Conflicts & tensions of the formerly religious

Haaretz

One cold night in Jerusalem about two years ago, I fell into a deep sleep. After what seemed like just a few minutes, I woke up. Terrified. In the twilight between slumber and wakefulness, a hand was placed over my closed eyes in an unmistakable gesture. It happened in an instant, but that recollection of the specific gesture that accompanies the recitation of "Shema Yisrael" - of four fingers covering one eye and the thumb covering the other, like a roof - shook me up. After all, the last time I said the prayer before going to sleep was over 25 years ago.

I have since forgotten most of the text, except, of course, for its impressive beginning: "Hear O Israel, the Lord is your God the Lord is one," which I would probably be able to recite even if I lost my memory.

In the darkness, after the confusion had passed, I tried to understand the significance of this message, risen from the depths of my consciousness. It was not a pleasant memory or a kind of childhood nostalgia, but rather reflected distress I had felt in the past, provoked by the fear that I had fallen asleep without saying the "Shema." I wondered what else remained there, deep inside the drawer of the life experiences of the child with the long, pinned-back braid that I used to be. Through the curtain that had lifted momentarily, I discovered the traces of fear that had been an inseparable part of my religious life. Fear that was constantly inculcated in the pure souls of the girls at the Bais Yaakov seminary in Tel Aviv where I studied - and in me as well. [...]

Abuse in Beit Shemesh - Jonathan Rosenblum

There is a very important discussion on the David Morris's Tzedek Tzedek blog concerning child abuse

Jonathan Rosenblum was severely criticized by Michael Leshier for in an earlier article in the Jerusalem Post and this is his defense - comments to it are especially interesting.

I am not taking sides but will just note that the people involved are all sincere and articulate. Nonetheless there are children who have been harmed

Harvard online class in morality

NYTimes

Many of the 14,000 or so students who have taken Harvard's wildly popular course "Justice" with Michael J. Sandel over the years have heard the rumor that their professor has a television avatar: Montgomery Burns, Homer Simpson's soulless ghoul of a boss at Springfield's nuclear power plant.

The joke, of course, is that Mr. Sandel — who at one time or another taught several future writers for Fox's "Simpsons" and shares a receding hairline with the evil-minded cartoon character — is the anti-Burns, a moral philosopher who has devoted his life to pondering what is the right thing to do.

Now Mr. Sandal gets to play himself on television, not to mention online, as Harvard and public television stations across the country allow viewers to sit in on his classroom discussions about Wall Street bonuses and Aristotle, same-sex marriage and Kant, for the next 12 weeks. [,,,]

Justice - Michael Sandel

Neuroscience - metaphoric thinking & phantom limb

TED

Rav Moshe Sternbuch:Yom Kippur - getting favorable din

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Eternal Jewish Family rescues women captives with assistance of Lev L'Achim

Yeshiva World News

Jerusalem, Israel - In a bold initiative to rescue Israeli women drawn into marriages with Arab men that have horrifying consequences, the Eternal Jewish Family International (EJFI) has partnered with Lev L'Achim in a dramatic effort to rescue many of these women. For decades, Israeli women of both Orthodox and secular backgrounds have been lured into relationships with Arab men only to find themselves mistreated and abused. The Lev L'Achim organization has become a key force in their rescue. Lev L'Achim has set up a hotline for family members and friends of the victims and frequently for the victims themselves. "Our hotline is published in newspapers, mentioned in lectures throughout the city, and advertised on pay phones, even in Arab villages when possible," says an active leader in Lev L'Achim. "We're trying to reach every woman that needs our help to let her know that she doesn't have to handle her situation alone." With EJFI's involvement, Rabbi Mordechai Neugroschel acts as staff advisor and counsels women involved in interfaith relationships. Horrific stories of their abuse make the headlines, but are sometimes not enough to prevent these women from allowing their relationships to progress [...]

Reb Aryeh Levine - Movie of his life

Obama - Songs of praise taught in public school

Fox News

Song 1:
Mm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said that all must lend a hand
To make this country strong again
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said we must be fair today
Equal work means equal pay
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said that we must take a stand
To make sure everyone gets a chance
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said red, yellow, black or white
All are equal in his sight
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

Yes!
Mmm, mmm, mm
Barack Hussein Obama

Song 2:
Hello, Mr. President we honor you today!
For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say "hooray!"

Hooray, Mr. President! You're number one!
The first black American to lead this great nation!

Hooray, Mr. President we honor your great plans
To make this country's economy number one again!

Hooray Mr. President, we're really proud of you!
And we stand for all Americans under the great Red, White, and Blue!

So continue ---- Mr. President we know you'll do the trick
So here's a hearty hip-hooray ----

Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!

Anusim & Chabad - Latin American Jews

CNN - please read this accompanying text regarding anusim

Animal rights activists posken against Kapparot

YNet

Animal activists from 'Let the Animals Live' collect halachic opinions from Rabbi Ovadia Yosef claiming that harm brought to chickens during Yom Kippur ceremony should be kept to minimum. Group asks chief rabbis to instruct public to convert chicken-swinging custom into alternative of giving charity

The animal rights organization Let the Animals Live petitioned Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger and Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar to instruct their followers to prevent the suffering of chickens used in the Yom Kippur holiday's Kapparot (atonement) custom and to give money to charity as a replacement for slaughtering the animals.

The letter from the organization to the rabbis read: "Every year we turn to the highest echelons of the religious leadership, but the abuse continues. It is our moral obligation, together with the rabbis, to take action to limit the great suffering of the chickens on the eve of the new year."

Marshmallows & Importance of self-control

New Yorker article

Climbing a mountain - without legs

Chris Waddell

Women's greater freedom & unhappiness

New York Times

In the early '70s, breaking out of the domestic cocoon, leaving their mothers' circumscribed lives behind, young women felt exhilarated and bold.

But the more women have achieved, the more they seem aggrieved. Did the feminist revolution end up benefiting men more than women?

According to the General Social Survey, which has tracked Americans' mood since 1972, and five other major studies around the world, women are getting gloomier and men are getting happier.[...]

Rav Sternbuch Preparing for Rosh Hashana

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