Quotes and Notes Corner: The Old Lady Down the Block

Just a reminder of the clarity we need today.

Years before the Balfour Declaration, a member of the House of Lords asked Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, "Why do you Jews insist on Palestine when there are so many undeveloped countries you could settle in more conveniently?"

Weizmann said: "That is like me asking you why you drove twenty miles to visit your mother last Sunday when there are so many old ladies living on your street."

I believe a similar reply is in order to those (Jews and otherwise) who ask why we insist on Hevron, Shechem, Gaza, the Golan Heights - when there are so many more convenient places, like Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Netanya, Caesaria....

Presented, with great hope of returning to the simple convictions of the early years, by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz.

Unorthodox tactics at the Orthodox Union convention

After hearing from several frustrated delegates, I am bringing to the attention of the readers the article below:

Unorthodox tactics at the Orthodox Union convention
by Menachem Gottlieb.

The Orthodox Union held their national convention this past week, November 26-30, 2008, in Jerusalem at the Ramada Hotel. I covered the highlight of the convention, the convening of the delegates Saturday night to debate and pass resolutions and amendments.

The voting session began after Shabbat at 6:45 PM and did not conclude until after 10:30 PM. At the height of the session there were over 100 voting delegates.  This number steadily dwindled to 65 or so delegates as the night wore on.

During the session that consisted of heated debate on important issues such as the lack of freedom of expression in Israel, a number of teenagers without the requisite nametags were spotted in the back waving voting cards.

“Why are these kids voting?” cried out Delegate Shulamit Hawtof, to the presiding Chairman of the resolutions committee, Mr. Stanley Weinstein.

Mr. Aaron Kinderlehrer, the presiding parliamentarian, explained that it is legal for up to 10 NCSY teenagers to be delegates according to the most recent bylaws.

Ms. Hawtoff and others noticed at least 3 boys in the back with voting cards. “They were all voting as a block!” she later exclaimed to me in an interview.

I myself witnessed 3 girls sitting in the front with voting cards.  In vote after vote, these girls looked towards David Luchins for direction on whom to vote for. This was caught a number of times on camera.

After the session, I approached one of the girls and began to discuss her NCSY activities. On her own initiative she told me: "I'm not familiar with the issues." She then went on to explain that she was requested to come and vote by David Luchins and Jack Abramovich.

Mr. Steven Savitsky, President of the Orthodox Union, told me that that he spoke to Dr. Luchins and that he doesn’t want to see young delegates voting without being familiar with the issues.

Dr. David Luchins, a Senior Vice President of the OU, has apparently solicited at least 6 teenage members of NCSY and as many as 10 members to act as voting delegates on his behalf.

The teenagers had apparently been solicited that night as they wore no nametags and all of them had blue voting cards. According to a staff member they were not with the OU for Shabbat.

"This is an outrage," says Shulamit Hawtoff, “the outcomes of some amendments were most certainly affected.”

Some senior OU officials expressed to me that night dissatisfaction with Dr. Luchins tactics, but requested to remain anonymous. Dr. Luchins denied any wrong doing.

It is hard to tell how many of the proposed amendments and resolutions were affected by David Luchins’ tampering of the convention process, but there is no question that the outcome of one of the resolutions was affected.

In particular, there was a vote to table the resolution promoting ‘civility in speech’ and to send it back for revision without adoption at the present time. In a close 30-32 vote it was not tabled. The resolution mustered enough votes to avoid being tabled due to the added votes of Luchins' NCSYers. In the resolution, the OU takes upon itself to criticize those in the Orthodox community who don’t speak civilly. Many delegates questioned the criteria of the OU’s criticism given its condemnation of an Orthodox Rabbi’s words this past January.

“I feel that the whole resolutions process was tainted,” says Shulamit, “There were a number of close votes, and I was saddened that the there are people in the organization who would stoop to such a low level. I really feel that the OU must have another makeup convention in which the process in conducted in a fair manner."

Michael Libbie, a delegate from Des Moines Iowa in an interview on Sunday said “I was up until 1:30 last evening because I was incensed at the failure of this organization’s leadership ... resolution after resolution, amendment after amendment was defeated – that had to do with freedom of expression for Israelis… I will go back to the US with a whole different attitude about this error in judgment.”

The whole process was “not proper” according to Rabbi William Bloom of San Diego California.

Dr. Bernard Lander, Honorary Vice President of the OU, in an interview conducted after the convention, worries that the OU has been turning towards the political left.

Quotes and Notes Corner: Mumbai Massacre & the Fatah MO

In a conversation with a European friend of mine recently, he commented about the apparent intense efforts made by the EU media to downplay the Mumbai Massacre, which took the lives of nearly 200 people. Yet, here in Israel there was extensive coverage (and still is).

Even aside from the fact that Jews were specifically targeted in the Chabad House, there is another factor that
Please pay very close attention to who is responsible for most of what follows.
draws our acute attention. What happened in Mumbai makes some of us think, "That could have been Tel Aviv...." Here's why (and please pay very close attention to who is responsible for most of what follows):

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Oct. 2, 2001 - Two people were killed when Palestinian Authority terrorists infiltrated the town of Alei Sinai, opening fire on residents and hurling grenades into homes.

Oct. 4, 2001 - Three people were killed when a PA terrorist, dressed as an Israeli paratrooper, opened fire at the central bus station in the city of Afula. (Fatah - yes, that moderate group run by Mahmoud Abbas nowadays - claimed responsibility for the attack, by the way.)

Oct. 28, 2001 - Four people were murdered by two PA "policemen" opened fire from a vehicle on pedestrians at a crowded bus-stop in downtown Hadera.

Nov. 4, 2001 - Two people were murdered by a PA terrorist who opened fire at the French Hill junction in northern Jerusalem.

Nov. 27, 2001 - Afula, again. Two people were murdered by PA terrorists who opened fire on a crowd of people near the central bus station. (Fatah and the Islamic Jihad claimed joint responsibility this time.)

Jan. 17, 2002 - The city of Hadera, again. Six people were murdered when a PA terrorist burst into a Bat Mitzvah reception, opening fire with an M-16 assault rifle. (And again, yes, Fatah claimed responsibility for the attack.)

Jan. 22, 2002 - Two women were shot to death by a PA terrorist who opened fire in downtown Jerusalem. (Guess who claimed this one. If you said "Fatah," you win one ticket to Oslo.)

Feb. 6, 2002 - Miri Ohana and her daughter Yael, 11, were murdered in their home by a PA terrorist who infiltrated Moshav Hamra. An IDF reservist was also killed in the attack. (This time Fatah teamed up with Hamas. Isn't that nice?)

Feb. 25, 2002 - A police officer died after being fatally shot by a PA terrorist who opened fire in a residential neighborhood in northern Jerusalem. (Guess who!)

Mar. 5, 2002 - Three people were murdered when a PA terrorist opened fire in the midst of Tel Aviv. (This is getting redundant. Yes, Fatah claimed responsibility.)

Mar. 7, 2002 - Five 18-year-olds were shot dead by a PA terrorist who infiltrated the town of Atzmona. (This time, it was Hamas. Don't you feel better now?)

Mar. 9, 2002 - Avia Malka, 9 months old, and Israel Yihye, 27, of Bnei Brak were murdered by two PA terrorists who opened fire and threw grenades at cars and pedestrians in the coastal city of Netanya, near the city's main hotels. (Fatah again.)

Mar. 28, 2002 - Three members of one family were murdered by a PA terrorist who infiltrated the town of Elon Moreh, entered their home and opened fire. (Not Fatah. Just Hamas.)

Mar. 29, 2002 - Two senior citizens were shot to death by a PA terrorist who infiltrated the town of Neztarim.

Apr. 27, 2002 - A five-year-old and three other adults were murdered by PA terrorists infiltrated the town of Adora. The terrorists entered several homes, firing on people in their bedrooms. (This time, Hamas teamed up with the PFLP for the difficult job of murdering defenseless people in their homes.)

May 28, 2002 - Netanel Riachi, 17, of Kochav Ya'akov; Gilad Stiglitz, 14, of Yakir; and Avraham Siton, 17, of Shilo - three yeshiva high school students - were murdered by a PA terrorist in the town of Itamar. (Fatah proudly claimed this one.)

June 8, 2002 - Eyal Sorek, 23, his wife Yael, 24 - nine months pregnant - and Shalom Mordechai, 35, were murdered by PA terrorists who infiltrated the town of Carmei Tzur. (Hamas claimed responsibility. But who's counting?)

June 20, 2002 - The town of Itamar is struck again. Rachel Shabo, 40, and three of her sons - Neria, 16, Zvika, 12, and Avishai, 5 - as well as a neighbor, Yosef Twito, 31, who came to their aid, were murdered when a terrorist entered their home and opened fire. (Child-killers Fatah and the PFLP teamed up to claim this one.)

Aug. 10, 2002 - One woman was murdered by a PA terrorist who infiltrated Moshav Mechora and opened fire outside their home. (Fatah. I wonder if Abbas was aware of all these attacks by his people. What do you think?)

Oct. 29, 2002 - Three people - Orna Eshel, 53, Linoy Saroussi and Hadas Turgeman, both 14 - were murdered by a PA terrorist in the town of Hermesh. (Fatah.)

Nov. 10, 2002 - Revital Ohayon, 34, and her two sons, Matan, 5, and Noam, 4, as well as Yitzhak Dori, 44, and Tirza Damari, 42, were murdered by a PA terrorist who infiltrated Kibbutz Metzer and opened fire. (Fatah.)

Nov. 28, 2002 - Six people were murdered by two PA terrorists who opened fire and threw grenades in the city of Beit She'an. (Yes, still Fatah.)

Dec. 27, 2002 - Four yeshiva students - age 17 to 23 - were murdered by a PA terrorist who infiltrated the town of Otniel. (This time, it was Islamic Jihad. Where have they been? Busy with suicide bombings, I guess.)

Jan. 12, 2003 - One person was murdered when PA terrorists infiltrated Moshav Gadish and opened fire. (Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. So I guess they learned to apply what they learned from Fatah.)

Mar. 7, 2003 - Rabbi Eli Horowitz, 52, and his wife Dina, 50, were killed and five wounded when PA terrorists disguised as Jewish worshipers infiltrated Kiryat Arba, entered their home and murdered them at the Sabbath table. (Hamas did this one.)

Sept. 26, 2003 - Eyal Yeberbaum, 27, and seven-month-old Shaked Avraham were murdered during their Rosh Hashanah holiday meal in Negohot by a PA terrorist who infiltrated the town. (Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.)

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Then, four years pass without attacks of this nature. Why? Maybe because the IDF returned to the cities, towns and byways of the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas in Judea and Samaria. Until...

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Mar. 6, 2008 - Eight students of the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem were murdered when a PA terrorist infiltrated the yeshiva and opened fire in the library where about 80 people were gathered, mostly teenagers.

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But the Mumbai Massacre also reminded me of the Maalot Massacre, in which, on May 15, 1974, 22 Israeli high school students, aged 14-16, were murdered by members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine who infiltrated the city of Maalot.

And finally, Mumbai most eerily reminded many of the Kfar Chabad attack 52 years ago. An Arab terrorist infiltrated the town synagogue and opened fire on a crowd of immigrant students and their teachers. He killed five children and one teacher.

In response, so the legend says, upon hearing the news, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, leader of Chabad Chassidim worldwide, retreated into his room, locked the door and did not open it for three days. At the end of this period, he offered his followers the only possible condolences: Behemshech habinyan tinacheimu. "By your continued building you will be comforted."

Researched, compiled and presented by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz