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Blessings, Curses and Opportunities

Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Photo: Wiki Commons.

JNS.orgThe prominent Yiddish writer B.Z. Goldberg once visited the Lubavitcher Rebbe and, as he entered the Rebbe’s study, he said, “Lubavitcher Rebbe, you look well.”

The Rebbe responded, “Since when is that a Jewish compliment? Usually, Jews ask each other why they look so bad.”

The Rebbe’s sense of humor notwithstanding, it does seem traditional for Jews to complain. God knows, we’ve had ample reason to over the centuries, including right now. Has there ever been a time in our history when there’s been a shortage of Yiddishe Tzorres, problems and persecutions, troubles and torment?

This Shabbat, we read in the final chapters of Vayikra that if we follow the way of God our lives will be blessed, but should we stray from the good path we will experience curses and calamities second to none.

Parshat Bechukotai opens with a wonderful promise: “If you will follow My decrees and observe My commandments … the rains will come in time … and the land will give its produce … and you will dwell securely in your land.”

But is that really true? What about all the righteous who have suffered and the wicked who have prospered? Is life really so simple? And doesn’t the Talmud state that reward and punishment are reserved for the next world?

Rambam, the great Maimonides, explains it this way: These blessings are not the reward for our good behavior. Rather, they are how God provides us with the necessary tools to live a full Jewish life.

You might think, “It’s hard to be a Jew,” but if you have no money, it’s much harder! Living Jewishly can be expensive. Just recently, a congregant who has fallen on hard times confessed that they stopped keeping kosher because it was too expensive. Tuition fees at Jewish day schools are much higher than state schooling. The prices of matzah and an etrog keep going up, and so on.

And yet the Rambam says the blessings at the beginning of our parsha are not our reward, but rather God giving us the material means by which we will be able to afford to live a Godly life.

When do we earn these blessings? When we indicate by our concrete actions that it is our desire and intent to live such a Godly life. When the Almighty sees our sincere and genuine good intentions, He then assists us in fulfilling these righteous desires by providing us with the necessary wherewithal to do so.

Concrete action means more than just “joining the club.” We must indicate our genuine commitment to following the good path in real, tangible terms. It’s more than just standing up to be counted. We need to put these ideals into practice in our daily lives.

Here are two examples: People want to keep Shabbat, but work often gets in the way. I knew a plumber who once confessed that he was trying to observe Shabbat but, somehow, every Saturday he would get an emergency call. It took him a while, but he finally worked out a system with other people on standby. He has now been a serene Sabbath observer for many years. But he made the commitment first.

Too many of our young people are struggling to find their bashert, their life partner in marriage. Sadly, many have succumbed to the “easier” solution and broadened their search beyond the Jewish community. Yet I have seen many who held their ground and never lost focus, as difficult as it was, and eventually did find a wonderful Jewish partner in life. Again, they made the commitment, stuck to it through thick and thin, and in time, they were blessed.

Yes, Shabbat can appear to be a challenge to our seeming prosperity. Having strict shidduch principles can seem like an obstacle to getting married. But in the end, if we stick to our values and principles, God Almighty will come to our assistance, sometimes in ways we would never have imagined.

True stories abound. I see it all the time. Those who exhibited faith and trust in God and closed the shop on Saturdays survived and flourished, even though the numbers didn’t add up. Those who refused to compromise in their courtships are today happily married and raising beautiful Jewish families.

There is a relevant line in this week’s Haftorah from the Prophet Jeremiah: “Baruch hagever, blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem, then Hashem will be his security.”

Some years ago, this line became a popular song. May we sing it and, more importantly, live it.

The post Blessings, Curses and Opportunities first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israel Strikes Houthi Targets in Yemen

Smoke rises after Israeli strikes near Sanaa airport, in Sanaa, Yemen, Dec. 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Israel struck multiple targets linked to the Iran-aligned Houthi terrorist group in Yemen on Thursday, including Sanaa International Airport, and Houthi media said three people were killed.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he was about to board a plane at the airport when it came under attack. A crew member on the plane was injured, he said in a statement.

The Israeli military said that in addition to striking the airport, it also hit military infrastructure at the ports of Hodeidah, Salif, and Ras Kanatib on Yemen’s west coast. It also attacked the country’s Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations.

Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said two people were killed in the strikes on the airport and one person was killed in the port hits, while 11 others were wounded in the attacks.

There was no comment from the Houthis, who have repeatedly fired drones and missiles towards Israel in what they describe as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said following the attacks that Israel will continue its mission until it is complete: “We are determined to sever this terror arm of Iran’s axis.”

The prime minister has been strengthened at home by the Israeli military’s campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon and by its destruction of most of the Syrian army’s strategic weapons.

The Israeli attacks on the airport, Hodeidah and on one power station, were also reported by Al Masirah TV.

Tedros said he had been in Yemen to negotiate the release of detained UN staff detainees and to assess the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

“As we were about to board our flight from Sanaa … the airport came under aerial bombardment. One of our plane’s crew members was injured,” he said in a statement.

“The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge — just a few meters from where we were — and the runway were damaged,” he said, adding that he and his colleagues were safe.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the incident.

More than a year of Houthi attacks have disrupted international shipping routes, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys that have in turn stoked fears over global inflation.

The UN Security Council is due to meet on Monday over Houthi attacks against Israel, Israel‘s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said on Wednesday.

On Saturday, Israel‘s military failed to intercept a missile from Yemen that fell in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa area, injuring 14 people.

The post Israel Strikes Houthi Targets in Yemen first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Controversial Islamic Group CAIR Chides US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew for Denying Report of ‘Famine’ in Gaza

US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew. Photo: Alchetron.

The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew for casting doubt on a new report claiming that famine has gripped northern Gaza. 

The controversial Muslim advocacy group on Wednesday slammed Lew for his “callous dismissal” of the recent Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) report accusing Israel of inflicting famine on the Gaza Strip. The organization subsequently asserted that Israel had perpetrated an ethnic cleansing campaign in northern Gaza. 

“Ambassador Lew’s callous dismissal of this shocking report by a US-backed agency exposing Israel’s campaign of forced starvation in Gaza reminds one of the old joke about a man who murdered his parents and then asked for mercy because he is now an ‘orphan,’” CAIR said in a statement.

“To reject a report on starvation in northern Gaza by appearing to boast about the fact that it has been successfully ethnically cleansed of its native population is just the latest example of Biden administration officials supporting, enabling, and excusing Israel’s clear and open campaign of genocide in Gaza,” the Washington, DC-based group continued. 

On Monday, FEWS Net, a US-created provider of warning and analysis on food insecurity, released a report detailing that a famine had allegedly taken hold of northern Gaza. The report argued that 65,000-75,000 individuals remain stranded in the area without sufficient access to food.

“Israel’s near-total blockade of humanitarian and commercial food supplies to besieged areas of North Gaza Governorate” has resulted in mass starvation among scores of innocent civilians in the beleaguered enclave, the report stated.

Lew subsequently issued a statement denying the veracity of the FEWS Net report, slamming the organization for peddling “inaccurate” information and “causing confusion.”

“The report issued today on Gaza by FEWS NET relies on data that is outdated and inaccurate. We have worked closely with the Government of Israel and the UN to provide greater access to the North Governorate, and it is now apparent that the civilian population in that part of Gaza is in the range of 7,000-15,000, not 65,000-75,000 which is the basis of this report,” Lew wrote.

“At a time when inaccurate information is causing confusion and accusations, it is irresponsible to issue a report like this. We work day and night with the UN and our Israeli partners to meet humanitarian needs — which are great — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible,” Lew continued. 

Following Lew’s repudiation, FEWS NET quietly removed the report on Wednesday, sparking outrage among supporters of the pro-Palestinian cause. 

“We ask FEWS NET not to submit to the bullying of genocide supporters and to again make its report available to the public,” CAIR said in its statement.

In the year following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7, Israel has been repeatedly accused of inflicting famine in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Despite the allegations, there is scant evidence of mass starvation across the war-torn enclave. 

This is not the first time that FEWS Net has attempted to accuse Israel of inflicting famine in Gaza.  In June, the United Nations Famine Review Committee (FRC), a panel of experts in international food security and nutrition, rejected claims by FEWS Net that a famine had taken hold of northern Gaza. In rejecting the allegations, the FRC cited an “uncertainty and lack of convergence of the supporting evidence employed in the analysis.”

Meanwhile,  CAIR has been embroiled in controversy since the onset of the Gaza war last October.

CAIR has been embroiled in controversy since the Oct. 7 atrocities. The head of CAIR, for example, said he was “happy” to witness Hamas’s rampage across southern Israel.

“The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege — the walls of the concentration camp — on Oct. 7,” CAIR co-founder and executive director Nihad Awad said in a speech during the American Muslims for Palestine convention in Chicago in November. “And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land, and walk free into their land, which they were not allowed to walk in.”

CAIR has long been a controversial organization. In the 2000s, it was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing casePolitico noted in 2010 that “US District Court Judge Jorge Solis found that the government presented ‘ample evidence to establish the association’” of CAIR with Hamas.

According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), “some of CAIR’s current leadership had early connections with organizations that are or were affiliated with Hamas.” CAIR has disputed the accuracy of the ADL’s claim and asserted that it “unequivocally condemn[s] all acts of terrorism, whether carried out by al-Qa’ida, the Real IRA, FARC, Hamas, ETA, or any other group designated by the US Department of State as a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization.’”

The post Controversial Islamic Group CAIR Chides US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew for Denying Report of ‘Famine’ in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Jewish Civil Rights Group Representing Amsterdam Pogrom Victims Slams Dutch Court for ‘Light Sentences’

Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters are guarded by police after violence targeting Israeli football fans broke out in Amsterdam overnight, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 8, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ami Shooman/Israel Hayom

The international Jewish civil rights organization legally representing more than 50 victims of the attack on Israeli soccer fans that took place in Amsterdam last month has joined many voices in lambasting a Dutch court for what they described as a mild punishment for the attackers.

“These sentences are an insult to the victims and a stain on the Dutch legal system,” The Lawfare Project’s founder and executive director Brooke Goldstein said in a statement on Wednesday. “Allowing individuals who coordinated and celebrated acts of violence to walk away with minimal consequences diminishes the rule of law and undermines trust in the judicial process. If this is the response to such blatant antisemitism, what hope is there for deterring future offenders or safeguarding the Jewish community.”

On Tuesday, a district court in Amsterdam sentenced five men for their participation in the violent attacks in the Dutch city against fans of the Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv. The premeditated and coordinated violence took place on the night of Nov. 7 and into the early hours of Nov 8, before and after Maccabi Tel Aviv competed against the Dutch soccer team Ajax in a UEFA Europa League match. The five suspects were sentenced to up to 100 hours of community service and up to six months in prison.

The attackers were found guilty of public violence, which included kicking an individual lying on the ground, and inciting the violence by calling on members of a WhatsApp group chat to gather and attack Maccabi Tel Aviv fans. One man sentenced on Tuesday who had a “leading role” in the violence, according to prosecutors, was given the longest sentence — six months in prison.

“As someone who witnessed these trials firsthand, I am deeply disheartened by the leniency of these sentences,” added Ziporah Reich, director of litigation at The Lawfare Project. “The violent, coordinated attacks against Jews in Amsterdam are among the worst antisemitic incidents in Europe. These light sentences fail to reflect the gravity of these crimes and do little to deliver justice to the victims who are left traumatized and unheard. Even more troubling, they set a dangerous precedent, signaling to future offenders that such horrific acts of violence will not be met with serious consequences.”

The Lawfare Project said on Wednesday that it is representing over 50 victims of the Amsterdam attacks. It has also secured for their clients a local counsel — Peter Plasman, who is a partner at the Amsterdam-based law firm Kötter L’Homme Plasman — to represent them  in the Netherlands. The Lawfare Project aims to protect the civil and human rights of Jewish people around the world through legal action.

Others who have criticized the Dutch court for its sentencing of the five men on Tuesday included Arsen Ostrovsky, a leading human rights attorney and CEO of The International Legal Forum; Tal-Or Cohen, the founder and CEO of CyberWell; and The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel.

The post Jewish Civil Rights Group Representing Amsterdam Pogrom Victims Slams Dutch Court for ‘Light Sentences’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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