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There have been many classic (and not so classic) movies about lands forgotten by time. People living in the Stone Age, Vikings whose culture has survived in tact in the Arctic, ancient civilizations long hidden in the Amazon, were all parts of...
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When I lived in Israel, there was an outspoken journalist, TV commentator and politician, named Tommy Lapid (father of Yair Lapid, who is now a powerful person in the Knesset). His political stance was right of center, although he would take each...
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Despite the huge praise of living in the Land of Israel in Talmud, like "one who lives in the Land of Israel is as one who has a G-d, one who lives outside the Land of Israel is as one who has no G-d" and "Jews who observe the Torah outside the...
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No figure in Jewish history has placed more emphasis on the spiritual significance of the Land of Israel than Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. He saw it as the quintessence of Holiness, which each Jew must visit at least once. He embarked on a pilgrimage...
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I would like to go further into the words of my teacher, as well as present my conclusions on the topic as a whole. Rav Kiwak was, as I understand, teaching an important general lesson. There are commandments, both Biblical and Rabbinic, that are...
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This part is difficult for me to write, and will be difficult for many to hear. If you are offended, I am sorry. These are facts. Israel was founded as a Socialist Paradise, for European, secular Jews. David Ben Gurion, the head of the Jewish...
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All in all, some 4,500 Yemenite children "died" in hospitals from the late 1940s until the mid 1950s. Bodies were never returned to families. This also happened to other Mizrahi (Eastern) Jews,. as well as those from the Balkans, albeit on a...
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Things have gone much better for the Yemenites after the 1950s. Many have "made it" in Israeli life, becoming businessmen, merchants, writers, even politicians. Ironically, although Yemenites and other Mizrahi Jews have political views that are...
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There is only one blessing ordained by the Torah. That is the Birkat Hamazon (Grace after meals), as it is written: "You shall eat, be satisfied, and bless..." (Deut. 8:10). Oral Tradition teaches that one need say Grace only after a meal with...
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Every Torah Jew has a deep love for the Land of Israel. Whereas some saw Zionism as the fulfillment of the prophecies of Redemption ( to be dealt with in more depth in my next post), others saw it, and continue to see it, as a sinister force of...
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