Sunday, 17 April 2016

South African Jewish communties

Cape Town Community
Jews have lived in Cape Town since its creation and the population has grown from about 20 Jews in 1820 to more than 17,000 members today (down from a high of 25,000 in the 1980's), constituting more than 25 percent of the Jewish community in South Africa. In 1841, the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation was founded a week after 17 Jewish males conducted the first Orthodox Service in South Africa. Services were held at a private home, Helmsley Place, which today forms part of the Mount Nelson Hotel complex. Eight years later, the first Synagogue was established next to Parliament and Reverend Isaac Pulver was the first Spiritual Leader. By 1863, the Congregation had grown to the point where a new building was needed, it was constructed on what is today the Jewish Museum complex. In 1905, a still larger building was required and the present Great Synagogue (Gardens Shul) was constructed alongside the Old Shul. Cape Town had its first Jewish Mayor that year, who was also the president of the Congregation — Hyman Liberman. The Rev Alfred Bender had arrived to lead the Shul in 1895, and served as their Rabbi for 42 years.
Green and Sea Point Hebrew Congregation, Cape Town



The Cape Town Jewish community is fairly homogenous. Approximately 80 percent of the Jewish community is of Lithuanian descent. The same percentage is Orthodox, while the other 20 percent are Reform. There are 12 Orthodox synagogues in Cape Town and two Reform synagogues. The Great Synagogue, Gardens Shul, or Cape Town Hebrew Congregation, which was consecrated in 1905, is the oldest active congregation in South Africa and is located just to the right of the first synagogue and now, the Jewish museum. The Gardens Shul is an “Egyptian-revival-style house of worship” that currently seats over 1,400. In addition to the Great Shul, other Orthodox synagogues include the Green and Sea Point Hebrew Congregation, which has more than 2,000 members, and is the largest synagogue in all of Africa, and the Claremont synagogue. There are also a couple small Lubavitch and Sephardic synagogues. While the majority of Cape Town Jews belong to Orthodox synagogues, most are not strictly observant.
Nearly 80 percent of Cape Town’s Jewish children are enrolled in Jewish day schools, which run from primary school to high school. Cape Town has the Herzlia school, catering to grades first through 12th and three other primary day schools; most of which are Orthodox.



The Holocaust and Zionism are central to South African Jewish identity.  The community successfully lobbied the government to require Holocaust education in all public schools and recently built the Cape Town Holocaust Centre, the only Holocaust institution in Africa. A siren was sounded from the Jewish community center on Holocaust Remembrance day last year and was broadcast throughout the country. Even the parliament observed a moment of silence. Jews express their Zionism through philanthropy.  The Cape Town Jewish community donates more to Israel per capita than any other Jewish community in the world.
While the majority of the Cape Town population disapproves of Zionism, this generally does not affect attitudes towards Jews. In fact, many Jews have strong relationships with the local government. Prominent political figures often appear at Jewish events, despite their criticism of Israel.
The Cape Town Jewish community is not completely immune to violence and anti-Semitism. In 1997 gasoline bombs were thrown at the home of community members and, in December 1999, a bomb was thrown at one of Cape Town’s synagogues. Fortunately no one was injured in either attack.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn what makes the South African Jewish community truly unique
The story of the South African Jewish community is a story of how Jews respond when they are stretched to the limits of their adaptability. It's a story of Jewish communities that learned to survive by:
Converting the mundane ostrich feather into a fashion statement.
Digging for gold in rivers and under the ground.
Creating industries that were previously non-existent e.g. diamonds.
Becoming politically active in social movements as a form of integration.
Even more important than these survival strategies, this is a story of Jewish communities that remained committed and loyal to their traditions despite being totally isolated from all sources of Jewish learning and practice.
How did they do it? They have remained strong and resilient despite the forces of alienation, immigration and assimilation. 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Johannesburg Community
Nine year’s after its establishment in 1886, 6,000 Jews lived in Johannesburg. Jewish immigrants hailed from Britain, Germany and Eastern European Jews, mainly from the Baltics and Russia. Many came in search of wealth in the gold fields. Both the Witwatersrand Goldfields Jewish Association and the Witerwatersrand Old Hebrew Congregation were founded in 1887. The former bought two plots of land for the first synagogue in Transvaal, which later became known as the President Streets Synagogue. Mendelssohn served as its first president, as well as its chairman during various periods.
Four years later, President Paul Kruger of South Africa dedicated the Park Synagogue to the Johannesburg Hebrew Congregation. Another synagogue, the Great Synagogue, opened in 1914; the Great Synagogue is modeled after Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia mosque. Johannesburg’s other major synagogue, the Mooi Street Synagogue, founded by Lithuanian immigrants, has recently been declared a national landmark.
During the late 1800's and early 1990's, many of Johannesburg’s Jewish institutions were created. Charitable organizations, such as the Hevra Kadisha (burial society), a Jewish soup kitchen, Jewish Ambulance Corps, Bikkur Holim Society and a Jewish Ladies Benevolent Society, were formed to take care of the new immigrants and the poor members of the community.

                      South African Jewish board of deputies National Director Wendy Kahn 
A Jewish Hospital was built in 1896 to administer to Orthodox Jews who insisted on kosher food and who felt more comfortable with Jewish doctors and nurses. Eventually the Jewish Hospital became part of the Johannesburg General Hospital and, today, it still offers kosher meals.
Social clubs were also founded in this period, including a Jewish Dramatic Society and the Jewish Guild. Johannesburg’s first Jewish school opened in 1890 and served as a forerunner to the National Jewish Day School movement. Jewish education transformed over the years and is rarely carried out by the traditional cheders (one-room classes).
Johannesburg is home to many Jewish institutions and organizations, including the Jewish Board of Deputies, a Jewish library and a Jewish museum, which contains African-sculpted stones mezuzas, two Torahs from Maputo (found in Mozambique) and other interesting memorabilia from the South African Jewish community.
During South Africa's dark apartheid period, a building boom crowded the city with cheap shoddy apartments and poor black people from the suburbs looking for work.  These individuals were exploited by landlords and eventually grew frustrated and began to settle illegally in the more affluent areas of the city, causing an urban decline and an exodus of the European immigrants who had settled in the area during the 1960's and 70's.  This exodus included most of inner city Johannesburg's Jewish population and forced many of the historic synagogues to shut their doors or move to a different location near where their congregants were moving. The Great Synagogue in downtown has moved four miles from it's original location and shut down in 1994.  It now serves as a Church, but there are still remnants of the Jewish structure including a Star of David on top of the building's dome and a message etched in stone on a building across the street that reads "Hebrew High School".  Temple Israel in the Hillbrow neighborhood and the Lion's Shul in Doornfontein still open their doors for prayers on a weekly basis, although they do not get nearly as many congregants as they used to and are low on funds.  Temple Israel cannot afford to employ a Rabbi full time and it is in an inconvenient location for most of their worshippers, as they stayed in the city and did not move their synagogue after the white exodus in the 1980's and 90's.  The Doornfontein synagogue also known as the Lion's Shul is the oldest still functioning synagogue in Johannesburg. Completed in 1905, the synagogue recieved it's informal name from the two lion statues at the front entrance.  Currently the synagogue is run by Rabbi Ilan Herman and none of the congregants live in the surrounding neighborhood. Even Orthodox members of Herman's congregation drive to the synagogue for Shabbat services.
In the suburbs of Johannesburg, one can find the Johannesburg Bet Din and the Etz Chayim Synagogue, which houses a Holocaust memorial.
Today, Johannesburg has a Jewish population of approximately 50,000 people, the largest in all of South Africa

Passover

Operation Zero Chametz
Passover is a holiday that mandates our complete involvement, not just during its eight days but for weeks before. Aside from the regular holiday obligations, we are also commanded (Exodus 13:3–7): “No leaven shall be eaten . . . For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread . . . and no leaven shall be seen of yours [in your possession].”
We accomplish this by cleaning and inspecting our homes well before Passover, and gradually eliminating chametz from every room and crevice. This intensive cleaning takes place in Jewish homes throughout the world.
What Is Chametz?
Chametz is any food product made from wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt, or their derivatives, which has leavened (risen). Our sages have determined that flour from any of these five grains that comes in contact with water or moisture will leaven, unless fully baked within eighteen minutes. As we are commanded by the Torah, if a food contains even a trace ofchametz, we don’t eat it, we don’t derive benefit from it, and we make sure not to have any of it in our possession for all the days of Passover.
To be certain that a product is kosher for Passover, it must have rabbinical certification. Otherwise it is possible that it contains chametz ingredients, or traces of chametz if it was processed on the same equipment as chametz products. Thus, unless a product is certified Kosher for Passover, we consider it chametz, and make sure not to have it in our possession on Passover.
Note: Matzah used all year round might be pure chametz, and not for Passover use. Only matzahs baked especially for Passover may be used on Passover.
Kitniyot
The medieval Jewish sages placed a ban on eating legumes (kitniyot)on Passover, because they are similar in texture to chametz—even bread can be made out of their flour—so people might assume that if, for example, cornbread can be eaten on Passover, wheat or rye bread can be eaten too. This prohibition includes rice, beans and corn. This injunction was unanimously accepted by Ashkenazic Jews; many Sephardic Jews, however, continue to eat kitniyot on Passover. If you are Sephardic, speak to your rabbi to determine your family and community tradition.
The prohibition is only with regards to consumption of kitniyot; there is no obligation, however, to destroy or sell kitniyot products before Passover.
Getting Rid of Chametz
Search and Destroy
Any area where one can reasonably suspect that chametz might have been brought throughout the year must be thoroughly cleaned. This includes the home, office, cars, garage, etc. Check carefully to ensure that no crumb is left behind: check and clean desks, drawers, closets, clothing pockets (especially the children’s), pocketbooks, briefcases and attache cases, beds, dining and living room furniture, bookcases, etc.
If You Can’t Destroy it, Sell It
Chametz that you don’t want to destroy, and utensils used throughout the year (and not koshered for Passover), should be stored in closets or rooms which will be sealed for the duration of Passover. The chametz should be sold to a non-Jew through a rabbi. Click here to sell your chametz online.
Preparing the Kitchen
Every part of our homes is cleaned for Passover, but we pay special attention to the kitchen, because (a) that’s where most of ourchametz hangs out during the year, and (b) we will be using our kitchens to prepare our Passover food.
Dishes and Utensils
Today, most Passover-savvy homes have a special set of dishes, silverware, pots, pans and other utensils for Passover use only. If necessary, certain year-round utensils can be used—provided they are koshered for Passover. This gets rather complex—you’ll need to consult a competent rabbi about your particular utensils, but you can click here for the basic koshering procedures.
Stove
Thoroughly clean and scour every part of the stove. Heat the oven to the highest temperature possible for 1–2 hours. Heat the grates and the iron parts of the stove (and the elements, if electric) until they are red-hot. It is suggested that the oven and the stove top should be covered with aluminum foil afterwards for the duration of Passover.
Microwave Ovens
Clean the oven thoroughly. Fill a completely clean container, that was not used for 24 hours, with water. Turn on the microwave and let it steam heavily. Turn it off and wipe out the inside.
To use the microwave during Passover, use a flat, thick, microwave-safe object as a separation between the bottom of the oven and the cooking dish. When cooking or warming, the food should be covered on all sides.
Sink
For 24 hours before koshering the sink, do not pour hot water from chametz pots into it. Meticulously clean the sink, boil water in a clean pot which was not used for 24 hours, and pour three times onto every part of the sink, including the drain stopper. Then line the sink with foil or liner.
Refrigerator, Freezer, Cupboards, Closets, Tables, and Counters
Thoroughly clean and scrub them to remove any crumbs and residue. Afterwards, place a heavy covering over those surfaces that come into contact with hot food or utensils.
Tablecloths and Napkins
Launder without starch.
Cars, Garages, etc.
Vacuum your car or van; thoroughly clean your basement, garage, or any property you own. Special care should be taken with items you will be using, or rooms you will be accessing, during Passover.
Passover Shopping
While shopping for Passover we must be careful that the foods we buy are not only kosher, but are also kosher for Passover—that is,chametz-free.
Starting “From Scratch”
All fruits and vegetables, as well as all kosher cuts of meat and kosher fish, are kosher for Passover, provided they have been prepared in accordance with Jewish law and have not come into contact with chametz or chametz utensils.
The prevailing custom in Ashkenazi communities is that on Passover we do not eat rice, millet, corn, mustard, legumes (beans, etc.) or food made from any of these.
Commercially Prepared Products
Today there are many kosher-for-Passover packaged foods available. However, care must be used to purchase only those packaged foods that have reliable rabbinical supervision which is valid for Passover.
Obviously, all leavened foods made from—or that contain among their ingredients—wheat, barley, rye, oats, or spelt are actual chametz and are prohibited on Passover. Examples are bread, cake, cereal, spaghetti, beer and whiskey.
Check That Medicine Cabinet!
Many medicines, sprays, and cosmetics contain chametz. Consult a competent rabbi as to which ones may be used on Passover. The same applies to pet food.
Click here to to purchase your Passover essentials from our store.
The Passover Calendar—2016

ThursdayApril 21—13 NissanDid you remember to sell your chametz? Your local Chabad rabbi can help, or complete an online “Authorization for the Sale of Chametz” form by clicking here.
Search for the chametz after dark (click here for the exact time). Recite the blessing prior to the search, and the nullification of the chametz (Kol Chamira) following the search. Click here for more information on the search and removal of chametz.
FridayApril 22—14 Nissan
The day before Passover
Fast of the Firstborn. For a male firstborn to be exempt from fasting, he must participate in a meal marking the fulfillment of a mitzvah; such a meal is generally held in a synagogue after morning prayers on this day.
Have you sold your chametz? Final call! Your local Chabad rabbi can help, or complete an online “Authorization for the Sale of Chametz” form by clicking here.
Stop eating chametz before the end of the fourth seasonal hour (click here for the exact time).
Burn your remaining (unsold) chametz before the fifth seasonal hour (clickhere for the exact time).
It is customary to recite the “Order of the Passover Offering” after the afternoon Minchah prayer. All Seder items and food for the holiday meals must be prepared before the onset of the holiday and Shabbat.
Light the Passover candles, reciting blessings 3 & 4Click here for the blessings, and here for local candle-lighting times. Click here for a summary of the laws of Yom Tov.
According to Chabad custom, complete Hallel is recited during Maariv (evening) services. Shalom Aleichem is recited quietly.
First Seder: The Seder contains the observance of many biblical and rabbinical mitzvot, including: eating matzah, eating maror (bitter herbs), drinking four cups of wine, relating the story of the Exodus to our children, reclining as a symbol of freedom, etc. (Click here for a How-To Seder guide.)
To locate a public Seder near you, please click here.
The first night of Passover is referred to as leil shimurim (a night of guarding), based on Exodus 12:42.
ShabbatApril 23—15 Nissan
1st day of Passover
Morning service. Full Hallel is recited. Two Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark.
Torah reading: Exodus 12:21–51 and Numbers 28:16–25.
Haftorah: Joshua 3:5–7, 5:2–6:1, 6:27.
Beginning with the Musaf Amidah, we recite morid hatal, the prayer for dew, and we omit the prayer for rain. This practice continues until Shemini Atzeret, the day after Sukkot.
The priests bless the congregation with the priestly blessing during the Musaf prayer.
Festive lunch meal.
According to Chabad custom, complete Hallel is recited during Maariv evening prayers, followed by the “Counting of the Omer.” We count the 1st day of the Omer. The counting of the Omer is recited during each of the next 49 days, leading up to the holiday of Shavuot on the 50th day. The 49 days embody the 49 steps of self-improvement—beginning with the departure from our “personal” Egypt, until our arrival at Mount Sinai, when we are ready to accept the wisdom of the Torah.
After dark, light candles for the second day of Passover, using an existing flame, and recite blessings 2 & 4Click here for the blessings, and here for local candle-lighting times.
Second Seder: The Seder contains the observance of many biblical and rabbinical mitzvot, including: eating matzah, eating maror (bitter herbs), drinking four cups of wine, relating the story of the Exodus to our children, reclining as a symbol of freedom, etc. (Click here for a How-To Seder guide.)
Havdalah is incorporated into the Kiddush prayer. We look at the holiday candles for the blessing on fire and do not recite the blessing on spices.
SundayApril 24—16 Nissan
2nd day of Passover

Morning service. Full Hallel is recited. Two Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark.
Torah reading: Leviticus 22:26–23:44 and Numbers 28:16–25.
Haftorah: II Kings 23:1–9, 21–25.
The priests bless the congregation with the priestly blessing during the Musaf prayer.
Festive lunch meal.
After nightfall, count the 2nd day of the Omer.
Celebrate Passover’s intermediate days. Between now and the last two days of Passover, we may resume much (not all) of our regular workday activities; but, of course, we continue to eat Kosher for Passover foods exclusively. It is customary to drink a glass of wine each day, in celebration of the festival. After evening prayers, perform the havdalah ceremony, omitting the blessings on the spices and candle.
Courtesy: chabad.org

A Passover Adventure

Now A Passover Adventure with thanks to Jewish Kids

Tuesday, 12 April 2016

African jewdom

Ethiopian Jews' religious tradition. 
Nearly three decades after Israel began airlifting Ethiopia's ancient Jewish community out of the Horn of Africa, Israel's rabbis are now working to phase out the community's white-turbaned clergy, the kessoch, whose unusual religious practices are at odds with the rabbinate's Orthodox Judaism.
The effort has added to the sense of discrimination felt by Israel's 120,000 Ethiopian citizens. These sentiments boiled over this month after a group of landlords in the southern town of Kiryat Malachi refused to accept Ethiopians as tenants.The move has prompted large protests, including a gathering outside parliament on Wednesday that drew more than 1,000 young immigrants and other supporters.
Kess Semai Elias, 42, said the recent reports of discrimination add to his and other Ethiopian Jewish spiritual leaders' dismay and feelings that they are not welcome.
                                                           
"We are just like all the other Jews. We don't have any other religion," he said.
Descendants of the lost Israelite tribe of Dan, according to Jewish lore, Ethiopian Jews spent millennia isolated from the rest of the Jewish world. In most Jewish communities, the priesthood of the Bible was replaced by rabbis who emphasized text study and prayer. Ethiopia's Jewish kessoch continued the traditions of Biblical-era priests, sacrificing animals and collecting the first fruits of the harvest.
The two traditions diverged so much that the first trickle of Ethiopian Jewish immigrants to Israel were asked to undergo a quickened conversion ceremony to appease rabbis who were dubious about their religious pedigree.
When Israeli clandestine operations rescued large groups of Ethiopian Jews from war and famine in the 1980s and early 1990s, a rabbinic consensus was reached and the newcomers did not have to convert — except for a group known as the Falash Mura, whose ancestors were forcibly converted to Christianity generations before.

The 58 kessoch who arrived in Israel in those early days maintained their leadership role in the Ethiopian Jewish community, and in 1992 successfully lobbied the Israeli government to grant them salaries and status similar to those of government rabbis. But as the aging clergy began ordaining a new generation of kessoch over the past decade, and those new leaders also wanted recognition, Israel's rabbinate objected.
After public demonstrations and a brief hunger strike, the newly ordained kessoch struck a bittersweet deal last month with Israel's ministry of religious services.
The ministry would finally implement a 2010 government resolution to recognize 13 of them and give them state salaries. But Israel's state rabbis made it very clear to the new kessoch: They would be the last.
"It's for the best," said Rabbi Yosef Hadana, 63, of the Israeli rabbinate.
Himself the son of a respected kess, Hadana long ago traded the shash, the white turban of his father's tradition, for the black suit and fedora of ultra-Orthodox Jews.
"After 2,500 years of isolation from the nation of Israel, we have returned. Now we need to find a way to be one people," Rabbi Hadana said.
Hadana says he holds great respect for the kessoch. They were the ones who once spun tales of Jerusalem's splendor at evening storytelling sessions, keeping alive the Ethiopian Jews' religious tradition. But anyone in Israel who wants to continue that tradition, he said, must get rabbinic training. Streamlining their religious practice can help integrate Ethiopian immigrants into Israeli society, he said.[Continued]

Monday, 4 April 2016

Who will represent humanity,the jew?



On March 23rd, 2016, Microsoft released a chunk of artificial intelligence onto the Internet. Dubbed “Tay,” this was a bot1 designed to chat with real human beings, simulating a 19-year-old female, learning from those humans how to act more human.On March 24th, less than 24 hours later, Microsoft put Tay to sleep. The reason? She was spewing neo-Nazi, xenophobic, racist tweets. Apparently, Tay had been learning from the wrong humans—those who had chosen to teach her.

Six days later, by some techie accident, she was back—for just a brief flash of spamming and very teen-like absurdities. Jon Russel at TechCrunch wrote, “This feels like how the AI apocalypse starts…”
What Do We Learn From All This?Microsoft says they’re busy learning from this experience. It’s arguably the most informative experiment in artificial intelligence yet, one that should shift the entire debate about the future of machine intelligence.
Until now, the drama of AI—in sci-fi, in colleges, and in the corporate board meetings of those corporations that currently control the human knowledge-base—has been all around “Machines Vs. Their Makers.” Writers and tech-gurus speaks of the intelligence of machines as something autonomous from our own consciousness: Will their learning accelerate to a point where we can no longer maintain control? Will our servants turn around and become our masters? Will they supplant us? Will they render us redundant?The Tay Bot experiment is telling us a very different story. There is no us and them. AI is only about one thing: the network called humanity—and that’s it.
                                             

“Man is a tree of the field” we are told. Recently, Stefano Mancuso, along with many other significant biologists, have shed some light on that metaphor. Trees stand in their place, but that doesn’t mean they are stupid. They have brains—just that, unlike mobile beasts, the tree’s brains are distributed throughout a vast network of roots, which are further networked into a web of cells that detect light, sound, smell, gravity, humidity and many other stimuli.
                                          


So too, as we human beings first decided to plant ourselves in settlements, then to build cities, then countries and empires, and eventually a global socio-economy, we became more and more like a tree and less like a beast. Or perhaps a hybrid of the two.What happens when beasts act as trees? You get communication, commerce and technology. Scott Berkun gets credit for exposing “the myth of the lone inventor”—the truth is that no single human being ever got any technology off the ground on his own. Our cities, our buildings, our tools and gadgets—all of them are products of inter-connected specialization and distributed productivity. As for the Internet, it is nothing more than the ultimate extension (so far) of this tree called humanity. On the Internet, we discover who we are as humanity.
That’s why the “Machine Versus Makers” concept has it all wrong. Our machines, our technology, and any intelligence we manage to produce—none of these are autonomous living beings of their own. No one has yet to demonstrate that we are capable of coming anywhere near investing a machine with an autonomous sense of self. Heck, we don’t even know what that is.
Will the Internet ever develop those mysterious qualities we call “experience” and “consciousness?” How? With a string of 0s and 1s running through a CPU? Experience, consciousness and a sense of self-are non-measurable, non-observable qualities (“qualia” in the lingo of those who study consciousness). How does quantifiable code emerge as the quality of experience and self?4 Rather, if that every happens, that too will be no more than an emergent artifact of the collective experience and consciousness of humanity, which itself emerges from a transcendent consciousness that pervades and sustains all things.
So let’s drop this anachronistically misdirected notion of “Artificial Intelligence” and call a spade a spade: It’s “Emergent Intelligence.” Not AI, but EI. No less wondrous, but certainly less delusional.
Now we can ask: Will EI turn around and destroy us? It’s already begun to do so. We’re fighting it right now.
All wars humanity has fought, up to and including the Cold War, were wars of beasts. Beasts have internal organs—brains, hearts, guts, reproductive organs that dominate the body and control the body. So too, the wars of humankind have been wars between governing bodies.
That’s why all the winning strategies of those wars turn out to be impotent in the current war against terror and intolerance. The power we fight has no brain, no heart, no guts, no reproductive organ, yet it is intelligent, passionate, hungry and breeds rapidly. Because it is not a beast; it is a tree. And that is its great advantage: There’s no one leader to assassinate, no one headquarters to capture, no one government to disassemble. A tree can have up to 90% of its body mass ravaged and regenerate itself. That’s exactly what the original Internet was designed to do. Today’s terrorism is another form of EI, not an external parasite or a fungus, but a native, emergent phenomenon of the networking of humanity. In this war, there’s no them and us. It’s all us.
When we are all networked together, who wins? Whoever networks best. Who networks best? Those who have something to unite them. What unites people best? History has demonstrated again and again: Beliefs. Visions. Promise. Everything that the EI of International Jihad provides.
How do we win? Simple: Do you have a belief, a vision, a promise? I do. I believe it is shared by many of us on the Internet, many more than those who believe in intolerance, destruction and terror. I believe in a wondrous future for my kids, my world and all of the humanity, and I believe we can achieve it through collaboration and education.
I don’t believe it because it is rational. It is not. I cannot prove it. It is a belief, a vision, a dogma. And so, it is charged with passion.
Can that belief unite us? It already does. Can it emerge as the dominant intelligence of the Internet? Yes, but on one condition: That we are willing to shout out that we believe in it, that were nuts about it, that we are willing to throw our entire lives into making it happen. Stop the relativism we’re fighting a war. Only once we are as passionate about our beliefs as the merchants of terror are about theirs, only then can we win over the youth they capture to an alternative even more exciting than blowing yourself up for ISIS.
Tay gave us a nasty slap in the face. We need it, and we need to heed it now. What the Tay experiment told us is that what counts is not who is brightest, most savvy or better at the game but who chooses to be dominant and speak loudest for our collective consciousness. Who will represent humanity? Today, it’s whoever chooses to do so.
Our voice can dominate.When we are all networked together, who wins? Those who share a common vision. The Tree of Knowledge we have built for ourselves today can become a Tree of Life. We will achieve the true singularity—and it will emerge from within each one of us and all of us as one.
Courtesy:                               Rabbi Tzvi Freeman is
                                                                           currently a senior editor at Chabad.org and also
                                                                      heads Chabad.org’s ‘Ask The Rabbi’ team.


Sunday, 3 April 2016

Do Jews permit dating?

 Dating is viewed as a serious matter and is not intended for entertainment purposes. Dating is reserved for mature men and women who have reached a marriageable age and are actively seeking their lifemate.
The restrictions on dating do not stem from old-fashioned prudishness. Rather they are a key ingredient in the creation of stable marriages between compatible spouses.
You Will Find What You Seek.The focus of a date is to determine whether this person one is seeing has the qualities and values which will allow the two of them to live together harmoniously and happily for the rest of their lives. 
Hence, successful dating is an art; it requires the mind to take control of a domain which traditionally and instinctively belongs to the heart.The restrictions on dating are a key ingredient in the creation of stable marriages

Following this reasoning, the setting for the date should be one conducive for an extended private conversation, and both parties should be prepared to candidly describe their visions and goals for themselves and their family.
 A date at the cinema, for example, sheds a little light on anything, and only serves to bring the two to an emotional attachment before it is healthy for them to have one, for it interferes with the ability to make an objective decision. Once the mind has decided, then the heart too must agree. 
When both mind and heart agree that the person is compatible, then "let the celebration begin!"
Serious and goal-oriented dating lays a strong foundation for marriage. A marriage with such a foundation will likely survive the stress and harsh conditions which will inevitably arrive sometime in the years to follow. This is the Jewish way, and we daresay it is also the common sense approach.

Today, with the loosening of social restrictions on the mingling and fraternizing between the sexes, many marriages start off as casual acquaintanceships. Two people meet, a relatively shallow conversation is initiated, sparks begin to fly, and after a period of intense courting and romance, off they go to the town clerk for a marriage license. The approach to dating has become increasingly focused on attraction and romance, and less focused on real compatibility. "Love conquers all," is a dangerous adage, and perhaps the main reason why nearly half of all marriages dissolve in divorce, and as a society, we have reached a point where the prenuptial agreement is an integral part of the marriage process as the marriage vows.
The heart following the mind is a formula for successFortunately, it seems that many people are discovering the wisdom of serious dating and focusing on compatibility. Assorted organizations now offer personality tests, and based on the results of these tests they endeavor to find compatible mates. These organizations claim a high success rate of many happily married couples who they've matched up. Makes sense!
Dating is Not a Game!How about people not yet contemplating marriage? Can they dabble in some "harmless" dating or even some pre-marital sex? Does the Torah frown upon such entertainment and pleasure just because it is not in the context of marriage?An understanding of the Kabbala of sexuality sheds light on this sensitive subject. Sexual attraction is a sacred calling of the soul and contains incredible potential when properly harnessed. 
It motivates the selfish person to be selfless and is a vehicle for the implementation of the Divine plan for all of the Creation .As is the case with any potent power, sexuality's constructive powers are only matched by its destructive potential. Nuclear energy is a textbook example. It can be used to economically provide mankind with valuable and plentiful energy, or can cause untold destruction and devastation.
Outside the framework of marriage, intimacy is self-centered instead of selfless. It is an expression of the body instead of the soul. Worst of all, it can have a desensitizing effect, causing an individual to associate sexuality with these negative qualities, rather than allowing the person to relate intimacy with the spiritual and meaningful experience it is intended to be.The less the soul's power of sexuality has been abused, the healthier the person's marriage is likely to be. Thus, the task of preserving the sanctity of sexuality and marriage begins long before one actually starts considering marriage.
The less the soul's power of sexuality has been abused, the healthier the person's marriage is likely to beThis "hypothesis" is actually statistically proven. Mariah Wojdacz of LegalZoom.com, a leading online legal service center, writes: "The highest risk factor for divorce may be surprising since it is often seen as a way to promote stability and security in a relationship. Couples who move in together prior to marriage have a far greater chance of divorce than couples who do not. How much higher is that risk? Some studies suggest couples who co-habitat before marriage, divorce at a rate as high as 85 percent."A marriage is also healthier when neither of the spouses is comparing their spouse to previous opposite-sex partners they had.

Can you alter your true emotion as a jew due to social, peer, or monetary pressures?

There is a fascinating paradox that relates to the laws of tzora'as, the spiritual malady, a skin discoloration that affects those who gossip. On one hand, only a kohen can either pronounce a state of impurity or purity. On the other hand, the afflicted man is in control of his own destiny. The Gemarah tells us that if, for example, the afflicted man removes the negah, whether it is hair or skin, then he is no longer tamei. So this affliction, which is purely spiritual in nature, a heavenly exhortation to repent from nattering ways, is basically toothless. If the man wills it, he can refuse to go to the kohen and not be declared tamei. And if he so desires, he can even remove the negah before anyone declares its potency.
Another amazing dimension is applicable after the afflicted man is declared tamei. The Torah tells us "that he is sent out of the camp, where he sits in solitude" (Leviticus 13:46).


His departure from the camp of Israelites is surely not due to a contagious nature of the negah. After all, if that were the case, he would be sent away way even before the kohen's declaration of tumah.So why send the man to confinement where no one will monitor his reaction to the negah on his being, a place where he could remove the negah, or adulterate its appearance? Why not have him locked in a cell \under the supervision of a guard who would insure the integrity of the purification process?
In the early 1900s, a simple religious Russian Jew decided that he could no longer stand the Czar's persecution. He would leave Russia to join his son who had settled in Houston, Texas, some twenty years earlier. The son, who had totally assimilated and was a successful oilman, was thrown into a panic. "Of course, you are welcome, Pa," he cabled, "I will arrange a visa, your tickets and fares. But you must realize that I have a wonderful reputation here as an oil man. When you arrive, you must adapt to American culture or I will be destroyed.
Upon arrival at the train station, the old man, dressed in his long coat and up brimmed hat, was whisked to a haberdashery, where he was fitted with the latest style fedora and a modern-cut suit. But still, his father looked too Jewish.
"Pa it's not enough. I'll take you to the barber."
The first thing that came off was the beard. The son looked on and said, "it's not enough Pa. The peyos, they'll have to go." The barber cut off the right peya. While the son looked on proudly, his pa was becoming a real American. Then the second. And the old man began to weep.
"Why are you crying, Papa?" the son asked incredulously.
The father, resigned to his fate, simply answered. "I am crying because we lost the Alamo!"
My grandfather, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky, of blessed memory, in his sefer Emes L'Yaakov, explains the concept of sitting in solitude, reflecting in unadulterated honesty about one's true feelings.
There comes a time in one's life where the message from heaven can only be without the influence of others and the will to impress them. How often do we act because of the influence of friends and relatives? How often do we gossip due to peer pressure? We must make choices in life. Honest choices. We have to do what the neshama wants us to do. And we can't alter our true emotion due to social, peer, or monetary pressures.

Courtesy:Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky