Week in Review: July 9, 2010Click here to watch in High Definition (HD)
Who is the Israeli Reporter Who Asked Obama About “Bashing of Israel”?When offered to choose a reporter to ask a question, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu very quickly chose an Israeli-sounding male who used some pretty bold terminology in his questions to both President Barack Obama and Netanyahu:
Mr. President, in the past year, you distanced yourself from Israel and gave a cold shoulder to the Prime Minister. Do you think this policy was a mistake? Do you think it contributes to the bashing of Israel by others? And is that — you change it now, and do you trust now Prime Minister Netanyahu?And if I may, Mr. Prime Minister, specifically, did you discuss with the President the continuing of the freezing of settlements after September? And did you tell him that you’re going to keep on building after this period is over?
That’s a fierce phrasing of a question for Obama — and a rather leading question for Netanyahu regarding settlement construction.
So, who was this guy?
The video below starts with Obama offering Netanyahu the choice of a reporter to ask a question.
Note also that the reporter seems very prepared; it sounded to my ears initially as though he was reading from a prepared text. And how quickly Netanyahu picks him. This naturally raises the question: did Netanyahu and the reporter arrange this ahead of time? And if so, did they let Obama know about it, too?
Obama’s & Netanyahu’s responses are after the jump. Read more
Orthodox Rabbinical Group Outlines Women’s Roles as “Clergy” and MoreIn a noticeable contrast to the resolution of the mainstream Orthodox Rabbinical Council of America’s resolution forbidding Orthodox women rabbis, this resolution from the International Rabbinic Fellowship — a more-liberal group about 1/3 the size of the RCA — does just about everything but use the word “rabbi” to describe women’s roles in Orthodox life, calling for them to be “clergy,” “spiritual guides and mentors,” “preachers,” “teachers of Torah” and “persons who can… answer questions…in all areas of Jewish law in which they are well-versed.”
In other words, they’re saying women can be like Maharat Sara Hurwitz, if not explicitly Rabba Sara Hurwitz.
Interesting to note that they’ve stopped short of including women as rabbis in their organization — at least thus far — though IRF co-founder R’ Marc Angel called it “quite likely” in an e-mail to TJC in March. So was that option jettisoned, or simply delayed?
Full text of the resolution is after the jump. Read more
Week in Review: July 1, 2010Click here to watch in High Definition (HD)
Week in Review: June 25, 2010Click here to watch in High Definition (HD)
Week in Review: June 18, 2010Click here to watch in High Definition (HD)
Lubavitcher Rebbe: The Messiah Won’t be a HasidThe Lubavitcher Rebbe said in a speech that the messiah won’t be a Hasid, but rather someone from the non-Hasidic Jewish population.
This would, presumably, preclude the Rebbe himself, R’ Menachem Mendel Schneerson, from being the Messiah.
Schneerson delivered the statement in this 1951 speech. The relevant portion comes at the section marked נג, in the fifth paragraph there. This was sent to me this week.
Schneerson in this speech is speaking of the importance of “accepting the yoke” of service to God, and offers this tangential narrative about the first Lubavitcher Rebbe (the English translation is mine, and a bit loose in relaying the idioms):
The first Lubavitcher Rebbe was brought to three “olamsher” (non-Hasidic) great rabbis, and when with one of them, that rabbi asked the first Lubavitcher Rebbe: “Who will be the messiah — a Hasid or a non-Hasidic Jew?” The first Lubavitcher Rebbe responded: “The messiah will be a non-Hasidic Jew.” The rabbi asked back, “Why?” and the first Lubavitcher Rebbe responded: “Because if the messiah were a Hasid, the non-Hasidic Jews wouldn’t want to follow him out of the diaspora; but if the messiah were a non-Hasidic Jew, he’d also attract the Hasidim.”
These kinds of statements citing previous rebbes are generally seen as endorsing the concept implied. This would suggest that Schneerson agreed with this statement he’s quoting from the first Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Here’s the passage in Hebrew:
כ”ק מו”ח אדמו”ר סיפר שכאשר רבינו הזקן יצא מהמאסר, היתה סיבה שבגללה הגיע לביתו של יהודי שלא הי’ מחוג החסידים (“א עולם’שער איד”), ולאחרי אריכות הדברים הוכרח רבינו הזקן להבטיח לו שיבקר שלשה מהעולם’שע גדולים, וכשביקר אצל א’ מהם, שאל אותו גדול את רבינו הזקן: מי יהי’ משיח – חסיד או עולם’שער? והשיב רבינו הזקן: משיח יהי’ עולם’שער. ושאל: מדוע? והשיב רבינו הזקן, שאם משיח יהי’ חסיד, יתכן שהעולם’שע לא ירצו לצאת עמו מהגלות; אבל אם משיח יהי’ עולם’שער, יסכימו גם החסידים – להיותם קבלת-עול’ניקעס – לצאת עמו מהגלות מתוך קבלת-עול (“זאל זיין א עולם’שער, אבי ארויסגיין פון גלות”).
Week in Review: June 11, 2010Click here to watch in High Definition (HD)
Week in Review: June 4, 2010Click here to watch in High Definition (HD)
Week in Review: May 28, 2010Click here to watch in High Definition (HD)
Follow the news with the TJC team. Weekly news webcasts and regular updates.
E-mail us:
