Showing posts with label Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Obama’s Failure as a Leader Foretold in an Ancient Jewish Prophecy - Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz BIN

(Photo: Pete Souza/ Official White House Photo)

(Photo: Pete Souza/ Official White House Photo)


Obama’s Failure as a Leader Foretold in an Ancient Jewish Prophecy

“But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. When Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments.” (Exodus 7:3-4)
In the Zohar, a classic Jewish text, it is written that in the last days before the Messiah, all of the historic enemies of Israel will be reincarnated and brought back in the last generation before the redemption to battle Israel again. In this final battle at the end of days, they will all be thoroughly destroyed.
Despite this being an esoteric reference in an ancient Jewish text, it is known that Saddam Hussein, the tyrannical former leader of Iraq, considered himself to be the reincarnation of Nebuchadnezzar, the Chaldean king credited with destroying the first Jewish Temple. When Hussein commissioned a reconstruction project of the ancient city of Babylon, he had the inscription “To King Nebuchadnezzar in the reign of Saddam Hussein” inscribed on bricks inserted into the walls.
Hussein was mimicking the original Nebuchadnezzar, who was said to have inscribed his name on the bricks when he built cities in his time. Hussein was hanged on the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Tevet. The tenth of Tevet is a fast day commemorating the day Nebuchadnezzar began the siege on Jerusalem that led to the destruction of the Jewish Temple.
The Jewish holiday of Purim commemorates our victory over the evil Haman, adviser to King Ahashverosh in the Persian court. Persia is, of course, Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was clear on that connection when addressing the US Congress concerning the nuclear deal with Iran on the day before Purim. He compared modern Iran with ancient Persia in the Purim story.
Three years ago, then-President of Israel, Shimon Peres, not usually noted for piety or agreeing with Netanyahu, told Rabbi Ovadia Yosef that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a modern-day Haman. Many numerologists have noted that the gematria, or numerical value of words based on Hebrew letters, of Haman, 95, is the same as for Mahmoud.
The Zohar also predicts that “A man, unsuitable to rule (the world), will be ‘brought to power’ in the very Last Days . . . there will be other men similarly undeserving to be leaders at that time.” In the Bible, Pharaoh was considered to be such a leader, obstinately leading himself and his army directly into the sea, leaving his country leaderless and without protection.
American president Barack Obama is a parallel Pharoah figure in today’s world. His suitability for the post has been an issue that has dogged him since before he was elected. He was thrust into the spotlight when he gave an untelevised keynote address at the Democratic convention in 2004 to introduce the man who is now his Secretary of State, John Kerry, a man who is arguably better suited for the Oval Office. A senator from Chicago, Obama was an unknown with no experience in many key areas, most notably the national economy and foreign policy, the two areas he receives the most criticism for leaving in shambles as his second term in office nears its end.
Another telling clue to can be found through Torah codes methodology. The name ‘Obama’ appears twice in the entire Bible, using the seven letter skip-forward pattern, which is considered to give the most significant results. The first time is in Jeremiah 46:26-28, which are verses dealing with God’s promise to bring the house of Jacob back from Egyptian captivity. The name of Obama is contained within them.
However, it is unnecessary to search esoteric sources to find this connection. During Obama’s first presidential campaign, he made the seemingly incongruous promise that he would give a major address to Muslims from a Muslim capitol during his first few months as president. True to his word, on June 4, 2009, he made his famous “New Beginning” speech in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. In that speech that he announced he would be negotiating with Iran, and opposing Israeli settlements.
His behavior connected to the nuclear deal with Iran was obstinate, as if a divine force was hardening his heart. He showed a clear disregard for national security, providing weapons and resources to Iran while they screamed ‘Death to America’ in the streets. Providing such a country with nuclear weapons, and persisting in clearly pointless attempts to deal diplomatically with a nation that has openly stated its wish and intention to destroy the western world,  is the modern equivalent of a Pharaoh’s irrational stubbornness in the face of divine intervention.
Similar to Pharaoh refusing to release the Jews when God hardened his heart, a decision that turned Egypt from the rulers of the world into a leaderless ruin, Obama is courting the destruction of his own nation. He considered passing the Iran nuclear deal a victory even though it meant short-circuiting the Democratic process with a shaky veto and endangering the unity and future success of his political party, his country, and the doctrine of freedom and democracy which he claims to uphold. The naivete and weakness of Obama’s foreign policy decisions may well mean the downfall of America.
Like many leaders of the past, Obama has his part to play in relation to the Jews and to the land of Israel. His role, foretold thousands of years ago, fits uncannily into the timeline of the messianic age, leading to hopes that despite the temporary triumph of Israel’s enemies, all will be defeated in order to bring redemption.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Where Were These People Marching 100 Years Ago in Jerusalem? To a Funeral, Apparently

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)


Posted: 07 Oct 2013 10:42 AM PDT
A procession -- but to where?
As we post this feature, the funeral of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is taking place in Jerusalem with more than half a million mourners. 

To mark the sad event, we are reposting a two year old feature. The pictures here were photographed more than 100 years ago in Jerusalem.  What was the occasion?

"A Jewish procession to Absalom's Pillar" is the caption on the Library of Congress' photo, which as dated sometime between 1898 and 1946.  That's a huge window of time.  The procession is walking down a ramp from the southeast corner of the Old City wall into the Kidron Valley. Presumably the hundreds of Jews came out of the Old City through the Dung Gate or the Zion Gate.

Why was there a procession to the tomb of King David's rebellious son, Absalom?  It's not a very popular destination for Jerusalemites today.  Some historians relate that there was a custom to take children to the shrine and throw rocks at it to remind the children to behave.  Were there so many mischievous children?  The long dresses on many of the people in the procession suggest many women were also involved.  


An enlarged segment of the procession picture
 
Luckily, the Library of Congress site provides a TIFF download that permits enlarging the photo and provides incredible detail.  And the enlargement shows that the procession consisted almost entirely of ultra-Orthodox men wearing their long caftans.  
 

The funeral near Absalom's Pillar
 Also fortuitous was discovering another picture elsewhere in the massive Library of Congress collection entitled "Various types, etc. Jewish funeral."  It shows a funeral party at the bottom of the Kidron Valley moving up the Mount 

of Olives.  It may very well be the "flip side" of the same procession, with two photographers on either side of the valley.  The shadows suggest that the time of day -- morning, with the sun shining in the east -- was nearly the same.  The second picture, however, does include women walking up the ramp from the Valley.  And yes, the women are Jewish. Despite the dark scarves on their heads, they are neither nuns nor Muslims.
Women heading back to the Old City





Lastly, while the Library curators recorded a number, 4340, on the first negative, they missed that the second photo, dated between 1900 and 1920, had the number 4343, suggesting that the two were part of a series. 

This match was pointed out to the curators who will finally pair the two photos after almost 100 years.

Today, this notation appears on the caption:LoC: "May be related to LC-M32-14232 which has "4340" on negative. (Source: L. Ben-David,Israel's History - A Picture a Day
 website, August 19, 2011)

If you want to receive A Picture a Daydelivered to your computer, just sign up in the "Email" box in the right sidebar.
 
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Reposting:  The Library of Congress' photo collection also includes this 1903 (1908?) photo of the "Funeral services for a Jewish Rabbi, Jerusalem."  
Is it possible to determine where in Jerusalem the photograph was taken?  Most definitely. 

1903 funeral in the Old City of Jerusalem
The building is the Rothschild building in the Batei Machaseh compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, donated by Baron Wilhelm Karl de Rothschild of Frankfurt.  The building still bears the Rothschild family's coat of arms.

The compound was built between 1860 and 1890 to provide housing for Jerusalem's poor.  An old lintel stone nearby reads "Shelter home for the poor on Mt. Zion." 

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef dies at 93 - 800,000 attend funeral - (Jerusalem, Israel)

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, founder of Shas and Sephardic sage, dies at 93


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Posted: Monday, October 7, 2013 9:17 pm
TEL AVIV - Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the Israeli sage who founded the Sephardic Orthodox Shas political party and exercised major influence on Jewish law, has died.
Yosef died Oct. 7 at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. He was 93.

He served as Israel’s Sephardic chief rabbi from 1973 to 1983, and extended his influence over the ensuing decades as the spiritual leader of Shas, which politically galvanized hundreds of thousands of Sephardic Israelis, though Yosef himself never served in Knesset. In 1999, at its height, Shas was the third-largest Knesset party, with 17 seats.
Though he adhered to a haredi Orthodox ideology, Yosef, a charismatic speaker, published relatively liberal Jewish legal rulings and drew support both from traditional and secular Sephardic Israelis. Known to his followers as Maran, “our master” in Hebrew, Yosef’s main Jewish legal goal was to take diverse Jewish practices from the Middle East and North Africa and mold a “united legal system” for Sephardic Jews.
As his influence grew, Yosef presided over a veritable empire of Sephardi religious services. Shas opened a network of schools that now has 40,000 students. Yosef managed a kosher certification called Beit Yosef that has become the standard for many religious Sephardim. And he was a dominant power broker when it came to electing Sephardic chief rabbis and appointing Sephardic judges in religious courts. This year, Yosef’s son - and preferred candidate - won the Israeli Sephardic chief rabbi election.
Through his work, Yosef hoped to raise the status of Israel’s historically disadvantaged Sephardic community, both culturally and socioeconomically. He dressed in traditional Sephardic religious garb, including a turban and an embroidered robe, even as most of his close followers adopted the Ashkenazi haredi dress of a black fedora and suit.
As a scholar, Yosef was known for his ability to recite long, complex Jewish tracts from memory. His best-known works, “Yabia Omer,” “Yehave Da’at” and “Yalkut Yosef,” cover an array of Jewish legal topics.
“He was a character that people capitulated in front of, a man of Jewish law that created a political entity with strong influence on Israeli politics and culture,” said Menachem Friedman, an expert on the haredi community at Bar-Ilan University. “It raised up Middle Eastern Jewish culture, gave legitimacy to Middle Eastern Jewish traditions.”
Outside the religious community, Yosef was best known for his sometimes controversial political stances. His authority within Shas was virtually absolute, and even in his ninth decade he remained closely involved in the party’s decisions.
While Yosef favored policies that served the religious community’s interests, he also supported peace treaties involving Israeli withdrawal from conquered territory. He argued that such deals were allowed under Jewish law because they saved Jewish lives.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Shas joined left-wing governing coalitions multiple times, allowing for the advancement of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process -  though Yosef opposed the 2005 Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip because it was done unilaterally.
In his later years, Yosef also stirred controversy with a number of inflammatory statements, often made at a weekly Saturday-night sermon. In 2000, he said that Holocaust victims were reincarnated sinners, and in 2005 he said that the victims of Hurricane Katrina deserved the tragedy “because they have no God.” In 2010, Yosef said, "The sole purpose of non-Jews is to serve Jews."
"Rabbi Ovadia was a giant in Torah and Jewish law and a teacher for tens of thousands," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Oct. 7. "He worked greatly to enhance Jewish heritage and at the same time, his rulings took into consideration the times and the realities of renewed life in the State of Israel. He was imbued with love of the Torah and the people."
Ovadia Yosef was born Abdullah Yosef in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept. 23, 1920. Four years later his family moved to Jerusalem, in what was then Palestine, where Yosef studied at the Porat Yosef yeshiva, a well-regarded Sephardic school. At 20, he received ordination as a rabbinic judge, and at 24 he married Margalit Fattal. She died in 1994.
Yosef began serving as a rabbinic judge in 1944, and in 1947 moved to Cairo to head the rabbinic court in the Egyptian capital, returning in 1950. He continued serving as a religious judge until becoming Sephardic chief rabbi of Tel Aviv in 1968, a position he held until he was elected Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel in 1973. During that period, he began publishing his well-known works, beginning with his Passover Haggadah, “Hazon Ovadia,” in 1952. In 1970, the government awarded him the prestigious Israel Prize in recognition of his books.
Yosef defeated a sitting chief rabbi in the 1973 election, itself a controversial move. In the wake of the Yom Kippur War that year, he ruled that women whose husbands were missing in action could remarry. Later in his term, he endorsed the Ethiopian Jews’ claim to Judaism, helping them immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return.
Yosef founded Shas in 1984, one year after finishing his term as chief rabbi. The party now holds 11 Knesset seats.
Save for four years, Shas was part of every governing coalition between 1984 and 2013, acting as a kingmaker in Israeli politics. Because the party represents both haredi and poor Sephardim, it advocates a unique mix of dovish foreign policy, conservative religious policy and liberal economic policy. Yosef took an active role in shaping Shas through this year’s elections, heading a council of rabbis that chose the party’s slate and mediating leadership conflicts.
What was most impressive about Yosef, says Friedman, was his influence over almost every aspect of Sephardic religious and political life – making it unlikely that another rabbi will be able to take his place.
“He’ll create an empty space politically and an empty space religiously,” Friedman said. “He was a source of strength and great control in Middle Eastern Jewish religious society. I don’t know what will happen.”



In memory of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef


Over 800,000 Israelis attend Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's funeral


Mourners crowd streets, sidewalks, rooftops and balconies in Jerusalem, blocking traffic • More than 300 receive medical treatment, 15 evacuated to hospitals • Police arrive from all over Israel to control crowds • "We are left without a father."
Yehuda Shlezinger
More than 800,000 Israelis attended Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's funeral in Jerusalem on Monday night
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 Photo credit: Yonatan Sindel