Free Republic

I don't have anything to gain by an exoneration of Luther's obvious societal stereotype against the Jews. Luther was not infallible. He said a number of things ranging on the scale of brilliant to typical to ridiculous to offensive. From my perspective, Luther's theology neither stands or falls because of statements on the negative side of the scale. It's my opinion that Luther's attitude toward the Jews is part of Church history, and, that really, to point a finger at Luther one needs to consistently point the fingers beyond Luther as well. This would be the consistent thing to do. There...

Dr. Elie Wiesel, left, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, and Senator Ted Cruz at Rabbi Boteach’s panel discussion.An array of Jewish groups condemned an ad by a foundation associated with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach that accused National Security Adviser Susan Rice of turning a blind eye to genocide. “Susan Rice has a blind spot: Genocide,” said the advertisement, which appeared in Saturday’s New York Times, touting a talk on Iran in Washington hosted by Boteach, the Englewood-based author and pro-Israel advocate. As soon as Shabbat ended, Jewish groups rushed to condemn the ad by This World: The Values Network. The American Jewish Committee...

VATICAN CITY, March 3 (Reuters) - A new Italian film that attempts to defend wartime Pope Pius XII against accusations he turned a blind eye to the Holocaust has been panned by the Vatican as well as Catholic and Jewish media. "Shades of Truth" is the account of a fictional present-day American journalist who starts off as a critic of Pius and changes his mind after research in Israel, Rome and elsewhere in Europe. [SNIP] After a screening on Monday near the Vatican, the film, which calls Pius "the most misunderstood person of the 20th century", was universally panned. The...

You are probably aware of the Four Blood Moons, but there is some related info that might be new to you. Between the 2nd and 3rd blood moons, there will be a significant total solar eclipse. Here are some of the strange facts for everyone to consider. (By the way, I am not a Bible scholar, by any means. The facts might have prophetic meaning, or they might be just celestial poetry.)

During the darkest times, Hashem sent Mordechai to shine a light and renew people's faith. His battle wasn't limited to the physical and the natural. As a first step, he strengthened the Torah education of Jewish children and gathered the people to return to Hashem. The darkest part of the Egyptian exile caused Hashem to send Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses) into the world. Were one to pin their success to some characteristic of theirs, no matter how lofty a trait, one would miss the mark. No one set of attributes allowed Moshe to bring the 10 plagues upon the enemies of...

A brief talk on the reasons for Jewish non belief in Jesus.

Today is the 7th of the month of Adar on the Jewish (Torah) calendar. It is the birthday of Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses) and also the anniversary of his passing. On this exact day four years ago, Hosni Mubarak, then President of Egypt, was forced to resign. What made the already incredible timing extra significant, is that every few years there are 2 months of Adar (a Biblical "leap year") and Moshe/Moses was actually born on the 7th of the first month of Adar. Four years ago, that was the case, it was the 7th of Adar I. The reverberations of...

A video class (in English y'all) about the history of "Amalek" and a seemingly superfluous verse in the Scroll of Esther. In short (if you don't have 48 minutes to listen to a fascinating class) -The nation of Amalek in the Bible is the modern nation of Germany (the Rabbi lists Jewish Rabbinical sources stating it will be such-- even before the Midevil kingdoms of Germany emerged) -Esther asks King Achashverosh to (Es 9:13) Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do to morrow also according unto...

Earlier last week, in an address before French immigrants to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proudly stated that his appearance in the rally last month in Paris and his planned address to the US Congress were in his capacity "not just as the prime minister of Israel but as a representative of the entire Jewish people." Rather than rally behind the prime minister of the Jewish State, Jews driven by a liberal agenda which is often counter to the interests of the Jewish people and the State of Israel chose to immediately go into attack mode. Social media platforms featured...

“When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything.” Daily Mail:The veteran Hollywood actress suggests the six million Jews and millions of others systematically murdered in Hitler’s death camps in the 1940s were ‘balancing their karma’ for crimes committed in past lives. She also suggests that cosmologist Professor Stephen Hawking may have subconsciously given himself his debilitating motor neurone disease. Really, Shirley? Actress Shirley MacLaine has been denounced by Jewish campaigners and other activists after suggesting that the millions of victims of Nazi death camps may...

President Obama, during his National Prayer Breakfast speech, Thursday: "No god condones terror. No grievance justifies the taking of innocent lives or the oppression of those who are weaker of fewer in number." All people at all times and locations have the right to defend themselves from terror. Despite Obama's words that have clearly angered people, we can see the following as an example: Christians within the confines of the Byzantine Empire had a right to defend themselves from Muslims who terrorized them, but we all know that Pope Urban II could in no way possible know that anyone who...

Valentines Day A Kabbalistic Analysis There is a very real link between Soul Mates and Valentines Day. First, some foundation. Every week in the synagogues a section of the Torah and Prophets are read. There are special readings for festivals and special Sabbaths. Shabbat Shekalim (from Wikipedia) Shabbat Shekalim ("Sabbath [of] shekels" שבת שקלים) read in preparation for Purim, requests each adult male Jew contribute half of a Biblical shekel for the upkeep of the Tabernacle, or mishkan (משכן). The Torah portion Exodus 30:11-16 (the beginning of Parasha Ki Tisa) is read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Shabbat Notice Half! Torah Portion for Shabbat Shekalim...

The mainstream media lie of lone wolves and workplace violence is increasingly being exposed as a multi-state, multi-regional movement by Islamic terrorists to destroy the Judeo-Christian values of Western civilization. The terrorist attacks in France last month on a magazine office and a Jewish market, once again woke the world to the ever-growing threat of radical Islam and global, genocidal anti-Semitism. The time for the Christian faith to stand against such insidious hatred is long overdue.

Britain's right-wing Independence Party has outraged Jews by announcing it is backing a ban on shechita, a reversal of its prior policy.Britain’s right-wing UK Independence Party (UKIP) has voted to support a plan to outlaw the ritual slaughter of animals for meat without prior stunning. UKIP is the fourth largest British party in the European Parliament. Britain’s RSPCA and the British Veterinary Association have called on the government to ban ritual slaughter. Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to allow exemptions for religious purposes such as the Jewish practice of “shechita” and the Muslim tradition of “halal.”Both forbid stunning the...

The Church Fathers held an unwavering belief that the Second Person of the Trinity appeared frequently in the Old Testament in a variety of forms: the Angel of the Lord, the Burning Bush, the Son of Man, and the one like a Son of God in Daniel.Today we’ll look at a debate regarding the Angel of the Lord. Is he are isn’t the Pre-Incarnate Son of God? There are various positions in early Christianity.The Greek Church Fathers (for example, Saint Athanasius) are convinced that “the Angel of the Lord” is the pre-incarnate Christ. They posit that the Angel of the Lord is categorically different from lower...

Florida Boy's Circumcision Spurs Lengthy Legal Battle, Protests BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — An estranged Florida couple's fight over whether to circumcise their son has become a rallying cry for those who denounce the procedure as barbaric. The dispute between Heather Hironimus, the mother opposing circumcision, and Dennis Nebus, the father favoring it, has sparked a prolonged court battle, protests and the rapt attention of a movement of self-proclaimed "intactivists."

Orthodox Jewish women and conservative Muslim women both follow modesty rules, but Orthodox Jewish women are devout without abandoning their individuality and civil liberties. 26-year-old Hayat Boumedienneis the suspected accomplice in last week’s 3-day terror attack in Paris, France. Her common law husband, Amedy Coulibaly, murdered four Jews and a policewoman in a kosher Paris market. Boumedienne is now the poster girl for young, insecure Western women who abandon Western mores for radical Islam. Boumedienne’s close friend described her to France24 News as an emotional basket case “who often cries and has little confidence in herself.” After discarding her string...

As the world rightly focuses on the recent terror attacks in Paris on Charlie Hedbo and a kosher grocery store, it should be noted that the second attack is part of a larger problem: the ongoing vitriol toward the French Jewish community. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders invited French Jews to move to Israel. That’s a nice gesture, but it’s not enough. The United States should join Israel and offer to also open up its shores as a refuge to the endangered Jews of France. This past summer, I traveled to Paris with a...

EWTN Global Catholic Television Network: EWTN Live - Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J. - Sr. Margherita Marchione - Pope Pius XII

NPR’s bold headline reads that after 522 years, Spain is inviting me home. It feels good; it feels like something is being done to right a historic wrong. About 15 years ago, we discovered that my maternal grandfather’s family fled Spain during the Inquisition to Meppen, a small town in northern Germany, a few miles across of the boarder with The Netherlands. He chose to buy a Sephardic burial plot and his family heirlooms include allusions of a Spanish heritage. Beyond this loose collection of genealogical evidence, I have no claim to the Sephardic tradition but in this news I...