, Executive Vice President, National Council of Young Israel; Harav Mordechai Neugroschel, noted international lecturer; Harav Shlomo Rybak, Rabbinical Council of America; Mr. Tom Kaplan and Yehuda Dovid Kaplan, EJF Chairmen; Mr. Dovid Rosengard, Esq. - Master of Ceremonies; Mr. Marvin Jacob, Esq., Conference Chairman; Mr. Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Conference co-chairman and Mr. Nathan Lewin, noted Washington constitutional attorney, Conference co-chairman.

Not a single Chabad Rabbi (unless you count Nathan Lewin as a honorable chabadnik)

Eternal Jews Family future conferences:
March 2007, Amsterdam, Holland
October 2007, Washington, DC
January 2008, Buenos Aires, Argentina
June 2008, Jerusalem

UPDATE: mentalblog.com: Forgetfulness

The Noah's Arc by Burt Rutan

try FLEXIDOX

Forward.com: Old Labels Feel Stiff for 'Flexidox'. I resolve to take three 500 mg Flexidoxes a day before each meal.

suduchim web 2.0

Yitzi writes via email:

I have an idea and I'm emailing you because I need at least 1000 frum Jews like you in from the start to make it work. You are receiving this because either I got your email address from a chain mail or a friend is forwarding this to you. My idea is a way to make 1000 shiduchim in less then one year!!

My idea is your idea, let�s all 1000 of us get together and suggest ideas to each other about pairing up single friends of ours! Have you heard of myspace.com? Well I�ll make a website modeled on their platform with a neat design and user interface and when the start date comes we will all register an account� well actually, let me take you through it clearly.

1. You register an account. You are now officially a �Shadchan�. You have to show everyone your name and keep it real. You tell everyone just a little about yourself� i.e. your age, gender, marital status and thoughts about the movement.

2. You post the real or nick-names of 5 friends of yours, and you try to profile them to the best of your ability, perhaps even with a private picture. Most of you will have more then 5 friends. These friends are now officially �Clients� and there is no limit to how many friends you have so long you pay attention to them all.

3. You browse other ''shadchanim�s'' ''clients'' and flag one that you think will be suitable for one of your clients. When that shadchan logs in next, he will see your flag and follow the link to your client�s profile. Likewise when you log in and see one of your clients flagged, you will look into the idea and take it from there.

My idea is that we can and we should all be shadchanim, no matter what our situation is! Being a Shadchan is not a profession, it�s simply about being the person to be in the right place at the right time, hearing the right thing and acting on it. With our new website platform, all that will be made possible for anyone and everyone. All you would need to do is log in every day for a few minutes or every few days and see how you can help you friends, knowing there are other shadchanim out there trying to help their friends. If you�re married, you owe to your single friends and family knowing the feeling and if you�re single yourself, helping your single friends is the best way of drawing attention from HaShem!

So you might be wondering �nu, what�s the idea... there are already lots of dating sites that the frum singles themselves can post their own profiles on and interact with other members and decide for themselves? ...So, know� these sites are great, and some have even made a few hundred shidduchim� but in the meantime shadchanim between themselves are much more successful because the concept of a shadchan is a very ancient one� right from the Torah�

As of the October 19th, we already have 124 members from 8 cities! They are from New York, Lakewood, LA, Chicago, London, Jerusalem, Bet Shemesh and Modein Ilit. We aim for 500 in one week. Please make this happen and take this to your part of the world!

email Yitz Feiner

As I already said Jewish Shadchonim are rotten hogs, they should be beheaded in a public square and their property should be given to orphans. All shadchonim I met are fat, ugly and dull fading women so they just trying to make everyone else as miserable as themselves. Men should take charge of this profession as they know better what other men want and need.

The desire to be in the USA

Schneur Zalman of NY commenting to mentalblog.com: A transatlantic love story: The essence of the problem has nothing to do with Lubavitch. Rather its the desire to be in the USA and the desire to have companionship. Let�s face it most American Jewish women of all stripes are hard to please especially in the finance sector. Could a Jew 24 year old working for the USPO get married in 2006 to a Jewish girl? He has to be at least a Chiropractor and make at least 100k annually, add another 100k if he�s Orthodox after all Orthodox Jews are the most non materialistic people in the Jewish community...

Good news from OZ, Gutnick found a 'non-kosher' bris

Australian Jewish News: Orthodox block bar mitzvah over 'non-kosher' circumcision.

Rabbi Moshe Gutnick and Rabbi Yoram Ulman, two judges at the Jewish court, were at the mikvah in Bondi preparing to draw a drop of blood from the boy to symbolise his Orthodox conversion when they noticed that his brit milah, conducted by a Jewish doctor in 1993, was incomplete.

Ca. Rabbi comments: You'll excuse me, but from the article in Aus. it seems to further make my point, that there are only degrees of leniency, one YB totally off the wall and YU MG willing to compromise to a point.

This kid seems like he too was converted with his mother by some shmo Joe. They (YU MG) accepted the kid and taught him his Bar Mitzvah and requested a Hatofos dam knowing the kid did not have an al pi halocho bris and perhaps was not Jewish at all, al pi Halacha (because there is no requirement for a real Jew to be denied putting on Tefillin if his Bris is not proper).

Then they discovered his bris could not be rectified with a quickie hatofos dam bris (which anyone can question the merit of this procedure under these circumstances) and he remains a Gentile until a full fledged bris is done which they refused, and therefore MG YU refused Bar Mitzvah to a Goy (thank G-d) which another Shliach YB seemed to make light of and the mother who couldn't be that dedicated to real yiddishkeit to begin with decided to jump ship. This is obviously all conjecture from an article in a paper.

Living under the impression

Ca. Rabbi commenting to mentalblog.com: A transatlantic love story:

I don't know to what degree Lubavitch was involved in this scam and there's plenty of Yishivish Rabbonim running Giur factories, that being said Lubavitch today will take anyone into their schools. They are packed with outright goyim questionable conversions etc. Again it comes down to no leadership. There are Shluchim who are mumchos in converting ENTIRE families. Check out the preschools run by Lubavitch, a good percentage are goyim!! On to the leadership thing. 14 years have gone by and "leadership" has brought shame and embarrassment to Lubavitch. They have set the tone for hefkairus and much worse. In this particular issue of geiros which is out of control in Lubavitch, where does the buck stop? Who is responsible? Would the Rebbe be happy with goyim in a Lubavitch school, befriending other yidden and living under the impression for many, as Jews?

Someone asked the motivation for easy conversions??? Its translates into MONEY, more MONEY. The money to convert, the ongoing money afterwards, the impression of a big school, the friends that come along with a good catch, money from the government, money from sponsors, money, money, money�

The building type 770

(via Menachem Mendel) On the subject of the article in washingtonpost.com: Illustrating That Looks Aren't Everything and the 770 building exhibit at robbinsbecher.com.

The 770 that takes the surreal cake would be this one in Ramat Shlomo, Jerusalem:

mentalblog.com design award goes to the 770 in Milano. Naturally the country with sophisticated building culture. The 770 looks very much in context of its surrounding and carefully tweaked detailing and proportions are tasteful and pleasing. Note the substitution of the bay window with the balcony. If you click to enlarge the photo you will see Gershon Mendel on the balcony, the function of the balcony is so that Gershon Mendel can continue outside with the BS he was saying on the inside:

The 770 in S�o Paulo, Brazil is the most bizarre:

See also: mentalblog.com: The history of 770
mentalblog.com: Can you say revoltingly ugly?
mentalblog.com: Crown Heights Vignettes.

Planet of the Automatons

Mordechai Housman commenting to mentalblog.com: The mechanical patterns of conversation:

I think that many people have a fundamental barrier against stretching their minds to fit new ideas. Subconsciously, the barriers spring up whenever they hear what they consider "uncharted territory," and they react by staying within the circles of the familar. They feel more comfortable running along the well-worn groove.

I suspect that with some people it's simply laziness. After all, as Thomas Edison used to say, "There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking."

With other people, it may be just that they believe they already understand how the entire world works, and therefore everything they encounter must fit into their weltenschauung, or else it can't possibly be true or real. This might be born of hubris, perhaps.

However, what you're describing sounds like people are turning into automatons, which makes the problem deeper still. And a bit scary.

I have noticed, for example, how difficult it is to get someone to learn something new and different, or to change what he or she has understood about something. I struggle with it myself. But I am at least willing to undergo that struggle, whether or not I succeed! Many others won't even consider the effort, so they refuse to recognize the need or even the possibility.

This is where prejudices often come from. Or at least the refusal to rise above them. And I don't mean just racial prejudices. I'm talking about the tendency to consider everything different to be crazy or just plain wrong. People are not broadminded, and they won't leave the borders around which their minds have erected invulnerable fences.

The totalitarian system of Israel

Once I was standing in Rubashkin�s Crown restaurant in Boro Park. I was waiting in line with a Hungarian friend. While we wait he tells me: �In any other place they think you are doing them a favor by buying, here they are all Russians so they think they are doing a favor to you�. How true. The relics of the totalitarian system, the essence of bureaucracy. This occurred to me many times in Israel. A person behind the counter, a clerk in the airport, a taxi driver, they all think they are blessing you with attention not you providing the reason for their existence but purchasing the services. This is Israeli cardinal problem, the relic of the socialist mentality ingrained so deeply as to permeate and negatively color millions of daily exchanges. A jolt of supreme unpleasantness, a realization of the fatal flaw. One is not safe in Israel if at mercy of anyone.

A transatlantic love story

So a Russian a woman with no traces of Jewish heritage whatsoever posts an ad on a singles web site. She attracts the attention of a Jewish American bachelor, an email exchange ensues lasting few years.

She is perfunctorily processed at the Chabad giur factory in Moscow.

Wedding in June and as of time of this writing the bride disappears somewhere in USA.

Ma. Rabbi comments:

Unfortunately, this type of scam is becoming very common. There is a lonely 45 year old divorced guy in my Shul who is now corresponding with a Russian Shikse about 20 years his junior. His plan is to bring her over and have her converted here. I tried to explain to him that he is just being used, but he just doesn't get it. Then I spoke with his wealthy mama who would be funding this fiasco. She said, " I know that you are right rabbi, but what can I do, he is 45 years old and has to make his own decisions."

The mechanical patterns of conversation

Over the past years I became aware or noticed that when I converse with people they use whatever I say as a trigger to retrieve from their memory a story of a reference related to this particular �tag�. In other words they don�t necessarily hear what I have to say but they use my subject as an opportunity to unload on me the information stored by them under the same �category�. This has gotten so bad that I personally consider this a full blown epidemic. I don�t have any historical data about this and moreover I think on occasion I do this myself but the pattern erased hundreds of potentially meaningful conversations. For example, I have an otherwise intelligent friend and I can script my conversation with him. If I say �bread�, he will tell me a story I heard about him baking �bread� thirty years ago. If I say transmission, he will immediately volunteer an out of context story about fixing his Ford and so on� It gotten to the point so that I can induce a story from this man by merely vocalizing the trigger name or a theme.

This happens in conversations so many times that is essentially negates a live exchange where a person thinks about what you just said and reacts as a human being not a storage devise. I do not know if this is occurring today more frequently, nor do I know if others are noticing this phenomena but I do know that because of this epidemic the potentially consequential conversation have been reduced to frustrating mechanical recitations.

Gandalin comments:

Thank you for a lovely and perceptive post. You have hit an important nail squarely on the head. Of course, this has nothing to do with bloggers, or blogging, or computers, or code. But these technologies may have sensitized us to understand this phenomenon in a new way. These automatic responses are very much like embedded bits of code that are very powerfully although unconsciously and automatically activated when the triggers are clicked. The phenomenon illustrates the fact that many of us are not really awake and not really conscious at all.

The reference [by Chakira] to the French Jesuit historian Certeau is interesting, although he was a neo-Freudian, and I distrust neo-Freudians. I will have to take a deeper look at his perceptions. Another figure who worked on waking us out of the false-awareness or slumber of our daily lives was G.I. Gurdjieff, who developed techniques for substituting real consciousness for the false robotic consciousness of everyday life. I think that Rene Daumal's "A Night of Serious Drinking" (i.e. La Grande Beuverie) also touches on this theme.

The clinical psychologist Robert Godwin has written on his nice blog "One Cosmos" about the parasitical "thoughts" that infest and take over many minds.

The hinayana (theravadan) Buddhist technology of awareness meditation (vipassana) also comes to (false?) mind as an approach to dealing with this problem. To my chagrin, I regret that I can not think of a Jewish source for the sort of technology I am trying to describe. I wish someone else could.

Emilio Morenatti kidnapped

The Spanish AP photographer Emilio Morenatti [whose work we published many times on mentalblog.com] was kidnapped yesterday in Gaza.

An Israeli girl floats in a pool of tomatoes during a tomato festival in the southern Israeli village of Yevul, next to the Egyptian border Thursday Oct. 12, 2006. The two-day annual tomato festival takes place during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A man sits on a staircase as he waits to take part in Eid al-Fitr prayers at a soccer stadium in Gaza City, Monday, Oct. 23, 2006. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

emiliomorenatti.com: Afghanistan photo essay.

UPDATE, Yahoo! News: Kidnapped AP photographer freed in Gaza

3 buddies at KAJ

Schneur Zalman of NY commenting to mentalblog.com: Robust noise:

May I use this opportunity to reply to the first comment here. I bumped into 3 ,13-14 year old bachurim from CH lost in WH before Minchah on Leil Simchas Teyre,. They asked me how does one get to Beth Chabad in the Bronx in Hebrew as they spoke no Yiddish and hardly any Englsih. Now the Bronx is a large Borough with chashuve places like the Zoo, Yankee Stadium, Riverdale, and the Grand Concourse. I happened to know that there was some sort of Chabad presence in Kingsbridge but how do walk there I had not the foggiest.. Thus I suggested they daven in the shul I was going to a German shul on 179th Street with about 20 males or less for Simhat Tore. Here they could have livened things up . But as they say in Yiddish, men hot zech gegeben an eytze oyn zay eychet.They refused to even hear of these idea, and walked on.

Later that night I discovered these guys with 3 other buddies at KAJ in a shul with 500 males, including dozens o and dozens of Bnai Torah. So listen carefully the issue was not helping shuls that have seen better days. The issue was getting a forum to: 1. Spread Lubavitch teachings to Jews who were strictly frum ala KAJ 2. To spread Messianic teachings to those that don't believe. In light of this I can state clearly that these are dediated bachurim but misguided. I have more to say about this subject but I do not wish to embarrass a few friends (Lubavitcher emissaries) of mine publicly.

The role model No. 99

Defensive end for the San Diego Chargers Igor Olshansky (6'-5", 309 lb), formerly of Dnepropetrovsk. (DAN TREVAN - Union-Tribune)

"I�m the father of three young kids,� said Igor�s agent, Leigh Steinberg. "Our children need role models too." Only a handful of Jews have ever played in the NFL. "There�s something about having a Jewish star in football; it�s the toughest and most physical of all sports."

K.C. ALFRED - Union-Tribune

Cholov Yisroel this

Ben Chorin: I don�t generally stay up all night for tikkun leil hoshanah rabba:

Anyhow, the torah I want to discuss involves a practical question that an old friend tells me has been troubling a prominent talmid chakham in the U.S. It seems that there is a well-established statistical rule that some non-negligible fixed percentage (let�s say 10%) of milking cows turn out to be treifos, though at the milking stage we have no way of knowing whether a given cow is one of the treifos or not. In any given randomly selected large herd of cows it is very likely that the percentage of treifos is close to 10%. The combined milk of the herd therefore includes a high proportion of non-kosher milk, certainly well in excess of 1/60. Should industrial milk therefore be ruled non-kosher?

See also description of milk manufacturing under Dirty Secrets of the Food Processing Industry.

mentalblog.com links

On the subject of mentalblog.com: Colored bouncy balls flying there is a new Sony BRAVIA ad. Berl, do you still stand by your original review (there in the comments)?

Haaretz: Number of single immigrants from N. America leaps by 40% in 2006:

Still, the influx of young Americans has expanded the Anglo singles scene in both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, its two major bases. "I do get the feeling that the singles scene is getting bigger," London-born Nadia Levene, who organized a Jerusalem singles party over Simhat Torah that attracted over 400 people.

I was at that gig and Nadia is pretty cool. But there were maybe 150 people at most, not 400�

Penguin Pete's Blog: One for the ladies: How to date a geek guy?

Long live faruq!

chabakuk elisha comments: I would like to clarify: When I used the word �things� in my comment above, that should not be construed to mean the mundane, simple, run of the mill disillusionment that occasionally people belonging to movements go through. I was referring to things of a more significant nature. I hope that my shiva call was in some way a positive one, but at least partially due to my inebriated state I'm not sure if I was capable of anything beneficial. Unfortunately my heroes have been disappearing one by one, but I maintain the age old hope and prayer that the deceased will be resurrected imminently. I also must say that it seems to me that it was Faruq that was the survivor...

The shadows of the machine

On the subject of mentalblog.com: The evil empire:

AP - Ivan Sekretare

Schneur Zalman of NY commenting: Are there any real chief rabbis. The position never existed in Moscow or Russia.. Rabbi Jacob Mazah was Crown rabbi not chief rabbi, Rabbis Schlieffer and Levin were rabbis of the Choral synagogue. Rabbi Fishman and Shayevitch held the same post with much less authority. Then we got chief rabbis. As Reb Chaim Yankev Widerevitz (the mesader of the responsa of the Zemach Zedek) replied when asked who made him chief rabbi of New York, he replied the sign painter.

AP - Ivan Sekretare


Reuters - Alexander Natruskin

I noticed that Olmert appears in many photographs embracing different officials. A peculiar gesture as it looks like he is holding on to people instead of hugging them, in this case it is Luzhkov, Moscow�s mayor. The abandonment of the moral ground by Lubavitch is complete. No "Who is a Jew", no territories, no democracy, no spiritual ecstasy, just around the clock worshiping of money and the ephemeral political power.

The timeline of the Land of Israel

Last week I was floating to beat my willow branches on the stones by the Wall. I was apprehensively pushing against the stream returning from the Ramadan Friday. In this historical context I read My Obiter Dicta: Solemn, Grim Determination.

The Israeli Constitution

Ben Chorin: The constitution I co-wrote is written up today in Haaretz.

Larisa Trimbobler allowed conjugal visits

Haaretz: Prison Service to allow conjugal visits for Rabin assassin Amir.

"The prison service announced in March that Amir is allowed to provide sperm samples for the artificial insemination of his wife, after rejecting the couple's demands to be allowed conjugal visits on the grounds that he could use them to pass political messages to his supporters."

Rabbi Steinsaltz on the tears of Chanah

DELETED

Certainly Gandalin is right: It was the Kohen Godol Eli, seated on his cathedra by one of the pylons of the mishkan in Shiloh, who observed Chanah's impassioned prayer?

I have deleted the post as its veracity is now in question (although I am certain about Rabbi Steinsaltz's message) my ignorance is glaring. I can't even blame it on Simchas Torah, alas I don't drink.

Eliyohu past midnight in Jerusalem

When I was walking home on Simchas Torah late at night in Jerusalem I run into a man who had this incredible saintly look. He had flowing strait peyos that almost merged with his beard, a lion-like look. He was wearing surtuk and under it a long garment-like tzitzis. He had two people in his entourage. We spoke. He used an elaborate and poetic Litvisher Yiddish but obviously was not a Lubavitcher. He was extraordinarily sharp, on par with Zelig Levin. I was floored by his penetrating observation and knowledge of obscure subjects. He refused to tell me his name. I run into a hotel after one of the people in his entourage but the man said he could not reveal the identity. I was so impressed with this Jew, particularly with his on the spot ability to tell things about me indicative of a spiritual x-ray vision. I really though I encountered Eliyohu past midnight on the streets of Jerusalem� I run into him again at night the next day as he kept the second day Yom Tov. Perhaps the man is a Brisker and I have reasons to believe that he resides in Toronto. Anyone knows who he is?

Robust noise

Schneur Zalman of NY commenting to mentalblog.com: The evil empire:

Most students choose to go to NYU, BECAUSE of its urban setting. They are fully aware WHERE NYU is located and where Bobst is. By now living in big cities is associated with all sorts of noise indeed robust noise! Mostly coming from music, traffic, etc. I was a student at NYU in the 1970's and I can not recall being bothered by noise at the Bobst library. I can recall being bothered by my Yetzer Hore at Bobst. Clearly my dear friend Chakira heard some noise, which was Jewish noise and that bugged him. The general plethora of noise coming from that great landmark of western civilization called Washington Square Park did not bother him.

But its a "davar beito", like the prophet Jonah running from his G-D, our student is also running from His G-D and in Tarshish, his G-D found him and unlike Jonah, our student resents being discovered in his makom miklot reading the great philosophers and thinkers. I too am no great fan of "Chabad in the Street" activities. But its a free country and Chabad has much right as others to tummel and make noise. In the process I am certain they have aided many Jews in discovering their Jewish identity and engaging their Judaism. Certainly they have turned a few Jews off too. And of course angered many Orthodox Jews like Chakira and myself. The Rav is supposed to have said that the achievement of Chabad in the US was that it brought Judaism into the streets...

To my friend Chakira, relax and enjoy the Chabad people they are no threat to us, unless we engage them and the correct policy is to wave and go on with business. May I conclude that I was impressed by the fact of a group of Chabad teens walking from CH to WH on Yontov, even if misguided it takes dedication to do that.

Carnival in Jerusalem

Schneur Zalman of NY commenting to mentalblog.com: Jerusalem hats and heads:
The pictures are wonderful. The various costumes and hair styles peyoth, kippoth are wonderful and very photogenic. But permit me to make the following observations. The clothes are obviously just costumes. The people dress up in what they want to be. There are no longer any real Yidden with any real mesoroth in levush. Its cute to see American BT's dress up as Yemenis or Carlebachians or whatever but what does this mean spiritually. Perhaps the CPA in a grey hat and grey suit clean shaven is more spiritually aware than these people.. Perhaps the Mizrachi Zionist man in a knit kippah and white shirt has more spiritual energy than the Carlbachian characters. At my age the Yerushalmi Levush does not impress me either. If its their tradition fine but its nothing more than a good photo op for American tourists. I wish you went behind the scenes to seek true spiritual people teachers etc whatever they look like. Instead you produced wonderful photos of exotic looking people. Next year we will buy the costumes and have a carnival in Boston or New York.

Nahama:
I actually know one of the boys from this picture series. When I met him, he had just cut his hair, leaving the long peyos, and had donned the Breslov garb. Though it was very difficult for him, he had found an eclectic support group in the teens and various rabbis of Jerusalem. Walking down the narrow streets of Ben Yehuda amongst the regular 3:00 am crowd, hands and arms would fly out to pat him on the back in congratulations for making the "big jump". Cutting the hair and putting on the clothes is the final inauguration ceremony; the Mark of the Dati. There is a deep respect for the "turnover". A quick conversation with the 3:00 a.m.er's will reveal that they too will don the garb at one point in their life, whatever it may be.

There is another dimension: Jews wanting to become frum and change their lives (ring a bell?) try to differentiate themselves by a new uniform. They identify themselves with other Jews by dressing like them. This is a problem?

Jerusalem hats and heads

Reggae listening Yony, who came to Israel as child from Philadelphia says no to war.


I actually got into the VIP section in Gan HaPaamon without a pass and then climbed the stage to take the photo.


This dude says Jerusalem is about hat politics.


I wished Malcolm Hoenlein Shanah Tovah.


People think I am Ethiopian, but I am Ashkenazi on both sides.


Chef of the Indian restaurant in the shuk.


Toldpos Aaaron yid who said let's go see dancing at Mir.


Craftsman of cigarette holders Evgeny Dreyer.


Russian poet Petya Ptach








Princessa look


From Arizona, stayed in Israel after a birthright trip.




Russian Mishtara.


Studying Chinese medicine.


Baruch Marzel says people make up stories about him being from Boston, his mother is.










The gifts of Yemen.


He called me brother.


A na-na kipa available in assorted colors, blond peyos optional.


Chessboard breakers dancing away the night of Hashano Rabo.

Toldos Aaron connection

They broke my camera or may be they didn�t. I was on top bleachers and hung my bags on a metal rod, my hands full with Araba Minim and a Siddur. I had two bags, one with my gadgets. That bag fell about three floors down. The camera still works but the LCD screen is shattered and I can't see all the controls. My $400 PDA is not working as well, may be I can boot it up from the backup back home. I am not sure if they did this on purpose but the man who found my bag said that there is a camera. I had change in my bag, it is also missing although I am not 100% sure it was there, I was in a daze. Add this to $500 shades I dropped and broke by the Kosel and broken hopes and friendships. Those are small things in a scheme of things but the pattern that confuses me.

The evil empire

Chakira commenting to Toldos Aaron contraband:

I am sitting in the NYU library, across from Washington Sq Park, and all I hear is the infernal noise of the glam rocking Lubobs playing "ashreinu" at noon. Would that they had the modesty of the Toldos Aharon Hasidim, I would be able to study. Unfortunately, they are too consumed in their mission of being loud and obnoxious to let anyone enjoy the verdant beauty of Washington Sq Park, or the contemplative silence of the library. The guy outside is singing tov lehodos lashem. I respond: f. you.

I second the sentiment from Jerusalem. Murderous deeds sugarcoated with syllables. Daloy Chabad!

Toldos Aaron contraband

Simchas Beis HaShoeiva with Toldos Aaron. An amazing inspiring dance. I have not seen anything similar anywhere else.




The clock strikes midnight�


Speaking about contraband.




The had a live Toldos Aaaron Band. There is a clarinet player that could teach Benny Goodman few tricks, his tunes were breathtaking. The music was authentic, very very loud with a forceful beat. They finished with Leshana Habaa Be Yerushalim Habnuya!


Reading PRAVDA.








Everyone in the circle was soaking wet. I am glad I still remember how to operate and push on the bleachers. That small table to the right is actually the Rebbe�s desk. The second the Rebbe left just before 1:00 am they were standing on that table.


On a way out I met the Teymany Rav. He spoke a perfect Yiddish and was holding this huge Esrog. Toldos Aaron bochrim later told me that it was a kosher Yemenite Esrog.

Indian summer in Jerusalem

The Jerusalem Credo

There is a recognition that becomes increasingly clear in Jerusalem. Religion is an alibi, talking about goodness provides a convenient out from actually doing a single act of goodness.

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE!

I am hopelessly despondent. Disappointed in pathetic friendships I have and sad about the friendships I never had. The entrapment is complete.

Sukkah for one in Nahlaot

Found this on a narrow street in Nahlaot. About three feet tall. The sign on the wall certifying that the Sukkah is kosher.


Speaking about kashrus, I run into Eliezer Wollf, formally of Glasgow Scotland, the author of �Shmiras Kashrus be Olam Lo Kosher�. He says: "Meet my friend, the Alter Rebbe's grand grand daughter, Rivka Schneerson�"


Sholom Brodt said I should come by his Sukkah.








Raz, the Rosh Yeshiva "Simchat Shlomo" in Nahlaot, a 3 year old BT yechiva in the spirit of Sholmo Carlebach.


Later that night: beer, cigarettes and sunflower seeds with Israelis and some guys from Queens.