Of Jews and Ships and Sealing Wax, Cabbages & Things

Chabad, G-d love 'em, remain as incapable of assisting with cleaning 'dirty laundry' as ever. Rather than help anash deal with their children's drug/alcohol/intermarriage issues, they continue directing community members to seek counseling outside as far from them as possible.

The mantra of 'we dont have problems in Chabad' remains as strong as it was decades ago when I lived there. In truth it appears that the bulk of the kids in question are from baaletschuvah families and a few rebels from Chassidic families that distance themselves as much as possible from their 'failures.'

Sholom Rubashkin was imprisoned under RICO and immigration violation charges and here again Chabad kept its distance-'its better for Rubashkin if we dont publically take a stand.' How is that the case? Chabad fund raises everywhere, is the face of King Moshiach and has centers across the globe-and cannot defend a man who has supplied food for Jewish poor, as did his father, for decades?

As the world continues to implode, as we reach the end of Life as we know it, its not only a matter of living in degradation and perversity among goyim who insist that left is right, up is down and all manner of human lifestyles is perfectly fine as along as your partner is okay with it. There are no sins, your kids may do as they like and its not your business, they're adults. Of course if you had done things correctly as haredim do, to the extreme, then you dont have these sick behaviours, so one has only oneself to blame.

So I hear a shiur on NYC radio erev shabbos...the Para Adooma, ashes of the Red Heifer are kept by the Kohan Gedol to cleanse tummah. The ashes and the Kohan are taharah and once the Para Adooma is used, the person is relieved of being tummah but the Kohane becomes tummah-in effect sacrifices himself to save the soul of the person who must be cleansed. The person teaching went on to explain that as the Kohanim sacrificed at this level to save a soul, each person must do the same, get their hands dirty to help another Jew and if necessary, sacrifice to the extreme to keep that Jew safe.

I probably should note that ex and I are discussing what options we can employ to dissaude our youngest daughter from continuing relationships with male goyim. Ex and I have not communicated in 3 decades, this issue had to bring us together, that's how serious it is for us. Not on our watch, we owe the Rebbe and our grandparents at least trying to save her.

Weekly list

Decided to keep a weekly list because what's going on out there is beyond belief.

Gulf Coast oil spill, worst ecological disaster in US history. British Petroleum's rig which was created with a cheaper system, BP which averaged 600 safety violations including 'negligence' and worse, had a rig blow up killing 19 and injuring hundreds. The 'official' dead bird count is 850 and dead turtles are listed to be at 835. No word on fish or other living things that depend on the Gulf ecosystem. No way of stopping the gushing underwater oil until possibily August when a secondary container is created to shift the flow and no guarantee with that. BP and the other major oil companies presented the US Senate oversight comittee with proposals for contingency safety plans that included protection for Gulf wildlife species including Walruses. The last Walrus was seen in the Gulf over 400 years ago and it appears all the companies used the same game plan.

Israel has rescinded many Gaza restrictions after global grumbling was unbearable, likely because US tightened the screws even more than the White House already did by actin as if Israel was a stranger and stiffing Netanyahu by letting him sit and wait for his HignAss as he finished his lunch. Haredim are again fighting for the civil rights as they refuse to reconfigure schools to fit govt secular standards-mehitza was taken down 2 weeks before school year ended forcing frum parents to remove kids from school. On 6.17, thousands of haredim protested in the streets, mothers and father arrested, children terrified and crying. Not enough that Arabs terrify with bombs at any time and bomb shelters are a way of life, the Jewish Government feels it can act as an agent of terrorism as well. This is what comes of separation of Jewish country from Jewish religion-there is NO Jewish state with Judaism, we will destroy ourselves, we wont need any outside threat.

The Birds

I cannot say there is a hole where my heart once was
assuming a heart knew love, felt love

Instead there is a weight of such enormity, so heavy I can barely breathe
The house is silent, even the cats..tip toe, do not speak
to one another, as if
They sense my disquiet or hear it as loud as it plays
in my head, nonsensical chorus by day

Nightmarish talking dead return to quibble in my dreams
I barely breathe and outside
look around, or better not, as madness is everywhere
Everywhere...those poor oily birds staring, blinking unable to breathe
unable to make a sound, to find a drop of water fit to drink

People lie and insist they speak the truth, everywhere
I remember, not much but this one truth lived and I could see it...

the lies, all those lies lived outside
and we all knew they were lies, the public persona lies but there was
a Line between right and wrong, we knew the Line
now....only this fog of grey

That island we once could swim to
the refuge where we could rest if life was hard, we could work, sweat knowing
it will be better, if not us, the kids
there was a reason to fight forward

I see it all now and stare, blinking
Did I hear they are asking if the birds should be cleaned, saved?
Thousands nesting watch their eggs coat, choke from oxygen, unhatched
Mates drown under thick viscous slime, unable to move except and until
another oily wave pushes them toward a beach, bullrushes, a marsh, another plume they say
is boiling close by, spilling black gold that made a few men rich but
the birds, I keep thinking, those birds blinking unable to see through my tears
their oil covered eye lids, can no longer see

Can we recall mercy?
She dictates Man close their eyes now blinded with pain
they should not suffer to live
another moment between what was once humanity

RachelSinger(c)
2010