Thomas of Celano (c. 1210-1270) - Dies Irae

Thomas of Celano (c. 1210-1270) - Dies Irae



Thomas of Celano - Dies IraeOlder Recording, ExcerptNewer Recording, Complete
Thomas of Celano (Italian: Tommaso da Celano; c. 1200 – c. 1260-1270) was an Italian friar of the Franciscans (Order of Friars Minor), a poet, and the author of three hagiographies about Saint Francis of Assisi.
Thomas was from Celano in Abruzzo. The first of his works on Francis was Vita prima ("First Life"), a work on the saint's early life, commissioned by Pope Gregory XI in 1228 at the time Francis's canonization. The second work, Vita secunda ("Second Life") was commissioned by Crescentius of Jessi, the Minister General of the Franciscan Order sometime between 1244 and 1247, and reflects changing official perspectives on Francis in the decades after his death. The third is a treatise on the saint's miracles, written sometime between around 1254 and 1257 at the bidding of Blessed John of Parma, who succeeded Crescentius as Minister General.Thomas's authorship of the three works on Francis of Assisi is well-established. Thomas also wrote Fregit victor virtualis and Sanctitatis nova signa in honor of Francis. Life of St. Clare of Assisi, on the early life of Saint Clare of Assisi and the hymn Dies Irae are also traditionally attributed to him, but the authorship of both works is in fact uncertain.Thomas was not among the very earliest disciples of Francis, but he joined the Franciscans around 1215, during the saint's lifetime, and evidently knew him personally. In 1221, Thomas was sent to Germany with Caesarius of Speyer to promote the new order there, and in 1223 was named "sole guardian" (custos unicus) of the order's Rhineland province, which included convents at Cologne, Mainz, Worms, and Speyer. Within a few years he was back in Italy, where he seems to have remained for the rest of his life, with some possible short-term missions to Germany. In 1260 he settled down to his last post, as spiritual director to a convent of Clarisses in Tagliacozzo, where he died some time between 1260 and 1270. He was at first buried in the church of S. Giovanni Val dei Varri, attached to his monastery, but his body is now reburied in the church of S. Francesco at Tagliacozzo.***
[Michelangelo (1475-1564) - The Last Judgment]Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) is a famous 13th-century Latin hymn thought to be written by Thomas of Celano. It is a medieval Latin poem, differing from classical Latin by its accentual (non-quantitative) stress and its rhymed lines. The meter is trochaic. The poem describes the day of judgment, the last trumpet summoning souls before the throne of God, where the saved will be delivered and the unsaved cast into eternal flames. The hymn is used as a sequence in the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass in the extraordinary form (1962 missal). It is not used in the ordinary form (1970) of the Roman Missal.Those familiar with musical settings of the Requiem Mass—such as those by Mozart or Verdi—will be aware of the important place of the Dies Iræ in the liturgy. Nevertheless it fell foul of the preferences of the "Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy"—the Vatican body charged with implementing (and indeed drafting) the reforms to the Catholic Liturgy ordered by the Second Vatican Council. The architect of these reforms, Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, explains the mind of the members of the Consilium:They got rid of texts that smacked of a negative spirituality inherited from the Middle Ages. Thus they removed such familiar and even beloved texts as the Libera me, Domine, the Dies Iræ, and others that overemphasized judgment, fear, and despair. These they replaced with texts urging Christian hope and arguably giving more effective expression to faith in the resurrection.It remained as the sequence for the Requiem Mass in the Roman Missal of 1962 (the last edition before the Second Vatican Council) and so is still heard in churches where the Tridentine Latin liturgy is celebrated.The "Dies Irae" is still suggested in the Liturgy of the Hours for the Office of the Dead and during last week before Advent as the opening hymn for the Office of Readings, Lauds and Vespers (divided into three parts).The Latin text is taken from the Requiem Mass in the 1962 Roman Missal. The English version below was translated by William Josiah Irons in 1849 and appears in the English Missal. Note that the below translation is not literal, but modified to fit the rhyme and meter.1Dies iræ! dies illaSolvet sæclum in favillaTeste David cum Sibylla!2Quantus tremor est futurus,quando judex est venturus,cuncta stricte discussurus!3Tuba mirum spargens sonumper sepulchra regionum,coget omnes ante thronum.4Mors stupebit et natura,cum resurget creatura,judicanti responsura.5Liber scriptus proferetur,in quo totum continetur,unde mundus judicetur.6Judex ergo cum sedebit,quidquid latet apparebit:nil inultum remanebit.7Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?Quem patronum rogaturus,cum vix justus sit securus?8Rex tremendæ majestatis,qui salvandos salvas gratis,salva me, fons pietatis.9Recordare, Jesu pie,quod sum causa tuæ viæ:ne me perdas illa die.10Quærens me, sedisti lassus:redemisti Crucem passus:tantus labor non sit cassus.11Juste judex ultionis,donum fac remissionisante diem rationis.12Ingemisco, tamquam reus:culpa rubet vultus meus:supplicanti parce, Deus.13Qui Mariam absolvisti,et latronem exaudisti,mihi quoque spem dedisti.14Preces meæ non sunt dignæ:sed tu bonus fac benigne,ne perenni cremer igne.15Inter oves locum præsta,et ab hædis me sequestra,statuens in parte dextra.16Confutatis maledictis,flammis acribus addictis:voca me cum benedictis.17Oro supplex et acclinis,cor contritum quasi cinis:gere curam mei finis.1Day of wrath! O day of mourning!See fulfilled the prophets' warning,Heaven and earth in ashes burning!2Oh what fear man's bosom rendeth,when from heaven the Judge descendeth,on whose sentence all dependeth.3Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth;through earth's sepulchers it ringeth;all before the throne it bringeth.4Death is struck, and nature quaking,all creation is awaking,to its Judge an answer making.5Lo! the book, exactly worded,wherein all hath been recorded:thence shall judgment be awarded.6When the Judge his seat attaineth,and each hidden deed arraigneth,nothing unavenged remaineth.7What shall I, frail man, be pleading?Who for me be interceding,when the just are mercy needing?8King of Majesty tremendous,who dost free salvation send us,Fount of pity, then befriend us!9Think, good Jesus, my salvationcost thy wondrous Incarnation;leave me not to reprobation!10Faint and weary, thou hast sought me,on the cross of suffering bought me.shall such grace be vainly brought me?11Righteous Judge! for sin's pollutiongrant thy gift of absolution,ere the day of retribution.12Guilty, now I pour my moaning,all my shame with anguish owning;spare, O God, thy suppliant groaning!13Thou the sinful woman savedst;thou the dying thief forgavest;and to me a hope vouchsafest.14Worthless are my prayers and sighing,yet, good Lord, in grace complying,rescue me from fires undying!15With thy favored sheep O place me;nor among the goats abase me;but to thy right hand upraise me.16While the wicked are confounded,doomed to flames of woe unboundedcall me with thy saints surrounded.17Low I kneel, with heart submission,see, like ashes, my contrition;help me in my last condition.The poem appears complete as it stands at this point. Some scholars question whether the remainder is an addition made in order to suit the great poem for liturgical use, for the last stanzas discard the consistent scheme of triple rhymes in favor of rhymed couplets, while the last two lines abandon rhyme for assonance and are, moreover, catalectic: (this information is questionable. Editors at this point have actually offered this piece at a genuine requiem - it is sung, it is true, it is appropriate... Dona eis requiem.)18Lacrimosa dies illa,qua resurget ex favillajudicandus homo reus.Huic ergo parce, Deus:19Pie Jesu Domine,dona eis requiem. Amen.18Ah! that day of tears and mourning!From the dust of earth returningman for judgment must prepare him;Spare, O God, in mercy spare him!19Lord, all pitying, Jesus blest,grant them thine eternal rest. Amen.In 1970 the Dies Iræ was removed from the Missal and since 1971 it is proposed ad libitum as a hymn for the Liturgy of the Hours at the Office of Readings, Lauds and Vespers. For this purpose stanza 19 was deleted and the poem divided into three sections: 1-6 (for the Office of Readings), 7-12 (for Lauds) and 13-18 (for Vespers. In addition Qui Mariam absolvisti in stanza 13 was replaced by Peccatricem qui solvisti so that that line would now mean, "You who freed the sinful woman." In addition a doxology is given after stanzas 6, 12 and 18doxology:O tu, Deus majestatis,alme candor Trinitatisnos coniunge cum beatis. Amen.doxology:O God of majestynourishing light of the Trinityjoin us with the blessed. Amen.A major inspiration of the hymn seems to have come from the Vulgate translation of Zephaniah 1:15–16:Dies iræ, dies illa, dies tribulationis et angustiæ, dies calamitatis et miseriæ, dies tenebrarum et caliginis, dies nebulæ et turbinis, dies tubæ et clangoris super civitates munitas et super angulos excelsos.That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and obscurity, a day of clouds and whirlwinds, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high bulwarks. (Douai Bible)Other images come from Revelation 20:11–15 (the book from which the world will be judged), Matthew 25:31–46 (sheep and goats, right hand, contrast between the blessed and the accursed doomed to flames), 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (trumpet), 2 Peter 3:7 (heaven and earth burnt by fire), Luke 21:26–27 ("men fainting with fear ... they will see the Son of Man coming"), etc.From the Jewish liturgy, the prayer Unetanneh Tokef also appears to have been a source: "We shall ascribe holiness to this day, For it is awesome and terrible"; "the great trumpet is sounded", etc.A number of English translations of the poem have been written and proposed for liturgical use. A Franciscan version can be read here. A very loose Protestant version was made by John Newton; it opens:Day of judgment! Day of wonders!Hark! the trumpet's awful sound,Louder than a thousand thunders,Shakes the vast creation round!How the summons wilt the sinner's heart confound!Jan Kasprowicz, a Polish poet, wrote a hymn entitled Dies irae which describes the Judgement day. The first six lines (two stanzas) follow the original hymn's meter and rhyme structure, and the first stanza translates to "The trumpet will cast a wondrous sound."The American writer Ambrose Bierce published a satiric version of the poem in his 1903 book Shapes of Clay, preserving the original metre but using humorous and sardonic language; for example, the second verse is rendered:Ah! what terror shall be shapingWhen the Judge the truth's undraping -Cats from every bag escaping!The hymn music, with the words of the first stanza, is provided here:The words have often been set to music as part of the Requiem service, originally as a sombre plainchant. It also formed part of the traditional Catholic liturgy of All Souls Day. Music for the Requiem mass has been composed by many composers, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Hector Berlioz, Giuseppe Verdi and Hector Berlioz.The traditional Gregorian melody has also been quoted in a number of other classical compositions, among them:Thomas Adès Living ToysMark Alburger Aerial Requiem, Street Songs, Diabolical VariationsCharles-Valentin Alkan Symphony for Solo Piano, Souvenirs Trois Morceaux dans le genre pathetique, Op. 15 - MorteHector Berlioz Symphonie FantastiqueAndrew Boysen Grant Them Eternal Rest (throughout)Johannes Brahms Klavierstück op. 118/6Benjamin Britten War RequiemAntoine Brumel Dies IraeIva Boulanger Funerailles du SoldatElliott Carter In Sleep, In Thunder, #4Marc-Antoine Charpentier Grand Office des MortsGeorge Crumb Black Angels, Makrokosmos Volume II, Star ChildLuigi Dallapiccola Luigi Canti Di PrigionaMichael Daugherty Metropolis Symphony 4th mvmt, “Red Cape Tango”. Dead ElvisErnő Dohnányi Eb minor Piano Rhapsody, Op. 11, No. 4Antonín Dvořák Symphony No. 7 in D minor, mvmt 1Martin Ellerby Paris Sketches, mvmt 3Antonio Estevez - La Cantata CriollaJean Françaix Cinq poemes de Charles d'OrléansDiamanda Galás Masque Of The Red Death: Part I - Divine Punishment Saint Of The Pit:Track 5. Heautontimorounenos (Restless Souls)Roberto Gerhard Piano ConcertoAlexander Glazunov Moyen AgeLeopold Godowsky Piano Sonata in E Minor, mvmt 5Berthold Goldschmidt Beatrice Cenci operaCharles Gounod Faust Opera, Act IVJoseph Haydn Symphony No. 103, "The Drumroll"Vagn Holmboe Symphony #10, 1st 4th mvmts, Symphony #11, 1st mvmtArthur Honegger La Danse des MortsGottfried Huppertz Score for MetropolisKarl Jenkins RequiemMiloslav Kabeláč Symphony No. 8 AntiphoniesAram Khachaturian Symphony #2 The Bell Symphony, SpartakKrzysztof Kicior Visions ReflexivesGyörgy Ligeti Le Grand MacabreFranz Liszt Dante Symphony, TotentanzCharles Martin Loeffler One Who Fell in Battle, Rhapsodies for oboe, viola, and piano, 1st movement, and several songsGustav Mahler Symphony No. 2, mvmt 1, 3, and 5Bohuslav Martinu Concerto for Cello and Orchestra No. 2, final movement.Nikolai Medtner Piano Quintet in C Major, Op. PosthumousNikolai Myaskovsky Piano Sonata #2, Symphony #6Modest Mussorgsky Night on Bald Mountain, Songs and Dances of DeathCarl Orff Carmina BuranaKrzysztof Penderecki Dies IraeJubilaeum Super Mutationes op. 50 ????Ildebrando Pizzetti Requiem, Assassinio nella cattedraleSergei Rachmaninoff Études-Tableaux, Op. 39, No. 2, Isle of the Dead, Prelude in e minor, Op. 32 #4, Piano Sonata no.1 in d minor Op. 28, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Symphonic Dances, Symphony No. 1, Symphony No. 2 Symphony No. 3, The BellsOttorino Respighi Brazilian ImpressionsMarcel Rubin Symphony #4, 2nd mvmt (Dies Irae)Camille Saint-Saëns Danse Macabre, Requiem, Symphony No. 3 ("Organ Symphony")Aulis Sallinen Aulis Dies Irae, Op. 47Juelz Santana The Second ComingErnest Schelling Impressions from an Artist's LifePeter Schickele Unbegun SymphonyWilliam Schmidt - Tuba mirumAlfred Schnittke Symphony #1, mvmt 4Dmitri Shostakovich Music for Hamlet, Symphony No. 14Jean Sibelius Lemminkäinen SuiteStephen Sondheim Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd"Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, Cyclic Sequence on Dies Irae (from Mass), Variations and Triple Fugue on Dies IraeRonald Stevenson Passacaglia on DSCH (1962-3)Richard Strauss Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Dance of the Seven Veils from SalomeIgor Stravinsky The Rite of Spring (sacrifice intro); Three pieces for String Quartet (III, "Canticle"); L'Histoire du SoldatPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Grand Sonata, Op. 37; Manfred Symphony; Modern Greek Song, Op. 16 #6; Marche Funebre, Op. 21, #4, Suite No. 3 Op. 55Frank Ticheli VesuviusRalph Vaughan Williams, Five Tudor PortraitsAdrian Williams Dies IraeJames Yannatos Trinity MassEugène Ysaÿe Sonata in A minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (Obsession)Dan Cavanagh A Time of ReckoningRaymond Deane SeachangesThe tune is parodied in the main theme of the movie It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.The musical Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street contains several variations of the Dies Irae throughout its score, most notably in the recurrent "Ballad of Sweeney Todd," and as part of the underscoring in the climactic "Epiphany".Johann Wolfgang von Goethe used the first, the sixth and the seventh stanza of the hymn in the scene "Cathedral" in the first part of his drama Faust (1808).Oscar Wilde composed a Sonnet on Hearing the Dies Irae Sung in the Sistine Chapel, contrasting the "terrors of red flame and thundering" depicted in the hymn with images of "life and love".Ambrose Bierce wrote a poem titled A day of wrath which, while following the structure of the hymn, gives a very free interpretation of itT. S. Eliot used Dies Irae in the final part of Murder in the Cathedral (1935) just before the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket. It is to be sung in Latin by a distant choir.Kurt Vonnegut wrote Stones, Time, Elements - A Humanist Requiem in opposition to the classical Requiem and in particular to the "Dies Irae," which he found "vengeful and sadistic" (and mistakenly reputed a "piece of poetry by committee from the Council of Trent"). His Requiem was set to music by Edgar David Grana.Jonathon Larson used the first four words of Dies Irae in the song "La Vie Boheme," from the musical RENT, spoken by philosophy scholar Tom Collins and songwriter Roger Davis.Anne Rice used the first stanza and first line of the second stanza in her novel, The Vampire Armand (1998), with a slightly different translation than given above.The 19th stanza (except for the word 'Amen') is used in two parts of Monty Python and the Holy Grail: the Burn-the-Witch and Holy Hand Grenade scenes.***The Requiem (from Latin requiem, accusative case of requies, rest) or Requiem Mass (informally, a funeral Mass), also known formally (in Latin) as the Missa pro defunctis or Missa defunctorum, is a liturgical service of the Roman Catholic Church, Anglo-Catholic Anglicans, as well as certain Lutheran Churches in the United States. There is also a requiem, with a wholly different ritual form and texts, that is observed in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. The common theme of requiems is prayer for the salvation of the soul(s) of the departed, and it is used both at services immediately preceding a burial, and on occasions of more general remembrance.Requiem is also the title of various musical compositions used in such liturgical services or as concert pieces as settings of the portions of that Mass which have been traditionally sung in the Roman Catholic liturgy.While the prayers in the regular Mass as the Introit and Gradual change according to the Calendar of Saints, the text for the requiem Mass is particularly fixed. Originally such funeral musical compositions were meant to be performed in liturgical service, with monophonic chant. Eventually the dramatic character began to appeal to composers to an extent that made the requiem a genre of its own.This use of the word requiem comes from the opening words of the Introit: Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. (Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.) The requiem form of the Tridentine Mass differs from the ordinary Mass in omitting certain joyful passages such as the Alleluia, in never having the Gloria or the Credo, in adding the sequence Dies Iræ, in altering the Agnus Dei, in replacing "Ite missa est" with "Requiescant in pace", and in omitting the final blessing. These distinctions have not been kept in the Roman Rite as revised after the Second Vatican Council.The regular texts of the musical portions to be found in the Roman Catholic liturgy are the following:Introit:Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Ierusalem. Exaudi orationem meam; ad te omnis caro veniet. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.(“Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. A hymn becomes you, O God, in Zion, and to you shall a vow be repaid in Jerusalem. Hear my prayer; to you shall all flesh come. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.”)Kyrie eleison, as the Kyrie the Ordinary of the Mass:Kyrie eleison; Christe eleison; Kyrie eleisonThis is Greek for “Lord have mercy; Christ have mercy; Lord have mercy.” Traditionally, each utterance is sung three times.Gradual:Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine; In memoria æterna erit justus, ab auditione mala non timebit.(“Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. He shall be justified in everlasting memory, and shall not fear evil reports.”)Tract:Absolve, Domine, animas omnium fidelium defunctorum ab omno vinculo delictorum et gratia tua illis succurente mereantur evadere iudicium ultionis, et lucis æterne beatitudine perfrui.(“Forgive, O Lord, the souls of all the faithful departed from all the chains of their sins and may they deserve to avoid the judgment of revenge by your fostering grace, and enjoy the everlasting blessedness of light.”)Sequence:Dies iræ, dies illaSolvet sæclum in favilla,teste David cum Sibylla...(“Day of wrath, a day that the world will dissolve in ashes, as foretold by David and the Sibyl...”) (See above for full text)Offertory:Domine, Jesu Christe, Rex gloriæ, libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum de pœnis inferni et de profundo lacu. Libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum; sed signifer sanctus Michæl repræsentet eas in lucem sanctam, quam olim Abrahæ promisisti et semini ejus.(“Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, free the souls of all the faithful departed from infernal punishment and the deep pit. Free them from the mouth of the lion; do not let Tartarus swallow them, nor let them fall into darkness; but may the sign-bearer, Saint Michael, lead them into the holy light which you promised to Abraham and his seed.”)Hostias et preces tibi, Domine, laudis offerimus; tu suscipe pro animabus illis, quarum hodie memoriam facimus. Fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam. Quam olim Abrahæ promisisti et semini ejus.(“O Lord, we offer you sacrifices and prayers in praise; accept them on behalf of the souls whom we remember today. Make them pass over from death to life, as you promised to Abraham and his seed.”)Sanctus, as the Sanctus prayer in the Ordinary of the Mass:Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth; pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.(“Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts; Heaven and earth are full of your glory”).Hosanna in excelsis.(“Hosanna in the highest”).Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.(“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”).Hosanna in excelsis. (reprise)Agnus Dei, text as the Agnus Dei in the Ordinary of the Mass, but with the petitions miserere nobis changed to dona eis requiem, and dona nobis pacem to dona eis requiem sempiternam:Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem,Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem,Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem sempiternam.(“Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant them rest, … grant them rest eternal.”).Communion:Lux æterna luceat eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in æternum, quia pius es. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine; et lux perpetua luceat eis.(“May everlasting light shine upon them, O Lord, with your saints forever, for you are faithful. Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and may everlasting light shine upon them.”)As with the regular Sunday or ferial Mass in penitential seasons, the Gloria (from the Ordinary) is always omitted in a Requiem Mass. In the Tridentine form of the Roman Rite and Alleluia (from the Proper) is also omitted, as being overly joyful, and is replaced by the Tract. Likewise, the Credo (which, like the Gloria, is used in the ordinary Mass only on more solemn feasts) is never used in the Requiem Mass. The Dies iræ was rendered optional in 1967 and was omitted altogether from the revised Mass in 1969; at the same time, the Tract was abolished and the Alleluia added to the Requiem Mass, except in Lent, when it is replaced also at ordinary Masses by a less joyful acclamation.For many centuries the texts of the requiem were sung to Gregorian melodies. The Requiem by Johannes Ockeghem, written sometime in the latter half of the 15th century, is the earliest surviving polyphonic setting. There was a setting by the elder composer Dufay, possibly earlier, which is now lost: Ockeghem's may have been modelled on it.Many early requiems employ different texts that were in use in different liturgies around Europe before the Council of Trent set down the texts given above. The requiem of Brumel, circa 1500, is the first to include the Dies Iræ. In the early polyphonic settings of the Requiem, there is considerable textural contrast within the compositions themselves: simple chordal or fauxbourdon-like passages are contrasted with other sections of contrapuntal complexity, such as in the Offertory of Ockeghem's Requiem.In the 16th century, more and more composers set the Requiem mass. In contrast to practice in setting the Mass Ordinary, many of these settings used a cantus-firmus technique, something which had become quite archaic by mid-century. In addition, these settings used less textural contrast than the early settings by Ockeghem and Brumel, although the vocal scoring was often richer, for example in the six-voice Requiem by Jean Richafort which he wrote for the death of Josquin des Prez.Other composers who wrote Requiems before 1550 include Pedro de Escobar, Antoine de Févin, Cristóbal Morales, and Pierre de La Rue; that by La Rue is probably the second oldest, after Ockeghem's.Over 2,000 requiems have been composed to the present day. Typically the Renaissance settings, especially those not written on the Iberian Peninsula, may be performed a cappella (i.e. without necessary accompanying instrumental parts), whereas beginning around 1600 composers more often preferred to use instruments to accompany a choir, and also include vocal soloists. There is great variation between compositions in how much of liturgical text is set to music.Most composers omit sections of the liturgical prescription, most frequently the Gradual and the Tract. Fauré omits the Dies Iræ, while the very same text had often been set by French composers in previous centuries as a stand-alone work.Sometimes composers divide an item of the liturgical text into two or more movements; because of the length of its text, the Dies Iræ is the most frequently divided section of the text (as with Mozart, for instance). The Introit and Kyrie, being immediately adjacent in the actual Roman Catholic liturgy, are often composed as one movement.Musico-thematic relationships among movements of Requiems can be found as well.Some settings contain additional texts, such as the devotional motet Pie Jesu (in the settings of Dvořák, Fauré, Duruflé, and Lloyd Webber -- Fauré set it as a soprano solo in the center). Libera me (from the Absolution) and In paradisum (from the burial service, which in the case of a funeral follows after the Mass) conclude some compositions.Libera me, Domine, de morte æterna, in die illa tremenda, quando coeli movendi sunt et terra, dum veneris iudicare sæculum per ignem. Tremens factus sum ego et timeo, dum discussio venerit atque ventura ira. Dies illa, dies iræ, calamitatis, et miseriæ, dies magna et amara valde. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.("Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death on that fearful day, when the heavens and the earth are moved, when you come to judge the world with fire. I am made to tremble and I fear, because of the judgment that will come, and also the coming wrath. That day, day of wrath, calamity, and misery, day of great and exceeding bitterness. Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.")In paradisum deducant te Angeli; in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Ierusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem.("May angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs receive you at your coming and lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem. May a choir of angels receive you, and with Lazarus, who once was poor, may you have eternal rest.")The Pie Jesu combines and paraphrases of the final verse of the Dies irae and the Agnus Dei.Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Dona eis requiem sempiternam.("O sweet Lord Jesus, grant them rest; grant them everlasting rest.")Beginning in the 18th century and continuing through the 19th, many composers wrote what are effectively concert requiems, which by virtue of employing forces too large, or lasting such a considerable duration, prevent them being readily used in an ordinary funeral service; the requiems of Gossec, Berlioz, Verdi, and Dvořák are essentially dramatic concert oratorios. A counter-reaction to this tendency came from the Cecilian movement, which recommended restrained accompaniment for liturgical music, and frowned upon the use of operatic vocal soloists.Requiem is also used to describe any sacred composition that sets to music religious texts which would be appropriate at a funeral, or to describe such compositions for liturgies other than the Roman Catholic Mass.Among the earliest examples of this type are the German requiems composed in the 17th century by Heinrich Schütz and Michael Praetorius, whose works are Lutheran adaptations of the Catholic requiem, and which provided inspiration for the mighty German Requiem by Brahms.In the 20th century the requiem evolved in several new directions. The genre of war requiems is perhaps the most notable, which comprise of compositions dedicated to the memory of people killed in wartime. These often include extra-liturgical poems of a pacifist or non-liturgical nature; for example, the War Requiem of Benjamin Britten juxtaposes the Latin text with the poetry of Wilfred Owen.Lastly, the 20th century saw the development of secular requiems, written for public performance without specific religious observance (e.g., Kabalevsky's War Requiem, to poems by Robert Rozhdestvensky).Some composers have written purely instrumental works bearing the title of requiem, as exemplified by the most famous of these, Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem.Igor Stravinsky's Requiem canticles mixes instrumental movements with segments of the "Introit," "Dies irae," "Pie Jesu," and "Libera me."Hans Werner Henze wrote Das Floß der Medusa in 1968 as a requiem for Che Guevara, although it is properly speaking an oratorio. His Requiem was written in the 1990s, with the traditional title for the movements, but played by instrumentalists without singers.Ockeghem's Requiem, the earliest to survive, written sometime in the mid-to-late 15th centuryVictoria's Requiem of 1603, (part of a longer Office for the Dead)Mozart's Requiem in D minor (Mozart died before its completion)Berlioz' Grande Messe des MortsVerdi's RequiemBrahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, based on passages from Luther's Bible.Fauré's Requiem in D minorDvořák's Requiem, Op. 89Britten's War Requiem, which incorporated poems by Wilfred Owen.Duruflé's Requiem, based almost exclusively on the chants from the Graduale Romanum.Ligeti's RequiemBenjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem and Arthur Honegger's Symphonie Liturgique use titles from the traditional Requiem as subtitles of movements.Requiem ComposersRenaissanceAntoine BrumelClemens non PapaGuillaume Dufay (lost)Francisco GuerreroOrlande de LassusCristóbal de MoralesJohannes Ockeghem (the earliest to survive)Giovanni Pierluigi da PalestrinaPierre de la RueClaudin de SermisyTomás Luis de VictoriaBaroqueHeinrich Ignaz Franz von BiberMarc-Antoine CharpentierJohann Joseph FuxClaudio Monteverdi (lost)Michael PraetoriusHeinrich SchützAntonio Lotti (Requiem in F Major)Classical periodWolfgang Amadeus MozartLuigi CherubiniFrançois-Joseph GossecMichael HaydnAntonio SalieriRomantic eraHector BerliozJohannes BrahmsAnton BrucknerGaetano DonizettiAntonín DvořákGabriel FauréCharles GounodFranz LisztMax RegerCamille Saint-SaënsRobert SchumannFranz von SuppéCharles Villiers StanfordGiuseppe Verdi20th CenturyBenjamin BrittenVladimir DashkevichMaurice DurufléHans Werner HenzeHerbert HowellsGyörgy LigetiFrank MartinKrzysztof PendereckiIldebrando PizzettiAlfred SchnittkeIgor StravinskyToru TakemitsuJohn TavenerVirgil ThomsonErkki-Sven TüürAndrew Lloyd WebberNew Era/21st centuryChristopher RouseKentaro SatoBjörk, (Heartbeat aka 'Prayer of the Heart')Requiems by language (other than purely Latin)English with LatinBenjamin BrittenHerbert HowellsGermanMichael PraetoriusHeinrich SchützFranz SchubertJohannes BrahmsFrench, English, German with LatinEdison DenisovPolish with LatinKrzysztof PendereckiRussianSergei Taneyev - Cantata: John of Damascus, Op.1 (Text by Alexey Tolstoy)Dmitri Kabalevsky - War Requiem (Text by Robert Rozhdestvensky)[8217 Wilde Alexander / 8210 Thomas Celano / 8201 Thibaut Navarre]

Smile! It's Monday!!!

Smile! It's Monday!!!


Monday, Monday...how do I love thee?Let me count the ways...You start my week right on time..it's a get up with hubby..feed him..

send him out the door.. with a kiss and a wave..You are MINE..all day long..to do with as I choose..

Typically, I grab a second cuppa delicious yumminess..plopping down in front of the computer..First check the weather to see if it looks like what I see..looking out the window works for me..
Next checking emails for important messages...then on to Facebook...to check in with the Sistahs..then on to correspondence (snail mail variety)..by now, it's 3rd cuppa time..
finishing that.. shower dress.. and see what's on the dreaded yellow pad "to DO list"check the things I WANNA do, XXXXing out the don't wanna dos!then get busy..On Mondays.. if have not prepared my Blog post beforehand..I work on that while I am fresh and caffeinated..
so today is Blue Monday..
(I'm still in my BLUE pajamas and fuzzy BLUE slippers..)
The last Monday of November..The Monday before Thanksgiving..and exactly one month til Christmas..

My day will be one of last minute errands..(many retailers will be open on Thanksgiving..I WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN THIS IDIOCY OF GREED!)Thanksgiving is a FAMILY holiday..sharing being THANKful!I also believe in celebrating this holiday before moving on to Christmas..so...enjoy this Blue Monday...!
Joining Sally and the gang for Blue Monday..see ya there!!!
Blue Monday

Obama Seeks to Build Momentum for Immigration Overhaul

Obama Seeks to Build Momentum for Immigration Overhaul

ReutersNovember 6, 2013http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/11/05/usa-immigration-obama-idINL2N0IQ27R20131105Nov 5 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama turned to business leaders on Tuesday to try to build momentum for an overhaul of the U.S. immigration system and pressured the U.S. Congress to approve legislation by the end of the year.Obama brought a number of business executives to the White House to stress his belief that untangling the immigration system would add $1.4 trillion in growth to the U.S. economy over 20 years and reduce deficit spending in the federal budget by $850 billion.Immigration legislation that would create a provisional status for workers as part of a 13-year path to U.S. citizenship cleared the Democratic-controlled Senate in June but is stalled in the Republican-led House of Representatives.Obama told reporters as he met the business leaders that he would press the issue in coming weeks."There's no reason why we can't get this done before the end of the year," he said.The president's domestic agenda has been caught up in controversies in recent weeks, including a budget battles with Republicans that led to a 16-day government shutdown. He is currently struggling to smooth out the troubled rollout of his signature healthcare law.Intent on showing that other parts of his agenda can be worked on at the same time, Obama said he realizes there has been resistance to the immigration plan from House Republicans and that "the politics are challenging" for House Speaker John Boehner.He said he believed the immigration overhaul would pass if Boehner allowed it to come to a vote in the House."We want to make it as easy for him as possible. This is not an issue where we're looking for a political win. This is one where we're looking for a substantive win for the U.S. economy," Obama said.Among the business leaders who met Obama were Roger Altman, chairman of Evercore Partners; Don Thompson, chief executive of McDonald's; Arne Sorenson, the Marriott chief executive; and Marillyn Hewson, chief executive of Lockheed Martin.For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com

Lebanon Taking Its Lumps

Lebanon Taking Its Lumps


They may be taking a lot more than that soon if Israel has its way.

Related:Syrian War Leaking Into Lebanon

Slow Saturday Special: Lebanese Unite Behind Hezbollah

And just who would be trying to divide them?
"Blast kills 18 in Hezbollah stronghold;Attack bloodiest in Lebanon tied to Syrian war" by Zeina Karam and Bassem Mroue| Associated Press,August 16, 2013

BEIRUT — A powerful car bomb tore through a bustling south Beirut neighborhood that is a stronghold of Hezbollah on Thursday, killing at least 18 and trapping dozens of others in an inferno of burning cars and buildings. At least 280 people were wounded. It was the bloodiest attack yet linked to Syrias civil war.

The blast is the second in just over a month to hit one of the Shiite militant groups bastions of support, and the deadliest in decades. It raises the specter of a sharply divided Lebanon being pulled further into the conflict next door, which is being fought on increasingly sectarian lines pitting Sunnis against Shiites.

Syria-based Sunni rebels and militant Islamist groups fighting to topple Syrias President Bashar Assad have threatened to target Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon in retaliation for intervening on behalf of his regime in the conflict.

Related:Hezbollah forces to remain in Syria

Then I guess they will see more of this:

Thursdays explosion ripped through a crowded, overwhelmingly Shiite area tightly controlled by Hezbollah, turning streets lined with vegetable markets, bakeries, and shops into scenes of destruction.

Dozens of ambulances rushed to the site and firefighters used cranes and ladders to try to evacuate terrified residents from burning buildings. Some fled to the rooftops of buildings and civil defense workers were still struggling to bring them down to safety several hours after the explosion.

The blast appeared to be an attempt to sow fear among the groups civilian supporters and did not target any known Hezbollah facility or figure.

Hezbollahs Al Manar TV and Red Cross official George Kattaneh said the death toll was at least 18.

The army, in a statement, said the explosion was caused by a car bomb. It called on residents to cooperate with security forces trying to evacuate people trapped in their homes.

Syrias conflict has spilled across the border into its neighbor on multiple occasions in the past two years.

Fire from Syria has hit border villages, while clashes between Lebanese factions backing different sides have left scores dead.

But direct attacks against civilian targets were rare until Hezbollah stepped up its role in Syria. Since then, its support bases in southern Beirut have been targeted.

It's an attempt to expand the war beyond Syria.

Rockets have been fired at suburbs controlled by the group on two occasions, wounding four people. On July 9, a car bomb exploded in the nearby Beir al-Abed district, wounding more than 50 people.

Thursdays explosion, however, was the bloodiest single attack in south Beirut since a 1985 truck bomb assassination attempt targeting top Shiite cleric Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah in Beir al-Abed left 80 people dead.

It came despite rigorous security measures taken in the past few weeks by Hezbollah around its strongholds, setting up checkpoints, searching cars, and sometimes using dogs to search for bombs.

It also came a day before Hezbollahs leader was scheduled to give a major speech marking the end of the month-long 2006 war with Israel.

The explosion occurred on a commercial and residential main street in the Rweiss district, about 100 yards away from the Sayyed al-Shuhada complex where Hezbollah usually holds rallies.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, who has lived in hiding since his groups 2006 month-long war with Israel, made a rare public appearance at the complex on Aug. 2, where he addressed hundreds of supporters.

He was to speak again on Friday from a location in southern Lebanon, but his speeches by satellite are often transmitted to followers at the complex.

Panicked Hezbollah fighters fired in the air to clear the area and roughed up photographers, smashing and confiscating some of their cameras following the explosion.

Won't win them any points with my jewsmedia, which is why they pointed it out.

Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar called the blast a terrorist attack and called for restraint among the groups supporters.

Meaning it was a covert intelligence operation.

He suggested the groups political rivals in Lebanon were responsible for creating an atmosphere that encourages such attacks.

--more--"

"Beirut attack suggests shift to civilians;Hezbollah leader vows he will go to Syria" by Loveday Morris and Suzan Haidamous| Washington Post,August 17, 2013

BEIRUT — Hezbollahs leader said Friday he is prepared to go to Syria personally to fight extremist Sunni Muslims whom he blamed for the deadliest bombing in Beirut in at least eight years, an attack that analysts said could herald a new dark era of sectarian bombings targeting Lebanese civilians.

The car bomb, which killed at least 21 people, was the second in a little more than a month to hit the militant Shiite movements staunch support base in the Lebanese capitals southern suburbs. But unlike the first, which caused no deaths, the explosives-packed car that detonated Thursday evening outside a shoe store and a pastry shop appeared intended to cause maximum civilian casualties.

Looks like "Al-CIA-Duh" or some other service to me.

While Lebanon is no stranger to explosions, since the countrys 15-year civil war ended in 1990 they have largely taken the form of targeted assassinations, with the civilian lives lost as collateral damage. But since Hezbollah has begun sending fighters to Syria to help President Bashar Assad battle a largely Sunni opposition, the civil war there has taken an increasingly sectarian turn and reprisal attacks on the Shiite movement in Lebanon have multiplied.

Analysts cited Thursdays bombing as evidence that Iraq-style sectarian bombings have now reached Lebanon.

Related:Occupation Iraq: Divide and Conquer

See why I no longer believe the Jewish narrative of sectarianism among people who have coexisted for centuries?

This is no longer targeted assassinations of political and militant figures with clear political ends. Its actually targeting the civilian population, said Imad Salamey, an associate professor of political science at Lebanese American University. We are seeing the Iraqization of Lebanon, a spillover from Iraq to Syria to Lebanon.

“This is massive, a potentially dark era, and God knows how it can be limited.

I'm doing the best I can by calling out whom I think is truly behind such atrocities.

In a televised speech from a secret location Friday, Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah showed no sign of retreating from his decision to send fighters to Syria, a demand of the Syrian rebel groups that have threatened his movement.

If you believe that by killing our women, and killing our children, and killing our innocent, and destroying our areas we might back up from our vision and our stand, youre delusional, he said, adding that preliminary investigations by Lebanese authorities had found takfiri Muslim groups responsible, a term for Sunni extremists.

That's what they call Al-CIA-Duh, huh?

Nasrallah said that if it is confirmed that the bombing was a retaliation for Hezbollahs role in Syria, he is prepared to double the number of fighters there.

If the battle with these takfiri terrorist people requires me and all of Hezbollah to go to Syria, we will all go to Syria, he said. If we have 100 fighters in Syria they will become 200, If we have 1,000 they will become 2,000, and if we have 5,000 they will become 10,000.

I wouldn't worry too much. Syrian forces are basically wiping up after winning several victories over the last months.

Near the blast site in the neighborhood of Ruwais on Friday, investigators gathered evidence from the tangled wreckage and the number of deaths climbed to 21 as more corpses were pulled out, according to the National News Agency. The toll made it the deadliest bombing in Lebanon since former prime minister Rafiq Hariris assassination in 2005. A Hezbollah lawmaker told local media that 24 people had been killed, which would make it the most lethal since Lebanons civil war.

Hariri's assassination was done by Mossad. Even his son knows it.

A policeman at the scene who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media said an initial investigation had found that two people were in the vehicle when it stopped in the middle of the street. The driver fled and the passenger was killed in the explosion, he said.

--more--"

One week later:

"Car bombs kill 29 at Lebanon mosques;Sectarian fallout from Syrias civil war spreading" by Bassem Mroueand Zeina Karam| Associated Press,August 24, 2013

TRIPOLI, Lebanon — In scenes reminiscent of Lebanons devastating civil war, charred bodies lay in the streets Friday after twin car bombs exploded outside of packed mosques, killing 29 people and wounding hundreds.

The coordinated attacks in this predominantly Sunni city — the deadliest fallout from Syrias civil war to hit Lebanon — raised sectarian tensions to dangerous levels amid fears the country was slipping into a prolonged cycle of revenge.

The blasts marked the second such attack in just over a week. A deadly car bombing targeted an overwhelmingly Shiite district south of Beirut controlled by the militant Hezbollah group on Aug. 15, demonstrating the alarming degree to which the country is being torn apart by the civil war next door.

Fridays attacks shocked residents of Tripoli, which has been the scene of frequent clashes between supporters and opponents of President Bashar Assad in recent months. But the city, Lebanons second largest, has not seen such bombings in decades.

The blasts were clearly intended to cause maximum civilian casualties, timed to go off at midday Friday outside the Taqwa and Salam mosques, which are known to be filled with worshippers at that time on the Muslim day of prayer.

All the hallmarks of a false flag and covert western intelligence operation, be it Mossad or CIA-Duh assets of Saudi Arabia.

Lebanon has officially entered the regional war which has been raging in Syria and Iraq, said Randa Slim, a scholar at the Washington-based Middle East Institute.

The two explosions went off about five minutes apart. The force of the blast at the Taqwa mosque propelled a car onto its roof.

President Michel Suleiman cut short a visit abroad and returned to the country to follow the situation. He described the attacks as a massacre aimed at sowing strife among Lebanese.

Hezbollah was quick to condemn the bombings and in a strongly worded statement, expressed utmost solidarity with the people of Tripoli.

However, residents of the city — long known as a hotbed for Sunni fundamentalists — were quick to point fingers at the Syria-backed group, blaming it for bringing destruction to Lebanon because of its open involvement in the Syrian civil war. In an ominous sign, a prominent Salafist sheikh, Dai al-Islam Shahhal, said Sunnis in Tripoli would take security in their own hands, raising fears about armed vigilantes.

The grand mufti, Lebanons top Sunni cleric, urged calm and unity in a televised address, but there was little of that to be seen in Tripoli on Friday.

Do I really have to make by point anymore regarding sectarian splits?

The open participation of Hezbollah on behalf of the embattled Assad regime has sent sectarian tensions soaring in Lebanon, a deeply divided country that never fully recovered from its own devastating civil war, which ended in 1990.

During that conflict, which pitted Christians against Muslims, tit-for-tat car bombings were common and contributed to the estimated 150,000 people killed during the 15-year conflict. Since the end of the war, there have been numerous car bombings targeting politicians and journalists, but attacks intended to cause civilian casualties have been rare.

And jwho benefits from that?

--more--"

"Israeli jets hit Lebanon after attack" by Isabel Kershner| New York Times,August 24, 2013

Ah, one of the tough guys of the AmeriKan media.

JERUSALEM — Israel responded overnight Thursday to a rocket attack from southern Lebanon, bombing what military officials described as a “terrorist site” between Beirut and Sidon.

Captain Eytan Buchman, a spokesman for Israel Defense Forces, said Friday that the Israeli Air Force had made “a successful hit” on a target in Naameh, after four rockets were fired into the country from Lebanon for the first time in nearly two years. The rocket fire Thursday set off sirens in Western Galilee and raised tensions in the region.

A militant group called the Brigades of Abdullah Azzam, an Al Qaeda in Iraq offshoot, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to Reuters.

Meaning it was a false flag attack, Saudi agents trying to widen the war.

Ramez Mustafa, a Lebanon-based official with a different group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said the strike caused no casualties. The warplanes hit 19 miles south of Beirut.

Yeah, right, somehow it's always the Palestinians firing off the rockets no matter where they come from.

--more--"

Of course, Israel violates U.N. Security Council resolutions nearly every day with over-flights in Lebanon, but it's no big deal to the pooh-bahs running the planet.

"Arrest made in Lebanon mosque bombings;Death toll rises to at least 47 in mosque blasts" by Ryan Lucas| Associated Press,August 25, 2013

BEIRUT — Lebanese security forces arrested a suspect on Saturday in connection with the devastating double bombing the day before that killed at least 47 people in the northern city of Tripoli, the state news agency said.

The National News Agency identified the suspect as Sheik Ahmad al-Ghareeb and said police took him into custody at his home in the Miniyeh region outside Tripoli. It said Ghareeb, who has ties to a Sunni organization that enjoys good relations with Lebanons powerful Shiite Hezbollah militant group, appears in surveillance video at the site of one of the explosions.

Then why would he have done this then?

The coordinated explosions Friday outside two mosques in Tripoli, a predominantly Sunni city, raised already simmering sectarian tensions in fragile Lebanon, heightening fears the country could be slipping into a cycle of revenge attacks between its Sunni and Shiite communities. For many Lebanese, the bombings also were seen as the latest evidence that Syrias bloody civil war — with its dark sectarian overtones — is increasingly drawing in its smaller neighbor.

Now whose narrative is that? Whose agenda is advanced? Who benefits?

Lebanese police officials said Saturday that 47 people were killed and more than 500 wounded in the attack. Some 300 people were still in the hospital a day after the attack, 65 of them in critical condition, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

In Tripoli, armed civilians set up checkpoints on Saturday near the two mosques hit in the attacks, while Lebanese security forces patrolled the streets.

A team of forensic specialists was sifting through the mangled wreckage at the blast sites. Some residents used shovels and brooms to clean up shards of glass and shrapnel that littered the pavement in front of nearby shops.

The explosions were clearly intended to cause maximum civilian casualties as they struck at midday Friday outside the Taqwa and Salam mosques, which are known to be filled with worshippers at that time on the Muslim day of prayer.

Local television stations aired footage of the frantic first moments following the explosions: bodies scattered beside burning cars, charred victims trapped in smoking vehicles; bloodied casualties emerging from thick, black smoke; and people shouting and screaming as they rushed victims away.

While there has been no claim of responsibility for the attacks, many here link them to the civil war next door in Syria, where a Sunni-led insurgency is fighting to oust a regime dominated by President Bashar Assads Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

The hallmark of a covert intelligence agency false flag -- as we are being led to believe by war-promoting liars that Hezbollah did it.

Hezbollah has openly declared its guerrillas are fighting alongside Assads forces against the Syrian rebels, who enjoy both sympathy and support from many in Lebanons Sunni community.

Hezbollahs overt role in the Syrian civil war has sent sectarian tensions soaring in Lebanon, and street clashes have erupted on numerous occasions in recent months. Preachers at both of the mosques targeted Friday are virulent critics of both Hezbollah and Assad.

Recently, small-scale clashes have taken a turn toward Iraq-style car bombings.

And WE KNOW WHO LIKES TO DO THOSE!

Just over a week ago, a car bomb targeted an overwhelmingly Shiite district south of Beirut controlled by Hezbollah, killing 27 people.

--more--"

"Lebanon charges 5 in deadly blasts" by Ryan Lucas| Associated Press,August 31, 2013

BEIRUT —The three Lebanese have ties to the Islamic Unification Movement, a Sunni organization that enjoys good relations with Lebanons powerful Shiite militant Hezbollah group as well as the Syrian government.

Seeing as my jewspaper claims such things it must be the exact opposite as to who is really responsible.

The official identified the other defendants as Mohammed Ali, a Syrian officer, and Khodr al-Aryan, a Syrian civilian. The two have been charged with preparing the explosives for the attack, the official said. He did not specify whether the officer was with Syrias military, intelligence, or security forces.

Lebanon has been deeply divided by the civil war in Syria, where a Sunni-led insurgency is trying to oust a regime dominated by President Bashar Assads Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Yeah, we know.

The Syrian rebels enjoy the backing of many Lebanese Sunnis, while the Syrian government has the support of Lebanons Shiite community, including Hezbollah.

So says the divisive AmeriKan jewsmedia.

--more--"

"2 Turkish pilots abducted in Lebanon;Gunmen seek release of nine hostages in Syria" by Loveday Morris| Washington Post,August 10, 2013

BEIRUT — Gunmen abducted two Turkish Airlines pilots in the Lebanese capital on Friday, Turkish and Lebanese officials said, in an apparent escalation in a series of tit-for-tat kidnappings linked to the war in Syria.

The brazen kidnapping, on the main highway from Beiruts Rafiq al-Hariri International Airport, is the latest in a string of security breakdowns triggered by Syrias civil war.

The kidnappers, who forced the pilots out of their minibus at gunpoint, demanded the release of nine Lebanese hostages held in Syria in exchange for the men, Lebanons official National News Agency reported.

Turkeys support of the Syrian rebels has proved controversial in Lebanon, where the country is deeply divided by the conflict.

Yes, the training and supplying of terrorists through Turkey and Lebanon is no big deal.

Families of the nine Shiite Lebanese pilgrims who remain captive after being kidnapped by rebels in the Syrian province of Aleppo in May last year have staged protests outside the Turkish Airlines office in Beirut and its embassy.

Speaking to Lebanons Daily Star newspaper, Daniel Shoab, a spokesman for the families of the pilgrims, denied that they were directly involved in Fridays abductions.

A little-known group calling itself Zuwar Imam al-Rida released a statement claiming responsibility.

Another hallmark of a covert intelligence agency operation, folks. Little-known groups!

It said the men would not be released until the Shiite pilgrims are freed.

The men were kidnapped at around 3 a.m., according to the Lebanese Interior Ministry. They had flown in on a flight from Istanbul, which was scheduled to land at 2:45 a.m. Eight armed men in two vehicles intercepted the minibus as it headed to a hotel on Beiruts seafront.

Other crewmembers were allowed to go free, and the driver was questioned by police, the ministry said. The airline identified the pilot as Murat Aktumer and his co-pilot as Murat Agca.

It was not the first kidnapping of Turkish nationals in Lebanon.

Two were briefly held last year after the kidnapping of a member of a prominent Lebanese clan member in Syria.

At that time, threats against the citizens of Persian Gulf countries that also back the Syrian rebels prompted Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to warn their nationals against travel to Lebanon.

--more--"

Also see:Kidnappings among woes of war affecting Lebanon

"Arrests made in pilots kidnapping

BEIRUT — Lebanese authorities have arrested three people in connection with last weeks kidnapping of two Turkish Airlines pilots in Beirut, the state news agency said Saturday. Lebanons Internal Security Forces referred the three suspects in custody to court, the National News Agency reported. It did not identify the three nor say when or where they were arrested. Gunmen snatched the two Turkish pilots last Friday from a van near Beiruts international airport. Turkey quickly issued a travel warning urging its citizens to avoid unnecessary travel to Lebanon and those already there to leave. The kidnapping appears to be linked to the civil war in neighboring Syria. A previously unknown group claimed responsibility for the abductions, and linked the fate of the two Turkish pilots to that of nine Lebanese Shiites who have been held by Syrian rebels for more than a year."

That's rather odd, isn't it?

Related:

2 Turkish pilots freed in hostage deal
9 Shiite pilgrims released in Syria
Syrians release 13 female detainees

It was not clear whether the women were part of a complicated hostage swap last week brokered by Qatar and the Palestinian Authority that saw Syrian rebels release nine Lebanese Shiite Muslims, while Lebanese gunmen simultaneously freed two Turkish pilots.The agreement illustrated how far Syrias civil war, now in its third year, has spilled across the greater Middle East. It also appeared to represent one of the more ambitious negotiated settlements to come out of the war, in which the rival factions remain largely opposed to any bartered peace."

All of a sudden ILOVEswaps!

Just when things were looking up:

"Syrian troops hit rebels near Lebanon border;Attack appears aimed at closing supply route" by Bassem Mroue and Diaa Hadid| Associated Press,November 17, 2013BEIRUT —Hundreds of Syrian men, women, and children have crossed the border into the Lebanese town of Arsal seeking refuge from the fighting, the towns former mayor Bassel Hojeiri said by telephone.We have a major crisis, Hojeiri said about his hometown, already thronged with thousands of refugees from the past two years of violence in Syria. Most of those who fled came yesterday from Qara.The Lebanese army said in a statement that troops captured nine Syrians as they tried to cross into Lebanon carrying weapons and grenades. It said an Algerian was also detained near the border and had no legal permit to stay in Lebanon....

Meaning the Al-CIA-Duh insurgency is being chased out of Syria!--more--"

"As fighting flares, Syrians take cover in Lebanon;Thousands flee as clashes intensify in mountain area" by Ryan Lucas| Associated Press,November 18, 2013

BEIRUT — Thousands of Syrians poured into Lebanon over the past two days, taking shelter in wedding halls and makeshift shacks after fleeing heavy fighting in a rugged mountain region across the border in western Syria, UN and local officials said Sunday....

Since the heavy fighting in Qalamoun began Friday, some 10,000 Syrians have fled across the border to the Lebanese frontier town of Arsal, former mayor Bassel Hojeiri said. The new arrivals have crammed into wedding halls and improvised shacks, Hojeiri said.

Some families left so quickly that they arrived in Lebanon without anything except the clothes on their backs, said Dana Sleiman, who works for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

She said at least 1,000 Syrian families crossed into Lebanon over the weekend, but many had not yet registered with the United Nations, so more precise figures werent available.

Sleiman said some of the new arrivals settled into tin shack slums that dot eastern Lebanons Bekaa Valley, and they were being offered thick plastic to reinforce their shelters against the cold.

The UN refugee agency was also distributing blankets, mattresses, food, diapers, and hygiene kits to the refugees.

The new refugees join an estimated 1.4 million Syrians — 800,000 of whom have registered — who have already found shelter in Lebanon, according to Lebanese officials.

The massive influx has proven a burden for Lebanon and has helped stoke the countrys already simmering sectarian tensions.

--more--"

The concern for refugees is touching; however, it doesn't mask the agenda-pushing quality of the focus. When I get full features on Palestinians and their 70-year catastrophe maybe I'll start believing in the altruistic sincerity of my jewspaper. Until then, pffft!

"Suicide blasts near Iran Embassy in Beirut kill 23" by David Hadid and Hussein Malla| Associated Press,November 19, 2013

BEIRUT (AP) — Twin suicide bombers detonated explosions outside the Iranian Embassy in a mainly Shiite district of the Lebanese capital on Tuesday, killing 23 people, including the Iranian cultural attaché, apparently in retaliation for the Lebanese group Hezbollahs support of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The bombings appeared to be another strike in an intensifying proxy battle over Syrias civil war that is rattling its smaller neighbor Lebanon. An al-Qaida-linked Sunni extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying more would follow unless the Iranian-backed Shiite Hezbollah withdraws fighters that have helped Assads military score key victories over Syrian rebels.

You have been warned.

The midmorning blasts hit the upscale neighborhood of Janah, a Hezbollah stronghold, leaving bodies and pools of blood on the glass-strewn street amid burning cars. More than 140 people were wounded, officials said....

Hmmmmmm!

Irans Foreign Minister blamed Israel for the attacks. Hezbollah and Syrian officials indirectly blamed Saudi Arabia, the Sunni Arab kingdom that along with fellow Gulf nation Qatar has been a major backer of Syrias rebels.

The usual suspects.

Each of the terrorist attacks that strike in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq reek of petrodollars, a Syrian government statement said, in a clear reference to oil-rich Gulf Arab countries.

An al-Qaida-linked group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, claimed responsibility for Tuesdays attacks, saying they would continue until Hezbollah withdraws its forces from Syria.

The authenticity of the claim could not be independently verified, but it was posted on a militant website and on the Twitter account of Sirajuddin Zurayqat, a spokesman of the Azzam Brigades.

(Blog editor just shrugging his shoulders at the obvious false flag. Terrorists with Twitter accounts and websites in this age of NSA surveillance?)

The group is active in southern Lebanon and has issued claims in the past for rocket attacks into northern Israel. It has also claimed a July 2010 bombing of a Japanese oil tanker in the Persian Gulf and a 2005 rocket attack that narrowly missed a U.S. amphibious assault ship docked at Jordans Aqaba Red Sea resort....

Yup, yup, yup.

The explosions occurred hours before Lebanon and Iran were supposed to play a World Cup qualifier football match. Lebanons state-run news agency NNA said the match will be held later Tuesday but without spectators.

We tell those who carried out the attack, you will not be able to break us, Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Mikdad told Al-Mayadeen TV. We got the message and we know who sent it and we know how to retaliate.

So if a big boom takes out an AmeriKan or Israeli city you will know whom to blame.

Hezbollahs Al-Rasoul al-Azam hospital called on people to donate blood, saying they need all blood types....

--more--"

"Iranian Embassy in Lebanon rocked by bombings;Attack is viewed as retaliation for supporting Syria" by Anne Barnard, Thomas Erdbrink and Rick Gladstone| New York Times,November 20, 2013

BEIRUT — A double bombing struck the Iranian Embassy compound in Beirut on Tuesday, in the deadliest assault on Irans interests since it emerged as the most forceful backer of the Syrian government against an armed insurgency. The frontal attack struck a symbol of the countrys powerful influence in Lebanon and neighboring Syria.

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an offshoot of Al Qaeda that operates in Lebanon, claimed responsibility for the bombings, which killed at least 23 people, including an Iranian diplomat. Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant organization, pointed fingers at Israel and Saudi Arabia, and officials said it was unclear who had carried out the attack.

I also initially suspected Israel, but that may have been misplaced suspicion. Just making Obama's job harder, and maybe my hopes were not misplaced. Considering the current environment, Obama is almost JFK-like on the surface of things. He's certainly pissing off some of the same interests.

Regardless, it was quickly seen as retaliation against Iran and Hezbollah, Irans ally, for supporting the Syrian government.

Yeah, who cares who really did it (says the obfuscating propaganda pre$$), it's justified because it is retaliation!

Regardless(?)....

The double bombing highlighted the risks and costs that Iran faces over Syria, which some analysts have called Irans Vietnam.

Oh, WOW! As in Afghanistan, the insurgency is once again a Jew World Order, globe-kicker plan!

Others say Iran has successfully turned its support for Syrias president, Bashar Assad, into a powerful international trump card that strengthens its hand in negotiations over its disputed nuclear program.

That seems to be true seeing as Syria has won the war.

The attack occurred at a complex time for Iran. While the countrys support for Assad drains its popularity in much of the Arab world, a new, relatively moderate Iranian government seeks to transform its long-strained relations with the West....

Yeah, it SURE AS HELL DID, cui bono?

Of course, as usual lately this will backfire. All it is going to do is GENERATE SYMPATHY for IRAN and give Obama a bit of a stronger hand in making a deal!

“Todays event demonstrates the political and economic costs of Syria for Iran,” said Cliff Kupchan, an Iran analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy based in Washington....

Who would want to demonstrate such a thing?

Providing Syria with weapons and military advisers siphons billions of dollars from Irans struggling economy, but the countrys supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the Revolutionary Guard Corps see the alliance as “the key to national security,” Kupchan said. Iran, he said, views Syria as an indispensable deterrent against Israel.

Related:Sunday Globe Special: AmeriKa Building Barracks For Afghan Army

And now we are going to build a Libyan Army from scratch.

Good thing the AmeriKan economy is not struggling, huh?

After a while one gets tired of hearing the swirling steamer of a crockpot holler kettle.

But for some in the government of President Hassan Rouhani and others in the reformist camp, “the Vietnam analogy does work,” Kupchan said. “Its an endless drain on Irans resources, to support a dictator who probably used chemical weapons and probably wont be around in the future.”

Related:Syria Still About Regime Change

Always was despite the machinations of the mouthpiece media and propaganda pre$$.

Those differing views will play out in how Iran chooses to respond to what analysts called an unprecedented provocation.

If history is any guide they will DO NOTHING!

Iran is seen as a dominant influence in Lebanon, where it is secure in its alliance with Hezbollah, Lebanons most powerful political, social and military force. The bombs raised the specter of continued attacks against Iranian diplomats in countries where the ripple effects of the Syrian war are most strongly felt: Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and Turkey.

Not only have the Iranians been warned, but continued attacks against diplomatic personnel is an ACT of WAR, right?

--more--"

Hawaii Here We Come!

Hawaii Here We Come!


As many of you know my mom in law, Anita, invited Griffin and I to join her on her USBank company trip to HAWAII!!!!! Griffin was too swamped with his school load to take a 5 day vacation....so ended up being the lucky one to go. :) This is not just any business trip either...it is won only by the top performers in the US specifically during their 4th quarter campaign. Mom Anita ended up being able to go because her team placed 2nd in the entire USA for small business loans. Way to go Mom!We left on Sunday May 22nd and flew home Thursday May 26th. This is my first real vision of hawaii...from Hawaiin Airlines plane window overlooking the Honolulu Airport. Not too different from every other airport I've been to. I guess I was just expecting trees and green and beautiful beaches everywhere...but still so exciting!
Okay the inside of the Honolulu airport was BEAUTIFUL!! Just look at this outdoor atrium area. wow!
We had a layover in the Honolulu Airport before we headed to the Lihue Airport. Somehow this bird got in and saved me from utter boredom haha.
Kauai was the island we were privileged to stay on...known to be the least populated and therefore most private and seclusive vacation spot. I didn't learn til I arrived that it is also known as "The Garden Island".
From the Lihue Airport, we took a charter bus for about 30 minutes to our luxurious hotel. On the way our tourguide pointed out the darker waters (which she said to stay away from because that is where sharks and other flesh eating fish hang out).
Aren't these trees amazing?
Our tourguide also mentioned how many scenes from Jurassic park, including waterfalls and large fields were filmed in Kauai.
I LOVED seeing all the different and unique trees. It helped it sink in that I was actually IN HAWAII!!!! These trees decorated the entrance to our hotel--the St. Regis Hotel!
Aaah! This seriously has always been a dream of mine to make it to Hawaii someday and because of Mom Anita...it came true! Thank you Mom for working as hard as you do every day in and out and then sharing the benefits with me! You're so wonderful!
We were immediately brought to check in at the Hospitality Suite where complimentary beverages and snacks are provided during afternoons daily. They gave us these gorgeous magenta leis too! This is just a sneak peak of the magestic view we enjoyed. Below is MY bed. Yeah...you heard me right...not our bed...but MY bed. Mom and I each got our own KING. And believe me they were heavenly! I never wanted to get out of bed in the mornings haha.
Okay this might be hard to see what I'm talking about but here is just a little taste of the kind of accommodations the St. Regis provided. I had never seen this before but this is a view from inside our bathroom...looking out into the rest of the room. The bright light in the background is our giant window overlooking the ocean, the beach, the mountains and the outside pool area. But notice how in one pic you can see the rest of the room while the other pic you can only see a white screen?........Well, with the push of one button....called the privacy button we could shower and get ready without being seen. But if we wanted to be able to keep contact with each other and not have a huge barrier between us while putting make up on etc...just take off the privacy button. Quite original, hey?

Our first night we were welcomed by a buffet dinner out on the lawn. I unfortunately only got a picture after the sunset and when everyone scattered from their tables because it started to RAIN! lol If you look closely you can see people huddled under the trees waiting for the rain spurt to pass...which it did about 10 minutes later. :)
This is Mom and me waiting under a tree... :)
What a wonderful first day we had!

Despite all the JFK TV propaganda though it is the Jim Garrisons, Bonnie Faulkners, David Mendelsohn

\Despite all the JFK TV propaganda though it is the Jim Garrisons, Bonnie Faulkners, David Mendelsohn


50yrs After JFK Assassination: Choose your Side in War on Freedom

By Russia Today

Make no mistake: the American Dream was mortally wounded alongside John F. Kennedy in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963.

The Presidents unpunished murder was an open season declaration on the elected leadership in the West. Robbed of their 1962 Cuban nuclear war, the assassins were letting the whole world know who was The Daddy.

Fifty years on we seem to be losing the same war for democratic control of our governments. Bankster robber barons and their Military Industrial Complex sidekicks are crawling all over the British cabinet. US Secretary of State John Kerry is still at it too. Despite being nominally a Democrat like JFK, he spends every waking hour in search of enemies, trying, by fair means and foul, to provoke war with Lebanon, Syria and Iran.

Perhaps he has a death wish? Perhaps it is Kerrys lying-in-a-coffin initiation into Yale Universitys Brotherhood of Death, the Skull and Bones Society, that blinds him to the likelihood his avarice will spark a global nuclear exchange with Russia? Just like the 1962 provocateurs, cut from the same cloth he doesnt give a damn.

US justice gets its boots on

The man who did the forensics and discovered most of the buried bodies in a trial that came within a whisker of nailing the JFK conspirators was former US Army officer and New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison. His investigation and 1988 book On the Trail of the Assassins formed the rough draft for Oliver Stones 1991 definitive film JFK.

Any treacherous TV station not showing JFK on the 50th anniversary should, I advise, be forever deleted from your channel list. Its unlikely any of the NATO zone TV documentaries rolling out over the 50th anniversary will come half as close to telling you what really happened as the Stone movie.

Instead were being fed a propaganda diet of rancid red herrings, laced with insulting false trails while the graphic Zapruder film and a distraught Jackie Kennedy, as well as Jack Ruby shooting patsy-suspect Lee Harvey-Oswald in the stomach, sow the seeds of fear where they hurt.

Just as with more recent unexplained deaths of UK Secret Service men David Kelly in 2003 and Gareth Williams in 2010 the message of JFKs gruesome assassination is designed to fundamentally undermine the social fabric. The horror slips under the radar of consciousness to stamp into millions of psyches what, with impunity, the secret government can do.

For a refreshing taste of Garrison in the raw, listener-supported Oakland, California, radio outfit Guns and Butters two-hour 1988 show The Assassination of JFK: The Garrison Interview gets to the heart of the story. We hear, in Bonnie Faulkners and Andrew Phillipss production, the voice of historys unfortunate self-confessed patsy Lee Harvey Oswald as well as Oliver Stone.

Radio Station KPFA co-producer David Mendelsohn interviews Garrison nearly 20 years after the trial of New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw, by which time further witnesses had crawled out of the woodwork, bringing with them further pieces of the jigsaw.

Garrisons disarming frankness and black humor make Guns and Butters 25th anniversary production the benchmark documentary against which the entire 50th anniversary clutch can be judged. Evidence of the mainstream medias crippling influence that this classic documentary has still never been broadcast on national radio in the US or UK.

The well-never-know brigade

Mainstream media flunkies are paid well to tell us that because Oswald was shot we will never know what organization or individuals were behind Kennedys assassination. I beg to differ. The CIA – set up by Allen Dulles, who did the dirty 1945 deals with the Nazis, and who JFK fired – killed the president.

Specifically-named individuals winkled out by Garrison are Cuban and New Orleans Mafia boss Carlos Marcello and two more with far right CIA links: Civil Air Patrol pilot David Ferrie and private investigator Guy Banister.

The CIA plot to upend US democracy couldnt have worked though without the support of the man who would replace Kennedy. After his inauguration, new President Lyndon B. Johnson immediately re-fired up the Vietnam & Cold War policies JFK had cooled.

Johnson gained financially too through his Suite 8F Group. This has today grown to become the Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) Inc., one of the largest military contractors on the planet with $8 billion annual revenue.

The CIAs three central motives are pretty clear: Kennedy successfully stopped a nuclear war with the Soviet Union in 1962 that Strategic Air Commands General Curtis LeMay intended to win “…at any point the Soviet Union could have been obliterated without more than expectable losses on our side.”

Kennedy blocked air support and other US military aid for the 1961 Bay of Pigs Cuban invasion attempt, leaving the hawks with egg on their faces. He was closing down one of the CIAs biggest slush fund operations, the Vietnam War. Cash was coming in aplenty from heroin trafficking in the Far East.

Echoes from the dawn of time?

Perhaps there was something archetypal and timeless about Kennedys death. Former US Naval officer-turned-radio host William Cooper put it like this in 1996: “There was even a time in history when the king was a sacrificial king. Just like John F. Kennedy was in the Temple of the Sun known as Dealey Plaza.”

Though this sounds far-fetched, Cooper is one of the few individuals who, on his Hour of the Time short wave radio show in June 2001, publicly predicted a spectacular attack on America to be blamed on Osama Bin Laden. Five months later, after 9/11, Cooper was shot dead by the FBI, who had been trying to entrap him by posing as hoodlums outside his Arizona home.

The secret government

So who are this secret government that uses blackmail, character assassination and murder to shoot the messengers and direct those we elect to high office? They are the kind of furious cash unlimited networkers of the Council on Foreign Relations, Sun Valley, Davos, Trilateral Commission and Bilderberg groups.

Welded into the Military Industrial Complex these lobbyists laugh in the face of cash-starved politicians as they play the power game of nations. They extend territory abroad while their political gofers roll out a domestic police state at home. Bankrolling them are the dynasties of the Rockefellers in the US and the Rothschilds across Europe.

What was US colonial independence really all about? Yes, money. The settlers quite rightly wanted to print their own in 1775 and England wasnt having it. As the documentary The Secret of Oz explains, private US bankers went on to take that power off the American people in the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 The United States is suffering under the exact same power now that they fought Britain to be free of.

William Cooper also said “Any general that ventures upon a battlefield without understanding the enemy is doomed to defeat.” The Western political establishment needs a crash course right now in locking up banking fraudsters and how the state Treasury can take back control of money.

What would those who fought and died on the Allied side in World War II say if they could see how we and our leaders are letting Europe and America slip into the hands of the banksters?

Despite all the JFK TV propaganda though it is the Jim Garrisons, Bonnie Faulkners, David Mendelsohns and Oliver Stones that will carry the day. Trust is waning in the Wests mainstream media, particularly amongst the youngsters, and those old JFK lies are well past their sell by date.

Link:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/11/russia-today/jfk-lies-have-passed-their-sell-by-date/

Banning the Israeli Rabbinate from Performing Weddings

Banning the Israeli Rabbinate from Performing Weddings

י"ז לחודש התשעי תשע"ד

Life In Israel: Banning the Rabbanut from performing weddings
A secular organization is promoting a ban on the Rabbanut - they are calling on people to not use the Rabbanut services for marriages.

They are upset with the process employed by the Rabbanut for investigating the Jewishness of the marrying couple. "When they drafted us to the army they did not ask us to prove our Jewishness, they collect our taxes without caring if we are Jewish or not. Why in preparation for the most fortunate day of our lives do we need to go through 7 layers of hell?"

The proposed solution is to teach the Rabbanut a lesson in customer service and customer retention. From today we will no longer wed in the Rabbanut! (cont.)

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
Guess what.

We should be asked regarding our status as a Jew, in ALL of these situations!

However, our illustrious government calls that racist, and it goes against its "Law of Return." When you think about it, the "Law of Return" covers more goyim than Jews.

In 2001, way back when Ariel Sharon was first elected prime minister, Rabbi MK Benny Elon (Moledeth-National Union) proposed changing the "Law of Return" in the PM's Cabinet, like he had promised to do during his election campaign. The proposal was shot down, and never heard of ever again.

And, by the way, how is it that a friend of mine, already married in the Rabbinuth, and to an Israeli citizen, no less, had to jump through hoops for the Ministry of Interior to prove his Jewishness in order to make aliyah?

Could it be that he wears a blackkippah, and lived inB'nei Braq, and that the secular supervisor at the Ministry who hatedHaredimhad something to do with his requirement to jump through frivolous hoops?

The answer to this question is a definite, "Yes."

Even havingprotexiafrom someone high up in the Interior Minister's officedid not help. It is the civil servants, with powerful unions, who run things in Israel, not those elected by the people.

So, Kol HaKavod to the Rabbinuth, in spite of its many flaws.

Until the Erev Rav (with and without kippoth) gets filtered out, which may mean first going through an even darker period as they amass even power, before dissolving, the Rabbinuth will probably stick around as a necessary evil.keeping us withing halakhic standards regarding kashruth, marriage and burial, albeit only barely, as their powers continue to be chipped away.
צריכים את הרבנות הראשית להשאר בינתיים, למרות כל הבעיות הפנימיות שלה.

Members of organizations, like the one behind this operation, will demand that their "marriages" be accepted by the Interior Ministry. While at the same time refuse to allow acceptance of a religious man's marriage to a second wife. Rather such a man will be persecuted, indicted and convicted for violating the State's marriage laws. Yet, when his second wife, not considered truly married under the State's, far-left backed, hypocritical laws, would not be allowed to claim benefits as a single parent once she gives birth.

The name of the "secular organization" behind this protest action isYisra'el Hofshith- A Free Israel. These people have no interest in seeking out what is authentically Jewish. They probably just want to do what they want, and do not know any better than the progressive Western assimilationist mentality stuffed down their throats by theAshkenazielite, and its media machine.

Worse yet, the true forces behind organizations like these are more nefarious than you know, using these poor, ignorant, assimilated individuals, many of them probably even Jews, as pawns in their battle against all things authentically Jewish, in their war on the Torah.

Want proof? The proof is in their hypocrisy.