Is Height Important?

Is Height Important? People seem to think so. So much money is spent by so many trying to look taller. Does the Torah have anything to say about the subject?

In 1 Samuel Chapter 9 we are told of how Saul became king:

1 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor. 2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, young and goodly, and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

No doubt that Saul performed good deeds and had an exceptional personality. The verse lists his good traits, among them that "from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people". He stood head and shoulders above everybody else! It is clear from the above passage that his above average height was one of the things that made him worthy to be king. He was made to be a warrior and a leader.

I think that it is a universal human trait that we associate height with authority. As children we grow up seeing all of our authority figures (parents, teachers etc.) as being taller than us. We apparently carry this trait well into adulthood. There are even those that say that it is a major factor in how Americans choose their president, that is to say that the taller candidate has a much better chance of winning.

One the other hand, some of Israel's Prime Ministers were exceptionally short: David Ben Gurion and Yitzchak Shamir being examples.

This is perhaps one of the difficulties of adolescence, going through the proverbial "growth spurt". All of a sudden the youngster may find himself taller than his mother, father, and teachers. It is weird "looking down" at these authority figures. Could this sudden feeling of being "big" be one of the causes of adolescent rebellion?

Obviously height is not everything. For King Saul, his exceptional height was not enough. Certain flaws in his character proved him unworthy to lead the nation of Israel.

13 And Samuel said to Saul: 'Thou hast done foolishly; thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which He commanded thee; for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. 14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue; the LORD hath sought him a man after His own heart, and the LORD hath appointed him to be prince over His people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.'

Saul's stint as king was not successfully. When the time comes to anoint a replacement it is interesting to note what God tells Samuel:

7 But the LORD said unto Samuel: 'Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him; for it is not as man seeth: for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.'

Don't pay attention to his outward appearance! While it doesn't hurt to be tall, height is not what is going to make a leader or break him. What do you really need to be a leader? King David tells the following to his son Solomon:

1 Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying: 2 'I go the way of all the earth; be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man; 3 and keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to that which is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself; 4 that the LORD may establish His word which He spoke concerning me, saying: If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee, said He, a man on the throne of Israel.

David is telling his son Solomon what Solomon would later write: "...a God fearing woman shall be praised". That's the main thing. With regards to being tall, it is like chicken soup: it may not help but it couldn't hurt.

In Honor of Rav Shach zt"l

Here you can see a young Rav Shach at 0:50:

Haveil Havalim #288

This week's edition is being hosted by Isramom. Gib a kik!

Interesting Quote

Interesting:

"Any intelligent, well-educated person could be taught how to write a newspaper article. The Journalism Departments don't teach the necessary history, geography etc for their graduates to understand what's happening in the world."

Rabinfest 2010 II

This is well worth reading. I'll post a snippet:

Public opinion polls commissioned before the assassination predicted a Netanyahu victory over Rabin in the 1996 elections, an indication that the public started to understand that the “victims of peace” are not leading to peace, and that there is no connection between Oslo and peace; the predictable Oslo war only proved the righteousness of those who sounded the alarm starting in 1993.


Against this backdrop, it is easy to understand the ongoing decline in the number of participants in events held to mark a non-existent legacy. Rabin was not a man of letters and did not leave a moral mark. The “Rabin Legacy” slogan was invented in retrospect by “men of letters” and PR experts, in order to appropriate the man’s name and tragic death for the purpose of promoting his erroneous way.


The media continue to be enlisted to the cause of the Oslo march of folly, and continue to disparage and reprimand anyone who questions the false “legacy.”

The Metamorphosis Has Begun

The old look is gone:

Pray for RivkA

I met RivkA at the jblogging convention a couple of years ago. She really needs our prayers.

A New/Old Jewish Superhero

Kikar Shabbat reports that "The Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea" has found and original way of passing on Rabbi Meir Kahane's legacy on to the young generation. They are putting out a comic book describing Kahane's life called "Rabbi Meir Ba'al HaNess". You can see some pages from the book at Kikar Shabbat.

In the meantime I saw an advertisement in BeSheva for this year's Kahane memorial. It will be taking place on the 18th of Marcheshvan (26th of October) at 6:00 PM in the Ramada Renaissance Hotel (6 Wolfson St.) in Jerusalem. The comic book will be on sale there (price: 50 NIS). I want to pick up a copy for my youngest son.

Hope to see you there!

Changes Coming at Cosmic X

The impending demise of Bloglines is forcing me to do something that I should have done a long time ago: to revamp and upgrade the appearance of this blog. The blog looks more or less the same way it did five years ago. In the meantime the web has changed, and it is about time that the blog changed with it. Please bear with me as I go through the metamorphosis!

הפטרה לחג פסטיבל רבין

מהערה 12:


והייתם מסיתים חודש ימים לפני רבין אלוהיכם. שלוש פעמים יראה כל השמאלן בישראל, בכיכר אשר אבחר, בחג הרבין,בחג הרבין ובחג הרבין. לא יראו את פני ריקם כי אם בדברי שטנה נגד הימין אשר נתתי בפיהם יראו את פני.

והקהלתם את בתי ספריכם ואת גדודי צבאכם ביום השנים עשר והלבשתם בגדי לבן, ושרתם שירים נוגים לאלוהיכם. ובחצות היום עגילים חפשו לכם, זכר למציאת אשת האלוהים לאה, על גדודיה ועל צבאותיה.

וברביעי לחודש עצרת תעשו לכם, כל מלאכה לא תעשו. ועשיתם עצרת גם בצאת השבת הקרובה, והקהלתם את שמאלניכם בעת ההיא בכיכר אשר אבחר. והסתתם הסתה גדולה ביום ההוא, ושתיתם ויסקי לשובע - כי גדול היום לרבין, הוא אלוהי הניקוטין אשר ברא את בלק לייבל ביום הווסד פרשת הדולרים.

בשלוותא תשבו שישה ימים, ותמוטטו את עצביכם, כי בשלוותא ישב רבין אלוהיכם בעת מלחמת ששת הימים כאשר התמוטטו עצביו. ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון מאה ועשרים מינים, ואגדתם במליאה במינם, ונשאתם נאומי תודה לרבין אלוהיכם. ושמחתם ביום רבין אלוהיכם, כי הרבין הוא הנותן לכם כוח לעשות חיל.

Rabinfest 2010: Israelis are Sick of Tired of it

As the years go by it has become clear to more and more Israelis that the Oslo Accords have worsened our security both on the long and short term. Rabin's legacy is cemeteries full of the victims of the Arab terrorists that he armed. Rabin's legacy is security guards at the entrance to shopping malls. Rabin's legacy are public schools that look more like fortresses than educational facilities.

This year Rabinfest has started out with signs that the public has had enough. Like this:

After a decade and a half in which the Israeli Left used hyped-up annual memorials to turn slain Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin into a hallowed martyr figure, a Knesset member for Rabin's Labor party says this was a mistake. On the 15th anniversary of Rabin's assassination, MK Einat Wilf has asked her party to move Rabin's oversized portrait from its central position on the Labor Knesset faction room wall, and to put back the picture of David Ben-Gurion that hung there previously.

Ben-Gurion was Israel's first prime minister and the head of Mapai, Labor's predecessor. He announced the re-establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, led the country during the War of Independence and was the dominant figure in Israeli politics for decades.

Rabin's portrait hangs between two Israeli flags behind the head of the table, behind the seat that is reserved for the party chairman.

"It is time for the Labor party to stop clinging to what could have been and to cease building up Rabin as a symbol of all the hopes that have been lost,” Wilf said in a Ma'ariv newspaper interview. “I want to place David Ben-Gurion's portrait at the head of the room as is proper for a person who represents the nation's resurgence, and not the picture of the man who symbolizes, for many, missed opportunities.”

Looking at Rabin's and Ben-Gurion's portraits, she said, made her understand what was causing Labor's public standing to slide downward since the 1995 assassination. Labor, she clarified, “identifies him with all that he could have been and did not become. Instead of identifying with a Ben-Gurion-style spirit of action, we identify with an unfulfilled future."

Israelis have also had enough of "bein hametzarim":

In order to unite the people around the Rabin memorial day nonetheless, 44% recommend marking it only according to the Hebrew date – the 12th day of Heshvan, while 10% say it should be united with the anniversary of biblical matriarch Rachel's death, which is marked the day before. Twenty-one percent, on the other hand, have no interest in a memorial day which would unite the people, and the rest (25%) did not respond.

Rachel Imenu Z"L

It's been a long time since I've been to Rachel's Tomb. Here's a nice film:

Haveil Havalim #287 - the "There's a First Time for Everybody" Edition

Welcome to Haveil Havalim. This week's edition is the 287th which I nicknamed "There's a First Time for Everybody Edition". This blog has been around for almost six years, and I'm a little bit embarrassed to say that this is the first time that I'm hosting "Haveil Havalim". I guess I was concerned that it would be a lot of work, consuming time that I really have a shortage of. It turns out that it was not such a big deal. Really.

I almost forgot customary preamble:

Founded by Soccer Dad, one of the founding fathers of the jblogosphere, Haveil Havalim is a carnival of Jewish blogs - a weekly collection of Jewish and Israeli blog highlights collected from blogs all around the world. It's hosted by different bloggers each week. It is now managed by Jack, who will be ecstatic if you'll agree to host the carnival on your blog.

Enough of the official mumbo jumbo. Let's get going!

Batya from the Biblical town of Shilo gives us a chance to win a free cookbook. But what happens to all of the delicious food that you prepared when there is a power outage just before Shabbat? Getting drunk will not help!

Miryummy also combines a power outage, Noah, and a tasty recipe.

Cosmic X (that's me) has a series of posts about the book, "Torat HaMelech". He also blogged about Rechavam Ze'evi and Jonathan Pollard.

Joel Katz deals with issues of religion and state here and here.

The Velveteen Rabbi takes us to second international mikveh conference.

The Jew in the City gives us a reason to be optimistic . She also asks, "Why do Orthodox Jews have so many children?" It has nothing to do with the proverbial "hole in the sheet" (or does it?).

Ingathered, prompted by the remarks of a certain ex-President of the U.S.A., asks, Are 'Russian' Israelis an Obstacle to 'Peace'?

A Simple Jew, back after a long hiatus, learns self-sacrifice from a motorcycle enthusiast.

Israelity presents Hebrew U. lip-dub and teaches us the benefit of clapping your hands.

The Independent Patriot opines about Political Correctness, Cultural Relativism and the Need to Repair the World.

Our Shiputzim teaches us about the Heblish language .

Isramom blogs about Orthodox Jewish feminism in Reaching for the Stars or Slippery Slope? She also tells a nosy Hasid to "Stay OUT of my hair!" .

Leah Aharoni asks Do Israelis speak Hebrew? Check out her scholarly post to see the answer!

Mordechai Torczyner is looking for a Jewish singer that sings with authentic passion. There was one thing I did not understand about his post: Who in the world is Eminem?

Ricki's Mom learns an interesting lesson from the rescue of the miners in Chile.

Daniel Ben Shmuel presents Mamlachti Delusions: What The Grasshopper Saw (audio) .

Frume Sarah weeps By the Waters .

Minnesota Mamaleh blogs about teaching our children to ask for help? .

Ima on (and off) the Bima has a Shalom Sesame {Review & Giveaway} .

Tzvi Fishman can't figure out why Jews are not coming to Israel. Try to guess which of the talkbackers to his post are actually creations of the former Hollywood screenwriter.

Rafi, along with the rest of us, celebrates the assassination of terrorists.

Joe Settler at the Muqata talks about Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.

Yaak teaches us how to spell Ahmedinejad in Yiddish.

Speaking of Ahmadinejad, Eliyahu tells us that some Lebanese do not like him.

SnoopyTheGoon has a pic of Mahmoud the Mad and says "Thanks, Adrian..." to another "lover" of the State of Israel and the Jewish People.

Soccer Dad takes a look at real Islamophobia.

Aussie Dave reminds us that Rupert Murdoch is our friend.

Thank you to those of you that submitted posts. I hope that you all enjoyed this edition. To sum things up:



That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Haveil Havalim using the carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on the
blog carnival index page.

HH #287 - Submit Your Posts!

Time is running out!

Please send your posts for the next edition of the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival via the Blog Carnival Submission Form.

Yosef Karduner Singing Shir LaMa'alot

I saw this on Rafi's blog and liked it so much that I'm posting it here. Enjoy!!!

Haveil Havalim #287 is on the Way!!!!

The tension is killing me!

Please send your posts for the next edition of the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival via the Blog Carnival Submission Form.

It's Been Nine Years Since the Assassination of Rechavam Ze'evi

From the Knesset web site:

Minister of Tourism and Member of Knesset, Major General (Reserves) Rechavam Ze'evi, one of the leaders of the Israeli Right and advocate of Greater Israel, was murdered by three Palestinan assassins from the Popular Front, on the 30th of Tishrei 5762 - October 17, 2001.

Rechavam Ze'evi - who was popularly known by his nickname "Gandhi" - was born in Jerusalem, went to the regional school at Giav'at Hashlosha, and was a member of the "Mahanot Ha'olim" youth movement. He joined the Palmah in 1944. During the War of Independence he was an Intelligence Officer of the Yiftah Brigade, and later on served as an Operations Officer in the Northern front, as Intelligence Officer in the Southern Command and as a Brigade Commander in Golani. In 1964 he was promoted to the rank of Major General. In 1968 he was appointed Commander of Central Command. He retired from the IDF in 1973, a week before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War. After the war he served for a short time as Commander of the Operations Branch of the IDF.

Read the rest.

New Hope For Pollard?

Just saw this:

A former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration wrote U.S. President Barack Obama that Jonathan Pollard’s punishment was too harsh.

The letter, written two weeks ago and revealed on IDF Radio Tuesday morning, gives new hope for a committee that has been working for years to convince the Israeli government to pressure the United States to free Pollard.

A U.S. court sentenced him to life imprisonment for passing on classified information to Israel from the Pentagon, where he worked. The offense usually carries a punishment of two to four years in jail, a point made by former Assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense Lawrence J. Korb in his letter.

"Despite Pollard's admission of guilt, cooperation with authorities, [and the fact that he] asked for a plea bargain, he received a disproportional punishment," Korb wrote.

Let's hope that we will see Jonathan Pollard free soon!

Haveil Havalim #287 Coming Soon!

I'm hosting it!

Please send your posts for the next edition of the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival via the Blog Carnival Submission Form.

Torat HaMelech - Part 4

Methinks the Israeli Police has got its priorities all wrong. Jews are barely escaping being lynched in Jerusalem, and the police are dedicating valuable manpower to confiscate copies of Torat HaMelech from the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva:



Hat tip: Jameel

Torat HaMelech - Part 3

Rabbi Shapira, one of the authors of the book, has his say:

Torat HaMelech - Part 2

In order to understand the book Torat HaMelech, one must understand that the Torah requires different things from Jews and the rest of mankind.

Mankind is required to keep the 7 Noahide Laws. These laws include:

1) Do not murder.
2) Do not steal.
3) Do not worship false gods.
4) Do not be sexually immoral.
5) Do not eat a limb removed from a live animal.
6) Do not curse God.
7) Set up courts and bring offenders to justice.

These are all capital offenses!

Jews are required to keep 613 commandments (I'm not going to list them here). The ten commandments are included in the 613.

One must understand that we have two different sets of laws for two different groups: If a Jews eats pork chops, the penalty is 39 lashes. A gentile is allowed to eat pork chops, and lots of other things that are forbidden to Jews. A Jew that lights a fire on the Sabbath has committed a capital offense. There is no such prohibition for gentiles.

So if the authors of Torat HaMelech write that "Thou shalt not murder" does not apply to non-Jews, they are correct. Indeed from an objective reading of Exodus chapters 19 and 20 it is clear that the ten commandments were given to the Jewish People.

Does this mean that the Torah permits Jews to murder gentiles? The authors of Torat Melech make it clear, over and over again, that the Torah forbids murdering gentiles. This is learned from the rule that "There is nothing that is forbidden for gentiles that is permitted for Jews"(Sanhedrin 59A).

However, when a war is being waged the rules are different. FDR, Harry Truman, and LBJ would all clearly understand this.

Of course, all this does not prevent the distorters from distorting.

I can only endorse what Rabbi Yoel Schwartz and Rabbi Yeshayahu haCohen Hollander said regarding them:

If not for the newspaper Haaretz, which published a story on the book, the religious community probably would not have heard of it. The newspaper published its contents in a partial and perverted manner, as part of its tendency of the newspaper and its owners and members of its system to slander the rabbis of the settlements, residents of the settlements, all of mitzvah observant Judaism, and all the principles of Judaism. They are prepared, as part of their war on the religion of Israel, to slander, by means of partial quotes, their Jewish brethren, in spite of them knowing, as journalists, that they were quoted amidst further falsification, and in a manner which causes anti-Semitism, and hatred of Israel, and even though they are endangering the peace of all the Jews in the Diaspora.

HH #286

This week's version of the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival can be found here.

Next week, believe it or not, yours truly is going to be hosting Haveil Havalim.

Please send your posts for the next edition of the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival via the Blog Carnival Submission Form. If you're interested in hosting or receiving more information about the carnival, please contact Jack at talktojacknow-at-sbcglobal-dot-net . He'll be very happy.

10/10/10!!!

So what?

Gilad Shalit Video

I saw this at The Muqata. Definitely worth watching:

Torat HaMelech

Take it from Cosmic X and his half century of life experience: If you see people reacting to a particular book in a totally irrational way, chances are that the book contains truth that is painful to them. Lacking the option of debating the contents of the book and proving the author wrong, the only weapons left for such creatures are slander, intentional distortions, ad hominem arguments and the like. In certain countries police harassment and judicial terrorism are also part of their arsenal.

I first saw the book "Torat HaMelech" when I went to the rally to support the soldiers that waved the banner proclaiming that they refuse to evacuate settlements.

I did not buy the book back then. I came to the rally to support the soldiers and not to buy books. What's more, the subject of the book was not on the top of Torah topics that I felt that I had to know.



However, the media circus surrounding the book including the utterances of certain media savvy rabbis, plus the police summoning the rabbis that gave approbations for the book for questioning, all these piqued my interest. The utter irrationality of it all told me that there must be some painful truth in "Torat HaMelech" that certain people want to suppress. I decided to buy a copy.

I still have a long way to go before finishing the book. So far it has proved informative and interesting. The multitude of sources cited by the authors is a sign of the long hours of research that went into preparing the book. Perhaps I will write a complete review when I am finished.

Hakafot Shniyot - Machon Meir

Some pics from the Hakafot Shniyot at Machon Meir. R' Chaim David Serchik and his band got everybody dancing:

The Ultimate Shelter

Click here.

Is the Washington Post Guilty of Publishing Anti-Israel Propaganda?

"Honest Reporting" has published with an in depth study as well as this podcast:

Baba Sali's Tomb

9 Tishrei 5771

I was in Netivot the other day and went to the tomb of the tzaddik. Some pics:









Gmar Chatima Tova!

Dealing With Israeli Bureaucracy

29th Elul 5770

A few days ago my wife received a slip from the post office informing her that she had received a package and that she can pick it up at the local branch. So, being the good husband that I am, I went to the post office to pick up the package for my wife. I took a number upon entering the post office and patiently waited for it to be called by the computerized line managing system.

After waiting for about ten minutes, my number was finally called: "Number 854 at window number 3". I went to window number 3 and handed the postal notice to the lady clerk behind the counter. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Mr. X. The package is for my wife."

"Did you bring your wife's ID card?" the clerk inquired. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my wife's ID card with me.

"No I did not", I replied.

"Then you can't receive the package", responded the clerk curtly.

The stern expression on her face made it clear that there was no use in requesting a dispensation. A person with less experience would have went home and come back another day with his wife's ID card. Others would have started a loud and embarrassing argument with the clerk that would leave them with nothing but a sore throat. However, I knew better: I went and took another number, with the hope that the computer would send me to a different clerk.

After waiting a couple of minutes the computer announced: "Number 861 at window number 5".

I handed the postal notice to the clerk at window 5. After checking my ID card, she was more than happy to bring the package to the harmless looking bearded man (that's me) without asking any further questions.

The moral of the story is that there are some clerks that are very strict and do everything by the book. Others are more flexible.

Two Hours To Go Until Selichot

26th Elul 5770

Selichot start tonight!

It's time to link to one of my favorite posts, original posted here and later on at Beyond BT.

Israeli "Artists" on the Dole

The artists that refused to appear in Ariel made a lot of noise. In the end, I think that they and their colleagues will probably regret this refusal, a cheap imitation of ignorant artists from abroad that refuse to appear in Israel at all.

What's more, the commotion caused by these artists brought to light a fact that is rarely brought to the attention of the public, a fact that they would probably prefer remained concealed deep in the books of the Israeli Government's budget: these people are on the dole.

According to the paper "Yisrael Hayom", the various theaters in Israel are supported by the state to the tune of 88 million shekels per year. The "HaBima" theater receives 25 million, the "Kameri" was given 11 million, 8.8 million goes to "Beit Lisin", 6.6 million shekels is allocated to the "Gesher" theater, 5.5 to the Be'er Sheva theater, another 5.5 million to the "Khan" theater in Jerusalem, 3.3 million to the Haifa Municipal theater. The remainder is given to various small theaters.

Why in the world does the government have to subsidize theaters? Did the American government have to fund Oscar Hammerstein? Did George and Ira Gershwin receive subsidies? It is especially hard to ignore the above questions when one looks at the great contribution that Jews have made to the American entertainment industry, in contrast to the dismal output of the Israeli theater.

To date the Israeli theater has not produced anything of note. Where is the Israeli musical that was so appealing that it was performed all over the world in different languages, an Israeli "Fiddler on the Roof"? Unfortunately it has yet to be written. What's worse, often the plays and musicals produced in the Promised Land are post-Zionist, anti-Torah tirades that appeal to a very small percentage of the public. I am willing to wager that if the theaters had to survive solely on the basis of ticket sales, the quality of what they offered the public would improve greatly.

The subsidization of Israel's theaters is an anachronism that is not only harmful to the tax paying public: it prevents any real creativity by the artists themselves. Unfortunately, chances are that the Israeli public will continue to payroll the often exorbitant lifestyles of these actors, directors, playwrights etc. These "artists" on the dole will lack any incentive to produce anything original or appealing. Instead, they will continue to preach their puny politics to people of their own ilk at the expense of the Israeli taxpayer.

I think it is fitting to finish this post with Rabbi Nechuniah Ben HaKana's prayer (Brachot 28B):

מודה אני לפניך ה' אלהי ששמת חלקי מיושבי בית המדרש ולא שמת חלקי מיושבי קרנות שאני משכים והם משכימים אני משכים לדברי תורה והם משכימים לדברים בטלים אני עמל והם עמלים אני עמל ומקבל שכר והם עמלים ואינם מקבלים שכר אני רץ והם רצים אני רץ לחיי העולם הבא והם רצים לבאר שחת

We Simply The Best

I was in Haifa recently and I bought the wife and kids some pizza:



This "All American Pizza" was actually quite delicious. The guy that designed the box was obviously not "All American". It should say, "We Are Simply The Best". In Hebrew, the form of be in present tense is very rarely used. That's probably the reason that it was left out here. This is a common error among native Hebrew speakers wishing to communicate in English.

Teshuvah in the News

Click on the image:

Jpix!!!

Toby from the rolling hills of Judea rolls out a great edition of jpix!!!

It's Already the Tenth of Elul!!!

10 Elul 5770

Will the month go by without any serious Teshuvah?





Here's a link to some posts on Elul. Some of them IMHO are even worth reading!!!: [click]

The Best Article About the "Disengagement" Ever

Moshe Dann tells it like it was and is:

The expulsion of 10,000 Jews from their homes five years ago was not a localized event in the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria. It was a national implosion, a national disgrace. It caused enormous physical, psychological, social, cultural, military and strategic damage to the entire nation – and it still does. Like an ecological disaster, its foulness still seeps through our foundations, and continues to poison us.

Undermined by enforcing a political agenda, the entire political system, the media and judicial institutions refused to act responsibly. Basic civil and human rights of Jews were abandoned. Those responsible for welfare and proper compensation misled and lied; led by Sela, the Disengagement Authority, our country was in denial. Our own political and many spiritual leaders – those for whom we voted, in whom we trusted – failed to organize and prevent this catastrophe. Ministers who disagreed were fired; public debate was suppressed.

Read the rest!

Jerusalem Calatrava Bridge Update

It's been a long time since I put up pics depicting the bridge's progress. You can see that the train tracks are ready:


There's an ongoing war with the "graffiti artists". White paint covers up somebody's thoughts:



This piece of graffiti has not been as yet painted over. Did somebody have a Bar Mitzvah? Is this in honor of the shayetet?



The view from the other side of the bridge. All that's missing are the trains:

Third of Elul - Yahrzeit of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook

Today I was at an memorial for the 75th anniversary of Rabbi Kook's passing away. It was held in in the recently reopened Hurva synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City. Rabbi Yaakov Shapira, the dean of Merkaz HaRav spoke first:



Later on, Rabbi She'ar Yashuv Kohen, the Chief Rabbi of Haifa, spoke:



Here's a picture of the synagogue taken from the entrance. Notice that what was left of the synagogue's eastern wall was included in the new building. Speaking from the pulpit is Rabbi Yehoshua Magnes:



And now, lehavdil, is Zionist leader Menachem Usishkin's elegy for Rav Kook, as brought to us by Rabbi Chanan Morrison:

Today, Usishkin announced, the Jewish people is cloaked in deep mourning. One of the preeminent scholars of our generation has departed.

But I will not speak about his greatness in Torah. The speaker after me [Rabbi Meir Berlin] will speak of this. I will speak, not of the Gaon [brilliant scholar] Kook, but of the man, Rabbi Kook....

The first time I heard his name was from that unique individual of our generation, Chaim Bialik. After Bialik's first visit in Eretz Yisrael, he gave me a report of everything he saw. But his greatest enthusiasm was about a Jew whom he had met, then rabbi of a small community in Jaffa. He told me wonders about this man's wisdom, his Torah and breadth of knowledge, and his tremendous expertise. Not only in Torah, but also in all the latest philosophies. And over all of this, Bialik added, hovers a personality of giant stature in its depth, love and dedication, and in its way of relating to the new phenomena in the world.

When I made my second trip to Eretz Yisrael, I knew of course that I must meet this man whose fame precedes him. I then recognized that Bialik's words were true. [Rav Kook] was flowing with ideas - brilliant, sparkling ideas in all aspects of life. When one spoke with him - or more precisely, when he spoke, for it was impossible to have a conversation with him, he would always fill the conversation, while others would listen and absorb - one would gain from him such a wealth of ideas and views, that sometimes one had to struggle to fully grasp their depth. One could not help but be enthralled with the brilliance of his ideas and the beauty of his imagery. After conversing with him, one always left the room with some new view, some new concept, some new insight, whether or not one agreed with him.

Even though his views on life, especially regarding our [national] life in Israel, were original and dazzling, he remained with both feet firmly entrenched in our ancient traditions. He did not move a hair's breadth from the tenets of our fathers and our ancestors. Yet he possessed a radically different approach on how to bring understanding of this tradition to the new and renewed world that confronts us.

First of all, there must be a soul-connection between the previous generation and the new generation. His admiration for youth in general, and particularly the youth living in Eretz Yisrael - youth who are thousands of miles away from his own worldview - this was a father's understanding of his son, a father who wishes to instruct his son and draw him close with insight and love.

Many of you have heard his remarkable reply to a prominent rabbi - a rabbi who criticized him for his cordial relationship with the anti-religious youth. 'How can you join forces with these people in common causes?'

And the Rav responded:
As you know, the Holy Temple had [separate] courtyards for kohanim and for Levites and for regular Israelites and for women. And there was one place called Kodesh HaKodashim, the Holy of Holies, which only the High Priest was allowed to enter once a year, on the holiest day of the year.

All this was true when the Temple was standing. Then there were separate areas for each sector of the nation, and each person knew where he was permitted and where he was forbidden to enter.

However, what do you think it was like when they were building the Temple? Then there were certainly no barriers. The workers went to any place that required their skills. Even into the Holy of Holies. [See Me'ilah 14a: 'They build with the mundane and sanctify it afterward.']

Nowadays, the Rav concluded, we are building the Third Temple. We are in the period of building. There are no - and there must not be any - barriers between the young generation and us, between the religious and the secular. We are all busy with one project; we all work toward one goal. First, let us build the Temple. Afterward we may speak...

This was his philosophy, from the first day that he arrived in the country, until his final day.

Did You Ever See an Avocado Tree?

Here in Israel, people eat a lot of avocado. I was in a Moshav near Nahariya, where I saw this and couldn't resist photographing it:



A little bit about the avocado from Wikipedia:

The avocado (Persea americana) is a tree native to the Caribbean, Mexico,[1] South America and Central America, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel. The name "avocado" also refers to the fruit (technically a large berry that contains a large seed) of the tree, which may be egg-shaped or spherical.

Avocados are a commercially valuable fruit and are cultivated in tropical climates throughout the world (and some temperate ones, such as California), producing a green-skinned, pear-shaped fruit that ripens after harvesting. Trees are partially self-pollinating and often are propagated through grafting to maintain a predictable quality and quantity of the fruit. Avocados are perennial.

Danny is Dead

by Cosmic X

Did you hear the news?
Danny is dead,
Tell the Jews,
He was sick in the head.

That's right my friend,
He went out of his mind,
Put his life to an end,
To get out of the bind.

It's such a shame,
Because he loved life,
But no one's to blame,
You can ask his wife.

Search the law,
Rant and rave,
Hem and haw,
Where to dig his grave.

Wrap him in white,
Lower him down,
Before the fall of night,
Cover him with ground.

He's on his way,
To Olam HaBa,
Yitgadal VeYitkadash,
Shmei Rabba.

Spend wisely your wealth,
Watch your behind,
Guard well your health,
And don't lose your mind.

Lecturer That Exposed the Nefarious "New Israel Fund" Gets Fired By Hebrew U.

Arutz 7 reports:

Hebrew University lecturer Dr. Ran Baratz, a highly respected and very popular lecturer in the university's Department of Philosophy, was recently informed that he would not be employed at the institution in the next academic year. 150 students from all parts of the political spectrum have signed a petition calling on the university to reconsider its decision and keep Baratz on its staff, and 50 of them sent letters to the same effect.

The Knesset's Education Committee will convene a special session to discuss the Baratz affair. Committee Chairman MK Zevulun Orlev (Jewish Home) said that the university's decision was “strange” and said that a “dark cloud” hangs over the university.

Many of Dr. Baratz's supporters claim that the university's decision is motivated by the leftist establishment's desire for revenge against Baratz, who is a research fellow at the conservative Shalem Institute and co-authored a 2003 report on the New Israel Fund. The report served as the basis for Zionist student group Im Tirtzu's report on the Fund, which has created international uproar.

Baratz also contributed to a more recent Im Tirtzu report concerning the silencing of Zionist opinions by leftist academics. He teaches at the Jewish Statesmanship Center for Strategic Planning, and regularly writes in daily Yisrael HaYom, and in the internet magazine Maraah, which describes itself as “politically incorrect.”

Interestingly, however, a Facebook group formed in support of Baratz was created by Yoni Buchsbaum, a student who is described by lecturers as a Communist. In his comments he made on the group's homepage, Buchsbaum confirmed that he belongs to the political left and explained that the issue at hand is not political, but relates to the quality of instruction in the university.

The Department of Philosophy denied there were any political considerations behind the decision to discontinue Baratz's employment. It said that the university had issued a tender for a permanent position on the Department's staff and that based on purely academic criteria, three different committees preferred another candidate over Baratz.

A co-author of the report on the NIF, Dr. Moshe Ifargan, appeared on Channel 1 television Wednesday and said that even if another candidate was more suited for the permanent post, the university could have kept Baratz on its staff in his present status as a teaching fellow. Baratz's doctoral thesis was cited for “special excellence,” he noted, and the fact that so many students had come out in support of Baratz was testimony to his talent as a lecturer.

Ifargan said that a senior professor had told him that another excellent lecturer was denied a post in the Department of Philosophy last year only because he resided in a community within Judea and Samaria.

"Disengagement" Soldiers Repenting

The Besheva magazine has published some interesting stories lately. Last week, the story was about a secular soldier that took part in the disengagement even though she did not want to. She regrets what she did and is now religious. This week, the story is about a secular soldier that refused to take part in the disengagement. She also became religious and now lives "over the green line".

BTW, the articles are in Hebrew.

The "New Israel Fund Desert Seminar from Hell"

More on the nefarious New Israel Fund:

A new chapter in the New Israel Fund controversy was written this week, as a left-of-center activist related her harrowing experience in an NIF seminar that brought her to tears. The NIF, which purports to be a pro-Israel fund, has been fire since a damning report published in February by a Zionist student group exposed its aid to groups that slandered the IDF following the 'Cast Lead' Gaza counter-terror operation.

The letter from the activist to NIF CEO Daniel Sokatch was first published in Hebrew by journalist Ben-Dror Yemini in his blog on the Maariv-NRG website, and later translated into English.

The activist, who identified herself by the pseudonym Shlomit, told a story that appeared to corroborate Im Tirtzu's depiction of the NIF as a sinister radical group that hides behind a facade of pro-Israel Zionist morality.

Shlomit, 36 and a mother of three, described herself as “religious left-wing” and said she voted for dovish-religious Meimad in the last elections. A former spokesperson for an organization promoting women’s rights, she is currently employed in an organization that helps the disabled.

She described herself as “very connected” to Shatil, an organization that operates under the auspices of the New Israel Fund, mentoring NIF-supported groups and helping them apply for funding from other sources. “Within my professional framework, I have always been aided and assisted by the services of 'Shatil' from the outset,” she explained.

“The report of the 'Im Tirzu' movement created somewhat of a shockwave amongst me and my colleagues,” Shlomit elaborated. “On the one hand, we thought that if there was an element of truth in it then the Fund should do some soul-searching and we assumed they would. However, we were not prepared to cast aspersions on our loyalty to the Fund and to Shatil.”

She was offered a scholarship for “a week in the desert along with fellow activists, with professional guidance from America,” and saw it as “an opportunity for empowerment and growth.”

Other participants hailed from Amnesty International, Sikkuy (The Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality in Israel), AJEEC (Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation), Neve Shalom, Itach (Women Lawyers for Social Justice), Moussawa (Advocacy for Arab Citizens in Israel) and additional groups.

Feeling “so elated and grateful that they were willing to invest in me in such a way,” she accepted.

"That turned out to be a mistake,” she wrote Sokatch.

“It has now been two weeks since the program ended and I am still struggling to get back into routine both at home and at work. The level of the shake-up I experienced was so powerful that it led me to write this letter especially to you. I found myself in the desert under laboratory conditions, cut off from the world, cut off from Internet, with Palestinian and Jewish human rights activists who negated the State of Israel's existence. With people who want to annihilate the State without ruling out violent means, who believe that the State of Israel was born out of sin and who apologize for its existence, who loathe Israel and its symbols, who justify harming Israel, its soldiers and all its institutions, who devote their lives and efforts towards turning Israel into a bi or multi-national country. In fact the above is inaccurate. These people are fighting for one nationality alone – Palestinian. These same people oppose communal or civil national service for Arabs within the State. They also equate Israel's actions with those of Nazi Germany.”

Read the rest!

Obama Doesn't Fool Us

Jpost reports that "Israelis not swayed by Obama":

US President Barack Obama’s efforts to reach out to the people of Israel last week – when he hosted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for a positive meeting at the White House and gave his first interview as president to an Israeli television station – were not very successful, according to a Smith Research poll for The Jerusalem Post.

After Obama’s earlier meetings with Netanyahu were portrayed as adversarial, Obama made a point of treating the prime minister with the utmost respect last week, accompanying him to his car and constantly commending him in particular and Israelis in general during his press conference with Netanyahu on Tuesday, and his interview with Channel 2 anchor Yonit Levy two days later.

But what was widely described as a “charm offensive” did not immediately sway many Israelis in his favor, the JPost/Smith poll indicates. There was only a 1 percentage point rise in Israelis who consider the US administration headed by Obama to be more pro-Israel than pro-Palestinian since the last such poll was taken in March.

When asked whether they saw Obama’s administration as more pro-Israel, more pro- Palestinian or neutral, just 10 percent of Israeli Jews said more pro-Israel, 46% said more pro-Palestinian, 34% said neutral and 10% did not express an opinion.

The poll of 515 Jewish Israelis, representing a statistical sample of the adult Jewish population, was taken on Monday through Wednesday and had a 4.4 percentage point margin of error.

No Mr. B.O., it has nothing to do with your middle name. It has everything to do with your dismal "Cairo Speech", with your moral equivalency, with your courting the despots.

I hope that America gets rid of you real soon!

Mourning Rav Eliyahu

The memory of the Rav, his Torah, good deeds, and piety, will last long after the mourning notices wither and fade away.

Rav Mordechai Eliyahu zt"l

Last night myriads of mourners packed Reines Street in Kiryat Moshe/Givat Shaul. Some of them were fortunate to be right in front of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu's synagogue. They were able to see those delivering the eulogies. I was not among them. I showed up early for the funeral, but not early enough. Reines Street was already packed with a diverse group of people that came to pay their last respects to one of the greatest rabbis of our generation.

Like I said, it was a diverse group: National religious, "Lithuanians", Hasidim, Sephardim, traditional and even secular Jews were there. The Rabbi was a not only a great Torah scholar of great piety and a wise man, he was also a unifying force in the nation, respected by all.

He loved the nation, and the nation loved him! He was accessible. Anyone who had a question could visit him in his office. You could also catch him on Fridays outside of the Mikvah building. People would wait for him there to ask him questions after his pre-Sabbath immersion. On Sabbath you could catch him on his way back from the synagogue. On such occasions he was surrounded by admirers anxious to ask a question or to hear whatever the rabbi was saying.

He stood on the front lines against the "disengagement". Despite his prayers, the Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip were destroyed and their inhabitants were forcefully expelled from their homes. He did his best to prevent what was a violation of Torah law, a colossal tactical and strategic mistake, a crime against the communities and their inhabitants, and a crime against the Jewish people as a whole.

Rabbi Eliayahu also made his voice heard with regards to another injustice: the continuing incarceration of Jonathan Pollard. Pollard found in Rabbi Eliyahu a spiritual leader and a source of hope.

Our neighborhood was blessed by three giants of Torah: HaRav Shaul Yisraeli zt"l, HaRav Avraham Shapira zt"l and HaRav Mordechai Eliyahu zt"l. All of them were rabbinical court judges and respected authorities of Jewish law. They are gone and they have no replacement!

Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu Passes Away

He was a great Rabbi, may his memory be a blessing:

Just as Jews around the country were preparing to gather to pray for Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, word of his death arrived.

Earlier in the afternoon, it was reported that his medical condition had severely deteriorated, and that prayers were sought.

Rabbi Eliyahu was the spiritual leader of much of the religious-Zionist sector. Hospitalized for nearly a year in Shaarei Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, his condition was downgraded today to "critical,” and not for the first time. Family members were called to his bedside, and were by his side when he passed away.

No word on funeral arrangements has yet been announced.

The sage was in poor and very painful condition for several months. Two weeks ago, tens of thousands of people gathered in three different locations to pray for Rabbi Eliyahu’s health, following a similar deterioration.

His son, Tzfat’s Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, told Arutz-7’s “Preparing for Redemption” radio program at that time, “The situation is not good. Ever since last Elul [August], the rabbi has been in the emergency room, and is undergoing terrible suffering. The very fact of his long hospitalization leads to a slow deterioration; sores open, close, open... things are going backward instead of forward.”

Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu was born in 1929 in the Old City of Jerusalem; his mother was a granddaughter of the famed Ben Ish Chai. He served as Israel’s Chief Sephardic Rabbi - the Rishon LeTzion – from 1983 until 1993, together with the late Rabbi Avraham Shapira, and the two continued for years afterwards to lead the national-religious public in matters of Jewish Law and thought. He authored several works on both.

Leftist and Muslim Terrorists Under the Guise of "Peace Activists" Attack Israeli Soldiers

What a bunch of hypocritical lowlifes!

Some links:

Navy Prepared to Face Anarchists, Met Terrorists Instead

The Day In Israel: Monday May 31st, 2010

Anti-Shalit Flotilla Updates

A brutal ambush at sea:

It appears that the error in planning the operation was the estimate that passengers were indeed political activists and members of humanitarian groups who seek a political provocation, but would not resort to brutal violence.

Commando soldier: 'It looked like the Ramallah lynch"

Ehud Barak should resign. No Israeli lives should have been risked in order to transfer the "aid" to Gaza. Those that attempted to break the blockade should have been sent directly to their final destination, namely hell.

Save Yourself from the Singles Swamp

I just saw this really great blog post by Baruch Gordon on Arutz 7. He describes something very similar to what I went through:

In 1983 when I started going out on shidduchim [blind dates pre-arranged by a matchmaker], Rabbi Shlomo Aviner of Bet El published a book called Pirkei Ahava on dating and marriage. In the first few pages, he lays down a principle that changed my attitude towards shidduchim to the point that, coincidentally or not, I married the next girl that I dated.

I myself started a couple of years later, and did not find my wife so fast. However, Rabbi Aviner's advice was very helpful to me:

Rav Aviner explains that a person must approach the shidduch with emunah [faith]! He must have faith that if G-d has made this shidduch materialize, and

1. the girl is suitable, and
2. the girl has positive traits which are congruent with his aspirations and spiritual level and
3. there is some level of attraction,

then he should believe that this is the girl that G-d has designated for him.

Read the rest of his blog for an elaboration on the subject.

Personally, it breaks my heart to see bachelors and bachelorettes that have met many suitable men/women but just lack the faith and courage to take the plunge.

Something to Think About

Here:

At this time I do not believe that I can rise to higher levels of holiness or fulfill my mitzvot bein adam l'Makom and bein adam l'chavero to my utmost ability with a computer in my house, so I'm going to try my best to do teshuva for this and make a fresh start.

Feiglin to Announce He is Leaving Likud

That's the headline from Israel National News:

Moshe Feiglin, head of the Manhigut Yehudit oppositional faction within the Likud party, has decided to leave the Likud along with his movement, Makor Rishon reported Friday.

Feiglin has called a meeting of the central activists in Manhigut Yehudit for Sunday, in which he intends to announce his decision. He will recommend that the movement seek its political home outside Likud. On the record, Feiglin would only tell Makor Rishon that “we are in a period of internal inquiries that will last about two weeks and we are involving the activists in the dilemmas.”

Feiglin joined the Likud 10 years ago, out of a conviction that the multi-party system does not really work in Israel, and that the only way to seize leadership is through the largest party, Likud. He vied twice for party leadership and failed both times. Feiglin was in the party's 20th slot for the Knesset in the last elections, but legalistic and political maneuvers by Binyamin Netanyahu forced him out of that slot and prevented his entry into the Knesset. It should be noted that Feiglin never seemed to content himself with the goal of getting elected to a Knesset seat, but was intent from the outset on becoming the party's leader.

Personally, I admire Moshe Feiglin. I never joined the Likud, however. I remember that someone brought me the application form, which said something like, "I affirm that I believe in the ideals of the Likud". I could not bring myself to sign such a crock! The Likud, ever since it took power, has consistently proven that it has no ideals!

A Wild Beast Of A Medical Doctor

Wikipedia on MK Ahmad Tibi:

Dr. Ahmad Tibi (Arabic: أحمد الطيبي‎, Hebrew: אחמד טיבי‎, sometimes spelt Ahmed Tibi, born 19 December 1958) is an Israeli politician and leader of the Arab nationalist party in Israel, Ta'al (the Arab Movement for Change). He currently serves as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset. He was elected on a joint ticket with the United Arab List to serve in Israel's parliament, the Knesset. He describes himself as Arab-Palestinian in nationality, and Israeli in citizenship.

Tibi is also a trained physician and graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Tibi lost it today:

For the first time in memory, a Knesset Member was forcibly removed from the podium: Arab MK Ahmed Tibi.

Tibi had been allotted the normal three minutes to speak about the recent trip he organized for Arab Knesset Members to Libya, at the invitation of Libyan dictator Muammar Gadaffi. The trip has been sharply criticized, and the participants are likely not to be allowed to run for Knesset, based on a law banning visits to enemy countries.

After several minutes, the acting Speaker, Likud MK Carmel Shama, asked Tibi to conclude and descend from the podium, as his allotted time had come to an end. Tibi refused, yelling at Shama, calling him names, and saying, “Get out of here.” “You’re using terrorism against me,” Tibi also accused, to which Shama replied, “The terrorism doesn’t generally come from our side.”

Finally, after about six minutes of arguing, Shama asked the Knesset ushers to come and remove Tibi forcibly. Tibi held on to the podium with both hands, refusing to be moved and saying twice, “I just want to say this last sentence." He finally gave in, muttering "you have no shame," and allowed the ushers to escort him down, from where he returned to his seat.

See more wild beasts here.

Torah Scholars on the Front Lines

Here's an interesting article (in Hebrew) about how Rabbi Shabtai Sabato saved Rabbi Chanan Porat during the Yom Kippur War.

גילוי אריות בירושלים

HH #263

Click!!!

Anat Kam Still Not in Jail

Leftist Supreme Court Judge Ayala Procaccia strikes again:

The High Court partially rejected Wednesday an appeal by the State Prosecution against the lenient arrest conditions of accused spy Anat Kam. Judge Ayala Procaccia ruled that Kam will remain under house arrest, but under slightly stricter conditions. She will have to be under supervision of her parents, sister or aunt 24 hours a day, and she will report to the local police station once a week, accompanied by one of her supervisors.

Kam is charged with stealing hundreds of top secret documents from the Central Command Headquarters and transferring them to a journalist from Haaretz. Surprisingly, however, for a case involving such severe charges, she has not been jailed for the duration of the proceedings against her. Instead, she is under house arrest while her trial, which began three months ago, continues behind closed doors.

The Prosecution asked to place Kam under full arrest, as is the norm in cases involving serious charges. Judge Procaccia rejected the request, saying that “it is possible that she should have been placed under arrest [in jail] from the outset. However, in view of the passage of the considerable period of time in which Kam has been under house arrest, and since there is no reason to believe that she violated the conditions of her release, the High Court decided that making the conditions of the house arrest stricter will suffice.”

The court determined that the offenses Kam is charged with are particularly grave because they “could cause real damage to vital state interests, in security and military matters.”

National Union Chairman MK Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh) reacted angrily to the decision, saying: “They are all members of the same clique: the retired [Judge Dalia] Dorner, Procaccia in the present day and if it were up to them, Kam would be sitting in the Supreme Court too.”

"Kam should have been placed in jail for the duration of the legal process against her,” he added, “but Judge Procaccia has difficulty doing this because in principle, her outlook is similar to that of Anat Kam.”

Ex-Jerusalem Mayor Lupolianski Arrested in 'Holyland' Probe

Let's hope that the allegations against former Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski are not true:

Uri Lupolianski was arrested Wednesday for allegedly receiving over three million shekels in bribes from the entrepreneurs behind the Holyland housing project in Jerusalem. He is also suspected of money laundering. His remand has been extended for five days.

Police think some of the money was paid when he served as chairman of the city's Planning and Construction Committee, and some when he was already mayor. The vast majority of the money did not go into his own pocket but to the Yad Sarah charity, which lends medical equipment to the needy and infirm, and which Lupolianski founded.

Investigators suspect that Lupolianski received 1.4 million shekels for Yad Sarah from the Holyland investors before 1999, and another 1.4 million between 2000 and 2006. In addition, they believe he received $30,000 for use by political activists who worked for him in the municipal elections campaign of 2003, which he won.

In 2005 he allegedly received 100,000 shekels as a contribution to a Torah study school for adults ('kollel') which his son managed.

Meanwhile, there is tense anticipation of the return to Israel of another former Jerusalem Mayor – Ehud Olmert – who was also a Prime Minister. Olmert is expected to arrive in Israel Wednesday night after cutting short his stay abroad in Spain. It is not known whether police intend to arrest him, but he, too, is a suspect in the Holyland affair.

The Rishon LeTzion Magistrates' Court agreed to the police's request Tuesday and extended the remand of Meir Rabin, one of six suspects in the Holyland affair, by ten days. On Wednesday, police asked to extend the remand of five other suspects by nine days.

Moshe Negbi: Anat Kam is Another Ellsberg

This is really funny:

Israel Radio's legal news correspondent, Moshe Negbi, called Tuesday for the government to amend the law, in order to exempt journalists from prosecution on leaking or publishing state secrets. Speaking at a Netanya college, Negbi said that the contention that anyone who possesses or distributes such information is a spy was “ridiculous.”

Negbi compared former IDF soldier Anat Kam, who has admitted to stealing more than 2,000 secret and top secret documents from the IDF, to The New York Times' Daniel Ellsberg, who published the Pentagon Papers, classified documents on America's involvement in the Vietnam War. Ellsberg was tried for espionage. That case was never decided, because the charges against Ellsberg were thrown out of court after it was discovered that the FBI had been illegally wiretapping Ellsberg's conversations with a former State Department employee. Ellsberg, said Negbi, had turned into a “national hero” in the United States.

So what's so funny about this, besides the ridiculous notion that Ellsberg became a national hero? Moshe Negbi was also suspected of abusing his position in the army according to an Arutz 7 News Service report from February 6, 1998:

JUDGE COMPLAINS THAT COMMENTATOR IGNORES THE FACTS

Tel Aviv District Court Justice Amnon Strashnov has submitted a sharp complaint to the Press Council against the prominent left-wing legal affairs commentator Moshe Negbi.

Strashnov says that Negbi, who provides legal commentary for the Israel Television, Voice of Israel Radio, and the Maariv newspaper, systematically ignores the facts in giving his opinions and violates the rules of journalistic etiquette.

Strashnov says that Negbi gives the impression that he barely reads the legal opinions on which he comments.

Two and a half years ago, Arutz-7 was the first to report that Negbi had been discharged from his position as Military Prosecutor in the IDF because he was suspected of having purposely destroying an important legal document.

Yes Mr. Negbi, I'm sure you really identify with Anat's plight!

As an aside, you could say about the entire Anat Kam debacle is a case of "HaGolem 'Kam' Al Yotzro"!

Haveil Havalim — Post-Pesach Edition

You can see it here.

Disgusting

Here.

Dealing With Dog Litter in Jerusalem

The Municipality wants you to clean up after your dog. If you didn't clean up, you dirtied. (It sounds better in Hebrew):



Someone set up an NPO to deal with the problem:



They even have a web site:

WE believe that by changing the environment we can change behavior. This is the application of the principle of "The Broken Window Theory" that radically and quickly improved the quality of life in New York.

To bring about these changes we are focusing on one common problem that everyone wants corrected. We chose dog litter which has polluted our streets, parks and beaches and has reached epidemic proportions. "Stepping in it" evokes such a strong response -
everyone can relate to it even our children.

We believe that dog litter is only a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. We believe we must correct the underlying root which is a profound lack of respect for others and our land. Lack of respect destroys our environment, damages our public image, effects tourism and businesses and overall impacts our quality of life.

In my neighborhood there are almost no dogs so we really do not have this problem. However, if you go on a stroll in one of the neighborhoods that is known for its...dogs...please check your shoes before you enter my apartment.

Yellow Flowers

Wild flowers grow on a hill near Moshav Gimzu: