Monday, December 14, 2020

LIGHTS - A Story for Chanukah (Video) and National Association of Realtors Imposes Cancel Culture on 1.4 Million People by Daniel Greenfield and Mizrahi, Sephardi traditions open doors to Middle East peace and ‘It’s a Jewish City’: Court Rejects Lawsuit by Arab Students, Citing Israel's Nation-state Law and Chanukah day four!!!!

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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.

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The Three Musketeers at the Kotel

The Number Six

Presence

The world was created in six days and it became present.

Thus, the number six represents the natural, material world (which is described in "time-space" dimensions) that was created in six days - time with its six spatial directions east-west, north-south, up-down - space.

Galaxy a system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas and dust, Premium Photo

Absence

In this material world, the ordinary natural perception is of the "absence" of the Creator.
In Hebrew 'World' is עולםOLAM, derived from the root "עלם", meaning – disappearing, absent, hidden.

Number Seven

Immanence

The number seven represents the Creator's hidden presence - immanence at the heart of this world.

In other words, Seven is the very soul of Six, permeating it, instilling it with holiness, and elevating it to its perfection.

This is depicted in Magen David (David's Shield).

Number Eight

Transcendence

The next number, eight, represents the Creator's transcendence above and beyond this world.
It is interesting to note the resemblance between the number 8 and the symbol of infinity:

The miracle of Hanukkah, the lighting of the Menorah, lasted for eight days. It is not accidental - it is actually very intrinsic.

Hanukkah occurred from the level of "eight", that which is beyond natural law.

Hanukkah embodied Eight (8) in a unique, special holistic way.

In Hebrew, the root of the word shmonah (eight) - שמונה has the same letters as hashemen (the oil) - השמן, neshama (soul) נשמה.

The Talmud tells us, that the Greeks had entered the Temple and sullied all its oil.

This oil represents the deepest level of the Jewish soul.

Only one jar of pure oil was found, sealed with the seal of the High Priest כהן גדול, who wore eight (8) special garments when serving in the Temple.

Mattityahu the Hashmonai and his sons rallied the Jews to fight against the Greeks.

The name Hashmonaiחשמונאי has two components, the letter het, the eight-letter of the aleph-bet, followed by the word for oil, shemen.

ח-שמונ-אי

Thus, the Ha-shmonai family embodied the power of the Eight.

And so, there it is:

Oil - burning Eight days

Family of Eight

Eight calls us to recognize the transcendence, to see internal miracles in the order of natural laws in all events of our lives in the hidden (נעלם) pathways of Divine Providence.

Shabbat Shalom and Hanukkah Sameach

Warren G. Harding, America's 29th president,

was a champion of Zionism. He signed the Lodge-Fish Resolution in September 1921 that endorsed the 1917 Balfour Declaration in support of a Jewish national home in the Land of Israel."The signing of the resolution epitomized Harding's deeply-held conviction that the Jewish people would inevitably return to the land of their ancestors,"

explained Michael Freund in an article published last weekend in The Jerusalem Post. In August 1922, he sent out Rosh Hashanah greetings to the Jewish people in which he wrote that this year the Jews would receive "definite assurance" that "their long aspiration for re-establishment of Jewish nationality in the homeland of this great people is to be definitely realized."Harding died less than a year later, on August 2, 1923. Before him, Abraham Lincoln, the country's 16th president, fought strongly against antisemitism, reversing an order in 1862 by Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant calling for the expulsion of all Jews from a wide swath of the South."I do not like to hear a class or nationality condemned on account of a few sinners," Lincoln said

LIGHTS - A Story for Chanukah (Video)

This award-winning animation about the deeper meaning of the festival of lights features the voice talents of Paul Michael Glaser, Judd Hirsch, and Leonard Nimoy. Written by Yehuda Wurtzel and Sara Wurtzel. For more information:

https://www.AshiraMorgenstern.com/

'It's a Jewish City': Court Rejects Lawsuit by Arab Students, Citing Israel's Nation-state Law

Schoolkids asked to be reimbursed for travel outside of the city of Carmiel – because it has no Arabic-language schools; controversial 2018 law asserts self-determination in Israel is 'unique to the Jewish people'

An Israeli court cited the controversial nation-state law in dismissing a lawsuit brought by two Arab schoolchildren against their northern town of Carmiel on Monday, ruling that its "Jewish character" must be preserved.

The siblings, age 6 and 10, asked to be reimbursed for expenses they incurred traveling to an Arabic-speaking school outside the city, because there are no such schools in Carmiel. The suit, filed by one of the teens' uncle, Adv. Nezar Bakri, demands 25,000 shekels ($7,500) from the city.

In March, Haaretz reported that dozens of parents had petitioned the Carmiel municipality to arrange rides to outer city schools so their children could receive an education in Arabic.

"Carmiel, a Jewish city, was meant to establish Jewish settlement in the Galilee," wrote chief registrar of the Krayot Magistrate's Court Yaniv Luzon in his decision dismissing the suit and ordering the plaintiffs to pay legal fees. "Establishing an Arabic-language school... [and] funding school rides for Arab students... could change the demographic balance and damage the city's character." Currently, the city's population is about 6 percent Arab.

Bakri, the organizer of the Arab parents group in Carmiel, March 2020.
Bakri, the organizer of the Arab parents group in Carmiel, March 2020. Credit: Gil Eliahu

Although the registrar provided seven reasons for dismissing the suit, the ruling is drawing criticism for citing the controversial nation-state law passed in 2018, which officially defines Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people and asserts that "the realization of the right to national self-determination in Israel is unique to the Jewish people." In addition, it stipulates that the Jewish people alone, as a people, have the right to self-determination in Israel. It also permits judges to give priority to Israel's Jewish character in their rulings. It caused an outcry among the country's non-Jewish communities and was condemned internationally.

In his ruling, the registrar listed seven reasons, including the nation-state law, for his decision to dismiss the suit and impose legal fees. The registrar's reasons included the lack of substantive jurisdiction, and specifically that the plaintiffs should have filed an administrative petition rather than a lawsuit; the absence of a legal obligation, that is, that regulations do not require the municipality or the Education Ministry to fund transportation; and that the address for this type of petition is not the local municipality but the Education Ministry.

The decision quoted Section 7 of the nation-state law, which provides that "the state views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value and will work to encourage and advance its establishment and consolidation."

Settlement as a national value is enshrined in a basic law, it constitutes "an appropriate, dominant" factor that should be considered in the context of municipal decision-making, which includes the establishment of schools and reimbursement policies for travel outside the city.

Mizrahi, Sephardi traditions open doors to Middle East peace

"Mizrahi Jews need to take a more active role in peace building because we have a similar culture and our stories show we are indigenous to this region and land."


Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum has been a key figure behind the rapidly growing ties between Israel and the Gulf, particularly the United Arab Emirates. A co-founder of the UAE-Israel Business Council, she has been hosting delegations and speaking about the peace agreement known as the Abraham Accords, every day. She and a small group of others in the UAE, Israel and the region have also been speaking about how the Mizrahi and Sephardi heritage of Jews is a key to peace building and erecting bridges throughout the region.

She is part of a group of public figures and donors who want to establish a museum about Jews from Arab and Muslim lands. Ashley Perry has been campaigning for years for more recognition and commemoration of the heritage of Jews from the region. He is now CEO of the Heritage Center for Middle East and North Africa Jewry. "The idea is a center chronicling the history of Mizrahi Jewry," he explained.

One thing he pointed to is that in wake of the Abraham Accords, it is important to note that the "majority of Israelis come from the Middle East, and their grandparents spoke Arabic and knew the mentality and culture, and they should be a natural bridge for peace and reconciliation."

Perry helped draft the law for commemorating this community and has worked for government support that led to recommending building a museum and heritage center.

This heritage can be a cultural basis that Jews can and should use to "be a bridge to understanding of the wider Arab world and rebuilding Abraham's tent is part of that," he said. The concept of Abraham's tent is that Arabs, Muslims and Jews are all cousins or brothers with the same heritage.

Today, Hassan-Nahoum and Perry are involved in work with Gulf partners in the UAE to further that work with colleagues there who are involved in history and heritage of the region and who support peace.

The joint work comes around November 30, which is Jewish Refugees Day, commemorating the 850,000 Jews who fled the Middle East when Israel was created.

National Association of Realtors Imposes Cancel Culture on 1.4 Million People

Say the wrong thing on Facebook and lose your license and your business.
Daniel Greenfield

The National Association of Realtors claims to have 1.4 million members. There will be fewer members before long as the association begins purging conservative real estate agents.

At the center of the storm was an addition to Article 10 which covers various forms of discrimination. But unlike all the previous sections which addressed how real estate professionals interacted with customers, Article 10-5 is catchall cancel culture that controls what real estate agents say on social media on their own private accounts and in their free time.

This goes far beyond being made to bake a cake. Even if you're at home and you post something opposed to gay marriage or illegal migration, you can lose your business.

As the NAR claims, a realtor's "speech and conduct reflect on the REALTOR® organization whether said publicly on a business social media profile, or privately on a personal one."

When you're a real estate agent, you no longer have the right to personal opinions.

Article 10-5 immediately transformed 1.4 million people into subordinates at the mercy of NAR brass who have the authority to determine what political or religious views they can hold.

"It means that we never take our hands off, no matter where we are, no matter what we do, we are always licensed and we are always a member of the National Association of Realtors," New York State Association of Realtors President Jennifer Stevenson warned.

Never taking your "hands off" is endemic to socialist tyrannies and has no place in America.

Jennifer is a Democrat donor. The NAR's PAC directs a majority of its cash to Democrats. That included $3,000 to subsidize the bigotry of Rep. Ilhan Omar and $5,000 to Rep. Rashida Tlaib.

But that's the kind of hatred that the National Association of Realtors is comfortable subsidizing.

"No matter where we are," means never being able to say anything that offends someone like Jennifer without fear of being sanctioned, fired, or losing your business. Jennifer, an NAR board member, and others will be looking over your shoulder every time you post anything on Facebook. Any leftist offended by anything an NAR member posts has an easy recourse.

"Doesn't this mean that if I post my opinion online and someone doesn't agree with it, that I can lose my membership and be forced out of the business?" the NAR FAQ asks.

The answer is yes. Anyone can bring an "ethics" complaint which will lead to a "hearing" with "witnesses" and "counsel". Posting that illegal migration is wrong or that Islamic terrorism is a threat can now lead to a real estate agent facing a hearing. And if they lose that hearing, then not only will they be expelled from the NAR, but the state real estate licensing authority will be told that the agent violated the "public trust" which can lead to the loss of their license.

Say the wrong thing on Facebook and lose your license, your business, and your livelihood.

The NAR is wrongly characterizing personal views that are privately expressed as "discriminating", treating it as a violation of "ethics" in a commercial enterprise, and then reporting it to state licensing authorities as a violation of the "public trust".

This is cancel culture on a national level by one of the country's most abusive organizations which had already been sued by the Department of Justice for multiple antitrust violations.

What constitutes saying the wrong thing?

Article 10-5 bans "harassing speech, hate speech, epithets, or slurs based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity."

In an era when supporting President Trump is considered "hate speech", how are these terms going to be defined? Exhibit 2 of Appendix XIII to Part Four of Article 10-5 of the NAR has an easy answer. Everything that some leftist doesn't like now violates the NAR's rules.

Hate speech is any speech that is "intended to insult, offend" because of "some trait". Any remarks that can be seen as "disparaging" or "shaming", or can be characterized as a form of "innuendo", about a protected group is covered under "epithets". That would cover the use of the term "illegal alien", any discussion about Islamic terrorism, or transgender compulsion.

Harassment, for example, includes "inappropriate conduct, comment, display, action, or gesture based on another person's sex, color, race, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and any other protected characteristic." And that in turn includes, "negative stereotyping" and "the display or circulation of written or graphic material that denigrates or shows hostility toward an individual or group."

That would, as a practical matter, include the Bible. And certainly particular Bible verses.

The National Association of Realtors has, for all intents and purposes, made quoting Bible verses on a private Facebook profile into an ethical violation leading to a hearing and expulsion.

The NAR board falsely claimed that these speech codes stem from fair housing legal obligations. They do not. Worse still, the NAR's insistence that, "disparaging a particular protected class is evidence of one's inability to treat them equally" is a troubling argument that would bar traditional Christians and Jews from membership in the National Association of Realtors. Likewise, Americans who oppose illegal migration, would also be banned.

Article 10-5 claims to be fighting discrimination, but is actually licensing discrimination against 200 million Americans, a much larger class than the ones the NAR claims to be protecting.

The NAR argues that, "bias against protected classes revealed through the public posting of hate speech could result in REALTORS® not taking clients from certain protected classes or not treating them equally, which would lead to violations of the Fair Housing Act." What this really means is that real estate agents are being sanctioned for discrimination that never actually took place while assuming, for example, that because a traditional Christian or Jew opposes gay marriage that they would be presumed to discriminate against gay or lesbian customers.

Barring traditional religious people from a profession because they are presumed to biased is a bias and a much more egregious form of discrimination than the one it claims to be remedying.

The National Association of Realtors is imposing a political and religious test on members. It has moved the bar from policing interactions with customers to policing personal beliefs.

This is fundamentally un-American. Article 10-5 is McCarthyism wrapped in buzzwords.

Around the same time that the NAR was rolling out its speech codes, the Justice Department sued the group for multiple antitrust violations accusing it of anti-competitive behavior.

This isn't the first time that the NAR has been sued over antitrust violations, but it should lead to action, if not at a federal level, then at a state level. In some states, not being a member of the NAR makes being a real estate agent all but impossible. In many, it makes it difficult.

As a socialist oligarchy squeezes conservatives out of public life, elected officials should fight back before it's too late against the powerful institutions which have taken over American life. These institutions, financial, academic, corporate, and trade associations are engaging in a sustained campaign of political and religious suppression under the guise of fighting against discrimination. This campaign is the greatest form of discrimination in America in generations.

The only way to stop the squeeze is to squeeze the squeezers. If there's no room for conservatives in the NAR, there should be no room for the NAR in conservative states.

See you tomorrow bli neder

We need Moshiach now!

Happy Chanukah -Day Four

Love Yehuda Lave

Yehuda Lave, Spirtiual Advisor and Counselor

Jerusalem, Jerusalem
 Israel

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YehudaLave@gmail.com

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