Remembering the Holocaust

As you may have read, May 1st marks the day of remembrance of the Holocaust. There are many events taking place to commemorate the tremendous tragic loss of six million Jews. I'm doing my part in a Yom Hashoah program performing in a choir which will commemorate this day along with the survivors living in our neighborhood. If you would like to see some excellent videos remembering this important day click here.

Miri Ben-Ari and Hip Hop

Miri Ben-Ari is one of the most famous violinist in the music business right now. She's a Grammy award winning musician whose fame has risen quickly among the hip hop crowd. What many people don't know is this Israeli violinist was playing Jewish Orthodox weddings for many years. . She's currently involved in a project, "Gedenk" and she seems interested in bringing the Holocaust to the forefront so that it is not forgotten and I applaud her for this effort. The problem in my humble opinion is I find it to be somewhat of a sacrilege to have a music video dedicated to the holocaust that features immodestly clad dancers. The two just don't jive. One might begin to wonder how sincere she is in her efforts to keep that flame alive or is it just a PR stunt....

Holocaust Survivor: Can't get burial at Arlington Cemetery

Holocaust survivor and army chaplain, Abraham Klausner will not get burial rights at Arlington National Cemetery. The reason: his service as an army chaplain was not long enough to receive full burial honors. The army rejected his family appeal for burial but said they would allow his cremated remains to be stored there. Many Jewish Groups and Congressmen expressed their outrage at the decision, they believed that someone who had witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust should be exempt from the cremation rule."It's just unbelievable to me he would be denied being buried at Arlington cemetery," said Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization based in Los Angeles. "It's a rule that violates religious principles. So I want to know who made the rule and why it wasn't challenged."

Barbara Striesand in Germany: Sold Out!

For the longest time Barbara Streisand has been asked by Germany to perform a concert and she always refused. The reason for the refusal was never really given but it was always thought that the holocaust played a role in that decision. She finally gave in this past Saturday and performed to a sold out audience of 18,000. Do you think she made the right decision? Should we be so forgiving yet? How quickly can we forget?

Natorai Karta Member's Kids: Expelled from School!

The J Post has an article on an Orthodox school in Vienna, that has expelled some children whose father is a member of the infamous Neturai Karta. Machzikei Hadas, as the school is called, refuses to let the kids return and is seemingly not bothered by a court ruling of over $800,000 in fines. In case you were wondering, these children believe as their father does. As the article explains: "Friedman's kids cheer every time there is a suicide bombing in Israel. This is not something I want my children exposed to." These are perhaps just some of the reasons the parents are backing the administration's decision. Interestingly enough is that the school building's owner was himself a holocaust survivor. You can only imagine the pain it causes him knowing a deniers kids are in that building.

Hey That Street is Named After Hitler.....

Well not exactly but close. Believe it or not unbeknown to many people (until now) there is a street in the very Jewish neighborhood of Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn that is ironically named after an Anti-Semite. It was recently discovered that Austin Corbin, a 19th century Brooklyn Land Developer and one time head of the Long Island Railroad was also an outspoken anti-Semite, and president of the American Society of the Suppression of Jews.There is now a movement to rectify this situation.

Purim and Six Million Christians!

The JPost is reporting that an Evangelical leader from Ft. Worth, Texas is attempting to get six million Christian children to pray that Israel be protected from a nuclear attack from Iran. This prayer project will go into effect before Purim:

Michael D. Evans, best-selling author of The American Prophecies: Ancient Scriptures Reveal Our Nation's Future, said on Monday evening that the inspiration for his idea from a report in The Jerusalem Post.

"After reading about Rabbi [David Batzri's] campaign to enlist 10,000 children to pray that God annul [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad's plans for the destruction of the Jewish people, I said to myself, 'Why stop at 10,000?'" Evans said in a telephone interview from his Jerusalem hotel room.

"The number six million is a reminder to Christians that never again must we allow a Holocaust," he said. "And since the young suffer most in times of catastrophe, it is fitting that children should be the ones praying."

Evans, who heads the Jerusalem Prayer Team, an Internet-based initiative to encourage Christian prayer for the State of Israel, said that Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell would undoubtedly join forces to muster the 6 million young prayers. Evans said that there were approximately 1 billion evangelical Christians worldwide.

Rabbi Yitzhak Batzri, son of David, welcomed the initiative.

"Hopefully, it will awaken the entire world to the Iranian threat," said Batzri. "If the goyim have come to the realization that we are in danger, maybe the Jews in the Diaspora will finally wake up."