JACOB JR. - BENLEUMI NEWS יעקב ג 'וניור. הבינלאומי חדשות

THE REMUH SYNAGOGUE, KRAKOW/POLAND Monday, Kislev 26, 5777. December 26, 2016. Shalom! World.  There are two mysteries that have defied explanation for as long as anyone can remember. The first mystery is anti-Semitism, which is a mystery because there are few things in history that have been as consistent, as universal, and as predictable as anti-Semitism. From one country to another, from one culture to another, from one religion to another - although lifestyles, philosophies, and  so forth are extremely different, there is one thing all of  the peoples of the world had in common: They all, at one point or another, included individuals, and even large segments of their populations, who did not like Jews. What did these people know about Jews? Sometimes a lot, sometimes very little, sometimes nothing at all. And yet all of them have a discomfort with Jews. Some of the things anti-Semites come up with concerning Jews and Judaism, make us wonder, "What did we do? W

The Chain Bridge - Budapest/Hungary Sunday, Kislev 18, 5777. December 18, 2016. Shalom! World. Let's return to the question of anti-Semitism. The non-Jew comes to the Jew and says, "What are you? Explain yourself." What do we respond? We make uo stories, we make excuses, we start from Adam and Eve, we discuss Noah, and we give a history lesson, but we don't answer the question. Sometimes the question is asked more bluntly: "You are the chosen people. It says so in the Bible. What does it means/" To which we respond, "Chosen? I don't know about chosen, maybe we are a little different..." The non-Jew can't get a straight answer. Jews don't give straight answer to this type of question because we don't know how to answer. We don't know what we are because nobody ever answered that question for us. We were told we're Jewish, our parents are Jewish, our grandparents are Jewish, so we're Jewish and that'

MONUMENT WHERE WAS THE SYNAGOGUE. Sunday, Kislev 11, 5777. December 11, 2016. Shalom! World. Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic) is a famous spa town in western Bohemia prohibited Jews from residing in the town until the 1840s when Jewish population grew rapidly. The Synagogue that accomodated 2.000 worshippers, designed by Edwin Oels Oppler, was built in 1877. A popular Jewish resort and meeting place for rabbis and communal leaders, all but four Jews left during the Sudeten crisis in 1937. THE NEW SYNAGOGUE Jewish population: No Jews in 1868; 1,069 in 1890; 1,600 in 1910; 2,650 in 1921; and 2,120 in 1930 (8.9% of the total) with a additional 292 in the industrial area of Rybare (Fischern). Jewish settlement was prohibited from 1499 to 1793. Up 1848 Jewish residence was contested in litigation initiated by non-Jewish merchants. Authorities generally sided with the Jews. Jews living in the nearby communities of Becov (Petschau; 18 in 1930), Luka (Luck; 21 in 1930), and Hr

FRANZ ROSENZWEIG MARTIN BUBER Sunday, Kislev 4, 5777. December 4, 2016. Shalom! World. Mendelssohn and Cohen posits a confluence between Judaism and rationality in which Jews and Judaism would exist as a minority that would contribute to the majority culture.  Martin Buber (1878-1965) and Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929) rejects what they deem overly apologetic arguments for a confluence between Judaism and modernity. Experience, and not rationality, they contend, is the basis of a Jewish life. While Buber underscores the centrality of the experience of dialogue between two people to the exclusion of Jewish law and ritual, Rosenzweig stresses the necessity of law and ritual. The German Jewish thinkers: Mendelssohn, Geiger, Graetz, Cohen and Hirsch, were all didicated to a German notion of Bildung, which involved a commitment to self-improvement, rationality, and refinement. For Germans and German Jews alike, eastern European Jews represented the coarseness and vulga

Tuesday, Cheshvan 28, 5777. November 29, 2016. Shalom! World.  Será o Judaísmo uma religião, uma cultura ou uma nação? Estas são as questões presentes na modernidade e este meu texto tentará, e confesso já, que não alcançarei, explicar estes caminhos como respostas. Contudo, vamos lá.            Saarbrucken/Germany Mauthausen/Austria O Judaísmo historicamente tem sido uma religião da Lei e por isto da Prática. Por definição a religião pertence a uma categoria conceitual sobre a fé ou o acreditar, que por aprofundamento do tema chegaremos no ambiente individual e privado. Este é o ponto de conflito entre a moderna visão da religião e o Judaísmo que semeia muitas tensões sobre o pensamento Judaico como religião, nação ou cultura. Konzentrationslager Mauthausen/Austria Como veremos, internamente no universo Judaico, existem discordâncias que geraram debates não apenas teológicos e filosóficos, mas também sobre a moderna literatura Yiddish e o nacionalismo Ju

Rashi Synagogue - Worms/Germany Monday, Cheshvan 20, 5777. November 21, 2016. Shalom! World.  Rashi Synagogue - Worms/Germany Rashi asks a question about the first verse of the the first chapter of the first book of the Torah, "In the beginning G'd created Heaven and earth." Rashi's question is, why does the Torah begin with a description rather than with commandments? Since the Torah is basically a book of commandments and a guide as to how we should behave inn our daily life, the Torah should get right down to instructing us on our behavior. And yet it begins with a lengthy description of creation and the history of what happened from creation until the giving of the Torah. Rashi answers that this was done because there would come a time when the nations would accuse the Jews of being crooks and impperialists. They would say, "You stole the land from the nations!" Therefore, the Torah begins with the story of creation so that we will know h

Shalom! World. Monday, Cheshvan 13, 5777 · November 14, 2016 The Context of "Song to the Moon" This particular aria is sung by the title character, Rusalka, in the opera's first act. Rusalka is the daughter of a water-goblin who wants nothing more than to be human after she falls in love with a hunter/prince who frequents the lake in which she lives. Rusalka sings this song asking the moon to reveal her love to the Prince. Czech Lyrics of "Song to the Moon" Mesiku na nebi hlubokem Svetlo tve daleko vidi, Po svete bloudis sirokem, Divas se v pribytky lidi. Mesicku, postuj chvili reckni mi, kde je muj mily Rekni mu, stribmy mesicku, me ze jej objima rame, aby si alespon chvilicku vzpomenul ve sneni na mne. Zasvet mu do daleka, rekni mu, rekni m kdo tu nan ceka! O mneli duse lidska sni, at'se tou vzpominkou vzbudi! Mesicku, nezhasni, nezhasni! English Translation of "Song to the Moon" Moon, high and deep in the sky Your

Thursday, Cheshvan 9, 5777. November 10, 2016.  Shalom! World. Untitled by Halina Poswiatowska (1935 - 1967) I'm Juliet i am 23 I once touched love it had the bitter taste of black coffee it quickened my heartbeat crazed my living body rocked my senses it left, I'm Juliet  high up on a balcony suspended I cry come back I call come back biting my lips I draw blood it hasn't come back, I'm Juliet a thousand years old alive. Shalom! Aleichem. Suporte cultural:  Jacob Jr. B.A.C.E., avec L'Integration d'Association avec Israel et dans le Monde/Cz.

Sunday, Cheshvan 5, 5777. November 6, 2016. Shalom! World. This charming town experienced its greatest prosperity during the rule of Lords of Rozmberk (1302-1602), who chose Cesky Krumlov to become the seat  of their kimgdom. At this time, Krumlov lay on the crossroads between the Czech, Austrian, Bavarian and Northern Italian lands. You can see the influence of these different cultures that have left their mark on the town and Castle with brushsttrokes of the Italian Renaissance. At the end of 17th century, during the reign of House of Eggenberg , the Castle Gardens were renovated. Under the rule of House of Schwarzenberg , Cesky Krumlov gained  its Baroque appearance. Cesky Krumlov's Old Town hasn't experienced major changes since the 19th century, other than the demolition of the town's fortification walls and guard towers, and has maitained its historic character.  Cesky Krumlov, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a lively, cosmopolitan town with