Posted By simmons on April 14, 2014
Arabs invaded Jewish Palestine; Arabs reneged on deal to get own states by accepting Israe Prof. Daniel Doron at Herzliya Policy Conference. Prof.
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Arabs invaded Jewish Palestine; Arabs reneged on deal to get own states by accepting Israe - Video
Posted By simmons on April 14, 2014
Awesome Brother Nathaniel The Holocaust Denial Debate703 By: Byron Cleveland
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Awesome Brother Nathaniel The Holocaust Denial Debate703 - Video
Posted By simmons on April 14, 2014
Read the signs, people! Read the signs, people! http://harvestchapelpa.com Pastor Don Wolabaugh 4/13/2014 Read The Signs People! Genesis 1:14 Interesting he uses the word "signs" Ps... By: harvestchapelpa
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Posted By richards on April 13, 2014
The Hasidic movement started in the 1700's (CE) in Eastern Europe in response to a void felt by many average observant Jews of the day. The founder of Hasidism, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (referred to as the "Besht," an acronym of his name) was a great scholar and mystic, devoted to both the revealed, outer aspect, and hidden, inner aspect of Torah. He and his followers, without veering from a commitment to Torah, created a way of Jewish life that emphasized the ability of all Jews to grow closer to Gd via everything that we do, say, and think. In contrast to the somewhat intellectual style of the mainstream Jewish leaders of his day and their emphasis on the primacy of Torah study, the Besht emphasized a constant focus on attachment to Gd and Torah no matter what one is involved with.
Early on, a schism developed between the Hasidic and nonHasidic (i.e., Misnagdim, lit. "opponents") Jewish movements, primarily over real or imagined issues of halachic observance. The opposition was based on concern that the Hasidim were neglecting the laws regarding appropriate times for prayer, and perhaps concern about the exuberance of Hasidic worship, or a concern that it might be an offshoot of false messiahs Shabbtai Zvi or Jacob Frank. Within a generation or two, the rift was closed. Since then, many Hasidic practices have influenced the Misnagdim, while the Misnagdim, in turn, moderated some of the extremes of early Hasidism. Nevertheless, the dispute between particular groups of Hasidim and Misnagdim continues to this day, especially in Israel.
Today, Hasidim are differentiated from other Orthodox Jews by their devotion to a dynastic leader (referred to as a "Rebbe"), their wearing of distinctive clothing and a greater than average study of the inner aspects of Torah.
There are perhaps a dozen major Hasidic movements today, the largest of which (with perhaps 100,000 followers) is the Lubavitch group headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. Other groups include the Bobov, Bostoner, Belzer, Gerer, Satmar, Vizhnitz, Breslov, Puppa, Bianer, Munkacz, and Rimnitz. In Israel, the major Hasidic groups besides the Lubavitch include: Gor (Gerer), Viznitz and Bealz (Belzer).
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Posted By richards on April 13, 2014
Until I was 25 years old, I believed that Passover was about liberation. I had left my Hasidic community three years earlier, and when I received my divorce judgment on the eve of Passover in 2012, I reflected on the irony of celebrating my freedom from an arranged marriage while celebrating the deliverance of the Jewish people. I thought Passover would always be a day when I looked back at how far I had come since I left my ill-fitting life behind.
As a child, I viewed Passover as an ordeal. I was required to stay awake until the very end, which often coincided with the sunrise, and it was rare that food was served before midnight. Like the other women and children at the table, I was expected to mutely follow the progress of the men as they conducted one painstaking ritual after another, up until the moment when my grandfather paused to catch the attention of the children nodding into their empty plates. We watched as he made a show of folding pieces of homemade matzah into a white damask napkin, tying the ends together before throwing the bundle over his shoulder, at which point all of us children rose sleepily from our chairs to hold hands and follow him in a slow shuffle around the dining room. This reenactment of Exodus was an annual tradition, and the only time I ever witnessed my grandfather taking the time to interact with children. The central tenet of Passover is to relate the story of the Exodus to the young, and so not even the sleeping newborns were exempt; they followed him in the arms of their mothers.
After my grandfather finished his march he resumed his place at the head of the table, looking resplendent in his white kittel, and held the matzah in his hand. He spoke of the thin potato gruel that had sustained him during his stint of forced labor in the Hungarian army. But although he repeated this story each year, in my fatigue and hunger I must have missed the point. I thought he was drawing a comparison between the story of Passover and his own liberation from enslavement. But rather, he was reflecting on those early years, when he had struggled to rebuild his life from ruins, when God had led him, through the miracles of stolen passports and false credentials, across the Atlantic ocean to the new world waiting on the other side. It was here, after years of uncertainty, that he found a sense of consolation and promise in the words of the Satmar Rebbe, and joined in the effort to build a new home for the surviving Jews of Hungary.
My grandfather insisted that because of his experiences he could especially identify with the Jewish slaves who made it to the Promised Land, and that through our connection to him we could do the same. He conceded that the God who had liberated our ancestors with great showmanship had not ushered them via express route to Canaan, but though he dragged them through the desert for 40 years, he performed miracles to sustain them along the way, in the hope that their faith in him would strengthen over time, and that their new identity would inform a consciousness still heavily influenced by an oppressive past. And he did deliver on his promise, my grandfather told us, and while we might never understand the reason for the delay, all that mattered was the happy ending.
Like those newly freed slaves, neither did I expect to wander for so long after leaving the world I grew up in, feeling lost and homeless in a way that rattled me to the core. A year ago I nearly skipped the holiday completely, feeling that the life I had dreamed of was still unattainable. But Passover found me at a table in Paris with Jews and Gentiles alike, each with diverse backgrounds and pursuits, digging into plates of Le Cheeseburger and red wine. The stream of energetic and multilingual conversation was punctuated at intervals by loud laughter. Bruno, a Frenchman with a mop of white hair, leaned in to share with me an observation that I found somewhat unnerving at first.
Ive always felt that the religious laws of Kosher and Halal are a form of violence, he said, however passive they may seem, for there is a basic violence inherent in separating people from your table. The table, he insisted, as most Frenchmen will, is the common ground for all humans. To bar others from it is to violate your own humanity.
I was surprised by how comfortable Bruno felt about expressing such a brazen and politically incorrect opinion, and contended that the wine might have helped, but I wasnt entirely sober myself, and couldnt offer an easy response. Instead, I looked around at the vibrant, epicurean group seated at the table, each diner with the personal story of wandering that had brought them there on that night in a serendipitous intersection of journeys. Although there was no ritual to mark the occasion, I felt suddenly that there was a ceremonial significance in the meal we shared. And I realized that perhaps Passover is not so much about the moment in which we break our bonds, but about what follows: the long, slow haul toward a new future.
I see that future in my son, who told the Passover story to his classmates when African-American slavery was taught in his second grade history class. His teacher told me that he seemed so proud to share his unique perspective; it was the first time some of his peers had heard about the holiday. When the children were asked to talk about people in their families who had exhibited bravery under difficult circumstances, my son told the story Ive told him so many times, of how my grandparents survived the war, and how their grief trickled down through two generations. I think my mom is brave because she learned how to be happy, he said. Even when everyone around her was sad all the time. Yet to me, the miracle lies in my sons joyous disposition, in his fearless curiosity and uncomplicated affections. It amazes me that I am the link between him and my past, for the two are irreconcilable in my mind.
As I prepare to celebrate my fifth Passover outside of the Hasidic community, Im finally ready to honor my own Exodus, the greatest of stories that is a metaphor for every human struggle, Jewish or not. This year I will share my table with other misfits and refugees who know what it is like to walk blindly toward the promise of home, and have experienced the unique fear and joy that come with that kind of freedom. Their companionship and support have made my journey less of a struggle, and more of an adventure. And though my own march may seem far removed from my grandfathers, I sense the well-trodden footsteps of my ancestors in the path that lies before me. We may strive for different ends, but our longing for home is universal, and it is wonderful to share that road with others, instead of going it alone.
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My Orthodox exodus: When I left my community, I discovered myself
Posted By simmons on April 13, 2014
Egypt Takes Over Gaza (1957) Unused / unissued material - Telenews title - #39;Egypt #39;. Egypt and Gaza Strip, Palestine.
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Posted By admin on April 13, 2014
Israelis Display Gaza Captured Weapons (1957) Unissued / Unused material. Title - #39;Israel #39;
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Israelis Display Gaza Captured Weapons (1957) - Video
Posted By simmons on April 13, 2014
The World Hates Justin Bieber - Anne Frank Controversy The IO crew discuss the latest Justin Bieber controversy does the Biebs just need a break? READ MORE: -------------------------------------------------------...
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Posted By richards on April 12, 2014
Conflict in the Synagogue //
Conflict in the Synagogue // .
By: HungryGeneration
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Posted By richards on April 12, 2014
What really makes the meals of Passover, which begins this year on Monday at sundown, different? It may not be what you think.
The simple answer is found in Exodus 13:6-7: "For seven days you must eat matzos (unleavened bread).... No chametz or leaven (starter dough) should be seen anywhere in your territory."
But it's more complicated than that. Often chametz is translated as leavening, yeast or fermented food, but Rabbi Gil Marks, the author of "Encyclopedia of Jewish Food," says that this is inaccurate. Yeast is used in making wine, and cheese is a fermented food, yet both are permitted on Passover. Pasta made from wheat is not a leavened food, but it is chametz. The correct definition of chametz, writes Marks, is degradation the result of "enzymes breaking down starch in the presence of water into complex sugars and simple sugars."
The Talmud specifies that five grains can become chametz when exposed to water. These grains are suitable for making matzo, but any other use of them on Passover is forbidden. In the past, the list was translated as wheat, barley, spelt, oats and rye. Modern scholars have revised the translation because oats and rye were not grown in the Middle East in biblical times. According to Marks, the grains on the list are einkorn, emmer, durum wheat and two kinds of barley.
Besides replacing the customary challah by a plate of matzos, there's another major difference in Passover meals. Many foods used to prepare satisfying side dishes are excluded.
The reason? Over the centuries, Ashkenazi rabbis extended the list of foods prohibited on Passover to include all grains and legumes, because wheat grains might have been inadvertently mixed in during packing. (Some rabbis now allow quinoa.) Various restrictions regarding grains and legumes were adopted in some Sephardi communities too. Certain Sephardim abstain from eating rice and beans, especially garbanzo beans, because the word for them in Hebrew hummus sounds like chametz. On the other hand, North African Jews use fresh legumes, such as green fava beans, in traditional Passover dishes.
The challenge for observant Jewish cooks is to prepare filling Passover meals without most of the usual carbs: bread, grains and legumes. This might seem almost like menu planning for the paleo diet, but there's a perk: Matzo is allowed.
On its own, matzo might seem uninspiring, but Jewish cooks use it to create a variety of tasty Passover side dishes and entrees. Most of them are combinations of matzo, eggs and vegetables baked as casseroles or sauted as cakes. Some are flavored with ground meat or, for meatless meals, enriched with cheese or yogurt. They're at their best when they have generous amounts of flavorings, such as sauted onions, garlic, herbs and seasonings, and just enough matzo or matzo meal to give them structure. To American Jews, most of whom are Ashkenazim, matzo kugel is the most familiar example of such dishes.
Growing up in an Ashkenazi home, I always looked forward to my mother's matzo kugels. She made them like her noodle kugels, substituting moistened matzo or farfel (chopped matzo) for the noodles and mixing it with eggs. For savory kugels, she added sauted onions and mushrooms, and for sweet ones, apples and cinnamon. We often flavor savory kugels, such as our Passover cauliflower kugelettes, with Middle Eastern spices and serve them with green salads.
A popular Sephardi Passover dish, mina, sometimes called matzo lasagna, is made of whole matzos layered with green vegetables, meat or cheese and enriched with olive oil. Sephardim also make fritada, a casserole of grated or mashed vegetables baked with eggs and matzo meal until it's firm enough to be cut. Jews of Greek origin bake Passover spanakopita from sauted chopped spinach, dill and green onions mixed with matzo meal, eggs and lemon juice and layered with matzos sprinkled with olive oil. To make sfoungato, they add lamb to a similar saut of greens and bake the casserole with a matzo meal crust. In Israel, these kinds of sliceable casseroles are often called pashtidot.
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