Friday, October 15, 2010
An End to Israel’s Invisibility
New York Times
NEARLY 63 years after the United Nations recognized the right of the Jewish people to independence in their homeland — and more than 62 years since Israel's creation — the Palestinians are still denying the Jewish nature of the state. "Israel can name itself whatever it wants," said the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, while, according to the newspaper Haaretz, his chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said that the Palestinian Authority will never recognize Israel as the Jewish state. Back in 1948, opposition to the legitimacy of a Jewish state ignited a war. Today it threatens peace.
Mr. Abbas and Mr. Erekat were responding to the call by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for the Palestinians to recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, enabling his government to consider extending the moratorium on West Bank construction. "Such a step by the Palestinian Authority would be a confidence-building measure," Mr. Netanyahu explained, noting that Israel was not demanding recognition as a prerequisite for direct talks. It would "open a new horizon of hope as well as trust among broad parts of the Israeli public."[...]
NEARLY 63 years after the United Nations recognized the right of the Jewish people to independence in their homeland — and more than 62 years since Israel's creation — the Palestinians are still denying the Jewish nature of the state. "Israel can name itself whatever it wants," said the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, while, according to the newspaper Haaretz, his chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said that the Palestinian Authority will never recognize Israel as the Jewish state. Back in 1948, opposition to the legitimacy of a Jewish state ignited a war. Today it threatens peace.
Mr. Abbas and Mr. Erekat were responding to the call by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for the Palestinians to recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, enabling his government to consider extending the moratorium on West Bank construction. "Such a step by the Palestinian Authority would be a confidence-building measure," Mr. Netanyahu explained, noting that Israel was not demanding recognition as a prerequisite for direct talks. It would "open a new horizon of hope as well as trust among broad parts of the Israeli public."[...]
Thoughts about sinning are worse than doing the sin
Rambam (Moreh Nevuchim 3:8): It is a well‑known saying of our Sages (Yoma 29a) that the thoughts about sinning are more harmful than the sin itself.” I have a very good explanation of this. When a person transgresses or is disobedient it is typically because of accidents or physical lusts that are characteristic of his animal nature. However the power of thought is his most elevated aspect and is actually an aspect of the human essence. Therefore a person who sins in thought sins by means of his most elevated aspect. There is no comparison of the severity of sin of someone who wrongly causes a foolish slave to work as he who wrongly causes a distinguished free man to do the work of a slave…Therefore this gift of thought which G‑d gave to us in order to perfect ourselves and to learn and to teach must not be used in doing that which is the most degrading and disgraceful aspect of ourselves. We must not imitate the songs and stories of the foolish lustful nations of the world which are suitable for them but not for us - the kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Shemos 19:6). Therefore all those who utilize the faculty of thought or speech in matters which are disgraceful to us, or who thinks more than necessary about drinking or sexual relations or who gets involved in singing about these lowly things – is taking and utilizing divine gifts in rebellion against G‑d and His commandments.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
9th volume of Igros Moshe to be published soon
The Jewish Star
A new volume of the halachic responsa and letters of HaRav Moshe Feinstein zt”l will see the light of day thanks to his grandchildren.
The Belarus-born gadol hador, the greatest Torah leader of his generation, was 91 when he passed away on Ta’anis Esther in 1986. Rav Moshe’s reputation as the foremost posek, halachic decisor, and a beloved leader, radiated from the Lower East Side of Manhattan where he led Mesivta Tiferes Jerusalem for half a century while answering an unending stream of halachic questions from all over the world. Many of his decisions were published in a seven-volume collection of halachic responsa titled “Igros Moshe,” the “Answers of Moshe.” He resolved questions on an almost unimaginable array of subjects, from business and ethical disputes to complex medical issues and matters of life and death. One of Rav Moshe’s most famous opinions, still discussed at length today, permitted consumption of non-cholov yisroel milk, unsupervised during the milking process — though only in the United States.[...]
A new volume of the halachic responsa and letters of HaRav Moshe Feinstein zt”l will see the light of day thanks to his grandchildren.
The Belarus-born gadol hador, the greatest Torah leader of his generation, was 91 when he passed away on Ta’anis Esther in 1986. Rav Moshe’s reputation as the foremost posek, halachic decisor, and a beloved leader, radiated from the Lower East Side of Manhattan where he led Mesivta Tiferes Jerusalem for half a century while answering an unending stream of halachic questions from all over the world. Many of his decisions were published in a seven-volume collection of halachic responsa titled “Igros Moshe,” the “Answers of Moshe.” He resolved questions on an almost unimaginable array of subjects, from business and ethical disputes to complex medical issues and matters of life and death. One of Rav Moshe’s most famous opinions, still discussed at length today, permitted consumption of non-cholov yisroel milk, unsupervised during the milking process — though only in the United States.[...]
Part II The continuing saga of trying to produce the Abuse book
Yesterday I reported my decision to publish my book as an ebook because of the refusal of the traditional stores to carry it. However that too has turned into a dead end. After about 10 hours of unsuccessfully trying to convert my files into errorless ePUb files I have simply given up. On the surface the process is very simple. A word document is fed into a conversion program. 5 minutes later it produce an ePub formatted file. That file must be checked with ePubcheck to make sure that it has no errors. If there are any errors Barnes and Noble will not publish it. However since I have not succeeded in producing errorless files that is simply the end of that alternative. I am not so upset about this as ebooks are very difficult to navigate for large and complex books such as mine. Also most people would prefer to have a physical book.
Fortunately I discovered what seems to be a viable alternative - publishing on demand with Createspace (an Amazon company). They store your files and produce one book at a time and ship it anywhere in the world. The production cost is lower than other publishing on demand companies and it is very easy to do. They collect sales tax and there is an option of listing it on Amazon. The only downside is that they only produce softcover works.
I will be sending them the finished files next week - then they will produce a proof copy which I need to review and approve and then I am in business.
Because of their lower cost I will probably be selling the book at $25 or less. They also offer the service of selling the books to me at cost amd shipping them to anyone I wish - so that I can sell it to any store which is brave enough to carry it. In essence they have eliminated the need for a distributor or middleman.
The only issue which I am still wrestling with is that of some of the descriptions and language used in the book. One suggestion is simply to place a warning on those chapters which would make some people blush or get sick. On the other hand that is the nature of the beast and too many people are naive and are ignorant of what abuse is. They imagine some wild eyed psychotic monster attacking their child while he/she is walking down the wrong street late at night. David Morris has recently written about the issue of grooming. He has given me permission for that post to be included in my book. Others argue that any descriptions which upset people will sink the book so why sacrifice the whole project for the sake of realism? That is a good question which I am still wrestling with.
Fortunately I discovered what seems to be a viable alternative - publishing on demand with Createspace (an Amazon company). They store your files and produce one book at a time and ship it anywhere in the world. The production cost is lower than other publishing on demand companies and it is very easy to do. They collect sales tax and there is an option of listing it on Amazon. The only downside is that they only produce softcover works.
I will be sending them the finished files next week - then they will produce a proof copy which I need to review and approve and then I am in business.
Because of their lower cost I will probably be selling the book at $25 or less. They also offer the service of selling the books to me at cost amd shipping them to anyone I wish - so that I can sell it to any store which is brave enough to carry it. In essence they have eliminated the need for a distributor or middleman.
The only issue which I am still wrestling with is that of some of the descriptions and language used in the book. One suggestion is simply to place a warning on those chapters which would make some people blush or get sick. On the other hand that is the nature of the beast and too many people are naive and are ignorant of what abuse is. They imagine some wild eyed psychotic monster attacking their child while he/she is walking down the wrong street late at night. David Morris has recently written about the issue of grooming. He has given me permission for that post to be included in my book. Others argue that any descriptions which upset people will sink the book so why sacrifice the whole project for the sake of realism? That is a good question which I am still wrestling with.
Pledge of allegiance is American idea
YNET
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman stressed Thursday that "we did not invent the idea of pledging allegiance to the state," in response to criticism leveled at the Citizenship Act amendment.
Asked during a visit to Berlin of the essence of the amendment, which requires non-Jewish aspiring citizens to pledge allegiance to the State of Israel as a "Jewish and democratic" state, Lieberman pointed to the American pledge of allegiance. He noted that the Yisrael Beiteinu party is "willing to adopt the American law word for word."[...]
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman stressed Thursday that "we did not invent the idea of pledging allegiance to the state," in response to criticism leveled at the Citizenship Act amendment.
Asked during a visit to Berlin of the essence of the amendment, which requires non-Jewish aspiring citizens to pledge allegiance to the State of Israel as a "Jewish and democratic" state, Lieberman pointed to the American pledge of allegiance. He noted that the Yisrael Beiteinu party is "willing to adopt the American law word for word."[...]
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