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Posts Tagged ‘Judaism’

Netizen Freespeech Debate: Seriously, Tell Me He Is Wrong!

by WrathofG-d ( 159 Comments › )
Filed under Dhimmitude, Free Speech, Islamists, Liberal Fascism, Political Correctness, Politics, Religion at November 23rd, 2009 - 9:46 am

Although I do not support everything Meir Kahane has ever said or done, I believe in free speech, fighting Terrorism, and the truth.    In addition, the more I learn about the progressive machine’s standard operating procedure for shutting down debate on issues they wish to completely control, the less I care what the politically correct ignorant smear mongers call me – when I know it is they who are wrong!  In the end, the truth is more important than their paper thin emotions.  When the truth is ignored, the silence can result in death.   I will no longer allow that to happen out of fear of being called names.  Avoiding the truth does not make it any less true.

It is my personal belief that Meir Kahane was exceptionally misunderstood by naive, small-minded, and politically motivated hucksters, who slandered him with disgusting epithets in order to serve their own power and agenda.  This is just like how these same forces excuse away the Islamic connection to Terrorism, and whitewash Socialism.  The most commonly held negative opinion of Meir Kahane is one based on misrepresentations of his message, misquotations, lies and ignorance.

But the aforementioned is solely my opinion, and I do not want you to simply take my word for it.  Thus, I greatly encourage you to read his books, and speeches then make up your own mind.

The best way to know anything about someone is to hear it from their own mouth, and then to make up your own mind.  The more I actually hear from Kahane himself, the more I realize one thing….he was right!

Meir Kahane in his own words on issues including violence, democracy, Arabs, Israel, the U.S., and more…

(The first 6 minutes or so is an intro about Kahane.  The direct interview with Rabbi Kahane begins thereafter.)

Meir Kahane was a man who could clearly see through the forces at work to blind us from the uncomfortable truths about Progressive myths.  He warned Israel (and by association the U.S.) of the horrors of Islamic terrorism and the unfortunate necessities in fighting it long before most of us were even thinking about Islam or terrorism at all.  Sure, he wasn’t politically correct, but now I see that to be to his credit!

Kahane was assassinated in a Manhattan hotel in 1990, after concluding a speech warning American Jews to emigrate to Israel before it was “too late.”

The assassination occurred shortly after 9 p.m., following a speech to an audience of mostly Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn; as a crowd of well-wishers gathered around Kahane following the speech in the second-floor lecture hall in midtown Manhattan’s Marriott East Side Hotel.   El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-born American citizen, fatally shot Kahane in the neck.  Kahane ultimately was a victim of the same Islamic terrorism he warned others about!

Instead of just accepting the progressive slander of Meir Kahane that many of us have heard (or will hear if you bring Kahane up in conversation) which is often spread by those who know nothing about him at all but are only repeating what they have heard from others who are also ignorant, hear Kahane from Kahane’s own mouth….and then if you still can, tell me he was wrong!

~Open Thread: Friday Afternoon Edition~

by WrathofG-d ( 371 Comments › )
Filed under Judaism, Open thread, Religion, Science at October 16th, 2009 - 1:27 pm

Thank G-d: once again it is Friday, and accordingly for Jews this means the beginning of the Holy Shabbat. Every week, Jews read a portion of the Torah and study it.  Highly pertinent to many on this blog, this week we are reading a highly contentious portion around some parts called Bereishit (“In the beginning”) (Genesis 1:1-6:8).

The Creation of the World, and Adventures of the First Humans

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/134/407666284_e8c271c468.jpg

Dateline: December 1968

From his window he could watch the blue orb of planet earth getting smaller and smaller. Looming in front of him in all its detail was a giant moon.  Astronaut Frank Borman of Apollo 8 was filled with emotion, as he drew closer and closer to the fulfillment of one of man’s greatest dreams of landing on the moon. As the lunar module orbited, the crew could perceive the moon in its pristine state, untouched by human hands, exactly as it left the hands of its Creator. (One could imagine Adam opening his eyes for the first time and viewing a pristine Earth with the same awe.)

Borman wanted to convey this feeling to everyone glued to their TVs and radios, just so they could in some sense share the experience of this milestone in history. What text could express this feeling? What human poet or author could capture in words that awesome feeling of the smallness of man and the vastness of the universe?

To the ears of billions of earthlings, Borman declared, “In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth!” The first chapter of Genesis was read on that historical day to all mankind. (In contrast to the Cosmonauts who orbited the Earth in Sputnik and proclaimed, “We went to Heaven and didn’t find God!”) This is the beginning of the story of man and his world.

{The Rest of The Article}

Despite false claims to the contrary, Creation is deeply rooted in Torah.   The following are a few exceptionally general, and basic statements of Jews regarding Creation.

“IN THE BEGINNING” – INTRODUCTION TO THE TORAH

Judaism believes that the Bible is a Divine book. Just as a human author generally writes about topics that interest him, we can similarly assume that the Divine Author of the Torah writes about things that interest Him. Here’s a bird’s eye view of the opening chapters of the Torah:

(1) “In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth” (Genesis 1:1). What a contrast between the vast endless heaven containing countless stars, and one tiny speck in the universe called Planet Earth! Yet the following verse begins, “And the Earth was…” and the rest of the book focuses on Earth. Conclusion: God is interested in Earth!

(2) The six days of creation are described in detail. The trees and grass, the animals, fish, birds, and insects. Then was created one human. What a contrast between the vast expanse of planet Earth, and one individual person! Yet from this point on, the Torah focuses exclusively on humans (and NOT on the trees or insects). Conclusion: God is interested in humanity!

(3) After expounding upon the first human, the Torah lists 10 generations with no events recorded. These generations evidently did not interest the author and are only included for the purpose of chronology. Finally we find the passage, “and Noah was a righteous man” (Genesis 6:9), followed by an entire section concerning Noah. Conclusion: God is interested in “righteous people”!

(4) This is followed again by a list of names for chronological purposes. Another 10 generations go by, until we come to Abraham our Father. Abraham is 75 years old at the time the Torah speaks of him (more details of his youth are found in the oral tradition). From this point on, the Torah records exclusively the story of Abraham’s life and then that of his descendents – right up until the emergence of the Jewish people. The rest of the Torah recounts God’s relationship with the Jewish people. Conclusion: God is interested in the Jewish people who undertake a unique mission, to be a “light unto the nations,” to teach the world about spirituality and our Creator. (Rabbi Avigdor Miller)

There is a lot covered in the above article (many debated issues) so, if interested, I highly recommend the above link.

An antidote on the subject of Creation from a Jewish source.

“A disbeliever once asked Rabbi Akiva, ‘Who created the world?’ ‘The Almighty,’ replied Rabbi Akiva. ‘Prove it,’ demanded the disbeliever. Rabbi Akiva replied, ‘Come back tomorrow.’

“When the man returned on the following day, Rabbi Akiva asked him, ‘What are you wearing?’ ‘A robe,’ replied the man. ‘Who made it?’ asked Rabbi Akiva. ‘The weaver,’ said the man. ‘I don’t believe you! Prove it,’ demanded Rabbi Akiva.

” ‘That is ridiculous. Can’t you tell from the fabric and design that a weaver made this garment?’ answered the man. Rabbi Akiva then responded, ‘And you – can you not clearly tell that God made the world?’

“After the disbeliever left, Rabbi Akiva explained to his students, ‘Just as a house was obviously built by a builder and a garment obviously sewn by a tailor, so was the world (which follows a natural order) obviously made by a Creator!’ ”

{The source}

Creation from a Christian Source:

(Author Note:  This Thread is not to a space for name-calling, personal attacks, angry vitriol, etc.  I expect those who are small minded, and intellectually constrained on this issue to be discussed, but I encourage you to please do so politely, and factually! In short, this is a Thread about G-d – so act in His image!)

I wish the Jews a blessed Holy Shabbat, and to all else a meaningful weekend and day(s) of worship!

(more…)

~Open Thread: Friday Evening “Yom Kippur” Edition~

by WrathofG-d ( 107 Comments › )
Filed under Judaism, Open thread, Religion at September 25th, 2009 - 5:18 pm

Although this Thread is specifically about Yom Kippur, I believe the deep messages, and commitment to bettering oneself transcend Judaism, and even religion.  This Sunday at sundown until Monday at sundown is the the holiest day in the Jewish calendar; Yom Kippur.  On this day we are like angels.

There is way too much about the deep spirituality of Yom Kippur for me to get into here, but the above links are quite informative if any of you are interested.  The following are some quotes from an article I am reading in preparation of the Holyday.

Rabbi Avraham Bukspan once shared…an insight into Yom Kippur – The Day of Atonement.  “Atonement” is a conjunctive of “At One-ment” – of reconnecting, strengthening the relationship with the Almighty, the reconciliation of the Almighty with each of us. Yom Kippur is our opportunity to reunite our spiritual essence – our soul – with the Almighty.

Intuitively, each of us knows that we have a soul – that part of us which contains our conscience and drive to do the right thing.  The Torah tells us, “… and He blew into his (Adam, the first human being) nostrils the soul of life …” (Genesis 2:7). If we realize that our essence is spiritual – and eternal – it places a whole different perspective on life.  We need to be concerned about our bodies and our health and make every effort to sustain them, but the real importance is the soul, because that is our true self.  Yom Kippur is about the soul.

Throughout the year we either bring merit to the soul or sully the soul through our actions and behavior.

The Torah gives us special mitzvot, commandments, for Yom Kippur to help us see more clearly that we are souls and to help us relate to life on a soul level…These “afflictions” are ways for us to minimize the body’s control over our lives...  We are prohibited from: eating/drinking, wearing leather shoes, marital relations, anointing the skin with salves and oils, and washing for pleasure.

By negating the body, we give preeminence to the soul. Life is a constant battle – between the yetzer tov (the desire to do the right thing, which is identified with the soul) and yetzer hora (the desire to follow your desires, which corresponds with the body).  The Talmud compares the body to a horse and the soul to a rider.  It is always better to have the rider on top of the horse – to have the rider controlling the horse and not the horse controlling where the rider is going.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the anniversary of the day Moshe brought down from Mount Sinai the second set of Ten Commandments.  This signified that the Almighty forgave the Jewish people for the transgression of the Golden Calf. For all times this day was decreed to be a day of forgiveness for our mistakes. However, this refers to transgressions against the Almighty. Transgressions against our fellow human being require us to correct our mistakes and seek forgiveness. If one took from another person, it is not enough to regret and ask the Almighty for forgiveness; first, one must return what was taken and ask for forgiveness from the person and then ask for forgiveness from the Almighty.

The Rambam, Maimonides, teaches that each individual’s life is always on a balance – like the old-time scales where the weights were put on one side and the produce on the other side – and that each of us should think before doing an action that this transgression or that this mitzvah (commandment) could tip the scales.

Likewise, Rambam teaches that each community, each country and ultimately the world is judged in the same manner. Thus, an individual should not only think that his transgression or fulfillment of a mitzvah tips the scale for him alone, but may very well tip the scale for all of mankind!

A simple way to keep focused that you are a soul and not a body, is to train yourself to say “My body is hungry” instead of “I am hungry”!

{The Rest of the Article}

To those of you who are Jewish, may you have a meaningful Yom Kippur and a sweet and healthy year!

To those of you who are not:  May you be blessed this weekend, and always!

Either way, enjoy this weeks attempt at a positive, uplifting Thread!

Open Thread: The Rosh HaShana Edition~

by WrathofG-d ( 147 Comments › )
Filed under Judaism, Open thread, Religion, World at September 18th, 2009 - 2:49 pm

Today at sundown the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana beings.  This is the first of two Jewish holidays that are commonly referred to the “High Holidays”.  Welcome to 5770!

Rosh Hashana is the Jewish New Year. Unlike the secular New Year which is celebrated in many parts of the world by partying, drinking to excess and watching a little ball descend a tower in Time Square, the Jewish New Year is celebrated by reflecting upon the past, correcting one’s mistakes, planning for the future, praying for a healthy and sweet year and celebrating with holiday meals.

Rabbi Nachum Braverman writes, “On Rosh Hashana we make an accounting of our year and we pray repeatedly for life. How do we justify another year of life? What did we do with the last year? Has it been a time of growth, of insight and of caring for others? Did we make use of our time, or did we squander it? Has it truly been a year of life, or merely one of mindless activity? This is the time for evaluation and rededication. The Jewish process is called ‘teshuva,’ coming home – recognizing our mistakes between ourselves and God as well as between ourselves and our fellow man and then correcting them.”

{more}

I like to think that the worst thing you can realize at Rosh Hashana is that you are the same person you were last year.  (ie: haven’t progressed, gotten better)

It is my intent that this be the Friday night positive/G-dlyness thread, but that is up to you!

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

-Unknown.

Enjoy the open thread.