mosaic clown made of stone

Rebbe, originally uploaded by Deca_Bannitz.

Jewish girl Felicja Braun with her hands clasped in prayer

Studio portrait of a Jewish girl in hiding wearing her first communion dress kneeling on a bench with her hands clasped in prayer, originally uploaded by ~~*♥♥♥Michelle♥♥♥*~~~.

Felicja Braun (now Felicia Bryn) is the daughter of Dawid Braun and Bluma Gliksman Braun. She was born as on August 22, 1937 in Warsaw where her father was a physician. Originally from Kalisz, Dawid's grandfather was a well-known rabbi. Felicja's mother, Bluma Gliksman Braun (b. 1915 in Wielun) was a daughter of Rabbi Fajwel Gliksman, an Agudah Israel activist. Felicja's younger brother, Jurek (Jakub) was born in 1939. In September 1939 the family escaped the German bombardment of Warsaw to join the Braun family in Kalisz. On November 20, 1939, in order to make room for Baltic Volksdeutsche, the Germans evicted Jewish families and deported them to the Lublin district of the General Government. Following the deportation, several thousand additional Jews managed to escape from Kalisz and dispersed over many parts of Poland; the Brauns were among nearly 7,000 who found refuge in the Warsaw ghetto. Bluma's sister, Frajdla Frania Gliksman joined them there. On December 22, 1941 Bluma Braun died of typhus and was buried in at the Jewish cemetery on Okopowa Street. Dawid married his sister-in-law, Frania, soon after Bluma's death but lived on false papers on the Aryan side of Warsaw. Posing as Zygmunt Bakowski, he traded in the black market to bring extra food to his starving family in the ghetto. During one of the round-ups in the ghetto, Frania shoved Felicja and her three-year-old brother, Jurek, into a coal box. She pushed the coal box under the table and put a bucket with water on top. All the residents of the building were ordered out, and Frania hid in a bunker, leaving the children behind. Jurek cried desperately, but Felicja shoved her fist into his mouth and Jurek quieted down. The German soldiers searched the apartment, but did not discover them. Dr. Dawid Braun obtained false papers for his daughter, under the name of Felicja Garbarczyk. In the summer of 1942, Frania dressed Felicja in a new, light blue dress and told her that she was going to her grandmother. Felicja questioned this, knowing that her maternal grandmother lived in Grzeska, a large farm near Wielun. Aunt Frania told her to be an actress like Shirley Temple and lie about her real identity. Felicja left the Warsaw ghetto via the courthouse on Leszno Street, while a bribed guard looked the other way. She followed her aunt's instructions and arrived in a strange apartment led by a strange man. Her father arrived in the evening, and the next day he took her to an elderly woman, with whom Felicja stayed for a few weeks. During that time she learned the Catholic prayers. The strange man, who led her out of the ghetto accompanied Felicja on a to the village of Legionowo, near Warsaw. Dawid, Frania, and Jurek Braun hid in the forest nearby. A few weeks later, Felicja went to Chelm, near Lublin. During the journey German soldiers with dogs searched the train for Jews. Felicja laughed together with other passengers at the sight of attacked Jews, pretending that she was Shirley Temple. From Chelm, Felicja walked together with her strange guardian until they met Kazimierz Sroka on a bicycle, and he took her to Pogranicze village. Kazimierz and his wife, Leokadia, were a middle-aged childless couple. Dawid Braun arranged for this hiding place, promising Mr. Sroka a property and financial reward from an American relative. He gave the address of Nusyn Gliksman in the U.S. to Mr. Sroka, who in turn made Felicja memorize it. Once, Kazimierz's sister-in-law Pela threatened to denounce the family to the Gestapo for harboring a Jewish child. Felicja always remembered this scene and never talked to Pela again, even when the events were long forgotten by the family. As a result of this quarrel, the Srokas moved with Felicja to the village of Deniska. Kazimierz Sroka was strict with Felicja, but at the same time taught her to read and took good care of her. He even invited Krysia, a niece of his wife, to stay with them so that Felicja would have company. On Christmas 1942 Felicja's father, disguised as uncle Zygmunt, appeared in the Sroka household. He brought gifts for both girls, but made sure to bring nicer gifts for Krysia. On the last day of the visit, Dawid told his daughter to be a good Christian, and then sang a popular song for her: "This is the last Sunday. Today we part forever." In 1945, after liberation, the Srokas returned to their native village, Gowarzewo near Poznan, from which the Germans evicted them in 1939. Felicja maintained her Catholic identity. After the war, Felicja's maternal uncle, Nusyn Gliksman, corresponded with Kazimierz Sroka and requested that Mr. Sroka transfer Felicja to the auspices of the Central Jewish Committee, but Mr. Sroka refused to give Felicja up. In 1957, an Israeli diplomat acting on the behest of the Gliksman family approached him, but Felicja was already 19 years old. Felicja decided to immigrate to Israel but arrived still wearing her gold cross. Felicja felt that she was a Catholic and found it very difficult to adapt to a new life in a Jewish state, as a Jew. In 1959 Felicja met and married Nathan Bryn, a survivor of the Stalowa Wola concentration camp. After liberation Nathan studied opera and cantorial singing in the Salzburg Music School. The young couple moved to New York, where Nathan studied to become a rabbi, and Felicja adopted the Orthodox Jewish life style. Courtesy of www.ushmm.org

Death will be Breslov

Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, originally uploaded by Tribe.

I don’t think I ever met a Brelsover who is on balance an admirable human being (except Shlomo Aaaron perhaps). They all are so strung up on shtick that it is hard to find any remnants of humanity in them. The resultant monstrosity is an Uman bound graveyard of humor, desire and wit. Darkness animated by the rave of hisbodedus. A terminus of life. I dislike them intensely.

abandon these people forever

I have primitive social skills. But this dilemma presents itself again and again. I never hold a grudge and my instinct is always to approach people in hope of staring anew from a clean page. Inevitably the same unfortunate dynamic develops. Perhaps I am even the source of this dynamic but the resulting negative interaction leaves me no choice but to go away for good, to abandon these people forever.

from Blue Aurora

I, Blue Aurora, solemnly declare that Tzemach Atlas is not, never was and never will be a moron. In fact, he is the smartest guy I ever knew. The smartest, wittiest, deepest, sweetest, most handsome, most soulful, most sensitive... Most, most, most. Tzemach Atlas is the most beautiful and most real piece of poetry in the whole wide world. Just like in the poem: И чем случайней, тем вернее Слагаются стихи навзрыд. (Of course I can not read it, but I'm sure it's more like it. And I sure hope it's the right part of the poem:) Also sprach Blue.

He wants to convince me he's not that sweet and sensitive and so but, you see, Mother Nature always protects the most beautiful flowers with thorns, or poison, or unpleasant fragrances... That's just the way she made him too. When he's afraid of being hurt he spits some poison or hides back in his shell. But he is my dearest friend and I miss him. I always miss him.

The Beatles - The Long and Winding Road

Might be the best song ever written. Sir James Paul McCartney take on kol dodi dofek.

50-year-old Nancy Lieberman to play in WNBA

Dallas Morning News: WNBA's Shock signs 50-year-old Nancy Lieberman.

Forward to Shmarya

Forward.com: Blogger Focuses on Orthodox Foibles.
Forward.com: Public Relations Firm Criticized.

Massachusetts woman kills self before foreclosure

The Boston Globe: Facing foreclosure, Taunton woman commits suicide.
"... a suicide note found next to Balderrama told her husband, John, and 24-year-old son to "take the (life) insurance money and pay for the house." TIME: Woman Kills Self Before Foreclosure.

baal shem tov

, originally uploaded by Tribe.

red on yellow

GIGO, originally uploaded by baboon™.

kannoim not as they used to be?

Tzemach Tzedek said that "kannoy is a shlechter mentch" but humorless Hungarians are still perfecting the art. Life in Israel: kannoim of today compared to those of yesteryear.

Adriano Celentano - Aria... non sei più tu

Dennis Hopper and Chris Walken in True Romance

Remembering Rabbi Groner

ZoroIslamoYid commenting to mentalblog.com: Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner & to further beatify the saint, let us not forget how he would spew words like "Fuck," and "Shit," and the like; how he would assiduously devour the New York Daily News like any good NY sports fan: right-to-left; how he would show off his bare fat stomach to anyone interested or not; and of course, how he would famously embarrass his wife nee Konikov in public (legendary havdalah story...), berate her, etc. etc.
ah, amolike gdoylim...

einikel of a masmid commenting to mentalblog.com: Groners - live as caricature, die as caricature: The day I became a feminist... I was 10 years old. Rabbi Groner from Australia came to our suburb to farbreng. My father took me along. Women were there too. Yes, as usual confined to the top floor, peeking down. They were talking. Groner stopped to farbreng and made a remark about the veiberz. Didn't understand it, but from the laughter of the chasidim to this remark, I understood it was cruel and cynical. I didn't laugh...

The disappointment of being a Jew

Social fabric is broken; instead of a close knit group you get dangling egotistical survivalists.
The narrative of what would be considered culture is broken, misconceptions substitute for discourse.
History is spin; the education is dedicated to perpetuating untruths.
Neurosis.
Fat obnoxious japs
Rebbes are charlatans.
Religion is taking the poetic and slaughtering it on a public square to the delight of the mob.
God is a cruel schmuck who run out of excuses.
Spiritually is kitsch.
Politics is annihilation.

Obama flew to Amman in V-22 Osprey

Defense Tech: The New Air Force 2?

Wikipedia: V-22 Osprey.

Donatella Versace to design Leviev's New York condos

Donatella Versace, originally uploaded by NEW_IMAGES.

It is going to be beautiful! Globes: Donatella Versace will design interiors for Africa-Israel's Clock Tower building in Manhattan.

arik einstein - tel aviv thessaloniki

Warsaw Street Types 1926

Józef Rapacki - Warsaw Street Types 1926 k, originally uploaded by peacay.

BibliOdyssey: Warsaw Street Types.

Adriano Celentano - La Situazione Non È Buona

Groners - live as caricature, die as caricature

People who were assigned a role of caricature in life, are destined to be stripped of real selves in death. The Australian Groner’s passing is just a warm up for the beautification of the assorted feudal lords in the Chabad cosmos. People whose life has been marked by bulling, hording, pathological nepotism, paranoia, crudeness of character amongst the multiple job hazards are now sanctified in death. No, this would not be an occasion for a single voice to suggest that the Head Shlichus was an abusive, stifling institution. Yet the Heads will be measured by the quarreling clans, the controversial legacy and the dead cult of personality to which they clung and emulated.

voicemail is still relevant after all

Now that is a service I can use (already used it today): Slydial Lets You Avoid Awkard Calls, Go Straight To Voicemail.

Historia naturalis ranarum nostratium 1758

Historia naturalis ranarum nostratium 1758, originally uploaded by peacay.

BibliOdyssey: Ranarum Nostratium

Why people are afraid to live in Israel

People instinctively are afraid that the dysfunctional way of Judaic life will be upon them, the same corruption, rudeness, cruelty, disregard for an individual, perversions. Olmerts and Ben Gurions have shed the outward attributes of the religion but they all kept the dysfunctional crookedness, the nepotism, the hierarchical societal structure, the cheating. Judaism and it post generational legacy must be destroyed to build a just life for the people.

boils down to this question

It all boils down to this question. Is religion a way of life or only a spiritual exercise? If it is a spiritual exercise than Jews should abandon outward expression of ritual and law. If Judaism is way of life than a society that is built upon it is the ultimate litmus test. Nobody in his right mind is prepared to claim that Hareidi way of life is just, decent and humane, that societies from Crown Heights to Bet Shemesh and Kiras Yoel are something to be proud of and examples to be emulated. If Judaism fails as a social structure then it needs to be destroyed in its current form.

Why should we accept that more pious is a jew, more likely he is cynical, mean, unfriendly, morally crooked and in general more likely person to inflict unprovoked selfish harm to friends and neighbors. I am not talking theory here.

amor roma hu-ha

lohud.com: Rabbi unveils a secret of God.

Edwards Air Force Base Compass

deputydog: check out the size of this compass rose.

Male lust is blind

"Research involving a group of male students found that their levels of the hormone testosterone increased to the same extent whether they were talking to a young woman they found attractive – or to one they didn't fancy much at all." Telegraph: Male lust is blind, research suggests.

gan eden hatachton

schmutz, originally uploaded by wesh.

mentalblog googling

top 25 search terms:

mentalblog, nyse:leh, gitty grunwald, mentalblog.com, gimmel tammuz, leh, lipa schmeltzer, tzemach atlas, mental blog, steve jobs jewish, dan gertler, beachfront keffiyeh, chaim grade, escape from the holy shtetl, lipa shmeltzer, malkie schwartz, gansta, euro 2008 soccer bracket, nasdaq:eslr, steve jobs jew, video breslov pay ukrainian man to drink, chabad blog, hirhurim, sharper image sold, len blavatnik

cats kill

Jew Cat, originally uploaded by poorusher.

Back to Mrs. Tziporah Heller

Zeitgeist commenting to mentalblog.com: Beguilement with Rebbetzin Tzipora Heller

Anyhow, back to Mrs. Heller, if you take a look at the link to "her" website, and by the way it NOT "her" website, but it is her employers at Neve Yerushalayim (who created it for her to further their aims of kiruv for young women and luring them into the Haredi world they know nothing about but which Mrs. Heller has the God-given gifts of somehow or other casting the spell of seduction upon many young women to commit to, somewhat like nuns, and in many cases it is known that she advises single Jewish women to live out their lives like nuns if the guys do not match up to the "Ben Torah" image that is demanded of real Neve alumna to marry.

Anyhow, just looking at "her" site at that you link to here it plays with the visitor's mind: On top there is a quote from Jeremiah 31:16 "..and the sons will return to their boundaries" ("veshavu banim ligvulam") and then the heading: "Tziporah Heller.com Where are your boundaries?" and just see how dishonest, inaccurate and shallowly manipulative the headings alone are because (a) "veshavu banim ligvulam" is in the MASCULINE form and the word "ligvulam" has always been translated as "borders" and not "boundaries" even though it could mean "boundaries" too but that is a far lesser used and utilized option for the word that has "g'vul" in its shoresh. (b) Somehow the usage of "Tziporah Heller.com" in the title is meant to assuage the reader to feel comfortable with the next "leap of faith" to (c) with the pseudo-question based as it is indeed on psychobabble: "Where are your boundaries?" which has NOTHING to do with the quote from Jeremiah who was predicting a day when the Jewish people would return to Zion in the physical sense primarily and not about making Jewish chicks who have overdosed on too many guys feel better that finally Mrs. Heller is here to put her foot down on their behalf and preach about the need for "boundaries" which in the modern day world as understood by most young women is about how guys take advantage of them sexually, and they in turn practice the art of "Sex and the City" no less and above and beyond all this as the recruiting arm of Neve Yerushalyim spins its webs to both lure in as well as retain a hold upon alumna of Neve as they foist misconceptions and lies in place of saying it like it is.

P.S. Ynetnews: Sex and the holy city.
Jerusalem Post: You've been Aish'd...

Skyrax World Airport Awards

Hong Kong International Airport named Worlds Best Airport in 2008 World Airport Awards.
The Top 10 Airports in the world for 2008:
1. Hong Kong
2. Singapore Changi
3. Seoul Incheon
4. Kuala Lumpur KLIA
5. Munich
6. Kansai
7. Copenhagen
8. Zurich
9. Helsinki
10. Cape Town

Best in North America:
1. San Francisco
2. Vancouver
3. Dallas/Ft Worth

The Family Mashber Review by Chabakuk Elisha

I must say that I was skeptical. The Family Mashber (the title itself provides the coming attractions, as "mashber" is Hebrew for "crisis") looked to me to be just another, relatively run-of-the-mill, multi-generational saga with Jewish characters and a mid-nineteenth century flavor. Sure, I figured that there would be interesting depictions of the Shtetl and the period, but I wasn't sure that it would be anything that I hadn't heard or read before. I also wasn't so sure that I would find myself relating to the views of Der Nister, nor was I sure that it was worth the 700 odd pages. I was pleasantly surprised.

That's not to say that there weren't elements that I didn't really go for, and I am still baffled by the pretty-much adolescent attitudes of many Yiddish writers, and we find it here as well (how many times do we need to hear about the chest size of various women?), but I guess that it does have has its place and relevance...Nevertheless, with that said, I do think that the book is a masterpiece.

Other than this book, I don't know much about Der Nister (aside from the basics) and his views, but I can say that the book paints a vivid picture of an idealistic man with a strong spiritual side, thoroughly disgusted by the establishment. In this volume are two of the three books (the third is unfortunately lost), and the first few hundred pages develop the characters, in detail, and at great length. For me, it took about 500 pages until the story got going, when we reach one of the most powerful confrontations you can ever hope to read. Until that point, the author describes the Mashber family and their Chassidically inclined Russian community. Personally, I think all the characters in the story represent the various voices that we all have mumbling in our heads, but I'll leave that for you to decide on your own.

The main character, Moshe Mashber, is a "baal-habateshe" Yid; he runs a successful money lending business; he's a pragmatist. In the fairly segregated and class-conscious Shtetl, he maintains a comfortable position within the community's upper class, and is a decent, average, fellow who – like many of the decent folks who play by the establishment's rules – isn't a bad guy. But, although he surely gives his share charity and wishes no one any harm, he remains cold, and for the most part indifferent, to the struggles of those on the other side of the tracks. His position turns out to be quite precarious in the boom and bust economy of the day, and it turns out that his end is near (not that the establishment that he supports and is a part of really cares). In Moshe I see the average decent guy – he is almost everywhere in our society.

His brother Luzi Mashber is the idealist. Somewhat of an ascetic and a mystic, he is an elder chossid, charismatic and sincere; he represents the ideals that the Chassidic world puts on a pedestal. Soon enough, though, we find that the idealist and the establishment cannot peacefully coexist, as the establishment is a ruthless, cold, corrupt and often wicked machine. People may live superficially pious lives, but they, as part of the establishment, crush everything in their way…often just because they can. For a long time Luzi lives parallel to the establishment. He is neither part of, or especially against it. But as one who seeks truth, Luzi eventually ends up at odds with the establishment, and once he abandons the establishment completely for the fringe, he becomes public enemy to even the bottom of the establishment community (who must find someone to vent their frustrations on). Interestingly, the story points out the fascinating (maybe it shouldn't be so surprising?) reality that the Breslover Chassidim of the day (of which Luzi has become one – as did Der Nister's brother) end up with a shared place and commonality with the Maskilim. As both the Breslover and the maskil live outside the establishment, and reject it, they are both despised and equally opposed, which brings them somewhat together – even though they are diametrically opposed philosophically (Breslover simple faith vs. the Maskil's enlightened rationalism) – as they share their recognition of the corrupted main-stream and seek an alternative. Luzi is the hero, the one with the intestinal fortitude, the inspiration to many. But what made him real and appealing to me, was that he also has his demons, his doubts, his uncertainties. He is not really sure of himself and what it is that drives him. It was for that reason that I wasn't able to truly relate to him until I got towards the end of the book.

There is another brother who suffers from a severe condition, affecting his mental and physical state and relegating him to the attic. He appears suddenly from time to time, usually at a very important moment. I wondered what Der Nister had intended with him exactly – was he there for emphasis? Was he there to display Moshe's kindness? Moshe's son Meir had some kind of connection to him, and it's possible that we would have a better understanding if we had book three, but we don't. Was he there to represent something else? I haven't really though enough about it, but (for now at least) I really don't know.

Sruli is an enigma. I don't know that there are such people. Indeed, he is a character that exists in many a story: The man who seems to have nothing, but in truth has everything. The poor man who is really rich. The jerk that is really kind. The cynic that is truly idealistic. The scoffer who truly believes. He sees through everyone's charade, and it is Sruly that drives the story; without him there probably is no story. Sruly is immediately drawn to Luzi, and as his self-appointed gabbai helps Luzi recognize the need to sever ties to the establishment. He and Luzi become inseparable as Der Nister takes the two people that he wants you to think are complete opposites and shows you that they are almost the same. As I said before, their confrontation about 500 pages into the book is truly a classic and a turning point.

Yona is the villain; he provides muscle for the establishment. He's no saint, but as a devotee of and believer in the establishment he has a respectable place. He may be far from representative of the establishment's stated values, but his loyalty and defense of the establishment allows him to sit with the elite and maintain their respect. To Der Nister this is ultimate evil, and he plays him up. Unfortunately, behavior like Yona's is far too easy to find.

Reb Mikhel is my favorite character. R' Mikhel is (to me) the most real character in the story – and his demons pursue him relentlessly to his grave. He reminded me of Nathanial Hawthorne's Tale of Goodman Brown, as a man who constantly struggles with his uncertainly. He is intelligent, learned, sincere…and tormented. He is poor and abused by the establishment. He struggles to find his place and be true to himself. But his struggles leave him with no peace with the establishment, and ultimately his attempts at finding his place fail as he resigns (at the first opportunity) his post as leader of the Breslover Chassidim (which he held as a way of battling his doubts). Once he is freed from responsibilities to the group (unfortunately for his family) he lashes out at the establishment, and their ruthlessness is turned to R' Mikhel who ends up with the wrath of the entire establishment focused on him, bringing him to his death (Sruli arranges a decent life for R' Mikhel's wife & children). R' Mikhel's episode leads to the establishment's bloodlust to focus on Luzi and the ultimate departure of Sruli and Luzi from town and towards a life on the road.

I won't go into all the characters, and there is plenty more to say (you'd hope so with so many pages), but the messages were pretty strong. The evils of the Bourgeoisie, the callous cruelty and corruption of the establishment, the frustration caused by the feudalist class system, and the rigid rules imposed by the powers that be, are all themes played heavily by socialist and communist thinkers; no doubt Der Nister's sentiments were with them. It also does a pretty good job of revealing what caused so many of the Jewish youth to become communists and explains their thorough dislike for Yiddishkeit and its leaders. But in the story it is not even the Maskil that wins the day (although he is a sympathetic character), but it is the spiritualist, the mystic, the true idealist that walks off into the sunset and prompted me to cheer.

Teva to buy U.S. generics rival Barr for $7.4 bil.

MarketWatch: Israel's Teva to buy U.S. generics rival Barr for $7.4 billion.

3,500 Newspaper Jobs Lost in Two Months

Silicon Alley Insider: Gone: 3,500 Newspaper Jobs In Two Months, $3.9B In Newspaper Stock In Two Weeks.

infertility to be eradicated in three decades

Telegraph: Women to give birth at 100 within three decades. "Employing techniques still to be developed, scientists believe they could create sperm and eggs from skin cells and combine them to form embryos."
Can a woman create sperm from her own skin, is it still an incest? Or a DNA sample she stole from her favorite rock start or a godol? Can a man lay his own eggs? Does the color of the skin matter?

Beguilement with Rebbetzin Tzipora Heller

Zeitgeist commenting to: mentalblog.com: daily moron No. 2

The key to Rebbetzin Heller's success is that as she herself admits that as an aspirant intellectual from Boston with an academic degree or two she then was won over to frumkeit, and in turn she was chosen to be a teacher and "spokesperson" for the BT girls and women from Neve and any Haredi women who can tolerate such an asexual woman, she talks NOT in the style and words of the frum world, but she uses the language and logic of the secular world to beguile and argue the frum cause. Now this is not a crime, since many rabbis do this, like Rabbi Berel Wein and others, but Tzipora Heller uses it to ensnare young women who have a spiritual yearning in their hearts into an unforgiving Haredi world that will subjugate the women who join it, if they do, to a life very unlike the high falutin and high minded picture she paints for them.

This is a difficult subject.

The Coming Activist Age

"We’re entering an era of epic legislation. There are at least five large problems that will compel the federal government to act in gigantic ways over the next few years." NYTimes.com, David Brooks: The Coming Activist Age: