Ask JTF for March 3, 2013 is ready, baruch Hashem

[Chaim Ben Pesach]

בס''ד

The program is 1 hour and 5 minutes this week:



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http://www.jtf.org/ask/2013-03-03.mp3

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[Mein Koran]

Friendly correction: Nigel Farage is not a libertarian, And he's anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage

[muman613]

I am shocked that the black community was upset about a 'blackface' Jew... They really loved it when Al Jolson would perform in 'blackface'. He was their hero and helped blacks on Broadway to the point he was recognized as a supporter of the black Americans....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_jolson

Al Jolson was born as Asa Yoelson (Yiddish: אַסאַ יואלסאָן) in the Jewish village of Srednik (Yiddish: סרעדניק) now known as Seredžius, near Kaunas in Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire. He was the fifth and youngest child of Moses Reuben and Naomi (Cantor) Yoelson; his four siblings were Rose, Etta, another sister who died in infancy, and Hirsch (Harry). Jolson did not know the date of his birth, so he later chose to celebrate it as May 26, 1886.[7]:17-18 In 1891, his father, who was qualified as a rabbi and cantor, moved to New York to secure a better future for his family. By 1894, Moses Yoelson could afford to pay the fare to bring Naomi and his four children to America. By the time they arrived, he had found work at the Talmud Torah Synagogue in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood of Washington, D.C., where the family was reunited.[7]:21-22

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He enjoyed performing in blackface makeup, a theatrical convention since the mid 19th century. With his unique and dynamic style of singing black music, such as jazz and blues, he was later credited with single-handedly introducing African-American music to white audiences.[1] As early as 1911 he became known for fighting against anti-black discrimination on Broadway. Jolson's well-known theatrics and his promotion of equality on Broadway helped pave the way for many black performers, playwrights, and songwriters, including Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, and Ethel Waters.

[muman613]

I have reproduced below the portion of the Haftorah (Prophets) which we read for Shabbat Ki Tisa (Parah Adumah)...

Please be aware that there may be names of G-d in the text below so please do not print out this page...


Ezekiel 36:16-38
16 The word of the Lord came to me: 17 O mortal, when the House of Israel dwelt on their own soil, they defiled it with their ways and their deeds; their ways were in My sight like the uncleanness of a menstruous woman. 18 So I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they shed upon their land, and for the fetishes with which they defiled it. 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: I punished them in accordance with their ways and their deeds. 20 But when they came to those nations, they caused My holy name to be profaned, in that it was said of them, "These are the people of the Lord, yet they had to leave His land." 21 Therefore I am concerned for My holy name, which the House of Israel have caused to be profaned among the nations to which they have come.

22 Say to the House of Israel: Thus said the Lord G-d: Not for your sake will I act, O House of Israel, but for My holy name, which you have caused to be profaned among the nations to which you have come. 23 I will sanctify My great name which has been profaned among the nations — among whom you have caused it to be profaned. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord — declares the Lord G-d — when I manifest My holiness before their eyes through you. 24 I will take you from among the nations and gather you from all the countries, and I will bring you back to your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your fetishes. 26 And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit into you: I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh; 27 and I will put My spirit into you. Thus I will cause you to follow My laws and faithfully to observe My rules. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers, and you shall be My people and I will be your G-d.

29 And when I have delivered you from all your uncleanness, I will summon the grain and make it abundant, and I will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will make the fruit of your trees and the crops of your fields abundant, so that you shall never again be humiliated before the nations because of famine. 31 Then you shall recall your evil ways and your base conduct, and you shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abhorrent practices. 32 Not for your sake will I act — declares the Lord G-d — take good note! Be ashamed and humiliated because of your ways, O House of Israel!

33 Thus said the Lord G-d: When I have cleansed you of all your iniquities, I will people your settlements, and the ruined places shall be rebuilt; 34 and the desolate land, after lying waste in the sight of every passerby, shall again be tilled. 35 And men shall say, "That land, once desolate, has become like the garden of Eden; and the cities, once ruined, desolate, and ravaged, are now populated and fortified." 36 And the nations that are left around you shall know that I the Lord have rebuilt the ravaged places and replanted the desolate land. I the Lord have spoken and will act.

Sepharadim end here

37 Thus said the Lord G-d: Moreover, in this I will respond to the House of Israel and act for their sake: I will multiply their people like sheep. 38 As Jerusalem is filled with sacrificial sheep during her festivals, so shall the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. And they shall know that I am the Lord.


I believe this portion was chosen for Shabbat Parah Adumah due to the connection of the Golden Calf to the Red Heffer, which is used to make the solution which is sprinkled on a person who has become impure through contact with a dead body. See the line in the portion above "25 I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your fetishes."...

[Ephraim Ben Noach]

Thank you Chaim,  I actually read the wrong Haftorah.