Jewish, Jewish, Everywhere, & not a drop to drink
Friday, January 31, 2003
CONTROVERSY: RABBI
MENACHEM MENDEL
SCHNEERSON,
THE LUBAVITCHER REBBE:
______
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Z&D:
This seems like an excessive amount of links above in the full article on the Rebbe.
SimaShalom:
In order to appreciate the scope and reach of the subject's life's work the links offer an on-going overview.
Z&D:
I am not touching the article for now any more than removing the Sorbonne, which is a popular urban legend but little more. This really needs a LOT of neutral point of view (NPOV), especially since Schneerson is still one of the most controversial figures in Orthodox Judaism. To be intellectually honest, some mention must be made of Berger's book, whether you agree with it or not. You might also want to mention the brother-in-law (the one who got the streimel) and how that threatened Lubavitch unity, and give a more thorough coverage of meshichus (Messianism).
Z&D:
does the brother-in-law info need to be included here, or in a separate article on the Lubavitchers?
SimShalom:
Guys, the previous rebbe, Yosef Yitzchok , only had 3 daughters. One died young with no heirs. The other married the rebbe Menachem Mendel, the 3rd married Rabbi Gurarie who headed the Lubavitch yeshivas, he pre-deceased Menachme Mendel quietly. He was a quiet person and never a rival. He did have a son tho, Barry, who dropped out of Lubavitch completely, who was very critical of the movement and had no interest whatsoever in being their leader. The guy with the "strimel" is not even a relative I believe, he is just someone who wrote some books about the movement and arbitrarily decided to make himself a successor.Needless to say, no-one either inside or outside the movement took him seriously. There is NO successor, period.
Z&D:
Could certainly be included here. Essentially, what I was trying to say is that this is a hagiography, not an article, and that the subject is still at the center of a virulent controversy.
SimShalom:
"hagiography means dealing with saints", ...What we have is an exceptionally gifted spiritual leader who was able to "come from behind" and build a huge movement. This is a feat of leadership and organizational ablities, just not sainthood.
That he was able to "think outside of the box" and was able to inspire a large cadre of loyal devotess to do his bidding, and influence presidents and prime ministers to boot, requires some insight into how the hasidic system actually works.
That he was controversial and misunderstood comes with the occupational hazard of being nothing less than a religious revolutionary with a burning zeal for Lubavitch Judaism.That's simply who he was, before the hunt for warts begins.
This wikipedia piece tries to make sense of the human dynamics of a highly charged spiritual leader, perhaps to his followers he is a saint, but even so, they are very down-to -earth people, and can be dealt with as such.
WE are not dealing with dry atoms, or impersonal cells under a microscope. Religious and spiritual subjects deserve the respect of a skeptical reader.
Forget Judaism for a moment.How could one explain the workings of Hinduism and Gurus, without trying to understand a spiritaual system that has more than a Billion devotees, without trying to get some sense of what it is that makes a guru a guru, and what does it mean to have extra-ordinary spiritual powers supposedly to levitate, believe in cows as holy, and fight demons, and be vegetarian for religious reasons as well.
Similarly, how to understand that about TWO Billion people on Earth are believers in a personal saviour and a dead super saintJesus who they claim to be a son of god,no less, and that there are religious leaders involved encouraging these beliefs?
Or should two billion Christians, and a billion Hindus, as well as another billion Moslems be dismissed with the wave of a cyber-hand and simply stay away from this web-site simply because people are uncomfortable with looking at things in different dimensions? Not everyone on Earth is an atheist or agnostic, in fact very few people are, and they always make the mistake of thinking that it's the "other guy" who is "narrow-minded".
Does one have to have a cloud of "political correctness" descend upon deeper analysis, or should one take into account the inner dynamics of belief in Jesus as the Messiah, holy Hindu animals, and sacred Islamic worship of the kaba in Mecca, when dealing with religious subjects?
It cannot be done in purely "clinical" terms. Similarly with Orthodox Judaism which is neither a passive state of affairs nor does it have a passive mind-set.After all, the Talmudical method sharpens the mind and makes one think, deeper, analytically, and more profoundly.
One needs to get a sense of what the system is like, taking into account BOTH the understandings of those on the inside looking out with those who suppose they are on the "outside looking in". There has to be a lot of synthesis and merging of perspectives to arrive at a semblance of ACCURACY if not TRUTH.
The ultimate question is do we want to look through windows and look far beyond out our own limited pre-conceived ideas about religion or the spiritual domain, or do we want to look into mirrors that reflect only what we see of ourselves a few inches ahead of our noses. The intelligent and objective scholar always looks for a window of opportunity rather that the stultification of "Political Corrections" which is just plain old boring.
Anyhow, this is an on-going discussion, thanks for the feed-back.
First must come a description of Rabbi Schneerson and his accomplishments, which are really of major and global proportions. I am not a devotee of Lubavitch, but I do believe that objectively speaking its accomplishments are so massive, that whatever crticisms may be levelled at it pale in scale to what the movement does, and this is due to Rabbi Schneerson's work.
Who has even heard of the brother-in-law problem, and what does a family dispute that is long gone have to do with so vast a success as the world-wide Chabad movement? Berger's book has come after the Rebbe's death, and is directed at a minority clique. To me it seems more a case of sour grapes ex post facto of the life of Rabbi Schneerson.
If you hate Lubavitch you will love Berger's book. But Berger is just a minor writer/lecturer and pales in the shadow of Lubavitch's work. As for the messianic urge within Hasidism, it has always been a part of the over-all movement and from time to time it spills over, but life still goes on as normal (even for a meshichist) as proof that the Messianic age has still not dawned on earth.
Z&D: For someone who claims not be a devotee, your words both on the original page and here belie that. Wikipedia is supposed to be neutral, not a list of saints.
SimShalom:
See my remarks above.
Some people think that President Kennedy was a "saint".Why? Did he do anything during hid life to earn him that title? Probably not.
Are all Orthodox Jews "sinners", as some feel and imply, and it is only the more liberal branches that are "saints" by dint of them merely not being orthodox in the first place? Obviously not. Especially since Judaism does not believe in Saints at all.
A Tzadik is not merely a "saint". It takes a lot of hard work to be successful at the top, and it's that hard work of our subject that needs to be appreciated in order to gain some meaningful insght into a very complex personality and his legacy.
Z&D:
this article is reverting back to hagiography. "all strata"?
It's only a complicated history when you try to present a combination of fact and fiction as fact.
Retrieved from
http://www.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Talk:Menachem_Mendel_Schneerson
Jan 14, 2003.
Modern History:
CREATION
OF THE
MODERN WORLD:
____
From >>>MY<<< Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
I wrote all this myself,and did the research..couple nights worth I guess...
Simshalom:
Modern World , or Modern Period, or New World or Modern Times, Progressive Age , or Modern Era,is recognized by historians as being that period of time commencing roughly in 1750 up until the present times.
During this time earth-shattering changes occurred in politics, industry, society, economics, commerce, transportation, communication , mechanization, automation, science, medicine, technology and culture which transformed the "Old World" into the Modern or New World, culminating in the Nuclear Age, the Sexual Revolution, the Information Age and finally a Leisure Age
The years 1500 - 1750 are in rough outline the times of the Early Modern Period being the years following the European Renaissance.
The modern world was basically shaped by three great Revolutions:
1)The American Revolution of 1776.
2)The French Revolution of 1779.
3)The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries.
These events in turn sowed the seeds for:
The Russian Revolution of 1917 and contributed to the great wars of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, such as:
The American Revolutionary War
The Napoleonic Wars in Europe, and ultimately;
The First World War ( 1914 - 1918 ) and
The Second World War ( 1939 - 1945 ) .
The American and French Revolutions ended the role of omnipotent monarchies to do as they wished in the world. Henceforth the world would become a "Modern" place where Democracy, and Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity became the new standards of government and of the rules of society.
Men such as the Emperor Napoleon introduced new codes of law in Europe based on merit and achievement, rather than on a class system rooted in Feudalism. The modern political system of Liberalism (derived from the word "Liberty" which means "Freedom") empowered members of the dis-enfranchised Third Estate. The power of elected bodies swept aside traditional rule by royal decree. A new attachment to one's nation, culture and language produced the powerful forces of Nationalism . This in turn ultimately contributed to new very modern ideologies such as the ideology of: Fascism; Socialism and Communism
Taken to an extreme, the desire to demolish all vestiges of the past and create a classless society, resulted in the abuses of Communism following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, which executed the Czar and his family, created the Soviet Union, transformed serfdom, and forcibly modernized Mother Russia. In Germany, once the Kaiser had abdicated in 1918, chaos ensued, paving the way for the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism.
The new republic of the United States of America granted the vote to citizens, and placed reins on government based on the new Constitution and creating a system of checks and balances between the three different branches of government of the legislature, judiciary, and executive headed by a President who won a national election.
The mechanical and scientific inventions that were discovered, studied and implemented changed the way goods were produced and marketed. For example, modern machines in Great Britain speeded up the manufacture of commodities such as cloth and iron. The horse and ox were no longer needed as beasts of burden. The newly invented engine powered the car, train, ship, and eventually the plane produced rapidly each year. Artificially created energy powered any motor that drove any machine that was invented. Raw goods could be transported in huge quantities over vast distances and manufactured quickly and then marketed all over the world, making Great Britain into a very wealthy country.
Progress continued as Science saw so many new scientific discoveries. The telephone, radio, X-rays, microscopes, electricity all contributed to rapid changes in life-styles and societies. Discoveries of antibiotics such as penicillin brought new ways of combating diseases. Surgery and drugs kept on making progressive improvements in medical care, hospitals, and nursing. New theories such as Evolution and Psychoanalysis changed humanity's "old fashioned" views of itself.
Warfare was changed with the advent of new varieties of rifle, cannon, gun, machine gun, armor, tank, plane, jet, and missile. And weapons such as the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb, known along with chemical weapons and biological weapons as weapons of mass destruction actually made the devastation of the entire planet Earth posssible in minutes. All these are among the markings of the Modern World.
New attitudes to religion, with the church diminished, and a desire for personal freedoms, induced desires for sexual freedoms, which were ultimately accepted by large sectors of the Western World. Theories of "free love" and uninhibited sex were touted by radicals in the 1960s, spawing a hippie movement.
Equality of the sexes in politics and economics,women's liberation movement, gay rights for homosexuals and the freedom afforded by contraception allowed for greater personal choices in these intimate areas of personal life.
The combination and confluence of all these evolving extreme political, economic, industrial, scientific, medical, technological, psychological, and cultural changes continue to produce what we know today as the Modern World.
Famous people
The Modern world replaced the old Biblically oriented value system , the monarchical system of government, and the feudal system , with new democratic and liberal ideas in politics , science , psychology , sociology ,and economics derived from the writings of people such as:
(Note: The list below is not comprehensive by any means. To name all the thinkers and personalities who helped shape the modern age would be a voluminous undertaking. This selection is meant as a profile of the way major thinkers contributed to the creation of the world as we know it today.They are listed chronologically by year of death.)
Nicolaus Copernicus ( 1473 - 1543 ) Refutes geocentric theory , places Sun at the center of our solar system , Church is outraged.
Galileo Galilei ( 1564 - 1642 ) Wrote Starry Messenger reinforced Copernicus' heliocentric theory. Used early telescope to discover planets , mountains on the moon , sun spots ,and The Milky Way in space.
Rene Descartes ( 1596 - 1650 ) Wrote Meditations on First Philosophy and Discourse on Method.Rejected Aristotelian and Scholastic traditions; Boosted rationalism
Baruch Spinoza ( 1632 - 1677 ) Elevated scientific pantheism and rationalism
John Locke ( 1632 - 1704 ) Refutes Divine right of kings Role of tolerance in government
Isaac Newton ( 1642 - 1727 ) Wrote Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica or PrincipiaRevolutionized mathematics, optics , and physics laid the foundations for modern science
Voltaire ( 1694 - 1778 ) Wrote Candide opposing Leibniz's " metaphysical optimism " .Author and Philosopher freethinker before the French Revolution
Jean Jacques Rousseau ( 1712 - 1778 ) Wrote Social Contract :All men are born free and equal , rights of citizens and Will of the people
Benjamin Franklin ( 1706 - 1790 ) Wrote Poor Richard's Almanack .Architect of liberty and helped draft the American Declaration of Independence
Adam Smith ( 1723 - 1790 ) Wrote Wealth of Nations . Father of Classical Economics .Advocated laissez-faire market forces
Edmund Burke ( 1729 - 1797 ) Free trade and constitutional statesmanship against misgovernmemt
Immanuel Kant ( 1724 - 1804 ) Wrote The Critique of Pure Reason in ( 1781 ).German philosopher and founder of critical philosophy . Explored role of knowledge and mind .Contributed to metaphysics , epistemology , ethics , and aesthetics .
Georg Hegel ( 1770 - 1831 ) Wrote Elements of the Philosophy of Right in ( 1821 ) . Concepts of dialectics , thesis and antithesis and synthesis central to Hegelian philosophy.
John Stuart Mill ( 1806 - 1873 ) Wrote Principles of Political Economy advocating greater interaction between Labor and wealth
Charles Darwin ( 1809 - 1882 ) Wrote On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection .Theory of evolution and homosapiens . Naturalism , botany
Karl Marx ( 1818 - 1883 ) Wrote Das Kapital , Marxism ,Communism .Dictatorship of the proletariat
Friedrich Nietzsche ( 1844 - 1900 ) Wrote Thus Spoke Zarathustra and The Will to Power. Criticized traditional Christian values such as guilt. Preached concept of will to power and doctrine of the ubermensch("Superman" or "Ultimate Man") that was later twisted and abused by Hitlerian Fascism and the Nazis as a rationale for Germanic anti-Semitism and the genocide of Jews
Theodor Herzl ( 1860 - 1904 ) Wrote Judenstaat ("Jewish State"). Father of modern Zionism . Laid down the political groundwork for the future State of Israel . Convened First Zionist Congress ( 1897 ) in Basle, Switzerland establishing the World Zionist Organization predicting a Jewish state within 50 years
Leo Tolstoy ( 1828 - 1910 ) Wrote War and Peace and chronicled the tumultuous conditions in Russia, its pre-Revolutionary anarchy , nihilism and social turmoil. Preached a form of Christian peace.
Max Weber ( 1864 - 1920 ) Wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism ( 1905 ) , Economy and Society ( 1914 ) , The
Methodology of the Social Sciences (Pub. 1949 ). Forming sociology . Father of Social Sciences and study of the social system
D.H. Lawrence ( 1885 - 1930 ) Wrote Lady Chatterley's Lover and Sons and Lovers Promoted literary eroticism and sexual freedom. Fought efforts by censors objecting to pornography
Sigmund Freud ( 1856 - 1939 ) Wrote Interpretation of Dreams , The Ego and the Id , Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis . Medical doctor . Started as neurologist . Father of psychoanalysis . Revealing the hidden subconscious libido and thanatos and the workings of the id , ego and super-ego on human personality and behavior . Sought cures for modern neurosis and psychosis of neurotic and psychotic patients
Leon Trotsky ( 1879 - 1940 ) Revolutionary Bolshevik leader and "Father of the Red Army". The Writings of Leon Trotsky shaped Trotskyism
Adolf Hitler ( 1889 - 1945 ) Wrote Mein Kampf ( 1925 ) whilst in prison for a failed putsch , outlining his views which he put into practice. Doctrine of viscious Anti-Semitism , developed National Socialism ( Nazism ) , and wanted genocide against non- Aryan peoples
John Maynard Keynes ( 1883 - 1946 ) Wrote The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money in ( 1936 ) key in modern economics on employment and supply and demand
Mahatma Gandhi ( 1869 - 1948 ) Hindu philosopher and lawyer,proponent of non violent protest contributed to the end of British rule in India and Pakistan helping to end the British Empire
George Orwell ( 1903 - 1950 ) Wrote Animal Farm and 1984 warning about the dangers of totalitarianism and the state as Big Brother
John Dewey ( 1859 - 1952 )Wrote Democracy and Education in ( 1916 ) Philosopher of pragmatism and Social Darwinism .
Albert Einstein ( 1879 - 1955 ) Postulated E=mc2 .All matter is energy and light . Atomic theories helped the USA build the first atom bomb .Contributed to evolution of atomic energy , the atomic bomb , and nuclear weapons . Peace activist and warned about perils of nuclear war
Carl Gustav Jung ( 1875 - 1961 ) Wrote Symbols and Transformation ( 1912 ) , Psychological Types ( 1921 ) , Psychology and Religion: West and East , Psycholgy and Alchemy ( 1944 ) , Practice of Psychotherapy. Role of mythology , religion and God in psychology
Winston Churchill ( 1874 - 1965 ) Wrote History of the English-Speaking Peoples . Political saviour of Great Britain facing Nazism Strategic theoretician of the Atlantic Alliance between Great Britain and the USA
T.S. Eliot ( 1888 - 1965 ) Wrote The waste land in 1922 and The hollow men in 1925 poet describing the frutrations of love and the emptiness of existence
Walt Disney ( 1901 - 1966 ) Creator of animated movies , revolutionized story-telling by introducing fictional Mickey Mouse , Donald Duck , Goofy , Minnie Mouse , and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs loved and and immitated by millions of children and adults.Creator of pop culture .
Bertrand Russell ( 1872 - 1970 ) {together with Alfred North Whitehead ( 1861 - 1947 ) }, wrote Principia Mathematica connecting with Pythagoras and Plato . Russell wrote The Problems of Philosophy , Why I Am Not a Christian ( 1927 ) and much more. Logician , mathematician philosopher of liberalism and an activist pacifist , in 1958 becomes founding President of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament .
Alexander Solzhenitsyn ( 1918 - ) Wrote The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation . Intellectual who rejected cruelties of communism in the USSR
George Lucas Jnr. ( 1944 - ) Creator of the powerful science fiction Star Wars movie series that hundreds of millions of people in the world have incorprated into their own pop culture , watching the epic struggles between the father-son rivals Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker . American screenwriter , film director , producer , and media entrepreneur
Steven Spielberg ( 1946 - )Creator of movies : Jaws , E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial ( 1982 ) , Raiders of the Lost Ark , Indiana Jones , Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Jurassic Park and Schindler's List ( 1994 ) about the Holocaust. It has been said of him that no movie director or producer has ever put together a more popular body of work.His works fill the popular imagination of the modern world
Retrieved from http://www.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Modern_world
Jan 31, 2003.
Thursday, January 30, 2003
Judaism:
WHY JEWS
ARE NOT
CHRISTIANS:
___
A :
hey r u a jew??
SimShalom :
Hi, yes I am..and you
A :
no....if ur a jew then y the hell do u study them?
SimShalom :
Oh I like to study Judaism there is a lot to learn,,,that's why Jews are called the "People of the Book"
A :
of what book?
SimShalom :
Bible, silly
A :
must suck being a jew can't do nething
SimShalom :
who says...Steven Spielberg is a very proud Jew and he makes great movies!
A :
yah.....but still u can't do much fun shit
SimShalom :
How about Jesus , he was a Jew
SimShalom :
fun like what, Jews have lots of fun..what are you into?
A :
oo well then why rn't u a cathlic or something isn't it the same thing??
SimShalom :
oh no, Judaism does not accept Jesus, that's why it is a separate and different religion to being any kind of Christian, protestant or Catholic.
A:
why don't u accept jesus???>.....no
SimShalom :
Because he did not end suffering and war in the world, it only got worse after he came. No rabbis in his time accepted him and in Judaism we are commanded to listen to our rabbis. So he was rejected because they said he was a false "Jewish" messiah...
A :
rabbis???.......he may have not ended war but he died for our sins and we should be thank full for that
A :
besides if the world was perfect then some of the great things that happened probably wouldn't have happened and in a wayh war sometimes helps to bring countries closer
SimShalom :
Yup, just like Christians follow their priests , Jews follow their rabbis.
Judaism teaches that everyone must take responsibility for their own sins. It's definitely no excuse to say that someone else, no matter how great he was died for your own screw ups, .
I didn't say that great things didn't happen Sure they did, Like all the pagans stopped believing in trees and stars and got some idea about the ONE God in Heaven, but with all the improvements there were always many religious wars that came about during the past 2,000 years since Jesus died.
A :
im not saying that we don't take responsibility for our sins im saying that he died soo that we can be for gaven for the sins
SimShalom :
It is your right to believe that, but Judaism does NOT believe that at all, and they (Judaism)have a right to that belief as much as you have a right to yours.
A :
yah i no im not stupid r u like some prep or sometyihng??
SimShalom :
I'm no prep. Just a good Jewish boy. (I hope )
A :
ok....i tihnk u take ur religion too seriously not like ur not supose to but don't u wanna have fun??
SimShalom :
That's why Judaism and Christianity are two DIFFERENT religions, even tho they have a lot in common.
Judaism does not accept the New Testament at all.
Judaism has the Talmud and many other books they study...
A :
drinkin.....pot (fun too)...mmm just going out and going crazy
A :
not just that like concerts (cool music)
SimShalom :
Some Jews drink, but it's bad for your health, and you can get addicted to it and then it will CONTROL your life, pot , well what can I say, it's drugs,and then that can lead to heroin, cocaine, opium , LSD, crack, the works, and "over the hill you go"
going crazy can get you into trouble with the law..or they'll lock you up in a jail or nut house, so you are talking about HIGH RISK behavior.
Bye.
JUDAISM
AND OTHER
FAITHS / BUDDHA:
___
P :
Good evening. *smile*
SimShalom :
Hi how are you?
P :
I'm not bad. Much better than I was. *smile* Sleep deprivation does that to you.
SimShalom :
oh yes, I agree
SimShalom :
ok good, it's not easy nowadays to keep an "even keel"
P :
*nods*
I try to be mindful of myself and my body... it's a Buddhist thing. *laughs*
SimShalom :
Well Buddha always look very comfy in those little idolatrous statues....
P :
*Laughs* Definitely.
SimShalom :
and VERY overweight...
P:
It doesn't matter as long as you're happy...
SimShalom :
Oh and he is dressed so informally for a religious event...
P :
*shrugs*
He's the Buddha... I don't think the Buddhist acolytes really care what he wears.
C'mon... if God were to come down from the heavens sporting a speedo and Days of Thunder shades, would you be the one to tell him it's inappropriate? *Laughs*
SimShalom :
Wait I didn't know Buddhist believed in God, I thought it's some sort weird "consciousness' that they are into thru meditation (and sleep deprivation sometimes--especially for new recruits being "trained" to be good little Buddhists and chant away till their brains fall out...and into it pops little Buddha with his bald pate, sardonic smile , folded hands, and ill-fitting robes, sitting on a few pillows on the floor...what a god)
P:
*Laughs*
Actually, Buddhists don't worship a God. They seek a higher state of consciousness found through healthy living, following the 4 noble truths and the 8 laws (I can't remember what they're called), which of course include compassion. They seek inner knowledge of themselves through meditation and seeking, and hopefully, after a few lifetimes, they can right their snafu karma and learn all there is to learn, then they achieve enlightenment.
P :
That's the readers digest version...
SimShalom :
Oh, well I never go beyond that, is there more?
P :
Yes, lots. Just give me a second and i'll give you a link.
SimShalom :
Oh, it's quite ok, I'm not t h a t inspired..I was kidding...
P :
*nods* Alright...
SimShalom :
In Judaism, Buddha does not register on the Richter scale...even tho oddly many secular Jews are very drawn to Buddhist ideas...
P :
Does the concept of reincarnation fit in at all anywhere?
SimShalom :
YES, but only the very Orthodox accept it fully.
The Reform and Conservative Jews (they are the majority of North America's six million Jews) have not just abandoned this notion they vehemently deny it. This goes in tandem with their rejection of the MYSTICAL cabalistic side of Judaism about which they know very little...
P :
*nods* I've only done very soft skimming of kaballah, not enough to know definitively what it is, but enough to know it exists. What is the proper spelling anyway? I've seen it spelled so many ways.
SimShalom :
all ways are ok as it comes out sounding as "kabala" or "cabala" or "kabalah" or "kabbalaH" etc, since it's a Hebrew word that sounds like "kabala".
It translates as "A Received Tradition"
P :
*nods* Very interesting.
There are a lot of grey areas within Judaism that haven't been revealed to me yet, and maybe some more that have (that I don't know I know) and I was wondering where exactly I could go to find some more information? I understand the some or all of the Old Testament deals with the antediluvian and post-flood Jewish culture, but what else? Are there any contemporary authors that I could look for?
SimShalom :
In Jewish studies it's not so much the authors that count its the SUBJECT and THE WAY THE AUTHOR TREATS IT.
So basically, you pick one topic, say 'The Flood" or "Kabala", or "Abraham", or something current like "Judaism's view on love , sex, and marriage", and then you start DIGGING for information and spreading out from there.
The Internet is an excellent starting point..it will keep you busy forever, and the sites invariably all recommend books.
Thus
Here's a good Judaism introduction site:
http://www.aish.com/
Here's good introduction to the mystical Lubavitch (Chabad) Hasidim
http://www.chabad.org/
Here is an excellent resource of Torah teachings :
http://www.torah.org/
And here you can just learn basic facts and terminology:
http://www.jewfaq.org/
All these are coming from an Orthodox perspective.
You can then search and find those sites that present Judaism from the Conservative movement and Reform movement perspectives.
P :
Excellent. Thank you kindly, my friend. *smile* I appreciate the gesture and i'll be sure to give those a glance over in the near future. Maybe later on tongiht. *shrugs*
SimShalom :
Go ahead..as the ad used to say about New York's Levy's kosher bread "try it you'll like it"
have a good night!
P:
Take care and have a good night. *smile*
RESURRECTION:
REVIVAL OF
THE DEAD:
____
SimShalom:
Since Christianity is largely derived from Judaic sources, it is worthwhile pointing out that classical Judaism as continued by Orthodox Jews today, insists that belief in Revival of the Dead is one of the cardinal principals of the Jewish faith.
The famous Jewish halakhic - legal authority, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon known as Maimonides set down 13 (thirteen) main principles of the Jewish faith and Resurrection is one of them which is printed in all Orthodox Judaism prayer books to the present time. It is the thirteenth principle and states:
"I believe with complete (perfect) faith, that there will be techiat hameitim - revival of the dead, whenever it will be God's , blessed be He, will (desire) to arise and do so. May (God's) Name be blessed, and may His rememberance arise, forever and ever"
A DISCUSSION ABOUT
"TRUTH"
___
SimShalom :
Hi , how are you?
Q :
i'm fine .)
SimShalom :
OK..how's thingscoming along?
What do people say lately about Israel...?
Q :
some insults and some compliments :)
SimShalom :
I see.
So what have been some of the best insults,
and some of the worst comments (without cursing)
Q :
i didn't keep them... but i can remember some about israeli killers of poor palestinians and some about bad jews who want to conquer the world
SimShalom :
Have they forgotten the history of the Roman Empire? Do they even know about this, that it was the Romans who destroyed the Jewish nation, killed millions of Jews, and sent them to exile ('galut' in Hebrew) all over the world 2,000 years ago.
Q :
they don't know history
SimShalom :
Yea, that's what I thought...very few people know history,,
people just know what they saw on TV last night and the movie they saw last week..
And the last time they saw a cool ad with some girls or guys undressed..
Q :
some people just don't want to know the truth...
SimShalom :
Truth?
Who cares about truth?
Anyhow, what is truth in any case?
people do not believe that there is an absolute truth in any case.
Whatever is good today is the "truth"...
Q :
but we know tet truth is something else
SimShalom :
Truth is simple, but not easy to accept.
What do you accept as THE "truth"?
Q :
when i feel that something is true :)
SimShalom :
It's based on your feelings only?
So what if your feelings change? Does that mean truth will change also?
Q :
only "my" truth
Q :
not only on my feelings, also on the facts
SimShalom :
Ok, so what if then facts are that for example Mussolini made all the trains run on time in Italy.. what's wrong with that "fact"? Maybe Mussolini is the "truth" because there are good "facts" about him ...
Q :
there are good facts and bad facts
Q :
if the trains run on time, that was good, but he also made some bad laws that made many people feel bad and many died
Q:
so, there were few good things, but many bad things about him
Q :
so, considering all, it's a bad person and a bad politician for me
SimShalom :
wait a minute, now you are talking about "VALUES" of "good" and "bad".
(You started with "feelings" then you went on to "facts" , now you are talking about "values" also) ..
so maybe let's say somebody had good "feelings" about Mussolini because he made Italians proud, and there is the "fact" that he made the trains run on time, so he is "good" and we must support that 'Fact" he made a war in Africa, and all this becomes then has to be the "truth"...who says it's "bad", You do, but to someone else it's "good"
Q :
so, maybe truth doesn't exist
Q :
it's just a matter of "points of view"
SimShalom :
Truth doesn't exist?
There are six billion people on Earth and therefore there are six billion "points of view" , so can there be six billion "truths" that is just not possible or logical.
Everybody agrees that the sun rises during the day and sets at night, that the oceans have salt water and that humans have hearts..these real facts and are also the truth that everybody can agree on..
So somewhere there must be an absolute truth that brings it all together...
SimShalom:
Hi, are you still there..?
In classical Judaism there is an ABSOLUTE TRUTH !.......
Q :
yes, but sometimes it's hard to understand the difference between facts and opinions
Q :
i have to go to sleep now, it's 1 am here and i have to wake up at 7:00 tomorrow...
Q :
but this topic is really intersting, maybe we can continue it another day
Q :
Shabbat Shalom :)
Q:
see you on sunday night or on monday
Q :
good night :)
SimShalom :
Well that's why we have brains, with minds, and the capacity to think and measure with logic and facts that make sense(and forget about "points of view" because that changes every minute)...and you can and must be in touch with your TRUE feelings not just "passions" (for example a "sex drive" is not a "feeling" it every a an instinct)
They say that the Torah is the absolute truth and needs to be studied to really UNDERSTAND how and why the Torah is the only absolute truth...
"END OF
THE WORLD":
___
Essay by SimShalom:
Religious view of the end of the world.
Since Christianity derived almost all of its teachings on this subject from Judaism , it is worth noting that the Talmud in Tractate Avodah Zarah page 9A ,states that this world as we know it will only exist for 6,000 (six thousand) years:
"...The Tanna debey Eliyahu taught: The world is to exist six thousand years;the first two thousand are to be "void" ( i.e.void of Torah );the next two thousand are the period of the Torah (i.e. from Abraham until the completion of the Mishna - the first part of the Talmud ) ; and the following (last) two thousand are the period of the Messiah (i.e. the Messianic Age could have commenced during this time already); through our ( the Jews' ) sins a number of these (times for Messiah) have already passed (and the Messiah is not yet here)."
The "end of the world" is called the acharit hayamim - "end of days", when tumultuous events will take place in the world overturning the old world order and creating a new order where God is recognized by every single individual as the Supreme Being who rules over everyone and everything in the Universe . One of the sages of the Talmud says that "Let the end of days come, BUT, may I not live to see them", because they will be filled with so much conflict and suffering.
The Jewish calendar - luach - functions completely on the assumption that time begins at the Creation of the world by God in Genesis. Many people mistakenly think that the years of the Torah - Bible are symbolic. According to the ancient Jewish teachings continued by today's Orthodox Jews the years are real and consistent throughout all time with 24 hours per day and 365 days per year with appropriate calibrations done with leap years to account for the difference between the lunar calendar and the solar calendar since Judaism's is based on both. Thus the year 2003 equals 5763 SINCE CREATION on the present Jewish calendar.
The end of the world will see:
1) The ingathering of the scattered Jewish exiles to geographic Israel.
2) The defeat of all of Israel's enemies.
3) The building of the THIRD Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and the resumption of the sacrificial offerings and Temple service.
4) The Revival of the Dead - techiat hameitim ,known as the Resurrection .
5) All this will be overseen at some point by the Jewish Messiah who will become the annointed King of Israel. He will divide the Jews in Israel into their original tribal portions in the land. During this time there will be an attack against Israel by Gog king of Magog (it's not known which nation this will be). There will be a great battle called the War of Gog and Magog in which many will die on both sides, but God will intervene and save the Jews . This is the battle referred to as Armageddon. God having vanquished this final enemy once and for all, all evil will accordingly be banished from human existence. After the year 6,000 the seventh millennium will commence a thousand year era of holiness, tranquility and peaceful spiritual life of Peace on Earth ,called the Olam Haba - the "Future World" where all people will know God directly.
One group of Jews from Hasidic Judaism , the Chabad Lubavitch movement actually believes that the Messiah has quite possibly arrived and begun his mission, and that it is their deceased Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson who is actually the Messiah in waiting. The defeat of Iraq by the the United States Army during the Gulf War in 1990 - 1991 , and the fact that Israel was not seriously harmed, was taken as a sign that the Messiah was at hand. This view was rejected by all other groups who still await the traditional "End of Days" as described in the writings of the Prophets of the Tanakh , the classic Jewish Bible .
ISRAEL
ELECTIONS:
___
SimShalom :
Hi, how are you?
How have you been?
Are really able to talk thru ICQ online?
V :
hi im ok how are you
SimShalom :
Ok thanks.
So what do you think about Israel's elections?
V :
not much. i w atched them in the pub
V :
nothing unexpected.
V :
what do you think
SimShalom :
I recently bought a head set and PC phone, haven't tried it yet..I see your little telephone icon is on, does that mean that you can talk thru your PC?
I think that now comes a tough for Sharon to put together a government.
I imagine a guy only wins a QUARTER of the seats in parliament and he's called the "winner", but that's the Israeli system...
V :
oh no i dont know what that means- it just comes up! i cant.
yeah but labour dont want to join
SimShalom :
The little icon, you can turn it off in your settings in "my ICQ"
Labor is in a big mess.
They funny thing is that the children of old labor have now become the new "Shinui" party, the party that "stands for nothing" just hedonism and hate of the religious, after that party will come a party advocating changing Israel's name to 'Eastern Hollywood' or something like that, I mean anything is better than just "shinui" which means change, you just have to keep on "changing" according to their "theory"....only in Israel....
V :
yeah i really am anti shinui but the israelis who i have spoken to are all for it
V :
yeah stand for national identity doesnt it- haveing a secular israeli state- nothing to do with jewish... i dont get it but enuf people voted for them so someone must like them
SimShalom :
Yes , go figure that out...it's sort like a "cool" thing for them to do.
But it's TOTALLY brainless.
Imagine that you have a party that wants to put down it's own religion?...only in Israel...
V :
yeah 4 sure.
SimShalom :
Imagine, a 'Change" party in England that would get 15 percent of parliamentary representatives saying, let's destroy the Anglicans. I don't think British labor goes that far, altho some people want to banish the monarchy, but the Anglican religion...
V :
very strange
SimShalom :
Yea, only in Israel...
SimShalom :
Israelis are convinced that they are somehow not connected to their "old" history. They think history started during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and that Jews have only "really" existed" is "proud" Jews in Israel itself...they don't get their connection with everything that came before it, and that are connected to it whether they like it or not, so you can never escape your past,and "Shinui"(changing) your identity (might seem cool, like a new dress or suit) but it can't be done to your national and religious identity...
V :
i sed this to this israelie secular jew in the pub. he was like im not jewish. im israeli. and i was saying to him that if he wasnt jewish then he probably wouldnt be israeli. and if his family werent jewish then they probably wouldnt be living in israel.! and also how at times of persecution and anti-semitism he cant escape his identity so you may aswell acept it and live with it even if you dont love it
V :
but you can for sure be british and jewish and you can be muslim and britisj and israeli and jewish or israeli and arab or whatever. identities are complex.
SimShalom :
yes
But Israelis are basically "tone deaf" to those kind of arguments.
They just don't get it...they have been flooded with all this brainwashing that the "religious" are weak and stupid for being persecuted for so long, so they say forget about it, and let's just sing have nagila and eat hums and falafels (and shishkabab if you can afford it)
V :
haha u crack me up. chat later i got work to do
SimShalom :
Bye , take care..
ISRAEL:
RABBI OVADIAH YOSEF
& THE TERRITORIES:
______
----- Original Message -----
From: rabbi_koshertorah.com
To: a
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2003 10:40 AM
Subject: Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef Retracts Ruling
B"H KosherTorah.com 27 Jan. 2003
This message is VERY IMPORTANT!! Please pass it on to all your email lists, especially to members of the Haredi communities. We must always do whatever we can to support our brothers and sisters who fulfill the great mitzvah of yishuv Eretz Yisrael.
Arutz Sheva http://www.israelnationalnews.org/news.php3?id=37910
RABBI OVADIAH YOSEF RETRACTS RULING; YESHA COUNCIL RESPONDS
Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, formerly Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi - the Rishon LeTzion - and the long-time spiritual authority of the Shas Party, has canceled his 30-year-old Halakhic [Jewish legal] ruling that Israel may give over territories in order to save lives.
In a letter addressed to the Jews of Yesha (Judea, Samaria, and Gaza), Rabbi Yosef wrote that it has since been proven that giving away territory has actually led to the loss of life, and it is therefore forbidden to give land to the Arabs.
He wrote that the Oslo Accords are null and void.
A translation of the entire letter follows:
"I would like to clarify my position regarding Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The Halakhic ruling that I issued, "territories for peace," is not valid at all in light of the current situation. My intention was exclusively to true peace, in which Jerusalem and its environs would sit in security, tranquilly and serenely. Now, however, our eyes see and chalot that the opposite is true: giving away territory from our holy land causes endangerment to lives. Not to this peace have we longed, and not for this boy did we pray. Therefore, the Oslo Agreement is null and void." Yesha Council leaders say that even though the timing of the new ruling is certainly related to the elections, in that Shas is seeking the support of Yesha residents, "we attribute great importance to the ruling, and see it as a positive and historic turn in hareidi Jewry's attitude towards the settlement enterprise in Yesha."
WORLD WAR TWO:
ONE MILLION
JEWISH SOLDIERS:
___
Shalom !
Dear Friend:
Thank you for your Email.
It is most enjoyable communicating with you.
Just use your logic:
America had a population of over five million Jews during World War Two, thus about 10% was in the United States military. There were in all the branches, Army, Air force, and Navy. One Jewish soldier had the record for medals in the war against Japan.
In Russia there was a Jewish population of about three million (maybe more) so it was about 20% of the Jewish population that was in the Russian army fighting Nazi Germany.
These two countries alone have the one million Jews in the Armed forces of each country who were soldiers and officers in all areas during the entire war. There was no discrimination against the Jewish soldiers, and they fought bravely with casualties(altho I do not have a figure for casualties killed and wounded).
The facts are also available and you must do your own research and you will see that everything is true and correct as I have said it.
I am delighted and happy to stay in touch with you.
Please feel free to contact me at any time.
Best wishes,
SimShalom
Wednesday, January 29, 2003
SEX:
THE MODERN
SEXUAL REVOLUTION:
_____
SimShalom writes:
Historical Development
The Sexual Revolution was an outgrowth of a process in recent history. It was a development in the Modern World which saw the collapse of moral values of a morality rooted in the Judaeo-Christian Heritage and the rise of attitudes that were accepting of greater sexual freedom and experimentation that spread all over the world and captured in the phrase "Free Love".
The power of religion as wielded by the Catholic and Protestant churches of Europe was radically undermined by the French Revolution of 1789 which saw the First Estate of the nobles , and the Second Estate of the Church give way to the power of the Third Estate of the peasants which surged towards a secular way of life.
The Industrial Revolution during the nineteenth century and the growth of Science and technology, medicine and health care, resulted in better contraceptives being manufactured. Advances in the manufacture and production of rubber made possible the design and production of condoms that could be used by hundreds of millions of men and women to prevent pregnancy at little cost. Advances in steel production and immunology made an abortion a safe and harmless way of ending pregnancies. Advances in chemistry, pharmacology , and knowledge of biology, and human physiology and all sorts new drugs lead to the discovery and perfection of oral contraceptives also known as "The Pill". New drugs like viagra helped impotent men have an erection and increased the potency of others. Purchasing an aphrodisiac and various sex toys became "normal". Sado-masochism ("S&M") gained popularity.
All these developments took place alongside and combined with an increase in world literacy and decline in religious observances. Old values such as the notion of "be fruitful and multiply" rooted in the Bible, for example, were cast aside as people continued to feel alienated from the past and adopted the life-styles of modernizing westernized cultures.
Discoveries in the field of photography and cinematography the perfection of the camera , for recording moving and still real life pictures of real people revolutionized the spread of mass movie and photographic images. The rise of the movie industry in Hollywood combined with new techniques in marketing and advertizing as well as studies of the psychology of consumers , created mass markets for attractive images first in monochrome of " black and white " , later in color and technicolor and added to perfection in the sound system of cinema or movies.
Doctor Sigmund Freud of Vienna unmasked the roots of human behavior as being rooted in the libido . This new modern "science" of Psychoanalysis revolutionized an entire culture's self image. Victorian prudishness was shoved aside by a new consciousness of a sex drive . Men had an Oedipus Complex and women had penis envy acording to Freud. The mother's breast was the source of all later erotic sensation. This new philosophy was the new ideology of the new sexual age.
Beautiful women and extremely handsome men were rigorously selected to become Movie Stars and when they were cast in films with romantic scenes of love , kissing , hugging , and flirting , an entire culture was transformed as it became more acceptable to show feelings of affection in public. The very conservative mood leading up to the twentieth century gave way to a growing erotic mileu as popularized by the movie industry emanating from the studios of places like Hollywood .
Nudity on screen was at first rare. But with the passage of time people became more tolerant of partial nudity for men and the display of female actress's breasts , at first to adult audiences, and later to more general ones. The invention of television made it possible for scenes of love and romance to be broadcast into any home with a " TV " . A wholegenre of actors arose who were particularly well-endowed with charisma and " sex appeal ". Thus an entire culture arose which was steeped in movie and TV culture , far removed from the more inhibiting times of "Old Fashioned"morality rooted in religion.
Famous names in entertainment became not just "Stars" also "Godesses". Beautiful women such as Marylyn Monroe , Raquel Welch , Brigitte Bardot , Sophia Loren , Madonna were explicit in casting a sexual aura about themselves as actresses and to the celebrity hungry media .
A ground breaking study by Kinsey and Masters on Human Sexuality revealed the nature and scope of the sex practices of young Americans. Sexual experimentation and adolescent sexual activity gained acceptance.
During the 1950's one particular singer and actor , Elvis Presley introduced a very fast style of dancing and performing, using his body gyrations in a sexually suggestive manner. He was dubbed "Elvis the Pelvis" for his trade mark hip movements. Millions of young women became his fans and he was their " Idol " .On stage and in concert thousands of young females would squeel, shriek, and cry at his performences. He has been noted as being a prime factor in the " youth rebellion " of the 1950s and 1960s.
A singing musical group called " The Beatles " from Great Britain took the world by storm. Their longish hairstyles and their "hip", "cool", and "groovy" behavior was instantly imitated by millions of young people. At this very same time, a " counter culture " was born which began to openly preach the need to "make love not war" especially in the United States which was fighting the highly unpopular Vietnam War hated by the the youth.
A new culture of " Free Love " with tens of thousands of young people becoming " hippies " arose who preached the power of love and the beauty of sex as part of ordinary student life. This was part of a counter culture that exists to the present.
Explicit sex on screen and acceptance of frontal nudity by men and women on stage became the norm in many American and European countries, as the twentieth century ended.
Pre-marital sex was openly adopted and if pregancies did occur then abortion was easily available. This lead to perceptions of the times being an " age of promiscuity " , decadence and hedonism ,and there was even a backlash in America as people sought to return to family values.
Politics in the USA has become inter-twined with sexualy-related issues, called the "politics of sex". A woman's right to an abortion pitted traditionalist Pro-Life activists against Pro-Choice permitting abortions. Sex between people of the same gender, the homosexuality that was strictly taboo in times when the Church dominated society was no longer a stigma. Lesbian and gay women and men demanded and received many rights reserved for heterosexual couples. Women and men who lived with each other without marriage sought " palimony " equal to the alimony a divorced husband pays his ex-wife. Teenagers assumed their right to a sexual life with whomever they pleased.
Pornography was not as stigmatized, and more mainstream movies depicted sexual intercourse as "entertainment", with hardly a stir of protest indicative of how far the sexual revoltion had come. Magazines depicting nudity and sexual acts, some very sophisticated such as the leading Playboy magazine won accpetance as respectable journals where public figures felt safe expressing their opinions, arguing successfully that they were guaranteed of the freedom of speech by the United States Constitution . The feminist meovement started with cries of "burn the bra" , and later objected to the depiction of women as "objects" in such venues as pornographic magazines and at such contests as the annual " Miss World " and " Miss Universe " contests.
The rise of the Internet and the usage of computers by young children in huge numbers has caused alarm that the vast amounts of visually explicit images of sex and sexual behavior [[online is a threat to society. Internet companies provide filters , but this has not stopped young and old from seeking out sex on the world wide web . A new phenomenon of cyber sex in chatrooms and via instant messaging has become popular. This is similar to the rise of phone sex where another modern invention is put to use in the age of the sexual revolution. President Bill Clinton faced impeachment based on the Star Report ,stemming from a stream of such acts which he denied. The names Jennifer Flowers , Paula Jones , and Monica Lewinsky have become ingrained in the public consciousness as symbols of free-wheeling sex, yet the public took it all in stride by the year 2000 .
Monday, January 27, 2003
HISTORY:
BIRTH OF
THE MODERN WORLD:
______
SimShalom's Essay:
Modern World , or Modern Period, or New World or Modern Times, Progressive Age , or Modern Era,is recognized by historians as being that period of time commencing roughly in 1750 up until the present times.
During this time earth-shattering changes occurred in politics , industry , society , economics , commerce ,transportation , mechanization , automation , science , medicine , technology and culture which transformed the " Old World " into the Modern or New World, culiminating in the Nuclear Age , the Sexual Revolution the Information Age and finally a Leisure Age
The years 1500 - 1750 are in rough outline the times of the Early Modern Period being the years following the European Renaissance .
The modern world was basically shaped by three great Revolutions:
1)The American Revolution of 1776 .
2)The French Revolution of 1779 .
3)The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries.
These events in turn sowed the seeds for:
The Russian Revolution of 1917 and contributed to the great wars of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, such as:
The American Revolutionary War
The Napoleonic Wars in Europe, and ultimately;
The First World War ( 1914 - 1918 ) and
The Second World War ( 1939 - 1945 ) .
The American and French Revolutions ended the role of omnipotent monarchies to do as they wished in the world. Henceforth the world would become a "Modern" place where Democracy , and Liberty , Equality , and Fraternity became the new standards of government and of the rules of society .
Men such as the Emperor Napoleon introduced new codes of law in Europe based on merit and achievement, rather than on a class system rooted in Feudalism . The modern political system of Liberalism (derived from the word "Liberty" which means "Freedom") empowered members of the dis-enfranchised Third Estate . The power of elected bodies swept aside traditional rule by royal decree . A new attachment to one's nation , culture and language produced the powerful forces of Nationalism . This in turn ultimately contributed to new very modern ideologies such as the ideology of: Fascism ; Socialism and Communism
Taken to an extreme, the desire to demolish all vestiges of the past and create a classless society , resulted in the abuses of Communism following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia , which executed the Czar and his family, created the Soviet Union , wiped away serfdom , and forcibly modernized Mother Russia . In Germany, once the Kaiser had abdicated in 1918 , chaos ensued, paving the way for the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism .
The new republic of the United States of America granted the vote to citizens, and placed reins on government based on the new Constitution and creating a system of checks and balances between the three different branches of government of the legislature , judiciary , and executive headed by a President who won a national election.
The mechanical and scientific inventions that were discovered , studied and implemented changed the way goods were produced and marketed. For example, modern machine s in Great Britain speeded up the manufacture of commodities such as cloth and iron . The horse and ox were no longer needed as beasts of burden. The newly invented engine powered the car , train , ship , and eventually the plane produced rapidly each year. Artificially created energy powered any motor that drove any machine that was invented.Raw goods could be transported in huge quantities over vast distances and manufactured quickly and then marketed all over the world, making Great Britain into a very wealthy country.
Progress continued as Science saw so many new scientific discoveries. The telephone, radio, X-rays, microscopes, electricity all contributed to rapid changes in life-styles and societies. Discoveries of antibiotic s such as penicillin brought new ways of combating diseases.Surgery and drug s kept on making progressive improvements in medical care , hospitals , and nursing . New theories such as Evolution and Psychoanalysis changed humanity's "old fashioned" views of itself.
Warfare was changed with the advent of new varieties of rifle , cannon , gun, machine gun , armor , tank , plane , jet , and misssile . And weapons such as the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb , known as weapons of mass destruction actually made the destruction of the entire planet Earth posssible in minutes. All these are the markrkings of the Modern World.
New attitudes to religion , with the church diminished, and a desire for personal freedoms, induced desires for sexual freedoms, which were ultimately accepted by large sectors of the Western World . Theories of " free love " and uninhibited sex were touted by radicals in the 1960s, spawing a hippie movement.
Equality of the sexes in politics and economics,women's liberation movement , gay rights for homosexuals and the freedom afforded by contraception allowed for greater personal choices in these intimate areas of personal life.
The combination and confluence of all these evolving extreme political ,economic, industrial ,scientific , medical , technological , psychological ,and cultural changes continue to produce what we know today as the Modern World.
Sunday, January 26, 2003
A MILLION
JEWISH SOLDIERS
DURING
WORLD WAR TWO:
___
Greet:
It was for me a great surprize your information at Internet that more than a
million Jews were officially enrolled in the fighting forces of the Allies
during the Second world war.
I have great desire if you can give me more evidence for this fact or
more guarantee.
A week ago I was discussing this fact with director Education and
culture center of the Jewish Museum in Prague. I asked him to verify this fact
by you.
As I belong to Jewish child survivors of the Holocaust. I interest for that
time. Now sometimes with cold mind but it is not easy to have in balance heart
and head when I return in that time. I proof surely everything and everybody
namely in this matter.
That's the reason of my e-mail.
Love and blessing you and your nears...
SimShalom:
Thank you for your Email.
The figures you mention are accurate. My source was Page 786 of "A History of
the Jews" (The Jewish Publication Society of America. Philadelphia.1968) by
Solomon Grayzel:"Jews in the Allied Armies:More than a million Jews were
officially enrolled in the fighting forces of the nations opposed to Germany.
They were divided by country as follows:
United States(Total Jewish population 4,770,000), Number in Service:550,000.
Russia(Total Jewish population 3,000,000), Number in Service:500,000.
Great Britain(Total Jewish population 300,000),Number in Service:60,000.
Canada(Total Jewish population 170,000),Number in Service:17,000.
South Africa(Total Jewish population 90,000),Number in Service:10,000.
These numbers do not include the many thousands of Jews who fought in the
armies of other allies or who were active in the resistance movements in
France,Italy,and elsewhere,or the remarkable contribution of the Jews of
Palestine."
There is an estimate that 200,000 Jews served in the Polish army against the
Nazis in 1939, but it is not clear. Here is another estimate of Jewish POW's
KILLED by the NAZIS, about 200,000 Allied Jewish soldiers, see;
http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/text/x25/xr2535.html
See:"Besides, almost a million Jews served in the Allied armies all around the
world" and the Jewish volunteers from Palestine, at:
http://www.varchive.org/obs/480528.htm
By the way,out of the Palestine's war-time Jewish population of 600,000 Jews,
about 35,000 served in various branches of the British Army, eventually forming
the official Jewish Brigade of Palestine with about 5,000 soldiers.
See:
http://www.yadvashem.org/Odot/prog/index_before_change_table.asp?gate=2-
40&type_id=40
I do not understand why you are so surprised.
During the War conscription was COMPULSORY in the Unite States and in Russia,
and Jews were called up to do their duty like all other citizens of these
nations.
During World War ONE, there were about 250,000 Jews in the German and Austro-
Hungarian Armies and the Central Powers. And Of course there was a higher
number of Jews who served in the forces of the Allies of Russia, Britain,
France, Italy,United States,Canada,Australia, and South Africa.
If you do a search on Google you can find more sources.
I found a University report at
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/crsweb/maps/text/EASTEUROPE.pdf
that states that there were, 1,750,000 Jews in the Armies of the Allies, which
is an increase of about 700,000 from the above figures of a million.
Here is an assumption the 1,500,000 Jews served in the Allied armies:
"TORONTO - The proprietors of a planned museum near Jerusalem that will honour
the 1.5 million Jewish soldiers who fought for Canada and other Allied armies
in World War II are seeking memoirs, diaries and pictures from Canadian Jewish
veterans." See:
http://www.cjnews.com/pastissues/02/aug22-02/community/aroundcanada.htm
See also : Over one million Jewish men fought as soldiers with the Allied
armies. But the symbol of Jewish resistance remains the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising,
an event which the SS immortalized with an illustrated report for their own
glorification. At:
http://www.ghwk.de/engl/catalog/cateng12.htm
As you can see from the selection of the above quotes IT IS UNIVERSALLY KNOWN
that OVER a million Jews served as soldiers in the Allied armies,and some
estimates even go as high as almost two million, counting the captured and
killed Jewish soldier-prisoners of the Russian,French, Polish,
Hungarian,Greek,Yugoslav,armies that all had many Jewish soldiers taken
prisoner and killed by the Nazis.
If you want absolutely exact official figures you will have to contact the
United States embassy, and the Russian embassy, and the British embassy to get
the exact official numbers.
I wish you well.
ISAIAH AND
PROPHECY
ABOUT THE FUTURE:
______
Person:
Hello, and thank you! Your ideas appear more logical and more sound as
usual. I have one more question, or actually a clarification of what you wrote
me. Was Isaiah talking about the destruction of Northern Israel as the end of
days or was he talking about the end of days that will still happen in our
future to come?
SimShalom:
In response to your question, which happens to be an excellent one, the response is a little complex.
All the prophetic writings of the Jewish Bible, were recordered in writing and
preserved as Holy Writings, because aside from the Historical record they
contain, they are all somehow prophesying about every age that followed them
and applies all the way into the future. When the long-awaited Messiah
arrives, and a New Age on Earth will be inaugurated, the writings of the prophets will
no longer be needed since they would have fulfilled their tasks of warning,
guiding, and predicting about the future.
Thus, what they say has to be understood on various levels.
As in the case of Isaiah:
1)Firstly,he was addressing the Northern Kingdom Of Israel warning them about
their "End of Days" which were approaching with the nearing of the Assyrian
Army which would destroy Northern Israel and take their Ten Tribes into exile.
2)Warning the surviving southern Kingdom of Judah that it too needed to be
aware that it would face it's own "End Of Days", which happened when they were
eventually destroyed by Babylonia with the destruction of the First Temple,
and taken into exile, around 500 BC .
3)It is a dire warning to the Jews who would return from Babylon to rebuild
Judea and the Second Temple,that they too needed to beware that they would
face their "End of days" at the hands of Rome which would eventually destroy the
Second Temple and send the Jews into their long 2,000 year exile away from
their land.
4)It also contains allusions to the ultimate "End of Days" when all mankind
will be judged at the time of the Messiah's arrival and the building and
advent of the Third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.
5)It contains many sources for laws,beliefs and ideas for classical Judaism
(and by extension to Christianity that drew upon so many of these concepts---
albeit at times mistaken due to ignorance of the Hebrew language).
6)It is a book of Inspiration and consolation to anyone who wants or needs and
seeks comfort.
7)It is book of MYSTICISM that teaches the initiated things about the nature
of God and how He runs his Universe.This would explain the use of poetic-sounding
metaphors and symbolism which is actually a code which only those who are
initiated into the knowledge of mysticism and Kabalah would appreciate.
8)It also teaches and serves to contain warnings to the various kingdoms and
nations of the world and their rulers as to what awaits them if they oppose
God's will. Thus on the one hand ironically God chooses certain nations for
performing functions and grants victories over the Jewish Kingdoms. On the
other hand, he predicts the punishments and results of their going against
God's will and over-reaching themselves in doing harm and evil which was not
what God wanted from them in the first place.
So as you see, Isaiah, as well as all the other Prophets of the Bible are
speaking on various levels and their message is addressed to various nations
and individuals over the entire span of time from the time that they gave
these
prophesies.
Another point which I wanted to make at the beginning, is that in ancient
Israel and Judah, over the course of about a thousand years there were
literally millions of prophets that came to give their prophecy , some big
some
e small. But only the very few that we have were DELIBERATELY preserved and
granted the status of "Holy Writ" because they contained messages and
prophecies that applied till the end of time.
Hope this clarifies some things.
Best wishes.
KING DAVID'S
ORIGINS:
_____
King David was descended from the convert Ruth a princess from Moab".
This may be a new idea for many readers. Is there any (extra-Biblical) tradition that Ruth was a princess?
Hi, Let me quote you verbatim from the Artscroll commentary (Artscroll Inc. 1976) on Ruth, p.67: "... The sages tell us that Machlon and Killion (married to Ruth and Orpah), were wealthy and distinguished, rose to such prominence while living in Moab that Eglon King of Moab, offered them his daughters' hands in marriage. Ruth and Orpah were the daughters of Eglon, as it is written in the book of Judges 3:19 ;(When Ehud came to Eglon to deliver God's message)'..and Ehud said:I have a message from God to you. And (Eglon) arose from his throne.' The Holy One , blessed be He,said of him:'You stood up from your throne in My honor, I will cause to emerge from you a descendent who will sit upon My throne' ..." MIDRASH.
Now, ofcourse one can quible and say that the Midrash is not reliable. But what other records can be relied upon ? Since the books of the Bible, such as the Scroll of Ruth ( attributed to the prophet Samuel ) are the original and primary sources for this information, they are very reliable. After all we are talking here about religious and spiritual ideas..not just "commercial marketing" which is downright silly. Judaism has had the WORST marketing possible ("Buy this product and you are persecuted??? Makes no sense") So we can safely rely on the record as handed down thru the ages by the Jewish sages of the Torah who were meticulous in reporting and recording only the TRUTH. And it is not necessary for some archeologist to dig up an obilisk in Iraq and tell us wow, see what it says here guys...that too is downright silly. If it happens, nice! But we don't hold our breath waiting for a historian to confirm Jewish history in it's primary location, otherwise , why bother with these "stories" altogether?; just skip the sections on religion and move on to the science lessons
JUDAISM,
CONVERSION
AND "BAPTISM":
______
Judaism as the primary source of the two other major monotheistic faiths, is based on the notion that Abraham and his wife Sarah were converts to the belief in one God. They were the founders of the Hebrews, that became the Children of Israel and later the Jews of Judah down to the present.
The Bible is very clear that converts deserve special attention and extra measures of love.The Hebrew word for "convert", ger ,is the same as that for a stranger . It is also related to the root gar - "to dwell'. Hence since the Children of Israel were "strangers" - geirim in Egypt, they are therefore instructed to be welcoming to those who seek to convert and dwell amongst them.
According to Jewish law known as the halakha in the codes of the Shulkhan Arukh , there are very strict guidelines for accepting new converts to Judaism. According to the Orthodox Judaism position, potential converts must want to convert for no ulterior motives such as wanting to marry a Jew. A male convert needs to undergo circumcision , and there has to be a commitment to observe all the commandments known as the 613 mitzvot . Ritual immersion in a small pool of water known as a mikveh is required , and the convert takes a new Jewish name and is considered to be a "son" of Abraham who is called the "Father of Converts". According to Maimonides converts will not be accepted once the Jewish Messiah arrives.
The most famous Jewish King , King David was descended from the convert Ruth a princess from Moab . The father of the most famous sage of the Talmud , Rabbi Akiva , was a convert. Christians were forbidden to convert to Judaism on pain of death during most of the Middle Ages. In the 1700s a famous convert by the the name of Count Valentin Potoski in Poland was burned at the stake. He was a disciple of Rabbi Elijah, known as the Vilna Gaon .
The Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism movements are very lenient in their acceptance of converts. Many of their members are married to non-Jews , and the movement make every effort to welcome the spouses of Jews who seek to convert. This issue is also a lightening rod in modern day Israel as many immigrants from the former Soviet Union are not Jewish.
Over the ages, Judaism has not encouraged preaching or proseletysing people to join its faith. In fact, converts are discouraged from becoming Jews and warned that being a Jew entails great risks such as becoming a victim of Anti-Semitism .
In the times of Jesus , gentiles who sought to join him were required to undergo conversion to Judaism first including circumcision for men. The origin of Baptism in water is derived from the Jewish law requiring a convert to submerege themselves in pure water in order to receive a new pure soul from God. It was only many years after Jesus, that there was split in the movement and those seeking to convert to Christianity were not faced with the major obstacles that Judaism presented.
GER / GUR HASIDISM:
POLAND TO ISRAEL:
___________
About...
Ger , Gerrer , or Gur , (Gora Kalwaria), is the name of a small town in Poland from which a large Orthodox Hasidic Judaism dynasty originated. They are now based in Jerusalem where their Rebbe lives. The rabbis who lead them have come from a family by the name of Alter . The founder of this group was Rabbi Yitzchok Meir (Rothenberg) Alter (1799 - 1866), known in Hebrew as the Chidushei HaRim named for his scholarly works on Talmud and the Shulchan Aruch.
Almost all of their devotees in Europe perished during the Holocaust, but their leader at the time somehow managed to escape and quickly set about rebuilding the movement in then Palestine .
There are large communities of Gerrer hasidim in New York, London, and Belgium. In Israel they dominate the Agudath Israel of Israel religious political movement and party in the Israeli Knesset. They have set up several satellite communities in parts of Israel.
They are distinguished by their dark hasidic garb, and on shabbat and Jewish holidays the married men wear a high circular fur hat called a spodik (not to be confused with the much flatter shtreimel a fur hat worn by some of the other hasidic groups.)
The second Rebbe was Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (1847 - 1905).
Friday, January 24, 2003
GOD'S COVENANTS
WITH ISRAEL:
_____
Hi ,
Nice to hear from you.
Going to bed early is a healthy sign.
"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise"
I think that it is safe to assume that when talking of THE "Covenant" that
Isaiah mentions, like many other prophets, is referring to the Covenant God
made with the Children of Israel at Mount Sinai.
I have looked up the reliable classic Jewish Torah commentators, and they all
say that this Isaiah prophecy, starting with Verse 1 of Chapter 24, is about
the end of days , and the punishments that the Children of Israel will have to
endure. (Remember, Isaiah lived before the Northern Kingdom of Israel was
destroyed and was warning its inhabitants about God's wrath).
Yes there are sevral covenants mentioned in the Torah, with Noah and Abraham.
But the more important Covenant, which was renewed a few times was the Covenant
between God and the Children of Israel who agreed to abide by God's laws when
they received the Ten Commandments (and thus the entire Torah included).
Isaiah is reminding them that they have abandoned their side of the bargain and
thus God is abandoning His side of the bargain thru certain punishments.
However, and this is crucial, the Covenant itself is NEVER broken, because as
you will see the prophet also talks about the REBIRTH of Israel, meaning that
even tho ironically the neglect of the Covenant is what causes the punishments,
it is that SAME covenant that gauranties the Children of Israel that they will
be redeemed and return to the land.See Isaiah Chapters 25, 26, 27, about the
Song and Jubilation of The Children of Israel's future redemption.
You can find the references to God's covenant with the Children of Israel at :
1)Exodus 24 , verses 1 to 11: "The Sealing of the Covenant".
2)Exodus 34, verses 27 to 34: "Renewal after the Golden Calf -'The Second
Tablets of Stone with the Ten Commandments"
3)Deuteronomy 4, verses 25 - 40: "God's warning for ignoring the Covenant"
4)Deuteronomy 28 , verse 69, affirming what is stated Chapter 28.
5)Deuteronomy 29, verse 8, safeguarding the Covenant.
6)Deuteronomy 29, verses 9 to 28, the Covenant with the Children of Israel
renewed.
So you see , the most important Covenant is with the Children of Israel,who are
none other than the Jewish people. Jesus and Christiaanity do NOT come into the
picture at all. Jesus personally remained attached to the Jewish people and
believed in God's eternal covenant with them. It was only much later, when the
church was being built long after Jesus had died, that Church writers decided
that everything had to be inverted to Christianity. Which is silly and foolish,
because this is not what Jesus would have wanted them to do. He would have much
rather everyone became a Jew so that they could become members of the Jewish
people and only thereby come into God's covenant with the Children of Israel,
but ofcourse it did not turn out that way .
So the covenant that Isaiah is talking about is the most important one between
God and the Children of Israel aka The Jews.
Best wishes,
Have a great weekend,
Izak
Thursday, January 23, 2003
GARDEN OF EDEN:
ADAM AND EVE AND ORIGINAL SIN:
GOOD AND EVIL:
______
SimShalom:
Hi, would you be interested in discussing
Jewish subjects? Please let me know. Thanks.
T:
Sure, but I must admit, i'm a bit of a novice on Jewish faith.
SimShalom: Well Noticed you listed Judaism on your ICQ
profile, so I thought you might have some
interest...so what brings to this interest?
T:
The same reason most people take an interest
in religion... okay, maybe not the same reason, but the search for truth.
SimShalom:
sounds very impressive to me. Most people are not like this .So what issues are you
exploring?
T:
At the moment, the Garden of Eden. I'm
infatuating with the fable and the symbolism
behind it. The concept of wisdom and its
price. The idea that G_d orchestrated the
entire affair to introduce the element of sin
and choice into the world.
SimShalom:
O wow, boy , you really are on the hot trail.
Yes, these are foundation of the Jewish faith
as well as the world.
How did you manage to pick that point. Are you
very conversant with the Bible?
T:
Not really, no. I'm not particularly
"religious," when it comes to organization.
I've read some of it and sought my own truth
without the aid of outside influence.
SimShalom:
Are you familiar with the different Jewish
"denominations" in America, such as Reform
,Conservative , Orthodox?
T:
No. I know "of" them, but not where they
differ.
SimShalom:
Well, it is only the Orthodox who take the
Creation narrative that you mentioned above,
seriously. The others brush it of as some kind
of quasi-primitive myths.
T:
*nods*
Interesting. *smile*
T:
Learn something new everyday...
SimShalom:
In fact if you were to ask the average
"Reform" or "Conservative" Jew about it, they
would laugh it of, probably never even given
more than ten seconds of thought, if that, if
you press them on it , they say, hey, we are
not like the Catholics(sic) who believe in
"Original sin"...Little asking , where did the
"Catholics" get it from in the first place,
from the Jewish Bible, so it throws them for
as loop, if they are interested at all.:-/
T: *nods* I know that. It's a bit of a
different spin, and one I particularly don't
agree with.
I don't agree with Catholicism in a lot of
ways, actually. For a religion of love and
tolerance; they sure are fearful and
intolerant.
SimShalom:
I'm not talking about the merits of the
system. I am just pointing out the "origins"
of Biblical narratives, that both Catholics
and Orthodox Jews take seriously (an "odd
couple")
T:
Don't they differ in perception and
interpretation of these narratives?
Catholicism has used the Garden of Eden fable
to vilify women throughout history. What is
the Jewish slant? Does it differ?
SimShalom:
You can't really ask for a "Jewish" slant as
such since there are so many variant views
amongst the Jews, ranging from Secular to
Ultra-Orthodox.
But the interpretation of classical JUDAISM
as recorded in the traditional texts such as
Talmud,Midrash,and other old writings, is that
Eve was indeed held responsible for her act of
eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and
Evil and thereby bringing death into the
world.
T:
*nods*
So it wasn't a Catholic's only idea.
There are consequences to every action, but if
G_d baited her into it-- interesting.
SimShalom:
Not God, the SERPENT baited her. Nowhere in
the narrative does it say that God baited her
at all. On the contrary, he gave CLEAR
orders(actually a one and only commandment)
not eat from the Tree of Knowledge, yet she
ate from after falling for the SERPENT'S
arguments. And then she gave it to her
husband.
Catholicism is NOT a very original faith.
In fact Christianity is just a PLAGIARIZED
form of "Up_side down " Judaism:'-(
T:
G_d did it by proxy. He's the one who created
the serpent, and if he didn't want the apple
eaten that bad he would've denied the serpent
access to Eve. By leaving the element of
choice there, he's guilty of a very
Miltonian-like neglect evil, when he could've
easily stopped it himself.
SimShalom:
Ah, but wait, the text EXPLICITLY says that
God literally created Adam in His (God's) own
IMAGE, thus it is Adam , and by extension Eve
who are God's creations. How the Serpent got
there is not clear at all. It's like asking
how did evil get into this world. Well since
God is NOT evil, he certainly would not have
put evil into this world.
So how the serpent gets into the picture is
not clear, and in fact remains a perplexing
complex question
T:
If God created the universe and there is only
one power in the universe that has the power
of creation, then who created the Serpent if
it isn't clear that God didn't create it?
Isn't it feasible that God created evil?
Isn't it feasible that evil is a subjective
perception? If everything comes from God and
God is everything, then wouldn't the serpent
also be of God?
SimShalom:
Well, they say that in the absolute sense God
cannot produce anything that is negative...in
the absolute truth , if one would be able to
get to that level, it would become evident
that ultimately there is no such thing as
EVIL, it is just a kind of "apparition" that
has deadly nuisance value. So God remains
ABSOLUTE INCARNATE without any blemish oh
evil.
By the way, the excuse that 'The Devil made me
do it" is as much not an excuse for Eve as it
would be for any common criminal to say this
and shirk punishment.
SimShalom:
ABSOLUTE GOOD INCARNATE
T:
*nods* Right, and that's where I differ from
Judeo-Christian faith in that I don't believe
in the paradigm of good and evil. It seems
subjective and therefore, silly to classify in
every situation.
Evil can be classified as harming another at
its simplest form whereas Good is helping
another. What about the grey areas? Tough
love. Is forcing a heroin addict into
solitary confinement so he can suffer
withdrawal and save his own life an evil act?
You're hurting him temporarily...
SimShalom:
I don't know about tough love.
But if you go by the words of the Narrative in
Genesis that you brought up, the text clearly
says that the tree they ate from was a the
'Tree of Knowledge of GOOD and EVIL' and that
God feared that they would be a danger to know
'GOOD and EVIL" as He (god) does, so he
expelled them from the Garden Of Evil,and
forced them to lead mundane lives.
T:
*nods* Why didn't he just banish the concept
of good and evil? Get rid of the tree
completely. The law of probability says that
if you put a cookie jar in front of two
children and say don't eat it, they're gonna
eat it eventually. They may sit and be nice
for awhile, but eventually, one of them is
gonna get curious and have a cookie.
If you eliminate the cookie jar from the
equation, then you won't have that problem.
SimShalom:
Well that is heaven, where all is good and the
angels perform whatever they are told to do
without question like angelic robots.
Hover, since God wants people to EARN their
REWARDS by THEIR CHOICES and ACTIONS, they are
forced to chose in this world and thereby
merit rewards either in this world or the
hereafter (In Judaism it's mostly in the World
To Come),
the purpose of all human history for thane
last 5,763 has been to rectify Adam's sin
SimShalom:
At the end of this world according To Judaism
when the world reaches 6,000 years there will
arive a Messianic age wher Evil will be
eradicated and all people will see the TRuth
and know God. But that is in the future. In
our world as we kinow, we must make the tough
choices between doing Good and or Evil. And
evil acts lead to serious punishments , namely
Death or capital punishmenyt being the most
serious \consequence person has to undergo if
they do that which is absolutel evil, such as
killing another human being.
T:
It's that paradigm of good and evil I still
don't agree with. Morality differs from
region to region, and has no actual base in
the human condition. Do you think it's a
function of the conscious mind.
T:
That last was supposed to be a question.
*Laughs*
SimShalom:
Oh we can speculate till the chickens come
home to roost, which they are doing since it's
late here.:-(
But it's not a matter of just making things
up.
If Judaism be a religion of truth then what
it's teachings in the Bible say have to be
truth. Otherwise anyone can make up any
thing...
In the Western World, morality and notions
about Good and evil are base de firmly in the
Judea -Christian Heritage rooted in the Bible.
T:
*nods* Western morality, yes.
Ahhh, my thoughts are scatted. So many
potential tangents. *Laughs*
SimShalom:
Well just bring yourself back to that powerful
beginning of the Creation narrative in
Genesis. According to all schools of Jewish
mysticism it's in those first narratives that
all the mysteries, and answers to Creation are
to be found.
T:
*nods* I'll be sure to give it another read.
And hey, although i'm not leaving, thanks for
this conversation. I truly appreciate it.
Religion isn't a feasible topic of discussion
in polite circles, and i'm sure we'll be able
to learn lots from one another in the future.
SimShalom:
Ok fine, thanks for the chat.
T:
You too.
of Judaism_Section (PALTALK)
