Posted by: mjss26 | July 10, 2009

Troubled captain, great batsman

Whatever you want to say about Ricky Ponting’s captaining stats, his personal stats are and have continued to be phenomenal, and no one can take that from him.

It’s interesting to note that usually, great players that become captain feel the burden on their shoulders and their personal performance tends to suffer. Ricky’s often stellar show with the bat indicates to me that unlike other captains, the kinds of things that plague a skipper’s thoughts while he’s at the crease or running in for his next deliver don’t enter Ricky’s head. While these thoughts seem to effect better decisions throughout a match, they interfere with concentration. When a team is underperforming, someone has to stand up.

Agreed, selections have been worrisome over the past… 18-24 months. Still, Ponting has often saved an innings, but hasn’t saved a match. More than previous captains it has been as a result of poor decision making as captain from inside the five days of a given match, but recall that the side of late has either underperformed or simply been too inexperienced for him to do it all on his own. You can’t steer the ship, hoist the mast, batten the hatches and plug leaks with your buttocks all alone. In fact, one of the best things you can do is to boost morale with a strong hero performance, and that’s exactly what Ponting has done in this first Ashes test match for 2009.

The Ashes Urn - the most prized cricket trophy of all

The Ashes Urn - the most prized cricket trophy of all

Posted by: mjss26 | July 9, 2009

DON’T STFU: Thank you, Rabbi Horowitz

I can only add emphasis to what the rabbi says (and he does say it well). If you’re Jewish, you have one of three things in your head: that Judaism has a worthwhile message for yourself, your family, your community and indeed the whole world, else that the Jewish nation is just the same as everyone else (i.e. no special message), or you don’t think at all, comfortably numbed as you are by all the fleeting amusements of existence you flutter to and from and back to once again.

The third clearly being both quite common and the most distressing.

If you sincerely, earnestly, enthusiastically and lovingly think Israel as a nation has a winning formula that can enhance the lives of everyone it touches with even the smallest change in outlook and behaviour, there’s nothing more galling than having upstarts clearly identifiable as Jews strutting about garbling that message for you.

 My favourite sound bite from R’ Horowitz – and you’ll all choose your own, I’m sure – was:

‘Stoning police and motorists on the Shabbat is a greater desecration of God’s name than all the secular Israelis driving on the holy day’

A burning tyre

Burning tyre

One commentator suggested that benefactors should withhold funds to the yeshivot or community projects whose members are amongst the crowd of violent protestors. I think the idea has merit, though there might be other ways, but if you go down the financial route I certainly would extend it all the way to any rabbi of such communities or yeshivot that does not speak out against these misguided ‘hooligans’, to borrow an apt phrase.

 

US Rabbi: Haredi leaders should slam violence

Jul. 7, 2009 Etgar Lefkovits , THE JERUSALEM POST

An American haredi rabbi is urging haredi rabbinical leaders in Israel to publicly condemn the violent haredi protests against Shabbat desecration in Jerusalem, linked to the opening of a parking lot near the Old City to accommodate weekend visitors to the capital. The initiative by Rabbi Yakov Horowitz of Monsey, New York, a haredi educator who has repeatedly condemned haredi violence in the past, comes after three weekends of violent demonstrations by hundreds of haredim in Jerusalem over the Shabbat opening of the parking lot, and on the eve of a planned haredi prayer vigil Wednesday afternoon near City Hall.

“This type of violence is against everything that the Torah stands for and is an ugly perversion of Torah values,” Horowitz told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, in a telephone interview from New York. Horowitz said that by not speaking out publicly against the violence, even though they oppose it, haredi leaders are empowering extremists in the community.

Read More…

Posted by: mjss26 | June 30, 2009

Annulling conversions?! A serious issue either way

I reckon we should let G-d worry more about the spiritual purity and integrity of the Jewish people. I might have said this before, but you are playing with a clear d’oraita (Torah-based) law (insulting/paining the convert) for the sake of rabbinic laws of conversion for the dubious aim of maintaining a nebulous but more often than not haredi standard of keeping Judaism (and thus ’spiritual purity’). I have read (only read, to be fair) of conversions being annulled because the woman was found out in pants and with hair uncovered. As far as I’m aware, taking different minhagim and following other opinions is not enough to substantiate considering such action, nor does it necessarily prove, even if the woman was seen to break Shabbat, that in her mind at the time of conversion she was not sincere about keeping the mitzvot. 

A friend of mine recently worked through the possibility of a person not actually being a convert if in their mind they never intended to keep the commandments. I would like him to restate it briefly here if he wouldn’t mind. Still I maintained that since we can’t read minds, if the beth din that converts the gentile is convinced that the person is genuine, then the person is converted. The reason why we turn potential converts away is not because of ’spiritual purity’ but out of concern for the individual. Whereas prior to conversion, the gentile is answerable for the 7 categories of law (7 mitzvot Bnei Noah), after conversion, when they pass onto the next world, their actions will be reconciled against the full 613 categories of law. That is the burden. And you know what? If they choose to convert, it’s ultimately up to them. If they take it upon themselves, then they bear the yoke and will have to face the consequences. Revoking conversions creates mamzerim and havoc and schism within the Jewish world; don’t worry about spiritual purity – worry about destroying Jewish life. Placing geirim under the threat of revoking their conversions is 100% without question causing unimaginable psychological pain stress and trauma to the geirim, their children, their children’s children and forever.

 

You can work more with secular Jews that converted. Unfortunately there’s not very much you can do for mamzerim.

 

Rabbinate demands haredi control over conversion

Jun. 23, 2009
Matthew Wagner , THE JERUSALEM POST
Since conversion to Judaism can have a negative impact on the spiritual purity of the Jewish people, only the greatest halachic authorities of the haredi rabbinical establishment can decide on this, the Chief Rabbinate’s High Rabbinical Court ruled recently.

“Any decisions by Rabbinical Conversion Courts or rabbinic marriage registrars that are not in accordance with the opinion of the greatest halachic authorities of the generation hurt the purity of Jewish people,” wrote Rabbi Avraham Sherman, head of the High Rabbinical Court.

“There is a real danger that gentiles will be allowed to enter the Jewish community. Anyone who did not embrace an Orthodox lifestyle at the time of conversion is a gentile and if this person is female all of her children are gentiles as well,” Sherman continued.

Read More…

Posted by: mjss26 | June 27, 2009

Non Haredim fight back

One of the saddest things for me re: certain portions of the Jewish world is essentially the evident truth in what Dr. David Luchins  said, quoting a rabbi: we used to be concerned about our spiritual wellbeing, and others’ physical wellbeing. Now we’re concerned by our physical wellbeing, and everyone else’s spiritual wellbeing. I would say, worse – we are consumed by each perhaps like never before.

In short: ramming it down everyone else’s throat. Certain sectors of religious Jews either throw “Shabbos” or “Kashrus” or anything, but if they won’t listen, they throw stones. It’s the only way you can save the souls of your secular brethren…right? I too would love to see all Jewish people both love learning and doing, to realise first that most of what they know about Judaism is almost certainly wrong, and that there is an ever-pressing need to unlearn what you had once been taught.

All well and good to invite them to hear havdalah. Nothing wrong with providing opportunities and offers for mitzvot to be actioned.

 

But in terms of coercing others to learn and do - that’s something I believe they have to come to on their own. It’s more pure, it’s more honest, it’s more passionate.

Wish I knew how to fix both worlds. It’s just not about a parking lot.

 

A secular awakening

Jun. 18, 2009
Peggy Cidor , THE JERUSALEM POST
Something is happening to the capital’s young, secular population, it seems. With a tailwind from the election of a secular mayor, they are fighting back against years of haredi hegemony.

Read More…

Posted by: mjss26 | June 23, 2009

My take on terrorism

The UN can’t (read: won’t, because it gives equal voice and votes to terrorist dictatorships instead of only bona fide democracies) agree on a definition of terrorism on the one hand, and yet condemns the 9/11 attacks on the other. Reason and solution in one: anyone with a brain knows that the difference between terrorism and freedom fighting is in the deliberate targeting of innocents.

Calling Shalhevet Pass (z’l) (a one year old baby girl who was shot through the head while in her pram by a Palestinian Arab terrorist sniper) just a very young female officer-to-be in the IDF is a pathologically sick cop-out and justification for murdering Jews – men women, and yes, even little baby boys and girls (lo aleinu, G-d forbid).

image002And any media source that uses the words militant or anything other than terrorist when it is appropriate is hiding comfortably behind the UN’s abject failure in this regard – but will have to answer for their decision to do so. Since any rational mind can come to the clear definition as I have, a media source that does not employ the word terrorist where necessary cannot be taken seriously, believed or relied upon as credible, possesses questionable morality, and aids and abets terrorism in seeking (read: transparently pretending) to be even-handed.

A person who physically denies or actively seeks to deny the basic right to life specifically of innocents forfeits that of their own, and becomes fair game.

And anyone who abuses their right to free speech through incitement to violence forfeits at least that of their own. Seems simple enough to me. Fair and appropriate measure for measure, Midah K’Neged Midah*.

* Note that I am well aware of Judaism’s general understanding that eye for an eye implies financial compensation, rather than a judge letting the victim now poke the aggressor’s eye out. That would be childish. What I intend here is imitatio dei – mirroring of G-d’s ways as demonstrated. Pharaoh drowned boys in the Nile, so G-d drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea. Miriam waited alongside the river to see what would become of Moshe, so the entire nation waited for her to recover from tzara’at (spiritual affliction of the skin).

Posted by: mjss26 | June 23, 2009

Mossad = Pride, and why we have it

Having read a book on the Mossad (I think it was co-written by Uri Dan – highly recommend), I felt warm with pride after skimming this article. The reason behind our collective pride in the Israel Defence Forces (naturally I include in this all branches – land, sea, air, special forces sayeret etc), and in the Mossad and its gutsy acts, is because deep down, every Jewish person knows that Israel is fighting the good fight. No sane, informed person can see this.

And the more the world is outraged by the gross violation of territorial boundaries by Israel, the more we know how crucial the missions were. The deeper the Mossad strikes the heart of vicious, terrorism-supporting dictatorships, the safer we all are, whatever religion or country we belong to.

image001

We all talk about how important hasbara, explaining one’s position, is for Israel’s standing in the world. I think that if we can’t do it right, if we can’t do it effectively, we should let our actions speak louder than our words, and keep fighting to good fight.

G-d bless the IDF, the Mossad, and all those who do so.

Analysis: Restoring Israel’s deterrence and the Mossad’s prestige

Jun. 22, 2009
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST

In 2002, when then-prime minister Ariel Sharon appointed his longtime friend and former IDF subordinate Maj.-Gen. (res.) Meir Dagan as head of the Mossad, the intelligence agency was described as lacking imagination and courage, of being in a state of stagnation.

Seven years later, there is no one in the defense establishment who will say that the Mossad lacks courage. While there is criticism of the continued extension of Dagan’s tenure – the prime minister approved an eighth year for the Mossad chief on Sunday – it refers mainly to the concern that the organization will find itself at a loss for fresh blood if it does not shake up its top ranks.

Dagan is said to have returned the agency to its glory days. Read More…

Posted by: mjss26 | June 18, 2009

The Kashrut Conundrum

The article reprinted below highlights problems with eating kosher. Financial incentives to cut corners vs financial incentives to act improperly. emunat hakhamim vs possibility for the existence, however rare they may be, of corrupt executors of kashrut certifications. Life before certification as a forgotten memory vs life without them being unthinkable. Reliance on the halakhic knowledge and of others vs reliance on self, and responsibility to learn the laws yourself. Being unnecessarily machmir vs ‘it’s either kosher or it’s not’.

One of my favourite restaurants

One of my favourite restaurants

In general, I’m of the opinion that having teudot today is different from having them in the middle ages, where at the time, you only had to worry about Karaites, and they were generally known and often (though not always, as when the Rambam came to Egypt) separate. Everyone else kept essentially kasher. Today, the world’s Jewish observance spectrum is obviously different. So it’s good to have them, and of course whether or not the kashrut certifiers are doing their job properly or not is not our immediate concern – if they are not, the mashgichim will have to answer to G-d, not us. Rather, the only thing we’ll have to answer for in this area is why we didn’t learn the laws ourselves so we could make our own assessments? I agree in principle with Shaulson: not having a certificate does not immediately brand a place as not kasher. However the length of time you personally will have to spend asking questions and in the kitchen checking things out is directly related to what you order.

I recently heard (and this is second hand, unverified – if anyone would like to weigh in, kol hakavod) that a rabbi who certified a sushi place in Melbourne (his own certification) has had his rabbinic credentials put into question. I recently ate from the only kosher sushi place there, and enjoyed it thoroughly. With everything involved in the preparation besides the plain white rice being cold, certifying sushi is probably the easiest thing to do. Most likely this rabbi is involved. But even with my limited study of kashrut, I would probably feel quite comfortable continuing to eat from that establishment – especially if it continues to have certification.

An interesting read.

Source: www.jpost.com

A kashrut conundrum

Jun. 11, 2009
YAEL BRYGEL , THE JERUSALEM POST
Most kashrut-observant Jews are accustomed to walking into an eatery and asking the restaurateur or waiter whether the establishment is kosher. Often the customer is told, “Yes, we are kosher but we don’t have a teudah (kosher certificate) because we are open on Shabbat.” It therefore may come as a surprise to the customer when he/she is told, “Yes, we are kosher and we are closed on Shabbat, but we choose not to have a teudah.”

The Jerusalem Marakiya is one restaurant where you will receive such a response. Owner Noam Frankforter, an observant Jew, says that the restaurant is kosher and closed on Shabbat, but he chooses not to have a teudah for ideological reasons. “Part of the point is that I am trying to break the sense of alienation, distrust and suspicion that exists among people in today’s society. I say to people who come here that if they try to get to know me, they will realize that I keep kosher.” Read More…

Posted by: mjss26 | June 18, 2009

An adult/child re-reads the Hobbit in Melbourne

I recently spent some time in Melbourne. Some of that time was spent out with mates having a few drinks, or having a massive dinner with my beloved cousins. another part of that time was spent reading the Hobbit, and part of that time was spent in the jacuzzi/spa bath.

 

What was nice to my mind was that the same mind that read the same words still looked at it with both child and adult-like eyes. I willingly, immediately suspended the expectation of all grownup vices one usually endures from what passes in front of one’s eyes. And yet I simultaneously noticed themes fit for an adult thinking mind while having fun like a child on a rollercoaster. What warmed me more was that it felt… like a forgotten memory, that I had always thought this way – as an adult and a child at once. Which would explain why I didn’t make hundreds of friends as easily as a boy – I distilled on my own even then that I was thinking differently, in ways that few if anyone else could understand. (Hence the Mind of Michael. Much luck to you.)

 

I hadn’t had a bath in so many years (showers. I’ve had showers. That-  that context is probably important), that I actually forgot how it works. I got as far as pouring in oh… the entire bottle of bubble bath gel as the water slowly filled, and stood there scratching my head asking where the bubbles were at.

Preparing for the bath I looked around in my bag and pulled out of the top compartment what appeared to be a shell. I record my thoughts, in order, here, for posterity: “Hrm. That’s pretty. I don’t remember picking that up at the beach. Hey wait a minute… what’s that inside? …It can’t be. <wondering in amazement, tests the durability of shell between thumb and forefinger> *CRACK* Oh- Oh G-d, that’s disgusting, it’s oozing and convulsing in and out. What the hell?! <throws in bin> Oh damn, it’s probably in pain and dying. What do I do to help the bugger? Eyes toilet next to bin. Grab snail out of bin. place in toilet. *FLUSH* Wash hands. Twice.

What the hell is a snail doing IN MY BAG?”

About ten minutes just sitting in the bath reading (thinking ‘OK – now what?’ at the back of my mind, like an idiot who’s forgotten how to relax in general), I noticed the button for the jets. Well, I positioned myself strategically with my back to a very willing jet for a nice massage and promptly returned to my book.

Well, Bilbo is such a wonderful little character, and Tolkien’s literary canvass is so consistently painted the warmest shade of vivid that I soon found myself lost in his Middle Earth. I myself come from Higher Earth, where the Lower Matzah is broken and placed in forests for the giant spiders. Read More…

Posted by: mjss26 | June 10, 2009

One of the most pointless warnings of all time

Common, usually reliable Kosher symbols

Common, usually reliable Kosher symbols

As I discussed with a few friends recently, this is the original warning I received via email from a kashrut organisation, a good and always timely reminder to be a thinking Jew, not a lemming with a kippah:

We have been advised by the Kof-K re: Vanilla Tofutti Cuties.

There is a limited precautionary recall of Vanilla Tofutti Cuties due to possible trace amounts of dairy.

These traces if they exist were inadvertent and Batul L’Halachah This product was produced in one of their plants during July 2008 and can be identified by plant # 360-300.

All Tofutti products including Tofutti Cuties continue to be certified Kof-K Parve. Additional safeguards have been put in place to avoid any future inadvertent errors.

Because it is batel – and even if they didn’t tell us it was batel we could have worked it out – this email warning achieves nothing but scaremongering. Interestingly though – this separates the men from the boys, as it were. If you are a religious Jew and you can’t work out that this has zero relevance to your life, you are frighteningly lacking in your learning. Or, if you feel that you need to sit up and pay attention to it, maybe stop buying cuties for a while, because it was issued by rabbis/authorities and you’ll be held to account for lack of emunat hakhamim* if you don’t – I could cry. I fear that Jews who are becoming religious, or anyone who follows their rebbe unquestioningly are many, and are susceptible to the confusion that this warning propagates.

Read More…

Posted by: mjss26 | June 9, 2009

Now THERE’S a real pirate!

Many thanks to Slashdot, who also were the first to inform me that there will be a Ghostbusters III, which in turn informs many that there is in fact a G-d after all.

This is what happens if you annoy pirates.

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