Jewish Fundamentalism

Egged

2012-01-12T10:22:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the seventies

2009-10-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

Since we're now in the seventies, (5770), can I wear bell bottoms?

Obesessed

2009-09-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

I have embedded the 3rd Jihad onto my site. I haven't watched it yet - I have better things to do in Ellul, but I can't help but wander if it wouldn't be better to worry about what we are getting up to rather than the members of a different religion. Do we take Yomim HaNoraim seriously? Do we learn properly? Do we mean what we daven?
Enjoy

EXCLUSIVE! - Michael Jackson Assassinated by the Eda Charedis!

2009-07-13T01:47:00.000-07:00

I was having a conversation with somebody who claims to be involved in the Eda HaCharedit this week, he dropped this bombshell into the course of conversation:

“Michael Jackson was a member of the Jew-hating Nation of Islam. He wanted to destroy Klal Yisroel. He managed to work himself into the confidence of the Jerusalem municipality through his reputation and fortune and was prepared to support and encourage the opening of further carparks on Shabbat. This was the support that the municipality needed to get the edge over us, the fight would have been over, he had to go. Some of our contacts in up state New York managed his removal from the equation.”

I was absolutely shocked at this comment. One of the worlds best loved entertainers has lost his life in the battle for Shabbos!

9th Av and Sefiras HaOmer

2009-07-09T08:23:00.001-07:00

Tisha b'Av, (and the three weeks as a whole), share many dinim in common with Sefiras HaOmer.
Tisha B'Av mourns the destruction of the Beis HaMikdosh, the dwelling place for the Shechinah. Miracles were performed there daily as part of the functioning of the sacrificial service. Tisha B'Av mourns the destruction of that place where Shamayim came down to this physical world. This could be analoguos to Torah Sh'Bksav, written Torah, which was transmitted from Hashem through Nevua without human analysis and extrapolation.
In the previous post, the Chassam Sofer said that the laws of mourning on 9th Av are there to prevent one from removing their thoughts from the churban, however anybody who is truly connected to Hashem, is anyway in mourning at the catastrophy of the assault on Hashem's Presence here and Written Torah. Perhaps the same could be said of Sefiras HaOmer, such a person will automatically be sensitised to the devestation of Torah Sh'Bal Peh, Oral Torah that occurred throught the plague which wiped out Rabbi Akiva's students, who were engaged in interpereting the Torah and ruling practical Halocho.
Thus the similarity in dinim relects a similarity in what we are mourning, assault on Written Torah in Av and an assault of Oral Torah in Sefirah.

THe Week of 9th Av

2009-07-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

During the days of mourning, (the week in which 9th Av falls), anyone whose heart is completely faithful to Hashem his Lord feels the spiritual sensation through which the mourners of Tzion Shel Maalah, (the spiritual Jerusalem), arouse themselves to crying and lamenting, …. etc. and automatically every person of Yisroel will mourn and be saddened in his heart, therefore, there was no requirement to command mourning, rather to forbid laudering and hair cutting which bring somebody to remove his mind from mourning………..

Chassam Sofer - drashos

Mourning the Churban

2009-07-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

We don’t understand in our great iniquity, the greatness of cleaving to Hashem and the greatness of the in gathering of the dispersed of Yisroel and thus our awaiting of the Geula (redemption), is merely due to our desire to satiate our thirst and eat its fruits and top be satisfied from its goodness and to exempt ourselves from the yoke of exile. And how can it be that we aren’t embarrassed by our crying and lamenting over our lack of sustenance, for we should cry out, “Where is our Lord”! We have forgotten how bad and how bitter it is that we have been exiled from the table of our Father in Shamayim, (“Heaven”), may his name be blessed. We have forgotten His Torah and the desecration of His Great Name and our wailing day and night is merely over our lack of sustenance. No one considers to mourn over the exile and due to this the Shechinah, (Hashem’s presence), gourds itself in sackcloth and wails and cries over it’s children, that they don’t wail.

Chassam Sofer - Drashos

OH NO! The Great Game is Coming to Get Us!

2009-06-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

Why has Obama cosied up to the Islamic world? Is it a new start in Eisav/Yishmoel relations? An appeasement of a more dynamic foe?

Or is it good, old fashioned USA/Russia maneuvering?

Russia is “best friends” with Iran. Iran has oil. Iran wants to extend hegemony over the Middle East; more oil. Russia has supplied part for nuclear reactors to Iran and has at least tried to supply advanced weaponry to Syria.

Geographically Russia neighbours Iran and the Central Asian ‘stans. This combined with the alliance with the Iran-Syria-Hizbollah axis but Russia in a potentially very powerful position in the Middle East and greater Islamic world.

Israel gets military aid from the USA. Hamas and Hizbollah get financial and military aid from Iran. Is it far fetched to imagine that some of this may be paid for by frustrated ex-great power Russia?

This being the case, the Israel/Palestine conflict takes on new significance as a USA/Russia proxy war.

If the USA can limit Iranian, (Russian), influence in the area by appearing to alter its relations with the Islamic world and instead increase its own influence, countering Russian geographic advantage with a charm offensive, then a reliable oil supply can be secured for America, at its long time rival’s expense. A sensible move, especially in a recession.

This game could continue, with attendant proxy conflicts for some time.

See this article from The Asia Times Online from 2007 discussing Russian ambitions in the area.
Moscow raises Gulf Spirits

Putin's Middle East tour visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan on Feb 11-13 (besides being the first ever visit to Saudi Arabia by a Soviet/Russian head of state) glitteringly reveals the Moscow's proactive intent for the region, says Abdul Ruff Colachal.

As the USA that has maintained the "identical views" with Israel on international issues, especially the Middle East crises, is intolerably troubled in Gulf waters, Russia, a UNSC veto member, has come out openly to soothe the wounded pride of the Arabs caused by the war strategies of the US-led forces with both cooperative gestures and slamming of US foreign policy that has over years made the world more insecure and terribly dangerous. Focused on balanced relations across the globe, Russian President Vladimir Putin's diplomacy moves ahead to consolidate its role in the Middle East, too. Putin's Middle East tour visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan on Feb 11-13 (besides being the first ever visit to Saudi Arabia by a Soviet/Russian head of state) glitteringly reveals the Moscow's proactive intent for the region. Russia seems to be keen to play an independent role in the region by hosting an international conference on West Asia.
Determined to transform Russia's Cold-War image as a regional instigator and arms proliferator into one of a peacemaker and stabilizer, Mr. Putin, who took Russia from its chaotic existence in 1990 to new heights in economic, political and military terms by 2004 with politico-economic ties extended to both West and East, stepped right on to American turf and challenged the position the United States enjoyed as the chief power broker in West Asia since the collapse of the Soviet Union 1992. The Arabs as other Muslims profoundly worried by the way the United States appears to have lost its mind after 9/11, embarking on a world-wide campaign against real and imaginary enemies. Putin's tour coincided with the Palestinian peace process set in motion by the King's initiative to ensure a Unity government by Hamas and Fatah. The Palestinian factions have just finished a round of talks in the holy city of Makkah on forming a Unity government. Seeing an opportunity to increase Russia's influence in the Middle East, Putin now wants feelings of animosity extinguished and past threats to be forgotten.
With the collapse of US led wars in Middle East, spoiling the US image as a great super power eager to lead the world on democratic and enlightened path, Russia seeks to reassert its influence in the region. Putin's advantage in West Asia is Russia's century long ties with Muslim nations in Middle East and Central Asia, the latter was a part of the USSR until 1991 when the mighty nation collapsed and disintegrated. The cooperative activities during his historic visit in mid February to Saudi Arabia, followed by Qatar and Jordan were in line with the wishes expressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin for purposeful ties. Formation of the Unity government and US-Israeli-Palestinian talks likely later this month, Russian and Saudi pressure to restart peace talks would serve well to provide momentum. President Putin, reiterated his proposal made during his first ever visit to Israel and Egypt in 2005 to hold an international conference on the Middle East peace process in Moscow later this year. Putin said the other three members of the Middle East "quartet" - the United States, the United Nations and the European Union - as well as "all the states concerned" would be invited to attend the conference.
The king of Saudi Arabia rolled out a carpet to welcome Putin, a rare gesture of the Kingdom to foreign dignitaries. Saudi and Russia are the world's top most oil producers. Lending credence to its claim as a global champion of energy security, Russia extracted 9.236 million barrels per day (mbpd) of oil in June 2006 - 46,000 barrels more than Saudi Arabia - and its oil supply is expected to average 9.9 mbpd in 2007. As a result, Riyadh wants its own "energy dialog" with Moscow , which has been facilitated in some way through the five-year oil-and-gas cooperation agreement signed during the landmark visit of Crown Prince Abdullah in 2003.The economic agreements with Saudi Arabia and Qatar occupied priority space in Kremlin's diplomacy.
Among the three nations he visited on his business tour, Putin has achieved maximum success in Saudi Arabia, while in Qatar, the gas giant of the region, the proposal for OPEC for Gas regime, or Gas Cartel, was generally addressed. Putin also promised that Russia would help Saudi Arabia develop a national nuclear program as well as launching several Saudi satellites in addition to the seven already boosted into orbit by a Russian missile in 2005. Addressing Saudi businessmen and financiers, Putin called on them to open Saudi banks in Russia. Putin also promised that Russia would help Saudi Arabia develop a national nuclear program as well as launching several Saudi satellites in addition to the seven already boosted into orbit by a Russian missile in 2005.
Russia and Qatar discussed establishing a mechanism to coordinate the supply of natural gas across the globe. In Qatar he held talks with Emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who also backed the proposal of Middle East Conference. Moscow and Doha are also engaged in intensifying bilateral energy cooperation, with Gazprom expressing interest in joint gas production and refining projects in Qatar. As Russia is diversifying its arms clients beyond China and India – after losing out on the Syrian, Iraqi and Libyan markets – the Gulf countries too are looking for a basket of suppliers beyond the United States. Though Russia is the world's third largest weapons exporter after the United States and Great Britain, at $7.1 billion, Russia sold more weapons than the US in 2005.Europe imports nearly 44 per cent of its gas supplies from Russia, and the European Union leaders have said they would oppose Russian moves towards forming a cartel. Moscow justifies its resolve without confronting the West.
Jordan has more political significance for Moscow, than economic. Discussions surrounding regional stabilization plans also to touch upon anti-terror cooperation in the face of common threats and challenges, but in a lighter vein. While the Gulf countries have been largely successful in controlling the threat posed by "extremists and militants", Moscow is still hotly pursuing the so-called “Chechan separatists”, who have had sympathizers and supporters in the Gulf. However, by involving itself with the Iranian nuclear issue as a 'honest broker', Russia also attempts to help the scenario in Iraq, where Iran's influence in the internal politics of the war-torn country destroyed by the US-led forces is increasing every day, posing a threat to the unity of the country and throwing up the possibility of the conflict spilling over to the neighboring countries. Apart from economic interests, it is in this context that Putin is visiting Jordan.
Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran figured prominently in the talks held by the Russian leader with Arab leaders. While Afghanistan is being looted and destroyed as part of the establishing a so-called democratic world and the Afghans being massacred and tortured by the NATO forces, supported by several countries including Israel and India even with their resources, the US-Israel combine is fully focused on eliminating countries like Palestine, Lebanon and Iran. Justifiably worried for their own security, Iran and its local friends - Syria, Lebanon and Palestine - have been attempting to challenge and contain American and Israeli power. If you hit us, they say, we will hit you back. This is legitimate and they have achieved some vague success. They know that the Western world, too, has its interests -- in the free flow of oil, for example, and in using phrases like regime change, democracy and pluralistic system.
During a three-day tour of West Asia in April 2005, Mr. Putin had paid the first ever visit by a Russian or Soviet leader to Israel and Palestine and the first such visit to Egypt after 1965. Proactive role of Egypt and Syria is vital in resolving the Middle East Conflict, involving Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Lebanon. Egypt and Russia enjoyed close ties until the 1970s when Egypt turned to the US which has since become its most strategic foreign partner, his policy is aimed at bolstering Russia's political and economic relations with Egypt.
Russia strongly opposes the Israeli invasions of Lebanon and Palestine, though Kremlin strives to keep the Israelis in good humors. Israel's intermittent wars with the Palestinians and Lebanese have been a serious irritant in resolving the crises because the USA and UK support Israel and there is a growing lobby the world over for Israel and against the Arabs. Syria wants to redeem its territories on Golan Heights it lost, when Israel with US support annexed them. Moscow has maintained strong economic ties with Syria.
USA and Israel are concerned about their security alone, while they cause insecurity for the rest of the world. A balance of power means respect for everyone's interests, not only Israel's or USA's. The problem with US is that it is keen that no one country in the West Asia, other than Israel, should possess nuclear weapons. When the story about Iraq possessing WMD has been exposed badly, Iran is accused of threatening the world with its new nuclear program. They insist that there is a danger to the Middle East and world at large until Iran comes clean about its real intentions, all those supplying it with arms and extending nuclear cooperation must cease to do so. Going any further at this stage would only strengthen Iran's ambitions to dominate the Middle East even more.
Putin’s visit made Moscow's political as well as economic intent for the Middle East amply clear. The Kremlin sees the Middle East the most disturbed region of the globe today and the USA is the cause of it. Putin did not hesitate to scold Washington, now controlled by neo-cons, for what he sees as its contribution to the prevailing insecurity and chaos all over the world. There was a hue and cry when , on the eve of his visit to Riyadh, Putin made a historical, confrontational speech in the presence of, among others, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, against American foreign policy at a prestigious European security conference in Munich, accusing Washington of unilateralism. Some commentators said revived the spirit of Cold War now. Putin is absolutely right when he states that the Bush administration has undermined the UN, made a dangerous mess in the Gulf, and threatens to ignite a strategic arms race by modernizing the US nuclear arsenal and planning to deploy ballistic missile defense systems (BMD) in Poland and the Czech Republic. Moscow resented the NATO expansion to include East European nations, excluding Russia, which sees itself as a primarily European rather than Asian nation.
Engagement of both Arabs and Israel by USA and Russia is the only way to achieve a qualitative shift in the Middle East peace process by a developed partnership between the US and Russia, which Russia strives to achieve, despite the aggressive rhetoric. The "Gulf ball" thus is in the court of both Moscow and Washington, confusing the world even more. Presumably, the rhetoric was meant to reiterate the Kremlin resolve to forge strong relations with West Asian nations against the wishes of the US. Cold war would escalate the regional tension further. Some Middle East countries like Iran and Syria will no doubt be immensely reassured by Putin's remarks, but so will Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states who are eagerly seeking to diversify their international relations so as to reduce their dependence on a dangerously volatile United States.
Russia does not have direct boarders with West Asia, but through buffer zones created by the former Soviet republics and sea-lake waters. Putin administration’s resolve to regain its “legitimate” control over the former Soviet republics, baring a couple of Central Asian states and Belarus, has not materialized as yet. On the contrary, some of them like Georgia and Ukraine have drifted to the Western side. Moscow's efforts to control them all by using energy diplomacy have not favored Kremlin significantly. Moscow forecasts that once relations with Middle East are strengthened, the Central Asia and other regions around Russia would become friendly and non-threatening, if not beneficial, to Moscow.
Iran’s desperation to take Saudi into confidence of peaceful nature of its nuclear program apart, there have been intense diplomatic efforts between US and Russia on Iran in the recent past, particularly after the increased US naval presence in the region heightened tension. US is devoid of sensible policy in Middle East. While the Gulf countries undoubtedly resist Iran's nuclear foray, they also fear that any US military misadventure would wreak further havoc in the region. In this context, just as Russia can use its influence with Iran to insist on peaceful nuclear program, it can also use its influence in the United Nations Security Council to block any unwarranted action.
Most important, Russia's main concerns remain to revolve around the escalation between the US and Iran, not because it expects US military action, but because tension would lead to the deployment of advanced US missile systems near Russian borders, which Moscow perceives as a threat to Russian security. It depends on whether the USA is genuinely seeking a constructive role in the region; for just as the US administration should rid itself of the 'Cold War victory' complex and start thinking outside the box .Reluctance to come to terms with reality in the region would, eventually, lead USA to dustbin of history, leaving Russia, Japan and China in the centre of international politics.
The BBC's Russian affairs analyst Steven Eke says that Mr. Putin's tour of these pro-western Middle Eastern nations comes at a time when Moscow's disillusionment with the West is growing. Putin's tour of Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Jordan, is the first of its kind in the history of diplomatic links between Russia and the Gulf region. But the absence of a profound, coherent Russian Middle East policy, however, gives rise to confusion about Moscow's long-term goals in the region. Perhaps if Russian president Vladimir Putin is able to assert the power of Kremlin to challenge US unilateralism, Russia will continue to become a more responsible player in the Middle East, acting with a greater sense of strategic vision.
Aiming at consolidating Moscow's ties with the Arab world, Putin completed his historic three-day visit to the Middle East on a positive note. There is no need to speculate about the return of Russia to the region as a strategic competitor. Russia is becoming a fairly important player in global politics whose influence stems largely from its permanent seat in the UN Security Council and its consequent ability to affect regional developments in the Persian Gulf. And although Russia's influence is also translated into the ability to sell weapons, Moscow is unlikely to return to the Middle East as a deliberate and aggressive country that proliferates conventional or weapons of mass destruction (WMD) technology. The US is deeply worried about the outcomes of Putin’s West Asian tour and working overnight to set its policy right in the Gulf region.
Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal is a Research Scholar at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Daas Torah

2009-05-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

I read a post on someones blog recently dealing with what they described as the new phenomenon of daas Torah so I thought that I'd add my tuppence here:

Long long ago, in a land far far away Jews were brought up on Torah with minimal cultural input from outside. That meant that a person approached any part of life with Torah as their primary influence. Today most of us have been affected by Hollywoodism, either directly or indirectly. The average joe does not see the world from the perspective of Torah. Only someone who has truly flushed out the alien influences and replaced them with Torah and avodas Hashem is going to be able to do so.

As far as understand it, daas Torah isn't some kind of superpower, it's the rare quality of being permeated by Torah.

Exile and Alienation

2009-05-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

The Hagodoh states, "We were slaves to Pharaoh". Why does the Hagodoh chose this phrase when it could have said, "We were enslaved to Pharaoh"?
It could be because we were not merely Jews that were enslaved, but our identity as Jews was lost and we thought and acted like slaves, not as children of Yakov Avinu.
A, or perhaps the, symptom of exile is when the exiled nation is perpetually alienated, not a part of the host culture and yet disconnected from it's own culture. It becomes an alien nation, alien to itself and everyone else.
The blacks of America whose ancestors were forcibly removed from their home land face a similar situation, not fully accepted into the pervading white society, but no longer African either.
Can we say that we are wholly Jewish with our Hellenised way of thought? Do we think like Moses or like Hollywood?
Being removed from our land is the means to sever us from our essence. So to a return to the land unaccompanied by Moshiach is just a change of address, (albeit an inherently more spiritual one).
The Pitchei Chotem, (R' Yakov Abuchatzira), takes this idea further by comparing a persons soul to an adult daughter living in her parents house. She's embarrased to live off her parents so she goes out to earn her keep. So, the neshomoh is embarassed to live for free in Shamayim, benefitting from Hashem's Presence, thus it's sent into this world to earn its reward. That doesn't mean that the neshomoh enjoys physicality and material existence. The soul long for spirituality, but the body seeks physical pleasure. We forget that we are neshomohs given a body as a tool. We are alienated from who we really are!
Until the final redemption all that we can do to alliviate our situation is to place Torah and mitzvos above everthing else, to learn Torah properly, (instant connection to Hashem), to pray sincerly and to realise that the Jewish Nation is a spiriual one.

2009-02-24T12:09:00.000-08:00

This is a very very very brief biography of Rabbi Shmuel Birnbaum, quoted in this weeks exciting "On the Parsha" vort.

HaRav Shmuel Birnbaum was one of the students of the Mir yeshiva who traveled to Shanghai during the war. He later moved to America and eventually became the Rosh Yeshiva of Mir in Brooklyn.
One anecdote that I heard at a hesped of his after his passing, was that in his later years, he was discussing life in the heim with a fellow war time talmid of the Mir.
They spoke of the poverty that was part of life in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe before the war. His fellow said, that since R' Shmuel had a Ketzos HaChoshen and a Nesivas HaMishpot, (two very important works written about 200 years ago used extensively in yeshivos), as a youth in yeshiva, he presumably came from a relatively well off family, (seforim were a luxury out of reach to many in those times). R’ Shmuel replied that on the contrary, his family was very poor, but that his mother had sold, (literally), every piece of movable property that they possessed, in order that her son should be best able to succeed in his yeshiva studies!
This was only four generations ago!

Yehudut HaTorah

2009-02-15T11:33:00.000-08:00

This was published on Ynet:

United Torah Judaism woos Arab voters
Ultra-orthodox party launches campaign aimed at swaying Arab votes in its direction; bases efforts on promise to protect sector's interests against right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu's 'racist' platform
Ronen Medzini
Published: 02.09.09, 13:21 / Israel News

With Election Day less than 24 hours away, it seems the parties are pulling out all the stops in order to increase their potential Knesset mandates.

Ultra-orthodox United Torah Judaism party activists, for example, have been distributing flyers in Arab neighborhoods and communities, using the slogan "Haredim for equality."

The party stated it would protect the Arab sector's interests againt Yisrael Beiteinu's manifest. Some of the party's flyers label rival party leader Avigdor Lieberman a racist, and state that "Arabs and haredim fight racism – vote United Torah Judaism."
UTJ is considered a sectorial party, representing predominantly the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox community. Inner squabbles, however, have diminished the party's influence and it seems it is trying to make up for support lost by appealing to the Arab sector.

The party's "anti- Lieberman" campaign aligns with another ultra-orthodox party – Shas.

United Torah Judaism's elections headquarters said that "the party is trying to recruit as many votes as possible. We appeal to the Arab voters who care about matters of chastity and family honor."

Knesset Member Moshe Gafni added that "we are against racism and for the Torah, and the Torah clearly says 'Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt,'" (Exodus 23:9).

Lieberman, said Gafni, has no respect for the principles of democracy. "If you govern over a country that has a non-Jewish minority living in it, you have to look out for that minority's rights, unless you know for sure that minority will harm you. The Torah commands it. I don’t think Lieberman makes that distinction, but United Torah Judaism does."

Did this actually get any extra votes?

1st post

2009-02-15T09:57:00.000-08:00

Welcome!

Here's my blog about life as a Jewish fundamentalist!
It might be fun.....
It might be mental.....

etc. etc. etc.

I plan to include divrei hisororus etc. which have inspired me on any given day. Maybe some chiddushim, maybe some news.

If you want to add anything to a post, or just to tell me that I'm a kofer, please leave a comment!

Regards,

A yungerman "at risk"