Nat'l, Georgia ACLU, Local Rabbi Take On Kosher Laws

Rabbi Shalom Lewis, of (Conservative) Congregation Etz Chaim in Cobb County, says he can't fulfill his rabbinical food supervision duties because his take on kosher laws differs from that of Orthodox Judaism.

"I don't want to have to choose between abiding by state law and practicing my religion according to my beliefs," Lewis says, according to an ACLU statement:

"The State of Georgia’s Kosher Food Labeling Act (KFLA) mandates that any food labeled kosher in that state must be certified to be in accordance with 'orthodox Hebrew religious rules and requirements.'"

From The Atlanta Journal Constitution:

"The Kosher Food Labeling Act, enacted in 1980, mandates that any food sold as kosher must meet “orthodox Hebrew religious rules and requirements.”

"Lewis, a conservative Jew, said he cannot fulfill his rabbinical duties because his theological interpretation of the state’s kosher laws differs from that of Orthodox Judaism. He said he violates state law when he approves some foods as kosher that are not kosher under Orthodox definitions."

Invisible 'Force Field' Shields Israeli Tanks

From The Jerusalem Post:

"The IDF Ground Forces Command has declared the Trophy anti-tank missile defense system operational, following a series of tests last week that surpassed expectations for the system's capabilities, it was revealed on Thursday.

"The Trophy system, developed by Rafael, creates a hemispheric protected zone around armored vehicles such as the Merkava tank, which operated prominently in Lebanon. The system is designed to detect and track a threat and counter it with a launched projectile that intercepts the anti-tank missile."

Legendary Dylan sideman emigrates to Israel

From Dave Brinn at The Jerusalem Post:

People may know the songs and albums he's played on more than his name, but a bona fide musical icon from the 1960s will be arriving on an August 4th Nefesh B'Nefesh flight of new immigrants to Israel.

Harvey Brooks calls his Jewish upbringing in Queens 'pretty ordinary,' and he credits his parents with instilling 'the basics' in him.

"Harvey Brooks, who will be making aliya with his wife Bonnie from Tuscon, Arizona, has played bass guitar on some of the most groundbreaking records of the post-Beatles era - including Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited (1965), Miles Davis's Bitches Brew (1969), The Doors' The Soft Parade (1969) and 1968's Super Session featuring Michael Bloomfield, Al Kooper and Stephen Stills. And that's only a fraction of the some 100 albums he's appeared on or produced over the past 40 years on his way to cementing his status as one of the most respected figures on the American music scene."

MadLib Replies to My Readers on Israel

From Barry Rubin, but applicable to so many situations, especially many of my readers:

Dear Reader: Thank you for your note explaining why

___ Israel is to blame for not having destroyed Hizballah
___ Israel is to blame for not having destroyed Hamas
___ Israel should win total victory
___ Israel should invade the Gaza Strip and take it over
___ Israel is going to collapse because of the demographic gap
___ Israel is doing hasbara all wrong and you have the solution
___ Israel should make its main priority answering all the idiots who attack us rather than going about our business
___ Israel should make huge concessions to the Palestinians just in case they might like to make peace after getting them
___ Israel should make huge concessions to the Syrians just in case they might like to make peace after getting them
___ Israel should let Hamas stage terrorist attacks and not respond to show we are nice people, those of us who are still alive
___ All of the above

I very much appreciate your taking the time to write. Your interest in Israel is very much welcomed by people here. Given the clarity of your ideas, if you are Jewish, permit me to suggest you:

___ Make aliya and join the army
___ Make aliya and pay taxes
___ Make aliya and have a lot of children
___ Make aliya and find out it isn’t so simple to entertain you and gratify your wishes
___ All of the above

If the above does not apply to you, you aren't Jewish or you are not interested in all those alternatives, perhaps you might consider the need to:

___ Get another hobby
___ Focus on dictatorships in Iran and Arab states to see how they treat people
___ Think what it is like to live under an Islamist regime
___ Do some actual reading and research on the Middle East before mouthing off
___ All of the above

In future, please feel free to write to someone else. Otherwise I will be happy to send you my rates for corresponding with you. We accept checks, cash, and credit cards.
Sincerely yours, Barry Rubin

(For Barry Rubin's blog on Middle East issues, see http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com where you can also subscribe. or the work of the GLORIA Center including MERIA Journal and subscriptions, http://www.gloria-center.org)

Otherwise, drop me a line at my website, http://www.davebrianbender.com

Israeli Poet On Jerusalem & Exclusive Photography

'After Words. We'll Talk' (Dave Bender. All Rights Reserved)
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'Curved Sky' (Dave Bender. All Rights Reserved)
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'David's Silhouette' (Dave Bender. All Rights Reserved)
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Yehuda Amichai | Tourists:

"Once I sat on the steps by a gate at David's Tower. I placed my two heavy baskets at my side.

A group of tourists was standing around their guide and I became their target marker.

'You see that man with the baskets? Just right of his head there's an arch from the Roman period. Just right of his head.'

'But he's moving, he's moving!' I said to myself: redemption will come only if their guide tells them, 'You see that arch from the Roman period? It's not important: but next to it, left and down a bit, there sits a man who's bought fruit and vegetables for his family.'"

'Amichai's Arch' (Dave Bender. All Rights Reserved)

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(These and other photographs of Israel and other scenes are available for purchase at www.cafepress.com/davebender, and on my website photo page: www.davebrianbender.com )

Damning video expose': Israelis Set Up 13 Settlements 'Overnight'

Click the photo for the backstory about the weary members of a similar, struggling desert settlement. (H-T: Ritchie)

In a startling 'facts-on-the-ground' rebuke to the US Administration, Israeli settlers erect over a dozen rural communities, in defiance of world opinion...

...in 1938.

(Only now they're called "kibbutzim" - expansive rural collective farms, that are internationally lauded as exemplary centerpieces of Israel's agricultural, industrial and social prowess).

Many of the kibbutz movement leaders' and a host of others, now decry their modern day counterparts, in what is hard to see but as a breathtaking display of hutzpa.

Oh, and there's a classic movie bit of flipping pages of "The Palestine Post" as it comes off the printing press: that's what's known today as The Jerusalem Post. Like the British Army's middle east unit during World War II, commonly known as the "Palestine Brigade." Made up of - better sit down for this revelation - Jews, and not today's putative Palestinians. Draw your own conclusions. Jes' sayin...

Sorry - no embed code, so go watch it here.

Full disclosure: I was a member of such a foolhardy, against-the-grain political settlement years ago, greening the inhospitable, stony desert. Nowadays, guess that makes me (the guy on the left in the photo up there) and my bleary-eyed cohorts veteran settlers, now, too.

And a helluva' party it was, too...

(H-T: EoZ)

'Tisha B'av' & Beating the Odds (video)

...not a new video, but just some salient, extremely well-parsed thoughts by Israel's ambassador to the United States, New Jersey-born and raised Dr. Michael Oren. Appropriately enough, he's weighing intertwined and contrasting Diaspora Jewish and Israeli fates, leading up through the "Nine Days," and culminating in the Tisha B'av fast this Wednesday/Thursday. Worth watching:

Israeli Army Recruiting Overseas, Interested?

From the IDF website:

IDF Volunteer Programs MAHAL GARIN TZABAR MARVA SAR-EL Volunteer Program		General Information Lone Soldiers (Chayalim Bodedim) Academic & Immigrant Reserve (Atuda) Town Majors

And if you're wondering about those allegations of misconduct against IDF troops in the Gaza assault against Hamas, or elsewhere, watch them them describe their experiences: http://www.soldiersspeakout.com/

Jes' sayin', that's all.

A Video Postcard from Hell: The Gaza War Up Close and Personal

Ariel Siegelman, whose family lives in Atlanta, was an infantryman with the Israel Defense Forces and fought in Gaza against Hamas last winter.

In a film prepared for Aish, he movingly and succinctly describes his experiences and personal revelations during the hellish house-to-house fighting.

I have met Ariel, and interviewed him for a story for my website. I trust his account.

The Aish video embed code is broken, so go watch it there.

Speaking with him during a recent visit with his family, he talks about his experiences as a professional seaborne Israeli security guard on international shipping lanes:

At first glance, 30-year-old former Atlanta resident Ariel Siegelman doesn't strike you as someone who's used to facing off against pirates and gunmen. But then, the soft-spoken, observant Jew starts describing hair-raising experiences as a professional Israeli security chief guarding passenger vessels and freighters plying the treacherous waters of the Gulf of Aden.

"One day, his ship was in the sea lanes alongside the Maersk Alabama, and the pirates' motorboat first headed for him..

"With some coaxing, the nominally taciturn Siegelman allows us into a secretive world on a little-seen front line, and how the violent contours of such daily skirmishes affect him, and his family.

"We talk about his recent visit to the United States, primarily to train urban SWAT teams, and his heartfelt recommendations for the Jewish community, in the wake of recent terror threats.

Go take a listen. I'm editing more tape and will upload there soon, so stop back.

I LOL@ Knoxville Nazis

Nazi/KKK'ers tried to host a hate rally in Knoxville, Tennessee over the weekend.

Clowns - yes - clowns in tutus, wigs, red shoes and noses ripped them a collective new one.

Epically:http://tinyurl.com/26q7x5

“White Power!” the Nazi’s shouted, “White Flour?” the clowns yelled back running in circles throwing flour in the air and raising separate letters which spelled “White Flour."

(H-T: Harry R.)

Hey - do both of us a favor and check out my website: www.davebrianbender.com. Thanks.D