Hashgochoh Protis XII - השגחה פרטית

This week (Parshas Taharah 5776) I had an opportunity to experience Hashgocho Protis on a Protis-dige level.  

With the approach of Pesach, the menfolk  are at a loss when it comes to supper.  They can’t afford being chased out of their kitchen, by the housewife who’s valiantly trying to create a Pesach-Kosher space in her fiefdom.  On the other hand, it’s strange to eat supper in a restaurant on your own…  As with all social dilemmas – us Yidden found the ideal solution: from Rosh Chodesh Nissan until the eve of Bedikas Chometz, one can attend a charity reception (parlor meeting in US English) each and every night of the week.

It so happens that out of all the very important receptions, there is one which I couldn’t not go to and I found myself partaking in a hot supper that would put any gourmet chef to shame.  The problem only occurred to me when I started to leave the venue; I haven’t had a chance to prepare some Ma’aser money before coming, as (didn’t I hint to this before?) I hadn’t been home yet.  

I was about to take out my credit card, knowing that there was still some money on it – even after paying for the pre-Pesach shopping – and then I met him.  “Him” is one of my acquaintances who owed me money for a job that I did for him last year.  I noticed that he had a fifty pound note in his hand, so I assumed that he prepared to donate for the charitable cause.  He tells me that it’s now the first opportunity that he has the money ready for me since the time that he promised to pay me.  

I stood there speechless; how this money arrived with such precision can only be described in two words:

“Hashgochoh Protis”!

Ping Pong X : Agudist vs Zionist

LH: Please sign our petition urging Prince Charles not to visit Iran

MS: What do we care about Iran or Price Charles, all we need to do is care about one another and then nobody will be able to do us any harm!

LH: Do you not say the "prayer for the Royal Family" every Shabbat, which asks G-d to protect them, so we should have peace?

MS: First of all, we don't say this prayer at all - ever.  Secondly, ask anyone in Shul what they think about having this prayer replaced with "prayer for the Prime Minister", who has after all the last word in matters of politics, war and peace.  Thirdly, were we to antagonise this prince about where he should and where he shouldn't travel, it may push him over to the side of our enemies.

LH:
Fiddler on the roof: "Rabbi, can we have a blessing for the Tsar?"
Rabbi: "Of Course1 may G-d bless and keep the Tsar. .....Far away from us".

It is said in all United Synagogue and Federation shuls and is in all of the Singers Prayer Books, updated by Rabbi Sacks, depending on who is head of the Royal Family. I don't think a prayer for any prime Minister would be appropriate in the UK, because most of the time the congregation would be split in favour of one or the other. You may also argue that many people would now side with the republicans, but the Queen is still our national figurehead. This prayer is said standing up, which is odd in that the Queen never stands up for us.
As to your third point, Charles's daughter in law (Kate) has some Jewish ancestors, and there are recent photos of him wearing a cupple...

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LH: 22/05/2016 Is Israel Killing Palestinian Children? The AFP Thinks So; The Sunday Times Confuses a Proposal for Policy
MS: 23/05/2016 As long as the Israelis will continue to portray its Jewish brethren as parasites, they will not be able to beg the world to see them in a favourable light.
LH: When you are davening at the Kotel, and in the middle of Shemona Esrai, and there are people trying to beg money from you at that moment, what are they if they are not parasites?
MS: People who beg money are there for two (or even more) reasons:

1) These people are our own brothers who - by a twist of fate - weren't born in a welfare state that dishes out HB, MR, GAYE, WFTC, CHB, DLA and a slew of other benefits - the likes of which has not been experienced since the start of civilisation.  They live in a country which has a government whose majority of functionaries favour the rich, powerful and well-connected, whilst ignoring the plight of the poorer classes. 

The fact that they were excluded from the workforce purely for their religious beliefs reinforces my previous message: the state of Israel produces the kind of society where the overlord is robber and judge, arbitrarily assigning whole swathes of its population to abject poverty, only for the 'crime' of not kowtowing to the heretic educational system that the boorish heads of state are promulgating.

2) Whilst defending the cause for these people's rude behaviour, one must also remember that - as a believing Jew - we encourage this type of fundraising, albeit in a somewhat toned-down version...  The Torah beseeches us not to turn down a beggar, lest we might one day regret our stinginess - justified or not.  Our prayers are that much powerful, when 'wrapped' in a twenty Shekel bill!
LH: We are in a society where people can earn more from begging than they do from work. Some people make a career out of it. Far better to give food and soft drink than money, otherwise the money could be spent on alcoholic drink, drugs, and betting.
A lifestyle is important. People go out to work and pay hard earned taxes. They don't want to see these taxes frittered away on people who are not prepared to contribute to the economy (Rabbi Jacobovitz-a supporter of Thatcher- went too far and generally castigated the unemployed as being lazy). There is a proverb that says G-d helps those who help themselves. Tzedaka is good in the right places

Ping Pong IX : Agudist vs Zionist

LH: THIS IS THE ISRAEL NOBODY HEARS OR TALKS ABOUT!!  Take 3 minutes to listen; spread!! https://player.vimeo.com/video/154464174
MS: This is nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands of Jewish souls saved by our Frum brethren who run Chabad Houses all over the world:

LH: The Jewish people are leaders, and if we can move away from being insular and show the world that we care about all of G-d's children we might see the benefits of perspective from other peoples. G-d made everybody, not only Jews. The laws of Tzedaka also apply to helping non-Jews.

MS: We're supposed to be a light upon the nations, not leaders.  A light shines and shows the way, whereas a leader goes in front of the pack...

Being insular has proven a boon for the Jewish people, as assimilation was a bane.

G-d's children are first and foremost those who relate to Him as a Father figure, listening to his directives, fulfilling his instructions and avoiding to raise his wrath.  This is sadly not the case when millions of our brethren are blatantly violating the most hallowed, valued and precious precepts that He commanded us, His beloved firstborn. 

All other 'children' have features that may contribute to mankind, to the Jewish people and to the world, but they cannot serve as role models for the oldest of them all: the Hebrew nation.  We Jews are here to exemplify G-dliness, others are here to facilitate our success, as they themselves are admitting from any pulpit, be it political or social...

When G-d made everybody, He waited twenty generations for the first Jew to appear.  It only took five generations before He had to steamroll Europe out of its Jews - for the simple reason that the Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Communist and Zionist movements - all founded by Jews - undid all His handiwork of millennia.

True, the laws of Tzedakah apply to helping non-Jews, but only as a safeguard to prevent non-Jews fomenting hatred, bigotry or worse, rampage against the true sons of G-d.  Only when all Torah-true institutions will be free of debt, can we turn our attention to help the less fortunate non-Jews.

LH: The Torah instructs us to "love thy neighbour". This also applies to strangers in our midst.

MS: Please check your sources.  The Torah instructs us to "love thy neighbour", which refers to someone who acts, behaves and adheres by Torah law.

LH: the strangers will include goyim, who ought to act according to the 7 Noahide laws.

I do not agree with assimilation. You say it was a bane, it still is, but we have to accept we are living in a modern world and come across all types of people. We need not be insular, and we ought to have knowledge of the world around us, otherwise we will not see and be surprised by a second Shoah and when it might take place. There is more of a problem from both the left and right wings of the Jewish people, than there is from other nations (those who at least follow the Noahide laws). In about 1980, I worked for a Jewish accountancy firm, considered one of the biggest Jewish practices in the Country.They employed a guy from Malaysia, who was openly a Jew hater, but there was nobody at that time I felt I could approach to complain about him. I was eventually sacked because I refused to do an audit in Inverness, which would have entailed working on Shabbat, One of the partners in my final meeting (I was offered no representation or grievance person) took up thst point, wrongly (in part at that time, as opposed to today) accusing me of not being Shomar Shabbat. He had married a Jew, but was a non-Jew. He converted to become a well known Masorti Rabbi in Redbridge. These people are the real dangers in our midst.

Prince Charles has been to the Kotel in recent months, photographed in a cupple. How do you think the Iranians will view that?

I agree with your last paragraph that we need safeguards to prevent non-Jews fomenting hatred. These safeguards should also consider those people in Stamford Hill (however small in number), burning the Israeli flag along with brainwashed young children, and for them to protest in Whitehall on Tisha B'Av (I was there on the opposite side of the road) in favour of the Iranians, against Israel, and for one of them to say, that because I didn't dress in their black uniform, that I was a non-Jew, as if the Torah demands we should all dress the same.

Ping Pong VIII : Agudist vs Zionist

LH to Rosie Winterton, Parliamentary Whip 04/11/2015: Subject: re: Gerald Kaufmans comments about Jews and money.  "Dear Madam, I wish to draw your attention to the latest faux pas by Gerald Kaufman about the Jewish people.  Since before the birth of the State of Israel in 1948, there has always been a problem within the Labour Party with anti-Semitism with the likes of Ernest Bevin and Aneurin Bevan having battles with one of our heroes Manny Shinwell. Not forgetting the Labour Government's treatment of Jewish refugees from Europe as shown in the film "Exodus" written by Leon Uris, which was compared with the treatment by the Nazis. We have had the anti-Semitism from other Labour MP's in recent years like Ken Livingstone, Dennis Skinner, and George Galloway (before he set up the oddly named Respect Party) Now under Mr. Corbyn (Corbane in Hebrew means sacrifice), the Labour Party has returned to those dark days.  For a Jewish person such as Gerald Kaufman to refer to his own people like he has, in a fashion of self-hatred (closely followed by the Milliband brothers) is much worse and I could not put into print my feelings about this. I have spent my life from being insulted at junior school (as a nine year old in 1956) onwards having to deal with anti-Semitic remarks, buying an evening newspaper(opposite Monument Station)  during the 6 day war with the vendor casually remarking "Hitler should have killed all the Jews when he had the chance", to walking through a school playground (I am a teacher) in Bethnal Green in recent years and hearing a couple of young Asian children (probably from Pakistan) shout "death to the Jews", which was reported to the police.  Why should MPs' have immunity from prosecution for racial incitement? Why should Galloway have won a court case when accused of such last year? 

Yours sincerely"

MS: The writing is on the wall, book the (first) last ship to Tristan da Cunha

RW: Date: 25 November 2015 at 15:46, From: Opposition Chief Whip <oppositionchiefwhip@parliament.uk>, To: LH, Subject: Gerald Kaufmans comments about Jews and money.

Dear Mr Hoppen, Thank you for your correspondence with regard to Sir Gerald Kaufman MP.  As I am sure you know, Jeremy Corbyn issued the following statement: “Sir Gerald Kaufman comments about the Jewish community, the Conservative party and Israel are completely unacceptable and deeply regrettable.  Such remarks are damaging to community relations, and also do nothing to benefit the Palestinian cause. I have always implacably opposed all forms of racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and will continue to do so.  At my request, the Chief Whip has met Sir Gerald and expressed my deep concern.”  As Jeremy said in his statement, I met with Sir Gerald and have made clear the Labour Party’s view on this matter to him.  Yours sincerely,  Rt Hon Rosie Winterton MP, Opposition Chief Whip.  UK Parliament Disclaimer: This e-mail is confidential to the intended recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and delete it from your system. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no liability is accepted for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail.  This e-mail address is not secure, is not encrypted and should not be used for sensitive data.

MS: Dear LH, Perhaps we ought not invest in picking on our fellow Jews, especially when we're dealing with such a deprived individual as Gerald Kaufman.  Our resources could be put to so much better use,  were to turn our attention to the potential hundreds if not thousands of little " Gerald Kaufmans" growing up in the UK Jewish community.  If you can see what I am driving at, you will surely agree with my position. 

LH: The problem is where do we find them and what can we do about them. Gerald Kaufman has put his head above the parapet. My wife's cousin works for the BBC news team, has married out (to a very nice girl-they met at the BBC), and has anti-Israel views , akin with those of the BBC. In this situation I find there is no use in trying to change his views. He is steadfast. He has been to Israel (in his younger days) and perhaps he did not then have the same views that he has now. 

MS: Forget about your cousin. Remember all those youngsters who are going to land a job at the BBC and who are still in school / college.  It is these teenagers that need to be targeted with pure Judaism; no frolicky activities, no barn dances and none of the salt herring parties - just plain old Torah study!

LH: As it happens I was having a chat with Rabbi Wollenberg yesterday about the Chief Rabbi's initiative to add the leading of services as part of the barmitzvah study programme. In my opinion it will help shul attendances if people can follow the service. I then suggested that in my next speculative application for a job at King Solomon School to be a business studies/economics/accounts teacher, I could add the suggestion to volunteer my services to help these barmitvah boys. It would also help me to hone my skills from what I was learning with Chaim Ritvo.

I would not be skilled enough with Torah study, nor do I think that kids have it in mind to work for the BBC. Sometimes random events just take kids into these places.

MS: Very well put. Can we start with once a month session at SYDTTW? It will only take 60 minutes of your time.

LH: But it will take a round 3 hours of travelling time, unless there is transport

MS: Three hours every month isn't too bad

Ping Pong VII : Agudist vs Zionist

LH: the latest report about growing Dangers for Jews Around the World point to the fact that as long as the State of Israel will stand guard over the Jewish people worldwide, our enemies will not be able to harm us.

MS: When the movements calling themselves reform, reconstruction, conservative, Zionist and revisionism were busy creating "A Nation amongst Nations", HaShem in his infinite wisdom prepared the antidote: See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYMviMHH0nc&feature=youtu.be

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LH: Call to action re. Gerald Kaufman's remarks about "Jewish money" in UK politics.

MS: Wrong approach, use this one.

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Online Advert: Associate Lecturer A: The Third Reich

Birkbeck College, University of London - Bloomsbury

Purpose and Main Duties 
This is an exciting opportunity to join our teaching team on the History Undergraduate Programme. 
We are currently looking for a part-time fixed term Associate Lecturer A to teach “The Third Reich” undergraduate module during Spring term 2016. 
Your main responsibility will be preparation, teaching, administration and assessment of this special subject course for advanced undergraduate students, replacing the substantive post holder, who is currently on research leave. You will deliver teaching to Birkbeck students, in order to enable them to complete their studies successfully and undertake all related course administrative duties, as required. 
The course, which has already been devised, is based around the study of original documents in translation and most of the seminars will involve the discussion of a prescribed set of original documents. During spring term, the main focus will be on the Third Reich at War. 
The course meets once a week (on Wednesdays) for ten weeks between 6-8 pm, beginning 6th January 2016. 

LH: I dont understand why they would put on a course like this

MS: They are busy preparing for the fourth reich, whilst our people are slowly stepping into the path of self destruction; assimilation.

LH: I thought Germany already controls Europe. Greece wrote off a lot of debt owing to them by Germany 60 years ago. why can't Germany do the same now?

MS: Greece wrote off a debt of real money. The current debt is in Euros...

Ping Pong VI : Agudist vs Zionist

LH: Do you want to hear from inspiring experts on the latest issues relating to Israel? Do you want to learn about the challenges and opportunities the community faces? And do want to do so with the opportunity to network with other activists? Then join us for the ZF Annual Israel Seminar on Sunday October 18!  In 2012, Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke at the annual Al Quds Day rally against Israel. He was photographed next to a Hezbollah flag - unsurprising, since the event is organised by Islamists. However, his team didn't want too many people to see it - and contacted the photographer, asking him to take it down. Luckily for them, the photographer agreed that the photo was being taken "out of context."  In response, ZF Director Arieh Miller wrote an article for the political blog Harry's Place: "Sorry, but the photo of Jeremy Corbyn standing in front of a Hezbollah flag is not being taken out of context."

MS: As long as descendants of the first enlightened Jews will pose as authentic "citizens of the world", HaShem will make available many platforms for people like Corbyn to spew forth their reminders that "Jew is unlike all other people".

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LH: A menorah made from Kassam rockets eh! How about that?

MS: I would put my money where my mouth is:

Instead of supporting war relics, I'd donate to pieces of peace like a Yeshiva where every penny is used to support peace brokers

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LH: The Priest tells his friend the Rabbi about a trick he uses at restaurants: "I go in at well past 9 o'clock in the evening,eat several courses slowly, linger over coffee, port and a cigar.  Come 2 o'clock, as they are clearing everything away, I just keep sitting  there until eventually a waiter comes up and asks me to pay. Then I  say: 'I've already paid your colleague who has left.' Because I am a man of  the cloth, they take my word for it, and I leave."

The rabbi is impressed, and says: "Let's try it together this  evening."

So the priest books them into a restaurant and come 2 o'clock they are both still quietly sitting there after a very full  meal. Sure enough, a waiter comes over and asks them to pay.

The priest just says:  "I've already paid your colleague who has left." And the  rabbi adds: "And we are still waiting for the change!"

MS: Such a joke surely stems from Gerald K. 

LH: I suppose the Priest could be a Cohen, and it could be a kosher restaurant. Incidentally, the first Cohen mentioned in the Torah was not Jewish.

MS: Can't have been a Cohen as he would not eat in a restaurant

Ping Pong V : Agudist vs Zionist

LH: Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei Wastes No Time in Stirring Up the Masses Against USA, & Israel!

MS: As long as the 'free' are inciting against the devout, HaShem will bring about these developments - all designed to remind the world and its Jews that it's not a free ride after all!

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LH: Jeremy Corbyn is supporting Holocaust Deniers. In the UK this is an arresable offence

Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.

MS: When Jew is pitted against Jew, HaShem reminds us to make peace through people like Corbyn

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LH: This is going back 60 years to the days of McCarthyism: The New Racists: Jew Hate

MS: As long as 'mainstraem' Jews will recoil from the thought of making their way back into Shul, the Yogs will continue haunting us.

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LH: The Fiction of Political Islam

MS: Our benevolent Creator acts in strange and sometimes funny ways: let the Arabs behead each other, as long as they leave the Jewish people alone.

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LH: Urgent: BBC - There's just 48 hours left to have your say on the future of the BBC.  Government plans to rip out the heart of the BBC are taking shape.  'BBC warned George Osborne it would have to axe BBC2 and BBC4 due to cuts'.

MS: I hope they go broke, I hope they will now be part of history, I hope Kol Israel will announce the demise of the BBC, May all haters of Israel follow the BBC into oblivion

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LH: free event Why American Jews eat Chinese food

MS: Instead of explaining (or trying to feign expertise on this subject) why American Jews eat Chinese food, she should explain why Woodford Forest United Synagogue has become extinct: because its members failed to see the tree of life for the forest.

Ping Pong II : Agudist vs Zionist

LH: Weekly Update from Campaign Against Antisemitism
MS: Instead of combating antisemitsim, increase awareness of Judaism amongst our brethren who lost any vestige of their rich heritage over the last decade
LH: How then do you balance this up with the group of Charedim who were outside 10 Downing Street on Tisha Ba'Av, protesting against Israel and Israel's existence, and in favour of Iran and the US appeasement process? They are unaware of anything that goes on outside Stamford Hill. for that matter, many orthodox people walked into the gas chambers like lambs to the slaughter.

Yes we do have irreligious Jews, who "have lost any vestige of their rich heritage", but they are also aware of their Jewishness and want to battle anti-Semitism in their own way, so good on them.

Another group we have is unfortunately the self-hating Jews, not just those mentioned in the first paragraph, but those friends of the BDS and anti-Israel groups like Jews for Palestinians, one of whom has publicly (in the past) denied her Jewishness in the Jewish Chronicle and elsewhere, until it now suits her to run down Israel.

Then there are the Israelis living in the UK, who think that UK Jews should leave Israel to their own devices, and do not consider it appropriate to even appreciate UK donations to Israel.

MS: Dear LH,

Re: Campaign Against Antisemitism

Let me answer you on each and every of your arguments:

On 26 October 2015 at 13:43, LH wrote:

How then do you balance this up with the group of Charedim who were outside 10 Downing Street on Tisha Ba'Av, protesting against Israel and Israel's existence, and in favour of Iran and the US appeasement process? They are unaware of anything that goes on outside Stamford Hill.

As you rightly write, it's a group of Charedim - a tiny minority, who also "have lost any vestige of their rich heritage" but call themselves guardians of Judaism.   

They are fully cognisant of what 'goes on outside Stamford Hill; they choose to ignore it.

for that matter, many orthodox people walked into the gas chambers like lambs to the slaughter.

They went like lambs to slaughter with their heads held high. 

My uncle was a member of the Sonderkommando and told me about the Shochet of one of the many Polish villages who arrived into the undressing room and upon realising what is about to happen picked up a German soldier and sliced his throat with his Chalaff (slaughter knife).

This is just one of many heroic acts of active resistance shown by Jewish people, who - having been subjected to the most base living conditions, rationed food, filthy transportation and horrendous humiliation - still had the courage to fight until their last minute in this vile place on earth called Auschwitz. 

Whilst mentioning walking "like lambs to slaughter", let's not forget the tens of thousands of Polish noblemen and army officers who were machine gunned by the invading Russian army or the hundreds of thousands of Russian Army heroes who were mowed down by the advancing Pantzer divisions. 

Why, there's even full colour footage of proud Syrian, Iraqi and Kurdish ISIS prisoners being led through desert dunes to their slaughter.  How do you explain their walk to the shooting pits like lambs to slaughter? 

Yes we do have irreligious Jews, who "have lost any vestige of their rich heritage", but they are also aware of their Jewishness and want to battle anti-Semitism in their own way, so good on them.

Irreligious Jews who are "aware of their Jewishness" are like cancer patients smoking cigarettes in the waiting room to chemotheraphy: they know that they should change their lifestyle, as their current way of life is a blatant denial of their responsibility as a member of the Jewish people. 

When you claim that these people "want to battle anti-Semitism in their own way", it sounds like a man who drinks seawater to prevent it from drowning him... 

The mere fact that he's not consonant with Jewish law is the cause for his suffering from the effects of anti-Semitism.  one cannot battle a disease by embracing its bacterium... 

When you write "so good to them", you inadvertently paraphrased the holy prophet Hosea, who said: "the wicked stumble in them" (Chapter 14, Verse 9).

Another group we have is unfortunately the self-hating Jews, not just those mentioned in the first paragraph, but those friends of the BDS and anti-Israel groups like Jews for Palestinians, one of whom has publicly (in the past) denied her Jewishness in the Jewish Chronicle and elsewhere, until it now suits her to run down Israel.

The self-hating Jews are not a new phenomenon; us Jews have a long memory and history is replete with creatures of their ilk: Spinoza, Mendelson and Herczl to name a few.   

The common denominator of the above-mentioned trio is that they sought to replace their biological right to the most exalted way of living with a 'weltanschauung' that is a cheap imitation of either Greek philosophy, Christian theology and national Bolshevism (in this order).   

BDS'ers hate the fact that they are Jewish and want to show the world that being Jewish doesn't mean embracing Israel.  Incidentally, this goes for the fuirst group mentioned above: the so-called guardians of Judaism... How warped the world has become!!!

Then there are the Israelis living in the UK, who think that UK Jews should leave Israel to their own devices, and do not consider it appropriate to even appreciate UK donations to Israel.

You have to admit that no self-respecting citizen will be ready to accept criticism - even of the constructive genre - when it comes from an alien: you don't tell me how to run my country. 

Likewise, Israelis (at least the ones brought up on the bedrock of Zionist Nationalism) dislike any interference in 'their' country by outsiders. 

The fact that these same self outsiders have over the past century financed the birth, growth and upkeep of the entire Jewish homeland doesn't change this fact one iota: gratitude is in very small supply - especially from those on the receiving end.

I hope you will read the above answers more than once, as it would not do justice to the subject matter otherwise. Yours sincerely, MS

LH: lovely response

Ping Pong IV : Agudist vs Zionist

LH: This article was published by the Evening Standard on March 16th. you would have thought that a Jewish writer would not be so scaremongering about visiting Israel, rather than following Home Office protocol.

MS: By what measure do you term this writer 'Jewish'?

LH: Jewish name

MS: JUST SOME OF THE JEWS AT THE BBC: Susie Orbach, Vanessa Feltz, Steve Rozenberg, Joshua Rozenberg, Melanie Phillips, David Aaronovitch, David Shukman, Robin Lustig, Gaby Roslin, Claudia Winkleman, David Schneider, Rebbecca Front, Patrick Marber, Neil Gaiman, John Sergeant, Nick Robinson, Robert Peston, Stacey Solomon, Jason Solomon, Andy Zaltzman, Micheal Rosen, Emily Maitliss, Jon Sopel, Ian Katz, Matt Lucas, Ivor Baddiel, David Baddiel, Robert Winston, Steve Furst, Danny Cohen, Caroline Raphael, Danny Finklestein, Ian Stone, Stephen Fry, Simon Amstel, Jay Rayner, Miriam Margolyes, Tom Stoppard, Saul Metzstein, Jim Rosenthal, Tom Rosenthal, Boyd Hilton, Tracey-Anne Oberman, Dave Berry, Denis Norden, Barry Cryer, Lionel Blair, Ruby Wax, Nigella Lawson, Laurie Penny, Felicity Kendal(C), Tom Stoppard, Steven Poliakoff, Stephen Frears, Stephen Berkoff, Andy Samberg, Victoria Coren, Giles Coren, Zoe Wannamaker, David Suchet, Lesley Joseph, Will Gompertz, Simon Gompertz, Mark Pougatch, Yotam Ottolenghi, Laurie Penny, Russell Kane, Rachel Riley, Suzy Klein, Rachel DeThame, Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman, Alan Yentob, Simon Schama, Simon Sebag-Montefiore, Arthur Smith, Emma Freud, Ben Elton, Robert Popper, Natasha Kaplinski, Lisa Jardine, Martin Gilbert, Martin Lewis, Jonathan Miller, Alain de Botton, Jonathan Romain, Jonathan Sachs, Andrew Sachs, Maureen Lipman, Angela Epstein, Rita Simons, Alan Sugar, Paul Kaye, Simon Brodkin, Ronni Ancona, Mark Damazer, Naomi Alderman, Muriel Gray, Anthony Horowitz, Howard Jacobson, Jon Ronson, Will Self, Barbara Amiel, Jonathan Freedland, Dominic Lawson, Hugo Rifkind, Eve Pollard, John Kampfner, Alex Brummer, Simon Kelner, Glenn Greenwald, Nick Cohen, Sasha Baron-Cohen, Richard Cohen, Greville Janner, Grant Shapps, Luciana Berger, Micheal Fabricant, Micheal Grade, Martin Kelner, Hadley Freeman, Dani Behr, Tanya Gold, Heston Blumenthal, Sidney Blumenthal, Nina Caplan, Rafael Behr, Jemima Khan, Jake Wallace-Simons, Adam Kirsch, Eleanor Margolis, Theodore Dalrymple, Jonathan Miller, Meg Rossoff, Ricky Gervase (Source)

LH: Barry Cryer is not Jewish, though many people think he is. My wife's cousin (not on this list) actually works in the BBC news team, and he is anti-Israel, and didn't even bother about a minyan when his mother died 2-3 years ago (buried in Rainham).

Ping Pong III : Agudist vs Zionist

LH: "Winston S. Churchill: "Some people like the Jews, and some do not.  But no thoughtful man can deny the fact that they are, beyond any question, the most formidable and most remarkable race which has appeared in the world. 

John F.  Kennedy: Israel was not created in order to disappear - Israel will endure and flourish. 

It is the child of hope and the home of the brave.  It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success.  It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom. 

Von Goethe: "Energy is the basis of everything.  Every Jew, no matter how insignificant, is engaged in some decisive and immediate pursuit of a goal.  It is the most perpetual people of the earth."

John Adams: "I will insist the Hebrews have [contributed] more to civilize men than any other nation.  If I was an atheist and believed in blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations...  They are the most glorious nation that ever inhabited this Earth.  The Romans and their empire were but a bubble in comparison to the Jews."

Eric Hoffer: "The Jews are a peculiar people: Things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews.  Other nations drive out thousands, even millions of people, and there is no refugee problem.  Russia did it.  Poland and Czechoslovakia did it.  Turkey threw out a million Greeks and Algeria a million Frenchmen.  Indonesia threw out heaven knows how many Chinese-- and no one says a word about refugees.  But in the case of Israel, the displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees.  Everyone insists that Israel must take back every single Arab.  Arnold Toynbee calls the displacement of the Arabs an atrocity greater than any committed by the Nazis.  Other nations when victorious on the battlefield dictate peace terms.  But when Israel is victorious it must sue for peace.  Everyone expects the Jews to be the only real Christians in this world."

Mark Twain: "...If statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race.  It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky way.  Properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of.  He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk.  His contributions to the world's list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers.  He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and had done it with his hands tied behind him.  He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it.  The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed; and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished.  The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind.  All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains.  What is the secret of his immortality?"source)

(See the full text in this

MS: The answer is this: the One who created the world made a choice, which He cemented with a promise: I will never abandon, exchange or allow to do away with my Choice!  Am Yisroel - the people of Israel is here to stay and no matter what its detractor or admirers will do or say, the Jewish people will always remain faithful to its Guardian.  The people of the book have endure slavery, persecution, exile, poverty, ridicule, oppression, pogroms, ghettos, labour camps, killing fields, crusades, scuds, flotillas, resolutions, sanctions, divestment, apathy, abandonment, insidious taxes, forced conversion, false accusations and false praise... still, we are utterly alone in the world of Civilised Nations.  Luckily we are not alone in the world, as the Guardian of Israel doesn't sleep nor slumbers.

Call for Entries

Trumpit:
If you see a similarity between Achasverosh the late king of Persia and the future (?) president of America (United or not), leave your comment here.
We'll add it to this Blog and it will be published in time for the reading of Megillas Esther.

Hashgochoh Protis XI - השגחה פרטית

This story is from a South Tottenham resident:

This story happened on a Friday noontime, during the recent bank holiday weekend of 01/01/2016.  On such a day, we would do the things that we never manage on a regular workday, which means: never…  

The children were at home from school, I was also home from work.  They prepared for me a long To Do List of chores that have been waiting to be taken care of.  I decided to call a minicab and tick off all the items as I go round town finishing the long list.  Alas there were no cars available.  

One of my children suggested we use the recently-launched car hire service DriveNow, but when i waited three minutes on their music line, I realised that their call centre will not answer on such a lazy day...
I informed the family that there is currently no car readily available from this company.

As I very much wanted to finish the outstanding things, which have been languishing for a long time, I decided that – no matter what – I’ll do everything by foot.  

Just then my daughter came running into the house, begging me to come outside.  I didn’t know what happened to her, but I followed her through the front door, where lo and behold - a DriveNow car was parked right outside my front door!

''Shem HaGedolim''

This is one of the classics for which the Chida (Rabbi Chaim Yosef Dovid Azulai) is famous in traditional (as well as estranged) Jewish circles alike.  There is a story behind this 'book of stories' which makes the creation of this tome the more legendary than many of his other great works. The story is told of how, upon landing in Livorno he was imprisoned for one night (or two) on suspicion of being a spy.  Sitting as he was in this damp dungeon, without his beloved Seforim (study books), he was forced to learn by heat, which - in those scary circumstances - was quite a difficult feat.  In order to alleviate his anguished position and elevate himself from his fear of the unknown, he started compiling in his mind a list of all the worthy personalities and their written works that made the Jewish people proud throughout their long and arduous journey through history.  When he was released from custody, following extensive intervention by the local Jewish community, he committed the list from his memory onto paper.  What resulted was no less than a veritable repository of history, genealogy and discussion that spanned nearly five thousand years!

His notes were published in four booklets, comprising two sections, under the titles ''Shem HaGedolim'' (The Name of the Great Ones), containing the names of authors, and ''Wa'ad la‑Ḥakamim'' (Assembly of the Wise), containing the titles of works. This treatise has established for Azulai a lasting place in Jewish literature. It contains data that might otherwise have been lost, and it proves the author to have had a critical mind. By sound scientific methods he investigated the question of the genuineness of [[Rashi]]'s commentary to ''[[Books of Chronicles|Chronicles]]'' or to some Talmudic treatise (see "Rashi," in ''Shem HaGedolim''). However, he does assert that Rashi indeed is the author of the "Rashi" commentary on [[Neviim]] and [[Ketuvim]], contrary to others' opinions.

Belz Jubilee

With the approach of the fiftieth anniversary since the crowning of the present Rebbe of Belz, Hasidim all over the world are eagerly anticipating the festive jubilee to commemorate this milestone.  There are many little milestones along the long and arduous journey that the Rebbe started all those years ago, each of which would be enough to celebrate the prodigious achievements that he managed to build up from scratch.  This planned jubilee is a culmination of all those small and large projects, which the Rebbe unflinchingly pushed for, that at times seemed so far-fetched from ever reaching fruition, when many of his followers thought of giving up - as some did - this calls for a grand celebration.  Hasidim all over will use this opportune moment in the hard-won annals of Belz history, to wish the Rebbe many healthy and happy years, during which he will lead his flock in the ways of Torah, servitude to the Almighty and Hasidism, until the days of Mashiach - may we see it with our eyes, speedily Amen.

WAY too special not to share please read

The brand new Rabbi and his wife were newly assigned to their first congregation to reopen a Shul in suburban Brooklyn.  
They arrived in early February excited about their opportunities.   
When they saw their Shul, it was very run down and needed much work.  
They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Erev Purim.  They worked hard, repairing aged pews, plastering walls, painting, etc, and on 8th of the Adar (February 17th) they were ahead of schedule and just about finished.  On February 19 a terrible snowstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.  
On the 21st, the Rabbi went over to the Shul.  His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high.  The Rabbi cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Erev Purim service, headed home.

On the way home, he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity, so he stopped in.  One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory coloured, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colours and a Magen David embroidered right in the centre.  It was just the right size to cover the hole in the front wall.  He bought it and headed back to the Shul. By this time it had started to snow.   An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it.  The Rabbi invited her to wait in the warm Shul for the next bus 45 minutes later.  She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the Rabbi while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry.  The Rabbi could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.

Then the Rabbi noticed the woman walking down the centre aisle.  Her face was like a sheet.   "Rabbi, "she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"  The Rabbi explained.  The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there.   They were.  These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Poland. The woman could hardly believe it as the Rabbi told how he had just gotten "The Tablecloth".
The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Poland. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave.  Her husband was going to follow her the next week. He was captured, sent to a camp and never saw her husband or her home again.  The Rabbi wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the Rabbi keep it for the Shul.  The Rabbi insisted on driving her home.  That was the least he could do.  She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.
What a wonderful service they had on Erev Purim.  The Shul was almost full.  The Service was great. At the end of the service, the Rabbi and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return.  One older man, whom the Rabbi recognized from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the Rabbi wondered why he wasn't leaving.  The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Poland before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike?  He told the Rabbi how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a camp.  He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years between.
The Rabbi asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride.  They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the Rabbi had taken the woman three days earlier.  He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Erev Purim reunion he could ever imagine.
The above is a true story. “God” does work in mysterious ways!
Take 60 seconds and give this a shot!   All you do is simply say the following small prayer for the person who sent this to you:
"Hashem, bless all my friends and family in whatever it is that You know they may be needing this day!  May their lives be full of Your peace, prosperity and power as they seek to have a closer relationship with You.  Amen."
Now send it on to five other people, including the one who sent it to you.  Within hours five people have prayed for you and you caused a multitude of people to pray for other people.  Then, sit back and watch the power of Hashem work in your life.
PS:  Five is good, but more is better.  But only if you wish.   Nothing bad will happen to you if you don't send.  GOD BLESS and GZNT.

Step by Step - Penny for Penny

1^st February 2016

To: All People Who Care

Parenting a special child can be hard. The constant care can be overwhelming; the costs and attendance to doctor's appointments and therapies can be stressful; and their child's development brings on new challenges every day.

What we do

Right now, over 130 disabled children are thriving. Step by Step provides them with special and sensitively tailored daily programs, together with a group of dedicated carers and volunteers. Step by Step are there for the special children and their families every day of the year - after school and when school is closed; before Pesach, Chol Homoed and Isru Chag, as well as both Summer and Winter holidays - with activities including horse-riding, swimming, ice-skating, cycling, Sunday clubs, trips, Shabbatons and sleep-away camps. These are designed to instill life skills, reduce isolation and create happy times.

Empowering families

We are there to support and to help the children as well as their families. We aim to improve their physical and emotional wellbeing, as well as their self-esteem and independence. Essentially we are giving parents the ability to cope on a daily basis and to keep their families happy. Parents continuously say, "If not for Step by Step we would never survive this challenge!"

What you can do

I have joined the "Step Ahead" campaign and I'm raising money for Step by Step to run two Shabbatons in the coming year. I have united with 250 girls to raise £30,000 because we care for those children and their families. I hope you will be able to assist me by donating to this essential cause. Any size donation is welcome and will go a long way in enabling another Shabbaton to take place. You will give these special children the best opportunity to enjoy themselves, whilst their families will enjoy a well-deserved Shabbos break.

I can't wait to share the project's success with you!

Please do not hesitate to contact me or Step by Step for more information and we look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you for joining Step by Step to reach out and impact the lives of our special needs children and their families.

Best wishes,

Masha Scharf, South Tottenham, UK

Ping Pong I : Agudist vs Zionist

MS: How about this: click on the Video to learn a lesson in compassion from Russian citizens

LH: As Alexis said a half an hour ago, why do we hold a minutes silence for what happened in Paris, but do not commemorate similar terrorist attacks in other countries. He used the words "double standards"!

MS: These are not double standards; this is a single standard for EU countries and NO standard for the "Wejs"...

LH: The French Government actually supported ISIS against Israel. People who live in glass houses...........

=======================

LH: There are many concerning articles on the internet that London is next after Paris http://metro.co.uk/2015/11/14/britain-on-high-alert-mi5-braced-for-attacks-in-london-5501249/

MS: See: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/246348/wartime-message-from-agudath-israel-of-america-gratitude-and-fortitude.html

The same goes for all citizens, tourists and refugees sheltering in the British isles...

Democrat

A wise man once wrote that to be a Democrat you have to believe:

1)      Your own country is evil and can do no right and every other country can do no wrong.  Only other people can be proud of their country.
2)      Success is evil.  It is somehow noble to be poor and miserable.
3)      Paying people to be poor and miserable is a great idea.  Emulating successful people is for "sell-outs".
4)      Free speech is only for reporters and terrorists, not for working class people.
5)      Taxes can never be too high.
6)      People are too stupid to take care of themselves.
7)      People are defined by their race or gender or nationality rather than their own behaviour or achievement.
8)      Paying poor families to have babies is a great idea.
9)      Paying people not to work and farmers not to grow crops is a great idea.
10)   Science means whatever a politically-charged, self-selected group of scientists says it does.  If the actual facts are otherwise, just cover it up, fudge the numbers, and blacklist anyone who says otherwise.
11)   Having the federal government spend almost twice as much money as it takes in and therefore put our children and grandchildren in debt is great.
12)   Ignoring your enemies’ intentions and putting your head in the sand is a viable defence strategy.  Well, that or just surrendering.  "Better Red than Dead!
13)   Importing millions of poor, uneducated peasants from Third World countries is a great idea.  See #3 and #8 above.
14)   Everyone else is the problem.  If only you were dictator of the world and could tell everyone what to do, the world would be a utopia.
15)   Representative government is only good when you get your way.  If you don't: protest, throw a fit, harass and intimidate people, and/or cherry pick a friendly judge to give you what you want.
16)   Welcome murderous foreign elements with one hand whilst silencing loyal citizens with the other is de rigueur.
17)   Keep your oil-producing enemies in business, when your domestic economy is teetering on the brink of total meltdown.

I survived my first week without my Mobile

Rosh Chodesh Elul 5775,

Mizrach Beis Hamedrash, South Tottenham, North London, Western Europe

Yesterday I did something I haven’t done before. I forgot to put my Mobile on when I left the house for work.
That meant being about 14 hours without my watch. Over half a day with no notifications, or TxT tracking, or quick replies to eMail messages.
For the first time since I bought my first mobile, I was disconnected.

And I was kind of pleased.
The reason was that I now had chance to see just how used to the Mobile I had become.
My failing memory had given me the opportunity to spend a working day away from the Mobile to find out just how engrained it was in my daily life, and importantly, whether I would miss it or not.
At first, apart from my initial irritation that I managed to forget to pick it up, I didn’t miss the Mobile so much.

Come to think of it, before I bought the latest model, I hadn’t used a Smartphone ever before so not having my whole life crammed into a piece of silicon wasn’t as alien as it might be for some.
How I managed to forget it in the first place is down to the fact that we’re having some adaptations done in my flat - otherwise I would have noticed that it was missing (or, shall I say “I was missing it) much sooner.

Whatever the ins and outs of the situation, I was facing a day without my mobile, checking my pockets for it like some sort of hungry animal.

Oh the indignity!

Initially, I didn’t really notice that I didn’t have my Mobile with me.
Sure, I was conscious of the fact that I was pressing the left button of my mouse to check the time or for notifications while it sat on the desk, only to realise that I am mobileless – not mouseless.
The sky didn’t fall in, my head didn’t fall off, and the world kept on spinning even while my Mobile sat on the shelf at home. But then I started receiving messages and Twitter replies as a couple of conversations sparked.
My desktop alerts on my office PC started bleeping with alarming regularity and I found myself checking the Message Ticker more often than I really needed to, but I felt compelled to because it was shouting at me.

Like a baby crying, it’s impossibly difficult to ignore the Messenger, which is so desperate for your attention. And then I realized that the Mobile would have stopped all that. Instead of all the distracting noises and perceived requirement to check notifications, the Mobile would have tapped me on the chest and then gone away, keen to let me finish what I was doing.
The Mobile is so much better at letting you know that sure, there’s something for you to look at, but you can do it on your own terms. No need to stop everything to find out that someone has sent you a message on Twitter.

There are offshoots of this too.
When I was checking notifications on my office screen, I found myself replying to tweets or messages when I didn’t need to because they could have waited.
What’s worse is I then ended up browsing Twitter or tapping a link that took me further away from what I was meant to be doing.
People talk about the Mobile reducing distractions but it’s true, it really does. At the end of the day I went home with my initial beliefs confirmed.
The Mobile is not something any of us need, and not having one isn’t going to ruin your life by any stretch of the imagination. If you do have one though, I’m willing to bet that you’ll feel a little off should you not use it for a week.

You might not be able to quite put your finger on what’s wrong at first, but it will dawn on you soon enough. The Mobile has found a little hole in my world and while it’s not going to change lives, just plugging that hole can make a difference.
I’m still not convinced that apps are the culprit, and that may never change even when “filtered apps” arrive after the Asifa, but if receiving notifications of things happening and then triaging the resulting information sounds like something you do a lot of, then the Mobile may just fill a hole for you as well. If you own a Mobile and have used it every day for the best part of your adult life, I challenge you to go a week without it and see how you get on.

I’m not going to say that people don’t know what they’ve got until it’s gone, but I have a sneaky suspicion most will want to make sure they put their Mobile after a week, which points to our generation’s degeneration: we’ve become slaves to our Mobile SmartPhones.
I know I did. Not anymore…

Put away yours, you’ll thank me for the prodding and pat yourself on the shoulder!

Your thoughts please,

Based on an article by Oliver Haslam of May 28, 2015 "I survived my first day without my Mobile"

Hashgochoh Protis X - השגחה פרטית

This week Sunday (30/08/2015), I was busy preparing the launch event of HaGefen UK and took off a couple of hours to visit an elderly family member in Golders Green.  As I was sitting on the 210 bus, I was in a quandary: how on earth can I leave North London when in a mere three hours I will have to welcome the attendees to HaGefen UK?!  On the other hand, the Mitzvah of Bikur Cholim is as vital – if not more important – than a new initiative, which may or may not succeed.  As I was stepping off the bus, I heard someone calling my name, which turned out to be an old friend of mine who was waving wildly to me.  He shouted to me that I should please wait for him and started to drive his car into a side road.  Gesturing to him that I will wait for him, I made my way to a spot where we could meet: he in his car and me on the pavement.  He drove his car alongside me and rolled down the window saying: “I just returned from abroad and was going to search for your number.  You see, since the interview about the Shadchonim Crisis was published in Inyan (a HaModia supplement) on Chamishoh Osor beOv this year I was looking for you, as we urgently need to do something about this.”  I was astonished at this Hashgochoh Protis: here I am, wondering whether I should really be in Golders Green and now it’s all clear: this meeting had to take place just in time to invite him to the inaugural gathering of HaGefen UK!