Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/
Tuesday, Sep. 06 '16, ג' באלול תשע"ו
HEADLINES:
1. 'A GREAT SCHOLAR AND A WARRIOR'
2. 'EXTREMIST ISLAMIC TERROR IS SPREADING THROUGHOUT EUROPE'
3. WANTED: A NEW SPOKESMAN FOR ISIS
4. RABBI MAZUZ BASHES 'YICHUD ROOM' WEDDING CUSTOM
5. THE UNGER FAMILY MURDER: A TZFAT SAGA
6. PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT CURSES OBAMA ON LIVE TELEVISION
7. 'THE BOY WILL NOT JOIN HIS BELGIAN FATHER'
8. DEATH TOLL RISES TO 3 IN TEL AVIV PARKING GARAGE COLLAPSE
1. 'A GREAT SCHOLAR AND A WARRIOR'
by Yoni Kempinski
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu eulogized the late Chief Rabbi of Haifa, Rabbi Eliyahu Shaar Yashuv Cohen, Tuesday morning, praising him as a "great scholar" who fought for Israeli Independence.
Rabbi Cohen passed away Monday night at the age of 89.
"Rabbi Shaar Yashuv HaCohen," said Netanyahu, "was a tremendous scholar who strove for the unity of the Jewish people, just as he worked to bring together the different segments of the population in Haifa, where he served the public as Chief Rabbi for more than 30 years."
Netanyahu also noted Cohen's military service during the establishment of the state.
"He was both a scholar and a warrior, fighting during the War of Independence in the Etsel [Irgun], and was injured in the battle for the Old City of Jerusalem, was captured by the Jordanians, before he enlisted in the IDF."
"He leaves behind him many rabbinical judges and scholars, residents and neighbors, who had a spiritual leader, and an address for [their] religious questions – as well as many deep, moving stories that will remind us of him for generations. May his memory be a blessing."
The funeral procession began at Rabbi Cohen's home in Haifa, and is scheduled to reach the Merkaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem by 2:00 p.m. After eulogies in the yeshiva, mourners will accompany the rabbi to his final resting place in the Mount of Olives cemetery.
2. 'EXTREMIST ISLAMIC TERROR IS SPREADING THROUGHOUT EUROPE'
by Hezki Baruch
­­The Prime Minister's airplane took off this morning to the Netherlands, where Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is to meet with his Dutch counterpart and additional officials in the Dutch parliament.
Before boarding his plane, the Prime Minister spoke with Arutz Sheva about the tragic collapse of the parking garage in Tel Aviv and subsequent rescue efforts, and also addressed the purposes of his visit to Holland.
"I'm constantly following rescue efforts at the scene of the tragedy in Tel Aviv. I visited there last night and was deeply impressed by the efforts of the rescue teams, under the authority of the home front command. People are doing unprecedented work there, at a level more professional than can be found anywhere else in the world."
"There are still people trapped under the rubble," the Prime Minister noted, continuing: "We are making every effort, we won't give up on anybody and we will get to everybody."
Regarding the purposes of his visit to the Netherlands, the Prime Minister said: "I'm going for a political visit in the Netherlands. I am going to visit a friend of Israel – and a personal friend of mine – Prime Minister Mark Rutte, as well as members of the foreign affairs committee of the Dutch parliament, and the King of the Netherlands."
"Europe is going through changes; it faces great challenges involving the spread of extremist Islamic terror. I am going to talk about the central role that Israel plays in the Middle East as the most stable factor, the most stabilizing factor, and the source that contributes greatly to the prevention of the spread of extremist Islamic terror.
"This is a new realization which is, of course, important for Israel, but is also very important for Europe, and we are working to gradually convey this understanding to all the countries of Europe," Netanyahu said.
3. WANTED: A NEW SPOKESMAN FOR ISIS
by Ben Ariel
Just days after Islamic State (ISIS) spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani was killed, the jihadist group is looking for a replacement, Channel 10 News reported Monday.
But being ISIS's spokesman is not a simple job, as the group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has very big demands.
Al-Adnani was more than just a spokesman. Among other things, he was responsible for planning most of the attacks carried out by the group, for example in Brussels, Paris and Orlando. In addition, he was described as "a person with extraordinary abilities in organization, mobilization and influence."
As with any job, interview candidates must send a CV, and are required to have an interview with al-Baghdadi himself. According to reports, the interviews are conducted in ISIS' defacto "capital", Al-Raqqa.
According to Channel 10 News, the two leading candidates for the job are Turki Alanbaali, a senior cleric who in the past permitted to rape Yazidi women. The other is Abu Luqman, the former ruler of Al-Raqqa.
Adnani was believed to have been ISIS's second highest ranking leader after al-Baghdadi.
He was heard from as recently as last May, calling for attacks on the U.S. during the holy month of Ramadan.
4. RABBI MAZUZ BASHES 'YICHUD ROOM' WEDDING CUSTOM
by Haim Lev
Rabbi Meir Mazuz, Head of the Kiseh Rachamim Yeshiva, strongly criticized the "yichud room" practice common at traditional Jewish weddings.
The practice generally sees the bride and groom going into a room together – the "yichud room" in question – immediately following the marriage ceremony, for their first time alone together in private.
The site Kikar Shabbat cited the rabbi as saying that the custom had been forced upon those of Sephardi heritage. "They have forced it on Sephardim to the extent that yeshiva leaders are now saying, 'If you don't have a yichud room, I'm not coming to the wedding and neither are your friends.' This actually happened. It was a Sephardi yeshiva head – not an Ashkenazi one. You can talk to an Ashkenazi about this, but not a Sephardi. He is constrained by what he has received from his rabbis. So what did Rabbi Rafael Cohen of Tzfat do? He brought in other people to celebrate [at the wedding] with the groom."
"Why are you doing this," Rabbi Mazuz asked rhetorically. "Why?"
In addition to the problem of imposing Ashkenazi customs on Jews of Sephardi heritage, Rabbi Mazuz asserted that there as an inherent problem with the notion of "yichud room," in that it leads to immodesty. "What happens today is that the couple goes into the room, and their friends stand by the door. They [taunt them, saying,] 'what's taking you so long? Have you been in there [long enough]?' What is this madness? Have you gone crazy? This is a disgrace […] It's forbidden, and not acceptable."
"[This implies that] the sages of Morocco don't know how to learn, the sages of Babylonia don't know how to learn, the sages of Tunis don't know how to learn, only the Ashkenazim know how to learn? On the contrary: We know no less; we need to not have "yichud room." Furthermore: We need to write on the wedding invitations, 'there will be no "yichud room.' Whoever is not comfortable with that doesn't have to come."
Therefore, Rabbi Mazuz concluded: "It is a divine command to cancel this custom. May it not be remembered or invoked ever. Even among Ashkenazim."
5. THE UNGER FAMILY MURDER: A TZFAT SAGA
by Shimon Cohen
Yaakov Shenkman, a researcher on the history of the city of Tzfat, spoke with Arutz Sheva about a special event that took place in the city in commemoration of the Unger family, murdered 80 years ago by an Arab gang that infiltrated the city.
A ceremony during which a renewed memorial plaque in honor of the murdered family was revealed saw the participation, among others, of Meir Hameiri - Head of the Association for the Veterans of Tzfat, former Mayor Zev Perl, Yosef Arye Fromovich - the caretaker of the synagogue where the father of the Unger father used to pray, Arye Buznach - a survivor of the massacre of Maalot, members of the neighboring synagogue, Shenkman himself and others.
The murders took place on August 13th, 1936, during the period of the Arab revolt against British rule – days characterized by violent attacks against Jews. "In the years of the revolt, 600 Jews were murdered and thousands were injured, pogroms happened all over Israel, roadside robberies and damage to agriculture were rampant. Tzfat was still suffering from the trauma of the Arab riots seven years prior, when 18 Jews were murdered in the Jewish Quarter and in nearby Ein Tina."
Having learned the lessons of the previous riots, in which they were largely defenseless, the Jews of the city established a defense force that included improvised guard posts, smuggled weapons – even if not many, nightly volunteer patrols and an existing police station for Jewish police functioning under the auspices the British.
"In that period lived Alter Yechiel Tzvi Unger, a scribe by trade from Galicia, his wife Chaya Rivka and their three children, Rachel Shaindel (9), Avraham Yitzchak Yaakov (7), and Chava (4) - along with Grandma Ella Lipshitz.
"Alter Unger was a charitable man, collecting charity for the poor every Thursday, and the family would host those sick with tuberculosis who came to the city to heal. One night, British policemen were hosted by the family. At 8:30 in the evening an Arab gang burst into the Jewish quarter. For some reason, nobody saw them, and they continued to infiltrate the city […]
"They murdered the children and father in front of the mother and grandmother. The mother begged them to shoot her instead of her husband, but they shot him in the head, murderering him on the spot – he was only 36 at the time. The younger children were also murdered while the daughter Rachel Shaindel was seriously injured. She lay dying in Hadassah Hospital in Tzefat, which now serves Tzefat College. When she felt she was growing weaker, she requested a Hebrew Bible, so that she could die with it.
"She wanted to see her siblings and father, but they told her that they were sleeping, and she understood what had happened. The last sentence she had said to her mother was 'mother, don't worry – the Messiah will come. He must come. And then she died."
The gang that committed the murder was attacked by Hagannah forces [a precursor to the IDF] that arrived at the area. In that group were also some Etsel [Irgun] members who participated and injured some of the murderers with their pistols. "The British made no efforts to ascertain who the members of the gang were. After a certain amount of time, the grandmother discovered one of the members at the market; she started shouting, but he was not caught. The mother would go daily to the graves until they decided that it was not safe to remain in Tzfat. She and the grandmother moved to Jerusalem […]"
Shenkman relates that the mother married a second time into the Rabinovich family of Jerusalem, and bore a son who is now a Belz Hassid who lives in Jerusalem. "He told me that the murders haunted her until age 70. Every event reminded her of how it was with her first family. When he would go visit her in her final years at the old-age home she would point to people who had lost their memories and note how lucky they were that they didn't remember their past…"
The murder remained traumatic for the entire city of Tzfat. Shenkman comments on the words of Meir Hameiri, head of the Association for the Veterans of Tzfat, who said that for years he would look into the window of the house and see possessions and toys stained with Jewish blood. The house was abandoned, and nobody wanted to live there because of its painful and tragic past.
"There was a period when one of the tests of bravery for Hagannah recruits was to sneak into the Unger house at night and bring a scrap from there to the test examiner as proof that the recruit had, indeed, been inside the house. Later, the house became the location of a central Hagannah weapons stockpile."
The Hagannah also used the house for an additional purpose: that of presenting weaponry on the front porch in order to prove to city officials that contributions from residents of the city were, indeed, going towards the obtainment of weapons and were not simply being pocketed.
"For years the house was neglected and destroyed, they covered it up with concrete and stones. In recent years, Mr. Rabinovich who, despite the fact that he did not know them, considers the murdered to be his brothers in the fullest sense sold the property to Ariel Malichi, who renovated the building while incorporating stones from the original building."
Shenkman notes that today, Rabinovich has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and that this fact is a sort of fulfillment of his mother's statement that from the remaining branch, an orchard would be built as an answer to the murderers.
"Last week, a ceremony was held marking 80 years since the murders. In that, Malichi fulfilled his obligation to Rabinovich to commemorate the victims in a fitting way. We renewed the memorial plaque of the house," Shenkman says of the event marking the close of the saga, expressing hope that commemorating the memory of the Unger family and the tragic murders will cause people to remember "what happened there – and we hope that they will understand who we are dealing with."
6. PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT CURSES OBAMA ON LIVE TELEVISION
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2018861]
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte launched into a series of personal attacks against US President Barack Obama during a press conference on Monday, after the Obama administration challenged the Philippines tough anti-drug policies.
Incensed by the US President's plans to pressure him to change course, Duterte exploded on air, calling Obama a "son of a whore" in response to a reporter's question on the issue.
"Who does he think he is? I am no American puppet. I am the president of a sovereign state, and we have long ceased to be a colony. I do not have a master except the Filipino people. You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements."
After speaking in English, Duterte then switched to Filipino, and directly addressed President Obama.
"You son of a whore, I will swear at you."
Duterte then resumed in English, pledging that the "campaign against drugs will continue."
"Plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of the streets. Until the drug manufacturer is killed, we will continue, and I will continue. And I don't give a s*** about anybody observing my behavior. Nobody has the right to lecture me."
When asked about the incident, President Obama downplayed the comments.
"Clearly he's a colorful guy."
Following President Duterte's comments, the White House cancelled talks between Obama and his Filipino counterpart.
On Tuesday a spokesman for Duterte issued a statement regretting that the "strong comments" had "come across as a personal attack on the US president."
"We look forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions, and working in mutually responsible ways for both countries."
7. 'THE BOY WILL NOT JOIN HIS BELGIAN FATHER'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Sources close to Ronit Bitton, who sat in jail for three and a half years for interference with legal proceedings dictating custody of her 17-year-old son to her non-Jewish ex-husband in Belgium, deny claims that the youth will soon join up with his father.
"We're talking about a 17.5-year-old youth," the sources said. "He is haredi. It is impossible to force him to go live with his non-Jewish father. Word to the contrary on this matter is incorrect."
The Jewish Belgian paper Regards reported that Bitton agreed that the son be given to his father's custody; in exchange, authorities in Israel agreed not to press charges against Bitton's accomplices for hiding her son.
According to that report, Bitton "kidnapped" her son from his father in Belgium in 2006, when the boy was seven years old. Belgian and Israeli courts ruled that the father, Vincent Georis, was the sole legal guardian, and that the son needs to be transferred to his guardianship. The mother claimed that she did not know where her son was and, in an interview with Arutz Sheva in 2013, had asserted that she hadn't seen him for five years. An Israeli court sentenced her to five years imprisonment for interfering with legal proceedings; she began to serve her sentence in 2013.
Last month, she was released from prison. It is unclear whether a third of the sentence was simply deducted or whether some sort of bargain transpired between Bitton and enforcement authorities which enabled her early release. The son, as far as is known, reported to a Jerusalem police station, and took a DNA test that verified his identity.
The father told the Belgian newspaper that he had spoken with his son on the telephone. "I have no words to describe my happiness," he had said.
Nevertheless, a report by Channel 1 presented Vincent Georis as abusive and conniving. Similarly, former MK Moshe Feiglin wrote of him:
"Vincent gave up, by his own will, the right to be a father, and cruelly prevents Ronit from being a mother. He abused the childhood of his son and sentenced him to a life of suffering, he trampled his honor and negated his freedom and money, by means of a dark and degraded connection with bullies and a trampling of the laws of human decency. But reality can't give cover forever, and we believe that the day will soon come when the legal systems in Israel and Belgium, the prosecution and all those complicit in the terrible crime against the poor, helpless mother and son will pay the price."
Sources close to Bitton said: "Most important is the happiness of the mother and son; he is a Jew who merited growing up with his Jewish mother."
8. DEATH TOLL RISES TO 3 IN TEL AVIV PARKING GARAGE COLLAPSE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2018873]
The death toll in Monday's parking garage collapse in the Ramat Hahayal neighborhood of Tel Aviv rose Tuesday morning to three, after search and rescue workers digging through the rubble retrieved the body of an additional victim killed in the accident.
Emergency teams at the site of the collapse are continuing their search through the debris, even as the chances of finding survivors grows increasingly slim. While five workers trapped under the rubble were rescued Monday evening, four more remain unaccounted for.
The fatalities include a Palestinian Authority resident and a Ukrainian national, while the identities of the third body has yet to be released.
At roughly 11:20 a.m. Monday morning, three of the four floors in the subterranean parking garage collapsed, injuring workers above the site and trapping others below.
While most of the 24 wounded have been released from the hospital, some suffered serious injuries, including one man with severe head trauma.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited rescue workers on the scene Monday night, saying that the location of those trapped beneath had been determined, and that the government would do everything possible to reach the victims as quickly as possible.
"We understand their plight and are doing everything we can to rescue those trapped, using the most impressive technology. We know exactly where they are located, and we must pray that we reach them in time."
------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/
