Free Republic

Jewish holidays are not merely a commemoration of an event in time. The time of year in which the amiracle occurred was an opportune time for the conception of that miracle. As we make our way toward the Purim holiday, we are entering a time zone in which the all the Haman's of the world can fail and Jewish redemption is born. The death and downfall of Stalin is an example of a miraculous, yet untold, modern day Purim story. Joseph Stalin, tyrant of communist Russia dubbed the invincible “man of steel,” who murdered approximately 20,000,000 of his own people,...

Click on the link for the video.

The words that we use matter. When we speak using terms from Torah, our intention is clear. We believe that Torah is the source of our moral values. But once we start using English terms and ideas, we enter a dangerous philosophical minefield. We use words thinking that we’re expressing Torah ideas, but without realizing it, we are employing secular ideas as well. One prime example is "human rights." People use this term as if it's some kind of innate, obvious Truth, yet they fail to explain why it is so. Where oh where do these "human rights" come from...

Yitro is one of the most enigmatic figures in the entire Torah. He is introduced to us as an adviser to Pharaoh (Sotah 11a) who was told about a plan to enslave and kill members of the Hebrew nation living in Egypt. In that meeting, Yitro counseled the Egyptian monarch not to harm the Hebrews. His first appearance in the lines of the written Torah occurs in parashat Shemos, as the father of Tziporah, who would marry Moshe Rabbeinu. In this week's parshah, Yitro comes with his daughter and grandsons and meets up with Moshe in the wilderness. Though warmly...

Victims of Arab TerrorIf one wants to comprehend the cruel ideology of Amalek, of a society so steeped in collective evil that the Torah insists upon collective destruction, one need only look at the latest Arab atrocity in the southern community of Otniel. A fifteen year old Arab teenager entered the home of Dafna Meir (may G-d avenge her blood!) and stabbed her to death in front of her children. A fifteen-year-old monster, whose father celebrated his murderous act. Arab society breeds such evil. In all likelihood, Dafna's killer was groomed to murder Jews from conception. Yet another Arab with...

When I was a little boy back in the 60s supermarkets sold comic books and there was a great variety in the regular magazine section. The latter often contained Famous Monsters of Filmland, Weird, Eerie, Creepy, and a whole slew of satire magazines, from the classic MAD to 10000 Jokes to CARtoons to Sick. I often looked with envy at the covers of these magazines but was unable to afford them--an amazing fact when I see what they were all selling for back then! I actually bought (or more likely wheedled my parents into buying for me) one issue of...

Six months ago I wrote about Tu B'Av, a Yom Tov that brings hope after the terrible events of Tisha B'Av. There is something about the fifteenth day of the Jewish month that relates to redemption. The first day of Pesach and the first day of Sukkos, as well as Tu B'Shevat and Shushan Purim, all occur on the fifteenth of the month. As we approach Tu B'Shevat, an appropriate question would be: Why is the fifteenth so special that momentous days of redemption consistently fall upon that day? What sets it apart from all the other days of the...

"Justice, justice, shall you pursue, that you thrive and occupy the land that the L-rd your G-d is giving you. (Deuteronomy 16:20) JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh Duma. Once upon a time, my only association with this unusual word was from a work of horror fiction from American novelist, Stephen King, "Duma Key." That association is gone forever. Non-fiction replaces fiction. Other horrors, true nightmares in every sense of the word, now come to mind. The Arab town of Duma. Some words transcend a specific time, place, or geological location. Deir Yassin was one such place. Duma will become another. It will...

Click on the link to view.

I would like to share a critical point about Chanukah, now that the chag is over. It's not just about Chanukah. The ideas are relevant year-round. We must not confine discussions relating to the Maccabean Revolt to annual Chanukah celebrations, since the original noble war to preserve the Torah's sanctity continued well beyond the miracle of the oil. Since the battle against Hellenism will surely continue until the arrival of Moshiach, we must wage war against Hellenism in every generation, in a manner that recalls our unrelenting war with Amalek. Since the time when the Greeks first polluted our waters,...

It’s Hanukkah and I am in hiding. I don't want to see Facebook posts and news items about weird creative Hanukkah candelabras in which each flame stands for some new-fangled liberal cause. I don't want to see the significance of potato pancakes explained to senators or read that Obama is Jewish in his soul. I want to keep Hanukkah close to my heart, away from those who would tamper with its true meaning which is this: The Jews fought a war against assimilation and won. Those flickering Hanukkah lights have nothing to do with equality, integration, and multiculturalism. They have...

The modern Jew lusts after a new idolatry today, which tempts him in the same manner that an ancient Jew might have been attracted to Baal or Molach. With Chanukah upon us, we should remind ourselves that Matityahu and his zealous sons were certainly not liberal. Progressive thinking never got in the way of his sword. Matityahu would be horrified to see what happened in the aftermath of his great victories, yet he would have recognized the paganism of liberalism as an extension of Hellenistic thought. Liberalism rejects objective truth and the notion of an absolutely true Divine covenant. Liberalism...

"Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the Universe, Who forms light and creates darkness, makes peace and creates all." (Shacharis prayer) Like anything written by Chazal, these words are filled with eternal significance. What do they have to do with Chanukah? Plenty. What is darkness? Is it simply the absence of light or does it have substance in itself? Darkness is associated with suffering. "In the evening one lies down weeping, but with dawn . . . a cry of joy" (Tehillim 30). In Mitzrayim, during the ninth plague, the darkness was so thick it prevented the Egyptians...

Republicans are now among the Jewish state's most important friends. This was not always so.The movement to isolate Israel may be in full swing on college campuses across the country, and Israel may be the subject of ever-louder international denunciations, but when it comes to a Republican Party riven by squabbles, the Jewish state has become a unifying glue. Support for Israel is all but unanimous among the party's politicians in Washington, and in the presidential race, candidates vie to outdo one another when it comes to expressing their commitment to it; even the isolationist presidential candidate Rand Paul has...

Many have remarked on the messed up fonts now appearing in so many posts. This can be avoided, though it is a bit of a bother. These bad fonts stem from cutting and pasting apostrophes (') and quotation marks ("). The marks produced from cutting and pasting these marks has always looked different from those caused by hitting the key on one's keyboard. Up until now, though, when posted they have been turned into apostrophes and quotation marks. That is no longer happening. While typing the marks on one's keyboard continues to work fine, cutting and pasting them does not....

According to Wikipedia (which we're not supposed to link to), just two days ago the death of Willis Carto (yimach shemo vezikhro!) was announced. A day the wicked die is a good day! Carto was the malignant center of the anti-Semitic web in the United States for some sixty years or so. Every anti-Semite in this country was linked to him in some way or another. He was also a disciple of the late, unlamented Francis Parker Yockey (y'sh"v!), an anti-Semite so vile that he advocated support for the Communist bloc as early as the 50s. Yockey also wrote the...

On the upcoming Yom Tov of Sukkos, we will say the berachah of “Ata Bechartanu,” the blessing thanking Hashem for having chosen us from among the nations. Interestingly, that very closeness has been the cause of terrible persecution the Jews have experienced. Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky would say that those who have made us suffer for calling ourselves the “chosen” people do not realize that being chosen comes with extraordinary responsibilities as well, as we say in Selichos, “Ashamnu m’kol am – We are guiltier than all of the nations.” As the am hanivchar, it is our responsibility to uphold human...

Some people are of the unfortunate opinion that the John Birch Society is militantly patriotic and a supporter of this nation's military. That is not the case, especially not now. The JBS always was a front group for the European right wing and our own domestic Jew-haters. It was the "blue lodge" for recruiting decent conservatives and, by exposing them a little bit at a time to the classic anti-Jewish line, to eventually recruit them into the anti-Semitic movement proper. But at least when I was a member some thirty years ago the Society's publications didn't openly take potshots at...

Way back when I was a little kid there were occasional specials sponsored by the 3M company. I don't remember much about them but I do remember a certain commercial that ran during the telecasts. It was for a game 3M had created involving a small square board with holes in it and a set of pegs. The pegs were put in the holes and then other pegs were laid atop them. It struck me at the time because it seemed similar to a game we had at elementary school which consisted of a board and pegs, except that this...

I know I haven't been very active lately. Part of this is because the news is so unceasingly bad all the time that I simply must take breaks to keep from giving in to despair. But here are my thoughts on the implicit connection between two current raging headlines. In all but outlawing the rebel flag and all things Confederate, the Left is intentionally pushing buttons and trying to create a conflict. I understand how angry FReepers are, but I have read posts by FReepers saying they will now fly the rebel flag instead of the American flag (the Charleston...