Real Jewish Activism

The term "Jewish activism" can pass as many things. The nature of English as a language permits a deceptively common string of otherwise disparate entities or events to define the core nature of both entities. Jewish activism is a good case study of this trick. One might assume that Jewish activism must be both Jewish and be activist to warrant this description. As most readers already know, most Jewish activism has little to do with Judaism and is usually only called such merely by virtue of the fact that it is activism of Jews or by Jews but without a Jewish soul.

Two recent articles however define in my opinion what real Jewish activism is. The first found at Shmais.com comes from the United Kingdom where chairman of the Rabbinical Council of United Synagogue(RCUS), Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet is going the distance in the UK court system to defend the halachic definition of "Who is a Jew". The court case involves a child of a non-Jewish mother and Jewish father who sought to enroll their son into a school in London which requires it's students to be Jewish. Where the common "Jewish activist" sentimentalism and raw emotionalism would call for a decision to be made in a non-traditional way, over-ruling halacha for the family's sake (in the mode of the US Federations who adopt non-traditional Jewish break-away definitions to keep the money pie as big as possible), the RCUS and Rabbi Schochet are standing firm. Bravo, kol hakavod. This is real Jewish activism.

The second story comes from Jpost in the form of an editorial by David Weinberg calling out JStreet for what I would refer to it as (although I doubt this is original), the Yevsektsiya of American leftist politics, serving its masters at the DNC and the White House.

JStreet is holding its first ever "hug-in" as Weinberg calls it this week to discuss how to better re-define support for Israel by opposing Israel and to justify this opposition by calling it a Jewish thing to do. Weinberg says:

J Street is a new form of Jewish apostasy. Its adherents hasten to embrace their Jewishness (even if they don't really know much about authentic Jewish tradition and morality) in order to besmirch Israel and the mainstream Jewish community. They earnestly declare how "profoundly" Jewish they are, in order to engender a distancing in US-Israel relations.

Indeed, David Weinberg scores a full body blow in this editorial. And again, this is real Jewish activism, no apologies, no ill-will, just telling the truth, doing the right thing for the right reason, not looking back.

Both Rabbi Schochet and David Weinberg should be an example for American Jewry. We will never overcome the problems that endanger the survival of our community until we are willing to tell the truth about what ails us and speak up to defend our Torah, tradition and our Holy Land. Our common destiny awaits.

Will The Jews Choose Obama Over Israel?

Many readers will not like this post. I am not sure I like this post. Yet, it has to be written. Riding the coattails of APRPEH's last post American Jews: Obama or Torah, today Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic has made his prediction as to which choice will be prevail. It is not a satisfying answer. American Jews and Settlements: A Divorce in Progress - Jeffrey Goldberg - The Atlantic - 18 Jun 2009 01:28 pm

Goldberg's article based mostly on an earlier article by Samuel Freedman claims that American Jews will pick Obama. Both writers believe that American Jews see Yehuda and Shomron, (aka "The West Bank" or more accurately the "West Bank of the Jordan River") as not only an obstacle to peace but an obstacle to a belief in the "rightness" of Israel on moral and democratic grounds.

Goldberg goes further and warns the mainstream Jewish organizations (specifically pointing at Malcolm Hoenlein of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations) that they are out of touch with the Jewish voters of America who in overwhelming numbers voted for B. Hussein Obama.

The rationale is that American liberals view the territories in the biblical heartland of Israel the same way as the Arabians who have been calling them 'obstacles to peace' for years. By implication, he asserts that Al-Baraq Hussein Obama has given the Jewish left the confidence to boldly step forward and oppose Jewish land rights in Yehuda and Shomron (a Jstreet fantasy), a position which they should know in their heart is truthfully a great aveira/sin. What is even more ridiculous is that to even hold the "obstacle to peace" position, one must not give much weight to the more historically factual argument that the conflict has never been about land at all but the failure of the Jews to simply go away. The arabians simply do not want us around. To arabs and muslims, we Jews are the obstacle to their religious credibility. Islam cannot be a replacement of that which came before it when the holy Torah of Israel stands in its way, countering its would-be desert modification replete with stolen and maligned stories from the Torah, known as the Koran.

The very idea of supporting a policy which feeds upon Jews as pawns to justify denial of Jewish property rights in the biblical heartland of Eretz HaKodesh must be strongly opposed with all available resources by all Jews who still hold that the Torah is true and HaShem is the G-d of Israel. Now, if that means finally coming out to further distance Torah Judaism from the apostasy and antiJew non-Torah yet still Jewish (for now) cults which are lead more by political allegiances than Torah allegiances, than it is time to begin this process.

I say this with the deepest regret and fear. We must NEVER have any negative and hateful feelings towards fellow Jews. We must, however consider them as desperately in need of teshuva. Sometimes, distance can be a positive force for change.

Political arguments amongst Jews over common preferences of one philosophy or another as it relates to the economy, health care and many other domestic and foreign policy issues as within the context of America's role and direction in the world, although at times heated, are normal and represent no intrinsic threat. They should never, chas v'sholom, serve as a foot in the door for manipulation by the goyim to divide the people of Israel into camps supporting the belief's of one group of goyim vis a vis another group of goyim. All the more so, in terms of the land of Israel there should never be two camps, one of which supports Jewish inheritance rights in the land of Israel and one which follows a non-Jewish, non-Torah outlook seeking to strip the holy land from its rightful owners.

I pointed out in my previous post (see above) that based upon the Torah and Rashi's explanation, supporting non-Jewish rights to the land of Israel is an aveira (IMO).

One could easily conclude from these comments that any Jew who supports the idea of any other nation having any property rights in Eretz Hakodesh is in simple and plain violation of the Torah and thus the will of the Holy One, Blessed be He.

Jews who wish to strengthen their commitment to the wishes of this one-term president and his antiJew friends over the objections of their eternal divine Torah, do so not only at their own peril, but the peril of all Jews. Not only does this policy cause greater conflict amongst the not yet fully Torah observant Jews and Torah observant Jews on the one hand, but it will underpin actual conflict amongst Jews in a physical sense as the Israeli security forces will eventually be called upon to uproot more of their brethren from land they are rightly living upon. In a greater sense, since all Jews share One unique source which binds each soul together, collectively the Jewish people will suffer from such misguided beliefs. A foot cannot be removed without the rest of the body suffering.

As for Goldberg and Freedman, Jews who wish to bring Moshiach will ignore them in deference to that small voice inside, reminding them who they are and why were put on this planet.

For clarification as to the religious aspects of the land of Israel and the Jew's obligation to it see here.

American Jews: Obama or Torah?

I am not one to quote Shmuley Boteach. I am less than enamored with his interest in becoming the Jewish icon to the goyim. But he is dead on the money in his Jpost column The coming storm: Obama and American Jewry.

APRPEH's last post concerning Jeremiah Wright and his message to B. Hussein Obama and subsequently to anyone else who was paying attention, drew a conclusion that Wright (who knows Obama as well, if not better than most people) seemed to be surprised and disappointed that Barry was concealing his true self. This conclusion should be in mind to read the remainder in context.

Boteach seems to expect that the organized Jewish community will have to make a choice between its insatiable appetite for supporting democrats and liberals and its Torah based commitment to defend the very soil of Eretz HaKodesh and the blood of Israel as this administration and its policies of foisting an a non-peace agreement on Israel are played out.

Many Jewish liberals are liberal on everything but Israel's security. This group is further broken down into full fledged Israel hawks to those who mistakenly believe that a 2 state solution will bring peace in our time but have little to no understanding that the 2 state solution has become the coat-rack to hang hopes of an eventual 1 state solution where arabians come to the land in mass numbers and overwhelm the rightful Jewish settlers, (yes all Jews are "evil" settlers in the land of Israel since it was none other than G-d, 'May His Name be Blessed' who settled Jews in this land) and set the world back further from the time of Moshiach. In a more physical sense, the emergence of a unified state arising from what was Israel sets back the path to a just world birthing yet another backwards arabian country.

The knowledge that B. Hussein and his antiJew friends cannot be successful in dragging Israel into the sewer of perpetual strife brought own by indefensible borders and hordes of barbarians flooding through the gates of civilized and modern Israel is brought down in the first Rashi of Chumash, go and learn it. This same theme is relevant to this week's parasha (chutz l'aretz) Shlach.

This is the first commentary in my weekly study of the parashah in Vedibarta Bam - Rabbi Moshe Bogomilsky

"Send forth men, if you please, and let them spy out the Land of Canaan that I am giving to the Children of Israel." (13:2)

QUESTION: Why is it necessary to mention the name of the land and the fact that Hashem is giving it to the Jewish people?

ANSWER: The Gemara (Sanhedrin 91a) relates that the people of Canaan once took the Jewish people to court before Alexander the Great. They demanded that Eretz Yisrael be returned to them because it was originally owned by their ancestor Canaan. Gevihah ben Pesisa argued that Canaan was the son of Cham and was cursed by Noach to be a servant to his brothers, Shem and Yafet. According to halachah (Pesachim 88b), whatever a slave acquires belongs to his master. Thus, the Canaanites had absolutely no claim to the land, and through their ancestor Shem, the Jews were the rightful owners. The plaintiffs were dumbfounded and ran away leaving their fields and vineyards to the Jewish people.

In the beginning of Bereishit, Rashi explains that Torah starts with the narrative of creation because if the world accuses the Jews of illegally taking away Eretz Yisrael, they can respond, "Hashem created the entire world and it belongs to Him. With His will He took it away from them and gave it to us."

In preparation for the Jewish people's first encounter with Eretz Yisrael, Hashem emphasized: "This is the land of Canaan, which according to halachah belongs to the Jewish people since its original owner Cham became a slave to your ancestor Shem. Moreover, it is the land that 'I am giving to the Children of Israel' and as Master of the world I have the right to take it from whomever I want and give it to whomever I wish."

One could easily conclude from these comments that any Jew who supports the idea of any other nation having any property rights in Eretz Hakodesh is in simple and plain violation of the Torah and thus the will of the Holy One, Blessed be He. Would it be too much to ask Rahm Emanuel to learn this Torah with Barry on Shabbos?

This brings us to Bibi Netanyahu and his Bar-Ilan speech. I have much sympathy for Bibi and do not envy the difficulty of the task before him. Many of the most faithful to the land of Israel have been critical of Bibi (seemingly justifiable) for words which "superficially" call for a Pali state. One must always point a wary eye at Bibi. He can be unpredictable at times and all too predictable other times. After all, this is the same Bibi who would not meet with Arafat either. Don't judge him by what he says.

But this time Bibi is the best equipped to walk the tightrope of Israel's security interests on one side and meeting US benchmarks without actually following through on any of them on the other.

I see it like this. Bibi basically needs to successfully manage this non-process-process for 2 years until the mid-term elections. By that time, either enough pro-Israel, Republican Congressmen will be elected that Obama will have too much on his plate to worry any further about peace-legacy building or his own pre-election campaign will advise him to lay off this issue for a variety of policy and political purposes.

Bibi has laid the ground work quite nicely for arabian non-compliance with his pre-requisites. On this point, I refer the reader to the second half of the second hour of the Fred Thompson show of 15 June (download). Fred lays out the Bibi case better than I. While I continue to hope that the land of Israel loyalists keep up the pressure on the PM to keep him sort of honest, I also am somewhat confident knowing that Bibi is doing what PM's of Israel always do intentionally or unintentionally which is to give the arabians enough rope to hang themselves.

The hollering from the arabian world is a collective cry of foul. Bibi told the truth about Jewish heritage and cast dispersion on the arabian myth of victim hood at the hands of the evil Zionists. Bibi challenged the phony conventional wisdom which the arabians have been spreading for decades, calling Jews land grabbers and thieves (when in reality it is Ishmael who is the thief) and burst the Obama balloon (see Two Campaigns, Two Candidates, One Israel)of Israel existing merely as a refuge foist into the heart of arabia after World War II because the arabians were powerless victims of colonialism and could not prevent her establishment. For these achievements, Bibi deserves praise. American liberal-loving Jewry would do well to read Bibi's remarks. American Jews should use this opportunity to tell the truth about Israel even if it means not hiding behind DNC membership cards, and even if it means no longer nodding their heads approvingly to the rhythm of the false messiah at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

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The coming storm: Obama and American Jewry - Shmuley Boteach, THE JERUSALEM POST, Jun. 15, 2009

There's a storm coming. It will pit a well-organized community of substantial resources but also substantial insecurity - particularly when it comes to charges of dual loyalty - against a popular president of considerable eloquence but misguided policies that identify Israeli settlements as the main obstacle to Middle East peace. The inevitable clash will separate sunshine Jewish patriots who back Israel when convenient against those who stand with Israel even when it means losing their invitation to the White House Hanukka party.

The bogus issue of settlements is already being swallowed whole by many well-meaning Jews. Last week Dan Fleshler, a leader of Americans for Peace Now, wrote in the New Jersey Jewish Standard that Obama has no choice but to pressure Israel because "it is fruitless for a well-armed, occupying power to negotiate the terms of a viable settlement with an almost defenseless occupied people unless a third party mediates and presses both sides."

In reading Fleshler one wonders whether he has been himself occupied with building a settlement on the moon with no knowledge of events on Earth. Is he seriously suggesting that the thousands of Katyusha rockets and nonstop suicide bombers that have killed more than a thousand Israelis (the equivalent of 30,000 dead Americans) have come from a "defenseless" foe? Would Fleshler likewise argue that the US ought to have pressure from, say, Russia or China to make peace with the terrorists in Afghanistan, seeing that America now represents a "well-armed, occupying power" against the comparatively defenseless Taliban? Or is it only Israel that is forbidden from defending itself.

Sorry Mr. Fleshler, but Jewish values do not dictate that the only moral Jew is a dead one who refuses to fight in the face of a 60-year terror onslaught.

Any return to the 1967 borders, which is what Obama's attack on the settlements represents, is simply suicide for Israel. The borders are utterly indefensible. The Arabs know it, which is why they press for it. Had Israel not dismantled its settlements in Gush Katif, Gaza would not have become a terrorist state ruled by Hamas, an organization that kills even more Palestinians than it does Israelis.

BUT MISGUIDED Jewish apologists aside, are the rest of us prepared to speak up against the policies of the administration? By this I do not mean the drunken racist rants of the American Jewish hooligans who got attention disgracing themselves on YouTube last week; their bigoted drivel against our democratically elected president represents an abomination to Judaism. I have already written several columns lamenting how a small minority of the large and praiseworthy contingent of Jewish youth who go to Israel from the US after high school ostensibly to study in yeshivot end up instead hanging out on Rehov Ben Yehuda making asses of themselves. That they have no proper supervision and that they are allowed to go through their year in a drunken stupor is an outrage that must be finally addressed by the institutions which host them.

Rather, I mean courageous and intelligent criticism that accepts the president's praiseworthy efforts in making peace but decries his soft posture on tyranny when he bows to an Arab potentate who oppresses women and warmly embraces the dictator of Venezuela.

Asher Lopatin was one of the first students I met at Oxford and the university's first Orthodox Rhodes scholar. Today he is the successful rabbi of one of Chicago's most youthful congregations. He is also Rahm Emanuel's rabbi. But that did not stop him from criticizing the White House chief of staff in Newsweek for his unfair pressure on Israel. Lopatin could easily have basked in the aura of being rabbi to one of the most influential men in the world. Instead, he spoke truth to power.

In promoting the new translation of his Hebrew prayer book, British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks constantly reminds us that he studies Bible with the prime minister of the United Kingdom. That's nice. But a few years ago Sacks spoke out publicly against Israel, telling London's Guardian newspaper, "There are things that happen on a daily basis which make me feel very uncomfortable as a Jew."

Sacks is a brilliant man but with a long history of pandering to whatever audience he happens to be addressing. He would do well to remember the admonishment of Mordechai to Esther on the responsibility of being close to political power: "If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place."

But while Europe and the UK are significant, the main battle lines will be here in the US and now is the time for American Jewry to organize. From schools to universities to synagogues and JCCs, we must make it clear that when 78 percent of Jews voted for Obama and filled his campaign coffers with cash it was not in the expectation of biased policies against Israel. We're upset, disappointed and we won't take it. We'll march in the streets, write op-eds and blogs, and publish ads making it clear that America should be standing with the Middle East's only democracy and America's most reliable ally.

As Charles Krauthammer pointed out, our president undermines his moral authority when he pledges that henceforth America will "forge partnerships as opposed to simply dictating solutions," but then only applies that pledge to Iran, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela, but not to Israel.

Last year, right after Obama captured the democratic nomination, I received a phone call from his campaign asking if I would serve as one of the national chairs of "Rabbis for Obama." It was a tempting offer. I was moved by the candidate's remarkable personal story, his iron discipline, his soaring oratory and, most of all, the fact that his victory would be the culmination of my hero Martin Luther King's dream of a man being judged by the content of his character rather than the color of his skin. In the end I declined because I feared that Obama would draw a moral equivalence between Israel and the Palestinians and pressure the former to appease the latter. But even I never suspected that it would happen so quickly and so lopsidedly.

The writer is the founder of This World: The Values Network. His upcoming book is The Blessing of Enough: Rejecting Material Greed, Embracing Spiritual Hunger

Bah - Enough 'Interfaith' December Dilemma Stories

{this post is dedicated to the thousands of Jewish children (many of whom both you and I know personally), holy and pure Jewish neshamas, who have been placed into the world in the custody of parents who know not what they do and will be tested both this year as in previous years and future years to overcome the environments in which they live. HaShem should have rachmonus on them and put into the hearts of their Jewish parents wisdom and knowledge but mostly the ability to do teshuva}

The first lesson that a Jew really should learn about Chanukah is that the "holiday" exists because Jews were willing to fight for Torah at all costs. That is the revealed understanding of the holiday. At a deeper level, the more important understanding is that Jewish commitment to Torah drew down divine intervention in the war against the Assyrian Greek occupiers and sanctioned the war as holy. HaShem gave the oil miracle to the Jewish people when the Temple was re-dedicated to Jewish rites and thus presented an enduring symbol of Jewish redemption to the world. After having been used by the Helenists for pagan worship, true and authentic Jewish worship returned to Jerusalem.

In America today, Chanukah has become a holiday to celebrate religious freedom. This idea fits very nicely with American culture. Our Jewish ancestors, the Maccabees however did not really care whether or not Taoists could be Taoists. They only cared that the most holy place on earth, the Temple's sanctuary - had been defiled, that the holy Torah was being re-interpreted to fit within a Helenistic framework and the socially popular thing to do was to act like the goyim who were occupying Judea.

In December, it is very common to see articles in print and to see and hear stories in the electronic media with titles such as:

• Interfaith families find ways to celebrate season


• Dreidels and Santa Claus: The Interfaith Holiday Juggle


• Hanukkah and Christmas: A happy pairing?


• Holidays times two


• Interfaith Couples Face December Dilemma


• Interfaith couples face 'December dilemma' for holiday celebrations


• Interfaith families find ways to honor, celebrate Jewish, Christian holidays.

All of these were uncovered merely by searching on Google News "interfaith families". If you do a Google News search on "December Dilemma", the list is too long to reproduce.

Quite honestly, I really would like these stories to go away. Trying to make interfaith couples (which means out of faith thanks to the wonders of the English language) comfortable with the life choices they have made is not really on my agenda. I have no intent while writing this to offend anyone mind you. If you are Jewish and living with or without a legal arrangement to a person of a religious tradition different than your own and feel offended thus far, please choose a different article or blog to read.

Some people are concerned that one religion or another loses out in out of faith relationships. But, its not the religions that lose. Religions are religions - larger entities made up of believers. Its the children who lose. If you try to have everything you end up with nothing. Whether you are "more Jewish" or "more Christian" (whatever that means), it is not possible in a meaningful way to mix holiday observances. The children grow up with a minimal understanding of either religion because in their minds, the religious aspects are merged. To find a universal message consistent with both Jewish and Christian teachings and then make it the focal point of the season is doing justice to neither religious tradition, certainly not to the Torah or yiddishkeit.

Respecting others rights to observe what they want to does not mean assembling a family tradition of selected observances, sort of a 'best of' collection from various cultures or religions. Observance without the underlying meaning is game playing and a symptom of a society of takers - a society which demands acceptance not just the right to do as you please or believe what you wish, but a demand for acceptance -just because. The message is I will make my observance the way I want it to be and it is every bit as legitimate as any other. The one creating the observance will become it's adherent; religious creativity/creating religion. One could easily envision ornaments for idol trees in the shape of a chanukiah and dreidels or sufganiyot served as a dessert option at a big family Christmas dinner, freshly cooked latkes in the morning to accompany present opening before church. How could this empty symbolism be meaningful? After all, every Chanukah symbol has to do with Torah and Judaism overcoming the enemy, an enemy which sought to strip faith in the Giver of the Torah away from the Torah itself.

What was forbidden by the Helenists? To the extent that certain Jewish practices could be removed from the 'religion' such as bris milah, Shabbos, and Rosh Chodesh, Judaism would be allowed to co-exist with the Greek culture - be a working sub-set even. Essentially, the belief that Torah was given by HaShem and that man must be subservient to his Creator (note here the illogical premise that Creator and created could be the same being) was the problem. These rites all testify to the fact that HaShem is in charge, not Greek logic. Greek gods would not equate to HaKadosh Baruch Hu for the heroes of the story.

Now, let's take a look again at how Chanukah and Christmas are being merged. Chanukah, as anyone reading the above undoubtedly understands is about upholding the Jewish way of life even against the odds, even if it means heading for hills as the Maccabees did. That way of life is defined by and interpreted through Torah lenses.

Adding Christian observances and recognition of non-Jewish rites runs 100% contrary to the message of the Maccabees and Chazal. To the extent that Chanukah can be understood solely as a holiday of religious freedom and Christmas about presents, idol trees and fat guys in red suits there is no problem merging the two except that the season is as empty as the red suit without the extra padding. The real Chanukah cannot co-exist with Christmas and still carry with it the light of Torah. Chanukah must be about bringing the light of Torah into the world even to a world which resists its message. The Chanukah lights must carry the message as portrayed in what is now a Chabad classic the Fifth Candle story as having the ability to illuminate even the deepest darkness. Christmas observers may try to make the same claim as to their holiday. But for Jews, as it is attributed to the Rebbe in the Fifth Candle story - 'every Jew is like an only child of G-d'. Torah observance, Judaism cannot be compartmentalized. The Maccabee's war was to rid compartmentalizing from Judea and the Jewish future. A Jew must illuminate the world with the radiance of Torah, not put out its flame. Chanukah and Christmas cannot co-exist in one home. Christmas is for Christians. Chanukah is for Jews.

The Role of Religion in Picking a President

Religious Jews support U.S. Sen. John McCain for president in much higher numbers than non-religious Jews, a poll found. - JTA

Published: 07/09/2008

Religious Jews support U.S. Sen. John McCain for president in much higher numbers than non-religious Jews, a poll found.

The 39 percent of U.S. Jews who said religion is important in their daily lives evenly split their support for the presumptive candidates in November -- Arizona's McCain for the Republicans and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for the Democrats -- at 45 percent, according to a Gallup Poll released Tuesday.

For Jews who said religion is not important, however, McCain picked up only 26 percent to 68 percent for Obama.

For all Americans who say religion is important, McCain received the support of 50 percent to Obama's 40 percent. Those who said religion is not important backed Obama over McCain, 55 percent to 36 percent.

The percentage of Jews who said religion was important fell well below the overall national average. Nearly two-thirds of Americans surveyed said religion is important to them, according to the poll.

Nearly 95,000 registered voters were interviewed as part of Gallup Poll Daily tracking between March and June.

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The speculation has been for some time that McCain will do better than the most recent Republican candidates for President and may well surpass Reagan's 39% of the Jewish vote in 1980.

The Gallup poll does not mention a growing Orthodox population as a factor nor is there any evidence that the polling methodology accounts for a larger Orthodox population. It would be greatly encouraging to find more than 39% of American Jews responding that "religion is important in their daily lives". This same body of Jews can fairly be called the most knowledgeable about Jewish matters, the most personally connected with Israel and to the chagrin of Eric Yoffie, the real "Jewish" majority. Those Jews whose daily lives are energized and occupied with Torah, davening, mitzvas, Israel, chesed, etc., are indeed the real Jewish majority as defined by "use" and participation. The other 61% who are not yet religious would be well advised to bind themselves to the real "Jewish" majority.

Now, we can have a conversation about what it means to be a Jew, however I have little patience for arguments that define Judaism as what Jews think vis a vis what is the halachic approach and a Torah true mind set. Judaism is clearly definable as a religion with law, faith, history, and most importantly a Divine and everlasting covenant which does not provide for options in belief and merger of secular politics into the requirements placed upon the Jew by the G-d of the universe.

Is there one value or set of values or ideas which leads to more religious people favoring McCain and Republicans in general and less religious people favoring B. Hussein Obama and Democrats in general?

Perhaps. Religion is built upon a general belief in a common set of ideas usually known as values which manifests itself as a "morality", a concrete code by which the righteous are defined as those who uphold that morality while those who are less consistent in upholding the morality code defined by degree of their decreasing observance in the code. This structure provides for a consistent approach to judgment for both good and bad.

For liberals who have adopted a code which permits and encourages a lack of a common set of values except that a common set of values cannot be universally applied, the morality code is not a viable approach, a barrier to free expression no matter how bizarre it's manifestation.

And while the statistics do not support that every religious person will favor McCain and every non-religious person will favor Obama, the recurring voting patterns over multiple elections for a number of years seems to extend credibility to the theory.

Liberal Judaism's Convergence of Beliefs

Liberal Judaism backs Christian Aid climate change campaign -Christian Today Posted: Friday, June 20, 2008, 10:48 (BST)

Representatives of the Jewish movement Liberal Judaism this week joined forces with international development agency Christian Aid to press for a Climate Change Bill that will help protect poor and vulnerable communities around the world.

A delegation petitioned MP Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for the Environment and Rural Affairs for the Bill at present going through Parliament to include a commitment to cut 80 per cent of carbon emissions by 2050.

Delegates, including representatives from Liberal Judaism Social Action and the Liberal Jewish youth movement LJY-Netzer, were led by Rabbi Danny Rich, Liberal Judaism’s chief executive.

Liberal Judaism, the third largest strand of Judaism in the UK with more than 30 congregations and 10,000 members across the country, adopted the campaign after talks with Christian Aid, which has accused the Government of ‘eviscerating’ the proposed legislation.

It is the second time Liberal Judaism has supported Christian Aid’s stand on climate change. In 2007 they joined Christian Aid’s cut the carbon march – the longest protest march in British history, which started in Northern Ireland and ended in London.

Dr Nigel Varndell, Christian Aid’s Inter-Community Initiatives Manager, said: "Liberal Judaism came to us to discuss the possibility of aligning themselves with our campaign work over the Bill.

"An 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions is crucial if global warming is to be held below 2oC – the point beyond which it is feared that climate change will become irreversible.

"Poor and vulnerable communities around the world are already bearing the brunt of extreme weather conditions caused by climate change. A commitment in the bill to 80 per cent cuts will send a clear signal to the rest of the international community about what should be done."

Christian Aid is concerned that the Government appears to be losing its nerve over the legislation. Earlier this month Phil Woolas MP, Minister of State for the Environment, announced that an amendment Christian Aid had campaigned for, that would have made it mandatory for publicly listed companies in Britain to declare their annual carbon emissions, was to be dropped.

The Government also removed an undertaking to ensure that UK emissions of greenhouse gases do not exceed the level necessary to limit global temperature rises to not more than 2oC above pre-industrial levels.

Another disappointment is the failure of the Bill to ensure that at least 70 per cent of its targets had to be met through emission cuts within the UK, rather than by purchasing carbon off-sets from poorer countries.

"At present the proposed target in cuts is 60 per cent. With the Bill at present going through the committee stage in the House of Commons, we want that upped to 80 per cent," said Dr Varndell.

Rabbi Rich said: "The Psalmist says, ‘The earth is the Eternal God’s and all that is within it.’ And as such, all faith groups have a duty to act to safeguard the environment, and to bring their collective voices to the powers that be in Westminster to urge them to do the same.

"Liberal Judaism is delighted to be working alongside Christian Aid in this campaign."

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In the US the "Liberal Judaism" equivalent is the Reform(ist) movement whose policies on the environment mirrors what is presented above.

But Reform(ism) has more in common with leftism than environmental policies. Peruse the issue data bank at the Religious Action Center (RAC) of Reform Judaism. There, you can find every liberal/leftist cause addressed as a matter of Tikkun Olam and Jewish necessity. Everything which matters with the exception of living a Torah Jewish life can be found there. This is certainly not a chidush. Everyone who observes (so to speak) the American Jewish experience knows that Reform Judaism in the US, (like the Liberal Judaism in the UK) is merely another liberal political action committee wearing a kipah, (without actually wearing the kipah because it is optional depending on if it is a spiritual, meaningful experience). So why bother with all of this again? Ask Eric Yoffie the face of Reform Judaism and their primary advocate.

When it comes to Jews working with conservatives to support Israel, Yoffie is of a different mind. Here he makes it clear that support from John Hagee is certainly not wanted. Now, I do not pretend to know what is going on in Hagee's mind, whether his support for Israel is motivated by a kindness or his theology. What I do know is that he commands lots of attention and Christians who are willing to open their wallets for Israel and visit Israel and vote for Israel listen to him. That Yoffie or "Liberal Judaism" in the UK can team up with the most extreme leftist organizations which advocate extreme leftist positions, is of course free from aveirah while Jews who advocate working with non-Jewish conservative political groups are an anathema. It is clear that in social and economic political discussion, Orthodox Jewry, (ie Torah, halachic Jewry) has more in common with the Christian right than our Reform(ist) brethren (those who are actually Jewish). This has been true for some time now. The appearance that Yoffie and his friends transmit is one of petty politics. It is a shame that the Torah and tradition we hold in common distances us from each other both religiously and politically.

To be an active Reform(ist) today is not dependant on a definition of theology or statement of belief. It is the opposite. The theology is one that does not require belief in anything but one's ability to make decisions. Most often those decisions, should I do this or this, should I support that or that, find their foundations in liberal policy advocacy more so than Jewish tradition. Worse, is the merger of the two. Torah becomes a statement of religion politics, something that liberals usually loathe unless they are the ones doing the merging. Keep the social action aspects of Torah (those laws believed to be for the benefit of mankind) and toss those which are Judeo-centric and considered to be restrictive. Reform(ism)to be relevant to the Jewish future needs new leadership and vision. Jewish leadership and vision cannot be found at the DNC.

Liberal Judaism backgrounder

Barack Obama - Myths, Facts, and Obfuscating (Bloggers Beware)

note: all links will open a new browser window, click away!
Is guilt by association fair? Many blogs and websites, including APRPEH have made an argument that Barry Obama's true feelings towards Jews and Israel can be measured by his associations. Undeniable facts about Obama, many of them posed as questions left unanswered or not answered in a credible or believeable fashion have formed the core of the No-Bama effort. These questions remain legitimate campaign issues and concerns. Obama DID indeed maintain a 20+ year relationship as a member of TUCC in the Jeremiah Wright flock, listening to what is undeniably anti-US and antiJew rhetoric only distancing himself when his crusade for the Presidency was jeopardized.

Who are Obama's friends and associates for which he should be measured? Let's take a closer look using easy to find world wide web references.

Allies of Palestinians see a friend in Barack Obama Obama's special friend, Rashid Khalidi, former spokesman for the scumbag Yasir Arafat who held fundraisers for Obama, was honored with a speech by State Sen. Barack Obama in a 2003 going away party. Khalidi, according to the LA Times story is described as "internationally known scholar, critic of Israel and advocate for Palestinian rights.

Then there is Ali Abunimah, described in the same LA Times article as " a Palestinian rights activist in Chicago who helps run Electronic Intifada, and quoted as saying:

Abunimah quoted Obama as saying that he was sorry he wasn't talking more about the Palestinian cause, but that his primary campaign had constrained what he could say.

Now, lets add to the mix the Obama foreign policy advisors who have come and gone. I am not even sure I remember them all. Please feel free to add to the list in the comments:

Samantha Powers - NRO story

Joseph Cirincione - WND article

Robert Malley - Yid With Lid blog post
APRPEH post 1
APRPEH post 2

Merrill Tony McPeak - YNET article

Zbigniew Bzrezinski - American Thinker article
Ed Lasko at American Thinker adds:

The appointment of Brzezenski elicited much dismay among supporters of Israel since Brzezinski is well known for his aggressive dislike of Israel. . He has been an ardent foe of Israel for over three decades and newspaper files are littered with his screeds against Israel. Brzezinski has publicly defended the Walt-Mearsheimer thesis that the relationship between America and Israel is based not on shared values and common threats but is the product of Jewish pressure. Brzezinski also signed a letter demanding dialogue with Hamas-a group whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel and is filled with threats to Jews around the world.

Financial support from not very friendly to Israel, George Soros can be added to the equation as well even though Obama has attempted to distance himself from the billionaire contributer. If Obama really wants to distance himself from the tens of thousands of dollars contributed through Soros connections has he offered to return any recent donations and asked Soros and his Moveon.org friends to stop supporting his campaign?

Obama Rebuffs Soros

George Soros and Obama's veep

And while it is not necessarily Jewish related, how can we forget Syrian born friend Tony Rezko, former donor and fundraiser for Obama, convicted recently on corruption related charges. Tony Rezko - Wikipedia article.

Obama's relationship with terrorist and political indoctrination specialist William Ayers William Ayers wikipedia article along with former "Weatherman" and wife Bernadine Dorhn Bernadine Dorhn Wikipedia article is well documented and factual. WND backgrounder

additional references
Powerline Obama's Friends

APRPEH's previous Obama Articles

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So what is the point of going through this exercise, re-hashing the well published reports you might ask? The Obama fans and possibly Obama campaign are behind an effort to obfuscate.
Can Obama fight Web-driven lies?

Snap Judgment: Have you read the latest Obama e-mail? Unbelievable!

ob·fus·cate (bf-skt, b-fskt)
tr.v. ob·fus·cat·ed, ob·fus·cat·ing, ob·fus·cates
1. To make so confused or opaque as to be difficult to perceive or understand: "A great effort was made . . . to obscure or obfuscate the truth" Robert Conquest.
2. To render indistinct or dim; darken: The fog obfuscated the shore.

It is true that a considerable amount of email and internet garbage is floating around alleging all sorts of BS about Obama. It is also true that email based urban myth is one of the downsides of the electronic world. Our email boxes are flooded with Nigerian scam email, phishing, and urban myths begging the reader to perpetuate the falsity.

In fact, call it reverse guilt by association. It is with this understanding that the agenda of the Obama camp to label every blog post, every email, every warning about Obama as driven by crazies with a hate filled, anti-Muslim or racist agenda is underway. Some, they may say are just plain crazy. But all of them, all criticism is illegitimate (according to this strategy) because it is someone's opinion, not the truth - just another one of those "myths".

This policy must be confronted strongly and clearly. The list above is composed of undeniable fact. The effort to re-cast the past of Obama as something else, something different, something sweet and innocent is a fraud and should be called a fraud.

Obama cannot reasonably claim that he had no knowledge of the offensive, disgusting, and criminal aspects of his friends in the past as he cannot claim that he has no knowledge of our doesn't agree with the antiJew and anti-Israel opinions of his foreign policy team. If he really had no knowledge, he is the most ignorant man who has ever run for the Presidency.

Of course, some Obama staffer can just say all of this is campaign rhetoric and to take it as a grain of salt. Afterall, it IS the internet. Or readers and concerned, thoughtful Americans can expose the truth, continue writing to the newspapers, calling talk radio, writing blogs, responding to blogs and talking to their friends who may be on the fence. Freedom is not free and free speech is under assault by the Obama people, a telling foretaste of an Obama administration.

Agriprocessors Inc Raided by ICE - from Yeshiva World News

BREAKING: Agriprocessors Raided By US Immigration Police, 700 Estimated Arrested

According to The Des Moines Register, US Immigration officials are currently raiding the nations largest Kosher meat-packaging plant, Agriprocessors Inc., located in Postville, Iowa. Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday issued criminal search warrants for aggravated identify theft and fraudulent Social Security numbers.

Agency spokesman Tim Counts told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier that civil search warrants also were issued for illegal immigrants, and agents and medical professionals are evaluating those who have been arrested.

Immigration officials told aides to U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley that they expect 600 to 700 arrests. About 1,000 to 1,500 people work at the plant, according to Iowa Workforce Development.

Earlier this morning, a helicopter hovered over the scene, and a number of agents formed a perimeter around the Agriprocessors facility. Vehicles from ICE and at least eight cars and vans from the Iowa State Patrol were at the plant. There were also reports of two moving vans at the scene, along with an ambulance and two black Chevrolet Suburbans. Additionally, four Homeland Security buses with U.S. Immigration and Customs tags on them have entered the Agriprocessors Inc. complex.

Further details will be posted by YWN as soon as an offical statement is issued.

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With a sense of shame I ask, what is a good definition of Chillul HaShem? I can defend Agri against the PETA idiots. I can brush off comments about working conditions. I cannot ignore allegations of facilitating identity theft. One of the APRPEH blog missions is to educate about ID Theft. There are far too many people whose PII (personal identifying information) is being used to facilitate identity theft. I surely hope that Agri can be cleared here, but given the Swift meat raids in 2006, still in the courts, Agri is looking at significant legal bills and possibly jail time for executives or managers.

Not all ID theft is related to new account fraud. Actually according to the FTC (FTC data), only about 20% - 25% of ID Theft is related to fraud one would uncover reading a credit report. Employment fraud is a troublesome sort of ID Theft to clear up. A victim becomes aware of this type of fraud usually by the IRS after receiving a notice of failure to report earnings along with a notice to pay what they owe along with a penalty. I have assisted consumers through this mess of IRS and Tax Payer Advocate contacts a number of times. Consumers can continue year after year having to deal with this problem which often delays refund checks and forces the consumer to spend hours on the telephone talking to the IRS, visiting offices, making copies and mailing off disputes. Usually, the problem is correctable provided a consumer knows what to do or has professional assistance. In terms of Agriprocessors Inc, the least worst scenario is that someone or job company was feeding "pre-screened" employees to them.

The second to worst scenario is that Agriprocessors Inc is providing the IDs to these workers or can be shown to be giving a wink and nod to the practice essentially helping to facilitate fraud. The third worst scenario, (or in combination) is the voluntary giving over of IDs by select consumers for Agriprocessors Inc.'s use. This is pure theorizing on my part only and I have NO inside knowledge as to what is occurring at Agri nor is it intended by me to appear that I do or as Loshon Hara. I am merely sharing my professional experience of cleaning up the mess of employment based ID Theft.

Agriprocessors Inc., if guilty of facilitating ID Theft may be finished, which is shame and definite loss to the kosher consumer.


Des Moines Register story 'largest in Iowa history'

Shamis story

News for Thanksgiving and a Turkey in the Straw

Israel Becoming Less Secular

12 Kislev 5768, 22 November 07 07:53by Hillel Fendel(IsraelNN.com) An Israel Democratic Institute (IDI) demographic survey finds religious growth and secular decline - but most significant is that the proportion of religious in the public is highest among the youth.

The percentage of Jews describing themselves as secular has dropped sharply over the past 30 years, while the religious and traditional proportions have risen. The annual survey finds that the secular public comprises only 20% of the Israeli population - compared to 41%, more than twice as much, in 1974.

Nearly half the population, 47%, describes itself as traditional, while the hareidi-religious and religious together comprise 33% of the public.

The numbers were compiled based on a survey of representative sampling of 1,016 Israelis Jews.

Tradition Reigns
Over the past seven years, according to IDI statistics, the proportion of secular Jews has dropped sharply from 32% to 20% today. The "traditionalists" have traditionally had the lead in polls of this nature - except in 1974, when they trailed the seculars, 41% to 38%.

Other findings show that the Sephardic population is much more traditional and religious than the Ashkenazi sector. Only 7% of the former describe themselves as secular, compared to 36% of the Ashkenazim. At the same time, 56% of the Sephardim are religious or hareidi, compared to only 17% of the Ashkenazim.

It can be inferred from the numbers that Israel is a traditional society, and that it will become even more so as the years go by. 39% of those under age 40 are religious - more than those in their 40's and 50's (32%), and much more than those aged 60 and over (20%).

Country is Right-Wing; the Religious - Even More So
Politically, the religious are more right-wing, but so are the others. Among the religious, many more are identify with the right than with the left, by a 71-8 margin; among the traditional, it's 49-21, and among the secular, it's 43-27. In total, 55% of the population view themselves as right-wing, and only 18% are to the left.
www.IsraelNationalNews.com© Copyright IsraelNationalNews.com

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It is interesting to compare the IDI study with another research report recently released.
"Beyond Distancing, Young Adult American Jews and Their Alienation from Israel" from The Jewish Identity Project of Reboot, Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies. The synopsis of the IDI study is that young Israelis are becoming more religious and more traditionally connected. The Beyond Distancing report measured and found young (non-Orthodox) American Jews growing increasing ambivalent towards Israel and less Jewishly connected.

The under 40 demographic in Israel and the 40-59 demographic are significantly more religious than the 60 and above demographic. Within the under 40 demographic 38.8% identify with the label "religious" while 44% identify with the label "traditional". By comparison, the over 60 crowd identifies most with the label "traditional" (57.4%) while only 19.8% claimed to be "religious". The consistent finding in Israel is that the secular label is relatively speaking flat, only moving from 22.8% in the 60 and above group down to 17.2% in the under 40 crowd. Overall, combining the categories of religious and traditional the social structure looks like this: 82.8% of the under 40 crowd are Jewishly connected, 77.4% of the 40-59 crowd in the same category, 77.2% for the above 60 crowd but heavily waited to the "traditional" label. The "traditional" label has clearly lost ground to the "religious" label in a generational sense.

In America, (not measuring the Orthodox, since the Beyond Distancing study factored out the Orthodox*) the younger generation of Jews has moved the other direction.

First lets look at some of the studies analyses and conclusions:

Yet these feelings of attachment may
well be changing, as warmth gives way to
indifference, and indifference may even give
way to downright alienation. Inevitably, if
sufficiently pronounced and widespread, this
prospective sea-change in attitudes toward
Israel will have profound effects upon American
Jews’ relationships with Israel, with
direct bearing upon Israel’s security.

Indeed, a mounting body of evidence
has pointed to a growing distancing from Israel
of American Jews, and the distancing seems
to be most pronounced among younger Jews.

The loci of Jewish identity have
shifted from the public to the private, from
ethnicity and politics to religion, culture and
spirituality (Cohen and Eisen 2000). Jews are
more thoroughly integrated with non-Jews,
and intermarriage is both a symptom and a
cause of this re-formulation of Jewish identities
in a direction that makes attachment
to Israel specifically, and identification with
collective loyalties generally, less intuitively
obvious.

Thus, three trend lines converge to
make intermarriage a major factor in driving
down the Israel attachment scores of
younger adults. First, many more young
people are intermarried. Second, the
intermarried are more distant and more
alienated from Israel. Third, the youngest
intermarried are the most distant and alienated
from Israel.

Many American Jews are claiming
or reclaiming their identities as proud, equal,
Diaspora Jews who do not necessarily believe
that Israel is the center and America the
periphery of a global Judaism.

These results point to the continuing secularization of American Jews and the damage wrought by outer-marriage. American Jewish youth in greater numbers than their predecessors are acculturated to a religion neutral society where the open ticket to social acceptance is ditching all that crazy Jewish stuff. Where have we heard this before. But if that were only the case. The problem runs far deeper. This younger crowd merely has cultural Jewish identification without recognizing that it is the religion aspect which defines the nature of what real cultural identification is. This limb of the Jewish body is educated poorly in Judaism and the education that most receive is sparse and filled with non-traditional learning. The beliefs and understanding of this group reflects its background.

(all respondents)

1. How important is being Jewish in your life? .............
Very Fairly Not Very Not At All Not
Important Important Important Important Sure
45% 39% 12% 3% 1%

2. Do you see yourself as:
Yes
a. Religious? … 35%
b. Secular - 44%
c. Spiritual? - 61%
d. Observant (religiously)? - 31%
e. Jewish by religion? - 89%
f. Jewish by ethnicity? - 82%
g. Culturally Jewish? - 78%
h. Pro-Israel? - 82%
i. A Zionist? - 28%

3. With respect to your belief in God, which term best applies to you?
Believer: 67% Agnostic: 14% Atheist: 6% Not sure: 13%

8. Do you agree or do you disagree with
each of the following statements?

d. Being Jewish is the primary way I identify myself.......
Agree Strongly 25% Agree 30% Not Sure 10% Disagree 29%Strongly Disagree 5%

e. It is important to me to have friends who are Jewish..
Agree Strongly 21% Agree 40% Not Sure 13% Disagree Strongly 22% Disagree 4%

f. I wish I knew more Jewishly…………………………....
Agree Strongly 15% Agree 34% Not Sure 24% Disagree 24% Strongly Disagree 4%

k. I have a special responsibility to take care of Jews in need around the world……………………………
Agree Strongly 20% Agree 39% Not Sure 23% Disagree 16% Strongly Disagree 2%

m. It bothers me when people try to tell me that
there’s a right way to be Jewish…………………….
Agree Strongly 41% Agree 39% Not Sure 11% Disagree 8% Strongly Disagree 1%

t. Jews should marry whoever they fall in love with,
even if they’re not Jewish…………………………...
Agree Strongly 29% Agree 34% Not Sure 13% Disagree 14% Strongly Disagree 9%

u. I would be upset if a child of mine were to marry a non-Jew who did not convert to Judaism…….....
Agree Strongly 13% Agree 17% Not Sure 14% Disagree 29% Strongly Disagree 28%

ISRAEL & YOU
9. Do you agree or do you disagree with each of the following statements

c. If Israel were destroyed, I would feel as if I had suffered one of the greatest personal tragedies of my life………….....................................
Agree Strongly 34% Agree 30% Not Sure 18% Disagree 13% Strongly Disagree 5%

e. I am sometimes uncomfortable identifying myself as a supporter of Israel……………………………………
Agree Strongly 3% Agree 11% Not Sure 15% Disagree 44%Strongly Disagree 27%

Another troubling observation which the study directors seem to take for granted and attempt to justify in their results is the measure of support for Israel based only upon war and political correctness. The authors imply that living through Israel's glory filled war history increases "support" and identification with Israel while the troubles since Rabin and Oslo (where only a non-religious Jew would conclude that a moral equivalency) have resulted in a distancing from Israel.

One explanation for these trends and
age-related variations looks to the impact
of history and how Israel has appeared in
various periods over the last 60 years.

What is obviously missing here is not a political determination of whether or not it is 'good' to support Israel but what is the Jewish thing to do. Where is the "Jewish blood" factor and the "all Jews are responsible one for the other" measurement? This is the reason, I would humbly conclude as to why the Orthodox were not measured in this survey. The survey is not really measuring support for Israel so much as it is measuring support or lack thereof for a single Jewish people. Despite the efforts to the contrary of late amongst the Reformists in particular to make the claim of a unique Jewish identity not based upon Jewish tradition and Torah but equal to it nonetheless (separate but equal) , the same benefit of equality isn't extended to the unification of all Jewry nor does it concern itself with Jewish life in Israel. Jews in Israel are Jews too. Israel will soon have a greater population of Jews than anywhere in the world (if not already). A large body of American Jewry is not ready to process this reality nor prepared to deal with the halachic consequences. The idea of a unified and equal Jewish people without Israel being intrinsically at the center, contains an inherent inconsistency of logic. Logic though, has never been a pre-requisite of non-traditional Jewry.


Some of the survey findings include broken down to age groups include:
(click to enlarge)




While Israeli youth grow more religious, American Jewish youth are increasingly losing interest with Israel, compared to the percentages of previous generations of American Jews and are less interested in Jewish life.

One of the reasons for free trips to Israel has been to stimulate interest in Israel affairs and Jewish communal responsibility. The focus of Israel education however is spiked by its being managed by non-religious Jews. Political correctness, the Pirke Avos of non-traditional Judaism demands looking at Israel "objectively" since Israel must be judged by the standards of "fairness" and "world peace". Israelis, on the other hand seem to better understand the traditional role of Jewish responsibility (possibly out of necessity).
American Jewry could better focus it's assets on teaching Torah and subsidizing Jewish day school education for all Jewish children than wasting it's time on other politically correct programs. Israel trips should be used as a reward for attending day school not as a means of last resort to save Jewish youth.

*"As might be expected, Orthodox
Jews maintain far different relationships
with Israel than those maintained by the
non-Orthodox. If anything, Orthodox engagement
with Israel has increased over the
years as Orthodoxy has been “Sliding to the
Right” (Heilman 2006)."