All posts by Y.B. ben Avraham

The “Fixer”

November 13, 2016 Y.B. ben Avraham 4 Comments

fixer

Alex “Shaya” Lichtenstein was a “fixer”. He facilitated obtaining goods and services from within systems rigged against free, peaceful, consensual, trade, by the interference of government. Like smugglers, prostitution, and so many other industries, the “fixer” provides (often for outrageous fees, and from dubious sources) what would be readily available in a free society.

Mr. Lichtenstein was a leader in the “Shomrim” (private, neighborhood security) in the Borough Park area Brooklyn, New York. Why, given the size of the NYPD, would there even be a market for such a thing in a decidedly poor, urban, predominantly Orthodox Jewish, Borough Park?

Well, like in so many other neighborhoods in large cities, these folks live right next door to some of the most violent criminals in the U.S. So bad is it, that even if the NYPD focused their efforts on these neighborhoods, they are overwhelmed.

Additionally, as in most similar cases, the citizens of this neighborhood are left without effective means of self-defense. Knives, guns, and other modern tools are legally prohibited, or severely restricted. The common man walking the streets, taking the subway or bus, is a juicy and low-risk target for any predator. And there are thousands.

Oh, you _can_ get a gun permit in Brooklyn, if you jump through the right hoops, know enough powerful and connected people, pay enough money, and wait long enough. Maybe. Meanwhile carry a sock full of nickels and try not to look anyone directly in the eye, an hurry get home before dark. And try to be in sight of the “Shomrim” patrol, or the odd NYPD cruiser (those are the guys so gleefully ticketing the double-parked cars).

So, just like in any ghetto, there was a ready-made market for folks like “Shaya”, to grease the skids a bit. He knew everyone at the precinct. Especially in the gun permit department. Buddies. The going rate to “expedite” the system was about Ten Thousand Dollars. Yes. FIFTEEN TO TWENTY TIMES the cost of the gun, itself. And people paid. Lots of people paid.

Mind you, I’m no fan of Mr. Lichtenstein, or any other fixer. They are skunks. Then, again, consider the risks he takes. No, I reserve my fury, my anger, my disgust, for the system that creates these things. That is the institution that really has blood on their hands. The blood of our friends, our families, our countrymen. They are the truly guilty ones.

defense of others, Inspiration, Israel, resistance

Hannah

November 6, 2016 Y.B. ben Avraham 2 Comments

“One – two – three… eight feet long
Two strides across, the rest is dark…
Life is a fleeting question mark
One – two – three… maybe another week.
Or the next month may still find me here,
But death, I feel is very near.
I could have been 23 next July
I gambled on what mattered most, the dice were cast. I lost.”

hannah-szenes-1

On November 7th 1944 a valiant young Jewsess stared down her Nazi executioners and returned to Heaven. Hannah Senesh was born in Hungary, and despite being raised in an assimilated household, felt compelled to ‘make aliya’ to the Land of Israel in 1939. She worked in an agricultural settlement, rebuilding the dream of two-thousand years.

“My God, my God
May there be no end
To the sea, to the sand,
The splash of the water,
The glow of the sky,
The prayer of man”

When the extent of the Shoah of the Jews of Europe became evident, she volunteered to fight with the British Army, against the Axis. Soon, she volunteered again, to join other commandos and parachute back into Nazi-occupied Europe, in order to aid the underground in Hungary.

She fought for three months with Tito’s partisans, and then made her way to Hungary, only to be caught by the enemy.

Hannah was brutally, and repeatedly, tortured. Despite their best efforts, the Nazis failed to get any information from her.

“Blessed is the match, consumed in kindling flame.
Blessed is the flame that burns in the heart’s secret places.
Blessed is the heart that knows, for honors sake, to stop its beating.
Blessed is the match, consumed in kindling flame.”

When they put her before a firing squad, she refused a blindfold. A gifted poet, diarist, and writer… a brave and determined warrior against evil, lived, and resisted them, to the end.

hannah-szenes-2

“There are stars whose radiance is visible on Earth though they have long been extinct. There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world even though they are no longer among the living. These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark. They light the way for humankind.”

defense of others, duty, Inspiration

Single-Handed, but with Angels at his side

October 31, 2016 Y.B. ben Avraham 2 Comments

On the 30^th & 31’s of October, 1950, Tibor “Ted” Rubin was having a particularly crappy couple of days at work.

Having recently become a “GI Joe” for his new country, Tibor found out that Jew Hatred was not merely a European phenomenon. Sent as a rifleman to Korea, his sergeant simply delighted in “volunteering” “that Jew” repeatedly for the most dangerous of missions.

Now, Tibor was tasked with single-handedly covering the other soldiers’ retreat in the face of a massive enemy advance.

tibor-rubin-1

But, armed with not a small helping internal strength, remarkable bravery, and the help of Heaven, Tibor prevailed again and again. On those two days, and on many other occasions both before and since, he not only survived, but heroically aided his fellow soldiers, with resolve, ingenuity, and good humor.

Tibor Rubin was born to a middle-class family in Paszto, Hungary, in 1929. When the Nazi’s came, his parents tried to smuggle him to the relative safety of Switzerland. He was caught in Italy and sent to Mauthausen. His sister and stepmother were murdered in Auschwicz, and his father in Buchenwald.

When American troops liberated the prisoners at Mauthausen, Tibor sought a new live in America. He was determined to repay this “debt”, by joining the U.S. Army. Due to his difficulty with English, it took three tries to be accepted.

In 2005, he receive the Medal of Honor from President George W. Bush.

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Corporal Tibor Rubin distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism during the period from July 23, 1950, to April 20, 1953, while serving as a rifleman with Company I, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division in the Republic of Korea. While his unit was retreating to the Pusan Perimeter, Corporal Rubin was assigned to stay behind to keep open the vital Taegu-Pusan Road link used by his withdrawing unit. During the ensuing battle, overwhelming numbers of North Korean troops assaulted a hill defended solely by Corporal Rubin. He inflicted a staggering number of casualties on the attacking force during his personal 24-hour battle, single-handedly slowing the enemy advance and allowing the 8th Cavalry Regiment to complete its withdrawal successfully. Following the breakout from the Pusan Perimeter, the 8th Cavalry Regiment proceeded northward and advanced into North Korea. During the advance, he helped capture several hundred North Korean soldiers. On October 30, 1950, Chinese forces attacked his unit at Unsan, North Korea, during a massive nighttime assault. That night and throughout the next day, he manned a .30 caliber machine gun at the south end of the unit’s line after three previous gunners became casualties. He continued to man his machine gun until his ammunition was exhausted. His determined stand slowed the pace of the enemy advance in his sector, permitting the remnants of his unit to retreat southward. As the battle raged, Corporal Rubin was severely wounded and captured by the Chinese. Choosing to remain in the prison camp despite offers from the Chinese to return him to his native Hungary, Corporal Rubin disregarded his own personal safety and immediately began sneaking out of the camp at night in search of food for his comrades. Breaking into enemy food storehouses and gardens, he risked certain torture or death if caught. Corporal Rubin provided not only food to the starving Soldiers, but also desperately needed medical care and moral support for the sick and wounded of the POW camp. His brave, selfless efforts were directly attributed to saving the lives of as many as forty of his fellow prisoners. Corporal Rubin’s gallant actions in close contact with the enemy and unyielding courage and bravery while a prisoner of war are in the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.”

FILE -In this Sept. 23, 2005 file photo, President Bush presents the Medal of Honor to Cpl. Tibor Rubin, in the East Room at the White House. Rubin, a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor who joined the U.S. Army after his liberation from the Nazis and earned the Medal of Honor for heroism in the Korean War, has died in California. He was 86. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson, File) — **(AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson, File)**

A new book on his story; Single Handed, by Daniel M. Cohen, came out this past summer

Here, also, is a brief oral history from the late Mr. Rubin himself, who passed away this past December. May his memory be a blessing.

hatred of Jews, hoplophobia, Jewish history, mindset, Politics, resistance, Sellouts and traitors

Hasbara

October 23, 2016 Y.B. ben Avraham 5 Comments

Recently UNESCO passed a resolution, for the second time this year, attempting to sever the Jewish People, and the modern State of Israel, from Har Habayit; the Temple Mount. Yes, the leveled hilltop where the First & Second Temples stood. The exhibition of such raw hubris in that vote is jaw-dropping.

Lots of ruffled feathers ensued. The Chair of UNESCO distanced herself & even got death threats. Mexico fired their (Jewish) ambassador to the UN when he walked out. Others wanted a do-over.

This stupid vote, one of hundreds of stupid UN votes, is hardly the last. Some believe that Obama has at least one last nut-kick waiting for Israel, before he leaves office. Probably so.

During the past few weeks, I have also (against my better judgment) seen chunks of the second and third Presidential Debates between Mr. Trump & Mrs. Clinton. I was mostly interested in the tactical skills utilized and the degree of overt bias the “moderators” exhibited. Plenty there to chew on.

What surprised me, however, was when the 2^nd Amendment came up. Hillary was carefully prepped, and exhibited all the attributes of a skilled politician, masterfully stroking her “base” while proffering poll-tested, oleaginous, statements to the “undecided” voter.

Then, like a groggy man stepping in dog-poo in the dark, Mr. Trump maundered about, desperately trying to be all things to everyone. And failing, pitiably.

Most of the response to the UNESCO vote in the Jewish world has been the same time-worn things. Shock that the presumed leaders of the non-Jewish world still resent and hate them, despite numberless abasements and concessions, spanning two-thousand years of exile.

The tough-talkers typically fall back to established modes of “Hasbara”. Explanation. As if Titus, or Martin Luther, or Tomás de Torquemada, or Bogdan Chmielnicki, or Iosif Dzhugashvili, or Mohammed Amin al-Husseini, were merely misinformed about the true nature of the Jew and his mission in this World. Right.

Likewise, most of the 2^nd Amendment groups, starting with that greatest advocate for (and often actual author of) victim disarmament legislation, the National Rifle Association, mewl about. Mincing words, and sharpening their dagger to stab US in the back when the next NRA “A” rated legislator barks.

Think about that the next time some NRA stooge talks about how they oppose “new” laws and only want the Government to enforce “existing” gun laws. Ahhh… But, we all have to be reasonable. Right? Law abiding.

Law. Abiding.

Is a “law” that contravenes the plain wording of the Constitution a “law”? What if the Constitution was amended to require the gassing of the Gun-Owners, or Jews, or Muslims, or Gays, or Redheads?

A few Jews are openly calling for Israel to withdraw from fishhook stuffed things like the Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Government, and all that money. American taxpayers’ money.

Some folks have long argued that, history or not, being in the United Nations is a very bad thing (for both Israel, and the U.S., for that matter) and that they should get out. Now.

The late Mike Vandeboegh, of blessed memory, was steadfast in his resolve to both be immovable on principle, and savvy on tactics. To fight the fight, as much as was possible, with “clean hands”. A few… sadly, a very few… others in this fight, follow his example.

Most others are satisfied with 2^nd Amendment “hasbara”, and relying on the NRA & their Republican politicians “make the best deal we could get” in every future battle. The slow trudge into a muddy pit, I say.

Each of us has our “Line”. At least, I sure hope so. The point beyond which we will say “NO”, and mean it.

When do we say…NO? When do we MEAN IT? Worth thinking about.

Inspiration, mindset

Turning Around

October 11, 2016 Y.B. ben Avraham 1 Comment

teshuvah

Yesterday, Claire wrote a most inspiring post. It reminded me of a great, and true, story my rabbi told our congregation on the first day of Rosh Hashana services, this year.

Recently the rabbi received a phone call from someone in our town informing him that there was a survivor of the “camps”; a man in his 90’s, living not far away. They asked if the rabbi would mind making a visit.

Mind?! He jumped at the chance.

Going over, he envisioned a frail old man,… perhaps on his death-bed. Not at all. Old? Sure. But, alert, healthy, and mobile.

During their conversation, the man explained that since those dark days, for some seventy-five years, he had been angry… furious… with G-d.

Finally, his anger had abated. Once again, he wanted to grow closer to G-d, but did not know where, or how, to begin, after so much time had passed.

The rabbi immediately took out a pair of Tefillin, and helped the man remember how to put them on. He then guided the man through reciting the Shema, and a few other blessings and prayers.

Seventy-five years of estrangement, alienation and loss, had melted away in a few minutes of kindness and encouragement. Teshuvah at work

We all tend to focus on what appears wrong in this World. But, there is boundless good, everywhere we really look, as well.

sealed

Inspiration

HE is right here beside you.

October 2, 2016 Y.B. ben Avraham

A Jew blows a shofar, Ram's horn, while others pray as they perform Tasklikh, a Rosh Hashanah ritual for casting sins upon the waters, in front of the Mediterranean sea, in Ashdod, Israel, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011. Tasklikh is when Jews symbolically throw their sins into moving water during the New Year holiday of Rosh Hashana. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

It is not hidden from you nor far off. It is not in the heavens that you should say: Who shall go up for us to the heavens? Neither is it beyond the sea that you should say, Who shall go over the sea for us? It is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart that you may do it (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).

The best Rosh Hashanah wishes to everyone who joins us here at Zelman Partisans.

genocide, hatred of Jews, Jewish history

Two ‘Must Reads’ on the Hebron Massacre of 1929

August 24, 2016 Y.B. ben Avraham

HebronView-lg

Guest Post (via Israellycool.com):

Hebron 1929 – My Grandfather Never Forgot
by Rachel Steinmetz

“Hebron. The media loves to talk about Hebron. Just this afternoon, as I strolled through Manhattan, Hebron flashed before my eyes. The fire engine red news ticker on the Fox News building displayed an urgent story about Hebron. Something about settlers, building permits, casualty counts. I quickly turned the corner. Hours away from the 87th anniversary of the 1929 massacre and ethnic cleansing of the ancient Jewish community of Hebron, faux controversy over building permits for Jews seemed pretty grotesque.”

“The stories of Arabs storming Jewish homes while police casually watched has been written many times over and I won’t elaborate on the details, but the barbaric savagery which left 67 murdered and dozens injured is beyond belief. Over a couple of days, the Hebron community was wiped out and Jews in Jerusalem, Safed, Tel Aviv, Haifa and moshavim were attacked, maimed, raped, robbed, looted and murdered in a variety of creative ways. The casualty list is a lengthy one.”

Read the rest here.

Then, read this account; the “Megillat Chevron” by survivor Ahron Bernzweig.

The “situation in the region” is not “complex” at all. Some people just want you dead. Anywhere. Anytime. DEAD.

gun control, hatred of Jews, self defense

The Lesson of Yankel Rosenbaum

August 19, 2016 Y.B. ben Avraham 1 Comment

Yankel

Twenty-five years ago, following a tragic automobile accident, there was a pogrom in New York City. It was arguably led by Al Sharpton, and repeatedly excused at the highest levels of New York political elites. During the three days of full-out rioting, an Australian rabbinic student, Yankel Rosenbaum, was viciously murdered for the unpardonable crime of being a Jew. The perpetrators even pulled a non-Jewish, Italian man from his car and savagely beat him, thinking him a Jew.

So, in answer to the question, “Can _it_ happen, here?” It HAS happened here. And, it almost certainly will happen again.

Why?

Fully a quarter-century later, the government of New York City’s Five Boroughs steadfastly refuse to allow their citizens tools for effective self defense. Permission to have even a mundane, single-shot shotgun in your own home, is expensive, arduous, and complicated, in the extreme. More effective tools are far harder to legally possess. A handgun on your person? Hell, the NYPD & Cyrus Vance will put you in jail and clean out your wallet for carrying a simple lock-blade knife like the one we offer here at Zelman Partisans!

The enemies of human liberty are always angling to keep the rest of us on the plantation, cane knives chopped blunt, dependent upon them, and their permission, for every human need. To them, you, and your loved ones, are livestock.

Remember the lesson of Yankel Rosenbaum.

gun control

Copy-Paste

August 5, 2016 Y.B. ben Avraham

But, they promised…Right? Uh-huh. But, you’re not really surprised, are you? Here is the carefully, and soothingly worded, GAO report. Judge Andrew Napolitano noted: “It’s reprehensible, it violates federal law, it violates a Supreme Court opinion, it violates our natural right to self-defense, which is protected by the Second Amendment.” Exactly.

gun control, Israel, self defense

Feiglin: Give the Good Guys Guns

August 3, 2016 Y.B. ben Avraham 1 Comment

Feiglin

Rebellious and inspiring Israeli politician, Moshe Feiglin has penned a brief, but interesting piece on the Zehut website. In it he explores the question, “What would have happened … if Israel was a truly liberty-oriented state and the right to bear arms was a basic right for every upstanding citizen?” A fair question, and one increasingly apropos no matter where you live.

On a much more modest level, we also have this news item. It is a shame it has to be framed in the context of gender politics and post-service employment opportunity, but, if we must be reduced to fiddling around the edges, at least it is arguably in the right direction.