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