"If there is no flour there is no Torah; if there is no Torah, there is no flour." - Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah

An antagonist who contributes regularly to the Tzfat Yahoo! forum asked: Doesn't our Torah have enough commandments concerning helping the poor and the poor's welfare?

I answered: You sound as though there are so many that they are a burden to you. You should cherish those mitzvot above all others and those are the mitzvot that you should perform most assiduously.

Why do I say this? Because they are the mitzvot that are the conditions upon which all of the other mitzvot can be carried out.

"If there is no flour there is no Torah; if there is no Torah, there is no flour." - Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah

I'll quote that again: "If there is no flour there is no Torah; if there is no Torah, there is no flour." - Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah

That statement does not mean that there is no Torah only for those who have no flour. It means that there is no Torah for the ones hardening their hearts, or making of themselves luftmenschen, and not seeing to it that everyone has flour (and water, clothes, shoes, housing, inoculation, education and the conditions under which every individual can grow to her or his maximum Spiritual-Moral, mental, emotional and physical potential).

It is because I see the poor in this country becoming increasing beggared and more and more people falling into poverty, that I feel absolutely confident in saying there is no Torah in Israel. If there was one-third of the children in Israel would not be under the poverty line and they would not be going to school hiding the roll the have from others so that no one will see it has nothing on it, the elderly and infirmed would not be eating out of garbage cans and widows would not have their electricity turned off in the winter.

You stated: It seems to me, there are scores of commandments requiring compassion to the poor; forbidding oppressing the poor.

I responded: And are they being fulfilled? Are people as careful to do those mitzvot as they are when choosing their "glatt" chickens? No! They (maybe) give their 10% tzeddakah and a few hours of their time to help others, which only perpetuates the misery. They do not fulfill the commanment: Unloose the shackles of injustice. They do not go up against the system that creates and perpetuates poverty.

He went on to inquire: Why do we need a philosphy that is not rooted in Torah?

I responded: Do you not see that what I am saying is pure Torah? Shame on your teachers!

From the day that Avraham smashed his father's idols Judaism has been nothing but radical social transformation. Anyone who isn't smashing the idols that keep us in thrall, poor and subject to corrupt regimes is not of the covenant of Avraham, has not begun to understand what that covenant is.

Anarchy is not a philosophy from outside Torah. Anarchy is the mitzvot "concerning helping the poor and the poor's welfare" with the utmost punctiliousness and assiduousness.

Why do you think the old Jew blessed Rudolph Rocker after he helped the Jewish workers win their demands in a strike in 1912?

I once took a course with a rabbi on tzadakah. At one point he stated that there must always be poor people so that we can do the mitzvah of giving tzaddakah. I left his course and have not read a word that he has to say since. He went down to credibility zero with me when he said that. The cruelty that passes itself off as Torah in this generation is absolutely astounding.

We may be sure that even in a society of Anarcho-Communalism, in which all of our physical needs are provided for; there will be endless opportunities for us to give emotional tzaddakah; to help those who need us in numerable ways and to be helped by others in innumerable ways.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

A Jew Who Knew

Rudolph Rocker was a German non-Jew who devoted his life to ameliorating the conditions of the working poor Jews in London at the start of the 20th C.

He learned Yiddish so well that he became the editor of the Yiddish Anarchist papers Dos Fraye Vort (The Free Word), Der Arbeiter Freint (The Workers Friend) and Germinal.

For his efforts he was detained by the British for years as an "alien enemy of the state".

Shortly after leading Jewish sweatshop workers to victory in a 1912 strike he recalled:

"As I was walking along a narrow Whitechapel street, an old Jew with a long white beard stopped me outside his house, and said: “May God bless you! You helped my children in their need. You are not a Jew, but you are a man!” This old man lived in a world completely different from mine. But the memory of the gratitude that shone in those eyes has remained with me all these years."
THE LONDON YEARS, the last page of Chapter 23 – Workers' Circle. The Great Strike.

In 1912, you may be sure, that an old Jew with a long white beard knew the halakhah.

How many Jews today can honestly say they would do for the Jews what the gentile German Rocker did?

Today, far too many Jews who fancy themselves Orthodox and knowledgeable in Torah would dismiss Rocker as a "sheigitz" or perhaps try to shame him publicly for being an "abominable" Anarchist, or proffer a description of his "touched" personality based on an astrological chart, or throw in his face that his father celebrated Christmas or speculate on his mental state or call him a "freak". (See the Yahoo! group "Tzfat" in order to understand to what I am referring.)

But we all know deep in our heart of hearts that the Jew with the long white beard who was already old in 1912 was the real thing. May God bless him as he blessed those who helped the (secular, Anarchistic) Jews, who he called his children, in their need.

And thank God for a gentile who bothered to learn Yiddish so he could help the Jews, who recorded the words of that old Jew, immortalizing him, so that the voice of true Judaism can still be heard today by Jews like me who yearn to hear it but so very rarely do.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

Need Another Reason to Live in Tzfat? - The Laughs! Try Pluto and Goofy On For Size This Time

http://tinyurl.com/yxwrgc

I have posted twice or thrice on the IAS site. Does that make me a "major contributor"? Another person on the board said I am a "member" of IAS. What does that mean prey tell?

FYI: "vey iz mir" is a transliteration of the Yiddish. It means 'woe is me'.

Question: Does the poster mean Winny the Pooh-Pooh?

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

Corruption in Israel

Five hundred people were surveyed by the Israeli branch of Transparency International.

Corruption, for the purpose of the study, is defined as "the use of political or other power for the advancement of personal interests".

The results, according to a report that appeared on Dec. 12, 2006 of "Kol HaIr", one of the local papers of Tzfat, edition 640, are the following:

66% said that the current gov't does not do enough to fight corruption.

55% said that corruption negatively affects their personal quality of life.

81% said that corruption negatively affects the business enviornment.

86% said that corruption negatively affects quality of gov't.

16% said they believe that the gov't actively encourages corruption.

4% admitted to giving bribes during the past year. (We can assume that this is a very small percentage of those who actually did give bribes. Admitting to doing so is admitting to committing a crime and most people will, understandably, be reluctant to do so, even on a supposedly anonymous survey.)

Add to these results, the recent finding that 92% of Israeli businesses do not conduct themselves in accordance with labor laws.

How, I ask you HOW, can Torah flourish in such an enviornment?

Take the most well-meaning, religious man. He gets up in the morning, does netilat yadayim...has his brakhot as he dresses...goes to shul, dons t'fellin...Learns a blat Gemorrah...

Then, he goes to work. Because he has, b'li ayin hara, a family he, if he's a salaried employee, will keep his mouth shut if he sees his boss cheating. He will do what he is told, even if it is not on the "up and up". He will let himself be abused by his boss who, 92 chances out of 100 on the average, is cheating him of what is coming to him.

If he's an independent, he has to compete with others in the field. He may have loans with the banks in astronomical figures and tens of thousands of shekels is held in escrow by his suppliers.

What does that do to him?

How can he have a crooked heart and tongue all day and then be pure when he sits down to learn Torah, or when he does a mitzvah?

That is what is called: "Ablution in a mikveh while holding a serpent."

First, and I'm going to keep pestering and nudging until this is understood, first we build a just society - then we can go about the business of learning and doing Torah as we should.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Israel, Tzfat
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

A Reason to Live in Tzfat - Probably the Best

Someone wrote the following to me on another board: "Let me know if you ever get off your duff in the periphery, and come down to the center of the country to actually DO something constructive regarding the things you write about."

I answered:

The revolution that I am starting, and of late reverberations of which are reaching me, is centered in Tzfat, not in the center of the country. Just today, the following magnificent quote was sent to me by someone who participates in a Tzfat list "May God veil you from the exterior of the religious law, and may he reveal to you the reality of infidelity. For the exterior of the religious law is a hidden idolatry, while the reality of infidelity is a manifest gnosis."

That quote is astounding coming from someone who is Orthodox.

It is here in Tzfat that religious sentiment runs high. It is here in Tzfat that the religious fervor, which should be being directed into creating a just society but is being intercepted and channeled for their own purposes by nefarious interests is to be found. It has been that way for 500 years. What happens in Tzfat religiously sets the tone for what happens in the Jewish world at large. Religion is big business.

I'm undermining their clientele.

Too many of the people in the center of the country are like you - Jewish ignoramuses who are so mired in the material that they cannot dredge themselves out of the mire. That is not material to work with to bring about a moral-spiritual revolution.

Like you, they are servomechanisms too inured to be able to appreciate the beauty and absolute necessity of being dedicated to righteousness and justice - for all. Like you, it is enough to just have cushy conditions for them and theirs.

Like you, the highest value they are capable of cherishing is working like an army of ants.

I am gearing my efforts toward those who become religious for many of the right reasons and are led down the path to perdition by unscrupulous, charasmatic "rabbis" whose job it is to deflect those precious Souls from finding the starting and jumping off point of Judaism, which is, and always has been radical social transformation.

Proudon, who was also from the "periphery" (the County of Burgundy), was urged to emigrate to America by a friend who feared for his life in France. He answered: "It is here, I tell you, here under the sabre of Napoleon, under the rod of the Jesuits and the spy-glass of the secret service, that we have to work for the emancipation of mankind. There is no sky more prpitious for us, no earth form fruitful."

Proudhon considered himself a failure toward the end of his life. He was not able to launch the revolution he envisionsed. History, however, recalls him as the father of Anarchy and his works are de rigueur for every student of Socialsim and Socialist economics. Marx, whom he dubbed "the tapeworm of Socialism", pleaded with him to collaborate. He refused.

Proudhon did succeed, though he did not live to eat the fruit of his success. No longer are the French under the sabres of dictators. No longer are they under the rod of the Jesuits. No longer are they under the spy-glass of the secret service.

I do not do what I do for the sake of making a name for myself in posterity. But I can tell you that my chances of my efforts being remembered in history are far greater than any in your army of servomechanisms.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

Genuine Religious Jews

Jews inspired by genuine Divine afflatus do not engage overmuch in ceremonies, nor do they speak in clichés, quoting others verbatim by rote.

They are not overly punctilious and scrupulous about ritual purity and they do not carry out formulaic actions obsessively-compulsively.

They do not care a whit about their own salvation and nothing they do is for the sake of ensuring an eternal place of rest and joy for themselves.

They act in, rather than speak of, love.

They do not wax pontifical or esoteric. They concern themselves with the needs of human beings qua human beings.

They do not sacrifice the material levels of our beings for the sake of the "spiritual" levels.

They do not profit from the encouraging and teaching of others to observe ritual.

They do not claim immaculate morality on the part of their teachers; neither do they claim that they their tradition or their teachers are infallible.

They do not set themselves up and judge and jury over humankind.

The only abomination they recognize is injustice and the misuse of power.

They need no social acceptance or group to be part to know what they should do or give them a sense of identity. They are strong enough to stand alone, all alone, if need be.

Their every action, the very purpose of their lives and their entire being is given over to the alleviation of the suffering of humankind.

Injustice is intolerable to them and they fight for justice for all no matter what the personal price they must pay for it.

Gustav Landauer, Emma Goldman, Alexander Berkman, Saul Alinsky, Martin Buber and Murray Bookchin were religious Jews. They carried within them the whole of Torah. The received and passed on the torch of the Prophets of Israel. This was true despite the protestations of some of them that they were atheists. It is recorded of Emma Goldman, the self-professed atheist Anarchist, that: "A rabbi who heard her lecture a large conference of clergymen on atheism probably came closer than the public to understanding her antireligious stand. "In spite of al Miss Goldman has said against religion", he announced, "she is the most religious person I know." (RED EMMA SPEAKS, An Emma Goldman Reader, Compiled and Edited by Alex Kates Shulman, Preface to Part Two; Published 1998 by Humanity Books, an imprint of Prometheus Books)

It is certainly be true that some Jews who adhere to the minutiae of Jewish Law may be true Orthodox Jews, but this is true if and only if they do so in addition to devoting their entire lives to the amelioration of the human condition and the alleviation of human suffering. Their performance of the minutiae of Jewish Law is not that which defines them at genuine Orthodox Jews. That is a mere appurtenance. Their devotion to justice is that which defines them as genuine Orthodox Jews.

Those who teach Jewish Law in such a way that it comes in lieu of acting in the world for the betterment of human kind; if it obviates doing so; if it becomes so all-demanding, time-consuming and burdensome that there is no strength or time for fighting injustice; if the observance of Jewish Law imparts the illusion of being absolutely right and just; if it attenuates the desire to right wrongs or puts off the doing so for the Mashiach to take care of; if it brings one to believe that each of us has only to tend to our own imperfections – then we may be entirely sure that what we have is not Judaism at all, but an ersatz, painstakingly deliberately fabricated and purposefully promulgated in order to confound us, to keep our energies invested in that which will avail nothing and deflect us from our duties by nefarious interests.

A great deal of money, ink and blood is being poured in order to keep Jews distracted from our true purpose and our true values. This is as true of the religious segments of our society as it is of the secular segments. The only difference is the methods being employed in order to dissipate our energies.

History has proven that Jews who are devoted to justice en masse are invincible. It is then that HaShem performs miracles for us.

Every effort is being made, in the religious and secular worlds alike, to prevent us from knowing who we truly are, what our purpose in creation is, from mobilizing in unison, reaching a critical mass of power and changing the course of the world. We can do it. We have done so before. If we were not capable of changing the world, so much investment would not be being invested in atomizing us and reducing our strength.

Do not be fooled. Do not be misled. Do not be bought. Do not be enthralled. Do not be enticed. Do not be led astray.

We Jews were put here for the sake of participating in the creation of a just world with every other and for every other sentient being.

Let nothing, but nothing, be it pseudo-religious principles or iPods and other things that go beep in the night steer you away from what you are and what your designated tasks are.

The Hebrew version of this essay is to be found on the following URL: http://tinyurl.com/yfnud6

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

THE LEAVING FOR THE SAKE OF THE RETURN

One can keep kashrut out of a need to belong, keep Shabbat out of fear of what their family and neighbors will say and keep Taharat HaMisphachah out of desire for a place in the world to come... - all without loving HaShem with one's entire being.

But no one devotes their entire life to humanity, consistently over the period of a lifetime, unless they love HaShem completely and are devoted to HaShem in a way that the Orthodox can only feign being. That devotion need not be conscious, but it is there.

Am I conflated? Am I making a shatnez of Torah and secular ethics? In fact, there is nothing that I have written that is not pure Torah.

Ideally a Jew should keep the mitzvot and serve humanity. They do not only not contradict; they are supplementary one to the other.

However, Judaism as it is currently taught and practiced, with all of the chumrot and minhagim that have been added to Torah (in contravention of the injunction not to add to Torah!) does not allow for the performance of both those mitzvot that bring down holiness into the physical plane and the social service aspects of Torah - both of which are essential and should be performed in such a way that they enable and advance one the other.

We have been taught in Chassidut about the principle of the descent for the purpose of the ascent.

In our times, time of darkness and blindness we are in need of a more radical cure for our moral-spiritual ills. We are in need of the leaving for the sake of the return.The only solution to the problem is to leave this farce that we are told is Torah and build a just society that is not based on greed and violence and power-hungriness. In such a society there will be no incentives for Rabbis who serve the power structure to distort Torah and make it into shackles and manacles that bind the mind, the heart and Soul. In such a society Torah can be rediscovered in its pristine purity because there won't be a power structure that will have interests in making the populace spiritual slaves and moral cripples.Torah has been so horribly misrepresented, so grossly misunderstood and so abused as an instrument of mind and behavior control that the only way to return to it is by leaving what we think is Torah, but is not.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

I've begun another web site. Yes, yes, yet another.

I had no choice. This topic must be aired.

The site is called Critique of Judaism and is to be found on the following URL:

http://tinyurl.com/yed5pe

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

Traces of Child Sacrifice in Orthodox Judaism

The original article, entitled הכוח להתמודד, להמשיך ולהתחזק, which appeared in גיליון מס' 1037 of שיחת השבוע on November 17, 2006 can be found on the following URL: http://tinyurl.com/yh3mtw.

The Hebrew version of this essay, entitled: אבק זבח ילדים ביהדות חרדית can be found on the following URL: http://tinyurl.com/ssy5a.

Yet more articles and a video can be found on the following site: http://tinyurl.com/yffen4 .

As reported in the article, eight-year-old Chiah-Muska Attiyah of blessed memory, daughter of Rabbi Victor Attiyah and his wife Devorah, was playing with matches in the back yard of their home. Some dried schach (the covering of the succah, which is usually highly flammable dried, thin branches, leaves and the like) in the yard caught fire, as did the girl's dress. Her younger brother told her to take the dress off. She refused to take the burning dress off even as she was engulfed in flames because "it's not modest". "It's not modest" is a formula that is drilled into the heads of Orthodox girls from the time they are three years old. From that age they begin to wear dresses that cover their knees by a few inches, with high necklines, long sleeves and opaque stockings. They are taught to dress and undress under a blanket. If their dress goes over their knee while sitting, running, playing - anything they are reprimanded: "It's not modest!" Modesty for an Orthodox girl is everything.

Chiah Mushke died.

She died because the lesson of being modest was drilled into her more than the overriding principle that saving a life, including her own, precludes all else. Her younger brother did know that either because as a boy he was better schooled than she or because, still being so young, he was reacting with natural common sense. God only knows the effect the experience had on her brother. The worst of it is that neither her father, the head of the Chaba"d house in Kiryat Arba-Chevron, nor his community and large circle of friends seem to have learned anything from the terrible incident. As we see from the site above, Rabbi Attiyah addressed an audience of 600 girls wherein he praised the virtue of modesty. He said nothing about his daughter not understanding the virtue of modesty properly or that saving one's life takes precedence over being modest.

It is of no especial import that the family is Chaba"d. It could have happened in any ultra-Orthodox family. In fact, most of the Orthodox who have heard this story seem to think that as regrettable and tragic as it is, it was unavoidable and that the girl did the right thing.Rather than asking himself if his understanding of Jewish Law and the way he was promulgating it is incorrect; the Rabbi is digging in his heels and building a large school in his daughter's honor wherein they will disseminate the self-same teachings. There isn't the merest hint that the teachings of female modesty in the school being built in her memory will be revised from the way in which she was taught.

There is no intimation in the incident, as reported, that either the family of the child, Chiah-Mushka Attiyah, of blessed memory, or any of the thousands of people who attended the funeral and contacted the family during the mourning period thereafter see this as anything other than a story of the ultimate "self-sacrifice" for the sake of the grand principle of female modesty. She is being hailed as a precocious paragon of female Orthodox Jewish virtue.

It is a perversion of our religion to think that it is in any ways right that a child should die for the sake of modesty. There are only three mitzvot that a Jew who is ben or bat mitzvah must die rather than commit: They are: incest, idol worship and the shedding of innocent blood – known by the acronym גע"ש.

If there be among you anyone who might think that an eight-year-old engulfed in flames taking off her dress in front of her younger brother constitutes the sin of incest, consider that in the time that she said: "It's not modest!", she could have said: "Turn away!"

There is an element of child sacrifice in this incident that is blood chilling and wholly inimical to Judaism as I learned it.

There was always a strain of this type of approach in Judaism, but it was a strain and nothing more. The vast majority of Orthodox Jews were rational and common sensical. That was even true among those who learned the Kabbalah. I remember Jews as being very rational from my childhood, speaking of "luftmenschkeit" with utter disdain. This fanaticism is now the norm in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish world. This fanaticism is growing and becoming more dangerous, even fatal. We see the execrable violence in Orthodox/non-Orthodox relations. We see it in factional violence even within the same group of Orthodox Jews. We now see it in the death of children who have not even attained the age of being b'nei and b'not mitzvah.

I recall two stories of extreme modesty in women, two women who are held up as models of the modesty. The first is that of a woman by the name of Kimchit, the story of whom is related here: http://tinyurl.com/y4w23u . Note that the site says of Kimchit: "She was rewarded with seven sons who served as High Priests. We see from this story that a woman’s covering her hair in private is highly praiseworthy." Let's examine these comments. Is having seven sons who were High Priests a reward? The High Priesthood was an office for life from the time it was assumed. In order for a High Priest to be replaced by another he had to die or be otherwise incapacitated or found incapable or unworthy to continue the function. It is not a natural state that in the space of the lifetime of seven brothers they all serve as High Priests. Clearly, something is very wrong in this story. Indeed, the Talmud relates an explanation of this story that appears contrived and unconvincing, as we see here: http://tinyurl.com/yaoulz . Moreover, it is said that other women likewise did not let the beams of their house "see" their hair. Surely there was another reason why all seven of Kimchit's sons become High Priests. The text would have us understand that she did something meritorious in addition to being very careful about covering her hair. Perhaps the fact that those seven men grew up in a home in which the wrong aspects of Torah were overly stressed contributed to the fact that they did not serve as High Priests in a normal, natural way. Perhaps a woman being so punctilious about covering her hair in private that the "walls of her house do not "see" her hair is not so "praiseworthy" after all. Perhaps it is unhealthy fanaticism, which always comes at the expense of doing mitzvoth correctly and putting the emphasis on serving humanity.

The second story of a model of female modesty is that of a woman who pinned her dress to her legs so that when she was dragged through the streets to her death by horses no one would see her legs. The story, entitled "שלש מתנות", part 3, by י"ל פרץ can be found in Hebrew on the following URL: http://tinyurl.com/yn27u9 . This is a story that recounts a grown woman, a woman who is bat mitzvah. She was designated for death in the brutal way described immediately above by Gentile authorities. Rather than give them the satisfaction of seeing her utterly humiliated, she pinned her dress to the flesh of her legs so that they would not be seen. Obviously, that must have been very painful. It was a brave and noble act of defiance and retaining her dignity to the last.

Eight-year-old Chiah-Mushka Attiyah, of blessed memory, was in no way in the same position. She could have and should have taken off her dress. She would have in no way been compromising her self. She made the ultimate compromise of herself for nothing, for absolutely nothing – because she was incorrectly educated in Jewish Law.

This story haunts me for many reasons

Looking at the pictures of the lovely children Chiah Mushke, of blessed memory, and her siblings on the site (http://www.chabad-hebron.com/345.html) we see healthy, happy children. They are immaculately clean. They are well dressed. There isn't a spot on their clothes, not so much as a wrinkle. Not one hair is out of place. They are obviously the recipients of great love and devotion. They also obviously love one another profoundly. There isn't the merest hint of neglect.

There is no doubt in my mind that the girls were educated to overweening צניעות (modesty) out of the sincere desire to protect them. The problem is, צניעות (modesty) seems to have been used as a kind of fetish and the *only* fence of protection. They were obviously not taught the whole battery of survival skills that we all need.

Chiah Mushke was playing with matches, which there is every reason to assume that she knew was forbidden. From this we learn that she had the spunk to be a bit naughty.

So, why was she not a bit "naughty" enough to go against Torah to save her life, assuming she did not know that פקוח נפש (saving a life) is a מצוה (mitzvah, commandment, good deed), and not an עברה (sin, transgression)?

Why was the will to survive so attenuated in this child? Was it a function of her education as an ultra-Orthodox female child, education geared toward creating women who will be utterly devoted to others, never thinking of their own welfare. I am apt to think that this occurred as a result of a wholly distorted concept of בטול (self-effacement, negation of the ego) and that is the reason why this story haunts me so.

God protect us if this is what "Ufaratztah" (the spreading of Jewish teaching and practice) means. May God prevent the spreading of such "teaching" of such "Chassidus" (piety; devotion; virtue; Hassidism).

Please do not misunderstand me. I am convinced that Rabbi and Rebbetzen Attiyah are lovely and loving people. I am sure that there intentions are only good. The problem is that they are terribly misled. Herein lies the problem with Judaism today - the confusion, the ignorance, the reversal of priorities and the superstition that passes for halakhah.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

Chaba"dnikim from Tzfat Riot at Chaba"d Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn

http://tinyurl.com/ygz7jb



Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

Reasons Not to Live in Tzfat? How about the fact that the ultra-Orthodox in the town (they are a large percent of the population) think they have the right to decide who should live and who should die?

See: Yahoo! Groups Tzfat

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tzfat/?yguid=71722259

Message 3325: "No pervert demonstration should ever be allowed in Israel.This sort of demonstration can lose us the country.The Torah recommends the death penalty for chutzpah of this sort-and quite rightly.Perverts should be ashamed of their perversion and keep it out of the public eye."

Message 3326: "Amein. And homosexuality is in fact a perversion. No one can argue that. What? In today’s world perversion is ok? Well DUH! LOL Perversion has always been around. Individuals are destroyed by it, just as they always were. Families are destroyed by it, just as they are today. In fact, entire cities were destroyed because of it."

:0(

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat (Safed), Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

Reason Not to Live in Tzfat? Here's a BIGGIE.

NO ONE, but me, is condemning the violence on the part of the Charedim in demonstrating against the Gay Parade.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

תגובה על: אנחנו עדיין ממתינים להסברים על התנהלות העירייה במהלך המלחמה

www.gnews.co.il

1077, 1078

קבוצת דר' שטרן לא מרפה: אנחנו עדיין ממתינים להסברים על התנהלות העירייה במהלך המלחמה

שוקלים להקים תנועה פוליטית למען צדק בעיר" יותר ויותר אנשים פונים אלינו כדי שנקים תנועה פוליטית שתנסה להשפיע בעיר למען הצדק", כך אמר שלמה דברת, במסיבת העיתונאים שארגן ד"ר יצחק שטרן מראשי הקבוצה שקמה בצפת לאחר המלחמה. דברת עד לא מכבר מנהל הפרויקטים של שיקום שכונות בעיר, טען כי בשלב זה אין בכוונתה של הקבוצה להתמודד פוליטית, אך לא מן הנמנע כי הם יצטרכו לעשות זאת בעתיד. " אנחנו רוצים תחילה תשובות לאירועים רבים חריגים שצצו בזמן המלחמה", אמר דברת. במסיבת העיתונאים שארגנו חברי תנועת המחאה כחודש לאחר הכנס הטעון שעשו חבריה במלון "מרכזי" השתתפו יצחק שטרן, שלמה דברת, אורית כחלון ויערית ינאי מעמותת "ידיד", הוצגו מסמכים ומכתבים עם עדויות של אזרחי צפת על התנהלות העירייה במהלך ימי המלחמה. " את החומר העברנו למבקר המדינה", אמר שטרן שהוסיף כי אין לו עניין אישי עם ראש העיר, ישי מימון אלא הוא דורש את עלבונם של התושבים בעיר שנפגעו מיחסה של העירייה למצוקותיהם של האזרחים. " אנחנו לא רוצים לנגח את מימון, אנחנו רוצים הסברים על התנהלות העירייה במלחמה", אמר שטרן. חבריו של שטרן הכינו תקליטור עם עדויות של כ- 08 תושבים על התנהלות העירייה. " מי שיצפה בתקליטור יבכה מהסיפורים הקשים המועלים שם", אמר שטרן. חברי תנועת המחאה נגד העירייה טוענים שאין בכוונתם להרפות מלעלות לסדר היום הארצי את העדויות שהם צברו על מנת שתוקם וועדת חקירה בצפת על התנהלות העירייה במלחמה.

http://tinyurl.com/w4urj

בקבוצת דר' שטרן מבהירים כי אין בכוונתם להקים תנועה פוליטית

חברי תנועת המחאה נגד העירייה בראשות דר' יצחק שטרן טוענים שאין בכוונתם להרפות מלעלות לסדר היום הארצי את העדויות שהם צברו על מנת שתוקם וועדת חקירה בצפת על התנהלות העירייה במלחמה. חברי התנועה ממשיכים להכחיש שיש בכוונתם להתמודד או להקים תנועה פוליטית.מעמותת "ידיד" נמסר כי העמותה לא עוסקת בפוליטיקיה וזה לא מטרתה. " עמותת ידיד" הוקמה בנובמבר 7991 והחלה בפעילות העצמה ברמה האישית והקהילתית בקרב שכבות חלשות ועולים חדשים. במישור המקומי מתבצעת פעילות העמותה הן בדרך של הגשת סיוע פרטני בהתמודדות עם מצוקות יום-יומיות והן בדרך של הקניית כלים לאחריות קהילתית ולהשתתפות פעילה בחיים בחברה דמוקרטית. במישור הארצי מתבצעת פעילות העמותה בדרך של מאבקים ציבוריים ומשפטיים לשינוי מדיניות.בצפת ובערים אחרים פועל סניף של העמותה.

http://tinyurl.com/yea9nn

דורין אלן בל-דותן, צפת
dandor@013.net

Reasons Not to Live in Tzfat (Safed), or Anywhere Else in Israel for that Matter - Total Denial of the Fact that the State of Israel is a Failure that is Disintegrating

--- In Tzfat@yahoogroups.com, "flakfire" wrote:>> Sabras are only at their best when their backs are really against the > wall.


I wrote:

You might add the inability to rethink our mythology about ourselves or be confused by the facts to your list.

You just lived through a war in which the Israelis were most certainly not at their best, but you persist in repeating the old cliches that give you an illusory sense of security.

That is one of the most obiquitous and serious problems in Israeli society.

flakfire wrote:

> Otherwise, they are generally quite paltry and mediocre: blase, over-> confident, arrogant, ungrateful, easily sidetracked and none too > smart!

I wrote:

Speak in the second person plural. Why do you exempt yourself?

flakfire wrote:

> And that includes ALL Sabras: Jews, Arabs, left wing, right wing, > charedi, frum, professors, professionals, chilloni....! If it wasn't > for the constant threat from the outside plus the constant stream of > new immigrant Jews, Israel would quickly degenerate into a farrago!

I wrote:

The way you use the term 'ferrago' is a malapropism. Your other IDs use malapropisms in the very same way. Ditto for the run on descriptions and overly emotional exclamation marks.

Can we get real? Perhaps that's a funny question to pose in a response to someone who posts with an alias (or two, or three...)

Can we admit that we have failed miserably?

We have not created a society that is in any wise superior to that of the Gentiles.

We do not exceed the Gentiles in average IQ in Israel, as we do in the Diaspora. (The average IQ of American Jews is 117. For Ethiopian Israeli Jews it is 105-110. For Ashkenazi Israeli Jews it is 100. For Mizrahi Israeli Jews it is 88). Our political system is not superior to the Gentiles'. Our judicial system is not superior to theirs. Our quality of living is not superior to theirs. We have not created a society that is more peaceful than theirs, more cultured, more interesting - in short, more anything. Let's not even talk about statistics of road accidents. We have a better system of medicine than does the US, but it is inferior to that of Gentile countries that likewise have socialized systems of medicine.

We are mediocre in every way, in every sphere.

Scientists who have talent are working for foreign research and many of them beat a permanent path out of here.

In all spheres there is a brain drain out of the country.

Certainly we are not proving either to ourselves or to the world that we are chosen.

We, in becoming a nation with a state, lost everything we once were. We also lost the respect and the awe of the nations.

We are sending our boys to die for the myths we want to believe about ourselves.

It doesn't matter that we have a nuclear arsenal. We can't use it without making mushroom soup of ourselves too. We are smack dab in the Middle East. So, if someone thinks that is a reason to have a state, they are dead wrong.

More than terrorist bombs, our illusions and delusions are blowing up all around us.

The only thing we do well is be second fiddle in others' countries.

When we are not in the driver's seat we make great driving instructors. Those who can't do teach.

I heard of a man who arrived here from Morocco as a child. He had a fistukia (a stand for nuts and snacks) that he barely made a living from. One day he decided to try his luck in Morocco. He became a successful businessman there. The same man who could hardly run a fistukia here ran a corporation in Morocco. The only difference was the location.

The only sane way to go is to realize that we are entertaining very dangerous illusions and delusions about ourselves. The foremost among them is that we are fit to run a state of our own.

I say we face the reality that we are making a total mess of our ersatz state and that we are at the point of losing control totally. I say the smartest way to go is to cut our losses, pack up and go back to wherever we came from and salvage whatever we can of what Jewry once was.

This country will go out , either with a bang or a wimper, if we persist in the belief that we are the holy People in the holy Land and that everything we do is blessed.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

JUST CALL ME HESTER

Oh, me! Oh, my! I am soooo busted.

My darkest secrets are now known in the holy city Tzfat.

One of the city's keenest sleuths discovered (on Google) that I am an Anarchist and who knows what else.

See: http://tinyurl.com/yahhqp for the who knows what else.

I do hope they are discreet and don't let the other 5 E9 people on the planet who don't have access to internet know about this.

I'm a marked woman. I'm the Hester Prynne of Tzfat. I have been branded with a huge scarlet A inside a huge black O. Oh, no!

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat (Safed), Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

Response to

"אנחנו עדיין ממתינים להסברים על התנהלות העירייה במהלך המלחמה"

מיום 27.10.06, גליון 771 (1007).


When I saw a post on the English-speakers' Tzfat Yahoo! group that said that if Dr. Stern were to run for Mayor the poster would vote for him; I did not take the statement any more seriously than the offhanded comment of one person.

Having read the above-mentioned article; I see that Dr. Stern's group, תנועת המחאה נגד העירייה is claiming that they have had a number of people turn to them with the suggestion that they form a political party "שתנסה להשפיע בעיר
למען הצדק".

While they do not claim that they intend to do so in the immediate future, they do state that: "אך לא מן הנמנע כי הם יצטרכו לעשות זאת בעתיד".

That they will have to form a political party???

My first thought when I read this was (I will paraphrase and clean up the original version of the expression): Forming a political party to for the sake of increasing justice is like being promiscuous for the sake of increasing virginity.

Are they really so naïve?

Do they really believe that they can take part in the government and come out smelling like roses?

How is it that the corrupt politicians that we see at every level of the government got to be that way? They became politicians, that's how! Most young people who go into politics start out with altruistic intentions. They are also filled with the delusions of grandeur that accompany youth and they honestly think they can change the fabric of society. Something terrible happens to them once they are in the system. They either play according to the rules of the game, thus becoming corrupt, or they leave politics after a very short term in office, battered, bruised and disillusioned.

Dr. Stern is not a young man. He is a physician. He is familiar with the politics of the medical profession and the Ministry of Health. I am amazed that he would consider something so foolhardy.

There are two possible outcomes that I can foresee.

1) He and his party will get a mandate or two and sit helplessly in the opposition accomplishing nothing.
2) A miracle will occur and the honor of being Mayor of the august City of Tzfat will be bestowed upon him.

It is general knowledge that it is not the politicians in office that weild most of the power, but the jobniks who have been sitting in their offices for years and years.

On the Municipal l level he will be forced to tow the line of the Municipality as laid down by the old time jobniks – the people that no Mayor would dare fire.

Outside of the Municipality he will have to make the ugly deals like the one that brought about the crisis with Mamlakhti Aleph and Mamlakhti Gimmel.

As the Mayor of Tzfat, he will likewise have to play "scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" on the national level with the seasoned politicians in the Knesset and the high-ups in the Ministries if he would hope to see one single grush for this city.

He cannot hope to retain his integrity if he goes into politics. No one ever did. The best way to divest oneself of every last trace of honesty and character is to become a politician.

There is no such thing as a political party for the sake of justice. Government and justice are contradictions in terms. That is necessarily so. Just people do not wish to govern others. They wish for people to learn to govern themselves. They wish to increase independence and societal maturity. They advise people to wean themselves from the childish addiction and magical thinking of believing that the government will save them.

Could anything be more ridiculous than reporting the corruption of a city official to a state official? Once again cleaning up and paraphrasing an old expression: You don't scare a prostitute with a sexual organ. That is what this organization did. They sent copies of the reports they received from residents of Tzfat to Ehud Olmert even as protestors held daily and nightly vigil calling for the resignation of the national government.

They also sent copies of the reports to מבקר המדינה. Even the best of the מבקרי המדינה can do nothing more than produce an annual report. Typically no action is taken whatsoever on those reports. Looking at the internet site of the Office of the מבקר המדינה, we see so many reports, each containing so many reports of neglect, foul-ups and outright illegitimacy that it would be impossible for each matter to be treated, even if the good will to right the wrongs was present, which it is not. The current מבקר המדינה is not known for being among the best that ever occupied the position. If the most effective מבקרי המדינהeffected virtually nothing, we would not be well-advised to place our hopes in him.

חברי, משיח לא בא. משיח גם לא מטלפן – לפחות לא מן אף כנסת או עירייה.

שלמה דברת is right to tend to the matter of getting "תשובות לאירועים רבים חריגים שצצו בזמן המלחמה". In my opinion, getting involved in politics will restrict their ability to inform the public about what happened rather than enhance it.

The article also states that until recently מר דברת, was theמנהל הפרויקטים של שקום שכונות בעיר. I take note that there is no definite article before the word שכונות. Perhaps the עיריה never intended to rehabilitate all of the neighborhoods that need it, but only some hand-selected שכונות. I never so much as heard of מר דברת until I read this article, despite the fact that I live in שכונת עופר, the most problematic neighborhood in Tzfat and the one in the direst need of rehabilitation on so very many levels. There is no evidence of any rehabilitation of שכונת עופר. This being the case, מר דברת will forgive me if I am not entirely convinced that צדק is uppermost in his mind when he considers his political future.

Here's a challenge for you שלמה: Prove me wrong. Do something real, meaningful and lasting for שכונת עופר. Even though you are no longer the מנהל of הפרויקטים של שקופ שכונות בעיר I am sure that your word still carries weight in the department and a recommendation to take שכונת עופר under their wing coming from you will be taken seriously. I will cooperate with you in any way that I can that does not compromise my integrity.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan
E-mail: dandor@013.net

Translated by Daniel Dotan

When I consider the various schools of Judaism, such as they are nowadays; I feel like Goldilocks. One is too hard, a second too soft, yet a third too middling – and all entirely too Procrustean.

Shufersol is At it Again

No, no it's not the same dirty tricks they pulled on us in their last incarnation as Hyperneto.

In their new incarnation as "Shufersol deal" they've got a whole new bag of tricks!

They did away with the old membership cards.

Now, in order to get the benefit of their discounts (Doreen rolls her eyes at the irony of what she just typed) one must apply for a special credit card.

Listen up: The card is actually a Visa card that is issued by Bank Leumi but not in the framework of Bank Leumi itself.

They have contracted with some sort of an agent company that arranges the cards for them.

You must be a credit card holder in order to get this card. It is a card for transacting business only in Shekels. So, one must ask: If a person has a credit card, why get another one? Just to increase one's chances of a card being lost or stolen? If a person has a card that they can transact business in $s and Euros in, why get a card that is only good for Shekels?

The questions that are asked by this company are beyond an invasion of privacy. They ask:

Do you have children under the age of 18?

How many people are in your family?

How many rooms is your dwelling?

Is the property purchased or rented?

What is your profession?

Are you employed presently?

Are you a salaried employee or independent?

What is your income?

What is the total income of your family?

Only if you answer these questions to their satisfaction do they consider you worthy of their superfluous card that is limited to Shekels.

What is most ridiculous about this is that the Shufersol in Tzfat is located in the poorest section of the city.

How many folks around here are going to qualify?

I almost busted a gut laughing when I was told that the questions were being asked to determine whether I should get a gold or platinum card?

Me??? My neighbors??? ROFL

The questions are incredibly invasive - and stupid. They are based on stereotypical and shallow conceptions of who someone is and how much disposable income they have based on criteria that really say nothing. For instance: A person earning 25,000 NIS a month who is a gambler likely has less disposable income than a person who lives modestly and earns 5,000 NIS a month.

The bottom line is: There is no shortage of well-stocked, well-lit and pleasant supermarkets in Tzfat nowadays. Many of them cater to the Kasher L'Mehadrin set. They do not force people to become clients of any banks that they are in cahoots with.

Shefa Shuk, in particular, takes part in the MiCol HaLev program. In addition to their everyday low prices, the card gives the clients another 3% off the entire bill.

Super Story and the new Zol Po do not yet have mishlochim. That is their only drawback. Otherwise, they are lovely stores whose prices are very reasonable and whose wares are as kosher as kosher gets.

Please join me in requesting from Super Story and Zol Po that they get mishlochim. The infirm, the elderly and those without cars need that service.

Please join me in boycotting the Shufersol chain. I thought they had learned their lesson and improved when they became Shufersol deal here in Tzfat.

If they intend to become a fancy, epicurean chain that caters to people who qualify for Bank Leumi gold and platinum cards, then let them. But I can't think of a worse place for them to be situated that the southern part of Tzfat.

They are situation in a very desirable location. It is easily accessible by bus and there's plenty of parking in the Dubek Shopping Center. If they disdain the clientele that is typical of Tzfat, then by all means let them go where they will find the clientele they seek.

Let's do everything we can to "starve" them out of the highly desirable location they are in and let's make room for a more solicitous food chain that understands the economic needs of the average resident of Tzfat come in their stead. I'm sure that any number of food chains that already exist in Tzfat would be delighted to hear that that place was becoming vacant.

Don't let big business bully and abuse you. Increase justice and just plain sanity in our society!

G'mar Chatimah Tova,

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat (Safed), Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

Reasons Not to Live in Tzfat:

See my comments at the bottom of the post and the response to it on the following URl:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tzfat/message/2864

Please read the text of my post on the following URL:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tzfat/message/2866

A reason to live in Tzfat can be found in the response I received to the above post. Yes, Virginia, there are Jewish Souls looking for the Real Thing in Tzfat:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tzfat/message/2867

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat (Safed), Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

CHUTZPAH!

Tzfat has become increasingly Charedi over the years. With every political victory they become increasingly obstreperous. I say this as someone who is Shomeret Shabbat, Kashrut, etc. My husband has a long beard and peyot. (I know. I know. I am definitely not a typical Anarchist.)

I recently received an e-mail from a man who is soon making aliyah. He put an ad in the Tzfat and Tzfat environs electronic newsletter saying that he is coming on aliyah with his wife to Tzfat who is a concert pianist. He inquired about work for the two of them in Tzfat.

One day he wrote me saying that I seem like a moderate sort and telling me that he had received a number of nasty letters from people in Tzfat telling him that it is not modest for a woman to play piano in public and discouraging him from coming to Tzfat. HUH?!

He attached a photo of his wife playing the piano to the e-mail. She was very modestly, I was say extremely, modestly dressed - to the point of looking repressed and prissy. Most certainly, no one could accuse her of being flashy or theatrical in appearance.

I told him that there are many Russian olim in Tzfat, in addition to other culture vultures, and there is certainly a market here for piano teachers and those who perform recitals. A mostly Mozart series of concerts given here annually is so well-attended that one must procure tickets quite early. I urged him to add his open-mindedness to an increasingly benighted town, come here and add his efforts to fighting back the creeping darkness.

A few days later I received another e-mail from him saying that he and his wife had purchased an apartment in a community outside of Tzfat started by people from the B'nei Akiva Movement.

HOW DARE CHAREDIM SEND LETTERS TO PEOPLE CONSIDERING ALIYAH TELLING THEM THEY DO NOT BELONG IN THE CITY THEY ARE CONSIDERING MOVING TO?!

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

Reasons Not to Live in Tzfat: Widespread Cowardice and Denial

The following is an interchange that I had:

Interlocutor: --- In Tzfat@yahoogroups.com, "chslar" wrote:>> > That people took advantage of the situation in Tzfat for personal gain> during the war is not in dispute (yes, I read the local papers too). What I dispute is that one can wholesalely condem the administration of> the city because of the actions of some.

Me: So long as Yishai Maimon is Mayor of this City it is his responsiblity to reign in his underlings if need be, which should not need be.

Most importantly, and I see that I need to state this again: What happened in Tzfat during the war is not an isolated incident. If it were I would chalk it up to fear, confusion, ineptitude.

It is not, however, a fluke or a foible. It is the most extreme and outrageous example of the treatment of the poor in this town by the Municipality and the "connected" families on an everyday basis. That is why I have said and will reiterate: This must be a "root canal job". We have to clean out the rotted, infected root of the problem of corruption in this town.

17 out of 350 of the Municipal workers remained in Tzfat, necessitating a military take-over of this city during the war. I believe a situation like that is unprecedented in Israel. There should be no precedent like that in a democratically-run country, not even an ersatz democracy that is really a plutocracy like Israel.

Interlocutor: Regarding the school, the two schools were combined and given the old Mamlachti Aleph school because it is bigger,

Me: My understanding it that it is smaller.

Interlocutor: What would you have said if the schools were combined and given the Mamlachti Gimel school, which has more bomb shelters but less space for classrooms?
You would have complained about that!

Me: I do not presume to put words into your mouth and second guess you. Kindly pay me the same respect.

I know, living in this neighborhood, that the parents of the children who are being transferred from Mamlakhti Aleph to Mamlakhti Gimmel are very, very unhappy about the decision. The parents are my neighbors. They feel shafted. They feel ganged up against by the authorities. They feel helpless to come to champion their children's rights. They know their children are being used as pawns in a political game. Last year they held a strike against the transfer. This year the Municipality got the gov't to join forces with them and essentially bully the parents into submission. If the parents had any reason to believe that their children were being bettered would they be so against the situation?

What say you about the children at risk who were dispossessed of their specially-equipped, purposefully-dontated kindergarten so that Charedi children could get the coveted facility as part of a political deal?

Interlocutor: I might point out, as well, that the spaces where the kids were learning> before from the Haredi/Dati schools, before they were given proper school buildings, had no shelters at all.

Me: That may very well be illegal. If you believed that to be the case then why did you not report the situation to the proper authorities? It is your legal responsiblity to report any and all cases of children being put, even potentially, at risk. Do you not know that? Why did you not do everything in your power to protect those children if you felt they may be in danger?

In one of your recent posts you describe a situation in which people were lined up begging for free rooms in hotels. I submit that no one should be reduced to begging for that which is coming to them - particularly not when someone else has usurped that which is rightfully theirs. Evidently, your friend who volunteered was not privy to seeing what was going on behind the scenes or the reasons why those who were entitled to the free rooms did not get them.

Were you in Tzfat during the war, by the way?

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat (Safed), Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

Request for Back-Up

I cannot stress to the residents of Tzfat strongly enough how important it is to expose the goings on in this town to the absolute maximum extent.

We have seen that the Mayor of Tzfat is media-shy. He evades attempts on the part of the local media to interview and question him. This is most true of the local paper "Chasifah L'Tzafon", which is the most openly critical of his performance.

He upbraided the Speaker of the Municipality for not doing a better job of (mis)representing the Municipality during the war.

The fact that he is so afraid of the media tells us two things:

1) He probably has something to hide.

2) Exposure is his weak point.

We must "hit" him in his proverbial Achilles heel.

If he and his cronies evade the local media, how much more so will they be terrified of exposure in the major media - and how much more so is this exposure, therefore, essential.

Those who organized the recent meeting at the Hotel Mercazi meant well when they advised those who attended to contact politicians and the ombudsman.

But they were naive.

This ombudsman has "distinguished" himself as a virtual do-nothing. His predecessors , considered far more effective in their jobs than he, did little more more than write up the failings of government bodies in an annual report.

To paraphrase an old adage (cleaning it up a bit): You don't scare a prostitute with a sexual organ.

No politician is scared of "being told on" to bigger politicians. They know those above them in the hierarchy are even more corrupt with even more to hide and more to lose. There is a code of honor among thieves among politicians. They don't tattle-tale on one another.

Exposure to the light is the fear of the politician. (Rendering them useless is their ultimate terror, but that is matter to be discussed at another juncture). Exposing the excesses, abuses and ineptitude of the Municipality, which makes life so very difficult in Tzfat for so very many on an everyday basis, and which became a direct and indirect threat to life during the war is what we must do.

Do not allow cowardice to masquerade as ideology and loyalty as we have seen in some of the posts on this board. Speak out! If you relinquish control over your life and your fate to others you may be sure that you will be shafted and ultimately endangered.

When so many people are being hurt, when corruption has reached the level where people were left to die while others luxuriated in hotel rooms for free - we must do every legal thing we can to correct the wrongs.

Among other measures; I have written to the New York Times in English and to the "Kolbotek "and "Medubar B'Tofa'ah" programs on Channel 2 in Hebrew asking for in-depth investigations of the goings-on in Tzfat.

I ask you to support that effort by adding your own personal stories and observations. Every request for investigations increases our chances that Channel 2 and the New York Times will investigate this matter. They are flooded with requests for investigation. We have to flood their mailboxes with requests to be noticed.

Thank every intrepid and justice-loving one of you who is capable of thinking and operating out of the box for your cooperation in advance.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Ofer Neighborhood, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

Let It Be Known

Let it be known outside of Israel that:

1) 1000 of the 5000 meals that were donated by a charity went unaccounted for every day. The worker at the Municipality who was in charge of distribution told local reporters that he was told to put the 1000 meals aside daily and to leave no written record as to having received them.

2) A truck load full of air conditioners that were donated for the poorly-ventilated, sweltering bomb shelters vanished into, well, thin air.

3) Ditto for the TVs that were donated. In contradistinction, the workers of the Municipality (that is, the 17 out of 350 who didn't desert the city entirely) arranged deluxe, "VIP" shelters for themselves, replete with color TV, A/C and Internet.

4) The free days in hotels, including free meals, that were donated by the hotels themselves and were specifically designated for the infirm and elderly first and foremost were, instead, used by workers in the Municipality. As the result of not getting one of those rooms, one woman whose 8-year-old handicapped, wheelchair-bound daughter, who must be kept in sterile conditions, contracted an infection and had to be hospitalized. Some relative of some worker of the City got the room that little girl should have had. No matter, eventually she got a nice room - in the hospital.

5) A huge number of disposable diapers that was donated likewise disappeared. What the hell can someone do with tons of nappies??? As a result of most of the Municipality workers running for the own lives and leaving us here to die, the army sent in a regiment of reserve soldiers to run the city. They did an exemplary job of handling the exigencies, but the potential peril of the precedent of being deserted by the democratically-elected government of the city and being governed almost entirely by high-ranking officers in the army need not be elaborated upon.

Tzfat has been dubbed "The Ignominy of the Galilee" in the national press.

I am LIVID and despite the fact that I have been advised by frightened citizens that if I do not shut up; I run the risk of arrest and possibly being jailed, I will not shut up.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat (Safed), Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

New Invention in Honor of Tzfat (Safed)

Tzfat's (Safed's) having been dubbed "The Ignominy of the Galilee" in the national press, is the afflatus for a new gadget I've developed that will prove to be very useful for the residents of Tzfat.

A patent is already pending. So, no one better even think of stealing it.

It is called the Ignominometer.

It is a special cuff to measure the elevation of one's blood pressure in response to the anger as a result of, or the lowering of one's blood pressure in response to the shame of, the various degrees of ignominy which Tzfat is characterized by at any given moment.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat (Safed), Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

הממשלה הוכיחה כי היא מיותרת

http://www.geocities.com/dordot2001/MysticalAnarchyII.html

דורין אלן בל-דותן, צפת
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

The Government of Israel has Proven Itself to be Superfluous

The local government of the city of Tzfat and, to a far lesser extent, the national government collapsed during the war. The local government of the city of Tzfat was simply non-existent.

Here in Tzfat only 17 of the 350 workers in the Municipality remained in the city.

Reserve soldiers had to be brought in to see to it that the special needs of the city, during a time of war, were taken care of. Were this not a time of war there would be no extenuating circumstances for the army to have to step in and take care of.

That is to say that the supposedly democratic local government of the city of Tzfat deserted us and we were run militarily for a month. The precedent is so potentially dangerous that I need not elaborate.

In their absence the Municipality proved that they are superfluous. We simply do not need them. They are not even parasites. They are superfluous. The worst nightmare of a politician has been realized. They are not only not wanted, they are needed, not in the least.

There are many citizen-run organizations that can easily be modified slightly in order to become the bodies that take care of all of the functions of this city.

Milgam, Inc., the company that provides our water in Tzfat, is not a municipal agency. They are a private company. Our gas is provided by private companies. Although the electric company is a government company; it could be modified to be a worker-run collective with concerted effort.

Instead of the gemachim (charity organizations), of which we have a very respectable number here in Tzfat, being organized to pick up where the government leaves off and, in so doing, perpetuate, rather than alleviate, poverty; they can be modified to be the bodies that care for the various needs of the residents of Tzfat.

If the gemachim became the organizations and agencies that provide necessaries to all, not merely giving hand-outs to the needy, we would be able to eradicate indigence, as befits Jews. We would all have our needs provided for truly. Imagine no one having to beg for their subsistence. Imagine no one being punished with poverty for the "crime" of being aged, handicapped, widowed, orphaned or unemployable for whatever the reason. We can do better vastly better for ourselves and one another than Bituach Leumi (National Insurance) does for us!

Instead of turning to the city for every need and want big and small be must learn to rely upon ourselves and upon one another. The concept is called Mutual Aid. We trade that which we can provide for that which we need. We become as maximally self-reliant as possible and create a culture of cooperative sharing.

There is nothing that the Municipality is doing for us that we cannot do far more efficiently, promptly, cost-effectively, fairly, caringly and honestly ourselves – and in a far more personalized manner, providing the services such that they fit individual needs and not strapping every citizen to a procrustean bed.

It is high time that the Israeli public was weaned from the co-dependent addiction and sickness of turning to the government only to get nothing but a kick in the teeth and then turning to the government again for comfort because they have been kicked in the teeth....

Since the Municipality of Tzfat was the first in the country to collapse utterly, it devolves upon Tzfat to become the premier model city for self-government on the part of the residents.

We can supplant the Municipality and take over every one of their functions. All we have to do is believe in ourselves and in one another and ORGANIZE.

Let's send the workers of the Municipality of the City of Tzfat on a PERMANENT vacation to Eilat!

Both the Hebrew and the English versions of this essay can be found on the following site:

http://www.geocities.com/dordot2001/MysticalAnarchyII.html

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat,
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

An Encounter with Elliot Skiddel of JAZO

After reading the local Tzfat newspapers this weekend including excerpts from that which appeared about Tzfat in national and other regional newspapers during the war; I am abysmally, unspeakably saddened, but in no wise surprised, by the allegations of the "performance" of the Municipality of Tzfat during the war.

About five years ago, I contacted Project 2000 in Palm Beach, Florida and I told them that it was unwise to send donations to the City of Tzfat without them being carefully monitored.

I told them of the corruption in the Municipality.

I told them how the poor are ignored and downtrodden in this city.

I told them of the nepotism.

I told them about the poverty of the residents of the Ofer Neighborhoood in which eight people leapt to their deaths from the roofs in desperation that cannot be conceptualized by those who have not lived under these conditions.

Elliot Skiddel of JAZO was dispatched to my home. In my utter naivete, I thought that he would give me a fair hearing and would cooperate in my efforts to improve the way in which the City of Tzfat was run. I thought that Project 2000 had sent a sympathetic hear, kind heart and Jewish Soul to meet with me for the purpose of seeing the conditions in the Ofer Neighborhood.

Instead, he entered my very humble Amidar apartment in the notoriously poor Ofer Neighborhood of Tzfat, looked around at the apartment with disdain, apprised me with utter contempt and exaggerated loathing to make sure that I did not miss his opinion of me and proceeded to discount everything I said, all the while with a smug smirk of "I'll make short shrift of this nothing" look on his face.

More than the pain of being personally humiliated, I understood that a chance for improvement in Tzfat was entirely lost and I was crestfallen.

He evidently reported to Project 2000 that my contentions were not to be taken seriously in the least. Evidently, they were satisfied with "a soft answer that turneth away anxiety."

And so the trampling of the poor of Tzfat continued unabated and grew more and more brazen and outrageous.

The tragedy of the children at risk who were given a particularly well-appointed kindergarten, paid for by donations, so that they could be well cared for, well fed and even have a place to sleep at night if the conditions in their homes were not conducive to their well-being is well known to residents of Tzfat. For others, I will tell you that as part of a deal that Tzfat Mayor Yishai Maimon made with ultra-Orthodox elements in Tzfat for votes, the children in the kindergarten that was provided for with donations specifically for children at risk were thrown out into the streets and Charedi children, who were not at risk, were given the kindergarten instead. The children at risk had nowhere to go for quite some time – many weeks, if not months, I do not recall exactly how much time, but I do recall that the sad story was as protracted one. Finally, they were given a downscale kindergarten that could not provide the special services they needed.

Then we heard of a similar situation with the children of Public School Mamlakhti Gimmel, in the poor southern part of the city, being transferred to Mamlakhti Aleph so that Charedi children can get their school. Again, this is the result of one of Maimon's dirty political deals with the Charedim to get their votes.

Now we hear of the travesties that, allegedly, occurred during the war.

While I do not, nay cannot, blame Elliot Skiddel directly for what the Municipality has done since he reported to Project 2000 that that which I wrote them is of no moment; I do blame him indirectly.

Had he not made me out to be an inconsequential crank to Project 2000 five years ago; had they sent their own people here to inspect to see if my contentions were true - that which transpired in Tzfat thereafter would have been obviated.

Skiddel, by all means, regard me with contempt because I am poor and represent the truth I tell to Project 2000 as lies "because you can". I wouldn't want to have either your salary or your conscience, that is assuming that you are man enough to realize and admit that had you extended a hand of cooperation to me five years ago, there may have been far few less people who suffered horrifically in this town.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com

The OTHER Aftermath of the War

With a heavy heart there are matters, which have come to light in the aftermath of the war, that I must share with the "outside world".

I feel it is incumbent upon me to share this information because there were donation drives for Israelis in a number of countries. The donors would probably be interested in knowing that it is becoming increasingly apparent that not all of their money got where it was intended to go, most likely.

If you or your colleagues are journalists and are willing to do honest investigative reporting and to write up the conclusions of whatever you/they might find up as an expose - please, be my guest.

I grew accustomed over the decades to being used, abused, cheated and shunted aside by the government, national and local, in Israel. Their treatment of the Palestinians is documented in the world press. Their matter-of-fact maltreatment of the citizenry is not known. It is assumed that we Israelis enjoy the benefits of living in a country that is considered relatively wealthy and technologically advanced. In fact, not much trickles down. The gap between the richest and the poorest here is second to NONE in the "Western" world. Yes, that includes the US.

I could live with it - until now. Now, when the smoke is clearing from the missiles, we are seeing increasingly clearly how our government betrayed us, probably diverted donations that were intended for the weakest and infirm among us that come from those who love and support Israel and used the situation to better themselves in all manners.

I have, then, no choice but to display some of our dirty laundry.

Please be so kind as to read what I wrote on the following link:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tzfat/message/2755

Having become convinced that we were in fact cheated of days of R&R, and I still know not what else, I wrote the following as a follow-up:

Let Your Familes and Friends Know About About the OTHER Aftermath of the War!

I'd like to make a couple of suggestions to those who feel that their needs were neglected by the Municipality during the war or that they did not get what was coming to them to increase their chances of surviving the war or simply making living on the direct line of fire, under siege, for 34 days more bearable.

First, Ilan Shohat, a member of the Tzfat Municipality who is in the opposition and vociferously opposed to Mayor Yishai Maimon, has published a request to receive any and all reports of neglect or incompetence. He assures your anonymity. You can reach him at: s_shohat@012.net.il or by calling Edva at
050-7193475 or Gili at 050-6579899.

However, I'd like to mention that Ilan is a seasoned politician and is no doubt making political capital on Maimon's failings. Were he Mayor, as he clearly would like to be as evinced from the fact that in his rather short career as a politician he has racked up quite a reputation for climbing over others whom he betrays and tramples under foot; I am sure that he would be no better than his predecessors.

I would, in addition to contacting him, do some things that will, no doubt, be vastly more effective:

Contact everyone you know in the United States and tell them about the problems, about the maltreatment on the part of the Municipality of Tzfat. We all have relatives who expressed their love and panic for us during the war. Let them know how we were being cheated and bamboozled, unbeknownst to us because the local papers in town weren't operating, except for a temporary one run by the Municipality that told us only what the Municipality wanted us to know.

Include the major national and regional Jewish newspapers in your contact list. Ask them to carry out investigations and write up exposes. The world needs to know about the suffering we endured at the hands of our Municipality, which has been praised for its actions by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Tell them about the questions that have arisen as to whether the food that was intended for residents who remained in Tzfat was distributed fairly, correctly and that we received all that was intended for us.

Tell them about the donated air conditioners that were intended for the bomb shelters that were stolen. I do not claim the Municipality did this certainly. But, I am compelled to ask: Did they do everything possible to ensure that it would not occur?

Tell them about the fact that there have been complaints by ordinary citizens who stayed in Tzfat during that they were never sent for days of R&R, while relatives, friends and supporters of members of the Municipality were sent for free vacations in hotels for 3 – 5 days.

Let them know that Tzfat has a long and ugly history of misappropriation of donations.

It is high time to tell them about the money that was donated for an especially well-appointed kindergarten specifically for children at risk, so that they could get all the care they needed day and night if need be, who were thrown out so that room could be made for the children of those that Yishai Maimon had promised the kindergarten to for votes. Tell them that after many long weeks without a kindergarten at all those children were given a downscale kindergarten that did not provide places for them to sleep when being at home presented a risk and a threat to them.

Tell them that the children from the poor neighborhoods in Tzfat are being thrown out of their lovely neighborhood school and into a far older, smaller, less well-equipped one so that Mayor Yishai Maimon can make good on the dirty deal he made with the ultra-Orthodox to get their votes by displacing children from needy homes from their school and replacing them with children from the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood. That public grade school is the only promise of a better future for the children of the poorest neighborhoods in Tzfat, which I know intimately because I live in the most notorious one of those neighborhoods. Oh, yes. They will go to school, but under cramped and disadvantaged conditions – as the Municipality thinks befits the poor of this town.

Let them know about the rampant nepotism in this town. Tell them it is no new phenomenon that those connected to the politicians in the Municipality get everything while the residents of this town get nothing. It has simply become unconscionable now that it has become clear that the politicians didn't miss a beat to better themselves even while some 600 rockets fell on Tzfat.

Ask your family and friends in your native countries to let everyone know who made donations that they intended for ordinary Israeli citizen under 34 days of siege that some of those donations seem to have been, um, diverted. Ask for investigations into this matter to be carried out by the donors themselves because, as the local Tzfat paper "Chadash B'Galil" says: "A Complaint Has Not Yet Been Lodged at the Police Station Concerning Irregularities in the Disbursement of Donations During the War" (issue 762 (1068) of 18/8/06, page 20). So, it devolves on the people who gave money to investigate where it went.

Let them know that it is not wise to put money and other donations in the hands of politicians. Tell them they must have agents here who see to it that the money and donations gets to where it should.

Let the Municipality know that you've contacted those who care about you in the US. Let them know you are not afraid.

Let them know that they cannot build their political careers and pad their nests by risking out lives!!!

Having made the above suggestions to the residents of Tzfat and the Upper Galilee on our Yahoo! groups, it behooves me to follow my own advice. Consider yourselves likewise informed.

A profoundly sad and betrayed Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat (Safed), Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com