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“And David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.” (2 Samuel 5:9) A left-wing NGO called Emek Shaveh has petitioned Israel’s High Court of Justice to remove control of part of the City of David archaeological site from the hands of the Jewish organization currently in charge. According to a press release by Emek Shaveh, the petition, filed Sunday, asks the Israeli government to “take over the management of the tunnel that connects the village of Silwan and the Western Wall.” Emek Shaveh, which means “Equal Valley” in Hebrew, bills itself as “an organization of archaeologists and community activists focusing on the role of archaeology in Israeli society and in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Its main goal is to prevent the use of archaeology in staking a claim of historical connection to the land. In other words, “Our fundamental position is that an archaeological find should not and cannot be used to prove ownership by any one nation, ethnic group or religion over a given place… It is not our business to establish links between modern ethnic identities (e.g., Palestinians, Israelis, or Europeans) and ancient ones (e.g., Judeans, Canaanites, or Crusaders). We do not use archaeology to prove precedence.” The focal point of the group’s activities is centered around the Old City of Jerusalem and its environs, which group members view as part of the West Bank and a future Palestinian state, rather than an integral part of Israel. The petition which the group filed Sunday asks that control of the tunnel in question be removed from the charge of the Ir David (City of David) Foundation, a non-profit organization also known as El-ad, which is dedicated to the preservation and development of the Biblical city and its surroundings. Emek Shaveh considers El-ad a “right-wing”, “settler” organization. Since its establishment in 1986, El-ad has worked towards four key initiatives: archaeological excavation, tourism development, residential revitalization and educational programming. In the process, El-ad has funded excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) along the Herodian Road, which was a Jewish pilgrimage route leading from the Shiloach Pool up to the Temple Mount and Western Wall. It includes a drainage ditch, which is the tunnel currently under contention. Emek Shaveh claims, “The excavation of the IAA adjacent to foundations of the Temple Mount / Al-Aqsa compound is a dangerous political act that could intensify international and interreligious tensions in the area.” Using an earlier court ruling preventing El-ad from taking over management of the Davidson Exhibition and Virtual Reconstruction Center at the Jerusalem Archaeological Park due to its “utter importance and sensitivity, which do not allow the transfer of its operation to a private party,” as precedent, the NGO argues, “It is the duty of the State to maintain the cultural heritage assets for the benefit of all citizens of Israel as well as a plethora of communities, nations, and religions.” This is despite the fact that the IAA is itself a government organization. The excavations funded by El-ad uncovered a variety of fascinating finds in the tunnel, including a shekel coin from the city of Tyre, a miniature golden bell that had been sewn onto the garment of an individual of high stature, a Roman sword in its sheath, and a seal with the Aramaic words “Daka Le’Ya” (Pure for God), probably used by Temple Priests to certify the purity of an intended sacrifice or contribution. The tunnel itself supports statements by Josephus that Jewish rebels, fleeing Roman soldiers, unsuccessfully hid underground. Among its supporters, Emek Shaveh lists the following European governments and organizations: FDFA (Switzerland’s Foreign Ministry), the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Tel Aviv, the Irish Foreign Ministry, HEKS (Swiss Church Aid), Cordaid (Holland), Oxfam GB (UK), CCFD-Terre Solidaire (France) and Oxfam Novib (Holland). According to NGO Monitor, Emek Shaveh only listed two of its foreign government sponsors, FDFA and the Royal Norwegian Embassy, in its 2013 annual financial report, crediting them for funding the writing of reports, promoting the NGO’s goals and, in the case of Norway, paying for tours. Quarterly reports for Emek Shaveh’s governmental support are absent from the Israeli Registrar’s website, but is in unknown whether they were unlawfully not submitted or the Registrar merely neglected to post them.

The beauty of burgers is that you don't need to have a hankering for one to enjoy the greasy griddled patty topped with crisp lettuce, ripe tomato, and a hundred other fixings. Hell, they're so good that I'm pretty much always in the mood for one, which is why even the slightest pop-culture burger reference can spark a craving. While I think they're best paired with crispy, salty fries and a cold beer, a number of restaurants around the country would argue that there's nothing like a massive, multiple-pound patty eaten at lightning speeds. If you think you're a true burger fanatic, think again if you haven't tried—or even heard of—these crazy burger eating challenges across the country. So put your stretchy pants on and check 'em out: The Sarge Burger at Pig 'n-Chik Finish this 4-pounder sitting on a 1-pound bun and loaded with all the fixings, in 30 minutes and it's free; otherwise you'll have to fork over $24.95 for the gut-busting burger. The Quadruple Bypass Burger at Heart Attack Grill The restaurant could quite possibly live up to its name with this beast of a burger, which includes four patties, chili, and 20 slices of bacon ($17.58). If you're feeling really competitive, you can ask for the Octuple Bypass ($28.68), but we don't recommend it. Either way, watch out: If you don't finish your "nurse" waitress will spank you with a paddle. The Beast at Bokampers Sports Bar and Grill Fort Lauderdale, Florida This number is probably bigger than your head. It includes a 4-pound burger layered with eight slices of bacon, four slices of American cheese, and four fried eggs—plus a pile of fries. You get an hour with this baby before you've gotta pay for it ($39.99). The Eagle's Challenge at Eagle's Deli Filed under the "gigantic burger"section, along with four other 2-plus–pound patties, this monster weighs six pounds and is loaded with 24 pieces of bacon, two dozen slices of american cheese, five pounds of fries. Oh, and a single (albeit extra large) deli pickle to top it all off. ($65.99) The Speck Burger Challenge at Specks Bar and Grill At this family-owned restaurant, if you can down the 3-pound round and the mound of fries that towers over it in 45 minutes, it's on the house. Mount Olympus at Clinton Station Diner Clinton, New Jersey You get three hours, plus the held of four friends, to conquer this 50-pound burger. If you're not up for such an epic undertaking, the restaurant also offers the Zeus, a 7-pound patty that you can chip away at over three hours—or in an hour and a half with a friend. The Absolutely Ridiculous Burger at Mallie's Sports Bar & Grill With 24 hours' notice and $400, you can sit down to the world-record–breaking burger that weighs in at 134 pounds and is layered with cheese and bacon before getting sandwiched between a 50-pound bun. The Five Five Challenge at Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes, and Fries Multiple locations nationwide Take down this 55-ounce burger—decked out with at least four toppings of your choice—fries, and a 24-ounce drink in 30 minutes of less and it's free. Man vs. Food Challenge at Chompie's Even adventurous eater Adam Richman (Food Network's Man vs. Food) was taken down by this challenge, which includes 12 Jewish sliders topped with brisket, potato pancakes, Jack cheese, and onion strings that together weigh in at five pounds. If you can finish all of 'em in half an hour, they're gratis. Plus you'll get a T-shirt and bragging rights that you beat Adam Richman at scarfing down patties. The Beer Barrel Burgernator at Denny's Beer Barrel Pub There are six challenges at this pub, but the most outlandish is the Beer Barrel Burgernator ($129.99), which requires three days' notice. It's 25 pounds of meat topped with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cheese, and pickle spears. Follow Delish on Instagram.

The latest edition of KCC (the “Kosher Cooking Carnival”) can be found here. Thanks to Isramom for including my tzimmes post. now this one is even shorter then this one:"Havel Havelim is a weekly Jewish blog carnival. The newest edition can be found here or here.Thank you to Batya for including my “Heblish-English dictionary” post." Interesting.But can you tell me which one is the LONGEST post?:-) Feel free to leave a comment.

Mourners Remember War Dead On The USS San FranciscoEach year at Land’s End in San Francisco there is a ceremony to remember those killed aboard a WW II ship named for the city. This year something unprecedented occurred. Haunting, Historical Images by Bay Area Photographer Dorothea Lange Featured at Oakland MuseumA new exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California called "Dorothea Lange: Politics of Seeing" features politically-charged photos across decades and cultures. Filipino Survivors of Bataan Death March Mark 75th Anniversary in San FranciscoOn Saturday a dwindling band of veterans of World War II met at the Presidio of San Francisco to honor the soldiers who died on the infamous Bataan Death March. 75th Anniversary of Japanese Internment Brings Painful Memories, New FearsAs survivors commemorate the 75th anniversary of the executive order that authorized their incarceration, they're speaking out to make sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to Muslims, Latinos or other groups. Google Doodle Honors Fred Korematsu, Who Fought Japanese InternmentOn Monday, Google’s homepage was dedicated to Fred Korematsu, a civil rights activist who fought the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Thousands Gather At Pearl Harbor To Mark 75 Years Since AttackWednesday's ceremony is being held on a pier across the harbor from where the USS Arizona sank during the raid, killing 1,177 sailors and Marines. Thousands Rally In Richmond To Set 'Rosie The Riveter' World RecordA sea of red, white and blue filled a waterfront pavilion in Richmond Saturday as hundreds of 'Rosies' tried to break a world record. Stunning WWII Secrets Found In French Secret Service ArchivesNewly explored WWII French secret service archives reveal that Coco Chanel was documented as an agent by the Nazi intelligence organization, the Abwehr. SF Supes Approve 'Comfort Women' Memorial To WWII Sex Slaves For Japanese SoldiersOvercoming the opposition of the Japanese government and some Bay Area Japanese-Americans, San Francisco Supervisors have voted to build a memorial to so-called "comfort women" who were sex slaves during World War II. Bomb Squad Safely Detonates World War II-Era Grenades Found In Palo Alto HomeA Santa Clara County bomb squad has detonated World War II-era grenades and mortars found Thursday afternoon in a home in Palo Alto, police said Thursday evening. World's Jewish Population Approaching Pre-Holocaust NumbersThe world's Jewish population has almost rebounded to pre-Holocaust numbers, according to a new report. Survey: Millennial Millionaires Feel Most Pressure To 'Keep Up With The Joneses'A survey of millenial millionaires reveals they are the most insecure generation of them all.

Outlaw History #39 In a recent TV "Memo" on Ward Churchill, Bill O'Reilly quoted Churchill as writing that Jewish scholars stress the Jewish Holocaust story in order to "construct a conceptual screen behind which to hide the realities of Israel's ongoing genocide against the Palestinian population." When I read that, I wonder: "Yes, Billy? And your point?" It is common knowledge that Israelis, and those in America who put Israel before all other matters on the planet, use (exploit) the Holocaust story to morally justify everything that Israelis do in Palestine to Palestinians. As a matter of fact, the so-called "Holocaust" is used to morally justify the original invasion and conquest of Arab land in Palestine by European Jews. What other "moral justification" could there possibly be? I want what you have. Give it to me? O'Reilly says: "He [Churchill] also says that the murder of European Jews was not a fixed policy objective of the Nazis." And? It's possible that Ward Churchill has looked into the first great "weapons-of-mass-destruction" fraud – the German gas chamber tales. The same people who created the German WMD fraud, put together the Iraqi WMD fraud, that is, Israeli-Firsters. The first WMD fraud got them Israel. The second WMD will leave them without any front-line Arab enemies in the Middle East. Now that the ACLU has come out in support of Ward Churchill's right to criticize US foreign policies around the world, and at home, Billy O'Reilly suggests that "Jewish ACLU members might want to ponder" their membership in the ACLU. O'Reilly believes that all Jews should think alike with regard to Israel, and to put "Jewish" interests ahead of American interests. This is a line of thought that is contemptuous of Jews on the one hand, and misunderstands both specifically Jewish, and American interests at the same time. "The ACLU of Colorado calls upon the regents, legislators and the governor to stop threatening Mr. Churchill's job because of the content of his opinions. The governmental interference with the content of Mr. Churchill's constitutionally protected opinions tramples on fundamental American liberties." O'Reilly says: "At this point, I will let you decide whether Churchill has abused his free speech rights by sympathizing with terrorists who have killed Americans." O'Reilly says that "Some might call this treason." Some might. Others might call it "patriotism." What is the difference between a terrorist and a patriot, other than geography? Or politics? Arab fanatics in the service of Islamic idealism intentionally killed a few thousand Americans on 9/11. It was a horror for those who were there. American patriots in the service of democracy intentionally killed 65,000 innocent Japanese civilians ONE MORNING at Hiroshima. And that was only the tip of the iceberg. Who cares? Bill O'Reilly? A few tens of thousands of Japs are neither here nor there to the Billy O'Reillys. Yes, I can sympathize with young Arab men who volunteer to sacrifice their lives for a cause they believe in. Their deeds may be brutal, bloody, and barbaric, but that's what we do, all of us, when we believe in a cause. When Americans believe in a cause, we kill anyone – and I mean anyone – who gets in the way. Nagasaki? Dresden? Hamburg? Tokyo? Iraq? That's part of what Ward Churchill is saying. He's right. O'Reilly suggests that what Churchill says might be called a "gross dereliction of his duties as a teacher." Or, it might be exactly what the kids should hear. They hear what the Billy O'Reillys have to say from the majority of their teaching staff. Churchill offers them something different. It contributes to an open and free debate. That's not an evil, it's a good. Even the professorial class agrees with that, in theory. "To put forth that Israel's perpetuating a Holocaust and that 9/11 victims were like the Nazi Adolf Eichmann is flat out false. There's no two sides to the story." In fact, there are two sides to the story. Eichmann facilitated the ethnic cleansing of the Jews from Eastern and Central Europe, which was a catastrophe for the Jews. We, all of us, facilitated by our quiescence, the "sanctions" against Iraq in the 1990s which resulted in perhaps half a million (!) dead Iraqi children. All of us. You, and me, and Billy O'Reilly, and the folk working at the World Trade Towers. I would not make the same argument that Ward Churchill makes, but that does not mean that there are not "two sides" to the story. It means that there are three sides. Or a hundred. "Many Americans believe Churchill's words prove he is demented. Would CU allow the ravings of a demented person in any classroom?" Do the Billy O'Reillys really believe that academics should check in with "many Americans" to find out what they should and should not teach in their classes, and what opinions they should and should not express publicly? How many Americans should Ward Churchill canvas before he will have the right to teach what he teaches, and say what he thinks? A dozen? A thousand? Six million? Or should he just ask a couple radio talk show hosts to find out what they believe is the right way for him to think, the right way for him to teach? Additional information about this document |Author(s):||Bradley R. Smith| |Title:||Outlaw History #39, Bill O'Reilly Has It Wrong About Ward Churchill| |First posted on CODOH:||July 7, 2012, 7 p.m.|

ADL'S Abe Foxman denounces anti-mosque rally as 'un-American' Adam Serwer of the American Prospect is guest blogging on The Plum Line this week. Earlier this week, the Sept. 11 victims' families group "Where to Turn" sent out a letter expressing opposition to a planned Sept. 11, 2010 protest of the proposed Islamic community center near Ground Zero. "Such activities... disrespect the memories of our loved ones on this sacred day at this sacred site," read the letter, which was signed by the group's founder, Dennis McKeon, and posted on Politico. Today, I spoke with Anti-Defamation League director Abe Foxman, who said he agreed with "Where to Turn" that the rally shouldn't take place. Among those slated to appear is Dutch MP Geert Wilders, whom the ADL has previously criticized for anti-Muslim bigotry. Foxman called the planned rally, and the recent incidents of anti-Muslim bigotry across the country, "un-American." On the rally: I would agree with [Where to Turn], this is not a place for political demonstrations, for advocacy, especially on 9/11. This is a place for memory, for families to be together, to memorialize their loved ones, [to have] a moment of reflection and introspection. For people with political agendas to use the place and the moment for their own interests and their own platforms is desecrating the memory and very sad. Especially if some of the families of the victims are asking, their view should be taken seriously and respected. Foxman had some harsh words regarding the presence of Wilders, as well as for conservative blogger Pamela Geller and her group Stop Islamization of America, which is organizing the protest: [Wilders] is a bigot, he's an anti-Muslim bigot, and one of the demonstrations being called for is being headed by someone who has an anti-Muslim agenda, often under the guise of fighting 'radical Islam.' The group vilifies Islamic faith and is engaged in [claiming] there's a conspiracy to destroy American values, which is nonsense. The organizer in fact has stated that part of her agenda is to help garner support for Wilders, who is a bigot, who has a long record of anti-Muslim bigotry. Foxman also said he was concerned about other instances of anti-Muslim incidents around the country: The debate surrounding the Ground Zero mosque has surfaced, first, a campaign which is in many places directed against building mosques, and it also has focused attention on the anti-Muslim bigotry that exists in this country. It's not new. It has been there. Part of the landscape, unfortunately, of America is that we're not immune to bigotry, to racism, to anti-Semitism. And part of what's out there is a bigotry to immigrants. Jews experienced it, Irish experienced it. Part of our history is there was opposition to building Catholic churches and Jewish synagogues. Now there's opposition to build mosques, and there is, in our landscape, bigotry. Some of it is beneath the surface, and some of it in moments of crisis explodes. That's what we're seeing now. There seems to be a legitimacy that it's okay now to speak out and act out against Islam, and that's why this rally, on this very tragic day for Americans, but most tragic for those who lost their families, to use it and abuse it as a platform for bigotry, is not only tragic, it's un-American. Foxman and the ADL came under criticism both from this blog and mine, for their position that the Cordoba Initiative should move the project from its current location, several blocks from Ground Zero, out of sensitivity to the families of the Sept. 11 victims. But the ADL has been the only high-profile opponent of the project so far that I've been able to find to also publicly acknowledge and condemn recent anti-Muslim incidents elsewhere. According to SOIA's website, the rally is also supposed to feature John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and conservative activist Andrew Breitbart. 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I’m not really sure what the word freedom means, but I know that it has something to do with Harley Davidsons and sanitary napkins. I know it’s something that we’re supposed to fight for and die for, so it must be important. I’ve also been told that freedom is a concept that never existed until the founding fathers of The United States of America decided it was of primary importance. I’ve often heard that freedom isn’t free, but that’s never helped me to understand it much. It seems that freedom always has corresponding responsibilities, which again undercuts the very notion of free. When you think about it, if freedom isn’t free, then what is? It seems to me that every time someone tells you how important freedom is, that they are asking you for something. If patriotism is a scoundrel’s last refuge, then the concept of freedom is his first sales pitch. During the early days of the second Iraq War, we were encouraged to use the term “freedom fries” in place of French fries, in order to show our patriotism. Edward Bernays, marketing pioneer and nephew of Sigmund Freud, was given the task of increasing sales of cigarettes. His idea for doubling the amount of smokers was to market to women. Up until that time, there was a social taboo against women smoking. Cynical genius that he was, Bernays tied the idea of smoking to the growing women’s liberation movement. Using the term “freedom torches”, Bernays hired women to smoke cigarettes in public in order to link rebellion and freedom with cigarettes. Now I’ve already admitted to not knowing what freedom is, but I know a thing or two about slavery, and addiction is just about the greatest form of slavery possible. That’s why pimps introduce drugs to their recruits, to get them used to not being in control of their lives. I was a smoker for many years, and I can tell you first-hand that the day I quit smoking was perhaps the most liberating day of my life. I still look back at the day I declared my freedom from nicotine, and that memory more than anything else gives me some appreciation of the word freedom. To think that some SOB would use the word freedom in an attempt to enslave half the world’s population is almost too horrible to imagine. And here again, I gain some appreciation of the concept of freedom. Because even the death that cigarettes deal to so many of those who become addicted to them is not as bad as the lack of control one experiences when one is a smoker. To know that someone or something has such control over some aspect of your life leads you to doubt your ability to control your life overall. In that sense, I can understand the sentiment of Patrick Henry when he said “Give me liberty, or give me death.” Maybe freedom is just some adman’s pitch. Maybe freedom is a nebulous concept with no real meaning. Then again, maybe freedom isn’t just a Madison Avenue invention. Perhaps it is such an important thing that those that wish to manipulate your emotions realize its strength and use it to control your behavior. Perhaps your freedom is the most important thing in the world. If that is true, then what exactly is freedom? Hitler promised freedom from the communists and the Jewish conspiracy, and he delivered in a big way by killing every Jew and communist he could find. But freeing Germans from communism and an alleged international Jewish cabal did little to free them from Nazism. That’s the thing about freedom—you break free from one oppressor just to fall into the grip of another. It can be an endless cycle, one in which we are all pawns moved across a board. Perhaps the most we can do to claim our own freedom is to be aware of the powers that push us back and forth. Take the time to get to know the world around you, get to know who is running the show, and who is trying to shape the way you think. And above all, be suspicious of those who tell you they are concerned about your freedom; it could very well that their only concern is their freedom to get rich at your expense. Freedom is in fact not free, the cost is constant vigilance, not so much of our borders but of our minds and those who would seek to shape them. There are people paid handsomely to get you to believe what you are supposed to believe, to make you see lies as truth, slavery as freedom. The key to freedom is knowledge, for the truth will set you free. One can be manipulated only as long as one is unaware. Once you know the truth, you will have not only the ability but also the desire to claim the freedom that was your intended birthright.

A Jewish leader says Pope Benedict XVI is considering a request to freeze the sainthood process for wartime Pope Pius XII, who critics say did not speak out enough during World War II to save Jews amid Hitler's extermination campaign. Rabbi Ravid Rosen says the pope was asked to do so during a meeting Thursday with a Jewish group and the pontiff replied he would give "serious consideration" to the request to wait. Rosen spoke after the Vatican rejected Jewish groups' requests to immediately open its secret archives on Pius XII's papacy during the Holocaust years. Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said the requests to see the wartime archives were "understandable," but added Thursday that it would take another six or seven years to catalog those 16 million documents. Currently, the archives can be consulted only up through the papacy of Pius XII's predecessor, Pius XI, which ended in early 1939, a few months before World War II began in Europe. Pius XII was Pius XI's secretary of state, as Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli. Some scholars who have examined archive documents dealing with the future Pius XII's diplomacy say Pacelli was an indecisive diplomat as Nazism and Fascism took hold in parts of Western Europe. The Vatican says Benedict has been reflecting on documentation gathered by Church officials about Pius XII's virtues as part of the process toward possible beatification, the last formal step before possible sainthood. Benedict, marking the 50th anniversary recently of Pius' death, has described him as a great pope who spared no effort to try to save Jews. Earlier this month, Israeli president Shimon Peres urged the Vatican not to let a contentious reference to Pius XII stop Benedict from visiting the Holy Land sometime. A caption accompanying a photograph at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial alleges the wartime pope did not act to save Jews from the Nazi genocide. Benedict met Thursday with Rosen and others from the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations. The pontiff called for "sincere dialogue" and called Church condemnation of all forms of anti-Semitism a "significant milestone." Neither Benedict nor Rosen in their speeches mentioned the sainthood controversy. Rosen said Jews were "profoundly grateful for all that the Holy See has said and done in recent times" to combat anti-Semitism and he expressed thanks for Christians who "saved many Jews" during the Holocaust. "We reiterate our respectful call for full and transparent access of scholars to all archival material from that period, so that assessments regarding actions and policies during this tragic period may have the credibility they deserve," Rosen said. The late Pope John Paul II made an official visit to Israel in 2000. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here. The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Growing Up with Jesus, a new book by Karen Dampier Karen L. Dampier has taught children of all ages about the love of Jesus in a church setting. Through the years of Sunday school lessons, camp fires and youth retreats, questions of Jesus as a boy would intrigue the children. Drawing on her experience in writing articles for a monthly magazine and occasional newspaper opinion pages, she decided to write the story of "why we give gifts at Christmas time". The story grew and developed into a speculative of the daily life of Jesus. Growing Up With Jesus is a fictional story of Jesus when he was a boy. Written from the perspective of Simon Peter, who is 10 years older than Jesus, he chronicles the boyhood of Jesus. Simon recounts his relationship with Mary, the mother of Jesus, before Jesus was even born. He then weaves the story of Jesus' boyhood into his own life. Mutual associations with friends, religious events and holidays as well as occupational happenings will remind us of how life was as ordinary for Jesus growing up as ours is today. Many storylines are woven into the tale including Simon's own life events, Jewish traditions and holidays, epic Biblical stories, relationship observations and explanations, Roman political presence, life in the town, dealing with death, occupational descriptions and of course, Biblical morals and perspectives. Obviously, the events you will read about are how the author imagines things might have been. References to Jewish practices, traditions and holidays were thoroughly researched and every effort was made to stay as true as possible while creating the story. It is supposed, by the author, that Simon and his brother Andrew might have known Jesus before they were called to follow him into ministry, leaving their homes and families behind. The geographical setting is used to include water on which Simon and Andrew could earn their living. This story ends with Jesus at age 29 and where the written, Biblical, documented narrative of Jesus' ministry begins. The author developed this story over 20 years and has finally released it for children to read and enjoy. The hope is that after reading this book as a child or a curious adult, one will find the Bible to be captivating as they yearn to learn more about our Lord, Jesus Christ. Karen has served in several capacities in her church including choir, teaching the Bible to children and youth, director and committee member of children and youth departments, family-life enrichment chairperson and church events coordinator. Most recently, she was the director of the women's ministry in her large, local church. She is happily married, has one lovely and talented daughter and two delightful grandsons.

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According to a bombshell Wall Street Journal article by Adam Entous and Danny Yadron, published online late Monday, the National Security Agency provided the White House with intercepted Israeli communications containing details of private discussions between Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. lawmakers and American Jewish groups on the Iran nuclear deal. If true, this could be the biggest scandal of the Obama presidency. The Journal article explains that President Obama decided to stop NSA collection against certain foreign leaders after the backlash against Edward Snowden’s disclosure that the NSA had eavesdropped on German chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone and monitored communications of the heads of state of other close U.S. allies. According to the Journal story, President Obama did not halt NSA spying against Netanyahu. This is not a surprise, given the president’s chilly relations with the Israeli leader and Israel’s aggressive spying against the United States. It’s also not a surprise that the Obama administration sought intelligence on Netanyahu’s efforts to undermine the nuclear deal. But it is stunning to learn that NSA sent the White House intelligence on private discussions with U.S. congressmen on a major policy dispute between the White House and Congress. According to the Journal article, to avoid a paper trail that would show that they wanted the NSA to report on Netanyahu’s interactions with Congress, Obama officials decided to let the agency decide how much of this intelligence to provide and what to withhold. The article cited an unnamed U.S. official who explained, “We didn’t say, ‘Do it.’ We didn’t say, ‘Don’t do it.’” This suggests major misconduct by the NSA and the White House of a sort not seen since Watergate. This suggests major misconduct by the NSA and the White House of a sort not seen since Watergate. First, intercepts of congressmen’s communications regarding a dispute between Congress and the White House should have been destroyed and never left the NSA building. The Journal article said a 2011 NSA directive requires direct communications between foreign intelligence targets and members of Congress to be destroyed, but gives the NSA director the authority to waive this requirement if he determines the communications contain “significant foreign intelligence.” Netanyahu’s discussions with members of Congress on a policy dispute between Congress and the president do not qualify as foreign intelligence. Destroying this kind of information should not have been a close call for NSA. Congress should immediately ask NSA director Michael Rogers and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to verify the Journal story and explain why intercepts of private discussions of members of Congress were provided to the White House. If this did happen, both officials should resign. Second, the White House bears significant responsibility for this scandal. By encouraging and accepting this intelligence, the White House used the NSA as an illegitimate means to undermine its legislative opponents. This represented a major abuse of presidential power, since it employed the enormous capabilities of an American intelligence service against the U.S. Congress. It also probably violates the U.S. Constitution’s separation-of-powers principles and the Fourth Amendment, since surveillance may have been conducted against U.S. citizens without a warrant. #share#The claim that Obama officials did not directly instruct the NSA to collect this information but simply accepted what the NSA sent them is preposterous. If the Journal article is accurate, Obama officials knew they were receiving intelligence on the private conversations of U.S. congressmen on a major policy dispute. These officials knew they were not supposed to have this intelligence but did not cut it off, because they wanted to use it to defeat efforts by Netanyahu and Congress to derail the Iran nuclear deal. This story is another indication of how desperate the Obama administration was to get a nuclear deal with Iran. It is truly bizarre that Obama officials would be parties to such a gross misuse of U.S. intelligence after the controversy caused by NSA collection of phone records under the metadata program and so-called warrantless wiretaps by the Bush administration. These initiatives might have pushed the envelope of the law and intelligence charters, but they were carried out to defend the nation against terrorism and targeted terrorist suspects. By contrast, the Journal article discusses domestic intelligence activities that clearly are prohibited: targeting U.S. citizens over a policy dispute, and targeting the legislative branch of government. Congress should be outraged over this story, especially in light of how narrow the votes were in September to disapprove the Iran deal. The Obama administration won these votes because it did a better job than the congressmen and American Jewish groups who opposed the Iran deal of persuading Democratic members to support it. The Journal story suggests that NSA collection against American opponents of the deal may have helped the Obama administration win this battle for Democratic support. Congressional anger over the Journal story might force intelligence officials to resign. However, I believe there is no chance anyone in the Obama White House will be held accountable, since the Obama Justice Department will refuse to investigate and Obama officials probably will feign ignorance. Still, I hope the congressional intelligence committees will conduct full investigations. The Wall Street Journal article describes a bona fide abuse of intelligence for which I can offer no defense. The story will damage relations between the Obama White House and Congress, but since these relations are already so poor, it is hard to see how much farther they can sink. The Journal story could inflict serious damage on the reputation of the U.S. intelligence community, which has been struggling to defend itself against unfair and misleading attacks by privacy advocates, liberals, and libertarians, sparked by the Snowden leaks. I am one of many conservatives who have fought over the last few years to defend U.S. intelligence agencies against these attacks, which have weakened U.S. intelligence programs and undermined the morale of intelligence personnel. But the Journal article describes a bona fide abuse of intelligence for which I can offer no defense. If it is true that the NSA provided intercepts of the private discussions of congressmen with Netanyahu on the Iran deal, this will be a huge gift to the U.S. intelligence community’s critics, who will say this story confirms their claims about how American intelligence agencies routinely violate the law and the privacy rights of Americans. It also could cause the U.S. intelligence community to lose congressional support, and Congress to pass more legislation restricting important counterterrorist intelligence programs. National-security-minded Americans should call on Congress to fully investigate this matter and hold the Obama administration and intelligence officials accountable to the greatest extent possible. But the best response to this outrage will be to make it a top issue in the 2016 presidential campaign. This fiasco represents a serious lack of leadership and ethics by the Obama administration that will never be fixed by the ethically challenged Hillary Clinton. It may be the best reason yet why we need a new president who will implement comprehensive government reform and hold himself and his administration to a much higher ethical standard. — Fred Fleitz is senior vice president for policy and programs with the Center for Security Policy. He held national-security jobs for 25 years with the CIA, DIA, Department of State, and House Intelligence Committee staff.

Subscribe To our E-Newsletter Stars of David Week of Nov. 17, 2005 This is one culture club Boy George can't crash: Kenneth Finkel, exec director/arts and culture at WHYY-TV12, is a man to watch since the station has decided to invest some $10 mil in enhanced culture coverage and producing its own mini-segments. Ten mil? Must have sold a hell of a lot of "Three Tenor" tapes to raise that. … Lance Aizen, SunRx COO, must be cooing these days about his company, a prescription-benefit ombudsman, which has been named to the top position of the "Philadelphia 100," by the Philadelphia Business Journal, Wharton Small Business Development Center and Entrepreneur's Forum of Greater Philadelphia. … Let's trim the Top 100 down even more: Philadelphia mag's just come out with its "Power 50," those local leading lights who empower the city's sizzling style: Among the menschens are mega-developer Bart Blatstein; PREIT mogul Ron Rubin; clothing entrepreneur Sidney Kimmel; cable pioneer H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest; banking honcho Joe Neubaurer; Penn prexy Amy Gutmann; the amazing Leonore Annenberg; and bank big-wig Stephen Steinour. … There oughta be a law - because there's a great lawyer waiting to uphold it: Steven L. Friedman, former co-chair of the litigation department at Dilworth Paxson, has joined the Trial Practice Group of the Philly office of Duane Morris LLP. Wonder if Steven needs an extra briefcase to tote around - his bio is that impressive, crowded with credits, including being an adviser to close friend and former Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And whenever he's in Israel, there's always a chair waiting for him; he's also a board member of the College of Judea and Samaria in Ariel, Israel. … Howard Goldberg, is that you? Yes - Goldberg, who worked at Pepper Hamilton law in the mid-'90s, has come back, this time as partner. … Guess what? Another lawyer item! Jane E. Lessner, a partner in the local office of Fox Rothschild LLP, has an exemplary career - and an award to show, too. She has been honored with the Exemplary Service Award of Villanova University School of Law in recognition for her work with the school's Lawyering Together service. … Here's one from the "in small packages come the biggest surprises" dept.: What's on Donald H. Rumsfeld's mind these days? War in Iraq, protests, Iran, relations with Saudi Arabia, lies and truths, fatality reports, serving the President, Steve Feldman … Steve Feldman? Feldman, erstwhile longtime reporter and columnist for the Jewish Exponent - who started out as an intern - and who's now exec director of the local district of the Zionist Organization of America, scooped the Big Boys for his small local WNWR show, "The ZOA Middle East Report," reportedly surprising even himself by landing none other than the nation's defense secretary. Feldman had met Rumsfeld at a White House event in September, and he and Lori Lowenthal Marcus, local ZOA prexy, handled the 10-minute interview with the defense secretary. To paraphrase a Temple U. motto, he could have gone anywhere, but he chose Feldman. … Here's a switch! "The Light in the Piazza" is being turned on on Broadway these days by Cherry Hill's Aaron Lazar, who's assumed the role of Fabrizio. … Golden guy: Paul Geller's the new exec director of Golden Slipper Club & Charities. … This is - "Nightline!" And this is goodbye for Ted Koppel, whose Nov. 22 swan song offers a bird's eye view of his many interviews with the late Morrie Schwartz, the prof immortalized in Tuesdays With Morrie. And as his final guest on the program, the ABC legend will talk to Akiba Hebrew Acad alum Mitch Albom, whose book about his late Brandeis professor inspired a teleplay and the drama just ended at the Merriam here. With some spare time now, maybe Ted will finally be able to get a real haircut. … And, finally, although "Stars" doesn't really know why, T.O. called today to apologize.

CONTENTS: Core Protests; Murray – Defends Richwine; Gosnell not an aberration; Hanson – terrorism therapy; Cooke – Carney Waterloo; IRS out to get us; IG report on IRS; IRS leaks; York – IRS & OCare; Erickson – Henry II; Drain IRS swamp; Nixon-esque scandal; Echo – Watergate; Five scandals; Hayes – Benghazi grows; York – Obama BenG; GOP & TEA slander; Ledeen – memos; Pethokoukis – Obama shut down?; PA courts scrimp; PA bottom 10; Common core opposed; Entitled to immigrate?; Lies about Libya; A murderer’s brain; Announcements “The problem was not just that elites seeking to ingratiate themselves with the Obama administration routinely indulged in such willful blindness, but that these absurdities filtered down to the day-by-day protocols of our intelligence and law-enforcement bureaus.” Victor Davis Hanson “ . . .“using the salad fork for the entree is inappropriate. Using the Internal Revenue Service for political purposes is a criminal offense.” George Will “. . . in the public’s eyes. the Obama administration now risks combining Carter-level incompetence with Richard Nixon’s untrustworthiness. . .” James Pethokoukis 1602: English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold led the first European exploration of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. 1756: England declared war on France in America, beginning the Seven Years’ War. 1911: The Supreme Court upheld an order for the dissolution of the Standard Oil Company, ruling that it was a monopoly. 1940: Crowds of shoppers scrambled to buy nylon stockings the first day they went on sale in selected stores. 1951: AT&T announced that it is the first U.S. corporation to have 1 million stockholders. (Bennett & Cribb, 2010) Jo: Protest Common Core in PA “Although the federal government has denied it, many of us believe that Common Core is an attempt by the Feds to take over public education in the United States, just as Obamacare is a federal takeover of our health care. Please read the following information regarding hearings being held next week in Harrisburg and contact the representatives on the House Education Committee if you agree. Common Core is a major, long-term problem, but the immediate issue is the fact that the House hearing on Common Core will not be fair and balanced in that only a proponent of Common Core is speaking to the representatives. It will literally take about two minutes to E-Mail the House Education Committee and say something like the following (putting it in your own words if you wish, or copying it directly from the text below). Please sign your name and town after the E-Mail. FYI, a pdf file of a more detailed letter that I wrote and included in the body of MY E-Mail to the representatives is attached. I put my name and full address in the E-Mail to the representatives but deliberately did not include in in the pdf copy of the letter b/c I don’t mind if others use it in their E-Mails to the representatives. If you want to use it, you could just attach it and say that you are in agreement with this letter that someone had sent you. Otherwise, it’s just fine to include the (very) abbreviated version below. “Dear Chairman Clymer and the House Education Committee: “It has come to the attention of many of us that the House Education Committee is holding a hearing on the Common Core standards (CCS) on May 14. Evidently, the only speaker will be Secretary of Education Tomalis — a proponent of the CCS. Why hasn’t at least one of the innumerable knowledgeable individuals who oppose the implementation of CCS in PA been invited to speak at this hearing? In contrast, the PA Senate is enabling both sides to present their cases at the Senate hearing on May 15. I strongly urge the PA House to also provide a fair and balanced hearing by allowing the viewpoints of those who recognize the deleterious consequences of the CCS initiative to be presented on May 14.” To do this, just copy and paste the following E-Mail addresses in your E-Mail as shown below. It literally should take about two minutes. Cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Charles Murray, NRO: “In Defense of Jason Richwine” “His resignation is emblematic of a corruption that has spread throughout American intellectual discourse. “On Wednesday, the Washington Post revealed that Richwine’s 2009 Ph.D. dissertation at Harvard’s Kennedy School had said that, on average, Latinos have lower IQs than do non-Latino white Americans and the nation should consider incorporating IQ into immigration decisions. The blogosphere and some elements of the mainstream media erupted in denunciations. “On Friday, the Heritage Foundation announced that Richwine had resigned. “I have a personal interest in this story because Jason Richwine was awarded a fellowship from my employer, the American Enterprise Institute, in 2008–09, and I reviewed the draft of his dissertation. A rereading of the dissertation last weekend confirmed my recollection that Richwine had meticulously assembled and analyzed the test-score data, which showed exactly what he said they showed: mean IQ-score differences between Latinos and non-Latino whites, found consistently across many datasets and across time after taking factors such as language proficiency and cultural bias into account. I had disagreements then and now about his policy recommendations, but not about the empirical accuracy of his research or the scholarly integrity of the interpretations with which I disagreed. “In resigning, Dr. Richwine joins distinguished company. The most famous biologist in the world, James D. Watson, was forced to retire from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 2007 because of a factually accurate remark to a British journalist about low IQ scores among African blacks. In 2006, Larry Summers, president of Harvard, had to resign after a series of attacks that began with his empirically well-informed remarks about gender differences. These are just the most visible examples of a corruption that has spread throughout American intellectual discourse: If you take certain positions, you will be cast into outer darkness. Whether your statements are empirically accurate is irrelevant. . .” NRO Editors: “Gosnell Is Not an Aberration” “A jury in Pennsylvania has convicted abortionist Kermit Gosnell of three counts of murder, one count of involuntary manslaughter, and several counts of performing illegal late-term abortions at his facility in West Philadelphia. Gosnell is eligible for the death sentence, an end that would be as close to justice as earthly powers can mete out in this episode. The English language does not contain a word sufficient for describing the crimes of Kermit Gosnell; ‘murder’ will do, but only for legal purposes. “Gosnell’s human abattoir is the logical endpoint of our morally fraudulent national approach to abortion, the proponents of which maintain that they wish the procedure to remain “safe, legal, and rare,” in Bill Clinton’s cynically triangulating formulation, while at the same time resisting any and all restrictions upon the procedure. Gosnell’s murders are not an aberrant abuse of the abortion license but an inevitable result of it. “Gosnell had thousands of enablers: every judge and justice who has declared every abortion sacrosanct, every politician who has blocked meaningful regulation and oversight of the practice, and every intellectual who has furthered the notion that what resides in a woman’s womb is nothing more than a meaningless clump of cells. Barack Obama, who as a state senator in Illinois worked against establishing protections for infants marked for abortion but outside the womb, must assume his share of guilt in this matter. So must those who voted for him because of his abortion absolutism rather than in spite of it. “Gosnell’s crimes produced stunning imagery: the severed spines, the severed limbs, a floundering baby struggling for life in a toilet. But Gosnell’s brutality was in fact not much different from what happens on any abortionist’s table. . .” Victor Davis Hanson, NRO: “Terrorism as Therapy” “The killing of Osama bin Laden was supposed to have cut the hideous head off a mutant snake. His death officially destroyed the “core” of the aberrant al-Qaeda. The removal from power of the outlier Qaddafi was likewise to have put an end to the artificial obstacle to the natural evolution toward democracy in Libya. In those regards, an al-Qaeda–inspired, pre-planned hit on the American consulate, resulting perhaps in a full-fledged Mogadishu-like shootout, just was not in the administration’s pre-election cards. No one was disposed either to beef up security in the face of escalating threats, or to send in teams in extremis to save the besieged Americans, or to give an honest appraisal afterward of what had transpired. “Meanwhile, the opportunity to blame the entire mess on an easily caricatured right-wing Christian Islamophobe crackpot was too tempting — as Susan Rice, Hillary Clinton, and the president himself found as they serially damned the suddenly-to-be-imprisoned Mr. Nakoula. He was a con artist, but not the provocateur of the Benghazi violence — and yet he proved a perfect vehicle for showcasing the administration’s multicultural bona fides. In terms of explaining away the lapses in Benghazi, the challenge arose of how many ways top officials could damn the unfortunate Mr. Nakoula — as if each denunciation made it unnecessary to utter the word ‘terrorism’ or ‘al-Qaeda.’ . . .” Charles CW Cooke, NRO: “Jay Carney’s Waterloo” The White House spokesman flounders in front of a newly curious press corps. “‘Thank you for that question,’ White House spokesman Jay Carney said feebly when, early in Friday’s press conference, the issue of Benghazi was raised. And then he reflexively tried to recruit the questioner to his side. Look, Carney insisted, those darned Republicans are involved in an ‘ongoing attempt to politicize a tragedy that took four American lives.’ We’re not going to fall into their trap and ask questions of the administration, are we? We’re not like those other outlets that are engaged in a ‘pattern of spreading misinformation.’ Right, guys? “Evidently, Carney had not yet realized that things had changed. What had been a fringe story had by now gone mainstream: The New Yorker had written that new evidence ‘seriously undermines the White House’s credibility on this issue’; ABC News’s Jonathan Karl had averred that developments “directly contradict what White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said . . . in November; Thursday’s Morning Joe panel had agreed that the news was troubling for the White House; and George Will was gearing up to go onto the Sunday shows and complain that the nation had been “systematically misled.” Newly intrigued, the assembled press corps ignored Carney’s ploy; so, too, his flippant, Obamaesque insistence that “efforts to re-fight the political battles of the past are not looked on kindly by the American people. ‘Benghazi might well have ‘happened a long time ago,’ as Carney hilariously assured the media on May 1, but the fourth estate was now interested. . .” IRS . . . Links (Thx Matt Drudge!) 6 AM, 5/15/13 POLITICO: OBAMA LOSES DC... McCONNELL: 'We've Only Started to Scratch the Surface of This Scandal'... FRANKLIN GRAHAM: IRS TARGETED US, TOO... Rev. Billy Graham Endorsed Romney... IRS requests stalled applications of conservative groups up to 13 months... 'They were asking for a U-Haul truck's worth of information'... Official speedily approved exemption for Obama's brother's 'charity'... 'Corrective actions have not been fully implemented'... Emily Miller, Washington Times: “Conservatives aren’t paranoid, the IRS really is out to get them” “The left likes to make conservatives out to be crazy, conspiracy theorists — using terms “black helicopter” and “tin foil hats” to mock them. However, as the old saying goes, ‘Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.’ “After two years of denials, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) finally admitted that it had abused its power by going after conservative groups who oppose big government during the 2010 election. President Obama called it “outrageous” on Monday, but claimed to only know about it from news reports on Friday. “However, his spokesman, Jay Carney, said the White House counsel has known the truth since April. IRS top officials have known since 2011 that their agents were deliberately picking on right-wing groups, but saved the revelation until Mr. Obama was safely into his second term in the White House. . .” Brad Plumer, WaPo: Final Inspector General IRS Report Wynton Hall, Big Govt: “Progressive Group – IRS Gave Us Conservative Groups’ Confidential Docs” “The progressive-leaning investigative journalism group ProPublica says the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) office that targeted and harassed conservative tax-exempt groups during the 2012 election cycle gave the progressive group nine confidential applications of conservative groups whose tax-exempt status was pending. “The commendable admission lends further evidence to the lengths the IRS went during an election cycle to silence tea party and limited government voices. “ProPublica says the documents the IRS gave them were ‘not supposed to be made public’ . . .” http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/14/Progressive-Group-Says-IRS-Gave-Them-Confidential-Docs-On-Conservative-Groups Byron York, Washington Examiner: “IRS scandal raises fears about enforcing Obamacare” “. . . The IRS is critical to Obamacare. The structure created by the Affordable Care Act requires the government to know about both the health care coverage (or lack of it) and the financial resources of every American. The IRS, which already knows the latter, was the only agency with the reach to do the job. “A look at the text of the health care law reveals that much of it consists of amending the Internal Revenue Code to give the IRS more power. When Obamacare goes fully into effect in January, every American will have to prove to the IRS that he or she has “qualifying” health coverage, meaning coverage with a list of features approved by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. That will be done by submitting a document to the IRS, something like a W-2, to confirm coverage. “The IRS will also decide who is, and who is not, eligible for Obamacare’s subsidies. The law authorizes the IRS to share confidential taxpayer information with the Department of Health and Human Services for the purpose of determining those subsidies. And since subsidies don’t just apply to a relatively small number of the nation’s poorest citizens — under the law, they can go to a family of four with a household income of nearly $90,000 — they will affect a huge segment of the population. “In addition, the IRS will keep track of even the smallest changes in Americans’ financial condition. Did you get a raise recently? You’ll need to notify the IRS; it might affect your subsidy status. Have your hours been reduced at work? Notify the IRS. Change jobs? Same. . . “ Erick Erickson, Red State: “Will no one rid me of this turbulent group?” “Like Henry II, Barack Obama never specifically asked that tea party groups and conservative be targeted. But by both his language and the “always campaigning” attitude of his White House, he certainly sent clear signals to Democrats with the power and ability to fight conservatives to engage as they could. Given his rhetoric against his political opponents, it is no wonder sympathetic Democrats in the Internal Revenue Service harassed and stymied conservative groups and, though little mentioned, pro-Israel Jewish groups and evangelical groups. “During Campaign 2008, Barack Obama famously told Democrats to take guns to knife fights. “In 2009, the White House created an email address [email protected] and encouraged people to report their neighbors who might disagree with Obamacare. The DNC admitted the White House was engaged in collecting information on people. “During August recesses in 2009, the Obama Adminstration told Democrats in Congress to “punch back twice as hard” at Republicans. “In 2011, the Obama White House set up a ridiculous website called Attack Watch to document and expose those hostile to them. As I wrote in 2009, the Obama team brought back the politics of personal destruction. I noted then a Politico story that reported “The vast new left-wing conspiracy sets its tone every morning at 8:45 a.m., when officials from more than 20 labor, environmental and other Democratic-leaning groups dial into a private conference call hosted by two left-leaning Washington organizations. “In 2012, the White House directly coordinated with outside groups to influence the Supreme Court’s Obamacare decision. About the time these meetings with “dozens of leaders of nonprofit organizations” were happening in the White House, tea party groups were suddenly getting inquiries from the IRS, bogging them down and distracting them from the fight at hand. “President Obama did not have to tell the IRS specifically to harass conservative, evangelical, and Jewish groups who might oppose him. His rhetoric on the campaign trail and in the permanent campaign of the White House operations made clear what he wanted. . . “ Boston Herald: “Editorial: Draining the IRS swamp” “Another creature has just emerged from the growing swamp of the Obama administration and it’s not pretty. “?An inspector general’s report due out later this week will confirm what a number of conservative organizations have long known — that they were the target of unfair scrutiny and harassment by the Internal Revenue Service. But with every passing day the number of organizations targeted — now estimated at some 300 — and the scope of the IRS inquiry grows. And so does the level of backpedaling by government officials. President Obama claimed yesterday that he found out about the scandal only last Friday when it broke in the news. If it is as described, he said, “That’s outrageous.” “Always the last to know, poor baby. Even though members of Congress were asking questions in March 2012 when then about-to-depart IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman insisted — under oath — that there was no such targeting. “The targeting was aimed . . . Drudge Links, 5/15/13 MEDIA . . . Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald: “Obama knee-deep in Nixon-esque scandal” “. . . Republicans could not even have scripted this one. The agency most hated by voters, the Internal Revenue Service, admits to going on a Nixonian witch hunt against Tea Party and conservative groups during the re-election campaign. “This is a story even the most partisan Massachusetts liberal cannot defend. It’s so bad that even Ed Markey is calling for heads to roll. “Now we learn that the Justice Department has secretly obtained the phone records of Associated Press reporters and editors in what appears to be an investigation of an AP story that disclosed details of a CIA operation that stopped a terrorist attack. Going after the Tea Party is one thing, but the media? What an outrage. Who knows, the press may get so mad they won’t laugh at Obama’s jokes during the next White House Correspondents’ Dinner. “This does not bode well for Obama’s second-term agenda . . .” George Will, WaPo: “In IRS scandal, echoes of Watergate” ““He has, acting personally and through his subordinates and agents, endeavored to . . . cause, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, income tax audits or other income tax investigations to be initiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner.” — Article II, Section 1, Articles of Impeachment against Richard M. Nixon, adopted by the House Judiciary Committee, July 29, 1974 “The burglary occurred in 1972, the climax came in 1974, but40 years ago this week — May 17, 1973 — the Senate Watergate hearings began exploring the nature of Richard Nixon’s administration. Now the nature of Barack Obama’s administration is being clarified as revelations about IRS targeting of conservative groups merge with myriad Benghazi mendacities. “This administration aggressively hawked the fiction that the Benghazi attack was just an excessively boisterous movie review. Now we are told that a few wayward souls in Cincinnati, with nary a trace of political purpose, targeted for harassment political groups with “tea party” and “patriot” in their titles. The Post reported Monday that the IRS also targeted groups that “criticized the government and sought to educate Americans about the U.S. Constitution.” Credit the IRS’s operatives with understanding who and what threatens the current regime. “Jay Carney, whose unenviable job is not to explain but to explain away what his employers say, calls the IRS’s behavior ‘inappropriate. . .’” TRENDS . . . Bryan Preston, PJM: “And Then There Were Five Obama Scandals…?” “The Environmental Protection Agency stands accused today of showing favoritism toward liberal groups over conservative groups. “Conservative groups seeking information from the Environmental Protection Agency have been routinely hindered by fees normally waived for media and watchdog groups, while fees for more than 90 percent of requests from green groups were waived, according to requests reviewed by the Conservative Enterprise Institute. “CEI reviewed Freedom of Information Act requests sent between January 2012 and this spring from several environmental groups friendly to the EPA’s mission, and several conservative groups, to see how equally the agency applies its fee waiver policy for media and watchdog groups. Government agencies are supposed to waive fees for groups disseminating information for public benefit. “For 92 percent of requests from green groups, the EPA cooperated by waiving fees for the information. Those requests came from the Natural Resources Defense Council, EarthJustice, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, The Waterkeeper Alliance, Greenpeace, Southern Environmental Law Center and the Center for Biological Diversity. “Of the requests that were denied, the EPA said the group either didn’t respond to requests for justification of a waiver, or didn’t express intent to disseminate the information to the general public, according to documents obtained by The Washington Examiner. CEI, on the other hand, had its requests denied 93 percent of the time. . .” Stephen Hayes, Weekly Std: “The Benghazi Scandal Grows” “. . . In an email at 2:44 p.m. to Chip Walter, head of the CIA’s legislative affairs office, Petraeus expressed frustration at the new, scrubbed talking points, noting that they had been stripped of much of the content his agency had provided. Petraeus noted with evident disappointment that the policymakers had even taken out the line about the CIA’s warning on Cairo. The CIA director, long regarded as a team player, declined to pick a fight with the White House and seemed resigned to the propagation of the administration’s preferred narrative. The final decisions about what to tell the American people rest with the national security staff, he reminded Walter, and not with the CIA. This candid, real-time assessment from then-CIA director Petraeus offers a glimpse of what many intelligence officials were saying privately as top Obama officials set aside the truth about Benghazi and spun a fanciful tale about a movie that never mattered and a demonstration that never happened. . . “ Also: Glenn Kessler, WaPo: “Obama’s claim he called Benghazi an ‘act of terrorism’” . . . four Pinocchios (Tx Jo!) http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/obamas-claim-he-called-benghazi-an-act-of-terrorism/2013/05/13/7b65b83e-bc14-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_blog.html Byron York, Washington Examiner: “Benghazi is all about Obama” “. . . There are three issues in the Benghazi matter. The first is whether the administration reacted properly to the growing threat to American diplomats in Libya in the months leading up to Sept. 11. The second is whether the administration reacted properly during the attack itself. And the third is whether the administration covered up its actions in the days, weeks and months after the attack.” Charles Johnson, Daily Caller: Mark Levin – Republican establishment bought into “kooky Tea Party slander” “Congressional Republicans were asleep during the IRS audit scandal, and the Internal Revenue Service’s own inspector general did a pretty good job, according to radio talk host Mark Levin. “In an exclusive interview with the Daily Caller, Levin explained how his legal group, Landmark Legal Foundation, helped expose the ongoing IRS scandal by filing a complaint with Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George. Levin also encouraged Congress to “do its job and use its powers of investigation.” “‘This [IRS scandal] was publicly known at the time,’ Levin said. ‘There were news reports in a number of outlets. We actually decided to take some action. The idea wasn’t just to bang pots and pans, but get something done.’. . .” Michael Ledeen, PJM: “Memo Reading for Idiots: Missing Video Hidden in Third Edit” “It takes a special skill to read bureaucratic memos. When I was getting ready to work at the State Department way back in the last century, Henry Kissinger gave me good advice: “The only reason to write a memo is if you want it leaked. The key decisions and the real motives are very rarely written down; most of the time the truth is hidden. Deliberately. Remember the “vanished” 18 minutes of Nixon’s tapes? “And of course, the Brits did it elegantly (h/t Jeff Warren, video embedded above). “The memos have to be read — not as accurate reflections of a policy debate, but as posturing for instant history. It’s what the author(s) want(s) the journalists — working on deadline, and not very eager to dig deeply enough to figure out what was really going on — to write for their readers. “So, Roger L. Simon is right (he is always right) when he flags “the mystery of the missing video.” Somebody must have said to somebody else: “Hey! Let’s blame it on the video.” “I think I know when that happened, even if I don’t know who said it or to whom: it happened between versions two and three of the 12 draft memos. The first two talk about ‘attacks’ that were ‘spontaneously inspired’ by events in Cairo. However, number three edits out “attacks” … and replaces it with ‘demonstrations.’ “It took about five and one-half hours to get from ‘attacks’ to ‘demonstrations’. . . James Pethokoukis, AEI: “Scandals may shut the door on Obama’s progressive experiment” “Democrats and left-wing pundits have long argued that Barack Obama would be their Ronald Reagan, a president who significantly shifted the nation’s political and economic landscape. With reelection and a second term, as Andrew Sullivan wrote last September, Obama would become ”an iconic figure who struggled through a recession and a terrorized world, reshaping the economy within it, passing universal health care, strafing the ranks of al -Qaeda, presiding over a civil-rights revolution, and then enjoying the fruits of the recovery.” “Republicans and conservatives, on the other hand, have tended to see Obama as Jimmy Carter: The Sequel — an inexperience naif with delusions of grandeur who presided over a collapsing economy at home and retreat abroad. But for about 15 minutes after Obama’s reelection, many on the right may have harbored fears Obama would indeed be the anti-Reagan, launching a generational turn toward progressivism built on the economic and foreign policy failures of the Bush administration. Obama’s aggressive election night and inaugural speeches didn’t help. “But the defining mission of the Obama presidency, to usher in a new Progressive Era, is foundering. . . “. . .Bottom line: At least Americans thought Carter was honest. But in the public’s eyes. the Obama administration now risks combining Carter-level incompetence with Richard Nixon’s untrustworthiness. Hardly a formula for a political revolution, much less a modestly successful presidency.” PA . . . Melissa Daniels, PA Independent: “Pennsylvania courts tout savings as state proposes dip in funding” “HARRISBURG — In Pennsylvania, the judicial system isn’t much different than the other two branches of government when it comes to worrying about money. A 2013 State of the Commonwealth’s Courts report released this week shows the court system is working to cut its costs as it prepares for a slight decrease in funding next year. “At one-half of one percent of the state budget, the judiciary’s lean budget has never had deep pockets for easy savings,” Supreme Court Chief Justice Ron Castille said in the report. Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed budget for the 2013-2014 year provides $308.1 million for the judiciary, down from $309.2 million this year, as the court requests $324 million. . .” Leo Knepper, CAP: “Pennsylvania in Bottom 10 States for Business (Again)” “Chief Executive Magazine released its 2013 ranking of the states. Once again Pennsylvania is in the bottom ten with a rank of forty-second. “The comments from most of the CEO’s are not flattering: “God help anyone dealing with PA’s department of revenue.” “I consider [Pennsylvania] the ‘stupid state’ not because it is consistently bad, but rather is inconsistent, which is far worse to plan business.” “Pennsylvania Environmental regulations and their bureaucracy make it difficult to plan and build new projects in a timely manner.” “But, it is not all bad . . .” Eric Boehm, PA Independent: “Groups on right and left oppose Common Core standards in PA” “The implementation of the so-called Common Core standards in Pennsylvania public schools is facing united opposition from teachers unions and tea party groups – two political factions that rarely, if ever, play on the same team. Though they have different reasons for opposing the Corbett administration’s phase-in of the new academic standards and the testing that comes with them, both groups agree that the Common Core represents a new, unfunded mandate on the state’s 500 school districts. The Common Core is a national set of goals and expectations – not, strictly speaking, a curriculum – for public schools. It is an outgrowth of the federal No Child Left Behind program and was adopted by Pennsylvania in 2010, though the state made changes to match the national standards with pre-existing state standards. “Along with the new standards comes a new form of standardized test, known as the Keystone Exam, which will be given to all students during 11th grade. Though they were originally developed independent of the Common Core, the state has adapted them to fit the new standards and began administering them this year. But that test is causing some of the concern. If students fail the new Keystone Exams more than twice, they will be given the option to complete a non-test assessment to prove they have the knowledge necessary to graduate. “Teachers’ unions and Democrats say those rules will require extra time and effort from teachers, and they don’t see the state being willing to put up the extra cash necessary to cover costs. . . ” IMMIGRATION . . . Ying Ma, PJM: “Immigrating to America Is Not an Entitlement” “Immigration law may be broken but you don’t fix it by rewarding law breakers. “As the drumbeat for comprehensive immigration reform grows louder, the related public debate has not become any more edifying. Self-serving Democrats, delusional Republicans, and shameless illegal aliens (who prefer to call themselves “immigration rights activists”) insist that legalizing some 11 million illegal immigrants in this country is the right thing to do and label those who disagree as anti-immigrant and anti-Hispanic. “Amid the finger pointing and political intimidation, some fundamentally flawed assertions have repeatedly surfaced. Below is some common sense that highlights the absurdity of the faulty assumptions. “Immigrating to the United States is a privilege, not a right. It certainly is not an entitlement program. “Proponents of comprehensive immigration reform like to emphasize that America’s immigration system is broken, and they are right. Yet they often justify illegal immigration by pointing out that even if aspiring immigrants wanted to get in line for legal immigration, many do not have a line to get into — because they do not have relatives in this country with whom to reunite or they cannot qualify for a limited number of visa categories (such as those for work, education, or investment). “Few acknowledge that in life, reality is by nature more unpleasant than our most fervent wishes. Just because people really, really want to come to the United States does not mean they have the right to do so. “By numerous measures, America’s tax system is broken as well, and supporters of limited government resent the fact that their tax dollars are extracted to fund a bloated welfare state they despise. Nevertheless, these individuals continue to pay their taxes. Similarly, those who wish to move to America should not be excused from respecting this country’s laws. “Certainly, changes to the existing system should be made. For instance, proposals to increase the flow of high-skilled labor make perfect sense. But America’s broken immigration system is not a justification for illegals to walk across the border or overstay their visas. “Do not let anyone obfuscate the difference between legal and illegal immigration. Denouncing the latter does not mean being hostile to the former. . .” MIDDLE EAST . . . Thomas Sowell, RCP: “Lies about Libya” “What we were told repeatedly last year by the President of the United States, the Secretary of State, and the American ambassador to the U.N., was that there was a protest demonstration in Benghazi against an anti-Islamic video produced by an American, and that this protest demonstration simply escalated out of control. “This ‘spontaneous protest’ story did not originate in Libya but in Washington. Neither the Americans on duty in Libya during the attack on the consulate in Benghazi, nor officials of the Libyan government, said anything about a protest demonstration. “The highest American diplomat on the scene in Libya spoke directly with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by phone, and told her that it was a terrorist attack. The president of Libya announced that it was a terrorist attack. The C.I.A. told the Obama administration that it was a terrorist attack. “With lies, as with potato chips, it is hard to stop with just one. After the “spontaneous protest” story was discredited, the next claim was that this was the best information available at the time from intelligence sources. “But that claim cannot survive scrutiny, now that the 12 drafts of the Obama administration’s talking points about Benghazi have belatedly come to light. As draft after draft of the talking points were made, e-mails from the State Department pressured the intelligence services to omit from these drafts their clear and unequivocal statement from the outset that this was a terrorist attack. “Attempts to make it seem that Ambassador Susan Rice’s false story about a “spontaneous protest” was the result of her not having accurate information from the intelligence services have now been exposed as a second lie to excuse the first lie. . .” End Notes . . . Caroline May, Daily Caller: “Obama: IRS targeting of conservatives ‘intolerable and inexcusable’” Time to make like nice . . . WIQ note (Limbaugh segment): If you want to look irritable, wear a Pelosi thong and ratchet it up tight . . . WTSP: Florida quietly shortened yellow light standards & lengths, resulting in more red light camera tickets for you Tim Adams, UK Guardian: “Raine – How to spot a murderer’s brain” Thx Ted . . . Russ Barkley and his cadres figured out that impaired CNS prefrontal areas underlay ADHD. Further, 40% of ADHD males demonstrate oppositional behavior and 40% of those exhibit conduct disorder, including property destruction and rape. Bottom lines – we can be accurate about a group of individuals rather than about any individual in the group . . . and Raine rehashes old data . . . “. . . When Raine started doing brain scans of murderers in American prisons, he was among the first researchers to apply the evolving science of brain imaging to violent criminality. His most comprehensive study, in 1994, was still, necessarily, a small sample. He conducted PET [positron emission tomography] scans of 41 convicted killers and paired them with a “normal” control group of 41 people of similar age and profile. However limited the control, the colour images, which showed metabolic activity in different parts of the brain, appeared striking in comparison. In particular, the murderers’ brains showed what appeared to be a significant reduction in the development of the prefrontal cortex, “the executive function” of the brain, compared with the control group. “The advancing understanding of neuroscience suggested that such a deficiency would result in an increased likelihood of a number of behaviours: less control over the limbic system that generates primal emotions such as anger and rage; a greater addiction to risk; a reduction in self-control; and poor problem-solving skills, all traits that might predispose a person to violence. “Even two decades ago, these were difficult findings to publish, however. When Raine presented a far less controversial paper in 1994 to a peer group, one that showed a combination of birth complications and early maternal rejection in babies had significant correlation with individuals becoming violent offenders 18 years later, it was denounced as “racist and ideologically motivated” and, according to Nature magazine, was simply further strong evidence that “the uproar surrounding attempts to find biological causes for social problems will continue”. Similarly, when, 15 years ago, at the urging of his friend Jonathan Kellerman, the child psychologist and crime writer, Raine put together a proposal for a book on some of his scientific findings, no publisher would touch it. That book, The Anatomy of Violence, a clear-headed, evidence-based and carefully provocative account of Raine’s 35 years of study, has only now appeared. “The reason for this delay seems mired in ideological enmities . . .” Recommended: Adrian Raine, The Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime About $21 at Amazon or Barnes . . . also, Russell Barkley, (1997) ADHD and the Nature of Self Control. NY: Guilford.

Helen Thomas, the former White House correspondent who stepped on Israeli toes during covering the ‘Jewish Heritage’ event at the White House on May 27, 2010 – when she told the Isreal-Firster Rabbi David Nesenoff what she think of the Western Jews occupying Palestine. She was hounded by the Israel Lobby and as the result she had to resigned her five decades-old job at the White House. Furthermore, under Jewish Lobby’s pressure – Wayne State University, the Detroit, Michigan, institution that Thomas graduated from in 1942, decided in December 2010 – not to give out the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity in the Media Award. On February 16, 2011 – Helen thomas was interviewed on CNN’s Joy Behar Show (watch the video below). She told Behar that once World War II ended, the Jews “didn’t have to go anywhere really, because they weren’t being persecuted anymore. But they were taking other people’s land.” In fact. this is exactly what Mahatma Gandhi advised the leaders of the World Zionist movement that instead of occupying a foreign Arab land they should fight their persecution by non-violent protests in their native western countries. “My sympathy does not blind me to the requirements of justice. The cry for the national home for the Jews does not make much appeal to me. The sanction for it is sought in the Bible and in the tenacity with which the Jews have hankered after their return to Palestine. Why should they not, like other peoples of the earth, make that country their home where they are born and where they earn their livelihood? ……. I am convinced that if someone with courage and vision can arise among them to lead them in non-violent action, the winter of their despair can, in the twinkling of an eye, be turned into the summer of hope,” Gandhi wrote in editorial in the Harijan of 11 November 1938. Helen Thomas is correct. In fact the Jewish elites were not persecuted in Europe even before the WW II. Bryan Mark Rigg PhD has proved in his book, titled ‘Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers’ that as much as 150,000 German Jews took part in the Nazi Army. Hennecke Kardel has called Hitler: The Founder of Israel. When asked on Behar’s program is she considers herself anti-Semitic, Thomas, whose parents were Lebanese, said, “Hell no, I’m a Semite.” Of the Jews she said, “They’re not Semites. Most of them are from Europe.” Asked if she regretted making the remark that ended her career in Washington, she said, “I have regrets that everybody’s misinterpreted it and distorted it,” singling out former George W. Bush White House spokesman Ari Fleischer and Anti-Defamation League national director Abraham Foxman. “We have organized lobbyists in favor of Israel, you can’t open your mouth,” she said. “If you say one thing about Israel, you’re off limits.” Last September, CNN fired its popular Cuban-American news anchor, Rick Sanchez for saying that the Jews are not an “oppressed minority” and they control the news media.

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This last week our MANT cohort began our second class on Romans with Dr. Scot McKnight. This class is focused on chapters nine through eleven, which heavily focus on the theological topic of election. Because of this, we are doing some major work on what election means to Paul and how he relates this Jewish theological concept to those who follow King Jesus. At the beginning of chapter nine, Paul twice refers to fellow Jews with the phrase according to flesh. The first use is about Paul’s relation to other Jews “according to flesh” and the second is how King Jesus is related to the Jews according to flesh. I found this interesting and pondering on it for a few seconds, I remembered that this same phrase according to flesh is also used by Paul to refer to King Jesus’ relationship to King David in Romans 1:3. I decided I should look into the uses of flesh throughout Romans to see if there is a pattern. Sure enough, flesh is a term that Paul uses throughout Romans when engaging with the Jewish heritage of Christianity and the relationship of those who follow the law (more than likely Jewish Christians though this could include those who would have been considered God-fearing Gentiles). For Paul, flesh is related to the problem of Israel struggling to obey and fulfill the Law. There is too much to go into, and a lot more nuance that would need to be worked through, before I would want to make any more definitive statements about Paul’s use of flesh throughout Romans. I am willing to say already that Paul does not use flesh as a moral term. The difference between flesh and Spirit is not a difference between good and bad. Rather, Paul uses flesh more like he is referring to an old way of existing without the power of the Spirit. The Spirit is not ever spoken of as being against flesh, in fact that would be wrong to say that since King Jesus is according to flesh in his human body, but Paul does say that the flesh without Spirit is Death. It is here that we begin to see how research on this Paul’s use of flesh could easily branch out to other Pauline texts, such as 2 Corinthians 5, and parallel texts throughout the NT, like John 3. For me there seems like a number of interesting questions could arise out this line of thought. How might this impact the way that Romans 8 should be understood since that is the most densely packed usages of flesh in the letter? What would the impact be on preaching or teaching today if it turns out that the flesh and Spirit conversation is about how King Jesus fulfills the promise of God to pour out his Spirit on Israel? Would that seem like a major deflation of Romans for some people? Rom. 9: 3, 5.

|This article is about a/an ally in Bikini Rangers Venice Storm.| |Hometown:||Queens, New York| |First Apperance:||The Team Unites| |Last Full Apperance:||Storm Before the Calm Part II| |Status:||American pornographic actor. Nicknamed "The Hedgehog", he was ranked by AVN at number one in their "The 50 Top Porn Stars of All Time" list. Jeremy has also appeared in non-pornographic films, such as The Boondock Saints, The Chase, Orgazmo, and 54.| |Number of Episode Appearances:||2 (Bikini Rangers Venice Storm| Ronald Jeremy Hyatt is a fictional character from the universe of the franchise Bikini Rangers. to a middle-class Jewish family; his father, Arnold, was a physicist and his mother a book editor who served in the O.S.S. during World War II, as she spoke fluent German and French. He had an uncle who was a gangster with mafia ties to Bugsy Siegel. Jeremy attended Cardozo High School in Bayside, Queens, where former CIA director George Tenet and actor Reginald VelJohnson were classmates. He earned a bachelor's degree in education and theatre and a master's degree in special education from Queens College in New York. He taught special-education classes in the New York City area, and was a substitute teacher for regular classes. Pornographic film career Ron Jeremy with Dennis Hof and Heidi Fleiss at the Adult Video Network Convention 2006 in Las VegasJeremy left the teaching profession (he called it his "ace in the hole") to pursue an acting career in New York City, and says he learned what it was like to make no money as an actor who "starved Off-Broadway." Jeremy posed for Playgirl after his then-girlfriend submitted his photo to the magazine, and subsequently moved into the adult film industry as a means to support himself. He started using his first and middle name professionally in the adult industry, after his grandmother Rose was pestered by people calling her thinking they were contacting him. Rose—listed at that time as R. Hyatt in the phone book—was pestered at all hours by prospective suitors who’d seen Jeremy in Playgirl. "She had to move out of her apartment for a month," he confides. "My father told me, 'If you want to get into this naked, crazy business, so be it, but if you use the family name again, I’ll kill you.'" Jeremy had his nickname "The Hedgehog" bestowed upon him by Bill Margold after an incident on the set of Olympic Fever, shot in 1979. Jeremy flew in from New York to shoot the movie, dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, expecting warm weather. During his motorcycle ride to the set, located near Lake Arrowhead in the California mountains, the weather deteriorated to blizzard conditions, which chilled him to the point of hypothermia. Upon arriving at the set, Jeremy was immediately whisked away to warm up in a hot shower. When he finished, his skin had taken on a pink hue from the temperature extremes, and the hairs on his body were standing on end. Margold's comment upon seeing Jeremy after the shower was, "You are a hedgehog, my friend. A walking, talking hedgehog." Contrary to popular belief, the nickname had nothing to do with Jeremy's (subsequent) weight gain, as he was quite physically fit at the time. Jeremy is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for "Most Appearances in Adult Films"; his entry on the Internet Adult Film Database lists more than 2,000 films in which he has performed, and an additional 281 films which he directed. By way of comparison, John Holmes—the next highest-ranked male star on the AVN Top 50 porn stars—has only 384 acting credits listed on the IAFD. One joke that made the rounds within the industry at the time was "the kinkier acts some actresses would not perform were bestiality, sado-masochism and sex with Jeremy." However, he has since been recognized for his contributions to the adult industry by being inducted into both the AVN and XRCO Hall of Fame. Additionally, Jeremy's work earned him a spot on the Adult Star Path of Fame located in Edison, New Jersey. He saw a resurgence in popularity in the new millennium, as his star power combined with a desire from many actresses to work with men not aided by drugs like Viagra. Ron Jeremy has said that violent video games are worse than porn. Outside the adult film industry, Jeremy worked as a "special consultant" for the 1986 film 9½ Weeks. He also served as a consultant on the 1997 film Boogie Nights—which chronicled the emergence of the fictional porn star Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg, loosely based on the life of porn star and former co-worker of Jeremy's, John Holmes)—and the movie The Chase, in which he has a small cameo as a news cameraman. He played the monster "Blisterface" in ABC's children's show Bone Chillers. He also appeared in the 1999 film The Boondock Saints, played a bartender in 2002's Spun, and also acted in 2003's cult film Zombiegeddon. He was an extra in Ghostbusters, played a male strip-club announcer in Detroit Rock City, and had a cameo in the film Killing Zoe and in the porn spoof, Orgazmo. In addition, he appeared in several productions released by Troma Entertainment, such as Terror Firmer, The Toxic Avenger IV: Citizen Toxie, and Poultrygeist. He was the subject of a feature-length biographical documentary, Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy, released in 2001 and widely distributed on DVD by mainstream retailers. Within that same year, he is briefly seen on the Heavy Metal Band Fear Factory's DVD Digital Connectivity. In 2003, Jeremy appeared as himself in, and lent his name to, the comedy film Being Ron Jeremy, a parody of Being John Malkovich. Jeremy is a frequent interviewee in documentaries about the porn industry, or related subjects such as Fuck: A Fuckumentary. Jeremy is featured in the DVD extras of the 2005 film The Aristocrats, telling a poetic version of a joke he himself wrote. He was featured in the music video "The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle" by A Day to Remember in 2007 off of their CD entitled For Those Who Have Heart. Jeremy has a cameo in Crank: High Voltage, playing himself as a protester angry at the low salaries porn stars get. He once again appears as himself in the 2009 release One-Eyed Monster, a horror film parody predicated on the premise that an alien force takes over Jeremy's penis and begins killing people in the woods. In an effort to uniquely promote the film, Ron Jeremy's penis started its own blog, and began to Twitter on April 2. Ron is the Lead Antagonist/League Owner in the sports comedy "Tetherball: The Movie". Jeremy appeared in the second season of The Surreal Life, during which he developed a close friendship with Tammy Faye Bakker, and the ninth season of The Surreal Life: Fame Games, in which he finished second to Traci Bingham on the season finale, which aired on 25 March 2007. Jeremy also appeared in a segment on Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show. Additionally, he made appearances on Penn and Teller's Bullshit! in episodes regarding penis enlargement and circumcision. In 2005, he appeared on the UK reality TV show, The Farm. Jeremy is part of a running gag on ESPN's Jim Rome Is Burning and Premiere Radio Networks' The Jim Rome Show. Rome, who normally despises the porn industry, has a new-found respect for Jeremy for recording a program bumper saying, "This is Ron Jeremy, head coach of the Miami Heat, and you're watching Jim Rome Is Burning." The bumper is a reference to Jeremy's striking resemblance to former Miami Heat and current Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy. Jeremy was seen in the Robot Chicken episode, "A Piece of the Action", which was voiced by Michael Benyaer. In this episode, he and several others parody The Surreal Life and Lord of the Rings. The segment lampoons his penis size by having his character unseat a knight on horseback using nothing but his erect penis. Jeremy appeared as himself in the 2001 Family Guy episode "Brian Does Hollywood", in which he is a presenter at the "Woody Awards" for which Brian Griffin is a nominee. Jeremy appeared on Chappelle's Show as himself in a spoof called "What if the Internet was a real place?", in which he asks Dave Chappelle if he would like to see some of his films. Jeremy appeared in Tosh.o as the falling prom girl's date. Jeremy appeared on Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, as himself, in Bourdain's "Food Porn" (Season 5) and "Food Porn 2" (Season 6) episodes. Jeremy appeared on Silent Library in 2010. In the show, he was the "Mystery Creature" that was concealed underneath a sheet in a cage, the contestant has to feed him carrots while being blindfolded. Jeremy has appeared in videos by Sublime, Mercury Rev, Moby, Insane Clown Posse, Kid Rock, Everclear, Sam Kinison, Guns N' Roses, Mad Yellow Sun, Los Umbrellos, XXX Rottweiler Hundar (Icelandic), the Radioactive Chickenheads, A Day To Remember, Escape The Fate, Christina Linhardt, Necro and Flight of the Conchords. In addition, he released a rap single called "Freak Of The Week" which stayed on the Billboard charts for twenty-seven weeks; a music video for this was also produced. His image was used as a fairy in the game Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, in which he gives tips and advice to the main character. In 2007 he had a cameo appearance in "The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle" video, by A Day to Remember. In addition, Ron appeared on an episode of Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show, titled "Pamous Movie Star". In January 2009, Jeremy made an appearance with David Faustino (Bud Bundy from Married with Children) in an episode of Faustino's show Star-ving, which airs on Crackle, as does the Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show. As a further indication of his crossover celebrity status, Jeremy has posed in an advertisement for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to raise awareness of the overpopulation of domesticated animals. In the poster, he lies partially nude on a bed, a pair of handcuffs on his wrists. Poking fun at his notoriety, the title of the advertisement exclaims, "Too much sex can be a bad thing. Spay and neuter your cats and dogs." Ron Jeremy at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, January 2008In 2005, Jeremy made headlines when he was invited to address the Oxford Union. According to the Union’s librarian, Vladimir Bermant, "Ron is the biggest and apparently the best in the business, so I'm sure he'll have some fascinating stories to tell." His speech defending pornography was well-received. In 2006, Jeremy began a series of debates on pornography opposing Pastor Craig Gross, founder of anti-pornography website XXXchurch.com, visiting various U.S. and Canada college campuses as part of the "Porn Debate Tour." - Olympic Fever (1979) - Inside Seka (1980) - Debbie Does Dallas Part II (1981) - 52 Pick-Up† (1986) - One Night At Mr. Wolfes (1987) - Caged Fury (1989) - The Lords of Magick (1989) - Dead Bang† (1989) - As Cute as They Cum (1990) - Super Hornio Bros. (1993) - The Chase (1994) - Class of Nuke 'Em High 3: The Good, the Bad and the Subhumanoid (1994)—Troma film - Killing Zoe (1994) - Mr. Stitch (1996) - Tromeo and Juliet (1996)—Troma film - George Wallace (1997) - Orgazmo (1997) - Ronin† (1998, scene cut by the studio) - Terror Firmer (1998)—Troma film - The Boondock Saints (1999) - Detroit Rock City (1999) - American Virgin (2000, Cameo) - Nash Bridges: “El Diablo” (2000) - Reindeer Games† (2000) - Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000)—Troma film - Just Shoot Me!: “The Proposal: Part 2” (2001) - Alex in Wonder (2001) - Fast Sofa (2001) - The Rules of Attraction (2002) - Back by Midnight (2002, Cameo) - Night at the Golden Eagle (2002) - Paris (2003) - Parts of the Family (2003)—Troma film - Tales from the Crapper (2004)—Troma film - The Nickel Children (2005) - Andre The butcher (Dead meat) (2005) - Slaughter Party (2005)—Troma film - Charlie's Death Wish (2005) - America's Sexiest Girls (2006) - Poultrygeist (2006)—Troma film - Not the Bradys XXX (2007) - Loaded[disambiguation needed] (2007) - Finishing the Game (2007) - Crazy Animal (2007)—Troma film - One-Eyed Monster (2008) - Stone & Ed (2008) - I am Virgin (2008) - Homo Erectus (2008) - Crank: High Voltage (2009) - Almost Amateur (2009) - Trade In (2009) - Killer School Girls from Outer Space (2009) - Malice in Lalaland (2010) - Beaches, Buns, and Bikini's (2010) - Big Money Rustlas (2010) † - directed by John Frankenheimer - 1983 AFAA Best Supporting Actor for Suzie Superstar - 1984 AFAA Best Supporting Actor for All the way in - 1986 AVN Best Supporting Actor—Film for Candy Stripers II - 1991 AVN Best Supporting Actor—Video for Playin' Dirty - 2006 F.A.M.E. Award for Favorite Adult Actor - 2009 Free Speech Coalition "Positive Image Award" - Ron Jeremy: The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz. Memoir, published in February 2007, by Harper Collins. - ^ a b c Nick Ravo (1997-04-02). "My Dinner with Ron: A chat with the improbable, ubiquitous porn star Ron Jeremy, poised on the brink of mainstream success – or so he thinks.". Salon Media Group, Inc.. http://www.salon.com/april97/media/media2970402.html. Retrieved 2007-01-28. - ^ a b c Jeremy, Ron; Eric Spitznagel (2007). Ron Jeremy: The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz. Harper Collins. p. 15. ISBN 0-06-084082-X. - ^ a b "AVN: The 10 Top Porn Stars of All Time". Adult Video News. Action-DVD.com. January 2002. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930015019/http://www.action-dvd.com/avnt50ps.asp?whichpage=1&userid=3AED28DC-3047-4F5C-87F5-D9AC3B9DA6F3&sort_order=. Retrieved 2006-12-24. - ^ Ron Jeremy at the Internet Movie Database - ^ Jane and Michael Stern (2007-02-18). "Mr. Big.". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/books/review/Stern.t.html?ex=1172898000&en=50d36d61e83ae768&ei=5070. Retrieved 2007-03-01. - ^ Fred Beldin. "Allmovie biography of Ron Jeremy, as found on VH1.com". http://www.vh1.com/movies/person/84815/bio.jhtml. Retrieved 2007-01-31. - ^ a b Naomi Pfefferman (2001-11-30). "A Nice Jewish Porn Star". Jewish Journal. http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=7773. Retrieved 2007-01-31. - ^ "Insane" Wayne Chinsang. "Ron Jeremy interview". tastes like chicken. http://www.tlchicken.com/view_story.php?ARTid=1419. Retrieved 2007-01-31. - ^ Gene Ross (2007-06-15). "Ron Jeremy Visits PrimeTimeUncensored". AdultFYI. http://adultfyi.com/read.php?ID=23135. Retrieved 2007-06-15. - ^ "A Porn Stars Past". Queens Tribune. http://www.queenstribune.com/archives/confarchive/2002/0110/qconfidential.html. Retrieved 2007-05-01. - ^ a b "Meet Ron Jeremy". Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy. Maelstrom Entertainment. http://www.ronjeremy-themovie.com/meetron.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-25. - ^ a b c Cory Stulce (1998-07-08). "13 Inane Questions with the reigning king of adult cinema: Ron Jeremy". The Alestle. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. http://www.siue.edu/ALESTLE/library/summer1998/july.08.98/corey.html. Retrieved 2006-12-25. - ^ Kay, Jonathan, Porn's philosopher king, National Post, 16 September 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2010. - ^ Olympic Fever at the Internet Movie Database - ^ Jeremy, Ron; Eric Spitznagel (2007). Ron Jeremy: The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz. New York: HarperCollins. pp. 67–71. ISBN 978-0-06-084082-2. - ^ "Product Description". Being Ron Jeremy. Amazon.com, Inc.. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000777I2O. Retrieved 2006-12-25. - ^ Ron Jeremy at the Internet Adult Film Database - ^ John Holmes at the Internet Adult Film Database - ^ Shiels, Maggie (2010-01-12). "Ron Jeremy says violent video games 'worse' than porn". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8453043.stm. Retrieved 2010-01-17. - ^ 9 ½ Weeks at the Internet Movie Database - ^ http://www.observer.com/node/42673 - ^ "New GB Trivia - Ron Jeremy in GB : protoncharging.com". http://protoncharging.com/gb/2005/04/11/new-gb-trivia-ron-jeremy-in-gb/. - ^ - ^ Get Ready for I Am Virgin - ^ "One-Eyed Monster Trailer Online". The Movie Blog. 2009-04-19. http://themovieblog.com/2009/04/one-eyed-monster-trailer-online. Retrieved 2010-01-17. - ^ mikefiske.com - Mike Fiske Design. "Starring Ron Jeremy, Veronica Hart in a Adam Fields Movie". One Eyed Monster Movie. http://www.oneeyedmonstermovie.com/. Retrieved 2010-01-17. - ^ "An Artist's Journey: The Blog of Ron Jeremy's Dick". Ronjeremysdick.blogspot.com. http://www.ronjeremysdick.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2010-01-17. - ^ RonsMonster. "Ron Jeremy's.. Thing (RonsMonster) on Twitter". Twitter.com. http://www.twitter.com/ronsmonster. Retrieved 2010-01-17. - ^ Andy Dehnart (2003-10-20). "The Surreal Life 2: Vanilla Ice, Tammy Faye, Ron Jeremy, Erik Estrada cast in Surreal Life 2.". reality blurred. reality blurred. http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/the_surreal_life_2/2003_Oct_20_vanilla_ice_tammy. Retrieved 2006-12-25. - ^ "The Surreal Life: Fame Games - Personalities". VH1. http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/surreal_life_fame_games/series_characters.jhtml. Retrieved 2007-03-25. - ^ "The A-Z of laughter (part two)". The Guardian. 2003-12-07. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1101525,00.html. Retrieved 2007-11-02. - ^ Glenn Emerstone (April 2003). "Interview with Ron Jeremy". NY Rock. NY Rock. http://www.nyrock.com/interviews/2003/jeremy_int.asp. 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AVN Publications, Inc.. http://www.avn.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Articles&Action=View_Article&Content_ID=236772. Retrieved 2006-12-25. - ^ Allison Mooney. "Ron Jeremy Bio a Lesson in Self Love". Radar Online. http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2006/11/ron-jeremy-bio-a-lesson-in-self-love.php. Retrieved 2007-01-31. - ^ "Print Interview with AnythingThatRocks.com while promoting the book". http://www.atrmedia.net/2008/12/10/ron-jeremy-interview/. - ^ "Banging on at Oxford". World News. The Sydney Morning Herald.. 2005-03-01. http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Banging-on-at-Oxford/2005/03/01/1109546840571.html. Retrieved 2006-12-25. - ^ Matt Trueman (2005-05-05). "At It Like 'The Hedgehog'". The Oxford Student. Oxford Student Services Limited. Archived from the original on 2006-12-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20061211021233/http://www.oxfordstudent.com/tt2005wk2/Features/at_it_like_'the_hedgehog'. Retrieved 2006-12-25. - ^ "XXX Church.com The #1 Christian Porn Site". http://xxxchurch.com/. Retrieved 2007-03-08. - ^ "Xxx-Porn-Debate". http://www.porndebate.com/. - ^ Jacob Watta (2006-11-07). "Jeremy, Gross to grapple with issue of pornography". Accent. The Penn. http://www.thepenn.org/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=abb9b48e-1878-4941-a735-8e5eedd30e79. Retrieved 2006-12-25. [dead link] - ^ "Ron Jeremy Opening Swingers Club". http://www.kptv.com/entertainment/19644365/detail.html. Retrieved 2009-09-30. - ^ a b "rame awards list". http://www.rame.net/library/lists/best.html. Retrieved 2007-12-31. - ^ a b "Past AVN Award Winners". http://www.avnawards.com/index.php?content=pastwinners. Retrieved 2007-12-31. - ^ Peter Warren (2006-06-24). "About the 2006 FAME Awards". AVN. Archived from the original on 2006-06-24. http://www.thefameawards.com/2006/press.aspx. Retrieved 2007-06-24. 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Al-Andalus, was the name given by Muslim sources during the Middle Ages to the territory in the Iberian Peninsula culturally and religiously linked with them. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied the northwest of the Iberian peninsula and a part of present-day southern France, Septimania (8th century), and for nearly a century (9th–10th centuries) extended its control from Fraxinet over the Alpine passes which connect Italy with the remainder of Western Europe. The name more specifically describes the different Arab or Berber states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492, though the boundaries changed constantly as the Christian Reconquista progressed, eventually shrinking to the south and finally to the vassalage of the Emirate of Granada. |History of Al-Andalus| Umayyads of Córdoba| First Taifa period| Second Taifa period| Third Taifa period| Emirate of Granada| Following the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, al-Andalus, then at its greatest extent, was divided into five administrative units, corresponding roughly to modern Andalusia, Portugal and Galicia, Castile and León, Navarre, Aragon, the County of Barcelona, and Septimania. As a political domain, it successively constituted a province of the Umayyad Caliphate, initiated by the Caliph Al-Walid I (711–750); the Emirate of Córdoba (c. 750–929); the Caliphate of Córdoba (929–1031); and the Caliphate of Córdoba's taifa (successor) kingdoms. Rule under these kingdoms led to a rise in cultural exchange and cooperation between Muslims and Christians. Christians and Jews were subject to a special tax called Jizya, to the state, which in return provided internal autonomy in practicing their religion and offered the same level of protections by the Muslim rulers. The jizya was not only a tax, however, but also a symbolic expression of subordination. Under the Caliphate of Córdoba, al-Andalus was a beacon of learning, and the city of Córdoba, the largest in Europe, became one of the leading cultural and economic centres throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Europe, and the Islamic world. Achievements that advanced Islamic and Western science came from al-Andalus, including major advances in trigonometry (Geber), astronomy (Arzachel), surgery (Abulcasis), pharmacology (Avenzoar), agronomy (Ibn Bassal and Abū l-Khayr al-Ishbīlī), and other fields. Al-Andalus became a major educational center for Europe and the lands around the Mediterranean Sea as well as a conduit for cultural and scientific exchange between the Islamic and Christian worlds. For much of its history, al-Andalus existed in conflict with Christian kingdoms to the north. After the fall of the Umayyad caliphate, al-Andalus was fragmented into minor states and principalities. Attacks from the Christians intensified, led by the Castilians under Alfonso VI. The Almoravid empire intervened and repelled the Christian attacks on the region, deposing the weak Andalusi Muslim princes and included al-Andalus under direct Berber rule. In the next century and a half, al-Andalus became a province of the Berber Muslim empires of the Almoravids and Almohads, both based in Marrakesh. Ultimately, the Christian kingdoms in the north of the Iberian Peninsula overpowered the Muslim states to the south. In 1085, Alfonso VI captured Toledo, starting a gradual decline of Muslim power. With the fall of Córdoba in 1236, most of the south quickly fell under Christian rule and the Emirate of Granada became a tributary state of the Kingdom of Castile two years later. In 1249, the Portuguese Reconquista culminated with the conquest of the Algarve by Afonso III, leaving Granada as the last Muslim state on the Iberian Peninsula. Finally, on January 2, 1492, Emir Muhammad XII surrendered the Emirate of Granada to Queen Isabella I of Castile, completing the Christian Reconquista of the peninsula. The toponym al-Andalus is first attested by inscriptions on coins minted in 716 by the new Muslim government of Iberia. These coins, called dinars, were inscribed in both Latin and Arabic. The etymology of the name "al-Andalus" has traditionally been derived from the name of the Vandals; however, proposals since the 1980s have challenged this tradition. In 1986, Joaquín Vallvé proposed that "al-Andalus" was a corruption of the name Atlantis, Halm in 1989 derived the name from a Gothic term, *landahlauts, and in 2002, Georg Bossong suggested its derivation from a pre-Roman substrate. Province of the Umayyad Caliphate During the caliphate of the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I, the commander Tariq ibn-Ziyad led a small force that landed at Gibraltar on April 30, 711, ostensibly to intervene in a Visigothic civil war. After a decisive victory over King Roderic at the Battle of Guadalete on July 19, 711, Tariq ibn-Ziyad, joined by Arab governor Musa ibn Nusayr of Ifriqiya, brought most of the Visigothic Kingdom under Muslim occupation in a seven-year campaign. They crossed the Pyrenees and occupied Visigothic Septimania in southern France. Most of the Iberian peninsula became part of the expanding Umayyad Empire, under the name of al-Andalus. It was organized as a province subordinate to Ifriqiya, so, for the first few decades, the governors of al-Andalus were appointed by the emir of Kairouan, rather than the Caliph in Damascus. The regional capital was set at Córdoba, and the first influx of Muslim settlers was widely distributed. The small army Tariq led in the initial conquest consisted mostly of Berbers, while Musa's largely Arab force of over 12,000 soldiers was accompanied by a group of mawālī (Arabic, موالي), that is, non-Arab Muslims, who were clients of the Arabs. The Berber soldiers accompanying Tariq were garrisoned in the centre and the north of the peninsula, as well as in the Pyrenees, while the Berber colonists who followed settled in all parts of the country – north, east, south and west. Visigothic lords who agreed to recognize Muslim suzerainty were allowed to retain their fiefs (notably, in Murcia, Galicia, and the Ebro valley). Resistant Visigoths took refuge in the Cantabrian highlands, where they carved out a rump state, the Kingdom of Asturias. In the 720s, the al-Andalus governors launched several sa'ifa raids into Aquitaine, but were severely defeated by Duke Odo the Great of Aquitaine at the Battle of Toulouse (721). However, after crushing Odo's Berber ally Uthman ibn Naissa on the eastern Pyrenees, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi led an expedition north across the western Pyrenees and defeated the Aquitanian duke, who in turn appealed to the Frankish leader Charles Martel for assistance, offering to place himself under Carolingian sovereignty. At the Battle of Poitiers in 732, the al-Andalus raiding army was defeated by Charles Martel. In 734, the Andalusi launched raids to the east, capturing Avignon and Arles and overran much of Provence. In 737, they traveled up the Rhône valley, reaching as far north as Burgundy. Charles Martel of the Franks, with the assistance of Liutprand of the Lombards, invaded Burgundy and Provence and expelled the raiders by 739. Relations between Arabs and Berbers in al-Andalus had been tense in the years after the conquest. Berbers heavily outnumbered the Arabs in the province, had done the bulk of the fighting, and were assigned the harsher duties (e.g. garrisoning the more troubled areas). Although some Arab governors had cultivated their Berber lieutenants, others had grievously mistreated them. Mutinies by Berber soldiers were frequent; e.g., in 729, the Berber commander Munnus had revolted and managed to carve out a rebel state in Cerdanya for a while. In 740, a Berber Revolt erupted in the Maghreb (North Africa). To put down the rebellion, the Umayyad Caliph Hisham dispatched a large Arab army, composed of regiments (Junds) of Bilad Ash-Sham, to North Africa. But the great Umayyad army was crushed by the Berber rebels at the Battle of Bagdoura (in Morocco). Heartened by the victories of their North African brethren, the Berbers of al-Andalus quickly raised their own revolt. Berber garrisons in the north of the Iberian Peninsula mutinied, deposed their Arab commanders, and organized a large rebel army to march against the strongholds of Toledo, Cordoba, and Algeciras. In 741, Balj b. Bishr led a detachment of some 10,000 Arab troops across the straits. The Arab governor of al-Andalus, joined by this force, crushed the Berber rebels in a series of ferocious battles in 742. However, a quarrel immediately erupted between the Syrian commanders and the Andalusi, the so-called "original Arabs" of the earlier contingents. The Syrians defeated them at the hard-fought Battle of Aqua Portora in August 742 but were too few to impose themselves on the province. The quarrel was settled in 743 when Abū l-Khaṭṭār al-Ḥusām, the new governor of al-Andalus, assigned the Syrians to regimental fiefs across al-Andalus – the Damascus jund was established in Elvira (Granada), the Jordan jund in Rayyu (Málaga and Archidona), the Jund Filastin in Medina-Sidonia and Jerez, the Emesa (Hims) jund in Seville and Niebla, and the Qinnasrin jund in Jaén. The Egypt jund was divided between Beja (Alentejo) in the west and Tudmir (Murcia) in the east. The arrival of the Syrians substantially increased the Arab element in the Iberian peninsula and helped strengthen the Muslim hold on the south. However, at the same time, unwilling to be governed, the Syrian junds carried on an existence of autonomous feudal anarchy, severely destabilizing the authority of the governor of al-Andalus. A second significant consequence of the revolt was the expansion of the Kingdom of the Asturias, hitherto confined to enclaves in the Cantabrian highlands. After the rebellious Berber garrisons evacuated the northern frontier fortresses, the Christian king Alfonso I of Asturias set about immediately seizing the empty forts for himself, quickly adding the northwestern provinces of Galicia and León to his fledgling kingdom. The Asturians evacuated the Christian populations from the towns and villages of the Galician-Leonese lowlands, creating an empty buffer zone in the Douro River valley (the "Desert of the Duero"). This newly emptied frontier remained roughly in place for the next few centuries as the boundary between the Christian north and the Islamic south. Between this frontier and its heartland in the south, the al-Andalus state had three large march territories (thughur): the Lower March (capital initially at Mérida, later Badajoz), the Middle March (centered at Toledo), and the Upper March (centered at Zaragoza). These disturbances and disorders also allowed the Franks, now under the leadership of Pepin the Short, to invade the strategic strip of Septimania in 752, hoping to deprive al-Andalus of an easy launching pad for raids into Francia. After a lengthy siege, the last Arab stronghold, the citadel of Narbonne, finally fell to the Franks in 759. Al-Andalus was sealed off at the Pyrenees. The third consequence of the Berber revolt was the collapse of the authority of the Damascus Caliphate over the western provinces. With the Umayyad Caliphs distracted by the challenge of the Abbasids in the east, the western provinces of the Maghreb and al-Andalus spun out of their control. From around 745, the Fihrids, an illustrious local Arab clan descended from Oqba ibn Nafi al-Fihri, seized power in the western provinces and ruled them almost as a private family empire of their own – Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib al-Fihri in Ifriqiya and Yūsuf al-Fihri in al-Andalus. The Fihrids welcomed the fall of the Umayyads in the east, in 750, and sought to reach an understanding with the Abbasids, hoping they might be allowed to continue their autonomous existence. But when the Abbasids rejected the offer and demanded submission, the Fihrids declared independence and, probably out of spite, invited the deposed remnants of the Umayyad clan to take refuge in their dominions. It was a fateful decision that they soon regretted, for the Umayyads, the sons and grandsons of caliphs, had a more legitimate claim to rule than the Fihrids themselves. Rebellious-minded local lords, disenchanted with the autocratic rule of the Fihrids, conspired with the arriving Umayyad exiles. Umayyad Emirate and Caliphate of Córdoba In 756, the exiled Umayyad prince Abd al-Rahman I (nicknamed al-Dākhil, the 'Immigrant') ousted Yūsuf al-Fihri to establish himself as the Emir of Córdoba. He refused to submit to the Abbasid caliph, as Abbasid forces had killed most of his family. Over a thirty-year reign, he established a tenuous rule over much of al-Andalus, overcoming partisans of both the al-Fihri family and of the Abbasid caliph. For the next century and a half, his descendants continued as emirs of Córdoba with nominal control over the rest of al-Andalus and sometimes parts of western North Africa, but with real control, particularly over the marches along the Christian border, vacillating depending on the competence of the individual emir. Indeed, the power of emir Abdallah ibn Muhammad (circa 900) did not extend beyond Córdoba itself. But his grandson Abd-al-Rahman III, who succeeded him in 912, not only rapidly restored Umayyad power throughout al-Andalus but extended it into western North Africa as well. In 929 he proclaimed himself Caliph, elevating the emirate to a position competing in prestige not only with the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad but also the Fatimid caliph in Tunis – with whom he was competing for control of North Africa. The period of the Caliphate is seen as the golden age of al-Andalus. Crops produced using irrigation, along with food imported from the Middle East, provided the area around Córdoba and some other Andalusī cities with an agricultural economic sector that was the most advanced in Europe by far, sparking the Arab Agricultural Revolution. Among European cities, Córdoba under the Caliphate, with a population of perhaps 500,000, eventually overtook Constantinople as the largest and most prosperous city in Europe. Within the Islamic world, Córdoba was one of the leading cultural centres. The work of its most important philosophers and scientists (notably Abulcasis and Averroes) had a major influence on the intellectual life of medieval Europe. Muslims and non-Muslims often came from abroad to study in the famous libraries and universities of al-Andalus, mainly after the reconquest of Toledo in 1085 and the establishment of translation institutions such as the Toledo School of Translators. The most noted of those was Michael Scot (c. 1175 to c. 1235), who took the works of Ibn Rushd ("Averroes") and Ibn Sina ("Avicenna") to Italy. This transmission of ideas remains one of the greatest in history, significantly affecting the formation of the European Renaissance. The Caliphate of Córdoba effectively collapsed during a ruinous civil war between 1009 and 1013, although it was not finally abolished until 1031 when al-Andalus broke up into a number of mostly independent mini-states and principalities called taifas. In 1013, invading Berbers sacked Córdoba, massacring its inhabitants, pillaging the city, and burning the palace complex to the ground. After 1031, the taifas were generally too weak to defend themselves against repeated raids and demands for tribute from the Christian states to the north and west, which were known to the Muslims as "the Galician nations", and which had spread from their initial strongholds in Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque country, and the Carolingian Marca Hispanica to become the Kingdoms of Navarre, León, Portugal, Castile and Aragon, and the County of Barcelona. Eventually raids turned into conquests, and in response the Taifa kings were forced to request help from the Almoravids, Muslim Berber rulers of the Maghreb. Their desperate maneuver would eventually fall to their disadvantage, however, as the Almoravids they had summoned from the south went on to conquer and annex all the Taifa kingdoms. Almoravids, Almohads, and Marinids In 1086 the Almoravid ruler of Morocco, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, was invited by the Muslim princes in Iberia to defend them against Alfonso VI, King of Castile and León. In that year, Tashfin crossed the straits to Algeciras and inflicted a severe defeat on the Christians at the Battle of Sagrajas. By 1094, ibn Tashfin had removed all Muslim princes in Iberia and had annexed their states, except for the one at Zaragoza. He also regained Valencia from the Christians. The Almoravids were succeeded by the Almohads, another Berber dynasty, after the victory of Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur over the Castilian Alfonso VIII at the Battle of Alarcos in 1195. In 1212, a coalition of Christian kings under the leadership of the Castilian Alfonso VIII defeated the Almohads at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. The Almohads continued to rule Al-Andalus for another decade, though with much reduced power and prestige. The civil wars following the death of Abu Ya'qub Yusuf II rapidly led to the re-establishment of taifas. The taifas, newly independent but now weakened, were quickly conquered by Portugal, Castile, and Aragon. After the fall of Murcia (1243) and the Algarve (1249), only the Emirate of Granada remained as a Muslim state in Iberia, tributary of Castile until 1492. Most of its tribute was paid in gold that was carried to Iberia from present-day Mali and Burkina Faso through the merchant routes of the Sahara. The last Muslim threat to the Christian kingdoms was the rise of the Marinids in Morocco during the 14th century. They took Granada into their sphere of influence and occupied some of its cities, like Algeciras. However, they were unable to take Tarifa, which held out until the arrival of the Castilian Army led by Alfonso XI. The Castilian king, with the help of Afonso IV of Portugal and Peter IV of Aragon, decisively defeated the Marinids at the Battle of Río Salado in 1340 and took Algeciras in 1344. Gibraltar, then under Granadian rule, was besieged in 1349–50. Alfonso XI and most of his army perished by the Black Death. His successor, Peter of Castile, made peace with the Muslims and turned his attention to Christian lands, starting a period of almost 150 years of rebellions and wars between the Christian states that secured the survival of Granada. Emirate of Granada, its fall, and aftermath From the mid 13th to the late 15th century, the only remaining domain of al-Andalus was the Emirate of Granada, the last Muslim stronghold in the Iberian Peninsula. The emirate was established by Muhammad ibn al-Ahmar in 1230 and was ruled by the Nasrid dynasty, the longest reigning dynasty in the history of al-Andalus. Although surrounded by Castilian lands, the emirate was wealthy through being tightly integrated in Mediterranean trade networks and enjoyed a period of considerable cultural and economic prosperity. However, for most of its existence Granada was a tributary state, with Nasrid emirs paying tribute to Castilian kings. Granada's status as a tributary state and its favorable geographic location, with the Sierra Nevada as a natural barrier, helped to prolong Nasrid rule and allowed the emirate to prosper as a regional entrepôt with the Maghreb and the rest of Africa. The city of Granada also served as a refuge for Muslims fleeing during the Reconquista, accepting numerous Muslims expelled from Christian controlled areas, doubling the size of the city and even becoming one of the largest in Europe throughout the 15th century in terms of population. In 1469, the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile signaled the launch of the final assault on the emirate. The King and Queen convinced Pope Sixtus IV to declare their war a crusade. The Catholic Monarchs crushed one center of resistance after another until finally on January 2, 1492, after a long siege, the emirate's last sultan Muhammad XII surrendered the city and the fortress palace, the renowned Alhambra (see Fall of Granada). By this time Muslims in Castile numbered half a million. After the fall, "100,000 had died or been enslaved, 200,000 emigrated, and 200,000 remained as the residual population. Many of the Muslim elite, including Muhammad XII, who had been given the area of the Alpujarras mountains as a principality, found life under Christian rule intolerable and passed over into North Africa." Under the conditions of the Capitulations of 1492, the Muslims in Granada were to be allowed to continue to practice their religion. Mass forced conversions of Muslims in 1499 led to a revolt that spread to Alpujarras and the mountains of Ronda; after this uprising the capitulations were revoked. In 1502 the Catholic Monarchs decreed the forced conversion of all Muslims living under the rule of the Crown of Castile, although in the kingdoms of Aragon and Valencia (both now part of Spain) the open practice of Islam was allowed until 1526. Descendants of the Muslims were subject to expulsions from Spain between 1609 and 1614 (see Expulsion of the Moriscos). The last mass prosecution against Moriscos for crypto-Islamic practices occurred in Granada in 1727, with most of those convicted receiving relatively light sentences. From then on, indigenous Islam is considered to have been extinguished in Spain. The society of al-Andalus was made up of three main religious groups: Muslims, Christians, and Jews. The Muslims, although united on the religious level, had several ethnic divisions, the main being the distinction between the Arabs and the Berbers. The Arab elite regarded non-Arab Muslims as second-class citizens; and they were particularly scornful of the Berbers. The ethnic structure of al-Andalus consisted of Arabs at the top of the social scale followed by, in descending order, Berbers, Muladies, Mozarabes, and Jews. Each of these communities inhabited distinct neighborhoods in the cities. In the 10th century a massive conversion of Christians took place, and muladies (Muslims of native Iberian origin), formed the majority of Muslims. The Muladies had spoken in a Romance dialect of Latin called Mozarabic while increasingly adopting the Arabic language, which eventually evolved into the Andalusi Arabic in which Muslims, Jews, and Christians became monolingual in the last surviving Muslim state in the Iberian Peninsula, the Emirate of Granada (1230–1492). Eventually, the Muladies, and later the Berber tribes, adopted an Arabic identity like the majority of subject people in Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and North Africa. Muladies, together with other Muslims, comprised eighty percent of the population of al-Andalus by 1100. Mozarabs were Christians who had long lived under Muslim and Arab rule, adopting many Arab customs, art, and words, while still maintaining their Christian and Latin rituals and their own Romance languages. The Jewish population worked mainly as tax collectors, in trade, or as doctors or ambassadors. At the end of the 15th century there were about 50,000 Jews in Granada and roughly 100,000 in the whole of Islamic Iberia. Non-Muslims under the Caliphate Non-Muslims were given the status of ahl al-dhimma (the people under protection), with adult men paying a "Jizya" tax, equal to one dinar per year with exemptions for the elderly and the disabled. Those who were neither Christians nor Jews, such as pagans, were given the status of Majus. The treatment of non-Muslims in the Caliphate has been a subject of considerable debate among scholars and commentators, especially those interested in drawing parallels to the coexistence of Muslims and non-Muslims in the modern world. Jews constituted more than five percent of the population. Al-Andalus was a key centre of Jewish life during the early Middle Ages, producing important scholars and one of the most stable and wealthy Jewish communities. The longest period of relative tolerance began after 912 with the reign of Abd-ar-Rahman III and his son, Al-Hakam II, when the Jews of al-Andalus prospered, devoting themselves to the service of the Caliphate of Córdoba, to the study of the sciences, and to commerce and industry, especially trading in silk and slaves, in this way promoting the prosperity of the country. Southern Iberia became an asylum for the oppressed Jews of other countries. Under the Almoravids and the Almohads there may have been intermittent persecution of Jews, but sources are extremely scarce and do not give a clear picture, though the situation appears to have deteriorated after 1160. Muslim pogroms against Jews in al-Andalus occurred in Córdoba (1011) and in Granada (1066). However, massacres of dhimmis are rare in Islamic history. The Almohads, who had taken control of the Almoravids' Maghribi and Andalusi territories by 1147, far surpassed the Almoravides in fundamentalist outlook, and they treated the non-Muslims harshly. Faced with the choice of either death or conversion, many Jews and Christians emigrated. Some, such as the family of Maimonides, fled east to more tolerant Muslim lands. There were many scientific advances, especially in the fields of medicine, astronomy, and agronomy. Córdoba served as a major center for this scientific growth, with a vast amount of these advancements occurring during the rule of ‘Abd al-Rahman III from 929-961, in part due to the exposure of scientists to translations of older Greek and Persian works during that time. Scholars often worked in many different and overlapping subjects, so it is difficult to place those discussed here into a single scientific field each. Notable surgeons, physicians, and medical scholars from al-Andalus include Ibn al-Baytar (d. 1248), Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Albucasis; d. 1013), Muhammad al-Shafrah (d. 1360), Abu Marwan 'Abd al-Malik ibn Habib (d. 853), and Abu Marwan ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar; d. 1162). Of particular note is al-Zahrawi, who is considered by many to be “probably the greatest physician in the entire history of Western Islam.” Around the year 1000 he wrote a book with a title that roughly translates to The Arrangement of Medical Knowledge for One Who is Not Able to Compile a Book for Himself (Kitab al-tasrif li-man 'ajiza 'an al-ta'alif)—a comprehensive medical encyclopedia with the goal of summarizing all existing medical knowledge and eliminating the need for students and practitioners to rely on multiple medical texts. The book is renowned for its chapter on surgery which included important illustrations of surgical instruments, as well as sections “on cauterization, on incisions, venesection and wounds, and on bone-setting." For hundreds of years after its publication it was one of the most widely-used medical texts for students and medical practitioners and was translated into Hebrew, Latin, and Castilian. This encyclopedia is also significant for its inclusion of al-Zahrawi’s personal experiences as a surgeon, which provided important case studies for aspiring surgeons. This distinguishes it from other strictly factual medical works of the time, most notably Ibn Sina’s Canon of Medicine. Other important medical texts include al-Baytar’s Comprehensive Book on Simple Drugs and Foodstuffs—an encyclopedia with descriptions of the medical uses of over 1400 plants and other types of medicine—and ibn Habib’s Book of the Medicine of the Arabs (Kitab tibb al-'arab)—a historical summary of Arabic medicine until the 9th century. Ibn Habib's work is significant because it is one of the oldest known writings in the field of prophetic medicine, which uses hadiths to create Islamic-based medicinal guidelines. His book is also significant because it uses principles of Galenic medicine, such as humorism and the theory of four temperaments, as the basis of its medical recommendations. The ibn Zuhr family played a very important role in the production of Andalusian medical knowledge, as they produced five generations of medical experts, particularly in the fields of dietary sciences and medicaments. Abu Marwan ibn Zuhr (d. 1162) is particularly notable, as he wrote the Book of Moderation (Kitab al-Iqtisad)—a treatise on general therapy; the Book of Foods (Kitab al-Aghdhiya)—a manual on foods and regimen which contains guidelines for a healthy life; and the Kitab al-Taysir—a book written to act as a compendium to Ibn Rushd's Colliget. In Kitab al-Taysir he provides some of the earliest recorded evidence of the Scabies mite, which contributed to the scientific advancement of microbiology. Three of the most notable Andalusian astronomers were Ibn Tufail (d. 1185), Ibn Rushd (Averroes; d. 1198), and Nur ad-Din al-Bitruji (Alpetragius; d. 1204). All lived around the same time and focused their astronomical works on critiquing and revising Ptolemaic astronomy and the problem of the equant in his astronomical model. Instead, they accepted Aristotle’s model and promoted the theory of homocentric spheres. Al-Bitruji is believed to have studied under Ibn Tufail and Bitruji's Book on Cosmology (Kitab fi al-hay'a) built on Ibn Tufail's work, as well as that of Ibn Rushd, Ibn Bajja, and Maimonides. The book's goal was "to overcome the physical difficulties inherent in the geometrical models of Ptolemy's Almagest and to describe the cosmos in agreement with Aristotelian or Neoplatonic physics," which it succeeded in doing to an extent. Bitruji's book set a precedent of criticizing the Almagest in future works in the field of astronomy. Although Ibn Rushd originally trained and practiced as a jurist, he was exposed to astronomy—possibly through Ibn Tufail—and became a renowned scientist in the field. His most popular work was his Summary of the Almagest, but he also published shorter works discussing Aristotle’s planetary theories. Ibn Rushd published writings on philosophy, theology, and medicine throughout his life too, including commentaries on the works of Ibn Sina. In addition to writing the important Book of the Medicine of the Arabs, Ibn Habib also wrote the Book on Stars (Kirab fi l-nujim). This book included important “teachings on the lunar mansions, the signs of the zodiac, [and] the division of the seasons.” In these teachings, Ibn-Habib calculated the phases of the moon and dates of the annual solstices and equinoxes with relative accuracy. Another important astronomer from al-Andalus was Maslama al-Majriti (d. 1007), who played a role in translating and writing about Ptolemy’s Planisphaerium and Almagest. He built on the work of older astronomers, like Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, whose astronomical tables he wrote a discussion on and subsequently improved. Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Zarqali (d. 1087) had many influential astronomical successes, as shown by Copernicus's recognition of him in his On The Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres five centuries later. Along with other astronomers, he undertook extensive work to edit the Toledan Zij astronomical tables. He also accurately calculated the motion of the solar apogee to be 12.04 seconds per year, which is relatively close to today's calculation of 11.8 seconds per year. Other important scientific advances in al-Andalus occurred in the field of agronomy. These advances were in part facilitated by technological innovations in irrigation systems. State organized, large-scale irrigation projects provided water to city baths, mosques, gardens, residential homes, and governing palaces, such as the al-Hambra and its gardens in Granada. Collective, peasant-built irrigation infrastructure also played an important role, especially in agriculture. Many of these irrigation techniques, especially those utilized by peasants, were brought to al-Andalus by migrating Berber and Arab tribes. Although some irrigation projects built on existing Roman infrastructure, most of al-Andalus’s irrigation systems were new projects built separate from old Roman aqueducts. However, there is some debate about this among scholars. One notable agriculturalist was Ibn al-'Awwam, who wrote the Book of Agriculture. This book contains 34 chapters about various aspects of agriculture and animal husbandry, including discussions of over 580 different types of plants and how to treat plant diseases. Other agronomic innovations in al-Andalus include the cultivation of the pomegranate from Syria, which has since become the namesake and ubiquitous symbol of the city of Granada, as well as the first attempt to create a botanical garden near Córdoba by ‘Abd al-Rahman I. Many ethnicities, religions, and races coexisted in al-Andalus, each contributing to its intellectual prosperity. Literacy in Islamic Iberia was far more widespread than in many other nations in the West at the time. Thus, it also had an important literary activity; one specialist of Al-Andalus' intellectual history, Maria Luisa Avila, says that "biographical dictionaries have recorded information about thousands of distinguished people in every period from al-Andalus, who were cultivators of knowledge, particularly in the legal-religious sciences as well as authors", and that "the exact number of scholars which appears in the biographical sources has not been established yet, but it surely exceeds six thousand." It has been estimated that in the 10th century between 70,000 and 80,000 manuscripts were copied on a yearly basis in Cordoba alone. In the 11th century the Hindu–Arabic numeral system (base 10) reached Europe, via Al-Andalus through Spanish Muslims, the Moors, together with knowledge of astronomy and instruments like the astrolabe, first imported by Gerbert of Aurillac. For this reason, the numerals came to be known in Europe as Arabic numerals. From the earliest days, the Umayyads wanted to be seen as intellectual rivals to the Abbasids, and for Córdoba to have libraries and educational institutions to rival Baghdad's. Although there was a clear rivalry between the two powers, there was freedom to travel between the two caliphates, which helped spread new ideas and innovations over time. Art and architecture The Alhambra palace and fortress as well as the Generalife in Granada reflect the culture and art of the last centuries of Moorish rule of Al-Andalus. The complex was completed at this stage towards the end of the rule by Yusuf I (1333–1353) and Muhammed V, Sultan of Granada (1353–1391). Artists and intellectuals took refuge at Alhambra after the Reconquista began to roll back Muslim territory. The site integrates natural qualities with constructed structures and gardens, and is a testament to Moorish culture in Al-Andalus and to the skills of the Muslim artisans, craftsmen, and builders of their era. The decoration within the palace comes from the last great period of Al-Andalus art in Granada, with little of the Byzantine influence of contemporary Abbasid architecture. Artists endlessly reproduced the same forms and trends, creating a new style that developed over the course of the Nasrid Dynasty using elements created and developed during the centuries of Muslim rule on the Peninsula, including the Caliphate horseshoe arch, the Almohad sebka (a grid of rhombuses), the Almoravid palm, and unique combinations of these, as well as innovations such as stilted arches and muqarnas (stalactite ceiling decorations). Columns and muqarnas appear in several chambers, and the interiors of numerous palaces are decorated with arabesques and calligraphy. The arabesques of the interior are ascribed to, among other sultans, Yusuf I, Muhammed V, and Ismail I, Sultan of Granada. In Cordoba, the Umayyads sponsored the construction of the Great Mosque of Cordoba (now a Catholic church); its key features included an arcaded hypostyle hall with 856 columns, a horseshoe-arch mihrab facing Mecca, a vaulted dome, the Court of Oranges (containing fountains and imported citrus trees) and a minaret (later converted into a bell-tower). The Umayyads reconstructed the Roman-era bridge over the Guadalquivir River in Cordoba, while the Almohads later added the Calahorra Tower to the bridge. In Seville, Moorish rulers built the main section of the Giralda (later expanded as a bell-tower for the Seville Cathedral) as a massive minaret (resembling that of the Koutoubia Mosque in Morocco) for the Great Mosque of Seville, which also contained a Patio de los Naranjos (Court of Oranges). The Royal Alcazar of Seville, built by the Christian king Peter of Castile, displays prominent features of Mudejar and Moorish architecture, including decorative calligraphy and garden orchards with irrigation channels, jets, pools and fountains. Moorish architecture continued to have an influence on Western European architecture in the Medieval Ages. Additionally, one of the features of both Gothic and Islamic architecture, the pointed arch (adapted by Islamic architects from earlier Byzantine and Sassanid models), was increasingly utilized in the Islamic West and perhaps transmitted to Western Europe via Sicily and the Iberian Peninsula. Food and Agriculture A variety of foodstuffs, spices and crops were introduced to Spain and Sicily during Arab rule, via the commercial networks of the Islamic world. These include sugarcane, rice, cotton, alfalfa, oranges, lemons, apricots, spinach, eggplants, carrots and saffron. The Arabs also continued extensive cultivation and production of olive oil (the Spanish words for 'oil' and 'olive' -- aceite and aceituna, respectively—are derived from the Arabic al-zait, meaning 'olive juice'), and pomegranates (the heraldic symbol of Granada) from classical Greco-Roman times. The historian Said al-Andalusi wrote that Caliph Abd-ar-Rahman III had collected libraries of books and granted patronage to scholars of medicine and "ancient sciences". Later, al-Mustansir (Al-Hakam II) went yet further, building a university and libraries in Córdoba. Córdoba became one of the world's leading centres of medicine and philosophical debate. When Al-Hakam's son Hisham II took over, real power was ceded to the hajib, al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir. Al-Mansur was a distinctly religious man and disapproved of the sciences of astronomy, logic, and especially of astrology, so much so that many books on these subjects, which had been preserved and collected at great expense by Al-Hakam II, were burned publicly. With Al-Mansur's death in 1002, interest in philosophy revived. Numerous scholars emerged, including Abu Uthman Ibn Fathun, whose masterwork was the philosophical treatise "Tree of Wisdom". Maslamah Ibn Ahmad al-Majriti (died 1008) was an outstanding scholar in astronomy and astrology; he was an intrepid traveller who journeyed all over the Islamic world and beyond and kept in touch with the Brethren of Purity. He is said to have brought the 51 "Epistles of the Brethren of Purity" to al-Andalus and added the compendium to this work, although it is quite possible that it was added later by another scholar with the name al-Majriti. Another book attributed to al-Majriti is the Ghayat al-Hakim, "The Aim of the Sage", which explored a synthesis of Platonism with Hermetic philosophy. Its use of incantations led the book to be widely dismissed in later years, although the Sufi communities continued to study it. A prominent follower of al-Majriti was the philosopher and geometer Abu al-Hakam al-Kirmani who was followed, in turn, by Abu Bakr Ibn al-Sayigh, usually known in the Arab world as Ibn Bajjah, "Avempace". The al-Andalus philosopher Averroes (1126–1198) was the founder of the Averroism school of philosophy, and his works and commentaries influenced medieval thought in Western Europe. Another influential al-Andalus philosopher was Ibn Tufail. Jewish philosophy and culture As Jewish thought in Babylonia declined, the tolerance of al-Andalus made it the new centre of Jewish intellectual endeavours. Poets and commentators like Judah Halevi (1086–1145) and Dunash ben Labrat (920–990) contributed to the cultural life of al-Andalus, but the area was even more important to the development of Jewish philosophy. A stream of Jewish philosophers, cross-fertilizing with Muslim philosophers (see joint Jewish and Islamic philosophies), culminated with the widely celebrated Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages, Maimonides (1135–1205), though he did not actually do any of his work in al-Andalus, his family having fled persecution by the Almohads when he was 13. The Encyclopedia of Homosexuality states that "Al-Andalus had many links to Hellenistic culture, and except for the Almoravid and Almohadic periods (1086-1212), it was hedonistic and tolerant of homosexuality, indeed one of the times in world history in which sensuality of all sorts has been most openly enjoyed. Important rulers such as Abd al-Rahman III, al-Hakam II, Hisham II, and al-Mu-tamid openly chose boys as sexual partners, and kept catamites. Homosexual prostitution was widespread, and its customers came from higher levels of society than those of heterosexual prostitutes." The poetry of writers such as Abu Nuwas and anthologies of poetry such as the Rāyāt al-mubarrizīn wa-ghāyāt al-mumayyazīn are known in part for their homoerotic and "abundant pederastic poetry". Such themes were also found in the Sephardic Jewish poetry of the time. In the book Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia Daniel Eisenberg describes homosexuality as "a key symbolic issue throughout the Middle Ages in Iberia", stating that "in al-Andalus homosexual pleasures were much indulged in by the intellectual and political elite. Evidence includes the behaviour of rulers, such as Abd al-Rahmn III, Al-Hakam II, Hisham II, and Al Mu'tamid, who openly kept male harems; the memoirs of Abdallah ibn Buluggin, last Zirid king of Granada, makes references to male prostitutes, who charged higher fees and had a higher class of clientele than did their female counter-parts: the repeated criticisms of Christians; and especially the abundant poetry. Both pederasty and love between adult males are found. Although homosexual practices were never officially condoned, prohibitions against them were rarely enforced, and usually there was not even a pretense of doing so." Male homosexual relations allowed nonprocreative sexual practices and were not seen as a form of identity. Very little is known about the homosexual behaviour of women. - Gharb Al-Andalus - Almohad dynasty - Arab diaspora - Islam and anti-Semitism in Iberia - History of Islam - History of the Jews under Muslim rule - Hispanic and Latino Muslims - Islamic Golden Age - Islam in Spain - La Convivencia - Moorish Gibraltar - Muslim conquests - Social and cultural exchange in Al-Andalus - Timeline of the Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsula - Kemal Reis - List of Moorish writers - Versteegh, Kees (1990-01-01). "The Arab Presence in France and Switzerland in the 10Th Century". Arabica. 37 (3): 359–388. doi:10.1163/157005890X00041. ISSN 1570-0585. JSTOR 4057147. - Wenner, Manfred W. (August 1980). "The Arab/Muslim Presence in Medieval Central Europe". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 12 (1): 59–79. doi:10.1017/S0020743800027136. ISSN 1471-6380. JSTOR 163627. - Some authors mention bands penetrating as far north as Sankt Gallen, where they sacked the monastery in 939. Cf. Ekkehard, Casus S. Galli, IV, 15 (pp. 137f); Lévi-Provençal (1950:60); Reinaud (1964:149f). - "Para los autores árabes medievales, el término Al-Andalus designa la totalidad de las zonas conquistadas – siquiera temporalmente – por tropas arabo-musulmanas en territorios actualmente pertenecientes a Portugal, España y Francia" ("For medieval Arab authors, Al-Andalus designated all the conquered areas – even temporarily – by Arab-Muslim troops in territories now belonging to Portugal, Spain and France"), José Ángel García de Cortázar, V Semana de Estudios Medievales: Nájera, 1 al 5 de agosto de 1994, Gobierno de La Rioja, Instituto de Estudios Riojanos, 1995, p. 52. - Eloy Benito Ruano (2002). Tópicos y realidades de la Edad Media. Real Academia de la Historia. p. 79. ISBN 978-84-95983-06-0. Los arabes y musulmanes de la Edad Media aplicaron el nombre de Al-Andalus a todas aquellas tierras que habian formado parte del reino visigodo: la Peninsula Ibérica y la Septimania ultrapirenaica. ("The Arabs and Muslims from the Middle Ages used the name of al-Andalus for all those lands that were formerly part of the Visigothic kingdom: the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania") - The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Esposito, John L. New York: Oxford University Press. 2003. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001. ISBN 0195125584. OCLC 50280143.CS1 maint: others (link) - O'Callaghan, Joseph F. (1983-10-31). A History of Medieval Spain. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. p. 142. ISBN 0801468728. OCLC 907117391. - Lewis, Bernard. The Jews of Islam. PrincetMeyrick, Fredrick. The Doctrine of the Church of England on the Holy Communion. NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984. p. 14. "Under the ruling Caliph (the descendant of Mohammed – the prophet of G–d on earth), the Jews were able to preserve their rites and traditions. Peaceful coexistence led to their economic and social expansion. Their status was that of Dhimmis, non-Muslims living in a land governed by Muslims. The Jews had limited autonomy, but full rights to practice their religion, as well as full protection by their Muslim rulers, but this did not occur for free. There was a specific tax called the jizya that Dhimmis had to pay to receive these benefits. Having its origin in the Qur'an, it states Dhimmis who did not pay this tax, should either convert to Islam, or face the death penalty (Qur'an 9, 29). This tax, higher than the tax Muslims had to pay, was in several occasions one of the most important sources of income for the kingdom. The jizya was not only a tax, but also a symbolic expression of subordination (Lewis 14)."It is a common misapprehension that the holy war meant that the Muslims gave their opponents a choice 'between Islam and the sword'. This was sometimes the case, but only when the opponents were polytheist and idol-worshippers. For Jews, Christians, and other 'People of the Book', there was a third possibility, they might become a 'protected group', paying a tax or tribute to the Muslims but enjoying internal autonomy" (Watt 144) - Covington, Richard (2007). Arndt, Robert (ed.). "Rediscovering Arabic Science". Saudi Aramco World. Aramco Services Company. 58 (3): 2–16. - Pigna, Felipe (2018-02-06). "La Reconquista española". El Historiador (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. - Sabine Panzram; Laurent Callegarin (22 November 2018). Entre civitas y madina: El mundo de las ciudades en la península ibérica y en el norte de África (siglos IV-IX). Casa de Velázquez. p. 145. ISBN 978-84-9096-227-5. - Michael L. Bates (1992). "The Islamic Coinage of Spain". In Jerrilynn D. Dodds (ed.). Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain. Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-87099-636-8. - Thomas F. Glick (2005). Islamic And Christian Spain in the Early Middle Ages. BRILL. p. 21. ISBN 90-04-14771-3. - Cantó, Pablo (9 September 2016). "De dónde vienen los nombres de las Comunidades Autónomas españolas". El País (in Spanish). Prisa. Retrieved 15 April 2019. - Joaquín Vallvé (1986). La división territorial de la España musulmana. Instituto de Filología. pp. 55–59. ISBN 978-84-00-06295-8. - Halm, Heinz (1989). "Al-Andalus und Gothica Sors". Der Islam. 66 (2): 252–263. doi:10.1515/islm.1922.214.171.124. - Bossong, Georg (2002). Restle, David; Zaefferer, Dietmar (eds.). "Der Name al-Andalus: neue Überlegungen zu einem alten Problem" [The Name al-Andalus: Revisiting an Old Problem] (PDF). Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs. Sounds and systems: studies in structure and change. (in German). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 141: 149. ISBN 978-3-11-089465-3. ISSN 1861-4302. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 27, 2008. Only a few years after the Islamic conquest of Spain, Al-Andalus appears in coin inscriptions as the Arabic equivalent of Hispania. The traditionally held view that the etymology of this name has to do with the Vandals is shown to have no serious foundation. The phonetic, morphosyntactic, and historical problems connected with this etymology are too numerous. Moreover, the existence of this name in various parts of central and northern Spain proves that Al-Andalus cannot be derived from this Germanic tribe. It was the original name of the Punta Marroquí cape near Tarifa; very soon, it became generalized to designate the whole Peninsula. Undoubtedly, the name is of Pre-Indo-European origin. The parts of this compound (anda and luz) are frequent in the indigenous toponymy of the Iberian Peninsula. - Roger Collins (7 May 2012). Caliphs and Kings: Spain, 796-1031. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-0-631-18184-2. - 'Abdulwāhid Dḥanūn Ṭāha (July 2016). "Early Muslim Settlement in Spain: The Berber Tribes in Al-Andalus". Routledge Library Editions: Muslim Spain. Taylor & Francis. pp. 166–177. ISBN 978-1-134-98576-0. - Specifically, 27,000 Arab troops were composed of 6,000 men from each of the four main junds of Jund Dimashq (Damascus), Jund Hims (Homs), Jund al-Urdunn (Jordan), and Jund Filastin (Filastin), plus 3,000 from Jund Qinnasrin. An additional 3,000 were picked up in Egypt. See R. Dozy (1913) Spanish Islam: A History of the Muslims in Spain (translated by Francis Griffin Stokes from Dozy's original (1861) French Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne, with consultation of the 1874 German version and the 1877 Spanish version) Chatto & Windus, London, page 133 - Roger Collins (7 May 2012). Caliphs and Kings: Spain, 796-1031. John Wiley & Sons. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-631-18184-2. - Mahmoud Makki (1992). "The Political History of Al-Andalus". In Salma Khadra Jayyusi, Manuela Marín (eds.). The Legacy of Muslim Spain. BRILL. pp. 12–13. ISBN 90-04-09599-3.CS1 maint: uses editors parameter (link) - Levi-Provençal, (1950: p. 48); Kennedy (1996: p. 45). - Franco Cardini, Europe and Islam , Wiley-Blackwell, 2001, p. 9 - Roger Collins, "The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–797", pp. 113–140 & 168–182. - Squatriti, Paolo (2014). "Of Seeds, Seasons, and Seas: Andrew Watson's Medieval Agrarian Revolution Forty Years Later". The Journal of Economic History. 74 (4): 1205–1220. doi:10.1017/S0022050714000904. - Ruggles, D. Fairchild (2008). Islamic Gardens and Landscapes. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 15–36. ISBN 978-0812240252. - Tertius Chandler. Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth: An Historical Census (1987), St. David's University Press (etext.org Archived 2008-02-11 at the Wayback Machine). ISBN 0-88946-207-0. - Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, Marvin Perry, Myrna Chase, Margaret C. Jacob, James R. Jacob, 2008, 903 pages, pp. 261–262. - Gerber, Jane S. (1994). Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience. Simon and Schuster. p. 54. ISBN 9780029115749. - Khaldun. The Muqaddimah - "Textile Fragment". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2018-12-14. - Ekhtiar, Maryam (2011). Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 82. - Arrighi, Giovanni (2010). The Long Twentieth Century. Verso. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-84467-304-9. - Granada- The Last Refuge of Muslims in Spain by Salah Zaimeche - Tellier, L.N. (2009). Urban World History: An Economic and Geographical Perspective. Presses de l'Universite du Quebec. p. 260. ISBN 9782760522091. - Meyer, M.C.; Beezley, W.H. (2000). The Oxford History of Mexico. Oxford University Press, US. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-19-511228-3. - Kamen, Henry (2005). Spain 1469–1714: A Society of Conflict (Third ed.). Pearson. pp. 37–38. ISBN 9780582784642. - Fernando Rodríguez Mediano (19 April 2013). The Orient in Spain: Converted Muslims, the Forged Lead Books of Granada, and the Rise of Orientalism. BRILL. p. 42. ISBN 978-90-04-25029-1. - Anouar Majid (2004). Freedom and Orthodoxy: Islam and Difference in the Post-Andalusian Age. Stanford University Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-8047-4981-7. - Patricia E. Grieve (19 March 2009). The Eve of Spain: Myths of Origins in the History of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Conflict. JHU Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-8018-9036-9. - L.P. Harvey: Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614. University of Chicago Press, 2008, ISBN 9780226319650, p. 1 (excerpt, p. 1, at Google Books) - Vínculos Historia: The moriscos who remained. The permanence of Islamic origin population in Early Modern Spain: Kingdom of Granada, XVII–XVIII centuries (In Spanish) - Fletcher, Richard; Fletcher, Richard A. (2006). Moorish Spain. University of California Press. p. 27. ISBN 9780520248403. - Ruiz, Ana (2012). Medina Mayrit: The Origins of Madrid. Algora Publishing. p. 57. ISBN 9780875869261. - Glick 1999, Chapter 5: Ethnic Relations. - "The rate of conversion is slow until the tenth century (less than one-quarter of the eventual total number of converts had been converted); the explosive period coincides closely with the reign of 'Abd al-Rahmdn III (912–961); the process is completed (eighty percent converted) by around 1100. The curve, moreover, makes possible a reasonable estimate of the religious distribution of the population. Assuming that there were seven million Hispano-Romans in the peninsula in 711 and that the numbers of this segment of the population remained level through the eleventh century (with population growth balancing out Christian migration to the north), then by 912 there would have been approximately 2.8 million indigenous Muslims (muwalladûn) plus Arabs and Berbers. At this point Christians still vastly outnumbered Muslims. By 1100, however, the number of indigenous Muslims would have risen to a majority of 5.6 million.", (Glick 1999, Chapter 1: At the crossroads of civilization) - Wasserstein, 1995, p. 101. - Jayyusi. The legacy of Muslim Spain - Cohen, Mark R. (1994). Under Crescent and Cross: The Jews in the Middle Ages. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691010823. Retrieved 24 November 2012. - Spain – Al Andalus - Stavans, 2003, p. 10. - Kraemer, 2005, pp. 10–13. - O'Callaghan, 1975, p. 286. - Roth, 1994, pp. 113–116. - Frederick M. Schweitzer, Marvin Perry., Anti-Semitism: myth and hate from antiquity to the present, Palgrave Macmillan, 2002, ISBN 0-312-16561-7, pp. 267–268. - Granada by Richard Gottheil, Meyer Kayserling, Jewish Encyclopedia. 1906 ed. - Harzig, Hoerder and Shubert, 2003, p. 42. - Lewis, Bernard (1987) , The Jews of Islam, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, pp. 44–45, ISBN 978-0-691-00807-3, LCCN 84042575, OCLC 17588445 - Islamic world. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved September 2, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online. - Frank and Leaman, 2003, pp. 137–138. - The Almohads, archived from the original on 2009-02-13 - "Al-Andalus | Facts, History, & Maps". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-11-20. - The formation of al-Andalus. Marín, Manuela, 1945-, Samsó, Julio., Fierro, Ma. Isabel (María Isabel). Aldershot: Ashgate. 1998. pp. xxxvii. ISBN 0860787087. OCLC 38890783.CS1 maint: others (link) - Bakar, Osman (2006). "The Golden Age of Andalusian Science". 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OCLC 1060593202. - Samsó, Julio (2007), "Biṭrūjī: Nūr al‐Dīn Abū Isḥāq [Abū Jaҁfar]Ibrāhīm ibn Yūsuf al‐Biṭrūjī", in Hockey, Thomas; Trimble, Virginia; Williams, Thomas R.; Bracher, Katherine (eds.), The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, Springer New York, pp. 133–134, doi:10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_164, ISBN 978-0-387-30400-7 - History of Islamic philosophy. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein., Leaman, Oliver 1950-. London. pp. 330–343. ISBN 978-0-203-82459-7. OCLC 1081429768.CS1 maint: others (link) - Forcada, Miquel (2007), "Ibn Rushd: Abū al‐Walīd Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Rushd al‐Ḥafīd", in Hockey, Thomas; Trimble, Virginia; Williams, Thomas R.; Bracher, Katherine (eds.), The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, Springer New York, pp. 564–565, doi:10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_687, ISBN 978-0-387-30400-7 - Tbakhi Abdelghani; Amr Samir S. (2008-03-01). "Ibn Rushd (Averroës): Prince of Science". Annals of Saudi Medicine. 28 (2): 145–147. doi:10.5144/0256-4947.2008.145. 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ISBN 9781317368120. Retrieved 10 May 2019. - Daniel Eisenberg (2003). "Homosexuality". In E. Michael Gerli, Samuel G. Armistead (eds.). Medieval Iberia. Taylor & Francis. p. 398. ISBN 978-0-415-93918-8.CS1 maint: uses editors parameter (link) - Alfonso, Esperanza, 2007. Islamic Culture Through Jewish Eyes: al-Andalus from the Tenth to Twelfth Century. NY: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-43732-5 - Al-Djazairi, Salah Eddine 2005. The Hidden Debt to Islamic Civilisation. Manchester: Bayt Al-Hikma Press. ISBN 0-9551156-1-2 - Bossong, Georg. 2002. “Der Name Al-Andalus: Neue Überlegungen zu einem alten Problem”, Sounds and Systems: Studies in Structure and Change. A Festschrift for Theo Vennemann, eds. David Restle & Dietmar Zaefferer. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 149–164. (In German) Also available online: see External Links below. - Calderwood, Eric. 2018. Colonial al-Andalus : Spain and the making of modern Moroccan culture. Harvard University Press - Cohen, Mark. 1994. Under Crescent and Cross: The Jews in the Middle Ages. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01082-X - Collins, Roger. 1989. The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–797, Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19405-3 - Dodds, Jerrilynn D. (1992). Al-Andalus: the art of Islamic Spain. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 9780870996368. - Fernandez-Morera, Dario. 2016. The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise: Muslims, Christians, and Jews under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain. NY: Intercollegiate Studies Institute. ISBN 978-1610170956 - Frank, Daniel H. & Leaman, Oliver. 2003. The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Jewish Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-65574-9 - Gerli, E. Michael, ed., 2003. Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia. NY: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-93918-6 - Halm, Heinz. 1989. “Al-Andalus und Gothica Sors”, Der Islam 66:252–263. - Hamilton, Michelle M., Sarah J. Portnoy, and David A. Wacks, eds. 2004. Wine, Women, and Song: Hebrew and Arabic Literature in Medieval Iberia. Newark, Del.: Juan de la Cuesta Hispanic Monographs. - Harzig, Christiane, Dirk Hoerder, and Adrian Shubert. 2003. The Historical Practice in Diversity. Berghahn Books. ISBN 1-57181-377-2 - Jayyusi, Salma Khadra. 1992. The Legacy of Muslim Spain, 2 vols. Leiden–NY–Cologne: Brill [chief consultant to the editor, Manuela Marín]. - Kennedy, Hugh. 1996. Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus, Longman. ISBN 0-582-49515-6 - Kraemer, Joel. 1997. “Comparing Crescent and Cross (book review)”, The Journal of Religion 77, no. 3 (1997): 449–454. - Kraemer, Joel. 2005. “Moses Maimonides: An Intellectual Portrait”, The Cambridge Companion to Maimonides, ed. Kenneth Seeskin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81974-1 - Kraemer, Joel. 2008. Maimonides: the Life and World of One of Civilization's Greatest Minds. NY: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-51199-X - Lafuente y Alcántara, Emilio, trans. 1867. Ajbar Machmua (colección de tradiciones): crónica anónima del siglo XI, dada a luz por primera vez, traducida y anotada. Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia y Geografía. In Spanish and Arabic. Also available in the public domain online, see External Links. - Luscombe, David and Jonathan Riley-Smith, eds. 2004. The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 4, c. 1024 – c. 1198, Part 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-41411-3 - Marcus, Ivan G., “Beyond the Sephardic mystique”, Orim, vol. 1 (1985): 35–53. - Marín, Manuela, ed. 1998. The Formation of Al-Andalus, vol. 1: History and Society. Aldershot: Ashgate. ISBN 0-86078-708-7 - Menocal, Maria Rosa. 2002. Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain. Boston: Little, Brown and Company; London: Back Bay Books. ISBN 0-316-16871-8 - Monroe, James T. 1970. Islam and the Arabs in Spanish scholarship: (Sixteenth century to the present). Leiden: Brill. - Monroe, James T. 1974. Hispano-Arabic Poetry: A Student Anthology. Berkeley, Cal.: University of California Press. - Netanyahu, Benzion. 1995. The Origins Of The Inquisition in Fifteenth Century Spain. NY: Random House ISBN 0-679-41065-1 - O'Callaghan, Joseph F. 1975. A History of Medieval Spain. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-9264-5 - Omaar, Rageh. 2005. An Islamic History of Europe. video documentary, BBC 4, August 2005. - Reilly, Bernard F. 1993. The Medieval Spains. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-39741-3 - Roth, Norman. 1994. Jews, Visigoths and Muslims in Medieval Spain: Cooperation and Conflict. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 90-04-06131-2 - Sanchez-Albornoz, Claudio. 1974. El Islam de España y el Occidente. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe. Colección Austral; 1560. [Originally published in 1965 in the conference proceedings, L'occidente e l'islam nell'alto medioevo: 2-8 aprile 1964, 2 vols. Spoleto: Centro Italiano di studi sull'Alto Medioevo. Series: Settimane di studio del Centro Italiano di studi sull'Alto Medioevo; 12. Vol. 1:149–308.] - Schorsch, Ismar, 1989. “The myth of Sephardic supremacy”, The Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook 34 (1989): 47–66. - Stavans, Ilan. 2003. The Scroll and the Cross: 1,000 Years of Jewish-Hispanic Literature. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-92930-X - The Art of medieval Spain, A.D. 500–1200. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1993. ISBN 0870996851. - Wasserstein, David J. 1995. “Jewish élites in Al-Andalus”, The Jews of Medieval Islam: Community, Society and Identity, ed. Daniel Frank. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 90-04-10404-6 |Wikimedia Commons has media related to Al-Andalus.| |Wikiquote has quotations related to: Al-Andalus| - Photocopy of the Ajbar Machmu'a, translated by Lafuente 1867 - The routes of al-Andalus (from the UNESCO web site) - The Library of Iberian Resources Online - Al-Andalus Chronology and Photos - Christian Martyrs in Muslim Spain by Kenneth Baxter Wolf - The Musical Legacy of Al-Andalus – historical maps, photos, and music showing the Great Mosque of Córdoba and related movements of people and culture over time - Patricia, Countess Jellicoe, 1992, The Art of Islamic Spain, Saudi Aramco World - "Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain" (documentary film) - Al-Andalus: the art of Islamic Spain, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF) - History of the Spanish Muslims, by Reinhart Dozy, in French

1st Century Judea had a number of divisive sects vying for control of what Judaism meant. The Sadducees, the priests, were the most Hellenized, the most docile with regard to the Roman occupation. The Pharisees, the scribes, were most determined to emphasize their Jewishness, and to appeal to Rabbinical authority and black-letter Mosaic Law. The Essenes were the proto-monastic mystics who hungered for God in the desert. They were most connected to John the Baptist, and according to some New Testament Scholars, to Jesus himself. Then you had the Zealots, who imagined themselves as the successors to the Maccabees who had thrown off Greek rule and in the previous century and briefly established Jewish independence before the Romans showed up. They favored a violent overthrow of Roman rule, and believed that Divine aid would secure this goal as it had secured the Promised Land for Israel in Joshua’s time (Linguist’s Note: “Joshua,” “Yeshua,” and “Jesus” are all the same word as expressed in English, Hebrew, and Greek). A subset (or ally, depending on which source you rely upon) were the sicaroi, or “dagger-men”. Sicaroi were literal terrorists, they would practice stealth assassination with their sicarii, or short-bladed daggers, and then blend back into the crowd. They practiced this not only against Romans, but against Jewish collaborators. What has this to do with Barabbas? Well, the Gospels have it that Barabbas was an unsavory character. Matthew refers to him as a “notorious prisoner” (Mt 27:16), and Mark (15:7) and Luke (23:19) say that he took part in a riot, and committed murder. John 18:40 calls Barabbas a “bandit”, using a Greek word (“lestes”) that the Jewish historian Josephus later used to refer to rebels. Is that enough to justify my headline? Maybe not. Some historians say that the sicaroi were active in the run up to the Jewish Revolt of the 60’s AD, not during the 30’s. But there’s an even more interesting link between Jesus and Barabbas. “Barabbas” in Hebrew means “son of the father”, and early editions of the Gospel of Matthew refer to Jesus as “Jesus Barabbas”. It may have been changed to avoid confusion. This presents an interesting contrast between the two guys Pilate had on hand to execute on Good Friday: there’s the Messiah that Jesus claimed to be and the more direct, political type that Barabbas could well have been. The Messiah of God vs. the Messiah of Man, as Augustine might have put it. Which is why The Devil Left Him has a tragic, dagger-wielding Barabbas encountering Jesus prior to their more famous meeting. Check it out.

A Lasting Gift: Remembering My Friend Kim Chernin Gail Reitano on the Life and Career of a Beloved Mentor and Kindred Spirit Kim Chernin’s memoir In My Mother’s House has lived in me ever since I first read it in the 1980s, when I was living in London. The uneasy daughter, the uneasy mother, the mother’s life of activism, the struggle for justice, a daughter’s search for meaning in her life independent of her mother: these themes spoke to me. In the decades since, I had forgotten Kim, except for the picture on the cover—that naughty look, those warm, knowing eyes. In the strange way of chemistry between humans, that expression has never left me. I met her on a cold, rainy Sunday, the kind of day when you want to stay home and drink endless cups of tea. But there was an event at Mesa Refuge, the northern California residency for writers founded in 1997 by the writer and entrepreneur Peter Barnes. There was to be a reading by several nature writers. I was stuck on a novel I was writing and thought the readings might knock loose a little inspiration. But as the event neared, I felt less and less like attending. Had I not gone, it’s hard to imagine what would have happened or not happened, because that day changed the trajectory of my writing life. My husband and I were sitting on a sofa waiting for the readings to begin when Kim and her partner Renate Stendhal sat down next to us. We were strangers, but immediately the four of us began a cascading conversation, and the sofa became our own little island in the midst of the event going on around us. We carried on until told to be quiet, but we picked right back up as soon as the readings were over, talking over snacks in the kitchen before circulating around the event. As my husband and I were about to leave, Peter Barnes, assuming we hadn’t met, introduced the four of us—which made us laugh—and I caught Kim’s full name. I felt intrigued, excited; that day marked the beginning of our friendship. Kim offered to read the novel I had been working on, as well as an essay about the encounters I had had with Andy Warhol, who was my landlord when I lived on the Bowery in New York City. I envied his success, and the cool, hip entourage that formed around him and supported him. I was a writer with an all-consuming day job, and I would wake in the middle of the night to work on my Bowery stories. What I lacked was a community. That would have been around the same time that Kim was first starting out, encouraged to publish her first books by a strong, active group of feminist writers. Once Kim, Renate, and I began our informal writing group, the three of us met regularly, shared pieces, edited, suggested, argued. Kim was forceful in her critiques and rarely did she feel the need to agree with Renate or me. Kim’s and Renate’s observations were spot-on—not surprising, given that they were both fine writers in addition to being therapists and working editors. For the first time in my writing life, I found myself with access to an expertise that went far beyond my hopes or expectations. Kim’s writing explored a wide range of subjects: gender identity, lesbianism, body image, and psychoanalysis, which she had done for 20 years with prominent San Francisco analysts. But I was particularly interested in how she handled her Jewish identity. We shared a sense of justice, a love of the underdog, and a belief that what society and religion sought to separate, and isolate, we could find solutions to using the written word. The author of The Flame Bearers, Kim was the perfect person to advise me on the spiritual longings of my main character, Marie Genovese. Kim encouraged me to bring forth Marie’s Italian American rituals, her herbs, spells, and magical baking. When Marie’s near-hallucinogenic experiences with her dead mother needed to straddle the real and the imagined, Kim recommended William James’s The Varieties of Religious Experience, which gave me the confidence to write about what is unseen. In her own writing, Kim frequently worked with magic, myth, and religion, and throughout her life, she wrote mystical poems. She would never share these, considering them private until much later in life, when she was urged by her extensive feminist network to publish some in Dark Matter: Women Witnessing. Kim, Renate, and I liked to talk about our mothers. One day, we were sitting in my kitchen, and I confided that mine had never gone to college. Kim leaned forward and with conspiratorial glee, said, “Neither did mine!” “Nor mine,” said Renate. This confession launched the three of us headlong into a discussion about class and family relationships, topics that Kim had explored in her writing, in particular in her first memoir and The Woman Who Gave Birth to her Mother. I’d participated in writing workshops for many years: in several courses at the University of London, six summer workshops at The Community of Writers in the Sierra, and for four years in a group led by the poet Robert Glück in San Francisco. For a writer, the ideal situation is a community without distractions, one that is separate from the demands of family, a place to renew one’s commitment to the craft. At this point, though, my work had reached the stage where I also needed mentoring. Kim stepped into this role with an enthusiasm that surprised me. The timing was right; by her own admission, she had reached the point in her career where she trusted her large body of work would find its rightful place. Her output would eventually total more than 20 published books, six unpublished, archived manuscripts, and a number of poems. She was a fast writer and surefooted in her decisions about every aspect of writing. Kim loved food. For several years, she and Renate came to our house for Christmas dinner. She had written honestly about having experienced anorexia and bulimia as a young woman, but her relationship to food had changed over the years. She was obsessed with good food and she especially loved deserts. If Kim were still alive we would probably, on May 7th, be baking an Italian love cake together, and we would be continuing our workshop. If we’re lucky, we find our mentors, our teachers, and our community once we leave the comfort of home and the tea kettle. For eight years I felt held, appreciated, and seen, and that is a lasting gift. Italian Love Cake is available from Bordighera Press. Copyright © 2021 by Gail Reitano.

So which book of Samuel do I mean? "Samuel #1" (meaning the first book of Samuel) or "Samuel #2" (the second book)? The answer is...both. Jewish tradition doesn't distinguish between the two parts of this book (nor between the "two" books of Kings or of Chronicles). The division was made by the first Christian printers in the fifteenth century and doesn't necessarily have much to do with the meaning or structure of the Tanach. Now that we know what it is we're talking about, we can ask the main question: what is the book of Samuel all about? It wouldn't be right to say that the book is of Shmuel's life's story - because he died at the end of the first half of the book! It would probably be more accurate to describe the book as the history of the founding of the Kingdom of Israel - in which Shmuel was instrumental. Until Shmuel, the Jews had no kings. There was a judge in each generation who provided a certain amount of moral leadership, but his power and influence weren't nearly as those of a king. The Jews who Shmuel served wanted a king to judge them "like all the nations" (I Samuel, 8 5) and who would "lead them out into battle" (I Samuel, 8 20). G-d also wanted the Jews to have a king; indeed, the nation's destiny could not be reached without one. But G-d wanted a king for the Jews in the right time, when they were ready. The fact that the request for a king was "so we can be like all the nations" was a clear indication that something was very wrong. The job of the Jews is not to be "like all the nations" but to be the nation of G-d. Nevertheless, G-d instructed Shmuel to anoint a truly great king - Saul. It was Saul who was given the task of destroying the nation of Amalek - a necessary preparation for the building of Jerusalem and the Temple. And it was Saul who, through his humane sensitivity, left the king of Amalek and the captured flocks alive (see I Samuel 15). That mistake cost Saul his kingdom, his chance at unimaginable greatness and eventually, his life. There's a time for sensitivity and mercy...but not when G-d Himself has told you otherwise. The man chosen by G-d to replace Saul was a young shephard from the tribe of Judah (Yehuda), David. David would bring Israel's capital to Jerusalem and lay the groundwork for the Temple. David's son, Solomon (Shlomo) would build the Temple amidst the peace and prosperity of the whole nation. Their descendants would rule (at least part of) the people of Israel until the destruction of the first Temple. This was a period which covered nearly 500 years. The balance of the book of Shmuel, is the story of King David, his relationship with his father-in-law, Saul, his struggles with the enemies of Israel and with some of the members of his own family and with the coming of age of the first Jewish Commonwealth. The book begins with the birth of Shmuel (2832, or 928) and ends shortly before the death of King David (2924, or 836). Rabbi Boruch Clinton teaches at the Ottawa Torah Institute yeshiva high school and Machon Sarah high school for girls (both in Ottawa, Canada). You may reach him with comments and questions at You can now read some of Rabbi Clinton's essays on Torah life at You can also buy his collection of essays on the Book of Shmuel (Samuel) in printed form at Copyright © 2000 by Rabbi Clinton and Project Genesis, Inc.

John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley |The Right Honourable| The Lord Browne of Madingley 20 February 1948| Executive Chairman of L1 Energy, | Former CEO, BP plc, Past President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Member of the House of Lords, He is best known for his role as the chief executive of the energy company BP between 1995 and 2007. This period has been described as the company's "golden period of expansion and diversification" though an investigation of the fatal explosion at BP's Texas City, Texas, plant on 23 March 2005 that killed 15 workers and injured more than 170 others, resulted in fines and awards being given out for breaches in its health and safety regime. Browne was lauded during this period, as he engineered a merger with rival Amoco, and gained access to Russian oil reserves with the creation of TNK-BP. Nicknamed by employees the "Sun King" for his management style, he was also praised for increasing BP's interest in renewable energy sources. He resigned from BP in May 2007 in controversial circumstances surrounding his personal life. He is a former President of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2006 to July 2011). Since 2001, he has been a crossbench member of the House of Lords. Lord Browne is a former Partner of Riverstone, which is co-owner of Cuadrilla resources. He received his undergraduate education at the University of Cambridge and later attended Stanford University. Early life and education Browne was born on 20 February 1948 in Hamburg, Germany. His father was a British Army officer who later worked for Anglo-Persian Oil (renamed the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) in 1935), which later became British Petroleum. His mother, Paula, was a Hungarian Jewish Auschwitz survivor. Many members of Browne's Jewish maternal family, including his grandparents, were murdered at the Birkenau concentration camp during The Holocaust. Browne was educated at the King's School, Ely, and St John's College, Cambridge, where he earned a First Class BSc degree in Physics. In addition to his degree in Physics from Cambridge University, he holds an MS degree in Business from Stanford University, California. Career at BP At the suggestion of his father, Browne joined BP as an apprentice in 1966 while still at university. He remained with the corporation throughout his career. Between 1969 and 1983, he held a variety of exploration and production posts in Anchorage, Alaska, New York, San Francisco, London and Canada. In 1984 he became Group Treasurer and Chief Executive of BP Finance International. In April 1986, he took up the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of The Standard Oil of Ohio in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1987, following the BP/Standard merger, in addition to his position as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of BP America, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Standard Oil Production Company. In 1989, he became Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BP Exploration based in London. In September 1991, he joined BP's board as a Managing Director. He was appointed Group Chief Executive on 10 June 1995 after the British government sold its last remaining stake in the company. Following the merger of BP and Amoco, he became Group Chief Executive of the combined group on 31 December 1998 and served until 1 May 2007. He was one of the most highly paid executives in the UK, with a remuneration package of approximately £5.7 million in 2004. From 1997, Browne sought to re-brand BP as a "green" energy company. The company linked itself in its corporate communications with green issues by the overt link of its BP initials with the phrase "Beyond Petroleum". Browne stated that the right to self-determination was crucial for people everywhere, and that he saw his company's mission as to find ways to meet current needs without excessive harm to the environment, while developing future, more sustainable sources of energy. He promised that BP would cut its production of CO2 by 10% by 2010; it is as yet unproved whether BP met this goal in the wake of Browne's departure (2007). It was announced on 25 July 2006 that Browne would stand down as chief executive of BP in December 2008. There had been press speculation that he had wished to continue beyond this date, but he made it clear that he did not wish to do so. On 6 January 2007, Browne won his first interim injunction against the publication of allegations by his former partner, Jeff Chevalier. Browne later disclosed being "terrified" that his sexuality would be revealed publicly. A week later it was announced that his retirement date had been brought forward to July 2007 and that Tony Hayward would succeed him. In April 2007, after a court case lasting over four weeks, Browne appealed to the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords, who ruled that he could not prevent Associated Newspapers from printing allegations about his romantic life and alleged misuse of company funds. Lord Browne resigned from BP on 1 May 2007, and resigned as a non-executive director of Goldman Sachs on 10 May 2007. At the time he faced allegations that he had supported his partner, Canadian Jeff Chevalier, throughout their four-year relationship, and when Chevalier moved back to Toronto at the end of the relationship, that Browne paid for 12 months of a lease on an apartment. Browne says he felt under pressure to resign due to UK newspaper Mail on Sunday's revelations about his personal life and relationship with Chevalier. As part of a statement made at the time of his resignation, he commented: "In my 41 years with BP, I have kept my private life separate from my business life. I have always regarded my sexuality as a personal matter, to be kept private. It is a matter of deep disappointment that a newspaper group has now decided that allegations about my personal life should be made public." A court accepted that Browne had lied over how he met Chevalier. In a deposition to the court, Browne said the pair had met in a London park; Browne's associates later acknowledged that he had actually met Chevalier via a website called Suited and Booted. However, Mr Justice Eady, the presiding judge in the case, said he decided not to refer the matter to the Attorney General, seeing disclosure in the judgement of Lord Browne's behaviour as "probably sufficient punishment", and adding Browne's "willingness to tell a deliberate lie to the court, persisted in for about two weeks, ... is relevant in assessing his own credibility and the overall merits. So too is his willingness casually to 'trash’ the reputation of Mr Chevalier and to discredit him in the eyes of the court". Browne is currently the Executive Chairman of L1 Energy. Lord Browne was the UK Government Lead Non-Executive Director until January 2015. His remit was to work with Secretaries of State to appoint non-executives to the board of each government department. He was President of the Royal Academy of Engineering from 2006 to 2011. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2006. In 1998, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and in 2001 named by the House of Lords Appointments Commission as one of the "people's peers" taking the title Baron Browne of Madingley, of Cambridge in the County of Cambridgeshire, and becoming a crossbencher in the House of Lords. In 2000 he was the recipient of the FIRST Responsible Capitalism Award. He was appointed a Trustee of the Tate Gallery on 1 August 2007 and Chair of the Trustees in January 2009. In November 2009 it was announced that Lord Browne would chair an independent review into university tuition fees which reported in October 2010. In December 2009 the Review panel revealed that the average graduate premium in the UK, the increase in lifetime salary of a degree compared to 2 A levels, had fallen to just £100,000 (before debt). In June 2010 he was appointed as the Government's Lead Non-Executive Director, charged with recruiting business leaders to reformed departmental boards.. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of Afiniti, a US based technology business. In October 2010 it was announced that Lord Browne had been appointed chairman of the advisory board at Stanhope Capital as the asset manager gears up for international expansion. The former chief executive of BP will help advise on attracting investment from charities and endowment trusts, which at present make up a small number of the Stanhope’s total clients. He is Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford, and Chairman of the Trustees of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. From August 2017, he will serve as Chairman of the Francis Crick Institute, and from September 2017 will serve as Chairman of the Courtauld Institute of Art, following the end of his tenure at Tate. In June 2013, it was reported that Lord Browne had agreed to advise LetterOne Holdings on a new $20bn (£12.7bn) global oil and gas fund. On 2 March 2015 he was appointed Executive Chairman of L1 Energy, an oil and gas investment vehicle which acts as a subsidiary of LetterOne Holdings, co-owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman. It was announced on 2 July 2015 that Lord Browne was appointed as chairman of the selection committee for IMAGINE: The Genesis Prize Design Competition, a new initiative of the Genesis Prize Foundation set to open for submissions in September 2015. In March 2018 he took Leave of Absence from the House of Lords. Lord Browne published his memoirs Beyond Business in February 2010. Seven Elements that Changed the World, an examination of the role of seven scientific elements in history, was published in April 2013. On 17 June 2014 he published The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out Is Good Business, a book discussing the risks and rewards of coming out in business and advocating for a top-down corporate policy of LGBT inclusiveness. Lord Browne is said to be the first openly gay CEO of any Fortune 500 company. - Beyond Business (February 2010) - Seven Elements that Have Changed the World (April 2013) - The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out Is Good Business (May 2014) - Connect: How companies succeed by engaging radically with society (September 2015) He contributed to a 2013 book on public sector management, in which he drew on his experiences as the British Government's lead non-executive director. In 2015, he was co-author of the report that launched the Global Apollo Programme, which calls for developed nations to commit to spending 0.02% of their GDP for 10 years, to fund co-ordinated research to make carbon-free baseload electricity less costly than electricity from coal by the year 2025. The Browne Review On 12 October 2010 the report of the inquiry headed by Lord Browne was published under the title Securing a Sustainable Future for Higher Education. The main recommendation of the report was that the current cap of £3,290 on university tuition fees should be lifted thereby allowing such institutions to determine their own fee structure. Cuts and safety record controversy Browne is described by journalist and author Tom Bower as responsible for a "ruthless" programme of cost-cutting at BP that compromised safety, and thus the man most responsible for a string of major accidents including the Texas City Refinery explosion (2005) and the Deepwater Horizon explosion (2010). Bower also accuses Browne of tolerating only "sycophants" in his "corporate court", said to include Tony Hayward who succeeded him as BP Chief Executive. Browne has rejected Bower's account, saying that he (Browne) increased the number of engineers appointed to BP. According to The Guardian newspaper, "Browne's reputation was tarnished by a string of accidents in the US which hastened his retirement", and Browne declined to appear in an hour-long BBC2 documentary on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in which Tony Hayward was extensively interviewed, broadcast in November 2010. Lord Browne lists 17th- and 18th-century illustrated Italian books, pre-Columbian art, contemporary Art, music, opera and the theatre among his interests. He is a Fellow (FREng) and former President of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2006-2011), a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM), a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP), a Fellow of the Institute of Petroleum (FInstPet), a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, a Companion of the Institute of Management (CIMgt), an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (HonFIChemE), a Fellow of the Geological Society (FGS), an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (HonFIMechE), and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (HonFRSC). Browne has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from Heriot-Watt University (D.Eng) and Robert Gordon University (D.Tech), Aston University in Birmingham, University of Dundee (LLD), Warwick University (D.Sc), Hull University (D.Sc), Cranfield University (D.Sc), Sheffield Hallam University (Hon. D Univ), University of Buckingham (D.Sc), University of Belfast (Hon DSc 0 Eng) and the University of Surrey (Hon D. Univ), Imperial College, London (Hon D.Sc), Leuven University, Belgium (D.Sc), Thunderbird (LLD), University of Notre Dame (LLD), Colorado School of Mines (D.Eng), D Mendeleyev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, Arizona State University (DHLitt). He is an Honorary Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge and a Senior Member of St Antony’s College, Oxford. - "List of Fellows". - Cookson, Clive (2013-04-26). "John Browne: A man of science". FT.com. Retrieved 2013-11-02. - Rocker, Simon (July 2, 2013). "Learning from the past - and my survivor mother". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved October 26, 2015. - Blake, Heidi (12 October 2010). "Lord Browne: profile of the former BP chief". London: The Daily Telegraph, UK. Retrieved 12 October 2010. - Browne, John (2014). The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out Is Good Business. London, UK: WH Allen. p. 22. ISBN 9780753555330. - Tran, Mark (25 July 2016). "Browne to retire from BP in 2008". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 January 2017. - Cobain, Ian (2 May 2007). "BP's Browne quits over lie to court about private life". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 6 May 2010. - "'Perjury' threat for ex-BP boss". BBC News. 2 May 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2010. - "BP chief and ex-boyfriend: full text of judgment". The Times. London. 1 May 2007. Retrieved 3 May 2007. - "BP boss wanted to keep gay life private". PinkNews. 1 May 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2010. - "BP chief executive Browne resigns". BBC News. 1 May 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2010. - Gay News 365Gay.com Archived 3 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine. - Yahoo! News Archived 3 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine. - Rozenberg, Joshua (1 May 2007). "Lord Browne resigns after revelations he lied in court about gay lover". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 19 Oct 2010. - "BP chief executive Browne resigns". BBC News. 1 May 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2010. - "Lord Browne of Madingley". Retrieved 29 October 2014. - "No. 55229". The London Gazette. 18 August 1998. p. 8994. - "HOLAC Appointments". House of Lords Appointments Commission. 5 February 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2010. - "No. 56262". The London Gazette. 3 July 2001. p. 1. - Minutes and Order Paper – Minutes of Proceedings House of Lords, UK Parliament, 18 July 2001 - "FIRST Award For Responsible Capitalism". FIRST Magazine.com. 2000. Retrieved 28 July 2010. - "Press Releases | Lord Browne of Madingley appointed Chair of Tate Trustees". Tate. 26 January 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2010. - "Lord Browne to head review into higher education funding and student finance" (Press release). 9 November 2009. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2010. - "A degree is now worth just Ł2,500 a year (before debt is paid)". London Evening Standard. 7 December 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2010. - "Lord Browne appointed to key Whitehall role". Cabinet Office. 30 June 2010. Archived from the original on 10 November 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2010. - "Princess Beatrice wins her first high-profile client as a business matchmaker". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-05-29. - "Blavatnik School of Government International Advisory Board". Retrieved 28 February 2014. - "Lord Browne to advise $20bn oil and gas fund". City AM. 18 June 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2013. - Stanley Reed, Ex-Chief of BP Named Chairman of Russian Billionaire’s Oil and Gas Group, March 2, 2015 - Jerusalem Post, ‘IMAGINE’ design competition for Genesis Prize statuette announced, July 5, 2015, http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/IMAGINE-design-competition-for-Genesis-Prize-statuette-announced-408073 - "Seven Elements That Have Changed the World". Orion Books. Retrieved 19 July 2013. - "Confessions of a gay ex-CEO: How corporate America can unlock the closet". 16 June 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014. - Stevenson, Alexander (2013). The Public Sector: Managing The Unmanageable. Kogan Page. ISBN 978-0-7494-6777-7. - Carrington, Damian. "Global Apollo programme seeks to make clean energy cheaper than coal". The Guardian (2 June 2015). Guardian News Media. Retrieved 2 June 2015. - "The Browne Report". HMSO. 12 October 2010. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2010. - Vasagar, Jeevan; Shepherd, Jessica (12 October 2010). "Browne review: Universities must set their own tuition fees". The Guardian. Guardian. Retrieved 4 January 2018. - Tom Bower (3 July 2010). "Return of Lord Oil Slick: Why has Cameron handed Lord Browne such a key job?". Daily MailMail Online. London. Retrieved 28 July 2010. - "Response From Former BP CEO John Browne". Newsweek. 16 June 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2010. - Webb, Tim (9 November 2010). "Tony Hayward on BP oil crisis: 'I'd have done better with an acting degree'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 November 2010. - Freyberg, Annabel (25 July 2013). "Interiors: inside Lord Browne of Madingley's Chelsea home". The Daily Telegraph. London. - Mail Online, 6 May 2007 - Globe and Mail, 7 May 2007 - On being an engineer – Lord Browne of Madingley FREng FRS Ingenia magazine, March 2008; Lord Browne speaking at the 2008 Lubbock Lecture on his experiences as an engineer when working on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline | Chief Executive of BP

“Playing Maura Pfefferman on Transparent has been one of the greatest privileges and creative experiences of my life,” Tambor said in a statement provided to Deadline. “What has become clear over the past weeks, however, is that this is no longer the job I signed up for four years ago.” “I’ve already made clear my deep regret if any action of mine was ever misinterpreted by anyone as being aggressive, but the idea that I would deliberately harass anyone is simply and utterly untrue,” Tambor added. “Given the politicized atmosphere that seems to have afflicted our set, I don’t see how I can return to Transparent.” Tambor has been accused of sexual misconduct by two transgender women who work on Transparent, including actress Trace Lysette. Lyssette described several inappropriate interactions with Tambor, including one instance in which Tambor commented on her appearance by saying, “My God, Trace. I want to attack you sexually.” She alleges that he then approached her, “put his bare feet on top of mine so I could not move, leaned his body against me, and began quick, discreet thrust back and forth against my body. I felt his penis on my hip through his thin pajamas.” Another woman, Tambor’s former assistant who also worked as a creative consultant on Transparent, accused him of sexual harassment in a private Facebook post. In Transparent, Tambor played Maura Pfefferman, a transgender, divorced, Jewish parent of three. The role earned him two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, as well as a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical. Tambor also earned Emmy nominations for his previous roles on The Larry Sanders Show and Arrested Development.

How does a great G-d reside in a small temple? The very fact that G-d chose us as the object of His commandments is infinitely more significant than anything our finite efforts might achieve. Does this mean that whether we do them or not is basically irrelevant? For more than eight centuries, there stood an edifice upon a Jerusalem hilltop which served as the point of contact between heaven and earth --- as the physical expression of G-d's all-pervading reality. So central was this edifice to the relationship between man and G-d that nearly two thirds of the mitzvot (divine commandments of the Torah) relate to it; its destruction is mourned as the greatest tragedy of our history, and its rebuilding will mark the ultimate redemption --- the restoration of harmony within G-d's creation and between G-d and His creation. This edifice is commonly referred to by our sages as Beit Hamikdash --- "the house of holiness." Indeed, in commanding the Jewish people to construct the portable sanctuary that served them in the desert and was the forerunner of the divine home in Jerusalem, G-d said: "They shall make for Me a Mikdash (holy place or facilitator of holiness), and I shall dwell amongst them." These descriptions of the house of G-d as a place of 'holiness' have also yielded the contemporary English term for Beit Hamikdash, 'Holy Temple.' In the twelfth chapter of Deuteronomy, however, the Torah refers to the divine edifice in Jerusalem as 'the place that G-d shall choose to have His name (i.e. His express reality) dwell therein. The concept of divine 'choice' as the defining feature of the Temple is reiterated in virtually every reference to it in the Five Books of Moses (e.g. Deuteronomy 12:5, 11, 14, 18, 21 and 26; ibid., 14:24 and 25; 15:20; et al). Hence the other name by which the Temple is referred to by our sages: Be it Habechirah, 'the house of choice' or 'the house of [G-d's] choosing.' Vessel or Implement 'Choice' and 'holiness' connote two very different - even opposite - aspects of the Temple's role as the seat of G-d's manifest presence in our world. Chassidic teaching illustrates this difference with an example of the different ways in which various organs of the human body serve as a vehicle for the human mind. The body is a physical object, while the mind is a metaphysical entity; it would therefore seem that there can be no contact or interrelation between the two. Nevertheless, the miracle of human life is that matter and spirit unite to produce animation, emotion and thought. Thus, a brain of flesh can think, hypothesize, invent, and serve as a depository for the most abstract truths. But the brain is not the only part of the body that serves as a facilitator of intellect. The hands, for example, also serve as conduits of thought, by transcribing ideas as words on paper, colors on canvas, or forms in stone. Obviously, the brain and the hands differ greatly in how they serve as tools of the mind. The brain is a 'vessel' for the mind, an organ designed to house and serve it; there is something about the its material and construction that makes it a ready receptacle for the intellect. The hand, however, is no more a 'vessel' for intellect than the foot, or any other part of the body. The mind has simply chosen to express itself via certain movements of the hand that, in turn, produce certain forms, which, again by the mind's choosing, represent something intelligible. True, the brain is mere flesh, infinitely more corporeal than the ethereal mind. But it's not just any piece of flesh: it's an 'intellectual' piece of flesh -- as much as physical matter can be said to be 'intellectual' -- a piece of flesh with attributes and features that qualify it to serve as a seat for the intellect. The hand, however, possesses no such attributes or features --- there is nothing 'mind ready' about its flesh. It is simply that the mind has the power to manipulate it (as it has the power to manipulate other parts of the body) in a great variety of ways, so that it can use it to produce a variety of forms to which the mind has chosen to attach significance, in the same way that it can manipulate the voice cords to produce 'intelligible' sounds, or the feet to produce 'intelligible' dance steps. (The hands might be 'handier' tools for the mind's expression than the feet, but only because they are more manipulatable, not more 'intellectual.') When we speak of the divine abode in Jerusalem as a Beit Hamikdash, a 'house of holiness,' we are describing it as the 'brain' of the world. We are saying that, of all locales in the physical universe, this is the holiest --- the most conducive to divine 'residence' and expression. True, it is a physical entity, and, as such, infinitely removed from the divine; but within the physical world itself, it is the most spiritual of entities, as much as physical space and matter can be 'spiritual.' It is a holy place and edifice, a place and edifice formed and forged as a receptacle for the divine. Its very ground and stone are steeped with creation's self-abnegation in service of its Creator; here, the 'I am' of the physical -- the brute being and self-absorption that render it so impenetrable to divine light -- has been subdued, making translucent the veil of corporeality that obscures the truth of G-d's omnipresence. Here, the physical is less object, more subject --- more holy. Yet the brain metaphor falls short of describing the ultimate nature of the relationship between the Temple and the divine immanence it 'housed.' For while a certain physical entity can be said to be more spiritual that all others (in the same way that the flesh of the brain is said to be more 'intelligent' than the body's other organs and limbs), G-d is not spiritual. The spiritual might be more yielding to the divine truth, and thus more expressive of certain aspects of the divine reality, than the physical; but ultimately, G-d is no more spiritual than He is physical. It is He who created both the physical universe and the spiritual realities, he who created the very concepts 'spirit' and 'matter'; so it would be nothing less than ridiculous to define Him in either of these terms. He transcends them both, and manipulates them both at will; ultimately, whatever significance the spiritual has as a conveyer of the divine stems not from its own 'spiritual' features, but from the simple fact that G-d has chosen it to express (certain aspects of) His truth. To employ a mathematical model, the number (one million) is no closer to (infinity) than the number (one). In the same way, while the spiritual marks a departure from material self-absorption toward G-d, it is ultimately no more of a 'vessel' for the divine essence than the most corporeal of G-d's creations. The specialty of the Temple lay in that its function was to express the very essence of G-d --- the divine truth that equally transcends both matter and spirit. As King Solomon proclaimed at the Temple's dedication, 'Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You, how, then, can this house that I have built You?!' How can a physical edifice, no matter how 'spiritual' and 'holy,' house the quintessential You whom the most sublime spiritual worlds ('the heavens and the heaven of heavens') cannot contain? Yet G-d instructed that we build a home for Him, saying 'I shall dwell' in it --- not because it is any more 'divine' a place than any other, but simply because He chose to manifest Himself in this particular point of the physical universe. So while the Beit Hamikdash might be the 'brain' of the world in terms of 'holiness' and spirituality, its ultimate relationship with the divine presence is that of a hand with the ideas the mind chooses to convey through it. The hand's 'intelligence' has nothing to do with its innate substance and construction; it stems wholly from the mind, who has chosen to express itself in a certain way --- through motions and forms that are rational because the mind has chosen to attribute meaning to them. In the same way, the ultimate significance of the Temple is that it is a Beit Habechirah --- a home of G-d's choosing. Nothing about it, including its spirituality and holiness, can be the 'reason' why the divine presence is to be found there --- G-d could just as well have chosen any other spot or edifice on earth. But this is the place G-d chose to manifestly be, and the divine service performed within its walls is what He chose to be the facilitators of His presence. Sanctifying the Choice Nevertheless, the Temple is both Beit Habechirah and Beit Hamikdash. Our sages use both terms, and use them interchangeably. A case in point is Maimonides' codification of the laws governing the Temple's construction and the Temple service in the eighth book of his Mishneh Torah. The first section of this book, which deals with the Temple's construction, is entitled Laws of the Beit Habechirah, implying that the most basic definition of the Temple is that it is an object of divine choice; but these are followed by Laws regarding the Vessels of the Mikdash and Those Who Serve In It and Laws of Entering the Mikdash. Indeed, even the section entitled Laws of the Beit Habechirah, Maimonides also relates to the 'holiness' of the Temple site, enumerating many deeds of self-sacrifice and human striving for the divine that saturate its atmosphere and soil and make it the 'appropriate' spot for G-d's presence on earth: '...the place where David and Solomon built the [Temple's] altar is the very spot on which Abraham built the altar on which he bound Isaac. This is the spot where Noah built [his altar] on when he emerged from the ark. This is the [place of the] altar on which Cain and Abel brought their offerings, and Adam where brought an offering upon his creation...' For it is not enough for man to accept G-d's choices and leave it at that. Even as we acknowledge that our spiritual 'million' is no closer to the divine infinity than our corporeal 'one,' we must make the effort to strive towards the ultimate, to achieve the utmost that we are capable of. We must strive to sanctify what G-d has chosen, to make it a ready receptacle for His presence on our terms, even as we acknowledge that nothing is a 'ready receptacle' on His terms. Indeed, by sanctifying what G-d has chosen we deepen His connection with it and with our reality. As explained above, G-d's choice relates only to the thing itself, not to its nature and qualities, which are utterly irrelevant (and cannot be relevant) to the divine choice. So when G-d chooses something, all that has happened is that the thing itself has become an implement (or 'hand') of the divine truth; it has yet to become a 'brain' --- yet to become one with its role, yet to be saturated with the essence of what it is conveying. When G-d chose a certain point in physical space as the seat of His presence, there was still nothing about its nature and character to distinguish it from any other point of the universe; but then, when Adam came and expressed his subservience to his maker on that spot, and was followed by Cain and Abel, Noah, and Abraham, the place became 'holy' --- a place with spiritual and G-dly (or G-d-aspiring) qualities. The same applies each time we perform a mitzvah --- a physical deed which G-d has deemed an act of connection with Him. The very fact that G-d has commanded us this deed -- even before we actually perform it -- establishes a quintessential bond between Himself and our physical lives: G-d has chosen our physical being and environment as objects of His will. This monumental fact overshadows all else, being infinitely more significant than whatever 'holiness' we might achieve with our finite understanding, feelings and actions. Yet, as long as the connection is based solely on what G-d has done, we are bound to him only as 'hands' are related to the mind --- as implements of intellect, but without anything intellectual about them. To become 'brains' of the divine mind -- to become not only objects of divine choice, but also organs whose divine function defines their nature and character -- we must actualize G-d's choice of us with the sanctification of our daily lives as a Beit Hamikdash that serves His will and houses His truth. Based on a series of talks the Rebbe delivered in the Summer of 5740 (1980) The First Temple was built by King Solomon in the year 2928 from creation (833 bce) and destroyed by the Babylonians in 3338 (423 bce); the Second Temple, built by Ezra 3409 (352 bce), was destroyed by the Romans in 3829 (69 ce). Exodus 25:8. See Ohr Hatorah, Vayeitzei 178a; Sefer Hamaamarim 5680, p. 184; et al. I Kings, 8:27. Laws of the Beit Habechirah, 2:2. Mitzvah, Hebrew for 'commandment,' also translates as 'connection.' Cf. Shaloh, Portal of Letters, Lamed: "The verse does not say '[Make for Me a Mikdash, and I shall dwell] within it,' but 'within them --- with each and every one of them." Likkutei Sichot, vol. XIX pp. 140-147. Reprinted from The Week In Review Vol. VI No 52 with permission from the Meaningful Life Center

I am delighted to be taking over the post of Head of Cheder (EL²) from Paul Bloomfield and joining the ELELS community. Over the last 7 years I have taught Jewish liturgy, ethics and Hebrew at Westminster Synagogue to children from 5-13 as well as designing curricula and organising educational events and residential weekends. However, having grown up in South Woodford with my family belonging to South West Essex and Settlement Reform Synagogue, leading EL² is also a return to my roots. Professionally, I come from an artistic background as a performer and creative with my own theatre company, NMT Automatics. Our most recent project, inspired by the Iliad, is being developed with St Andrews University classics department and an extract will be shown at The British Museum as part of their current Troy exhibition in February. I have just completed a Masters Degree in Movement: directing and teaching at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and as you can imagine I like to incorporate drama and movement into my teaching. I married my wife, Jennie, in 2019, who is also an actress, and we are based locally. I will look to use all of the skills that I have accumulated to develop the EL² experience into one that is vibrant, dynamic and informed; whilst continuing to build upon the inclusive friendly and social atmosphere with children, staff and parents alike that have ensured a growing community. I look forward to meeting you all in the coming weeks. Please do not hesitate to contact me on [email protected] if you have any questions or ideas or to introduce yourself.

Félix Becerra, a leader of the Aymara indigenous organization CONAMAQ, has called upon Bolivia’s judicial authorities to widen the investigation of the current corruption scandal to include Presidency Minister Juan Ramón Quintana, Government Minister Carlos Romero and UN Ambassador Sacha Llorenti. Noting longstanding CONAMAQ claims that the Evo Morales government is setting up state-controlled “parallel” organizations to divide the indigenous movement, Becerra implied that the same cabinet figures who have pursued this strategy could be involved in the scandal. “We have seen that Ramón Quintana, Carlos Romero and Sacha Llorenti have always been preparing to armar paralelos, and these maximum authorities should be investigated to see if they are implicated in acts of corruption,” he said. A total of 10 officials have been detained in the case so far, although none at the cabinet level. (Erbol, Dec. 21; ANF, Dec. 17) In the eastern department of Santa Cruz, prosecutor Roberto Achá and his spouse Cori Balcázar were last week ordered imprisoned in relation to the scandal, which concerns the extortion of inmates in the country’s prisons. They are being held at Palmasola, the Santa Cruz prison that is at the heart of the scandal. (Bolivia.com, Dec. 21) Days earlier, Brooklyn flooring contractor Jacob Ostreicher—with whom the extortion accusations began—was freed from Palmasola on bail of 100,000 bolivianos (about $14,200). He will remain under house arrest in Santa Cruz. Ostreicher spoke at a press conference wearing a bulletproof vest alongside actor Sean Penn after his bail hearing. US politicians Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) also traveled to Bolivia for Ostreicher’s release. Demonstrators outside the Santa Cruz courthouse both supported and denounced Ostreicher, some claiming he had taken over land in Bolivia without paying for it. Members of Bolivia’s Jewish community said Ostreicher, an Orthodox Jew, was unjustly accused. Some held signs supporting him in Hebrew. (New Jersey Jewish News, Dec. 21; CNN, Dec. 19) Ostreicher was involved in a foundering rice-growing venture when he was arrested in June 2011, after he accused the venture’s original manager, a Colombian woman who also is now imprisoned, of defrauding investors and falling in with Brazilian drug lord Maximiliano Dorado. Charged with money-laundering, Ostreicher says prosecutors and government employees illegally sold 18,000 metric tons of the venture’s rice, stole cattle and equipment, and demanded $50,000 to get him out of prison. Magistrate Ariel Rocha, president of the Court of Justice of Santa Cruz, has also been ordered arrested in the corruption case, but remains on the lam; his home was raided Dec. 19, but he was not there. A manhunt is underway. (La Razón, La Paz, Dec. 30; Venezuela al Día, Dec. 27; Fox News Latino, Dec. 20)

EVERYTHING ABOUT A MOVIE? |HOLY ROLLERS (director: Kevin Asch; screenwriter: Antonio Macia; cinematographer: Ben Kutchins; editor: Suzanne Spangler; music: MJ Mynarski; cast: Jesse Eisenberg (Sam Gold), Justin Bartha (Yosef), Ari Graynor (Rachel), Danny A. Abeckaser (Jackie Solomon), Mark Ivanir (Mendel Gold), Hallie Eisenberg (Ruth Gold), Elizabeth Marvel (Elka Gold), Jason Fuchs (Leon), Q-Tip (Ephraim), Bern Cohen (Rebbe Horowitz), Stella Keitel (Zeldy Lazar); Runtime: 89; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Danny A. Abeckaser/Tory Tunnell/Per Melita/Jen Gatien; First Independent Pictures; 2010-in English/Hebrew/Yiddish)| the viewer hardly any reason to feel this story is credible." by Dennis Schwartz by actual events of an Israeli drug dealer in the late 1990s who recruited Hasidic Jews from Brooklyn as mules to smuggle Ecstasy pills from Europe into the United States, in an operation that was short-lived because of an airport bust within-in a year. First-time director Kevin Asch gets the first half of the film right in setting the proper religious atmosphere for the subculture community, but in the second half fails to get the promised drama out of it as it listlessly drifts into an unpleasant morality play about drugs breaking up a family and looks too much like your run-of-the mill drug exploitation film to deserve any honors. Asch and writer Antonio Macia intelligently focus on religious life in an insular 1998 middle-class Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn and follow the travails of a pious Hasidic family through their troubled son. The restless, naive and bright 20-year-old Sam Gold (Jesse Eisenberg), the son of the honest Mendel (Mark Ivanir), who owns a fabric-store on the Lower-East-Side's Delancey St., where Sam works part-time when not studying to be a rabbi with Rebbe Horowitz (Bern Cohen). One of the sources of the kid's discontent is that his family doesn't make enough money and won't let him use his business savvy to make more profitable deals, the other is that he doesn't want to be a rabbi. The unsophisticated Sam has conflicts with dad about values and his future, and is doing poorly in school. The kid's best friend, a fellow aspiring rabbi Hasidic, Leon (Jason Fuchs), outshines him in scholarship. Leon's older brother Yosef (Justin Bartha) is an obnoxious cynical wise-guy who is making lots of fast money working as the right-hand man for Jewish smuggling ring leader Jackie Solomon (Danny A. Abeckaser). Yosef tricks both Leon and Sam into smuggling drugs into NY from Amsterdam by having the Hasidic dressed kids hide the merchandise in their religious garments and telling them it's medicine. When Leon discovers how he was used he's ashamed and vows to never do it again, while Sam joins the organization and makes friends with Jackie's temptress hottie girl friend Rachel (Ari Graynor). Sam's parents arrange a marriage for him with Zeldy Lazar (Stella Keitel), the attractive daughter of a businessman. But her parents don't approve of him and she rejects him in favor of his friend Leon. When they marry, Sam is devastated. Soon Sam's rebbe hears about his shady activities, and he's ostracized by the Jewish community and his family kicks him out. By this time Sam is a star in the smuggling operation because of his business acumen and he frequents the sordid druggie red-light night clubs of Amsterdam. But his downfall is quick and dull, and even if Eisenberg is perfect for the part his acting is too lackluster to register much of a charge, thanks to the lame script, to make the pic attractive as sleaze. It results in a pic that looks different but turns out the way most of these mainstream coming-of-age crime dramas turn out. REVIEWED ON 2/5/2013 GRADE: B- Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ

Artists come in different forms, and reach out to their audiences' emotions through various styles of artwork. Painters splatter life onto canvases that are later hung at homes or renounced museums around the world. Then there are architects, whose mediums of expression come in a much larger scale: monuments and buildings. Art and architecture have always been intertwined, says Demion Clinco, president of the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation. "Artists, for milleniums, have ornamented sacred spaces, and have decorated the places where we live and play." Most prominently, during World War II, Clinco explains that a new vision for architecture and art emerged. Architects and artists began to collaborate more and more. Architects created the spaces, and painters would give them color inside and out. Together, they took this mode of expression to the next level. In Tucson, a handful of artists began working with architects to develop new concepts that could be integrated into buildings. Charles Alfred Clement is one of these artists. Clement was born in New York, and moved to Tucson in 1950 to settle down with his wife. Here, he established himself as a freelance artist. Clement worked as a muralist with both mosaics and ceramics, developed architectural sculpture, and painted and developed metal work, Clinco says. "Clement collaborated with architects active in the post World War II era in Tucson," Clinco says. "Including: William Wilde, Cook & Swaim, etc." His work can be found throughout the city in places, such as the University of Arizona's administration building where there is a fiberglass sculpted screen by Clement; a large cement mural near River Road and Campbell Avenue; Presidio Park; and a memorial in the Jewish quarter of the Evergreen Cemetery, which was one of Clement's last work prior to his death in 1981. "This memorial serves a poignant reminder of (Clement's) art, and his contributions to the aesthetic beauty of Tucson in the mid-20th century," Clinco says. The Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation is celebrating some of Tucson's best mid-20th century design and architecture, including the work of artists such as Clement, during Tucson Modernism Week, taking place Oct. 3-6.

Let me state my position up front. I am against motherhood. I am not against mothers, unless of course it is lousy mothers, scary mothers, abusive mothers, hurtful mothers…but I realize that every one of us has at some point in our life had a mother, and that many of us love our mothers. We love them so much that we all get together once a year to erupt in a giant flood of love for our mothers, buying them cards and flowers, taking them out to dinner, and telling them how much we appreciate them. That’s good, because it will encourage Mother to keep doing all those things we appreciate but don’t mention for the rest of the year.Read More Starting Thursday, March 1, 2018, this site will host a new feature called Women's Writes. For the duration of Women's History Month, there will be a new post every day related to women and feminism. The author, Robin Buckallew, has declared the intent to write something every day for Women's History Month every year until women everywhere have the same rights, opportunities, pay, and respect as men all over the world are able to command. The management of this site hope she lives a very long time... Works posted here will be works of short fiction, essays, or excerpts from longer works. Please check in regularly to see any and all of the updates in this dynamic new area. This new section will continue to host the works of this author throughout the year, and will host the once a day posts every March until...well, unfortunately, the way it looks, probably until the end of the author's life, even though she is still young(ish).Read More Hey, you, woman! I’m a male writer! I don’t really know how to write women. Can you give me some hints? You see, I’m not sure I got the dialect right. I just don’t know how women talk. I don’t know their language. Give it a look, will you?Read More Many orthodox Jewish males open their day by thanking God for not making them a woman. I would like to add my voice to theirs; I would like to thank God for not making me a woman.Read More

On the September 11, 2016 episode of his Thoughts of the Day podcast, alt-right radio host ‘Grandpa Lampshade’ put a bizarre twist on an old anti-Semitic trope, accusing Mossad agents of destroying the World Trade Center with, of all things, a nuclear weapon. Continue reading “Alt-Right Radio Host Claims Jews Brought Down the Twin Towers with a Nuclear Bomb” Every now and then someone writes an article so blindingly tone-deaf and stupid it must be seen to be believed. Continue reading “Jewish Writer Joshua Seidel Defends The Alt-Right, And Gets Deluged With Anti-Semitic Comments” Over at Radio Aryan, alt-right radio host “Grandpa Lampshade” and Neo-Nazi Joe Roper (a.k.a. “Fascist Lemming”) ranted against the supposed stranglehold of Jewish interests on American politics. Continue reading “Alt-Right Radio Host: ‘There’s Nothing More Disgusting’ Than Politicians Kissing ‘That Stupid’ Wailing Wall” I’m back to regularly posting again. Here’s some belated stories, from the racist rhetoric of Blue Lives Matter to Donald Trump’s “law and order” speech at the RNC, to a White Lives Matter rally staged by Nazis. Continue reading “Headlines — 7/30/16” Donald Trump spreads Islamophobia in Rhode Island, Jim Webb denounces the replacement of Andrew Jackson on the twenty dollar bill, the religious right continues to attack gay-straight alliances, and more. Continue reading “Headlines — 4/25/16” A right-wing militant was plotting to overthrow the government of West Virginia, David Duke believes Donald Trump can rehabilitate Hitler’s legacy, the chairman of the Travis County, TX Republican Party continues to embarrass the GOP, and more. Continue reading “Headlines — 3/18/16” We Hunted the Mammoth – YouTube skeptic Thunderf00t unleashes an online hate mob against a critic. CounterPunch – Black churches are burning again. Think Progress – After students vote to take it down, Ole Miss will no longer fly state flag. The Electronic Intifada – Israeli settlers want New York police tactics in Jerusalem. Media Matters – GOP politicians, right-wing media to attend global anti-LGBT hate group conference in Utah. PinkNews – Germaine Greer says ‘lop[ping] off your dick’ and ‘wear[ing] a dress doesn’t make you a fucking woman.’ Talking Points Memo – Shocking videos show officer flip desk, drag high school girl across floor. The Guardian – Chris Christie says Black Lives Matter is calling for the ‘murder of police.’ Indianapolis Star – FBI hate crime probe launched in Indiana University student attack. Equality Matters – Associated Press properly identifies the hate group representing Kim Davis. The Huffington Post – Being LGBT in Southeast Asia: Stories of abuse, survival, and tremendous courage. The Daily Beast – Tennessee apologizes to God for gay marriage. Right Wing Watch – Theodore Shoebat says that homosexuality leads to cannibalism and that those who refuse to submit to Christianity should be killed. The Electronic Intifada – Are pro-Israel bullies on U.S. campuses planning dirtier tactics? The Atlantic – A call to defend Muslims from armed protests. Business Insider – The number of homicides of transgender people this year has reached ‘crisis’ levels. Raw Story – Ben Carson says next Holocaust ‘can happen’ in U.S. because of gun control. Think Progress – Fox News posts anti-Semitic screed blaming Jews for the Holocaust. A guide to the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Roosh Valizadeh gets a drink thrown in his face, Donald Trump is banned from a conservative gathering over misogynistic remarks, and more. Continue reading “Random Headlines — 8/09/15” Slate – Shira Banki, a 16-year-old girl who was stabbed at Jerusalem’s gay pride parade, has died. Raw Story – Woman goes on incomprehensible, racist rant after hearing Spanish at an IHOP. Salon – The FBI built a database that can catch rapists — almost nobody uses it. Feministing – We don’t need rich, white actresses’ comments on sex work. Jezebel – New Ghostbusters cast visits children’s hospital and immediately attract trolls. Media Matters – Conservative media pretend federal taxpayers foot the bill for abortions. VICE – Shockingly, a porno featuring hijabis and niqabis is not very sensitive toward Islam. Crooks & Liars – Why Ben Shapiro is such a twerp for inciting Zoey Tur.

“The Great Gatsby,” releases in India Friday. The film marks Amitabh Bachchan’s debut in Hollywood as Jewish gangster Meyer Wolfsheim. After 40 years in the movie business, why has it taken so long for the Bollywood superstar to make it to Tinseltown? In an emailed interview, Rachel Dwyer, professor Indian cultures and cinema at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, told India Real Time that Mr. Bachchan didn’t need Hollywood and explained the interplay between the two worlds of film. The Wall Street Journal: Why do you think Amitabh Bachchan waited so long for his Hollywood debut? Rachel Dwyer: I don’t know if Amitabh Bachchan has been offered roles in Hollywood before. Although Indian cinema was not well known in the West at the height of his fame as a star (in the 1970s and 1980s), it is now. Perhaps the most famous mention of Mr Bachchan in the West is in Danny Boyle’s film [“Slumdog Millionaire” ] but whether that struck any chords or not, I don’t know. I would also think that the people in Hollywood, who had heard of Mr. Bachchan, would know that he is not just another star and they may well have felt it would not be appropriate to cast him as anything other than a leading hero. If he had been, the roles might not have been what he wanted, the dates may not have worked etc. Mr Bachchan has an audience of millions worldwide without going to Hollywood. One also has to consider whether the requirements of a lead in a Bollywood film –stardom, dialogue delivery in Hindi, miming songs, dancing, extreme emotional depiction, action etc. — would be the same as those required in Hollywood. Would Hollywood people know about Mr Bachchan’s non-Bollywood importance – in his work with Hrishikesh Mukherjee or that he could give voiceovers (as he did in “Shatranj ke khiladi,” “Lagaan”- both of which any serious cinemagoer in the West would have seen) in English as well as Hindi? WSJ: One of the biggest Bollywood stars making debut in one of the most anticipated Hollywood movies, has this ever happened before? Ms. Dwyer: No. Anil Kapoor in “Slumdog Millionaire” is the nearest. He was one of the top stars in the 1980s and 1990s but no one in Hindi cinema has the status of Amitabh Bachchan. The Khans (Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan) have been around for 20 years compared to his 40; Dilip Kumar’s films are not as well known as they should be among the young. Mr Bachchan’s films are kept alive in many ways, not least by the new generation of directors who have grown up on them. Shashi Kapoor acted in Western films but they weren’t really ‘Hollywood’. Shabana Azmi, who used to act in Bollywood, has also acted in non-Hollywood films. Anupam Kher, not a hero, but a major actor. WSJ: Why do you think we don’t see Bollywood actors playing lead roles in Hollywood movies? Ms. Dwyer: We do – Irrfan Khan, Amrish Puri, Kabir Bedi. It’s the trained actors, often with a background in theatre, who act in Hollywood and other Western movies rather than the stars. Stars are probably too busy with their other commitments, and we don’t know what roles they get offered. The trained actors are mostly from the National School of Drama [in New Delhi] or they have a background in theatre. Stars have mostly learnt on the sets and some of them are admired for their star qualities rather than their acting. Some stars – such as Amitabh Bachchan – are also very good actors. Rishi and Ranbir Kapoor are also highly skilled actors as well as stars. Some of the actors are major figures, stars though not heroes, such as Anupam Kher and Amrish Puri. WSJ: Can you please elaborate on the performance of the actors you have mentioned. Would you call them one hit wonders? How do you think they have fared in Hollywood? Ms. Dwyer: Irrfan is appearing in major films and is probably the best known of all Indian actors overseas. Om Puri also saw considerable success. However, they have all kept a foot in both camps and continue to act in Indian films. WSJ: If we leave out, Mr. Bachchan and “The Great Gatsby,” do you think Indian audiences would be more eager to watch a Hollywood flick simply because it stars a Bollywood actor? Ms. Dwyer: Yes, very much so. Indians have watched Hollywood since it began and would be naturally curious. Well, after reading the reviews of “The Great Gatsby,” I probably wouldn’t bother going to the cinema but I might because of Mr Bachchan! WSJ: Lastly, what’s your favorite performance of a Bollywood actor in a Hollywood movie? Ms. Dwyer: Sabu in “Elephant Boy” [Directed by Robert Flaherty and Zoltan Korda, 1937.] Shashi Kapoor in any of his Merchant Ivory films. Both he and Leela Naidu were wonderful – and very beautiful – in “The Householder” (1963). Incidentally, Sir Alexander Korda’s third wife, Merle Oberon, a hugely successful actress, was Anglo-Indian.follow @WSJIndia

Mr. Kobre’s assertion that the Charedi way of life will be automatically and fundamentally changed with such a law is patently false. It does not have to change. Deferments can be given to every draftee for purposes of study – university students and Yeshiva students alike. At some point in time they will all have to serve in some capacity. Yeshiva students who serve can if they choose return to the Beis HaMedrash full time after their service. And just like exemptions are given in certain secular cases, so too can there be exemptions for certain Yeshiva students – the best and the brightest can continue to serve Klal Yisroel in their capacity as Lomdei Torah. But certainly those exemptions should not include every single Charedi Jew. I am 100% convinced that a compromise can be reached that will satisfy all concerns. But Mr. Kobre does not assume that. He thinks it is ‘them versus us’ And the new ‘them’ are religious Jews who think that there is inequity in the system. Jews like me. And perhaps even Jews like Rabbi Dovid Landesman, a Charedi Rav who has also criticized the myopia of his own Charedi leadership. No one says it is going to be easy. Restructuring the army to accommodate an enormous amount of Charedi recruits is a monumental task. I’m not sure how or when that is going to be done. It may take years to implement properly. But as a principle a universal draft must be upheld. Arguments that Charedim are not really needed are completely beside the point. It is true that the army has gotten along fine without them till now. But that does not address the fairness issue. Nor does the argument that the Lomdei Torah do as much if not more to provide security for the state. This argument will not wash to a grieving secular mother who lost her son in battle. Mr. Kobre is a highly intelligent man. Doesn’t he understand that? He has yet to explain what his answer to a grieving secular mother would be. I think he owes all religious Jews who have differences of opinion with him on this issue an apology. We are not all the “Jewish anti-Semites’ he makes us out to be. We are not all disingenuous or displaying false piety when we say we support Torah learning. Certainly I am not. For many of us the inequity of service is an old problem that has long been festering beneath the surface and has now finally come to a head. Instead of painting us all as evil, he would do well to realize that, understand why, and give us some credit. I will end with an excerpt from Rabbi Dovid Landesman’s guest post on this issue: What right do I have to speak? I live here, [try] to earn a living here and, along with my sons, have served in the IDF. I would point out that I joined the IDF on the advice of my recently departed rosh yeshiva, who was a bona fide chareidi himself. He taught me that serving has nothing to do with supporting the medinah; if you live in a place you fulfill the obligations incumbent upon you; taxes, military service and contributing to the welfare of society. That said, and off my chest, let me make my point.Harry Maryles The essence of the problem is to somehow facilitate the entry of the chareidi world into Israel. Once that happens, the museum of authentic Judaism [the separatist kehillah created by R. Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld] will mainstream and “share the burden.” The olam ha-Torah is slowly evolving; Netzach Yehudah, the Shachar programs, the michlalot chareidiot, are all making a significant contribution toward this goal. About the Author: Harry Maryles runs the blog "Emes Ve-Emunah" which focuses on current events and issues that effect the Jewish world in general and Orthodoxy in particular. It discuses Hashkafa and news events of the day - from a Centrist perspctive and a philosphy of Torah U'Mada. He can be reached at [email protected] author's opinion does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Jewish Press. If you don't see your comment after publishing it, refresh the page. Our comments section is intended for meaningful responses and debates in a civilized manner. We ask that you respect the fact that we are a religious Jewish website and avoid inappropriate language at all cost. If you promote any foreign religions, gods or messiahs, lies about Israel, anti-Semitism, or advocate violence (except against terrorists), your permission to comment may be revoked.

Cinematic Intermedialities and Contemporary Holocaust - Book Launch by Dr Victoria Grace Walden Doors 6.30pm - Event starts at 7.00pm Tickets: £6 (£4.50 concessions) All proceeds go to Deptford Community Cinema This book explores the growing trend of intermediality in cinematic representations of the Holocaust. It turns to the in-betweens that characterise the cinematic experience to discover how the different elements involved in film and its viewing collaborate to produce Holocaust memory. Cinematic Intermedialities is a work of film-philosophy that places a number of different forms of screen media, such as films that reassemble archive footage, animations, digital apps and museum installations, in dialogue with the writing of Deleuze and Guattari, art critic-cum-philosopher Georges Didi-Huberman and film phenomenologies. The result is a careful and unique examination of how Holocaust memory can emerge from the relationship between different media, objects and bodies during the film experience. This work challenges the existing concentration on representation in writing about Holocaust films, turning instead to the materials of screen works and the spectatorial experience to highlight the powerful contribution of the cinematic to Holocaust memory. Victoria Grace Walden is a teaching fellow in the School of Media, Film and Music at the University of Sussex. She completed her PhD at Queen Mary, University of London, and has degrees from Royal Holloway, University of London, De Montfort and The Institute of Education (now UCL). She has worked with the Holocaust Educational Trust as a freelance educator, as digital coordinator for the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s ‘Seeking Protection’ blog, and as a volunteer for the Jewish Museum, London and the Wiener Library. Her work has focused on affect, film-philosophy, animation, the use of archival images, and digital Holocaust memory. She is currently developing an edited collection entitled The Memorial Museum in the Digital Age.

The letter that brought a courtroom to tears Australian Jewish News 4 February 2015 Rabbi Moshe Gutnick, past president of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia, sent this email to a child abuse victim prior to the Royal Commission last week. It was read at the Royal Commission today. Dear AVB. (victim’s name withheld) As you can see its 3.30am in the morning. I have just finished reading much of the “bundle” that we all now have. I felt that I must write to you. I want you to know that I can not begin to imagine the pain you must have gone through and still go through. I do not know or understand why Hashem allowed what happened to you – but I can tell you this, Hashem is not with any of the bullies at the Yeshiva – Hashem is with you and your wife and your family. You may not see it now but I am sure he will bless you and look after to you. It is my belief that what you are doing, not only is not deserving of criticism – but you are doing the greatest mitzvah to help to expose this rotten underbelly. I have earlier written to counsel assisting the commission that even though it is not in my statement to the commission, it is in my police statement that is in the bundle that I was told by victims that Lesches knew and that they told Lesches. I want to be able to testify in support of your statement that Lesches knew. I do not want it to be just your word against Lesches and I told them you deserve support and I want to support you. Unfortunately I don’t have info on (Pinchus) Feldman or else I would testify. But I am sure the truth will come out. AVB – I hope and pray that this Royal Commission will finally expose all the crap. People say that everything that will come out is a chilul Hashem (desecration of Hashem’s name) – I say the Chilul Hashem is if it doesn’t come out. These guys are all bastards. they all have blood on their hands. I am not sure how things will be set up over there next week , and if we will be able to communicate – but I want you to know now — when you see me there you will be seeing someone who supports you 150 per cent. Rabbi Moshe Gutnick Editors note: Rabbi Lesches was in charge of senior students at Yeshiva in Sydney in the 1980s but currently lives in America and will not address the Royal Commission. Rabbi Pinchus Feldman, who is alleged to have spoken to convicted child abuser Daniel ‘Gug’ Hayman about his abuse of a student and not reported him to the police, will testify at the Royal Commission later this week. Originally published at The Australian Jewish News.

North of Silver Spring About the Community Located in the North Shore area of Milwaukee, North of Silver Spring is a highly desirable Whitefish Bay neighborhood. The awe-inspiring homes in this community generally sell for anywhere from $250,000 to $1.5 million. These properties generally come with 4 to 5 bedrooms and 1,500 to 4,300 square feet. Homes in the North of Silver Spring community vary widely when it comes to price and size. They also demonstrate an impressive range of architectural styles, including Mickelson Colonial, Bungalow, English Tudor, Midcentury Modern, and more. One thing that does not vary within the North of Silver Spring community is its commitment to excellence, which is evident everywhere you look. Plus, no matter where they live in the community, residents at North of Silver Spring are always within walking distance to such area attractions as Bayshore Town Center, Klode Park, and Lake Michigan beaches. There are several well-respected nursery schools located just a short distance away from this North Shore neighborhood, including the Jewish Community Center, Whitefish Bay-Shorewood Nursery School, and Tree of Life Preschool. As with all Whitefish Bay communities, North of Silver Spring is served by the Whitefish Bay School District, including such top-ranking schools as Richards Elementary School, Whitefish Bay Middle School, and Whitefish Bay High School. Those residents who prefer to give their child a private school education will find that there are plenty of quality schools to choose from in the area, including Dominican High School, St. Monica School, Jewish Day School, Marquette University High School (all boys), or Divine Savior Holy Angels (all girls). If North of Silver Spring has piqued your interest, then we suggest you contact us at Powers Realty Group. When you do, we’ll let you know about North of Silver Spring real estate listings as well as available listings in any other community you’re interested in. We’ll also help make the home-buying process easier by providing you with practical advice, helpful tools, and unbeatable customer service. Whitefish Bay residents seeking to be a part of something bigger than themselves will find plenty of opportunities when they’re living North of Silver Spring. Some well-attend civic organizations in the area include the Shorewood Civic Foundation, the Shorewood Players, and the North Shore Junior Women’s Club. Residents with families will also be pleased to find that there are several family-friendly events held throughout the year in Whitefish Bay, such as the 4th of July parade, the Whitefish Bay 5k/Fun Run, and The Bay Ball.

What a year we just completed!! For my fellow numbers folks—we just wrapped 24 weekly sessions, 1 snow day, 2 guest speakers, 1 Jewish film, 1 moving play, 1 amazing trip to Philadelphia, >1600 slices of pizza, and countless Oreo cookies. And when you apply the appropriate algebraic formula, that all adds up to 1 Terrific Year of Jewish Learning!! And you don’t have to take my word for it: results of the surveys we ask our students to complete at the end of each semester for each course support my math: for the semester just completed, the overall satisfaction/rating score was 4.52 on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being most satisfied. So even if you’re just getting the typical, “it was fine,” response when you ask about HSJS, the numbers don’t lie: your kids are excited about our classes, faculty, and the Jewish learning experience we provide. So now it’s your turn to let us know how you think we’re doing. Please take 10 minutes to fill out our annual parent survey—your responses help us make sure we’re staying on track. Since it’s Derby Week, please either fill it out RIGHT NOW, or set a reminder to do it next Monday when the festivities are behind us. The survey will stay open until May 16. Here’s the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/hsjs2016 Finally, watch for semester wrap-up emails about the classes your child took and for registration links for next year—and that link will be open to EVERYONE since we’ll be accepting 11th and 12th graders so we can stay on par with our fellow community Hebrew Highs across the country. It’s been a privilege working with all of your children this year!

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, CONCERNING THE FEASTS OF THE LORD (capitals mine), which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my (God’s) feasts.” Leviticus 23: 1-2 Approximately 3,500 years ago Moses wrote the Book of Leviticus, which basically outlined the Israelites becoming “…an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.” (Deuteronomy 14:2). The Jews and their forbearers were NOT sin free, perfect people but rather were selected by God Himself to be the ones who would be called His people and who would spread His Word. They are the ones who ultimately wrote the entire Bible (Old Testament AND New Testament) and from whom would be born Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World. The Book of Leviticus is critical to us today because it taught the priests the principles of holiness and cleanliness, which they were to then impart to their followers. For this reason the Book of Leviticus is also known as the Book of Atonement. But, guess what? It is also prophetic! Throughout the 23rd chapter of Leviticus, God described to Moses His Feasts which were to be celebrated. Please notice God did not say there would be seven Feasts. Rather He gave Moses those feasts that were to be considered His Feasts. The fact there were seven should tell us something as throughout the Bible, the number seven is always considered to be the number of “completeness”. These were very specific “holy convocations” which the Israelites/Jews would commemorate to His Glory and Honor. Now I am sure most of us have heard about some or all of these Feasts but probably have never placed them into the meaning in Jewish traditions that also impact those of us today who are Christians. Below I have listed the Seven Feasts in the order they are to be celebrated. It is important to note these Feasts are over a very distinct 7 month time period in the Jewish calendar. The first four are in their Spring and the last three are in their Fall. Therefore they are known as the Spring Holidays and the Fall Holidays. Please remember the Jewish calendar is very different from the Gregorian calendar we use. Our calendar is tied to the solar year. Theirs is tied to the lunar year. Our year starts January 1st, theirs starts on the 1st of Nisan, which typically aligns with our March or April (in 2021 it will be on March 14th). Yes, we a few days ago entered into the new year of 5781 in the Jewish calendar. Their year starts on the first of Nisan which is determined by the harvesting of barley (Ruth 2:23). Barley was planted in the Fall and harvested for their animals and their poor people in the Spring. The 4 Spring Feasts and prophecy – Jesus died on Passover, was buried during Unleavened Bread, He rose on Firstfruits & He sent the salvation/sealing baptism of His indwelling Holy Spirit on Pentecost - Passover – “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord’s PASSOVER (capitals mine).” – Leviticus 23:5. Christian significance? Jesus’s death. Of course, the original Passover related to the Final judgement of the Egyptians when God sent the angel of death to kill the firstborn of all (humans and animals) in Egypt as punishment for the pharaoh not allowing the Jews to be freed from their 400 years of Egyptian slavery. God had sent numerous plagues but the pharaoh did not listen. Finally, God told the Jews to wipe the blood of a sacrificial lamb on the door frame of their homes and the angel of death would “pass over” their house. Interestingly, draw a line from the bottom of the door frame to the top and side to side and you have just drawn a cross! Coincidence? I doubt it! When the pharaoh saw the resulting devastation of not doing what God had told him through Moses, he freed the Jews, allowing Moses to ultimately take them to their Promised land. Hundreds of years later, God’s sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross began a new “pass over” for all who accepted His sacrifice for their sins. Jesus did not come to cover our sins. No, rather, as John said, Jesus came to TAKE AWAY the sins of the world. Just as God freed the Jews from the Egyptian slavery, He has freed all of us from our sins through the death of Jesus. As a Christian with the knowledge our sins have been taken away, now that is worthy of a feast! - Unleavened Bread – “And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.” – Leviticus 23:6. Christian significance? Jesus’s burial. According to Jewish tradition people who died were to be buried within one day of their death. Since their days began and ended at sundown, if Jesus died in the afternoon as indicated in the Bible and was buried a few hours later, that would equate to being buried the next day. Leaven in the Bible usually refers to sin. Remember, it wasn’t Christ’s death on the cross that saved us. It was His resurrection from death that saved us. He died and rose for us! - First Fruits – “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:” – Leviticus 23:10. Christian significance? The Feast of First Fruits was celebrated the third day, the 16th of Nisan. This “third day” celebration was the same day that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. As Paul prophetically said in 1 Corinthians 15:20, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first of them that slept.” Paul refers to Jesus as the first fruits of the dead. Jesus was the first of the great number of souls, including us, that will be resurrected to eternal life. Of course as Christians, we celebrate this day as Easter and we feast with family and friends! - Pentecost or Feasts of Weeks – “Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.” – Leviticus 23:16. Christian significance? The outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Exactly 50 days after the Feast of the First Fruits, the Feast of Pentecost (which means 50) was celebrated. In the Bible the disciples were told to go to Jerusalem after Jesus’s Ascension to Heaven and wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This day eventually would be recognized as THE day the Church was born. Remember at that time there were primarily only Jews who followed Jesus. But the out pouring of the Holy Spirit was intended for Jews AND Gentiles alike. After receiving the Holy Spirit they were told to go out into the world and preach His message of salvation to all, Jew and Gentile alike, if they only accepted His Gift. The Spring Feasts end with the task of preaching the Holy Gospel to the world. For nearly 2,000 years now that is exactly what has been happening. We know between the Spring Feasts and the Fall Feasts is an undetermined length of time which most Christian scholars believe relates to the Church Age, now nearly 2,000 years old since Pentecost. They also believe the Fall Feasts will be fulfilled AFTER Jesus’s Second Coming. How do we know this? Because we are clearly told in Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and THEN SHALL THE END COME (capitals mine).” Since the Feast of Pentecost the followers of Jesus have been telling others of His Gift of Salvation. Believe He died for your sins, repent and ask Him for forgiveness and you will be saved! Once the entire world has been told of His Promise, and they have made their personal decision to accept or reject Jesus, then the End will come. It is critical here to mention the Spring and Fall Feasts have nothing to do with the Tribulation, the anti-christ, Armageddon, etc. It only has to do with the time period before the Church age and the time when Jesus Returns for His Bride, the Church. The Fall Feasts explain this clearly: The 3 Fall Feasts and prophecy - Feast of Trumpets (aka Jewish Rosh Hashanah) – “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.” – Leviticus 23:24. In a wonderful way, God commands His people to rest, to celebrate a sabbath and have a holy convocation or feast. Men and women are told to present a food offering to God. They are told to gather and celebrate the blowing of trumpets. Kind of sounds like the Rapture of the Believers doesn’t it. Just as we are told in 1 Corinthians 15:52, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, AT THE LAST TRUMP (capitals mine); for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Of course this verse is one of the most common referring to the Rapture. After the Rapture, the Believers in Christ, both dead and alive will gain new bodies and we shall ascend to the clouds and meet Jesus where we will celebrate the wedding feast with Christ in Heaven. Revelation 19:9 says Blessed are those invited to that Feast, the wedding feast of the Lamb! I have to agree with most Biblical scholars who see this as the end of the Church Age and the Rapture of those Believers in Christ, both those who died in Christ and those of us who are still alive and remain. We WILL meet up with them in the clouds! And, we will be with Him forever! Now that will be a Heaven of a feast. - Day of Atonement (aka Yom Kippur) – “Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.” – Leviticus 23:27 Yom Kippur is an especially Holy Day for the Jews. It is a day of humility and repentance to God. It is on Yom Kippur when the High Priest annually enters the Holiest of Holies (after nearly 2,000 years soon to be in the 3rd Holy Temple to be rebuilt during the Tribulation period) and takes the blood of the sacrificed lamb and cleanses the sin of the Jews for one year. Of course this annual “cleansing” would not be required if the Jews had originally accepted the Sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah, for their sins for eternity. In Jewish tradition, the High Priest COVERS the mercy seat of atonement in the Temple on Yom Kippur with the blood of the sacrificial lamb. With Jesus’s death and resurrection he actually REMOVES their sin, not covers it. Again, many Bible scholars believe it will be on the Day of Atonement that Jesus will Return and the Jewish people will see him as the one who “they pierced” and will finally accept Him as their Lord and Savior. Of course we know this will happen at Jesus’s Second Coming when Jerusalem is under siege and it appears the Jews are on their last legs. Their debt, and ours, has been paid. We only have to accept it! - Feast of Tabernacles or Booths – “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, the fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.” – Leviticus 23:34 After the Day of Atonement, there will be a great celebration, as there should be. In much the same way God provided for the Jews during their 40 years wandering in the wilderness after being freed from Egyptian slavery, during the Feast of Tabernacles they celebrate for seven days being in the presence of the Lord who resided with them in a tented temple called a tabernacle. So, this feast celebrates them finally being with their Messiah. The fact that when He returns there shall no longer be death or suffering points clearly to the 1,000 year Millennial reign of Christ on earth from Jerusalem. Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit and peace and righteousness will abound. This will be the greatest time to be alive on earth, other than in the Garden of Eden prior to the Fall into sin, and it will be under the perfect reign of Jesus Christ. What a feast that will be! It is so critical to remember the seven Feasts of God told to Moses were written hundreds of years before Jesus was born and rejected. In God’s miraculous way, He instructed His people the Jews to have certain days of Feasts and celebrations. At the time Moses wrote these I doubt anyone alive knew the prophetic scenario they presented for the world to witness as one more fulfillment of God’s Will for all of us. We can all enjoy this Promise from God to partake in all of this if we only accept His gift of Salvation. Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Acknowledge your sins and ask Him to forgive those sins. If you do this, you will be saved and will spend eternity with Him in Heaven. That is so comforting to know we can never achieve that goal with works alone but only by faith in Him. If you agree, please forward or share this message with your family and friends. We are all told to “…therefore comfort one another with these words.” Do this and the number of people you feast with will be greatly increased! May God Bless you as we await His soon Return!

The Justice Department has dropped a long-stalled second criminal prosecution of a former college professor who pleaded guilty to aiding a terrorist group following a high-profile trial in Florida that ended with a muddled verdict almost a decade ago. Federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Va., filed a motion Friday seeking to dismiss a criminal contempt indictment brought in 2008 against former University of South Florida mechanical engineering professor Sami Al-Arian, who was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents. Story Continued Below In the new filing, prosecutors said they decided to give up on the contempt case after delays precipitated by U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema sitting for years on a critical motion in the case without ruling one way or another. “In light of the passage of time without resolution, the United States has decided that the best available course of action is to move to dismiss the indictment so that action can be taken to remove the defendant from the United States,” prosecutor Gordon Kromberg wrote. In a statement released through Al-Arian’s attorney, the 56-year-old former professor’s family hailed the dismissal of the charges. “We are glad that the government has finally decided to drop the charges against Sami Al-Arian. It has been a long and difficult 11 years for our family in what has ultimately been shown to be a political case. We are relieved that this ordeal finally appears to be at an end,” the family members said. “We hope that today’s events bring to a conclusion the government’s pursuit of Dr. Al-Arian and that he can finally be able to resume his life with his family in freedom.” During the 1990s, Al-Arian came under suspicion in Florida over possible ties between a think tank he headed and figures in Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In a response to a Tampa Tribune series examining the issue, he denied any connection. After Jewish groups pressed for his removal at USF, professors’ groups complained that his academic freedom was being infringed. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Al-Arian was involved in a highly-publicized, confrontational interview with Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, who accused the professor of making anti-Israel statements and again raised questions about his think tank’s alleged ties to terror. Al-Arian received death threats after the on-air exchange and was suspended from the university. In 2003, Al-Arian was indicted in Tampa on a wide array of charges, including racketeering, material support for terrorism and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors accused him of being the American head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and said they had been able to bring the case only because legal changes in the Patriot Act allowed them to share intelligence information with criminal investigators. His trial (and that of three co-defendants) was repeatedly delayed. It took place over a six-month period in 2005 and ended in acquittals on eight counts and a hung jury on nine other counts. After prosecutors threatened a re-trial, the former professor pleaded guilty to one felony count of aiding a designated terrorist group and was sentenced to 57 months in prison. He had already served most of that time in custody awaiting trial and thereafter. The plea deal also called for him to be deported from the U.S. However, before Al-Arian was deported, federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Va., served him with a subpoena calling him before a grand jury to testify about Muslim groups in Virginia and their alleged ties to terrorism. Al-Arian said the subpoena was at odds with his plea deal in the Florida case, but prosecutors and the courts did not agree. He spent most of 2007 in jail on a civil contempt citation.

'Wendy and the Lost Boys,' by Julie Salamon Published 4:00 am, Sunday, August 28, 2011 Wendy and the Lost Boys The Uncommon Life of Wendy Wasserstein By Julie Salamon (The Penguin Press; 460 pages; $29.95) Memorial services course throughout Julie Salamon's new biography of Wendy Wasserstein like a recurrent fate theme that portends the demise of an opera's tragic heroine. They provide an unlikely leitmotiv for the life of a playwright whose engaging dramedies and infectious giggle tended to derail any apprehension that matters could take a seriously dark turn. By the time mourners gathered at Lincoln Center for Wasserstein's own memorial on March 13, 2006, six weeks after she died at 55 of lymphoma, she had become one of the most embraced personages in and out of the New York theater scene. In addition to sparking a body of hits whose Feminist Lite sensibility seemed to hybridize her reverence for Betty Friedan and Doris Day ("Uncommon Women and Others," "The Sisters Rosensweig," "Isn't It Romantic" and the Pulitzer-winning "The Heidi Chronicles"), Wasserstein's knowing wit and gemutlich, can-we-talk personableness established her as a lecture-circuit favorite and the go-to essayist for editors craving the off-center take on a single woman surviving the urban jungle. If she renovated her Central Park West apartment, she'd document the pain in Architectural Digest. If she weathered years of failed artificial inseminations and emerged at 48 with a premature but healthy baby daughter, the New Yorker asked her to share the bumpy ride. Despite the aura of universal intimacy, Wasserstein's blessed event came as late-breaking news to many (including her mother and this critic, who broke bread with her now and again). The dramatist was "a master at controlling public information, publicly and privately, (who) used self-exposure to draw people in and the illusion of secrecy to leverage relationships, to create a false sense of complicity," concludes Salamon in her immensely readable, journalistically scrupulous "Wendy and the Lost Boys: The Uncommon Life of Wendy Wasserstein." Wasserstein inherited this penchant for selective secrecy from her mother, Lola, a brassy first-generation Polish Jewish American who, aided by her manufacturer husband, Morris, raised her children to be "überachievers." (Wendy's brother Bruce was a billionaire Wall Street tycoon and her sister, Sandra, a high-ranking bank executive.) The exception was their mentally disabled son Abner, who became the family phantom after being squirreled away at an institution. Abner is the first of the book's eponymous "lost boys," an allusion to the Neverland residents of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan stories (Wasserstein was named for Peter's anointed "mother" Wendy). Salamon extends the reference to include many in the hive of predominantly gay buddies that swarmed to Wasserstein's side, a Who's Who of theatrical luminaries that included playwrights Christopher Durang and Terrence McNally, Lincoln Center's Artistic Director Andre Bishop, Broadway designer William Ivey Long, director Gerald Gutierrez and the straight-but-sympathetic former New York Times critic Frank Rich. Salamon elicits heartfelt, occasionally wrenching, testimony from the group's survivors, notably McNally (who, in addition to "A Chorus Line" lyricist Ed Kleban, was one of a handful of serious marriage suitors) and Long, who agreed to be a sperm donor for Wasserstein, sharing a years-long, ultimately unsuccessful, effort at in-vitro fertilization to help his friend become pregnant. When Wasserstein clandestinely gave birth, relegating Long to supporting-player status and leaving the father's identity in question, Long felt snubbed and humiliated. "I have never felt I am a gay designer," said Long. "But with Wendy I felt I was part of a big group of gay men, part of the people who had disappointed her." Any Wasserstein bio must necessarily encapsulate the genesis of Playwrights Horizons (her "Heidi Chronicles" platform) and the golden years of Yale Drama School, which she attended concurrently with Durang, Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver. Salamon handles both tasks deftly. The author is less assured putting Wasserstein's work in historical context, and she periodically succumbs to the florid sigh of romance novel writing ("Why, she wondered, did her expectations always seem out of alignment with reality?") Mostly, however, the book's flaws are editorial in nature: Redundancies abound, and extraneous information eludes the blue pencil. Do we really need to have a New York Times restaurant critic weigh in on the Four Seasons? One might argue, at day's end, that Salamon overextends the Lost Boy metaphor. Was Wasserstein really a "Wendy" in her resolute commitment to profound, ultimately "impossible" alliances with gay men at the expense of a sexually fulfilled marital bond? Or was she, rather, a more deprecating variation of Peter, the boy who stubbornly refused to grow up and who, in the 20th century Broadway theater that nourished Wasserstein's sadly abbreviated career, was most memorably brought to life by women?

Exploding enclosures in Africa and Europe (on Charlie Hebdo and Boko Haram) – By Stephen Chan This is the first of two essays on the theme of Islam in Europe and Africa. The second will appear after the Nigerian elections of 14 February and assess their possible impact on the war against Boko Haram. Paris was the city where Frantz Fanon found his intellectual vocation. The political vocation had already been found as a young doctor amongst the Algerian diaspora in Marseilles. But it was Paris that shaped the expression of his thought and, in some ways, hijacked it. It was Jean-Paul Sartre’s preface to Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth that introduced the image of the coiled native waiting to explode outwards with his bomb – explode indiscriminately because of years of very precise discrimination against his skin, his African-ness, his tropical blackness. Whether Fanon meant to be the purveyor of the image of the suicide bomber is another question. His book is, for the most part, a series of psychoanalytic case studies of trauma induced by colonial persecution. Like his earlier book, Black Skin, White Masks, it was half medical text and half political condemnation and exhortation. But, in Black Skin, White Masks, he had made a call for equality, for an end to the master-slave dichotomy, and for black persons to take their places alongside Hegel and Tchaikovsky in terms of globally-recognised intellect and creativity. Fanon did not want a better ghetto. He wanted the same penthouse in the metropole that, hitherto, only the colonial masters inhabited. His now forgotten essays on French politics and political figures showed how closely he followed and understood the French situation. There was almost nothing generalised about his critique of France. It was work from close and specific observation. Like the work of his fellow expatriates in Paris, exiles but invited into the circles of Sartre and Breton, what Fanon, Shari’ati from Iran and Senghor from Senegal accomplished was the idea of a future based on equality and a fusion of all that was best, on equal terms, of seemingly disparate cultures. The difference between them and modern European multiculturalists was the insistence that it was the “˜Other’ that chose the terms of fusion – not polite and middle-class well-meaningness in the 5th and 6th arrondissements. Shari’ati made a fusion of existential thought, Rumi-esque transcendence, and modes of European church organisation for his Iranian platform for change. Senghor seemed in his doctrine of negritude to fetishise precisely the circumscriptions of the black person by white observers – they can dance and sing very well – but, along the way, demonstrated how complex was the grammar of African rhetoric and poetry – of African speech, of “˜parole’ as well as “˜langue’; but, subversively, he used European grammatical terms to demonstrate how the European denigration of the African had to fall on its own sword. The origins of global dissent in Paris were precise and sophisticated. When we fast-forward to the Paris of early 2015, we come at once to a seeming twin of a northern Nigerian town – Chibok, for instance, where hundreds of school girls were kidnapped by gunmen who considered their education a violation of Islamic norms; and other towns where gratuitous slaughter has accompanied slogans that declare that Allah is great. The rampaging murders of Boko Haram came suddenly to visit Paris on 7 January 2015, when two gunmen assassinated many of the editorial staff of Charlie Hebdo – in some ways a uniquely French magazine with its overstated and grossly unsubtle satire; a satire so gross it can be called gratuitous and lazy. Granted that this form of French humour does not translate and travel well outside France, but it did not travel well in France itself, the magazine having a circulation of only 60 000 per issue. But the assassinations, carried out because many of the cartoons offended Islamic norms, bore the same justifications as the attacks on schoolgirls and villagers in Nigeria. There are questions here to do with norms and great violence. The cartoons the magazine carried about Islam and about Mohammed seemed persistent, but were not always successfully insulting. Some were quite flat and fell short of satire or any effect at all. All main religions were satirised – Christian, Jewish, as well as Islamic – and probably the most blasphemous was a cover where God is being sodomised by Jesus the Son, while Jesus is being himself sodomised by the Holy Spirit. God and Jesus are clearly about to achieve orgasm – although it was clearly harder to depict a Holy Spirit about to come. There seemed no real purpose for such a cartoon, apart from a determination to insult religion or indicate the ludicrous sanctimoniousness within religious belief. French political figures were, however, more prominent on the covers than religious stereotypes. But, insofar as anti-religious expressionism was a hallmark of Charlie Hebdo, it could claim a conscious echo of Voltaire, whose running battles with clerical authority were legendary. It is precisely Voltaire who is held up as the enunciator of a norm, behind which French society declared itself mortified by the actual deaths of the Charlie Hebdo journalists and the four Jewish supermarket shoppers who died in a related incident. The questions are: is the Voltairean liberty to speak freely also a licence to insult without specific purpose? If insult is given, is it appropriate to respond by killing people for drawing cartoons? Of course, assassination is by far the greater offence, but there is a matter of proportion on each side. Is there a proportion of liberty that must be self-aware, i.e. not give itself over to a flaunting of liberty in gratuitous insult? And is murder not disproportionate in almost every case of human interaction today? The ironic and other interconnections of the events of 7 January will ring for some time. The self-declared partner of “˜Charb’, the cartoonist and editor of Charlie Hebdo, is herself, like her partner’s assassins, of Algerian descent; she is an atheist, although her father was a Muslim; however, as a public figure in her own right – she has been a junior government minister and is a law professor in an elite Paris institution – she has been ardently secular and questioned the possibility of a moderate Islam. On the other hand, a Muslim policeman was killed by the assassins, and a Muslim employee at the supermarket saved the lives of several Jewish shoppers by hiding them in a cold store. There are two things here: first, the saving of life is an act of human solidarity, and this contrasts markedly with killing specific people in the name of God, religion and the upholding of norms; second, Charlie Hebdo may have been a marginal magazine in many ways, but it was linked to the high political establishment in much the same way that Simone de Beauvoir depicted in her novel, The Mandarins, on the incestuous nature of the political and intellectual elite of post-war Paris. It was inevitable that France, led from the top, would come out for Charlie Hebdo. Chibok in Nigeria The top of Nigerian political society, President Goodluck Jonathan, has certainly not come out in any urgent or meaningful way on behalf of the kidnapped schoolgirls or the murdered civilians of the northern cities and villages. In his original view, he saw Boko Haram as a tool of his northern political rivals. While there was certainly some early truth in that, the terrorist group has long morphed into something else, and the question is how a president can make calculations to do with preventing his rivals from amassing political advantage while his own citizens suffer and die. The key difference in operational response between France and Nigeria is that, once the French security forces swung into action, the assassins had no chance. A polished, state-of-the-art and deadly machine went into action. By contrast, political decisions not to fund the Nigerian military adequately – for fear of encouraging another in the long history of military coups – left the army woefully ill-equipped to fight Boko Haram. This is not unique to Nigeria. Across the world – in Syria and Iraq with Islamic State; in Somalia with Al Shabab; in Mali (until the French stepped in) – Islamic insurrectionaries have not only been better equipped in terms of firepower and mobility than government forces, but have seemed better disciplined and fighting under operational doctrines that have left their opponents unable to respond. The official armies of Africa and the Middle East are as out-of-date as they are under-equipped – and this speaks volumes not only of their leaders but of their suppliers and trainers in Europe and the United States. What kind of tawdry second-class effort is in fact this fight against terrorism? The Banlieue and the Global Age France has 5 million Muslim inhabitants. On the day that Paris hosted many world leaders to boast defiance of the terrorist threat to liberty, 11 January, Croatia, the newest member of the EU, held presidential elections. There are more Muslims in France than people in Croatia. Those 5 million are largely Sunni and are part of one billion Sunnis in the world. A large proportion of the Muslim French population are descended from the former French colonies, particularly Algeria, and the two gunmen who attacked Charlie Hebdo were of Algerian descent. A huge number of their fellow North African Muslims live in the Banlieue suburbs of the great French cities of Paris and Marseilles. Unemployment, under-education, and deprivation are all part of the enclosure of the Banlieue. Insofar as Algerian descent is a factor in the discontent of the Banlieue – and Fanon found his sense of solidarity with exactly the Algerian diaspora in France, and never lost it – the terrible French repression of the Algerian independence movement established the tone of a relationship that, a generation after, has not fundamentally changed – but has been added to by poverty and the global movements in Islamic discontent. In this sense, what has happened in France with the events of 7 January are both intimate to French history and part of something in the world that France by itself can do nothing about. That something in the world has been felt elsewhere – in London for instance on 7/7 where, without a single offensive cartoon in sight – assassins blew up many citizens. It was felt in Paris itself in 1995, where the civil war in, ironically, Algeria spilled over into the student quarter of Paris with the bombing of the St Michel Metro station. In a way, cartoons, offensive, gratuitous or not, may have nothing to do with a global confrontation. To say this, do we play into the hands of Western commentators like Samuel Huntington of the “˜Clash of Civilizations’; or who cannot think in more sophisticated terms than two-actor games, dyadic or dichotomous world analyses where, like little boys, they calculate how much throw-weight either side has? The World According to Garp Garp, in the Tom Hanks film, was a simple man. He’d have liked the world to get along. We would too. But it is not simply a world of the West and Islam. There are many Islams and, of course, Sunni and Shia are battling it out in the terrible war propagated by Islamic State against the non-Sunni inhabitants of Iraq. But there is a point to be made: despite terrible tensions between Iran and the US, there has never been a major Shia incident of terrorism against the West. Iran may play diplomatic brinksmanship, but it has reined in its clerical firebrands in a way that the Sunni world simply cannot. The Sunni world is larger and it has multitudinous discontents – and targets. Insofar as the West has waged war against Sunni leaders and regimes, the West becomes part of a target network – but Boko Haram makes war against Sunni Muslim political leaders in Northern Nigeria as much as against Goodluck Jonathan. How this will pan out in Nigeria will be the subject of an essay after the Nigerian elections of 14 February. For now, even the trashiest of cartoons does not deserve death sentences. France should stand by its values of freedom – although an English citizen might wonder whether there could be a place for Gallic restraint – and Muslim citizens are still citizens of France. The true test of French liberty and, above all, that second of the qualities espoused by the French revolutionaries after liberte’, that of egalite’, will be what France does to help them out of the Banlieue. Stephen Chan is Professor of International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London.

Anti-Defamation League poll conducted in seven European countries shows almost half of Europeans believe Jews more loyal to Israel than countries they live in, 40% say Jews have too much power. Anti-Semitism is hating Jews just because they are Jews. And that is indeed wrong, just as it is wrong to hate Blacks just for being Blacks, or the French for being French. But it is perfectly correct to hate people who do hateful things. I am certain that the thousands of people whose lives were ruined by Bernie Madoff-with-the-loot hate him, and his race has nothing to do with it. It is his ACTIONS that are the issue. And the actions of all people are judged by all other people. Nobody should be above criticism for their actions simply because they are Jewish or support Israel! Likewise, it is Israel's ACTIONS, in particular the continuing theft of Palestinian lands, that are the source of negative publicity about Israel. If Israel were to draw its borders like any other nation and live within them, most of the problems in the Mideast would vanish. If Israel would grant to the Palestinians the same right to exist Israel demands for itself, most of the problems in the Mideast would vanish. Criticism of Israel is not based on their race or religion but on a continuing attitude that the rules under which other nations live do not and should not apply to Israel. Case in point; Israel's nuclear arsenal, which Israel will not allow the IAEA to inspect. Israel also refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, yet Israel is always the first to point accusing (and wrong) fingers at other nations developing power plants such as Iraq and Iran and on the case of the former, to bomb them. Any nation that acts is such a belligerent fashion, regardless of their religion or race, is deserving of sharp criticism from the rest of the world. Dismissing the actions of people like Bernie Madoff as hate for the Jews makes as much sense as dismissing the actions of people like Adolf Hitler as hate for the Germans!

Encore gets biz as theaters shun On Stage offer NEW YORK — In a move that left several smaller Off Broadway theaters reeling, Playbill Inc. has elected to drop six of them from its list of clients, and has turned away several others seeking its services.The action was taken to cut costs while honoring more profitable commitments on Broadway, where the biz is booming. Those theaters dropped are Chicago City Limits, the Jewish Repertory at Playhouse 91, the Soho Playhouse, the Lambs, the American Place and the Players Theater, all in Gotham. The Signature Theater Co. had approached Playbill about beginning service, but was turned away. Officials at the Signature Co. could not be reached for comment. Higher costs The pull-back by Playbill could mean substantially increased costs for the theaters, which could now be forced to print and provide their own programs to theatergoers. “You operate on a razor-thin margin. Something like this is often the difference between being in business and not being in business,” said Paul Zuckerman, artistic director and a producer at Chicago City Limits Theater. “It breaks your heart.” Reps said Playbill regrets the decision, but maintains it’s purely economic. “We know what we’re doing is not an easy thing. But primarily, these are smaller theaters and less frequently lit,” said Phil Birsh, Playbill prexy and publisher. Playbill distributes 1.29 million copies to relatively upscale eyeballs every month. The ad-supported magazine, which contains features on the industry and info about the shows, is provided gratis to theaters. Birsh says the more copies printed of a particular show, the cheaper each gets. For the smaller shows, clearly, the costs are greater. While a small house might have a hit on its hands, Playbill simply can’t justify going back to advertisers — whose budgets are set well in advance — to ask for more money. “I can’t go back to advertisers and say, ‘We had a big month, I want more (money),’ ” lamented Birsh. But Chicago City’s Zuckerman maintains that the very audience that Playbill is seeking — young, upscale, with changeable brand loyalty — is what these smaller theaters deliver. “You have a lot of little theaters that make a big impact. That elusive young demo that everybody’s looking for? We get that every night. I’d say that 90% of Broadway shows don’t have that.” In its place, Playbill is offering these affected smaller theaters a lightweight version of its regular program called On Stage, sans advertising and with a direct cost to the theaters. According to a source at Playbill, all of the dropped theaters have rejected the On Stage offer. At the American Place, which just renewed an unexpected Off Broadway hit in “Sakina’s Restaurant,” On Stage was simply too expensive. “They can keep it,” Carl Jaynes, general manager of the American Place, sniffed. “I’d just as soon take it to Encore (a competitor of Playbill). If it’s this many theaters, I would think that that’s enough for a whole other business, the same way that Encore started.” Encore’s head, Tom Holmes, confirmed that he has since closed a deal with Jewish Repertory at Playhouse 91, a 288-seat theater, and is in negotiations with both the Americana Place and Soho Playhouse. Zuckerman said that for now, the theater would likely go out and solicit ads to produce its own programs. A source at Playbill added that the main reason for the cancellation was that several of the theaters were difficult if not impossible to contact regarding deliveries of the programs. “A lot of these places, there’s no one there during the day. No one answers. It’s impossible,” said one Playbill source, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Several calls by Daily Variety to the Player’s Theater, the Soho Playhouse and Playhouse 91 were all met with answering machines. Messages left there and at the Lambs Theater were not returned. Want Entertainment News First? Sign up for Variety Alerts and Newsletters!

NEW YORK — Several major Jewish organizations were quick to welcome the ceasefire announced Wednesday that ended more than a week of fighting between Israel and Hamas. “We welcome the announcement of a ceasefire and hope that it will result in a night without sirens and rockets and safe rooms for the 3.5 million Israelis living under threat of Hamas attack, and provide Israel with an end to the nightmare of terror it has been living with,” said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. He called for “effective long-lasting measures supported by the international community” that will “stop the flow of weaponry into Gaza, particularly the long-range missiles supplied by Iran.” Two women’s organizations were among the first to speak in favor of the ceasefire: Hadassah and the National Council of Jewish Women. “We are hopeful today that as Hamas’s rockets cease to fall on Israel, the people of Israel will be able to return to normalcy,” said Hadassah National President Marcie Natan. She urged the Obama administration “to continue its support of the Iron Dome,” the ballistic-missile shield that successfully intercepted many rockets fired into Israel in the past week. “The ceasefire agreement reached today between Israel and Hamas is a welcome development and NCJW fervently hopes it will endure,” said the organization’s president Nancy Kaufman. “The firing of rockets into Israel and the resulting deaths will not be tolerated by Israel and cannot be tolerated by the international community.” “The people of Israel deserve to live in peace, not fear, and the violence Hamas militants have wrought upon Israeli civilians is inexcusable and unforgettable,” said a statement issued by the Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism. “Even as the sirens are quieted and we cautiously celebrate the cease in rocket fire, we recognize the fragile nature of Israel-Palestinian relations, and we look toward the day when civil discussion will outweigh the use of violence,” read the statement, which was signed by the Rabbinical Assembly’s president, Rabbi Gerald Skolnik, and its executive vice president, Rabbi Julie Schonfeld. Many of the groups thanked US President Barack Obama for his support of Israel’s efforts against Hamas. “We extend our deep appreciation to President Obama and Secretary Clinton for their steadfast support of Israel during this difficult period and for their constructive efforts to reach a ceasefire,” said Foxman. NCJW’s Kaufman added: “We can only hope as we gather to celebrate Thanksgiving that it provides a foundation for steps, however small, that will lead to lasting peace.”

I came to NY for graduate school, and I loved it. I then spent a few more years in school up in Boston, but eventually moved back to NYC. And while Israel is my home, the Upper West Side (just a few blocks from where Isaac Bashevis Singer used to live and write) is my home away from home. I love being involved in Jewish life and learn about the rich history of Jewish immigration to the US—of both Ashkenazi and Sepharadic Jews (just like myself!). JICNY is an amazing place because through the dedicated effort of its team it creates the opportunity to connect with friends and fellow Jews from all over the world and be part of an exciting and vibrant community.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from you and to responding to your queries. Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Glueck Center for Jewish Study, Suite 632 515 West 185 Street New York, NY 10033 Rabbi Menachem Penner Max and Marion Grill Dean of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and Undergraduate Torah Studies Rabbi Zevulun Charlop Dean Emeritus, RIETS Special Advisor to the President Rabbi Chaim Bronstein Rabbi Ezra Schwartz Rosh Yeshiva & Assistant Director, RIETS Sharon E. Bar-David Administrative Coordinator, RIETS Beis Midrash Coordinator

JPost Editorial: Jerusalem attack exposes Israel's false peace partner What possesses a father of four with most of his life still ahead of him to get behind the wheel of a truck and embark on a vehicular murder spree that will almost certainly end in his own demise? Fadi al-Qanbar, 28, the man who plowed his truck into a group of IDF cadets on Sunday, was not considered a security risk by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), though he had served time in prison. He had no known connections with a terrorist organization. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said al-Qanbar identified with ISIS. But why? Why would a resident of Jerusalem’s Jebl Mukaber neighborhood launch a suicide mission to murder Israelis knowing that his wife would be widowed and his two sons and two daughters would be orphaned in the process? A saying attributed to Golda Meir comes to mind: “Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” We agree. If al-Qanbar had cared for himself, his children and his family - not to mention the soldiers he rammed into - he never would have carried out his attack on Sunday. While we still don’t know what pushed al-Qanbar to carry out his attack, the incitement that comes out daily from the Palestinian Authority plays an important role. The failure by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to condemn the attack by Monday night – more than 36 hours since it took place – is part of a culture of hate, violence and intransigence. A “peace partner” does not remain silent when innocent 20-year-olds are deliberately run down by a truck on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Jerusalem. A real peace partner speaks up, shouts and condemns. Berlin emblazons Israeli flag on Brandenburg Gate after Jerusalem attack Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate was lit with the Israeli flag Monday night in a show of solidarity following a terror attack in Jerusalem Sunday in which four IDF soldiers were killed. Like the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower and other landmarks, the gate is often used as a screen for national colors to show support in the wake of attacks and other incidents. The landmark was illuminated with the Turkish flag last week following the Istanbul New Year’s attack. East Jerusalem resident Fadi el-Qanbar drove a truck into a group of soldiers at the Haas-Sherover Promenade in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of Jerusalem on Sunday. Ben-Dror Yemini: The gate of change Lighting up Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate with an Israeli flag is a form of ceremony. Israel is entering the family of nations. Until now, in the Western public opinion and mainly in the elites’ opinion, Israel has been seen as the cause of terror. That has been expressed occasionally in editorials, or by figures such as former US President Jimmy Carter and Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, following the terror attacks in Europe. The Israeli flag on one of the most important symbols in Germany somewhat changes the picture. Is this also a step towards a change in awareness? Possibly. Because in the past few years, Europe has been going through a certain change. Until less than a decade ago, Israel was perceived—both in comments and in public opinion polls—as one of the biggest threats to world peace. That was false consciousness, the product of successful poisonous propaganda. But something is changing. The Europeans, who are not involved in any occupation or in any oppression, are becoming the victims of terror. Brussels, Paris, Nice and Berlin have joined Madrid and London as jihad targets. The Europeans are afraid of the radicalization of part of the Muslims. They are still failing to understand that it’s not the occupation that causes terror in Israel. But they are beginning to understand. Palestinians: Glorifying Mass Murderers The murderous legacy and personality of Yahya Ayyash, a Hamas mass murderer who masterminded a wave of suicide bombings, are being glorified not only by his Hamas supporters, but also by the "moderate" Western-funded Palestinian Authority (PA), headed by Mahmoud Abbas. Ayyash won his reputation on the murdering and maiming of hundreds of Israelis, most of them innocent civilians. Had he fought for peace and coexistence, Ayyash would have been condemned as a "traitor" and gone down in history as a "defeatist" and "surrenderist." "The mosque that produced the mujahed [warrior] Ayyash is continuing to produce heroes." – Sheikh Yusef al-Qaradawi, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. It is in these mosques that Ayyash was taught that Islam permits people like him to build bombs and dispatch suicide bombers to blow up buses. It is also in these mosques where he was taught that devout Muslims are best engaged in spilling Jewish blood. Children and youths who attend prayers at these mosques are being fed the same hate-speech rhetoric that their hero Ayyash was exposed to in his childhood. Hence it is no surprise that the mosques in the West Bank and Gaza Strip continue to this day to churn out new terrorists, many of whom aspire to become like Ayyash – mass murderers. These European leaders wrongly image that if they get rid of Israel, it will be only Israel. They fail see that Israel is just the first course. They imagine that if they accede to Muslims' wishes, they will be safe. What they fail to see, as in France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Britain, is that they will be next. Caroline Glick: Netanyahu, Congress, AIPAC and the PLO Although AIPAC condemned the Obama administration’s refusal to veto 2334, it continues to fervently support the PLO and Palestinian statehood. Indeed, just days after 2334 passed, AIPAC officials and missions were meeting with Erekat and other PLO operatives in Ramallah, as if there is anything pro-Israel about meeting with people who just got the Security Council to resolve that Israel is a criminal state. AIPAC’s continued support for the PLO no doubt stems in part from its desire to keep the Democratic Party inside the pro-Israel tent. Unfortunately, that ship seems to have sailed. Nearly 40% of House Democrats including minority leader Nancy Pelosi and assistant leader Jim Clyburn voted against the PLO state supporting resolution. Rep. Keith Ellison, who is the front-runner to be elected Democratic National Committee chairman later this month, also voted no. Two thirds of the 95 Democrats supported by J Street opposed the resolution. Most of the Democrats that supported Resolution 11 may well have supported it even if it had left out the goal of giving the PLO a state. It cannot be credibly argued that Reps. Elliot Engel and Steny Hoyer would have opposed Resolution 11 if it had simply stated that 2334 was antisemitic. Certainly it is hard to argue they would have opposed it if the vote was delayed until January 21. Indeed, it is hard to understand why it was necessary to pass the resolution while President Barack Obama – who partnered with the PLO to pass 2334 – is still in office. Resolution 2334’s passage must be viewed as an inflection point. It is no longer possible to credibly argue that the PLO is remotely interested in peace with Israel. Sunday’s murderous terrorist attack Jerusalem was further testament of this truth. The time has come for Israelis and Israel’s supporters in the US to demand that our leaders – from Prime Minister Netanyahu to AIPAC to members of Congress – finally recognize and act of this truth. The whitewashing of the PLO must end. Richard Epstein: Obama’s Dangerous Palestinian Gambit The Jordanians were, of course, no friends of the Palestinians. Indeed, in September 1970 there was a fierce conflict, known as Black September, in which the Palestinian Liberation Organization forces led by Yasir Arafat were defeated by the Jordanian forces led by then-King Hussein, and were forced into exile after the death of thousands. Just what would have happened to Palestinian national ambitions if the territories had been returned to Jordan so that the Fourth Convention would no longer apply? We shall never know the answer to that question because Jordan never sought to regain the territories and indeed in 1988 renounced all claim to the West Bank in part to clear the path to Palestinian claims. Note that the Jordanians did not—nor could they have—transferred their claims to Palestine which did not (and still does not) have statehood status. At this point, we have the novel situation in which the stripping away of the initial sovereign leaves Israel without a genuine competitor for sovereignty over the territories. Nothing in the Fourth Convention covers these unique circumstances. And it is a political, not a legal, issue that governs the implementation of any potential two-state solution. Nor is the situation made any clearer by the 2004 Advisory opinion, which addressed the legality of the wall that Israel erected around the West Bank to protect itself against widespread Palestinian terrorist attacks. Clearly the wall separated the West Bank from the rest of Israel, and it was condemned for that reason as illegal by the ICJ, which heavily relied on notions of customary international law that have never been supported by a consistent practice that requires nations to remain immobile in the face of systematic terror threats. To be sure, Resolution 2234 condemns terrorist activities, but only in a disembodied sense that makes no reference to the constant activities of Hamas or the active support for terrorist activities that is fully institutionalized by the Palestinian authority, which offers financial support for individuals and the families of those who kill or maim Israelis. Generalized pronouncements make it appear that Israel and the Palestinian Authority are equal offenders in the commission of terrorist acts, when it is highly likely that the Israeli security measures would be vastly curtailed if there were credible assurances that the bombings, shootings, and stabbings would come to an end. The one-sided treatment of these legal issues is consistent with the general UN approach that obsessively condemns Israel while mostly overlooking the atrocities that have ravaged the greater Middle East. In light of these issues, it is somewhat odd to treat the settlements as though they were the major obstacle to the two-state solution. Remove them tomorrow, especially in response to the UN resolution, and the most likely outcome is that the PA and Hamas would intensify their activities to destroy the Jewish state, just as they did in 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973 when Israel fought wars of survival, knowing full well that the first defeat would be the last one, even if the 1949 Geneva Convention places strict limitations on how occupying powers have to behave toward conquered people. The Israelis know this all too well. They also know that the lesson of the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza led to the rise of Hamas and to repeated military actions and missile attacks between 2006 and 2014. Any unilateral surrender of lands in the West Bank to a new Palestinian state opens up the possibility that greater hostilities could be launched against an Israel weakened by successive rounds of fatal concessions. The Israelis claim that the only path to peace is through bilateral negotiations between the parties, backed by the US and the UN. Those negotiations were apparently close to success in 2000 and 2008, but the deal was never closed because of the Palestinians. At this point, Resolution 2234 has killed the prospects for any negotiated peace in the foreseeable future. The Palestinian Authority will treat compliance with a ruinous Resolution as a precondition for further negotiations. The Israelis cannot live in a world that requires them to surrender territories under their control before 1967. The terms of the UN Resolution thus have put an effective end to all negotiations between the two sides. The Israelis are likely to continue the dangerous game of expanding settlements in the West Bank, as the only credible way of punishing the Palestinians for their continued delay. Whether this strategy will work, or should work, is a hard call. But much of the blame for the current impasse lies at the feet of Secretary of State John Kerry who never did understand the political dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Bret Stephens ($): On Palestinian Statehood Would a Palestinian state serve the cause of Mideast peace? This used to be conventional wisdom, on the theory that a Palestinian state would lead to peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Today the proposition is ridiculous. No deal between Jerusalem and Ramallah is going to lift the sights of those now fighting in Syria, Iraq or Yemen. Nor will a deal reconcile Tehran and its terrorist proxies in Lebanon and Gaza to the existence of a Jewish state. Aren't the Palestinians entitled to a state? Maybe. But are they more entitled to one than the Assamese, Basques, Baloch, Corsicans, Druze, Flemish, Kashmiris, Kurds, Moros, Native Hawaiians, Northern Cypriots, Rohingya, Tibetans, Uyghurs or West Papuans - all of whom have distinct national identities, legitimate historical grievances and plausible claims to statehood? What gives Palestinians the preferential claim? Comparisons aside, would a Palestinian state be good for Palestinian people? A June 2015 poll by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion found that a majority of Arab residents in east Jerusalem would rather live as citizens with equal rights in Israel than in a Palestinian state. But isn't a Palestinian state a necessity for Israel? Can it maintain its Jewish and democratic character without separating itself from the Palestinians? In theory, Israel would be well-served living alongside a sovereign Palestinian state that lived in peace with its neighbors. But Israelis don't live in theory. They live in a world where Israeli prime ministers made good-faith offers of Palestinian statehood and were met with rejection and violence. Anne Bayefsky: France Prepares Yet Another Anti-Israel International Assault, with Obama's Blessing President Obama has gone rogue and only one man can protect American democracy in the next few days: the President-elect. On January 15, 2017, with only five days left after 2,917 days in office, President Barack Obama is planning once again to feed Israel to the international wolves. The move is intended to tie the hands of President Donald Trump and is a direct repudiation of the will of the American electorate who rejected Obama’s calamitous foreign policy and a repeat performance by his secretary of state. On Sunday, France is scheduled to hold an international conference to unleash an international mob on Israel. The meeting is taking place with Obama’s direct connivance. Seventy-states have been lined up to impose their preferences on the Middle East’s only democracy. Israelis are still dying in Israeli streets after seventy years of unending Arab terror – and the folks sitting in Paris munching on croissants know best how to protect Israeli national security. The bare-faced power-grab by France and its Arab allies – with the blessing of President Obama – raises unavoidable questions: Who will attend? If they attend, how senior a representative will be sent by the main players on the Security Council: the U.S., Russia, and the United Kingdom? Will attendees sign on to an outcome document imperiling Israel that is already circulating? Will the Middle East Quartet – composed of the U.S., the EU, Russia and the UN – approve of the outcome document? Will a UN Security Council subsequently approve of the outcome document before January 20, 2017? The French meeting follows on President Obama helping to ram through a UN Security Council resolution on December 23, 2016 that was clearly intended to unleash a legal and economic pogrom against the Jewish state. It didn’t take long for Palestinian terrorists to get the message: sidelining a negotiated solution between the parties by strong-arming an Israeli villain at the UN was a greenlight for the enforcers in Gaza City and Ramallah. Shmuley Boteach: No Holds Barred: Obama and Israel: The final insult By approving the resolution’s absurd language that Israel’s claim to the Western Wall and Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter has “no legal validity,” and ignoring the Jewish people’s 3,000-year-old connection to Judea and Samaria, the Obama administration only encourages Palestinian jihadists to cling to their dreams of driving the Jews into the sea. No wonder Hamas and Iran-backed Islamic Jihad, who are dedicated to Israel’s destruction, have praised it. In his speech about the resolution, Kerry said, “It is vital that we have an honest, clear-eyed conversation about the uncomfortable truths.” Here are just a few of them: No agreement, including the Oslo Accords signed by the Palestinians, precludes Israel from building settlements in Judea and Samaria. In fact, even two-state proponents acknowledge Israel’s right to annex the major settlements as part of a land swap in the final peace agreement. The “West Bank” territory is disputed – not occupied. It was never a sovereign Palestinian state. After the expulsion of Jews 2,000 years ago, the land was occupied by many nations, most recently by the Ottomans, British and Jordanians. Only in 1967, after Israel defeated Jordan in the Six Day War, did claims of “illegal occupation” become fashionable. After all, which legal entity did Israel illegally occupy it from? The Ottoman Empire? The British mandate? Certainly not from any state called “Palestine.” What a tragedy for the legacy of Barack Obama, whose countless assurances of “having Israel’s back” have proven worthless. Already tainted by the Iran deal, his legacy will be stained by this cowardly stab in Israel’s back in the fleeting days of his presidency. Amb. Alan Baker: Debunking More False Assumptions Regarding Israel Further to the recent publication of “Ten False Assumptions Regarding Israel,” which addressed many of the widely-held and universally-disseminated false and mistaken assumptions regarding Israel, a number of additional false assumptions – some even more willful and malicious – are addressed. 1. “Israel is committing genocide, mass murder and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian People” – a false and malicious blood-libel. 2. “The Jews are not a people and have no rights in the Middle East” – False and Misguided 3. “The establishment of Israel was a catastrophe for the Palestinians” – False 4. “Israel prevents the supply of water to the Palestinian population” – False 5. “Israel violates its obligations in the Oslo Accords” – False 6. “Israel is denying the ‘right of return’ to millions of Palestinian refugees” – False. 7. “BDS is a progressive, non-violent movement in the best tradition of peaceful activism” – False and Deceptive 8. “Israel is undermining the ‘two state solution’”- False and Misleading. 9. “Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip is illegal” – False. 10. Israel is conducting extrajudicial murders and is randomly and cold-bloodedly executing Palestinians – False and Malicious 11. “Israel committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip including the indiscriminate murder of children” – False On January 20, however, Kerry will no longer be in charge of the U.S.’s Middle East policies, and Barack Obama will no longer be President. President-elect Donald Trump has created much ambiguity as to where the U.S. will stand on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, just as he did on most other issues, so I will offer my humble advice. The Trump administration should do the only thing that will break the impasse, something that every U.S. administration has so far been afraid to do, and that is to support Israel in resolving the conflict unilaterally. Let Israel set the borders and the separation rules to suit its own demographic and security needs. Let Israel build the wall. Let Israel defend itself as it sees fit. Most importantly, oppose any UN Security Council resolution that might interfere with Israel’s plan. Israel won the Israel-Arab war, and despite that, Palestinians have had seven decades to shape their own future rather than be dictated by the victor. But after 69 years of obstructionism, the Palestinian leadership no longer deserves a seat at the table. It is time for Israel to behave as the victor of the conflict, and to win the peace just as it won the war.>Can Trump break the impasse and help Israel finally enjoy the fruits of victory? Gerard Henderson: Block to Israeli-Palestinian peace remains the same as in 1967 The UN Security Council’s Resolution 2334, carried on December 23 with the US abstaining, is related to the Arab-Israeli War that ran between June 5 and June 10, 1967. The resolution condemns “all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem”. Australia appears to be the only Western democracy to indicate that it does not agree with the passing of the resolution. New Zealand was one of the sponsors of the motion. In fact, there was no such entity as a “Palestinian Territory” in 1967. Following the creation of the State of Israel by the UN in 1948, the land between Israel and the Jordan River was controlled by Jordan. Jordan did not give independence to Palestinians before the Six-Day War. Large parts of the West Bank are administered by the Palestinian Authority. Like many monumental events, the history of the Six-Day War is contested. The conflict is well summarised, in a balanced way, by Eugene Rogan in The Arabs: A History. The Arab nations at the time did not recognise Israel’s right to exist, referring to the nation merely as the “Zionist entity”. Spectator Editorial: The evil of 2334 If, as the Australian newspaper implied this week, The Spectator Australia has played a minor role in the recent acknowledgment by the Jerusalem Post that Australia’s multi-faceted support for Israel is worthy of special commendation, then we wear such praise as a badge of honour. ‘Australia has emerged as one of Israel’s few true friends… We should not take this friendship for granted,’ the Jerusalem Post editorialised. Which, to be blunt, is something of an understatement. With New Zealand shamefully sponsoring the odious and breathtakingly anti-Semitic UN Security Resolution 2334; with a ragbag collection of Islamic and failed fellow-travelers gleefully joining in like ‘a pack of jackals’; with Britain equally shamefully voting for this disgrace; and with the US abstaining (in effect voting for) the resolution as part of Barack Obama’s and John Kerry’s vitriolic lame duck death throes, it is unclear if Israel has any real friends outside of Australia. As this week’s cover stories by David Flint and Daryl McCann make depressingly clear, 2334 is a grotesque attempt by the failed Obama administration not only to disguise a plethora of disastrous actions and inactions they are responsible for, that have fuelled global and Middle East instability and war, but worse, is a direct existential threat to Israel. Already, historical revisionism is being given succour by 2334. This week, for example, saw Islamic guards harrassing an Israeli archeologist for using the term ‘Temple Mount’ on, er, the Temple Mount. David Flint: Obama notes: Stabbing an ally in the back Under article 80 of the UN Charter, these territories clearly remain legally subject today to the Jewish right of settlement established in the Mandate. The article was carefully drafted with precisely this in mind; no mere Security Council resolution can ever change this. The opponents of Israel argue that the Fourth Geneva Convention introduced in response to Nazi atrocities in occupied territories outlaws Israel’s settlements. This is patently untrue; the convention only applies when the territory of a state party to the Convention is occupied which is clearly not the case with the West Bank. In accordance with the Mandate this remains part of the Jewish homeland. Israel alone can forfeit this, as she has to a great extent in Gaza. The continual calls for a two-state solution, which would involve creating a tiny second Palestinian state smaller than Brisbane, have proved to be a smoke screen and have surely run their course. On the seven occasions when Israel or the Jewish community have agreed to these, her opponents have either backed away or imposed ridiculous conditions. Their agenda remains. In the words of the Tehran mullahs, it is that agenda, unacceptable to the civilised world, of ‘Death to Israel’. Ten Failed State Department Plans for Mideast Peace 1. The Divided Jerusalem Plan As US ambassador to Israel in September 2000, Martin Indyk first publicly urged Israel to “share the governance of Jerusalem and its holy sites” with the Palestinians. Now, in his January 2017 New York Times op-ed, Indyk has urged the incoming Trump administration to push for dividing control of Jerusalem between Israel and the PA, which Indyk contends would “open the way to negotiation on other final-status issues like the borders of a Palestinian state.” Political historian Gil Troy, of McGill University, told JNS.org that the State Department’s plans regarding Israel often have been driven by appeasement rather than principle. Kerry’s recent warning against moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem “wasn’t a principled argument, but was simply based on fear of violence by extremists,” and “is exactly the kind of cowardice that comes from State, and which [incoming President Donald] Trump will abhor,” Troy said. He predicted that “the chance of a clash between a tweet-driven, populist, seat-of-the-pants Trump White House and the striped-pants types at the State Department is huge.” Professor Troy is the author of a recent book about Ambassador Daniel P. Moynihan’s fight against the UN’s “Zionism-is-racism” resolution, and Moynihan’s clashes with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Moynihan “feared that too many State Department bureaucrats were so concerned about how their actions would be perceived on the cocktail party circuit in Scarsdale, that it inhibited them from acting effectively; true then, true now,” Troy said. “Many State Department officials forget Moynihan’s essential lesson that diplomacy doesn’t just mean being nice, but requires using many different tools — because in a tough world, you can’t always play nice.” Obama, in Israel TV interview, dismisses idea he betrayed Israel at UN President Barack Obama on Monday dismissed the notion that he betrayed Israel at the United Nations Security Council last month by opting not to veto a resolution that branded settlements illegal and called the West Bank and East Jerusalem occupied Palestinian territory. Speaking in an Israeli Channel 2 TV interview, Obama said he had an obligation as president “to do what I think is right.” In an excerpt of the interview broadcast Monday evening, the outgoing president was asked about Israeli claims that he had orchestrated Resolution 2334, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s specific description of the move as a “shameful, anti-Israeli ploy.” Did he understand the Israeli “sense of betrayal”? interviewer Ilana Dayan asked. “No,” Obama replied. “I’ll be honest with you: That kind of hyperbole, those kinds of statements, don’t have a basis in fact. “They may work well with respect to deflecting attention from the problem of settlements,” the president continued. “They may play well with Bibi’s political base, as well as the Republican base here in the United States, but they don’t match up with the facts.” UN seeks to blacklist Israeli firms beyond the Green Line The United Nations Human Rights Council is reportedly working on a "blacklist" of Israeli companies operating beyond the Green Line with aim of declaring them illegal. The list, an initiative prompted by the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, is scheduled to be released in March, but a source familiar with the issue told Israel Hayom Monday it may only come out in June. The move reportedly aims to bar the presence of any Israeli company beyond the Green Line. If adopted, the list could deem even private security firms protecting Israelis in Judea and Samaria from terrorist organizations, as illegal. The list is said to be the brainchild of known BDS activist Richard Falk, formerly the U.N.'s special rapporteur on Palestinian human rights. Falk first came up with the idea for the blacklist six years ago, while in office, and he has been strongly advocating for it ever since, this time with the support of several Arab U.N. members. In an effort to thwart this initiative, NGO Monitor, a watchdog group that promotes greater transparency among foreign-funded Israeli nongovernmental organizations, has recently sent the Human Rights Council a position paper explaining that such a list would be a violation of international law and the UNHRC's own guidelines against discrimination based on national origin, arguing that as no such blacklists exist for any other conflict zone in the world, it would in effect be targeting Jewish-owned businesses. No more playing by UN rules It is up to Israel to notify its friends, old and new, that hostile votes at the U.N. will not be met with understanding. Up until now, friendly states played the usual game: They displayed general sympathy toward the Jewish state, but did not vote in its favor, offering instead endless excuses. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's firm response to the Security Council's hostile vote is the beginning of a new chapter on this issue. Friends are supposed to support us in U.N. votes, and certainly not to vote with our enemies. Everyone has gotten used to the fact that during an average year, some 80-90% of U.N. condemnations are directed at Israel (and at the infamous Human Rights Council, there is even more persecution of Israel). The rise of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and a new U.N. secretary-general will provide a good opportunity to rewrite the rules of the game. Outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon found the courage to admit that his organization is biased, and we must demand that his successor take real action for change. If this is not done, the new American administration can allow Republican lawmakers to do what they have been hoping to do for a long while -- revoke financial support for the United Nations. In fact, interim steps (such as opposition to the continued existence of UNIFL troops) may also suffice. The important thing is to put an end, for once and for all, to the tradition of servility toward the anti-democratic majority at the United Nations. Palestinian rock attacks on the rise since UN settlement vote The West Bank has seen a sharp rise in the number of violent attacks, primarily rock-throwing incidents, since an anti-settlement resolution was passed on December 23, 2016 by the United Nations Security Council, Israeli defense officials said. The rise was recorded in the last week of December 2016 and the first week of January 2017, an increase security forces say is mostly due to exam season in Palestinian high schools. They note, though, that it is a larger increase than in the same period in previous years. In September 346 rock-throwing attacks were recorded, in October 375, in November 420, and in December 344. Most of the December attacks occurred in the final week of the month. In the first week of January there were 169 recorded attacks, a pace that, if maintained, would lead to almost 700 attacks by the end of the month. The rock attacks were also linked to a series of anniversaries taking place around now, including that of Fatah’s founding and first terrorist attack on January 1, 1965, and of the assassination of Yahya Ayyash, Hamas’s chief bomb maker, on January 5, 1996. Netanyahu orders ministers to attend funerals after all skip out on terror victims After bereaved parents complained that not a single government minister showed up to any of the four funerals for soldiers killed in Sunday’s terror attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered new rules drawn up to avoid a similar situation in the future. The funerals of Lt. Yael Yekutiel, 20, of Givatayim, Lt. Shir Hajaj, 22, of Ma’ale Adumim, 2nd Lt. Erez Orbach, 20, of Alon Shvut, and 2nd Lt. Shira Tzur, 20, from Haifa, took place in quick succession on Monday. Hundreds attended each of the ceremonies, the first of which began at 11 a.m. and the last at 3 p.m. The four victims were among a group of IDF officer cadets who were hit by a truck driven at them by Palestinian Fadi al-Qunbar in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of Jerusalem. Two of the soldiers, Orbach and Tzur, were American citizens. Qunbar, 28, was shot and killed by soldiers and an armed tour guide at the scene. Wounded Soldiers From Jerusalem Truck-Ramming Attack Tell Netanyahu: We Want to Return to Officers’ Course Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday visited the IDF officers’ course cadets wounded in the previous day’s deadly truck-ramming attack at the Armon Hanatziv promenade in the country’s capital. “It’s simply unbelievable,” Netanyahu — who was joined by Health Minister Yaakov Litzman — remarked from the Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, where the young men and women are being treated for their injuries. “They [the wounded soldiers] told me one thing: Prime minister, we want to go back to the course; we want to return to service; we want to continue our mission as soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces.” “This is the true secret of our country,” Netanyahu continued. “And this is why we will win, and this is why we’ve won until now.” In Sunday’s attack, four IDF soldiers were killed and another 15 were wounded. According to the Hebrew news site nrg, five remained hospitalized on Sunday. One female soldier who was seriously wounded was still in life-threatening condition at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center. 'I want to serve my country. It is my duty' Moshe Orbach, whose grandson Erez Hy'd (may G-d avenge his blood) was murdered in the ramming attack at Armon Hanatziv, told Arutz Sheva about his grandson's character and referred to the fact that there were no government ministers at any of the funerals of those murdered in the attack. "Erez had tremendous determination," said Orbach. "He fought sickness and the army which didn't want to recruit him. The professor (at the recruiting committee) asked him why he insisted on enlisting when 200 people outside were just waiting to get released and Erez answered that "I want to serve my country. It is my duty." Orbach described other aspects of Erez's personality which were revealed after his death. "Erez was a very modest and humble person. Only now during the mourning period we are hearing from friends of his and from the army how dedicated and clever he was to the point that one of his commanders told us that Erez had begun to teach him things he hadn't known." IDF Blog: “They’re my soldiers… I knew I had to handle it.” Lt. Maya witnessed yesterday’s terror attack – and acted fast to end it. Yesterday afternoon, a terrorist from East Jerusalem carried out a deadly vehicle ramming attack in the Armon Hanatziv area of Jerusalem, where cadets in the IDF’s Officers Training School were taking a field trip. The terrorist plowed his truck into a group on the promenade, killing four IDF soldiers and wounding 17 others. Lt. Maya, 22, of Haifa, is the team commander of the company of cadets who were targeted in the attack. “I got on the bus to put away some gear and get my jacket, and I was standing right at the front of the bus, and from there I saw everything. The attacker drove at a very, very high speed, and drove into a big crowd of cadets who were standing shoulder-to-shoulder.” As Lt. Maya watched the attack unfold, she knew that she had to do everything in her power to stop it. As an officer, it’s her duty to protect her soldiers, and as a soldier herself, it’s her job to save lives. That meant taking charge in the moment. “I felt like I had to take responsibility. They’re my soldiers, they’re my company, and as part of that sense of responsibility, I knew I had to handle it.” Deri revokes residency status of Jerusalem terrorist's family Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri has decided to revoke the permanent resident status of 13 members of Jerusalem terrorist Fadi Al-Qunbar's family, including his mother, following consultations Monday with the Shin Bet and the Immigration Authority. As a result of the terror attack, in which four IDF officers were murdered, Minwa al-Qunbar, a permanent resident of Israel who is also in bigamous marriage contrary to Israeli law, will lose her permanent residency and corresponding social benefits. Such a measure has previously never been implemented and prevents the family from appealing to the High Court of Justice, as they are not Israeli citizens. Minister Deri decided on the measure after discussions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who supported the move. 4 arrested over Jerusalem graffiti praising truck-rammer Israeli police arrested four residents of the Old City in Jerusalem overnight Monday for spray-painting graffiti praising the terrorist who carried out a truck-ramming attack in the capital on Sunday, killing four soldiers and wounding 16. The graffiti, which was found sprayed across shopfronts in the Muslim Quarter the night after the attack, praises attacker Fadi al-Qunbar, a resident of East Jerusalem, while also declaring that the truck-ramming was “resistance, not terror.” The graffiti also mentions the name Mesbah Abu Sabih, who killed two Israelis in a shooting attack in October at Jerusalem’s Ammunition Hill light rail stop, with “We will not despair until you give up” and “There is no place for you [Jews] in Jerusalem” written in Hebrew under his name. Also found written in Hebrew was the statement, “Yesterday’s attack is the beginning of 2017.” In Wake of Jerusalem Truck-Ramming, US Professor/Palestinian Rights Lawyer Says Journalists Must Not Call Arab Attacks on Israeli Soldiers ‘Terrorism’ Following Sunday’s truck-ramming attack in Jerusalem, an American academic took to Twitter to admonish journalists for calling “all acts of Arab violence terrorism,” when the target is Israeli soldiers. Noura Erakat, assistant professor of international studies at George Mason University in Virginia and a Palestinian rights lawyer, wrote: “Journos, pundits show true colors when they [do this]. Don’t get it twisted. #Jerusalem.” Calling it “irresponsible to elide distinction bw civilians & soldiers,” Erakat — the founder of the online magazine Jadaliyya, which focuses on the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — also criticized a Wall Street Journal headline that read: “Truck plows into pedestrians in Jerusalem, killing four.” Belgian newspaper fires columnist who praised terror attack A Belgian daily newspaper fired one of its columnists following his praise for the slaying of four Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem. De Standaard, a left-leaning Flemish-language daily, said Monday that it would no longer feature columns by Dyab Abou Jahjah, a Lebanon-born activist from Belgium who has called for violent attacks on Jewish Israelis. A day earlier, Belgian Jews took to Twitter to condemn Abou Jahjah’s remarks, which included: “By any means necessary, #freepalestine,” following an attack in which a Palestinian terrorist plowed a truck through a crowd of soldiers visiting a popular tourist spot. The driver, who was shot dead, reportedly was a supporter of the Islamic State terror group. He also wrote on Facebook that the attack was “not terrorism but resistance.” 2015: Corbyn and the fanatic who gloated over troop deaths: He entertained radical who said 'death of every British soldier is a victory' Jeremy Corbyn was tonight accused of being a ‘cheerleader’ for a controversial fanatic who glorified the murder of British soldiers - after it emerged he twice hosted the Lebanese extremist Dyab Abou Jahjah in London. The runaway Labour leadership favourite invited the ‘well-known thug’ to the UK in 2009 to speak against the Iraq war at two separate events. Jahjah, who recently described the Labour MP as his ‘friend’, was invited to Parliament as Mr Corbyn’s special guest. Corbyn, Islington North MP since 1983, has emerged as a surprise frontrunner in the Labour leadership race The pair also addressed a second public meeting hosted by the then backbench MP for the Stop the War Coalition. Just after the meetings Jahjah was banned from entering Britain by the then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith because of his extremist views. EXCLUSIVE - Gaza Cleric: Jerusalem Truck Attack Permitted by Sharia Sunday’s deadly truck-ramming attack in Jerusalem is permitted by Sharia law, a Palestinian cleric claimed to Breitbart Jerusalem. Ahmad Abou Aklein, a Gaza extremist imam, said the attack that left four Israelis dead and another 17 wounded is allowed under Sharia Islamic law because “it targeted an enemy that occupied Muslim land. None of the casualties was an innocent man who lives in a land that is his own. None of the dead could validly claim that occupied Palestine is his country of origin.” Aklein referred to the entire state of Israel as “occupied Muslim land.” “Compare it to a Chinese or an Iraqi soldier who comes to the United States or a European country and occupies it,” he added. “Will they let it happen? Will they not resist in every possible way? This is what the hero did today, he fought against the soldiers of the occupation and killed them, that’s all.” “Palestine is occupied by an enemy that kills our sons and turns our wives into widows, that’s why our jihad is not only permitted by the Islamic Sharia, but by international law as well,” he said. “Even the UN allows the sons of a certain country to occupy those who occupy their land.” ‘Decepticons’ Claim Responsibility for Jerusalem Truck Terror Attack (satire) Earlier today, the Decepticons released a statement claiming responsibility for the Jerusalem truck terror attack that left four Israelis dead. This comes after much confusion when the BBC, New York Times, and other outlets published headlines that made it seem like it was the truck that was to blame for the attack. Indeed, as the attack was still in progress, the New York Times ran the headline “Truck Rams into Soldiers in Jerusalem” and the BBC described it as a “Lorry Attack” leaving many confused that might be a lone Wolf-Truck attack; the first of its kind. The confusion was cleared up after Decepticon leader Megatron released a statement praising one of their members for the attack; he stated that the Decepticons believe that the Palestinian national struggle is intrinsically linked to their war with the Autobots and accused Optimus-Prime, and other Autobots, of transforming into caravans in illegal West Bank settlements between movies. ISIS Applying For Palestinian Citizenship To Escape ‘Terrorist’ Designation (satire) Jihadists around the world have begun to seek Palestinian citizenship as a way to avoid being considered terrorists when they engage in ideologically motivated violence against civilians. Palestinian diplomats and bureaucrats in Belgium, West Africa, Somalia, Egypt, and elsewhere have noticed a marked uptick in the number of new applicants for citizenship, a development they attribute to the international community and media’s reluctance to describe Palestinian acts of terrorism as such, and those Islamist applicants seek to gain the Palestinian public relations advantage of rarely having their violent attacks referred to in those terms. Since the 2014 increase in Palestinian attacks on Israelis, primarily involving vehicular homicide and stabbing attempts, Islamists across the globe have noticed that while their violent activities targeting enemies are referred to by governments and media outlets as terrorism, identical acts by Palestinians escape such designation. Almost invariably, they say, vehicular assaults, stabbing, stone-throwing, firebombings, rockets, bombings, and shooting attacks perpetrated by Palestinians are described in terms that studiously avoid direct use of the words “terrorist” and “terrorism,” invoking them only when attributing such words to Israeli security spokespeople. In fact, notes Ali Figleef, a community activist of Pakistani origin in Antwerp, media coverage, and most governments’ treatment, of such Palestinian activities go out of their way to avoid assigning blame to the perpetrators, focusing wherever possible on the Israeli response and never mentioning the atmosphere of incitement to violence that saturates official Palestinian media. We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

The definition of Paganism is often misconstrued as “nature-centric spirituality,” and correspondent to the term “Earth religion.” In truth, the concept of “nature worship” is by large recently-manufactured, being the product of the heavily Christian-entrenched Romantic period and the nature-centric movements which developed out of it; the same movements which also sprang out contemporary Druidism in the 19th century (Nicholas Roe 2010, 26), which, suffice to say, isn’t anything similar to the ancient Druids of Antiquity. This idea, which is so ingrained in contemporary conceptions of “nature worship,” had not existed in ancient Pagan religions, and is often perpetuated by typically the least academically-minded types of apparent “Pagans” whose practice is much more identifiable as New Age than anything. There are plenty of Pagan religions– including ones where there are divinities holding jurisdiction over the forces of nature– which aren’t concerned with the worship of nature, it often being seen as a hostile force as frequently as a beneficial one (Hrafnblod 2018, 23:56:58). Vulcanus may be a God of fire and its fertilizing aspects, but His cultus often centers around protecting the home from the ravages of flames (Plutarch, Quaestiones Romanes 47). To simply define Paganism as “nature-centric” is, ultimately, a misconception. This isn’t to claim that Pagan traditions don’t have ceremonies or calendars which center around nature or natural cycles in some form. However, most religions do this to some extent. An agrarian society is going to have ceremonies centered around the fertility of the land; however, that doesn’t mean that they’re “earth-based,” no more so than any other religion is. While Kemeticists celebrate the flooding of the Nile River, for a long time Coptic Christianity celebrated this event as well (Febe Armanios 2015, 78). And while many Pagan religions observe holidays based around the cycles of the moon (e.g., Hellenism determining when to celebrate Hekate’s Deipnon), the religions of Islam, Judaism, and some sects of Christianity also do this to observe their holidays (James Shneer 2016, 4-5). Yet, these religions are undoubtedly not seen as Pagan religions. Often this application of vague “nature-centric” spirituality to Paganism will lead people will assume that Pantheism, the belief that the divine is identical to the material universe (William Mander 2016), fits into the movement. This is problematic because the pantheistic conception of the divine is functionally identical to atheism, with the divine merely being “the passive manifestation of [material] reality” (Hrafnblod 2018, 13:07:34) rather than an entity with a distinct agency (Hrafnblod 2018, 13:07:34). This lack of agency obviously means it does nothing to inform any religious devotion, and because of that you cannot engage in do ut des with it. And while plenty of Pagan traditions do recognize the cosmos as something that’s divine in its essence, they also hold that other Gods and Greater Kinds exist seperately either externally from it or internally in it, thus aligning closer to Panentheism rather than Pantheism (Hrafnblod 2018, 13:07:34) (John Culp 2017). Pagans do not seek the mediation of the Gods to worship nature because nature is not the objective of Pagan traditions. The unmistakable focus of Paganism is the worship of Pagan Gods who hold a distinct agency. Because of this it’s wiser to categorize Paganism using Michael York’s book Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion: an umbrella term for many different contemporary religions that are either inspired by (e.g., Wicca or Druidism) or revivalisms of (as in reconstructionist polytheism, e.g., Heathenry, Kemeticism, Hellenism, etc) the ancient cultures in the European-Mediterranean-Near East cultural basin that were displaced by Abrahamic religions (Michael York 2005). Defining contemporary Paganism this way serves a purpose of distinction, allowing Paganism to be separated from the largely Protestant imperialist use of the term and distance Pagans from the appropriative New Age movement, in preference for religious expression that is more logical and consistent. (Special thanks to Hrafnblod for inspiring this article) Armanios, Febe. Coptic Christianity in Ottoman Egypt. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. Culp, John. “Panentheism.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. June 03, 2017. Accessed March 06, 2018. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/panentheism/. Dragicevich, Peter, Etain OCarroll, and Helena Smith. Lonely Planet Wales. Oakland, CA: Lonely Planet, 2014. Hrafnblod, Reddit post “Interested But Unsure”, February 26, 2018 (23:56:58 UTC p.m. UTC), accessed March 3, 2018, https://www.reddit.com/r/pagan/comments/802rrb/interested_but_unsure/duvo8cr/ Hrafnblod, Reddit post “Interested But Unsure”, February 27, 2018 (13:07:34 UTC p.m. UTC), accessed March 3, 2018, https://www.reddit.com/r/pagan/comments/802rrb/interested_but_unsure/duwj1tu/ Hrafnblod, Reddit post “Interested But Unsure”, February 27, 2018 (11:43:22 UTC p.m. UTC), accessed March 3, 2018, https://www.reddit.com/r/pagan/comments/802rrb/interested_but_unsure/duwg8ke/ Hrafnblod. “On “Earth-Based Religions”.” Grennung Hund Heorþ. April 5, 2017. Accessed March 3, 2018.https://grennunghund.blog/2017/04/05/on-earth-based-religions/. Hrafnblod. “Paganism Isn’t Dying; It’s (Finally) Maturing.” Grennung Hund Heorþ. May 21, 2017. Accessed March 3, 2018. https://grennunghund.blog/2017/05/21/paganism-isnt-dying-its-finally-maturing/. Mander, William. “Pantheism.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. July 07, 2016. Accessed March 06, 2018. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pantheism/. Oosthoek, K. Jan. “Romanticism and nature.” Environmental History Resources. August 1, 2015. Accessed March 03, 2018. https://www.eh-resources.org/romanticism-and-nature/. Plutarch, Quaestiones Romanes, 47. via the Perseus Digital Library at Tufts University. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0212%3Asection%3D47 Shneer, James. The Jewish Calendar and the Torah 3rd Edition. S.l.: Lulu.com, 2016. Roe, Nicholas. English Romantic Writers and the West Country. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. TheLettuceMan. “Paganism as a Religion.” Of Axe and Plough. June 18, 2017. Accessed March 3, 2018. https://thelettuceman.wordpress.com/2017/06/18/paganism-as-a-religion/. York, Michael. Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion. New York: New York University Press, 2005.

My grandmother did it, and my mother did, too. And yet, until Covid-19, I did not light Shabbat candles. But my older daughter, Rhonda, an occupational therapist in a rehab facility, had become a front line worker. My younger, Leslie, was going through rounds of treatment for stage 4 breast cancer. I kept thinking: What if? What if? I feared for my children’s lives. I could not Zoom, write, exercise, or even eat my way out of that fear. Pray, you say? To the God of Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah? It didn’t seem right. I feel like the world is teeming with prayers, many from folks who have kept the faith. But I’m not particularly observant. I drive on Shabbat. I don’t keep kosher. I worried: Why should my prayers count? Yet I had to do something to ease my terrible anxiety. I remembered back to when my mother died. Though I hardly went to synagogue before she passed, I started going every day in order to say kaddish in her honor. I was drawn to the ritual, wrapped in the comfort of the ancient prayer. Her candles, I thought. Her ritual. Maybe they would help me. And so, I dug up my mother’s Lenox candlesticks, dusted them off, and found myself on a Friday evening lighting them and saying the blessing: “Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who hallows us with mitzvot [blessings], commanding us to kindle the light of Shabbat.” The custom of lighting Shabbat candles goes back eons, when Jewish elders decided to light the house before sundown. They saw mitzvah as a lamp, the Torah as light. Candles are light, or a path to Torah. Plus, food tastes better when you see it. Engage the senses and make the Sabbath meal, which is served after the candles are lit, a true pleasure. The following week, I posed the question to my daughters: What do you say we all light Shabbat candles via Facetime this Friday? (God bless technology!) They opted in. But then the negotiations began: What time should we light? Finally, we arrived at a workable hour for all. My mother’s candle holders at the ready, I made the call from Queens to Staten Island and then to Seattle. My daughters gathered their families around their screens. “Why are we doing this?!” said my grandson, as only a 16-year-old torn from his video game can say. “Because we’re Jewish. And that’s what Jews do!” said Rhonda, working her mom mojo, tight and to the point. We lit the candles and said the blessing. Rhonda had bought a challah, or what passes for challah in their Washington town with only two Jewish families: “…haMotzi lechem min haaretz.” We blessed the wine: “…borei p’ri hagafen.” Behind the burning flames, our FaceTime images smiled; we wished one another a Shabbat Shalom. My daughters and I remained on our phones while the rest of the family drifted away to their own interests. Work, friends, the dreaded virus, the minutiae of our lives — our talk was the same as our regular, day-to-day conversations. Yet there was something different. Something special had been added to our post candle-lighting chat. A kind of peace? A sense of hope? An overall feeling that it was going to be OK? (The it being Rhonda’s safety; Leslie’s health.) I can’t put a finger on it, but whatever it was, they must have felt it, too. Because when it was time to say goodbye, Leslie offered, “Let’s do this again next week.” Rhonda was in. It’s been two months now, and we’ve been lighting candles together every Friday evening. My grandson comes to table sans gripe. (Well, most of the time.) The thick of Covid has thankfully thinned in the rehab facility where Rhonda works. Leslie is responding to her new treatment. My anxiety has dimmed, but not my enthusiasm for our candle-lighting — or my daughters’ interest in it. “What time is Shabbat?” they text me each Friday. It makes me smile: I love how religious they sound, even though they are anything but. And that’s OK. Is it possible that their bond to their heritage shines in their cells, just as it shines in mine? Perhaps our traditions thread through the generations, into the Shabbat candles — that burning flame, enduring, constant. Looking to create a Shabbat tradition in your own family? Check out the brand-new Kveller Shabbat Guide here! Header Image by ma_rish/ Getty Images

Image: Symbols of the Jewish New Year: A shofar (ram’s horn), apple, honey, and pomegranate (tomertu/Shutterstock) At sundown on September 9, 2018 Jewish year 5779 will be proclaimed in synagogues around the world. Sooner or later, someone will wonder, “5779 WHAT?” The simple answer: 5779 years from the creation of the world, as calculated by counting back years in the Hebrew Bible. The calculation of this date is credited to Maimonides, who mentions it in his tome, Mishneh Torah: Sanctification of the Moon, 11:6, written about 1178 CE, but it was likely in use for some time before that. This kind of numbering is called Anno Mundi meaning “Year of the World.” Liberal Jews believe that scientific method is better at addressing the “how” of the world, so we long ago quit looking to the Bible for science. Torah explores the meaning of creation, a question that science can’t and won’t address. The Biblical text cannot be read literally about scientific matters. Human beings weren’t created on the sixth day after God said “Yehi Or!” [Let There Be Light!] (Genesis 1:3) BUT – long ago we Jews began numbering the years by this ancient calendar. We remember many things in terms of their placement in Jewish time. Also we are “a stiff-necked people” and we cling to some things just to be stubborn. So even though it is a bit anachronistic, we number our years by the old system. On Rosh Hashanah, the shaliach [service leader] will announce the arrival of the year Five Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy Nine. So the more complex answer to the question, “Why 5778?” is “Tradition!”

by Felicity Arbuthnot From Statue to Legality October 21, 2010 "The welfare of the people, in particular, has always been the alibi of tyrants." (Albert Camus, 1913-1960.) Throughout Iraq, Americans bringing "freedom from tyranny", with their British auxiliaries, and their few arm twisted "coalition", largely morphed in to tyrants overnight. As with Saddam Hussein's statue, the U.S., simply covered legality with an American flag - and toppled it. And as across the country, indiscriminate, unaccountable killing sprees started early on - and continue still. U.S., wickednesses in Fallujah, the district by district liquidations, have probably been documented in more detail, than any other city, town or village, in deaths, injuries and deformities, so serves one tragic service - as an invaluable test case for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Whilst the recent, chilling Report by Busby, et al., (1) in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, has received deserved publicity, and been presented to the U.N., another, presented to the 15th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva (13th September-1st October) has received less so. "Testimonies of Crimes Against Humanity in Fallujah - Towards a Fair International Criminal Trial" (2): "...pleads and implores", the United Nations in : "...respect for the memory (of the) victims, to investigate the crimes and violations", in the document, and all that: "has been inflicted upon Iraq, placing the country at the top of the world's daily list for deaths, displaced persons, both internally and externally, the ensuing savage corruption, child molestation, rape, rampant kidnapping, contrary to the noble goals and (founding aspirations) of your Organization." After the invasion and fall of Baghdad, the document records, Fallujah remained calm, escaping the turmoil engulfing the rest of Iraq. Exactly two weeks after the toppling of the statue, on 23rd April 2003, when a group of students peacefully demonstrated outside Al Quds school, for its return by the U.S., soldiers, who had - without consultation - taken it over as a base, so they could The response was massive violence. The troops fired "indiscriminately" killing thirteen and wounding seventy five. Three of the dead were children under eleven. In a depressingly familiar story, according to Dr Ahmed Ghanim Al-Ali, the then hospital Director, they also fired on the medical staff who came to rescue the A week later, troops fired on a funeral, the first such occurrence in Iraq, which, with Afghanistan, along with wedding parties and mourning gatherings, have become a disgraceful litany. Two were killed and fourteen wounded, In the early hours of the second anniversary of the falling of the Twin Towers, a group driving a blue BMW, fired on the offices of the Mayor of Fallujah. Chased by the Fallujah Protection Force, the car disappeared in to a U.S., camp just outside the city. Returning, they came under heavy fire, eight were killed and two wounded. Again the ambulances were fired on and Those marking an atrocity at home, with executions abroad, transpired to be both U.S., forces and allegedly, with much substantiating evidence, mercenaries of the notorious Blackwater Security (now XL.) It took repeated demands by Fallujah's Mayor and others for the U.S., military to finally hand back the bodies (which: "...had been left in the back of crushed vehicles in the burning sun") and two traumatized injured. Acts of violence, murders, arrests, incarceration without trial and general acts of terror, are the hallmark of the freedom promised to the people of Ironically, American forces, with representatives from then U.S., "Viceroy" Paul Bremer's Office, in a meeting with the City Council, tried to recruit locals as agents, for protection. Seemingly, they were told that according to the Geneva Conventions, protection of Iraqis lay with the occupying Outside, were BMWs - driven by Blackwater staff. Bremer had given the company its first contract (for a reported $21 million) It was against the background the brutal, deviant behavior, that, on 31st March 2004, four Blackwater employees, ...were brutally murdered, dragged through the streets, their bodies hung over a bridge spanning the Euphrates. The action was presented to the world, largely, as an example of the irrational endemic violence in Iraqis. The brutal treatment of Iraqis, at the hands of the invading forces and Blackwater, had scant mention in the main stream media. Little can be found about the last three victims - but surreally, Helvenston, a former U.S., Navy SEAL, had been a personal trainer for Hollywood celebrities, including Demi Moore and had taken to reality shows such as: "Combat Missions", and: "Man vs Beast", where he completed an obstacle course faster then a chimpanzee. Tragically, though, not faster than the Fallujans. His last reality show appearance: "Extreme Expeditions - Model Behavior", had still to be shown at the time of his death.(3) The revenge April retaliation, came in spite of attempts by the City Council to mediate and negotiate. "U.S., troops rejected the intervention of and presence of the U.N." A tape recording of their refusal to negotiate and stated determination to strike the city, is witness to their lawless U.S., troops gave orders that no one was to leave the city. The population was trapped, reminiscent of General Norman Schwartzkopf's "turkey shoot" on the Basra Road, in 1991, with the road blocked at both ends and no escape. The bridge to the hospital was cut off, condemning the wounded to death, with five hundred pound bombs, and cluster bombs being dropped on Fallujah's families - who had nowhere to hide. That attack, with the subsequent one in October-November 2004, were compared to Guernica, and without doubt equal some of history's most shameful episodes. The people besieged in a reign of terror, of pure, primitive, savagery - targeted with weaponry of mass destruction. Instructed by the troops to hold a white flag if they ventured out, sickeningly, U.S., snipers, then targeted heads of those who dared, in desperation, for help, food, water, medical aid, water and telephones having been cut, in contravention to the Geneva Convention. Also in contravention, is fact the forces had anyway, prevented essential foodstuffs and medicines from coming in. The Report to the Human Rights Commission further reminds of the ongoing bombing between the two major assaults, which has continued, year on year. Whilst the two major attacks on Fallujah have been recorded in acres of newsprint (see also 4) the voices of the survivors have been largely absent. The document records those of one hundred and sixteen, from April's onslaught, with several earlier ones. Just some of the newly enfranchised, collaterally damaged, disposable Iraqis, include: Ahmed Hassan Shaker was killed on 6th January 2004, on going outside his home to find the cause of bullets "which were ringing out." A missile killed him and his wife, Sihan, instantly. They left six orphans, the eldest six, the youngest, just seven months. (Witness, Ahmed Hassan's father.) The U.S., military apologized to the family. No compensation has been forthcoming. Montaser Sami Hammad Ali al-Awani, killed, on 7th June 2003: " .. by random firing of U.S., troops on civilians", in Fallujah's Nazzal district. (Witness, his father.) Ahmed Obaid M'hidi Saud Issawi, died on 27th October 2003, when: "U.S., forces opened fire indiscrimately at everyone ..." (Witness, his brother.) In April 2004, Ali Dahi Abd Muflih lost fifteen members of his family, the majority women and children, when their home was completely destroyed by a U.S., missile. (Witness, surviving family member.) April 2004, Alaa Najim Abdullah Al-Issawi shot in the head by a U.S., sniper. (Witness, his brother.) St Valentine's Day, 14th April 2004, Fatah Saad Abbas al-Issawi, eight years old, killed as a result of "indiscriminate firearm" discharge. (Witness, her father.) Heba Abd Awda Jafil al-Halbusi, twenty, killed by U.S., sniper, whilst trying to escape "hell of U.S., fire", with her family. (Witness, her father.) Marwa Mohammed Khalif, her age not recorded, by a bullet to the head. (Witness, her mother.) 17th April 2004, Ali Ismail Obeid Jassim Salman al-Issawi, aged five, and his brother, Hakki, Ismail Obeid Jassim Salman al-Issawi, ten, both killed by a sniper, whilst playing in front of their house. Buried together in the same grave. (Witness, their father.) Throughout the testimonies, the words "indiscriminate", "random", "rampage" and "sniper" come up unceasingly. Other victims of this very democratic kind of killing, since there was no discrimination, included: As in the following November's psychopathic purge, the football pitch became a cemetery - but in November, they would The reign of terror in this city, which has existed since - and in some linguistic and archeological evidence, maybe before - Babylonian times, has continued, with "arbitrary arrests", "systematic torture", and allegations "of a policy of humiliation." Dogs were unleashed by both military and often those accompanying them in plain clothes, suspicions falling on Blackwater again, in a litany. Just one victim was thirteen year old Ameen, whose twenty two year old university student and bread winner brother, Sineen, was shot "in a hail of bullets" when these mixed forces broke in to their home, after blowing out the door. Ameen was beaten, his hand badly damaged by dogs, the all, he described carried out by men with beards and ear rings. As he was being beaten, it transpired, others were putting his brother's bloodied, mutilated body under a mattress, behind the curtains. This was after their father had been killed in the April 2004 bombardment. Leaving the house ransacked and belongings smashed, the group allegedly rampaged through the neighbourhood, injuring, "robbing and stealing... money and jewellery The U.S., forces, has thus taken a town which had escaped the invasion's murderous chaos, but has it rained upon them by the occupying forces, for now, approaching eight years. As Dirk Adriaensens (5) has written: "The latest 'incident' occurred on Wednesday 15 September 2010 (following the official 'withdrawal' of US troops.) Seven civilians were killed and four injured. Their names will be added to the endless list of victims of the U.S., aggression against this troubled city. May they never be forgotten." Killed during the raid by US/Iraqi forces on 15 Humadi Jassim Ahmed..........old man Manzel Humadi Jassim Ahmed.........youngster Sameer Humadi Jassim Sadiek Humadi Jassim Ahmed.........youngster Abid Swissan Ahmed.........old man Yassein Abid Swissan Yassein Kassar Saad........Former Iraqi officer in Iraqi army Omar Humadi Jassim.......youngster Ibrahim Abid Kassar.........youngster Hathima Jassim (85 years old) Ahmed Humadi Jassim ....youngster Whilst the people of Fallujah are stalked by visible killers in the form of Americans with their hardware, they live with an invisible one, in the residues left by the weapons used, including depleted uranium, the radioactivity and toxicity of which they eat, breathe and drink, since it can be measured in air and seeps in to the water table, affecting fauna and flora. "In 2006, 5,928 cases of previously unknown, or rarely seen diseases were diagnosed (in Fallujah)", records the Report. "In the first half of 2007, 2,447 seriously ill patients were admitted, showing mostly little known symptoms. Fifty percent were children ... five years after the 2004 attacks, cancers had multiplied In five years: "a twelve fold incident in fourteen year olds was noted." Birth defects rose by twenty five percent in a six year period. (See 4 and 5 for detail.) Dr Bill Wilson, a Member of the Scottish Parliament, who is determined to see Tony Blair in Court on war crimes charges, also has the British government's culpability in using depleted uranium (DU) high on his agenda. In 1996 and again in 1997, the UN Human Rights Committee included DU., in their list of weapons of mass destruction, urging all States to curb the spread and production of these weapons. On 19th October 2010, Dr Wilson wrote to the (UK) Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the successor to British Nuclear Fuels Limited, asking for details of all the documents it holds pertaining to the effects of spent or “depleted” uranium on health. Dr Wilson comments: “Depleted uranium, high in the U-238 isotope, is what is left after uranium has been used to generate power. The nuclear industry, rather than putting this still radioactive and potentially lethal material out of harm’s way, however, sells it on to the arms industry and it is used to make armor-piercing or anti-tank shells. It has been doing this for decades, as a way of decreasing the financial losses associated with what I regard as an unnecessary and dangerous way of generating electricity. “Such shells produce 3000oC fireballs and the resultant black uranium oxide particles get everywhere; they are blown hundreds of miles and are inhaled and ingested. There is overwhelming circumstantial evidence that the cavalier use of depleted-uranium weaponry in Iraq and Afghanistan has caused a massive increase in cancers (particularly amongst children) and horrific birth defects, both in civilians living there and in service personnel and their families. What’s more, it has a half-life of almost 4.5 billion years! “The US and UK Governments have been warned of all this, but appear to have ignored such warnings and have done practically nothing to clear up the mess they have left, not even fencing off highly radioactive destroyed tanks to stop children playing on them. It doesn’t take a genius to understand the issues at stake here and the potential for “As part of my ongoing campaign for justice and to prevent further massive human rights abuses, I am seeking clarity on what the UK Government has historically known about the health effects of depleted A refusal to answer my Freedom-of-Information request will tell its own The Decommissioning Authority, he "should come clean on dirty fuel." "In the wake of America's "shock and awe" bombing campaign to take Baghdad, radiation detectors as far away as the United Kingdom noted a fourfold spike in radioactivity in the The pregnant women, for whom it to too dangerous to undergo an X-ray for fear of of damaging the unborn baby, receives ongoing doses, courtesy the weapons industry, from Fallujah to Florida, from Baghdad to Belfast. Two letters might be of use to Dr Wilson, written, respectively, immediately after and shortly after, the 1991 attack on Iraq. They are self explanatory. The late Leonard Dietz, to whom the second letter is addressed, was an eminent nuclear physicist and expert on the dangers of inhaled or ingested DU particles. They are typed exactly as written in the Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos New Mexico 87545 memorandum To: Studies and Analysis Branch (wr 13) (or may be 10, slightly eroded) Attn: Maj Larson I Mar 1991 From: Lt Col M.V. Ziehman STOP/Telephone: F668/(505) 665 19?? Subject: THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DEPLETED URANIUM PENETRATORS There is a relatively small amount of lethality data for uranium penetrators, either the tank fired long version or the GAU-8 round fired from the A10 close air support aircraft. The recent was has likely multiplied the number of du rounds fired at targets by orders of magnitude. It is believed that du penetrators were very effective against Iraqi armor; (sic) how-ever, assessments of such will have to be There has been and continues to be a concern regarding the impact of du on the environment. Therefore, if no one makes a case for the effectiveness of du on the battlefield, du rounds may become politically unacceptable and thus, be deleted from the military arsenal. If du penetrators proved their worth during our recent combat activities, then we should assure their future existence (until something better is developed) through Service/DOD proponency. If proponency is not garnered, it is possible that we stand to lose a valuable combat capability. I believe we should keep this sensitive issue at (sic) mind when after action reports are written. (signed) Lt Col Z Department of Defense, United States of America (seal.) Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering Washington, DC 20301 - 3030 15th August 1991 Mr. Leonard A. Dietz 1124 Mohegan Road Schenectady, NY 12309 Dear Mr Dietz: Your letter of 30th July 1991 concerning depleted uranium was brought to my attention by Dr. Osterman. In this letter you posed the question of the "probability that lung cancer could develop: after inhalation of depleted uranium. As you are no doubt well aware, since this material is a source of ionizing radiation, the potential for carcinogenicity is real. The same holds true for nephro-toxicity which, in most of the literature available to me, seems to be the greater limiting health endpoint of concern, protection from which requires a much lower ambient concentration in drinking water or foodstuffs. The potential risk to human health from exposure to depleted uranium is, of course, dose and time related, both of which must be measured, approximated, or assumed. Let me assure you that we feel that your concern, which parallels our own, is real and we thank you for sharing that with us. John W. Kolmer, MD., Military Ass't for Medical and Life Sciences. Keen as Colonel Ziehman might have been to water down the dangers, so as not to "lose a valuable combat capability", regardless of the health of allied troops or invaded citizens, the U.S., Army's own manuals are more forthcoming. As has been written in these columns before: "If DU enters the body, it has the potential to generate significant medical consequences. The risks associated with DU are both chemical and radiological. Personnel in or near vehicles struck by DU penetrators could receive significant internal exposures." Or indeed those near bombed homes, streets, schools, mosques... Further: "Short term effects of high doses can result in death, while long term effects of low doses have been implicated in cancer." (8) This warning was sounded by the giant, US government contracted, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in July 1990, six months before Desert Storm. Further, shortly after Desert Storm, the UK Atomic Energy Authority "self initiated a Report", warning of half a million extra cancer deaths in by 2000, if just fifty tonnes of residual DU dust had been left "in the For either government to claim they were unaware of the apocalyptic consequences of further use, would be, as UK Cabinet Secretary, Sir Robert Armstrong admitted, in another cover up a couple of decades ago, to be "economical with the truth." 7. (US) Army Environmental Policy Institute: "Health and Environmental Consequences of Depleted Uranium Use in the US Army", 1995. 8. SAIC : "Kinetic Energy Penetrator Long Term Strategy Study", Danesi, War Crimes and Atrocities November 8, 2010 "The abused are only Iraqis". A U.S. General to General Antonio Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the latest, vast cache of documents from Wikileaks, is that anyone was surprised at the revelations. For Iraqis, Afghans and the region, and Iraq and Afghanistan watchers across the globe, countless millions of words have been written and eye witness reports sent since day one of the highly questionable legality of the Afghan invasion the absolute illegality of that Soldiers have put "trophy" photographs of the dead, mutilated, tortured on the internet. In August the BBC's documentary: "The Wounded Platoon", aired interviews with soldiers who admitted shooting Iraqi civilians and "keeping Abu Ghraib's particular testimony to freedom, democracy and liberation's bounties, will likely remain the mental monument to the U.S., military in Iraq, which will ring down the generations. Former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tareq Aziz and his colleagues await an Inquisitional, mediaeval end on a hangman's noose, under America's watch (with the U.K., since still in coalition.) Charges include crimes against humanity. Yet the perpetrators of nearly seven years of near indescribable crimes against humanity in Iraq - and near a decade in Afghanistan, return home to heroes' welcomes. Reaction in Iraq to the woeful litany of crimes documented in some 400,000 U.S., files is encapsulated by Baghdad Political Science Professor Saadi Kareem, who commented: "Iraqis know all about the findings in these documents. The brutality of American and Iraqi forces was hidden from Americans and Europeans, but not for Iraqis... Iraqis are totally aware of what happened to them." President of the London-based Arab Law Association, Sabah al-Mukhtar, told Al Jazeera that: "Frankly there is no surprise..." The Middle East knew from day one. The Independent's Robert Fisk ("The Shaming of America", 24th October 2010) commented: "As usual, the Arabs knew. They knew all about the mass torture, the promiscuous shooting of civilians, the outrageous use of air power against family homes, the vicious American and British mercenaries, the cemeteries of the innocent dead. All of Iraq knew. Because they were the victims." The U.S., soldiers knew too of the illegalities they were committing, at every level. These were not aberrations that needed a crash course in international law, or the laws of war, they were crimes, which would have been just that, anywhere on earth. Former Private Ross Caputi, formerly of the U.S., Marines, has offered testimony on some of these crimes, to the 15th Session of the Human Rights council of the U.N., (13th September - 1st October 2010.) He was in the second assault on Fallujah, in November 2004. The city's residents had been ordered to leave. Seemingly about two thirds fled, allowed to take little or nothing, leaving a lot of unguarded homes. The soldiers went: "from house to house" through the city. "...there were often possessions left behind... looting became very commonplace (of) anything that seemed valuable - silverware, teapots, knives and clothing." "People in my Unit were searching the pockets of the dead ... for money." The Platoon Commanders and Company Commander: " ...were aware of what was happening..." Why Caputi stole a "black winter ski mask", is unexplained. Daylight robbery, likely being emulated across Iraq, a country where, until the embargo's strangulation took grip, and with it desperation, even in cities, people left their doors unlocked, when out. Theft was seemingly a way of life for soldiers from early on, recorded in a litany of reports and numerous documents. So far, this publication has not found records of moneys and goods being ordered returned, by senior officers. With looting and the collapse of the banks, money, by virtually all, was kept at home. One report to the Human Rights Council is of the raid on the home of, and arrest of, Mohammed Khamis Saleh Ali al-Halbusi, in Fallujah, during the night of 2nd November 2003. Beaten in front of his family, he alleges that thirty seven thousand U.S., dollars were stolen, with a quantity of gold - an important cultural possession, passed down from generation to generation. Caputi also recounts that during November 2004, a tactic know as "reconnaissance by fire", was used. Areas and buildings are fired into: "If you hear silence after your firing, then there are no people in the area or building ..." Surely dead by "reconnaissance", is also a likely possibility? The tactic is "always indiscriminate." He also confirms the use of white phosphorous. (The use of with its residual genetic, carcinogenic and toxic implications, is now Another indiscriminate tactic was using: "...bulldozers to clear houses. If there were suspected resistance fighters in a house, we would bulldoze it, incase... I watched a battalion bulldozing an entire neighborhood..." Another instance involved three people in a house including: "a young boy, roughly ten years old." Grenades were fired in to the house until it: "collapsed on top of all three of them", killing them. "In every instance .. (of killings) I am unaware of any action taken to report their deaths. We always just moved on." Thus, it seems, even the upper estimates of Iraqi deaths may well be underestimated. Disfiguring burns, attacks and torture leading to blindness, deformities and limb loss, become a sickening norm is this town, where at least - in spite of all efforts to prevent them - such extensive records of its brutalization Mr Caputi had considerable courage to come forward. But, it has to be asked, did he and his colleagues, rifling through family homes, momentos, most personal belongings, inheritance, helping themselves and stealing cash, "What are we doing? Can this be right?" One Iraqi who "knew" only too well what happened in Fallujah, was Dr Salam Ismael. He had worked as a doctor in Fallujah during the April 2004 siege. He finally gained entry with aid in January 2005, two months after the November assault. (2) "It was the smell that first hit me, a smell that is difficult to describe, and one that will never leave me. It was the smell of death. Hundreds of corpses were decomposing in the houses, gardens and streets of Fallujah. Bodies were rotting where they had fallen, bodies of men, women and children, many half-eaten by wild dogs. "A wave of hate had wiped out two-thirds of the town, destroying houses and mosques, schools and clinics. This was the terrible and frightening power of the US military assault. The accounts I heard over the next few days will live with me forever. You may think you know what happened in Fallujah. But the truth is worse than you could possibly have imagined." Dr Ismael found Hudda Issawi (17) in a nearby makeshift refugee camp. She said that on 9th November, American marines came to her home. Her father and a neighbor went to the door: "We were not fighters, we had nothing to fear", she ran to the kitchen to cover her hair. She and her brother (13) heard the shots that killed her father and his friend - they hid behind the fridge. Her older sister was caught, beaten and shot. Troops left with the two undiscovered, but: "(they) destroyed our furniture and stole the money from my father's pocket." Trapped, Hudda tried to comfort her gravely wounded sister, who died a few hours later. For three days she and her brother stayed in the house with their dead father, sister and friend. Fearing discovery, they finally decided to try to escape. A sniper shot her in the leg, she recounted. When her little brother ran, he was shot in the back, dying instantly. In a seemingly rare act of human decency, a female U.S., soldier found her and took her to hospital. It is possible to speculate that her bleak, near emotionless recounting, indicated a young person still in near catatonic shock. On the same day, it transpired, in the same district, people had been ordered to leave their homes, carrying white flags, bringing only essential belongings with them, and gather near the Jamah al Furkan Mosque in the town centre of the famed, ancient "City of Mosques." Eyad Latif described how, with eight member of his family, including a baby of six months, they walked in single file, to the Mosque: "U.S., soldiers appeared on the roofs of surrounding houses and opened fire." Eyad's father and mother "died instantly." Two brothers were hit, one in the head and one in the neck, one woman in the hand, one in the leg. The wife of one brother was killed: "When she fell, her five year old son ran and stood over her body. They shot him dead too." Dr Ismael recounts: "Survivors made desperate appeals to the troops to stop firing. But Eyad told me that whenever one of them tried to raise a white flag they were shot. After several hours he tried to raise his arm with the flag. But they shot him in the arm. Finally he tried to raise his hand. So they shot him in the hand." The five survivors, including the six-month-old child, and the brother shot in the neck, after hours lying injured, finally crawled to the nearest home, which was empty, to find shelter. They survived there for eight days: "...living on roots and with just one cup of water for the baby", said Eyad. They were finally found by members of the Iraq National Guard and taken to hospital, again fleeing, sick and wounded, when they heard the U.S., forces were arresting all men. It is unclear what happened to the others assembled, on instruction by the Mosque, but Eyad described: "the street awash with blood." "...heard the accounts of families killed in their houses, of wounded people dragged into the streets and run over by tanks, of a container with the bodies of 481 civilians inside, of premeditated murder, looting and acts of savagery and cruelty that "We found people wandering like ghosts through the ruins... looking for the bodies of relatives... trying to recover some of their possessions from destroyed homes... We moved from house to house, discovering families dead in their beds, or cut down in living rooms or in the kitchen... It became clear that we were witnessing the aftermath of a massacre, the cold-blooded butchery of helpless and defenceless "Nobody knows how many died. The occupation forces are now bulldozing the neighborhoods to cover up their crime. (See also *) What happened in Fallujah was an act of barbarity. The whole world must be told the truth." Such accounts might be dismissed as "fog of war" propaganda, were they not so consistent across Iraq, from the day of the invasion, the majority from totally unconnected families or individuals - corroborated, little by little, by coalition soldiers. Numerous survivors were swept up to be tortured in a U.S., base camp which had been set up in a former tourist village, bound, bags over their heads and out in small "cages", with now familiar stories of being stripped, made to hold stress positions for hours and deprived of sleep water and food. Others were incarcerated under Abu Ghraib's specialist form of horror. In the tranquil setting of the White House Rose Garden, on 30th., April 2004, President Bush, had stated that due to U.S., intervention: “There are no longer torture chambers or rape rooms or mass graves in Iraq.” This was said as images from Abu Ghraib were being beamed around the world. Four days later, General Taguba released his minutely detailed and referenced seventy two page Report on the realities, which belied President Bush's sunny over-view of the benefits the invasion had bestowed upon Iraq. In Abu Ghraib alone, they included: "...that the intentional abuse of detainees by military police personnel included the following acts: (S) Punching, slapping, and kicking detainees; jumping on their naked feet (S) Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees (S) Forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for photographing (S) Forcing detainees to remove their clothing and keeping them naked for several days at a time (S) Forcing naked male detainees to wear (S) Forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate themselves while being photographed and videotaped (S) Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them (S) Positioning a naked detainee on a MRE Box, with a sandbag on his head, and attaching wires to his fingers, toes, and penis to simulate electric torture (S) Writing “I am a Rapest” (sic) on the leg of a detainee alleged to have forcibly raped a 15-year old fellow detainee, and then photographing him naked (S) Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee’s neck and having a female Soldier pose for a (S) A male MP guard having sex with a (S) Using military working dogs (without muzzles) to intimidate and frighten detainees, and in at least one case biting and severely injuring a detainee (S) Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees. (ANNEXES 25 and 26)" General Taquba also accused the Bush administration of war crimes, calling for the prosecution of "There is no longer any doubt that the current Administration committed war crimes. The only question is whether those who ordered torture will be held to account." Between Wikileaks, Bush's memoirs, and mounting swathes of documentation, legal accountability is looking to be increasingly Bush's memoirs are to be released on November 9th, the anniversary of a chillingly historically parallel crime to Fallujah, and across Iraq, Kristellnacht, in 1938. The terrorizing, rounding up of, and destruction and theft of property and places of worship of swathes of the Jewish population of Germany and Austria.) William Hague, Britain's newish, follicly-challenged Foreign Secretary, is seeking to withdraw the U.K., from its obligations towards prosecuting war It is an embarrassment, he says, that various Israeli political figures have cancelled visits, should they be Such a sleight of hand, would also extend the welcome mat to George W. Bush, recently alleged another kind of U.S., embarrassment, seemingly reluctant to travel for the same reason. Of course, it would also mean that Tony Blair, the co-conspirator in the invasion, would be free to visit any of his seven U.K., homes, without fear of the hand of the law - or that of a concerned citizen - on his collar. In spite of Hague's efforts, there may be many countries and air carriers, that they and former colleagues may soon be considering avoiding. Re: Depleted uranium, see also:

Jewish Encyclopedias and DictionariesEdit This Page From FamilySearch Wiki Jewish Genealogy Encyclopedias and Dictionaries Encyclopedias provide information on all branches of knowledge, usually in articles arranged alpha-betically. They often contain information of great interest for genealogical research, including articles about towns, places, prominent people, minorities, and religions. They can give information about diverse topics such as record- keeping practices, laws, customs, commerce, occupations, costumes, and archaic terminology. The Family History Library has general knowledge encyclopedias from countries throughout the world. Similar collections of encyclopedias can be found in most research and university libraries. Examples of two general knowledge encyclopedias are: - Great Soviet Encyclopedia. 31 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1979. (FHL book 030.47 G798s.) Translation of the third edition of Bol’shaia Sovetskaia Entsiklopediia. - Orgelbrand, Samuel. Encyklopedja powszechna (Universal Encyclopedia). Warszawa: Archiwum Dokumentacji Mechanicznej, 1974. (FHL film 0997501–0997518.) There are several Jewish-specific encyclopedias. The following may be particularly helpful in your research: - Kurzweil, Arthur and Miriam Weiner. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Genealogy Vol. 1: United States and Canada. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson Publishers, 1991. (FHL book 929.1 En19e.) - Encyclopaedia Judaica. 17 vols. Jerusalem: Keter, 1972, 1982. (FHL book 296.03 En19j.) - Jewish Encyclopedia. 12 vols. New York City: Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906. (FHL book 296.03 J556.) - Pinkas Hakehillot (Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities). Various editors. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1969–date. These volumes are in Hebrew and cover many different countries as defined by pre-WWII boundaries. Jewish communities with a population of over 100 are discussed in each volume. The countries covered to date include Romania (2 vols.), Germany (5 vols.), Hungary, Poland (7 vols.), Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Latvia and Estonia, Lithuania, Greece, and Libya. The Family History Library collection of this reference is incomplete. Region FHL book - Netherlands 949.2 F2m - Romania 949.8 H26ph - Bavaria 943.3 H26ph - Hungarian 943.9 H26ph - Poland-Lodz 943.8 H26ph v.1 - Poland-E.Galicia 943.8 H26ph v.2 Language dictionaries are discussed in "Language and Languages" in this set of Wiki pages. Historical dictionaries of most countries have also been published by Scarecrow Press, Inc. in Metuchen, N.J. and by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress (Country Studies). These books give valuable background information on many of the smaller countries of the world. - This page was last modified on 23 December 2011, at 03:14. - This page has been accessed 1,601 times. New to the Research Wiki? In the FamilySearch Research Wiki, you can learn how to do genealogical research or share your knowledge with others.Learn More

Days grow short, weather turns cold and for me, at least, an odd craving for Chinese food grabs hold — yup, it’s definitely December again. And while Christmas may be in the air, in a phenomenon meteorologists call “holiday inversion,” here on the ground some of us are already celebrating our own seasonal excuse to consume salt, fat, sugar and wrapping paper. That’s right, folks, it’s Hanukkah time! I’m breaking out the old menorah and putting on my dreidel-spinning shoes because for eight nights we’re going to party like it’s 165 BC (the actual year of the Maccabean revolt, which Hanukkah commemorates). For those unfamiliar with Judaism, or Adam Sandler’s “Hanukkah Song,” let me hip you (as only a Jew can): Biblically-speaking, the holiday celebrates a small band of ancient Hebrews who, after defeating the Greek army and liberating Jerusalem, rededicated the Holy Temple — of which the Western Wall still stands — by lighting one day’s worth of oil that miraculously lasted eight days. Hence lighting a ceremonial eight-candled Hanukkah menorah. So, aside from providing what may be the first documented warning about over-reliance on fossil fuels, Hanukkah holds little actual religious significance. And yet, a recent survey shows it is by far the most commonly observed holiday among American Jews. Case in point: while nary a board of matzah has passed my lips in years, at my house, we’ve been cooking and eating “latkes,” or potato pancakes, since Black Friday. I serve them, as per custom, smothered in applesauce and sour cream. See what I mean about salt, fat and sugar? BTW, the other traditional Hanukkah food: doughnuts. Seriously. It’s hard not to love a holiday that involves doughnuts and what are essentially deep-fried hashbrown patties. Of course, Hanukkah isn’t all about defying your cardiologists’ orders and giving an over-compensatory number of gifts to your children. The holiday enjoys an interesting history in this country, even possibly playing a role in its birth. According to historic lore, Hanukkah may have inspired then-General George Washington to press on at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777. Story goes that Washington, walking amongst his cold, hungry troops, spotted a Jewish Continental soldier huddled away from camp, lighting Hanukkah candles. The soldier — an immigrant fleeing religious persecution — told Washington about the miraculous victory of the Maccabean militia over a much larger and better equipped foe. Those tiny flames, George Washington later told hosts at a future Hanukkah dinner, warmed him at a moment of profound bleakness. And he’s famously incapable of lying, so, the story must be true. Popular American observance of Hanukkah didn’t take off until after the Civil War — same for Christmas and Thanksgiving, too, actually — thanks to urbanization, industrialization and the advent of marketing. Modern Hanukkah, with gifts and songs and synagogue observance, was “invented” toward the end of the 19th century by two rabbis from Cincinnati looking for a way to reconnect with Jewish youth. Talk about a successful re-branding campaign: in contemporary Judaism, lighting Hanukkah candles ranks as the most frequently performed mitzvah, or “commandment” (perhaps you’re familiar with the first 10 of them). So pervasive has Hanukkah become in popular culture, U.S. presidents light a national menorah. While Jimmy Carter lit the first national menorah in 1979, the first official White House Hanukkah candle-lighting did not take place until the Clinton Administration. George W. Bush turned the event into an annual happening — he even began a tradition of koshering the whole White House kitchen specifically for the occasion. The 2010 White House Hanukkah Party featured a menorah salvaged from a synagogue leveled in Hurricane Katrina, kosher sushi and live jazz. What else would you expect from an Obama Hanukkah, or, as I like to call it “Obamakkah”? BTW, his is the first First Family to host an annual White House Passover Seder, at which Malia and Sasha ask the four questions. You’d think he might’ve found a way to work that into the Florida debate this past November. Let me go on record: I like Christmas. A lot of Jews do. It’s hard not to love a holiday that ushers in two straight months of eggnog. That stuff is like melted ice cream that sometimes gets you wasted. Hanukkah-celebrant though I may be, however, the “War on Christmas” is not my war. I’ve got no problem saying “Merry Christmas,” nor do I get my yarmulke in a bunch when someone says it to me. Honestly, who has the time or energy to take issue with the wishing of merriment — any kind of merriment — as opposed to the usual verbal feces we fling at each other? But while I agree that Christmas makes a great case for truly being the most wonderful time of year, it’s not my holiday, plain and simple. And that, for all who ask me year after year after year, is why I don’t have a Christmas tree. Of course, by the same token, it’s also why I’ve festooned my house with blue-and-white Hanukkah lights and hung “Star of David” stockings by the chimney. The milk and cookies I left out? Those aren’t for Santa; they’re for me. On second thought, better make it latkes and eggnog. Gotta get as much of both while I still can. Happy holidays, everyone, whichever ones you choose to observe, and please, let’s all remember the reason for the season: supporting our consumer-based economy.

This booklet is a guide through the why and how of bringing Shabbat to your home and table. It includes all the blessings traditionally said at the table with candles, wine and the braided bread called challah. Connecting Interfaith Families to Jewish Life in Greater Cleveland by providing programs and opportunities for interfaith families to experience Judaism in a variety of venues, meet other interfaith families, and to connect to other Jewish organizations that may serve their needs. A great way for Jewish professionals and volunteers who work with and provide programming for people in interfaith relationships to locate resources and trainings to build more welcome into their Jewish communities; connect with and learn from each other; and publicize and enhance their programs and services. The Contemporary Jewish Museum (The CJM) presents Designing Home: Jews and Midcentury Modernism, the first major exhibition to explore the role of Jewish architects, designers, and patrons in the formation of a new American domestic landscape during the middle decades of the twentieth century. Brimming with a dazzling array of vintage furnishings, textiles, wallpapers, ceramics, posters, dinnerware, photographs, and more, Designing Home will feature the work of over thirty-five creative professionals who helped spark America’s embrace of mid-century modernism and its repertoire of glass-walled houses and furnishings in vivid colors and bold patterns. Designing Home highlights the contributions of many well-known architects and designers, among them Anni Albers, Joseph Eichler, and Richard Neutra, as well as several critically overlooked ones such as Ruth Adler Schnee, Marguerite Wildenhain, and Alex Steinweiss. The exhibition also examines significant patrons, merchants, and media figures that disseminated this modern aesthetic to a broad audience. Designing Home: Jews and Midcentury Modernism is organized by The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, with Guest Curator Donald Albrecht. April 24 2014 - October 06 2014 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM $12 adults, $10 students and senior citizens with a valid ID, and $5 on Thursdays after 5pm. Youth 18 and under free.

Reunited in 1990, Berlin still has its division lines, separating it into districts, Bezirke. With due respect to administrative functions, district names pop up in every conversation – people seem to consult an inner map, based on generalizations about each part of Berlin. From a tourist’s point of view, the districts are just names. Your overburdened memory would rather content itself with street names, until you realize the value of knowing a few characteristics about each district. That means you get your own map, which you can update whenever you like. For example, when the media claim there is a local baby boom in Prenzlauer Berg, that statement could necessitate a revision of your previous knowledge. Wall-related expressions like “Wessies” and “Ossies” do occur, inspiring you to reinsert an overall division line on your map, which immediately raises a new question – accommodation – in West or East. West is shining, known and safe. East is partially shining, less known and safe, as long as you take care. Choosing the East side may be a challenge, but it’s a way of gaining confidence with the new Berlin – a mix of cultural treasures and a state-run past. Right where Schillingsbrücke bridges the River Spree, you find one option: the Ibis Ostbahnhof, quality at a reasonable price, suitably painted red and only a few minutes walk from Ostbahnhof. The area of Friedrichshain is colorful due to the graffiti on its many factory ruins. Reserve this place for sleeping, and catch the S-Bahn westward to more central districts, first Charlottenburg where Bahnhof Zoo is a strategic starting point, at the southwestern corner of Tiergarten. Once you set foot on it, you know it must be Kurfürstendamm, the elegant boulevard considered the heart of Berlin, to which the side streets also contribute. Window displays, practically works of art themselves, have spread to the pavement: a line of elegant glass boxes arranged with military precision, containing Hermes, Valentino, Louis Vuitton and Yves Saint Laurent, on the opposite side challenged by Cartier, Chanel and Tizian. Less perfumed is the air on Breitscheidplatz, close to Bahnhof Zoo. In the noise and smell of traffic, busy shoppers and travelers no longer notice the landmark balancing above their heads – the remains of Gedächtniskirche. Local painters produce copies, already imprinted on their own retina. Another landmark is more horizontal: Tiergarten, the easily recognizable green strip in the middle of every Berlin map. It’s framed by tourist attractions, well connected through bus routes 100 and 200, quite cheap with a special tourist ticket – valid two, three or seven days – it even includes U-Bahn, S-Bahn and Strassenbahn. Tiergarten belongs to Mitte, vastly extended from the old Mitte district in the eastern sector. There are other districts close at hand: Schöneberg and Kreuzberg today are actually parts of two different districts. Starting as an imitation of Ku’damm, Tauenzienstrasse gradually loses its gloss, forgotten when you stand before the restored U-Bahn station on Wittenbergplatz in Schöneberg. Local “kneipen” enjoy a good reputation. The next square, lazy Nollendorfplatz – adorned with faded rainbow flags – turns lively at night when lights and music come on. You hear men imitate the Mayor of Berlin, Regierender Bürgermeister Klaus Wowereit, Ich bin schwul, und das ist auch gut so, I’m gay, and it’s okay that way. Leaving Schöneberg means g’day to Kreuzberg, neighbor of the bygone Wall and famous for Checkpoint Charlie, now with a Turkish atmosphere. Kreuzberg was traditionally Berlin’s alternative district, but the creative minds went with the Wall, to become western pioneers in Prenzlauer Berg. You too may be tempted to leave Kreuzberg awhile, favoring a skyscraping paradise in the Mitte district, up at the southeastern corner of Tiergarten: Potsdamer Platz, the pride of Berlin in terms of mega-level architecture and constructions. Once a roaring traffic center and amusement spot, bombed to pieces in the war, a no-man’s land in the Wall era, now reaching to the sky, clad in glass and steel – Potsdamer Platz appears brand new, and it’s becoming Berlin’s leading city center. The old center with the governmental institutions is near, just move northeastward, where an army of grey-black coffins, the Holocaust Memorial, may bring on a depression. To cure you, there is Brandenburger Tor, a great place to hang around, before literally reaching the top by climbing the glass cupola of Der Reichstag, while Tiergarten lies below like a safety net. It sounds like poetry – Unter den Linden – the parade street of Berlin that takes you into the East, past Guggenheim, the State Opera and the Humboldt University to Museum Island with Pergamon. On the way you cross a modernized Friedrichstrasse, favored for shopping and going out. Also popular is an untraditional, tiny DDR Museum, where you are allowed to putter about in a private home, admire the family’s wardrobe, kitchenware and toilet design – everything in bright colors. While the State and Party Leader, Erich Honecker, keeps thundering on TV, you turn into an eavesdropping Stasi officer, long enough to make you feel hated. After leaving, you cannot stop looking for a plastic gem that survived and still characterizes the DDR: Trabant cars, today cuddled like babies, when not participating in a Trabant Safari. Continuing toward Alexanderplatz, you wonder how long your Ostalgie is going to last. The DDR nostalgia is a well-known phenomenon. The size and design of Alexanderplatz, normally just Alex, represent central planning in need of improvements, and those will be high-rise. The elevator of the ostentatious Fernsehturm, the TV mast, shoots you 207 meters into the air to a revolving restaurant where the icing on the cake is a complete Berlin panorama. The other day it was possible to participate in a midnight attack on Alex’s new partner, the shopping center, Alexa, advertising cheap laptops for their grand midnight opening, causing people to fight their way in – several were taken to hospital. Prenzlauer Berg, the scene of the baby boom, lies north of Alex. Baby carriages abound at the local oasis, Kollwitzplatz – trendy, a pulsating nightlife and apartment prices under pressure by yuppies. There’s no good news for the pioneers of Prenzelberg, creative and alternative types, who risk being renovated away from this former working class area. A similar yet different destiny was in store for Scheunenviertel, the Jewish quarter. After years of decay, its narrow streets and grocers’ houses were reshaped into cafes, eateries, galleries and shops, exemplified by Hackesche Höfe, nine connected inner yards, a popular rendezvous day and night, though with respect for local history. You set out to acquaint yourself with the localities of Berlin, but only after reinserting the Wall – still going strong in people’s minds and a useful helping line, in your case revealing that you spent more time in East than West. If the enthusiasm for DDR could only be personified – it can – in Angela Merkel, the Kanzlerin, herself a product of DDR. Her sheer presence creates optimism, sends unemployment down and the share index up. The Ostalgie is for her very obvious – a longing for a more simple life.

When last Friday Sebastian Gorka announced his departure from Trump's White House I have to admit I was surprised. That was until I read Breitbart News' account of the story, in which they published a disclaimer indicating the news outlet and Gorka are fine-tuning a deal: 'Breitbart is currently in negotiations with Dr. Gorka regarding his support for the website, as well as collaboration on a joint venture that would embody a Jacksonian national security vision.' This is not surprising as Steve Bannon had resigned a few days earlier and most likely both Gorka and Bannon had been discussing future beneficial deals while working for Trump. I have nothing against people forging their future - networking and closing deals and making money honestly. But I do have a problem with HYPOCRISY. And it seems to me that Gorka was nothing but a loud bulldog ready to use the power he was granted for personal gain. He reminds me of a bad husband - you know 'Darling, I love you so much! I would give my life for you!! But don't bother me now, cause the Superbowl is on. And please, don't call me on my cell when I'm having drinks with my buddies....or when I'm out fishing. Any other time, I'm all yours. Oh, by the way, my love for you will last for as long as you stay young and pretty - after which I'll exchange you for a younger gal!!' This was Gorka, ready to 'fight for Trump' and 'be his bulldog', except if negotiations with Bannon move on to the next stage. After all money talks, it seems... It's not surprising that yesterday Breitbart News punched our president: 'Hamas-linked council on American Islamic Relations Welcomes Resignation of Dr Seb Gorka', the headline reads. If they want to profit from the Breitbart-Gorka new deal, they must absolutely create as much noise as possible...Megyn Kelly style... Then, the article moves on to quote the Council's statement referring to Gorka's resignation, in which they express their approval: “We welcome the resignation of Sebastian Gorka as a presidential adviser… His extremist and Islamophobic views, and his reported past and current associations with racist and anti-Semitic groups, should have disqualified him from any government position.” I'm not surprised that Breitbart News is pushing the story - to be honest, I don't think anybody cares that Gorka has left the White House. In fact, I don't think I saw the story anywhere else outside Breitbart since Friday. But, you see, they need the noise to produce profits. But what I'm surprised about is the fact that Breitbart has said NOTHING about President Trump's accomplishments in his fight against Islamic Terrorism. The news organization doesn't say anything about the Caliphate in Mosul being absolutely destroyed during the first months of this administration, or the fact that Trump is expanding the number of troops in Afghanistan to...FIGHT ISLAMIC TERRORISM! I can understand why the Left would try to divide conservatives. I can understand why CAIR or any other Islamic group would try to divide Americans. But why would a so-called 'respectable' news organization want to IGNORE Trump's determination to finish ISIS off? Could it just be MONEY? Are the Breitbart News folks still upset that Bannon left the White House? Is it personal? In any case I have to say I was disgusted at the idea that possibly Gorka and Bannon, who supposedly are all for draining the swamp, seem to be becoming part of the swamp and doing everything they say they dislike about the swamp to PROFIT from politics. 'Oh, Mr Trump! I'll be your bulldog...until I close this deal with Breitbart and start making some serious money!!' Boy, what a short marriage this one was... Greed is an ugly thing. Breitbart was Trump's #1 fan until Bannon left the WH. And it seems like now they're going down the path of the typical mainstream media - only telling you what they want you to know...and all for profit. "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." Author: Danielle Cross Recently, Congress passed a spending bill that would allow for sanctuary cities, Planned Parenthood and ObamaCare to remain funded and untouched, leaving absolutely no money to pay for Trump’s border wall. As you can imagine, this severely displeases many conservatives, and likely, the President himself. But you have to ask yourself, “Did we (conservatives) gain anything at all from passing this bill?” The answer is: ABSOLUTELY NOT! All Republicans got was avoiding a government shutdown. The elected Republicans in Congress only cared about avoiding a shutdown. “But why?” you may ask. “Why would Republicans pass this bill that would get absolutely nothing done when all that’s at stake is a government shutdown?” Well, here’s the thing: Republicans in Congress are scared little girls when it comes to government shutdowns. And the reason is because shutdowns always get blamed on Republicans. The Fake News media always blames government shutdowns on Republicans. Although, since the media blames absolutely everything bad that happens in the world, even natural disasters (mostly ones that can be blamed on Climate Change), on Republicans, you’d think that Republicans would’ve gotten used to being the scapegoats. Now, there’s a larger underlying issue here: the Republicans in Congress are PART OF THE SWAMP. There’s a reason Trump wants to ‘drain the swamp’. ‘Draining the swamp’ doesn’t just refer to defeating and neutralizing Democrats. Republicans are part of the swamp too. These are the Republican Establishment types that make up part of the swamp. These are the people that are Democrats in Republican’s clothing. These Republicans couldn’t care less if there’s a wall at the Mexican-American border. In fact, they’d rather not see a wall there. Because, like Democrats, they too want illegal immigrants to come in and vote for them. Jeb Bush, back when he was a candidate for the Republican nomination, said that “There should be a path to earn legal status for those (illegal immigrants) who are here…” While he said he didn’t want amnesty, like Democrats do, he did want illegals to have a path to citizenship. Basically eventually rewarding those breaking the law to affect how this country is run, which is exactly what Democrats want in the first place. Trump needs to learn that Republicans that are part of the Establishment will never be on his side. Republicans like Lindsey Graham and John McCain. Those are the kind of Republicans that are hidden in Congress. Some of them may not be as outspoken about opposing the President as Graham or McCain, but their votes clearly speak for them. The Devil can take any shape and form. And he can even look like someone who would supposedly be your friend. He can be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, or a Democrat in a Republican’s seat, in this case. Both Democrats and Republicans are a part of the Establishment. The Establishment doesn’t want to see the things Trump wants to be done in the country. There’s a status quo that the Establishment wants to keep and will go to any advance to make sure the status quo remains in place. These are the evils that plague the country. Abraham Lincoln once said that “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” If America is destroyed, it won’t be because North Korea got lucky and successfully launched a missile sent to Washington D.C. It won’t come from a war against Russia or China. It won’t be from a WWIII. If America is destroyed, it will be because the people working on the inside, those who were elected to run this country successfully and to make sure it will thrive, failed to do their jobs, or simply didn’t want to do what they were elected to do. Republicans were elected to Congress in 2010 and 2014 to stop Obama, and they failed to do that. Republicans were elected to Congress in 2016 to help Trump, and so far, have failed to do that as well. I don’t know what God’s plan for America is, but I’m sure He’s not too happy with the fact that the person He appointed to run this country is practically alone in the government. But like it’s been said in a previous article: the Deep State is no match for God. And if God be for Trump, whosoever dares be against him is against the Lord as well. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Author: Freddie M. Fake News outlets were finally, and justly, barred from White House briefings – a move that was long overdue. If they’re going to make up stories regardless, what’s the point of having them there? We have a president who needs to speak directly to the people simply because CNN, ABC, CBS, The New York Times, etc. are in the business of LYING to you. It was, after all, MSNBC’s host Mika Brzezinski who last week confessed ‘our job is to control exactly what people think’. That may be MSNBC’s vision for their organization, but then again they are, by definition, NOT a news organization – they’re activists. Leftist activists. So we live in a world where the news is no longer news – it’s all indoctrination. If they want to control what you think, they’re in the business of indoctrinating you. I could give you examples of when Obama privately met with his activist friends in the media: We can point out the hypocrisy on the left, but quite frankly, that’s not even the point. The point is the role of the media. If you think your job is to indoctrinate people, you’re not a news organization. Let’s be clear: Six corporations control 90% of the media in America. This gives them a huge amount of power that they’re using to indoctrinate you. But not only that, these corporations are funded by people like George Soros, the Clintons and even Muslim countries, like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who own large stakes in these companies. The Saudi prince owns large stakes of Twitter, Fox News parent company News Corporation and Time Warner, the parent of CNN. The media is a tool of the left to spread leftist propaganda. They’re truly a political organization designed to DECEIVE YOU. It’s not even about money – it’s about power. It’s about their DESIRE to CONTROL YOU. It’s about their big EGOS. None of these owners need more money – it’s about their narcissistic desire to play GOD. But you and I know there’s only ONE GOD. And to the extent that we’re well aware of these evil individuals’ intentions, we should be fine. Remember, with God on our side, who could be against us? Friend – the media, which is controlled by Soros, Saudi Arabia and the Clintons, is at war with YOU. It’s left the news business a long time ago and entered the indoctrination business just so they can feel good about their ever growing power. Here's an example: remember when Oprah rammed Obama down our throats and helped him get elected? Obama played her like the manipulative master that he is. What happened with her after he was elected? She felt PROUD of what she thought was her accomplishment – after all, Oprah did play a big part in getting Obama elected. But what happened TO her after Obama was inaugurated? She was hoping for a place in Obama’s White house, but what did he do? Obama brushed her off like the piece of trash he thinks she is. Her job was done and she was not going to have a place in Obama’s WH. It was all downhill from there for her. Nevertheless, she showed us she had the POWER to put Obama in office. She has a big ego and she showed you she was a big deal...at least until Obama crushed her. My point is: evil people like Soros, the Clintons, the prince of Saudi Arabia are in the business of inflating their egos. I wish I could tell you there is a more pragmatic reason for their desire to indoctrinate us – like money. But no. It’s way more basic than that. Like I said, these people have a lot of money and money is no longer a motivation. It’s POWER. It’s their EGOS. It’s…SAD. But in the process, they’re making YOUR LIFE miserable – you’re expendable but that’s OK by them. However, you know better. …And those He predestined He also called, those He called He also justified, those He justified He also glorified. What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?… Author: Daniela R. The snowflake hysteria, travel ban judicial disputes, the Mainstream Media’s opposition, made up polls or stories about Trump supporters abandoning him, which I would expect to come out soon – it’s all intended to demoralize YOU, Trump supporter. Here we have a President who didn’t have to run for office in order to make a living. A president whose life was PERFECT prior to running. A president who in fact is probably losing money as he shifts his focus away from his business. A president who’s literally leaving a life of semi-privacy, money making and comfort to try to do the best for YOU, the American people. He’s not Washington. He’s not a politician – he’s his own man trying to do the right thing. I happen to believe Trump’s victory on election night was the result of millions and millions of Americans praying for him to win. I happen to believe God has answered our prayers and is giving us another chance to make America righteous again. I realize some of you, Trump supporters, wouldn’t call yourselves ‘religious’. I can understand that – I was a conservative before I became a Christian. Some of you may be Libertarians, thinking people are free to be as stupid as they want to be. If they like drugs, so be it. It’s their life. If they like to engage in prostitution, so be it. It’s their life… But, you see, when we’re talking about government policy we need to think what the role of government is. The role of government is to PROMOTE that which is good. If you’re smart enough to avoid drugs, but your neighbor isn’t, it’s your job to tell him that what he’s doing is only hurting him. While it’s still his choice, your obligation is to point out the problem. With government it’s the same. The government should NOT promote the use of drugs or prostitution. It should promote FAMILY, God, Education, and all those things that contribute to building a righteous, healthy and prosperous society. Why am I talking about this? What does it have to do with supporting Trump, defeating the media or the left? You see, before we are able to DEFEAT the left, we must understand that we cannot do this on our own. Much like drug addicts cannot defeat their addiction on their own, we cannot defeat the establishment on our own. WE NEED JESUS The mainstream media, the left and the Republican Establishment led by John McCain and Lindsay Graham will continue to attack Trump for as long as it takes to bring him down. Let’s not forget it was NYT’s David Brooks who said ‘Trump will have to decide if he prefers to resign, be impeached, or get assassinated’. They’re DEAD SERIOUS about this. They WON’T STOP until they see Trump down and out Therefore it will take the will and prayers of ALL of us Trump supporters to sustain Trump and help him execute OUR agenda. Those of you who are not religious won’t be able to help – because you won’t understand HOW to help Trump. You may join conservative forums, but you’ll be preaching to the choir. You may start a Facebook battle with some liberal ignorant, but you won’t be able to convince him – plus, you’ll feel frustrated. What else can you do, then? UNDERSTAND YOU CAN’T HELP ON YOUR OWN Trump NEEDS you to understand that you need to stay strong in your support, and he NEEDS you to understand that STRENGTH COMES FROM GOD. HE NEEDS YOU TO PRAY FOR HIM If you love your country as much as I do. If you’re concerned about the future – oppression in the hands of sharia law or communists like Obama or Pelosi. If you’re concerned about the legacy we’re leaving to our children and grandchildren. If you’re concerned about your own safety and prosperity there’s only ONE THING you have to do to make it all work out: YOU HAVE TO COME TO JESUS Please understand that, ultimately, we’ll stand a chance as a Nation only to the extent that we can tell right from wrong – right from wrong according to Scriptures. There’s a fascinating story in the Bible that speaks volumes about the power of prayer – the Book of Esther. Esther was a Jewish girl who was married to Ahaseurus, the King of Persia. Like in every government in history - including ours today - politics, plots and scheming took center stage. One of the King’s aides, Haman, hated the Jews – so he convinced Ahaseurus to have them all exterminated. The reason Haman gave Ahaseurus was the Jews had a God who they worshiped and whose laws they respected above those of Ahaseurus’. Haman appealed to Ahaseurus ego – the king wouldn’t have anybody in his Kingdom disrespect him that way. But Ahaseurus wasn’t aware his beloved Queen Esther was a Jew and he would have to kill her too. Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, found out about the edict the King signed by which all Jews should be executed on a specified day, so he rushed to Esther to ask her to intercede on their behalf. She wasn’t sure, but ultimately she asked Mordecai to instruct all Jews to fast for three days before she went to see the king – fasting involves PRAYING. After a series of smart strategy and influencing techniques, Esther managed to convince the King NOT to annihilate the Jews – and Haman was sentenced to DEATH. You see, my friend, without all the Jews praying there is no way that Esther would have found the STRENGTH, the WORDS and the STRATEGY she needed to DEFEAT EVIL. We must pray for Trump too… Come to Jesus, my dear friend, and PRAY as if your life depended on it – because it DOES. Esther 4:14 (Mordecai to Esther) For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your fathers’ house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Author: Daniela R. Danielle Cross and Freddie Marinelli will bring you the TRUTH that the Left denies you. You'll live a more joyful and victorious life, because the Truth will set you free...

This is the final installment of my series on World War II. In brief review of the series, we have learned that: France was the first to invade Germany in early 1923. The jews declared war on Germany one day after Hitler became Chancellor, March 24, 1933 – over six years before the official start of World War II, September 1, 1939. Although this was an economic war, it was all the more effective and disastrous because of the 1929 Stock Market crash; and because of Germany’s economic difficulties resulting from the abuses of the Versailles Treaty after World War I. The British were the first to bomb cities, not Hitler. Under the dedicated leadership of Adolf Hitler during the world depression, Germany broke its economic bonds with the jews and recovered to lead Europe in its opposition to Communism. Adolf Hitler was a Christian believer and promoted a “Positive Christianity” for the nation. During his reign, 2,500 churches were built in Germany. His program had no tolerance for paganism; nor forms of jewish perversions in the arts. National Socialism in Germany was not Marxian Socialism (the communist form of Soviet Russia), but respected individual rights. Only jews were restricted, not German citizens. Hitler was always open to negotiate peace anytime during the war and initiated at least nine attempts himself. The number 6 million was out in the public before WWII ever started and before any actions were taken against jews. The “final solution” for the jewish problem was not “gas chambers”, but a homeland in Madagascar with German support. The jews plotted to totally exterminate the German nation. If there is one myth that persists in the minds of the masses concerning WWII... Who was the book of Isaiah written to? Who is the “them” referred to in this verse; “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil,…”? Isaiah was a prophet to…whom? Where was Isaiah living? It would be preposterous to say that he was living in Africa or Asia or South America, or North America or Europe. Isaiah didn’t live on any of these continents…he lived in the southern kingdom of Judah. He was a prophet to the Southern kingdom of Judah. He was a contemporary to King Hezekiah [king of Judah] and prayed with him when the remnant kingdom was hopelessly involved in a situation that almost spelled the doom of his kingdom. The “them” in this verse is referring to the people in the southern kingdom of Judah—no one else. This verse tells of one of the many “woes of Judah” that was pronounced upon them. Isaiah tells them that everything that they feel like doing is right in their own eyes; they call evil just as good as good itself. Darkness to them is as light itself; bitter is as sweet as sweet itself. In fact, they love darkness more than light. They are confused as to what darkness is…they call it light. In part seven of this series, I ended with examples of jewish revenge against Germany after the war was over. This sermon will continue with the Nuremburg Trials. What happened in Europe between 1945 and 1950 was nothing else but a fulfillment of the prophecies of the Protocols of Zion. In this way, the victorious western Allies lost their autonomy and moral judgment. They took pride in themselves and their systems of jurisprudence that demanded fairness and justice; but now they have come to realize jewish revenge. And in the shadow of their national flags associated with Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence and the Code Napoleon, the Nuremberg Trials began. Part 1: "Homosexuality" There are two political parties in the United States. Every four years we go through the national elections. This year is different in that we have the incumbent president making speeches to large crowds, while former vice-president Joe Biden talks to a few people. But neither party has the correct answers. The Republicans are a whole lot better than the Democrats, but they are both leading American to their doom. The first reason is that they both tolerate sodomy. 1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all Adam; and the living will lay it to his heart. There is so much doctrine in these two verses we could go anywhere in the books of God’s Library. Shall we narrow the scope and lighten our burden? The title of our Fellowship lesson is “Our Name”. Proverbs 22:1: A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving favour than silver and gold. “A good name is better than precious ointment.” Why would a pedagogue, whose history is doing lessons on Bible Biology, lead a lesson on our family name(s)? Biology has a great deal to do with family. It starts with DNA, genes and chromosomes, who gets whose blood on transfusions, right down to what we eat. Family is biological. Amos 3:2: You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. The Hebrew word translated “families” is translated elsewhere as “kind” and “kindred”. Even a nation is described as a body of people who all have a common ancestor. Each of us has family. Because of the evils of this life a few of us are a family of one. Yet we have family. Our family name reveals we have family. What is a surname? What is your surname? What is one thing that you know about Manasseh’s father—Hezekiah? Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the LORD God; his son did just the opposite. Hezekiah ruled for 29 years over the kingdom of Judah. The northern kingdom was taken captive by Assyria by the end of Hezekiah’s sixth year of reign. The northern kingdom was placed in the land of Assyria where they eventually went on to the lands of the northwest. Why were they captured? Because “…they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed His covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them” (2 Kings 18:12). But what happened to the southern kingdom? Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 3:4 “Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” We are living in a world that is up-side down in its moral activities. What used to be a sin is now politically correct. The BLM movement is one of the communistic change agents that is trying to transform our nation. “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” When the Covid scare began earlier this year, I thought to myself, “I’m tired of hearing about this; just go away, I never want to hear about it again.” Perhaps you felt the same way, for it signaled in our minds the beginning of what we have known most of our lives: the dreaded New World Order of anti-Christs. This is how they are pulling it off, through a rampant disease (or so it would appear as such). We did not know how they would pull it off: by war, disease, economic collapse, or other emergency. Now it is upon us and it is not going away. Therefore, we must deal with it. All that is happening in America is part of a well-planned concoction: from the very top of wealthy bureaucrats, to the Deep State attack on president Trump since the election of 2016, to the Impeachment, to Covid, to lockdowns, and to lawlessness in the streets by Communist agitators. All these work together for evil to the benefit of those who hate the Lord. Therefore, Christian people must reject all these things, not just piecemeal, but in total. In 1 John 3:2, why does the composer John, the beloved disciple, say “now”? Was there ever a time, then, when the sons and daughters of Adam were not the sons and daughters of God? Was there a time then, a time past, when we did not have sonship and were not family? The title of this lesson is Now and Then. Why was Now not true then? The long title of this Lesson is "Why Now was not True Then".

Passover commemorates the Biblical story of Exodus — where God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The celebration of Passover is prescribed in the book of Exodus in the Old Testament (in Judaism, the first five books of Moses are called the Torah). What does the Passover symbolize? Passover, Hebrew Pesaḥ or Pesach, in Judaism, holiday commemorating the Hebrews’ liberation from slavery in Egypt and the “passing over” of the forces of destruction, or the sparing of the firstborn of the Israelites, when the Lord “smote the land of Egypt” on the eve of the Exodus. How does Passover relate to Jesus? As a consequence, the religious imagination of most Christians connects Passover to Good Friday, the day on which we remember the crucifixion and death of Jesus. The theological meaning is plain: Jesus himself is the Passover lamb, offered as a sacrifice for the whole world. What happened during Passover in the Bible? As the story goes, during the tenth and final plague, God passes through the land of Egypt and strikes down the firstborn of every household. But the Jews have been told to mark their doors with the blood of a lamb they’ve sacrificed — the Passover offering — and so God “passes over” their homes. What do you do during Passover? People recite special blessings or prayers, visit their synagogue, listen to readings from the Torah, and eat a ceremonial meal, which is centered around the Seder Plate and red wine or red grape juice. How is Passover celebrated today? Passover usually lasts between seven and eight days and begins with Seder. … During Seder, families gather to retell the heroic story of how the Israelites escaped from Egypt, while enjoying symbolic food and drink like Charoset, matzah, and wine. Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by its name (Hebrew: פֶּסַח pesach, Aramaic: פָּסחָא pascha are the basis of the term Pascha), by its origin (according to the synoptic Gospels, both the crucifixion and the resurrection took place during the Passover) and by much of its symbolism, as well as by its position in … Why did Jesus celebrate Passover? This is a festival which remembers the escape of the ancient Israelites from Egypt. Jesus and his disciples were celebrating the Passover meal together. As this was the last meal that Jesus would share with his disciples, he took elements of the Passover meal and made them symbols of his death. What is the difference between Easter and Passover? While Easter is fixed to the full moon, spring and Sunday, the Jewish calendar is fixed to Passover. “The entire Jewish calendar is meant to keep Passover in the springtime,” said Rabbi Jeremy Ruberg of the New City Jewish Center. Is Good Friday and Passover the same thing? Passover, Good Friday fall on same day, making for more religious observances. Friday marks the beginning of Passover in the Jewish faith and Good Friday for Christians worldwide, meaning thousands of people in the Phoenix area — and millions more globally — will participate in special observances to mark the holy days … What is Passover in simple terms? Passover (Hebrew: פסח, Pesach) is a religious holiday or festival noted by ceremonies each year, mostly by Jewish people. … They celebrate it to remember when God used Moses to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as told in the book of Exodus in the Bible. Why is it called Passover? In order to protect their first-born children, the Israelites marked their doors with lamb’s blood so the angel of death would pass over them. Thus the name Passover, which is “pesach” in Hebrew. The Israelites were ultimately freed from slavery and wandered the desert for 40 years before making it to the promise land. Who is the Angel of Death in the Bible? Before the creation of man, Azrael proved to be the only angel brave enough to go down to Earth and face the hordes of Iblīs, the devil, in order to bring God the materials needed to make man. For this service he was made the angel of death and given a register of all mankind. Why did God send the 10 plagues? Because Pharaoh refused to set the Israelites free, God decided to punish him, sending ten plagues on to Egypt. These included: The Plague of Blood.

Tel Aviv-Yafo is paving the way for electric roads of tomorrow By David E. Kaplan Electric vehicles can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it was previously tried in Israel and literally didn’t “get us far”. The challenges were daunting – high cost of batteries, charging stations were too few and far between, and recharging took far more time than a fill-up at the pump. Israelis are hardly endowed with much savlanut (Hebrew for “patience”), so the electric car ended up going down the proverbial cul de sac! So it was back to the drawing board whereby reaching higher meant researching lower, resulting in an ‘electric road’ rather than the ‘electric car’. This is the idea of Israeli start-up ElectReon, which is to electrify the roads to recharge vehicles as they are driven. An ‘electric road’, ‘eroad’, or ‘electric road system’ (ERS) is a road which supplies electric power to vehicles travelling on it but today, in 2020, it is far more than just an idea! In partnership with the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality and Dan Bus Company, ElectReon have launched a pilot project to install wireless electric roads for charging public transportation in the city. The initiative, which aims to reduce pollution and advance urban electric transportation uses wireless technology and requires no charging stations in public spaces. The first of its kind in Israel, the pilot will be carried out between Tel Aviv University Railway Station and Klatzkin Terminal in Ramat Aviv – a two-kilometer route including 600 meters of electric road. The Chosen Path Along this select road of the pilot project, specially-equipped electric buses will travel while being charged directly from an under-road electric infrastructure. Down the road, following the tests expected to be completed within two months, a Dan Bus Company electric bus will commence regular journeys on the route, serving passengers traveling to Tel Aviv University. This pilot project is integral in Tel Aviv-Yafo’s municipal policy of attaching monumental importance to electric vehicles and reducing air pollution in the city. Stated in a press release, the City will move forward on “constructing electric roads to encourage energy independent public transportation.” To this end, Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality signed a recent collaboration agreement with Israeli company ElectReon – the developer and installer of electric road systems – for charging electric vehicles while traveling. The construction of an electric road to charge public transportation vehicles will make,“Tel Aviv-Yafo the first city worldwide to roll out the technology for charging buses on a wide scale. In doing so, the city will evaluate the possibility of additional electric transportation, including public transportation, distribution trucks, and private and autonomous vehicles.” asserts the Municipality Says Tel Aviv-Yafo’s upbeat Mayor, Ron Huldai: “We are constantly working to reduce air pollution in the city, and our strategic action plan to prepare for climate change has placed the fight against pollution at the top of the municipality’s environmental agenda. If the pilot is successful, we will evaluate – together with the Ministry of Transportation – its expansion to additional locations in the city.” Adds the City’s Deputy Mayor, Meital Lehavi: “We welcome that Tel Aviv-Yafo is a groundbreaking experimental laboratory for Israeli technologies, including electric roads. Transforming a road into an electrified surface and a means for charging, through advanced and effective infrastructure, will enable the acceleration of the transition to electric buses. Relying on direct charging of vehicles from the road itself will remove the need to establish charging stations or be operationally bound to terminals.” With electric transportation assisting municipal efforts to reduce air pollution and noise and assist the transition to green modes of transport, the trend will undoubtedly contribute to improving the quality of life and the environment for residents and visitors to the city. “We have no doubt,” continues Lehavi, “that, if the wide-scale experiment is successful, it will not only benefit the public, but also save resources, improve the operational efficiency of public transportation, and maybe even a new world-class method of electrification will emanate from Tel Aviv-Yafo. This is another milestone in advancing municipal policy on sustainable transportation.” ElectReon CEO and founding partner Oren Ezer, says “we are delighted” that the first electrified public route is being established in Tel Aviv – a global leader in the field of innovation and smart transportation. “The pilot will be a display window to the world, showcasing the ability to charge urban public transportation.” And the world is watching. Noting the challenges – technological and financial – Dan Becker, Director of the Safe Climate Campaign in Washington, says “If it works it could be a real game-changer for electric vehicles.” A strong advocate for lower emission vehicles, Becker adds “It would free the vehicle from the plug. It would allow smaller batteries, the most expensive component of the vehicle. And it would reduce their weight so there would be less weight for the vehicle to schlep along.” Over time, ElectReon executives aim to go global and make “all-electric city transport” the wave of the future. “This project has the potential to move the electrification revolution to mass implementation,” said Noam Ilan, a company co-founder and vice president for business development. While the ElectReon system will still require vehicles to carry batteries, these batteries however will be far smaller and lighter because the vehicles will constantly recharge and therefore will need minimal storage capacity. Executives assure that roads can be easily retrofitted, and nearly two-thirds of a mile or one kilometre of road can be outfitted during a night construction shift. An asphalt scraper machine can dig a shallow trench in the road, while a second vehicle installs the charging strips and covers them with fresh asphalt. Power is delivered to the road from the electricity grid by power inverters installed on the sides of the road. Once the strips are deployed, “roads would rarely if ever need to be dug up for repairs,” says Ilan. And on the question of economic sustainability, Ilan insists that ElectReon has an almost limitless potential revenue stream from tolls on its roads and systems to bill registered vehicle customers for the electricity they use. “Revenues would likely be shared with local utilities,” he said. Today a pioneer in developing electric road technology, ElectReon has come a long way since it was founded in 2013 by a few engineers from Elbit Systems, a prominent Israeli aerospace company with global operations. With roughly 20 employees, their lab is “decidedly makeshift”, with the look, as Clifford Krauss of The New York Times described in an October 2019 article “of a high school electronics lab.” He noted amusingly that the charging apparatus for the test track was rigged to the back of a car using a Thule bike rack and metal rods, while “surf boards leaned against the walls for breaks” at a nearby Mediterranean beach. Is this not typically Israeli and quintessential Tel Avivian – being super ‘charged’ while simultaneously casual in lifestyle? Assures company co-founder, Noam Ilan, “such breaks SPARK creativity.” Whether from surfing waves today to the ‘wave of the future’ of electric roads of tomorrow, Israel’s city of Tel Aviv-Yafo ignites the way forward. While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs

PA Revises History, Denies 1947 Partition Plan In a recent appearance on Palestinian Authority television, PA Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmad Subh claimed the United Nations had not permitted the establishment of an Arab state in then British Mandatory Palestine in 1947. Subh's interview was translated by Palestinian Media Watch. "In 1977 the UN General Assembly decided to restore the Palestinian people's esteem, following the historic injustice which happened in 1947, when a 'birth certificate' was offered to one state instead of two states,” Subh claimed. “One state [Israel] was permitted to be established, while the Palestinian state was not permitted to be established.” In 1947, with hundreds of thousands of Jews living in the British Mandate and millions more seeking homes, the UN offered a partition plan that would split the land between Arabs and Jews. Jewish leaders accepted the plan. Surrounding Arab states rejected the plan and attacked the fledgling Jewish state, causing a bloody war that ended with the Arab nations defeated and Israel established on most of the British Mandate territory. Subh's interview is not the first time the Fatah-led PA based in Ramallah has made false claims about the history of the region, PMW said. “Since its establishment, the Palestinian Authority has been rewriting history in an attempt to create historical legitimacy for its demands for statehood, as well as justification for the terror and wars against Israel since before Israel's establishment in 1948,” the group stated. PMW monitors PA media and schoolbooks, and researches PA culture and society. In some of its previous reports the group published its findings on Holocaust denial in PA schools, encouragement of suicide bombings in PA media and a Hamas site encouraging young children to fight to the death against those considered enemies of Islam.

Poland: “Islamic Rape of Europe” Magazine Cover Signals Rising Awareness of Racial Threat And, although the articles do not mention them, Jews are very worried. If the rally described by the Independent below is any indication — they should be. A POPULAR RIGHT-WING Polish newsweekly, wSieci or “The Network,” published a deeply provocative magazine cover this week. It shows a young blonde women, garbed loosely in the flag of the European Union, being groped by three men. Only the six swarthy arms and hands of the assailants are in view, but the message is clear and barely needs the brutal cover line: “The Islamic rape of Europe.” According to the Daily Mail, the Polish magazine said it was focusing on “what the media and the Brussels elite are hiding from the citizens of Europe.” An editorial in its pages, entitled “Hell Europe,” inveighed against a culture of “tolerance and political correctness” that supposedly led to the grim scenes on New Year’s Eve in the German city of Cologne and other northern European town centers. Groups of men, many apparently of Arab or North African descent, went on a shocking criminal rampage that led to hundreds of complaints to the police of rape, sexual harassment and other abuse. The incidents fed into an already growing backlash against European policies welcoming migrants and refugees, particularly an influx from war-torn Syria. Sure, it’s just freedom of speech, I guess: “Islamic rape of Europe”, says a Polish magazine. pic.twitter.com/FGNJPzhIHk — Emran Feroz (@Emran_Feroz) February 16, 2016 — Alessio Fratticcioli (@fratticcioli) February 16, 2016 It didn’t take Twitter users very long to spot the parallels. The Polish magazine’s rendition of a young white woman, violated by hairy, dark-skinned men, suggests especially to Jews, echoes of nationalist imagery of the mid-20th century. See, for example, the poster in the tweet above of a World War II-era Italian fascist call to arms, showing a dark foreign soldier seizing a European woman. Or see the National-Socialist-era imagery in the tweet below of a scheming Jewish spider eyeing a blonde fräulein or a French colonial soldier groping another girl. Apologies for the imagery. Final pic is of a current magazine cover in Poland, which reads “Islamic rape of Europe”. pic.twitter.com/OpV9cvf3c3 — Daniel Trilling (@trillingual) February 16, 2016 These are not isolated images. Following World War I, there was great consternation about the presence of French African troops occupying a defeated Germany.That occupation brought with it the sexual threat of rape and miscegenation by the African soldiers, and fanned white outrage on both sides of the Atlantic. On a visit to Germany in 1920, the well-known British writer E.D. Morel lamented the presence of “thrusting barbarians — barbarians belonging to a race inspired by Nature…with tremendous sexual instincts — into the heart of Europe.” In 1921, 12,000 people rallied around Madison Square Garden in New York City and submitted a petition to Congress declaring “the Moral sense of the American people demands the immediate withdrawal of the uncivilized French Colored troops.” Adolf Hitler, writing in Mein Kampf, raged at “the Jews who bring the Negro into the Rhineland, always with the same secret thought and clear aim of ruining the hated white race by the necessarily resulting bastardization, throwing it down from its cultural and political height, and himself rising to be its master.” … In the past year, Poland has taken a dramatic turn, and its leading politicians have made loud and conspicuous statements on the threat posed by Syrian refugees. An anti-refugee rally in the city of Wroclaw in November seemed to best capture the sort of populism on display. Thousands of protesters marched, denouncing an E.U. proposal that would see the country admit some 7,000 refugees. They chanted against Islam and migrants and for “God, Honor and Fatherland.” And then they burnt an effigy — not of a Muslim or a refugee, but a Hasidic Jew wrapped in the flag of the European Union. * * * Source: read the full article at The Independent

Posted by: Jan Meisels Allen The Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County (JGSCV) will be meeting on Sunday, June 5, 2011 1:30-3:30 pm at Temple Adat Elohim, 2420 E Hillcrest Drive in Thousand Oaks, CA. The Topic: Wrongful [Jewish] Wrascals of the West And you thought Jewish criminals were just on the East Coast (mainly New York), the Midwest (Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit) and Las Vegas! Well, Jewish criminals have made their mark in the state of California for nearly 150 years. Above and beyond Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky, Ron has found them - in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and elsewhere in the Golden State. Along the way, he shows the large variety of genealogical sources available to research these characters. Ron will show you how to track down your black sheep ancestors! Following his presentation, you may purchase Ron's books & 'Black Sheep' products-including ties, toys, jewelry and t-shirts. To pre-order, go to www.ronarons.com Print out your order receipt, he will hand deliver the products to the meeting. Cash or checks only. Speaker: Ron has researched his roots for more than a dozen years. In the process of doing so, Ron learned that one of his ancestors served time "up the river" at Sing Sing Prison. Along the way, Ron has become an expert on how to research historical criminals. Ron has given numerous presentations across the country and internationally on conducting genealogical research, especially research on criminals. Our "Schmoozing Corner" will be facilitated by JGSCV founding member accomplished genealogist, and JewishGen Managing Director Warren Blatt. The "Corner" is available for 15 minutes before the meeting to answer questions attendees may have about their genealogy. Our monthly book report will be given by Sara Hyman, JGSCV treasurer on mystery novels that involved family history by Dan Waddell "The Blood Detective" and "Blood Atonement". Our rotating traveling library will have Categories A and D To see which books are listed under which category, please go to our website, www.JGSCV.org and look under traveling library. The books are available starting 30 minutes before the program to shortly after the program. The Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County is dedicated to sharing genealogical information, techniques and research tools with anyone interested in Jewish genealogy and family history. (www.jgscv.org). There is no charge to attend the meeting and all are welcome to attend. For more information including directions to the meeting, see our website www.jgscv.org Jan Meisels Allen

In light of their reaction to the nomination of Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state, I gather liberals have gotten over their enthusiasm for multiculturalist milestones. It’s interesting that they dropped their celebrations of the “first woman!” “first black!” “first Asian!” designations at the precise moment that we are about to get our first black female secretary of state. When Madeline Albright was appointed the FIRST WOMAN secretary of state, the media was euphoric. (And if memory serves, Monica Lewinsky was the first Jewish female to occupy her various positions on the president’s, uh, staff.) With Albright at the helm of the State Department, Osama bin Laden ran wild throughout the Middle East, the North Koreans began feverishly building nukes under her nose, and we staged a pre-emptive attack solely for purposes of regime change based on false information presented to the American people by Albright about a world leader who was not an imminent threat to the United States. Slobodan Milosevic wasn’t even a latent, long-term, hypothetical threat. But the girls in the mainstream media were too smitten with Albright’s brooch collection and high heels to notice the shambles she was making of foreign policy. The New York Times raved about Albright’s brooches in an article titled, “A Diplomat Who Says ‘Read My Pins.'” In the San Francisco Chronicle, Leah Garchik was amazed by Albright’s “jewel-encrusted flag” pin — Albright’s clever ruse to prove that Republicans did not have “dibs on patriotic jewelry.” Perhaps Rice could impress American journalists if she talked more about her accessorizing. People magazine quoted an aide gushing that Albright “stays in her heels all day.” Albright herself told Harper’s Bazaar, “I’ve kidded that the advantage of being a woman secretary of state is makeup.” This was a great leap forward for feminism? At this point even Paris Hilton was rolling her eyes and saying, “Oh, come on now!” But Bush nominates a brilliant geopolitical thinker who happens to be black and female and all of a sudden she’s Butterfly McQueen, who don’t know nothin’ ’bout birthin’ no Middle Eastern democracies. Earlier this year, the flamboyant Richard Clarke claimed that when he briefed Rice in early 2001 about al-Qaida, her “facial expression gave me the impression that she had never heard the term before.” It’s good to know that Clinton’s chief terrorism “expert” believes himself to possess paranormal abilities such as ESP. Why couldn’t Dick Clarke have used some of those mind-reading skills on Osama before al-Qaida blew up the USS Cole in October 2000? Or after? To the bitter end, the official position of the Clinton administration was that it couldn’t say for sure who was responsible for the Cole attack. Apparently, liberals believe Rice compares unfavorably to Madeline Albright, whose principle accomplishment before becoming secretary of state was managing to attain the age of 60 without realizing she was Jewish. That was raw competence. I take that back: Albright also taught at Georgetown University. Of course, American universities make professors of people like Eldridge Cleaver’s wife. (Kathleen Cleaver is currently at Yale law school; Susan Rosenberg, a participant in a Brinks car robbery, teaches at Hamilton College; former Weatherman Bill Ayers is a distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois-Chicago; and former Weatherman Bernardine Dohrn is the director of a legal clinic at Northwestern University.) Or how about Clinton’s first secretary of state, Warren Christopher, a lawyer whose dazzling foreign policy experience consisted of being President Carter’s chief negotiator for the hostages in Iran? That’s almost as impressive a resume entry as “Chief Iceberg Lookout, the Titanic,” “Senior Design Engineer, the Edsel,” “Navigator, Exxon Valdez,” or “Writer/Executive Producer, ‘Alexander.'” The closest black woman to Bill Clinton was his secretary, Betty Currie — whose principal function was penciling in “Monica” on Clinton’s “To Do” list every morning. The closest black woman to most of the liberals accusing Rice of being incompetent is the maid they periodically accuse of stealing from the liquor cabinet. George Bush chose a black woman to be his top adviser on national security. Now he wants her as his secretary of state. And when she becomes the first black female secretary of state, Rice will replace the first black secretary of state — both appointed by right-wing Republican George Bush. The entire Bush cabinet is starting to look like an Image Awards telecast minus the fisticuffs and gunplay. Democrats are terrified that black people might start to notice. Say, there’s a black woman standing next to President Bush … who is that? Never mind! It’s probably somebody he’s arresting! It’s extremely valuable for Democrats to be able to campaign in black neighborhoods while talking about the “white boys” running the Republican Party. When she was managing Al Gore’s 2000 campaign, Donna Brazile said she was not going to “let the white boys win in this election.” (If I had a nickel for every time I’ve confused Al Gore, Joe Lieberman, Terry McAuliffe, Paul Begala and James Carville for the Jackson Five …) Sure enough, Brazile was instrumental in not letting a couple of white boys — named Al and Joe — win the election. I guess that’s liberals’ idea of a “competent” black woman.

Today I am going to introduce one of my favorite Quora writers on Hinduism to you all. He is Rami Sivan, a Sydney based Acharya, Hindu Priest, Mimamsaka, Vedanta teacher and Pancharatrika. I enjoy reading his answers and I like his no-nonsense approach to Hinduism and interpreting Hindu texts. You can find a lot of honest, unbiased answers by him. He is well versed in Mimamsa, the Indian school of hermeneutics and also in Tarka, the Indian school of logic. So, his interpretations for Vedic texts are excellent and logical. Going forward, I will be republishing some useful answers written by him and he gave me the permission to do so with pleasure. So I think him for providing me an opportunity to introduce his content to my readers. (I do disagree with some of his views though; I have discussed one such view here: Hinduism and Dharma: The Distinction between a Religion and a Way of Life.) Here is his bio from http://www.srimatham.com/about.html: “Sydney based Acharya Ram Sivan (ordained as Sri Rama Ramanuja Achari), was born in South Africa of a Jewish mother and Christian father, and rai by Hindu nannies. He was baptised as a Christian and had a basic education in Christianity and Judaism and underwent a barmitzvah. He formally converted to Hinduism at the age of 15. In 1969 he emigrated to Israel where he spent a decade studying Judaism, Christianity and Islam as well as training to be a registered nurse. He also spent 3 years in India undertaking formal study in Yoga-Vedanta philosophy, Logic, Hermeneutics, Sanskrit, and Astrology, as well as specialising in Vedic and Tantric ritual. He studied in the traditional gurukula system in highly respected centres of spiritual and Scriptural learning in Rishikesh, Varanasi, Tirupati and Chennai. In 1982 he emigrated to Australia. He has practiced as a Hindu Priest and teacher of Yoga-Vedanta philosophy for over 40 years, and has travelled extensively to spread the Dharma, including in USA, South Africa and Bali. He was inducted as a preceptor (Acharya) into the South Indian Srivaishnava (Iyengar) lineage in 1990, by the pontiff of Sriperumbudur; His Holiness Sriman Varada Yatiraja Jiyar Swamigal, with full rights of initiating others, teaching philosophy and Scripture, and conducting all the Hindu ceremonial and sacramental rites (pertaining to temples, and domestic life cycles). Acharya Sivan is one of the founding members and the current public relations officer of the Australian Council of Hindu Clergy. He has participated in the consecration of a number of Australian and American Hindu temples, tutored other priests, and is the published author of a number of books on Hindu subjects. The acharya is much in demand as a domestic priest and as a Dharma teacher. He is involved in a number of Yoga schools conducting classes of philosophy as well as workshops in USA, Australia and Bali. He also plays an active pastoral role in counselling members of the Hindu community on their social and personal problems. He is also very active in conducting training sessions at various Sydney Hospitals in Hindu attitudes towards death and dying. Ram Sivan is fluent in English, Sanskrit, Hindi, Hebrew and conversational Arabic and Tamil.

by David Sugarman In the mid-1990s, it was hard to get away from a comedy duo called Élie and Dieudonné. They appeared frequently on light entertainment programmes on French television, and they alternated long-running shows in Paris theatres with nationwide tours, before eventually going their separate ways in 1997. They were an odd couple: Dieudonné M’bala M’bala, the son of a Cameroonian father and Brittany-born mother, was black, big and well-built, deep voiced, slow-speaking, calm; Élie Semoun, the son of Jewish Moroccan immigrants, was white, short and wiry, a high-pitched voice, fast-talking, neurotic. Their comedy routines played on the contrasts between them, principally of the stereotypes that they represented. Subtlety was not one of their hallmarks. Self-deprecatory comedy can be effective at taking the sting out of racism and other forms of intolerance. But you have to be laughing with rather than laughing at. It’s a cliché to say that it’s OK for black comedians to use the N-word, that they are “claiming ownership” of it. It’s often said that Jewish jokes told by Jews are funny, but told by non-Jews they can be offensive. In the case of Élie and Dieudonné’s comedy routines, they sailed close to the wind: it’s a fine line between “self-deprecatory” and “derogatory”. As I was starting to write this piece, I took a look at some of the pair’s sketches on YouTube, to remind myself of them: their heyday was 20 years or so ago. The title of one sketch caught my eye: “Cohen and Bokassa”. The two begin by playing children and start arguing over a ball (“it’s my ball…” “it’s mine now…”) and come to blows. They dash offstage and come straight back on as the fathers of the two boys. Each starts by defending his own son but the dialogue soon denigrates into a slanging match. The two adults start fighting just as viciously as their sons. Blackout. Ha ha. So what does the slanging match consist of? A series of racial slurs. It starts out with the Jew attacking the Black: “The building’s full of you lot – so where are the cotton fields?” It gets a bit nastier: “Still on benefits, are you? It must pay for the bananas.” All right, these were less sophisticated times. In the UK we had Mind Your Language and Love Thy Neighbour in the 70s, not to mention Till Death Us Do Part in the 60s, so let’s just say that Élie and Dieudonné were simply mocking racist attitudes, and move on, shall we? No. We won’t. Because Dieudonné’s very next line is: “In 1945, Cohen, the Jerries should have finished the job.” Taken aback, the Jewish character asks the Black character to repeat what he has just said. Which he does, but in what the script of the sketch calls “in an African language” (unspecified). Where is the humour in that line? There’s nothing new about satirising Nazism – Chaplin, Lubitsch and most notably Mel Brooks have all done it. But who could make a joke of the Holocaust itself? Dieudonné, that’s who. Not only in this sketch, but in numerous appearances in theatres and on video in recent years. One of his contributions to the corpus of French comedy consists of a song called Shoananas, an invented word combining Shoah, the term for the Holocaust generally used in French, and ananas, the French word for pineapple. The song parodies a particularly idiotic children’s song (itself more than a little racist) about hot chocolate, called Cho Ka Ka O. For this gem, and various other monologues, stand-up routines, sketches and Internet performances (including mock interviews with a well-known Holocaust denier), M’bala M’bala has been fined on a number of occasions. Reportedly, none of these fines has been paid. The French Minister of the Interior, Manuel Valls, has talked about inflicting a performance ban because of the anti-Semitic content of his latest show, which is due to transfer from a Paris theatre (which he owns, incidentally) to a nationwide tour. Sadly, Dieudonné has a large and loyal following in France. I wish I could claim that they are simply devotees of alternative comedy, albeit comedy of a highly dubious nature. He has an engaging personality, he is a skilled and experienced performer. But this does not account for his popularity: unfortunately, the only conclusion to draw is that his fans share his views. Anti-Semitism is a crime in France. The expression of racial hatred is a crime in France. Every performance given by M’bala M’bala, not to mention press and media interviews, seems to contain a new example of his views. Just the other evening, referring to a French radio journalist who is Jewish, he mused, “I can’t help thinking of the gas ovens.” Not even Jean-Marie Le Pen at his most crass would have gone quite that far. Dieudonné has been in the news a great deal across the planet recently. For once, he hasn’t particularly drawn attention to himself; the world’s media have been attracted by an even more skilful attention-seeker, one Nicolas Anelka. The story will be familiar to most readers. Anelka, a controversial French-born footballer currently playing for West Brom in the English Premier League, scored a goal in a televised match the other day and in his so-called “celebration” performed a gesture that is known as the “quenelle” (which consists of keeping one arm straight and putting the opposite hand to the shoulder or upper arm). This gesture was invented by Dieudonné M’bala M’bala, and forms part of his act. Now, I write as one who once created a fascist salute. This fact is unknown to everyone except the cast of a student production of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well in Bristol in 1982 (and a few hundred spectators). I had no personal delusions of grandeur: I was playing the minor role of the Duke of Florence (in whose army the play’s hero briefly serves), and we decided to play a short rabble-rousing scene in a style vaguely inspired by il Duce, aka Mussolini. I thought up a gesture that would get everyone on stage (plus a sound effects tape) to roar in approval (if I remember rightly, I struck my chest twice, left and right, with my right hand and stuck my arm straight up in the air). By comparison, Dieudonné’s salute is a bit of a damp squib! My personal theory is that it is inspired in part by Peter Sellers’ portrayal of Dr. Strangelove. The character’s right arm has a life of its own as it battles to perform the Nazi salute at every opportunity, while his left hand struggles valiantly to prevent it. Likewise in the “quenelle” the straight arm is prevented from springing up into a Nazi salute by the restraining hand on the shoulder or upper arm. But what does it mean? It’s said that its meaning is anti-Semitic. Is there any proof of this? I originally intended to answer this question by posting a link to a file that a friend of mine shared the other day, containing more than 70 photographs of people performing the gesture against backgrounds that allow for no ambiguity whatever: synagogues, Holocaust memorials, Jewish museums and kindergartens, the Wailing Wall, street signs including the word Juif (“Jewish”) and Juiverie (“Jewry”), and so on. I have decided against posting it publicly, but I will be happy to share it with anyone who emails me. It is chilling. Nicolas Anelka has tried to get out of a potential 10-match ban by saying that he understood it to be “anti-system” and not anti-Semitic. Believe him if you want; I don’t. The English Football Association’s “Kick It Out” campaign against racism in football is likely to see a stringent punishment applied to him. In France, President François Hollande and the Sports Minister, Valérie Fourneyron, have issued condemnatory statements about the use of the “quenelle”. Will it be banned? It may be utopian to think so. And unfortunately, I fear that it might actually come to greater prominence on France’s own football terraces. In France, there is no equivalent of the “Kick It Out” movement, and certain groups of so-called supporters – most notably those of Paris St Germain – are not exactly noted for their neutrality in matters of racial discrimination.

St. Louis Jewish Film Festival presents an Opening Day Double Feature SUNDAY, June 10, 4:00PM FAMILY FRIENDLY FILM DAVID: THE MOVIE Director: Joel Fendelm 80 minutes Feature "David: The Movie" is the remarkable story of one 11-year-old boy who innocently manages to break down interfaith barriers. It is a story of faith, friendship and family and the challenges of being different in America. As the son of a Brooklyn Imam, 11-year-old Daud has to juggle the high expectations of his Father and his feelings of isolation and difference. Through an innocent act of good faith, Daud inadvertently befriends a group of Jewish boys who mistake him as a fellow classmate. A genuine friendship grows between Daud and one of the Jewish boys. Unable to resist the joy of a camaraderie he's never known, "David," as he is known to the Jewish kids, is drawn into a complicated dilemma inspired by youthful zest and the best of intentions. SUNDAY, June 10 7:00PM THE BOYS: THE SHERMAN BROTHERS' STORY Directors: Gregory V. Sherman, Jeffrey Sherman "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!" A tribute to the half-century partnership of brothers, Robert and Richard Sherman, who created songs and music for 50 movies, including hugely popular Disney classics such as Mary Poppins, the Jungle Book and The Aristocrats. With their genius for family entertainment, they wrote catchy tunes such as "Chim Chim Cher-ee," "Just a Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Medicine Go Down," and "It's a Small World (After All)." Unlike their songs, the Sherman brothers have never been a household name. But they earned a string of honors including two Oscars, one Grammy, gold and platinum albums and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The film boldly explores a pungent mystery: "Bob" and "Dick" collaborated on a catalog of 1,000 of the world's sunniest songs, but their private relationship was grim and aloof. The film was directed and produced by their respective sons, Jeff and Gregg, first cousins born and raised within blocks of each other in Beverly Hills. But they only saw each other at public events, where their two families would withdraw to opposite sides of the room! Landmark Cinema (View) 210 Plaza Frontenac Frontenac, MO 63131 |Wheelchair Accessible: Yes!|

Monday, August 26, 2013 An Israeli visits Ezekiel's tomb With thanks: Lily Not many Israelis have been to Iraq, but the intrepid Tzur Shezaf felt secure enough to reveal his true identity when he visited the tomb of the Biblical prophet Ezekiel in al-Kifl back in 2010. He films a group of boys gawping, "he's a Jew!", as if Tzur had arrived from Mars. It is the most beautiful place Tzur has visited in Iraq. This place of age-old Jewish pilgrimage dates back to 800 AD, but the current building is from Turkish Seljuk times. The market used to be run by Jews for the pilgrims who came to pray at Ezekiel's shrine. They were housed in the rooms surrounding the courtyard adjoining the shrine. Apparently the shrine was closed to visitors until 2003. The Hebrew inscriptions are still intact. Above the door to the tomb it says: " This is the monument of our master Ezekiel the Prophet son of Buzi the priest, may his merit (zekhut) defend us and all Israel. Amen. " Tzur notes that the room that used to be Ezekiel's synagogue is being used as a mosque. The Torah scroll was stolen from the cupboard in the wall in 2003 along with various books, around the time of the US invasion of Iraq. But the synagogue still retains its Bima (or Teba, in Sephardi parlance), the raised platform from which the Torah scroll is read. Tzur affirms that a place which has a bima is still considered a synagogue. The locals still remember the Jews who used to live in al-Kifl. One even remembers the names of some of the families. But the Jews are now all in 'Palestine' and will never return. These still photographs of Ezekiel's shrine taken in Iraq in 2010/2011 are exclusive to Point of No Return (we are grateful to the senders). They show the shrine in a parlous state of repair. But the original decoration is still there to be admired. The layer of plaster and whitewash that covered much of the wall in 2003 has been removed. The latest news to reach Point of No Return is that the Iraqi Ministry of Antiquities and the local Wakf were still wrangling over what renovation work should be done. In the absence of funds, nothing was being done to preserve the shrine, although work was proceeding on the nearby leaning minaret. The World Organisation of Jews from Iraq, based in New York, is trying to trace Ezekiel's missing Torah scrolls. Tzur Shezaf in Libya

One of the real successes of the third quest for the Historical Jesus was the rediscovery of a Jewish Jesus. [Nutshell–First Quest: Reimarus to Wrede (18th and 19th centuries, see Schweitzer’s classic chronicle of it in Quest for the Historical Jesus); Second Quest: Bornkamm et all (1940’s-’50’s); Third Quest: Perrin, Jesus Seminar, Crossan, +Wright (80’s to the present, see Mark Alan Powell’s great recent work on it.)] In the sense that Dr. Levine is calling for a recognition of this, she is speaking to the non-scholarly audience; most NT scholars have been on board with it for at least a decade. Ditto with the latest trends in Pauline scholarship. Yes, modern Christianity–indeed, Christianity through the ages–has had Marcionite tendencies that attempted to divorce the NT from the OT, Christians from Jews. The dark side of this are the well-known expressions of anti-semitism. This is something we have to guard against and more pastors need to wake up to that the fact that the NT really cannot be properly understood without a solid grounding in the OT. In fact, this is the way a lot of earnest interpreters get into real trouble… What I don’t hear in your initial summary of Dr. Levine’s thoughts, LZ, is a reflection on Judaism, however. Quick history lesson: 2nd Temple Jewish religion was a complex mass of different groups, theologies, and practices. There were several groupings or sects that stand out and most treatments of the topic zero in on Josephus’s attempts to explain it to the Romans. From what we can tell from the surviving texts–he’s done quite a lot of oversimplifying. There were all kinds of ways of beng “Jewish” in the centuries before and after Christ and for a while being Christian was one of them. All of that dramatically changed in AD 70. The sack of the Temple and the descturction of Jerusalem was a huge blow not just to Jewish pride but, more importantly, to Jewish self-identity and religious conciousness. Suddenly several different ways of being Jewish disappeared overnight. That is, those who held that the heart of Jewish religion was the sacrifical system of the Temple were in real trouble. Furthermore, so were those who believed that they and only the held the real secrets to the Temple liturgies, not those damn usurpers in Jerusalem (after all, they couldn’t hope to take it over and set things right any more). In essence, the groups whose polity and piety and less to do with the Temple dealt with it better. Christians were one of these. After all, we claimed that the true temple was, in fact, the physically body of Christ and by extension, his mystical body. Another group who was philosophically cheek-and-jowl with early Christianity, the Pharisees, were also in a better place to cope since others. They had been arguing all along that the true temple is not just the Temple but the people of Israel; hence, they’d been harping for years that the temple purity regulations should be obeyed at home as well. (There really are a lot of similarities between the Pharisees and us; this little drive-by can’t hope to do them justice.) Anyway, time passed, Christians and Jews moved apart and those Jews who wanted to retain their religious heritage rather than just assimilating started talking and systematizing how to do that. And that process took a while. The first authoritative text on it, the Mishnah (or key parts of it), took written form around 200, the Gemara (commentary on the Mishnah) and the Talmud (commentary on the Mishnah and Gemara) came even later, in the 500’s or so. Now–here’s the point that I really want to make about this. Yes, Jesus was Jewish. No, Jesus did not practice Rabbinic Judaism. In fact, it didn’t exist until centuries after his death. That is, Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism developed alongside and with knowledge of one another. (Although, Christianity was essentially an entirely gentile enterprise from–say–the 150’s on so you can’t really say they were “competing.”) As a result, you can imagine that it bugs me when people who want to honor the religious roots of Jesus start pulling in practices of Rabbinic Judaism (The prime example being the Maundy Thursday Seder dinner. That’s a rant unto itself.) in the supposition that it’s “what Jesus did.” I respect they’re wanting to reconnect with Judaism in appropriate ways–that’s just not one of them… It’s historically anachronistic and more often than not does justice neither to Christian nor to Jewish theology. Getting to LZ’s second point, there is a fundamental problem with the thoroughly protestant notion that Jesus has to be “rediscovered” by the means of historical inquiry. The distinction that some folks (like seminary professors) like to use to finesse this is to talk about the Jesus of History and the Christ of Faith. The idea here is that you can hold onto your theological Christ of Faith so you can dig and tackle the hard historical questions with your Jesus of History. The problem, as I touched on here, is that this attitude is fundamentally Nestorian. I guess where it really comes down for me is this: are we looking for information about a historical figure in the past–or are we learning about a relationship with a living, dynamic being, who swoops up on us and shocks us with his love? Fudamentally, are we asking about the dead or the Living? If we believe that Christ is strongly and powerfully alive, then it changes the whole framework for how we shape the questions. As I see it, an undeniable part of what t means to be Christian is learning about how the relationship unfolded with our spiritual ancestors. If we really believe that the Church is the Body of Christ in more than just a metaphorical sense, then we must learn our history as part of learning about who he his. We must look for his face in the faces of the saints–then and now. [And for the sake of full disclosure, many of the thoughts in that last paragraph come from a book I heartily recommend Living Jesus by Luke Johnson (a former Benedictine New Testament scholar).]

“Saying Sorry” – Mark W. Harris First Parish of Watertown – February 5, 2017 Opening Words – from Swing Time by Zadie Smith The brain is connected to the heart and the eyes. – it’s all visualization, all of it! – Want it, see it, take it. No apologies. I don’t apologize ever for what I want! But I see you – and I see that you spend your life apologizing! It’s like you’ve got survivor’s guilt or something! But we’re not in Bendigo anymore. You’ve left Bendigo, right? Like Baldwin left Harlem. Like Dylan left wherever . . . he was from. Sometimes you gotta get out — sorry” by Ntozake Shange one thing i don’t need is any more apologies i got sorry greetin me at my front door you can keep yrs i don’t know what to do wit em they dont open doors or bring the sun back they dont make me happy or get a mornin paper didnt nobody stop usin my tears to wash cars cuz a sorry i am simply tired i didnt know i was so important toyou i’m gonna haveta throw some away i cant get to the clothes in my closet for alla the sorries i’m gonna tack a sign to my door leave a message by the phone ‘if you called to say yr sorry i dont use em anymore’ i let sorry/ didnt meanta/ & how cd i know abt that take a walk down a dark & musty street in brooklyn i’m gonna do exactly what i want to & i wont be sorry for none of it letta sorry soothe yr soul/ i’m gonna soothe mine you were always inconsistent doin somethin & then bein sorry beatin my heart to death talkin bout you sorry i will not call i’m not goin to be nice i will raise my voice & scream & holler & break things & race the engine & tell all yr secrets bout yrself to yr face & i will list in detail everyone of my wonderful lovers & their ways i will play oliver lake & i wont be sorry for none of it i loved you on purpose i was open on purpose i still crave vulnerability & close talk & i’m not even sorry bout you bein sorry you can carry all the guilt & grime ya wanna just dont give it to me i cant use another sorry you should admit you’re mean/ low-down/ triflin/ & no count straight out steada bein sorry alla the time enjoy bein yrself Sometimes my work as a minister makes me feel like I am apologizing a lot. And it is often for things that I haven’t done. Some people may feel like they have been left out of a committee discussion, and so I must find a way to make sure their voice has been heard, or at least make them feel better that I have heard them, saying “I am sorry that you feel this committee neglected to listen to your input. I am sorry that person refuses to talk to you because they insist they are right, and have judged you in the wrong for their perceived personal upset.” Other times it seems to be me that has caused the hurt. It can seem like I have blasphemed the great Jehovah. These people may feel their religious sensibilities were ignored. They tell me my Sukkoth service was insensitive to Jewish tradition. My Thanksgiving communion was an insult to a real communion, or conversely was too much like one. So I end up saying, I am sorry that I offended you. As a minister I can offer to listen to their concern and try to take it into account in the future. Sometimes just listening is enough. And sometimes on those most glorious of days, a person may actually apologize to me saying something like “I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time.” When I was in college, one of my friends had a poster on her wall, which said, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Many of you probably immediately remember this popular phrase from the book, and then movie, “Love Story,” released in my first year of college. At one point the Ryan O’Neil character, Oliver, says he is sorry for expressing anger, and another time says, “I’m sorry” after Ali McGraw’s character dies. Saying you are sorry when you spew anger at someone, and saying sorry when you want to tell a loved one that you feel badly for their loss seem like natural, appropriate expressions of this phrase, but then I hear that silly film cliché that love somehow exempts you from saying sorry. I don’t get it. Our reading today gives the impression that Ntozake Shange is no longer going to say she is sorry, and moreover, that she never wants to hear those insincere words uttered again from the lips of someone who is not sorry. She represents some people, usually female, who seem to be apologizing all the time. We all know this perspective from people who feel like they are getting in the way, even if they have a perfect right to their spot or their share of the pie. They seem to be sorry that they exist, and that their very existence offends someone, usually a man, because they are occupying space. The lead character in the Zadie Smith novel, Swing Time, is the kind of person who always says she is sorry. She is a personal assistant to the pop star Aimee, from whom we hear: “I see that you spend your life apologizing.” But the pop star doesn’t apologize for what she wants. She seems to go and possess it. We hear the plea not to be sorry that she wants a life, and she should go and take what is her due. No one would argue with those who need to stop apologizing for themselves when they pursue what they want in life. We want to encourage this kind of assertiveness in some people. But others? Not so much. Richard Nixon once said that apologizing was a sign of weakness. In theory, we may say that is not true, but how often do we express remorse for our failure to do as promised or the anger, self-righteousness or judgments we imparted to others. Why do most of us have a tough time saying we are sorry? We might begin with the most extreme example of anyone who cannot admit they are sorry for what they have done. This is of course, our new President. On the campaign trail he told Jimmy Fallon, “I fully think apologizing’s a great thing, but you have to be wrong.” There you have it. Why would you ever apologize, if you are always right? Trump said that if he ever was wrong, he would apologize “sometime in the hopefully distant future.” He can say the rudest, nastiest, angriest things without fear that he might ever need to apologize because he is right. Therefore, there is nothing to be sorry for. So he can say, she is fat, ugly, stupid, or he is a drug addict, rapist, terrorist. Fortunately, we can all say, whew, glad I don’t suffer from that narcissistic personality disorder, but we could still learn a bit about the need to say I’m sorry. No one says they are sorry as efficiently as the British. A couple of years ago there was a travel piece in the Boston Globe about London which summarized this. The writer noted that a bus that swiftly passed by, did not curtly note “Out of Service,” but instead said, “Sorry, I’m out of service.” It was personalized into an apology. By English custom, any intrusion, impingement, or imposition of any kind requires an apology. The English say sorry eight times a day on average. Now maybe it is merely a matter of following the rules of etiquette and polite behavior. Their manners reveal a readiness to apologize even for things they have not done. These codes of conduct are a bit different than ours, which are often characterized as rude and offensive. When they say something that seems to have caused a major offense, the British know an apology is required. One of the most famous apologies occurred after John Lennon, when he was a young Beatle, ungraciously stammered that his rock band was more popular than God. Even this rebel acknowledged that he did not mean to say they were greater than the deity, but that people’s priorities were a bit mixed up in their fervor to lionize the famous musicians. He wrote: “I wasn’t saying whatever they’re saying I was saying. I’m sorry I said it really. I never meant it to be a lousy anti-religious thing.. . I still don’t know quite what I’ve done. I’ve tried to tell you what I did do but if you want me to apologize, if that will make you happy, then OK, I’m sorry.” So we have run the gamut from those who refuse to apologize because they are never wrong or refuse because the apology has been used as a weapon again them to those who seemingly apologize all the time for lack of self-esteem to those who say sorry as part of national custom. Where do you find yourselves on the continuum of saying sorry? If you have ever felt love for another, you immediately notice the absurdity of never saying you are sorry. People in deep relationships say they are sorry quite often. We all do things that bother or hurt others. Just last week I felt mortified when I realized that I had suggested to Susan Flint that we cancel the Safe Congregation meeting because no one was coming. Unfortunately, our eager to learn intern is trying to attend a variety of meetings, and had told me she was coming. Once we cancelled the meeting all the members of the committee knew, but guess who was forgotten? Jolie drove over here from JP, and waited and waited, and finally called me to ask, what gives? I felt so sorry for forgetting, and making her travel and wait around for nothing. We all make mistakes. We forget. We make a mean comment. We ignore others. We make people wait. But if we cannot apologize or can’t bring ourselves to say I’m sorry, then even a minor offense will begin to erode the relationship. We may think he doesn’t care that he made me wait. She didn’t listen to what I asked for, and I feel like I am not important to her. But saying you are sorry acknowledges that you made a mistake and you want to restore goodwill between you. If you never make a mistake that inconveniences or hurts someone, then you can leave now, because you must be perfect. Otherwise, let’s all think about how we apologize. It is important to feel some measure of contrition. This is often not the case with public apologies. Politicians specialize in the non-apology apology. They may say their behavior was wrong or it represented some kind of personal failure, but they never truly say, I’m sorry. Is there evidence that we feel bad about what we did? This reminds me of what it is like to try to convince a teenager to say they are sorry for making a parent worry that you do not know where they are, or what condition the car is in, let alone the youth. Perhaps you have had some experience with this. We may be on the receiving end of a sarcastic SORRREEEE! that has no element of actual contrition. Sure some people may need an explanation of what they did wrong so that they actually understand the offense. You say this is how what you did made me feel, and perhaps you can produce some measure of recognition. A little light goes off and the youth realizes they have done something wrong. But it’s hard to apologize. It means we have to measure ourselves by our own failings. We have to process how guilty we feel or how we hurt someone else. The natural inclination may be to protect ourselves, and so we either avoid apologizing, or more frequently for me, I justify my actions or make excuses. I’m getting old and forgot. I wasn’t feeling well, and was under pressure. I was in a hurry. So the apology may become a way to justify your actions. It deflects the hurt you caused away from you, and sometimes you end up blaming the other person. I was only trying to help you, so I am not going to take the responsibility for breaking it. If you had looked both ways, I might never have hit you with my car. How often do we blame our spouse for provoking a reaction in us, for something we did that we should be apologizing or making amends for. Here’s a clue that when you don’t want to say you’re sorry, it is probably the perfect time to do so. You finally realize you did or said something wrong. There is one caveat here, and that is the person who apologizes all the time to avoid actually confronting an issue. This may be the person who apologizes for existing, as I referred to before, but it may also be an avoidance mechanism, and so if you are doing it all the time to avoid confronting something important, then when you actually do apologize, it becomes meaningless because you may not be able to distinguish between a real and a fake apology. Perhaps a familiar fake apology is the one that is used for a preemptive strike. You apologize before you hurt someone. My most vivid memory of this was when my father was going to spank me. He would say, “this is going to hurt me more than it is you.” Remember that? Today, it may be less violent than the spanking, perhaps a grounding, or some kind of redress by working off your hurtful action. I think the most common use of the pre-emptive strike occurs in a medical office. I remember once when my son Joel was little, and the nurse was very timid about administering a shot. She seemed to keep endlessly telling him how much it was going to hurt, as she brandished the needle in front of him. Yet she could not bring herself to actually administer the shot. He began to cry louder and louder, and she became more and more timid. Finally, the doctor could not stand the screaming any longer. She entered the room, grabbed the needle and gave my son the shot. The screaming ended immediately. If anything this illustrates the need to take the medicine. Sure we have to acknowledge that it is hard to say you’re sorry, but you need to do it for the hurt you are about to or have caused. Otherwise it lingers and lingers. Perhaps the most crucial thing about saying sorry is an admission that you actually mean it. Over the years we have had a variety of admissions of wrong doing by the Vatican and Catholic dioceses all over the world, but how many of them have seemed authentic? Is there a sense that they feel they have done something terribly wrong in their failure to protect the children? How many of the victims felt like there was true sorrow about the actions, and that things could ever change? Sometimes one of these public apologies is merely a time to make the guilty party feel better about themselves, and does not change anything about present or future behavior. One such rare instance of public apology that seemed authentic occurred recently in LaGrange, Georgia. More than three quarters of a century ago a young Black man named Austin Callaway was dragged out of a jail cell by a band of masked white men, then shot and left for dead. The New York Times reported recently that some people never forgot. The fear, the police malfeasance, and the pervasive racism long obscured the investigation of this crime. Then a week ago last Thursday, the police chief, who is white, issued a rare apology for a Southern lynching. “I sincerely regret and denounce the role our Police Department played in Austin’s lynching, both through our action and our inaction,” Chief Dekmar told a crowd at a traditionally African-American church. “And for that, I’m profoundly sorry. It should never have happened.” He also said that all citizens had the right to expect that their police department “be honest, decent, unbiased and ethical. . . There are relatives here and people who still remember,” he said. “Even if those people are not still alive, down through the generations, that memory is still alive. That’s a burden that officers carry.” Who knows what the future may bring, but at least publicly there was an honest admission of wrong doing, and a resolve to get it right the next time. One ongoing ritual of any religious organization is how to cleanse yourself of wrong doing. How do you admit that you feel sorry for something you did? How do you atone? How do you move forward? Sorry’ is one of the most powerful words in the English language, provided one can feel and say it at the same time. It’s difficult because you sincerely need to feel the pain of the other person and rise above your ego to say it; it’s powerful because the other person feels understood. You feel shared pain. And when you admit wrong doing and have the courage to say Sorry, it acknowledges the human condition and allows us to move forward, and perhaps have another chance. Someone once said, “Saying ‘I’m sorry’ is saying ‘I love you’ with a wounded heart in one hand and your smothered pride in the other.” It means you care about the other, and are interested in their welfare. Saying sorry is more important than ever in this media age. We all send out emails that express feelings and opinions, but often there is no context to ascertain what the sender means. Tweeting seems even worse, as it presents an opportunity for some at least, to express anger and judgment without any means of remorse. We all spend a lot of time justifying our actions, when that time could be better spent admitting we are wrong. What to do? Say you were wrong, explain what happened, not as an excuse, but to help understand, not deflect responsibility, have sincere remorse, and finally, think how about you can make amends or move forward. There is tremendous power in listening, and in feeling the pain of another. Saying you are sorry means focusing on the feelings of the other person more than on your own feelings. Rather than echoing Love Story and never having to say you are sorry, love in a church, in a relationship, in a friendship should mean you should always be ready to say sorry with authenticity, and with humility in instances where you have insulted or hurt or neglected someone. Be ready in love to say I’m sorry, because you long for deeper relationships, caring hearts and compassionate arms. Saying you are sorry restores a frayed community, a shattered relationship, and a wounded friendship. Closing Words – from Robert R. Walsh (adapted) When the great plates slip and the earth shivers and the flaw is seen to lie in what you trusted most, look not to more solidity, to weighty slabs of concrete poured or strength of cantilevered beam to save the fractured order. Trust more the tensile strands of love that bend and stretch to hold you in the web of life that’s often torn but always healing. . . The shifting plates, the restive earth, your room, your precious life, they all proceed from love, the ground on which we walk together.

// Kenneth W. Hagin EVERY PERSON has a divine destiny. If you want to fulfill your destiny, you must first realize that you have a God-designed purpose and plan. You can't achieve what you don't know you have! Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) says, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" The devil may have destined you for pain and sorrow, but God has already done everything you need for a way of escape. You hold the key to your future. You and I have two choices: succumb to circumstances or fulfill destiny. Every day we face these choices. It's easy to unconsciously choose the first one. But once you know that God has a future for you, follow His way! The Bible is full of examples of people who faced the same two choices. Circumstances had determined a particular future for them, but they called on the Lord in faith and changed their destiny. As we look at a few situations, imagine each person asking this question: Where do I go from here? THE BLIND BEGGAR Bartimaeus was blind. In that day, there was no welfare fund, no vocational training for the visually challenged, and no Braille system. Circumstances had relegated him to begging on the roadside. Imagine Bartimaeus as people and animals pass by on the road from Jericho. The dirt and dust settle on his clothes. He smells the food some are eating, and his stomach cries out for a morsel. Still, he sits there hoping to make it another day when he hears a commotion. A large crowd seems to be approaching. There is a great stir, and he learns it is Jesus of Nazareth. Bartimaeus realizes that this is his opportunity! What he does from this moment on does not rest in the hands of God. It does not rest in the hands of religious leaders. It rests solely with blind Bartimaeus himself. Where does he go from here? Does he let the crowd go by and accumulate a few coins? Or does he turn to the only real help mankind has ever known? It doesn't take him long to make up his mind and respond. Jumping to his feet, he yells, "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me" (vs. 47). And Jesus healed him! In faith Bartimaeus called on Jesus and chose a new destiny—he received sight. Ten lepers, outcasts from society, lived outside the town. They were bound with a loathsome disease mutilating them and taking them to their graves. One day they saw Jesus entering their town and asked themselves, "Where do we go from here?" They decide to go to Jesus. As He passes by, the lepers cried out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us" (vs. 13). Jesus sees them and tells them to show themselves to the priests. He didn't say, "Be healed." There was no physical change in their condition yet. Under Jewish law, the priests were the only ones who could pronounce lepers clean. The lepers did not question for a moment if they should go to the priests. Verse 14 tells us that as they went, they were cleansed. The lepers called out to Jesus and chose a new destiny—they became whole. THE SICK WOMAN A woman who had been bleeding for 12 years spent all she had on doctors. She didn't get better and instead grew worse. She heard about Jesus and answered the question: Where do I go from here? She said, "If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole" (vs. 28). She finds Jesus with a crowd surrounding Him. She must decide if it is worth the struggle of pushing and shoving her way through the crowd. How many times have we been in her position when the thing we wanted was out of reach? We could respond to circumstance and decide, "It's not worth it. I'll get it later." But the woman chose to press through. She reached out to Jesus and changed her destiny—she was instantly healed. While this is going on with the woman with the issue of blood, Jairus, the synagogue leader, is waiting. Jesus had been accompanying Jairus to his home, where his daughter lay sick. Immediately after the woman's miracle, a messenger comes to tell Jairus his daughter had died and not to bother the Master any longer. As those words were spoken, it was as if Jesus read Jairus' thoughts. Jesus says, "Be not afraid, only believe" (vs. 36). At that moment, Jairus has a choice to make: Do I run home to my family, or do I continue to walk along leisurely with Jesus because He said not to fear? Jairus chose to take Jesus at His Word. He continued with Jesus and changed the destiny of his family—his daughter came back to life. Circumstance or Destiny? Where will you go from here? The answer is up to you. Will you choose to stay in the situations of life that you have perhaps always been in and may even seem secure? Or will you move in the direction God has for you? His path leads to your divine destiny! I'm not saying it will be easy or that things will happen overnight. It's a fight of faith (1 Tim. 6:12). And it's by faith and patience that we inherit the promises of God (Heb. 6:12). As you learn how to walk with God, you become stronger. Continue to ask Him, "Where do You want me to go from here?" You will fulfill your divine destiny if you boldly press on with God. Don't turn and run! Stop trying to put your plan into action. Find out what God has waiting for you and put His plan into action. Receive His best for your life and don't let anything get in the way. Your divine destiny belongs to you. READ MORE articles about successful living online! bit.do/living-success

JCC Day Camps is NOW hiring college students and teachers to work with our awesome campers! If you are ready to… - Be a role model - Make new friends - Work in a terrific environment - Have great skills to add to your resume … then JCC Day Camps is the place for you! Our nationally accredited and licensed program has job opportunities to work with campers ages K-14 plus opportunities to work with campers with special needs ages 21⁄2-26. - General Counselors - Special Needs Counselors - Specialty Counselors- (campers change weekly/activities change weekly. I.e.-Watersports camp/horseback riding camp/football camp/art camp - Trip staff- Our teen campers do day trips daily and take a short overnight trip - Music- someone with Jewish song leading/youth group experience - Arts and crafts JCC Day Camps staff must be 18 or older. No phone calls please. JCC Day Camps staff must be 18 years of age or older. The JCC is an equal opportunity employer.

Thorn is backed by some very close friends, a fiercely loyal family. But as a newly revealed Neo-Mage in an aggressively hostile small town she’s on thin ice. Even when her powers may be the very thing keeping them safe from the monsters underground But are those powers also responsible for drawing them? She had sworn she wouldn’t return to face the darkness under the mountain… but it’s waiting and gathering its forces and it certainly hasn’t forgotten Thorn This huge, complicated world contains so many wonderful conflicts. A post-apocalypse world, nearly wiped out by angelic and divine wrath, nearly consumed by demonic rage, living in equal terror of both angel from on high and demon from beneath. A deeply religious society, desperately and faithfully following proper sacred rules - but without any clear indication of what those sacred rules actually are, which religion is right and in a world where one certainty they actually have is that religious conflict will get you killed. And these are just the stories the Seraphs tell… what is the real truth? And into that complex world we have Thorn continuing her story - only this time revealed to be a Neomage, much to the hatred and prejudice of her neighbours. There’s so many wonderful levels to this whole conflict: there’s Thorn gloriously owning who she is, wearing it like a cape and waving it like a flag. There’s her closest friends and loved ones standing shoulder to shoulder with her ready to cut anyone who looks at her twice. There’s the good people who are pushing for honesty and fairness (and the Jewish and Cherokee communities arming and stepping up in the face of clear religious oppression was a nice, though in need of development, moment). The outright bigots willing to do anything to bring Thorn down. The hypocrites who want Thorn’s magic - but not in public, not where people could see, oh no! And, of course, Thorn makes a convenient scapegoat whenever things go wrong. Throw in a lot of intrigue about her past and her mentor, lots of questions about whether the whole narrative that is being sold about the Seraphs arrival is actually true and a neat little romance sub plot with some nice twists in that it’s not happily ever after, by any stretch. I like the people around Thorn, they’re not flawless: the fact that Audric, a Black man is in a subservient position because of his species, the fact that he and Rupert, as gay men, are similarly rendered sexless are both questionable to say the least and Rupert has a bad case of Gay Shark going on with heavily laden stereotypes. All are fiercely loyal to Thorn and along with Jessie make an excellent team around her. She has strong, good relationships. The town itself is also very racially diverse, though not with major characters, Many important characters - like the chief elder of the town - are POC Is there anything about this book I’m not an absolute lover of? They actual battle. And not because it’s not epic and awesome and exciting and powerful - but because it’s confusing. Really really confusing, The different angels and levels and one angel’s wheels and the amethyst stone and Thorn’s dreams and visions and this vampire-that-isn’t-a-vampire and CONFUSION. Like the last book, towards the end particularly, when everything is blowing up and the big fight happens it’s really really really hard to follow. There are parts of the whole conflict where I just basically gave up and mentally added “action happening here” because I just had no clue I could also really do without the mystical lust. But, the series does make a point of making it clear this isn’t a good thing. It’s a curse, it’s an imposition, it certainly hurts the Neomage’s reputation in the highly conservative society in which they live and is actually used as a method of torment, torture and rape for prisoners. It is most certainly not presented as romantic. I love so much about this book and series and the world alone will keep on pulling me in over and over - but I need more… coherence, explanation, expansion when we get to the more abstract elements of the story

SHMUEL GOZHANSKI (SAMUEL GOZHANSKY) (1867-1943) He was born to well-to-do parents in Grodno. He graduated from the Russian Jewish teachers’ institute in Vilna in 1888. He worked as a teacher in Russian Jewish schools, initially in Kovno and Bialystok, later in Vilna. He was one of the most active members of the first Jewish revolutionary socialist circles in Vilna. In 1889 he was one of the leaders of the first Jewish tailors’ strike in Vilna. Under the party’s nickname for him, “Der lerer” (The teacher), he played an enormous role in guiding socialist propaganda among Jewish laborers in Vilna, as well as in the actual organization of study circles (kruzhki, using the Russian word at the time), as well to systematize and prepare appropriate teaching materials. His role gained specially importance over the years 1893-1895, when the pioneering “Group of Jewish Social Democrats,” together with L. Martov, who was then undertaking revolutionary work in Vilna, decided to move the narrow work of their circle to broader means of political agitation. This kind of work had to be done in Yiddish, and Gozhanski was among these pioneers the only person who had truly mastered the Yiddish language. He therefore became one of the principal creators of the first socialist labor literature in Yiddish. He also attracted young intellectuals to this work, people who under his editorial hand wrote or translated various articles and treatises on social themes. Of his propaganda writings from this era, which he wrote under the pen name “Lonu” (he was later known principally by this literary pseudonym), especially distinguished was the historical importance of the brochure A briv tsu di agitatorn (A letter to the agitators) (initially written in Russian), which appeared in late 1893 or early 1894, as a practical, popularized addition to the brochure of Aleksander (Arkadi) Kremer, Vegn agitatsye (On agitation), which opened a new phase in the development of the entire labor movement—not just the Jewish one—in Russia. Other pamphlets by him that were quite popular include: A vikuekh mitn mazl (A debate with good fortune), also called Din un yoysher (Judgment and justice)—an agitation against the persuasive belief that wealth and poverty are objects of luck or pure chance; A rede af purim (A speech about Purim), an allegorical agitation against the Hamans of all eras; Di iden frage in rusland far aleksander dem dritn (The Jewish question in Russia for Aleksander III), also known under the title Der hesped (The eulogy), “which was prepared on October 21, 1895,” a general political agitation against Tsarism; Erinerungen fun a papirosn makherke (Memoirs of a female cigarette maker), first published in 1928 in Unzer tsayt (Our time) 7-8 (Warsaw); Di glikn fun ruvn dem berditsever (The joys of Reuben from Berdichev), republished many times later with the title Di skhires (Wages) (Vilna: Di velt, 1906), 76 pp., an analysis of labor wages, based on numerous facts and figures (in compiling this pamphlet, contributions were made by Pati Srednitski-Kremer and Liube Levinson-Ayzenshtat); and a number of other booklets. In 1896 he was exiled for his revolutionary work to the Yakut region in Siberia, where he joined the semi-anarchist, anti-intellectual movement of the Pole Jan Wacław Machajski. Returning from banishment in 1902, Gozhanski worked for a short time on the central committee of the Bund in Warsaw, and he also contributed to the Bundist Arbeter-shtime (Voice of laborers), but because of his anarchist inclinations, he left their party activities and moved to Vilna where he worked as a private teacher. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, as an adherent of the right wing of the Social Democrats (known as the Oborontses), he switched to the left, became a Communist, and for a time was a commissar in Tula. He was later recalled to Moscow, where he worked in the trade movement and took part in editorial work on the first volume of the Yiddish edition of Lenin’s writings. Rumors later emerged that, during the show trials of 1936-1938, he was deported. His subsequent fate remains unknown. Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2 (Vilna, 1927), pp. 204-8 (with bibliography); B. Mikhalevitsh, “Erev-bund” (Before the Bund), Royter pinkes 1 (Warsaw) (1921), pp. 35, 42, 44; P. Anman, in Royter pinkes 1 (1921), p. 54; L. Martov, Zapiski sot︠s︡ial-demokrata (Notes of a social democrat), vol. 1 (Berlin, 1922), pp. 162-212; Sh. Agurski, Di sotsyalistishe literature af yidish (Socialist literature in Yiddish) (Minsk, 1935), see index; Di historishe shriftn fun yivo (Historical writings from YIVO), vol. 3 (Vilna-Paris, 1939), see index; John Mill, Pyonern un boyer (Pioneers and builders), vol. 1 (New York, 1946), see index; P. Kurski, Gezamlte shriftn (Collected writings) (New York, 1952), see index; L. Bernshteyn, Ershte shprotsungen (First sprouts) (Buenos Aires, 1956), see index.

By now, most of those following the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" issue know it is not on Ground Zero -- but rather is two blocks away. But on ABC's This Week on Aug. 22, 2010, Bloomberg's Al Hunt said it's not even a mosque. Hunt said the issue has been "demagogued" and added, "This is not on ground zero. This is not a mosque. It's a cultural center that has a prayer area." Hunt's comment echoed Frank Rich who stated in an Aug. 21, 2010, New York Times op-ed, "It’s not a mosque but an Islamic cultural center containing a prayer room." But the developing organization repeatedly refers to the religious component of the site as a mosque. On the website for the project (Park51.org), the plan sounds more like a Muslim YMCA-type operation. The site's "facilities" page details plans for a "world-class community center" open to all New Yorkers, regardless of faith. According to the site, plans include: a swimming pool, gym and basketball court, a 500-seat auditorium, a restaurant and culinary school, exhibitions, education programs, a library, reading room, art studios, childcare services and a September 11 memorial and "quiet contemplation space, open to all." The plan also includes "a mosque, intended to be run separately from Park51 but open to and accessible to all members, visitors and our New York community." Organizers say the center would be used to promote cultural diversity and would be overseen by a 23-member Board of Directors, whose membership will not be limited to Muslims. But the center would be geared toward "engaging New York’s many and diverse Muslim communities and promoting empowerment and compassion for all." Another page of the website explains that the project, called Park51, is an independent project led by American Muslims. On that same page, it states, "The mosque, yet to be named, will be run by a separate non-profit whose Board of Directors will reflect a broad range of experience. While the mosque will be located in the planned final structure of Park51, it will be a distinct non-profit." In a July 24, 2010, interview with altmuslim.com, an Islamic news site, Sharif El-Gamal, owner of the building and developer of the Park51 project, was asked, "Why must the project necessarily include a mosque? Wouldn't a general prayer area, which could be reserved in advance by any religious group, be more appropriate and compatible with the community-centric interfaith mission of the project?" Gamal answered, in part, "With respect to the mosque, which will take up only a small portion of the final space, it’s a question of meeting a need. This mosque will be open to all. There are probably one million Muslims in the tri-state area and several hundred thousand in New York City." We also turned to a website for the Cordoba Initiative, "a multi-faith non-profit organization whose aim is to improve relations between different communities, and in particular between the Muslim world and the United States of America" which was founded by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who along with Gamal acts as project manager of the Park51 site. On the "Frequently Asked Questions" page is one that asks, "Why are you building a mosque at Ground zero?" "The community center is not located at Ground Zero. "It will be a multi-floor community center open to all New Yorkers, much like a YMCA or Jewish Community Center (JCC) with a designated prayer space (mosque) in one area to serve the needs of the large existing community of American Muslims in the neighborhood. "The community center will provide a place where individuals, regardless of their culture or background, will find a place of learning, arts and culture, and, most importantly, a community center guided by the universal values of all religions in their truest form – peace, compassion, generosity, and respect for all." We note that the "mosque" in parentheses is their word, not ours. Imam Rauf has been leading prayer services in one of the buildings -- a former Burlington Coat Factory -- since 2009, drawing a spillover from the imam's former main place for prayers, the al-Farah mosque about a dozen blocks north of the World Trade Center grounds, according to the Washington Post. According to the Post, the site's organizers estimated that the mosque could attract as many as 2,000 worshipers on Fridays. So how exactly does one define a mosque according to Islamic tradition, as opposed to simply a prayer space? We explored this very issue a bit when we researched a claim from Kendrick Meek, a Democratic Senate hopeful, who said there is a mosque at the Pentagon. It turns out there is a non-denominational chapel at the Pentagon, and it is used once a day by Muslim employees who gather there for prayer services. While that might be considered a sacred place by those who use it, it doesn't meet the definition of a mosque, according to Shafayat Mohamed, imam of the Darul Uloom mosque in Pembroke Pines, Fla. "The main thing that makes a mosque a mosque is the establishment of praying five times a day at that spot," Mohamed said. "If people pray five times per day, then it is considered a regular mosque." We agree with those who say it's imprecise to simply refer to the New York project as a mosque. As is clear from the organizers' comments and formal web pages, the big picture plans are for a $100 million, 15-story Muslim community center that would be open to New Yorkers of all faiths. But those comments and websites also make clear that the plans do include a "mosque." It may be a "small portion" of the overall project, but it is a part. And so when Hunt said, "This is not a mosque. It's a cultural center that has a prayer area," that's not accurate either. It's a cultural center that includes a mosque. And so we rate Hunt's comment False.

#1 Posted on 19.11.03 0401.44 Reposted on: 19.11.10 0401.49 While Bill Goldberg's role in the recent box office disaster, Looney Tunes: BIA, didn't earn him the credentials The Rock received for his role in The Rundown, Goldberg still has another movie on tap. He's set to star as a killer, dressed as Santa Claus, in the upcoming 'Santa's Sleigh', which is set to begin filming in late-January. Filming will take place in Edmonton, Alberta on a relatively low budget. Goldberg joked to WWE.com that it's going to be great to have a 280-pound Jewish guy dressed as Santa. Backing the film is Rush Hour director Brett Ratner. There is also talk of Edward Norton having a cameo in the film. Goldberg told WWE.com that one possibility for a costar is his good friend Dennis Haskins, of Saved By The Bell fame. It is not expected that the movie will interefere with his wrestling schedule. Wow...how appealing. A bad Jewish actor plays Santa Claus in a movie co-starring Mr. Belding! Sounds like Wrestlecrap in the making, doesn't it? Since last post: 2426 days Last activity: 2424 days #5 Posted on 19.11.03 0817.57 Reposted on: 19.11.10 0818.32 It sounds more like a remake of a good little B-movie made in 79 or 80 that's titled either "Christmas Evil" or "You Better Watch Out" (depending on the country and the video box, but it's been titled both). But the good thing about the character is that for most part he didn't say much in the movie...he just looked ominous and killed a lot of people in short order without having to talk. Which as we all know is PERFECT for Goldberg. :) ALL ORIGINAL POSTS IN THIS THREAD ARE NOW AVAILABLE

Patriotism in Action The career of Emma Goldman (1869-1940), one of the Jewish Women's Archive's Women of Valor, exemplifies these questions and conflicts. Fighting tirelessly to bring about a more just society, Goldman spent decades struggling against a political-economic system that she believed dehumanized both workers and employers. As an advocate for controversial causes ranging from anarchism to birth control, Goldman came into conflict with United States and local governmental officials who continually harassed her and suppressed her lectures and writing. In 1917, she was imprisoned for publications and speeches opposing both World War I and the draft. Two years later, in 1919, she was deported along with 248 other immigrant radicals also accused of disloyalty for their political beliefs. The first cartoon is from the cover of the June 1912 issue of Goldman's magazine Mother Earth. It illustrates Goldman's view of the hypocrisy of those who use patriotism as an excuse to stifle the free expression of those who disagree with them. The second cartoon, portraying Attorney General John Ashcroft, which appeared in the December 14, 2001 issue of the Boston Phoenix, indicates that present-day cartoonists share similar concerns. Questions for Discussion: - How is patriotism defined in these two cartoons? - Do you think there is more than one way to define patriotism? - How might Emma Goldman's experience relate to the current political situation? - Is criticism of one's government inherently unpatriotic? - What is the relationship between patriotism and free speech? - Should it be illegal to advocate unpopular beliefs? How to cite this page Jewish Women's Archive. "Patriotism in Action." (Viewed on June 27, 2016) <http://jwa.org/discover/throughtheyear/november/patriotism/patriotism-in-action>.

(JTA) — On Wednesday, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif, attended a classified briefing with Vice President Mike Pence on the North Korea nuclear threat. The Iran deal may not be done, but bids by its opponents to shape it are all but buried. Obama administration officials have long contended that the friction between the U.S. president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not personal and that American support for Israel remains as robust as ever — and arguably even more robust by some metrics. President Barack Obama’s second term may start with tussles over the economy and health care. He still has to deal with the crisis of Iran’s nuclear program. Mitt Romney’s pessimistic take on Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects has drew some headlines in the press but not much noise from centrist Jewish groups. In the battle for Jewish votes this November, President Barack Obama and the Democrats have history on their side. But the GOP has a financial edge. Jerusalem has many mysteries, but none may be as perplexing at present as its disappearance from the Democratic Party platform. If Rick Santorum secures the Republican nomination, expect to hear this mantra from his Jewish supporters: In times of crisis, social issues don’t matter. Pro-Israel leaders in the United States, Britain and Australia are warily watching the unfolding of the phone-hacking scandal that is threatening to engulf the media empire of Rupert Murdoch, founder of News Corp. Hannah Rosenthal, the State Department’s envoy for combating anti-Semitism, was heartened if skeptical when some Arab officials pledged to her that they would remove anti-Semitic tropes from their school curricula.

It is a museum of biblical proportions – and it is stirring controversies to match. Opening next month in Washington, the Museum of the Bible cost half a billion dollars to build, spans 430,000 sq ft over eight floors and claims to be the most hi-tech museum in the world. Reading every placard, seeing every artifact and experiencing every activity would take an estimated 72 hours. But while it is not the monument to creationism that some liberals feared, the sprawling museum has attracted scepticism over both its ideological mission and the provenance of its collection. It is the brainchild of evangelical Christian Steve Green, the billionaire president of Hobby Lobby, an arts and crafts chain that won a supreme court case allowing companies with religious objections to opt out of contraceptive coverage under Barack Obama’s healthcare law. Green, who since 2009 has amassed a vast collection of biblical texts and artifacts, is making a big statement with the museum’s location: two blocks south of the National Mall, home to the US Capitol and Smithsonian Institution museums – including the National Museum of Natural History, which has exhibits on dinosaurs and human evolution – and could hardly be closer to the centre of power. Gaining a sneak preview this week amid workers in hard hats, the Guardian passed through giant bronze “Gutenberg Gates” that framed the entrance with hand-carved letters spelling out a Latin quotation from Genesis (the gates even have their own Twitter account). Inside the main atrium there is the obligatory gift shop, where cuddly animals are already on the shelves – presumably a reference to Noah’s Ark – and a “children’s experience” room where young Samsons can push columns and make them collapse. Visitors – admission is free, though a donation of $15 is suggested – will each be given a digital guide on which new information is triggered each time they approach a gallery or artifact. High above them in the bright, airy atrium of what used to be a refrigerating warehouse and design centre is a 140ft “digital ceiling” showing biblical images, including church frescos. Upstairs, there is a floor devoted to the historical and cultural impact of the Bible, including on America, bound to be closely scrutinised for any hints of political bias. Among the Europeans who sailed across the Atlantic, a display panel says, were “many English dissenters seeking religious freedom. Each group brought its own version of the Bible, and some professed intentions to convert Native Americans to Christian beliefs”. There is a scale remake of the Liberty Bell, which is inscribed with scripture, and an account that many colonists seeking independence from Britain drew inspiration from the Bible, especially Moses, “who led his people out of bondage to a land of liberty”. With independence and the presidency of George Washington, the tradition of swearing the oath of office on a Bible began. A surge of evangelical arrivals in the late 18th century helped renew devotion to the Bible and ignite a campaign to abolish slavery, the narrative continues. “Southern slaveholders, however – some of them also involved in the revivals – interpreted the Bible as affirming slavery.” Each side in the civil war “embraced the Bible to justify its cause”. Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt are quoted and Charles Darwin gets a mention. “In 1925, John Scopes, a high school teacher in Tennessee, was charged with violating a state law that prohibited teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution,” an exhibit states, in a reference to the infamous “Monkey Trial”, which, it says, “placed the Bible in the center of an intense national debate between traditional and more progressive interpretations of the Bible and modern science”. More unexpectedly, a display on the Bible’s influence around the world makes claims for links between science and the Bible and contains statues of Galileo Galilei, whose claim that the earth revolved around the sun was challenged by the church, Isaac Newton, a devoted student of the Bible, and George Washington Carver, who rose from slavery to become a scientist, botanist and inventor and regarded the Bible as a guide to the natural world. Likely to raise eyebrows, an information panel states: “Are the Bible and science mutually exclusive? There is broad agreement today among historians that modern science owes a great deal to the biblical worldview. The idea that the natural world is orderly springs from the Bible. As the biochemist and Nobel laureate Melvin Calvin said, the conviction that ‘the universe is governed by a single God … seems to be the historical foundation for modern science’.” A full-size jail cell allows visitors to reflect on the biblical roots of the western concept of justice. A pile of blackened and charred Bibles illustrates how the book has been burned, for example in China’s Cultural Revolution. Various multimedia displays show the influence of the Bible on fashion, films, literature and the visual arts. A room with a giant wraparound screen called “Bible Now” promises “a spectacular live-feed of global data”. Upstairs, the floorspace is divided roughly proportionately between Old and New Testament. Only the latter was available to view this week, and most striking was “The World of Jesus of Nazareth” – an unapologetically Disney-style walk-through recreation of Nazareth two millennia ago, complete with stone walls, trees (each leaf made by hand), dwellings with period cuisine on dining tables, piles of grapes and baskets full of olives and even a temple. Three actors in period costume will interact with visitors. The “History of the Bible” title is styled in an Indiana Jones typeface and is expected to house wide-ranging objects including Torah scrolls and 14th-century illuminated manuscripts – but not the Qur’an or Book of Mormon. The museum has a long-term alliance with the Israel Antiquities Authority. This week’s preview tour also included a ballroom and 472-seat theatre (about to host the musical Amazing Grace), two restaurants named Manna and Milk and Honey, a glass-enclosed top floor with views of the Mall and a rooftop garden devoted to biblical plants. Another attraction will be the amusement park-style “Washington Revelations” ride, which purportedly tricks a person’s mind into thinking they are flying over sites bearing scripture such as the US Capitol, Lincoln Memorial and supreme court. But preparations have been far from smooth. In July this year, Hobby Lobby agreed to pay a $3m fine and forfeit thousands of smuggled ancient Iraqi artifacts that the US government alleged were intentionally mislabeled. The artifacts – including up to 300 small clay tablets, bearing inscriptions in the cuneiform script – were reportedly destined for the museum. Green admitted that Hobby Lobby “should have exercised more oversight and carefully questioned how the acquisitions were handled”. Organisers contend that the museum is non-partisan, non-sectarian and educational rather than evangelical, appealing to people of all faiths or no faith. Cary Summers, its president, said: “We want this museum to be enriching and engaging to all people. To that end, we have tapped many of the world’s leading scholars with expertise across many subjects and faith traditions, including those with Jewish, Protestant and Catholic proficiency and perspectives, to help us craft the storylines and narrative themes of this museum.” But that is not how it began. According to media reports, its first nonprofit filing in 2010 declared that its mission was “to bring to life the living word of God, to tell its compelling story of preservation, and to inspire confidence in the absolute authority and reliability of the Bible”. By 2013, this had been watered down to: “We exist to invite all people to engage with the Bible. We invite Biblical exploration through museum exhibits and scholarly pursuits.” Green, the Washington Post reported, has promoted a public school curriculum based on the Bible as a factual historical text, while Summers consulted for the Creation Museum in Kentucky, which teaches creationism as fact, with exhibits showing dinosaurs and humans living side by side on a 6,000-year-old Earth. Hobby Lobby calls itself a “biblically founded business” and is closed on Sundays. The Green family has been criticised for objecting to having to provide employees with contraceptives under the Affordable Care Act, AKA Obamacare. In 2014 it was granted an exemption to the mandatory contraceptives by the supreme court, a landmark ruling that extended religious rights to some corporations. Jacques Berlinerblau, a professor of Jewish civilization at Georgetown University in Washington, said Green “has a view of the role of religion in public life. Maybe people should know that before stepping in. The museum has to be very clear about its objectives. I think there’s a lot of misdirection and even duplicity regarding its goals and theological assumptions. There is something at the core of this museum that has to enshrine what evangelical Christians do.” Berlinerblau, author of The Secular Bible: Why Nonbelievers Must Take Religion Seriously, put the museum’s location in the context of the rise of the conservative Christian movement over the past four decades; Vice-President Mike Pence, an evangelical Christian, has been invited to the opening ceremony on 17 November. Nine in 10 members of Congress describe themselves as Christians, compared with seven in 10 American adults who say the same, according to a recent Pew Research Center analysis of congressional data compiled by CQ Roll Call. “If you are building a $500m museum close to the most powerful deliberative body in the world, you have to understand the optics. This edifice could represent the coming out, again, of evangelical America. I can assure you the museum is going to become a convening platform for conservative Christian activism.” Atheists, he added, would find the museum “laughable and deplorable”. Nick Fish, national programme director of American Atheists, an activist group that promotes the separation of religion from government, said: “With many of these religious ‘museums’, the tendency is to dress up evangelism and dogma with a veneer of academia to lend an undeserved cloak of neutrality. “I don’t want to prematurely pass judgment on the museum without having seen it, but based on previous statements by the Green family, it seems clear that there will be at least some editorialising in favour of the backers’ religious views, rather than a serious look at the historic accuracy (and lack thereof) of the Bible.” Casey Brescia, a spokesman for the Secular Coalition for America, added: “Steve Green absolutely has the right to open a Bible museum. That’s of no concern to us. What we would be worried about, as we’ve seen with the Creation Museum in Kentucky, is that he’ll try to get taxpayer money to pay for it. “By claiming that the museum is intended to ‘educate’ rather than evangelise, it’s possible that Green is hoping the museum will become a field trip destination for public schools. That would be unconstitutional. Green was already fined $3m after he was caught illegally smuggling artifacts into the country for this museum. Hopefully, he learned his lesson.” This article contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if a reader clicks through and makes a purchase. All our journalism is independent and is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative. The links are powered by Skimlinks. By clicking on an affiliate link, you accept that Skimlinks cookies will be set. More information.

First, a word from our sponsors (maybe). We now return you to your regularly scheduled Web reading. Creation Conference 2013: Why Origins Matter, also promoted as an Answers in Genesis “Answers Conference” and an Institute for Creation Research event, Monday 28 January 2013 and Tuesday 29 January 2013, hosted by Southern California Seminary at Shadow Mountain Community Church, 6:30 PM to around 10:00 PM each evening. I attended most of this event, leaving during intermission on Tuesday. Here is what the schedule of presentations looked like: - Monday, January 28th - Introductory “Welcome” by Dr. Ed Herrelko, Vice President of Academics, Southern California Seminary. - Some introductory reminiscence and opening prayer by Dr. Tim LaHaye, Pastor and Author. - “Why Genesis Matters” presentation by Dr. Jason Lisle, Director of Research, Institute for Creation Research. - “The Bible, Evolution, and Human Origins” presentation by Dr. Jeremy Lyon, Professor of Old Testament, Southern California Seminary. - “Rock Layers, Fossils, and the Flood” presentation by Dr. Andrew Snelling, Director of Research, Answers in Genesis. - Tuesday, January 29th - Introductory “Welcome” by Dr. Herrelko. - Additional introductory remarks and opening prayer by Tom Cantor, CEO and President, Scantibodies and Creation and Earth History Museum. - “Scripture and Science Declare A Young Earth” presentation by Dr. Snelling. - “The Ultimate Proof of Creation” presentation by Dr. Lisle - Intermission [the point at which I departed]. - “So What Now? Courageously Engaging Culture” presentation by Dr. Herrelko. - Question and Answer Panel. In addition to these presentations, a number of ministries operated information booths at the event, some with free literature, one with free coffee, and all with some interesting conversation to be had. All of the presentations that I attended were well worth hearing. The most densely packed with information were Dr. Snelling’s; those most reminiscent of the common-man-accessible model of Ken Ham were Dr. Lisle’s; Dr. Lyon’s presentations fell somewhere in between. Not planning to review the event, I neither took notes nor made a clandestine audio recording; and, so far as I’ve yet discovered, event audio and video have not been posted for free download anywhere. I will therefore only comment on a couple items I found most memorable or most deserving comment. The most memorable illustration, at least the one I most remember, was Tom Cantor’s statement that his efforts to become an evolutionist failed because no matter how many cans of gefilte fish he opened, he never found a whole living carp inside. This food product, which Cantor deems detestable and laments that his Jewish background exposed him to, contains all the parts needed for a living carp (apparently, whole carp are chopped up to make the product, and nothing is discarded), yet the canned carp parts never assemble by chance into a living fish. While an evolutionist would no doubt be unsatisfied with this as an analogy for chemical evolution, given the difference in complexity between a carp and the most “primitive” life, it is vivid and not easily forgotten. The most memorable presentation, or at least the one I’m most inclined to comment on, was Dr. Lisle’s “The Ultimate Proof of Creation.” In this presentation, Lisle capably summarized the presuppositional apologetic method set forth by Cornelius Van Til and most rigorously exposited by Greg Bahnsen. Lisle’s introduction to Van Tilian method is perhaps the clearest and most accessible I’ve heard; persons seeking an introduction to the method may well consider his book by the same name a good first reading. However, as did Dr. Bahnsen, whom he quoted more than once, and as do most Van Tilian presuppositionalists, Lisle oversold the perfect certainty or “objective proof” status of presuppositional apologetics. As disciples of Gordon Clark, who advocate a different variety of presuppositionalism, have long pointed out, no matter how many non-Christian viewpoints you demonstrate self-defeating and so impossible, this does not prove the Christian viewpoint. It favors it and confirms it, certainly, an achievement of no small value; but it does not constitute certain proof or justify profession of objective certainty. To put this all another way, showing that Christianity provides the “preconditions of intelligibility” whereas a competing system fails to do so does not prove Christianity true. In theory, more than one comprehensive coherent system, more than one system providing the preconditions of intelligiblity, could exist. Demonstration that Christianity alone could possibly be true would require that one have successfully and in sequence defeated every possible non-Christian viewpoint. This, of course, is a task one could never finish in finite time. Practicing presuppositionalists have faith that every new non-Christian viewpoint they encounter will self-destruct upon close analysis (“internal critique”), but this faith (which I share), though laudatory, is not proof. Proving “the impossibility of the contrary” does not prove Christianity; only proving the impossibility of the contradictory, meaning the impossibility of every contrary, would do that (as Clarkians like W. Gary Crampton have repeatedly pointed out). When a Van Tilian says that “the proof of Christianity is that without believing it you couldn’t prove anything at all,” he really should say, “the proof of Christianity is that, of all the belief systems I’ve so far examined, it is the only one that permits one to prove anything at all.” No doubt one or more Van Tilians will here want to accuse me of misunderstanding “the transcendental argument” that is central to Van Tilian method. Well, I no doubt misunderstand a great many things; perhaps this is one of them. As I understand (or misunderstand) matters, however, all that a transcendental argument can do is tell one what preconditions of intelligibility any viable thought system must provide (include, presuppose, comport with) and whether a given thought system does in fact provide those preconditions. Christianity’s success in providing these preconditions does seem to allow transcendental disproof of individual competing thought systems as they are encountered; it does not, however, appear sufficient to permit blanket rejection of competing systems not yet tested; neither does it appear sufficient to justify claims to have proven “objectively” that Christianity is the only possibly true thought system. As a Christian, I would love to believe the Van Tilian oversell; but, even though I love Van Tilian literature and find its arguments very helpful, the claim to perfect certainty (if you like, the lack of epistemic humility) that often goes with those arguments is something I cannot currently embrace. Great conference, though. Wish you’d been there. (Wish my notepad and digital audio recorder had been there too!)

Heinrich Von Rippendorf of the Museum von Nazi Memories in Augsburg summed it up: "That beautiful Versailles palace in France was ugly to Germans because of its Draconian enforcements upon the German people following World War I. Beautiful on the outside and ugly as hell on the inside. All good Germans knew this fact without knowing that Marie Antoinette lived there eating beef tenderloin while her subjects ate cake. So we built a new Germany and a new model that we felt would be prettier than the previous ugly reality, but that second rate painter turned bomb dropper, Hitler, painted us into an ugly corner, but the prettiest flowers are more likely to grow on top of dog piles," Von Rippendorf reasoned. "Modern Germany is more beautiful than before and we want it to stay that way," he concluded. "To us the beautiful Palace of Versailles was like a school-girl posting a picture of a beautiful, but bitchy, actress on her bathroom mirror. That school girl will become better than the actress that she seeks to mimic because she knows the beauty is false and unreliable. All she has to do is stay focused and not go off the deep end as happened to us a couple of times, well, maybe three or so if you include the reign of Attila the Hun." "Any wounded warrior can tell you that's true," said Dr. Mogomu Mofbatti, a former African field surgeon during conflicts in Zimbabwe. "Ugly anything propels you to seek its opposite. You drop a few mortar shells in the center of the city and suddenly the quiet country side is more beautiful than ever and where you'd like to be even with mosquitos and horseflies," said Dr. Mofbatti. "We know instinctively when someone else is giving us a raw deal, but not even a once beloved coach can serve as a positive motivator when he has dealt negatively with others and then tells them it's good for them," said Wiggons. "That always puts the victimizer in a one-up and condescending position over us and that's not liberating, but enslaving. Liberation comes from looking at a photo of a shucked oyster and saying 'see, I'm alot better than that,'" said Wiggons who added that a shucked oyster has a brighter future than Sandusky. "At least oysters make pearls, not license plates," said Wiggons. According to Wiggons, "pigeon props" are props that keep people tied to the monuments of their past stupidity. "Penn State claims it was no 'pigeon prop' for a system of institutionalized abuse, but I dare to differ. Some narcissists thrive on a false self-esteem gained by limiting one’s field of comparison and allowing oneself to be compared unfavorably to another. In the end, this is not in your self interest. Limiting fair and open comparison is counter productive. It would be better to have photos of many, many different people of all colors, shapes and sizes that only photos of your idealized dreamboat. In the 50’s, for example, I dated a sawed off little point guard for the University of Tennessee basketball team who strutted around like a proud bantam rooster flashing his team ring and acting all cocky and superior to everyone else. What gave him the impression he was superior? No black basketball players had yet been admitted to the University of Tennessee’s basketball team and so he lived in a protective bubble of imagined reality. This ugly little dude was held in place by other ugly little dudes all propped up by less than a few degrees of separation in height, weight, hair color, eye color so that they had institutionalized their arrested development. Nothing real about that. You could conceivably weigh 500 pounds, but surround yourself with photos of other 500 pound women and you are actually more likely to stay just as you are. Skinnier women's photos and you'll balloon up like a NASA weather balloon. The same size and shape as you and you get parity.....no change. If you're a hefty girl hanging photos of Gwen Palthrow or Taylor Swift on the wall you are guaranteed of getting even heftier,” said Wiggons who pointed out that limiting a field of comparison is always negative when it has a racism factor. "But isn't avoiding photos of beautiful models as a motivator limiting your field of comparison?" I ask Wiggons. "The human mind is able to make very careful distinctions between various motivators. It knows when you are providing yourself loving or loathing as a self-motivator," she said. "Well, here, let's consider Johnny Manziel the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner whose team actually beat the 2013 national champs, Alabama, during the regular season. This kid was rejected by the highest paid coach in college football at the University of Texas and took a position at Texas A&M playing in a school that traces, as you have pointed out, its history to Edward B. Cushing, a pro-Confederate Southerner with family ties to the New England Cushings. "Unlike that twit of a Tennessee basketball player I dated who played on a segregated team and thought he was God's gift to the world, Manziel competed in an integrated program and society and won the Heisman in his first year. He admitted that he grew up pretending he was Heisman winner Doug Flutie, another short guy, but in the back of his mind was his grandfather's 1983 world championship for cockfighting. Illegal in the U.S., this blood sport which was not that much different from Michael Vick's Pit Bull dog fights provided Manziel a wonderful negative image for a young boy. He had to be thinking 'I've got to be better than PawPaw's gutted roosters'," said Wiggons. "I am sure that Michael Vick was motivated by some similar imagery," said Wiggons surmising that cross-specie comparisons are always fair and open comparisions as with oysters. Wiggons believes that her program is further supported by the historic Hawthorne Study. This landmark motivational study showed that workers in a factory were motivated by the simple addition of supervisors adjusting the lights in their workspace. "For Manziel and Vick the spotlight was literally on them every time they took the field, but when you put a pretty face and body on the wall as your 'target' you take the spotlight off of you and put it on them. How can that work for you?" asked Wiggons. "Put Rosanne Barr's picture up there and it's like you just stepped out of a cave and into the sunlight." "People are motivated by reverse psychology and negative, not positive, exaggeration. If you are a worker as skinny as Steve Jobs or Bill Gates within a Gates or Jobs business culture you'll likely stay like them. Now, if Gates sought to immolate a blubbery J.P. Morgan and his gargantuan nose instead of Warren Buffett, you'd get a six-foot-four-inch toothpick-like Bill Gates and since he's your model and he's getting thinner because of his weight loss you'd balloon up like a gunny sack of door knobs. This truth has been verified. A slightly pudgy-bellied Steve Jobs was aspiring to become J.P. Morgan and Jobs was filling the back of his medicine cabinet door with photos of Morgan and wham-0! A skinny Steve Jobs and this was long before his terminal diagnosis," said Wiggons reiterating that we generally get the opposite of what we consciously strive for. "You've got to trick yourself into becoming what you want to be. Like that time I dated handsome Joe Romanno who wanted to make it with me on prom night. I was so frigid and inexperienced and innocent. So what did I do all day? I imagined I was Mother Theresa. Worked great, though Joe dumped me for a skinnier and more buxom Sally Frederickson," said Wiggons noting that Frederickson then dumped Romanno for the Tennessee basketball player she had learned to loathe, had five kids and ballooned out like the Pillsbury Doughboy, while Frederickson's husband stayed skinny, but developed skin cancer from spending too much time at a tanning salon. Taking this latest discovery to a new level, Reverend Darian Greyman of the Greater Things Church of Long Beach, California has held up all Mainline, non-denominational and mega-church myth makers as a sample of the failure of Christians to think creatively. “Most are selling the Gnostic crap, " said Greyman, "so what do you expect? They all grew up in a little box of limited vision. I had a Jewish friend, who was always talking about faithful Christians who had reached out to her grandfather and grandmother in Germany and helped hide them from the Nazis. She called them ‘Righteous Christians’….Bonhoeffer, Niemoller and others. Then she’d quote Eli Wiesel or Abraham Heschel and get all warm and cuddly feeling about her Christian friends who dragged their damn feet in the 1930's and 40's in helping while Hitler was warming up the ovens. I told her “hell, don’t do that! Hold up the really bad examples of those Christians who had looked the other way as the trains rolled through town, or better yet, the really stinky Jewish leaders like Baron Rothschild whose money successfully saved the majority of his family from the gas chambers and ovens, except for his estranged ex-wife,” said Greyman. Greyman's book, American Hessians For Hitler, traces the Westward migration of German Hessians fighting for Great Britain against the American colonists following the Revolutionary War. After the revolution, not wanting to return to Europe with its long history of bloody conflicts, they could hide their identity on the frontier until the rise of the German American Bund and accompanying "Business Plot" of the 1930's that included Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Prescott Bush, John Burroughs, Charles Lindberg and others. The Hessians, either German Lutheran or Roman Catholics found solace in following the Masonry of Roman Catholic, Albert Pike, the founder of the Scottish Rite in the U.S. which was itself inagurated in the decade after the American Revolution by the Prussian Royal family. Pike was the leading attorney for the K.K.K.," notes Greyman who also said that in one Texas German town a museum built in memory of World II Admiral Chester Nimitz had been co-opted as a museum for the son of Prescott Bush, George Herbert Walker Bush, who lost in his raid on Chi Chi Jima the Yale classmate who favored early entry of the U.S.'s resistance to Adolf Hitler. When asked what this proved Greyman said, “Next week we are going to vote on it being a new sacrament in the church along with communion and baptism and we're adding two new camels. I have heard rumors that Warren Buffet is considering visiting sometime soon just for the camel ride, which we will have to deny him on the basis of it being a sacrament for members only, which we hope will influence him to join us. Is this the Law of Attraction at work or creative visioning? I don't know and I really don't care. Buffet seems like a nice enough guy, but I can think of few hundred thousand other people I rather sit next to at a cover-dish supper," said Rev. Greyman. “On average we were in the 25-30% tax range so our folks are still giving nearly 20-25% more. That’s unheard of in the lazy, lethargic suck-egg congregations of the average American community where churches realistically hoover at 7% below their legalistically held 10% tithing standard which they systematically hypocratize week after week and especially at year-end as their prior commitments run into competition from 'Black Friday' and Christmas. Basically our folks live on half of what they make and if the blubbery-bounding-blobs of mass I see sitting on their behinds in Congress and the U.S. Senate or in the pulpits of America’s churches and synagogues did the same, we’d have no problems at all, but unfortunately we have surrounded ourselves with unimaginative assholes,” said Greyman, “religiously speaking, I mean." Greyman believes that it all went back to the example of the widow's mite in Scripture. "Who can compete with that?" asked Greyman. "You know, the widow who gave away all she had. We look at her, and this gets to the essence of 'reverse visionsioning' and the Law of Attraction as some call it, as a bad example and one Jesus sneaked in there so that we could later figure out what to do with her. So we hang her memory up there on the refrigerator, too. An artist in the congregation made her into an obese overweight Jewish woman so full of her own self-loathing that she just said 'to hell with it, here, take it all!' And for anyone Jewish that is a very, very low level of self-esteem. How can you help someone else if you've given away all you've had? Crap!," said Greyman, "50% is enough unless your only child just signed your extubation order while your lying in the ICU!” "I understand that it's Forsythe's influence on President Obama that made him laminate Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's photo to the underside of his Oval Office bathroom toilet," said Greyman. Greyman counsels his members to make as much money as they can from sustainable, non-polluting and ethical ways, but to judge their progress toward a Christ-like life by their ability to live off of half or less. "For that reason, too, I encourage frugality in procreation. Reproducing yourself as in cell division is also Biblical. Produce too much of a bad thing, or as science has taught us....even of a good thing.... and there comes a tragic flood to reduce us to only two of something, again. Best to just avoid the damn flood in the first place!"

Birthdays: February 26by bcampos862 | created - 27 Feb 2015 | updated - 4 months ago | Public 3. Al Bridge Actor | The Ridin' Fool American character actor, a fixture both in Westerns and in the comedies of Preston Sturges. Although frequently billed as "Alan" Bridge, he was born Alfred Morton Bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1891 (not as "Alford" Bridge in 1890, as his tombstone erroneously states), he and his sister, ... Actress | Marisol Alejandra Meyer was born on February 26, 1937 in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico. She was an actress, known for Marisol (1996), Por un beso (2000) and Patrulla de valientes (1968). She was married to Pepe Arévalo. She died on November 7, 2007 in Mexico City, Mexico. Actress | Lions for Lambs Born February 26, 1982. She is a Northern California native, born in Humboldt County (Arcata, California.) Attended High School in Sacramento, California. Her father is a surgeon and her mother is a nurse. She has a younger brother named Zack and a younger sister named Lily. Moved to New York City ... 7. Ariel Sharon Self | Ben Gurion Zoher Ariel Sharon was born on February 26, 1928 in Kfar Malal, Palestine as Ariel Scheinerman. He was an actor, known for Ben Gurion Remembers (1972), Gaza Ghetto (1985) and Tsahal (1994). He was married to Lili and Margalit. He died on January 11, 2014 in Tel Hashomer, Israel. Costume_department | A View to a Kill Azzedine Alaïa was born on February 26, 1940 in Tunis, Tunisia. He is known for his work on A View to a Kill (1985), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) and Chicken Feed for Little Birds (1963). He died on November 18, 2017 in Paris, France. 10. Betty Hutton Actress | Annie Get Your Gun Betty Hutton was born Elizabeth June Thornburg on February 26, 1921, in Battle Creek, Michigan. Two years later, Betty's father decided that the family way of life wasn't for him, so he left (he committed suicide 16 years later). Having to fend for themselves, Mrs. Thornburg moved the family to ... 11. Bill Duke Actor | Predator Duke Media Entertainment, led by actor, director, producer, writer and humanitarian, Bill Duke, is dedicated to bringing quality Edutainment to audiences around the globe. Formerly Yagya Productions, Duke Media has successfully produced critically acclaimed film and television content for more than... 12. Brandon Crane Actor | It A native of Oceanside, California, Brandon began appearing in television commercials at the age of four after a talent scout noticed him entertaining party guests with impressions of popular singers. In 1984 he began working in episodic television, and is probably best remembered as "Doug Porter" ... Music_department | Thriller Composer and pianist, educated at the Chicago Conservatory (Bachelor/Master of Music degrees) and a pianist in the United States Navy Band in Washington DC. He joined NBC in Chicago as a staff pianist (1949-1956), and ABC in Chicago in 1958. Joining ASCAP in 1957, his chief musical collaborator was... 15. Chase Masterson Actress | Yesterday Was a Lie Chase Masterson is best known for 5 years as Leeta on Star Trek DS9 and has the title role of the Doctor Who Big Finish audio spin-off VIENNA, currently in Season Four. Fans of CW's The Flash know her as Sherry. Mel Brooks cast Chase in her first role in Robin Hood: Men in Tights; Chase's list of ... 17. Cliff Osmond Writer | The Streets of San Francisco Cliff Osmond was born on February 26, 1937 in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA as Clifford Osmond Ebrahim. He was an actor and writer, known for The Streets of San Francisco (1972), The Front Page (1974) and The Penitent (1988). He was married to Gretchen. He died on December 22, 2012 in Pacific ... 21. Cynthia Stone Actress | That Wonderful Guy Cynthia Stone was born on February 26, 1926 in Peoria, Illinois, USA as Cynthia Boyd Stone. She was an actress, known for That Wonderful Guy (1949), Heaven for Betsy (1952) and Celebrity Playhouse (1955). She was married to Robert Davis McDougal III, Cliff Robertson and Jack Lemmon. She died on ... 22. Dane Clark Actor | Destination Tokyo Dane Clark was born Bernard Elliot Zanville in Brooklyn, New York City, to Rose (Korostoff) and Samuel Zanville, who were Russian Jewish immigrants. He graduated from Cornell University and St. John's Law School (Brooklyn). When he had trouble finding work in the mid-1930s he tried boxing, baseball,... 24. Dave Pell Soundtrack | Touch of Evil Dave Pell is one of the founding fathers of West Coast jazz. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1944, Pell played on Bob Crosby's radio show and freelanced, joining Les Brown's band in 1947. In the years that followed Dave became one of California's most prolific studio musicians and ensemble ... Actor | Velho Chico Domingos Montagner was born on February 26, 1962 in São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil as Domingos Montagner Filho. He was an actor, known for Old River (2016), The Enchanted Tale (2011) and Next in Line (2012). He was married to Luciana Lima. He died on September 15, 2016 in Canindé de São Francisco, ... 27. Doris Belack Actress | Tootsie A New York native, Doris Belack began her acting career as an audio reader and lent her voice to the 1955 album "Poetry of the Negro" with Sidney Poitier. She later was active in television; she was best known for her roles as Anna Wolek on the television soap opera One Life to Live (1968) and ... 28. Drew Goddard Producer | The Martian Drew Goddard was raised in Los Alamos, New Mexico. He attended Los Alamos High School in Los Alamos, New Mexico and graduated in 1993. He then attended the University of Colorado, and worked as a production assistant in L.A. after graduation. A spec script Drew wrote based on Six Feet Under (2001) ... 29. Dub Taylor Actor | The Getaway Dub Taylor was born on February 26, 1907 in Richmond, Virginia, USA as Walter Clarence Taylor II. He was an actor, known for The Getaway (1972), The Wild Bunch (1969) and Bonnie and Clyde (1967). He was married to Florence Gertrude Heffernan. He died on October 3, 1994 in Los Angeles, California, ... 30. Ed Quinn Actor | 2 Broke Girls Ed Quinn originally pursued a path in music before considering a career in acting. He was born in Berkeley, California and attended the St. Mary's College High School. After high school, Ed attended the University of California, Berkeley. He graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in ... 31. Erinn Bartlett Actress | The Benchwarmers Erinn Bartlett was born on February 26, 1973 in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, USA as Erinn Anne Bartlett. She is an actress, known for The Benchwarmers (2006), Shallow Hal (2001) and Deep Blue Sea (1999). She has been married to Oliver Hudson since June 9, 2006. They have three children. 35. François Perrot Actor | Coup de torchon François Perrot was born on February 26, 1924 in Paris, France as Fernand Albert Perrot. He was an actor, known for Coup de Torchon (1981), The Avignon Prophecy (2007) and Les fiancées de l'empire (1981). He died on January 20, 2019 in Livry-Gargan, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. 37. Greg Germann Actor | Ally McBeal A native of Houston raised on Lookout Mountain outside of Golden, Colorado, Greg Germann was exposed to the performing arts at an early age, particularly through his father, an award-winning children's playwright and theater professor. As a Theater major at the University of Northern Colorado, a ... 39. Jackie Gleason Actor | The Hustler Comedian, actor, composer and conductor, educated in New York public schools. He was a master of ceremonies in amateur shows, a carnival barker, daredevil driver and a disc jockey., and later a comedian in night clubs. By the mid-1950s he had turned to writing original music and recording a series ... 40. James Wan Writer | Saw James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is an Australian film producer, screenwriter and film director of Malaysian Chinese descent. He is widely known for directing the horror film Saw (2004) and creating Billy the puppet. Wan has also directed Dead Silence (2007), Death Sentence (2007), Insidious (2010)... 41. Jane Wagner Writer | Moment by Moment Jane Wagner was born on February 26, 1935 in Morristown, Tennessee, USA as Jane Ann Wagner. She is a writer and producer, known for Moment by Moment (1978), The Search for Signs of Inteligent Life in the Universe (1991) and The Lily Tomlin Special (1975). She has been married to Lily Tomlin since ... 42. Jennifer Grant Actress | Beverly Hills, 90210 Jennifer is the daughter of actors Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon. Her father initially opposed her becoming an actress. She graduated from Stanford with a degree in history and political science in 1987. Initially, she went to work in a law firm and later tried a stint as a chef. But, finally, she ... 43. Johnny Cash Soundtrack | The Johnny Cash Show Johnny Cash was born February 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Arkansas, to Carrie Cash (Rivers) and Raymond Cash. He made his first single, "Hey Porter", for Sun Records in 1955. In 1958 he moved to Columbia Records. He had long periods of drug abuse during the 1960s, but later that decade he successfully ... 46. José Luis Cuevas Actor | Las visitaciones del diablo José Luis Cuevas was born on February 26, 1934 in Mexico City, Mexico. He was an actor, known for Las visitaciones del diablo (1968), La muerte es puntual (1967) and There Are No Thieves in This Village (1965). He was married to Beatriz del Carmen Bazán and Bertha Riestra. He died on July 3, 2017 ... 47. Josephine Tewson Actress | Keeping Up Appearances An English stage and television actress. She is best known for her roles in British television sitcoms, such as Elizabeth in Keeping Up Appearances (1990) and Miss Davenport in Last of the Summer Wine. Tewson was born in Hampstead, London, England in 1931. Her father, William, was a professional ... Actor | The Great Escape "Every actor should have a Great Escape" wrote Lawrence Montaigne in his autobiography "A Vulcan Odyssey". He referred, of course, to the famous 1960's P.O.W. classic in which he played a small role. His character, Canadian prisoner Haynes, gets killed at the end of the film. Nonetheless, this was ... 50. Lefty Kreh His father died when Lefty was 6. He helped support the family by selling catfish he caught at night by lantern light. 53. Lizzy Leigh Actress | Clever Girl Lizzy Leigh was born Elizabeth Leigh Hinman to Rhea Elizabeth and Robert Lewis Hinman, Jr., where she came from a long line of modest folk artists and musicians. Her mother was a homemaker, who had talent singing, and her father, a business man with a passion for community theater. Lizzy began her ... Actress | The 39 Steps The original ash-blonde "iceberg maiden", Madeleine Carroll was a knowing beauty with a confident air, the epitome of poise and "breeding". Not only did she have looks and allure in abundance, but she had intellectual heft to go with them, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from Birmingham ... Actress | The Go-Between British theatre actress Margaret Leighton made her classical stage debut at age 16. The daughter of a businessman, she joined the Old Vic Company under the direction of Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson and in the late 40s and 50s earned kudos for her theatrical endeavors on both the London and... 59. Mark Dacascos Actor | Le pacte des loups Mark Dacascos is an actor, director, martial artist, and television personality. Whether seen on the big screen or small, playing the good guy or the bad, Mark has been making audience stand up and take notice for many years. This May, Mark will be seen in highly anticipated film John Wick: Chapter ... 60. Marta Kristen Actress | Lost in Space Marta Kristen was born Birgit Annalisa Rusanen, on February 26, 1945, to a Finnish mother and a German soldier who was killed towards the end of World War II in Europe. Marta was only two months old when she was left in an orphanage. In 1949, Prof. & Mrs. Harold Soderquist of Detroit, Michigan ... 61. Mason Adams Actor | Son in Law Mason Adams was well known for playing Pepper Young on the popular radio soap opera series Pepper Young's Family throughout the 1940 and 1950s. He was also heard on most of the successful radio programs during radio's "Golden Age." In the 1970s, Adams was frequently heard on Himan Brown's CBS ... 65. Michael Bolton Soundtrack | MacGruber Michael Bolton, the multiple Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and social activist, has sold more than 65 million albums and singles worldwide. He continues to tour the world every year, all while writing, recording and taping for a wide array of projects spanning music, film, television and ... 66. Michael Pate Writer | Tim The future movie bad man was born in Drummoyne, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, and got his career start as an interviewer on the government's radio station. Pate also worked on the Australian stage and in Down Under movies before relocating to the U.S. in the early 1950s to appear in Universal's "... 67. Michele Carey Actress | El Dorado Michele Carey was born on February 26, 1943 in Annapolis, Maryland, USA as Michele Henson. She was an actress, known for El Dorado (1967), The Wild Wild West (1965) and Live a Little, Love a Little (1968). She was married to Fred G. Strebel. She died on November 21, 2018 in Newport Beach, ... Actress | La muerte enamorada Born in the pre-war Prague, young Miroslava Sternova (or simply Miroslava, as she was known in her film career) was brought to Mexico by her parents in the late 30s, leaving her childhood, her native Czechoslovakia and her beloved grandma. After winning a beauty contest in Mexico City, Miroslava ... 70. Nate Ruess Soundtrack | National Treasure Nate Ruess is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist of indie pop band Fun. Fun released their first studio album, entitled Aim and Ignite. The album received generally positive reviews and peaked at 71 on the Billboard 200. Their second album, Some Nights, was released on ... 72. Paolo Ferrari Actor | Orgoglio Paolo Ferrari was born on February 26, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium as Paolo Vitta. He is known for his work on Orgoglio (2004), Biblioteca di Studio Uno (1964) and Nero Wolfe (1969). He was married to Laura Tavanti and Marina Bonfigli. He died on May 6, 2018 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. 75. Robert Alda Actor | Rhapsody in Blue Robert Alda's career began in vaudeville, as a singer-dancer. Graduating to performing on radio and in burlesque, he made a splashy film debut as George Gershwin in Rhapsody in Blue (1945). His film career faltered somewhat after that, but he had much greater success on the Broadway stage in such ... 76. Robert Francis Actor | The Caine Mutiny Relatively new to Hollywood, Robert Francis, 25, was a rising young actor on the verge of film stardom, when on 31 July, 1955, he, along with a friend, actress Ann Russell, were both killed instantly, after private plane owned by Joe Kirkwood Jr. which he was piloting, crashed. The plane had just ... 80. Silvio Oltra Silvio Oltra was born on February 26, 1958 in Buenos Aires, Argentina as Silvio Héctor Oltra. He died on March 15, 1995 in Ramallo, Buenos Aires. 82. Taylor Dooley The acting bug caught me early when I got to play the lead in a local play. Just over a year later I was lucky enough to book the lead role of Lava Girl, in the Robert Rodriquez film The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl (2005). After that amazing experience, I was hooked and in love with every... 83. Teresa Palmer Actress | Lights Out Actress and model Teresa Palmer has gathered some impressive film credits. She was born in Adelaide, South Australia, to Kevin Palmer, an investor, and Paula Sanders, a former missionary and nurse. She completed high school at Mercedes College in 2003, where she was a popular student who was ... 86. Tony Randall Actor | The Odd Couple Tony Randall was born on February 26, 1920 in Tulsa, Oklahoma as Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg. He attended Tulsa Central High School and later Northwestern University and New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. After graduating, he starred in two plays: George Bernard Shaw's '... 87. William Frawley Actor | I Love Lucy William Frawley was born in Burlington, Iowa. As a boy he sang at St. Paul's Catholic Church and played at the Burlington Opera House. His first job was as a stenographer for the Union Pacific Railroad. He did vaudeville with his brother Paul, then joined pianist Franz Rath in an act they took to ...

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Welcome back, as this is part 2 I figure we’ll just dive right in and begin, picking up where we left off and exposing some of the historical misidentifications that have taken place in Afrocentrist historiography. So here, again, is the site. Now the following pictures are used to depict various scenes from the Hebrew bible that show what the other site’s author has declared to be proof of the “blackness” of the ancient Hebrews. However, it appears that the author of said site didn’t have a very good grasp of art history, so lets begin. That is one image of the Dura-Europos synagogue painting, tis true, here is another: Notice that the cleaner image more closely resembles Iranian/South Asian art than African or Roman art. This is a theme that repeats throughout the synagogue. As you can see: (Consecrating the Tabernacle – Dura-Europos Synagogue, Tempera over plaster, 245 AD) The style of this tempera, is not at all Greek, but it doesn’t resemble African style art at all. If we examine the figures closely though – the clothing, the hair, the shoes all resembles Iranian period clothing. The high priest looks more like a Zoasterian priest more than the Hebrew version, though some identifing features of Judaism still remain, chief being the menorah. (Drawing Moses from the Water – Dura-Europos Synagogue, Tempera over plaster, 245 AD) Here the south Asian connection is clear as day. Moses’ mother looks like a gopi (cow-herdess) and Moses looks like a baby Buddha, but why? And why the semi-fresco style of the paintings? Because Dura-Europa was a melting pot in the ancient world. It was home to Persians (Iranians), Vedic travelers, Romans, Jews, Syrians, traditional desert nomads, probably some Africans, and Seleucid Greeks. Now, the Seleucid kingdoms were Greek kingdoms founded by a general of Alexander after he finally halted his army’s advance into India. These Greek artists brought with them their traditional art forms (Hellenistic Sculpture, Fresco painting, et cetera) to Persia (who had their own techniques) and Northwest India, where Greek sculptors were in high demand for their services. – Hellenistic Buddha. (Ajanta Caves wall Fresco, 200 BCE) (shown for comparison purposes). They in turn learned the local styles, just as the locals learned the Greeks. These sculpting techniques and painting styles interbred with each other until they formed unique regional styles. Now take a place like Dura-Europa where artist A is painting the Crossing of the Red Sea, and where artist B is painting Moses being drawn from the River and you have artist C painting the Consecration of the Tabernacle and what do you have? You have three different artists, producing three different works, that will not resemble one another at all. Moreover, the figures in each painting will resemble those figures the artist is most used to painting, and not necessarily what the figure actually looked like, because most ancient societies (excepting the Romans) were unconcerned with actual human appearance (see archaic art) but with the representation of humanity. Cornrows? Really? So curly hair in paintings, sculpture or artwork means black automatically? I suppose the author of this page has never seen a curly hair Italian, Greek, or Jewish man then? In all fairness, Justinian II could be modeling Jesus Christ on : as much as on a black man. Never mind, of course that pre-Industrial minting of coins wasn’t exactly known for its accurate representations either. There there is this gem: This might seem a good example, if one didn’t know that medieval pigments wash out and darken over the years, mainly due to the fact that they are largely organic and not synthetic. But hey, whats art history for anyway? ^_^ The modern country of Georgia in the Caucasus region of the former Soviet Union (The place where European Albinos tell themselves and the world that they are from – they call themselves Caucasians): is the location of one of the oldest Black kingdoms in Europe – Colchis. According to Greek mythology, Colchis was a fabulously wealthy land situated on the mysterious periphery of the heroic world. Here in the sacred grove of the war god Ares, King Aeëtes hung the Golden Fleece until it was seized by Jason and the Argonauts. Colchis was also the land where the mythological Prometheus was punished by being chained to a mountain while an eagle ate at his liver, for revealing to humanity the secret of fire. The Amazons also were said to be from Colchis. The main mythical characters from Colchis are Aeëtes, Medea, Absyrtus, Chalciope, Circe, Eidyia, Pasiphaë. In about 730 B.C, Colchis was overrun by the White Kurgan tribes called Cimmerians and Scythians. But they appear to have done little permanent damage. In about 600 B.C, the advanced economy of Colchis soon attracted the attention of the Milesian (White) Greeks in Anatolia (Turkey), who colonized the Colchian coast and established trading posts at Phasis, Gyenos, and Sukhumi. In about 580 B.C, the kingdom came under the control of (probably by the dating); King Astyages of the Median Empire. Which would soon become part of the first Persian Empire under Cyrus II, the Great. (The Sassanian was the second Persian Empire). Well, much research into Colchis has been done by Georgian historians and archaeologists, and nothing from them has so far validated Herodotus’ claims, which shouldn’t be surprising to any historian, as Herodotus was often wrong, but if we are too look at his claims, well he claims that the Amazons were descended from the Colchis, and if this is true, then the Colchis more than likely resembled Central Asian peoples, as the Amazons (or Scythians as we know them better now) still have descendants on the Mongolian plains. From here the Author of the false histories continues to play amateur art historian, doing his best to “create” the idea of a whitening of Christ sometime near the end of the 13th century. For sake of brevity, I’ll just show my debunking images – pre-13th century “white” Christs: (Good Shepherd, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy, Mosaic 425-50 CE) Christ Pantocrator, St Catherine’s Monastery, Mt Sinai, Egypt, 6th Century, Encaustic on panel,) Finally, to save the best for last: (Virgin and Child Enthroned Between Saints and Angels, Monastery of St Catherine, Mt Sinai, Egypt, Late 6th Century CE, Encaustic on Panel) and (Portrait of a Boy, 2nd century CE, Fayum, Egypt, Encaustic on Wood). I like this grouping because it shows two things quite clearly: what the second century denizen of Egypt looked like, before the coming of the Arabs, and also because we see quite clearly that the notion of a “thousand year old conspiracy to deny the blackness of x, y and z” is patently false. Encaustics are reknowned for their ability to maintain their color without fading, due to the unique method of their creation. What you see now is what was created all those centuries ago, with nary a bit of fading. Why, if the people of Egypt were all black, isn’t this fellow? Perhaps because when we take off the Afrocentrist glasses we can see the world in more than just monochrome. This has been more True History.

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Since I’ve picked Chanukah apart, now I’ll attempt to put it back together. Chanukah is a great holiday. As far as “the world seems to be dying, let’s light things on fire to prove we’re alive” holidays all cultures have, I side with this one. It’s spread over more than a week. That means that the pressure of family is severely diluted while the warmth of family is not. That whole trope in pop culture about getting together with family and there being too many people and no one wants to be there and then you have to rediscover love while you’re trapped in a house and the tree might catch on fire or fall over? (I’ve seen your goyishe movies, I know how Christmas works) Yeah, that’s not really a thing with Chanukah. Can’t see one side of the family on a certain night? Make it the next night. Want to spend the first night together? There’s another week to dole out your time so you’ll get around to it. It’s a laid back kind of thing. Presents. It’s easier on the wallet and teaches children to be better people than Christmas. I hear your retort. “But there’s a week of presents compared to one night! That’s got to instill so much greed!” Hush up, gentile, and let me lay it out for you. Christmas is about spectacle. The tree, the decorations, the hideous made-for-television movies, and the saccharine money-grab that is the holiday (read: Christmas) album. That goes for presents to. Like fruitcake, or the epilogue to a YA series, there’s just too damn much laid on too damn thick. Chanukah has presents but they’re not like Christmas presents. There’s usually a big one on the first or final night (depending on the patience of the parents), but there are also numerous smaller ones. There’s chocolate and dreidels and assorted crap. Or not even crap, but also not huge things. Yes, there’s temperance and self-restraint built right into a holiday that takes place during what is generally known as the most materialistic and self-centered “giving season”. Music. There’s a dearth of popular Chanukah music out there and for that I say “you’re welcome”. If holiday music was good it wouldn’t be holiday music, it would just be music. There’s a reason that Christmas tunes are relegated to a single month (if we’re lucky). If we’re being completely honest, Christmas peaked with this: This all may sound like sour grapes rationalization but it’s not. All of the things that get touted as the best parts of Christmas from the inside are also the things that get complained about. The family, the gifts, the utter pervasiveness of it everywhere you look for months on end. It becomes a but much. The fact that Chanukah was picked to be the Jewish competition for the big winter holiday showdown is subversively delightful. To be clear, Chanukah wasn’t chosen to be the commercial representative of the Jews, it was assigned to us by marketing campaigns. I think we’ve made a pretty good go with what we were given. We’ve been pretty good avoiding tacky decorations and that bizarre epidemic of themed sweaters. We’ve wrestled with the implications of focusing on presents and come out with a pretty fair balance. We deal with family but get to adjust for our own comfort. The whole Chanukah explosion seems to have happened when I was in school. I remember the decorations in the hallway and the discussion of presents. This could be (probably is) skewed due to childhood memory and the fact that that’s when people tend to focus on toys, but it seemed to have crested and settled down a bit. As it stands now the waters seemed to have calmed somewhat. If the holidays are a seasonal storm, Chanukah is a patch of tropical rain to escape the hurricane season. Jews love to talk and debate, so maybe discussion is the greatest Chanuakh gift of all. It could have exploded into “Jewish Christmas” but I think it’s become something far more valuable to us Jews; it’s become a conversation. It’s not as overwhelming as it could have turned out to be, and that’s Jewish for success.

There’s something for all ages in Season 32 of the Arkansas Public Theatre in Rogers. APT recently announced its upcoming show line-up at its annual Season Announcement Party at its historic home stage, The Victory Theatre, located downtown. Season 32 features a mix of new, straight-from-Broadway productions and long-standing classics. All performances are held at the historic Victory Theater in downtown Rogers, 116 S. 2nd St., Rogers. Performance times are 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, with Sunday performances at 2 p.m. Doors and concessions open at 7:00 pm. Group discounts for 10 or more guests are available by contacting the Box Office. Season and individual show tickets can be purchased online at www.arkansaspublictheatre.org or at the APT Box Office at 479-631-8988. Here are the shows, dates, and descriptions, provided by APT: THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW* (Musical) Performances: Sept. 15-17, 21-24, 28-Oct. 1, 2017 The midnight movie your parents didn’t want you to see comes to glorious life on stage in this hilarious and campy musical which inspired the movie. All your friends are here—Frank N. Furter, Brad, Janet, Magenta, Riff Raff, Columbia, Rocky, Eddie, Dr. Scott and the Criminologist. Come do the TIME WARP again! *Show recommended for audiences 13 and older for content and language. EVERY DAY A VISITOR (Play) Performances: Nov. 3-5, 9-12, 2017 Fresh from its successful run in New York, and premiering in Arkansas by special permission of the author, Every Day a Visitor is set in a Jewish home for the aged in the Bronx. The residents are cranky, argumentative about their surroundings and each other. To change their perspective and respect for each other, they each play-act somebody famous—leading to renewed vitality, imaginative relationships and plain old-fashioned fun. A CHRISTMAS STORY (Play) Performances: Dec. 8-10, 14-17, 2017 The movie your parents did let you watch follows 9-year-old Ralphie Parker in his quest to get a genuine Red Ryder BB gun under the tree for Christmas. Ralphie pleads his case before his mother, his teacher and even Santa Claus himself, at Higbee’s Department Store. The consistent response: “You’ll shoot your eye out!” All the elements from the beloved motion picture are here, including the family’s temperamental exploding furnace; Scut Farkas, the school bully; the boys’ experiment with a wet tongue on a cold lamppost; the Little Orphan Annie decoder pin; Ralphie’s father winning a lamp shaped like a woman’s leg in a net stocking; Ralphie’s fantasy scenarios and more. THE PRODUCERS (Musical) Performances Feb. 9-11, 15-18, 22-25, 2018 Bialystock and Bloom! Those names should strike terror and hysteria in anyone familiar with Mel Brooks’ classic cult comedy film. Now as a big Broadway musical, The Producers once again sets the standard for modern, outrageous, in-your-face humor. It is a truly “boffo” hit, winning a record twelve Tony Awards and wowing capacity crowds night after night. LIVING ON LOVE (Play) Performances: March 30-31, April 5-8, 2018 (no performance Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018) Having just closed on Broadway after a hilarious run starring Anna Chlumsky (TV’s Veep) and Jerry O’Connell (Stand by Me), this farce centers on a demanding opera diva who discovers her larger-than-life maestro husband has become enamored with the lovely young lady hired to ghostwrite his largely fictional autobiography. To get revenge, she hires a handsome young scribe of her own. Sparks fly, silverware is thrown, and romance blossoms in the most unexpected ways in this delightful romantic comedy. Performances: May 4-6, 10-13, 2018 Another fresh from Broadway smash, Ann is an intimate, no-holds-barred portrait of Ann Richards, the legendary late Governor of Texas. This inspiring and hilarious play brings us face to face with a complex, colorful, and captivating character bigger than the state from which she hailed. Written and originally performed by Emmy Award-winner Holland Taylor, Ann takes a revealing look at the impassioned woman who enriched the lives of her followers, friends, and family. This production contains adult language and is not recommended for those under 17 years of age. *Show recommended for audiences 17 and older for content and language. AN ACT OF GOD (Play) Performances: June 8-10, 14-17, 2018 Still another fresh from Broadway hit, An Act of God starred Jim Parsons (TV’s Sheldon on Big Bang Theory) as God. The One with the first and last word on everything has finally arrived to set the record straight. After many millennia, and in just 90 minutes, God (assisted by His devoted angels) answers some of the deepest questions that have plagued mankind since Creation. JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT (Musical) Performances: July 27-29, August 2-5, 9-12, 2018 The Biblical saga of Joseph and his coat of many colors comes to vibrant life in this delightful musical parable. Joseph, his father’s favorite son, is a boy blessed with prophetic dreams. When he is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and taken to Egypt, Joseph endures a series of adventures in which his spirit and humanity are continually challenged. He is purchased by Potiphar where thwarting advances from Potiphar’s wife lands him in jail. When news of Joseph’s gift to interpret dreams reaches the Pharaoh (wryly and riotously depicted as Elvis), Joseph is well on his way to becoming second in command. Eventually his brothers, having suffered greatly, unknowingly find themselves groveling at the feet of the brother they betrayed but no longer recognize. After testing their integrity, Joseph reveals himself leading to a heartfelt reconciliation of the sons of Israel. Set to an engaging cornucopia of musical styles, from country-western and calypso to bubble-gum pop and rock ‘n’ roll, this Old Testament tale emerges both timely and timeless. For more information, visit www.arkansaspublictheatre.org or contact the Box Office at 479.631.8988.

The Youth Services team offers a range of support options for children and young people in the Jewish community. Our aim is to support young people to reach their potential, to develop the confidence to manage life’s challenges, and to feel valued and respected as members of our community. Programs offered include: Practical and Emotional Support Our trained professional staff work with young people to identify goals they would like to work towards, and provide encouragement and support to work towards these goals. This could include support with accessing employment and housing assistance, financial assistance, emotional support and referral to external services. Big Brothers Big Sisters This program links children aged 9 -14 years with a volunteer ‘BIG’ (mentor) for a minimum period of 1 year. Through the friendship, trust and support of an older, positive role model, children have the opportunity to develop their confidence and self-esteem, gain new skills and new experiences, and know they have someone they can talk to and trust, outside of their network of family and friends. Young Adult Mentoring This program links young adults aged 15-30 years with a volunteer mentor for a minimum period of six months. Through the connection with a mentor, a young person can work toward personal, study or work goals. A mentor can be seen as a brain to pick, a listening ear, or an encouraging push in the right direction. JGirl Adolescent Workshops These two day interactive workshops for girls aged between 11-14 years equip them with a range of skills and experiences to empower them as they transition through the adolescent years. Topics covered include building positive relationships with friends and family, nutrition, health and beauty, positive body image, nurturing our inner creative self, and staying safe on social media. Professional speakers share their expertise about topics pertinent to issues affecting young people. Previous seminars have been presented on topics such as cyber safety, building confident and resilient adolescents and promoting positive body image in young people. Talks are followed by question and answer time where parents are given the opportunity to ask professionals on the panel questions and discuss the topic presented.

OMAHA, Neb. — Aaron Pollak looks back fondly on his childhood on the prairie. He recalls bicycling over Omaha’s rolling hills, walking on the Old Market’s cobblestone streets, playing at the JCC day camp and participating in the Jewish community. But there’s no beach in Omaha, no thriving nightlife. There aren’t any national parks nearby, or any sidewalk cafes bursting with talk of environmentalism and feminism. So Pollak, 28, following swarms of his corn-fed peers, left his hometown for the sunnier pastures — er, hills — of San Francisco. That decision was based upon “a little bit of wanderlust, and a little bit career,” Pollak said in a telephone interview. Though he’s “considering” returning to his hometown, for now, his absence accounts for one less Jew in Omaha. That puts him among the growing number who have — at times, reluctantly — kissed the Great Plains goodbye. Though small, there are Jewish communities in prairie towns such as Omaha; Des Moines, Iowa; and Tulsa, Okla. They are often vibrant, close-knit communities with high rates of affiliation — the trouble is, few people want to live there. Jewish communities across the Great Plains have seen their numbers dwindle in recent years, some with alarming alacrity. According to population statistics in the American Jewish Yearbook, between 1972 and 2002, North Dakota saw its Jewish population drop from 2,000 to 450, South Dakota from 2,050 to 300, Nebraska from 9,200 to 7,000 and Iowa, 9,500 to 6,100. Small-town communities have been the hardest hit: In 1960, there were 119 Jewish communities in the Midwest, while in 1997 there were 96. In Duluth, Minn., the Jewish population has dwindled so dramatically that the local community federation closed two years ago. In Cheyenne, Wyo., the small community’s Jewish cemetery is maintained by the Cheyenne Jewish Cemetery Association — headquartered in Hollywood, Calif. In Omaha, the community of some 6,500 Jews has remained relatively stable throughout the decades. But a dark cloud looms on the horizon. As the population ages — and many seek retirement in booming Sun Belt communities — replacements aren’t waiting in the wings. “The reality is many of our children don’t come back,” said Jan Goldstein, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. “They want to go to larger cities.” Said Oliver Pollak, a professor of history at the University of Nebraska — and Aaron’s father — “I don’t know many people whose children are here.” His other son moved to Berkeley, Calif. “The biggest challenge, which is not necessarily unique to Omaha, is trying to retain the next generation,” said Steven Pitlor, an engineer and the president of Omaha’s federation. He has children living in Boston, Washington, D.C. and New York. Call it the Great Plains Drain. Throughout the 1990s, the young residents of the rural states have fled the prairie for the bright lights and big thrills of the East and West Coasts. According to the 2000 Census, on average, the American population growth over the previous decade was 13.2%. In the middle of the country, however, the rates of growth skewed lower: Nebraska grew 8.4%, Iowa 5.4% and North Dakota, at 0.5%, barely grew at all. Jews tend to be at the forefront of this population shift. “White-collar workers tend to move further, and faster, than blue-collar workers,” said Ira Sheskin, director of the Jewish Demography Project at the University of Miami. “Jews tend to be doctors, lawyers and university professors, rather than plumbers and mechanics. If you’re a factory worker and you lose your job, there’s usually other jobs locally. If you’re a professor and you lose your job, there aren’t that many choices locally.” Of course, there are exceptions to the trend, such as Minneapolis, which has seen its Jewish community grow by 10,000 over the past decade to 31,500 Jews. Iowa, too, boasts the new rural Jewish community of Postville, which became home of the country’s highest rabbi-per-capita ratio when a Brooklyn chasid opened a kosher slaughterhouse in the 1980s. Even in Nebraska, as the Omaha federation commemorates its 100th anniversary, there is much to celebrate. Over the past five years, the federation’s annual campaign has raised some $3 million dollars each year; this year, an additional $1 million was raised within three months for an Israel Emergency Campaign. Omaha itself is thriving; far from being a blueberry-sized blip on a pancake-flat stretch of empty land, Omaha is spreading outward, new restaurants are opening and synagogues in the western suburbs are almost always under renovation. There is a profound sense of history in Omaha; it’s the kind of place where a name on a building is not an abstraction, but rather that of a well-loved, much-respected grandmother or family friend. And yet, that sense of history is being threatened. As the younger generation marches away — often to large communities where a great majority of Jews are unaffiliated — there are few people lining up to take their place. “For us, outreach means a far different thing than it does in the Silicon Valley area,” the local federation’s Goldstein said, noting Omaha’s focus on attracting new people to the area, rather than enticing residents to participate in Jewish life. “In a solid Midwest community you have great values and traditions that are attractive to young families. We have to make sure we showcase those things we have to offer here — like a connected, supportive Jewish community.” “The trick is to try and get young people back here,” said Pitlor, the federation president. “If we don’t — and we’re seeing it already — we’re going to lose numbers. It affects not only the size of your community, but your ability to raise the kind of money you need.” Omaha’s Jewish community raised $15 million over the past five years for improvements to the Jewish Community Center, including upgrades of the fitness center and the transformation of an entire wing into a child development center. The federation is also looking to match those wishing to return with local businesses and companies that may be hiring, Goldstein said. A similar tactic is employed by the Jewish Federation of Des Moines, with a community of 2,800, which is developing a job recruitment Web site for young professionals, said the federation’s executive director, Elaine Steinger. In addition, having recently resettled a few hundred Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union, the community is now looking to find employment for Argentine Jews, she said. “Children and grandchildren, after they attend university, do not come back to Iowa to work,” Steinger said. “It’s true for the general community — it’s a problem for the entire state of Iowa.” “It’s difficult to maintain a Jewish community that’s small,” Sheskin said. “If you’re Jewish and you grew up in rural Nebraska and go to college in Chicago, chances you will want to return are slim.” In general, said Sheskin, the Miami demographer, Jews tend to live in bigger cities. “Jews have been moving out of the Northeast and the Midwest, but, at the same time, the percentage of people who live in big cities has remained the same,” he said, noting that 92% of American Jews live in a community with more than 10,000 Jews. Still, there’s a sign that a countertrend may be developing. “We are finding, slowly, that there is a movement out of the larger cities,” Steinger said. “Some young families are beginning to find places like Des Moines as a place that is much more pleasant to live, we have better school systems, and it’s safer.” Pitlor agreed. “One of the areas where we think lies some optimism is that people are going to tire of living shoulder to shoulder, having to pay the kind of prices they have to pay,” he said. “There’s an attraction to the mid-sized city, the desirability in terms of lifestyle, housing costs, crime rates.” “It takes a lot of passion and commitment to maintain something that was done a generation or two before us,” Pitlor said. “That’s what it’s all about — maintaining the tradition that was before us.”

Wednesday, January 1, 2014 The new volcano eruption down in El Salvador [The Savior] is confirmation of that sexy blood of Christ lava lamp from the 70s in DARK SHADOWS; since it has not shot it's wad since 1976. ~ ~ See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25566450 for the film's back story details. ~ ~ Since all of the more shorter Jew critics in LA and NYC complained at the time that the movie did not have enough character backing. ~ ~ GSR/TWN ~ ~ HORRIFYING NIGHTMARE NOTE: Last night I dreamed that I was the middle man putting together some kind of a billion dollar venture capitalist deathtrap deal between Oprah Winfrey and Michael Caine et al. Wherein I got a 10% finder's fee up front, no matter what happens, win or lose. ~ ~ 1970s WOLFEN MOVIE NOTES: Apparently the new Marxist mayor of Jew York is married to a Negro woman. You gotta wonder, especially if you live on Long Island; do they have any mulatto children? As per this new born again politician post at: http://www.birtherreport.com/2013/12/revealed-pristine-image-of-footprint-on.html ~ ~ No wonder Jennifer Aniston no longer wants to live in Manhattan. ~ ~ ZIONIST NOTE: Michael Medved claims in his talk radio history series that the Israelites are not any better than the Gentiles. Which is the same thing as saying that Barack Obama is an American citizen, etc. Or that there is no such thing as the Lost Tribes of Israel. ~ ~ Which is pretty much the same position taken by today's leaders of the RLDS church based in Utah. ~ ~ NO.1 WIFE NOTE: Last night at 1:18 AM, the Holy One of Israel said that Jennifer Aniston is a number one wife. ~ ~ VOMIT NOTE: That vomit projectile scene at the end of DARK SHADOWS is a Hollywood depiction of the revelation at 2bc.info that says that today's Mormon temple ceremonies are "vomit". ~ ~ MORE BIG LEBOWSKI NOTES: Who gives a fuck about that new boring looking 1960s folk singer movie made by those two monogamist Jewish brothers from the twin cities? When you could actually be making a sequel to it with Brad Pitt and Carey Mulligan, as one of his four love interests? ~ ~ What? You wanna go to some party hosted by a gang of old tired 70 year-old Jews? Or do you want to be on an exotic sailboat location somewhere where all the action is happening? [Perhaps Santa Cruz meets San Remo.] ~ ~ Think Carey Mulligan and Kate Holmes have almost the same facial expressions when you are royally fucking both of them below deck at the same time. Then imagine that you are sitting in a theater chair next to your fuddy duddy old lady while watching the latest never-ending network media Oscars show. And you have had to go pee really bad for the last two hours. ~ ~ SCREENPLAY NOTES: I'm thinking that the other LeBowski got around 20k when his mother died about 20 years ago; and now it is worth about two big ones in APPLE/GOOGLE stocks. So now all he does is sail around the world on his 91' yacht fucking hot young teenagers.

Despite our brush with fame yesterday, no paparazzi accosted me this morning on my way to the mailbox to drop off the Netflix movies. (PS: Dear Mr. Mail Man, Please quit sending us our next door neighbor’s movies. Just because the envelopes are shiny and red does not mean they go to same address. Besides, I’m getting a little weirded out at his choice of movies, since I feel compelled to open them. Ya know, just in case it’s something on our queue. Kthxbai.) Every day I look at Boo and wonder what kind of person he will turn into. Will he struggle in school, or will he have it easy like I did? Will he be athletic and popular, or will he be a quiet bookworm? All I can really hope for is that he will be happy, and that he will be a good person, despite having heathen parents who didn’t raise him in an organized religion. (Sorry, son. Dad and I are down with JC, but we can’t stand people who act ignorantly in His name. Especially those evangelical idiots. And people who treat women as lesser human beings. Oh, and people who think homosexuality is bad, like drowning a basketful of kittens bad. And most Republicans.) I also hope he grows up without regret, and learns to think for himself. Sadly, it didn’t occur to me until very recently that I should probably start questioning all the stories I was told as a child, stories whose truth I accepted on blind faith alone. It was never as bad as thinking that, yes, by lands, once upon a time (about 6011 years ago) people lived peacefully right alongside velociraptors and those evil spitting bastards who killed Newman. But I never actually stood back and examined my beliefs from an outsider’s perspective. When taken literally, Christians kinda believe that some cosmic Jewish zombie can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because some rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat fruit from a magical tree. Finally, I hope that Boo can learn to appreciate the beauty in simple things, like laughing at fart jokes and listening to Going to California by the immeasurable Zeppelin. I hope he develops a sense of humor like his Nono’s. I hope he’s never afraid to tell me anything. I hope he can learn from my mistakes. I hope he doesn’t hate me when he grows up. I really, really hope I don’t screw up too bad at this whole parenting thing. I promise I’m trying, baby boy.

Easter may be the biggest festival of the year for Christians, but in the UK, Jesus Christ has apparently slipped to fourth place on the list of things most people associate with Easter. Ranking just above the Easter bunny and just below hot cross buns, only 55% of people connect Easter with Jesus, according to a new YouGov survey. That figure drops to 44% for 18-24 year-olds. Here’s the YouGov top five: Chocolate Easter eggs (76%) Bank holiday (67%) Hot cross buns (62%) Jesus Christ (55%) Easter bunny (49%) Several commenters on the YouGov website blamed slipping educational standards for the decline of knowledge about Jesus, but others linked the survey to research carried out in 2015 by the Church of England and others which found that 39% of adults in England did not believe Jesus was a real historical figure. The theory that Jesus never existed at all (known as mythicism) has very little support among scholars, including atheist writers, but an exception is a new bestselling book, Décadence (subtitle: ‘From Jesus to Bin Laden: The Life and Death of the West’), by the French pop philosopher Michel Onfray. Onfray claims that the central story of the West is a lie and that Jesus of Nazareth is a fiction. Prompted by the debate, Simon Gathercole, Reader in New Testament Studies at the University of Cambridge, wrote about the case for the historical existence of Jesus in The Guardian for Easter. Gathercole argues for a real, flesh and blood Jesus and says that ‘the documents produced by Christian, Jewish and Roman writers form the most significant evidence.’ Responding to the question, ‘Did ancient writers discuss the existence of Jesus?’, he says: Strikingly, there was never any debate in the ancient world about whether Jesus of Nazareth was a historical figure. In the earliest literature of the Jewish Rabbis, Jesus was denounced as the illegitimate child of Mary and a sorcerer. Among pagans, the satirist Lucian and philosopher Celsus dismissed Jesus as a scoundrel, but we know of no one in the ancient world who questioned whether Jesus lived. Simon Gathercole also says that the historical evidence for Jesus is both early and widespread: Within a few decades of his supposed lifetime, he is mentioned by Jewish and Roman historians, as well as by dozens of Christian writings. Compare that with, for example, King Arthur, who supposedly lived around AD500. The major historical source for events of that time does not even mention Arthur, and he is first referred to 300 or 400 years after he is supposed to have lived. The evidence for Jesus is not limited to later folklore, as are accounts of Arthur. Gathercole concludes: ‘These abundant historical references leave us with little reasonable doubt that Jesus lived and died. The more interesting question – which goes beyond history and objective fact – is whether Jesus died and lived.’ Also interviewed at Easter about the historical existence of Jesus was Richard Burridge, Professor of Biblical Interpretation at King’s College London. He said: I am as convinced that Jesus of Nazareth existed as I am that anybody else in the ancient world existed, not least because everything has a cause and effect… The church was caused by the Jesus movement. If Jesus of Nazareth hadn’t existed, there must have been someone else very much like him. Richard Carrier, the author of On the Historicity of Jesus, and a foremost proponent of mythicism, debated Mark Goodacre, Associate Professor in New Testament at Duke University, North Carolina, on Premier Radio’s Unbelievable show in 2012. Listen to their debate here. Read the full Guardian article here. Photo: ATOMIC Hot Links

The day started around 10 AM by walking through Brooklyn, a part of NYC I hadn't seen before. Our first stop was one of the best things about Brooklyn: a gorgeous view of Manhattan: To call a view of Manhattan one of the "best things" about Brooklyn sounds as snobbish as it is and is a phrase I have taken out of our New York guide book, that had about 300 pages on Manhattan and about 5 on Brooklyn ... Well, Mr. guide book writer, I gotta say, Brooklyn itself is pretty awesome, you might want to add a couple of pages, like one on the probably coolest murals in NYC: And another one on some freeeeaky stores you can find in this hood ... seriously, number 1 slave??? Only in Brooklyn! And then we crossed one of these to tourists invisible borders, from the hipster side of Brooklyn to ... well, see for yourself! It turned out to be Yom Kippur that day, the Jewish New Year, and the streets were just full of Jewish families. I am not talking one or two or three or four families. I am talking about walking down the street for two hours and being the only visibly non-Jewish person! I don't think I have ever been asked if I was Jewish before, but since it is one of the rituals of Yom Kippur to bless every Jew you encounter, I think many of them just wanted to make sure. Just in case ... (and I still wonder, what if I had said "yes"?) About two hours later, we had reached our destination: Brooklyn's Botanic Garden. To some it might just be another park, but to me it was an oasis of peace and tranquility in the midst of the buzz of the city, as you can also tell from the AMOUNT of pictures I took there, I actually had TIME to take pictures!!! And this is pretty much as quiet as it ever got on this New York trip. Because after indulging into nature for a couple of hours, it was back to the hectic streets, and into a cab to make it back home in time, just to head right out again, and into the subway (once we figured out WHICH subway to take), and up up up to the Upper East Side for drinks with old friends from Chile while being attended by a Mexican waiter (it seems that if you just start talking to somebody in Spanish in New York, chances are about 75% they'll answer in Spanish), and then rushing back into the subway to the lower East Side (or some place in Manhattan where people look somehow very Japanese), into the next bar, then to a pizza place because we somehow forgot to eat all day, then back to the bar, then out of the bar to another bar where people looked like they were part of a video clip for "The Cure" and listened to surf rock music, then off to the next bar where everybody was dancing to live Balkan/Arabic music ... what am I saying? "Dancing" is not the right word, moving their hips sensuously, is more like it (yes, the boys, too!!!) until the band stopped playing and the DJ decided it was time to play Raggaeton all night long. Which was our hint that it was time to go! I am not lying when I am telling you that all I have left of this night is this picture: Yes! It's a urinal in the shape of a female behind. Why do I have this picture? Because it's NYC, baby! To be continued... Want to catch up with Part I of this adventure? Or to see how the saga continues, read on here:

Christopher Jon Bjerknes http://www.jewishracism.com [CENSORED FOR TELLING THE TRUTH] I suggest we use flashmob / smartmob tactics to generate awareness of the Jewish war on mankind. The following video demonstrates such methods used for silly entertainment, but we could instead do something considerably more substantial: If Ron Paul follows through on his plans to undertake a college speaking tour in 2013, this will provide us with an ideal opportunity to reach college students eager to understand why their future is evaporating. We should produce an informational brochure and dvd exposing the Libertarians as the new Communists and offering an alternative party which will provide our young with an honest future of prosperity and opportunity. We could turn what appears to be a random crowd into an organized demonstration opposing the Libertarians and Jews and offering the Power Party as a far better alternative. We will have to comply with all laws, of course. We should have hidden camera crews to capture our demonstration for distribution, and to protect our interests. In the 1950's through 1970's, the Jews funded and conducted a faux controlled opposition to the Communists using Jewish "neo-Nazis" to make a mockery of the exposure of Jewish subversion. Libertarianism is far more dangerous to Americans than was Communism, and we need to provide a genuine opposition to it, and the Jews generally, or they will destroy us.

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Pitching Her Tent: The Husband My Wife Desires This post is dedicated to Dana, my beautiful wife of 22 1/2 years. As we prepare for this shabbat, we are also heading into Valentine’s Day, the ONE day a year that all decent husbands buy something for their wives and utter the words, “I love you.” Abraham probably does not come to mind when conjuring role models for good husbands. After all, he did try to pawn off his wife as his sister. However, I was recently reminded of an innocuous mistranslation in the Bible that became the foundation for a very important Jewish ideology of how men are to honor their wives. Decades ago I read of an old woman from the Crow Indian tribe named “She Likes to Move the Camp.” The archive of her photo is maintained by the Smithsonian Institute. The Crow Indians were known for their high and spacious tepees. This woman must have REALLY enjoyed setting up and striking the tent to be named “She Likes to Move the Camp.” But my personal observations are that most women I have met would consider camping, moving, setting up a household as some of their least favorite activities. Pitching Her Tent In Genesis 12:8, the Torah reads: “And he removed from there to a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he built an altar to the LORD, and called on the name of the LORD.” The word use for “his tent” is “ohalo.” But this verse records that Abraham pitched his tent using the prenominal suffix “hay” instead of “vav.” This allows the word to be read as “ohalah” which means “her tent” From this understanding of the passage many sages and rabbis derive the mandate for men to revere their wives. As is recorded in the Tamud: A man is obligated to honor his wife more than he honors himself (Yevamot 62b). Gentiles have long held that Jewish men consider their wives property, are abusive and controlling, and generally disdain the role of women in society. However, Judaism would actually propagate the complete opposite. Abraham, immediately after setting up an altar to honor El Elyon (God, Most High)(V. 7), Abraham set up his wife’s tent. Abraham honored God and then his wife. He revered her so much that he set her tent up before doing anything for himself. The Bible does not indicate to us that Sarah was the kind of woman that liked to move the camp like the Indian woman. But it is clear that Abraham’s personal priorities were G-d, the needs of his wife, and then himself. I was talking about this with gentile friend recently and he said there is no way that this is practiced anymore. I told him to drive down to Miami any day of the week and count how many Jewish woman he finds driving a new Mercedes-Benz with a 3 carat diamond on their hand. The fact is, “the U.S. Jewish divorce (rate) remains the lowest of the three major religions” (National Opinion Research Center). Maybe the Orthodox Jews are actually getting something VERY right—the honor of their wives. May this Valentine Day and Holy Shabbat be dedicated to my becoming the husband my wife desires. May I forever be reminded to pitch her tent and tend to her tent, regarding her needs–physical and emotional–in every area of her life, as greater than my own every moment of the day.

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Neal: Wallace: A Giant of the 19th Century Upon the death of Lew Wallace, The New York Times struggled to sum up — in a single headline — the 77-year-old Hoosier’s accomplishments. “Won fame in many ways,” it declared. Wallace, his 1905 obituary noted, “achieved widespread distinction as a lawyer, legislator, soldier, author and diplomat” and was a man of “exceptionally refined manner, broad culture and imposing personal appearance.” It was quite a resume for someone who lost his mother to consumption at age 6, hated school, gave fits to teachers and spent much of his life in small-town Crawfordsville. By the time of his death, Wallace was internationally known, a Renaissance man whose celebrity was comparable to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower after World War II, evangelist Billy Graham in the 1960s and 1970s, and author J.K. Rowling after “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” — combined. “I think his greatness lay in his ability to see the critical center of an issue, his personal integrity and willingness to address difficult issues, and his fearless curiosity,” says Larry Paarlberg, director of the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum in Crawfordsville. Born in Brookville in 1827, Wallace first came to the nation’s attention during the Civil War when as major general he commanded troops in the Tennessee battles of Fort Donelson, Fort Henry and Shiloh. In 1864, he was promoted to commander of the 8th Army Corps and saved Washington, D.C., from Confederate assault at the Battle of Monocacy. Following the war, he served as a judge at the Lincoln assassination trial and presided over the trial of Henry Wirz, commander of the infamous Andersonville prison where thousands of Union soldiers died. In 1878, President Rutherford Hayes appointed Wallace to be governor of the New Mexico Territory. In 1881, Wallace became minister to Turkey. Though impressive, none of these distinctions brought him the acclaim that came from “Ben-Hur,” his novel published in 1880 that tells the story of Jesus through the eyes of a Jewish noble condemned for a crime he did not commit. “Ben-Hur” was the best-selling novel of the 19th century, translated into 20 languages and still available today in mass-market edition. It was made into a movie in 1925 and remade in 1959 starring Charlton Heston, a production that broke box office records and won 11 Academy Awards. A new version, with Jack Huston and Morgan Freeman, is scheduled for February 2016 release. Wallace did most of his writing of “Ben-Hur” under a beech tree on the property of the Crawfordsville home he occupied from 1868 until his death. Although the house was sold outside the family and remodeled beyond recognition, much of the original Wallace property remains. The carriage house, Wallace’s personal study and a 3.5-acre arboretum have been preserved as a museum and natural space open to the public. Wallace himself designed the study as a place to read, write and entertain. Around the exterior, a limestone frieze features hand-carved faces from Wallace’s books, including “Ben-Hur’s” Judah Ben-Hur and Tirzah. Paarlberg labels the study “a 19th century man-cave” that brings Wallace’s many passions to life. Wallace is one of two Hoosiers honored with a statue in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (The other is Gov. Oliver P. Morton.) A copy of the statue is on the museum grounds adjacent to the study. This is one in a series of essays leading up to the celebration of the Indiana Bicentennial in December 2016. Andrea Neal is a teacher at St. Richard’s Episcopal School in Indianapolis, adjunct scholar with the Indiana Policy Review Foundation and a member of the state Board of Education. Contact her at [email protected].

More than ever, immigration is a hot topic in today’s political environment. I thought I would contribute to the dialogue by presenting, this week and next, two excerpts, from my novel in progress, The Ultimate Patient. They describe the thoughts and feelings experienced by my characters on the verge of leaving their country to immigrate to Israel. It is 1961 in Romania. Tina, one of the main characters in the book is Jewish and a communist. Her sister, Larissa with her husband Simon and son Rudy, have just received permission to emigrate to Israel. Ben is Tina’s husband, Edith is her mother who lives with them, and Lydia is her eleven-year-old daughter. Rudy found the envelope in the mailbox and ran with it to his mom. Inside, on a slightly yellowed postcard was a typed message: Your application to leave Romania permanently has been approved. You must report at the Passport Office on Nicolae Iorga Street within five days of this notification. Larissa’s blood drained from her face. She wrung her hands and looked out the window. It was a rainy summer day. Rudy waited. They didn’t have a phone and the only way to contact Simon at work was to pester their neighbor; but that wasn’t done. Nobody talked about leaving Romania over the phone. “Rudy,” Larissa said after she quieted the rhythm of her breath. “Run to the slaughterhouse and tell your father to come home. Don’t tell him why until you’re both in the street. Understood?” “Yes,” Rudy said. The next morning, in their Sunday best, the three of them showed up at the Passport Office and, after a few hours’ wait, they left with their crisp, glue-smelling, brown passports for persons without citizenship tucked away in Larissa’s purse. It was early afternoon. Up until that moment, they hadn’t shared their news with anybody and suddenly Larissa’s emotions overwhelmed her. Her heart felt heavy, like a ticking bomb. She needed an audience and she needed it right then. She wanted to yell. Her feelings were stronger than last night’s wind that had chased the rain clouds away, stronger than her fear and more piercing than pain. Nicolae Iorga Street was a five-minute walk from Roman Square. They went to Tina’s apartment and Larissa nervously rang the doorbell. Tina and Ben were at work, and Lydia was in school. Edith opened the door. She was in her house robe, an apron tied at her waist. Larissa hugged her and collapsed in her arms. “We’re leaving. We’re leaving for Israel,” she announced. Tears sprang in her eyes. Slowly, mother and daughter found their way to the kitchen. By the time they sat down at the table, Edith was crying as well. The ground meat she’d been mixing with white breadcrumbs, egg and spices for that night’s dinner lay abandoned in its chipped porcelain bowl. Smoke rose from a lit cigarette in the overfilled ashtray. In between sighs, Larissa provided her the details. They had applied to leave, God only knows how long ago, and yesterday their request had finally been approved. That was it. Edith had been aware of their intentions all along. The entire extended family, even Tina, had been aware. People applied to leave the country all the time. There were tens of thousands of them, hundreds of thousands: Jews who wanted to immigrate to America and Israel, Germans headed to West Germany, French to France. There were those who applied to be reunited with their families abroad, and those who asked for permission to leave on religious and humanitarian grounds. There were dissidents and famous people who were let go in order to minimize potential scandals, and a few, not many, who had been somebody during the old regime and had stashed away money or jewelry or both, who bought their way out. People applied and then pretended they had not. They didn’t talk about it and went on with their lives. Larissa and Simon and Rudy had acted that way too. Their requests were recorded in the mysterious annals of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and left there to linger. It was impossible to know when and if permission would be granted. In some notorious cases, to set an example and discourage others from following that path, unpleasant repercussions followed, but most applicants were left alone. Their ability to be promoted was stifled at work, but outside of that, little changed. People in high level positions lost their jobs. Under international pressure, permissions were issued in waves. Perhaps this was one of those moments. A wave. Who could tell? Until the postcard arrived, their intention to leave had not amounted to more than dreaming and waiting in silence. Now everything changed. Their lives would change. It was time for action. They would travel to a place they had only imagined, and they might not see the part of their family left behind ever again. The excitement was real, and so was the pain. All her life, Edith had done her best to keep the Freedmans together — in Câmpulung, in Trasnistria, in Bucharest. Better cry and hug now. This was a beginning that was also an end. Simon lit a cigarette and watched his wife and mother-in-law from the kitchen doorway. He wasn’t indifferent, but this wasn’t his show. Lydia had a key to the house. When she arrived half an hour later, she went straight to her room and found Rudy sitting in her chair, reading Kyra Kyralina by Panait Istrati, a book he had fished out from a pile on her desk. “What are you doing here?” she asked. He raised the book and showed the cover to Lydia. “Who gave this to you?” “My aunt, Adriana. Panait’s a communist and I like how he writes about the oppressed.” “Except that this book is more about perverts, than the oppressed. It’s not right for you. You’re too young.” Lydia dropped her backpack on her bed. She and Rudy talked often at their Sunday family dinners. He had suddenly grown very tall. He was sixteen, a young man with dark hair and the typical features of the Freedman clan — tall forehead, dark eyes, strong nose and sensual lips. “You look like your mother,” she said. “That’s normal. Boys resemble their mothers and girls take after the fathers,” he said, mature and sure of himself. “But you’re changing the subject.” “Am I? Adriana gives me all kinds of books to help me appreciate literature. I’m old enough, and my parents are all right with it. You didn’t say why you’re here. By the way, where is Grandma?” “I think she’s in the kitchen with Mother. We’re leaving. That’s why I’m here,” he said. It was Lydia’s turn to be confused. “You’re leaving? Why? Because I came home?” Rudy laughed. “No, silly, we’re leaving the country for Israel. The three of us.” He told her about the postcard and their new passports. “Most likely we will travel by train to Vienna, stay there overnight, and then fly from Vienna to Tel Aviv.” Lydia didn’t wait for him to finish. She dashed to the kitchen and found the two women still embracing each other, their eyes red. Simon was on the balcony, chain smoking. He finished his cigarette and extinguished it in the full ashtray in the kitchen. “Let’s go, Rudy, we have a lot to do,” he said. When Tina came home and heard the news, her face turned ashen. “That’s what you always wanted, Larissa, isn’t it?” Tina’s voice was accusatory, full of a bitterness she could not restrain. “I hope we are doing the right thing,” Larissa said. I’m afraid, and I try to be hopeful.” “There is nothing to fear,” Edith interjected. The skin around her eyes was wet from crying. It seemed more wrinkled than ever, or maybe it was the late afternoon light falling through the window. “Israel is our country. You’ll be all right.” “Really mother?” Tina asked. “Maybe you should go there with them.” “Maybe I should,” Edith said. “Tina,” Larissa said. Tina plunked her purse on the table. She sat down and looked straight at Larissa. “You did this on your own, Larissa, so don’t come to me for encouragement.” “I’m not asking you for anything.” “Not until you need money, like you did a few weeks ago. I gave it to you against my husband’s advice — that much you should know.” “Tina, our lives here are difficult. Simon and I hope we’ll do better in Israel. Why are you so angry with me?” “I’m not angry. I’m sad.” Tina took a deep breath. “We’re sisters and you’re leaving for good. You understand that hurts, don’t you?” “We all do,” Edith said. “I don’t know how you’ll fare in Israel, and I don’t know when I’ll see you again, if ever,” Tina continued. “When my former husband was still alive, we both fought for this country and this regime. To me, your action feels like a betrayal of our ideals, even though I know it is not.” “Oh, Tina, I want a better life. That is all.” “Many people we know have gone to Israel and they’re all succeeding,” Edith said. “Larissa, you, Simon and Rudy will do very well.” “I hope Rudy won’t have to fight in a war.” “You should have thought of that earlier,” Tina snapped. “It’s a beautiful country. Jerusalem is a wonderful city, and orange trees grow on the side of the road.” Edith said. “Mama, I’ll miss you. And Tina, I’ll miss you too. I love you.” Larissa started to cry again. “Like a cat, you’ll land on your feet,” Edith said. She reached across the table and caressed Larissa’s hand. Lydia stood in the doorway. “Cats don’t like to leave their homes,” she said. Please let me know that you have read this post. Your questions, comments, lots of claps and shares are much appreciated. On Medium, the number of claps reflects how much you enjoyed the piece.

The Palace Giovanelli, splendidly overlooking the right bank of the Grand Canal in Venice, between the Church of San Stae and Ca’ Pesaro, has witnessed several centuries of history. Erected in the 1500s as noble residence of the Coccina Family, it first passed into the hands of the Foscarini and then of the Giovanelli, hosting a series of eminent personalities: in the 1700s it was the abode of Marco Foscarini, future Doge of the Republic of Venice, of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, on his visit to the city with his family, and Frederik Christian IV, King of Denmark. The elegant architecture, rich in polychrome marbles, and the sumptuous interiors of Palazzo Giovanelli, enhanced by vintage frescoes and decorations, invite to relive and savor the splendors of the Venice history comforted by the amenities of modernity. Nowadays the palace is Hotel Palazzo Giovanelli, a charming, high-class 4 star hotel, that offers refined, cozy Rooms and Suites and sophisticated services: from the reception open 24 hours a day to private transfers, from the American bar to the meeting room and free tours to Murano. Palazzo Foscarini Giovanelli takes with it a prestigious past and a magniloquent charm of which large traces still remain today. Built in the mid-1500s according to the will of the Coccina family, jewelry dealers, in 1581 it is sold to the Florentine family of Luca Antonio Giunta and later, following the wedding between Lucrezia and Bianca Giusta and siblings Nicolò and Renier Foscarini, is inherited by the Foscarini, an ancient noble stock from Venice. In 1755 the palace is granted to the Giovanelli, a family originally from Bergamo. In those years it is abode of illustrious personalities: besides Marco Foscarini, future 117th Doge of the Republic of Venice, in 1709 the palace welcomes within its walls the King of Denmark, Frederik Christian IV, and in 1771 the family of Leopold Mozart with his fifteen-year-old son Wolfgang Amadeus, the great music genius. Within the palace are still admirable – perfectly kept in their beauty and restored under the supervision of the Soprintendenza delle Belle Arti di Venezia – original ceilings with exposed beams, frescoed wall rose windows with mythological figures by Giovanni Battista Zelotti, sixteenth-century stuccos and decorations, as well as a XVIII century secret passage in the apartment once belonged to the Doge, today exclusive Suite. Located between Cà Pesaro and the Church of San Stae, directly overlooking the Grand Canal, the Hotel Palazzo Giovanelli is in Venice, in the Santa Croce area. In a quiet, peaceful position, it makes it possible to reach easily and in a few minutes by foot or by vaporetto St Mark’s Square (1,3 km away from the Hotel), with the splendid St Mark’s Basilica and the fascinating Doge’s Palace, the Rialto area with the well-known Rialto Bridge (only 600 m from the hotel), the bacari and its famous market and the most evocative places in Venice. In the proximity of the Hotel there are the Venice Casino, the prestigious Ca’ D’Oro with Galleria Franchetti and some of the most renown Civic Museums of Venice, like the Modern Art Museum and the Oriental Art Museum of Ca’ Pesaro, the Museum of Palazzo Mocenigo and the Natural History Museum of Venice in Fondaco dei Turchi. The Hotel is at a 10-minute walk from the “Venezia Santa Lucia” railway station and at only 20 meters from the vaporetto stop, with which it is possible to reach quickly St Mark’s Square. ROOMS & SUITES A refinement suspended between charm of the past and contemporary modernity, with classy details and privileged view on the Grand Canal: at Palazzo Giovanelli every room is unique and special. The Rooms and Suites have comfortable spaces and contemporary style, first-quality amenities and valuable finishes. Large and wonderfully furnished, the most exclusive Suites are enhanced by original XVI century frescoes and stuccos, Murano glass chandeliers, canopy beds and ceilings with exposed beams. Royal and sumptuous, with exclusive spaces and pieces of furniture, the suite pays a tribute to its most illustrious guest – the genius of music Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – who stayed here with his family on occasion of his visit to Venice. Refurbished under the care of Soprintendenza delle Belle Arti di Venezia, the Suite stands out for its warm colors, elegant lines and valuable materials: it boasts a canopy bed, high ceilings with sixteenth-century exposed beams, magnificent Murano glass chandeliers and splendid rose windows with mythological figures frescoed by Zelotti. The Suite covers an area of 85 sq. m. and is available with double bed or twin beds and possible additional bed/s up to a maximum of four people. The entrance of the room is preceded by a welcoming sitting room. From the seven balconies of the sitting room you’ll enjoy a wonderful view on the Grand Canal. The bathroom comes with whirlpool tub and separate shower stall, bathrobes, slippers and exclusive vanity set. To add comfort and modernity you have free Wi-Fi, air-conditioning/heating, satellite LCD TV, radio, alarm, minibar. SUITE DOGE FOSCARINI Luxurious and royal, very spacious and rich in amenities, fascination and vintage details, this suite is the apartment where Doge Marco Foscarini, second to last Doge of Venice, lived in the XVIII century. Because of its high historical and artistic value the environments of the Suite – among which the secret passage – have been carefully restored under the supervision of Soprintendenza delle Belle Arti di Venezia. The Suite is made magniloquent by a lavish canopy bed, a vintage fireplace, stuccos, mirrors and original sixteenth-century decorations as well as elegant pieces of furniture, fabrics and upholstery by Rubelli and an amazing view on the Grand Canal. The Suite, with an area of 65 sq. m., available with double canopy bed or twin beds with possible additional bed/s, is flanked by a relaxing sitting room dedicated to the Doge’s greatest passion: the collection of rare manuscripts. Right here, immersed in quietness, the Doge used to retire in solitude to devote himself to reading. The large bathroom has whirlpool tub and separate shower stall, as well as hair-dryer, bathrobes, slippers, shaver socket and special vanity set with non-allergic products. The Suite also offers free high-speed Wi-Fi, satellite LCD TV, air-conditioning and heating, radio, alarm, minibar. Especially airy and splendidly furnished, distinguished by elegant furniture and valuable finishes, also with sixteenth-century original decorations and vintage exposed beams, the Deluxe Rooms are an exclusive invitation to ease and comfort. With a large size (30-38 sq. m.), they are available as double or twin bedrooms, with possible additional bed to accommodate up to a maximum of three people. Each room also has a relaxing living area with small table and armchairs, desk and private bathroom. The equipment is modern and fully-fitted: available free high-speed Wi-Fi, air-conditioning, heating, flat screen TV with satellite channels, radio, alarm, digital safe, minibar. The bathroom has tub/shower or – on request – separate shower stall, vanity set by exclusive brands, hair-dryer and shaver socket. During the booking phase you can select a Deluxe Room with view on the inner garden of the palace or, to make your stay even more pleasant, a Deluxe Room with side view on the Grand Canal or on Rio di San Stae. On request it is possible to reserve a Deluxe Room with garden view connected to a Superior Room with garden view. The Hotel offers a wide series of exclusive services and treatments to delight you and make sure you can enjoy a comfortable, relaxing stay. A professional, willing staff is committed to take care of any detail providing you with assistance before your arrival. Palazzo Giovanelli has many curiosities and events to tell to its Guests. Noble residence of some of the most illustrious families from Venice – the Coccina, the Foscarini and the Giovanelli – during its story it was dwelling of well-known personalities, among which Doge Marco Foscarini and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – to which the most prestigious Hotel’s suites are dedicated – and Frederik IV, King of Denmark. An illustrious resident of the Palace was Marco Foscarini, second to last Doge of the Republic of Venice, who stayed with his family during the XVIII century. A brilliant man, expert speaker and deeply fond of literature, during his residence in the palace he collected a large number of rare and valuable manuscripts nowadays housed in the Austrian National Library in Wien. In 1709 the King of Denmark, Frederik Christian IV, was a guest of the palace: in his honor the landlord Sebastiano Foscarini held a dance party that became famous for its splendor. Again in 1700 – it was 1771 – the palace hosted Leopold Mozart with his son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, at that time fifteen years old, on occasion of a family trip to Venice. The apartments where Doge Foscarini and the Mozart family lived are now – perfectly restored – the two most majestic and elegant Suites of the Hotel. It only takes a few steps on foot from Palazzo Giovanelli to plunge in the magic of Venice: next to the Hotel there are the majestic Church of San Stae, with rich, valuable marble decorations and paintings by Tiepolo, and Ca’ Pesaro, a sumptuous sixteenth-century palace that nowadays houses the Modern Art Museum. Right in front of the Hotel, in the splendid sixteenth-century halls of Ca’ Vendramin Calergi, there is the Venice Casino; just beyond, 600 m away, the Rialto bridge and the Rialto market, beating heart of the city. It only takes a few minutes on foot to get to the Jewish Ghetto, the oldest in Europe, and Basilica dei Frari, the biggest church in Venice, with works by Tiziano and Bellini as well as the tombs of Canova and Tiziano, of many dogi and commanders. Ca’ D’Oro is on the other bank of the Grand Canal, St. Mark’s Square, with the splendid St. Mark’s Basilica, Doge’s Palace and the Bridge of Sighs, are easily reachable; in a few minutes more you’ll get to the Gallerie dell’Accademia, the richest collection of Venetian art, and Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute.

Jewish Voice for Peace Joins Progressive Opposition to Fast Track FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Naomi Dann | [email protected] | 845-377-5745 Amendments to trade legislation legitimize illegal Israeli settlements and censor Palestinian rights advocacy. Congressional leaders are quietly pushing through legislation, backed by AIPAC, that would discourage and penalize boycotts against Israel and erase the distinction between Israel and the Palestinian territories it occupies. Jewish Voice for Peace joins hundreds of progressive organizations in mobilizing opposition to the fast-track Trade Promotion Authority legislation currently moving through Congress. As Jewish Voice for Peace federal policy organizer Rabbi Joseph Berman explained, JVP opposes ‘Fast-Track’ not only because it is anti-democratic and bad for workers and the environment, but because it will also legitimize support for illegal Israeli settlements and impede efforts to apply non-violent pressure to hold Israel to the standards of international law and human rights norms. Amendments passed last week to the ‘Fast Track’ legislation currently moving through Congress call for US negotiators to make discouraging companies from abiding by human rights boycott and divestment campaigns against Israel one of the “principal U.S. trade negotiating objectives.” The legislation also includes language that legitimizes the settlements by including “territory controlled by Israel” as well as Israel ‘proper’–part of an ongoing attempt to erase the Green Line. JVP members around the country are asking their elected officials to vote no on fast-tracking legislation. These legislative efforts have emerged in response to the growing success of the tactics of the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to hold Israel accountable to international law and human rights norms. This legislation is the latest in a series of attempts by AIPAC to use US politicians to repress the BDS movement, both here in the US and abroad. The same day that the Senate Finance Committee passed the Cardin amendment, the Illinois State Senate passed a bill (currently moving through the House) calling for state retirement systems to divest from and blacklist companies that abide by human rights boycotts of Israel, and the previous day the Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill condemning BDS. (*Update: The Indiana state legislature also passed an anti-BDS bill this week.) Jewish Voice for Peace is a national, grassroots organization inspired by Jewish tradition to work for a just and lasting peace according to principles of human rights, equality, and international law for all the people of Israel and Palestine. Jewish Voice for Peace has over 200,000 online supporters, over 65 chapters, a youth wing, a Rabbinic Council, and an Advisory Board made up of leading U.S. intellectuals and artists.