Friday 7 August 2009

Parshat Ekev - Israel: The Channel to Spirituality

Among the many deep facets of this week’s parshah, there’s an idea that is worth noting. In the Talmud (a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history) we find a discussion concerning Rosh Hashannah. An opinion in the Talmud states that Rosh Hashannah is designated as the new year for judgement; meaning, that at the beginning of the year (on Rosh Hashannah) heavenly judgement is already issued regarding what will occur in the (upcoming) year’s end. The Talmud brings a verse from the Torah to solidify its statement:

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Parshat Ekev - Israel: The Channel to Spirituality

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U.S. Republicans in Israel: We are `troubled` by Obama policy - Haaretz - Israel News

U.S. Republicans in Israel: We are `troubled` by Obama policy - Haaretz - Israel News

Obamas spies monitoring Jews house-to-house

Obamas spies monitoring Jews house-to-house

Israel Matzav: No more 'peace talks'?

No more 'peace talks'?

Israel and the 'Palestinians' have apparently taken vows not to speak to each other. Here's the 'Palestinian' vow:

The Fatah General Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution according to which the negotiations with Jerusalem will not renewed until Israel releases all the Palestinian prisoners held in its jails, Israel Radio reported.

However, citing a Palestinian report, the radio station also included a more moderate wording of the decision, according to which an agreement on a time-frame for the release of all Palestinian prisoners is a condition for the renewal of peace talks.

Senior Fatah official Nabil Sha'ath said that the committee in charge of determining the movement's policy approved 14 conditions for the renewal of negotiations with Israel, including lifting the blockade on the Gaza Strip and halting settlement construction.

In an interview with a Web site linked with the Islamic Jihad, Sha'ath added that Fatah had not denounced the armed resistance, though it had not yet lost faith in the negotiations.

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Israel Matzav: No more 'peace talks'?

JACK KIRBY

Jack Kirby is one of a trio of artists whom I consider geniuses of the comic book form. Harvey Kurtzman and Bernie Krigstein are the other two. Kirby was the oldest, born in 1917, and his career was the longest and the most productive.

He was born Jacob Kurtzberg and raised in New York's Bowery. His art was his ticket out - out of the slums and out of poverty. He got his first job drawing in 1935 at the Max Fleischer Studio where he worked as an "in-betweener" on animated cartoons. It was the depth of the Depression and any job was to be treasured. Yet, Kirby quit the animation business after two years. By 1937 he was drawing comic strips and single-panel cartoons for a small newspaper syndicate called Lincoln News.

At right is the cover for what is arguably his first comic work - a 24 page booklet published by HT Elmo of Lincoln News. It was meant as a bank giveaway with generic content (all by Kirby) inside and a space on the back cover for a specific bank or savings institution to print or stamp its name and address.

By age 20, he was a seasoned professional using different styles and different pen names on half a dozen different features. Some of those features found their way into the fledgling comic book market. Kirby quickly followed them.

It was at Fox Comics that he met Joe Simon, a freelance writer and artist. With Simon's business acumen and hustle and Kirby's skill and speed, the team of Simon & Kirby soon exploded onto the comic book scene. Their work appeared at Fox, Novelty and Timely/Marvel - often as the cover artist team. They started out with Simon doing layouts and Kirby finishing, but Kirby's understanding of the comic book medium helped to quickly reverse those roles.

Remember, in 1940 the comic book as a medium was only five years old and for half that time consisted entirely of newspaper strip reprints. The graphic language and techniques in play in 1940 were primarily those of the daily comic strips. Kirby was one of the very first to view the comic book page as a unique form and the first to fully comprehend its potential and solve its challenges.

In comic books, Kirby saw the differences from, not the similarities to, their comic strip antecedents. Action was not only possible, it was paramount. But, before Kirby, many early comic books had to rely on various guiding devices to lead the reader in the proper sequence through the more dynamic panels. Some simply numbered the panels to ensure that they were read in the proper order. Others used graphic arrows to point to the next one.

At right is a page from a Kirby comic story drawn in late 1940. It was taken from The Art of Jack Kirby. Notice the arrow that points from the first panel to the second. This is actually the most obvious transition on the entire page and the arrow is scarcely necessary. Now witness how Kirby leads you through the story with his drawings. Just follow the red line: the character in panel two is facing back toward panel three. He used this device throughout his career. He probably did it unconsciously, just as he often used a character facing or moving to the right in the first panel on the second tier. Note also how the path of the eye is drawn through the speech balloons. And when it's not, the eyes of the character point you in that direction (note the blue lines). The angles of the background and furniture also come into play to move you through the story in the manner he desires.

I believe Kirby invented this approach. He figured it out and implemented it almost from the very start: Don't draw something that leads the eye away from the story. The story is the driving force. Make sure the drawings move it forward. The composition of the page should keep the reader's eyes on the page until the last panel and then that panel should facilitate the turning of the page. Backgrounds should set the scene and indicate reading direction.

All this was completely intuitive to Jack. He saw the needs and built solutions into his style. The way he told a story was driven by the need to show you how to read it. And I'll bet he never really thought about it.

Getting back to what he did with his style...

Simon & Kirby's first big hit was Captain America, a character they created for Timely Comics. The image at left is from issue #2, published in April of 1941 and drawn nearly a year before America declared war on Germany. The comic books were never neutral.

After nearly a year producing Captain America, S&K left Timely to work for National Comics (DC) where they created their next big hit, Boy Commandos. Then came the real war and both men were drafted in 1943. After the war, comics were in the doldrums and Kirby took what work he could get. Always a scrapper and a professional, one of his first jobs was a one-page strip, "How to make your own Puppets" in Punch & Judy comics.

Kirby and Simon teamed up on two new titles for Harvey, Stuntman and Boy Explorers, but both were short-lived. Their work was still being used by National and they were producing a wide variety of work for Hillman (the Punch & Judy publisher). They did crime stories for Real Clue, an aviation strip, Link Thorne, The Flying Fool (at left) for Airboy, and a teen title, My Date, but the prolific pair wanted more. What they wanted was a share of the profits.

So they invented the Romance comic and sold the idea to Crestwood/Prize Comics for a 50/50 cut of the profits. Young Romance, Young Love, Western Love, Headline and Justice Traps the Guilty were the main titles that the Simon & Kirby team produced for Crestwood. They had a whole studio of artists working for them and many were adept at approximating Kirby's pencil style or Simon's inking. Still others had distinctive styles of their own that were almost submerged in the S&K style. Except Kirby. You could always tell a Kirby story. Just follow the panels.

Their comics were a major success. Artists like Mort Meskin, Bill Draut, Marvin Stein and Bruno Premiani were on staff and produced hundreds of stories each over the years. They must have treated them well - not surprising considering that the men in charge were working artists, just like them.


Young Love 1949
More titles flowed from the creative duo. For Crestwood, they created Black Magic, The Strange World of Your Dreams, Charlie Chan, and Young Brides. In 1951, for Harvey, they came up with Boys' Ranch, a marvelous western comic hearkening back to Boy Commandos.
In 1954, back at Crestwood, they released their pièce de résistance, Fighting American, a parody of the then dormant superhero genre (see right).

The next step was to become publishers themselves. In 1954, as the rest of the industry was retrenching due to the public furor over comics and juvenile delinquency, Simon and Kirby launched Mainline Comics, to minimal fanfare and mediocre sales. With titles like In Love, Foxhole, Police Trap and Bulls-Eye, they had all the popular genres covered. They were the most successful and well-known creators in comics history. And they failed miserably. Most titles lasted only four issues.

With the failure, the team split up to make each his own way in the new, post Comics Code, comic book landscape. Romance comics survived. Kirby did lots of strips for Harvey. (Simon and Kirby are listed as editors of some of the Prize/Crestwood romance books through 1957. Then it's just Simon - who also returned to drawing stories about 1960. Simon also went on to create Sick Magazine, a long-running Mad imitation.)


The Yellow Claw - Atlas 1957
(inks by John Severin)

Kirby returned to the strong publishers for work. He did mystery stories and Challengers of the Unknown for National/DC, a few mysteries and westerns for Atlas (once Timely) comics. He continued to produce romance stories for Young Love and Young Romance at Prize, and he found work at Harvey as well. He achieved the goal of most comic artists - he landed a newspaper strip.

Sky Masters of the Space Force was penciled by Kirby from September 1958 through February 1961. Wally Wood did the inking for the first eight months and their combined styles built strength upon strength. The results, one panel above, were breathtaking. Dick Ayers did a masterful job on the rest of the run, but nothing since has matched the Kirby/Wood team up.

Read More at Jack Kirby Biography (http://www.bpib.com/illustra2/kirby.htm)

Will Eisner's THE SPIRIT (1)

Will Eisner's THE SPIRIT™







Frank Frazetta's Art (1)


Israel Matzav: Livni holdover slams Israel's relations with US

Israel Matzav: Livni holdover slams Israel's relations with US

Israel Matzav: When 'evenhandedness' would be an improvement

Israel Matzav: When 'evenhandedness' would be an improvement

Israel Matzav: Victor Davis Hanson on Obama's Middle East policy

Victor Davis Hanson on Obama's Middle East policy

This is an amazing interview.

A recent piece in the Washington Post noted that the only country in the world with which the U.S. has worse relations since Obama took office is Israel.

An American administration is soft on butchers that rule Iran and desperately seeks dialogue with them, yet it is giving our friend and ally, and the only democracy in the Middle East, a hard time.

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Israel Matzav: Victor Davis Hanson on Obama's Middle East policy

Israel Matzav: France demands freedom for terrorist who plotted to murder Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef

Israel Matzav: France demands freedom for terrorist who plotted to murder Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef

Israel Matzav: Good news: If there's another war with Lebanon, IDF will target infrastructure

Israel Matzav: Good news: If there's another war with Lebanon, IDF will target infrastructure

Israel Matzav: Why Shariah law must be opposed

Why Shariah law must be opposed

Daniel Pipes explains the difference between Shariah law and Halacha, the Jewish legal system.

Those of us who argue against Shariah are sometimes asked why Islamic law poses a problem when modern Western societies long ago accommodated Halakha, or Jewish law. In fact, this was one of the main talking points of those who argued that Shariah should become an accepted part of dispute resolution in Ontario in 2005.

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Israel Matzav: Why Shariah law must be opposed

Israel Matzav: Surprise: Iran won't respond by September and Obama won't rush to impose sanctions

Surprise: Iran won't respond by September and Obama won't rush to impose sanctions

An American expert on Iran says that there is no way Iran will respond to President Obama's 'engagement' initiative by September, but it seems that the United States will be willing to wait longer.

"To think that at the same time as putting together his cabinet in the midst of the largest uprising since the Iranian revolution, and oh by the way, figure out a way to respond to the United States, that is just not going to happen," said Reza Aslan, an Iran expert and author in Los Angeles.

"He is going to have such a difficult time forming a government, let alone governing, and quite likely he will not even last another year. Any previous idea of a timeline needs to be thrown out the window," Aslan said

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Israel Matzav: Surprise: Iran won't respond by September and Obama won't rush to impose sanctions

Israel Matzav: It's summer camp time in Hamastan

Israel Matzav: It's summer camp time in Hamastan

Israel Matzav: The US embassy to 'Palestine'

The US embassy to 'Palestine'

In The Corner, Cliff May issues a mea culpa for creating the impression that the US Consulate in eastern Jerusalem was any different under previous administrations than it is today (it wasn't - I discussed that here and here). But May goes on to raise valid criticisms of the Consulate's mandate.

That this arrangement has enjoyed bipartisan support does not change the fact that it is odd, and deserving of scrutiny and debate. Consciously or not, it sends a message that the U.S. is not unsympathetic to those who wish Israel would disappear and/or to those who insist Jerusalem should become the capital of a future Palestinian state, one that would not permit Jews to be citizens or even residents — as is the case in many Arab and Muslim countries today.

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Israel Matzav: The US embassy to 'Palestine'

Israel Matzav: Muslims seething over German soccer team theme song

Israel Matzav: Muslims seething over German soccer team theme song

Israel Matzav: Tawfik Tirawi: 'Jerusalem cannot be regained without thousands of martyrs'

Israel Matzav: Tawfik Tirawi: 'Jerusalem cannot be regained without thousands of martyrs'

Israel Matzav: The perfect President for a nation without values

The perfect President for a nation without values

I've already done a number of posts about the Obama administration's selection of Mary Robinson to receive the medal of freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor. A lot of people assume that Robinson's selection was another foul-up by the White House. They assume that she wasn't vetted properly. Alternatively, people assume that Rahm Emmanuel and David Axelrod - the two people most responsible for checking her out - didn't think her record of support for terrorism mattered, but they don't place the blame on Obama himself. The strongest accusation I saw against Obama was that he is a racial opportunist, but that accusation was prompted by 'Gatesgate' and not by Mary Robinson.

President Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that said "The buck stops here." Ultimately, Barack Obama is responsible for Mary Robinson's selection, and that selection says a lot about how Barack Obama relates to Jews and to Israel.
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Israel Matzav: The perfect President for a nation without values

Israel Matzav: Terrorist's sister blames Israel for terror attack

Terrorist's sister blames Israel for terror attack

On the morning of March 11, 1978, Dalal Mughrabi and her Palestinian Fedayeen unit of eleven members (including one other woman) landed by Zodiac boats on a beach near Ma'agan Michael north of Tel Aviv, having departed from Lebanon. They killed Gail Rubin, an American photographer who was taking nature photographs nearby, and then hijacked a bus full of Egged bus drivers and their families on a day outing, on the Coastal Highway.

While driving, Mughrabi and her unit opened fire at the vehicles in the vicinity. An Israeli army unit, headed by Ehud Barak, pursued the bus until it was finally stopped near Herzliya. A long shooting battle between the Palestinians and the soldiers ensued. The Palestinians started shooting the passengers that attempted to escape. Eventually, the Fatah members blew up the bus which became a large deathtrap of fire (the bus' shell, now in the Egged Museum in Holon, is pictured above). The attack left thirty five civilians, thirteen of them children, and six Palestinian guerillas killed (38 by some sources) and seventy-one civilians wounded. There is lack of certainty over the fates of all the Palestinian attackers. Extensive searches were undertaken in the Gush Dan area for additional attackers, but they weren't found and were likely killed. Some claim that 2 Palestinians, designated terrorists, were arrested by Israel.
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Israel Matzav: Terrorist's sister blames Israel for terror attack

Israel Matzav: Obama allowing Iran to complete a nuclear weapon

Obama allowing Iran to complete a nuclear weapon

Anne Bayefsky rips the Obama administration for playing along with the Iranian regime's delaying tactics. With the administration accepting a nuclear Iran, unable to bring about real sanctions and determined not to allow Israel to deal with the problem, Israel is left with the choice of defying its supposed patron or allowing Iran to menace it with a nuclear threat. As an Israeli, the answer to that dilemma seems obvious: "To hell with Obama. Go for it. " And I believe that is what Israel will do eventually.

But Bayefsky has a knack for putting things in perspective, and this column is really worth reading.
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Israel Matzav: Obama allowing Iran to complete a nuclear weapon

Israel Matzav: Rally in Chicago this Sunday

Israel Matzav: Rally in Chicago this Sunday

Israel Matzav: Drifting apart on a 'settlement freeze'

Israel Matzav: Drifting apart on a 'settlement freeze'

Israel Matzav: Seeking recognition as a terror victim 80 years later

Seeking recognition as a terror victim 80 years later

This Saturday, the 18th day of the Jewish month of Av, is the 80th anniversary of the Hebron massacre. Hebron's local Arabs, with a wink and a nod from the British, murdered 67 Jews on that Sabbath, and then the British expelled all the Jews from Hebron to which they were not to return until 1967.

Yosef Lazorofsky, 86, survived the Hebron massacre, which claimed the lives of his father, grandfather, uncle and sister. He is one of the few people living today who was a victim of the massacre, and who was old enough at the time to remember it.

After 80 years, Lazorofsky is seeking recognition as a terror victim.
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Israel Matzav: Seeking recognition as a terror victim 80 years later

Israel Matzav: Hezbullah attack planned to take pressure off Iran?

Hezbullah attack planned to take pressure off Iran?

Robert Fisk suggests that last month's series of explosions at a Hezbullah ammunition storage facility at Khirbet Silim may hint at a Hezbullah action against Israel to take pressure off Iran.
Just old Israeli ammunition, it suggested, left behind from the Israeli-Hizbollah war of 2006? Hmm. Or, the Israelis left the ammunition there when they retreated in 2006. That's very definitely a "ho hum". Israel's hopelessly small 3,000-strong invasion force never reached within six miles of Khirbet Silm at that time. Which is why delegates to the UN in New York have been saying that the whole shebang was a clear breach of Resolution 1701, which clearly stipulates that no armed group may store ammunition between the Litani River and the "Blue Line" that effectively marks the Lebanese-Israeli border.
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Israel Matzav: Hezbullah attack planned to take pressure off Iran?

Israel Matzav: 'Lawfare' reaches the masses?

'Lawfare' reaches the masses?

'Lawfare' is a form of warfare waged by using the nascent field of international law to attack an opponent on moral grounds: "international law warfare (seizing the earliest opportunity to set up regulations), etc." Lawfare is used against Israel by NGO's and countries that favor the 'Palestinians.' Until now, however, lawfare has mostly been used against high-ranking IDF officers. In South Africa, at least, that may be about to change.

Two pro-'Palestinian' NGO's in South Africa are seeking the arrest of some 70 IDF soldiers who hold both South African and Israeli citizenship - what are known as dual citizens - for alleged 'war crimes' committed during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. And while this article discusses one high-ranking officer who is currently in South Africa, it ought to be clear to everyone that among 70 soldiers there are likely many who are not officers.
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Israel Matzav: 'Lawfare' reaches the masses?

Open Letter to the United Church of Canada from the Jewish Defence League of Canada


Open Letter to the United Church of Canada from the Jewish Defence League of Canada

August 06, 2009.

To whom it may concern:

The United Church of Canada, will be voting on four anti-Jewish / Israel resolutions at its 40th General Council in Kelowna, British Columbia, August 9-15, 2009. The meetings take place on the campus of the University of British Columbia - Okanogan.

The four resolutions call for a "comprehensive boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions at the national and international levels" and refer to the recent assault on Gaza as a "visible reminder of the ongoing Israeli regime of exclusion, violence and dehumanization directed against Palestinians."


It is suggested that Israel was "built mainly on land ethnically cleansed of its Palestinian owners," and makes reference to the effectiveness of boycotts when dealing with state-sponsored racial discrimination and violence, as was the case in South Africa.


In the past few years, anti Jewish / Israel groups have attempted to infiltrate Canadian Organizations in order to vilify Israel and the Jewish People. Please read the following shocking information from the Ottawa Citizen May 8, 2007:

Canadian antiwar activists sat down with terror groups…

“Canadian activists were out in force at a recent conference in Cairo that sought to forge closer links between the international antiwar movement and Islamic resistance groups, including several on Canada's terrorism list.”





There is an obvious agenda. I urge all supporters of the United Church of Canada to reject the anti Jewish / Israel motions at your conference and rather than allow the name of your organization to be used as a platform to vilify the Jewish State (the only democratic and diverse nation in the entire middle east) it would be more appropriate to recognize the major contributions that Israel has made in the fields of technology, medicine and improvements in world health.

Thank you,



Meir Weinstein,

National Director, Jewish Defence League of Canada

taken from B'NAI ELIM (Sons of the Mighty)

DoubleTapper: IDF Women

DoubleTapper: IDF Women

Honest Reporting - The New York Times: Just the Facts?

The New York Times: Just the Facts?

A six month study of the New York Times shows a bias toward the Palestinian narrative.

CONTACT THE NEW YORK TIMES PUBLIC EDITOR AND DEMAND CHANGES IN TIMES' REPORTING. SEE RED BOX AT BOTTOM OF REPORT.

  • New York Times coverage often supports the Palestinian narrative without placing events in greater context.
  • Headlines, eyewitness accounts, and images depicted the Gaza conflict as Israeli aggression against Palestinian civilians.
  • Settlements are misrepresented by having images of tiny outposts accompany articles about settlements.
  • Issues such as Palestinian incitement are downplayed or ignored.

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The New York Times: Just the Facts?
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