Thursday, July 31, 2014

Old Actors & their Cars and acceptance lessons sadness

  Acceptance Lessens Sadness

Sadness is a negative trait because at the root of sadness is selfishness. Feelings of sadness come from thinking too much about oneself. A sad person thinks: "I should have more than I do. I am missing a lot."

A person who thinks this way should realize that there is no reason why things should be any different than they are (although he would like them to be). That will make it much easier to accept reality.

If something can be changed, try to change it for the better. If it cannot be changed, demanding that things be different makes you needlessly unhappy.

Love Yehuda Lave

 

No holds barred: Israel is being crucified by unchallenged lies

By SHMULEY BOTEACH
07/22/2014 03:03

Israel made the same mistake of believing, for decades, that all the lies told about them would not be believed.

Hamas
Hamas propaganda video Photo: screenshot
I recently received an email from a reporter asking me to comment on questions of the "when did you stop beating your wife" variety. I receive these near daily from anti-Israel and anti-Semitic publications who accuse me of everything from supporting genocide against Palestinians, to lending my name to African regimes that slaughter their people (they're referring to my friend President Paul Kagame, who actually stopped the genocide in Rwanda in 1994), to abandoning Michael Jackson. But this one came from a Jewish publication and included these gems: Do I disappear for days, sometimes weeks, into a room where I cry on the floor and then work for 23 hours a day? Did I turn my Chabad house in Oxford into a vehicle for self-promotion and self-advancement and basically become an impresario by using the prestige of Oxford to attract celebrity speakers? Is my new book Kosher Lust not a violation of Jewish teachings of modesty, and doesn't its emphasis on lust over love denigrate women by making them objects of male desire?

It did not surprise me that the questions came from a reporter who was raised Orthodox, abandoned it, and has family members who are vehement public critics of Jewish practice. Those who leave Jewish observance often spend a great deal of their lives having to justify their rejection of a religion which, they claim, is too insular, narrow and backward to allow adherents to live a fully modern life. As someone who lives a public life as an Orthodox Jew in the secular world, I am a favorite target of those who need to prove that it's impossible. My very existence irks them. I have no right to be a representative of Judaism in the media given that my yarmulke and beard capture the primitive, antiquated side of Judaism from which they, with all their sophistication, have "graduated."

But the point I want to make is not just the well-known one that Jews are their own worst enemies, but this: When articles like these are written, my friends say to me, no-one will believe this garbage. Don't respond. Everyone will see it as a twisted, sociopathic character assault motivated by a reporter's deeply personal and psychological issues with their Jewishness and upbringing.

They're wrong.

As I write these words, Israel is engaged in a ground assault in Gaza against Hamas in which too many of its righteous soldiers have already fallen. Rather than the world showing sympathy for a tiny democracy that invaded the giant terrorist cell that is Gaza to stop rockets being fired at schools, world media is largely portraying Israel as the aggressor who is cavalier and callous about Palestinian lives.

I'll tell you why. Because Israel made the same mistake of believing, for decades, that all the lies told about them would not be believed. The Jewish state treated as beneath contempt the falsehoods that Israel poisons the water of Palestinian children (an accusation made by Suha Arafat in the presence of Hillary Clinton), introduces AIDS to kill off Palestinians, bombs Arab children indiscriminately, steals Palestinian land without compensation, has no historical claim to ancient Israel, humiliates Palestinians at military checkpoints for merely racist reasons, and built a wall that has made the West Bank into the Warsaw Ghetto. Israel never felt the need to respond to any of this drivel because it thought the truth of its righteousness and respect for human rights was self-evident.

It was the same mistake made by Jews for the past 2,000 years. They were sure that no-one would believe they murdered god in the form of Jesus. That no-one would believe that they drink the blood of Christian children.

That no-one would believe they poisoned the wells of Europe, creating the bubonic plague. And that no-one would believe they were stealing land that had been theirs for thousands of years.

Countless Jews died because of these lies. Only now are we learning that each and every one must be responded to.

Of course, the venue where one chooses to respond matters. Dignifying a malicious story with a response in an irredeemably hostile publication will only give it credibility it does not deserve. This is especially true when the media outlet in question is driven by hatred, irrational bias, and wants to simply do a hit piece. Holocaust denial, for instance, must be responded to. But not in neo-Nazi publications. Lies about Israel must be addressed. But much more effectively in The Wall Street Journal than The New York Times, The Washington Post than The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times than Al Jazeera, even though these more hostile outlets cannot be ignored and must be addressed – the New York Times especially.

As for me and the allegations that I lock myself in a room for days on end, I would welcome the luxury and would see it as a vacation. Sadly, with nine kids to support, I can only lock myself in a room and cry for a week at a time.

As to the charge of self-promotion, well, my name is on this column, right? But whatever my imperfections, I have never veered from my mission – to promote the universal teachings of Judaism and make our people a light unto the nations – not now, not ever.

Soft lies that are not responded to slowly become hardened truths.

It's a lesson that Israel must finally learn.

The writer is the international best-selling author of 30 books and Founder of This World: The Values Network. He is the recipient of the American Jewish Press Association's Highest Award for Excellence in Commentary and won the London Times Preacher of the Year competition. He has just published Kosher Lust. Follow him on Twitter @RabbiShmuley.

 


 

All: For those of you who are car buffs or just like the old Hollywood!  Enjoy.

BR

 

 

Actors And Their Automobiles

 

 

 

For those who appreciate old, classic automobiles

(and old, classic movie stars)

 

http://api.ning.com/files/BIscrx3E6ob6ImWUkktJWd3-PSiLjWnyp9BbmK1LL0q3HwzSmUtGNk5BxO8a6Gj9CHQlm*KHBb-pGauG92mohf16fhRSzIUe/01.FattyArbuckleandhis1919PierceArrow.jpg

FATTY ARBUCKLE AND HIS 1919 PIERCE ARROW

 

http://api.ning.com/files/5RzyADh3qwDTsPty-dcFvLro8BXVp-KruQNI-4BOuMyoOdWNqaFDXuWj98AgIQhtlbs8s1O9Yv6wDN8YHIHk7KFoeGlXWH*y/01.ErichVonStroheimandhisCadillac.jpg

ERICH VON STROHEIM AND HIS CADILLAC

 

http://api.ning.com/files/XhISyuIkGXoW4Kxdan-cLOwPSU0tEQoa0*EXJqo2*-YWR0b2lAqxC3w1F*ZqxfDll3SV8NK2BFbO1FusA6345sOsQXMTzH3y/01.HaroldLloydandwifeMildredDaviswiththeirBuick.jpg

HAROLD LLOYD AND WIFE MILDRED DAVIS WITH THEIR BUICK

 

http://api.ning.com/files/OoRz5ybmRsEUVwzTvetgLS6dD6-rqmgE1lVvYg4NZz6bBER6PUB4vdDOfkcdDJaLR*u4GfZ*3KWR1qJ6yXvQCGP610XmK47e/10.LincolnTheodoreMonroeAndrewPerryakaStepinFetchitwithhisCadillacPhaeton.jpg

LINCOLN THEODORE MONROE ANDREW PERRY,  AKA STEPIN FETCHIT,  WITH HIS CADILLAC PHAETON

 

http://api.ning.com/files/C1Ur3bns6Q8E-6CyCljZl23mf6D5zWGZ6LmM9bSeifHDM1eibkVBZpstIwSmxbdwB-taxJFUzgqX2PItsgCOBDkcc4nzydzH/01JoanCrawfordwithher1929FordTownCar.jpg

JOAN CRAWFORD WITH HER 1929 FORD TOWN CAR

 

http://api.ning.com/files/XhISyuIkGXqOwkuPLgL-5RVMX5DTkV*29BjtEVbf4KZFO-Bzg9VC2BjAqhK88L54PyIgreIPTXbJZptRPQEFEnPH2t1o*L3a/01.BabeRuthreceivinga1926AuburnRoadsterasagift.jpg

BABE RUTH RECEIVING A 1926 AUBURN ROADSTER AS A GIFT

 

http://api.ning.com/files/6i5uMJjww7h5nRSQpITXk1bevELUbx3XaOkn7esA7H9Dp-gSVBwYHie*koTmFbhJwBNzm9NGAHgR3eA3l4MhB*mjBZ1KnrOv/05.LilianHarveyandherMercedes.jpg

LILLIAN HARVEY AND HER MERCEDES

 

http://api.ning.com/files/qRpor*DEotr05rqPTP9PDGre-oDtmdEX4Z1*CTyBXF7mNcurPPh0T597pAI59GaKltRd0rhzC4UcEQ53ZXZ7WqNRNBeMBa*7/01.JohnnyWeissmullerwithhis1932Chevrolet.jpg

JOHNNY WEISSMULLER WITH HIS 1932 CHEVROLET

 

http://api.ning.com/files/BIscrx3E6obD5QyaBoL*AFZiNkD24XE9JafhBDQoD8oiQE1WKh5P1BxKDbsCFO-bNoUa4VX9uuR3VbEtRA*EpDobwJpwJoNw/01ClarkGablewithhis1932Packard.jpg

CLARK GABLE WITH HIS 1932 PACKARD

 

http://api.ning.com/files/XsWuUtynwomiSc8iAPwvqCauPww3MmzJ8VEpuAP9lMo6yMf4jKqkZdyZ33sLkJ7hspjAHzAXLu4PFESnF*HjjcgsFSsigIFM/01.LaurelandHardyintheirBuick1930Series30Model3045phaeton.jpg

LAUREL AND HARDY IN THEIR BUICK 1930 SERIES 30 MODEL 30-45 PHAETON

 

http://api.ning.com/files/FhuBXT4YeRfVZ9nmzXn9IHQXRkm5bxYM6J8ttMWbz69XzVygcECz5HTjsVt*BT7ewuSMq9BRKq8hV7VxZzRdaV78O60Ts6ol/04.JoanCrawford1932CadillacFleetwood.jpg

JOAN CRAWFORD (AGAIN) AND HER 1930 (OR 1931) CADILLAC FLEETWOOD

 

http://api.ning.com/files/ESsma8DK0EKlaqNZmG06y4rGu*wWnr05kKcEcrX44Z6XQJbedXm3uqI6XZQ*8gAI96L20aOlZ5*BGSlQRp1OSng9i2R-isHk/05.CarlBrissonbehindthewheelofhis1934IsottaFraschini.jpg

CARL BRISSON BEHIND THE WHEEL OF HIS 1934 ISOTTA FRASCHINI

 

http://api.ning.com/files/OoRz5ybmRsGVxSeXG9kZvZWbKKdgvyODBuVZmyu1DNvQgp9vy2yb-D-Yhgd-HeDUShUQg6OOnraA9FHOvvYfd75UKKMOTqyO/02.AlJolsonwithhisMercedes.jpg

AL JOLSON WITH HIS MERCEDES

 

http://api.ning.com/files/1TJWg45xXPowR3QJqPGK-NsQ*MeKRTwWtDYiNnenhutU-sjG-uCMZUWz-JERrqjIsyAc2*uTU0tLFCUltqUktn3wNAgTK2mQ/03.JeanHarlowwithherCadillac.jpg

JEAN HARLOW WITH HER CADILLAC

 

http://api.ning.com/files/BIscrx3E6ob3qKeQgdpUo7PPJjFbKlxM22h8OjSJ6Ks22p0zbjPFLy0OEwX0xJgGLUPrwL5wK*tvQ5opZ5tqllIVIVXy0vAn/05.WilliamPowelladmiresGaryCoopersDuesy.jpg

WILLIAM POWELL ADMIRES GARY COOPER'S DUESENBERG

 

http://api.ning.com/files/UoNKxEJUMxnclpx17JRVIwfFe0KUKWOVmd9KeMl7QRWq-KoOkGOWMLAsTKtkVOsuQ1*Hak83cLCjCVPjOIvVybal0jGNGcMo/11.BuckJoneswithhis1933PackardSpecial.jpg

BUCK JONES WITH HIS 1933 PACKARD SPECIAL

 

http://api.ning.com/files/UoNKxEJUMxl-ac74mIEk6JC9G8E2uIzc7vflqI4-H-Y3s0XYgE8h1wGmBNgo-io-LzsSpWTSnik3*h1Fo6*6XrvbHOQIB4d8/06.ErrolFlynnandhisPackard.jpg

ERROL FLYNN DRIVING HIS PACKARD

 

http://api.ning.com/files/XeMHiQ34iy9gLMKI6uFCxTgnrXwjl8Fl5kJqVOnmvP*14ilvt1tOtwo-HKn7XjZ1kFLplswKvjJCdUKqqSBQsd0Jd6jXlPIg/06.ErrolFlynnwithhisAuburnSpeedster.jpg

.... AND AUBURN ROADSTER

 

http://api.ning.com/files/ESsma8DK0ELK0y80pFgAiy-udi0WZ59i6h4Kp6jaqGXWf301sjLA3n1lVRjUoVqX0x26TG*wgZjs5K6Jbw0Cea-v99AsAqyH/08.TyronePowerhadmanycarswehaveseenhiminaJaguarherewithhisDuesenberg.jpg

TYRONE POWER WITH HIS DUESENBERG

 

http://api.ning.com/files/zkhrnonOmuGTmNOJgs4eYfN-hBidyZJD8fNe7S-t9dg99Ke5izxOdgNdWjuityVyV9gNWjBE-0Vvjds4i4TAxGUp0LNGbhvJ/08.TyronePowerwithhisJaguar.jpg

.... AND POST-WAR JAGUAR

 

http://api.ning.com/files/zFyFwhXzIfHak5HFoNNq7XzDpP9SNlEQgg0mgx42jvFvEBLTKXlrYZKx2TbKHkZw8zv9q*fcz8yMuY-OMTva*5G4uIvP4aiL/07.RobertMontgomerywithhisCadillacSportPhaeton.jpg

ROBERT MONTGOMERY WITH HIS CADILLAC SPORT PHAETON

 

http://api.ning.com/files/1TJWg45xXPryq9JJfNS7HXXwcaMZsWnQxhMsX5NmaQpyBi0lNGzy7ZZm3rzi*0zKhkfenaSGkiJA5TqNAt3oqUiogAnMHxaj/09.JoanCrawford1938LincolnmodelK.jpg

JOAN CRAWFORD (YES, AGAIN) IN HER 1933 FORD ROADSTER

 

http://api.ning.com/files/jkju2fRGmNGtWTH5D5X480npqJfEknBjNBQ*mFs27ot3Wx9qnkvJfzWemdA7tqOANfmxHiUSAh2LR9QOPgPn*kVe7*HQrNVH/09.JamesStewartwithhisPlymouth.jpg

JAMES "JIMMY" STEWART WITH HIS PLYMOUTH

 

http://api.ning.com/files/zFyFwhXzIfF8x5xymIzLDEQmv5VWlLP9msb7j6bOiYZxeVVTkyRKq0BmZaGwGqzCA1acSv55f0WzqLMA42terWrPK0PEEobP/09.GingerRogersandher1937Dodge.jpg

GINGER ROGERS AND HER 1937 DODGE

 

http://api.ning.com/files/5RzyADh3qwCj8q9xlQDC-AaYooZLexxKLBBkVHir4PZKQpAh85xnHVlBwQy-CReyI55KwbiyCYozp8qoL*nod*mp8wSWsQ2m/10.NorwegianOlympicfigureskatingchampionandHollywoodstarSonjaHenieposingwithherCord810.jpg

NORWEGIAN OLYMPIC FIGURE-SKATING CHAMPION, AND HOLLYWOOD STAR SONJA HENIE, POSING WITH HER 1936 CORD 810

 

http://api.ning.com/files/ccCembbvAp4j-OfDzmirIpfZrcnDFeoQqS1ERs1-RGivw3rg-1eHNJ-OhJ5nwniC0h8qzNn-gDhQi*lNwH9-o1ChjJZLbgph/10.MrCecilBdeMillewithhis1937Cord.jpg

CECIL B. DE MILLE WITH HIS 1937 CORD

 

http://api.ning.com/files/mzn4VZwt6*W5CNmC5hVGcxrPcheGu45x6i5Lngf8hUcN66HiV6oTIlgB5CWDmer0254z5ZVTRvsGVaql57LcIE8vb6R0lV2I/11.RitaHayworthwithher1941LincolnContinental.jpg

RITA HAYWORTH WITH HER 1941 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL

 

http://api.ning.com/files/Q0-pPg6YaoW*ic4EFp*AzAewMCbHvms-QQz4ppkNgmcz8ae7ajFUNsKmKdckZiIJeA4W6fT*FhwyXAP3Nu1nBdlCwXBQnw6a/11.BingCrosbygivingridesaroundthestudiolotinhis39Oldscoupeconvertible.jpg

BING CROSBY GIVING RIDES AROUND THE STUDIO LOT IN HIS 1939 OLDS COUPE CONVERTIBLE

 

http://api.ning.com/files/zkhrnonOmuFLiD1GqEOX*8tv7I6aUNhIhMZDsexbMhqKyvZHZ0ALGiklezPxvHtgACvC863FkBcn1IAAwySz7VfOk5Ea6z96/12.CaryGrantparkedonthefenderofhis1941BuickCentury.jpg

CARY GRANT PARKED ON THE FENDER OF HIS 1941 BUICK CENTURY

 

http://api.ning.com/files/UfF6*hEgSCn3t6lTZAGoebjhhMRMGd4jjnB9uYp42SWIcol0FiZuDoMTbWulypzJg3ejm*aSlvIVQv396wJMUp3ZNtfUDp2m/01.JohnWayneandMaureenOHaraina1914StutzBearcat.jpg

JOHN WAYNE AND MAUREEN O'HARA IN A 1914 STUTZ BEARCAT

 

 



Sheep to the Slaughter?

I cannot fathom how 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust. Can you explain why so many people wouldn't fight for their life? They all heard the stories and some even managed to relay first-hand what they themselves had seen. I understand that many put their trust in God, but after so many bad things continued to happen, why not try to protect yourself? It seems that many people died because they believed that nothing bad could happen to God's chosen people and that "works makes one free!"

Can you help me understand how all this happened?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Regarding the issue of why the Jews did not rise to action, let us clarify:

1) Did any other group persecuted by the Nazis successfully rebel? Every group followed the Nazi's beck and call. Some of these groups even had weapons, unlike the Jews who were civilians (many women and children) and untrained in combat. By the end of the war, a few million Russian POW's had been killed by the Nazis. Why didn't these soldiers resist?

2) How could Jews rebel, knowing that any infraction of Nazi law was punished with the torture and murder of hundreds of other Jews in retribution. Who could risk that?

3) In truth, there were incidents of Jewish rebellion all over Europe. The famous examples were in the Warsaw ghetto and the death camp of Treblinka, where the inmates revolted and destroyed the camp. The few dozen survivors of Treblinka (of the 750,000 who entered) lived to testify against Eichmann in Jerusalem. There were also groups of Jewish partisans hiding out in practically every forest in Europe. They often had to fend off not only the Nazis but their former friends and neighbors as well.

A survivor of Auschwitz, Edith Reifer, writes in The Sun Will Rise (ArtScroll):

"This familiar accusation – that we were led to our deaths like sheep – makes me want to weep. We had no weapons, we were not organized. We had undergone months, in some cases years, of ghetto life, starvation, brutalization, terror, uncertainty. And they were so clever, so diabolically clever. The concealment lasted up until the very last moment. We knew that death was their ultimate intention for us. But the gas chambers were disguised to look like shower rooms? Notices, in many European languages, exhorted the victims to hang up their clothes, tie their shoes neatly in pairs, as they would need them afterwards. It was only once inside that they realized...

"The nauseous, sickly-sweet smell, which we later knew to be 'death,' hung over the camp like a pall. It was with you every waking moment, and settled over you as you slept. We all saw the black vans, the flames, although we tried to convince ourselves that it was rubbish they were burning. The fact is that this truth was always known to us, but there is a certain safety device which will not allow one to internalize 'too' much of the truth. It is this that keeps one alive."

One final idea: Ingrained in Jewish consciousness is the knowledge that we will survive against all odds. This trait leads to optimism that the situation will improve and a disbelief of such tragic reports as the existence of "death camps." This consciousness may mean that less risks were taken. But it also enabled many to hold tenaciously to their will to live – when others may have given up.

The whole argument is designed to turn the tables and make the Jews to blame for their own fate in the Holocaust. It is a great dishonor to the memory of the Six Million. In the end, given the choice between being a Holocaust victim or being a Nazi, I know what I would pick.

 

 

Hamas: Our Aim is the Extermination of the Jews - Middle East - News - Arutz Sheva

 

a little joke to lighten the mood:
\

A Jewish man was in a supermarket in Thornhill, Ontario.
He saw a black woman trying to get her young child to put down a candy bar he had picked off the shelf.

"Latrell, you put that down! It's not kosher'."

Intrigued, the young man decided to investigate. "Excuse me, ma'am, are you Jewish?"

"No, I ain't."

"So why did you say that?"

"'Why? I'll tell you why. 'Cuz I see all them Jewish mothers saying that to their kids – and it works for them!"

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Capetown Beauty and the Infamous British White paper (nothing to do with each other) and more on the War


Collecting Resourceful States

Every time you experience a positive, resourceful state, that state is stored in the immense library of your brain. By giving your positive states names you will be able to retrieve them just as you can retrieve a computer file by typing it's file name. This idea is so valuable and so important for every aspect of your life that it makes sense to make mastery of your present states a high priority.

There are many standard names for some of the states you want to experience over and over again. These include: joy, courage, being calm and serene, patience, concentrating, being enthusiastic, self-mastery and self-discipline, and you can include any of your favorite others.

How do you create and access states? One way is to speak and act in ways that are consistent with that state. Another way is to remember times and moments when you were already in a specific state. Memories of being in a positive state access that state from your brain to the rest of your mind and body.

How do you collect resourceful states? Every time you are in an especially positive state give that state a unique name. You can even use your imagination to create great states and then those states have an actual physiological reality. You can name resourceful states after great people and other role models for that state.

Think of your most joyful moments. What names do you want to give each of those states? You can create a name after a specific victory or success: "Winning the game state." Or, "Being given an award state." It could be that something especially wonderful happened to you. Name the state after the event, situation, place or people associated with it. Think of your calmest most serene moments. You might name your state after a specific place: for example, "Peaceful garden state." "On top of Mount Everest state." Think of your most confident and courageous moments. Give those states names. Think of your most creative and insightful moments. Give those states names.

Love Yehuda Lave


75 years ago the
by JNS.org

The Infamous British White Paper

75 years ago the "death sentence for the Jews" was handed down while the U.S. remained silent.


"We know we are going to be bamboozled," a despondent Stephen Wise, the foremost American Jewish leader of his time, confided to a friend before boarding a ship bound for England in early 1939. The British had invited Wise and other Zionist leaders from the United States and Palestine to take part in a "peace conference" with Arab leaders.

Wise expected the worst, and he was right. The conference in London's majestic St. James Palace would set the stage for the imposition – 75 years ago this month – of the infamous British White Paper, choking off Jewish immigration to Palestine on the eve of World War II and the Holocaust.

In the third week of the conference, a clerical error by a British secretary resulted in World Zionist Organization President Chaim Weizmann receiving a letter from Colonial Secretary Malcolm MacDonald that was intended to be seen only by the Arab delegates. In the letter, MacDonald promised severe limits on Jewish immigration and land purchases in Palestine, and no Jewish national home without Arab consent.

His worst fears confirmed, Dr. Wise and the other American members of the delegation returned to the United States with one last hope in their hearts – that the Jews closest to the White House could persuade President Franklin D. Roosevelt to prevent the British from imposing the new policy. In fact, Wise had remarked to the president, not long before, that with war looming in Europe, "the English need you – our Government – in every sense." And FDR had replied, "You bet." The British could not afford to ignore pressure from the White House on Palestine.

Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, a confidant of the president as well as a supporter of Zionism, had already telephoned the president and urged U.S. intervention against the British plan. FDR waxed sympathetic on the phone and told Frankfurter to draft a note from him (Roosevelt) to British Prime Minister Chamberlain, urging him not to close Palestine's doors. Frankfurter wrote it. FDR never sent it.

Next it was the turn of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, whom FDR affectionately called "Old Isaiah." But the president didn't display much affection when it came to Zionism. In a handwritten note, Brandeis pleaded with Roosevelt to "induce the British to postpone the threatened announcement." Two weeks passed; there was no reply. An exasperated Brandeis asked if the president could at least spare "a few minutes" to see a Zionist representative. White House aide Stephen Early broached the request with the president, and then jotted down FDR's curt response: "Can't see him – Sec. State is all that is possible."

On May 17, 1939, the White Paper was announced. Palestine Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion said it was "the greatest betrayal perpetrated by the government of a civilized people in our generation." Dr. Weizmann called it "a death sentence for the Jewish people." He was especially dismayed that "the White Paper produced no reaction on the part of the American authorities."

Mainstream historians have always regarded England's White Paper policy as severely unfavorable to the Jews. Prof. Henry L. Feingold has gone so far as to argue that a policy restricting immigration and land purchases only by Jews must have been "at least partly motivated by anti-Semitism."

In recent years, however, several pro-Roosevelt authors have depicted the Allies' Palestine policy in a new light. Robert Rosen, author of "Saving the Jews," claims the White Paper "saved [the Jews of the Middle East] from the Holocaust," because otherwise the Arab world supposedly would have revolted against the Allies and the Nazis would have captured the region and killed all the Jews living there. Richard Breitman and Alan Lichtman, authors of "FDR and the Jews," claim that during the St. James conference, Roosevelt secretly pressured the British "on behalf of Jews." Their source for that claim, however, turned out to be a paranoid Arab delegate to the conference.

But these revisionist accounts got it all wrong, and Prof. Feingold got it right. We now know from declassified British records that some senior British government officials did, in fact, harbor anti-Semitic sentiments. And we also know that President Roosevelt never seriously considered pressing the British on Palestine.

FDR went through the motions. He instructed the State Department to inform London that the U.S. hoped "no drastic changes" were intended. In a private memo to Secretary of State Cordell Hull on the day the White Paper was issued, FDR called the new policy "something that we cannot give approval to."

But he instructed the U.S. ambassador in London, Joseph Kennedy, to limit his criticism of the White Paper to unofficial conversations. There was to be no official U.S. protest, no White House statements criticizing the White Paper, not a single substantive step that might influence London on the issue. The British took note of Roosevelt's minimalist response and dug in their heels without fear of any real consequences.

The history of FDR's response to the persecution of European Jewry is littered with empty promises and missed opportunities. Seventy-five years ago this month, one of the most important of those opportunities was squandered – and as a result, one of European Jewry's last avenues of escape from the Nazis was almost completely shut off.  

Dr. Rafael Medoff is director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, www.WymanInstitute.org.






Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Great fountains of the world and the San Remo prohbiited Video



There's Always Something You Can Do

Someone in a difficult situation wrote to Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner, "There is nothing I can do to change the situation." Rabbi Hutner replied, "We always have the ability to pray. There is tremendous power in a chapter of Psalms when it is said with a broken heart and deep feeling."


Love Yehuda Lave










: Prohibited video:The San Remo 


Subject:  Prohibited video:The San Remo mandate 25 April, 1920



http://www.youtube.com/embed/BmMmJ46O-3Q?rel=0



GOOD MORNING! And the war continues in order to protect the people of Israel -- including Arabs -- from the rockets fired from Gaza. Close to 7,000 rockets have rained upon Israel. It is a miracle that so few have caused harm to human life. Our thoughts and prayers are with Israel to succeed in demilitarizing Gaza, the destruction of the rockets and destroying the Terror Tunnels intended for massive terror attacks upon Israel. If Hamas will not allow us to have peace, at least we can strive for quiet and safety from their attacks ... and then the people of Gaza will not suffer from their callous, cruel, uncaring leadership.

It is not coincidental that this war occurs during the 3 Weeks -- a time or mourning and introspection for the Jewish people. It is a time of reflecting on our own relationship with the Almighty and our fellow human beings. Israel strives to protect the lives of civilians in Gaza as it fulfills the necessary military objectives to protect the lives of its own citizens. It is painful watching Hamas leadership use its people as human shields and taking joy in "making Israel look bad" with every dead and wounded casualty. Golda Meir once said, "We will have peace when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us."

August 4th, Monday evening through Tuesday night, is Tisha B'Av, the 9th day of the Jewish month of Av when our Temple in the heart of Jerusalem was destroyed. It is the saddest day in the Jewish year, though it is hard to relate to the loss of something 2,000 years ago -- especially since we never experienced having the Temple in our lifetime.

What should a person do if he has no feeling for Tisha B'Av? If a person is Jewish and identifies with being Jewish, then it behooves him to find out why we as a people mourn on this day -- what have we lost? What did it mean to us? What should we be doing to regain that which we have lost? At the very minimum, we should mourn that we don't feel the pain.

In 1967, Israeli paratroopers captured the Old City and made their way to the Wall. Many of the religious soldiers were overcome with emotion and leaned against the Wall praying and crying. Far back from the Wall stood a non-religious soldier who was also crying. His friends asked him, "Why are you crying? What does the Wall mean to you?" The soldier responded, "I am crying because I don't know why I should be crying."

Tisha B'Av is observed to mourn the loss of the Temples in Jerusalem. What was the great loss from the destruction of the Temples? It is the loss of feeling God's presence. The Temple was a place of prayer, spirituality, holiness, open miracles. It was the center for the Jewish people, the focal point of our Jewish identity. Three times a year (Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot) every Jew would ascend to the Temple. Its presence pervaded every aspect of Jewish life -- planning the year, where one faced while praying, where one would go for justice or to learn Torah, where one would bring certain tithes.

On the 9th of Av throughout history many tragedies befell the Jewish people, including:

  1. The incident of the spies slandering the land of Israel with the subsequent decree to wander the desert for 40 years.
  2. The destruction of the first Temple in Jerusalem by Nevuchadnetzar, King of Babylon in 423 BCE.
  3. The destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE.
  4. The fall of Betar and the end of the Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans 65 years later, 135 CE.
  5. Pope Urban II declared the First Crusade. Tens of thousands of Jews were killed, and many Jewish communities obliterated.
  6. The Jews of England were expelled in 1290.
  7. The Jews of Spain were expelled in 1492.
  8. World War One broke out on Tisha B'Av in 1914 when Russia declared war on Germany. German resentment of the Treaty of Versailles set the stage for World War II and the Holocaust.
  9. On Tisha B'Av, deportation began of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto.

Tisha B'Av is a fast day (like Yom Kippur, from sunset one evening until the stars come out the next evening) which culminates a three week mourning period by the Jewish people. One is forbidden to eat or drink, bathe, use moisturizing creams or oils, wear leather shoes or have marital relations. The idea is to minimize pleasure and to let the body feel the distress the soul should feel over these tragedies. Like all fast days, the object is introspection, making a spiritual accounting and correcting our ways -- what in Hebrew is called Teshuva -- returning to the path of good and righteousness, to the ways of the Torah.

Teshuva is a four part process: 1) We must recognize what we have done wrong and regret it. 2) We must stop doing the transgression and correct whatever damage that we can, including asking forgiveness from those whom we have hurt -- and making restitution, if due. 3) We must accept upon ourselves not to do it again. 4) We must verbally ask the Almighty to forgive us.

On the night of Tisha B'Av, we sit on low stools (as a sign of our mourning) in the synagogue. With the lights dimmed -- and often by candlelight -- we read Eicha, the book of Lamentations, written by the prophet Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah). We also recite Kinot, a special liturgy recounting the tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people.

Learning Torah is the heart, soul and lifeblood of the Jewish people. It is the secret of our survival. Learning leads to understanding and understanding leads to doing. One cannot love what he does not know. Learning Torah gives a great joy of understanding life. On Tisha B'Av we are forbidden to learn Torah except those parts dealing with the calamities which the Jewish people have suffered. We must stop, reflect and make changes. Only then will we be able to improve ourselves and make a better world.

Creating Freedom Without Anarchy, Order Without Tyranny


Nine days from now Jewish communities around the world will sit in collective mourning on Tisha b'Av, the day of Jewish tears. So many tears. For the destruction of the First and Second Temples. For the defeat of the Bar Kochba rebellion. For the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290 and Spain in 1492. For the day on which Himmler was given the go- ahead for Die Endlösung,"The Final Solution," that is, the extermination of the Jews of Europe.

Yet as one of the generation born after the Holocaust, whose identity was shaped in the wake of the Six Day War, I believed that Tisha b'Av and its sensibility belonged to the world of my parents and theirs. It was not ours. They were ha-zorim be-dim'a and we werebe-rinah yiktzoru. They had sown in tears so that we could reap in joy.

This has made the past three weeks very difficult indeed for Jews around the world but above all for Am Yisrael be-Medinat Yisrael. After the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers and a Palestinian teenager, rocket attacks from Hamas intensified. The result was a sustained assault of a kind no country in the world has had to face: worse than the Blitz in World War II. (At the height of the Blitz, on average 100 German missiles were launched against Britain every day. On average during the present conflict Hamas has been firing 130 missiles a day against Israel.) We felt the tears of the injured and bereaved. We felt for the Palestinians too, held hostage by Hamas, a ruthless terrorist organisation.

Much of the world has condemned Israel for fulfilling the first duty of any government anywhere: to defend its citizens from an attack on their lives. What is the alternative in a situation in which Hamas was storing missiles in schools, placing rocket launchers besides hospitals and mosques, using ambulances to transport terrorists, placing entrances to tunnels under apartment blocks, and using an entire civilian population as human shields? As Colonel Richard Kemp, a former commander of British troops in Afghanistan, wrote in The (London) Times on Friday 25 July, Israeli uses "the most sophisticated and comprehensive means of avoiding civilian casualties yet employed by any army in the world."And as Princeton political philosopher Michael Walzer has argued, it is "a central principle of just war theory that the self-defense of a people or a country cannot be made morally impossible."

The worldwide tide of protest was not merely against Israel. It was, according to the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Italy, also against Jews. Did anyone think that 120 years after the Dreyfus Trial and seventy years after the Holocaust the cry of "Death to the Jews" would once again be heard in the streets of France and Germany? But it happened. The new anti-Semitism is not the old anti-Semitism, but it tells us that the world's oldest virus of hate has mutated again. The tears of Tisha b'Av have not yet ended.

My concern here, however, is not with the political, moral and legal issues of what constitutes a just war, but rather with the intense spiritual question that arises for us at this time of year in the context of Jewish history as a whole. Why so much suffering for so long? Have we not lived long enough in the valley of tears? "Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?"

We are neither prophets nor the children of prophets, but sometimes we must stand back and ask ourselves, what is the meaning of this hour? What does it tell us about the Jewish destiny and fate? There may be no single answer. Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are complex phenomena. But this is my answer after many years of questioning.

At the beginning of time God created the universe in a burst of energy that eventually gave birth to stars, then to planets, then to life. Among the millions of forms of life that eventually emerged was one different from all the others: Homo sapiens, the only life-form known to us capable of asking the question, "Why?"

On this one being, God bestowed the highest token of His love, setting His image and likeness on every human individual regardless of colour, culture, creed or class. He invited humanity to become His "partners in the work of creation," calling us to create what He himself had created: freedom and order, the order of nature and the freedom that allows humans, alone in the universe, to choose between good and evil, healing and harm.

What the Torah tells us early on is how humanity failed. They did so in two ways. They created freedom without order. Or they created order without freedom. That is still the human tragedy.

Freedom without order was the world before the Flood, a state of anarchy and chaos that Thomas Hobbes famously described as "the war of every man against every man," in which life is "nasty brutish and short." That is the world today in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Mali, the Central African Republic and other conflict zones elsewhere, a world of failed and failing states and societies wracked and wrecked by lawlessness. That is freedom without order, what the Torah calls a "world filled with violence" (Gen. 6: 13) that made God "regret that he had made man on earth, and it grieved Him to his very heart" (6: 6).

But the alternative was a world of order without freedom, epitomised in the Torah by the Tower of Babel and Egypt of the Pharaohs, civilizations that achieved greatness at the cost of turning the mass of humanity into slaves. That too is an affront to human dignity, because each of us, not just some of us, are in the image of God.

Having seen these two kinds of failure, God called on one man, Abraham, and one woman, Sarah, and said in effect: I want you to be different. I want you and those who follow you to create, out of a tiny people in a tiny land, a nation that will show the world what it is to sustain both order and freedom; what it is to build a society on the threefold imperative of love, love of God "with all your heart, with all your soul and all your strength," love of our neighbour "as yourself," and love of the stranger, a command reiterated in the Torah, according to the sages, 36 times.

I want you to become the people who keep the laws of tzedek and mishpat (justice and law), chessed and rachamim (grace and mercy), not because of the coercive power of the State but because you have taught your children to hear the voice of God within the human heart. I want you to show the world how to create freedom without anarchy and order without tyranny. That has been the Jewish mission for the better part of 4,000 years.

The result was that Jews found themselves, time and again, in the front line of the defence of humanity. Where there is freedom without order – anarchy – everyone is a potential victim. Jews played no special part in this history. But where there is order without freedom – imperialism in all its guises – Jews have often been the primary targets because they are the people who more than any other have consistently refused to bow down to tyrants.

That is why they were attacked by the empires of the ancient world, Egypt Assyria and Babylon; of classical antiquity, Greece and Rome; the Christian and Muslim theocratic empires of the Middle Ages; and the two greatest tyrannies of the modern world, Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. The face of tyranny today is radical political Islam in the form of Al Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram, Islamic Jihad, Hizb at-Takrir, Hizbollah and Hamas that are creating havoc and destruction throughout the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. They constitute a real and present danger to the liberal democracies of Europe also. And despite the fact that Israel is an almost microscopic element in this global disturbance, it is once again in the front line.

Why? Because Jews throughout history have recognised tyranny for what it is, and have refused to be intimidated by power, threat, terror and fear. Somehow, in the most dangerous region of the world, Israel has created a society of freedom and order: a free press, free elections and an independent judiciary on the one hand, and constant innovation in the arts and sciences, agriculture, medicine and technology on the other.

Israel is not perfect. We believe – the Hebrew Bible is the most self-critical national literature in all of history – that no one is perfect, that "There is no one on earth who is so righteous that he does only right and never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7: 20). But today's Israel has been doing what Jews have been charged to do since the days of Abraham and Moses, to create freedom without anarchy and order without tyranny. And if that puts Israel on the front line yet again, there is no nobler cause in which to be so.

Moses' words ring out today with as much power as they did thirty three centuries ago: "Choose life so that you and your children may live." If Hamas were to do that one thing, the Palestinians of Gaza would have peace. Innocent lives would not be lost. Palestinian children would have a future. Because Israel did make that choice, it has created a society of order and freedom while all around it rage the godless fires of chaos and terror.

So although yet again we will shed tears this Tisha b'Av, let us at least thank God for the courage and greatness of the people of Israel. For, knowing what we know of history, we would surely rather have the state of Israel and the condemnation of the world, than, God forbid, no state of Israel and the sympathy of the world. And as we read the last line of Eichah, let us be fully aware of what those words have come to mean in our time: Hashiveinu HaShem eilecha v'nashuva chadesh yameinu kekedem: You brought us back, O God, and we returned. Help us to renew our days as of old," in peace, speedily in our days, Amen.


Netanyahu interview

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/netanyahu-interview-on-the-cease-fires-video/2014/07/27/





Monday, July 28, 2014

Extraordinary Photos -and your own pet singing birds


Everything is for the Good

Do not worry about possible misfortunes, since ultimately everything the Almighty does is for our good. If you can believe this as the rockets fall then you have nothing to fear. Something good, like the end of Hamas might come out of this.


Love Yehuda Lave



 
 Click on  the birds and they will sing
 
 
 Speaking of birds, here are unique New Gunia rain birds for you enjoyment.


https://www.youtube.com/embed/REP4S0uqEOc




If you haven't seen this before get ready for a real treat. We have all seen many beautiful and amazing photographs, but this has some unbelievable ones that seem to defy nature itself. Hope you enjoy. It is worth the few minutes it takes to look at them.

The world's highest chained carousel, located in Vienna, at a height of 117 meters.
Thor's Well a/k/a "the gates of the dungeon" on Cape Perpetua, Oregon. At moderate tide and strong surf, flowing water creates a fantastic landscape

Emerald Lake in the crater of an extinct volcano. Tongariro National Park - NewZealand



Restaurant on a cliff on the east coast of Zanzibar.
Depending on the tide the restaurant can be reached both on foot and by boat.
Office of Selgas Cano in Madrid



Desert with Phacelia (Scorpion Weed). Flowering once in several years.



Balloons in Cappadocia.



Dubai. The view from the skyscraper BurjKhalifa. The height of buildings is 828 m (163 floors).





And this is the view down



These trees grow in the forest near Gryfino, Poland. The cause of the curvature is unknown



The border between Belgium and the Netherlands in a cafe



Twice a year in the Gulf of Mexico rays migrate. About 10 thousand stingrays swim from the Yucatan Peninsula to Florida in the spring and back in the fall.



In the resort town of Skagen you can watch an amazing natural phenomenon. This city is the northernmost point of Denmark, where the Baltic and North Seas meet. The two opposing tides in this place can not merge because they have different densities.



In the Chinese province of Shandong is a bridge across the Gulf of Jiaozhou. The bridge length over 36 km is calculated for eight car lanes, and is the longest sea bridge in the world.



Day and night. The monument in Kaunas, Lithuania


An unusual tunnel in California's Sequoia National Park


This statue, created by Bruno Catalano, is located in France



Family photo



The longest traffic jam in the world recorded in China. Its length is 260 kilometers


Paris computer games store. In fact, the floor is absolutely flat.



Marcus Levine - slaughtering an artist in the literal sense. He creates his paintings by nailing a white wooden panel. At his latest series of paintings exhibited in a gallery in London, Marcus has spent more than 50 000 pieces of iron.


In the city of Buford (USA) lives just one person. He works as a janitor and as a mayor.



Autumn camouflage



Haus Rizzi - Germany.



Lena Pillars. Russia, the Lena River.



Banpo Bridge in Seoul, South Korea



Favelas of Brazil. The boundary between wealth and poverty.



Lost paradise in the Indian Ocean. Isle of Lamu.



Balcony of floor 103 in Chicago.





From the outside it looks like



View of the sunset from inside the wave.

This is a unique geological phenomenon known as Danxia landform. These phenomena can be observed in several places in China. This example is located in Zhangye, Province of Gansu. The color is the result of an accumulation for millions of years of red sandstone and other rocks.

Это
d

In northwestern Montana, USA. The water is so transparent that it seems that this is a quite shallow lake. In fact, it's very deep.



Airport in the Maldives is located on an artificial island in the middle of the Indian Ocean



Lighthouse guard in Mare, France must be one of the most courageous people on the planet!
Not everyone will have a smoke in such weather, and in such a place!



Photo of storm in Montana, USA, 2010



Skyscraper-Crescent Crescent Moon Tower (Dubai)


Heavy fog in Sydney, which enveloped the whole city



The river above the river: Magdeburg Water Bridge, Germany.



Morning Glory - kind of clouds observed in the Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia



Gibraltar Airport is one of the most extraordinary airports around the world





Hamas Planned Rosh Hashana Tunnel Surprise

By: Aryeh Savir, Tazpit News Agency
Published: July 27th, 2014

A terror tunnel entrance in Gaza.

A terror tunnel entrance in Gaza.
Photo Credit: IDF Spokesperson/Flash90

JERUSALEM – Hamas had been preparing a murderous massive assault on Israeli civilian targets during the upcoming Jewish New Year holiday, Rosh Hashanah – according to anonymous sources in the Israeli security services cited by the Israeli daily Maariv.

Hamas had been planning a surprise attack where 200 fighters would have been dispatched through the dozens of tunnels dug by Hamas under the border from Gaza to Israel. The terror organization aimed to seize kibbutzim and other communities while killing and kidnapping Israeli civilians. In total, thousands of Hamas terrorists would have been swarming across Israel, wearing IDF uniforms, which would have further complicated an Israeli response. Reports further indicate that Hezbollah may have planned to join the attack as well, opening another front in the north.

The source stressed that the current unplanned war with Hamas inadvertently thwarted a catastrophic event on an apocalyptic magnitude such as the Yom Kippur War, which would have 'brought the State of Israel to its knees.' The destruction of these tunnels takes away from Hamas a strategic weapon it has been working on and investing in heavily for years according to the source.

Each tunnel has arteries, veins, offshoots as well as offshoots of offshoots designed in intricate and complex arrangements. As one Israeli spokesman said, "There are two Gazas, one above ground and one below ground: an underground terrorist city."

Speaking to the CBC, a senior Israeli defense official said the Israeli military had considerable prior knowledge of Hamas weaponry and tunnels, but was still "surprised" by the extent of both when the current ground operation began. He added that the network had not been detected by aerial surveillance, because Hamas had solved the most obvious problem: how to hide the piles of sand removed from the tunnels. This, he said, was painstakingly taken away, a few bags at a time, and stored out of sight in buildings and underneath greenhouses.

The official said Hamas had diverted huge quantities of cement, imported for civilian construction, into the building of concrete-block walls and roofs for the tunnels. As an example, he cited a 1.7-kilometer tunnel discovered in February 2013 that Israeli engineers estimated would have required 500 tons of concrete – "enough to build a three-story hospital."

Israel has discovered 31 tunnels so far, and has destroyed several of them by employing bulldozers, explosive and other methods. IDF excavation of the tunnels has resulted in the seizure of tons of Hamas supplies, as well as the discovery of plans for future operations.

Israeli soldiers have already frustrated several surprise assaults by Hamas through tunnels from Gaza into southern Israel. On July 21, ten Hamas terrorists emerged from a tunnel. They were immediately spotted and eliminated, but the clash cost the lives of two IDF soldiers.

Speaking with Tazpit News Agency, Minister Ya'acov Perry, a member of the Israeli Security Cabinet, commended the IDF for its outstanding achievements. "The IDF is working to uncover a network of underground tunnels that could have created unbearable terrorist attacks," he said.

He further commended the IDF's prior intelligence, which enabled these achievements. "I am sure that Israeli technology, which has provided us with the Iron Dome, will provide us with a solution for the terror tunnels as well." He said various solutions were currently being examined. He further stressed that military capabilities and technological advantages were not enough. A comprehensive reality – changing diplomatic solution must be presented as well.

Writing for Gatestone, Lawrence Franklin says that the construction of network of tunnels used hundreds of tons of concrete that might otherwise have been used by the Palestinians for building homes, shopping malls, parks, schools, hospitals and libraries.


Senator Marco Rubio on Israel--must watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byt-kuuCLLs&feature=youtu.be




--
Visit my Blog: http://yehudalave.blogspot.com

or http://www.yehudalave.com/