Archive
2002
Pesach:
Passing on Heritage
by Joe Bobker
The peak of
Egyptian oppression occurred under the 67 year reign of Rameses
11. The Jews rejoiced at his death, prematurely it seems. For it
was under the tyranny of his successor, Mernephtah, that "they
cried to God," in an agonizing period of serfdom that
lasted from 1522 to 1312 BC. This Pharaoh was a phony Pharaoh: according
to the Midrash he would study the times of the tides of the Nile,
and enter the water precisely the moment that the water began to
rise, so that it should appear to be rising to honor him. (Full
Story)
Vice
President Cheney Speaks at the Israeli Independence
Day Reception
"It’s a
great honor to join you all in marking Israel’s 54th Independence
Day, and in paying tribute to one of Israel’s great public servants,
Ambassador David Ivry. I am here as a friend of the Ambassador,
and as a friend to the people and the State of Israel…" (Full
Remarks)
Condoleezza
Rice Speaks at the 96th Annual Dinner of the American
Jewish Committee
It
is a great honor to speak to the American Jewish Committee — a
group that has been such a clear and consistent voice for human
dignity and such a powerful force for freedom and justice around
the globe. (Full Remarks)
Presidential
Visit to the Grand Choral Synagogue
On
the last day of President Bush’s historic Russian tour, he made
a visit to the Kazan Cathedral a Russian Orthodox church and later
visited with the Chief Rabbi at the Grand Choral Synagogue in St.
Petersburg. The President and First Lady Laura Bush, extended their
visit to hear stories of the Synagogue’s journey since it was first
built in 1893 and the great trials up until its recent reconstruction.
The entrance of the Grand Choral reads Edmond J. Safra Synagogue,
named after a businessman who was the victim of murder and is honored
for his donations that helped with the renovation. With a local
population of 4.5 million people, the Synagogue is particularly
special because it is the only house of worship for Jews in the
area.
When
speaking on his visit, President Bush emphasized his strong belief
in the freedom of religion saying, "I’m impressed by what I’ve
heard from religious leaders, Christian and Jewish, here about the
state of affairs in Russia… One of my strong beliefs is that people
should be free to worship… (Full
Story)
Tisha
B’Av: The Day of Lamentation and Hope
by Joe Bobker
Prior to World
War II Polish Jews would break their Tisha B’Av fast, light a fire,
throw their kinos into the flames – and dance and sing the night
away convinced it was their last Tisha B’Av before the Messiah came.
Instead,
Adolf waltzed into their lives and a modern mass crucification of
Jews began. The result? The worst destruction in Jewish history,
the extermination of one out of every three Jews in the world, and
the devastating loss of 1,000 years of traditional European Judaism,
including leaders, institutions and their cumulative writings. (Full
Story)
50
Years After The Night of the Murdered Poets
Fifty years ago, on August 12, 1952, 13 prominent Jewish intellectuals
were murdered in Moscow on orders from Soviet leader Josef Stalin.
Although the world learned of this travesty in March 1956, reports
had filtered out during the prisonersâ extended incarceration
that something was amiss. The Jewish world, and no less the world
at large, did little at the time to investigate their status or
protest their incarceration. (Full
Story)
Rosh
Hashana greetings from Yoram in Israel
1.
ROSH HASHANA, the beginning of the year 5763, is the appropriate
time to revisit our Roots, Principles and Values (RPV is also the
acronym for Remote Pilotless Vehicle!). The more we distance ourselves
from our RPV, the less stable is our social, economic and security
climate. (Full Message)
THE
WHITE HOUSE: Rosh
Hashanah, 5763
I
send greetings to the Jewish community in the United States and
around the world as you observe Rosh Hashanah.
As you mark the beginning of the High
Holy Days, take time to reflect on the past year. In seeking forgiveness
and renewal, may you again appreciate the love and mercy of the
Almighty, and look to the year ahead with hope and faith. (Full
Message )
Yom
Kippur: "A Chance of Further Life,
Gift-Wrapped With the String of Forgiveness"
by
Joe Bobker
Yom
Kippur is the summit of the Jewish calendar, the annual apex of
spiritual consciousness, the only day in the year when Jews spend
25 non-stop hours in search of God via abstinence. Yom Kippur is
only one day (unlike the other “2-day” festivals) because
of the danger of excess fasting. This uninterrupted introspective,
a formidable and meticulous “reckoning of the soul,”
is achieved through the Torahâs command for self-denial,
a
directive that, according to Rav, a 3rd century rabbi, is not intended
to turn the Jew away from life’s pleasures ("In the World to
Come a person will be called to account for the legitimate pleasures
which he denied himself.") (Full
Story)
Succas
by
Joe Bobker
Four
days in Autumn. Thats all there is between Yom Kippur and Succas
– a back-to-back spiritual contiguity of dramatic differences: from
awe-n-fasting to wine-n-feasting, a change of mood that is sudden
and striking. Yet although we emerge renewed in a state of spiritual
exhilaration, we must now face the hesitant reality, as the question
looms large: "Where shall we go from here?"
This brilliant rabbinic vehicle, of
sharp contrast and sudden disparity, is an effective tool to jolt
Jewish memory away from the Book of Death and refocus on the Book
of Life. (Full Story)
Reflections
On Chanukah
By
Yoram Ettinger
1.
THE FOUNDING FATHERS OF THE USA, as well as Paul Revere and the
organizers of the Boston Tea Party, viewed the Maccabees as their
role-model.
2. HISTORICAL CONTEXT. Alexander The Great – who held Judaism in
high esteem and whose Egyptian heir Ptolemy II translated the Torah
to Greek – died in 323BC. Consequently, the Greek Empire disintegrated
into five, and thirty years later into three, kingdoms: Macedonia,
Syria and Egypt. The Land of Israel was always militarily contested
by Syria and Egypt. (Full Story)
Chanukah Message
From President Bush
"I
am pleased to send greetings to everyone celebrating Hanukkah, the
festival of lights.
"For
eight days and nights, Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of
the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and the ancient story of Israel’s courageous
faith. In a victorious struggle against their oppressors, the Maccabees
heroically overcame enormous odds to liberate the ancient kingdom
of Israel. Hanukkah reminds us that faith can give us the strength
to overcome oppression. Today, the spirit of the Maccabees continues
to live and thrive among the Jewish people and in the State of Israel."
(Full Message) |
