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Jerusalem - IDF Stops Rabbis To Assist in Reconstruction of Torched Mosque

...גם היום יש מתיונים בתוך ישראל

Oy Tate! Save the light of Chanukah for Yidden who can't see it yet! Go rebuild Kever Yosef! 20% of Yidden in Israel are poor - donate your time and money to them instead! Don't rebuild the places where they preach hatred and murder!

The IDF prevented a delegation of religious-Zionist rabbis and social activists from entering the West Bank village of Yasuf Sunday, where a mosque was torched on Friday.

(Above: R' Froman [in white kippa] speaking with the Arab governor [brown suit])

The rabbis had arrived in order to donate Koran books to the mosque, but these had to be taken into the village by a Muslim representative due to IDF fears that a conflict would break out if rabbis were allowed to enter the village.

The rabbis waited at a central West Bank junction while soldiers blocked them from proceeding into the village.

After a few hours the IDF released a statement saying the visit had been properly coordinated and that the rabbis would be allowed in within hours, but by then it was two late and the parties left the area.

Earlier the army had stated that the delegation was denied entrance by the IDF chief of staff's office due to security concerns.

Rabbi of Tekoa Menachem Froman said the halacha prohibits doing harm to religious sites. "This deed was a serious religious crime," he said, adding that mutual respect between Jews and Muslims could bring peace.

"If we keep hiding our heads in the sand and denying that the conflict (with the Palestinians) is religious, we will never get anywhere," Froman said.

Abbushi examines donated Koran books (Photo: Ido Erez)

He also condemned similar acts on the Palestinian side, such as the torching of Gush Katif synagogues and the desecration of Joseph's Tomb in Nablus

"They also do worse things such as murder Jews," he said. "I'm not saying they are pacifists but enmity exists on both sides," the rabbi added.

Governor of the Salfit region, Munir Abbushi, met with the rabbis at the junction and told them, "The torching of the mosque was a racist act. We are in favor of true peace, and I thank you for coming to identify with us on the torching I hope we can live in this country as two states."

Abbushi also criticized the IDF for failing to prevent the act. "There are people in the village calling for

revenge, but they are the minority," he said. "We are a national movement and not a religious one, and all we want is a Palestinian state."

The meeting ended with a joint song and dance by Palestinian and Jewish religious officials.

Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, who heads the yeshiva on the religious kibbutz Maale Gilboa, said, "We came to expel darkness, especially during the days of Hannukah. Light is not added by hurting our brothers, the Muslims, who are the servants of God just as we are. This is an important message to relay."

Rav Brazil Spent Shabbos with Yeshivas Derech HaMelech

The entire yeshiva came together this Shabbos, Parshas Yisro, along with the extended yeshiva community, kollel families, and friends from afar to enjoy an uplifting Shabbos experience with the renowned talmid chachom and singer, Rabbi Shmuel Brazil.

Rabbi Brazil led us in a beautiful kabalos Shabbos complete with singing and dancing which was followed by a seuda at the Tamir Hall.

During the seuda Rav Zucker spoke about the unique connection between Torah and music, paving the way for the events to come.

Guests came from far and wide, even flying in from the states, to hear Rabbi Brazil's world famous words of chizuk, and his original Torah insights which he shared with the olam at the late night tisch which followed the seuda. We sang together late into the night.

The olam came together again for shachris, mincha and shalosh seudas, and then motzie shabbos hundreds of guests came to join us for a melave malka where Rabbi Brazil enthralled the crowd with his music. It was a Shabbos none of us will ever forget.

For more info on the Shabbaton with R' Brazil click here: http://www.derechhamelech.org/

For the amazing Melave Malka with Rav Brazil Shlita

audio | pictures

Chanukah Ner Sheini

I saw this article from Rabbi Shmuely Boteach http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1229868818904&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull and I thought a response was necessary. I did not address all of the issues raised, but there is one particular area I wanted to address. Rabbi Shmuley seems to be complaining about a higher standard applied to religious people and he is right. This is standard Judaism. Not only do our Rabbis teach us this, but also in the first chapter of Tanya, the Alter Rebbe writes that a righteous man is not just someone who does good deeds; rather, all sin and the thought of sin repulses him - he is only attracted to goodness. Therefore, I think we can deduce from this that when someone who we formerly believed to be righteous somehow fell from that standard, his negative behaviors are more closely scrutinized. We see this all throughout the Torah and throughout our history. Mr. Madoff did not wear a beard and a hat and although this does not make him less Jewish, G-d forbid, than you and I, he certainly is not expected to behave in the same manner as someone who represents themselves as being a religious Jew. We can draw a parallel from what happened in Mumbai - why was it so different than any of the - thank G-d not anymore - daily killings and suicide bombings that happened in Israel since Oslo and before? Because at the center of the Mumbai killings stood a few religious Jews, Chabadnikim (and I'm not Chabad, BTW) and it hit so much more close to home for religious Jews, because we identified personally, saying "Oh my goodness, these were religious Jews representing G-d and his Torah! How could it be?" The same here as far as identification, the same words can be applied, with different accentuation, "Oh my goodness, these were religious Jews representing G-d and his Torah! How could it be?" And I think the entire world understands this way of thinking.