Ask JTF For February 1, 2009

[Gimatria]

Dear Chaim,
what are your thoughts on Haskel Lookstein participating in the national prayer service on the morning of Brobama's inauguration? As part of the service, Lookstein - who calls himself an orthodox Rabbi - prayed in the a church (the national cathedral), and "prayed" alongside so-called muslim "clerics" (read: terrorists). Does Lookstein deserve a hearty "yemach sh'mo" for this action? What other transgressions has he committed?
Also, what do you think of Shlomo Riskin? I had heard that he moved to live in Efrat - does this make him heroic?
Finally, what are your thoughts on Shmuli Boteach and his support for the Arch-pervert, Michael Jackson? Has Boteach ever done anything redeeming or noble?
Long live JTF,
Gimatria

[Masha]

Hi Chaim,

Sorry for the long question. I have a dearest friend from childhood who lives in Israel now. We maintain a regular phone contact and tend to have very long conversations of spiritual and philosophical nature. My friend has been very much into esoteric literature, which I don't know much about, but I am beginning to question the kind of literature she has been reading. For example, she has been studying Kabbalah and being very insistently that the concepts of the Good and Evil don't exist in Judaism, according to the Kabbalah. This sounds very "gnostic" to me, if you know what I mean. Chaim, I find it hard to believe that our great tradition and religion advocates that there is no evil in the world. I suspect that the Kabbalah has some very complex concept about balance or trial and correction or something like that that can only be properly understood in a proper context by a real Jewish scholar. But since I don't know what it is, I can't challenge her moral relativism. Can you please tell me what argument I can make against this idea? How should I answer her? I think it is not incidental that we fundamentally disagree on politics. There is no right and wrong for her. She feels sorry for the Arabs and belongs to some group that prays for peace together, sending "good vibes/energy/thoughts" to the Universe. I guess my larger question is about the legitimacy of all these esoteric/New Age books, ideas, and movements that are so incredibly popular today. Of course, I would also like to believe in paranormal abilities, secret knowledge, wish fulfillment, as in the movie "The Secret," but something tells me I should be very careful and not succumb to the temptation to embrace these philosophies. I also get a feeling that there is something apocalyptic about this esoteric hysteria. That we live in the end of times.

[davinci]

Shalom Chaim

What do you think of British filmdirector Alfred Hitchcock?

Kind regards

davinci

[Abben]

Hello Chaim On the ask JTF of 11-23-08 I asked about Michael Klenier. I missed that program and when I go to the archive it says 11-16-08 so I will ask again. I remember on the older JTF website and the shows on qptv you used to mention him but then stopped did you and him have a falling out thanks. G-D bless

[harel156]

Dear Chaim.
We are coming towards the next president’s day, a federal holiday. I, for one exclude Lincoln as a president that did good for the U.S.A. I do not understand why he is so revered? (Did you notice that Obama went to worship Lincoln before being sworn in!) Lincoln forced his dictatorial will on the south and started a war that cost more the 600,000 lives. The south wanted to separate from the north, and define their way of life, why did he not let them be? I can write more about this. What are your thoughts?

[MasterWolf1]

Hello brother Chaim,

Why are so many blacks attracted to Islam when Islam till now has slaved blacks and treat them like a dishrag? You would think that through that they would be natural enemies.. But instead, many of them like Malcome Exlax and Hussein Obama not only attract but many convert.

[KalmanBenMenachem]

Chaim,

First of all, thank you for answering everyone's questions and educating all who listen in the process. 

I have two questions this week:

(1) On recent "Ask JTF" broadcasts you have said that

A.  G-d sent the Holocaust to Europe's Jews to punish them because they refused to go to Israel, and
B.  G-d has punished the Kennedy Family due to Joseph Kennedy's refusal to use his influence to help Europe's Jews during the Holocaust, and G-d has subjected America's Jews to a spiritual Holocaust for the same reason.

Aren't these positions contradictory?

(2) The black hats say G-d sent the Holocaust because the Jews turned away from the Torah.  That sounds like a variation of your G-d sent the Holocaust because the Jews refused to go to Israel explanation.  Isn't it possible that G-d had nothing to do with the Holocaust, and it was just man exercising his free will?  By the same token, can't the same question be applied to America's disappearing Jewish population?

Todah rabah and shavuah tov,
Kalman Ben Menachem

[cjd]

Hello Chaim,
               I was listening to the end of an overnight talk show this week on WOR 710 and the host had a guest on called Shannon Taylor. It seems he is a judge here in N.Y.C but the thing that impressed me about him was his positions on Israel and the problems in Gaza. He was very outspoken on Israels behalf he was actually a ball of fire on the issue. The thing that spoiled it a bit at the end is that he seems very liberal on other issues here at home. Have you ever heard of this person? If so I would be interested in your opinion.                   G-d Bless           cjd

[4International]

Shalom brother Chaim,

what do you think of recent attempts by revisionist Croatian "historians" who engage in moral relativism by claiming that German occupied Serbia in World War 2 was no different to [non-occupied] Ustasha Croatia?

I have seen Croatian Ustasha Nazi apologists say things like "Belgrade [the capital of Serbia] was the first city in Europe to be declared Judenfrei" and they also say things like "Serbia issued antisemitic postage stamps during World War 2" . Bosnian muslims have also lately been claiming pretty much the same thing [falsely implying that the Serbs were the real Nazis during World War 2 and that the Croats, Bosnian & Albanian muslims were mostly fighting with Tito's communist partizans!!]


In fact many Croats are fond of quoting a 1993 book entitled "From Fairy Tale to Holocaust" written by a former Croatian Government Ministry of Information employee by the name of Ljubica [pronounced Liew - bit-sah] Stefan. During the 1990's Stefan was working not just for the Croatian government but also for a Croatian newspaper sympathetic to the regime of the Holocaust-denying, Ustasha and Hitler-apologist - Croatian president and revisionist "historian" , Franjo Tudjman, who died in 1999. These Croats boast that Stefan was awarded "Righteous Among the Nations" by Yad Vashem - implying that no matter what Stefan says or writes about the Serbs, it must be true. 

Likewise, Albanians have recently been claiming that "Albania was the only country in Europe to have more Jews in it after World War 2 than before"   so there is your "proof that we Albanians have proven ourselves to be heroic and pro-Jewish during the Holocaust".


What do you think of this historical revisionism campaign by the Croatian, Albanian and Bosnian muslim Nazi enemies of the Serbs? Considering how the UN and many mainstream liberal Jewish organizations in the US are actively assisting this campaign, how successful do you think it has been - and will ultimately be - in turning history upside down and turning the Jewish people - both in the US and Israel - against the Serbs?

[Minuteman]

Dear Chaim,

What did you think of Morton Downey Jr. and the Morton Downey Jr. show?

God Bless America, Israel, and the West

Minuteman

[drew_in_oregon]

Abortion does not seem to be mentioned very often in the JTF movement.  I am appalled that one of the very first things Obama did upon entering office was to dictate executive orders to make abortion easier.  Now we have the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" in congress.  What are your thoughts on the politics of this issue?  Is it completely moot in America because of Roe v. Wade.  What about in Israel?

Thanks!

[imaknick]

Will G-d let Iran get a nuclear bomb?

[Secularbeliever]

Shalom Chaim

I read the very upbeat article attached that shows that the Jewish population in Judea and Samaria has increased dramatically in the last few years.  Obviously this is despite the disasters of Gush Katif and the savagery of Amona.  Is it possible that the Jews are winning on the ground despite what we hear?  The article did not break down how much of the population growth is attributable to natural growth (new births) and how much to in migration but either way it seems good.  Is this just the natural tendency of Jews to thrive in adversity?  Is it an example of the concept that what we do as individuals is more important than who wins elections?  I can't help thinking that large numbers make later evacuation less likely and if Gush Katif had a population of 50 thousand or 100 thousand it would still be in Jewish hands today.

http://joesettler.blogspot.com/2009/01/more-good-news-for-jews.html

[Menachem]

Hello Chaim,

Of all the anti-Semitic movements, the one that alarms me the most (as an American) is the so-called "Black Hebrew Israelite" movement.

A few months ago, I posted a link to a YouTube video that showed a throng of these beasts tormenting a Jewish teenager until he was literally in tears. They laughed at the Holocaust and praised Hitler (yemach shemo vezichro). It took a long time but the video was finally removed.

Now, unfortunately, it is back up along with another video entitled "Black Dude Verbally Annihilates White Jewish Girl."




On top of that, there seems to be dozens of videos of these degenerate animals, where there was once only a few, which tells me this movement is clearly growing.

Chaim, I don't know if you have any experience with these swine or not, but they are unquestionably the most vicious anti-Semites I have ever seen. While Nazis and other Jew-haters often attempt to cloak their true motivations, these pigs are very honest with their extreme hatred of Jews. They openly talk of murder and often seem just a step away from outright violence, which will almost certainly happen sooner or later. My question is: What can be done to stop these dumb schvartzes? Flagging and reporting their filthy videos doesn't seem to do much because they always reappear. Has anyone ever checked to see if they even have a permit to "preach" in Times Square?

[takebackourtemple]

   Some Chabad Rabbis give up the comforts of living in a Jewish community to provide services for Jews that live in remote areas. There is a difference between doing this to reach out and settling in Brooklyn because it's convenient. In the past you have mentioned that what they do is honorable but it would be better if they moved to Israel. If their actions resulted in many more Jewish families returning to Judaism and a portion of them moving to Israel, do you still think it would be better for the rabbi to move to Israel with his family and leave the Jews in remote areas without a congregation?
   Have you been to any remote congregations where the Rabbi moved there with his family for the sole purpose of reaching out to Jews there?

[Zvulun Ben Moshe]

Chaim,

What do you think about this post http://jtf.org/forum_english/index.php/topic,30393.0.html?

Thank you.

[tykus1]

Shalom Chaim,

Although I'm not surprized, we should all be very suspicious that our new muslim president "flubbed" the oath while being sworn in only to have to "redo" the oath the next day.  The Oath must be repeated word for word exactly as it is in the US Constitution otherwise it may be considered invalid.  Curious that the chief muslim "mispoke" the oath while his right hand was on the Bible, but when repeating the process the next day did not have any of his hands on any Bible!.  He very conveniently and in a very subtle way got away with not swearing on the Bible, thus not making any committment under G_D.  Also, isn't it curious that the muslim's interview with the arab media brought out his muslim heritage, something that he tried his hardest to hide during the campaign!!

As we all suspected him to be, a phony dangerous lowlife who now has the power to finish this country and Israel as well. 

G_D bless us all.