New York – Increasing K’vod Shamayim

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    Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz answering qustions to participants who attended his seminar at Tri-Star summer Bungalow colony in Woodbourne, NY on July 24 2011. Rabbi Horowitz is calling for a Yom Tefilah to pray for peace after Israeli zealots caused a major Chilul Hashem in the mediaNew York – In the past few days as tensions have escalated in Eretz Yisroel, and more so after the grotesque and deplorable use of Holocaust imagery in last night’s protest, we have been inundated by hundreds of emails from Jews worldwide asking for a positive manner in which they can channel their frustration and pain at the extraordinary Chillul Hashem unfolding before our eyes.

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    The goals for any possible initiative as expressed by our readers were that it:

    1) Condemns the violence in Israel in an unequivocal manner

    2) Expresses support for the overriding genuine Torah value of Derachea Darchei Noam (The path of the Torah is one of pleasantness)

    3) Creates a teaching moment for us to speak to our children and students about the horrible effects of intolerance and violence, and the importance of tolerance and Shalom

    4) Conveys our solidarity with the peaceful citizens of Beit Shemesh

    5) Offers a venue to convey a clear message to the worldwide media that the vast, overwhelming majority of our community members are diametrically opposed to the actions and mindset of the protesters

    Several ideas have been proposed, and we would appreciate the input and suggestions of our readers in possibly developing a plan that would accomplish these goals.

    Perhaps the most practical, effective, and inexpensive effort might be to designate a specific time this week for community-based Tefillah programs around the world. This way, dozens and perhaps hundreds of communities can participate at work, in shuls and schools.

    It is our hope and prayer that the positive energy generated by an effort we develop together will usher in a spirit of respect, restraint and tolerance among Hashem’s diverse children.

    Our daily She’moneh Esrei ends with a prayer for peace, since we refer to Shalom as an all-encompassing blessing. May our pursuit of Shalom generate Hashem’s endless Brachos upon us all.

    Respectfully,

    Yakov Horowitz


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    63 Comments
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    Nebech
    Nebech
    12 years ago

    I dont get it
    Our chareidishe
    Brothers are being persecuted in eretz yisroel
    How is that a chillul hashem ?

    The only chilul Hashem that I see, is that we believe the media
    Against our own brothers

    Another thing I don’t get is why the author chose focusing on davening for piece
    Instead of davening for mashiach.

    Halaivy
    Halaivy
    12 years ago

    That protest was called by the Chavrei Habedatz that are a Daas torah and we have a mitzvah (one of the 613)to listen to them Veasisah kechol asher yoruchah and that is even if they tell you on right that it’s left and on left that it’s right while Derocheha darcai noam means that even when it looks like violence to the average person that is the way to peace.
    The Torah way is to listen to our gedolim and not to opinions of posters on a blog.

    brooklynjew
    brooklynjew
    12 years ago

    Two influantional chasidic weekly news papers, had their headlines screaming against the israeli police while giving courage to the extremist demonstrators…
    The subscribers of these weekly’s are among if not the largest chasidic dynasty here in the usa, if you can’t convince their leadership that such behavior is despicable, then you are wasting your time explaining to the world that most charaidim don’t possess these extremist view’s…

    Nirah-Lee
    Nirah-Lee
    12 years ago

    A) A tzav (not necessarily public) from the Rabbonim Manhigim in Eretz Yisroel to the misdirected Yidden in Beit Shemesh to please cease and desist.
    and
    B) A public kol koreh from the Eretz Yisroel daas Torah stating clearly this is not our way nor the way of any bnei aliyah and perhaps even offering words of conciliation (if not outright bakoshas mechila) on behalf of mainstream Jewry HaChareidim l’dvar Hashem.

    12 years ago

    I think that in addition to Tefillah groups, there should be a web site/petition so that like minded people can show their agreement and the numbers can be tabulated to demonstrate that many frum jews are opposed to te conduct you write about.
    Aside from the tragic issues of last week, we now have to deal with (and affirmatively repudiate the acts of ) people dressed as frum jews trivializing the Holocaust.

    sechelhayusher
    sechelhayusher
    12 years ago

    Why does the Edah Chareides protest contreverse with the ways of rabbi horowitz, all they protest is the force the police and goverment is using, on the use of violence and spitting everyone is opposed including every kannoei (as i consider myself among them and know them well from the inside), besides maybe a few sickheads (and im not sure they count till 20)/

    On the subject of seperate gender on busses, many many gedolim in isreal and USA are for it, as you see the effort they put in all years (if you know your history) to make it happen in every yiddushe yishuv, monsey bussses (skwere), kj busses (satmar), bp-willm bus, 402 yerushalayim-bnei berak, all busses in bnei berak, modian, betaar, ashdod, busses to miron-tzefas, etc. this isn’t a matter of eida chareides or kanoim or beis shemesh.

    So lets make it clear to our own brethen, were against violence, against spitting, but were pro seperated busses in our communities without any force on others!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is something thats being misled by rabbi horowitz and alot of others

    12 years ago

    Sorry Rabbi Horowitz, I hate to be cynical but this tznius issue is going to be a fight until Moshiach comes. Its very simple and I cant believe you dont see the problem. The problem is every one has their red line. One persons red line is not to put women into the newspaper. one persons red line is to have segregated buses. Ones persons red line is to wear seamed stockings. I’m chasidish my daughters wear tights at 3 years old yet someone told my wife once were not “chasidish ” because im not makpid on beige stockings. Do you see where i’m going with this. The extremists have their red line and they aren’t moving it because the media or politicians are making a fuss, they will just keep on fighting.

    Truth
    Truth
    12 years ago

    I’m all for peace and condenming the actions of a few Charedim, but only if it’s reciprocated. All the Freye do is incite more and more hatred against Charedim. It’s not discrimination to have private buses that are separated. It’s not discrimination to not have to see Pritzus in their own neighborhood in Bet Shemesh. This isn’t pre-war Germany where we have to beg for forgiveness. It is discrimination Not to hire s/o who won’t work on Shabbos. This goes on here in the US & in Israel. Just like the world has no idea what Marriage is anymore -they think it’s also between the same gender, they also have no idea what discrimination is! Where are all these Rabbis decrying the discrimination against Shabbos observers? Or is it they only don’t like bad publicity from the Goyim in this world? Of all of a sudden people are outraged about a few dressed as Holocaust Prisoners. If you care about right & wrong -where is the outrage about Religious employment discrimination?

    sammmy
    sammmy
    12 years ago

    very sad that even rabonim in the usa are missing the point and being convinced by the secular media. maybe call your friends and contacts in eretz yisrael before condemning frum yidden. read any chareidi newspaper from eretz yisrael – im not talking about sikrikim or even the eidah chareidis- regular chareidim see this overall story as an incitement campaign against the chareidim. yes there are parts of this story that we should be embarrassed of, that we must condemn, but the main issue thats going on in eretz yisrael is incitement by the media and others against the chareidim. and i assume most people reading this website consider themselves chareidim.

    12 years ago

    rabi horowitz should at least make an effort to hear the chareidims side. Blindly following the incitful media is silly and a chilul hashem.

    CommonSense
    CommonSense
    12 years ago

    We need to turn inward and stop being so co-dependent on other peoples behaviors (and beards) for our own peace and sense of righteousness.

    We need to cultivate our own personal relationships with Hashem so that when other people do stupid things it shouldn’t effect us and our own personal relationships.

    That’s the only answer…

    Nebech
    Nebech
    12 years ago

    Reply to those who just don’t get it
    1st of all
    How do you know your facts about the chareidim ?
    Do you understand what frum Yidden go through in eretz yisroel
    (even those who are not chareidim)
    2nd of all
    We daven for mashiach not piece
    Because true piece will never be achieved untill mashiach

    What’s going on in eretz yisroel is that the Satan fighting and challenging what little we we Have left in yidishkeit
    And sometimes their counter attack is overdone
    Especially today when they have no clue how to fight him

    But it’s not like we’re better, we are also failing miserably
    To him in the united states (in different ways)
    And if you don’t know what I am talking about
    Ask people who know

    fromthepast
    fromthepast
    12 years ago

    I would like all of you to please help me …

    Jewish children were spit on when they went to schools
    Our mothers wives and daughters called whores and prostitutes

    We once called those people the antisemetic Nazis…what do we call them now? our devout brothers and important religious leaders of our generation.

    Help me with this one please..I just do not understand…if one of these Jewish antisemites (they have a lot in common with the Nazis..see above) decides to kill a 6 year old girl for wearing..let’s say tights or plastic glasses what we will call him – one of the g’dolei hador? put him on the same plane as Asarah Hargey Malchus? compare him to Moshe? or perhaps think of him as the ultimate in Yudenrein?

    Some of the comments on this blog are perhaps just as bad as spitting on an 8 year old girl or calling a woman who may lose her life for the protection of her fellow Jew –all jews I might add, a whore.

    I am not ashamed, I am not shocked, I am not heartbroken I just need help understanding why my sister who dies in Aushcwitz at the hand of the Nazis has a similar status as a 8 year old frum Jewish Girl in Israel..Maybe we really should not have our own country.SAD

    unbelvbl
    unbelvbl
    12 years ago

    Continued…
    In Eretz Yisroel however, there was sort of a status quo; everybody knew that certain buses were mostly traveled by Chariedim, and that they wanted to sit separated from the women. Everything was fine and dandy until one Israeli instigator decided to ignite the fire of hate and concocted a BS story of being spoken to, too harshly, nebach.
    The same thing in Beth shemesh. If a Yiddish neighbor moves in next to you, and they dress way below your standards, would you let your children associated with their children? Not if you would want your children to follow a different path.
    The fruma in Beth Shemesh want to live with there own chumras, and the ultra-morden-everything-goes type of Jews want it different. So it was a fight waiting to happen. And they are both at fault; they should’ve settled this a human manor. But are you bashing only the chariedim?!

    victim
    victim
    12 years ago

    This is in response to jackr:; “Nazar Zahav Beaf Hachazar”. The Gemora says this refers to men who go to the river where women are washing their laundry and they look for the reflection of the women. Need I say more!

    12 years ago

    There is only one practical suggestion that goes a long way to curb the insanity that has crept into our lives.I know Rabbi Horowitz. He was head counselor many years ago in Tzhelem Camp. My kids and everyone there adored him. Best years. Invests so much of his time helping yiddishe neshomas (project YES).He is entitled to have a daiya. A most respectable human being if ever there was one.
    We need to teach our children from the day they understand…that we are one nation…that we need to love our fellow jew..NO MATTER WHAT..NO MATTER WHERE HE DAVENS, AND EVEN IF HE NEVER DAVENS! We need to teach them that we come from different places, with different MINHAGIM, some more stringent than others, some more mikel…and that each one has a derech that may be different from ours, but that it doesn’t make one a better jew. We try to follow the minhagim of our parents, and we all have different ones. That a Satmar, Belz, Lubavich..or Klausenburg, or the myriad other kehillas …Litvish or Yeshivish…they all make up this wonderful mosaic…we call yidden. Never tell your child that what they do is wrong. (unless chas vesholem they are oiver)teach them that they are right and have CONT:

    12 years ago

    enough with this garbadge, u wana be frum be frum at home, don’t stir up trouble on the street, oh btw let’s check how many of those zelous people keep their mouth shut during chazoras hashat’s etc.
    Why doesn’t the army revoke their petor and drag them into the army ? U will see how fast they start behaving when they have to go to fight in a war possible with iran.

    12 years ago

    Besides for being horrified by violence, I struggle to find an acceptable excuse for any of this. Yes, I am opposed to compromises in tznius. What do I do if I encounter something inappropriate in the street? Why, I look away. Hopefully, I am on my way to the beis hamedrash, to learn, daven, or even if on my way to a store or business meeting – hopefully a mitzvah in some way (that’s how our lives should function). Why would I steal from that energy or time to make a fuss? If I just continue on my way, we’ll all be better off. I will not have accomplished making the other individual more frum or tzniusdig anyway. Our best shot at changing the world is to bring the kedusha of Torah and Mitzvos into the world. What is so hard for these “frummies” to understand about this? I thought this would be simple.

    MosheHalevi
    MosheHalevi
    12 years ago

    I can not support or condone the beating of any Jew, or spitting on any girl whether religious or Chiloni, whether wearing Shtramel or a tank top. I have yet to meet anybody who became a Shomer Shabat because he was beaten up or any woman that covered her hair because she was spat on or was called a whore. I think it is the responsibility of every Jew to condemn these actions of hatred and bigotry in the strongest possible terms. I also feel these bigots and hate mongers should be boycotted financially. When they come to our Shtiebel and Shuls for Hachnosas Kalah or support for their Kolels or institutions, they should be denied any help or support and should be treated with contempt for the pariahs they are.

    Avivamommy
    Avivamommy
    12 years ago

    Great statement. Perhaps, in contrast to the horrible images being released, we can flood the media with images of normal Charedi families who do not stand for the violence and messages that a small percentage of cultists are making. The message could be “We, like 99% of Charedim respect humankind . Please do not stereotype and tarnish our collective image.”

    Darth_Zeidah
    Darth_Zeidah
    12 years ago

    Ladies and Gentlemen

    Please permit me, a Gentile from Germany, to intrude on your time for a few seconds.

    Naturally, the stories of near internecine warfare between various sections of the Jewish/Israeli society are to be seen on television and in newspapers all over the globe in general – in in Germany in particular.

    I am a young German male, born in 1977, and I cannot understand why orthodox and religious Jews should dress themselves in konzentrationslager uniforms and wear yellow stars? In my country, such an action would be enough for such offenders to be tried and punished by law.

    Perhaps I, as a German, must not say this, but such crimes not only bring disrespect on all victims of Nazionalsozialismus who suffered and were killed in the period 1933-1945, but also bring disgrace on the modern day Jews who do such things. Why? What good has it done them?

    Young Germans are educated to respect the People of the Book. Why, therefore, do those people not show respect and reverence for their past?

    Thank you for reading this. I wish all Jews, in Israel and the world, all good things for the future. May you all be happy and live together in harmony and peace in your Land.

    Rabbi Yair Hoffman
    Admin
    12 years ago

    I am not my grandfather, but I think I can detect when something is amiss. Somehow #58 mentions that he is German too many times.. Methinks thou dost protest too much.. The expressions are not German at all, the language is not stilted at all. Not sure what the agenda is, and I am sure the person means well.. But we must always be completely truthful in all that we do..

    Sunray
    Sunray
    12 years ago

    I’ve just returned from several years in Jerusalem to the Western world. I’m familiar with the many factions coexisting there.

    2-3 days before departure, a tour guide took a group through the Kotel Tunnels on Chanuka, retelling the Kamtsa story-and that besides the actual issue between the two, none of the chachamim or the people in the room stood up for the man being victimized.

    1: The leadership must openly and clearly protest these behaviors, stating that they do not represent orthodoxy, the Torah, or their viewpoints or communities.
    2: Whether the leadership gets the word out or not, we the people must clearly send the message across all fronts–including the media: Internet, Facebook, news articles online and off, that this does not in any way represent orthodox Judaism or even the majority view of the orthodox community, that we condemn these behaviors. If you do not use the internet (which means you wont be reading this) you can stand up for both the Torah and the community through your family, friends, etc.

    If you want more input re: strategizing, you’re welcome to be in touch. This is crucial and we are all called upon to do our part.
    Blessings & peace above&below;