Rabbis comments

Who cares what the Rabbi says? Everybody

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef comments the other day wishing death to Israel’s enemies have caused a furor and a minor international incident. His comments have been blown out of proportion certainly but interestingly enough have made news headlines the world over.
Rabbis are completely ignored by most on theological issues that seem to have relevance only to their parishioners. When an influential one seems to leave theology and enter the political fray everyone perks up and listens. It’s important to understand where this has come from. Rabbi Yosef the spiritual leader of a very influential political party in Israel . He wields considerable political clout and is often quoted for things he says. He previously openly supported territorial compromise in the event of a real peace treaty . He based this support on his interpretation of Jewish Law and was attacked for this stance by many in the Rabbinic world. It would be accurate to say that he went out on a limb to be as pragmatic and compromising as possible and is hoping mad at what cession of land has caused. His sermon was based on the upcoming Rosh Hashanah or Jewish New year where traditional blessing include the cursing Of Israel’s enemies.
Most Israeli’s see the Palestinian authority as Israel’s enemies. That’s a big shock.

My Kaddish Experience

Saying Kaddish for a parent is never an easy thing for anyone. When you need to travel overseas the difficulty just becomes that much greater. That difficulty becomes greater when you travel. It was easy enough on my flight to the United States from Israel. I left after midnight and arrived early in the morning in time for morning prayers in New Jersey. While there the internet helped me find a minyan in most places and I managed to say Kaddish if not actually getting to lead services which are my preference during the morning period. I booked a flight back to Israel that allowed the best chance to say kaddish for all prayers. The flight took off at 2:15 and the earliest mincha was at 1:31 officially, we started a few minutes early as many were stressed about getting on the plane on time. This mincha happened and I boarded the flight. One down and two to go. When it started getting dark I asked some religious looking passengers to go to the back of the plane for evening prayers which worked out quite well. My last challenge was Shacris or morning prayers which I was unsure where and how I would do. As it turned out I managed to find a minyan at the airport Shul that I arrived a bit late but said kaddish .
It’s good to be back in the Land of Israel where all things Jewish just have more meaning.