Category Archives: Judaism

Judaica Web Store Giveaway & Review

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I’m excited to announce a new giveaway, sponsored by the wonderful folks at Judaica Web Store. One winner will receive the prize of their choice, a challah cover or a shofar!

Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve loved to collect Judaica and two of my favorite items are shofars and challah covers, so I was super excited when they sent me these items to review.

It’s been said that no Sabbath table is complete without a beautiful challah cover and I agree. There is something about having a special covering that makes Friday nights even more meaningful. Judaica Web Store has many gorgeous designs to choose from, and the one I liked best was created by renowned artist Yair Emanuel. It features a Jerusalem design, along with birds, fish, flowers, and pomegranates. Comprised of raw silk, it’s also embroidered with the Hebrew words taken from the Shabbat Kiddush:  Ve Krata LeShabbat Oneg and Shamor ve Zachor b’ Dibbur Echad. 

Measuring 20″ X 16″, this cover will easily accommodate two loaves of traditional challah on Sabbath or round loaves for Rosh Hashanah. Just perfect!

When it comes to shofars, I personally like smaller designs under 12 inches, so this one is ideal for me. It’s a classical ram’s horn, with a natural texture through the base and a smoothly polished mouthpiece. The color is unique with shades of light and dark beige swirled with black.

While a shofar is used typically used on Rosh Hashanah, I couldn’t wait to test mine out. The sound is powerful and triumphant! I can hardly wait for the New Year so I can enjoy it again.

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In addition to challah covers and shofars, Judaica Web Store offers home décor, art, food/wine, books, jewelry, and more. With Rosh Hashanah coming on September 14, many of us need items for the holiday table and I love the huge selection available at an affordable price.

The Judaica Web Store Giveaway will be open until August 14. Good luck!

 
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David Cameron’s Pro-Israel Sentiment

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Hats off to the British Prime Minister for the following quote:

“If you say violence in London isn’t justified, but suicide bombs in Israel are—then you are part of the problem,” – David Cameron. 

Isn’t it wonderful to see a politician support and defend Israel? So often, people will denounce Israel’s self defense but justify their own country’s in response to terrorism.

Everyone needs to take a stand against Islamic extremists and work together to combat the hate!

When “Art” Crosses the Line

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One of my favorite Twitter accounts, @TMIJOS (Jew on Shabbat), recently brought the following article to my attention:

“Jewish officials are furious over a video installation at a Polish museum that shows naked men and women playing a game of tag in a gas chamber. 

“Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s office in Jerusalem, called the installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow “so offensive and so disgusting that we found it necessary to protest.”

“Game of Tag,” made in 1999 by Polish artist Artur Zmijewski, has for years been accused of taking the Holocaust lightly.

“The World Jewish Congress and Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, have also asked the museum to remove the installation. In response, the museum recently put it behind an enclosure with a warning.

“But Zuroff and other Jewish officials say it isn’t enough. Zuroff said it is “simply incomprehensible” that the video is being shown in Poland, where Nazi Germany killed millions of Jews and non-Jews.”

The full article can be read here, but I think the above covers the issue pretty well. Frankly, I am shocked that anyone would call trivializing the Holocaust, the victims, and their suffering “art.”

This is not art, it is offensive filth.

I am not a puritan, and I think it’s totally ok for art to be wild, weird, and non-traditional. I don’t mind if something is controversial, but it needs to be for a good purpose, not to simply cause pain and further degrade those who suffered. Genocide should never be treated like a joke, because it’s consequences are deadly serious.

Back in the ’90s, there was a similar uproar over an artist’s unusual depiction of the Virgin Mary. He chose to paint her as being black and decorated with elephant dung. Obviously such “art” was VERY offensive to the Catholic community (Mayor Rudy Giuliani was particularly outraged and led a charge to have it removed).

Being Jewish, the Virgin Mary has no special meaning for me, yet I too was upset by it. No one deserves to have their religion made into a laughingstock. This painting belongs in the garbage, yet it recently sold for over 4 million dollars. Sad, huh?

True art adds beauty to this dark world. Those of us who love it—and I do!—need to protest things that cross the line and definitely not contribute one cent to its production. What scares me most is the next generation. God forbid a child sees people playing tag in a gas chamber and think it looks like fun. Now, that would truly be a tragedy…

 

Do you think there should be limitations on art?

Arabs Abusing Jewish Women on Israeli Beach

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Arutz Sheva has a shocking article about Arab men sexually harassing and abusing Jewish women at a Tel Aviv beach. To make matters worse, this is an annual occurrence during Ramadan, not an isolated case, and the criminals are never punished.

This is the worst sort of political correctness and it has to end. Innocent women and girls are entitled to enjoy a day at the beach—or any other public place—free from the fear of abuse.

Read the entire article for all the details, but be prepared, this is sick stuff!