Odds & Ends

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. "Torah that is not accompanied by a worldly trade will in the end amount to nothing and will lead one into sin."(Mishnah Avot, chapter 2; Rulings on this basis are found in Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, “Laws Concerning Torah Study”, chapter 10, and in Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayyim #157)Many of you are aware of the distress of so many in Israel over the fact that not only do the vast majority of Haredim not serve in the IDF or do national service, but more than ten thousand of them have been receiving government stipends for their yeshiva study. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled that these stipends were not permissible and now Shas and its allies in the government have been working to find ways…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. With Samoa calendar change, question for Jews: When is Shabbat? NEW YORK (JTA) By Adam Soclof · December 30, 2011 The Pacific island nation of Samoa is taking 186,000 citizens through a national time warp by moving west of the international dateline, forfeiting the last Friday of 2011 and jumping straight from Thursday into Saturday. For Samoans, this solves a practical question: Why remain 18 to 23 hours behind chief trade partners Australia and New Zealand? For Jews, it poses a question of a different sort: When does Shabbat start in Samoa? And are there really any Jews in Samoa? A country adopting a new stance vis-a-vis the international dateline is nothing new. In 1995, the island nation of Kiribati also shifted westward.…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. In order to understand the following Latma parody, you need know the original song on which it was based, "Winter 1973", written by Shmuel Hasfari (formerly in Betar and DOV but for years gone far-left) and put to music by Uri Widislavski and first performed by an IDF educational entertainment group. It refers to the recruits of 1990-91 who were born in 1973 when, after the Yom Kippur War, a Yehoram Gaon song promised "this will be the very last war". See complete lyrics below. It was lifted from Yael Meir's poem. Yael resided in Ramat HaMagshimin in 1973-74. The song rips into the politicians who were interested in a Nobel Prize and left the population to die at the rate of two…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. October 7, 2011 - By Ronen BergmanRonen Bergman is a senior political and military analyst for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. Sixty-four years ago, in August 1947, the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine presented to the General Assembly a startling and unexpected report, calling for an end to the British Mandate of Palestine and division of most of the territory into two independent states, with the Jewish state occupying the majority of the land. What came next, of course, is well known — a vote in the General Assembly on Nov. 29, 1947, in favor of partition, and the war that immediately followed. The decision is viewed in the Arab world as “the great crime,” and Palestinian leaders, including the current president…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS.This sermon was delivered by Chief Rabbi Shalom J. Lewis of Congregation Etz Chaim in Marietta, Georgia, on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, 2010. After the text of the sermon is his followup action letter to his congregation, written on October 15, 2010. Many years ago a Chasid used to travel from shtetl to shtetl selling holy books. On one occasion he came to a wealthy land owner and asked if he would like to purchase a book of Torah teachings. The banker agreed and not only purchased the book, but paid for it with a hundred ruble note. He then began to chat with the Chassid and offered him a cigar, taking one also for himself. The Chassid noticed that the banker…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS.Petition Against a Unilaterally Declared Palestine The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism joins the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and 82 other mainstream Jewish organizations in a petition urging the United Nations not to recognize Palestine unilaterally, instead calling on the international community to encourage the resumption of bilateral negotiations immediately and without preconditions. Please add your signature to this petition.On Tuesday, September 20, when the United Nations opens, the Israel Action Network and the Jewish Community Relations Council of NYC will deliver tens of thousands of signatures to the Secretary General of the UN!  Already more than 72,000 people have endorsed the petition, but the goal is 100,000! One thing is absolutely clear:  there…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS. Make sure sound is on. Click on the triangle. Video will start in a few seconds...

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of TBS."When the football team Ajax"-an Amsterdam-based soccer team formerly owned by Jews [and pronounced Ayyaks]--"runs out onto the field in Utrecht, the home-team fans in the stadium greet them with a great sssssssssssssssssssssssssss sound." My host was responding to a question I had asked. Booing the visiting team seemed to me like a normal act of gaming opposition. I was obviously not getting the point. "No," she said. "They're mimicking the sound of the gas hissing into the supposed-shower killing rooms in the concentration camps-despite the fact that Ajax has not been owned by Jews for decades." I was told this story, in Amsterdam, in June 1994. My semester teaching at Leiden University was ending. At a conference in May I had met one…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of Temple Beth Sholom.NEW YORK - July 11, 2011 from an anonymous sourceIn an unusual display of unity, leaders of five Chasidic groups today issued a joint statement in support of proposed state legislation to allow same-sects marriages. The groups represented were Belz, Pupa, Saatmar, Bobov, and Lubavitch. "Of course we want same-sects marriages," said Rabbi Wurzma Shtreimel, head of the Belz movement. "A Belzer should marry only a Belzer. That makes perfect sense." The other rabbis agreed. "If a Saatmar weds a Bobover, woe to their offspring," proclaimed Rabbi Praymita Gartel of Saatmar. "What would their children be: Saatovers?? That's totally unheard of." The rabbis shared concerns about the dilution of their individual groups through intersect marriages. "The Tanya warns us," said Rabbi Mendy Pantz of Lubavitch. "If a Lubavitcher marries…

The opinions expressed on this webpage represent those of the individual authors and, unless clearly labeled as such, do not represent the opinions or policies of Temple Beth Sholom.June 29, 2011 | 27 Sivan 5771As we are sure you know, we are in the midst of a restructuring that will result in a United Synagogue that is better adapted to serve you, the leaders of our kehillot. The process is painful and exhilarating. We have had to say goodbye to some of our employees as the kinds of jobs we are creating demand new skills, and we are reconfiguring our work to make it as efficient and effective as possible.The most central of all our goals is to focus on strengthening and transforming our kehillot. We are replacing our district or regional directors with kehilla relationship managers (KRM), who will be our kehillot’s ombudsmen, representing United Synagogue on the international…