Take your Tefillin Anywhere!

Tefillin Beit EL's Tefillin Carrier is a must for anyone who travels with thier Tefillin:

A solid plastic container built especially for the protection of Tefillin. It's moisture- and water-proof, and protects against bangs, knocks, and other damaging contact. The lightweight weatherproof container is doubled-sealed, allowing you to carry your Tefillin anywhere.

You can put the T'fidanit on your shoulder, and stop worrying about forgetting your Tefillin. The T'fidanit can be attached to a school bag, backpack, or even a soldier's protective vest.

T'fidanit - Tefillin Carrier

Does God Exist?

Does God Exist?

The purpose of this brief study is to offer a logical, practical, pragmatic proof of the existence of God from a purely scientific perspective. To do this, we are assuming that we exist, that there is reality, and that the matter of which we are made is real. If you do not believe that you exist, you have bigger problems than this study will entail and you will have to look elsewhere.

See more at http://www.doesgodexist.org/

God hates Shrimp

And just when I thought I'd seen it all:

God Hates Shrimp

Shrimp, crab, lobster, clams, mussels, all these are an abomination before the Lord, just as gays are an abomination. Why stop at protesting gay marriage? Bring all of God's law unto the heathens and the sodomites. We call upon all Christians to join the crusade against Long John Silver's and Red Lobster. Yea, even Popeye's shall be cleansed. The name of Bubba shall be anathema.

Leviticus 11:9-12 says:
⁹ These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.
¹⁰ And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:
¹¹ They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.
¹² Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.

Deuteronomy 14:9-11 says:
⁹ These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:
¹⁰ And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.
¹¹ Of all clean birds ye shall eat.

--
Shalom!
John W. Leys

The Jewish Passion

Here's a site that offers a posative reaction to Gibson's "Passion of the Christ." While there is a section on Gibson's film and the history of Xian passion plays, there is also a wealth of information on Jews, Judaism and our "Passion for God."

The Jewish Passion

Poll: US public favors united Jerusalem

According to a poll conducted among 1000 respondents by McLaughlin& Associates for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 52% of Americans would be more likely to support a presidential candidate who is in favor of a united Jerusalem and defensible borders for Israel. 13% said these positions would make them less likely to support such a candidate. 21% said a candidate's position on these issues would make no difference to them.

Reminded that the tomb of Joseph in Nablus, the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, and the ancient synagogue in Jericho were "ransacked or desecrated" by the Palestinians since the start of the current violence, 60 % of the respondents said these events have made them "less trusting" of giving Jerusalem's Christian holy sites to the Palestinians. On another issue, 73% of the respondents agreed with the following statement: "Under a future Arab-Israeli peace agreement, Jerusalem should remain under Israeli sovereignty with freedom of religion for Christians, Muslim, Jews and all other faiths." Only nine percent of the respondents disagreed.

"The most astounding element of the survey is the massive, across the board support for Jerusalem remaining united under Israeli sovereignty when the question makes reference to religious freedom," Dore Gold, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said "Most Americans probably feel that were Israel to give up holy sites to the Palestinians it would be like turning it over to the Taliban."

The poll also found that 58% of the respondents became more sympathetic to Israel's struggle against terrorism following the 9/11 attacks in the US, while 24% said the attacks made no difference in their sympathy toward Israeli actions, and 13% said the attacks made them less sympathetic.

"I think the survey demonstrates the enormous emotional attachment of potential American voters to the issue of Israel, and particularly to preserving religious freedom in Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty," Gold said. "I think that what we see in the survey is that the Israeli factor is one of several very important emotional issues for large sectors of the American public."


The survey, conducted on Tuesday, had a 2-3% margin of error.

Read the full article at the Jerusalem Post Internet Edition

The New Black Panthers Protest Mel's Passion

This just in from the Protocols Blog:

"Oh, man, it just keeps getting better and better:

6 p.m. -- New Black Panther Party protests Mel Gibson's ``The Passion of the Christ'' for ``wrongfully depicting Christ as a white man''; Loews Theatre, 312 W. 34th St.

Can we get reader volunteers to attend the various protests and send back reports (and take pictures, if possible)?"

I have to admit even I didn't see that one coming. Somewhere Malcolm X is laughing his ass off.

And the reviews start pouring in

Benyamin Cohen of JewsWeek's The Yada Blog has written a review of an advanced screening of The Psssion of the Christ:

'Well, after walking out of an advance screening, my first comprehensible thought was this: I really want to kill a Jew.

In recent interviews, Gibson has been uttering the following mantra: "Wait until the film is released. You'll see that I don't blame the Jews." Well, Gibson not only goes out of his way to blame the Jews for Jesus' brutal crucifixion (albeit with a mostly accurate retelling of the gospels), but he goes so far as to portray the Romans as unwilling accomplices, which is, with certainty, a willful distortion of the original text. Meanwhile, Gibson depicts most of the Jews as an angry lynch mob which gains pleasure from watching a man writhe in pain and flood the ground with blood. It would take an act of God to incite more anti-Semitism than this film is sure to ignite.

But putting false claims of theological culpability and biblical fidelity aside, the film suffers from poor storytelling. Since the movie only depicts Jesus' final hours, we are given no background -- why did the Sanhedrin want him dead? What crimes did he commit to deserve such a gruesome death? All we're shown is these mean Jews who want to murder this nice young man.

Gibson pulls at the audience's heartstrings by force-feeding them pathos on a silver platter for a man we don't know. If all we see is people torturing someone, we're deprived of the entire chain of causal events. The film could've been about the crucifixion of Hitler and we would've felt bad for the guy...

[H]e opts to turn the story of Jesus from one of intense spirituality to one of brutal violence. The film feasts on the physical torture and not the metaphysical elevation. It's Gibson's obsession with sadomasochism on display for everyone to see in all its, um, gory.

This does a horrible disservice to the Christian community. By transforming the story from one filled with hope to one mired in rage, Gibson is teaching a new, and violent, Christian doctrine. Contrary to what you may have learned in Sunday School, he seems to be saying, Christianity is based on revenge, not love. This is nothing short of an embarrassment to our Christian brethren.'

The Full article can be read at:
Jesus Christ, Superstar?

Religious vs Civil Marriage

According to this report "President" Bush is endorsing a Constitutional Amendment that will ban same sex marriages. As a religious Jew I recognise that same sex marriages are forbidden by the Torah and strongly oppose any Rabbi that would preform such a ceremony, just as I would oppose any Rabbi who preformed an interfaith marriage, which is also forbidden by the Torah. But I don't like the idea of the Government making such destinctions concerning civil marriages. There is supposed to be a separation between Church and State in this country and I feel that those supporting this ammendment are doing so because of religious and not civil reasons. It seems to me that they have no more buisness telling homosexuals that they can't get married than they do telling Jews and Gentiles not to intermarry.

Gary Rosenblatt on whether Jewish leaders overreacted to Gibson film, and why it was still important for them to speak out. -- Beliefnet.com

Gary Rosenblatt on whether Jewish leaders overreacted to Gibson film, and why it was still important for them to speak out. -- Beliefnet.com

Aish.com and Gibson's Passion

Aish.com has a couple good articles in regards to Mel Gibson's soon to be released "Passion of the Christ." The first, Mel Gibson and the Jews by Rabbi Benjamin Blech offers a good summary and explanation of why many Jews are nervous about this film. To me the best portion of this piece is:

"Those who wonder whether Gibson hates Jews simply don't get it. It doesn't matter. Take Gibson at his word, if you want to, and accept his profession of friendship. He may like us. But that isn't the issue. What matters is what the film is going to accomplish. Simply put, I am told it is almost impossible to walk out of the theater without hating the villains -- and the villains are clearly identified as Jews."

The full article can be read Here.

Aish.com also has a concise history of Christian Passion Plays and their relationship to Christian Jew-Hatred:The_Passion_A_Historical_Perspective

Jews for Judaism

This is a site and organization I cannot recommend often enough nor highly enough. Jews for Judaism is one of the best anti-missionary groups around. The knowledge base on thier website is a wonderful primer on how to refute Christian Missionary claims. This is a must see site for all Jews.

Jews for Judaism

Bob Dylan's Unshakeable Monotheism -- Part III: The 1980s

This week JewsWeek posted the third installment of Scott Marshall's excellent study of Bob Dylan's spiritual Journey. Below are links to all 3 parts, hopefully the final installment will be along before too long.


Bob Dylan's Unshakeable Monotheism -- Part I:The 1960s
Bob Dylan's Unshakeable Monotheism -- Part II:The 1970s
Bob Dylan's Unshakeable Monotheism -- Part III:The 1980s

Mr. Picassohead

This is a cool little site for those with a creative bent.

Mr. Picassohead

:: John Kerry for President! ::

Its looking more and more that John Kerry is the Democrat with the best chance of beating "President" Bush. Therefore--since giving Dubya his pink slip is my #1 priority--he is the candidate that I will most likely be supporting if he wins the Democratic nomination (and I'd be suprised if he didn't at this point. But hey, anyone who hung out with John Lennon can't be that bad ;)

:: John Kerry for President - Welcome to JohnKerry.com! ::

BUSH A NO-SHOW AT ALABAMA BASE, SAYS MEMPHIAN

And now we have actual witnesses to attest to "President" Bush's no-show during his military "service."

Memphis Flyer :: Issue 781 :: BUSH A NO-SHOW AT ALABAMA BASE, SAYS MEMPHIAN

Mel Gibson says his wife could be going to hell

Well, I don't feel quite so bad now. Apparently Jews aren't the only ones going to Hell according to Mel Gibson. He seems to take the fairly fundamentalistic stance that Christians of the "wrong" denomination (ie Protestants, including his wife) are also condemned. One has to wonder though, if Mel is such a pious Catholic why did he marry an Episcopalian in the first place?

MSNBC - Mel Gibson says his wife could be going to hell

Jewish Rapper: 50 Shekel!

You have to love this. A Jewish rapper named '50 Shekel.'

"Aviad Cohen, the 28-year-old Israeli-American mastermind behind 50 Shekel, never intended to be a role model, despite his early attraction to entertainers with a positive message. Instead, he says, his act grew out of a deep love for Judaism's long tradition of keeping history alive. Rap, he says, is 'a great storytelling medium.'
...
'I will not stop doing this. I will keep doing this forever or until G-d decides that I should take a hiatus—a Hebrew hiatus as I call it. I am of service to G-d. I’m always going to be me and part of being me is being a Jew. So instead of changing everything and hiding from being a Jew, I decided to completely do the opposite, embrace it and not just embrace it, but speak out for our culture. It’s about celebrating the culture and celebrating the Jew life. I’m Jewing my best to make a difference, one rhyme at a time.'

You can read the entire BeliefNet article at:
50 Shekel, Heeb-Hop, Jewish rapper, music, Jewish youth
or visit his official site at http://www.50shekel.com/

Republican Promises

"The Democrats are the party that says government will make you
smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The
Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then
they get elected and prove it." - P. J. O'Rourke

The Jerusalem Report Magazine: Columnists : Columnists Article

Gershom Gorenberg's recent column in the Jerusalem Report gives good reason's why Bush's domestic policies aren't the only reason for American Jews not to vote for him. In his view four more years of Bush in the Whitehouse would be disasterous for Israel and definitely bad for the Jews.

Gershom Gorenberg: Dump Bush, Help Israel

Anti-Defamation League playing into Gibson's hands?

I ran across this article by way of the Protocols blog, who prefaced it with the comment:
And here is some critism of the ADL by Forward columnist, David Klinghoffer (The question is, why did he put this in the Seattle Times and not the ForwardÂ…):

Apparently Klinghoffer's theory is that the ADL is only making matters worse by drawing attention to Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" and that if they'd just left him and his film alone nobody would have wanted to see it in the first place. While its true that contraversy does increase ticket sales--Last Temptation of Christ is but one example--I cannot see how remaining silent in the face of possible antisemitism is an intelligent game plan.

The Seattle Times: Anti-Defamation League plays into Gibson's hands