This week's award goes to anyone who ever said that the majority of Palestinians are moderates who really want peace. What an incredible self-delusion! Recent events have shown the world the true colors of our Palestinian neighbors. Given the opportunity, they elected as their government one of the most bloodthirsty organizations of modern times (and their thirst is quenched primarily with the blood of our Jewish brothers and sisters), Hamas. Is anyone aware that this word means "corruption" in Hebrew? A prophetic name indeed.
Please don't tell me that they were elected because of their social service programs. Everyone knows the true agenda of Hamas, and they themselves feel no need in keeping it a secret. Every Palestinian who voted knew that it was a vote to spill innocent Jewish blood. Apparently the Palestinian "morality" has no problem with accepting benefits from murderers, but as for the decent people of the world, we don't care for our bread to be served by bloody hands.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
On Love And Hate
In response to my post on Mohammed Atta (may his evil name be erased) I encountered some comments in opposition to my idea that hate may have some positive value. In particular, Freethoughtmom states: "The hate of someone like Atta cannot be stopped by more hate." The idea that love is always good, and hate is always bad is a christian one. In fact you will not find this idea anywhere in the Hebrew Bible. I have noticed that skeptics who are former christians, have been so steeped in christian culture that their ideas continue to be affected by christian thought and they are not even aware of it (sorry FTM). So when is love good and when is hate bad? Perhaps we need to take a closer look at these emotions to answer this question.
Anyone who has been in a relationship knows that the opposite of love is not hate - it is indifference. So how did hate get such a bad rap as the "anti-love"? Shouldn't indifference be the subject of our denigration as being the furthest from love? It seems clear that love and hate are two different expressions of a common idea. When one is passionate about something, they either love it or they hate it.
Cognitive psychologists tell us that emotion follows cognition. In other words, first we have a thought, then we have a feeling. So therefore, hate (or any feeling for that matter) can't be good or bad - it just is. This is all common sense. We don't go about our daily lives choosing how we feel. If that were so, then sadness and pain would be absent from the world. So if I hate Mohammed Atta (which I do), am I a bad person? Can I help how I feel? Can I change my hate for him anymore than I can change my love for my family? You see, it's not emotions that determine what kind of people we are, it's the thoughts behind those emotions that determine what kind of people we are. We love what deem most important to us, and we hate that which threatens those things. Anyone who claims not to hate is either indifferent to everything, or loves nothing (or is lying to themselves).
Anyone who has been in a relationship knows that the opposite of love is not hate - it is indifference. So how did hate get such a bad rap as the "anti-love"? Shouldn't indifference be the subject of our denigration as being the furthest from love? It seems clear that love and hate are two different expressions of a common idea. When one is passionate about something, they either love it or they hate it.
Cognitive psychologists tell us that emotion follows cognition. In other words, first we have a thought, then we have a feeling. So therefore, hate (or any feeling for that matter) can't be good or bad - it just is. This is all common sense. We don't go about our daily lives choosing how we feel. If that were so, then sadness and pain would be absent from the world. So if I hate Mohammed Atta (which I do), am I a bad person? Can I help how I feel? Can I change my hate for him anymore than I can change my love for my family? You see, it's not emotions that determine what kind of people we are, it's the thoughts behind those emotions that determine what kind of people we are. We love what deem most important to us, and we hate that which threatens those things. Anyone who claims not to hate is either indifferent to everything, or loves nothing (or is lying to themselves).
What about women who fall in love with cruel murderers who are in prison for life? Is that love good? Would you recommend it to your daughters? Would anyone who truly values human life love someone who brutally disregards it? Certainly that love can only come from someone who cares nothing for the lives of others . It is a love that is borne of a selfish narccicistic value system that states: "My emotional and physical gratification is more important than the lives of innocent people". Only a person who has that thought, that value system, could form an emotional attatchment to a cruel killer.
Do you hate suffering, or injustice, or oppression, or poverty? Would you ever say that hatred of suffering is bad? Would you ever say that the hatred of suffering can not stop suffering? Obviously no one would say that because nothing would ever be done to alleviate suffering if we remained indifferent to it. The very first step in alleviating suffering is the hatred of suffering. And as for those who would say: "I only hate suffering, not the people who cause it" I would say that this argument only makes sense if you believe that people are not the cause of their own actions (another christian idea - evil is the devil's doing). But certainly we are the cause of our own actions; you can not separate the suffering from the one who caused it. And for anyone who disagrees with that I would recommend that you tell it to the judge in traffic court, and you will soon find out that he (or she) believes otherwise.So to answer the original objection "The hate of someone like Atta can not be stopped by more hate" makes no sense to me. People like Atta will never be stopped unless we are passionate enough about the value of human life to feel hatred for the one who wishes to destroy it.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Shvantz Of The Week
This week's award is shared by the Agudath Israel of America and the Catholic Church, who are both working to undermine a NY State law that would require parochial schools to report abusive teachers.
Granted, that there is a far worse abuse problem in the Catholic Church than there is in religious Jewish institutions, nevertheless, I am embarassed to say that the Jewish institutions have failed just as miserably as their Catholic counterparts at self-policing, and self-correcting abuse in their respective educational systems. Any sane person would agree that this type of legislation would be unnecessary had these institutions acted with greater prudence and transparency.
All organizations have limited time, money, and manpower. One wonders, given these limitations, why are these organizations engaging the government about this particular issue, when so much good could be accomplished by putting these resources toward the goal of actually helping people? These organizations are to be seen as self-serving, rather than as community-serving.
Hat tip: Dovbear
Granted, that there is a far worse abuse problem in the Catholic Church than there is in religious Jewish institutions, nevertheless, I am embarassed to say that the Jewish institutions have failed just as miserably as their Catholic counterparts at self-policing, and self-correcting abuse in their respective educational systems. Any sane person would agree that this type of legislation would be unnecessary had these institutions acted with greater prudence and transparency.
All organizations have limited time, money, and manpower. One wonders, given these limitations, why are these organizations engaging the government about this particular issue, when so much good could be accomplished by putting these resources toward the goal of actually helping people? These organizations are to be seen as self-serving, rather than as community-serving.
Hat tip: Dovbear
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Four Things
The Jewish Freak has been tagged by Stacey (a fine Jew) for this meme, so here goes:
4 jobs I've had:
1. Assistant baker
2 .Construction
3. Musician
4. White collar professional (current)
4 movies I could watch over and over:
1. The Blues Brothers (The original)
2 .Devil's Advocate (Great insight into human nature)
3. The Shawshank Redemption
4. The Graduate
4 places I've lived:
1. A suburb of New York City
2. Israel (In yeshiva one year)
3. Current residence
4. No others, that's it
4 TV shows I love to watch:
1. Seinfeld
2. Curb your enthusiasm
3. The King of Queens
4. Nova
4 places I've been on vacation:
1. Boston
2. New Hampshire
3. Los Angeles
4. Israel
4 websites I visit daily:
1. All of the Fine Jews listed in my sidebar are visited daily.
4 Favorite Foods:
1. Hot pastrami sandwich
2. Potato Kugel
3. Doughnuts
4. Hot Dogs - Just because I like these 4 things doesn't mean that I eat them. I want to live to see my grandchildren.
4 places I'd rather be:
1. In Israel
2. Anywhere, playing a musical instrument or reading
3. At work, on a good day
4. With my beloved
4 books I could read over and over:
1. The Hebrew Bible
2. Apology, Crito, Republic, by Plato (I know that's really 3)
3. Guide For The Perplexed by Moses Maimonides
4. The History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
4 people I'm tagging: (I don't know if these people have been tagged already)
1. abbagav
2. happywithhislot
3. ben avuyah
4. beyond Lomdus
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Remembering The Dead Part ll
The following are the remainder of the victims of terrorist attacks in Israel in 2005 as listed inThe Jewish Week. They were murdered simply for being in the Jewish homeland. I will list their names and ages:
Dov Kol-58, Rachel Kol-53, Shmuel Mett-21, Sasson Nuriel-55, Lt. Ariel Buda-21, Kineret Mandel-23, Matat Adler-21, Oz (Yisroel) Ben-Meir-15, Jamil Qa'adan-48, Michael Kaufman-68, Pirhiya Machlouf-53, Sabiha Nissim-66, Ya'acov Rahmani-68, St.-Sgt. Yonatan Evron-20, Genia Poleis-66, Alexandra Garmitzky-65, Daniel Golani-45, Elia Rosen-38, Keinan Tsuami-20, Haim Amram-26, Sgt. Nir Kahane-20, Yossi Shok-35, Lt. Ori Binamo-21.
To all the mourners Jew and Gentile alike, I offer the traditional Jewish blessing of the mourners: "May The Lord comfort you among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem".
Dov Kol-58, Rachel Kol-53, Shmuel Mett-21, Sasson Nuriel-55, Lt. Ariel Buda-21, Kineret Mandel-23, Matat Adler-21, Oz (Yisroel) Ben-Meir-15, Jamil Qa'adan-48, Michael Kaufman-68, Pirhiya Machlouf-53, Sabiha Nissim-66, Ya'acov Rahmani-68, St.-Sgt. Yonatan Evron-20, Genia Poleis-66, Alexandra Garmitzky-65, Daniel Golani-45, Elia Rosen-38, Keinan Tsuami-20, Haim Amram-26, Sgt. Nir Kahane-20, Yossi Shok-35, Lt. Ori Binamo-21.
To all the mourners Jew and Gentile alike, I offer the traditional Jewish blessing of the mourners: "May The Lord comfort you among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem".
Shvantz Of The Week
This week's award goes to the ultimate Jewish self-hater, Moshe (Moishe) Rosen, the founder of Jews for jesus.He is deserving of this award on so many counts:
First of all, he disgraces our long tradition and our mission to demonstrate to the world that G-d has NO physical representation, or said another way, that G-d is not a man.
Second, he is pushing for to Jews to accept a theology in which nazi christian "believers" go to heaven, while their innocent Jewish victims are damned to hell.
Thirdly, he is asking us to dumb ourselves down, and ignore centuries of critical thinking skills honed by talmud study, science and philosophy, and accept a very implausable message designed for mass appeal. Our Patriarch Abraham taught us not to be swayed by beliefs of the masses.
Fourth, his wish to convert all Jews is really a wish to bring the Jewish nation to an end. It is clear to anyone with any sense that "Jewish" christians will assimilate into the mainstream christian world and will disappear off the Jewish map forever.
Lastly, his most recent article, "Christmas is a Jewish Holiday" just plain old pisses me off.
First of all, he disgraces our long tradition and our mission to demonstrate to the world that G-d has NO physical representation, or said another way, that G-d is not a man.
Second, he is pushing for to Jews to accept a theology in which nazi christian "believers" go to heaven, while their innocent Jewish victims are damned to hell.
Thirdly, he is asking us to dumb ourselves down, and ignore centuries of critical thinking skills honed by talmud study, science and philosophy, and accept a very implausable message designed for mass appeal. Our Patriarch Abraham taught us not to be swayed by beliefs of the masses.
Fourth, his wish to convert all Jews is really a wish to bring the Jewish nation to an end. It is clear to anyone with any sense that "Jewish" christians will assimilate into the mainstream christian world and will disappear off the Jewish map forever.
Lastly, his most recent article, "Christmas is a Jewish Holiday" just plain old pisses me off.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Quote Of The Day
"I have written this book primarily for my own people, lest the Jew forget again - as he so disastrously forgot in the past - this simple truth: that there are things more precious than life, and more horrible than death."
-From "The Revolt" by Menachem Begin
-From "The Revolt" by Menachem Begin
Monday, January 09, 2006
RE: What Would You Do?
I will give my answer to my previous post with an explanation. Thank you Jewish Atheist and Stacey for your input.
I started this blog with the intention of expressing my rational, intellectual side. What I noticed, however, is that my emotions seem to have control of my fingers as I type. It occurs to me that this is the only avenue available to me to freely express my love for the Jewish people - my family. In person, among the people I know, my feelings may not be welcome, but in this virtual world, I can share my feelings freely, and people who are so inclined can share with me the pride, joy, grief, and sadness that I feel on a daily basis toward our Jewish brothers and sisters.
And so, on to the question. What would I do? I hate Mohammed Atta (may his evil name be erased). I am a good Jewish boy, squeamish about killing and violence, but I don't think that I would have a moment's hesitation in pulling that trigger.
I feel good about hating the evil Atta. No guilt, no soul-searching, no hand wringing. Do you know why I feel good about my hate? Because what we love and what we hate betrays our most basic values.
I hate evil. Not the christian evil. Not a dark unseen force in the world. I hate the evil that is the sum of a man's actions. A man is the cause of his own actions, and so evil actions make the evil man.
This evil man, used his G-d given intelligence, his divine capacity for understanding, in the service of egotistical maniacal hatred. He used it to destroy G-d's crowning achievement - men and women who use their abilities for good; who work and provide services for others; who take care of their families. He used it to destroy those who give charity, and who volunteer their time for others. He used it to destroy immigrants who work hard to send money to their families abroad. He used it to destroy the innocent lives of the citizens of this great country.
And don't think for a minute that his evil actions were separate from his hatred of the Jews. Jews attract the most evil of every generation. They hate our goodness, our compassion, our self-restraint, and most of all, they hate our absolute devotion to basic human values. The United States was attacked not because it provides a haven for us, but because it shares our values.
Mohammed Atta hated Jews so much, he could not stand the idea of a country as great and powerful as this that shares these values. He needed to destroy the greatest manifestation of goodness in this world, because the mere existence of goodness would expose his life as a lie.
I started this blog with the intention of expressing my rational, intellectual side. What I noticed, however, is that my emotions seem to have control of my fingers as I type. It occurs to me that this is the only avenue available to me to freely express my love for the Jewish people - my family. In person, among the people I know, my feelings may not be welcome, but in this virtual world, I can share my feelings freely, and people who are so inclined can share with me the pride, joy, grief, and sadness that I feel on a daily basis toward our Jewish brothers and sisters.
And so, on to the question. What would I do? I hate Mohammed Atta (may his evil name be erased). I am a good Jewish boy, squeamish about killing and violence, but I don't think that I would have a moment's hesitation in pulling that trigger.
I feel good about hating the evil Atta. No guilt, no soul-searching, no hand wringing. Do you know why I feel good about my hate? Because what we love and what we hate betrays our most basic values.
I hate evil. Not the christian evil. Not a dark unseen force in the world. I hate the evil that is the sum of a man's actions. A man is the cause of his own actions, and so evil actions make the evil man.
This evil man, used his G-d given intelligence, his divine capacity for understanding, in the service of egotistical maniacal hatred. He used it to destroy G-d's crowning achievement - men and women who use their abilities for good; who work and provide services for others; who take care of their families. He used it to destroy those who give charity, and who volunteer their time for others. He used it to destroy immigrants who work hard to send money to their families abroad. He used it to destroy the innocent lives of the citizens of this great country.
And don't think for a minute that his evil actions were separate from his hatred of the Jews. Jews attract the most evil of every generation. They hate our goodness, our compassion, our self-restraint, and most of all, they hate our absolute devotion to basic human values. The United States was attacked not because it provides a haven for us, but because it shares our values.
Mohammed Atta hated Jews so much, he could not stand the idea of a country as great and powerful as this that shares these values. He needed to destroy the greatest manifestation of goodness in this world, because the mere existence of goodness would expose his life as a lie.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
What Would You Do?
If you could go back in time to Septmber 10, 2001, and put a bullet in the head of Mohammed Atta, and not get caught, would you?
Remembering The Dead
The Jewish Week has published portraits of Israelis murdered by Jew-hating terrorists in 2005. It is the first in a two-part series. Not all of the victims are Jews, but all paid the price for being in the Jewish homeland. I will list their names and ages:
Staff Sgt. Yosef Atia-21, Nissim Arbiv-26, Gideon Rivlin-50, Dror Girizi-30, Hertzl Shlomo-51, Ibrahim Kahili-46, Ivan Shmilov-53, Munam Abu Sabia-33, Ofer Tiri-23, Oded Sharon-36, Ayala-Haya Abukasis-17, Aryeh Nagar-37, Ronen Reuvenov-30, Yael Orbach-28, Yitzhak Buaglo-40, Odelia Hubara-26, Staff Sgt. Dan Talasnikov-21, Bi Shude-46, Sgt.-Maj. Avi Karouchi-(young, but no age given), Yevgeny Reider-28, Avihai Levy-17, Aviad Mansour-16, Julia Voloshin-31, Cpl. Moshe Maor-(young, but no age given), Nofar Horowitz-16, Rachel Ben Abu-16, Anya Lifshitz-50, Dana Galkowicz-22.
Reading this article brought tears to my eyes. How many of you have children that are these ages, or spouses, or brothers or sisters? Will they ever stop killing us? It seems not.
If anyone knows the families of any of these victims please send them my condolences.
I will post part 2 next week.
Staff Sgt. Yosef Atia-21, Nissim Arbiv-26, Gideon Rivlin-50, Dror Girizi-30, Hertzl Shlomo-51, Ibrahim Kahili-46, Ivan Shmilov-53, Munam Abu Sabia-33, Ofer Tiri-23, Oded Sharon-36, Ayala-Haya Abukasis-17, Aryeh Nagar-37, Ronen Reuvenov-30, Yael Orbach-28, Yitzhak Buaglo-40, Odelia Hubara-26, Staff Sgt. Dan Talasnikov-21, Bi Shude-46, Sgt.-Maj. Avi Karouchi-(young, but no age given), Yevgeny Reider-28, Avihai Levy-17, Aviad Mansour-16, Julia Voloshin-31, Cpl. Moshe Maor-(young, but no age given), Nofar Horowitz-16, Rachel Ben Abu-16, Anya Lifshitz-50, Dana Galkowicz-22.
Reading this article brought tears to my eyes. How many of you have children that are these ages, or spouses, or brothers or sisters? Will they ever stop killing us? It seems not.
If anyone knows the families of any of these victims please send them my condolences.
I will post part 2 next week.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Shvantz Of The Week
This week's award is a tie! The honor is shared by the president of Iran - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Pat Robertson.
The president of Jew-hatred, I mean Iran, said that he is happy about Ariel Sharon's stroke. He is still somehow angry with Sharon because arabs killed arabs in 1982. I also suspect that he does not like Jews who hold arab murderers accountable.
Pat Robertson states that Sharon had his stroke because he "divided God's land". I have two things to say to Pat Robertson:
1. Keep your christian nose out of Jewish business. You don't live in Israel, it is NOT your homeland, and you're not and will never be a small fraction of the man Sharon is.
2. If Sharon had a stroke because he divided God's land, please explain to us why Billy Graham has Parkinson's disease.
The president of Jew-hatred, I mean Iran, said that he is happy about Ariel Sharon's stroke. He is still somehow angry with Sharon because arabs killed arabs in 1982. I also suspect that he does not like Jews who hold arab murderers accountable.
Pat Robertson states that Sharon had his stroke because he "divided God's land". I have two things to say to Pat Robertson:
1. Keep your christian nose out of Jewish business. You don't live in Israel, it is NOT your homeland, and you're not and will never be a small fraction of the man Sharon is.
2. If Sharon had a stroke because he divided God's land, please explain to us why Billy Graham has Parkinson's disease.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Fellow Jews - Be Proud!
The following article was printed in The Gazette Telegraph of Colorado (I don't know the date):
"Jews Go Home"
By William Eiken
"Jews Go Home!" - Well, now this is nothing new. Never in the past have you taken this gentle suggestion to move on. But heaven forbid, suppose just this once, you thought that this expression of a few sick people actually expressed the conviction of all the people in this wonderful land of ours, and all of you started to pack your bags and leave for parts unknown.
"Jews go home, we don't want Jews, we want oil!" But before you leave, could you do me a favor? Would you leave behind your formula for the Salk vaccine with me before you leave? You wouldn't be so heartless as to let my children contract polio?
And would you leave your knack for government and politics, and persuasion and literature and your good food. And would you please leave me with the secret of your desire to succeed?
And please have pity on us. Please show us the secret of how to develop such geniuses as Einstein and Steinmetz and so many others who have helped us all. After all, we owe you a lot for the atomic bomb, most of our rocket research, and perhaps the fact that we are alive today. Instead, we could have been looking up from our chains and from our graves at Hitler, old but glad, driving slowly by in one of our cadillacs had he succeeded in reaching the atom bomb and not us.
On your way out, Jews, will you do me another favor? Will you please drop by my house and pick me up too? I'm sure I could not live in a land where you were not to be found. For if ever you were to leave, love goes with you, democracy and morality goes with you, everything me and my buddies fought for in World War II goes with you.
Just pull up in front of my house, slow down and honk because so help me, I'm going with you too.
Yours sincerely,
William Eiken.
Fellow Jews: Be proud of your heritage. Never apologize for who you are or where you came from. - JF
"Jews Go Home"
By William Eiken
"Jews Go Home!" - Well, now this is nothing new. Never in the past have you taken this gentle suggestion to move on. But heaven forbid, suppose just this once, you thought that this expression of a few sick people actually expressed the conviction of all the people in this wonderful land of ours, and all of you started to pack your bags and leave for parts unknown.
"Jews go home, we don't want Jews, we want oil!" But before you leave, could you do me a favor? Would you leave behind your formula for the Salk vaccine with me before you leave? You wouldn't be so heartless as to let my children contract polio?
And would you leave your knack for government and politics, and persuasion and literature and your good food. And would you please leave me with the secret of your desire to succeed?
And please have pity on us. Please show us the secret of how to develop such geniuses as Einstein and Steinmetz and so many others who have helped us all. After all, we owe you a lot for the atomic bomb, most of our rocket research, and perhaps the fact that we are alive today. Instead, we could have been looking up from our chains and from our graves at Hitler, old but glad, driving slowly by in one of our cadillacs had he succeeded in reaching the atom bomb and not us.
On your way out, Jews, will you do me another favor? Will you please drop by my house and pick me up too? I'm sure I could not live in a land where you were not to be found. For if ever you were to leave, love goes with you, democracy and morality goes with you, everything me and my buddies fought for in World War II goes with you.
Just pull up in front of my house, slow down and honk because so help me, I'm going with you too.
Yours sincerely,
William Eiken.
Fellow Jews: Be proud of your heritage. Never apologize for who you are or where you came from. - JF
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