Son of Ilan Ramon killed in training accident

It is with great sadness I give the news that Asaf Ramon, 21 year old son of Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, died in an IAF training flight accident today - over the southern Hevron Hills of Israel. Asaf was the oldest son of Ilan Ramon, who perished in the space shuttle Columbia when it exploded upon re-entry to the earth's atmosphere.

See the full story here and here.

We mourn the loss of yet another Ramon family member due to such tragic circumstances. Our deeply felt condolences go to Rona (wife of Ilan, mother of Asaf) and the rest of the family.

Amazing Invention by 16 yr old Zion Badash

Look what sixteen year old Zion Badash does in his spare time. Kol hakavod Zion. Amazing country, Israel.

When the Heart Cries Only God Hears

As our warships pass through the Suez Canal, flexing our muscle against an ancient enemy, and some of the rabbis are arguing over the bracha to say over Bambas (the peanut butter snack of Israel), and the Neuturei Karta and other haredim are rioting in the streets over several issues, the Israeli public is pensive and the always present pain in our heart is starting to awaken. The street, though looking normal, is expressing despair. Today I am feeling the aloneness of Israel as we face the weeks and months ahead, charting a course in war, as always we must wage against those who try to destroy us.

In the silence of Erev Shabbat we utter this prayer. This song was written by Yossi Gispan and Arlet Tzfadia after the brutal lynching of two of our soldiers in Ramallah in 2000. It is sung here by Sarit Hadad.  (note: This particular video rendition is after the tragedy of the Gush Katif gerush ( to be cast out ) from which we have never recovered as a People and a Nation ed.2013) It was also a time when the heart cried only God heard.

Hebrew & English Words to this song: SH'MA YISRAEL ELOHAY

K'shehalev bocheh rak Elohim shome'a
hake'ev oleh mitoch haneshamah
adam nofel lifnei shehu shoke'a
bit'filah k'tanah chotech et had'mamah

Sh'ma Israel Elohai atah hakol yachol
natata li et chayay natata li hakol
be'enai dim'a halev bocheh besheket
uch'shehalev shotek haneshamah zo'eket.
Sh'ma Israel Elohai achshav ani levad
chazek oti Elohai aseh shelo ef'chad
hake'ev gadol ve'ein le'an livro'ach
aseh sheyigamer ki lo notar bi ko'ach.

Kshehalev bocheh hazman omed milechet
ha'adam ro'eh et kol chayav pit'om
el halo noda hu lo rotze lalechet
le'Elohav kore al saf tehom.

HEAR ISRAEL / HEAR MY GOD
WHEN THE HEART CRIES

HEAR ISRAEL MY GOD

When the heart cries only God hears
the pain rises out of the soul
a man falls down before he sinks down
with a little prayer (he) cuts the silence

Hear Israel my God, you're the omnipotent
you gave me my life, you gave me everything
in my eyes a tear, the heart cries quietly
and when the heart is quiet, the soul screams
Hear Israel my God, now I am alone
strengthen me my God; make it that I won't fear
the pain is big, and there's no where to run away
make it end, for no more strength is left within me

When the heart cries, time stands still
all of a sudden, the man sees his entire life
he doesn't want to go to the unknown
he cries to his God right before a big fall

Language and Three Headed Monsters

It seems, with regard to Israel at least, there is arising in the world a three headed monster.

Head #1: We have a raving messianic muslim maniac (Ahmadinejad) in Iran desiring to usher in the al-mahdi, (the one to come in the midst of violence and war to bring the messianic age of peace. All infidels will either die or convert to Islam...only Muslims will be left on earth.) In Ahmadinejad's thinking, the chaos and violence he will cause by attacking Israel is in fact the reality of the al-mahdi's coming (in his mind). The fact that Ahmadinejad will attempt to obliterate a goodly number of the most hated infidels (Israeli Zionists) will be a feather in his eternal cap. Ramping up of his nuclear program has much to do with religious fervor.

Head #2: North Korea. Kim-Jong II. Another raving maniac, though neither messianic nor muslim...just given to temper tantrums and bizarre behavior ...also trying to build the country's nuclear capabilities. Now threatening to test a missile towards US territory (Hawaii, Guam, Alaska) this coming weekend...which happens to be the American 4th of July (Independence Day.)

Additionally, North Korea has a ship traveling off the coast of China which is thought to be carrying illicit materials - possibly nuclear. The US naval destroyer USS John McCain is tracking the ship. North Korea has stated that if American ships detain or block the ship's passage, or try to board for inspection (permitted by international law), it will consider the move an act of war and retaliate 1,000-fold. [breaking news: It is reported that after a brief close encounter with the USS John McCain, the North Korean ship turned around but it's destination is unknown at this time.(AP)]

North Korea and Iran are friends and it is known that they are working together to realize their nuclear aspirations. North Korea successfully tested a nuclear device in an underground explosion last April and it is reported that they are assisting Iran in accomplishing the same.

Head #3: Barak Obama (sorry folks)
Obama has actually reacted somewhat properly to North Korea's threat to send missiles towards Hawaii by sending in the USS John McCain, readying a defense system around Hawaii and sounding tough on sanctions. (smile ....as if threatening sanctions to crazy people can be considered tough.) Remember that North Korea is a communist country, not Muslim, so Obama can be tougher. In fact, he is allowed to react and maybe, perhaps, protect American soil, stating [regarding North Korea] that "This administration - and our military - is fully prepared for any contingencies."

But when it comes to Iran, while it is true that Obama would not wish to have it become a nuclear state, he nevertheless, treads very, very softly. Iran, after all, is a Muslim nation....part of what Obama calls "his people". (See earlier post) He still holds out for a diplomatic process to divert Iran's nuclear buildup to peaceful usage, like energy. He thinks he knows Iran, who they are, how they think.

Obama is not a messianic muslim and leaves the ushering in of messianic figures like the al-mahdi to the mullahs and others. But he made it clear in his Cairo speech that while he may believe some Christian rhetoric, he identifies himself with muslim belief and with his people - muslims worldwide.

This is why I identify him as the 3rd head of this arising beast because the ultimate tradition and belief in Islam, even if one doesn't believe in the messianic parts of the faith, is that the world must come under a worldwide caliphate. (Islamic rule). Achieving this goal, as in Christianity's historical footprints to achieve the goal of global Christian faith, can be either a peaceful path or a violent one, depending on the times, current political consensus, the leaders, and the success of one method or the other.

Barak Obama didn't tell us who he was...though, of course, many knew.

In my June 12 post, I outlined many things in the Cairo speech that were signals to the Islamic world as to his position and stance visa-vie Islam...his signals that was he "one of them". But looking past the Cairo speech to other statements or actions in Obama's brief history we can gain additional insight.

Let me mention just one powerful example :

Sharia Law
One of the more ominous developments in America right now is the advancement of sharia financing and sharia law. Other posts will be required to discuss at length this very disturbing phenomenon, but brief but excellent explanations of sharia and it's dangers can be found here and here. [Please note: many of the websites I first visited to link here have been hijacked or have "broken links". hmmm. Tell us something???]

Basically sharia financing is done according to Islamic law, involving adherence to certain restrictions and rules according to the tenants of Islam. (Similiar to halacha in Judaism). But sharia goes way beyond Islamic "halacha" and is completely connected to the entire sharia agenda, including burka covering of women, death to adulterors and more. It is one of the first steps towards a global caliphate. Among many other stipulations which should frighten every non-muslim, sharia financing requires, at minimum, a 2.5% payment of zakat (charity - like tzedaka) given to Islamic causes. Almost all the Islamic causes are tied to jihad (if not all).

Many businesses are suddenly turning to sharia financing to attract Saudi and other oil dollars, or are feeling enormous pressures from certain sectors to comply. Barak Obama's involvement in this should rattle everyone's cage. While he has not come forward in actual words to encourage this trend, he has acted in the courts in a definitive manner, leaving no question as to his position.

AIG, the huge financial company that almost went under in the second-mortgage market bust of 2008, is one of those companies who are sharia compliant in many of their investmensts and products, including homeowners insurance. AIG is required by sharia law to give monies (minimum 2.5% of revenue derived from sharia products) to Islamic charity. AIG was bailed out by the US Govt. to the tune of $150 billion making the US Government an 80% majority owner of this company. An additional $40 billion of federal funds was appropriated to fund and support the government’s interest in AIG...tax payer money. American taxpayer money that is going to fund Islamic "charities" that are engaged in jihad against America, Israel and European nations.

The Thomas More Law Center has filed a lawsuit case against Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the Federal Reserve Board for the illegal and outrageous fact that American taxpayers are now paying for the war of terrorism against them. It is one thing (still a bad thing) if AIG as a private company is sharia compliant (still illegal in my opinion) but now that the government owns 80% of AIG it is totally unacceptable. Good for the Thomas More Law Center.

Unfortunately, the Obama's administration immediately filed in the courts to dismiss the case. (The US Justice Department on behalf of the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve). Keep in mind that the lawsuit was NOT challenging the government bailout, only that now that the government is the majority owner and taxpayer dollars are funding it, it is unacceptable for AIG to be continue to be sharia compliant, funding Islamic terrorism. (I mean for G-d's sake it should be illegal for any American company, private or public, to be sharia compliant.)

Whether as an act of appeasement to Islam, or in fact, sympathy to, this counter suit by Obama's government is not at all comforting to say the least. Fortunately, there is breaking news just yesterday that the courts disagreed with the government's attempt to silence the objection and is in fact proceeding with the lawsuit... thank G-d. Whether they will be successful is QUITE another matter, but at least there is some awareness of the issues.

This is only ONE example of Obama's administration's coziness to Islamic agendas, and my writing this is by no means an attempt to exonerate the Bush administration on the same issues. George Bush was in fact, very pro-Islam as we all can recall. However, he never gave the kind of address to Islam that has Barak Hussein Obama.

So, to come full circle, I want to return to the Cairo speech and address an issue I promised to write about in my earlier blog and why Obama is lethal for Israel.

About half way through his speech, referring to solving the Israeli, Palestinian tension, Obama said the following:

"..all of us have a responsibility to work for the day....when the Holy Land of three great faiths is the place of peace that God intended it to be; when Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims, and a place for all of the three children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together as in the story of Isra,when Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed (peace be upon them) joined in prayer. [Ed. note: the phrase "peace be upon them" is a Muslim blessing for the deceased]

It is the "Isra" on which I wish to focus. Remember that much of Islam is replacement theology, a decision to take everything Jewish and make it Muslim. "Isra" is not an actual arabic word, but a usurption of the Hebrew "ysr" (Isra) to claim it for Islam. Specifically, (in Islam) it is the legend of a dream Muhammed supposedly had, taking him from Mecca to "the furtherest mosque" which now is interpreted as Jerusalem, but not originally. Originally, while the furthest mosque physically was Medina [there was no mosque at all in Jerusalem], early Koranic commentators considered the furthest mosque to be "heaven".

During the Umayyad caliphate (661–750), the heavenly interpretation was replaced
with Jerusalem; it was in the midst of unparralled mixtures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam at the time, and the various conquests of Jerusalem in the 600's. The laying claim to Jerusalem is important, as in Islamic tradition, what is "once" Islamic land" is always Islamic, and reasserting Islamic rule is only a matter of time...the battle for that land must never cease until it returns to Muslim control.

But wait, there's more to the Isra' legend that we must understand in interpreting Obama's words. Not only is it that Jerusalem becomes Islamic in this legend, Islam becomes supreme over Judaism and Christianity:

From the Miraj:

"...Muhammad meets Moses, and Jesus in Jerusalem; he then officiates as leader (imam) of the ritual prayer (salat) for all the prophets assembled and establishes his primacy among G0d's messengers."

Obama was NOT saying Jerusalem should be a City of three Abrahamic faiths in the way the West would understand those words. What Obama said was that Jerusalem should be ".. a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together as in the story of Isra'." In other words, Jerusalem is Islamic land, and Islam supreme. As someone who "experienced Islam on three continents", he knew EXACTLY what he was saying.

The West totally missed what his carefully chosen words conveyed. The Muslim world did not.

In fact, his entire speech as well as news releases about other issues, are filled with the carefully chosen words that mean one thing to Western ears, but quite another to Muslims around the world.

We need to understand Obama's obsessive drive to remove Jewish settlements from Judea and Samaria wholly in the context of his message in Cairo. No matter what he says about America's long term relationship with Israel, Obama's Israel isn't our Israel.

As a People, we seem to have a difficult time understanding duplicity and cover our ears. It seems we just aren't getting it....again. Hopefully, this time, as the monster raises it's ugly head, we will recognize it and know that we have seen it before....before it's too late.

FREE GILAD

TODAY, JUNE 25, MARKS THE 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF GILAD SHALIT'S KIDNAPPING. AN ISRAELI SOLDIER CAPTURED ON ISRAELI SOLDIER BY HAMAS TERRORISTS. HE HAS BEEN HELD PRISONER SINCE THEN.

PLEASE REMEMBER HIM AND PRAY FOR A SUCCESSFUL MILITARY RESCUE

Still A Man of Destiny

This is a time of testing for our nation. Particularly it is a time of testing for the national camp. The Elections were one test, this 2nd test is much more serious.

The Prime Minister of Israel is someone who probably has more pressure on him than anyone else in the world. Because we have allowed it in the past in order to have friends, we have let these "friends" simply tell us what to do, as if we were their personal possession. And we have acquiesced to many of their demands...or given lip service to agreement.

But today we have elected a man who holds Zionist values, who has the capacity to stand strong in the face of this pressure. And, last night, in his first speech before the nation and the world, in my opinion, he did just that.

But Bibi, no matter what he does or doesn't do, is lambasted by both the left and the right. He is the classic example of damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. The left can do what they want, but I still associate myself with the right and I am appalled at the cat calls to bring down this government.

What are these people thinking? Thank God the calls have died down given a day or two... yet there are still plenty of negative words like betrayal, buckling to America, etc.

As I have said before, if the train is off course and careening at breakneck speed down the side of the hill, the FIRST THING you have to do is STOP THE TRAIN. After that you can figure out how to get it back on the track.

All those who are feeling that Bibi's mere mention of a Palestinian state gives credibility to it and are ready to throw in the towel are not thinking clearly. Like a Palestinian state has never been mentioned by our government before? With whom would they replace Bibi? Tzipi Livni?? who not only wants the PA State to take all of Judea and Samaria but also all of east Jerusalem and the Golan??

Bibi outlined a Palestinian state that cannot exist - one that recognizes us as a Jewish state, one that is demilitarized, one that cannot have Jerusalem, etc. He knows and we all know that that will never happen. So, basically Bibi was saying, in the most clever of ways, "in your dreams, baby."

The PA got it. Not in a thousand years, they said. The Peace Process is dead. Why can't we get it?

Of all the times in our national camp history, we need to support this prime minister.

Obama was embarrassingly put in a corner. He couldn't say Bibi didn't recognize the option of two states...yet he, of course, knows as well it's not gonna work like that. To save face he went right back to "no settlements", but now there's no power in his words, his words have lost their punch.

What Bibi did was give us a platform to restate and affirm our sovereign position. No past agreements have ever worked, and he, better than anybody, can eloquently point that out. He can then say the obvious: "Here's the PA state we would accept. No deal? OK, no deal. End of story. We will annex the entire Judea and Samaria and finally put this subject to rest. It's time to move on."

That of course could be my own dream. But it's possible, and I am a firm believer in the impossible, so certainly I can put my stock in the possible.

America can and most likely will, turn it's corporate back on Israel. They will tighten the screws and in the end, will probably abandon our friendship. America then will truly be a divided nation as the people, for the most part, are with us. But God will not tolerate the turning stance against Israel. I'm afraid for America on many levels.

We, on the other hand, will stand alone in the nations, but with the power of the Almighty as our wings and strength. It's not easy, it will get even harder, but it's the only solution.

I still believe that Bibi Netanyahu is a man of destiny - no matter the pundits cackles and calls, and no matter the well-meaning, but short-sightedness of the leaders of the various Zionist movements.

I don't know about you but I'm checking for my seat belts, and grateful the miklat is now cleared of furniture. But then I'm offering a prayer to heaven to see us through.

Bibi's Long Awaited Speech

I am really proud of Bibi. He was brilliant. There should be no complaints on the right, but already I see them coming in. We truly are our own worst enemy.

Bibi outlined very clearly that if there was ever to be a Palestinian state, we had to be recognized as a Jewish one. This is clearly something the Palestinians will never, ever agree to ...but it will be on their heads not ours.

He countered every demand of Obama's but in the most eloquent diplomatic way.

He said the "words" Palestinian State, BUT...

• He never ever said how big or where it would be. He continually spoke of Judea and Samaria as being ours.
• If there is a Palestinian state we must be recognized as a Jewish one
• Any Palestinian State would have to be demilitarized - no army, no weapons (a slap in the face to American demands to build up the PA army
• Our right to be in this Land is NOT BECAUSE OF OUR SUFFERING THROUGH PERSECUTIONS LIKE THE SHOAH, but because of our eternal right to this Land as Jews. It is and always has been our homeland. The direct opposite of Obama's speech.
• No new settlements will be established but building WILL CONTINUE in the established ones...again the direct opposite of Obama's demands
• He was absolutely clear about no arab return to the Israel.
• He was absolutely clear that Jerusalem will not be divided

The PA heard what he said. Here was Saeb Ereket's response to Bibi's speech:

Senior PA negotiator Saeb Erikat said that “Netanyahu will have to wait a thousand years befire he finds a Palestinian who agrees to his suggestions. He has unilaterally eliminated all of the final status subjects like Jerusalem, refugees and security.”

“I turn to President Obama,” he said – “Netanyahu’s speech is a slap in the face to your speech.”

Too bad and so sad that our own right-wing leadership didn't listen to the words and the intent.

KOL HAKAVOD BIBI. YOU DID IT!!

The Speech in Cairo - Weighing In At Last

It took me 6-7 careful reads and 4 days of studying Obama's speech before I saw it.

Even though I knew, I was stunned - shocked - when I saw it. Of course it was apparent by everything he said...but still, there it was - completely out in the open.

I had nearly finished writing this piece. I took one last look at his speech, when suddenly, leaping off the page was one word, confirming all that I had just written.

Barak Obama, President of the United States, upon announcing how Muslim communities and countries around the world could achieve better economic development and opportunity through various interaction with, and help from, America, said this:

All these things must be done in partnership. Americans are ready to join with citizens and governments- community organizations, religious leaders, and businesses in Muslim communities around the world to help our people pursue a better life.

If I were giving this speech, (thank G-d I couldn't) directed to a Muslim audience throughout the world, stating how America could help Muslims pursue a better life, I would have said your people. For sure. Never "our people."
A Freudian slip that no one caught....even his excellent speech writers, but then I'm sure that word was not in his notes...or was it?

Let this sink in for a while.
-----------------
My original article follows - basically it drew the same conclusion. Obama's speech can be found at the White House Press website:

***************

Reluctantly I will weigh in on Obama....at last. I know many have been waiting for TodayinIsrael's take on the current round of events - in particular Obama's much awaited speech in Cairo.

I say reluctantly because there is so much to contemplate, it's almost bigger than words..yet words will be necessary to convey at least part of it. These recent defining moments have been a long time in coming - the beginning outward manifestations of all we know that has been brewing beneath the surface. The unadulterated, virulent anti-Jewish/Israel animal has been uncaged again and is standing at the door...

Of course the beast was always there, lurking, making much noise, but it has needed permission to become unleashed...and I believe that Barak Obama has taken the keys given him and unlocked the door.

I want to be frank. When I first encountered Barak Obama in 2000 I knew he was a rising star. It didn't matter that he lost the race for a seat in the House of Representatives, there was something that caused me to be directed to his persona. I knew then, and I spoke it to some, that this man would be the President one day, that he would be a world leader, that it would happen quickly and it would not be good - in fact, it would be very bad.

We have entered that time. While I am no predictor of the future, and I do not know the specifics of how it will all pan out, I do know that the forces against Israel are strengthening quickly and Barak Obama has stepped to center stage at this time in history for a purpose. It is his destiny.

Who is Barak Obama? For all his supposed charisma and having attained the worlds most influential seat of power, he is still just a player in the game. Nevertheless, he is an important player. Perhaps we should take another look at him vis-à-vis this speech, for I think it matters.

It matters because I believe Obama is the catalyst for bringing together the Muslim and the western Christian worlds. Bringing together the two worlds results in only one thing - deep trouble for Israel. Obama states this union as his goal: "I have come here to see a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world.. ...America and Islam are not exclusive...they overlap and share common principles." So together are they in his thinking that Obama recently said that America was a Muslim nation. His statement in an interview on French television was that based on sheer numbers, America would be one of the largest Muslim nations in the world. (btw, not at all true as there are only about 1.8 million Muslims in America (Pew Center report) making it come in about spot #48-50).

This shouldn't be a problem, as he appears to be speaking theoretically, except for one thing. The goal of Islam is to have the world under a global Islamic caliphate. By referencing the US as a Muslim nation, he has moved it from a theoretical idea to an achievable one. Obama has legitimized this goal and I believe he knew exactly what he was saying. His statement should raise enormous questions and many hackles.

Again I ask, who is Barak Obama? He rose too quickly, too slickly for us to know. I was never one to get into the Kenyan birth issue because I thought that regardless of the fact that he may have been born there, his mother was an American citizen and close enough to the 18 year previous citizenship for him to qualify as a US citizen. But something else must have been amiss for him to hide and never reveal his birth information, even going so far as locking up the information with no access and successfully squashing the myriads of lawsuits against his secrecy.

When Obama said in Egypt that he had "known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed" - and he had just reiterated his father's Kenyan muslim history, his own time in Indonesia, and his muslim experiences in America - he revealed something that he has been vehemently trying to deny. For Kenya to be one of the three continents where he experienced Islam, either he was in fact born there or he spent considerable time there...which is not a problem in itself, but because of the secrecy there must be something we are not to know about this Kenyan experience.

His obvious affinity and connection to Islam has never been a secret, but was certainly downplayed during the elections. Now, secure in victory, it seems Obama can take off the outer wraps a bit. His week, including the visit to Saudi Arabia prior to Cairo has been one signal giving: Listen carefully, I am one of you.

Obama's purpose in meeting with King Abdullah before his speech in Egypt was one of recognition of the authority to which he wished to acquiesce. "I thought it was very important to come to the place where Islam began and to seek his majesty's counsel ..."

This was no politically correct gesture prior to meeting with certain nations and/or leaders. I can't recall him coming to Israel, where Judaism began, and seeking the wisdom and counsel of Binyamin Netanyahu or one the Chief Rabbis. For that matter, I have never seen him bow before any other king or leader, but twice now he has bowed before King Abdullah, signifying much).

His speech, his message is really no surprise. From the recesses of his memory and the depth of his adherence to the tenants of Islam, came calls to prayer, quotes from the "holy" Koran, punishment (a revealing word) for those who disagree with the right of women to wear hijabs.

There were some very strange statements, among them declaring that part of the responsibility of the President of the United States is to "fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear." Huh? I don't recall THAT being in the US Constitution.

Obama's speech was rife with assertions that were factually incorrect....yet few seem to notice. (One columnist, Victor Davis Hanson, apparently did and has discussed a number of his incorrect statements on JWR). Most of the glaring misrepresentations were for the purpose of enhancing the "glory of Islam". Crediting Islamic cultural achievement rather than Byzantine as the forerunner to European Renaissance and Enlightenment may be a matter of historical interpretation, but claiming Andalusia and Cordoba to be examples of "tolerant Islam" during the Spanish Inquisition was simply a blatant distortion of the facts. In fact Andalusia fell to Christian monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand at the outset of the Inquisition and Cordoba had been under Catholic control at least 150 years before the Inquisition began.

Crediting the achievements of others to the glory of Islam seemed to be the order of the day. Taking Jewish theology, history and/or Jewish thought and falsely attributing them to either Christianity or Islam is called replacement theology or thinking. It is part of the institutionalized attempts to remove the Promises of God to the Jewish people and apply the Promises to the new religions instead. Claiming Israel as the historic homeland for the "palestinians" complete with a "longing for" Jerusalem, using the very language that Jews have cried out with for centuries and centuries is part of this replacement process.

In one of the more offensive proclamations of his whole Cairo speech, Obama proudly declared that the "holy Koran" teaches "that whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he has killed all mankind; and whoever saves a person, it is as it he has saved all mankind."" An excellent message. The only problem is that this was a (Jewish) Talmudic teaching, written in the 2nd century CE, 300 years before Muhammad was born. (Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.- Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 4:8 (37a))

How dare he.

He made some startling admissions. He is committed, he says, to help American muslims fulfill zakat (tzedekah or charity), when he and everyone else knows perfectly well that Islamic zakat is set up through many organizations for the purpose of jihad.

But perhaps the most frightening, and unrecognized by the world at large, was his shocking mention of the story of Isra as an example of what Jerusalem should be - a place of three faiths living together (mentioning the meeting of Muhammad, Moses, and Jesus found in the Isra legend). In this Obama sent a VERY specific message to the Arab world. Isra is the legend of the dream of Muhammad ascending to heaven from the "furthest place of worship", which they now claim was Jerusalem. It is because of this "dream" that Islam lays claim to Jerusalem. (At the time of the dream there was no mosque in Jerusalem - Medina was the "furthest place of worship"). In addition, in Islam's convoluted imagination, Moses and Jesus are Muslim prophets, not Jews or in Jesus case - founder of Christianity), and Muhammad is the supreme ruler. This statement signaled to the Muslim world that he, Barak Obama, agrees with their claim to Jerusalem and the supremacy of Islam. (note: this is such an important matter that a new blog is forthcoming on this subject)

Writers across the world have pointed out Obama's egregious slap in the face to Israel, comparing palestinian "suffering" with slavery and segregation imposed by a white colonial power, and comparing their "suffering" with the horrors of the holocaust. My God!! Again, how dare he compare the suffering the arabs who are being abused by their own leaders, to the atrocities committed against Jews in the holocaust.

But there is one more very glaring mistake that shows the erroneous and fateful decision making process in Obama's mind. It is in his description of the aspirations of two peoples for a homeland. Even if one removed everything else from his speech, Obama's insistence that both the Jews and the Palestinian arabs have equal aspirations for a homeland, resulting from equal suffering, entirely wipes out the validity of Israel as the eternal and ancient homeland of the Jewish people - from time immemorial. It assumes, very wrongly, that Jews sought a homeland only as a place of refuge from the horrors of the Shoah. It negates completely the eternal longing we as Jews have always had to return to the Land given to us by God, the place He swore He would bring us back to, the Land and the City we have prayed for and longed for. In other words, equal aspirations for a homeland negates us as the Jewish People, Am Yisrael, and makes us simply Jews among the nations, one of multiple peoples.

I have to admit, we ourselves must share some blame for mistaken notions such as this. We ourselves have spoken that Israel was just place of refuge following the Shoah and shout "never again" (because we now have a homeland where we can govern ourselves. (and that is now debatable). We considered, but rejected, Uganda. American Jews and some of our own leaders often present ourselves as Jews among the nations. We haven't said loudly enough that this is our Land, and always was.

But that's not the issue. The issue is that the leader of the most influential nation in the world has delegitimized Israel's existence as a Jewish people in their own land and has done so as a Muslim. With an understanding of what words mean in Islam as opposed to their common usage in the West, Barak Hussein Obama has delivered a powerful message to the Muslim world.

Unfortunately, it bodes ill for Israel and for Jews.

Obama may be a Christian in practice, but he is a Muslim in thought. At best he is a dual citizen of both worlds, at worst, he is a wolf in sheep's clothing. It would be nice to give him the benefit of the doubt, but coded words, blatant distortion of fact, and secrecy belie his innocence.

Where there truly is an overlap and shared common principle between Islam and much of the West, the common ground usually has to do with the common belief that Israel cannot exist as a Jewish state, with a common hatred of Israel. The common ground of replacement theology: there is no longer the Promise of God for Jews.

Instead, the truth, Obama said, was "pulsed in the cradle of civilization" and isn't Christian, or Muslim or Jew(ish). God's vision, he said, is simply that we live together in peace...

Two peoples, each aspiring for a homeland because of their similar sufferings...must come to terms with this universal desire for peace. How? Israel must give up the Land.

In the Muslim mind, peace comes when the world is under the global Islamic caliphate. It is the will of Allah.

State of the Nation on Erev Shavuot

As we have watched the Judea/Samaria situation unfolding between the Netanyahu and Obama governments, it is apparent how much pressure is put on the Prime Minister...every Prime Minister and every government of Israel.

photo: www.israelity.com/tag/photo/page/2

While I abhor the antics and capitulations of the Olmerts, the Sharons, and especially the Tzipi Livnis, it isn't hard to understand why some buckle under and others try to fight it for a least a while.

I don't know if Bibi can withstand the pressure. I wish there was an easy answer to all of this, but there is not. The simplistic answers of many to just tell America to shove it sound noble and brave, but frankly to do that is neither practical nor feasible. We are, whether we like it or not, intertwined with America, much more so than with Europe. We have less trouble telling Europe to shove it... but America?.... that's hard, for a plethora of reasons.

If we cut the ties and the cords that bind us together, we really truly do stand alone. ALONE. For some, that is a really scary proposition, and for a nation that is supposed to always "stand alone", it can get a little wearisome... Have you ever tried to carry life's responsibilities completely alone? Ask any single parent how easy it is. Multiply that 1,000-fold for the nation.

We live in a global society. If we want to wipe out Iran's nuclear facility, we have to fly over US controlled air space. They have to give us permission to fly over and to re-fuel over those areas. We think we can tell America to shove it and then bomb Iran? How would we do that?

It just doesn't work that way, and the pompous and disgusting comments of the Clintons and the Obamas only emphasize that they know full well the vulnerable position we are in.

Bibi is counting on trying to meet a few of their demands to garner support against Iran. He is trying to give where he thinks it will do the least damage. He has remained firm on several issues, something NONE of his predecessors has ever done.

Netanyahu has stated the following:

• Jerusalem will NOT become an international City, and the UN flag will NOT fly over it.
• The PA and Abbas MUST recognize Israel as a JEWISH State
  
• Established towns and communities in Judea and Samaria will remain as they are and will grow. We will NOT tell the residents they cannot have babies and remodel their homes.

Where he has seemingly capitulated is with the outposts, agreeing to take down the ones deemed to be "illegal". Technically they are. They are homes and houses built without legal permits. To be fair, Netanyahu said in his campaign that the illegal outposts must come down as we are a "law abiding society." (uhmm, that's another story...or several)

But to our subject matter at hand, the obvious answer is, of course, two fold. If the Jewish "illegal" outposts and buildings come down, then so must the arab ones. Indeed, in Jerusalem we have recently seen increased orders to take down many illegal houses (most of which are built on archeological sites and national parks.) If Bibi's government will extend the demolitions to ALL illegal houses, the international community (and Hillary Clinton especially) will go slightly berserk...there are thousands and thousands of illegal arab buildings and houses.

Secondly, the Netanyahu can make the outposts "legal" thus avoiding altogether the need to tear them down. Recently, legalizing an arab town in the Jordan Valley has been discussed. What's sauce for the goose...is sauce for the gander.

This would be my hope. Whether or not it will happen is another matter. I still want to give Bibi the benefit of the doubt, and still believe, of all our choices, he is the only viable candidate to be our Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, we are preparing for a 3-day War Test called "Turning Point 3" with the total and complete involvement of the entire nation. This is not a "little" practice exercise. All the reserves are being called up for miluim (reserve)duty, the coffee shop discussion is on the missing gas masks and the state or location (or lack there of) of the miklot (bomb shelter). There are some odd things about this particular War Game....something's not quite right, but I can't put my finger on it.

Guess there's some serious stuff ahead.

We will move into our holiday, with all of this on our mind. Yet we will be studying Torah, learning, eating cheesecake and remembering that this is the first holiday we celebrated as a nation when we took back Jerusalem in 1967.

That Shavuot, at dawn, after a night of study (a tradition on Shavuot) thousands and thousands of individuals spontaneously began to make their way to the western wall. The preceding days had marked the first time in 2000 years that Jews were able to again pray at the Wall, and to be able to do so on this Shavuot was remarkable. The sight and the feeling and the oneness was beyond description to those who participated. And so each year at dawn on Shavuot, we repeat the experience and do it again...thousands stream toward the Kotel to finish the night of study and reflection and to thank G-d that we are here in Jerusalem. Some do it with their feet, some with their hearts....but for all of us, it is more delicious than the cheesecake.

Because in spite of the foreboding headlines, in spite of statements and threats, and in spite of the worrisome appearance of things to come ... today, 6 Sivan 5769, we can say

Jerusalem, still in Jewish hands.

And that's the true state of the Nation on Erev Shavuot.

Chag Sameach, Shabbat Shalom

Bibi's Strength & Destiny

Regarding the recent flurry of meetings between the key players of those wanting to fly the UN flag over Jerusalem and internationalize the City, and the sudden entrance of Bibi Netanyahu into those meetings (The Other Shoe Rewritten and Follow Up to the Shoe posts) I wrote .."I am hoping that he is being summoned - and like a diplomatic head of state, listens - but that his answer will be a resounding NO."
Photo unkown source

If Thursday's speeches by PM Netanyahu are any indication of his answer, it appears that, so far at leaset, it is a resounding NO.

Celebrating Yom Yerushalayim, Netanyahu spoke at Merchaz haRav Yeshiva (where so many young students were savagely gunned down in the spring of 2008), and earlier on Ammunition Hill, (the memorial site for those who died liberating Jerusalem in the Six Day War) he said the following: "The flag that flies over the Kotel is the Israeli flag... Our holy places, the Temple Mount -- will remain under Israeli sovereignty forever.”

The pressure will remain, and surely intensify, for Israel to buckle under. Let us hope and pray for Bibi's strength and courage to withstand such powerful forces. We need to undergird him and the most important thing we can say to him is "Yasher koach" (may you be strengthened, or congratulations or thank you for having the strength so that Torah may be upheld) In this case, the upholding of Torah that Jerusalem remains in Jewish hands.

What could be more to the point? Yasher koach, Bibi.

Follow Up to Recent Post

I ended Friday's blog with some concerns about Bibi and how involved he is with the issue of internationalizing Jerusalem. I hope we did not get our answer, but following his trail this past week looks pretty darn scary.

If you recall, the major players in internationalizing Jerusalem and wresting it from Israel are Jordan (King Abdullah), the Vatican (whichever Pope is in power), Shimon Peres, and now, the waited for catalyst, Barak Obama. There has been a flurry of recent activity between these players; Abdullah and Peres flew to meet Obama immediately preceding the Pope's visit to the Middle East, where he first met with Abdullah in Jordan before meeting with Peres in Israel.

However, on Thursday, Bibi entered the picture. Netanyahu paid a surprise (meaning unannounced to the media) visit to King Abdullah - in Jordan's Red Sea port city, Aqaba. Immediately following that meeting, he flew to Nazareth to meet with the Pope in the Franciscan convent where Benedict was holding court, so to speak. (Interestingly, Thursday was the day the heaviness in Jerusalem was so palpable you could cut it with a knife)

It has now been announced that Sunday (tomorrow), Shimon Peres will meet with Abdullah and of course, on Monday, May 18, Bibi meets with Barak Obama.

It doesn't look good.

I cannot wrap my head around any scenario that would cause Bibi to push for signing over parts of Jerusalem to the UN and/or the Vatican. Can it be possible that he will bend on Jerusalem for the "permission" to nuke Iran? I am hoping that he is being summoned - and like a diplomatic head of state, listens - but that his answer will be a resounding NO.

As Jews we are to put aside our cares on Shabbat, and I did successfully pack this away for the weekend, but I admit I had trouble sleeping peacefully. Maybe it was many things, but perhaps this disheartening news was peeking around the corner in the night.

Nonetheless, I am not ready to give up on Bibi....yet.

And, ultimately, thank G-d, the Tanach teaches that Jerusalem will remain...where she is...in Jerusalem. (the prophet Zechariah). But then again, that's long term.

The real question is...do we care enough about Jerusalem to fight for her? Our immediate future hangs in the balance.

The Other Shoe ...Rewritten

Reconstructing the article which twice disappeared from my computer screen has proven to be an exercise in futility. However, here is a summary of what I wished to convey along with additional information.

Things are supposed to be settling down to a normal routine here in Israel (an oxymoron if there ever was one) after our Memorial & Independence Days. The truth is there is a real uneasiness in the air. Some days that uneasiness makes us depressed, other days it makes us crazy. (That is - more than usual.) In my From the Hills of Jerusalem blog, I mentioned that it feels like we are waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Part of it has had to do with the anticipated arrival of the Pope and what was going on underneath the surface regarding his visit. (Neither was it so smooth on top of the surface once he arrived as there was much tension over his words - or lack of words - regarding the Vatican's role during the Holocaust in the various speeches). Most of the world has no clue why he was here, and certainly that’s true for Israelis as well. Nevertheless, because it is about us and specifically about Jerusalem, we felt the trembling whether it was understood or not. This past week has been shockingly oppressive in the City.

The shoe that we are waiting to hear drop is more than the mega ton neutron bombs that might be dropped ala Iran, but of course, they are hovering in the background. Each piece is part of a mounting and noticeable offensive building against us…from all sides.

Because the Pope’s visit was largely misunderstood by most observers, but is, in fact, one of the most serious events of the moment, it was primarily that topic I tried to address in my earlier article.

Yes, I was concerned that Netanyahu appointed a “two state, withdraw to the 1967 or beyond borders, abandon most all settlements” person as his US Ambassador (Michael Oren). That is, until I realized that the US Ambassador has no authority to act. He is a PR man, a figurehead. So, let him and Obama chat and babble away, while Netanyahu does what has to be done.

And I was concerned about what Assistant Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon had to say about the Road Map and other previous “commitments” (which the papers identifies as Annapolis) until I realized the media had “slightly distorted” the story. Annapolis was never ratified by the Israeli Government, thus is NOT a previous commitment, and the Road Map clearly requires total abstinence of terror from the Palestinian Authority, so there is less concern for Ayalon’s statements.

No, the real story is what has been going on for many years, and what is escalating now at such a rapid pace that it is dizzying. Every generation has its Hamans and Amaleks. In our generation, despite the powerful attempt, and despite the terrible anguish, the Shoah failed to destroy us as a People. Hence, the next attempt is to wrench the Land of Israel away from us. The hatred against us for having this special Covenant with the Almighty is so intense that the world will stop at nothing in their desire to destroy us and/or our coveted relationship with G-d. Anyone with a brain, whether religious or secular, can see how ludicrous it is for the entire world to go berserk when we build an addition on a house in Judea or Samaria, when we check incoming vehicles for weapons and bombs, when we respond to terror. That’s because this battle isn’t normal, isn’t natural, and is not new.

Part of the plan to remove Eretz Yisrael from Am Yisrael is to wrest Jerusalem from Jewish hands and this particular portion of it has been in the works since we heard the thrilling cry “the Temple Mount is in our hands” upon recapturing the Old City in 1967.

The way it is hoped it will be accomplished is by internationalizing Jerusalem. The key players to date have been Jordan, (the Kings Abdullah) the Vatican (the various Popes), and on the Israeli side to make sure it happens – Shimon Peres among others. It has long been in the works with details far too numerous to catalog here.

However, it is a matter of timing and the timing has not been right until now - for two reasons: 1) There is a simultaneous 4-prong thrust against Israel - Gaza, Judea & Samaria, the Golan, and Jerusalem. All of these fronts have been developing at their own pace, waiting until the time when they would reach their final stages together - or at the same time. 2) There needed to be a charismatic leader to demand and enforce the coalescence of events.

My words are not meant to engender Biblical prophecy, they are written solely from a position of strategic wisdom in battle.

The simultaneous final stages are being reached at this hour in history, and that charismatic leader, Barak Obama, has surfaced in the nation that can most easily put the screws to Israel – the United States. America’s people are with Israel. America as a nation is not. Her agenda is to regain a leadership role amongst the nations by putting the troublesome Zionist cause to rest at last.

You may have noticed a little stream of visitors to Barak Obama last month. First there was King Abdullah of Jordan, then Shimon Peres, both coordinated just before the Pope’s arrival in Israel.

Contrary to popular media reports and even astute Israeli pundits, King Abdullah’s meeting with Obama was not a pre-emptive snub to Bibi, and even Caroline Glick got it wrong regarding Pere’s visit with Obama. It was NOT an affront to Israel that the Peres/Obama meeting was held in semi-secret and not celebrated by the media. He was NOT there to smooth the way for Bibi. He was there for an intentional secret meeting about Jerusalem – it was simply held right under our noses.

Abdullah’s meeting? It certainly was for the same purpose. It is Jordan who still retains Islamic control over the Temple Mount. We did not take it from them in 1967; we left it “status quo”. Arafat’s men (and now Abbas’) seemingly took over the Islamic Wafq, but the Wafq in control is not that of the Palestinian Authority - it is Jordanian. The temporary PA appearance was useful to Jordan, who is biding its time for a purpose. That purpose is an International Jerusalem overseen by a Jordan-friendly Vatican.

Did anyone notice that immediately following the Abdullah/Obama meeting that Obama called for a “new arab initiative” which included raising the UN flag over the Temple Mount and in Jerusalem? Did anyone notice that immediately following the Peres/Obama meeting, the language got bolder? This time it was explicit: a new arab initiative trading the “right of return” of millions of arabs into Israel in exchange for “internationalizing Jerusalem” - taking its control away from Israel.*

Did anyone notice that these meetings preceded the Pope’s arrival in the Middle East– where Benedict first went to JORDAN, and then to Israel. The Pope was very clear about his liason with the Arab world, and his comfort with Islamic rhetoric. He called for a Palestinian State in Biblical Israel, he intimated that arab suffering was a result of Israeli oppression, he removed his shoes and entered a mosque, and met with the mufti on the Temple Mount.

The Pope's meetings with Israeli officials was selective, on both Israel's part and the Vatican's part. The internationalization plan was not mentioned in media coverage, but Benedict's first meeting was with Shimon Peres. In the earlier drafts of the agreements, the Vatican is to be the over-seer of the Holy Sites, something that Jordan is very comfortable with, as there is agreement between the two governements...the most revealing of which is the agreement to remove the Temple Mount and Old City Land from Israel.

I don't think a deal was finalized on this trip, but I do think the groundwork was exceedingly advanced. We are waiting for something else - and I don't know what it is - but something else to be the catalyst to implement the plan.

There is much more about this, but what makes me very uneasy is that Netanyahu paid a visit to King Abdullah in Jordan, in the midst of the Papal visit. How much is he (Bibi) involved in this? Is he a willing player, is he being coerced, or is he biding time himself?

I have enough personal experience with Bibi and reasons regarding him to think that, in the end, whether because of him, or in spite of him, he will be the right man at the helm of Israel, at this critical hour.

I surely hope I don’t have to eat those words.

Shabbat Shalom

*(Note: Early reports, of which I have copy, used this language...within 24 hours the phrase "internationalizing Jerusalem" was removed. Apparently, the language was a little too explicit, and the media decided to remove it.)

The Other Shoe

Twice I have typed a very long, very detailed article, with many references, regarding what is happening here in Jerusalem...regarding Jerusalem. Now. Imminent. I have worked on it for two days. It has been very meticulously saved, step by step, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph. Twice when I got to the very end of the article, it just simply disappears from my screen -- all of it...and it's saved status has disappeared with it.

I cannot explain it. I am not sure I can reconstruct it a third time. But I will try. There is no time before Shabbat to do so... plus...after it just happened a second time....I'm feeling a bit sick in the pit.....

Very weird. Signing off for Shabbat...
marcia

(The only thing it didn't wipe out was the Title... it's the other shoe we're waiting to hear drop...) Look for it next week...maybe.

From Mourning to Morning

We just completed the observing of Yom HaZicharon, Israel's Memorial Day and the celebration of Yom HaAtzmaut, our Independence Day.

The first day is the day we remember our loved ones who gave their lives for the survival of this nation, and the day we stand with the families who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this Land. Yom HaZicharon is a day of deep sadness, a day when we are permitted to remember and to mourn.

For us, a Land so small and a People so connected, there is not one person or family untouched by the loss of someone in war or in terror attacks. Our history as a People is ancient, but our history in restoring this Land is within our collective lifetime, and the losses are fresh - some just a short 61 years ago, some yesterday. For us, it is ongoing and the sorrow is personal and intense.

Remarkably however, in the fading hours of HaZicharon, a torch is lit, and the Day of Remembering is immediately handed off to a Day of Rejoicing.... rejoicing in our rebirth as a nation, rejoicing and celebrating this miracle of our return to the Land of our destiny.

The juxtaposition of the two days is purposeful, because it is recognized that without the sacrifice of those who died, we would not have had the miracle of rebirth. One of the realities of Judaism is expression of the balance between two opposites - things like mourning and joy, mercy and justice - for it is recognized that without the one, the other cannot exist.

So it is with these holidays. The two holidays are linked together, not just on our calendars, but knit together in our collective soul. As a country, we move from somber services and tears to fireworks and BBQ's in an immediate turnaround.

It is not easy. In some ways it seems it is asking a lot of us as a people. I struggle with it. Many struggle with it. Many are unable to make the quick transition.

I am very close to a family who has had many many losses, not all of them war losses, but all connected to this two day period. The sadness of their family at this time of year penetrates my soul, and I find it difficult at first to move forward. Part of me shouts, stop! wait! we need to linger here a little longer.

But the day marches on, the torch has been lit, and slowly, all together as a people, we move out of our mourning into the morning of a different day. I think it would be impossible alone.

You see this is one of the things that defines us as a People and what makes Am Yisrael unique...we do what we do, together. For it would be too much to ask those who have suffered such tragedy to just turn around and change course. But as a People our losses and our joys are shared, and what one cannot do alone can be accomplished all together.

There is yet another secret to Am Yisrael. One might think that it was on the shoulders of those whose loss was less personal, that the families and individuals for whom the loss was deeper were carried. But I think not. It is really the strength of those who have lost the most who carry the rest of us. And yet, it comes full circle, as they strengthen us we can strengthen them....the lines are indistinguishable.

It's who we are as a People.

And so, reluctant as I was to move forward just 24 hours ago, by the end of the day today, spending time with many friends, watching fireworks, tekesim (ceremonies), and enjoying the wonderful food off the BBQ and seeing them smoking all around the country, I felt, at last, some semblance of peace.

Finally I realize the wisdom of the juxtaposition of the Two Days. Without the collective move into celebration, however slowly and hesitantly we go there, we might be tempted to stay in the mourning. We have other very well prescribed ways to give us the needed times of individual mourning. But as a People, it is necessary for us to lift one another up, so that we can face tomorrow.

Because for us, as a People, we see tomorrow bearing down upon us, and we must be together, strong & ready to face it. Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael, we are one.

Happy Birthday.

Technical Glitch

Please note that RSS Feed and Bookmarking buttons have been added to the sidebar with also bookmarking buttons for each post. Due to some technical problems with the interface between AddThis.com and Blogger, the RSS button sometimes produces a blank box. If this happens when you are trying to subscribe to this blog, please refresh the page and try again. If you still encounter problems please leave a comment for me and I will address it with AddThis.com Thanks.

Child Survivor Moshe Gefen

One story, that of Moshe Gefen, child survivor now living in Israel.

Read it at Israel National News

Some Refections on Yom HaShoah

Some things to reflect upon this day of Remembrance.

1) Many survivors live here in Israel (approximately 243,000) and sadly so many of them live in poverty. It is estimated that one third of the survivors are desperately in need of financial assistance. How can this be that in the very place they should be the safest and the most cared for, Israeli Holocaust survivors struggle with this kind of insecurity?

Part of it has to do with the cumbersome and elusive nature of Israeli governmental procedures. It is daunting under the best of circumstances to maneuver this system. Additionally, until recently, far too little money was funneled into this very necessary area of government services, although some of that is being corrected.

But there is another hurdle to helping survivors of the Shoah. Many of them are independent and reluctant, even ashamed, to go to the government for help. The survivors aren't always easy to locate, and so in addition to the toll that is taken with memories (whether those memories are locked away or out in the open) there is this added isolation.

Please remember these very important and special people in your thoughts and prayers. If you live in Israel and know some survivors who are not getting the benefits they need and deserve, please contact the office of the prime minister (www.pmo.gov.il), the Jewish Agency or Sherut Leumi (National Service).

JPost published an article about the thousands who still don't receive benefits. Please read it for further information.

2) A very raw issue here in Israel is the separation between Sephardim, Middle Eastern Jews or Mizrahim, and Ashkenazim. During the founding years of the state the treatment of Middle Eastern (Mizrahi) Jews was so shameful and such a painful part of our history that for the most part, it has been swept under the rug. Things have definitely improved over the years, yet there still remains ill feelings between the groups, and a definite Ashkenazi preference in a state that was developed under western tutelage.

Opening this subject is a Pandora's box, and I have very strong feelings about it...perhaps a later series of postings on this subject can be done.

But in light of our remembrances today of the Holocaust, or Shoah, a piece has come to light which demands our attention. It is not the issue of the mistreatment of Mizrahi Jews, but rather discrimination towards the Sephardim in light of the Holocaust. It is in the very remembrances themselves that partiality has taken place.

JPost writer Stacey Menchel tells the story of Stella Levi in a recent article, entitled "It's time they knew our names". Levi, a survivor of Auschwitz , and a Sephardic Jew of Rhodes, suffered discrimination even in the camps because she was Sephardic. She laments, and many agree, that the Holocaust experience has been told almost exclusively as a European Ashkenazi one, and the Sephardic voice from the Shoah is not heard.

The staggering numbers of European Jewry murdered in the holocaust demands our full attention, yet the losses in the Mediterranean Sephardic communities were even more devasting in terms of percentages of communities destroyed, many communities being totally obliterated.

Yet, just as there were many more of European Jewry killed during the holocaust, so have there been many more survivors from that community as well. Part, but not all, of the problem stems from the fact that there just are not very many Sephardic survivors to tell the story and to develop the infrastructure to gather the information.

That, in itself, is a weak argument for the lack of information about the destruction of the Sephardic communities during the war because why, among ANY institute or organization designed to study and perserve the history of those who suffered, would the Sephardic community be left out of the study and preservation in the first place? Shouldn't the story of what happened to world Jewry during the holocaust be the story of all Jews who perished or survived?

Sadly, and to our great shame, the answer is one of discrimination against a minority within our own family...the Sephardim. So rich in our history, so beautiful in traditions and accomplishments, how is it that this segment of our soul has been marginalized and the memories and information of their suffering in the Shoah go unnoticed?

Stella Levi has been working with the Jewish Museum in Rhodes to develop material on the history of the Rodian Jewish community. But where is the rest of the Jewish world in seeking and assisting and wanting to know, not only about the Jews of Rhodes, but about all the Ladino speaking Mediterranean Sephardim?

We need to do some straightening in our own house this Yom HaShoah as we remember.

Yom HaShoah

Tonight is Erev Yom HaShoah...a Day of Remembrance for those who perished and those who survived in those terrible years.

There is so much, yet so little that one can say. The horror of the holocaust is beyond description, both from a general overall perspective and from each individual story. Seventy years from it's beginnings, 60 + years from the liberation of the camps we still haven't reached the number of Jews that existed in the world before it happened; then more than 16.5 million, today still well below that figure at 13 million Jews worldwide. What's even more sobering is that 70 years from it's beginning and 60+years from it's ending, we seemingly find ourselves standing on the precipice of another.

How can that be? The truth is that it never really ended, it just paused.

On the very day we stop to remember, the Iranian president, someone who has denied the holocaust ever happened, who repeatedly calls for the destruction of Israel, and is currently building his nuclear arsenal to achieve that end, is the opening keynote speaker at a global conference in Switzerland, which was set up basically, to bash, condemn, and plan against Israel.

I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised that the US President has withdrawn his country's participation in this fiasco, as have many other countries. Still, several major western countries did attend: Britain, France and others...and yes, people walked out (representing 23 countries), but none of that alters the very fact the conference even took place, and that it did so without uproar, is still shocking

......A quiet silence is settling over the City. There will be ceremonies both tonight and tomorrow. I hear the helicopters approaching Yad Vashem as I write, bringing dignitaries to the locations where speeches will be given and flames of remembrance will be lit. This year the emphasis is on the children of the holocaust. During the "Every Person Has a Name" ceremony, the names of the children who perished will be read aloud.

All places of entertainment, including restaurants and coffee shops are closed this evening. They will reopen in the morning. The message is two-fold. One of the greatest tributes to those who died in the Shoah, and the statement of our hope for tomorrow, is our life today, especially our life here in Israel. But tonight, as we begin our remembrance, it is unthinkable that we should be entertained and make merry.

At 10:00 am tomorrow morning all of Israel will come to a stop. The sirens will sound for 2 minutes. Buses and automobiles will stop wherever they are. Business transactions, teaching, broadcasting, everything comes to a sudden halt, and people will get out of the cars, get up out of restaurant chairs, wherever one is, and stand for the two minute siren, while we remember our past, those who died, those who survived. It is the least we can do.

Two minutes of silence. The silence speaks the loudest...for there is really nothing adequate that one can say. And in the silence, may we also be strengthened with understanding regarding our future.

A Mimouna Story

See "Chasing the Elusive Moufleta" at From the Hills of Jerusalem.

Photo Jewish Agency

Chag Pesach Sameach 5769 / 2009

Wishing you a Chag Pesach Sameach

Drawing by Israeli artisit Raphael Abecassis

Please visit From the Hills of Jerusalem for pictures of Pesach in the streets of Jerusalem.

Out of the Starting Gate...First Rounds...

My apologies for delayed reporting...juggling. Pesach in 2 days!! Myriads to do...

As we watch the Netanyahu Government begin it's tenure, many things will unfold that bear mentioning.

First of all, Bibi is NOT the darling of the media that has been bestowed upon the leaders of the left. So, expect constant trouncing and false reports...it's just the way it is. Bibi is not just disliked by the left, he is hated. I have mentioned this before. It is because he can deliver peace, and peace is not something the left wants to see.

Netanyahu, if he stays on track, can deliver peace by being firm and not capitulating to international pressure, by NOT abandoning our security and our Land...by staying strong to Zionist ideals.

It's been a very long time since the world has been confronted with strength from Israel...with an Israel that knows who she is, an Israel who isn't afraid to say what needs to be said, do what needs to be done, and say "no" to what is not in our best interest.

Having Avigdor Lieberman and Yisrael Beteinu in the government represents important strategic positioning for Netanyahu. These men are not afraid to say it like it is...

Because of that, watch for intensifying pressure to indict Lierberman of "crimes". In case you didn't know, this is always the tactic of choice to remove someone from the government or from his position. It works too, although, ocassionally it backfires and the fraudulant purposes behind the witchhunts are exposed. Lets pray so this time.

International leaders will go slightly crazy, escalate the pressure, and will most likely try to isolate Israel as is already happening. But I can guarantee you, if Bibi and the government will stay firm, it won't be long before our former weakness will change to strength in the eyes of the world...and then, the world leaders will have a very tough decision in front of them...a very serious choice to make.

It will be their last chance to stand with Israel....or not. The consequences were spelled out centuries ago.

Chazak Chazak

It is clear from yesterday's attack in Bat Ayin that the removal of checkpoints, the removal of barricades serves nothing but to enhance the possibilities of terrorist attacks against Jews.

The immediate response by the Netanyahu government, by a high ranking official, was that if "we have to put back checkpoints that were removed, we will do so." (a summary quote).

So far today we have not heard definite word regarding the checkpoints, altho area wide roadblocks are still in place as the murderer has not been found.

Bat Ayin, a small community - everyone knew everyone - had both the mourning and a simcha to take part in on Thursday. A couple had just been married the night before and the traditional sheva brachot were taking place. See From Tears to Joy.... by Hana Levy Julian in INNews.

2ND UPDATE

The murdered boy from Bat Ayin has been identified Shlomo Nativ and his age has been reported as 16 years instead of the earlier reports of 13 yrs. His funeral will take place at 5pm this afternoon in the community of Bat Ayin.

The village of Bat Ayin does not have a security fence for ideological reasons and it's residents do not employ arab laborers in general. Whether or not an isolated family did in fact employ an arab worker is not clear at this point. Whether it was a worker inside Bat Ayin or infiltration, it doesn't matter. The only reason an arab would run into a Jewish town wielding an axe is to murder Jews who live there.

It appears that the terrorist was apprehended and disarmed by residents and shot by a memeber of the community security team , nevertheless, he still managed to flee the scene. Conflicting reports remain as to where the terrorist is now, and a home in a near by arab village (Kherbat Tzafa) has been surrounded by Israeli security.

More as it unfolds.

Terror Attack in Gush Etzion

Details are still unfolding but terrorists wielding axes attacked a 13 year old and a 7 year old in Bat Ayn this morning. The victims were rushed to Hadassah Ein Kerem, where the 13 year old boy has been declared dead, and the 7 year old in serious but stable condition.

The terrorists escaped the scene and while roadblocks have been put up it is felt they have been absorbed into the arab villages already.

I will update as facts become available.

UPDATE: The 7 year old boy sustained severe head injury after being hit by the ax of the arab terrorist. He remains in serious but stable condition and will go into surgery.

Judea and Samaria Council

And I bless the Judea and Samaria council for blessing Bibi Netanyahu. Thanks guys. (see my previous post entitled Folly and Failure...)

From news brief on Arutz Sheva:

Judea and Samaria Council Blesses Netanyahu
Reported: 20:42 PM - Mar/31/09

(IsraelNN.com) The Judea and Samaria Council blessed incoming Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening. The council also stated that it hopes Netanyahu will lead to a new era of development in Judea and Samaria .....

The Folly and Failure of the National Camp

The minute Bibi was selected to form the government, the rhetoric and attacks against him began. Actually, that's not true. The rhetoric and attacks escalated, not began, because the attacks started years ago. At each step, the pressure and the hatred against him increases.

Why? How could someone be so vehemently disliked and yet, I believe, secretly admired. Because basically Bibi stands on principle but is a pragmatic Zionist who can actually accomplish some goals forbidden by the left, such as protecting Israel and not capitulating to the enormous pressure to give over our Land to the international hordes.

These international hordes have chosen a small group of Arabs to represent their thirst for this tiny piece of Land, and have sucessfully altered world opinion in their favor. This group of Arabs, now called Palestinians, are also victims of the lust of the nations for Israel's Land, though they have willingingly and enthusiastically accepted their role.

The media, who controls what we read, has always hated Bibi and will not let up on haranging him - G-d forbid, he might be successful in creating a stable and strong nation without giving most of it away.

It has to be next to impossible to stand against this international pressure when the cards are so stacked against you. None of our previous leaders have been able to withstand it, all of them capitulating to the enormous demands of the nations.

That's where lovers of Eretz Yisrael should have come to the rescue for Bibi Netanyahu. They, the believers in this Land not to be divided, not to be given away, should have stood behind and alongside Bibi Netanyahu from the beginning. Instead, much to their shame, the national camp long ago joined the fray against him.

The only difference is that while the world and the media attacks him from the left, the national camp attacks him from the right. Bibi is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

The national camps have always been given opportunities to fortify nationalist leaders who have been positioned in strategic places, but continually the national camps have squandered their opportunities. They have often been the catalyst - not to bolster good but imperfect governments, but to bring them down for the sin of imperfection. As I have written in other posts, there are times to be idealistic and not waiver, but there are also times where one must prioritize and be thankful for opportunities given, for gains made, and put temporary losses aside.

It seems reasonable that we should bury past mistakes on all sides, and make a fresh start. So this time around, when the country was truly fed up with the antics of the left, waking up to the fiascos of Oslo and Camp David, and very importantly beginning to admit out loud the terrible mistake of the expulsion of Gush Katif from Gaza, the national camp had a gift given to them on a silver platter.

Unfortunately, they dumped it in the garbage. Instead of lending Bibi credible professional support, undergirding his vision and campaigning for him on his merits, they chose to enact dramatic antics of their own, executing childish provocations like wading into Arab communities waving flags and confronting the Israeli arabs on national television. Their political "support" of Bibi was made clear that it was really for the purpose of having him meet their demands on national causes.

Embarrassing. What were they thinking?

Some parties, like Jewish Home, did realize the importance of statesmen-like behavior and now, in fact, is a part of the government. I have said it before, but I will say it again: I think that Bibi's decision not to pursue Ichud Leumi was a wise one - I believe they would be a distraction and perhaps destablizing entity within the government.

Now, as Netanyahu prepares to present his government, the criticism has been ratcheted up once again, from left to right. He can't seem to please anyone...either he is too Zionistic, or not enough; even though he has included Labor, he's too far to the right. He has too many nationalists in the government, or not enough; he has given the cabinet positions to the wrong people on the left, or the wrong people on the right. Even though there was a need for a broad based government, now suddenly it's too big, too costly....on and on and on.

The hope for Bibi's success is not with the national camp. It is with the possibility that some on the left will continue their realization of the folly of international appeasement and will hearken back to the understanding that Israel's stability and strength lies in our ability to decide for ourselves what is best for us, and that they themselves will rally around this leader, supporting him.

It is at times difficult to wade through the media reports, for most all of it is speculation or purposeful drama and/or agenda driven. Nonetheless, it is clear that there are far too many individuals and parties in the national camp who are their own worst enemies. If that were as far as the damage goes, it would be unfortunate, but limited to the near-sightedness of the participants.

Sadly however, it is the nation that is at stake, and the damage is profound and extensive. It is time for the national camp to do some real soul searching. I pray that they, as well as many on the left, will begin to wake up, and I pray that Bibi, in spite of an enormous list of antagonists, will achieve unmitigated success with his government and in carrying out his vision.

Yasher Koach, Bibi, may you have strength.