Keep your "Naughty Eyes" off my bagel!

Kikar Hashabat is reporting that the following ad for flat bagels was refused for publication in Hamodia:

And what was so offensive in this Ad, that Hamodia felt it count not run it? It appears the paper has a strict Haredi Rabbi who has to approve all the Ads in the paper. This Ad was turned down because the Elderely Haredi man in the center's eyes were thought to be "naughty". Looking at the Ad myself I'll agree they do seem a little too mischevous. This is clearly a guy from whom no self respecting Jew would or should ever accept a bagel from.

The advertising agency quickly corrected their faux-pas (what were they thinking!) and photoshopped the Ad. The following is the Kosher version, as published in Hamodia:

Can't spot the difference? the eyes of the guy reaching for the bagels have been changed so that they are staring into the distance, and not giving a mischievous look.

Thank g-d for Hamodia protecting our young from those naughty eyes! I'd add a smiley to this sentence, but I am not sure his eyes are quite modest enough.

Thoughts on Egypt

There is a famous Rav Kook quote in the beginning of Orot "When there is a great war in the world the force of the Messiah is awakened". The connection between war and the Messiah is to do with social change which historically was brought about by war. Egypt so far has not descended into absolute chaos, but it is experiencing a social revolution.  I have little doubt that for the average Egyptian the air is carrying the distinctive smell of the messiah. A few weeks ago I wrote about Rav Kook's writings about the souls from the world of chaos:

"The great intellectuals want an order of goodness and beauty, Material and great, that has no correspondence to reality, and so they ruin that which is built by the standard of the world. The great know how to rebuild the destroyed world, but the bad, that the call of idealism of the highest order touched them only a fleeting touch, they just destroy and ruin, and their (souls) are rooted in the sphere of chaos at its lowest level.The souls of chaos are higher the the souls of Tikkun (fixing). They are so great, that they demand much of reality, what their (keilim) casings can not hold. They search for a great light, and all that is limited, measured and available, they can't bear."
(my own translation to Zironim page 122)

At the time of writing, it is still unclear what the Egyptian people are rallying after. Are they able to build a new world, or are they doomed to tear the old one down, and leave only chaos behind?  

Listening to Mubarak's speech yesterday, I was reminded of Sulla - the very first great Roman dictator. Sulla was without doubt one of the most bloodthirsty dictators – he had the habit of posting lists of those he wanted killed at the forum in Rome. Yet history has judged him favorably, no doubt for his unique example in history of having stepped down after achieving absolute power. Can Mubarak secure a favorable image in history, by having the strength of will to step away?  

At Least This Fish Aint Talking

It seems that all you need for a good story, is a hassid and a fish. Some worker in the supermarket chain "Rami Levy" found a gold necklace in a fish, and immediately got everyone talking of the similarity to the famous children's story of the tzaddik who found a diamond in a fish!

What A Circumcision Isn't..

I was at a Brit (circumcision) today, where the father spoke about how the Brit Milah is the entry point into the Jewish people. I'll admit that the father spoke well and showed some learning – However his fundamental point was wrong.

The Brit Milah is not a covenant between God and the Jewish people. It is a covenant between God and ALL the descendents of Abraham including those who are not Jewish.  Some of you are probably staring at me right now, as has every person I've stated this to.  Here is the Rambam's phrasing, found in Hilchot Melachim (chapter 10, Hilchot 7 and 8):

Halacha 7Only Abraham and his descendants were commanded regarding circumcision as Genesis 17:9-10 states: 'Keep My covenant, you and your offspring... circumcise every male.'The descendants of Ishmael are excluded as implied by Genesis 21:12: 'It is through Isaac, that your offspring will be called.' Esau's descendants are also excluded, for Isaac told Jacob Genesis 28:4: 'May God grant Abraham's blessing to you and your descendants,' implying that only he is the true offspring of Abraham who maintains his faith and his upright behavior. Thus, they alone are obligated in circumcision.

Halacha 8Our Sages related that the descendants of Keturah who are the offspring of Abraham that came after Isaac and Ishmael are also obligated in circumcision. Since, at present, the descendants of Ishmael have become intermingled with the descendants of Keturah, they are all obligated to be circumcised on the eighth day. However, they are not executed for failure to perform this mitzvah.

I'll add that you should not belittle a covenant between god and Abraham, even if it does not make you Jewish. There are other covenants with Abraham that are limited to the Jews, but not Brit Milah. Brit Milah is not the covenant of the Jews (That is actually Pesach) but rather the covenant where we accept God as our God.

וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת-בְּרִיתִי בֵּינִי וּבֵינֶךָ, וּבֵין זַרְעֲךָ אַחֲרֶיךָ לְדֹרֹתָם--לִבְרִית עוֹלָם:  לִהְיוֹת לְךָ לֵאלֹהִים, וּלְזַרְעֲךָ אַחֲרֶיךָ.

7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee.

Genesis 17, 7.

Other nations descended from Abraham have accepted god – but have not become Jewish. I'll leave it open to people to argue the theological implications of that statement.

Homemade helmets

The following pictures are supposedly homemade helmets being used by protesters in Egypt - supposdly since so many rocks are being thrown. Personally I'm skeptical, but at least they are entertaining!

This one makes some sense, even if it looks a little silly.

This second one is clearly a poor man's helmet, and I am a little sceptical of its usefulness.

 Well someone Isn't really trying here.

A helmet made of bread? If it doesn't stop the stones, it will at least make sure that the paramedics are well fed.

Not really going to help you, but I do understand that bread has become expensive in Egypt.

 Better off with the rock helmet.










Hat tip: Weasel zippers

The Hard Parashas

I have been attempting to write a little about parashat hashavua on this blog. It is my custom every year to choose a different commentator to learn - which hopefully leads to something new every year. And yet every year we arrive at these Parasha's. Yes it is time to admit that it is incredibly hard to read, never mind write anything about Terumah. Some people may get excited by reading minute details of the construction of the Mishkan.. but most of us don't.  

This year's commentator of choice is the under appreciated Ibn-Caspi. So far I've found that at least once every parasha he manages to overturn some understanding I believed was pshat. So I turned to him full of hope, that perhaps he will rescue parashat terumah for me.  Luckily for you I can bring you his full commentary:

פרשת תרומה - תצוה.

  לא אחדש דבר באלו

 שתי הפרשיות ואין עניגם הכרחי, ודי במה שקדמיגי רש־י וא״ע:

Parashat Terumah-Tezaveh

I have nothing new to note on these parasha's, and their matter isn't necessary, and it is sufficient what has already been written by Rashi and Ibn-Ezra. 

I guess somebody took the easy way out!

Baskets of Reptiles and Public office

Rab Judah said in the name of Samuel: Why did the kingdom of Saul not endure? Because no reproach rested on him, for R. Johanan had said in the name of R. Simeon b. Jehozadak: One should not appoint any one administrator of a community, unless he carries a basket of reptiles on his back, so that if he became arrogant, one could tell him: Turn around!

(Yoma 22B)

A basket of reptiles is a Hebrew expression that is similar to "A skeleton in his closet". I thought of this saying Talmudic saying as I was listening to Ehud Barak interviewing on channel 2 today. Had he known this Talmudic axiom, I'm sure he would have quoted it. He was trying to defend General Galant, after he yesterday had to revoke his elevation to the role of IDF head of staff. The crux of Barak's argument was that regardless of whether Galant was a man without blemish, as a soldier he was the best man for the job.

It may be time for us to admit, that in our haste to burn out corruption we have set the bar too high. Two different arguments come to mind. The first is that demanding a spotless record might lead to worse leadership, rather then better. Having a skeleton in the closet, might lead people to be more cautious, or more wise then those who are sinless.

The second argument is that the skill set we should be looking for in soldiers is different then those we are looking for in say Judges. I want a general who will win wars, more then I want an honest looser. A quick reading through the bible, finds that most generals were not exactly great moral figures (Yoav comes to mind first).

There is clearly some balance that must be reached. I'm not saying we should ignore moral character in our generals, but rather that we should not treat them differently then other people.

My overall impression is that we are setting such a high standard – that we may find that those who pass it, are not those we would really want.   

The First Religious General

In a weird twist of fate Yair Naveh has been appointed as temporary Chief of the general staff of the IDF. The Kippah Serugah community should be overjoyed - the long dream of having a religious Head of the IDF is about to be temporarily (and most likely permanently) achieved. However, Yair Naveh is not well liked at all by the Dati-Leumi community. He is remembered for being tough on the right wing extremists while he was in charge of  "Central Command" - basically the territories. He is also remembered for his role in the disengagement. If rumors are to be believed he has a hard time joining a minyan near his house in Giva't Shemuel. Sadly, in the Dati-Leumi community being tough on extremists is somehow considered a blemish. It is a shame that yet again we find that religiousness is going to be defined by political views, and so Naveh is not going to be considered a "religious" general, ergo, we will see no large celebration by the Dati-Leumi public on its achievements.

On a side note. General Naveh spent some time out of the army in the last few years. After his military service, Naveh was appointed as CEO of CityPass, the consortium building theJerusalem Light Rail. Galant lost his position as head of the general staff for possibly stealing some 30 Dunam of public land. I would say that the job done on the Jerusalem light rail, has caused a lot more damage then 30 dunam of land. I sure hope Naveh does a better job running the army!

Israel in the U.S.A

A few weeks ago I blogged about a map that re-arranged the worlds countries based on the size of their population.

The Economist has done something similar, and replaced the US states with countries with similar GDP levels. 

Turns out Israel is closest to the fine southern state of Louisiana. Weirdly our next door neighbors - Texas is now Russia. Which for most of us Israelis is actually more or less our real life neighbors. We also have the joy of meeting Bangladesh ( Mississippi), and Kazakhstan (Arkansas) on our borders.

On their next map the Economist did the same thing, but this time with Population. Sadly it seems Israel does not get to be on that map.

I couldn't help but wonder, which state Israel would replace if we were to try to replace the states based on cultural sterotypes. My own guess is that we would like to imagine it was New-York or Florida, but in truth we are closer to Texas or some redneck state.