Roger Froikin @rlefraim wrote, "Haazinu
Deuteronomy 32:1–52
The bulk of this Parsha is a Song, sung by Moses to the people marking the final day of his life. 1)
The core of his lesson, is to tell the people to remember, to never forget the history that has made them, that has prepared them for the future, but, again, only if they continue to remember.
2)
The Parshah ends, with the order from Hashem that Moses should climb to the top of Mt Nebo to look in the distance, across the river, at the land his people have been promised and to which they will go and settle. Then Moses dies.
3)
There are two things, maybe a bit less than conventional, that I see in this Parsha.
The first points to us, Am Yisrael, not just remembering history in general, not even our particular people’s history, but how we remember it.
4)
It points to the need to remember it & its cultural context, not through the cultural beliefs & norms & ideologies of others, & though the lens of our own language, Hebrew,...
5)
and not through the translations to other language systems that lose 25-35% of meaning that the Hebrew carries within it.
6)
Finally, I identify with this Parsha in a another way. I look at my life, the good & bad decisions I’ve made, &, frankly, I feel like Moses, seeing what could be, what should be in the future of our people, & knowing that I won’t be a part of it by the time it happens."
7)
Roger Froikin @rlefraim wrote, "The Reality of State and City Debt
There is a handful of US states and large cities with so much debt that, unless they act to reduce it soon, we will see tragedy.
1)
The States: California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Kentucky. The Cities: New York, San Francisco, Chicago.
You see, when one is in debt, there are limited ways to handle that debt.
2)
One can increase income, decrease expenses, or defer debt to a future point in time through alternate debt. That is true of individuals, families, or government.
3)
Roger Froikin @rlefraim wrote, "Some More Thoughts on the Saying ‘A Land of Milk and Honey’”
It starts with understanding the purpose of Torah. Torah is a lesson book. It teaches through the use of stories, allegory, and metaphor.
1)
It connects the Hebrew (Jewish) nation to the Creator, and the Creator, like a good father that wants the best for his creation, to the Hebrew (Jewish) nation.
2)
There are three seemingly separate but interconnected issues in the Torah narrative about Yosef (Joseph), Ya’acov (Jacob), and Yosef’s family. One, the “famine in the land.”
3)
On April 15, 2024, Roger Froikin @rlefraim wrote, "The
Obsession with Safety — A Jewish Psychosis
The Jewish people have a problem that is the result of 2,000 years of persecution, exclusion, and pressure.
1)
To survive, Jews developed certain patterns of perception and choices that sought safety in a hostile world. It could be classified as a syndrome that manifests itself in several ways.
The Zelig Syndrome
2)
Some of you might remember the film Zelig. Zelig is a 1983 American satirical comedy film written as a documentary, featuring a man named Leonard Zelig, who has this obsessive desire to fit in and...
3)
Not all Jews celebrate St. Valentine's Day because he was a 3rd century Roman priest who became a martyr. It is ostensibly a Christian (Catholic) holiday that became a secular one.
1)
In addition, the Strasbourg Massacre took place on February 14, 1349, where approximately 2,000 Jewish men, women and children were burned alive or killed by public executions after false accusations were made that Jews poisoned a well during the Black Death pogroms.
2)
These accusations were completely false.
This happened during the Black Death, when panic and fear were widespread across Europe. Jews were targeted because they were a visible religious minority and due to their being more hygienic (Jewish law required regular washing) ...
3)
Why would members of Congress search their own names in the Epstein's files if they weren't concerned about what would be found? If they did not know him and never met him, there would be no need.
1)
When members of the U.S. Congress go into a SCIF (often pronounced “skiff”) and search a computer, they are interacting with one of the most tightly controlled information systems in the U.S. government.
2)
Here’s what that really means — and what gets collected.
A SCIF is a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility. It’s a sealed room designed so that no signals can enter or leave without authorization. Inside are networks used by agencies like:
3)
Roger Froikin @rlefraim wrote, “From the river to the……… Palestine?
Here’s an idea.
There is a perfect spot that all the Palestinians, all of them wherever they may be, can be sent to have a homeland of their own.
1)
And it is a place in which they will get their wish to replace the Jews.
It is bordered by the great Amur River, has tons of resources, great farming and grazing land, and lots and lots of space.
Birobidzhan Биробиджа́н, بيروبيجان
2)
The former Jewish area in the old USSR can be a new homeland for the Palestinians. They can call it ‘Palestine,’ and that would be just as historically correct as calling the slice of land in the Middle East by that name.
3)