Month: September 2015

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Was Michelangelo a Philo-Semite?

Ami Magazine’s (enormous) Sukkos issue includes an interview with Rabbi Benjamin Blech, co-author (with Roy Doliner) the book The Sistine Secrets, and an article about the book.

aminadabMichelangelo lived at a time when the Catholic Church was increasing its oppression of Jews — he painted the Sistine Chapel in between the Spanish Inquisition and the Portuguese. He was commissioned to paint the chapel with Christian scenes, but petitioned for liberty to do basically as he wished — and the result is almost entirely drawn from the Jewish Bible, emphasizing the connection between the Church and the Jewish nation.

And here, quoted verbatim, is the most surprising find, concerning the painting of Aminadab, who is found in the Book of Exodus only as the father of Nachshon ben Aminadab, prince of the tribe of Yehudah:

Near the end of his torturous years of frescoing, Michelangelo was painting right over the elevated area where the Pope would sit on his gilded throne. There he placed a portrait of Aminadab, a seemingly strange choice since Aminadab was far from a major biblical hero. On Aminadab’s upper left arm we clearly see a bright yellow circle, a ring of cloth that has been sewn onto his garment. This is the exact badge of shame that the Fourth Lateran Council and the Inquisition had forced upon the Jews of Europe. Michelangelo placed this powerful illustration of anti-Semitism on Aminadab, whose name in Hebrew means “from my people, a Prince.” To the Catholic Church, that phrase could mean only one person: the founder of Christianity. Yet here, directly over the head of the Pope, Michelangelo pointed out exactly how the hatred and persecution of the Catholic Church was treating its founder’s relatives! His hidden agenda was to remind the church that its roots were grounded in the Bible given to the Jewish people, and that to ignore this truth was to falsify their religion.

Was Michelangelo the precursor of CUFI, and other pro-Israel Christian groups?

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Ask Me Next Year

running-track-2-1528273-639x426This past January, the Jewish world lost a tremendous resource: Rabbi Dovid Winiarz zt”l, who was known online as the “Facebuker Rebbe.” For him, Jewish outreach was about one thing above all else: finding what he could do for you, and trying to do it. In any field of endeavor, it is typical for us to get into a certain pattern — we have a line of products or area of responsibility, and we do what fits into our “mold.” Dovid didn’t limit himself; he was just there to help.

His brother Reb Shmuel relates that if you would ask him, “how was your Rosh HaShanah?” or “how was your Yom Kippur,” he would respond with a smile and say — “I don’t know. Ask me next year!”

First and foremost, this is the time to be thinking about the fragility of life. We are hoping to be written for another year, and must keep in mind that a person never knows — Reb Dovid passed away extremely suddenly, when the car in which he was traveling slipped on black ice. Now, when the King is “close by,” is our opportunity to ask Him for another year.

And what shall that year bring? These days are also our opportunity to ask G-d for a year of blessing: for our health, for our families, for our income, for our spiritual growth. But in that last area in particular, we are also setting a pattern for the year ahead.

Taking the lesson encapsulated in Rabbi Winiarz’s words, let’s first think back over last year. How did we do? Did we grow? Did we meet our goals? Or did we quickly slip back into old patterns? Then we can think about what we should be asking for, praying for, and working towards — so that when we look back next year, we feel accomplished.

Now, where do we want to be next year? When it’s time to look back one year from now, we will be, in essence, answering “how was your Yom Kippur?” Where would we like to be? What are we asking HaShem to do for us this year?

With those questions answered in our mind, we will be better prepared for Yom Kippur. Let us keep in mind everything we are asking for, everything we hope to accomplish. And let us go through Yom Kippur asking Hashem for help in reaching those goals.

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Ten Questions about the Gaza War

I realize I’m not saying anything particularly new or profound here, but a Twitter comment about the Gaza War and Israel’s “disproportionate” response prompted me to write a list of questions. Needless to say, the correspondent on Twitter didn’t have a response — and perhaps you will find this list useful in a similar situation.

1. Identify the side that started the war by firing thousands of missiles at civilians (each missile being a separate war crime) and then refused a ceasefire until the death count had risen into the thousands.

2. Name the only military force in the world that drops leaflets to warn civilians to leave an area of likely military action, thus also enabling its adversaries to better prepare.

3. Name the only military force in the world that places telephone calls to warn civilians to leave an area of likely military action, enabling its adversaries to better prepare.

4. Name the only military force in the world that drops dud “knock knock” bombs to warn civilians to leave an area of likely military action, enabling its adversaries to better prepare.

5. Now, name the only military force in the world that publicly calls upon civilians to come serve as human shields.

6. Name the side in this conflict that deliberately embedded and disguised its forces within the civilian population to maximize “collateral damage” – the needless deaths of civilians.

7. Name the side that deliberately stored weapons in hospitals and mosques, fired from schoolyards, and began tunnels within private homes, in order that defense of civilians would require both civilian casualties and damage to mosques, hospitals, schools and homes.

8. Name one of the very few forces known to identify its fighters as “civilian children” after their deaths, stage casualty incidents, and “borrow” photos of casualties from other, unrelated conflicts.

9. Now, name the military force that maintained the lowest civilian to combatant casualty ratio of any recent world conflict. It’s not the US, UK or anyone in Iraq or Afghanistan.

10. Finally, identify the side of this conflict, despite all of the foregoing, to be repeatedly condemned by the UN… and explain how this is unrelated to thousands of years of global anti-Semitism.

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Ultra-Orthodox Ministers Are Some of Israel’s Best

That’s not my headline, it belongs to Ha’aretz. Yes, really!

Ha’aretz columnist Gideon Levy is a member of the hard left — his most recent book is entitled The Punishment of Gaza. But in this article, he not only praises Ministers Aryeh Deri and Yaakov Litzman for their opposition to special interests and service to the poor, but takes aim at the stereotypical view of Charedi ministers (and Charedim generally) “in the eyes of the secular majority.” Most of the article is behind a paywall, but here are some of the most relevant parts:

The two get very little credit from the secular community. Everything they do, even if it’s positive and courageous, immediately triggers a suspicious or hostile response. At best, they’re ignored; they’re rarely applauded.

Compliments for a minister called Yankel [Litzman] or one whose middle name is Makhlouf [Dery]? Never. Their way of life and black clothing prevent secular people from appreciating what they do, even when they deserve it…

Dery? Surely he acted as he did for roguish, self-serving reasons, as usual. After all, he was and always will be a criminal, and besides, he’s of Middle Eastern origin and ultra-Orthodox to boot…

Litzman isn’t one of us. He’s ultra-Orthodox, a Haredi, and Haredim only know how to suck the government dry, not serve in the army. Parasites. There are no other Haredim.

Ha’aretz is better known for op-eds and editorials about the Charedi community of a decidedly different slant, ones that reinforce the stereotypes Levy decries — e.g. blaming the entire Orthodox community for the actions of a psychotic murderer or the suicide of a troubled ex-Chasid. Just recently, an article (by an Orthodox woman, no less, one who went through shidduchim and now helps to make them) criticized shallow men who are overly focused on externals — in the Shidduch world. In an article for the secular community, the average Ha’aretz reader, bombarded by Madison Avenue imagery. I kid you not.

Against that backdrop, the fact that Ha’aretz takes an occasional op-ed from our own Rabbi Shafran is startling enough. Levy is a long-time Ha’aretz columnist and a member of the editorial board; his criticism of secular attitudes towards Charedim breaks ground in suspending some of those stereotypes, and deserves earnest appreciation.

There is a comment to the article from Avshalom Beni, a secular lecturer at an Institute for Animal-Assisted Intervention at Hebrew University. He writes about students in a Charedi program who demonstrate “a profound sensitivity to animal welfare and are proving themselves to be capable and dedicated counselors and advisers.” He concludes:

Ancient Stereotypes die slowly, but once again I join the growing number of secular Jews who are inspired by the will and desire of a growing number of Haredim who are trying to reach out to Israeli society. Thanks to pioneering programs like this one, new inroads are being made towards mutual cooperation and appreciation.

Those familiar with organizations like Hatzalah, Zaka and Yad Sarah, to cite but three of countless examples, know that these are not really new inroads. Jerusalem Post columnist Sam Orbaum once wrote, “the charity, social consciousness, good deeds, communal welfare, and human kindness [of the chareidim] may be unparalleled among the communities of this country.” It is merely that these efforts receive scant coverage.

Acknowledgment of the stereotypes is an excellent step towards reducing them. With the Pew Report showing that the Charedi community is likely to take a much more prominent role in Jewish communal affairs, both in Israel and the United States, it is important that the stereotypes be replaced by honest understanding, and Levy (and Beni) and Ha’aretz are to be commended for their significant positive contribution.

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