42nd Rainbow Division

Memorial Day 2016

May 29, 2016 by Robert J. Avrech 10 Comments

My father, Rabbi Abraham Avrech, 42nd Div. U.S. Army, Colonel, Ret., conducts services during the Korean War. — My father, Chaplain Rabbi Abraham Avrech, z’l (1919-2014) U.S. Army, 42nd Div., Colonel, Ret., conducts services during the Korean War.

On Memorial Day, we remember all the members of our armed services who paid the ultimate price in service to this great country.

Our eternal gratitude.

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Rabbi Chaplain Abraham Avrech, Second Yahrzeit

March 22, 2016 by Robert J. Avrech 9 Comments

My father, Rabbi Abraham Avrech. An Army Chaplain in the 42nd Rainbow Division, my father served this great nation through World War II, The Korean War and Vietnam. Retired as a full Colonel, my father often speaks of his Chaplaincy as the most important and fulfilling of his long and distinguished Rabbinic career. — My father, Rabbi Abraham Avrech. An Army Chaplain in the 42nd Rainbow Division, my father served this great nation through World War II, The Korean War and Vietnam. Retired as a full Colonel, my father often spoke of his Chaplaincy as the most important and fulfilling of his long and distinguished Rabbinic career.

My father, Rabbi Chaplain Abraham Avrech passed away on March 15, 2014, which the Jewish calendar translates into the 13th of Adar. Thus, tonight — Jewish holidays begin in the evening, after sundown — is the second Yahrzeit, memorial, without my father’s physical presence in this world. My father was 94 years old.

He is gone, but he is certainly not forgotten.

I ponder the astonishing trajectory of my father’s life. Born in a tiny impoverished Polish town, my father and his family emigrated to America where they found the liberty to live as Jews and Americans.

Veteran’s Day, 2015: My Favorite Veteran, Rabbi Abraham Avrech z’l

November 11, 2015 by Robert J. Avrech 11 Comments

My father, Rabbi Chaplain Abraham Avrech passed away on March 15, 2014. This is the second Veteran’s Day without my father’s physical presence in this world.

He is gone, but like all veteran’s certainly not forgotten.

Take a moment to ponder the enormous sacrifices made by our nation’s heroes and their families.

Millions and millions of people all over the world are forever in their debt.

Keep in mind that the U.S.military has freed more people on this earth from tyranny and evil than any other force. Certainly, American servicemen have done more for the cause of freedom and democracy than any so-called peace movement.

Whenever I see the brain-dead bumper sticker, “War is not the Answer,” I cringe, for war is frequently the only answer, the only moral response to evil.

Because if the forces of good do not defeat evil, evil prevails.

Friday Photos: Trompe L’oeil Nation

March 13, 2015 by Robert J. Avrech 13 Comments

John Haberle, “Leave Your Order Here” oil on canvas, 1895. John Haberle (1856–1933) was a 19th-century American painter in the trompe l'oeil (literally, "fool the eye") style. He is considered one of the three major figures—together with William Harnett and John F. Peto—practicing this form of still life painting in the United States in the last quarter of the 19th century. — John Haberle, “Leave Your Order Here” oil on canvas, 1895. John Haberle (1856–1933) was a 19th-century American artist best known for his trompe l’oeil paintings. He is considered one of the three major figures—together with William Harnett and John F. Peto—practicing this form of still life painting in 19th century America.

The idea is to fool the eye, to convince the viewer that the object exists in three dimensions. But of course, the surface is flat. It is a masterful illusion.

So it is with Barack Obama and the postmodern Democrat party, who wage a ceaseless campaign of political trompe l’oeil. The Constitution, the separation of powers, America’s national borders, the very meaning of citizenship, all are being rendered illusions in order to better serve the totalitarian ideology that is at the heart of the Democrat party.

From the very beginning of his run for the Presidency, Obama spun a spiderweb of illusions, sure in the knowledge that the color of his skin was impenetrable armor against criticism. When Obama’s spiritual mentor Jeremiah Wright was unmasked as an American and Jew-hating bigot, Obama claimed that in 20 years he never — not once — heard any of Wright’s hateful sermons.

Only the willfully gullible would believe Obama’s shameless denial.

The list of Obama’s lies is as long as the mountain of gibberish that is Obamacare. And as Jonathan Gruber smirked, that law was designed to fool a foolish people.

Obama’s greatest work of trompe l’oeil is on behalf of radical Islam. Obama thanked “Muslim Americans for their many achievements and contributions to building the very fabric of our nation and strengthening the core of our democracy.”

Even for Obama, this is an incandescent fantasy, a rewriting of American history that is half lies and the other half untrue.

And now that Benjamin Netanyahu has alerted the American people to Obama’s unAmerican appeasement to Tehran, Obama is going to bypass Congress — the voice of the American people — in favor of a dubious U.N. ratification.

On that grim note let’s tale a look at our latest collection of stills that will, hopefully, brighten our mood.

Rabbi Chaplain Abraham Avrech, First Yahrzeit

March 4, 2015 by Robert J. Avrech 11 Comments

My father, Rabbi Chaplain Abraham Avrech passed away on March 15, 2014, which in the Jewish calendar translates into the 13th of Adar. Thus, this is the first Yahrzeit, memorial, without my father’s physical presence in this world. My father was 94 years old.

He is gone, but he is certainly not forgotten.

During Prime Minister’s Netanyahu’s historic address to Congress yesterday, I pondered the astonishing trajectory of my father’s life. Born in a tiny impoverished Polish town, my father and his family emigrated to the Goldeneh Medinah, the Golden Country, where they found the liberty to live as Jews and Americans.

My father reveled in Americanism, even as he lived the life of a Torah Jew, and a religious Zionist.

Like most New York Jews, my father was a lever-pulling Democrat for most of his life. But in his later years, he realized that the Democrat party had changed into something all too recognizable: a crypto-socialist organism.

My father was appalled by Obama and could not quite believe that America elected such a man to its highest office.

As we head into Purim, the holiday in which Jews remember an ancient Persian regime that sought to annihilate the Jewish people, I will read Megillat Esther and proudly remember my father: a pious Jew and a proud American.