by Moishe Oofnik [➚] · Tuesday, February 22nd, 2005
Dan Halutz is Israel’s next chief of staff. Read the interview with him that took place a few years ago. This person believes that people who criticize the military or question its acts must be put on trial:
What I have to say about those people is that this is a democracy, where everyone can always express his opinion. But not to be a traitor.
Halutz is specifically referring to groups like Gush Shalom who criticized his order to drop a one ton bomb on Salah Shahadeh, an act that killed about 14 (?) people, mostly children. At first the IDF claimed that it didn’t know a priori of any civilians who were there but later this was admitted to be a lie.
by manuscriptboy [➚] · Tuesday, February 22nd, 2005
In the past year, several Talmudic manuscripts have been scanned and posted online. I was just thinking about Munich 95, the only extant manuscript of the entire Talmud (and perhaps the only one ever to exist). It is a massive tome, difficult to use in facsimile, and the website is frustrating as well (it doesn’t seem to be working at the moment).
What I like about the site, though, is that they scanned the manuscript in its entirety – including the sections which are not part of the Talmud. A fascinating article appeared recently, exploring the magical texts on the last page of the manuscript (Guiseppe Veltri, ‘ “Watermarks” in the ms “Munich, Hebr. 95″; magical recipes in historical context ‘, in: Jewish Studies between the Disciplines = Judaistik zwischen den Disziplinen; Papers in Honor of Peter Schafer on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday. Ed. by Klaus Herrmann, Margarete Schlater, Giuseppe Veltri. Leiden: Brill, 2003, pp. 243-256). All the magic spells seem to relate to water – crossing the ocean, calming a stormy sea and making shallow water rise. Veltri speculates that all this water points to the threat of flood, which the scribe hoped would be averted by these formulae.
The French and German Jewish culture which produced the Munich Talmud was full of magic. The same culture which produced the vaunted Tosafot, which are the staple of Talmud study in yeshivot till today. Why don’t we pay more attention to their beliefs? I can understand why some people would feel uncomfortable with certain aspects of our heritage. But that is no reason to forget those aspects.
by Mobius [➚] · Tuesday, February 22nd, 2005
Michael Steinhardt goes off about Jewish contributions to higher education and other secular institutions, demanding Jews give more to Jewish continuity causes because “Our own future hangs in the balance.”
Here’s a paddle. Allow me to introduce you to my long deceased horse.
by Mobius [➚] · Tuesday, February 22nd, 2005
AP reports,
A prominent Israeli rabbi has ruled that spitting gum on a sidewalk or hiding it under a desk is a violation of Halacha or Jewish law, the Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported Thursday.
“Gum cannot be thrown where others are liable to be disgusted by it,” said Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the rabbi of the holy city of Safed.
Improperly discarded gum may appear to be hidden, but “God knows” where it is, Eliyahu said, according to the newspaper.
Full story.
by Moishe Oofnik [➚] · Monday, February 21st, 2005
It is well known that crazy lefties question “the perception that a strong arm and collective punishment suffice to deter a people that is fighting occupation.” No need to mention the fact that the radical self-hating lefies also believe that “during the years of the intifada the feeling prevailed among the Palestinians that they had nothing to lose, and along with this their motivation to become part of the cycle of violence increased.” I mean, these lies are repeated everywhere (including on Jewschool) by self-hating propagandists.
Oh, wait, it seems that a “report of a think-tank forum that operated with the blessing of Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon and was closely accompanied by Colonel Amos Lehman, his adviser for strategic thinking” arrived at the same conclusions. Check out the list of crazy lefties in this think-tank:
The committee, which met regularly since November 2003 at the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies was comprised of retired senior intelligence people: Ephraim Halevy, Reuven Merhav and Yossi Ben-Ari of the Mossad; Efraim Lavie of Military Intelligence; Kobi Michael of the Liaison and Coordination Unit.. [etc. etc. etc.]
Their report charges that the Israel Defense Forces – under the leadership of current Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, when he was chief of staff, and afterward, under Moshe Ya’alon – fanned the violent conflict that broke out in September 2000: “The levers of pressure that were applied to the Palestinian population and to the security apparatus, most of whose members did not take part at the beginning of the conflict, gave rise to negative results. A sense of anger and vengeance led to the tightening of the cooperation among the terror groups and between them and elements of the Palestinian security services that joined the conflict as a result of the IDF’s damages to them. As a result of this the phenomenon of suicide attacks swelled to unprecedented dimensions, spilling over into the nonreligious organizations.”
The report shoots down the conception that had taken hold in the public concerning the reasons for the failure of the peace process and the outbreak of the intifada, the escalation and the continuation of the hostilities.
I have already mentioned in the past that in my opinion not only is house demolitions immoral but it also does not stop terror. Like, duh.
Full article here.
by Mobius [➚] · Monday, February 21st, 2005
No, no, no… I’m not shitting you. And I promise, I had nothing to do with it. But by God, I love it.
by Mobius [➚] · Monday, February 21st, 2005
Big news for the Hasidic Reggae Superstar:
JDub and Or Music have announced that Or has signed acclaimed JDub Records’ Hasidic reggae/hip hop star Matisyahu to a multirecord deal, and will enter a strategic marketing and distribution relationship with JDub.
Or Music president Michael Caplan commented, “Given our enthusiasm for signing acts that instantly captivate us, and that we feel will deliver the same impact to audiences worldwide, Matisyahu is a one-of-a-kind talent at the forefront of an important musical and social movement. JDub has done an incredible job developing Matisyahu to date, and we will work closely with them to bring Matisyahu’s music to a broad, international audience. In addition, we will help develop other JDub projects. This signing is a perfect fit for our growing company.”
Aaron Bisman, executive director of JDub Records also commented, “As a not-for-profit organization, JDub’s mission is to bring the best in innovative, authentic Jewish music into the mainstream marketplace. Michael and Larry have a great understanding of the power and potential of Matisyahu’s music and the experience to take this to the next level. We are very excited about our growing relationship with Or on this and future projects.”
Other Or Music artists include John Cale, Particle & Tower Of Power. It’s not what you’d call major label status but it’s a leg up to be sure. MAZAL TOV!
by The Town Crier [➚] · Monday, February 21st, 2005
Bush calls for “contiguous” Palestinian state, saying “A state on scattered territories will not work.” In other news, residents of the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska and New York City have voted to cede from the union.
by Mobius [➚] · Monday, February 21st, 2005
Hip Hop Hoodios
Agua Pa’ La Gente
Jazzheads
I gotta be frank. I don’t like the Hip Hop Hoodios much. I mean, it’s not that they’re that horrendously awful or anything. They just don’t do it for me. I mean, conceptually, they’re pretty dope — Latino-Jewish hip hop (or as I termed it once, “kike spics playing nigger music”) itself seems like an impressive combination. And I got a kick out of their first EP, honestly, even though I thought the poking-fun-at-one’s-self through stereotypes was a bit hackneyed.
That being said, turning a truly critical lens on their music, I can admit their production is tight, and the music in-and-of-itself is enjoyable. I especially like the mashup sound of “Kike On The Mic,” for example, which combines klezmer, rock guitar & the JB’s infamous horn stab from “The Grunt” all over a jumpin’ hip hop beat. These things aren’t meant to work together, but somehow they pull it off, and that I wholly appreciate. Further, there are the Latin-flavored beats which appear throughout the album (which are of course the staple of the Hoodios sound), and that I find pleasurable in that it elicits in me a longing for my shitbox apartment above a dollar store in Brooklyn where Dominicans would sit out front blaring merengue from stereos more expensive than their cars. Ah, home.
Lyrically, on the other hand, it’s kind of torturous (except when they rhyme in Spanish and I have no idea what they’re saying — then it just sounds cool). To be quite frank, though, the shit’s pretty corny, and beyond that, these guys don’t exactly have voices like Biggie, Meth or MF Doom, which lend listenability to even the most trite lyrics. However, despite my admitted elitism in that sense (being myself one who’s known on occassion to rock the mic), I have to say that for young kids — particularly Latino-Jewish kids — their lyrics have the potential to be educational and entertaining, and more so, I think they can give a young Latino-Jew who may be questioning their heritage what to be proud of. Take for example the track “1492″, a lyrical romp through the Jewish explusion from Spain which ends in a refrain of pronouncement that the Christian god is “a brown Jew.” To a seasoned hip hop listener, it’s just plain awful. But for a young Jewish kid, it could be well… cool.
Interestingly, the album’s title track is a delicate confrontation of the subject of water privatization. I wonder if anyone told them that the Bronfmans (the world’s biggest Jewish philanthropists) are major shareholders in Vivendi, which privatizes public water supplies in Latin America. (There I go again, inserting my agenda into things…)
Anyway, here’s how you can cop the album for free, if by some chance I haven’t completely turned you off from it by this point which, honestly, hasn’t been my intention at all (and I actually kind of feel bad about this review because I like the guys in the Hoodios much more than I like their music): Click here and sign-up for an account with EMusic. When you join, you’ll get access to 50 free downloads, enabling you to download the entire new Hoodios album for free! Not just that, but you can score other great music, including tons of great jazz and reggae, and, hell, if you’re into it, they’ve got just about every Debbie Friedman album on there too.
If the legal MP3 thing isn’t your speed, you can always buy the CD in stores or from the Jazzheads site. And if you don’t like it, the Hoodios are even offering a money-back guarantee. Can’t beat that with a stick. Unless, of course it’s a piñata.
God that was an awful joke.
by Mobius [➚] · Monday, February 21st, 2005
by Mobius [➚] · Monday, February 21st, 2005
by Mobius [➚] · Monday, February 21st, 2005
See how we thrown down in J-Town! Peep video from the inaugural Old Jeruz Cipher here, with MCs kickin’ it in Hebrew, English, Arabic & Russian!
Don’t miss this week’s cipher, Thursday night, 9pm, at Daila (Shlomzion 4, Jerusalem). Hosted by Sagol 59 & DJ Caress, featuring special appearances by Taboo+ & members of Parvarim Refugees!
by Mobius [➚] · Sunday, February 20th, 2005
As part of my recent exploration of the West Bank with Dorot, we paid a visit to Yeshivat Har Etzion, the famed hesder yeshiva located at the Alon Shvut settlement within the Etzion bloc outside Jerusalem.
During our visit, we spent a little over an hour with Rabbi Moshe Lichtenstein, the son of the Gush yeshiva’s esteemed rosh yeshiva, R’ Aharon Lichtenstein, and grandson of the arguable father of modern orthodoxy, Rav Yosef Soloveitchik. In that time, Rabbi Lichtenstein presented a shiur on the subject of disengagement from Gaza, and offered a halakhically sound argument in favor of the withdrawal. He also made it known to us that, if his West Bank residency stood in the way of peace with Palestine, it would be with a heavy heart, but he would in fact move.
I’ll write about this at further length in my next post on OA, but after his talk I went over and thanked him: “You have personally eradicated my belief that all religious settlers are maniacs.” He replied, “Well, keep in mind — I don’t speak for all of them.”
Click here to download the one hour and nine minute shiur in MP3 format. It’s about 50mb and the quality’s not so hot, but… Whaddaya want for free?
by Mobius [➚] · Friday, February 18th, 2005
Guess where I’ve been? I’ll give you a hint…
Expect a very lengthy post on Orthodox Anarchist in the near future. As for now, peep the photos here.
[Update] Post one of two, possibly three, is up.
[Update] Check out my boy Josh’s photos. Sure kick the crap outta mine!
by The Town Crier [➚] · Thursday, February 17th, 2005
Can someone please explain to me how in the world American Jewry is allowing this misguided loyalty to the drunken cowboy cloud their judgement? There is absolutely no reason why any self respecting Diaspora jew who supports Israel – no matter their political affiliation to not be able to reasonably expect that the Palestinian leader comply with the basic conditions which were promised to at the onset of his own process for peace. It is not unreasonable to expect that basic commitments be adhered to as a condition for accepting a massive donation of funds.
Yet for some reason, President Bush seems to have the support of American Jews for a free gift of our tax paying money to the tune of 350 million dollars to man who has a doctorate in holocaust denial. We cannot afford to make the same mistake again, the consequences will be worse than before. Dont blame it on Sharon, (that excuse didnt work when Clinton took orders from Rabin and Peres). Don’t tell me Kerry or Gore would do the same or worse. This isn’t about partisan politics – it is about basic logic. Ultra conservatives like Mort Klein of the ZOA are against aid without compliance. What happened to all those people who professed to be such conservative supporters of “Israel’s Best Friend” now that he is selling you out? Where are the letter writing campaigns to the congressmen? Where are the rallies? Why is the RJC wasting their time running an irrelevant smear campaign telling everyone how bad Howard Dean is and linking him to terrorists? Does this help the global Jewish agenda? I await any intelligent responses that can explain this phenomenon of blind superficial stupidity.
by moses [➚] · Wednesday, February 16th, 2005
“Crushed…To Illuminate”
This week the Torah tells us to catch a fire – make pure light and keep it burning. Referring to the commandment of the Menorah (the first symbol of the Jews),we are told to “cause a lamp to burn continually…to burn from evening to morning.” (Exodus 27:20-21)
Ask yourself how many contradictions you see daily: Defense that shuts down, public policy that’s all too private, democracy with no questions. So then, why in blog’s name have I thrown another paradox from The Good Book at you? Shall our fire last only through the night and change with the coming of a new sun? Or do we light up non-stop – forever perpetuating a higher illumination?
The Torah speaks to the individual. So the answer lies not with the Menorah but with each of us. The Menorah is ours; the commandment is upon each of us to be a light in/to the world. Day in and day out we are asked to change the air around us. Time and time again we have the want to change the space we are in.
This is the meaning of the verse: Effect your place in the positive and appreciate the time you are in. Divinity is not limited to Jerusalem, nor does it only reside in the blue sky. Our task is to provide limitless love, light, and lesson from the eternal Torah to this world – a place of limitations, a community of revolution.
Drown yesterday’s light with the awesomeness of today’s. Use all your talents, spiritual and physical. And thus may we all pave our streets with acts of righteousness creating avenues of peace.
Shabbat Shalom
*ùáòéà ôðéà ìúåøä seventy flavors of Torah – for the d’var Torah of your choice email me.
by Moishe Oofnik [➚] · Wednesday, February 16th, 2005
Uzi Arad writes in Haaretz:
Prof. Gideon Biger of Tel Aviv University, in this newspaper, raised his plan for two states, one entirely Jewish, the other entirely Arab, based on territorial transfers in which the Triangle, from Kfar Qassam in the south to Barta in the north, would be handed over to Palestinian sovereignty, while in exchange, Israel would retain those territories populated by Jews in Judea and Samaria, including the Jordan Valley. Later, Prof. Arnon Sofer of the University of Haifa and Prof. Sergio della Pergola of the Hebrew University made similar proposals.
[...] The idea of territorial transfers already appeared in plans that dealt with the final status agreement from the Clinton framework to the plans proposed by Israeli groups such as the [Ayalon-Nusseibeh] People’s Voice petition. According to all those plans the route of the geodemographic border was drawn according to the principle of territorial contiguity.
The idea of exchanging populated territories was also raised by people from throughout the political spectrum, from Avigdor Lieberman on the right to Ephraim Sneh on the left, and has won the support of some intellectuals. On the other hand, the response of Israeli Arabs has generally been reserved, together with their reservations about the very idea of protecting the Jewish character of the state of Israel.
“Territorial transfer” is a nice way of saying that citizens of the state of Israel will be stripped from their civic rights and become citizens of a newly formed state of Palestine. Arad presents a ‘wide consensus’ on the matter, exposing the anti-democratic attitude held by prominent academics, politicians and ‘peace groups’ from right and left. The ‘reservations’ of potential victims from this idea is mentioned briefly. But for Arad, who’s belief in the basic tenets of democracy is questionable, it probably doesn’t matter what the Israeli Arabs want. The discourse is among the Jewish politicians, Intellectuals, and yes – even ‘peaceniks’.
Any person who believes that a state has a right to strip people from their citizenship without any reason but their ethnicity or nationality, is an anti-democrat. The difference between territorial transfer and population transfer is that the trucks aren’t needed.
The fact that Israeli citizneship would be replaced by another citizenship is irrelevant; no state has a right to decide that some part of the population it governs will be stripped from their rights even if another state will give citizenship to that same population. Since a democratic state as represented in its various institutions comes to being as a supposed manifestation of the people’s will (a claim that I am willing to accept for the sake of the argument) and its democratic legitimacy originates from the citizens, it can never disenfranchise any part of its population, and still call itself a democracy.
by Danya [➚] · Wednesday, February 16th, 2005
If Francesca Lia Block wrote a book about a shomer negiah punk rock girl from New York who goes to L.A. to star in a sitcom (co-starring mostly goyim) about an Orthodox Jewish family, Never Mind the Goldbergs would be that book.
She didn’t write it, but performance poet Matthue Roth did, and it’s sharp and smart and suspenseful and it’s got heart and it’s devour-in-one-Shabbos (if not one sitting) good. The protagonist is Hava, a 17 year-old smartass who divides her time between kosher pizza joints and the gutterpunk stoops of St. Mark’s before she’s “discovered” and ships off to the American Bavel to navigate sleaze, office politics, her alcohol intake, her davenning schedule, and the Hollywoodization of frumkeit. This is the kinda book you’re gonna make all your friends read after you do, it’s like that.
Also check out Roth’s spoken-word piece, “Orthodox Girls”, which opens with the line, “Orthodox girls’ names turn me on…”
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