Israel,
U.S. sign arms deal memorandum 
European Jewish Congress'
meetings with Israeli officials focus on ways to deal with the Iran threat
JERUSALEM (Press Release)—Ways of stopping Iran through coordinated European
efforts has been discussed by Israel's top elected officials and a high-level
delegation of European Jewish leaders headed by the president of the European
Jewish Congress (EJC), Moshe Kantor.
Other participants included the president of the French Jewish community (CRIF),
Richard Prasquier, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany,
Charlotte Knobloch, the chief rabbi of Moscow, Pinchas Goldschmidt, and Dr. Oded
Eran, director of the Jerusalem office of the World Jewish Congress.
Foreign minister Tzipi Livni stressed the urgency of the subject and noted that,
as the central tools in the struggle, the UN Security Council resolutions as
well as the economic sanctions must be intensified. Of equal importance was to
increase awareness of the Iranian threat among the European public.
The EJC delegation also met with Israel’s president Shimon Peres and prime
minister Ehud Olmert. The latter praised efforts by EJC president Kantor to
focus on the Iranian threat in a professional arena.
The preceding story was provided by the World
Jewish Congress
U.N. climate change conference will include workshop on Jordan River and the
Arava
NEW YORK (Press Release)—
A model of environmental cooperation in the Middle East will be front and
center at the upcoming 60th Annual DPI/NGO Conference at the United Nations,
Wednesday, September 5-Friday, September, 7. The conference, titled “Climate
Change: How it Impacts Us All,” will not only review the scientific evidence
of the earth’s changing weather patterns, but will propose a plan of action
to counter the catastrophic impact of these changes.
Water issues in the Middle East will be examined in a special workshop
featuring representatives of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies,
based on Kibbutz Ketura in Southern Israel. “Water Security and Climate
Change,” is sponsored by Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of
America, and co-sponsored by the World Council of Conservative/Masorti
Synagogues and the International Council of Jewish Women.
Water rights to the Jordan River, bounded by five countries, are already
fractious. With the advent of climate change, experts expect the
relationship among the boundary countries to become even more difficult, and
in the absence of a jointly accepted, integrated water resources management
plan, water security is likely to worsen.
This workshop, led by David Lehrer, Director, Arava Insitute, will discuss
the elements necessary for the implementation of a joint water commission
that can be put in place to meet the challenges posed by climate change and
political tensions in the region. Speakers include Dr. Clive Lipchin,
Director of Research at the Institute and three Arava students: an Israeli,
Roey Angel; a Palestinian, Dana Rassas; and a Jordanian, Suleiman Halasah.
The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies is a regional center for
environmental leadership. By encouraging environmental cooperation between
peoples, the Arava Institute is working towards peace and sustainable
development on a regional and global scale. The Institute is situated on
Kibbutz Ketura in Israel's Southern Arava Valley – a desert in the Syrio-African
rift near the Jordanian and Egyptian borders and the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat.
The Institute is home to academic programs, research and public involvement.
Kibbutz Ketura was founded by a small group of young North Americans,
graduates of the Young Judaea Year Course, at the close of the Yom Kippur
War in November 1973. Young Judaea is solely sponsored by Hadassah, the
Women’s Zionist Organization of America, and is its Zionist youth movement.
More than 2,000 representatives of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
from over 80 countries are expected to attend roundtables, panels and
workshops during the three-day event, organized by the United Nations
Department of Public Information (DPI) in collaboration with the NGO/DPI
Executive Committee. For more information: (212) 303-8169 or
izaia@hadassah.org.
(Return to top)
Young Judaea diversifies year-long course offerings in
Israel and Diaspora as number of enrollees increases
NEW YORK (Press Release)—When
the 382 U.S. and Canadian participants in the 2007-2008 Young Judaea Year
Course program leave for Israel at the end of the month, they will
constitute the largest class ever and one that is an impressive 25 percent
bigger than last year’s. Coming from 30 states, Puerto Rico and three
Canadian provinces – including Saskatchewan – they will be joined by 99
participants from Britain’s Federation of Zionist Youth and 17 members of
the Israel Scouts. With the total class size nearly 500, this is the fourth
year in a row that the Year Course attendance has grown to record numbers.
“Over the years, we have seen that the backgrounds of Jewish teens who are
attracted to Year Course have become more and more varied. In light of this
fact, we are offering more tracks than ever to address the special interests
of Jewish North American teens,” explained Shelley Sherman, coordinator of
Young Judaea, the Zionist youth movement of Hadassah. “We believe we have
something for everyone interested in spending a structured year in Israel –
and that that shows in our numbers.”
This year for the first time, 75 members of the class will participate in
one of two new Olami tracks, which will not only take students to Israel but
to countries around the world. Year Course Olami: the Zionist Revolution,
will introduce students to five areas – France, England,
Budapest/Prague/Krakow, Morocco, and Ethiopia – from where Jews risked
everything to leave their homes and start anew in Israel. Discovering remote
Jewish communities of the world is the goal of Year Course Olami: the Lost
Jewish Communities, in which participants will visit communities in
Portugal, South Africa, India and Uganda. During the course of their
academic year in Israel, students will alternate their travels with Year
Course’s core components of classroom study, touring Israel and
volunteering.
Another addition this year is the Year Course Athletic Program, a sports
track, which focuses on three themes: exercise, competition and leadership.
Aimed at teens who are athletic, enjoy sports and are fitness enthusiasts,
it also incorporates the educational and volunteer elements of the classic
Year Course program. Twenty-one students are enrolled in this new program.
The first Year Course class left in 1956; in 1968 Hadassah took over the
sole sponsorship of Young Judaea and Year Course, a nine-month multi-track
program for recent high school graduates, who defer college acceptance to
study, volunteer and engage in Israeli society. Participants earn up to one
year’s worth of college credit through the American Jewish
University-in-Israel, while building leadership skills and developing and
strengthening their relationship with the country’s land and people.
While in Israel, participants spend a third of their time in Bat Yam/Holon,
where they engage in an array of educational activities with local school
children, from teaching English to coaching basketball. Another third is
spent in the new Beit Ar-El, Young Judaea’s educational center in Jerusalem,
where participants take courses in Jewish history, religion, language and
current events. The third segment is spent doing hands-on volunteer work
with organizations like Magen David Adom, the Israeli rescue service, an
ecological farm, and the Israel Defense Forces, to name but a few.
Within the Year Course framework there are two other specialized tracks,
including Shevet, which allows and encourages participants to expand their
religious horizons by exploring the rituals, traditions and laws of Judaism.
The second, Shalem, is under Orthodox supervision and is aimed at U.S.
graduates of Orthodox high schools and yeshivot. Shalem, Hebrew for “whole,”
and an acronym for Shnat Limud U’Ma’aseh, a Year of Study and Service,
offers a religiously meaningful alternative to full-time yeshiva programs.
For information about the expanding array of next year’s Year Course
offerings, please contact: (800) 725-0612, or
yearcourse@youngjudaea.org.
The preceding story was provided by
Hadassah
AJC praises
Polish boycott of anti-Israel conference
NEW YORK (Press Release)— The American Jewish Committee praised the Polish
delegation to the European Parliament for declaring today that it will not
participate in a UN conference designed to vilify
“We salute the Polish delegation for taking this principled initiative and urge others holding seats in the European Parliament to consider joining them,” said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris.
The UN Committee
on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People is one
of three permanent UN bodies, part of the UN Secretariat, devoted to the
Palestinians that use the imprimatur of the UN to engage in a range of
activities aimed at delegitimizing
“The EU needs to send a clear message that the existence and actions of this highly politicized, one-sided UN committee, a relic of the Cold War when communist nations and Arab countries joined forces to create it, are unacceptable,” said Harris.
The preceding story was provided by the American
Jewish Committee
(Return to top)
Kids from Sderot enjoy safety
of JDC-Lauder camp in
Hungary, get to know children from many countries
SZARVAS, Hungary—For the seventeenth summer since its creation, the Lauder-JDC International Jewish summer camp at Szarvas once again welcomed approximately 2,000 children from 23 different countries around the world to experience the magic of this Jewish oasis in Hungary.
The camp was established in 1990, one year after the collapse of communism, and has since served as an engine of Jewish life, transmitting Jewish values and tradition to tens of thousands of youth from places as distant and disparate as Eastern and Central Europe, the former Soviet Union, Turkey and India.
As Michael, a Canadian who visited the camp this summer observed, "More than anywhere and anytime since the formation of the State of Israel, [Szarvas is] a reflection of the ability of Judaism to survive and rebuild regardless of what adversities we have encountered as a people. There is simply no other place in the world like Szarvas."
And indeed, Szarvas is more than just a summer camp. It is a breeding ground for Jewish identity, values and peoplehood. It is a place where Jewish kids and young adults, thirsty for knowledge and meaning, learn about their heritage and explore their future as young leaders and community builders. Many Szarvas ‘graduates’ leave with a heightened Jewish awareness and act as educators in their homes, imparting Jewish values, culture, and soulfulness. And most importantly, they return from Szarvas feeling empowered with a renewed sense of belonging to a global Jewish community.
This heightened sense of Jewish connectedness took on its own unique expression this summer when JDC, together with the Israeli Embassy in Hungary, welcomed to Szarvas 40 teens from the southern Israeli town of Sderot. In recent years, Sderot has been a target of repeated rocket attacks, and for these youngsters, Szarvas afforded a respite from the daily danger and trauma of war.
"The truth is that I didn’t expect anything," replied 14-year-old Keren when asked what she anticipated getting from her time at Szarvas prior to arriving there. "All I yearned for was safety and peace."
Shira, another teenager from Sderot, related the constraints imposed on her by the violence. "I hardly leave the house anymore," she confessed. "It is just too dangerous. Here at Szarvas was the first time in so long that I could be outside without fear."
And while the Kibbutz-like atmosphere of Szarvas certainly exudes peace, the 2,000 children and madrichim (counselors) who will have experienced the camp this summer will take away much more with them upon departure.
This year’s theme at the camp was "to be continued." Drawing from the Beit Hatfutzot Museum of the Diaspora in Tel Aviv, it sought to explain the survival and continuity of the Jewish people throughout history.
Other activities centered on the role of Jewish responsibility in the world. Kids discussed the meaning of tzedaka and social justice, and considered the importance of helping those in need. Providing a safe haven for Israeli youngsters whose home town had been devastated by rocket attacks was a vivid illustration of those values.
Having been so warmly embraced by their Jewish peers from around the world, the group from Sderot left with a newfound awareness of, and their own sense of responsibility for, Jewish communities residing in the Diaspora.
Twelve days spent at the camp enabled the Sderot youngsters to teach, as well as to learn from their Eastern European counterparts. While sharing the challenges of living in an insecure environment, they learned about the realities of being Jewish in Central and Eastern Europe and the FSU, and discovered the role they can play in building connections with their Jewish peers outside of Israel.
"For the first time in my life I see myself as a representative of Israel and a model of Jewish identity," said one of the Israeli teens, "and for the first time I realize I belong to a larger Jewish community, which strengthens all of us."
Hundreds of children and counselors from around the world, embracing one
another and singing, attests that "Am Yisrael Chai"—the Jewish nation
lives—and so does the invincible Jewish spirit at Szarvas.
The
preceding story was provided by the American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee
NEW YORK (Press)— The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) today announced that it has opened an emergency mailbox to collect funds for relief efforts following Wednesday’s earthquake in Southern Peru. The earthquake, which had a magnitude 8.0 on the Richter scale, struck at 6:41 p.m. (7:41 p.m. ET). To date, over 1,500 people have been injured, the deathtoll of nearly 450 people is still rising.
"Our hearts and our hands go out to victims who are suffering. As always, the JDC will mobilize all our efforts to help those in need," said Steve Schwager, Executive Vice President, JDC.
To Make a Contribution: Online:
https://www.jdc.org/donation/jdc_form.cfm; by phone (212) 687-6200; by
mail: check payable to: Peru Earthquake Relief, P.O. Box 530, 132 East 43rd
St., New York, N.Y. 10017
The Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance has recognized the JDC for meeting their standards for Charity Accountability. The alliance is the result of a merger between National Charities Information Bureau and the Council of Better Business Bureaus’ Foundation (which housed the Philanthropic Advisory Service.) This coalition serves as a national charity watchdog, by monitoring comprehensive, in-depth evaluations of the charity's governance, fund raising practices, solicitations and informational materials, as well as how it spends its money. Click on the BBB-give.org seal to the right to check their site.
The preceding story was provided by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
Iran accuses Argentines who investigated
the AMIA bombing
of working against its security; issues summons for testimony
TEHERAN, Iran (Press Release) —An Iranian court has summoned five
former Argentinean government officials to come to Iran and answer charges
of working against the security of the country, Iran’s state television
reported on Thursday. The five officials were all involved in an
investigation that implicated Iran in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish
community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and wounded 200. The
report said the Argentinians had been informed of the summons via diplomatic
channels and if they did not travel to Iran and appear in court in the
coming days, an international arrest warrant would be issued against them.
The court summoned former federal judge Juan Jose Galeano, interior minister Carlos Corach, the chief prosecutors Eamon Mullen and Jose Barbaccia, and Ruben Beraja, a banker and former head of the Delegation of Argentine Jewish Associations. More Argentineans could be summoned in the future, the television report said. The announcement appears to be an Iranian retaliation following Argentinean federal judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral's declaration last December that the former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani and eight other officials were "fugitives from justice" for not responding to arrest warrants issued earlier.
At the time, the Corral said he had serious evidence linking the officials, which included including former intelligence chief Ali Fallahijan and former Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati, to the bombing. Iran has denied any involvement in the attack and has said it does not recognize the validity of the arrest warrants and would oppose any attempt to detain the former president or other Iranian citizens.
In Los Angeles, the Simon Wiesenthal Center issued this statement on Iran's actions:
“We agree with the Argentine Foreign Affairs Ministry that this request by Iran is a retaliation for the warrants issued by Argentina against former president Hashemi Rafsanjani and other Iranian officials who were implicated in the terrorist attack against AMIA,” said Shimon Samuels, Director for International Relations of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
“Notwithstanding the fact that those five individuals required by Iran are currently under investigation for irregularities committed in the investigation of the AMIA case, Iran´s cynical request is part of a broader strategy aimed at blocking international action against Tehran for their central role in the terrorist carnage," added Sergio Widder, Latin American Representative of the SWC.
"This latest move by the Iranians follows closely on the publication by Tehran regime of a report released in the Iranian official news agency IRNA, which tries to disassociate that country from the terrorist attack. The Wiesenthal Center denounces this cynical disniformation campaign and calls on the international Community to back the Argentine government's efforts to bring justice to the innocent victims of the AMIA terrorist outrage," Widder concluded.
The preceding story combined information provided by the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Schneider tapped as new WJC secretary-general
WASHINGTON, DC (Press Release)—Michael Schneider has been named as acting secretary-general of the World Jewish Congress by the organization’s Steering Committee. Schneider, a former executive vice-president of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) will assume his new position on 10 September 2007, in line with the Jewish New Year. He is expected to be formally elected by the WJC’s Governing Board at its next meeting.
“Michael Schneider will help move the World Jewish Congress into the future,” WJC President Ronald S. Lauder said, adding: “Michael is universally respected and is no stranger to the Jewish communities of the world. The Steering Committee expressed confidence that his extensive experience and demonstrated capabilities will greatly benefit the WJC and its constituents at this time.”
Schneider served as JDC executive vice-president and chief executive from December 1987 to May 2002 and currently leads the JDC’s Tsunami relief programs in Indonesia and an AIDS-related program in South Africa among other activities. Schneider, who was born in South Africa, was based in Iran during and after the Iranian revolution. At the JDC and elsewhere, he worked with governments and Jewish communities on every continent around the world.
“I thank President Lauder and the Steering Committee for the confidence they have shown in me and I look forward to working with them and communities around the world to advance the critical mission of the World Jewish Congress,” Schneider said.
Stephen E.
Herbits, the outgoing WJC secretary-general, expressed his thanks to the
Steering Committee for supporting the reforms he introduced since 2004 to
institute transparency and proper governance to the institution. “Stephen led
the WJC through a very difficult period,” Ronald S. Lauder pointed out. “Thanks
to him, the WJC’s operations are efficient and transparent. He has led us
through an historic transition and for that we are all grateful.”
lease click below to read more about San Diego Jewish Academy, the premier K-12 day school in Carmel Valley
Republican Jewish Coalition joins debate
over propriety of NYC Arab-language school
BROOKLYN,
N.Y (Press Release)—There have been interesting developments in the story of the
Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA), an Arabic-language public school in
Brooklyn.
This week, the founding principal of the school, Dhabah "Debbie" Almontaser, was
forced to resign after defending a T-shirt, emblazoned with the words "Intifada
NYC." Activist from an organization with ties to Almontaser sold the T-shirt.
Her claims that the slogan referred to "shaking off oppression" and not suicide
bombers, got little traction. Instead, faced with outrage from the local
community and New York media, she resigned.
Danielle Salzberg will be the new principal. Salzberg has a long-standing
involvement with the school's development. While the city looks for a fluent
Arabic speaker and practicing Muslim, like Almontaser, to takeover as principal,
she will serve as acting principal.
As Frank Gaffney points out in the Washington Times, this does not solve
the problem of the KGIA. Labeled by one critic as "an Islamist vocational
school... in which every activity is planned around creating social activists
with an Arab supremacist mindset," the school's curriculum, personnel and
connections to Islamist front groups are still troubling.
Daniel Pipes also addresses the issue, writing in the New York Sun on
Wednesday, that ideally the school will never open (it is slated to begin next
month, with 44 students). If it does open, it needs a new approach, one that
will mitigate the tendency to Islamist and Arabist content and proselytizing
that critics fear is endemic to the current plan, says Pipes.
The people at the forefront of the effort to stop KGIA are the "Stop
the Madrassa Coalition." Their Web site has followed the Brooklyn
school's development and related efforts to inject Islamist teaching into an
American public school. Several RJC leaders and members are involved in this
coalition.
The preceding story was
provided by the Republican Jewish Coalition
Click the ad above to go to the "I'm there for you baby" website
The Jewish Grapevine
|
CYBER-REFERRALS—
Jay Jacobson
draws our
attention to a
piece by the
Washington
Institute for
Near East Policy
on the record
(dismal) of U.N.
peacekeepers
inserted into
Lebanon after
its second war
with Israel.
Here is
a link. ...
Bruce Kesler
spotted a
column by
Winfield Myers
of Campus Watch
concerning how
academics are
responding to
the scrutiny of
watchdog groups.
Here is
the link.
...
.
.
JCF's Endowment Leadership
Institute's first class
graduates; a second class is now
underway
SAN DIEGO (Press Release)—With pomp and circumstance, the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego recently graduated the first class in its Endowment Leadership Institute (ELI). Three years after ELI launched with the goal of transforming the culture of legacy giving in San Diego, the results speak for themselves. So far, almost 500 families have stepped forward to promise an estimated $120 million for the community.
 |
Endowment
Leadership Institute Members of the ELI Committee,who oversee the Create a Jewish Legacy© program: (l to r) Elaine Chortek, James Nierman, Jane Scher, chair, Betty Byrnes, David Wax, and Jewish Community Foundation Endowment Director Gail Littman.
|
And that’s just the beginning. Even as it graduated its first class, ELI enrolled a second class of eight community organizations, and launched a graduate program for the initial group of 12 participating community organizations.
The ELI program has succeeded in helping families leave legacies to ensure the future of the community. In the process, 100 volunteers and professionals learned together how to build endowments for their synagogues, community agencies and day schools.
“Leaders not only learned together about how to raise endowments, they worked together throughout the process,” said Jane Scher, ELI Committee chair. “I was so pleased with the friendly collaboration between organizations.”
Inaugurated in April 2004, ELI is a unique, high-quality, results-oriented program in which the Foundation partners with agency, synagogue and day school lay and professional leadership to establish bequests and other estate gifts. These bequests will build future endowments for the Jewish community.
The key element of the program is maximizing the positive relationships organizations already have with their donors. The Jewish Community Foundation provides each participating organization with a focused course of study including group sessions and individual coaching as well as an incentive grant, payable over three years upon the completion of established goals. In addition, the Create a Jewish Legacy© marketing program creates an awareness of bequests, endowments, and other planned gifts in the overall Jewish community.
ELI’s First Class: Agency for Jewish Education; Congregation Adat Yeshurun; Congregation Beth Israel; Hillel of San Diego; Jewish Family Service; Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center Jacobs Family Campus; San Diego Jewish Academy; Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School; Temple Adat Shalom; Temple Solel; Tifereth Israel Synagogue; United Jewish Federation of San Diego County
ELI’s Current Class: Beth Jacob Congregation; Chabad of University City; Congregation Beth Am; Congregation Beth El; Congregation Dor Hadash; Ohr Shalom Synagogue; Ner Tamid Synagogue; Temple Emanu-El.
Founded in 1967, the Jewish Community Foundation partners with individuals, families and community organizations to help them achieve their philanthropic goals and to increase current and future support for a vibrant and secure Jewish community in San Diego, Israel and around the world.
With managed assets of more than $260 million, the Jewish Community Foundation is the largest grant maker in San Diego. During fiscal year 2006-07, the Foundation awarded more than $55 million in grants. Since its inception, the Jewish Community Foundation has granted more than $400 million to nonprofits that serve the community.
Visit the Jewish Community Foundation at www.jcfsandiego.org or call 858-279-2740.
The preceding story was provided by the Jewish Community Foundation
Dumanis joins other DAs opposing
early prison release
SAN DIEGO (Press Release)—San Diego County District Attorney
Bonnie M. Dumanis announced today that she is joining with 14 other district attorneys throughout California in a lawsuit to prevent the early release of convicts from state prison. Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco filed a motion in federal court earlier this week seeking the intervention.In addition to Riverside and San Diego Counties, the elected District Attorneys of Santa Barbara, Orange, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Placer, Colusa, Amador, Contra Costa, Solano, Tehama, Butte, Kern, and San Luis Obispo Counties are seeking to join in the federal lawsuit.
"This is an important public safety issue facing all Californians, not just San Diego County residents," DA Dumanis said. "If an early release program is ordered by the court, it would mean dangerous criminals will be back on the streets to commit more crimes."
In documents filed in United States District Court, the district attorneys are seeking to intervene in the federal lawsuits that would consider the early release of inmates due to prison overcrowding. The class action lawsuits were filed against Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the State of California asking the court to address prison population issues. A motion was filed in opposition after the United States District Court for the Eastern and Northern District of California appointed a three judge panel to recommend solutions including a prison population cap and issuing an early release order.
United States Code requires the Court to give substantial weight to any adverse effect on public safety or the operation of the criminal justice system caused by the early release of state prisoners. The California Legislature has already passed Assembly Bill 900 that provides for $7.8 billion in state funding for jail and prison construction and inmate rehabilitation. District attorneys and law enforcement officials including the California State Sheriff’s Association support this type of prison reform in an effort to ease overcrowding and continue to oppose early release programs.
.
News from the Israel Baseball League |
END OF
THE SEASON—Dejected
Petach Tikvah Pioneers gather after they
lost in playoffs to Modi'in Miracle.
Above: two fans wear contrasting headwear at
Pioneer-Miracle game.
Yechiel Jonathan
Stein photos
Petach
Tikva, Ra'anana eliminated from playoffs
By Andrew Wilson
TEL AVIV— In the quarterfinals of the IBL
Playoffs, it was the Netanya Tigers and the
Modi'in Miracle advancing onto the next
round.
The Netanya Tigers eliminated the Ra'anana
Express, 3-0, on a dominant pitching
performance by Colombia native RHP Rafael
Rojano. Ra'anana countered with RHP
Esequier Pie of the Dominican Republic, who
had thrown two no-hitters during the regular
season. Both pitchers were on top of their
game, allowing only four hits apiece.
In the end it came down to defense, in which
the Express committed five errors on the
day, allowing two unearned runs to score.
Netanya jumped on the board in the bottom of
the first inning, on a throwing error by
Ra'anana third baseman Ben Katz-Moses,
allowing CF Josh Doane to score the first
run of the game. In the bottom of the third
inning, Netanya added another run when
Ra'anana catcher Juan Ramirez committed a
throwing error at third base, allowing Ryan
Forsythe to score.
In the top of the seventh inning, with the
Tigers leading by three runs the Express
tried to mount a rally. With a runner on
base and one out, first baseman Scott Feller
hit a line drive double to right field
advancing the runner to third. Second
baseman Donnie Mott Jr. hit a screaming line
drive to centerfielder Josh Doane, who made
an excellent shoestring catch.
However, there was some confusion on the
play since the umpire originally signaled
that Doane did not catch the ball. After a
long conference by the umpires it was
officially ruled a "catch." Rafael Rojano
finished the game by getting designated
pitcher Jesse Michel to ground out to first
base.
At Gezer Field, the Modi'in Miracle defeated
the Petach Tikva Pioneers, 6-2, on strong
pitching and timely hitting. The Miracle's
right-handed pitcher Craig Eagle threw
a complete game, allowing two runs on only
three hits.
Modi'in scored two runs with two outs in the
bottom of the first inning, on RBI singles
by C Eladio Rodriguez and DH Adalberto
Paulino. The Pioneers answered back in the
top of the second inning with one run on a
solo-shot by LF Ryan Crotin. In the bottom
of the inning, Modi'in third baseman Jamie
Aimar led off the inning with a home run.
The Miracle would add one more run in the
inning to increase their lead to 4-1. In
the bottom of the fifth inning, the Miracle
added two insurance runs on a lead off home
run by Australian center fielder Matt
Bennett and a RBI single by left fielder
Moko Moanaroa.
Friday at 10:00 am at Sportek in Tel Aviv,
the semi-finals will take place with the
third-seeded Modi'in Miracle playing the
second-seeded Tel Aviv Lightning. The
pitching probables for the game feature two
phenomenal southpaws, Modi'in's Matt Bennett
and Tel Aviv's Aaron Pribble. At Gezer Field
at 12 pm, the fourth-seeded Netanya Tigers
will take on the first-seeded Bet Shemesh
Blue Sox. The pitching
probables for the game feature either
Israeli right handed pitcher Shlomo Lipetz
or
right handed pitcher Leon Feingold for
Netanya and Dominican right handed pitcher
Juan Feliciano for Bet Shemesh.
Summaries:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R
H E
Ra'anana 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 4 5
Netanya 1 0 1 0 0 1 x
3 4 1
W: Rafael Rojano (1-0); L: Esequier Pie
(0-1); HR: None
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R
H E
Petach Tikva 0 1 0 1 0 0
0 2 3 2
Modi'in 2 2 0
0 2 1 x 6 9 1
W: Craig Eagle (1-0); L: Ryan Butkowsky
(0-1); HR: Ryan Crotin (1), Jamie
Aimar (1), Matt Bennett (1)
{Marc Kligman, who combines being
a sports agent with his life as an observant Jew, invites you to listen.
Click on the ad above for more information}.
JNF TREE PLANTING—
Rafael
Rojano of the Netanya Tigers and other
players of the Israel Baseball
League participated in a tree-planting
ceremony Tuesday, Aug. 14, at Neot Kedumim.
IBL photo
 People
of the Books |
Book reviewer announces his work on Kabbalah
WESTMINSTER, California (Press Release) Fred Reiss, a regular book reviewer for San Diego Jewish World, announced today the publication of his newest book, Ancient Secrets of Creation: Sepher Yetzira, the Book That Started Kabbalah, Revealed.
Sepher Yetzira is a second or third century Hebrew volume that is considered to be the seminal work of Kabbalah. It is a mystical interpretation of the Old Testament's creation story. Ancient Secrets of Creation reveals Sepher Yetzira's secrets in two parts. The first provides the reader with the background information needed to understand the theories and beliefs that directly influenced the unknown author of Sepher Yetzira. These include the mathematics of Pythagoras and the philosophy of Plato, among others. Reiss also informs the reader about the teachings of Philo of Alexandria, who brought together Greek ideas with Jewish theology; as well as a summary of the cosmology, division of the soul, and nature of mankind found in Sepher Yetzira, and how those ideas differ from mainstream Judaism.
Reiss said that "mystics and students of
mysticism cannot truly grasp the depth of
Kabbalah without a firm understanding of
Sepher Yetzira." In the second part,
Reiss presents a new translation of
Sepher Yetzira. He carefully puts into
plain words and detailed accounts how God
and a demiurge created the world with the
twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet
and ten emanations. But, according to Reiss,
Sepher Yetzira is more than God's use
of speech to create. His explanations also
reveal God’s three laws of nature, and tell
how everyone can emulate those laws in their
daily lives. The epilogue ties together the
metaphors used in Sepher Yetzira with
twentieth and twenty-first century
scientific discoveries, showing the
continuing vitality of this ancient text.
Following is an excerpt provided by Reiss
from a recent interview
Q: What does your book reveal about
the three mother letters, aleph, mem, and
sheen?
Dr. Reiss: To understand why God chose the aleph, mem, and sheen to be the mother letters of creation, we have to know three things. The first is that the author of Sepher Yetzira understood that the scroll of the Five Books of Moses, called in Hebrew, the Torah, was the blueprint for the world because it contains the story of creation. The second is that Pythagoras found that the harmony of music lays in the ratio of the whole numbers less than four. Among the ratios, 3/2 is the ratio of the perfect fifth, the most concordant sound in music.
The third is the very strange statement of the Jewish sages who said that the Torah is written with black fire on white fire. This statement is interpreted to mean that the Torah contains both open and secret knowledge. The actual scroll of the Torah is written in straight lines of black ink letters separated by white spaces, the parchment, itself. The black letters are clearly visible, so the black is the open knowledge, while the while spaces show nothing and represent the hidden wisdom. Let's look at the Hebrew letters, in alphabetic order [slide 1], written the way one would see them in the Torah - in a straight line. A straight line is also the shape of Pythagoras' strings, when he investigated sound. We see that there are 22 letters and 21 spaces. The first letter is the aleph, the 13th letter is the mem, and the 21st letter is the shin. This is the black fire. The white fire refers to the intervals between the letters [Look at slide 2.]
We start at the aleph. It is the first mother letter. Next, we count the intervals from the aleph to the mem. There are 12 intervals. Now we start over again, beginning with the mem. There are 8 intervals between the mem and the shin. The ratio of the intervals is 12/8 = 3/2, which Pythagoras discovered is the perfect fifth.
The three mother letters, used to build the matter, which makes our world, are in perfect consonance. Sepher Yetzira reveals that God created a world of consonance, a world of interlocking parts that are in perfect harmony. Destroy one of those parts, and you destroy the world.
Q: Why do you suppose that this information has been withheld from mainstream Judaism?
Dr. Reiss: Sepher Yetzira is based on Hellenic information, meaning on pagan religions and pagan philosophies. For the most part, these ideas are, with regard to the teachings of the Jewish sages, heretical. The Jewish leadership could never allow this. In addition, if a person claims to have a mystical experience, to be in communion with God, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim, or whatever, how can anyone, especially a religious leader refute the claims of someone who received information directly from God? Mainstream religions do not like mysticism in any form because it is uncontrollable.
Q: What is this mysterious Ayn Sof?
Dr. Reiss: The Ayn Sof is what the Greek philosophers called "the One above the One." The Ayn Sof created the God of creation. Even though Sepher Yetzira speaks very little of the Ayn Sof because mystics are forbidden to think about anything above the second sephira, I show the inter-relationships between the sephirot and the Ayn Sof. For example, the Ayn Sof and the sephirot are related, among other things, by circular numbers.
Q: Your book describes the three laws that God established at the time of creation, how do these laws relate to the Hebrew alphabet?
Dr. Reiss: The three laws have a numeric basis, as predicted by the Pythagoreans. The first law is the law of three, which is responsible for the material word. The second is the law of seven, which resulted by adding the three and four together. I explain in my book how this law controls the wheel-of-life, which brings good times followed by bad in a never-ending cycle. The third law is the law of twelve, which exists because 3 + 4 + 5 equals 12. In Ancient Secrets of Creation, I explain how this law brings conflict into the world. But, it is important to observe that 3 + 7 + 12 equals 22, the exact number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The Hebrew alphabet is the alphabet of creation.
Q: According to your translation of Sepher Yetzira, creation occurred through numbers, which are called sephirot, and the Hebrew letters. The Book of Genesis says that creation occurred when God spoke, but there are no references to God speaking numbers. How can you explain this?
Dr. Reiss: The sephirot are part of the secrets of Jewish mysticism. Suppose you want to make vegetable soup (or any soup for that matter). You get peas, carrots, celery, or whatever vegetables you want. You clean them. You cut them. You do whatever needs to be done to prepare the vegetables. But you still don't have soup. You need to boil water. How do you do that? You get a pot. Not just any pot, but a pot big enough to hold a sufficient amount of water and the vegetables. So creating soup requires a container to hold the soup. Likewise with creation, the work of each day required a container to hold what God is to create. The sephirot are the containers of creation.
Fred Reiss, who has more than fifty combined years of experience in public and Hebrew school teaching and administration, is also the author of the Standard Guide to the Jewish and Civil Calendars, and Public Education in Camden, NJ: From Inception to Integration. Information on these books is available on the author's website, www.fredreissbooks.com.
Ancient Secrets of Creation: Sepher Yetzira, The Book That Started Kabbalah, Revealed, ISBN 978-0-595-44955-2, June, 2007, p. 112, $12.95, is published by iUniverse. Ancient Secrets of Creation is available through iuniverse.com, as well as through amazon.com, borders.com, and barnesandnoble.com.
The preceding story was provided by Fred Reiss