Dali and the 12 Tribes

Dali's connection with Judaism is not always very clear. A Catholic by religion, even though he was inclined to admire the crazy dictators from the 1930s and 1940s, he showed genuine interest towards Jewish themes, some of them of Zionist nature.

In 1967-1968 he created series dedicated to the Aliyah, the Birth of Israel, and among his graphic works there is also a drawing of the Western Wall and a Menorah. 

One of the most interesting works I've seen are the 12 .999 silver coins representing the 12 Tribes of Israel. The work was commissioned by the State of Israel in 1973, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the creation of the state. On one side of the coin is the big signature of Dali, the mention of the anniversary period 1948-1973, and a menorah in the middle. The menorah are designed in high relief. On the upper low side it is written the name of the tribe. On the other part of the coin there is represented the symbol of each tribe. 

Each design is unique and beautiful in itself, but I especially loved the unicorne for Joseph, the beautiful boat of Levi and the entire design chosen for the tribe of Reuben. 

The 12 coins were placed in an elegant wooden box. The emission has a limited numbered edition of 5,733 corresponding to the Jewish year when the event was celebrated. Nowadays, many were bought by collectors of Dali works, entered the patrimony of Dali Museums or can be bought from eBay or auction houses, as a full box or as separate items.  

Time to do something now: Save the Iraqi Jewish Archive

Act Now: Help Save the Iraqi Jewish Archive

When a big haham is leaving this world

We are so poor now without Rav Ovadia zt''l. It's everything I can say after so many days after thinking he left this world. Days before, I was davening for his refuah shleimah. And was thinking, how I am to daven for such a gadol?

After with tears in my eyes I watched the impressive levaya when 800,000 people at least were there praying together, Sephardim and Askenazim, young and old, women and men, modern, religious and secular, FFB or BT, I realized what we lost. For me, he was one of the biggest personality of the Jewish world of the last century. Again, who I am to give qualifications who is bigger or not?

I have a lot of personal memories related to Rav. At the beginning of my religious journey, he was always the example of the big wise who is all the time busy with Torah. I was reading and told by those who had the honour to meet him how Torah was his only preoccupation. And Torah is what unites us, Jews from all over the world.
Rav Ovadia zt''l was important for the Sephardi world. Through him and his vast knowledge, the Sephardim heritage was re-evaluated and brought back in respect. I've heard a story about a discussion he had with his wife about the involvement in the creation of the Shas party. He told to his wife that getting involved in what will be the party of the Sephardim is a big duty and he doesn't want to be asked when arriving in Shamayim why he was not there when needed. How opportune is the presence of a religious figure in politics is another discussion, but his presence contributed to the creation of a new Sephardi Israeli identity. Political involvement means controversies and the last elections brought a lot of discussions and poisonous exchange of arrows, but this is already history. Many of those targeted by his arrows davened for his recovery and this is another example of his powerful personality.
Through his works, he tried to bring a unique voice to the very fragmented and not initially self-aware Sephardi world. My Iraqi Jews friends were davening together with the Yemeni and the Moroccans. Creating a unique authority at least with the same written base as the Askenazim was also part of his tremendous work in the service of Torah. He was highly respected by all the big Askenazim chassidic leaders in Jerusalem and abroad and he was often visited for advice on important Torah matters.
There are also many other significant moments associated with his personality: the recognition of Ethiopian Jews, the discussion about Bnei Menashe, the negotiations for the liberation of Gilad Shalit, the decisions in favour of 'chained' women. A complete history of his work and life is still to be written.
Over 800,000 said the kaddish together in Jerusalem for Rav Ovadia zt''l. Some say that such a big gathering of Jews for levaya was not seen since the death of Aaron haCohen.
Rav Ovadia zt''l takes care of us all now. Our duty is to intensify the Torah study and the good deeds. This can be done even by an am haaretz like me.

A mysterious artist, Issai Kulvianski

'My parents shtetl'

The information about the work and life of Issai Kulvianski is not easy to find. After a couple of research and documentation, I still cannot say that I know 35% of his story. 

He appears under different names: either Izaijas Kulvianski or Isaja Kulwianski. He was born in Jonova, Lithuania, in 1892. He studied first sculpture at the Vilnius Art School and later at Berlin, in 1912, at the Berlin Academy of Art. Later, he went to Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, where he got in touch and eventually was influenced by Soutine and Chagall. Before the WWI, when he served in the Russian Army, he was member of the semi-anarchist group in Berlin 'Novembergruppe', together with, among others, El Lissitzky. 

In 1933, he moved to the then Palestine, where for around 17 years was a teacher of arts at a school he created. One of his paintings of that time of the Tel Aviv beaches  continue to be an appreciated presence in the auction houses. The next stage of his life was of a permanent travel, especially in Europe. His stops included Nurenberg, Oudeuil/Oise, Val de Mercy/Yonne before establishing in London, where he spent the rest of his life.
His works are strongly influenced by the neo-realism, one of his inspiration being the German painter Lovis Corinth.
Many of his works can be found either in different auction houses in Europe or in museums and galleries. 

Post-hagim blues and plans for the new year

Every time the end of September is a time of re-adaptation and effort to get back on a kind of normal track. The time between Rosh Hashana and Simcha Torah is full of spiritual developments, new cooking and a lot of introspection. Returning back to a certain 'normality' is not always a welcomed development and it is not easy to change the daily life pace. 

I ended the last year on a very tired yet optimistic note, with a lot of projects in the air, but nothing clear to talk about. Without panic or hurry, I continued with my other daily tasks, trying to find the right moment and inspiration to move forward with more quality and coherent projects, at least for the next months.

Somehow, my travels helped me to find the words to describe what I will start doing soon on the blog:

- I will continue to focus on book reviews on Jewish topics - literature, history, specifically. Over the last months, a lot of notes were accumulated and I should start catching up with past readings till I still have the ideas fresh in my mind.

- Fighting the lack of action on the blog, I try to force myself to be around at least once the week. This occasion will be a little bit of discussion about the weekly parasha, with some personal insights and observations. 

- Another big project that I would love iy''H to put into words soon is about 'Jewish Heritage'. The world is full of traces of Jewish history and every fragment matters. As soon as I can, I will try to bring back histories with pictures and various local insights.

- As usually, politics will be addressed only if the events are so important that cannot be neglected. 

This is all for now! A lot of work ahead that will help me to get rid of the post-hagim blues.

Before Yom Kippur

I am afraid of fasting. Not because of I am a glutton, or maybe I am, but rather because without a proper hydration, I automatically develop terrible headaches. And what can be worse than a headache? This is what usually happens in the middle and after almost every fast, I went through. Invariably, Tisha B'Av is one of the most terrible experience in that respect. I go to sleep after I listen a shiur, and for hours later I feel like seasick. 

All being said, I often welcome Yom Kippur with a deep feeling of fear. I usually start the New Year with a lot of hope and optimism but till Hoshana Rabah I cannot do anything coherently. The work and travel projects are floating in the air, all my efforts to do something serious are failing and even when it comes to people I am sent back into my shell. Till the end of the hagim, there it is nothing to do for the future, I am like stacked into the present. I need to rest, make more plans and analyse what happened in the last months.

Psychologically speaking, the beginning of the New Year is the best time to take decisions, make changes and upgrade the level of observance and learning. But without the day days leading to Yom Kippur, the deep change may be in jeopardy. How can one start when the hard stones of the past aveiros are taking him or her back? How can we start anew or almost anew with an old toxic perspective? The key is teshuva and more introspection and Yom Kippur is the climax of the change. 

But back to my first statement of being afraid of fasting, how can I really 'enjoy' the spirituality when I am hardly able to breath or think in general. When my head is no better than a 5-day old salad? 

A couple of years ago, I was told about spending Yom Kippur with a group of hasidim, that after one nigh of reading tehillim and another couple of hours of davening, were so happy and full of life when the moment of blowing the shofar arrived. At that moment, was difficult for me to envisage that genuine feeling.  

Now, I am longing for happiness on Yom Kippur. For what have been done and for what I am ready to deal with. For the mitzvot I want to do every day - at least once, if possible and for all the 'slichot' I have to say to those I misunderstood or bothered. I want to change something and it is the right time to do it. Trying to do anything else till Sunday at least failed, so I need to get the best of the time and focus on what really matters this time of the year.
It's all for the best!

'Come to Israel...'

"Come to Israel, come and see the splendor of a desirable land, the splendor of the Carmel and of the Sharno, the splendor of the pleasant and beautiful azure skies, the magnificience of the clear, pure, and temperate air that reigns in its majesty and glory, even in Tevet. Delight and rejoice in this desirable, fair and pleasing land. A land of life, a land whose air is the wellspring of the spirit. How beautiful and graceful she is!

Come to Israel, come and see 'and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like grass' (Isaiah 66:14). Come and see how our beloved and precious nation like an eagle renews its youth, how she begins to stretch her bones, aching and shattered from wandering and bitter exile; some and see how she accustoms herself to standing erect as a date palm. Come and feel how our national invigorates its spirit by remembering its strength and majesty, by remembering its grandeur and glory at every turn. Come and delight in memories better than good wine, that exalt the soul and increase wisdom, memories of kings and princes, memories of heroes and prophets, memories of glory and strength, greatness and majesty. Come to the Land of Israel - here you will behold the vision of all this, here you will know that you are alive, living a life worthy of the name, in the land of life".

from Rav A.Y.Kook, Selected Letters, translated and annotated by Tzvi Feldman, Ma'aliot Publications of Yeshiva Birkat Moshe, Ma'aleh Adumim, Israel, 1976, pp. 239-240

The end of 5773. The new beginnings

There are only a couple of hours left from 5773. The new beginnings are always exciting, especially for me, but till then, I still need to finish arranging some plates and to read my Tehillim portion for today. 

I can't imagine how far I was one year ago and how many accomplishment I did in the last months: a lot of learning and reading, a lot of mitzvot, thanks to the wonderful people I have around me, that asked me to be part of their endeavours. I had the chance to understand a lot about shalom, need to help those in need and stop being judgemental. I offered myself to help with an open heart, as my mother z''l used to do. 

A special rav said recently that when the grandchildren keep Yiddishkeit, their grandparents were deeply committed Yidden. I do not have any memories of my grandparents and my parents did not have too much time to know their parents either, but somehow, the pride of being what we are and the fight for making this world a better place for us, without being pushed to assimilate helped me to go beyond survival. Thinking about the tragic fate of my grandparents keeps the flame burning and determined my decision for a committed Yiddishe life. 

I've read that Ramhal said that before Moshiach will come, there will be some terrible times when the Jews will get away from belief, but will return individually, each and every one of them fully convinced about their commitment. Those of us who decided to return in humility and have the chutzpah of a fully observant life, against all odds and ironies can be an example that everything is possible when your will is strong. It also shows that it is important to keep from being judgemental, and appreciate the beautiful soul of every Yid who is back. All of us, regardless of the years spend in the yeshiva, we have so much to learn from each other and from the wise people before us. 

I will daven for a good year, for more mitzvos and for more learning. As for my blogging life, after one year of intense learning and another one of intense practising, I hope that I reached the right balance for being able to spend more sharing my thoughts and experiences. I also prepare a project aimed to focus on the Jewish historical heritage iy''H and to continue exploring the Jewish literature of the diaspora and from Israel. I also hope that in the next months to have more posts in Hebrew and to expand my learning and knowledge to Hebrew and Yiddish literature. 

May it be a new and happy year for everyone, healthy and peaceful, with enough challenges that may help us to see what it really matters in life!

Shana tova!

London stories

Two Orthodox Jews - looking so - are lost somewhere in the South of London. No, they do not want to be in the news or to share any message of peace. They were simply lost while looking for a precious medicine for someone sick. And they needed directions. They were not naive either, as they saw how some men spit after seeing them. Maybe people cope difficulty with the heat, isn't it?

Anyway, finally they saw someone and went to ask directions. A Muslim looking lady. She looked afraid but they believed that maybe she did not understand what they want. And when they saw she turned her back, thought that maybe they need to repeat their question. But once she saw the 2 Orthodox Jews going to her, she started to run. Run, exactly. Running from the 2 who were mesmerized. 

But they are smart and wise and they are sorry for the lady, because she was so much brainwashed that she thought that the two lost Orthodox Jews were about to do something bad to her. Getting lost is a relative disposition.

Dealing with the 9 Days

My big challenges of going through the 9 Days when living in galut is to keep yourself sober in a sea of futility. There it is not always the society's fault for such an entertaining and easy view of life. This time of the year is usually the children's vacation time and at least till a certain age, it is quite difficult to explain them why they should not listen to music or make fun or play loudly in the garden. Or not going to the swimming pool. Especially when you don't have a reliable Jewish camp around, the pressure is even harder, because you are almost left alone to explain to them why 'we' are not like 'them'. 

Somehow, it has to do not always with the 9 Days, but with many of our attitudes to life in general. On Friday evening, when I go back from a communal Kabbalah Shabbat evening, we pass through a loudly disco with drunk teenagers with pink and blue heads waiting in line in the front of one of the most famous club in town. Can you think about the moment when your kids will grow up and will look at such behaviors not only with curiosity but with envy as well? One may say that the education offered by the parents will prevent them by doing so. But the parents cannot watch the kids' thoughts and there it is always a small risk. 

Back to my 9 Days dilemma, there it is always something distracting us, especially during the summer. In my thoughts, I get ready spiritually, thinking and reading about the Temple and trying to have a small table talk, but I cannot avoid a certain feeling of happiness and accomplishment when we have a new good meal, or when we read a good book or when we meet old friends - this is summer and this is what happened usually. Plus, having a work that deals with travel, it involves going in new places and sometimes really enjoying the feeling of being on the road. Or, what can I do when a client that delayed a payment for over a month finally decided to fulfil its obligations? Keep some money for tzedaka and be grateful, for instance. 

Maybe the right feeling is to remember always that it is not enough and we still have bigger and more important to do. And for those living in galut, that we should end up being satisfied with what we have, because we deserve something more. Watching to keep a certain modesty of thoughts that will prevent the blindness of self-sufficiency. I avoid to call it a tragic condition.

What Ben Gurion dreamed

It is said that David Ben-Gurion said at the beginning of the state of Israel:

'Within the State the differences between various kinds of Jews will be obliterated in the course of time, the communities and tribes will sooner or later fuse into one national and cultural unity. Common education, the Hebrew language, universal service in the Israel Defense Forces, the establishment of a common minimum standard of living, the entry of workers from various countries and communities into a single labour federation, mixed marriages between the various tribes, common political action in non-communal parties, and so on, will produce a new type of Jew with the favourable qualities and characteristics of all the tribes of Israel'. 

quoted in J. Isaac, 'Israel: A New Melting Pot?' in W.D.Borrie, ed. Cultural Integration of Immigrants (Paris: UNESCO, 1959) p. 266

Well, the man plans and G-d laugh. I will not start right now to write an academic article about identity in the state of Israel, but what can I say is that, for sure, David Ben-Gurion's assumption did not turn into reality. And, in a way, it is better that we have nowadays a diversity of cultures, traditions, accents and people that all of them are part of the same country: the state of Israel. More than the 'goldene medina', Eretz Yisrael is a laboratory for all cultures and traditions from the world: from the serious yekke to the Shanghai yidden, to the delicious food served by Iraqi families to the messy Russian lifestyles. How can you be not proud that each day you can discover something new about yourself? You won't learn it in school or at a PhD program: you go on the street of Jerusalem and try to find a good restaurant to eat. Or in the Army, where you need to accommodate different lifestyles, from the secular to the religious. Even the voting patterns are following the ethnic lines and most likely it will continue to be so for a long time from now. Nothing to be ashamed, nothing that we would need to change. It can get complicated sometimes and the mixed marriages are not encouraged, at least not in the traditional families and sometimes 'we' vs. 'them' is not a pleasant episode of our everyday lives. 

But, in any case, Ben Gurion was not right, and not all the dreams, including the political ones, should be true.

The Newlywed guide to Physical Intimacy

This Newlywed's Guide to Physical Intimacy is on the market for almost two years but it caught my attention relatively recent, following some online reviews and discussions about it, including some controversies about how far the Orthodox writing can go and how open should it be in such sensitive issues such as 'physical intimacy'. 

Curious to read more and with some free time in my pocket, I decided to download the Kindle edition and spend some time reading it. It is a fast lecture, not only for someone practising 'speed reading': a simple language yet a careful choice of the words, plus some explicit illustrations that may help anyone at the beginning of the Orthodox married life. The information is useful and written in a very non-offensive way for the eyes of someone not-exposed to the such knowledge, even at a passive level. As in the case of many seminars for newly and older weds, communication is important in this stage of the life. An example of advice: 'Being sexual with each other is a unique form of communication, but that experience can be made more secure and comfortable if your verbal communication - what you each say and hear - conveys clear messages'. Easy to write, not so easy in practice, when people with a strong Orthodox/Hasidic background may not have the proper words to express what does it mean 'being sexual'. Also, there are a lot of 'superstitions' and fears as well as a lack of education in everything that has to do with the other gender and such issues need to be addressed with a lot of care and attention that goes beyond the graphic descriptions and the advice about what exactly to do when alone for the first time with a man/woman.

Somehow, the book assumes that its readers have a minimal though vague education - in the very sense of the word - about what they can can expect the first night of being a couple. 

The book is accompanied by graphic presentations and simple descriptions of the man/woman body that are helpful. As the authors have also direct experience of working directly with Orthodox couples and by far, the most appreciated part of the book for me was the one including examples of questions and advices. The responsibilities for 'making your sex life work' is the responsibility of both and in case that the problems are less about communication but of medical or haskafic nature, the immediate advice is to address the rabbi, respectively the doctor.

Not openly, but not in a hidden way either, there are hints about using toys and pornography is not overtly eliminated from the discussion ('viewing pornography is not automatically an addictive behavior'). If they say so...at the end of the day, it is a matter of personal choice that should be done in full agreement with the other member of the new family. 

The book is helpful but not enough for solving many of the issues facing a newly wed Orthodox couple. Let's hope it will be a continuation or at least an improved/expanded edition.   

A royal wedding

I have no idea how many people in this world had 25,000 guests at their wedding. Maybe some royal families but even there, I am not sure if the participants were so free to share the holiness of the moment. 

In the last hours, I watched a lot of pictures and videos from the wedding of the Belz rebbe's grandson. From time to time, I also saw some comments, many related to the appearance of the veiled bride (should she stay like this her entire lifetime, or what a culture when the woman should wear a white covering on her face...etc.), but it will not be the point of my articles.

Before the Germans destroyed Belz, there were 3,600 Jewish inhabitants, out of a population of 6,100 persons. The Belzer rebbe was on the list of the most wanted Jews and he succeeded to escape first to Hungary and after, shortly before the Nazis (ימח שמו) invaded the country, he and his half-brother succeeded to escape to the then-Palestine. All the members of their families left in Poland were killed.

The Hasidic courts were re-established in Tel Aviv and later in the Kiryas Belz, in Jerusalem. The Belz synagogue is nowadays one of the biggest constructions in the holy city. A new network of yeshivot and educational system was created, following the model of intensive study used by the Belz in the old country. In the US, the Belz have a high-end medical treatment center and several charities that may support those who are interested in spending more time in the yeshiva before and after being married.

Nowadays, the Belz chosids are everywhere: there are more than 2 thousand families in the US, as well as in Canada or UK. No more chosids in Poland. 

The current rebbe, Yissachar Dov Rokeach, is the fifth head of the dynasty, and the son in law of Rebbe Moshe Hager of Vizhnitz, another hasidic dynasty that was re-born in Eretz Israel after the World War II. 

Nowadays, there are at least ten times more Belz chasidim than in the shtetl. The message? עם ישראל חי

Blessing of the trees

The entire month of Nissan I waited for this moment. Finally today, I spotted the blossoming trees and I davened the  birkat ha'ilanot. Leshana haba'a...

Why flying in a plastic bag

In 75% of the cases, Internet is so useful for reading and learning things that otherwise you cannot have access to. The rest is taken by those very busy to make the web the home of their misunderstandings, half-truth and an inappropriate pinch of hate. 

Yesterday, a picture was posted around the net and social media: a 'Haredi' - can anyone define me in a couple of words this words throw up as a curse when you don't like the degree of religious observance of your fellow Jew -  man in a plastic bag in a plane! Hilarious, shocking, philosophically speaking, outrageous. Of course he does not like women, what other reason may he can have for such a discriminatory outfit?

The truth was revealed a couple of hours later: as a Kohen, the plastic bag is a measure against contamination when flying over a cemetery or in order to avoid eventual contact with dead insects. 

והיא שעמדה

Three of my grandparents were killed then: by the German, Romanian and Hungarian criminals - ימח שמו.  I never know where their graves are. My parents grew up without parents and close family, brought from a border to another, changing names and families in order to survive. We lived in a world of silences and double truth: at home, we were silent and tried to communicate in coded language; outside, we were trying to convince the others that we have a right to live and they should live us alone.

Looking for acceptance with an undeserved humility, mimicking their nonsense, not too brave to be ourselves. Accepting with a stupid smile on the face their arguments that we will never be able to go further because, 'you know, you are never one of us'. It took one generation of pain and silence to realize that, no, we don't want to be 'one of yours'. Leaving behind the prosperous position of second class citizens and assuming what we really are. 

Our protection is not that of the nations, many of them our enemies. Even if I tried hard so many years, I still don't understand why and what happened. But at least I understood why 'they', the culturally brilliant and educated creatures did not hesitate to openly or passively support the killing. 

Part of the task of remembering every one of the 6 millions is to assume our identity and our belief. This is what will protect our children and will give them the strength to fight the Amaleks of their time. 

It is not about cleaning

After months of fear and thousands of discussions and weeks of planning and days of hard work, I am almost done with the Pesach preparations. I avoid to overuse the word 'cleaning' because: 1. does not have nothing to do with 'spring cleaning' and another kind of seasonal cleaning; 2. the word does not cover properly what the entire process has to do with.

Compared with other holidays, I always prefer to get ready for Pesach on my own. I want to be sure that every corner was checked and that I checked carefully the closets and shelves in order to find out things I will rather give to those in real need. I want to do the kashering myself because I like to observe all the details. I also do most part of the shopping on my own, because I want to look at each product and eventually have my own exchange of ideas and thoughts about Pesach.

Each year, there are different lessons. For instance, this year, the decision was to have a very modest Pesach. We have different editions of the Haggadah and there will be many dvar Torah moments, but the menu as such, will be as heimish as possible. Not sophisticated cakes, many salads, matzos - choco matza cannot miss - and good wine. But not eccentric cakes and bread-like meals. 

I need simple meals and Torah learning, especially after weeks when I tried to prepare the good ambiance, without any source of pride and illusions of greatness. The learning is not for showing off but for finding the truth and the food is for basic sustenance, not for wasting impressive amounts of food and resources. 

As in the daily life, we may discover that we don't need everything or big quantities to be happy and feel accomplished: just the proper quality for daily sustenance. And more than anything else, the source of the water we need daily can't be bought.

A meaningful and kosher Pesach!

Pesach cleaning, the new chapter

One week before Purim, I was already taking about what it is to happen next. Two days after, I visited some of my heimishe friends and they were already done 25% of the cleaning. More than one week after Purim, I am here writing a post about Pesach cleaning, but don't have a plan to cope with the challenge. 

To be very honest, I am not as spontaneous as I want to look like. Ten days ago when I was trying to find something fast to cook, I mapped the dangerous corners of the kitchen where most likely chometz is comfortably hiding. I can see often myself starting a huge cleaning process, when everyone in the house is doing its job properly, without any protests against the assigned task. Even if some are faster, they offer to do my part. 

The tragi-comic part of the story is that we don't even know exactly where we will spend Pesach, and I am fighting the terrible feeling that I will need to take care of cleaning another house besides mine, in case that we want to backpack and go in another sunnier place. 

What I know for sure is that I want to enjoy the mitzva of Pesach cleaning. Most probably will listen to some shiurim or hazzanut when cleaning. I will find the most creative recipes for the time of the matzot and will try to learn as much as possible about the holiday. As I am the kind of person that is doing the best job when coping with stress, the proper cleaning will be done 10 days before Pesach, regardless of where we will decide to spend the 2 seder. 

I don't to hear anyone complaining about how hard is to eat matzot and we will find the best ways to embelish the mitzvot with new and nice tablecloth, songs and new yidden that we plan to meet. As usual, we have special savings that will help us, iy''H, to have the best on our table, both spiritually and physically. 

We all have been on Sinai so we better open our doors and hearts for being really free. When your heart is happy with the mitzvot, you are free and happy, even when all you have is a small piece of matza. 

It will be now, not never

It will be very counter-productive to start dropping names. Perhaps because the list is not clear at all and there are so many things to be clarified that starting a discussion right now about how done and who covered and why they were covered is too risky.

But the victims know very well who they are, who made them suffer for life and tempted to destroy their soul. Some of the predators and abusers dared to give lessons about who is and not off derek. But it is too late: the victims waited for so long till at least justice will be done; and they, the predators did too much for being allowed to continue. It does not matter who they are, how old, wise and how many teshuvas they wrote or how many people are davening in their shuls. Those - many of them - who did not get intoxicated by their lies and corrupted way of being don't care about any excuses. And telling that the goyim will disregard us is another huge piece of lie: keeping the monsters in is the biggest danger for our communities. 

Trying to hide their facts - because they are the son of the famous x rabbi or belong to the prestigious x family - is not an excuse. All those who nurtured the rings of abusers and rapists and paedophiles should pay. This may be our chance to go to the path of the shalom bayis into our big house. We have enough to see all the pain they created to innocent souls. 

All you need is motivation

I knew that this will happen one day or another. I was warned as well, but besides it, I feel it I am about to go through this messiness as welll. Nothing extremely wrong, but enough messages in the last 48 hours for a serious wake-up call. I was about to forget reading my kapitels, not too much learning in the last weeks or when I did, I was quite absentminded, hasty reading of the parasha, without too much concentration, arriving a bit late in shul, saying some brachos completely inert, reminding a second before eating the cheese sandwich that it is not the time to do so after the chulent. The tzedakka for the last month was meagre, despite a relative improvement of the financial situation. 

I know there are not transgressions as such, but it is a certain fatigue that may be understandable at the end of a certain stage of development, but worrisome if the leniencies are not prevented by serious communal involvement and more learning.  Everything is going fabulous, in fact, but there is a certain routine that is replaced by new rules and schedule and priorities going in the same direction but sometimes any drop of mediocrity could endanger the stability of system set to fight only for the best. At least I don't have to fight laziness. Yet.

The mitzva of saving the Jews from Yemen

Yemen’s dwindling Jewish community faces extinction | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California

Shabbat reading

It was a good Shabbos for reading, following a couple of days in a row when I did nothing else but reading and writing from time to time. I still have a lot of reviews from the last year to finish and tons - not a stylistic poetry, but the raw reality of my reading life lately - of reviews to be done, but be'H will be done sooner than expected.

The first choice was an interesting book of comparative literature regarding the relation between Poles and Jews through the eyes of the authors from the end of the 19th, century: Poles and Jews, a Failed Brotherhood, part of the series of the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry Series. 

I continued with Gil Yaron's trips where I found some interesting ideas for interviews, but did not like the angle so, I will rate this book with only two modest stars. I wasn't extremely impressed by the next book either, a collection of academic essays with a stereotypical title: Judentum zwischen Tradition und Moderne (Judaism, between Tradition and Modernity). Some interesting ideas about synagogal architecture and various details about the Jewish life in Germany through academic eyes. 

The best choice was almost at the end of Shabbos, when I started to read Tropical diaspora: The Jewish experience in Cuba. A book not only rich in illustration, but who's offering a lot of inspiration for one of my projects in process about Jewish communities around the world, especially in places where we, in the Western galut, do not have any idea that it may be any trace of Jewish life. I've read already 1/4 of it and will continue the lecture once I log off from blogger.

Shavua tov!

Judah Touro, the American philantrophist

19^th of Tevet, yesterday, marked the yahrtzeit of a special person, the American Jewish philanthropist Judah Touro (1775-1854). His good deeds were so impressive and an example to follow for the next generations. On his tombstone, it is written that he is inscribed in “the Book of Philanthropy, to be remembered forever.”

Source: Wikipedia

Touro’s childhood was marked of poverty. He grew up in Newport, Rhode Island, as the son of Isaac Touro, hazzan of the Sephardic synagogue in Newport. During the revolutionary war, his family was on the part of the British troops and they eventually relocated to Kingston, Jamaica, where Isaac Touro died in 1783, when Judah was 8. His mother,Reyna, moved to Boston where her brother, Moses Michael Hays was living. Four years later, Judah’s mother died and the children were raised and taught the Jewish traditions by Hays. They also got a basic training in international commercial ventures, the main occupation of the Hays. Moses Hays was the founder of first Boston’s bank.

It is not clear why Judah moved to New Orleans. Some will say that it was a love story at stake, as he was not allowed to marry his first cousin, Catherine Hays. What it is sure is that Touro was never able to marry. In New Orleans, he took all the advantages of the economic boom taking place in the city at the beginning of the 19^th century, following the acquisition of the city by the US. Touro fought under the command of gen. Andrew Jackson and was severely wounded in the battle of 1815, but he survived and dedicated a significant amount of time to his businesses. His successes never made him forget how he started in life and invested with measure. "I have saved a fortune by strict economy, while others had spent one by their liberal expenditures.", is he quoted saying. For instance, he never mortgaged his properties to finance other ventures. He sold various products – such as candles, fish and soaps – to England.

He invested in a variety of cases. He started by dedicating impressive amounts of money to non-Jewish causes, as the building of a Catholic cathedral, some Protestant churches and the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston which was completed thanks to his money, but also to local libraries. Later on, under the influence of Gershom Kursheedt and Rabbi Isaac Lesser from Philadelphia, he understood the importance of the everyday challenges of the Jewish life. Thus, he contributed to the creation of the Sephardi synagogue Nefuzoth Yehuda in New Orleans where he attended the service regularly. He also provided money for the religious school, the purchase of land for the cemetery as well as the daily management of the congregation. He was also the founder of the Jewish local hospital, the Touro Infirmary, that will be the biggest free hospital in Louisiana.

After his death, he donated $100,000 to Jewish causes in New Orleans, and another $150,000 for Jewish congregations from the US. For instance, thanks to his money the old Newport synagogue where his father was a hazzan was reopened. An amount of $60,000 was sent to the poor Jews living in the then Palestine. He donated $20,000 to the Jews Hospital in New York City, currently Mount Sinai Hospital. Part of the funding was dedicated to some non-Jewish health institutions. In 1970, the Touro College, created in the New York State is meant to honor the name of the family and the transmit the inspiration of Judah’s good deeds.

According to the testimonies of the time, he is one of the first Jews ever who donated so much money for such a diversity of causes.

Sources:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/touro.html

Top 10 anti-Semitic incidents of 2012

There are many others, but those ten were the most outrageous.

Let's hope and work for having less hate in the next 12 months!