_bust.jpg)
.jpg)
_003.jpg)
Posts
-
Friday, 17 April 2009
UNIVERSAL TORAH: SHEMINI
UNIVERSAL TORAH: SHEMINI
By Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum
Torah Reading: Parshas SHEMINI, Leviticus 9:1-11:47Haftara: II Samuel 6:1-7:17 (Sephardi ritual: II Samuel 6:1-19).
THE EIGHTH DAY
The "eighth day" with which our parshah of SHEMINI opens was the first day of the month of Nissan, one year since the Exodus from Egypt. This was the day marked out for the final inauguration of the Sanctuary following seven days of consecration of Aaron and his sons for service as priests. Those seven days had started on the 23rd of the preceding month of Adar. On each of those seven days, Moses had erected the Sanctuary in order to conduct the priestly consecration rituals, in which he himself served as the "high priest", only to dismantle the Sanctuary afterwards. However, on the Eighth Day -- the first of Nissan and first day of the New Year -- the Sanctuary was left standing, so to remain for as long as the Israelites stayed in the same desert encampment. On that day Aaron and his sons fully assumed the role of priests forever after.
The rabbis stated that the first day of Nissan "took ten crowns": It was (1) the first day of creation; (2) first day of the first of the months of the year; (3) the first day of the priesthood; (4) the first day of the Sanctuary service; (5) first day of the inauguration sacrifices of the princes of the twelve tribes; (6) first day for the descent of fire from heaven on the altar; (7) the first day that sacrifices were eaten; (8) the first day that all other altars (such as private altars) other than the Sanctuary altar became forbidden; (9) the first day that the Divine Presence dwelled in Israel; (10) the first day on which the priests blessed the people (Mechilta, Shemini 1).
In calling this the "eighth" day, the Torah alludes to the fact that, with the inauguration of the Sanctuary, it was the day on which the Israelites completely transcended the natural order, which was brought into being through the "seven days of creation". The latter correspond to the lower seven of the ten sefirot of which the Kabbalah speaks, corresponding to the "body" (as opposed to top three, which are the "head").
As long as man does not recognize his true mission in this world and spends his life trying to satisfy only his bodily needs and desires, he is locked within nature, like an animal. However, when he embraces his destiny, willfully configuring and using the material world as a means of drawing closer to G-d, building a Sanctuary and bringing the natural, the animal, as a KORBAN, a "sacrifice" (lit. "a drawing close"), man attains a level that transcends nature. This is the eighth level, that of BINAH (the eighth Sefirah counting up from Malchut, which is the bottom Sefirah). BINAH is the "gateway" to the "head", the brain and the soul (consisting of the top three Sefirot).
When we use our soul-powers -- our willpower, wisdom and understanding, to assert our control over the material and the animal, we can "pass through the gate" into the world of the spirit. This is governed by a law different from that which governs the natural order. The world of the spirit is governed by Torah law. When we pass through the gate, we can know and understand (with BINAH) that the natural order is nothing but an arena of challenge created by G-d in order for us to use it to connect back to the Source. As long as we are under the power of nature, this world stands as a barrier holding us back from G-d. But when we assert our spiritual power, this world turns into a gateway through which we can draw closer to Him.
* * *
THE PRICE OF CLOSENESS
So great is the significance of the day of the inauguration of the Sanctuary, the day of man's birth as a spiritual being, that the Torah returns to it in several portions in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. ("There is no 'before' and 'after' in the Torah"). In PEKUDEY at the end of Exodus, we had the account of how Moses erected the Sanctuary on 1st Nissan, drawing G-d's "cloud" to descend so that "His glory filled the Sanctuary". Our present parshah, SHEMINI, narrates how Aaron and his four sons inaugurated the Sanctuary with special sacrifices, and how G-d's fire descended onto the altar. SHEMINI continues with the dramatic story of the offering of "strange fire" in the Sanctuary by Nadav and Avihu, Aaron's first and second sons, leading to their death by fire from heaven. Finally, in NASO, second parshah of the book of Numbers, the Torah tells of the special offering of Nachshon, Prince of the tribe of Judah, on the first of Nissan, initiating the offerings of the princes of the twelve tribes, one by one on twelve consecutive days.
It is one of the profound paradoxes of the Torah that this auspicious day should have been so horribly marred by the death of the two older sons of the leading protagonist in the Sanctuary, Aaron. In the world in which we live, the world of nature and separation, there is no explanation of such a tragedy. As far as this world is concerned, death is the end: how can it be good? If any meaning is to be found in such an occurrence, it can only be through "the eighth day", the level of BINAH, understanding, which is the gateway to the transcendent realm of unity, where there is no separation and no death.
If closeness to G-d and entry into the realm of unity came cheap, we would not value them. They come at a price. In what currency can we pay G-d? He does not need our money, our oxen, sheep and other "sacrifices". The price is often paid in pain (LO ALENU -- not on us!!!). Pain robs man of his ability to feel comfortable in this world of separation to which he becomes so attached. Pain drives him to seek relief by trying to transcend the world. Pain is a teacher, a very harsh one.
An event as great as the erection of the Sanctuary and the drawing of G-d's presence into the world could not but come at a great price. The Sanctuary "will be sanctified by My glory" (Ex. 29:3) -- "by those who are my glorified ones" (Rabbinic drush, see Rashi on Lev. 10:3, "I will be sanctified by those who are close to Me"). The price was paid by Aaron precisely because his was the pivotal role in the Sanctuary project, which is to configure this refractory material world in such a way that it becomes a vessel holding and revealing G-dliness. Aaron had all the glory and splendor of this world (HOD), as represented in his gorgeous garments. He received the choicest share of the priestly gifts and portions. All this glory had to be elevated to G-d, it could not be allowed to stay in this world and turn into self-glorification.
When we use the wealth of this world for self-glorification, it turns into a golden calf. Aaron is on the very edge. He has all the glory, he wears the wealth of the world on his very person. In order to keep him from going out of his mind with pride, he is struck with a terrible blow, the loss of the flower of his children (their loss in this world, though not in the world of unity). The pain forces him to transcend the world of separation, the material world. Aaron must remain in the world of unity: he must not show mourning or rend his garments. He must stay in the Sanctuary, the Sanctuary of the soul, the world of unity: Keter-Chochmah-Binah. There, the language of our world, the world of separation and pain, does not apply. We can enter that exalted realm only through silent acceptance of G-d's decree. "And Aaron remained silent."
* * *
SEPARATION AND DISTINCTION
Aaron and his surviving sons could not show mourning, because their role was to remain in the world of unity in order to connect others to it. But the Children of Israel had to mourn, because they are the ones who live in the world of separation from which Nadav and Avihu had been torn. It is said that the sin of Nadav and Avihu is that they wanted to dissolve the separation completely and bring the entire world back into immediate unity with G-d. They wanted to redeem evil. They wanted to break through all the barriers. They were drunk with the unity of G-d -- and they went beyond bounds until they were totally burned up inside with G-d's fire.
But G-d does not want us to go altogether beyond the bounds. We may not embrace evil, for G-d created it precisely so that we should reject it despite the temptations. G-d established the world of separation and evil as an arena of challenge for man, in which he must steadily refine and elevate his earthly materialism until he turns himself into a vessel fit to receive G-d's unity. This cannot be done all at once: it must be done step by step, stage by stage.
As an arena of challenge to man, the world consists of good and evil, pure and impure, holy and unholy. Man's task is to use his powers of mind and soul to discriminate between them, to embrace the good and holy while rejecting the impure and unholy. The world is a very deceptive place. The pig displays its cloven hoof as if to say, "I am pure". But the truth is that it is impure, for it does not chew its food over. It does not want to confront its food again, since it always has its nose in the filth.
We cannot allow ourselves to go by appearances in this world: we have to penetrate beneath the surface. The only means we have of doing so is with G-d's Torah, the Tree of Life, which teaches the truth about good and evil in every area of life -- be it what we eat, how we do business, whom we marry and all other areas. Only with objective, outside guidance can we sort out the confusion that came from Adam's eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. When man in his arrogance thinks that he knows -- when he relies on his personal judgments about what is good and bad -- he can go terribly wrong, because there is a serpent within him, the YETZER RA, that is liable to deceive him. Making the correct distinctions in this world is at the very center of what we must accomplish here.
Thus the middle letter of the entire Torah, which is in our parshah (the letter VAV -- signifying "connection" -- in the word "belly" Lev. 11:42), is in a word that alludes to the humiliation of the serpent, who was cut down to size and made to go on his belly (Gen. 3:14). Only by humiliating the serpent and rejecting evil is it possible to connect with G-d. There is no middle word in the Torah, since the total number of words in the Torah is even. The center of the Torah in terms of words comes between the words DAROSH DARASH (Lev. 10:16): "and Moses SEARCHINGLY SEARCHED". Only by searching very hard can we penetrate to the real truth!
The priest is not allowed to drink when he serves in the Sanctuary. Intoxicants and instant religiosity do not bring genuine connection with G-d. Similarly, the rabbi may not drink before giving an halachic ruling. It takes sobriety to distinguish between truth and illusion.
The latter half of our parshah teaches us to discriminate between pure and impure foods, while most of the remainder of the book of Leviticus is taken up with the detailed Torah code through which we separate and distinguish between good and evil in all other areas of life.
Through our assiduous study of the Torah and its teachings, may we find the spiritual strength to take our destiny in our hands and rise to our true mission: "And you shall sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I am holy..." (Lev. 11:44).
Shabbat Shalom!
Avraham Yehoshua Greenbaum
--
AZAMRA INSTITUTE
PO Box 50037 Jerusalem 91500 Israel
Website: www.azamra.org
Change address / Leave mailing list: http://ymlp67.com/u.php?YMLPID=gbmbwegsguqeuguhyHosting by YourMailingListProvider
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
IAF- Israeli Air Force. The best air force in the world.
The opening movie of the IAF game in English. -Jane's Fighting Simulators
SUSAN BOYLE'S DREAM
I shall be shutting down soon for yet another installment of Pessach; after the holiday I expect to be very busy with a number of concurrent projects and probably will cut down blogging for a while (I know, I've said this in the past, too). So I'm leaving with a magnificent story, quite off topic, for which I got permission from the editorial board.
Last night we saw the 2006 German film Four Minutes (Vier Minuten). It's a powerful film about a deeply troubled young woman with a troubling story, a troubling old passive Nazi, and a troubled country. The young woman has the gift of magnificent music, though its true measure becomes clear only in the final four minutes of the film.Still, it's a film.
Fiction. Susan Boyle's story, which exploded onto the Internet this week, is true. A few elements must have been contrived, television being what it is, but the fundamentals can't have been. The woman was set up as a fool to be laughed at but didn't lose her dignity; once she blew us all away she didn't, either. So set aside 8 minutes and watch (the embedding has been disabled, so follow the link). And then watch again.
taken from: Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations (http://yaacovlozowick.blogspot.com)
A RIGHT WAR, WRONGLY WAGED
According to the NYT, an airstrike by NATO forces - that would mean Americans, since who else has air power - yesterday killed six Afghani civilians. NATO officials denied killing civilians, in the face of confirmation from the local governor - keep in mind that NATO and the local government are on the same side, or supposed to be.
The bottom of the item tells of an unrelated Taliban atrocity elsewhere. The Times wants us to remember who the Good Guys are, and which the Bad Ones.
They are right of course, but wrong. The Taliban are a blot on the face of humanity, and they and their ilk are the mortal enemies of any reasonable person, including many of their own people and just about all their own women. Yet being at war with monsters doesn't mean you needn't think about how you're waging it; the two are quite separate levels of morality and have been recognized as such for centuries. The distinction is being removed by Useful Idiots and pacifists who would condemn all wars, the just with the criminal, because of their inevitable human price; losing the will and ability to wage just wars means condemning far greater numbers of innocents to far worse. By blurring the discussion the NYT strengthens those who would appease, obstruct, apologize and look away.
It is a sign of the weakness of the American public discussion that we need Juan Cole to call our attention to an article on a Pakistani website tallying the figures from American air strikes in Pakistan (not Afghanistan), and they're not pretty: 14 dead al-Qaida to 687 innocent Pakistani civilians. 14 to 687.
I can think of a theoretical scenario in which killing 14 exceptionally potent mass murderers might justify killing 687 innocents, if by killing the 14 one were saving a million. Is that what the Americans are claiming? Then they should say so and the public should have the discussion. Personally I'd be skeptical: the Islamist murderers are part of a deeply sick culture, and I doubt any specific 14 of them are irreplaceable. So far as I can see, however, that's not what anyone is claiming; rather, no-one is having the discussion at all. I don't even know if the numbers are correct, but there again, you need an open, public discussion to reveal if someone is systematically disseminating bald lies about casualties (a not unheard of phenomenon).
Of course I'm holding this up as a demonstration of the fundamental hypocrisy with which Israel is consistently treated. Yet I'm also calling for a real discussion on the merits of the discussion itself, not only so as to level some rhetoric field. The war against the Islamists is the most important war of our day because of the dimensions of the threat; it's necessary and moral. It must be waged morally, too.
Finally, back to Israel: Israelis are often castigated by their detractors for claiming to be morally superior to anyone else in waging war. Some antisemites pretend this claim is the root of their hatred - an unconvincing pretense. Yet this is precisely what we mean. The Danny Zamirs of Israel are not the Juan Coles of America, and IDF spokesmen generally wait until their fellow officers really have investigated before denying false allegations - or trying to learn from authentic ones.
taken from:Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations (http://yaacovlozowick.blogspot.com/)
THOUGHT PROCESSES OF A HAMAS APOLOGIST
Paul McGeough of the Sydney Morning Herald, a popular Australian Guardian-lite newspaper, has an op-ed up at the New York Times. I have the impression that since the NYT bureau chief in Israel is the reasonable Ethan Bronner, the editors back in New York are trying to balance him with ever more foolish commentators.I don't normally fisk people, but this one cries out for it, starting with his title, "Hamas Comes Out of Hiding", where it has busily been killing Palestinians and doing its best to kill Israelis.
JUST a year and a half ago, visiting Khalid Mishal, the supreme leader of Hamas, was a cloak-and-dagger affair. In September 2007, I climbed into the back of a curtained Mercedes to make the dash from central Damascus to the southern suburbs, where the Palestinian group operated from a high-security enclave reserved for senior officials of the Syrian government...
So Mishal doesn't only reside in Damascus, he lives in the top security area where the apparatchiks are protected from their people. Nice regime, the Syrian one.
As I was subjected to a thorough physical search, one of Mr. Mishal’s aides told me that there was a battery of antiaircraft guns buried deep in a nearby hillside. All my possessions were confiscated, and I gained access to Mr. Mishal’s grand reception room through an airport-style security scanner.
Actually, I rather doubt the antiaircraft batter is deep underground, where it wouldn't do much good, would it. But Mishal obviously lives in style, with his grand reception room.
Today the mood has become much lighter in the Hamas hideout. Mr. Mishal’s calendar is so full that he might soon need a parking lot for the vehicles bringing foreign delegations to visit. My most recent appointment with him, on March 18, was pushed far into the night because Mr. Mishal was busy greeting a group of Greek lawmakers, who were then followed by an Italian delegation. In the preceding days, visitors had come from the British and European Parliaments.
Of course, none of those many European delegations is even remotely connected with any past present or future negotiations between Israel and Palestinians. They're not American officials, after all, or Egyptians. They're malicious fools, probably of the Left, who que up on pilgrimage to the top Jew-killer they can find, so as to express their adoration. So long as we're clear about they dynamics here.
In our discussion last month, Mr. Mishal spoke for the first time of the challenges confronting Hamas in the post-Bush era: Barack Obama’s presidential victory; Mr. Netanyahu’s return; the Gaza war; and Washington’s new drive for “dialogue” with Hamas’s regional sponsors — Syria and Iran.
Mr. Mishal rejected the notion that Hamas could get squeezed in any nascent power plays in the region. He interpreted Washington’s pitch to Syria and Iran as an admission of past errors, an acceptance that the United States had to deal with “parties that have proved themselves.”
Proved themselves as what, exactly? As brutal thugs eager to kill whoever's in their way, and to set up their own civilians to be killed when they manage to provoke Israel? Mr. McGeough, clearly enamored of Mishal, never does get around to mentioning any of this nor explaining.
“Hamas is not a card in anyone’s hand,” he insisted. But at the same time, he warned that Washington should not seek to “isolate certain parties at the expense of other parties."So now he's threatening America, unchallenged by his fawning interviewer.
Pressed on policy changes that Hamas might make as a gesture to any new order, Mr. Mishal argued that the organization has already shifted on several key points: “Hamas has already changed — we accepted the national accords for a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, and we took part in the 2006 Palestinian elections.”That's change, for sure: rather than sulk in the corner, Hamas is willing to participate in Palestinian elections. Whether they'll ever allow future elections to remove them from power is not a question this interviewer might ask. As for the matter of recognizing Israel, McGeough engages in some clumsy acrobatics:
On the crucial question of rewriting the Hamas charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel, he was unbending: “Not a chance.” Khalid Mishal is not Yasir Arafat — he is not looking for a Nobel Peace Prize. Among the Hamas articles of faith is a belief that in renouncing violence and in recognizing Israel’s right to exist in 1993, Mr. Arafat sinned against his people. (Nonetheless, others to whom he speaks have told me that Mr. Mishal has said that “when the time comes,” Hamas will make some of the moves demanded of it by the West.)Let's see: the charter calls for the death of all Jews. Removing Israel is merely a sub-set of that. Still, the interviewer couldn't say Mishal will agree to Israel's existence since Mishal told him the opposite and he want's to maintain his access to the man; so he admits Mishal told him Hamas would never recognize Israel, but then turns around and reassures us that other people told him the opposite, or at any rate, the told him Mishal has allowed them to have the impression that he might perhaps do something demanded by the West, so long as it doesn't impinge upon his fundamental antisemitism and determination to destroy Israel. Which of course raises the question why travel from Syndey all the way to Damascus, if you're going to believe unidentified people anyway. Those, you can invent in the comfort of your kitchen.
Curiously, amid rising calls from politicians and policy makers around the world for Hamas to be given a seat at the Middle East negotiating table, Mr. Mishal made clear that he was willing to bide his time. His message is, “Watch what we do, not what we say.”
I suppose there's a connection between the beginning of the paragraph and its end, a full sentence later, but I can't see what it might be.
While it is impossible for many in the West to grasp the calculus in the Hamas strategy of war and terror, the movement has demonstrated that it is disciplined in holding its fire, as it did in the summer and fall of 2008. Likewise, it has proved itself capable of negotiating with Israel — albeit through third parties.
Yes, it's quite inscrutable, isn't it. Hamas can't possibly really mean they want a Judenrein world, yet they keep on saying they do, and insist on killing Jews - ah, but then, when it suits them they refrain... it's so complicated.
Over the long term, Hamas accepts the concept of two states in the Levant, which arguably puts Mr. Mishal’s terrorist movement closer to Washington than Netanyahu is — he now proposes only “economic peace” between Jews and Palestinians.Did you see that? While there's literally no evidence whatsoever for the idea Hamas accepts Israel's existence, and if there were rest assured McGeough would be trumpeting it, at the end of the day it's enough to say they have (long term, mind you), and then turn on Netanyahu as the greater evil, the one whose positions are more war-like and conflicting with American policies than those of Hamas. Hey, I met the man, in Damascus, right after those Italian folks; trust me on this one, otherwise I wouldn't be a journalist.
As for finding himself at center stage with the man who ordered him killed, Mr. Mishal insisted that in the broad scheme of things, Mr. Netanyahu is just one more in a succession of prime ministers. “It’s fate, God’s destiny, but we can’t set policy on the basis of personal grudges,” he told me.
True. Were Israel to elect Gideon Levy its prime minister, with Amira Hass as minister of defense, Mishal still wouldn't change his mind about the need for an end to Israel and the Jews. It's nothing personal.
Perhaps. But not since the personal bitterness between Mr. Arafat and the former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon have Palestinians and Israelis faced such a leadership dynamic. Once again, personal enmity could swamp the more pressing complexities of the Middle East crisis.Remember those two, Arafat and Sharon? They really really disliked each other, which is why they refused to make peace at Camp David that time in 2000 when (Bill) Clinton almost thought he might salvage his mediocre reputation and land a Nobel peace prize. Why do Israelis keep on electing folks for whom authentic Palestinian leaders have personal grudges, what with all the pressing complexities in that area?
taken from: Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations (http://yaacovlozowick.blogspot.com/)
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
SONIA MUCZNIK - THE AZULEJOS OF LISBON
SONIA MUCZNIK - THE AZULEJOS OF LISBON: ART ANDDECORATION, A SHORT SURVEY
IRON DOME : FOLLY OR BRILLIANCE ?
The Iron Dome anti-missile system being developed by Refael, an Israeli military-systems organization, is chugging along. It passed an important milestone last month, is expected to be finally tested sometime soon, and if it passes, full-scale production and deployment will begin. By next summer it may be operative, protecting Sderot and Ashkelon from Hamas rockets, and later on protecting the Galilee from Hezbullah's tender attentions. Add this to the Arrow long-range anti-missile system which is already operative and being upgraded all the time, and Israel is on its way to being protected from what-ever its neighbors will be able to throw at it except mortars and artillery. Mortars either have a very short range (about a mile) or they're large and cumbersome enough, as is all artillery, that drones can identify and destroy them; it's hard to set them up in a school-yard, shoot them off and disappear so quickly the UN personnel can pretend they were never there.
All of which means that each day that passes without rocket attacks brings us closer to the end of that chapter of our relations with our neighbors. They will of course find other ways to attack us, and we'll have to figure out an adequate response etc etc etc. The Palestinians and Hezbullah are very resourceful in such matters; it's in participating in the modern world that they're so dismally inept.
The Arrow anti-ballistic system is a fine thing. If we assume that sometime soon Iran will have nuclear weapons - a reasonable assumption, it seems to me - it will still be useful that they won't know if they have the ability to deliver through our defense systems, while they themselves have no such systems and our nuclear punch is harder. Who knows, maybe five or ten years from now we'll offer our defensive capabilities to the Saudis or the Egyptians or the Germans, heh.
The Iron Dome thing, however, isn't obviously such a fine thing. According to that article, each missile will cost $50,000m, or perhaps less in some scenarios - say, $49,800. A Kassam rocket probably costs $500, and a Katyusha, I'd guess, $2,500. Do the math and you'll see it will be worth the Palestinian's effort simply to get us to shoot Dome missiles in large numbers, for the financial burden. I'm also leery about a defensive strategy that relies completely on technology (I know about technology) rather than deterrence or, even better, the ability to disarm ones' enemies. (The option of making peace doesn't exist).
On the other hand, at the moment it's not obvious what the alternative is. I was in Sderot yesterday, and they've got these concrete mini-shelters strewn all over town; that's clearly not acceptable. Moreover, the law of unexpected consequences could kick in here, too. The Palestinian's most potent weapon agains Israel is the occupation, which is why most Israelis have long since decided to end it. Yet it can't be ended if every time we relinquish control over some territory it immediately becomes a launching pad for missiles against our civilians. Should the Iron Dome system put an end to that tactic, we could go back to the strategy most of us had already agreed upon, of dismantling most settlements and moving back to the barrier. The Palestinians, the Guardian, and Haaretz will continue to squawk that the occupation goes on, but most sensible people will disregard them, and Israel's position will be strengthened in many ways.
taken from:Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations (http://yaacovlozowick.blogspot.com/)
Monday, 13 April 2009
Sunday, 12 April 2009
THE REDEMPTION FROM EGYPT AND TODAY'S REDEMPTION
Posted by Mordechai Friedfertig
12 Apr 2009
[Opening words from Rabbi Shlomo Aviner's radio program]
1. Similarity and DifferenceWe are fortunate that we have merited the Redemption from Egypt and the Redemption we are currently experiencing. There is both a similarity and a difference between these two Redemptions, as our revered teacher Ha-Rav Kook explained in the article "The Pesach of Egypt and the Future Pesach" which appears in the book "Maamrei Ha-Re'eiyah" (pp. 164-166). The similarity is the great wonder is which each of the Redemptions occurred. In Egypt, we were slaves, downtrodden and persecuted, and we were instantly transformed into an exalted, strong and courageous Nation. This is an historical wonder which has no parallel. The same applies to our Redemption: we were in Exile, a Nation scattered and separated among the nations, downtrodden, expelled, suffering pogroms, persecutions and the Holocaust. There are no words to describe the suffering we experienced. And we were suddenly transformed into a free Nation in our Land: a courageous Nation, a wealthy Nation, a Nation of Torah – an unbelievable wonder. This is similarity but there is also a difference. The Redemption from Egypt was performed "in haste" (Devarim 16:3). The Gemara in Berachot (9a) emphasizes that we were redeemed in an instance, a miracle of miracles. But the prophet Yeshayahu (52:11) writes regarding the Redemption of our time: It will not occur in haste. It will occur slowly, with difficulties, problems and complications. Our Redemption even goes backwards at times, occurs slowly, not a miracle of miracles, through natural means. Nature moves at its own pace, without revealed miracles.
2. Which Redemption is Greater?It would seem that the Redemption from Egypt was greater with its revealed miracles and wonders. After all, our current Redemption seems like a pauper riding on a horse. Our Sages teach however that this is not so. They say that the future Redemption is much greater than the Redemption of Egypt. The Mishnah in Berachot 1:5 relates that Rabbi Elazar Ben Azaryah said: I am like a man of 70 years, but I never merited proving why one is obligated to mention the Exodus at night until Ben Zoma explained: It says in the Torah (Devarim 16:3), "In order that you shall remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt, all the days of your life" – "The days of your life" refers to the days; "All the days of your life" refers to the nights. Ben Zoma's proof is from the word "all." The Sages disagree and say that the extra word "all" refers to something else: "'The days of your life' refers to this world; 'All the days of your life' indicates the time of the Messiah." According to their opinion, we mention the Exodus from Egypt in this time and in the days of the Messiah, but not at night. Ben Zoma says to the Rabbis: But the prophet Yirmiyahu says: "Therefore, behold, days are coming, says Hashem, when they will no longer say, 'As Hashem lives, who brought the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' but 'As Hashem lives, Who raised and returned the seed of the house of Israel from out of the northern lands and from every country into which I had driven them, and they will dwell on their own Land'" (Yirmiyahu 23:7-8). We thus learn that in the days of the Messiah, we will not recall the Exodus, because the future Redemption will be so great that its light will hide the miracle of the Exodus. The Rabbis answer that these verses from Yirmiyahu do not mean that the remembrance of the Exodus will be forgotten, but the great miracle of liberation from the oppression of the kingdoms of the world will be the main remembrance, and the Exodus will be the secondary one (Bereachot 12b). Ben Zoma and the Sages therefore both agree that the future Redemption will be greater than the Redemption from Egypt. The only dispute is whether the Exodus from Egypt will be mentioned in the days of the Messiah.
3. The Future RedemptionWhy is the Future Redemption so much greater than the Redemption from Egypt? – After all, the Exodus from Egypt is the miracle of miracles and our Redemption is through a natural process. This recalls the letter of Ha-Rav Yaakov Moshe Charlap to Maran Ha-Rav Kook, found in the book "Hed Harim": I am disappointed by the Zionist movement. I greatly value the building of the Land and the return to Zion but we lost out on the miracle of miracles on account of them, since a person receives from heaven what he expects. Now that we have toiled to build the Land, we have lost out on the strength of miracles and only receive weakness. But – Ha-Rav Charlap says – I have seen that his honor does not agree. Maran Ha-Rav Kook responds to him in his letters (Igrot vol. 3, p. 20): His honor must be very careful regarding this thought that you had. The Redemption which comes "Kim'a Kim'a - slowly, slowly" is the strength of fortitude and not weakness. In truth, miracles show us that Hashem has the ability to perform anything beyond nature. But the Redemption through nature – through man - is greater. Hashem is not under "pressure." Hashem does not want to transverse nature. This is the strength of fortitude. Hashem performed the Redemption from Egypt and we were like babies for which everything was done. Now, we are no longer babies. The Master of the Universe brings the Redemption through us. There are therefore difficulties and complications. This is does not mean that it is not the Redemption, but because this is the Redemption through natural means. It is not that we are not on the right path. We are on the right path, but we are not at the end.
From : Torat HaRav Aviner
LEARNING TO WAGE WAR
Haaretz has an interview with three Duvdevan soldiers recently awarded medals of bravery for... sparing civilians. It's quite a story.
The fundamental challenge is that Palestinian murderers and planners of mass murder aren't identified as soldiers, as international law requires, nor do they act from military installations. They act from within the civilian society all around them. Which means, either you kill them with some civilians near them, or you don't harm them for fear of doing so, or you figure out how to pinpoint them in their kitchen, say, and nab them while sparing the other family members in the same kitchen. This is the policy Israeli chose for the West Bank, though it's the hardest of the three. A special unit, Duvdevan, was set up to do just that. Since no other army in the world knows how to do this, there weren't any international manuals or training camps, so Duvdevan had to learn on its own, by trial and error; initially, back in the first Intifada, there were too many errors. But the determination to succeed (understandable, given the alternatives), combined with an ever-rising level of professionalism, has forged a unit unparalleled anywhere, that in most cases succeeds:
A.: "There was an alley in the marketplace - all the stores were open and you hurry through the passageway, in order to maintain surprise and not to be 'burned' [identified] along the way. We broke into the house. He didn't understand where we had come from. Mabruk was sitting on the floor. He immediately jumped on his wife, using her as a shield."
R.: "Half a meter away was an M-16 with a magazine of ammunition inside. Ostensibly we had full legitimization to shoot him, because he was endangering us. But his wife was near him and he wasn't holding the weapon in his hand, so we didn't fire. There was a room there of two to three square meters, with his wife and a lot of children inside. He's an older man, but nobody's fool. He only had to roll over to reach the weapon. All he had to do was turn around with the weapon on automatic and mow down three or four soldiers. A less experienced soldier, who has not been trained for this mission, would have opened fire and killed several children.
"A.: "The guys remained calm. The weapon was on the floor. One of us took it from Mabruk. We attacked. He went wild, but we handcuffed him. In the end, the trick was to use selective firing. The fighters identified a woman and children and didn't shoot. It's a matter of a momentary decision. Now another complicated stage begins - leaving the refugee camp with him. It's already 10 A.M. Lots of people are outside. All the punks in the neighborhood had already heard that we came. He had collaborators and friends who would have fired on us as we were leaving. We got out of there very cautiously with the guy."
Sometimes the wanted men escape:
When they broke into the house, the man's wife was inside. "Although the house looked terrible afterward, the woman was not hurt," says A. "Her only injury was from being punched by the wanted man before he escaped. He apparently suspected her of informing on him."
Inevitably, sometimes people get killed - Israeli soldiers, for example:
In another operation, in February 2008, the same fighters arrested Majdi Mabruk, the head of the Popular Front in the Ein Beit Ilma refugee camp in Nablus. Among other things, Mabruk managed to smuggle an explosive belt into Tel Aviv, to be used to launch an attack on Yom Kippur in 2007; the device was confiscated by security forces. During the manhunt, another terrorist, his partner, killed Paratroops commando fighter Ben Zion Henman. In another incident, while trying to arrest Mabruk, an officer from the Givati commando unit was shot in the neck.
At the time, I wrote about Hanemann's death here.
Interestingly, according to the article, the IDF doesn't generally want to kill these murderers, preferring to arrest them and interrogate them for further information, even though this means that sometime in the future they'll probably be freed, either as part of that bogus peace project we keep hoping will lead somewhere (I certainly do), or in return for a kidnapped IDF soldier at the rate of 1:1000. I was also tickled to see that an important impetus for developing the methods of Duvdevan came from that well-know IDF consultant, Amira Hass:
About five years ago, Maj. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot was serving as the commander of the IDF forces in the West Bank. Eisenkot, now the head of Northern Command, then called the military approach in the West Bank "an M-16 instead of an F-16." The ability of the IDF to reach the operatives everywhere, to pull them out of their hiding places by the hair, he claimed, is a far greater deterrent to the terror organizations and the Palestinian population than mass shows of Israeli strength.
The West Bank commander based himself on a surprising source: articles by Amira Hass in Haaretz, in which senior Palestinian operatives said that they felt a certain "professional respect" for the enemy only when the soldiers engaged in face-to-face combat with them. The Palestinians considered the use of tanks and helicopters as a demonstration of cowardice on the part of an enemy that surpasses them in its military capability.
taken from:Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations (http://yaacovlozowick.blogspot.com/)
IDF TESTS ARROW II MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM
IDF Makes Technological Advancements for Missile Defense System
07 April 2009 , 17:00
Arrow Missile. Photo: IAF Website On Tuesday (April 7), the IDF carried out a test launch of the Arrow II Missile Defense System; this system is a part of a program that is designed to improve security methods in Israel and in the United States. During the test, a missile that simulates a possible threat to Israel was launched and shortly thereafter, the system's radar identified the missile and sent the data to the Data Management Center, who then fired the Arrow in order to intercept it.
During the test launch, representatives from the Ministry of Defense, the U.S. Department of Defense, and representatives from relevant industries, were present. Sources from within the Ministry of Defense clarified that the success of the project constitutes an important step in the long term plan to develop operational capabilities that are able to provide a solution to the threat of ballistic missiles being launched at Israel.
The Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, was briefed regarding the results of the test launch and said, "This is a project that is important for the State of Israel. The integration of the Arrow System together with the 'Iron Dome,' which also produced successful results during a test launch last week, will provide the best protection for immediate strategic threats. The security apparatus works intensively in order to provide a defense system against missiles and thus to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens."
Two weeks ago, there was a successful test launch of the Iron Dome, which is designed to provide protection against short-range missiles and rockets such as Qassams and Grad rockets, while the Arrow system is intended for long-range, ballistic missiles that can come from enemy countries.
taken from the IDF site (http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/the_Front/09/4/0701.htm)
Saturday, 11 April 2009
FIRST THEY CAME FOR THE JEWS
A good friend of mine send me this poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller in the sequence of our talkings about anti-semitism and islamification in Europe.
As it seems the same errors commited in the last century 30's are, once more, being made .
Well it's time for europeans to say "NEVER AGAIN" either to nazis or their islamo-fascist heirs.
The poem follows:
"First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists
and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
- and by then there was no one left to speak out for me. "
Then they came for the communists
and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
- and by then there was no one left to speak out for me. "
Friday, 10 April 2009
X - MEN
X-Men
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the superheroes. For other uses, see X-Men (disambiguation).
| X-Men | |
 Cover to Uncanny X-Men #505 | |
| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Base(s) | Xavier Institute for Higher Learning Australia San Francisco |
| Member(s) | Archangel Armor Beast Cannonball Colossus Cyclops Dazzler Dust Emma Frost Gambit Hepzibah Iceman Jean Grey Karma Mirage Nightcrawler Pixie Rogue Storm Wolverine Warpath |
| Roster | |
| See:List of X-Men members | |
The X-Men are a fictional superhero team in the Marvel Comics Universe.[1] Under a cloud of increasing anti-mutant sentiment, Professor Xavier creates a haven at his Westchester mansion to train young mutants to use their powers for the benefit of humanity, and to prove mutants can be heroes. Xavier recruited Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast and Jean Grey calling them "X-Men" because they possessed the "x-gene", an ability normal humans lacked. Though the X-Men started off as five, as years went on many characters joined the team and just as many left; Cyclops is the only one to have had a solid seating in the series.
Early issues introduced the team's arch enemy, Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, who would later battle the X-Men for years. Although the X-Men series had been comprised entirely of WASP-type characters, it would later become the pilot Marvel series to have the most number of characters that were ethnically and religiously different. The X-Men comics have been adapted in other media, including animated television series, video games, and a successful series of films.
Contents |
Publication history
The group's name is a reference to the "X Gene", an unknown gene that causes the mutant evolution. Creator Stan Lee devised the series' title after Marvel publisher Martin Goodman turned down the initial name, "The Mutants", stating that readers wouldn't know what a "mutant" was.[2] The X-Men are widely regarded (within the Marvel Universe) to have been named after Professor Xavier himself. Despite this, Xavier claims that the name "X-Men" was never sought out to be a self-tribute.[3]
The X-Men were founded by a paraplegic telepath named Professor Charles Xavier, who called himself "Professor X".[4] Xavier gathered the X-Men under the cover of the X-Mansion, his large mansion at Salem Center, a small town in Westchester County, New York. He recruits five teenagers, who the professor taught to control their powers: Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman and Marvel Girl.[4]
1960s
Early X-Men issues introduced the team's arch enemy Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants featuring Mastermind, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and the Toad. Ironically, the cast of this comic book series, which would later become a vehicle for stories about prejudice and racism, was originally racially and ethnically homogeneous, seemingly comprised entirely of the WASP-type character that was the de facto model for most comic book heroes at that time. Furthermore, their arch nemesis was Magneto, a character later portrayed as a Jewish concentration camp survivor. His key followers, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, were Roma (gypsies). Only one new member of the X-Men was added, Mimic/Calvin Rankin, but soon left due to his temporary loss of power.
In 1969, writer Roy Thomas and illustrator Neal Adams rejuvenated the comic book and gave regular roles to two recently introduced characters: Havok/Alex Summers (who had been introduced by Roy Thomas before Adams began work on the strip) and Lorna Dane, later called Polaris (created by Arnold Drake and Jim Steranko). However, these early X-Men issues failed to attract sales and Marvel stopped producing new stories with issue #66, although a number of the older comics were later reprinted as issues #67-93.
1970s
In Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975), writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum introduced a new team which was featured in new issues of The X-Men beginning with issue #94. This new team, however, differed greatly from the original. The new members were older and more ethnically diverse. Each was from a different country with varying cultural and philosophical beliefs, and were already well versed in using their mutant powers in combat situations. The "all-new, all-different X-Men" were led by Cyclops from the original team and consisted of the newly created Colossus (from the Soviet Union, now Russia), Nightcrawler (from West Germany, now Germany), Storm (an African from Kenya), and Thunderbird (a Native American from the Apache nation), along with three previously introduced characters, Banshee (from Ireland), Sunfire (from Japan), and most notably Wolverine (from Canada), who eventually became the breakout character on the team and, arguably, became the most popular X-Men character. A revamped Jean Grey soon rejoined the X-Men as the popular Phoenix; Angel, Beast, Havok, and Polaris also made significant guest appearances.
The revived series was illustrated by Dave Cockrum, and later John Byrne, and written by Chris Claremont. Claremont became the series' longest-running contributor. The run met great critical acclaim and produced the "Proteus Saga", "Dark Phoenix Saga", and later the early 1980s "Days of Future Past" as well as X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills, the basis for the 2003 movie X2: X-Men United. Other characters introduced during this time include Amanda Sefton, Kitty Pryde, the Hellfire Club, Multiple Man, Mystique, and Moira MacTaggert with her genetic research facility on Muir Island.
1980s
In the 1980s, the growing popularity of Uncanny X-Men and the rise of comic book speciality stores led to the introduction of several spin-off series nicknamed "X-Books", most notably Alpha Flight, Excalibur, The New Mutants, X-Factor, and a solo Wolverine title. This plethora of X-Men-related titles led to the rise of crossovers (sometimes called "X-Overs"); story lines which would overlap into several X-Books. Notable crossovers of the time included The Fall of the Mutants, Inferno, and the Mutant Massacre.
Notable additions to the X-Men during this time were Dazzler, Forge, Longshot, Psylocke, Rogue, and Rachel Summers. In a controversial move, Professor X relocated to outer space to be with Lilandra, Majestrix of the Shi'ar Empire in 1986. Magneto then joined the X-Men in Xavier's place and became the headmaster of the New Mutants. This period also included the arrival of the mysterious Madelyne Pryor, and the villains Apocalypse, Mister Sinister, and Sabretooth.
1990s
In 1991 Marvel revised the entire line-up of X-Books, centered on the launch of a second X-Men series, simply titled X-Men. With the return of Xavier and the original X-Men to the team, the bloated roster was split into two strike forces: Cyclops' "Blue Team" (chronicled in the pages of X-Men) and Storm's "Gold Team" (in Uncanny X-Men).
Its first issues were written by long-standing X-Men writer Chris Claremont and drawn and co-plotted by superstar artist Jim Lee This book is the highest selling book in comic book history (selling close to 8 million copies). Another new X-book released at the time was X-Force featuring the characters from the The New Mutants led by Cable, and written by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza. Internal friction soon split the X-Books' creative teams. Claremont left after only three issues of X-Men due to clashes with Lee and the Marvel editors, thus ending his sixteen-year run as X-Men writer. In his void, Lee, Fabian Nicieza and Scott Lobdell would take over the majority of writing duties for the X-Men until Lee's own departure months later when he and several other popular artists (including former X-title artists Liefeld, Marc Silvestri and Whilce Portacio) would leave Marvel to form Image Comics. Their major grievance had been Marvel's heavy merchandising of their work with little compensation. Jim Lee's X-Men became the definitive X-Men for the 90s, and his designs would be the basis for much of the X-Men animated series and action figure line as well as several Capcom video games.
The 1990s saw an even greater number of X-books with numerous ongoing series and miniseries running concurrently. Notable story arcs of this time are the "The X-Tinction Agenda" in 1990, "The Muir Island Saga" in 1991, "X-Cutioner's Song" in 1992, "Fatal Attractions" in 1993, "Phalanx Covenant" in 1994, "Legion Quest"/"Age of Apocalypse" in 1995, "Onslaught" in 1996 and "Operation: Zero Tolerance" in 1997. Some new characters were introduced and became instant hits (Bishop, Cable, Gambit and Jubilee), but many of the later additions to the team came and went (Joseph, Maggott, Marrow, Cecilia Reyes, and a new Thunderbird). Xavier's New Mutants grew up and became X-Force, and the next generation of students began with Generation X, featuring Jubilee and other teenage mutants led and schooled by Banshee and former villainess Emma Frost at her Massachusetts Academy. In 1998 Excalibur and X-Factor ended and the latter was replaced with Mutant X, starring Havok stranded in a parallel universe. Marvel launched a number of solo series, including Bishop, Cable, Deadpool, Gambit, and X-Man, but few of the series would survive the decade.
2000s
In the 2000s, Claremont returned to Marvel and was put back on the primary X-Men titles during the Revolution event. He was soon removed from the two flagship titles in early 2001 and created his own spin-off series, X-Treme X-Men, which debuted a few months after his departure.
X-Men had its title changed at this time to New X-Men and new writer Grant Morrison took over. This era is often referred to as the Morrison-era, due to the drastic changes he made to the series, beginning with "E Is for Extinction", where a new villainess, Cassandra Nova, destroys Genosha, killing sixteen million mutants. Morrison also brought reformed ex-villainess Emma Frost into the primary X-Men team, and opened the doors of the school by having Xavier "out" himself to the public about being a mutant. The bright spandex costumes that had become iconic over the previous decades were also gone, replaced by black leather street clothes reminiscent of the uniforms of the X-Men movies. Morrison also added a new character, Xorn, who would figure prominently in the climax of the writer's run. In the meantime, Ultimate X-Men was launched, set in Marvel's revised imprint. Chuck Austen also began his controversial run on Uncanny X-Men.
Notable additions to the X-Men have been Caliban, Chamber, Emma Frost, Husk, Northstar and Warpath. During this decade former villains such as Juggernaut, Lady Mastermind, Mystique, and Sabretooth became members of the X-Men for various lengths of time. Several short-lived spin-offs and miniseries started featuring several X-Men in solo series, such as Emma Frost, Gambit, Mystique, Nightcrawler, and Rogue. Another book, Exiles, started at the same time and concluded in December 2007 but with a new book in January 2008, "New Exiles" written by Chris Claremont. Cable and Deadpool's books were also rolled into one book, called Cable & Deadpool. A third core X-Men title was also introduced called Astonishing X-Men, written by Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, following Morrison's departure. Another X-Book titled New X-Men: Academy X took its place focusing on the lives of the new young mutants at the Institute.
This period included the resurrections of Colossus and Psylocke, a new death for Jean Grey, who later returned temporarily in the X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong miniseries, as well as the start of a relationship between Cyclops and Emma Frost, who have become the new leaders of the Institute. The Institute formerly ran as a large-scale school, until the depowering of most of the mutant population. It now serves as a safe haven to those mutants who are still powered, and as the home of the X-Men.
The Messiah Complex crossover in 2007 - 2008 saw the destruction of the Xavier Institute and the disbanding of the X-Men. The team later reformed in Uncanny X-Men #500, with the X-Men now operating out a new base in San Francisco under Cyclops's leadership.[5]
The X-Men were also involved in the Secret Invasion in Secret Invasion: X-Men.
Notable story arcs of this decade are Revolution (2000), "Eve of Destruction", "E Is for Extinction" (2001), "Planet X", "Gifted" (2004), Here Comes Tomorrow, "X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong", "House of M", "Decimation" (2005), "Deadly Genesis" (2005-2006), "Endangered Species" (2007), "Messiah Complex" (2007-2008) and Divided We Stand (2008).
World of the X-Men
See also: Mutant (Marvel Comics)
The X-Men exist in the Marvel Universe with other characters portrayed in Marvel Comics series. As such, it is unsurprising that they often meet characters from other series, and the global nature of the mutant concept means the scale of stories can be highly varied.
The X-Men fight everything ranging from mutant criminals to galactic threats. The X-Men base themselves in the Xavier Institute, Westchester County, NY, and are often depicted as a family. The X-Mansion is often depicted with three floors and two underground levels. To the outside world, it had acted as a higher learning institute until the 2000s, when Xavier is exposed as a mutant, and it becomes a full mutant boarding school. Xavier funds a corporation aimed at reaching mutants worldwide, though it ceased to exist following the "Decimation".
The X-Men benefit greatly from state-of-the-art technology. For example, Xavier is depicted tracking down mutants with a device called Cerebro; the X-Men train within the Danger Room, first depicted as a room full of weapons and booby traps, now as generating holographic simulations; and the X-Men travel in their widely recognized and iconic Blackbird jet.
Fictional places
The X-Men introduced several fictional locations, which are regarded as important within the shared universe in which Marvel Comics characters exist:
- Asteroid M, an asteroid made by Magneto, a mutant utopia and training facility off of the Earth's surface.
- Genosha, an island near Madagascar and a long-time apartheid regime against mutants. Given control by the U.N. to Magneto until the E Is for Extinction story.
- Madripoor, an island in South East Asia, near Singapore. Its location is shown to be in the southern portion of the Strait of Malacca, south west of Singapore.
- Muir Island, a remote island off the coast of Scotland. Primarily known in the X-Men universe as the home of Moira MacTaggert's laboratory.
- Savage Land, a hidden location in Antarctica which is home to a number of extinct species, most notably dinosaurs.
- Mutant Town, an area in Alphabet City, Manhattan, populated largely by mutants and beset by poverty and crime.
- Age of Apocalypse: In a world where Professor Xavier is killed before he can form the X-Men, Magneto founds the X-Men instead in a dystopic world ruled by Apocalypse. Created and reverted via time travel.
- Days of Future Past: Sentinels have mutants in concentration camps. Prevented by time-travelling.
- House of M: Reality is altered by Scarlet Witch, with her father Magneto as the world's ruler. 2005's crossover event, it concludes with a reversion to the normal Marvel Universe, albeit with most mutants depowered.
- Marvel 1602: Mutants are known as the "Witchbreed". Carlos Javier creates a "school for the children of gentlefolk" to serve as a safe haven and training ground.
- Marvel 2099: Set in a dystopic world with new characters looking to the original X-Men as history, becoming X-Men 2099 and X-Nation 2099.
- Marvel Zombies: Set in a world in which the majority of the Marvel heroes, including the X-Men, are zombies.
- Mutant X: Set in a world where Scott Summers was captured along with his parents by the Shi'ar and only Alex escaped, allowing him to be the eventual leader of this Universe's X-Factor ('The Six'). The Mutant X universe reimagines Mr. Fantastic, Nick Fury and Professor X as villains and Doctor Doom and Apocalypse as heroes.
- Ultimate X-Men: Set in the re-imagined Ultimate Marvel universe.
- X-Men: The End: A possible ending to the X-Men's early 2005 status quo.
- X-Men Noir: Set in the 1930s, with the X-Men as a mysterious criminal gang, and the Brotherhood as a secret society of corrupt cops.
- X-Men: Forever: An alternate continuity diverging from X-Men (vol. 2) #3, continuing as though writer Chris Claremont had never left writing the series. [6]
Reflecting social issues
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references (ideally, using inline citations). Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2007) |
The conflict between mutants and normal humans is often compared to conflicts experienced by minority groups in America such as Jews, African Americans, Communists, LGBT characters, etc. Also on an individual level, a number of X-Men serve a metaphorical function as their powers illustrate points about the nature of the outsider.
| "The X-Men are hated, feared and despised collectively by humanity for no other reason than that they are mutants. So what we have here, intended or not, is a book that is about racism, bigotry and prejudice." —Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont, 1981 |
- Anti-Semitism: Explicitly referenced in recent decades is the comparison between anti-mutant sentiment and anti-Semitism. Magneto, a Holocaust survivor, sees the situation of mutants as similar to those of Jews in Nazi Germany. At one point he even utters the words "never again" in a 1992 episode of the X-Men animated series. The mutant slave labor camps on the island of Genosha, in which numbers were burned into mutant's foreheads, show much in common with Nazi concentration camps, as do the internment camps of the classic "Days of Future Past" storyline. Another notable reference is in the third X-Men film, when asked by Callisto: "If you're so proud of being a mutant, then where's your mark?" Magneto shows his concentration camp tattoo, while mentioning that he will never let another needle touch his skin.
- Diversity: Characters within the X-Men mythos hail from a wide variety of nationalities. These characters also reflect religious, ethnic or sexual minorities. Examples of Jewish characters include Shadowcat, Sabra and Magneto, whilst Dust is a devout Muslim, Nightcrawler a devout Catholic, and Thunderbird is a follower of the Hindu faith. Storm (Ororo Munroe) represents two aspects of the African diaspora as her father was African American and her mother was Kenyan. Karma was portrayed as a devout Catholic from Vietnam, who regularly attended Mass and confession when she was introduced as a founding member of the New Mutants. This team also included Wolfsbane (a devout Scots Presbyterian), Danielle Moonstar (a Cheyenne Native American) and Cannonball (a Baptist), and was later joined by Magma (a devout Greco-Roman classical religionist). Different nationalities included Wolverine as a Canadian, Colossus from Russia, Banshee from Ireland, Psylocke from the U.K., Armor from Japan, etc.
- LGBT Rights: Another metaphor that has been applied to the X-Men is that of LGBT rights. Comparisons have been made between the mutants' situation, including concealment of their powers and the age they realize these powers, and homosexuality.[7] Several scenes in the X-Men films, two of which were directed by openly gay director Bryan Singer, illustrate this theme. The first film featured a scene in which Senator Robert Kelly questioned whether mutants should be allowed to teach children in school, mirroring such debates as that over Section 28, in which Sir Ian McKellen (who played Magneto in the film, and who is also openly gay) was involved. Bobby Drake "comes out" as a mutant to his parents in X2. In response, Bobby's mother asks him, "Have you tried not being a mutant?", referencing a popular belief that homosexuality is not inherent, but rather a "lifestyle choice". Also in X2, Nightcrawler has a conversation with Mystique in which he asks her why she doesn't use her shapeshifting ability to blend in among non-mutant humans all the time (an option Nightcrawler evidently wishes he had). Mystique replies simply, "Because we shouldn't have to." In the comics series, gay and bisexual characters include Anole, Destiny, Karma, Mystique, Northstar, and the Ultimate version of Colossus. The comic books delved into the AIDS epidemic during the early 1990s with a long-running plot line about the Legacy Virus,[8] a seemingly incurable disease similarly thought at first to attack only mutants. A similar storyline appeared in the X-Men animated series that aired in the 1990s. The predominantly-mutant neighbourhood of Mutant Town, also known as District X, was used in Grant Morrison's New X-Men as an analogue to Castro Street, or other gay villages.
- Racism: Professor X has come to be compared to civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and Magneto to the more militant Malcolm X. The X-Men’s purpose is sometimes referred to as achieving "Xavier’s dream", perhaps a reference to King’s historic "I Have a Dream" speech. Magneto, in the first film, quotes Malcolm X with the line "By any means necessary". X-Men comic books have often portrayed mutants as victims of mob violence, evoking images of the lynching of African Americans in the age before the American civil rights movement. Sentinels and anti-mutant hate groups such as Friends of Humanity, Humanity's Last Stand, the Church of Humanity and Stryker's Purifiers are thought to often represent oppressive forces like the KKK giving a form to denial of civil rights and amendments. In the 1980s, the comic featured a plot involving the fictional island nation of Genosha, where mutants were segregated and enslaved by an apartheid state. This is widely interpreted as having been a reference to the situation in South Africa at the time.
- Red Scare: Occasionally, undercurrents of the "Red Scare" are present. Senator Robert Kelly's proposal of a Mutant Registration Act is similar to the efforts of United States Congress to effectively ban Communism in the United States. In the 2000 X-Men film Kelly exclaims, 'We must know who these mutants are and what they can do,' even brandishing a "list" of known mutants (a reference to Senator Joseph McCarthy's list of Communist Party USA members who were working in the government).[9]
- Subculture: In some cases, the mutants of the X-Men universe sought to create a subculture of the typical mutant society portrayed. The X-Men comics first introduced a band of mutants called the Morlocks. This group, though mutants like those attending Xavier's school, sought to hide away from society within the tunnels of New York. These Morlock tunnels served as the backdrop for several X-Men stories, most notably The Mutant Massacre crossover. This band of mutants illustrates another dimension to the comic, that of a group that further needs to isolate itself because society won't accept it. In Grant Morrison’s stories of the early 2000s, mutants are portrayed as a distinct subculture with “mutant bands” and a popular mutant fashion designer who created outfits tailored to mutant physiology. The series District X takes place in an area of New York City called "Mutant Town." These instances can also serve as analogies for the way that minority groups establish specific subcultures and neighborhoods of their own that distinguish them from the broader general culture. Director Bryan Singer has remarked that the X-Men franchise has served as a metaphor for acceptance of all people for their special and unique gifts. The mutant condition that is often kept secret from the world can be analogous to feelings of difference and fear usually developed in everyone during adolescence.
- Religion: religion is an integral part of several X-men storylines. It is presented as both a positive and negative force, sometimes in the same story. The comics explore religious fundamentalism through the person of William Stryker and his Purifiers, an anti-mutant group that emerged in the 1982 graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills. The Purifiers believe that mutants are not human beings but children of the devil, and have attempted to exterminate them several times, most recently in the "Childhood's End" storyline. By contrast, religion is also central to the lives of several X-men, such as Nightcrawler, a devout Catholic, and Dust, a devout Sunni Muslim who observes Islamic Hijab. This recalls the religious roots of social activists like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, as well as their opponents such as the Ku Klux Klan or Nathuram Godse (the Hindu radical who assassinated Gandhi).
Cultural impact
The insecurity and anxieties in Marvel's early 1960s comic books such as The Amazing Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, and X-Men ushered in a new type of superhero, very different from the certain and all-powerful superheroes before them, and changed the public's perception of them.[10]
In other media
Animation
- The X-Men made their first ever animated appearance on the 1960s The Marvel Superheroes TV series with the original X-Men line-up (Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Iceman). Since Grantray-Lawrence Animation didn't have the rights to the Fantastic Four (their series was produced by Hanna-Barbera), they substituted them with the X-Men. Interestingly enough, the X-Men were never referred to as the X-Men. They were, instead, referred to as Allies for Peace. The characters kept their original looks and individual names from the comics, though.
- The X-Men guest-starred in several episodes of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, starting with a flashback in "The Origin of Iceman" (Iceman himself being one of the show's three main characters). Appearing in this particular episode are Professor X and the five original X-Men: Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, and Marvel Girl. (In the continuity of the show, Firestar was also a former member of the X-Men.) The X-Men's next appearance was in the episode "A Firestar is Born", including appearances from Professor X, Cyclops, Angel, Wolverine, Storm, and even Juggernaut (plus Magneto in a cameo appearance). The X-Men would return the following season in the episode entitled "The X-Men Adventure". Making appearances there were: Colossus, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Professor X, Sprite, Storm, and Thunderbird. "The X-Men Adventure" was meant[citation needed] to be a pilot for an X-Men cartoon that was slated to feature the X-Men characters, plus Lady Lightning (an animated version of Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel) and Videoman as members. The cartoon was never produced.
- In 1989, Marvel Productions produced a pilot X-Men episode called Pryde of the X-Men. The series was never picked up but the single episode aired infrequently in syndication during the Marvel Action Universe series and was later released on video. In 1991, a six-player arcade game (and a four-player version) was based upon the pilot starring Colossus, Cyclops, Dazzler, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Wolverine. Kitty Pryde and Professor X also appear.
- In 1992, the FOX network launched an X-Men animated series with the roster of Beast, Cyclops, Gambit, Jean Grey, Jubilee, Professor X, Rogue, Storm, and Wolverine with Bishop and Cable frequently guest starring. The two-part pilot episode, "Night of the Sentinels" set off what would become a five-season series. It was an extraordinary success, becoming one of the most watched animated series in television history[citation needed] and helping widen the X-Men's popularity. The five seasons ended in 1997. It was put back in Fox's line-up (albeit edited) for several months after the first movie was released. This line of X-Men would guest star on Spider-Man when Spider-Man seeks Professor X's help on his growing mutation disease. Storm would later guest star on the Secret Wars arc.
- In 1994, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Gambit, Wolverine and Storm, along with Scarlet Spider, made very quick cameos in the Fantastic Four series, in the episode "Nightmare in Green", as Johnny flies overhead.
- In 2000, The WB Network launched the television show X-Men: Evolution, which portrayed the X-Men as teenagers attending a regular public high school in addition to the Xavier Institute. The series ended in 2003 after its fourth season.
- In 2003, while not physically making an appearance, the X-Men and mutant-kind are mentioned in an episode of the short-lived CGI series Spider-Man: The New Animated Series called "The Party". Peter Parker is quoted as saying, "I bet the X-Men get to go to parties." Soon after, he is ambushed by a group of cops, one of them calling him a "mutant freak".
- In 2006, Minimates released a short animated brickfilm called X-Men: Darktide on DVD with a box set of figures. The story involved the X-Men battling the Brotherhood at an oil rig.
- In 2008, Marvel Studios put out a new X-Men animated show that features Wolverine, though as of the middle of season 1, he is just the main protagonist, driving the plot. This time the series uses a mesh of 2D/3D animation for characters and backgrounds. Avi Arad, CEO of Marvel Studios, stated "X-Men is one of Marvel's crown jewels and it makes sense to focus on the popular Wolverine character for our second animation project." The new series is titled Wolverine and the X-Men and is currently airing in Latin America and Canada and debuted in the United States on January 23rd, 2009. It started airing in the U.K. in February.
Films
The X-Men film series currently consists of three superhero films based on the fictional Marvel Comics team of the same name. The films star an ensemble cast, focusing on Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, as he is drawn into the conflict between Professor Xavier and Magneto, who have opposing views on humanity's relationship with mutants: Xavier believes humanity and mutants can coexist, but Magneto believes a war is coming, and intends to fight. The films also developed sub-plots based on the comics' Weapon X and Dark Phoenix storylines.
20th Century Fox earned the film rights to the characters in 1994, and after numerous drafts, Bryan Singer was hired to direct X-Men for a 2000 release. Singer returned for the 2003 sequel X2, but left a potential third and fourth film to direct Superman Returns. Brett Ratner directed X-Men: The Last Stand for a 2006 release. Critics praised Singer's films for their dark, realistic tone, and focus on prejudice as a subtext, but Ratner's film was met with mixed reviews. Nonetheless, each film out-grossed the last, and Fox is developing spin-offs set before the three films. The most current spin- off in progress is X-Men Origins: Wolverine, due to hit theatres on May 1st (2009).
The first X-Men video game was released by Josh Toevs and LJN for the NES and was called Marvel's X-Men. That same year (1989) a computer game was also released based on the X-Men and Trevor Macy. In the 1990s Sega released two popular X-Men video games for its Sega Genesis; X-Men and X-Men 2: Clone Wars. In 1992, the X-Men teamed up with Spider-Man for Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge for every major system of the time. Wolverine starred in a solo game in 1994 for both the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis called, Wolverine: Adamantium Rage. In 1995 the X-Men got their own game for the Super Nintendo called X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse. There are several video games for various platforms starring the X-Men. Many of them are 2D fighting games such as 1994's X-Men: Children of the Atom (also created by Josh toevs and LJN), 1996's X-Men vs. Street Fighter and 2000s X-Men: Mutant Academy. There was also a 3-D fighting-game called X-Men: Next Dimension. The most recent in the series are the role-playing games X-Men Legends (2004) and its 2005 sequel X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse. The characters also appeared in the Marvel vs. Capcom series. Konami also created an X-Men (arcade game) in 1992, which featured six playable X-Men characters: Colossus, Cyclops, Dazzler, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Wolverine.
The X-Men made a few appearances in Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro. Professor X (Daran Norris) and Rogue (Jennifer Hale) run a Danger Room simulation for the player to train in. Beast (Dee Bradley Baker) appears in the first level to demonstrate the controller functions to the player.
With the release of X2: X-Men United, X2: Wolverine's Revenge was released and featured Wolverine and his origins which acted as a flashback for many events in the second film.
To coincide with the release of the third film, Activision has released X-Men: The Official Game which filled in gaps between X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand, such as explaining Nightcrawler's absence from the third film.
Magneto, Storm and Wolverine also appear in Electronic Arts' 3-D fighting game Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects. Deadpool, Iceman, Storm, and Wolverine are playable in the major Marvel video game, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Colossus is playable on the Xbox 360, Wii & PS3 versions of the game, and Jean Grey is playable on the GBA version. Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Professor X, and Psylocke appear as NPC's on all versions while Beast, Forge, Karma and Dr. Moira MacTaggert were mentioned by different characters. In addition, during a cut-scene, Beast, Colossus, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Gambit, Magneto, Professor Xavier, Psylocke, and Shadowcat were seen defeated by Dr. Doom alongside The Hulk. Starting April 10, 2007, Xbox 360 owners will be able to download eight new playable characters for the game, including X-Men heroes and villains: Cyclops, Magneto, Nightcrawler, and Sabretooth. [11]
Books
- In the novel Planet X, Storm, Shadowcat, Archangel, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Banshee, and Wolverine are transported into the Star Trek universe by Q, interacting with the crew of the Enterprise-E in between the events of the films Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection. It was a follow-up to two earlier one-shot comics depicting interaction between the X-Men and the Star Trek universe.
- The X-Men appear in the novel X-Men: Dark Mirror.
- The X-men Mutant Empire Saga, consisting of three parts.
- Wolverine appears in the novel Wolverine: Weapon X
- There is a book called Science of the X-Men, which explains how different powers would work and how they would affect the people that have them. The mutants featured include Quicksilver, Wolverine, Shadowcat, and Nightcrawler.
There are also several other X-Men novels that were published in the mid-late 1990s.
Notes
- ^ "X-Men - Marvel Universe: The definitive online source for super hero bios.". http://www.marvel.com/universe/X-Men. Retrieved on 2008-12-14.
- ^ Lee, Stan; Jack Kirby (2005-08-10). Son of Origins of Marvel Comics. Son of Origins of Marvel Comics. 1. John Buscema, Don Heck, Bill Everett, Gene Colan. Marvel. pp. 448. ISBN 0-6712-2166-3.
- ^ Tacopina, Robert. "Uncanny X-Men #309: ...When The Tigers Come At Night!". UncannyX-Men.net. http://www.uncannyxmen.net/db/issues/showquestion.asp?fldAuto=1064. Retrieved on 2009-04-07.
- ^ a b Luzifer, Peter. "X-Men (1st series) # 1: X-Men". UncannyX-Men.net. http://www.uncannyxmen.net/db/issues/showquestion.asp?fldAuto=186. Retrieved on 2009-04-07.
- ^ "The Independent Comics Site - State of the Art: The X-Men Post-Messiah CompleX". http://independentcomicssite.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=313&Itemid=33. Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
- ^ NYCC '09: Claremont and the X-Men: With a Twist
- ^ John Hartl (2006-05-25). "The X-Men come out". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12956661. Retrieved on 2007-02-06.
- ^ 60 What is the Legacy Virus? Who's had it? Hasn't there been a cure for a while?
- ^ X-Men 3: The Last Stand (2006) Movie Review - 3.0 out of 4.0 stars - The Movie Insider
- ^ Fleming, James R. (2006). "Review of Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us about Ourselves and Our Society. By Danny Fingeroth". ImageText (University of Florida). ISSN 1549-6732. http://www.english.ufl.edu/imagetext/archives/v2_2/reviews/fleming.shtml. Retrieved on Fleming.
- ^ "Activision to Release New Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Heroes and Villains on Xbox Live Marketplace". http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/marvelultimatealliance/news.html?sid=6167963&om_act=convert&om_clk=gsupdates&tag=updates;title;1. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
References
- Fecteau, Lydia (July 12, 2004). Mutant and Cyborg Images of the Disabled Body in the Landscape of Science Fiction Available online as a Word document. Accessed on September 29, 2005.
- Morrison, Grant. (August 10, 2000) "The geek shall inherit the earth". The Evening Standard. Accessed on September 29, 2005
- Weinstein, Simcha. Up Up and Oy Vey : How Jewish History, Culture And Values Shaped The Comic-Book Superhero (Baltimore : Leviathan, 2006) has a chapter on the X-Men, with special emphasis on Jewish characters Magneto and Shadowcat.
- Montgomery, Mitch. (October 21, 2006) "X-traordinary People: Mary Tyler Moore and the Mutants Explore Pop Psychology". Silver Bullet Comics. Explores the psychology of storytelling and methods of coping with loss as seen in the film Ordinary People and the Uncanny X-Men comic book collection From the Ashes.
External links
 | Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: X-Men |
- X-Men at the Marvel Universe
- X-Men at the Open Directory Project
- X-Men at the Comic Book DB
- X-Men at the Grand Comic-Book Database
- X-Men at the Marvel Directory
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
