Golden Calfer of the Year Award 5770 (2009): Richard Silverstein

    Today concluded Yom Kippur-The Day of Atonement in Israel and around the world.  Many people remember Yom Kippur for several historical events.  Firstly, the Yom Kippur War in 1973 marked the beginning of the war of attrition by Arabs against the State of Israel.  However, far fewer people know what happened on Yom Kippur 3321 years ago!  The Yom Kippur of 2449 was the day that Moses returned, the second time, from Mount Sinai*.  His delivery of the second set of tablets to the Jews signaled G-d's forgiveness of their sin of the golden calf.
    This year more or less concludes the first year of the Taming Korach blog.  Each year I hope to highlight one person-one of the mixed multitudes who has accidentally found his way into the Jewish nation.  The Golden Calfer of the Year is that special someone whose "membership" amongst the Jews tortures the rest of us.  After all, it was the incident of the golden calf that prevented the immortality of Israel**.
    It is no surprise to Taming's readership who this year's Golden Calfer of the Year Award goes to-Richard "The Dungeon Master" Silverstein."  Rich has the unique honor of having helped establish this site-a response to Jewish self-hatred and heresy.  I'd like to say thank you to the 5,000 new readers who have visited Taming Korach this year-to each of you a successful year.

Symbol of His Generation
    Why is Richard a shining example of the American Jewish "Baby Boomer" generation?  Rich tells us that he was an undergraduate in college in the 1970's.  He was and is affiliated with the American Conservative Movement.  He studied at Berkeley.  As his blog, Tikkun Olam indicates, he has a vision of "Judaism" that is more about social justice than about Torah.  So what's the difference?  Silverstein has posted numerous times through the years his (and his wife's) adventures to non-kosher restaurants.  About his wedding anniversary he wrote:

My wife discovered a wonderful new Seattle restaurant, Casuelita’s, which features Caribbean cuisine. She introduced me to it for our fifth wedding anniversary and it couldn’t have been a more wonderful anniversary present.

This non-kosher restaurant servers shrimp, pork, and all kinds of sea food (I called them).  Apparently Rich's Tikkun Olam ("Fixing The World" in Hebrew) doesn't extend to eating kosher or advertising kosher restaurants on his "Jewish" blog.  There are many Jews in his demographic who have similar habits-some are featured on my blog, but none are quite as hypocritical as Richard Silverstein.  He writes in a piece on the weekly Torah portion (Ekev):

It contains chilly admonitions to the Israelites about the curses that will befall them if they stray from the path God has chosen.

Well, do those admonitions not include eating non-kosher food and then recommending it around the world on a blog called "Tikkun Olam?"
    For those of you who have looked back on my initial argument's with him, it is readily apparent that Rich doesn't really understand Torah Judaism.  His version of Judaism is social justice, and only social justice.  What does "social justice Judaism" (Tikkun-keit) entail?  Here is Rich's feelings towards Orthodox Jews:

Also, I’ve felt profoundly alienated from Orthodox Jews because of their deep mistrust and intolerance of Jews who are less devout than they.

Let's examine this statement.  Rich is "alienated from Orthodox Jews."  This man has spent the past six or so years advertising non-kosher restaurants, persuading the world that Israel's presence in the West Bank is an "occupation," lashing out at Israeli settlers, condoning Arab violence against Jews, and trying to bring international condemnation upon Israel and his fellow Jews (among other transgressions).  Rich's following statement shows his utter contempt for Torah Jews and his mocking disobedience:

In another incident which would otherwise have been laughable had it not been so shocking, a small rump assembly of Orthodox rabbis excommunicated New Jewish Agenda members from Judaism because we supported gay and abortion rights. Afterward, I jokingly suggested that we start a Spinoza Society for those expelled from Judaism because of their beliefs. The motto I suggested: “Spinoza was right!”

    Richard Silverstein is a sad story from a sad generation.  There are those who realize that the only future of Jews who have replaced Judaism with the religion of social justice is Christianity.  These Jews have championed everyone's cause except their own.  Ironically they simply assimilate into the gentile world where they are finally silenced.  I dub Rich "The Dungeon Master" because he censors whatever information he doesn't like-particularly that which shows him to be a lying, conniving, treacherous, hateful, traitorous snake.  The connection between the social justice paganism that he and so many Jews of his generation advocate and Jewish assimilation into oblivion is a trend he refuses to recognize or even discuss.

Hatred Disguised As Harmony
    As the moderator of a blog that claims to "Make The World A Better Place," Richard Silverstein has a lot of venom to inject into his reader's psyche.  He is a small sample of what he has to say about his fellow Jews:

She’s the Chicken Little of university presidents.

...despite their deranged attitudes toward some of their fellow Jews

Israel never faces any consequences for its odious behavior or policies (like building this reprehensible fence)

Along with increasing successes of the BDS movement and other anti-Occupation activism, Israel’s impunity will end.

I quote long passages from the piece simply because of its undeniable power and the chilling message it presents to anyone who cherishes or values what the State of Israel might stand for if it ever lived up to its original promise to be a ‘light unto the nations.’

Because a brutal, callous and inhumane leader (as Netanyahu was and Sharon is) will show the worst face of Zionism.

If Barack Obama doesn’t maintain the same iron resolve and determination in pursuing his Middle East agenda, then all will be lost.  We must win against these evil people.  If we don’t, then Israel will eventually cease to exist as it currently does.

While it is true that I do not admire many Orthodox interpretations of Jewish law and practice (I am a Conservative Jew by practice), my grudge with such Jews lies in their political beliefs much more than in their religious ones.

Thus, Leviev has become the first financial victim of the BDS movement: the first Israeli company to suffer a substantial hit.  No doubt, he will not be the last.  This puts other Israeli companies which profit from the Occupation on notice that they are vulnerable.

Israel is now the cause of Jew hatred

my favorite quote is:

Why didn’t the good rabbi just close up shop and admit Judaism was irrelevant?

    What causes a person to spend years plotting against his fellow Jews?  Certainly his upbringing in the Conservative Movement has much to do with it.  I recently overheard a "Conservative Rabbi" speaking to a small group of people in Jerusalem as we waited for Shabbat dinner.  He was rattling on about his negative feeling towards the Orthodox establishment:  how they don't accept his "converts," how most Orthodox Jews, in his view, don't care about Jewish law, and how it bothers him that liberal Orthodox Rabbis don't have more authority in the Israeli bureaucracy.  These comments, along with his half-cocked understanding of the Torah, gave me a glimpse into how the conservative movement is "preparing its minnows for manhood."  Some of those minnows become angry confused sharks who spend their life's efforts trying to incriminate other Jews for loving (and following) their own tradition.  In that sense, Rich's teachers, among whom are Joel Roth of the Jewish Theological Seminary, are to blame for creating so many anti-Israel anti-Torah golems in a generation that has lost its connection with its religious heritage. 

Identity Crisis?
    After having sifted through some of Rich's "work," one common theme arose.  Rich's search for social justice, his self-described alienation from Orthodox Judaism, his obsessive liberalism, and his pluralism-and-any-cost politics together with the following statements he has made over the years has made me wonder if Richard Silverstein's war against the world's "right wing" isn't simply an internal war-an identity crisis manifesting itself as a leftist hate blog:

The Palmach boys were beautiful, young and pure.

Because of my alienation, I am somewhat impatient with the slow pace of acceptance of homosexuals within the Conservative movement.

Their sexuality is as loving, as committed and as meaningful as the sexuality of heterosexuals and therefore such homosexuality should be seen in an entirely different light than cultic sex.

You know nothing about homosexuality,...

I don't claim to know where Rich's heart lies, but the statements above along with his disdain for the Torah world and everything it represents certainly provides a clue. 

Conclusions
    It is especially in these past few weeks, and certainly throughout the year that a Jew takes an accounting of the soul.***  If there is someone who has encountered this blog and felt that I have given an unfair critique, I would certainly like to hear from you.  One of the only examples of this kind of accounting I have heared from Rich is:

Is the only way of being a Jew making aliya and studying in a yeshiva?

This shows the resentment and bewilderment of liberal Diaspora Jews towards Israel and Orthodoxy.  It is it Israel's fault for being Israel?  Is it the Torah Jew's fault for struggling with G-d?  Silverstein hasn't spent enough time struggling with himself.  In the following quote, again from his own blog, Richard slings the mud:

Really, Tom, is this the best you can do? It seems that long ago he started phoning it in and this story is a prime example: smug, self-serving, simplistic.

Smug, self-serving, simplistic are self-defining words for the Golden Calfer of the Year.  A one-dimensional virtual demagogue, Richard Silverstein has a single mode-that of a secular European Diaspora Jew.  He understands neither Torah Judaism nor non-Ashkenazi (Sephardic or Mizrachi) Jews.  He doesn't understand the Arabs he claims to champion because they have no idea what "social justice" is, nor would they care if you could manage to explain it to them.  Let's hope this one-note piped piper runs out of breath before he lures more naive people into his vengeful war against Jewish Israel.
_____________________________________________________________
*Rashi Exodus 18:13
**Bavli Avodah Zarah 5a
***חשבון נפש

Taming Phyllis: A Letter To An Occupied Jew

The following letter was sent to peace activist Phylllis Bennis who was interviewed on Grit TV.


Ms. Bennis,


    I recently saw your interview on "Grit TV," and I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts on your comments.  Firstly, it is appalling to see apparent members of the Jewish people making a comparison of the Israeli presence in the West Bank (and Gaza) to an "occupation."  One cannot say that "as a Jew" they oppose such a presence.  Why?  Any peoples who have a connection to the "Biblical tradition" recognize the Land of Israel as belonging to the Jewish people.  The idea of Israelis "occupying" their own Land is absolutely absurd and is the unfortunate consequence of the botched Torah education that many Jews (and I suspect you included) have received in the past several generations.  Should observant Jews be on the receiving end of such ignorance?  How can a Jew calmly go before the world and attempt to implicate his fellow Jew in something that is far from a crime-rather a mitzvah to do.
    Too often I have seen Jews of your "baby-boomer" generation wildly and ignorantly campaigning for gentile values-the values of the other nations of the world and not for the values of the Jewish nation.  I realize that someone who wasn't raised in a Torah environment might not understand the arguments I have presented above, but that is no excuse.  I am a convert to Judaism, and obviously I wasn't taught Torah Judaism in my youth.   Consequently, it is that much more painful for me to see "peacenik" members of the Jewish community pursue peace-and not Shalom.  Peace comes from the word pax (tranquility)-the Roman attempt to silence Jewish autonomy in the Land of Israel.  Shalom comes from the root "shalem," or completeness-the completeness of Jewish life and sovereignty in Israel-a Land that has been occupied by non-Jews for some two thousand years.
    Moreover, it is profoundly disturbing to see elements in the Jewish community purposely and devilishly misuse the term "occupation."  The occupation is, in fact, within you.  The use of the term occupation is a nefarious one-those of you who continually use this term to describe the Israeli presence in the West Bank and Gaza do so in order to hijack the real meaning of the term occupation in this context.  Occupation, as it should be correctly used, describes the occupation of the Jewish spirit and misuse of Jewish energy-a kind of auto immune disorder-whereby the very connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel has been replaced by a kind of self-loathing and ignorance of one's own tradition.  The Jew's disconnection from his spiritual heritage has occurred throughout the ages-and is in fact the greatest of occupations that exists on earth today.
    With all due respect-and love for my fellow Jew, you may want to use this time-the Days of Awe-to reconsider the truth of your relationship between yourself and your ancient tradition.  This wonderful tradition is so inspiring that billions of people amongst the nations have desperately tried to connect with it.  Many of them have even attempted to usurp the birthright that is implicit in the Jewish tradition.  You along with your companions in the Jewish peace movement have only served to aid those who seek to undermine the unique relationship between the Creator and Nation of Israel.


Have a wonderful New Year,
Justin White
Jerusalem, Israel

Double Standards In Israel's Crises of Conversion

    A recent article in the Jerusalem Post "Converts' marriage still unrecognized," is yet another article about the conversion crisis going on in Israel.  I feel this story, which details the dilemma faced by a convert in the State of Israel provides great insight into the trials and tribulations of a convert-would-be-immigrant to Israel.  I myself, having come from a racially diverse background never met the kind of bureaucratic resistance that this man has faced:

A pair of Nigerian-born converts to Judaism who were married two years ago in a ceremony conducted by a rabbi recognized by the Chief Rabbinate remain unable to register themselves as a couple with the Interior Ministry, even though the husband has been an Israeli citizen since 2005, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

I have a feeling that there may be a racial element to this issue.  What causes me to think so?  Hundreds of thousands of Russian immigrants have come to Israel.  I witnessed their arrival as I came on the same aliyah (1998-2000).  Israel has seen a wave of issues with their arrival:

1.  Many of these Russians, if not most, are not Jews by Jewish law.  If they have conversions, they do not follow the basic tenants of Judaism after these conversions.
2.  Some of the immigrants have been connected to things that are not welcomed by some people in Israeli society:  drugs, prostitution, pork, absence of Jewishness or Jewish knowledge, and the use of Israel as a way to get to America or Canada.

Given the issues listed above, it causes me to suspect the actions of the Interior Ministry with regards to Nigerian Daniel Hiben.  Generally, those who come from poorer countries are more "suspect" with regards to conversion because the Israeli government worries that people want to gain Israeli citizenship for the immigrant benefits and citizenship to a more developed country.  However, there is no question that some of these Former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrants have ulterior motives in coming to Israel, but do not face the same scrutiny as Mr. Hiben.  What is the reason?  The Russians have a lobby in the US among American Jewry-not to mention their own (like Natan Sharansky).   
    Sadly, another contributing factor is that even though the Russians may be of a foreign culture in our generation, however their children will be Ashkenazi Israelis in full force.  Being that Jews of European origin have more political force in Israel (they will remind you that they founded the country), they have more authority as to who can attain citizenship.  One example of this was the collective recognition of Ethiopian Jewry by the Sephardic Rabbinical authorities, which was not shared by their Ashkenazi counterparts.  Despite the overwhelming secularism of Ashkenazi Jewry, there is a hypocritical tendency amongst its leaders to weigh in on who and what constitutes Jewishness.  These same people will, in a heartbeat, turn around and mock Torah and observant Jews.  In the case of Neve Gordon and his ilk, they use the State of Israel as a piñata in a masochistic, intellectuals only, self-hate party.  Sorry Mr. Hiben, you weren't invited...

Field Of Dreams

 

The photo above was taken in Ramat Gan Israel outside of a synagogue, the day before Yom Kippur.  Here are the dead roosters used in the kapparot ritual.

    We are approaching that special time of the year-the time for kapparot.  Kapara כפרה in Hebrew is atonement-just as in the word Yom Kippur.  The custom of kapparot goes back to the time of the Tanach.  Rabbi Yosef Caro ("Maran") writes in the official code of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch (The Set Table): 

שולחן ערוך אורח חיים הלכות יום הכפורים סימן תרה

מה שנוהגים לעשות כפרה בערב יום כיפורים לשחוט תרנגול על כל בן זכר ולומר עליו פסוקים, (א) יש למנוע המנהג

What we customarily do in atonement for the day before Yom Kippor is to slaughter a rooster for every male child and recite verses, one should refrain from this custom.

The Mishna Brurah explains this statement:

משנה ברורה סימן תרה ס"ק א
(א) יש למנוע המנהג-משום [א] חשש דרכי האמורי

"one should refrain from this custom"-for fear of the ways of the Amorites. 

In his introduction, Maran explains that he didn't intend to change existing customs.  Later, the Kaf Ha-Chaim כף החיים rules that the tradition of kapparot is permitted in the Sefardic custom.

Masorti-Not To Be Confused With Traditional

Recently the "conservative movement," which in Israel calls it self "Masorti" (traditional), has taken upon itself to criticize the kapporot ritual:

Quoting from the Shulchan Aruch, the definitive codex of Jewish law written by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the 16th century, Cymet said that the custom was considered a type of idolatry.

Ironically it is the Ramah, the Ashkenazic opinion who concluded that the ritual was legitimate.  Clearly Israel's "traditional" movement has broken with tradition.  

  

The Framework Of Hug And Kiss

    Back in the mid to late 90's I starting taking a Hebrew from scratch class offered by the Loudoun Jewish Congregation of Loundoun County.  Before they got their building,  we met at the public library.  Those days bring back good memories-learning the alef-bet (Hebrew alphabet) from scratch as a young adult was the beginning of a long and fruitful adventure.
    Having come across an article about the cooperation of Jews and Muslims in my hometown of Sterling, Virginia, it has made me nostalgic for those days when Hebrew (and Judaism) was a much simpler matter.
    Initially the LJC, which became conservative, used a church as a meeting place.  As far as a remember, a reform congregation broke off from them, which maybe the one described in the article.  The fact that Jews and Muslims there cooperate shows how marginalized they are in a rough Christian setting like the western part of Northern Virginia.  Interestingly enough, Loundoun County has the largest per-household income in the US.  In addition, a police officer from Virginia told me that every terrorist involved in the 9/11 hijackings had come through the Northern Virginia area at one point or another.


Has Pluralism Hit NOVA?
Obama took Virginia in this past election-a notable event for a Republican state.  Are the wolf and lamb cohabiting?  American Islam is probably not the same as its Middle Eastern counterpart-just as American Judaism is not the same as it is here in Israel.  However, somehow I think that pluralism means an increasing gentile population together with a declining Jewish one.  A Jewish population that is committed to accommodating "the other," while at the same time being oblivious to its own decline.

The Preoccupation With Occupation

    Ironically since the Israeli withdraw from Lebanon in 2000, there has been endless banter surrounding the "Occupation," the rallying crying of the secular Jewish left.    The irony being that since the withdraw from Lebanon, Israel has had to fight a subsequent war as a result of the withdraw.  Such was the case when Gaza settlements were evacuated.  How does the Jewish left respond to such catastrophic failures?  They stubbornly pursue the same misguided path.

    Gideon Levy seeks to chock up as many transgressions as he can before the year ends.  The first sentence in his article "Time to poll Israelis on continuing occupation" is the only correct one in his State Of Israel-character assassination:

This charade really has to stop.

Yes Gideon, your charade must stop.  Israel had an election, and the right won a thunderous victory.  Even Avigdor Lieberman, maligned by the leftist media, has managed to execute his job as foreign minister despite police and media harassment orchestrated by a nudnick left that can't admit it has lost.  Your statement

Forty-two years into the Israeli occupation, it's time to find out once and for all, without caveats or reservations, what Israelis actually want.

is a nonsensical one, for Israelis have already spoken.  What you really mean to say is it's time to push and harass the public and settlers in a vicious and persistent campaign of hatred that only is only rivaled by the Arafat "administration."  It is only outdone by your remark

...while simultaneously building up the settlements and leading us into two unnecessary wars.

Not so fast.  The wars with Lebanon and Gaza were, as mentioned above, a consequence of the Israeli withdraws from territories.   Levy damn well knows this.
    When does it end?  There can be only one Arafat, but Peres has morphed into Beilin has morphed into Gideon Levy.  As the Jewish right fends off the rest of the world for attacking us for settling our own land, the Jewish left has its megaphone-bound hate cheerleaders leading well orchestrated campaigns against Jews living in the territories.  The "territories" are lands that billions of non-Jews recognize as ours, in their holy books.  But like a bacteria that mutates to maximize its destructive power, the Israeli left, as shown by Gideon Levy, will stop at nothing to spread the self-hate flu around the Jewish landscape.  Levy's distain for everything Jewish has no bounds:

the public has been as deceitful as the governments

The beleaguered and punch-drunk Israeli public has taken too many swats from too many directions: the Arabs, peacenik Gentiles, peacenik Diaspora Jews, the Israeli left, and now Uncle Sam.  Levy tries to take the moral high road, as so many secular European Israelis do, with the school teacher moniker.  Take out the verbal paddle and start yapping about "occupation."
    Levy continues with another lie:

If supporters of the occupation win, we should storm the West Bank, build up more settlements, and proclaim to the world that this is the will of the people.

You don't mean any of this.  You will never leave those people alone.  And if you leave the scene the Peres-Beilin-Levy bacteria will morph into another frightful aggressive peace-parasite that will harass Jewry into making harmful concessions that will only boomerang into even more damage.   Will we Jews, who have waiting some twenty centuries to return to the Land of Israel, be forced to listen to another group of spies, as in the desert?  Levy writes accusitively:

...we'll be past the point of referenda and sentenced to live forever in a racist, bleeding, forever warring bi-national apartheid state. 

    Levy's furious rhetoric will surely be quoted by anti-Semites and Israel-haters.  This time the Land isn't devouring its inhabitants.  Rather,  the inhabitants are being drowned by a leftist media intent on sending the faithful back into exile.

Israel Will Never Be Small Enough-Steven Plaut

Professor Steven Plaut continues his chilling vision of a “Mini-Israel.”

Israel Will Never Be Small Enough
By: Steven Plaut

Date: Wednesday, September 02 2009

A view from the year 2016:

As we know, a unique new peace program was proposed six years ago, in 2010, and implemented in 2012. The plan was based on the principle of Two States for Two Peoples and it received near-unanimous support from the Israeli Left. Among those celebrating the breakthrough and endorsing the plan were Peace Now, Physicians for Human Rights, Meretz, Yesh Gvul and many other like-minded organizations.

A number of European governments decided to provide generous funding for all groups endorsing the proposal.

The new Two States for Two Peoples plan was very simple. The Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and large areas of Israel-within-the-Green-Line (that is, inside Israel’s pre-1967 borders) would become a new Palestinian Arab state. At the same time the Jews would be allowed to retain their own state in Mini-Israel.

Mini-Israel was a miniature city, similar to the Madurodam in Holland and other mini-cities in European countries. Located in a beautiful park near Latrun in the Ayalon Valley, with easy access to and from Yasir Arafat International Airport in Lod (the name was changed from Ben-Gurion Airport in 2012), it was a most exciting tourist attraction.

First opened in 2002, it featured over 350 beautifully crafted exact-replica models of historical, religious, archeological and modern sites. Mini-Israel presented visitors with a one of a kind introduction to Israel, all in one magical site. Everything was to exact scale, where each 4 centimeters represented a full meter of pre-liberation Palestinian territory.

The sites in Mini-Israel depicted different traditions and the ethnic groups associated with them – Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Druze, Beduin and others.

The idea of relocating the real Israel to Mini-Israel was “simply outstanding,” enthused longtime leftist nuisance Yossi Beilin.

“After all, Mini-Israel captures all aspects of Israel and all of its cultures and traditions. There are religious and secular themes, arts, music, archeology, antiquities, and so on.”

“We have been insisting for decades that land has no real importance in the modern world,” added Shulamit Aloni. “Under this peace plan, we prove that Israelis may preserve all aspects of their heritage without occupying lands that properly belong to others.”

Mini-Israel, liberals and leftists were quick to point out, had everything Jews needed to operate their own state. Food and supplies were available in the souvenir shop. The grounds contained 30,000 figures, 50 animals, 15,000 trees (real bonsai, cultivated and planted by the Agronoy nursery), 4,700 cars, 100 motorbikes, 14 trains, 3 helicopters, 32 aircraft, 175 ships and 230 trucks.

The park was loosely shaped like a Star of David, with each of the six triangles representing an area or city – Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Galil, Negev, etc. – though once the real Israel retreated into Mini-Israel, the shape was modified so as not to offend non-Jewish residents.

The underlying principle for achieving peace with this plan was based on egalitarian reciprocity. All Jews were to be expelled from the area to become Palestine, while Arabs would be allowed to exercise their right of return to Mini-Israel.

Progressive Jews in other countries – J Street, the Religious Action Center of the Reform movement, etc. – joined their Israeli ideological soul mates in enthusiastically supporting the plan, urging President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton to adopt it as U.S. policy.

The only opposition to the plan came from some who believed it did not go far enough.

“The proposal still does not resolve the fundamental injustice of Mini-Israel being an apartheid regime in which Arabs are denied equal rights,” insisted uber-leftist Uri Avnery. Several editorials in Haaretz agreed. At the initiative of the departments of political science at Ben-Gurion University and Tel Aviv University, 637 Israeli professors and lecturers signed a statement demanding that Mini-Israel be boycotted because not all the signs there were in Arabic.

They also called on the EU and the U.S. to intervene in the conflict and send troops to Mini-Israel to prevent the Jews there from charging Arab visitors admission fees for tickets.

But criticism of the new Jewish state of Mini-Israel began to spread almost as soon as the new plan was implemented. As the six-month anniversary of Two States for Two Peoples approached, Toronto’s York University became the first of 27 universities in North America to hold scholarly conferences on injustice and discrimination in Mini-Israel.

Things only got worse. The government of Mini-Israel decided to put up a security wall to keep out visitors who tried to get in without buying tickets. “Tear down this Apartheid Wall,” screamed members of Anarchists against the Wall and the International Solidarity Movement. Israel’s left-wing parties held rallies in Rabin Square – the small one in Mini-Israel of course, not the big one in liberated Palestine.

Under the banners “We Now Have a Peace Partner,” and “It Won’t be Over Until We Negotiate,” they protested against talk in the Mini-Knesset of retaliation by Mini-Israel against Palestine for the mortars and rockets being fired into Mini-Israel from nearby liberated Latrun.

The ayatollah of liberated Palestine, meanwhile, responded to an emergency request from residents of Mini-Israel to be allowed safe passage to Arafat Airport where they could catch flights to safety overseas.

“Use your own airport in Mini-Israel,” came the perfunctory response. “Just don’t fly over our air space.”

Steven Plaut, a frequent contributor to The Jewish Press, is a professor at Haifa University. His book “The Scout” is available at Amazon.com. He can be contacted at steveneplaut@yahoo.com.

MASA Ad----->Delicious Pandemonium

It’s moments like these that I am happy I made aliyah. Haaretz has reported on the frenzied reaction of the “Israeli Reform Movement” regarding MASA’s ad described in the previous article on this blog.

“It’s a spit in the face of Diaspora Jews and organizations,” Kariv told Haaretz. “The entire Israel Journey program is based on partnership between Israeli and Diaspora organizations, and then this campaign comes along saying they are second-rate Jews, and that they shouldn’t intermarry? That raising their kids in the States means those children are lost?!”

Second-rate Jews is far from the case, but the 5% decline in population every decade cannot be rationalized. I don’t think Kariv understands that the “Reform Movement” was the result of the desire of European Jews to be more accepted in Western countries like Germany. Israel is not quite Western and has a majority Jewish population. Ideologies like his are irrelevant-secular Israelis who do not wish to be observant don’t need some contrived “organization” to tell them to remain Jews.
Kariv continues:

“All Diaspora Jews who have seen the ad were absolutely appalled. The feeling is that we moved 30 years back with negative rhetoric of contempt to Jewish life in the Diaspora,” said Kariv.

Moved back 30 years? We shall overcome? That statement is so old school social justice-just the kind of language (the only one) those “appalled people” understand.
Last but not least, Gideon Levy, commenter on all that is Jewish chimes in:

It is a racist, despicable, disgusting campaign. It isn’t just the act of informing on someone, which is repulsive in itself. It is primarily the content of this nationalistic scare campaign, which has meanwhile been toned down in view of the reaction it engendered. A Jew who marries a goy is not “lost.” Maybe, he will live happily ever after. The idea that cheap propaganda will dissuade him from his love or his faith, or lack of faith, is a backward thought. No other people would conduct such a campaign. The Jewish people no longer needs one, and the State of Israel has no right to conduct one.

Gideon’s condemnation of the campaign gives way to his own realization:

The Israelis are in the process of consolidating a new identity, which is not affected by assimilation. As for the rest of the Jews in the world, one must assume that if they want to, they’ll assimilate. If they don’t want to, they won’t assimilate. Israel must continue to serve as a refuge or an option for immigration for them, but no more than that.

This is a pathetic statement. Given the tiny number of Jews left in the world, this comment is utterly irresponsible. Live and let them read Haaretz? Given the assimilation he writes about, how is it possible for him to continue:

Life in Israel is more dangerous for Jews, in any event, than in any other place,

Dangerous? Israel is the only Jewish population in the world that is increasing at such a rate. If it is so dangerous, why do people like Levy and Neve Gordon stay here? Levy’s harsh critique of Israel doesn’t end there:

The violence, the crudeness, the materialism, the nationalism, the militarism, the aggressiveness and the occupation don’t suit everyone.

How does that not describe America? Is Israel really to be singled out for such things? The Occupation is within Levy-not our presence in the “territories!”
This is to be one of the most contemptuous articles that Gideon Levy has written. He completes the circle of idiocy:

If a portion of the Diaspora assimilates, no catastrophe will occur.

How is this not an oxymoron? Levy’s entire tone is one of whining, sniveling-almost as if he identifies with and tries to imitate the intended audience. In this sense he doesn’t succeed-Gideon Levy knows too much as an Israeli to blend in with his innocent happy-go-lucky Diaspora audience. For those who read his material-chances are that they don’t need to heed the warnings of either side of the argument. However should someone who makes the following comment be writing for a “Jewish” publication?

a larger Jewish people isn’t worth anything.

Please rescue us from Gideon Levy.

MASA-Fishing in Lost Jews?

MASA (Hebrew for journey) states on its site that:

MASA enables thousands of Jewish youth to spend a semester or a year in Israel in any of over 160 programs, helping them build a life-long relationship with Israel and a firm commitment to Jewish life.

Benjamin L. Hartman of Haaretz writes a critical article of the MASA initiative for Jews in the diaspora to “inform” on Jews who are “in the process” of intermarriage! Checking around the internet newsstand I find the most vocal voice of the Diaspora-right-to exist, Richard “Dungeon Master” Silverstein:

The 50% statistic consists of a specious supposition that every Jew who marries “out” is totally lost to Judaism. We know that this is completely wrong since some who intermarry either remain Jewish, persuade a spouse to convert, or raise their children Jewish.

Now listening to Rich whimper and squirm around this issue, we know that MASA has hit on a nerve. The Haaretz article itself describes a YouTube video of the campaign:

In the video’s base appraisal of Jewish life outside Israel, the Diaspora is seen as a seductive garden of goyish delights that breeds absolute dissonance from Judaism, leaving once-proud, self-identified Jews little more than the hopelessly lost children smiling back from the iconic milk cartons of America.

Yep-the truth hurts, eh? It’s not necessary to read MASA’s *hasbara-the critics have stated the MASA case better than the organization itself! The author continues:

…the brains behind the video have never been to Hebrew school or a Jewish youth organization meeting in the United States.

I began studying Hebrew at a Conservative congregation that met in a public library, before their building was built. None of them really knew Hebrew or Judaism-with many being over 50 at that time. I went to Hillel where the leader-a Reform “Rabbi” didn’t keep Shabbat-and needless to say that almost all of the students there didn’t either. The author, like Silverstein try to defend the secular Jewish idea, and moreover-they truly believe that secularism is a real competitor to Torah Judaism.
Hartman, however makes a strange contradiction when he states:

As a child of a mixed-marriage myself,…

and then

Keep in mind, my mother converted.

If his mother converted, then how is that a mixed-marriage? It appears that the ignorance is at Hartman’s doorstep, not MASA’s. I was happy to find that Hartman made the following assertion, however:

In this perspective, Israel is the possessor and only true adjudicator of the religion, the owner and true realization of a Jewish life lived.

I have run into several Jews, even immigrants from the Diaspora (one from South African in particular) who deeply resent Israel as coming to impugn the legitimacy of their Diaspora Jewish identities. The young South African I met, a violinist, refused to acknowledge Israel’s position as the center for the world’s Torah study. It bothered him on a fundamental level to hear that Israel’s Torah community and learning are simply stronger, as a whole, than that of the Diaspora.
As the world approaches a new year, it is only fitting that we take a real accounting of the soul (חשבון נפש) and see ourselves for what we really are…and what we aspire to be.

שנה טובה
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*Hasbara הסברה comes from the verb to explain-l-hasbir. It means “one-sided propaganda” in favor of the subject-like a defense attorney. Specifically it refers to the Israel government and its agencies’ attempt to defend their positions to the world.

Transfer Tel-Aviv

This Morning At The Western Wall
I happened to be in downtown Tel Aviv last week. The place where I was, Shenkin Street, is known in Israel for being a center of secularism-and rightfully so. Many of the youth have tattoos. I have never seen such a high concentration of people walking their dogs as on that street. Pet ownership is a phenomena of secularism in Israel-I saw many Pit-bulls and Rottweilers. One thing that I didn’t see was Arabs.
This morning I was at the Kotel (Western Wall), part of a minyan led by a well known (formerly) American Rabbi. Leaving the Old City, we passed by dozens of Arabs sitting outside of the Old City, congregating. As we walked by a group lined up on both sides of us forming a kind of Arab corridor, one of the Arab youths let out a loud, intentional shriek. Its only purpose was to startle and provoke.

Sarid’s Proposal
Former Knesset member (Meretz) and infamous “peace activist” Yossi Sarid has penned a frightening declaration of war against Jerusalem’s Jewish inhabitants.
Sarid (whose name means survivor in Hebrew) whose anti-Torah views have unfortunately been presented to generations of Israelis, starts out by attacking Orthodox Jews:

We will find out today or tomorrow whether the mouths of the rabbis that slipped the leash are also the mouths capable of reining in the bestiality. Like you, I will watch the ultra-Orthodox demonstrations – sometimes against the opening of a parking lot, sometimes in support of a yeshiva student who killed his baby or a mother who almost killed her son. And like you, I will ask, “What has happened to them, these strange Jews, who are acting like madmen? Are these the eternal people? Is this Jerusalem?

The sad irony of this statement is that it echos the sentiments of Adolf Hitler, who wrote in Mein Kampf:

There were very few Jews in Linz. In the course of centuries the Jews who lived there had become Europeanized in external appearance and were so much like other human beings that I even looked upon them as Germans. The reason why I did not then perceive the absurdity of such an illusion was that the only external mark which I recognized as distinguishing them from us was the practice of their strange religion.

Here we see what our secular European contingent in Israel things about religious Jews. The secular Jewish world has its share of crime-their proclaimed secularism doesn’t exempt them from the Torah’s commandments.
Sarid continues by expressing his disdain for Jerusalem:

I thank God I no longer live there. How terrible that place is. I think that for me, it is lost.

We thank G-d that Yossi Sarid no longer lives in our midst! No wonder this man has decided, from his bully pulpit in Tel Aviv, to declare war against the city in Israel. Here is a secular Israeli who has no respect for the history of the Jewish people and the central role of Jerusalem in Judaism and the Jewish consciousness. So how does Yossi Sarid feel about our capital?

In the holy city, I felt choked and oppressed. Is Jerusalem too holy for human beings to inhabit?

Now Sarid must choke and oppress Jerusalem and its citizens? This is the Jerusalem that has an Arab population of over 30%, as opposed to Tel Aviv-with a 5% Arab population. Perhaps Sarid felt choked by the same group of non-Jews that he claims to champion? Here is the racist hypocrisy of the secular European “intelligentsia” in Israel.
I just come back from Tel Aviv last week, with its drug dens, street-walking prostitutes, not to mention the stench of urine rising up from its dirty ragged streets. Coming up to Jerusalem, with its beautiful Jerusalem stone, rocky backdrop, and mountainous air, I am puzzled by Sarid’s next comment about Israel’s capital:

It is a poor, dirty, ugly city.

This is simply a vengeful, hateful remark. Compared to New York or other great cities, Jerusalem has a unique and unforgettable character. Tel Aviv, the home of Israel’s mafia and drug activities is quite forgettable. In fact, Sarid’s description is more fitting for Tel Aviv than Jerusalem.

Transferring Tel Aviv’s Population
The reality is that Jerusalem, Israel’s most populous city, is certainly Israel’s future. Many of the dedicated immigrants-the most capable ones-have chosen Jerusalem as their home. Jerusalem is the center of the world’s attention. Tel Aviv, the artificial mountain whose brief importance in Jewish history has now been eclipsed by Jerusalem, the envy of the world and the proud religious and political capital of the State (and Nation) of Israel.
So of what value is Tel Aviv? None. Yossi Sarid comes to the conclusion about our majestic city:

Let us hasten to divide it – not only into two cities, but into three, before we lose it forever.

I seek to the following counter proposal. Tel Aviv, home to nearly 400,000 people-most of whom are non-Arabs, could benefit Israel more by being “moved” to the territories-to Judea and Sameria. The vacated population of Tel Aviv would be replaced by the bursting Haredi (black hat) population of Bnei Barak and other ultra-religious towns. Tel Aviv would essentially be transformed into the continuation of Bnei Barak. The growing Haredi population will need to expanded into additional areas. This is a more realistic solution to the Zionist crisis in Israel today. Time is on the side of the non-”secular Jewish” population of Israel. It is time for the population of Tel Aviv to once again become relevant in the settlement of the Land of Israel. Perhaps people like Yossi Sarid will feel more useful if presented with more creative solutions to Israel’s demographic problems. The stench of urine and presence of drug addicts will be replaced by the crying of Jewish babies and tranquility of the Jewish sabbath.

Sticky and Sweet Kabbalah

I was by a good friend’s shwarma place last week and he mentioned that his wife and sister were off to the Madonna convert (400 NIS+). I was thinking to myself how different going to a Madonna concert in Israel is to be a religious Jew in Israel. Well, apparently not everyone agrees! According to the Jerusalem Post, Madonna’s Kabbalah mentor, Karen Berg disagrees! Berg says about her:

She reads and follows Hebrew, and has learned how to speak some Hebrew,” said the religiously observant Berg, who attended the final show of the singer’s Sweet & Sticky tour at Hayarkon Park on Wednesday night.

Here The Material Girl is giving a concert at the center of secular Israel under the title “Sticky & Sweet!” Maybe it’s a reference to the honey and the apple-Rosh Hashana?

Die Another Day
Madonna’s video for “Die Another Day” featured a video of her sporting a “Lav” לאו tattoo. Lav in Aramaic means “no.” It is also used to describe a “don’t do” commandment in the Torah. Having a tattoo is actually one example of a lav:

Leviticus 19:28
You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you; I am the Lord.

Another problem is that she is laying (wearing) tefillin (those black boxes with straps) with the straps laying on the floor as she does it.

I remember being in yeshiva in 1998-99 and someone telling one of the Rabbis about Madonna and her new Kabbalah hobby. The Rabbi, originally from Australia, thought he was referring to the mother of “Jesus,” and was quite shocked. I explained that she was an Italian American pop singer-and quite attractive as well. The other students enjoyed hearing me explain to this man, who came from a totally different background, that this Madonna wasn’t the historical one. It seems that I have moved forward in my Torah studies, as has…Esther?
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Madonna’s Kabbalah – Not Kosher
By Rabbi Ariel Bar Tzadok
Copyright © 2002 by Ariel Bar Tzadok. All rights reserved.

I am not one who watches or enjoys rock videos. However, when several of my yeshiva high school students informed me about what they had seen on the Internet, I felt obligated to investigate. I do not believe that yeshiva students should be watching rock videos, even more so I do not believe that rock stars should be dabbling with things that they truly do not understand.
I discovered that Madonna’s famous dabbling with sacred Jewish mysticism has taken an interesting turn. In her latest music video for the theme song of a new James Bond movie, the “material girl” of old is transforming herself into a “Kabbalah girl.”
Aside from the traditional Madonna blend of music and sensuality, in this video we see Madonna has a Holy Name of G-d tattooed onto her right shoulder. Tattooing, mind you, is a practice forbidden under Torah Law, all the more so abhorred by the Kabbalah. Granted the tattoo may not be real or only temporary but nonetheless, any expression of performing a forbidden act is itself forbidden and  inexcusable. Unfortunately, Madonna’s abuse of Kabbalah and traditional Torah Judaism does not stop here.

Later in the video we see Madonna winding leather straps around her left arm in the exact same format and style as holy tefillin are worn by religious Jewish men. Tefillin consist of a small leather box containing scared parchments. These are then strapped to one’s left biceps, and the strap is wound down the left arm and around the hand.

Granted Madonna did not go so far as to defame the tefillin boxes themselves. Yet, it is quite clear that the wrapping of the straps around her arm is done in orthodox Torah style. This act of hers is pure sacrilege. Granted one can state that Rashi, one of the greatest Jewish medieval scholars allowed his daughters to strap on tefillin. This, however, was never accepted in Torah Law as a legitimate practice. Torah Law has never accepted the claim made about Rashi’s daughters over centuries of clear and concrete legal precedent.
For a woman to wear tefillin or even to make believe that she is doing so is even more of a serious sin when viewed in light of the Kabbalah. Rabbi Yitzhak Luria, the famous Ari’zal of 16th century Tzfat and clearly the greatest of all Kabbalists is quoted in numerous references as having taught that a woman’s spiritual path precludes her from wearing tefillin. Madonna had better go back to her Kabbalah studies and see what the real Kabbalah teaches before she continues making provocative acts which violate the very essence of Kabbalah and Torah.

In her video’s finale’ Madonna’s “Kabbalah” can be seen for its true nature with its disregard and blatant effrontery to traditional and true Kabbalah. In a scene where she is in an electric chair being put to death, Madonna (wrapped in tefillin straps) makes a miraculous escape. Her jailers come in to see the empty chair and all of a sudden, the Holy Name of G-d (the one tattooed on her arm) appears in the chair, where Madonna sat. I assume that the impression the video is trying to make is that the Holy Name saved her from her fate.
I recognized this holy Name. More so, I recognized the specific Hebrew script that was used. I know where Madonna received her “Kabbalah” information. The script used for the Hebrew in the video comes from the posters and charts published by a group known as the “Kabbalah Center” under the directorship of a man called the “Kabbalist Rav Berg.” I have spoken with many leading and well-respected Rabbis and Kabbalists and none of those with whom I have spoken respect this “Rav” and have even less respect for (what in their opinion) is his gross misrepresentation of true Kabbalistic teachings. Many in the traditional Jewish community condemn this group and even label it a cult.

Now, here is where our major problem lies. I personally do not know Madonna and therefore, I do not wish to cast aspersions on her that she intentionally and willingly wishes to act with sacrilege against the holy Torah and the sacred Kabbalah. That would be anti-Semitic and I do not believe that Madonna is an anti-Semite. I cannot tell you why Madonna presented herself as having a tattoo of a holy Name on her shoulder, wrapped herself with mock tefillin straps, and made use a Holy Name in a most unholy fashion (in a rock music video).
Did her “Kabbalah” teachers know that she was going to do this? Did they give her their consent and blessings to do such? If not then they are the ones who should speak up and make a public statement disavowing their connection to these sacrilegious acts. Indeed, if they did not teach her that these things were acceptable, then they should be writing an article such as this to disavow her and to clear themselves of blame. I am waiting to see if such an article ever gets written.
It is widely known that Madonna has been a student at this “Kabbalah Center” for some time. In a recent television interview on the CNN Larry King program Madonna outright said that she “was a Kabbalist.” Now, who would have told her this?

To be a Kabbalist requires of one many things. One must live a modest and holy life style in accordance to Torah Law. One must observe the commandments, even if one is a Righteous Gentile (Bat Noah) one has to observe all those commandments applicable to them. One must also have a comprehensive education in all applicable areas of Torah, not just Kabbalah. Madonna’s recent video, its violent theme, her provocative dance moves and dress, which is certainly not modest by Torah standards suggests that she lacks these criteria, is unaware of them, or disregards them.
Madonna has a long way to go before she meets the criteria to even be permitted to study the sacred Kabbalah. Yet, her “Center” seems to ignore her behavior, which falls far short of Righteous Gentile (Benei Noah) requirements and teaches her regardless.
Those who teach her are Jews and by teaching Madonna Kabbalah, even if it is their own version of it, still nonetheless violate numerous Torah Laws. If the “Kabbalah Center” teachers or others doubt the validity of what I have written here regarding the responsibilities and obligations of Madonna’s teachers under these circumstances I suggest that they consult with any Orthodox Beit Din (Court of Jewish Law).
Madonna is certainly no Kabbalist. If her teachers have told her that she is, then they are using a criterion of definition unique unto themselves and most certainly not accepted anywhere else in the traditional Jewish community and especially amongst the community of true holy Kabbalists.
In spite of her behavior that falls far short of Torah standards, I feel sorry for Madonna. I believe that she is most likely sincere in her spiritual pursuits. I do not blame her for doing what she may have been taught is acceptable. She does not have a Torah background or education.
Her teachers, however, may have such. If not, then we have the blind leading the blind. If, however her teachers are familiar with the laws of Torah, then they are not providing Madonna with a proper and decent Torah education. For without Torah Law and practice there is no Kabbalah. Every kosher Rabbi and Kabbalist knows this. Draw then your own conclusions about Madonna’s teachers.
Kabbalah is a holy, sacred aspect of Torah Judaism. It should not be cheapened and abused. Music videos and all other forms of entertainment that do not meet the moral standards of Torah Law should never be the place for anything sacred.
One final note, parents keep your children away from this video and similar ones. If we allow our children exposure to this offensive material, we have no one to blame but ourselves if they learn to act immorally.

Mizrachim-Jews of Arab Countries-Their Unheard Story

This is a wonderful article detailing the trials and tribulations of Jews from Arab countries (מזרחים)-Mizrachim, whose difficulties have been overshadowed by the Holocaust and the treatment of European Jews at the hands of the Nazis. This article is the continuation of a post made earlier: 
Silverstein’s Bigoted World: Sefardic Jews Didn’t Suffer-NILI Takes Him To Task!


‘Anne Frank from Baghdad’
Sep. 2, 2009
Lela Gilbert , THE JERUSALEM POST
‘In recent years, many Jews from Iraq have started to talk about what happened to them. But I was so hurt and so locked into myself that I didn’t think I could deal with it,” says Linda Abu-Aziz Menuhin, who in 1970 fled anti-Jewish violence in Baghdad. “More recently I’ve felt that I needed to heal this very bad bruise, so I am in the process of opening up. Now I say that having to leave my home in Iraq was my nakba – my catastrophe.”
“Nakba Day,” inaugurated by Yasser Arafat in 1998, is meant to counter Israel’s Independence Day celebrations, commemorating losses suffered by Arabs who fled their homes during the War of Independence.

In fact hardly a day passes when the subject of millions of Palestinian refugees seeking a “right of return” to their lost properties – or compensation for them – isn’t discussed in relation to Middle East peace negotiations. Somewhere between 500,000 and 750,000 Arabs fled their homes during the War of Independence in 1948; 60-plus years later, these refugees and their offspring number more than four million, living both in refugee camps and in residential communities. The story of their losses and their controversial politicization is a familiar subject for journalists, activists, politicians, and Middle East observers.
Meanwhile, another refugee story – the history that Linda Menuhin represents – is far from familiar.
FROM 1948 to 1970, 850,000 to a million Jews fled or were expelled from Arab lands. Many of these forgotten refugees were members of ancient Jewish communities that predated Christianity. More than a few were wealthy, powerful and successful. Nearly all of them left their homes with little more than the shirts on their backs, leaving behind houses, bank accounts, investments, personal treasures and their means of livelihood. They resettled, mostly in Israel. From then until now, they have received no reparations, no inventory of their lost possessions and virtually no consideration in negotiations for Middle East peace.

According to scholar Maurice M. Roumani, “In contrast to the high profile maintained by the Palestinian refugees, Jewish refugees in Israel began a costly rehabilitation program and played down their refugee status as much as possible. Their story was little known until 1976, when a new organization named WOJAC [World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries] undertook to make their voice heard so that no Middle East refugee settlement could take place without their claims being part of the equation. These claims are based on both historical and legal rights from centuries of continuous living in the Mediterranean region under Muslim rule.”

Iraq, like North Africa, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, once had a thriving and historic Jewish community. Iraq’s Jewish population numbered around 135,000 in 1948, with over 77,000 Jews living in Baghdad alone. Today fewer than 10 Jews remain in the country.

Linda Menuhin wasn’t yet born when modern anti-Semitic violence first struck Iraq in 1941; it began with a pogrom, the Farhud, instigated by Nazi-collaborator Haj Amin el-Husseini, the grand mufti of Jerusalem. During the Farhud, 180 Jews were murdered and nearly 250 wounded. Persecution ebbed and flowed until 1948, following the establishment of modern Israel, when tens of thousands of Iraqi Jews lost their property and assets and ran for their lives.

Then came the Six Day War. Linda remembers all too well the terrifying months following Israel’s military victory against several Arab nations in 1967.
“After the Six Day War, I really began to feel afraid,” she explains. “The trouble began with a protest around the British Institute in Waziriya building. I had to leave my classroom by a back door before the end of a test that would qualify me to study in a British university, GCE. I could hear the radio very loud, shouting how the Arabs had won the war and how many Israeli warplanes they had destroyed. We could feel the heat, on the radio, in the market. We knew it wasn’t true because at night we used to listen to Kol Yisrael, which was an Arab language broadcast.
“But then Jews started being arrested. One of our very close friends was living with his old father. They came to pick him up from his house, ‘just for questioning,’ or so they said. They brought his body back in a sack.”
Within two months, Baghdad’s Jews were living in terror, keeping themselves out of sight. Their sports and social clubs were closed, their phones cut off and their assets frozen. Horrifying stories of abduction and murder circulated. Linda’s family was evicted from its home.
IN DESPERATION, Linda sent a letter to an aunt in America, telling of the Jews’ terrible conditions in Baghdad. She wrote it in French, hoping Iraq’s government censors wouldn’t intercept it. The aunt sent the letter on to Israel. It was published in Ma’ariv, beneath the headline “Anne Frank from Baghdad.” In 1969, the crisis came to a grisly climax when nine innocent Jews were publicly hanged in Baghdad, accused of spying for Israel.

Four years later, Linda wrote her youthful impressions of the scene, “…it was really a blow, a shock to see the Liberation Square on TV crowded with people dancing and singing as if they were celebrating a feast or a wedding. Our nine victims were… suspended in the air, on improvised scaffolds… their heads were twisted and drooping and their bodies dangled from the gallows. The attitude of the crowd proved to be savage, barbarous and ferocious. They cursed the dead, spat and pelted stones on them. It was the most humiliating, distressing, unforgettable sight I had seen in my life. My cheeks were flooded with tears. Our agony was beyond description.”
Eventually, against her parents’ wishes, Linda managed to escape from Iraq with her brother. The two made their way to Teheran, guided by mercenaries, and finally on to Israel. Linda’s father, a well-known Baghdad attorney, was taken into custody by Iraqi authorities not long thereafter, never to be seen again. She continues to seek out people who knew him, who might tell her the details of his final days.
The rest of her family is in Israel, scarred by their past but thankful for their new lives. They, along with hundreds of thousands of others, comprised the “Forgotten Refugees” who fled Muslim lands in the mid-20th century. Each of these owns a family history of terror, desperation and profound loss. Each has experienced a personal nakba.
Will the story of these refugees find its proper place among other issues under discussion in the Middle East peace process? In a 2005 report for the Jewish Center for Public Affairs, Dr. Avi Beker summed up the matter well, Historically, there was an exchange of populations in the Middle East and the number of displaced Jews exceeds the number of Palestinian Arab refugees. Most of the Jews were expelled as a result of an open policy of anti-Semitic incitement and even ethnic cleansing.
However, unlike the Arab refugees, the Jews who fled are a forgotten case because of a combination of international cynicism and domestic Israeli suppression of the subject. An open debate about the exodus of the Jews is critical for countering the Palestinian demand for the “right of return” and will require a more objective scrutiny of the myths about the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict.