Peace Now - Pay Later

The title to this piece is an old joke about the "Peace Now" movement. How unfortunate is it that the time of payment has come. We are now paying a dear price for the illusions that were behind the Oslo agreements in the early 1990s and Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in the year 2000. How ironic it is that many of the politicians that were responsible for these two (literally) fatal mistakes are serving in the present government and Knesset: Shimon Peres, Chaim Ramon, and Amir Peretz, just to name a few. The lack of accountability here is amazing!

The time has come to pay the bills.

Pray For The Welfare Of Our Soldiers

He who blessed our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, may He bless the soldiers of Israel who stand guard on our country and the cities of our God. From Lebanon until the deserts of Egypt, from the Mediterranean Sea until the Plains of Jordan - on dry land, in the air and sea. May God afflict the enemies that rise against them before them. The Holy One, Blessed is He, should protect and save our soldiers from any misfortune or calamity, and from any sickenss or disease. May he send blessing and success in all their handiwork, destroy their enemies below them, and crown them with the crown of redemption and the crown of victory. And the verse "For God walks among you, to wage war for you with your enemies, to save you" should be fulfilled, and let us say, Amen.

Israeli Civil Rights Activist Placed In Administrative Detention

Arutz 7:

Staunch supporter of the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria Baruch Marzel today calling the attention of his political opposites to the ramifications of the arrest of Honenu organization head Ariel Gruner.

Baruch, don't hold your breath waiting!

That's The Way The Kadima Crumbles

We may be witnessing the beginning of the end of the Kadima Party. The party, which was never more than a collection of opportunists, held together by their common desire for power, is starting to show signs of deterioration as Kadima member Sheetrit opposes Olmert's unilateral withdrawal plan:

Housing and Construction Minister Meir Sheetrit (Kadima) came out publicly on Monday to oppose Prime Minister and party Chairman Ehud Olmert’s unilateral withdrawal plan.

Sheetrit said, “The current chances of implementing the realignment plan are very slim; there are many reservations, including my own. I do not believe in another unilateral disengagement.”

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Ramon still hasn't woken up from his intellectual coma:

According to Ramon, “The realignment and the disengagement were borne out of the understanding that Israel has no partner on the other side. The events of the past few days just prove this. Since Israel can’t be held hostage by Hamas and Qassam rockets, it must act according to its interests.”

Who and where is the doctor that will cure this man?

Ehud Olmert's Latest Book

As a Dog That Returneth to His Vomit...

...so is a fool that repeateth his folly (Proverbs 26:11).

Does Olmert also know how to say woof?

Yitzchak Rabin: There Will Be No Katyushas from Gaza

Arutz 7 has made available a recording of the late Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin ridiculing (in Hebrew) those who warned that rockets would be fired from Gaza. A blast from the past (no pun intended):

"The scare-stories of the Likud are well-known," Rabin said in 1995 in the above recording. "Why, they also promised us Katyushas from Gaza. It's already a year that the Gaza Strip is mostly under the control of the Palestinian Authority - and there wasn't a Katyusha and there won't be any..."

We are now paying the price of the Israeli Left's stupidity and hubris.

British Crimes in the Holy Land Remembered

British war hero Roy Farran, the apparent murderer of 16 year old Alexander Rubovitch, has finally kicked the bucket.

For more information, see the following:

Eretz Yisrael Forever

Arutz 7

My Right Word

Photo Feature: Parting with a Son - The Asheris Mourn Eliyahu

Here's another article worth reading. I met Yitro Asheri about twenty years ago in Machon Meir. Yitro, my heart goes out to you and your family.

For Some The Disengagement From Reality Continues

This article deserves some serious fisking.

Now The Truth Can Be Told

Be sure to read this one from Ynetnews: Yaalon: Sharon planned pullout out of personal distress. Bogie just says what many of us here in Israel have said all along. Among his gems:

"There is no doubt that the disengagement failed. This failure emanates from the fact that the disengagement was essentially based on a doomed idea. It was not the result of thorough strategic analysis but the result of a political distress of his who was prime minister then, Ariel Sharon."

And this:

"The process created an illusionary hope that was not planned strategically and practically. The disengagement was mainly a media spin. Those who initiated it and lead it lacked the strategic, security, political and historical background. They were image counselor. They were spin doctors. These people put Israel in a virtual spin that is disconnected from reality using a media spin campaign which is imploding before our eyes."

Again, be sure to read the whole thing.

Disengagement Repentance

I think that recent current events have proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the ethnic cleansing of Jews from the Gaza Strip and the withdrawl of the Israeli Army from that part of the land of Israel was a terrible mistake.

How is it that Seargent Cosmic X knew that the "disengagement" was certain to fail, and big name Israeli politicians and army officers did not? Cosmic X immediately recognized the plan for what it was, a modern version of the "sin of the spies". The spies, for all kinds of reasons, did not want to fulfill the Divine commandment of conquering and settling the land. They caused our nation much suffering, as is well known. The rejection of the land of Israel is a sure recipe for disaster.

I am taking this opportunity to emplore all those that supported the expulsion, took part in it, or sat on the sidelines quietly to consider doing teshuvah, that is to say , repent.


It is well known that there are four steps in repenting:

1) Ceasing to do the particular sin
2) Confession (to God)
3) Regret
4) Accepting upon oneself not to do that particular sin again.

The power of teshuvah is great (see Rambam Laws of Repentance 7:6). Don't miss it.

Will The Homosexuals Defile Jerusalem?

Tensions are rising in the holy city. Yesterday the Knesset held a meeting about the planned international homosexual parade scheduled for next month in Jerusalem. A survey was presented which in my humble opinion accurately reflects the attitude of the public:

MK Yitzchak Levy (National Union/NRP) presented a survey showing that a large majority of the public - including a full 63% of the secular public - is against holding the gay pride parade in Jerusalem.

Among the public defining itself as traditional, the number was 81%, and among the religious, 99-100%.

"Don't force yourselves upon a city that clearly doesn't want you," Levy said.

I can only second MK Levy's request. Former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has come out strongly against the parade, and so has Rabbi Yosef Sholom Elyashiv.

I do not know if homosexuality is a physical malady, a mental disease, or a genetic defect. Whatever it is it is certainly nothing to be proud of.

Ignorant Musician Visiting Israel Alert

This guy has obviously been on the "dark side of the moon" for too long.

Some Links In Honor Of Jerusalem Day

Sara Yoheved Rigler has a nice article on the Aish HaTorah web site, My Home, My History, My Heart.

Arutz Sheva has a statistical analysis of Jerusalem's population, One Out of Ten Israelis Calls Jerusalem Home.

Haaretz, Israel's premier publication of leftist intellectual atrophy, couldn't pass up the opportunity to celebrate Jerusalem Day with a little bit of rot from Uzi Benziman, Ticking time bomb in Jewish Quarter.

Thank God For The State Of Israel!

Thank God for the state of Israel! With all of its shortcomings and problems, thank God for the state of Israel!

Many people tend to be ingrates, to concentrate on the negative, to be like flies that always land on the open wound and ignore the healthy flesh. Not I. Thank God for the state of Israel!

In our internet age, people are often superficial and ignorant, aware only of what was written in the last pop-up window. So let's remember what it was like to be a Jew about 70 years ago in Germany. Let's remember the world's reaction to the plight of the Jews.

We really do have so much to be thankful for, if you really think about it.

Thank God for the state of Israel!

A Happy And Kosher Passover To All

I'm coming out of hibernation once again to wish you all a happy and kosher Passover. Let's hope that Jonathan Pollard will also be able to spend this Passover as a free man.

Cosmic X Endorses...

My impression is that the public is not excited about the upcoming elections, and that is an understatement. The reason why, in my humble opinion, is that the public has lost faith in the political system. Israeli politics has become corrupt, and the public wants nothing to do with politics or politicians.

The corruption in Israeli politics is not only on the level of the personal mideeds of the politicians, i.e. the use of public money to provide friends and cronies with a livelihood, although this certainly exists. Israeli political corruption runs much deeper. It is the ability of politicians to promise one thing to the public, get elected on the basis of these promises, and then proceed to ignore their constituents and execute an entirely different policy. Sharon's "disengagement" policy, the uprooting of thriving Jewish settlements in return for nothing, in opposition of what he promised to the voters, was a glaring example of Israel's political corruption.

Israel's three major newspapers, Ma'ariv, Yediot Acharonot, and Ha'aretz, as well as Israel's television stations 1 and 2, are full fledged partners in Israel's political corruption. The job of the media is to be the "watchdog of democracy". Israel's MSM failed in their job, and instead of calling Sharon to order, they rooted him on in his effort to make the Gaza Strip judenrein. One of Israel's leading journalists was quoted as saying, "We must guard Sharon like an Etrog." Woe to us that these are our MSM journalists!

When we look back on the past year many other Israeli institutions get low marks as well, for example the police, and the army. Both of them stumbled and fell, and their uniforms are still soiled. Who knows how long it will take for these institutions to rehabilitate themselves? As for Israel's judicial system, it is rotten to the core. It is similar to impure earthenware vessels which can only be purified by breaking them.

My son Moshe X is now 18 years old and will be voting for the first time. He told me that he will be voting for the Ichud-Leumi/Mafdal. I asked him if he will hold his nose when he puts the slip in the envelope. He said that he will hold his nose and close his eyes, but that is what the hour requires. I agree with him.

So on Tuesday I encourage all lovers of Torah and the land of Israel to go out and vote for either Shas, Agudah, or the the Ichud-Leumi/Mafdal. I will be voting for the latter, since Rav Avraham Shapira the Rosh Yeshiva of Merkaz HaRav supports them. Whoever you vote for, don't forget to hold your nose!

And When I Awoke, I Was Alone

Purim is a very busy day.
The first item of the day was making sure that everyone, especially my wife, would hear the reading of the Book of Esther.

Shacharit started at 7:30 AM. Although I tried making sure that everyone got there on time, I was the only one that did. My kids came strolling in at around 8:00 AM. Moshe X had been at a Purim party until 2:00 AM the previous night, and he was obviously suffering from its after-effects. The main thing was that they all, except for my wife, arrived in time to hear the reading of the Megillah.

One of the signs of getting old is that you would prefer that people would not "stamp out" Haman's name during the reading of the Megillah. I'm old. I would prefer to hear the Megillah without those interruptions. Dream on!

When I came home that morning my main job was to make sure that my wife heard the special reading for women at 9:30 AM. Mrs. X needed a little bit of encouragement to finish her shower and dress quickly. In the end, she arrived on time. Mission accomplished.

The next task was Mishloach Manot. This was easy as they had all been prepared the previous day. The children were happy to deliver them, especially to a particular family that had a custom of giving five shekels "dmei Purim" to children that brought them Mishloach Manot.

Daf Yomi never rests and today the lesson would be at 11:00 AM, before the participants would be unable to comprehend a page of Talmud due to the high levels of alcohol in their blood. The lesson ended at 12:00 noon. Layehudim Hayeta Ora(the Jews had light), where Ora(light) is Torah according to our sages as it says "A mitzvah is a candle and the Torah is light."

One of my daughters wanted to visit her grandmother who lives in a different neighborhood. That's what fathers and automobiles are for. I let her know that I will not be able to drive her back home, for the time for sobriety is running out.

12:30 PM was the time for the Minchah prayer immediately followed by "Yeshivat Mordechai HaTzaddik", the Purim version of Avot U'vanim.

2:30 PM was the time to fulfil "ad delo yada", which means drinking enough wine so that you do not know the difference between "Cursed is Haman" and "Blessed is Mordechai". I chose a liter bottle of Grenache Rose from the Hebron Winery to do the trick. Perhaps the merit of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs buried in Hebron would save me from a hangover.

We had a very nice family over for the Purim meal. After the meal and about 3/4 of the above mentioned wine was in my stomach, I crashed out on my bed. I woke up a couple of hours later. It was dark out. The house was empty. All of the Purim fanfare was over. What a hangover! That's the last time I drink so much wine...until next Purim.

Purim Sameach!

Purim Sameach!



Along with the other mitzvot of Purim, I plan to fulfil the Mitzvah of "ad delo yada" tomorrow. I hope that the hangover won't be too bad.