On a day like today...

03-31-1492 On a Day just like today...

Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon issued the Alhambra Decree which expelled Jews from their kingdom!

Click: https://www.fau.edu/artsandletters/pjhr/chhre/pdf/hh-alhambra-1492-english.pdf

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxGtD_SqLwo

Why did this happen? What is wrong with living with excess? That someday excess must be maintained, renovated and those in power try to look for new revenue streams to continue their path of ‘successful accomplishments.’

When the well dries, as it always does when we spend without saving or living to the limit of what we have, it is easy to try to find someone wealthy to take their possessions and wealth away and the Jews became the targets in Spain.

The Alhambra Decree-- Edict of the Expulsion of the Jews of Spain (1492)

1. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, by the grace of God, King and Queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon, Sicily, Granada, Toledo, Valencia, Galicia, the Balearic Islands, Seville, Sardinia, Cordoba, Corsica, Murcia, Jaen, of the Algarve, Algeciras, Gibraltar, and of the Canary Islands, count and countess of Barcelona and lords of Biscay and Molina, dukes of Athens and Neopatria, counts of Rousillon and Cerdana, marquises of Oristan and of Gociano, to the prince Lord Juan, our very dear and much loved son, and to the other royal children, prelates, dukes, marquees, counts, masters of military orders, priors, grandees, knight commanders, governors of castles and fortified places of our kingdoms and lordships, and to councils, magistrates, mayors, constables, district judges, knights, official squires, and all good men of the noble and loyal city of Burgos and other cities, towns, and villages of its bishopric and of other archbishoprics, bishoprics, dioceses of our kingdom and lordships, and to the residential quarters of the Jews of the said city of Burgos and of all the aforesaid cities, towns, and villages of its bishopric and of the other cities, towns, and villages of our aforementioned kingdoms and lordships, and to all Jews and to all individual Jews of those places, and to barons and women of whatever age they may be, and to all other persons of whatever law, estate, dignity, preeminence, and condition they may be, and to all to whom the matter contained in this charter pertains or may pertain. Salutations and grace.

1. You know well or ought to know, that whereas we have been informed that in these our kingdoms there were some wicked Christians who Judaized and apostatized from our holy Catholic faith, the great cause of which was interaction between the Jews and these Christians, in the courts which we held in the city of Toledo in the past year of one thousand, four hundred and eighty, we ordered the separation of the said Jews in all the cities, towns and villages of our kingdoms and lordships and [commanded] that they be given Jewish quarters and separated places where they should live, hoping that by their separation the situation would remedy itself.

1. Furthermore, we procured and gave orders that inquisition should be made in our aforementioned kingships and lordships, which as you know has for twelve years been made and is being made, and by many guilty persons have been discovered, as is very well known, and accordingly we are informed by the inquisitors and by other devout persons, ecclesiastical and secular, that great injury has resulted and still results, since the Christians have engaged in and continue to engage in social interaction and communication they have had means and ways they can to subvert and to steal faithful Christians from our holy Catholic faith and to separate them from it, and to draw them to themselves and subvert them to their own wicked belief and conviction, instructing them in the ceremonies and observances of their law, holding meetings at which they read and teach that which people must hold and believe according to their law, achieving that the Christians and their children be circumcised, and giving them books from which they may read their prayers and declaring to them the fasts that they must keep, and joining with them to read and teach them the history of their law, indicating to them the festivals before they occur, advising them of what in them they are to hold and observe, carrying to them and giving to them from their houses unleavened bread and meats ritually slaughtered, instructing them about the things from which they must refrain, as much in eating as in other things in order to observe their law, and persuading them as much as they can to hold and observe the law of Moses, convincing them that there is no other law or truth except for that one. This proved by many statements and confessions, both from these same Jews and from those who have been perverted and enticed by them, which has redounded to the great injury, detriment, and opprobrium of our holy Catholic faith.

1. Notwithstanding that we were informed of the great part of this before now and we knew that the true remedy for all these injuries and inconveniences was to prohibit all interaction between the said Jews and Christians and banish them from all our kingdoms, we desired to content ourselves by commanding them to leave all cities, towns, and villages of Andalusia where it appears that they have done the greatest injury, believing that that would be sufficient so that those of other cities, towns, and villages of our kingdoms and lordships would cease to do and commit the aforesaid acts. And since we are informed that neither that step nor the passing of sentence [of condemnation] against the said Jews who have been most guilty of the said crimes and delicts against our holy Catholic faith have been sufficient as a complete remedy to obviate and correct so great an opprobrium and offense to the faith and the Christian religion, because every day it is found and appears that the said Jews increase in continuing their evil and wicked purpose wherever they live and congregate, and so that there will not be any place where they further offend our holy faith, and corrupt those whom God has until now most desired to preserve, as well as those who had fallen but amended and returned to Holy Mother Church, the which according to the weakness of our humanity and by diabolical astuteness and suggestion that continually wages war against us may easily occur unless the principal cause of it be removed, which is to banish the said Jews from our kingdoms. Because whenever any grave and detestable crime is committed by members of any organization or corporation, it is reasonable that such an organization or corporation should be dissolved and annihilated and that the lesser members as well as tile greater and everyone for the others be punished, and that those who perturb the good and honest life of cities and towns and by contagion can injure others should be expelled from those places and even if for lighter causes, that may be injurious to the Republic, how Much more for those greater and most dangerous and most contagious crimes such as this.

1. Therefore, we, with the counsel and advice of prelates, great noblemen of our kingdoms, and other persons of learning and wisdom of our Council, having taken deliberation about this matter, resolve to order the said Jews and Jewesses of our kingdoms to depart and never to return or come back to them or to any of them. And concerning this we command this our charter to be given, by which we order all Jews and Jewesses of whatever age they may be, who live, reside, and exist in our said kingdoms and lordships, as much those who are natives as those who are not, who by whatever manner or whatever cause have come to live and reside therein, that by the end of the month of July next of the present year, they depart from all of these our said realms and lordships, along with their sons and daughters, menservants and maidservants, Jewish familiars, those who are great as well as the lesser folk, of whatever age they may be, and they shall not dare to return to those places, nor to reside in them, nor to live in any part of them, neither temporarily on the way to somewhere else nor in any other manner, under pain that if they do not perform and comply with this command and should be found in our said kingdom and lordships and should in any manner live in them, they incur the penalty of death and the confiscation of all their possessions by our Chamber of Finance, incurring these penalties by the act itself, without further trial, sentence, or declaration. And we command and forbid that any person or persons of the said kingdoms, of whatever estate, condition, or dignity that they may be, shall dare to receive, protect, defend, nor hold publicly or secretly any Jew or Jewess beyond the date of the end of July and from henceforth forever, in their lands, houses, or in other parts of any of our said kingdoms and lordships, under pain of losing all their possessions, vassals, fortified places, and other inheritances, and beyond this of losing whatever financial grants they hold from us by our Chamber of Finance.

1. And so that the said Jews and Jewesses during the stated period of time until the end of the said month of July may be better able to dispose of themselves, and their possession, and their estates, for the present we take and receive them under our Security, protection, and royal safeguard, and we secure to them and to their possessions that for the duration of the said time until the said last day of the said month of July they may travel and be safe, they may enter, sell, trade, and alienate all their movable and rooted possessions and dispose of them freely and at their will, and that during the said time, no one shall harm them, nor injure them, no wrong shall be done to them against justice, in their persons or in their possessions, under the penalty which falls on and is incurred by those who violate the royal safeguard. And we likewise give license and faculty to those said Jews and Jewesses that they be able to export their goods and estates out of these our said kingdoms and lordships by sea or land as long as they do not export gold or silver or coined money or other things prohibited by the laws of our kingdoms, excepting merchandise and things that are not prohibited.

1. And we command all councils, justices, magistrates, knights, squires, officials, and all good men of the said city of Burgos and of the other cities, towns, and villages of our said kingdoms and lordships and all our new vassals, subjects, and natives that they preserve and comply with and cause to be preserved and complied with this our charter and all that is contained in it, and to give and to cause to be given all assistance and favor in its application under penalty of [being at] our mercy and the confiscation of all their possessions and offices by our Chamber of Finance. And because this must be brought to the notice of all, so that no one may pretend ignorance, we command that this our charter be posted in the customary plazas and places of the said city and of the principal cities, towns, and villages of its bishopric as an announcement and as a public document. And no one shall do any damage to it in any manner under penalty of being at our mercy and the deprivation of their offices and the confiscation of their possessions, which will happen to each one who might do this. Moreover, we command the [man] who shows them this our charter that he summon [those who act against the charter] to appear before us at our court wherever we may be, on the day that they are summoned during the fifteen days following the crime under the said penalty, under which we command whichever public scribe who would be called for the purpose of reading this our charter that the signed charter with its seal should be shown to you all so that we may know that our command is carried out.

1. Given in our city of Granada, the XXXI day of the month of March, the year of the birth of our lord Jesus Christ one thousand four hundred and ninety-two years.

I, the King, I the Queen,

I, Juan de Coloma, secretary of the king and queen our lords, have caused this to be written at their command.

Registered by Cabrera, Almacan chancellor.

& & & & &

Solomon Molcho, in the Shadow of the Alhambra Decree…

https://www.chabad.org/multimedia/video_cdo/aid/3103076/jewish/Solomon-Molcho.htm

On 03-31-1745 On a Day like today, Jews are expelled from Prague. Below, Austrian Queen expels the Jews

Article: https://www.jstor.org/stable/29778766

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFD1N6eRWFg

History: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_5T9DGV_JE

03-31-1944 On a Day like today, Hungary orders ALL Jews to wear yellow stars… A Box of Yellow Stars

https://mjhnyc.org/blog/a-box-of-yellow-stars/

Frequently asked questions

https://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/special-focus/the-holocaust-in-hungary/the-holocaust-in-hungary-frequently-asked-questions

The Yellow Star House, the remarkable story of one boy’s survival in a Protected House in Hungary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOiFfat_gjs

The Jews of Hungary: https://www.yadvashem.org/articles/general/jews-of-hungary-during-the-holocaust.html

Hatikva: The Song of Hope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQCu9kl68Tg

Now… rise for Israel’s National Anthem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_9N1ldPtQ8

Subtitled and Translated

Now... enjoy Yesh Tikvah with Benny Friedman...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIPCHjFC9yk

There is Hope

Take a look, here and there,

[and] around the world,

there are pains, [and] worries

the smile[s] is [are] gone,

but don't be afraid, even [when all seems] if black

b/c this, too, will pass

and all will work out

b/c GOD strengthens you...

?

(Chorus)

There is hope,

if we [cry out/plead with] praise him all together

[b/c] faith is stronger than fear

[we] won't "fall", won't tremble

b/c we are not alone

we have the one GOD

x2

?

dear brother,

come with me

put your hand in my hand

don't worry, don't be afraid,

b/c we stand, hand in hand

The holy One, blessed is He

loves everyone

don't be afraid any further, b/c tomorrow [you will see]

He will remove all of the pain

(Chorus)

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/yesh-tikvah-there-hope.html

The Trial of the Talmud

On June 12th, 1242, dozens of wagons led by horses came across a main square in Paris, each loaded with thousands of volumes of the Babylonian Talmud. Crowds of people who already heard the rumors were filling the squares and streets, headed by an apostate Jew called Nicholas Donin, who most likely had a triumphant grin all over his face. Just minutes later, the wagons with their priceless contents, turned into huge columns of fire.

Burning Talmud books was a common anti-Semitic practice in the middle ages. Mass acts of burning Jewish books took place also in Italy, Podolia and other places. However, the Paris Disputation stood out, mainly because of the long legal debate that preceded it, in the palace of the French king, Louis IX.

Nicholas Donin pressed the charges and headed the prosecution, accusing the Jews of using the “Kol Nidre” text, which allows the believer to break his vows, to escape their debts and thus exploit the gentiles.

The Jewish pleader’s response was that the piyyut only intends to break vows made for God, not to untie material obligations made to a person. ?However the jurist tribunal ruled in favor of Nicholas Donin and the verdict was to burn all the Talmud books, which symbolized the defective Jewish moral and the hatred for gentiles.

Six centuries later Heinrich Heine, another converted Jew, said the famous quote: “Where they have?burned books, they will end in?burning?human beings”. Ironically, had Nicholas lived in Europe during the 1940’s, he could not escape the fate of being burned, no matter of his opinions.

Disputations Regarding the Kol Nidre Piyyut

It was assumed that “Kol Nidre” was written in the era of the Geonim (6th to 8th centuries). The Geonim (literally “excellency” or “splendor”) were Jewish spiritual leaders in Babylon (nowadays Iraq), a most highly respected elite of wise men. Notable Geonim were rabbi Hai Gaon, rabbi Amram Gaon, and the most famous one, rabbi Saadia Gaon, whose work “Emunot VeDe’ot” is the most influential book of Jewish philosophy in the early middle ages. ?These sharp innovative, diligent intellectuals enriched and perfected Jewish thought and literature in various ways, including the Siddur, the Passover Hagadah, and the halachic Responsa.

The text of “Kol Nidre” was finally approved and included in the Yom Kippur prayer book in in 1565 by rabbi Yosef Karo, author of “Shulchan Aruch”, the most widely consulted legal code?in Judaism.

Juramentum More Judaico

As long as the disputations were internal, they were? harmless. Troubles began however, when they started to spread out.

At the beginning of the first millennia entire Jewish communities left Babylon and gradually settled in Spain and northern Europe. In the new countries the financial ties between the Jews and the local inhabitants were stronger than in Babylon. The Christians, who went through anti-Semitic brain wash in the religious institutes, feared that the Jews might not honor their obligations and loans.

In order to secure themselves, around the time of the Trial of the Talmud, the Christian authorities established a most humiliating practice called juramentum more judaico. It was forced upon the Jews in order to cancel the effect of the piyyut and make sure the Jew will pay his debts and loans. In France, for example, the ritual took place inside the synagogue with the holy ark’s doors wide open; the Jew had to wear a halo of thorns around the neck and stand on his knees, legs tied together with a sharp thorn between them. In another version of the ceremony, the Jew had to stand barefoot on a bleeding skin of a calf or lamb, his right hand pointing on an open Torah scroll. In Germany they had to stand on pig’s skin and point at the Torah. In Silesia the swearing Jews had to stand on a three legged chair and pay a fine each time they fell or stumbled. In Romania they laid on a death bed, a candle was held over their head and a horn was blown 7 times, while they were reading the punishments from the “Song of Moses”. The Jew then had to lay his fingers on the Torah and chant “Shema Israel” and other verses, while the Judge threatened him and his family.

Neil Diamond Kol Nidre - The Jazz Singer - Yom Kippur

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA7zJ0K2kkg

Neil Diamond Hava Nagila

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s214RkLm0NQ

Kol Nidre, it is a declaration of prayer with Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_39ufEBUrEE

Neil Diamond tells the story of his family's journey to America... Dedicated to his grandmother who made the journey from Kiev 112 years ago, watch Neil Diamond perform “America” Live At The Greek Theatre, 2012.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrgCxSSwBto

Now... let's read the lyrics to America, the signature song by Neil Diamond.

The song touches the heart of every immigrant because we come to America to live lives protected by a Constitution and a Bill of Rights...

We travel far, we undergo all sorts of threats and challenges to get here, we leave our homes guided by the Star of Hope that our lives will transform once we get to the USA, the land of the free and the home of the brave...

It would be very sad indeed if we see America distanced from Israel, its closest ally. It would be an absolute shame if we remain idle and not fight the anti-semitism we see today.

We are in the eye of the storm.

Make sure to defend Jews... keep America as a shiny place where we can all safely make our beds and say grace... Keep the burning candle of HOPE... to make sure that Freedom's light burns warm everywhere around the world!

Our country 'tis of thee (today) Sweet land of liberty (today) Of thee we sing (today) Of thee we sing on Resurrection Day! Just one request...

If you come to America, do it legally because we are a Republic, a country of laws!

AMERICA by Neil Diamond... The Lyrics

Far We've been traveling far Without a home But not without a star

Free Only want to be free We huddle close Hang on to a dream On the boats and on the planes They're coming to America Never looking back again They're coming to America

Home Don't it seem so far away Oh, we're traveling light today In the eye of the storm In the eye of the storm

Home To a new and a shiny place Make our bed and we'll say our grace Freedom's light burning warm Freedom's light burning warm Everywhere around the world

They're coming to America Every time that flag's unfurled They're coming to America Got a dream to take them there They're coming to America Got a dream they've come to share They're coming to America

They're coming to America They're coming to America They're coming to America They're coming to America Today, today Today, today, today

My country 'tis of thee (today) Sweet land of liberty (today) Of thee I sing (today) Of thee I sing

Today, today, today Today, today, (today, today)

On a day like today... actually on 03-31-2024, Gisela Valdes shares the good news

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdalena came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him." So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. This the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad... Amen

Gur Ben-ze'ev ???Gur Ben-ze'ev ???? 2nd? 2ndFounder-CEO | Investment BankingFounder-CEO | Investment Banking

1h ? Edited ? 1h ? Edited ?

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?????Powerful words????? Cara Wolder ???? ?????? ?????????????????? ??????????????: ?? ??????????'?? ???????? ???????? ???? ?????? ?? ????????????. ???? ?????? ?????????????? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ??:???? ????, ?? ?????????????????????????????? ???? ???????? ???????????????? ?? ?????? ???? ?????????? ?????? ???????????????? ?????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ?????????????? ???????????????? ???? ???????????????????? ?????? ?????????????????? ?? ????????????-?????????????? ?????????? ???????? ?????? ???????? ?????????? ????????????????.

Instead of being used as evidence to demand justice and face legal consequences for Acts of Terror, the Associated Press thought it would benefit their pockets to submit the photo into the most prestigious photojournalism competition, Pictures of the Year, by Reynolds Institute of Journalism (IRJ) at the University of Missouri.

The photo was awarded first place for "Team picture Story of the Year" which recognizes the collaborate effort of a photography staff covering a single topic as part of a team. lt's important to point out that there is no freedom of the press in Gaza and that All journalism is governed and controlled by Hamas, which raises several ethical concerns regarding journalism and its threats to national security.

• Google: The Associated Press defended photographer Ali Mahmud's image of Hamas terrorists parading Nova reveler Shani Louk's body in the back of a truck on Friday, which has sparked outrage in the wake of an award from the University of Missouri.

The failure of #APews to use this as an opportunity to inform the public about the tragic story of Shani Louk and offer her and her family a respectful tribute but instead choosing to contextualize and justify this tragedy, only serves to reinforce the patriarchal norms and gender inequality that we've been battling for centuries.

At the end of the day, someone profits from a culture that objectifies and celebrates violence against women, and this is not an award to be proud of.

This should never have happened. ?????????????????????????????? ?????????? ?????? ?????????? ?????? ???????? ???? ???? ?????????? ?????? ?????????? ???? ???????? ?????? ?????????? ?????? ?????????? ?????????????? ????????-???????????????? ?????? ?????????? ????????????????????, ?????? ?????????? ???????? ???????????? ???? ???????????? ???????? ?????????? ???? ?????? ??????????. ?????? ???????? ???? ?????????????????????? ?????????????? ???????? ?????? ????????, ?????????? ?????? ??????????.

?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?????? ?? ?? ?? ??

Please Share the truth Stand with Israel & the Jews ???????????????????? All my content is available for download in ???? ???????????????? ??????????????: https://t.me/gz0710

Click next to watch: https://www.tiktok.com/@carasthenics/video/7352162457932156206?lang=en

Click next to watch: https://www.tiktok.com/@carasthenics/video/7352162457932156206?lang=en

Click next to watch: https://www.tiktok.com/@carasthenics/video/7352162457932156206?lang=en

Read the articles: Associated Press photographer co-wins for photo of terrorists taking Shani Louk's corpse into Gaza, this has caused a lot of criticism from Social Media users who are disgusted with the contents of the photo!

https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-794100#google_vignette

Israeli-German Shani Louk's remains found, family confirms:

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-770787

Nothing’s sacred to these guys.?

A trio of attention-seeking protesters — one of whom previously glued his feet to the stands at the US Open as part of a climate change stunt — were cuffed and hauled out of St. Patrick’s Cathedral after disrupting Easter Mass with shouts of “free Palestine” on Saturday night, cops say.

Police were called to the iconic Midtown cathedral for complaints about a “disorderly group” just before 9 p.m.?The protesters were quickly taken out of the service.

Matthew Menzies, 31, John Rozendaal, 63, and Gregory Schwedock, 35, were taken into custody and charged with disruption of religious service,?police told The Post.

While being escorted out, one yelled “Free Palestine,” a video shared to X shows.?

The New York Post is doing what I am doing... reflecting on this day on history:

https://nypost.com/2024/03/31/us-news/protesters-calling-for-cease-fire-ambush-easter-vigil-at-st-patricks-cathedral-in-nyc/

The globe-trotting Stuyvesant High School grad has made a career of divisive climate protests, and has documented many of his activities on social media.?

Rozendaal, an Inwood resident, was previously arrested in April after spray painting “climate criminal and no new oil” on a window at a Citibank.?

The three noisemakers barged into the church following a protest by thousands of pro-Palestinian marchers in Times Square.?

At least some of the protesters were with Extinction Rebellion NYC’s Palestinian Solidarity group and carried a flag with an olive tree and the words “SILENCE = DEATH” written across it.

Extinction?Rebellion has gained a name for itself with disruptive public climate change protests — including blocking major roads and hosting “die-ins” at major New York museums.??

Many attending the mass, led by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the?Archbishop of New York,?did not react to the disruption, however, some gathered outside of the church felt Saturday evening’s demonstration lacked respect.?

Video is contained within The New York Post Article:

https://nypost.com/2024/03/31/us-news/protesters-calling-for-cease-fire-ambush-easter-vigil-at-st-patricks-cathedral-in-nyc/

“We all have to respect each other’s religions. What’s going on in Gaza is appalling, but there are other ways to show your point of view,” Arturo Ballester, a 59-year-old from Brooklyn, told The Post outside of St. Patrick’s Saturday night.?

Another church-goer who did not want to be named but said she works as a lawyer said she felt the?activists should take their demonstration elsewhere.?

“Not inside the church. Outside they can be as free as they please. Gaza is a really bad situation, but this is a place of sanctuary for us. Have a little respect please.”?

Tony Furnary, a 65-year-old surgeon visiting New York City on holiday from Anchorage, Alaska, simply stated: “Wrong place, wrong time” in response to the protest.?

Schwedock’s Facebook feed features numerous videos of disruptive protests filmed in NYC and beyond, many involving vandalism?and blocking public roadways. One video includes footage from a 2019 “die-in” on Wall Street in which Extinction Rebellion members drenched the famous charging bull statue in fake blood and climbed on top of it. At the start of the video documenting the protest, a member of the group named Alexia boasted two days ahead of time that she was going to be arrested. On his Instagram, the climate activist posted videos of himself living it up at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, better known as COP27.?

According to FlightFree, the 5,600-mile flight from JFK Airport to Cairo, Egypt emits 3.3 metric tons of CO2, which it says is capable of melting 105 square feet of Arctic sea ice.

Schrwedock?did not respond to an Instagram message seeking comment Sunday.

Menzies could not be reached for comment.?

Rozendaal, the oldest of the trio and a self-described “viola de gamba?player, Baroque cellist, and teacher,” last month on Facebook reposted a glowing essay about Aaron Bushnell, the?25-year-old Air Force airman who died after?setting himself on fire?outside the Israeli embassy to protest the war in Gaza.

In comments under the posted video — titled?“A Profound Act Of Sincerity” —?Rozendaal praised Bushnell for having “the smarts to put his sacrifice in the view of the world to teach us, to inspire us, and to rightly shame us.”

In reference to Bushnell’s shocking self-immolation, Rozendaal wrote “I see it as an occasion for solemn celebration.”

Rozendaal did not immediately respond to a message sent via Facebook.

Millions gathered around the world on Saturday to protest the Israel-Hamas war.?

In a statement before the start of the Holy Week, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a call for prayer and peace in the Middle East and to end the war.

“As the Church enters Holy Week and Christ’s suffering on the cross and his resurrection are made present to us so vividly, we are connected to the very source of hope,” the statement read.?

Since the start of the war, the conference has decried the deaths of civilians and made calls for peace and the release of hostages captured by Hamas.?

“Thousands of innocent people have died in this conflict, and thousands more have been displaced and face tremendous suffering,” the statement continued.?

“This must stop.”?

As if these disturbing events were not enough, doing the research through Google, we also found out that on Feb 19, 2024, a funeral at St. Patrick's Cathedral caused outrage over trans activist's funeral at the Cathedral... Click:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VTkJafN8ZI

The funeral of a renowned transgender activist in a New York cathedral elicited a denunciation of the event by a senior church official, who called the Mass a scandal within one of the preeminent houses of worship in U.S. Catholicism.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York condemned the funeral of Cecilia Gentili in Manhattan's St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Thursday.

The Funeral of Cecilia Gentili at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City was recorded and the video is available with the following caption: Feb 15, 2024

?????????????? ?????????????? leaves a burning legacy of love, brotherhood and an infinite fire in our hearts to fight for the liberation of trans people, sex workers, migrants and people who have been pushed to the margins. We honor her life, love and power with the ??????????????’?? ???????????? ????????: Starts at 15:30 on the dial, click below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtuocj8bKOs @ 27:03 'A crowd that is well turned out' says the Priest and the crow was into a standing ovation, clapping, applauding and chanting CECILIA!

By Nicholas D. Sawicki: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2024/02/27/cecilia-gentili-transgender-funeral-st-patricks-cathedral-247388

“I don’t believe in God, but God wanted me to be always, always, the star of the show.”

This line comes from Cecilia Gentili’s one-woman show, “Red Ink,” and underscores the root cause of the controversy around Gentili’s funeral at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Feb. 15.

The cathedral obliged, learning only shortly before the funeral that Gentili was transgender and an atheist.

While St. Patrick’s Cathedral hosting the funeral of a prominent transgender activist would have made history in its own right, Gentili’s sexual identity is not the central cause of the controversy that ensued.

The real issues surfaced during the funeral itself. There we saw interruptions to the funeral rites, dancing in the main aisle, outfits that would be considered inappropriate in most any faith community and language considered disrespectful in a sacred space like “America’s parish church.”

To be clear, even if the cathedral knew from the beginning that Gentili was transgender, accepting the request in good faith to commend a soul to God is the exact kind of charitable and merciful action the church is called to perform.

Were it not for the interruptions and disrespect shown to this sacred space, this would have been an occasion for rejoicing.

Nearly 1,000 individuals from some of society’s most marginalized communities were welcomed into the iconic cathedral, before the font of mercy that is Jesus Christ and prayed for a deceased friend.

The cause of this controversy is not that some “other” communities came into a Catholic space, a church I called my parish for seven years, but something else. The L.G.B.T.Q. community and the sex workers Gentili advocated for deserve to be ministered to just like any other group because they, too, are an integral part of the church. If the church’s salvific mission is universal and God’s mercy is without end, then the cathedral acted properly and should continue to do so.

No, what caused this travesty was the radical culture of individualism that pervades our society and was made manifest during the funeral.

This is not to say that the individual is “bad.” The “individual” as a theological and anthropological concept is highly developed in the life of the church and can be summarized by simply stating that each person is formed in the image and likeness of God and thus has innate dignity. This is a bedrock principle of Catholic social teaching, and we must orient ourselves and our society around respect, mercy and justice for the individual.

“Individualism,” on the other hand, is a radical, destructive form of ultra-relativism and has been one of the bogeymen of papal teachings for the last 125-plus years. Individualism runs counter to—and is antagonistic toward—true human relationships. Individualism places all the needs and desires of the individual above the common good and relegates relationships to the broader community into a removed, secondary position. It fails to include the feelings and needs of others in the formation of individual consciences.

In his social encyclical “Rerum Novarum,” Pope Leo XIII noted there must be a balance between the two. “Civil society exists for the common good, and hence is concerned with the interests of all in general,” Leo XIII wrote, “albeit with individual interests also in their due place and degree.”

Some 80 years later, St. Paul VI observed further developments in his encyclical “Octogesima Adveniens.” “An overemphasis of equality,” St. Paul VI wrote, “can give rise to an individualism in which each one claims his own rights without wishing to be answerable for the common good.”

To read the entire article: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2024/02/27/cecilia-gentili-transgender-funeral-st-patricks-cathedral-247388

Well... here is what Clint Eastwood has to say about all this, at least the T-shirt on the Internet is selling like hot cakes...