Shabbat – O – Gram
June 10, 2005 and Sivan 3, 5765
And Mazal Tov to our graduates from our
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Send your friends and relatives the gift of Jewish awareness -- a Shabbat-O-Gram each week,
by signing them up at www.tbe.org
Contents of the Shabbat O Gram: (click to scroll down)
Just the Facts (service schedule)
The Highest Level of Tzedakkah
Required Reading and Action Items (links to key articles on Israel and Jewish life)
Announcements (goings on in and around TBE)
Happy Shavuot
Our Shavuot Schedule
On Shavuot eve., Sunday at 8:15 PM at
On Monday morning, the first day of Shavuot (at 9:30, as usual), our students, in particular our day school students, will be greatly involved in leading the service. We’ll also hear some of the book of Ruth and the traditional Akdamut prayer (see Shavuot links below for more info) We’ll have children’s services as well with Nurit (at 10:30) and at the end we’ll all come together to unroll a Torah so that each person, young and old, can personally receive the Torah.
Then….we’ll have a scrumptious Shavuot Lunch featuring those well-known traditional dairy dishes: BLINTZES and PIZZA. I think it was Rabbi Akiva who recommended pizza… (please let me know if you would be interested in co-sponsoring the lunch).
On Tuesday morning again at 9:30 (and again with Nurit at 10:30), our service will feature Yizkor prayers, which will take place sometimes between 10:45 and 11 (I mention that knowing that many will be breaking away from other activities to join us).
JUST THE FACTS
Friday Evening
Candle lighting for Stamford, CT: Candle lighting: 8:08pm on Friday, 10 June 2005. For candle lighting times, other Jewish calendar information, and to download a Jewish calendar to your PDA, click on http://www.hebcal.com/.
Dinner for Hay Class: 6:00 PM
Kabbalat Shabbat Service: 7:30 PM In the sanctuary, including our 7th Grade Aliyah ceremonies.
Shabbat Morning: 9:30 AM – Mazal tov to Michael Schmidt and Sarah Warnock, who become B’nai Mitzvah this Shabbat morning.
Children’s services: 10:30 AM, including Jr. Congregation for grades 3-6 and Tot Shabbat Morning for the younger kids
Torah Portion: Naso - Numbers 4:21 - 7:89
1: 4:21-24
2: 4:25-28
3: 4:29-33
4: 4:34-37
5: 4:38-49
6: 5:1-4
7: 5:5-10
maf: 5:8-10
Haftarah – Judges 13:2 - 13:25
See a weekly commentary from the UJC Rabbinic Cabinet, at www.ujc.org/mekorchaim. Read the Masorti commentary at http://www.masorti.org/mason/torah/index.asp. University of Judaism, JTS commentary is at: http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/. USCJ Torah
Rosner Minyan Maker http://www.tbe.org/minyan/index.php
Pick a Day – or pick several – and join us for morning minyan. Check our minyan calendar often to see which days need the most help. If the day is colored red that means there is a yahrzeit scheduled for that day. Also, feel free to e-mail me at rabbi@tbe.org to ensure a guaranteed minyan for that day, indicating the date of the yahrzeit and whether it would be OK to use your name in making that request.
Minyan On-Call List
We are in the midst of creating an on-call list for emergencies. Here is how it will work:
1) At 7:40 if we are in need of one or two more for a minyan and if we have people present who are saying kaddish…
2) We’ll have a list of approximately 20 who live within a 5-minute drive of the temple…
3) We rotate among those 20, so that no one person will be called excessively
4) We call until a tenth person is found.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PERFORM THE MITZVAH OF BEING “ON-CALL” FOR OUR MINYAN, PLEASE CONTACT THE RABBI AT rabbi@tbe.org.
MANY THANKS!
Hospitality is essential to spiritual practice. It reminds you that you are part of a greater whole. . . .
Putting others first puts you in the midst of life without the illusion of being the center of life.
— Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro in Minyan
Morning Minyan: Sundays and federal holidays at 9:00 AM, Weekdays at 7:30 AM – IN THE CHAPEL
Minyan Mastery
Now you can become more comfortable with the prayers of our morning service by heading to…
http://www.tbe.org/site/sog/minyanmastery.htm
The Rabid Rabbi
We at TBE are always proud of our kids' accomplishments -- and there is plenty of nachas to go around. But three of our TBE youth are deserving of special mention.
First of all, I neglected to mention in my prior e-mail the remarkable accomplishment of Mitchell Shapiro, who this week will represent the state of
Mazal Tov to Rebecca Fox, the winner of the first annual Alex Goldman Memorial scholarship, given out at the recent graduation ceremonies of Kulanu. Rebecca won for a reflective and keenly perceptive essay focusing on issues related to growing up Jewish in
And then there's Daniel Madwed. whose athletic achievements in the pool have thrilled us for the past several years. At his Bar Mitzvah several years ago, he spoke of his dream to become an Olympian someday. Through hard work and talent, that dream is actually more than just a dream at this point. Last summer, he represented the
This summer he has been asked to represent the
Our community has the chance to support Dan and the Maccabi
We "kvell" for all that our children do -- not just the great accomplishments, but for who they are. In the case of Rebecca and Daniel, that is most certainly the case.
With her permission, I’ve reprinted Rebecca’s essay below:
I am a Jew. A proud Jew. Who happens to live in
My mother always taught me to explain Judaism to those around me. Let people know that I’m Jewish and make sure that the Jews get equal representation around the schools. When I was in preschool, I attended the
One of my fondest childhood memories is of Passover. Not the seders, which all children either love or hate (and I personally loved), but of sitting at the long, blue cafeteria table of my elementary school and crunching into matzah while everyone around me munched on bread. It was one of those things that could have been very awkward. Because I was a shy child, and I knew that within moments everyone around me would want to know what on earth I was eating. But no. I sat smiling with anticipation until the “Matzah,” I proudly explained. “It’s Passover, and I’m Jewish, so I can’t eat anything that rises. And these? These are macaroons.”
My mother came into my classes to explain Chanukah all throughout elementary school. But when middle school came around, it was my turn. In fifth and sixth grade, I took it upon myself to grace my classes with jelly doughnuts. And the story of Judah and the Maccabees, of course.
By seventh grade, everybody knew the Chanukah story well. And besides, I had to teach my friends what it meant to become Bat Mitzvah. Invitations went out, RSVPs came back, and the seventh graders of Saxe middle school sat through the first Bat Mitzvah they had ever attended. Mine. Come high school, and people were still talking about it. For many of my friends, this was the only Bat Mitzvah they have ever attended. One of only a few for all.
As I think back to elementary and middle school, I do not recall ever feeling that I was making a major decision when I taught my classmates why I eat matzah. I do not remember feeling at all conflicted when I stood up before my fifth grade class to explain the story of the Maccabees. I recall being proud to teach my friends what it means to become Bat Mitzvah. I suppose I did decide to share my beliefs each time I spoke, but this was simply how my mother had raised me. I was responsible for preventing misinformation from spreading throughout
I suppose the other option would have been for me to stick my head in the sand. Not to say anything when my classmates asked why I eat matzah. Not to stand up on Chanukah to teach my class the meaning of the Festival of Lights. I know a lot of people who let themselves go unnoticed. But I cannot do that. I refuse to be invisible because the guilt that comes with it would be too great for me to bear.
I am a junior in high school now. My classmates all know why Jews light the Chanukah menorah and eat matzah on Passover. They get the point. I’ve taught them. And others have as well. So now I take up bigger tasks. I follow
INTRODUCING – OUR NEWLY ELECTED TBE U.S.Y BOARD
President – Allison Kruk
VP Religious Education – Ethan Hammerman
VP Social Action/Tikkun Olam – Ariel Poser
VP Membership – Harrison Shapiro
VP Israeli Affairs – Dana Russ
VP Communications – Joelle Braun
Treasurer – Taylor Ross
We had a very successful year and are gearing up for an even better one next year!!!
If you have any ideas, will be around for the summer, or want more information, please email youth director jonathan ostroff at youth@tbe.org
Ask the Rabbi
What is Shavuot?
Here’s some good Shavuot material from the JTS Website…
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…And From MyJewishLearning.com…(http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Shavuot/TO_Shavuot_Themes.htm)
Overview: Shavuot Themes & Theology
The festival of Shavuot transformed from a purely agricultural into a historical and religious holiday. Originally mentioned in the Torah as a harvest festival, over time it took on new meanings so that now--like the other pilgrimage festivals--Shavuot has an agricultural, a historical, and a religious significance. These meanings contain a number of themes, including counting and marking time, a period of sadness leading to a time of explicit joy, and the mystical idea of marriage between God and
The themes are reflected in the numerous names for the holiday. The agricultural is apparent in "Hag HaKatzir" (Harvest Festival) and "Yom HaBikkurim" (festival of first fruits); the marking of time is apparent in "Shavuot" (festival of weeks) and "Atzeret," a name from the Talmudic period meaning a cessation of something or a solemn assembly; and the historical and religious are apparent in "Zeman Matan Torateinu," the time of the gift of Torah.
Shavuot is a festival that marks the end of counting (sefirah) that began on the second evening of Pesach (Passover). This span of time bridged the barley and wheat harvests when people were supposed to bring offerings of both to the
In post-biblical times, the rabbis calculated that the sixth of the month of Sivan, the day of Shavuot, was the day the Israelites received the Ten Commandments on
Jewish mysticism has also influenced Shavuot. For mystics, God is like a groom and
During the second century, the omer period leading up to Shavuot changed from a time of happiness of anticipation of the harvest, to one of sadness. There are a number of reasons given for this. The one most frequently mentioned is the legendary plague that purportedly killed 12,000 of Rabbi Akiba's students. However, other theories posit that once Shavuot was recognized as the anniversary of Revelation, the period leading up to it necessarily became one of apprehension and trepidation. Another interesting theory relates the apprehension to the agricultural harvest itself. The omer period was when fruit ripened, and thus the fate of the season's crops was determined. Indeed the Talmud views Shavuot as the day when the world is judged regarding the fruit of the trees. There also is a logical historical reason for the fact the omer period became a time of sadness. After the
Shavuot is a day of great joy, marking the end of the sadness and commemorating the joy of receiving the Torah. Consequently, for a few hundred years Shavuot has been the time when young children begin their study of Torah. The joy of Torah learning is often demonstrated physically by giving children candy or allowing them to lick honey off the page being studied.
OTHER LINKS ON SHAVUOT
Shavu'ot From Judaism 101.
Read the BOOK OF RUTH On Line
On the Akdamut prayer: http://www.ou.org/chagim/shavuot/akdamot.htm
The Highest Level of Tzedakkah*
Second Career Parlor Meeting at JTS Rabbinical School
JTS Rabbinical School will host a parlor meeting for men and women considering the rabbinate as a second career at 7pm on Monday, June 20 at JTS, 3080 Broadway (at 122nd Street) in New York City.
In an open forum format, attendees will learn about the program and meet current students and ordained rabbis in the field who came to JTS after careers in law, medicine, business, education and other fields. Information regarding the application process, merit fellowships, and generous financial aid packages will also be available.
The parlor meeting follows the festival of Shavuot, which commemorates a renewed devotion to the pursuit and study of Torah. Similar meetings will be held throughout the Northeast and
Advance reservations are strongly recommended and photo ID is required. Refreshments will be served. For further information and to RSVP, call Rabbi Charles Savenor, Associate Dean and Director of Admissions of The Rabbinical School, at (212) 678-8818 or email <mailto:chsavenor@jtsa.edu>chsavenor@jtsa.edu.
…thanks to Herb Soroca for this one
JewsRock
http://www.jewsrock.org/index.cfm
Check out the “Challah Fame” (Who’s Who” of Jews in Rock), and lots more in the coolest site on the Jewish Web..a definite “must see” for cool people.
Also, check out the UJF’s newly redesigned website: www.ujf.org... Where you’ll see pics from the…
SALUTE TO 
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Lorraine and David Kweskin, Edith Samers and Ed Smith, lead the United Jewish Federation at the Salute to Israel Parade in New York City on June 5, 2005 |
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The United Jewish Federation of Greater Stamford,
On a beautiful, sunny, 80 degree day, participants gathered in the parking lot of
The parade route was lined with thousands of supporters of
“So many people made important contributions to bring this off,” said Beth Boyer, chair of the Parade Committee. Dana Horowitz, Community Project Manager for UJF spent months preparing, and said “Help from Edith Samers, Gene DeLaney, Gina Lewald-Fass and Peter Wolly was instrumental in making this a huge success.” The UJF hopes to make this an annual event, and hopes even more families will join the fun next year on
CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES FROM THE PARADE
Temple Beth El of Stamford, CT
Led by Rabbi Joshua and Mara Hammerman
This unforgettable journey will have something for everyone:
· Full children’s program with youth counselor
· A glorious Shabbat in Jerusalem
· Archeological dig in the Judean Hills
· Relax at a five-star Dead Sea Spa
· Guest speakers and meaningful encounters with Israelis from a wide variety of backgrounds
· Ba· Wilderness Experience in the Negev
· Exploring Tel Aviv and the mystical city of Safed
· Visit to our sister city of Afula
· Boat ride on the Kinneret and Kayaking on the Jordan
FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEE OUR WEBSITE WWW.TBE.ORG
Required Reading and Action Items
First, Reform the Palestinian Authority - Yezid Sayigh and Khalil Shikaki
If the Palestinian electorate votes at the legislative council elections as it did in the local elections on May 5, Hamas could take 35-40% of the 132 seats. Indeed, if Fatah is unable to resolve its internal differences, and again fields two or more rival lists as happened in some municipalities, Hamas could achieve a landslide victory and take control of the Palestinian parliament. A key issue is the public's perception of corruption in the PA and Fatah, in contrast to the "clean hands" image of Hamas. Reform is crucial if the PA is to improve its standing with the public and shift Hamas's share of the vote back toward the 20% range that the movement would normally receive.
The PA must signal its determination to rebuild institutions that are capable of delivering on the commitments it makes to
See also Scare of Hamas Leads to Delayed Elections - Joshua Brilliant
The prospect that the Islamic Hamas might win in Palestinian parliamentary elections seems to be the real reason PA leader Abbas postponed the vote. In recent local elections some 600,000 voters voted for lists associated with Hamas and only 250,000 voted for people associated with Fatah, noted
See also As Hamas Makes Gains, Will Abbas' Ruling Party Unravel? - Joshua Mitnick (Christian Science Monitor)
Public Outcry in Nablus Against Use of Teenagers for Terrorist Missions (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center-Center for Special Studies)
MSNBC's correspondent Martin Fletcher interviewed the parents of Muhammad [Mustafa al-Nadi], a 15-year old boy stopped by IDF soldiers in May at the Hawara checkpoint carrying two pipe bombs.
The parents expressed great anger at Fatah/Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, calling its operatives criminals and saying that Allah would punish them.
The correspondent spoke with the boy and read him a letter from his mother asking him to give
The boy admitted that the Brigades had approached him five times before he finally agreed to cooperate.
· U.S. Has "Credible" Word of Syrian Plot to Kill Lebanese - Steven R. Weisman
The U.S. has received "credible information" that Syrian operatives in Lebanon plan to try to assassinate senior Lebanese political leaders and that Syrian military intelligence forces are returning to Lebanon to create "an environment of intimidation," a senior administration official said Thursday. It was clear that the official's statements were a deliberate signal of the Bush administration's continuing displeasure with the Syrian government's role in
See also Syrian Intelligence Returning to Lebanon - Robin Wright
After a brief lull in Syrian interference in
· Abbas Gives Militants Role in Gaza Pullout - Steve Weizman
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called on Islamic militants Thursday to respect a shaky cease-fire with Israel and gave them a role in preparations for Israel's Gaza withdrawal in an apparent bid to preserve the calm. He had to grant Hamas and Islamic Jihad a formal role in coordinating the pullout with Israel, and in another move, he offered a compromise to settle a prickly dispute over parliamentary elections that has soured his relations with his main rival, Hamas. As Abbas talked with leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in
See also Hamas, Islamic Jihad Leaders Snub Abbas - Arnon Regular
The heads of Hamas and Islamic Jihad Thursday refused to meet directly with Abbas. In a move that could be construed as personally humiliating, only minor officials from the two organizations were sent to a meeting in
· Security Crossing Improvements in the West Bank
For the past four years, the State of
IDF policy in the West Bank is to differentiate between the Palestinian terror factions and the Palestinian civilian population which is not involved in terrorism. Those who pose no threat have no problems passing through the security checks. (
· OSCE Summit Ends with New Pledge to Fight Anti-Semitism
Western governments at a conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe held in Cordoba, Spain, pledged Thursday to fight anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance, but acknowledged some of them have failed to deliver on past commitments and that upbeat speeches must now be matched with hands-on measures against hate crimes. In a final statement, delegates from all 55 member states stressed the importance of interfaith dialogue and insisted that strife in the
Don't Talk to Hamas - Editorial
Nowhere is it written that democratization must be dumb. Terrorist groups must be made to understand that winning elections at gunpoint, whether among Lebanese or Palestinians, will not sanitize them. It is problematic enough to trust "reformed" terrorists, as the experience with Arafat showed. But before terrorists can even claim to be reformed, they must first disarm and disavow terrorism - something Hamas and the myriad Palestinian militias, including those aligned with Fatah, are far from doing. Only then should democracies begin to treat them as legitimate players on the democratic field. (
· The Saudi Mega-Plot - Nibras Kazimi
The Saudis appear to be sending out three seemingly contradictory messages: one to the Americans, another to their own internal extremists, and a third to the Syrian leadership. The Saudis are telling the Americans that they are going to help bring down the regime in
All three messages seem to be sincere. The Saudis are indeed going to pull all the strings to bring down the Alawite regime in
President Bush needs to understand two things: Democracy can save
· Stage Four Anti-Semitism - Amnon Rubinstein
Prof. Emil Fackenheim divided anti-Semitism into three stages. Stage One: "You cannot live among us as Jews" - which precipitated forced conversions; Stage Two: "You cannot live among us" - which precipitated mass deportations; Stage Three: "You cannot live" - which signifies murderous, "biological anti-Semitism" of the kind that culminated in the Holocaust. But today we are arriving at a Stage Four: "You cannot live in a state of your own" - a stage also nourished by an irrational attitude toward all things Jewish.
The EU's monitoring committee on anti-Semitism and racism has formulated its own definition of Jew-hatred: denying Jews the right to self-determination by claiming that Israel's existence is "racist"; applying a double standard; holding Israel to a yardstick not expected of any other democratic nation; drawing comparisons between Israeli policy and those of the Nazis; holding world Jewry collectively responsible for the actions of Israel. The writer is a former minister of education and former dean of
· Arabs Apply Different Rules to Iraq - Interview with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari - Jay Nordlinger
Interviewed at the World Economic Forum conference in Jordan, the foreign minister of Iraq, Hoshyar Zebari, said: Jordan's King Abdullah "has been supportive and helpful, but beneath, if you go to the media, if you go to the mosques, to the street, the attitude is different. There is a disconnect. The attitude is not supportive of
"While we were waiting here, the Israeli minister of infrastructure, Ben-Eliezer, who is Iraqi-born, comes by, accompanied by a Jordanian minister. The Jordanian minister says to me, while I'm drinking coffee, 'Let me introduce you.' So we shake hands. And dozens of Arab photographers and reporters descend on me and say, 'Oh, is this the normalization of relations with
"The Enemy is Not Standing Before Us" - Hanan Greenberg
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz discussed Sunday the impending summer pullout from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank for the first time since he officially assumed his new position. "Israel stands before a national task of supreme importance, the task of disengagement....The role of executing it has been placed on the IDF. We have not become accustomed to such missions, we were not built for this, however we will implement it with sensitivity and determination through great understanding and responsibility."
"The enemy is not standing before us, our brothers in arms are....We are not looking for a struggle, but rather understanding and cooperation. We do not want to win the mission, we want to implement it understanding the difficulty, understanding the crisis our brothers the evacuees are facing, as well as the IDF evacuators." (Ynet News)
· The Coming Media Frenzy - Uri Dan
It is estimated that more than 4,000 foreign journalists and film units intend to cover the evacuation and uprooting of the settlements in the Gaza Strip. As a journalist I have covered many military campaigns, but I have never seen such a media onslaught as that awaiting us now in
· Dershowitz: Treat Returning Settlers as Heroes - Dan Izenberg
Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz said during a visit to Israel that the Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip "ought to be treated with extreme deference and they ought to be told they are heroes of Israel. They were heroes when they went and they are heroes when they are returning. They served in the front lines." Dershowitz added that it was the "state's prerogative to make territorial decisions and to make existential decisions about boundaries and peace." (
See also Israel's Agony - John Podhoretz (New York Post)
· Prosperity Without Peace - Nelson D. Schwartz
After a three-year slump brought on by the intifada and compounded by the bursting of the global tech bubble,
The skills gained through reestablishing
· Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A.: A Battleground for Israel's Legitimacy - Joel Fishman
In spring 2004, a group of pro-Palestinian radicals initiated a proposal that would have twinned Rafah in Gaza with Madison, Wisconsin. This initiative was significant because only a few American cities have adopted Palestinian towns. Its acceptance would have meant a victory for the Palestinian Authority and its supporters by advancing their long-term objective of delegitimizing the State of
Former Shin Bet Chief Avi Dichter Explains Disengagement - Ben Caspit (Maariv-Hebrew)
Former Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) Director Avi Dichter, who retired on May 14, said in an interview:
· The Palestinians see the past four and a half years as a catastrophe. They killed 1,042 Israelis and, in fact, achieved nothing. They're on the mat and they lost
· With the agreement imprisoning those who assassinated Israeli minister Rehavam Zeevi (Gandhi), we know exactly who is sitting in the
· Not a week passes without a visit from a foreign delegation to learn from
· To leave the Philadelphi corridor between
· We disengaged from
· Gaza is the land of terrorist capability and the West Bank the land of terrorist possibility. The Palestinians have been trying since the outbreak of the intifada to join the capability of
Ancient Jewish Home Found in City of David - Etgar Lefkovits (Jerusalem Post)
A
Several rooms of the 2,000 year old split-level house - as well as a ritual bath - were found at the compound, said archeologist Tzvika Greenhaut.
Jordanian Ambassador Rejects Jewish Claim to Temple Mount - Judy Lash Balint (FrontPageMagazine)
Last Monday, Jordan's Ambassador to Israel, Dr. Marouf Bakhit, called a hasty meeting with Israeli Foreign Ministry officials to declare his country's outrage over the "provocative act" of a group of Jews who had the audacity to go up to the Temple Mount in commemoration of Jerusalem Day.
The very next day, the suave, urbane Ambassador Bakhit told a group of diplomats and journalists at a Jerusalem think tank that there is absolutely no proof that the Temple ever stood at the spot, now occupied by the Muslim shrine known as the Dome of the Rock.
The entire episode may be viewed as part of the ongoing Arab strategy to delegitimize Jewish claims to holy sites and by extension to
India to Use Israeli Pipeline for Oil Imports (Press Trust of India)
With a growing need for energy, Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar told the 12th International Caspian Oil and Gas Conference on Thursday that India is seeking to diversify its sources of crude supplies by purchasing oil from the Central Asia and Caspian Sea region pumped via the new Baku-Ceyhan pipeline to the Mediterranean Sea.
From there it could be pumped into
Normalization of Relations Between Pakistan and Israel? - P.R. Kumaraswamy (Power and Interest News)
At periodic intervals, various Pakistani political leaders, especially President Musharraf, have been hinting that
The absence of any bilateral animosity has also promoted the rationality of a new approach.
For example, in June 2003, Musharraf reminded Pakistanis:
"We should not overreact on this issue. We should give serious consideration. It is a very sensitive issue. We fought three wars with
To subscribe to the Daily Alert, a daily digest of news from
“Palestinians do not encourage children to engage in terror.”
FACT
Most Palestinians who adopt terror in the hope of either “ending the occupation” or destroying Israel do so because they freely choose murder over any other option. Palestinian terrorists also use children, however, to do their dirty work. On March 15, 2004, for example, Israeli security forces caught an 11-year-old boy attempting to smuggle a bomb through a roadblock. The boy was promised a large sum of money by Tanzim activists in Nablus if he delivered a bag containing a bomb stuffed with bolts to a woman on the other side of the checkpoint. If the boy was stopped and searched, the terrorists who sent him planned to use a cell phone to immediately detonate the 15 to 22 pounds of explosives he was carrying, murdering nearby soldiers as well as the boy. The plan was foiled by an alert Israeli soldier, and the bomb apparently malfunctioned when the terrorists tried to remotely detonate it. A week later, on March 24, 2004, a 14-year-old Palestinian child was found to be carrying explosives when attempting to pass through the Israeli army checkpoint at Hawara, at the entrance of the town of Nablus (AP, March 16, 2004; CNN.com, March 25, 2004). Just over a year later, on May 22, 2005, a 14-year-old boy was again arrested at the Hawara checkpoint with two pipe bombs strapped to a belt he was wearing. A few days later, a 15-year-old tried to get through the checkpoint with two more pipe bombs (Jerusalem Post, May 25, 2005).
These were just the latest examples of the cynical use of children by Palestinians waging war on
“Using children to carry out or assist in armed attacks of any kind is an abomination. We call on the Palestinian leadership to publicly denounce these practices.” — Amnesty International (March 24, 2004) |
Despite occasional claims that terror is only promoted by “extremists,” the truth is the Palestinian Authority (PA) has consistently incited its youth to violence. Children are taught that the greatest glory is to die for Allah in battle as a Shahada. The PA regularly broadcast television shows that encouraged children to embrace this concept. One film used the death of Muhammad Al-Dura, the child killed in the crossfire of a shootout between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli forces, to show that life after death is paradise. An actor playing Al-Dura is shown in an amusement park, playing on the beach, and flying a kite. The Al-Dura in the film invited viewers to follow him. Similar messages extolling the virtue of the Shahid can be found in school textbooks and sermons by Muslim clergy (Itamar Marcus, “Ask for Death,” The Review, March 2003).
The indoctrination is having an impact. According to one Palestinian newspaper, 79-80% of children told pollsters they were willing to be Shahids (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 18, 2002).
Palestinian children now play death games, competing to see who will be the Shahid. They also collect “terrorist cards” the way American kids collect baseball cards. The maker of the Palestinian cards sold 6 million in just over two years. “I take hundreds of these pictures from children every day and burn them,” said Saher Hindi, a teacher at a
Many Palestinian youngsters have gone from pretending to carrying out actual terrorist attacks. More than two dozen suicide bombers have been under the age of 18. Between 2001 and March 2004, more than 40 minors involved in planning suicide bombings were arrested. In those years, 22 shootings and bombings were carried out by minors. For example, teens ages 11-14 attempted to smuggle munitions from Egypt into the Gaza Strip; three teenagers, ages 13-15, were arrested on their way to carry out a shooting attack in Afula; and a 17-year-old blew himself up in an attempted suicide attack. In just the first five months of 2005, 52 more Palestinian minors were caught wearing explosive belts or attempting to smuggle weapons through checkpoints in the West Bank (Jerusalem Post, March 15, 2004, May 25, 2005).
The situation has finally gotten so out of hand that Palestinian families are starting to protest. The mother of one of the three teenagers sent to carry out the Afula attack said of the letter he had left behind, “My son doesn’t know how to write a letter like that and has never belonged to one of the organizations. Some grownup wrote the letter for him.” The boy’s father added, “Nobody can accept to send his children to be slaughtered. I am sure that whoever recruits children in this kind of unlawful activity will not recruit his own children” (AP, March 1, 2004)
Martin Fletcher interviewed the parents of the 15-year-old stopped at the Hawara checkpoint. His parents expressed their anger at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, calling its operatives criminals and saying that Allah would punish them. The correspondent spoke with the boy and read him a letter from his mother asking him to confess and to give Israel all the information in his possession about the men who had sent him (MSNBC, May 27, 2005).
Whenever the use of children in terror operations provokes an outcry, the terrorist groups either claim ignorance or promise never to do it again. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority does nothing to stop the recruitment of children or to dismantle the organizations responsible for drafting them in their terror war.
This article can be found at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf19.html#cc
Source: Myths & Facts Online -- A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Mitchell G. Bard, http://www.JewishVirtualLibrary.org.
A great resource on all things Jewish: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/news.html
The best Jewish site for Jewish learning: http://www.myjewishlearning.com
Jewish Identity Databases: http://pages.infinit.net/jackross/jt-judaism.htm
THE MOTHERLODE OF ISRAEL-RELATED LINKS: http://www.israel.org/mfa/go.asp?MFAH00kj0
http://www.myisraelsource.com./
Israel Defense Force, http://www.idf.il/
Israel Government Gateway, links to Government Ministries, www.info.gov.il/eng
Israel Knesset, http://www.knesset.gov.il/
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http://www.mfa.gov.il/
Israel Prime Minister's
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, www.cbs.gov.il/engindex.htm
Israel Tourism Ministry, North America, http://www.goisrael.com/
Buy Israeli Products, http://www.israelexport.org/, http://www.shopinisrael.com/,
http://www.finefoodsisrael.com/
Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, www.tau.ac.il/jcss
Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, http://www.besacenter.org/
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, http://www.jcpa.org/
One Jerusalem, http://www.onejerusalem.org/
Twenty Facts about Israel
Myths & Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Jerusalem Archaeological Park, http://www.archpark.org.il/
Israel Info Center - Israel Activism Portal, www.israelinfocenter.com/
US White House, http://www.whitehouse.gov/
US State Department, http://www.state.gov/
US Senate, http://www.senate.gov/
US House of Representatives, http://www.house.gov/
THOMAS (search for US Legislation), thomas.loc.gov
United Nations Watch, http://www.unwatch.org/
Embassy of Israel - Washington, D.C., http://www.embassyofisrael.org/
Media-Related Links:
CAMERA, http://www.jcpa.org/daily/www.camera.org
Jerusalem Post, http://www.jpost.com/
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, http://www.jta.org/
Ha'aretz English Edition, http://www.haaretzdaily.com/
HonestReporting.com, http://www.honestreporting.com/
Independent Media Review and Analysis, http://www.imra.org.il/
Maariv English Edition, http://www.maarivintl.com/
Middle East Media Research Institue (MEMRI), http://www.memri.org/
Palestinian Media Watch, http://www.pmw.org.il/
Britain-Israel Communications and Research Centre,
http://www.bicom.org.uk/bicom/briefings.nsf
Israel Insider, http://www.israelinsider.com/
Jewish World Review, http://www.jewishworldreview.com/
America's Voices in Israel, http://www.americasvoices.net/
@The Source Israel, http://www.thesourceisrael.com/
Other Jewish Sites
Data JEM – an GEM for Jewish Education! Database for Jewish educational materials: http://www.datajem.com/visitor/IntroPage.asp
The best Jewish kids' site on the Web is http://www.babaganewz.com/ , with games, virtual tours and “J-Pod” downloads, kids of all ages will LOVE it.
Another superb educational site is http://www.myjewishlearning.com/ -- you can be a self-taught “maven” on all things Jewish!
See My Jewish Learning's Talmud section for great resources on the Talmud.
See Eliezer Siegal's Talmud Page for the best visual introduction to a page of Talmud anywhere.
A Jewish Guide to the Internet: http://www.uscj.org/metny/bellmobj/jnet2.htm
On Jewish Vegetarianism and Animal Rights: http://jewishveg.com/schwartz/ (hey, you KNEW I’d put this one in)
How many Jewish hockey players are there? (None right now…there’s a lockout). Find out at http://www.jewishsports.com/
Glossary of Yiddish Expressions: http://www.ariga.com/yiddish.shtml )Please be patient, this page is farshtopt with information)
You can find an online Hebrew dictionary at http://milon.morfix.co.il/
Nice Jewish parenting site http://jewishfamily.com/
http://www.jewishgates.com/main.asp Jewish Gates is an amazing site, filled with material on Jewish history, ritual and culture. Go straight to the linked index at http://www.jewishgates.com/fullindex.asp and go to town!
http://www.zipple.com/ The Jewish Super Site; a similar site is http://www.maven.co.il/ and my personal all-time favorite,
http://shamash.org/trb/judaism.html
The sourcebook for Jewish history (all periods) can be found at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/jewishsbook.html
Online Texts Related to Jewish History. All the primary sources “fit to print.”
Links to all the Jewish newspapers that are fit to print: http://www.jta.org/page_newspapers.asp
Israel Campus Beat – to get all the latest information on
http://jokes.jewish.net/ - the best place on the planet to find Jewish Jokes
Conservative Responsa (fascinating decisions related to applying Jewish Law to our times):
Superb booklet for visiting the sick and for healing in general: http://netivotshalom.org/drashot/rkelman/Bikkur.pdf
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ONLINE JEWISH STUDY
- Distance learning at JTS
- eAcademy Israel Studies
- Guided Learning Mini Courses
- Halakhah Study Group (RA in
- Hashkafah Study Group (RA in
- Jewish Interactive Studies
- Jewish Online and Interactive Learning
- Jewish University in Cyberspace (JUICE)
- Mishnah Yomit Study a Mishnah a day
- Perek Yomi Study a Bible passage a day
- Rabin Mishnah Study Group (RA in
- The Virtual Bet Midrash at Yeshivat Har Etzion
FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS… AND EVERYONE ELSE
http://www.studentsfordemocracy.ca/site_files/book.pdf
SHAVUOT 5765
June 13 - June 14, 2005
The festival of Shavuot begins on Sunday evening, June 12th.
Celebrate with us as we join
Join
and Rabbi Mitch Hurvitz
for a discussion of this urgent topic
from a variety of perspectives:
The End of the Zionist Dream?
Studies on the Proposed
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Festival Evening Service 8:15 p.m.
Led by
and Cantor Ken Cohen
Dessert
Study Sessions
Shavuot Service Schedule at
Shavuot - First Day
Monday, June 13, 2005
We’ll have a pizza lunch on the first day
Services 9:30 a.m.
Jr. Congregation with Nurit 10:30 a.m.
Shavuot - Second Day
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Services 9:30 a.m.
Jr. Congregation with Nurit 10:30 a.m.
Yizkor
Shavuot services count toward Shabbat morning attendance credit!
SHABBAT UNPLUGGED!
Friday, June 17, 2005
7:30 p.m.
Join us for the final
SHABBAT UNPLUGGED
of the season as we say farewell to
Cantor
TBE’s Adult and Junior Choirs will perform!
Delicious Oneg Shabbat to follow…
Surprises for all!
The MIDRASH OF THE TWO BROTHERS
THE FAMILIAR MIDRASH VERSION
Once there were two brothers, each with a farm on the opposite side of the same hill.
The first had a family - It came to be that, during the harvest, the first brother said to himself,
"I have a wife, sons, and daughters to help during the harvest while my brother has no one to help."
So late at night, he would sneak over the hill to his brother's farm and leave bags of grain.
Now, at about the same time, the second brother said to himself,
"I live by myself whereas my brother has so many mouths to feed."
So late at night, he would sneak over the hill to his brother's farm and leave bags of grain.
One night, they happened to run into each other and each saw what the other was doing.
They instantly realized what was happening, and hugged and kissed each other.
And it is on that hill that the
THE UPDATED VERSION
Once there were two brothers, each with a farm on the opposite side of the same hill.
The first had a family - wife, sons, and daughters.
The second lived by himself. It came to be that, during the harvest, the first brother said to himself,
"We have so many mouths to feed whereas my brother has only but himself."
So late at night, he would sneak over the hill to his brother's farm and take bags of grain.
Now, at about the same time, the second brother said to himself,
"My brother has a wife, sons, and daughters to help during the harvest while I have no one to help."
So late at night, he would sneak over the hill to his brother's farm and take bags of grain.
One night, they happened to run into each other and each saw what the other was doing.
They instantly realized what was happening, and yelled at each other and beat each other up.
And it is on that hill that the Knesset was built.
Previous Shabbat-O-Grams can be accessed directly from our web site (www.tbe.org)
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