To many, the Middle East has long been recognized as the world’s pulse and epicenter for historical conflict and present-day empowerment. There have been many battles waged within its lands, from before the crusades to the ongoing wars and strife of today. The desert landscape of Israel and its environs seem to have always been tempered with conflict, if even for little reason.
Excuse me, but was that you talking? Do you wake up in the morning overwhelmed? Can’t fall asleep from worry? Do you finally get rid of one bill just to have it replaced by three? Do you dread the ringing phone? Have you at least on occasion not even bothered opening the mail because it is just too painful – and hopeless? Do you have so much month at the end of the money that home ownership sounds like a sick joke? Or did you (finally!) buy a home only to realize that you’re stuck with a bottomless-pit mortgage that feels like a deadly curse with a vague promise of sometime in the foggy future home-ownership?
This week, hundreds of thousands of Jews worldwide will read the Torah portion, Shoftim, “Judges,” which begins with the above verses. The parsha directs the Jewish people to establish a just rabbinic court system consisting of righteous judges, experts in Jewish law, unsoiled with bribery and corruption.
It is quite shocking that the knee-jerk reaction of the Jewish community is automatically conditioned to be appalled at accusations and feel sorry for the accused without first thinking for even a moment about the horrendous implications for the victim.
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I am a member of the volunteer corps organized by Shomrim yesterday in search of Yakov Gourin, the missing French Twin. I penned this op-ed to describe the hardships we experienced over the uncertainty and conflicting reports that emerged from various news outlets over the course of the day, and the potential dangers posed by them.
Is Chabad Lubavitch? Is Lubavitch Chabad? Are the two terms – “Chabad” and “Lubavitch” – synonymous? Chabad is an acronym; Lubavitch is a town. Chabad represents a hassidic philosophy; Lubavitch the ancestral home of a hassidic court. They are not synonymous. Cryptic though it may sound, Lubavitch is Chabad, but Chabad is not only Lubavitch.
The following editorial, on what world Jewry an learn from the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, appeared in the Washington Jewish Week.
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“Chef position available,” the advertisement read. Mendel, having just come out of Kollel, looks at the sign, grabs the strip of paper off the bottom and arranges an interview.
The past few sports weeks have zoomed by us like a NASCAR driver on the homestretch at the Talladega Speedway.
I was watching online the dedication of the new Chabad center in Kiryat Arbah named for the daughter of the shluchim there, Chaya Mushka Attiah, a”h. Besides shedding quite a few tears as I watched Chaya Mushka’s father dance with the sefer Torah and as I heard his voice break as he spoke a few words, suddenly a thought came to my mind: If a little girl could give up her life for the inyan of tznius, how much more so must we all make a huge effort to increase in tznius within ourselves, our children, our communities.
Two years ago, following the release of the Jerusalem Post’s first list of the world’s 50 most influential Jews, I was inspired to initiate an annual list of my own. Not of Jews, but of non- Jews, specifically those who are most positively influencing the Jewish future.
There is a tendency within Chabad to be quick to call out and put down another sector of the orthodox community when something is being done within Chabad that one may not approve of. For example, a report on someone taking a hard stance on Tznius usually results in comments such as “who do you think we are, Satmar?”
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been assailed for saying at a fundraiser in Jerusalem that “culture” plays a large part in Israel’s superior “economic vitality” over the Palestinians, just as it does “between other countries that are near or next to each other. Chile and Ecuador, Mexico and the United States.” For this commonsensical statement of the obvious, he has been pilloried, not least by the Palestinian Authority’s Saeb Erekat, who described his remarks as “racist.”
Through the glorious grandeur that is the Modern Day Olympiad, and, more specifically so, its Opening Ceremony, the world as a whole recently embarked on what is sure to be a fun-filled and exciting next couple of athletics-viewing weeks.
Comments have been circulating, accusing Mitt Romney of ‘disrespect’ and poor choice in selecting Tisha Be’Av, a day of national Jewish mourning over the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, for his photo-op tour of the Jewish State. Frankly, I personally can’t think of a better day for him to visit.
Is the Chabad lifestyle sustainable? I believe it is not; here is why.
Just as there is a mitzvah to eat, there is a mitzvah to take care of your health. The Torah states, “Guard yourself and guard your soul very much (Deut. 4:9)” and “You shall guard yourselves very well (Deut. 4:15).” The Sages explain that these verses refer to the mitzvah of protecting one’s physical health.
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