I am a Christian and a good friend of mine who is Jewish sent me a copy of this sermon last night. It was written by Atlanta Rabbi Shlomo Lewis (not his Rabbi). It’s a long, powerful sermon, and well worth reading. I have nothing to else to add other than the wish that you may take the time to go through it and consider the message delivered.

The original email came with this note:

“Written and delivered as a sermon by Atlanta Rabbi Shlomo Lewis, this is the most cogent look at the world’s plight, and that of the Jews, that I have ever had the privilege of reading. Do yourself and your family a great service by taking a quiet ten minutes to read it thoughtfully.”

UPDATED: Please see the link below to read the complete sermon at Frontpage.

http://frontpagemag.com/2010/09/28/ehr-kumt-he-is-coming/

EHR KUMT
First Day of Rosh Hashanah 2010

Many years ago a Chasid used to travel from shtetl (city) to shtetl selling holy books. On one occasion he came to a wealthy land owner and banker and asked if he would like to purchase a book of Torah teachings. The banker agreed and not only purchased the book, but paid for it with a hundred ruble note. He then began to chat with the Chassid and offered him a cigar, taking one also for himself. The Chassid noticed that the banker, Louise Eskanoser, proceeded to rip a page from the holy book he had just bought and holding it to the open flame on the stove, used the page to light his cigar. The Chassid said not a word but simply drew out from his pocket the 100 ruble note he had just received from the banker, held it over the stove as well and used it to light his cigar.

This simple, little tale reflects a profound divergence of values. Our sympathy clearly and instinctively is not with the banker but with the pious Chassid. None of us would come to the defense of the banker. None of us would claim moral supremacy for the banker. None of us would justify his boorish deed. As the sages of the Talmud would say – “Pshita – It is so obvious.” Sadly though our planet is immersed in perversity where morality is not so manifest – where the book burner is a hero and the pious one, a villain.

This video, which I found about via a Human Events email, is unbelievable.

The Youtube page where the video can be found states “Scott Fenstermaker, the lawyer for Ali Abd al-Aziz, KSM & company was interviewed on The O’Reilly Factor tonight. He refused to admit that Americans were murdered on 9/11 and repeatedly disputed the number of Americans who were killed.”

If you have trouble viewing, then here is the link to the Youtube page.

This guy is making a mockery of the people who were murdered on 9/11 as well as all those who lost friends and loved ones on that day.

Shame on Barack Obama, the Attorney General, and the Democrats for allowing this to happen.

This is not justice, this is an insult to those who where lost on that day.

The Democrats must be thrown out in November.

*note – as this video is from late November, I’m sure it was previously posted, so, if I’m duplicating I apologize but this is so outrageous I felt the need to put it up.

Arnold Schwarzenegger made the term “girlie man” famous when as Governor of California he used it to deride his opponents in the State legislature during the budget battle in 2004. I think that after witnessing President Obama’s performance for the past year, that the term should be rightly used to describe himself. Here’s why.

Because only a girlie-man:

• Raises over $650 million dollars to land a job and then spends the next 11 plus months complaining about how tough it is. I don’t know about you, but I’m quite certain that any man who lands a job in this economy is not complaining how hard that postion is but rather thanking God that he has a job – period.

• Spends hundreds of millions of dollars for the chance to lead a country that he doesn’t believe is any more exceptional than any other country in the world.

• As leader of the free world, bows down to Kings and Emperors.

• Gets fawning news coverage from ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN but whines about the one network, Fox, that has the nerve to take a critical look at his presidency.

• Is elected to the position of Chief Executive of the USA, the highest position in the country and the most powerful office in the world, but then goes about the globe apologizing for the the country he spent hundreds of millions of dollars to lead. Imagine, if you would, the CEO of any company doing the same – IBM, Caterpillar, Microsoft – could you see, for example, the CEO of IBM traveling the world apologizing for, well, being IBM? Didn’t think so.

• Would be uncomfortable with victory. Again, imagine any other CEO being uncomfortable with victory. Take Larry Ellison of Oracle, for example. Could you see him saying his not comfortable with being victorious over a competitor? Nope. He is comfortable with winning, as is the case with all good chief executives.

• Accepts an award, the Nobel Peace Prize, for which he is completely undeserving. If he was a man, who would have said thanks but I cannot accept it. Think about it, accepting this award would be the equivalent of Michael Phelps accepting 8 Gold Medals from the Olympic Committee before the 2008 Olympics just because he had such great potential to win them in Beijing. And by the way, if the Nobel Prize folks think potential is so important in the peace award, then they should have given it to Nelson Mandela before he spent 27 years in prison or to Mother Teresa before she spent over 40 years working to help the poor in the slums of Calcutta.

• Doesn’t have the guts to say to the general public during the campaign what he truly stands for – socialism, statism, etc. – and what he truly thinks about the people but instead hides behind a line of “hope and change” that sadly millions of Americans swallowed hook, line, and sinker.

Finally, as Governor Schwarzenegger said “if they don’t have the guts to come up here in front of you and say, ‘I don’t want to represent you, I want to represent those special interests, the unions, the trial lawyers …’ if they don’t have the guts, I call them girlie men.” And so it is with Barack Obama – Girlie-Man-in-Chief.

If you have ever seen the movie iRobot, then you might remember this important scene, which I think bears relevance to the Healthcare battle going on in our country.

Detective Del Spooner (Will Smith): Headed back to the station. Normal day, normal life. The driver of a semi fell asleep at the wheel. Average guy, wife and kids, working a double. *Not* the devil. The car he hit, the driver’s name was Harold Lloyd. Like the film star, but no relation. He was killed instantly. But his twelve-year-old was sitting in the passenger’s seat. Never really met her. Can’t forget her face, though. Sarah.

Detective Del Spooner: This was hers. She wanted to be a dentist. What the hell kind of twelve-year-old wants to be a dentist? Yeah, um… the truck smashed our cars together and pushed us into the river. You know, metal gets pretty pliable at those speeds. She’s pinned, I’m pinned, the water’s coming in. I’m a cop, so I know everybody’s dead. Just a few minutes until we figure that out. NS4 was passing by and jumped in the river.

NS4 Robots: [from flashback] You are in danger!

Detective Del Spooner: [from flashback] Save her!

NS4 Robots: [from flashback] You are in danger!

Detective Del Spooner: [from flashback] Save her! Save the girl!

Detective Del Spooner: But it didn’t. Saved me.

Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan): The robot’s brain is a difference engine. It’s reading vital signs. It must have done…

Detective Del Spooner: It did. It was the logical choice. It calculated that I had a 45% chance of survival. Sarah only had an 11% chance. That was somebody’s baby. 11% is more than enough. A human being would’ve known that. Robots,[indicating his heart]

Detective Del Spooner: nothing here, just lights and clockwork. Go ahead, you trust ‘em if you want to.

“11% is more than enough.” Well, in the public healthcare world of the Liberals, and Democrats, I doubt that a 11% chance of survival would be enough for anyone to be given assistance to live, but you can be certain that it would very likely not be provided to anyone outside the golden range (15-40 years) of a real life Grim Reaper, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel.

Betsy McCaughey’s article in today’s Wall Street Journal, “Obama’s Health Rationer-in-Chief,” is a frightening presentation on the thinking of one of President Obama’s most important advisers on healthcare reform.

So, in the world of Dr. Emanuel, of Barack Obama, of Liberals and Democrats, do you think this woman, who at age 50 was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, and given a 25% chance to live 5 years, would be given treatment?

We all know people, family, and friends who have been diagnosed with one serious disease or another, and told the prognosis was not good for survival beyond a few months, or years. Sometimes, the doctors are right, and they pass on as foretold, but as often as not, we can all find examples of family and friends who defied the odds, and went on to live (and continue to live in some cases) long after their supposed expiration date.

Perhaps even Lance Armstrong, who at age 25 was diagnosed with Stage 3 testicular cancer, which had already spread to his brain, lungs, and abdomen, might have been denied care had Obamacare been implemented when this diagnosis happened. He was given a 50% chance to live. Actually, his chances for survival were much less than 50% “but they (his doctors) did not want to get his spirits down.” Hmmm… I guess someone’s spirit does matter after all in situations of life or death.

Or what about Heather Hornback-Bland. She is the author of an incredible, inspirational book that I read last year called God Said Yes. From the about section of her website:

“At the age of four, I accidentally fell out of the car driven by my mother and was crushed under the wheel. My family was told I would never live and, if I did, would surely never walk.” If you go to the link, you can read the rest of the description of her injuries, which are graphic. Her family was told on the way to the hospital, as well as before her first operation, and after, that she would never live, but she did. And today she is alive, married, and has a daughter, which she gave birth to in 1995.  Oh, and she can walk too.

Her medical debts have reached as high as $1,000,000, and she pays over $2,000 a month for various prescription medicine. Now, do you think Dr. Emanuel, Barack Obama, or the bureaucratic death panels they would create would have allowed her to be brought anywhere but the morgue after the accident, which occurred when she was four years old? Do you think that had the Obamacare system been in force when the accident happened, and somehow she slipped through and got treated but then as the bills mounted, that the death bureaucrats would once and for all put the kibosh on any further treatments, and give her some pills to keep her out of pain until she died?

Here is another quote:

“Dr. Emanuel concedes that his plan appears to discriminate against older people, but he explains: ‘Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination. . . . Treating 65 year olds differently because of stereotypes or falsehoods would be ageist; treating them differently because they have already had more life-years is not.’ “

The youngest are also put at the back of the line: ‘Adolescents have received substantial education and parental care, investments that will be wasted without a complete life. Infants, by contrast, have not yet received these investments. . . . As the legal philosopher Ronald Dworkin argues, ‘It is terrible when an infant dies, but worse, most people think, when a three-year-old dies and worse still when an adolescent does,’ this argument is supported by empirical surveys.” (thelancet.com, Jan. 31, 2009).”

This thinking is disgusting, and warped. They set the value on a human being, and not just that, that this value has its highest worth between and certain age range (15-40.) Before or after that range, the value of a human being goes down. Following this thinking, it is easy to understand then why so many far left Liberals and Democrats have no problem with killing unborn children – they are not even on the chart.

To me, thinking by liberals such as Dr. Emanuel is similar to that of the cs4 robots in iRobot - they want to apply some type of logic, some cold caluclation to how our healthcare is done, to how we see each other, to put an intrinsic dollar and societal value on each one of us. Your value is X, so, you live, yours is Y, so, you die.

But this is wrong.

Human beings are not logical. We may try to do various things in our lives in an organized fashion but we are certainly not logical by nature. We do things every day which would make no sense to a robot, or someone who has come to think like one. For example, what other creatures on this planet run towards fire to help others of their kind? None – except human beings in their role as firemen. And they do it every day.

Is it logical to run into buildings that have just been hit by planes, are on fire and may well collapse in some form? No, but hundreds of firemen, police officers, and other first responders did just that with the Twin Towers on 9/11, even though many may have well believed that they wouldn’t be coming out alive.

Is it logical for a human being diagnosed with Stage 3 testicular cancer, and given less than 50% chance to live, to not only survive, but then return to the sport he had left, and go on to be one of the greatest athletes in his sport, ever? No, but Lance Armstrong did just that – winning the Tour de France a record seven times. FYI Barack Obama, Dr. Emanuel, etc., that’s called spirit, that’s called the will to survive.  And yeah, it is important, it’s what makes us human beings.

We do not need a government health plan, nor death bureaucrats, who’ll decide that 11% (or whatever the calculation used is) isn’t a good enough percentage for someone to live.

We need to keep the life and death decisions, which we all face, in our hands, and in the hands of our private doctors. Because 11% is more than enough. So is 25%, or 50%, or 1%, or even, as was the case with Heather Hornback-Bland, when there was (supposedly) no chance at all.

Of the many things that are out-of-hand with this administration, this is one of them.  The czars of Obama, who no doubt considers himself czar above all czars.

Who knows what the next ones will be – perhaps the Apology Czar – charged with making sure Obama continues to apologize to any and all for all things American.  Or maybe a Census Czar, which would naturally be headed up by some upstanding representative from Acorn.  There could be the Foreign Nuclear Development Czar, who would be charged with helping friends such as Iran achieve their nuclear dreams.  Perhaps a Foreign Gift Czar, who would make sure that our important allies such as Britain, get the gifts they deserve.  Obama could have a Press Czar, who would see that all those very important media figures ask him the right questions at news conferences.  And when they do, well, he’ll make sure they get their reward.  Of course, if they question the White House media tactics, as Helen Thomas did, no doubt they’ll find themselves thrown under the bus.  And how about a China Czar – I mean really, a country that owns so much of our country, deserves its own czar.  There could be a Union Label Czar (remember those commercials) – making sure that the union label is on everything that isn’t..well…made in China.

The list is found here, at the website for Taxpayers for Commonsense.

Richard Holbrooke Afghanistan Czar Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Jeffrey Crowley      AIDS Czar Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy
Alan Bersin            Border Czar Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs
David Hayes         CA Water Czar Deputy Interior Secretary
Ed Montgomery    Car Czar Director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers
Todd Stern           Climate Czar Special Envoy for Climate Change
Lynn Rosenthal    Domestic Violence Czar Adviser on violence against women
Gil Kerlikowske    Drug Czar Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
Paul Volcker        Economic Czar Chairman of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board
Carol Browner      Energy Czar Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change
Joshua DuBois     Faith-based Czar Director of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
Cameron Davis   Great Lakes Czar Special advisor to the U.S. EPA overseeing its Great Lakes restoration plan
Van Jones Green Jobs Czar Special Adviser for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality
Danny Fried       Guantanamo Closure Czar Special envoy to oversee the closure of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay
Nancy-Ann DeParle Health Czar Director of the White House Office of Health Reform
Vivek Kundra        Information Czar Federal Chief Information Officer
Dennis Blair          Intelligence Czar Director of National Intelligence
George Mitchell   Mideast Peace Czar Special Envoy to the Middle East
Dennis Ross        Mideast Policy Czar Special Adviser for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia – Different, unnamed position now
Kenneth Feinberg  Pay Czar Special Master on executive pay
Cass Sunstein    Regulatory Czar Director of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
John Holdren      Science Czar Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology
Earl Devaney    Stimulus Accountability Czar Chair of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board
J. Scott Gration  Sudan Czar Special Envoy to Sudan
Herb Allison      TARP Czar Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability
Elizabeth Warren TARP Oversight Czar Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the $700B Bailout Fund
Aneesh Chopra  Technology Czar Chief Technology Officer
John Brennan     Terrorism Czar Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security
Adolfo Carrion, Jr Urban Affairs Czar Director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs
Ashton Carter     Weapons Czar Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics
Gary Samore      WMD/Terrorism Czar Coordinator for the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism