The ULTIMATE Jewish Media and Video Sharing Community Website http://wejew.com Amazing images of mostly young and holy Jews taking a rare opportunity to pray at the burnt and ravage tomb of Joseph (Kever Yosef) north of Jerusalem. Arab mobs looted, burnt, and desecrated the tomb of Joseph several years back. From time to time, with or without government "reshut" (permission) - primarily Breslov chassidic Jews flock to this holy site to pray. http://wejew.com/media/2940/Jews_Prayer_Return_to_Kever_Yosef/ http://wejew.com/media/2940/Jews_Prayer_Return_to_Kever_Yosef/ Here is a sharp banner of Matisyahu. http://wejew.com/media/2903/Matisyahu_Banner/ http://wejew.com/media/2903/Matisyahu_Banner/ Who shall live and who shall die: God's iPhone - Rosh Hashanah 5769 (Based on the U'Netaneh Tokef prayer) http://wejew.com/media/2863/Photo_of_God's_Rosh_Hashanah_I-Phone/ http://wejew.com/media/2863/Photo_of_God's_Rosh_Hashanah_I-Phone/ As another year passes for Gilad Shalit held hostage in a hamas dungeon in Gaza Strip and another year (decade) passes for Yonaton Pollard incarcerated for over 23 years in the United States for his self-sacrifice for the Jewish People. May we hear the cries and demand their release today and may Gilad and Yonaton dance in Jerusalem this Sukkot holiday! http://wejew.com/media/2850/Our_Brothers_Long_Still_Imprisoned/ http://wejew.com/media/2850/Our_Brothers_Long_Still_Imprisoned/ The Promenade Beach at Night, Red Sea, Eilat, Israel. Beautiful sight at the southern tip of modern Israel. http://wejew.com/media/2664/Israel_Red_Sea_Beach_Night_Eilat/ http://wejew.com/media/2664/Israel_Red_Sea_Beach_Night_Eilat/ Very cool and modern poster of Moses splitting the Red Sea for the Jewish exodus - however this time it is a modern traffic jam with cool updated signs. Note yellow warning sign on right of road and look for other neat changes. http://wejew.com/media/2606/Modern_Splitting_of_the_Sea_Poster/ http://wejew.com/media/2606/Modern_Splitting_of_the_Sea_Poster/ Those who do not study history are destined to repeat the same mistakes. View this shocking picture of central Jaffa Street (near now Kikar Zion) - as it was barb-wire barricaded prior to the 1948 War of Independence. This entire discussion of Jerusalem as the capital of two nations - is an insult to both Jewish history and sacrifice, as well as common sense. http://wejew.com/media/2534/Jerusalem_Divided_Pre_1948_War_Foto/ http://wejew.com/media/2534/Jerusalem_Divided_Pre_1948_War_Foto/ This shocking political satire cartoon from Israel National News truly hits the point - in 1948, families started with the temporary homes and later upgraded to houses - but the Gush Katif frontier heroes started in houses and were later forced to live in temporary houses (trailers) after being expelled from their communities of decades. And now, three years later - the vast majority of the over 1,500 famlies continue to live in shame and squalor in "caravillas" falling apart. The sad state of Israel - which has billions for bridges and rail systems - but claims to have no money to build our holy refugees homes and communities. The truth hurts - particularly in modern Israel who has no moral right to complain about immoral terrorism - when it practices civil terrorism against its own and finest citizens. http://wejew.com/media/2528/Modern_Sad_State_of_Orange_Israel/ http://wejew.com/media/2528/Modern_Sad_State_of_Orange_Israel/ This Holocaust memorial statute is in the Miami Beach, Florida Holocaust Museum. The statue is riveting and this photograph of it really brings out the hand grasping for salvation. http://wejew.com/media/2477/Haunting_Holocaust_Sculpture_Photo/ http://wejew.com/media/2477/Haunting_Holocaust_Sculpture_Photo/ Sculptor Arele works with materials that can stand up to the weather in Israel. http://wejew.com/media/2472/Outdoor_Sculpture_in_Israel_Photo/ http://wejew.com/media/2472/Outdoor_Sculpture_in_Israel_Photo/ Visit Arele's studio on your trip to Israel. http://wejew.com/media/2471/Outdoor_Sculpture_by_Arele/ http://wejew.com/media/2471/Outdoor_Sculpture_by_Arele/ The Kotel as you see it when you descend the long, stone staircase from the Old City. http://wejew.com/media/2460/Kotel_Full_Panoramic_View/ http://wejew.com/media/2460/Kotel_Full_Panoramic_View/ A moving picture symoblizing the unique aspect of Israel - the ability to defend Jewish land and people after 2000 years in exile. http://wejew.com/media/2457/IDF_Soldiers_and_Israeli_Flag_Photo/ http://wejew.com/media/2457/IDF_Soldiers_and_Israeli_Flag_Photo/ A reminder of Jewish victory in the Holy Land - a rare, archive photo of Israeli soldiers celebrating military victory in the Suez War in 1956. http://wejew.com/media/2449/Israeli_Soldiers_Suez_Victory_1956/ http://wejew.com/media/2449/Israeli_Soldiers_Suez_Victory_1956/ In the first arab tractor terrorism rampage in Jerusalem, three were killed - one of which was a mother with her infant - she was crushed by the tractor - to save her infant from certain death, she tossed her infant out the car window to a bypasser just as her car was crushed and she was killed. Here is a photo of that baby in the hands of a medic - the look of horror is written on the medic's face as he holds the now-orphaned child. Note the crushed cars and overturned bus - this happened in a few short minutes before a Jewish hero jumped on the moving tractor and shot dead the arab terrorist. http://wejew.com/media/2403/Baby_Saved_As_Mom_Crushed_in_Car/ http://wejew.com/media/2403/Baby_Saved_As_Mom_Crushed_in_Car/ The truth is - this picture makes me sick to my stomach - but it is important for the world to see this - the Islamic world of today is the current permutation of Nazi thinking, education, and world hatred - anyone who publicly blesses Adolf Hitler is on the moral level of an animal. If you think this woman is an exception - her message is echoed by arab leaders, both religious and secular, throughout the 'free' middle east. http://wejew.com/media/2394/Islam_Women_Blessing_Hitler/ http://wejew.com/media/2394/Islam_Women_Blessing_Hitler/ Hot off the presses - the July 21st, 2008 cover of the New Yorker Magazine has got cool Obama 'hot' under the collar - guess if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen, Barack! http://wejew.com/media/2340/Obama_New_Yorker_Cover_Satire/ http://wejew.com/media/2340/Obama_New_Yorker_Cover_Satire/ This political satire cartoon from Dry Bones in 1971 is both current and hilarious. But, even 37 years later, the situation is nearly unchanged, as Israel is still being pressured by its USA 'ally' to relinquish the strategic and Biblical heartland - only now there are 300,000 Jewish citizens living on this Land (known as Judea and Samaria to Jews - and called the occupied West Bank by anti-semites all over the world). http://wejew.com/media/2240/Dry_Bones_Occupied_USA_1971/ http://wejew.com/media/2240/Dry_Bones_Occupied_USA_1971/ There are a reported 80 McDonalds in Israel a number of these are even kosher ("McKosher"). McDonalds even approved of a logo design change to accomodate the Hebrew language. But here is the real 'kosher' dish for every Jewish soul - to be a "McZionist". http://wejew.com/media/2205/The_McZionist_Spoof_Poster/ http://wejew.com/media/2205/The_McZionist_Spoof_Poster/ A very cool print ad image spoof of called Absolut Purim, a takeoff on the legendary vodka advertisement from Saatchi - imagine vodka-soaked hamataschens! http://wejew.com/media/2145/Absolut_Purim_Saatchi_Print_Ad/ http://wejew.com/media/2145/Absolut_Purim_Saatchi_Print_Ad/ Rebbe Shlomo Carlebach with admirers at the Kings Hotel in Yerushalayim, in 1958 (Pictured from left to right - Yaakov Lerner, Reb Shlomo, Chaim Adler, Yaakov Tzuker and Yosef Miletzky) http://wejew.com/media/2080/Photo_Reb_Shlomo_Carlebach_1958/ http://wejew.com/media/2080/Photo_Reb_Shlomo_Carlebach_1958/ This picture is both historical and a bit shocking - note the wide range of emotions displayed in the crowd - some smiling for the camera and others seemingly in deep reflection. This was America after World War II - a snapshot in time. In our generation, we went to see the movie "Schindler's List" - in that time, they went and view the real thing. http://wejew.com/media/2049/Holocaust_Night_at_the_Movies/ http://wejew.com/media/2049/Holocaust_Night_at_the_Movies/ This image should shock the Jewish people to its core - pictured is Rosh Yeshiva of the Hesder Yehiva in Sderot (Rabbi Dovid Fendel) near a Kassam rocket that was fired by the sub-human barbarians called Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Note the look of horror in Rabbi Fendel's eyes as the Kassam missile is still burning! Can we wake up and realize it is us or them! See more or help the yeshiva at: www.sderot.org http://wejew.com/media/2038/The_Rabbi_And_The_Kassam_Missile/ http://wejew.com/media/2038/The_Rabbi_And_The_Kassam_Missile/ This breathtaking image truly captures the historic link that the modern state of Israel is in the chain of Jewish history. Whether the state is able (or unable) to emerge as a viable nation in the Middle East jungle of arab hatred is not yet clear - but this picture makes the future so clear - either a generational handoff to another Shoah (Holocaust) or a new era of safety for Jewish children. We are not there yet - ask the Sderot children - or the Gush Katif evacuee kids. The choice is ours and Israel can enable a great redemption or another Jewish disaster - it is up to us - and we owe it to the Holocaust "arm with the nazi tattoo" to fight for the Jewish kinderlach (children). http://wejew.com/media/1976/Jewish_Generation_Chain/ http://wejew.com/media/1976/Jewish_Generation_Chain/ A photo of the amazing interior of the building at the Israel Museum (central Jerusalem near the Knesset) - this is the Museum or Shrine of the Book, where the Dead Sea scrolls discovered in 1947 are displayed. http://wejew.com/media/1956/Book_Shrine_Architecture/ http://wejew.com/media/1956/Book_Shrine_Architecture/ The playbill sheet for the new Broadway musical about the live of the great Jewish Rabbi and Musical Teacher, Rebbe Shlomo Carlebach A"H. "Shlomo: The Life and Music of Shlomo Carlebach” April 22 – May 9 Museum of Jewish Heritage – Edmond J. Safra Hall 36 Battery Place, Battery Park City, Manhattan Tickets: $45-$75 (212) 279-4200 www.shlomomusical.com http://wejew.com/media/1938/Shlomo_Musical_Playbill/ http://wejew.com/media/1938/Shlomo_Musical_Playbill/ In central Jerusalem across from the Knesset is the Israel Museum, in front of which is the amazingly-shaped building known as the Museum of the Book (or Shrine of the Book) which houses the remarkable Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in the 20th century in Israel. For an amazing flash presenation of the Museum, see: www.imj.org.il/panavision/shrine_inter_eng.html http://wejew.com/media/1913/Museum_of_the_Book/ http://wejew.com/media/1913/Museum_of_the_Book/ This is a very powerful image - all the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in one poster. http://wejew.com/media/1807/911_Victim_Wall_Poster/ http://wejew.com/media/1807/911_Victim_Wall_Poster/ Don't know who took this shot, but I like it. http://wejew.com/media/1748/Western_Wall_Imagery/ http://wejew.com/media/1748/Western_Wall_Imagery/ A photo of a stand in the shuk! http://wejew.com/media/1747/Machane_Yehuda_Market/ http://wejew.com/media/1747/Machane_Yehuda_Market/ Before I was a chef I was a goldsmith and I made a miniature of the incense altar in the Beit HaMikdash from silver and mahogany. http://wejew.com/media/1746/The_Incense_Altar/ http://wejew.com/media/1746/The_Incense_Altar/ Aerial view of the amazing Herodian ruins in central Israel. http://wejew.com/media/1745/Herodion_Ruins/ http://wejew.com/media/1745/Herodion_Ruins/ An adaptation of the 'Intel Inside' ad campaign - here is 'Israel Inside' - sort of like the idea of always placing Jerusalem above our greatest joy, or facing Israel when we pray - it is having Israel Inside - for sure before aliyah and even after! http://wejew.com/media/1662/I_Have_Israel_Inside/ http://wejew.com/media/1662/I_Have_Israel_Inside/ What is "Palestine"? Well, it was the name of the State of Israel prior to the creation of the modern State of Israel. Here is The Palestine Post front page from Sunday, May 16th, 1948 announcing the creation of the State of Israel after 19 centuries. http://wejew.com/media/1649/The_Palestine_Post_1948/ http://wejew.com/media/1649/The_Palestine_Post_1948/ In memory of the eight young yeshiva students that were massacred on Rosh Chodesh Adar (March 2008) in central Jerusalem at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva - please we must spread this image around the Jewish world - Never Again! is Happening Again! May Hashem and the Jewish People to avenge the blood of these holy bachorim who died at the hands of an arab terrorist in the Holy Land while studying Torah! http://wejew.com/media/1613/Yeshiva_Victims_Photos/ http://wejew.com/media/1613/Yeshiva_Victims_Photos/ Here is one of the eight victims of the barbaric cold-blooded slaughter in the Jerusalem Yeshiva Mercaz HaRav. "God picks the most beautiful flowers for his garden," said the mother of 16-year-old Avraham David Moses. "He (God) sees him as an angel, and we should thank him for the privilege of raising him for 16 years. Sixteen years of purity and integrity and kindness." Avraham was the son of Rivka Moriah and Naftali Mozes (based in Efrat) and he was the elder brother of five siblings: Elisha Dan, 11; Ora-Dina, 6, Ayelet and Noam, 4, and Chai, 2. Avraham David Mozes - 16 years old - will be buried on March 7th, 2008 which is Rosh Chodesh Adar II 5768. May he rest in peace and may his murder be avenged! http://wejew.com/media/1605/Yeshiva_Boy_16_Killed/ http://wejew.com/media/1605/Yeshiva_Boy_16_Killed/ Feb 27, 2008 - Roni Yihye, 47, of Moshav Bitcha in southern Israel, a student at Sapir College, was killed Wednesday afternoon when a Kassam rocket exploded in a parking lot near the Sderot campus. He died shortly after sustaining massive wounds to his chest. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. Roni Yihye was attending a course given by the National Insurance Institute in Sapir College, when the rocket struck next to him when he was inside his car at the campus parking lot. He died of shrapnel wounds to the chest. The head of the Merchavim Regional Council, Avner Mory, was Yihye's distant relative, said Roni is survived by 10 brothers. Five years ago, the family struggled to fund a badly-needed kidney transplant for him. Before the transplant, Mory said, Roni worked for a large construction company as the operator of a cement-mixer. He began studying logistics at Sapir after completing a long process of convalescence. Roni Yihye will be buried in the Moshav Bitcha cemetery. He is survived by his wife, Esther, and four children: Niv, who is currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces, Lital, a 17-year-old high school pupil, her 14-year-old sister Coral and 8-year-old brother Idan. http://wejew.com/media/1551/Our_Murdered_Roni/ http://wejew.com/media/1551/Our_Murdered_Roni/ The global threat of Islamic Jihad must be confronted directly and not appeased and "talked to" - an ex-POW McCain will likely recognize and deal with evil regimes far, far better than the appeasement already shown by Obama or Clinton. http://wejew.com/media/1528/2008_McCain_or_Jihad/ http://wejew.com/media/1528/2008_McCain_or_Jihad/ The musical traditions of Reb Shlomo Carlebach permeate even the walls of the holy city of Tzfat (Safed) in northern Israel - where even the mundane is elevated to holiness in art and color. http://wejew.com/media/1517/Reb_Shlomo_Tzfat/ http://wejew.com/media/1517/Reb_Shlomo_Tzfat/ Here is an image of a moving drawing of a Chassidic Jew playing a deep-feeling niggun (song) on the violin. http://wejew.com/media/1513/Chassid_Violin_Colors/ http://wejew.com/media/1513/Chassid_Violin_Colors/ This map clearly illustrates the radical increase in the range of the Kassam missiles being fired from the terror groups in Gaza Strip at Israeli citizens "guilty" of living in the growing missile attack footprint. http://wejew.com/media/1494/Sderot_Kassam_Range_Map/ http://wejew.com/media/1494/Sderot_Kassam_Range_Map/ Neo-Zionist Orthodox Jews pray while performing Tashlich, a Rosh Hashanah ritual in which sins are cast upon the waters, on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea in Netanya, Israel. Gevalt! http://wejew.com/media/1473/Israel_Cliff_Tashlich/ http://wejew.com/media/1473/Israel_Cliff_Tashlich/ This cartoon is exactly the daily reality for years in Sderot - I know - I lived in Sderot for a total of 8 months in the last two years - I almost was killed by a Kassam missile on May 17th, 2007 (search youtube.com for "near death kassam" for 9 second clip of my near-death experience with a Kassam missile that hit my neighbor's house gravely injuring my neighbor's wife in the shower). That the Jewish people tolerate this daily terror/trauma and death in Sderot is astonishing given the recent nature of the Holocaust. Look at the picture below - that is EXACTLY what is happening (one missile at a time - over 7,000 in last few years!) - every day the 5,000 Sderot children live in fear - and sometimes the fears are realized - a young boy of 8 (Osher Tuito) lost one of his legs and is fighting for his life now (February 2008). His crime: Osher and his older brother were walking across a local park to buy a birthday gift for their father when a Kassam missile hit only two meters away (with no warning siren!). http://wejew.com/media/1452/Sderot_Cartoon_Terror_Truth/ http://wejew.com/media/1452/Sderot_Cartoon_Terror_Truth/ A technique that is often used is called "reductum ad absurdum" ...it means showing that an idea is flawed by carrying it to its logical (and absurd) conclusion. http://wejew.com/media/1435/Reductum_Ad_Absurdum/ http://wejew.com/media/1435/Reductum_Ad_Absurdum/ Winograd came and went - and the least popular and most failed Prime Minister in Israel's history(quite a distinction) continues to grab to power like a baby to candy - despite the existential threats growing like cancer on the southern and northern borders. This political satire says it all! http://wejew.com/media/1397/Olmert_Nightmare_Cartoon/ http://wejew.com/media/1397/Olmert_Nightmare_Cartoon/ Training the Warriors - "Barak" Brigade warriors during training in June 2006. The Brigade, also named "The Barak Formation", is a regular Armor Corps brigade subordinate to the "Ga'ash" Formation (Division 36) in IDF's Northern Command. http://wejew.com/media/1352/Israeli_Warrior_Training/ http://wejew.com/media/1352/Israeli_Warrior_Training/ The Jewish Nation has survived not by its cunning or instincts, but by a clear and divine miracle based on the promise of the Jews being an "Am Tamid" ("an Eternal Nation"). The very survival of the Jewish Nation is a proof of the existence of a Greater Being - perhaps that is the point! http://wejew.com/media/1349/Friends_In_High_Places/ http://wejew.com/media/1349/Friends_In_High_Places/ Here is a close-up image of an exploded base of a Kassam rocket fired on Israeli citizens in southern Israel. http://wejew.com/media/1314/Kassam_Rocket_Up-Close/ http://wejew.com/media/1314/Kassam_Rocket_Up-Close/ Yoni Lipshutz Of Simply Tsfat - A Return To The Violin: I started playing the violin when I was seven after begging my parents for a whole year - 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, for 17 years, what my parents wouldn't do for me! We lived in a brown stone, single family attached house in Queens. I was in the backyard playing in the mud when I heard some music from the courtyard of the 10 story apartment building behind our house. I could not see anyone, so I washed down and went around the block into the courtyard to find an itinerate violinist with people throwing nickels and dimes from 10 stories up. His music was enchanting. In my second year at music school, I met my soon-to-be wife. Growing up I do not recall knowing the difference between Pesach and Rosh Hashanah aside from that the family got together for meals. After graduating music school and getting married, we decided to "do" the Shabbos and kosher thing. At first only eating vegetarian at our favorite treif restaurants, and driving to shul on Shabbos. Eventually, we realized that Shabbos was an all or nothing venture, so I stopped answering the phone on Shabbos and declined Friday night gigs and Saturday matinees. As soon as I stopped performing on Shabbos, lo and behold, I stopped receiving offers for the rest of the week and I quickly took a computer vocational course. We sold my expensive violin and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where with the proceeds from the violin sale, we put a down payment on a house. I must say, I did not miss all the Bach, Beethoven or Mozart. As I started reconnecting with my Jewish past, I actually started thinking, no, feeling, how all that musical culture stood by, as a supportive witness, while we walked to the gas chambers. I was busy working and raising a family in the "American" way, well almost, we had three daughters and three cars. Although something was missing. I recall my wife buying a new book on the market, "Rabbi Nachman's Tikun" with a picture of a hand on the cover, and of course being Americans, we DID judge a book by it's cover. A friend, Reb Chaim (with a Chassidish background but now with a short cropped beard, no peyos and a short jacket) shouted at us, "What are you doing with that! Do you know what it can do to you? Don't read it, you'll go crazy!" With that introduction, and without reading it, it was quickly given to a local used book store, little did Reb Chayim and us know. Five years after moving to Minneapolis, two weeks before the Gulf War, we moved to Israel. I recall our first meeting with the Israeli Shaliach when we were first married, we enquired about the "program" called aliyah. The Shaliach literally shouted at us "It's not a 'program' like in college". Yes, our first introduction to Israeli sabra culture. What a turn off. We arrived in Israel, modern Orthodox, black hat, with a bit of a Zionist tilt. At the absorption center, we met people from all over the world. Why they call it an "absorption" center I don't know. We arrived January 1, 1991 with 50,000 Russians and a large number of Chassidim from France with wild unkempt peyos. Yes we were very lost indeed. To add to our bewilderment, I went through about five jobs the first year. Call it a culture clash, like I had some and "they" didn't. We only had nine months on the absorption center before we needed to move off. Our main concern was schooling for our three daughters, now aged six, three and one-and-a-half. Where to send them? In the USA it was very easy, there was one school, no choice. Here in Israel there is a multitude of choices and everything is a political statement. After much searching and feeling extremely forlorn, my wife called Rabbi Chaim Menachem Kramer of the Breslov Research Institute for advice on schools, the man's name is in all the books! She had learned much from our French Chassidic neighbors, much to my chagrin, but I was not buying into it. What? Go to UMAN!!?? We just got here to Israel! NO! Absolutely not, in no uncertain terms NO NO! NO! Yes, we almost got a divorce several times over the issue. Eretz Yisroel has that unique quality to test a person to the hilt. Back in Minneapolis, I thought my best character trait was patience, I was now learning quite differently. I met Rabbi Kramer to discuss schools and of course Uman in his "world wide head quarters", really a large walk in closet. What a breadth of fresh air, he was not at all like the French Chassidim or other Israelis for that matter. All of a sudden Uman was on the plate. He and I struck up an immediate friendship, and don't ask me, but nine months after doing the "aliyah" program, on Rosh Hashanah I was in Uman. I have not been in "medinat" Yisrael (as opposed to Eretz Yisrael) for Rosh Hashanah since. I should have known better when saying NO so vehemently. After our second year in the Jerusalem environs, after another five jobs (UGH) we decided to "check-out" of Israeli society and move up to Tsfat, Zfat, Safed or however you spell it. Now with long peyos and after 15 years of starting the t'shuva process and not playing the violin, let alone having one, all of a sudden I started yearning to play again. Those haunting Breslover nigunim plagued me day and night. I said to myself, "self, if you had a violin you could play all those holy nigunim and maybe bring a smile to someone's face. After all, for what were all those hours of practicing four, five and six hours a day seven days a week, month after month for 17 years?" One of Rebbe Nachman's main teachings is about hisbodedus. Well might as well try it, right? After seven years of going to Uman for Rosh Hashanah and seeing the tremendous market that gathers to meet all the foreigners, I decided to go to Uman with a small group of 25 people after Pesach, not 5,000 people not 10,000 and not 20,000, just 25 people. Year after year I had seen people walk off with clarinets, flutes, accordions and so much more at ridiculous prices. But when this small group arrived, lo and behold, there was no market, no peddlers trying to sell chachkalas or trinkets, no pushing, no shoving. How wonderful it was to spend a week without all the noise and confusion that accompanies such a trip, the quiet solitude was deafening. Motzei Shabbos I found myself at Rebbe Nachman's gravesite, Shabbos was the highest, the learning, the singing, the davening, the nigunim, oh the nigunim. Tatty, if I had a violin I could play all those nigunim I could put to use all those 17 years, what was it all for. For 20 minutes or so, midnight, pitch black and freezing cold, I stood there talking to HaShem saying, "What was it all for? How can I serve You? What am I supposed to do with my life? HELP! HELP! HELP! HELP!" As I walked out of the plaza, yes folks, there was a Ukrainian selling a violin. And after 15 years of being "frum" that's when I started to do T'shuva! http://wejew.com/media/1209/Yoni_Lipshutz_Simply_Tsfat/ http://wejew.com/media/1209/Yoni_Lipshutz_Simply_Tsfat/ In this touching photograph from www.israelnationalnews.com, a young girl makes that holy and life-changing descent from the plane having brought her family home to Israel as part of a Nefesh B'Nefesh program. Who knows what generations she will bring into the world - you can sense that she knows how important this day is! (the badge on her shirt says in English and Hebrew - Oleh - which is the expression for someone who returns to Israel - it literally means 'One Who Goes Up!') http://wejew.com/media/1146/Jewish_Child_Aliyah/ http://wejew.com/media/1146/Jewish_Child_Aliyah/ High-quality photo of Israeli soldier with full war paint in setting sun. (source: IDF website) http://wejew.com/media/1088/IDF_Soldier_HQ_Photo/ http://wejew.com/media/1088/IDF_Soldier_HQ_Photo/ Political satire cartoon that says it all - after two years - the Gush Katif "disengagement" is nothing more or less than an Israeli defeat and surrender in the eyes of Hamas (and the arab world). http://wejew.com/media/1074/Hamas_Gaza_Victory/ http://wejew.com/media/1074/Hamas_Gaza_Victory/ Known in Yiddish as a "Kula" - the revolutionary Jewish path known today as chassidus promotes "turning the world upside down" to do the will of Hashem as symbolized by the dizzying effect of making a somersault - as they say in Yiddish: "Mach a Kula!" http://wejew.com/media/1046/Chassidic_Somersaults/ http://wejew.com/media/1046/Chassidic_Somersaults/ It was in August 2005 when myself and thousands of the best people I ever met were forcefully and carelessly removed from our lives and homes in Gush Katif. While I only lived there four months - I ask how long it takes to fall in love? During the hellish 10-hour evacuation bus ride from Neve Dekalim to a hotel room in Ashkelon, I was able to get off the bus for a few minutes prior to our exit from Gush Katif for the last time to take this photo of the final sunset. A sharp orange sunset going down through a barbed wired fence - a powerful symbolism of that horrid day - not just for us - but for the entire Jewish People! http://wejew.com/media/993/Last_Gush_Katif_Sunset/ http://wejew.com/media/993/Last_Gush_Katif_Sunset/ From this cartoon, you can see how America-friendly Kuwait sees the Israeli role in the so-called "peace" negotiations. Source: Al-Jarida, Kuwait, December 7, 2007. http://wejew.com/media/989/Arab_Cartoon_Blames_Israel/ http://wejew.com/media/989/Arab_Cartoon_Blames_Israel/ As the cartoon shows - Puff the Magic Dragon has a unique and easier way of lighting the Menorah for Chanukah! http://wejew.com/media/959/Puff_Lights_Chanukah/ http://wejew.com/media/959/Puff_Lights_Chanukah/ This political satire was issue a couple of years ago - but astonishingly, it is the same exact political suicide being conducted by the same players (ref. Livni) - even a chicken will not trample over fire after being burned. http://wejew.com/media/955/Annapolis_Death_Map/ http://wejew.com/media/955/Annapolis_Death_Map/ This was surely not intended - but really looks like this man is using his mobile phone to contact G-d! Who knows? http://wejew.com/media/922/Cellphone_to_Hashem/ http://wejew.com/media/922/Cellphone_to_Hashem/ In this multiple award winning photograph taken on February 1st, 2006 during the Amona "bloodbath" struggle between mostly Israeli youth and violent black-clothed "Yassam" riot police. I was there - my ribs were broken. But that does not compare to 250 children in the hospital, many bleeding from skull baton beatings and even teenage girls with bloody noses. Here is a picture that shows the bloodless side of the struggle, with the faith of one loyal Jewish woman against an entire army of riot forces. We lost the battle for the 9 houses that were destroyed later in same day - but what this one woman represents - will never die - and in the end claim victory over both the arabs and the insane leaders in the Knesset. It is unclear which poses a greater threat to the future survival of the modern State of Israel. http://wejew.com/media/919/One_Against_the_World/ http://wejew.com/media/919/One_Against_the_World/ Description of the Incident (from the web): Public Safety is investigating an incident in which a possibly anti-Semitic drawing was found on a blackboard in a study room on the third floor of Bloomberg Hall on Saturday night. "Possible" anti-Semitism you say? What about the drawing makes you think it might have been "possible" anti-Semitic? It depicted a building labeled "Jewish library," stick figures labeled "little Jews" and two large missiles aimed at the building with arrows pointing downward. A swastika was also drawn on the top right corner of the blackboard. Oh. Well that certainly does seem like it might "possibly" be anti-Semitic. Honestly, we can't imagine how this happened in an academic environment where such a clear line is drawn between frothing, seething, vicious "anti-Zionism" and outright anti-Semitism. Stupid anti-Semites. They should have put a Star of David on the board instead of a swastika. Then they could have claimed that their little picture wishing for the murder of Jews was a "stand against Israeli colonialism". Professors across the country would have applauded them for their bravery, and concerned Jewish students would have been attacked for trying to "stifle legitimate criticism of Israel". Oh well. We're sure they'll get it right the next time. http://wejew.com/media/871/Princeton_Jew_Hate/ http://wejew.com/media/871/Princeton_Jew_Hate/ The daughter of the great late Rebbe Shlomo Carlebach has also become a successful storyteller and singer - here is a promo photo of Neshama Carlebach - she is quite unique. http://wejew.com/media/857/Neshama_Carlebach/ http://wejew.com/media/857/Neshama_Carlebach/ Who would think that 60 years after the Holocaust that an anti-semitic ex-U.S. President (Jimmy Carter) would join forces with the ancient islamic murder cult to destroy the state of Israel and the Jewish People? http://wejew.com/media/855/Thugocracy_Cartoon/ http://wejew.com/media/855/Thugocracy_Cartoon/ In a series of dozens of Black-and-Orange photos, Menachem Kuchar captured the spirit of Gush Katif - here is one beautiful example - there was so much music and art among the children in Gush Katif. http://wejew.com/media/854/Orange_Cello_Memory/ http://wejew.com/media/854/Orange_Cello_Memory/ Very great photo shot of Matisyahu performing in full Chassidic gear (perhaps it is Motzei Shabbat!). http://wejew.com/media/844/Stage_Matisyahu/ http://wejew.com/media/844/Stage_Matisyahu/ A very cool poster-banner from a music festival that Matisyahu played at. http://wejew.com/media/842/Matisyahu_Festival/ http://wejew.com/media/842/Matisyahu_Festival/ Here is the text of the Yizchor (Remembrance) prayer said by children on behalf of the neshamot (souls)of their parents as according to Jewish tradition laid down 1000s of years ago. http://wejew.com/media/837/Yizchor_Banner/ http://wejew.com/media/837/Yizchor_Banner/ CNN has had a tough time since they launched in Israel. They've been frequently accused of anti-Israeli bias by critics who don't understand that Ted Turner is neither left-wing nor right-wing, but rather out of his damn mind. Now it's looking likely that CNN will be off the air in Israel. The network has been negotiating a new contract with HOT, whose subscribers make up two-thirds of Israel's cable and satellite audience... and negotiations are at a standstill. In fact, all indications make it look as if CNN will disappear from Israeli television screens at the end of the month. But who's going to replace CNN? Why... None other than Al-Jazeera in English. You know the Israeli public is going to love that one! "It's an economic issue," Yossi Lubaton said. "Most of the internationally famous news channels - Sky News, the BBC and Fox - for all of them the cost is significantly lower than CNN. [The move] to introduce Al-Jazeera in English comes at a much lower cost than CNN." [...] "We believe that the other news channels are sufficient to satisfy subscribers' news demand." That position is debatable, however, at least as it relates to the arrival of Al-Jazeera's English version, said Prof. Tamar Liebes, head of the Hebrew University's Communications Department. "Even to think of it as a replacement is a joke," Liebes said, adding that few Israeli viewers would be inclined to "trust" the channel's coverage of international affairs. Al-Jazeera's Arabic network, which broadcast videotapes featuring Osama bin Laden soon after the September 11, 2001, attacks, has been criticized for what some call its anti-American and anti-Israel news coverage. "It's incomprehensible," Liebes said. "Whatever functions CNN performed, none of them will be performed by Al-Jazeera. It's a whole different kind of person who will watch." CNN's Israeli spokesperson, Hagit Mendes, notes that the only countries that do not currently carry the cable network are Iran, North Korea and Myanmar. http://wejew.com/media/820/CNN_Israel-Booted/ http://wejew.com/media/820/CNN_Israel-Booted/ As this drawing clearly indicates, the State of Israel is being served up our enemies by the current leadership of Israel. This type of mistake is mortal to the Jewish people living in the violent Middle East. A strong dose of Jewish pride and courage is required for the survival of the modern nation. http://wejew.com/media/810/Mortal_Peace_Plan/ http://wejew.com/media/810/Mortal_Peace_Plan/ I am posting this satire cartoon on wejew with a heavy heart - as the arabs are currently ripping up the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Wall is only holy because it is connected to the Temple Mount. This satire cartoon says it all - what is behind the Wall is what counts. I wish we as the Jewish People would stop settling for praying at a ruin - and take back our heart - the Temple Mount. http://wejew.com/media/791/Inside_the_Kotel/ http://wejew.com/media/791/Inside_the_Kotel/ A rare, pre-state archive photo of worshippers praying at the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem in the year 1920. While the modern state was not formed until 1948 - the roots of the modern Jewish return had been planted in the mid and late 1800s. http://wejew.com/media/790/Kotel_1920/ http://wejew.com/media/790/Kotel_1920/ The immigration certificate of the sixth rebbe of the Chabad chassadic line of Judaism is shown here dated 1949 - the year of his immigration from a post-Holocaust Europe. He is widely known in Chabad circles as "The Friedecke Rebbe" (which is yiddish for the previous rebbe). Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn passed away on Shabbat morning, the 10th of Shevat, of the year 5710 from creation (1950). He is also known as the Rebbe Rayatz (an ancronym for his name). http://wejew.com/media/782/Rebbe_Survivor/ http://wejew.com/media/782/Rebbe_Survivor/ I was not sure about this cartoon - if it is too funny or a bit brazen - what do you think? Post a comment! Is this ok humour or not? Note how this 30-year-old cartoon is totally applicable the current prime minister of Israel and his negotiating position. http://wejew.com/media/776/Kotel_Spoof_1977/ http://wejew.com/media/776/Kotel_Spoof_1977/ The Kotel transforms from the day of activity to the night of meditational possibilities. There have been a few times I have been with the Kotel 100% by myself..with not another Jewish soul on either side - in the middle of the night in the winter during rain storms - it is the holiest. http://wejew.com/media/775/Kotel_by_Day/ http://wejew.com/media/775/Kotel_by_Day/ This is a really superb shot of one of the greatest tours you can ever take - underground at the Kotel in Jerusalem to see the exhibits and excavations for hundreds of meters. http://wejew.com/media/766/Kotel_Tunnels/ http://wejew.com/media/766/Kotel_Tunnels/ In a series of dramatic "black-and-orange" photographs, one of the artist-protestors against the Gush Katif disengagement fiasco released a number of these photos retouched with an accent of orange (which was/is the color representing the opposition to the Gush Katif surrender). In fact, the artist held an exhibition at the renovated and activist-filled Palm Beach Hotel just days prior to its forceful evacuation by Israeli security forces. http://wejew.com/media/764/Orange_Tefillin/ http://wejew.com/media/764/Orange_Tefillin/ In this rare and remarkable pre-Holocaust photo, the great Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan, better known for his epic work of halacha (Jewish law)- Chofetz Chaim, which took him 28 years to compose. Since he passed away in late 1933, this photo is likely from the the late 1920s or 1930s. The Chofetz Chaim (translation: 'he who desires life') is sitting in the doorway of a simple house providing guidance to the besieged Jewish communities of early 20th century Europe. http://wejew.com/media/762/Chofetz_Chaim_Photo/ http://wejew.com/media/762/Chofetz_Chaim_Photo/ This is a drawing of a scene that can be seen at the Kotel (Western Wall) on any day. http://wejew.com/media/758/Kotel_Cartoon/ http://wejew.com/media/758/Kotel_Cartoon/ We have finally found a reasonable-quality image of Bob Dylan during his famous tefillin-wearin' appearance at the Kotel. Here is an amazing and totally-Israeli eyewitness: "In the summer of 1983, Dylan visited Israel and was famously photographed wearing tefilin -- leather straps and boxes worn during Jewish prayer -- at the Western Wall. 'I was at the Kotel and I bumped into someone, knocking him over. I do that a lot -- I'm a big guy and I move fast. I bent down to help the man up, and I noticed it was Dylan. He was wearing tefilin. He kissed his prayerbook, and went back to what he was doing.'" Real Name: Robert Allen Zimmerman (Real Jewish name: Zushe ben Avraham) http://wejew.com/media/755/Dylan_1983_Kotel/ http://wejew.com/media/755/Dylan_1983_Kotel/ This eye-fulfilling rendition shows the Jewish People's exodus from centuries of slavery in Egypt en route to the Giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, just 50 days later! http://wejew.com/media/743/Jewish_Exodus/ http://wejew.com/media/743/Jewish_Exodus/ This is a masterpiece and classic of Jewish art depicting a group of mystical Chassidim travelling to see and connect with their Rebbe. Artist is Zalman Kleinman. http://wejew.com/media/742/Going_to_the_Rebbe/ http://wejew.com/media/742/Going_to_the_Rebbe/ Here is an artist drawing of the real and true Jerusalem on the entire Temple Mount in the times of King David (and in the future albeit with more development around The Mount). http://wejew.com/media/741/Real_Jerusalem/ http://wejew.com/media/741/Real_Jerusalem/ The time of the family lighting of the Chanukah lights is special, sweet & holy. This superb art piece from Zalman Kleinman almost captures that feeling. http://wejew.com/media/731/Chanukah_Family/ http://wejew.com/media/731/Chanukah_Family/ The great prophet, Eliyahu HaNavi, returns to Jerusalem on the ancient donkey. The artist is famed chassid Zalman Kleinman. http://wejew.com/media/726/Eliyahu_Return/ http://wejew.com/media/726/Eliyahu_Return/ Really amazing computer art of the holy kabbalistic sefirot. Great visual for meditation. http://wejew.com/media/725/SefirotScape/ http://wejew.com/media/725/SefirotScape/ Wow wild artistic "bubble-scape" of the holy kabbalistic sefirot. http://wejew.com/media/724/Sefirot_Bubblescape/ http://wejew.com/media/724/Sefirot_Bubblescape/ Shlomo Wollins in the AP photo plays guitar near the Gaza Strip beach hotel in front of dozens of Israeli soldiers during the controversial and ill-fated withdrawal from the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the summer of 2005. Here is the exact caption that ran under this picture, which was the lead picture on the global media that morning: "Jewish settler Shlomo Wollins plays guitar next to a group of Israeli soldiers at the entrance to the Palm Beach hotel compound within the Gush Katif bloc of settlements in the southern Gaza Strip Saturday June 25, 2005. Many Jewish settlers have vowed to resist the evacuation, planned for mid-August, to the bitter-end. Dozens have holed up in the hotel, stocking up on food and water in expectation of a fierce battle, which they say will be non-violent, with Israeli security forces who come to remove them.(AP Photo/Baz Ratner)" http://wejew.com/media/720/Shlomo_Orange_Guitar/ http://wejew.com/media/720/Shlomo_Orange_Guitar/ The holy face of Rebbe Shlomo Carlebach smiling at heaven! http://wejew.com/media/718/Smiling_at_Heaven/ http://wejew.com/media/718/Smiling_at_Heaven/ Gorgeous portrayal of the return of the Holy Ark to Mt. Moriah by the great prophet, poet and warrior, King David. http://wejew.com/media/716/Holy_Ark_to_Moriah/ http://wejew.com/media/716/Holy_Ark_to_Moriah/ In this most beautiful art piece we can see the entirely Jewish concept of "connecting Heaven and Earth" - that is bringing holiness into the material and daily life - this is the Jewish message. http://wejew.com/media/715/Stairway_to_Heaven/ http://wejew.com/media/715/Stairway_to_Heaven/ This is a really deep and critical satire about the modern Israeli fiction about shedding the "clothing" of the Holocaust generation and emerging to intifada and a national identity crises in the modern state of Israel. http://wejew.com/media/712/Exile_Mentality/ http://wejew.com/media/712/Exile_Mentality/ Dry Bones cartoon satire that calls it like it is - over 90% of Israelis want Prime Minister Olmert to resign. It is unprecedented - yet his hold on power remains as he negotiates away the Jewish heritage lands. http://wejew.com/media/711/Olmert_Nightmare/ http://wejew.com/media/711/Olmert_Nightmare/ In this rare photo taken inside the Golden Mosque (Dome of the Rock) is seen the "Foundation Stone" which is the place where according to Jewish traditio the world and Adam & Eve were created and Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son, and eventually, King David's son (Salomon or Shlomo in Hebrew) built the First Temple. By Jewish law - it is strictly forbidden for Jews to enter this area. http://wejew.com/media/704/Foundation_Stone/ http://wejew.com/media/704/Foundation_Stone/ This sweet cover for an album (or book?) shows his sweetness as he looks like an angel to heaven with humility and joy! http://wejew.com/media/700/Shlomo_Heaven_Eyes/ http://wejew.com/media/700/Shlomo_Heaven_Eyes/ Here is a picture of a wild & crazy "Jewish" iguana in Florida - that is nearly hand-fed leftover Shabbat Challah by a nice Jewish soul in Boca Raton. http://wejew.com/media/684/Iguana_Eats_Challah/ http://wejew.com/media/684/Iguana_Eats_Challah/ This is a very typical scene in Jerusalem - with multiple Sukkahs taking over the adjoining balconies dominating the view from the street. http://wejew.com/media/673/Jerusalem_Sukkot/ http://wejew.com/media/673/Jerusalem_Sukkot/ Throughout Israel are festivals and more festivals, each with beautiful and creative Sukkahs for the public to use and enjoy. This is the season of our PARTY-ING! If you thought religious Jews don't know how to party - check out Mea Shearim during Sukkot! http://wejew.com/media/672/Festival_Sukkot/ http://wejew.com/media/672/Festival_Sukkot/ In this view, you can see how the construction boom in Jerusalem dominates the landscape and provides an eery, almost industrial, setting for the family balcony Sukkahs which are so prevalent in Jerusalem. http://wejew.com/media/671/Balcony_Sukkah/ http://wejew.com/media/671/Balcony_Sukkah/ One of the many creative solutions for families in Jerusalem with no backyard or roof space, and in this case - the Sukkah is set on the third-floor on construction scaffolding. http://wejew.com/media/670/Sukkah_on_Stilts/ http://wejew.com/media/670/Sukkah_on_Stilts/ This is view towards roof in one of the massive Sukkahs that are built in certain Jerusalem neighborhoods. http://wejew.com/media/669/Massive_Sukka/ http://wejew.com/media/669/Massive_Sukka/ As the Jewish People exit the Nazi Holocaust century, we confront the new Hitlers of Iran and her proxies, Palestinians, Gazans, et al. This artistic depiction of that historic "changing of the guard" is shown in this drawing. http://wejew.com/media/662/The_Next_Shoah/ http://wejew.com/media/662/The_Next_Shoah/