Reform Women Arrested for Provocation at Kotel

B”H

Oh goodness. There are a lot of issues here to deal with, and none of them are as the Jerusalem Post presents them.

Let’s start with the headline:

“Woman arrested, released for praying in talit at Western Wall.”

She was not arrested for praying in talit. She was arrested for provocation when, surrounded by at least 40 other women, she began a Torah service (with, I’m sure, the accompanying singing and dancing). She began to unroll a Torah, and was attempting to begin reading (singing) from that Torah.

This was a clear provocation, and it was obviously pre-meditated, as the woman states: “We debated amongst ourselves whether or not to read from the Torah at the Kotel itself or to take the Torah to the Robinson’s Arch.”

The women knew what they were doing, and they did it with intention for the express purpose of making a scene.

If the woman was, as the JPOST contends in their headline, arrested for praying in talit—she would have been arrested and removed from the wall when she donned the talit. They wouldn’t have waited for her to unroll a Torah Scroll.

I’m sure that the police and the Kotel Rabbi were watching the women, who were probably giddy with their intent, march up to the wall and begin their Torah service. They were patient, waiting to see what the women would do. When the Torah service started, with the singing and dancing that usually accompanies such an action, they were compelled, by secular AND religious law to stop the service.

I’m sure the women were happy to be arrested. This was their intention. They wished to make headlines, and they did.

If they had not been arrested, what would have been the outcome? More women would have come to the Kotel to “pray” loudly with their Torahs and, while this is a beautiful, spiritual thing for many of them, they would be violating the rights of men who are also at the Kotel to pray and who cannot pray while listening to women sing. They also cannot listen to a woman lead services.

In attempting to forward their “rights” to pray at the Kotel, they would be denying the rights of men to pray there. This is an exceedingly selfish thing to do when there is an area set aside for this type of expression in order to protect the rights of all people wishing to pray at the Kotel.

In addition to the fact that their prayers nullify the rights of men to pray, we must also take into consideration that, while men are REQUIRED by halacha to pray, women are not REQUIRED to pray. Women MAY pray, if they wish, but they are not OBLIGATED. Men are OBLIGATED to pray. Therefore, these women would have severely violated the religious rights of men who are fulfilling their obligation while insisting upon the right to do something which, by Jewish law, is not mandatory for women.

It is in this context, that I would like to bring up the following point: Reform is having a terrible time keeping men religious. Yes. They have admitted it themselves. When one enters a Reform Temple, they overwhelming majority of those praying are WOMEN, not men. In fact, the Reform have started new “men’s services” in order to encourage men and boys to pray.

This is a direct result of favoring the so-called “rights” of women over the religious OBLIGATION of men.

These women should be ashamed of themselves!

And, my answer to this women’s comment, "I am not a political person. I come to pray and perform what is written in the Torah 'Speak to the Israelites and tell them to make tzitzit on the corners of their garments'", said Frenkel referring the biblical verse that teaches the commandment to wear a talit” would be this:

If you are so interested in following the mitzvot, why aren’t you fully religious? Are you Kosher? Do you keep Shabbat?

I am betting she chooses her mitzvot like they are something set out on a buffet table—savoring one while ignoring another.

This is not following G-d’s Word, this is following the selfish ways of humanity and attempting to fashion G-d into your own image.

--M
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Nov 18, 2009 10:18 | Updated Nov 18, 2009 12:39
Woman arrested, released for praying in talit at Western Wall
By MATTHEW WAGNER
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258489193200&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Police and Western Wall officials expelled a female prayer group from the Kotel area and arrested one of the women after they attempted Wednesday morning to read from a Torah scroll.

"We debated amongst ourselves whether or not to read from the Torah at the Kotel itself or to take the Torah to the Robinson's Arch," said Nofrat Frenkel, who was arrested and later released by police.

"In the end we decided that because nobody seemed to mind we would go ahead and read the Torah at the Kotel."

According to a compromise reached two decades ago under Supreme Court mediation, it was agreed that women who wished to wear talitot [prayer shawls] and kippot and read from the Torah would be allowed to do so at the Robinson's Arch adjacent to the Kotel and not directly in front of the Kotel so as not to offend Orthodox visitors.

On every Rosh Hodesh (beginning of the Jewish month) the Women of the Wall conduct prayers at the Kotel and at the Robinson's Arch. On Wednesday's visit there was a contingent of women from North America who are in Israel to take part in a rabbinical ordination ceremony to take place at the Reform Movement's Hebrew Union College.

Frenkel said that as the women unrolled the Torah scroll and began to prepare to read, officials from the Kotel Foundation arrived and demanded that they leave the premises.

Frenkel said that the women agreed to roll up the Torah scroll and take it to the Robinson's Arch. But on their way out Frenkel, who was wearing a talit and was carrying the Torah, was seized by police.

"I was pushed into a nearby police station and transferred to the main police station at Yaffo Gate."

About 40 women who attended the prayer formed a procession and followed the police and Frenkel through the Old City to the Yaffo Gate where they congregated and sang songs until Frenkel was released.

Rabbi Felicia Sol of the post-denominational Bnei Jeshrun Synagogue on Manhattan's Upper West Side, said that the attempt to read from the Torah was an experiment with "pushing the boundaries".

"It is ridiculous that in a Jewish state that is supposedly democratic women cannot pray the way they want to and only one definition of Judaism is accepted," said Sol.

"It is sad that many secular Israelis are distanced from Judaism because in Israel religion is seen as a negative, divisive force instead of being compelling and meaningful."

Anat Hoffman, Chair of the Women of the Wall, said that the two-decade-old compromise that prevents women from reading from the Torah at the Kotel was outdated.

"Times have changed and women should be allowed to have a more central role in Jewish expression," said Hoffman.

Kotel Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitz said in response that the women's actions were "a desecration of the sacred."

"They brought dissent and infighting to a place that is supposed to symbolize unity," said Rabinovitz. "And that is a desecration. They behaved like [biblical] Korah and his assembly."

Rabinovitz added that the women were motivated by a political agenda and did not want to simply pray.

However, Frenkel, who belongs to a Conservative congregation in Israel, said that her sole intention was to pray to God.

"We were not trying to cause a provocation," said Frenkel.

"I am not a political person. I come to pray and perform what is written in the Torah 'Speak to the Israelites and tell them to make tzitzit on the corners of their garments'", said Frenkel referring the biblical verse that teaches the commandment to wear a talit.

Jerusalem Police said that they arrested a woman from after she donned a talit, while praying at the Western Wall.

According to a police spokesman, the woman was approached by officers after putting the prayer shawl on, which police said caused an outcry from other worshippers.

"Police calmed the situation down, and took the woman in for questioning," a statement from the spokesman said.

Maharat Hurwitz Takes a Leadership Role at Hebrew Institute of Riverdale

B"H

I like the title "Maharat," because it is signifies that she is a woman, and I think that makes a big difference to me.

Why?

Because there are a lot of questions I would ask a Maharat that I would NEVER ask a rabbi. And, according to a recent survey on Orthodox Married Women's Sex Lives, there are a lot of other women who won't ask THOSE questions of rabbis either.

I'm not alone.

The truth is, women know women and we have always needed someone wise to answer those questions--someone learned, someone approachable.

I hope that her title doesn't get confused with that of a rabbi. They are different jobs, and, THANK G-D they are different jobs! The job she can do is one that is, in my opinion, a lot more valuable to women (and their husbands) in a lot of ways than that of a rabbi.

Those who might think what she is doing is a break from Jewish Tradition should be reminded that Devora was a Dyan. How would Devorah qualify to be a Dyan if she were not qualified to become a leader, a Maharat?

The role of Maharat is a completely halachic position. She is not making a minyan, she is not doing any job she cannot perform under halacha. She is simply providing knowledge, support, and leadership.

Just as men can do some things she can't, she can do a lot of things that the men can't--primarily, be there at a childbirth, provide answers to women's questions (in a much more modest way), and share a hug, hold a hand, or simply provide a strong support for the women of the community.

We need women leaders, religious women leaders who are formally trained in the laws of family purity, Kashrut, and everything in between.

Thank you, Sara Hurwitz, for helping to rebuild this profession, for leading the Jewish nation back to our roots and making us see that religious expression, education, and leadership of women can be done properly.

M

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When is a rabbi not a rabbi? When she's a maharat
By Kate Pastor
http://riverdalepress.com/full.php?sid=10518&current_edition=2009-11-12

She leads prayers like a rabbi. She’s there for weddings, births and deaths like a rabbi. But is she one?

For a woman who has spent years studying the holiest of Jewish texts, Sara Hurwitz, 32, spends a lot of time fielding inquiries into semantics over her own title. Just by leading services at Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, she answers them with another.

“The question really is: is it a means to an end or is it a final title?” said Maharat Hurwitz.

“Either Maharat will have to come to mean rabbi, or if it doesn’t, another title will have to come to sort of mean or describe the role,” of female rabbis, she said.

Maharat means leader in Jewish religious law, spiritual matters and Torah. The title was given to her in a conferral ceremony by HIR’s Rabbi Avi Weiss in March; Orthodox tradition says she cannot be called a rabbi because she is a woman.

Some ask why, if Maharat means she performs duties of a rabbi, she isn’t called one. Others question her officiating at all.

There are a handful of Orthodox female leaders in this country, so by doing what comes naturally to her, Maharat Hurwitz has stepped into the center of a political debate over women’s growing roles in Orthodox synagogues.

To some she has become a walking symbol of women’s progress, especially since this fall when she founded the first Orthodox institution in the country to train women to function as spiritual leaders.

To others she represents an unholy push toward modernity (she once saw a man turn his back and walk out when he saw her leading prayer). At HIR, she says, people have begun to see her quite simply as the religious leader they call when a loved one dies or a baby is born — as a rabbi.

Certainly the image people have in their minds when they think of a rabbi, she said, doesn’t always match up with her appearance. But that is starting the change, she said.

But ask her another seemingly simple question and the issue arises again: was she ordained?

The way she tells it, her work under Rabbi Weiss led to him naming her Madricha Ruchanit, or religious mentor, in 2006 and she continued to study under his auspices.

“And that’s what led to a conferral ceremony, which is really a code word for ‘smichah’ or ordination,” she said.

“I mean this is where it gets sticky, because this is where the politics influences what happens,” she said.

“But we had to stay away from certain language like ‘smichah,’ ordination. [They] are words associated with men becoming ordained, at least within the Orthodox community. And rabbi, which is controversial.”

Maharat Hurwitz says the clergy chose her and she is more concerned with being able to function as a rabbi than with titles. She cannot act as a witness, lead all parts of services in mixed settings or be counted in the formation of a “minyan,” or Jewish quorum. But she can tend to the sick, comfort the grieving and act as a spiritual guide.

However she feels about her ill-defined role, she is a woman used to standing apart.

Maharat Hurwitz grew up in South Africa in a non-observant Jewish family. At age 12, after being introduced to religion by an aunt, she knew she wanted to lead a pious life as an Orthodox Jew. And she knew little of any kind of restrictions based on gender.

“I think that’s probably what helped me get to where I am, because it never occurred to me that I wouldn’t get to do everything that I dreamed of,” said Maharat Hurwitz.

Shortly after her bat mitzvah, in 1989, her family immigrated to Florida, partly because of their discomfort with apartheid.

She had studied at a Jewish day school and attended an Orthodox synagogue — the only kind to be found in Johannesburg. Her family moved near an Orthodox shul for her benefit when they relocated to Boca, but sent her to public high school.

She pursued religion on her own. Between Boca Raton and Barnard, Columbia University, she studied at a yeshiva in Israel. She had feet in two worlds.

“I was always an outsider,” she said.

“When I was trying to get into the Orthodox community, I was still always a little bit of an outsider. But I think that gave me . . . [MORE]

No Wonder California Is Going Bankrupt! It Takes 4 Different Police Agencies To Determine Whether Synagogue Kristalnacht Graffiti is a Hate Crime???

B”H

Please, please, please, please tell me the authorities in Sacramento are not serious when they say, “Detectives from four agencies are investigating whether vandalism reported at a Carmichael synagogue this morning was a hate crime.”

Let’s just review the evidence, shall we?

1. A synagogue was spray-painted with swastikas, “SS” lightning bolts, and the message “Kristallnact still lives.”
2. The synagogue’s sign was burned along with several bushes in front of the building.
3. This happened on the 71st anniversary of Kristallnact.
4. This synagogue was burned down in 1999 by two white supremists.
   

Tell me, if this doesn’t qualify as a hate crime, what does? Do they need a calling card left at the scene with the signature “Neo-Nazi” or what? Seriously, what kind of craziness has enveloped the world, what kind of insane form of PC is this, when Nazi graffiti all over a synagogue on the anniversary of Kristallnacht has to be investigated by four different agencies to discover if it is anti-Semitism?

I, for one, don’t need any further demonstration of their hate, and clearly this was a crime . . . Therefore . . .

It is a HATE CRIME.

OK, so, where do I pick up my consultant’s fee?

M
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November 10, 2009

Cops investigate synagogue vandalism as possible hate crime

From Kim Minugh and Pete Basofin

Detectives from four agencies are investigating whether vandalism reported at a Carmichael synagogue this morning was a hate crime, according to authorities.

Officials at Congregation Beth Shalom on El Camino Avenue contacted the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department about 10:40 a.m. to report that racist symbols and messages, including a swastika, had been spray painted on the sanctuary, said sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran.

The vandalism included the "SS" lightning bolts - the symbol of the Nazi security forces; a swastika and the message "Kristallnacht still lives," Curran said.

"Kristallnacht," meaning "Crystal night" or "the Night of Broken Glass," refers to an event 71 years ago today in which the German Nazis attacked Jewish people and businesses across Germany. Over the course of two days, more than 1,000 synangogues were damaged, at least 91 Jews were killed and some 30,000 Jewish men arrested. The men were sent to concentration camps that had been newly expanded for the influx of prisoners.

In the attack on Congregation Beth Shalom, bushes lining the exterior of the sanctuary also had been burned, although Curran said detectives believe the fire was set to burn down the synagogue's sign and not the entire building.

Curran said the vandal - described as a man wearing dark clothing - was caught on surveillance video about 1 a.m., but the images reveal no other distinguishing characteristics.

The incident is being investigated by the Sheriff's Department as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District's arson team and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Curran said. Detectives will determine whether the act was a hate crime, and which agency will take the lead in the investigation, Curran said.

No suspects have been identified, and no witnesses have been found, Curran said.

Congregation Beth Shalom was one of three Sacramento-area synagogues targeted by two arsonists in 1999. Benjamin Matthew Williams, a self-proclaimed white supremacist, and his brother, James Tyler Williams, pleaded guilty in September 2001 to setting the fires, which caused almost $3 million in damages. They were sentenced to 30 years and 21 years and three months, respectively, in federal prison for the crimes.

Benjamin Williams committed suicide in his jail cell in 2002 as he and his brother awaited trial in connection with another case - the murders of a gay couple in Happy Valley two weeks after the synagogue fires.

James Tyler Williams remains in prison after being convicted of the murders, as well as the fire-bombing of an abortion clinic in Sacramento, according to media reports.

Mass Murdering Major's "Visiting" Brother Beat A Hasty Retreat Back to Al-Bireah After Attack

B”H

This A7 story is very interesting in a very significant way. On the face of it, this story appears to just summarize the horrible, vicious, and evil crime unleashed upon American troops by a Jihadist Arab-American US Army Major, Nidal Malik Hasan (may his name be a curse for eternity), who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded over 30 while shouting “Allah Aukbar!” But the story has some interesting information I have not seen published elsewhere.

Primarily the last sentence of the article really got my attention: “Hasan’s brother, who was visiting the United States, hastily returned to his Al-Bireh home after the murders.”

Hmmm.

Let me see . . . The US authorities are trying to see if the maniac mass murderer worked alone, or was supplied weapons and information from terrorist “handlers” from abroad. His “dear brother” comes from arab terrorist occupied Israel for a “visit” just before the murders, and hastily beats a retreat as soon as the murders happen.

Interesting coincidence, don’t you think? Wouldn’t it be normal behavior for his brother to have stuck around to see whether his dear brother would rise from his coma and live to see another day? Don’t you think it would be normal behavior for his brother to be there to support and encourage his parents and the rest of the family in a time of great pain and anguish? Don’t you think it would be normal behavior for the brother to take some responsibility upon himself for the protection of his parents, to assist in hiring lawyers, to stand by his father to support him, to simply BE THERE?

For him to “hastily return to his Al-Bireh home” sounds, well . . . a bit suspicious to me. (And, by the way, wasn't it reported that Nidal Malik Hasan [may his name be a curse for eternity] was an American born soldier, and that his parents lived here? Why does his brother live in Al-Bireah???)

Just letting my mind wander here for a moment . . . Al-Bireah is a Hamas Stronghold. In the 2005 elections, 9 of the 15 members of the town council were elected from Hamas, and the Al-Bireah mayor’s car was attacked, just over a year ago, in Ramalla by Fatah-affiliated gunmen because he is a Hamas leader .

OK, so “bro” comes from Hamas strong-hold to visit psychiatrist brother, psychiatrist brother goes on Jihadist rampage.

In a strangely sooth-seeing article from the TIME magazine, reporting on Hamas’ reach into Afghanistan, TIME magazine reported on October 30, 2009:

• Hamas is expanding its operations out of the narrow Israeli theater. Jordanian security officials tell Time that two Hamas agents recently traveled to Afghanistan to recruit the remnants of al-Qaeda's network to join its operations in the Arab world. The Jordanians say this spells danger for many countries in the Middle East, especially since a growing number of Hamas leaders now argue that the best way to strike Israel is to attack U.S. targets in Arab countries. A choice venue for such attacks, they say, would be Iraq, where Hamas would find local groups willing to cooperate in attacks on occupying forces.

Yes, TIME, apparently locals did cooperate in attacking “occupying forces”--in the name of Nadal Malik Hasan (may is name be a curse for eternity) with, perhaps, his brother serving as courier for the information that the time to attack had come. Did the brother, upon realizing that his brother had survived, leave quickly for fear that the plot would be known once he gained consciousness?

But, of course, this is all just my mind wandering . . .

M
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‘Devout Muslim’ Psychiatrist Massacred 13 US Soldiers
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/134277
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu


(IsraelNN.com) The man who pulled the trigger and massacred 13 U.S. army soldiers Thursday and wounded 30 others is the grandson of Arabs from Samaria, a devout Muslim psychiatrist and a U.S. army officer who screamed, “Allah Akbar” (Arabic for Allah is the Greatest) before he fired. The attack ended after he was seriously wounded, and he is in intensive care at an army hospital.

He was identified at Major Nidal Malkik Hasan, whose cousin said became stricter in his devotion to Islam after his mother died nine years ago. The murder at the Fort Hood, Texas base, the largest in the United States, is the worst Muslim-related attack in the country since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

An aftershock of the massacre is the revelation that many warning signs were clear before he began his shooting spree, and Texas Senator Bailey Hutchinson said that investigators are examining if "there is something more than just one deranged person” involved in the episode. It is not yet known if Hasan was able to gain possession of his two non-military semi-automatic handguns weapons without outside assistance.

Either Hasan or someone with the same name began posting on websites six months ago that suicide bombers might be characterized as soldiers who save their comrades by throwing themselves over grenades. At approximately the same time, he was transferred from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center to Fort Hood

A classmate of Hasan in a master’s program last year described him as “Muslim first and an American second.” One Islamic extremist website has claimed he was hero who "killed no less than 12 Crusade foreigners” and sowed “terror and chaos in the ranks of the enemy.”

Muslims in the United States immediately expressed fears of a backlash. His grandfather in Al-Bireh, located next to Ramallah in Samaria, told Reuters, "America made him what he is. Whether he became angry or something else, I don't know."

Blogger Robert Salaam, a former U.S. marine who converted to Islam, wrote, “I know that my fellow non-Muslim Americans would love to see me leave my country. I wonder where they would like me to go.”

Hasan's brother, who was visiting the United States, hastily returned to his Al-Bireh home after the murders.

Rabbi Angel on Parashat Vayera

The Charisma Conundrum
By Rabbi Marc D. Angel
http://www.jewishideas.org/angel-shabbat/charisma-conundrum-thoughts-parashat-vayera-no

Some years ago, I learned about a doctoral dissertation that explored the nature of charisma. The author spent many hours talking with and observing individuals who were widely regarded as being very successful in their interpersonal relationships. Among the group of charismatic people were clergy, doctors, teachers, businesspeople, and a bartender.

What qualities did these individuals have that made others feel attracted to them? What was at the root of their charisma? Why were these men and women so highly regarded among their peers?

The author of the dissertation found basic threads that tied them all together. Charismatic individuals all demonstrate enthusiasm for what they do; they love their work. They enjoy meeting challenges. They desire to share their enthusiasm with others, and to do things for others. They are successful with people, because they genuinely feel a commitment to others.

An enthusiastic person inspires enthusiasm in others. An idealistic individual inspires idealism in others. Charisma is a function of one's inner enthusiasm, love and overflowing commitment to others. To the extent that a person can convey these qualities to others, his/her charismatic power is enhanced.

This week's Parasha opens with a description of Abraham's hospitality to three strangers. The Torah emphasizes Abraham's alacrity--he rushed out to greet them, he told Sarah to hurry to bake bread, he ran to find a suitable meal for his guests. The Midrash points out features of Abraham's hospitality: he kept his tent open on all four sides in order to encourage guests to enter; he fed them well and taught them to offer blessings to God; he was the embodiment of "hesed"--kindness and compassion.

Abraham was charismatic. He founded a new religious worldview and he made many converts. Why were they attracted to him and his message? Because he was so enthusiastic, loving, and helpful; because he had a great message and was able to communicate it to them.

The Midrash teaches that Abraham and Sarah were both overflowing with love of God and love of humanity. Abraham converted the men, and Sarah converted the women. They were overwhelmingly successful because they were able to attract people to themselves and to their ideas.

Few people can reach the level of charisma of Abraham and Sarah, and few will be able to change the world so dramatically. However, everyone can raise his/her "charisma quotient" by becoming more energized with one's own work; by demonstrating greater enthusiasm for one's ideals; by devoting more time and effort to reaching out and helping others in an honest and loving way.

Erich Fromm noted: "Most people fail in the art of living not because they are inherently bad or so without will that they cannot live a better life; they fail because they do not wake up and see when they stand at a fork in the road and have to decide."

Charisma entails a constant awareness of life's challenges, an enthusiasm to meet those challenges, and the ability to make decisions in an intelligent way.

***Please share this Angel for Shabbat column with family and friends. Please visit the website of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, jewishideas.org , and read the new articles and blog that have been posted this week. We welcome your support, membership--and enthusiasm.

Kahane Chai! On the 19th Anniversary of His Tragic Death

B"H

This is a beautiful tribute to H'Rav Kahane by one of his most loyal and closest supporters on the anniversary of his death, 19 years ago, at the hands of an arab terrorist who was never fully held responsible for his crime.

It is believed that the murder of Rabbi Kahane was the first Al Queda attack on US soil, but it was never fully investigated. If it had been, perhaps 9/11 would not have happened.

Since his senseless murder, his political organization, Kach, was banned by the Knesset as "racist," and named by the US state department as a "terrorist organization" even though they have never been connected to a terrorist attack of any kind.

Rabbi Kahane was not a racist. He was a pragmatist. He knew that the arabs would never be happy living "side by side" with Jews in the land of Israel. He knew they would never settle for anything less than the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people.

As I am writing this, the Israeli authorities are continuing to unpack a ship full of arms sent from Iran to Hezbullah for the purpose of attacking Israel. Hamas terrorists in Gaza are importing weapons through tunnels, and test-firing missiles that can hit Tel Aviv.

When will we learn that denying a prophet never negates the prophecy?

M
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by Shifra Hoffman
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/9134

The author, who worked closely with Rabbi Kahane for many years, shares little known memories and insights of the dauntless, ideological MK and leader of the Kach party on the 19th anniversary of his tragic murder.

In this generation of fleeting allegiance and loyalty, particularly in the realm of Jewish leadership, it seems inexplicable that today, years after the brutal murder of Rabbi Meir Kahane, he is mourned by so many Jews throughout the world. The phrase coined so as to perpetuate his ideas as well as his memory is" Kahane tzadak"(Kahane was right [i.e.his predictions were correct]).

Having worked closely for more than two decades with this self-sacrificing Jewish leader, both in the United States and in Israel, I feel impelled, on the l9th anniversary of his murder, to relate a few little known insights about the man behind the headlines.

Although demonized by both left- and right-wing Israeli governments for his prophetic warnings concerning the rise of Arab nationalism and the dire consequences of making concessions to these implacable enemies, Rabbi Kahane remained undaunted. In his view, the Torah was the only timely and relevant 'road map' for the Jewish people.

During his election campaign for the Knesset, despite an Israeli Court decision that obliged television and newspapers to cover him as they did all other candidates, these 'democratic media outlets’ refused to do so. This compelled the Rabbi to travel to speak each day in communities throughout Israel, often returning late at night in a state of complete exhaustion. Against all odds, he was elected to the Knesset. and following his unexpected success, began to use the Knesset podium to sponsor the exact legislation upon which he based his pre-election platform. This, as we know, is an unusual phenomenon in Israel, where once elected, politicians feel they have the right to diametrically change their policy.

Rabbi Kahane believed that the only solution that could prevent a repeat of the Holocaust “final solution” in the Jewish state is the separation of Arabs and Jews.

To underscore his commitment to this belief, he announced that he would go to Um El-Fahm, a hotbed of Arab terrorists and their supporters, to suggest that they leave the Jewish State, offering them compensation for their property. This was despite the fact that Jews received nothing when they were 'transferred' from the homes in Arab lands that they had lived in for generations.

The reaction to Rabbi Kahane’s first Knesset speech in which he presented this plan was hundreds of phonecalls that I received, many of them from “closet Kahane supporters” (as he used to refer to those Jews that secretly held his views, but feared to openly express them), urging me to implore the new MK to "tone down his rhetoric and change his image", now that he was an official member of the Government of Israel.

Knowing what his answer would be, I nevertheless dutifully related their requests.
"Change my image," he replied as an amused smile crossed his face. "I worked too long and too hard to present this image. I want the citizens of Israel to know I am the same Meir Kahane they voted for."

He then travelled to Um El-Fahm to deliver his message.

A lesser known facet of the Rabbi's boundless ahavat yisrael, the overriding love and compassion for the Jewish people, was a special charity fund from which he distributed thousands of shekels to hundreds of poor and often hungry Jews who came to his door each week. Those Jews shed bitter tears at his funeral, lamenting, "Who will help us now that Rabbi Kahane is gone?" The Chassdei Meir Fund established in his memory currently enlists dedicated volunteers who continue to provide and deliver large cases of donated food to poverty stricken Jewish families.

A further tribute to the Rabbi's influence can be found today in the hearts and minds of the young courageous Jews in Israel, who make their homes in caravans on the hilltops the Land of Israel, and who, at great personal sacrifice, defend the right of Jews to settle anywhere in our G-D given homeland.

There are countless tales that deserve to be told about the life of this noble Jew, the personification of the Jewish scholar warrior in the tradition of the Biblical King David.
However, the legacy which Rabbi Meir Kahane left the Jewish people and the world are his penetrating, insightful thoughts, expressed in the many popular books he authored. Among them are: Never Again, Why Be Jewish?, Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews, Our Challenge, They Must Go.The Story of the Jewish Defense League, Forty Years, and his magnum opus, The Jewish Idea, written shortly before his murder by an Arab terrorist.

In one of the volumes he signed for me personally, is an inscription I treasure dearly:
"In every generation, there are always a few who understand; Always understand... even if you remain among the few."

*A Prayer Service is scheduled to take at Rabbi Kahane's gravesite at Har HaMenuchot inJerusalem, please G-D on Mar Cheshvan 18 (November 5) followed by a Memorial Program at Heichal David Hall , 5 Ohaliav St. Romema, JERUSALEM .

Shifra Hoffman is a journalist, Founder of the VICTIMS OF ARAB TERROR INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION (VAT) and Executive Director of SHUVA (Return) the Israel Emergency Aliyah Movement. She can be contacted at:hoffmanshifra@gmail.com

Goodbye Dear Levi-Strauss. You were a Scholar's Scholar

B”H

As an academic, I have always gravitated toward structuralism. It is a beautiful way to look at the world, language, and art.

It is a very Jewish way to see the world—as part of the fabulous riddle that Hashm has given us, something deeper than it appears, more magnificent than we could realize, greater than the sum of its parts, "the search for unsuspected harmonies."

His work stands as testament to his great mind, and the work of those who followed his lead stand testament to his great legacy.

Goodbye, dear Levi-Strauss. You left the world much better than you found it. You provided keys to meaning that many of us lacked without your insight.

May your family by comforted by Hashm.

M
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French thinker Claude Levi-Strauss dead at 100
http://www.ejpress.org/article/40190
by: Carole Landry

(AFP)---French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, who helped shape Western thinking about human civilisation, has died at the age of 100, his publisher and colleagues said Tuesday.

Levi-Strauss died on Friday and was buried at a private service in the Burgundy village of Lignerolles, where he had a house, senior colleagues said.

"Two years ago he broke his hip and he had been very tired ever since. He died at a grand old age," said Philippe Desacola, his successor as head of the social anthropology laboratory at the College of France research institute.

A family friend said relatives chose to wait before announcing his death to protect their privacy and avoid a media storm at his funeral.

Trained as a philosopher, Levi-Strauss shot to prominence with his 1955 book "Tristes Tropiques" (A World on the Wane), a haunting account of travels and studies in the Amazon basin and one of the 20th century's major works.

Paying tribute, President Nicolas Sarkozy gave "homage to a tireless humanist, a curious academic who was always in search of new knowledge, to aman free of any sectarianism or indoctrination."

The French leader described him as a "very great scholar, always open to the world, who created modern anthropology and raised the reputation of French human and social sciences to its highest level."

His predecessor Jacques Chirac, who opened the Paris museum of tribal arts at Levi-Strauss' side in 2006, paid respect to "a thinker who dedicated his life to understanding and explaining cultures, their strengths, their diversity, their greatness and their fragility."

Levi-Strauss was a leading proponent of structuralism, which sought to uncover the hidden, unconscious or primitive patterns of thought believed to determine the outer reality of human culture and relationships.

Structuralism was also, Levi-Strauss liked to say, "the search for unsuspected harmonies."

French academia and the cultural elite had mobilised for his 100th birthday last year to pay homage to Levi-Strauss with a programme of films, lectures and reflection on his contribution to modern thinking.

Among the more striking conclusions of his work was the idea that there is no fundamental difference between the belief systems and myths of so-called "primitive" races and those of modern Western societies.

He was the oldest member of France's prestigious Academie of leading intellectuals, a respected but retiring figure, who had said he no longer felt at home on an overpopulated planet.

In a 2005 television interview, Levi-Strauss expressed worry about ending his days in "this world that I do not love."

What I see are the current devastation, the frightening disappearances of living species, be they plants or animals. Because of its current density, the human species is living in a type of internally poisonous regime."

Levi-Strauss was born in Brussels in 1908, the son of French Jewish parents from the German-speaking region of Alsace. He studied philosophy and in 1935 went to Brazil, where he became a professor at the University of Sao Paolo.

He studied the lives of the tribes of the Mato Grosso and the Amazonian rainforest, collecting material for theories on the underlying structures of human relationships and myths shared by various cultures.

Returning to France in 1939 he was conscripted, but after the Nazi invasion he was, as a Jew, forced to flee to the United States, where he taught while awaiting his chance to return home and restart his career.

He was given the chair in social anthropology at the College de France in 1959, where he worked until retirement in 1982.

"Straddling the worlds of philosophy and science, his work is essential for any attempt to reflect on our society and how it works," said Denis Bertholet, one of Levi-Strauss' biographers.

"He had an ecological approach to the world and to individuals that was ahead of its time."

Ship full of Weapons Seized off of Cyprus

B”H

OK, let’s have a show of hands, shall we?

Who thinks weapons that are being smuggled to Hizbullah are for the purposes of hunting game, skeet shooting, and other innocent gun-sports? After all, doesn’t everyone like to hunt game with 107 and 122 mm Katusha rockets? There is nothing quite as satisfying as hitting a goat with some 120mm mortars or a few anti-tank missiles, or fishing with blocks of C4.

Come on, everyone! They just need those weapons for “defensive purposes,” right? They aren’t going to hurt anyone. They just want to protect themselves from the dangerous citizens of Israel, who are constantly massing at the border and trying to attack them. They are constantly trying to make war on the poor palestinian people!

And the scuba gear? Why that was so that they can start a tourist business off the coast—you know, taking small groups of terrorist fighters out to see the beautiful fish on their day off. What’s the problem?

Please.

When are we going to wake up and say, “Wow. Maybe Gaza on one side and Hezbullah on the other are arming to attack us at the same time—maybe to distract us while Iran or Syria or Lebanon tries to destroy us completely (probably all three). Why are we so complacent?

Can you imagine what kind of story this would be if US authorities found a ship like that off the US coast? If Britain found such a ship off their coast? If ANYONE else found such a ship????

The constant weapons smuggling isn’t just a game of cat and mouse between the IDF and the terrorists, it is a deadly serious game of war. Every bullet, missile, armor round, mortar, and explosive on that boat is intended to kill a Jew!

Will Obama say anything about it? Hillary? The great EU? No.

Will the world press make a big deal of it? No.

It’s just another “small” problem for Israel. And, of course, it’s all our fault.

If we would just voluntarily jump into the ocean and kill ourselves, there wouldn’t be so many problems for the rest of the world to deal with.

M
-----
**Click for Latest Update from A7**

**Click for Latest Update from JPost**

Iran's History of Weapons Smuggling
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/134226
by Hillel Fendel


(IsraelNN.com) The interception of the terrorist weapons ship near Cyprus - believed to be an Iranian shipment to Hizbullah – is just another one in a long series of similar attempted deliveries over the past several years.

In December 2001, the Karine-A ship was loaded in Iran with weapons and ammunition destined for Gaza. The ship took off for Egypt, where it planned to unload its cargo into fishing boats that would chug over to the Gaza coast. Israel intercepted the shipment on January 3, 2002, finding 83 specially-coated cases for sea-smuggling purposes, configurable to float at various distances below the ocean surface.

Included in the shipment were 107mm and 122mm Katyusha rockets (capable of reaching major Israeli cities), 120mm mortars, Sager and LAW anti-tank missiles, explosives, anti-tank mines, scuba gear, AK-47 assault rifles and other weapons. The vessel was manned by 13 PLO personnel and at least one person identified with the Lebanese Hizbullah terrorist organization.

Arutz-7's Kobi Finkler also reports on the following:
* In December 2003, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard operated an airlift of weapons to Hizbullah via Syria, under cover of humanitarian aid to the earthquake-ravaged Iranian city of Bam.

* In May 2007, Turkey discovered another Iranian airlift of mortar shells, light weapons, ammunition and rocket launchers, headed for Hizbullah.

* In January of this year, an Iranian shipment of arms was intercepted in Cyprus, including anti-tank shells, artillery shells, mortar shells, and more.

* Last month (October 2009), the Indian Hansa ship, flying a German flag, departed from Iran to Egypt. Suspicious German authorities ordered the ship not to dock in Egypt, but rather in Malta, where they found bullets and industrial equipment for the manufacture of weapons that had apparently been bound for Syria.

Rabbi Angel on Parashat Lekh Lekha

Listening for Our Inner Song
By Rabbi Marc D. Angel
<http://www.jewishideas.org/rabbi-marc-d-angel>

(This Angel for Shabbat column is sponsored by Yossie and Linnie (Tovli) Simiryan, in commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the passing of Reb Shlomo Carlebach.)

After going to battle to save his nephew Lot, Abraham meets with the king of Sodom. The king offers Abraham the booty from the war but Abraham declines to take anything for himself. Abraham introduced his response with the words: "I have lifted up my hand unto the Lord, God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth..." Most commentators take this to mean that Abraham took an oath.

The Midrash Talpiot, a compilation of rabbinic teachings by Rabbi Eliyahu haCohen of 18th century Izmir, cites a midrashic comment that Abraham's words were not related to an oath--but to a song! According to this comment, Abraham stood before the king of Sodom and sang a prayer! He prayed that he and his army had not killed any innocent people during the course of the battle.

I think this midrashic comment can be understood in another way. Each person has a unique contribution to make to this world; this contribution is embodied in the person's philosophy, talents, sensitivities, ways of helping others. Symbolically, a person's unique contribution can be described as a song--each person's special melody that imbues life with meaning and purpose.

When Abraham confronted the king of Sodom, Abraham sang his own song expressing that his life was lived in the context of the Lord God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth. Abraham's message to the king--and to all humanity--was the song of faith in one God, the song of ethical monotheism. Many people sing along with everyone else, and lose their own distinctiveness in the process. Abraham, though, sang a unique song that was to revolutionize humankind. His song was jarring to a pagan idolatrous world; but Abraham sang. His song was bold and deep and different from what others were used to; but Abraham sang. Abraham was on one side, and all the world on another side; but Abraham sang.

Each human being has his/her own song. Others may or may not appreciate it or even be able to hear it; but we each must be faithful to our inner music, the melody that gives expression to what is best and most important to us. This is what Abraham demonstrated when he sang to the king of Sodom.

The late Reb Shlomo Carlebach changed the Jewish world with his music. He sang his own song, developed his own style. During his lifetime, he was not always appreciated; he had his share of detractors--but he kept singing, kept composing music. During the 15 years since his passing, his music has become ever more popular. He had a unique God-given talent of creating music that touches the human spirit at its core. He brought biblical verses and ideas to life through his music. He helped many thousands of us come closer to God. He taught us to look for the inner music within each of our souls.

The psalmist calls on us: shiru laShem shir hadash--sing unto the Lord a new song. Each of us has a true and authentic song that can bring happiness, freshness, and faithfulness into our world. Each of our songs is as old as we are--but each of the songs becomes new and renewed as we grow spiritually from day to day.

***Please share the Angel for Shabbat column with your friends and associates, and please visit jewishideas.org for many articles of interest on a wide range of Jewish topics. If you would like to sponsor an Angel for Shabbat column in memory or in honor of a loved one, please email mdangel@jewishideas.org

A Guy Lies in Wait in a Synagogue Parking Garage, Shoots Two, But It Isn't A Hate Crime??

B"H

Some updated information about the synagogue shooting from the LA Times. It started out with everyone saying it was a hate crime, but suddenly there is "no evidence" of a hate crime.

OK, lets look at it this way. Say we turn the whole situation around and say a guy hides out in a parking garage at the local black church and, when a couple of black men got out of their cars, he runs out and shoots them in the legs.

Would that be a "hate crime"?

I would bet that it would be considered so. Even if the police wanted to bury the crime, black organizations and politicians would cause such a fuss that, eventually, it would be known as a hate crime.

They know how to do it right. They know how to demand justice.

Where are our organizations? Where are our politicians?

It seems to me that some guy waiting for people to get out of their car in a synagogue parking garage then shooting them in the legs is, in the least, a terrorist act (i.e. he means to terrorize members of that congregation and, perhaps, the Jewish community as a whole). I would also ASSUME it would be a hate crime because Jews were specifically targeted.

Wouldn't you??

M
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Synagogue shooting unnerves Los Angeles
Word that two men were wounded at a North Hollywood temple spread fast, stirring fears. But police say there is no evidence that the attack was a terrorist act or a hate crime.
By Andrew Blankstein, Robert Faturechi and Richard Winton
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-synagogue30-2009oct30,0,7901309,full.story


When the sound of gunfire shattered the peace of morning prayer Thursday at a North Hollywood synagogue, the shock waves traveled fast and far.

Was it a hate crime? An act of terrorism? An isolated incident or part of a wider plot? These were all real fears in a city where, 10 years ago, a white supremacist gunman terrorized a Jewish preschool and murdered a postal carrier, and where police have been on alert for acts of terror since Sept. 11, 2001.

By day's end, authorities had come to believe that the shooting, in which two men were wounded, was probably a far more mundane crime.

"There is absolutely no evidence to support any connection to terrorism or a hate crime," said Mike Downing, deputy chief of the LAPD's Counter Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau.

The gunman, whose image was captured by video cameras, remained at large, with the investigation being led by North Hollywood detectives, not Downing's elite anti-terror squad.

For a few hours, though, the shooting in the synagogue garage set nerves on edge throughout the city. Word traveled rapidly from temple-goers to police to city leaders to members of a joint regional terrorism task force.

The Los Angeles Police Department responded in force. Calls and e-mail alerts spun out to temples and Jewish organizations across the city. Reports were relayed by news agencies and television channels nationwide. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa rushed to the scene, joining two of the three candidates to succeed outgoing Police Chief William J. Bratton.

Then, gradually, investigators began ramping down the tension.

According to police, the shooting occurred at 6:19 a.m., after the victims parked their cars in the underground garage of Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic Synagogue, a small congregation on a quiet residential street. Morning services were underway.

A young gunman, dark-skinned and wearing a dark hooded sweat shirt, approached one man near a stairwell and tried to shoot, police said, but his gun jammed.

The second congregant noticed the commotion and approached the gunman, who then shot both men in the legs. The gunman did not speak, according to LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore.

The shooter fled, and witnesses called 911.

The victims, Maor Ben-Nissan, 37, and Allen Lasry, believed to be in his 40s, were taken to hospitals, where they were listed in good condition.

Detectives were working with them to understand what happened, Moore said. They do not believe the motive was robbery, according to LAPD sources, who spoke to The Times on the condition they not be named because the investigation is continuing.

Rabbi Amran Gabay described both men as regulars at the temple. He said one works in home improvement and the other in tile sales. The rabbi said he knew of no reason why either would be targeted, adding: "They're regular people."

A 17-year-old who was detained for questioning shortly after the shooting was released hours later, and police backed away from initial claims that the attack was motivated by religious hate.

Although the shooter was first described as being black, a police source later said detectives were not certain of the suspect's race.

"This investigation is wide open," said Capt. Sharyn Buck, who oversees the LAPD's North Hollywood Division.

Several law enforcement sources told The Times that investigators were looking at whether the shooting was related to a business or personal dispute. The sources said detectives believe that one of the victims was the target and that the second victim may have been shot because he witnessed the attack.

Speaking to reporters outside the taped-off synagogue, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called the incident "a senseless act of violence." But he was careful to temper concerns that the shooting was a hate crime.

"None of us should presume or speculate more about this other than it was a random act of violence," he said.

Adat Yeshurun, a congregation of mostly Moroccan and other North African Jews, is in the heart of the San Fernando Valley's Orthodox community and within walking distance of kosher markets and other synagogues.

Yehuda Oz, 53, has attended the temple for 15 years and arrived early Thursday to begin his regular morning prayers.

About an hour later, as he prayed with some 15 others in the sanctuary, four gunshots broke the silence, he said. He heard screams from the parking lot, then saw two men stumble into the temple.

Their blood spread over the floor as people rushed to stop the bleeding, Oz said, but no one inside saw the shooter.

"Maybe it was crazy person. Maybe he was drugged up. Maybe it was a Jew. We don't know," Oz said, nervously adjusting his yarmulke as he stood outside the taped-off scene with two friends.

The temple installed security cameras years ago to discourage attacks, he said.

The shooting prompted the closure of a school next to the synagogue. But about half a mile away at Or Hachaim Academy, also run under the guidance of Rabbi Gabay, classes were in session and the school was observing the anniversary of the death of the biblical matriarch Rachel.

A school official said sixth- and seventh-grade girls recited psalms for the two shooting victims.

"Rachel always prays for her children," Principal Deborah Raskin said. "We take comfort knowing that this could have been a much worse situation."

Alejandro Sisro, 13, will almost certainly never forget what happened Thursday. He came to the synagogue in the morning wearing a new suit, his hair combed, his Torah portion memorized, ready for his bar mitzvah, the Jewish rite of passage. On the way in, he hit a snag -- a line of police tape stretching between him and manhood.

For the Sisro family . . . [MORE]

Shooting at Adat Yeshurun Sephardic Congregation

**Latest Update**

Synagogue shooting victim recovering from surgery
October 29, 2009 | 10:56 am
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/one-of-the-victims-of-the-north-hollywood-synagogue-shooting-is-now-recovering-from-surgery.html


At Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, one of the men shot at the North Hollywood synagogue, Maor Ben-Nissan, 37, is recovering from surgery.

His relatives and friends are gathered at the hospital, drinking coffee and hovering around the TV, watching live coverage from the synagogue.

Ben-Nissan lives in North Hollywood with his wife, Anat, and 2-year-old son. He owns a tile store and is very devout, going to Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic synagogue every morning, friends said. He is an Israeli immigrant who came to the United States as a child.

"I haven't seen my husband yet," said Anat, whose eyes were red.

His brother-in-law, who did not want to give his name, said he arrived at the synagogue a few minutes before Maor and was inside when the shooting occurred. He heard four shots. "We panicked and ran," the brother-in-law said.

As he went out, he saw Maor hobbling up the stairs and saw the blood on his leg and on the stairs.

"He called my name. I ran to him," the brother-in-law said.

He called 911. He also put a pillow under Ben-Nissan's head and wrapped a sweater around his leg to try to stop the bleeding. "I was just trying to calm him down," he said.

"Hate crimes are alive. People have to be careful," the brother-in-law said. "It was a miracle it was nothing worse."

-- Anna Gorman in Mission Hills

----


B”H

I have been to Adat Yeshurun Sephardic Congregation, and I have met, talked to, and my children had the opportunity to sit with Rabbi Amram Gabbai for a short while.

It is not a really obvious synagogue building, it is not easy to find if you don’t know where it is, and the parking garage is not that large or that obvious. I would have to say that someone specifically targeted the synagogue, or they were from the local neighborhood and knew that it was there.

I am on the side of “specifically targeted,” because most people would not know when people would be arriving for morning minyan unless they really went out of their way to find out. I think whomever did this, had been observing the synagogue for a while and knew when people came and went.

M

Here is the story from A7, JTA, and the LA Times:
-----

Arutz7:
Gunman Wounds Two in Los Angeles Synagogue
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/134131
by Ernie Singer

(IsraelNN.com)

Los Angeles police say two Jewish men in their 30s were shot in the legs as they were about to enter a synagogue in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles Thursday morning. A man described as an African-American with a handgun entered the Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic synagogue at about 6:20 a.m. Thursday and opened fire. The victims were taken to a hospital in stable condition.

Police are investigating the shooting as a hate crime. The Los Angeles Times says police arrested a man near the synagogue, but the sources say they don't believe he was the gunman.

The newspaper adds that police officials have alerted other synagogues around Los Angeles about the shooting, and police have stepped up patrols at Jewish religious institutions. Detectives are trying to determine if the gunman acted alone or as part of a larger group.

According to the Associated Press, the wounded people had just pulled into the synagogue parking structure for morning services. Investigators said no words were exchanged between the shooter and his victims.

"Grave and shocking"
Minister of Information and Diaspora Yuli Edelstein called the event “grave and shocking.”

The attack “reminds us that anti-Semitism is alive and kicking and has no hesitation in terrorizing the Jewish people's holy of holies. We and the nations of the world must continue to fight anti-Semitism as it has already been proven that what starts with the Jews ends with other nations as well.”

The attack occurred about 16 km. away from a Jewish community center where, ten years ago, white supremacist Buford Furrow shot and wounded five people and later killed a letter carrier. Three children were among the wounded in that attack.



JTA:
Two shot at California synagogue
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/10/29/1008820/two-shot-at-calif-synagogue

October 29, 2009


(JTA) -- Two people were shot in the legs in the parking lot of a synagogue in North Hollywood, Calif.

Los Angeles Police said the African-American suspect approached a man entering the Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic Synagogue for morning prayers at approximately 6:20 a.m. Thursday, according to media reports. The assailant shot that man in the leg with a handgun, then fired again and hit another man in the garage. The synagogue is located in the San Fernando Valley's Orthodox community.

The victims, both Jewish, were reported to be in stable condition after being transported to a local hospital.

A man was detained near the facility shortly after the shooting, but police now say they don't believe he was involved in the crime.

Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime, and the Los Angeles Police Department has stepped up patrols around city Jewish institutions. The Secure Community Network, the national network coordinating security for the Jewish community, said it was urging Jewish institutions to remain vigilant and revisit the security procedures they have in place until more information about the incident is known.

---
LA Times:
Police search for gunman in North Hollywood synagogue shooting [Updated]
October 29, 2009 | 10:03 am
<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/synagogue-shooting-1.html>


A gunman entered the grounds of a North Hollywood synagogue this morning and shot and wounded two men who were going to a prayer service in an attack LAPD detectives are investigating as a hate crime.

The unidentified gunman wearing a black hoodie walked into the underground parking garage of Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic synagogue at 12405 Sylvan St. shortly before 6:20 a.m., said LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore. He approached a man in his 40s who was parking his car to attend prayer service.

"Without any words," Moore said, the suspect shot the man in the leg. He then fired at a second man in his 40s who had also arrived for prayers. The second victim was also wounded in the leg. The gunman then fled from the garage. Witnesses called 911.

Moore said both victims were in good condition at local hospitals.

Detectives are "working with [the victims] to understand more information," Moore said. They do not believe the motive was robbery, according to LAPD sources, who spoke to The Times on the condition they not be named because the investigation is ongoing.


[Updated at 10:20 a.m.: Speaking to reporters outside the taped-off synagogue, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called the incident "a senseless act of violence." The mayor was careful to temper worries that the shooting was a hate crime.

"None of us should presume or speculate more about this other than it was a random act of violence.

But Shawyn Yaghoubi, 18, of Encino, who was dropping off his younger brother at a nearby school when he heard about the shooting, said: “Of course it was a hate crime.”

“They [police] have to do something about it," he said.]

Los Angeles police arrested a man about an hour later near the synagogue, but sources said they do not believe he was the gunman. LAPD officials have alerted other synagogues around Los Angeles about the shooting, and police have stepped up patrols at Jewish religious institutions.

Adat Yeshurun is in the heart of the San Fernando Valley's Orthodox Jewish community and within walking distance of kosher markets and other synagogues. Many people move to the area so they could walk to temple.

The sources said detectives are trying to determine the motive, and whether the gunman acted alone or as part of a larger group. LAPD detectives were reviewing security videotapes from the temple in hopes of better understanding the chain of events.

They were also searching a nearby park to see if the suspect is hiding there.

Yehuda Oz, 53, a man of Tunisian descent, has attended the Sephardic Jewish temple for the last 15 years. He arrived early this morning to begin his regular morning prayers. [Updated at 10:10 a.m.: In a previous version of this post, Oz had declined to give his last name.]

About an hour later, as he prayed with some 15 others in the temple's quiet sanctuary, four gunshots broke the silence, he said.

He said he heard screams from the parking lot, then saw two men stumble into the temple.

Their blood spread over the floor as people rushed to stop the bleeding, Yehuda said, but no one inside saw the shooter.

"Maybe it was crazy person. Maybe he was drugged up. Maybe it was a Jew. We don't know," Yehuda said, nervously adjusting his yarmulke as he stood outside the taped-off scene with two friends.

Yehuda said the two men who were shot were latecomers who had just parked their cars.

The temple, which has a congregation of mostly Moroccan and other North African Jews, installed security cameras years ago to discourage attacks, Yehuda said.

"This is a good place," he said.

[Updated at 10:20 a.m.: A girls' school at the synagogue with 112 students canceled classes today. At least two rabbis from neighboring synagogues who were at the scene this morning said they were counseling their own congregants to stay calm.

“The feeling is that we’ve got to keep our eyes open for each other,” said Rabbi Nachman Nabend, from Chabad of North Hollywood. “It makes me angry when anyone gets targeted.”

Adat Ari El, the fourth largest conservative synagogue in L.A. with a 750-family congregation, is about two miles away from Adat Yeshurun. Joanne Klein, executive director at Adat Ari El, said there are more LAPD patrol cars in the area and her synagogue is ramping upt its own security by closing multiple entrances and adding additional security guards.

“We’re watchful,” said Klein. “We’re taking extra precautions and we’re paying attention to what’s going on in the community. We’re still open for business.”]

-- Duke Helfand, Anna Gorman, Andrew Blankstein and Robert Faturechi in North Hollywood; and Richard Winton

What Could Be More Swiss? Geneva Disinvites Israeli Bands Scheduled to Play at European Arts Festival

B"H

Am I the only one who is getting uncomfortable about the overt anti-Semitism that is pretending to be anti-Israel "political activity" that happening in the world today, or am I just having a particularly paranoid moment?

I guess it really hit me hard this morning when I read this little clip on Arutz7:

• Israeli Bands Unwelcome in Geneva
• http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/173460
• (IsraelNN.com) Members of the Jerusalem-based Israeli band Terra Rossa have informed Arutz-7 that they were asked not to attend a European arts festival due to riots in Israel's capital city. Organizers in Geneva asked the band not to appear at a scheduled concert next week due to fears that the appearance would lead to hostile anti-Israel protests.The organizers expressed concern that recent clashes between police and Muslim rioters in Jerusalem would inflame anti-Israel sentiment, said band member Yoni Sharon. A number of other Israeli bands were asked not to appear at the festival as well, he added.

Geneva doesn't think about, perhaps, controlling the rioting people. No. Instead, it gives into the arab bullying and disinvites the Jews. Hmm.

Uh. Geneva? You didn't do this when the Nazi's were trying to destroy the Jews, and there was rising anti-Semitism in Switzerland, did you?

Remember what you did in the 30s and the 40s? You maintained your "neutral" face, and raked in the bucks from threatened Jews all over Europe who were trying to secure their money in the face of Nazi persecutions.

I guess now that there is no big payoff, you have decided to completely cave in to hate and bullying?

Wait. Are you ADMITTING that there was no moral cause behind your "neutrality," --it was just business?

Wow. I would have never guessed.

I guess now that you are forced to actually cough up a small percentage of the dough that you stole from the Jews, you have changed your tune? Or is it that your fake "neutrality" is falling out of favor now that there is plenty of money to be made shielding the millions of arab dollars being funneled into terrorist accounts through your banking system?

Still, I remember a different Switzerland, don't you? At least, in school, I was taught the fantasy that Switzerland remained "neutral" and was, for that reason, thought (by my textbook and by my teachers) as morally superior to all the countries who were fighting each other at the time.

You don't remember that story? You mean you remember THIS Switzerland?

• During the Second World War, millions of people were deported by the Nazis from Germany and from the occupied territories in Europe to concentration camps in eastern Europe and murdered there (Holocaust).
• Swiss diplomates were involved in the creation of the «J»-stamp to mark the passports of German Jews, a discriminating measure that made escaping more difficult.
• Switzerland did accomodate some 55,000 civilian refugees, but approximately 20,000 - 25,000 refugees were rejected at the border, which meant sure death for most of them. The Swiss authorities even refused normal diplomatic protection for Swiss citizens of Jewish faith in Germany and occupied countries. --Switzerland's Role in WWII
  

Or, perhaps THIS is the Switzerland that you remember:

• Nazi Gold and Loot
• During the war, the Nazis stole gold, jewelry, and other valuables from the millions of Jews they murdered. The Germans needed a way to place these commodities in the international market so that they could use the money they received in exchange for their war effort. The Swiss helped facilitate the exchange in addition to holding Nazi accounts. Many speculate that some of the gold that the Swiss accepted were the dental gold and wedding rings taken from Jews at the camps. --"Nazi Gold, Jewish Accounts, and Swiss Banks."
  

Wow. Well, I guess those Swiss have always been opportunististic, immoral, and self-serving.

The "strength" they showed in World War II had nothing to do with loving their fellow man and everything to do with hating Germans. It is convenient that the Germans were hated by everyone at the time, convenient and financially advantageous for Switzerland.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by Switzerland's current behavior at all.

After all, Geneva, isn't it much better to be on the side of the arabs right now, than the side of truth and justice? It certainly is a lot easier, and that is what the Swiss prefer, isn't it?

Right now, the arabs have all the oil, they have all the good PR, and they have all the money (at least until you can get it into your banks and conveniently forget who deposited it, when, and where)--so who gives a damn about a couple of million Jews in Israel, right?

I know it is hard for Switzerland to really whip up hate for Jews now that they don't have a large Jewish population, but they have already banned the kosher slaughter of beef and lamb, so they are off to a good start. Why not cap it off with the banning of all Israeli bands at the music festival under the guise of "security concerns?"

After all, Israel kept Jews of their own Temple Mount for the same reason, and Dubai denied a visa to Israeli tennis star Shahar Pe’er for that reason, so no one should question this decision, right?

It's not much to ban a few Israeli bands, but it is just one more thing that will prove to Switzerland's new arab "friends" that they really really do hate the Jews as much as the arabs do.

A music festival completely devoid of Jews? Of course! What could be more Swiss?

So, let's hear it for Switzerland! They didn't care about a couple of million Jews then, and they don't care about a couple of million Jews now.

What's a few deaths between friends?

Let's all have a beer, and enjoy the profits of all the Jews who are still stupid enough to invest their money in our country!