Chit Chat

By Ted Belman

From now on comments on every post must relate to the content of the post.

Comments that don’t relate to the post must go here.

Any person who contravenes this demand will be put on moderation. Also their offending comment will be trashed.

The reason for this demand is so that people who want to read comments which pertain to the post, don’t have to wade through the chatter.

Everyone will be happier.

April 16, 2020 | 7,783 Comments »

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50 Comments / 7783 Comments

  1. @ mrg3105:

    @ mrg3105:

    You can be an American or Jewish, not both

    What does this response have to do with my comment?
    @ mrg3105: I know there is still this male pride ego thing – prevents from ‘crying out’.

    Don’t underestimate the role of woman. Esther, Miriam, Ruth – those names ring a bell? Expect more women like them to surface again.

    You can be an American or Jewish, not both

    That’s quite an insult to these guys

    https://youtu.be/0KnIx-PQxN8

    I have never been an American but I certainly would not insult many wonderful Jewish Americans – I can sift throught the good and bad and not paint everyone with the same brush.

    The problematic nature of this is that the general ‘illness’ of the Arab society is causing the individuals (the ‘symptoms’) within it to be aggressive towards Israel. People often quote that there are over a billion Muslims in the World, yet the number that would assault Israel has been but a very small percentage of this, and even when they did, the assault was largely ineffective because individuals involved were not really committed to the violence against EY or AY as a group (e.g. 1973).

    Your starting to sound like Justin Trudeau. You go ahead and focus on the Muzzies who in your opinion would not slit our throats since it is only a small percentage of 1 or 2 billion that would. What a dumb statement. The so called small percentage of Germans that were willing to kill the Jews certainly were able to put a large dent in our population wouldn’t you say??

  2. mrg3105 Said:

    You can be an American or Jewish, not both

    You have cruelly maligned Dove !!!!!!!! She is a Canadian.

    Can you be Jewish and Texan?

  3. honeybee Said:

    mrg3105 Said:
    A. because Jewish whips don’t ‘snap’,
    B. because I hadn’t used it yet
    C. Because it’s old and limp

    Everything is big in Texas, including assholes

  4. dove Said:

    @ mrg3105: I know there is still this male pride ego thing – prevents from ‘crying out’.

    Dove, you have to choose

    You can be an American or Jewish, not both

  5. @ mrg3105:

    Had Am Yisrael cried out in 1933-45, Moshiakh would have come in 1946…he didn’t.

    🙂 Fast forward 75 years. Get ready for Moshiakh. I know there is still this male pride ego thing – prevents from ‘crying out’. I took a detour around that! Not waiting for another holocaust!

  6. honeybee Said:

    mrg3105 Said:
    ‘cracking of a whip’,
    Sugar, I hate inform you, but your whip ain’t got no snap !!!!!!!!!!

    A. because Jewish whips don’t ‘snap’,

    B. because I hadn’t used it yet

  7. dove Said:

    @ mrg3105:
    Just a reminder that being Jewish I don’t deal in beliefs.
    Wrong choice of words. Should of said ‘I think”.

    There is no justification for Jews living in Israel if you only think of it in terms of the ‘Holocaust’ as commonly perceived.
    The vast number of its victims went to their deaths never having cried out to HaShem

    It is not only the Holocaust that has precipitated the return to our homeland. I disagree that there was no crying out. Many continued to sing the song of returning to Jerusalem. Sorry….couldn’t find that clip but it was posted here recently.

    Again I disagree that we have not hit the crying out stage. Women certainly have!
    I agree the holocaust started before and it is still not finished. Israel is still technically dealing with the end of WWII before we have WWIII.
    I think that this time the plans will not prevail. Hashem will step in. I have experienced it in my life so I have the proof for me.

    Dove, with all due respect, you are not thinking conceptually.

    Had Am Yisrael cried out in 1933-45, Moshiakh would have come in 1946…he didn’t.

  8. yamit82 Said:

    Abraham sinned by making a treaty with Avimelech, his children and grandchildren and he gave them seven sheep G-d was angered because the land , with Avimelech of the Pelishtim was in the borders of the Land Of Israel That G-d had given to Abraham and his descendents. G-d had commanded them “do not allow any to live… “!!! (Deut 20:16)
    Punishment Israel would not conquer those lands for 7 generations and 7 great leaders of Israel would die violently. The Rashbam concludes that the Akaida was a test of obedience derived from faith.

    You got this from whom?
    Avram didn’t OWN the land yet. However, he did have ruakh hakodesh
    See Devarim 12:20

    mrg3105 Said:
    Am Yisrael cried out…
    Euphemism for state of suffering, nothing more!!!!

    Say you

    [An answer] They had to learn what ‘really bad’ is like so they could be really good.
    Yes an answer but unfortunately the wrong one. They had to personally witness the great power of G-d. Giving the Torah was indeed a matter for weeks; for it to be accepted, dozens or even hundreds of years had to pass, and some say – it still hasn’t been really accepted.

    And the saving of Yosef was not enough?

    “Giving the Torah was a one-time act, a ceremony. It isn’t a process;

    Israel Scheib was wrong. It is a 40-step process

    Our conflict with the Arabs is NOT territorial it is theologically based.
    If you were right, there wouldn’t be any Mizrakhi, Maghrebi, Mitzri or Turkie Jews left by now.
    Then you are ignorant of Islam go and study.

    LOL

    Had they refused, they would have retained the mentality of slaves, and there were already large populations of slaves in the World. HaShem needed His own slaves, not Pharaohs slaves.
    G-d does not need or want slaves nor more angels he does want obedient servants. He does not want or expect perfection that’s why in Judaism the path is what is important not the results. We are a work in progress and HaShems experimental mice.
    There is collective responsibility and collective punishment.
    What is your source for this?
    Ha Ha The Tanach for starters and all of Jewish History including the Shoah!!

    Could you narrow it down to perhaps a verse or a sugiya?

    Not only for the Jews but for their Gentile friends and enemies as well.
    Holocaust is a prime example.

    In what way?
    OY!!!!!!

    EXPLAINING THE UNEXPLAINABLE:
    THE SHOAH AND LOVE OF THE EXILE

    Sorry, I don’t have the time to read Mark and Jesse’s take on Jewish history.

    I gather your oy is a retort to my nu, but my nu means something, though not if you use the Ashkenazi siddur.
    What does oy mean?

  9. @ mrg3105:

    I also come from a family of lawyers

    Trade ya. I come from a family of anti-Semitic dentists. You can have my ex-family and I’ll take yours! 🙂

  10. @ mrg3105:

    Just a reminder that being Jewish I don’t deal in beliefs.

    Wrong choice of words. Should of said ‘I think”.

    There is no justification for Jews living in Israel if you only think of it in terms of the ‘Holocaust’ as commonly perceived.
    The vast number of its victims went to their deaths never having cried out to HaShem

    It is not only the Holocaust that has precipitated the return to our homeland. I disagree that there was no crying out. Many continued to sing the song of returning to Jerusalem. Sorry….couldn’t find that clip but it was posted here recently.

    Again I disagree that we have not hit the crying out stage. Women certainly have!

    I agree the holocaust started before and it is still not finished. Israel is still technically dealing with the end of WWII before we have WWIII.

    I think that this time the plans will not prevail. Hashem will step in. I have experienced it in my life so I have the proof for me.

  11. yamit82 Said:

    He does not want or expect perfection

    Free will, it ain’t the Marines ????

    yamit82 Said:

    HaShems experimental mice

    We in a tortuous maze controlled be an maniacal god, sounds like the Mayan religion.

  12. Abraham sinned by making a treaty with Avimelech, his children and grandchildren and he gave them seven sheep G-d was angered because the land , with Avimelech of the Pelishtim was in the borders of the Land Of Israel That G-d had given to Abraham and his descendents. G-d had commanded them “do not allow any to live… “!!! (Deut 20:16)

    Punishment Israel would not conquer those lands for 7 generations and 7 great leaders of Israel would die violently. The Rashbam concludes that the Akaida was a test of obedience derived from faith.

    mrg3105 Said:

    Am Yisrael cried out…

    Euphemism for state of suffering, nothing more!!!!

    [An answer] They had to learn what ‘really bad’ is like so they could be really good.

    Yes an answer but unfortunately the wrong one. They had to personally witness the great power of G-d. Giving the Torah was indeed a matter for weeks; for it to be accepted, dozens or even hundreds of years had to pass, and some say – it still hasn’t been really accepted.

    “Giving the Torah was a one-time act, a ceremony. It isn’t a process; it was a miraculous event, an act of Divine grace bringing together the time, the people and the conditions that were right for the gift. An act of genesis is at the basis of the entire description of the giving of the Torah. It isn‚t the continuation of a chain of events but the breaking of a chain.

    one does not decide on ideas. Ideas are given by revelation and they exist. You decide and fight for their acceptance, to spread them or allow them to penetrate. Therefore Mt. Sinai was held over the heads of the nation during the giving of the Torah [in the legend in which Israel was offered a choice between the Torah or being buried under the mountain], because the Torah is not the result of evolution, during which all the right conditions were quietly and calmly prepared till the bodies were ready and eagerly awaiting it. It is always a revolution, meaning something coming in opposition to what the nation is ready for and consciously desires.

    Now, from the world of the Torah in general to one part of it: sovereignty. But great is the distance from this new revelation to its acceptance. And apparently it, too, must pass through two stages: first the stage of being forced upon the people from above, and only afterwards, the stage of learning it from below, from inside.

    And if you want to know where we stand today on our journey through the desert, let it be told: we are standing before the golden calf”. Israel Eldad

    Our conflict with the Arabs is NOT territorial it is theologically based

    .

    If you were right, there wouldn’t be any Mizrakhi, Maghrebi, Mitzri or Turkie Jews left by now.

    Then you are ignorant of Islam go and study.

    Had they refused, they would have retained the mentality of slaves, and there were already large populations of slaves in the World. HaShem needed His own slaves, not Pharaohs slaves.

    G-d does not need or want slaves nor more angels he does want obedient servants. He does not want or expect perfection that’s why in Judaism the path is what is important not the results. We are a work in progress and HaShems experimental mice.

    There is collective responsibility and collective punishment.

    What is your source for this?

    Ha Ha The Tanach for starters and all of Jewish History including the Shoah!! 🙂

    Not only for the Jews but for their Gentile friends and enemies as well.
    Holocaust is a prime example.

    In what way?
    OY!!!!!! 🙂

    EXPLAINING THE UNEXPLAINABLE:

    THE SHOAH AND LOVE OF THE EXILE

  13. honeybee Said:

    mrg3105 Said:
    In modern Israel no one has ‘cried out’ yet. Haredim may say they do, but they are not prepared to fight for it as Avram and Moshe did, so they don’t matter.
    So immigrate Israel and cry out!!!! I dislike those who forever complain , yet never offer solutions.

    Did I complain?
    Its a case of “easier said than done” for me.

  14. dove Said:

    @ mrg3105:
    I believe the ‘crying out’ did occur during the Holocaust – hence we are being returned to our homeland. How else can you justify the Jewish people thriving in Israel amidst so much terror and surrounded by enemies? It is Hashem slowly at work with us. Shabbat Shalom! Have a good weekend!

    Just a reminder that being Jewish I don’t deal in beliefs.

    There is no justification for Jews living in Israel if you only think of it in terms of the ‘Holocaust’ as commonly perceived.
    The vast number of its victims went to their deaths never having cried out to HaShem. But, historical perspectives are somewhat distorted by perceptions influenced by trauma.

    Collectively we aren’t at the ‘cried out’ stage of our galut.

    Consider for example that the 1933-45 Holocaust is not the WHOLE Holocaust, which is in fact the parallel expereince to that of Mitrayim. It started much earlier, and hasn’t ended yet.

  15. yamit82 Said:

    mrg3105 Said:
    “AY” Egyptian Pharaoh?

    Am Yisrael cried out…

    Question for you oh Great Tamid Chacham… Who placed the Jews in Egypt in the first place?

    HaShem

    For What purpose?

    [An answer] They had to learn what ‘really bad’ is like so they could be really good.

    Why did HaShem think it necessary to test Abraham with the ‘Akaida’?

    Love

    What was G-d’s punishment?

    God’s punishment?

    May refer to the midrash of HaShem forcing the Jews to accept the Torah by threatening to kill the Hebrews if they refused to accept?

    Had they refused, they would have retained the mentality of slaves, and there were already large populations of slaves in the World. HaShem needed His own slaves, not Pharoh’s slaves.

    Cried out my ass!!!!

    I have great admiration for the asses; very loyal, social, clever and hard working animals. Perhaps I can acquire one when I move to EY. They are not usually noisy, and when vocalising, are not always loud.

    Our conflict with the Arabs is NOT territorial it is theologically based.

    If you were right, there wouldn’t be any Mizrakhi, Maghrebi, Mitzri or Turkie Jews left by now.

    There is collective responsibility and collective punishment.

    What is your source for this?

    Not only for the Jews but for their Gentile friends and enemies as well.
    Holocaust is a prime example.

    In what way?

    Appears u have learned nothing and forgot nothing. 😛

    If you think about it, ‘forgetting nothing’ is I think cognitivelly impossible 🙂
    I don’t have an eidetic memory B”H

    nu

  16. @ mrg3105:

    I believe the ‘crying out’ did occur during the Holocaust – hence we are being returned to our homeland. How else can you justify the Jewish people thriving in Israel amidst so much terror and surrounded by enemies? It is Hashem slowly at work with us. Shabbat Shalom! Have a good weekend!

  17. yamit82 Said:

    “AY” Egyptian Pharaoh? Murdered his predecessor and was himself probably murdered by his own son

    Ay was killed in a military coup. Still popular even today in modern Egypt.

  18. mrg3105 Said:

    In modern Israel no one has ‘cried out’ yet. Haredim may say they do, but they are not prepared to fight for it as Avram and Moshe did, so they don’t matter.

    So immigrate Israel and cry out!!!! I dislike those who forever complain , yet never offer solutions.

  19. mrg3105 Said:

    In both cases the groups of people concerned had denied HaShem, and yet both Avram and Moshe had sought to offer the offenders every opportunity to avoid HaShem’s punishment. [Note the ‘cried out’ used in the story of Gemora and that of AY in Mitzrayim]

    What a load of Gibberish….Cried out? Ha Ha “AY” Egyptian Pharaoh? Murdered his predecessor and was himself probably murdered by his own son. Oh you must mean he was a monotheist reformer? I doubt it? Even so there is no evidence that their god was the same as the Hebrew one. One size does not fit all. Neither do the christians or Muslims believe in the same god as the Jews whether they are monotheistic or not.

    Cried out??? Question for you oh Great Tamid Chacham… Who placed the Jews in Egypt in the first place? For What purpose? Why did HaShem think it necessary to test Abraham with the ‘Akaida’? What was G-d’s punishment? May refer to the midrash of HaShem forcing the Jews to accept the Torah by threatening to kill the Hebrews if they refused to accept? Cried out my ass!!!! Lastly I make the point that your point is irrelevant even inane.

    “As I live, saith the L-rd, G-d, surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, will I be king over you. And I will bring you out from the peoples… with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm and fury poured out.” (Ezekiel 20)

    Therefore say unto the House of Israel: Thus saith the L-rd, G-d: I do this not for your sake O House of Israel, but for My Holy Name… And I will sanctify My great Name which hath been profaned among the nations which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the L-rd, saith the L-rd, G-d, WHEN I SHALL BE SANCTIFIED THROUGH YOU BEFORE THEIR EYES. For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries and will bring you into your own land.” (Ezekiel 36)

    “You have shamed me, King of Khazars… For the Divine presence was prepared to descend upon the world as in the beginning, had all the Jews agreed to return to the Land with a willing heart. But only some returned and their leaders remained in Babylon desiring the Exile and their labor in order not to be separated from their homes and affairs.” (Yehuda Halevi, Sefer Hakuzari)

    Our conflict with the Arabs is NOT territorial it is theologically based. There is collective responsibility and collective punishment. Not only for the Jews but for their Gentile friends and enemies as well. Holocaust is a prime example. Appears u have learned nothing and forgot nothing. 😛

    “Ephraim, he mixes himself with the peoples; Ephraim is become a cake not turned. Strangers have devoured his strength and he knoweth it not.” (Hosea 7)

  20. mrg3105 Said:

    I want to yak, but growing long hair and living off last year’s frozen grass in the Himalayas isn’t really my thing 🙂

    Appears Yakking is your thing afterall. How’s the grass:?
    mrg3105 Said:

    I also come from a family of lawyers 🙂

    If you really knew me, you would rethink the “you are a comedian” characterisation 🙂

    Unless they spell differently in Australia characteriusation is spelled characteriZation 😉

    I come from a family of gangsters and villains, so what’s your point if any? Lawyers have no sense of humor unless they come with high fees?

    Comedian: A comedian or comic, is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy. Wikipedia

    I think you qualify even without knowing you. 😀 😛

  21. mrg3105 Said:

    I want to yak, but growing long hair and living off last year’s frozen grass in the Himalayas isn’t really my thing 🙂

    Appears Yakking is your thing afterall. How’s the grass:?

  22. @ mrg3105:

    The title of the video is somewhat incorrect. You would have to see it to know what I mean. It does explain how the situation got corrected and the advertising campaign in nearby countries to discourage migrants. It’s a good video. Good for Australia for fixing the problem without just letting possible innocents die.

  23. dove Said:

    @ mrg3105:
    I know. If you took the time to listen to the 5 min video I posted it explains just that.

    I summarised for everyone that didn’t listen to the video

  24. @ dove:

    Australia does not have a 0 tollerance to migrants.
    It has a controlled immigration program.
    What it has is a 0 tollerance for is people seeking to avoid the formal immigartion process through entering the country using people smugglers by claiming POLITICAL refugee status which Australia is obligated to satisfy but in fact being ECONOMIC refugees.

    Moreover, there is the issue of security risk when people who are neither POLITICAL nor ECONOMIC refugees seeking entry.

    Under the Labour governments the gates of Australia were flung open, and this has now been corrected.

  25. @ Dove,

    In both cases the groups of people concerned had denied HaShem, and yet both Avram and Moshe had sought to offer the offenders every opportunity to avoid HaShem’s punishment. [Note the ‘cried out’ used in the story of Gemora and that of AY in Mitzrayim]

    In modern Israel no one has ‘cried out’ yet. Haredim may say they do, but they are not prepared to fight for it as Avram and Moshe did, so they don’t matter.

    The case with Arabs is different.
    They are more monotheistic than the Xtians, and their dispute is over land ownership, not simple case of being ‘evil’ and seeking destruction.

    Despite some individuals being clearly evil, the case is taken as one of representing the entire group (shtuk), so judging the entire group is not like judging the individual.

    There are then two very different problems involved: defence of the Land and People of Israel, and resolution of the claim for property. The first deals with individuals, the second with the group.

    Torah does not provide for wanton destruction of civilians even in a war of conquest. On the other hand the Torah insists on proactive pre-emptive action to prevent assaults.

    The problematic nature of this is that the general ‘illness’ of the Arab society is causing the individuals (the ‘symptoms’) within it to be aggressive towards Israel. People often quote that there are over a billion Muslims in the World, yet the number that would assault Israel has been but a very small percentage of this, and even when they did, the assault was largely ineffective because individuals involved were not really committed to the violence against EY or AY as a group (e.g. 1973).

    I’m not a medical person, but I think of it as an analogy where a general illness is causing specific debilitating symptoms in a patient. Continually treating the symptoms without addressing the cause of the general illness WILL kill the patient.

    In such a case the root cause needs to be addressed as a priority.

    THIS is not being done by either the UN, the international community, or Israeli Government. And, the longer the ‘disease’ persists, the more desperate the ‘patient’ becomes. Use of UN facilities in Gaza (and likely elesewhere) essentially compromised the role the UN is supposed to play in regard to the Arab displaced population; the ‘patient’ has started to tell the ‘doctor’ what to do.

    There needs to be a different solution for the sake of those Arabs who are not out to butcher every Jew in EY. I think this is an attainable strategic result by other means than either warfare or ‘negotiation’. Unfortunatelly communicating the solution is somewhat difficult when the people who’s job it is will not respond.

  26. @ mrg3105:

    Why would HaShem want to kill His own creations?

    ?? Because of evil and destruction. A few examples. Parting of the sea, The flood, Pillar of salt, Sodom and Gammorah. Look it up. The list is quite lengthy.

  27. Why would HaShem want to kill His own creations?

    Dove, all the answers on how to survive, prevail and succeeed are already in our hands. Its just a matter of paying attention 🙂

  28. http://www.wibbitz.com/watch/?id=b529016edd6484075bfdd2012ac903dfd

    There were 2000 Israelis in Nepal. Only one now is unaccounted for. Israel has the largest team effort of the world assisting Nepal with this horrendous disaster. Israel sent 250 doctors and field workers and set up a 60 bed unit.

    This is what we do….even while a gun is being held to our heads. Jews don’t like to kill. This is one of the reasons why we try to find ‘another way’ out. We rather Hashem fight our battles for us – let Hashem do the killing.

    We allow the world to label us as evil, aggressive, blood thirsty varmits. Not good!

  29. yamit82 Said:

    @ mrg3105:
    Stuff it where the sun don’t shine…. if you got something to say or contribute then say it but u never do. You are a wordsmith provacateur. You never make your point if you indeed ever have one….

    “Intelligent people know of what they speak; fools speak of what they know.” I think they had you in mind when they penned this.

    I have made it VERY CLEAR to you specifically, more than once, that some information is not for public forums. YOU ignore this. Clearly what you DON’T KNOW is an opportunity to learn.

  30. @ mrg3105:

    Stuff it where the sun don’t shine…. if you got something to say or contribute then say it but u never do. You are a wordsmith provacateur. You never make your point if you indeed ever have one…. 😛

    “Intelligent people know of what they speak; fools speak of what they know.”
    I think they had you in mind when they penned this. 🙂

  31. @ mrg3105:

    I know what you mean. Been there. Thanks for your input here. I am getting into my busy season. Winter just ended. I spend a lot of time outdoors in the Spring and Summer months – especially since they are so short. I will be spending less time online.

  32. dove Said:

    @ mrg3105:
    I just heard a rumor. Please tell me it isn`t true. Are you really a pompous jerk

    If you mean that I seek ‘to send’ a message akin to the ‘cracking of a whip’, that would be correct.

    On the other hand there are people that find it threatening when someone disagrees with them, or worse, questions their ‘knowledge’. To them, I may be something different.

    It is often the case that people incapable of continuing a civil conversation where they need to listen, are reduced to profanity and abuse, a strategy designed to end discussion lest they be shown more wrong. A defensive mechanism, as psychologists call it.

  33. @ Bear Klein:
    I just received something humorous.It might clear the air a bit.

    Pinocchio, Snow White and Superman are out for a stroll in town one day.

    As they walk, they come across a sign:
    “Beauty contest for the most beautiful woman in the world.”

    “I am entering” said Snow White.

    After half an hour she comes out and they ask her, “Well, how did you do?”

    “First Place,” said Snow White.

    They continue walking and they see a sign:
    “Contest for the strongest man in the world.”

    “I’m entering,” says Superman.

    After half an hour he returns and they ask him, “How did you make out?”

    “First Place,” answers Superman. “Did you ever doubt?”

    They continue walking when they see a sign:
    “Contest! Who is the greatest liar in the world?”

    Pinocchio says “this is mine.”

    Half an hour later, he returns with tears in his eyes.

    “What happened?” they asked.

    “Who the hell is Hillary Clinton?” asked Pinocchio.

  34. @ Bear Klein:
    Yes Bear, I spend only a few days at home. Some friends had invited me. The problem is, I have lots of sweet leftovers and have been eating them. I have saved the rest for when I visit my daughter who lives about six hours away from us. I have put on five pound and must take them off. I hope you had a nice Pesach. My first night was a lot of fun. Singing and enjoying the company. I went to service before the evening. Prayer before fun for me. Thank you.