Friday 31 July 2009

An Alfred Hitchcock documentary on the Nazi Holocaust

An Alfred Hitchcock documentary on the Nazi Holocaust

Obama slammed as racist at Jerusalem rally

Obama slammed as racist at Jerusalem rally

The 9th of Avs new tears - Los Angeles Times

The 9th of Avs new tears - Los Angeles Times

New service lets Jews tweet a prayer to God - Tech & gadgets- msnbc.com

New service lets Jews tweet a prayer to God - Tech & gadgets- msnbc.com

John Bolton: It’s Crunch Time for Israel on Iran - WSJ.com

John Bolton: It’s Crunch Time for Israel on Iran - WSJ.com

Israel Matzav: Netanyahu freezes construction in Jerusalem?

Netanyahu freezes construction in Jerusalem?

Haaretz reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu has frozen construction on a 900-unit apartment project in Pisgat Zev. Pisgat Zev is in Jerusalem, but across the 'green line.' It is no more than a few minutes up the road from me. It is also a neighborhood in which Arabs have purchased apartments. This was done late Wednesday night, when most Israelis were busy with the Tisha b'Av fast day and not paying attention to the media (Hat Tip: Racquel R.).
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Israel Matzav: Netanyahu freezes construction in Jerusalem?

Israel Matzav: Obama takes the military option off the table

Obama takes the military option off the table

I was asked to post this letter from De-nuke Iran.








Dear ,

Watching the news and reading the headlines this past week has been an exercise in frustration and anger.

The Obama administration continues to expend considerable energy to "reassure" Americans and Israelis that they consider the prospect of an impending nuclear-armed Iran to be unacceptable --
but I'm not buying it and I doubt you are either.

My husband and DeNuke Iran co-founder Michael Fenenbock and I are getting angrier and angrier as it is becoming clearer and clearer that Israel is going to be left to deal with what is rightfully a threat to the entire world.

As Ambassador John Bolton wrote in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, it will soon be "crunch time" for Israel.

"Crunch time" is approaching for DeNuke Iran as well.

Michael and I continue to draw on our political experience and our personal resources to develop DeNuke Iran as a viable and effective voice for those who want to collectively take a stand against the non-action of the political leadership around the world, particularly in the United States.

I want to thank you for your continued support. These are indeed dark days, but I am confident we will soon grow to the tens and hundreds of thousands, and then together - collectively - we will make an impact. Please continue to "watch this space" for some exciting announcements in the very near future on how we intend to that. We are not being idle, and we are counting on you to help us successfully execute our plans.

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Israel Matzav: Why Israel must control the Mount of Olives

Why Israel must control the Mount of Olives

In the summer of 2000, a meeting took place at the home of Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef in the Har Nof section of Jerusalem. Those who attended the meeting were other Haredi Rabbis who opposed Ehud Barak's plan to go to Camp David and offer the 'Palestinians' everything they wanted. The leader of those Rabbis was Rabbi Levi I. Horowitz, the Bostonner Rebbe, someone my family has known for many years (as far as I am aware, he is currently quite ill - HaRav Levi Yitzchak ben Sarah Sasha for those who wish to say a prayer). The delegation succeeded in convincing Rabbi Yosef to pull his Shas party out of Barak's government.

The way Rabbi Horowitz and his cohorts convinced Rabbi Yosef to oppose Barak's trip to Camp David was to show him how turning over the Arab villages around the Mount of Olives (Har HaZeitim) cemetery to the 'Palestinians' would endanger Jewish burials in one of the most important Jewish cemeteries (possibly the most important) in the world. Nadav Shragai explains why Israel must continue to control the Mount of Olives cemetery.

* The Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives, that the Palestinians demand to transfer to their control, is the most important Jewish cemetery in the world. The area has constituted a religious and national pantheon for the Jewish people and the State of Israel, containing the tombs of the illustrious dead of the nation over the course of 3,000 years and serving as a site for Jewish gathering and prayer at the time of the ancient Temple and even prior to it.

* Under Jordanian rule, Jewish access and the continued burial of Jews on the mount was prohibited, despite Jordan's explicit commitment in the Israeli-Jordanian Armistice Agreement of 1949. During the period of Jordanian rule, the cemetery was destroyed and desecrated, and 38,000 of its tombstones and graves were smashed to smithereens. [Many of its gravestones were used to construct a walkway to the Intercontinental Hotel which sits atop the Mount, and which was built under the Jordanians' rule. CiJ].

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Israel Matzav: Why Israel must control the Mount of Olives

Israel Matzav: Karine A financer convicted

Karine A financer convicted

How many of you remember the Karine A? The Karine A was a ship that was sent from Iran to the 'Palestinians' in 2002 that was carrying over 50 tons of armaments. The IDF captured the ship some 500 nautical miles from Israel's coast. The Arafat aide who arranged that ship, Fuad Shubaki, was captured in Israel's raid on the Jericho 'prison' in 2006. On Wednesday, A military court convicted Shubaki of illegal arms dealing and of organizing and financing the Karine A.
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Israel Matzav: Karine A financer convicted

Israel Matzav: US may back expansion of UNIFIL powers

US may back expansion of UNIFIL powers

Susan Rice, the American ambassador to the United Nations, told the US House Foreign Affairs Committee this week that the United States does not have the power to expand UNIFIL's mandate in southern Lebanon. However she believes that the Security Council might be willing to expand the mandate.

Addressing the recent explosion at an arms cache in south Lebanon, US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told the House of Representative's Foreign Affairs Committee that while UNIFIL enjoys limited power in the Arab country, its presence still has some value.

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Israel Matzav: US may back expansion of UNIFIL powers

Israel Matzav: Israel allowing cement, metal pipes into Gaza

Israel allowing cement, metal pipes into Gaza

For the first time since the end of Operation Cast Lead, Israel will allow cement and metal pipes into Gaza. The cement and metal pipes are to be turned over to UNRWA for specific construction projects and allegedly will be kept away from Hamas.

The transfer of materials is part of the implementation of a United Nations plan devised by UN envoy to the Middle East, Robert Serry, who has submitted to Israel a list of 10 UN-sponsored construction projects in Gaza.

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Israel Matzav: Israel allowing cement, metal pipes into Gaza

Israel Matzav: Israelis had Boyd figured out

Israel Matzav: Israelis had Boyd figured out

Israel Matzav: Franklin: FBI AIPAC probe anti-Semitic

Franklin: FBI AIPAC probe anti-Semitic

In an exclusive interview with the Washington Times, former Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin (pictured) charges the FBI with anti-Semitism in its probe of AIPAC - the largest pro-Israel lobby in the United States - earlier this decade. Even though he was used as an informant, Franklin was originally sentenced to 13 years in jail as part of the probe, but that sentence was reduced to probation earlier this year after charges against two former AIPAC employees were dropped.
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Israel Matzav: Franklin: FBI AIPAC probe anti-Semitic

Israel Matzav: Only in Israel: UK funding 'political activity'

Israel Matzav: Only in Israel: UK funding 'political activity'

Israel Matzav: 'Palestinian refugees' benefited from Israel more than anyone

'Palestinian refugees' benefited from Israel more than anyone

From an interview with George Gilder, the author of The Israel Test.

LOPEZ: Can evangelicals save Israel?

GILDER: I believe that facing the most critical Israel Test are my fellow evangelicals, who are inclined to support Israel as the heart of their religion but who also can be gullible about the so-called oppression of the Palestinian Arabs. This is just stupid, because the Palestinian Arabs have benefited more from Israel than any other people — by far.

LOPEZ: What do you mean these wretched refugees benefited from Israel?

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Israel Matzav: 'Palestinian refugees' benefited from Israel more than anyone

Israel Matzav: Self-hating Jews

Israel Matzav: Self-hating Jews

Israel Matzav: WaPo slams Obama on Israel

WaPo slams Obama on Israel

A flying pigs moment?

In an editorial in Thursday's editions, the Washington Post slams the Obumbler for spoiling US relations with only one country in the last six months: Israel.

Rather than pocketing Mr. Netanyahu's initial concessions -- he gave a speech on Palestinian statehood and suggested parameters for curtailing settlements accepted by previous U.S. administrations -- Mr. Obama chose to insist on an absolutist demand for a settlement "freeze." Palestinian and Arab leaders who had accepted previous compromises immediately hardened their positions; they also balked at delivering the "confidence-building" concessions to Israel that the administration seeks. Israeli public opinion, which normally leans against the settler movement, has rallied behind Mr. Netanyahu. And Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, which were active during the Bush administration's final year, have yet to resume.

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Israel Matzav: WaPo slams Obama on Israel

Israel Matzav: Former commander of Israel's ground forces: Gaza expulsion was 'nonsense'

Former commander of Israel's ground forces: Gaza expulsion was 'nonsense'

For those of you who are fasting today, I hope that you are having an easy and meaningful fast. We have a little more than two hours to go here. I also apologize for not being online sooner. I don't fast well (given that I am a constantly sleep-deprived caffeine addict, that should not be surprising), and because of that, no one in this house will wake me up on a fast day unless it's 10 minutes or less until I have to be in synagogue.
Former IDF ground forces commander Yiftach Ron-Tal told army radio today that the expulsion of Gaza's Jews four years ago this week was 'nonsense' from a security perspective, and that although he opposed it, he could not disobey orders.
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Israel Matzav: Former commander of Israel's ground forces: Gaza expulsion was 'nonsense'

DoubleTapper: IDF Women

DoubleTapper: IDF Women

The Torah Revolution: Jewish Woodstock Music Concert: Come to Tapuah this Motze Shabbat

The Torah Revolution: Jewish Woodstock Music Concert: Come to Tapuah this Motze Shabbat

The Torah Revolution: Jewish Woodstock Music Concert: Come to Tapuah this Motze Shabbat

The Torah Revolution: Jewish Woodstock Music Concert: Come to Tapuah this Motze Shabbat

Life in Israel: The People of the Kotel... The Kotel of the People.

Life in Israel: The People of the Kotel... The Kotel of the People.

An Open Letter to Diaspora Jewry

An Open Letter to Diaspora Jewry

Av 8, 5769, 29 July 09 06:42
by Rabbi Zev M. Shandalov

(Israelnationalnews.com)

While I have only made Aliyah less than a month ago, my dream of Aliyah, and all that comes along with it, has been burning in me for decades. I say this at the outset, so that you should not think I am writing this from the perspective of a three-week-old dream, but rather from a 30-year-old dream.

Tomorrow, world Jewry will collectively mourn for the destruction of both the First and Second Temples, which were destroyed on the ninth of Av thousands of years ago. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why? Why, indeed, do we sit on the floor, abstain from food and drink, and cry over the loss of the Beit HaMikdash? Invariably, it turns out to be the hottest day of the year and a very unpleasant one at that. So, why do we fast?

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Arutz Sheva - IsraelNationalNews.com -An Open Letter to Diaspora Jewry

Temple Altar Construction Begins on Day of Destruction - A7 Exclusive Features - Israel News - Israel National News

Temple Altar Construction Begins on Day of Destruction - A7 Exclusive Features - Israel News - Israel National News

Temple Institute to Build Sacrificial Altar on Tisha B'av - A7 Exclusive Features - Israel News - Israel National News

Temple Institute to Build Sacrificial Altar on Tisha B'av - A7 Exclusive Features - Israel News - Israel National News

Mini-Scale Model of Temple Amazes Experts - A7 Exclusive Features - Israel News - Israel National News

Mini-Scale Model of Temple Amazes Experts


by Hillel Fendel
Follow Israel news on Twitter and Facebook.



(IsraelNN.com) In a small town in eastern England lies a 1,800-square foot project that is still a well-guarded secret from most of the world: possibly the most accurate model of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in existence.

Its builder is a retired property-developer named Alec Garrard, who has been working on it for nearly 30 years – and expects to continue to do so until his dying day. “It’s not me who says it’s the most accurate model of the Temple in the world,” he told Israel National Radio’s Walter Bingham. “It’s the experts who come and say so!”

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UNIVERSAL TORAH: VO-ESCHANAN

UNIVERSAL TORAH: VO-ESCHANAN


By Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum

Torah Reading: VO-ESCHANAN, Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11.
Haftara: Isaiah 40:1-26.

"AND I TRIED TO INGRATIATE MYSELF."

In the opening word of our PARSHAH of VO-ESCHANAN, Moses tells how "I tried to ingratiate myself" with G-d -- elicit His favor -- praying repeatedly to be allowed enter the land of Israel, "Eretz HaTzvi", the "Land of Beauty, the graceful gazelle", and come to the place of the Holy Temple. The Midrash teaches that in order to try to revoke the decree against his entry to the land, Moses prayed no less than 515 prayers -- corresponding to the gematria (numerical value) of the word VO-ESCHANAN. The root of this word is CHEN, meaning the "grace" that is bestowed by G-d as a gift of pure love and kindness. The grammatical form of the word is HISPA'EL - reflexive: the person praying must WORK on himself or herself in order to become open to that gift. The parshah is a call to us to the inner work that must be combined with our Torah study: the work in our heart and soul to open ourselves to G-d's grace -- through meditation, contemplation, prayer and refinement of our traits. We must try and try again and again!!!

(The meaning of CHEN, and how to receive the shine of G-d's wisdom and grace in our hearts, is fully explored in the opening teaching of Rabbi Nachman's Likutey Moharan. For an online audio class on this teaching with full translation and commentary, click here.)

Parshas VO-ESCHANAN, is always read on this, the Shabbat of comfort after the fast of Tisha B'Av -- SHABBOS NACHAMU (so-called after the opening words of the Haftara). Having mourned past destruction and ruin on Tisha Be'Av, it is now time to put the past behind us. We must bind up our wounds and embark on the work of rebuilding and reconstruction during the coming days of Teshuvah in the months of Av and Elul, leading up to the New Year and Days of Awe. To initiate this period, many Bnei Torah have the custom of taking trips away from the city in order to able to broaden their horizons, gaze at the sky, the hills, the sea and G-d's other wonders for the sake of physical and spiritual reinvigoration.

Parshas VO-ESCHANAN provides us with spiritual sustenance for this reinvigoration process, giving us the very foundations of our faith in the One, Unified, Incorporeal G-d. In some of the most sublime passages in the Bible, Moses evokes the awesome greatness of G-d, the greatness of Israel, His chosen people, the preciousness of the Land of Israel, and the love and fear of G-d. Moses takes us again through the fearsomeness of the Giving of the Torah, and teaches us our basic declaration of faith, repeated twice daily: SHEMA YISRAEL, HASHEM ELOKENU HASHEM ECHAD. Many other phrases from our present parshah are also incorporated into the regular set prayers in the Siddur.

* * *

REPAIR AND RECONSTRUCTION

At the center of the parshah are the second telling of the Giving of the Torah at Sinai and the Ten Commandments. In the annual cycle of the Torah reading, we read about the Giving of the Torah once in parshas YISRO close to 15th Shevat (January-February), and a second time half a year later in VO-ESCHANAN, which is always read close to 15th Av. The account in YISRO is also read on the anniversary of the Giving of the Torah, on the festival of Shavuot. In this way, we return at regular intervals to the birth experience of the soul of Israel. The mid-point of the months of Shevat and Av are times when our souls begin to ready themselves for actual rebirth forty-five days later in Nissan (Pesach, physical rebirth) and Tishri (High Holidays, Succot, spiritual rebirth).

The difference between the accounts of the Giving of the Torah in YISRO and VO-ESCHANAN is the difference between "before the sin" and "after the sin". The account in YISRO comes in the days of innocent exuberance after the Exodus from Egypt, before the fall -- the worship of the golden calf. The account in VO-ESCHANAN comes long after sin of the golden calf, after the deaths of Nadav and Avihu (SHEMINI, Leviticus 10), after the "Graves of Lust", the sin of the spies, the rebellion of Korach and the other sins and rebellions recounted in the book of Numbers. We are older in more ways than one. With the passage of time, we may have fallen into bad ways. In VO-ESCHANAN we come back to basics again, the Giving of the Torah and the Ten Commandments -- this time with the purpose of learning how to RE-build and RE-construct, even after destruction and ruin.

* * *

STAY YOUNG

We cannot avoid getting older physically, but spiritually we must try to stay young -- for the wiser and more advanced we are spiritually, the closer we should be to G-d's endless, never-exhausted fountain of vitality and grace. "It is not good to be old," cried Rabbi Nachman. "There are pious and righteous elders, but to be old is not good. You must remain young, renewing yourself each day and making a fresh start" (Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom #51).

The journey back to the basics and retelling of the Giving of the Torah in VO-ESCHANAN come to rectify the sin of becoming old spiritually, which is the main cause of destruction and exile. This sin is so serious that the analysis of its roots, given in our parshah (Deut. 4:25-40), forms the Torah Reading of reproof in the synagogue on Tisha B'Av. "When you give birth to children and children's children and YOU GROW OLD IN THE LAND and you CORRUPT."

New converts and returnees who have come to the Torah from far away, with all the excitement and enthusiasm of spiritual discovery, are often shocked and deeply disturbed to find old and seemingly tired communities whose observance of the commandments looks habitual, stale and devoid of inner meaning. Similarly, newcomers to present-day Israel who came in search of the Holy Land are often shocked by the rampant unholiness and corruption they encounter.

The Torah indeed gives us to understand that one of the main hazards of a tradition handed down from generation to generation is that the enthusiasm of the pioneers becomes ossified and encrusted in forms that often alienate people and drive them away. Corruption sets in, leading to the idolatry and evil that are the very opposite of the Torah. This is the root cause of the exile, leading to the scattering of Israel among the nations.

And yet -- "EVEN FROM THERE, IF YOU SEEK OUT HASHEM YOUR G-D, YOU WILL FIND, IF YOU SEARCH HIM OUT WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND ALL YOUR SOUL. In your time of trouble, when all these things find you at the end of days. And you will return to HaShem your G-d and listen to His voice" (Deuteronomy 4:29-30).

The voice we must listen to is the authentic voice of revival and regeneration emitting from outstanding Tzaddikim like the Baal Shem Tov and Rabbi Nachman, who broke free of the encrusted obfuscation of spiritual old-age in order to bring us back to the basics -- the love and awe of G-d that must fire our service.

New enthusiasts should try to judge long-time practitioners favorably. It is far from easy to maintain consistent, energetic service of G-d for years on end, day after day praying the set prayers and practicing the rituals while facing the endless pressures of making a living, bringing up families, etc. in a troubled world where we seem to see no clear sign of Redemption.

Precisely because it is so easy to fall, Moses exhorts us again and again not to allow ourselves to grow old, not to forget, not to go astray. The regular return to the basics -- reading a second time about the Giving of the Torah from a new angle, re-reading the Ten Commandments -- comes to teach us that we must constantly strive to renew ourselves and keep things fresh. "And let these things that I am commanding you TODAY be on your heart" -- "They should not be in your eyes like an old edict that nobody minds, but like a new one that everyone runs to read" (Deut. 6:6 and Rashi ad loc.).

* * *

TEACH THEM TO YOUR CHILDREN

The greatest challenge for Israel is to hand on not only the outer forms of the Torah but its inner fire to the coming generations. Each of the three founding fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, strove to inculcate the knowledge of G-d in his children. VO-ESCHANAN returns repeatedly to the importance of teaching children and inculcating genuine faith in them -- another task that is far from easy. "And you shall teach them diligently to your children." (Deut. 6:7). "When you son asks you in the future, saying 'What are the testimonies, the statutes and the laws that HaShem our G-d has commanded you?' And you shall say to him." (Deut. 6:20).

The Torah's answer to the new generation, given in the ensuing verses, forms the foundation of the Haggadah recited at the Pesach Seder table. In essence, the answer is that there is such a thing as slavery, and that only G-d has the power to release us from it -- for our good -- through the observance of His unique commandments.

Slavery may not be only physical. Today, the most prevalent form of slavery is the mental slavery of those enmeshed and ensnared in secular "culture" which encourages the pursuit of everything except G-d and His truth. At the end of parshas VO-ESCHANAN, the Torah warns strongly that we must recognize idols for what they are and destroy them. (When we are powerless to destroy the idols of the outside world, we can at least destroy them in our own minds.) The Torah teaches the maintenance of strict separation from idol-worshippers. "For you are a holy people to HaShem your G-d, He chose YOU to be a treasured people from all the peoples on the face of the earth. And you shall know that HaShem your G-d is the G-d, the faithful Power, guarding the Covenant and kindness to those who love Him and observe His commandments to the thousandth generation." (Deut. 7:6 & 9).

Shabbat Shalom!!!

Avraham Yehoshua Greenbaum

--
AZAMRA INSTITUTE
PO Box 50037 Jerusalem 91500 Israel
Website: www.azamra.org

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The End of Israel?

The End of Israel?

Here are some ruminations for Tisha'a be'Av, the 9th day of Av, on which we mourn the destruction of the Temple, a long long time ago. Could it happen again?

Because of its length, I've put this post over here.
taken from Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations
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