More Evidence of America's Moral Decline

About a month ago, while I was pondering whether Donald Trump can make America great again, I wrote the following:

America's economic, military and political decline is a product of its moral decline. The United States of America is a country that still prints "In God we trust" on its money but has slowly but surely turned its back on God.

One of the expressions of the abandonment of God is America's embrace of illicit sexual relations and those that engage in them. This sordid embrace reached its culmination in the infamous OBERGEFELL v. HODGES decision.

Therefore, in answer to my original question,"Can Donald Trump make America great again?", the answer is a loud, resounding no. He does not seem to be a man of high enough moral fiber to pull Americans out of the sleazy cultural mud that there are drowning in. The change in America is going to come from the bottom up, if it is to come at all. It would take a miracle for the USA to reverse its moral decline, and only a miracle will make America great again.

I just read something that reinforces what I wrote a month ago. America really does need a miracle. The decline is steeper than I thought:

Monica Mares reunited with her son Caleb Peterson 18 years after giving him up for adoption, and just weeks later, the duo claimed to be "madly in love." Since incest is a fourth degree felony in New Mexico -- and illegal in all 50 states -- the couple faces trial in September after being charged with the indiscretion on February 25. If convicted, Mares and Peterson could each face 18 months in the slammer.

Mares, 36, and Peterson, 19, are not only fighting for their "love" in court, but asking the public to help fund their fight for mothers to sleep with their sons all around the country.

Yes, it is called incest. I do not know how all those who support homosexual relationships between consenting adults can logically oppose this. If this case makes it to the SCOTUS, will they be able to uphold laws against incest after sanctioning homosexual marriage?

Those of us who have taken upon themselves the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven and the yoke of the commandments will continue to strive to be close to God. We shall continue to ascend, while others slide down the slope of their evil inclinations. "Blessed are You LORD, our God, King of the universe, who has given us a Torah of truth, and has implanted within us eternal life."

Kippalive - We Are Home

This is just so good:

Well done, gentlemen!

הרב יעקב אריאל: הרפורמים יצרו דת חדשה

מי שברך

The "Gay Pride" Parade Leaves Its Impurity in Jerusalem

I already posted that taking part in these "gay pride" parades is in and of itself a sin. Recently a Torah scholar showed me a passage from the Chacham Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, which further illuminates this matter.

The Gemara in the tractate Taanit 11A states the following:

בשעת פטירתו של אדם לבית עולמו כל מעשיו (נפטרין) לפניו ואומרים לו כך וכך עשית במקום פלוני ביום פלוני

Translation:

...when a man comes into the world beyond, all his deeds are laid before him in detail, and he is told where and on what day he committed them.

The Ben Ish Chai, in his book Ben Yehoyada, explains:

שם כו״כ עשית במקום פלוני. י״ל מה צירך לסיים המקומות. ונ״ל בס״ר דידוע אם אדם עשה עבירה הוא מניח כח טומאה באותו מקום שיהי׳ שורה שם תמיד ואז גורם נזק לאחרים אח״כ לאותם הבאים לדור שם באותו מקים, שיהי׳ להם אותו כח טומאה למכשיל להכשילם בחטא, וכן במקום שעשו בו תורה ומצות ג״כ שורה שם קדושה, ויהי׳ עזר להדרים שם כידוע, ולכן מםיימץ לו מקים שעשה בו עבירה, כי מלבד עונש שיגיע לו מגיף העבירה שלו, עוד יגיע לו עונש מסיבח המקום שטמאו ועשה בו כח טומאה, ועי״כ הי׳ מכשול לאחרים שבאו בו אח״כ.

The Ben Ish Chai has a question: Why is a person told where he committed his deeds? He answers that when a person transgresses he leaves the power of impurity in the place he sinned. This impurity lingers there constantly and harms others that come to live in that place, by being a stumbling block for them and causing them to sin. He adds that the original transgressor is punished not only for his sins but for the sins that he caused others to commit.

We can learn from this that these "gay pride" parades, wherever they are held, while they are in and of themselves impure, they leave impurity in their aftermath. The Ben Ish Chai mentions that the converse is also true: When people are involved in Torah learning and Mitzvot, they cause holiness to dwell in that place.

Thank God here in Jerusalem, much Torah is being learnt and many Mitzvahs are being done. Let's hope that the holiness will push out the impurity.

הרב שלמה אבינר - קונפליקטים בחינוך בהתמודדות מול הרפורמים

הרב יהושע שפירא - השפעת הרפורמה על התא המשפחתי

הרב יגאל לוינשטיין - חדירת הרפורמה לצבא

Can Donald Trump Make America Great Again?

One could point to the captain of the ship, President Barack Hussein Obama, and blame him for the fact the ship is way off course. In my mind, and in the mind of many others, not only is he a bad president, he may be the worst president ever. The debate about Obama is not about his foreign and domestic policy failures but about his intentions: Is he stupid, or are his divisive statements and destructive actions the product of an intentional plan to weaken the nation he was elected to lead?

Before pointing the finger at Barack Obama, we have to remember that he was elected in democratic elections, not once but twice! That says something about the electorate. The leader is just a reflection of the majority of the people.

If the above is true another question needs to be asked: How is it that the same nation that chose qualified and successful presidents like Wilson, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan ending up choosing someone as unqualifed as Obama? How in the world did this happen?

I believe that the answer is that the electorate of 2008 was very different that the electorate of 1980. America's economic, military and political decline is a product of its moral decline. The United States of America is a country that still prints "In God we trust" on its money but has slowly but surely turned its back on God.

One of the expressions of the abandonment of God is America's embrace of illicit sexual relations and those that engage in them. This sordid embrace reached its culmination in the infamous OBERGEFELL v. HODGES decision.

Therefore, in answer to my original question,"Can Donald Trump make America great again?", the answer is a loud, resounding no. He does not seem to be a man of high enough moral fiber to pull Americans out of the sleazy cultural mud that there are drowning in. The change in America is going to come from the bottom up, if it is to come at all. It would take a miracle for the USA to reverse its moral decline, and only a miracle will make America great again.

What Happened to the Yemenite Jewish Children?

Here are a couple of films (in Hebrew):

Enlarging the Tents

The most amazing thing is happening, but not everyone is worthy of seeing it:

"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations, spare not; lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes."

Herzl Biton: A True Israeli Hero

Why Are There Still Palestinian Refugees?

Here is an excellent video from Prager U:

Some Chol HaMoed Pics/Video in Jerusalem

Free Matzot for those visiting the Old City coutesy of Ateret Cohanim:

Some pics from King David's tomb.

Nice threads:

Outside the Old City near Jaffa Gate:

Old Passover Posts

Browsing through the archives I found the following which may be of interest:

What to say, and what not to say at the seder table: Pesach=Peh-Sach

Gratitiude: Hakarat Hatov

Getting ready: Preparing For Passover

Some things never change: Blogger's Pre-Passover Guilt Trip

I would like to hear Yaakov Shwekey and Yonatan Razel sing this one: A New Song For the Passover Seder

Have a happy and Kosher Passover!

American Jews and Israel

I have been known to bemoan the state of American Jewry on this blog. This impending decline of non-Orthodox Jewry was well evident many years ago. There were those who spoke up about it, but they were ignored by the masses and villified by the establishment, much like Jeremiah the prophet before the destruction of the First Temple.

The decay of American Jewry has of course had an effect on its relation with the State of Israel, I recommend reading a series of essays at Mosaic Magazine that deal with the topic:

If American Jews and Israel Are Drifting Apart, What's the Reason?

How American Jews Have Detached Themselves from Jewish Memory

Unspoken Reasons for the American Jewish Distancing from Israel

Israel: The Canvas on Which American Jews Project Their Hopes and Fears

Dear American Jews:

"The Holy One Blessed Be He gave three good gifts to Israel, and all of them He did not give except through affliction, and they are: Torah, and the Land Of Israel, and the World To Come.(Berachot 5A)"

The time has come! You have been given three special gifts! Come and claim them!

Update: Rabbi Alderstein also took notice.

What Happens When Nati Rom Joins a Tour of "Breaking the Silence" in Hebron?

This is just so good!

Only Good Tidings

R' Yisrael Rosenberg talks about his book, Rak Besorot Tovot (Only Good Tidings):

Here's an English transcript of the interview:

Arutz 2 Interview – English Transcript - The Menachem Toker Show, March 7, 2016

Menachem Toker, Host: Yisrael Rosenberg has published a book called, “Rak Besorot Tovot” (“Only Good News”), that collects within it all the positive prophecies of the Prophets of Israel. I understand that anyone who reads it – feels good.

Correct?

Yisrael Rosenberg: That’s the idea. I came to Israel, and I didn’t know that within the Hebrew Bible, there are many good stories. I learned Hebrew, and began to read within the Hebrew Bible; and I saw that all the future of the People of Israel is only good! And I thought it was worthwhile that people would see this, and understand that we have a fantastic future.

Menachem: It is a book that essentially where you selected only the good sayings, the positive elements from the Hebrew Bible, right? Read me something. I need to feel good before breakfast.

Yisrael: With pleasure. I took from a number of prophets, and this is Ezekiel.

“So says the Lord God: In My ingathering of the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they have been scattered, and I have been sanctified through them in the eyes of the nations; then they will dwell on their land that I gave to My servant, to Jacob.

And they will dwell upon it securely, and they will build houses, and plant vineyards, and dwell securely; in my execution of judgments against all those who plunder them from all around them, then they shall know that I am the God their Lord." (Ezekiel, Chapter 28, Verses 25, 26)

Menachem: Wow! How beautiful! You were a senior consultant for an international information management company, right? You lived in Boston with your family?

Yisrael: Yes.

Menachem: While will this book give us … OK, we know that it will give us good things, but how will this influence ME, in my soul?

Yisrael: I think it’s very important to understand that we are in the middle of a very difficult period. The Rabbis of the Talmud told us that it would be hard. But – the Hebrew Prophets promise, in many different places, it will be good for the Nation of Israel and the whole world. We must continue with all the efforts that we are making – religious, not religious; Oriental Jews, Ashkenazim; [the differences are] not important – the Nation of Israel together is working on these things, and we will continue forward, and we will see good.

Menachem:

“The glory of this last House will be greater than the first one, said the Lord of Hosts. And in this place I will grant peace.” (Haggai, Chapter 2, Verse 9).

It came out good, it came out good for me. I just opened it … Why don’t you open it too? What you open is what you read. Four or five words. Something positive. We want to be able to leave here with … to bring to our viewers here some positive energy and a positive atmosphere from this show …

What are you looking at? Read what you see!

Liron Sharon: Nope. Didn’t come out good for me.

Menachem: It couldn’t be. Not with the book “Only Good News”!

Liron: Oh!

“And the tree of the field will give forth its fruit, and the land will give forth its produce, and they will be on their land in security.” (Ezekiel Chapter 26, Verse 27)

Menachem: See! Peace, fruit –

Yisrael: There are actually five things - I didn’t know this. I came from outside the Land of Israel. We didn’t learn the Hebrew Bible; that was for the gentiles to learn. We Jews were ‘above’ that kind of thing. :-)

But when I came to Israel and learned Hebrew, suddenly I understood that there are five things that the prophets actually say. They say that:

1. There will be an ingathering of the Exiles to the Land of Israel,

2. There will be ‘Return’, meaning the coming close of the People of Israel to the Holy One, May He Be Blessed [God], in every possible way. I’m not talking about any one direction. Every individual will come closer, as an individual and with the collective, to the Holy One, May He Be Blessed,

3. There will be a leader that will bring the Nation of Israel together, unite them, and he will succeed.

4. There will be a complete prosperity in the Land of Israel, first of all, like you [Liron] said, agriculturally, but also economically, technologically, everything will prosper.

5. And in the end, like you [Menachem] said, the magic word:

Menachem: Peace!

Yisrael: There will be Peace!

Menachem: Peace and Love! Thank you very much, Yisrael Rosenberg. ​

A Purim Warning to American Jews

It is better to come to Israel in order to fill the mitzvah of living in the land of Israel. However...

Yishai RIbo Sings the Lehi Anthem

I have a special place in my heart for those Israel's soldiers, especially those who fought for Israel's independence. So I could not help but post this video of Yishai Ribo singing the anthem of the Lehi underground, "Anonymous Soldiers":

Why the Jews Are Indigenous to Israel

Disconnected: Chapter 2

Trial By Media?

Rabbi Meir Kahane's hy"d widow writes about the mistreatment of her grandson Meir Ettinger:

On July 31, 2015 a house in Duma, an Arab village in Samaria, was firebombed by unknown persons, and a child and his parents were tragically killed. The entire gamut of Israel’s “Who’s Who” condemned the unknown persons, whom they labeled “Jewish Terrorists” because of questionable grafiti in Hebrew.

The condemnation was not enough to satisfy the New York Times, which quickly published an article titled, “Israeli Justice in West Bank Is Seen as Often Uneven.” This was picked up by all the foreign media and our government was pressured into taking hasty, precipitate action.

Among those arrested was my grandson, Meir Ettinger, named for his late grandfather, Rabbi Meir Kahane, who had a reputation for promoting unpopular opinions. He was the perfect scapegoat. He was arrested on August 3 and interrogated using illegal physical force, including punching and shaking him. On Sunday, August 9, he was taken before a judge to extend his arrest, but the court hearing he should have had was cut short by the arrival of an administrative detention order straight from Minister of Defense Moshe Yaalon.

Read the rest.

Menachem Begin Talks About the Sabbath

Translation:

There was never a nation like this. Craftsmen, sandlers, tailors, wagon drivers. Sabbath! The man was a king, a king! The children around the table. The queen, Sabbath. Come bride, come bride. Every Jew a king. In the city there is not traffic, nothing moves. No wagon, absolute quiet. The gentiles also honor the Sabbath. In Saloniki the port was closed because all of its workers were Jews.

Why Was William Booth Detained?

The Times of Israel reported:

Washington Post reporter briefly detained in Jerusalem for ‘incitement’

William Booth taken into police custody outside Damascus Gate, released; colleague says he was ‘harassed’ by cops

Arutz 7 reported the same story in the following way:

Wash Post bureau chief arrested for paying Arabs to riot

William Booth, the Jerusalem bureau chief for the Washington Post, was arrested at the Damascus Gate today (Tuesday), on suspicion of incitement.

Police claim that Booth paid local Arabs money in order to cause provocations.

I've never heard of this journalist before but I found this by googling him:

The Washington Post suspended Mexico bureau chief William Booth on Thursday after he admitted to plagiarizing four sentences from an academic journal, an individual with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap.

In a story about the expansion of the Panama Canal, Booth took lines from the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, an ethical breach he called a "very serious lapse" but said in a public apology, released by the Post, that it was accidental.

"I am so sorry for what I did. It was a very serious lapse," Booth said in the statement. "This was not intentional. It was an inadvertent and sloppy mistake.

"I also want to apologize to my editors and colleagues, and especially to the readers of the Washington Post, for my failure to measure up," he said. "I hope to regain your trust. I will work hard to do that."

Hmmm. If what the Israeli police suspect him of is true, one may ask: Is paying people to riot some kind of way to gain my trust?

Here are two more versions of the story:

Ha'aretz:

Israeli police forces briefly detained Washington Post Jerusalem Bureau Chief William Booth and an employee of the Association for Civil Rights near Jerusalem's Damascus Gate on Tuesday.

According to another reporter at the scene, the two were detained on grounds of incitement and taken to a police station for questioning after about an hour delay.

Booth has since been released. Jerusalem Police have not yet issued a statement on the incident..

Jpost:

:Police on Tuesday briefly detained The Washington Post's Jerusalem bureau chief William Booth near Damascus Gate, according to a police spokesperson.

Williams was brought in for questioning after a civilian bystander complained to police about the reporter, accusing him of incitement.

According to the police spokesperson, a civilian reported to police that journalists at site were offering money to Palestinian youth to make disturbances.

It will be interesting to see how this story develops.

Update:

The Washington Post's bureau chief in Jerusalem says he was briefly detained by Israeli border police while reporting in east Jerusalem.

William Booth says he was interviewing Palestinians at Damascus Gate, an entrance to Jerusalem's Old City, when he and his translator were arrested Tuesday. The area has been the scene of violence in recent days.

Booth says after presenting government-issued press cards to an officer, he and his colleague were taken to a police station and held for half an hour before they were released. He says an officer told them they had been suspected of "incitement."

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says the journalists were questioned in connection to an unspecified "incident" and quickly released after it was clear they were not involved.

Putting two and two together, William Booth's translator is an employee of the Association for Civil Rights! Do I smell agenda driven journalism?

Update: William Booth and the Washington Post were taken to task by CAMERA just last month.

Disconnected: a Look Back on the "Disengagement"

Israel's channel 20 has a series about the "disengagement", that is to say the destruction of the Jewish towns in the Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria and the expulsion of their residents. It is in Hebrew and you can see the first chapter by clicking here. For me, watching this was very, very painful. It brought back all of the bad memories of what happened ten years ago.

Ehud Olmert: Go to Jail, Go Directly to Jail. Do Not Obstruct Justice, Do Not Collect Any More Bribes

It's finally going to happen:

Israel's Ehud Olmert on Monday becomes the country's first ex-prime minister to sit behind bars as he begins a 19-month prison term for separate counts of bribery and obstruction of justice.

The 70-year-old will report to Maasiyahu prison in the central Israeli town of Ramle, where former Israeli president Moshe Katsav is also serving a seven-year prison term for rape and sexual harassment.

The Israeli Prisons Service says that Olmert will be admitted to the prison's special block 10, "which is intended to house prisoners who for various reasons cannot be placed with the general prison population."

He will join four other unidentified inmates in block 10, which has a maximum capacity of 18.

"Due to his position, he is subject to various threats and is in danger," the prisons service says.

I am not happy about this. "Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thy heart be glad when he stumbleth;" (Proverbs 24:17). Not only that, but the damage done by this man to the nation of Israel cannot be repaired by sitting in the Ma'asiyahu "prison hotel".

Here are a few of my posts from the age of Olmert:

Amona, Ehud Olmert, And Pharaoh

Who's To Blame? Olmert, Peretz, Halutz, and the Israeli MSM

Truth Springs Forth From The Land

Controversy At Funeral Of Fallen Soldier

The "Peace Process" Corrupts

At this time, I would also like to remember the good that Ehud Olmert has done:

Sweet Home Jerusalem

The Status of the Mitzvah to Settle the Land of Israel

The Essential Return to Holiness

What if the Jews had listened to those who called to immigrate to the Land of Israel?

In honor of Avraham (Ya'ir) Stern z"l

In honor of the founder of the Lehi, Avraham Stern, whose yahrzeit was yesterday:

Rabbi Eliezer Melamed's "Pninei Halacha": More Than Half a Million Volumes Sold!

Mazal Tov to Rav Melamed on this great milestone. It is a great privilege of mine to be a student of his way back when before he was so renowned.

BTW, the series is available online! This is an incredible, searchable resource, and IMHO a great Kiddush Hashem!

Officer Indicted For Passing Information to anti-Assimilation Group

Does the officer deserve an indictment, an award, or both?:

An indictment was submitted Wednesday to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court by the state attorney's department for the investigation of officers, charging Border Police officer Matan Amichai with harming privacy and misusing his post.

The accusations against Amichai refer to an incident half-a-year ago, when during a routine mission to identify crimes adjacent to the Shiloach (Silwan) neighborhood just south of Jerusalem's Old City a Border Police force checked a car in which two Arab residents of Silwan were riding with two Jewish girls.

Amichai, who was part of the Border Police force, is accused of taking the teudat zehut (ID card) of one of the Jewish girls and photographing it with his cell phone.

Later he sent the image through the WhatsApp phone application to former MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, with the words: "the ID card of a girl who went with two Arabs and her friend to Eilat, the two are from Silwan, Michael if you can pass this to the proper sources please do. We are Magavnikim (Border Police officers - ed.) from Silwan, please save this anonymously. I wanted to cry now."

He also sent the image to Bentzi Gopshtain, director of the Lehava anti-assimilation organization.

"We members of the Border Police of Silwan stopped a car next to Silwan and saw two Arabs going with two Jewish girls to Eilat, here is the ID card of one of the girls, please do something...we can't do anything in a case like this," he wrote to Gopshtain, again asking that the matter be handled anonymously without referencing him as the source of information.

According to the indictment, Amichai knowingly misused the private details of a person and arbitrarily harmed her rights.

The Mitzvah of Settling the Land of Israel in Our Time

Good to know:

Settling the Land of Israel

Hear, hear!

Conquering the Land of Israel and "Pikuach Nefesh"

An excellent explanation of a very important subject:

"Anarchists Against the Wall" Exposed!

Here is another great exposé from "Ad Kan". Among other things, clip shows how "Anarchists Against the Wall" incite and facilitate violence against Israeli soldiers. Press the settings icon (looks like a gear) on the lower right hand side of the YouTube screen to turn the English captions on:

NGO Monitor's NGO Funding Data Base

This is fantastic:

In light of the central role played by politicized NGOs in public discourse regarding human rights, NGO Monitor published this week a database (available online) that provides opinion shapers and the public with an easily-accessible tool. The resource can inform the debate around legislation or funding mechanisms, such as the guidelines proposed by NGO Monitor to Israeli and European decision makers.

"The information in this database is crucial for the advancement of democratic transparency and accountability," Professor Gerald Steinberg said. "Clearly Israelis are attentive to grants given by foreign governments to political NGOs. Accurate data on this issue is important, but in recent weeks rumors and misinformation have dominated the public discourse. This resource provides the facts and figures currently missing from the discussion. The data provided can inform the debate over funding guidelines, and make it more accurate."

I played around a little bit with this online resource. This is what is has to say about "Peace Now"'s contributors for the year 2014(click to enlarge):

The NGO received 1,613,975 NIS from European governments in 2014! The "peace" business is booming!

But seriously, the interference of these governments in Israel's internal affairs is quite disturbing. They are clearly hiding behind an Israeli NGO.

Talia Sasson Goes Shrill

Talia Sasson, the Board President of the notorious and nefarious the New Israel Fund, puts on a totally shrill performance in a debate with MK Anat Berko. Among the other crazy things that she articulated, Sasson thinks that a private citizen is more dangerous than a State, because a State is committed to values! Yes, she really did say that!:

Suspected Attempted Terror Attack at Rav Mordechai Eliyahu's Synagogue

Wow, this was close to home:

Three Palestinians were stopped outside of a Jerusalem synagogue on Sunday morning carrying large knives.

The terrorists were approaching the Heichal Yaakov synagogue in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Moshe that was full of worshipers who were praying their morning prayers.

The three are suspected of attempting to carry out a large attack on worshipers, they have been brought in for questioning and the investigation is ongoing.

I'm wondering who stopped them and how. Anyway, thank God they were caught. Here's a pic of the synagogue that I took a while back:

Update: Kikar Shabbat has pics of the suspects and their knives.

The true face of Israel's radical "human rights" activists - the full report (with English subtitles)

This is a slam dunk! Looking forward to more exposés from Ad Kan.

The true face of Israel's radical "human rights" activists - the full report from Adkan Israel on Vimeo.

Shmuel Rada, Father of Tair, Passes Away One Day After the Dedication of a Synagogue in Her Name

Baruch Dayan HaEmet:

Shmuel Rada, the bereaved father of Tair Rada who was murdered in 2006 at the age of 13 at her school in Katzrin on the Golan Heights, passed away on Friday after an extended battle with cancer.

Rada passed away just one day after attending the dedication of a synagogue in his daughter's honor in Katzrin. The synagogue was named "Tair Shevet Achim" (Tair dwells amongst her people), a name that her father came up with two years ago.

The bereaved father was allowed to leave Poriya Hospital in Tiberias to take part in the dedication, which he was brought to by Magen David Adom's "wishing ambulance."

"I'm happy that I succeeded in realizing my dream ever since the murder - to establish a 'miniature Holy Temple' in memory of Tair," he said during the visit.

"I made efforts for this moment, it isn't easy. It's a Yemenite synagogue but it is for all of the nation of Israel," emphasized the father, calling on Jews "to come from all ends of the rainbow to pray here in this synagogue for all."

Rada's funeral will take place at 2:30 p.m. in Katzrin's cemetery.

Here is a report of the dedication of the synagogue:

Exposing the true face of Israel's radical "human rights" activists

Books About Lehi in English: Online!

In my last post I lamented about the lack of information about the Lehi, a.k.a. the Freedom Fighters of Israel a.k.a. The Stern Gang. Today, I discovered that their web site has a digital library. Fantastic! What's more, there are even books in English! These are the titles available at this time:

Elnakam

Lechi Fighters For The Freedom Of Israel

Stern: The Man and His Gang

With All Their Might

Read up and learn about these brave men!

Freedom Fighters of Israel

I just finished the book Chayalim Almonim (Anonymous Soldiers) by Yaakov Banai. The book tells the story of the Lehi , the Freedom Fighters of Israel underground movement.

Unfortunately, their story is seldom told. Often when it is told, it is by their enemies, who distort events and do not provide much needed context. It is important to hear the history of Lehi from the perspective of its members in order to understand it.

These people played a major role in bringing about the creation of the State of Israel. Thank you, Freedom Fighters of Israel. I appreciate it.

Dov Shurin: Jews are Sons of God

Squatting on the Squatter

Now if we could only do the same thing to those who are squatting on our holy Land of Israel! (BTW, the she in the clip is really a he.)

WHY WE SHOULD STOP PRAYING: Opening the power line to the Divine

Interesting:

Swedish MP Kent Ekeroth Schools Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallström

Get Out the Barf Bags Before You Watch This Video

If the Maccabees were alive today I hate to think of what they would do with Rivlin and the "rabbi"!

Rabbi Tzvi Klamen zt"l

It is with great sadness that I write about the passing away of one of my rabbis, Rabbi Tzvi Klamen (may the memory of the righteous be a blessing), who passed away on the first day of Hannukah. Rabbi Klamen was in charge of the program for English speakers at Machon Meir when I arrived there over thirty years ago. Here is a short biography from the Machon Meir web site:

Rabbi Tzvi Klamen was born and educated in the USA and learned from one of the greatest Rabbis in Europe, Rabbi Chaim Kraizort Z'TZL (I think they meant Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth - CX). Studied a the Bet Hamidrash L'Torah In Chicago for 9 years and was ordained as Rabbi there. Him and his family immigrated to Israel and settled in the Bet Shean valley. He Helped found Ulpanat Bnay Akiva in Kiryat Motzkin. Afterwards, him and his Family moved to Jerusalem where he studied in the Kollel "Haidra" and was Once again given ordination from the former Chief Rabbi's of Israel, Rabbi Shlomo Goren and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. In 1984, Rabbi Tzvi Joined Machon Meir as head of the English Department and Gemora Rebbe. Rabbi Tzvi now serves as senior lecturer and Dean of the English Department At Machon Meir.

Rabbi Klamen was a serious Torah scholar whose fear of Heaven, cheerful disposition, love for his fellow man and endless patience made him an ideal educator. I owe him a lot and I will truly miss him. May his family be comforted with the building of Zion.

I found a couple of Torah lessons that Rabbi Klamen gave at Machon Meir:

Yonah Malina's Yahrzeit

Thoughts on the Parsha (Lech-Lecha)

Learning About the Hasmonean's Military Victories

In the Al Hanissim prayer, which we recite many times throughout the eight days of Hannukah, we thank God for helping the Jewish People defeat the armies of the Syrian-Greeks:

And [we thank You] for the miracles, for the redemption, for the mighty deeds, for the saving acts, and for the wonders which You have wrought for our ancestors in those days, at this time—

In the days of Matityahu, the son of Yochanan the High Priest, the Hasmonean and his sons, when the wicked Hellenic government rose up against Your people Israel to make them forget Your Torah and violate the decrees of Your will. But You, in Your abounding mercies, stood by them in the time of their distress. You waged their battles, defended their rights, and avenged the wrong done to them. You delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the wanton sinners into the hands of those who occupy themselves with Your Torah. You made a great and holy name for Yourself in Your world, and effected a great deliverance and redemption for Your people Israel to this very day. Then Your children entered the shrine of Your House, cleansed Your Temple, purified Your Sanctuary, kindled lights in Your holy courtyards, and instituted these eight days of Chanukah to give thanks and praise to Your great Name.

How many of us know the details of these battles that we mention in our prayers so often? How many of us know where they took place and how they were fought?

Dr. Hagai Ben-Artzi has an online series explaining the battles.

Update: parts 5. 6 , 7 and 8:

Marsha Levine, Free Will, and Redemption

I think that almost everyone that has an internet connection and is concerned about Israel and the Jewish People is aware of the scandalous behavior of a Jewish lady named Marsha Levine:

An ex-Cambridge academic has refused to answer an inquisitive 13-year-old Israeli girl's questions on horses 'until there is peace and justice for Palestinians'.

Teenager Shachar Rabinovitch emailed Dr Marsha Levine to ask her some basic questions about horses for a school assignment. But Dr Levine - a former Cambridge academic considered an expert on the history of domestication of horses - responded with a link to the homepage of lobby group Jews for Justice for Palestinians.

Here is what she wrote:

Dear Shachar Rabinovich:

I'll answer your questions when there is peace and justice for Palestinians in Palestine.

I am a member of Jews for Justice for Palestinians (http://jfjfp.com). I support Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions. You might be a child, but if you are old enough to write to me, you are old enough to learn about Israeli history and how it has impacted on the lives of Palestinian people. Maybe your family has the same views as I do, but I doubt it. So, I suggest that you look at this link: http://jfjfp.com/?page_id=338

yours sincerely

Dr Marsha Levine

Shachar's mother, upset with Ms. Levine's disgusting snub, published it on his Facebook profile. The post went viral and was picked up by popular bloggers and even some major media outlets. Ms. Levine gained notoriety overnight.

Now, let us imagine that this happened 30 years ago, in the age of snail mail. Chances are that Marsha Levine's reply would have been thrown into the garbage along with the potato peels, never to see the light of day. But in our age of cut and paste and screen captures, her gauche reply became known to myriads in a matter of hours. In no time at all, Ms. Levine became the poster child for small-mindedness, meanness and other unpleasent qualities. (I won't even comment on her ignorance and arrogance with regard to what is happening here in Israel.)

After all of this negative exposure, Marsha Levine had two options: She could have apologized, or she could have doubled-down. She chose the latter. She had a chance to make amends, to do Teshuvah, and she foolishly passed it up, deepening the hole of infamy that she dug for herself.

This makes me wonder: Has she descended to such a depth that her free choice has been taken away? Maimonides tells us that such a possibility exists:

A person may commit a great sin or many sins causing the judgment rendered before the True Judge to be that the retribution [administered to] this transgressor for these sins which he willfully and consciously committed is that his Teshuvah will be held back. He will not be allowed the chance to repent from his wickedness so that he will die and be wiped out because of the sin he committed.

This, he says, is what happened to Pharaoh:

For these reasons, it is written in the Torah [Exodus 14:4], "I will harden Pharaoh's heart." Since, he began to sin on his own initiative and caused hardships to the Israelites who dwelled in his land as [Exodus 1:10] states: "Come, let us deal wisely with them," judgment obligated that he be prevented from repenting so that he would suffer retribution. Therefore, The Holy One, blessed be He, hardened his heart.

Is this what happened to Ms. Levine? Only God knows.

In any case, I have some good news for Marsha: There is no despair in the world! It is easy to fall, the trick is to know how to get up. As the full redemption progresses God will replace our hardened hearts with ones of flesh as it is written,

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep Mine ordinances, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be My people, and I will be your God.

The People of Israel, in the land of Israel, keeping the Torah of Israel! It's happening Marsha. Hope to see you here soon!

MK Yinon Magal Resigns From the Knesset

That was quick:

Jewish Home MK Yinon Magal handed in his resignation to step down from the Knesset on Monday, as the testimony of a third woman accusing him of sexual harassment was revealed.

Party chairman Naftali Bennett responded on Monday, saying, "I received Yinon's resignation announcement, this is a fitting action. I hope that the process he is in will end as quickly as possible and he will be able to devote himself to his family and to his path ahead."

I'd like to jot down a few notes about this:

1) "The God of these (the Jews) hates lewdness" (Sanhedrin 106A) - the acts attributed to Magal, some of which he admitted to, are totally unacceptable.

2) On the other hand, "Nothing can stand in the way of Teshuvah "(Laws of Teshuvah 3:14). Indeed, God's mercy is everlasting...the political system not so much.

3) Kudos for Magal for resigning and not "grabbing the horns of the altar".

4) It looks like Yinon Magal will be replaced by Avi Wortzman, who in my eyes proved to be a worthy representative in the previous Knesset.

5) It is interesting to note that the chain of events leading up to Yinon Magal's resignation was a post on Facebook, which gives us another example of the power of the Social Networking Sites.

November 30th: Remembering the Jewish Refugees

Important:

On June 23, 2014, the Israeli Knesset passed a law designating November 30 as an official date in the calendar to remember the uprooting of almost one million Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran.

On this day we will remember the plight of these people, many of whom left all of their property behind. These refugees were successfully absorbed, mostly in Israel but not only in Israel. In contrast most of the Arabs who left their homes in Israel did so voluntarily, at the behest of the invading Arab armies. They are political pawns, whose refugee status is being perpetuated by the Arab states and UNRWA.

Dvar Torah For Parashat VaYishlach

It is well known that "what happened to the fathers is a sign for the children." The people of Israel, throught the generations, experience many of the same trials and tribulations that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob experienced.

Jacob is finally going to come back to his place of birth, the land of Israel. But it is not going to be easy! "The Holy One Blessed Be He gave three good gifts to Israel, and all of them He did not give except through affliction, and they are: Torah, and the Land Of Israel, and the World To Come"(Berachot 5A). And what happened to Jacob is a sign for his progeny:

And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

Who was the man that wrestled with Jacob? Rashi says:

Our Rabbis explained (Gen. Rabbah 77:3, 78:3) that this was the prince (guardian angel) of Esau.

Esau tried to prevent Jacob from returning to his homeland ,but he did not succeed:

And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained, as he wrestled with him. And he said: 'Let me go, for the day breaketh.' And he said: 'I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.' And he said unto him: 'What is thy name?' And he said: 'Jacob.' And he said: 'Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed.' And Jacob asked him, and said: 'Tell me, I pray thee, thy name.' And he said: 'Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?' And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: 'for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.' And the sun rose upon him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped upon his thigh.

Yes, Esau did cause some damage, but God healed Jacob's limp:

And the sun rose for him: This is a common expression: When we arrived at such-and-such a place, the dawn broke for us. This is the simple explanation. The Midrashic Aggadah (Tanchuma Buber, Vayishlach 10; Gen. Rabbah 68:10) [explains]: And the sun rose for him-to heal his limp, as it is said: (Mal. 3:20): “the sun of mercy, with healing in its wings”; and those hours that it hastened to set for him when he left Beer-sheba, it hastened to rise for him.

So it is today. The children of Esau are continually trying to prevent the return of the Jewish People to the land of Israel. They, like their forefather, succeed in injuring us. However, "There are many devices in a man's heart; but the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand." We are coming back, and nobody can stop us, for it has been foretold:

That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the peoples, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine that are dispersed be in the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will He fetch thee. And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and He will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.

Shabbat Shalom!

For more on the Parasha from your's truly: Here and here.

Sitting in the Shadow of Donkey Dung

We say that life today is rough,
The world was wiser when we were young.
I must admit that times are tough,
Sitting in the shadow of donkey dung.

The millenials are in a state of depression,
The bells of delirium have been rung.
They think it's climate change and microaggression,
Not detecting the shadow of donkey dung.

Myriads of manly beasts whose moniker I shall not mention,
Their carcasses are rotting in the sun,
All because they refused to pay attention,
To the shadow of donkey dung.

Perhaps it was better not to see it,
And that this song had not been sung.
But here I am and so be it,
Sitting in the shadow of donkey dung.

The Yinon Magal Scandal

I heard about this scandal not too long after I put up a post with him giving a brilliant speech to the Knesset in Arabic.

In the meantime, Mr. Magal has stepped down as the head of the Jewish Home faction in the Knesset.

I must admit that I was upset that Naftali Bennett put Yinon Magal on the Jewish Home Knesset list. I had never heard of him, but I did know of so many other deserving people who had devoted their life to the community that were pushed down the list because of this appointment. However, his performance as an MK has been impressive. Now it looks like he has some legal trouble ahead of him in addtion to an uncertain political future.

Yinon Magal Addresses the Knesset in Arabic

Israeli Resilience

The Muslims, in addition to the blood that they are shedding all over the world, have been on a knife wielding murder rampage here in Israel for the last two months. But the Jews in Israel are not cowering. They are defending themselves and carrying on with their lives.

Here are a couple of cases demonstrating that Israeli resiliency. The first case is the one of Leah Bowman. Leah was the tour guide that was attacked by an Arab who smashed a bottle on her head. Undaunted, she returned to the scene of the crime and is continuing to guide tours:

But, of course, I was left with a dilemma: I have been guiding in all areas of Jerusalem for years, feeling safe to go and explore, and loving it! What do I do now? Should I continue to do this? Thinking through everything that had happened, I realized that actually, the area very is safe with all the police and army all throughout the city, and the cameras. And more than that, I decided that I’m not going to let terror keep me away from what I love to do, and all the more so, Jerusalem and guiding throughout Israel. I will continue to learn, explore, and guide in every corner of the city and the country: Gush Etzion, the Dead Sea, Tel Aviv, and in Southern Israel, showing visitors the inspiring history, and about the security situation.

Learning about the history, archaeology, and Biblical sources is very empowering. With all of the problems we are facing in Israel and around the world, I think that the healthiest response is to take the opportunity to strengthen ourselves in our knowledge, commitment to what we believe in, and physically (and yes, I’ve signed up for an awesome program of self-defense classes for women in Jerusalem!)

Just a week after the attack, I was back in the exact same place giving a tour, and was able to say the blessing thanking God for doing a miracle for me in this place, and I can say that on my birthday, my life was renewed for me.

Leah has a blog that can be seen here.

The next case is that of Raz Bibi. Raz Bibi is a border patrol policeman who was stabbed and critically wounded by and Arab terrorist in May. Now Raz is back in uniform:

Roughly a month after the attack he was discharged from hospital and directly went to the Kotel (Western Wall) to pray and offer thanks for his miraculous recovery. Following another few months of heavy rehabilitation he once again showed his heroism by electing to return to active duty in the capital.

"From the moment when I opened my eyes in the hospital I knew I would return to wear the uniform of the Border Police. Today I'm happy that I returned to serve alongside my comrades in arms," Bibi was quoted as saying by the police.

"And who is like Thy people, like Israel..." (2 Samuel 7:23). "But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad...(Exodus 1:12). We are here to stay!

Some Thoughts on Jonathan Pollard Being Released From Prison

I am happy! I've been advocating for Pollard's release pretty much from the start of this blog. (Click here to see all of the posts where I mentioned Jonathan Pollard, sorted by date in descending order.) Blessed is He who redeems prisoners!

I know that there are many who will disagree with me on this matter, but even in this sad episode, Hakol LaTovah, it was all for the good. Here are some things to consider:

1) Before his capture Jonathan was a fairly assimilated Jew, far away from Torah and Mitzvot. During his jail stay, he became more observant, and was taken under the wings of one of the generation's greatest rabbis, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu zt"l. What started as a desecration of God's name has become a sanctification of His name.

2) By seeing the way the United States discriminated against Jonathan Pollard, American Jewry learned once again that Jew hatred exists at the highest levels of government. Pollard's suffering has come to teach Jews all over the world and especially in the United States that it's time to come home tho the land of Israel!

3) There is even a silver lining to the restrictive conditions of the parole. We can compare Pollard's redemption to the nation as a whole. The redemption of the Jewish People comes little by little. Why is this so? Because the transition from the darkness of the exile to the bright light of redemption would be hard to handle, if the redemption were to come all at once. Jonathan's gradual acquisition of freedom may actually be good for him in the same way.

Shabbat Shalom to Jonathan and Esther Pollard and to the entire Jewish People.

What Makes Bernie (Sanders) Run?

Why should I care about Bernie Sanders? He will never be President of the United States! Americans are not that foolish! But then again you never know. The majority of them voted for Barack Obama - twice!

Rolling Stone magazine has this wonderful quote from Sanders:

You've said of Netanyahu, "I'm not a great fan." What's your issue with him?

Do I think that Netanyahu overreacted? Yes, I do. War is terrible unto itself. But I think that Israel overreacted and caused more civilian damage than was necessary. They have very sophisticated weapons systems. They make the case, and I respect that, that they do try to make sure that civilians are not damaged. But the end result was that a lot of civilians were killed and a lot of housing was destroyed. There was terrible, terrible damage done.

In order to evaluate Sander's expertise on the matter, here is a summary of his military experience:

Sanders applied for conscientious objector status during the Vietnam War; his application was eventually turned down, at which point he was too old to be drafted.

As an aside, how can a conscientious objector desire to be Commander in Chief of the most powerful army in the world? Would not he object to sending young men and women to kill and die?

It should be noted that Bernie Sanders, who said he is "proud to be Jewish", has the dubious distinction of being a pioneer of intermarriage in the United States, back in the 1960s, when the intermarriage rate was only about 10%. He divorced his non-Jewish wife two years later, fathered a child out from a different woman out of wedlock, and married his current gentile wife in 1988. Proud to be Jewish? Give me a break!

I would also like to note that I think that his socialist agenda is a disaster.

Woe unto humanity if this guy becomes President of the United States!

(The title of this post was inspired by this classic essay.)

Rashi's "I Don't Know": More Than Just Humility

Towards the end of this week's Torah portion, Toldot, we read the following:

And Isaac sent Jacob, and he went to Padan aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

We know that Rebecca is Jacob's and Esau's mother. Why does the Torah bother to mention this. There must be something to be learned from this seemingly useless repetition of something that we already know. Rashi, the Torah's foremost commentator, has a surprising answer:

I do not know what this teaches us.

For someone of Rashi's stature to say, "I don't know" is a sign of great humility. But I think that there is more to this.

The Siftei Chachamim asks that if Rashi does not know what this comes to teach us, then why doesn't he just stay silent and not mention it? He answers that Rashi had several explanations, he just did not know which one was correct. I find this explanation hard to accept, for we see plenty of verses where Rashi offers multiple explanations. Here's one from this week's Torah portion:

It came to pass when Isaac was old, and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called Esau his elder son, and he said to him, "My son," and he said to him, "Here I am."

Why did Isaac lose his eyesight? Rashi offers three explanations:

Because of the smoke of these [wives of Esau] (who would burn [incense] to the idols) (Tanchuma, Toledoth 8; Pesiktha Rabbathi 12). Another explanation: When Isaac was bound on the altar, and his father was about to slaughter him, the heavens opened, and the ministering angels saw and wept, and their tears fell upon Isaac’s eyes. As a result, his eyes became dim (Gen. Rabbah 65:6). A third explanation: to enable Jacob to take the blessings (Gen. Rabbah 65:8).

I think that the answer to why Rashi wrote, "I do not know" is that he wanted assure the reader that indeed there is a difficulty in the text. When one learns Torah and he encounters a difficulty, he immediately looks to see if one of the great classic commentators had the same question. If none of our great rabbis asked the question, that may be a sign that he is not learning well, that he is "way off". So here Rashi is telling us that there is a question to be asked here, and that one who asks it is learning well!

Any questions?

Shabbat Shalom!

How To Use Pepper Spray

Good to know:

A Message From the Amazing RivkA

What a special lady! May her memory be a blessing!

Nine Happiness Habits: A talk for The Happiness Hall of Fame by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin

Would you like to be happy? Rabbi Pliskin tells you how:

Kahane Memorial: It's Been 25 Years

Time does fly. It's been 25 years since Rabbi Meir Kahane of blessed memory was murdered by an Al Qaeda terrorist. Last night I attended the annual memorial in Jerusalem.

I've been to a few of these memorials in the past. It seems to me that every year the crowd attending the memorial grows. I am always surprised by the number of young people that attend. A very significant percentage of those there were born after Kahane was assassinated. A lot of those attending had that "hilltop youth" look, sporting large knitted skullcaps and long sidelocks. There were also a few Hareidi youth there. I don't know if they came out of curiousity or if they identify with Kahane.

One of the recurring themes of the evening was that we do not have too look hard for what is causing the recent terror wave. It's written in the Book of Numbers chapter 33:

51 'Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places. 53 And ye shall drive out the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein; for unto you have I given the land to possess it. 54 And ye shall inherit the land by lot according to your families--to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer thou shalt give the less inheritance; wheresoever the lot falleth to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers shall ye inherit. 55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then shall those that ye let remain of them be as thorns in your eyes, and as pricks in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land wherein ye dwell. 56 And it shall come to pass, that as I thought to do unto them, so will I do unto you.

"They must go." "There is no hope for coexistence with the Arabs." "If there are no Arabs there is no terror." Etc., etc. etc.

The Temple Mount also took center stage. Rabbi Yehuda Kroizer mentioned how more and more people are going up to the Har HaBayit. Aviya Moris, who famously called the "prophet" Mohammed a pig after being harrassed by Muslim women on the Temple Mount also spoke.

Another theme of the evening was reviewing the activities of various activists. Bentzi Gophstein mentioned that in the previous week his Lehava organization had rescued six Jewish women, some of them with children, from Arab villages. A film was shown that depicted some of the antics of activists Baruch Marzel, Dr. Michael Ben-Ari and Itamar Gvir.

Naturally, there was also an appeal for contributions. I don't think that these people are not receiving too much support from the government. :) I imagine that they were able to raise a little bit of money from the sale of Rabbi Kahane's writings and other goodies that was taking place at the entrance to the hall.

Rabbi Dov Lior arrived and was greeted with the singing of "Yamim Al Yemei Melech Tosif". He talked, among other things, about Rabbi Kahane's commitment to Torah study and his fine character traits.

To sum things up, Rabbi Meir Kahane and his son Binyamin may have been murdered, but their ideas live on.

An Open Letter To The World by Rabbi Meir Kahane

Shlomo Avineri: "The Arabs are the Same Arabs and the Sea is the Same Sea"

No, Shlomo Avineri did not say that. Who did, and what was the background?

The popular slogan of the Arabs during the Israeli War of Independence was to "throw the Jews into the Sea." They tried, but failed miserably,

Many years later, Israeli politician Yitzchak Shamir came up with the gem, “The Arabs are the same Arabs, and the sea is the same sea”. Israel's leftists were convinced that the time was ripe for peace with the Arabs. Today's Arabs are not the same bloodthirsty followers of Haj Amin al-Husseini that we knew way back when. They accept us! They are ready for reconciliation! If we only give the "palestinians" a state, we will all live happily ever after. Against this warped version of Middle Eastern reality Shamir coined his famous phrase.

Now, Shlomo Avineri, who served as Director-General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1975–77, and was an early proponent of negotiations with the terrorist Palestine Liberation Organization, recently wrote the following in Ha'aretz:

The basic Palestinian position, which usually isn’t always explicitly stated, is totally different and can be easily detected in numerous Palestinian statements. According to the Palestinians’ view, this is not a conflict between two national movements but a conflict between one national movement (the Palestinian) and a colonial and imperialistic entity (Israel). According to this view, Israel will end like all colonial phenomena – it will perish and disappear. Moreover, according to the Palestinian view, the Jews are not a nation but a religious community, and as such not entitled to national self-determination which is, after all, a universal imperative.

According to this view, the Palestinians see all of Israel – and not just the West Bank and Gaza – as analogous to Algeria: an Arab country out of which the foreign colonialists were ultimately expelled. Because of this, Israel – even in its pre-1967 borders – never appears in Palestinian school textbooks; because of this the Palestinians insist never to give up their claim to the right of return of 1948 refugees and their descendants to Israel.

Although he may not realize it, Shlomo Avineri is admitting that Yitzchak Shamir was right. “The Arabs are the same Arabs, and the sea is the same sea”. Avineri has finally grasped what Shamir knew decades ago.

This is, of course, a total denial of the Israeli Leftist creed. However, I do not see these people joining the Likud or the Jewish Home party. Cognitive dissonance is a permanent resident in the psyche of the Israeli leftist. They will continue to propose freezing, evacuating settlements, "two states for two peoples" etc. as a remedy to every ill.

Even More on the Mufti and Hitler

Interview With Uri Sherki (in Hebrew) : How to Deal With the Current Wave of Terror

From the History Channel: More on the Grand Mufti and the Nazis

The Turban and the Swastika

Here's a documentary that deals with the close relationship of the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini with the Nazis:

Courage in the Face of Terror

That's the name of the game. The Jews here in the land of Israel, thank God, have shown and are continuing to show their courage in these times of bloodthirsty Arab terrorism.

In his epic code of Jewish law, Maimonides explains that a person, in respect to character traits, should look for "the straight path":

This [involves discovering] the midpoint temperament of each and every trait that man possesses [within his personality.] This refers to the trait which is equidistant from either of the extremes, without being close to either of them.

Therefore, the early Sages instructed a man to evaluate his traits, to calculate them and to direct them along the middle path, so that he will be sound {of body}.

For example: he should not be wrathful, easily angered; nor be like the dead, without feeling, rather he should [adopt] an intermediate course; i.e., he should display anger only when the matter is serious enough to warrant it, in order to prevent the matter from recurring. Similarly, he should not desire anything other than that which the body needs and cannot exist without, as [Proverbs 13:25] states: "The righteous man eats to satisfy his soul."

Also, he shall not labor in his business except to gain what he needs for immediate use, as [Psalms 37:16] states: "A little is good for the righteous man."

He should not be overly stingy nor spread his money about, but he should give charity according to his capacity and lend to the needy as is fitting. He should not be overly elated and laugh [excessively], nor be sad and depressed in spirit. Rather, he should be quietly happy at all times, with a friendly countenance. The same applies with regard to his other traits.

This path is the path of the wise. Every man whose traits are intermediate and equally balanced can be called a "wise man."

In another work (Commentary on the Mishnah, chapter 4 of the introduction to Pirkei Avot), Maimonides specifically states that courage is a "middle path" trait, lying between cowardice and being fearless. Adopting the character trait of courage, along with the other medial character traits, is a mitzvah:

We are commanded to walk in these intermediate paths - and they are good and straight paths - as [Deuteronomy 28:9] states: "And you shall walk in His ways."

Somebody wrote that, "The streets of Jewish West Jerusalem are eerie and still." Well, Jerusalem is a big city, and I do not know what street he was refering to. All I know is that while things may be less bustling than usual, people are still going to synagogue, to work and to anywhere else they need to be. After all, this is not the first wave of terror for most of us. There is a hightened state of alertness. Some of us are taking extra precautions. But eerie and still streets? Not in my neighborhood!

It's a privilege to be here at this time. It's a privilege to be a part of this courageous nation.

The Foolish Notion of "Linkage" in US Foreign Policy

The notion that solving the "Palestinian Problem" is the key to solving the Middle East's other problems is, and has always been, an idea that could only be held by someone who is not well versed in the history of this region and the population inhabiting it. Now let's take a look at an interesting exchange between journalist Jeffrey Goldberg former Middle East peace negotiator Dennis Ross:

Goldberg: Come back to President Obama and his understanding of this conflict. When I interviewed him in the beginning of 2008, when he was running for president, he referred to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as “a constant wound,” one that spilled over into other areas of the Middle East. He appeared to be a believer in the linkage argument—that if you fix this, other problems in the Middle East might get fixed as well. Based on what you’ve observed, has he left linkage behind?

Ross: I think he has now. Certainly it stayed with him for a while. But reality debunks this notion now. It’s very clear that if you solve this, you’re not stopping one barrel bomb in Syria; you’re not going to stop an existential struggle in Egypt; you’re not going to—

Goldberg: —Yemen’s not going to get any better.

Ross: I think if you look at statements the president has made in the last year, you see for the first time a kind of acknowledgement of that. There was never an acknowledgement of that before. It weighed very heavily on the administration at the outset for sure. They saw it as being one of the sources driving terrorism. And so there was a kind of a traditionalist mindset on the conflict.

Jeffrey Goldberg, a long time Obamaphile, ascribes this foolish notion to the President of the United States. Dennis Ross affirms this, saying that, "Certainly it stayed with him for a while". Is it any wonder then, that President Obama is perceived here by the Prime Minister of Israel and others (including myself) as "hopelessly naive", as Goldberg himself put it? Of course Obama was and is not alone among decision makers in the United States regarding this matter.

The good news is that as Ross noted, "reality debunks this notion now". The truth is, reality has always debunked this notion!

How long will it take for opinion shapers and policy makers in the United States to understand that they are similarly mistaken about other things here, for instance their hostility towards Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria? Don't hold your breath!

The End of Days and the United Nations

This is probably one of the best known Biblical prophecies, perhaps because the Isaiah Wall across the street from United Nations headquarters in New York City:

1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 And it shall come to pass in the end of days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established as the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3 And many peoples shall go and say: 'Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 And He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

The prophecy starts out by telling us that the Temple Mount in Jerusalem will become the most exalted place on earth, not only for the Jewish People, but for all of mankind:

And it shall come to pass in the end of days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established as the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

Add then:

And many peoples shall go and say: 'Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

The nations will desire to learn the ways of the God of Israel. The law shall go forth from Zion, not from Rome, New York City, Mecca or Geneva! And finally:

And He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Who will judge between the nations? One could say God Himself, but most of the classical commentaries say that "he" refers to the Messiah. Since his rulings will be universally accepted, the nations will beat their swords into plowshares, and their tanks/missles/assault rifles into who knows what. The Messiah will settle all disputes peacefully!

Now lets take a look at the Isaiah Wall:

What's written on the wall is the second half of verse 4, "and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." This butchered quote, taken out of context, totally destroys the message that Isaiah was trying to convey! Universal peace will not be brought about by a bunch of diplomats in New York City! It will only happen when the nations will recognize God's sovereignty! The nations will realize the folly of their ways, and will seek instruction from God. Then the International Court of Law will be in Jerusalem, and "He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples."

In the meantime the UN, which was created with good intentions, is a morally corrupt institution. Much has been written about its obsession with passing anti-Israel resolutions, the negative effects of UNWRA, and its various "councils" of scoffers. But, "He that sitteth in heaven laugheth, the Lord hath them in derision." Eventually, the UN will be designated to the dustpan of history, and Isaiah's true vision will be fulfilled.

Do Not Call Them “Terror Victims”!

Please read the awesome eulogy of Rabbi Eitan and Naama Henkin, by Eitam's brother Yagil. The entire eulogy is fantastic, however this in particular caught my eye:

The Torah world lost one of the great rabbis and leaders of the next generation, and the academic world lost an excellent researcher.

This is not surprising, as he comes from a family of great rabbis. You can see some of Rabbi Eitam Henkin's writings on his blog. If you examine his work, you will probably agree with his brother that he was indeed destined for greatness. HY"D!

Terror Will Not Prevent the Redemption of the Jewish People

That's the story. The Arabs, with every act of barbarity here in the land of Israel against the Jewish People, are really harming themselves more than anybody else:

And in the fourth generation they shall come back hither; for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.

The iniquity of the Arabs grows from day to day. They are on the way out, slowly but surely.

I was at the kotel today. The People of Israel Live! Here's a pic:

OBERGEFELL v. HODGES and Causing the Masses to Sin

Rabbi Yechiel Michel Tukachinsky zt"l, in his Luach Eretz Yisrael, mentions that before Yom Kippur one should check that he does not have one of the 24 things that hold back teshuvah. These things are listed by Maimonides in his Laws of Teshuvah, Chapter 4:

There are 24 deeds which hold back Teshuvah: Four are the commission of severe sins. God will not grant the person who commits such deeds to repent because of the gravity of his transgressions.

What are these four things out of the 24 that are so severe that God will give the transgressor the opportunity to repent?

They are:

1) One who causes the masses to sin, included in this category is one who holds back the many from performing a positive command;

2) One who leads his colleague astray from the path of good to that of bad; for example, one who proselytizes or serves as a missionary [for idol worship];

3) One who sees his son becoming associated with evil influences and refrains from rebuking him. Since his son is under his authority, were he to rebuke him, he would have separated himself [from these influences]. Hence, [by refraining from admonishing him, it is considered] as if he caused him to sin.

Included in this sin are also all those who have the potential to rebuke others, whether an individual or a group, and refrain from doing so, leaving them to their shortcomings.

4) One who says: "I will sin and then, repent." Included in this category is one who says: "I will sin and Yom Kippur will atone [for me]."

Rabbi Tukachinsky's advice was directed at the individual that he should check himself, indeed the entire idea of learning ethics is how to learn to apply them to one's self. However, I could not help but think of the SCOTUS when I read the first item:"One who causes the masses to sin..."Their decision in the OBERGEFELL v. HODGES case seems to be a classic case of causing the masses to sin, as I explained here. There I also expressed my dismay that all three Jews sitting in the Supreme Court supported the SCOTUS's scandalous decision.

Unfortunately there were also other groups, that claim to have a connection with Judaism or the Jewish People, which also pushed for this decision, and filed a "brief". They should be ashamed, but they are not. Even if they believe that the Constitution guarentees the right for such unions, they should have shown that their first allegiance is to the God of Israel. And if they could not bring themselves to actively oppose this breach in morals, they certainly did not have to actively support it. I am listing the Jewish organizations in that brief here:

ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE

AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE

BEND THE ARC: A JEWISH PARTNERSHIP FOR JUSTICE

CENTRAL CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN RABBIS

GLOBAL JUSTICE INSTITUTE

HADASSAH, THE WOMEN’S ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA

JEWISH SOCIAL POLICY ACTION NETWORK

KESHET

THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN

NEHIRIM

RECONSTRUCTIONIST RABBINICAL COLLEGE AND JEWISH RECONSTRUCTIONIST COMMUNITIES

SOCIETY FOR HUMANISTIC JUDAISM

T’RUAH: THE RABBINIC CALL FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

WOMEN OF REFORM JUDAISM

WOMEN’S LEAGUE FOR CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM

Shame on them all!

Yom Kippur Eve with Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau

It's in English! G'mar Chatimah Tovah!

Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail zt"l

Baruch Dayan HaEmet:

Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail, the founder and director of Amishav, the organization on behalf of the Dispersed of Israel, passed away on Thursday morning at the age of 83.

Rabbi Avichail was identified for many years with efforts to find the descendants of the ten lost tribes. He founded Amishav in 1975 to help Bnei Menashe communities in India, Myanmar (Burma) and Israel.

Also an educator, Rabbi Avichail taught for many years at educational institutions within the religious word. Together with his wife, Rivka, he won the Yakir Yerushalayim award for outstanding citizenship in 2012.

Rabbi Avichail is the author of six books on the Ten Tribes and dedicated his life to research regarding their fate.

Thanks to his activism, thousands of people from communities thought to be descended from these tribes made aliyah to Israel. Most notable in the Bnei Menashe community from India.

According to his grandson, Aryeh Minkov, Rabbi Avichail even helped Marranos in Spain return to Judaism and come to Israel.

Minkov told Arutz Sheva that Rabbi Avichail was first encouraged to pursue the issue of the dispersed of Israel by his teacher and mentor, Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook.

He then established the Amishav organization, which Minkov described as Rabbi Avichail's "whole world despite being a side job."

"We as a family saw the great love the Bnei Menashe felt for my grandfather. They called him brother, named their children after him, and in the last year, when he fell ill, they came to visit. My grandfather loved them back. That was his whole world."

Rabbi Avichail is survived by his wife, six children and numerous grandchildren. Funeral details have not yet been announced.

I remember hearing him speak at Mahon Meir over thirty years ago. Inspired by what he said, I purchased the booklet pictured below.

May his family be comforted with the restoration of Zion and the return of those exiled.

Goodbye 5775!

Goodbye 5775! As for 5776, bring it on! May you all be written and sealed for a good year!

Read this semi-prophetic dvar-Torah that Rabbi Kook gave in the Hurva Synagogue.

הִנָּבֵא אֶל-הָרוּחַ

And now for something completely different: