Happy New Year
by: Schvach Yid

And I don’t mean ‘Shanah Tova'

Okay (or not) I haven’t blogged in ages, and for good reason – I haven’t had a thing to say, write, or to put it more bluntly, I haven’t had a thing on my mind. Also, my computer is kaput, as in half dead, so it’s a pain to use, but I’ve come across a few items
that I have to share, so here they are.

First off, I hope everyone in the J-bloggersphere had a superb Chanukah, and to celebrate our minor festival of light and oil, here is a pic sent by an old friend to my mother:

I searched for an Indian restaurant, but to no avail, so I ‘ate Chinese’.

Secondly, Thanks to the American Bedu blog, my current studies in Islamic traditions and culture have continued. Here are two items from her: a pic she posted on her blog site:

And here is the URL: http://americanbedu.com/

And , have you heard of The Learning Channel’s reality show ‘All American Muslims’? Since I don’t have a TV, I haven’t seen an episode; however, I have viewed some of the trailers displayed on the TLC website. Drech (like all reality shows I’ve seen). Lowes, the building supply company that retails to the general public produced a commercial intended to be shown on 'All American Muslims'; they very smartly pulled that disaster before it aired. They very unsmartly chose to post the video on You Tube – schmucks!
Here’s the URL(not on my blog site I won’t):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQhls5PEmeQ&feature=player_embedded

Well, that’s all folks! Humor is as humor does.

It’s That Time of Year – Again
by: Schvach Yid

Tonight begins the Hebrew month of Av, the Moslem month of Ramadan, and we Yiddin began Sefer Devarim (Deuteronomy) this past Shabbos during Mincha.

Whenever someone burdens me with the question of how we Jews, as the Chosen People, have had such a tormented history, I simply tell the curious antagonist to read Deuteronomy. The answer is there, in its entirety.

Israel National News (Arutz Sheva) reports that the Moslem month of Ramadan will be a time of increased violence against Jews, ie, terrorist attacks in Israel. There's nothing new in that news. I don’t know if daylight fasting for 29 consecutive days will stir the frustrations of Moslems, who perhaps might express those frustrations with their holiest of their annual observances by assaulting us Jews who are in mourning over the calamities of Jewish history, but in preparation for this possibility, here’s the line up for the coming lunar month:

AARP as History

by: Schvach Yid

No joke intended, but the day I received an invitation, by mail, to join AARP stands as
one of the more emotionally depressing days of my life. It was just a few weeks prior to my 50th birthday, and I thought reaching the age of fifty was , well, nakbah, to borrow a term from Arabic.

Later this month Bob Dylan will turn 70 years of age. I can’t imagine. Of all the cruelties dished out by life, perhaps the passage of time – and aging – are the worst (excluding, of course, the naches derived from watching one’s kids grow up).

So here’s to Robert Zimmerman’s success in sticking it out for seventy years, and I mean successfully. Happy Birthday Bob.

Our Two Days of National Remembrance
by: Schvach Yid

Rosh Hashanah is one thing; Yom HaZicharon and Yom HaAzma'ut are another. As a nation, we Jews come together on the latter two days. The dead are gone; we remember their heroic sacrifices and continue in their place. Faulty politics aside, the Jewish State of Israel is just that – THE Jewish State. Those ‘others’ who love Mecca, and still others who love their respective countries, should have no difficulty understanding Jewish national identity and should resolve to develop the ability to accept it.

Here is a video, courtesy of the Dixie Yid blog site: (http://dixieyid.blogspot.com/2011/04/yerushalayim-shel-zahav-jewish-rock.html).
Chassidische rock – I love it!









And this contribution from the al tishali oti blog at: http://altishalioti.blogspot.com/

Come On Down
by: Schvach Yid


First (perhaps not) it was Billy Graham (is he still alive?), then it was Burt Lancaster – well, it was Burt Lancaster in a movie impersonating (I assume) Billy Graham, and now,
Live From Frankfurt Germany (actually, it’s a video), it’s the Moslems doin’ the same thing – in German (was sonst?).



And here is a video courtesy of Pamela Geller of the Atlas Shrugs blog site, at:
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/04/the-voice-of-reason.html

It’s a mixed message. The ‘heroine’ castigates Hitler, then implores Germans to stand up to defend their country (‘Germany, rise up’ – we’ve heard that one in the past, from the ‘castigate’ himself).


You know, some things really never change at all.

Well, I Think it’s Funny
by: Schvach Yid

From Chaptzem Blog, at:
http://chaptzem.blogspot.com/2011/04/rabbi-attacked-by-african-killer-bees.html

Monday, April 04, 2011
Rabbi attacked by African killer bees in Zimbabwe
A rabbi handing out matzah and wine for Passover to Jews in Zimbabwe was attacked by a swarm of African killer bees.Moshe Silberhaft, the spiritual leader and executive director of the African Jewish Congress known as "The Traveling Rabbi," was making a pre-Passover visit to the 190 Jews left in the beleaguered capital of Harare when he was attacked by the bees while walking from the Ashkenazi synagogue to the Sephardi synagogue on the Shabbat of April 2.

One rule I was taught long ago, was that either a Jew is Ashkenasic or Sephardic. This has import, I assume, not so much in one’s everyday life as a Jew, but certainly in the minhag one follows for Pesach, and that one doesn’t get to choose which. I don’t know the halachot concerning this matter, but I do wish the injured rabbi a rafuah shlemah.

Have a good Yontif.

Phyllis Chesler Speaks
by: Schvach Yid

Phyllis Chesler has become a regular contributor to Arutz Sheva, (and has been for the past few years). In this clip, she speaks about ‘The New Anti-Semitism’, which is also the title of one of her books, published in 2003.

Her web site is found at: http://www.phyllis-chesler.com

PHYLLIS CHESLER: The New Antisemitism from Advocates for Civil Liberties on Vimeo.

Finally!
by: Schvach Yid

I’ve advocated this for G-d knows how long, and it’s about time someone (other than me, get it?) has made it sort of official.

The Kingdom of Jordan has no business existing as such. If that land has to exist as Arab
(it was supposed to a part – by far the much larger part - of the Jewish National Homeland), then it should exist as the Palestinian State of Jordan without a ruling monarchy.

The removal of the Hashemite Royal Family from Jordanian rule would not end the Israel-Arab conflict. Islam has no room for Jews or for Judaism, not in the Middle East, and not anywhere else in the world, but it would serve to identify the problem, namely, that Islam is the problem, and that a country that masquerades as the possession of a cutesy over-aged boy king is no justification for the continued slaughter and vilification of Jews, Judaism, and the Jewish State.

Britain must be ejected from the Middle East once and for all, and that means an end to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Here’s the link:
http://www.ipetition.com/str-asp-PetitionID_9-end-SignPetition.htm

Horse Baloney of the Same Feather
by: Schvach Yid

I’m no political analyst. I’m not even a journalist (and most recently I think the journalism establishment has devolved into a bunch of crap!), and so once again I’m stymied. The elation over the Mubarak overthrow in Egypt strikes me as rather absurd.

Here’s my take.
Once upon a time there were three guys in Egypt: King Farouk, Muhammad Naguib, and Gamal Abdel Nasser. Naguib and Nasser, together, overthrew King Farouk of Egypt (and of Sudan) in a military coup. From there on, it was ‘kesher’, as the Israelis like to say, because Nasser begat Anwar Sadat, who in turn begat Hosni Mubarak, who has now in turn begotten the newest guy in charge of Egypt. Each of these goodfellows grew up in Egypt’s military academy, each was the protégé of the former (except, perhaps, the new guy), and each was selected by his respective predecessor as the successor to power. In short, Egypt has had an uninterrupted string of four (count ‘em, four) military dictators, each the designated inheritor of that county’s military (and State) thrown since the deposing of the monarchal government in 1952. That’s one year short of 60 years of continuous military rule by military dynastic descent, and the torch has now been passed to the newest crony.

What the hell are those fools celebrating? Nothing in Egypt has changed, except for the name of the guy in charge (it’s Suleiman – Turkish for Solomon). The so-called revolutionaries don’t even have a leader.

Now then, let’s get serious and ‘talk’ a bit about hijabs. Hijabs, that feminine flag of female Moslem devotion, has, and is, making a big splash not only here is the USA and the UK, but just about everywhere else, including some of those countries where the fashion is no fashion at all but instead constitutes old hat. In Tunisia there rages a political battle over the banning of hijabs in public (which is exactly where they are supposed to be worn, except for salat – Moslem prayer – where the garment is to be worn even in private). And so, as a public service, I wish to show an alternative donning of a hijab.

Now then, one last item - we’re traversing from Hijab to Hajj jadies and jents. I think that the next great Moslem revolution will not involve the spread of secular discontent against Arab despotic governmental rule, but instead will take the form of the breaking down of the ‘gates’ of Mecca to permit a no holds barred, entry on demand, to the annual Hajj by any and all Moslems who wish to so partake. This year’s holy event in Mecca, which was touted on some web sites as ‘the experience of a lifetime’, garnered some 2.5 million religious pilgrims. Entry, I believe, was by invitation only, from the King of Saudi Arabia. There currently exist some 1.5 billion Moslems in the world. Just do the arithmetic folks, 1.5 billion divided by 2.5 million yield a cool 600. At a rate of 2.5 million visitors per year, it would take 600 years to accommodate all presently existing Moslems at the Hajj. Pirkei Avot tells us that there was always room for the Jewish pilgrims who journeyed to Jerusalem (for the three pilgrimage festivals), but the immense population of Moslems makes the Hajj a very distant vision. Most will have to settle for Umra (sort of an off-season mini-Hajj). Any brief perusal of internet web sites that deal with the Hajj will reveal that this Moslem religious obligation has gone the way of Disney. ‘We want in’ (to the Hajj) will be the next great Moslem battle cry.