Was the IRS Office Suicide Plane Crash Anti-Semitic?
By Shelomo Alfassa
On February 18, 2010, Joseph Stack rammed his airplane into an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) office building at 170 miles per hour. His kamikaze attack on the Austin, Texas structure resulted in the death of an innocent 68 year old veteran and many others being injured. In his Internet-posted suicide note, the pilot ranted about many things including "big brother" and "the government," but mostly, he made references to losing money. His six-page note enlightened us about his repeated financial pitfalls and how the suffering economy hurt him fiscally. The man made repeated references to how he lost his savings and how the government was indifferent to his plight. Yet, what is most interesting, is that in the close of his letter, he tells the IRS to "take my pound of flesh and sleep well."
The reference to the "pound of flesh" originates in Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice," the famous 16th century theater production. In the play, the character 'Shylock' is a Jewish and "unfeeling" moneylender who lends money to his Christian rival, Antonio. Shylock sets a condition for the loan: if Antonio is unable to repay it at the specified date, he may take a pound of Antonio's flesh. When a bankrupt Antonio defaults on the loan, Shylock demands the pound of flesh.
Hitler used Shakespeare's Shylock and his "take my pound of flesh" as propaganda in his strides against the Jews. The Nazis broadcast 'The Merchant of Venice' over the German airwaves and elsewhere within the Nazi territory to promote the idea that the Jews control the finances and economy of not only Germany but the entire world. Anti-Jewish books which discuss 'the Jews' and their 'control over money' have been distributed for centuries, including the notorious 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion' and Henry Ford's anti-Jewish volume 'The International Jew.' Even in 2010, there remains the commonly repeated anti-Semitic notion that 'the Jews' control and sway their power over the Federal Reserve System, the banking authority of the United States. Further, a common anti-Semitic harangue is that the IRS is 'a collection agency' for the Jews and their Federal Reserve System.
This begs a legitimate question,
when a frustrated and angry Joseph Stack provided his "pound of flesh" to the "IRS
man" via his suicide flight, was he doing it because of what he saw as Jewish
control over the IRS and by extension blaming the Jews for his own woes? Just a thought.
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© Shelomo Alfassa. Visit www.alfassa.com
Purim has long been a holiday on which merriment and frivolity has been welcomed within the walls of the synagogue. On Purim, in most of today's synagogues, you will encounter a certain amount of boisterous hissing, banging, stamping and rattling during the public reading of the Megillah (Book of Esther), at the mention of the evil Haman or his sons? Even so, the custom of making noise to drown out / scare away or 'blot out' evil (in this case an evil name) is one firstly of pagan origin and does not have its foundation from within the Jewish world.
Read the full paper at: http://www.alfassa.com/purim.html
by Shelomo Alfassa
Rabbi runs a Kabbalah 'con' in NY
(February 16, 2010) NEW YORK - The Brooklyn District Attorney is investigating whether a shadowy, Israel-based Kabbalist rabbi bilked vulnerable New York Jews out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by offering divine promises for cash, The Post has learned. A stream of alleged victims from Borough Park, Brooklyn, to Englewood, NJ, said Rabbi Elazar Abuchatzeira, of Beersheba, Israel, demanded money from them during annual visits to Orthodox Jewish communities in the tri-state area. "This man is hurting people," said Borough Park businessman Menachem Ellowich, 53, who signed over a check for $100,000 -- shown to The Post -- in exchange for a guarantee that his barren daughter would be able to conceive a child. She never did. "He ruined my life. He ruined my finances by making these promises." "We know about him," said Brooklyn Assistant DA Eileen Ayvazian. "It's an active investigation."
Read this paper to see Judaism does NOT allow these people to read your palms:
http://www.alfassa.com/palms.html
"Fortune Telling and Palm Reading are Not Part of Judaism"
by Shelomo Alfassa
A review of An Early 20th-Century Sephardi Troubadour: The Historical Recordings of Haim Effendi of Turkey
By Shelomo Alfassa / February 11, 2010
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Jewish Music Research Centre has released a new Jewish music treasure for the 21st century, songs learned in the 19th century and preformed in the 20th century by Haim Behar Menahem, known more commonly through the use of the Turkish title of honor, Effendi. The four-CD album is entitled: 'An Early 20th-Century Sephardi Troubadour: The Historical Recordings of Haim Effendi of Turkey.' This enormous four CD set contains 59 songs in both Hebrew and Judeo-Spanish (Ladino).
Haim Effendi was born in Europe, in Adrianople (Edirne), Ottoman Turkey in 1853. His Judeo-Spanish recordings reflected songs that were popular among the various Spanish Jewish communities in places such as Adrianople, Constantinople, Smyrna and Salonika. His Hebrew recordings focused on the shabbat and high holiday liturgy in the traditional Turkish style.
The first two CDs are made up of liturgical and paraliturgical music including songs sung and prayers recited on shabbat that were recorded between 1911-1922. This includes Haim Effendi's recitation of Kiddush, singing Avinu Malkenu, etc. The third and forth CD contains songs in Judeo-Spanish. These songs were recorded between 1907 and 1922 and include commonly known songs such as 'Avre tu Puerta,' 'Al Dio Alto,' 'La Serena,' and 'Los Bilbilicos,' but also includes many songs that have not been heard in decades such as 'Boulissa,' 'El Parto Feliz ,' 'Maldicha es la mi Vida,' and 'Muero yo de Amor.' While some tracks are clear, others are scratchy yet authentic. All songs however contain that lovely haunting yet melodic Turkish-style of singing.
The set is visual appealing as all four CDs have been created to look like miniature 78 rpm albums. Enclosed is a superb 89 page book edited by Edwin Seroussi, professor of musicology and director of the Jewish Music Research Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The book is in English and Hebrew, and all song lyrics are provided in Judeo-Spanish with English and Hebrew introductions and backgrounds. Research on the recordings contained in the book was conducted by Joel Bresler who researches and collects (rescues!) old fragile Sephardic 78 rpm record albums. His research is showcased on his Website where he focuses on over 100 years of recorded Sephardic music.
Haim Effendi's music was surely played in the now long-gone Sephardic kavanes, coffee houses, of New York City's Lower East Side where Greek, Turkish, Bulgaria and Syrian men would mingle, smoke, eat, and talk. His music was both liturgical and secular and the latter was extremely influential to other musicians. While Haim died in 1938 at Alexandria Egypt, it was said that his music was played on Radio Cairo until 1956.
No Judeo-Spanish music collection would be complete without authentic songs such as these. These are not some modern rock & roll remake of Sephardic songs, these are not another boring artsy cover band's interpretive version of the old Spanish songs, this is the real deal-the songs of the Spanish Jews sung by a Jew who's family arrived in the Ottoman Empire from Spain. These are old and once much-loved songs, sung in the now extinct Ottoman Jewish style, but that can once again be treasured.
The
four CD set is available through the
American
Sephardi Federation in New York City.
This review is located at http://www.alfassa.com/effendi.html
