Jewish, Jewish, Everywhere, & not a drop to drink
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
From: Beliefnet Religious Jokes
To: simshalom@ATT.NET
Subject: What I Learned From Noah
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 02:05:58 -0400
What I Learned From Noah
Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah's Ark...
ONE: Don't miss the boat.
TWO: Remember that we are all in the same boat.
THREE: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
FOUR: Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
FIVE: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
SIX: Build your future on high ground.
SEVEN: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
EIGHT: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
NINE: When you're stressed, float awhile.
TEN: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Monday, September 22, 2003
THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM OF ACCEPTING SUFFERING...as told to college students...
Let's face it, it ain't easy making heads or tails of, let alone understanding, the Holocaust.
A real horror movie starring real Jews related to you and me! Scary, isn't it?! Or maybe not?! Hmmm...Try "personalizing" this... Time out for a few unpleasant thoughts:
If you come from Holocaust survivors. If your mother is a survivor of Auschwitz, and still has a small tatoo on her left wrist that begins with "A" followed by some, by now, faint numbers. If your father was a survivor of the Ghettos, or even escaped from there to join the Partisans to fight the Germans.
What if three of your grandparents were murdered as part of the Final Solution; And you were very connected to of them, knowing that they were deported during the war to death camps.Some were just executed on the spot, maybe shot in the face and died in front of their children . And others, God alone knows how, when and where they perished. Then, obviously, in spite of how this may sound, you'd take this entire subject very, very seriously!
What if you were now trying to teach fellow Jews in about the Holocaust, in any college, home or club. Presumably you'd seek to speak to students in their own "idiom", which is not as simple as it may seem.
And folks, it ain't easy getting Holocaust/Kristalnacht/Painful-type messages across to those engrossed in the latest delights of rap, rave, and all the joys of life served up in "THE Great" college life young people now enjoy.
There was once a great rabbi who said that the reason most Jews have trouble with the Holocaust is that they have been "brainwashed" into believing a "sunnyside-up" brand of Judaism. In fact, in the Torah (Bible) we see that, sadly enough, pain, death and suffering are as much a part of the human situation as health, life and happiness. And that it all fits into a "grander pattern" in the "scheme of things", a massive mysterious "Master Plan" that God has for the Jews and his world as history unfolds.It takes real maturity to appreciate this dichotomy, and it can help us put the Holocaust in a more appropriate perspective.
But for us, here and now in 21st Century America, it's becoming a dim and vague, difficult to relate to, part of "ancient" Jewish history. We would rather dream other things: better, happier things. The only problem with this approach is that a quick study of history shows that sooner or later the Almighty is prone to giving the Jews a wake-up-call, with a rude awakening mechanism made up of lots of Evil Empires!
After all, we aren't prepared by our parents, teachers or by society to face up to something as scary as our own mortality. And then again, we are either too fatalistic ("Whatever happens to me, happens to me") or we're too busy distracting ourselves (by fun, work, play and attempting to reveal the secrets of our VCR control panel.)
The problem is both external and internal.
Externally: we are modern people living in the land of hope and promise... The American Dream. There is no room for the "D" word (death). Try to explain to someone why bad things happen to good people and see how far you get. Try to do this many times and the results are mixed
Internally: Judaism, for many, is nothing more than a loose collection of memories, folk tales, traditions and myths wrapped in cloaks of Jewish ethical humanism. Very nice and very happy, but not always very real. No allowances are made for the Grim Reaper.
We don't understand why suffering exists, why (according to latest scientific research) people die at the end of their lives, whether collectively (e.g. the Holocaust) or individually. We are culturally illiterate when it comes to negativity. We either freak out or block it out. Neither approach is acceptable if we are to be sophisticated Jewish adults capable of coping with tough subjects and situations.
Try to remember, there ain't nothing wrong with dreamin' about the good things in life and love. It's just that death and reality have a funny way of getting in the way.
We must remember the horrors of yesterday to appreciate the life of today.
"BI'AT KULCHEM ('Arrival of you all in Israel')
A Majority of Jews in the Land of Israel"
By Yishai Fleisher for Kumah
"Mi Yimalel Gevorot Hashem Yashmiya Kol Tehilato, Who can express the mighty acts of Hashem, who can make heard all His praise! (Tehil. 106;2)"
"After 1900 years of exile, the State of Israel has begun the work of in gathering Jews to the Land of Israel. It is hard to describe the joy and thankfulness that we Jews feel in seeing the prophecies come true with our own eyes.
The milestones of the fledgling state have been marked mostly by wars. The war of Independence initiated the birth of the state, while the Six Day war yielded the return of Jerusalem into Jewish hands. Great feats of population in gathering and integration are also amongst the proudest memories of Israel. The miraculous rescues of Yemenite, Ethiopian, and Russian Jewry changed the demographic and cultural makeup of Israel. Black Jews walk the streets of Jerusalem, Jews with ancient customs pray in synagogues, beautiful children are born to unlikely unions of Jews from different parts of the globe.
Now the Jewish State is about to reach another milestone the likes of which has perhaps not been achieved since the first Jewish commonwealth 3000 years ago when the First Temple stood. A recent study done at the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at Hebrew University in Jerusalem concludes that just after the year 5790 (corresponding to 2030 CE) the majority of the Jewish people will live in the land of Israel. The study goes on to say that currently only 37% of the Jewish people live in Israel, while the rest live in the Diaspora. However, due to many factors, that figure is rapidly changing.
For one thing, the Jewish birthrate in Israel is fully twice that of Diaspora Jews; on the average, 2.6 children are born to women in Israel, versus 1.3 to Diaspora women. Secondly, as is well known, the intermarriage rate in the Diaspora is over 50%, while in Israel that figure is negligible. Thirdly, the median age of Israel's population is much lower than that of the Diaspora's community. Israel has a higher percent of young people and lower percent of the elderly than does the Diaspora. These three factors, birthrate, intermarriage, and median age, all point to one trend: the Jewish population of Israel is growing, while Diaspora Jewry is waning.
There is one final factor: Aliyah. Most of Israel's population is made up of either immigrants, their children, or their grand-children. Almost everyone in Israel is a product of some immigration - this is the nature of a mass population influx. As we have noted, the Aliyah story is embedded deep within the national conscience of Israeli Jews. Aliyah still continues today, especially from places of hardship such as Argentina, France, and the former Soviet Union.
Today, there are roughly the same amount of Jews in North America as there are in Israel. American Jewry has not been subjected to the hardships of other communities and this comfort probably accounts for the minuscule proportion of American Aliyah. American Jewry has a large Orthodox contingent who, more than other Jewish sectors, visit Israel regularly or study there for some time. A strong connection between Orthodox Jews and Israel is maintained because of the religious significance that the land of Israel has in Judaism. More secular-minded Jews also maintain a connection to Israel by vacationing in Israel, spending time on kibbutz, or studying abroad in Israel. Birthright, a program created to foster a connection to Judaism and Israel in young people, takes Jews who are 18-26 on a free ten day trip to Israel, and in general, the advent of air travel has made Israel accessible to Jews of the Diaspora. However, Aliyah is quite another thing. Aliyah is a decision that can be imposed by anti-Semites, or can be cultivated by ideology and love. American Jewry is at a decisive crossroads. Intermarriage and aging, a hint of anti-Semitism, a glorious Israel, a G-dly commandment, an economic downturn. Will any of these factors help bring about a mass American Aliyah?
Even without a massive influx of Jews into Israel, the current trends show that the majority of Jews will be living in the Land of Israel in approximately twenty years. What, if any, are the Halachic ramifications of this phenomenon? Will there be changes in the Halachic status of Eretz Yisrael? With our knowledge of the approaching Rov phenomenon ("Rov" meaning "majority" in hebrew, referring to the majority of Jews in the Land of Israel for the purposes of this analysis), are there any actions that we must take in preparation? "Mi Hachacham, Ha'roe Et Ha'nolad" Our sages say that a wise man is one who can discern future events. Given that the Hebrew University study accurately predicts the demographic reality of Rov Yehudim B'eretz Yisrael, Halachic authorities must recognize this change and establish guidelines to properly deal with its arrival.
THE TORAH
There are various verses in the Torah that refer to the coming of Jews to the Land of Israel. The threshold verse for the topic of Rov comes from the Book of Bamidbar, Parshat Shelach, Chapter 15; 18-19. "'Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: When ye come to the Land to which I bring you; it shall be when you will eat of the bread of the Land, you shall set aside a portion for Hashem." The topic here is the mitzvah of Challah, in which a portion of dough that is about to baked into bread is separated and given to a Kohen, a Jew of the priestly tribe. The Torah uses the words "B'voachem El Ha'aretz", (when ye come into the Land) to describe the point at which this mitzvah becomes Biblically mandated. The Oral Torah (Ket. 25a), explains this verse to mean 'Bi'at Kulchem, Ve'lo Bi'at Miktzatchem' "The arrival of all of you, and not a small part of you." Meaning to say that it is not the arrival of individuals which causes this mitzvah to become Biblically mandated, rather it is the arrival of a mass group of Jews to the Land which turns on the Biblical mandate. Herein lies the basis of the Rov doctrine: the Biblical demand for all the Jews to arrive meets the rabbinical concept of Rubo Ke'Kulo, 'a majority of it, is like all of it,' and thereby a majority of Jews arriving in the Land is made equal to the demand of all and is said to be enough to biblically mandate Challah (Rav Shlomo Zevin, Ha'medina Ha'ivrit Ve'kedushat Ha'aretz.)
Furthermore, according to the Tosfot and the Tosfot Rosh on Gemara Nidah 47(a) the "B'voachem" of Challah is not the only time we learn "Bi'at Kulchem," rather, other language that connotes a coming or arrival of the Jews in the Land of Israel such as "Ki Tavo'u" (when you will come) and "Ki Yaviecha" (when He will bring you) also refers to a time when a majority of Jews are on the Land. 'Ki Tavo'u' is mentioned in many places in the Torah including by the commandment of Orlah (not to harvest the fruit of trees in their first three years) and Shmittah, the Sabbatical seventh year of the Land. If these two commandments become biblically mandated by a Bi'at Kulchem, that is, the arrival of a time when the majority of Jews are on the Land, then, through rabbinical extrapolation, a whole host of other commandments may become biblically mandated as well.
THE RAMBAM'S AMBIGUOUS POSITION
The Rambam discusses the time of the second Jewish commonwealth and the arrival of the Babylonian exiles with Ezra at their head. The Jews who followed Ezra were few, 42,360, and constituted a small part of the Babylonian Jewry and in no way created a majority of Jews in the Land of Israel. The Rambam explains this in two places. In Hilchot Bikurim 5;5 he states: "One is liable to dough offering, Challah, according to the Torah, only in the Land of Israel, as it is said, When ye eat of the bread of the land (Num, 15;19), and only when all Israel are there, as it is said, [B'voachem] When ye come into the land, implying, when all of you come and not just some of you. Therefore at this time, and in the days of Ezra even in the Land of Israel, one is liable to dough offering [Challah] only according to Scribal law, as we have explained in regard to Terumot, Heave offering." Furthermore, the Rambam states in the Book of Holiness (Kedusha - Isurei Bi'a) in chapter 20;3 "Dough offering at the present time, even in the Land of Israel, is not of scriptural sanction, since Scripture says, [B'voachem] when ye come into the Land whither I bring you (Num 15;18) implying the coming of all Israel, not of only a part of it, and when they went up into the Land in the days of Ezra, not all Israel did go up. Similarly, heave offering nowadays is eaten on the authority of the Scribes, and consequently priests of the present day, who are priests by presumption only, may eat of it."
We see that the mitzvah of Challah, is the first to be affected by the phenomenon of Rov Yehudim, majority of Jews, in the Land of Israel. Currently, Challah is only Derabbanan, Scribal law, and therefore the separated portion is usually burned in the oven of the home or business. But what needs to be prepared when Challah becomes Deoraita, Biblical law? The people of Israel need to be made aware of the laws pertaining to this mitzvah and how to fulfill the commandment properly. Even if Challah is the only mitzvah to be affected by the Rov phenomenon, fulfilling it properly would take the Jewish people a giant step forward in preparation for Temple service.
However, the Rambam goes on to link the Biblical mandate of Terumot (Heave offering) and Maasrot (Tithes) to the concept of Bi'at Kulchem, 'the arrival of all of you' (which we have explained refers to the arrival of a majority of Jews to the Land of Israel i.e. Rov). In Chapter 1;26 of Hilchot Terumot (Heave Offering) the Rambam states:
In our time the heave offering is obligatory not by the authority of the Torah but by Scribal law, even in places seized by those who had come up from Babylonia, or even by those who had come later in the days of Ezra. For there is no heave offering authorized by the Torah except in the Land of Israel alone, and at a time when all the children of Israel are there, as it is said When ye are come (Ki Tavo'u), implying, when all of you shall have come, as they did at the first settlement, and as they are again to do at the third settlement, not as they did at the second settlement in the days of Ezra, when only some returned, wherefore the Torah did not obligate them.
It would consequently appear to me that the same rule should apply to Tithes, namely that in our time they should be due by scribal law only, just as is Heave offering.
The Rambam teaches us that Terumot and Maasrot (Heave offerings and Tithes) are applicable biblically when the Rov of Jewry is present in Israel. It seems that Rambam is connecting the law of Challah to that of Terumah by their shared nature (i.e. both are an act of giving a portion to the priest) and their shared verse in the Torah (i.e. the same pasuk, verse, that speaks of Challah, speaks of raising a Terumah to Hashem). The connection of Maaser to Terumah makes sense as well because both of these are holy separations taken from produce of Eretz Yisrael. However, when the Torah speaks of Maaser, it does so in the context of the Shmittah cycle. Unlike Terumah which is separated every year, Maaser has different requirements which vary with the Shmittah cycle. If the giving of Maaser is dependent upon the majority of Jews living in the Land of Israel, could it be that the counting of the Shmittah cycle is also dependent upon the Rov?
This question is further strengthened and much complicated by the Rambam's use of the term "Ki Tavo'u" to learn Bi'at Kulchem (ibid) instead of the Gemera's "B'voachem - Bi'at Kulchem," learning. In other words, the Rambam switches the Talmud's usage of the term used to connote the requirement of majority (from mitzvah Challah) and instead uses one that is found in other places, including the Biblical term requiring the observance of Shmittah! "Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: When you come {Ki Tavo'u} into the land that I give you, the land shall observe a Sabbath rest for Hashem" (Sefer Vayikra, Parshat Behar, 25;2).
The Maharit (Teshuvot 1:25), Mabit (Teshuvot 2:64) and Rav Chaim Soloveitchik (commentary to the Rambam's Hilchot Shmittah V'yovel 12:16, see below.) all believe that the Rambam's extrapolation of the Rov requirement from Challah to Terumot and Maasrot applies equally to Shmittah.
Furthermore, according to the Tosfot and the Tosfot Rosh on Gemara Nidah 47(a) the "B'voachem" of Challah is not the only time we learn "Bi'at Kulchem," rather, other language that connotes a coming or arrival of the Jews in the Land of Israel such as "Ki Tavo'u" (when you will come) and "Ki Yaviecha" (when He will bring you) also refers to a time when a majority of Jews are on the Land.
Finally, the Rambam in Hilchot Beit Habechira (Laws of the Temple) Chapter 6, Halacha 16 states that: "every place that was possessed by those who had come up from Babylonia and hallowed by the second sanctification of Ezra is holy today, even though the land was later wrestled from them; and the laws of the Sabbatical year and the tithes appertain thereto in the manner we have described in the Laws Concerning Heave Offering."
The amalgamation of these four factors: 1. that Maaser is tied in to the Shmittah cycle 2. that the Rambam uses Ki Tavo'u instead of B'voachem 3. that Tosfot also hold that Ki Tavo'u can refer to Rov, and 4. that Rambam himself clearly references Shmittah to the learning of Bi'at Kulchem of Terumah, tends to show that the Rambam believes that the arrival of a Bi'at Kulchem, a majority of Jews in the Land of Israel, will make Shmittah, applicable on a Biblical level.
However, if the Rambam's position is really that Shmittah is dependent on Bi'at Kulchem and therefore Rov, then it would seem to contradict another contentious Halacha. The Rambam writes in Chapter 10;9 of Hilchot Shmittah and Yovel:
Whenever the Jubilee is in force, the law of the Hebrew bondsman, of houses in walled cities, of the devoted field, and of the field of possession are also in force; resident aliens may be accepted; the Sabbatical year is operative in the Land of Israel; and the cancellation of cash debts is effective in all places - all this according to the Torah. Whenever the Jubilee is not in force, none of these are in force, excepting the Sabbatical year in the Land of Israel[.], [and] the cancellation of cash debts in all places, [both] only according to Scribal law, as we have explained.
Some editions of the Rambam have the words in the parentheses and others do not. The argument over the proper text is based on the question of whether Shmittah is linked to Yovel or not. One plausible read of the above text yields a clear definition of Shmittah as being dependent on Yovel for its biblical mandate. This would follow Rebbe's opinion in Gemara Gittin 36(a) in which he states that when Yovel is inoperative, Shmittah becomes inoperative as well.
An equally plausible read of the above Rambam would make Shmittah totally independent of Yovel, having biblical mandate even when Yovel is inoperative. This would be in accordance with Rabbanan's view in Gemara Gittin who reject Rebbe's assertion that Shmittah and Yovel are linked. According to this view Shmittah has biblical mandate in the Land of Israel today, even without the requirement of Bi'at Kulchem, the majority of Jews on the Land.
For Yovel to be operative, the Rambam writes in Hilchot Shmittah and Yovel (10:8) "When the Tribes of Reuven and Gad and half of the Tribe of Manasseh were exiled, Jubilees ceased, as it is said, And proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof - L'kol Yoshvei'a (Lev. 25:10) implying, that all its inhabitants are there, and the Tribes are not intermixed, and everyone is corrrectly situated." L'kol Yoshvei'a, all the inhabitants, is a different requirement than that of Bi'at Kulchem. On the face of it, Kol Yoshvei'a seems like a much stricter requirement than Bi'at Kulchem because it requires everyone to be at their station. However, some authorities think that a representation of each tribe is enough to constitute Kol Yoshvei'a.
Rav Yosef Karo, the author of the Kesef Mishna, believes that the Rambam holds that Shmittah is mandated by biblical law even today. For the Kesef Mishna, Shmittah is a land-based mitzvah, and since the Rambam holds that the holiness of the Land imbued by Ezra's arrival in Israel never waned (Beit Habechira 6;16), Shmittah has the full mandate of biblical law today. The Kesef Mishna holds that the Rambam's view regarding Bi'at Kulchem and Rov applies only to Terumot, Maaserot and Challah, but does not apply to Shmittah as we have suggested.
So what does the Kesef Mishna do with Hilchot Beit Habechira (Laws of the Temple) Chapter 6, Halacha 16 which states that: "the laws of the Sabbatical year and the tithes appertain thereto in the manner we have described in the Laws Concerning Heave Offering" i.e. Bi'at Kulchem? On that Halacha, the Kesef Mishna is silent. We can postulate that for the Kesef Mishna the baseline obligation of Shmittah is biblically mandated, however, the counting of Shmittah cycle on a national level will resume with Bi'at Kulchem, the majority of Jews in the Land of Israel. This may comport with the view that the State of Israel's modern control over the Land has revived the Kedusha that was left dormant from the period of the Second, and maybe even the First Commonwealth. (See Rav Chaim Soloveichik's position below. See also Teshovot Tzitz Eliezer 10:1, Rav Shlomo Zevin in Techumin 10:24-25, and Rav Zev Whitman in Likrat Shmittah Mamlachtit Bimedinat Yisrael 156-164).
Rav Chaim Soloveichik's position:
Rav Chaim begins with a question on the Rambam's ruling in the Law of Shmittah and Yovel (12; 15-16) which states that:
15. ...When the children of Israel were exiled at the time of the destruction of the First Temple, the sanctity of cities walled in the days of Joshua ceased. When Ezra came up at the time of the second return, all the cities that were encircled by a wall at that time became sanctified, inasmuch as the coming up of the Israelites in the days of Ezra, which was the second coming up, was analogous to their coming up in the days of Joshua: just as at their coming up in the days of Joshua they commenced counting septennates and Jubilees, sanctified houses in walled cities, and became liable to tithes, so also did they do the same when they came up in the days of Ezra.
16. Similarly in the days to come, at the third coming up, when the Israelites shall reenter the Land, they will commence counting septennates and Jubilees and sanctifying houses in walled cities, and all places occupied by them will become liable to tithes, as it is said, And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it (Deut.30:5), thus comparing your possessing of the Land to your fathers' possessing: just as your fathers' possessing involves the renewal of all these thing, so does your own possessing.
Rav Chaim asks a simple question: why will 'houses of walled cities' be sanctified in the Third Aliyah; shouldn't they have remained sanctified with the sanctification of Ezra which was never negated? The Rambam's use of Ki Tavo'u to connote Bi'at Kulchem instead of B'voachem in halacha 1;26 of Hilchot Terumot gives Rav Chaim the clue. Rav Chaim explains that the Rambam, in explaining the law of Terumot, uses the Ki Tavo'u mentioned by Shmittah. This is because the Torah links Terumot and Massrot (Heave offerings and Tithes) with the Shmittah cycle, and therefore, according to Rav Chaim, the Rambam believes that just as Terumot and Massrot (and Challah) become biblically mandated by Bi'at Kulchem, so does Shmittah! In other words, the Rambam uses the learning of Bi'at Kulchem from Ki Tavo'u precisely to teach us that Shmittah too is bound by the coming of a majority of Jews, a Bi'at Kulchem.
But how does this answer the question about the sanctity of 'houses of walled cities'? Rav Chaim explains that Bi'at Kulchem is a component in both the holiness and inheritance of the Land of Israel - without a Bi'at Kulchem, the holiness and inheritance of the Land is simply incomplete. A large in gathering, a Bi'at Kulchem, completes the process of sanctification begun at Ezra's time. A Bi'at Kulchem solidifies the holiness and inherence of the Land in such a way as to make Terumot, Maasrot, and Shmittah biblically mandated. Furthermore, it sets the stage for Yovel to become biblically mandated. Yovel, however, needs the additional requirement of Kol Yoshve'ia Aleiha, all the inhabitants to be on it, for it to take affect. Rav Chaim understands the Rambam's position to be that Bi'at Kulchem changes the status of the Land to such an extraordinary degree as to effectuate the completion of Ezra's initial sanctification which was never negated and yet never fully consummated.
Rav Chaim takes it one step further: if Terumot, Maasrot, and Shmittah become biblically mandated, then it is necessary to establish a proper Shmittah cycle by counting the fiftieth year. In Ezra's time, both Shmittah and Yovel were only Rabbinically mandated, yet Yovel was counted to establish a proper cycle. With exile, those who remained in the Land of Israel counted only the Shmittah years without counting the fiftieth year (Rambam Shmittah Ve'Yovel 10;5). For Rav Chaim, an in gathering of the majority of Jews in the Land of Israel, a Bi'at Kulchem, would mandate the reinstatement of the count of the fiftieth year in order to make Shmittah cycle viable. Even without the requirement of Kol Yoshvei'a Aleiha, which would biblically mandate Yovel, Bi'at Kulchem could biblically mandate the count of the fifty year cycle.
With regard to 10;9 of Hilchot Shmittah and Yovel in which the Rambam seems to imply that Shmittah is either linked to Yovel and therefore only rabbincally mandated (like Rav) or that Shmittah is fully biblically mandated from the time of Ezra (like Rabbanan), Rav Chaim falls out somewhat in the middle. He probably believes that the Rambam agrees with Rabbanan that Shmittah is separate from Yovel, and he therefore reads the Halacha in question as referring to a time when a Bi'at Kulchem has already been achieved and is biblically mandated. For Rav Chaim the Halacha is read: "Whenever the Jubilee is not in force [because the requirement of Kol Yoshvei'a Aleiha is not met], none of these are in force, excepting the Sabbatical year in the Land of Israel [if a Bi'at Kulchem is in effect in the Land], [while] the cancellation of cash debts in all places, [is] only according to Scribal law, as we have explained."
A fascinating proof for Rav Chaim's position comes from the text of the Rambam in the Laws of Heave Offering, Bikurim, 1;2. The Rambam states:
Whenever the term of "Land of Israel" is mentioned, it refers to the lands conquered by an Israelite king or by a prophet with the consent of the majority of Israel. This is the so-called, Kibush Rabim, national conquest.
If, however, an individual Israelite family, or Tribe, has gone forth and has conquered a place for itself, even if it is part of the land given to Abraham, it is not called Land of Israel insofar as all the commandments would apply thereto.
It is for this reason that Joshua and his court have divided all of the Land of Israel among the Tribes, even though it had not yet been conquered, in order that there should be no conquest by single individuals when each Tribe proceeded to conquer its own share.
The Rambam seems to be saying that without the majority's consent, the laws which pertain to the Land of Israel do not apply. It may be argued that real consent to conquer land can only be given when the majority of Israel are on the Land and have a stake in the conquest. Jews living in the Galut, the Diaspora, who do not face the dangers of war, may not have a vote or ability to consent. However, when the time of Rov does arrive in the Land of Israel, it may be only then that Land of Israel will receive full status for the laws pertaining to it. This is the position of the Mabit and Maharit.
For Rav Chaim, Bi'at Kulchem apples to the sanctification of Land, as well as to its inheritance and the Rambam here seems to agree with both points. Regarding inheritance of the Land, the Rambam states that full conquering needs a majority of Jews, and regarding sanctification of the Land, the Rambam says that without a proper conquering, the Land itself does not have full commandment status. Although Rav Chaim does not use this Rambam in his writing, it seems that this interpretation of the Rambam would bolster his approach.
This understanding of the Rambam could suggest that a Bi'at Kulchem, a majority of Jews in the Land of Israel, has the ability to sanctify all the areas which were conquered by the State of Israel including those areas which were not mentioned in the Torah.
Summary of Shmittah Opinions.
As we have said, the Maharit (Teshuvot 1:25), the Mabit (Teshuvot 2:64) and Rav Chaim Soloveitchik (commentary to the Rambam's Hilchot Shmittah V'yovel 12:16) all believe that the Rambam applies Bi'at Kulchem as a prerequisite of a Biblical Shmittah mandate. This means that upon the arrival of a majority of Jews in the Land of Israel, Shmittah will become Deoraita. Other prominent Acharonim rule in accordance with the view of the Kesef Mishna and the Raavad, that Shmittah today is biblically mandated. These authorities include the Netziv (Tehshuvot Meishiv Davar - Kuntress Dvar HaShmittah), and Rav Yechiel Michel Epstein (Aruch Hashulchan Heatid 1:1). The Bait Halevi (Teshuvot 3:1) concludes a lengthy review of the subject by stating that a majority of Rishonim believe that Shmittah nowadays is biblically mandated. However, most twentieth century authorities rule that Shmittah today is only a Rabbinical obligation. These authorities include Rav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook (introduction to Shabbat Haarretz), the Chazon Ish (24:7), Rav Shlomo Yosef Zevin (L'ohr Hahalacha page 110), and Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Teshuvot Minchat Shlomo 1:44). (For an excellent review of Shmittah issues see Rabbi Howard Jachter's articles at www.koltorah.org)
Although it is not within the scope of this paper, it is important to note that the Heter Mechira, the leniency which permits the selling portions of the Land of Israel to non-Jews in order to enable farming on the Shmittah year, is based, for some authorities, on the premise that Shmittah in our time is only rabbinically mandated. A Bi'at Kulchem, as we have seen, may change the status of Shmittah, thereby negating the justification for Heter Mechira.
Other effects of Bi'at Kulchem.
We have stated so far opinions which see Bi'at Kulchem as actualizing the commandments of Challah, Teromot, Maasrot, Shmittah, and the counting of the fiftieth year in the Shmittah cycle. We have also stated that Bi'at Kulchem may affect the sanctity of the Land of Israel, including those areas captured by the modern state of Israel, and may end the applicability of Heter Mechira.
The Sefer Ha'Chinuch (Mitzvah 216) believes that even the commandments of Lekket (leaving the dropped harvest gleanings for the poor), Shikcha (leaving the forgotten sheaves for the poor) and Pe'ah (leaving the corner of the field for the poor) are also dependent on Bi'at Kulchem because these charitable commandments are linked to the concepts of Terumot and Maasrot which, as we have seen, are dependent upon Bi'at Kulchem.
Furthermore, some opinions hold that Orlah (not harvesting the fruit of trees in their first three years), and its companion mitzvah, Neta Revai (eating the fruits of the fourth year in Jerusalem) are also dependent on Bi'at Kulchem. (For a good summary of these opinions see Encyclopedia Talmudit: Eretz Yisrael, Mizvot Ha'Teluyot Ba'aretz.)
Conclusion.
Bi'at Kulchem is a fascinating phenomenon which we hope to witness in our lifetime. The arrival of a time when the majority of Jewish people are living in the Land of Israel is another giant leap in our great return to the Holy Land and to Temple service. The body of the Jewish people is being reborn on our ancient soil, and with that, our ancient ways are being reborn as well. The laws that will become biblically mandated at the time of Bi'at Kulchem will challenge us to fulfill them properly. It is incumbent upon us to begin a full debate on this topic, one which will initiate preparation for implementation of the law.
Hashiveinu Hashem - Ve Nashuva, Chadesh Yameinu Ke'kedem, Return us, Hashem, and We Shall Return, Renew our Days as of Old. We have waited for two thousand years for this renewal and now the prophecies are coming true. May we find merit in G-d's eyes to live in the times of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Amen.
I would like to thank my chavrutah (study partner) Yaakov Weisenberg for his dedication, patience, and love of learning Torah Lishma. "
Yishai Fleisher for Kumah
"We (The Jews) Won the Intifada "
by Yishai Fleisher
May 13, 2003
Israel National News
"We won the Intifada !
It's simple: the Intifada was intended to scare the Jews out of living in Israel. Daily terror was implemented and aimed at Israel's civilian society. Mothers with children, bus drivers and shopkeepers, these were the targets. Israelis were supposed to hole up, skip town, shut down, and give up hope. The Intifada's planners had very wide ambitions - this was going to be the great push of the "Palestinian" cause. Israelis would die like flies and scurry like rats. Every night, Israelis would witness another charred bus skeleton, and scores of body bags filled with Jewish remains. This constant barrage would break the Jews; the death of Israel was finally at hand.
But none of that has occurred.
Just the opposite: Aliyah is up, Oslo is dead, the army is strong, and Israelis go on with their lives in spite of it all. We have won the Intifada.
No doubt, the Intifada has brought depression throughout Israel by bringing death to many homes, by slowing down the economy and killing our tourism industry. Yes, there is unemployment, there is malaise, but Israel is solidly trucking through this hard time. We must understand that we have withstood the "Palestinian" onslaught to an amazing degree, and we have totally foiled their plot to drive us out of our homes and off of our Land.
That is our victory.
Once, when I was in the army, our jeep spotted a stolen Israeli car on its way to an "Area A" zone controlled by the Palestinian Authority. The car fled and we pursued it vigilantly. Alas, when the car was able to beat us to the impenetrable borders of "Area A" we turned our jeep around like a dog with his tail between his legs. The petty street thief had beaten the invincible IDF, a sad state of affairs. That was in 1996.
Today, more than two years into the cancerous Intifada, our soldiers resolutely penetrate Ramallah, Nablus, and Bethlehem daily. The Israeli Army stands at the perimeter of every major Arab population center. The disastrous Oslo process, which gave land to dreaded terrorists, is effectively over. Furthermore, our army, whose morale was steadily declining in the past few years, received a great boost when 120 percent of reservists showed up to defend Israel from its attackers in Operation Defensive Shield. Their attitude and their valor repelled the terrorists and reminded Israel of her great strength.
In the arena of world opinion, we have also been victorious. Certainly, we have many detractors out there, but Israel's crackdown on Arafat, its targeted killings of terrorists, and its sieges of Arab centers have become accepted military tactics without too much criticism from the peanut gallery of nation-states. The Intifada and the Twin Towers disasters have actually garnered support for Israel and its plight against Moslem terrorism. Arafat and his henchmen badly miscalculated the affects of this un-holy war, and although "Palestinian" spokespersons continue to distort truth to the point of absurdity, the world has largely gone deaf to false claims of Israeli atrocities.
However, the most important victory for us Jews in this conflict is the return of Israel's centrality in our modern history. The Arabs have always sought to erase the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel. In the Middle Ages, successive Arab rulers of the Holy Land did their best to erase the marks left by our Temple and by our living presence there. Arabs have always tried to rewrite history to say that Jerusalem is a Moslem city, that the Holy Land is their rightful inheritance. When Zionism began to appear, the Moslems reacted fiercely; they terrorized us and fought bloody wars in the hope of destroying us. Now, they are at it again: they threaten our lives, they try to pit the world against us, and they are working day and night to get rid of archeological artifacts that undeniably link the Jews to the Temple Mount.
Yet, we Jews are not reacting the way they would like us to, we are not going away. Amazingly, American Aliyah is up, not down. The Intifada has started a counter-intuitive trend of Israel-consciousness amongst Jews of the exile. Every Jewish newspaper in the Diaspora is infatuated with Israel, and every Jewish table is hot with the discussion of Israel's future. The topic of Aliyah is back on Jewish lips precisely because the Intifada has awakened the demon of world anti-Semitism, and the rise of world anti-Semitism has awakened a generation of Jews who otherwise would have been asleep.
The Nefesh B'Nefesh plane, which brought over 400 American Jews to Israel in one shot, is an indication of this Jewish awakening. The Arabs are quaking in their keffiyehs at the prospect of another major Aliyah wave.
Recently, the Hebrew University released a startling demographic study. In it, Professor Sergio Della Pergola predicts that while only 37 percent of the world's Jewry lives in Israel now, by 2030, more than 50 percent of Jews will live in Israel. Assimilation of Jews in the exile, a high birthrate of Jews in Israel, and global Aliyah are all factored in. One can waste time debating the pros and cons of these figures, but the key point here is the bottom line: Israel's centrality in modern Jewish life is growing exponentially, while the role of the Diaspora is diminishing. Although our enemies wish for the opposite, Israel isn't going away, it's only beginning to arise.
In this current conflict, Israel has shown itself to be deeply rooted and unstoppably buoyant. The people of Israel have proven themselves again to be brave, strong, and resilient. We have stopped the "Palestinians" from achieving their objectives, and we must continue to fight to achieve ours. Israel's resolve in the face of constant terror, war and economic adversity is Israel's great victory over all its enemies. The Intifada is nothing but a tick on our national history, which has been ticking for around 3,500 years. Israel is our home and our destiny, and no bunch of liars and terrorists can take away what's rightfully ours."
Yishai Fleisher is the founder of Kumah, a pro-Aliyah grassroots movement.
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" 'Moshiach' (Actually, 'False Messiah') Bin Laden"
by Yishai Fleisher
September 18, 2003
Israel National News
"Osama is a tall, handsome man. He is charismatic and spiritual, inspiring millions of followers. They are prepared to die for the great mission of liberating Islam from the West and conquering the world in the name of the true religion. On September 11th, with the help of his suicidal henchmen, Osama successfully destroyed what he saw as the Twin Towers of American imperialism and idolatry. Three thousand people were murdered.
The world quakes at his every pronouncement. A threat issued from a dark cave in Pakistan or Persia resonates on the front cover of every New York City newspaper. Citizens stock up on water as the American economy struggles between code orange, yellow and red. Osama bin Laden has turned our world upside-down, replacing calm and predictability with fear, gas masks, harsh immigration laws and Homeland Defense.
But why does this Saudi millionaire embrace a life of self-sacrifice, depravation, and mortal danger? Why does he choose to live in the toiletless caves of Afghanistan instead of the Jacuzzi-laden suites of Monaco? What is the source of his resolve?
Abraham.
The Bible tells us that Abraham, the first Jew, had two sons: Isaac and Ishmael. Abraham was a man who loved and feared G-d and had the character trait of self-sacrifice. When G-d commanded him to sacrifice Isaac (the Akeida or the Binding), Abraham traveled for three days in mental excruciation preparing to sacrifice his beloved son. Finally, when they got to the chosen place (today the Temple Mount), Abraham bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar. Just as Abraham was about to slaughter Isaac, an angel called out to him and stopped him. The angel of G-d said "I know now that you are a G-d-fearing man since you have not withheld your son, your only one, from me." The angel spoke further, "Your offspring shall inherit the gate of his enemy, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed by your offspring."
Question: Abraham had two sons, so why does the text refer to Isaac as "your only one"? Answer: Because Isaac, the grandfather of the twelve tribes of Israel was chosen to represent Abraham and his ideals forever. He and his offspring only, the Jewish people, are the true representatives of Abraham's heritage.
But wait! Islam has got this same story very differently. For Muslims, Ishmael, the father of the Arabs, Abraham's other son, is the one who Abraham bound and almost sacrificed to the Lord. Ishmael and not Isaac. In their minds Abraham is the first Muslim, Islam is the true religion, and Muslims are the chosen people; it is they who will "inherit the gate of their enemy." The fundamental disagreement as to who was at the Akeida is at the root of the Arab-Jewish conflict.
Modern-day Israel, with its shiny office buildings, hi-tech, miraculous victories and Biblical heritage is a testament to the veracity of Jewish prophecy and our version of the Akeida. Before the world's eyes, we have returned to our ancient soil and have made the wastelands flourish. The success of the Jewish people on the Holy Land is a blatant contradiction to Islam, because it refutes the Muslim claim.
Moreover, while Israel has been prospering, Muslim states have been inept, unable to build a decent modern state with the aid of all the oil money in the world. The Arabs suffered disastrous and humiliating defeats in five wars against Israel. As Bernard Lewis points out, jealousy, humiliation, and low self-esteem are at the root of Arab rage. However, Osama bin Laden, Jihad commander-in chief, has brought the fear of Islam back into the world and, in the eyes of his minions, restored the pride of the Koran. That is why he is seen as Osama the Redeemer, the Muslim Messiah.
Osama bin Laden has been doing everything a good Messiah does: uniting his brethren, harnessing their religious fervor and mobilizing them to action. We Jews on the other hand, seem to have become cynical, bourgeois and post-Zionist. American Jews are scared to send their kids to Israel; Israelis are scared to send their kids to Jerusalem. We are uncertain about Israel's future. Relative to our foes we are weak and divided. Sensing our weakness, militant Islam has hijacked our Messianic aspiration and converted it into a plot to conquer the world. They have stolen Abraham's virtue of self-sacrifice and turned into a suicide cult that wreaks terror, havoc and destruction.
Now they take aim at our rightful inheritance. In 1967, as Israeli paratroopers captured the Temple Mount, Motta Gur, their commander, radioed in the words we Jews have awaited for two thousand years: "Har Habayit Beyadeynu." - the Temple Mount is in our hands. Unfortunately, today, Islamic terrorists strut and trample on our holiest site, while Osama's cronies mock us with our own words: "The Temple Mount is in our hands." Their demands are clear: they want all of Jerusalem, they want all of Israel, and they want all of us either subservient or dead.
Now is the time for us Jews to remember that we are Abraham's true and only legacy. We are the Children of Israel, the carriers of the covenant. Now is the time to draw from that strength, to fight back, and to inherit the Land fully.
For Jews living outside of Israel this means Aliyah now. If we really care about Israel, then we should inhabit it. There are millions of Palestinians, Egyptians, Syrians and Jordanians who would love to live in Haifa, Tel-Aviv, Be'er-Sheva and Jerusalem; they plan on it. The only way to discourage them is by showing them that we mean business. The topic of Aliyah should be on the lips of every American Jew. America is not our true home; Israel is.
For Jews living in Israel, this means unity, fortitude, and faith. We need to gain a clear and unequivocal understanding that we have the ultimate right to the Land of Israel, and that we are no longer going to be duped by Arab double-talk and rhetoric. We must institute a zero-tolerance policy for murder of Jews. We must desire true victory over fraudulent compromise. We must replace fear with overwhelming conviction of our right.
Although Saul and the people of Israel were filled with trepidation when they saw Goliath, David was unafraid. He stood up to the big bully and said: "Thou comest to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the G-d of the armies of Israel, whom thou has taunted. This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand; and I will smite thee, and take thy head from thee; and I will give the carcass of the Philistine camp this day to the birds of the sky, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth shall know that there is a G-d in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands."
So they may have al-Qaeda, but we have the Akeida.
They may have Moshiach bin Laden, but we have Moshiach ben David.
They may call to Allah, but the Eternal One of Israel shall not lie nor change his mind: We are His people and Israel is our land. "
Yishai Fleisher is the founder of Kumah, a pro-Aliyah grassroots movement.
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From: Beliefnet Religious Jokes
BeliefnetReligiousJokes@partner.beliefnet.com
To: simshalom@ATT.NET
Subject: What Nationality Were Adam and Eve?
Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 02:37:26 -0400
What Nationality Were Adam and Eve?
A Briton, a Frenchman and a Russian are viewing a painting of Adam and Eve frolicking in the Garden of Eden.
"Look at their reserve, their calm," muses the Brit. "They must be British."
"Nonsense," the Frenchman disagrees. "They're naked, and so beautiful. Clearly, they are French."
"No clothes, no shelter," the Russian points out, "they have only an apple to eat, and they're being told this is paradise. They are Russian."
Friday, September 19, 2003
"IN THE BEGINNING:" ADAM & EVE - & YOU ....Some "advice" for College Students....
At this point in time of year some of you may have something in common with the 'First Couple' in recorded human history:
Adam and Eve were both "fresh" - "men/women" . He because of who he was, and she because she came from him. They didn't have an easy time - and maybe neither are you. It's never easy starting afresh, whether it's your first year at college or your last, it always comes with mixed emotions.
How on Earth could I arrive at the comparison at all? Well, think again, slowly, what do you see?... So far nothing? Or is it a Shofar (Rams horn)? Get it? Fantastic! The new year at college roughly coincides with the New Year of the Jews: The Birth Day of the Universe, Earth, and Man and Woman... Rosh Hashanah.
Now that the stage is set, let me draw out the analogy as it may apply to u now at college. The reason I am doing this is because I accept that the Bible can teach us many, many lessons no matter who, where, or what we are.
Also, an important teaching of Judaism is that "Kol hatchalot Kashot:" All beginnings are difficult, and therefore it figures that right now you're suffering from some shade of the blues, or whatever color you prefer to paint your hair, lips, skin, etc.
There they were, boy and girl wonder, made by the Almighty Himself, besides themselves. Like you, they had good breeding, and came from a good home (Heaven itself). They were placed in a fabulous garden with no need for a stitch of clothing (perfect heating/ cooling system). You in turn find yourself in a "cool" campus one of the greatest creations of American culture, and hopefully you will not go beyond (or is it less than) your shirt and pants. And, your A/C is great.
If everything is so great, so what's the problem now? Think!....Mmmm.
Well, maybe you feel you have too many instructions and tasks to fulfill. Okay. But, what about relationships and temptations? Now you're really talking.
Adam and Eve had your problems. You better believe it! So you want proof, eh? Okay, one, two, three, four:
One. Adam couldn't bear it alone. He was lonely. He needed companionship. This was solved by the creation of Eve, but her presence would prove fatal for both of them.
Two. Adam was given clear orders by The Boss: Do not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He and his wife couldn't follow instructions, and they blew the whole thing.
Three. Eve was foolish enough to allow herself to be tempted, seduced, and according to one Torah interpretation, date raped by a snake, not quite in the grass, but in a tree. He sure made a monkey out of her.
Four. Both Adam and Eve get themselves thrown out of their little Eden, and to add insult to injury they have to wear, not chastity belts, but clothes. Goodbye dream land and hello reality.
For you, as you start Your "new year" , the meaning of these examples is clear:
(1) Don't let your loneliness lead you to foolish relationships.
(2) Follow instructions, because basically you cannot beat City Hall.
(3) Don't let temptation get the better of you, and try to limit seduction.
(4) Don't get yourself thrown out of school, or out of class, or out of Judaism. We all need you and each other.
Finally, may you have a great year at college, and hopefully you'll get to go to some Jewish or Torah classes near you in the coming Y E A R ....!!!!
GOING APE OVER ROSH HASHANAH:
THOUGHTS ABOUT MANKIND'S BEGINNINGS
I'm trying to figure out how to bridge the gap between what Judaism teaches about the creation of the world and what most people assume about humanity's beginnings. What emerges is more of a chasm!
Here's the problem:
If according to the Bible, G-d created man as the climax of the six-day creation of the world, and if this is what we celebrate on the Jewish New Year, then how do I deal with Evolution, Darwinism, and dinosaurs? Put differently, how can I expel those messages I've received in school, in print, and in the movies, that I am the product of millions of years of evolution, and at the same time, understand Judaism's teachings that the world is about to be 5,764 years old (by the Bible's count)?
It's our version of Creationism versus Evolutionism. Which side of the Scopes Trial is the truth really on? I know it's uncomfortable to think of Judaism on the same side of Fundamentalism, but there is no escaping the fact that if you dig deep into the classical Jewish texts, you will find that we are actually celebrating the creation of the first man and woman, Mr. and Mrs. Adam and Eve, on the day of Rosh Hashanah 5,764 years ago!
What can be done about this? Can the twain meet? Must they meet? Do we say that Adam was a divine version of Neanderthal man? Was he from the Stone, Bronze, Iron, or Plastic Age? Did Adam paint pictures of oxen on cave walls as he conversed with his Maker? Was Eve his help-mate or play-mate? Was he hairy all over or did he shine like an angel?
If these questions don't bother you because...(a) you're a literal Creationist (which is unlikely in Greenwich Village) and you read Torah all day, or (b) you believe that gases fumed into one-celled animals over the course of eons,... then maybe now is the time to face up to the truth.
If I say that I am descended from ape-like creatures then I am a "human animal," a chimpanzee with an I.Q. above 100 and just a tad less hair (maybe). However, if I say that G-d created me in His image (the Tzelem Elokim) with his own "hands", then I must be related to that image since we all are descended from that one man (according to the Bible).
If I'm just a high-tech gorilla then it's okay to function according to the "laws" (?) of the human jungle out there - nothing wrong with hanging out and hanging loose in this system. But if I am a descendant of a divinely created being with its divine qualities of mind and soul then I cannot simply be another Species of banana-eater. I am drawn to the Divine, the Truth, the Exalted, and the Holy because I am G-d-like, and yes, even godly!
You see, it truly is a chasm, and it deserves a little of your thinking time. Let this be the Rosh Hashanah holiday on which you go bananas over the awesome implications of the fact that we really are G-d's own children, not via a surrogate simian progenitor, but from a Man and Woman created 5,764 years ago.
Shanah Tovah!
From: Beliefnet Religious Jokes
To: simshalom@ATT.NET
Subject: Jonah's Fate
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 03:17:30 -0400
Jonah's Fate
After hearing the story of Jonah at Sunday School, a little girl spoke to her teacher about whales.
The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because, even though it is a very large mammal, its throat is very small.
The little girl said, "But how can that be? Jonah was swallowed by a whale."
Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human. "It is physically impossible!" she said.
Undaunted, the little girl said, "Well, when I get to heaven I will ask Jonah."
To this, the teacher said, "What if Jonah went to hell?"
The little girl replied, "Then YOU ask him!"
From: Honest Reporting
To: simshalom@att.net
Subject: Child Guinea Pigs
and BBC Bias Revealed
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 06:50:14 -0700
HonestReporting Communique
18 September 2003
"CHILD GUINEA PIGS"
* * *
Dear HonestReporting Subscriber,
On Monday (Sept. 15), the IDF caught two barefoot Palestinian children -- ages 8
and 10 -- breaking through the security fence from Gaza.
Why were they breaking through the fence? Agence France-Presse reports a cruel
case of child abuse: "The boys had been sent to test the security capacity of
the fence around the Kissufim area, the Israeli army said Monday."
http://www.honestreporting.com/a/r/594.asp
What AFP doesn't report, however, is the boys' statement that an Arab man from
Gaza forced them to do it. "An adult told us to cross the fence, and if not, he
would hurt us," the boys said. IDF officials said that terrorist elements sent
the boys as "guinea pigs" to see how the IDF would react.
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=49772
AFP quotes the IDF that the boys were sent "to test the security capacity of the
fence." But since there's no mention whatsoever of Palestinian agents (who would
also be interested in testing the fence), the reader has no reason to consider
that a malicious Palestinian sent the boys, and is left assuming Israeli guilt.
HonestReporting does not wish to imply that AFP intentionally distorted this
story. However, given the sensitive and volatile nature of the Mideast conflict,
it is irresponsible for journalists to present facts in such a vague manner --
in this case, falsely suggesting that Israel used two innocent boys for a cruel
test of IDF readiness.
Please write to AFP, requesting they clarify the matter in an official
correction: contact@afp.com
--- BEEB-GATE: THE MIDEAST CONNECTION ---
HonestReporting readers are well aware that when it comes to major network media
bias, no one has a worse record than the British Broadcasting Corporation. The
ignominious recipient of our 2001 Dishonest Reporting "Award," BBC News has
demonized the Israeli government and IDF at every turn -- for this, Israel
officially broke links with the BBC in June. Who can forget the words of the
veteran BBC correspondent from Gaza who openly admitted at a Hamas rally that
"Journalists and media organizations [are] waging the campaign
shoulder-to-shoulder together with the Palestinian people"?
http://honestreporting.com/articles/reports/BBC_In-depth.asp
Now the BBC's negligent journalism is finally coming to a head, amidst an
enormous domestic scandal that calls the network's entire future into question.
Here are our cliff notes on the dramatic "Beeb-gate":
ACT I: Last September, to support the ousting of Saddam Hussein, the British
government published a dossier warning against Iraq's imminent threat to the
West.
ACT II: In covering the Iraq War, BBC News was openly hostile to British
military participation, and often supportive of the Iraqi regime. Then, in May,
BBC correspondent Andrew Gilligan dropped a bombshell by reporting that "a
member of the intelligence services" claimed the September dossier was
intentionally "sexed up" to make a more convincing case for military action
(http://www.honestreporting.com/a/r/595.asp). Prime Minister Blair's office,
incensed, launched a formal inquiry into the BBC charge.
ACT III: In July, Gilligan's "informant" emerged - Dr. David Kelly from the
Ministry of Defense (not a member of the intelligence services), who met the BBC
reporter in early May. In an official statement, Kelly denied Gilligan's central
point - that Kelly accused the Blair administration of willful deceit. Then
three days later (July 18) Kelly committed suicide in a forest outside his home.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3076801.stm
ACT IV: This week (Sept. 17), the whole BBC house of cards came crashing down,
as BBC's Gilligan admitted before an independent judicial board that he never
had a basis for claiming governmental deceit: "The allegation I intended to make
was a spin. I do regret those words...and I shouldn't have used them."
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/09/17/uk.hutton/index.html
As writer Douglas Davis recently stated, none of this should come as a surprise:
"The BBC sees and hears what the BBC chooses to see and hear. Israel has long
since learned that lesson… Israel might not be able to quantify the effects,
however unintended, of the BBC's deeply flawed coverage of its affairs. But for
the wife and children of David Kelly, the consequences of the BBC's reporting
can be tragically and precisely measured."
http://www.honestreporting.com/a/r/596.asp
That's why HonestReporting has long maintained that BBC's distortion of the
Mideast conflict - promoting terms like "militant" and "cycle of violence" -
whitewashes Palestinian terror and emboldens them to further attacks.
To make matters worse, the British public pays for BBC's "journalism": BBC is
largely funded by the 2.3 billion pounds ($3.9 billion US) it receives yearly
from a mandatory 109 pound ($175) licensing fee levied upon every UK television
owner. In return, BBC's Royal Charter demands "authoritative and impartial
coverage of news and current affairs in the United Kingdom and throughout the
world" - a far cry from what BBC delivers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/policies/charter/pdf/charter.pdf
A BBC reporter recently revealed that "[g]oing from a newspaper...to the BBC is
like traveling to another professional planet...What strikes you most about the
BBC scene is what a closed world it is. Walk into a BBC newsroom and you will
hear more talk about the BBC itself than about the outside world: more office
and corporate politics than real politics."
http://www.honestreporting.com/a/r/597.asp
It is high time that the BBC reforms its insular, elitist culture, and be forced
to compete in the open marketplace like all other news agencies. The public
demands that BBC reporters and editors clean up their acts and practice
journalistic integrity.
The time is right to act -- BBC's Royal Charter and funding are presently under
governmental review. HonestReporting encourages subscribers to support the
cancellation or non-renewal of the charter by writing to UK Culture Secretary
Tessa Jowell: tessa.jowell@culture.gsi.gov.uk
British citizens are further encouraged to support the petition drive to end the
TV licensing fee that funds the Beeb: http://www.spiderbomb.com/tv/silence.html
Thank you for your ongoing involvement in the battle against media bias.
HonestReporting.com
"Guide for the Romantically Perplexed"
by Lisa Aiken
(A secular critique of an Orthodox writer:)
Love and marriage, Jewish style
By Shoshana Kordova
www.haaretz.com
Last update - 02:26 19/09/2003
A prolific writer and lecturer and successful psychologist, Lisa Aiken - or Chana Leah, as she prefers to be called - has recently published her seventh book, called "Guide for the Romantically Perplexed," has already finished an eighth book and is working on a ninth. But when this professional religious woman with a husband and two children talks about dating and marital advice, there is one topic that most animates her: the memory of being an unhitched woman in a marriage-obsessed Jewish world.
The qualifications that fill the flap of her 419-page book were those that some people Aiken knew from the "yeshivish," or right-wing Orthodox, world considered serious obstacles to finding a man. "Why did you have to get a Ph.D.?" she says they told her. "You put yourself out of range." She was also told to lie about her job as chief psychologist of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. "Don't tell anyone you're the chief psychologist," was the advice she got. "Tell them you're a secretary."
Aiken, married at 36 and now 47, spoke in Jerusalem this week at a lecture on "Why being single happens to good people," and draws on these experiences in her counseling and writing. "It sensitized me to a lot of abuse that singles go through," including severe criticism from the community, she said in a park outside her home in the exclusive David's Village, which overlooks the Old City of Jerusalem. "It's just not easy."
Many married people blame singles for having unrealistic expectations of what they want in a spouse - even though that's only true in some cases, says Aiken. "Some of the depression and anxiety that singles feel can be alleviated by us giving them support and help instead of only criticizing," she says. "I don't think it's fair for everybody to point fingers and blame the victim."
At the same time, Aiken, who recently returned from a speaking tour in South Africa, urges singles to improve themselves before demanding perfection from others. In the book, she illustrates this lesson with a tale from a renowned 19th century Polish rabbi in one of the many instances in which the author - who describes herself as "observant" and wears a wig, long jean skirt and bare feet in sandals - mixes common-sense advice with Jewish tradition. Aiken, who immigrated to Israel last year after spending 22 years in New York, also uses anecdotes gleaned from her patients and acquaintances (with names and details changed) to bring to life practical tips on finding out whether a potential mate abuses drugs or has a shaky job history and how married couples should solve financial conflicts. The book also discusses specifically Jewish religious topics such as having physical contact before and during marriage and dealing with religious differences between a couple.
"Guide for the Romantically Perplexed" combines common sense with classic advice on relationships and communication and anecdotes and concrete suggestions, as well as shopworn male-female stereotypes and an endless trove of cliches. The entire effort is tinged with Aiken's religious-oriented spin on the effect of Jewish tradition on relationships, balanced by a realistic understanding that not all readers are religious or want to be.
The result is a bit like a new diet book telling readers that the best way to lose weight is by eating well and exercising, but that also gives kosher recipes, rabbinic sit-up methods and tales of success and setback. While not particularly original, Aiken's combination of information and example may still benefit readers, especially those who have not been inured by the pop-psychology lingo of best-selling authors such as Deborah Tannen and John Gray that has permeated public discourse in the U.S.
But the book also suffers from some potentially misleading flaws. While it is filled with statistical information, the accuracy is somewhat questionable. The statements presented without substantiation - including a claim that marriages between Sephardi men and Ashkenazi women "usually fail" and an estimation that 10-20 percent of Orthodox Jews "are now getting divorced" - come from a variety of sources, Aiken says: data she received from two psychology supervisors who have each seen at least 1,000 couples for marital therapy, rabbis and Jewish educators, "anecdotal" information and data she read in newspapers, psychology journals and medical books but whose precise source, "I don't remember."
Also, although Aiken discusses "personal dictionaries" in the book, meaning that spouses may attribute different meanings to the same word or phrase (such as "Don't bother me"), she fails to take this concept into account in her own writing. In several cases, Aiken - who refuses to categorize her own religious affiliation - seems to make the assumption that "religious" means "ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazi."
In a chapter on engagement, Aiken writes: "Religious couples divide wedding expenses such that the groom's family pays for FLOPS - Flowers, Liquor, Orchestra, Photographer, and Sheitl (wig for the bride). The bride's family pays for everything else." Not only does the author generalize about the way different families work out wedding costs, she assumes that all "religious" brides will wear a wig, or that they will cover their hair at all. In the same chapter, she writes that either the groom or the rabbi "will need to supply a kittel (a white tunic) for him to wear under the wedding canopy, over his suit," even though many religious men do not follow the custom.
Aiken herself became interested in religious observance as a young student at a Baltimore Jewish day school, which she attended until before going to a public high school. She became more religious after joining an Orthodox youth group, but it was only when studying for her doctorate at Loyola University that she recognized the disparity between her secular education and her Jewish knowledge. "I felt, here I am, getting a Ph.D. in clinical psychology," she says, "and I have an elementary-school education in Judaism."
In the book, Aiken uses her take on Jewish tradition as a lens through which to describe relationships, with a liberal dosage of cliches: "Since `absence makes the heart grow fonder,' and `forbidden fruit is sweetest,' the patterns [proscribed in Jewish marital laws] of separation and reunion help couples keep loving and desiring each other even after many years."
The author's real-life speech is also peppered with axioms. The phrase "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" expresses a popularized feminist belief that Aiken sees as one of the "destructive" aspects of the women's movement - a negation of the value of men, marriage and children. She also says, however, that she probably would not have had as many peers in professions such as medicine if not for feminism and its push to open up education and professional careers for women.
Refreshing harmony
One of the most refreshing elements of the book is Aiken's placing of "shalom bayit," household harmony, above the fulfillment of every last religious ritual. She also notes that what appears to be religious zeal can sometimes be the manifestation of a personality problem unrelated to religion.
In a chapter called "Building a Jewish home," Aiken urges people who want to bring more religious practices into their home to make observance more comfortable and enjoyable rather than making moral judgments. "When people see differences in terms of `I'm right and you're wrong,' or fear that a more religious spouse will reject them," she writes, "they are unlikely to bridge differences with each other." Aiken also writes that "certain leniencies in Jewish law must be used when marital harmony is at stake," adding the disclaimer that any leniency "may only be applicable in specific circumstances and must be recommended by a qualified rabbi."
One example given is Craig and Ruth, a U.S. couple married for 10 years with three children, before she suddenly began keeping a kosher home and observing Shabbat, and stopped wearing pants. Craig went along with the changes until Ruth decided that she wanted to cover her hair.
Aiken writes: "He had been willing to stop driving and playing golf on Saturdays. He went to the synagogue with her and gave up eating out since their town had no kosher restaurants. He studied Torah a few hours a week, gave money to charity, and fasted on Yom Kippur. He even sent their children to the local Jewish school at a cost of $18,000 a year. He had said nothing when Ruth stopped wearing blue jeans, even though he thought it was crazy to wear skirts during the bitter Mid-Western winters." After Craig told Ruth he would divorce her if she covered her hair, she went to her rabbi - who told her "that she should not even think about covering her hair and should be grateful that her husband had so readily accepted the many major changes that she had made."
But the book comes crashing back by the next chapter, "Differences between men and women." After rehashed Mars/ Venus characterizations come Aiken's own suggestions, which reinforce the stereotypes of the wife whose world is dominated by keeping her home clean, herself pretty and her husband fed. For instance, the No. 3 way for a wife "to show a man love": "Ask your husband if he wants you to wear makeup and perfume, and wear what he likes." No. 6: "Ask your husband when he would like to eat dinner and try to have it ready on time." No. 26: "Make his bed and leave a chocolate on his pillow." As for men, Aiken recommends, "Put your arms around her while she washes the dishes" (No. 24), "Tell her what a good cook she is" (No. 32), and "Show appreciation when she does your laundry, cooks, cleans the house, or does you a favor" (No. 33).
It would be hard to guess from reading Aiken's book that her own husband, a cardiac anesthesiologist, takes care of their daughters (aged five and seven) so often they joke he is "a full-time mother," or that she spent many years filtering out potential dates who weren't intimidated by her career success.
Monday, September 15, 2003
From: Honest Reporting
To: simshalom@att.net
Subject: Ins and Outs of Choosing the News
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 07:17:49 -0700
HonestReporting Communique
15 September 2003
"INS AND OUTS OF CHOOSING THE NEWS"
* * *
Dear HonestReporting Subscriber,
Journalists covering the Mideast conflict have to answer a hard question each
day: "Given the range of newsworthy items that constantly emerge, what should I
run with, what's my story?" Whatever they deem "in" will be zapped to tens of
thousands of newspapers, radio stations and TV screens worldwide; what's ruled
"out" will disappear from world consciousness. This, in a nutshell, is how the
media's content decisions shape public opinion.
In the past week, such decisions on three major topics fell into a curious
pattern -- when the news item challenged Israeli policy, it made it "in," but
when the item bolstered Israeli policy, it was deemed "out":
1) Israeli Restrictions on Palestinians
IN: Both Reuters and the Associated Press released articles on September 8
trumpeting a new Amnesty International report that condemned, among other IDF
practices, Israel's use of administrative detention against Palestinians active
in terror organizations.
http://www.honestreporting.com/a/r/588.asp
http://www.honestreporting.com/a/r/589.asp
OUT: The Israeli government's startling announcement that the Palestinian
perpetrators of the Sept. 9 dual terror attacks in Tsrifin (7 murdered, 30
wounded) and Jerusalem's Café Hillel (8 murdered, 50 wounded) were both, just
six months ago, released from administrative detention in an Israeli prison.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=49612
Israeli policy is to continue administrative detention when necessary. The
media's method of selective reporting, however, leaves Israeli policy woefully
unexplained.
2) Arafat and Peace
IN: Both Reuters and AP (Sept. 13) painted Yassir Arafat as a peace-lover under
siege. AP's headline was "Arafat Urges Israel to Return to Peace Talks," and
Reuters quotes Arafat saying, "I appeal to you the Israeli people, together we
can make peace."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/2096222
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3439130
OUT: That very day (Sept. 13), masked gunmen from Arafat's own Fatah movement
stormed the Palestinian TV station Al Aribiya in Ramallah, held the employees at
gunpoint, then systematically destroyed their equipment as "a warning" for
unflattering reports on the PA. Acknowledging his involvement, Arafat later
apologized to Al Aribiya in the middle of the night.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_374864,001300380000.htm
http://www.honestreporting.com/a/r/593.asp
[The media frequently quote voices of dissent within Israeli politics, but
almost never bring equivalent Palestinian dissent. For example, also deemed
"out" this week was a remarkable voice of protest from a prominent Palestinian
journalist, who wrote an article in a Palestinian daily critical of the
Arafat-led PA's "all or nothing" policy. Said Tawfiq Abu Bakr, "It is difficult
to find a greater and more deeply rooted culture of self-deception than that in
our Arab and Palestinian arena; a culture of daydreams in the height of a
burning summer. People cling stubbornly to rosy dreams and delude themselves
that these are the facts." http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD57303
]
Israeli policy is to remove Arafat, as an obstacle to peace, enemy of
Palestinian moderation, and undemocratic strongman. The media's method of
selective reporting, however, leaves Israeli policy woefully unexplained.
3) Palestinian Schoolchildren
IN: Both Reuters and AP reported large gatherings of Ramallah schoolchildren
rallying in support of Yassir Arafat (Sept. 13). AP adds the detail that the
children shouted "With our souls and our blood we defend Abu Ammar [Arafat's nom
de guerre]," while Arafat "waved and blew kisses from a window."
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3438265
http://www.honestreporting.com/a/r/590.asp
OUT: The Jerusalem Post reported that the children had some other things to say
(which apparently didn't interest AP and Reuters): "I'm prepared to go to the
Jews myself and to kill them wherever they are," and "At school they tell us, go
to liberate Palestine… We have to carry out suicide attacks because the Jews
are killing us."
http://www.honestreporting.com/a/r/591.asp
And outside Arafat's compound, one group of supporters shouted, "We will
sacrifice millions of martyrs on the road to Jerusalem."
http://www.honestreporting.com/a/r/592.asp
Israeli policy is to remove Arafat's grip on Palestinian culture, in order to
eliminate the ongoing incitement in textbooks and classrooms calling for the
murder of Israeli citizens. The media's method of selective reporting, however,
leaves Israeli policy woefully unexplained.
Comments to Associated Press: feedback@ap.org
Comments to Reuters: editor@reuters.com
Thank you for your ongoing involvement in the battle against media bias.
HonestReporting.com
Thursday, September 11, 2003
Bombing kills hospital ER chief and daughter
By Nadav Shragai and Shoshana Kordova, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and agencies
The team of the emergency room at Shaare Zedek Medical Center was already used to many terror attacks, but Tuesday night's suicide bombing at Cafe Hillel on Emek Refaim Street brought a new, horrific experience.
As the hospital's doctors and nurses waited to treat the wounded, they received word that the attack had killed the head of their emergency room, Dr. David Appelbaum.
Appelbaum, 50, had taken his daughter, Naava, 20, to the cafe on the eve of her wedding, which was to have taken place Wednesday night. Both were among the seven Israelis killed in the suicide bombing. Both were lain to rest in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Colleagues said Appelbaum, who moved to Israel from Cleveland, Ohio, some 20 years ago, had in the past often been among the first to reach and treat victims of terror attacks.
"He would appear at the site of every attack, volunteer, get in the ambulances to evacuate the injured to the emergency room," said Dr. Kobi Assaf, director of the emergency room at Hadassah Ein Karem hospital, also in Jerusalem.
"I recall how he was distressed by the injured, by what he had seen, but again and again, at night, he would be there. We have lost a dear good man."
Appelbaum's father-in-law Rabbi Shubert Spero, of the Young Israel of Cleveland congregation, eulogizing the slain physician and his daughter, told mourners Wednesday, "Can there be a greater tragedy?"
Noting how Naava had done National Service by aiding child cancer patients, Spero said, "The Jewish people has lost a devoted daughter, the nation of Israel has lost one of its proud, loyal and courageous sons. The world of Torah has lost a true Talmud Chochem (a brilliant student of Jewish sources), and the world of medicine has lost one of its most competent, one of its most creative practitioners."
Spero, who is turning to Applebaum's five surviving children, said "All of you have to grow up now, very quickly. There's no more time for childish things."
Appelbaum had just flown back to Israel after giving a talk at a New York University terrorism symposium marking the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Hours after landing in Israel, Appelbaum met Naava, to impart some last-minute advice before her wedding.
As ambulances began delivering the wounded from the attack, Shaarei Tzedek hospital director Yonatan Halevy was wary. Appelbaum was usually the first to report to the hospital after a bombing. There was no sign of him.
"It was clear to me from very early on that David Appelbaum - when he didn't show up and I knew he was in Jerusalem and he hadn't called - that a terrible tragedy had occurred," Halevy said. "Confirmation of my suspicions came shortly."
Word that he was one of the victims came from a rescue worker who recognized him at the scene. The hospital staff had to cope with their own grief as they treated the wounded.
To understand the grief and pain "it was enough yesterday to look at the
sorrowful faces of the emergency room workers while they were treating the wounded streaming into the hospital from the attack," Halevy said.
For his daughter's wedding, Appelbaum had prepared a book with sayings from family members and himself, biblical passages and marital advice.
Visiting the family before dawn Wednesday, Halevy leafed through the book Appelbaum would never give his daughter. "The fact that a man flies, three days before his daughter's wedding, to share this doctrine about preparing for a mass terror attack, which Jerusalem hospitals have unprecedented knowledge of, is an example of his combined outlook - complete dedication, to both work and the family," Halevy said.
Appelbaum was identified at the scene by one of his colleagues, Dr. Yitzhak Glick, from Efrat. Glick arrived at the site of the attack with his emergency team, in order to help with the evacuation of the wounded, and recognized Appelbaum almost at once.
A little before midnight the word began spreading through the corridors of Shaare Zedek. Doctors, nurses and staff members cried bitterly. Within minutes, Applebaum's children began arriving at the hospital, and later joined by his wife.
Appelbaum worked at Shaare Zedek for many years, but left several years ago in order to set up a center for emergency medicine in Jerusalem. He returned to the hospital to run the emergency room.
David and Nava Applebaum were lain to rest in Jerusalem Wednesday morning.
Survey: American Jewish population down 5%
By The Associated Press
www.haaretz.com
The number of Jews in the United States has dropped 5 percent in the last decade to 5.2 million, according to the National Jewish Population Survey released yesterday. The survey found that a low birth rate and increasing levels of intermarriage are adversely affecting the community.
Jewish women, on average, have no more than two children, while the median age for Jews is 42, five years older than a decade ago.
Only one-third of children of interfaith couples are being raised Jewish, according to the report. More children, 29 percent, are attending a Jewish school full time, but fewer are attending part-time programs.
Only 40 percent of Jewish households belong to a synagogue, and two-thirds of Jewish adults feel emotionally attached to Israel.
The study, carried out every 10 years, is highly influential in directing how money is spent to keep Judaism alive in the United States. But this study was released about two years later than planned, and the delay has threatened its credibility.
Preliminary findings were released in October and then retracted after the agency overseeing the project, United Jewish Communities, discovered that an outside firm which conducted fieldwork had lost some data used to determine who would be interviewed.
http://www.aish.com/spirituality/odysseys/A_Boston-Ethiopia_Love_Story.asp
A Boston-Ethiopia Love Story
Two lives, and two worlds, converge in the holy land.
By Rabbi Shraga Simmons
1981. Akiva Lebowitz is cracking a calculus equation at the elite Phillips-Andover Prep School near Boston, as the sound of classmates playing lacrosse drifts through the open window. This is where the likes of George W. Bush and John F. Kennedy, Jr. (and for that matter, Oliver Wendell Holmes) spent their high school days.
Meanwhile, half a world away, a young girl named Rachel Darar is walking barefoot across the desert. Rachel's family -- parents, four siblings, and elderly grandmother -- have left their Ethiopian village, hoping to fulfill a 2,000-year-old dream of returning to the Land of Israel. The decision is fraught with risks; those caught trying to leave Ethiopia are imprisoned and tortured. Yet those who remain face a constant threat of war, famine, and horrendous health conditions that will claim 1.3 million Ethiopian lives over 20 years.
Rachel and her family are headed for Sudan, where rumor says they can be airlifted to Israel.
They are traveling in a group of five families -- walking by day, camping at night. The desert heat is excruciating, and thieves threaten along the way. Before leaving the village, Rachel's father sold everything they owned -- a flock of sheep and some rudimentary furnishings. He sewed the money into the children's clothes, and keeps a few coins in his pocket -- so when the thieves come, he can quickly give up the money and spare the rest.
One of Rachel's relatives didn't give up his money. The young girl watched as the thieves beat him brutally.
Rachel's family has a donkey, which carries the flour from which they bake flatbread. Though they are to take turns riding the donkey, Rachel's grandmother is paralyzed and needs to ride continuously. The grandmother feels she is a burden, and tells the others, "Leave me here and you go on." Halfway through the journey, she dies. The family buries her en route and plants a tree to mark the gravesite.
Of the 12,000 Jews that leave Ethiopia in the early 1980s, the harsh six-month trek to Sudan would claim 4,000 lives.
Once in Sudan, Rachel and her family live a clandestine existence, blending in with the Sudanese locals, awaiting word of the airlift. If they are discovered to be Jews, they'll be arrested, deported or killed.
After two years, word finally arrives. In the middle of the night, completely without Sudanese approval, Rachel and her family sneak out to a field and board an Israeli transport plane. Their 2,000-year exile has finally ended.
BROKEN HEBREW
Meanwhile, back in Boston, Akiva Lebowitz is on the fast track. He graduates Boston Univ. School of Law, serves as an assistant district attorney, and then enters private practice as a defense attorney. For Akiva, the 1990s are a decade of building a lucrative and prestigious career. But a big part of the picture is missing: Akiva has no wife.
September 2000. Akiva is on a two-week vacation to visit family in Israel. While at a restaurant in Jerusalem, an old friend introduces Akiva to a coworker, Rachel. Later, Akiva finds that he can't stop thinking about her. His flight back to America is in a few days, so he has to move quickly. The next day he goes back to the restaurant and asks Rachel to meet him at 8:00 p.m. for a date.
That evening, Akiva arrives at the designated place and time. Rachel isn't there, so he waits until 9 o'clock. 10 o'clock. 11 o'clock. But she doesn't show up.
Akiva is upset. But he can't stop thinking about her. Two days later, he goes back to the restaurant to confront her: "Why didn't you show up?"
"What do you mean?!" Rachel says. "I waited until 9 o'clock, 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock -- but you didn't show up!"
Apparently Akiva's broken Hebrew led to a miscommunication. Rachel had shown up the next night. At this point Akiva has only 48 hours left in Israel, so he says: "I'm waiting right here until you get off work, and then we'll have our date."
The date goes well. Very well. They both sense this could become serious. Akiva flies back to Boston. They correspond, Akiva visits again, and they decide to get married.
Rachel and Akiva never give thought to their different skin color. Judaism has taught them to look beyond the surface. But how would their parents' react? After all, interracial marriage is still uncommon, especially those with such vastly different cultural backgrounds.
Akiva meets Rachel's parents at their home in Kiryat Gat. Rachel's parents acknowledge the obvious and give their blessing: Rachel and Akiva make a great couple.
Next hurdle: Akiva's parents. Though they come from an open-minded, New England culture, they naturally have some concerns. Will Rachel and Akiva be subject to ridicule and prejudice? How will their future children adjust? Will the cultural barrier prove insurmountable?
Akiva's mother visits Israel and arranges to meet Rachel. They spend an hour together. Immediately after, Akiva's mother calls him to say: "Rachel is a beautiful, wonderful woman. You'll make a great couple."
The power of love, it appears, dissolved the more "pragmatic" concerns.
TON OF BRICKS
Rachel and Akiva are married in Jerusalem. An Ethiopian wedding band shares the stage with an Ashkenazi rock band. There is a great spirit of unity, two corners of the long Jewish exile bonding together in the Holy City.
A few days after the wedding, the couple flies back to Boston, where Akiva is to continue his legal practice. Rachel's culture shock is immediate and enormous. She is plunked into the midst of what strikes her as crass materialism -- with no friends and no support group. Materially, it's a long way from the Ethiopian village. And spirituality, it feels even farther from the holy land.
On top of this, Akiva is working 65 hours a week, at home for little more than dinner and Shabbat.
Rachel feels disconnected and alone. She tries spending time at Akiva's office, in an effort to connect with that world of his. But the experience leaves her even more alienated; Akiva's work environment is spiced with the criminals he's been hired to represent.
Akiva senses Rachel's displeasure, but is too tied up professionally to give due attention. He tries to buy her happiness -- trips, vacation home, jewelry. But it isn't what she wants or needs.
A new baby diverts Rachel's attention... temporarily. She cannot envision a future for her family revolving around American commercialism and criminal clients. After two years of patience and tears, Rachel turns to Akiva and says, "I didn't walk six months through the desert for this. We have to go back to Israel."
The reality hits Akiva like a ton of bricks. He has put everything into building his legal practice, and now, if he wants to save his marriage, he'll have to give it all up. He loves his wife, and knows she is right. Akiva struggles for weeks. The decision, though difficult, is clear. In March 2002, Rachel and Akiva pack their bags and move to Jerusalem.
Now it's Akiva's turn for a difficult adjustment. He explains: "I was fully committed to being in Israel for my wife. But I was highly self-actualized as an attorney, and the existential question nagged at me: Had I 'thrown it all away,' so to speak? And who am I now?"
In the process of self-examination, Akiva discovers something about life: "Everyone needs to earn a living, to meet the basic needs and support one's family. But beyond that, by dedicating one's entire life to work, to the exclusion of all else -- as I did -- then work becomes the definition of self. In other words, you are a slave to your work."
Akiva now realizes it doesn't have to be that way. "Striking a balance is a much healthier, saner, complete way of life. I was so immersed in career, that it takes a while to pull out and get clarity. But I'm getting there."
Together in Israel, Rachel and Akiva have found their happy medium. Akiva has resumed his Judaic studies, and works as the programming director of an orphanage in Jerusalem.
"My work at the orphanage certainly pays less, but in many ways it's a lateral move, where I apply a lot of the talents and energies I used in being a successful attorney," says Akiva. "In criminal defense, I was the only thing saving the defendant from a worst-case scenario, consigned to a lifetime of hardship. These kids at the orphanage are from troubled homes, often forcibly removed by the state. I'm their advocate, keeping them from slipping into life's worst-case scenario.
"And in a deeper sense, it's more satisfying to be defending innocent kids in Israel, than to be defending accused criminals in America."
While Akiva's adjustment is not yet complete ("Little things bother me, like not being able to turn on the radio and understand the news."), in the greater scheme of things, he recognizes God's guiding hand in bringing him together with Rachel, and back to Israel where they are raising their two children with a lot of warmth and love. Israel is where the disparate worlds of Boston and Ethiopia converge in a shared Jewish destiny. He says: "In my heart, I know this is where we're meant to be."
FASCINATING HISTORY
Many ask the question: How and when did Jews get to Ethiopia in the fist place?
During the First Temple period, around 700 BCE, the Jewish kingdom in Israel split into two, threatening the spiritual life of the nation. Some Jews from the tribe of Dan decided to escape the resulting corruption and fled to Africa, where they would spend the next 2,000 years in virtual isolation from the rest of world Jewry. Calling themselves Beta Israel, the House of Israel, Ethiopian Jewry would eventually reach half a million strong.
In Ethiopia, the Jews spoke Tigri, an Ethiopian dialect. They studied a holy text called Orit, consisting of the Five Books of Moses and the prophets. But they knew nothing of the later rabbinic injunctions codified in the Talmud; they were unaware of the holidays of Chanukah and Purim; they never heard of Maimonides, and never saw a copy of the Code of Jewish Law. (Today in Israel, they have adopted these laws and practices.)
The separation was so complete that Beta Israel thought they were the only remaining Jews in the world.
In the meantime, they developed a unique set of customs, like the wintertime Siged festival, signifying the receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai and including prayers for the return to Jerusalem. (It is still celebrated today, with the Ethiopian community gathering in Jerusalem.)
But for the Jews, life in Ethiopia was not always easy. Native Ethiopians called them Falashas -- the alien invaders. In the 4th century, Christian missionaries forced the Jews to withdraw to the mountainous region of Gondar, further sealing their isolation from world Jewry. Things remained relatively quiet until the 17th century, when Christians conquered the region and Jews were sold as slaves, forced to baptize, and denied the right to own land. Jewish books were burned and the practice of Judaism was outlawed. The Ethiopian Jews had to struggle mightily to hold onto their traditions.
Then in 1974, the situation turned urgent. A coup d'etat resulted in the installation of Colonel Mengistu as a Marxist dictator. During this time, an estimated 23,500 Jews were killed. Mengistu then instated a policy of "villagization," where Jewish farmers were forced to relocate to state-run cooperatives, thereby breaking apart their traditional communal structure. By the early 1980s, Ethiopia had instituted an official policy of anti-Semitism: forbidding the practice of Judaism and the teaching of Hebrew. Forced conscription at age 12 took many Jewish boys away from their families, and other Jews were imprisoned on false charges of being "Zionist spies."
It was during this time that Rachel and her family made the decision to leave. A few years later, in 1984, the secretive Operation Moses was held during a 6-week period. Those who were strong enough to make the trek to Sudan were airlifted out; 7,000 Jews were brought to Israel, before news leaks and pressure from Arab governments stopped the exodus. Approximately 4,000 more died en route; a memorial at the southern entrance to Jerusalem stands in their honor.
In 1991, as the dictator Mengistu was forced to flee Ethiopia, the State of Israel took advantage of the chaos. El Al jumbo jets -- their seats removed to maximize capacity -- flew 34 planeloads in a 36-hour whirlwind dubbed Operation Solomon, bringing 14,000 more Jews home to Israel.
LIFE IN ISRAEL
When Rachel and her family arrived in the early 1980s, they were sent to an absorption center in Kiryat Gat; other groups of Ethiopians settled in development towns like Afula and Arad.
Adapting to daily life proved difficult. Ethiopians were transitioning from primitive villages -- with no electricity or running water -- to a modern, industrialized nation. They didn't speak Hebrew, and even their religious customs were different. To facilitate absorption, everyone attended Hebrew ulpan, Ethiopian synagogues were built, and -- for daily life -- an Israeli guide was assigned to each family, to visit their apartment and show them how to use the radio, stove, etc.
And then there was the thorny issue of the Ethiopians' "Jewish status." On one hand, the respected 16th century Torah sage, the Radbaz, had declared Beta Israel to be Jewish, descendants of the tribe of Dan. Yet because they had been isolated for so many centuries, basic laws of status -- such as marriage and divorce -- did not conform to contemporary Jewish norms. The decision was thus made to require all Ethiopians to undergo a "symbolic conversion," which would essentially allow them to start with a clean slate.
The decision was not without controversy. "I remember as a young girl going to the mikveh," Rachel explains. "Many Ethiopians were upset: 'They're doubting me?!' But I said, 'I'll just go along with it. God knows who's Jewish and who's not'."
Now, 20 years later, Ethiopians have by and large "mainstreamed" into the Israeli melting pot -- excelling in the work force, serving in the army, and often marrying outside of their community. Israelis have a positive image of Ethiopian Jews, with none of the negative stereotypes about blacks that typify Western society. Their integration promises to increase; a recent poll showed that 90 percent of Ethiopian parents had no objection to their children "marrying out" of the community.
Ironically, it is in the spiritual realm that Ethiopian immigrants have had the most trouble adjusting. Back in Ethiopia, the community was tightly knit and everyone was religiously observant. Yet with their arrival in Israel, it became more difficult for parents to guide and influence their "new world" children. While many -- like Rachel -- strengthened their connection to Torah and mitzvot, many other Ethiopian youth have drifted toward secularization.
The good news is that Beta Israel has a new generation of mainstream rabbis who are fluent in Hebrew, scholars in Torah, and familiar with Israeli society. But it took an entire generation to develop these leaders, and much was lost in the transition. Such is the tragic irony: After preserving their religious-cultural purity for millennia, the spiritual heritage of many Ethiopian youth has dissipated in a culture of Nike and MTV -- here in the Holy Land.
Finally, the story of Ethiopian immigration is not yet complete; there is the sticky point of the Falash Mura. In the late 19th century, when Christian missionary activity intensified in Ethiopia, large numbers of Jews converted. Some did so against their will; others did so as an economic opportunity to legally own land. Today, most of their descendants have never practiced Judaism, and are not considered by Beta Israel as part of their community. During Operation Solomon, many Falash Mura tried to board the Israeli planes and were turned away. Among the group were practicing Christians who simply saw Israel as a ticket out of Ethiopia.
Today, thousands of Falash Mura still hope to make aliyah. As a compromise, the Israeli government has brought a few thousand Falash Mura to Israel on the basis of family reunification. Thousands more remain in Ethiopia, awaiting a resolution.
Still, the ingathering of Ethiopian Jewry must be regarded as one of the great miracles of our time. For those who tenaciously clung to their Judaism over the centuries, their reward today is a thriving Ethiopian community in Israel numbering 60,000. And even Rachel's grandmother, who died on the way to Sudan, has made it back, too. Family members journeyed back to the desert and found the tree marking her gravesite. They exhumed her body and brought it to Israel for reburial. An eternal resting place, in the eternal land of the Jews.
In honor of
Daniel Steiner (Daniel ben Bluma)
Author Biography:
Rabbi Shraga Simmons spent his childhood trekking through snow in Buffalo, New York. He has worked in the fields of journalism and public relations, and is now the Co-editor of Aish.com in Jerusalem.
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