Jewish Pro-Life Foundation Newsletter 4 June 2021 - 24 Sivan 5781
Spies Then and Now
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✡︎ Shabbat Shalom & Good Day ✡︎
This week's Torah portion, Shelach, describes the twelve spies who Moses sends out on a reconnaissance mission into the Promised Land. We notice an eerie coincidence in the story.
Ten of the 12 spies, 83%, came back with negative reports, voting to oppose God's vision for settlement. Only 2 spies, a 17% minority of Caleb and Joshua, voted yes to proceed. That ill-fated vote resulted in 40 extra years of exile while that generation of Israelites perished in the desert. Only Caleb and Joshua lived to experience God's promises.
Fast forward. According to a 2014 Pew poll. 83% of Jews believes abortion should be legal in all or most cases! Here we are, 3,334 yers later (3327 if we use 2014) and we still have the same percentage of Jews opposing God's vision for human action on Earth. This majority votes for unrestricted legal abortion, a vote that when put into practice makes settlement anywhere impossible. We represent the 17% minority of Jews who believe that our unborn neighbors, siblings, and children are made in God's image, and each has a special role in fulfilling God's promises on Earth.
We wonder what dire consequences await our pro-abortion brothers and sisters. We pray they recognize that compassion and concern must be connected to the life-giving principals of Torah, and that Providence always provides for each precious soul.
May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.
Cecily
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Rabbi Chananya Weissman's comments on this week's Torah portion. Shelach, remind us that we must speak truth righteously and faithfully even though we are in the minority and it appears that our words have no effect. HaShem hears us.
Everything Matters
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George Leibmann, president of the Library Company of the Baltimore Bar, considers the tragic societal realities of Roe v Wade and Doe v Bolton. In his piece in the American Conservative, Mr, Leibmann offers compelling secular reasons to limit abortion that may influence the upcoming Mississippi case due to be heard by SCOTUS in the fall.
Whither Roe?: A Secular Case For Abortion Restriction. America's unusually lax abortion laws have led to more out-of-wedlock births and non-college-educated women in poverty.
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ONE JEW’S LOOK THROUGH JUDAISM AT ABORTION
And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them . . . And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Gen. 1:27, 31
Who are we to decide that something or someone God has made is no good? God does not need to seek any person’s opinion or approval about anything in His creation.
The soul which Thou, O God, hast given unto me came pure from Thee. Thou hast created it, Thou hast formed it, Thou hast breathed it into me; Thou hast preserved it in this body and, at the appointed time, Thou wilt take it from this earth that it may enter upon life everlasting. Praised be Thou, O God, in whose hands are the souls of all the living and the spirits of all flesh . . . Our life would be altogether vanity, were it not for the soul which, fashioned in Thine own image, gives us assurance of our higher destiny and imparts to our fleeting days an abiding value.
(The Union Prayerbook for Jewish Worship - Part I, The Central Conference of American Rabbis, New York, 1972, p. 101)
Sherry Davison
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Prayers for Forgiveness of Abortion
Almighty One,You are slow to anger, You are called the Master of Mercy, and You have taught the way of repentance. Remember this day, and every day, the greatness of Your mercy, and kindness to the descendants of Your beloved. Turn to us with mercy, for You are the Master of Mercy. We approach Your presence with supplication and prayer, as You have made known aforetimes to Moses the humble. Turn from Your fierce anger, as it is written in Your Torah. May we shelter and lodge in the shadow of Your wings, as on the day when “GOD descended in a cloud.” Pass over rebellious sin and erase guilt, as on the day when “ And He stood there with Moses. ”Give ear to our cry and be attentive to our speech, as on the day when “he invoked the Name of GOD” and there it is said: “And GOD passed before him and proclaimed: GOD, GOD, Almighty. Merciful and Gracious, Slow to Anger and Abundant in Kindness and Truth. Preserver of Kindness for Thousands of generations, Forgiver of iniquity, rebellious transgression and sin, and He who cleanses.” Forgive our iniquity and our sin, and take us for You heritage.
Selicot According to Chabad Tradition
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Tikvat Rachel, our healing program for Jewish women and men who suffer after abortion, meets weekly in our zoom room. Please contact [email protected] for login information. We're saving your seat!
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Gevalt! She IS Alive Before She's Born! |
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"We must always take sides.
Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.
Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
Eli Wiesel
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Get the Facts!
Judaism: The Original Pro-Life Religion Book
View & Download the book here,
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Looking for help after abortion? Start your healing journey by downloading our healing program here. Then contact us to finally share your personal story with a friend who cares. These calls and emails are confidential, caring, and safe. Call Cecily at 412-758-3269 or email [email protected].
"Weeping is lodged in one side of my heart,
and joy is lodged in the other"
The Zohar
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Do you know an abortion minded Jewish woman? Tell her about our list of Jewish couples waiting to adopt!
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Jewish Adoption Services
Jewish Pregnancy Care Services
Jewish Support After Abortion
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Check out our archived newsletters at
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Contact Us
Jewish Pro-Life Foundation
PO Box 292 Sewickley PA 15143
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