Anti-Semitism in the United States

Although in many ways the U.S. Jewish population is flourishing, concerns about anti-Semitism have risen among American Jews. In the recent Pew Research Center’s survey of U.S. Jews, conducted from Nov. 19, 2019, to June 3, 2020, three-quarters say there is more anti-Semitism in the United States than there was five years ago, and just over half (53%) say that “as a Jewish person in the United States” they feel less safe than they did five years ago.

Probably this has a lot to with the way Donald Trump created a poisoned atmosphere.

Politically, U.S. Jews on the whole tilt strongly liberal and tend to support the Democratic Party, but the last few years in that party were many extreme right people who wanted a white Christian nation. When the new survey was fielded, from late fall 2019 through late spring 2020, 71% a lot of Jews said  they were still Democrats or leaned Democratic. Among Jews of no religion, roughly three-quarters were Democrats or leaned that way. But those who saw how their president went in against God’s Commandments could not support that party that had betrayed all democratic values.
Orthodox Jews have been trending in the opposite direction, becoming as solidly Republican as non-Orthodox Jews are solidly Democratic. In the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, 75% of Orthodox Jews said they were Republicans or leaned Republican, compared with 57% in 2013. And 86% of Orthodox Jews rated then-President Donald Trump’s handling of policy toward Israel as “excellent” or “good,” while a majority of all U.S. Jews described it as “only fair” or “poor.”

Jews who wear distinctively religious attire, such as a kippa or head covering, are particularly likely to say they feel less safe. But the impact on behaviour seems to be limited: Even among those who feel less safe, just one-in-ten – or 5% of all U.S. Jews – report that they have stayed away from a Jewish event or observance as a result.

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Preceding

Seeds from the world creating division and separation from God

The Rise of Anti-Seminism

Growing anti-Semitism possible sign of certain times

Quiz questions, views, left- and right-wing anti-Semitism

Historian Deborah Lipstadt Assesses the New Anti-Semitism

Trump’s rhetoric is infusing a culture of Anti-Semitism

Month of freedom and liberty with Independence Day or Deceived day

Judaism and Jewishness in 2020 America

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Additional reading

1. In Every Generation: The Return of Anti-Semitism – Pesah Day 1, 5779
2. The fight against anti-Semitism is also a fight for a democratic, value-based Europe
3. 2019 was #4 a Year of much deceit in Belgium and the rest of Europe
4. ….a powerful way to put the universe on notice….
5. A Secret of our Enemy :Inter-Ethnic Fault Lines Among the Jews (Full Article)
6. A vibrant and inclusive movement within the American Jewish community

Judaism and Jewishness in 2020 America

A new Pew Research Center survey finds that many Jewish Americans participate, at least occasionally, both in some traditional religious practices – like going to a synagogue or fasting on Yom Kippur – and in some Jewish cultural activities, like making potato latkes, watching Israeli movies or reading Jewish news online.  The same could perhaps be said for European Jews.

Among young Jewish adults, however, two sharply divergent expressions of Jewishness appear to be gaining ground – one involving religion deeply enmeshed in every aspect of life, and the other involving little or no religion at all.

For Europeans it might be strange that overall, about a quarter of U.S. Jewish adults (27%) do not identify with the Jewish religion. Like all over the world we can find the strong feeling of ethnicity, more than religiosity.  The 27% U.S. Jewish adults who consider themselves to be Jewish ethnically, culturally or by family background, even when they have a Jewish parent or were raised Jewish,  answer a question about their current religion by describing themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” rather than as Jewish. Among Jewish adults under 30, four-in-ten describe themselves this way.

The two branches of Judaism that long predominated in the U.S. have less of a hold on young Jews than on their elders.
In 2013 the Conservative movement was the second largest of the three main religious denominations within American Judaism, claiming 18 percent of American Jews. In some years in the 1950s, the movement was adding 100 new affiliate congregations annually.
In the 21st century, the movement’s long-term viability has continued to be drawn into question. The percentage of Jewish households that identified as Conservative dropped by 10 points — from 43 to 33 percent — between 1990 and 2000, according to surveys of the American Jewish population conducted in those years. By the end of the century, the movement was in serious decline, in such a way that some were fretting openly that Conservative Judaism was on the road to oblivion. About fifteen years ago Rabbi David Wolpe suggested that Conservative Judaism be rebranded as Covenantal Judaism. That name we hear also here and there in our regions, where some Jews and Jeshuaists consider themselves Covenantal Jews.
Today roughly four-in-ten Jewish adults under 30 identify with either Reform (29%) or Conservative Judaism (8%), compared with seven-in-ten Jews ages 65 and older.
Among Jews ages 18 to 29, 17% self-identify as Orthodox, compared with just 3% of Jews 65 and older. And fully one-in-ten U.S. Jewish adults under the age of 30 are Haredim (often known in English as “ultra-Orthodox.”), (11%), compared with 1% of Jews 65 and older. Approximately 1.2 million Haredim live in Israel, jealously guarding their traditions.

Strangely enough, or perhaps not, we can find several Jews who are somewhere “in-between”, themselves found to be not a believer, but who have not given up upon Jewish religious practice. some of them have even adopted more religious practices than they were ever raised with.
In the States, like in Canada and West Europe we find lots of Jews who adopted a religious Jewish lifestyle for themselves, in a similar way we have seen Christians also creating their own religious system and spiritual lifestyle.

In fora we can see that the participants who no longer believe were raised in various Orthodox communities around the world, ranging from Modern Orthodox to Yeshivish to Hassidic; and most spent their childhoods and years of their adulthoods studying in houses of Torah learning. Some were rabbis themselves, educators who dedicated years of their lives to spreading love of Torah and traditional Judaism among the Jewish people. {Why can’t I be secular?}

Remarkable is to notice that in the U.S.A. the youngest U.S. Jews count among their ranks both a relatively large share of traditionally observant, Orthodox Jews and an even larger group of people who see themselves as Jewish for cultural, ethnic or family reasons but do not identify with Judaism – as a religion – at all.  For non-Jews the difference is mostly not made, which gives a totally wrong view of Jews, them thinking all those things those civilian non-believing Jews do against Torah would be in line or acceptable to all Jews.

In the U.S., the same as in Europe, we can see that the youngsters, though not so interested to know if the food is kosher or not, still like a lot of traditional foods. As such, they like cooking traditional Jewish foods, visiting Jewish historical sites and listening to Jewish or Israeli music. Yet the survey finds that most people in the latter group (Jews of no religion) feel they have not much or nothing at all in common with the former group (Orthodox Jews). For many youngsters the Jewish traditions and lifestyle may feel outdated. Others may become unsettled because they find people in their forties searching for ways to live more in line with their ancestors, going back to the synagogue and praying again in the house. Some want to delve into the deeper meaning of Jewishness and Judaism.

It is a fact that Jews and Jeshuaists are a minority. For the U.S.A. in absolute numbers, the 2020 Jewish population estimate is approximately 7.5 million, including 5.8 million adults and 1.8 million children (rounded to the closest 100,000). The 2013 estimate was 6.7 million, including 5.3 million adults and 1.3 million children. The precision of these population estimates should not be exaggerated; they are derived from a sample of the U.S. public that is very large compared with most surveys (more than 68,000 interviews) but are still subject to sampling error and other practical difficulties that produce uncertainty. Furthermore, the size of the Jewish population greatly depends on one’s definition of who counts as Jewish.

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Find also to read

Judaism and Jeshuaism a religion of the future

Jewish Americans in 2020

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Related

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2. Covenantal Judaism: Ki Tavo 5780
3. On Rosh Hashanah, a sermon to the unwelcome
4. Converting to Judaism sparks political uproar in Israel
5. Opening Israel to non-Orthodox Converts Should Have Happened Long Ago
6. A Journey of Discovery
7. Messianic Jews Say ‘Fake Rabbi’ Was Wrong Way to Reach the Ultra-Orthodox
8. Reform Jews Should Recite Qorbanot in Prayer
9. Parshat Eikev
10. Why can’t I be secular?
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Going in the wrong direction in seeking Torah obedience – according Sir Anthony Buzzard

Looking at Words and a metaphorical Tree of Life

This weekend we think about our special connection with the Torah, our Etz Ha Chayim. We shall look at Isaiah who lived during the exile of the Israelites in Babylon, after the destruction of the First Temple. His writings are reflective of the problems that went on in previous times and his poem that is Haftarat Eikev consists of vivid, expressive, and long-winded metaphors expressing the relationship between God and the Israelites. one of the matters spoken about is God’s Word. Parashat Eikev tells of the blessings of obedience to God, the dangers of forgetting God, and directions for taking the Land of Israel. Isaiah describes how being a prophet has made him suffer because his listeners do not always appreciate his message (“I did not hide my face from insult and spittle” [50:6]), but Isaiah is confident that God is on his side (“Lo, the Lord God will help me!” [50:9]).

Isaiah and many other prophets show us that God never abandoned those willing to listen to Him. He has provided His Word to be followed by those who want to be near Him.

Sir Anthony Buzzard

Sir Anthony Buzzard, who has done a lot of biblical research and deserves well of all Messianics for his work on the Trinity and the Incarnation, did an excellent job in showing that the God the Bible teaches is One Person, not the multipersonal Being of Christian orthodoxy, and that Jesus was a faithful Jew who wholeheartedly subscribed to the Jewish creed:

Hear, O Israel, HaShem is our G’d, HaShem is One (Dt. 6:4).

Strangely enough one would expect that he also would recognise the importance of the Torah. While teaching, however, that we should adopt the biblical faith of Jesus, Buzzard at the same takes great efforts in teaching us that we should not follow Jesus’ practice of a biblical, Torah obedient lifestyle.

Jesus a serious Torah-observant Jew

Historical facts show us that Jesus is Jeshua ben Josef, born in an Essene family, keeping strictly to the Jewish laws. One would expect that followers of that Nazarene man would follow his way of life and would try to live according to his teachings. For that reason, one would expect a “follower of Jeshua” or a “Jeshuaist” and those who call themselves “Christian” to follow the rules and regulations of Jeshua and his disciples.

Seeking Torah obedience or a life of shadows

In Buzzard’s eyes, Christians would go in the wrong direction in seeking Torah obedience. This would result in a life of shadows. In an article entitled: “Resting in Christ as More Than a Weekly Sabbath”, of the July 2012 issue of his magazine, he exclaims:

“Why live in the shadows when the light has come?”{Focus on the Kingdom, Vol 14, No. 10, July 2012, p. 3.}

When we read such ideas Buzzard bringsx forwards it looks like he wants people to

Believe in the One G’d of Israel, like Jesus did, but don’t follow his Torah.

Though, Jeshua or Jesus knew very well the Torah and strictly followed it. There it looks like Buzzard is forgetting or losing the Jewishness of Jeshua, the Christ, and falls in the main false teachings of several Christian churches, who present Jesus as the founder of a new religion, what he was not!

A Messiah who doesn’t teach Torah is a false Messiah

All from the beginning of times, already in the Gan Eden, the Elohim spoke about someone to come to bring an end to the curse of death. The Bore not wanting man would eat from the Etz HaChayyim in the Gan, avoided them coming close to it and taking fruit of it, by banishing them from the Royal Garden. From their expulsion onwards they could follow that Word of God to hold on. This Dvar Hashem was later written down by Moshe and other selected people.

Throughout the ages, that Word of God accompanied the faithful of God. They could count on that Word and valued it highly. As such the scrolls were taken very seriously as the best guide and guardian to go by.

Christ Came to Fulfill the Law

The sent one from God, some two millanennia ago, very well knew the importance of those scrolls and told the people around him, that he had not come to destroy these words.

Mat 5:17-19 OJB Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Neviim. I did not come to abolish but to complete.
(18) For, omein, truly I say to you, until Shomayim and haaretz pass away, not one yod, not one tag (ornamental flourish), will pass from the Torah until everything is accomplished. (19) Therefore, whoever annuls one of the least of these mitzvot (divine commandments given by Hashem to Moshe Rebbenu) and so teaches Bnei Adam, shall be called katon (least) in the Malchut HaShomayim; but whoever practices and teaches them, this one will be called gadol (great) in the Malchut HaShomayim.

Yes, the Nazarene warned

Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one titte shall in no wise pass from the Torah, till all be fulfilled.

We even learn that the Messiah is the target or goal for righteousness to everyone that believes.

Rom 10:4 OJB For Moshiach is the goal of the Torah as a means to being YITZDAK IM HASHEM, for all who have emunah.

Jesus requests his followers Not to break one of these least commandments he also taught. For him, it was also clear that whosoever shall do and teach those mitzvot, shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Also from the Ketuvim bet or Messianic Scriptures, the HaBrit haHadash or New Testament we learn that Jesus was fulfilling the Torah and prophets and demanded it from us as well. The fulfilment of Torah includes practising it. Even the the least commandment is important. Any ‘focus on the Kingdom’ of heaven will be empty and void if it doesn’t include doing and teaching Torah. How can we focus on the Kingdom at all, if we deny it by our lifestyle and do not follow the Royal Torah? (Cf. Jas 2:8-10). The words Jesus spoke on the mount after his resurrection make it all the more clear that his Kingdom includes the rule and reign of the Torah (Mt. 28:19-20):

Mat 28:19-20 OJB Go, therefore, make talmidim for Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach of all the nations, giving them a tevilah in a mikveh mayim in Hashem, in the Name of HaAv, and HaBen, and HaRuach Hakodesh, (20) Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And hinei! I [Moshiach] am with you always, even unto the Ketz HaOlam Hazeh.

We have to observe all things whatsoever Jesus has commanded us.

Imitators of rebbe Jeshua Melech HaMoshiach

When one thinks about the consequences of Buzzard’s viewpoint, one can only wonder whether he would be prepared to affirm that Jesus himself lived in the shadows during his earthly days and followed a pattern of behaviour of an altogether lower nature than the life of freedom from the commandments now supposedly enjoyed by so many Christians. If Buzzard would dare to affirm and uphold that, essentially, Messiah’s own lifestyle was less spiritual than the so-called ‘Christian’ lifestyle of today, then the question arises how he can take serious Paul’s injunction to the Corinthians:

1Co 11:1-2 OJB Become imitators of me as I also am an imitator of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach. (2) Now, I commend you that in all things you have remembered me and you hold fast to the masoret torat haShlichim just as I transmitted and handed them over to you.

The talmidim and Saul of Tarsus followed the Torah and teachings of Christ, which did not go in against the Torah teaching. As a Torah observant Jew Saul defended himself:

Act 25:8 OJB Rav Sha’ul defended himself, saying, “Neither keneged the Torah nor keneged the Beis Hamikdash nor keneged Caesar have I done anything wrong.”

Having first persecuted the followers of Jeshua, he acted as a defender of their faith which was according to God’s Laws.

Imitatio Christi

How can any call to lead a life of following Messiah — imitatio Christi in the terminology of traditional Christianity — be taken serious if the Jewish and Torah obedient lifestyle of Messiah is perceived as belonging to an altogether lower order of things than the Christian believer is thought to be part of?

One also can only wonder about what kind of Kingdom Buzzard is expecting if it is not the Kingdom of the universal rule of the Torah announced by the prophet Isaiah:

Isa 2:2-3 OJB And it shall come to pass in the acharit hayamim, that the Har Beis Hashem shall be established as the rosh of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all the Goyim shall flow unto it. (3) And amim rabbim (many peoples) shall come and say, Come ye, and let us go up to Har Hashem, to the Beis Elohei Ya’akov; and He will teach us of His Derakhim, and we will walk in His Orakhot; for out of Tziyon shall go forth the torah, and the Devar Hashem from Yerushalayim.

If these words are literally true and if the rule of the Torah is the rule of HaShem’s Kingdom, then what excuse do we have for not obeying the Torah and its commandments, since in them we anticipate and foretaste the reality of the Kingdom? Like the Jews all followers of Jeshua shall have to walk in the paths of the Dvar Elohim for out of Zion shall go forth the Torah and the word of HaShem from Jerusalem.

A Kingdom on earth

Buzzard has repeatedly admitted that the Kingdom of God is a real physical Kingdom to be expected here on earth, having its centre in the land of Israel and in Jerusalem. And yet he seems to conceive this Kingdom as a secular reality without the Torah and without a restored Temple.

Buzzard deplores that

“a giant muddle has been introduced by a failure to grasp basic distinctions between the two covenant arrangements provided by G’d. The Old must not be confused with the New” {Focus on the Kingdom, Vol. 14, No. 10, July 2012, p. 3.}

But where is the muddle, and who is causing all that confusion?

God Himself declared that He will put His Torah in His People inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and He will be their God, and they shall be His people.

Jer 31:33 OJB (32) But this shall be the Brit that I will cut with Bais Yisroel [T.N. OJBC is Jewish]; After those days, saith Hashem, I will set My Torah in them inwardly, and I will write ketuvim on their hearts; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My People.

All those who want to belong to the People of God should have that Torah written in their heart.

The same commandments and ordinances in Old and New Testament

The New Covenant has the same commandments and ordinances, which is only logical as it is the renewal of the Sinai Covenant.It is in the scrolls that we can find the Words of the Most Highest Who can carry us above the average. With the coming of the Messiah the path is opened also for goyim to enter the Kingdom of God. But those non-Jews shall then have to accept the Only One True God and believe in His sent one, Jeshua the Messiah.

In the Kingdom Age we shall find the Torah and/or this content of the Words of God written in the heart of HaShem’s people. The circumcision of the heart was always the deepest intention of the Torah. This can be deduced from the Shema itself, which concentrates on the obedience of the heart, and from many other texts, among them Deuteronomy 10:12-16:

Deu 10:12-16 OJB And now, Yisroel, what doth Hashem Eloheicha require of thee, but to fear Hashem Eloheicha, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Hashem Eloheicha with all thy lev and with all thy nefesh, (13) To be shomer over the mitzvot Hashem, and His chukkot, which I command thee today for thy good? (14) Behold, the Shomayim and Shomei HaShomayim (the Highest Heaven) belongs to Hashem Eloheicha; Ha’Aretz also, with all that therein is. (15) Yet Hashem had a delight in Avoteicha to love them, and He chose their zera after them, even you above kol ha’amim, as it is yom hazeh. (16) Circumcise therefore the arlat (foreskin) of your lev, and be no more stiffnecked.

It will be realised when all Israel is brought back to HaShem and his Torah, and the full effects of Messiah’s sacrifice will be revealed.

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Find also to read

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2. When found the necessary books to read and how to read them
3. An openingschapter explaining why things are like they are and why we may have hope for better things
4. Elohim avoiding man to violate His other commandment
5. In times of flooding and other miseries
6. A Tree of Life in CoViD times
7. Christianity without the Trinity
8. Fog, brass and light for the eyes
9. Torah hanging on two commandments and focussing on a Mashiach
10. Importance of Tikkun olam
11. Who or what is a Jeshuaist

97-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor scoring high on TikTok

Tik Tok a youngster gadget

We know already of Hadassah Tirosh who has amassed over 2 million followers on TikTok, where she proudly and openly shares about her Jewishness. She is not only Jewish, but also a Mexican Israeli trans content creator. whose early content, which begins in December of 2019 was posted under her previous name, David, who she remembers fondly and has taken the time to thank for helping her become the person she is today — she’s seen proudly wearing different colourful kippahs, her Star of David necklace and being generally proud and open about her Jewishness.

In 2021 Tik Tok is the seventh most used in the world, with the majority of its users being millennial and Gen Z. But it might be a very high surprise to find a 97-year old lady being a “hipster”.
Lily Ebert isn’t your typical 97-year-old. In June, after only joining the platform earlier this year, Ebert reached 1 million followers on Tik Tok and has now amassed over 1.2 million in total.
How?
Ebert is a Holocaust survivor and, together with her great-grandson Dov Forman who runs her account, is teaching the internet about her remarkable life and experiences as a survivor of Auschwitz and how she made a life for herself after liberation.

Lily Ebert from the camps

Lily Ebert, born in Bonyhád, Hungary on 29th December 1923

Originally from Hungary, Lily Ebert, the eldest of six children in a happy and loving family. When the Nazis invaded Hungary in March 1944, her family got to face the worst nightmare one can wish for.

Shortly after Germany invaded Hungary, Lily, her mother and her siblings were sent to the ghetto, and soon after were put on a train, crammed into dark and almost airless cattle wagons, to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Lily at the age of about 4 or 5 had received from her mother a small gold pendant. Even then it wasn’t very expensive or unique but young Lily was very pleased with her present and now in the camp she did not want it to be taken by the Nazis. The small pendant had gone hiding, safe inside the heel of her mother’s shoe. Lily and her mother wore the same size of shoe and as they arrived at the camp her mother asked Lily to swap shoes with her.

Although this happened over 70 years ago Lily can still remember her arrival at the camp. After the long and terrible journey, ‘everyone was half-dead’. They were ordered to climb out of the train and stand together five in a row. There was a man with a stick in his hand. It was Dr Mengele, the notorious Nazi doctor who became known as the Angel of Death for his brutal experiments on inmates, though at the time Lily didn’t know who he was. With one movement of his hand Dr Mengele sealed the fate of the people before him. He sent people right or left — to life or to death. When they had arrived, Lily and her two sisters Renee and Piri were sent in one direction, while her mother Nina, brother Bela and sister Berta were sent to the left, the way to the gas chambers and crematorium. Lily never saw them again.

Lily had put on her mother’s shoes and was ordered to take a shower, whereafter her hair was cut, and their remaining belongings were stolen. It was her only remaining possession and a reminder of her happy childhood. It was a link to her murdered mother and a symbol of defiance. The Nazis would not be allowed to steal it! The Nazis left them with only their shoes, not having any idea of what was hidden in the heel of Lily’s shoe, the tiny pendant Lily’s last link with her mother. When the shoes wore out, she placed the pendant in her daily ration of bread. After about four months in Auschwitz, the sisters were transferred to an ammunition factory near Leipzig. The pendant went with them.

March to liberation after a human and a viral war

When the Front started closing in on the area, they were forced to leave Leipzig and sent on a two-day march. After seeing and suffering unimaginable horrors, on the second day of the march, April 13, 1945, they were finally liberated by Allied forces.

Lily tried to rebuild her life. She wore the pendant every day in memory of her murdered family. Eventually, she married and had children. In 1953 she was reunited with Imre, one of her brothers, who had been imprisoned in a Nazi labour camp. In 1967 she came to London with her husband and three children.

Having become a proud grandmother she came to face another life-threatening struggle: COVID-19. In January, she struggled with a brutal bout of the virus, but true to her nature, she fought through. For her it was her second chance to be alive.  It was then that her great-grandson Dov Forman decided to share a photo of his great-grandmother to Twitter celebrating her miraculous recovery.

Dov Forman

My 97-Year-old Great Grandma, Lily Ebert BEM – Auschwitz Survivor, has just recovered from Covid- 19. Today she went on her first walk in a month after making a miraculous recovery. A fighter and survivor

The response was extraordinary; the photo has since been retweeted over 17,000 times and has received more than a quarter of a million likes, with people from all over the world responding to send their well-wishes and express their admiration for Lily’s strength and bravery.

Finding viral fame

On the back of this unexpected reaction, Dov set up a TikTok account for Lily. At first, their videos mainly consisted of Dov introducing his great-grandmother and encouraging people to follow the account in order to have her story reach as many people as possible. But once they started building up a following, people quickly began expressing an interest in the details of Lily’s extraordinary life.

Soon enough, the account became dedicated to answering followers’ questions about the Holocaust and Lily’s experiences of it, with questions ranging from asking what they ate in the camp, to what happened to babies that were born there, and what the sleeping conditions were like.

She also remembered some Hungarian poems and recites them on the application.

No human anymore, but just a number

Though it is not always easy to answer all the questions she gets, she finds it a necessary act:

“Of course it is hard but if I could survive it, I can talk about it. And for the future, to ensure that something similar [to the Holocaust] cannot happen again, I have to talk about it.”

Lily’s most viewed video, now with over 20 million views, shows her answering the question,

“How did it feel to get your number in Auschwitz?”

Revealing a faded tattoo on her left arm, Lily confidently tells her followers:

“My number is A-10572. That is what I was, they did not call us by our name. We were no longer humans. We were only a number and we were treated like numbers.”

The video now has over 29,000 comments from people expressing their solidarity with Lily and gratitude for her honesty and strength.

Downsides of Tik Tok and Twitter, also platforms of hate talk

However, despite the overwhelmingly positive reactions and encouraging words of support, like all social media platforms, TikTok comes with its downsides, too. For Jewish creators on TikTok, the fun comes with a hefty dose of antisemitism.

It seems as if the kids on TikTok are churning out a new trend nearly every week. The never-ending scroll of the “For You Page” sends users on a twisting path of all sorts of niches and topics. The app truly has something for every interest, from sea shanty challenges to tortilla wrap hacks to — antisemitic caricatures?

In May, around the time when violence was escalating between Israel and Palestine, Ebert’s account received a slew of hateful antisemitic comments. In one particular instance, under a video of Lily simply wishing her followers “a lovely, peaceful weekend”, and by a repeated similar wish in Hungarian, her native language, she added “Shabbat Shalom,” despite the mundanity and kindness of this video, it quickly became the subject of a swarm of hateful comments. it went even so far that she was called to be responsible for the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Another said, “Happy Holocaust,” while another said,

“Ask her if she thinks the treatment of Palestinians reminds her [of] the treatment she got in the camp.”

Another response was

“Peace be upon Hitlar [sic]”

to one which asked if she believed the treatment of Palestinians reminded her of her treatment in the camps. All of this for a grandmother’s simple greeting. Sadly, this experience of antisemitic hate isn’t exactly unique.

Although these comments were clearly abhorrent, unjustified and unacceptable, like everything else Lily and Dov handled them with the utmost dignity. Posting to Twitter, Dov wrote:

“Over the past few days my great Grandmother (Auschwitz survivor) and I have continued to receive messages of hate on Tiktok and Twitter… We will not allow this to stop us from educating about the horrors of the past, and what hatred can lead to. Hate only breeds hate.”

Hero Magnus, a university student and TikToker, explains how her Judaism-related content would often get slammed by offensive comments.

“The really vicious comments are usually from actual Nazis, and I just block and delete. When I was making a ton of Jewish content, I would get a couple of those on practically every video,”

she explains.

“I often also got casually mean stuff from Christians or culturally Christian atheists who wanted to tell me that Judaism is backwards, cultish or stupid.”

Additionally, Jews of Colour on TikTok experience vitriol both from outside the Jewish community and within.

Shekhiynah Larks, a Black Jewish TikTok creator, describes that, in fact, most of the antisemitism she experiences on the app comes from white Jews and Black non-Jews, not Neo-Nazis.

“When I do receive antisemitic comments, it’s more coded with anti-Blackness at the same time,”

Larks says.

“It’s more people posting ‘free Palestine’ on my page and asking me how I can be Black and a Jew, I’m being brainwashed by white Jews, and that I don’t care about Black people.”

She also notes that many white Jews comment on her videos asking her invasive questions that probe into her Jewish identity and conversion, showing they don’t really view her as Jewish enough.

Aviva Davis writes:

There are many white and white-passing Jews using their platforms to share information and educational resources about systemic racism and anti-Semitism and how one’s identities intersect and influence the way one is treated in society. This is great! Better yet, share resources created by Jews of Color (hint hint, nudge nudge).

Aviva Majerczyk remarks

While the invalidation of Jews of Color is rampant throughout the Jewish community in real life as well, on TikTok, these racist commenters may feel more empowered to voice their backwards views behind anonymous accounts.

Still going strong

Lily Ebert keeps going strong. She still wears the tiny gold pendant and shares its remarkable story with all those who have time to listen.

As part of their mission to teach people about the Holocaust and its devastating effects, Lily and Dov have now co-authored a book together called “Lily’s Promise: How I Survived Auschwitz and Found the Strength to Live.” to come out coming September.

Trump-era spike in Israeli settlement growth has only begun

Donald Trump was the man who loved to have a say in everything and thought he was the best man to have the world in control.

Ex-President Donald Trump, who abandoned decades-long U.S. opposition to the settlements and proposed a Mideast plan that would have allowed Israel to keep them all — even those deep inside the West Bank, thought himself higher than God and wanted to be the man who made Jerusalem capital of Israel.

Although the Trump plan has been scrapped, the lasting legacy of construction will make it even harder to create a viable Palestinian state. President Joe Biden’s administration supports the two-state solution but has given no indication on how it plans to promote it.

> Please read more about it in:

Trump-era spike in Israeli settlement growth has only begun By Joseph Krauss

Joodse emigratie niet volgens de tijd van Nederlandse christenen

Nederland mocht het afgelopen jaar een kleine 25.000 Joden zien vertrekken naar Israël. Dat is natuurlijk wel een flink aantal, maar afgezet tegen de miljoenen Joodse mensen die nog buiten Israël verblijven, is het geen opzienbarend groot aantal. Toch willen de Nederlandse christenen dat alle Joden maar zo snel mogelijk naar Israël zullen verhuizen.

Het zal voor velen niet naar hun zin zijn om te horen dat lang niet alle Joden die gaan emigreren, als bestemming Israël kiezen. En er zijn ook Joodse mensen die Israël verlaten om ergens anders een nieuw thuis op te bouwen.

Niet alle Joden zien het als noodzaak om hun huidige ‘thuisland’ te ruilen voor het “thuisland Israël”. Het Zionisme is niet bij iedereen ingebakken in het bloed. Voor ouders met jonge kinderen is er ook het onaanvaardbare dat zij hun kinderen daar in het leger zouden moeten laten gaan (wegens de verplichte legerdienst die nu ook door de gelovigen moet volbracht worden). Wapendracht is totaal tegen de Wil van God en onverzoenbaar met ons geloof.

Wij merken wel dat er, vooral bij Nederlandse en Amerikaanse evangelische gelovigen de gedachte heerst dat alle Joden zullen moeten vergaderd zijn of bijeen moeten gekomen zijn vooraleer de Messias zou terugkeren. Men kan hierbij de vraag stellen

Uit welke tekst in de Bijbel valt op te maken dat alle Joodse mensen al thuis in Israël moeten zijn als de heer Jezus, de Messias, terugkeert naar deze aarde?

Het is wel gekend dat Jehovah God Zijn volk thuis zal brengen, in hun eigen land, en niet Jezus. Ook staat daar nergens een datum op geplakt. Zelfs betreft de dag van terugkeer van Jezus, wist zelfs hij zelf niets af, omdat zulke zaken alleen God gegeven zijn.

Wij denken in jaren en aantallen, God is het die dagen en jaren bepaalt, zelfs voor de terugkomst van Zijn eigen geliefde zoon.

Het is aan de Heer Jehovah om Zijn hand weer op te steken om het overblijfsel van Zijn volk terug te krijgen, en om een ​​banier voor de natiën op te richten, om de verdrevenen van Israël te verzamelen en de verstrooiden van Juda vanuit de vier hoeken van de wereld te verzamelen. Iedereen zal mogen te weten komen dat er een snelweg zal zijn voor het overblijfsel van God,  Zijn volk, dat zal blijven, vanuit vele windstreken, zoals er voor Israël was op de dag dat Israël uit het land Egypte kwam.

Jesaja 11:11-16 lijkt daar op te wijzen:

“11 Geschieden zal het te dien dage:

doorgaan zal mijn Heer met het opheffen van zijn hand om te verwerven het overblijfsel van zijn gemeente,- dat overblijft uit Asjoer en Egypte, uit Patros en Koesj, uit Elam, Sjinar en Chamat, en van de eilanden in de zee. 12 Opheffen zal hij een vaandel onder de volken en verzamelen Israëls verstotenen; Juda’s verstrooiden zal hij bijeenhalen van de vier vleugels van de aarde. 13 Wijken zal de naijver van Efraïm en wie Juda benauwen worden weggemaaid; Efraïm zal Juda niet meer benijden en Juda Efraïm niet benauwen. 14 Over de schouder van de Filistijnen zullen ze zeewaarts vliegen, samen zullen ze de zonen van het oosten buitmaken,- terwijl zij naar Edom en Moab hun hand uitstrekken en de zonen van Amon hen gehoorzamen. 15 Eens deed de ENE de tong van Egyptes zee in de ban, terwijl hij nu met zijn hand wenkt tegen de Rivier met de gloed van zijn geestesadem; uiteenslaan zal hij hem tot zeven beken en op schoenen zal men daardoorheen zijn weg gaan. 16 Wezen zal er een straatweg voor het overblijfsel van zijn gemeente dat zal overblijven uit Asjoer,- zoals er een was voor Israël op de dag dat hij opklom uit het land van Egypte.” (Jes 11:11-16 NB)

Het kan gerust zijn dat wij nog meer tekenen zullen gaan zien, dan diegene die wij nu al waar kunnen nemen. Er wordt namelijk ook over een banier gesproken die zal opgeheven worden onder de goyim of heidenvolken, zodat de verdrevenen van Israël en die vanuit Juda overal verspreid zijn, zullen worden teruggebracht van de vier hoeken van de aarde.
Laten we ons dus maar geen zorgen maken, de Elohim Hashem Jehovah zorgt er Zelf wel voor dat Zijn volk, op Zijn tijd, thuis zal komen.

Antisemitische misdaden in 1919 met 13 procent gestegen in Duitsland

Uit een jaarverslag dat dinsdag door de Duitse minister van Binnenlandse Zaken Horst Seehofer en Holger Münch, de voorzitter van de Duitse federale recherchedienst (BKA), officieel wordt voorgesteld, blijkt volgens de zondagskrant Welt am Sonntag dat Antisemitische misdaden vorig jaar met 13 procent gestegen zijn in Duitsland.

In het jaarverslag over politiek geïnspireerde misdrijven staat onder andere dat er in 2019 zo’n 2.000 misdaden werden gepleegd jegens joden en joodse instellingen. Het jaar voordien waren er dat nog 1.799.

Meer algemeen stegen de politiek geïnspireerde misdaden in totaal met 14 procent naar ruim 41.000, tegenover 36.062 in 2018.

In ongeveer 22.000 gevallen werden de strafbare feiten toegeschreven aan daders uit rechtse hoek, terwijl in zo’n 10.000 van de gevallen sprake is van een linkse overtreder.

Vooral in de deelstaten Brandenburg en Thüringen was de toename met respectievelijk 52,5 en 40 procent opmerkelijk te noemen.

Broken daily routines

How many of us take our daily routines for granted, not looking at everything we encounter and inspecting what we allow entering into our lives?

Today lots of people are facing a world they do not seem to cope with, them presenting more time for themselves, which for some might not be so easy to tackle. Being confronted with oneself is for many not the most pleasant thing. In the ‘previous world’ (some jokingly say BC = ‘Before Corona’), the world when there was no coronavirus, most people had their daily duties away from home, and now they seem stuck at home, many feeling prisoned in their own surroundings. Instead of just feeling free, having more time for themselves and their family.

Others who had already felt in isolation, because they belonged to people who had made their choice to be part of God’s World instead of being part of Man’s world, now seem to have become more isolated. Luckily this time in history they are not accused to be the cause of this disaster coming over man. In the past that has been different. In previous centuries it happened more than once that we, as the People of God, were targetted, as the ones bringing disasters on others. More than once it seemed the more we tried to do good, the more the enemy was and is coming against us.

This Passover we could not come together and as such many of us could have felt even more isolated than at other times. Though we can be pleased to hear most of our brethren and sisters took time again to thank the heavenly Father for His provision and continued their quest of looking for leaven in all their dwellings and in their minds.

We took at heart that the Father is telling the Bride to get rid of the leaven in our lives. If we are to be a bride without spot or wrinkle, then we should start learning how to identify the spots and wrinkles in our lives, for the purpose of getting rid of them.

In the days of our fathers in Egypt, through the plagues, the social system was so disrupted that they certainly experienced it. In this time of age many people do not see how disrupted our society is. Lots of people have become the slaves of this world and slaves of money and gadgets. They are blinded by the things of the world and have lost track of God.

We live widely in the four winds of the earth and the majority of people living in the industrialised world is not bounded by borders and every year take the time on several occasions to go abroad, some even very far away from home, to find pleasure and relaxation. Many even forgetting you can have that at home too. That is why we see so many in distress because they feel bound by lockdown, whilst now they should feel free from the worldly chains.

Until now, we could still choose to celebrate Pesach in the nations or in the land of Israel, but today we are tied to our local territory. The Elohim had asked to go into our inner chambers, and to close our doors after us; to hide for a little while until the wrath passes.  (Isaiah 26:20) This year as our forefathers did at several times in history, (the last time in Nazi-time) we could feel how it must have been, hiding, just being with a few, not able to feel that unity of a people chosen by God.

As in previous times this year we strongly could feel how The Adonai gives perfect peace to those whose faith is firm. Once more we could feel the importance to always trust the Elohim Hashem Jehovah because He is forever our mighty Rock (Isaiah 26:3-4) this year, more than in other years we could fully set our minds on our Divine Creator. Now more than in other times we can feel how it is Him Who keeps us completely whole, steady on our feet, because we keep at it and don’t quit. Enough reason to call others also to believe in The One we do believe and to say

Depend on God and keep at it because in the LORD GOD you have a sure thing. (Isaiah 26:4-5)

Let us in this time of disease not be afraid of that disease to go out in the world, to help those in need. Let us be there for the elderly and sick, and help them by their shopping and by providing for the needs they might have.

Jehovah knew that there would come a time when we must remain in our place and He has provided that we can worship Him in Spirit and in Truth through the Spirit of Holiness that was poured out at the time. Let us also show others why they best come to our Bore, and come to see how Jesus is the way to our God, Who is the God above all gods.

Let us others know that they can trust God and should come to believe in the one He has sent. Jeshua out of the tribe of Judah has given himself as a ransom for mankind and taken over the Scepter and is confirmed as the Firstfruits. We have to let others know that because of Jeshua’s death and resurrection, those who have received faith have, become children of Israel according to the promise. We should show others how the time has come to accept that through his awesome work of redemption, the old has passed and the new has come  (Luke 5).

Let us then letting down doctrines that do not bring us as spiritual firstborns to our goal by those who are not spiritual firstborns. They are of no use to us, because the firstborn learns straight from his / her father and not from the other children in the household. We are banns and should listen to ‘our Man’ instead of people who do not know our Man (Jeremiah 31:9) The firstborn who chose Jehovah over the natural firstborn. Draw the line of the birthright according to the written Word.

Let us make God His Name known but also the name of His son who is the one who carries the Scepter. He is the one who teaches the teaching of the written Word by the outpoured Spirit of Holiness to those named after his name (Jeshuaists).

Even in lockdown we can continue to preach, having enough possibilities by internet and modern technology.

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Additional reading

1. First time since Nazi-time no public gathering
2. Importance of Tikkun olam

Hosting a Virtual Seder During a Pandemic

Dear readers,

Hopefully, you are all in good health.

On April 02 there are 5,552 people registered in Belgium that are infected with the novel coronavirus who are receiving treatment in Belgian hospitals.
That there are only 1,143 deaths of the CoViD-19 virus at the moment is thanks to the exceptional precautions that the government has taken and which a large part of the population adheres to.

The coming week brings us, what in normal circumstances would be the busiest time for gatherings, in our effort to remember how God has liberated us, and to make sure that the younger generation would come aware how we always should remember how God Helps and Guides His People.

14 Nisan is normally the Day of The Memorial Meal.
This year that shall be different from all other years.

In Lockdown times, best not to meet too many people and to keep social distance, nowhere in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal shall there be an open public Memorial Meal or Pesach Seder.

While you might not be able to physically gather around the seder table this Passover, do not forget that you can come together online.

Check out our 10 tips for creating a meaningful and fun seder experience for your family and friends, near and far.

1. Use the same Haggadah. 

   You could make and can use a Haggadah you could send out by e-mail beforehand and/or screen-share it with your guests, or encourage everyone to print their own copy.

2. Designate an e-Moses.

   It can be very helpful to pick someone to lead the virtual seder. Make sure this person has experience successfully using Zoom, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Skype, etc..

   He can play Moshe and let us remember how Moshe ditched his desert aesthetic and returned to the Egyptian palace to deliver God’s message, with the help of his brother and hype man, Aaron.

   Telling the exodus story he may not forget to bring forth how Moshe spoke about God commands and how God clapped back at the Egyptians. Children perhaps can have drawings made of the pathway formed between the walls of water and the Israelites who made it to the other side without harm.

3. Make a “seating and speaking chart.”

   This year there can best not swapped places. Best is to have everybody all night using the same place at the table, and if possible having enough distance between each household member.

   But this year we should also account for the virtual seated next speaker. Figure out ahead of time who is going to read what. Throughout the seder, text the person you’d be sitting next to.  Be careful when all speakers are on there shall be too much echo and everything could become too chaotic. Therefore, let everybody stay muted and follow an order of speaking plus having put up an arm or (funny) sign requesting to speak.

4. Maintain that there are no excuses for why people can’t attend.A danger of such critical times as these, is that people come a bit lazy or like to avoid their religious obligations.
   Unless, you know, they don’t have internet and/or a device to connect to it. Anyone can be part of your Passover experience.
5. Have a practice run.The organiser best has several contacts beforehand with those who would take care of the surprises.Also, send instructions for accessing your virtual platform of choice ahead of time so nobody holds up the seder by not knowing their Wi-Fi or other password.For those who do not have their computer enough secured and therefore had best their camera taped, they have to be encouraged to take the stickers or tape off their cameras.
   
6. Eat and drink with measure spread over the long time of gatheringAs usual at a seder have the different courses interrupted by animated talks, readings from Scripture and prayers.
7. Work with what you have.
   
   With all the panic shopping, it can be intimidating to venture out to get everything you need. That’s OK. Get what you can and improvise the rest.
   Our people have survived greater quandaries with a little ingenuity and determination.If you can’t get matzah, cut some cardboard into squares or large circles (you can even put dots on them with a marker for texture, but do not consume—this is purely decorative). Swap out sriracha for horseradish. Use literally anything green. Squish trail mix into a charoset-like paste.Use a regular plate as a stand-in for a seder plate. It’s the thought that counts.
8. Bring a little Purim to Passover.
   
   Never forget to make the long evening pleasant enough or entertaining enough to the children. Remember this night should be a night of remembering and giving it further to the next generation.Nobody would be against making some good fun and nobody would object to have people being dressed up as Moses, Aaron, Miriam, etc.Got kids? Great, they can be the frogs. Or the lice. It depends how stressed they’re making you.
   Got teens? Do the whole seder using Snapchat filters, then do a TikTok dance break in the middle of the seder for added social media cred. But only if, like, you know the choreo.
9. A night different from all other nightsAlso do not forget that 14 Nisan is ‘super special’.Laugh a little hysterically and cry only a tad when you get to the Four Questions and someone has to ask, “Why is this night different from all other nights?”
10. A Liberation to celebrate
    
    Do your best, have fun and remember that though we are in isolation to protect ourselves, friends, families and fellow human beings everywhere, we are still free to be Jewish or Jeshuaist and celebrate our heritage and salvation by the Highest and Strongest!

Let us not forget to show our love to God by remembering what He has done and still does, and let us show our love to others by taking enough precautions to keep everybody safe and in good health. Even when we might be very isolated in our own cosy home, let us feel the union with brothers and sisters all over the world, and let our prayers be with them all.

Please pray:

I will seek to make this world a better place, for all people, today and tomorrow. To this, in their memory, I pledge myself. Ani ma’amin. Am Yisrael chai.

A Jewish community eating the symbolic Passover food during the Seder evening, the evening before the Passover festival (picture-alliance / dpa / Robert Fishman)

As you come to the end of the seder, remember that this uncertainty, while it already feels like 40 years of wandering in the desert, is temporary. The Israelites made it eventually. So will we.

Next year, in person!

For 2020:

Keep safe and well, having a lovely Passover seder.

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Preceding

CoViD-19 warnings

Anxiety Management During Pandemic Days~

Hope on the Horizon: Pandemic Anxiety Management II~

Pandemic Anxiety Busters~

Mel Brooks saying “go home” to Max Brooks

Christian Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic

7 Ways To Boost Your Immune System in Lockdown

Love in the Time of Corona

Recrafting our World

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Reminders

1. The unseen enemy
2. Under-reporting the total number of coronavirus cases
3. Coronavirus on March 11 declared a global pandemic on March 31 affecting more than 177 countries
4. No idea yet for 14 Nisan or April the 8th in 2020 Corona crisis time
5. Only a few days left before 14 Nisan
6. First time since Nazi time no public gathering
7. Voor het eerst in jaren weer een Pesach in isolatie
8. Even in Corona time You are called on to have the seder
9. A meal as a mitzvah so that every generation would remember
10. A night different from all other nights and days to remember
11. Let’s Think About Redemption Differently
12. At the Shabbat HaChodesh: readings about blood, liberation and purification
13. Zeman Chereisenu – the time of our freedom
14. Ki Tisa – Torah Portion
15. Egypt, Moshe and Those who never felt they belonged there
16. In Every Generation: The Return of Anti-Semitism – Pesah Day 1, 5779
17. The Most special weekend of the year 2018
18. Call to help others
19. How should we worship God? #7 The Breaking of Bread
20. How should we worship God? #8 Love one another

Perhaps Anti-Semitism for lots of people isn’t always easy to see

When looking at the recent heathen festival “Carnaval” it looks like for the majority of Belgians antisemitism isn’t always easy to see. Last year there were already anti-Jewish groups in the carnival parade and this year they multiplied like the Coronavirus, where not many spoke about.

Already for a few years now, we can see that in Belgium Anti-Semitism moved quietly through each of the lives of many Belgians — in a tweet, or a joke, or a conspiracy theory — seemingly not having just impact on those it directly touches. It impacts us all.

Strangely enough, it seems that a lot of Belgians do not seem to see or can not recognize anti-Semitic words, phrases, ideas, and caricatures for what they really are — hatred, bigotry, discrimination. I was not present at the carnival parade in Aalst, but what I could see on the Flemish television was something one could expect many years before World War II, but not after that horrible period. On one of the cars hung a pamphlet whit something which shocked me Só Much, that I did not write it down, for being able to repeat it here or to fill in a complaint against the hate message and the anti-Semitic words written on that car!

The call for Jews having to go to Israel and to hide behind the Wall can not be called Jewish-friendly. “Muur” (Wall) may be “Mier” (Ant) in the dialect from Aalst, but to present Jews as ants can only be called “a bit inappropriate”.

The major of Aalst and many people from Aals, saying one has to be able to laugh with and at people and circumstances, may call for questioning how far one may go with mockery with situations and with persons or religious groups.
Certainly, in these times of a horrific rise in anti-Semitism, politicians should point to the fact of such matters to their citizens and should try to bring them to their sense. Though, the major of Aalst always when he was given the word, seemed to put more oil on the fire by just to dismiss it as something that is not understood by many outside Aalst.

Together, we can identify and expose the hate that’s hiding between the lines. Those with any good feeling of ethics and decency should call for a reaction of  “Unia”, the centre “For equality, against discrimination”.

What is going on in this country should ring a bell for the democratic parties and should bring the European Union sound the alarm, calling the national government to take action.

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Preceding

The danger of having less than 25 000 Jews in Belgium

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Find also

1. Haat tegen verarming en tegen Israël nieuwe manier om Joden te haten
2. Niet te negeren gebeurtenissen rond Joden in België
3. Prinsesjes en carnavalstoestanden #1 Aalst Carnaval 2019

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Relating

1. The fight against anti-Semitism is also a fight for a democratic, value-based Europe
2. Luca Jahier, EESC President on the present intolerance
3. 2019 was #4 a Year of much deceit in Belgium and the rest of Europe
4. Auschwitz survivors providing a warning of rising anti-Semitism and exclusion of free thinking

The Trump clan declares itself a Kennedy-like dynasty

Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, has said that the Trumps are set to become a Kennedy-like dynasty.

Say what?

Parscale elaborated at California’s Republican Party convention last August.

“I think you see that from Don Jr. I think you see that from Ivanka. You see it from Jared. You see it from all,” he said.

That would be Trump’s Jewish daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her Jewish husband, Jared Kushner.

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Would it possible to have a Jewish president in the near future?: Please read: Possibility for a Jew to replace Donald Trump

Breendonk het kamp van de waanzin

Op 9 september 2004, juist 60 jaar na de bevrijding van het kamp van Breendonk werd in Histories (Canvas) de reportage Breendonk, het kamp van de waanzin, uitgezonden waarin het gaat over leven maar belangrijker en meer over “overleven”.

Het kamp werd voorgedaan als een vakantiekolonie, maar dat was het allerminst.

Met de hand moesten de gevangenen 300 000 kubieke meter grond afgraven, waarbij even een rustpauze nemen niet bij behoorde. Voor elke 30 gedetineerden was er één bewaker waardoor dit kamp het meest gecontroleerde bleek te zijn, waarbij moeilijk aan de ogen van de bewakers kon ontsnapt worden. Nergens waren de fysieke en psychologische terreur zo geïndividualiseerd.

°°°

Onmiddellijk na de bezetting van België werden er her en der groepjes gevormd die het gezag van de Duitsers wensten te ondermijnen maar ook ervoor wensten te zorgen dat de nodige mensen beschermd konden worden, waarbij vooral de aandacht uit ging naar hier in nood zijnde vechters tegen de Duitse bezetter. Men kan niet negeren dat er vanaf het begin heel wat individueel verzet was, bijvoorbeeld van ambtenaren in overheidsdienst die weigerden mee te werken of de samenwerking met de bezetter saboteerden.

De collaborerende partijen in de gemeentebesturen waren voor sommigen een doorn in het oog. Zo verzamelden de stichters van de door Marcel De Mol, de koster van Tisselt, opgerichtte Zwarte Hand reeds in de zomer van 1940 inlichtingen omtrent Duitsgezinden in hun gemeenten. Na contact te hebben gehad met verzetsleden uit Brussel, begonnen ook zij ook pamfletten te maken die waren gericht tegen het gemeentebestuur dat bestond uit leden van het Vlaamsch Nationaal Verbond. Hun pamfletten kregen ze via de Brusselse Maria Moens. Ook kwamen er bepaalde vormen van weerstand, elk met een specifiek karakter en doel, die reeds tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog hun nut bewezen hadden: inlichtingen garing, clandestiene of sluik pers, hulp aan ondergedoken geallieerde soldaten en piloten met ontsnappingslijnen…

Naargelang de krijgskansen slechter werden en de verzetslieden actiever werden verslechterde de toestand in Breendonk nog meer. Men kan niet spreken van een professioneel georganiseerd orgaan. In vele gemeenten waren het eerder individuele en erg amateuristische sabotage-acties, tot na de invoering van de verplichte tewerkstelling, welk hen meer deed samenspannen en beter deed organiseren ook omdat het risico van de acties groter werd.  Doordat het gewapend verzet voor de bezetter en de collaboratie echt hinderlijk begon te worden verhoogde de wrevel van de Duitsgezinden en de bezetter.

Ook al mochten collaborerenden van verscheiden geestelijken horen dat zulk een samengaan met de Duitsers verkeerd was, gaf de Katholieke Kerk toch nog onvoldoende duidelijkheid wat aanschouwd moest worden als Vaderlandse plicht of burgerschap. Wat mocht namelijk het als juist aanschouwde gedrag zijn, wanneer er Vlamingen waren die er rotsvast van overtuigd waren dat zij het beste voor hadden met hun “land” (Vlaanderen).

In een herderlijke brief van 7 oktober 1940 schreven de bisschoppen het volgende:

‘Zonder twijfel is het noodzakelijk de bezettende autoriteit als een feitelijke macht te erkennenen er aan te gehoorzamen binnen de limieten van de internationale conventies, maar het Belgisch vaderland blijft bestaan, en al haar kinderen moeten haar trouw zijn en bijstand verlenen. Zorg er voor dat uw gedrag dus in alle omstandigheden correct en waardig is, zodat u zich in geweten niet hoeft te berouwen of te schamen!’

De Kerk trachtte zich dus zo goed mogelijk aan de nieuwe situatie aan te passen en heeft zich niet gewaagd een duidelijk standpunt in te nemen tegen de mensonwaardige toestanden waarvan zij duidelijk van op de hoogte moeten geweest zijn. De bezetter werd zoveel mogelijk ontzien, maar het VNV kon van in het begin niet op enige toegeeflijkheid rekenen. Voor Rex lagen de zaken enigszins anders. Tenslotte werd Rex door de kerkleiders als een katholieke ‘dissidentie’ beschouwd, die zij vóór de oorlog het liefst naar de katholieke schaapsstal hadden teruggeleid.

Toen op op 6 oktober 1942 de tewerkstelling in Duitsland werd ingevoerd heeft het episcopaat onmiddellijk de intrekking of op zijn minst de versoepeling van deze verordening gevraagd en zelfs de tussenkomst van het Vaticaan proberen te bekomen. Het antwoord was dat de Heilige Stoel geen invloed had bij de regering van het Derde Rijk. Begin 1943 leidde dit tot een open conflict tussen het Belgisch episcopaat en het MilitairBestuur.

Erg genoeg toen Vlaamse SS-ers het in Breendonk overnamen van de Duitsers overtrof hun wreedheid deze van de Duitsers.

De ontsnappingslijnen werden geleidelijk aan ook meer gebruikt om naast geallieerde piloten ook gewone burgers naar Engeland over te brengen en voor hulpverlening aan joden en onderduikers.

Yvonne Nèvejean directrice NWK tijdens WOII

Hertz Jospa (Rezina Bessarabia) en Hava Groisman alias Yvonne Jospa, stichters van het Joods Defensiecomité – le Comité de Défense des Juifs (CDJ)

Van de 66.651 joodse inwoners in België werden er 32.652 gedeporteerd. 34.000 wisten op de een of andere manier aan de Duitse handen te ontsnappen, in veel gevallen door welgezinde medeburgers. Zo konden daarvan een 25.000 in België onderduiken. Yvonne Nèvejean, directrice van het Oeuvre de l’Enfance of het Nationaal werk voor Kinderwelzijn, werd  benaderd door het Comité de Défence des Juifs en Belgique, het Joods Defensiecomité (CDJ) de belangrijkste Joodse ondergrondse organisatie van België (opgericht in 1942 door Hertz Jospa zijn vrouw Hava Groisman alias Yvonne Jospa), en gevraagd om Joodse kinderen te redden die gescheiden waren van hun ouders.

Nèvejean en haar medewerkers slaagden er zo in om 4.000 kinderen te redden door hen onder te brengen bij katholieke gezinnen en instellingen. Andere organisaties zoals het Rode Kruis, de Kerk en Winterhulp speelden ook een rol in de hulpverlening aan ondergedoken joodse families.

De in Kiev geboren Yura Livchitz, met zijn oorlogsnaam Georges, woonde in Brussel met zijn moeder Rachel Livchitz en oudere broer, waar zij het linkse intellectuele milieu frequenteren dat wordt bezocht door Hertz Jospa en zijn vrouw Yvonne. Samen met zijn jeugdvriend Robert Leclercq organiseeert hij het Cercle du Libre Examen (Librex).In de Librex-kring ontmoette hij enkele vrienden en met Richard Altenhoff en Jean Burgers, die in 1942 de Groep G oprichtten broeden zij plannen uit om België van haar bezetters te bevrijden. Om de kost te verdienen, is Youra een vertegenwoordiger voor het Belgische farmaceutische bedrijf Pharmacobel.

Het Joods Verdedigingscomité en het Mobiel Korps van het of saboteerden de deportaties. Zo konden Yura Livschitz, jongere broer van Alexandre Livchitz, en Robert Maistriau op 19 april 1943, gewapend met een pistool en een lamp te Boortmeerbeek-Wespelaar het XXe konvooi doen stoppen. Ongeveer één op zeven van de 1.631 personen van dit konvooi wisten te ontsnappen. Livschitz en zijn broer werden aangehouden, opgesloten te Breendonk en terechtgesteld op de Nationale Schietbaan te Brussel.

Sommige verzetsgroepen werden gesticht op basis van een duidelijke politieke ideologie, andere ageerden uit zuivere vaderlandsliefde. Het Molotov-Ribbentroppact of niet-aanvalsverdrag tussen de Sovjet-Unie en Nazi-Duitsland leidde tot een grote controverse binnen de gehele communistische wereldbeweging en daarmee ook de KPB. In de beginfase van de Tweede Wereldoorlog hield de KPB zich op grond van het beleid van Moskou gedeisd. Maar toen door de Nazi’s het niet-aanvalspact tussen de Sovjetunie en nazi-Duitsland werd verbroken trad de communistische partij, de enige die een sociale revolutie nastreefde, in haar geheel in het verzet. Samen met andere groepen en gelijksgezinden richtte ze het Onafhankelijkheidsfront op, een pluralistische beweging. De nazi’s in België hadden deze ommekeer voorbereid en brachten onmiddellijk de KPB een zware slag toe met Operation Sonnenwende (Operatie Sonnenwende).  Vooral de parketten en gerechtelijke politie van Antwerpen en Luik hadden de Duitsers informatie verstrekt, naast wat die laatsten zelf in beslag hadden genomen. Spilfiguur was de Haupt-V-Mann van de Sipo-SD in België en Noord-Frankrijk Emiel Van Thielen alias Max Günther.
Over het hele land drongen de Duitsers op 22 en 23 juni binnen bij mandatarissen, militanten en sympathisanten van de KPB, die overigens buiten de wet werd gesteld. De arrestanten werden afgevoerd naar het Fort van Hoei en de Auffanglager Breendonk (of het Opvangkamp Breendonk). In aanwezigheid van Günther werden de communistische leiders gefolterd in de gruwelbunker van Breendonk.

Auffanglager Breendonk in Fort Breendonk – gang naar de martelkamer of hel

Martelkamer in Auffanglager Breendonk (Opvangkamp Breendonk)

Vele arrestanten zaten op het treinkonvooi dat op 22 september 256 politieke gevangenen naar Neuengamme deporteerde (107 uit Breendonk en 149 uit Hoei). Ook het naast het of opgerichte partizanenleger was een communistisch initiatief.

Het Belgisch Legioen (later het Geheim Leger) was een initiatief van koningsgezinde Belgische officieren die de orde wilden herstellen in een staat geleid door een sterke vorst, Leopold III. Toen dit niet mogelijk bleek, streed deze groep als een gehergroepeerd Belgisch leger tegen de bezetter.

De Nationale Koninklijke Beweging was gewonnen voor het toekennen van dictatoriale machten aan de koning. Ook de Belgische Nationale Beweging had ultraconservatieve bedoelingen. Neutrale vaderlandslievende groepen als de Witte Brigade en de Groep G wilden niet de Belgische staatsstructuur veranderen, maar wél het land bevrijden

In onderstaande video kan u een reconstructie vinden hoe het er aan toe ging in het “Kamp van de Waanzin” in het Fort van Breendonk

Waarschuwing bij deze video!

Een interessante en kritische beschouwing over deze uitzending is terug te vinden op https://wo2forum.nl/viewtopic.php?f=3…  waar o.a. wordt bekriticeerd:

… de kennis van zowel de tv-makers als van de gevangenen over de interne structuur was zeer matig tot slecht. Men bleef spreken over ,,SS’ers” terwijl de officieren duidelijk Sicherheitsdienst waren, met ondersteuning van regulier Wehrmacht-wachtpersoneel. Dat de WH hier bewaking uitoefende is wel opmerkelijk. Zoals je al opmerkte werd op dit punt amper aandacht gericht. Eén zin van een gevangene en dat was het. Ik ga hierover door in de voorlaatste alinea, maar in ,,de processen van Mechelen”, zoals vermeld in de uitzending, werd slechts één persoon ter dood veroordeeld (en gebracht) die met de SS te maken had, en dat was dan nog iemand van de Germaanse-SS. {Thomas op WO2 forum}

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De commentaar gemaakt bij de opnames van het proces waren typisch voor de geest van die tijd. De huidige commentaar (“het belgisch gerecht doet zijn werk”) was een flater van jewelste: zelfs het kleinste kind weet de repressie- en epicuratiemachine de meest onbetrouwbare rechtspraak opleverde uit de hele belgische geschiedenis. Typisch is het geval van Ernest Claes. Lange tijd zonder reden of grond opgepakt en in de cel geworpen. Toen hij voor de rechter werd voorgeleid deed deze laatste zijn ,,strafdossier” open en er zat alleen een blanco pagina in. {Thomas op WO2 forum}

the Soup will not be eaten as hot as it is served

“Are they really bringing people to workplaces to give them a better life?”

It was known or said that even if Jews were converted to the Christian faith, they remained “different” because of their bloodline. It was also known that many were jealous for the lifestyle and family feeling which could  be found in the Klal Yisrael or Jewish communities. Many goyim found the Jews separated themselves from the society, but they did not often see it were goyim who themselves gave enough reason not to mix too much with them.

Samuel Morgenstern was one of those shopkeepers who was one of the most loyal buyers of Hitler’s paintings in Vienna, by which Hitler could receive enough money not to be a tramp. Naturally there were also rumours Hitler could not stand Jews because he got a disease from regularly going to some ‘Jewish harlots’.

Portrait of Karl Lueger (ca. 1900), mayor of Vienna. He used anti-Semitism as a political strategy. Collection: Austrian National Library / painter: Alois Delug. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Rights: Public Domain

Mein Kampf, (German: “My Struggle”) political manifesto written by Adolf Hitler. It was his only complete book and became the bible of National Socialism (Nazism) in Germany’s Third Reich. It was published in two volumes in 1925 and 1927, and an abridged edition appeared in 1930. By 1939 it had sold 5,200,000 copies and had been translated into 11 languages.

It perhaps were not just rumours that the politician, co-founder and leader of the Austrian Christian Social Party, and mayor of Vienna Karl Lueger (1844-1910), used anti-Semitism as a political strategy, and that he was also praised as “the greatest German mayor of all time” by Adolf Hitler (In Mein Kampf) who did not mind following his ideas.

The prejudices about the role of the Jews in the Great War were incorrect, but as with many rumours, it spread like a virus. Many Germans did not want to believe how more than one hundred thousand German and Austrian Jews had fought for their homeland, one of them being Otto Frank, the German-born merchant best known as the father of Anne Frank, who witnessed the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

In the 1920ies our family members could already hear how our brethren were compared with germs. It was as if our people had been infecting generations for ages. That Hitler never thought his people were not strong enough to live according to the wishes of their god or according to the mitzvot of the Only One True God, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah. Lots of our friends could not believe that those who said they were “Christian” and as such would, or should, be following the Nazarene Jewish rabbi who preached brotherly love, could do such atrocious things, as others told about them. Perhaps it was to set up Jehudiem against Christians, so that the goyim had all the reason to tell

religion is the cause of war.

The words spread that Hitler said that you cannot fight a disease without destroying the person who caused it, and as such according to him, the influence of the Jews would never disappear without removing the perpetrator, the Jude, from the midst of the Arian race.

Radical ideas paved the way for the mass murder of the Jews in the 1940s, but not many of the Bnei Yisroel or Chosen People of God wanted to believe the rumours at first.

In many families, like ours, it was the saying

“the Soup will not be eaten as hot as it is served”.

They heard about plans which would be taken, but they seemed so unbelievable that they could not be true or would have been exaggerated, as by a circling fire. Others were not so much at ease, and warned

“to be aware of a silent dog and still water”.

Should we look askance at him? Now we can easily say they had much better looked at him out of the tail of their eyes. By not believing the many rumours, lots were woken up with a start, when it was too late.

For a long time, many wondered if it was within the odds, whilst others said

“He is not likely to go.”

Others wanted to be a friend to all, forgetting that then they would be a friend to none. Many debates about what went on in Germany and Austria could bring lots of talks after the children were sent to bed. For sure that what was to be spoken about was not for children’s ears.

It was, and is still, known that there was and is, an existing prejudice that Jews associate with financial power and monetary gain. Many are also convinced Jews are “foefelaars“, who make their pile on the poor white people. Lots of Jews may be looked at as a ramay / nokhel, a fiddler or cheater whilst there was no oysnarn at all.

White movement propaganda poster from the Russian Civil War era (1919), a caricature of Leon Trotsky, who was viewed as a symbol of Jewish Bolshevism.

In many countries people also looked at the Jehudi as the originators or conspirators and spreaders of communism. The vast majority of the communist leaders at that time were Jewish. However, it is only a small part of the Jews that were communists, and what a lot of people did not see is that several Jews were promoting or aiming for social equality, this being considered by many liberals and capitalists a danger for the economy and consumption gain. During the war with the Soviet Union, from 1941 on, it will be the idea of the ‘Jewish communism’ (sometimes also called Marxian-communism or meant to be Jewish Bolshevism, also Judeo–Bolshevism) with terrible consequences. The population and the prisoners of war being brutally treated by the Germans.

When Hitler got into power rumours got stronger, but still many did not want to believe what went around. Others were smart enough to be at the safe site by sending their beloved far away from Germany and Austria. Some thought they would be safe in Holland, but how they were mistaken. Having gone to Holland luckily several managed to cross the channel and find a safe haven in the United Kingdom, but the others got taken and deported.

At the Schalkland, in the “Klein-Brabant” region, less than 25 kilometres from the centre of Brussels and 19 kilometres from Antwerp, to the south of the Dendermonde highway (Mechelen – Dendermonde) was build the “Willebroeck Fort” as a fortified defence to protect the port and city of Antwerp, which by Royal Order dated 12 January 1907 rechristened the fort “Breendonck Fort”. On september 20th 1940 Sturmbannführer Philip Schmitt brought his first victims to Breendonk. The Fort officially became the Auffanglager Breendonk, a transit camp; a major centre for the Sicherheitspolizei-Sicherheitsdienst (SIPO/SD), the german political police.

Words spread that in Breendonk the kaze-the mats were to be removed from the earth in which they were covered. Three or four men had to push a railway carriage that was loaded with the earth. It was not the best marterial the prisoners had to use. Of these vehicles, the wheels were worn out, having to be pushed on worn-out rails, so that a person would have more than it is possible. Was it a rumour or was it true that the SS guards, with their weapons beated on the upper arms, the backs of the heads of the unfortunate ones until the latter were exhausted, but also fell dead?

Former working site at the camp of Breendonk. The regime set up here by the Nazis hardly differed from that of an official concentration camp. The undernourishment and the forced labour wore down the body and mind. The ever-present physical cruelty sometimes caused the death of prisoners. Initially, the camp was only guarded by a few German SS and a detachment of the Wehrmacht. In September 1941, the Wachtgruppe of the SD arrived as back up. This time, these were no longer German SS but mainly Flemings.

Some of the prisoners were to be buried up to the neck, after they were first on a ferocious manner, beaten. The S, S. jailers were there, then settled for the pitiful earth at the face of them. The game lasted sometimes for 1 or 2 hours, and when the victims were about to die, they did not stop to punch and to death. During the singing of the song of Breendonk, the text of which these words were placed on the grave:

” Wir werden nie mehr Breendonk vergessen, das Paradies-tier Juden…’.”

Sturmbannführer (majoor) Schmitt had created and placed a pulley on the ceiling in a folterbunker (torture bunker or blockhouse) of the camp, to make, that the victim’s hands at the back tied up would be drawn to the ceiling.

After that, it was a pizzle of the shot, he was then beaten with a bullepees (bullenpees: baton between a whip and a stick made from dried penis of a bull). When the hoist was released, the unfortunate person fell on two angular boards. Kachelpoken or stove pokers were glowed for immediate use,… because the Jews were not worth the bullet. They had to be sent to death during work and by torture.

When the words rang true for most of the Jews still living in the region, it was too late to find a safe place for their children and for themselves.

After the camps in Belgium or Holland as “Musselmen” (completely emaciated) thousands were deported to Germany to find an end to their unbearable suffering, either of starvation, giving up, or in the gas chambers.

The remaining Jews in Belgium were unable to follow the course of events that their fellow believers underwent elsewhere. Their own concerns were too overwhelming for this and contact with neighbouring countries was too incomplete. The seeping job tidings were considered exaggerated …

Commissioned by the notorious member of Heinrich Himmler’s SS, the Nazi paramilitary corps, Adolf Eichmann, the Sicherheits polizei in Berlin, wrote the following urgent letter, in which the word “Secret” is not missing (22 June 1942):

“From mid-July and early August this year, special trains of 1,000 people each day are planned, first of all about 40,000 Jews from the occupied French territory,
Send 40,000 Jews from the Netherlands and 10,000 Jews from Belgium to employment in the Auschwitz camp.
“The circle of persons to be included extends primarily to Jews who are skilled in work, insofar as they do not live in mixed marriages and do not have the nationality of the British Empire, of the U.S.A., of Mexico, from the enemy states, from Central and South America, as well as from the neutral and related states.

“I may request willing access and assume that there are no objections to these measures on the part of the foreign office either.
Commissioned get. Eichman “

On 12 July 1942 the last restriction on freedom before the local raids started was put visible on billboards. From the onward Jews were no longer allowed to visit cinemas, theatres, sports grounds or public institutions. In the trams they were only allowed to stand on the front platform of the trailer.

Such regulations still did not unbalance many of the Jewish diluted community. According to many the German measures only wanted to deprive the Jews of public pleasures … (Few will then have immediately known that the first nocturnal masses in Paris on Friday July 17, 1942 raffle had taken place.)

Pennant for Organisation Todt

Woman with Ostarbeiter OT badge at Auschwitz

The second Jewish labour team was also confidently leaving the civil and military engineering organisation “Organization Todt” to Charleville-Mèzières (18 July), until on July 22 the second deception beared its bitter fruit.(It was the day that the memorial of the destruction of the Temple took place in Jerusalem in the evening – Tischa be’af – -). Jews were arrested without any excuse! When that day the trains from Brussels and Antwerp stopped at Mechelen as usual, Feldgendarmen were on the platform. All the Jews, both men and women, were taken out. The same happened at the Antwerp and Brussels North terminus stations. (The Brussels-North-South connection did not yet exist.) Their freedom had ended. Some went to Breendonk. Most were sent to the 18^th century Dossin barracks, where between 1942 and 1944, 25,484 Jews, 352 Roma and Sinti were deported. Just over 5% returned from Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Kazerne Dossin, Goswin de Stassartstraat 153, B. 2800 Mechelen, where in the old barracks, visitors will find a memorial, which commemorates countless people who stayed there in despair and fear and who died later in unspeakable circumstances.

From the onward the Jews throughout Belgium were being seized by panic. Being an ode alone was therefore sufficient here to be arrested … The Jewish Council was powerless … followed by a reaction of partial sobering among the Jewish population. They forged new flight plans that were kept secret even from close acquaintances.
The panic mood was tempered after a few days. When  people received mail from the internees in Mechelen it all looked not as bad as the rumours went around.

They are not nearly as bad there … Fruits are missing … They may receive packages …

Faces from those who lost their life after being brought to the Dosin Kazerne in Mechelen

These days we remember all those who lost their life in a struggle to survive in a hatefull world.

Let us not forget how politicians can use disinformation and propaganda to mislead many and to create unwanted scapegoats.
We also may not let ourselves be fooled this time that it would not be as bad today with what was happening in the 1930ies. There are people who say

That can never repeat again

but after the Great War all people agreed also that such a horror should never take place again. Only a few years later the world found itself again in such time or terror.

This time let us be more careful, notice the signs of people bringing others on the wrong path, and react wisely to those who want us to believe we are ridiculous seeing ghosts or bad things in what are just jokes or carnavalesc activities.

 

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Preceding

Remembrance and freedom in the Netherlands – Dodenherdenking and Bevrijdingsdag

Niet te negeren gebeurtenissen rond Joden in België

The danger of having less than 25 000 Jews in Belgium

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Additional reading

1. The Great War changed everything
2. Reformed Churches Muzzled but Protest at Barmen
3. 2019 was #4 a Year of much deceit in Belgium and the rest of Europe
4. Signs of the times – “An object of scorn and ridicule”

Shabbat shalom

The Most Almighty  Elohim asked us not to repeat endlessly words or prayer actions. He has given several examples of how we can pray and worship Him. For sure, He does not like it that we would pray to more than one person or god. He requires the full attention and honour, Him being the Bore, the Giver of life and Sustainer of everything. He appreciates it more when we are willing to come to Him with our own words and out of free will, loving to accept Him as the Only One True God.

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Additional reading

1. Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #2 Calling upon the Name of God
2. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #4 Transitoriness #2 Purity
3. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #5 Prayer #3 Callers upon God
4. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #13 Prayer #11 Name to be set apart
5. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #14 Prayer #12 The other name
6. Eight days of sprinkling lights

Matters of Interpretation

Rabbi Shimon said “When you pray, let not your prayer become routine, but let it be a sincere supplication for God’s mercy, as it says: ‘For He is gracious and merciful, endlessly patient, overflowing in love, and eager to forgive.’ And never condemn yourself as totally wicked.”From “Chapters of the Fathers” in Gates of Prayer, Chaim Stern, ed. (New York: Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1975), 20.

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Messianic Gentiles looking at Torah and Jews, often giving a wrong view about Messianic Jews

Some Messianic groups do want others to believe that all Messianic Jews have put away their Only One True Beloved God Who is One eternal all-knowing invisible Most Almighty Elohim.

The retired Marc Hiatt worked as a Worship Director and Office Admin at Or HaOlam Messianic Congregation in Overland Park, KS, where he is known as Mordekhi. He seems to be one of those Messianic preachers who want to distort the view on Messianics by doing as if all of them worship Jeshua (Jesus Christ) as their god. Problem with such misleading gurus is that they do not want to provide place for comments on their articles, for probably they know very well that too many would disagree with them or would show readers how it is otherwise. Not providing a place for real Messianics to react, they stay in the dark and Jews may continue to have a wrong impression of those Jews who honestly choose  for Jesus.

Mr. Hiatt is not Jewish by blood, as far as any of his family records reveal. He may have a heart for Israel and the Bnei Yisroel or Jewish people and considers himself to be a Messianic Gentile,

“a “Ruth,” as it were.”

But it are such people and evangelicals who frighten us very much. Such preachers who try to convert Jews, or try to lure them in the trap not to worship the Elohim Hashem Jehovah anymore, that makes so many Jews afraid to have contact with Christians, because they too have a misinformed image. This is why today only 0,3% of the Jewish population in Israel is notated as believing in Christ. Evangelists saying so, pointing out there are 99,7 non-believers. Evangelism and Apologetics director Eitan Bar, on Youtube shares the 3 main reasons why Jewish people today don’t believe in Jesus, and gives a report about Evangelism in Israel. He explains the dangers of looking at the world from limited eye points, facing replacement theology which often leads to anti-semitism (look at the crusades, inquisition, pogroms, bloodlabels, etc).

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We all should Remember our Bore [Creator – (Qohelet / Ecclesiastes 12:1)] and be faithful to this One and Only One True God and His Words given to us, them being recorded on the Scrolls. Those scrolls never presented the Lamb of God and a real Jew shall never says or believes the words written in the Torah would be the word of Jeshua (Jesus). To say the Torah

represents the living Word, Yeshua

is just an insult for us.

We respect the Torah because we consider it the infallible Word of God, the Most High Elohim.

In Messianic Judaism, the Torah scroll, written on a lamb’s skin,
represents the Lamb of God, Yeshua,
and that is why a Torah scroll is honored and respected.
The scroll itself is not worshiped,
but it is honored as the written word of ADONAI,
which in turn represents the living Word, Yeshua.

~ B’ha’alotkha, by Mordekhi’s Drash, A Messianic Gentile look at Torah and more by Marc Hiatt

All the activities of faithful men should be directed to Hashem, who should be the “centre” of our lives and never may faithful people have other gods next to the Elohim Hashem Jehovah. Even when we accept Jesus or Jeshua as the Messiah, his great position may never make us to worship him as one of our gods, or even worse, to make this son of man and Ben haElohim (or son of God), into our God.

Mostly that choice to make Jesus or Jeshua in God frightens our brothers and sisters living in Israel and other countries. That we may encounter so many preachers wanting us to believe we do not need the faith in our Hashem Elohim or yekar to Him, but into the faith in their god Yeshua makes us much afraid and makes us alert but also scared that lots of our brethren and sisters may be lured in the trap of Trinitarianism and its adjoint avodah zara or idolatry.

The eternal Most High, the Ehyeh, Asher, Ehyeh – who was, who is, and always shall be, has no turning or changing shadow in Him and has only His Kol to Whom we should listen. He has given the statutes we should follow. That Torah or written Law is what we should take as our Guide. Though many of those Messianic Gentiles want to give the impression we cannot go without them. They do seem to forget we clearly know, or should know, that we should not have any other gods. And real lovers of God should also not keep to halfways, we cannot be partial in applying the Torah (Mal’akhi / Malachi 2:9).

The Tikkun Olam or God’s redemptive purpose to restore a fallen world did not come by Him faking His birth, temptation, death and resurrection, still keeping all people to suffer such a long time after such a “salvation” by taking on the fleshly body of Christ and then telling lies, like that He would not know when coming back or who would be seated next to Him. God knows everything, but Jesus had to learn everything and did not know a lot of things, even not some very important matters, like his return (all proof he  – Jesus – is not God).

Those people, who want to give a wrong picture of Messianic Jews, also ignore Hashem’s Tachlis, and reduce the act of Christ to a God playing some act, or bringing a ‘theatre play,’ to quieten us, like mothers or father who tell a bedtime story before having their children going to sleep.

What took root in Israel nearly two thousand years ago, and was the sent one from God bringing “Peace and Salvation”, shall have to grow coming the prophesied times of the “Age to come“. Real lovers of God should show the world that we shall have to face Tikkun Olam and that slowly but surely our world shall repair and God’s People shall have their Holy Land in that restored land where more and more people shall find and worship that only One True God and shall keep to the mitzvah in honour of Him, the Most High, Who gave the world His Word with the Torah.

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Find additional literature

1. Jewish millennials between 2013 and 2017
2. A Hebrew-Christian movement
3. A House for God in our 21st century
4. Moshe Rabbenu and Torat Moshe
5. Difference between a Messianic Gentile, a Messianic Jew and a Christian
6. Jews and Christians against Messianics and Jeshuaists
7. Tekufat Tevet – Darkness, gold moon and Light to look forward
8. Importance of Tikkun olam
9. When you believe Jesus is God: who do you think is the mediator? #2 Firstborn from the dead our advocate

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Related

1. Christiainity for Hebrews – The Name Above All Names
2. You can’t deny God
3. The Fullness of Israel
4. This fighting world, Zionism and Israel #5
5. Part I of III:  The Chosen People of God?
6. Messianics posing as Frum Jews busted after showing up on time to a Simcha
7. You really couldn’t make it up – If you’re making common cause with the Messianics
8. Prepare the way
9. Verse of the Day Ephesians 2:8-9
10. Stay true
11. Faith and Recovery in the Hard Times
12. No half measures
13. Stop the tailspin
14. The Word

Joden in Ijsland Uitkijkend naar synagoge

In 1625 vestigde zich de eerste Jood in IJsland. Het was een Poolse handelaar die zich tot het christendom bekeerde. In de achttiende en negentiende eeuw kwamen er meerdere Joden naar IJsland, vooral Deense handelaren. Aan het begin van de Tweede Wereldoorlog zocht een handjevol vluchtelingen zijn toevlucht op het vulkanische eiland. Later voegden zich daar ook Britse, Canadese en Amerikaanse soldaten bij, die er gelegerd werden. Een Amerikaanse veldrabbi kwam in 1941 naar IJsland voor de zielzorg van de Joodse soldaten. Aan het einde van de oorlog waren er zo’n tweeduizend Joden, verdeeld over twee Joodse gemeenschappen, waaronder een orthodoxe. Rond 1955 was het Jodendom nagenoeg verdwenen. De meeste Joden hadden, zoals de IJslandse wet toen voorschreef, IJslandse namen aangenomen en assimileerden in de samenleving.

Het handjevol overgebleven Joden die vasthielden aan hun Joodse identiteit kwam pas in 2011 tijdens een cedermaaltijd in Reykjavik voor het eerst officieel weer bij elkaar. Deze was georganiseerd door rabbi Berel Pewzner van de Chabat-beweging. In de jaren die volgden, organiseerde de gemeenschap met enige regelmaat bijeenkomsten om gezamenlijk Joodse feestdagen te vieren. Hiervoor werden zaaltjes gehuurd.

Gaandeweg werd de gemeenschap hechter en ontstond er behoefte aan geestelijke en praktische leiding. Het echtpaar Feldman bezocht de gemeenschap in 2017 enkele keren, om zich in het voorjaar van 2018 permanent in IJsland te vestigen. Het echtpaar is oecumenisch ingesteld en heeft niet als missie het gedachtegoed van de Chabat-beweging uit te dragen, maar de gemengde Joodse gemeenschap tot steun te zijn.

Een 250 zielen willende gelegenheid krijgen om samen in een synagoge hun geloof te beleiden.

Een eigen synagoge heeft de Joodse gemeenschap nog niet. Tot nu toe huurt men telkens een zaaltje. „Maar we hopen in de nabije toekomst een eigen cultureel centrum te openen, waar we onze feestdagen en sabbatten kunnen vieren” zegt rabbi Feldman enthousiast.

Ophitser en opzetter tegen Joden

Donald Trump probeert de Amerikaanse joden uit elkaar te spelen en ervoor te zorgen dat de Democraten bestempeld worden als anti-joods, anti-Israël.”

Amerikaanse joden die voor de Democraten stemmen zijn volgens de Amerikaanse leider ofwel “onwetend”, ofwel “deloyaal”, afvallig tegenover Israël.

Deze uitspraak van de Amerikaanse president Donald Trump heeft heel wat joden verontwaardigd en geschoffeert. Voor velen is het duidelijk hoe Trump de Amerikaanse joden tegen elkaar probeert uit te spelen en ervoor te zorgen dat de Democraten worden bestempeld als anti-joods, anti-Israël.

De uitspraak van Trump volgt kort na een controversiële tweet van enkele dagen geleden, waarin de president de Democratische politici Rashida Tlaib en Ilhan Omar viseerde, die kritisch staan tegenover het beleid van de Israëlische premier Benjamin Netanyahu. Met zijn tweet kreeg Trump gedaan dat Israël de twee Democrates de toegang ontzegde, toen ze de Westelijke Jordaanoever en Oost-Jeruzalem hadden willen bezoeken.

 

Het is totaal verkeerd te denken dat als men tegen de politieke gang van zaken is dat men ook tegen Joden zou zijn. Niet alle Joden zijn het eens hoe hun land muren bouwt en anderen uitsluit.

Trump wil zeer pro-Israël zijn, maar stelt pro-joods altijd gelijk aan pro-Israël. Als je tegen Israël bent, ben je een antisemiet, volgens Trump, maar dat klopt natuurlijk niet.

Invloedrijke joodse organisaties zijn niet te spreken over Trumps uitspraak, nadat ze vorige week dus ook al overwegend negatief hadden gereageerd op de beslissing van Israël, volgend op Trumps tweet, om Tlaib en Omar de toegang tot het land te ontzeggen. Veel joodse organisaties lieten weten dat ze de opvattingen van de beide politici niet steunden, maar desondanks wel vonden dat Israël hen niet de toegang had mogen weigeren. “Israël heeft niet wijs gehandeld”, klonk het.

You choose your atitude.

In this world of internet and social media lots of people like to present themselves better than they are in real life. They create a virtual “I”” or a “Self” they would love to be, instead of trying to find themselves happy with the being they are.

The one who chooses to be himself or herself in the end is the stronger one who shall be happier at the end of this race, being content with what he or she could reach by himself or herself, without having fooled the self.

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Betterself

Nobody has the power to make you feel any type of way you choose your own feelings focus on the positive even when everything is negative.

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Happiness is …..

Happiness is our willingness to accept ourselves for what and who we are and to be willing to see the beauty of the world around us.

Indians Abroad Desi Videsh Me

Happiness is a Choice.

https://pin.it/jznvsojpppqv5z

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Dealings with ruling authorities

Pirkei Avot 2:3(3) Be careful [in your dealings] with the ruling authorities for they do not befriend a person except for their own needs; they seem like friends when it is to their own interest, but they do not stand by a man in the hour of his distress.

משנה אבות ב׳:ג׳(ג) הֱווּ זְהִירִין בָּרָשׁוּת, שֶׁאֵין מְקָרְבִין לוֹ לָאָדָם אֶלָּא לְצֹרֶךְ עַצְמָן. נִרְאִין כְּאוֹהֲבִין בִּשְׁעַת הֲנָאָתָן, וְאֵין עוֹמְדִין לוֹ לָאָדָם בִּשְׁעַת דָּחְקוֹ:

Rabbi Eliyahu Mizrahi, ca. 1445-1525, Chief Rabbi of Constantinople