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A Jewish Prayer for the New Unity Government of South Africa
South Africa’s Chief Rabbi, Warren Goldstein, delivered the below remarks and prayer last week at an inauguration ceremony ushering in the country’s new government of national unity.
On this momentous occasion, marking the peaceful transition of power from one election to another, ushering in a new era of a government of national unity, allow me to share with you the eternal words that God instructed Moses to tell the children of Israel when they were about to cross the Jordan River to enter the promised land more than 3,300 years ago, as recorded in the Book of Deuteronomy (30:15-20):
I call on heaven and earth to give testimony today that I have placed before you life and death, blessing and curse, and you shall choose life in order that you and your children may live, to love the Lord your God, to listen to His voice and to cleave to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days, to dwell upon the land that God has promised to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob to give to them.
O Lord, bless this bold new endeavor of the government of national unity to follow in your ways:
to “choose life” as they administer state hospitals and medical services to heal our people,
to “choose life” as they administer the security forces to protect our people, a decent, law-abiding, God-fearing nation of heroes,
to “choose blessing” as they administer the schools of the nation to empower our children with the prospects of a life of abundance,
to “choose blessing” as they seek to encourage investment, grow the economy, and create jobs, banishing the devastation of unemployment,
to “choose blessing” as God promised to Abraham in the Book of Genesis (12:3): “I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you, will I curse.”
Inspire all the members of the government of national unity to live by the calling to great leadership described by the Talmud, “I give you not power but service,” and to lead by the highest of ideals that it calls “for the sake of Heaven” — for a higher cause, for the greater good, to create a peaceful and prosperous South Africa.
Lord, guide us all to fulfill our sacred role as Your “partners in creation,” to help one another, and be kind and compassionate; to protect the vulnerable and uplift the poor; to empower every human being to fulfill their God-given potential, prosper and realize their dreams.
O Lord, bless South Africa and all her people, and indeed all of humanity, that we may all merit to see the fulfillment of Your promise of redemption, delivered by the prophet Isaiah (2:3-4), when he said in Your name:
For from Zion, will teaching go forth and the word of God from Jerusalem. And the nations shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and neither will they learn war anymore.” And as it says in the Book of Psalms, (126:1-2), “A song of ascents, when God will return the captives of Zion, we will be like dreamers, then our mouth will be filled with laughter, and our tongue with glad song.
Allow me to conclude with the ancient priestly blessings that were recited every day in the Temple in Jerusalem until it was destroyed, with the Western Wall the only remnant of its once glorious precincts — blessings that have been said in our synagogues ever since, as recorded in Book of Numbers (6:24-26):
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He shine His countenance towards you and be gracious to you. May He turn His countenance towards you and grant you peace.
The author is the Chief Rabbi of South Africa.
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Treasure Trove: How a Polish-Jewish artist told Canadians about the horrors of Nazi Germany and produced beautiful illustrations
Arthur Szyk (1894-1951) was a Polish-Jewish artist whose work reflected the historic times he lived: the two world wars, the rise of totalitarianism in Europe and the birth of the State of Israel. In 1940, with the support of the British government and the Polish government-in-exile, he visited Canada to popularize the struggle against Nazism. […]
The post Treasure Trove: How a Polish-Jewish artist told Canadians about the horrors of Nazi Germany and produced beautiful illustrations appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Biden hits Fundraising Trail in Show of Strength after Dismal Debate Performance
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S., June 28, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo
President Joe Biden embarks on a series of fundraising events across two states on Saturday as he works to stamp out a crisis of confidence in his re-election campaign following a feeble debate performance that dismayed his fellow Democrats.
Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will visit the upscale New York beach enclave known as the Hamptons for a campaign fundraiser hosted by hedge-fund billionaire Barry Rosentein. Later in the day, he will travel to New Jersey for a fundraiser hosted by wealthy New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat.
Fellow hedge-fund founder Eric Mindich and his Tony Award-winning producer wife Stacey, celebrity couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, and actor Michael J. Fox are all listed as members of the host committee at the New York event, according to an invitation seen by Reuters.
Biden told a rally in North Carolina on Friday he intended to defeat Republican rival Donald Trump in the November presidential election, giving no sign he would heed calls from Democrats who want him to drop out of the race.
Biden‘s verbal stumbles and occasionally meandering responses during Thursday night’s debate heightened voter concerns that the 81-year-old might not be fit to serve another four-year term.
The Biden campaign on Saturday boasted it had raised more than $27 million between debate day through Friday evening, but questions remain about whether the debate performance will hurt fundraising, at least in the short term.
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Arab League Rescinds the Classification of Hezbollah as a Terrorist Group
Mourners carry a coffin during the funeral of Wissam Tawil, a commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan forces who according to Lebanese security sources was killed during an Israeli strike on south Lebanon, in Khirbet Selm, Lebanon, Jan. 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Aziz Taher
i24 News – The Arab League no longer defines Hezbollah as a proscribed terrorist group, an official said on Saturday.
Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shiite militia and a proxy of the Islamic regime in Iran, boasts the world’s largest rocket arsenal of any non-state actor. It is animated by the antisemitic ideology of jihad and is committed to the destruction of Israel.
“In earlier Arab League decisions, Hezbollah was designated as a terrorist organization, and this designation was reflected in the resolutions,” Hossam Zaki, the assistant secretary-general of the Arab League, was quoted in Arab media as saying.
“The League’s member states concurred that the labeling of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization should no longer be employed,” Zaki said, adding that the regional body “does not maintain terrorist lists and does not actively seek to designate entities in such a manner.”
Hezbollah has unleashed numerous rockets, mortars and drones on northern Israel in the past eight months starting on October 8, a day after the Jewish state suffered the worst antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust at the hands of the Palestinian jihadists of Hamas.
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