Justice, who doesn’t comment a lot, just sent me this. Seems that after Barack Obama left a prayer in the Western Wall in Jerusalem, some yeshiva student filched it, and the Israeli paper Ma’ariv published it . . .
The decision by Ma’ariv to make the note public on Friday drew fire. The rabbi in charge of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinovitz, said publishing the note intruded in Obama’s relationship with God.
"The notes placed between the stones of the Western Wall are between a person and his maker. It is forbidden to read them or make any use of them," he told Army Radio.
The publication "damages the Western Wall and damages the personal, deep part of every one of us that we keep to ourselves," he said.
So I’ll let the Jewish Journal take the heat from Rabbi Rabinovitz and just refer you there for a look at it.
This is worse to me than putting a camera in his bedroom. I’m sure I’ll hear/see it soon enough but I just can’t click on this link. Even though, when I saw the image of Obama at the wall, I did wonder what his prayer might have been.
Well, GG, I’ll just agree with Justice’s assessment: the prayer demonstrates Obama’s humanity very directly.
I have two comments:
First, Israel has a problem with the sanctity of the Western Wall but it should have no impact on the US.
Second, since Obama has declined to say that was his prayer, the US is in essence making a big hullabaloo over another “prank”. The media is taking everything as the truth when without Obama’s acknowledgement that his prayer was indeed made public, it may be a political dirty trick and should be ignored by US voters.
littl, I’m not following your point. Other than at folo and in the JJ, I’ve seen no coverage at all of this incident. Has there been some somewhere else?
At this point, I doubt more than a handful of American voters will ever hear of it, and even if they did, so what? What “political dirty trick”? On whom? I don’t understand, so please help me out.
lotus, I appreciate the confirmation of Obama’s "humanity" but I never doubted it. I can’t imagine anyone would go to the Wall and ask God to "call home" their worst enemy. Well, maybe some would but not most. My thoughts when I saw him at the wall were more concerned with just how one who could possibly be the leader of the free world in 2008 could possibly condense his prayers to a sheet of paper so small it could fit through a crack in the wall. I guess this is something he is going to have to learn how to do because (and I do pray he will be our president) he’s gonna need the practice.
He hit all the high points in four short sentences, GG.
I read about it on Fox News website early this morning. Y’all has a link to the Israeli Insider, which claims that the Obama campaign leaked the prayer for publication, and played the Israeli press. Who knows what the truth is, but the leak sure as heck didn’t hurt Obama, IMHO.
Editing to add the link:
Lotus, please remove the link if you don’t want Fox News linked on your blog. I’m not endorsing it — just wanted to include the link to support my comment.
Yes, I do read Fox News and also CNN. I also read Democrat Underground and Free Republic. I like to see all viewpoints and slants on the news. Don’t mean to offend anyone here.
[Wouldn't dream of removing it, MSlawyer, but I did hyperlink it for tidiness' sake. lotus]
I saw it on CNN in the last few days. It was updated yesterday
NL
the video is cool. i love seeing all those men in yarmulkes.
@ 7: “Who knows what the truth is, but the leak sure as heck didn’t hurt Obama, IMHO.”
… except maybe with God if it was an insincere politically-motivated effort.
I would cetainly hope that it was not such.
Lotus, the first report I saw (don’t remember where) Obama’s team would neither confirm nor deny (which I think was proper) it was Obama’s prayer. Without knowing whether it was his prayer or not, it becomes a red herring and you read into it what you want Obama to say. It detracts from real issues and real differences between Obama and McCain.
Well, littl, I still don’t get it. As far as I can tell, this has no political content whatsoever but just a little human interest. If either camp tried to make some political hay with it, I think they’d be very ill-advised, since for the life of me, I can’t see what it adds or detracts from the presidential race. Nor do I understand why you’re so huffed-up about it (“red herring”? “real issues and real differences”? huh?). That’s just weird.
I was just reading Bob Herbert in NYT (advising Obama to start hitting economic matters harder) — and I declare, it sounds like he’s been peeking at some of y’all’s folo comments:
Hammer, meet nail.
I just wanted to add my two cents on what Barack’s prayer made me think about. If you read Barack’s book, you will realize the guy is a gifted writer and true thinker. With that said, the prayer could have said anything. But, it didn’t.
The prayer was what we all would have written, what all of us yearn and fear. The protection for our families, the wisdom to make right and just decisions, and the hope that God uses us as an instrument of His plan. While the simplicity or the prayer amazed me, one thing stood out on the page.
“Lord give me the wisdom to guard against pride and despair.”
Yes, despair. A man who’s rhetoric echoes such lofty ideals as hope and unity must guard against despair? For me, that’s where Barack’s humanity was hidden. For while he hopes and believes in we can make the world better, he sees the problems facing our country. More importantly, he empathizes with the problems effecting his country.
Feel free to call me what you like. Liberal. Brainwashed. Idealistic. My only response is that after the last 7.5 years, I want hope and I want to me inspired.
j
If this prayer was leaked to the press, and it looks like it was, then this is/was not between the man and his God. It’s made for the press.
justice @14: Amen !
DB, some idiot kid in Israel pulls an idiot-kid stunt, and that’s what you make of it? Really now: listen to yourself.
Justice, thank you for paraphrasing the others but quoting the sentence that throbs.
I just listened to the entire OBAMA Berlin speech. What did Obama say? There was NO substance. I am going to change the world??? Even the Germans laughed at that.
Did Obama change the US Senate? NO
How can he “Change” the World?
Boy, Hatfield, you’ve really got a thang about him, don’t you? I keep wondering what it is, exactly.
no different than your bashing McCain fetish.
Pretty different, I’d say, kingfish: I’m passing along reported facts (with links), instead of purely my own opinions.
Here’s a link.
Lotus at 17, I meant leaked to the press by Obama’s on people.
The spam filter is killing me.
How weird is that, DN — it lets you through sometimes, sometimes not. GAH, I need a full-time tech dept for that mess!
DB, I KNOW that’s what you meant, but nothing supports your theory whatsoever — indeed au contraire: the Obama people refuse to say word one about this.
It’s the links. Everytime (100%) I add a link it goes to spam, if I don’t, it lets in excess of 80% through. See, no link, and I’m through.