I can't speak for others here at JTF but personally I have felt a lot of animosity between some long term JTF members. I am disappointed by this because I am one who davens each day for Jewish unity, and peace in Jerusalem and the world. When brothers and sisters fight amongst each other, for petty reasons {like honor and fame}, it damages the fabric of the world, and more specifically it damages the possibility that we will witness the coming of Moshiach.
We all have disagreements with those around us in life. How many of us have problems with our own immediate families? In my older age I have learned to put aside my hurts from childhood and to move on, to honor my parents properly, as the Torah instructs us to. I have always recommended to JTF members to make sure that they have some connection with their parents. There is a Torah reason for this, but I will save it for a later time.
The Torah also commands the Jew to love his neighbor. Of course the sages interpret neighbor to mean our fellow Jew. So those readers who are Jewish must take care not to offend another Jew, and if you yourself feel insulted, please try to withhold lashing back. Because to do so may be a chillul Hashem.
But we are dealing with JTF members, and we are a bunch who often has a finger on the trigger. In a world where we feel attacked day in and day out we must act in order to defend ourselves. It is an important Jewish trait of self defense which the Talmud itself brings, that if one rises to kill you then you are commanded to rise early and kill the one who plots to kill you. But this is referring to physical killing of another. It is possible to kill someone with words. And this is why our sages learned from the Torah the laws of Lashon Hara. It is said one who speaks Lashon Hara kills three people, the one who spoke, the one who heard, and the one spoken about.
The Jewish people are strong and thrive when we allow each Jew to shine his special light into the world. I am not talking about liberal and progressives who attempt to bend the Torah to their world view. I am saying that every Jew who we can consider our neighbor {having ideas and beliefs similar to ourselves} must be given honor and respect.
I have been guilty of disrespecting some here. And I am very sorry because I really do regret my errors. I apologize to any Jew specifically, and any gentile more generally. People who know me know I love virtually all humanity and have the desire to see people succeed. Hashem has dealt kindly with me for the most part and I thank Hashem every day for the skills and the intellect he has granted me. Everyone needs to look at the good in their life and appreciate it. The word Jew comes from the Hebrew Yehuda, which contains the hebrew base Hoda which means to say thank you.
Let us be thankful that we have a forum where we can share our ideas. JTFs ideas are not mainstream and there are very few places where we can discuss these topics without fear. I would like to ask for every member involved in the recent Machlokes to step away from the keyboard and think about Jewish Unity.
Thank you,
MUMAN613
http://www.jewishmag.com/21mag/mendel/mendel.htm
Still, I wondered, how did the tribe of Judah get its name. As it is related in the Book of Genesis, when Leah, the first wife of Jacob, bore him his fourth son, she was extraordinarily happy. Jacob had four wives and twelve sons were destined to be born from his seed. Therefore, by being blessed with four sons, she now bore a greater share in the future Jewish tribes than the other three wives. In her joy she exclaimed, "This time let me gratefully praise (odeh) G-d! Therefore she called his name Judah" (Gen.29:35) meaning praise. The root word " Hodeh" means thanksgiving as well as praise and it is used in colloquial Hebrew today. (i.e. todah meaning thank you). So the first characteristic I found in the name Jew is the idea of praising G-d and a sense of gratefulness for being given perhaps more than one deserves.
