Boker tov, Boulder!

We should all be crazy like Reb Chaim

by Shoshana Lepon (via email)

Now, before Yom Kippur, I would like to tell you about a crazy man named Reb Chaim.

Last year Reb Chaim of Yerushalayim opened a program in Jerusalem to help street kids who have no self worth, no home to go to and no life to speak of. He called it Simchas Torah and had three full-time and three part-time students. In the course of the year each one had a life-changing experience and began to pick up the pieces of his shattered existence.

At the end of the school year, Reb Chaim decided to disband because the program had zero income and high costs. His financial concerns were exacerbated by the realization that by having devoted all his resources to these young men, he was left with no funds to make his oldest son's wedding.

Ironically, as soon as Reb Chaim closed down, he was approached by six full-time and three part-time students begging to enroll for the second season of Simchas Torah. As a matter of fact three kids already moved into the Jerusalem dorm in anticipation and one kept calling him in the States, every day, to find out when he would be returning to Israel.

Oh well! No easy way out!

Reb Chaim immediately started fund raising for the six full-time students, who would need full room and board while they struggled to move beyond their troubled teenage years. He was successful in finding two sponsors who have dedicated a portion of their monthly expenses to support one Simchas Torah student.

Still short 4 sponsors, Reb Chaim is going forward. But that is not what qualifies him as a crazy man.

Reb Chaim has a wife of three years who is his life and his world and who stands by his side 24/7. Last year he put in 11-14 hour days to help the kids in the program and this season he hasn't slept in days. He is now dividing himself among 6 very needy young Jews and everyone wants equal time. But that is not what qualifies him as a crazy man.

Reb Chaim also runs the Shabbos Awareness Center in the Old City of Yerushalayim. He and his wife have hosted close to 13,000 guests in the past 3 years. Returning last week from his trip to the USA for his son's wedding, he was about to board the plane when he received a call from a special Jew who wanted to sponsor Rosh Hashana! Reb Chaim only managed to attract 200 young folk for the Rosh Hashana meals, because most people figured he'd never get it together having arrived just three days before the holiday. Imagine if they had really known how crazy Reb Chaim is--what a crowd he would have had!

So there he is, at the end of Rosh Hashana, so wiped all he wants to do is go home and get one good night's sleep. As he walks to the Rova parking lot, literally falling on his feet, he thinks back to all the meals, the shlepping of tables and chairs, the serving, the talking, the sharing, the cleaning and then more cleaning. Surrounded by his students, he heads to his car, packs in the kids, and drives to the dorm.

An interesting thought crosses his mind. "Am I crazy?" he thinks. "I'm taking six students back to a dorm for which I don't have next month's rent. I say a quick prayer to Hashem, 'Dear G-d, please tell me how I can go on!' and as soon as I ask this question the cell-phone rings. A couple married just 2 weeks tell me it's an emergency and they must see me right away."

Reb Chaim drops off the kids and races to the young couple's apartment. He talks with them for an hour, helping them work out many issues, yet they are still not happy. He asks them what else is going on and the wife urges her husband to talk. But he says "Honey, you have no idea how busy Reb Chaim is with his Simchas Torah program and his Shabbos Awareness Center. Let's just drop it!"

Reb Chaim insists that he is not too busy for them and the young wife says, "Reb Chaim, Avraham wants to learn in kollel half day and work half day. But he needs a kollel for beginners who can't yet learn Gemara -- and no such kollel exists!"

Reb Chaim looks at them and proclaims, "Kollel? What's the problem? I'll open one right after Succos and we'll teach you beginners Chumash, Nach, Halacha, Marriage Hashkafa, Chesed, Community Service, etc." They look at him and both break into smiles. "Thank you, Reb Chaim!"

On his way home, Reb Chaim looks up to heaven, "Dear God, am I certifiably insane or what? I don't have money for Simchas Torah and I just opened a kollel."

The next day Reb Chaim finds a teacher, a place and a program. What about the funds needed to pay this teacher and give a monthly stipend to the young married men now joining this kollel? What about the funds for the Succos meals at the Shabbos Awareness Center? And what about funds and for the four un-sponsored Simchas Torah guys?

I guess only one thing is for sure...Reb Chaim is one crazy, crazy man.

Wishing you all the sweetest year ever!

Respectfully,

Shoshana Lepon
G'mar Tov & Good Shabbos!

Inspired to be crazy? If not, I'm hoping you'll be at least inspired to be generous.

Simchas Torah has a pending 501C3 not for profit status and is a registered non-profit organization in Israel. Your tax-deductible checks can be out made to:

A.F.O.S. (American Friends of SimchasTorah)
110 Harrison St.
Lawrence, NY 11559

Or in Israel:

Simchas Torah
PO Box 60700,
Jerusalem, Israel

al Reuters sides with $oros

How can I tell?

NEW YORK, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Billionaire financier George Soros said on Thursday the war in Iraq has undermined U.S. leadership in the world, mocking the concept that peace and democracy could be achieved through war.

"The idea that you can introduce democracy via military force is a non-starter," Soros told a gathering at the Council on Foreign Relations. "We have lost the moral high ground."

The currency arbitrageur-turned-philanthropist donated millions of dollars to Democrats in the 2004 presidential election in an unsuccessful effort to defeat President George W. Bush. More generally, he has used his influence and money to speak out on key political issues.

Soros, who is promoting a book lambasting U.S. Middle East policy, said the resentment generated in the Arab world by the bloody conflict in Iraq more than offsets any possible benefits gleaned from efforts to open the country's political process.

Estimates suggest around 50,000 people have died since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, mostly civilians but also 2,700 American soldiers.

Bush and his staff, however, see the conflict as a crucial pillar in what they call a global war on terrorism, despite findings in a recent intelligence report suggesting the Iraq has become a focal point for recruiting jihadists.

Soros argued that Bush's with-us-or-against-us stance in the fight to combat terrorism has hampered America's ability to differentiate between groups like Hamas and Hizbollah, which he said could be dealt with politically, and al-Qaeda.

The Hungarian-born Soros' foundation, The Open Society Institute, is dedicated to promoting liberal values in select developing countries, particularly former Soviet states.

Meanwhile, the NY Post is quoting $oros as saying he'd "very much like to get disengaged from politics."

Post 9/11 Synopsis

The President, yesterday in Birmingham:

"Five years after 9/11, the worst attack on the American homeland in our history, Democrats offer nothing but criticism and obstruction and endless second-guessing," Bush said at a Republican fundraiser.

"The party of FDR and the party of Harry Truman has become the party of cut and run."

The AP tells us (in a "news" report) that the President was "maneuvering for election-year advantage." Of course there is no mention of "maneuvering" when the AP quotes Harry Reid's response.

"Moderate"

from LGF:

Notice that Agence Fwance Presse will not even use the word “terrorist” to describe a convicted mass murderer who plotted to blow up a bus full of women and children: Palestinian militant jailed for life over bus bombing.

And notice also that they describe the Fatah (Arabic for “Conquest”) party as “moderate,” even though it’s responsible for these acts of mass murder.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - A Palestinian militant was handed 12 life sentences by an Israeli military court after being found guilty of involvement in a suicide bombing that killed 11 people.

Hilmi Hamash, 24, from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades group affiliated to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s moderate Fatah party, was found guilty of helping the bomber who blew himself up on a Jerusalem bus on January 29, 2004.

Here is a video of the aftermath of this attack by “moderate militants.” (Warning: very graphic.)

I recommend watching the video. We have to understand exactly what it is that the media refuses to call terrorism. I don't understand how modern Western human beings can deny the barbarity of this enemy. I cannot comprehend how any human being could be motivated to whitewash an attack like this. Surely they have no soul, or it would be crying out in condemnation.

Let's get some perspective, by looking back at that last week of January 2004:

David Kay reported finding evidence that part of Saddam Hussein's banned weapons materials was moved to Syria shortly before the US invasion.

Antisemitic attacks in France reaching "alarming proportions."

Israel to exchange 400 Arab prisoners for one kidnapped Israeli and the remains of three soldiers

Banagor takes on antisemitism in the Democratic Party:
"This must stop."

No rule of law in the terror-tories

Survey shows increasing anti-Jewish sentiment in Great Britain

Grenade attack at Russian synagogue (in the predominantly Muslim city of Darband)

List of 270 companies, organizations and individuals who were awarded vouchers for allocations of crude oil by Saddam Hussein... among them George Galloway, a former Interior Minister of France, the PLO and the PFLP, the son of Lebanese President Emil Lahoud and the Russian state itself (1,366,000,000 barrels).

*Bus Bombing in Jerusalem*

Ten people were murdered and 50 wounded when a suicide bomber exploded inside a bus on the corners of Gaza and Arlozorov streets, near the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem's Rehavia neighborhood at about 8:45 Thursday morning...

Assistant director general of Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital Prof. Shmuel Shapira said ... most of the wounded were suffering from lesions caused by metal shards and from the impact of the explosion. "They put in metal balls, nails and bolts into these bombs," Shapira said.

Cancelling a trilateral meeting between Israel, the Palestinian Administration and US envoys John Wolf and David Satterfield, the Israeli foreign ministry and Prime Minister's ofice issued a joint statement saying,

"On this difficult day for Israel, in which innocent Israelis are murdered on the streets of its capital, there is no room for concessions to the Palestinian public."

Diplomatic officials said the prisoner swap with the Hizbullah would continue despite the attack.

Killer was Bethlehem "police officer"

Kofi Annan urges EXTRA INTERNATIONAL AID to relieve the plight of the Palestinian people

Chezi Goldberg z"l among those murdered

Suicide bomber's family is proud

Security Council does not condemn suicide bombing

Reuters: Security Council envoys were deadlocked on Thursday in a bid to condemn Thursday's suicide bombing that killed 10 people in Jerusalem, deciding after three hours to drop the idea and say nothing.

Petition:

We the undersigned are outraged with the news of the Israeli government destroying a synagogue in Israel that was built in memory of Rabbi Meir Kahane and his son and daughter in law who were all murdered by Arab terrorists. We call on the Sharon government to stop harassing the Kahane followers and to allow them to build their Shul.

Hezbollah threatens to kidnap Israeli soldiers

HAMAS threatens to kidnap Israeli soldiers

BBC glorifies terrorist bomber and ignores victims

"Jaara's mother wept uncontrollably for her policeman son, the sole breadwinner in a house of 10 children."

Blast so powerful that part of bus was blown onto the roof of a (2-storey) building

Whoops

I never got around to blogging today. I had other things to do, and some days I just don't feel like blogging.

So why did I get twice as many blog-visits as usual? Go figure.

I'll try to catch up tomorrow. Lila tov.

Hezbollah is a political movement

I swear. I read it in the Toronto Star (via BackSpin).

That would be the political movement that is presently building bunkers in (actually, under) Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

You didn't know there are Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon? There are 12.

Not to worry, the United Nations has a robust farce there to implement its many Resolutions.

A French soldier with the UNIFIL looks through his binoculars during a patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Ain Ebel. Disputes over how the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers will deal with Hezbollah fighters is holding up the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, Israel's military chief of staff said.(AFP/Hassan Ammar)

Joe Settler

Joe Settler sez:

Stop Iran now (and Olmert go home).

Amen, Amen.

Mediacrity & the Times

The Empty Suit, New York Times spokesman Barney Calame -- the widely-reviled, worthless "public editor"-- today grappled with the Times's legendary, institutionalized bias toward Israel for the first time in his disastrous tenure at public editor. Barney's cowardly mess of a column today was a jaw-dropper to end all jaw-droppers.

For this story, you have to go to ... Mediacrity, where else?

Conference call with Dick Morris

I have really mixed feelings about today's call with Dick Morris. The best thing to come out of it may be this from Atlas Shrugs:

You wild woman, you, where'd you get that?

Listen to the blogger call at Atlas (link above) or at OneJerusalem.org and see Morris's writings: The real Clinton emerges and EMIR'S A GUSHER FOR BILL & HILLARY.

Me? I'm gonna go back and read True friends of Israel cannot let the Dems take power

Kol hakavod to Hamid Karzai

The question asked was

Even after hearing that one of the major conclusions of the national intelligence estimate in April was that the Iraq war has fueled terror growth around the world, why have you continued to say that the Iraq war has made this country safer?

And to President Karzai, if I might: What do you think of President Musharraf's comments, that you need to get to know your own country better when you're talking about where terror threats and the Taliban threat is coming from?

President Bush's response is right on, and you should read it (transcript here), but listen to Karzai:

KARZAI: Ma'am, before I go to the remarks by my brother, President Musharraf, terrorism was hurting us way before Iraq or September 11. The president mentioned some examples of it.

These extremist forces were killing people in Afghanistan and around for years, closing schools, burning mosques, killing children, uprooting vineyards with vine trees, grapes hanging on them, forcing populations to poverty and misery.

They came to America on September 11, but they were attacking you before September 11 in other parts of the world.

We are a witness in Afghanistan as to what they are and how they can hurt. You are a witness in New York.

Do you forget people jumping off the 80th floor or 70th floor when the planes hit them? Can you imagine what it will be for a man or a woman to jump off that high?

Who did that? And where are they now? And how do we fight them, how do we get rid of them, other than going after them? Should we wait for them to come and kill us again?

That's why we need more action around the world, in Afghanistan and elsewhere, to get them defeated. Extremism, their allies, terrorists and the likes of them.

On the remarks of my brother, President Musharraf, Afghanistan is a country that is emerging out of so many years of war and destruction and occupation by terrorism and misery that they brought to us.

We lost almost two generations to the lack of education. And those who were educated before that are now older.

We know our problems. We have difficulties. But Afghanistan also knows where the problem is, in extremism, in madrassas preaching hatred, places by the name of madrassas preaching hatred. That's what we should do together, to stop.

The United States, as an ally, is helping both countries. And I think it is very important that we have more dedication and more intense work, with sincerity, all of us, to get rid of the problems that we have around the world.

AllahPundit has more on the questioner, "the notoriously partisan Jennifer Loven of AP."