The National Jewish Service reports that for the better part of the past two and a half months…an upper level trough has been located along or just off the West Coast. This has maintained a significant marine influence across coastal and valley areas of southwestern California and has cooled the goyim’s brains to the extent that they no longer wish to murder Jews.
The presence of the persistent trough has been a factor in preventing the typical increase in pogroms this summer. In addition…ocean water temperatures are below normal…so daily sea breezes have been extra chilly…especially near the immediate coast and this has led to an overwhelming lassitude among the non-Jews.
After a June in which pogroms were below normal across most of southwestern California…July continued to be very pleasant for the Jews. In fact…it was among the coolest Julys ever recorded across portions of the Southland.
In Los Angeles, July 2010 tied with July 1948 and July 1965 as the coolest months for Jews since records began there in august 1944. The average number of Jews murdered for the month was 66 or four below the normal average of 70 Jews.
Eat, Pray, Love With Monica is a 2010 Torah Talk by American author Monica. The memoir chronicles the author’s trip around the hovel after her divorce, and what she discovered during her travels.
At 32 years old, Monica was educated, had a home and a husband, and a successful career as a writer. However, she was unhappy in her marriage and often spent the night crying on her bathroom floor. In the midst of an affair she separated from her husband and initiated a divorce, which her husband contested. The affair continued for some time but did not work out either leaving her devastated and alone. While writing an article on yoga vacations in Bali, she met a seventh-generation medicine man who told her she would come back and study with him. After finalizing her difficult divorce, she spent the next year traveling around the world. She spent four months in Italy, eating and enjoying life (Eat). She spent four months in India, finding her spirituality (Pray). She ended the year in the Hovel in Pico-Robertson, looking for “balance” of the two and found love (Love); in the form of the Torah.
Maureen Callahan of the New York Post disliked the Torah talk because of its spiritual themes, especially its focus on Eastern religion. She heavily criticized the work, calling it “narcissistic New Age reading,” and “the worst in Western fetishization of Eastern thought and culture, assured in its answers to existential dilemmas that have confounded intellects greater than hers.” In addition, she was critical of Oprah’s focus on the book, as well as Oprah’s fans who enjoy the book, asking why her fans are “indulging in this silliness,” and why they aren’t “clamoring for more weight when it comes to Oprah’s female authors.”
guest10: aren’t you supposed to read the text before coming to class?
guest6: ha ha ha! Good one guest 10!
guest10: thanks guest6, maybe we should just discuss the portion of the week together
guest10: brb, my injection directly to the penis is wearing off
guest6: he he he!!! Monica looks quite happy now doesnt she? Maybe the moral leaders injection hasn’t worn off yet…
guest10: speak up girl, don’t be shy, we can’t hear you in the back
guest18: why do the Levites seem to collect the scraps?
guest18: what does Monica think about Evolution, and where should it’s place be in Judaism
guest22: why are landmarks so important in Judaism, and them not being moved. Why is the tora restriced of bound by land mass
guest22: it just doesn’t seem like faith would need to be associated with a latitude longitude coordinate
YourMoralLeader: you must be a christian
guest22: you believe that for every question about Judaism and following torah there is an absolute answer?
YourMoralLeader: no
guest22: so why are some things followed, even from an early age, “blindly”
YourMoralLeader: because doing leads to understanding
guest22: isn’t having faith kind of like following something without absolute confirmations in efforts to lead one towards some sort of understanding?
YourMoralLeader: yes
guest24: I have serious problem with our Lord…….why does he allow things to happen that we as people would never allow if we had the power???
guest22: is sounds like there is some faith based practive then in Judaism, you’re just targeting the word faith as a flagged word unfairly.
guest22: maybe the only difference is that Jews have convinced themselves that there is certain answer, so if you follow along, eventually you will reach a truth
guest22: so Judaism is a rule based system, with belief or not, if you follow the rules you are a good jew
guest28: please you have to do better than that
YourMoralLeader: yes
guest28: so far I hear blah bla blah
guest28: all heard before
guest28: what makes you special??
YourMoralLeader: we’re G-d’s chosen ones
guest28: who said that??
guest28: where does it say that?
guest25: chosen for what ?
guest22: you haven’t answerd my question – can you follow all the commandments, all the rules of Judaism, without belief in them, and be consered richous jew
YourMoralLeader: yes
guest22: it’s all about the ends regardless of the means?
YourMoralLeader: no
guest22: clarify, if one doesn’t believe in god, but regardless decides to follow all the commandments, they are just as richous
YourMoralLeader: not as righteous
guest22: then why would claim you should just follow the rules
YourMoralLeader: never did
guest22: can an autistic sevant who’s sole achievement is following the commandments and obeying them, without understanding, agreeing with, or questioning them, where this person fall
YourMoralLeader: righteous
guest22: maybe you could say a prayer over them to elevate them
guest22: sounds like a after a so many years a bunch of people cant figure out what the rules are
guest22: some people say the torah is not progressive
guest22: are the commandment now better to be form fitting depending on the era, the situation, or the rabbi?
PITTSBURGH, PA–Arcane, poorly translated scrolls etched by an unknown hand thousands of years ago were taken at face value Monday, when Pittsburgh orthodontist Donald Reuss consulted an English translation of a Hebraic manuscript titled “Deuteronomy” for guidance in a personal crisis.
“I was at my wits’ end over what to do about my failing marriage,” Reuss said. “Marjorie and I thought about counseling, therapy, even divorce. In the end, though, I got the help I needed from a book of stories inscribed by an itinerant Middle Eastern shepherd many millennia ago.”
Reuss said he learned of the antediluvian text from a friend following an argument with his wife. “Bob said he had a book that I should read,” Reuss said. “I figured it would be some sort of self-help book written by one of those professional therapists born in the latter half of the 20th century. But to my surprise, it was a contemporary printing of a historical and genealogical account of the growth and persecution of the Jewish people, originally written in ancient Hebrew. And you know what? Not only were the tales relevant to my situation, they’re completely true!”
Here I thought I’d spend the rest of my life agonizing over that night I broke into a random house and methodically tortured all five of its residents, but Jesus was like, “Nah, you’re good.” He took all those years I expected to wallow in suffocating guilt for having forced a mother to choose the order in which I strangled her children and wiped them away in a jiff.
Which is ironic because the family I murdered in cold blood was praying to Jesus like crazy the whole time.
If it weren’t for the Savior, I’d still be living with a horribly tormented conscience like some chump. I used to think that maybe, just maybe, I could ease some of the unrelenting pain after a lifetime of good works and contrition. But once God’s grace washed over me—and that took, what, maybe 15 minutes at most?—I knew I was in the clear.
Bing, bang, boom. Salvation.
I mean, it’s too bad I’ll never get back those days I squandered on unbearable guilt, but Jesus bailed me out big time, so I’m not going to complain. No sense in living in the past. The man who took five innocent lives in brutal fashion and made himself a glass of chocolate milk afterward might as well be a totally different person. I walk in the Lord now.
RARITAN TWP. — Judith Schneiderman still remembers her disappointment when she told the handsome, polite officer that she and her older sister Frieda weren’t twins. Since they weren’t, the girls were shoved toward the bathhouses and ordered to strip for their showers.
Their heads were shaved and they were tossed long, gray dresses. At this point in the book “I Sang to Survive,” the reader realizes how lucky Judith, three of her sisters and a best friend were. Her mother, two younger sisters and father had been separated upon the family’s arrival at Auschwitz, never to be seen again.
But instead of focusing on the horror, Schneiderman quickly launches into a description of the beautiful women who served as the kappo, the Jewish police. She tells how the girls pass the glare of a barracks window and see their reflections. She can’t tell which one she is and whispers to Frieda to raise her hand to clear the confusion. Then the girl who was then Judith Rosenberg of Rachov, Czechoslovakia, laughs, saying, “Oh my God, that one is me?”
Since 1951 Schneiderman and her husband Paul — they met at a displaced persons camp following their liberation — have lived in Raritan Township. About 10 years ago she decided it was time — for her four children and nine grandchildren — to write her story. She wanted it to be “different” from so many of the books she’s read by Holocaust survivors.
My friends, I didn’t get married until I was 45 years old. (Knew each other for a decade before we finally tied the knot.) Now we’ve had many happy years together, with, of course, the usual ups and downs. She’s one of the best things that ever happened to me.
A lot of your Torah Talk was kind of inside Jewish baseball, but this love stuff transcends all of our religious directions and has a huge commonality. You guys (Luke and Rabbi Rabbs) don’t realize that you are in the second-best place to be relative to marriage.
1. Happily married to a woman that you really have a strong basis for compatibility with.
2. Single as you are (with more money).
After that it’s all downhill.
3. Married to a woman that you’re not compatible with.
Number 3 is an invitation to hell, my friends. Nothing you are presently experiencing in your lonely moments or socially awkward moments compares to the hell of being legally bound with obligations and responsibilities to a woman with whom you do not share a basis for compatibility. Frankly, and very respectfully, in your Orthodox Jewish position you have eliminated most of the single women in the world. That doesn’t help, but it doesn’t rule out good possibilities either. Frankly, this compatibility is a lot more intrinsic than whether you share the same theological views. In your world, shared theological views are a necessity, but they do not spell out psychological and physical compatibility.
In my case, we never had any kids. That might have been a slightly troublesome thought early on, but now we’ve come to see the nature of the contemporary world as one that makes justifying bringing children into it very hard. I think if you consider having a son or daughter who has only had to deal with half of the problems that you have, you could see it’s not something you would wish on someone else. And then today really, as one in the financial world, I would say it takes an astronomical amount of money raise a child and be prepared to meet emergencies and contingencies and still retire at the other end.
I will say that after people began to approach middle age many of the likely candidates for marriage have abandoned their romance with people who play guitars and sing songs down at the beach and are looking for a man with a certain amount of monetary potential. And my view is that the biggest obstacle for you at this juncture lies in that area.
Briefly on another subject.. Luke’s idea in respect to the civil rights movement. Before the civil rights movement, there were already powerful groups of thinkers and followers galvanized around black intellectuals like James Baldwin. These movements were already pressing for equality in intellectual, artistic, and some business circles. Some libertarians believed that had we simply removed all segregationist laws and policies and then let nature take its course, we would have accomplished equality sooner. Some businesses and universities would have been in the vanguard, of course, and some states would have lagged behind others. However, it is possible that we could have overcome all racial discrimination sooner than we have and with none of the hostility that was engendered by forcing and dislocating people of both races against their will. So in fact there do exist ideas that suggest we may have been able to handle the civil rights issues in a better way.
Finally, a more comprehensive rendition of what is actually going on in the case, even if the person providing the summary is defense counsel. Attorney Sobel does an admirable job of stating his client’s case, however, his pleadings are full of obfuscation and red herrings, which is not surprising considering his client’s battle is an uphill one. Still, an extremely admirable effort, though.
What irks me about this case is that the Rabbi refuses to turn the scrolls over to the rightful owner. Forget for a second that the Rabbi says his signature was valid in several spots but cut and pasted in others (as if all Rabbis are incapable of deceit and / or fraud), or that the other attorney, the one versed in Jewish law, was not permitted to be present at the arbitration. This Rabbi’s actions smack of the same hubris and conceit that many of the world’s great museums acted with in refusing to return over works of art that were stolen during WW2 because of the lack of “proper documentation.” To turn the works of art over to the rightful owners would be to admit that the museum might have acquired the art in less than perfect circumstances, so better to litigate the issue and bury financially the plaintiffs. It is bullying at its best, and is similar to the SLAPP suits that big corporations file against individuals who are vocal in their criticism of the corporations.
Yeah yeah, I know the argument on the other side, that museums would go out of business if all of the works that were alleged to have been stolen were returned to their rightful owners. The argument doesn’t hold water because theses cases are few and far between and most people don’t even know that art might have been stolen from their families by the Nazis or whomever. Likewise, the Rabbi is loathe to hand over the scrolls because he feels it will open up the floodgates to the family members of other “donors” who wish to have the scrolls returned because the family members feel that the scrolls were a gift to the synagogue, or because they may wish to sell the scrolls. Furthermore, I am sure the Rabbi is fighting this because he doesn’t want the scrolls returned on “his watch.”
The Rabbi undoubtedly had a wonderful relationship with the deceased, however, the wife obviously doesn’t have the same relationship. I will bet dollars to donuts that at night, during pillow talk, Rabbi Pauker and his wife, discussed the scrolls and their eventual final resting place, and it was with the nephews, not the old synagogue.
The Rabbi is hoping to drag out the case, in hope that the widow will pass away. If that happens, he will probably tangle with the nephews, who might be younger and better fueled for a fight.
Rabbi Ohana, your motives are not pure. Give the lady her scrolls and move on.
Dennis Prager writes: I fully recognize that some Jews love all the prayers, find standing meaningful and regard the length of the prayer service as sublime. But I believe they constitute a minority even among that minority of Jews who regularly attend services. Nor do I believe that all of them find the prayer service particularly inspiring. Rather, they enjoy the familiarity of the service and the camaraderie of fellow Jews (neither of which I in any way disparage).
For all these reasons, my ideal service has much less davening, much more learning and much more music. Speaking solely for myself, I find that studying or teaching the Torah enhances my faith more than prayers do.
I have tried to put my ideals into practice. I have led Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services for the last three years here in Los Angeles, and I am doing so again this year. The 300 people who attend — many of whom have rarely or never attended High Holiday services — seem to respond quite favorably. And my services are not much shorter than others; it is the davening that is shorter.
I do not offer my suggestions as definitive, or even as necessarily original. I am only certain that there is a shul crisis and that the shul service, with its overlong davening, is one reason. Adults do not play siddur baseball; they just don’t attend.
For information on Dennis Prager’s High Holy Days services, e-mail [email protected].
The film follows Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller), a 40-year-old man who has recently suffered a nervous breakdown and is now struggling to just “do nothing.” He returns to L.A., where he had grown up and had a semi-successful rock band, and housesits for his brother, Phillip (Chris Messina), while he and his family are away on an extended vacation. Greenberg meets his brother’s assistant, Florence (Greta Gerwig), and begins a halting, awkward romance with her. He reconnects with his old band mates — including Ivan (Rhys Ifans) — who are still bitter about a record deal that Roger ruined 15 years ago. Roger also attempts to date Beth (Jennifer Jason Leigh), an old girlfriend, but she rejects him.
While Roger is housesitting, Phillip’s dog becomes sick, forcing Roger to take responsibility for his care. Toward the end of the film, his twenty-something niece arrives, throws a wild, drug-filled party in the house, and then leaves for Australia — tempting Roger to go with her.
Chaim Amalek emails: Okay, EXCEPT:
– You never had a successful rock band (hanging around porners but not making money with them does not count);
– You don’t have kin in LA to crash with;
– You are not meeting any hot personal assistants working for your successful brother;
– You would never be into dating an ex GF from 15 years back, not with that Rabbi Robbs-brand of Judaism you practice (Holly is taken and you blew it with her).
Steven Ira Weiss writes on Facebook: Greatest status update of the day, or greatest status update ever? “Luke Ford is watching Greenberg and feeling uncomfortable”
In shul this morning I heard about a big shvartze basketball player who hired a rabbi as a business consultant and how there was a photo of them on a yacht.
TMZ has obtained this exclusive photo of LeBron James in a business meeting earlier today with Rabbi Yishayahu Yosef Pinto … a man known around New York as the “Rabbi to the Business Stars.”
Sources involved with the meeting tell us LeBron had hired Rabbi Pinto for spiritual guidance for a “big merchandising meeting” that took place on a private yacht somewhere off the coast of NY just hours ago.
Rabbi Pinto — a 37 year-old-man who speaks only Hebrew — has met with all sorts of business moguls in the past … and is considered by some to be a “spiritual guide” who consults on business matters.
We’re told LeBron paid in the neighborhood of 6-figures to get Rabbi Pinto to sit in on today’s meeting … in which LeBron heard presentations from several “big time” retail execs.
On Aug. 7, 2010, The Washington Post headline read, “Beer warehouse shooter long complained of racism.”
Of course, Thornton was fired for stealing beer, and there was video proof of him doing so. But this fact — the one indisputable and most pertinent pre-murder fact — got lost within the larger context of Thornton’s claims of being a victim of whites.
Those preoccupied with Thornton’s charges of workplace racism might wish to reflect on this: Racist and other bigotry-based murderers always blame their victims. Medieval Christians who murdered Jews blamed the Jews for poisoning wells, baking Christian children’s blood in their matzo or some other terrible crime. Whites who lynched blacks blamed those blacks for rape or some other crime. Nothing is new about the Thornton racist murders except that the society in which in it occurred concentrated on the racist’s excuses rather than on his murders.
Just as leading liberals would not ascribe Islamist motives — until there was no possibility of denying them — to recent Muslim attacks on Americans, the liberal media, i.e., almost all news media in America, does not brand these Connecticut murders for what they are: racist. That is why Thornton told the 9-1-1 operator, “I wish I could have gotten more of the people (i.e., whites).”
We are repeatedly told by liberal whites and blacks that America needs an honest dialogue on race. Needless to say, they don’t mean it because the moment a white or black says anything critical of black behavior, he is labeled racist or Uncle Tom. So most non-liberal whites and blacks just keep quiet.
One result is this morally upside-down reporting of the murders in Connecticut.
Another example is the liberal narrative on blacks in prison — “there are more black men in prison than in college.” Every decent American regards this fact as a major tragedy. But most Americans believe that the fault lies primarily with the black criminals, not with a racist society. Most Americans believe that blacks who mug, rape, rob or murder commit those crimes for the same reason whites do — they lack a sufficiently strong moral conscience.
"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff)
