Rosh Hashanah Message: We Can All Do More

BS"D
     I beseech you, my Jewish brethren and fellow world citizens, on this Rosh Hashanah, to pray for peace between the Jews and the Palestinians, as well as peaceful resolutions to all conflicts in the world.  Please put the weight of the world on your individual sholders as though the world was created only as a test to see how you relate to your fellow creations. 
Here is an excerpt from: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/talmud_&_mishna.html      "How are witnesses inspired with awe in capital cases?" the Mishna begins. "They are brought in and admonished as follows: In case you may want to offer testimony that is only conjecture or hearsay or secondhand evidence, even from a person you consider trustworthy; or in the event you do not know that we shall test you by cross-examination and inquiry, then know that capital cases are not like monetary cases. In monetary cases, a man can make monetary restitution and be forgiven, but in capital cases both the blood of the man put to death and the blood of his [potential] descendants are on the witness's head until the end of time. For thus we find in the case of Cain, who killed his brother, that it is written: 'The bloods of your brother cry unto Me' (Genesis 4:10) — that is, his blood and the blood of his potential descendants.... Therefore was the first man, Adam, created alone, to teach us that whoever destroys a single life, the Bible considers it as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a single life, the Bible considers it as if he saved an entire world. Furthermore, only one man, Adam, was created for the sake of peace among men, so that no one should say to his fellow, 'My father was greater than yours.... Also, man [was created singly] to show the greatness of the Holy One, Blessed be He, for if a man strikes many coins from one mold, they all resemble one another, but the King of Kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He, made each man in the image of Adam, and yet not one of them resembles his fellow. Therefore every single person is obligated to say, 'The world was created for my sake"' (Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5)."
As it says in Pirkei Avoth = Ethics of the Fathers, "Lo alecha hamelacha ligmor, velo ata ben chorin = it is not upon you to complete the task, but you are not absolved of it ether,"  We can all do more,

Healthcare Almost Solved With Two Laws

1)  Healthcare insurance companies can sell their coverage in any state.
     (We don't need  fifty Americas when it comes to healthcare.)

2)  Any citizen or resident, regardless of pre-existing conditions can go to any employer,
     even not their own, and can join whatever plan(s) that employer offers.

The Way of G-d: Tzedaka and Mishpat = Righteousness and Law

              Sefer Bereishit: Perek 18, Pasuk 19 = The Book of Genesis: Chapter 18, Verse 19

For I have known him because he commands his sons and his household after him, that they should keep the way of  G-d to perform righteousness and justice, in order that the Lord bring upon Abraham that which He spoke concerning him."	כִי יְדַעְתִיו לְמַעַן אֲשֶר יְצַוֶה אֶת בָנָיו וְאֶת בֵיתוֹ אַחֲרָיו וְשָמְרו דֶרֶךְ יְ־הֹוָ־ה לַעֲשוֹת צְדָקָה ומִשְפָט לְמַעַן הָבִיא יְ־הֹוָ־ה עַל אַבְרָהָם אֵת אֲשֶר דִבֶר עָלָיו:

  In this week’s parsha:

Sefer Devarim: Perek 16, Pesukim 19-20=The Book of Deuteronomy: Chapter 16, Verses 19-20

You shall not pervert law; you shall not show favoritism, and you shall not take a bribe, for bribery blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may live and possess the land the Lord, your God, is giving you.	לֹא תַטֶה מִשְפָט לֹא תַכִיר פָנִים וְלֹא תִקַח שֹחַד כִי הַשֹחַד יְעַוֵר עֵינֵי חֲכָמִים וִיסַלֵף דִבְרֵי צַדִיקִם: צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִרְדֹף לְמַעַן תִחְיֶה וְיָרַשְתָ אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶר יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ:

Civil Liberties and Free Speech

(Draft)
I love America. 

America is a multicultural nation that has an Official separation of Religion and State and Freedom of Religion for all.  I do not believe that every country in the world needs to be like America when it comes to the separation of Religion and State.  I believe in a World Full of Choices, where just about everyone can find a country with a national culture/religion which agreeable to them.  I do not believe that any adult should be forced to live in a country that they do not wish to live in.  Therefore, I have no problem with a country under Islamic law, Christian law, or Jewish law so long as it is desired by the majority of its citizens and basic civil liberties to all citizens and residents are protected. 

These basic civil liberties include:

1) The right to practice one’s individual religion in the privacy of his own home

2)  The right to assemble with like minded individuals and practice religion in a group

      and public setting  (with #2, you don’t actually need #1)

3)  The right to practice one’s own sexual orientation in the privacy of one’s own

      home 
    (I do not believe that a government should be forced to marry or recognize a marriage   
     that it does not morally or religiously agree to, but the government must allow for those people to  
     live together)

4)  The right not to be discriminated against with regards to education, employment,

      societal participation, and political participation on the basis of anything other than
      merit

5) The rights of free speech, assembly, and political dissent within appropriate environments

6)  The right to non-violent civil disobedience, so long as you are prepared to be

      arrested, and if you ae a non-citizen, deported

7)  The right to boycott, spend your money as you please, so long as you are prepared 

      for the government to call, but not demand, for an economic boycott of you

8)   The right to not be harassed or proselytized to with regards to one’s own private

       religion, belief system, or sexual orientation

9)  The right to fair, unbiased treatment under the law regardless of race, gender, sexual  

      orientation, or beliefs

10) The rights of parents to educate their own children, so long as the children are being  

       given basic literacy education in a national language, as well as a basic mathematical education

Israel, I believe has nine of the ten civil liberties I mentioned above.  They have recently failed with regards to their anti-boycott law which I oppose.

 
More on Freedom of Speech and Dissent Within One's Own Government:
I support free speech to the degree that any Government should Allow and Protect Hate Speech and Dissent to be lega,l but not Violently Threatening speech.  Freedom of speech should be limited when it comes to the Harassment of Individuals, especially the bullying of children.  When it comes to dissent of public policy, again I do think that a government has to allow its own citizens to be voices of non-violent dissent, but should not be obligated to allow non-citizens to enter its borders to voice Their opposition.