grumpy bear

While i'm at it

You took me by force
And from me -
no screams, no barrage, just a whimper

You took my by wiles.
A silent mourning arose in me
stretching into an eternal echoing in my heart.

In that moment
you took my mind
My childhood
My pride
My future
leaving yawning pain

I wished for a miracle.

"God! This one time,
undo time!
Rewind & help me.  Help me!"

There was no miracle.

You'd silenced even God.

A hush, thrumming, growing,
beating -
black wings of despair over
black waves of undirected rage.

Rage against the night!
Rage against the girl who
went gentle into her
undoing.

Cry for her
Cry with her
Sh - listen to that whimper
the silence
of her stolen life

The “Kosher Tax” Fraud

By Rabbi Yaakov Luban

 

Recently, an e-mail diatribe about the so-called “Kosher

Tax” has been widely disseminated through the Internet.

Various racist and anti-Semitic right-wing extremist

groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, have circulated this

misinformation for decades.  Today, these fraudulent

claims have been co-opted by terrorist organizations as

well.  The allegations are total nonsense and a complete

distortion of the truth.

 

The “Kosher Tax” memo is patterned after other class-

ical anti-Semitic works, such as the “Secret Annals of

the Protocols of Zion”.  Both the “Protocols of Zion”

and the “Kosher Tax” plant seeds of fear by suggesting

there is a secret Jewish conspiracy spearheaded by a

small group of Jews who wield enormous influence over

world affairs.  The “Kosher Tax” makes the ludicrous

accusation that a powerful syndicate of Rabbis extorts

exorbitant fees from food manufacturers by threatening

a crippling boycott of companies who do not comply.

These “blackmail” fees are passed on to the unsuspec-

ting consumer in the way of higher food charges.

 

The reality is that food manufacturers voluntarily seek

kosher certification as an important and effective

marketing tool. A kosher symbol signals that the product

is suitable for consumption by Jews, Moslems, Seventh

Day Adventists and lactose intolerant individuals, all

who have special dietary requirements.  In addition,

many consumers view the kosher symbol as an indepen-

dent verification of quality.

 

The retail cost of a food product is generally not

increased by kosher supervision.  The decision to seek

kosher certification is based on market research and an

evaluation that it is in the company’s best financial

interest to enter into a supervisory program. The modest

cost associated with kosher supervision is a miniscule

fraction of the total production expenditure, and is offset

by the often-significant increase in profit resulting from

expanded sales. In addition, many production and distri-

bution costs are fixed. When the volume of sales

increases, the overhead cost per unit decreases. The

bottom line is that kosher supervision brings in greater

revenue, and allows companies to reduce the price of

their wares, if they so desire.

 

The Orthodox Union, the largest supervisory agency, is

a non-profit organization, which provides kosher super-

vision as a service to consumers.  The revenue generated

by the certification program is used to cover supervisory

costs, as well as support a wide range of social services.

 

The current dissemination of the “Kosher Tax” lie ref-

lects once again that those who seek to achieve evil

goals through the use of terror are neither bound by

truth, integrity or moral values.

 

Rabbi Yaakov Luban is Executive Rabbinic Coordinator of the

Orthodox Union Kashruth Division

oh lord...

Subject: kosher labeling on non jewish food companys should be illeagal

for  the kosher labeling puting symbols  the ( U ) ad the ( K) Pareve  and  puting a so called tax on products should be illegal  i would  understand if your symbols were on JEWISH Food Companys ! but for non jewish company to have this label  is down right wrong  Freedom of religion !!  your enforcing people on a level that is influance on judism        

should christians  make labels to for there practice of worship  ash wensday black friday etc..  these lables are all year round !  should american  christians make a simular symbol s   today i check my cupboards and fridge and found out that 50% of my food is (U) labeled  why should one religion  enforce food companys to kosher thier products or lable them Kosher > >?   as there is many other reigions in this country some people mistake that the ( U )  lables Only mean Good Q(U)ality  it starting  to make me upset that im paying for a percentage to a Food company and a Jewish Religion   when im buying my grocerys  where does that percentage go may i ask! ??   to Israel a Forgin  country

>?   to a synagog  ??  Rabbi Fund <>? jewish Collage ! 

where does my money go !  im not pleased 

um...  does someone want to begin to explain to this gentelmen that not only does no one force any food to be certified, the cost of certification isn't paid for by him?

oh, snopes, you wonderful website.

T'Hilim

Please recite Tehillim for the two-year old grandson of one of my co-workers who is undergoing open-heart surgery today:

Ephraim Yitzchak b-n Sima Tova

first raw draft

You burned within me

Shouting truth

Wrenching my gut, tearing open my heart

 

Carefully cutting, I picked you

Out from within in me,

Chunks and splinters

 

Ripping my hands on you

Your fire

I breathed back with fire of my own

 

Pulling the charred skin back

To cover your hole

Your holes that flecked me, marked me

 

Anything to fill them,

To block the whistling emptiness

I was being consumed

 

Teeth, nails, blades, shards

Indistinguishable for the pricks to oblivion

- knowledge of your lies -

 

Rushing torrents of rage

Buffeting battering obliterating all I knew

Thought  I knew

 

Helplessly empty

Dropping to my knees

I cry out for you

/.

working on a poem