Happy Al-Nahbah (Thats Yom Haatzmaut to you)

Today is Yom Haatzmaut (The day of Independence) or as it is called by the Arabs, Al-Nahbah (The Disaster). I say they should get over it.

In any event, on a lighter note. The Jewish population of Israel has recently superceeded that of America which makes Israel the country with the largest Jewish population, America second, and third is (you'll never believe this) France. Within the next twenty years Israel will not only have the highest Jewish population, it will also contain the majority of the world's Jews. In addition, if the demographics continue in the direction they are going in, within the next twenty years the majority of Jews in Israel will be religious (though not necesarily Chareidi).

This of course presents some halachic issues. There is an opinion that if the majority of Jews live in Israel and the majority of said Jews are religious, then they are obligated to enforce halacha. The idea of Israel becoming a theocracy is worrisome.

Aside from that is the fact that the Palestinian birth rate is through the roof and they are making their chidren faster than they are killing them. Of course the idea that they will get a state is more plausable now than it has been in a while which means they will be out of our hair.

So overall things are looking up, even if there are a few snags.

Happy Yom Haatzmaut and enjoy your falafel.

Lets Get our Priorities Straight

This past Monday was Yom HaShoah, a day meant to commemorate the Holocaust and the loss of six million Jewish lives.
It was also a day that I didnt observe in any way, shape, or form, and for good reason.

I dont know if those who invented Yom HaShoah are aware of this, but there are four fast days in the Jewish calander designated to comemorate disasters that happened to the Jewish people (in addition to Yom Kippur, plus two fast days meant to comemorate disasters that almost happened). Aside from that, Tisha B'Av (one of the previously mentioned fast days) is a day that is meant to be a one size fits all day of disaster considering all the bad things that happened on that day including the distruction of the first and second temples, the burning of the Talmud in Paris, the expulsion from Spain, and the assasination of the ArchDuke Ferdinand (the event that caused WWI, WWII, and the Holocaust).

The point that Im trying to make, is that we Jews have enough days of mourning in our calender and we dont need more. Furthermore, I have noticed a trend amongst Jews to harp on the Holocaust until no one wants to hear anymore about it, as if the only thing important about Judaism is the fact that we keep getting pursecuted.

Im not saying that these events shouldnt be commemorated. I am merely sayng that Jews need to stop identifying themselves by the Holocaust.

Judaism is not a religion of death. When we drink, we say L'Chaim (to life), not L'Mavet (to death). Every Jew needs to declare that he identifies himself as a Jew and is proud to be a Jew because he is a reprisentative of God, and not because his great-grandfather went to the gas chambers.

Chutzpah: Palestinian logic

In as much as this blog is fairly new, I will most likely be posting thoughts regarding past events before I start commenting on current events.
In any event...

Last summer, as many remember, Ariel Sharon finally went through with the pullout from the Gaza strip (which is now a terror state run by a terrorist orginization, Hamas, but more on that later). In doing so, he evicted roughly 8,000 jews from their homes. The decision was made that the buildings that these settlers had erected (such as homes, synagouges, and greenhouses) would not be demolished but would rather be left in tact. Sharon felt that if we left the Palestinians with a well developed territory instead of a barren wasteland it might raise the world's opinion of us. Needless to say this decision vexed the settlers as well as Jews worldwide. After all, why should terrorists and userpers benifit from our hard labor.

We need not have worried.

As soon as the disengagement had been completed, the Palestinians came in to "settle" the land. The first thing they did was demolish the homes, shatter the greenhouses, and burn the synagouges that we had built and left in tact. But isnt that just like Arabs, sensless destruction of anything usefull.

But here is the funny part. After all was said and done, the Palestinian Authority accused Israel of intentionally leaving the buildings there, knowing that the Palestinians would destroy them, with the sole intention of making the Palestinians look bad.

CHUTZPAH!

Chutzpah (most likely the first of many)

Chutzpah (for those of you who are Judaically challanged) is a Yiddish word meaning gall or obstinancy. I had always thought that the classic deffinition of Chutzpah was a man who murders his parents and then asks the judge for mercy on the grounds that he is an orphan. Recently however, I learned a new and better definition. (more than likely I will learn still more in the future, but this will do for now).

Durring the 19th century pretty much all the European powers wanted a piece of the Ottoman Empire. For example, in 1882 Russia declared that it had the right to interfere in Ottoman affairs in order to protect Russian citizens living in the Ottoman Empire.

The question is, what Russian citizens were living in the Ottoman Empire?

Well, in 1881 Tzar Alexander II was assasinated and the Russian government blamed the Jews. Early in 1882 Russia instigated a series of pogroms against Russian Jews known as the Kishinev Prgroms (a pogrom, for those who are unaware, is an orginized riot against Jews meant to terrorize them, usually involving murder and rape, and often sponsered, organized, or instigated by the government). After the Kishinev pogroms, thousands of Jews simply packed up and left Russia. Most went to America, but some (a good 30,000 or so) went to Eretz Yisrael (modern day Israel) in a huge migration known as the first Aliya.

So in short, Russia kills off its Jews who in turn flee to Israel which, at the time, is under Ottoman rule, and the Russians now declare themselves to be the protecttors of these Jews.

CHUTZPAH!!!