One Israeli Creation for the Weekend
This upcoming week is Hnukkah, aka: the most wonderful time of the Jewish year. The next eight days will be full fun, family-time, extremely oily food and lots and lots of holiday spirit. I know some of you see more Chistmas than Hanukkah when walking down the street, so to make your weekend more Hnukkah-like, here are my favorite versions of Hanukkah songs! Have a happy, happy holiday!!!
Hanukkah Medley from “Shirim Ktanim” (little songs)- the video tape many Israelis around my age grew up on
December 7, 2012
In-depth
Writing in the National Interest, Akiva Eldar examines possible U.S. responses to Israel's announcement of construction in E1.
The decision to build 3,000 units in area E1 is described as a “punishment” for the UN General Assembly's vote to upgrade Palestine to the status, in the UN view, of a non-member observer state. Israel argues that the unilateral UN move is proof that Mahmoud Abbas, the leader who has extended his hand to negotiations, is a “non-partner.”
The decline and fall of the Muslim Brotherhood
The protests in Egypt reveals the true face of what President Mohammed Morsi's Islamist party has become, writes Hani Shukrallah in Ahram Online.
…the Brotherhood and its allies, gradually, yet certainly and swiftly, became no longer able to see themselves as part of, let alone partners in, this very specific, living and vibrant Egyptian nation being reborn, but as an advance battalion of a mythical Islamic Umma, for which post-revolution Egypt is little more than spoils ripe for the picking, its people hapless subjects to be conquered and subjugated. All of which, incidentally, might be described in Gibbons’ terms, as entailing the “loss of civic virtue”.
Daily Digest
- Times of Israel: If all else fails, US will hit Iran in 2013, say former top advisers to Obama and Bush
- Haaretz: Hamas leader Khaled Meshal to make historic visit to Gaza, with eye on presidency
- Jerusalem Post: PA police attack IDF forces in Hebron
- Ynet: Sudan nabs Israeli 'spy' vulture
- New York Times: U.S. Shifting Its Warning on Syria’s Chemical Arms
- Washington Post: Egypt’s president stands by decree, but behind tanks
- Wall Street Journal: Al Qaeda in the Age of Obama
Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter and Facebook for facts and figures, analysis and opinion on Israel and the U.S., the Jewish World and the Middle East
“President Obama’s must-read primer on clearing ‘Pathways to Peace’” – Haaretz Review
Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Egypt Dan Kurtzer is convinced that Middle East peacemaking is 'in Obama’s guts.' His new book aims to show the president how to move forward in “Pathways to Peace – America and the Arab-Israeli Conflict”. (Reviewed by Chemi Shalev in Haaretz)
If you read only one book on the Middle East this year, let this one be it. It has been sent to the Obama Administration and members of Congress.
The only reasonable conclusion to draw after reading this book is that the time is now to enter into final status negotiations between Israel and Palestine and that only strong American pressure will bring this about.
Essays are written by American, Israeli and Palestinian experts. All of them are compelling and enlightening. For me, as part of the pro-Israel pro-peace progressive Zionist community, the essays written by Palestinians are among the most enlightening because the Palestinian narrative is quite different from the Israel narrative.
The book argues effectively that the past cannot be prologue to the future. What is important now is what happens going forward. Playing the blame game for past failures at peace negotiations will doom future talks and a successful two-state solution, which is in the best interests of Israel, the Palestinians, the United States, Europe, and all moderate Arab countries. The alternative to a two-state solution is endless war, bloodshed and despair. What will be lost as well will be the Zionist dream of creating a Jewish democratic state in our national home after 2000 years of exile.
Ambassador Daniel Kurzter has done a significant service in the cause of peace. Kol hakavod to him!
“President Obama’s must-read primer on clearing ‘Pathways to Peace’” – Haaretz Review Read More »
Former Israeli PM Olmert will not run in election, aide says
Former Israeli leader Ehud Olmert put an end to weeks of political suspense on Thursday with a decision not to run against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in January's election.
The centrist Olmert had been mulling a political comeback since October, when Netanyahu called the election after his government failed to agree on the 2013 budget.
“He is not running,” his aide, Yanki Galanti, told Reuters.
Olmert, 67, was forced to quit as prime minister in 2008 over corruption charges of which he was largely acquitted this year. He is internationally credited for pursuing peace with the Palestinians.
Right-wing Netanyahu, who polls predict will win the ballot, has come under international pressure in the past week after his government announced plans to expand Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and in the West Bank, territory the Palestinians want for a future state.
Israeli commentators were divided on whether an Olmert candidacy would have helped to unite an already splintered centre-left opposition, or would have further fractured the bloc.
Israelis go to the polls on January 22.
Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Douglas Hamilton and Pravin Char
Former Israeli PM Olmert will not run in election, aide says Read More »
Egyptian protesters penetrate barrier at Morsi’s palace
Egyptian protesters broke through a barbed wire barricade keeping them from the presidential palace in Cairo on Friday and some climbed onto army tanks and waved flags.
Up to 10,000 protesters had been penned behind the barrier, guarded by tanks that were deployed on Thursday after a night of violence between supporters and opponents of the Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, in which seven people were killed.
Demonstrators cut the barbed wire and hundreds swarmed through and surged up to the walls of the palace, some kissing the police and military guards surrounding it. “Peaceful, peaceful,” they chanted.
Troops of the Republican Guard, which had ordered rival demonstrators to leave the vicinity on Thursday, moved to the front gate to secure the main entrance to the palace.
Reporting by Yasmine Saleh; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Andrew Roche
Egyptian protesters penetrate barrier at Morsi’s palace Read More »
New books on Jewish heritage in Czech Republic and Poland
I’ve got my hands on two new books that deal with the restoration of historic Jewish sites in Poland and the Czech Republic. Both are oversized, both are bilingual (English and the local language)and both feature a combination of text and photographs.
Both, too, are, in a sense, celebrations of the restoration of Jewish heritage sites in those countries since the fall of communism in 1989.
But they are quite different in scope, design and presentation.
Brány spravedlivých. Synagogy Moravy, Slezska a Čech – The gates of the righteous. Synagogues of Moravia, Silesia and Bohemia, by Jaroslav Klenovsky and photographer Ludmila Hajkova (FotoStudio H, Usti nad Labem), is a gorgeous coffee-table book that examines in some detail 54 of the synagogues that now stand in the Czech Republic, chosen to illustrate different architectural and decorative styles
“> permanent exhibition on restorations that opened in June of this year. It focuses on heritage sites that come under the jurisdiction of the Jewish Community of Prague — which is responsible for the management of 28 synagogues and 159 cemeteries in three regions of Bohemia. The Prague Jewish Community web site has a section with “>Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland, or FODZ. It highlights FODZ’s work over the past decade and presents examples of FODZ’s synagogue and cemetery restoration projects, such as the restoration of the Renaissance synagogue in Zamosc, as well as its educational programs and its Chassidic Route tourism itinerary. The full text and photos of the book
1994
New books on Jewish heritage in Czech Republic and Poland Read More »
Taking G-d’s Side
By Rabbi Mark Borovitz
Continuing my “day in the life” and my struggles with being human: My entire Rabbinate is based on listening and being open to the souls of others. In order to do this, I must be able to “Re-spond” and not “Re-act” when I encounter a disagreement.
8:30am- My first meeting was with a staff person who passionately disagreed with a decision I had made concerning his counselees. I realized I hard hurt the counselor's feelings and I felt guilty about that and also angry that the person hadn’t realized I knew better. We get involved in a passionate argument about my decision and the counselor feeling hurt that I disagree with their solution. I start to play spider solitaire on the computer and continue to talk to them. I do this because I feel my emotions get very intense and I go to diffuse my passion by multi-tasking. I explain to the counselor that I have to divert myself so that I don't go overboard in our discussion. The person knows this idiosyncrasy of mine and is still upset. I explain my reasoning and talk about the need to be right vis a vis knowing when one is right and keeping an open mind to learn something new. I know I am getting frustrated because as a graduate of the program, my expectation is that he/she will understand the way we do things at Beit T’Shuvah. I find myself having to manage and tone down myself otherwise I will miss a teaching moment and an opportunity to learn more about the issue, the resident and the counselor as well as myself. I find that I have to continue to be open when I just want to say “I am the boss and just follow my directions.” We resolve to agree to disagree and both of us feel heard and can see the reasoning of the other person. It is a win-win. In this instance, the counselor comes to me a few days later and says that my decision was, after all, correct. She/he asks me “how did you know?” I laugh and say it is God, not me.
9:00 – Spiritual counseling w/residents – this is one of my favorite activities. I am working with a person who has built a life based on lies and bad vision for so long, that they are jaded and want to use psychological reasoning with me. I have her write “lies I tell myself.” This is an amazing exercise because they start to see how their core beliefs have led them to live a life of lies, hopelessness, despair and selfishness. We engage in a discussion about her actions and her lies. After defending for the first 10-15 minutes, I ask some questions and when her ears turn red and her face starts to blush, this young woman starts to laugh and yells at me, ” that's not fair, Rabbi! You get into my head and I can't defend myself.” I smile and say, “I am the advocate for your soul. I am only giving voice to the other part of you that you have refused to listen to and act on, your authentic, God given knowledge.” She looks at me and laughs and says, “okay, I am going to follow that voice this week. See you next week”. I am left with my own feelings of triumph for God and my own memories of how I shut that voice of God down for so long, causing so much pain. I reach for the phone and call my daughter, mother, sister, friend, brother, whomever I had harmed in the same way and do T’Shuvah with them. We end up laughing about how often I realize these types of errors after counseling someone else and how my calls help the other person see their own priors in acting the same way. It is 10:00am and I know the day is a great day already. I have learned and done T’Shuvah, connected with other people, and feel totally present and alive!
I struggle each day with the same issues I always have. I realize that the difference is that I am able to come out on God's side, the side of decency, truth and authenticity much much more often.
Follow Rabbi Mark Borovitz on Twitter Taking G-d’s Side Read More »
Joseph
This is one way in which Joseph is is a man of Light.
Here he is working in a home of a very wealthy man. Joseph sticks to his work, and is highly respected but really loved by his boss, Potipher. His boss' attention seems to be totally focused on Joseph.
“Shortly after” Potiphera, is also clearly aware of Joseph as a sexual being. She sees where her husband's attention is going. It is out of pure lust that she is going after Joseph, pure Love for her husband, Potipher.
This is a rediculous way to get attention, but there is a choice made here. I belive that in this choice, Joseph is a Tzaddik we are to only love for this playing along. Joseph represents the sfirot of Yesod (aligned with the genitals, reproductive organs)* for this reason. Not because he restrained himself from Potiphera's advances, but the choices he made in support of the Love between Potipher and Potiphera.
The commentators point out that obviously Joseph is stronger than Potiphera! Obviously, he didn't have to give his coat, which she uses to prove his desire to rape her. Joseph gave her the coat making allowance for this role playing.
There was an earlier coat was a gift from his father. One reason for this gift (which I do not necessarily believe, although it supports this train of thought and is a possible reason for why his father's face flashes before him as he makes this choice) is that Joseph is born from the womb of Rachel, the woman his father, Jacob, loved. Most of the his brothers are born of Leah, his aunt, who lived in longing for Jacob. Perhaps the recognition of yearning in Potiphera is what incited compassion in Joseph. The sons of Leah had ripped the coat from him as well in acting out this jealousy when they almost killed Joseph. The rage at being the favored one had caused him to lose many a coat. In losing these coats, he is exposed for what his love is really about: his giving, not the egoic love of his boss or father.
Anyone who has ever been loved knows also how to move aside for a bigger Love Story for All of All of And All Of.
Joseph takes off that coat! and as the game of this goes, he winds up in jail under the charges of raping Potipher's wife. It continues like any game.
This incident incites Potipher's jealousy. He wakes up to his wife's love when Potiphera's sexuality gets enforced and acknoledged by Joseph.
Such is the beauty of supporting each other in love. It is said that Potipher and Potiphera's daughter marries Joseph, “Asenath daughter of Potiphera Chief of On” now named. Certainly no animocity, even though they once threw him in jail. Certainly a new knowing of Only Love.
—–
*Sfirot see any book on Kabbalah
Stretches
Hope you all stay warm and dry this weekend, and remember to stretch! As we move into the winter months, our bodies tend to tighten up. Even if you have no time for class, which is always a misleading statement 'cuz we can make the time for anything that feels important!, do this:
Reach up to the sky
Fold over in half, knees bent if needed
Slowly, inhale and come on back up.
Repeat a few times, really hearing your inhale and exhale.
Then hang forward, making some contact with your toes or ankles, ( shins, calves, whatever you can reach!)
And let your EXHALE bring you more length and release in the backs of your thighs.
If you still have time, do the same thing sort of, sitting down.
And then maybe even a bridge posture or two.
And if you have no idea what I am talking about, COME PRACTICE IN PERSON!