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Ask JTF for Sunday, October 4, 2009

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Yaacov Ben Yehuda:
Shalom Chaim,

a couple of questions this week:

1. What is your take on the kaparot ritual? you know the practice of swinging a live chicken over your head so that it will somehow take away your sins and then slaughtering this chicken.  To me it seems bizarre and not in the spirit of Judaism, but more in the spirit of voodoo you would see practiced in Haiti or Africa.  Besides the obvious facts that this is cruelty to animals which goes against the teachings of the Torah, I have done some research and found that some major sages such as Maimonides, Nachmanides, Joseph Ben Ephraim Karo, the Vilna Gaon, and many others were completely opposed to this ritual, calling it paganism that was probably rooted from the Canaanites or other goy tribes that had contact with the people of Israel.
considering that it is so controversial, then why is it still encouraged in many Jewish circles? wouldn't it be wise to just abstain from these kinds of rituals? I mean how can ones sins be transferred onto a chicken anyways? what's next, are we going to start believing in rabbits feet and four leaf clovers too??
please give us your insights, and also those held by Ha Rav Kahane zichrono le vracha...


2. Chaim I notice that u have made some humorous remarks about blacks in some of your segments that could be perceived by many people as offensive and racist. Whites and other races are often made fun of by blacks but rarely is it seen the other way around so in that sense it is refreshing and blacks shouldn't expect double standards. Considering that you came up in Brooklyn and Queens I'm sure that you felt a lot of Black racism against you as well as in prison so people should understand your anger. On the other hand, we must recognize that there are many blacks who stand with us like Alan Keyes and Reverend David Manning and the Blacks against Obama organization and there is a very large population of black Christian Americans that do not harbor any hatred towards the Jewish people. Do u feel that some of your jokes could be turning off this large population of Christian, conservative blacks as well as alienate Ethiopian Jews and other black Jews that could be potential supporters of the JTF. Have you ever considered dedicating one of your segments towards those in the black community who stand with us and reaching out to them?


Thanks and G-d Bless!
GZ

FreedomFighter08:
Dear Chaim,

A) Do you believe that every ethnic group should get its own state?
B) Do you believe that neo-merchantilism is a good economic and national ideology?

Manch:
Shalom Chaim,
This was my first Yom Kippur in Israel - what an unforgettable experience! The first evening of Yom Kippur I went to a Sephardi synagogue and the second day I spent at Ashkenazim temple - in both I felt among brothers!

I am afraid that I sound like an annoying broken record, but I really encourage you to put more efforts into finding your soul mate. You should see how many decent and great looking women are here in Israel.  I am certain that many of the decent right wing women would love your qualities even though you are a scrawny guy with a long distance commitment. But hey, this can easily be fixed with some whole wheat pasta and free weights! ;D

One more point - while observing Israeli and American youth, I 100% support your focus on Israel - Israel is where the future is for the Jewish people. What a great youth Israel has! America is as good as dead for Jews. You should know how often in Israel I hear French, Spanish and English (American, English, South African and Australian accents!)

May all your wishes come through in the New Year! May you be pleasantly surprised of how well your year went when you celebrate next Rosh HaShana! Shana Tova ve Gmar Hatima Tova!

dreidelhead:
Shalom Chaim,

Thanks so much for another great week of Ask JTF. I hope that the coming year brings you much closer to your goals.

Here are my questions for this week.

1)  Do you think the following scenario is too far-fetched?

Obama wants to lead the "New World Order". Two things stand in his way: Some 50% of the American people and Israel. Obama needs to flip one and get rid of the other to advance his socialist nightmare dream.

Now, the Obamunist and his demented party are already well into destroying America's economy. It stands on a shaky leg as is. He just needs to give that wobbly leg a knock to bring the whole economy crashing down, but he needs to do it in a way where he escapes blame.

Enter the oldest scapegoat in the world——the Jews; now better known as the State of Israel.

Obama and the rest of the world's evildoers have left Israel no option but to strike Iran. This could very well lead to the Persian Gulf and Arab oil fields going up in a cauldron of fire. Gas and oil prices shoot through the roof sending the already severely maimed American economy spiralling downward. The "recovery" that never was, falls completely apart, and America tumbles into a deep depression.

Obama says, "Hey things were going great until those arrogant Jews, I mean, Israelis, bombed Iran. And you know, just another couple of weeks of negotiations, and I know for a fact that we'd have had some real progress with Iran. What a shame! The Israelis really screwed us over."

The world and media join the 'blame Israel' game, complete with non-stop video and photos of poor Iranian and Palestinian collateral damage from the war. Soon Jews and Jewish interests are being attacked all over the world. The entire world unites against little Israel, and the rest, as the saying goes, is prophesy.

Sound far-fetched? Perhaps, but not nearly as far-fetched as it might have sounded eight months ago. What do you think?

Thanks and Chazak v’emahtz!

Dreidlehead

davinci:
Shalom Chaim

The arrest of film director Roman Polanski in Switzerland made the news around the world.

In 1977, while he was in the villa of Jack Nicholson with a 13-years-old girl, he gave drugs to her and raped her.
He was able to escape the USA and since then he is living in Paris travelling around Europe.
So I have the following questions:

1. Chaim, you are a moderate. If you were the judge, what kind of punishment would you give to Roman Polanski?
2. What do you think of the film "The Pianist" which won the Oscar in 2002?
3. What do you think of Polanski in general as an artist.

Regards

davinci

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