Look what they're Hushing Up !

Swine flu vaccination killed more than 25 Americans, and they are hushing it up. Does that not tell you to be real careful about taking vaccines - even though they will tell you it's good for you, or, worse, that it's mandatory.

A warning that the new swine flu jab is linked to a deadly nerve disease has been sent by the Government to senior neurologists in a confidential letter.

The letter from the Health Protection Agency, the official body that oversees public health, has been leaked to The Mail on Sunday, leading to demands to know why the information has not been given to the public before the vaccination of millions of people, including children, begins.

It tells the neurologists that they must be alert for an increase in a brain disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which could be triggered by the vaccine. ....

The whole article is here.

Update: It could get worse - Forced vaccines: Ready for yours?

Update: Feel the heat yet? - $1,000 per day, 30 days jail, for refusing swine flu vaccination, in Massachusetts

Update: Does this give you faith in the drug company? When the Czech Republic tested a vaccine batch on ferrets…they all died.

Health Update on Eggs

A previous post quoted the Talmud to claim that ounce for ounce, you can do no better than eat an egg.

But this leaves us with the question: What's better for you; A raw egg, a soft-boiled one, or a hard-boiled one? (That's the extent of my repertoire).

A story in Talmud (Shabbos 38a) provides the answer. Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi and Rav Chana bar Chanina lodged in the same place. They were served eggs that were shriveled tiny. Of these they ate many.

To which Rashi adds to clarify the piece: "This demonstrates that shriveled eggs continue to improve as they continue to condense."

So, you see, there's nothing like a good, hard-boiled egg.

The First Commitment Upon Entry into The Holy Land

This week's Torah portion (Re'ay) teaches a lesson that applies today as well:

Once they crossed the Jordan River, the first thing the Jews were asked to do upon entry into The Holy Land was to go to the hills of Grizim and Eival and there proclaim allegiance to G-d's commandments. In this manner the Jews demonstrated that the intention of living in this land was not just to work and settle the land, but, primarily, to accept upon themselves the yoke of heaven.

The Psychology of Spiritual Jewish Decline

Last week's portion of Aikev speaks of entry into The Holy Land that first requires a trek through, "... the vast desert, the awesome [desert, with] snakes, serpents, and scorpions, [a desert that is] thirst-provoking yet without water." (Devarim 8, 15).

The metaphorical desert represents a series of spiritual levels man must take before he can reach the ideal of self-redemption (i.e., entry into The Holy Land). By looking at the levels of descent a person can fall through, we'll realize how to make the corrective remedies for ascent.

The word "desert" implies a desolate place, foreboding and unfriendly for man. A place you don't want to dwell in.

The proper dwelling place of a Jew is the space defined by the parameters of Torah. The word "vast" suggests the first cause for downfall, the door through which subsequent decline follows. Seeing a "vast desert" renders the space of Torah somewhat smaller now. The "world-at-large", the "vast" world beyond Torah is now given measure and significance, while the superiority of Torah is blind-sided. By deeming the world outside of Torah as vast and great, he proportionately diminishes the value of Torah. This begins his downfall. He loses some Jewish pride and full trust in G-d. Now he's got his eyes ogling other pastures.

The next phase he can fall to is the "awesome" desert. As long as it was only "vast", implied his own dwelling still held importance. As long as he stayed "inside", he could function well; It's only when he interacted with "outside" factors that he lost his full charge. But "awesome" means terrifying, a feeling you have even within the confines of your own circles. No longer is there security felt at home because the outside world has taken on so much more importance, enough to cause you to fear the consequences of neglecting this external force.

The next descent is to the "snake" level. The poison from a snake-bite feels hot. The world-at-large, the awesome secular trappings, now begin to invoke within him a passion. Simultaneously he wroughts a relative frigidity to what is holy.

Then comes the "serpent" level. "Serpent" in Hebrew also means - to burn. The passion for the non-holy elevates to the point where all matters of holiness are consumed by it, until there's no passion for holiness left.

The "scorpion" stage represents the next, larger degradation. Unlike the snake's poison, the poison of a scorpion feels cold. As long as he had passion, albeit misdirected, the heat could still have been reversed to apply to holy pursuit. But coldness brings with it an irreversible deadness.

The final stage is one wherein even if there is an emptiness that provokes an occasional thirst for meaningfulness, there is no water; That is, there is no Torah anymore to fill the void, for it's long been lost by now

But G-d denies no Jew the right to return. The knowledge of this path of descent already constitutes half the cure. The "lost Jew" can retrace this path with new conviction. The first step to take to return to the fold is to correct the first reason for the descent. That is, show great fortitude for the cause of Judaism, remembering that G-d chose Jews to be the highest of the nations. And that G-d gave the Jews the Torah - the ultimate source of all truth.

(Adapted from a talk of The Lubavitcher Rebbe)

Anti-Semitism in America - At the Very Top

For those of you who doubt that Jonathan Pollard is a victim of anti-semitism at the top of the American government's hierarchy, or at the FBI, this story of a conspiracy against AIPAC Jews may convince you.
The AIPAC Case and Prejudice

A German's View on Islam

I got this email from a friend:

A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism. "Very few people were true Nazis," he said, "but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."

We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectra of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.

The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder or honor-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers. The hard quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the 'silent majority,' is cowed and extraneous.

Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 30 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.

China 's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.

The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a war mongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.

And who can forget Rwanda which collapsed into butchery. 800,000 slaughtered. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany , they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.

As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

Please observe the USA President Obama as he talks his way in into the lives of the world bringing us his world of Islam and Socialism.

Lastly, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this and think about it, and send it on before it's too late.

Emanuel Tanay , MD
Wayne State University
Ann Arbor , Michigan

The Story of a Couple Seeking Truth

If you happen to have the Internet Explorer browser at your behest, and love personal stories of human greatness, with a Jewish twist, as told by the hero himself, you'll thank me for this video. I don't want to give away any tidbits - the better for you to enjoy its entirety.
Video Link

Another Black Day for the State of Israel

Torah, being eternal, and meaning, "A Manual of Instruction" provides eternal instruction to the Jew. It's not a history book. Every verse teaches us something in the way of behavior for today. In this week's Torah portion (Eikev), Moshe tells the Jews to settle The Holy Land and to eject all foreigners from it, and warns them, "... do not show sympathy towards them, lest they become a trap for you".
(Dev. 7, 16)

Israeli liberals do the very opposite of what Torah demands. A recent example of this perversion was the giving away of Jewish land to Arabs, when they evicted hundreds of Jewish families from Gush Katif. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the Knesset just voted to sell a 1-kilometer square piece of Holy Land, in the Galil, to the highest bidder - who surely will turn out to be Gentile.

Netanyahu was its strongest backer, too. This man reeks!

Gaza became a Hamas "trap"; Just like everything else given to the poor "Palestinians" (who leftists so sympathize with), like water, electricity, medicine, guns, armed vehicles, released prisoners, money - it all turns into a trap for Israel, as the Torah incessantly warns.

No one has the right to sell or give away even a hair's breadth of Jewish soil! It's G-d's gift to the Jewish people. This land belongs to all Jews.

Do you want to see the right way to handle this? See what "Palestinians" do to one of theirs who tries something like that:
PA Court: Hang Arab for Selling Land to Jews
"A Palestinian Authority military court on Tuesday sentenced a Hevron Arab to death by hanging for the crime of selling land to Jews in Judea and Samaria, the Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency reported. ...".

False Reporting by World "News" Firms

Lies, lies, lies about Israel.

The world "news" media work overtime to destroy the little Jewish nation from which they cannot help but focus on all the time. They have no shame calling themselves NEWS outlets. They want the Jews to hand over their land, their huge tiny land, to the Arab peace-mongers. Here's one such wayward attempt at "reporting" (from WorldNetDaily):
Media misleading on Jews evicting Arabs from Jerusalem

If that were not bad enough, the subtitle, at MSNBC, reads:
Israeli police then allowed Jewish settlers to move into the houses.

Notice the tearjerking toy riding horse at the forefront of the picture.

George Soros - A Jewish Riddle Resolved

How is it, you might ask, a Jewish multi-billionaire, an octogenarian, and a holocaust survivor could seek to dismember the Jewish state of Israel and undermine the yearnings of worldwide Jewry by promoting dissolution of Israel and scorn for the Jewish religion - as is evident by his financial backing of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic organizations? How could a successful Jew bring himself to this incredible level of hatred for the Jewish essence?

We find an answer to this question in today's weekly portion of Torah (Eschanan). On the verse (Dev. 6, 5), "And you should love G-d ... with all your soul and with all your might," Rashi explains the words, "all your might" to mean, "with all your money."

Wait a minute, you might ask, the Torah just told us to love G-d with all our soul; Then why bother to say, "and with all your money"? If a person loves G-d with all his soul, then surely he'd love G-d with all his money. Why add, "and with all you money" when that's self-evident?

Rashi teaches us about the unusual psyche of some people. Some people, he says, actually value their money more than their own personal being. It's these people the last clause addresses. These people, too, the Torah enjoins to love G-d "with all your might [=money]."

We now gain insight into this strange breed of person, who is willing to smother his heritage and his millennia-old traditions, only to propogate and swell his wealth. For, you can be sure, if he were not getting richer by supporting these leftist organizations, he would never do it.

Puzzle resloved. How can a man who has so much going for him, be a traitor to the very source of goodness he engenders - spitting in G-d's face and into the faces of his brethren? He is a species of person who worships at the idol of money -- to the point of self-sacrifice. Even if he's already got one foot in the grave, concern for his money is paramount. That he won't be able to take his money with him when he goes, let alone the judgements that will befall him on that fateful day, I doubt he takes the time to contemplate.

Physics Inching its Way to Torah

A fascinating, current issue in Physics, first proposed in 1964, continues the trend of Physics to catch up to the Torah point of view*. A significant finding, that of Bell's Theorem (named after the Irish physicist John Stewart Bell), proves there exist both LOCAL and NON-LOCAL phenomena in the universe.

Local phenomena imply that events associate by way of transfer of information, the fastest rate of which is the speed of light. Non-local phenomena, on the other hand, show instantaneous associative changes, as when particles many light-years apart influence each other instantaneously.

This, of course, is nothing new to Chassidus. Chassidus has always postulated that reality can either be of "inner presence" (being localized) and referred to as "Or Pnimi", or of omni-presence (being everywhere at the same time) and referred to as "Or Sovev".

* We are not talking about the pseudoscience of evolutionary or of global warming theories, both of which are merely sleazy political publicizations to promote a secular or socialistic agenda, respectively. Such "scientists" will never let solid science sway them from their crooked path.

More Elaboration

In order to push something, you have to touch it, or throw something at it. That is to say, somehow you have to reach it. Either you have to be right next to it, or through a chain of events exert your influence over it. This chain of events in Physics is called "localization".

Of the many intuitions that quantum physics shattered, the intuitiveness of localization is probably the biggest of them. Quantum mechanics asserts that two particles need not be physically or geographically adjacent to influence each other. Nor do the two particles need to be of the same kind. For example, one could be a neutron and the other an electron, and they can be at the opposite sides of the galaxy, and still one can influence the other immediately - faster than the speed of light.

This non-local simultaneous connection between particles ("quantum phase entanglement") takes the philosopher to new plains of thought, to real shaky ground. After all, non-localization describes a possibilty of having physical influence on something or someone without touching it (or him) and without an intervening chain of events. The physicist is really in a state of philosophical quandary, where the foundations of his "logic" are unravelling.

In Jewish teachings non-localization is well-entrenched. He who learned knows that a blessing, a thought or conversation can render the target a good influence (or vice versa). We know about reaching not just across large spaces but also across vast swaths of time, as in prophecy. We learned about "returning to G-d" - which can change, not only the future, but even correct the past.

Our sages always teach us to forego intuition or self-centeredness that pronounces our individuality, that makes us feel separate and apart. Rather, we have to feel that "all Jews are each other's guarantors, all Jews are intertwined". No matter where the other Jew is, locally or spiritually, that whatever one does has influence on another.

And therefore, we have to think good so that it will be good!

Eggs Are Good For You

If any clever doctor tells you to avoid eggs, or tells you they're not good for you, know that he contradicts the Jewish sages of the Talmud. In Berachot (44b) it states explicitly, "Anything the size of an egg - The egg is better than it."

That is to say, to elaborate on the concise words of the sage (Rabbi Yanai, in the name of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi): The egg is the best of foods! (And, it may well follow, that taking the white plus the yolk is the ideal, proportional mixture to take as is.)

Another sage, Rav Dimi, had the version a bit different, and adds, "... except for meat". What? Meat can be good for you? So many diet experts would get bent out of shape upon hearing this. Bear in mind we're talking about eating something the size of an egg, to be sure.

Also bear in mind, as Kaballah tells us (as per Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh), the main reason for all illnesses comes from excess intake. This concept derives from the Torah words, "VeSerach HaOdef" ("The extra cubit") (Shemot [Exodus] 26, 12) .
See an update to this post => here

Arab "Marranos"

Think all "Palestinians" are Arabs?
Think again.
See this video at Jewish Odysseus.

Get Rid of Monthly Phone Bills - with MagicJack

All you need is a computer always on, an internet connection, a regular phone device and this $40 gadget. The $40 dollars covers one year of unlimited States & Canada phone calls. Every year thereafter, it's another $20. You get a new number too. Other features are thrown in free. Go here.

Jewish Faith

This week's Torah portion (Chukat-Balak) tells about the first wars of the Jews on their way to The Land of Israel. They had to fight against the nations therein as well as against those who tried to prevent them from reaching their inheritance. The Torah alludes to the might and valor of Sichon, king of Emori, and of Og, king of Bashan. But the Jews handily defeated them - knowing G-d wrought them these victories.

This faith is lacking today. Incessantly they present us with pressures and problems we must face up to; Some of which are true, and some but illusions. All the while they cower with timidity. These political circles have only one type of solution to every problem - our surrender. Were we to take a stand on some vital issue, some real concern, these polititicos would immediately jump up and declare, "The Arabs will never agree to it." This leads to the usual solution; That we must further compromise, retreat and fold.

We need to know - we did not succeed in returning to the Land of Israel, and in freeing up large territories thereof, with our own strength. Far from it. By the rules of Nature, we had no such realistic possibilities. We prevailed against 7 Arab nations only because The Creator of the universe served as our right arm. Anyone who participated in the wars of Israel can tell stories of multiple miracles that occurred during the battles. Only due to the protection of Our Father in heaven did we survive against all odds.

A Slippery Slope

This is the crux of the matter. Without faith in G-d we keep sliding down with more compromises and more retreats - which will never end. This, after all, is today the Arab enemy's mindset. Having realized they can't beat us in war, they resolved to nip and tear at us over and over again; By tearing away more and more property, by wanting to infest us with tens of thousands of refugees - they mean to enfeeble us and, eventually, to beat us.

Unfortunately their strategy is working. You doubt it? Just sum up everything all Israeli administrations accomplished in the last 25 years and you'll see how each one contributed another step, one bigger one smaller, to this slippery downward slide. The Arabs did not move even one millimeter. But we always feel the need for more "progress" (read: compromise, retreat or fold).

When we decided to go through with that awful operation of uprooting the Gaza Strip and handing it over to our worst enemies, at the expense of critical property and of Jews who lived there (and nearby) for generations, some Israelis thought a sweet end would justify the cruel means. These people thought we'd then be able to solidify our hold on Yehuda and Shomron with American sanction. That Israeli administration explained the expected "achievement" for our self-sacrifice; The iron-clad claim on Yehuda and Shomron would be our reward for driving out tens of thousands of citizens from their homes and properties.

Today it's clear just how flawed was their argument. America today deems the West Bank settlements as illegitimate. We may have gotten some letter and signature for the Yehuda & Shomron issue, but it's only a worthless piece of paper (added to many such collections of paper). The American administration now is tightening the screws to stop all building in the West Bank. Also included in the American ban is construction in various areas and neighborhoods inside Israel proper, including Jerusalem! Again we retreated and folded - and got nothing in return.

A Brief Response

If, G-d forbid, we submit to American demands and freeze construction in these areas, the dismemberment of Israel will continue. It's not for nothing the Arabs are going all out in this direction, for Yehuda and Shomron is the only single area where we actually laid stronger foundations in the Land of Israel, despite the retreats and compromises.

We have to do all we can to tell the Americans, "NO!". It's high time Jews tell the world that the holy Land of Israel is ours, Jerusalem the holy city is ours - and we will continue to build and lay roots there. If we speak clearly, firmly, and out of faith - we will be victorious.