Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor | | | | Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher, and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement. Now also a Blogger on the Times of Israel. Look for my column Love Yehuda Lave | | The TRACE Act and the Rule of Law By Spencer P. Morrison -against the Consitution? On May 1, 2020, Democratic congressman Bobby Rush introduced bill H.R. 6666, otherwise known as the "Testing, Reaching, And Contacting Everyone Act" ("TRACE Act"). Ostensibly, the TRACE Act will limit the spread of COVID-19 by creating "mobile health units" that will "conduct diagnostic testing… trace and monitor the contacts of infected individuals" and then "support the quarantine of such contacts." The TRACE Act allocates $100 billion in federal funds to facilitate this project. Rush says "increased testing and contact tracing is the only way we will get back normal and safely reopen our economy." Basically, Rush's position is that America should remain locked down until everyone is tested. The TRACE Act will not keep Americans healthy or safe. Instead, it will erode what remains of our constitutional freedoms -- freedoms which have been all but washed away during the pandemic's hysteria. Although the TRACE ACT has been sponsored by over 50 congressmen it received very little media coverage. Briefly: how does bill H.R. 6666 work? Section 2(a) of the TRACE Act provides that the government may award grants to "eligible entities" to conduct "diagnostic testing for COVID-19", to "trace and monitor the contacts" of any infected people, and to "support the quarantine of such contacts." This will be administered by (1) "mobile health units," which will provide services relating to "testing and quarantine" at people's residences. The TRACE Act appropriates $100 billion in 2020 to carry out the above mission. Exactly who are the "eligible entities" that will be administering these COVID-19 tests and "support[ing] the quarantine"? According to Section 2(f)(1) they could range from a "Federally qualified health center" to a "nonprofit organization." If that were not vague enough, the bill also gives the government the discretion to declare "any other type of entity… to be an eligible entity." Basically, an "eligible entity" is anything the government would like it to be. These "eligible entities" have a number of tasks. First, they may conduct COVID-19 tests. As the bill does not provide any direction as to how these tests will be conducted, the discretion will largely rest with those entities administering the tests. The entities will also be tasked with contact tracing people who are infected with COVID-19. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), contact tracing is the process of identifying people whom the infected individual had come into contact with during their infection's incubation or symptomatic period. To stop the infection's spread, the TRACE Act empowers entities to "support the quarantine" of identified contacts. How the mobile health units are supposed to support the quarantine is left up to the administrator's imagination. Finally, Section 2(e) of the TRACE Act notes that nothing contained in the same should be construed as superseding "any Federal privacy or confidentiality requirement," and the mobile health units will only operate in areas where the infection rate is above the national average. The Constitution also offers a set of limitations. The TRACE Act has a number of serious flaws. First, the act gives the government virtually unlimited discretion in defining what constitutes an "eligible entity." An eligible entity could be a local hospital or medical clinic, but it could also be a "nonprofit organization" like George Soros' Open Society or the Clinton Foundation. Frankly, it could even be a mercenary corporation like Blackwater provided that the government approved them. Not only will the TRACE Act let the government award up to $100 billion in grants to their cronies, allowing third parties to administer the program opens it up to serious abuses of process and power. Recent examples of nonprofits behaving badly make this clear. Consider that although Planned Parenthood's ostensible purpose is to advocate for birth control, in reality, this nonprofit uses federal money to build secret abortion "mega-clinics." Likewise, they openly engage in selling organs and stem cells for aborted fetuses -- Constitution be damned. Further, dozens of American nonprofits work tirelessly to bring people into the country illegally. They ignore the rule of law. They mock the Constitution. In fact, their very existence is based on subverting American laws. Given the above, it is not difficult to imagine nonprofits forcibly testing or quarantining people. Although the TRACE Act does not make testing mandatory, this may be its ultimate effect. Snopes has responded to critics of the TRACE Act, noting that the privacy protections found in other federal legislation, as well as the Constitution, provide ample protection from invasive testing, contact tracing, and quarantine. Sadly, these Constitutional protections are nearly useless. As early as February, the government forced people into quarantine to contain the virus. At this point, entire states have been locked down for months. Public gatherings of over 15 people have been precluded. Weddings have been canceled. Churches were empty this Easter. People are serving jail time for opening their businesses during the lockdown. The Constitution gives Americans the right to walk around outside -- but are they walking around outside? Or are law-abiding citizens hiding in their homes for fear of fines or jail time? Finally, the TRACE Act would allow eligible entities to perform contact tracing. What does this entail? It could be as innocuous as asking people where they went and who they saw. It could also be much more invasive. Consider that Apple and Google are already working in "close cooperation and collaboration with… governments, and public health providers" in order to track down people who may have been exposed to COVID-19. They are doing this through "the use of Bluetooth technology" which is contained in most people's smartphones. They are doing this without your knowledge or explicit consent. Will shadowy "mobile health units" be any more transparent than public corporations like Apple? Or will they function more like private eyes, snooping through people's contact history? Despite its vague language and a large budget, the ominously named bill H.R. 6666 will likely accomplish little more than waste money. Far more concerning is that the government is using COVID-19 as a pretext to suspend the rule of law, to do away with the protections enshrined in the Constitution. At this point, it should be painfully clear: The Constitution will not protect us. We must protect the Constitution. | | G-d's ways are straight, people are much more complicated Rabbis have a full-time job explaining the mysteries of the Bible to those studying it. The Bible has a lot of mysteries to seemingly straight forward stories, which require many years of study to understand all of its mysteries. Rabbis have been studying the Bible and Talmud for now 3332 years and we are just scratching the surface of the mysteries. One of the major principals of the Bible is that every word is chosen and there is not a single word that is superfluous. From this principle, conclusions are drawn from even an extra "a" or "the". Since that is a major principle, you can imagine the surprise when the longest reading from the Torah (Bible) in the synagogue last week (called Parsha Nasso), has 12 repetitions of the same story of each of the leaders of the tribes (12 of them) bringing the same gift. If the gift was all the same why not list it once and then say ditto for each tribe. Many individual lessons are learned from the major exception to the rule, that is not apparent without the Rabbi's teaching. The first and most important lesson that the Rabbis say we are taught, is that every person is an individual and G-d needs each and every person. Although the gift was the same, the person bringing it is an individual and that makes the gift unique. A much more subtle lesson is learned from the order that the tribes brought the gifts. If there had only been a ditto, we would not have learned from the order of how the tribes brought the gifts, which was not according to their place of birth or order of importance. It would have been natural for the tribe of Reuven to offer their gift on the second day, as the The oldest son among them, and then continue according to the chronological order of the founders of each tribe. Rashi (our most important commentator on the Torah and one of our greatest explainer of mysteries of the Bible) says that Reuven, in fact, assumed that he was next, and Moses had to inform him that they were going to use a different order We still have to wonder why the Torah dismissed the chronological order and substituted the marching order. I believe that the reason is that if the leaders would have brought their offerings according to the birth order, it would have been the tribe of Menashe whose turn would fall out on Shabbat. By using the marching order of the tribes, it was the tribe of Ephraim who brought his gift on Shabbat. Of Yosef's two sons (who became two separate tribes), Menashe is identified with worldly affairs, of helping his father in his position by administrating Yosef's household. His brother Ephraim, however, is identified with the Torah study. Now, generally, only gifts offered for the entire community override the laws of Shabbat. The offerings of individuals may not be brought on Shabbat, because they don't override those laws. Ephraim's gift was an exception to the rule. The Torah wished to make a point. For Ephraim, the Torah would grant some license to violate Shabbat-- but not for Menashe. The reason is fairly simple. Exceptions to halachic rules are dangerous. We have experienced that during the lockdown the synagogues were closed, for the first time in our lifetimes. A variety of new norms and halachic rules were quickly established including praying along with the Radio instead of with a minyan. People have a tendency to take those exceptions and run with them. They irresponsibly turn exceptions into rules, applying them where they were not meant to apply. The talmid chacham / Ephraim-type can be trusted to understand the grounds for the exception, and not to wrongly apply it elsewhere. The Menashe-type, however, cannot be given extra license, because it might be misused. This is the meaning generally of the familiar verse from the haftorah of Shabbos Shuva, "Hashem's ways are straight. The righteous walk in them and sinners will stumble over them." (Hoshea 14:10) Some actions are appropriate and proper for a righteous talmid chacham, but sinful for someone else. Hashem's ways are straight, but we need the Rabbis to explain the nuances. | | Ideas, that help explain how the world works A New Aliyah Pitch A local Aliyah ambassador from the Israeli government was noticing that the response to his usual "pitch" about moving to Israel was having limited effect so he decided to change tactics. "Instead of talking about Israel today, I am going to talk about nutrition and health." Said the Aliyah representative. "Here is a summary of the latest medical findings: The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than do the British or Americans. The French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. My conclusion: Eat and drink what you like. Move to Israel and learn to speak Hebrew. Speaking English is apparently what kills you. | | Washington Post Journalist Advocates Censorship Of Controversial Dr. Judy Mikovitz Film, as Stunning Censorship Grips World When The Jewish Voice posted the 20 minute preview of Dr. Judy Mikovitz' documentary "Plandemic" our website literally crashed for 24 hours straight due to huge traffic. At the time we had no idea there was an active censorship campaign worldwide on social media to purge any video footage of the documentary. I read the press release, looked into Mikovitz and decided she is controversial but has credentials, and being that she also had a best selling book "Plague of Corruption", it would be an interesting tidbit to post. We included the 20 minute preview, which is literally the most censored video on the entire internet, 3 weeks later. Judging by the traffic this little story and video brought to the site, you can safely say, when something is so harshly banned, it only draws more interest. You can still watch most censored video in the history of the internet by clicking here,courtesy of Banned.video It does not really matter what the woman with decades of experience including 20- years at the National Cancer Institute has to say, she is not promoting what for decades was traditionally censored, promoting murder, rape and violence, Nazi propaganda, stuff like that… The movie is about vaccines and pandemics and her views on Bill Gates and others. Is the 20 minute preview controversial, absolutely- is this material dangerous? Absolutely not. It's frightening enough that YouTube and just about every other social media platform, insisted on censoring a 20 minute preview of an unreleased documentary, but we are at a point where actual journalists are advocating for censorship. Journalists basically live by the values of the First Amendment. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances The job of the journalist is literally in the 1st Amendment. When I saw an article written by Elizabeth Dwoskin of The Washington Post, I was literally in a state of shock. In an article reporting on the take-down of the video, The Washington Post's Silicon Valley Correspondent Elizabeth Dwoskin complained that after the coronavirus documentary Plandemic was censored on social media, some YouTube clips were telling users how to access "banned footage" from the documentary via Google Drive. The journalist is not upset about the censorship, but upset that crafty YouTube users were helping people view the banned footage. As an American, who went to journalism classes in college, I simply can not wrap my head around a journalist, advocating censorship. This gets even more incredible. The "journalist" then brags that The Washington Post contacted Google & Google Drive took down a file featuring the trailer for the "Plandemic" documentary. In other words, the Washington Post has a writer working for them that is so vehemently anti-free speech, she contacted Google and now reports are circulating that people's personal copies of the video are vanishing from their Google Drives ! I still have not seen the entire documentary, and I'm sure it will be banned on NetFlix, Vimeo, YouTube, Yahoo, and everywhere else. The 20 minute preview already is the most banned video ever. I'm sure there are some things in the film which might be incorrect or controversial, but so what? Journalists are not supposed to be in the business of censorship, especially censorship of something as innocuous as a Doctor who is against corona virus vaccines and her views on wearing masks. I fully support taking down videos from Jihadists, Nazis etc. and sure I can see a writer contacting Google/YouTube over a Jihadist telling his flock to slaughter the infidel on YouTube, but this is out of control. There is no excuse for an orchestrated censorship campaign, all over a Doctor who shares views about the pandemic and attacks Dr Anthony Fauci. Fauci is a government figure, we are allowed to address our grievances towards elected officials. We are allowed to express our knowledge and scientific theories, ( Dr. Judy Mikovitz has enough credentials to share her views on vaccines and pandemics) It does not matter if her views are in the minority among her peers. We are entering a terrifying new era , a world where censorship is common and the guardians of free speech- journalists are standing up for… censorship ! Welcome to the new normal | | In Europe, budding Jewish tourism businesses are teetering on the brink of closure because of COVID-19 Earlier this year, Dani Rotstein was earning a living doing something he's passionate about: promoting the forgotten Jewish heritage of Mallorca.
A New Jersey native who settled on the Spanish vacation island in 2014, Rotstein is the founder of Jewish Majorca, the only tourism agency there that specializes in the island's rich, tragic and mysterious Jewish history.
With more than 10 million foreign tourists arriving in Mallorca each year, Rotstein's business, which he set up about a year and a half ago, has succeeded thanks to its unique proposition along with his infectious energy, organizational skills and slick marketing.
Rotstein recently struck a deal to arrange a program for 400 travelers who had booked a vacation at a hotel that was going to be made kosher for them. It was the largest booking of its kind in the island's history and promised to be a major boon for Rotstein. "This summer we were preparing to finally see some big earnings," he said. But then, "everything came to a complete halt."
That's because Spain went into a total lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 27,000 people there. This month, instead of welcoming tourists, Rotstein began delivering falafel wraps and hummus to help provide for his 1-year-old son and cover expenses connected to his recent purchase of a home in central Palma, the island's capital.
Rotstein is among the countless operators of tourism businesses worldwide who have been paralyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a sudden and total end of leisure travel, with no resumption in sight. The future of Jewish tourism businesses, which already cater to a limited clientele and operate on thin margins, may be especially precarious.
A founder of the Limmud Mallorca Jewish learning festival who has had a key role in raising awareness of Mallorca's unique Jewish history, Rotstein is now developing a model that would allow him to continue giving video tours, mainly to generate interest for when the flow of tourists resumes. But he knows that without deep roots in the tourism industry, he faces an uphill climb. He's thinking about leaving the island and his dream career. "It caught us at a vulnerable point where things were just getting ready to really take off, but before we got a chance to establish ourselves with many people," he said. "It's very frustrating."
In Warsaw, 61-year-old Maimon Ben Ezra estimates that his kosher restaurant Bekef — one of only a handful in that category in the Polish capital — will go bust in about two weeks. Ben Ezra, an Israel-born chef who settled in Poland 13 years ago, recently invested $100,000 to expand and move his successful business as a response to the massive rise in recent years of the Central European country as a holiday destination for Israelis and other Jews. "I signed the contract two weeks before the crisis hit," Ben Ezra, who has an 8-year-old daughter with his Polish-Jewish wife, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The upgrade transformed his local neighborhood eatery of about 20 seats into a 90-seat diner with two floors and the facilities and staff to handle large groups. Ben Ezra moved the restaurant to the former Jewish Ghetto, a must-see for Jewish tourists, and rented a venue next door to the Warsaw Jewish Ghetto museum, which is scheduled to open next year.
"This was supposed to be the first time that we could actually service March of the Living groups," Ben Ezra said, referencing the tens of thousands of Jewish teens and chaperones from across the world who come to Poland each spring for a Holocaust commemoration event. "It was supposed to help us pay for the investment." But this year's march was postponed indefinitely because of COVID-19. Ben Ezra couldn't get out of his contract for the new venue and had already invested in setting up there. To make ends meet, he now provides catering services. But Warsaw has several businesses like that and only a few thousand Jews. "I'm stuck. It feels like I'm drowning in quicksand," Ben Ezra said.
Unlike Warsaw and Mallorca, Amsterdam already is an established Jewish tourism magnet. Combining unique Jewish heritage sites for older visitors and families with other amenities that tend to appeal more to younger arrivals, the Dutch capital has dominated the charts of holiday destinations for Israelis for decades. But here, too, the COVID-19 crisis is casting doubt on the survival of some firms that cater to Jewish tourists. For We Are Amsterdam, a Jewish-owned Amsterdam boat rental and tour operator agency, the problem won't be getting brand recognition. Rather, distancing requirements to prevent the spread of disease would impede its ability to serve a predominantly Israeli clientele even if travelers return.
In Hungary, a debate erupted over the decision by the Mazsihisz federation of Jewish communities to renew its $290,000 contract with a private firm that takes care of the tourism aspects of Dohany Synagogue, a popular attraction whose future as a communal cash cow is now in doubt. Yet European Jewish communities, many of them operating on funds given as compensation for Jewish property lost or seized in the Holocaust, have a better chance of weathering the storm than individuals who make their living from Jewish tourism. [JTA] | | | But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out. Casey at the Bat Ernest Lawrence Thayer Ernest Lawrence Thayer, writer and poet. Published: The Examiner (06-03-1888) I do believe that most men live lives of quiet desperation. For despair, optimism is the only practical solution. Hope is practical. Because eliminate that and it's pretty scary. Hope at least gives you the option of living. Harry Nilsson singer-songwriter. There never were in the world two opinions alike, no more than two hairs or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity. Michel de Montaigne, Philosopher and Writer. If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th US President Good art is art that allows you to enter it from a variety of angles and to emerge with a variety of views. Mary Schmich, columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Variety is the soul of pleasure. Aphra Behn, English dramatist, novelist, and poet. The real death of America will come when everyone is alike. James T. Ellison James T. Ellison was a New York City gangster.
Our cultural diversity has most certainly shaped our national character. Julie Isabel Bishop ,ipolitician. We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same. Anne Frank Annelies Marie " Anne" Frank is one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish Victims of the Holocaust.
Since when do you have to agree with people to defend them from injustice? Lillian Florence "Lily" Hellman, American playwright.
We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race. Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN.
He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away. Raymond Hull,, playwright, television screenwriter, and lecturer. Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. Judy Garland, actress and singer. If you cannot be a poet, be the poem. David Carradine actor and martial artist.
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. e. e. cummings, poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright.
Almost every man wastes part of his life in attempts to display qualities which he does not possess, and to gain applause which he cannot keep. Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson often referred to as Dr. Johnson, author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself. Harvey Fierstein Harvey Forbes Fierstein,. actor and playwright and a champion for gay civil rights (and a personal friend of the Siegel Sidebar). When one is pretending the entire body revolts. Anais Nin, , author. Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel, writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss.
You must have control of the authorship of your own destiny. The pen that writes your life story must be held in your own hand. Irene Kassorla Psychologist, You were born an original. Don't die a copy. John Mason
It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for something you are not. Andre Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide, author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. Most of our faults are more pardonable than the means we use to conceal them. François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Maxims, François VI, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac, French author of maxims and memoirs.
We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. Kurt Vonnegut, jr [My personal favorite author!]
One's real life is often the life that one does not lead. Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde,writer and poet. Rabbi Zusya said that on the Day of Judgment, God would ask him, not why he had not been Moses, but why he had not been Zusya. Walter Kaufmann
Walter Arnold Kaufmann, philosopher, translator, and poet. Rabbi Meshulam Zusha of Hanipol was an Orthodox rabbi.
Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own. Robert Heinlein, American science-fiction writer. Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own. H. Jackson Brown, Jr., American best selling writer, author of Life's Little Instruction Book. When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others. Peace Pilgrim, pacifist, vegetarian, and peace activist. Love isn't finding a perfect person. It's seeing an imperfect person perfectly. Sam Keen Philosopher, Spiritual mentor, motivational speaker and Writer Good breeding consists of concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person. Mark Twain, Humorist, Writer and Lecturer. They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for. Thomas Edward "Tom" , author, voice actor and radio host. He is also the current spokesman for the hotel chain Motel 6, whose commercials end with the phrase, "I'm Tom Bodett for Motel 6, and we'll leave the light on for ya." My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent. Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993. She is the second female justice and the first Jewish female justice. If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking. George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness
One who is too insistent on his own views, finds few to agree with him. Lao Tzu was a mystic philosopher of ancient China, Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company. George Washington, First President of the United States
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