A
Serious Case of Denial?
Here are two
presentations that touch on the current status of
Judaism and attest that either the Jewish people are
in denial of their repeated role in history, or
oblivious, and willingly so, to the points rendered
at this web site. In either case, it does not portend
well, biblically and historically, for Am Yisroel.
The second
presentation addresses the following critical
dynamics:
First,
can the Jewish people ever dare to think for a moment
that G-d would tolerate an attack by them on the Arab
people on the basis that the Arabs are evil when they
are the descendants of Abraham and Hagar and
prostrate themselves before G-d and honor His name
before the other nations of the world?
Second,
can the Jewish people ever dare to think for a moment
that G-d would tolerate nations who are moving their
nations away from G-d seizing and confiscating oil
given to the Arab nations by G-d, to finance an
agenda that will further alienate people and nations
from G-d?
Third,
can the Jewish people ever dare to think for a moment
that after spending two thousand years in exile that
G-d would hand them a victory on the basis that they
have nothing at all to do what is before them today,
and that they represent good and the Arab's evil,
failing to accept the historical evidence that the
people in Israel have no enemies other than by G-d's
will and design, to preclude the State of Israel
becoming an abomination to His name?
November 26, 2002
SenderBerl: With
hundreds of people dead, a reporter blaspheming
Islam's prophet Mohammed has resulted in an Islamic
death decree for the reporter. Just as we are reading
about the fatwa, we read a news story which
highlights the issue from another platform:
"Did
the father of all Jews attempt to whack his own flesh
and blood?"
What is going on here? Abraham was put on
trial in Los Angeles before Judge Joseph Wapner.
He
was prosecuted by Laurie Levenson who argued that no
one, even the father of Judaism, is above the law.
and defended by Erwin Chemerinsky who told the jury
that there was enough reasonable doubt to clear his
client.
The defense lawyer told the jury "In short, if
the knife don't slit, you must acquit."
The news story states, "Jurors voted 225-216 to
clear Abraham....That's the way I would have voted,
Wapner said. 'Under California law, I don't think
intent was proven beyond a reasonable doubt.'"
We can only tell you that we were thinking fatwa for
those involved in this demeaning event which was
first covered by the Jewish Forward as set forth
below. There is no respect or regard for
anything our own forefathers held sacred and
important.
Therefore,
perhaps this in a microcosmic fashion foreshadows our
future and confirms our fears.
Excerpted from the Jewish Forward (if anyone thinks
that the news story below can in any manner open up
colloquy with Islamic nations, they are out of their
minds -- it only attests that we have really become a
silly and stupid people misguided by leaders who are
anything but).
By ALANA NEWHOUSE
FORWARD STAFF A Jewish patriarch enjoying new fame as
a hero of interfaith relations is
expected to face charges in Los Angeles for child
abuse and attempted murder in the aborted sacrifice
of his son.
The
mock trial of Abraham will take place November 24 at
the University of Judaism, with former "People's
Court" judge Joseph Wapner presiding. An
audience of 500 will serve as jury.
A representative for the school said that the idea
for the trial, which sold out in two weeks,
dates back many years. But it comes at a time when
Abraham is increasingly being looked to as an
interfaith touchstone. The September 11 terrorist
attacks and the continued violence in the Middle East
have sharpened the world's focus on the three
monotheistic religions and, in turn, the man that
each calls its ancestor. Time magazine featured
Abraham on its cover in September, and he is the
subject of a best-selling book by journalist Bruce
Feiler, who this month is organizing a series of
grassroots "Abraham Salons" to discuss the
patriarch's life and lessons.
All these efforts have asked a nearly identical
question: Can the study of Abraham, beloved by
Muslims, Christians and Jews, make them stop hating
each other? But the Abrahamania also asks — and
often avoids — tough questions about the legacy
of Abraham and whether his story is a source of, not
a solution to, the clash of the three faiths.
"The fact that Abraham is becoming trendy,
if you will, is only to our benefit," said Gady
Levy, dean of continuing education at the University
of Judaism, who came up with the idea for the trial.
But not everyone is rallying around this idea.
"People have come to this conclusion that Jews,
Christians and Muslims can look to Abraham as a
reconciling figure, which I think is very
naive," said David Klinghoffer, a senior fellow
at Toward Tradition, a conservative coalition of
Christians and Jews. Klinghoffer, who is working on
his own forthcoming biography of the forefather,
"The Discovery of God: Abraham and the Birth of
Monotheism" (Doubleday, April 2003), argues that
the Muslim Abraham must be seen in context of the
Koran, which he said boils over with hostility toward
Christians and Jews. "No one who believes in the
Koran can accept a nice, ecumenical, unthreatening
Abraham."
Jewish reaction to Abrahamania, according to
Klinghoffer, has been generally positive — and
that's not necessarily a good thing.
"I think Jews are tickled by it," he said.
"We feel good in taking pride in the historical
ancestor of Abraham, while not feeling obliged to
answer the question of whether he's a real
person." Klinghoffer, who has been
working on his book for three years, pointed out that
many of those lobbying for Abraham as an inspiration
for reconciliation between warring faiths have
ignored (or rejected) the question of his historicity
— which, Klinghoffer said, undermines the very
idea of him as a figure of importance.
But even if one accepts Abraham as a historical
figure, said one Jewish scholar, some prickly
dilemmas remain, especially for those in search of a
workable effort at interfaith dialogue.
"You can't build a religion on Abraham
alone," said Jon Levenson, the Albert A.
List professor of Jewish studies at Harvard Divinity
School. Levenson argues that Feiler and others are
trying to encourage Jews, Christians and Muslims to
"get past our differences about Jesus and about
the Koran and just get back to our nice forefather
Abraham." "For different communities to
understand each other is a positive goal, but when
they understand each other better it's usually
because they understand how they're different,"
Levenson said.
And beyond the pages of Genesis, the differences
abound. Muslims believe that Abraham erected the
Kaaba, the black stone that is the focus of
pilgrimage to Mecca. Christians see the binding and
near-sacrifice of Isaac as a foreshadowing of Jesus'
crucifixion. And for Jews, some of the very first
lines introducing Abraham in the Bible contain the
divine promise that Israel will be the Jews'
homeland.
Levenson, who teaches a seminar on Abraham, said that
if Abraham is divested of the features that the
faiths individually find meaningful, there's not much
left with which followers of the three religions can
identify.
Feiler agreed. "Only talking about similarities
is not very productive," he said, in an
interview with the Forward. "Ultimately, the
conversation, to be successful, has to address the
differences."
To that end, Feiler and William Morrow & Co.,
publisher of his "Abraham: A Journey to the
Heart of Three Faiths" (2002), have organized
"Abraham Salons" between November 8-24. So
far, Feiler said, 2,000 people have downloaded
material from his Web site to start their own Abraham
Salon.
Discussion materials for the salons include questions
and passages from the Bible and the Koran, as well as
brownie and baklava recipes. "Specifically,
can Abraham — the shared father of Jews,
Christians, and Muslims — provide some measure
of hope in these troubled times?" the materials
ask.
But others, like Levenson, have argued that
participants in these klatsches are likely to
shy away from the tough stuff — the issues that
actually cause the conflicts — while others
question the whole enterprise of interfaith dialogue.
"I don't think interfaith dialogue is a
legitimate goal for Jews to have," said Rabbi
Avi Shafran, director of public affairs at the
ultra-Orthodox Agudath Israel of America. Shafran
cited the late Orthodox sage Rabbi Joseph
Soloveitchik, who opposed interfaith theological
dialogue. Shafran also dismissed the idea of a mock
trial of Abraham, even if it were to be conducted
with an all-Jewish audience.
"The concept, even in a tongue-in-cheek
manner, of putting a biblical personality on 'trial'
should be odious to any Jew," he said.
SenderBerl: Putting Abraham on trial
could be better said to be odious to anyone under
monotheism carrying respect for G-d. With this single
simple rephrasing of the above comment, it
appropriately highlights that finding the event
odious is not limited to any single religious group
but any religious group serving monotheism. In
the Islamic culture this type of event could never
occur, but under the NWO agenda it is the type of
event which would be encouraged (since its subtle
intent is to malign not to build). Thus, we
ask you which is the better course. To foster a
culture which writes: "Did
the father of all Jews attempt to whack his own flesh
and blood?" or one
that considers such language and description an
abomination?
But Levy, of the University of Judaism, whose
seminary trains rabbis for the Conservative
rabbinate, said that the trial is bracketed by two
sessions of substantive study. In the morning, groups
will study the relevant texts with Reform,
Reconstructionist and Conservative rabbis from the
community. And the trial is to be followed by a
rabbinic panel, including Rabbis Elliot Dorff,
Richard Levy, Levi Meier and Steven Carr Reuben. At
the trial itself, Abraham will be represented by
Erwin Chemerinsky, a law professor at the University
of Southern California. Laurie Levenson, a professor
at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, will argue for
the prosecution.
Still, Levy is under no illusion about the event's
main attraction, which, perhaps befitting the trial
of the progenitor of the Jews, will revolve around
food.
"Wapner will give the jury instruction, then
they'll vote guilty or not guilty and go to
lunch," Levy said. The verdict will be read
after everyone has eaten.
News story on the Islamic fatwa:
Nigeria Islamists Urge Death for Fugitive Reporter
By Tume Ahemba
KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) - The threat of more
sectarian strife hung over Nigeria after a northern
state announced a "fatwa" decree urging
Muslims to kill a reporter whose story on the Miss
World pageant sparked deadly riots.
More than 200 people died in violence in the northern
city of Kaduma over the story Muslims said blasphemed
against the Prophet Mohammed.
The city entered its sixth day under curfew on
Wednesday.
SenderBerl:
The reporter has apologized but the point is that
people there cared enough to
protect their prophet and their religion.
Will anyone apologize for the demeaning trial putting
up forefather Abraham for child abuse and attempted
murder? No, because no one cares enough to protect
G-d's Name, platforming the willingness of the Jewish
people to stand silent when Barak was willing with
both hands to give up G-d's gift to Arafat. In fact,
we're surprised Abraham got acquitted. Perhaps there
will be a request for retrial by those who want to
demean and diminish G-d further than they already
have from the minds and hearts of our children and
our culture.
Now in this second presentation
excerpted from a facsimile to a well known and
regarded Rabbi, three important questions come to
mind:
First, can the Jewish people
ever dare to think for a moment that G-d would
tolerate an attack by them on the Arab people on the
basis that the Arabs are evil when they are the
descendants of Abraham and Hagar and prostrate
themselves before G-d and honor His name before the
other nations of the world?
Second, can the Jewish people
ever dare to think for a moment that G-d would
tolerate nations who are moving their nations away
from G-d seizing and confiscating oil given to the
Arab nations by G-d, to finance an agenda that will
further alienate people and nations from G-d?
Third, can the Jewish people
ever dare to think for a moment that after spending
two thousand years in exile that G-d would hand them
a victory on the basis that they have nothing at all
to do what is before them today, and that they
represent good and the Arab's evil, failing to accept
the historical evidence that the people in Israel
have no enemies other than by G-d's will and design,
to preclude the State of Israel becoming an
abomination to His name?
To: Rabbi
From: Joseph Ehrlich
Re: Sermon, March 16, 2002
Date: Sunday, March 17, 2002
When I heard you proffer the
one-dimensional good v. evil scenario for the
congregation on Shabbas, I was, quite frankly,
surprised.
This was in fact the very scenario
painted by Rabbi Akiva in moving against the Romans;
in supporting General Bar-Kokhba, all foreshadowing
the loss of Eretz Yisroel and the Jewish exile.
There is nothing at all to controvert
that these very dynamics exist today, foreshadowing
the second, and perhaps final loss of Eretz Yisroel.
Just as the time before, the message is not to see
the Arab/Islamic nations as the enemy, but as the
enemy manifested from our own failings in allowing an
environment within Israel absent G-d from a central
role in Israel, and a drive for a peace scenario
which will only move the Jewish people further away
from G-d. Compounding the error is that this peace
scenario will also move all the peoples in the region
away from G-d.
The argument that the Arab/Islamic
nations are comprised of primitive people only masks
the reality of a program to move them like the Jewish
people away from G-d. This very program has removed
the U.S. from its religious tenets; all of it
combined suggesting a biblical change in the paradigm
of world control from those peoples under historical
monotheism to those outside the pale, invoking the
specter of Ki Savo.
Ironically, we also recently have seen
public proclamations by those speaking against Israel
from the first as a nation arising from secular
Zionism. These people fail to comprehend that G-d
works His ways, the promises of Torah, through
whatever means and vehicles of His choosing; the
reality however is that the Jewish people were given
Israel back through the miracles of 1948 and 1967.
Once being given back Israel these critics were
foremost responsible in moving forward the Jewish
children and nation to a love of G-d, as the
Arab/Islamic people have successfully move their
children and people to a hate of Israel and the
Jewish people.
Without recognition of the Jewish
parallel failings to the time of the first temple,
whether or not Israel accepts the proposed Saudi
peace, assuming a unified Arab acceptance in Beirut,
the loss of Eretz Yisroel is biblically clear. If
Israel accepts the peace, then it explains the
bifurcated giving; the Jewish people voluntarily
relinquishing and turning its back to the miracle of
1967; with the first segment, the 1948 giving,
thereafter lost over time (perhaps a symmetrical 19
years) when Israel will lose all respect for giving
up the only thing the other nations of the world
want: the Holy City. Once that is willingly given up,
the nations of the world will frown upon the Jewish
people for forsaking G-d, and his promised, provided
gift.
If the Jewish people refute the proposed
peace, without rededicating themselves openly and
publicly to G-d, then, per Jacob’s prophecy, as
detailed in Missed Message of Torah, the Jewish
people will be seen as odious, the U.S. as detailed
in Peres Personified will distance itself from
Israel, the nation will collapse economically, and
with persistent and continued Arab persecutions,
Israel will succumb as a nation.
And die it must, when it fails to
operate as a nation showing the world Kavod Hashem.
Then, of course, there is the argument that G-d is
sufficiently happy and pleased as long as there is a
remnant of Jews dedicated to rabbinic Judaism showing
ritual performance. However this escapes the proven
historical reality that there existed the same
remnant when Israel was first lost and the Jewish
people faced horrific wholesale death and
destruction. The reason for the Diaspora was for the
Jewish people to recognize the need to apologize and
repent; to bow to Hashem in repentance in
Jacob’s name and otherwise for the failings
detailed in part in Missed Message of Torah.
Reliance on the U.S. will be misplaced,
as the U.S. needs to offset Chinese influence in the
Middle East. When years ago I said that Israel
despite its military superiority is destined to lose
to the Arab nations, should it fail to rededicate
itself to G-d, this was a concept hard to fathom and
understand. Now, it is easier to see, and again G-d
per Torah in providing us this promised period of
prosperity, the first overall one since the time of
the first temple, does not await our pleas and
prayers when we lose everything (in Israel and the
U.S. and throughout the Diaspora) but EXPECTS US AND
JUSTLY SO to bow to him appropriately and glorify his
Name to the world during the biblically provided good
times.
Failing to acknowledge these dynamics
acts as a Khillul Hashem as proven by events
unraveling right now in history. I do not await
acknowledgment that what I write is correct; what I
aspire, as I have always aspired, is that the Jewish
people especially those responsible, the rabbis and
Jewish leadership, acknowledge the simple truths
which are the only key to our salvation. G-d stood
aside as forces of steadfast evil, the Assyrians,
Babylonians and Romans, caused wholesale death and
destruction resulting in the loss of Eretz Yisroel.
It saddened me to see those very same arguments
proffered today by someone as brilliant and educated
as yourself who should recognize that ordained rabbis
and those positioned in the Jewish community to
change the course are expected to recognize what
needs to be understood from 2000 years of exile in
accord with their responsibility of saving the Jewish
people and nation. Do not underestimate your ability
to do so if you are committed to do so. Thus I beg
you to rethink your position, buttress your
commitment to G-d and Torah, which far exceeds
parameters of ritual performance, before it becomes
too late to do so. That time is near (see Missed
Message of Torah p.31).
The Heavenly Tribunal, as attested to by
Rabban Gamliel’s premature death, is not
interested in rationalizations but repentance.
Highlighting the assertion that the Arab/Islamic
nations seek to destroy the U.S. and Israel
obfuscates the true dynamics in play, which the
Jewish leadership was charged with identifying and
recognizing, and only moves the world and the Jewish
people to WW III and the little discussed dreaded
consequences of Parashas Ki Savo.
Sincerely,
Joseph Ehrlich
PS. At www.senderberl.com/MM_Supplement.pdf you can read
the supplemental materials to Missed Message of Torah.
Further, I have detailed the three elements of the
supplement in easy to access htm format at www.senderberl.com/jewish/trial.htm, www.senderberl.com/jewish/43.htm, www.senderberl.com/relpymem.htm.
Seeing the need for a religious resolution, and
surely not a military one, attests to faith in G-d
and Torah.