This Weeks Torah Portion: Tzav

Wishing ya'll a Shabbat Shalom and a Happy and Kosher Passover!

Your friends at Chabad – Lubavitch,

Rabbi Chaim & Chavie

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Your Passover information superhighway:
www.JewishMontana.com/Passover

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This weeks Torah portions: Tzav (Leviticus 6:1-8:36)

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For candle lighting time in your area:
http://fridaylight.org/page/sunset-almanac.php

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Why isn't freedom free?
By Rabbi Chaim

No matter how we were raised or educated, we surely all agree that "Freedom isn't Free". This concept came to mind this week, as I drove up to Great Falls to bring hand-made Shemura Matzah to my fellow Jews up there. What does "live free or die" really mean? Was the "Sixties freedom" a craze or a true expression of freedom? As a Rabbi, I meet people all the time that are -for all practical purposes- "Free", yet, they are truly imprisoned. Emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually, these yearning souls thirst for inner freedom. On the other hand, I know a Jewish friend who is incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center for almost two years without a trial, yet for all practical purposes he is truly a "Free" man. To fully understand this somewhat complicated issue, please read on:

On Monday evening, Jewish people around the globe will celebrate the holiday of Passover. We will gather with friends and family to celebrate the redemption of our ancestors from oppression in Egypt to freedom in the Sinai desert. As you read through the traditional Haggada, I have no doubt that some of you will be wondering, what in the flipping world is going on here. Is that what you call freedom? Enslaving ourselves to Al-mighty G-d and accepting his yoke of Torah and 613 commandments is Freedom? Is this a cause for an eight day celebration?

You don't need to be a certified botanist to know what's good for a plant. Good soil, water, light and air are some of the vital provisions needed for the proper growth of plants. How about the animal kingdom? Are those aforementioned components enough for an animal? Absolutely not. Should you put an animal in the condition of a plant, it would suffer to no end, because an animal needs freedom of movement, to roam or run at his leisure, and withholding that -albeit in the best of plant life conditions- is complete cruelty, not freedom.

Yet, the freedom of animal to roam on the ranch or in the jungle is very different then human freedom. Say you gave a human being all his materialistic needs on planet earth, but didn't allow him the opportunity for intellectual and emotional freedom, is he free? Is he a happy human being expressing his true free character traits? No, he is imprisoned; it's like an inner twenty four hour lockdown! It is the ultimate of human torture and oppression.

Now take the Jew, who besides being a highly acceptable human being, he is has an intrinsic G-dly soul within him. The beautiful gem-like soul is somewhat imprisoned in the physicality of the body. The soul - as the brain and heart - yearns to be free to express itself. Just as using your brain once a year doesn't suffice for your intellect, going to Shul once a year does not suffice for the soul. It's not a punishment or a heavy yoke of enslavement, but rather an essential part of who we are. For a Jew to say that Judaism is a burden is like a professor saying that his intellect is a pain in the neck!

Freedom is expressing all your inner faculties; and for us Jews, that is Torah and G-d's commandments.

Indeed, freedom isn't free!

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Moshiach speedily. May He protect the armed forces of the United States wherever they may be. Chazak! L'Chaim!

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The ETorah is an educational project of
Chabad Lubavitch of Montana

Caca Pasa

In what may indeed be a metaphor for the entire "Palestinian" nation, at least people died earlier this week when the wall of a large cesspool of sewage burst, flooding a small town in northern Gaza with mud and raw sewage...and who say's G-d doesn't have a sense of humor?

Perhaps when their wretched leaders start spending more on infrastructure than they do on making themselves rich at the expense of the poor things will change. Until then, expect more literal and metaphorical cesspools to be bursting in the coming months...no shit!

An American Jewish group often quoted by the so-called "progressive" left, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom-Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace is at odds with presidential candidate and Democratic party front runner Hillary Clinton over her public insistence that the PA remove schoolbooks that are training the next generation of suicide bombers to hate Israelis. Perhaps this is why 90% of "palestinian" youth deny Israel's right to exist. Good luck with that Hillary.

Meanwhile, another American group often quoted by the left for their so-called factual reports on the theft of "Palestinian" land by the Israelis, Peace Now, was found to be off by a factor of 15,900 PERCENT following it's release of a document charging that Palestinians privately own 40 percent of the lands upon which Jewish settlements were built.

For those of you that don't know, Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg is one of the most reliable and steadfast friends Israel has in Congress. Write to Denny and demand that he help initiate a congressional investigation into how millions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid over the past few years have been given to two "Palestinian" universities that have participated in both the advocacy and glorification of terrorism.

Mike

This Weeks Torah Portions: Vayikra

Wishing ya'll a Shabbat Shalom from Bozeman, Montana!

Your friends at Chabad – Lubavitch,

Rabbi Chaim & Chavie

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Your Jewish information superhighway:
www.JewishMontana.com

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This weeks Torah portions: Vayikra (Exodus Leviticus 1:1-5:26)

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For candle lighting time in your area:
http://fridaylight.org/page/sunset-almanac.php

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Rich and famous or rich and humble?
By Rabbi Chaim

There are many character traits that are hard to implement into our lives, but for me humility has always been a tough one (don't tell me that you noticed? J). This week in particular was very challenging. Page Nine of the New York Post read "YIPPEE-KI-OY! BROOKLYN RABBI PIONEERS WEST" and the AP had a piece reading " Bozeman getting full-time Jewish rabbi" which was covered in over 15 Newspapers in the North and Mid West. Yet, the more I think about it, the more I have come to realize that our success in bringing authentic Judaism to Montana, is not really ours, Chavie and I were both blessed to be representatives of the Rebbe of Blessed Memory; while sharing his message of love for the Jewish people in Big Sky Country. So, in essence it's the Rebbes legacy that the media was talking about, not us…I hope and pray that we represent him properly and give him much Nachas and joy on high…

This time in my life, sort of coincides with this week's Torah portion. G-d tells us " If a poor soul vows to bring a meal-offering to G-d, his offering should be of fine flour". Rashi comments on this verse and says "regarding all the voluntary offerings, the only instance where scripture states the word "soul" is in the case of a meal-offering. Who usually donated a meal offering? A poor man. G-d says "I consider it as if he has sacrificed his very own soul!". While reading this I was a bit baffled, why is G-d so excited about this miniature non-lavish sacrifice? He gets many delicious goodies from livestock sacrificed on the Alter in the Temple, why is this pauper's contribution so important in G-d's eyes?

While reading through the Parsha in the Gutnick Chumash I came across a most beautiful explanation from the Rebbe on this idea: The offering of a wealthy person, is inevitably connected with a certain amount of self-satisfaction, at the thought of brining one of most expensive and impressive sacrifices from his well-fed livestock. The poor man, however, could not possibly be proud of his meager offering, so his is the most genuine offering of all, dedicated to G-d amid feelings of humility. Thus to him G-d says I consider it as if he has sacrificed his very own soul!

This idea touched my very core, as it sent me a message in my service of G-d. Yes, of course G-d wants us to give him the big and juicy sacrifices, but he wants us to give it with the humility of the pauper. Yes, contribute your talent, time, and money to G-d and do so with utmost humility. It's hard, sometimes very hard, as our ego's pipe up and says "Make sure you get the credit and recognition you deserve", but in truth all the attention and glamour is unimportant in the greater picture; and we must be smart in choosing our priorities in life.

So just remember, give like a millionaire; and do so with a homeless man's humility.

It's not easy; and no one said it should be!

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Moshiach speedily. May He protect the armed forces of the United States wherever they may be. Chazak! L'Chaim!
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The ETorah is an educational project of
Chabad Lubavitch of Montana

Too Little Too Late

Upon returning I read with great interest news of Governor Schweitzer's "clean and green" energy legislation. Without knowing the details (I'll comment more when they're published) I'll agree with Motto's Jeff Mangan that on its face, the legislation would seem to be a piece of political perfection from the governor.

I know some folks out there are applauding the fact that the proposed legislation may contain a waiver of license fees for cars that get more than 35 miles per gallon. I'm not sure how that will play with the majority of Montanans who, last time I checked, aren't exactly rioting outside various dealerships in an effort to turn in our pick-up's, SUV's and other vehicles for the THREE models of vehicles (Toyota Prius, Honda Insight & Honda Civic) that would seem to apply under the proposed rules. For those of us who already own a Prius, the law would most likely have no effect, and I'm OK with that. The governor is perhaps betting that legislation will influence behavior, but it didn't take the offer of tax breaks and other measures to talk my wife into buying our hybrid. I doubt the legislation, as assumedly proposed, will do much to attract most normative Montanans to one of the three hybrid vehicles available today.

On it's face I would say the legislation is too little too late to have any real economic impact in Montana. While the goveror busies himself with the schtick of schlepping around a Mason Jar of biodiesel and a pocketfull of coal to promote energy development, other states on and close to our border are actually making it happen.

In Montana, thus far, we seem to be limited to a few small scale biolubricant proposals. It seems the state is putting an awful lot of proverbial eggs, and our tax money, into the Camelina basket at the behest of Duane Johnson, former superintendent of the Northwestern Research Center and Missoula based Sustainable Systems. Johnson went on to found Great Plains Oil & Exploration in Bigfork, likely thanks in no small part to a 700K+ grant from the State, and is attempting to create an artificial market for his "wonder crop" despite the fact that Camelina will never be anything other than a niche player in the biofuel market.

As someone who has invested close to a quarter of a million dollars as a seed investor in ethanol plants from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska I regretfully have come to the conclusion that Montana will never truly be a serious player in the market. That's not to say, as mentioned previously, that Camelina and other crops won't fill a niche market for bio-based lubricants and nutraceuticals, but to be a major player in the field...no way. Some of it has to do with geography and transportation infrastructure (or lack thereof) but most is based upon a combination of regulatory stagnation and threat of lawsuits from Montana's so-called conservation organizations and the fact that our growing season is too short and the soil characteristics too marginal to produce the crops needed in high demand process facilities located too far from Montana to make the effort cost effective.

Growers in even fringe areas like the southern delta in Mississippi and east-central North Dakota are shifting their land to produce the corn and soybeans needed to (pardon the pun) fuel the ethanol production market.

While the price of diesel fuel hovers at a nearly stable $2.50 per gallon, the USDA's chief economist, Keith Collins, predicts that the amount of corn processed into ethanol will jump by 50% during this growing year. In Minnesota alone, the ethanol industry has already generated nearly $2.8 billion in economic impacts and supported more than 10,000 good paying jobs. If current trends hold in MN the state’s ethanol industry will generate nearly $5 billion in economic impacts and support more than 18,000 jobs by late 2008. Despite worries that the corn crop in MN and other states is being diverted from the food needs of humans and animals, only 15% of MN' corn crop is typically diverted into ethanol production. Even if I were to care about the price of tortillas in Mexico City, which I don't, the amount of corn and soybeans being diverted nationwide to ethanol production amounts to, plus or minus, only 25 to 30 percent of their respective crop profiles.

Even in some of the marginal growing land of North Dakota, ethanol plants are springing up, and the state will have it's third production facility in Williston, employing 35 to 40 people and generating $18 million in payroll. Innovative equity drives are underway to generate capital for additional plants in the region, and to ameliorate the concerns of those concerned with the water needed for ethanol production, cities are proposing the sale of their waste and nonpotable water to ethanol production facilities.

Other facets of the governor's plan seem on their face commonsensical, and were most likely inserted to satisfy potential Republican opposition to a plan that doesn't include benefits for corporations. Prospective pipeline companies are promised a 75% reduction in their property taxes for ethanol, biodiesel and fuel from clean-coal technology despite the fact that none are likely to be located here...geography being the overriding reason, with renewable sources seeing a tax of only 1.5 percent. Potentially these measures might prove beneficial to the development of production in Montana except that they will have a negligible impact on providing long term jobs for actual Montanans, but rather help what would most likely be out of state workers brought in to build the pipeline. The cost, in lost revenue to state coffers, seems in my mind to outweigh any potential benefit that these two measures would produce.

So it ends up being a wash. The governor gets to earn obvious political capital among the facockda crazy Green's and some progressives by proposing various measures which will end up doing nothing to help either our air quality or in-state fuel consumption, and the Republicans will embrace the measure because of the potential benefits to their corporate donors. Politics and photo-op's as usual, without doing a damn thing to actually benefit growers, processors, or end-use consumers. Why am I no longer surprised? Color me unimpressed.

Mike

Amazing, Indeed

A few days ago Sarpy Sam posted his thoughts on calving season under the headline of "Amazing." I haven't had to deal with calving season since I left the Big Hole, and as a full-time farmer who now has other interests, there is no love lost between me and this annual practice. In fact, I'd posit I would never trade what I do for what Sam, Karen, and others do and assume that they feel exactly the same way.

Sam's post is singularly the best piece I've read anywhere and only proves what an absolute treasure we have in him. In my opinion we're all a bit better off having someone like him out there, producing the magic he does, from the "middle of nowhere." Can the existential "nowhere" even really exist if someone like Sam makes it a 'someplace?'

Mike

Yippee-Ki-Oy!

Montana's newest Rabbi, and LBP's Weekly Torah Portion contributor, Chaim Bruk, gets some good press from the New York Sun, and a comment from Kinky Friedman.

Call him the kosher cowboy.

A Brooklyn rabbi with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement pulled up stakes in Crown Heights last week and schlepped west to Bozeman, Mont.

"I saw a growing Jewish community thirsting for a connection to their religion," said Chaim Bruk .

Bruk, 25, and his wife, Chevie, 22, traded in their view of Eastern Parkway for a 1.2-acre claim nestled against the Rocky Mountains. They arrived Wednesday.

Montana has about 1,500 Jews spread out over 145,000 square miles, according to United Jewish Communities, and Bruk had been sent there by elders in Crown Heights twice before.

"The goal of our movement is to make sure that there isn't one Jew in this world that feels lonely, that he feels comfortable with the religion that he was born into," Bruk said.

"I'm going there to bring exciting Jewish knowledge to these little cities."

And as Bruk teaches his flock about Judaism, he's hoping they'll teach him something about the cowboy way.

So far, Bruk has done some horseback riding and shooting out on the range, but no hunting. His religion does not permit it.

He's started scouting locations for weekly Torah classes in Bozeman and monthly and bimonthly sessions in Helena, Billings, Kalispell and Great Falls.

"We're there for them. God forbid they need me to officiate at a funeral or, on the brighter side, a wedding," he said. "Even if it means that we have to drive all night long."

The rabbi is also preoccupied with trying to keep a kosher kitchen with only a blowtorch and hot water to sterilize the dishes.

Eventually, he said, he'd like to have time to take up fly-fishing.

"I'm ready to learn," Bruk said.

"Maybe I'll get a pickup truck. I'm more used to riding the No.3 train."

But don't expect Bruk to trade in his black fedora for a 10-gallon hat.

"If someone gives me a nice pair of custom-made cowboy boots, I'll wear them, as long as it's permitted by Jewish law," he said.

There are no kosher restaurants in Montana, but Chevie is an excellent cook, Bruk said, adding, "I'll miss my family and friends and the occasional kosher pastrami sandwich."

The adjustment shouldn't be too hard for the rabbi, said famed Jewish cowboy Kinky Friedman.

"I'd just tell him to hang on tight, spur hog and let 'er buck," said Friedman, an author, musician and former gubernatorial candidate from Texas.

"Jews and cowboys have a lot of things in common. They both like to wear their hats indoors."

Home Again

We finally arrived home yesterday...back to the creature comforts, and a comfortable bed, after 6 l-o-n-g weeks. The first day of official work for my employees this new growing season started yesterday. Thanks to a number of good years I've added a few employees in the upper midwest and expanded the operation from Saskatchewan to Manitoba.

After considering an offer a number of months ago to sell the company, which would essentially have allowed me to retire, I declined but made some other changes after a chance meeting with some officials in NoDak. To make a long story short I made the difficult decision to move the nuts and bolts of my operation to NoDak, where the business climate is generally more favorable for continued expansion. From taxes to the insurance rates I pay for my employees and myself, NoDak is hard to beat, especially compared with the outright hostility many in Montana hold for private enterprise, so for the first time in over a decade I'll be sending money to somewhere other than Helena. I can't say enough positive things about the move. From a chance meeting with an official in NoDak who encouraged the move, to receiving personal handwritten letters of encouragement from Governor Hoeven to local bank presidents the move was easier than expected.

Now comes the difficult part. I'll spend the rest of the week interviewing real estate agents in hopes of finding someone who can liquidate about 9,500 acres of land I'll no longer need here in Montana, along with a few houses scattered throughout the state. I'll keep some rental property in Missoula and West Yellowstone, as well as the house near the hot springs and the one here in Opheim. Unfortunately though I've had to let two employees in Montana go because they were not in a position to relocate, a decision that has always left me feeling depleted, but was ultimately necessary. Still, I'm only freeing myself from about one-third of my property here and will continue to have not only a presence but residence as well.

It's good to be home. More later.


Mike

This Weeks Torah Portions: Vayakhel-Pekudei

Wishing ya'll a Shabbat Shalom from our new home in Bozeman, Montana!

Your friends at Chabad – Lubavitch,

Rabbi Chaim & Chavie

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Your Jewish information superhighway:
www.JewishMontana.com

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This weeks Torah portions: Vayakhel - Pekudei (Exodus 35:1-40:38)

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For candle lighting time in your area:
http://fridaylight.org/page/sunset-almanac.php

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Home sweet home
By Rabbi Chaim

It's a reality; Chavie and I are Montanans. On Tuesday afternoon - with tearful parents, overwhelmed siblings, and joyous friends beside us - we departed from Newark airport to Bozeman; as we embarked on our new mission to transform the landscape of Montanan Jewry. It was a very emotional departure, Chavie and I have both enjoyed the pleasures of living in Brooklyn, going out to eat, having so many Jewish neighbors and friends, being in close proximity to the Rebbe's holy grave-site in Queens, and most importantly being In the vicinity of cherished family. We have no doubt that we made the best choice in the world, and we are proud to be emissaries; fulfilling the lifelong vision and legacy of the Lubavitcher Rebbe of Blessed Memory, yet it's very hard and challenging.

Interesting enough, one year ago this week, Chavie and I got married in San Antonio . Is there a better way to celebrate our first wedding anniversary, then by setting out on a new mission to make Montana a most beautiful holy tabernacle, one in which G-d will love visiting? I believe there isn't. So, being that the last few days have been very hectic and I really didn't have time to write a Torah thought for this week, I will share with you something that my esteemed uncle Rabbi Yossy Goldman from Johannesburg South Africa, wrote in his weekly Sermonette on www.Jewishmontana.com:

Some years ago, the United Nations held the International Summit on Sustainable Development, here in Johannesburg. The Summit was a great success. One wonders, though, whether all the wonderful decisions and resolutions that were adopted were ever implemented. In other words, were they themselves sustainable?

Good ideas and worthwhile projects are suggested regularly. The question is, do they get off the drawing board? And if they do, how long do they last? What degree of permanence do they enjoy?

Moses gathered the assembly of the Children of Israel -- these are the opening words of the Parshah Vayakhel. Rashi tells us that this day of assembly was the day after Yom Kippur. Moses came down from Mount Sinai on Yom Kippur bearing the message of G-d's forgiveness for the sin of the Golden Calf. The next day, he gathered the people and commanded them to build the Sanctuary.

Why is it important to know that this was the day after Yom Kippur?

Perhaps it is because while on Yom Kippur everyone is holy, the challenge is to be holy after Yom Kippur. It is relatively easy to be holy on the holiest day of the year. The test of faith is to maintain our good behavior in the days and weeks following the awesome, sacred experience. Will we still be inspired or will our enthusiasm have waned straight after Neilah? How many Synagogues are filled to capacity on Yom Kippur and struggle for a minyan the next morning?

A son says kaddish for his father or mother faithfully -- for the week of Shiva. And then? Or perhaps he comes to Shul regularly and recites kaddish for the full 11 months. And the next day he's gone.

And it's not only about Shul, it's about life. What happens after the honeymoon? Or the first anniversary? Do we have the commitment and the staying power to be in for the long haul?
Many people get inspired at one time or another. Over the years, I've seen hundreds of men and women go through a phase of dedicated Jewish living only to see them fall back on old habits and lifestyles. And it wasn't because their commitment faltered, but because they did not implement a sustainable program for that commitment to thrive.

Take Shabbat. A person experiences a real sense of Shabbat for the very first time in his or her life. Then again, and again, until they decide that they really want this for themselves. It's so serene, so spiritual, and so special. So they commit to keeping Shabbat. They start walking to Shul every Saturday. There's only one problem. They live three miles from the Shul that inspired them. O.K., it's not impossible to walk three miles; lots of people do it every day to keep in shape. So, as long as they are still on a spiritual high it works, but the reality is that it is simply not sustainable. If they don't move closer to their favorite Shul, something will snap.

I remember a couple who went so far as to buy an apartment near the Shul and they moved in every weekend. They managed for a while but even that was not sustainable. It became a bothersome schlep to have to move out every Friday and move back every Saturday night. It just didn't last.

So this is a call not only to maintain the momentum of our spiritual inspiration but to take practical steps to do so. To succeed in the long term, we must have a pragmatic plan; a realistic, workable, achievable program to see us through to the end. Otherwise, G-d forbid, our fervent feelings of the moment may turn out a flash in the pan.

Let us be inspired enough to make sure our inspiration lasts.

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Moshiach speedily. May He protect the armed forces of the United States wherever they may be. Chazak! L'Chaim!
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The ETorah is an educational project of
Chabad Lubavitch of Montana

Toontastic

Courtesy The Ryskind Sketchbook...this sums Edwards up just about perfectly.


Mike

Homebound

This Weeks Torah Portion: Ki-Tisa

Wishing ya'll a Shabbat Shalom from Brooklyn, New York!

Your friends at Chabad – Lubavitch,

Rabbi Chaim & Chavie

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Help transform the landscape of Montanan Jewry:
www.JewishMontana.com/Donate

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This weeks Torah portion: Ki-Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35)

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For candle lighting time in your area:
http://fridaylight.org/page/sunset-almanac.php

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Does Torah care about animal rights?
By Rabbi Chaim

I guess it was a boring news week, so PETA came to the rescue. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, attacked former vice president Al Gore explaining to him that the best way to fight global warming is to go vegetarian. They were upset that in his new documentary he failed to address the fact that the meat industry is the largest contributor to greenhouse-gas emissions. Now, I will not spend one minute defending PETA or the Vice President, but I would like to share with you the Torah's view on "Treatment of animals", and you draw your own conclusion...

In this week's Torah portion G-d commands us " You shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk. " Rashi quotes from the Talmud in the Tractate of Chulin that "This is the warning against cooking meat and milk together. This commandment is written in the Torah three times (Exod. 23:19, Deut. 14:21), one for eating, one for deriving benefit, and one for the prohibition of cooking ." Now, let's put things in perspective here. The prohibition of mixing milk and meat products is one that is well known and commonly adhered to more then many other important commandments. We understand that stopping by McDonald's and ordering a Cheeseburger or picking up a piece of McKenzie's Pizza with Pepperoni is not up G-d's alley to say the least, but for heaven sakes "Three times"? don't you think us Jews are smart enough to get the point after round one? If the Torah would have taught us not to derive benefit from milk and meat, it would include eating and cooking and anything else, why then do we need three warnings?

Let's take this one step further. Why does it matter if the "kid" is cooked "in its mother's milk" or not? The "kid" is dead already, so why the specification of his mom's milk? The insightful Torah Luminary Abraham Ibn Ezra maintains that the reasoning for this prohibition was "concealed" even from the eyes of the wise, although he added "But I believe that it is a matter of cruelty to cook a kid in its mother's milk". Yes, the "kid" may be slaughtered already, yet to take a cow's udder in your hand and milk it, when that same udder should have been in its "Kid's" mouth is cruel and inhumane.

You see, contrary to some propagandist rumors, Judaism encourages humane treatment of the animal kingdom. We may (and should) use the animals as G-d intended for us, elevating their inner G-dly sparks to their spiritual source on high, but we surely treat them very well. Under Jewish law, animals must rest on Shabbat, as humans do. We are forbidden to muzzle an ox while it is working in the field, we may not plow a field using animals of different species, because this would be a hardship to the animals. We are required to relieve an animal of its burden, even if we do not like its owner, do not know its owner, or even if it is ownerless. We are specifically commanded to send away a mother bird when taking the eggs, because of the psychological distress this would cause the animal. In fact, the Torah specifically says that a person who sends away the mother bird will be rewarded with long life, precisely the same reward that is given for honoring mother and father. So it is crystal clear that by all accounts our Torah and its Author Almighty G-d are very caring and pro true animal rights.

It is precisely for this reason that the Torah repeats its prohibition of mixing the "kid in its mother's milk" three times, because the Torah despises animal cruelty. Aside for the terrible pain this causes the animals, it desensitizes us human beings; and makes us more ruthless in our day to day life conduct. We loose any sensitivity for G-d's creations and their family relationships. It then has a rippling effect on our behavior amongst our neighbors and all of humanity.

G-d is the Founding Father of the animal rights movement; and he says "Thou shall not eat spaghetti and meatballs while sipping chocolate milk".

Give it a shot!

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Moshiach speedily. May He protect the armed forces of the United States wherever they may be. Chazak! L'Chaim!
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The ETorah is an educational project of
Chabad Lubavitch of Montana

Unsustainable Healthcare

There's nothing like the unfortunate death of a young African-American boy from surburban Washington, D.C. to once again put in the spotlight a call for a national healthcare program in the United States. Of course it bears mentioning that such tragic events happen everyday in cities throughout the nation, and that bad outcomes happen to everyone from the well insured to the poorest of the poor. Would it be callous to say that the boy's mother deserves at least part of the blame? If my child were in pain and uninsured you can bet your sweet ass I would move heaven and earth to do anything necessary to help him.

The difference here is that there are those who wish to exploit this family tragedy for political gain by claiming that we could actually have a working national healthcare program in the U.S. without either sacrificing our standard of living or paying "that much more" in taxes to support it.

Proponents of universal healthcare usually cite the welfare states of Europe, and that of Canada, by suggesting that a hybrid of the programs from either Germany, France, Britain, or Canada, be adopted and "Americanized," usually claiming public satisfaction with the delivery and standard of care, despite the fact that any reasonably sized hospital in any American city has at its disposal more diagnostic equipment, and more healthcare practitioners that know how to use said equipment, than exists in either country named above combined.

As American's we have become accustomed to wanting healthcare on our terms. Knee replacement? No problem, how's next Thursday? Gallbladder causing you trouble? Come in tomorrow morning. We'll remove the sucker and send you home the same day to recover. Having chest pain and tired of popping nitroglycerin to control it? We've invented a new CT-scanner capable of identifying the problem and assiting with it's surgical management, all without the need for a costly invasive procedure like a cardiac catherization, which last time I checked, cost about $40,000 give or take.

Before folks jump on the European-based bandwagon it might be at least beneficial to know that these systems are simply not sustainable and are bankrupting their respective countries. Let's forget that the demographics of Europe, with birthrates hovering around 1.2 to 1.5 births per person, are not enough to sustain the current system much less provide for the millions of European baby-boomers that will be not only expecting free healthcare but their social welfare payments (Social Security) long into old age, the system is on, if you'll pardon the pun, life support.

I suppose it wouldn't be fair to say that the reason most Europeans have access to universal healthcare is because American's shouldered the majority of costs of rebuilding and providing security to their their nations, post WW2, which freed up their domestic taxes to be used for the grand vision of universal healthare, and the 28 hour work week, for their respective populations.

That grand vision is now coming back to nip many on the arse. Here in Britain, the International Monetary Fund warned Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, that Britain has lifted the tax burden to breaking point and must slash public spending or risk plunging Britain's national accounts dangerously into the red. The Telegraph reports that, "for the first time, the Washington-based institution said explicitly that it would be perilous to increase taxes any further, without driving away businesses and putting more pressure on households."

If that's not enough to cause any sane person considering an American program modeled after that of Britain, or continental Europe, concern comes news that the National Health Service will become "unaffordable."

The National Health Service will become increasingly unaffordable because of the cost technological advances in healthcare, Reform says.

Experts predict that over the next 25 years diseases like cancer will be come much more manageable and will not necessarily be fatal.

“Such improvements in technology and survival will increase costs,” the report says.

The study cites Australia which has estimated that around two-thirds of extra health spending is due to new technology and treatments.

Karol Sikora, a professor of cancer medicine, has argued that the cost per cancer patient per year will rise from £20,000 today to £100,000 in 2025.

Reform’s Andrew Haldenby called for a debate about how the UK pays for the NHS.

He said: “Without an open debate about the financing of the health service, the NHS’s services will become more tightly rationed and only the richest will be able to afford modern treatments.

“The NHS cannot deliver a universal modern service today; given welcome but expensive advances in technology, it certainly will not tomorrow.

“Successful health systems will develop a mixed funding system where the taxpayer pays for a large core service and guarantees all services for least well off people.”

Couple that with the fact that post graduate medical training in Britain, and a vast majority of Europe for that matter, is driving young doctors in training overseas for better opportunities and you see a system, if not on the verge of collapse, with at least a boggy foundation. Is this what we really want our healthcare delivery system to look like in 10-20+ years?

Forget for a moment that before we even begin to address universal access healthcare in the US (if we do at all) we need to make sure that the one universal social welfare program we actually have in this country (Social Security), and that still works in as much as it helps provide a security blanket for retirees, remains solvent when millions of OUR baby boomers start retiring in the coming years and expect to receive their monthly checks on time and long into old age.

Perhaps the insolvency of our Social Security system, which was never actuarially meant to provide benefits much past the age of 70, is testament that our healthcare delivery system is not as flawed as some would have you believe. Rather than throw the baby out with the bathwater, we should rather consider common-sense initiatives like CHiP and other methods, to help those who really can't help themselves, without sacrificing the basic quality of healthcare delivery we have come to expect for another grand entitlement which will have us paying more than half of what we make to the government in taxes to support, and which will still certainly be doomed before the ink on the measure is dry.

Mike

Double Standard Watch

We arrived in London yesterday so that we could visit my wife's brother whilst he is here and so that my better half (much better by any standard measurement-RH!) could renew her British passport before it expires. Before bidding Israel a fond 'Shalom' for a few months I came across the following column by The Dersh, which is presented without commercial interruption :-)

Double Standard Watch: Would you invite David Duke to your campus?

Recently Norman Finkelstein has been making the rounds of American college campuses—Stanford, Brandeis, Harvard, Bryn Mawr, Northwestern and more—having been invited by various departments, groups and individuals. Many of the people extending the invitations are unaware that by inviting this person on their behalf, they are becoming complicit with neo-Nazis, Holocaust deniers, and anti-Semites. Some of the invitees were all too aware of what kind of person they were inviting.

Finkelstein willingly collaborates with neo-Nazis, Holocaust deniers and anti-Semites. Just watch him on YouTube.com, where a clip is posted of his appearance on a Holocaust denial program on Lebanese TV, where he claimed that Holocaust survivors are liars and that Swiss banks—which have agreed to pay back millions of dollars belonging to deceased Jewish depositors and their heirs—never withheld any money from Jews. Neo-Nazis also love Finkelstein, and for good reason. Listen to Ernst Zundel, the notorious Hitler lover and Holocaust denier who is now in prison in Germany:

Finkelstein’s exceedingly useful to us and to the Revisionist cause. He is making three-fourths of our argument - and making it effectively. Never fret - the rest of the argument is being made by us, and will topple the lie within our lifetime. We would not be making vast inroads in Europe with our outreach program, were it not for his courageous little booklet, "The Holocaust Industry."

Zundel’s wife and fellow Neo-Nazi, Ingrid Rimland, referred to Finkelstein admiringly as the “Jewish David Irving”—a reference to the well known Holocaust denier and admirer of Hitler. Finkelstein himself admires Irving’s “historical” research.

Finkelstein also loves Hizbullah, the terror organization whose leader said, "If Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide."[1] Finkelstein has praised the group, saying: "The honorable thing now is to show solidarity with Hizbullah as the United States and Israel target it for liquidation. Indeed, looking back my chief regret is that I wasn't even more forceful in publicly defending Hizbullah against terrorist intimidation and attack."[2]

Finkelstein is not "world-renowned," as some of his invitees claim, except among Holocaust deniers, neo-Nazis, radical supporters of terrorism and other assorted anti-Semites, who constitute his primary readership and audience. He recently commissioned a cartoon-showing me masturbating in ecstatic joy to television pictures of dead Lebanese-by a neo-Nazi cartoonist and friend of his who won second place in the Iranian Holocaust denial cartoon contest. He has refused to confirm or deny that he commissioned the cartoon, even when asked to do so by colleagues at DePaul University, where he is up for tenure, on the grounds that no one will believe him. The evidence that he commissioned the cartoon is overwhelming.

It is not surprising therefore that when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his henchmen created a list of the most virulent Holocaust deniers in the world to invite to their notorious Holocaust denier hate-fest in Teheran, high among those on the list were the neo-Nazi and klansman David Duke and the Holocaust justice denier Norman Finkelstein. Finkelstein’s name appeared on the schedule alongside Duke’s, though apparently Finkelstein, at the last minute, decided not to appear. The reason Finkelstein has given for eventually declining the invitation had nothing to do with any principled opposition at being a speaker at such an anti-Semitic hate-fest. Instead, he claimed that negotiations with the Iranians broke down over details. He says that he wanted “at least 45 minutes to speak”—apparently because he needs at least that much time to spew his hatred—but they wouldn’t agree to his conditions. He has refused to disclose his communications with the Iranians regarding his invitation. What does he have to hide? Who is he protecting; the Iranian hate mongers or himself? He should be urged to disclose his communication, both with the Iranian Holocaust deniers and his neo-Nazi cartoonist friend.

The real reason he did not attend is that he was too busy trying to testify on behalf of Hamas in a Chicago criminal trial. After listening to his proposed testimony and learning of his lack of credentials—he has never even visited Israel—the federal judge concluded that he did not have any expertise, essentially characterizing him as a crackpot. This was consistent with other, similar characterizations. A New York Times review by a leading expert of Finkelstein’s book The Holocaust Industry called it:

. . . a novel variation on the anti-Semitic forgery, ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” [It] verges on paranoia and would serve anti-Semites around the world .[3]

Marc Fisher of the Washington Post correctly described Finkelstein as “a writer celebrated by neo-Nazi groups for his Holocaust revisionism and comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany.”[4] Leon Wieseltier of the New Republic wrote: “You don’t know who Finkelstein is. He’s poison, he’s a disgusting self-hating Jew, he’s something you find under a rock.”[5] Others describe Finkelstein’s theories as “crackpot ideas, some of them mirrored almost verbatim in the propaganda put out by neo-Nazis all over the world.”[6] One eminent scholar added:

No facts alleged by Finkelstein should be assumed to be really facts, no quotations in his book should be assumed to be accurate, without taking the time to carefully compare his claims with the sources he cites . . . Such an examination reveals that many of those assertions are pure invention…[7]

This is the bigot who is being invited to speak on college campuses. No college should prevent him from speaking. He can get a soapbox and fulminate the way other bigots do. That is his free speech right. But no university or group that would not invite David Duke should lend its imprimatur to Finkelstein’s poison. Duke and Finkelstein are opposite sides of the same hateful coin.

Everyone should be free to invite the Dukes and Finkelsteins of the world to their campus, as the president of Iran did to his hate fest, but people should be judged by the bigots they invite. If you know any university that has invited or is considering inviting Finkelstein, please feel free to circulate this blog to them and to reproduce it.


[1] . Nasrallah, Hassan, quoted in Lappin, Elena. "The Enemy Within." New York Times (May 23 2004). 15.

[2] Finkelstein, Norman. "A Reply to Michael Young." [Online article]. URL: http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=4&ar=15

[3] Bartov, Omer. “A Tale of Two Holocausts.” New York Times (Aug. 6 2000). 8.

[4] Fisher, Marc. “Campus Should Cultivate Its Seeds of Debate.” Washington Post (Dec. 3 2002) [Online article]. URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A1254-20
02Dec2¬Found=true

[5] Reported by Finkelstein himself. Accessible at: http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=3&ar=41

[6] Schoenfeld, Gabriel. “Holocaust Reparations,” Commentary (Jan. 2001). 20.

[7] Novick, Peter. Offense Fenster und Tueren. Uben Norman Finkelstein Keuzzug, in: Petra Steinberger (ed.): Die Finkelstein-Debatte, (Piper verlag: Muenchen 2001), p. 159 (translated from German).

Linkage

I've been meaning to clean out my links folder by either briefly (yeah, right) posting about each item individually or throwing them all out there for follow-up by interested parties. Due to time constraints the latter won out.

From The Weekly Standard, Boom or Bust, Israel's politics may be a mess but the economy remains surprisingly strong.

Ynetnews.com reports: US poll, Israel alone named vital friend.

Yid with Lid presents a cogent post on the difference between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, using an article by Ynetnews.com's Noah Klieger for back-up.

David Gelernter writes perhaps the most cogent piece I've read on the Temple Mount controversy...from TWS, Ramping up the Violence.

An Eastern Mediterranean Oil War? Colonel David Eshel of Defense Update explains.

What's wrong with the foreign aid programs of China, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia? They are enormously generous. And they are toxic. Moisés Naím brings some clarity to the issue in Rogue Aid from Foreign Policy.

Another winner from FP contrasts the almost hero worship many on the left have for Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, a status Francisco Rodríguez indicates, and the facts bear out, he doesn't deserve in "Why Chavez Wins."

Does the shell game many use to portray the supposed income equality gap measure up? David Hogberg at The American Spectator takes on Ezra Klein's analysis and rightly concludes that the focus should be on whether entry-level jobs remain open and abundant for those at the bottom of the income scale and whether, over time, people are able to move up the income ladder.

Leo Pavlát on the "Jewish character", what it means to "be chosen", and the dangers of relativism.

A review of Norman Finkelstein's "Beyond Chutzpah." Jonathon Pearlman writes 'A beautiful shoah.'

Israel has an Arab President! No really! It might only be for a week but it's a week longer than any Jew has ever served as the President of any Arab nation. Anywhere.

Israpundit links to an article by David Matas in the Winnipeg Free Press, "The end to the dream of ending anti-semitism."

Does Neoliberalism work? Cambridge's Lawrence King concludes...no.

Jamie Glazov interviews Harvard Professor Jon Levenson and explores the origins of the Jewish doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. The book has won a National Jewish Book Award. Not everything Frontpagemag does is suspect.

TNR's Arthur Allen explains why it's too soon for a mandatory HPV vaccine.

Are vouchers the way to go in implementing National Healthcare? Hell if I know. My wife is one of about 4 or 5 Ph.D's in Public Health Policy in Montana and she's not blogging, but the TNR's Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Victor R. Fuchs are, in what my wife graciously referred to as a "facockda plan."

A gang of serial rapists has been prowling the North, raping Jewish women as revenge for IDF actions in the West Bank. Yep, these animals deserve their own state.

Alvin Rosenfeld defends his conclusions from critics of "Progressive' Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism, which was discussed a few weeks ago. Augean Stables also weighs in on the cultural racism that characterizes the abysmally low moral expectations among progressives for the Palestinians/Arabs/Muslims, who are forgiven anything with the excuse that they are resisting. Shouldn’t, by this logic, every suicide bombing done by shouting Allah Akhbar result in the “death of Islam” for any moral Muslim?

Gabriel Josipovici reviews Steven Kruger's, "The Spectral Jew: Conversion and embodiment in medieval Europe."

Disclaimer: George & Daisy Soros are personal acquaintances in who's public life I have no stake whatsoever but this item was just too delicious not to share: Soros Buys Halliburton, or at least 2 million shares. The real question, however, is whether MoveOn.org, the Center for American Progress, and other organizations that have benefitted from Soros' charity will see a problem with accepting money earned off Halliburton shares? Thus far the silence is deafening.

Matthias Küntze on Iran's Obsession with the Jews.

You thought George Bush is one of the worst leaders in American History? Steve Horowitz, along with the help of Herodotus, explore George Bush's ancient failings and conclude, with succulent irony, that Bush was a history major.

There ya go...and all without my getting "too Jewy."

Mike

Political Compass

I can't remember exactly where I found the link to the quiz below but I believe it came from Montana Netroots. Since there's been a drought of meme's going around the Mishblogha I clicked on the link. There was certainly no room for ambiguity on the first quiz so rather than attempt to add or write more into the question than was actually asked I'll let it stand.

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Social Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Ethics: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

The following results, from Political Compass, were perhaps more accurate in ascertaining my evolving political identity.

Mike

Nearly Finished

We'll be returning home post-Purim from what has turned out to be a rather eventful working vacation.

I'll be glad to return to the pragmatic world of consulting and working for myself, on my terms and on my time, rather than the pre-determined hours of academia. It's not that I don't like teaching in the professional sense. Informally I do it everyday I work at the job that actually puts food on my table by helping farmers make money, by addressing gatherings of farmers from Scobey to the Holiday Inn in Sioux Falls, and by helping (I loathe the term "nurturing") those who work for me to grow into their profession. It's profoundly fulfilling and I still at times want to pinch myself over the fact I have been able to make a business out of it and have no regrets whatsoever. It's sobering to realize that choices we made years before were actually for the better, and chosing not to accept a faculty positions offered years ago at BYU and Montana State must have been the been the result of divine providence. Who wouldn't want the security of a state pension, tenure, and the other "perks" of academia? The problem is that those "gifts" come with strings attached and I'm not one for jumping through hoops or smiling and nodding my way to the top so all things being equal I did indeed stumble onto the right path without ever knowing it.

I haven't been blogging lately because quite frankly I just haven't been up to it and if something is going to be pushed to the side, this comes first. It didn't help that I was having recurrent headaches of the variety that either forced me into darkened rooms or awake from an unrestful sleep. While running through the tissue culture and genetics lab one day I vaguely remembered that it had been roughly 20 hours since my last meal and that I needed to take a break from the students and grab somthing, anything, to eat. Before I could act on the impulse though I remember feeling like we were having an earthquake, being oddly dizzy, having one of the students ask if I was allright, and then...nothing.

I remember waking up under a bright light and being soaking wet from diaphoresis. My wife told me my blood sugar was 23 and my blood pressure was 205/109...right before being nagged into silence because I should have eaten something. Anyway, to make a boringly long story short, the requisite tests were completed to rule out diabetes or any other pancreatic irregularity, and I'm OK in that department. The docs wanted to start me on an oral BP medication that is available in the United States and after a trial with Lopressor, which successfully lowered my blood pressure but unfortunately my heart rate as well, we settled on Norvasc. I promised to cut down on the smoking and to stop drinking the two plus pots of coffee a day which seem to somehow disappear in my presence. Assuming I don't stroke out on the trip home all is golden, although I have to admit I'm not at all happy to join the legion of middle aged pill popers whose very existence seems dependent on a steady supply of medication Pharma is only all to willing to provide but them's the breaks.

L'Chaim...to life!
Mike

This Weeks Torah Portion: Tetzaveh

Wishing ya'll a Shabbat Shalom and a very Happy Purim from Brooklyn!

Your friends at Chabad – Lubavitch,

Rabbi Chaim & Chavie

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For all your Purim info:
www.JewishMontana.com/Purim

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This weeks Torah portion: Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10)

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This week's ETorah is dedicated in honor of the "Zayin Adar" birthday of our dear friend and a generous supporter of Chabad Lubavitch of Montana

Nissim Ben Dora

May G-d grant him and his family, a wonderful year, materially and spiritually, with much success in all his endeavors and Jewish Nachas from his children and beautiful grandchildren!

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For candle lighting time in your area:
http://fridaylight.org/page/sunset-almanac.php

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Purim: selling out or staying strong?
By Rabbi Chaim

As I walked down Kingston Avenue in Crown Heights, I was pleasantly reminded about how much fun Purim was as a kid. We masqueraded in various costumes, one year as the High Priest in the Holy Temple, another year as Zorro, and once even as a Hollywood producer. Marching around town while delivering beautiful Mishloach Manos baskets, stamping and shooting cap guns when they read Haman's name in the Megillah, and of course, feasting at a delicious holiday meal with Kreplach. Purim is an awesome holiday and we can spend incalculable hours delving into the depth of the story, but today I want to focus on one detail in this phenomenal tale…

In Shushan, the capital of Persia, everyone knew that when the arrogant Prime Minister Haman passes through downtown, you must kneel and bow to his royalty. Yet, Mordechai, the righteous leader of the Jewish people, didn't budge when Haman passed him. When the palace staff, asked him why he so blatantly refused to bow to Haman, he responded "I am a Jew, and Moses our teacher warned us in the Torah Cursed is the man who will make a graven or molten image, and this evil one, Haman, makes himself into an idol"!!! Mordechai was a very proud Jew and refused to lower his Torah standards for the sake of making a semi disguised Jew hater happy.

Furthermore, when Haman finally lost it on Mordechai, and planned to annihilate every Jew in all of the 127 countries ruled by king Achashveirosh, he came to the king and said "There is one people, dispersed and divided among the nations…and their laws are different from those of any other people", once again, what bothered Haman was not that the Jewish people are big Machers in politics, not that they have loads of money, and not that they are the smartest businessmen on planet earth. What bothered him? Why do they have to fast on Yom Kippur? Why do they keep the Shabbat holy? Why do they circumcise their son's at eight days old? Why do they refuse to assimilate to Persian culture?

So if Mordechai lived in 2007, many so-called Jewish activists would tell him to bow to Haman, lets have dinner with the leaders of Hamas, lets try to please Iran, lets not fight for Jonathan Pollard's release, lets lower our standards for the wicked, and then, they in return will surely be nice and dandy to us, and begin a love fest with the Jewish people. Other activists would tell Mordechai, lets just whiteout a little bit of Judaism, "I mean Rabbi, what would G-d love more then having a interfaith dialogue on Shabbos afternoon?" "Mordechai, do you think it's so important that as the Haman is trying to kill us; you gather 22,000 Jewish kids to study Torah? Don't you think you're pushing it"?

Yet, it wasn't the pandering to our enemies, that saved the Jewish people, but rather, it was the devotion and perseverance to a Jewish-Torah way of life that kept the Jewish people united and strong throughout the entire year of the terrible decree. Yes, Esther was the queen, but she herself joined her brethren in fasting for three days and nights and praying to G-d to nullify this harsh decree. The Jewish people were steadfast in their Jewish identity, proud of their Jewish heritage, and selflessly devoted to G-d, and their leader Mordechai, and clearly, that's what saved them.

Purim is an annual reminder of our prophet Zechariah's words "Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, says the Lord of Hosts." Jewish people never succeeded without G-d's loving and caring intervention. By bowing to the Jew haters, and selling out our Judaism on EBay we got no where. If we take care of G-d, He will take care of us!

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Moshiach speedily. May He protect the armed forces of the United States wherever they may be. Chazak! L'Chaim!
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The ETorah is an educational project of
Chabad Lubavitch of Montana