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Tishrei 18, 5771 · September 26, 2010 Pope Blames Atheists for Holocaust, Ignores Catholic Complicity/other news
http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2010/09/letter-from-israel-ha\
redi-led-theocracy-may-be-closer-than-you-think-345.html
Letter from Israel: Haredi-Led Theocracy May Be Closer Than You Think
(I wish idiotic Jews like this would just shut the f*ck up. This article is pure fantasy, yet the, ahem, "anti-Zionists" eat up all this nonsense. At the least the moronic author calls Israel a democracy. MBS)
< http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b71f69e20133f46cef89970b-popup>
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
We may be enjoying the final years of Israeli democracy. I'm skeptical
whether 10 years from now, such articles would even be allowed. Shas is growing
stronger, while the fans of democracy are growing weaker.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3957820,00.html
route to theocracy?
Op-ed: Israeli democracy's demise may be closer than we think as Shas power
grows
Assaf Wohl . Ynet
The people of Israel are apparently unaware of what lies in store. Time
after time, they receive reminders and warnings, yet they keep on dozing off
comfortably. And I'm not referring to the Iranian threat here; the Iranians
are treating us decently while openly declaring their intentions, so we can
prepare accordingly.
I'm referring to the dramatic change in the ideological balance of power
within the State of Israel, a country that is turning from a democracy into
a theocracy. Sounds groundless? Keep this article tucked away and read it 10
years from now. I'd be happy to eat my hat.
Israel's political-religious map shows new trends. The national-religious
public has disintegrated and its effect on developments is minor. The
Ashkenazi haredi public clings to the old ideology, seeking maximal state
funds and minimal interference in national affairs. Against this backdrop,
we would do well to pay attention to what goes on within the Shas movement.
At this time, the Shas movement is in the process of completing its build-up
and acquisition of political clout. Now it no longer makes do with activity
that aims to benefit its constituency. While Ashkenazi haredi parties mostly
care about budgets, IDF service exemptions, and other communal bonuses and
maintain a low profile on matters that to not pertain to their internal
affairs, Shas aims much higher.
Beyond the standard declarations about the "gay disease," for example, Shas
is also involved in more global affairs. "We must bomb thousands of homes in
Gaza; ruin Gaza," a Shas minister said during Operation Cast Lead. He based
his stance on the "Torah view." Meanwhile, Eli Yishai forced Israelis to
adopt Standard Time in the midst of summer. He also called for the dismissal
of a news anchor because of a critical comment made on Twitter.
Eli Yishai also happens to be our deputy prime minister. His party currently
occupies a rather promising position ahead of a leap to the Prime Minister's
Office.
Growing religious fundamentalism
Now, Eli Yishai is about to paralyze the Interior Ministry's website on
Shabbat, preventing payments from being made through the site on that day.
This seemingly minor issue is of great concern to me.
First, I should note that I do not make payments through the website on
Shabbat. Yet I'm also aware that it's none of my business what my neighbor
does in his own home. After all, this is not a situation where service
providers are forced to work on Shabbat. Hence, I cannot find a logical
explanation for preventing an act that only involves computers and seculars.
After all, nobody makes payments on this website using giant public screens.
So what's the problem?
It appears that similarly to other places worldwide, we are witnessing
growing religious fundamentalism. These developments show that we are close
to embarking on the process currently taking shape in Turkey: A religious
takeover of democratic state institutions.
Most Shas supporters don't care about the fact that democratic state
institutions protect them from a party whose existence depends on exploiting
them. Most of these Shas fans would not be able to last in the corrupt Shas
state for even 15 minutes. After all, their movement's role is to keep them
as ignorant and poor as possible, so that they continue to support it. For
the time being, they consume their hatred for state institutions (such as
the High Court of Justice) and needlessly provoke the secular public.
We may be enjoying the final years of Israeli democracy. I'm skeptical
whether 10 years from now, such articles would even be allowed. Eli Yishai
is growing stronger, while the fans of democracy are growing weaker. You may
say that I'm getting carried away, and that no such things are possible
among the Jews. Maybe I'm paranoid. Yet history teaches us that being Jewish
doesn't mean we won't be crucified.
<http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=97359714/grpId=10136330/grpspId=1705060403/msgId=26\
853/stime=1285226280/nc1=1/nc2=2/nc3=3>
Some thoughts...from the book, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Talmud"... part 1. Talmud study was never restricted on an intellectual basis, however it was restricted on a gender basis. Women did not study Talmud because it was strongly discouraged, although not Biblically prohibited. A directive of Talmud was/is "Ask your father and he shall tell you." One point of view was that women could learn Talmud, but could not be taught it. Another view was that women who learned Torah were not commanded to do so and therefore would gain less heavenly reward for it. Another sage's view was that women could teach each other without restriction and could listen to men learning among themselves. The basic belief was that allowing women to study Talmud threatened the Talmud's oral tradition as women in general were not trained to think intellectually or oriented to do so properly, and therefore, might make changes to it without knowing that they did so, or, in the words of one sage, "transform Torah discussions into trivia." Another belief was that their emotions might interfere with their intellectual process. The role of women has evolved over time and when women were given more access to edcuation, Jewish women were allowed to study sections that pertained to everyday living. Some Rabbis encouraged women to strive for greater involvement. But... there are still some in todays religious circles who hold onto the former restrictions.
Pope Blames Atheists for Holocaust, Ignores Catholic Complicity
(Yep. leave it to the pope to ignore Catholic Complicity during the Holocaust. Also, leave it to the Catholic Church to continue to refuse to release the documents proving this. After all, over 65 years have gone by and most of the Holocaust survivors are already deceased. I guess the church is waiting for them all to die so when the documents are finally released, it might not have such an impact. If the church wasn't hiding anything, obviously those documents would have been released after the war. The attempt to hide the churches complicity is shameful. MBS)
Pope Benedict XVI launched his visit to Britain in style by blaming atheists and atheism for Nazi atrocities, completely ignoring the widespread complicity of Catholics and Catholicism in Nazism and the Holocaust. The fact that Hitler openly opposed and oppressed atheism doesn't matter. The fact that Nazi government explicitly promoted Christianity doesn't matter. The fact that just about everything the Nazis did to the Jews they borrowed from past Catholic practices doesn't matter. Even in our own lifetime, we can recall how Britain and her leaders stood against a Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from society and denied our common humanity to many, especially the Jews, who were thought unfit to live. I also recall the regime's attitude to Christian pastors and religious who spoke the truth in love, opposed the Nazis and paid for that opposition with their lives.
As we reflect on the sobering lessons of the atheist extremism of the twentieth century, let us never forget how the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life leads ultimately to a truncated vision of man and of society and thus to a "reductive vision of the person and his destiny".
Source: Posterous [emphasis added] Atheist extremism, eh? Was "atheist extremism" behind the medieval Catholic Church's decision to force Jews to live in ghettos, restrict them to certain occupations, require them to wear yellow badges, and generally oppress them as second class citizens? Was "atheist extremism" behind Martin Luther's recommendation that Jews be driven from Germany or even killed? No, that was Christianity all the way -- and when the Nazi government adopted all those Christian measures against the Jews, it was easy for German Christians to go along with it all because the Nazis were simply continuing traditions that were centuries old. Was "atheist extremism" behind Hitler's vocal attacks against atheists and atheism? Was "atheist extremism" behind Nazi Party's platform of "Positive Christianity"? Was "atheist extremism" behind Hitler's calls for a return to traditional family and Christian values? Of course not, there wasn't anything "atheist" about any of this, "extremist" or otherwise. Don't forget that Adolf Hitler was a Roman Catholic and the Roman Catholic never excommunicated him or any Catholic member of the Nazi regime. These were all consistent with the traditional, conservative Christianity in Germany of this era -- that's why so many conservative Christian voters openly and enthusiastically supported the Nazis. I suppose some atheists must have supported them too, but atheists were probably more likely to support the communists -- and the communists were imprisoned or killed by the Nazis long before they got around to the Jews. There were no atheist institutions which supported Hitler, the Nazis, or fascism. There were, however, Catholic and Christian leaders and institutions which did exactly that. There are no major atheist leaders today who were once members of any Nazi organizations, but there is at least one major Catholic leader who was: Pope Benedict XVI. For him to attack atheism and atheists for something he himself was once part of is the height of hypocrisy. But like I said, facts just don't matter when you're the pope, do they? chabad.org I'm a Jew and I'm Proud By Levi Avtzon  The cycle has come to an end. In the past year, as every year, we read and were inspired by the Torah—the story of our nation. We were awed by Adam (how awesome to be created by G‑d and have the world for yourself), sympathized with Noah (poor guy, saw the whole world go down), were impressed with Abraham (first thrown into the furnace, then almost sacrificed his son), were caught up in the sibling rivalry between Joseph and his brothers, and held our breaths at the breathtaking saga of the Exodus. And then, from when Moses received the Torah on Mount Sinai until his final departure on Mount Nebo, we experienced the tumultuous forty-year journey through the desert. Laws, mistakes, complaints, smashing of the tablets, spies, plagues and the entire gamut of the nail-biting drama which our drama-addicted ancestors lived through on their historic trek from the pyramids to the land of Israel. The Torah reading every Shabbat morning was quite an entertaining and educational experience. And as we start all over again, we hold our breath, aware of the journey to come. What lessons, insights, and inspiration will we derive from our patriarchs and matriarchs next time around? Let his last words linger in our heartsBut before we roll back the Torah from the Jordan River to 2,500 years earlier, let us reflect for a moment on Moses' final words, uttered just before he went up to the mountain and was buried by G‑d. Let his last words linger in our hearts: "Fortunate are you, O Israel…" What wonderful parting words. Moses was proclaiming to the Jew of Israel and of Babylonia, the Jew of Tunisia and Spain, of France, Poland, and America: "My beloved nation and my fellow Jews, how lucky, how fortunate you are. How wonderful it is to be a Jew." No, being a Jew is not an "eternal damnation." No, it's not hard to be a Jew; nor is it a burden you must carry. No, secularism, assimilation, and self-hate are not the way for a Jew. Rather… Yes, you are lucky to be Jewish! Yes, although you may live through hell on earth for the next three millennia, you should – and will – always hold your head high! Yes, being Jewish is a gift, a cause for joy, a piece of heaven. Yes, Torah and mitzvot are a blessing. They connect us to our Creator, and transform this world into a better place for all mankind. Dear friend: As the month of Tishrei comes to a close and we look back on the most powerful month of the year – accepting G‑d's sovereignty on Rosh Hashanah, being forgiven on Yom Kippur, uniting with G‑d and our fellow Jews on Sukkot, dancing our souls and soles out on Simchat Torah – it is now the time to declare our pride in our Jewishness. I am a Jew and I'm proud.
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Mossad Paid by US to Spy on American Dissidents
(The truth is twisted and distorted with posting only parts of the "truth" and not the whole story is printed. Besides, if anything, it makes the US look bad, NOT Israel, yet based on the author's track record, there is not doubt in my mind that this article is posted to make Israel look like they cannot be trusted. MBS)
CAUTION: This article was written by Gordon Duff, USMC retired, and currently editor of VETERANS TODAY. If the truth is offensive, then don't read this. It will only cause you pain.
by
Gordon Duff on September 17, 2010
"AMERICANS ARE SO STUPID YOU CAN SPIT IN THEIR FACES AND CONVINCE THEM IT IS DEW." --Nikita Kruschev.
Will the flag-waiving, bible-thumping nitwits wake up in time????
More
Taxpayers Funding Israeli Database Of American Citizens
Did you know that attending a meeting to organize a bake sale for new band uniforms can put you on a terrorist watch list? You don't have to join a peace group or protest oil drilling to be considered dangerous. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hired
ITRR, the Instititute of Terrorism Research and Response, a Jerusalem based company owned by the Mossad and tied directly to the Israeli Ministry of Defense to track "dissidents" and "activists." In the process, they managed to find the most dangerous terrorist organization of all, the governor's own non-profit organization, one supporting school funding initiatives. From ITTR's website:
"All of the information ITRR's staff creates is sent to its monitoring center in Jerusalem, where it is analyzed"
Governments, states, cities and even rural towns, believing they are participating in a Homeland Security initiative, have contracted with this and other organizations under foreign control, read "Israeli," tracking organizations as diverse as the Tea Party and the Sierra Club. Reports submitted by ITTR showed them spying on nearly every organization they could find, no matter how innocent, patriotic or public minded. Organizations tied to Jewish causes, however, managed, somehow, to slip under the radar.
Those that were included are so comprehensive that it would be nearly impossible for an American to escape having confidential files, collected under government authority and financing, paid for by American taxpayers, held by Israeli intelligence agencies. In fact, databases include every organization, regardless of its membership or policies, with personal information on members being stored in databases in Israel.
Never has a nation funded a foreign spy organization's efforts to catalog potential intelligence assets, operatives and, at the same time, take over the job of watching themselves. This is one of the greatest intelligence coups in history. Combine this with control of America's airport security and total control of America's communications networks, everything, mobile, internet, even landlines….we might as well pull down the flag and roll over.
Governor Rendell expressed shock at the gross violation of constitutional rights involved in hiring this company, one that is said to be working for state and local governments across the United States. Rendell said he was "stunned" when he learned about the spying relationship, one he characterized as "ludicrous." From Governor Rendell's apology to the people of Pennsylvania at a capitol news conference this week:
"I am deeply embarrassed and I apologize to any of the groups who had this information disseminated on their right to peacefully protest"
As early as December 2001, not long after the 9/11 incident, Fox News investigated Israeli spying on the United States. However, not long after airing the Carl Cameron Report with Brit Hume as Host, not only did the show itself disappear but all transcripts as well, at least "almost all."
BRIT HUME, HOST: It has been more than 16 years since a civilian working for the Navy was charged with passing secrets to Israel. Jonathan Pollard pled guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage and is serving a life sentence.
At first, Israeli leaders claimed Pollard was part of a rogue operation, but later took responsibility for his work. Now Fox News has learned some U.S. investigators believe that there are Israelis again very much engaged in spying in and on the U.S., who may have known things they didn't tell us before September 11. …
(Click on link above to watch video)
CARL CAMERON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Since September 11, more than 60 Israelis have been arrested or detained, either under the new patriot anti-terrorism law, or for immigration violations. A handful of active Israeli military were among those detained, according to investigators, who say some of the detainees also failed polygraph questions when asked about alleged surveillance activities against and in the United States.
There is no indication that the Israelis were involved in the 9-11 attacks, but investigators suspect that they Israelis may have gathered intelligence about the attacks in advance, and not shared it. A highly placed investigator said there are "tie-ins." But when asked for details, he flatly refused to describe them, saying, "evidence linking these Israelis to 9-11 is classified. I cannot tell you about evidence that has been gathered. It's classified information."
Numerous classified documents obtained by Fox News indicate that even prior to September 11, as many as 140 other Israelis had been detained or arrested in a secretive and sprawling investigation into suspected espionage by Israelis in the United States. Investigators from numerous government agencies are part of a working group that's been compiling evidence since the mid '90s. These documents detail hundreds of incidents in cities and towns across the country that investigators say, "may well be an organized intelligence gathering activity."
The first part of the investigation focuses on Israelis who say they are art students from the University of Jerusalem and Bazala Academy. They repeatedly made contact with U.S. government personnel, the report says, by saying they wanted to sell cheap art or handiwork. Documents say they, "targeted and penetrated military bases."
The DEA, FBI and dozens of government facilities, and even secret offices and unlisted private homes of law enforcement and intelligence personnel. The majority of those questioned, "stated they served in military intelligence, electronic surveillance intercept and or explosive ordinance units."
Why would Israelis spy in and on the U.S.?
A GAO investigation states: "According to a U.S. intelligence agency, the government of (Israel) conducts the most aggressive espionage operations against the U.S. …It aggressively collects military and industrial technology and the U.S. is a high priority target." The document concludes: "Israel possesses the resources and technical capability to achieve its collection objectives." (END VIDEO CLIP)
And in the days ahead, we'll take a look at the U.S. phone system and law enforcement's methods for wiretaps. And an investigation that both have been compromised by our friends overseas.
HUME: Carl, what about this question of advanced knowledge of what was going to happen on 9-11? How clear are investigators that some Israeli agents may have known something?
CAMERON: It's very explosive information, obviously, and there's a great deal of evidence that they say they have collected – none of it necessarily conclusive. It's more when they put it all together. A bigger question, they say, is how could they not have know?
These Fox News revelations from 2001, long dead and gone, buried in the archives never to be heard from again, tell a story, not of betrayal by a "friend" or "ally" but one of America's national obsession with memory loss, almost as though the "hard drive" meant to represent America's common sense was "wiped," reformatted after picking up a virus from opening one of those nasty emails we are all warned about. The virus, of course, is the mainstream news media itself.
The Pennsylvania spying story was never reported nationally. It couldn't be, there is a "blackout" on any news critical of Israel, real forced censorship, part of the official policy of the Obama administration, as it was of the Bush administration, cheerfully adhered to by media owned and operated by Israel itself.
The Fox News report of 2001, showing America's counter-terrorism organizations hot on the trail of Israel, was the last report of its kind on any major network. Not one word spoken of by Cameron or Hume has been repeated in nine long years. Not one lead has been followed up, not one more question asked, the entire thing, forgotten, forgiven, overlooked or perhaps something darker and more threatening.
You might also like:
http://www.womensenews.org/story/religion/100921/remarry-jewish-widow-first-kneels-custom
Michele Chabin | WeNews correspondent Wednesday, September 22, 2010
A Jewish widow ran into an unexpected snag when she was planning to remarry. A rabbi said that according to ancient law, she would need to marry her brother-in-law unless he freed her in a ceremony known as halitza.
JERUSALEM (WOMENSENEWS)--Sarah (a pseudonym), was in her mid-20s when her husband died in an accident.
Once her grief had begun to subside, one of Sarah's friends introduced her to her brother.
"We took it slowly, but eventually I found myself coming out of the darkness," Sarah, who lives in central Israel and requested anonymity, recalled recently. "Life became sweet again."
In order to marry, the couple, who are not particularly religious, had to register at the stringently religious Rabbinate, the sole government agency with the authority to grant Jewish marriage permits.
No civil marriage exists in Israel and non-Orthodox marriages performed in the country are not recognized by the state.
When Sarah presented the registrar with her late husband's death certificate, he asked if her deceased husband had any children. When she said no, he asked whether her late husband had any brothers. Sarah said yes.
"Then you need to do the halitza ceremony," the registrar told her, she said. "Otherwise you won't be able to marry, ever."
With the wedding just weeks away, Sarah felt she had no choice but to agree to perform the ancient ritual spelled out by the Old Testament. According to the Torah, if a man dies without leaving children, his brother must marry his widow in a ceremony called yibbum.
To prevent such forced marriages--which reportedly still occur, though very rarely, in highly traditional Sephardic Jewish communities--most rabbis strongly encourage halitza, in which a man's brother relinquishes all claims to his sister-in-law.
In the ceremony, which is meant to be public, the woman kneels before her brother-in-law and removes a special handmade shoe from his foot. She is then required to spit on the ground next to him and recite several verses.
"The presumption is that the brother-in-law brings disgrace upon himself and his family by refusing to marry his brother's widow," says an entry in the Jewish Encyclopedia.
Ceremony 'Humiliating'
"It was humiliating for me and it was humiliating for my brother-in-law," Sarah said of the ceremony. "It was like something out of a biblical play, only we were forced to do it in the 21st century. And what if my brother-in-law had insisted on marrying me?"
The plight of agunot--women whose husbands cannot or will not grant them a "get," a Jewish divorce--is fairly well known because it affects thousands of women.
Halitza impacts far fewer. Each year halitza only affects about one or two Jewish women in the United States and between 15 and 20 in Israel, estimates the Rabbinate.
Although Jewish law requires all widows in this position to do halitza, some cases fall through the cracks and the ceremony isn't performed, said Rivka Lubitch, a rabbinical court advocate whose articles often challenge the rabbinic status quo.
Rare as it is, halitza continues to evoke feelings of helplessness in the women it touches.
"In halitza, if the brother-in-law doesn't want to marry his brother's wife, he has a way out," said Elisheva Baumgarten, director of the Heller Center for the Study of Jewish Women at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv. "At the same time, he can refuse to free the woman but the woman cannot refuse to marry the man."
When halitza was first conceived, women throughout the world were considered the property of their husband's family.
"Society in general was patriarchal and women belonged to her husband's family," Baumgarten said.
Strategy for Control
Marrying a deceased husband's brother through yibbum was a strategy designed to control fertility, sexuality and the family's assets, whether they be progeny, money or business ties.
"The late husband's honor was at stake, as was the family's continuity. It's not anything we feminists should be happy about, even though what the Jews did was appropriate for those times," Baumgarten said.
Lubitch, who also works at the Center for Women's Justice in Jerusalem, said that marrying a brother-in-law protected some women in the old days.
"Yibbum worked out well for some women who had nowhere to go after their husbands died," she told Women's eNews.
But Lubitch said the commandment became a practice that could be used against women by forcing them to marry against their will.
The custom also creates opportunities for abuse. Although less common than in the past, there continue to be stories of men who have no intention of marrying their brothers' widows but extort money from them in return for their freedom.
Even in cases of goodwill, halitza is fraught with anxiety.
In a 2009 article on the subject, Lubitch described the case of a 60-year-old woman whose first husband had died 40 years earlier, and who had married and divorced in the interim. When she went to the Rabbinate to marry a third time, the registrar noticed that she had never received halitza from her first husband's brother whose whereabouts she did not know.
When the brother was located, he turned out to be diabetic and his legs had been amputated.
"Since the halitza ceremony requires a husband to wear a shoe and to walk a few steps, a man without legs cannot carry out the halitza ceremony," Lubitch wrote. "We might assume that the woman is allowed to marry without halitza. But no. She's stuck."
The woman was spared only because a rabbi was able to determine that the brother-in-law was impotent, and therefore could not fulfill his conjugal obligation under yibbum to bring children into the world.
Searching for Alternatives
Lubitch, who is an Orthodox Jew, has urged influential rabbis to find ways to free both men and women from the burden of halitza.
"I can't say 'Do away with it' because it is in the Torah. What I am urging is for them to find ways around it, just as the rabbis have done in other matters," she said.
Lubitch offers two potential solutions. The first, called shtar halitza, which she terms "far from perfect," would at least ensure the widow's freedom. Just prior to the wedding, the groom's brother would sign a document promising to immediately perform halitza in the event of his brother's death, or incur a heavy penalty.
The second solution harks to medieval times, when some rabbis included a clause in the Jewish marriage contract (ketuba) stating that yibbum would not be required if the groom died childless.
Such a clause "would not be a violation of Jewish law," said Rabbi Michael Broyde, a judge for the Rabbinical Council of America and a law professor at Emory University in Atlanta.
Sarah wishes that she and her late husband had requested such a clause in their ketuba.
"It would have prevented a lot of pain," Sarah said.
Michele Chabin is the Israel correspondent for the New York Jewish Week, Religion News Service and the National Catholic Register. She has been reporting from Israel for more than 20 years.
Insults fly in ugly debate on temple's `historic' label BY HOWARD COHEN
<http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/03/1807707/insults-fly-in-ugly-debate-on.htm\
An ongoing dispute over designating a Sunny Isles Beach temple historic
disintegrated into a four-hour spectacle complete with charges of Nazism
and an attorney vowing to sue the city in federal court over religious
discrimination.
Sunny Isles commissioners voted 4-1 to uphold the city's Historic
Preservation Board's June vote to designate Temple B'Nai Zion a historic
structure.
The temple's rabbi and president, Aaron Lankry, vehemently opposed the
designation, saying it would prohibit plans to construct a new $25 million
building to accommodate increased membership to the now-Sephardic temple.
``The temple has no interest in being declared historic,'' Lankry said.
``Hitler tried to eradicate the Jewish nation,'' he added. ``As long as
the synagogue keeps on going, we're defeating the Nazis. An action that is
intended to minimize the growth, I calculate that as Nazism. . . . Why is
the city preventing us from being the center of Jewish learning?''
Supporters of the designation say the temple, built in 1963 and located at
200 178th St., is significant for architectural and religious reasons.
It's an example of modern Miami architecture and it honored nearly 300
Holocaust survivors in March 2004.
``That event, hosted by our city, to me is very historic and the 300
survivors felt it was historic,'' said Mayor Norman Edelcup. ``Whether the
architecture is significant is secondary. In my mind, it is historic.''
Fort Lauderdale attorney Keith Poliakoff, representing the temple, said he
would file a suit against Sunny Isles Beach in federal court, citing equal
protection under the law and an unfair burden in practicing one's
religion.
``We'll be following in the footsteps of the Chabad of Hollywood,''
Poliakoff said, citing a five-year battle between Hollywood and Hollywood
Community Synagogue Chabad Lubavitch over a zoning issue. That city
settled a federal religious discrimination lawsuit in 2006 for $2 million.
Historic preservationists said the temple could still expand.
Ellen Uguccioni, former director of Miami's Historic Preservation Board,
who was hired as a consultant by Sunny Isles Beach, said the temple is,
indeed, historic.
``The whole point is to ensure is that the most important part of the
structure is kept in place,'' she said. ``This does not prohibit the city
from granting variances.''
BUILT AS CHURCH
The building was not originally built as a temple. Its first use, in fact,
was as a Lutheran church, which occupied the sanctuary for 13 years.
Much argument ensued over whether or not the floor plan resembled a cross.
The temple's original architect, William Kreidt, now 81, said he did not
design a cross.
``If I could have, I would have designed it for a Jewish congregation,''
Kreidt said at the hearing. ``To me, it was God who directed me to do that
building.''
Kreidt designed The Sahara, one of Sunny Isles iconic motels of the 1960s.
Another was the Castaways, where the Beatles once visited. The motels,
along Collins Avenue, were later demolished.
The motels became part of the discussion.
``The Beatles were among the notable visitors to the Castaways and,
unfortunately, it was demolished,'' said Hollywood architect Joseph
Kaller. The temple, he noted, ``is not worthy of historical designation.''
The biggest battle, however, was between the mayor and the rabbi.
Lankry refused to address the commission members in English and taunted,
``I forgot. I'm not in Germany,'' before launching into Yiddish.
``Do it in English, this is not a show,'' commanded Edelcup, a former
member of the temple.
`PERSONAL'
Commissioner Roslyn Brezin urged Lankry to ``stick to the issue and not
make it a personal issue with the mayor.''
The rabbi's supporters argued the city has not forced historic designation
on its other main religious institution, St. Mary Magdalen Catholic
Church, at 17775 North Bay Rd. That building is a year older.
``Why is B'Nai Zion being treated differently than St. Mary Magdalen,
which was built at the same time?'' asked Marla Sherman Dumas, of
Hollywood's MSSD Consulting.
Both sides referred to the Holocaust. The temple's supporters downplayed
the significance of the Holocaust survivors' commemoration.
That argument incensed resident Rositta Kenigsberg.
``I am the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. I was upset that the
significance of that event was pooh-poohed,'' she said.
Commissioner George Scholl, who was the one dissenting vote and who said
he was the only non-Jewish commissioner, noted: ``We really need to look
at the core issues. Are we going to burden somebody's property rights over
some flimsy arguments?''
1 comment:
The five dancing Mossad Agents arrested
on 9/11 in NYC love Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
By deception ye shall wage war
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