Jewish Response to Anti-Semitism

Years ago, mandatory autopsies were an issue of contention between religious Jewry and the Israeli government. Israeli hospitals once performed autopsies at the discretion of the doctors, without any regard for the wishes of the family of the deceased. Thankfully, those days have passed. Due to overwhelming protest over the decades, autopsies are performed only with the family's consent (except for victims of crimes).

Yet last week, an investigative report by the Yedioth Aharonoth newspaper, followed up by an investigation by a board of religious Knesset members, found that the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv does not disclose everything it does to the families. Specifically, 8288 body parts are kept in storage there from past autopsies dating back to the year 2000.

Knesset member Uri Maklev said, "Our paramedics and rescue workers risk their lives to bring to Jewish burial every part of the bodies of people killed in accidents and attacks. It is unthinkable that from every human body examined at Abu Kabir, they take off pieces and keep them in jars of formaldehyde. What will the world think of us now when we talk about the honor of the dead?"

Such was the reaction of a religious Jew who serves in the Israeli Knesset. But Jews who are seasoned in the battle against Zionist violations of human rights and the Jewish religion are not surprised at all. This is the same country that, just a few decades ago, used to let doctors and medical students practice on the bodies of anyone who had the misfortune to die in its borders.

"American Jews must raise a storm of protest over this," said Rabbi Yoel Klein, spokesman for Jewish Response. "We must write to our government officials, as well as human rights organizations, and ask them to pressure the Israelis on this matter."

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Suggested text for letter:

Dear _______,

I am writing to you regarding the recent discovery that the official Israeli forensic medical institute known as Abu Kabir is keeping 8,288 human body parts in storage for years. Some of the relatives of these people may have signed forms agreeing to autopsies, as required by law. However, none of them were told that parts of the body were kept in such a disgraceful manner for years, for no reason at all. This should disgust every person who has any feeling at all for the dignity and sanctity of the human body.

Please use your influence to pressure the Israeli government to put a stop to this sickening practice and immediately return all human remains to the families of the deceased so that they can bury them together with the rest of the bodies.

Sincerely, _______

This entry was posted on January 15, 2012 at 7:29 PM and has received 100 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

The Religious Zionists, known as Mizrachi, can't have it both ways. They must either listen to the Song of Songs, or hear the singing of their partners in rebellion against G-d.

Recently, everyone is talking about the Israeli soldiers from the religious Zionist movement who walked out of an army event in order to avoid hearing female singers. (Jewish law prohibits a man from hearing the singing of any woman outside of his immediate family.)

It seems that the Israeli government fails to understand what a great service the religious Zionists provide them. The Israeli government badly needs Jewish identity, in order to claim based on the Bible that the Holy Land is theirs. They also need continuity – at a time when secular Israelis are increasing joining the peace movement or defecting from the country altogether. The religious Zionists – the Mizrachi movement – deserve the credit for building a bridge between the two irreconcilable opposites: Judaism and Zionism. They are increasingly making up the backbone of the IDF.

If the secular Israelis understood this better, they would do their best to accommodate the religious soldiers – instead of penalizing them for trying to observe what is left of their Judaism.

Alternatively, it could be that the secular government is playing a game with Mizrachi, arousing their zealous opposition to a woman singing so that they can appear more religious and give the army a more Jewish image.

For the Mizrachists, the bitter irony is that because they refuse to listen to the Oaths spoken by King Solomon in the Song of Songs, which forbid the Jewish people from ending exile early, they are now faced with another kind of song, the kind prohibited by Jewish law.

For us, the lesson here is that just as anti-Semitism has become more dangerous now that it is camouflaged as Zionism (since anti-Semitism and Zionism really have the same goal - to keep Jews from living peacefully together with non-Jews), Zionism has become more dangerous now that it is camouflaged as the Torah and religion.

This entry was posted on January 15, 2012 at 7:02 PM and has received 83 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

On the eve of the first Republican primaries, Jewish Response appeals to frontrunner Mitt Romney not to attempt to leverage the Jewish vote by expressing unconditional support of Israel. Such an approach may gain him a few extremist votes, but the majority of Jews, especially the traditional observant, feel that this would misrepresent them and even endanger them.

It is well known that the prime argument of anti-Semitic groups today is that Jews harbor dual loyalty and, in fact, use their powerful lobby to force America into supporting Israel, even when it isn't in America's best interest. When politicians speak constantly of their support for Israel during an election campaign, it simply plays into the hands of these anti-Semites.

The fact of the matter is that 67% of Jews voted for President Obama in 2008, despite his relatively even-handed approach to Israel and the Palestinians. Furthermore, more than half of American Jews 35 years old and under feel uncomfortable with the very idea of a Jewish state. And among traditionally Orthodox Jews, a large percentage believe that the existence of a Jewish state in our time is a serious sin against Judaism.

Therefore, it is wholly inaccurate to portray Jews as being monolithically pro-Israel, as the media unfortunately does quite often. And we at Jewish Response fear that if Mr. Romney and others continue to run on a pro-Israel platform, it will reinforce that stereotype, adding fuel to the fire of anti-Semitism.

This entry was posted on January 1, 2012 at 7:37 PM and has received 235 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Last Saturday night, December 17 2011, Satmar Hasidim all over the world celebrated the 67th anniversary of the miraculous escape from Nazi Germany of their founding Grand Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, of blessed memory. This year's celebration boasted the participation of an estimated 45,000 people. The current, highly influential Grand Rabbis of Satmar, Rabbi Aaron and Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, both gave keynote addresses in which they noted the accomplishments of their great uncle, the founder, and pointed out the path to continuing his work.

As in previous years, the grand rabbis took the opportunity to address the issue of Zionism, and emphasized the teachings of their predecessors regarding the danger Zionism poses to worldwide Jewry, and particularly to the Jews in the Holy Land.

But this year, they also reacted to recent statements by certain Jewish "leaders" who unceasingly pressure politicians to pursue the pro-Israel agenda, especially during election campaigns, and the relentless, irresponsible condemnation of the Obama administration, which they deem not to be pro-Israel enough to their liking. Both grand rabbis declared in no uncertain terms that these practices must cease at once, as they go against the teachings of traditional Judaism.

Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum said, "We live in a country of kindness. We enjoy freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The prophet Jeremiah says, 'Seek out the welfare of the city where I have exiled you, and pray on its behalf to G-d.' This country in particular lets us live as we wish, and even gives us the right to vote. But recently, certain self-appointed Jewish leaders have gotten up and insulted the President in the worst way. Their words have been broadcast on the radio and television and all the media. And everyone knows that they say these things for the benefit of the defiled State [of Israel]. Why should Jews come out in public with these sort of statements? It is provoking the nations to hate us, and it brings danger upon Jews not only here but all over the globe. We mustn't forget that this is exile. Who knows what the effects of this irresponsible behavior could be?"

Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum said, "The Torah teaches, and history has shown, that when Jews treat the leaders of their countries with respect, those leaders are benevolent toward the Jews, but when Jews insult and degrade the leaders, it arouses anti-Semitism."

The grand rabbis concluded that it is our obligation to make known that religious Jewry is completely opposed to these self-appointed leaders. Religious Jews pray every day for our country and bless its leaders with success in all their efforts to bring peace to the world.

The anniversary of Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum's escape is celebrated every year by Satmar Hasidim all over the world. The sentiment of the day is one of thanks to the Almighty for the overwhelming mercy and compassion that He showed the Jewish people at that terrible time in history by preserving Rabbi Teitelbaum's life, and enabling him to rebuild and reestablish the Hasidic Jewish community here in the United States.

Rabbi Teitelbaum arrived in America in 1946, and found it to be a vast spiritual desert. He was confronted with the especially difficult task of transplanting the original way of Jewish life and belief from Europe to modern America.

He founded his community with only a handful of families, but today it has grown into a major empire with some 100,000 members. The community is centered in Brooklyn and in Kiryas Joel, New York, but it also has major branches in Great Britain, Belgium, Argentina, Canada, Australia and the Holy Land. Some thought it impossible for Hasidic Judaism to flourish in the modern world, and the Satmar community views its own success as a miracle, evidence of Divine providence.

Beyond the insular world of his followers, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum was famous in the general Jewish world for his relentless campaign in condemnation of Zionism and the so-called Jewish State of Israel. He saw Zionism as the greatest obstacle to Jews and Judaism, both spiritually and materialistically, and waged a life-long struggle to preserve the remnants of the Jewish nation from falling prey to its poison.

Over the years, the annual celebration has evolved into the largest assembly of Satmar Hasidim of any time of the year. It became customary on this day for the grand rabbi to give the central speech of the year, something like the annual State of the Union Address given by the president of the United States.

Rabbi Aaron and Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum hope that their words this year will have an effect, not only on their own community but on the larger Jewish world. They hope that this coming election will not degenerate into a contest over which politician can make the most militant pro-Israel statements - statements that do not reflect the feelings of a large portion of Orthodox Jewry at all, statements that are bound to arouse latent anti-Semitism.

This entry was posted on December 23, 2011 at 1:12 PM and has received 101 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman has issued a statement, saying: "We are seeing some individuals holding anti-Semitic signs at the 'Occupy Wall Street' rallies, and some videos posted on YouTube from the rallies have shown individuals expressing classic anti-Semitic beliefs such as 'Jews control the banks' and 'Jews control Wall Street' "While we believe that these expressions are not representative of the larger views of the OWS movement, it is still critical for organizers, participants and supporters of these rallies to condemn such bigoted statements clearly and forcefully," he added.

Foxman further noted that "there is no evidence that these anti-Semitic conspiracy theories are representative of the larger movement or that they are gaining traction with other participants. However, history demonstrates time and again how economic downturns can embolden anti-Semites to spread malicious conspiracy theories and promote stereotypes about Jews and money. As a consequence, these statements must not be left unchallenged. The League said it will continue to monitor the tenor and messages at the demonstrations to ensure that they do not get hijacked by extremists or anti-Semitic elements.

Our comment: The Occupy Wall Street movement is not a movement in any sense of the word. It is not organized and does not have a unified agenda. Demonstrators come to hold signs expressing their own personal views. No two signs are the same. If the ADL was able to find a few anti-Semitic demonstrators there, it should come as no surprise. They are doing the Jewish people no favor by attracting media attention to these few troublemakers.

This entry was posted on October 24, 2011 at 5:55 PM and has received 119 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

BROOKLYN, N.Y., June 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it. American Jewry and Jews worldwide must awaken to the current threat to their security camouflaged as a "solution" to the problems in the Middle East. This "solution", presented by Prime Minister Netanyahu as the "last chance" to overcome anti-Semitism, is based on the misleading argument that Jews and non-Jews cannot coexist," said Rabbi Yoel Klein of Jewish Response.

Theodor Herzl had a similar solution called "Zionism" in which he called for the exile of European Jews to further his ideologies. Herzl claimed that the establishment of a "Jewish" state would cure anti-Semitism, he also promoted anti-Semitism to further his cause. He proclaimed that "It is essential that the suffering of Jews become worse....The anti-Semites will assist us thereby in that they will strengthen the persecution and oppression of Jews. The anti-Semites shall be our best friends." (From his Diary, Part I, pp. 16).

Contemporaries of Herzl expressed similar sentiments: "One Cow in Palestine is worth more than all the Jews in Poland" said Izaak Greenbaum, head of Jewish Agency Rescue Committee in February 18, 1943. The fundamental aim of the Zionist movement has been not to save Jewish lives but to create a "Jewish state" in Palestine.

On December 7, 1938, Ben Gurion, the first head of the Zionist "state of Israel" declared "If I knew it was possible to save all the children in Germany by taking them to England, and only half of the children by taking them to Eretz Israel, I would choose the second solution. For we must take into account not only the lives of these children but also the history of the people of Israel." On August 31, 1949, Ben Gurion stated: "Although we have realized our dream of creating a Jewish State, we are only at the beginning. There are still only 900,000 Jews in Israel, whereas the majority of the Jewish people still remains abroad. Our future task is to bring all the Jews to Israel."

The German Chancellor and the supporters of a "Jewish State" had a common goal: to create a world Jewish Ghetto as a solution to the Jewish Question. Just as the Hitler-era proponents of a Jewish State proclaimed exile as the "last chance" for the Jewish People, today's leaders are now proclaiming their solution as "the last chance" and Netanyahu is declaring "there is no margin for error". Do not be deceived. Wake up to this repetition of past arguments camouflaging a political agenda as a solution. The real error will be in accepting this political agenda as the destiny of the Jewish People.

The real solution to today's problems lies in the words of the prophet Yirmiyahu: "And those redeemed by G-d will return and come to Zion with song, with eternal happiness on their heads" (Yishaya 35:10).

May His Holy name by blessed forever and may we see Him when He returns to Zion with mercy.

This entry was posted on June 29, 2011 at 10:50 AM and has received 153 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.