Hanan Ashrawi Is Not Only Arab Using Passover Blood Libel

In light of Hanan Ashrawi's MIFTAH promoting the Passover Blood Libel and Hanan Ashrawi's refusal to apologize, it is worthwhile pointing out other Arabs doing the same.

Professor Aaron Lerner posts a report from MEMRI that just this week, Lebanese daily Al-Sharq prints article: Jews Make Passover Matzah With The Blood Of Non-Jews:

On March 28, 2013, the Lebanese daily Al-Sharq published an article by Lebanese writer Sana Kojok that claimed that during Passover, the Jews eat matzah made with the blood of non-Jews. The article also called on the Palestinians to turn the Israelis' holiday from one of joy and pleasure into one of weeping and wailing.

Following are excerpts from the article:

"However, during the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins today, strange and bizarre rituals are held, according to instructions by the Talmud:
Houses are cleared of all leaven, that is, all bread and bread products containing yeast, which are called 'hametz' in Hebrew. Yesterday, they burned the bread in their homes because this needs to be done one day prior to the holiday.

"Additionally, on the holiday eve, the Zionist Jews eat unleavened bread which during its preparation is mixed with blood – but that blood must be from a non-Jew!! This unleavened bread is called 'matzah.'

"Imagine someone eating matzah made with blood!? How do these barbarians think?? Such barbaric behavior – even in eating and drinking?!

"Their 'precious' Talmud states: 'In certain cases, a man can kill a devil if he prepares the Passover matzah properly. The Jews have two blood-soaked events that satisfy God's will – one is the holiday of matzah containing human blood, and the other is the circumcision of our children...'

"The matzah referred to here is the matzah of the Jewish holiday of Passover!

"Today, they are not satisfied only with eating their blood-soaked matzah. Today, [there is a call] for settlers to invade the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque and celebrate Passover [there].

"How can the world expect us to negotiate with people who crave the blood of human beings – not only in their wars, but even in their holidays?? If they want to conduct their ceremonies and their witchcraft, let them do so – but without provoking Palestinian feelings, and without harming the holy tenets
of Christianity and Islam.

"Their damned Talmud neither respects nor recognizes any monotheistic religion. The Palestinians should challenge the Zionist aggressors and turn their holiday from one of joy and pleasure at the taste of blood into one of weeping and wailing."

One can only wonder if Kojok feels the same abhorrence towards Hamas terrorists who not only target innocent civilians -- but proclaim their eagerness to drink Jewish blood:



Hat tip: EDS
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Technorati Tag: Hanan Ashrawi and Gaza and Hamas and Operation Pillar of Defense.

Hanan Ashrawi Refuses To Apologize For Blood Libel Smear -- Goes On Attack Instead

Does Obama in fact know the relationship, for example, between "Passover" and "Christian blood" ..?!
Or "Passover" and "Jewish blood rituals..?!
Much of the chatter and gossip about historical Jewish blood rituals in Europe are real and not fake as they claim; the Jews used the blood of Christians in the Jewish Passover ...
Nawaf al-Zaru, in Hanan Ashrawi's MIFTAH

In response to Elder of Ziyon's post about Passover blood libel in Hanan Ashrawi's "Miftah" website, Ashrawi's first response was to remove the offensive post from the MIFTAH without comment or apology.

Hanan Ashrawi claims article promoting Passover Blood
Libel was posted to create open dialogue. So why was it posted
 only in Arabic? Credit: Wiki Commons

Now, however, Ashrawi has gone on the attack, posting the following statement in English on the MIFTAH website:

Does Hanan Ashrawi Believe Passover Blood Libel?

We are still waiting for Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian spokesperson, to respond after the vicious Antisemitic article published by her organization, MIFTAH.

Elder of Ziyon writes about Passover blood libel in Hanan Ashrawi's "Miftah" website, noting first how MIFTAH describes itself:

MISSION

Established in Jerusalem in December 1998, with Hanan Ashrawi as its Secretary-General, MIFTAH seeks to promote the principles of democracy and good governance within various components of Palestinian society; it further seeks to engage local and international public opinion and official circles on the Palestinian cause. To that end, MIFTAH adopts the mechanisms of an active and in-depth dialogue, the free flow of information and ideas, as well as local and international networking.[emphasis added]

Hanan Ashrawi: Does she really believe Jews
 use the blood of Christians to bake Matzahs
 on Passover? Credit: Wiki Commons

The key paragraph in the article is:

Jonathan Rosenblum: Pesach: the Gift of the Future

Pesach: the Gift of the Future

by Jonathan Rosenblum
Jerusalem Post
April 17, 2011

At the beginning of Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert speculates on the essential difference between human beings and animals. He conclusion: Only humans plan for the future. No animal ever delayed gratification in anticipation of some future benefit.

Gilbert's insight was preceded by our Sages. At the beginning of parashas Tazria, the Midrash quotes a verse from Tehillim: Achor ve'kedem tzartani. . . (Tehillim139:5). Reish Lakish interprets achor to refer to the last day – yom acharon – ve'kedem to refer to the first day. Even the animals have a first day, but only human beings have a yom acharon, a future to which they are striving.

Everything that an animal will ever be is included in its initial genetic material, whereas a human being has the potential to change his nature according to his capacity to reflect on the purpose of his life.

Who Wants To Be A Pesach Millionaire?

Here is the introduction to a game, by Adina and David Lederer, that you can do at the seder table for the kids -- I've posted it before, and thought it was time to post it again. At the end of the introduction below, there is a link to the questions for the game (3 versions) and a separate link to the answers, as word documents.

Have a Chag Kasher V'Sameach.

Who Wants To Be A Pesach Millionaire?

Who Wants To Be A Pesach Millionaire?
Revised 5761

Introduction

As we wrote last year, one of the primary mitzvot of seder night is to tell over the story of our Exodus from Egypt (Sipur Yeziat Mitrayim). As parents to young children, we have a challenge to keep our kids interested during seder night in order to help us fulfill this mitzva. After hearing one of our friends telling us how he makes up Torah-related questions in “millionaire” format for his then 5 year old son who watches the show with him, we thought of creating a Pesach version of the game to play with our young children over Pesach.

Rabbi Shafran on Passover: What's With The Fours?

What's With The Fours?

Rabbi Avi Shafran (from 2010)


Despite the late hour and exhaustion (not to mention wine), many a Jewish mind has wondered long and hard during a Passover Seder about all the Haggadah’s “fours.” Four questions, four sons, four expressions of redemption, four cups. There’s clearly a numerical theme here.

While some may superficially dismiss the Haggadah as a mere collection of random verses and songs, it is in truth a subtle and wondrous educational tool, with profound Jewish ideas layered through its seemingly simple text. The rabbis who formulated its core, already extant in pre-Talmudic times, wanted it to serve to plant important concepts in the hearts and minds of its readers – especially its younger ones, toward whom the Seder, our tradition teaches, is aimed. And so the author of the Haggadah employed an array of pedagogical methods, including songs, riddles and puzzles, as means of conveying deeper understandings. And he left us some clues, too.

Video: The Maccabeats: Les Misérable, A Passover Story

With Passover approaching, here is the new Maccabeats video for Pesach.

Have a Chag Kasher V'Sameach:

From YU: Pesach To-Go 5773 Shiurim

You can download Pesach To Go as a PDF document or download any of the individual shiurim separately:

Video: Latma Presents An Israeli Soldier's Song to the World for Passover

Latma brings you a word from proud Israeli soldiers and wishes a Happy and Kosher Passover to our wonderful soldiers, and to the entire Jewish people and our friends in Israel and throughout the world.

Egypt Plagued By Swarm of Locusts Before Passover

Having trouble getting into the Pesach mood?

Arutz Sheva is reporting that Egypt Struck by Swarm of Locusts Ahead of Passover:

As a reminder to those who thought the account related in the Passover Haggadah might have been an exaggeration – think again. Millions of locusts have swooped down in a swarm from the sky on to the land of Egypt.

Video: Latma: Happy Passover Bro!

Latma sends Passover greetings to all Jews to the tune of the great Aretha Franklin's immortal song Think!

A CHRISTIAN'S VIEW OF PESACH: Yid With Lid quotes from an article by Dr Giles Fraser, the vicar of Putney, about reclaiming the message of Passover. But first, Yid With Lid relates some ideas he heard from his rabbi about how Chazal picked the particular Parsha and Haftorah for Shabbos Chol HaMoed.

Technorati Tag: Pesach and Giles Fraser.

THE HAGGADAH THAT CHALLENGED HITLER: Dr. Rafael Medoff, director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, writes:

One of the most popular haggadahs in the world almost didn’t make it into print – because nervous publishers were afraid that some of its illustrations might offend Adolf Hitler.

Read the whole thing.

Technorati Tag: Haggadah and Arthur Szyk and Hitler and Pesach.

THE CORRECT WAY TO BREAK A MATZAH IN HALF: Random Thoughts has the definitive video--in Japanese.

Technorati Tag: Pesach and Matzah.

CHAG KASHER V'CANINE: Maybe next year--Canine Kosher for Pesach Inspections

Technorati Tag: Pesach.

SEDER SURVEY: Elie's Expositions is taking a Pesach Seder Poll.

Technorati Tag: Passover.

TRIBUTE TO RABBI AVROHOM BLUMENKRANTZ ZT"L: The Jewish Star [PDF format] has a sheloshim tribute to Rabbi Blumenkrantz on page 3. More info on the paper is here.

Technorati Tag: Rabbi Avrohom Blumenkrantz and Pesach and Passover.

FOR THE KIDS--AND PARENTS--AT THE SEDER: I posted about this last year: a game based on the popular TV show: Who Wants To Be A Pesach Millionaire.

Technorati Tag: Pesach and Passover.

MMMMMMMMM, KITNIYOT....Esser Agaroth has a post on the Beis Din of Machon Shiloh that has come out with a psak that all Jews in Israel can eat kitniyot--including Ashkenazim.

Update: Hirhurim:

Did R. Avraham Kook eat kitniyos? Did R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach eat kitniyos? They knew everything contained in this ruling and still kept their family customs.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Pesach and Passover and Kitniyot.

TURNING OVER--FROM PURIM TO PESACH: In an article from several years ago by Rabbi Shafran:

THE MAGNIFICENCE IN THE MUNDANE

Rabbi Avi Shafran

With the approach of spring, the synagogue Torah-reading segued from accounts of the seminal events of Jewish peoplehood, the exodus from Egypt and the revelation at Sinai – to a series of social laws, like oxen goring one another and penalties for thieves. And then, another transition, to the painstaking details of constructing the Tabernacle and its vessels, and the laws of sacrifices.

The two holidays of the season, Purim and Passover, although mere weeks apart, also differ markedly in tone.

The staple of our recently celebrated Passover Seders (besides, of course, the matzo and wine) was the grand narrative of the exodus from Egypt; the commemoration was all miracle and majesty. How different from the Purim that preceded it, where so hidden was G-d’s hand that there is no overt mention of Him in the Book of Esther. In fact, the narrative of the deliverance of ancient Persian Jewry can easily (if wrongly) be read entirely as a sort of Shakespearean comedy, with fortuitous coincidences taking the place of divine intervention.

A lesson of the odd juxtapositions may be that holiness permeates not only the miraculous but the mundane. G-d, indeed, is “in the details.”

The details of the Torah’s laws and the details of history. The payment due the owner of a damaged ox no less than keeping the Sabbath day; the subtle miracle of Purim, no less than the splitting of the Red Sea.

In fact, Judaism teaches that G-d inheres even in the minutiae of daily life. Ours is a religion where every area and moment of human endeavor is sublimated by the law – or, better “the proper way,” a more precise translation of the word “halacha.”

From the first words we speak upon arising in the morning (the “Modeh Ani” declaration of gratitude for another day of life) until the final ones before retiring (the “Hamapil” prayer that we be “laid to sleep in peace and be raised up in peace”); from what we wear to what we eat; from how we speak to how we act toward others; an observant Jew’s every utterance and action is governed by the Torah’s directives. Nothing is mundane.

And more: Not only are our words and actions to reflect G-d’s immanence, so are our mindsets. When we ponder the world, we must try to discern G-d’s hand, which is ubiquitous if not always obvious. As a keen rabbi once put it: “Seas split every day, but only sensitive eyes notice.” That is true about history – the Jewish people’s perseverance a case in point – but also with regard to our immediate physical surroundings, the constant miracles so easily taken for granted.

Perhaps that is why the same season of the year that presents such contrasts in both its Torah-portions and its holidays, is also the time for a special blessing that can be made no other time of year.

It comes from a category of blessings pronounced upon witnessing certain natural phenomena (like a rainbow, or thunder and lightning), and is made only once each year, in the early spring, upon seeing two or more fruit-bearing trees in bloom.

“Blessed are You, G-d, King of the universe,” it begins, as all such blessings do, “Who has omitted nothing from His universe, and created within it lovely creatures and lovely trees, to bring pleasure to human beings.”

The springtime tree-blessing, fittingly made as we experience a contrast in climate, winter’s darkness and cold giving way to spring’s light and life, helps us focus on what we might all too easily overlook, lost as we all too often become, in “more important” concerns.

It makes us stop and look at something commonplace – not even the forest, just the trees – and see within the beauty of their blossoms a loving gift from G-d.

It compels us, faced with the mundane, to perceive the magnificent.

© 2007 AM ECHAD RESOURCES

[Rabbi Shafran is director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America]

Technorati Tag: Purim and Pesach.