Mayor Kruzan, Rabbi Chincholker, Alex Groysman gather for one of many menorah lightings (Mottinger, IDS)

It started a few weeks ago, on November 23, in Bloomington Indiana, home of the Indiana University Hoosiers.

A rock was thrown at the Hillel House and at the Chabad House. At the university’s Herman B. Wells Library, eight Jewish books were found in eight separate lavatories covered in urine. A rock was thrown into the window of an apartment above the Chabad House/Jewish student union. Their non-Jewish tenants on Golf Lane were startled by the incident; who wouldn’t be? A half dozen other, perhaps unrelated, reported incidents ranged from a broken pane of glass at the Jewish Studies department, to swatikas in the Quad and suspicious jam left at a synagogue, to a stolen mailbox at the historically Jewish ZBT fraternity.

As for the maccabees. Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan asked residents to wear blue last Monday for Bloomington Jewish Solidarity Day, and the rock that was thrown through a window became the base of one of the community’s hanukkiah menorahs. In a few inches of snow this week, Kruzan was invited to light this menorah, along with students and others. It took several attempts on a slippery ladder, and nearly half a dozen lighters to get the shamash started; but soon enough, lights, singing and dancing came to Bloomington.

According to an article in the Jerusalem Post, stones were thrown twice during a seder at a Chabad house in Budapest. The police, according to the article, did very little, and did not seem to take the situation seriously. On a night when we commemorate our freedom from oppression, there are those who wished to scare this Jewish community with this anti-Semitic act. We ought to remember that fear, too, is a form of oppression; when we give in to fear and dread, we lose our ability to think clearly and reasonably. We ought to applaud those individuals who continued with their seders, as they made a statement, simply by continuing in their religious ceremony, that despite the acts directed against them, and despite the memories that such events, no doubt, evoke, we, as the Jewish people, will not give in to fear, and will not be oppressed.

Chag Herut Sameach!

Rachel Elior

One of the nice things about the Raphael Golb story (the man who used pseudonyms to attack scholars) is that many sites and blogs have been covering it. As a result, I have discovered some interesting resources that should interest our readers.

1. Our own Grandmuffti reports that an Israeli scholar, Rachel Elior, denies the existence of the Essenes:

Elior theorizes that the Essenes were really the renegade sons of Zadok, a priestly caste banished from the Temple of Jerusalem by intriguing Greek rulers in 2nd century B.C. When they left, they took the source of their wisdom — their scrolls — with them. “In Qumran, the remnants of a huge library were found,” Elior says, with some of the early Hebrew texts dating back to the 2nd century B.C. Until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the earliest known version of the Old Testament dated back to the 9th century A.D. “The scrolls attest to a biblical priestly heritage,” says Elior, who speculates that the scrolls were hidden in Qumran for safekeeping.

Fascinating! If this is true, then the Scrolls were written by priests who were banished from Jerusalem to Qumran. If “Charles Gadda” was still posting, would he have attacked her for saying this? I will gather up some of the sites that mention her and put up a post.

2. Robert Cargill has been updating his site Who is Charles Gadda. He has been keeping track of interviews Norman Golb (the father of Raphael) has been giving to the press. While the father has not implicated his son in the criminal activity of which he is accused, he has admitted that he knew his son used pseudonyms, wrote blogs attacking others and was indeed “Charles Gadda,” the alias who visited our site.

Cargill quotes:

“As far as I’m concerned,” he [Norman Golb] said, “these developments have all to do with the efforts of various traditional … scholars to block the expression of my views.”

Norman Golb goes on to state that his son, Raphael, used aliases to blog in defense of his views, and for the first time confirmed that the alias was indeed alias “Charles Gadda”. The article states:

Norman Golb told The Chronicle that he was “aghast and horrified at these charges. My son’s only interest has been to follow my work, and—since he is a blogger and I am not a blogger—to engage in debate with other bloggers.” The elder Mr. Golb added, “He used a pseudonym because that’s what he preferred to do.”

When a Chronicle reporter asked if that pseudonym was Charles Gadda, the older Mr. Golb replied, “Yeah, that’s right.”

Norman Golb admits that “Charles Gadda” is definitely Raphael Golb. Unbelievable.

I don’t understand Norman Golb’s claim about his views being “blocked.” He’s a holder of a chair at one of the top universities in the country. If Rachel Elior can get her alternative theory that there were no Essenes out there – see book #14 (she has written 14 books!!!!) in her bio, “Memory and Oblivion, The Secret of the Judaean Desert Scrolls (Hebrew), Zicharon ve Neshiya, Sodan shel Megilot Midbar Yehuda, Jerusalem: Van Leer Institute Press and Tel-Aviv: haKibbutz ha-Meuchad, 2009” – what was blocking Golb?

It’s funny, John Mearsheimer is also from University of Chicago and while he was going on talks and interviews across the country, not to mention getting coverage in most major newspapers and cutting a publishing deal with a top publishing house, he was complaining that he and Walt couldn’t get their original article published in the US. I guess some University of Chicago scholars believe that claiming to be victims while they are actually the ones apparently attacking others helps to market their theories.

3. The best coverage of the Golb story, other than Robert Cargill’s is at Jim West’s site. He appears to be interested in ancient history as well as Christianity.

I bring him up because he posted about an inscriptions site that has been put up. It looks like a resource that could be of interest to people who want to investigate some of what has been discovered from the writings of, uh, our forefathers…

Here’s the site. Its description reads:

The Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine project seeks to collect and make accessible over the Web all of the previously published inscriptions (and their English translations) of Israel/Palestine from the Persian period through the Islamic conquest (ca. 500 BCE – 640 CE). There are about 15,000 of these inscriptions, written primarily in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin, by Jews, Christians, and pagans. They range from imperial declarations on monumental architecture to notices of donations in synagogues to humble names scratched on ossuaries, and include everything in between.

Cool!

4. Tzvee’s Talmudic Blog points us to a Chabad site where you can download almost 1000 different hagaddas for Pesach. It’s an incredible resource! Thank you to Tzvee for posting about it. Maybe one day he and I will meet in person so he won’t have to worry about my anonymity.

Hi! I’m a fucking idiot!

Which is… I’m not quite sure…
So guess what? Roseanne Barr has a blog. Like other bloggers, she writes about this and that. Roseanne used to be a fairly popular TV actress but given that she hasn’t really worked much lately I guess she had to go looking for topics of discussion in other areas. Areas she is dramatically unqualified to comment on. Like the Middle East for instance. A recent blog post of hers started off talking about Sean Penn’s latest flick and then quickly degenerated into an asinine commentary on Israel, Gaza, Mumbai and… Chabad militias. I think Rosie needs to get back on her meds:

I would like to be the first jew in hollywood to call on all other jewish lefties in entertainment to demand that israel be held accountable for what it is doing to the children of gaza, and to demand the blockade end. I know it is now more styling to be about hugo chavez, but this is the time to speak up as a jew against israeli aggression, or go to hell by chanukah. I am reading where the chabad and other jewish fascist organizations are calling on their right wing militias to punish gaza residents for the terrorism against them in mumbai. this is like the nazis. the jews must embrace hashem and not war! hashem is peace!!!! let hashem fix the middle east. let allah help him and let jesus join them both! this is the time to turn to god and stop waging war. this is armageddon now! there is no stopping it. prepare for the end and repent! repentance is the issue right now, not getting even!!! repent and prepare to meet the big black hole.

I am dumbfounded of course. Just for the record, Chabad does not have any militias, right wing or otherwise. All Chabad has called for in the wake of Mumbai is for greater love, peace and understanding. No one is calling for genocide as an appropriate response to the tragedy at the Chabad House. As to the rest of her rant, one verily shudders at the thought of what “black hole” exactly Roseanne is referring to.

All I can say is that whenever penile turgidity is inappropriate or inconvenient, a trick I find that is handy is to think of Roseanne Barr naked. That’s all I’m saying.

Hat tip to Dave at Israellycool.

– From Our Friends –

Many positions are lying vacant only for IT certified professionals. You can get a good job if you have passed HP0-J24 Designing and Implementing HP Enterprise Backup Solutions, HP BladeSystem HP0-S16 or Cisco 642-515 SNAA exam. You can say that IT certification exams including Juniper ER Specialist JNCIS-ER: JN0-350 and MCITP 70-622 are the revenue generating certification exams.

The 1 in 5 majority:
http://www.forward.com/articles/14680/

and Chagall in Postville:
http://www.jewcy.com/post/chagall_postville

(CK has a lengthy back and forth after the comment which Muffti is WAY too lazy to read but you might enjoy.)

And, while this isn’t Jewlicious in any way. Muffti’s friend Shechar sent him the following stock tip:
BJ services.

It’s immature but Muffti can’t stop snickering.

Norma Schwartzblatt-Rabinowitz HY”D

Norma Schwartzblatt-Rabinowitz was planning to make aliyah to Israel on Monday. The 70-year-old member of the Mexico Jewish community was volunteering during recent months in the Mumbai Chabad House.

This week, Mrs. Rabinowitz was planning to move to Eretz Yisrael to join her son and his family, who live in Bnei Brak. It was Norma who phoned Israeli consular officials in Delhi on Thursday, with a gun pointed to her head. She told consular officials there were four bodies, including Rabbi and Mrs. Holtzberg.

Because she is a Mexican national, a request was made via Interpol to inform her son and family in Eretz Yisrael as well as family members in Mexico.

Foreign Ministry and consular officials have not succeeded in locating her son, who they believe is not currently in Israel. (Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

Rav Aryeh Leibish Teitlebaum HY”D

In Yerushalayim’s Toldos Avraham Yitzchak beis medresh, this Shabbos was a painful one, one during which chassidim exhibit great difficulty trying to overcome the pain, sorrow and loss, seeking to embrace the Shabbos malka.

According to community leaders, Rav Aryeh Leibish was a well-know figure, one who was regarded for his profound Torah knowledge as well as his ability to welcome everyone on an equal level, always part of the tzibur, always there for those in need.

Born 37 years ago, on 23 Shvat 5731 to HaRav HaTzaddik Rav Nachum Ephraim Teitlebaum Shlita, the Volover Rebbe of America. Rav Aryeh Leibish was a dominant figure in the Rebbe’s kashrus organization, one known for its pristine standard.

Rav Aryeh Leibish studied in Binyan Dovid Yeshiva in Williamsburg, under the direction of Rav Chanina
Acraham Leitner ZATZAL. His keen abilities quickly became apparent to all.

A number of people who knew him from childhood testify to his unique character, abilities and his sensibilities to the troubles of others. At age 16 he exhibited his total familiarity with hilchos Shabbos. His knowledge was not superficial, but he would cite sources in depth, from a Gemara to the last detail of a Tur Beis Yosef.
…
Of late, he also ran a gemach to assist avreichim whose children were getting married.
His adherence to honoring his parents was exceptional, and despite the geographical distance, he was known to be his father, the Rebbe’s right hand. Even this last trip, he decided at the last moment to travel to India to inspect a factory to assist the Rebbe Shlita, a trip that was logistically difficult for him at this time.

His last conversation was with his Rebbitzin, who immediately tried making contact with him following the breaking news of the attack, but without success.

His last Shabbos in Eretz Yisrael was spend in Bet Shemesh together with his father-in-law the Toldos Avraham Yitzchak Rebbe Shlita. At the tisch, the Rebbe gave him a long gaze, finally signaling him to start a nigun. He started a Chabad nigun, “L’Elok-kim domi nafshi ki elecha tikvasi”.
Rav Aryeh Leibish is survived by his rebbitzin, 8 children, the oldest of which celebrated his bar mitzvah about six months ago. The youngest is 10 months.

Reb Bentzion Chroman HY”D

The residents of Kiryas Bobov in Bat Yam are having difficult accepting the painful news, that the young avreich, R’ Bentzion Chroman is no longer with them. He too was among the victims in the Mumbai Chabad House, a mashgiach for the Volover Rebbe of Boro Park Shlita. He is survived by a wife and three children, with the oldest being 3.5 and the youngest 3 months.
Bentzi as he was known, was a popular figure, someone who friends explain “got along with everyone”.

Bentzi was named after Rav Bentzion of Bobov HY”D ZY”A. His father is a pillar of Torah, and Bentzi was raised in a home where learning was not just a daytime activity. His mother toils to ensure her husband is permitted to continue occupying the halls of the beis medresh.

He was educated in his early years in Bobov Yeshiva in Bat Yam and from there to Yeshiva Kochav Yaakov. He was married in 5762 to the daughter of Rav Dovid Levin of Ganei Tikvah. Shortly after their wedding they settled in Bat Yam, near Bentzi’s parents.

The young couple decided not to burden the parents, and they purchased their home with their own funds, and Bentzi then entered into the kashrus world, deciding to be self-sufficient, not wishing to
place the burden of supporting his family on anyone else.

This however did not bring an end to his limudim, and he had a late night shiur and was a regular occupant of the large Bobov beis medresh in Bat Yam during the nighttime hours.

Of late, it was known that he added to his daily learning seder and he was in the beis medresh until the very late hours of the night. During the last yomim noraim, friends commented on the intensity of his tefillos.

His last visit to India was delayed over and over again due to difficulties pertaining to his visa. Last motzei Shabbos he finally left, and was scheduled to return on Wednesday. He packed up his belongings in the hotel and headed to the Mumbai Chabad House to say goodbye to Rav Gavriel and Rebbitzin Rivka, to daven and to thank them for their hospitality. It appears the terrorists arrived shortly after him – and it is believed he tried to run for his life. His body was found on the fifth floor, shot at point blank range.

The Vaad HaRabbonim for Tzedaka in Eretz Yisrael has launched a keren to assist his family – Keren Rav Bentzion Chroman HY”D – Keren number 2732. donations in Eretz Yisrael may be made by phoning 1-800-223-636 or *072.

Yocheved Orpaz HY”D

On Thursday, Avi Orpaz was anxiously awaiting the return of his mother Yocheved, 62, from India, where she traveled to visit her daughter Ayala and her two grandchildren. They began understanding what was taking place in Mumbai, fearing the worst, trying frantically to get in touch with Yocheved. On motzei Shabbos, they received official notification, the bittern news that she was among the dead.
Orli Yezdi-Ogev, Yocheved’s sister cannot believe this is really happening. “She traveled to India to see her family, her daughter and grandchildren who she missed so much”.

The mother of four, from Givatayim, Yocheved is described by friends as “someone with a big heart”.
Avi is still unable to refer to his mother in past tense. Alon, another son, left before Shabbos for India in the hope of finding his mother. They used all their connections and contacted many Israelis with family and friends in India, hoping to track down their mother.

She arrived at the Chabad House in Mumbai and sent Ayala an email, informing her she had arrived safely. (Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

Rivka Holtzberg (28) and Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg (29). May their memory be for a blessing.

As soon as Shabbat was over in Jerusalem, I rushed to my computer to see what the updates were from Mumbai. It didn’t take long for me to realize that my prayers over Shabbat had not been answered and that Rabbi Holtzberg and his wife Rivka were already dead. I didn’t know them personally but I’ve known others like them – in Montreal and Park Slope, in Toronto, Thailand, New Orleans, Los Angeles – pretty much anywhere I have ever traveled, there was a Chabad Shaliach, doors open, friendly and hospitable, never asking or anything in return and representing the very best of what Judaism is all about. Sure, we’ve all poked fun at these guys. I mean they are Hassidic Jews after all, with their funny hats and beards, and their odd ideas about the Messiah. We’d take advantage of their hospitality and kindness while always asserting “I am not a Chabadnik.”

But all that’s changed now. Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg were targeted solely because they were Jewish. Had any of us been in Mumbai the day of the attack, we too would have been similarly targeted by mere dint of our religious affiliation. It wouldn’t have mattered in the least to the cowardly terrorists if we were atheist Jews, or cultural Jews, or left wing peacenick Jews, or secular, LWMO, Reform, Conservative or Reconstructionist. If they called out for Jews and you had the balls to raise your hand, they wouldn’t have asked if your Mom was Jewish or if the Rabbi that performed your conversion was on the approved list of Rabbis put out by the Rabbinate in Israel. They would have targeted you without further question. Now I am not saying that we ought to allow our enemies to define who is a Jew, but what I am saying is that however we define ourselves, at least for the next little while, we are all Chabadniks.

Those of you wishing to contribute to a fund that will help rebuild the Chabad of Mumbai and benefit the surviving children of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, may do so by clicking here. It’s not much, but it’s the least we can do. You can read more about Gabi and Rivky at Chabad.org.

Hat tip to Talya for the link and the inspiration to not be angry.

…people like Sara Kanevsky insist that he never died… Kanevsky’s is a world of constant miracles. Pictures of the rebbe plaster the walls of her third-floor apartment. Every night, she and her friends put on a trance CD of traditional Yiddish hymns set to techno music, and they dance for hours. They take belly-dancing classes that can start at midnight.

Yiddish techno? Late night belly dancing lessons? Chabad women writhing in ecstasy for hours? Is it just me or does that sound a little, you know… hot? I don’t mean to be dismissive, but many Meshichtim feel that once the messianic era is upon us, the normal rules of Judaism are suspended. As such Kanevsky often eats on fast days. One can only wonder what other rules no longer apply…

First, let me say thank you to the President and the First Lady for allowing us to use their lawn.

Second, the menorah was GIANT. I guess everything is bigger when it’s NATIONAL. Apparently, in fact, it couldn’t have been any bigger and still qualify as a good Hanukkiah, because if it’s too big, the average person wouldn’t be able to recognize it. Yeah, I don’t get it. Maybe it’s one of those ancient-logic-that-we-still-go-along-with-because-it’s-tradition type of things.

Now the good stuff. Mukasey, our new Attorney General and an Orthodox Jew, used the word “lighted.” I thought the correct word was lit, but he’s probably right, since I’m a Democrat and he’s a Republican. Also because he’s Attorney General and I’m not.

Apparently Chabad holds a National Menorah Essay Contest every year. The essays are judged in two age categories, something like 2nd-4th grade and 5th-6th grade. From the winner of the latter category, I learned that as long as you believe, all the bad things go away. The world is melting because of global warming, but I believe, so it’s okay. I forgot to pay attention to the winner of the younger category as soon as I realized that she didn’t include “presents!!” in her list of “what Hanukkah means.”

The evening was actually quite political. First, one of the rabbis praised the religious freedom that allows Jews/Jewish people to flourish in their own ways here. Amen to that, brother. Then, another rabbi (or it may have been the same one. Sometimes I get them all confused. Maybe they should wear numbers on their jerseys, I mean, suits) praised No Child Left Behind, which is too bad because it has actually allowed religious groups to receive money from the government for ejumacating the children, in public schools. Also because it’s actually about No Child Left UNTESTED. The National Education Association uses about the least critical language possible, while still being critical (“You’re not bad, you just behave badly”) of the NCLB legislation. American 15 year olds now rank fifteenth for average reading scores in industrialized countries. We’re behind Korea, Canada, and Poland, among others. Way to go, kids.

Also, oil. The winner of the essay contest in the older category talked a lot about how since the Maccabees believed, the oil lasted. So now I’m thinking that we don’t really have to find a way over our dependence on oil; we just need to believe that it will last as long as we need it to. And while we’re at it, we should use more! because using more will demonstrate that we have complete faith. Maybe what happened during Hanukkah was a foreshadowing of today…and that time I was driving from San Diego to LA and drove through a HUGE military base where there were, needless to say, no gas stations for miles and miles. My oil lasted 25 miles on empty. I thought I was going to be stranded for hours and hours in the hot desert sun on the side of the freeway in the middle of a military base in SoCal. But the oil lasted…a modern day miracle.

But seriously, thank you, Chabad. The first time I moved away from home was just before Purim, several years ago. When I didn’t know anyone in this city, the first thing I did was go to a Purim party on the Hill, where I met some new friends…and WON PRIZES!! I went to Chabad for Pesach that year, when I didn’t have anywhere else to go. This year, Chabad gave me a hanukkiah to light at home, and delicious food for the rest of the week (strategy when you work for really, really cheap on a campaign or in a Congressional office or at a non-profit: take empty tupperware to every party where there’ll be food, which are really the only parties worth going to anyway, and fill ‘em up). But most importantly, this summer, when I found myself all alone and stranded in Croatia, with the knowledge that my grandmother had just died and that I couldn’t get home in time for the funeral, two random Chabadniks showed up next to me, literally, while I sat just staring at the sea. When I found out they were MOtT, I told them how alone I felt, and they pulled out their tzitzit and siddurim from their backpacks and dragged me to the ancient synagogue in Dubrovnik, where they helped me pray. After that, I didn’t feel so alone. So thank you.

Happy hanukkah.

Oh, by the way, there were Roman soldiers standing by the stage the whole evening. Ha.