Washington - Bar Mitzva In Israel For Rahm's Son Shrouded in Mystery |
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News Source: Jerusalem Post
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U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) sits with his children during the nomination process for Speaker of the House-elect Nancy Pelosi during a swearing in ceremony for the 110th Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol January 4, 2007 in Washington, DC.Washington - President Barack Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel announced with great fanfare at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America in Washington last year that he would come to Israel on America’s Memorial Day Weekend at the end of May to celebrate the bar mitzvas of his son Zach and a nephew.
“This memorial break, I am taking my son, my nephew Noah with Ari my brother, so they can have their bar mitzva in Israel,” Emanuel boasted in the November 10 speech, winning cheers from the crowd. “Not to add humor to this moment, but that’s cheap applause. I’ll take an $18 check on behalf of him if you like. That’s obviously illegal as a public servant. That was a joke.”
But as the bar mitzva date approaches, the White House, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Ministry have declined to give any details whatsoever about the event. A White House representative said Emanuel’s visit to Israel was “a private trip” and diplomatic officials in Jerusalem said they also didn’t provide details when National Security Council official Dennis Ross came for his son’s wedding.
The lack of information has led to speculation in the Hebrew press, with Haaretz reporting incorrectly that Emanuel would arrive in Israel this week and Ma’ariv suggesting that he had moved the bar mitzva away from the Western Wall, either because of threats from right-wingers or because the Obama administration considered the wall in the territory of a future Palestinian capital.
Neither Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitz nor Rabbi Jay Karzen, who has conducted more than 2,000 bar mitzvas at the site, was contacted by Emanuel’s family or his office.
“We would have known about it if they inquired about it, so I don’t think they canceled a bar mitzva at the Wall or planned one,” Rabinovitz’s spokesman said.
But an official close to the Emanuel family insisted that the bar mitzva would indeed take place at the Western Wall, while another family friend hinted it was scheduled for Saturday, May 29.
Rahm Emanuel’s father, the Jerusalem-born Benjamin M. Emanuel, reached at his home in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette, told The Jerusalem Post that he “cannot make any statement” about the bar mitzva.
Far-right activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir have tried everything possible to obtain information about the event so they could come and heckle a man they consider a traitor to Israel and the Jewish people. They compared him to UN Human Rights Council Gaza investigator Richard Goldstone, whom the Johannesburg Jewish community recently considered barring from attending his grandson’s bar mitzva.
“To our sorrow, you have worked against the State of Israel and the Jewish People,” Marzel and Ben-Gvir wrote Emanuel in January. “You are not the first Jew in history trying to advance himself at the expense of his people.
“There were traitors before you such as Josephus Flavius and others, who in all likelihood also celebrated their bar mitzva but we remember them as traitors, seeking riches and honor, at the expense of their people. Unlike the government of Israel, we will not bow and participate with all those seeking to hurt the Jewish People.”
Ben-Gvir said it would be a smart decision by the Emanuels to not have the bar mitzva at the Wall. He stressed that he had nothing against Zach, who attended Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School in Chicago before the move to Washington.
“For the People of Israel, the anger against Emanuel is significant,”
Ben-Gvir said. “I think he is worse than Hamas. If the kid would come alone to the Wall without his father, we would be happy and we wouldn’t complain. But with all that Rahm Emanuel has done against the People of Israel and Land of Israel, we would have no choice but to demonstrate.”
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Read Comments (42) — Post Yours »
1
May 18, 2010 at 09:56 AM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
This is his family simcha and is no one else's business. He can celebrate at the kosel or anywhere else. Leave him alone just as you wouldn't want your own family's simcha disrupted by the media or lunatics on the political fringe.
2
May 18, 2010 at 10:01 AM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
Marzel and and Ben-Gvir are known kooks who disagree with just about everyone in the government on security issues and peace policy and have shown disregard for the law and common derech eretz. If they go anywhere near the Emanuael family, they will be throwon into jail and they can rot there until the celebration is over.
3
May 18, 2010 at 10:10 AM mel Says:Report as Inappropriate
why are punishing an inocent child...
4
May 18, 2010 at 10:11 AM Truth Says:Report as Inappropriate
As much as some Jews detest his politics, he has right to have a private family life. Why are the yentas in the Jewish media interested about this?
5
May 18, 2010 at 10:11 AM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
Groseh Gadeiah! He should pay more attention to his Yiddishkeit and his administration's attitude towards Eretz HaKodesh instead of being an Obamination puppet and tuchas lekker.
6
May 18, 2010 at 10:28 AM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
why punish the kid for his father's sins? You will certainly make Emanuel him more of a sone yisrael. Better to take him around and let him see the reailites we face every day and hope the pintele yid is aroused and he goes back to DC and tells Obama to bug off Jerusalem and the Holy Sites in Bais Lechem and Chevron.
7
May 18, 2010 at 10:40 AM Hezy Says:Report as Inappropriate
The man who wants to take the Kotel from the Jewish people and give it to the goyim has no right to celebrate there. Its time Jews stuck up for their rights.
8
May 18, 2010 at 10:43 AM yossi Says:Report as Inappropriate
zack is good boy why should the extremist ruin his bar mitzvah
9
May 18, 2010 at 10:54 AM mother Says:Report as Inappropriate
for the sake of the children can we put asside our difrenceess
10
May 18, 2010 at 10:54 AM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Groseh Gadeiah! He should pay more attention to his Yiddishkeit and his administration's attitude towards Eretz HaKodesh instead of being an Obamination puppet and tuchas lekker. ”
Comments like yours affirm for most reades why this Administration is taking the right path in seeking a middle eastern peace. A jewish staffer in the administration is not there to advocate for yiddeshkeit or EY or any other special agenda. He/she is there to give the President objective political and policy advice. Only in EY do the orthodox MKs run to their rabbonim to tell them what to do, when do it and are not allowed to excercise any independent judgement.
11
May 18, 2010 at 10:58 AM anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ This is his family simcha and is no one else's business. He can celebrate at the kosel or anywhere else. Leave him alone just as you wouldn't want your own family's simcha disrupted by the media or lunatics on the political fringe. ”
By taking "his job" he invited the media in to his life. If he doesn't like the media than he's in the wrong profession.
...don't make your sons Bar Mitzvah where the public has access and this wouldn't be an issue.
12
May 18, 2010 at 11:30 AM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
Anyone who believes Emanuel has a "right" to have his son Bar Mitzvahed at the Kotel is devoid of any common sense or rationale. This man is a TRAITOR!! to the Jewish people and should be shunned. To even THINK that the obama administration believes the Kotel "territory" belongs to those killers at the PLO is the absolute fault of this bully Emanuel. To H--- with him. Let him get Bar Mitzvahed in Chicago.
13
May 18, 2010 at 11:35 AM DownWithImamRahm Says:Report as Inappropriate
I would not let that self hating Jew anywhere near the Kosel. Let him bar mitzvah his kid in Ramallah. On second thought, why should the son be banned from Israel. Let the son get bar mitzvahed in Israel and ship that sonei Yisroel to Gaza. Let him roll around in the underground tunnels with the donkeys and the arabs.
15
May 18, 2010 at 12:13 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
Why do all you geniuses who are so sure about what is good for the medina's future think that others can't believe that they are equally mentally endowed and have other opinions. Many capable military people in the state support the same policies as Rahm. If your opinion is a valid and pure toradik opinion then fine. If not, then you're in the same category as Rahm
16
May 18, 2010 at 12:23 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
If Rahm's father, who served in the Irgun to help found Israel, were alive today, he'd be turning over in his grave, at how Rahm has stabbed Israel in the back (and front)
Of course, his father did leave Israel, and then married a Chicago union organizer and civil rights leader, and Rahm did attend Conservative in his youth, so the old adage, what you sow is what you reap, applies.
17
May 18, 2010 at 12:28 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ I would not let that self hating Jew anywhere near the Kosel. Let him bar mitzvah his kid in Ramallah. On second thought, why should the son be banned from Israel. Let the son get bar mitzvahed in Israel and ship that sonei Yisroel to Gaza. Let him roll around in the underground tunnels with the donkeys and the arabs. ”
Again with the "self-hating" jew and the mindless hyperbole about those we disagree with. Emanuel can and should go to EY whenever he wants and wherever he wants and no one will stop him based on his political affiliations. Please grow up and learn to engage in intelligent political discouse and not embarrass yourself further.
18
May 18, 2010 at 12:38 PM Miriam Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ The man who wants to take the Kotel from the Jewish people and give it to the goyim has no right to celebrate there. Its time Jews stuck up for their rights. ”
Who says that is what he wants? Do you know what he advises Obama? Do you think he is the only one with an opinion? Maybe he helps yiddin?
19
May 18, 2010 at 12:52 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
History will show that Obaman, with the advice of Rahm Emanuel and others in the administration have done more for the long-term security of EY than any other president. In the interim, Obama et. al. could care less about their detractors in the jewish community who want EY to walk off a cliff and isolate itself in the world.
20
May 18, 2010 at 12:56 PM hear nur Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Again with the "self-hating" jew and the mindless hyperbole about those we disagree with. Emanuel can and should go to EY whenever he wants and wherever he wants and no one will stop him based on his political affiliations. Please grow up and learn to engage in intelligent political discouse and not embarrass yourself further. ”
What is intelligent political discourse? Only your opinion is intelligent?
Actually, I also don't agree with the terminology of self hating Jew. It doesn't make sense. But neither does it make any sense that there are Jews who try to impose their fairytale vision of "peace"with those who openly call for the destruction of our people. A person who cares so little for the truth, to the extent that it harms his own people, sort of saying he's crazy, one can say he's a self hating Jew.
21
May 18, 2010 at 01:15 PM Milhouse Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Marzel and and Ben-Gvir are known kooks who disagree with just about everyone in the government on security issues and peace policy and have shown disregard for the law and common derech eretz. If they go anywhere near the Emanuael family, they will be throwon into jail and they can rot there until the celebration is over. ”
Thrown into jail? For what? Do they not have the same free speech as anyone else? (Not in Israel. Its pretense of being a free country is a fraud.)
Marzel and Ben-Gvir follow the Torah, and nobody who believes in the Torah has any argument against them.
22
May 18, 2010 at 01:16 PM Milhouse Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Comments like yours affirm for most reades why this Administration is taking the right path in seeking a middle eastern peace. A jewish staffer in the administration is not there to advocate for yiddeshkeit or EY or any other special agenda. He/she is there to give the President objective political and policy advice. Only in EY do the orthodox MKs run to their rabbonim to tell them what to do, when do it and are not allowed to excercise any independent judgement. ”
A Jew's first duty is ALWAYS to Hashem and Am Yisroel, and anyone who forgets that is a traitor.
23
May 18, 2010 at 01:17 PM Milhouse Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Why do all you geniuses who are so sure about what is good for the medina's future think that others can't believe that they are equally mentally endowed and have other opinions. Many capable military people in the state support the same policies as Rahm. If your opinion is a valid and pure toradik opinion then fine. If not, then you're in the same category as Rahm ”
There are NO serving military who support giving away territory.
24
May 18, 2010 at 01:30 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ This is his family simcha and is no one else's business. He can celebrate at the kosel or anywhere else. Leave him alone just as you wouldn't want your own family's simcha disrupted by the media or lunatics on the political fringe. ”
Thats right my friend. The fact that he is bringing the whole country down, and that he is a self hating jew should be no ones business.
I wonder if he's gonna serve fish. Dead fish, that is.
25
May 18, 2010 at 01:49 PM Rahm the Sham Says:Report as Inappropriate
Rahm is a sham
A traitor to his brothers
A disgrace to his forefathers
Arrogant and full of pride
His politics divide
He serves Israel on a platter
And shakes it up like batter
Rahm is a sham
Self-serving smart pants
Given to nose-thumbs and rants
The world is about Rahm and Rahm alone
He turns away while Israel they stone
Selfish and pompous - it is all about him
Turns on on his people on a whim
Rahm is sham
Nothing of which to be proud
He is so obnoxious and loud
Just a spoiled Jewish rich boy
To him - everything is a toy
Climbing up the ladder to success
He kicks his brothers in distress
Rahm is a sham
Spare me the religious talk
Let him walk the walk
Israel lives in fear
Pressure mounting each year
Rahm created the club
That handed Bibi the White House snub
Rahm is a sham
Turning up the pressure
Measure after measure
Trying to play a game
with 6 million - to earn a name
So tired of that nasty smirk
That seems to really irk
That Rahm, he is such a sham.
26
May 18, 2010 at 01:50 PM esther Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Comments like yours affirm for most reades why this Administration is taking the right path in seeking a middle eastern peace. A jewish staffer in the administration is not there to advocate for yiddeshkeit or EY or any other special agenda. He/she is there to give the President objective political and policy advice. Only in EY do the orthodox MKs run to their rabbonim to tell them what to do, when do it and are not allowed to excercise any independent judgement. ”
c'mon! do you really think most readers on this site agree with the administration???
do you really think rahm or or any other key player in the administration is objective re israel?
27
May 18, 2010 at 01:57 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ There are NO serving military who support giving away territory. ”
Not in a public forum because it is against army regulations but many do support giving back land under certain conditions as is evidenced by their public statements as soon as they leave the army. There are many good military and political heads who support the land for peace concept like barak, mofaz and many others. I myself am mivatil my opinion to our gedolay torah but I am just making a point.
28
May 18, 2010 at 03:30 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ c'mon! do you really think most readers on this site agree with the administration???
do you really think rahm or or any other key player in the administration is objective re israel? ”
What makes Rahm not objective and re Israel - the fact that he doesn't agree with you?! Why is your opinion the final say in what's right? Maybe his mihalich would be beneficial for the state in the long run. A lot of wise people who care about the medina's future happen to agree with him.
29
May 18, 2010 at 03:57 PM Reba Says:Report as Inappropriate
The boy's mother isn't Jewish k'halacha. Any Rabbi who would Bar Mitzvah him is the REAL traitor to Judaism and our Torah.
30
May 18, 2010 at 04:21 PM Charlie Hall Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ The boy's mother isn't Jewish k'halacha. Any Rabbi who would Bar Mitzvah him is the REAL traitor to Judaism and our Torah. ”
No, his mother is a halachic convert. You've just violated the issur d'oraita of not oppressing converts on erev Shavuot! You have a few hours to atone.
And all a bar mitzvah ceremony really is being called to the Torah. He can approach any one of a zillion minyans at the kotel and simply ask for an aliyah, and since (1) yidden are hospitable people by nature, and (2) the halachah is that anyone who shows up and says "ani Yehudi" is to be believed, he will likely receive one.
31
May 18, 2010 at 04:21 PM Charlie Hall Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Not in a public forum because it is against army regulations but many do support giving back land under certain conditions as is evidenced by their public statements as soon as they leave the army. There are many good military and political heads who support the land for peace concept like barak, mofaz and many others. I myself am mivatil my opinion to our gedolay torah but I am just making a point. ”
A lot of great rabbis have supported Land for Peace as well, including Rav Soloveitchik and Rav Shach.
32
May 18, 2010 at 05:09 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Comments like yours affirm for most reades why this Administration is taking the right path in seeking a middle eastern peace. A jewish staffer in the administration is not there to advocate for yiddeshkeit or EY or any other special agenda. He/she is there to give the President objective political and policy advice. Only in EY do the orthodox MKs run to their rabbonim to tell them what to do, when do it and are not allowed to excercise any independent judgement. ”
They independently decide to ask somebody wiser than them for advice. Why is that so bad? The not frum mk is not acting independently either. He is looking at Ha'aretz or Ma'ariv and to apikorsim for his ideas. And that's ok, right? Only when the frum mk goes for an eitza then it's terrible. In the eyes of HKB"H there is nothing more beautiful!
33
May 18, 2010 at 05:30 PM esther Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ What makes Rahm not objective and re Israel - the fact that he doesn't agree with you?! Why is your opinion the final say in what's right? Maybe his mihalich would be beneficial for the state in the long run. A lot of wise people who care about the medina's future happen to agree with him. ”
it is painfully obvious that this administration demands and demands concessions,some of them suicidal,from israel without asking anything from the arabs.it is also obvious that this administration publicly chastises and degrades the israeli government while at the same time it panders to the plo,hamas etc.
34
May 18, 2010 at 05:34 PM esther Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ A lot of great rabbis have supported Land for Peace as well, including Rav Soloveitchik and Rav Shach. ”
their shitahs were based on the opinion that land for peace would benefit ey. one can only assume that now they would issue different psakei din based on the disastrous and deadly outcome of failed policy of land for peace.
35
May 18, 2010 at 05:57 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
Have lots of orthodox rabbis supported giving up part of Jerusalem?
36
May 18, 2010 at 06:10 PM shame Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ why punish the kid for his father's sins? You will certainly make Emanuel him more of a sone yisrael. Better to take him around and let him see the reailites we face every day and hope the pintele yid is aroused and he goes back to DC and tells Obama to bug off Jerusalem and the Holy Sites in Bais Lechem and Chevron. ”
The man knows more pof Israel than most on this group.
37
May 18, 2010 at 06:13 PM to all blinder mentchen Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ zack is good boy why should the extremist ruin his bar mitzvah ”
Zack is innocent. However this event will be more bar than mitzvah. I could assure you that it will be a political social. Zack will probably know no one other than his family relatives.
38
May 18, 2010 at 06:15 PM er chopped arein Says:Report as Inappropriate
He is doing it, before they give all the country away.
39
May 18, 2010 at 06:46 PM which r, soloveitchik? Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ A lot of great rabbis have supported Land for Peace as well, including Rav Soloveitchik and Rav Shach. ”
Careful before blaming the rov.
40
May 18, 2010 at 07:26 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Marzel and and Ben-Gvir are known kooks who disagree with just about everyone in the government on security issues and peace policy and have shown disregard for the law and common derech eretz. If they go anywhere near the Emanuael family, they will be throwon into jail and they can rot there until the celebration is over. ”
And you are so naive as to believe that the SHABAC (Israeli internal security service) do not monitor every move of those Yidd'n. They are an anachronism.
41
May 20, 2010 at 10:31 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Not in a public forum because it is against army regulations but many do support giving back land under certain conditions as is evidenced by their public statements as soon as they leave the army. There are many good military and political heads who support the land for peace concept like barak, mofaz and many others. I myself am mivatil my opinion to our gedolay torah but I am just making a point. ”
When they leave the army and go into politics their opinion is no longer relevant; they're no longer speaking from the POV of security. There is NO military expert who disputes that giving away land makes Israel safer. There has never been any such expert. All military experts agree that giving away land makes the country less safe; the only dispute is over whether it's worth endangering the country for the sake of some political objective. And halacha (OC 328) explicitly rules out any such considerations. Safety is the ONLY criterion that may be considered.
42
May 20, 2010 at 10:32 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ No, his mother is a halachic convert. You've just violated the issur d'oraita of not oppressing converts on erev Shavuot! You have a few hours to atone.
And all a bar mitzvah ceremony really is being called to the Torah. He can approach any one of a zillion minyans at the kotel and simply ask for an aliyah, and since (1) yidden are hospitable people by nature, and (2) the halachah is that anyone who shows up and says "ani Yehudi" is to be believed, he will likely receive one. ”
"the halachah is that anyone who shows up and says "ani Yehudi" is to be believed,"
There is no such halacha.
43
May 20, 2010 at 10:36 PM idontgetit Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ No, his mother is a halachic convert. You've just violated the issur d'oraita of not oppressing converts on erev Shavuot! You have a few hours to atone.
And all a bar mitzvah ceremony really is being called to the Torah. He can approach any one of a zillion minyans at the kotel and simply ask for an aliyah, and since (1) yidden are hospitable people by nature, and (2) the halachah is that anyone who shows up and says "ani Yehudi" is to be believed, he will likely receive one. ”
anachronism? care to elaborate how r they out of timeline and how does shabak influence their being outmoded huh huh?????????